Chapter 40: Phoenix Fae
Earlier, before the witches boarded the train
Inconveniently for Audrey and Crystal, the last tail wagon was the worst place for hiding. Unlike the rest of the train decorated enough for people to come up with secret passages, the last tail wagon was full of nothing but wooden crates. Rows and rows of well-cut wooden crates with painted words on them. After booby trapping that one, the girls contended themselves by sitting on top of them, dreadfully waiting for the attack. Audrey was perhaps the most anxious; the tapping her fingers were doing echoed on the walls.
"Could you please stop that?" Crystal groaned. "Your anxious tapping is making me anxious."
"I'll be less anxious after I get rid of Kory…" Audrey bit her lip. Out of nowhere, she sank her nails into the board underneath her and clenched it viciously in her fists. The crate collapsed, causing Audrey to land onto a pile of fancy teacups and break it. "DAMN IT!"
Crystal noticed the pink hues appearing on the roots of Audrey's brown hair. She jumped off her crate and lifted Audrey up. As Crystal held onto Audrey's wrists, she noticed the strange scratching pain she was getting from Audrey's nails. When she looked at them, the ex-Auradonian's nails were perfectly cut with sharp ends. Sharp ends that reminded Crystal of talons.
"Audrey, when was the last time you clipped your nails?"
"At Villainapolis. Why…" That's when Audrey saw her own nails. "Why are my nails sharp?"
"You mean you didn't notice it before?" Crystal asked.
"I was busy being traumatized and booby trapping a train. You think that I had time to look at my nails?" Audrey pulled away to have a better look her. For curiosity's sake, she slashed at the nearest crate. Instantly, the wood was sliced up, releasing and breaking a collection of golden goblets in the process. "Crystal… What's happening to me? Am I getting phoenix talons without even morphing?"
"Oh, I am not liking this…" Crystal groaned. "Damn it! The timing's horrible!"
"What timing?" Audrey began to freak out.
"I think you overdosed." Crystal checked Audrey's nails again. "The history with your mother's curse. Maleficent's scepter. Hades reviving you. Your bond with Alastor. The Fae and demonic powers you possess are turning you into one of the most powerful people in existence. But… too much power like this has bad physical consequences."
"Am I going to die?" Audrey cringed. She wasn't quite ready to die and become her demon's slave due to not fulfilling any contract.
"No!" Crystal held her by the arms in an attempt to comfort her. "No, you'll live. It's just… How do I say? You're losing your humanity the more you use your powers. And I don't mean humanity like you'll lose your soul, kindness, and other whatnot virtues. You'll lose your biological humanity."
Audrey's brown eyes widened. "So, I might turn into an actual demon-Fae hybrid?"
"Eh… more like a phoenix demon-Fae hybrid. If you're getting demonic powers, chances are that the way they manifest are an internal depiction of your eventual sinner reincarnation when you die. Plus, Charles said you turned into a phoenix… I'm not helping, am I?"
"What can I do?"
"Audrey, I'm afraid this is the sort of thing that might not be resolved until you and Alastor complete a contract. Maybe then you'll be able to stabilize yourself, but until then, you need to limit your use of magic… Which, you know, now that I think of it, further shows how bad the timing is considering we're about to be attacked!"
"Witches on the train!" Ozzy hissed in their ear mikes. "Everyone, hide!"
This was bad timing indeed. Rather than hiding, Audrey found herself pacing around, frantically rubbing her hands and scratching herself with her new sharper nails. "This is bad… I have the powers to challenge Kory and probably wipeout the witches but I stop being human the more I do… If I don't fight Kory, she'll kill us all, I'll be Alastor's slave…"
"Audrey, snap out of it!" Crystal snapped her fingers, gaining Audrey's attention.
"How can I snap out of it? You just told me I need to hold back on the magic unless I turn into a total monster!"
"You're not a monster! You're just a hormonal teenager who has no clue that such an overload of powers comes with consequences! It happens! Even Beatrice went through that phase!"
This spiked Audrey's interest. "Beatrice went through my sort of thing?"
