Chapter 15 - And the plans unravel.
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"The missing power transfer machine. Now it makes sense." Justin says.
"D'you mind sharing it with the rest of the class, then?!" Alex asks.
"Well, assuming that's what Fiendl is really trying to do, it's not that easy to steal the powers of everybody inside the castle at once. It's just too many people. So, it would make sense to combine the effects of an underwater volcano and a power transfer machine to do it."
"Can he do that?"
"I don't know. Maybe!" Justin answers.
"Well, let's go, then." Alex urges "We gotta find him fast, before he starts. I don't wanna lose my powers"
"NO! No! Let's calm down." Justin says. "I think we are safe for now. When underwater volcanoes are used to steal powers, the 'underwater' part is essential to the transfer. We are not underwater." He says with a smile. And while he says it, a faint flash calls Alex attention through the window behind Justin.
But he continues. "Maybe he overlooked that part. Then it's simply not gonna work."
"No! I think he got that one!" Alex points out with some annoyance, gesturing to the window.
Justin turns around and looks outside. "WHAT?" He steps closer to the window and sees that the forest that once surrounded the castle has become the deep of the ocean, kept away from the school by some kind of magical barrier.
He turns back to Alex "Now he has the means to get all of our powers!" He freaks out.
"Yeah! Not cool!" Alex says.
"You think?! … … We gotta find where Fiendl's keeping the machine."
"Any ideas of where to look for it, then?" Alex asks.
"Not really. I need a second to think." Justin rubs his forehead.
Just when Alex was about to yell at Justin, saying that they have no time to stop and think, something else captures her attention. "Is it just me or it's getting hot in here?"
Justin looks at her, eyes deeply scrunched up in an annoyed expression. But Alex is right. Justin also notices that it is really getting hotter in there.
"Aahhh!" Justin yells and drops the rock he was still holding. "The rock burned my hand." He whines to Alex. Wait! Volcanic stone? Getting hotter? Big problem!
Justin goes to a pile of dust and puts his hand closer to it. "The dust is hot too… …WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" Justin yells and, without missing a beat, runs to Alex taking her arm and pulling her to the door. They cross the classroom and stop near the exit door. Justin looks back. The dust on the corners starts to let out a faint red glow. Justin knows where this is going.
"We gotta get outside." Justin yells again, one more time taking Alex's hand to pull her away.
But, before they are even out of the classroom, Alex raises her wand and casts a spell. They are teleported to the front patio. The cool air outside brings the relief they need to study their situation. They look back inside and the dust reaches an almost white glow that surely would be dangerous if they had stayed inside.
"That was a close one!" Justin says in a sigh.
"What the hell was that?" Alex yells.
"Lava!" Justin exclaims. "It's what it takes to help in stealing powers. I guess Fiendl put into action the next step of his plan. He heated up the dust and now he can start the transfer."
"What about everybody inside?" Alex asks.
"I think they'll be safe from the heat while they stay frozen. But we're getting out of time. We have to find out where the Power Transfer machine is." Justin says, getting back to the problem.
Now that they are outside, they take a moment to look up and study without obstacles the sky turned into the deep of the ocean above them. It would be interesting to watch if it wasn't the most inappropriate moment. Things are tense, you know.
As it never fails to happen to them in these moments, just as they are looking up a burst of light shines on top of a tower. And not just any tower.
"Of course. The Tower of Evil!" Justin exclaims.
"I don't like that place." Alex curses, and Justin looks at her, blankly. "That place made me look ugly!" She explains.
Justin shakes his head in disapproval, revolving his eyes for her superficiality. Really? That is what she is thinking about right now? "We gotta go up there." He says.
"Fine! Let's take the elevator." Alex says already walking to it, finger aiming to press the call button.
"No, Alex! It's not gonna…" Before he can finish the phrase, Alex hits the button making it light up, showing it is perfectly functional. "…work!" Justin finishes.
Alex looks back at him, grinning.
"But I deactivated the elevator and blocked the stairs!" Justin explains.
"You did a very lousy job, then." She retorts.
"Shut up!"
The door opens presenting the cabin, perfectly preserved. Alex carefully peeks inside. The floor, walls, the ceiling; all looks fine. She pokes her wand in just to be sure. "It's fine by me." Alex tells.
"Don't get in just yet." Justin prevents her. He walks to her side, and studies the interior of the cabin.
He carefully examines the equipment, spending the precious time they don't have.
"You done?" She asks with vexation.
Justin peeks at her, then back to the floor of the elevator. He shakes his wand inside, then his foot, and quickly taps it on the floor. Alex is getting really annoyed. And finally Justin steps inside and waits for a second. "I think it's safe."
"Oh, my…" Alex curses and walks in, pushing Justin out of the way to stand beside him. She slaps the button and the elevator starts taking then up.
The elevator stops and opens for them. When they come out, Justin immediately recognizes the machine that stands in the middle of the terrace. However, the old Power Transfer Machine is not exactly in the same state as it was before disappearing.
"The missing power transfer machine." Justin tells Alex. "Look!" He interjects, pointing to the top of it. "And the missing crystal balls. I think he is using them as an antenna to collect the powers so the wizards don't have to touch the machine."
"The crystal balls are a nice touch. But those bidaddles down there, just look like a trashy add to the design." Alex laughs.
