A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue! Thanks for reviewing everyone!
Chapter Seven
As Gorog went into the lair, devastated Jerry knelt by his wife and looked for a pulse. "She's still alive!" he exclaimed in amazement, hugging Theresa's limp form. "Barely, but she is! Justin, help me check on your brother and sister." After carefully lying his wife back down, Jerry ran over to his children...then paused when he realized that Justin hadn't moved. "Come on! What's the matter with you?" His eyes widening, Jerry whispered, "...oh my God...you...oh, my God..."
"Dad! I'm sorry, but - "
"You're...you're still with Gorog. After what he did, you're still on his side! I thought I raised you better than this!" Jerry gave his son the harshest glare he'd ever directed towards any of his children, then knelt down next to his family. "Just go. Do us one last favor and keep Gorog busy. You can do that without telling your new 'master' that the 'enemy' might have survived, right?"
About to turn away, wand in his hand from the attack, Justin made the mistake of hesitating. Seeing Alex, Max and his mother close to death...how could he simply leave them there? Childhood memories were flooding to the forefront of his mind and he couldn't stop them. Maybe they were dysfunctional, but they were his family and they'd cared about him. Even though evil's influence forced him to struggle with remembering good emotions, Justin knew that he had cared about them too. More than he...
More than he loved Juliet. Suddenly horrified at his actions, Justin dropped the wand and let it fall.
"Dad!" Tears were streaming down Justin's face as he knelt to the ground. "What have I-I...I...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I...I..."
Jerry put an arm around Justin's shoulders. "It's okay. What matters is you're back with us. Now help me check on..."
"Dad?"
One of the bodies had spoken. Aching and holding his head, Max managed to pull himself up to a sitting position. "Justin? It's over right, we won?"
"Maxie!" Jerry exclaimed, hugging his youngest son. "How are you feeling, good?"
Max frowned. "When the room stops spinning I'll tell you."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Jerry replied, "Yeah, you're good for now." Then, he immediately became serious again as he looked at his daughter. "Justin, you check. I...I can't."
"Okay, hold on...oh! She's breathing!" Justin exclaimed, kneeling by his sister. He weakly cracked a smile. "In fact I wonder if she's just taking a nap and doesn't want to wake up yet."
"That's terrible," Jerry replied, but he smiled as well.
Clutching his stomach in pain, Max was too concerned about his family to bring attention to his own injuries. "Alright, so...what's next? Take them to a wizard hospital?"
"Well, we have to get out of here at least," Justin reminded them. "Gorog's expecting us back in the lair, and our five minutes is probably almost up. Oh!" He sprinted over to where his wand had landed. "Can't forget this. And Max, yours is over there..."
They all paused when a familiar voice spoke up from behind them. And it wasn't Gorog's. "A trip to the hospital won't be necessary," Professor Crumbs said, entering from the loft stairs. "You don't have time for that. Gorog needs to be stopped." He then glanced at Justin. "Oh, welcome back."
"How did you even..." Justin sighed, figuring he was better off not knowing how the old professor seemed to be aware of absolutely everything at all times. "Well, thanks. And what about you? I thought Gorog turned you evil with the others."
Professor Crumbs shook his head. "Of course not. I've been around for over a thousand years. This isn't the first time I've had to fight off evil."
As the Russo men thought about that, Jerry knelt down again next to his daughter. "Professor Crumbs? How do we heal them? I remember something about this from my studies, but I've never got to use it before I gave up my powers."
"I thought wizards couldn't do that," Max remarked, amazed.
"Normally it is against the eleven wizard laws, because a full wizard's powers are almost drained simply to heal one serious wound or illness," Professor Crumbs explained. "Daring wizards-in-training who attempted this ended up in the hospital themselves. But, it's not common knowledge that each and every wizard, no matter the skill level, is allowed to heal another once without severely damaging his or her own power. This typically occurs under very special circumstances. Like now."
"I'll do it!" Justin sputtered before his brother could even respond. "Tell me what to do! Whatever it is I'll do it." Secretly he hoped to make up for his betrayal, but nothing would ever be enough.
"I'm cool with that. Probably couldn't cast that spell right now if I tried anyway," Max added. He'd went to sit on a nearby chair, taking deep breaths with his hands on his knees. Sympathetic Crumbs sent a burst of magic towards Max, who glowed a soft green, then realized he was fully recovered. "Wow, thanks! You used your one spell on me?"
"Actually I used mine centuries ago, but certain emergency spells can be learned by an old wizard such as myself," Professor Crumbs replied. "Your injury wasn't life-threatening so not as much magic was required." He then returned to their task. "Now Justin, I believe one spell will heal your sister and mother, so Max can save his for a future point in time. Are you ready?"
Determined Justin held his wand over the unconscious Russo women. "Yes. What do I say?"
