"Sorcerers, I'm on the trail of Hades' henchmen but I'm afraid they've given me the slip," Merlin advised them. "Keep your eyes peeled. I'm nearing the castle now."
They soon saw a rabbit and a chipmunk.
"Aw, how cute?" Estelle smiled. "Are you here to help us on our journey?"
"Wait a second," Fishy Joe exclaimed. "That ain't no rabbit and chipmunk! It's Hades' two half-wits! They did that same trick in the movie!"
"Hades isn't going to like this," Panic said to Pain nervously. "He wanted the whole Crystal."
"Hey, at least those adventure kids can't use it against us without this piece, right?" Pain replied, taking out a bag.
"There's the piece," Akito exclaimed. "GRAB IT!"
The group soon tried to jump after Pain and Panic as they began to make their escape back into the Underworld.
"Let's stop 'em!" LJ exclaimed.
"Blast it all! It's just as I feared!" Merlin glared as he soon appeared, unable to stop Pain and Panic in time. "The villains have created a portal of their own. We've got to catch those two before they deliver the last Crystal shard to Hades. Steel yourselves, everyone. It's time we take our fight to the Underworld! I'll need your help to blast open this portal. Use the Sorcerer's Crest and we'll catch those ruffians."
Everyone raised their cards. "SORCERER'S CREST!" they shouted.
Merlin soon combined his magic with theirs. The ground soon opened up to help them into the Underworld.
"Cannonball!" Merlin called out as he fell in first.
The kids all yelped as they jumped in afterwards.
They soon landed on the floor after making it inside and there appeared to be a board game set with all of the villains like game pieces.
Merlin soon landed and stood up, looking around. "Good heavens! I'd heard rumors of tunnels beneath the Magic Kingdom, but never suspected Hades' Underworld lair!"
"I bet this is how Hades can get through lands around the Magic Kingdom." Creepie commented.
"You're right, Creepella," Merlin replied to her. "I need your help recovering the last shard of the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom. That Crystal is the only thing powerful enough to stop Hades and his little army of ne're-do-wells. I'm going after Pain and Panic. Find this next portal up there and I'll connect you to help me locate them."
"Will do, big guy!" Zofia gave a thumb's-up.
"I'm coming for you, Hades." Akito narrowed his sapphire eyes.
They soon went to the next stop as it was time for the final battle against Hades.
"Hades' interference in the portal magic has subsided at least for now," Merlin said on their way. "I believe I can connect you to my location."
"Great idea," Zofia replied. "So go for it!"
"Now, let me see..." Merlin said before he tried something.
Eventually, after some magic flowed, they were shown Pain and Panic who soon ran away from them once they saw that they were exposed.
"There go the fiends now!" Merlin remarked. "We've got to stop them from delivering that last shard to Hades!"
"After 'em!" Everyone shouted as they ran after the two demons.
Pain and Panic soon ran to the stairs which seemed to take a while longer than they hoped or expected.
"Man," Pain groaned as he suffered from the staircase. "Why couldn't we have, like, an Escalator of the Dead?"
"I'm already near the top of the tower, everyone," Merlin told his group. "While I block their path, you blast them!"
"Knowing how this is going, I think it's time for The Sorcerer's Crest." Zofia told the others.
"Let's do it!" The kids shouted. "SORCERER'S CREST!"
Pain and Panic were instantly zapped and soon fell down the stairs together.
"You did it!" Merlin applauded to them proudly before smiling and picking up the bag. "Finally. The Crystal. More powerful than any Sorcerer or villain. I must reassemble it and return it to the Magic Kingdom in order to-"
"Pain! Panic?!" Hades's voice called out.
"Uh-oh. Looks like you better skip the spiel and hurry, Merlin," Fishy Joe remarked. "Here comes the final boss!"
"Find this portal next and we'll have them," Merlin soon quickly told them. "There's no time to lose."
"You got it, big guy!" LJ nodded. "TO THE NEXT PORTAL!"
"Those brats are getting close, a little too close, and I'm getting nowhere fast!" Hades ranted until he took out a figure of a certain villain. "Time for me to pull out my #1 guy. How about this guy, huh? Yeah, thinning a little on top. Could be a lot more Nights on Bald Mountain in his future if you know what I mean. But, he's a real self-starter. You have to say."
The others kept running until they ran into a new villain who was a lot more dangerous than the ones they faced up until now.
"No way..." Akito and Estelle gasped in shock.
"What? What is it?" asked LJ.
"Look..." Zofia said in horror.
"Hello there, young ones." Chernabog grinned darkly before throwing fire at the group.
"Who the heck is THIS mook?" asked LJ and Fishy Joe in unison.
"That's Chernabog..." Akito said nervously. "He's basically the living embodiment of all evil, even more than the other villains we've faced."
