There came a time in everyone's life when they had to man up (or woman up in this case) and face reality and its challenges. For some, it was moving out of their parents' house, trying to get over an addiction, attempting to finally manage their money right, or simply becoming responsible and doing their homework. But me and the girls? We had to face something way more difficult. We had to use way more elbow grease. We had to-
"Cleaning! I just hate it!" shouted Stella, kicking over a bucket. Its hot, soapy contents poured out all over the floor as a result.
"Stella! That was my mop water!" frowned Flora as the corridor became flooded.
"So? It's not like you had to climb Magix's mountains to find it in some rare ocean or something. Just make some more," insisted Stella with a snort, holding her chin high.
"Why don't you do it? You hardly—no, scratch that. You haven't done anything all morning," pointed out Musa, putting her hands on her hips and glaring death at Stella. As planned, the six of us got caught for sneaking to Cloud Tower and were forced to clean most of the school while everyone else and their grandmother got to go to some lame we-didn't-know-about-it-until-now concert.
"Yeah, Stella. Either make like a shepherd and get the flock out or grab a broom," I snapped, getting up from my hands and knees. I couldn't help but chuckle at my own wisecrack. All morning, I'd been making nonsensical jokes like that. Me and my brother used to do stuff like that all the time back at home. Boy, I missed them.
"No way. I'm a princess and princesses don't clean. We have people to do that for us," yawned Stella, observing her nails.
"It's the same for me back home," spoke up Tecna, who was cleaning the window. "Except it's automatons that do the simple, tedious work while we people focus on the more important things."
"Yeah, that would explain the reason you're using a toilet brush to clean that," I said, rolling my eyes at her foolishness. The computer geek was literally standing on a step stool scrubbing the glass with a toilet brush.
"Hmm. So that's what this is for? I thought it was appropriate for the task since it's so long," said Tecna, observing the cleaning tool closely. She didn't seem one bit freaked out that it was probably used and had dirty-ass latrine gems on it.
Since we couldn't use our magic (honestly, I didn't know you could just take someone's magic away like that) or Tecna's technology to complete our chores, we had no choice but to resort to manual labor.
"Cleaning's not so bad," insisted Flora with a cute smile as she and Bloom tried mopping the spilt water off the floor, "you just gotta get used to it, that's all. It's fairly simply after a while."
"I don't do suchcommon folk stuff," said Stella boastfully, finger-combing her hair. "It's just not my style."
We all ignored her. "I think it'd be easier for us all if we split up," suggested Musa, resting her mop against the wall. "Divide and conquer. Me, Flora, and Cadey can clean the locker room while the rest of you finish the halls. That way, we'll get done earlier so we won't be stuck with this all day."The rest of us excluding Stella hummed our agreements.
After gathering up our supplies, Musa, Flora, and I headed down the hall for the locker room (which I didn't know Alfea even had until a few days ago). "How about we have a little fun after we get done?" I suggested with a devilishly giggle. "Since everyone's gone, think about all the weird stuff we could find in their rooms-"
"We're not intruding into anyone's room," interrupted Flora firmly, "that's rude. And besides, you always find odd things…" We all shuddered at the remembrance of those condoms we found back in the Trix's room.
"It wouldn't be worth it anyway. Most girls basically own the same things," pointed out Musa uninterestedly as we pushed open the double doors leading into the locker room. The mixed smells of sweat, must, old towels, lavender deodorant, and gossip greeted us instantly. "Jewelry, lip gloss, expensive hair dryers. We can find all those things in Stella's room so there's really no point."
"Aww man." I pouted, mocking disappointment.
"Don't worry. There are other, more sane ways to entertain yourself," promised Flora as she began sweeping underneath a bench. "How about…we play 'what would you do'? Let's make up random scenarios that we'll probably never be in and come up with funny solutions to get out of them."
"Eh, that's better than hearing Stella go on about how she's too spoiled to do anything," nodded Musa in agreement, "let's start with this: what would you do if you were wanted by the police for committing a horrible crime?"
"Hmm. I'd turn myself in," replied Flora a little too quickly, "if I did something that horrible, I'd deserve to be locked up."
Ugh. Typical good girl response. "Why the hell would I give myself up for? I'd make like my mom's first baby daddy and get the fuck out of town," I snorted, getting on my knees to scrub some glue-like stuff off the floor. I looked up to see Musa and Flora just staring at me. "Don't even ask," I sighed, rolling my eyes at the ceiling. "Don't even ask."
