A/N: Hello, readers. If you were confused on the last chapter. Let me explain. As you know, Tanner has powers even when he is demorphed. The headaches that he has are when he's about to have visions. He can see things happen before they happen. If that makes sense. Enjoy!

EDITED ON JANUARY 14TH, 2019 @ 11:16PM

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CHAPTER TEN - PETRIFIED XANDER

𝓣𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝚁

WE WERE ALL AT THE Rock Porium. "Hey, Chip, any luck with you-know-what?" Vida asked. "Ha! I have outsold you by $12.50. I win the bet you owe me lunch." Vida stated. "Not so fast. Xander the Great still has four minutes to go." Xander informed. "Same here. And Xander the Great? Really?" I asked him.

That's when Leelee walked in. "Ah, Leelee." Vida said. "Can somebody help me here?" Leelee asked. "Afternoon, Leelee. You look like a Zeppelin fan. Can I interest you in something?" Xander asked. Leelee giggled.

"Nice zit... Rudolph." Leelee commented. "Zit?" Xander question. That's when he saw it as all of us laughed. He headed over to the mirror. "Oh, Xander the Great... big pimple!" Vida said.

"Oh, it totally ruins my perfect profile. This zit is like having an extra nose." Xander exclaimed. "That's it! Maybe the scroll to the Fire Heart is like two halves of the same face, minus the zit, of course." Chip informed.

We saw Leelee looking over toward us. "Shh!" Vida said. "Yes! Success!" Toby shouted from his office. He exited his office. "I finished this entire cryptomagnetic puzzle in just under 40 minutes. I should work for the CIA or the FBI. Or, better still, the Power Rangers." Toby said as we all gasped.

"Uh..." Chip muttered. "What'd I say?" Toby asked. "Nothing." Vida said. "Yeah, that's a great idea." Chip stated.  "You should, uh..." Vida started off. "Give them a call!" I added. "A call. Give them a call!" Toby said as he headed back into his office. We all sighed.

We were all at Root Core. "Yeah, and then it hit me. The mirror was the key. So, while Xander was staring at himself, and I was staring at Xander, the answer was staring at me." Chip explained as he grabbed the mirror from Xander. He placed the mirror in front of the paper.

"What mountain does that look like?" Chip asked. That's when it all hit us. "Mount Fuego! Yeah, Chip!" Nick, Madison, Vida, and I said at the same time. "Ah! It's working! Look, I finally did something right!" Claire exclaimed. "What did you do?" Xander asked.

"It's a potion I concocted to make sad, dull-looking flowers become perfectly gorgeous." Clare replied as she walked away. "It's perfection potion." Xander said. "Right, let's go. Fire Heart is waiting. We'll have to split up to cover that much territory." Nick informed as we started to leave. "Come on, Xander." Vida said.

We arrived at the Mount Fuego as we climbed up it. "V, Tanner, come quick!" Xander called. "What?" Vida asked. "Did you find it?" I added. "What? Oh, no, no, no. But look." Xander said as he turned his head. His zit was gone. "My perfect profile has been restored. I'm back. Xander's back." Xander said to us.

"This mountain ain't big enough for the four of us— You, me, Tanner, and your ego." Vida said. I chuckled as she continued onto the mountain. "Whoa, look at that." Vida said as she pointed to something that was shining. We rushed up to it.

"That's definitely the symbol." Xander said as Vida and I nodded. We headed inside the cave. "Be ready for anything." Vida told us. "Got it." Xander and I replied. That's when Xander stepped on something. "Hey! Watch out!" Xander warned. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away as green slime fell on Vida.

"Cave slime." Vida said as she sighed. "Nasty." She added. "Look." Xander said, pointing to something. We headed over to the door. ""The Fire Heart is close at hand. Those who find it shall rule the land. But take good care, for there is no clue. Is it door number 1 or door number 2?"" Xander read as we looked at both the doors. "What do you think we should—" Xander said.

