Inside the prison, the alarm blared as a young woman walked calmly through the halls, completely unfazed by the chaos around her. Guards rushed in from every direction, but they barely slowed her down. One after another, they were thrown aside, caught in bursts of purple smoke and sudden explosions that sent them crashing into walls and sliding across the floor like ragdolls.
From the drifting smoke, she stepped forward with a stern, focused expression.
She wore a magenta coat that faded into darker purple at the ends, paired with long purple boots wrapped with black straps. Her silver hair was tied into a low ponytail, with two loose strands framing her face, and her light purple, almost pinkish eyes stood out sharply against the dim prison lighting. A small brown charm bag hung at her waist, filled with who knew how many spells and tools.
Without breaking stride, she reached into the bag and pulled out a glowing orb. With a quick flick of her wrist, she tossed it to the side. The orb detonated on impact, and the blast sent another group of guards flying backward, clearing her path even further.
One guard managed to reach a reinforced door and tried to slam it shut in her face. It held for about a second before the metal began to dent inward under pressure. Then, with a loud crack, the entire door blew off its hinges and slammed into the far wall.
She stepped over the debris without hesitation and continued forward until she reached the final cell.
A faint smirk appeared on her face as she brought her hands together, a bright magenta glow forming between her palms.
"Fallum Quarca Daminigan!"
The moment her hands touched the door, the spell detonated. The cell door tore free from its frame and crashed aside, leaving the entrance wide open.
She walked in.
From the far end of the darkened cell, a familiar voice echoed out.
"Charmcaster. I've been waiting."
"Hey, major jailbreaks aren't exactly easy to pull off, you know," Charmcaster replied, brushing a strand of hair aside as she stepped further in.
"It would have been easier," said the man with a tone of annoyance, "had you not restrained yourself again, my dear niece. The guards still breathe."
"I'm not going to kill people for doing their job!" Charmcaster argued.
"And that is why you will always be weak," scoffed the man. "You're too sentimental, just like your father was."
"I take that as a compliment," Charmcaster said defiantly.
"Don't talk back to me in that tone," the man threatened, his eyes briefly radiating with power. The figure in the shadows shifted, then stepped forward into the dim light.
Hex revealed himself, his eyes glowing with a sharp yellow light that reflected his irritation. "Or you will suffer the consequences."
Charmcaster's confidence immediately faltered. She lowered her head slightly.
"Yes, Uncle."
"My staff."
Charmcaster quickly reached into her charm bag again and pulled out the staff, holding it out with a nervous look.
"The magic must have drained out of it or something," she said. "It doesn't work. But I swear, it's not my fault."
Hex said nothing at first. He simply extended his hand.
The staff flew out of her grip and into his, as if it had a will of its own.
"Its powers can be brought to life only in the hands of a master magician like myself," Hex said, his tone sharpening.
Without warning, he raised the staff and fired a beam of golden energy past Charmcaster. The blast split in two mid-flight and struck the guards rushing in behind her, knocking them back before they could even react.
"Now," he continued, turning the staff slightly in his hand, "to find the Keystone…"
His eyes narrowed as he examined it more closely.
"Strange… a part of my staff is missing."
He turned it slightly, inspecting the end. It was only a small section, part of the base, but it was clearly gone.
Hex frowned for a brief moment, but then dismissed it with a quiet breath. As far as he was concerned, no one else could truly use it anyway.
"The moment of alignment is nearly upon us," he said.
Without another word, he lifted the staff and fired at the wall beside them. The blast tore through the reinforced structure, opening a path straight to the outside.
He stepped forward, and Charmcaster followed close behind.
"Once I complete the ritual and claim its power," Hex continued, his voice carrying a quiet, simmering anger, "I will take my revenge on those who imprisoned me in this festering sewer."
With a simple gesture, he lifted the broken door and debris out of their way using telekinesis. Then, without slowing down, he and Charmcaster rose into the night sky through the opening, leaving the battered guards behind to watch helplessly as they disappeared into the darkness.
...
Elsewhere, out on a highway bridge in the Nevada desert, a retirement bus hung dangerously over the edge, swaying just enough to make everyone inside panic harder than they already were.
The elderly passengers shouted and clung to their seats until they suddenly felt a hard jolt from both sides. A moment later, the bus slowly shifted back into place, dragged to safety by Four Arms, who had braced himself against the rear and pushed with all the strength he had.
Once he had pulled the bus fully back onto the bridge, Four Arms ripped the back door off and looked inside at the frightened senior citizens.
"It's okay, everyone. Everything's alright now," he said, already turning to leave.
That would have been the end of it, except the passengers immediately started complaining that he had not helped them down, that their backs hurt, and that their butts hurt too. Four Arms sighed and started helping them out one by one, clearly wishing this had gone a little differently.
