Stranger Within
"I give up!" Xander huffed exasperatedly. "Maybe we are not meant to find out the secret to Fireheart."
"Come on!" Nick urged, taking a book out from his pile and sliding it towards Xander's across the table. "Don't give up. Never give up."
He said pointedly, passing two other books to Neil and Maddie, who had just finished skimming through the ones they had.
"Wow, Nick. That's inspiring." Maddie smiled at him appraisingly.
"Yeah, that's what I thought when Udonna yelled at me this morning when I was ready to quit." Nick scratched his neck. "By the way, where's Udonna?"
"Last time I saw Udonna, she was teaching Clare an invisibility spell." Maddie told them.
"That could be the problem right there." Chip pointed out, making the others break into laughter.
"I'll check if the Xenotome has anything again…" Nick said, getting up from his chair and heading towards the mysterious tome.
"You seem awfully upbeat today. Sure, it's just Udonna's speech that motivated you?" Maddie asked, her eyes twinkling.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked confused. "What else?"
"So the cute blond guy who came by the store to see you has nothing with you being cheery instead of brooding like usual?" Neil smirked at him.
"I don't brood." Nick said defensively. "And Ryan is just my neighbour. He is new to town and needs a job. So, I had told him I would introduce him to Toby today. That's it."
"So, we are getting a new employee?" Xander asked. "Might be good for the shop with us always running out during attacks."
"Or he could be suspicious as to where we are always running off to?" Maddie countered.
"Hey guys, relax. Toby didn't say yes yet." Nick told them.
"Nick, it's Toby. He is saying yes." Maddie told him confidently. "And you will get a lot of time to spend with your new friend."
"Stop that!" the red mystic said flushing.
Just that moment, the doors slid open and Vida walked in.
"Yo crew, sorry I'm late!" She drawled, not sounding sorry at all. She slumped down on a chair.
"Late? We haven't seen you since yesterday." Nick frowned, walking down the stairs. "That's beyond late. So much for giving us your word."
"Relax." Vida said airily. "You are not my dad. So what I missed one night of saving the world? The world's still here."
She bent forwards, propping her face on her elbows which she rested on the table. "So any headway on Fireheart?"
"None." Neil frowned. "And V, it's not that you missed last night, you missed all day too."
"It's night time again." Xander pointed.
"I was worried about you. You didn't respond to any of my calls." Maddie said hurt. "Just like all the times you used to party last year with Jared."
"Look, I am sorry." The pink ranger sighed. "And I assure you all, last night was nothing to fuss over. We got back at early morning from the club and I was so tired that I slept over at Leelee's."
"You had a sleepover with Leelee?" Maddie asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Hey, she's not as bad as we thought. She has really good taste in music." Vida shot back. "Either way, I gave my word to you and I blew it. It won't happen again."
"Hey, no problem, V." Chip said quickly, shooting her a comforting smile. "We all make mistakes."
Before the others could reply, the alarms in Rootcore started to blare and dark fog shrouded the crystal orb before showing a pack of hidiacs attacking a village.
"Let's go guys!" Nick said and they all rushed out.
The faintest light broke through the thick canopy of trees, signalling that it was soon about to be dawn. The six mystics slowed down on reaching the elven village the hidiacs were attacking. The merlocks let go of the frightened defenceless villagers and swarmed around the rangers.
"Let's ranger up!" Nick called.
"Why bother?" Vida cut through, charging at the hidiacs. She was unnaturally fast as she knocked three hidiacs to the ground with her bare hands before smashing her elbow against another who had tried to sneak up on her from behind.
The mystics looked at each other in shock.
"Man, look at V go!" Nick said, awed.
"Go sis… I have never seen her like this before!" Maddie quirked her eyebrow.
"Neither have I." Chip muttered. "It's just weird."
Vida cornered the last of the henchmen with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Pink wind circled around her as she turned into a miniature hurricane and thrashed the minions, who were sent flying across the forest.
The five ran up to her, cheering her on.
"It looks like mom was right." Neil said. "You just needed a break to get your groove back on!"
"Very impressive…" Before either of them could speak, an eerily black spell circle appeared in the centre of the village. Sensing the insane amount of dark power emanating from the seal, the elves retreated to the nearby trees.
A warrior in obsidian armour with silky white hair flowing down underneath his helmet and his visor glowing ominously red, ascended from the spell circle and drew his sword at the rangers.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Vida asked smugly.
"I am the champion of the Mistress of the Underworld, Grand Knight Saizo!" He said coldly, aiming his sword at the rangers, who quickly fell into their fighting stances.
"Oh great, dear old Bandi got a new crony? Are we supposed to be shocked?" Vida snarked.
"Do not insult my empress!" Saizo hollered, his visor blazing an even more furious shade of red.
"Maybe not mock the murderous dude, V?" Xander asked.