"I'm with Cadey. Except, I'd go a little bit farther by getting out of the country," said Musa, moving aside a garbage can so she could sweep behind it. "That way, they wouldn't—ew, gross!"
"What is it?" asked me and Flora simultaneously.
Musa wrinkled her nose in disgust and backed away from the corner. Seeing she looked disturbed, I didn't hesitate to rise to my feet and hurry over there. Musa pointed downward at something and I leaned in to take a closer look. I gagged immediately at the sight of a super-used feminine sanitary napkin. Flora, who was looming over me, gagged even louder.
Man, the struggles of cleaning up a girl's locker room. If this is what janitors went through on a regular, they definitely deserved to get paid more. "Why didn't she go to the bathroom and change?" I hissed, noticing the fishy stench coming from it. "Flora, is this yours? You're on your period, aren't you?"
I could hear the girl blushing. "Yes, but that isn't mine! I change in the restroom near our apartment. Besides, even if I did change in here, I wrap mine up in toilet paper before discarding it…."
"Although we can all agree that is super repulsive, someone's gotta get that up," mentioned Musa, still scowling.
"I'm not touching that thing!" I refused, standing up and backing away. "Though I might not show it, I got standards! And picking up girl's old underwear napkins ain't a part of them. Besides, you saw it. You pick it up."
"That isn't how it works!" snapped Musa in return. We all turned to Flora expectantly.
"I-I don't want to do it either," she blushed.
"We'll just do rock-paper-scissors," I decided, "loser has to deal with that."
"Rock-paper-scissors can't go three ways!" insisted Musa, "we'll just outdo each other."
"Just shut up and get over here."
We all formed a circle. "Rock, paper, scissors," we chanted, swinging our fists to the chant, "shoot!" I gave out rock, Musa gave our rock, and Flora…poor, poor Flora. She had scissors.
"Sorry Floes, but that's your problem now." I patted the girl on the back.
She smiled though I could see her disappointment. "It's okay. I knew I was going to lose anyway because I'm not very good at the game."
"Good at what?"
We all turned to see Stella strolling into the locker room with a look of boredom on her face. "Scratch what I said earlier, Flora. Stella, get your ass over here!" I snapped at the blond. "We have a job for you."
Stella gave us a long groan. "That's why I left Bloom and Tecna. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I'm a princess and I don't do-"
"Stop talking now or I'll tell Ms. Griselda it was you who started that rumor about her being a cross-dressing male," warned Musa, giving her an evil smile.
Stella's face went white. She gave Musa a you-wouldn't! look, making Musa's smile grow bigger. "Fine!" spat the blond, stomping over to us. "But I'm not doing—WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Her face twisted in horror and she pointed at the extremely red pad.
"That, my friend, is another girl's monthly burden," I informed, holding back a laugh. "And you, dearest Stella, have to clean it up."
"You three have lost your mind," growled Stella, suddenly looking very scary.
"Oh, okay. I see. I might as well go get my cell and dial up Ms. Griselda then," sighed Musa, suppressing her smile as she started for the door.
Stella grabbed her arm. "No! I-I'll do it," she announced, keeping her I'll-eat-you-in-your-sleep! expression. "But you girls have to be standing right there behind me!" The three of us nodded, relived that we weren't stuck with the task anymore.
After Stella geared up (by that, I mean put on three pairs of gloves, a nose mask, and a hairnet for some reason) she neared the pad in the corner with caution. "Why the heck would that girl change in a locker room anyway?" she complained, taking a pair of small tweezers out of her pocket. "Where everyone could see her taking off her thing?"
"She probably did it while no one was looking," I considered, raising my eyebrows at her. I didn't know which was odder: the fact that she carried tweezers around in her pocket or honestly thought she could pick up the pad with them.
"Seriously, Ms. Faragonda needs to put up a sign or something," muttered Stella, her hand nearing the pad.
"What's it supposed to say? 'Be sure you don't leave your used sanitary napkin around on the floor so someone won't trip'?" I asked sarcastically as Stella managed to grab the thin side of the pad with her "weapon".
"What girl is shameless and careless enough to do this?" went on Stella, slowly but steadily lifting the pad off the floor with her tweezers.
"Ewww!" we all groaned at the small red puddle it left behind.
Stella turned her face away from it and kept her grip on the tweezers so she wouldn't drop the pad on her feet. She quickly made a break for the garbage can and dropped it into the bag. "Whew! I hope I never have to do something like that again," she murmured, slipping off her unnecessary gloves. "Now if you'd excuse me, I have to go wash my hands."
