Special Episode: Wings and Tricks
Finally! It's the episode I've been waiting to publish for a long time. Special thanks again to Lilla for giving me this idea. I never would have thought of it :) I'm sorry if Lakely's character turns up wrong, but I hope you like it still~
The rest of story were my ideas, and I have to admit, this all feels like my longest chapter yet. I think it would take more than twenty minutes if it was a real episode ^^" But hey, I had fun writing it! I'm feeling real proud of this special episode especially because I really felt like I had the time to plan it this time! Can't wait for the next one to come to my mind! I'll happily be accepting more requests though ;)
Anyways, here's Special Episode 4! Hope ya'll enjoy~
"Who's up for Flight Friday?!"
"All right!"
"Been waiting all month!"
"Give us your best shot!"
Verge transformed to her normal fairy size and started flying around her friends. Penn, Boone, and Sashi were slowly floating into the air at the touch of the fairy dust.
"Yes!" No sooner were the friends up and flying around the park, laughing at such actions.
You would think someone might've seen them. But there was no one there. Somehow, at the second Friday of every month, there wouldn't be any people seen around Middleburg Park. It was confusing, but the quartet decided not to question it. Especially when they used that time to just chill out and fly around.
The friends had flown together in missions before, but only a short-time basis. They never got to actually have some fun. So today was one of those rare days.
The quartet then decided to take things to the sky. Boone and Sashi somehow got themselves caught in a cloud race. Penn just sighed happily as he floated on his back.
"Ah, to enjoy the wonders of life…"
"Hey, Zero!"
The part-time hero yelped and flew straight when he saw Verge facing him and flying upside down. "You enjoying today so far?"
"How do you do that?" Penn blurted out suddenly. "I mean, I see you do it all the time, but it's always hard for me!"
"Aw, it's easy, Zero!" Vegre giggled as she turned right side up again. "Watch this."
Verge suddenly leaned backwards, close to falling down. But then she stopped and nudged her feet upwards before turning around and meeting Penn's face again. She smiled knowingly and continued to fly up. Penn tried to do the same, but he only ended up almost falling instead.
"Whoa!"
Verge quickly helped him up in the air again, chuckling. "You'll get it one time."
"Heh…thanks."
"This is awesome, Vergie!" Boone called out, grinning widely. "It's just like being a fairy again!"
The girl smiled at that, but then it suddenly melted into a frown. "Yeah…I guess so…"
"You all right, Verge?" Sashi asked, flying over.
"Uh-huh…it's just…well, I do want to meet a real fairy like me for once…" The other three exchanged glances. Her sentence obviously had a meaning.
"Verge, I promised you once, I can promise again," Penn said. "You'll be able to see Fairy World soon! Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday."
"I know." The fairy looked up at her human friends and smiled. They smiled back. "Now, what'd you guys say we get to work?"
"Aww, but we're having so much fun!" Boone complained.
The other three only chuckled. "Come on, Mr. Having Fun," Verge said, taking his arm. Together, the quartet all flew over to the Odyssey.
They landed by the door just in time, for the dust had just worn off. They entered it together and into the cinema, where the MUT waited for them. "Hey, Phyllis," Verge called out as her friends stepped onto the platform.
"Hold up," the mechanic called. "Before you go. Verge. We must speak."
Penn raised an eyebrow at the fairy but she only shrugged as she flew towards Phyllis. "What's up?"
"About your Fairy World…"
"Yes?" Verge listened intently. It has been a while since Phyllis informed her about those "signals" she had been receiving. The fairy had been feeling very hopeful since then.
But now, Verge couldn't tell if Phyllis was feeling sad or not, but her tone surely dropped. "…The signals have stopped. I have lost contact of them."
At those words, Verge felt her little fairy heart stop. All that hoping for nothing? She felt herself lower to the ground, her wings now looking a little droopy. "…Are you serious?"
Phyllis nodded. "I am sorry."
Verge didn't even hear them. This was supposed to be a fun day. Now, it just drained all her energy. "…OK."
Before Phyllis could say any more, she flew over to the platform.
Once her friends saw her face, they knew something was wrong. "Verge?" Sashi asked. "You all right?"
"Fine," she said. It was almost like a snap. The three exchanged a worried look.
Phyllis cleared her throat to snap them out of it. "Just one more warning. Today's mission could take a few days to accomplish."
"Well, we're lucky it's a Friday," Penn said, trying to brighten the mood. But Verge couldn't stop frowning.
They didn't say anything more as Phyllis zapped them in.
When Penn opened his eyes, he almost thought he was back in Cowboy world. Everywhere he looked, he just saw sand and rocks like this was a desert. No sign of a city at all. There was a road right in front of him though, but it almost appeared to be leading to nowhere. He looked at his clothes and grinned.
"Sweet! I'm a magician!" He was wearing a tuxedo, black eye mask, and a top hat. He took the edge of his cape and covered half his face. "Abraca-disappear!"
"You're a magician, not a ninja," Sashi said, rolling her eyes. Her white Specs looked like she was also wearing an eye mask, and she had on a long red dress.
"I certainly feel like one!" Boone had darker skin, was wearing all black, almost bald. He looked like an usher. But in his arms, he carried a red jacket and hat, which he put on immediately. "What's our mission? Pull rabbits out of a hat?"
"That seems like a dumb mission," Verge laughed lightly, floating over them. She didn't change her form again, as usual. "But it would make things easier. But I have to say, I hate magicians. They just use fake magic, and yet everyone believes in them."