Back inside the Rust Bucket, Gwen sat with her laptop open, still researching magical artifacts and old legends. She had been looking up things like Stonehenge, dream catchers, charm bracelets, and all kinds of strange, magical objects before her eyes drifted to her old Lucky Girl mask sitting nearby.
"Lucky Girl…" she muttered with a sigh. "I wish you were more than just another Halloween costume."
In the back of the RV, Evan was quietly reading the new descriptions of his new upgrades, his gaze moving back and forth as he took in the details of the updates.
"So this is what those two new functions can do…" he murmured.
The first ability, [The One Who Rules Over The Dead], let him see and interact with ghosts, but that was not all. It also allowed him to subdue spirits and undead creatures after defeating them, making them obey his commands. On top of that, his attacks would deal more damage to those kinds of enemies now, and the ones that submitted to him could apparently be summoned later if he needed them.
The second ability, [Sun Eater], let him absorb solar energy, store it as energy, and then use it however he wanted.
A little later, Ben walked back inside with a long groan and dropped down like he had already had enough for one day.
"Ugh," he sighed. "Sometimes this hero stuff gets way old."
"You should be proud of yourself, Ben," Max said. "Those folks would've been in a real pickle without you."
"I know," Ben said, scratching the back of his head. "It's just that I'd like one normal summer day where we can actually sit back and do nothing, you know? Like Gwen."
Gwen immediately straightened up and glared at him. "You should appreciate the fact that your power is permanent. I only got to be Lucky Girl for a few hours."
Ben blinked. "Really? That was it? Because with all the bragging you did, it felt like weeks."
Gwen reacted by angrily tossing a pillow straight into his face.
She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, then glanced toward Evan, who was sitting farther back in the RV, idly spinning a pen between his fingers while thinking through new ways to mix and combine his powers.
"If only Evan hadn't let his watch eat those charms, I might still be Lucky Girl," she muttered, still holding onto a little bit of irritation over that.
"Sure," Evan said in a flat tone without looking up. "And if I hadn't absorbed those charms, we might not be sitting here right now."
Gwen opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. Because he was right. If he had not done that, Vilgax might have killed them.
Her frustration deflated a little, and she sighed before leaning her head down in defeat, knowing her cousin had a point, whether she liked it or not.
"Honestly, the worst part of that whole bus thing was when those old grannies wanted us to go with them to some boring magic convention in Las Vegas," Ben said with another sigh. "As if."
That made Gwen's eyes widen in sudden interest.
"Magic convention?"
...
Out in the middle of the desert, far from any city lights, a fire burned steadily against the cold night air. The wind moved the sand in slow waves around them, but the flames remained unnaturally stable, as if they were being held in place by something more than just fuel.
Hex stood before the fire, his staff planted firmly at his side as he began chanting under his breath. The tone of his voice was low at first, controlled, but it gradually grew louder as the magic built around him.
"Darkara Dorokey Aghosto!"
The flames reacted instantly.
They twisted upward, stretching and folding in on themselves until they began to take shape. Slowly, an image formed within the fire, flickering but distinct. It resembled one of the Charms of Bezel, its outline glowing faintly as it hovered within the burning projection.
Hex's eyes narrowed as he focused on it.
"Keystone of Bezel," he commanded, his voice steady but filled with intent. "Reveal your location to me!"
For a moment, nothing changed. Then the image shifted.
The charm dissolved into a wider projection, expanding into what looked like a map. Lines and markings spread across the fire's surface, and at the center of it all, a single glowing point appeared, pulsing faintly to mark the Keystone's location.
Hex allowed himself a small, satisfied smile.
"Found you."
Behind him, Charmcaster let out a quiet breath.
"Well, there you go, you know where it is now," she said, already taking a step back. "It was really nice seeing you again, Uncle Hex, but I should be going now."
She turned and began walking away, clearly hoping to slip out before his attention shifted back to her.
Hex's eyes flashed yellow as he turned sharply toward her. Without a word, he raised his staff and fired a blast of magic at the ground in front of her.
The explosion cut her off instantly, knocking her off her feet. Charmcaster grimaced as she pushed herself to her hands and knees, only to see her intimidating uncle hovering over her menacingly.
"You will leave my service only when I say you can," Hex said, his voice cold and absolute. "In fact, I have a task for you."
"A-a task?" Charmcaster stuttered nervously.
"In my current state, I am ill-equipped to face the likes of that blue cat," Hex said. "That is why you are going to retrieve the Charm of Bezel for me."
"Me? What can I do that you can't?" Charmcaster asked worriedly.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure something out," Hex responded coldly.
...
In Las Vegas, the gang parked outside Caesar's Palace, where the magic convention was being held.
They stepped inside and immediately found themselves surrounded by cheap card tricks, gimmicky stage props, fake disappearing acts, and a bunch of LARPers sitting at a table playing Dungeons and Dragons like it was some kind of grand illusion show. It was, in Ben's words, exactly the kind of thing that made the whole place feel less like a magic convention and more like a joke.