We all watched quietly as Stella made her dramatic exit. I looked at the blood puddle and held up a fist. "Rock-paper-scissors on who's cleaning that up."
"Alright, ladies. What's behind this door is beyond me," I said boldly, "but whatever we face in there, don't be discouraged. We can take it. We're not sissy little girls. We're strong, independent women and aren't afraid to get our hands dirty."
"Wait, we're gonna get our hands dirty?" asked Stella with newfound concern.
"Here here!" agreed Musa and Bloom in unison, obviously ignoring Stella. They pumped their brooms and brushes in the air.
"We're armed, dangerous, and ready to kick ass. Are you prepared to do this thing?" I continued in a stronger voice.
"Yeah!" went Musa and Bloom. Tecna just blinked confusedly, Flora gave a little giggle at our silliness, and Stella scowled.
"Okay then! CHARGE!" I yelled, kicking the door open. The combined smells of perfume, shit, pee, sweat, onions, and strawberries invaded our noses the second we stepped in the bathroom.
"I'm gonna hurl," gagged Musa, pinching her nose and holding her stomach. The next thing on our agenda was the downstairs bathroom by the gym. And by the looks and smells of the place, it was almost like boys used it in here instead of girls.
"When's the last time someone decided to clean this death trap?" complained Stella, shuddering with disgust.
I shrugged like it was no big deal. "It ain't so bad. My brothers' bathroom smells way worse than this so…"
"Well, let's get to work. This place isn't going to clean itself," frowned Bloom, clenching her mop. "I'll clean the floors, Tecna can clean the floors, someone'll need to clean the toilets-"
"Not it!" exclaimed me, Flora, and Musa at the same time. All eyes landed on Stella.
The blond froze. "No. No, no, no! I am not cleaning those!" she insisted, stomping her foot stubbornly. "Anything but those."
"Sorry girl but that isn't how it works," I chuckled, reaching into our supplies' bucket and tossing the toilet brush over to Stella.
She caught it with hesitation. "B-but, I'm a princess!" she whined, making a puppy face at us. "I don't-"
"Oh, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind if Musa called Ms. Griselda right now and-"
"Never mind. I'll do it," growled Stella, interrupting me. She glared death at me.
"You're such a big help," smiled Flora, hugging the girl sweetly. She didn't seem to notice Stella's hostile attitude.
"Yeah, yeah. Save the kiss-up comments for later," hissed Stella rudely, shaking Flora off. "Honestly, they need to pay us for this…"
"No kidding. I feel bad for janitors," commented Bloom, dunking the mop in the bucket of mop water. "They have to deal with stuff ten times worse than this and are still the lowest paid workers in the country."
Stella's eyes widened with disbelief. "People like that really exist?"
We all ignored Her Royal Ignorance. "Forget it. Let's just get to work so we won't have to stay here all day," suggested Musa, spritzing the sinks with disinfectant. "I'm sure inhaling all these fumes aren't good for our lungs…"
"Or sanity," I chimed. Stella cautiously opened one of the stalls and groaned at the sight of the toilet. "Need me to hold your hair back?" I volunteered, knowing the princess was way out of her comfort zone.
The blond nodded slowly and proceeded into the stall like a man entering a snake den. I stood behind her and cringed at the sight of the black ring inside the toilet bowl. "Damn, that stinks," I cussed, grabbing Stella's hair so it wouldn't fall in her face as she bent down.
"Tell me about it. The janitor around here must be slacking or something," mumbled Stella, taking the bottle of toilet cleaner beside her feet. She squirted a lot of the thick blue liquid around the inside of the toilet bowl and took a deep, preparing breath. "Here goes nothing," she whispered lowly. And with that, she began scrubbing the inside of the toilet with the brush.
"Go Stella, go! Go Stella, go!" I chanted, holding back a chuckle as the blond scrubbed furiously. "Go Stella, go! Go Stella g-" I stopped short when I saw a big-ass cockroach squeeze from underneath the toilet. Stella, who was too busy complaining and scrubbing, didn't seem to notice that the red-and-black bug was crawling right there at her feet.
Oh shit. Go away, go away, go away! I prayed as I watched it crawl around. If it got on Stella, someone was going to die. Whether it was the bug or Stella, I had no idea.