"Okay then...let's give it all we got!" LJ shouted.
The others agreed to that and soon cast their spell against Chernabog.
"You all remind me of someone..." Chernabog snarled to Akito, Estelle, LJ, and Zofia.
"Well, we get that a lot." LJ shrugged.
Chernabog soon threw more fire at them.
"Yaugh!" Zofia yelped before glaring and shot magic at the demon.
LJ and the others joined in.
"Oh, come on!" Hades complained. "He was one of my top guys! Terrifying, hardworking. Always willing to mentor other minions. Hey, wait a minute. We're not through..."
Fishy Joe blinked in confusion. "Huh?" he asked.
"Hey, Hades, you ready to face us like a real man or are you gonna run away again?" Akito glared.
"Yeah! You want the crystal, then try and take it yourself!" LJ added.
"Good work, young sorcerers! I've also reassembled the Crystal, but we must get it back into the Magic Kingdom in order to use it against Hades!" Merlin told them all. "I'm going to-"
They soon heard attacking yells suddenly.
"Merlin? Merlin! Are you okay?!" Zofia cried out.
"Find this next portal and it should put us at the same location," Merlin told them. "I'll need your help again to open Hades' portal and get the crystal out."
Fiona nodded. "Right."
They soon came into the next zone.
"Friends, minions, countrymen, a new dawn is upon us," Hades began a speech in his home for the ones there. "And, once we rule the Magic Kingdom no longer will be cast down into the bowels of the earth. Well, unless I put you there. And, who better to lead the way than some of the villains who made this all possible? Let's give them a hand, shall we?"
Suddenly, all of the villains appeared together with Hades.
"Now THIS is a final showdown!" Fishy Joe exclaimed.
"It's the final boss of our own video game!" Creepie said.
"Hm... Interesting way to think about it." Zofia replied.
"Sorcerers, over here!" Merlin cried out to the group. "Hurry, my friends! I need your help getting back through the portal!"
"Let's do it to it!" LJ and Ethan remarked.
"Knew we could count on you guys." Zofia smiled to her new friends.
"Hey, if you're in this, so are we." Creepie said about her and Ethan.
The villains soon began to attack Merlin, making him drop the crystal.
"SNAG THE CRYSTAL!" LJ exclaimed.
"You leave Merlin alone, you bullies!" Akito glared.
"Sorcerers, I need you to activate the Crystal, stop Hades and the villains before it's too late!" Merlin cried out. "Use the Sorcerer's Crest one last time!"
"Or... We could use this!" Zofia said, taking out the card that was mandatory for the last battle.
"Go for it!" Ethan nodded.
"Let's do it." Zofia told them. "Together! For the Magic Kingdom!"
"For the Magic Kingdom!" The others proclaimed.
Zofia soon played the card like in a game of Yu-Gi-Oh.
"What card is that, anyway?" LJ asked.
"It says it contains almost all the power of the heroes who stopped these villains over 20 years ago when Mom, Dad, Uncle Atticus, and Aunt Mo teamed up with them." Zofia told her brother.
"That ought to do it!" LJ nodded.
"Then let's do it... This is it!" Zofia called out, playing the card to cast her spell.
"Go get 'em, boys!" Hades told his allies.
The kids all shouted, "WE PLAY: ULTIMATE FINISHER!"
The villains soon yelled out of agony as they were soon defeated.
"Whoa. Hey, can we... Ouch! Talk about this...?" Hades said, sounding a bit nervously. "Call off your Crystal... Unh! For a minute, okay? Let's be reasonable."
The Blue Fairy soon came out.
"Azula!" Akito smiled. "We haven't seen you since Pinocchio!"
"Let's take care of this menace together, shall we, children?" The Blue Fairy smiled back.
"We shall!" LJ and Zofia replied.
"Then let's do it together," The Blue Fairy smiled. "What do you all know about friendship?"
"Friendship IS magic!" Akito, Estelle, LJ, and Zofia proclaimed together.
The card glowed with blue sparks of lightning before it fired a huge blue energy blast. Hades yelled out as he was soon sucked away with all of the other villains in defeat.
"Wonderful! Just splendid," Merlin smiled. "Oh, but I've yet to thank you properly. Alright, then follow your map to one final portal and I'll see you there."
"So, that's how the Mysterious Blue Card works." Zofia remarked happily.
"Pretty lucky!" Ethan noted.
They soon went off and found the adults.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all okay." Celestia smiled.
"Better than okay!" LJ remarked. "We were spectacular!"
"So we've heard," Sombra said. "It also sounds like you kids have had quite the adventure."
"Sure did, Unc." LJ nodded.
The adults soon brought the kids inside as Merlin was resting after a very long and tiring adventure.
