A/N: Hello, readers. Welcome to chapter eight! Enjoy!

EDITED ON JANUARY 13TH, 2019 @ 10:30PM

»»————-　✼　————-««

CHAPTER EIGHT - STRANGER WITHIN, PART 1

𝓣𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝚁

WE WERE JUST CLOSING THE Rock Porium as Leelee walked in. "Sorry, Leelee. We're closing." Nick told her. "Perfect. That means you have no excuses to for not taking me to see this great new DJ tonight." Leelee said as she showed the flyer.

I was at the counter with Vida. "That girl tries way too hard to be with Nick." I think to myself. "No can do. I already have plans." Nick replied. "Please?" Leelee begged. "Don't waste your time throwing yourself at him, Lee. Throw yourself at me." Xander said. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay you can come with me." Leelee said. "Cool." Xander said. "And he can't go, either. He's the one I have plans with." Nick stated as he came out of the office. Vida looked at the flyer. "DJ Fly— never heard of him. Any good?" Vida asked. "He's just like the hottest new DJ around. I'm surprised you haven't heard of him." Leelee replied.

"I better check this guy out." Vida said. "Great! You can go with me." Leelee told her. Suddenly, I got this massive headache. It's something that's always been happening with me since I became a Ranger. It came along with my ice powers and it's something I cannot control. It just happens. "You okay, Tanner?" Vida asked. "Fine." I replied, rubbing my head.

"Vida has plans, too." Nick said. "But there's new talent in town. Our plans can wait until tomorrow." Vida told him. Nick was showing Leelee to the exit. "No, they can't. You gave your word that you'd help, V. Thanks for the invite, Leelee. Some other time. We're closed." Nick told her as Leelee left. He closed the door. "We have half the Fire Heart scroll to figure out. Chip and Madison are waiting at Root Core remember?" Nick told us.

"Since when did you become Nick, the good witch of Briarwood?" Xander asked. I sighed as I followed them. "You coming, V?" Nick asked. "Be there in a few. I got some paperwork to catch up on." Vida answered. I followed Xander as Nick was right behind me.

We were all at Root Core. "I give up. Maybe we're not meant to find the secret of the Fire Heart." Xander said. "Come on. Don't give up. Never give up." Nick told us. "Wow. Nick, that's inspiring." Madison said. Nick sighed. "Yeah. That's what I thought when Udonna yelled it at me this morning when I was ready to quit." Nick stated.

"By the way, where is Udonna?" Nick asked. "Last time I saw Udonna, she was teaching Clare another invisibility spell." Madison replied. "Which could be the problem right there." Chip said. We laughed. Suddenly, Vida walked in. "Yo, crew. Sorry I'm late." Vida said. ""Late"? We haven't seen you since yesterday. That's— that's beyond late. So much for giving us your word." Nick said.

"Relax. You're not my dad. So I missed a night of saving the world. Good news is the world's still here." Vida informed. "Uh, V, it's not that you missed last night. You missed all day, too. It's nighttime again." Xander stated. "I was worried about you." Madison added. "Look. I'm sorry. I gave my word, and I blew it. It won't happen again." Vida told us.

"Hey. No problem, V. We all make mistakes." Chip stated. That's when Nick looked like he was in pain and we all rushed out into the forest. We stopped and saw foot soldiers coming out. We all got into a fighting stance. "Let's Ranger up!" Nick said. That's when Vida stood in front.

"Why bother?" She asked as she started fighting. We all watched her fight. "Man! Look at V go!" Nick said, sounding impressed. "This catching-up-on-your-sleep thing seems to be paying off for her." Xander added. I ended up getting a headache once more and couldn't really concentrate on Vida fighting. "These headaches keep getting more and more painful. Stupid ice powers." I thought, rubbing my head.

"Go, sis. I've never seen her like this before." I heard Madison say. "Neither have I. That was just weird." Chip agreed. "Tornado Power!" Vida said as she attacked the foot soliders. We all rushed over to congratulate her. "Very impressive." Koragg said. We all got into a fighting stance. "Now, how about a real challenge?" Koragg asked.