I held my breath as it stopped right there by the back of Stella's feet. I cautiously lifted my shoe to crush it, but I was too late.
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!" screamed Stella the second the roach attached itself to her leg. She dropped the brush into the toilet and threw herself backwards into me. "SOMEONE GET IT OFF ME!" she cried as the both of us fell onto the floor. During my descend, I actually knocked over the bucket of mop water, resulting in a massive spill.
"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" howled Stella, who I might add was on top of me, waving her arms around and kicking her legs madly. While she was busy making a fool of herself, she didn't even notice the roach wasn't on her anymore. Instead, the bug was moving with ninja speed across the floor in the opposite direction.
"ROACH!" yelped Flora, pointing down at it with fear. Musa and Bloom screamed.
"KILL IT, KILL IT!" screamed Musa, somehow jumping up onto the sink when the bug changed course and headed towards her.
Seeing the stupid thing was causing a scene, I pushed Stella off me and jumped to my feet. "EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" I shouted. Everyone besides Tecna was too busy panicking. Flora was cowering in a corner, Musa was still balancing herself on the sink, and Bloom was pressing herself against a wall as the cockroach ran about in circles like it was retarded or something.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" shrieked Stella, throwing herself on me.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? IT'S JUST A LITTLE BUG!" I insisted loudly. The other girls just went on screaming and crying out with fear. "PUT ON YOUR BIG-GIRL PANTIES AND SQUISH THAT FUCKER!"
"I don't understand," stated Tecna dully, "what's going on?"
Seeing I couldn't reason with these girls, I positioned my foot above the cockroach and brung it down hardly. Underneath my foot, the roach made a crunching sound as I put my weight on it. When I lifted my shoe, the bug was completely crushed and laying in its brown insides. Its antenna was still somehow moving, but the others didn't seem to notice.
"Whew. I thought we were goners for sure," breathed out Stella, wiping her forehead with relief. "For a second, I thought I wasn't going to see my parents ever again."
"Someone hurry and clean that up," suggested Bloom eyeing the flattened bug with disgust. "Even though it's dead, that thing still creeps me out."
"Not it!" exclaimed Musa, Bloom, Stella, and Flora.
"Fine. What the hell ever. You guys were just going to make me do this anyway," I snorted, proceeding into a stall for some toilet paper.
Tecna, who was still confused, blinked. "I still don't understand. What just happened?"
"Okay, someone's gotta say it. This whole stay-here-and-do-our-dirty-work-until-we-come-back-from-having-fun thing is totally boring," yawned Stella, leaning against the wall as she observed her nails. We were in the entrance hall taking a break.
"Yeah. After all we just did, I kind of wish we hadn't snuck into Cloud Tower," agreed Flora, looking down with shame.
I snorted. I felt the exact opposite. Right about now, the Trix were at their crumby little witch school ranting on about how we were about to pay for sneaking into Cloud Tower when ironically, they snuck into Alfea every other day.
"We don't have anyone else to talk to," sighed Musa, who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, "which sucks because this job is already boring enough…"
"Then why don't we invite the boys from Red Fountain?" suggested Stella.
"Yeah, why not? Then when we get caught, we'll be grounded into infinity," said Flora sarcastically, which was something I didn't know she was capable of.
"I think it's a great idea!" smiled Bloom brightly, much to Flora's dismay. "They could help us with the cleaning."
"But isn't that like cheating?" asked Tecna, raising an eyebrow.
Bloom shook her head. "Griselda said no magic and no techno-gadgets. She never said anything about flesh and blood."
"But of course! Then, when we're done cleaning, we can have a nice party!" exclaimed Stella, dropping her cleaning utilities.
"It's a wonderful idea!" agreed Musa.
"I can't wait!" added Bloom. The two girls high fived each other.
While they celebrated, I just remained quiet. It wasn't going to be a party with what was in store for us next…
"You guys sure didn't waste any time! It's great to see you!" enthused Stella, hurrying over to Sky (Brandon). The Specialists were just arriving in the courtyard on their hover bikes.
"Hey, you know us. When it comes to partying, the Specialists takes matters very seriously," joked Sky (Brandon), removing his red helmet.
I couldn't help but notice he was dressed up like he was attending something fancy. "What's with the outfit, 'Your Highness'?" I asked, strolling over with my hands stuffed in my pockets. "Before we can party, we got some serious shit to do."
Riven smirked, stepping off his bike. "Like what? You girls probably don't even have a lot to do. You're just pathetic," he insisted, crossing his arms with a prideful snort.