"Nothing. Close your eyes, and focus."
As Justin followed instructions, he quickly realized this would most likely be the most important spell he'd ever cast in his life.
Recovering Alex and Theresa sat at a table, almost back to normal after their near-death experience, even though they both needed actual rest in the worst way. Despite her fatigue, Alex quickly began asking questions about what had happened while the two were out cold. "So Justin's back from the dark side, obviously," she remarked, raising an eyebrow at her older brother. "If Gorog's attack on your own family didn't knock some sense back into you...well, that's just wrong."
"I know, right?" Justin muttered, not quite making eye contact with her.
Deciding she could grill him for a deeper explanation later, Alex turned to her parents. Only the Russos remained in the Sub Station since Professor Crumbs went back upstairs, so Gorog wouldn't get suspicious of his absence. "But wait...why was Mom hit too? Max and I were the ones who made him angry." She paused when her father smiled proudly. "...what happened?"
"Your mother cursed him out!" Jerry exclaimed, causing his two youngest children to laugh hysterically...and Theresa to blush. "I've never seen her so mad! She was ready to kill him!"
Justin nodded in agreement. "I wasn't in my right frame of mind at that point to realize it, but it's true! All the times she's been mad at us are nothing compared to what Dad and I saw."
"Stop it, all of you! We shouldn't be laughing..." Finally Theresa smiled at their praise. "But I was pretty awesome."
Anxiously looking around, Max asked, "Hey...where is Gorog? You'd think he'd be in here trying to attack again, especially with all the noise we're making. I mean, it might make him suspicious since last he checked...he defeated us."
"Maybe Professor Crumbs is distracting him to give us more time," Justin reasoned.
Carefully standing up from her chair, Alex refocused on the battle at hand and took out her wand. "Then let's do that. Mom, Dad...Justin and I will send you to my apartment. You'll be safe there." At her parents' incredulous glances, she pleaded, "We can take care of the rest. I promise." They were still reluctant, so Alex gave each of them a tight hug. "Thank you for understanding."
"Okay, fine," Jerry said reluctantly. "But we're not going to the apartment. We'll go downstairs to Harper's room so we can be close by...if you need anything." He paused for a long moment, staring at his children like he wouldn't be able to see them again in the near future. "I love you all. So much."
About to cry, Theresa quickly hugged each one of them as she whispered "te quiero" in their ears. Emotional Jerry guided her out the front door.
"Overdramatic much?" Alex quipped after the Russo parents left, trying to be funny while fighting back tears herself. "We'll see them later. Now that the three of us are together, Gorog doesn't stand a chance. Let's go kick some dark angel butt!"
Ready to fight, Alex, Justin and Max rushed into the lair, wands at the ready...
Only to realize that Gorog wasn't even there. No one was in the magical room except for Juliet and Felix, who were just chatting as they waited for their leader to return. Both glanced up with curiosity at the siblings' entrance. "Justin?" nervous Juliet asked, walking over to him. "What are Alex and Max doing here? They didn't...you didn't..."
"I...uh..." Justin sputtered, his eyes flickering towards his siblings for help. They shrugged, so he tried to think of a plan. "I got them to join us! Yeah! They escaped, but I convinced them that they'd be better off in Gorog's army, like we are."
"Wait, what? I – ow!" Max groaned when Alex elbowed him yet again, but he got the idea and kept his mouth shut.
Alex grinned. "Yup, we're Master Gorog's minions now! So uh...where is he?"
"Upstairs with everyone else, bragging about how he destroyed you two," Felix answered, pointing at Alex and Max. "He might not be happy to find out you weren't as destroyed as he thought. Even if you did join our side."
"He might at first, but he'll be happy to have us all in his army," Justin answered.
Since her older brother normally buckled under pressure, Alex gave him credit for going along with the cover so well. "Yeah. He won't know how he got along without us."
"Good," Juliet replied, wrapping her arms around Justin. "Because when you first walked in with them, I started to panic because...if you're not a minion anymore, we can't be together. Remember? That was part of the deal."
His face paling slightly, Justin nodded. "Uh huh, I remember."
Alex and Max exchanged worried glances, not able to verbally express their concern that Justin might be tempted again. They were reassured a little bit when their brother consciously took a big step back from Juliet's reach. "So, uh..." Max began, looking over at the maps and books spread all over the coffee table. "What are those for?"
"Strategy," Felix answered. "Our goal is to overtake Wiztech and use that as a base. We're backing up plans with new information from the Russo's textbooks."
"We have textbooks?" Alex asked. Max also showed confusion.
Justin raised an eyebrow. "And at one point you were both ahead of me in our family's competition." Glancing at Juliet and Felix, he added, "Stuff like that is why I won't mind opposing the Council."
