"WOWP: Wizards vs. Warlocks"
Shortly after the fiasco with the dark angel Gorog, Felix and his new Ogre-friend managed to find another wizard-apartment that they could move into with their buddies, Abercrombie Zombie and Hugh Normous. A couple weeks later, the four friends watched the Russo Family's Wizard-Competition on Hugh's tiny television and learned that not only were Alex and Justin both receiving full-wizardry, but that Justin would also be taking over as WizTech's New Headmaster. As Felix half-expected, Justin phoned him soon after and offered him a job as a WizTech security guard.
In the weeks that followed, just as they predicted, security concerns at WizTech dropped to nearly nothing since no one wanted to mess with the owner of the Wizard World's most powerful wand. As result, Felix wound up spending most of his time hanging out at WizTech's food court which was now being run by Justin's fiancée, Juliet, and her parents, Cindy and Alucard Van Heusen.
Like everyone else, Felix knew that Justin had a hidden agenda for hiring Juliet's family. For starters, it gave him an excuse to be closer to his bride-to-be. But his other reason, of course, was that Juliet's parents would need to close down their other restaurant, The Late Nite Bite, in order to properly devote their time to their new establishment. This meant that the Russo Waverly Substation would no longer have any competition and would be able to regain all its lost business. The Van Heusen's didn't mind Justin's motive, however, because working in the Wizard World meant that they no longer needed to hide their vampirism from their customers. They had also become very welcoming of their new future son-in-law when they learned how much money he'd be making from his new job. Felix was also happy to have the Van Heusen's running the food court because he absolutely loved their cooking . . . and also because he sort of had a crush on Juliet's mom.
One evening, after completing another shift, Felix made his usual stop by the food court to have a midnight snack and to chat with Cindy. In the middle of their conversation, Felix's wand suddenly went into phone-mode and began to ring.
"Hello," Felix answered . . . "Hey Danno, what's up? . . . Are you serious? . . . Really? . . . Where are you right now? . . . Okay, sit tight, I'm heading straight for the portals!"
Felix hung up and turned to Cindy with a tone of urgency: "Can I get this food to go? I gotta bolt."
"Sure thing," said Cindy as she prepared a doggy bag. "Who was that Danno-guy anyway?"
"He's an elf-wizard who works for the Wizard World Police Force," replied Felix. "I became friends with him back when I was still taking Mr. Justin's delinquent-class."
"An elf-wizard?" inquired Cindy. "I never heard of an elf named 'Danno' before."
"Well, his real name is long and hard to pronounce," Felix explained. "So everyone just calls him 'Danno' after the cop-character from Hawaii 5-O."
"I see," replied Cindy as she handed him his doggy bag. "And you say you became friends with him while you were still a delinquent? Sounds like there's a story to be told there."
"There is," said Felix. "And I'll tell you about it some other time. But right now, I gotta run. A break-in just happened over at the Hall of Wizards."
"Well, what does that have to do with you?" Cindy curiously inquired.
"Danno said there's evidence showing that a warlock was involved and that he might be related to the one who originally stole my family's all-powerful wand all those years ago. Catch ya later."
As Felix ran toward WizTech's portal-chamber, his thoughts flashed back to the history he shared with Danno the elf-cop. Although the two didn't become friends until Felix was taking Justin's class, they had actually first met when Danno arrested him for flying a magic carpet while drunk. This was actually one of the misdemeanors that led to Felix's original expulsion from WizTech and his subsequent enrollment into Justin's delinquent class. A few weeks later, on the night the Moral Compass had been stolen and switched to evil, their paths would cross again . . . .
. . . . Felix had been finishing some homework that night when he was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to track down and get into some heavy mischief with some other degenerate wizard-punks who had opted not to take the delinquent course. The leader of this punk group was T.J. Taylor, a wizard-youth who was expelled from WizTech after someone reported that he revealed wizardry to his mortal girlfriend by turning her into a middle-aged school teacher. Although Felix didn't know it at the time, the person who reported T.J. was none other than Justin's sister, Alex.