"Riven…." said Brandon (Sky) in a warning tone.
"Actually, we got most of the cleaning done," I mentioned with a straight face, "but there's just one place we forgot. The upstairs bathroom, also known as the Junkyard."
The other girls groaned at the very name. Riven just snorted again. "What's so special about a dumb bathroom?"
I stared at him blankly. "It's the cleanest bathroom at Alfea."
"So what's the big deal?" asked Riven, harshly staring back.
"Besides the fact it's home to Stall #7," I continued, making the girls groaned again. "It's literally the nastiest stall in Alfea and no matter what you do to it, it stays that way."
Riven just laughed rudely. "Yeah right. Listen girly, you ain't seen nothing. As newbies at Red Fountain, we get stuck with the worst jobs possible. This 'stall seven' of yours is super-duper clean compared to the ones we gotta deal with. In fact, I think our cleanest stalls are dirtier than 'stall seven'."
Gotcha. I allowed myself to smile. "Is that a bet?"
Riven blinked as if taken back by my proposal. "Seriously? Boy, you're stupider than I thought," he laughed out loud, "how much? Ten? Twenty?"
"Fifty," I said, still smiling.
Riven's eyes widened and he laughed even harder. "See, guys? I told you they were nothing but dumb little girls," he chuckled, looking at Sky, Brandon, and Timmy. He turned back to me, grinning proudly. "Fine. You got yourself a deal."
I took my right hand out of my pocket, spat in my palm, and held it out. "Shake on it."
"You bet I will," smirked Riven, spitting in his own hand. "I just made myself fifty dollars richer." He took my hand and we shook, our fingers wet from each other's saliva. "Now, let's go see this 'stall number seven'. The faster we get this done, the faster I get my money."
I nodded, smiling even wider. "After you, good sir," I said, gesturing towards Alfea.
As we all started towards Alfea, the other boys gave me looks of sympathy as if I just made a huge mistake. I just smiled at them, showing my confidence. Musa squeezed in between me and Stella and giggled. "Well, you just made some money," she whispered.
"Don't I know it."
Honestly, the boys of Red Fountain had no idea what they were in for.
"Well, here we are," announced Bloom, holding the bathroom door open for us. The boys entered first, looking around.
"This is it?" snorted Riven in disbelief. Everything was literally perfect. The sinks were glistening with cleanliness, the mirrors were smudge-less, there wasn't one speck of dirt in between the tile, and the toilets literally sparkled.
"This place looks like it belongs in a grand hotel in comparison to the restrooms at our school," said Timmy lowly, adjusting his glasses in awe.
Honestly, the guys at Red Fountain must've missed the toilet every time they went to pee if it was that bad. But nevertheless. "This is nothing," I assured them, walking over to the closed stall on the far left against the wall. The girls stayed near the entrance, not wanting to see what I was about to reveal. "This is where shit gets real," I said, ignoring the out-of-order sign posted on the door.
And without warning, I swung the door open and gagged the second I laid eyes on what was inside. The stall lived up to its myths and beyond. The tiled wall behind the toilet was nearly black with spotty brown stuff and an underlined message saying: NEED TOILET PAPER was neatly written in shit on the adjacent wall. Not only that but the wall it shared with the next stall was covered in messages written in marker and lipstick.
The toilet was spotted with dried piss and the water inside its bowl was pure brown. The tile on the floor was lined with thick black and brown stuff and there was even a pile of dirt in the corner. Used toilet paper was draped above the toilet and green mounds that looked like shit lined the bottom of the toilet. Apart from that, mold was growing everywhere and black stuff was spilling out of the toilet.
"OH JESUS!" I cussed, leaping back.
Riven, who obviously didn't take that as a warning, just laughed rudely and proceeded into the stall. It took him less than a millisecond to swear aloud, too. "OH SHIT!" he swore, jumping back as well. The other guys and girls hurried over and dared to look into it. They all gagged and groaned immediately.
"We're gonna die," cried Stella, covering her nose.
"How can girls be this potentially disgusting?" asked Timmy with discomfort, looking very faint.
"Eh…well….this won't clean itself," stated Brandon (Sky) slowly.
"I'm gonna need some intense alcohol after this," I muttered, stepping back. "Or therapy for that matter."
"I'm going to be sick," moaned Flora, holding her stomach.
"You know what they say. Better now than never, right?" laughed Bloom nervously.
