Part 9
A/N: You guys rock! So now, to reward you for your awesomeness, I am writing you another part when I should, in fact, be doing some homework. Shhhhh….don't tell anyone!
Quick disclaimer: I don't own Wizards. I don't own the Wizards characters. I don't have any money, so please Disney don't sue me!
"Looks like we win, Russos," Ronald Jr. grins.
"It's about time," Dr. Evilini sneers, "Let's hurry and capture them so we can get out of here. We'll transport them to one of the other void pockets and drain their powers there."
They begin to hustle towards the kids, wands out and ready. Max grabs his wand and stands to face them, Alex standing up beside him.
"Alex, you don't have your wand," Max reminds her.
"Justin didn't need his," she points out, thrusting her tied hands out in front of her.
Ronald Jr. laughs. "Oh, look, they still wanna play. How cute."
Angry, Alex shoots out a blast of magic, but Evilini easily knocks it away. Max takes a shot, too, but Ronald Sr. destroys it with his own power.
"Oh, this is just ridiculous now," Evilini huffs. "Let's just get this over with."
She looks at the Longcapes, who nod in unison. At the same time, all three lift their wands, ready to fire.
"We can do this, Max," Alex states, sounding more like she's trying to reassure herself than him.
"Yeah, we can do this," Max answers, more convincingly, "for Justin."
"Right, for Justin," Alex says more confidently, and she and Max stand ready.
The trio simultaneously begin blasting magic from their wands, and Alex and Max are quick to fire back. They manage to destroy the first wave of spells, proud grins spreading on their faces.
"They're better than we thought," Sr. exclaims, and Jr. frowns.
"Then we'd better give them a taste of what their brother got," he hisses.
"Right," Evilini agrees, "Let it loose, boys."
Without any more hesitation, they start firing magic blasts one after another towards the kids.
"There's too many!" Max hollers, trying desperately to keep up with the oncoming rush of power.
"Dad's right outside!" Alex yells back, obliterating one of the spells just barely in time, "We just have to hold on until he breaks in!"
Just as she finishes talking, one of the magic blasts zips low past her knee, grazing her skin. She cries out, falling to the ground, and Max turns to look at her, concerned. Alex looks up to see another wave of magic hurtling towards them.
"Max, look out!" she screams.
He looks back, fear on his face as he realizes he doesn't have time to do anything about the spells. He shuts his eyes, waiting for the impact, but opens them a few seconds later when nothing happens. He looks to see the spells exploding in mid-air right in front of his face as they slam against a nearly-invisible shield. He and Alex turn around to see Justin leaning up on one elbow, wand thrust upwards as he maintains a protective dome around them.
"Justin, stop!" Alex yells, watching the black lighting quickly spreading across his body again. With each time the shield blocks a spell, the lightning grows bigger, and soon the clear dome becomes cloudy with a gritty black sheen.
"Do you know how to make a magic shield?" Justin asks, his voice quaking.
"No," Alex admits, then turns to Max. "Max, keep him warm."
Max nods, dropping down to his knees beside his brother to do his job. Staying clear of the growing lightning, he performs his magic, looking skeptically around him at the ever-darkening dome.
"What about the taint?" he asks.
"Forget about it," Justin gasps out.
"What?" Alex asks.
"He won't be able to stop it. Just, keep me awake when it comes, okay?"
Alex argues back, "No, Justin, you can't take another hit from that stuff. You're already blind – you need to stop."
"Well, unless you can think of a way to take all of three of them out at once, then I don't really have a choice, here," Justin retorts.
"Too bad they aren't the ones who're blind," Max mutters, "Then it'd be easy."
Justin's eyes light up again in that way that signals he has an idea. "Max, remember when I said that you were a genius, but then took it back?"
"Yeah…" Max looks at Alex, who merely shrugs.
"Well, I was wrong – you are a genius. Keep focusing on the heat spell, and Alex, I really need you to keep me awake for just a little longer."
"Fine," Alex agrees, readying herself, "But whatever you're doing better work."
