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Chapter Text

Prologue

Opening his eyes, uncertain where he was or what was happening but he found himself surrounded by an icy wasteland, couldn't see anything beyond the blizzard that swirled around him. His amber eyes could hardly see anything at all. The last thing he remembered was going to bed.

Held his hands up in front of his face to keep the wind and debris out of his sight to find anything familiar with. Wearing his grey and white shirt and black pants, only wearing a pair of red shoes, his hair was light copper red and soft spikes stuck out to the sides. Taking a few steps to wherever it was he was going, but anywhere is better than this storm. "Uhh, where am I? Mom! Dad! Riku! Anyone!" Calling for anyone he could find, but no signs of anyone.

The storm slowly died down, he could see a faint shadowy figure slowly appear through the storm.

Then another.

Three more appeared.

Several and many more until the storm died down and he was surrounded by a vast number of the black creatures, their eyes were bright yellow and had bone plate extensions, all had white skull-like masks over their upper faces, there were numerous types of them. Some looked somewhat like wolves, baring their sharp teeth and snarling at him, could see several warthogs, giant scorpions and numerous large avian creatures cycling around them. He could also see a lot dark robed figures standing alongside the monsters, they had a ghostly appearance wearing armour, unable to see their faces at all with some wearing masks and had some strange weapons. The young red head felt his heart beating faster, not liking the way they were all looking at him, waiting for the moment to swarm in like a pack of hungry predators. He was frightened, no weapons to defend himself or how to use magic. No one knew where he was for that matter, and there were no signs of escaping. But what caught his attention, up at the edge of the cliff were a group of several figures standing there. Each had a weapon that looked somewhat familiar to him, but couldn't quite tell where.

Then he heard a rasping high pitch roar that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on ends, crouched down to cover his ears to block out the noise as much as he could. Whatever made that horrific sound came from the vast horde, signaling many to make slowly their way towards him.

"Oh crap!"

This was bad and there was no way to get out of this. They were coming closer and closer, bearing teeth, fangs and claws at him. The cloaked figures drew their weapons, unable to make up what they look like from a distance and too cold to think, but he could see them baring those ghostly eyes at him which were really creepy.

RRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!!!!

Something just swooped down and fire speared into the coming horde, instantly incinerating the creatures before they had time to react. The fire blocked them, he looked up and there was a large dragon breathing a huge gush of fire at the black birds that tried to attack it with their numbers by their side, however it didn't stop the dragon from going further. With its powerful fiery breath and talons, they were torn to shreds and burned alive, plummeting down towards the horde. The dragon flapped its large wings to stay in flight, gave another roar in victory of its battle and turned its attention towards the boy, now trapped in a ring of fire.

He wasn't sure what's going on and about what was going to happen. It was a powerful and serpentine built with crimson and orange coloured scales, long lashing tail with a majestic tail fin. It again released a breath of fire into the creatures that managed to pass through its flames until it moved closer to the red headed boy in a protective manner. Slowly descended and landed in front of him, staring at him with its reptilian eyes, uncertain what was going on but felt as if he knew the dragon somewhere.

He was about to approach the mighty beast without hesitation...

"TAREN, WILL YOU GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED, THIS INSTANT!?"

"WAH!" Waking up and gasping when suddenly waking up to find himself in his own bedroom. Sprinted forward in bed, breathing heavily and sweat, realized he was only in his pajama pants finding out it was all a dream. And a frightening one if he ever had one, but was glad it was just that.

"Damn, that was some weird dream." The boy murmured under his breath. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, his heart started to steady its pace and decided to get up after being woken up by his mom. "Coming mom!" Answering her call before she gets mad. Whatever that dream, nightmare or whatever it was, could not be as scary than his mother when she's mad would be enough to frighten him.

Getting dressed and getting breakfast while it was morning, putting on his clothes and sorting out his light jacket. Walks out of the bedroom and makes his way down to the kitchen to see his mom doing some dishes and breakfast. "Hey mom."

He smiles at her until she turns around, causing the teen to shiver a moment revealing her dark red hair that came down to her shoulders and a curvaceous figure, and ocean blue eyes, wearing a white top and black pants. This was Kairi, one of the Seven Princess of Hearts and keyblade master who once took on many adventures with her friends and loved ones, now a wife and mother with a family to raise. Whilst in her early 30s, she still appears youthful and well shaped for her age, possibly due to the training and magic for one of the key factors to stay active, which would come in handy of raising a family.

Taren was born sometime after the Keyblade War and his parents married soon after they were old enough, born and raised in his family's home, Destiny Island. Although not shown any magical traits, he was still a young teen and already inherited some from his father's thirst for seeing other worlds unknown. Making it one of his goals to one day leave home to travel when he's proven himself to others, even as a kid he was using a wooden sword to practice his skills, people started to believe he was becoming the image of his father.

Smiled sheepishly at her, scratching the back of his head. "S-Sorry, I forgot to put my alarm clock on."

"Honestly, Taren waking up isn't so difficult. It's almost 9 in the morning." The mother sighed and couldn't be mad at him for that. Handed him a plate of boiled eggs and toast, along with some milk. "Sometimes, you are just like your father when he was your age." She sighed and ruffled his hair, much to his embarrassment.

"Mom!" Lets out a soft groan, earning a giggle from Kairi. "Speaking of which, where's dad?" Taren asked his mother.

"Both your father and Riku are outside at the training grounds, you may get some chance to do some training with him." Kairi said, knowing it would at least keep her son busy for today to do something besides lounging around in the house. "Finish your breakfast before you go and don't take too long."

Smiles with excitement and grabs his bag with some food before he runs to the door. "Thanks mom! I'll be back later!" Shouting from afar as he ran so fast before she could make him breakfast.

"Wait! Taren, your breakf-" She stopped when she noticed the toast she made for herself was missing, easily concluding that he snatched it up in his hand. Before she could try to catch up, she suddenly stopped and felt her mind racing with images flashing before her vision.

Hordes of black creatures with bone white armor.

A shadowed figure with a metal arm.

A young girl, with fiery red/orange hair and blue wings, also a serpentine dragon made up of fire circling around her.

A demon with a human-like body, horns and spikes protruding out of its body possibly riding a demonic steed.

Her son, wielding a keyblade challenging a large gorilla-like monster.

The Unable to understand what they mean, but Kairi clearly felt they were trying to show her what was going to happen. And she didn't like what it showed her. 'Just... what were they? Are these visions or something?' Mumbling to herself while steadying herself from falling over, rubbing her head as it felt normal again. "Maybe, I should talk to Sora when he gets back." She could be just over reacting a little and that they could've been anything.

Taren walked through the woods, had his hands in his pockets. The teenager wandered through to make way to the training grounds his parents made when they were younger and now it was used for him to get started on his training. Ever since he was very little, Taren couldn't help but dream of traveling to other worlds and hopefully wield his own keyblade to save people after hearing many stories of their adventures. Being only 15 years old and already felt as if he wanted to do something bigger and better than being a normal teenage boy.

Stopping in his tracks he began to think about that dream, or should he call it a nightmare, felt so real: those monsters, the things in cloaks that look somewhat like the undead and those figures standing by the cliff looking down at him made his spine chilly and couldn't escape. And that dragon, it was like he knew it somewhere before, like it was familiar to him. Truth be told, this wasn't the first time, more like third and it got even weirder and creeper with the monsters and that dragon being a new one. 'Whatever that dream, vision, or whatever it was. It was the weirdest dream I ever had.'

"Heads up!"

Snapped from his cloud of thoughts when out of nowhere, he was caught in a strong vice-like grip and lost his footing, and then tossed over several feet before he fell to the ground hard. Thinking fast, he quickly got to his feet and saw a coming swing of a long object coming down at him, Taren threw himself to the side and thinking he could take his opponent by the side but not fast enough since he got struck by a reverse-elbow strike in the stomach which caught him by surprise. Coughed up a little as it didn't hurt too much but caused him to fall on his knees to clutch to his sore chest until he slowly recovered, looking up to see who it was that attacked him. "Letting yourself wide open again? Come on Taren, didn't we teach you how to get out of this a few weeks ago?"

Muttering under his breath he realized who attacked him and was his uncle. Turns his head around to see him and glared at him for a dirty trick. "Ugh, seriously? Couldn't you just try NOT to kill me? That was a dirty trick to attack me like that."

Riku chuckled at his nephew's response after giving him a welcome, letting go of the young teenager and helped him up on his feet. "That's the whole point, you never know who you are facing and how to act in battle." Giving the young red head the basic understanding of self-defense, even if the training has to be rough for the boy but was only fair to make him learn. "But, you did good to dodge the sword, but you need to think fast otherwise you'd be dead. Thought you could attack me by the side." Giving the basic idea of what he was going for and seeing it like an open book.

Taren fully recovered and stood up, looking up at his uncle and mentor to listen to what he did and should not do. "But, didn't expect you to be back home from Radiant Garden, did you finish your trip?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, but it was only just to check things out, nothing for you to worry about, kiddo. Now to wait for your dad."

"Yeah, late as usua-'' Interrupting his sentence when he heard a rustling noise coming from the trees and a large shadow sprinted towards them, not wanting to fall for the same trick twice the teenager ran towards the approaching figure and raised his foot.

Riku watched what was about to happen and instantly knew who and what it was. "No wait, Taren th-"

"HYAAH!"

It was too late, and his foot planted hard into the face of the attacker, using the strength of his legs to leap off and land back to the ground with ease. Grins at Riku after what he did. "How was that? Seems I did better this time." He said with a more confident tone this time. What confused Taren was when he saw a nervous look on Riku's face.

"Yeah, but I think you might wanna look at who you kicked."

Blinked his eyes in confusion until he found out who it was. Causing his face to turn pale and trying to give a pleasant-but very unconvincing smile. "Ugh! Oh crap! Uhh... h-h-hi... dad." Looking at the twitching and slightly bruised Sora, rubbing the footprint that was on his face and sat up. He had grown much taller and now gained a strong build from the years of using a keyblade and training. Hardly changed a little but his hair still has the spiky hairstyle from his childhood.

"Ow, jeez, either I'm getting a little sloppy or you started to get a little better." Getting himself up on his feet and seeing his nose wasn't broken. "A little rough, don't you think?"

"Hey, Riku just caught me by surprise so I didn't want to fall for the same trick twice." Giving his reply to his dad, relieved he was not too hurt but feels like it would not get him out of trouble.