"Oh, calm down, Verge, it's just for entertainment!" Penn assured, half-relieved she wasn't that gloomy now. "Let's just see what we've got. Sash, check the Specs."
"All right. We're a traveling magician group, on our way back to our home, Magicity. We have to stop an evil magician, who plans to steal the city president's Wand of Power so he can take over and destroy the city. Our mission is to stop him before he does."
"An entire city of magic, huh? Sounds like that other mission we went on, right Verge?"
"Don't remind me, " the fairy shuddered, transforming to human size. "I still can't get over the thought of not having wings…"
"Well, this mission should be easy, I guess. But what did Phyllis say about it taking a few days?"
"Guess we'll be walking," Boone said, pointing at a sign pointing south. It had the words "Magicity, 1000 miles" on it.
"Taking that measurements, we could reach the city in more than a week if we go on foot!" Verge groaned.
Her friends groaned along with them. "Well, we don't really have a choice," Penn sighed. "We don't even have a cart. What kind of traveling magician group has no cart?"
"This kind, apparently. Let's just carry on and hope we make it there alive."
Without another word and the complaints growing in their heads, the quartet ventured on.
It took about half an hour before the quartet completely collapsed. Walking down a road in the middle of a desert was definitely tiring. They were lucky Verge could conjure up water, but they made a choice to rest by a cactus. They were barely 800 miles to the city by then.
"We'll never make it like this!" Sashi exclaimed. "We have to think of another way!"
"Yeah, but how?" Boone asked.
"Well, we could fly," Penn suggested. "I mean, Verge still has her dust! Right, Verge?"
When the boy turned to the fairy beside him, he frowned when he saw her sad face again. Something was definitely bothering Verge to get her to be this depressing. "Verge?" he asked again.
"Huh? What?" the fairy quickly snapped out of it and forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess my dust can reach 926 miles."
"Verge, you're not fine. I know that look. You got it when you lost your wings. Tell us what's wrong."
"We're your friends, Verge," Sashi added. "We're here for you."
When she looked at the three humans and their reassuring faces, she had to smile. "Aw, you guys…r-really. I'm OK. I guess I'm just a little worried about the mission? Yeah…"
That definitely wasn't the case. Maybe Verge wasn't ready to talk about it yet…
"I swear, if we could just find some kind of—"
"Help!"
"Yeah, Verge, we really need that," Boone said. "But where can we get it? We're in the middle of nowhere."
"I didn't say that!"
"Help!"
Verge looked around, a little confused. "Someone's in trouble!"
"But who?" Sashi asked, as the others also looked around. But there was absolutely no one in sight.
"Help!"
Verge's fairystincts perked up and she suddenly turned to another nearby cactus. They quickly ran over and Verge reached for it.
"Ow!" She rubbed her finger, forgetting the cactus' spikiness. Hesitating, she used her garden magic to make the cactus grow a little smaller. As it shrunk, they got a little bit of a clear vision and the four gasped at what they saw.
A small boy was stuck in one of the cactus' thorns. He was in a complicated position, not being able to move for it could get him poked if he did. He looked in real pain, but that's not why the quartet stared.
The small boy had wings.
"A fairy," Penn gasped. Verge let out steady breaths, as she turned smaller. Never in her entire life in the human world would she ever think to come across another fairy. Now, his little cries snapped her out of the daze.
"Help! Please!"
"Oh right!" Verge forced herself to snap out of it a bit. She hesitated for a moment for simply taking out the thorns nearest to the fairy. Once he was free, he grinned with excitement and flew upwards.
"Free!" he cheered. "I'm free! Note to self, never try to experiment a cactus." He grinned at Verge. "Ah, thanks so much."
"Freedom is refreshing, isn't it?" Verge said, flying up to him. She was still pretty psyched. "I can't believe it! You're a fairy…"
The fairy's wings weren't exactly golden like hers, but she wasn't paying attention to that. He had short black hair with bangs covering his left eye. His right one was a perfect shade of deep green. Much to Verge's delight, he also wore these huntsman-like clothes made of green and purple leaves. When he smiled, she found herself smiling back.
"Yeah, I noticed," he chuckled. "It's as if you've never seen one before."
"Ah, well…that's a long story."
"I'm willing to hear. By the way, my name is Lakely."
"I'm Divergent."
"Yes. Yes, you are."
It was hard tell from her pale skin if she was blushing or not.
Suddenly, the two heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Penn forcing a half smile. "Excuse me?" he called. "We're still here."
"Oh, right," Verge laughed lightly, flying over. "Lakely, these are my friends. Penn, Boone and Sashi."
"Hi!" Lakely then grew to human size, which surprised Verge a bit. He smiled again. "It's nice to meet you."
"Dude!" Boone suddenly exclaimed. "You're a fairy!"
"Wow," Lakely chuckled. "It's as if everyone's having a hard time believing that."
"So you're really from Fairy World?" Sashi asked.
"Oh, yeah. At least…well, I used to be."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Penn questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, one day I was just minding my own business, helping around in the town…the next, they kicked me out of the dimension."
"That's terrible!" Boone gasped.
"I know. Took my portable MUT and everything. Now, I'm stuck here. Can't go back."
"You too, huh?" Verge tried to hide it, but she was staring down at the ground sadly. Her friends exchanged glances. So that's what was up.
Penn tried to say something but Lakely beat him to it. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled softly. "Hey, Divergent. Fairies stick together. Who cares about a stupid dimension?"
