It's official. This story has become my new addiction XD

For those of you still waiting for me to update my other vast number of incomplete stories… here's something else to read while you wait XD

Also gotta give credit to my niece for helping me come up with names for Kim and Fangs' familiars ^-^

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything… dammit…

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"Biff…? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Biff, wake up! …weird, I figured I'd be the first to faint…"

"I think he's comin' to! C'mon, Biffy-boy, up an' at 'em…!"

Biff lightly groaned, opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was Mr. Drippy standing on his chest, his lantern shining in his face. "Ugh… c-can you turn off your light, please?" he asked the fairy, covering his eyes. He sat up, seeing he was lying in a chair at an awkward angle, and stood up to stretch his back. His thoughts recollected what had happened moments ago, and he looked over at the tipped-over pot, realizing it wasn't a delusion.

He was truly a wizard.

"How do you feel?" Oliver asked him.

"Still a bit shocked, to be honest…" Biff replied, rubbing his head. "So I really did cast a spell…"

"Yes, and you can use 'Foresee' to find Puggsy!" Esther exclaimed.

"Can we take a break from the magic, first? I want to find my friend too, but I'm still trying to overcome my paranoia of all this!" Fangs gulped. His Dualynx floated up to him, mewing curiously, making the teen gasp and flinch. "…anyone have an idea on how I can get away from this thing?"

"Oh, you coward! You have nothing to be afraid of!" Esther stroked the Dualynx's ear, making it purr. "All he wants to do is be your familiar- and as advanced as he is in his species, I'd say you should be grateful!"

"Yeah, Fangs, you have nothing to worry about," Kim assured him, allowing her Minor Byrde to perch on her arm. "My familiar actually saved my life after I was kidnapped."

"That reminds me…" Biff stated, turning to Oliver. "You used a familiar to save me… but afterwards it shrunk into a light and disappeared into your chest. How did that happen?"

"It's how familiars work," Oliver replied. "When you first get a familiar, it becomes a part of your heart." He tapped on his chest, summoning his familiar- the little blue creature Biff had seen before. "The stronger your bond is, the better they'll fight. Mitey here really helped me out when I first formed him,"

Mitey looked at the teens, giving a short 'meep' and waving. Fangs cringed. "W-What kind of creature is that?" he stammered.

"It's called a Mite, part of the millite group," Oliver answered, then summoned Mitey back.

"Wow… so how do Fangs and I get ours to recede into our chests?" Kim asked.

"Oh, that's simple. All you have to do is give them names, and then just tap your chests to summon them in and out!" Esther replied with a smile. She tuned to Fangs. "Don't be nervous, Fangs. Once you and your familiar bond, you'll have someone to help defend you!"

Fangs gulped, looking at Dualynx. Biff could tell the lanky teen wasn't so sure about allowing some bizarre creature near his heart. As if to assure him of its worth, the flying feline nuzzled against his arm, motioning him to stroke its head. "Um… okay… What should I name it?" Fangs asked Esther.

"It's your familiar. You decide!"

Kim looked at her Minor Byrde. "I think I'm going to call mine… 'Mavis'." She said, looking at her familiar. "Does that sound good to you?" The byrde let out an excited chirp, and she smiled. "Great! Mavis it is!"

'Mavis' then shrunk down to a ball of light, receding into Kim's chest. "How does it feel?" Biff asked.

Kim giggled. "Kind of warm… and I feel a little stronger, too!"

"That's how I felt the first time," Oliver chuckled.

The Dualynx pawed at Fangs' shoulder, as if to say 'Name me next!'. "Okay, okay, calm down! Hmm… well lets see… you're two colors- dark and light. How do I come up with a name to go with that?" Fangs wondered. He looked at the others. "Any suggestions?"

"How about 'Roscuro'? It's Italian for 'darkness and light," Biff suggested. The Dualynx stuck its tongue out at him.

"How about Shadow? Since shadows are dark but can be seen in light," Kim suggested. The flying feline shook its head.

"How 'bout 'Mister Picky', since Fangs can't decide on a name an' th' cat is being finicky," Mr. Drippy quipped. The Dualynx hissed at him. "Oi, it was just a joke ye half-faced feline!"

Fangs looked at the moon on its forehead- though before he got a good enough look to transform, the winged cat turned and curled into a ball, rolling on the mattress. "There's a moon on its head… maybe Luna? Or Midnight? Or Moonlight? Maybe Dawn, or Dusk?" Fangs guessed, though his familiar didn't respond. "…I'm out of moon-based names,"

"Why just the moon? That's only half of its identity," Esther replied.

"Half moon… half dark… half light…" Fangs then snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Eclipse!"

"Meow?" The Dualynx responded, perking its head up at the name. It then shrunk into a ball of light, and receded into Fangs' chest.

