Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to Calm after the Storm! Now that Stylite and Pixel are settled at their new schools, we have more in store for them and the others from here on out. So first things first, what do we have:

johannvanguard: Really glad that it was turned out well, dude. This is just the beginning, as there is more to come.

With that said, let's get right into it!

Chapter 3: A Dazzling Day

Having nothing to do during their weekend, Stylite was thinking of doing something and decides to text Levin for suggestions.

ST: Yo, you doing anything today?

L: Yeah, I'm on my way to Twilight's to do some experiments together.

ST: OH REALLY NOW?

L: Dude... no.

ST: What?

L: We're just doing science experiments.

ST: I know. But, I also know you'll make sparks fly.

L: ...Very funny.

ST: You chuckled, didn't you?

L: Anyways, I got plans today. Guess you don't?

ST: Guilty. I want to do something with Pixel, but kinda drawing a blank.

L: Well, how about the Dazzlings?

ST: I'm sorry, who?

L: You know, the girls you met at the Christmas party that you classified as dropouts?

ST: Oh yeah! Guess they're just hanging around?

L: My dad was called into doing voice acting for a new game coming out, so that leaves them alone at home.

ST: I see. Mind texting them to see if they want to hang out?

L: Sure thing.


It took a bit, but Levin wanted to get this over with so he can focus mainly on his plans. He stood on the porch of Sci-Twi's place with his bike leaning on its stand at the bottom of the steps as he finishes texting them, putting his phone in his pocket before ringing the doorbell and taking a step back. He has to admit, she has a nice house.

Sci-Twi heard the doorbell and came to see who it was, feeling rather nervous and excited at the same time. It's a strange feeling to have, but lets that thought drift off as she looks through the peephole in the door. Upon seeing Levin, she tenses up a bit and backs away a bit.

"OK, relax. Just a simple, f-friendly hangout. We both like science and that's why he's here." She tries to collect her thoughts before taking a deep breath.

Once she lets it out, she goes to unlock the door and opens it to greet Levin. "Hi!"

"Hey." He casually greets back, "I like the house, very nice."

"Oh, thank you." She then sees his bike and points to her left, "If you want, you can put that over at the garage. Since that's where the lab is."

"Alrighty." As he goes down the steps, she takes that time to step out and lock the door behind her before going after him.

"S-So, any ideas for what we are gonna start with?" She was curious about that as Levin held the handles to keep his bike steady while putting the stand up.

"I was thinking something simple, like... static electricity?" He answers as he follows beside Sci-Twi to her garage.

"Static?" She was a bit underwhelmed by the safe choice he has, so she decides to go a different direction. "Maybe something else similar can work."

"Like what?" Levin wonders out loud.

"...I got it!" Getting rather excited, she starts walking faster on ahead to the side door of the garage.

He quickly speeds up to catch up, putting his bike on its stand next to the door before entering the lab behind her. Closing the door soon after, he sees all types of various equipment that he mostly has back home.

"Impressive." He comments before his eyes catch her putting on a lab coat, "So, what's the experiment?"

"Well first, safety." She answers, taking out a spare coat for him.

"Right." He said as he takes the coat and puts it on, "Thank you."

A simple nod from her was her response before speaking again while picking up a pair of goggles, "And second, you'll need these."

Seeing a pair she was holding towards him, he has a small smirk form on his face. "Thought ahead this time."

Reaching into his pocket, it turns out that he brought his own pair of goggles. They had a rectangular frame similar to those of what you see for motor vehicles than the bulky ones for labs. Still, it was good enough as she accepts his decision and puts the goggles she has on the table next to them.

"That's fine. Now, we just need the proper equipment." She said as she lead the way to another table that had rather interesting items on it.

"Depends on the experiment. What shall it be?" He was rather curious on what she's thinking about.

"Don't worry, it'll be... electrifying." She giggles at her little pun, which made him also chuckle at the joke before speaking. "All right, then let us begin!"


It took a bit, but Stylite managed to convince Pixel to not take a handheld with him as the latter thinks that his brother would just leading the conversation with them. While the Rainbooms went to CHS, and what has happened on his first day, he is familiar with them while the Dazzlings don't even go to school.

