B-1. For Magic and Candies!

If you all thought Seven Lights couldn't get anymore confusing, well… we're jumping a little ways back in time for, you guessed it, some new story arcs! Welcome to the Seven Lights Side Stories, the DLC of the exciting saga as it were. There will be important stuff relevant to the plot, but to give my readers some relief, several of these "B" chapters are optional. In fact, you can continue with the Main Story if you want and come back to these later, but I will say which "B" chapters are important reading for the Main Story. (This chapter takes place during Chapter 6 of Main Story.)

Fizzuras Home

Henrietta hummed merrily to herself. It was a crisp and clear morning, and she never missed the rising sun in the calm and comfort of her home more. After years of adventure, searching for her wayward son, they were home. On this new day, she once again looked forward to spending time with her family. "Augustus Liebeeeeee." She joyously walked upstairs, cracking open the door to her son's room. "Ihr Frühstück auf dem Tisch liegt. (Your breakfast is on the table.) Oh?"

Something wasn't right. There was a room. There was candy, dozens of adventuring souvenirs. But the blanket was askew. There was no son. The window was wide open. Henrietta approached it. She looked down at their driveway. …Something else was missing. "GYAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The entire neighborhood was woken. "NOT AAAGAAAAAAAAIIIIIIN."

Somewhere in the skies

He couldn't stay in there for too long. True, it was a good place to store his memories, but he had to get back out again. And he was happy. Augustus von Marzipan y Fizzuras, having "borrowed" the two-man plane from his dad, wearing his mother's explorer's hat as the sun bounced off his sunglasses. The lollipop swished around in his mouth as the wind chilled his face. Adventure was out there, he would seek it.

In this jungle, miles away from the U.S., the water was brown and bubbly, flowing from distant ancient ruins. This was the site of his new adventure. He landed his plane some miles from it and climbed out. He pulled the barren lolli stick from his mouth and tossed it in the shrubs as he marched forward coolly. "Hurry up, you twerps."

In the backseat of his plane, three infants tumbled out. A White boy with a football head, a Black kid with an afro, and a yellow-skinned girl with spiky hair. "Come awn, Man, why we always gotta ride the ASS seat?" Rallo complained. "Can't we git somethin' more appealing on the posterior?"

"Look, that was the most stylin' plane we had, and we ain't got all the stuff we used to since Candied Island got ransacked by the Government. We all that's left, brats, and we gonna make the best of it." Augustus planted a foot on a rock and pointed forth with gusto. "The Marzipan Pirates are off on their grand adventure!"

"Right, 'cause a teenage boy takin' a bunch of toddlers for adventure can't be misinterpreted in any way." Rallo remarked.

"Mw-mw." Maggie agreed, her eyes still weary from her fight with Haylee.

"Chronologically frozen toddlers, you mean to say. 'sides, you're the only ones I could find. Even though I lost the Candy Virus, I still can't use my Haki for awhile. Doesn't mean I can't give you kids some wedgies and spread embarrassing rumors around your towns."

"NOT MAH peanut head, Man!" Rallo gripped his head panickingly.

"Yes, God knows your mother hasn't got anything under those 'melons'." remarked Stewie.

"Alright you twerps, enough whining. The Everbubble Fizz is brewing somewhere in this Fizzle-Fizzle Ruins and we're gonna be the first humans to taste it in centuries! Make use of those baby legs and MOVE!" Augustus unwrapped another lollipop and began slurping it. (Play "Chomp Ruins" from Paper Mario: Sticker Star.)

Stage B-1: Fizzle-Fizzle Ruins

Mission: Find the Everbubble Fizz.

Augustus drew his Candycane Cutlass and slashed the shrubs as he marched first. Naturally, some were M. Bushes that wanted to snack on his flesh, but still no problem for this experienced explorer. He made it to a small ruin and walked up stairs to its roof as Beverage Patrol soldiers flew down with soda jetpacks. "Grandpa decided to visit me, huh? I might have time for some fun." He dodged their soda guns, whipped out his Everlasting Gobstopper, and chucked at the first Soda Man's face. He fell back and hit the ground, then the Gobstopper bounced back to Augustus's hand as he let their noses have it. The soldiers tried to recover, but Augustus rolled around and kicked them all unconscious. Afterwards, he took chocolate coins from their pockets, the only acceptable currency in Gumdrop Cove. The following area of ground was spikes, and large marshmallows called Bouncemallows were stationed on bushes around the road. Augustus threw Gobstoppers at their bases so the marshmallows rolled onto the spikes, and the teenager could bounce across.

He landed on a road through some ruins, where Beverage Soldiers appeared to be mining. Several holes were around, and soda geysers spouted out of them at certain intervals, so the men could collect them in their bottles. "Not before I do!" Augustus threw Gobstoppers at two of them, then punched three of them through the geysers. Four more locked their guns behind Augustus, but Rallo appeared behind them and blew them forward with soundwaves from his afro stereos. "Bringin' back the boombox."

