Broken Spell Part Two
The purple knight walked towards them.
"On your feet." He barked derisively. "Darkness has come."
"I have got a bad feeling about this." Madison said as they got up.
"I do not know you warrior." Udonna stated coldly, eying the warrior. "But if it's a battle you want, I am ready to fight."
"Hold on, let me try and reason with him." Xander intervened.
"What are you doing Xander?" Vida retorted.
"Yeah, like Plan Xander worked so good last time." Neil added in. "Oh wait, it didn't. We all got beaten up."
"That guy has a sharp sword." Madison supplied.
Shooting all of them pointed looks, he took a few steps forward. "Hi, the name's Xander."
"I am Koragg, the Knight Wolf." The knight raised his sword. "Uthe Mejor Catastros!"
A purple spell circle illuminated the dusty ground as a black horse traversed through it. "Catastros, Rise up from your depths!"
Udonna breathed deeply, seeing the majestic horse. She turned to glare at Koragg. "How? He is not yours to command."
"He's mine now ever since his previous rider fell by my blade." The warrior said smugly.
Udonna's eyes widened.
"You killed him." She said slowly, her eyes narrowing.
"I did. He was a brave warrior but he was no match for the powers of the Master." He stated coldly.
"How dare you?" Udonna seethed, her eyes glowing white.
The others looked at each other confused.
Shards of ice crystallised in front of her before flying at Koragg like daggers. The knight raised his shield, protecting himself from the attack as the ice shards shattered on hitting the purple shield.
"You have to try better, witch." He smirked. "Sumbol Unithos Equestras!"
Purple magic washed over him and the horse as they grew into giants and Koragg combined with Catastros such that his entire torso stood in place of the horse's head like an-
"Centaur?" Chip questioned. "Awesome! A real centaur!"
"There's nothing real about it!" Udonna spat. "That's dark magic… an abomination!"
"You are now just pebbles under my hooves!" Koragg mocked them as he stamped his feet, sending tremors through the ground.
"Stand back." Udonna said, stepping forwards and drawing her wand. "You are not ready to fight his kind. I am."
"There's no problem here. He's all yours." Xander nodded looking at the giant centaur apprehensively.
"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" She morphed and a white spellseal traversed through her, making her a giant just like Koragg. "Galwit Mysto Prifior!"
"Whoa!" Vida cheered as Udonna struck Koragg with her staff.
"You will pay." The sorceress seethed as the knight pushed her back with his shield.
"Unlikely." Koragg grunted, raising his shield and unleashing a volley of dark energy beams at her.
Udonna spun her Snow Staff, deflecting the attacks.
"Energy of Light, Fire!" She crossed her staff over her arms before slashing it diagonally, letting loose a wave of intense white energy at Koragg.
"Darkness destroys light!" The knight scoffed, raising his shield and blocking the attack.
Udonna raised her staff and charged at Koragg, only to be kicked in the chest by his hooves.
"Prepare to be destroyed, witch!" The knight snarled. "Behold the eye of the Master!"
The glowing red orb in the centre of his shield blasted her with a torrent of crimson energy, making her crash to the ground, red electricity jolting through her body.
Without giving her a chance to recuperate, the knight galloped towards her with his sword and lance.
"No!" The five of them screamed in horror as the white ranger raised her staff to save herself but it was in vain as Koragg struck her with his sword and explosions tore through her body.
She fell to the ground, powerless and demorphed, clutching her snow wand while her staff struck the ground a few feet away. Glancing up, she tried to crawl towards it, only for her to collapse under exertion.
"Udonna!" Madison cried as they ran up to help her.
Koragg stepped up in front of them, back in his normal form, sieging the snow staff.
"I will spare all of you, so that you witness first hand the terror and destruction which will unfold your land." He mocked them. "So that you live knowing that you weren't strong enough to stop me just like your husband, sorceress of the forest."
Udonna glared at him, but didn't say anything.
