B-21. Azkaban

Cleveland, Virginia

A baby was crying, wrapped comfily in a blue blanket. She had beautiful brown eyes and hair as deep blue as the ocean. A man in a dark cloak took her away. She reached for her baby, but despaired as she drew farther away from her grasp.

Carla moaned as she woke up in the alley. A pair of black high-heeled boots stood before her. Carla's hazy vision moved up to see the glaring, boney face of Madame Rouge, smoking a cigarette. "Ma…Madame Rouge." The kitten spoke weakly. "Where's… Wendy…"

"She and Dr. Facilier have been taken by Magic Aurors." The French woman replied. "I saw it from ze crowd."

"You…You saw?" Carla got to her feet and angrily yelled, "Why didn't you DO anything?! You let Wendy and your own husband be captured!"

"It vould not do to blow my own cover. I am on ze vanted lists, too. My husband is in enough trouble for harboring Vendy."

"He's still the man you married! Why would you dare to marry him if you would not fight to protect him? He might not be an honest man, but you're a terrible-"

"I vill not be lectured by you, Cat!" Rouge stretched her neck down and glared at the animal. "I do love Dr. Facilier, and ze reason I do not show myself around here often is to avoid getting him in trouble." She pulled her neck back upright and turned away. "Wendy vas not the only person running away from people who tried to arrest her. Vhen Hannibal Bean unfroze me six years ago, I could not go anywhere vithout hiding my true face. That bratty Nolan York told the G.U.N. about us and marked me in their criminal banks. Vhen my escape was noted, wanted posters have gone up. Vone day, vhen I was on a stroll through this town on a rainy night… I went into Harvey's emporium. He saw through my disguise, but had no intention of capturing me. Instead… he read my fortune."

Carla said nothing for a moment. Rouge was speaking reflectively, thinking of warm memories, the kitten could tell. "…Madame Rouge, if Dr. Facilier means to you as much as Wendy means to me… we must save them."

The slender woman turned to her. "You mean as much as a pet loves her master? Zat is not how I feel."

"You know very well what I mean."

"Regardless, zey are going to Azkaban. It is the most secure prison in the vizard community. Ve could not hope to infiltrate it."

Carla rubbed her chin with the "knuckle" of her paw-finger, thinking. "…That Mr. Floop person said that the World Government uses Azkaban as their main prison. He suspected that Chelia would have been taken there."

"Your point?"

"Well, seeing as Floop served a World Leader, he may have information we can use. Honestly, it's the only hope we have. Where did those twin hooligans take him, anyhow?"

"I know vhere they're hiding. Come with me." Rouge transformed into Rachel Uno and began to walk off.

Carla stretched her wings to fly- "Aaaah!" She sank to the ground.

"Vhat now?" Rouge asked.

"My wing still hurts. I'm afraid… I'll have to walk."

"A kitty has to walk, how dreadful." Rouge kept walking.

"Not like you ever went a mile in your own shoes." Carla retorted as she hurried after.

Azkaban

The rusty doors slowly creaked open, letting light into the dull little room. World Leader Henry Churchill entered the cell, escorted by a black-haired woman with red eyes, a boney upper-body of cold blue skin, a red dress, while the rest of her body was that of a spider's. This spider woman, La Contessa, crawled up the wall and on the ceiling as Master Churchill approached Wendy Marvell, who was glued to the wall by a spider web.

Wendy's eyes were a dull red, and her face showed no expression or soul. Master Churchill gave his wry, quirky smile, reaching a hand up to softly rub Wendy's cheek. "Chapter 21 of Defeating Your Enemies: seeing them… at their weakest." Henry spoke softly. "Tell me, Miss Marvell… how long did you plan to run? Knowing that the entire world feared you, by merely putting your face on a piece of paper… It's amusing how people react.

"Did you think this old witch-doctor could hide you? Did you think your lovely pink-haired friend could protect you from me? You're sorely mistaken… because the simple fact is that you aren't a child worth saving. Wendy… do you often wonder why you were born? Why you were given a name, and a world in which to run around? It's easy… the creatures which you call the 'gods' have played you like a fool. There is no meaning behind your birth… All you are is a hindrance and a troublemaker. And here you are, sulking in the cold air the dementors have wrought. Soon, they will suck out your soul, and you will be nothing…"

"Uuu… Uuu-uuuuuuhhh…" Wendy could barely move her arms or bare feet. She tried to lift her head up and speak. "Che…Chelia… Where is… Chelia…"

"Chelia? On the brink of disappearing from existence, she is the one you are concerned for? Hmm." Henry began to pace around the room. "Well, while I intended her to be carted to Azkaban, that was before we learned she possessed God Chi. And no ordinary mortal is allowed to have the power of a god. That power belongs to us." He turned to show his witty smile. "So we are keeping her elsewhere until we can sap the God Chi from her veins. Sorry, Dear… but you will not get to say a final farewell to each other. Floop could have made the 'Sky Sisters' a royal hit, but not all dreams can come true. And when I turn around and walk away, I will never see you again. And… now."

So Henry turned and walked out of the cell. La Contessa crawled down the web holding Wendy, tilting her face up to look in her eyes. "After the dementors are finished eating your soul, I will have the remains. I hope you taste good." The warden crawled out of the room and shut the door.

Cleveland; Floop's hideaway

"Do!" "Do not." Two Floop heads bounced up and down against a green wavy background. "I will!" "Will not." "Should?" "Could?" "Would?" "NOT!"