Augustus approached a gentle river of soda, which had a few bubbles growing and popping, but it still just looked like brown sticky goop. "Bring it back right now. Try an' shake this soda up, Rallo." Augustus told him. The 5-year-old jumped, spun, and turned upside-down before burrowing into a soft patch of soil; apparently, he could do that. He sounded his boombox and shook the earth, effecting the river as well as the soda bubbled furiously. Augustus could run across the countless bubbles and rest on a platform. He collected a Bounce Gum, blew it to a reasonable size, and, since its bounces were too forceful for the soda bubbles, he bounced the small ruins whose tops stuck out above the soda.

He landed on a small, high ledge where he collected a Golden Wonka Bar, choosing to save that for later. He dropped back down and ran further across the bubbles, down a narrow part of the river that snaked in its direction. He didn't expect Rallo to hold up for long, so he bypassed the floating Beverage Men and hurried. He arrived at a waterfall of soda where log-size soda cans rolled down horizontal-ways. Augustus hopped each can to make his way up, then could safely jump off on a safe shore before the quaking stopped. Augustus stood before a tall structure, made of yellowish-brown brick that was sealed tight. He looked up as Stewie flew down on a jetpack. "Well, I checked around, there is not one hat out here I like."

"Yeh, I brought you 'cause you're the techno geek. Got any bombs or something?"

"You are not one for conversation." Stewie grabbed a time-bomb from his backpack and stuck it on the wall. They both backed away as it beeped, and blew an entrance open. The temple was wide and vacant inside, there were tiki statues designed like soda cans, and soda geysers popped out of various parts of the floor. Stewie took out a thin drill and twisted it into some soil, reading waves on a small monitor. "Soda's really unstable here. If not for all these holes, it'd have no place else to go."

Augustus walked around and observed several big holes in the ceiling. "If we poked holes under these ceiling holes and clogged enough of the geysers, can we force them to squirt us up there?"

"Well, I suppose we could force a bigger geeser to erect if we push enough in. It's the perfect chance to try out my Super Gum."

"Sounds like a—hold on, whaddid you say?"

"What? We can use my Super Gum to clog up these geesers."

"Don't you mean 'geysers'?"

"Yes, these geesers, we can use Super Gum to block the geesers so a larger one will erect."

"…I'm not gonna argue about this. Just gimme the gum."

Confused on what Augustus was 'arguing' about, Stewie gave him the pink strip of gum. Augustus chewed and blew a large bubble to pop over one of the geesers—I mean, geysers, and Stewie used his device to project more gum so Augustus could clog them all. Stewie used his drill to poke a hole under a ceiling hole, and both stood over it as the ground shook, and a massive soda geyser sent them flying out and onto a platform above the roof. Augustus collected a Gold Wonka Bar, but the route forward was above another platform, 'course now they knew which hole to blast out of. The other holes had nothing around them, though Augustus suspected Sodium Chuchu would appear after he broke through the roof afterward. They jumped back into the temple as Stewie sucked all of the popped gum into his Gum-Molder and refigured them into little strips that Augustus could chew and clog the holes again (they had to open a few holes so the large geyser would shrink, making it easier to plug).

Memorizing the correct ceiling hole, Stewie poked a hole underneath after the geysers were plugged, and the duo went flying onto the tall ruin. A path between numerous small temples stretched before them, but a grappling hook latched onto the edge of their foothold, and Maggie Simpson came flying up. "Hey, Mags. What's up?" Augustus asked.

"Mw-mw-mw."

"Taffy Ninjas up ahead?" Stewie repeated.

"Mw-mw."

"I see. Allow me to help you. That pillar looks good." Stewie held onto Maggie as the latter latched her hook onto a nearby totem that stretched from the ground below, much higher than Augustus's route. He gave Maggie a pair of goggles to enhance her weakened vision, and the body-heat waves of the Taffy Ninjas were seen behind the buildings.

"I'm counting on you, twerps." Augustus told the children. He ran fearlessly up the path, and Maggie saw the nimble ninjas making their move. When they were exposed to Maggie's view, it took one shot each to take them out. "Turn left!" Stewie told Augustus through the communicator, so the teenager turned a left route while Maggie shot the ninjas chasing him from the right. "Up the stairs!" Augustus ran up a small flight of stairs, ninjas climbed onto roofs to lock on with crosshairs, but Maggie shot them down first. "Another right, then the temple's on your left." Augustus followed another right path, trusting Maggie to shoot the ninjas on the way, then he could safely rush to the temple up a left path.