The teen gasped, rubbing his chest, though relaxed once he noticed the warm feeling and knew he wasn't at risk. "Ooh, ooh, that does tickle…"

"How did you come up with the name, Fangs?" Oliver asked.

"Well, I thought about times when the moon is seen during night and day- via an eclipse, when it blocks the sun during the daytime, the only time 'night' and 'day' happen at the same time… in my opinion, at least. You think it's a good name?"

"Hee hee, Eclipse sure likes it!" Esther replied.

"Alrighty- now that Biff has magicka, Kimmy an' Fangs have familiars, an' we've had some rest, let's get back to searchin'!" Mr. Drippy exclaimed.

"Right!" Oliver said, then showed Biff his Wizard's Companion, opening to the 'Foresee' spell. "Just cast this rune, Biff, and say Puggsy's name."

"I hope I use it right…" Biff sighed, remembering Oliver's instructions of being specific.

"I doubt there's anyone else named 'Puggsy' in this world," Drippy commented.

"If there is, I'm going to laugh," Kim chuckled. She cleared her throat. "Give it a try, Biff."

Biff nodded, then cast the 'Foresee' spell, the swirling image appearing before him. "I'd like to know where our friend, 'Puggsy', is please," he carefully stated.

Immediately the image began to swirl… only instead of showing bright colors, the colors suddenly grew dark until they were black and gray shades, the glow of the image dimming. Fangs yelped and ducked behind the bed, while the others stared in shock. The image stopped swirling, showing a dark figure in a cave, its eyes bright violet and all they could make out was a sinister grin.

"Bring me my wand…!"

The voice was dark, low, and sent a chill down their spines; the figure's mere gaze cause Fangs to freeze in terror. "Who… who is that?!" Kim gasped.

"Tobias!" Oliver half gasped, half growled.

Biff clenched his fists. "Where is my friend?!" he demanded.

In the image, Tobias only laughed, before the scene went dark and the spell was broken.

Everyone stood there in stunned silence. "What… what was that all about?" Esther stammered.

"That rotter must've hacked th' spell somehow, jus' to scare us," Drippy sneered, crossing his arms.

"Well, it worked!" Fangs quivered, now hiding under the bed.

"But… I thought he was powerless without his wand!" Oliver questioned. "That's what the story said…"

"You said the wand was powered by dark magic… Maybe he mustered a bit of magicka within himself to interfere!" Esther guessed.

"Just like how he could have sent those monsters after us…" Biff added, rubbing his chin. "Question is, why did he choose to do that trick now, instead of when it was cast the first couple times?"

"Maybe he only did it because you were casting it? Either that, or he doesn't want us to find Puggsy for some reason…" Oliver replied.

"Not find Pugs?! *grr* No way is he going to stop me from finding my best friend!" Came Fangface's voice out of Fangs' mouth as he suddenly climbed out from under the bed, standing tall. The teen gasped, covering his mouth a moment and looking at the others. "…I have no idea where that came from!"

Esther looked at Kim. "Dueling personality," Kim whispered with a smile. "Don't try to tell him- he never believes us,"

Esther giggled. "I guess a 'Dual-lynx' is his perfect familiar then!"she whispered back.

"I don't care where it came from, I agree wit' that statement!" Mr. Drippy exclaimed, hopping on Fangs' shoulder. "Let's go find Puggsy!"

"But… we don't have enough magicka!" Oliver replied.

"And Khulan went to speak with Kublai… We may have to wait," Kim sighed.

"No we won't!" Esther replied in realization. "Marcassin can help! Hamelin is just down the mountain, we can get there quick on Tengri!"

"Oi, forgot bout ouer Pork Prince friends, I did! Tidy thinkin', lass, lets go see 'em!" Mr. Drippy exclaimed, hopping ahead. "…'bout time we got ol' Thief-Face involved, anyhow."

"I'll have the guard outside deliver the message to Khulan," Oliver said, heading out and towards the entrance to the city.

Everyone walked out. Esther led the teens towards Tengri, who was resting by the city, letting out a gentle growl at the sight of his friends. "…w-w-we're getting a ride from a d-d-dragon?" Fangs gulped, pausing in his tracks.

"Don't worry, Fangs. Tengri is an excellent flyer- and it's really fun!" Kim assured him.

"Doesn't this world have taxies we can take? M-maybe I should stay here, in case Pugs shows up…"

"Give me strength, mun! It's perfectly safe! " Mr. Drippy scoffed. "Stop youer whinin' an' get on th' dragon!"

Fangs moaned, climbing onto the dragon's back and sitting close to Kim and Biff. Oliver climbed on with Esther and Mr. Drippy, after giving the guard their message for Khulan. "Okay, everyone hang on! Here we go!" the young wizard exclaimed, and Tengri took to the skies.

