Sorry about the wait for an update, but I'm here now! We're entering the Gregory storyline, in which, again, I will create deep plot significance and character exposition through one issue of the Winx Club comic series! I've changed some details, just to help things make more sense, and to make things a little more engaging. Plus a little of my own personal lore! So, enjoy!

'Ah!'

Anagan grimaced as he cleaned out a new gash on Ogron's forehead, the redhead flinching under his touch. 'Sorry… I'm being as gentle as I can.'

'I know…' Ogron winced, sighing miserably. 'It's starting to feel like I'm more antiseptic and bandages than person.'

'Don't get hyperbolic,' Anagan chastised gently. 'You're going through enough without dragging yourself into a doomed spiral.'

'But I'm so good at it,' Ogron remarked, managing to dredge up a weak smile.

'True…but unhelpful.'

Ogron winced again, and Anagan's heart felt like lead. He wished he could help more than just patching Ogron up when Neruman was finished breaking him. Their master revelled in playing Ogron like a shadow puppet, and these injuries were his message to Ogron: he no longer possessed any control, not even over his own body. Every time, Ogron would walk back inside sporting some new scrape or bruise, and Anagan's wish to wring that living shroud's neck grew just a little more ferocious, though ultimately meaningless. Any time he or Gantlos even tentatively pitched the idea of trying to stop Neruman, Ogron shut them down, insistent that he couldn't let them face this hell. It killed Anagan to just sit back and let this happen, but what could he do? Even if he was facing Neruman in a fair fight, he'd lose. Frankly, so would Ogron. About the only one of them that might actually stand a chance through pure, raw power would be…

As though hearing Anagan's thoughts, Ogron asked, 'Where's Gantlos?'

Putting a new plaster over Ogron's forehead, Anagan sighed. 'He's…out.'

'He's brooding and wallowing in grief,' Ogron corrected. 'Bottling everything up like that isn't healthy; he needs to talk about it.'

Anagan just raised an eyebrow at the man who'd kept a complete emotional breakdown bottled up for over a week, not to mention hiding the fact he was enslaved and being abused by his own shadow.

Ogron laughed awkwardly. 'I suppose I don't have much of a leg to stand on with that argument, huh?'

'No, not really. Look, Gantlos will talk about it when he's ready. We just need to do the same as he and I did for you, and make sure we're here for him whenever that time comes.'

Ogron groaned, pulling his knees up to his chest and laying his head back against the crate behind him. 'I'll try and stay in one piece then.'

'Sounds like a plan.' Internally, Anagan agreed with Ogron. Gantlos hadn't spoken once about Duman, not beyond an unintentional mention of his name before promptly shutting up and going around in a haze of depression for a good few hours. Anagan was scared for his friend, scared he was going to watch another of his best friends shatter on the floor. He clung to the weak improvement Ogron had shown over the past week, telling himself that healing was possible, and happening, but his worries just screamed louder, drowning out their old enemies, common sense and emotional stability. Ogron was barely keeping it together, and that was with Neruman not currently setting them to a task. Who knew how it would go when Ogron had to start following orders again. And Gantlos…nobody knew how Gantlos was doing, because he wouldn't talk about it. And Anagan was just trying to hold himself together for the sake of his friends, because if he didn't hold his broken friends together, then they were just a heap of shattered hearts.

The salty breeze tousled Gantlos's hair playfully, but Gantlos ignored its cheerful blustering. He didn't really have a reason for standing on this roof, watching the irritatingly whole people of Gardenia laughing and talking at that goddamn music bar, except perhaps to torture himself every time he saw people with their partners. He wanted to stomp his foot and cave the whole damned building in.