Sora rubbed his chin and looked at his son, having to admit that was a pretty good kick and how he was learning. "Well that was the basic idea. So, guessing you just woke up then."

"No, had breakfast." Taren replied back, but seeing the looks on his dad and Riku's faces proved they didn't buy it. "Ok, so only a few minutes ago. I kind've overslept." Nervously scratches the back of his head.

Riku starts to chuckle and smiles at Sora. "Oh yeah, he's definitely your kid, Lazy Bum."

"Hey, I haven't slept a lot since I was a kid. And only Kairi can call me that." Sora retorted, he just grew out of the habit, or in everyone's case, Kairi didn't want him to sleep to do some activities as a husband and father to his family.

Riku sighed and shook his head before returning to other matters. "Yeah, anyways let's just get started. You brought the stuff right?"

"Oh yeah, here they are." Sora walked to the bush behind him and pulled out three quarterstaffs for combat training, handed them over to Riku and Taren to get started.

First up was Riku against Taren, starting off slowly to allow him to learn using it. Striking him with both ends and how to block them, it was tricky when being in a defensive position. Getting hit in the chest, shoulder and knee a few times until he slowly got the hang of it but Riku was more experienced in combat when Taren tried to get into an attacking position. Thrusting his staff towards Riku a few times until he managed to build up speed caught him off guard, forcing the silver haired keyblade master to take a few steps and could see the sparks in his eyes to beat him. Taren anticipated it and locked his staff with his, swept his left foot but Riku anticipated it and jumped before swiping the staff away to maintain his stance. What Taren didn't notice was the corner of Riku's lip arched as the younger learner was struck from the back and lost his footing when he was suddenly spinning in mid-air and landed on the ground again.

The boy groaned and slowly got himself up on his knees, unable to comprehend how that happened when he just had Riku wide open. Rubs his he saw his dad behind him, holding his quarterstaff. Confused by his reasons and dusted himself. "Wha...dad, why did..."

"Attack you when facing your opponent?" Sora gave his response, seeing the look on his face that answered his question. "It's because you focused too much facing your opponent but never thought about keeping your guard up at all times if they had back up." Giving a lecture to his son before helping him up.

"That was unfair."

"You're right, it isn't." Riku said. "Not every foe or opponent you face will fight fairly on even grounds. Some rules you have to overlook in order to win. But you seem to have the idea of trying to get me into defense but seem a little off."

"Something bothering you?" Before he did his little stunt, Sora noticed something wasn't right with his son and was concerned for him.

"I-It's nothing dad, I can go for another round." Trying to keep his family out of it, thinking it was only a dream.

Neither of the two adults didn't buy it and knew from their years of experience it was always there for someone, even wanting to be supportive to Taren when he's now a teenager. Sora sighed and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Taren, no reason to hide anything we're here for you."

The copper haired teen felt a little hesitant until he figured they weren't gonna stop until they know what's up with him. He sighed, and figured why not. Giving them about whatever it was he was dreaming for a while, the horde of monsters, hooded creatures and a dragon.

Sora had a thought of it, since the part of being surrounded by a vast number of monsters sounded like when he and his friends, Donald and Goofy were facing thousands of heartless back in Radiant Garden or was originally Hollow Bastion years ago. "Well, that's an interesting dream."

"No, it felt so real! I don't know why I keep having these dreams but almost like... it was trying to tell me something." Rubs his head to think of it.

Riku was quiet and thought about what they mean, they had years of experience with magic and all things that would've been considered impossible. "Well, I guess we..." Something drew his attention, uncertain what it was but made him stare out in the woods for a moment before turning back to Sora. "Uh, Sora why don't you and Taren head off someplace with more space, I'll catch up with ya."

Sora was confused about what he meant but didn't question him. "Yeah, sure. Come on, son."

"Wait, you sure? Why not-"

"Do as your father says." Riku said with a harsh tone, something that made the boy flinch, never hear him talk like this unless it was something serious. "Now go!"

Taren didn't wait a moment longer and walked alongside his father as they headed off, something must've really spooked him. Watching them leave in a safe distance, summoning his keyblade and glared at the same direction from before and feeling something wasn't right.

Meanwhile the father and son wander through the woods to find a place to continue their lessons, but Taren couldn't help but wonder what made Riku so worked up back there.

"What was up with Riku?" Asking his dad who for some strange reason didn't respond and continued on. "Dad?" This really made him felt uneasy, something was definitely not right. Decided to stop and called out for him again. "Dad!"

This time, Sora stopped and turned to see his son calling out for him. "Wha... sorry, I was a little distracted." Apologies to Taren for ignoring him, but his son didn't seem convinced by it.

Taren could read him like a book and wanted to find out what. "Don't think that I don't know, you guys are hiding something so what's going on?"

"Son, now isn't the time, we need to get your mother and head to Radiant Garden-"

"Wait, Radiant Garden? I thought we were going someplace for training? What's going on?!" Taren glared at him with an inquisitive stare to get answers out of him. This was really confusing and frustrating, he didn't understand why his father would lie about this. Why were they planning to go to his mom's homeworld without him knowing?

Then suddenly, both heard a loud beastly roar that was not far from where the two were, watching birds take the skies for refuge from whatever scared them. The Keyblade master showed a bit of hesitation, knowing his best friend was there and worried about him but was more concerned for his son's safety. Knowing he can't get out of it now and deserved to know. Sora sighed and gave in. "Alright, when we get back home I'll explain everything but right now we have to get out of here." Grabbing his arm and not waiting for a second later, but before they could have a chance a black tear in reality opened up before them, blocking their path. Giving a mist-like appearance, almost similar to a corridor of darkness.

"What the..."

"Oh, l'm afraid I can't let you do that, at least not yet." Stepping out of the portal, a figure clad in a long robe that was entirely of dark earthly brown, unable to see his face but the lower half and grey beard. His arms were hidden behind his back when standing where he was, not taking another step since his entrance.

Sora stood in front of his son and summoned his keyblade before anything happened. "Who are you?"

The hooded stranger gave out a soft chuckle. "I suppose it has been many years since we last fought." Lifted his right hand to stroke his beard, only it wasn't a normal hand, but three metallic blades that made it more of a claw than a hand, connected to a reddish pink orb located to the base of where his wrist should be. "It was someplace we first met, many years ago... Domino, perhaps?" Smiling under his hood when knowing the answer.

Hearing the name caused the keyblade wielder to stagger for a moment, his body couldn't move and his eyes were wide as plates when the realization of this person hit him. Taren didn't know what was going on, but clearly it was to his father as though the name was familiar to him.

"No... it's impossible..."

"Dad? What's wrong? Do you know him?" Taren noticed how pale his dad was, could this guy be an old enemy of his?

The stranger's attention turned to the boy who called out to the spiky haired brunette. "'Dad'?" Taking a closer look, the boy indeed shares physical features to the Keyblade Master from the images of his youth, apart from the red hair. "Ahhh, I see, so much has happened since we fought." Before anyone could react, he brought out his metallic arm to use as a shield against the keyblade that almost had him. Only pushed back a few inches and saw the angry expression on the brunette.

"You won't lay a finger on him!" Sora roared forced him back and but felt the Kingdom Key caught in that clawed grip, preventing him from pulling it away until he pulled it away when a mass of arcane energy coming from the claw engulfed his keyblade and the wielder, trying to fight the pain but was suddenly thrown back by a few feet and landed roughly on his back. Before he could do anything, razor sharp metal tendrils sprouted out of the ground and held him tight

Taren could only watch as his dad was struck by some strange metal appendages that held Sora down. "Dad!" His body felt like he was hit by lightning, unable to move much until his body tried to recover. He could only think of how to help his father get up and find Riku and his mom.

"Taren, stay back!" Sora barked, causing his son to jump and look at him in worry. "Don't do anything, he's too strong for you. Run to your mother and get away from here!"

"B-But dad..."

What could he do, follow his father's instructions or help him, but the problem was he didn't have anything to defend himself but a wooden sword, which would be very unlikely to do anything to hurt this guy. But while he was caught up in his own thoughts, a large shadow loomed over him from behind. Raised its large fist and about to strike down where he was, but Taren was brought back to his senses when he suddenly felt immediate danger, swiftly dodged the coming fist and rolled to the side. Breathing fast as his heart pounded against his chest, unsure what happened or how, but it was as if he knew it was coming. However that was but a tip of the iceberg for something else truly shocked him that made his eyes widen in shock.

"N...N-No way...!"

A few feet from him, pulling its fist out of the crater it just made and standing on all fours with the arms for support, the thing was a large beast, twice the height of a human. It was some sort of gorilla but something was not right about it. It had pitch black fur, or skin since it was so difficult to tell, certain parts of its body was covered in bone-like plates like some sort of armor, its 'mask' or something that looked somewhat like a skull. Bearing its lower jaws look powerful and could bite off an arm with those things. Those cold yellow eyes staring down at him, as if they were seeing his soul.

It looked exactly like the monsters from his dream!

Staggering in fear, his body was quivering, it couldn't be.

It was only a dream!

Wasn't it?

"Th-That's... that..." Taren stutters.

"Incredible, is it not?" He turned to the man from earlier, almost forgot about him as he slowly approached him. "Not anything like the Heartless, but indeed a creature of darkness. A breed of creatures I have found whose sole purpose is to destroy and are bound to my will to serve." The corner of his lip raised and gave a sinister grin. "And what better way to test one of these specimens upon those who did THIS to me!" Raised his metal arm.

Sora couldn't let his son be in any danger, using his keyblade and his strength to break the metal appendages that held him to the ground. "That was your doing! And only yourself to blame for what you've done!"

"Be that as it may, but I still hold to my promise all those years ago." From a distance, both of them could see the ruby eyes under his hood and pointed his metal finger directly at the red haired teenager. "And I will start with your son! Kill him!"

Obeying his will, the beast of darkness started pounding its fists into its broad chest before making a monstrous roar and leapt towards Taron. Throwing its fists at its opponent to snatch or crush him to death, Taron managed to keep away from it and gain distance thanks to the months of training he received, but the problem was it was too damn fast and big to take on. Taren wouldn't stand a chance.

"Taren, I'm coming!" Sora couldn't let the creature hurt Taron, held his keyblade in both hands and came to save him but was intervened by the attacker who summoned it. Clashed his right arm against the Kingdom Key to take the blow.

"Don't think I forgot about you. We have unfinished business!" He proclaimed with the keybearer with a glowing red eye seen under his hood.