"Ah, there you are," Merlin said as they soon reunited with him. "I do apologize. I was waylaid and I'm afraid it was all I could muster to make it back to the portal with the Crystal. Oh, and speaking of the Crystal, eh... Well, probably it's with my other magical bric-a-brac, eh?"
"Sure, if you say so." Ethan replied as his parents arrived.
"Hey... Sokka... Long time no see." Cherry said to Ethan's father.
"Hey, guys," Sokka waved. "You remember Looma?"
"Hey, Looma." Cherry said.
Celestia and Sombra smiled at the little friend reunion. Looma waved back at Cherry.
"So we managed to save the whole world! Not bad for a bunch of kids!" LJ remarked.
"No doubt it'll turn up somewhere soon. Anyway, the point of it isn't to lock the villains inside forever. I suspect they'll find a way out whatever we do," Merlin said to the others. "But, I wager this will make them think twice about attacking the Magic Kingdom again! And it's all thanks to you. You saved the day, my friends. And the Kingdom! I'm honored to bestow upon you the highest rank among an elite few. The title of Master Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. It was my great privilege serving alongside you."
"Master Sorcerers! I like the sound of that!" Estelle smiled.
"Yeah, me too!" Akito smiled back.
"Congratulations," Celestia smiled to them. "It sounds like such a big honor."
"Matter of fact...it IS!" LJ beamed proudly.
"Thank you for helping them, Merlin," Celestia smiled. "You remind me of Star Swirl."
"My pleasure, Celestia." Merlin smiled back.
"Zofia, this was really fun," Creepie said. "I had a great time with you. Uh... You think you might wanna come over at my house for a visit?"
"I would love to come to your house, Creepie!" Zofia smiled. "Who knew you'd be so magical too?"
"Yeah... Even if I don't know who Athena is..." Creepie said as she looked at the book she brought along on her adventure with her new friends.
"Athena..." Merlin said. "I thought you seemed familiar, but I once knew an Athena... She was a student of mine from a long, long time ago."
"Really?" asked Ethan.
"I'm not sure if it could be the same one though." Merlin said.
"All right," Creepie said. "I just found this book when I was cleaning out the attack and they said they found me with this book when they took me in."
"Took you in?" Estelle asked.
"Oh, sorry, I guess I didn't tell you," Creepie said. "I was adopted."
"Oh. Cool." Zofia replied.
"So, you wanna come over?" Creepie asked.
"Uh... Mother, could I?" Zofia asked for permission.
"Well... I suppose that would be all right." Cherry replied.
"Looks like a yes!" Zofia whooped.
"Way to go, sis!" LJ clapped.
"Maybe if you have fun, you all could hang out at Creepie's house and she could hang out at ours." Cherry said.
"Thank you, Mother!" Zofia beamed.
"Sounds like a good idea." Ethan nodded.
"Brother, I have a new friend!" Zofia smiled to LJ, hugging him as she was very happy.
"That's awesome." LJ smiled back.
"Just have fun and remember your manners." Cherry told Zofia.
"I will, Mother." Zofia promised.
"Same here." LJ nodded.
"Good kids..." Cherry nodded to them. "Enjoy yourselves, and be sure to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Creecher."
"We promise!" The kids replied in unison.
The adults nodded to them as it seemed their adventure had come to an end.
"Thank you so much for your help, sorcerers," Merlin said. "I won't forget about this."
"And I got a feeling that we won't forget either." Fishy Joe beamed.
Zofia smiled as she felt special and important now that she had her own magical powers and even got to have an adventure with the legendary wizard known as Merlin. And LJ was pretty happy for his sister: not only did she get to have a cool adventure, but she also found her true powers and made a new friend of her own!
Eventually, they were in Creepie's hometown and they came up to a gate in front of a mansion.
"Whoa... Is this your house?" Zofia's eyes widened.
"Mm-hmm," Creepie nodded. "Ain't it a beaut?"
"Well, it's pretty interesting..." LJ replied.
Creepie soon walked ahead of them, leading them behind her before the doors creaked open. "Mom! Dad! I'm home! And I've brought company!" she then called out.
"CREEPIE'S HOME!" A swarm of voices cheered before a bunch of bugs came out.
LJ and Zofia's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh, Creepella, so good to see you back home, safe and sound." A male mosquito smiled.
"Somehow I feel like you forgot to mention a few things..." LJ commented.
"Oh... You never asked." Creepie shrugged.
"So... You were raised... By bugs...?" Zofia asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Creepie nodded.
"Huh... Okay then." LJ shrugged.
"Hello there, dears," The female preying mantis smiled. "It's always nice to meet some of Creepie's new friends, though, we never really got a proper visit from that Chris-Alice girl she speaks of a lot from school."