"Remember this day. You will wish it was your last." He laughed maliciously, before he sank into a purple spell circle, returning to the Underworld.
"Without my snow staff, I can not fight anymore." Udonna said to them sadly.
"Why not? You still have your wand?" Neil asked curiously. "You transformed with it. Can't you do it again?"
Udonna shook her head but smiled. "You are observant, young one but not totally correct. The wand enables a connection to the Morphin Grid but the staff is my talisman, my personal connection to the ranger armour."
The others looked at her quizzically.
Udonna laughed lightly. "I forget you are from a different world. Let me explain it in terms you can understand. Think of my wand as a power source and my staff as a key to activate that power. Without my staff, my morph would be incomplete and unstable."
"So, you have the power but you can't access it completely without your staff?" Madison surmised.
"Exactly. Koragg must have thought of this as poetic in his cruel way but as always, the forces of darkness underestimate us." Udonna's face lit up as she looked at Neil. "I told you, Neil that there was a reason you were here, at this place, at this time."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Without my staff, my connection to the Grid is cut off but if someone else were to use my wand to morph, they would forge a totally new connection to the magical source. They would get a new mystic staff and the fact that Koragg has my staff would be rendered moot. I can't be the white ranger but you can." She said, holding out her wand to him.
Neil blinked. "But it's yours?"
"Not anymore. My time as a ranger was over long ago. I am the last of my team and it's time I pass on the mantle to someone else." She smiled softly.
"You really believe I can be a ranger?" Neil looked up at her.
"Of course. You have ice magic but more than that, you have the heart of a ranger. You chose to stay and help, even when you thought you couldn't be a ranger. So do you accept?"
Neil gulped. It all made sense. The strange connection that called out to him. It was from the snow wand all along.
He nodded, accepting the wand. The others cheered. Xander threw an arm around him and Chip was almost bouncing with excitement. Vida gave a thumbs up and Madison was beaming at him. He smiled. He was going to be a real-life superhero!
"Clare!" Udonna called as Clare, still in her sheep form, trotted into Rootcore.
"Oh, dear niece." Udonna smiled, standing up. She made a gesture with her hands, restoring her apprentice to her human form.
"Why didn't you do that before?" Clare pouted, getting up to her feet. "Do you know how warm it was in all that wool?"
"If I do everything for you, then how will you ever learn?" The sorceress regarded her coolly.
"Okay, okay. I get it." The apprentice bumbled.
The others laughed good naturedly as Udonna picked up the discarded wands on the table and passed them to the other four, the red one being the only one left in her hands.
"This time, go nowhere without them."
"We already learnt our lesson." Xander said, taking his wand. "But to tell you the truth, walking around town, carrying a wand… may be good for Chip but…" He trailed off, watching Chip waving his wand excitedly. The others giggled and Clare nodded at Udonna.
"Very well," The white witch nodded, snapping her fingers and almost instantaneously, their wands were replaced by flip phones. "I hope you find these to your generation's liking."
"Cell phones. Very cool!" Vida nodded approvingly.
"These are your Mystic Morphers." She told them. "They are activated by spell codes that you will learn along the journey. Now go back to the city, live your normal lives and wait till you are needed."
They looked at each other excitedly.
"Remember there is evil everywhere. And you would be best served speaking to no one of what has happened."
Chip nodded his head vigorously. "Secret identities are like Rule 101 of being superheroes."
Neil hid his smile as he nodded along. Chip must be so excited right now. It's not everyday their childhood dream becomes true! And it's not just him, Neil himself felt as if a whole new world had opened up to him, which kind of had happened…
Wait, he was forgetting something.
"The old man and his brother!" He cried out. The others looked at him with alarmed looks as they remembered the reason, they came to the forest in the first place.
"Oh no." Madison covered her face with her hands. "How could we forget about him?"
"We have to find him now." Vida agreed.