Verge had to laugh at those words. "Thanks, Lakely. 'Appreciate it. And you can call me Verge."
Penn tried to restrain himself by clenching his fists. This guy had just crossed the line.
"OK! Well, it's time to say goodbye, 'cause we've got to get going now—"
"Aww, come on, Zero!" Verge protested. "Let him come along with us!"
"Yeah, Zero," Lakely smirked. "Let me tag. I could be of use."
Penn growled. "Do not call me that."
"Why not? Verge says it."
"My name is Penn. And you're not coming. One fairy is enough." Realizing what he said, he quickly added, "Y-You know, in a good way."
"Hmm, but it appears you need more help than you think," Lakely turned smaller again and patted Penn's top hat. "You're a magician, right? Magicians do magic. Powerful magic. No matter how fake it is." When Verge laughed in agreement, Penn glared. "The thing is, you need a ride. And all traveling magicians have a ride."
"Uh, hello?" Sashi called. "I don't think there you've noticed, but there's nothing on the road."
"Oh, contraire. That's why they're magicians. Do you mind?" Without waiting for Penn's reply, Lakely took his hat and reached into it. Everyone was surprised when they saw him bring out a small button.
Then he flew over to the road and pressed it. The button started to transform into something more. It unfolded itself, revealing extra parts and resulting to the appearance of a black trailer park. It had wand and magician hat designs, and also completely decorated with what looked like glitter. The words "The Thrilling Terrific Trio" were painted across the back.
"Awesome!" Boone cheered.
"Nice," Sashi admitted, grinning as she got inside.
Even Penn was a little impressed. "Huh…" he said, kicking the wheel. "Never would have thought of this…"
"Trio, huh…" Verge mumbled. She knew this problem had crossed and passed before, but now it just hurt her all over again.
Luckily, Penn noticed her look first. "That doesn't mean anything," Penn reassured her quickly. The fairy only laughed and nodded, assured.
"OK, black one!" Lakely said, pointing at Boone. "You look like a reasonable guy. Mind taking the wheel?"
Boone frowned. "I don't know how to drive."
Lakely chuckled and patted his back. "If anyone should lead us to your goal, I think you would be the right person to do it. If not you, who else?"
That seemed to move him. "I shall accomplish the un-accomplishable!" He hopped into the front seat and immediately started the truck.
"Well, that was fast," Verge said, smirking.
Lakely smiled back, taking her by the arm "Come on! There's still more to see—"
"And who said you could come along?" Penn asked, arms crossed.
"Hey, look. I just helped you start the ride you needed, which you already had with you but didn't know about it. I've been around Magician World for the past three years. You could use me to help."
"Come on, Zero!" Verge pleaded. "Please?"
Not that Penn didn't want Verge to get to know another fairy from her dimension. He knew this would be what she wanted. But something about this Lakely guy did not seem right to him. He didn't know what, but his instincts told him he was no good…
"Guys!" Sashi called out from the trailer. "We better get going or we'll never make it to Magicity in time!"
"Tick tock, hero," Lakely pushed on.
Finally, Penn groaned. "All right! Fine! He can come."
"Yay!" Verge cheered, flying over and hugging his head quickly. Penn had to smile a bit at that.
"You won't regret it, Svenn," Lakely said with such distinction.
"It's Penn."
"Let's hit the road!" He took Verge by the arm again and they flew inside. The redhead reluctantly followed.
"Road trip!" Boone sang as he stepped on the pedal.
The five of them were on the road before they knew it.
Penn had to admit, the magician he became had good taste. He had everything a magician ever needed. Penn may have thought it was cool, the fairies didn't seem to think so.
"And over here is where he puts all his bunnies," Lakely was saying. "That is, he would if he can keep them from hopping away."
It must've been an inside fairy joke or something because Verge laughed. "Wow," she giggled. "Just wow."
"Excuse me," Penn cut in, rather rudely. "But how exactly do you know all about this?"
"Please, Glenn,"
"It's Penn."
"I told you! I know all the ropes around this dimension. I can be like a fairy guide."
"There's only room for one and that position's already fulfilled. Besides, we're a quartet! Right, guys?"
"Penn, check it out!" Boone called. "Lakely thought me how to use magic to drive! My hands aren't on the wheel!"
"Boone!" Sashi exclaimed.
"It's totally fine!"
Lakely gave a knowing look. Penn resisted the urge to growl. "Calm down, Penn," Verge said, going human size. "Lakely's just here to help. He's not going to get in the way of this team."
"Yeah," Sashi agreed. "Just hold it up until the mission is over."
Penn grunted in annoyance. "We'll just see how long he can last."
Apparently, he can last more than Penn thought.
As they were on the road, Lakely decided to put on a little show. Verge created the dust and Lakely used it to turn into shapes. Apparently, he seemed to be good at that. He made all kinds of inanimate objects and animals. Bunnies, magic wands, a sumo-wrestler match (much to Sashi's enjoyment), a pigoilet (much to Boone's delight). He even created a fairy dust bouquet of flowers and gave it to Verge and Sashi. Verge was grateful, but Sashi just turned the bouquet into a sword. Penn was the only one not watching.
Later on at a little lunch break, the male fairy offered to help catch lunch. They stopped at a little lake that was luckily in the desert. Lakely flew right over and started coaxing fish. Either that, or he was irritating them, because one fish started jumping out of the water and snapping at him. The four gasped when he grabbed it by the fin and got dragged into the water. But not a second later, he emerged back out, appearing to enjoy the little ride and the fish struggled and jumped like a dolphin. Boone and Verge cheered when he came back with about five more of them.