The stone dial on the doorway had three turnable segments, with the center part a pull-tab, a mouth on the medial segment, and a hole on the outer-most. He turned the outer so the hole was at the bottom, revealing another mouth on the wall beneath, then had the medial mouth face the bottom before using the tab to pop it open, causing an interior device to force the lower mouth open. The stone gate creaked open, so Augustus could enter. Two fountains of orange soda brewed, their bubbly scent reaching his nose. "Hmm, it smells like Fizzy Lift Soda… but there's something else about it. Oh well." Augustus scooped a cup of the soda and drank.

His body became light as a feather as he glided down a nearby hole. The hole stretch hundreds of feet downward, but the Fizzy Lift Soda would provide a soft descent. Orange Chuchu whose color matched the soda were round as bubbles, floating around the cave, but still threatened to harm Augustus with their electrified bodies. Maneuvering with a lightweight body was difficult, but the Chu were fairly slow. He reached the hole's bottom and floated into a doorway, entering a wide hall with orange sodafalls coming out of the walls, into an endless chasm below. Beverage Men used their sodapacks to fly and try to shoot the explorer down, but Augustus used aerial maneuverability to dodge, kick off some pillars for momentum, and throw his fist against the men to make them fall.

Bubbles floated up from the falls for Augustus to inhale and refuel his Fizzy Lift. He could safely burp it all out to land on a safe ledge, then go down stairs through a narrow passage. He arrived at the temple's core, where a giant pool of orange soda bubbled like magma, continuously turning a huge stone churner with a round wooden platform around it. "Hmm… so this is the Everbubble Fizz. I see. The Ancient Peztecs thrived on soda, their land was built upon natural sodium channels. They constructed this complex structure to constantly churn the richest, most endless soda imaginable. …History's wonders."

"Quite an observation, mi nieto." A bulky figure in soda-barrel armor crashed onto a platform across the room. "And the Peztecs will SERVE their purpose, when their luscious soda becomes my bestselling brand!"

"Angelo Fizz. Hola, Abuelo."

"Impressive work finding your way through, but I was here, first!" Mr. Fizz declared. "My Beverage Patrol will harness every ounce of sodium from this ground! My machines will be unstoppable, and teenagers will become so energized, those rotten Kids Next Door will NEVER defeat them!"

"Didn't I hear your Teen Ninjas disbanded from Evil Adult Industries and joined the Government?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Whatever." Augustus pulled out the dry lolli and dropped it. "Anyone who gets this far is free to taste the fizz, but no one's sucking it all from the ground when I'm around. You got to the count o' drei to take all your troops away from here."

"Humph. And what will you do if I disobey?"

Augustus smirked. "Find out. Einer…" His eyes narrowed on Fizz. "Zwei…" The adult cocked his soda blasters. "Drei!"

Boss fight: Angelo Fizz

Fizz blasted Augustus's platform with a soda stream, so the teenager leaped onto the turning platform around the churner. Mr. Fizz blasted more soda, and Soda Chuchus emerged from the resulted puddles, jumping onto Augustus with super sticky bodies. The teenager shook furiously to knock them all off, quickly dodging a soda blast. He jabbed his feet at the blobs' faces before facing up at his grandpa, trying to keep toward his side on the turning platform to throw a Gobstopper at one of his cannons. He damaged and rendered it useless, so when Fizz locked the cannon on his right arm, Augustus tossed the Gobstopper again and- "Ah!" disabled it.

Mr. Fizz angrily leapt onto the churner with Augustus, raising his big barrel feet in attempt to crush him, but Augustus was swift to dodge. He looked behind as a Soda Chu emerged from a puddle, dodging when the blob jumped at him, then Fizz stomped on it and caused his foot to be stuck to the foothold. "Gah! Blast it!"

"Gracias!" Augustus dropped to the ground below and climbed a ladder onto one of the high platforms against the walls. "Hm, a switch… wonder what it does?" Augustus stepped on the device, and the churner doubled in speed.

"H-H-Hey! Stooop! Baaaaah-bl-gl-gl-gl-l-l-l-l-l-l-l." Unable to shake himself off the sticky puddle, the increased speed shook the soda in Fizz's barrels, channeled to his mouth and giving him Dizzy Fizzy, 'cause that's a thing. The supervillain broke free, activated soda jets from his leg barrels, and flew up to the ceiling, sticking on using soda from his arm and leg cannons. His head barrel opened to reveal a huge soda bottle cannon, blasting powerful bubbles that exploded with great range. Augustus jumped to the lower ground, his grandpa continuing to blast, but the boy soon realized bubbles had come up from the pool, thanks to the enhanced churning. They were very thick and bouncy, flying around the room, so he knew he could use them.