That's when Vida pulled open a door as we saw a chest. "Yes! That's got to be it." Vida said. "You always have been lucky." Xander commented. "Let's get it outside." Vida said. "I want to see what's behind door number 2." Xander said as he opened the door.

"Xander!" I shouted. That's when we heard growling as Xander closed the door. "I, on the other hand, am not so lucky." Xander said as a monster came out. "All right, let's Ranger up and show him who's boss." Xander stated. We morphed as we got kicked out of the cave.

"Okay, he's boss." Xander said. "You think?" Vida and I said at the same time. We began fighting the monster. He attacked Xander and I. "Xander! Tanner!" Vida shouted. She kicked the monster. "Are you two okay?" She asked. "Peachy." I replied. "Been better." Xander added.

Vida got out her staff. "Magic Staff — Tornado Power!" Vida shouted as she flew into the air along with the monster. The monster fell onto the ground and was destroyed. "Power down." Xander said as he demorphed. I did the same thing and demorphed as well. "Power down." Vida said as she demorphed too. She helped both of us up. "Thanks." Xander said. "Let's get the Fire Heart." Vida said. "Yeah." Xander agreed.

We grabbed the Fire Heart and met up with the others. "Hey! We heard an explosion." Nick said as Madison, Nick, and Chip rushed towards us. We tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. "Look at this." Madison said as she took off a scroll that was on it. "Whoa. It's counting down." Vida stated. ""This ancient puzzle is your task at hand. Solve it quickly to recieve what's grand. But if you fail this timely chore, the Fire Heart will be no more."" Chip read.

"Great, another riddle." He said. That's when we suddenly got attacked. "Hand over the chest!" A foot soldier demanded. More foot soldiers came. "Let's Ranger up." Nick said. We all got out our morphers. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!" We all shouted. We all morphed. "Magic Staff!" Nick shouted as he got out his staff and began fighting the main foot soldier.

The rest of us began fighting them as well. Xander ended up saving Nick just in time. "Way to go, guys!" Vida complimented. We all cheered. We were all back at Root Core. "It's still counting down." Madison said. "Sorry, guys. I've never seen a puzzle like this. I don't know where to even begin." Chip told us. "Then none of us do. And we've already lost half an hour." Madison stated.

"You still got leaves stuck in your hair from the battle." Nick said as he tried to pull it out. "Ow!" Xander said. "It's nothing. Really." Xander informed. He sighed as he turned back around.

"I'm just having a little issue." Xander said as he showed us his arms. We all gasped then laughed. "This is funny to you guys?" Xander asked as we all nodded. "Oh, come on, Xander. Hey, you always laugh when Clare turns herself into funny stuff." Vida informed and chuckled.

"I'm sure it's just a side effect of your organic powers. It'll go away. Knock on wood." I said as everyone laughed again. "Guys, guys, come on. Enough. "Leaf" Xander alone." Nick stated as we laughed once more. "Guys, can we focus on something more important, like opening the chest? We're running out of time." Xander said as we stopped laughing.

"Hey, I got it!" Chip said. "What, you solved the puzzle?" Vida asked. "No. But I think I know who can." Chip replied. We all arrived at the Rock Porium with Toby looking at the chest. "Hardest puzzle in the world, huh?" Toby asked. "Next to impossible." Chip answered. "Can you beat the clock?" He asked. "Oh, I can solve it in less than an hour." Toby replied as he picked up the chest and headed into his office.

"This better work." Vida said. "Hey, don't worry. As soon as he figures it out, we'll create a diversion and slip away with the chest before he can open it. Simple." Chip informed. "Famous last words." I said as I turned away and saw Xander coming in. "Tanner." He whispered. I walked over to him as he took off his sunglasses. "Still blossoming, I see." I told him. "It's getting worse. Look." Xander said as he showed me his chest that was green.