We all got out our morphers. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!" We all shouted. We all morphed and headed into our Zords. "Welcome to your last fight!" Koragg exclaimed as he got out his sword. "That's what you think!" Nick said. "Wolf attack!" Koragg shouted as he attacked us. Chip and Nick started to fight him. I tried fighting him after Madison but ended up on the ground.

"Could use some help, V!" Chip said. "Incoming!" Vida shouted in her soccer ball form. "Gotcha! A little game of catch, Koragg?" Chip asked as he threw the soccer ball and it attacked him. "I'm not done yet!" Koragg said. "Major Detestros!" Koragg shouted as a horse came and Koragg formed his own Megazord. "Mystic Titans, Dragon Formation!" We all yelled.

Suddenly, the sun came up. "The sun's so bright! I feel all..." Vida said. "V! What's the matter?" Xander asked as Vida fell to the ground. That's when Vida demorphed and fell to the ground. "Are you okay, sis?" Madison asked. "V!" Nick said. "You lose one, and you all quit?" Koragg asked as he attacked Xander who was protecting the rest of us.

"Xander!" I shouted. "Look at your pitiful selves. You are defenseless. I waste my time." Koragg said as he disappeared. "Guys! We have to help her!" Chip informed. We all headed down as we ran towards Vida. We were all at the Rock Porium. "What happened to Vida at the club the other night?" Nick asked Leelee. "V's been acting a little strange since then." Chip added.

"She was acting kinda strange at the club. She was, like, nice to me, even talking to me." Leelee said. "Leelee, This is important." Xander told her. "Oh, right. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But I couldn't stay. My mom called, and I had to leave. Vida was fine when I left..." Leelee answered. We all turned to see Madison with Vida wearing shades and had her hood up. "...and had a better tan." Leelee added.

"Hey, V." Xander said. "Hey." Vida replied, nodding her head at him. "Feeling any better?" Xander asked. Vida shrugged. "I guess so. I'm just a little sensitive to sunlight." Vida replied as she walked off. "Pale complexion, sensitive to sunlight?" Chip muttered to himself as he pulled out a book.

We were all at Root Core. "Good morning, Root Core." Vida said as she entered. "Hey, sis. You're feeling better." Madison said. "I'm feeling great. Slept like a baby. Let's rock and roll!" Vida stated. "Wish I could say the same for myself." I think to myself as I rubbed my temples. It was my third headache this week. "You slept like a log— 22 hours worth." Nick told her. Madison got out her camera.

"Hey, V, say a few words to your fans." Madison told her. "All right, I'll show you a new pose that came to me in a dream." Vida said as she did a pose and laughed. "After such a long nap, you must be very thirsty, V." Chip said as he handed her a glass that looked like it was tomato juice. Vida took it and took a sip, only to spit it back out. "Yuck!" Vida said as she coughed. "It's tomato juice." Vida exclaimed. "Aw, what? Did you think it was blood?" Chip asked.

Vida looked at him confused. "Pardon me?" Xander asked. "I am a card-carrying member of C. O. N. T. V. —" Chip informed as he took out a card. Nick looked confused. "Containment of Underworld Nocturnal Transylvanian Vampires club. And I, my friends, have found myself a vampire." Chip explained. "My sister is a vampire?" Madison asked, not believing him.

"Pale skin, sensitivity to light, sleeping all day, thirst for blood — textbook vampire signs." Chip said, showing a book. All of us laughed. "Come on, guys. We're late for work." Nick said as we headed out. "I'll meet with you guys later. I gotta grab a bite before I go." Vida called after us. We laughed once more. "Okay, maybe I'm wrong. I'll stay here and go in with V." Chip said.

"V!" Madison shouted as we walked into Rootcore. "Chip! Guys?" Nick shouted. "You're out here awfully late, what is going on?" Udonna asked us. "Chip and V didn't show for work. We think there may be a problem." Nick replied. "They seemed all right the last time you saw them?" Udonna asked.