"No! Bidaddles have to connect to your powers to work. I bet he is using them to collect and absorb the powers." He explains.
Then Fiendl appears, flashing in just beside the machine. "Very clever, Russo!"
"This is why you set up those attacks to the school. The first attack was to clear the entrance to the tower and the second was to bring the machine up here." Justin infers.
"Yes! And nobody noticed it. They were all busy running away like cowards. Not even you saw it, the extraordinary Headmaster Russo." Fiendl brags.
"Well, now we know." Alex defends them both. "And we're here to get you."
"You cannot stop me now. The powers are already being sucked out."
"Oh, yeah!?" Alex says. "Let's see that!" She raises her wand and fires a powerful lightning bolt against the machine. However, instead of striking against it, the bolt is simply diverted up to the crystal balls on the top, and absorbed by it. "It didn't work!" She growls as she gives up on the attack.
"HaHaHaHa! At this point any power will be absorbed. You cannot do anything." Fiendl vaunts.
Then Justin pulls his wand and repeats Alex's move. The lightning bolt he fires seems even more impressive than the one Alex produced. He is putting all the strength he has on the attack but it happens to him the same that happened to Alex. The machine squeaks and shakes but absorbs everything, making Justin give up on the attack.
Just as soon as he stops, lightnings of wizard power come up from the castle from all the wizards trapped in it. They gather above the machine and descend as one, hitting the crystal balls to enter the machine. "It's happening!" Fiendl screams then plunges to it, grabbing the bidaddles to steal the powers. "They will be all mine! And you cannot stop me! HaHaHaHaHa!"
Again, the machine screeches and grates and shakes as it deals with this much power.
"Alex, can you hear this?" Justin asks. "This machine is old and I think it's working on its limit." He points out right away.
"You mean you think it's too much?"
"Yeah!"
"Then let's shove some real power down its throat." Alex incites.
Both siblings raise their wands. They take aim at the crystal balls and wave it together to fire their most powerful attack against the machine. The bolts they produce are equally formidable. If, in her first try, Alex didn't match Justin's strength, now she perfectly levels up to him.
As they fire their attack, a strange pull between their wands quickly goes from weird to more than they can resist. Their bolts dangerously seek for one another. They start stepping closer, accepting and following this pull they feel. And, with one last step, their hands touch and the wands cross each other. The bolts become one in an unimaginably powerful emanation.
Their strike seems even stronger than all the power being stolen from the wizards in the castle. The conduit that connects the crystal balls to the machine starts to shine a bright red glow as it deals with much more than it was design to handle. The screeches sound louder and more menacing than before. The machine is struggling.
"No! What are you doing!?" Fiendl screams.
Now sparkles fly away and small strikes leak from all around the machine. The equipment is choking and, if anything, Alex and Justin are only getting stronger.
"NO! STOP THAT!" Fiendl screams again, now unable to remove his hands from the bidaddles.
The machine produces one last cry, the strikes leak furiously forming a ball of energy all around it. And, with a fraction of second of full silence, the machine explodes with a wave of wizard power tearing it apart and launching away its broken parts.
Alex and Justin flinch for a second but their powerful attack diverts all the parts flying their way just before they stop.
Then, silence. The siblings look back at the machine. Only a small part of the lower construction of it remains together, and pieces spread around the terrace. Fiendl lies on a corner, unconscious. His face is smudged and parts of his clothes are scorched by the explosion. His hands seem injured.
Justin slowly comes closer to the evil wizard. He stoops down and takes the wand from him, careful not to make any sudden moves or any sound that could wake him up. Then he quickly steps away, back to where Alex is.
"Time for Professor Fiendl go away." Justin waves his wand toward Fiendl and the evil man disappears.
"Where did you send him?" Alex asks.
"Well, there's this little room in the dungeons with a very big lock that's spell proof. He's gonna spend some time in there until the wizard cops arrive."
"Nice!" Alex tells. "And I think we can go back, now. Right?" Alex looks up at the ocean above them and points her wand.
"Try it out!" Justin agrees.
Alex shoots a powerful spell up that hits the water above. It spreads all around and the ocean starts giving space to the starry sky of the clear night. The siblings look around to see the castle's original landscape back where it should be.
"Nice!" Justin replies to Alex. They smile to each other, happy that the dangerous situation is now over.
"Hey, what about the people in the ballroom? You said that only Fiendl could undo the spell on them." Alex questions Justin.
"Well… The cool thing about being the Headmaster here is that you have clearance to use some apps that can do a lot of cool things…" He tells as he lifts his wand to hold it along with Fiendl's, keeping both of them together side by side. Then he looks closely at Fiendl's wand. "…Like…" He fumbles a little bit on the wand and the tip shines. "…activate the undo function." The wand shines brighter for just a second, then dies down until it is off. "…And a few other things." He completes.
"Cool." Alex reaches out to grab Fiendl's wand. "What else does it do?"
"Nuh-uh! No touching!" Justin shouts, pulling it away from her.
"Fine!… And how do you get to do these 'cool things'?" She asks mischievously while Justin attentively checks the wand out.
"Just some high placements get to do it. Like the Wizard Councilors, the school Headmasters or the vice…" Justin stops. He realizes he is giving too much information. "…a few people!"
"Uh-huh!" Alex slyly utters.
"I think we should go and see if everybody is okay!" Justin defects, going to the elevator and pressing the button.