Sora glared at him, doesn't care about the vendetta this man held against him years ago, but won't let his son get hurt. Pushed away as he saw a blade made of metal appeared in his talon grasp, the two clashed their blades, determined to get past him and get his son away from him as fast as possible. Both exchanged blows and strikes, clashing their blades into each other to try and overpower the other. Sweeping the blade across and had him in the mid-section, keeping an eye out for any more of those metal tendrils that could pop out of nowhere. Conjured a lightning spell and blasted his foe who shielded himself creating a metallic shield, thinking it was too easy, but he underestimated Sora when he ran to the side with the back unguarded and summoned a hurricane, hurling him across the field. Groaned in pain and slowly gets himself up, glaring at the brunette for such a trick. "Damn, you." Gritting his teeth t

Sora had a soft smile on his face as his plan had worked like a charm. It was thanks for all the years of being a keyblade wielder that gave him more understanding of magic and improving his physical skills. Suddenly, out of nowhere something flew past him and landed hard into the ground with its legs sticking out, almost like the one from before but this one appeared smaller. Looked dead since it wasn't moving and began to slowly disintegrate into black mist.

Turned to where it came from and was relieved that it was his best friend, some scratches on his shoulder and arm but in good condition so far. "Sorry I'm late Sora, but I had some... uninvited guests."

"Don't worry, just glad you're ok." Before he could ask what that thing was, another portal opened next to his opponent, very likely his escape route.

Getting back on his feet and wiping the dust from his coat before he makes his way to the portal. "Appears I must leave you now, gentlemen but know this, I have other businesses to attend to. Watch out for the Grimm." Taking a step into the blackness, just before Sora could have the chance to thrust his blade into his chest but was not so quick. The portal vanished, leaving the two alone.

"Who the hell was that?" Riku was confused, uncertain what was going on after he fought those monsters and perhaps his friend had gotten some answers.

Sora turned to Riku, knowing he was confused but more concerned for his son's safety. Using some of his healing spells to fix Riku up but couldn't have time for they have other problems. "I'll explain on the way. But right now, Taren is in greater danger."

Not wasting another second and ran as fast as they could to save him. Hoping they were not too late.

The ape-like monstrosity has chased Taren through the forests, throwing whatever large heavy objects it can find as projectiles: rock, trees or anything heavy would do. Stopped its pursuit, grabbing the nearest tree and pulling it out from the ground too. Taren stopped and witnessed how strong that monster was, holding a large tree in both hands. Tossed it in mid-air and fell back down, not stopping but rolled faster towards Taren.

Taren managed to survive it by rolling himself out of the way before it could crush him. He was too sore and tired to keep going, fell on one knee to rest, only for the worst luck ever was he was at the edge of the cliff, nowhere to escape and too high to dive into the shallow oceans. He looked up at the monster that just slowly made its way to him. Feeling the rising emotion of fear taking hold, this thing from his dreams or nightmares, whatever the hell it was, is VERY real and is about to kill him!

Stomping its knuckles into the ground, approaching its prey and breathing through the nostrils.

'What can I do?! That thing's coming towards me! Dad and Riku couldn't be far behind! Mom is too far away and... Mom! She could be in danger if someone like that hooded freak is after both her and dad!' Hearing it coming closer, now louder he closed his eyes and started to doubt himself. All those years he looked up to his parents and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, see many worlds his family never heard or seen, meet new faces and maybe... someone who was right for him. It was stupid but he was a teenager who was starting to wonder about them and had hoped maybe...

"Don't give up Taren!"

Suddenly a woman's voice just spoke out, snapping him out of his sorrow and blinking his eyes. 'The hell?' Looking around to find who said that, there was no one but himself and the big brute, which was only a few feet away now. "Who... who said that?" Looking back at the monster, a moment ago he was just thinking how pathetic and weak he was. But, now it was gone, replaced by determination and beating the monster's ass. His eyes narrowed and slowly got up on his feet. Taren couldn't let this thing hurt anyone he cared for, this thing would go after his parents, his friends and anyone who couldn't. 'No! There's no way, I'm going down easy, if I'm not a keyblade wielder, then I gotta do something!' Giving the glare at the beast, balling his fists ever so tight and knowing he was going to do something incredibly stupid but didn't give a damn.

"Hey! You pea-brained bastard!" Calling out to the ape monster, which suddenly stopped and seemed to ponder what he was doing. "I don't know what you are or who that guy is..." Looking towards the monster, glaring directly into its glowing eyes as he continues. "But I'm not letting you leave in one piece. I'm gonna send you back to whatever hell hole you came out of! And I'll protect everyone I care for from you monsters! Including that old bastard! That's a promise!"

The growing sensation built up inside him, no longer caring how powerful this thing was but he was going to find that bastard and make him pay for threatening his family. Out of nowhere, a bright light came from below, forcing the red head to block his eyes with his left hand. "What the..." The light lasted only for a few seconds, confused of what was going on and then saw what was, and there in his hand was something that made him feel loss for words and felt his heart pound rapidly.

"No... no way... is this...?" Looked up for a moment and noticed the beast stopped and looked at him, for a second it looked somewhat more feral and mad, gave a snarl and unleashed a mighty roar, taking this as some sort of a threat. Hurled its heavy body in the air and came straight towards him, bearing its sharp fangs and tusks, its hands be used to attack.

From a distance a bright light engulfed the whole area, just not far from Sora and Riku who only just came to see something had happened, a pillar of light shot out from the ground, almost becoming some sort of a dragon flying high into the sky until it vanished to where ever it was going.

By the time they arrived, only found traces of a fight, yet no sign of Taren anywhere.

Sora had no idea why... but something told him that dragon-like spectra had something to do with his son. He could only hope Taren would be safe, where ever he is.

Opening his eyes as the redhead sat up, threw his head up to grasp for air. Taking a moment to calm down and try to remember what happened, he noticed that he was in some sort of large room, finding himself laid on a piece of furniture, trying to get himself to his feet but still sore. "Ugh, what just happened? Where am I?" That sort of hit him when he was someplace unfamiliar to him, but there were a lot of books, maybe some study but with knight armors, weapons in glass cases and several attires from different cultures, maybe historical items for display.

"Good of you to be awake, lad." Taren looked over and stood by the doors was a man, possibly middle-aged or older by his grey hair and a beard but appears to be in top shape by his strong frame, wearing a black long coat with red under it, clad in a black bulletproof chest and light armored strapped to his lower legs.

Taren didn't know who this guy was, he may be one of them that attacked his home and kidnapped him. "Who are you? And where am I?" Keeping his distance from the stranger, but was still feeling groggy after being attacked by those monsters. Showing no signs of fear, trying to find something to defend himself.

"No need to fear, you're someplace safe thanks to your parents." The man assured him, understanding the boy was confused and probably frightened. "But, I would rather not stand so sudden if I were you, lad. Attacked by Grimm isn't so easy to handle, especially a Beringel when they are always the most aggressive types."

Grimm? Beringel? Those names were unfamiliar to him, were they some sort of Heartless, he knew of some creatures his parents fought in the past but never heard of them. "I-I don't know what your-"

"I understand that you are confused, the Grimm haven't been active for a long time until recently."

Taren looked up at him, now wanting to know what was going on. "What are they? Some kind of Heartless?"

The man shook his head in response to the boy's question. "Not really. But they are manifestations of the darkness in some manner. But, we should get you something to eat first, probably famished while our guests are waiting." He turns to the door and walks out of the room, expecting the young boy to follow.

"Guests? Wait, uh, w-who are you?"

The man stops just by the door and looks over his shoulder to see him. "They call me... Macbeth."

Chapter Text

Taren followed the man who calls himself Macbeth, he was uncertain what was going on or where he was but all this man said something about being sent here by his parents, he knows nothing about this man or if he really was telling the truth. Still sore from that… Grimm? As he called them just now, caught up to him and decided to get some answers to find out what's going on and how did he know about his parents. "Ok, look I want to know where I am and who is it you're taking me to. I'm just confused of what's happening."

"Patience, you'll get answers from someone who can shed light on it." Arrived to a door, reached out to open it and allows the young man to enter the room first. It looked like a dining room, and somewhat fancy for a guy who must be rich to own it. But something else pulled his attention and saw an elderly man in blue ropes sitting by the fire and a teenager with short brown hair and dressed smart, these two weren't strangers to him and knew full well of who they were.

"Wh…Ben?" Taren pondered if it really him.

Ben turned to whoever spoke his name. "Taren? Wow, I can't believe it, your here too?" Couldn't believe who it was and smiled to see a familiar face.

"Yeah, I was gonna say the same to you. What are you doing here?" Taren asked him.

The brown haired teen named Ben and the son of Belle, one of the seven Princesses of Heart and Adam, formally known as Beast during a curse until it was lifted many years ago. The two first met when they were kids after Taren's parents came to see the newly formed alliance of countries known as the United States of Auradon, Belle suggested they volunteer to visit Kairi's homeworld as representatives after Xehanort was defeated. The two sons of the families became best friends since then with the common interest of seeing other worlds and keyblades for the adventure.

"Well let's just say it was something unexpected. After heading home from visiting my grandpa, when out of nowhere these monsters showed up in the middle of the street and starting attacking everyone." Ben told him of what happened to him. He sighed before continued his story. "Everyone was scared and confused, we thought they were heartless but looked nothing like them."

Taren's eyes widen upon hearing this, there was no way that it could be a coincidence that it was the same creatures he saw in both his dream and Destiny Islands. "Any of them had black skin or fur with white bone armour?" Seeing the shocked look on Ben's reaction that already shows he knew what they were.

"Yeah, you saw them too?"

Taren sighed, not a pleasant experience for him. "Chased and almost beaten like crap by one to put it simply. Plus, there was a hooded guy with this wierd metal arm that my dad and Riku seem very familiar with. Didn't get a look of his face, but all I got was a metal arm."

Yen Sid frowned softly as he realised this became more serious then he thought. "So Destiny Islands have been attack, my boy?" Drawing their attention when he spoke up after being silent all this time.

Taren know who he was as he was the oldest known master there was, told to be respectful to the wizard by his parents. Turned to face him to answer his question. "Uh, yes sir. I didn't get a look at his face, but my dad clearly did and blamed him for whatever happened to him of what he is." Never forgetting the arm and the Grimm he summoned, there were answers he needed to find out and what's going on. "I want to know who that bastard was and why he was after my parents?" But more then that, were they ok? But before he could ask another question.