"Come on, dude. They were pretty chill at the Christmas party." His older brother points out as the two were currently walking through the mall.

"Well yeah, but..." Pixel doesn't know why, but there was something about them that he just feels strange about.

"You gave the others a chance. This is no different." His older brother reassures him before he sees the Dazzlings hanging around the food court.

Adagio was looking around the area, most likely to find them, as Aria was talking with Sonata. Upon seeing them, Adagio simply raises her hand to get their attention. Stylite raises his hand back as a friendly greeting from afar, holding it up a bit longer until the two reaches the trio.

"Hey!" He smiles at the three as he spoke, "Uh, sorry for the sudden request."

"It's all right. We had nothing to do, anyways." Adagio casually said.

"You two had nothing to do." Sonata corrects her, "I was working on one of my newest drawings."

"...You draw?" Pixel spoke up, hearing someone mention art.

"Yup! It's really fun." Sonata happily answers as he took a seat next to her.

"Yeah. A visual memory you can put on the outside for others to see." Pixel adds before scratching his nose a bit, "I-I also draw a bit..."

"Yay! A fellow artist!" Sonata was quite glad as she gives him a hug, catching him off guard a bit.

The two carried on their own conversation as Aria turns her attention over to Stylite, "So, what made you think of hanging out with us?"

"Actually, I was thinking of hanging with Levin, but he had plans of his own." He admits.

"Oh right, he mentioned something about Twilight before leaving." Adagio recalls.

"How cute." Stylite said, mainly to tease his cousin before getting back on track. "Anyways, since that happens to be the case, I figured to get to know you three better. Especially since you are currently living at his place."

"That makes sense. Where do you want to start?" Aria asks the same question that Adagio was thinking as well.

"The most obvious one, which is how you three met him." Stylite had a point as he and Pixel doesn't know this yet.

"Fair enough." Adagio simply said before starting the story.

"I won't make this too long, so I'll keep it brief. Me and my sisters were currently going from house to house for a place to stay, as it was about to rain and winter was around the corner. The three of us were bickering over who does the... whatever numbered house we went to before Sonata just bangs on the door. He opens it, we enter, and he let us stay. And ever since then... you pretty much got the idea."

"Huh." Stylite had finished processing the summary of her story before continuing, "Well, thanks for keeping him company for us."

"We know." Aria smirks as she said that.

Stylite chuckles at her remark, "Good."

Meanwhile, Sonata finishes her own little story that she was telling Pixel who sums up what he has heard. "So the reason why you decided to draw again was because of Levin helped you through a nightmare?"

"Yup. I drew him a picture as a way of thanking him, which he hangs up in his room now like a poster." She answers, "Now, I draw pretty much anything I like."

"Same here. I had a small habit of drawing whatever came to mind, but that stopped before... actually, before moving here." Pixel gets what she means there, "Usually, it would be from video games or movies I recently watched."

"Oh! That's what we can do!" Sonata springs up to her feet as she got an idea, "We can go to the movies!"

The others heard her suggestion and gave it some thought, "Well, there is one I was thinking of seeing." Adagio mentions, tapping her finger on her chin soon after.

"What's it about?" Aria was curious on what her sister was interested in.

"I think... something that dealt with music. The trailers caught my interest, at least." Adagio waves off trying to remember it.

"Music, huh? I'm fine with that." Stylite shrugs as he just goes along with it.

"Wait, was it about a group of people who wanted to play an orchestra?" Pixel recalls seeing a commercial for it yesterday.

"Guess we'll just have to see for ourselves." With that said, Stylite lead the way with the others following behind as they headed to the cinemas.


It took practically all day as the sun was setting outside, but Levin and Sci-Twi were putting on the finishing touches of a tesla coil grid. The grid itself was about the length of her long table, though they put it on some free space on the floor where it wouldn't be in the way. The coils were rather tall as well, reaching up to their waist when they stand up fully. Connecting the last two cords, Levin gives the signal that it was ready before Sci-Twi turns it on.

"All right, what song do you want to do first?" He asks her as she goes to the portable music player attached to the side like a control panel.

"Hmm... this one should work fine." She mutters as she presses the button to confirm her choice.

It took a second as the song started up, only to play a rapid beat that made the top of the coils glow individually at each beat with a different color.

