Part 10

A/N: Howdy all! Sorry this is late, but feel lucky I did this at all! I said I wasn't going to work on these until after this month because I'm supposed to be spending all my free writing time on my Nano novel. But, I decided to take pity on all of you and use a thousand (roughly) words on this instead of putting it towards by 50k for Nano. I swear, though, if I miss the deadline by 1k words, I'm coming after you people! Lol, anyway, enjoy, sorry it's a bit shorter than the last few chapters but keep in mind that it is winding down. The next one will probably be the last, so I hope you liked it and I'll try to get that next one out soon depending on whether I get ahead in Nano or not. Thank you for reading! I 3 all of you!

Jerry stands back with his arms crossed over his chest, tapping one finger on his elbow impatiently as he waits for Crumbs to open the door. When the spell is almost finished, the entire dome suddenly becomes visible again for a split second, seemingly lit up from the inside.

"What was that?" Goblin asks.

"Beats me," Officer Lamp shrugs.

"Get ready, gentlemen," Crumbs announces, "I'm opening the door now." He traces the outline of the door once again with his wand and the edges glow with a yellow light. Touching the center of the door with his wand's tip, he says, "Open Sesame! Please," and the section of the void wall splits open in response.

"I'll hold it open from this side," Officer Lamp volunteers, sending a flow of blue magic from his wand towards the doorway.

The others nod and, one by one, they step into the void pocket.

Max is leaning over Justin, using his heat spell. "I don't understand," he says, "He keeps getting cold again as soon as I stop, but he's not using any more magic."

"Then just keep going," Alex tells him, trying in vain to use her wake-up magic. A rush of air suddenly billows out from behind her and Max raises his head to look. "Dad!" he yells before Alex even has a chance to turn around.

"Max! Alex!" Jerry calls, running up to them, but stopping short when he sees Justin lying on the ground. Slowly, he drops to his knees beside Alex. She looks at him with tear-filled eyes.

"He won't wake up," she sniffles.

"What happened?" Jerry asks.

A yell from not too far away interrupts them. "Owe! Watch where you're walking!" Evilini shouts.

"If I could watch where I was going I wouldn't be running into you!" Ronald Jr. yells back. Sr. is a few feet away from them, stumbling around in circles.

"They happened," Alex says, hatred in her voice.

Crumbs turns to Goblin ordering, "Seize them at one!"

Complying with the order, Goblin rushes over and uses his wand to put bindings on the trio. They yell out in surprise, then anger as they attempt to struggle free. Goblin, arms crossed in front of him, walks over to them.

"You guys are gonna be put away for a long time," he informs them, casting another quick spell that threads a rope chain between the three of them. He grabs one end of it and begins to drag them back towards the door.

"Wait!" Alex yells out, then runs over to the bound trio. She reaches up, ripping the bee charms off each one of their necks, not bothering to respond when they wince as the chains snap. Rushing over to Crumbs, she asks, "Can you destroy these?"

"Indeed I can," Crumbs says, taking the charms in his hand. With his other hand, he waves his wand over them and the three pieces seal together to form the whole bee. It's wings slowly twitch and flutter, and what was once a simple piece of jewelry shakes off its metallic layer. It transforms into a real bee, complete with black and yellow stripes, but with a blue stinger instead of black. Quickly, Crumbs closes his fist around it, crushing the insect instantly, and only dust remains to float away once he relaxes his fingers.

Jerry looks back to Max. "Max, you can stop now," he says, gently pulling Max's hands away from Justin. Max sits back, watching his brother intently, and only allows himself to relax a little when he sees that Justin isn't starting to shake or turn blue.

Alex moves a little closer, peering down over Jerry's shoulder. "He's…still not waking up," she says, hesitantly, then turns to Crumbs. "You have to help him!"

He shuffles over, squatting down beside Jerry. Closing his eyes, he holds one of his hands out over Justin's chest, allowing it hover there for several seconds. Slowly, he opens his eyes and sits back, looking at the Russo's as they stare at him anxiously.

"An extreme amount of taint is acting on his body," he tells them, shaking his head, "More than I've seen before. I don't know if I can help him."

"What difference does it make?" Alex asks, nearly screaming, "It'll just take longer to get it all out, right? I mean, he's still alive – isn't that enough?"

Crumbs looks at her sympathetically. "I'm afraid not, my dear. You see, in order to extract the taint from a wizard's body, it's a team effort. We pull from the outside, but they must also push from within. If there was still enough of Justin's consciousness left within him to do so, I would have felt a spark. Alex, I felt no such spark."

Jerry looks down at his oldest son, tears now forming in his eyes, as well. Max looks at his father and wipes the tears from his own eyes, swallowing hard. His face sets in determination and unexpectedly, he punches Justin hard in the shoulder.

"Max!" Alex yells, but he ignores her, leaning over to talk into Justin's ear.

"I know you're still in there," he says, quietly but forcefully. "All you have to do is show Professor Crumbs that you can help get rid of that stupid mutant sand." He reaches over and yanks Crumbs' hand back over Justin's chest, ordering him, "Try again."

Crumbs nods, closing his eyes again. His eyebrows furl as he concentrates hard on finding a spark. Max leans back down to Justin's ear.

"Okay, Crumbs is ready," he tells his brother, "Do it now, show him that you can still fight." Crumbs shakes his head, but continues to focus, anyway. "Justin, NOW!" Max screams.

Crumbs waits, but still nothing happens. He is about to pull away when Alex leans over his shoulder, grabbing his wrist.

"Wait," she says, and he freezes. Slowly, she shifts his hand up so that it's hovering over Justin's forehead. "Okay, Justin, one more time," she pleads.

Everyone watches Crumbs' hand intently, but it doesn't move. Cumbs sits back again, and once again looks at each one of their faces. Slowly, a small smile spreads across his face. He doesn't even get a chance to speak before Alex throws her arms around his neck, thanking him.

"No, no," he soothes, patting her back, "Don't thank me, I haven't done anything yet! Now come, we must get him back to the WizTech infirmary immediately while there's still time." He pauses to look up at Goblin. "And you know where to take those three."

Goblin nods before hauling the trio out through the opening. Jerry scoops up Justin in his arms and starts heading towards the door, as well. Alex puts an arm around Max and they follow behind, Crumbs scurrying forward to fall in line beside Jerry. He leans over to whisper in Jerry's ear.

"Your children are all heroes, you know," he smiles. "You should be proud of them."

Jerry smiles back, tears still clouding his eyes. "I know," he says, "I am."

One by one, they step through the door; and once they're all through, it seals shut behind them. The yellow sky of the void pocket vibrates and large wrinkles spread across it until it actually starts to fold in on itself. A few moments later, the entire void world shrinks inwardly and eventually disappears, leaving nothing but a clear blue sky and a couple of magic carpets flying off in the distance.