Augustus avoided his grandpa's cannon and bounced up the bubbles, each popping upon his kicks. Mr. Fizz had to turn around so his cannon could face Augustus, but the explorer nimbly dodged every shot as he made it to the armored adult and punched him in the face. The adult lost his grip and fell to the floor, taking a good amount of self-control to stand back up and keep the bubbling soda from shattering his barrels. "Enough of this tomfoolery! I will battle you directly with Sorate (soe-rah-tay), powered by a small form of the greatest of sodas!" Angelo turned, revealing the Pepsi icon on the back of his body barrel, changing to a Purple Flurp icon. "Purple Flurp! Know the fearsome power of concealed belches!" The purple substance flowed through his pipes, to his mouth and his barrels, and Fizz, unable to release the gas in burps, was super-fizzed.

Augustus hurriedly dodged his fast punches, but an untimed dodge resulted in him flying to the wall, backfirst. Angelo boosted for another punch, Augustus dodged as the barrel burst through the wall, and orange soda poured in. Seeing no other option, Augustus kissed his mouth against the hole and slurped the soda; the Everbubble Fizz made his nervous system unstable beyond compare. Fast as light, Augustus dodged his grandfather's next punch, jumped behind him, and socked the back of his head. Angelo whipped around with an arm outstretched, Augustus ducked the barrel and swung his foot against the man's crotch; through the body barrel. Augustus ducked between his legs, kicked Fizz in the back, and he stumbled toward the pool.

Fizz stopped himself in time to catch breath. "Ha ha! You think the Everbubble makes you strong, but I have the main source! I will absorb its power and-"

Augustus released a burp that blew Fizz into the source. His barrels absorbed the Everbubble against his will, and the adult soon realized the power beyond control. "OOOOOOOOHHHH!" Fizz went flying like a rocket, through the ceiling and into the sunny sky. They always said shooting stars were giant bottles of soda, and now Augustus saw where they got that idea.

Augustus panted after the Everbubble wore off. "Silly Abuelo. Sodium is for the youth." (End song.)

Stewie and Maggie came down from the hole using their jetpack and grappling hook respectively, while Rallo popped out of the ground. "By the way, I ate the Mole-Mole Fruit also, so I can do this. Nah, I'm just kidding!" the afro boy joked. "I'm just abiding by ancient cartoon laws."

Stewie dipped one end of a pipe into the Everbubble and sucked it into two glass containers. "Two half-gallons. 't's gonna be one hell of a drinking party. Nothing like a bar of man-children staying up past bedtime."

"Makes worthwhile entertainment. Let's get it back."

The team made their way across the ruins and returned to their plane, the Ace Flyer. Augustus's cellphone rang, so he answered. "Yello?"

"AUGUSTUS VON FIZZURAS, SIE WENIG BLAG! Get your arse home right now before I recite a passage from the Boy Who Loved to Suck His Thumbs! You know you're a vanted criminal for working vith those Big Mams!"

"Chill, Ma, I brought my cellphone, didn't I? I'm just getting some air, I'll be home in awhile."

"You come home NOW!! If I find out you're at Gumdrop Cove, you're gonna be swabbing the deck at our house until you're-"

Augustus hung up, smiling coolly and starting the plane. His phone rang, so he answered, "DID YOU JUST HANG UP ON ME, YOU SHI-" Hung up again.

"You can never go home, Man, you realize that?" Rallo inquired.

"Eh, didn't plan on it. Come on. To Gumdrop Cove we sail!" The explorers were off to the sky, their Jolly Roger – a skull designed like Augustus, with his explorer hat, grinning with a lollipop – blowing behind them.

Across the U.S.

For the past several months, a blue blur has been zipping around many parts of the country. Everyone, mostly kids' immediate conclusion was that it was Sonic the Hedgehog, still runnin' about to stop Dr. Eggman. That was 20 years ago, kids. Instead, it was Wendy Marvell, a girl of whom no one knew her origins, only that it was a blustery day wherever she ran. It was natural she lost track of where she was; the world was a blur most of the time. Just running countryside streets that stretched for miles… and little boys in racecars who drove alongside her. Actually, that was kinda new. On Wendy's right, a blue racecar with red flames sped along, and she exchanged curious looks with its cute, young driver with breezing brown hair and red glasses.

"Uhhh… hey there?" he greeted.

"Oh? Sorry!" Wendy smiled sheepishly. "This isn't your road, is it? I was just out on one of my daily runs."

"Uhhhh… I see that." At 100 miles per hour, clearly. "You like running, do ya?"

"Yup! It gets me places faster!"

"Heheheh! Yeah, it does! On to an important meeting."

"Ah, that's life for ya. Well, I won't keep you. So long!" She shifted a different way.

"Great talkin' to ya!"

"You too! Byyyye!"

So Wendy kept running for miles and miles. Blowing past dozens of discarded papers in city streets, including a poster of Hers Truly.

WANTED

Wendy Marvell

A.K.A.: 'Sky Dragon'

For possible connections with Revolutionaries

Reward: $7,000,000 (in 700,000,000 pennies)

(By order of the World Government)

It landed next to a poster of Augustus.