Ben approached him and tried to calm him down before he could get a little anxious. "Taren, take it easy. I'm sure everyone especially your parents are fine. Master Yen Sid and Mister Macbeth can shed some light on everything soon." Ben assured him, knowing how he feels and worried about his family in hopes they're all fine.

"He's right, we've received reports that they are fine, but it was clearly a planned out to hunt down the next generation of Keyblade wielders. Mainly to draw you out for whatever he has planned." Macbeth said.

"Wait, hold on a moment, I'm starting to remember something now before I round up here." Taren brought his hand to his head as he was remembering what happened just now. "I was facing one called a.. Berin-Beringel right? That gorilla-thing, when it had me by the cliff, I… I think I summoned a keyblade. But before that, a voice came out of nowhere, that's all I can remember."

"Did it also have something to do with your eyes?"

One of his eyebrows rose up and looked at the prince, uncertain what he was talking about. "My eyes? What, what's wrong with them?"

Ben gave a nervous expression and gave a quick glance to Yen Sid then back at Taren. "Ok, well. Man, this is gonna be awkward." He sighed. "I didn't know how to say anything, but… they were always blue right?"

Blinking his eyes a few times to be sure he heard him right. "Uh, yeah, since I was born." This was weird, why ask such a weird question as for all he knew, he was perfectly fine and can see well. "What's gotten into you Ben?"

Macbeth coughed up to catch his attention, approached him and led the confused copper haired teen to the closest mirror in the room. "I think it would be best to see for yourself and try to remain calm."

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with m-" But when Taren took a step forward and looked at his reflection, instead of seeing a pair of blue eyes, they were amber. His eyes widen and completely freaked out. "AAAAHHHH! What the… how did… what the hell happened to my eyes!?" Took a closer look in the mirror to study the new eye colours of his eyes as they were different now, this was really strange and freaky for Taren, unable to understand how or why they changed colour. "Ok, this really turned into a whole new level of freaky." He mumbled to himself, not knowing if anyone could hear him but didn't matter right now.

"There'll be a time to find out, I'm sure Master Yen Sid will take a look. But we have more important matters to attend to." Macbeth said. "Such as when the third wielder to arrive."

Both boys looked at each other, wondering who else was a keyblade bearer. "Third?"

Just then the doors opened and stepped through was a young teenage girl, her style of clothing seem to have a bit of a purple, pink, and a little of green, even her shoulder-length hair was purple. Her green eyes studied the group and noticed two boys about her age but ignored them for now, turned towards the keyblade master. "Sorry was late after getting here. So I'm guessing these two I'm working with?"

"Taren, Ben, allow me to introduce Mal." Yen Sid gestured his hand to the young lady beside him as she gave a quick smile to them. "Mal, this is Taren from Destiny Island, son of Sora and Princess Kairi." Looked at the red head, a little intrigued by the eyes but quickly wore off. "And Prince Benjamin."

"You don't have to be formal with us, just Ben would be fine." Ben came up to her casually and offered to shake her hand. "But it's a pleasure to meet you." She stared at him with a bit of hesitation until she slowly reached up and took his hand.

Gives a small smile to him after shaking his hand "Pleasure." Then turned to Taren who did the same to greet her.

"So you're one as well?" Asked her when raised an eyebrow.

All they received was a cunning grin on the corner of her lips, raised her right hand and a flash of light formed. The guard had a pair of purple dragon-like wings curved around the handle, the blade was grey and had thorn-shaped curves in the middle of the blade is dark blue and forms two triangular blades that overlap each other and slant downward. Its keychain had a dragon-like head with two horns. "Does this answer your question? This is the Shadow of Redemption. Had this for a while now and learned a few tricks. So guessing you two must be newly chosen?

They were in both surprised to see a keyblade being summoned by the purple haired teen who demonstrated her abilities to them, however something had being bogging him just a while ago. "Wait a minute? You mention new generation? She has one. I have one…. Even you?"

Looked at Ben if he had one too, and by looking at the sheepish look and scratching the back of his head. "Uh… guess it's the reason I was brought here." Did the same gesture as Mal did and formed in his grip out of light was another. The shaft of the keyblade had a earthly-texture, dark brown and bronze edges, it had a wolf running up with only the head and front legs, the rest of it was in a curved tail at the end of the shaft was half a gear formed in a crescent-shaped curve, forming a row of teeth. The keychain was bronze-coloured and was a mix between a star and flower. "This one's the Beast Within. Not certain why, but maybe find out later."

"Whoa! So awesome, how did you get it?" Couldn't believe his friend had one, the wolf emblem looked like a nice touch. "So, how did you been able to wield it? Did it have something to do with the Grimm?"

Ben nodded but it wasn't something he liked, as it was still only recent. "It might have been, this man just as you described came to my home the other day. Master Yen Sid was present that day, warning my parents of the danger coming, when out of nowhere, Grimm started attacking." He stopped for a moment, a little hesitant to go on but continued his story. "My father didn't hesitated to give magic users permission to use magic defend the city despite the law of not using magic to protect the people from the Grimm until Yen Sid could conjure a spell to wipe them out. Without knowing, one of them, possibly a large bird came out of nowhere in the sky and was going for my mother." A pause in his sentence and balled his fists. "My dad was too far to reach her in time, I was so scared of losing her I just couldn't stand there and wanting to save her life. Then, without knowing, I took the Grimm down with a recently summoned keyblade before it could lay its talons on her."

"So you took down a bird?" Hearing about a bird Grimm seems familiar as it reminded him of the dream he had.

"Not just any, it was big, really big and all black with a white mask on the top of its face." Describing it to them of what he saw. "It was nothing like I ever felt, like this voice in my head told me to summon the keyblade to safe my mom. The Grimm were gone and then later was brought here for my safety."

"That's almost what happened to me, only I got chased by a large gorilla with anger issues." Taren said, having the feeling something big was happening and wondered what it is.

Yen Sid stroked his beard, pondering the possibilities of the nature of the Grimm. "Possibly a reaction were they felt the keyblade's light as a threat to them." It sounded possible when you think of it, turning his attention to Taren. "And I understand that you have been chosen by one such as yourself, young Taren."

Taren looked at him, confused by what he meant just now. "Wait a minute, me? But…" Brought his hand up to his head, trying to remember what happened to him before that bright light and the Grimm using his… Keyblade. "Keyblade? That's right! I actually summoned it at the moment after… well, after a voice." He muttered at the last part under his breath when remembering a woman's voice that gave him some confidence to fight.

"Pardon?"

"Uh, nothing. Forget it, I was just thinking of something else." Brushing it aside after the wizard asked him. "Yeah, so I really did summoned a keyblade just when I was cornered and felt this strange power suddenly surged through me." Trying to recall how he first did it and the lessons his parents and Riku told him about. "Wish I knew how, everything happened so fast." Sighed as he put his hands in his pockets, but then he felt something in his right pocket, his fingers traced it with his fingers as it felt like a chain. "What the…" Got a hold of something and pulled it out of the pockets. In his hand was a gold/silvery chain with a black shuriken-shaped star with other side of it light. "A keychain?"

"A keychain that is part of a keyblade, symbolising that you truly indeed wielder." Yen Sid proclaimed after seeing it in the astonished boy's hand.

His eyes widen in realisation of what was in his hand, trying to find the words "So… this is part of my keyblade?" Couldn't believe he really has one, one of his greatest wishes to be just like his parents, the sudden moment of thinking about them, probably worried sick to death of his where abouts and no doubt his dad wouldn't hesitate to just jump the chance to find him anywhere across the cosmos. Clutching the keychain in his hand a little and turned to the two elders for answers.

"Just, what are these Grimm exactly?" Taren asked him, knowing the other two would be thinking the same thing.

"They are a creatures of pure darkness, much like the Heartless as you may know about." The three nodded their heads, both the boys were told about them from both their parents and been often told how they came to be. "These are much different from them, unlike Heartless, the Grimm are not formed from a person, but darkness itself. They hunt by sensing the negative emotions, come in various forms which make them a dangerous threat."

"The Grimm had been dealt with before by containing them in their own world, but now. They are free and able to spread across worlds to wreck havoc and chaos." Macbeth frowned, not taking it well for the recent growth of sightings on other worlds. "But what is frightening is they are under control of a very powerful, and dangerous man who should've died years ago but survived."

"Who is he exactly?" Ben asked him.

Taren also wanted answers himself. "Yeah, seems whoever or whatever he is, he sure had some personal vendetta against my dad over something that happened to him."

"Indeed he has, for he is Tezzeret." Allowing them to absorb the info of the new foe. "Not long before your birth, Tezzeret was affiliated with a group of dark forces from another dimension know as the Magic Dimension, a realm much like ours with magic is very strong, exists alongside our own but difficult to travel when protected by a veil to keep outsiders from entering it, only the most trusted masters for many centuries since then are the only ones who know of its existence, protecting its secrets from those such as the Organization XIII, and especially Xehanort. But, it was then until it fell into a crisis by forces known as the Ancestral Witches whose desire for dominion over their realm." Explaining the events that happened.

"Kinda sound like the Organization and Maleficent. But if what you say is true, how were they to accomplish that?" Taren asked him.

"Well, we would like to know IF you give him a chance, red." They turned to Mal who took a chair and had one leg crossed over with her arms over her chest.

Realised he may have cut in without knowing and felt embarrassed. "Uh, sorry."

However, the wizard took no offense to the boy's curiosity. "It's alright. But you are correct about how they can achieve this. To conquer a whole dimension with many worlds in the Magic Dimension they needed something very powerful and to do that, they invaded a planet called Domino."

Taren blinked his eyes and widened when he suddenly realised the name of the planet was what the hooded man spoke about. "Domino? Wait, that's the place that Tezzeret guy said when he last met Dad and fought him there!"

"Indeed, a battle between your father and him, before its unfortunate demise." Yen Sid's tone was low and solemn, lowering his head when speaking of it as a painful memory.

"What do you mean by that?" Mal asked him, confused by what became of Domino.

"You see, many years ago we received contact from their world by the Company of Light, a group dedicated to protect their realm from the hands of evil such as Tezzeret and the Ancestral Witches, an alliance of powerful foes posed a threat to our worlds so we formed an alliance to turn the tides in our favour, earning the praise by the kingdoms for our heroic deeds and selfless acts to protect the innocent." Yen Sid explained to them of what happened. "Tezzeret was leading a group of followers under his command and invaded Domino, challenging its king over the power of the Dragon's Flame. His powers were strong and could've defeated him with his dark magic, but didn't expect Sora to make a timely arrival and saved the king's life."

