Chapter 8

That night was the carnival. The whole team and what was left of the kids were all at the haunted house (except their babies, who were all asleep in the tower with a nanny spell cast on their nursery [why they didn't think of that earlier instead of having Slam watch them, I'll never know (I think it's mainly because it would wear out their power and they were only using it now to cherish the moment with their magic)]).

Natasha was standing in front of a Troll set up. "Hello, everyone! Wanna hear about the positive contributions Trolls have made to society?"

Jack walked up to the gang. "This is ridiculous! 'Monster Tea Party'? There's not even a gross-out factor! They're eating chocolate chip cookies! Can't we at least have mealy worms crawling out of them or something?"

"Ooh!" Chuck said, "My mom makes the best oat-mealy worm cookies!"

"We'll call her next time," said Sarah, "Go with that unicorn milk."

"Look on the bright side!" said Lexi, "Nobody's screamed and they still seem to be enjoying it."

About that time, a girl walked by with her friend. "Well, this is the worst haunted house ever." The gang all looked at her. "The Ghost didn't even go 'boo!'"

"'Boo'?" Daniella asked after the girls were gone. She looked at Tech and Kelly. "How many Ghosts do you know that go 'boo'?"

"Come on," Wendy said, pulling her sister off and letting the rest of the gang follow them out of the haunted house and to the entrance.

About then, Holloway showed up. He walked through his door and looked around.

The critic girl walked by and saw this. "Well, that was the best thing here yet."

Holloway looked around. "Looks like this haunted house could use a little haunting." He zapped the Monster Tea Party and the dummies came alive and left the display. He kept zapping the place until everyone was in utter panic.

Evan ran up to his father. "Dad! What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, son. Come on." He pulled him off.

Lexi looked back at the entrance. "Did I just hear screaming?"

The rest of the gang looked back to see everyone piling out in a rush and almost knocking Kelly and Rev over.

Kelly groaned. "There's always something." She ran behind a nearby cardboard cutout and emerged in her Loonakid uniform. The rest of the team followed.

Michael saw a monster chasing one of the patrons and ran for it. "Krepto Fragilius!" The monster disappeared…reappearing about 10 yards away and starting to chase another girl. Michael took notice of this. "Wha—didn't I just-?"

"You probably didn't say it right!" Sarah scolded him, setting her sights on it, "Krepto Fragilius!" The monster duplicated and the girl ran away. "What? That's an entirely different spell! What'd I do?"

"Maybe you didn't say it right!" Michael mocked.

"Mike, this is serious!"

Ryan noticed one Goblin-like creature picking up a torch and lighting up a few hay bales and went after it, knowing he was a more powerful and better trained Warlock. "Krepto Fragilius!" The flames just lit higher. "Something's not right…"

Kelly saw a skeleton going after a couple teen girls. She immediately dove on this opportunity. "KREPTO FRAGILIUS!" The skeleton suddenly started to grow to double its original height. "What's going on?" She ran up to Daniella and Wendy. "What's going on here? Why isn't the spell working right?"

"I think I know," Wendy said, crossing her arms as she glared at the roof of the haunted house. They all followed her gaze to see Holloway zapping away at everything and everyone in sight.

"Zap him hard, Kelly," said Daniella.

"Gladly," said Kelly, stepping forward, "KREPTO THUNDRIS!" As if by magic (which it was), Holloway disappeared and a large wave of energy swept through the carnival yard and reversed all his spells. She looked around. Everything was normal, but everyone was still panicking, afraid there was more to come.

Principal Flanders then stepped up. "See that? They tried to destroy us!"

"What?" Kelly cried.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Sarah tried to calm them down.

"They are Witches and monsters and freaks!"

"NO!" Kelly shouted, "We're trying to help here! It's our job to save you!"

"It's us or them! Who's it gonna be?"

"THEM!" the mob agreed.

The gang ran back into the haunted house.

"Running, running! RUNNING!" Jack cried as they locked the door.

Ace and Slam tried to block the door.