"He must be in the woods somewhere and with all the creatures crawling out of the underworld, I hate to think what would happen if he met them!" Neil said, turning to Udonna. "Can you help us find him?"
"Your concern is touching, rangers." She smiled mysteriously at them as if she knew something they didn't. "But don't worry about the old man. I assure you he is safe and sound."
"How do you know?" Chip asked.
Udonna snapped her fingers and she turned into the old man before reverting to her normal self.
"You were the old man?" Xander asked, blinking.
"That's so awesome! How did you do that?" Chip asked eagerly.
"That was a simple glamour spell. I used that form to seek out those worthy of the mantle of the Mystic Force. Those who were courageous and kind enough to risk everything to help those in need."
"So that was all a test?" Vida asked.
"Yes. One that you all passed with flying colours." Udonna smiled. "I am sorry for deceiving you but I had to be sure that the chosen ones were those of pure intent and not people vying for power."
"That's alright. It kind of happens in all stories about heroes." Neil said. Chip nodded.
Udonna looked at them bemused but did not say anything.
"Shit, my car!" Vida remembered.
"Yeah, it's been fun but we need to go back to Rock Porium and clean it before Toby comes back." Madison noted.
"Oh, I can show you out of the woods." Clare offered.
"No." Udonna said cryptically, turning towards them. "You are not only rangers now, but also students of the mystic arts. And like so many others before you, you must learn the ways of the Mystic Forest. The woods are magical and sentient, our strongest ally in the battle against evil. Trust the woods and they will trust you. Just remember, the trees are your passage."
"How could a tree be our passage?" Chip pondered as they walked through the woods.
"Maybe she meant it literally?" Neil perked up.
The others looked at him.
"What? In Chronicles of Narnia, there was a wardrobe made of enchanted wood that took four kids to a magical forest."
"But that was in a story book." Xander pointed out.
"And they met a white witch there, who could control snow. Sounds similar?"
"Okay…Point taken." Xander said, touching a tree. "But I am telling you that there is no way that this tree-"
Before he could complete his sentence, he was pulled through it, leaving the others shocked.
A second later, he reappeared, eyes wide.
"You were right! It really works! I went through roots, branches, stems, leaves and I came out through the tree in front of Rock Porium." He said dazed.
"This is Narnia then, huh." Neil looked smug as he high fived Chip.
"Oh, I want to try too!" Chip yelled, touching the tree and was sucked in.
Neil grinned excitedly, following him and the next thing he knew he was there, stumbling behind Chip at the street opposite to Rock Porium. Not giving them a second to recover their footing, the other three were thrown out of the tree, colliding with them, making them all fall.
"That was so cool!" Chip exclaimed.
Neil nodded excitedly, unable to stop smiling.
"Hey I need to go back to my jeep!" Vida reminded them. "Thanks, Xander. Now I have to walk all the way to the edge of the town and drive back here."
"Or we can just use the tree to get there?" Xander suggested.
Vida shrugged.
"Maybe a bit later." Madison said, before dropping her voice. "When nobody is watching us. Look."
Neil looked straight to see Toby looking at them strangely.
"Let's act cool. He probably didn't see it-" Xander said as they got up.
Pretending that nothing had happened, they walked over to the shop.
"Did you guys just come from the tree?" He asked befuddled to which they looked at him confused.
"Never mind…" He shook his head, dismissing it.
"You feeling okay?" Vida asked while they tried not to laugh at how easily Toby believed their façade.
After a while, Vida had snuck out, magicked herself through the trees to her truck on the outskirts of Briarwood and driven it back to near Rock Porium while the rest of them had been trying to clean the store, which Neil was sure, would take days to achieve.
The entire place was a mess. Everything was scattered and disorganised.
Xander grumpily swept the floor with a broom after being forced off his couch by the others. Madison was looking at the inventory. The others were on different parts of the store, piling up the fallen cassettes and reorganising them as best they could.
Madison turned towards the glass doors, seeing Nick on the opposite side of the road, still working on his bike, for the fifth time.