"Ooh. Some girls like a mossy chest." I joked and chuckled. "Tanner, this is serious. I can't be seen like this. What happens if it doesn't go away?" Xander asked. "It will... In the fall." I replied as I laughed once more. "Look, you didn't do anything to cause it, so I'm sure it'll fix itself." I told him.

"I did do something. I sprayed myself with Clare's perfection potion hoping to fix my nose." Xander informed. Xander gasped. "Now look at me." Xander muttered.

I headed into Root Core. "Hey, have you seen Xander?" I asked Clare. "No. But look. My potion failed. All of those pretty flowers I sprayed died." Clare responded as she sighed. "Oh, no. Xander." I muttered. I arrived at Phineas's place.

"Hey." I greeted. "Watch what you say. Tough crowd." Phineas told me as I headed in. "Xander, there you are. I've been looking all over the forest for you." I informed. "Here I am... Where I fit in." Xander said. "Clare's working on an antidote for the perfection potion right now." I said. "It's too late. Look at me. I was so worried about looking perfect. Now... I'll never be able to show my face to anyone... ever again. Xander the Great's gone for good." Xander said.

I sat down next to him. "No he isn't. He's sitting right next to me, feeling sorry for himself. Look, I didn't mean to ride you so hard. It's just that you're always so confident. It's kind of nice to see a human... so to speak." I said. "How can I be confident now?" Xander asked me. "Confidence comes from the inside, and your insides are still intact. Xander, you are great. You don't have to be "Xander the Great."" I answered.

"I guess you're right. I am more than just a pretty face." Xander said. I smiled and stood up. "Come on. Let's get you back to normal." I said. He grabbed my hand as he stood up. "Ah! Can't move." Xander exclaimed. "You're taking root!" I said as I saw that his feet turned into roots and he was stuck to the ground.

"Come on, Xander!" I said as I tried to pull him. "It's not working! My arms are stiffening! Gonna take a miracle!" Xander exclaimed. "Guys— You guys—" Clare said as she stumbled down. "Hurry, Clare!" I said. "I've got the antidote!" Clare stated. "Quick! My mouth is starting to—" Xander started to say. Clare sprayed the antidote. "I've got a faster way." I said as I took the antidote. My eyes turned silver as ice came out of my hands.

The branches and everything broke off as Xander was back to normal. "It worked!" I exclaimed. "It's gone! Thank you. I could not have gotten through this without you." Xander said. That's when his morpher chimed. "New spell code." Xander said. "Guys, we need your help! Hurry!" Nick said. "Let's go." Xander said.

I followed Xander. Xander and I were morphed as we joined the others. "Just in time! That bonehead's going after the Fire Heart!" Nick said. "Okay! I'll get him!" Xander said. "Right!" I said as I joined the others in fighting the foot soldiers. Xander ended up defeating the monster with his Mystic Force Fighters.

We went back to the Rock Porium. We headed into Toby's office. "You solve it?" Chip asked. "Yes, yes! It's a mathematical conundrum. You see, each of these buttons corresponds to a number that, when divided by pi, gives a series of integers that all point towards... this button." Toby explained. Vida pushed the button as it opened. "I'm the greatest puzzle-solver on the face of the planet!" Toby exclaimed. Chip and Nick went to go pick up the chest.

"Thanks a lot, Toby. You're a genius." Vida said. "Whoa, wait! W-What's inside? You gotta tell me." Toby told us. "Toby, if a tree makes a mistake in the forest, and a friend comes to help it, does the tree learn it's lesson?" Xander asked. I chuckled. "Oh, A riddle! A riddle." Toby said as he went back into his office to work on it. We were all back at Root Core looking at the chest. "Here we go." Nick said as he opened it. An egg was inside.

"An egg? The Fire Heart is an egg?" Chip asked.

"No ordinary egg, Chip. This... is the last dragon egg." Udonna replied.

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A/N: I know that the whole thing with Xander was supposed to be Vida, but I switched it to Tanner. Deal with it. Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2226 words.