What was she going to tell Naomi? The wizards' sentence was eternal, and Nebula was not at all open to the idea of even talking about lightening it. Roxy had hoped that seeing what an incredible person they'd raised would make Nebula see things differently, the same way Roxy now did, but Nebula was hard and fast set on leaving the wizards to freeze. And now Roxy, having promised to investigate her friend's family's sentence, was going to have to tell Naomi that it was set in stone that she'd never see her family again? It wasn't fair. Naomi had been through so much. Roxy wouldn't be able to handle to look on her face when she broke the news.

'This has upset you,' Nebula murmured sadly, seeing Roxy's crestfallen expression.

'Eternity?' Roxy whispered.

'You do not think it's deserved?' Nebula looked at her, surprised.

'Well, I…I don't know. It just…seems unfair. I know you reformed, and you changed, but…you made mistakes too. And you're the queen now. And they get eternity?'

Nebula pursed her lips, evidently uncomfortable with her own failings being brought up. 'That is just the way the world is, Roxy.'

'Biased?'

'No!' Nebula prickled at the word. 'No, the world is not biased. I showed genuine remorse, and the wizards did not.'

'But how would we know?' Roxy murmured, looking away from Nebula and staring down at where Oritel was preparing to start the summit. 'They were frozen. We didn't give them their trial…we didn't hear them speak. Defend themselves.'

'They had ample opportunity to speak at the trial they were given, Roxy! You know that!' Nebula put her hand on Roxy's shoulder, her expression softening. 'Do not allow your affections for Naomi to cloud your judgement. You must remember that she is still their daughter.'

'What do you mean by that?' Roxy asked, defensive.

'I mean…could you really put it past her to be manipulating you?'

'What?' Roxy shook Nebula's hand off her, indignant fury rising. 'Nebula, Naomi's my friend!'

'But can you truly know that? You thought Ogron had surrendered.'

'If you think that about her, why'd you send her to Alfea with me?'

'If you will recall, I did not pitch that idea. Sibylla did, and you and I both know that, as wise as she is, Sibylla has proven herself to be rendered gullible and naive thanks to her sense of 'justice'. Do not allow yourself to be talked into seeing the wizards as…'

'People?' Roxy finished.

'Anything but the villains they are,' Nebula corrected sternly. 'Do not be used a second time, Roxanne.'

Roxy fell silent, refusing to speak any more. As surprising as it might be, she didn't so much as wonder if Nebula might be right. It was a reasonable thought, but…Nebula didn't know Naomi. She'd met the fierce, sarcastic villain kid that had torn into her for freezing her family. She'd never met the sweet, sassy girl that jumped blindly into danger and stood up to bullies for Roxy, and woke up crying because of nightmares, and did weird salute-waves because she didn't know how someone accepted a date offer. Everything the wizards had done, they'd kept their daughter apart from all of it. Naomi wasn't a villain. She was a manipulator, that was for sure, but she wasn't spiteful. She was a teasing, playful lunatic, and Roxy loved her. And she wouldn't dignify Nebula's accusations with a response.

Thankfully, Oritel spoke up, thus relieving her of any responsibility to speak. 'Sovereigns of the Magic Dimension! We have convened together to discuss what action must be taken to stop Tritannus. His toxic power is staining our oceans black, and we can no longer leave this battle to the Winx alone. This is our fight, and we must strike in retribution and protection!'

Roxy was a little awed by the authority Oritel wielded as he spoke. Bloom's birth father was a king, a born monarch. He was a leader. If she was to become a queen, Roxy wished to command that same respect when she addressed her people.

'Nonsense!' Everyone grimaced at the rude, brash interruption, coming from a king Roxy really wished she were less familiar with. 'We must seal off our ocean gates!' Erendor snapped. 'Secure our own planets! Leave Tritannus to his cosmic puddle. Our borders must be our first concern.'

'And what of when Tritannus strikes another pillar?' Aisha snapped, her eyes blazing from the her throne upon the Andros balcony. She stood, stepping around the crystal pool accommodating her cousins' tails to glower at Erendor. 'Your borders can do nothing to stop the effects of destroyed balance and control. We need to put all our resources into stopping Tritannus and ending the threat at its source. We need a dam, not sandbags.'

Erendor looked livid at being challenged by the young princess, gritting his teeth. 'And what would you have us do, Princess Tideborn? Send our air-breathing, Sirenix-less soldiers into the Infinite Ocean? Pray tell, how are we supposed to manage that?'

'Our solution should be evident,' stated a woman that Roxy guessed must be Olivia's mother, going off her striking resemblance to the princess, and the fact she was sitting on the Arian throne. 'Tritannus draws his power from pollution, which is most disgustingly prevalent on Earth. We can weaken him dramatically if Earth is simply sealed off again.'

Roxy recoiled, Nebula's knuckles went white with fury. Roxy caught Manuel, standing next to his girlfriend, glance at the Empress with shock.

'How dare you!' Nebula snarled, stalking forwards, her wings trembling with ire. 'You would seal us away again? When your own planets create pollution, you would make us your scapegoat?'

'Oh, calm down. I am simply looking out for the greater good.'

Nebula didn't want to listen, her eyes blazing with a warrior's fury. 'We are not to blame for this!'

'And yet, as your planet's supposed guardians, you are, your highness. You are responsible for your planet, and thus for the toxins that leech into its oceans by the hour.'