Honestly, he had come out here for the same reason he'd watched the Winx in their store over the past few days. He wasn't gathering much useful information, but it felt familiar. He'd spent a great deal of time spying from roofs before, when…

He shook his head. He'd already spent the entire morning brooding and dragging himself down. He had to stay at least sort of tethered to reality. Though since reality was pretty hellish right now, that wasn't a fun prospect…

He raised an eyebrow as he spotted a man - barely out of being a boy - slouching alone outside the bar. He drew his eye with his dark clothing and corpse-like skin, but most of all with how tense he appeared. There was a lot of anger bubbling under that alabaster skin…and it intrigued him. Though he was at a distance, the negativity seemed to go beyond simple ire…it almost seemed to edge towards…

'Gregory!' A girl who looked like she'd walked out of the embodiment of wholesomeness ran towards the kid, but he apparently didn't want to be pursued, stalking away with irritated strides.

'Gregory, wait!'

'I'm sick of waiting, Cindy! Do you know how long you've left me out here?'

'Gregory…'

'Two frickin' hours! No call, no text, nothing, just a general lack of you! If you didn't want to come, you should just have said.'

'Gregory…' The girl Gantlos was presuming was Cindy put her hand on Gregory's shoulder. 'I can explain, I-'

'Let me guess…' Gregory drawled. 'You were with the Winx again.'

Gantlos raised an eyebrow. This had gone from a minor, mildly interesting distraction to a potentially useful little spat. The Winx? This girl hung around the Winx? Her bouncy blonde curls clicked in his mind, and he knew where he'd seen her before. She was one of the new fairies the Winx had employed to work in their store. Her entire existence was essentially a cruel slap in the face to remind him that all he and his friends had worked for had been dashed to pieces by a group of teenagers.

His interest now piqued, he returned to the duo.

'I swear, you spend more time with that little vigilante clique than you do with me! Since you discovered those Vegas illusions, it's like you've abra-cadabra-ed me out of your life.'

'Vegas illusions? If by that you mean the fundamental magic awakened in my soul, then you should understand that the Winx are teaching me how to use them. What am I supposed to do other than spend time with them, hop on a zoom call?' This girl was feisty for someone that looked like she wandered out of a Southern beauty pageant.

Gantlos was intrigued to see if this was about to escalate into a screaming match, but all the bluster sagged out of Gregory, and he looked away, his eyes pooling with guilt.

'I…I'm sorry, Cin. I get that. I just…feel neglected.'

'I know, and I'm sorry. I should start balancing better. But no amount of magic could ever dim my love for you.'

Gantlos scowled as the two kissed, brought back together by a few sweet words. Looked like this was a lot less useful than he'd been kidding himself into believing. He rose, preparing to head back to Ogron and Anagan and their quiet pity and concern, but as he turned, his ears picked up on an obnoxiously loud voice forcing itself into the sweet moment that was not at all poking at Gantlos's tear ducts over how he'd never have that again.

'Cindy! What a surprise!' Looked like things might be getting interesting again. Gantlos could stay up here pretending that this situation was in some way significant for a bit longer, couldn't he?

The two teens froze as three cartoonishly thuggish guys wandered out of the bar. Going off their demeanour, Gantlos wouldn't be surprised if Klaus had thrown them out. He didn't know if the bar actually served alcohol, but they looked drunk. Or perhaps they were just stupid.

Cindy backed up, and Gantlos sensed the young fairy's magic start to bubble beneath the surface. She must feel really threatened. Well, with just her and her fairly lithe boyfriend by the quiet side-entrance of a loud bar, being harassed by goons, that was a reasonable way to feel. Frankly, Gantlos could use some living punching bags to work out his frustrations, so if her reaction was deemed necessary, he'd happily break a few jaws to help out.

'This your new boyfriend?' taunted the one that was apparently the alpha of this little pack. 'Not very fit.' Meanwhile, you look like your muscles took up the space that was earmarked for a brain.

'Leave him alone!' snapped Cindy, the ends of her hair starting to wave in a non-existent wind. If this went much further, Gantlos might get to see what the new fairies of Earth were actually capable of.

As the situation escalated, Gantlos got the feeling he was about to get those punching bags he wanted. A hand closed around Cindy's wrist, but apparently her boyfriend had finally found some goddamn courage, and he yanked the hand away.