"DO NOT pet the lion while he's slee-ping (do not)." Floop faced the camera and sang as Sonny was about to pet a giant lion.

"Or he will (WILL) tear you in-to piece-es!" Several Floops popped up at different distances from the camera as the lion tore up a Floop doll. "He can!" sang a Floop whose face appeared directly at the camera.

"(Can?) Can you crush a bird with your hammer?" Floop made a shrug as Donna threatened to smash a bird in her nest.

"You can! (YES!) But no, you should NOT! (Oh, no!)" Floop wagged his finger.

"Unless you are a hobo that needs a quick snack!" A table floated up with plates of small turkey and scrambled eggs. Sonny and Donna licked their lips, holding knives and forks.

A trio of Floops were then sitting in a Viking boat, rowing concurrently. "Use positives, and negatives, to accomplish, your, objectives! Conjunctions! Adjunctions! Know: how they function!"

"Know your verbs! ("Mr. Floop?") Know your words! ("Mr. Floop?") Use this stone to kill TWO-"

"I BEG YOUR PARDON, MR. FLOOP!" The show host snapped back to reality—the holographic background snapped off, revealing the true form of Goofy Goober's basement.

"Oh, Charles!" Floop acknowledged them from his chain-linked platform. "Madame Rouge! Lovely to see you! Take five, twins." He clapped his hands to lower his platform.

The birds that Sonny was about to crush with a rock immediately flew out of there. "He made us kill several of them while we were rehearsing." The male Climber said with a casual smile.

"I love modern children's programming." Donna followed.

"Whaddya think?" Floop asked with a bright smile, approaching the two women. "These twins got me a part-time job making shows for this restaurant's customers! There was mostly scrap down here, but I was able to make what I needed. Eh, don't ask where I got the lion."

"Mr. Floop, Wendy and Dr. Facilier were arrested!" Carla shouted.

"Arrested?" Floop's bright expression sunk.

"Ze Aurors caught zem. Zey are being taken to Azkaban." Rouge recapped.

"Azkaban? That's awful…" Floop looked away in remorse.

"You said that Azkaban was being used by the Government, did you not?" Carla asked. "As a former World Leader's apprentice, would you have clearance to enter the facility?"

"Heh, 'former' is the key word." Floop chuckled, pacing around the room. "Given what happened at my castle, they'll likely suspect I'll try to rescue Wendy."

"They will!" said one of Floop's clones.

"You're on break, Floop 4." At this, a hole opened on Floop 4, causing him to blow around the room as his air deflated.

"Well, do you at least know where the prison is located?" Carla asked. "I can simply fly there and rescue them myself."

"That's too dangerous. The prison's island is surrounded by a 50-foot wall, with dementors patrolling the sky. The only way in is through the gate and on a boat, but you would either need clearance or have a wanted criminal tied up at your-…" The man paused midsentence and looked at Rouge. "Wait a second… Madame Rouge… you're on the wanted list!"

"Vhat are you thinking?" She glared.

"I'm thinking…" Floop rubbed his chin and resumed pacing, "if I sailed to the island with you handcuffed, and they would let us in to bring you to a cell… and we somehow found a way to sneak Carla and the kids in, and they go to rescue Wendy, Facilier, and you as well… Ugh, but how would that work."

"Perhaps we could hide under her coat?" Carla inquired.

"No, they would check that."

"My body is made of liquid rubber." Rouge informed. "I could store zem inside my body."

"DIRTY IMPLICATIONS!" the twins sang.

"You would be willing to do this?" asked Carla.

"A meager prison cannot hold me. But I trust you to do your part."

"We can also use Facilier's yacht to sail to the island. He even has a magic teleporter installed in it."

"Halright." Floop clapped hands. "It's going to be a long shot… but I think we can pull this off. Here's what we'll do…"

Close to Azkaban Island… (Play "Prison Grounds" from Sly 2.)

After unhooking Facilier's Old Orleans from the city pier, they sailed it to where Floop memorized the prison to be located: a lone island in Britain's North Sea. The sky was bleak with dark clouds, but there was an opening in the sky to allow the eerie blue moon to highlight the prison. Ghostly black beings floated in the sky over the walled island—the dementors.

"Attention small and shabby yacht," said a voice from the speaker, "access beyond this point is strictly prohibited by unauthorized personnel. State your name and your purpose."

Floop activated the boat's speaker and yelled, "My name is Fegan Floop! Apprentice to World Leader, Henry Churchill!"

"According to the database, you were stripped of your title."

"I know! But I captured a wanted criminal and wanted to bring her into custody. Laura De Facilier nee Mille, aka Madame Rouge."

A swarm of flying eyes came down from the wall and peeped into the yacht's windshield. They skimmed the rather chubby woman in the red jumpsuit, long black hair, and ruby lips, her gloved hands cuffed. "She's a bit… pudgier than what our records read."

"She's uh, been… putting on some pounds, true." Floop chuckled. "You know how these washed-up criminals are."

"Grrrrr!" Rouge growled.

"Hmmm… Miss Contessa, what are your orders?"

"Open the gate and let them inside. We will contact Master Churchill and ask what he wants us to do with Mr. Floop."

The gates to the wall opened, exposing the island with the steel building with three, triangle-shaped towers. Dementors floated over the sea, and the boat was steadily freezing from their presence. Madame Rouge felt her skin harden.