"Nice! You got good tastes." Levin compliments her as he walks over to her side.

The song slowed down as it got into the verses, making the coils look like decorative lights as the two stood over the sight.

"Maybe the Rainbooms can use this as a spark of inspiration!" Levin came up with something to make a pun, which the two share a small laugh over.

As they were, the song then started getting faster with the percussion, making the lights do the same as a result. Though, it seems that some of the coils were sparking a bit.

"Uh, that's not normal." Sci-Twi then quickly go over to the control panel and tries to press the pause button to stop the song.

However, the music wasn't stopping at all as sparks started to show up on it as well. She flinches at the sudden burst of energy, backing away as the beats was now becoming much faster than intended from the song beginning to glitch out. Levin was seeing all of it unfold in a moment, sparks intensifying as the coil in the middle was starting to light ablaze like a candle.

Time slowed to a crawl as Levin's body reflexively went into a full sprint towards her as the coil became a firework, shards of itself bursting outwards from an explosive flame that causes a chain reaction with the other coils to do the same. Sci-Twi was currently raising her arms to protect her face while backing away, only to see Levin appear in front of her before the fire became too bright.

BOOM!

Smoke leaked out of the opened windows, most of it kept inside as streams of it went outside. Sci-Twi finds herself in shock and surprise as she didn't feel any pain from the explosion besides the knockback. Although, that is most likely because of-

"LEVIN!" She shouts in a panic, hoping that he's at least alive from being her unintended shield.

She couldn't see past the smoke, but his voice was heard. "T-Twilight? You all right?"

"I should be asking YOU that!" She shoots the question right back at him, despite being touched that his first concern was her well being.

Thankfully, the smoke was getting thinner at this point that she was able to see an outline of him standing a few feet away.

"I'm coming to you, okay?" She tells him as she started walking towards him, covering her face to avoid breathing in the remaining smoke.

"A-Are you sure? The smoke is still here." Levin was hesitant about her decision by pointing out the obvious.

"I want to see if you're all right!" Sci-Twi wasn't having it after the stunt he pulled.

It took a bit, but she manages to reach him and find yet another shocker. It was very brief, but she could have swore she saw lightning dance along his fingers before disappearing. Levin was rather focused on his hands as well, sheer disbelief on his face as he whispers something.

"How did I-" Cutting himself off, the disbelief turns to fear soon after as he wraps his arms around himself. "T-That shouldn't happen..."

Sci-Twi quickly reassures him, "If it didn't... we may have been hurt... or worse."

Levin looks at her for a rather long time before nodding in agreement, "Y-Yeah. S-Silver lining..."

She can tell he's still scared of whatever just happened to him, despite the sheer luck of it, before having an idea pop into her head.

"What about Aeon? If anything, maybe he knows what this means."

Levin looks at her again, this time with hope in his eyes until placing his hands on her shoulders.

"You're right, Twilight! Thanks!"

"O-Oh, you're welcome." She was caught off guard by this shift before he lets go, exiting the lab to see him right away.

Though, he didn't realize that he left the mess to be cleaned by Sci-Twi herself. Despite the various accidents she had back then, it doesn't get any easier.


Levin was practically speeding down the sidewalk on his bike, feeling some sort of adrenaline rush as the wind blew past him. Reaching the downtown area, he arrives at an apartment building that was rather modest compared to others. Locking his bike against one of the racks nearby, he enters the lobby and starts up the stairs to reach the third floor.

Once he reaches the door he was looking for, he knocks on it three times before waiting. Weirdly enough, he doesn't feel that tired from his small trip. Hearing the door open, Aeon was the one who answered with a curious look that can be seen clearly since he didn't have his hat on.

"Levin. What brings you here?" A simple question to ask, which Levin immediately answers. "I have something very urgent to discuss with you."

Seeing the serious look on his face, Aeon was quick to understand and lets him inside. Closing the door behind them, the two were quick to enter the living room space and took their seats.

"What seems to be the problem?" Aeon got right to the point.

"...Do you remember my dark side?" Levin wasn't gonna beat around the bush, "Well... it may be reemerging."

Aeon raises an eyebrow at this, "How, exactly?"

"Earlier, me and Twilight were doing a science experiment together when something went wrong."