"Yeah, the Council is stupid," Felix agreed. "They thought I was a delinquent who wouldn't amount to anything." He then showed off his all-powerful Renaldi wand. "Boy were they wrong. I can't wait to be in charge of them. Well, with Gorog's approval of course."
An awkward silence followed, then Alex turned back towards the doorway. "I hear Gorog. Let's go...uh, tell him the good news."
"Okay, just...give me a minute," Justin replied. He indicated that he wanted to say good-bye to Juliet, so Alex and Max stepped to the side to give the two privacy. "Juliet... I just want you to know that..." Of course he wanted to go on for hours proclaiming his love, but he had to keep it simple, or else she would catch on. "You're my soulmate. I...I love you."
Though bewildered, Juliet didn't ask questions and kissed him. "I love you too. Always."
"Let's go, Justin." Alex knew she sounded harsh, but her brother's heartbreak would make him weak, and they needed to be strong when they went up against Gorog. Justin kissed Juliet one last time, then followed his siblings out of the lair.
Alone in the Sub Station, Justin impatiently waited for Gorog. Alex had heard the dark angel cheering from all the way upstairs, so as it turned out, he hadn't emerge from the loft just yet. That gave the Russo siblings time to plan a surprise ambush. At the moment, Alex and Max were hiding behind him in the kitchen.
Part of him actually wanted Gorog to show up so they could get the battle over with. Standing there, looking at the stairs, gave Justin the opportunity to think about his actions.
Why am I so weak?
The mystery had been haunting him in the few hours since he became good again. This made the second time Gorog managed to turn him evil. What was that saying? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... Justin thought, overwhelmed with guilt and self-hatred. Maybe he actually was evil, and had just been passing for good all these years. How else could someone with his supposed intelligence tricked so many times? His secretly troubled conscience could also be why he fell for that alien story during the test. True, that hadn't been his brightest moment, but he'd wanted the adulation for saving human kind. What kind of good person exposed wizardry just to be seen as a hero?
Glancing back at the closed kitchen doors, Justin wished his siblings were there next to him for moral support. They were going to destroy Gorog together with a spell from Professor Crumbs, but in order to catch the dark angel off-guard they planned for Alex and Max to surprise him. This meant Justin would be left alone to lull Gorog into false sense of security.
Remember what Gorog did to your family. Don't believe a word he says. He probably wouldn't have even let you stay with Juliet the moment it was inconvenient for him.
...wait, what? Attacking your family isn't enough? You have to make excuses about Juliet too?
Be strong, Justin thought. Hate yourself later. You need to be strong right now.
Right as he started to worry that Gorog wasn't upstairs and maybe went out somewhere, the dark angel walked down stairs, mild surprise in his expression. "Justin, you're still here? Where's the rest of your family?" He narrowed his eyes. "You're not plotting a surprise attack, are you? Your siblings aren't hiding until you give them a signal?"
Nervous Justin swallowed a big lump in his throat before answering, "No, Master Gorog. I sent them away so we could move forward with our plans to take over the Wizard World."
"Well, you proved yourself to be a loyal minion after all. I'm proud of you." Gorog briefly patted Justin on the back, making the wizard wince. "I have to say, this is a little shocking. Not many would be able to desert their loved ones like you did. Maybe there's some true evil in you after all."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Justin muttered.
Looking around at the Sub Station, Gorog remarked, "You know, this would be a great home base in the mortal world. We've got the lair, and now that its inhabitants are gone, I can take it over easily. Maybe I can put my throne where that old subway car is." He glanced at Justin. "What is with this odd subway theme, anyway? Not very appealing."
"I wouldn't start redecorating just yet."
Gorog raised an eyebrow at the sound of Alex's disembodied voice. Then she and Max flashed in on either side of Justin, wands pointed at the dark angel.
"Now, this makes more sense," Gorog commented, undisturbed. He turned to Justin, who'd also taken out his wand. "What a disappointment you are. To think, I was going to make you leader of my vast army. You could rule the entire Wizard World with Juliet by your side. But, I guess that's not a possibility since you've betrayed me. Don't you remember our bargain, Justin? If you destroy me, Juliet returns to her former condition. Think about what you are giving up."
Justin caught the anxious stares of his siblings, as if they expected him to cave again. The pure shame he felt as a result helped him remember saying good-bye to Juliet, and accepting that their love could not prevail. He gave the dark angel a cold glare. "My family is more important."
Before Gorog could react, the three wizard siblings brought their wands together and chanted:
"Hear these three Russos cry,
begone Gorog, vaporize!"
A bright ball of fiery magic formed from the combined wands. "What?" Gorog sputtered. "No! The Russos cannot win! This isn't possible, I - "
Then he was hit by the Russos' power...and finally destroyed.