'Leave her alone! Just back off!' A very well-meaning attempt at protection, but seriously? One guy against three musclebound apes? Not a fight he was set to win. Not without…

The alpha hit the wall in a blinding flash of green light. …Magic.

Gantlos's breath caught in his throat. Magic. Wizard magic. Dark magic. Fairy magic had flooded the planet since the Winx had freed the Earth fairies, but…negative magic? That was cropping up?

It was almost disappointing as the thugs quickly gathered themselves together and ran screaming for the hills, leaving Gregory to fall to his knees, staring down at his hands in surprise. He was still glowing.

'…Oh my f*#king god.'

'Gregory!' Cindy threw herself down to check on him, the phantom wings that had been preparing to become corporeal in anticipation of a fight vanishing as she checked the kid over. 'Are you okay?'

'…How'd I do that?'

'Magic! Just like mine!'

Gantlos almost chuckled at the young fairy's assessment of the situation. She couldn't be more wrong if she tried. Her magic was fairy magic, positive magic. She drew on positive emotions to summon it, and it felt rather like abnormally cheerful popping candy. The magic that still hung in the air from Gregory's little outburst, however, was as negative as you could get. Negative magic could be drawn from many negative emotions, but Gregory's was very evidently drawn from suppressed rage. Interesting…that was the source from which Gantlos drew his own power, though he was loathe to admit it. Rage was all well and good, but suppressed rage had a nasty habit of bubbling up when you didn't want it to. Not something to get into right now.

As he watched, Cindy helped Gregory up, chattering about taking him to see her mentors. Of course. Because, like Roxy, this girl was now inextricably bound to involve the Winx in every aspect of her life. He should get home… This was just going to turn into another Winx thing, and he wanted to stay out of those fairies' lives. They'd caused him enough pain already. Not to mention the things he knew Neruman was capable of doing to him if he found out he was getting so close to his enemies…he'd seen the evidence beaten into Ogron… But…all that was apparently unimportant to his feet which were already lightly stepping from roof to roof in pursuit of the pair.

The Winx had immediately glommed themselves onto the confused teen, and Gantlos rolled his eyes as his spell to hear their conversation picked up Bloom saying it had come on because of his belief in himself. That wasn't how dark magic worked, fairy… From what he'd seen, that magic had come on from a desire to rip a good few limbs off the ass harassing his girlfriend. But Bloom seemed to be living under the delusion that she didn't have a veritable maelstrom of dark energy tapping his foot in her apartment.

Continuing her childlike excitement, the Fairy of the Dragon Flame looked to Gregory. 'Try lifting yourself off the ground!'

Stella immediately protested that it was too hard, but Gantlos had a feeling it wasn't. He knew this kind of magic… It was easily powerful enough to perform such a spell. The problem was that it was too powerful.

Gasps echoed around the room (seriously, these fairies would overreact to anything) as Gregory levitated off the ground in a haze of green energy. Gantlos quirked an eyebrow, his gaze drifting to the paint flaking off the wall as spiderweb cracks feathered across the walls, escaping the Winx's attention. Typical.

There were choruses of excited congratulations, all while the person being congratulated looked like he'd just been through about seventy spin cycles, nodding and glancing warily at the cracks that hadn't been there a few minutes ago.

'Why not ask the Fortress of Light?'

Gantlos frowned, and Gregory whipped around at the question.

'Wait, the who now?'

'They're a group of powerful magic-users that governs the Magic Dimension,' Bloom explained, already opening Tecna's laptop and setting up a link. 'They can train you to use your powers. What do you say?'

Gregory looked like he'd like to say 'Sweet Lord Darkar, what the bloody f*#king hell on Earth?!' (one of Ogron's preferred exclamations when he was truly dumbfounded), but he exchanged a glance with Cindy and nodded with hesitation, his gaze not coming away from the cracks. It was a choice evidently motivated by emotional turmoil and fear, but that wasn't dimming the cheerful mood in the apartment.