'We were sealed away; we had no control over the oceans!'

'And now we are to let you fall back into a position of guardianship? You are either in control or you are not. And if you have control back, then why have you not rectified your little…situation?'

'Because humans have developed their society while the fairies were sealed away!' Bloom interjected. 'You cannot expect them to change their entire way of living in a heartbeat; it's not fair, and, furthermore, it's just not possible, Empress Domenica.'

Roxy nodded in agreement, but didn't trust herself to get involved in such a debate.

'I agree with Queen Nebula,' Aisha's father added. 'Further to the point, Tritannus has the Trix as his allies. Do we really think we can kid ourselves that he would be defeated merely by cutting him off from pollution? They'd surely find another way to power him up.'

'Our focus has to be on defeating Tritannus once and for all! This only ends when he and the Trix are in custody!' Nereus declared.

'Oh, because your custody is so secure,' Olivia snarked. 'If I recall, had your father done a halfway-decent job on constructing a prison, this entire debacle would have been avoided.'

'How dare you speak of our father!' Tressa snapped. 'Were he here-'

'He'd what? Swim around like a goldfish?'

Roxy watched Manuel murmur something to Olivia, and she rolled her eyes, but shut up.

'When Tritannus is brought into custody, we must ensure it is secure,' Marion said decisively. 'But deciding on jailing options when we have no plan for how to get him in shackles is foolhardy and a waste of time.'

'We must all join together,' Oritel declared. 'Unite our armies against this threat.'

'I see the dimension has finally encountered a threat it wishes to have dealt with by professionals rather than children,' Empress Domenica drawled. 'Not throwing your daughter's clique into this war, Oritel?'

'Bloom's 'clique' as you call it, is an alliance of powerful guardian fairies that went toe to toe with Valtor and Darkar and won, so I'd watch who you call children, your majesty,' Stella said, her tone clipped and cold, a far cry from her usual bubbly excitement. 'And we have all fought Tritannus and the Trix, which is more than you have done.'

'As you said, Princess Stella, you have fought Tritannus. And, as he is not sitting on trial, I can assume you have failed to defeat him, so perhaps you should climb off your little high horse and admit that you are more useless than you claim.'

'How dare you take such a tone with my daughter!' Radius snarled. 'You would insult Solaria in such a manner?'

'I would speak the truth.'

As the debate raged, Roxy sat back, almost dizzy. This…this was the diplomacy set to save the dimension? Rulers arguing and spitting insults? Well, I could've done that.

'Once we have a united army, we can descend on Tritannus whenever he rears his ugly head. He won't stand a chance,' Marion asserted.

'But the mutants!' Tressa cried. 'He will set them on us, and we can't hurt them!'

'We have to get the mutants above the water,' Aisha thought aloud. 'Once we do that, all the Enchantix fairies we have can use their fairy dust and turn them back.'

'And you don't think Tritannus will have leaned from last time?' Erendor demanded. 'He'll never let them above the surface. And your precious dust doesn't work underwater.'

'I agree with Erendor,' Domenica concurred. 'Uniting our armies is a waste of resources. What, do we jump up like dogs whenever you call, Marion? Run across the dimension on the hopes that Tritannus is as addle-brained as his father?'

Tressa's face turned red. 'How dare you! You hold yourself apart from this fight, and you have the gall to walk into it and begin throwing insults! Oritel and Marion should throw you out of this assembly!'

'This coming from the princess who got herself mutated. Rather weak, do you not think?'

'Do not speak of such a traumatic experience so flippantly, Empress,' Nereus warned, his voice calm, but dangerous. 'You have not been faced with those you love, reduced to mindless beasts trying to hurt you. It is not an easy situation. My sister is not weak. Tritannus is strong. Too strong for any one planet to face alone. If we unite our armies, we can strike him down upon whichever world he rears his head!'

'So we are just to let every military force in the dimension flood our borders?!' Erendor sputtered. 'No! Absolutely not! Eraklyon has been forced to impose tighter border controls since the Karundan war; we will not permit such an amount of weapons and boots on the ground into our kingdom. We will not put ourselves in the position for an ambush.'

'None here would ambush you…' Oritel tried to placate the king, but his words were already ringing true with many.

'Oritel…' Radius started, and Stella's mouth dropped open. 'Erendor makes an excellent point. Opening ourselves up to the armies of the Magic Dimension is playing a risky game. Can we all honestly say that we would trust every sovereign here with not only our lives, but the lives of our people?'

There were many convinced murmurings, and Roxy felt her stomach sink as she saw Nebula nodding.

'You can't seriously be buying this,' Roxy hissed, but Nebula frowned.

'I am. Roxy, I understand the world the Winx have shown you, but 'work together' is not always the answer to everything. And, be frank. Answer Radius's question. Look at every ruler in this assembly. Can you tell me you would put your father's life into their hands?'

Roxy fell silent, glancing at Domenica, Erendor, Olivia, thinking of their armies marching on her planet, and she had to look away.

'Mhm…welcome to war, Roxy.'