"Lemme guess, she's not exactly a bug fan?" Zofia asked.
"Chris-Alice is a little complicated, especially since her father's an exterminator." Creepie replied.
"I can see how that would make things difficult..." LJ replied.
"Yep..." Creepie replied.
Two bugs soon came out.
"Creepie new friends... Heheh..." The gnat chuckled, flying around the Schwartz siblings.
"Gnat, leave them alone!" Creepie complained.
LJ's eyes darted around, following the tiny insect as he buzzed around his head. "Fast little guy, isn't he?" he remarked.
"That's my little brother, Gnat." Creepie replied.
"Oh...nice to meet'cha." LJ waved with his finger.
"Hey, did ya forget about me?" A pill bug asked Creepie.
"This is my other little brother, Pauly." Creepie then said.
"Um...hi," Zofia waved. "Nice to meet you."
"Welcome to our home," The male mosquito smiled. "I am Vincent, and this is my darling love bug: Carolina."
"You remind me of Gomez and Morticia Addams from my mother's stories." Zofia said to Creepie's adoptive parents.
"Now that you mention it, I see the resemblance." LJ nodded in agreement.
"You all must be hungry," Carolina smiled. "Is there anything special you'd like for dinner?"
"Hmm...I'm not picky, except when I am," LJ shrugged. "Whaddya got?"
"Well, I could make a steak or some roast," Carolina smiled. "Maybe chicken... We do our best to get plenty of human food delivered due to Creepie being a bit different from the rest of us."
"I suppose that's alright with me." LJ replied.
"Oh, splendid!" Carolina smiled as she walked off. "I'll get started on cooking right now."
"Okay then..." LJ replied.
Creepie soon walked off with LJ and Zofia so that they could start hanging out together.
"So, I had to clean up the attic one weekend... Then I found this book..." Creepie told her new friends. "Mom and Dad told me that they found it when they found me, like it was in my basket when they found me on their doorstop with a note... I've never wondered about my real parents, but... Now I kind of am."
"Whoa..." LJ exclaimed. "Sounds like an adventure. Or a mystery. A mysterious adventure!"
"He gets like that a lot." Zofia said.
"I think I can tell." Creepie replied.
"Anyways...continue." LJ replied.
"Well, that's all I can really say," Creepie said. "Mom and Dad said they didn't even see who left me on their doorstop and way. There was just a note that told them to take care of me, and... Well... They did of course."
"Well, I might not know much," LJ replied. "But I do know that a family's bonds aren't determined by blood, but by trust."
"I feel the same way..." Creepie said. "I also wanna know who this is..."
LJ and Zofia took a look with Creepie to see an image of a scary looking woman.
"That looks like Mizrabel from Epic Mickey." Zofia commented.
"Or Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse." LJ added.
"I dunno, but she seems important in this book, like when Merlin told us about that lady, Athena." Creepie said.
"Maybe she's involved in this somehow?" LJ suggested.
"I don't know how we can find out though." Creepie shrugged.
"Hmm...good point..." Zofia replied.
"I guess it might take a while to find out who I really am." Creepie said softly.
"Well, we're gonna help you find out," replied Zofia.
"Besides, what says there's anything wrong with just being good ol' Creepie Creecher for now?" asked LJ.
"Well, I can't say there's anything wrong with that," Creepie said. "I love being myself and my family... Even if I have some annoying bugs to put up with."
"Uh... Do you think she means us?" Pauly asked Gnat as they were spying on their sister.
"Gee, could be." LJ remarked sarcastically.
Pauly and Gnat yelped as they were exposed.
"Gnat, Pauly, get out of my room!" Creepie complained.
The two insects took off in a flash.
"Sorry about that... They do this all the time whenever Budge comes over..." Creepie complained.
"A friend of yours?" Zofia asked.
"Yeah," Creepie said. "He knows my secret about being raised by bugs."
"Ohhhh," LJ nodded. "I suppose he takes it better than your other friend Chris-Alice?"
"Some things get him once in a while, but he's pretty cool about it for the most part," Creepie said. "Though I think Skipper took it the best compared to everyone else."
"And who is Skipper?" Zofia asked.
"Uh... Well... He's a friend of mine..." Creepie blushed slightly. "He's... Pretty cool."
Zofia and LJ smirked. "Elaborate..."
"Ah, he's just a friend I see once in a while..." Creepie said. "His mother then said she was old friends with my mother."
"Alright then." Zofia replied.
"I don't know if you'll see him around or not, but it would be interesting," Creepie said. "It's nice to have some company though."
"Sure is." LJ and Zofia agreed.
Creepie smiled to them as this was the start of a beautiful friendship with many more adventures to come.
The End