Justin spins his wand around in the air just a little, and instead of the magic blasts exploding off the shield, they begin to absorb directly into it. The lightning on Justin's body grows even bigger now with each blast, and quickly his entire body is covered with it. Alex looks up as the taint finally solidifies across the entire inside surface of the shield, but instead of forming one massive cloud like it had before, it starts to stream towards Justin from all angles all in a constant flow matching that of the magic he pours into the shield. Both Alex and Justin gasp as they fight against it, Justin struggling to keep the shield up and Alex struggling to keep him conscious. His body begins to shake again and Max pushes a little more heat into him. Justin shakes his head.
"I'm not shaking because of the Breezer," he assures his brother. "You're doing fine."
They keep it up for a little while longer before Justin falls back onto his back, still keeping his wand stable.
"Justin, it's too much," Alex says through clenched teeth, "You can't do this anymore!"
"Just a little bit more," he promises, then asks, "When I tell you to, you both need to shut your eyes, okay?"
"What for?" Alex asks.
"Please, Alex, don't argue with me – I know what I'm doing. When I tell you to close your eyes, just do it."
"But that'll break our concentration on our spells," she argues anyway.
"Alex!" he shouts forcefully. "Both of you, promise you'll shut your eyes, please." His plea comes out desperate, laced with pain. "I'm almost ready, but I won't drop this shield until you promise."
"Okay, okay," Alex quickly agrees. "I'll do whatever you want – whatever'll make you stop!"
"Max?" Justin asks.
"Yeah, I promise!" he replies.
"Okay," Justin answers quietly, relief evident in his voice. He pushes a little more power into his wand.
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Ronald Sr. squints at the black dome as he continues firing off spells. "What do ya think they're doin' in there?" he asks,
"Does it matter?" Jr. replies. "The shield isn't even destroying our spells anymore. It'll collapse soon, and then there won't be a thing they can do to stop us."
"That is a bit odd," Evilini speculates as she watches the dome. "Our spells obviously aren't going through the shield since the children are still capable of maintaining it, but the magic isn't being destroyed, either."
"So, where's the magic going then?" Sr. asks.
"I don't know," she answers, confused.
-------------------------------------------
"A little more," Justin mumbles to himself, then quietly, "Alex…"
"Yes, Justin?" she asks, voice strained with her own fight to control her magic flow.
He hesitates. "…if I don't-"
"Don't you dare," Alex says angrily. "I swear, Justin Vincenzo Pepe Russo, if you start speaking a bunch of 'last words' nonsense, I will punch you right now."
He smiles a little, "But don't you wanna know where I hide my millions?"
"You don't have millions yet. All you have is a bunch of computer stuff I don't care about, a Captain Jim Bob poster, and a collection of lame dolls."
"They're action figures," he playfully argues. "And I wouldn't give those to you, anyway."
"Well, I don't want 'em," Max plays along. "So you better just wait until you can give us something better."
Justin smiles bigger, then sets his jaw as he forces himself back up on one arm. "Close your eyes," he says softly. Alex and Max look at each other briefly before both suck in a breath, obeying Justin's subtle request.
"Are they closed?" he asks, and waits for both to assure him that they are. "Good luck in the Wizard Competition – it's up to one of you now," he says, and before either one of them can reply, he thrusts his wand a little bit higher, pushing magic into the shield with everything he has left. It suddenly explodes outwards in a brilliant flash of white light, the magic reaching everywhere within the void pocket. The trio yell in surprise, dropping their wands as they reach up to shield their eyes, a little too late. They stumble around blindly, wiping the tears from their eyes as they spew a jumble of wizard curses. Another second later, the white light darkens until the void is shaded in a dark cloud, and the taint implodes back in towards its source – Justin. He is slammed backwards into the ground as it hits him, the force knocking both Alex and Max backwards. When they get over the shock, they scramble forward again towards their brother, who is lying very still on his back. The black lightning has completely vanished and there are no more traces of taint in the air.
"Justin?" Alex asks tentatively, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Alex, is he gonna be all right?" Max asks. "What'd he mean by it's up to us, now?"
"Nothing," Alex tells him, "He was just being dramatic. He'll be fine." Her voice cracks when she says "fine." Max looks down, struggling with his own tears.
"Yeah, quite being dramatic," he whispers to his big brother, his own voice cracking.