They docked the boat next to the island as Floop and Rouge stepped off. Two Aurors escorted them inside the facility. They retained calm auras as they were guided into the first hallway of despairing and psychotic criminals. Rouge suddenly sat down and jumped back up, dropping a large glob of rubber goop on the floor. "EUH, what'd you do that for?!" an Auror shouted in disgust.

"If I am going to jail, I'm leaving you a treat!"

"Ugh, KEEP walking!" The Auror pushed her along. "Somebody call the janitor!"

After they were gone, Carla climbed out of the goop. "I share his disgust… Sigh, alright, let's find Wendy and the doctor and escape as soon as possible. Oh, I pray to God they haven't hurt her, yet…"

Stage B-17: Azkaban

Mission: Rescue Wendy and Dr. Facilier.

Carla hurriedly jogged down the corridor, already creeped by the prisoners eying her with craving looks. She peeked around a left turn and saw Floop and Rouge being led up some stairs. Carla jogged over to said stairs, but skidded to a halt when an old, man-size bird, who had the dark feathers of a crow and the neck of a vulture, and wearing a guard's uniform, limped around the corner behind the stairwell, holding a lantern. Carla ducked into a different passage on her right. "Caw?" The vulture-crow (Shadow Guard) heard Carla's movement, and when she saw that lantern light about to come around, she tried to lift off the ground and fly. "Nnn!" Her wing still injured, she could not go far.

Carla kept running, making little sound with her tiny paws. She turned a left corner and found a door to a janitor's closet, and a hole high up on the wall. She couldn't fly up there, so she opened the closet and found a broom to lean on the wall, under a shelf of pictures with cobwebs. Carla quickly climbed the broom's stick, hopped on the shelf, hopped to another higher shelf, and from there could jump into the hole. The Shadow Guard arrived at the passage, but did not see what creature was making the disturbance.

Carla landed on top of a gargoyle statue outside, feeling the eerie cold air on her fur. The presence of the dementors lurking around made her feel despair… she felt her very happiness slipping away. But she tried not to let these feelings get to her, picturing Wendy's image firmly in her mind. If she did not hurry, she would never see Wendy again. The gargoyle was hanging over the raging sea, but on her left, Carla saw a dented path going up the wall. Carla glided over, despite the pain in her wing, and managed to set foot on the base of the dent. She clasped the rugged wall and began to climb.

It was hard to keep a firm grip in her little paws, and her left foot slipped for a brief moment, but she passed off the jump in her heart and kept climbing. She faltered when the cold seemed to grow, and her fear increased dramatically when she viewed ahead: dementors loomed over the wall she was climbing, and the black phantoms drifted down to feast on the kitten's soul. But then, a giant spider made of silvery-white light crawled down the wall and scared the dementors away. Carla felt a warmth radiating from the spider, and when she viewed ahead again, another large spider, but with a skinny woman's upper body, black hair and red eyes, crawled over the side. Based on Floop's info, she must've been the Contessa.

"The dementors have been acting very frisky lately." The Contessa said to herself. "Perhaps I should feed them Facilier's soul now. A wizard who has ties with a Devil must be a 5-Star meal. And perhaps Madame Rouge can be the appetizer… while Wendy will serve as dessert. Hmm, this is really working out for everyone." The spider woman crawled away, not seeing Carla.

The winged kitten made it up onto the wall and viewed a small prison yard where the Shadow Guards were roaming. Carla was able to sneak between two vultures who were faced away from each other, then around another one as it was in mid-turn. She was standing under a small tower with a sign above the door that read Prisoner Belongings. Perhaps they are keeping their wands inside. Carla thought to herself.

A series of gargoyle statues went up and around the tower. She climbed up on a convenient trashcan, mustered strength in her wings, and flapped up to the nearest gargoyle. She repeated the maneuver for the other gargoyles—a dementor came around the bend. Carla climbed down and clutched the side of the gargoyle to hide from its hooded gaze. The phantom loomed close, almost certain there was a frightened little snack to feast on, but it resumed flying and ignored this feeling. Carla climbed back on the gargoyle and flapped up the rest of them.

She took a minute to catch her breath and ease her sore wings after getting onto the top of this building. She peered into the glass-made roof, seeing the items confiscated from prisoners. The shiniest one in there was Wendy Marvell's Lamia Scale. Carla was able to flip open one of the window panels and drop into the room. Facilier's Devil Wand was thankfully placed next to Wendy's on the table, but it was tied by metal cuffs. Carla looked around the room and saw a sword leaned against the wall. She used the sword to pick the locks on the cuffs—she only had to pick the first one before the Devil Wand JUMPED out and hit against the wall.

Carla jumped to grab the wand, but it struggled like a living entity. "Please, calm down!" Carla whispered. "I could understand wands choosing a wizard, but having their own free will is a different story. Are you trying to find Dr. Facilier? We'll find him, please settle down!"

She shoved the Devil Wand and Lamia Scale into her satchel, which stuck up in a certain direction as the former was still moving. To escape this sealed room, Carla decided to ram herself against the double doors. She then hid behind some junk as she saw a crow-vulture's silhouette appear on the paneled door windows. The guard unlocked the door and crept in in search of the source of the sound. Carla used her small size to sneak behind the bird, avoiding detection from the two outside as she ran to the other side of the yard.