Wendy eventually stopped in a peaceful meadow around the base of some distant mountains, catching her breath. "I wonder where that boy was going. Everyone has adventures! Ha ha ha!" That was such a brief meeting, but one Wendy wouldn't forget. She already felt like she made a new friend, and the fact they met so strangely must've meant destiny. "Oh! I hope I didn't-"

"Lose me?" Wendy turned around. A little kitten with snow-white fur, shiny brown eyes, and angel wings, wearing a pretty red dress with a yellow tie with a pawprint; however strange these latter descriptions sounded. Also, she talked in an elegant lady-like voice. Having finally caught up with the child, the kitten landed on her hind paws to catch breath.

"Sorry, Carla." Wendy blushed. "I just got sidetracked is all. There was a boy driving a racecar a while back."

"You're starting to see things." Carla stretched her wings. "This air is getting to your head. How long has Mr. Facilier been sending you on errands?"

"Only the past couple of months. He thought it would be good experience before I finally go to Hogwarts next fall. Though he made it seem like I was going right away… o-oh well, what's a little adventure! I never knew so many magical items lied around the place. Uhhh… what are we looking for, again?"

"Thank goodness you found me when you did since you can't keep your head on straight." Carla pulled out a small paper. "We're looking for Fan Flowers, which spin and emit a gentle breeze. Grows naturally in Windy Valley."

"It's windy alright… or is that just me."

"Unless Facilier's so-called Chi-Stabilizers are faulty, I think it's safe to say. Let's find these flowers and return to him, Child."

"I'll do my best!" (Play "Toad Harbor" from Mario Kart 8!)

Stage B-2: Windy Valley

Mission: Find the Fan Flowers.

The sky was blue with few clouds, the endless green plain and its colorful flowers looked lovely under the sun as Wendy ran with the wind. "Rocks are coming up ahead. I know how clumsy you get." A series of short rocks were coming, Wendy jumped, did a midair splits over the first one, planted her feet on the ground to resume pace, jumped the next rock, then the next. A stairway of taller, jagged rocks approached, even though Wendy could run around them, she wanted to prove her agility. She jumped, midair-flipped, planted her hands on the first rock, flipped and flew to the next, then the next, then two more before grabbing a Fire Soul (a red ring with a flame) in midair before landing and resuming run. "Oh yes, Facilier wanted those, too. If you see one, try to collect it."

This half of meadow was reaching its end, above a towering cliff over the sea where jagged pillars stood everywhere. "You're an airbender, right? You can make this." Wendy kept her speed going, performed a terrific leap, her Air Chi keeping her aloft for several feet until she landed on a flat-topped rock. She could either jump a row of GUN Beetles rightward to another rock, but Gold Beetles spawned one at a time to the left, so Wendy seized the chance and flipped across them to land on a different pillar. Towering above her left was another jagged rock, she used a small rock beside her as a boost to flip onto the taller one's side, running around and around until she made it on top, collected the Fire Soul, and flew to the distant next path.

She ran across this road supported over the sea by rocks, but when it would run off before a series of tall pillars, Wendy jumped to and kicked across them all, her sudden force making the unstable pillars collapse. She landed on a ledge and rushed across the next area of meadow. "The Government's on to you. They've sent drones."

"No problem!" GUN Laser Hunters locked on and were about to fire, Wendy slid along the ground, swung her leg, and knocked one off its feet, then nimbly dodged the other's gun to blast him away with air. Squads of GUN Rhinos rolled at her as she whooshed sideways air gusts and knocked them upside-down, but the same could not happen for the Metal Rhinos, with a sturdy rectangle-shaped structure that kept them upright. "You could always use magic against them." Carla said.

Wendy considered it for a moment, but a Rhino sped at her during, so she dodged. "Sigh, I don't know any spells." She leapt over and ran away from the Rhinos, coming to a wide trench with a high opposite ledge, but a line of Sky Hawks swooped by that allowed Wendy to hop up. She ran across the following meadow to a tall cliffside, where Hunters and Beetles locked their weapons on the child. She dodged a Hunter's gun, blew him and some Beetles away, then tried to blast another Hunter, but his shield blocked her wind. Wendy ran behind the Shield Hunter, took hold and whipped him around, then blasted him into another Shield Hunter. Five Beetles blasted guns, but Wendy spun a Wind Shield to deflect their bullets. "Haaaa!" Carla flew above and Torpedo Spun at a Beetle, knocking it into another, and when the others tried to face her, Wendy thrusted her fists and blasted them away with gusts.

"Thank you, Carla." Wendy smiled. She jumped into an enclosing of the cliff, jumped out by its left side, and propelled herself into a next-door higher enclosing, using a double-jump to shift direction in midair. She was close to the top of the cliff, but it was a bit too high, so, "Um… will you lift me, Carla?"