Just when Penn thought he'd had enough, he tried entertaining everyone by making magic tricks. But he kept messing up. But then Lakely, who claimed he hated magician magic, stepped up again and took Penn's hat. It was just like his fairy dust show. But instead of pulling a rabbit out of it, he ended up with a cow. Everyone gasped, but laughed it off when it started to moo. Later for dinner, they ended up with some steak. Verge lifted her hand and Lakely high-fived her. That sort of tightened Penn's heart a little.
At sunset, everyone decided it was best to save their strength and catch some Zs. Boone was going on autopilot, sort of half-sleeping while driving, as the others tried to sleep. Sashi was already passed out, but Penn kept tossing and turning. He couldn't seem to close his eyes. He sat up in his bunk bed and tried drinking some water. It didn't help. So he went outside to sit at the edge of the trailer park.
But when he opened the doors, he suddenly heard laughing. If Boone was driving and Sashi was asleep, then he could only guess the fairies were up there, chatting it up. He could only roll his eyes as he tried to step away. But he found himself listening.
"So, let me get this straight," Verge said, sounding serious now. "There are actually fairies with only one type of nature magic?"
"Yep. Snow, garden, fast flying, water. Etc."
"And you are a dust-keeper fairy? That's how you were able to do all those tricks?"
"Mm-hmm! No special abilities. Just tending to the dust."
"I've been in the human world my whole life and I never needed fairy dust. I seemed to be making my own."
"Well, that's 'cause you're special, aren't you?" Verge only laughed it off, but she was smiling. "Fairies don't really need fairy dust. It's just what we use when we need things to fly like us. When I was banished, I took an extra large bag to go. I was careful with it, and three years later, I still haven't used up half the bag."
"That's awesome!"
"Then again, fairies really are," Lakely chuckled. "So you haven't seen fairies around either, huh?"
"Yeah…six years in the human world."
"Must be harsh."
"I lost my memory too. Gotta admit, being the only flying one can be a bit lonely." At that, Penn frowned. "But I guess I'm still fine, right? Nothing can keep me down!"
Lakely laughed. "You got that right! And now that I'm around, you have nothing to fear!"
Verge chuckled. "Talk about arrogant much."
"Hey, fairies stick together, yes?"
"Little winged magic creatures for the win."
The two laughed slightly and bumped their fists against each other. "Fairy fist bump!"
'Uh-oh,' Penn thought. They already had their own fist bump. One day with this new guy and he was already warming up to his friends. Not bearing to hear any more, Penn assumed he could sleep better now and went back inside the trailer.
Then, Verge smiled a bit. "I'm only who I am now because of Zero and the others. I could never have survived in the human world – or any other world – without them."
Lakely frowned. "They mean that much to you, huh?..."
Verge nodded, staring up at the night sky. "And to think, there's still plenty more missions for us to come…"
"Don't you…you know, want to go back to Fairy World too?"
"Oh, I do. You have no idea. But leaving these guys…I just can't bring myself to do it. It's my dream to go see the home I half-grew up in. But these guys are my family now. I can never imagine having to abandon them."
Lakely suddenly chuckled at that as he lay down on the roof, hands behind his head. "You know, you're a really cool fairy, Verge. I like the way you think."
"Thanks," she said, smiling. "You're pretty cool too, Lakely."
The two then just laid back, staring up at orange sky.
"Guys! Guys!" Everyone suddenly woke up from their sleeping to hear Boone shouting. "I see it! Magicity!"
The others immediately got up and checked at the driver's seat. Verge and Lakely, who were already outside, looked from the roof and grinned at the sight.
It was as if fireworks were just bursting out from the place, welcoming them. It may have been dark, but everything still looked so beautiful. Especially with everyone using magic lights to brighten up the city. Everything looked so spectacular and magical. The buildings were tall, and everyone appeared to be busy. Because everyone there was a magician. There was zapping and tricking all around. The magicians appeared to be having fun with it themselves.
"This place is awesome!" Verge exclaimed.
"Double awesome!" Penn agreed. "OK, so all we have to do is go to the president and protect the Wand of Power, right? Piece of cake."
"We have to be careful," Sashi warned. "The magician could strike any moment. We have to think this whole thing out."
"Relax, Sashi! The four of us can handle it."
"Ah, don't be a spoil-sport, Gwen!"
"It's Penn."
"Let me in on all the fun, eh?"
"This is our mission! We work as a quartet! Not a…um…what's the thing that comes after quartet?" Verge, Boone, and Sashi shrugged.
"Intruplet," Lakely smiled smugly. "You still need me. And I can help."
"Zero, we've got help from other people before," Verge said calmly. "Why is this any different?"
Penn looked like he was just about to explode. "Oh, so you're defending him now? We barely know him! We gotta put the team first, remember? You're warming up to him!"
Verge frowned at that. Something was bothering Penn, and she knew it had something to do with Lakely. "Zero, that's not…What are you talking about?"
"Never mind! I don't tell you everything! Boone, get us to the President's office."
The fairy almost cowered back. When Penn used her own catchphrase against her, she knew things were serious. At times when she was scared, Penn would be there to comfort her. But now he was the one she needed comforting against.
Boone drove the trailer towards a tall building, where apparently was the President's building. After convincing security, they managed to get an audience with him, and were immediately directed to his office.
"I have heard about there being some problems with the safety of the Wand of Power," the president said. "Is it true someone plans to steal it?"