She entered a door to another hallway of jail cells. A Shadow Guard was marching up from ahead, so Carla hid behind a trashcan. The guard about-faced and patrolled forward before passing the can. Carla saw another gargoyle several feet up, but the only available boost to jump to it was the Shadow Guard. So when the crow was close to it, Carla hurried up, jumped up on its back, and quickly flapped up above the gargoyle. "CAAAW! CAW!" the Shadow Guard panicked, flapping its wings and looking around for its assaulter. It didn't spot the winged cat, so it resumed patrolling, though with a fearful expression.

Carla stepped on a thin ledge over some cells and sidled across, then grabbed hold of a chain dangling from a few feet up. "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" a scream echoed from the prison depths.

"We can do this all day, you know. Legilimens!"

"Aaaah! You won't… get a shred of thought out of me!"

"That sounds like Dr. Facilier." Carla whispered. "I must be close." And right she was, for after climbing to the top of the chain, she viewed a wide open floor leading to a door where the screams and buzzing sounds seemed to echo from. She glided over to the edge of this floor, but took note of the Beamos standing around. The one-eyed mechs were immobile, but Carla thought they would shoot their lasers if she got close. In fact, she had to quickly jump back after walking closer; the Beamos shot its laser, but it ceased when she was far away again. Carla looked at the brick floor and saw how some of the bricks were broken and disorderly. When she stepped on these bricks, the Beamos didn't attack her. She stayed on this trail and made it across.

When the door was about to open, Carla gasped and backed herself against the wall beside it. Three Aurors stepped out. "I don't know if it's some kind of voodoo, but his mind is too strong. But if this guy is involved in black market deals, we have to crack him. And if he was harboring that Wendy, he could be connected to the Man With the Red Eye."

"Why don't we call a specialist from Bulgaria?"

"We shouldn't have to. A few minutes with the dementors will scare him straight." Carla snuck behind the Aurors and into the room before they shut the door and walked away.

"Mr. Facilier!" Carla exclaimed after finding him strapped to a metal bed. "I've brought. . ." The cold and dreary air became apparent as she looked up and gaped at the cloud of dementors.

"Nnn!" Facilier twisted his left hand to face up and open. "Carla, my wand! Gimme my wand!"

"Oh-!" Carla snapped back to reality, fishing through her shaking satchel to get the frisky Devil's Wand. The dementors floated down, she was frozen with fear, for they were going to suck out her soul.

"CARLA!"

The cat flinched and dropped the satchel as the wand flew out and up to his hand. "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery-white raven flew out of the wand and forced the dementors into backing away. "Alohomora!" He used the unlocking charm to open his cuffs and set his feet on the floor.

"Mister Facilier, where did they take Wendy?"

"Ah dunno, they separated us. But we should be able to find her. Point Me Wendy!" The Devil's Wand whipped to point up diagonally. "A couple of floors up. Let's get moving." They exited the room, and Facilier cast spells to stun the Beamos when they tried to shoot lasers. "We'll go this way." Facilier grabbed Carla and used his green Flubber to rope across some gargoyles high on their left over the lower hallway. They swung to a high ledge with a door that led outside.

They were on a balcony overlooking the ocean (before the outer wall, at least), and looked up at the row of gargoyles leading to the top of this tower. "Say, can you fly?"

"No, my wing was shot. I can't go very high."

"Sigh, too bad Devil Wands don't heal well. Wait, how did you get here, anyway?"

"I'll explain as soon as we find Wendy, can we just hurry?"

"Alright, alright. We'll get a better view from up here." He used his Flubber to rope the first gargoyle, yanked the green blob, and loosened his grip to launch them up. He quickly roped the next gargoyle, launched up, and repeated until they were at the top. He cast the Point Me spell, and his wand aimed at the tower across the central prison yard. "Looks like it's that window. Gonna be a hard trip."

"Could you use a spell to make me float there? Then I could give Wendy her wand."

"Well, I guess that would simplify things…"

"I suppose I'll just tell you, Mr. Floop, Madame Rouge, and the twins are here, too. Rouge was posing as a prisoner that Floop was turning in, and the twins were inside her."

"'kay, I'll send you over to help Wendy, and I'll look for them. Careful, Charles."

"Will do, Harvard." With that, Carla was uplifted with Wingardium Leviosa, gently floated over to the opposite tower. Dementors saw her coming and came to get their snack, only to be averted by Facilier's Patronus. As soon as the kitten set her feet on the barred windowsill, the doctor released the spell.

Carla peered into the dark room and saw Wendy glued to a spider web. "Wendy!" she called in hushed tone. "Child! It's me!"

"Uuuuuooo…" A faint moan leaked from her mouth.

"Wendy, I've got your wand. Don't worry, we're going to get you-"

The door to that room opened. The Contessa crawled in, her red eyes the only highlighted feature on her eight-legged body. "Guess what, Wendyyy? It's time for dinner. Hm?" She caught a glimpse of a cat's shadow in the window light, but it was gone. The Contessa walked in front of the window and saw nothing. In reality, Carla was now clutching the edge of the sill as tight as her paws could.

The kitten pulled up to peep into the cell, watching as Contessa took Wendy off the web, wrapped her up, and set her on her bulbous behind. "Master Churchill wants a recording of the dementors sucking your soul. We'll record it along with Dr. Facilier and Madame Rouge. And as for Floop… well, that'll depend on Master Churchill's decision." The spider woman crawled out of the room and slammed the door. The echo of the door seemed to sound from outside. Carla looked down and noticed the stairs leading up and around the tower. Contessa was coming down them with Shadow Guards at her behest.