"Okay. But you need to lose some weight." Wendy double-jumped, then Carla clutched her paws on either side of her waist and lifted her. She poured a lot of strength in her wings to lift the heavy human, and before her little arms gave out, she placed Wendy onto the cliff. They were at the top of a horrendously steep hill, and her speed was unparalleled as Wendy ran down, unable to stop her legs. "Aie! Ow! Ahh!" She tripped on a rock, and had more of a hassle getting control as she wouldn't stop rolling. She couldn't even get the Fire Soul she passed, for she was round and non-stopping as a boulder. She stopped on her rear at the hill's base, shaking her head of dizzy. Facing open sea (except for rock pillars) ahead, she mustered her speed and ran across the surface.

She maintained her constant speed to avoid submerging into the sea—not that she couldn't swim, it's just faster this way. She ran up a ramp and performed midair poses for some Trick Points, ran up another ramp to fly to and jump across some Beetles, resulting in a Fire Soul, then took land on a long, wooden pier. A giant killer whale destroyed the pier as it chased Wendy, she had to run off and across the water, pouring extra speed in her legs to outrun the monster, coming to a dead-end cliff, but a sudden water spout emerged from the surface to blow Wendy upward. Windmill towers stood about the meadow, the breeze chillier on Wendy's skin as she ran with more spirit.

Wendy ran up the short spiral of a tower, took hold of the end of one of its blades, and made the device spin faster before she flung herself into the sky. Thousands of feet were between her and the ground, but the wind was very strong and blowing upward, giving her the sensation of flying like a bird. She landed atop the first of many tall pillars, where a GUN Hornet locked its missiles. They released, but Wendy squatted, leaped high, and caused the missiles to ram each other when they failed to chase. Carla destroyed the Hornet, then carried Wendy up to a distant pillar on the left. Wendy planted her feet on a grindrail and used her wind-like speed to zip across.

It swerved around many pillars, Wendy ducked or jumped some Beetles, then the rail led her into the sea again as she ran once more. The killer whale was dead ahead, leaping high above and coming down with its mouth open. Wendy timed, and jumped, landing atop its head and dashing up its back. She listened to its terrific splash after she jumped off the tail, taking land on a ledge. She ran only a short distance left before arriving at a garden where windmill-like flowers, large and small, emitted their gentle breeze. (End song.)

Wendy bent down and happily plucked a Fan Flower, holding it by her face to feel its chill. She gently plucked more flowers and put them in her Infi-Satchel. "That should be enough, right?"

"I hope… huff…" Carla rested on the ground. "My wings are not even a year old, they should not have to work this hard."

"I'm sorry…"

They both stood and stared at the endless grassland. Every grass blade and flower swayed to the wind, the clouds were passing fast overhead. "Carla… where do you think we come from?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"I'm just saying, I found your egg washed up on a beach, and I, er, expected a sea turtle, so the minute you popped out, it's felt like… we were both in the same boat." Her hair blew behind her with the wind, exposing Wendy's long pointed ears, another odd trait next to her red eyes and deep blue hair. "Did your parents abandon you, or did they…"

"It is curious, but I'm at least thankful to be born under somebody than nobody. Regardless of my origins, you, Mr. Facilier, and those hooligan twins are my current 'family.'"

"Heh heh heh." Wendy blushed, scratching her head. "But considering how none of us are related, it's so weird. …" She faced out at the horizon again, wondering how far the valley's wind stretched. "Oh well. We'll find our families someday, count on it. Come on, let's get back to Virginia!" She ran off.

"Urgh, wait for me!" Carla flapped her wings and followed.

Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium

After 20 years of business, it was well-known about the witch-doctor selling magic stuff in his old shop in a back alley. Harvey Facilier became a close friend of all of the kids in town, every day, children were excited to visit his shop. "One at a time, kids, dang!" the witch-doctor proclaimed. "This ain't St. Mungo's for Magical Maladies!"

A little blonde girl in a purple dress was first. "Mr. Facilier, my brother keeps being mean to my pet frog. Can I have Pixiefrog Dust?"

"Sure, Viola! Feed and take good care o' him." Facilier took her money and passed the bag of green dust.

A brown-haired boy was next. "Mr. Facilier, I wanna get back at these girls for dunking a fishtank on me."

Facilier gave him a syringe, "Pseudo-Mermosis, kid, has no after-effects, doesn't hurt, but super convincing."

A brown-haired girl with green eyes. "Mr. Facilier, I cut myself playing with a kitchen knife, and I don't want my mom to know."

Facilier got a Band-Aid, put it over the cut on her arm, and- "Blood be gone!" The wound vanished when he ripped it off. "Ahright, next!"

Round after round of child lined up in his shop, steadily their numbers decreased. The final one of the day was a brown-haired girl with a black shirt under a gray jacket. "Hey, Mr. Facilier."

"Samantha, glad to see you again! What'll you be having today?"