"Duh." Crystal shrugged. "Her dad's the Ghost with The Most and her godfather is the Radio Demon. Reality warping ghost powers and demon magic. You know, Beatrice is more powerful than she looks. Shapeshifting, stretching her limbs, and her package deal of pranks? The shit she throws out is harmless compared to the full-on powers she exposes when people say her name three times. If she went to their full extent, she'd kill her human half by accident! That's why most of the time, she never uses her powers unless, you know, she's being herself… And she's on prescriptions."
"Oh, thank god!" Audrey sighed in relief. She then frowned a bit and started looking around the train car. She stomped on the ground. "Does the car feel like it's not moving to you?"
Crystal looked at the door, panicked, and ran to open it. The moment Crystal got out, she saw the situation. Sure enough, the tail wagons, including the one they were in, had been left behind as the rest of the train moved forward. In the distance, wolves could be seen chasing after it while at the horizon, a vast desert with a canyon made itself noticeable. It was the border leading to the Wastelands.
The scariest part wasn't even that. No, it was the figure standing in front of the tail wagons. Braided hair and a furred cloak were the only distinguishable features as the figure kept her back turned on Crystal, her eyes most likely focused on the train ahead of them. Realizing the danger, Crystal rushed back to the last wagon and closed the door behind her. She snapped her fingers, levitating crates to block the door.
"Crystal?" Audrey asked.
"Kory Lokisdottir… She's here… She separated us from the rest of the train!" Crystal said.
"She knows I'm here…" Audrey headed towards the blocked door until Crystal blocked her.
"Audrey, what do you think you're doing?" Crystal demanded.
"Going out to face her. Otherwise, she'll destroy everything until she finds me. She wants me dead. In case you forgot, I killed her best friend! And I'm pretty sure she'll kill everyone who gets in her way."
"Did you forget a small detail?" Crystal pointed at Audrey's new sharp nails. "Too much magic use and you lose your humanity! Stay here, I'll face her myself!"
"You think that I'm just going to sit here while she hurts another one of my friends?"
Crystal put her hands together and formed a crystal ball. She hated what she was going to do, but she had no other options. She threw it at Audrey, causing the ex-Auradonian to be sucked into the crystal ball before it turned into an amethyst-beaded choker that Crystal caught in her hands.
"I'm sorry, Audrey." Crystal put the choker around the necklace. She then shouted into the ear mike. "Tail cars separated! Tail cars separated!"
"Guys! What happened?" She heard Ozzy shout.
"Lokisdottir split our car from the rest of the train! She's after Audrey!"
"Where are Beatrice and Charles?" Gothy sounded freaked out. Crystal felt horrible at the idea that her girlfriend was alone, facing off witches that wanted to auction off her dead soul.
"I'm getting radio silence from them! Either they're dead or witches are in the same room as them!" Out of nowhere, a pillar of ice pierced through the wagon, causing Crystal to lose her ear mike as she fled outside. It had started to rain at one point, which was why the tracks that Crystal landed on were getting soaked in mud.
Thunder was starting to echo in the sky, but the sound of the tail wagons getting destroyed were louder. She turned and saw the pillars of ice that had impaled the wagons, fully destroying them in the process. Emerging from the rubble came the demigoddess, the wind flying through her fur coat and exposing her Viking armor. Crystal didn't flinch; she was well aware of Kory Lokidottir's notorious reputation as a sorceress who hid her Jotun features with the faces of those hated by those who beheld her. It didn't surprise her when instead of a humane face, she had to deal with the demigoddess using the face of a chimera. Part reptile, part predatory bird, and part dragon. The faces of creatures that Jareth the Goblin King had used as boogeyman archetypes to scare Crystal into obeying him until she grew a spine.
"Wow. A Skesis. I'm utterly terrified," Crystal rolled her eyes.
"Where's Audrey Rose?" The demigoddess demanded.
"What? I'm not good enough for you?" Crystal faked being offended. "Bummer, I thought you preferred magic-casters to your level."