"I think I'll go with never," murmured Stella, turning her back to the revolting scene.
"Grab a sponge, everyone. This is gonna be a LONG afternoon," sighed Musa.
After putting on a few pairs of gloves each and a nose mask, we were ready to make like Elvis and rock and roll. "If I don't survive this, tell my brother to bury those twenty dollars he owes me along with my old, soul-less husk," I muttered.
"Have fun in there," giggled Stella, handing me a towel and a bottle of disinfectant. "And don't get too crazy."
"Shut up. Well, here goes motherfucking nothing," I breathed, following Riven into the stall. Everything was extremely repulsive in there, but I didn't say anything. Even with a nose mask on, I didn't want to open my mouth and expose myself to the gems floating about.
"I will never look at girls the same way again," whispered Timmy as he and the others watched us with sympathy.
"Hey, something ain't right about this place," I argued, daring to open my trap. "They say no matter what you do to this place, it always ends up dirty the next second."
"Wow. You girls are nasty and stupid," muttered Riven, who was trying to plunge the toilet.
"Shut up, mate," I hissed, spraying a heck of a lot of disinfectant on the NEED TOILET PAPER shit message. After taking a deep breath, I started scrubbing it. I gagged as the shit smeared across the tile. I seriously wanted to track down whoever did this and STRANGLE THEM TO DEATH WITH MY BARE TWO HANDS.
With a little—a lot of elbow grease, I managed to scrub away most of the shit message. I grimaced at my now brown butt-nasty towel. I was gonna toss the thing into the first trashcan I saw when I got finished. Knowing the job wasn't even half done, I looked up to finish scrubb—
"WHAT THE HELL!" I shrieked over Riven's grunts and the sounds of toilet water splashing. All of the NEED TOILET PAPER shit note was back on the wall, looking slimier and newer than ever. What the flip flop?! Did it just…grow back?
"Oh, c'mon. And you talk about me," giggled Stella, "you're just as pathetic."
"No! This bathroom's weird! Everyone watch this!" I shouted. After everyone managed to squeeze into the stall's doorway, I scrubbed away the NEED TOILET PAPER message again.
"Whoopee. So you cleaned it. Big deal," yawned Stella.
I didn't say anything but kept staring at the tiled wall. Right before our eyes, the same message was growing out of the tile and back into existence. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I yelled.
"The place is evil!" shrieked Flora, "it doesn't want us to clean it."
Before I could ask if it was possessed, the toilet started to shake and vibrate madly. "Oh shit," mumbled Riven, stepping back into me.
"HIT THE DECK!" I yelled, pushing past everyone and running out of the stall. Riven made it out just in time as the all the brown water shot up out of toilet, raining down on the floor and walls.
"Who dares threaten my home?" hissed a harsh voice.
"OH SHIT!" I yelped as the lights began to flicker on and off.
"The bathroom's possessed!" exclaimed Musa, huddling against Flora.
"Let's get out of here!" I yelled, hurrying over to the door. I grabbed the metal handle. As much as I pulled on it, the damned door didn't budge. Like, at all. "Shit. We're trapped," I grumbled, catching my breath as I stepped back.
"You're just weak. Let me try," snapped Riven, pushing me out of the way. He grabbed the handle and began tugging on it hopelessly.
"Oh great! We're all stuck in here!" panicked Stella, clomping around in her high heels nervously.
"Everyone calm down. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this," said Sky slowly and unsteadily, looking confused.
"Uh…is that explanation enough?" squeaked Musa, pointing at Stall #7. Weird smoke and an evil laugh were emerging from it. Oh great. What was happening now? We all crowded in front of Stall #7 again to see a wisp of black smoke surfacing from the toilet.
"Well, that's new," I commented dully as the wisp turned into a dark, shadowy figure of a woman.
"Who dares threaten my home?" she repeated, looking at us with yellow eyes.
"Who the fuck are you?" I asked, hardly intimidated by the ghost or whatever she was.
"I am Magalia, the spirit of this-"
"Uh, yeah. Magalia, I'm gonna have to ask you to make like Michael Jackson and beat it before I make you," I warned, rolling my eyes at the phantom thing.
"Wh-what do you want from us?" trembled Flora, her bottom lip quivering.
"This place. It's her home," I said knowingly, "she was probably exiled from the ghost world or something and took refuge here in Stall #7. And so no one will bother forcing her out of her new home, she made it as revolting as possible so no one would go near it."
"Typical," snorted Riven.