Gwen let out a long groan as she looked up at the banner overhead.
"Magician of the Year Expo? It's just a bunch of cheap junk and gross-out tricks! I thought this was going to be magic magic. Not cheesy magic."
"Well... We got this information from a bunch of old people who said 'magic convention,' not 'real magic.'" Evan began in a flat tone. "Getting our hands into some real magic in this junk yard is like searching for a needle in a haystack."
Gwen shot him an annoyed look, clearly wanting to argue, but she did not have a better comeback ready. And he had a point, which only made it worse.
Ben pointed toward one of the display tables with a scoff.
"Hey, look. Fake bugs in ice cubes, fake barf, fake dog puke."
"Yeah, we get it, Ben," Max said with a sigh. "Still, as long as we're here, we might as well look around."
Gwen huffed, still disappointed, but followed the others deeper into the convention hall.
They eventually made their way to the Magic Jewels section, where a shopkeeper sat behind a display of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and all kinds of glittering trinkets while reading a book like none of this was particularly exciting to her. Gwen walked up to the counter and looked over the selection.
"I don't suppose you have any real magical artifacts?"
The shopkeeper barely looked up. "What you see is what you get, honey."
Gwen kept scanning the table anyway, expecting nothing of it at first. Then her eyes stopped on a blue-and-gold bracer with a familiar red-and-black keystone set into it. It shimmered faintly under the light, and something about it immediately caught her attention.
Without thinking too hard about it, she slipped it onto her wrist and looked up with a small smile.
"I'll take it."
Max and the others turned toward her.
"Gwen, you found something you like?" Max asked as he came over.
"Yeah," Gwen said, still looking at the bracer. "It kind of reminds me of-"
Before she could finish, a scream rang out from outside.
Everyone in the group looked up at once, then bolted for the entrance.
Once outside, they saw a smoking helicopter wobbling wildly out of control while an escape artist in a straitjacket dangled helplessly from a rope attached to it.
"Help!" the man shouted.
Max's eyes widened. "Something tells me that's not part of the act."
He looked toward Ben and Evan.
Ben narrowed his eyes toward Evan for just a second, almost as if waiting for him to make the first move. Evan only stood there with a tired expression, which made Ben sigh.
"I know, I know," he said. "Hero time."
The helicopter lurched again, then swung sharply enough to sever part of the power lines above the street. The dangling escape artist screamed as he tried to keep from being thrown off. Stinkfly was clinging to the underside of the helicopter, doing everything he could to stabilize it.
"Everything's under control!" he shouted.
Then the tail fin snapped off and started spinning down toward the crowd.
"Or not!"
The metal blade spun straight toward Max.
Gwen gasped and ran for him. "Grandpa, look out!"
But Evan moved faster. He stepped in front of Max, at the same time, Gwen threw herself forward, and the bracelet on her wrist suddenly flashed with light.
"Royal Guard!"
Evan blocked the spinning blade, sending it flying back and stabbed into a nearby tree. Gwen leaped and tackled Max out of the way in one smooth motion, landing hard on the ground, although the danger was already taken care of.
Max blinked in surprise as he looked at her. "Gwen, how did you do that?"
Gwen glanced at the bracelet, then gave a smug little grin.
"Just lucky, I guess."
Then she ran off before anyone could question her further.
Evan didn't know what to say, whether Gwen's acrobatic skill kinda reminded him of when she still had that lucky charm, how he suddenly sense mana spreading from her, or it was the fact that she did all of that only to basically just tackle Max on the ground, as the spinning blade had already been dealt with by him.
Above them, Stinkfly was still hanging from the helicopter and fighting to keep it steady. He spit goo from one side of his mouth and attached it to the helicopter's frame, then fired more from his eyestalks, coating part of the building beside them and turning the whole area into a sticky trap.
"Hold on just a few seconds longer!" he shouted.
The rope finally burned through.
The escape artist screamed as he dropped from the sky.
"Not good!" Stinkfly said, diving after him.
At that moment, Flame Wingman appeared from below, jumping up and catching the falling man before he hit the ground. His single wing flapped once, he spun before descending, and landed on the ground, letting the man down onto the ground.
The crowd erupted into louder applause as the escape artist was finally safe.
"Hey, so glad to see some backup finally came," Stinkfly said, looking up at Flame Wingman.
"I thought you were faster." That one line hit harder than Flame Wingman probably meant it to.
Stinkfly gave him a look. "Uhhh, I don't want to hear you complaining when you came late."
Then the two of them flew off, leaving the scene behind.
A few seconds later, Gwen stepped out from the Rust Bucket in her Lucky Girl outfit, only to stop dead when she saw everything was already handled.
She stood there for a second, then pouted and turned back toward the RV, clearly annoyed that she had just missed all the action by a few seconds.