Witch Club
Chapter 6: Kidnapped
It was a peaceful Saturday night at Alfea, where the Blackbird was parked in front of. While everyone else was enjoying the outdoors or indoors, the Witch Club were doing something else in the Simulation Room.
"Potenza dei draghi!" the Rangers called out as they used the spell against Brenton's fire barrier. This was part of the Rangers training to help them control the spell, due to the fact that last time, they caused an accidental elemental storm. The Rangers, along with the rest of the Witch Club, were wearing their X-Uniforms. Matt's was a red sleeveless jumpsuit with an orange X in the center, black gauntlets, a black belt, and black cowboy boots. (1) Karsyn's was a green catsuit with a pink X in the center, pink elbow-length fingerless gloves, a pink belt, and pink knee-length boots. Fernando's was a red jumpsuit with a yellow and white X in the center, red elbow-length gloves with yellow trim at the helm, a yellow belt with a white buckle, and red knee-length boots with yellow trimming at the helm and white wings at the ankles. Keehly's was a blue jumpsuit that is light blue on top and dark blue on the bottom with an asparagus green X in the center, asparagus green elbow-length gloves, an asparagus green belt, asparagus green knee length boots. Gage's was a white jumpsuit with a yellow X in the center, a white elbow-length gloves, a yellow belt, and white knee-length boots. He also wears a white cape, like Storm. Phillip's was a green short-sleeved jumpsuit with a brown X in the center, brown gauntlets and a brown belt. His feet were bare. (1) Shelby's was a silver catsuit with a forest green X in the center, silver elbow-length gloves, a forest green belt, and silver knee-length boots, Abby's was a magenta catsuit with a timberwolf gray X in the center, timberwolf gray elbow-length gloves, a timberwolf gray belt, and timberwolf gray knee-length boots. Like Banshee, she had a pair of striped wings attached to her suit, however, these are colored fuchsia and black. Joshua's was a yellow short-sleeved jumpsuit with an orange X in the center, an orange belt, and brown ankle-length gladiator sandals. (1) Taylor's was a blue jumpsuit with a violet X in the center. He also wears white elbow-length gloves, a white belt, and white knee-length boots. (1) Lee's was a pink hooded jumpsuit with a white X in the center, white elbow-length gloves, a white belt, and white knee-length boots. He also wears a pink translucent cape that fades to white at the bottom and splits in two, like fairy wings. (2) The rest of the Witch Club were with the X-Men and the rest of the Winx descendents watching them from the control room. The only ones absent were the twins.
"Looks like they're more in control," said Jay.
"Storm? Gage?" Scott asked to see if they could sense another out of control thunderstorm.
"No storm in sight, Cyclops," Storm reported.
"Same here, sir," added Gage. While they were doing the spell, Taylor received a premonition. He tried to stop the others from the spell when suddenly Professor Palladium burst in and shouted, "Drop that spell right now!" The rangers did as they were told and went outside to see what damage they did this time. It turned out that Phillip and Lee had lost control of their mutant powers, during the spell. (A/N: I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but yes, the Power of the Dragons, is based off of the Power of Three from both Charmed series.) The students were levitating and most of their stuff was frozen.
"Sorry," said Lee and Phillip simultaneously as they reversed the damage.
"Scott, I thought this would've been under control by now," said Palladium.
"We're still working on it, Professor," said Scott, "But, apparently there are still some kinks to work out."
"I can see that. I will have Bloom make an appointment with the Witches' Council tomorrow morning during lunch. In the meantime, you all should get some rest. I will escort the X-Men out.
"Thank you," said Scott as Professor Palladium led him and the X-Men back to the Blackbird.
"Well, that was a major fail," said Joshua.
"You just need more practice," Fester reassured. Just then, the twins finally arrived running towards them.
"Did you guys end already?" Candra asked knowing that they would be in trouble.
"Yes, we just got done," scolded Azar, "Where were you?!"
"He held us up!"
"Well, I have a good reason," defended Zoran, "I have a date."
"Seriously?" asked Nerio, "With who?"
"Do you remember that girl I danced with at the Back to School party?"
"You mean the Princess of Serenia?" asked Liron. (A/N: Serenia is a kingdom that appeared in the Winx Club comic series).
"Yeah," said Zoran, "Princess Ella, she invited me to a cafe."