"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!" was Fangs' initial response, and immediately he covered his eyes. "Pull over! Pull over! I just remembered I'm afraid of heights! I'm going to get airsick! I don't have my seatbelt on!"

"Oh, quiet down! You're perfectly fine!" Esther shot back at him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Just relax and enjoy the view! The stars look amazing from up here!"

Fangs cautiously peeked out through his fingers, seeing they were above the clouds, having a clear view of the night sky. "I g-guess it's sort of pretty… The mountains look so tiny from up here, and the moon looks so close!" he looked over at the moon in the sky, and suddenly froze. "T-the moon…!"

"Uh-oh… Oliver, how does Tengri do around other creatures?" Biff asked quickly.

"It depends- why?"Oliver asked in alarm.

"Arrroooooooooooo!" came a howl as Fangs transformed into Fangface.

"KYAAH!" Tengri suddenly screeched in alarm, and bucked! The werewolf, Mr. Drippy, and Biff ended up falling off!

"That's whyyyYYYYYY!" Biff screamed as he fell.

"WHOA! How did we end up in the air?!" Fangface cried- then did a double-take. "BIFF! Ooh, ooh, when did you get here?" he then looked at Mr. Drippy, flailing in the air. "…an' what's this thing wit' us?"

"I'M A FAIRY, YA BUCK-TOOTHED WOLF!" Mr. Drippy screamed. "And right now, we're about to HIT TH' FLIPPIN' GROUND!"

The trio screamed, 100 feet from hitting solid rock…

In a flash of purple, Tengri swooped down and caught them on his back. "Gotcha!" Oliver exclaimed in relief. He then had Tengri swoop down, landing by a large pig-shaped structure. "Is everyone alright?"

"Y-yeah, I think so…" Biff panted, trying to steady his still-racing heart.

"Oi, I think I'm gonna be sick…" Drippy commented, walking around loopily. He then turned to Fangface. "Oi, Wolf-Face, next time ye decide to howl, MAKE SURE WE AIN'T 5,000 FEET IN TH' AIR!"

Fangface let out a huff. "First of all, my name is FANG-face! Second, I didn't know we were flying, so lay off!" the werewolf retorted. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I have to do! *grr*" he then took off towards the building.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Esther called.

"Where else? *grr* To find Pugs!" Fangface rushed onwards. "Where's Pugs? *grr* I'll find that little pipsqueak, wherever he's hiding!"

Everyone exchanged glances. "Is he always like this…?" Oliver asked.

Biff nodded, sighing. "Yeah- c'mon, we'd better catch up to him!" he replied, and the group took off after the werewolf.

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"So there's 1500g for the clothes, and 500g for the sword. …You'd better earn some guilders fast, kid."

Puggsy, who was looking at his new red vest, white shirt, black pants, and boots in his reflection, turned and gave Swaine a look. "What for?" he asked.

"What f- to pay me back, that's what for! …You didn't think I was going to be generous, did you?" Swaine scoffed, as they walked out of the Hootique. "Unless you plan on doing a favor for me in return,"

"What are you, part of a mafia? I don't have any money on me!" Puggsy retorted. He then looked at the sword he was given- it was a blue-steel blade with a purple gem in the handle. "…besides I said I preferred a gun,"

"Well, you're out of luck there- the weapon shops don't sell guns… yet." Swaine took out his pistol, twirling it on his finger. "Once we assemble enough to sell, it would be out of your price range, anyway. Weapons this advanced won't come cheap, you know."

Puggsy gave him a sneer. "Oh yeah? How about lending me one then, and we can get your money back selling the sword?"

Swaine scoffed. "Like I'm going to trust a stranger with one of my guns!"

"Oh c'mon! My life is at risk here! Have a heart, would ya?" Puggsy put his hands on his hips, giving Swaine a glare. "…or do you have one at all?"

Swaine crossed his arms. "With that attitude, you'll have to convince me to get a gun. And unless some creature attacks you within the next 30 seconds, that's going to take some work!"

Puggsy opened his mouth to reply…

*WHOMP!*

…until something tackled him from behind, and began to swing him around, biting his arm! Swaine gasped, aiming his gun and preparing to fire-

Hearing a gun click, the creature turned and, seeing the gun aimed at him, lunged at Swaine!

The prince was pinned to the ground before he could pull the trigger, at the mercy of yet another vicious unknown creature. The creature was about to tear his face off-

"Knock it off, nit-wolf! You're scaring him!"

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A/N: …And that's how Swaine met Fangface XD (Talk about your first impressions)

So we've got some suspense, and yay the gang's altogether! XD

Next chapter, everyone swaps information and figures out a plan to stop Tobias.

Please review. Instead of sending flames, send muffins instead. ^-^