They were then walking across a wall on the side of the central yard. Carla jumped off the windowsill and flapped her wings to soften her fall. She chased after the guards and warden, tailing close behind without making too much noise. When one guard turned around, Carla gasped and hid behind a broken part of the stone fence. The guard returned beside his friend, but this gave Carla an idea: she grabbed a lone rock off the ground and threw it down to the island surface over the fence. The guard came back to investigate the noise, while Carla climbed across a thin ledge under the fence, leading to another broken part. She could then sneak behind the guard, run up, and do a brief Torpedo Spin that knocked him over the edge. It seemed vulture-crow hybrids didn't fly well.

They turned a corner on the wall, and Contessa was about to crawl down some stairs leading to the center yard (but if she's a spider, taking the intended path seems unnecessary). Carla saw a cat-size hole in the ground, and a similar hole further head. She tossed another rock back and dove into the hole. When the Shadow Guard came to look around, Carla quickly crawled through the small tunnel and out the other side, viewing the backside of the guard as he peered into the hole. With catlike reflexes, Carla ran up his back, grabbed his vulture head, and pulled it into the tiny hole. Carla crawled out the other side again, and the large bird frantically flapped its wings, unable to get his big beak out of the little hole.

I'll never be able to do that again. Carla thought, quickly catching up to the Contessa. The spider woman crossed the central yard, approaching a sealed door. Carla grabbed the Lamia Scale and held it up as she quick-walked closer to Wendy. The child showed no signs of motion, and her dull red eyes stared at Carla. Carla hated seeing her master in such a state, and hoped above hope that returning Wendy her wand will refuel her with power and confidence. The second Contessa stopped to begin unlocking that door, Carla reached up to give Wendy her wand, expecting a reaction.

"Caw!" An ordinary crow flew down—Contessa launched a web from her butt, pulled it down, and snatched the bird before sinking her teeth into its flesh. Carla ran behind one of the lamp posts as fast as her heart beat. The Contessa looked around and raised a brow. "Hmph… useless guards." The Contessa pulled out a red wand with a spider web design and opened the spider-shaped lock. She crawled in the building with Wendy bouncing on her behind, not hearing Carla crawl into the door before it closed.

The Contessa crawled down a wide flight of stairs, leading into the prison's basement. Carla noted the webs on the diagonal ceiling, spiders crawling around them. She wondered if they were Contessa's children. These spiders hung down in attempt to bite Carla, so she maneuvered around them. At the bottom of the stairs, the Contessa entered a very large room with more webs on the ceiling, dementors, and two of those silvery-white spider Patronuses were on the webs. There were web mummies hanging on them, too, likely the Contessa's victims. Madame Rouge and Floop had been brought here. (End song.)

"Contessa!" one of the Aurors yelled. "Dr. Facilier escaped from his cell! His and Wendy's wands are missing!"

"What?! Weren't you interrogating him?!"

"I-It was right after we went for break!" he stuttered. "Er, but don't worry, Miss!" As he talked, Madame Rouge saw Carla in the darkness on their right. "When we called Master Churchill, his answering machine said he was on a tea and golf break. We have plenty of time to catch-"

Rouge stretched her legs and kicked the Aurors away. She puffed her arms and broke off her cuffs, but when she tried to stretch and grab Wendy, the spider woman shot a web up to the webbed ceiling and pulled herself up, along with Wendy. Contessa stuck the wrapped-up child to the webs. "No one steals MY dinner! Dementors, attack!" She snapped her fingers and made her Patronuses vanish.

When the phantoms flew down to dine on the rubber woman, Sonny and Donna burst out of Rouge's fat area. "The Comical Twins are here to SAVE THE DAY!"

"Lovely, you brought some more morsels." Contessa smirked. "But no child can bear their will against the dementors."

"Expecto Patronum!" The raven Patronus flew in and scared the dementors away. Dr. Facilier jumped between Contessa and his friends. "Laura, take the twins and Carla outta here! I'll save Wendy. My Patronus will protect you from any more of them."

"You really think you can win?" Rouge asked.

"I mighta got my ass whupped before, but that's because my cane reduces the full power of my Devil's Wand. Now that it's out in the open, it's ready for action!"

"Now, hold on!" Carla shouted. "I'm staying here and helping Wendy! And don't try to tell me otherwise."

"I know I am not staying." Rouge remarked, grabbing the twins. "Do not die on me, Harvey!" She raced out of the room with the raven Patronus following them.

"Aren't you going to stop them, Floop?" Contessa glared.

"Actually, I'm feeling a little gassy!" Floop's body puffed. "Oh, Floop." The balloon popped.

"Fine, you can help." Facilier said to Carla. "But stay back and let me wear her down first."

"What kind of creature is the Contessa, anyway?"

"I am an Arachnimorph." Contessa replied, keeping her hand on Wendy as she stood on her web. "We are spiders who can take the shape of humans."

"They're a despicable race." Facilier said with a scowl. "They pose as humans and go out on dates with real humans. They lure 'em back to their cave for 'dinner', and guess what happens next."

"Sadly, there have been advances in anti-disguise charms. My people keep getting discovered, and we cannot land any decent meal. However, I was lucky enough to find a friend in one of the World Leaders. Now I have a full-time job where I can have all the food I desire, and for a good cause."

