Chapter 3:All Too Easy

Disclaimer: I don't own Wizards of Waverly Place.

Three years later...

Justin smiled as he sat on his throne. It wasn't called a throne, but he knew that's what it was. It was a high backed, armed chair that presided over the dais where the former wizard's council had been. Before I stopped them. He had Charmed the Justicars, using a forbidden spell and a bit of each Justicar, He'd hive-minded them all with the dark spell, then bound it to him. He controlled the Justicars, the Justicars controlled the world leaders, and they controlled the masses. A few years of already worked out machinations, and he was poised to shift the balance of the whole world.

He expected resistance, of course. But that was what the wizarding police were for. Nothing quelled a riot like a city block being vaporized. It had worked in bringing the rest of the wizards around to his way of thinking. But then, when the city block hosts Wiztech, parents tended to be a little easier to sway. But that wouldn't stop him. Nothing would. He couldn't let it happen again.

At the same time, in the Scarred Outlands

A tall, well built woman slunk silently through the rocks, eyes focusing on what was ahead of her. anyone who had ever known Alex Russo would have been hard-pressed to recognize her as the dark-haired huntress stalked her prey.

All the fat had long been worked off of her, giving her the lean, wiry look of an athlete, and the sharp angular features that she'd been so jealous of on the girls at school had been granted by time and life in the farthest corner of the Outlands. Her long, dark hair, the only concession she'd made to retain her former self, was fixed into a tight bun and was held in place by what appeared to be a pair of eight inch long animal teeth. Her legs had lengthened in a growth spurt that had left her aching for the whole week it had lasted. Her breasts hadn't gotten much bigger, but she took that as a blessing. Dressed in the tanned hides of several creatures specific to the plane, she radiated confidence, strength, and grace. She smiled as she remembered when she had decided to craft her clothing to look similar to old cowboy garb, including leather chaps, a vest, and even a long duster for warding off the night chill while she wandered.

I'll have to thank Mr. Laritate for forcing me to do that detention making cowboy outfits with him. She no longer worried about getting back, she was sure she could do it. She had found human remains on a couple of occasions, leading her to believe that there wer more portals home. Just gotta find an open one. Or a locus point to make my own. It has surprised her, how easily she could pull energy for her spellwork from the scant half dozen lay lines on the planet. It had been difficult at first, but after the first day, she was casting just as well as she'd been at home.

Even as she daydreamed, she scanned the area, alert for anything that would try to get her or her next meal for itself. That was another thing that bothered her. The creatures here were so smart. They'd learned after a while that if she went hungry, she hunted until she'd made the difference.

And she wasn't picky about what she ate. The last of the Helldog trio had been the first to make the connection. After she'd gone looking for the other two, they last one had left her several kills, untouched except for fight wounds. The meaning was clear.

Eat them instead.

She shook herself into wariness as she encountered the Hisser. It made a loud noise like someone trying to scare a cat before it pounced, so she'd named it a Hisser. She wanted it's hide for a new duster for one primary reason. It had deflected her spells. Anything magic had simply glided off it's hide without so much as scratching it. I'll need that against Justin. The short spear in her hand was crude, having been crafted from a long leg bone, a Helldog canine, and some sinew. Thank god for mr. Laritate. As the Hisser came in sight around the rock, she closed her eyes and snapped her fingers.

A blast of light blinded the night-hunter, and four hundred pounds of muscle began frantically clawing at the air in front of it, attempting to catch the creature that had hurt it.

Alex smiled as she darted to the side and slid her homemade spear horizontally into it's throat, puncturing it's major artery and severing the dual spines that made it so hard to bring down. It collapsed on the ground, dying quickly.

Completely abandoning her tough hunter demeanor, she reverted back to the old Alex as she jumped into the air. "Yes! I did it!" Her smile faltered as she remembered the only people she would have shared her victory with weren't there with her.

She traced the scar over her left eye absently with a finger, hunching over the Hisser and pulling a small, hand-crafted knife from her belt. "C'mon buddy, let's get this over with. You'll smell alot less like Max's room when I'm done with you." She sighed a sigh that the dust of the Outlands was quite familiar with.

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