The spell of shock was broken by laughter from the other side of the river.
Lucy, Timmy, and Zing looked at the Witches, who were high-fiving.
"After two years, I got my revenge! And it-is-SWEET!" said Inez.
"What's the matter, Witch?" called Megan, "You should be GLAD there's one less Fairy in the Universe!" They all started laughing again.
Timmy, Lucy, and Zing had been standing and staring at the spot where Mirta vanished, tears in their eyes. Now they looked at their enemies, and their faces grew hard.
Lucy's hands began to glow. But instead of her usual dark green, the glow was black, with a green edge. It grew, spreading up her arms, and enveloping her entire body. The depths of love she had felt for Mirta had turned to rage and hate, and she was converting it to power. Far more power than she had ever been able to muster before.
It grew until Timmy and Zing had to get away from Lucy, lest they be taken in by it. The three witches had stopped laughing, and were looking at Lucy. All three could feel the power she was giving off, and it was beginning to worry them.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Zee, confused and a bit afraid.
Lucy raised her hands and screamed in pain and rage. "SHE-WAS-MY-BEST-FRIEND!!!" she yelled at them. Suddenly she lifted a few inches off the ground, and in a burst of speed was across the river.
She slammed into the witches protective barrier, shattering it like glass and plowing into them hard. They tumbled to the ground in pain.
Most witches relied on their magic to protect themselves, and never learned self-defense. Lucy was an exception. Having been plain-looking as a child, she had been teased badly by some other kids, and since she hadn't found any magic yet, learned to use physical force to protect herself. Now she wanted the witches to feel the same pain she was going through. And they would.
She picked up Zee, slamming her in the gut and throwing her against a tree. She hit her head and fell to the ground, dazed. Blood seeped out of her hair.
Lucy turned and kicked Megan in the kidney hard. Megan groaned and grabbed the spot, trying to roll away from the attack. A stomp on the witches hands increased the damage, and incapacitated her.
Then she turned to Inez. Picking her up by the collar with both hands, Lucy held her up, looking deep into the other's eyes.
Inez was terrified by what she saw there. Her death was rapidly approaching, and she couldn't stop it.
"Is your revenge still as sweet?" Lucy asked, shaking the Witch. Inez was unable to speak, just making a keening noise. Lucy drew back a fist and hit Inez in the face as hard as she could, breaking her nose and cheekbone. Inez tried to scream from the pain, but it was weak.
Lucy turned and threw Inez down so she landed partially on top of Megan and Zee. Then she took several steps back away from them. The green-edged black glow had never left her, and now she was going to use it.
"Now I'm going to take from you what you took from Mirta," she said, and raised her hands. The glow flowed up her body to her hands, growing bigger and more intense. Lucy looked down at her enemies with contempt. "Three less witches for one less Fairy is a fair exchange," she said to them. Her power was gathered and ready to use.
The three witches groaned and tried to beg for their lives, but were too hurt and terrified to be coherent. All they saw was death standing before them.
At that moment an apparition appeared in front of Lucy. It looked like Mirta, but it couldn't be. It had to be a ghost.
The image grabbed Lucy's arms below the magic glow with gloved hands, and stopped her from throwing death at the witches.
"NO, LUCY! DON'T! DON'T KILL THEM! PLEASE!" the ghost shouted.
Confused, Lucy paused, staring at the vision.
"Lucy, don't! I don't want you to go down that path! I'll lose you forever if you do! Please, calm down! It's okay, I'm here, I'm here!" it told her.
"M- Mirta? It's you? How? Why?" said Lucy, and the glow began to fade.
When it was completely gone, Mirta let go of Lucy's hands and took a step back.
Lucy, and across the river Timmy and Zing, could only stare.
Mirta had changed. She was now wearing a short, white, sleeveless dress and orange gloves that came nearly to her shoulders. A black corset covered her middle, and low on her hips rode a dark red belt whose buckle was a stylized pumpkin. The wire "shoes" wrapped around her ankles and down to her toes. Her wings were large and light green, with darker spots of blue.
"What's happened to you?" Lucy asked, looking her up and down.
"When I saved you from the magic bolt, I earned my Enchantix form! It healed me as I evolved!" Mirta explained. "I feel great!" She turned around so Lucy could see her from all sides.
"You look wonderful!" said Lucy, "And for more reasons than that."
Mirta turned to the witches, who were still nearly immobile, but staring at her. "I guess I should thank you, Inez, it was you who allowed me to achieve my final Fairy form! Thank you!" She smirked at the fallen Witch. "And here all this time I thought you hated me!"
She turned back to Lucy. "C'mon, let's go." She took her friend around the waist, and flew them back to the other side of the river, ignoring the witches behind them.
Reunited with the others, Timmy gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! And congratulations!"
Zing flew down to her, and when their eyes met, they locked.
"You're beautiful!" exclaimed Zing.
"Zing, you're... you're... adorable!" answered Mirta.
Zing flew into Mirta's arms, and they hugged as well as they could, considering their size difference.
"I've always wanted a Fairy to bond with, and now I've got one!" said Zing, with excitement.
"And I'll never be alone again!" said Mirta, looking at Zing with something akin to love.
"Should I be jealous?" asked Lucy with a smirk.
"What's happened?" asked Timmy, "You two have known each other for years. Why would you be bonding now?"
Zing perched herself on Mirta's shoulder, and looked at the Specialist. "I've always found Mirta interesting, but as long as her dark magic was greater than her light, I couldn't bond with her. But now the light far outweighs the dark."
"She's right," said Mirta, "I can feel it. It's now a lot easier for me to tap into my winx than it had been. I'll use any dark magic I have left as a final resort."
Lucy grabbed Mirta's hand and pulled her close for a hug. "I'm so happy you're okay, and that you've completed your evolution. I was so scared and angry." She held Mirta away from her. "You stopped me from going down a road into ultimate evil, and I'm very grateful." They hugged again. "My best friend..." Lucy murmured.
"Lucy, I'm glad you're okay. Considering how dark your magic was, I guess I mean a lot to you," said Mirta.
"You always have, even when I was mad at you," replied Lucy.
After a little time, Timmy said, "Let's go. We've still got a bit of a trip ahead, and I don't want to be around when they recover."
Lucy snorted. "It'll be a LONG time before that happens. But you're right, we need to go."
A levitation spell in Mirta's Enchantix form easily picked up and moved the bomb. And they headed down the edge of the river toward their ship, the injured witches forgotten behind them.