"That is correct," Penn proclaimed. "But fear not, for we ensure to you, sir, that we will be able to guard your Wand and see that no one gets their hands on it!"
"I like your reasoning, traveler," The President grinned and brought his wand out. He flicked it, and two guards appeared. "I want everyone in the building to help these fellow magicians. No one is allowed in or out of the building. Make absolute certain that no one gets this wand."
Once that was all confirmed, the President had provided rooms for the travelers. No one knew when Rippen was about to strike, so they decided to take turns keeping an eye on the Wand's Vault. "All right," Penn said. "Let's do this. I'll take the first watch."
"Actually, Zen," Lakely started.
"Are you trying to get my name wrong?"
"Maybe Verge and I should take the first watch! Us fairies are much better at staying awake than humans. We'll wake you up when anything happens."
Penn only squinted his eyes at the male fairy. "I don't trust you with anything as important as this."
"I do," Verge put in, flying in between them. "Come on, Zero. Let us do this."
Penn resisted the urge to growl. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want."
With that, he, Boone, and Sashi all went to sleep.
"Wow, he's grumpy. What's his problem?"
"I'm sorry," Verge sighed. "I really don't know either."
The rest of the night was quickly falling upon them. The Wand was locked up in its vault pretty. Verge flew around the bedroom her friends slept in. They were ensured passed out and continuing to rest. She quietly fluttered out of the room and met up with Lakely, both of them growing to human size.
"Everyone's all right," she confirmed. "No Rippen yet."
"Good," The male fairy sat down at the door of the vault, as Verge sat beside him. "Ah, I love nighttime. It's always so much peaceful and mysterious."
"You think so?" Verge asked, smiling. "I'm fond of the dark sometimes, but only because I have the light from the dust to guide me."
Lakely chuckled at that. "At Fairy World, all the lights are fireflies. Trained by animal lovers to be good friends with fairies. Real handy creatures."
"Amazing," Verge mused. "You're lucky you remember everything about Fairy World…"
Lakely took one look at her sad expression and frowned. "So…going back to Fairy World—"
"Would be my number one dream. For just even a little bit…I would want to go back. But, we can't if we don't have our portable MUTs, right?"
Lakely hesitated, nodding slowly. As he watched Verge look up at the stars, he sighed.
"Look, Verge…I haven't been completely honest with you."
"What?"
"I…I do know how to get to Fairy World."
"You do?!" The golden-winged fairy gaped at him in disbelief. "Tell me you're joking."
"Nope. I'm not. I really do. One time, I was able to find a way to get back. But since I'm banished, I had to be careful of when I came and went."
"W-Why didn't you say something in the first place?"
"Well, for one, your best friend doesn't trust me."
"…Fair point."
"Another, because it's dangerous. The way to Fairy World is heavily guarded, even from MUTs. I don't want to risk any of us getting hurt."
"But I told you, Lakely. This is something I really want. Six years of waiting really hurt. I'm ready to see my old home any time."
Lakely's eyes widened slightly at her words, but his face slowly creeped into a pleased smile. As the two stood, he nodded in approval. "If you say so, Divergent. But are you sure?"
'Am I?' Verge stared down at the ground, biting her lip. This was a once in a lifetime offer. She then found herself nodding.
"All right…"
"…Really? You mean it?"
Lakely smiled at her. "I promise I'll find the way to get us both home." Verge smiled at the fact. "Now…come on."
"Wait. What?"
"What, did you think I could just poof us into Fairy World just like that?"
"Well, I was hoping. What about the Wand Vault?"
"Oh, it'll be fine. I'll just show you the way to get there real quick and we'll be back. Let your friends sleep. We don't want them into the burden of all this."
Verge frowned, still unsure about that. "But Penn will—"
"Your Penn is mad at you, right? You don't want him to get any angrier than he is now. You're just doing him a favor, actually, for just being away fro a few minutes."
Ouch. The words hurts, but Verge felt like he was right. Verge looked back at the door of her friends' room and quickly turned away. "Fine. Let's do this."
Lakely could not have looked any happier.
Shrinking to small size, the two started to fly their way down to the lowest floor of the building. Lakely scanned the area, noticing that most of the guards were half-asleep. They then took a detour and they exited out the back entrance. Outside, the city was now only dimly lit, as everyone was sleeping, and making it a little harder to see in the darkness. Verge just tried following Lakely's fairy light.
"Lakely, where are we even going?" Verge called out.
"Don't worry!" he called back. "Almost there."
Verge soon found themselves coming across the likes of an abandoned warehouse. Maybe there was an MUT here? Lakely felt around for an entrance and found the latch to a broken window. He opened it and grinned.
"After you."
It made her uneasy, but Verge flew in and entered the warehouse.
It was worse when she didn't see any lights now. The entire area was enveloped in darkness, and even with the fairy light, Verge couldn't see.
"Lakely, what's going on?"
"Oh, nothing. If this is all going to work, we're going to borrow your powers for a while."
"…Wait, what?!"
"Hello, fairy."
Before Verge could react, she felt something big, hard, and cold slam against the back of her head. She tried to fight it, but her eyes fluttered shut and she slipped into the darkness.
Morning came around just as quickly. The light shone down through the curtains of the three's bedroom, waking all of them up. Penn yawned lazily in sleep, smiling at how well rested he felt.
But then his eyes popped open when he'd come to a realization. "Guys. Please tell me someone had their turn in taking watch of the vault."
Boone and Sashi sat up straight in their beds, looking just as panicked. "You mean, Verge and Lakely didn't wake you up either?"