"HA!" Kory Lokisdottir laughed, the sounds from her mouth clashing with the thunder. The lights coming from the sky reflected on her venomous green eyes, the one trait that easily reminded Crystal that she was facing a lunatic sociopath rather than her childhood boogeyman. "A magic-caster of my level, you? Your own father is an underrated, 1980s perv with shitty fashion tastes! Mine was the god of mischief and chaos, which never died out! I've used my tricks to get people to do what I want, I fucked as many as I needed to survive, and I outsmarted my own demons! But you? You're an adult in a teenage body, a doormat to your uncaring father who hasn't bothered to retaliate after you ran off! You waste yourself, are a complete hedonist, and jump to any desperate attempt of freedom! You are insignificant!" Kory stopped laughing when Crystal blinked at her in boredom. "What? No effect?"
"I dealt with Jareth's negligence and emotionally harsh words since the 90s." Crystal shrugged. "We're the children of tricksters, did you honestly think I was going to fall for your shit? Like Sarah Williams always says, it's a piece of cake."
"A piece of cake, huh?" A sneer appeared on the demigoddess' Skesis face as ice grew out of her hands and turned into perfectly sharp axes. "I hope you don't mind if I slice you then!"
"Oh!" Crystal tossed out two crystal balls, the explosive glitter transforming into a shield and sword that landed in her hands. "Allow me to serve you, bitch!"
Meanwhile
Audrey was beyond pissed when the first thing she saw was an endless whiteness surrounding her.
"Crystal! Crystal Maze, let me out!" Audrey felt the fire growing in her as she stomped her foot. "I don't find this funny!" Purple glitter blew at her face like a sandstorm. When the glitter cleared, Audrey was startled by her sudden change in attire: a black knee-length long flapper dress with pink beads forming flame patterns and long feathers at the skirt, shoulder long opera gloves with clawed pink tips, black heeled boots that went all up under her dress' skirt, pink diamond jewelry, and a feathered headband with a pink phoenix brooch. The whiteness dissolved, changing into a scene that brought her back to Macabretown. It looked like some sort of nighttime festivity where everyone was getting into the swing jazz ambiance from the buffet to the music and dance. On an even more disturbing note, Audrey's friends were in the background: Ozzy and Charles dancing together, Gothy and Crystal talking to some dark-haired woman that looked a lot like Gothy, and Beatrice hugging her parents. Everyone seemed so… happy.
"This is disturbing…" Audrey muttered.
"You do not say."
Audrey turned in alarm when she heard somebody talk right next to her. That same person was next to her, but what caused her the most alarm was that she knew the figure. Even with his different red-and-black pinstriped dancing suit and his tone appearing darker than the last time she'd seen him; she recognized the dark chocolate brown hair and eyes. The monocle. The smile…
"Wait a minute!" Audrey snapped and backed away. She pointed at the man. "Why are you here? You're just a figment of my imagination based on a picture in Mrs. Deetz's art gallery!"
"How can I know? I'm a reflection of your dearest desires. But I must say, you are more aware about the crystal illusions than most captives are." Audrey had to mentally slap herself to stay concentrated. That man sounded so charismatic, gallant… everything no boy or man she knew was.
"Crystal illusions?" Audrey asked.
"The illusions formed within the crystal balls." The man gestured at the party. "It is a rather nasty trick that Jareth the Goblin King taught his daughter. Should they desire to trap people, they will trap them in these illusions that automatically transform into the victim's dearest desires. And the illusions becoming more convincing depending on how much the caster wants to trap the victim."
"So, you're a self-aware illusion?" Audrey frowned. "That's kinda creepy."
"It would have been far more terrifying if Princess Crystal really wanted you trapped here. You were made aware of how her father drugged Sarah Williams, right?"
"Yes?"
"The peach he used was one of his disguised crystal balls. Once Sarah Williams bit it, she fell into an illusion of her dearest desires: the desire to live out her dreams of fairytale adventures, dancing balls, and handsome princes. The illusion was a masquerade ball powerful and distractable enough. Jareth himself stepped in to dance with her."
"That's even creepier than the self-aware illusion."
"I agree. Nevertheless, she found a way out. And in all honesty, Princess Crystal demonstrated in her less-than-hypnotic illusion that she does not mean to trap you here long. And that you may find a way to escape should the outside situation become perilous."
"So, what you're saying… is that Crystal tried to put me out of the battle for my own safety in a personal fantasy that I can still escape from?" Audrey and the illusion man nearly stumbled as their surroundings suddenly shook. That didn't stop the illusionary party from continuing and the illusion party members kept celebrating. "What was that?"