Listening about how his father saved someone made Taren felt proud of his dad. But, something didn't seem right. "But what made him so determined for vengeance?"

Yen Sid frowned softly. "I'm afraid I know little of what happened, only your father knows what happened and he was presumed to have been killed. However, the moment of peace didn't last when Domino was destroyed." Their eyes widened in shock to find out that an entire world destroyed. "There were no survivors on the surface, or any life. Nothing but snow and ice." Unable to continue and ended it there, not going any further. "We had helped saved the dimension, but not able to save a planet."

"And Tezzeret came back after so many years for vendetta?" Taren pondered.

"Hmm, unfortunately we have not found anything. But it was no doubt, he was hunting you three for a reason. That is why you have been brought here for safety until you learn to wield the keyblades." Making the statement of training the three to master their weapons to defend face a greater foe like the Grimm and Tezzeret.

"Wait, you mean we can't go back home?" Ben asked him, not certain how long they were going be here to train.

Macbeth frowned. "Hmm, afraid so. When you three came here, I immediately cast a protective shield surrounding this area to hide our pressence on a remote world where no one could find us. For the time being until somehow they can break through the barriers, we are on our own."

Hearing the news that they were unable to return to their homes did not sit well for them, each of them probably began to wonder if they'll ever get home and see their loved ones. All because of Tezzeret and the Grimm. Taren didn't take the news so well as the others, the last thing he saw was his mother at home and his father being attacked by the bastard who brought the monsters to get to him. Taren lowered his head, trying to keep his frustrations under control after everything that happened so fast.

He gave them his question. "When should we start?"

They all looked at him in confusion, Macbeth only raced an eyebrow after hearing his question. "You really want to go through with it?" Asking him to be sure if he wanted to go through with it.

Taren nodded his head. "I want to learn how to use this power to help others and get stronger, if I've got a keyblade then I might as well need to use it. Plus, it may give me a chance to see new worlds and personally kick some Grimm butt." Giving a small grin at the corner of his lip.

"So will I." Ben smiles and placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder to give his support. "If Taren's then I'm in."

This earned them an approval smirk to Macbeth of their honest answers. "I like the sound of that." But then there was one more. "And what about you, young lady?"

They turned to Mal who was a little quiet during the time. "Well… I don't know. Spending who knows how long with strangers I hardly know." Taking some time to think it over.

Suddenly Taren threw an arm around her shoulder, startling the girl when she saw his smile when earlier was a gloomy. "Come on, it be great! My dad told me that adventures the best part of the experience."

But Mal suddenly grabbed his wrist and called forth her Shadow of Redemption, pointing it dangerously close to his face. "Guess he never filled your head about respecting one's personal space."

Taren's face paled and turned blue, tries to wiggle out of her grip and make a mental note to avoid getting her mad. Remembering his training and slipped his hand out of her grip and took a few steps backwards to gain some distance. But before either the elder keyblade Master or Macbeth could separate the two, a bright flash brightened the room, only a moment but what they saw amazed them of what was in Taren's hand.

The keyblade had two light brown colored wings with orange tips at the end sprouting from the top of the guard: one into the form a flame up and the other down, the guard has a golden dragon curling down to the side of the handle. The shaft was dark brown with the curved blade to flow with the sprouting wing and at the top had three wing-shaped teeth in a curved formation.

Taren studied the blade and awed by it's design, this was really his keyblade.

"Light's Rebellion"

A soft voice spoke out, not sure where but somehow it meant this keyblade's name.

"Wow, that's your keyblade?" Ben asked him, finally able to see it and glad.

Taren gave a bright grin and held it up. "Guess so, this is the Light's Rebellion."

"A fitting name for a purpose." Macbeth couldn't help but grin and now knowing this boy is one of the three who have awoken their keyblades and have a chance to fight back the darkness. "Now that you all have summoned your keyblades, I can say we will begin your training first thing tomorrow morning. You may not have time to commence the trials yet, but we will begin our journey to the Magic realm in a few months time after you mastered much of your powers to face Tezzeret and the Grimm horde."

"We?" Mal asked him.

"Indeed, Mal. May I reintroduce Macbeth, an old friend of mine, long time ally to the Keyblade Masters, and your mentor. He will observe your training and report back to me once you reach the other side of the veil." Yen Sid informed them.

"And you better be prepared, for this will unlike anything the three of you have ever faced in your lives."

6 months later

With the three newly chosen wielders began their training to master the power of the Keyblades, observed by Yen Sid of teaching while Macbeth trains them in the arts of combat, adapt to any situations in battle and know their foes. Macbeth believes in extending one's abilities then to rely more on magic and their Keyblades should they be unable to summon or run low on energy, which the elder sorcerer was most supportive as it could extend the potential of their strengths. The three slowly began to understand the use of the keyblades like a sword and part of themselves, proven to a challenge when they all sparred against Macbeth despite not having one himself, but a capable warrior with many years of experience beyond the trio. To keep them safe, they stayed in a remote area with a magical barrier to cloak their presence.

With just over a month after training to use the keyblades, they began to learn how to use magic and use of the elements. Mal had proven to be the most adept to the subject but seems to keep herself a little distant of opening up to her male companions, the mentors knew she was keeping something to herself and hardly spoke much about her past. Yen Sid sensed some negative aura within her magic, but seems to be at a manageable level that they will need to observe more. But has developed some sort of sibling-relationship with the two, mostly towards Taren since the first day.

Taking note that the prince of Auradon was chosen was a certainly one to be gifted, given that his mother is one of the seven pure lights. Indeed he shows traits of his mother's kind and selfless and his father's strong will to do what is right. Both wanted their son to reach such potential and knew he would be a great leader to his people, proven such as at times when Taren and Mal would argue and became the voice of reason, able to put their childish acts aside during their training. But despite such times, when the teenagers were not training, they took time to know one another and begin to form a bond between one another.

It was during the months of training Taren became more adept to wielding the Light's Rebellion using the agility and speed for use of combat, so far his magic more connected to nature elements, giving him the advantage of sensing one's presence within the perimeter, but has yet to reach its limits. There was no denying that the boy was indeed strong with magic, this was discussed not long ago with the boy's parents that he may perhaps inherit such magic when the time the balance between worlds is threatened. With the training and sparring he received over the years from his parents and by Riku, his swordsmanship has indeed proven great. One of the things he has not yet understand was why his eyes changed colour, some theories about it could have been some unknown magic he unlocked when summoning the keyblade, but so far nothing has happened to him which is a good sign. But over time, Taren grown use to them and found them a nice look for him.

Despite the fact that after months of living away from their homes and not seen their families, the new wielders appear to have slowly adjusted well, both Taren and Ben had kept their promises to see their parents again someday and to stop the darkness from harming others as Keyblade wielders. This earned the some respect of Mal for their determination after getting to know them a bit more, especially Macbeth. They've also been tutored along the way to understand the basic things since school was not an option for the three while living with the masters. With news of the long waited moment to set foot into the Magic Dimension within moments, it was the day the three would then prepare for their journey.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Mal! Come on, we haven't got all day! I need to get washed and you take longer then the rest of us!" Taren gritted his teeth in annoyance that he had to wait outside in his sleeveless shirt and pants to get a wash in the bathroom, but Mal had to beat him to it. Grown a little tall, developed an athletic frame with a few faint cuts on his bare shoulders, signs of firm muscles developed on his fore arms from the training in order to face off the Grimm.

Opens the door a little for her head to poke out, smiling smugly at the red head. "Well you should've been here earlier, Bright Eyes. If you hadn't overslept like usual then you would've been ready." Having developed the amusing habit of teasing the red haired teen to see the look on his face.

For the past months Taren had grown use to her antics, even knowing how she sometimes drive him nuts is almost like being an annoying sister in some way "I was up having sparring when we lost track of time. The thing we've been preparing for months now that's finally arrived?"

"I know, but you take the longest to get up so that's mainly your fault. I can't go to the Magic Dimension looking like you when you just recently got out of bed." Before he could remark that comment, she closed the door on him. Grinded his teeth and had it. Summons his Light's Rebellion in his hand and aimed it to the doorknob before channelling his magic into it.

"Guys, come on really?"

Taren turned to find Ben at the end of the corridor, all dressed up, had put on a blue top that extended passed the waist, worn over the red shirt with a silver shoulder pad on the right, carved with the emblem that bear the face of a horned beast wearing a crown on its head. He had indeed grown a little and more athletic over the physical training by Macbeth. "And she does have a point, you are not easy to wake up when sleeping." Gave a light chuckle in response.

"So I'm a heavy sleeper!" Taren defended himself, raised his arms to respond to his statement, uncertain why that it was a big deal to everyone. Knowing this would get him nowhere and sighed. "Ok, I'll make breakfast as it's my turn anyway."

Mal once again poked her head out with a towel wrapped around her hair to dry. "Oh in that case, I'll have scrambled eggs with toast, and orange juice to add. Thanks!" Smiles and not giving him time to say anything when she shuts the door.

Taren looked at Ben who just sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you are making breakfast that was the deal we made after signing up for this. Each of us take turns of a simple chore to help out around the place." Reminding him of what they do as a way of getting to know each other and building up a bond to better improve their relations as a team.

Sighs as the copper red haired teen knew he had a point, decides to make way some to pass the times, not wanting to waste time in a fight or get into trouble with the masters. "Ok, I better get ready first as Yen Sid would probably want us ready soon." Heads back into his room and get dressed, wearing a reddish brown jacket with the waist line having a lighter, a brown shirt under it and what seems to be a claw bone wrapped around his neck, a pair of dark pants. All his things were packed up and made certain everything was here to be transported to the Magix, the place he and his friends will be staying for the time being taking out a photo frame showing him as a little boy on his dad's shoulders with a amused expression that was similar to Sora's while his mom was next to her husband, arms intertwined and smiling at him. Taren was lucky to have kept this in his bag and misses them very much, hoping they are ok and probably spend every minute trying to reach him. But that was something he hadn't realised; do they know where he was going? Going to another dimension was different then another world or planet. Least in his knowledge they were ok, keeping the worlds safe from the Grimm as they started to appear on a number of worlds keeping the Keyblade masters occupied. "Don't worry, mom and dad. I'll get back to you in one piece."