The summit so far struck Roxy as a waste of time. All anyone had been able to do was argue. And argue. And throw some insults. And accuse others of plotting treason. And argue. Good lord these people could argue…

She walked out of the hall in a tired haze, rubbing her eyes and wondering why she even needed to be here. As Nebula had pointed out, she was naive, unprepared for this. She wished she knew what to do, but she feared her every thought would be struck down as childish. She honestly felt the Winx had taught her a skewed view of magic and the dimension it resided within. Work together wasn't always the answer, and magic couldn't solve everything. In hindsight, those both seemed stupid and childish, but when the heroes of the dimension saved the day in miniskirts, was it really that dumb to adopt a kids'-show view of events?

'Well that was loud.' Oh, good…and now she got to have this conversation.

'…Hey, Manuel.'

'Well don't sound so happy to see me.'

She turned around to see Manuel giving her a sheepish grin. 'Hey, Roxy. Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but…well, I think we need to.'

'Do we?' Roxy asked nervously. 'Maybe we don't. Maybe we can just leave it alone.'

'Roxy, you kissed me. In front of my girlfriend. And…well, you kinda lingered.'

Roxy's cheeks burned. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…

'I'm not mad or anything!' Manuel added quickly. 'I can understand that it was a difficult situation, but…look, I just want to know…'

'What the heck I was thinking?' Roxy finished, and Manuel nodded.

'Pretty much, yeah. What were you thinking?'

'Thanks for dropping the the 'the heck', I guess.' Roxy leaned back against a pillar, groaning. 'I…I don't know what I was thinking. I think I got a bit…infatuated, at the race. I heard a lot of fairy and Specialist love stories when I was on Earth with the Winx, and I was trying to be like them, and it was this exact fit into all their stories…freshman fairy, gets saved by knight on shining wind rider…' She shook her head. 'Dumb, huh?'

'No…' Manuel sighed. 'Not dumb. I don't really know the full story here, but from what I heard, you got thrown into this whole magic thing pretty fast. I'd say it's natural and normal to try and fit into the lives and behaviours of your only role models.'

'I kissed you to distract Olivia and save Naomi,' Roxy asserted firmly. 'That's the reason our lips met. I need that to be clear.'

'Okay. That's clear.'

'But…if I stayed…if I stayed longer than I needed to, that was…that was infatuation. And maybe me thinking how perfectly it was going to fit into the Winx's stories. And I'm really, really sorry, Manuel.'

'Okay. Okay, I understand.'

Roxy breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thanks. Do you forgive me?'

'Yeah. I think so. Bit insulting to be a story prop, but it's big of you to admit that.' He joined her against the pillar, staring up at the ornate ceiling designs. '…Do you still want the fairy and Specialist story?'

Roxy bit her lip, thinking hard. '…No. No, I don't. I want the fairy story. Maybe she's friends with a Specialist, but she doesn't glue herself to him. She just figures out her life, her powers, her responsibilities…a Specialist is a supporting character, not a secondary protagonist.'

'Sounds like a pretty cool story. I'd read that.'

'It's out in bookshops near you just as soon as I figure out what the heck is going on.'

Manuel laughed softly. 'If you figure that out, let me know. I think most people want to know what the heck is going on.'

'True. My dad's been trying to figure it out since he figured out there was a heck going on.'

'Same. My moms are just always at a loss. Think they got even further from understanding when I brought back our princess with the greeting, 'Guys, this is my girlfriend.' We'd been friends a while, I just don't think they saw us getting together.'

Roxy frowned, speaking up hesitantly. '…Why…why did you get together?'

Manuel grimaced, but didn't glare at her with righteous offence. 'The 'I want to kill you stares?''

'Yeah. She doesn't seem like the kind of person you want to…well, fall in love with.'

Manuel snorted. 'You say that like you can pick and choose who you love. Sometimes it just happens. But, to answer your question, she was…well, she didn't give people those looks. She was nicer. She was always up for an adventure. She used to duck out of royal studies to come hang out with me. We'd spend the whole day wandering through Aria, just talking and laughing…'

'…You're using the past tense a lot about the girl you love in the present,' Roxy murmured.

Manuel's eyes clouded. 'This…it's a phase. The alpha girl…she'll get over it. She's trying to prove herself to her mom, to Alfea…she'll calm down.'

It really wasn't Roxy's place to interfere in this relationship (well, any more than she already had), but she had to say something. 'You need to talk to her. Because people change, Manuel. And not always for the better. What if it's not a phase?'

'It is,' Manuel asserted, not meeting her eyes. 'It's a phase. She'll get over it.'

'Then make sure she knows you miss her. She can't do anything if you don't tell her she needs to. She's not a mind-reader.' Roxy paused, remembering she was in a dimension full of magical lunacy. '…She's not, right?'

Manuel shook his head, smiling slightly. 'Nope. You really think I should just talk to her?'

'Manuel, if there is one thing I learned from watching the Winx and their boyfriends, it's that most relationship problems would be rectified if people just talked about them instead of letting them fester.'

'Maybe...' Manuel nodded thoughtfully. 'But…I think it'll pass. We're doing okay.' They didn't sound like they were doing okay to Roxy, but she'd thrown too many of her cents at the problem already, so she just nodded.

'Okay then.' They lapsed into silence, neither really sure what to say. The summit had let out for the day, but the ship wasn't taking them home until tomorrow. And then they'd have to come back. The coming and going just to hear arguing seemed pointless, but maybe everyone else knew something Roxy didn't.