"You know you can go and talk to him." Xander suggested amused.
"I… no, what. I barely know that guy."
"And what we do know about him, he is temperamental, stubborn, close minded-" Vida said offhandedly, counting with her fingers while Madison looked at her dismayed.
"Wait, he is not that bad. He was the first one to volunteer to help the old man… Udonna…" Madison pointed out.
"And then he up and left when things got scary." Vida countered.
"That's harsh." Chip pointed out. Neil nodded beside him.
Vida rolled her eyes. "Just saying guys, from what we know of him and we barely know anything about him to begin with-"
"Exactly." Madison perked up. "We should get to know him."
"Maddy, that's not where I was going and you know it." Vida said sternly.
Madison sighed exasperatedly. "V, you can relax. I am not going to go there and ask him on a date."
"But you want to." Xander wiggled his eyebrows at her. Madison shoved his shoulder as the others except Vida laughed.
"Seriously, Xander?" Vida shot him a glare. "Maddy, I love you and all, but your taste in boys-"
"I don't even know Nick and please can you not bring up-" Madison yelled and the others fell quiet.
"I'm only looking out for you." Vida said, her voice heated.
"You are blowing this out of proportion." Madison retorted. "Please can you stop?"
Vida started to say something but Xander shook his head behind her. She sighed. "Do what you want, Maddie."
"Thank you." Madison said stiffly before walking out of the door.
Xander turned to look at Vida. "She was right, you know. You were overreacting."
"Really, Xander? Have you seen Nick?" Vida glared at him. "Look at him and what do you see?"
"A normal guy fixing his bike?" Xander shrugged.
"Don't joke about this, Xander."
"V, Nick is not Jarrod."
"Xander, that guy is literally screaming 'I'm a tortured teenager who needs love to be a better guy'. He is Jarrod!"
"V, you don't know that and we don't even know that Nick would like Maddy or even if Maddy likes him in the first place." Neil cut in.
"Didn't you guys see her? She is totally into him and she's going to get herself hurt once again."
"V, you can't force her to not date." Xander said.
"I am trying to protect her."
"No, V, you are punishing her." Chip said quietly. "It's not her fault that Jarrod was a huge jerk. You can't help who you get feelings for."
"I'm not punishing her." Vida scoffed. The others looked at her blankly.
Seeing their faces, she relented, sitting down on the couch.
"I… I just don't think she is ready to date again."
"You can't decide that for her, V." Xander told her softly.
"The heck I can't, Xander. She is my little sister and Jarrod was my friend! I thought it was brilliant when they got together. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that guy was an egocentric maniac-"
"Jarrod wasn't just your friend, V. He was ours too and we didn't see him for what he really was too." Xander said.
"He cheated on her, Xander!" Vida shouted. "He cheated on her, told Maddie that whatever was between them was just for fun. And I let that happen to her!"
"You didn't… V, what happened wasn't your fault."
"He was Maddy's first love and Maddie would have never chosen him if I hadn't told her that Jarrod was the best."
"Vida, you can't blame yourself." Chip said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Vida started to say something when Madison came back with a downcast look. "He's leaving town."
"What did I tell you? A total wuss."
"Vida, be nice." Madison said.
"What? He is."
"And he should be! I am scared. All of us are scared!"
"But we aren't running away. We are doing something about it-"
"Because we want to not because we are obligated to."
"Why are you defending him?"
"I am not defending… What is up with you?" Madison huffed, throwing up her arms.
Just then, their new cell-phones chimed and they looked at each other. They took it out and flapped them open.
"There is danger in the woods." Clare's voice came out.
"We are on our way." Xander said. "You guys ready?"
The others nodded at him as they ran out of the streets, crossed the street and plunged into the tree, willing their magic to take them to the battle.