"Well, not exactly. Vida's been acting very strange. And Chip thought that she might be..." Xander started off as he chuckled. "Well, these are Chip's words, not ours... a vampire." Xander finished. "Well, there are many things in the woods that seem... unbelievable. But I assure you, they do exist." Udonna told us.

"Hey, I just thought of something. This morning, I took some video of Vida." Madison said as she got out her morpher and played it. We walked up to it and saw that Vida was not showing in the video. "Okay thats weird. She was dead center frame when I took this and now she's not there." Madison said. "Her image will not appear on video, as it will not reflect in a mirror. Chip was right. She is a vampire." Udonna said.

"Find them, Rangers. They need your help." Udonna told us. "Let's go." Nick said. We all joined Vida and Chip who were morphed as well. "V! You okay?" Madison asked. "Never better!" Vida replied as she did her pose. "Good! Let's swat this fly!" Nick said. We all flipped our capes as we started doing roll call with me going first.

"Cold as Ice — Silver Mystic Ranger!"

"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!"

"Forceful as Fire — Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Courage is our magic..." Chip started off. "..And your downfall!" Vida finished. "No problem!" Flytrap said as he tied us all. "Let me try some magic!" Vida said as she turned into a fly and grew again. "Magic Staff!" Vida shouted as she freed all of us.

"Magic Staff, Crossbow Mode!" Chip shouted as he fired at Flytrap. "Nice one, Chip!" Vida complimented. We surrounded Flytrap. "Tornado time!" Vida said as we all started to spin. Flytrap flew into the air and fell onto the ground. "Mystic Force!" We all shouted.

"Shut your trap!" Flytrap said as he grew big. "Let's even this out!" Chip said. We all got out our morphers as we changed into our Zords and made our Megazord. "Let's get him! You all right, sis?" Madison asked. "Never been better!" Vida answered as she did her pose. "Like the new pose, V!" Chip complimented.

"Titan Saber!" We all shouted as we blocked Flytrap's attack. The sun started to come up as the townspeople reacted to it. "We have to break the spell fast!" Chip said. "Ancient Power, Mystic Spell Shield!" We all shouted. We aimed it towards Flytrap as he got destroyed. We demorphed and saw that the townspeople were happy that nothing happened to them.

"Chip saved the day. I got my sister back. And Briarwood teenagers are back to normal." Madison said. We all celebrated. We were all back working at the Rock Porium. Vida and Leelee were having a dance party.

"Hey, so, Nick, Tanner, now that you know vampires do exist, how about joining the C. O. U. N. T. V club?" Chip asked us. "Not interested." Nick replied. "Sorry, Chip. I'm gonna have to agree with Nick on this one. I got better things to do." I told him. "Like researching what these headaches mean.." I thought.

"Wait— before you two make a hasty decision, let me show you what your 200 bucks gets you." Chip said as he pulled out something. "Three cloves of garlic, "How to spot a vampire" handbook, mirror, vampire chalk, and a vial—" Chip started off.

"Wait, wait, wait. "vampire chalk"?" Nick asked. "No vampire hunter worth his wooden stake goes anywhere without it." Chip replied. Nick nodded his head. "Just draw a circle around the vampire, and they cannot cross the line." Chip said as he demonstrated it by drawing a circle around Vida who was still dancing with Leelee. Madison came up to us. "What is he doing?" She asked. "Showing how vampire chalk works." Nick replied.

"So if Vida was a vampire, she couldn't cross that line." Nick said. "Yep." Chip answered. Madison, Nick, and I laughed. "Hey, V, we got any coltrane on CD?" Xander asked. "Let me check!" Vida replied as she tried crossing the circle but it acted like a shield and didn't let her pass. We all turned around. She tried crossing again but it wouldn't let her. "V? Are you all right?" Chip asked.

That's when we saw Vida's eyes glow and fangs coming out.

»»————-　✼　————-««

A/N: There's part one. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Word Count: 2256 words.