Gantlos had become rather invested in this interesting little story unfolding in front of him. He couldn't help but grimace at how nobody was actually acknowledging that now was not the time to make major life choices, only ten minutes after having aforementioned life turned on its head.

Ogron had shared Neruman's revelation about the members of the Council of Light, and as the Winx began speaking with three wizard via Tecna's computer, Gantlos couldn't help but wonder if any of them were secretly plotting the fairies' demise for the promise of power. He'd bet on the guy that seemed incapable of sitting still. Ogron always paced when he was up to something. He imagined the Winx's faces if someone slapped them with that little revelation.

The wizards were talking about how powerful Gregory was, but when the young wizard hopefully asked if they'd train him, the mood was assassinated with six quick verbal bullets.

'No, boy, we won't train you.'

Gregory recoiled, and everyone stared.

'What? Why not?!'

'It's because you've got dark magic…' Gantlos whispered under his breath. 'Clue's in their name…'

'We cannot accept someone with your particular…energy source…to our hallowed halls,' said the pacing wizard Gantlos was willing to peg as a traitor.

'My what? What are you talking about?' Gregory was starting to light up with energy, and Gantlos could sense the tremors from here.

'Dark magic, child. The Council of Light will not train such a wizard. Why, the last dark sorcerer we allowed in attempted a sacrilegious spell, and killed twenty-two Templars when we attempted to arrest him!'

Gantlos's breath caught in his throat. Neruman had done that? He knew the stories, most people did, but the details tended to be sketchy. Templars were some of the greatest warriors in the dimension, and knowing that his new master had killed so many…that wasn't reassuring.

'But…but I'm not gonna turn into a murderer!' Gregory snarled.

'Still…cultivating your magic would be done better…elsewhere. Otherwise, I suggest you realign your source, and we can speak again.'

Gregory's eyes lit up green, and Gantlos felt a tsunami of energy crash across the block. The power felt like a raw, primal scream, a shout of rage and hatred. It sent shivers down his spine.

'Shut up!' the kid screamed, and a second later, that energy came bursting out in a bolt of deadly power; thankfully (or disappointingly, depending on how one looked at it), it missed the Winx and Cindy, splitting Tecna's computer in two and crumbling the wall to dust. Such a display was almost breathtaking.

'Gregory, no!' Cindy shouted. 'What are you doing?'

'Leaving!' spat Gregory. 'I'm sick of having my head messed with today.'

'Gregory…' Bloom tried, reaching out a hand. 'I know this is all very confusing, but maybe the Council is right. If you have dark magic, perhaps we can realign it and-'

'Perhaps you can shut up and leave me alone!' Gregory swatted Bloom's hand away, stalking out of the apartment. 'I'm sick of your bullshit!'

Cindy called after Gregory to wait, but Bloom held her back, saying something about giving him a little time. Gantlos wasn't really listening. His focus was now solely on the teenage wizard stalking down the street, shattering whatever he happened to turn his glare on. Now that was some power…

People scattered nervously as the maelstrom named Gregory strode through the city, a familiar smile quirking on his lips. He was starting to enjoy this. Starting to enjoy the fear he could instil. Gantlos knew from personal experience that it could be intoxicating. He followed the youth on his trail of destruction through Gardenia, grimacing as Gregory gradually demonstrated less and less control, buildings crumbling and pipes bursting. The symphony of destruction was captivating, but it wasn't going anywhere good.

As the tracker followed his quarry closer to the industrial estate the wizards had been hiding out in, Gregory collapsed back against a wall, the bricks trembling into dust.

'Shit!' Gregory punched the wall in frustration, groaning as it just crumbled more. 'Great… And those morons didn't think I needed some training?! I'm a freakin' natural disaster! Rah! Why wouldn't they train me?!'

Gantlos froze as he sensed a horrible, slimy little aura creeping towards the kid. He knew that aura. He'd sensed it from Neruman, he'd sensed it from the minions that dragged them around when they were in the Dark Dimension, and, lately, once he'd known to look for it, he'd sensed it clinging to Ogron like dark chains.