"I believe that would be a sign that things are destabilizing in the outside world," the illusion man said, straightening his eye accessory. "If you are to get out, you must reflect on what the illusion represents of your dearest desires. If something strikes you off, that is the key to escaping. Look around you. What do you think of?"
"What do I think of?" Audrey looked around. "OK, let me think. I see my friends… I guess… Gothy looks like she might be with Cassandra, her sister… And she's still with Crystal. Beatrice is with her parents. Charles and Ozzy look like a couple… like a functional one… Maybe… What I want is for my friends to be happy, to have what they want, and to still be friends… I want Gothy to find her sister but I want her to also be with the girl she loves, I want Beatrice to go back to her parents because as much as she likes adventures, she's actually homesick, and I want Ozzy and Charles to be together because she really cares about him compared to everyone else! I want my friends' happiness but also that we stick together!"
The illusions of her friends froze in their activities. Glitter covered their petrified bodies until they turned into glass statues.
"This is a very good start to escaping the illusion!" The illusion man applauded. "True companionship. Look around more… The party, the town… why are they part of your deepest desire?"
"Well it's a swing jazz party… I… I haven't had one of them since I was little. This was when my family started controlling my life… I want to be in charge of my own life, but I want to do things that I really like! Not because I'm told to! I want to go back to doing things like dancing to jazz music! Being myself without having others telling me who I should be!" The party froze into a petrified glass scene. "And Macabretown… I haven't been to a lot of towns in this part of the world, but… It's not Auradon, where people ditch you for the net popular one. It's not Villainapolis, with the insane fans, the demigoddess who's after me, or the demons from outer space serving me in a chateau in the middle of a turf I didn't ask to occupy… Or the Troll Lands, where I have the reminder of Auradon's bad side. No… I… I actually feel at home in Macabretown! I want to live there once we find Gothy's sister!"
Audrey was getting confident as the illusion began to turn into an outright glass statue landscape. The pieces were coming together. She now knew how to answer Charles' question! She knew where home would be! As the joy grew, Audrey suddenly paused and frowned. Everything in the illusion was frozen, except for her and the illusion man.
"What is the matter?" The illusion man asked.
"I… I don't understand what's missing…" Audrey admitted. "This illusion just showed me what I really wanted, but I don't know what's missing." Audrey paused. "How did Sarah Williams escape from Crystal's dad's illusion?"
"Time was the clue. She escaped when she realized that time was short. The king's illusion had such a strong influence on her that she nearly forgot why she was in his realm. The clues reminded her and she defeated him before time ran out."
"And how did she defeat him?"
"You tell me." The illusion man took Audrey's hand and walked her through the frozen illusion. "If I told you that everything had been solved, if victory was yours, and that this fantasy could become your happily ever after, would you stay with me?"
Audrey frowned. "I don't even know you."
"I do not know either. I told you, I am just a reflection of your internal desires. The illusion sensed how your heart craves to 'maybe finally find some angel who'd truly devote to me, who'd truly be there for me… even though I'm beastly.'"
"Please shut up…" Audrey groaned. "The last thing I need is for another reminder of my parents' sappy beliefs in fateful meetings once upon a…" Audrey paused before the last word finally came out of her mouth. "…dream?" This time, it was clear. As much as the illusion showed what she was longing for in the end without her realizing it, it just looked… too easy. And something was missing.
"If this is what I want… then where's Alastor?"
The illusion man's brown eyes looked confused. "Who?"
"Don't play dumb!" Audrey snapped at the illusion man. "I need to complete my contract with Alastor! If this sentient illusion is supposed to show how I want my life to go from here, then where is he? Did I complete my contract with him? Why isn't he here?"
"There's no need to worry about the demon," the illusion man kept himself composed, but Audrey didn't buy it. With the way he was struggling to stay calm, she could see that she hit a nerve. The key to escaping the illusion. "Why would you worry about a deceased monster when you could have all the living people in your happily ever after?"