"What happened?" Sarah asked.

"That would be me." Everyone turned to see Holloway standing there.

Daniella summoned up all her strength and approached him. "I knew it! This whole time it was you!"

Holloway smirked. "I can't take all the credit." He pulled Evan out into the open.

"Evan?" Natasha asked, not believing it.

"Well, on the other hand," Holloway continued, "it's midnight." About then, they all heard the clock tower chiming. "Time to pay up."

"No," Kelly said, approaching him as well, "NO! You can't take our powers. No one was threatening us until you showed up!"

"Well, that's because they never got to see the real Loonakids," said Holloway, "And now that they do, you don't deserve your powers. Any of you. And now it's all mine. Magicus Fixem!"

They all felt their powers draining and dropped to the floor, too weakened from the spell to stand up. Finally, the old Loonatics got up enough strength to help their kids.

The mob finally broke through the door about that time.

Principal Flanders rushed to their sides. He looked at Holloway. "What'd you do to them? Are they OK?"

Holloway scoffed. "What do you care? You're the one that offered them up to an angry mob! Well, I best be on my way." He turned around and opened the door. "This doorway linking all our worlds should never have been opened. And now, with my newfound powers, I can make sure it never will again. Come, Evan."

Evan hesitated. "No."

Holloway stopped and faced him. "What?"

Evan looked at him. "No." He walked back to the group. "I'm staying." Kelly smiled at him.

Holloway sighed. "A disappointment. Right to the very end. Well…then this is goodbye to all of you." He walked through the door and closed it behind him, sealing it permanently.

"No!" Kelly tried to go after him, but Tech stopped her. "He can't do that! Somebody's gotta stop him!"

Natasha was practically crying. "Anasala…it's gone!"

When the mob started cheering this, Tech felt all of his anger swelling up inside him until it reaching the point that he was ready to burst. "What's the matter with you people?" Everyone looked at him. "OK, so these kids are different. They always have been! You've liked them before now anyway! What? Now that they've lost their powers, you're gonna start liking them again?" Some of the other kids looked at one another and shook their heads, realizing how right he was.

Kelly half-smiled. "I guess I kind of always thought we needed our powers to fit in, but…how can you know if someone really accepts you if you don't show them who you are?"

Paul, Chuck, and Natasha looked at each other, getting the message even though it wasn't meant for them. They weren't allowed to expose magic…but that didn't mean they couldn't expose themselves to a small crowd that could keep a secret.

Paul walked forward and took off his disguise. The mob all gasped at the sight of him, some screaming. "I'm really a Werewolf."

Natasha pulled off her disguise. "And I'm a Troll."

Chuck pulled off his disguise, moaning with the effort. "Yeah, and I'm an Ogre…oh, with a little bit of Forest Giant on my mother's side. Explains the height."

Jack looked around. "Uh…we're just going through awkward phases. Yeah, this is all there is."

Kelly smiled.

Wendy looked back at the mob, gathering up her strength. "And these are the people you want destroyed? Sure, they look a little different—OK, maybe 'little' is an understatement—but are they really any different on the inside?"

One of the football players came forth. "Well, I don't really know what Werewolves are like on the inside," he said, not quite getting Wendy's analogy, "but Paul's the best halfback we've ever had!"

One of the nerds came up, too. "And Natasha's the captain of the science team."

"*cough*CO-CAPTAIN!*cough*" Ryan pointed out.

"Subtle," Sarah said.

"You know what, Daniella?" Principal Flanders said, taking off the ring, "You were right. This never really fit." He tossed it aside.

Rev smiled. She sure knows how to charm a guy. She certainly worked her way into my heart.

Kelly smiled, too. "You see? Humans have changed!"

Daniella nodded. "Now…" She got up, the rest of them following. "…has everyone seen everything they need to see…" She pulled out the mirror. "…through the Witch's Glass?"

The doorway reopened, Holloway tumbling out.

"Oh, look," said Nadine, crossing her arms, "It's back."