A horned shadow crept up the cracked wall behind Gregory, its dark body seeping through the cracks and towering above the distressed, furious teenager. It started to speak in a low, gravelly hiss, and Gantlos strained to hear.

'They fear your power…' Gantlos knew Neruman wallowed deep within lies and manipulation, but, frankly, the shadow he'd sent to this hotspot of negativity wasn't lying. Light had always feared dark. Always hated it.

Gregory frowned, glancing around for the source of the whispers. 'They…they are afraid of me…' he muttered, scowling. Wow. This kid, for all his power, was tragically easy to manipulate.

'You are more powerful than all of them. Your magic is a wild, untameable creature. They would muzzle it, chain it, lock it away. You dodged a bullet with those wizards…they'd have quashed your power, your essence. You were born to destroy…to become a force of nature…tear through this whole city and show them what you're capable of…'

Gregory's eyes lit up with understanding. 'I'm stronger than all of them! They sit behind a screen and think they can know me? If they had to scrap, I'd have them on the ground!' Driving his point home, he blasted the sidewalk in front of him, cleaving a ravine in the Earth.

As the shadow flitted away, filled with enough negative energy to keep Neruman strong and torturing Ogron for a good few months, Gregory grimaced, staring at the ravine with worry.

'That…that wasn't what I meant to do…' He stepped around it, brushing against a lamppost. The metal instantly twisted, warping and shattering with the raw power that fought to escape the cage of Gregory's body.

The kid staggered away, his anger dimming with his panic. 'Stop!' he snarled down at his hands, while his feet sent cracks spreading in a spiderweb under him. Buildings warped and crumbled, and Gantlos felt the roof under him start to tremble. Okay, this was getting seriously out of hand.

Sighing at what he'd managed to get himself into, he carefully levitated down to the street, his weakened magic making it less levitation and more a controlled fall.

As he sidestepped the ravines tearing through the tarmac, he winced at the hyperventilating teenager. This was…an uncomfortably familiar scene. Magic based in destruction was wild and almost untameable. While most that wielded magic could summon mere sparks and sputters to start out, gradually building their power levels until they could cast spells to their satisfaction, this kind of raw power was the opposite. It started out at more or less full capacity, with no controls, no guides, just energy spilling out whenever emotions spiked even a little. Instead of having to build and nurture that fragile spark of magic, it was a matter of fending off the violent maelstrom, of smashing it down until it knew you were in charge, and it could be brought forth without destroying a small civilisation.

Gregory sagged sideways, the wall he fell against shaking violently, before crumbling away to dust.

'Hey!' Gantlos grabbed his shoulders before he hit the ground, pulling him upright. 'Hey!'

Gregory looked up, recoiling as he saw who had his hands on his shoulders. Looked like Gardenia knew his face. According to Duman, he'd been on the news for a good few weeks after the train incident. He'd been uncomfortable, while Duman had been greatly amused, joking that he was dating a celebrity. Not now, he chastised himself. He was holding a natural disaster that had just been prodded into a meltdown. He was good at emotional walls - not as good as Ogron, but still. He needed a few right now.

'Oh my god!' Gregory exclaimed. 'You're…you're…'

'The only thing keeping you from hitting the ground and causing a category five earthquake. Stop freaking out at my face, and start breathing.'

Gregory stared at him like he'd just told him to do a little dance. '…What?!'

'Focus on your breathing, or you're gonna level the whole goddamn city with your temper tantrum. Do you want that?'

Gregory shook his head, and Gantlos relaxed his grip slightly. 'Right. Well, then look at me. Look at me, not at the cracks.'

'Why is this happening?' Gregory demanded, his voice shaking. 'Is it you?'

'Is it- no of course it's not me! Why would it be me?'

'You're evil!'

'And you're a goddamn wizard! And not everything is the villain's fault, y'know. So stop trying to find someone to blame.'

