Chapter 2:Ascendance

Disclaimer: I don't own Wizards of Waverly Place.

author's note: I took a bit of creative license with some of this, background data was kinda hard to find...or maybe I'm an idiot. Anyway, if I get something wrong, tell me and I'll rewrite. Thanks.

"I'm sorry, mr. Russo," the elderly wizard spoke to Justin in the wizard's court chambers. "Since neither our Justicars nor the mortal witch-hunters are foolish enough to enter the Scarred Outlands to retrieve your sister, we can't retrieve her, either for a wizard competition, or to strip her of her powers. We will award you wizardom, of course, but the magic of that terrible place won't allow us to empower you with you bloodline's full potential."

Justin tried to mask his seething with disappointment. He was so livid he could hardly speak. "I..I understand, sir, thank you." The old fool smiling condescendingly down on him patted him on the shoulder. "You will make a fine wizard, mr. Russo." Justin nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Justin nodded, patting the old man on the shoulder as he departed. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he exited the building.

That old bastard will go straight to the wizard council to make his report. It's all coming together so well. No one will ever be able to take my magic from me again. Just have to wait.

Alex Russo collapsed to the ground, barely catching herself as she fell through the portal. it was only the tiniest of victories that the chain's Justin had conjured literally unraveled as she passed through the portal. Thank God for small mercies. "Well," she said to the cracked red earth as she stood up and dusted herself off, "Here goes nothing." Holding her wand up, Alex cleared her throat.

"I'm greedy, it's true, I want the magic that passed through you." There was a flash of light as the wand glowed brilliantly from within. As she watched, the tip of her wand became dull and disintegrated as the magic held within it flowed out of the other end and into Alex's arm, lighting it's path up her arm and into her chest.

"I love being the sneakiest member of my family." After the wizard's competition she'd guessed that he'd start boning up on his wand work to beat her in the for real version next time around, so she'd enchanted her wand to absorb magic with the intention of switching them secretly. Her chest tightened as she felt a little piece of Max in the new magic she was absorbing. Holding a hand to her chest, she quietly swore, "I'll get him for this Max. You deserved so much better." Dusting the last ashes of her wand off of her hand, she allowed a couple of tears to slide down her cheeks before she roughly wiped them away. No. No more crying, not for anything. I've gotta toughen up if I'm gonna survive this place and get back to kill him. The enormity of her task almost sat her on her rump right then. Instead she steadied herself, cast an irritated eye at the enormous sun above her, and began walking in a random direction. Food, water, shelter. There's gotta be a reason no one will come here. And I bet it has teeth.

Three days later...

Alex Russo stood on top of the rocky outcropping,tiny green plants at her feet, fire blazing in both hands, as she stared down the three dog-like things that had ambushed her shortly after she'd tried to sleep. "Come on! Just try it!" She screamed like a madman as she flung fireball after fireball at the creatures, singing the hairless flesh coated in the ever-present red dust that her new home had in abundance. The noise they made when she caught one with her fire came out as a snarl-yelp that made the hair on her arms stand up.

They kept circling, trying to get behind her, but she kept the rocks to her back and blasted her sides with flame whenever one came to nip at her heels. I've got these two bastards. Wait, two? Oh shit. She turned to face the third that had snuck over the rocks just as it leapt.

She caught it in both hands as they both went down, and she felt something wet on her face and a sharp stinging. It opened it's mouth to bite her face off as the other two came nearer, sensing the kill...

And the one atop her howled as flames burst from it, charbroiling it and causing it to breath fire into the face of one of the others. The second yelp-snarled and backed away, the last trailing it. Alex pulled her hands from it's belly, dripping with gore, as the blood rolled off of her face. "C'mon you bastards! C'mon, it's free for the taking you chickenshit demon mutts!" The voice she heard was scarcely recognizable, hamperede as it was by her cracked lips and swollen tongue, courtesy of the waterless desert. The other two... I'll calm them Helldogs ...glanced at each other before whirling around and charging the other direction, into the setting sun, yelp-snarling. The sound carried across the vast desert, but it no longer bothered her like it had a minute ago.

With an exhausted sigh she plopped down, almost crushing some of the green growth that survived the brutal sun by using the shelter of the rocky outcropping. She pulled a leaf off of the nearest plant, having already used magic to make sure it wasn't poisonous. The plants aren't hostile, she grinned wryly around the leaf, it's just everything bigger than a plant that wants to kill me.

the scent of the roasted meat made her stomach gurgle, half from the disgusting smell, and half...No. No way am I going to eat that thing. Her stomach growled in protest, as though to say 'yes, you're going to eat that. I bet it tastes like chicken. Try some, just a little.'

Alex had always obeyed her stomach, and she groaned as she crawled towards the roasted Helldog. peeling a bit off, she nibbled some of the inside, trying her best not to gag or eat any dirt on the outside. "Huh, maybe I should call them porkdogs instead, tastes a little like bacon." She smiled darkly, a far cry from the sweet and mischievous smiles others had seen on her. It made the perfectly straight vertical line the Helldog had cut from her eyebrow to just below the newly formed bags begin to bleed again. She winced. That's gonna leave a mark.

Meanwhile...

The chambers of the Council of wizards. A massive circular room that seems part cathedral, part mausoleum . The domed ceiling of the room was barely visible from the floor. Only sitting in one of the massive armchairs placed upon an elevated dais allowed the constellation murals to be viewed, and then only faintly. the sheer size of the dark stone room swallowed sound until a library-like silence pervaded.

Justin strolled down the marble inset path leading from the open doors. He cast his eyes over the twelve men slumped in their chairs as well as one laying upon the hard marble, looks of horror on every frozen face. He whistled a tune to himself as he casually tossed a wrought iron church fence spike from hand to hand swinging halfway, then releasing his improvised weapon before releasing and catching it with the other hand.

"Everything is not what it seems."

The pointed spike held a sinister gleam on the blood-coated sharp end. As he walked he ran the spike into the face down head of the elderly wizard who'd bestowed wizardhood on him earlier that day.

One by one, he finished off the most powerful men in the wizarding world. As he came to the last still living body in the room. A feeble hand clutched his pants leg. He looked down into the terrified eyes of the senior-most wizard. "W-Why?" The word fell from his mouth, as though it hadn't the effort to make it to Justin's ears. He leaned down anyway, putting his face naxt to the wizard's. As the spike impaled the man to the floor Justin's hushed voice resonated throuth the room. "Never again. Never."

He stood fully as he heard the thundering of many booted feet coming towards the chamber doors. Not time yet. Not ready for them. He quickly pulled a disposable cell phone with a small attachment from his pocket. Pressing a small button on the side of the phone, he dialed a number. Help me travel on my own, I need to get there through this phone.

Justin rapidly emerged from the phone on the other end, much to the irritation of a woman leading her children past the entrance to the building that was currently being swarmed by at least two dozen Justicars. Justin dumped the phone into a ziploc bag just before it dissolved into goo. Sealing the bag, he dropped it into a nearby trashcan as he made his way toward the pair of Justicars standing watch outside the doors. "Gentlemen. Anything I can do to help?" One shook his head. "Move along, young wizard, we have the situation under control." Justin nodded. "Of course you do. Keep up the good work, gentlemen." As he walked down the street towards home he whistled a lively tune to himself.

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