"Um… well, my brother's in the Kids Next Door, and he tells me about a lot of crazy stuff that happens, so… do you have a good luck charm?"

"I have the works! Seven-leaf clover, golden Holy Cross bells—not settling well with my other stuff, I wanna get rid of 'em—777 necklace, horseshoe shoes, name your pick!"

"Uh-hu… just the clover." She blushed.

He took her money and gave her the little plant. "Um, Mr. Facilier… do you know if all these bad things he talks about… are true?"

"You mean psychotic Nature Goddess, dimension-destroying space clown, or mutated candy demons? Yeah, kinda. But you ain't need to worry, 'cause as the magical world will tell you, evil never triumphs! We had all kinds of lunatic wizards back in our day, not one of them got away! Well, Herpo the Foul's still a mystery, but immortality only gets so far!"

"Well… okay." She smiled. "'Cause, he also says that his leader told everyone, this really big thing is gonna happen that'll destroy the world, so um, that got me worried, but he thinks it's all a joke, and like, I think so too, 'cause it's outta nowhere… A-Anyway, bye-bye now. And thanks!" She excitedly ran out.

Facilier smiled with satisfaction, kicking back on his chair. He loved seeing the happy faces on children, making the best of their childhood and enjoying their life by doing whatever crazy shenanigan they have in store for his magical doohickeys. Ever since he was young, even if he was never in Kids Next Door like his friends, it always seemed all he wanted was to make children happy, even after all his crazy affairs with the Underworld.

His door swung open, and the blue-haired child he was expecting to return ran in. "Mr. Facilier! I brought the—!" Wendy Marvell tripped on her feet and fell on her front, both arms outstretched with the satchel. "Oww, the… fans."

Carla helped her up as Facilier took the satchel and fished for the five Fan Flowers, greeted by their soft breeze. "Sniiiiiff, ahhhhh, yes, this is nice."

"Are you going to be using them for products, Mr. Facilier?"

"Ehh, maybe. But I mostly needed a fan or two." Facilier put the flowers into a small bowl of water. "This place gets really stuffy."

"Isn't that a little selfish to send Wendy out to certain danger just for a means of personal comfort?" Carla asked disapprovingly.

"The girl got experience, ain't she, that's all I'm tryin' to give her, and since yo' with us now, well everyone's gotta do their part for the business." He shrugged. "Y'all need the experience too, Charles, as moderately intelligent as you are, you were just born… three weeks ago. You need experience, and runnin' around with Wendy is the key to that."

"Mr. Facilier, did you ever find out what kind of creature Carla is?" Wendy asked.

"Siiiigh." Facilier pulled up a large book from under his table, while his shadow got one off the shelf, as both mindlessly flipped pages. "I tried, Kid. I really did. But they ain't nothin' in here. They got magical cats that can see through disguises, a breed of black cats who can shadowbend (might get me one o' those), and these little Remlit things that live in Skypia and get real nasty durin' the night. But not ONE thing about a magic talking winged cat that hatches outta an egg. You'd think the media will be all over that!! My next guess was she was a Pokémon, but no Cat-types match her appearance."

"I wish we knew. What if her parents lost their egg and couldn't find it? I really want to find out where you came from."

"If it's any consolation, I'm not extremely interested in discovering my origins." Carla replied. "Helping around here is fine."

"You're very modest, Carla, but when a magic connoisseur like me gets on it, they ain't no stoppin'!" Facilier winked. "You can count on me."

The doors flew open as two coated twins stumbled in. "MR. FACILIER, MISTER! We got it we got-" Sonny and Donna crashed into Wendy as they all fell down. "Oops. Sorry, Wendy." The former said.

"We were going fast! Like you!"

"LET'S DYE YOUR HAIR LIKE A CHEETAH."

Their cleats were putting pressure on her back. "No thanks, guys." She said dizzy.

"LIIIINE UP." thundered Facilier. The four of them were on their feet, the Climbers in front, Wendy and Carla behind. "Y'all ready for a Magic Quiz??"

"YES, SIR." All nodded.

"PERFECT! Now, Question 1: How did magic originate?"

"OH!" Wendy perked, but the answer didn't come as quick as she'd hoped. "Um- um- um- um-"

"I KNOW, I KNOW!" Sonny spoke ecstatically. He looked at the ceiling, an illusion of stars levitating. "During God Arceus's creation of the universe and the elements, traits of elements seeped into each other's Element Plate, and those compounds were channeled and compressed into a single plate which would then be used to create the stars and Star Children, primarily Jirachi. That energy which comprised of all elements would be used as a sense of spirituality regarding imagination. While other cultures have similar stories, humans developed the power around 5,000 years ago in Egypt, by molding and gathering several elemental and spiritual energies into items, such as scepters. In time, although many were nonbenders, they have utilized ways of simulating bending to a great and even better extent.