'Cindy said you sealed away all magic, and now it's popping back up in random people,' Gregory gritted out. 'I may not get what all that means, but it sounds a lot like this is your fault to me.'

Gantlos rolled his eyes. 'The Winx freed the fairies with no regard for what that might mean, so, if you want to get technical, technically, this is their fault.'

Gregory ground his teeth. 'I can buy that.'

'Stop,' Gantlos warned. 'Stop thinking about the Winx, about how they made you mad.'

'How do you know they made me mad?' Gregory demanded. 'Oh my god, have you been following me?!'

'Yes, I'm a tracker. I tracked you. Stop freaking out. You have to calm down if you want to have control. Do you want control?'

Gregory nodded desperately as the air around him trembled.

'Good. Then take a deep breath. In…hold it in…now exhale gently and relax your body.'

Gregory, despite still looking like he very much distrusted the supervillain holding him up, nodded, following the instructions. His deep breath was more of a panicked gasp, and his body still trembled as he relaxed, but the tremors eased.

'Again. Keep going until you have control.'

Thankfully, nobody was walking down the street with the localised earthquake, so nobody interrupted the attempt at instilling control.

'How…' Gregory gasped, looking up at Gantlos. 'How do you know how to get this under control?'

'I'm the Wizard of Destruction,' Gantlos replied bluntly. 'I've caused plenty of earthquakes through a panic attack. I had someone do this for me, and it works.' Ogron had done this for him, when he'd lost control soon after being brought to Yllidith. He'd almost levelled the castle, and the fear of his new master's wrath had just exacerbated the panic. Ogron had sat with him and told him to breathe, keeping his hands in his for three hours, until Gantlos could move without practically causing an extinction-level event. They'd fine-tuned breathing exercises and calming strategies until Gantlos had gained enough control that it took seeing red to bring on his powers without his conscious consent. And it looked like they worked, because the street had stopped shaking.

'You good to stand?'

Gregory nodded, and Gantlos let go. There were a few minutes of silence as Gregory took in his own destruction, his eyes wide and haunted.

'…I did all that?'

Gantlos nodded. 'Yep.'

Gregory just stopped breathing for a moment, before whipping around, his eyes wild with panic. 'What if I do it again?! What if…what if I hurt someone?! Oh god, what if I already did? I wrecked so much stuff…all those people…oh god…oh god… What did I do?!'

The earth started to shake again, and Gantlos grabbed his wrist as he started to pace. 'Hey! I didn't just coach you through all that so you could start again. What's done is done, and things get fixed. Dragging yourself down will just make it all worse, and you'll wreck more stuff. You need to breathe, concentrate on staying calm, and get somewhere you can cool off completely.'

'Huh?'

'Go, cool off. Somewhere you can wreck without causing serious harm.'

Gregory nodded slowly. '…Okay. Okay, I know somewhere I can go.'

'Good. Walk slowly and carefully, and think about something to distract yourself.' He turned and started to walk away, focused on getting back to his friends. They'd be getting worried by now. He knew they thought he wasn't in a good headspace, but at least today he'd managed to distract himself.

'Wait!'

Gantlos stiffened as a hand caught his wrist.

'You're leaving? You have to help me!'

Gantlos carefully extricated himself, shaking his head. 'I already did. Just do as I said, and you'll be fine.'

'But what am I supposed to do? Those wizards won't train me, and the Winx just agreed with them that there's something wrong with me-'

'There's nothing wrong with you. You just don't fit into their light magic mould. Don't freak out right now, or you'll lose control again.' He walked away, hurriedly utilising his levitation to speed up his exit.

'Wait! Come back! …Can you show me how to do that cool flying thing?'

'Finally! We were about to come looking for you!' Gantlos was tackled in a speedy hug as soon as he got back. 'Where have you been?'

Gantlos sorted through the strange events that had transpired since he'd left the warehouse, trying to figure out a decent starting point. '…Well…'

'Oh, good.'