After being approached with Felix's request to join the punks, T.J. was delighted to have another set of muscles to add to his posse and he welcomed Felix with open arms. Within moments, Felix was being introduced to the other members of the gang, and it was then that he saw the elf-wizard with big ears whom he instantly recognized as the cop who had previously arrested him. At first, T.J. and the rest of the gang did not believe Felix's accusation that their friend was an undercover cop because the elf had claimed that he was still a teenager. But Felix then reminded everyone that elves were like werewolves and vampires in that they retained their youthful appearance for hundreds or sometimes thousands of years before they start to show signs of aging.
T.J. quickly cast a truth-spell which revealed that Felix was right. The elf, Danno, was then quickly exposed as an undercover officer who was trying to obtain evidence that T.J.'s gang was plotting to break several wizard-criminals out of prison as part of a plan to take control of the entire Wizard World. Among the criminals whom they were planning to free were Dr. Evilini and Ronald Longcape Jr. - both of whom had also been ironically defeated by Alex.
Within seconds, T.J., Felix, and the other punks used their powers to wrap Danno in chains and transport him to a nearby lake with plans to drown him. But just as they were about to throw him in, Felix was suddenly overcome with the powerful urge to come to the rescue. Obviously, the Moral Compass had been recovered at that moment and restored to its rightful setting just in the nick of time for Felix to come to his senses.
To save Danno, Felix turned the elf's lungs into gills using the "breathe-underwater" spell which Justin had recently taught him. Luckily, the other punks did not see what Felix did and they returned to their secret liar believing the Danno would soon perish in his watery grave. Felix also returned with them so they would still believe he was on their side, but he planned to slip away as soon as he could and finish rescuing Danno who was still chained up under the water.
Before the group parted for the night, they invited Felix to join them again the following evening to continue planning the prison-break. Felix agreed to meet them so they would not suspect whose side he was really now on.
Upon returning to the lake, Felix was able to undo Danno's chains, but he could not remember how to reverse the breathe-underwater spell and turn Danno back into an air-breather. Not knowing what else to do, Felix decided to call Justin for help. But when he phoned Justin's wand, he got an automated recorded saying that the wand had been broken and that its phone-feature was currently unavailable. Felix then called Alex's wand instead and asked her to find her brother and bring him. Within seconds, Alex put a trace on Felix's wand location and transported herself there with Justin who quickly restored Danno back to normal.
At first, Danno was furious with Felix, but Alex and Justin quickly explained that Felix had been under the influence of the Moral Compass' dark side and that he was not to blame for his earlier actions. Nevertheless, Danno with still upset because his cover was now blown and he could no longer obtain the evidence needed to thwart T.J.'s prison-break plans. Felix then spoke up and mentioned that T.J. and the other punks had invited him to be part of the plans, and so maybe he could now go undercover in Danno's place.
Danno was intrigued by the idea but felt it was too dangerous for Felix to go himself. He then thought that maybe he could use the shape-shifting spell to disguise himself as Felix instead. This idea, however, was then dismissed when Justin reminded Danno that shape-shifting spells wear off after a couple hours and they didn't want to risk Danno turning back to normal at the worst possible time.
Justin then thought to use the body-switching spell instead which would allow Danno to actually possess Felix's body. Instantly, Alex spoke up and reminded her brother that the body-switching spell had been recalled a while back for being full of glitches. (Alex remembered learning that lesson the hard way when she used it on Harper). Justin, in response, gently chided his sister for still not reading wizard-memos. He then informed everybody that the body-switching spell had not only been repaired and reinstated, but had also been improved so that bodies can be safety switched for a whole month before the partakers had to switch back.
Danno and Felix then agreed to the body swap, and for the next little while, Danno used Felix's body to continue gathering convicting evidence against T.J.'s gang. Meanwhile, Felix used Danno's body to continue attending the delinquent class in the Russo's lair. For security reasons, Justin and Alex did not tell the other students what was really going on. Instead, they claimed that Felix had quit the class and that the elf was a new student.
During this time, the delinquents tried to help Justin and Alex find a way to fix the mutant spell which had transformed their brother Max into a little girl. At first, they seemed to only make things worse when they wound up creating another mutant spell instead which turned Professor Crumbs into a young boy. But fortunately, this triggered the events which allowed them to discover a potion that would return both victims to normal, and also impress Professor Crumbs in the process. At Alex's insistence, Justin then rewarded the class with a pizza party after first teaching them the "eat-neat" spell.