"MY happily ever after?" Audrey got angry. "Happily ever after was the fake promise my family raised me to believe in so I could boost their status! Maybe my heart's dearest desires and your illusion make it look like a happily ever after, but I don't want an orchestrated ending! I want a real life, with a home, real friends, and where I can be myself! Even if he drives me crazy and even if I kill my sanity just to avoid Penna De Mort's curse, there's no way I'd neglect Alastor! Maybe you're right, maybe he is evil, dead, and a monster, but he was the first in all the people who actually stuck up for me! I'd rather go through real life with a demon I'm familiar with than some illusionary dream boy I don't know! Nobody controls me anymore, you hear me! NO ONE!"
Her scream echoed as the illusion engulfed into colorful flames.
Meanwhile
Crystal found herself being thrown against the train tracks yet again.
In all fairness, she had been able to stand her ground against Kory Lokisdottir just fine. The Goblin Princess had been able to endure dozens of minutes fighting the Princess of Mischief. Spells had been cast, illusions had been broken, and Crystal constantly turned into an owl to dodge the demigoddess's ice magic. Unfortunately, the latter summoning her army of wolves proved to be too much. Even with her mineral manipulation spells used to summon silver from the destroyed wagons to attack the wolves, they kept coming at her. Despite all the wounds on her arms, exposed by the ripped sleeves of her coat, she kept her ground as nearly fifty wolves gathered to surround her.
"Surrendering yet?" Kory asked, bearing the fangs of her Skesis face as she sneered.
"Clearly your old age is affecting your memory…" Crystal spat. Her leg muscles ached in agonizing pain as she forced herself to stand up. "I never surrender…"
"You got nothing, Crystal Maze. Heck, if my sources are accurate, you fell for the sister of that bastard Charles Frollo? By now, the Grand High Witch must have murdered them all…"
"You can cut the 'I killed your loved ones' speech... Seriously, what's with you making speeches for mental breakdowns when you know I won't fall for them? I'm a trickster brat, remember?" Crystal groaned in exasperation. "A trickster can trick a non-trickster, but a trickster can't trick another trickster!"
"True, but a snake will gladly eat another snake if there's no other available prey."
"What, you're going to eat me? The vamp is now a cannibal?"
"No. But they are." Kory Lokisdottir gestured to her wolves. "I also had their teeth replaced with iron ones. It might make your death a lot more… agonizing."
Crystal looked in fear at the numerous bared fangs staring at her. It finally dawned on her how much things were at stake when she saw the iron in their fangs.
A sudden rise in heat came from her collar. Everyone looked confused when Crystal yelped at the fire growing from her choker. Out of panic, she threw it onto the tracks. It shattered into broken crystal pieces before unleashing a pillar of red, pink, and black fire flames that formed into a humanoid phoenix. The wolves howled in agony as the flaming humanoid phoenix flapped its wings against the wolves, cremating many bodies into oblivion and provoking many of them to run away in fear.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU FUSSY PUPPIES!" Kory shouted. As the humanoid phoenix shrunk down, a shockwave came out of it, sending Kory and Crystal flying away. Crystal had faster senses and turned into an owl until the winds cleared. The humanoid phoenix disappeared, revealing Audrey tumbling in the middle of the rising pink smoke. For some reason, the transformation had changed her attire: a chainmail suit with pink and black metal strings fashioned like a forest of rose thorns, black high-heeled boots with phoenix talons on the toe area, shoulder-long fingerless gloves exposing her claw-like nails, and her cloak, the one she wore since the beginning of her adventure, now a giant cape of colorful feathers, each arranged to make her cape look like a living fire despite the lack of flames and wind. The glitter in her brown hair shined like a nighttime show of fireflies.
"Audrey!" Crystal rushed to her. "Audrey, look at me! Are you alright?"
"I just escaped your illusion and turned into a fire show! How do you think I am?" Audrey stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at Crystal, who freaked out. "What?"
"This is what I meant!" Crystal summoned a crystal ball to form into a mirror in her hands. She held it before Audrey, and sure enough, the reflection revealed that Audrey's left eye was now pink. "Look at you! You got heterochromia like my dad!"
A growl alerted them. Audrey and Crystal stood their ground and began forming spells in their hands; Kory Lokisdottir stood up many feet away from them, but for some reason, her face was distorting between the Skesis illusion and her real face.