"He's been asking me to help him pick out something to wear," said Candra, "The only problem was that I'm a woman, so I thought that he'd need a boy's second opinion." (A/N: These two are Stella's children. Of course, they would be thinking about clothes.)
"So, can you guys help me?" asked Zoran.
"Well, okay," said Brenton. The other boys nodded.
"I'm sure, Brian, would want to help, too," said Kendal.
"Brandon and Grant, too," said Remi.
"Might have to count me out," said Lee, "I'm going back to our dorm. After the Jinx's last attempt to steal the Book of Shadows, I do not want to take any chances. Besides, I want to learn more about my mutant power, see if I can expand it."
"I'll come with you," said Joshua, knowing the real reason.
"I guess that leaves us," said Matt.
"Trust me, you guys haven't seen these two's closets," Hydra teased.
"If they really are Stella's kids, then Ah think we'll know what to expect," said Matt.
A few minutes later, the boys were in Zoran's room and like Matt said, the group definitely were not surprised by what they saw. Zoran, like his mother and sister, had so many clothes that he had to have an entire second row.
"Alright," said Jay, "Let's get searching." With that, the boys were searching for the perfect date attire for Zoran. Brian later came across a sunglow dress shirt and orange dress pants.
"How about this?" asked Brian.
"Perfect!" Zoran exclaimed delightedly, as he went to change.
"He looks excited," said Jay.
"He is," Brenton replied, "But why didn't Lee want to help out?"
"You heard him," answered Liron, "He wants to try and expand his powers."
"Ah think it's more 'en that," said Matt.
"What do you mean?" asked Nerio.
"His other power is to drain the life and energy out of someone through skin on skin contact. That's why he's always wearing gloves. Maybe he's afraid of hurtin' someone."
"Or he's afraid of being hurt," said Jay, "That's why he can't turn that power off when he wants to, because he's afraid of getting his heart broken."
"Sounds about right," said Taylor. As they were talking Zoran emerged in his date outfit.
"Zoran, you look great," said Phillip in awe.
"Thanks, dude," said Zoran, looking down at his feet, "I still haven't decided on whether or not to change shoes or just wear these."
"Trust me, you never want to wear sandals on a first date unless it's at a beach," said Josh.
"Good point," said Zoran.
"How about these," asked Andishaeh, holding up a pair of orange sneaker boots.
"Nice," said Zoran, taking off his sandals and going to find a pair of socks to wear with the boots and pulled out a pair of yellow knee-length dress socks, grabbing a chest along the way.
"Let me guess, jewelry?" asked Taylor.
"Yep," said Zoran, putting the chest by his bed, sitting down on the bed to put on his socks and boots before opening the chest. He pulled out a silver bracelet and a yellow ring. He, then, got up to look at himself in the mirror.
"Perfect," said Zoran, getting ready to go out.
"Have fun tonight," Nerio called out. Zoran gave a thumbs up and was out the door.
A few minutes later, Matt, Phillip, and Taylor had arrived back in their room to get ready for bed and saw Lee and Joshua already in their pajamas reading the Book of Shadows.
"Still readin'?" asked Matt.
"Yeah," Lee replied, still looking through pages.
"Did Zoran leave yet?" asked Joshua.
"Yep, he's on his way to meet his lady love" Taylor replied, heading to his and Matt's room to change into his pajamas.
"Well, reading time's over," said Phillip telekinetically closing the book in Lee's face, "Now, what's the real reason you didn't want to help today?"
"I told you," Lee answered as Phillip sat next to him, "I just wanted to learn more about my mutant power."
"You, who literally knows everything about magic and mutants, should know more about your powers by now. Now spill it."
"Phil, leave him alone," Josh defended, "I think you know by now that he has an issue with this type of thing." Taylor and Matt then emerged in their pajamas and sat down as Phillip went to go change into his pajamas.
"Lee, we get it," said Taylor comforting him, "You can't get close to someone skin on skin without taking something from them."
"It's more to it than that," Lee said quietly. At this point, Phillip had already exited his room in his pajamas.
"You're afraid of gettin' hurt," Matt realized as Phillip sat back down. Lee just nodded.
"That's a part of life, bud," said Phillip, "We've all been there. It sucks, but it makes you stronger. Besides, you'll always have us." The rangers then gathered in a group hug to cheer up their friend.