'I should go find Liv,' Manuel said, pushing himself away from the pillar. 'It was nice talking to you, Roxy. And, for what it's worth, I'd be happy to be a supporting character in your fairy story.'

Roxy smiled tentatively. 'Thanks, Manuel. I'd be happy to put you in it.'

The sweet moment was rather shattered by Roxy's phone blaring 'Bad Reputation' in a far too loud announcement of a text from Naomi, and, smiling awkwardly, Roxy pulled out the offending device.

Manuel started to walk away, but stopped in his tracks as Roxy issued a very startled, very worried, very strong expletive.

'Roxy?'

Roxy stared at her screen, frozen. Naomi's text just said: Endgame.

'Roxy? Roxy, what's wrong?'

'I…I have to get to Magix…' Roxy stumbled over her words, then the hem of her dress as she started hurrying in a general sort of direction.

'What? Roxy, chill, what's going on?'

Roxy looked to him. Naomi didn't want other people knowing about Endgame. Didn't want it to become a school crisis, with people asking her questions she didn't want to answer.

'Roxy?'

'I have to get back…'

'I'll fly you.'

Roxy stared, dumbfounded by the spontaneous offer. 'You…you will?'

'Yes. You seemed freaked, and I have a two-seater Falcon in the ship's hangar that can get us back in no time. But what's happening? Why do you have to go back?'

'…I…I can't say. It's not mine to explain. But whatever happens, you gotta keep it a secret, Manuel. Promise.'

Manuel looked at her searchingly, but eventually nodded. 'Okay. My lips are sealed. I promise. Now c'mon, the hangar is this way.'

Roxy took off after him, hiking her dress up and making a mental note to just wear a suit next time. Ugh, she shouldn't have left! What if Naomi was in serious danger?! What if Manuel's Falcon wasn't as fast as he said?! If only Stella still had her sceptre, she could get her to teleport her to Magix in an instant…

Naomi's cheeks were still pink as she hopped back up onto Aidan's bike, her fingers tracing his necklace time and time again. She couldn't believe what a sweet gift he'd got her… Everything in her life was pretty crazy and greyed out at the moment, but this goofy sweetheart with minimal baking skills and a flair for awkward drama was helping paint her world every shade of purple. (She didn't like many other colours, and she actually liked grey, so it was all about moderation here.)

'Hang on!' Aidan's warning was somewhat undermined by his careful backing out of his parking spot, and Naomi laughed at the quiet reversing noises he was making under his breath. He was so cute…

She wrapped her arms around his waist again as they manoeuvred through the streets of Magix, watching the people zip past. Magix was so different from Earth…she liked it. The hustle and bustle was a bit much at times, everyone's sounds and smells mingling in a dizzying perfumed concert, but when she learned to hold her breath at the right moments, it was quite delightful. Every person she watched blur past was living their life, just as she was, and she saw only a snapshot of it. Only a heartbeat of a whole existence. She wondered what people saw of her as she rode through the streets; just a purple and black blur in a helmet. They probably saw a girl, on a bike with a guy. They probably made the assumption that she was a Cloud Tower student, based off her clothing, and they'd likely also make the judgement that she was on a date. All that was if they even noticed her at all. The knowledge made all her problems feel so…isolated. Her life could crash and burn, and none of these people would know. They wouldn't even remember the snapshot of her life that they captured, nor would she remember theirs.

The bike swerved out of the city, coasting along the path into Gloomywood. Naomi was disappointed the date was over. She wished she didn't have to go back just yet…

In a cruel, spiteful prank by the universe, Naomi found her wish granted. Heat seared into her side, and she felt herself go flying from the bike, hitting the ground and rolling. Her body hit a tree, and, weak and disoriented, she pushed herself to her knees, every alarm in her brain blaring as she tried to figure out what the heck was going on.

She looked up, and her heart plummeted. Not again…please, not again. She knew she shouldn't have gone out of Alfea without Roxy or a big group!

'Naomi, Magic, Transfor-' She was cut off by a bolt of energy slamming into her abdomen, knocking her back into the tree. Before she could even start to recall her magic, she screamed, a high-pitched sound assaulting her ears and bringing her to the ground.

Her eyes were squeezed shut as she felt cold, metallic fingers close around her wrist. She tried to snarl in aggression, but all that came out was a whimper.

'Directive achieved.'

'Naomi! Get away from her, you big metal creep!' There was a loud clang.

Endgame straightened up, turning in what almost looked like surprise to see Aidan brandishing a stick, his gaze hard behind his helmet.

'Assessing…assessing…identified. Aidan Ross. Red Fountain Freshman. Zenithian native. Threat level: minimal.'

'I'll show you minimal! Hands off!'

Endgame didn't even move as Aidan brandished his stick once again, but he seemed far more alert when Aidan threw out his hand, his glove flashing a green light and beeping.

An answering beep came from the bike, and a phantoblade handle shot over, slotting into Aidan's hand. He gripped it hard, splitting it in half, and two long, blue energy whips slashed out of the hilts.

'I said hands off!' A whip wrapped around the hand on Naomi's wrist, and Aidan yanked hard. Naomi felt her wrist be released, and her head finally stopped pounding as Endgame became primarily focused on Aidan, stopping the agonising noise.

'Reassessing…reassessing…'

Aidan didn't wait for his reassessment, slashing his whips across Endgame with a protective fury that surprised and touched Naomi.