The five entered in the midst of the forest, coming out of a tree. They skidded to a stop as they looked around them. They looked down to see that their casual clothes had been replaced by a form fitting stylish uniform. They had black cloaks and matching jackets with intricate symbols in their respective colours embroidered in it, over white shirts and plain trousers.
"Whoa!" Neil gaped.
"Check out the uniforms!" Maddie exclaimed.
"And cloaks!" Chip whirled around, cheering not noticing as the cloak hit Xander.
"I hate pink!" Vida complained, looking at her uniform with contempt.
"Save it for the complaints department later, Vida." Xander said, noticing a grey spell circle appearing near them. "Look!"
Hidiacs crawled out of the circle, heading right at them.
"I hope everyday is not going to be like this." Madison sighed, as they met the hidiacs midway.
Neil raised his hands to block an attack and closed his eyes, letting magic flow through him. He didn't know exactly how but he could feel it. He opened his eyes and his hands shone with an intense white light before spreading outwards and throwing back the four hidiacs that had ganged up on him.
"Udonna said we would know when to use our wands!" Chip yelled as he was pushed aside by a hidiac. "I think it's the time!"
"You think?" Vida asked as she stumbled back.
"Let's ranger up!" Xander said as they regrouped and the hidiacs surrounded them from all sides. Pulling up their morphers from their pockets, they instinctively hit a couple of codes and raised them to the air.
"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"
For a moment, it seemed as if they were somewhere else, floating in a void, except instead of the darkness being scary and discomforting, it felt warm and welcoming. It felt oddly like home.
"Galwit Mysto Ranger!" A firm voice bellowed behind them and they flew up, passing through spell circles of their respective colours and hovered gracefully and astral projection of ancient elemental creatures appeared behind them and magic seemed to flow out of them, transferring to them.
Behind Neil, there was a figure in white and blue armour, their head shaped like a snowflake.
Xander had a tree spirit, Madison a mermaid, Vida a fairy, and for Chip, it was a knight in topaz armour.
And then, they were back in the forest in their ranger armour.
"Strong as a tree, Green Mystic Ranger!"
"Ever changing as the wind, Pink Mystic Ranger!"
"Fluid as the sea, Blue Mystic Ranger!"
"Fast as lightning, Yellow Mystic Ranger!"
"Serene as the snow, White Mystic Ranger!"
Their suits did not resemble Udonna's sleek armoured form. For the most part, their suits were just coloured spandex and their helmet bore their elemental symbols. For Neil, it was a five-pointed star shaped snowflake. They had a triangular vest over their shoulders with a cape flowing out from the back.
Morphed, they ran at the hidiacs.
"Magi Staff!" Neil said, summoning his staff and while it resembled Udonna's snow staff for the most part, it felt different and instead of a blue snowflake on top of it, there was a white one instead.
"My turn!" He smirked, running past the creatures, striking them down with his staff. He turned to face the rest, who had gathered together.
He pointed his staff at them. "Flurry of snow!"
The snowflake on his staff glowed before cold mist enveloped them. When it subsided, all the hidiacs were frozen.
"You are iced!" He snapped his fingers as they shattered to ice fractals.
As the others took out their own share of the henchmen, they regrouped, cheering.
Just then, bolts of lightning shot down from the skies near them, sending a wave of purple dust at them.
Vida stepped forward, pointing her staff at it and a gust of wind countered it, clearing up the air only to reveal Koragg standing before them.
"I'm back!" He announced, his visor glowing red.
"It's him again!" Neil glared under his helmet.
"A new white ranger. Surprising but not impressive. You will fall just like your predecessor." Koragg said, facing him directly.
"We'll see!" Xander said, standing protectively in front of him.
"Yeah, we can take him!" Vida said cockily as they readied their staff.
"You can try but you are no match for me!" He told them condescendingly. "I call on my sword from the darkness!"
In a flash of black light, his shield appeared in his outstretched hands and he drew his sword. "This is your end."
"Okay, now what?" Xander shrugged.
"Yeah, you need more than those flashy theatrics to take all of us down."