A couple days later, Danno, in Felix's body, managed to obtain more than enough evidence to prove that T.J. Taylor and his gang were plotting a prison-break. What was even more amazing was that Danno had also persuaded the gang to confess to several other past and present crimes as well. Apparently, the gang felt more comfortable around "Felix" then they ever did around their former elf friend, thus making them much more loose-lipped. With all the evidence amassed, T.J. and his gang were put away for a much longer time then the wizard-courts had even hoped for, which only further outraged the already incarcerated villains that the gang had hoped to free. As a reward for the use of his body, Felix's criminal record was wiped clean, and he and Danno had become good friends ever since . . . .
. . . . Felix's thoughts and focus soon returned to the present time after jumping through a portal and being transported back to the Hall of Wizards where he had originally pulled his all-powerful wand from the crystal ball and learned of his legacy. He quickly observed the police barricade tape that had been set up all over, and then noticed to his dismay that the statue of his ancestor Rinaldi had been severely smashed to rubble. Seconds later, Felix spotted Danno and rushed over to him.
"Danno, what happened here?" Felix asked.
"Well as you can see," Danno began, "a warlock who didn't like your ancestor's statue paid this place a visit."
"Yeah, about that: How can you be so certain it was actually a warlock?" Felix asked. "Warlocks haven't dared to come around this area of the Wizard World for hundreds of years."
"Because wizard-magic and warlock-magic operate on rather different frequencies," began Danno's explanation. "And I already did a scan of the smashed statue's magic residue. The energy signature definitely reveals that the statue was destroyed with warlock-magic."
"I see," Felix acknowledged.
Danno then continued his report: "Now the guy who did this also attempted to swipe some stuff, but fortunately he had to leave the items behind when a guard gave chase."
"What did he try to steal?" Felix inquired.
"Two things," said Danno. "One was the crystal ball that once housed your wand . . . ."
"I'm guessing then," said Felix, "that he was also planning to steal my wand afterwards and put it back there again."
"That was my assessment too," replied Danno.
"But if that's the case," continued Felix, "couldn't the guy simply have created another crystal ball instead of having to steal this one?
"Evidently not," replied Danno again. "And that brings us to the other item that the perpetrator attempted to steal . . . ."
Danno then handed Felix a wizard-history book where the authorship was credited to Cragmont, the wizard who administered the final test for Justin's delinquents and then lied about the outcome. Felix recalled how Professor Crumbs punished Cragmont by transforming him into this textbook after the evil wizard's deception had been exposed by Alex.
"I just read this whole thing using a speed-reading spell," said Danno. "I'm surprised that neither you nor anyone else ever bothered looking at it before now. It contains all of Cragmont's knowledge, and apparently, that guy knew some stuff that no one else seems to have known about the history of Rinaldi's wand."
"Like what?" Felix inquired.
"Well for starters" began Danno, "it answers your question about why another crystal ball couldn't be created: Now as you know, your all-powerful wand was the only one that could ever be brought into existence; but according to Cragmont's book, the same goes for the one-and-only crystal ball which is powerful enough to contain it."
"Oh, well that makes sense, I guess," Felix confessed.
Danno continued: "The book further states that both your wand and the crystal ball were forged in the center of Volcano Land, and thus can both be destroyed if they are returned there and cast into enchanted lava."
"Well if that's true," said Felix, "then why didn't the original warlock who stole Rinaldi's wand all those years ago simply throw the wand into the lava and destroy it when he had the chance? Why the elaborate scheme with the crystal ball?"
"The book explains that too," said Danno. "The wand can only be destroyed permanently if it's thrown into the lava by one of Rinaldi's descendants. If anyone else were to throw it in, the wand would be instantly transported back to the last Rinaldi family member who used it. That's why the original warlock plunged it into the crystal ball instead and hid it. Apparently the ball blocks any wand-trace signal, thus making it very difficult to track it down."
"So does the book say what happened to the warlock after?" asked Felix.