"Ah, classic cliche." Aeon mutters, mainly as a remark, that goes unheard by Levin.

"When I ran out to protect her from the explosion..." Levin pauses himself, still not sure how to describe it.

"Yes?..." Aeon simply said, trying to have him finish his sentence.

"...It was a blur. A bright flash of lightning appeared in front of me just as the flames reached me. And both of us didn't even have a scratch or bruise afterwards."

"A flash? You mean, like a shield of sorts?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so."

Aeon thought about this for a moment before answering, "Well, it's just as you said."

Levin looks at him like he was crazy, "W-What? How?"

"I should have clarified back then." Aeon admits before explaining what he means, "When I used my cane against you, I knew that the dark magic has already attached itself to you and if it was forcefully taken out..."

Levin connected the dots from there, "O-Oh."

"So instead, you could think of it as hitting a reset button. The darkness went dormant afterwards, allowing it to have a more organic attachment without the risk of sanity loss. If it manifested to protect you earlier, then I say that the move was a success."

Levin felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he lets out a chuckle, "I hope you're right about that."

"I usually am... usually." Aeon somewhat reassures him, which was caught by Levin before he continues. "Anyways, I may have something that can help keep your new powers manageable."

"Really!?" Levin stood up in surprise upon hearing that.

"Well, it's still a prototype, but I'm sure you can figure out how it works." Aeon simply said as he stood up soon after, leading the way to another room.

Entering what looks to be a lab of sorts, he lets Levin enter first to look around as he goes over to a nearby desk. "It should be right... Ah! Here we are!"

Picking up two wristbands, he shows them to Levin who was understandably curious. "That's it?"

"Put them on." Aeon casually said as he tosses them to Levin, who quickly caught them.

Once he does just that, he notices that there was a button on each one. Must be a size adjuster since the wristbands were a tad big for him, so why not? Pressing one of them, it suddenly transforms into a fully formed glove that fitted him just right.

"Whoa..." Was all Levin could say as he admired the design.

"I wanted to make something that was not only discreet, but stylish at the same time." Aeon briefly elaborates on said design as he smirks at Levin's expression, "You like it?"

"Dude..." Pressing the button on the other wristband, it does the exact same thing and looks at the pair in their full glory. "This is awesome!"

"Thank you. Now remember, this is just so the powers doesn't go haywire. It's NOT a suppression device, so be careful when you're in public." Aeon warns him, which Levin takes his words very seriously.

"Got it." He was about to be on his way before an idea pops into his head, "Are these the only ones you have?"

"They are prototypes, so yes." Aeon was curious as to where he was going with this.

"I only ask because, if I got powers now... you think it's possible that the others might get their own as well?"

Aeon thought about this for a moment. While the Rainbooms had powers of their own, they only show up when there's a big threat. The Dazzlings had powers, but they disappeared when their pendants shattered. As for the others...

"You may be on to something there." He admits, "In the case of that happening, I'll have more waiting for them to use."

"Excellent. Anyways, I'll see ya later! And thanks again!" With that said, Levin took his leave.


Exiting the apartment building, Levin went to go get his bike, only to find it gone. Looking around, he can only come to one conclusion.

"Really? Why take a bike when you're downtown?" He was a bit skeptical about that, since this looks to be a rather normal neighborhood.

Letting out a sigh, he put that in the back of his mind for now since he wants to go see Twilight and explain what's going on. Though, he does want to be experimental with his new powers. He knows that his hands can conduct electricity, but what about his legs?

Looking around to see no one else nearby, he then starts to move his feet across the ground like he was on carpet. It didn't take long for something to happen as electricity dances along his legs until he stopped. He didn't think it would work, but it's something.

"It behaves similar to static, interesting. Would it do the same thing if I move around?"

Turning towards the direction of where Sci-Twi lives, he starts it off with an easy walk in order to keep a steady pace. Thankfully, it wasn't as noticeable moving at a slower speed, which made him feel a little better.

"OK, maybe a nice jog would be manageable too."

With that said, he does just that as he sped up a bit. No sparks yet, but he's starting to feel a bit of an adrenaline rush instead of wearing down. He was able to maintain this for quite awhile, eventually nearing the end of the downtown area when he decides to kick it up a notch.