At the same time
The others managed to get to Crystal and Audrey faster by riding an enlarged Elvis. From the dashboard inside the ROCKINGTROLLTOISE, the teenagers had a view of their friends fighting the demigoddess, whose face couldn't stay put.
"What's happening to Lokisdottir?" Gothy frowned as the teens saw from the screen the demigoddess' face distorting between a creepy bird and an absolute monster.
"Her face turns into that which the viewer hates most." Charles rubbed his chin in thought. "During the commotion when we escaped her club, Audrey enraged her enough that Kory dropped the illusion and showed the real face that Audrey despises the most. Kory's real face replaced Mal's."
"That's disturbing."
"But exploitable!" Beatrice pointed out. "If I'm seeing this right, she can only shift her face to provoke a direct target, but it's a whole other story if more targets attack her at the same time. It'll distract her if we properly attack her at specific times. Either she worries about protecting herself, killing us all, or mentally breaking us with faces of who we hate."
"I got it!" Charles snapped his fingers. "She's too busy fighting Crystal and Audrey, so she'd least expect it if Ozzy had Elvis spin around to confuse her with a dirt cloud, which would give Gothy and I the chance of approaching her and stabbing her…"
"She's a demigoddess. Your family daggers won't kill her," Beatrice interrupted.
"Will you let me finish?" Charles snapped, silencing her. "Stabbing her will just be another distraction as Beatrice brings Crystal and Audrey inside Elvis, then switches with me and Gothy to distract Kory. Gothy and I get into Elvis, Beatrice uses her powers to incapacitate Kory, then after switching, Ozzy uses her hair to choke Kory, putting her in a period of weakening that will give Ozzy the chance to run back on Elvis and we get the Hell out of here."
The girls blinked at him in confusion for his thought-out plan. "Jesus, Charles, how come you haven't taken over the world already with that brain of yours?" Gothy asked.
"What, so I can indulge in being superior to others, enforce my ideas over people, and manipulate millions of people into accepting me as their leader by threatening to rip off their health insurance? Who do you think I am, my dad?" Charles frowned.
"Right…" Ozzy worked on her dashboard. "Remind me to workshop you on college applications when we're done with this trip."
Outside
Fury. Determination. Those were words that Audrey could feel in her boiling veins. She managed to block an attack from Kory's ice mace with her own fiery shield.
"I see you got over murdering my best friend and pet really fast!" Kory snarled, pushing her way towards Audrey.
"The only killing I'll get over is when I have your head on my wall!" Audrey punched Kory in the face, causing the demigoddess to shriek. Crystal used her magic to have nearby mountain rocks form into arms to smash down on Kory, who destroyed them with green-colored explosions. "You murdered Carlos! You used Charles to trap me in your club! You tried to FUCK me to death just so you wouldn't have to complete your own contract!" Audrey shot a blast of pink magic at Kory, sending her back by ten feet while she still held her ground. "You never really sought a game or a challenge! You just wanted to permanently avoid your end of the deal!" Audrey cringed when she felt a stinging pain on her left eye.
Kory scoffed cruelly. "It stings, doesn't it? All that unstable power rotting your physical humanity away? And you're willing to just go for the demon you owe."
"At least I'm not crazy enough to ditch a contract!" Audrey managed to strike a punch on Kory's stomach. "I don't care who you made a deal with, but I'm not planning on going down your road! Maybe I am worthless to him, but I have zero plans on turning back on my business with Alastor! I know what I want and you're not in it!" She sent a final kick, sending the demigoddess crashing away from her.
What happened next was both fast and confusing to her. First, she saw Elvis the ROCKINGTROLLTOISE spin his shell around Kory in circles, creating a dust and mud tornado even after he got out. Gothy and Charles rushed out of Elvis and into the tornado. Audrey heard screams and stabbing noises as Beatrice dragged Crystal and Audrey into Elvis before running outside. When the dust cleared, Gothy and Charles ran back inside Elvis while Beatrice created a ground of slime and melted marshmallows under the feet of a dust and blood-soaked Kory. Beatrice ran back in and Ozzy got out, stretching her hair to strangle Kory for maybe 30 seconds before running back in and pumping Elvis-gas. The ROCKINGTROLLTOISE picked up the pace and started running faster than the train.
"That… happened…" Audrey muttered.