He tried not to panic, but Penn immediately got out of his bed and practically ran to the Vault. He searched frantically, but there was no sign of the two fairies. He looked through the Vault's peephole and almost relaxed completely when the Wand was still there.
"Good. Rippen didn't come."
"But where are Verge and Lakely?" Sashi demanded.
"And why didn't Rippen come here last night?" Boone added.
The sound of what sounded like a grass explosion answered just that.
The three suddenly turned to the window of the building and looked outside. Magician guards were sprawled out on the ground, groaning at the explosion. Flowers started sprouting up, spraying sleeping pollen around the guards, and knocking them out. The entrance to the building was now wide open.
"Look!" Sashi exclaimed, pointing.
Standing just a few meters away was Rippen. Once they saw him, the first thing they noticed was what he was wearing. It looked just like the metal suit he wore in the Super Hero World. The only that was added was the metal top hat he wore, which, unusually, was making sparks fly from it. Larry was happily sitting behind a big glass case in its chest, grinning as the robot suit walked towards the building.
"This is fun!" he cheered.
"Ahahaha!" Rippen laughed with glee. "Fools! No one can stop me!"
"Think again, Rip," Penn murmured. "We'll find the fairies later. Boone, Sashi, guard the vault!"
His friends nodded and took off, as Penn quickly went down the building to face off Rippen. He stood before the man, preparing for one-on-one.
"Ah, Penn Zero," the villain sneered. "Perfect timing. I was just in the mood to destroy you!"
"Not today, Rippen!" Penn shouted. He brought his own magician wand out and sent a blast of white doves.
Rippen's suit seemed to have a certain function that could control animals, because when he reached a hand out, the doves obeyed and stopped flying. He made a shooing motion, and the doves attacked Penn instead.
"Gah!" he yelped, swatting them away. He created a big gust of wind from his wand this time, hoping to lift Rippen in the air.
But the villain had a function for that too. He merely took all the wind Penn summoned and swirled it around to make a tornado. Penn got enveloped in it, and another attack he sent was directed back. "Whoa!"
Grunting, Penn used his wand again and grew a vine from it. He flicked it like a whip, having it grab onto something from below. Penn held on tight until the tornado died down.
But he should've already known Rippen could already control plants. The villain took the advantage, stopped the wind, and made Penn's vine grow larger. It pulled him to the ground, and started restraining him. The vines held him down, making him unable to move.
"Well! I guess I have a wand to steal."
Suddenly, Larry pressed a button in the suit, and Rippen started to float in the air. With one last smirk, he flew up to the Wand Vault's floor.
"Oh, come on! He can fly too?!"
Growing frustrated, Penn managed to take his wand again and create a blast of fire, destroying the vines. Now that he was free again, he summoned more wind, and quickly followed Rippen.
But by the time Penn got back up, Boone and Sashi were already gagged up and in ropes. They shouted muffled screams, and Penn gasped. Rippen, who was just about to open the vault, then turned around and smirked. "Oh, don't look at me. I didn't plan on doing that."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you know very well, Penn."
That was not Rippen who said that. Emerging from the shadows in an evil mysterious way was a certain male fairy.
"Lakely!" Penn gasped, glaring a bit. "I knew it! I knew you were behind all this! I should've known you were working for Rippen."
Lakely merely smiled as he stood between the two. "Working? Oh, no, dear boy. I refuse to be working for anyone. I just drove a hard bargain."
"You're not getting that wand!" Penn shouted. He pointed his wand again, ready to shoot fire.
But, as if planned, Lakely flew upwards and Rippen opened a hatch in his metal hat. Penn stared in horror at what he saw.
Verge was in there. All strapped up inside, with sparks flying from her skin. She seemed to be passed out, and looking in very much pain. Penn resisted the urge to yell, but he had to lower his wand. "You," he practically spat. "How could you do this?!"
"Oh, chillax, Zero," Lakely said, still smirking. "We're only borrowing them. Once we take over the world, we'll let her go."
"So you're getting all the power from Verge?!"
Rippen sneered back at him. "I couldn't get them in the Super Hero World. This was just a comeback! How fun they actually were to play with!" Penn glared at him at that.
The villain had managed to open the vault, and the Wand of Power sat there patiently. Rippen eagerly took it, and held it proudly. You could almost see the power just surging through the suit now.
"Yes! Victory is mine!"
Suddenly, they all heard the sound of lightning. Thunderclouds started to form in the air, and lightning started to strike through the city. You could almost hear the gasps and screams of the citizens below.
Penn should've been worried. He was just mere minutes close to failing. But he really needed his friend to wake up. "Verge!" he yelled. "Verge, come on!" She didn't seem to notice, and was still passed out in the metal hat.
"It's too late, Penn Zero!" Rippen yelled out. "Ahahahahaha!"
Still using Verge's powers, he burst through the ceiling and he and Lakely headed for the roof.
Penn gritted his teeth and quickly went to untie Boone and Sashi. "You guys need to get to somewhere safe," he shouted over the thunder.
"What about you?" Sashi cried.
"I'll be fine! Verge is still up there! I gotta get her back! It'll be too dangerous for you guys to come! You have to calm the citizens, and hurry!"
The two looked at each other nervously, and Boone stepped forward to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Be careful there, man."
Penn smiled. "I will, bud. Now go!"
Still reluctant, Boone and Sashi made their way down the building. Penn breathed in a nervous breath and headed up the stairs to the roof.