"Alright, time for bed," said Matt. The group then dispersed to their own quarters and went to sleep. A few minutes later, while the Rangers slept. A portal opened with Ciena emerging through in her serpent form before reverting to human form. She walked over the room disgusted by the sight of all the bright colors when she saw the Book of Shadows on their coffee table. Now was her chance to find the spell for Princess Alchemy. But, when she tried to touch the book, it glowed, shocked her, and sent her flying into Lee and Joshua's door. She cursed under her breath. The noise surely would have woken them up. She ran as fast as she could towards the portal before reverting to her serpent appearance, slithering into the portal. The rangers each opened their doors, their Dragonzords, now in their juvenile stage growling at the portal. Lee saw the book smoking and put two and two together.
"Not again," Lee silently exclaimed as he went to grab the book. He grabbed the book and whipped out the Heart of Magix and closed the portal.
"We'd better keep the book in our room again in a safe place," said Joshua.
"Good idea," said Matt as the five rangers went back to bed. The next morning at Alfea, Brenton, Fester, Liron, and Nerio were all still asleep when suddenly they heard a crash coming from Zoran's room. They went to go and investigate.
"Zoran?" asked Brenton, "Is everything okay?" He was about to knock on the door when Zoran opened his door.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Zoran greeted.
"We could ask you the same thing," Nerio replied before asking, "What was that noise?"
"Um, something fell, but everything's okay now. Just go back to sleep."
"What's the point? It's almost time to get ready for the day anyway," said Brenton.
"So, what time did you get in last night?" asked Fester.
"Um, late, I didn't want to wake you up," said Zoran trying to close the door but Liron stopped him.
"How did your date go?" asked Liron.
"It was fine. It was very romantic and everything." Brenton knew something was wrong, they all grew up together so they would know when something was going on.
"Z, is everything okay?" asked Brenton, but then Zoran finally snapped.
"I'm fine, okay! Just go mind your own business!" Zoran shouted as he slammed the door in their faces.
"Now I know something's up," thought Brenton. A few minutes later, they reported what happened to the Witch Club and their friends.
"He snapped at you?" asked Lee. Brenton just nodded.
"Okay, that doesn't sound like my brother at all," said Candra.
"Maybe it was a bad date," Joshua suggested.
"He has had some episodes of depression and anger before, but usually he's so positive."
"Something just isn't right, I know it," said Brenton.
"How can you be sure?" asked Matt.
"Because we all grew up together. He and I were always the closest."
"He's right," said Fester, "They're almost like brothers."
"I'll try again with Zoran," said Brenton, "I'll catch up with you guys later." Brenton then got up from his chair after ruffling Lee's hair and went to the dormitories. Brenton knew something was up, he just didn't know what yet. As soon as he got to their dorm, he heard a crash coming from the ranger's apartment. He saw that somehow the door was open, so he entered and saw the door to Lee and Joshua's room was ajar. He entered to find their room more of a mess then it already was, and he saw the Book of Shadows on the floor with smoke coming from it.
"Not again," Brenton muttered under his breath as he went to get the book. Before he could pick it up, he heard the door close behind him and saw Zoran was behind it.
"Welcome to the party, Brenton," greeted Zoran sinisterly. Brenton looked at Zoran, then back to the book, and put two and two together.
"You're not Zoran," he said, getting a fireball ready.
'Zoran' simply smiled, getting a dark bolt ready, "You're smarter than we realized. Too bad it's not going to save you." 'Zoran's then threw the dark bolt at Brenton knocking him to the ground. They heard the rangers coming back to their room and 'Zoran' blinked out, shocking Brenton.
Minutes later, Brenton had told the Witch Club and their friends everything.
"No, said Candra, "I can't believe this."
"You better believe it, girl," said Hydra, "Because this is no dream."
"But, if that was an imposter, then what happened to the real Zoran?" asked Fester.
"I wish I knew," said Brenton.
"Maybe he was kidnapped while he was on the date," Skyler suggested.
"But then, why didn't Princess Ella help?" asked Electra, "Was she involved?"
"I'm not sure if that's the case," said Brenton.
"Well, maybe we should go to Red Fountain and ask her," said Azar.
"Good idea," said Nerio.
"Okay, let's get going," said Brian.
"Same with the Witch Club," added Jay.
"You guys go ahead," said Lee, "I think I read something in the Book of Shadows to help us find the real Zoran."
"Okay, little brother," said Jay though he gave the others a look.
"Wait," said Phillip, knowing for a fact Lee was trying to protect his heart, "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"Scrying," said Joshua, "We saw a page about it in the Book of Shadows." Lee nodded. (3)
"For that you'll need a crystal and a map," said Electra, "Not to mention that it's an ability that takes a lot of practice."