"Now you will feel the power of dark magic!" His shield opened up to reveal the red orb which let out a blast of crimson energy at them.
"Barrier of ice!" Neil yelled, slamming his staff on the ground and right on time as a wall of ice crystallised in front of them, stopping the attack.
"Nice for a novice." Koragg commended, raising his sword and slashing it diagonally, sending a crescent wave of dark magic at them. "But I will not be merciful this time!"
The attack collided with the wall, shattering it to pieces and the force of the attack throwing them to the ground.
"Can't we talk this over?" Xander tried, looking up as the knight towered over him, his sword raised. "Guess not."
Xander gulped, rolling away just in time.
"Xander!" Neil yelled, standing up and drawing Koragg's attention to himself.
"You are resilient, young wizard." The knight walked towards him. "I defeated the strongest witch in the realm. What makes you think you stand any chance of stopping me?"
"Because I am not alone." Neil smirked just as a wave of water splashed over him.
Koragg turned to see Madison holding her magi staff. He growled, charging at her only to be knocked off course by a bolt of yellow lightning that cackled through his armour, forcing him to his knees.
"Chemistry 101. Water and Electricity. Not a good combination." Chip said, walking over to him.
Before the knight could recover, a pink tornado appeared out of nowhere and sucked him in. Vida watched from the ground with grim satisfaction as the tornado stopped abruptly and the knight crashed to the ground unceremoniously.
Before he could get up, the ground seemed to swallow him up. Koragg looked sideways to see Xander aiming his staff at him.
"Ready to give up now?" The green ranger shrugged.
In response, the knight started to laugh.
"You five are not useless for amateurs!" He mocked before a wave of purple magic radiated out of his shield and knocked them down.
Koragg snapped his fingers and an army of hidiacs appeared out of a spell circle, standing behind him.
He pointed his sword at them threateningly as they tried to stand up. "Any last words?"
"Just one!" Out of nowhere, Nick appeared on his bike, leaping off it towards the knight. "Hiyah!"
His foot slammed against the shield, knocking him back.
"Come on!" Nick shouted at him as he landed in front of the rangers.
"Now there are six." Koragg murmured.
"I guess there are." Nick pulled off his helmet and smirked.
Koragg ran at him, his sword raised.
"I guess this is as good as time as ever to start believing in magic!" Nick cried out, raising his hands as Koragg swung his sword at him. Before the attack hit him, Nick closed his eyes.
Embers of fire appeared around him and swirling red energy solidified to block Koragg's attack, throwing him back.
Nick opened his eyes and watched with amazement. He flashed a grin at the rangers, who cheered him on.
"I do believe in magic!" He yelled as the red energies converged on him and transformed him in a burst of fire to the red mystic ranger.
"Fearsome as Fire, Red Mystic Ranger!"
The others gaped.
"Red ranger…" Xander breathed.
"That was amazing!" Neil gasped.
"He believes!" Chip cheered him on.
"Way to go, Nick!" Vida yelled.
"He came back." Madison whispered, smiling to herself.
"Prove to me your worthiness! Battle my forces!" Koragg demanded as the hidiacs charged at him.
It was a blur as Nick tore through the small army quickly and confidently with his fire magic.
"I summon the power of the phoenix!" He yelled, turning at the purple knight and the remaining hidiacs who had gathered around their leader.
"I'll be back, ranger." The knight swore, vanishing into a purple spell circle, leaving his henchmen behind as the fire consumed them.
"That's hot!" Nick snapped his fingers and the fire died down, taking the creatures of the underworld with them.
"Nick! That was awesome!" Chip cheered as the others ran up to him.
"Mystic Force?"
"Mystic Force!" The group put their hands together in a circle, grinning as the team came together.
After the battle and a quick debrief with Udonna, the six of them were at Rock Porium.
"Nick, now that we are a team, do you want to help?" Xander asked, carrying a box.