Up above, Rippen was conjuring more storm clouds and causing chaos throughout the city. He was burning down buildings, making earthquakes, and just making havoc. He laughed at the people's screams of misery.
"Oh, this is so much fun!" Rippen laughed. "I have never felt so alive!"
Lakely smirked. "Just remember the end deal of this, old man."
Rippen smiled and patted the young fairy's head. "Ah, yes. Your reward will come, boy."
"Fairy. And keep enjoying the fun, old Rip. 'Cause it's just beginning."
"I love having fun!" Larry cheered from inside the glass case. "Then again, who doesn't? Oh, you know what I love doing for fun the most—"
Rippen pressed another in his suit, and the glass case became soundproof. Larry continued to talk, with no sound coming through. "Man, that guy can talk."
Rippen smiled again as he continued to break absolutely everything. Magicians and citizens were now cowering in fear in their homes, with some already starting to leave the city. "Victory has never tasted so sweet!" he laughed.
"Then maybe sour is the next thing you'll taste! Because you're about to meet defeat!"
The villains suddenly turned to see Penn, by the stairs, panting slightly, and still trying to keep a determined look on his face. It was amazing how he could still make pun at this point.
"I told you, Penn Zero! It's too late now!"
"No, it's not!"
Penn couldn't attack with magic so he tried to lunge forward. Rippen gasped, thinking he was about to be knocked over.
But Lakely was faster. He dove in at Penn first, pinning him to the ground. "Not so fast! You're not going to get in the way of my plan!"
Penn glared at him. "Gah!" He gathered his strength to push Lakely forward, hoping to at least conquer him.
But Lakely seemed to be stronger, as he flipped Penn around and got him into a headlock. Penn grunted, struggling to pull the male fairy's arm off. Rippen only laughed at that as he continued to bring chaos.
Penn knew he couldn't do this alone. Best for him to try again.
"Verge! Verge! Verge!"
Darkness. That was all the fairy saw, as she floated in it, basking in eternal slumber. She felt like she could sleep for a thousand years and she would still won't be satisfied. Divergent didn't want to open her eyes at all.
"Verge!"
What was that? When Verge peeked one eye, she still saw nothing. She started to close her eyes again, thinking it was just imagination deceiving her.
"Verge, please!"
No. It was real this time. Verge opened her eyes, just a little bit, as she felt her body slowly lift up again. As she neared the top, she could now see the teeniest bit of light, shining down upon her. She reached a hand, her nerves encouraging her to touch it. The brightness was coaxing her to just open her eyes.
"Wake up!"
Verge's eyes now snapped open when she saw Lakely choking Penn. Where was she? One moment, they were in the warehouse. The next…
Suddenly, she remembered everything.
"Guys, stop!" the small fairy yelled.
At her voice, Lakely grew surprised. He pushed Penn, and Rippen saw a chance to wrap him in vines.
"Not this again!"
At the take of him using her power, Verge felt her body being drained. She let out a yell of pain, as it slowly sparked her and died down again. "Divergent!" Penn exclaimed.
"Lakely…" Verge panted. "You lied."
"Technically, I didn't 'lie'. Everything I said was the truth. I just didn't tell you about this side of me."
"You promised…you'd take me to Fairy World, Lakely. What happened to 'fairies stick together'?"
"Yes, Divergent," the male fairy said calmly. "I still keep that in mind. And I never break a promise. In fact, I still intend to keep ours. See, once Rippen finishes his goal, I can go back with him to Middleburg and fix their MUT. We'll be able to see Fairy World because of my permission!"
"You'd become evil just because of that reason?!"
"Oh, Verge," Lakely chuckled. "I was always evil. At least that's what all the fairies said! The reason why I was banished? I tried to take all the fairy dust back home and share it with the humans."
"You what?!"
Lakely turned to Penn, who shouted that, and glared. "Yeah, that's right. For being generous, I was thrown out from the only place I belonged in. Which is why I despise humans for even bringing me to this fate of mine!"
"Why go with Rippen then?"
"Oh, he's an exception. He'll help me get my revenge!"
Rippen, who was still having fun in the background, looked back and smirked. "That's right!"
"The only reason I'm making you suffer for just the tiniest bit is because this all started with your mother. If she hadn't known about what I was trying to do, I would never have been banished!"
Something suddenly struck Verge's heart and caused it to pause for just a second. And it wasn't the power-draining sparks. "My mother?"
Lakely smiled evilly. "That's right, Divergent. I knew your precious Mom. Come with us, and we'll go pay her a little visit."
"Don't listen to him, Verge!" Penn yelled from the background. But it looked like the fairy had completely lost it now.
"'Fairies stick together', yes? I still believe in that, Verge. Join us, and we'll be able to go back to our home!"
Time was ticking. The thunderclouds were growing bigger, Penn was still yelling, and Rippen's laughter continued to echo out through the city. But Verge didn't hear any of it.
It was as if time had stopped for her.
"…no…"
"What was that?"
"I said NO!"
Lakely was taken aback by her shout, while Penn looked up at her in hope.
"Everything you're doing is wrong! I don't want my old home destroyed! If I join you, you'd probably kill my mom in front of my very eyes! Even if it means giving up a chance to see her, I'm not going to risk all this happen!"
Lakely gritted his teeth in anger. "You told me, Verge…you said you were lonely! We could change that."
"…No. I was never lonely." Verge looked at Penn, who seemed to smile at her words. "Everything I needed was right before my very eyes. I just didn't get the chance to open them. Yes, 'fairies stick together'. But friends last forever."