"A good cause, my tail!" Carla retorted. "This prison is a nightmare house! Using these horrid phantoms to eat the souls of your inmates?! Let alone an innocent child like Wendy! Do you really find pride in this?"

"Why not? You humans are as despicable as us spiders. Stealing and slaughtering others for petty gain. There is a reason prisons were created. And scum like this little troublemaker…" Contessa bent her head over Wendy's gloomy face and rubbed her cheek, "will atone for their sins in mine and the dementors' bowels. –AAAHH!" Facilier shot her with a fire spell that made Contessa drop to the ground.

"The only scum in this room is YOU!" Facilier yelled. "Wendy never had any reason for being on them posters, and if the Government didn't have mindless idiots like GUN at their disposal, she wouldn't be here! We're getting out of here as soon as I kick yo' ass!"

"Don't think I'll go down with a simple giant newspaper!" Contessa got back on her feet. "I may be a spider, but I am an excellent witch. You know how most wizards can only cast one spell at a time? Well, my Spider's Leg allows me to cast eight spells at a time!"

"So that's how you had two Patronuses active. But we'll see how your eight spells compare to my voodoo!" Facilier moved the skull and crossbones on his hat over his face. "I hope you're ready, Contessa!"

"You think you're the only voodoo master in here? All you're doing is burning carbs. And I like my food spicy!" (Play Sally's Song from Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge!)

Boss fight: La Contessa

Facilier shot attack spells at the spider woman, but Contessa jumped to his left and shot three web balls. The doctor flipped right and shot a Leg-Locker Curse at her, tying the Contessa's eight legs as she fell forward. She shot up to her ceiling web, pulled up, then aimed her bottom at the ground to shoot out eggs. Baby Arachnimorphs crawled at Facilier and jumped on him, but his shadow ripped them off quickly while the doctor stomped them. "Facilier, Wendy!" Carla shouted, pointing up frantically when Contessa was going to eat the child.

"SHADOW, GO!" The doctor sent his shadow up to grab the woman by the neck and tug. Contessa clutched Wendy and tried to bite her, but the shadow gave a forceful tug and made her fall to the ground. Facilier ran at the spider to kick her, but Contessa recovered and gnashed his leg in her teeth. Facilier kicked her, but the spider's grip remained firm as the pain in his leg grew. "Sectumsempra!" The second he cast the spell, Contessa broke away, and Facilier ended up cutting his own leg.

"AHH!" He slouched. "Augh… that's gonna need stitches."

"Seeing that blood only makes me HUNGRIER!" Contessa hissed, crouching down like a predator. "I WANT YOU!" She lunged again, but Facilier blew her back with a Reductor Curse.

"Facilier, we need to cut Wendy down!" Carla shouted.

"Not when I'm around!" Contessa blew the smoke away with a wind spell. "I'm giving this place a makeover!" Her wand flashed, and thick spider webs as wide as logs popped out around the walls. Facilier was pushed against a wall by one of them, dropping his Devil's Wand. He flinched when Contessa dropped onto his web, close to his face. "The only people who could use a Devil's Wand is one who's sold their soul to a Devil. And you accuse me of being evil?"

The wand flew back into its master's hand as he aimed it at her head. "I put my past behind me." He said before shooting her off, then burning the web with fire. "But I still keep in contact with old friends!" Facilier grabbed a vial of pink liquid from his jacket and smashed it on the ground, creating a pink explosion. Colorful designs moved along the walls as voodoo dolls and tiki masks emerged from them. Contessa scoffed and shot Sectumsempra to slice the dolls, Reductos to destroy the masks, and Protego to shield herself.

She saw Facilier casting fire spells to burn the thick webs, then Contessa launched a web over to catch him and throw him against the wall. Contessa leapt over, grabbed him, and tried to bite his neck, but the witch-doctor dodged his head left and right before Shadow tackled her from the side. The spider used Lumos Solem to scare the shadow off, and Facilier whipped an assortment of attack spells that Contessa was quick to defend. The spider-woman shot a web to the ceiling, swung across, and knocked him down.

Contessa jumped off and shot a swarm of large spiders out of her wand onto Facilier, who grabbed his Flubber and spun around with it to catch and throw them off. The Contessa shot a web at the end of the Flubber, but Facilier whipped it back, pulling the spider's web and making Contessa fly over as well. Facilier punched her across the jaw, and Contessa returned this by scratching his face with her arm-legs.

One of the spiders she conjured landed next to Carla, who also noticed the web column leading up to Wendy. Carla hopped on the large spider and rode it like a bull. "I don't know the Spanish word for 'spider', but you better do what I say! Now, take me up to Wendy!" The spider did as told and crawled up the web. Carla took the Lamia Scale out of her satchel and held it up to her. "Child, here! Your wand, please take it! Please!" She poked her face with it. "Wendy, why aren't you moving?! Did they already take your soul?!"

"No, they haven't, yet." Contessa hissed as Facilier had his arms around her neck from behind. "But I told you a child's will can't last long in the dementors' presence."

"That doesn't mean we can't bring it back!" Facilier yelled, punching her head against the ground and hopping off. "I didn't want to in case the others still needed it, but I'll chance it. Expecto Patronum!" He shot his raven Patronus up to float by Wendy's face. Its light reflected off her eyes.