"Indeed," said Danno. "And here's where the surprise kicks in: As we already know, the wizard-authorities eventually discovered his secret lair and recovered the crystal ball with the wand in it. But when they attempted to arrest the warlock, he cast a very powerful spell which froze him in time and would only release him if or when the wand was pulled from the ball."
Felix paused for a second before coming to a sober realization: "So that would mean . . . ."
Danno finished the sentence: ". . . that the original warlock has been back in our world since that day, thus making him the prime suspect in this case."
"But I've had this wand for months now," said Felix. "Why is the warlock only revealing himself now?"
"Probably because he needed those months to familiarize himself with modern times and to do the proper background research on you," was Danno's response.
"So what's our first move?" Felix then asked.
"Take the crystal ball to the center of Volcano Land," said Danno. "According to the book, the ball is just like the wand in that it can only be destroyed permanent if thrown into the lava by a Rinaldi. If anyone else throws it in and destroys it, the crystal ball can be recovered and recreated. Once you've destroyed it, there will be no place the Warlock can hide your wand even if he does manage to get it away from you for a time."
"Right" Felix acknowledged as picked up the crystal ball. "You know, I can see now why the warlock tried to steal the book too. It's got a lot of info that he obviously didn't want us to find out. But how did Cragmont come to know all this stuff?"
"Well, according to the 'About the Author' page," reply Danno, "Cragmont was apparently the offspring of a wizard and a witch, thus making him part-wizard and part-warlock. So I suspected he was related to the warlock who stole your wand."
"Well, that would help explain why he was evil," said Felix. "Anyway, it looks like I've got a crystal ball to destroy. Wish me luck."
A short time later, Felix had transported himself to Volcano Land and made his way to the center of the realm. Soon he stood at the edge of a precipice where raised the crystal ball above his head and hurled it into the enchanted lava below.
"Well, that was easy," he said to himself as he watched the ball quickly melt away.
"That's what you think!" shouted a voice from behind.
Felix spun around and beheld Danno standing there.
"That crystal ball was a fake," Danno stated. "But your wand isn't. Throw it in!"
"Danno, I thought we were friends!" exclaimed Felix. "How could you do this?"
"Because I'm not Danno," came the reply.
Suddenly, the figure of Felix's elf-friend changed shape and morphed into a form which Felix instantly recognized, despite never having seen it before . . . it was the Warlock.
"So it was you at the Hall of Wizards who sent me here?" asked Felix.
"That's right," came the response. "Now kindly throw your wand into the lava."
"And why would I do that?" Felix then asked.
"Because if you don't, the real Danno whom I captured earlier is finished," replied the Warlock who pointed to his left.
Felix turned his head and saw the real Danno tied up in chains with a hooded-figure standing behind him hold a knife to the captive's throat. The figure then removed his hood from his face to reveal . . . Cragmont.
"You!" Felix exclaimed. "But I saw Professor Crumbs turn you into the book."
"Thankfully, he forgot to use a spell-lock afterward," Cragmont replied. "So my warlock-cousin here was able to bust me out of there and change me back."
Felix turned back to the Warlock: "So the book you showed me was a fake too?"
"Yep, just like the fake crystal ball," said Warlock. "The real crystal ball is safely hidden back at my new lair – as if I'll have any need for it after you destroy your wand."
"Don't do it!" shouted Danno. "That wand is too important!"
"Put a gag on that guy and shut him up, Cragmont!" commanded the Warlock.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Felix, who decided to try a more diplomatic approach. "What did my ancestor's do to make you so vengeful?"
"Nothing except arrange for the witches and warlocks to be suppressed for eons," the Warlock answered. "Why do you think the Wizard World is called 'The Wizard World' when wizards only make up a fraction of the realm's magical population? It's because Rinaldi's grandparents arranged for the wizards to always be in charge. And then, to add insult to injury, they arranged for their precious all-powerful wand to only ever be controlled by one of their own descendants. Can you honestly blame a suppressed warlock for trying to take a stand?"
"Your assessment of history is severely skewed," retorted Felix. "If it wasn't for wizards like Rinaldi, the witches, warlocks, and several other magical monsters would not only have taken over the Wizard World, but would also have invaded the mortal world and enslaved billions of innocent people. And the reason access to the all-powerful wand was restricted to Rinaldi's own family is because his grandparents didn't want it falling into the hands of corrupted wizards like your pathetic cousin over there."