Magalia hissed at us. "And since you all were the wise ones who dared awaken me, I'll-"
Not wanting to hear the rest of her ranting, I pointed my bottle of disinfectant at her. "Shut the hell up," was all I said before I started spraying her with it.
"EEEKK!" the spirit screamed as I sprayed her some more.
"That's it! She's disappearing!" cheered Bloom, "keep going!" Sure enough, the ghost's body was slowly disintegrating with every spritz.
"Evil spirit! Be gone!" I yelled, delivering the final blow (spray in this case).
Magalia screamed out loud as the last bit of the disinfectant made contact with her body. She disappeared with a poof, causing black smoke to fill the bathroom. Coughing and waving the smug out of our faces, we all exchanged what-just-happened's and that-was-stupid-as-fuck's.
When the fog finally cleared out, we all gasped at the sight of an oddly clean Stall #7. No dirt, no mold, no shit.
"How'd you know that would work?" asked Musa slowly, looking at me with a questioningly look.
"I didn't really," I shrugged, relief washing over me. "I just figured she was one of those waste-dump spirits or something and that something the opposite of dirty would be her weakness. It's common sense, really."
"Well, now that that's over, let's go ahead and have our party!" suggested Stella, looking proud like she just accomplished something important.
While everyone else echoed their agreements, I just stood there quietly.
Because I knew for a fact that something way worse than Magalia was coming.
I was on the roof.
Literally, not figuratively (though I had no idea would the figurative term for that would be).
Why, you ask? Simple.
I was on a mission. While the others were inside the Winx's apartment partying, I had been ducking behind a chimney for at least thirty minutes. This wasn't really a problem for me considering I'd done the same thing during Halloween last year except for WAY longer (don't ask).
The only things to keep me company were the moon, stars, and two buckets of my secret weapon. The red one was full of honey-soaked ropes while the blue one was filled to the brim with a mixture of old spaghetti from the kitchen, toothpaste, bleach, some old milk, and super-concentrated toilet cleaner.
Any minute now, the Trix were going to show their stupid asses here at Alfea and I was going to be motherfucking ready.
I yawned as the bass from Musa's music got louder. I was sitting right above the Winx's apartment, so I could hear everything. And though part of me wanted to be a part of the action, another part was also uninterested because the party didn't have any alcohol. No alcohol, no Acadia.
"Hey. I see lights. Someone's still here," whispered a voice, alerting me.
The Trix.
Suddenly feeling very excited, I got into position. I quietly slid down the roof's shingles just a little bit so I could peer over the edge. The Trix sisters were floating above the balcony, cautiously looking into the Winx's apartment through the glass.
Nice! They were in position.
With freakish speed, I reached for the blue bucket, held it high, and let its contents fall out atop the Trix's heads. While they screamed and squealed like little girls, I grabbed the red bucket and slid down onto the balcony along with them. "'Sup, jackasses," I nodded at them, taking out the sticky ropes (don't worry. I had gloves on).
While the witches were too busy trying to get the spaghetti out of their hair and faces, I had them all wrapped in the ropes (doing and typing ropes and strings had been my specialty in summer camp).
"What's going on out here?" demanded Stella, the glass doors suddenly swinging open. Stella and Musa appeared in the open doorway. It took them one good look at the witches and then at me to put two and two together (and no, that did NOT equal fish).
"The witches!" gasped Bloom, appearing between Musa and Stella. "But…why are they here?"
"I'll call Ms. Faragonda right away," reported Flora before escaping into hers and Bloom's room.
Using my Hulk strength (that's right. I'm strong), I managed to drag the tied-up trio into the apartment for all to see. All the music and dancing stopped instantly. "Surprise," I grinned.
After managing to spit all the toilet bowl cleaner out of her mouth, Icy growled. "Don't think you've won, fairies!" I couldn't help but chuckle at the three. Their Gloomix outfits were soaked with the milk/bleach combination and covered in spaghetti while the toilet-bowl cleaner was slowly sliding down from their hair onto their faces.
"What's that on their heads?" asked Tecna slowly and hesitantly.
"Is that why you were hanging out on the roof? Because you knew they were coming?" asked Bloom, turning to me.
"Eh, I had a hunch." Sort of.
"You caught the bad guys. So what?" snapped Riven, pointing a finger at me. "This doesn't make you a hero or anything."
"I never said it did, mate. By the way, where's my fifty dollars?" I held my hand out expectantly.