'Naomi! I don't know who or what this thing is, but you gotta run! I'll handle it!' Endgame blasted him in the stomach, and he fell to his knees, wheezing. 'This is a strategic move, I'm still totally handling it!'

Naomi, were she on her own, would be running right now. But nobody touched one of the only two people that brightened up her life.

'Naomi, Magic, Transform!' Her wings burst from her back, and she jumped up before she'd even finished transforming, latching onto the metallic arm about to slam into Aidan. 'Hey! No obliterating my date! Endless Change!' She slammed her hand into Endgame's shoulder, grinning as the metal glitched between solid, liquid and gas. Since molten metal was pretty damn hot, she flew up and away, hurling an attack straight into the most vulnerable part of the robot.

As Endgame turned his focus back to her, Aidan popped back up, his whips retreating into his sticks, the weapons crackling blue with electricity.

'Rraaaagh!' The sticks were driven into Endgame's chest, and the robot lit up with electricity.

'Hit him with everything you got!' Aidan gritted out. 'I'm keeping up the heat, but I don't have long!'

'Transmutation!' Naomi screamed, and Endgame flickered for a moment, before turning to stone.

Naomi dropped to her knees, panting, and Aidan lowered his sticks.

'What…' the Specialist murmured. 'What the heck was that?!' His gaze roved down to Endgame's hand. The same hand he'd been investigating. He looked up, his expression a complex mural of confusion and concern. 'Naomi…'

The stone started to crack, and Naomi's eyes widened. 'Ask questions later, Aidan! Right now, we gotta run!' Without waiting for a reply, she seized his hand, dragging him through the woods as her spell fell away in a shower of gravel.

As her arms pumped desperately at her sides, Naomi summoned her phone, dashing off a text to Roxy. Endgame. God, she hoped Roxy could get here…

'Naomi, we gotta head for Alfea! Red Fountain! Cloud Tower! We need backup here!'

'No!' Naomi knew they were struggling, but she didn't want everyone descending on this. Didn't want her weird robot enemy to be picked apart by people she was still on delicate trust ice with. 'No, we can handle this!'

'That seems unlikely…' Aidan muttered, glancing behind them at where Endgame was recovering rather rapidly and clanking after them, his movements filled with an almost human anger. Not for the first time, Naomi wondered who was pushing his buttons. Was she making them mad? She sure hoped so.

'Obsidian Flux!' The attack barely slowed Endgame down, same as the several that followed it. 'Ugh, dammit!' The Trix, she could hold her own against. They were arrogant and liked to underestimate her. Granted, as they started to be a little more aware of how good she was, they were getting harder. Okay, she'd been frozen in ice. Not the time! But a robot…guided by logic, not pride… She couldn't bait that. Couldn't play on the obvious villain mistakes she'd learned from Ogron. She could only run.

She and Aidan were flagging as they pelted through the forest, their breaths coming in deep, ragged gasps as they stumbled further into the trees.

'Transmutation!' Naomi gasped out, jumping up and grabbing Aidan's hand as she blasted the ground beneath them. She pulled Aidan up into the sky just as the earth under their and Endgame's feet turned molten, but the added weight made her flag, her wings fluttering madly to keep her airborne.

Fortunately, Endgame was forced to stop as the bottom of his feet started to melt. On a less positive note, Naomi's spell wore off pretty fast, and Endgame was left mildly inconvenienced rather than obliterated like she'd been hoping.

'Naomi, I know…you said…no…questions…' Aidan panted as they dropped back to the ground. 'But…I think I'm within my rights…to ask you…perhaps even a little forcibly…WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!'

Naomi grimaced. She hadn't meant for Aidan to get mixed up in this. She should never have given him that damn hand! She shouldn't have tried to date him! Like she was some normal girl that wasn't in the middle of something she didn't understand.

'This thing is called…Endgame…' she gasped out, hurling a rock at their pursuer. 'It's been attacking me…it wants me…but I don't know why.'

'What?! And I've been analysing this thing's hand?!'

'Yes! Aidan, I'm so sorry, you shouldn't be here!' Naomi flung another attack, doing basically nothing yet again. 'He wants me, he'll follow me. You should just run away!'

'No way in hell.' Aidan hurled one of his sticks at Endgame, the robot lighting up with electricity before Aidan called the stick back, having bought them about two inches of ground. If they added that to Naomi's five inches of gained ground…they were still screwed.

'Naomi, why didn't you…why didn't you tell me?!'

'I didn't want you to get caught up in this!'

'Well I'm pretty caught up! Why didn't you…I don't know…tell the Winx! Tell Faragonda!'

'Because I don't want to be a Winx mission! Because they're Roxy's friends, and we can mutually have each other's backs in their fights, but I don't want them in mine!' Naomi was calling on every last scrap of endurance she had left at this point, her legs and lungs burning. She glanced at Aidan, flagging next to her. She couldn't let him get hurt…

'Run, Aidan!' she tried one more time.

'No!'

'Then I'll fly!' She stopped, turning to Endgame. 'Hey! Tin can! Eyes on me!'

'Naomi, what-'

Before Aidan could finish his sentence, Naomi flew up as high as she could, her vision blurring as the forest warped underneath her.

'Naomi! Naomi, wait!'