"All right, let's go for a run!"

What came after was something he didn't expect at all as his surroundings became blurry like he was in a speeding car, his feet rapidly hitting the concrete below with static electricity dancing along his legs. Despite the surprise, he finds himself being rather exhilarated by the sheer speed before seeing a car heading towards the intersection ahead of him. Knowing that he has too much momentum, his immediate option was more... risky.

"Nice car!"

He calls out a compliment as he dives right over the hood of the car, completing it by curling near the end in order to land on his feet. However, the momentum was kept as he was forced to keep rolling so he doesn't land on his face. He eventually stays in place to stop the momentum entirely, the electricity fading away as he gets up to his feet. Good thing too as he has arrived back at Sci-Twi's place.

Speaking of who, she was currently sweeping up scraps of metal left over from the explosion when Levin enters through the open door and realizes what he did as he walks over to her.

"So sorry for leaving like that, I-"

"Oh, it's all right." Sci-Twi simply reassures him, "I've cleaned my messes all the time."

"S-Still..." Levin didn't feel any better about his sudden leave, but decides to change the subject. "Anyways, Aeon had some good news about you-know-what."

"Really? What did he say?"

"This electricity can be prevented from going haywire, thanks to these gloves." Levin then shows her the gloves he was wearing before continuing, "As for it reemerging, Aeon used his cane back then to 'reset' that power to be more organic with me. That way, I don't go crazy like before."

"Oh, that's wonderful news!" Sci-Twi was relieved to hear that.

"You're telling me." Levin wholeheartedly agrees with her there, "Although, these new powers are making me quite curious."

"I would be, too!" She admits, "Especially since it came from magic. I wonder how it works."

"Then we can find out together!" He became excited at this aspect, "Just like our history project!"

Sci-Twi was also excited at this, "Yes! We can get started right away!... After we finish cleaning up."

"Oh right." Levin looks around to see some debris is still laying around, "Let's do that first."


Leaving the theater and throwing away their trash, the Dazzlings have enjoyed themselves with Stylite and Pixel. The movie itself was quite nice to watch, but it was made better thanks to the former's little jokes and the latter's knowledge of instruments that was kept at a low volume for obvious reasons. The group were in the middle of the conversation as they walk through the mall.

"How do you know that much about the instruments?" Adagio wonders.

"I was bored one day and decided to do some research on video game music, which eventually lead to that." Pixel admits, "It was actually pretty interesting."

"Don't tell me that's what you did for art too." Aria teases him, which he corrects her on. "No, I've been doing that since I was a kid."

As they were conversing, Stylite was hanging back a bit as he texts Levin.

ST: How's your day going so far?

L: Interesting. We did an experiment, it blew up and now we're doing a different one.

ST: Wait, what!? Are you all right!?

L: Yeah, we got lucky. Don't worry, we're being much safer with the second one.

ST: OK. Last thing I need is to see you at a hospital or something.

L: Good point.

ST: How's the second one going?

L: Thankfully, pretty good. We made some progress, but we were thinking of doing an all-nighter since it's the weekend.

ST: OH?

L: Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking.

ST: YEAH! All jokes aside, hope you two take breaks at least. All-nighters can be taxing.

L: True. How's your day with the Dazzlings?

ST: Great! They are more fun than I thought they would be. Pixel even took a liking to them.

L: Excellent! Nice to see him socializing more. Oh, break time's over. I'll see you later!

ST: All right, see ya later.

Finishing his own conversation with Levin, he puts his phone away to realize how far back he is from the group and quickly catches up to them to join in on their conversation.

And done! This took a little longer than it should have, so I wanted a sizable chapter to make up for it that has quite the developments.

Stylite and Pixel are here, now interacting with the Dazzlings who they met previously and even hit it up pretty well.

Levin and Sci-Twi are now partners in the name of science, but that proves to be more than they bargained for as an accident reveals something new.

The former is understandably concerned and goes to Aeon for advice, who explains that the 'dark side' from before has now turned into something more positive. This is pretty much what I meant back when Mysteries of Magic first started out, but held off on it until now to have it be a more natural narrative setup.

In the end, the two have a new project to work on together as his cousins had a nice day together with the Dazzlings.

With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!