"Yeah, everyone is working, even Mr. Supervisor here." Neil laughed making air quotes.
"I fight soulless monsters… I don't clean." Nick shrugged.
"Then out of the way, bucko," Vida went past him to rearrange the cassettes on the shelves.
"Okay," Nick grinned, stepping aside. "But as a wise woman asked… Do you believe in magic?"
"Ooh, I like how your brain works." Neil perked up.
"You think?" Vida looked at him curiously.
"Well, I believe…" Maddie pointed her morpher at the magazines littered on the floor. They shot back up to the shelves, sorting themselves out.
"It works!" Chip cheered, using his morpher to bring a broom to life. "Sweep like lightning." He commanded.
Xander shrugged, using his magic as he used his magic to carry the trash out.
"It feels like cheating but since we just saved the world…" Neil laughed, pointing his morpher at the fallen racks, putting them back in place.
Vida was busy, making the CDs arrange themselves.
For a couple of minutes, the shop was filled with floating items and brooms that cleaned the floor by themselves.
"Hey, someone's coming!" Nick whispered as he heard footsteps.
They stopped and right on time, as the last box was dropped in place on top of the racks.
"I knew you guys wouldn't…" Toby halted to a stop as he walked in to see the clean store. "You would? It's clean… very clean? Maybe it's lost it's edge? Have I become a mega shop?"
The others stifled their laughter as Toby marveled at his store.
"Hello?" A voice called out, drawing their attention as a beautiful girl with blond curls walked into the store.
"I'm new in town, can somebody help me?" She asked and instantly, both Xander and Chip rushed to her, shoving each other out of the way.
"That'll be me!"
"No, no, me!"
Neil rolled his eyes.
Nick made a face at him, raising his eyebrows and whispered to them. "Ditzy blonde's so not my type."
"Mine either." Neil agreed.
Vida coughed and it suspiciously sounded something like "Clare".
"Hey!" Neil nudged her with his elbow.
"What?" Vida asked him innocently.
"Wait, Clare?" Nick asked him.
"No. Nothing is there." Neil shook his head repeatedly.
The other three laughed.
Just then, the new girl looked at them and walked over to Nick.
"Uh, sorry but I don't work here." Nick said politely, trying to slither back from the girl and accidentally stumbling to Madison, making both of them blush. Vida's eyes narrowed while Neil grinned.
"You know, Toby." Madison said hastily as she caught the two of them looking at her. "You really got to hire this guy."
Nick frowned at her, shaking his head repeatedly at her.
"He was instrumental in cleaning the store."
"Hey, I wasn't looking for a job." Nick protested.
"Who's the greatest guitarist ever?" Toby asked him.
"It's gotta be Jimmy but –"
"You are hired." Toby cut him off, shaking his hands and leading him to the new girl. "Now help the customer."
The others started to laugh as Nick looked at the girl with horror.
Toby walked away to his office as the girl took Nick's hand and introduced herself. "My name's Leelee and yours?"
Nick stuttered, trying to find a way out of this conversation but failing to do so. He looked at the rest of them with a resigned look. "I'm in trouble…"
They laughed harder as the girl led Nick away to the other side of the store.
"You know, setting your crush up with a stranger trying to woo him is not a good start to a love story." Neil nudged Madison, who rolled her eyes.
"I just met him."
"Maddy."
"Fine! It'll be okay. He isn't into her and now he works here with us." Madison smirked at him.
"Ooh, you turned out to be a hardcore Slytherin. Who would have thought?" He said, whistling.
"I'm a Ravenclaw!" She protested.
"After this, never!" He laughed, tickling her.
"Hey!" Vida came to her sister's save, pouncing on him. Xander and Chip joined in and within minutes, they were slumped on the floor, laughing while Nick and Leelee looked at them, Leelee with a look of mild disgust and Nick with a look of slight envy and amusement.
This was one crazy bunch. Briarwood was going to be interesting after all!
Hope you liked this and please review.