Naomi ignored him, flying as far as she could. She could smell oil, hear gears behind her, but she didn't look back. She just flew. Right up until fingers snared her ankle and hurled her down towards the forest.

She screamed, focusing on her body. She had to absorb the impact! Turn into something! Anything! But no ideas poked their way through her mind, and her blank mind let her crash through a branch, the bow snapping beneath her weight the way her bones would when they hit something less brittle.

In a desperate, panicked plan, she focused on her nails, digging them into the tree bark and lengthening them as much as possible. Several of them were ripped out, and she cried out with pain, but her fall slowed enough to allow her to kick her wings back into gear, fluttering down to the forest floor.

'Dark Orb!' The shield went up just in time, Endgame's fists slamming down into it. It cracked, her magic exhausted, but it held. She couldn't run anymore. She just had to keep up the shield. Other than that…she didn't really have a plan.

Roxy stared down at the 'Find my friends' app on her phone, her breathing quickening as they approached the blip that was Naomi. The blip that was in mortal peril. I'm coming, Naomi-blip!

'Whoa…' Manuel breathed, and Roxy's heart sank. Was…was the forest smoking? Right where Naomi was?

'No, no, no, no…' Roxy was out of the ship before Manuel had even set it down. 'Naomi? Naomi!'

'Man…' Manuel muttered, hopping out of the ship. 'What happened here? Someone seriously totalled that thing.'

Roxy followed his gaze. Lying smoking in the path was a wind rider Roxy recognised from when it had pulled up at Alfea earlier that day.

'Oh, shit! Naomi?!'

'No Naomi, but definite signs of a fight…' Manuel murmured. 'Going that way.' He cautiously fetched his chakram from the ship. 'Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna need this…?'

'Manuel, you should just go…' Roxy muttered. 'This…'

'Is gonna get dangerous? Yeah, I guessed. Look, if I'm not your Specialist, and you're not my Winx, that means I'm a valid character rather than your serving of instant drama. So I'm coming, and unless you plan on clubbing me unconscious and leaving me in the ship, there isn't much you can do to stop me.'

'I can handle this.'

'Sure you can. And I'm all for girl power, Roxy, but you know what I'm even more for? People not dying because they're stubborn.' Manuel set off along the path of snapped twigs and branches, jogging after whatever the heck was going on.

'Hey! Wait up! Roxy, Magic, Transform!' Roxy flew after him, glancing down at her phone. This trail made it look like Naomi was on the move, but her blip was staying still. Which meant she'd beaten Endgame, which Roxy highly doubted, or she'd been caught.

A flash of purple in the leaf litter caught Roxy's eye, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Or she's dropped her phone…

Roxy picked the device up, grimacing as the glass fell from the screen. Well that wasn't fixable…

'Roxy, c'mon!' Manuel urged. 'It's just a phone, and we got a trail to follow.'

'Bossy much?' Roxy remarked, tucking the phone into her pocket (she couldn't believe most other fairy forms didn't come with pockets; where did people keep stuff?!).

'On task. I'm aiming to be a squad leader, and if I let everyone get off-mission, we'd never get anywhere.' He stopped short as they reached scorched ground, the Earth as black as tar around a completely normal patch of ground. 'Sky's limits…what the heck?'

Roxy frowned, touching the normal Earth. It was cool. But around it was warm… The hum of magic answered her questions.

'Naomi must have transformed this area. Made it hot. It turned back when the spell wore off, but the effects on the surrounding area didn't.'

'Damn…' Manuel stared at the huge scorch marks. 'Your friend is powerful for base level.'

'Yep…' But not powerful enough…

They went further, until Roxy stopped short. She could sense someone approaching…the birds were scattering.

'Naomi?'

The same word came back in reply. 'Naomi?! Naomi, come back!' Drenched in sweat and covered in mud and singe markings, Aidan came running out of the brush.

'Aidan?' Roxy exclaimed, running up to him. 'Aidan, what happened?!'

'That…thing! Endgame! It just came outta nowhere! Naomi flew off so it'd leave me alone…Roxy, it's gonna crush her! She went this way, c'mon!'

'Dude…' Manuel just stared for a minute. 'What the heck?'

'Giant robot!' Aidan shouted. 'Killer robot! With lasers! After Naomi! Hi! Come on! Her trajectory was straight; I saw her get knocked down!'

Roxy was off like a rocket in the direction Aidan indicated, Aidan right at her heels, while Manuel, at a complete loss as to what was going on, but who was involving himself anyway, ran after them.

'Did you know you were giving me a killer robot hand?!' Aidan demanded as he came level with Roxy.

'Yes! I'm sorry!'

There was the sound of impact, and Roxy picked up the pace yet again, while Aidan somehow outstripped her, driven by whatever the heck it was that lovestruck guys were fuelled by. Love? Destiny? Hormones?

'Naomi!'

'Roxy?' Oh thank god. Naomi was replying. Naomi was okay!

That statement was quickly shattered as they burst into a small clearing to find Naomi on her knees, sweat pouring down her face as she struggled to keep up a flickering shield against Endgame.

'Hey! Megatron! Mystic Talons!' Endgame went flying with the unexpected force, and Roxy surged forwards, summoning a new shield over Naomi as the shapeshifter collapsed to the ground, her own barrier fizzling out.

'What the mother frickin' heck is that thing?!' Manuel demanded, activating his chakram.