"Well, I can provide the crystal," suggested Skyler, who had power over crystals.
"And there are some maps in the library," added Brandon, "I can go look for one."
"Thanks, guys," said Lee.
A few minutes later, the group headed to Red Fountain to talk to Princess Ella. Ella had lightly tanned skin with shoulder length, ginger blond hair tied in a fishtail braid, and blue eyes. She was wearing the Red Fountain Uniform: a yellow and blue catsuit with a blue cape with sky blue jewel attached to it. She also wears white biker gloves and blue knee length boots.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I never asked him out to any cafe," said Ella, "I trained until late and then went to sleep."
"Then, someone tricked him," Candra realized.
"And since Brenton saw the imposter blinking," said Matt, "It had to be one of the warlocks."
"One of Erebus's powers is to create illusions," said Brenton, "It could be him."
"But that doesn't help until we find out where they're keeping Zoran," said Brian.
"Let's get back to Alfea and see if the others are done scrying yet," Azar suggested.
"Thanks, Ella," said Candra.
"No probs," said Ella, leaving to train some more, "I hope you find him."
Joshua then realized something, turned to Candra, and asked, "Didn't your mom go through the same thing?"
"Yeah," Candra answered, "The Trix tricked my mom into going to the Black Lagoon Cafe and used her as ransom for Bloom to turn in the Sword Ring, thinking that it had the power of the Dragon Flame."
"In that case, we definitely need to head back to Alfea," said Brenton as the group made tracks.
Back at Alfea, Lee, Skyler, and Brandon were in the library with the Book of Shadows and a map laid in front of them scrying with an amethyst crystal that Skyler conjured up. That is when the rest of the group walked in.
"Anything?" asked Candra.
"Nothing yet," said Skyler, "According to the Book of Shadows, we need something related to Zoran, like a piece of clothing."
"I think he may have something in his room that we can use," said Brenton, "I'll go see."
"I'll come, too," said Taylor.
"Same here," said Matt. The three boys hurried up to the Winx boys' room. When they got there, the room was a mess. The three boys looked around for something that could be used. While grabbing Zoran's Chacos, Taylor suddenly had a premonition, but this one was different, however. It was not a vision of the future, but the past!
Zoran stood at the bottom of Red Fountain waiting for his date when suddenly she appeared and fired a dark bolt at him, knocking him out. 'Ella' then shapeshifted into Erebus, who opened a portal under him, sending him to a different place. He then, casted an illusion spell and shapeshifted into Zoran.
After his vision ended, Matt and Brenton looked at him in worry.
"What did ya see?" asked Matt.
"I saw Zoran getting kidnapped last night," said Taylor, "You were right, Brent. Erebus did replace him."
"Wait, you saw a past event?" asked Matt in shock.
"That makes sense," said Brenton, "Your powers were supposed to grow over time."
"Yeah," said Taylor, seeing the jewelry box, "What something from the chest?"
"Good call," said Brenton as he went digging and found a familiar ring.
"Perfect," exclaimed Brenton. The three went back to the Library where they saw the group surrounding Ms. Barbatea.
"Ms. Barbatea, what are you doing here?" asked Brenton.
"She's helping us," said Hydra, "She has more experience than the rest of us."
"We found this ring," said Brenton.
"That's the sword ring of Solaria," said Candra in shock, "Mom passed it down to Zoran when we turned twelve. It was supposed to help him channel his powers."
"Let me see it," said Ms. Barbatea. Brenton gave her the ring and tied it around the crystal tie. As she moved it across the map it started swinging more and more violently, going faster and faster until finally landing on a specific part of the map. Electra used her powers to scan the area and provide a picture of the location, Candra's face turned pale after seeing the cottage.
"Candra?" asked Abby.
"What's wrong?" asked Karsyn.
"That's where my mom was held captive!" Candra exclaimed.
Minutes later, the group made it to the area that Zoran would be.
"There it is," said Candra, "The Black Lagoon."
"I'm surprised no one's ever bought this place," said Andishaeh.
"No one can," said Fester stepping forward on the grass, "This is just another illusion." Phillip slipped off his flip flops to use his seismic senses and he nodded his head in confirmation.