"Oh please, this whelp?" Vida snorted.
"You dare!" Saizo roared, a shield appearing on his free hand and Neil narrowed his eyes as he noticed it appeared to be a black version of Koragg's shield.
"Let's see how you fare in a real challenge, witch!" Saizo hissed, raising his hands and bubbles of dark energy converged on him as he was turned into a giant. "Arise from the depths, my steed!"
Catastros trotted up to him, already a giant as he merged with it, transforming into a black version of Korrag's megazord form.
"It looks like Bandora has given Koragg's new powers to this guy." Neil noted.
"Who cares! Just another bad guy to beat!" Vida said airily, flipping her morpher open. "Ready guys?"
"Ready!"
"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
They transformed directly into their titan forms and faced their new foe.
"Wolf Attack!" He swung his sword in a wide arc and a crescent wave of dark energy slammed against them, Xander in his minotaur form taking the brunt of the attack.
"Xander!" Neil yelled, before turning to the warrior. The snow lion titan roared at Saizo before pouncing at him, tackling him to the ground.
"Get off me, beast!" Saizo said in disgust, trying to knock him off, only for the snow lion to clamp his jaws on the warrior's hand, forcing him to let go of his weapon.
"Enough!" The visor glowed red as an optic blast hit him, forcing him back.
"Foolish ingrates, do you really think your measly tricks can save you from me!" He scoffed, picking up his sword. "I was born in the Dark Realm. I fought in the Last Great War. Mistress Bandora chose me to be her champion, the next Knight Wolf. You children have no chance against me. Unlike Koragg, I won't show you mercy!"
"Interesting monologue, mate." Xander shrugged just as something hit him from behind, a sharp clang reverberating through his helmet. He turned around to see the mermaid titan with her trident.
"You talk way too much." She said simply.
He roared, raising his sword, only for the blue mage to force him back by summoning a tidal wave. The garuda titan didn't waste a second to electrocute him with his lightning attack. The phoenix titan and the minotaur titan were next, slashing his armour with their sword and axe.
The pink mage was next, flapping her wings and showering her fairy dust all over him, suspending him in place.
"You are done for, mate!" Xander shrugged as the six titans surrounded him.
The knight started to laugh cruelly, a wave of dark energy bursting out from his armour, freeing him and forcing the titans back.
"Come on!" He leered at them.
As Nick and Maddie attacked him, he easily fought them off. He shot out tendrils of dark energy that cut through Neil, Chip and Xander as they tried to surround him.
"Could use some help, V!" Chip said, forcing himself to his feet.
"Incoming!" Vida said, transfiguring herself to a ball and flying towards Chip, who caught it before hurling it at Saizo, charging the ball with his lightning elemental magic. The knight was thrown back but managed to remain standing.
"This is going to be your final battle!" He said with barely constrained anger.
"Talk is cheap, you don't scare us!" Nick shot back.
"Let's finish this guy." Vida said and the others nodded. "Mystic Titans, Dragon Formation!"
But before the rangers could combine, the sun rose and Vida suddenly fell to the ground with a scream, her wings darkening and turning to dust. She shielded her face from the sunlight, writhing in pain. "The sun's so bright!"
"Vida!"
"Sis!" Madison said concerned, running to her side alongside Chip but black energy continued to course through her body, forcing her to turn back to a ranger and land on the ground. She crawled to a tree, taking cover in the shade as her morph gave away.
"You lose one and you all quit?" Saizo snarled, charging at the distracted mystics. Xander quickly threw himself over the others as a shield, blocking the attack from hitting the others. He fell to his knees, wincing in pain.
"Xander!" Madison yelled, turning around.
Neil growled, standing protectively in front of the minotaur titan.
"Look at your pitiful selves… You are defenceless!" Saizo snarked, readying for another attack when the skies darkened again, stormy clouds shrouding the sun and multiple bolts of lightning striking the knight, throwing him back. He yelled in pain as he hit the ground hard.
Saizo looked up to see something circle the skies overhead before landing beside the rangers like a winged angel. It was another garuda titan, but with orange armour mixed with yellow, and unlike the yellow mage, she retained her arms and had a separate pair of wings.
"Saffron Sentinel!" He growled, relying on his sword as he forced himself up, smoke coming out from his scorched armour.
The other titans armed their weapon and a bow appeared in the sentinel's arms.
"You may have won today mystics but your guardian angel won't be around to always save you." He warned as a dark spell circle swallowed him.
"Guys, we have to help Vida!" Chip said, letting his morph fade away as he landed in the woods. He ran up to the tree only to see Vida had fallen unconscious. She was unconscious, her skin was unnaturally white and had dried up like parchment.
"Vida!" He called, rushing to her side.
"Sis!" Maddie said concerned as she and the other rangers and Lena gathered around them.