Endgame immediately scanned him. 'Assessing…identified. Manuel Vergara. Red Fountain freshman. Arian native. Threat level: moderate.'

Aidan looked visibly offended. 'Oh, come on! Moderate?! I was just minimal!'

Manuel hurled his phantoblade in a huge, slashing arc. The weapon missed Endgame, but sliced right through the tree behind him, burying the robot under a tower of lumber.

Aidan just stared for a sec. '…Okay, maybe he is a tad more dangerous.'

Aidan's whip closed around Endgame's wrist the second the robot burst free, and Manuel turned to shout to Roxy. 'Roxy! Get his other arm! Hold him steady!'

Roxy thought that sounded kinda insane, because how was she going to hold him steady for more than a second, but she jumped out of her shield, clinging on like a monkey and planting her feet for all she was worth.

'Aidan!' Manuel yelled. 'Pull!'

Aidan pulled, and Manuel spun his chakram, throwing it and slicing through the arm Aidan had managed to hold out.

Seeing an opening, Roxy dropped her arm and ducked around to Endgame's other side. 'Bumblebee Barb!' The pulsating orb appeared on her fist, and she jabbed the sharp end into Endgame's newly-exposed insides. The robot convulsed and crackled, before throwing Roxy and Aidan off and away.

'Crystal Shell!' Roxy's shield protected them from impact, but they were still too far away as Endgame stalked back towards where Naomi was struggling to her knees.

'Hey! Eyes on me!' As Endgame moved his gaze to Manuel, he was met with a sharp chakram blade to the face, followed by a swift slash to his core. Manuel drove his blade into the slit through which Endgame seemed to see, and the robot froze.

'Error. Error. Vision…compromised.'

'C'mon, Naomi,' Manuel muttered, scooping up the shaking fairy. 'Let's go.' He ran her over to the side of the clearing, handing her off to Aidan. 'Here. Think this is yours. Roxy, on me. Let's scrap this bucket of bolts.'

Roxy didn't need telling twice. She let out a sharp whistle, and every animal in a mile radius descended on Aidan and Naomi, massing around them like a shield of fur and feathers. 'This'll help keep you safe.' Naomi stared at her with drooping, scared eyes, and Roxy squeezed her hand. 'You're gonna be okay. Promise.'

'Let's hope you don't have to break that promise…' Manuel muttered, warily watching the blinded robot as he and Roxy prowled closer. Roxy summoned back her bumblebee barb, feeling a little more confident with a physical weapon resting on her fist.

'Follow my lead, Roxy!' Manuel charged, slashing with his blade for all he was worth, and Roxy ran after him, throwing her Mystic Talons attack as fiercely as she could.

Endgame started responding to the attacks, and Roxy froze as he began dodging those that hadn't even hit him yet.

'Manuel…' she started nervously. 'Manuel, I think he can see us again!'

'I took out his optics, Roxy! Keep up the assault-' Manuel suddenly found himself with metal tentacle-like cables ensnaring his neck, hoisting him up as they burst forth from the severed arm socket.

'Oh, f*#k! Manuel!'

Endgame started to squeeze, and Manuel struggled ferociously, trying to slice the cables even as his face turned purple.

'Manuel! Mystic Talons!' Endgame blocked the attack, now focused on killing this irritating little intruder.

'Let him go!' Roxy screamed. She jumped up, clinging to Endgame and managing to get her hand over the cables holding Manuel. Avalon had taught her that spells could have different incarnations…this shouldn't be too hard, right?

'Mystic Talons!' To her delight, her new version of the spell created luminescent green talons over her own chipped nails, and she slashed them through the cables.

Manuel dropped to the ground, gasping for breath, while Endgame writhed underneath Roxy. She stared into the shattered visor, panting. She didn't know if he could see her, but she hoped her message was clear.

'Stay the hell away from my friends. Bumblebee Barb!' She drove the stinger through Endgame's head, revealing a mess of wires and circuit boards. The robot staggered backwards, and Roxy fell to her knees beside Manuel, exhaling with relief when she saw that he was breathing.

'Error…error…' Endgame said in a broken voice drenched in static. 'Probability of victory…sixty percent. Risk of failure…too high. Retreat.' Grabbing his amputated limb, Endgame flew off into the sky.

'Oh no you don't!' Roxy snarled. 'You're not going anywhere! Come back and face that forty percent!' She started to fly after him, but a shout stopped her.

'Roxy!' Aidan called. 'Roxy, leave it! You can't take that thing on your own, and Naomi needs help.'

Roxy reluctantly landed, giving Endgame's retreating form an incredibly rude hand gesture she'd learned from Stella of all people, before jogging over to Naomi and Aidan. Manuel had waved away her offers of assistance, so she supposed he was just planning to choke his way back to his feet.

'Naomi! Oh my god…'

''M fine…' Naomi groaned, though Roxy noticed she made no move to try and stand, instead clinging to Aidan like he was her only salvation.

'Thanks so much,' Roxy murmured to her carpet of critters. 'You can go now.' The animals scurried away, and Roxy turned her attention to Naomi. She was bruised all over, with gashes leaving crimson stains, not to mention that a number of her fingernails were now missing.

'We need to get her to a hospital,' Aidan said decisively.