"Hey, I don't need to stand here and be insulted like that," shouted Cragmont as he held the knife even closer to Danno's throat. "Now throw your wand into the lava or your friend gets it!"
Felix pulled out his wand and aimed it at the evil wizard. "Let him go or else!"
"Or else what?" retorted Cragmont. "You ought to know that the center of Volcano Land is the only place where members of the Rinaldi family can't use their powers."
"It's true," added the Warlock in a mocking voice. "Did I forget to mention that earlier? My bad."
Felix lowered his wand in acknowledgment that he was defeated and out of options. "I have your word that you'll let him go?"
"Of course," replied both villains.
Danno tried to muffle the word "no" through his gag, but Felix just gave his friend an apologetic look and then turned to the edge of the precipice. After taking a big sigh of despair, he held up his wand threw it into the lava below.
Cragmont then pushed his captive to the ground and walked over to the Warlock's side and shook his hand. "Congratulations! We did it!"
"Not so fast!" shouted a new voice from behind a rock.
Cragmont and the Warlock turned to see Professor Justin Russo emerging from the shadows with a whole troupe of fellow wizards behind him, including his sister Alex.
"Perhaps Felix's powers don't work in this place," said Justin, "but ours do."
Within seconds, all the wizards pulled out their wands and shot out beams of energy which caused Danno's chains to fly off from him and to tie up the two villains instead.
Felix then ran over to his now freed cop-friend and helped him up.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine now," Danno replied.
"In that case," said Felix as he pointed his friend in the direction of the two subdued villains, "you've got a job to do, Officer. Book 'em, Danno!"
"Arresting us will be of little comfort to you," the Warlock said in response to Felix's last remark. "Your precious wand is still gone forever!"
"Oh, do you mean this wand?" said Alex as she pulled Felix's all-powerful wand from her boot and handed it back to him.
"You're not the only ones who can create fakes," said Felix to the villains. "I discovered that the crystal ball you gave me was phony on my way here, and that clued me into the fact that I was being set up."
"But how?" the Warlock demanded. "How did you realize the ball was a fake?"
"Funny story," Felix began: "Before coming here to destroy the crystal ball, I decided to first put my wand back into it so I could recreate the moment when I originally pulled the wand out. I figured it would be the only chance I'd ever have to re-experience the pleasure of that memory. But when I couldn't put the wand back in, I suspected something was wrong and took the ball to Professor Russo who quickly determined that it was a fake. We then figured I was being set up, so we did a little setup of our own."
The two villains couldn't respond to Felix's explanation and just groaned in defeated frustration as Danno read them their rights and whisked them off to wizard-jail.
The next day, Felix was back at WizTech's food court telling Cindy all about his adventure the previous night and about what happened afterwards:
". . . so then after he took them to jail and confiscated their personal effects, Danno went through the Warlock's wallet and found the address of the guy's new lair. And, of course, the real crystal ball was sitting right there when we walked in."
"So did you take it back to Volcano Land and throw it into the lava?" asked Cindy.
"Sure did," said Felix. "That thing is long gone now, and can never be recreated. If anyone ever manages to steal my wand again, I should have no problem ever getting it back. So I doubt very much that any more warlocks or witches will be coming out of their caves any time soon as long as I'm around."
"Wow, I'm impressed," said Cindy. "You know, if my daughter wasn't already engaged, I'd probably try to set her up with you."
"Aw shucks," said Felix as he began to blush. "I don't suppose you have any other daughters hidden away somewhere, do you?"
"Afraid not," Cindy replied. "But, Alucard and I both have a few nieces who are about Juliet's age. And most of them will be attending the wedding, so I can introduce you then."
"Yeah, that'd be great," said Felix. "I'll look forward to it."
As Felix finished his snack and returned to his security duties, he couldn't help but think about how his life constantly seemed to get better and better ever since he enrolled in Justin's delinquent class and then took possession of his all-powerful wand. He could hardly wait to see what his life would have in store for him next.
THE END