Gantlos glanced up to see Ogron crossing the warehouse, and his heart sank. His leader looked absolutely frazzled, his eyes marred with dark circles, making him look like an emotionally-traumatised panda.

'You're back. How was your patrol?'

Gantlos shrugged. '…Mixed?'

'Mixed? How so?'

As Gantlos drew breath to explain, another voice cut through the dusty silence. 'Have your little gossip circle later! I have I job for you three.'

Gantlos and Anagan's gazes whipped around in search of their master's voice, while Ogron's shoulders just slumped.

'Look…look down…' he whispered miserably, and Gantlos fought not to recoil at the leering grin slashed across Ogron's shadow. He'd known about Neruman's enchantment, but something about seeing their master painted across Ogron's shadow, across a part of him…it was incredibly disturbing. However, knowing how distressed Ogron already was, he and Anagan both fought not to have any visible reaction.

'Ah, there we go!' Neruman said with a cold cheer. 'Took you a minute. You have less experience than Ogron. Now, neither of you are screaming, so I assume he told you about this? Swallowed his pride to admit he's my pathetic little shadow puppet?'

Ogron hugged his arms around himself, his breaths trembling whispers as he gritted his teeth and bore Neruman's taunts. Meanwhile, Gantlos was repeating the words 'you can't strangle a shadow, you can't strangle a shadow…' on an endless loop in his head.

'What is it you want from us, Lord Neruman?' Ogron asked, his voice dulled and hollow. Every monotone syllable just made Gantlos want to kill Neruman more. He didn't know when, and he didn't know how, but that living shroud would pay for what he'd done to Ogron.

'One of my shadows told me that dark magic has popped back up on Earth!' Neruman sounded ominously delighted, while Ogron and Anagan exchanged surprised glances. Meanwhile, Gantlos just looked away uncomfortably. He knew all about that dark magic, and he had a horrible feeling he was gonna be seeing that kid again soon.

'Dark magic?' Ogron repeated incredulously.

Neruman's shadowy eyes narrowed. 'Are you doubting me? Do we need to have a little talk about not questioning my word?'

Gantlos's heart ached as he saw the raw fear flash in Ogron's eyes. 'No! No, my Lord…we don't. I believe you.'

'What you do or don't believe is not up to you. But good. Now, this magic comes from a young wizard named Gregory who has just discovered his magic and gone on something of a rampage. His powers are strong, and his capacity to cause and feel negative emotions is great. He could be a wonderful assist, and potentially shave a few years off the time it will take me to regain my body and thus return to this world beyond having to parasite off the shadows of slaves.' He ignored the abject misery drowning Ogron's expression, continuing with a condescending air. 'Since you haven't had anything to do since you ruined my plan and let those insects live, you could do with a task. Go, find this wizard, and train him.'

Anagan blinked in surprise. '…Train him?'

'Yes! Show him how to use his magic, bring him over to my side, and then once you've done the passable job I expect from such mediocre souls as you, I will take him, give him orders, and use him to rain chaos and bloodshed down on this universe, drinking in the negative energy so that I may return and rule the fools that banished me. Do you have any further questions, or do you possess enough of a brain to simply get on with what I told you?'

'We'll make sure it's done, my Lord,' Ogron said quickly, and Neruman nodded approvingly. 'Good. Oh, and, Ogron, I do hope you understand how very understanding I am being, and how generous it is of me to give you another chance after your last failure. We're both clear on the consequences of failing again, yes?' Apparently Ogron's quiet, trembling nod was answer enough, and Neruman gave a little wave, very pointedly establishing that he could do as he pleased with Ogron's shadow. 'Well, then I hope I won't see you again for a little while! Or…well, that's a tad graphic to get into.'

Ogron's shadow returned to normal, and silence hung heavy for a few moments.

'You can be disturbed,' Ogron muttered, fidgeting with a lock of hair. 'I am.'