"Well, it's time for this illusion to come down," said Lee as he summoned the Heart of Magix in his hand with a snap of his fingers, "Shield your eyes!" The crystal glowed bright as it shot out an energy sweep, dispersing the illusion.
"Let's check it out," said Azar and the group all walked in together. The interior looked abandoned just like the Winx said.
"Bro?" Candra called out.
"Z, where are you?" Brenton called out. Just then, the group was suddenly bombarded by a dark bolt. Skyler protected them all with a crystal shield.
"Hello, fairies," said a voice coming out to reveal 'Zoran', who immediately dropped his disguise and turned back into Erebus, "We've been expecting you." Suddenly, the rest of the Jinx blinked into the room ready for a fight. They summoned a few golems to even out the odds and Mistress Ciena suddenly slithered in.
"Magic Winx!" The group called out as they all transformed into their fairy forms.
Brian, the Fairy of Astral Energy, was wearing a cyan tank top, cyan shorts, teal gauntlets, and cyan ankle boots. His wings were sea green.
Brandon, the Fairy of Plasma, wore a gray backwards cap, gray t-shirt, gray shorts, and gray ankle boots that exposed his toes. His wings were orange.
Grant, the Fairy of Twilight, wore a black t-shirt, a gray bracelet, black shorts, and black ankle boots. His wings were white.
Skyler, the Fairy of Crystals, a pink halter tip, lavender elbow-length gloves, a pink knee length skirt, and pink knee length boots. Her wings were silver.
"Magic Winx! Enchantix!" Josh and Kendal called out, transforming into their Enchantix forms. They were all getting ready to attack when Ciena brought her tail forward to reveal it to be coiled around Zoran.
"Zoran!" Candra called out.
"I'm sorry, guys," said Zoran apologetically, "The warlocks tricked me."
"Don't apologize, bro, we'll get you out of this."
"I'm already prepared to fry a serpent," said Brenton.
"You'll do no such thing, fairy, or the prince of the sun here gets strangled by my tail," Ciena threatened before turning to Lee and said, "Now, the crystal please?"
"It's your choice, Lee, Zoran's life or the ring," said Edur.
"This is blackmail!" shouted Brandon.
"Why I outta…," Matt started before hearing a snap. They all turned to Lee, seeing that he ripped the crystal off his chest.
"We can't let Zoran die," said Lee. The others agreed, but Azar was still skeptical.
"Keep your word, or I'll try your sorry tail!" Azar threatened. Lee flew over to them and handed the crystal over to Ciena.
"Take it," Lee said silently as Ciena snatched it from his hand. The serpent then released her grip on Zoran causing him to fall only to be caught by Phillip telekinetically. Phillip then levitated him towards his sister who grabbed him in a hug. Finally having what they wanted, the Jinx, Ciena, and the golems blinked out. Brenton walked towards Lee and pulled him into a hug.
Hours later, back at Alfea, Zoran was getting changed into his pajamas.
"Thanks for saving me, Lee," he said, "I'm just sorry it cost you the crystal."
"We'll get it back," Lee reassured.
"That's right," said Matt, "Alchemy may have scored a goal, but the game ain't over yet."
"We're going to meet with the Witches' Council tomorrow about how to get it back," said Phillip.
"That's good to hear," said Brenton, pulling Lee closer to him. The other boys got the message and left the two alone.
"You've been a big help today," said Brenton, "But, what's this I hear about you being afraid of getting hurt?"
"I've had my heart broken so many times in life," Lee admitted, "Betrayal, heartbreak, all of it. And my depression makes it worse times three. I have seen so many people in my family get their hearts broken by someone and I've been betrayed by so many family members. I just don't know how to deal with it."
"That's understandable," said Brenton, "But just to let you know. I would never hurt you. You can trust me, okay?"
"Okay," said Lee as Brenton pulled him into another hug.
"I'll always be here for you," said Brenton, rubbing the back of Lee's head, "And I will always protect you."
"Thank you," said Lee as he began to feel more and more safe in Brenton's arms.
Looks like Lee has a new best friend for life. But, how will the Rangers retrieve the Heart of Magix, and will it help Alchemy in obtaining the Book of Shadows and their powers? We will find out someday soon. Until then, this is yellowwinx8 signing off.
Matt, Phillip, Joshua, Taylor's X-Uniform color schemes come from Avatar.
Lee's X-Uniform is based off of Elsa's new attire in Frozen 2.
Scrying is a basic power that was constantly used in the original 1998-2006 Charmed.