Hissing at me, Riven dug into his pocket and slammed one wrinkled bill into my palm. "I'll give you the other twenty later," he grumbled. I stared down at the thirty-dollar bill in my hand. Man, Magix money was weird.
Instead of thanking him, I growled. "Fuck you, mate."
"You wish you could, mate," he countered, making mate sound like some kind of insult.
"Just because you caught us doesn't mean anything!" blurted Stormy, ending me and Riven's intense glare-off. "We can still use magic! IIavat on-"
Before she could finish talking in whatever Star-Trek language she was speaking, I kicked off my shoe, took off my sock, and stuffed it in her mouth. "Sorry, but I can't have you using magic, mate," I informed, "Timmy, had me that duck tape over there on the table."
Before Stormy could spit out the sock, I grabbed the roll of tape from Timmy, tore off a nice piece, and pressed it against Stormy's mouth. "Anyone else feelin' lucky?" I asked, glaring at Icy and Darcy as I handily spun the roll of tape around my finger
"Ms. Faragonda's on her way!" reported Flora, running out of her room.
"Stupid fairies. You think you're so tough," hissed Icy lowly, staring at me with those chilly eyes. "We'll get you for this. I swear if it's the last thing I do-"
Without warning, I took off my other sock, stuffed in her mouth, and taped it shut. I looked at Darcy as if daring her to speak. However, she was too busy looking at Riven, making me suspicious. Could it be she was already noticing Riven had the same heart and attitude as 'the Prince of Darkness', Lord Darkar? She was probably already figuring out how to manipulate him into siding with her.
Dammit. That wasn't supposed to happen. I couldn't let Riven fall under her control. Sure, I hated him to hell, but he had a heart even if it was locked up behind police tape, threatening to strangle anyone who dared enter.
Hm. So it looked like Darcy wasn't going to be the only one strategizing. Hopefully, I'd be the one to come up with a plan first…
"Well done, girls! Even without your magic, you managed successfully capture the three witches in training," applauded Faragonda, looking at the six of us with a proud face.
The Specialists had already gone and it was just us girls, Faragonda, and Griselda in the Winx's apartment. The Trix were still tied up, though looking a little…roughed up. Not that we beat them up. Earlier, Stella had suggested we mess up their hair and makeup.
"Really, it's the least they deserved," she'd said, persuading us all to add a million shades of this and that onto their faces.
"Well, it was all me really," insisted Stella, holding her chin high and fluffing up her hair.
"Hm. Is that so?" hummed Musa, smiling somewhat devilishly. "Then I'm sure Ms. Faragonda would also like to know it was all you who started that rumor about-"
"Did I say it was all me? I meant to say Acadia!" interrupted Stella with a quick and nervous laugh, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "She did everything."
"Yeah, that's why I thought," giggled Musa.
"You witches' behavior was extremely unacceptable," went on Faragonda, looking down at the witches with a displeased frown. "I will personally take up the matter with Director Griffin."
The Trix stayed quiet, irritably taking Faragonda's lecture. I held back a chuckle at their new goofy appearance. We'd applied so much red lipstick to Icy's lips, they looked big and crusty. Darcy's eyebrows were freakishly big, thick, and hideous from all the liner Bloom had applied, and Stormy's face looked all out like one of a clown's.
"Tomorrow morning, she will receive a formal complaint. I've never seen such a total lack of disrespect," frowned Faragonda with her hands clasped behind her back, shaking her head. "I trust you will be disciplined accordingly. Goodbye girls." The lady snapped her fingers, teleporting the Trix away—most likely back to Cloud Tower.
"And now, it's your turn," announced Griselda, looking at us. It was hard to tell if she was being threatening or kind because she was wearing her usual you're-such-a-disappointment face.
Apparently, the other girls were confused too because they held their breath anxiously. With a warm smile, Faragonda snapped her fingers and our bodies immediately glowed with magical auras. I breathed out in relief as the power of the wind came rushing back into my body, coursing through my veins.
While the other girls celebrated the return of our powers, I noticed a faint, fiery flicker on the back of Flora's palm. However, before anyone else could notice and I react, the fire quickly extinguished itself. Flora, who was busy talking, hadn't noticed because her hand was at her side. She obviously hadn't felt it either because she hadn't even flinched.
I opened my mouth to say something but quickly shut it. It was probably best if I didn't say anything. It some cases, it was best to just sit back and be silent. The answers always presented them eventually. And I wasn't going to sweat it until then.