"You think that'll help?" Contessa whacked Facilier with her butt to knock him down, and when he tried to get up, she flashed a hypnotic beam from her eyes and made him dizzy. She blasted a spell that made him flip up into the air and get stuck on the ceiling web. The Contessa crawled up the wall, excited to dine on his flesh. "…Oopsie!" Facilier perked when a bottle of green liquid fell to the ground and shattered, causing a larger current of the green ooze to float up and encase his body. It burned the Contessa's arms when she tried to touch him, and burned the webbing so he could drop free.

"What is that?" Contessa questioned.

"Voodoo magic condensed into liquid!" Facilier spoke as his eyes and the inside of his mouth appeared flashy and colorful, complimented by the magical skull mask over his face. "You never know when you might need some!" The entire room glowed an eerie green as he controlled a wave of stitches and sewing needles. Some wrapped around Contessa's legs while others began to cut up the web binding Wendy. More tiki masks appeared and floated up to attack Contessa.

"Expecto Patronum!" The warden cast four spider Patronuses to keep the tikis at bay. "You know Patronuses work on voodoo creatures too, right?" The Contessa shot the Jelly-Legs Curse at Facilier, followed by a magic web that tied him up. "Forget about sucking her soul, I'll just eat her now!"

The raven Patronus was still flapping around Wendy's face, but it was chased away by two of the spider Patronuses. The Contessa grabbed her own head and pulled it back like a hood, revealing her true, hideous face with pinchers oozing venom and eight red eyes. Wendy's conscience was coming back thanks to the Patronus, and she saw a blurry mass looming over her. "I'll send the dementors after your soul in Hell."

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Wendy's blurry vision saw a smaller figure jump onto the Contessa's head as the spider shook. "If you lay a single leg on her, I SWEAR I'll kill you!" The small figure bit Contessa in the neck.

"C…Carla…" Wendy's vision became clear to see the little kitten on the hideous spider.

The Contessa grabbed Carla in both her arms and hissed at her. Carla was helplessly struggling. "I suppose you'll serve as an appetizer." She opened her mouth to swallow Carla whole.

All of Wendy's other senses returned that very moment. "CARLA!" She was able to get her arm free of the cut web-wrap, grab the Lamia Scale that was dropped on the ground, and cast Expelliarmus to knock Carla away just before Contessa's teeth snapped. The spider hissed and crawled over to pick her up by the arm. "You wanna die first?!"

"Not today!" Facilier whipped his Flubber to pull Wendy over. "Sectumsempra!" He blasted the white slice to chop off Contessa's right arm.

"AAAAHH!"

"You think you're a bringer of justice with this job, Contessa?!" The Shadow Man yelled as a tornado of liquid voodoo spun around him. "Sapping the love and joy out of people until there's nothing left?! I don't know what sick thoughts you're thinking to make those Patronuses, but you don't deserve them! I may have done bad things and have a fondness for Dark Arts… but if I do any worthwhile thing, it's givin' this girl a reason to be happy! And if YOU got a problem with that… you can take it up with my Friends on the OTHER SIDE!"

With a wave of his wand, the voodoo spirits swarmed Contessa, attacking her from all sides and trapping her in a whirlwind. Dr. Facilier performed a dance to keep the spirits coming, preventing Contessa from recovering. When the doctor did a splits, the voodoo exploded into colorful fireworks. The dark room turned back to normal. Contessa lay defeated on the ground, her wand rolling away from her spidery claw. (End song.)

"Hoo…huff…" Facilier gasped for breath, his skull mask dispersing. "Been a while since I did that… Lemme getchu outta there, Wendy." He ripped off the rest of the web covering her and helped Wendy to her feet. "You okay?"

"I am…"

"Child!" Carla rushed up and jumped to her master's chest.

"Carla!" Wendy hugged her back.

"Hate to cut the reunion short, but we need to go! Can you walk?"

Wendy took a step forward- "Mmm!" her leg faltered. "My legs feel numb…"

"Harvey!" Madame Rouge broke into the room, and some Aurors' unconscious bodies flew in with her. "Your Patronus disappeared!"

"I had to use it to save Wendy. Sorry if I worried you. Laura, I need you to carry Wendy and Carla!"

"Alright." The woman stretched her arms to grab both girls.

"Where are the twins at?" Harvey asked as they hurried up the stairs.

"They're in the center yard. We better hurry, the dementors—" When they got outside, they saw a cloud of dementors surrounding a center. Sonny and Donna were in this center, and the dementors caused the ground to freeze with their presence. The Ice Climbers looked as dull as Wendy did moments ago, their bodies steadily covering in ice. "Secure the island!" Aurors were swooping in on broomsticks, landing on every wall and tower. "The prisoners must not escape!"

"Expecto Patronum!" Facilier tried to cast one from his wand, but the light came out in an impure mist. "Darn it! I used up too much power just then."

"Dr. Facilier, the twins!" Wendy yelled with worry.

"Hold on! What are they doing?" Carla asked.

As the dementors were slowly moving closer to them, Sonny and Donna weakly looked up and smiled at each other. "Hey, Donna…?"

"Yes, Sonny?…"

"…It's really… cold here, isn't it?"

"…Super cold…"

Both siblings slowly reached and locked their mittened hands. The ice encased their bodies, their brown hair turned white, and their hands glowed with their Ice Chi. They raised their hands up, slammed them on the ground, and the entire prison island froze solid. It began to snow, and the Aurors shivered. The ocean around the island was also frozen. "…Well, that was something." Facilier remarked, having protected them with an anti-freeze spell.