"We need to take her back to Rootcore immediately." Lena said the moment her eyes landed on Vida, her voice full of apprehension.
"Okay." Chip said, picking Vida up bridal style and moving towards them.
"NO!" Lena cried in alarm. "Stay in the shade! Don't come in the sunlight."
"What? Why?" Neil asked.
Chip didn't say anything, his eyes widening as if he had realised something.
"The tree… take her to Rootcore using the tree." Lena insisted. Chip nodded, stepping back towards the tree and placing his hand on the bark, willing the forest to take them back to their base and disappeared.
"Lena, what's going on?" Maddie asked her worriedly.
The knight turned to look at her grimly. "I will explain once we get back."
They linked hands as Lena touched the tree, transporting them all to the forest in front of Rootcore. Chip was waiting for them, still carrying Vida.
"The mouth didn't open." He told them. The eyes on the dragon head were flashing red. Lena's face paled.
"Let me." Lena said, placing her hand on the dragon head and closing her eyes. The eyes turned yellow and it opened it's jaws. Lena ushered them in as they passed nervous glances, their eyes flickering to Vida's unconscious form.
"Lena, rangers, what's going on?" Udonna asked worriedly, hurrying up to them, Clare scurrying behind her. "Rootcore's defence shields were activated a moment ago!"
Alarms chimed as the crystal orb showed darkness before zooming in on Vida.
"It's Vida." Lena said slowly.
Udonna directed Chip towards the couch where he gently set Vida down. Udonna looked at her, gasping in shock.
"It's… How could it be?" She muttered.
"Udonna, Lena… you guys are really scaring me." Maddie told them nervously.
The elder sorceresses shared a nervous glance before turning towards the rangers and Clare.
"Clare, make a salt circle around Vida." Udonna said.
"A salt circ…" Clare stopped herself, the colour draining from her face. She nodded before hurrying towards the shelves on the other corner where all they kept all the potion ingredients, taking a bag of salt and returning to them. She poured the salt around the couch in a circle, careful to not keep a gap.
"Guys, we need to know what's going on." Xander said seriously.
Chip sighed, looking at their mentors. "She is a vampire, isn't she?"
Udonna nodded sadly.
"That can't be true!" Maddie protested. "Guys, it's Vida! How can she be a vampire?"
"Think about it, Maddie. The sunlight. Her insane strength, not to mention she had been gone all day." The yellow mystic countered.
"But…"
Chip stepped over the salt circle and tilted Vida's neck to the side, revealing a pair of fang marks near her carotid.
Maddie covered her face with her hands. "This can't be happening!"
Neil pulled her to a hug, locking eyes with Xander and Chip, as he stepped out of the circle. All five of them had grown up together and been there for each other through the highs and the lows. Vida had been the indomitable rock who had protected them from bullies and pushed through any obstacle. Seeing her so weak and frail was unbearably frightening.
"What do we do?" Nick asked them. "Is there any spell to heal her?"
"This isn't like a dog bite, rangers." Lena said gravely. "That you get a vaccine for rabies and be assured that nothing will happen. There is no cure for this. The fangs of a vampire drains the victim dry, essentially killing them before pumping the vampire venom into their bloodstream, reviving them. Vida is no longer a human. She is not even technically alive…"
"When did this happen? How? She acted all normal when she came back- She didn't tell us of her being turned into a vampire of all things!" Maddie said tearfully.
"The vampire who sired her must have commanded her not to…" Udonna sighed. "She must be under the thrall of someone."
"Lilith." Neil said darkly. "She did this to her. Remember Vida asked about Fireheart."
"So, not only is my sister a vampire, she is being mind-controlled by another…" Maddie said slowly, turning around and sitting on a chair. "What do we do? What do I tell mom and dad? Vida can't even go out in the sun without falling unconscious…"
"Not just unconscious." Clare interrupted. "Sunlight is fatal to vampires."
"What? Vida could have died?" Xander asked. "What do we do? Lock her up in her room for all day?"
"That's the least of our problems, Xander." Lena said. "Once Vida awakens, she will be hungry…."
"What do you mean, hungry?" Neil asked carefully.
"For blood." Udonna answered grimly. "And she won't be able to control herself."
"This can't be happening…" Maddie shook her head.
"The salt circle will prevent her from leaving and attacking us." Clare supplied.
"And I can arrange some blood from the hospital's blood banks." Lena said. "Might need magic to sneak past security, but I can get her blood."
"But this is all a temporary solution." Chip said. "Can't the vampire who did this reverse it?"
"No." Lena said.
"What about the Xenotome?" He asked.
"I am sorry, Chip." His predecessor said softly. "There is nothing we can do but accept this and make Vida's transition as seamless as we can."
"But it's Vida…" Maddie protested.
They all fell silent, their eyes wondered to their sleeping comrade as they struggled to accept the reality of their new situation.