"Audrey! You're OK!" Beatrice hugged Audrey while Gothy went to embrace Crystal. The ghost-human hybrid gasped when she saw Audrey's face. "Audrey! What happened? You look like a sinner transitioning between dead human and living demon!"
"Bea, your prescription!" Crystal said after receiving a quick kiss from Gothy. "Don't you carry it with you?"
"I do." Beatrice snapped her fingers and a vial the size of her head appeared in her hands. Through its glass containment, the neon purple liquid's bubbles glowed in green lights with sparks shaped like voodoo symbols. "I brought my godfather's potion with me in case I went bonkers. It's not much; I thought the trip would be shorter than this, and if I split it with Audrey, we might run out before we reach our destination. We'll definitely run out if we spend too much energy. I was hoping to have my godfather refill it when we arrived."
Beatrice went to grab a tablespoon from the small kitchen and cautiously poured in some of the liquid. "Warning, this might be disgusting." She shoved the tablespoon in Audrey's mouth, forcing her to take it all in one gulp. After the substance went down, Audrey shuddered, her left eye turning back into its usual brown state. "How do you feel?" Beatrice asked.
"Like I just ate a blended combination of poinsettia champagne and something dead." Audrey licked her lips.
"Yeah, that happens. Since you're obviously now a Phoenix Fae, chances are that you just tasted dead prey. Phoenixes love dead meat."
"Uh, guys… WHAT THE FUCK?" Ozzy's scream alerted them to the dashboard's screen. They had finally managed to reach the area where the rest of the train was in flames and where the sandworm had randomly swallowed the conductor's car. Obviously, what they didn't anticipate was the bald hag in the torn black dress standing in the debris, bearing her Glasgow fanged mouth at them.
"THE GRAND HIGH WITCH SURVIVED A FUCKING SANDWORM?" Beatrice exclaimed. "THOSE PESTS ARE BASICALLY ARMLESS EXORCISTS!"
"And to make matters worse, Lokisdottir is right behind us!" Ozzy pointed at the screen revealing the enraged demigoddess chasing after them. "We can't waste time. We have to go for Audrey's alternative and take on the Wastelands! Anyone have an awesome suggestion to get Elvis off the tracks, across the canyon, and into the land that will kill us?"
"Just one." Beatrice said. "Say my name."
Crystal looked at Beatrice in horror. "Beatrice, no!"
"It's the only solution…"
"Beatrice, you can't hurt yourself! Not like this!" Audrey shook her head.
"I'll be fine. Just this once… I haven't had people say my name for such a thing since I was twelve. Nowadays, they say it to make me come home."
"Beatrice…" Audrey insisted.
"You people gonna do it or not?" Beatrice was getting impatient. "Because if you won't, I have my ways of making you say my name! So get this done already!"
"What's your name again?" Charles asked.
"Are you serious?" Beatrice got impatient. "My last name is Deetz, idiot!"
"Your name's Beatrice Deetz?"
"Yes, you moron!"
"So, your first name means 'she who makes happy' and your last name is a spinoff for 'ditz'. Your parents labeled you as a joyful scatterbrain? Beatrice Deetz, the joyful scatterbrain?" Charles' pestering comment earned an actual chuckle from Gothy.
"So, what if they did?" Beatrice hissed. "If you start making fun of my middle names…"
"Beatrice Betelgeuse Morticia Lydia Deetz? But then why do people call you Beatrice Deetz if your name is much longer?"
"Because…" Beatrice's eyes suddenly glowed green and she poofed out of Elvis. As they got too close to the Grand High Witch, an enormous hand suddenly came down and trapped the sorceress in her large palm. Ozzy put Elvis to a halt and lifted one of the coastal plates to have a better look. The teenagers gulped when they saw the 500-foot-tall Beatrice Deetz standing on the canyon and towering them all. Her appearance had drastically changed. Her arms, legs, and waist were much thinner, causing her to be more flexible. Her tea dress was ripped and the black-and-white stripes spinning in circles on the fabric. Her messy black hair turned into a mountain-sized mane of green locks with limited black streaks. Her makeup was more exaggerated on her paler skin now resembling the coloring of a skeleton. Her eyes glowed green as her eyebrows, longer and as curved as bug antennas, made thundering, clicking sounds as she blinked. Her fingers were thinner and her nails sharpened into claws as she held the Grand High Witch in a constricting fist. The most disturbing part had to be the way the young teenager laughed maniacally, bearing lime green fangs and a forked tongue.