Madame Rouge stretched over to grab the twins and pull them through the dementors. They went up the stairs to one of the walls and found the side of the island their yacht was parked, jumping off and racing to the boat. Floop was waiting for them. "Well, we were all set to go, but then the ocean froze! What happened?"

"These kids did it." Facilier indicated the twins, whom Rouge dropped on the floor, still making dull smiles. "My guess is they got a power boost from the dementors. Never seen an icebender do that."

"Well, can they unfreeze??"

"Don't worry, I've got another idea." Facilier ran down into the storage hull and opened a crate filled with potions. He found a blue one and drank, restoring his energy. Afterwards, the doctor ran back onto the deck and shot fire down into the frozen water, opening a hole for him to dive into.

"Mr. Facilier!" Wendy yelled.

"I swear, zat man is more insane than Brain sometimes." Rouge said.

"What's happening to the boat?!" Floop yelled when the vessel began rumbling.

The Old Orleans was lifted by the tentacles of a giant squid. The squid's head rose above the surface, and Dr. Facilier was standing on it, clutching his wand in his teeth, folding hands above his head, and swaying his head to a mystical, banjo-like tune. "He's controlling the squid!" Wendy remembered when he did this to the Racatan at Orchid Bay.

The giant squid smashed through the frozen ocean and out of the gates to Azkaban. More Aurors were hovering on brooms and casting spells that made water spires sprout up, so Facilier had the squid maneuver around them. The dementors were catching up, taking the form of a dark cloud, but since Facilier couldn't shoot a Patronus like this, he kept the squid moving. The squid had to dodge around reefs, whose presence was only indicated by waves crashing into them. Once the reefs were passed, a small fleet of GUN navy ships started to fire at them.

When two more GUN ships were coming up ahead, Facilier had the squid set the yacht down on their right, then he jumped onto the deck, letting the squid crash into the ships in its last seconds of hypnotism. "Just about every wizard-owned facility has a giant squid in its waters. Is the Apparator functional?"

"It is!" Floop responded.

"Good, then I'm getting us out of here!" Facilier jumped at the controls and set coordinates for the Apparator. "We're going to Iceland!" He pressed the activate and opened a spiraling green portal in the sea ahead. The yacht sailed inside and was gone, leaving the pursuing dementors in confusion.

Ocean close to Iceland

The boat popped out of the other end of the portal, on a peaceful sea and clear night sky. "Sigh…" Wendy sat on the deck and rubbed her legs. "My legs are sore…"

"Perhaps they're just cold. I'll warm them up." Carla hugged her master's legs.

"Hm hm…" Wendy smiled at the gesture. "…Carla, your wing!" She noticed the hole in her right wing.

"Oh, right." Carla looked at the wing and flapped it. "Well, I guess I won't be much help to you now. I'll just be a hindrance."

Wendy grabbed the kitten and hugged her to her chest. Tears dripped onto Carla's head. "No you won't. You saved my life… I'll always want your help."

Facilier, Floop, and the Ice Climbers smiled at their moment. Madame Rouge kept her usual scowl, but she watched them nonetheless. Wendy looked up at each of them. Dr. Facilier, Mr. Floop, Madame Rouge, Sonny and Donna (whom were still partly frozen with white hair). "…I'm sorry… for causing so much trouble for you all."

"It ain't yo' fault." Harvey said. "Besides, someone had to teach that hag a lesson."

Carla gasped. "Oh, no! I completely forgot about Chelia! W-What if she's still-!"

"She isn't." Wendy said. "That World Leader came to my cell… he told me Chelia wasn't there. They took her somewhere else to suck out her God Chi."

"Well, we'll find her, Wendy." Floop said with promise in his voice. "We'll find where they're keeping her and rescue her, too. She'll be added to our group… and I'm going to make us one hell of a sitcom!"

"Is that the only thing on your mind??" Carla giggled.

"What? I have creator's urges, what do you expect?" he asked with a shrug. The group exchanged in slight laughter, except for Madame Rouge, who sighed at the simple attempt at humor.

It really is just like Fairy Tail. A family I didn't know I had. I hate to ask this of them… but I hope they never leave my side. I'd like to meet more people like them, too. … It was then Wendy remembered Cheren.

Symphonia; Bald Mountain

Medusa, Thanatos, and Pandora approached the dark mountain where dementors roamed. The mountain whose odd shape was in actuality the folded wings of the Song Demon, Chernabog. Pandora was in her god form, a black and blue flame with a face and halo. The Goddess of Chaos unleashed a beam from her mouth that exploded the mountain.

"Chernabog wakes up once a year on La Melody Extravaganza." Medusa recapped. "But until then, he must rest to recover his energy, robbed from him by the Three Goddess Bells. If he were to awaken before the one-year mark…"

A shadow appeared in the smoke. It was shaped like a baby with horns and small wings. Chernabog crawled out… the terrifying demon had the appearance of a baby. An adorable face with chubby cheeks, and his innocent glowing eyes made him look cuter. He crawled up to Medusa, who was the size of a doll compared to the big winged baby. Medusa smirked as she proceeded to finish her sentence: "He's going to be very cranky."

Medusa decided to flick his young nose. Cherny felt the slight tinge of pain. "Buu buu bu…" Tears welled up in his shiny yellow eyes. The cranky demon cried out his feelings. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The earth around Bald Mountain cracked, and any mortal within ten miles went deaf.