Lakely didn't do anything but glare at her angrily.
"Yeah!" Penn let out a yell, using every last bit of his strength to break through the vines. Before Lakely had the chance to react, Penn lunged at him. The male fairy struggled to get out of grasp, but Penn was looking for something in his pockets.
"Aha!" He then brought out a certain small pouch out of it.
"No!" Lakely screamed. "My dust! Give it—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Penn sprinkled some of it on his head and tossed the bag away. As he flew into the air, Lakely let out a shout of rage and flew after him.
When Penn got air-tackled, the two struggled in the sky. Penn let out a groan as Lakely socked him in the stomach. In response to that, he kicked the fairy's leg. While Lakely winced a little, Penn started reaching for the only thing that could stop him from flying. "This is gonna hurt!" he warned, and twisted his wing.
"Gah!" Lakely fell to the ground, yelling in pain as he held his back.
"You fool!" Rippen shouted at the hero. He turned away from the thunderclouds and started blasting Penn with lightning.
"Whoa, whoa!" Penn yelped, barely dodging the bolts. "You missed!"
"Gah! Stay still, you flying buffoon!"
That's when Penn had an idea. "Try and catch me, you big can of stupid!"
While Lakely was still on the ground, Penn leaned backwards midair, continuing to hold his balance and flew in front of the fairy. "Hey, Rippy!" he shouted out. When he got the villain's attention, Penn started making faces.
"Stop acting like a child!" Rippen yelled, in utter fury. He held the Wand of Power with both hands, ready to blast Penn.
"No, Rippen, stop!"
Too late. Just at the right moment, Penn kicked his feet upwards, completely avoiding the attack, as the huge blast then hit Lakely instead.
"No!"
When the smoke died down, the fairy was gone.
Sparks continued to fly from the blast, with one of them flying off a pipe and breaking Larry's glass case. As he fell out, another spark bounced off the tile and knocked the metal hat, and Verge in it, off Rippen's head. The final spark then bounced off the floor again, and was heading directly for Rippen's metal suit.
"Noooooo!"
There was another huge explosion, caused by the suit. And Rippen found himself blasting into the stars.
Verge flew off the floor and picked the Wand of Power up. With the Wand now in good hands, Penn first used it to clear the skies. The sun popped up, and shone down on the city, as Penn started to repair the buildings, the streets, and homes of Magicity. With peace finally returned, the citizens came out of hiding, gasping at such a miracle, and cheered in delight.
Penn grinned proudly, twirling the wand. "Yeah!" he yelled out.
Verge quickly transformed to human size and tacked Penn into tight hug. He was surprised a bit at the gesture, but he almost immediately hugged her back.
"I'm glad you're OK."
"I'm glad too." Verge suddenly looked at the blast where Lakely was hit. There weren't any ash marks, much to her confusion, but she wasn't really focusing on that.
"Hey."
"I know, I know," Verge sighed sadly. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have trusted him. You were right."
Penn hesitated. "I was going to comfort you some more, but now that you agreed on that, I guess I forgive you now." The fairy laughed and socked him in the arm. Penn just smiled as he rubbed it.
"…I meant what I said, though."
"That you were stupid?" Verge raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"…Friends last forever. Boone and Sashi are amazing, and you're my best friend, Zero. There was no way I was going to go for dimension over-take just to see the life that left me behind. Sometimes I forget I'm here because of you."
Penn chuckled at that. "Aw, Verge, don't be like that. I'm just sorry you couldn't get the chance to see your home."
The fairy shook her head. "No, Zero. I already have a home. I always did."
At those words, Penn had to smile.
Verge held her fist out sheepishly. Penn happily bumped it back.
Once the quartet reunited again, Verge hugged Boone and Sashi. "We're glad you're all right!" the girl sighed.
Verge only smiled. "Please, Sash. You think another fairy could beat all this toughness? I don't think so." Sashi smiled and fist-bumped with her.
Boone patted Verge's shoulder. "Glad you didn't go to the dark side, Verge."
The fairy suddenly chuckled nervously. "Oh, yeah, haha… Speaking of dark side, do you guys really think Lakely's gone forever?"
"Hmph. Let's just hope. The next time we see that guy again, I'll gladly pump his face to a pulp."
"I still can't believe he'd trick me…he was so nice…the first fairy I ever met in six years and that's how he'll treat me…"
"We have to meet disappointment every once in a while, Verge," Sashi said.
"Yeah…right…"
"Thank you so much for saving out city!" the President said, who had suddenly come up to them and grinned happily. "We are forever in your debt, o great traveler heroes!"
Penn smiled. "And to that I say, we were just doing our jobs!" He looked back at his friends and they all grinned.
The blue flash came and they were all zapped back home.
When Verge and the others got off the platform, Phyllis dropped in and stopped the fairy, speaking to her as she started repairing a broken part on the MUT. "Made a good choice," Phyllis noted, turning a wrench. "Very good. That is the action of a hero."
Verge had to smile. "Who, me? Nah. I'm just the fairy guide." It was hard to make out, but she could've sworn Phyllis smiled. "And don't worry. I'll continue to be."
And that wraps it up! Ah, it's nice to have a something to finally be checked off the To-Write list.
Hope this was a good special episode guys! My final shout-out to Lilla, thanks so much again for the idea! I hope this was all worth the wait! I'm glad some of you guys like the SEs too, they're my most favorite thing to do in writing this fic :) I pray that I'll be able to have more coming in v-v So you best stick around and get updated!