"In time, wizards and witches became a society that challenged benders, but because of their power, benders and nonbenders feared them, so they were forced into hiding using their magical means. Since magical energy is drawn from all elemental areas, this is especially so for dark areas like the Shadow or Underworlds, primary sources in general which create Dark Magic. Magical governments were created, having acknowledged their powers as great and dangerous, and established a variety of laws and rules to keep the hidden and normal world at peace. This didn't fit well to all types, as dark wizards desired power over all 'Muggles'—as they called non-magic/bender humans, to show their superiority."

Sonny was engagingly skimming History of Magic, Volume 1, "'Primary bodies of magic include potions that utilize all sorts of supernatural items for incredible effects, it is important to remember when…'"

"E-Excuse me, are we allowed to read from the book?" Wendy asked confusedly.

"Well, a history book's a history book, none knows how strong the credibility." Facilier replied. "But because magic is a cluster of different chis, we can't mold or bend it in the same way benders can. We need wands and other means to focus our powers. But thanks to them, we've done things that benders would take years of training to do. Liiike this!" He stuck his hand in his hat, surprising the kids when a giant hand reached in from the ceiling, pulled Carla back up, and out came a fly-size Carla flying around. "The greatest trick to all my visitors, hhhhhahahahahahahaha!" Carla flew back into the hat, appearing normal-sized.

Wendy raised her hand. "Mr. Facilier, are magic users really as evil as people say they are?"

"The same was thought of benders, too, Kid, it all depends on the person. You though, Wendy, you're a rare type; not many people are born with both powers. It isn't hard to find a shadowbender who knows a few magic tricks, but airbenders for example, special. Any mage born with an element can do magical things with that element; some say new bending arts in general were created from studying mages."

"Then maybe my wind curse was created because I have magic."

"That is a possibility. But I told you about Rumpel Stiltskin—born with magic AND timebending. Not a good combination! Terrible choice on Dialga's part. That's a thing, though, magic isn't based on bloodline or inheritance, even humans of ordinary families are born with it. That's why we think the gods—Jirachi for instance, have a say in who gets the power sometimes. But it may just be their energies leaking and molding together across the universe, then finds its way into mortal bodies."

"Are magic users stronger than element benders?"

"I wouldn't put it past 'em. A single bender can develop their skills to incredible power that mages couldn't match; but mages have a massive array of spells and charms that normal benders couldn't perform. You know about Logia benders, and I don't know any mage who can match such a godlike power; unless they were a bender themselves. The fact still stands, your magic and your airbending, Wendy, can create an excellent combo that uses powers a normal airbender couldn't do. You'll develop your powers when you go to Hogwarts, but getting as much learning in as you can beforehand will set you ahead."

"But… Mister…" Wendy spoke sadly. "This month, isn't that… thing supposed to happen?"

"Ahhhh, yes." Facilier nodded regrettably. "This event, Wendy, I see it only as a thing to test everybody's strength. The first test is how one stomachs it; embraces it's going to happen. The next step… will be how far one goes to try and do something about it. What say you, Girl? Do you have the strength to face it?"

"I…I don't know." Wendy looked down. "I only just learned about my magic a few months ago; I've been studying really hard, but I don't think I know enough to…"

"Well, the job ain't solely on yo' shoulders, there are dozens more panicking and preparing. All you need is the strength to support them, Wendy; to the best of your abilities. Even in just one month, it's a skill you can learn. Will you do it, for the friends you came to know?"

Wendy looked up with a nod of determination. "I will. I'll do my very best."

"That's our girl!" He slapped her back. "Now come, we goin' to Diagon, and we ain't stop 'til yo' magic and airbending become one. Facilier and Wendy's Mage Quest starts now!" He grabbed a handful of powder from a bag, threw it into a fireplace, and lit with emerald flames.

"Sonny and Donna, too! HOORAAAY!" cheered the Ice Climbers.

"Here it starts, Wendy!" Facilier put an arm around the girl. "Just an old great-uncle, a girl named Wendy, two excited twins, and their pet going on crazy adventures whilst selling magic items from their shop for a profit!"

"Um, Mr. Facilier, isn't there a TV show based around those things?"

"Nonsense, girl, we totally original, what could you mean?"

A poster advertising Gravity Falls hung on a wall in the shop, its main cast waving at us. "All we need is a fat guy with daddy issues!" Donna perked.

"D'OH!" Homer Simpson cursed.

"Ooo, one more thing." Facilier knelt before Wendy, put brown contacts over her red eyes, and rubbed magic cream that made her pointed ears rounded. "I still prefer if people don't know who you're related to. Not that they's anything wrong with how you look, it's just for safety measures."

The subject of her unnamed father again. Wendy only frowned and nodded. "Mm."

With that, they all stepped into the emerald flame. "Wait a sec, does that imply I'm the 'pig'??" Carla stated before they vanished.