Callie then came through the doorway.

"Callie!" Evan cried, rushing to hug her.

"Evan!" Callie shrieked back, taking him in her embrace, "Sophie rescued me!"

"It took a while," Sophie said, following Callie out the doorway, "but I finally found the right Witch's Glass. These kids know how to work a spell."

Holloway looked at them. "What happened?"

"You forgot one thing," Kelly said, taking the Witch's Glass, "Witch's Glasses—while excellent for IMPRISONING OTHER CREATURES—are also good for communication between the worlds. And I believe that all of Anasala just saw that humans have changed, so…" She looked at Ryan, who stepped up to her.

The 2 coyote kids looked at each other and then held out their hands. "Magico Faxum!" They sucked their powers back out of Holloway along with the rest of the team's, also silently restoring their parents'.

Holloway looked at them. "You can't do this to me! I won't let you get away with it!"

"But we…" Everyone turned to see the 6-armed man, along with the rest of the Council, appear across the room. "…will."

Lucy looked at Holloway. "If I may, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Holloway kept his gaze on the Council. "You don't understand. I was only doing this for the good of Anasala!"

"Not from where we stand!" the Pumpkin-head said.

"No, no, no! These wretched humans—"

"—are apparently much more accepting than you led us to believe," said the 6-armed man, "If they're willing to give us a chance, than we should be willing to return the favor."

"You did it!" Daniella whispered to Kelly. They had convinced Anasala to live in peace with the mortal world and revealed that the Loonakids were magic without exposing magic to the real world!

"No!" Holloway said, "No, I absolutely forbid it!"

"Then we'll consider this your resignation," said the Pumpkin-head.

The mummy held up a sign that said "Yea."

With that said, the Council waved their hands, suspending Holloway's magic and trapping him in the Witch's Glass.

Holloway looked around and saw what had happened. "Let me out of here!"

Kelly laughed. "We'll deal with you later! These kids still have a haunted house to put on!"

5 minutes later…

Jack sat on a hay bale with Natasha. "So this is the real you."

Natasha straightened out her Troll outfit. "Yup."

"Listen, I—"

"No, it's OK. I would've acted the same way if things were reversed."

"Right. So…"

"Yeah…"

They leaned in…

Natasha back away. "I'm sorry! It's just too gross!"

"Oh, thank you! Friends?"

"Friends!"

The 2 held hands and walked off.

Daniella was sitting on a hay bale with Rev, Principal Flanders sitting by them. "I see we've come to an understanding."

"Yup," said Principal Flanders, "I hope I can convince you to stay on at the school."

Daniella looked at Rev, smiled, and shook her head. "No. I have a family of my own to take care of." Rev smiled back. She turned back to Principal Flanders. "But before I go, we have got to do something about the athletic department! I mean, who ever heard of field hockey without flying monkeys?"

"That's-it-you're-out-of-here!" Rev said, pulling her off.

Kelly had just switched back to her Witch's robes (which everyone thought was a costume) and was now looking around and smiling. Everyone at the school now knew about the Loonakids being magic and the existence of Anasala, but still no one knew about the Loonakids' true identities or the existence of Witches (while they knew about Werewolves, Trolls, and Ogres). Then she saw Austin nearby. She walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"So…something you wanna tell me?"

"I don't know if you could handle it."

"In case you didn't notice, I just revealed to almost a quarter of downtown Acmetropolis that the Loonakids are magic without fully exposing magic."

Austin considered this turn of events. "Maybe. Someday."

Kelly half-smiled. "Someday."

Austin nodded and walked off.

Kelly stared after him. There must be some sort of secret he was hiding…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Yay! Another one's done! So Kelly and everyone else...still no idea who or what Austin is. And a portion of Acmetropolis knows about the Loonakids being magic but no one knows about the existence of magic (except that there's another world containing at least Ogres, Trolls, and full-time Werewolves). Well, I hope you guys keep reading because there's more to come (and better to come, trust me!)!