"Now that you are prepared and ready for the journey. In the past several months of training, you have now begun to understand how to use your keyblades and know what you will face." The Wizard stood before the three apprentices as they were all dressed and listened to the elder for their new assignment.

"So that means we're finally going? Great, but how do we get there as we know the connection between our dimensions have been closed off since the war." Mal asked him of how they were gonna crossover he explained that a barrier was up between them to prevent outsiders from breaking through.

Yen Sid nodded and stroked his long beard. "You are correct, with Earth's magic lost for centuries, it would prove difficult. Fortunately since it still maintains a strong connection between our dimensions, I was able to establish contact with the remaining members of the Company of Light, to crossover we will require someone from the other side to guide you through."

Taren smiled at the sound of that, believing this to a good sign. "Well that's good news. So lets get going." Eager to get going and know stop the Grimm.

Instead of seeing the smile on the Master's face, he let out a soft sigh for what they may not like to hear. "However, due to the risk of revealing our location to Tezzeret or the Grimm. We felt it was necessary to choose an alternative to meet safely. A student selected by a woman named Faragonda, the headmistress of Alfea school for fairies, will arrive to take you to Magix. You'll know when you feel her magical aura." Giving them the basic instructions of knowing who is to be their escort to the other side, providing them the image of a blonde haired teenager who is a student of the school and the same age as them.

"Sounds simple: find the fairy, get her to take us to her world and we get started of finding Tezzeret to stop him." Mal pointed out to know their plan.

Yen Sid nodded and "You'll receive a transport to reach the city known as Gardenia, that is your rendezvous point to meet her."

Taren looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Your not coming?"

"Macbeth will follow you shortly once he returns, I must stay here to assist the others and to temporally close the gateway to prevent the Grimm from crossing through. I am counting on all three of you to stop him, no doubt he may find the Dragon's Flame for whatever it is he is plotting."

"Don't worry, we'll stop him and find the flame." Taren nodded his head and made certain to succeed.

"I know. Taren, Ben, once I have managed to contact both your families is there any message you wish to pass on them as you may not return for long awhile." Asking them before they would leave.

Both the boys looked at each other and then back at their master. "Yeah, tell them we're fine and that we'll see them again." Ben told him, wanting to see his parents and hug them the moment he sees them again. Knowing his mother would cry her tears to see him again and his dad would pat him on the back.

"We are Wielders of the keyblades now, so it's our duty to save innocent lives just like them. So no worries, we'll come back and make them proud." Taren hopes they are ok and wanting to hear their voices again after months of training.

Mal had nothing to say for the moment and feels they should get moving. "Well, no one I know off to say bye to. But if you happen to run into a duck with a thick accent and in a kilt, make certain I'll come for him."

"A duck wearing a kilt? You mean Mr. McDuck?" Taren asked her as far as he knew someone from Donald's family with a thick Scottish accent.

"No, someone else. Just some little job I took some time ago." She waved it off, not knowing the grand master was eying the purple haired girl as he was clearly certain what she meant by that and would have to have a word with her sometime.

"One more thing before you leave, the people of Earth have not seen magic for centuries, so do not use any or summon your keyblades in front of them. And also to avoid drawing too much attention to the schools." Giving them the strict look on his face like a teacher who would sometimes discipline the students on their best behaviour. The three could feel a strong aura coming from him and dared not to say anything, even Taren and Mal wouldn't think of getting on his bad side.

"Uh, s-sure!"

"You got it!"

"Yes sir!"

With that done, they make their way outside for whoever the master had summoned to take them to their destination. It was still dawn and too dark to see anything through the mist until they see a tendril of smoke rushing towards them and suddenly stopped just a few feet from where they stood, the smoke formed into some old rundown looking cab, the trio were somewhat confused by the state of it.

"Well… this is our ride?" Taren asked them, feeling a little unsure about this.

Mal wasn't so keen about it either and looked a little grossed out by its appearance. "More like the one way ticket to the underworld."

"But it's a cab from one of those cities... New York city I think its called." Ben said while unsure why.

"That's probably it."

The window slid down, they were unable to see the faces but clearly three in black hoods. "You called for a cab, dears?" One of the drivers spoke, clearly an elderly woman with a rasping voice.

"Come on, come on! We haven't got all day!" Another elderly woman proclaimed, clearly impatient to get a move on. The three were a little hesitant but had to reach their destination in time. Mal came in first, followed by Ben and Taren who closed the door.

"We had this cab sanitised for your protection." A shorter one said who held the wheel.

Taren leaned forward to tell them where they want to be. "Uh, excuse me, miss? We need to get to a place called Gardenia?"

"Oh! A lovely place, pricey!" Under the hood, she gave a grin to reveal few of her old teeth. One of them set the taximeter on and immediately hit the acceleration to full speed, causing the trio to be thrown back against the seats. The drivers were not going steady and drove like maniacs, it was almost as if they were on a roller coaster ride and who knows how fast they were going with whatever was outside just flew past them.

"Maybe we should've taken a different route!" Taren didn't think this was a good idea, even the other two thought of the same conclusion had they known about these cab drivers' so-called driving. They found the seatbelts and wasted no time clamping them around their waist for their health and safety. They were heading towards a coming truck.

"LOOK OUT!" Mal screamed and pointed towards the front, the cab made a sharp turn without alerting the trucker or any harm came to them. She was so caught up in surprise she was unaware of her hand clutching to Ben's arm.

"Oh calm down, young witch. If we didn't know what we be doing."

"We wouldn't have a licence for this." One of them pulled her arm over and pointed her frail looking finger to the photos of the three drivers. They leaned forward to get a closer look at them: The first one had blue skin, a long beak-shaped nose, wearing a black cloak for the ancient frail woman. The second had a sickly green skin, few strands of dark blonde hair sticking out of her hood. The last one was the shortest of the trio for she had pale pink skin, three tendrils of green hair and had a single eye. But something they all had in common and spooked the keyblade wielders of what they were missing.

"Guys. They don't have eyes!" Taren realised with his eyes widened in shock. Looking up at the drivers before them who turned around to reveal themselves but the shortest driver had an eye and grinned at them.

"Enjoying the ride dearies?" The green one cackled like a witch and the wielders let out a scream in terror, backing away from the old crones by their appearances. Just when they thought things couldn't surprise them anymore, this was NOT what they expected.

Chapter Text

The run-down looking cab drove through the road like a speeding bullet, dodging the passing cars in sharp turns without slowing down, while the passengers so far... fearing for their lives after realizing who the cab drivers were and not feeling so safe with three old hags with only a single eye.

"Oh, I know! Didn't like how it showed my nose. Awful pictures." Lachesis didn't seem to notice that they were startled by their grotesque appearances as they were too busy driving,  tires screeching against the road as the cab made a sharp turn to the nearby corner. Tossing the teenager's onboard to the sides with each turn

"That we took when we set up this cab business," Clotho added after her.

"And we do so have an eye we make use to travel." Atropos finished while keeping her eye on the road. The passengers calmed themselves down until they realized they were on a busy road and saw a truck coming towards them and again screamed. "LOOK OUT!" Ben was the first to shout and pointed towards the coming right at them.

"Clotho, time to split!" Atropos exclaimed to Clotho. She reached out to the lever and turned it from one side to the other. The passengers behind them didn't know what was going on when the cab started to split between them and saw the truck up ahead, with Ben in the middle clinging to both sides for dear life and couldn't hold on to either side much longer.

"BEN!" Taren latched on to his arm and pulled him to his side of the cab right in the nick of time before he could've been a human pancake. The two halves of the cab returned to being a single vehicle and a great relief to the three.

Mal wondered. "You ok?" Trying to hide her concern for the brunette with the blush on her cheeks for bringing it up. He looked at her and smiled while keeping his breathing steady.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Taren." Thanking his best friend for saving his life.

Taren waved his hand while trying to hold on to his breakfast. "No prob."

"We pay extra for that option." Clotho pointed, and with that out of the way, they were still a little worried about the driving. "Let me use it and see where we are so far." She reached out towards Atropos and pulled the eyeball RIGHT of her eye socket before inserting it in her eye socket before turning to the bearers. "No need to be frightened. We haven't had an accident in 45 years."

"46, if you remember that time we were in Russia after making the wrong turn." Lechesis countered.

"Oh, but that was when we started getting used to driving. Not as difficult as keeping our eye since the incident with Perseus."

The three were a little grossed out at seeing her put that eyeball in her, Mal was the first to speak up while a little discomfort. "Uh, yeah, but I don't understand why the Three Fates of Olympus be-

"Doing a taxi service?" The Fates chorused, finishing his sentence.

"It's to expand the business for our services," Lechesis answered her question.

Taren had thought of something that may sound important. "Um, not to sound rude but shouldn't the driver get the eye?" That was something the other two agreed by nodding their eyes.

Mal eagerly nodded her head. "Yeah, there's health and safety regulations for that."

"Bah, she's doing fine." Waving her hand before her as if it was of no concern.

But Atropos had thought of what Taren said. "Hold on a moment, he has a point! The one behind the wheels should have the eye."

"You couldn't reach the peddle without those books!" Clotho responded, pointing her green finger.

Lechesis gave out a mocking "HA!" at her statement. "She didn't get us lost in the middle of the ocean floors on our first day." She suddenly receives a smack on the face by the back of Clotho's hand. The keybladers winced after seeing what the middle fate did. Lechesis gasped and glared at her. "Ooohh, you did NOT do that!"

"I certainly did!" Then suddenly all three of them were slapping each other even though ONE of them should be driving the cab and started arguing over who should have a turn with the eye.

"Gimme the eye! It's my turn!"

"You had it too long!"

"No way, you dropped it in the car and took us ages to find it!"

They were beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

"Oh, we're gonna die before we even started." Mal was starting to have doubts about this already.

Taren couldn't agree more. "Yeah, and all because over an eye."

Atropos pulled away while trying to get a hold of Clotho to prevent her from trying to reach for the eye the blue Fate had. "Oh pipe down." She proclaimed. "The prophecy said you will find the Dragon's Flame in the end."

The key blade wielders looked at each other after she said something about a prophecy. Did they know of the events beyond their dimension?

Ben was the first to speak out to know what this prophecy they were aware of. "What prophecy? You know of the Dragon's Flame?"