"LOKISDOTTIR! WHEN YOU SAID THERE WAS A GHOST-HYBRID IN THE TRAIN, YOU COULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT IT WAS THE DEETZ BRAT!" The Grand High Witch screamed, panicked.
"IT'S SHOWTIME, BITCH!" The demonic Beatrice cackled as she tightened her hold on the sorceress until the latter's screams died out with her suddenly turning into a worm… that received a one-way ticket into Beatrice's mouth. The teenagers cringed in disgust at the sight.
Kory Lokisdottir got ready to cast a spell… only for Beatrice to flick her away, causing the demigoddess to be blasted away into the distance. Beatrice laughed crazily and walked ahead.
"What's she doing?" Audrey asked. The giant Beatrice was now ripping the tracks in half and twisting the one they were on towards the right, leaving the tip hanging above the canyon. She started making her way towards them and put her hand down on Elvis, forcing Ozzy to shove and lock everyone else back inside.
"FUCK! EVERYONE PUT ON YOUR SEATBELTS!"
They didn't hesitate one bit and did as Ozzy said. The gigantic Beatrice dragged Elvis backward before pushing him forward with such speed, causing him to spin on the tracks. The teenagers inside the ROCKINGTROLLTOISE screamed as their equivalent of a rollercoaster ride sent them flying off the tracks, above the canyon, and crashing onto the desert ground of the Wastelands.
"BEATRICE DEETZ! BEATRICE DEETZ! BEATRICE DEETZ!" Charles shouted. The gigantic, crazy Beatrice poofed out and materialized into regular Beatrice inside Elvis. She immediately took a sip of her prescription and cringed at the taste.
"This is the last time I say your name!" Charles exclaimed, panicked.
"I know, I'm sorry I nearly killed everyone…"
"Nearly killed everyone? You nearly killed yourself!" Audrey hugged Beatrice. "Never have us say your name three times again! NEVER!"
"But…" Beatrice just stopped as Audrey continued giving her a protective hug. "OK…"
"Everyone, get some rest or shut eye." Ozzy hit the gas. "Once danger comes to us in the Wastelands, we probably won't be talking or sleeping for weeks."
Meanwhile
Kory Lokisdottir was beyond furious. Her wolf army had fled. The witches her dead. Her best friend and familiar were dead. The Queen of Mean and her pesky friends had escaped. And to boot it all, they had gone to the Wastelands. Even a demigoddess like herself wasn't crazy enough to get in that purgatory of geography.
She observed the twisted tracks, thinking of what to do next. Find a shortcut to the Seussian lands? Unlikely. Even that territory was too much for her. If she was lucky enough, they'd come back after getting there.
Her phone's vibrations caused her armor to shake. She nearly howled in anger as she answered: "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
"What the fuck happened?" Kory put her phone on speaker and dropped it on the tracks after feeling the electricity.
"What the fuck happened?" Kory snapped at the demon at the other end of the line. "Your one-use-only-toy got wasted, that bitch is causing me to lose everything, and now I must wait until they come back from their stupid quest to get my hands on her! Oh, and by the way, your 24-hours of security boost failed!"
"I'm conscious. I'd normally blame everyone, but I don't disagree with you. That Queen of Mean is becoming too powerful. It will only get worse if she passes her contract with Alastor…or more. She needs to be extinguished and you failed."
Kory didn't like the way the demon sounded so calm. "You're suspiciously calm, considering how you're obsessed with having the Radio Demon's attention all to yourself."
"I did say I'd call the imp on both of you if you failed. I called him. He's waiting for them in the Seussian Lands. When they get where they have to go, she won't see him until it hits her. And if he kills her, he'll go after you next. But don't feel too bad. If he also fails to kill her, which I doubt, you can get your revenge and kill her yourself." To that, the demon hung up on Kory.
"Nah, I won't die." Kory sneered as she picked up her phone and started dialing. "I'm going to do what I do best. Marinate my revenge… and get Hades involved."