'Are you okay?' Anagan asked, still eying the inky pool on the ground under the shaken wizard. 'That…that was…'

'One long derision followed by an ominous threat of violence?' Ogron finished with dry, traumatised humour. 'Yes. That's pretty much our relationship.' He looked away from his shadow, sighing brokenly. 'Can we...can we just not talk about it?'

Respecting Ogron's request, Anagan changed the subject. 'Dark magic…' He let out a slow whistle of surprise. 'Didn't think that'd start popping back up.'

'Didn't think we'd get landed as teachers,' Ogron muttered. 'Where are we supposed to find this Gregory, anyway?'

'I already did.'

Brown and blue gazes swivelled instantly to Gantlos.

'You what now?' Ogron demanded. '…How?'

'It was pretty easy when he wrecked a back alley across from my roof.' The fact that Gantlos had a roof was just accepted; he had a great many surveillance spots, falling back on them when he needed a quiet place to think.

'He's just a kid, really,' Gantlos explained, relating the afternoon's events. 'Seventeen, eighteen, maybe? Some guys started coming onto his girlfriend, he lost it, and blasted them into a wall.'

Anagan nodded approvingly. 'Sounds like you when people had something to say about…' He winced, trailing off before he could say 'Duman's shapeshifting'. He was right, though. If anyone had the gall to belittle his boyfriend based off his magic, they seldom made it through the subsequent five minutes without needing medical attention. God, he missed standing up for Duman…he could stop a thousand prejudiced remarks, but he hadn't been there when Duman had needed him most.

'So…what, this kid just attacks some people?' Ogron asked, curious. 'I'm…surprised Neruman noticed that.'

'You remember the Winx got two new fairies to work in their store?' He wasn't surprised that they evidently didn't. Ogron was very much lost in his own mind, and Anagan was very much lost in trying to help Ogron find his way out of his own mind. Meanwhile, Gantlos was trying to steer as clear of his own mind as possible, as right now it was a minefield of grief, guilt and heartache, so, instead, he was focusing on other people's crises.

'His girlfriend was one of them, so she took him to see the Winx.' The rest of the story was quickly and bluntly explained, both of his friends rolling their eyes at the dark magic prejudice. So the Magic Dimension was just the same as Earth. Good to know.

'So…you told him to go somewhere secluded?' Ogron clarified, starting to pace back and forth as he thought over how they were going to do this.

'Mhm. There's a few places he could have gone, but, based on where he was, I'd say he's probably somewhere on the west side of the city. Near the coast.'

'Alright, good.' Ogron nodded thoughtfully. 'Can you remember where you parted ways?' Gantlos nodded. 'Okay. I need you to take us there, then track his movements. Your magic has come back enough for that?'

'Yes. I can't get an exact location from a trail right now, but I can follow one, no problem.'

Ogron's eyes sparked with quiet hope as he set off for the doors. 'A wizard with no control and a budding hatred for the only other people in this town that could show him what to do. I won't need to see Neruman again, because this couldn't be any easier.'

Gantlos and Anagan exchanged a look. They'd thought that before, and that had ended in Omega. But as hazel met brown, neither could find it in him to crush Ogron's belief that this time, he'd succeed, because to suggest otherwise was to emotionally condemn him to the anticipation of Neruman's puppetted punishment.

'You know, going after the boyfriend of the Winx's friend means we're probably jet set for a pretty unpleasant reunion…' Anagan muttered nervously as they shut the warehouse doors. Against whom? Nobody really knew. Gantlos would personally feel almost honoured if anyone thought they possessed anything remotely worth stealing.

'Yeah…' he sighed, following Ogron into the twilight. 'I guess we were overdue anyway…'

It always seemed weird that Gregory was so powerful right after discovering his magic, so I decided to give that an explanation. I think the idea of destruction magic having to be tamed rather than strengthened is really interesting, and giving Gantlos and Gregory similar magic sources felt really interesting as an opportunity. Plus, I just really liked Gantlos helping him get control, and the mention of Ogron doing the same for Gantlos when they were young. Anyway, I really hope you liked this new chapter!