The Fates paused for a moment and looked at the teenagers when they inadvertently revealed what they weren't supposed to know. Clotho gave a nervous chuckle and was about to speak until both her fellow sisters clamped her mouth before she could say anything.

"Oh, no!" Lechesis narrowed her gaze at her. "Mortals aren't supposed to know their future."

"What about Hades? We told his future of wanting to overthrow Zeus." Atropos mentioned, Clotho agreeing by nodding her head.

"That was different! He's a god, but even he could not change his." Lechesis argued when suddenly Clotho smacked the back of her head, projecting the eyeball out of her socket, and bouncing all over the back seat as the trio tried to feel it, only to it bounce onto Mal's lap, causing her to yelp and swat it aside, Ben accidentally grabbed it but slipped from his fingerless gloved hands as it once again bounced against the window and landed on Taren's seat. Without hesitation, he reached out, grabbing it in his hand, ignoring the feel of it when holding it out from the pleading Fates that want their eye back.

"Give us back the eye!"

"Don't drop it!"

"It's all we have left!"

"Tell us about the prophecy, and you can have it back." Taren held it close to the window, making it as if he was going to drop it to earn a reaction from them, they could tell the Fates were a little hesitant and ceased their pleading.

Watching them huddled together, muttering and whispering to each other over whether or not they should give in to his demands. It didn't take long until they had made their choice and turned to the teenagers with frustration. "Oh, Alright, you win! So heed these words well 'cause we're only saying it once." Lechesis didn't like it, yet they could not afford to lose the eye. "To find the flame that lies within, the last child of Domino is whom you seek."

"And when the power of the flame be unleashed, so shall the army of darkness be freed." Clotho spoke out. "But only the strength of many united can challenge them."

"A word of caution for you to remember most important." It was Atropos' turn, narrowing her 'eye' at them to listen to her warning. "Should Tezzerat be defeated? The Fallen shall rise again."

Listening to the prophecy the Fates told them, yet it made no sense. Will they be successful in their mission? Or fail, and who was the last child of Domino? Taren couldn't understand what they meant, especially the last one. But why did it sound familiar to him. "What? What's all that mean?"

"You got your answer! now we want our eye back!" The eye appeared in Atropos' hand despite any struggle to reach for him, allowing her to place it in her single eye. The Fates were relieved and resumed their driving.

"Almost there now!" One of the Fates said.

Mal noticed the rising price of the taximeter, far above the amount of cash they could afford. Leaning over to the boys, whispering to make sure the Fates did not hear her. "I think we might be a little low on cash."

"WHAT?!" The Fates, however, did indeed hear her and were not so happy about it. All three instantly slammed their feet onto the brakes, causing the tires to stop, screeching against the road until the wheels hit the pavement by the side before it made a 260 flip in mid-air. The keyblade wielders let out a scream, Grabbing onto whatever they could for their dear lives until the cab made a safe landing on its wheels without any damage or harm to the passengers, much to their great relief, and tried to regain their bearings together. The Fates turned around and were most displeased over the fact that they wasted the trip without pay.

"What are you-"

"Think we're-"

"Running here?"

"A CHARITY?!"

"Get your cheap butts out!" After throwing them out of the cab, the Fates immediately took off on the road until the cab turned into smoke and flew into the distance. The three teens looked at each other and noticed the sign that read "Welcome to Gardenia".

"Well, at least we've made it," Taren felt relieved to finally exit the cab, which he considered a death trap. He believed walking would be a safer alternative.

"We still need to find Magix, which can only be done by a fairy," Mal explained. She wished their task could be simpler and that Master Yen Sid had used his magic to open a gateway for them. However, she remembered that traveling between dimensions is risky and requires strong magic, which could reveal their hideout to the Grimm.

Taren suggested that they try to sense the fairy's magic since they know what she looks like and are waiting to meet her. They worked out a plan and decided to try the park, an ideal place. Mal and Taren were skilled at this and had practiced before. Ben could sense others who were closer. However, they had to be careful not to use their magic in public to draw attention as this world has not seen magic in centuries, as Macbeth said.

As they walked through town, they passed by people without drawing attention to themselves. Taren had a feeling that something was nearby as if he had sensed it before. "Hey guys, why don't we look for her in the park?" he suggested, pointing to the nearby park around the corner.

Both Mal and Ben wondered and looked at him. "Uh, what makes you think that?" Mal asked.

Taren simply shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's where she could be. There's plenty of space, trees to cover, and we don't hear anyone shout fairy right now." In truth, he had no idea why, but he felt something nearby. It strangely felt like he needed to go there, but he couldn't just say things like that, or they'd think he was acting strangely... well, more than usual.

"Seems like a nice idea. That could be the place Yen Sid told us about," Ben agreed.

Mal expressed her frustration with the difficulty of reaching the Magic Dimension. She suggested that Master Yen Sid could open a gateway for them to pass through, but she remembered from their previous conversation that traveling between dimensions is challenging and requires powerful magic. This could risk revealing their hideout to the Grimm.

Taren suggested that they try feeling the fairy's magic to find her. He had done similar exercises during their first month of training. Ben understood and added that he could sense others in closer range at the moment.

Mal agreed to meet with the fairy, but they were worried about revealing their magical abilities in public. As a solution, they decided to use their magic to sense the fairy's presence instead of openly displaying their powers. Since they knew what the fairy looked like, they believed it would be easy to identify her without anyone else noticing.

Taren felt that the park could be an ideal place to find the fairy. They walked through the town, passing by citizens without taking notice. Taren had a familiar feeling that something was nearby. Both Ben and Mal agreed to check the park.

"Pointing her finger towards a large forest within the city, she said, "We should reach it in a few minutes, but...". Taren asked, "But what?". She replied, "I'm not sure. It feels faint, yet something about it feels like nothing I've ever felt before." She couldn't describe it, but she knew that something very powerful was there. Even the boys were confused by what she meant, but she didn't have time to explain it further. "Can't waste any more time, we need to go."

The trio made their way towards the city, taking note of the many people going about their daily business in the morning. They had to be careful not to use magic in public. Although it seemed like a nice place, they had a mission to complete and couldn't waste time sightseeing. The source of magic was coming from the park up ahead, but they couldn't pinpoint her exact location.

"OK, what if we split up to find her? It might make it easier," said Mal.

"Sounds good to me. Best of luck," replied Ben, before making his way in one direction while Mal went in another.

Taren was already ahead of them, searching in one direction, while the other two went their separate ways to find her. Mal could feel the magical power radiating within the area, but he was unable to determine her exact location. He thought, "If I were a fairy and came to Earth, where would I hide in a large park?" He looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun, wishing to use magic to fly or jump high to get a better view of the area, but he knew it would be a bad idea. They were not to reveal any magic or existence of other worlds to people who have no understanding.

Taren sighed, finding this mission much harder than he thought. "Sometimes I wonder how Dad did it when he first started this whole keyblade thing?" Trying to pinpoint the whereabouts of the magical source, he felt something powerful close by. This was strange. It was as if he felt it somewhere before like it was familiar to him in a strange sense."

Receiving a call, he brought his phone up to his ear to answer it. "Taren, it's Mal. Anything from your end?"

"Nah, I'm having a hard time pinpointing her location. It feels like something stronger is close by, but I don't know what it is."

"Weird, it's the same for me. Let's hope we figure it out soon before we head off. We don't want to attract anything bad and-"

Taren couldn't hear the last part of Mal's sentence because a roar and strange noises came from the dense forest. It didn't sound good from his perspective. "I think I just found her. Get Ben and put a lock on my signal."

"Just don't get your ass kicked before we get to have some fun!" Mal said before hanging up.

Taren ran towards the source of the noise. He could hear it much more clearly and see figures through the trees. The red-haired teenager saw the blonde-haired fairy due to her obvious wings. She was wearing a glittering orange top and miniskirt with a pair of boots, and she held a staff with a sun-like emblem on top. He noticed she was fighting a group of small, gremlin-like creatures surrounding her. Taren knew he had to do something to help out before it was too late.

Elsewhere in the park...

While things were calm and peaceful in the park, a teenage girl named Bloom carried her bike with her pet rabbit by her side. She had long red-orange hair that flowed down to her waist. Bloom wore a teal-colored top with yellow sleeves, a pair of blue flared jeans with stars printed on the bottom, and sandals on her feet. She was 16 years old and it was the first day of her summer vacation since school had ended. Bloom wanted to have fun and then spend her summer working at the flower shop. However, her friends were away with their own plans. Bloom's parents suggested they go to the beach, but she wished to go someplace other than the beach house her family always goes to every year. Despite being a teacher and old enough to take care of herself, her parents still treated her like a child. They bought her a bike as a gift, but her dad was overprotective and chose a bike instead of a scooter.

Bloom arrived at the park to relax and found a tree to sit under. Her pet rabbit wandered off, but she told him not to go too far. She sat down and took out an apple to have a snack. She wanted to do something different, to have an adventure or maybe meet new people and go to new places to celebrate her summer vacation. If only she had her book to read more about fairies. She had loved fairy tales, fantasies, and myths since childhood. Despite her mom thinking she was too old to believe in fairies, she couldn't stop believing in them. It was as if there was something more to them, and she wanted to know more.

While Bloom was attempting to unwind, her pet bunny suddenly dashed over to her in a frenzied state, yanking at the hem of her trousers and trying to convey something important. "What's the matter, Kiko?" She wondered what had scared him so much and could tell something was wrong. She decided to follow her rabbit to see what he had found, and what she saw was like something from a fairy tale. A blonde-haired girl was fighting against small imp-like creatures that were trying to attack her.

"SOLAR WIND!"

Slammed her staff into the ground and released a powerful blast of light energy, throwing them across several feet. Taren saw it happen and was impressed by how she took on several of those ghouls without help, thinking she had this in the bag and no reason to intervene for the moment. He didn't even need to summon his keyblade and make his introduction to the fairy named Stella when something in the shadows caught his attention, a large yellow-skinned ogre with brown sideburns and wearing only a pair of brown pants. He saw one of the creatures fall into his large hand, crushed instantly, and vanished as they were possibly summoning creatures.

Taren saw the girl take a fighting pose with her staff, glaring at the monster, who he assumed was the leader. "Go away, villain, or you will feel the magic of the Sun and Moon fairy!" she proclaimed to her opponent.

The young wielder of the keyblade was quick to notice the ogre's expression, indicating that he was not going to back down. With a loud roar, the ogre charged towards the woman, determined to knock her off her feet. However, the young keyblade wielder was resolute in his mission to protect her, knowing that he was the chosen one to wield the keyblade.