'No!' Naomi coughed. 'No, I don't want people seeing this…'

'We won't tell them you were attacked by a killer robot,' Roxy assured her. 'We'll just say you were…in a wind rider accident! Because that's kinda true.'

Naomi nodded hesitantly, while Aidan stared incredulously at Roxy. 'Are you serious? We need to tell-'

'Just get her to a hospital,' Roxy murmured. 'Then talk.'

Aidan glanced down at Naomi practically passing out in his arms, her fairy form having fallen away, and sighed deeply. 'Okay. But how are we getting her to a hospital?'

'We can…use my Falcon…' Manuel gritted out, staggering over. 'It only seats two, but…I can fly her.'

'And what, I just walk?' Aidan demanded. 'No! I have to be there with her.'

'I got a hoverboard if you think you can handle it.'

Aidan nodded immediately. 'Yes.'

'I'm not sure you can…' Manuel argued. 'You look exhausted; I'm not having you fall off and need a hospital even more than Naomi.'

'Just give me the hoverboard,' Aidan gritted out, brushing a strand of hair away from Naomi's now sleeping face. 'I'm being there whether I'm stable or not.'

'Alright…' Manuel pulled out his phone, tapping a few buttons. 'I'm calling the ship. Roxy, you fly with Aidan. And once Naomi is no longer bleeding, someone is going to tell me what the heck is going on here.'

Roxy and Aidan exchanged glances. Neither was really sure what the look was conveying. Probably a profound and overwhelming sense of confusion. And tiredness.

Manuel's ship flew in, and Manuel clambered inside. 'Okay, load her in.'

Aidan carefully eased Naomi into the passenger seat, pulling off his jacket and bundling it under her head as a makeshift pillow. 'It's gonna be okay, Naomi,' he whispered, stroking her hair. 'It's all gonna be okay.'

Manuel tossed Aidan a hoverboard from the floor of the ship. 'Keep your core tight and don't lean too far to either side.'

'I know how to use a hoverboard, Manuel.'

'I've seen you in class, and I have concerns regarding your technique.'

Aidan looked quietly affronted, but Manuel didn't have time to get into a debate, just shutting the door and hovering up. 'You guys know how to get to Magix General Hospital?'

'Yes,' Aidan replied, hopping up onto the board and wobbling madly. 'I'll show Roxy the way.'

As Manuel zipped away, Roxy fluttered up, watching Aidan with sympathy.

'Hey…' She held out a hand. 'Want a little help?'

'Thank you,' Aidan said, gratefully accepting her hand.

'Hold on; I like to go fast.'

Aidan let out a startled yep as Roxy pulled him along far faster than his board, but his nerves rapidly melted away into relief at the speed.

'Hi!' Roxy gasped out, transforming back as she and Aidan jogged into the hospital. 'I'm Roxanne Wilde, my friend just came in, Naomi Hunter? With a blonde guy, Manuel Vergara?'

'Where is she?' Aidan demanded, in a full-blown panic.

'Aidan Ross? And Roxanne Wilde, yes, Manuel said you'd be in,' replied the remarkably calm nurse. 'She's this way. Don't worry, your friend is going to be just fine.'

Roxy exhaled, while Aidan looked dizzy with relief. 'She is?'

'Mhm.'

Roxy and Aidan followed the nurse through the corridors, finally coming to a side room where Naomi was curled up on a hospital bed, growling quietly in her sleep. Manuel leaned against the wall, watching her worriedly.

'Naomi!' Aidan rushed forwards, trembling with relief as he saw she was sleeping easily, her injuries bandaged. 'Oh thank the Dragon…'

'Thanks for flying her here,' Roxy said to Manuel as Aidan's eyes roved across Naomi's sleeping form, scanning her bruises and dressed cuts. 'You didn't have to do any of this.'

'You needed help. So did Naomi. I didn't sign up to Red Fountain to leave people to get hurt. But I still want an explanation.'

'That goes double for me,' Aidan agreed. 'I need to know what the heck is going on here. I know I said I wouldn't ask questions, but…'

'You have a right,' Roxy finished. 'And I'll explain, but we should wait for Naomi to wake up.'

As they settled in to wait on Naomi's awakening, Manuel ran off a text to Olivia explaining why he'd had to dip out, and the answering volley of beeps suggested the princess was not at all happy with the situation.

Meanwhile, Aidan looked unsure whether or not it would be okay to hold Naomi's hand, eventually opting for just putting his hand near hers, as, in his words, she couldn't tell him it was okay to touch her, so he wouldn't.

And Roxy…Roxy just watched. Watched her best friend sleep, drift through dreams and the haze that served as an escape from her reality. A heavy, sick feeling settled in her stomach as she thought about everything Naomi would have to face when she woke up. Explaining everything…being hurt…and… Roxy swallowed hard. She still had to tell her. Tell her about her family's sentence. She had to emotionally crush Naomi only a few hours after Endgame had almost literally crushed her.

Watching Naomi's peaceful face, Roxy found herself hoping her friend could sleep just a little longer. Sleep, and stay cocooned from the thousand disasters screaming for her trauma.

And the cat is out of the bag! Kinda! A bit! Manuel and Aidan are so lost, but Aidan's mostly just scared out of his mind for the girl he likes. I wanted to make the summit a bit more...dramatic? With royalty actually discussing the situation, and pointing out the flaws of 'just work together'.