"Aero!"

As the ogre approached her, a swirling tornado lifted him from the ground, causing him to spin and fly several feet away. Although he groaned in pain upon impact, he quickly shook off the dirt from his face and stood up.

"Who did that? Show yourself!" The ogre demanded.

Stepping out of the trees was Taren, glaring towards the ogre while making his way to the fairy.

"That would be me. I don't usually like those who bully someone smaller than them. Ya big dumb brute," he said before turning to the blonde girl, recognizing her as the fairy named Stella.

"I have a name, you know, and it's Knut. So don't you forget it!" The ogre gritted his teeth and glared at the boy for interfering, sensing him to be a threat. "I don't know who you are, kid. But you made a big mistake. Get him!" Ordering his ghouls to attack him with their numbers. Noticing that the red-haired teenager wasn't moving, thinking he was too scared to move.

Stella wondered who he was and didn't want him to get hurt. But unaware of someone else who was watching and she too feared for his safety, they leaped towards him, ready to sink their claws and teeth into his body.

"Look out!"

He didn't have time to know whose voice it was, but he raised the corner of his lip. In a split second, a flash of light streaked past the ghouls within arm's reach. The ghouls felt nothing until their bodies split apart. The only thing they saw was a key-shaped blade in the boy's hands before fading away.

"Really? I'm surprised how weak those critters are," Taren said, lifting his Light's Rebellion over his shoulder, ignoring the shocked looks he was receiving. He was surprised at how easily he took them out. He turned to face the fairy he just saved and checked if she was okay. "Stella, right? Name's Taren. Sorry for butting in, but I thought you could use a hand."

"Stella didn't seem bothered and smiled in appreciation. "No problem," she said. "So, you're one of the three people I was told to meet in this world? I have to say, that's a powerful-looking sword you have there." She looked at the key-shaped blade in his hand and sensed a strong magical energy emanating from it."

Nodding his head to confirm her question. "Yeah, they should be on their way, so we should be able to handle these critters."

The ogre spoke up, calling for their attention once he had fully recovered. "Oh, you think so, huh?" he said. "Then how about some friends of mine who would love nothing more than to sink their teeth into you?" He then pulled out a strange-looking red and black amulet, which was too far for them to see until it suddenly began to glow a bright purple color. Taren couldn't quite understand what was happening, but he felt every nerve in his body warning him of danger. Suddenly, two swirling portals appeared in the ground, and a large black paw with bone-white claws emerged from one of them, followed by the rest of the creature's body emerging from the swirling darkness.

They had black fur and bony spikes on their backs and arms, as well as white, bone-like masks with red detailing, the two of them were large and stocky built. They had cold yellow eyes glaring at their newfound prey as they stood in position, ready to attack them with a simple command.

The surviving ghouls trembled in fear when they felt the strong negative energy emanating from the newly summoned beasts. Stella was unsure of what the creatures were, but she tried to remain brave when they appeared. She turned to Taren, who looked shocked, and asked, "What are those things?"

"Grimm. Very bad and very dangerous so be very careful." Although he had seen such creatures before, he had only encountered one of them in real life and read about others in books during his training. He wanted to be prepared for them. The memories of the incident still clung to his mind, especially Tezzeret? Could this Ogre be associated with him? "But how could this guy control them?"

Knut smirked with confidence and eagerness to get the scepter from the fairy, now that he had brought reinforcements and saw the boy's look. he had seen them before and was concerned. "Not so confident? Too bad, Ursa, tear the guy with the key sword to pieces! But don't destroy the scepter." With the Grimm doing the work, he could just sit back and wait to snatch the scepter from her when she was down.

Both the Grimm, now called Ursa separated to attack their targets, and the Grimm let out a beastly roar before charging toward Taren. The two had no choice but to split up to avoid their claws, but they were more focused on Taren, making sure to block him from helping Stella. Taren tumbled to the side when one of the Grimm in front of him tried to swipe its claws toward him but missed by a few inches from his cheek. Remembering the training he had taken from Macbeth, he knew as much about the Grimm as he could and how to fight them. 'Ok, they're Ursa, just like the big log said. They seem fast but not strong, so they must be young ones if they have fewer spikes.'As the creature stood on its short legs, it attacked with its sharp claws. This left its vulnerable belly open for Taren to strike with his keyblade, cutting from its shoulder to its chest. Although the wound was not fatal, it caused the creature to stumble, allowing Taren to deliver a powerful kick to its chin. The creature howled in both anger and pain. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out and blasted the creature. The impact sent it flying, crashing into another nearby monster. Taren looked over to see that it was Stella who had fired the beam. She smiled at him.

He smiled at her with a nod. "Thanks."

"Now we're even," she said before the ghouls joined in, surrounding them. Knut approached them as the Ursa recovered. "It's only a matter of time for you to surrender," he said. The two glared at him, refusing to back down, knowing their friends were on their way and it shouldn't be long before they arrived.

Bloom witnessed an incident where someone was being harassed and felt compelled to intervene. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and called out to the harassers, demanding that they stop. "Leave them alone!" She caught their attention and stood with a confident smirk, hands on her hips. However, in the heat of the moment, Bloom realized she didn't quite know what she was going to do next. "Or else I'll... wait what am I going to do."

"Uh oh, you're in trouble now, buddy! We've got backup!" exclaimed Stella with joy, seeing more reinforcements arrive. However, Taren didn't share her enthusiasm. "There's a problem, though. She's not with us," he declared, causing the Grimm to take notice of the newcomer. Stella quickly understood the situation and turned to the redhead. "Quick, get out of here! It's not safe."

Knut was irritated as more teenagers appeared out of nowhere, and he had no idea who the girl was. He decided to get rid of her too, and shouted, "GET HER!" The ghouls were the first to attack the girl, but Taren and Stella tried to save her by pushing the monsters away. However, Bloom surprised everyone when she raised her hand and created a magical barrier that surrounded her body. The barrier repelled the ghouls and prevented them from coming close. Taren and Stella were amazed to see that Bloom could use magic.

Bloom felt something flowing through her body, it was unlike anything she felt before and wondered how she did that. "Did... did I just do that?" Ask she asked herself, looking at her hand was still glowing with a red aura for a moment.

Kiku, who was quivering beside her saw them taken out, he jumped with excitement and threw his tiny paws as if he were a boxer. However, he didn't realize that a ghoul had sneaked up behind him. When Kiku finally noticed the ghoul, he fainted in fear. Just then, Bloom appeared, looking angry and holding a branch in her hand. She shouted, "Hands off Kiku!" and used the branch as a bat to swat the creature away. The ghoul hit a nearby tree and then burst into magical lights.

She was smiling after taking care of one of them when suddenly she saw a large shadow looming over her. She spun around and gasped in fright at the sight of the black monster that was looming over her. That's when Knut came up without making a sound and grabbed her arms. "You wanna cause trouble, girly?"

Bloom closed her eyes tightly and a red aura encircled her. Soon, her entire body was glowing and she felt an overwhelming power growing within her. "LET GO!" She was caught off guard, and in her unconscious state, she emitted a powerful wave of energy that threw everyone away. The force was so strong that it caused Knut to let go of her. For a brief moment, anyone watching would have seen the wave of energy taking the shape of a dragon, flying into the sky until it exploded like a firework.

Taren was amazed and mesmerized as he watched her release that much power. She took down the entire group, even the Ursa were thrown away, not expecting a girl to possess such power. Taren was sure that it was her, the same feeling he had sensed before.

"Whoa, such power!" Stella was awed and amazed when she never saw anything like it.

Taren rose to his feet and agreed with her. The two of them were the least injured from the blast. Knut was barely getting up, trying to reach out for the scepter that had fallen to the ground. Taren ignored him and went to check up on her after what she did. "Yeah, that was awesome! How did you do that?" he asked.

After what she had done, she looked up at him and said, "To be honest, I have no idea. It just felt natural."

"I swear I've felt that power somewhere before, and it's coming from this girl. It's really powerful!" He took a good look at her while thinking. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of her; she was really beautiful. However, he knew he had to stay focused and not get easily distracted, especially when there were monsters present, particularly the Grimm.

"I got my scepter back! You don't scare me," Stella exclaimed as she fired her scepter at Knut, who was still down and taking care of the ghouls. However, she soon realized that one of the Grimm had moved away from the blast.

Bloom looked up and smiled at the fellow redhead when he reached his hand out to help her until she saw one of the black monster bears charging at them. Stella also noticed, after taking care of the remaining creatures, that one of the two Grimm was coming at them.

"Watch out," Bloom warned. He didn't flinch as the creature swiped at him with its paw in an attempt to swat him with its claws.

SHUNK!

The clawed paw missed its target completely. The girls noticed that the Grimm's forearm had fallen to the ground. The Ursa paused for a moment, staggered, and cried out in pain as Taren's keyblade severed its right arm completely. The keyblade's magic appeared to cause great pain to the creature of darkness, and it seemed to be very angry. The Ursa roared with rage and glared at Taren for cutting off its arm.

Taren glared at the Grimm, watching as it clutched its wound. He wasn't happy about what he had done, but he hardly cared. The Grimm was going to hurt him and the girl he had just met, and Taren wasn't going to let that happen. "You stay there, I'll handle this fella," he said, determined to take care of the situation. Bloom didn't understand why, but despite having only recently met him, she didn't want him to get hurt. However, Taren seemed to know what he was doing and seemed to care more about her well-being than his own.

Taren was determined to approach the current fight differently from the last one. He carefully studied the physical form of the creature, noting that it had only one arm left and would likely focus more on defending than attacking. Taren knew that once he defeated this one, he would have to confront the last one next.

With a quick sprint towards the Ursa, Taren ducked under the remaining arm and slashed across its exposed stomach. The attack left another deep wound, causing the creature to lose its balance and stumble. Taren then grabbed hold of the bone spikes on the creature's back, using them to launch himself over the Ursa's body. He followed up with a powerful kick, causing the Grimm to lose its balance and use its paw for support.

However, the Ursa wasn't going to give up easily. It turned its head, snarling and attempting to surprise Taren with its claw. But Taren was too quick for it. He swiftly dodged the attack, causing the creature to search for him with its yellow eyes.

"Hey, down here."

It turned to the left and saw the boy standing before it, waving his hand and smiling. A bright flash appeared suddenly, and the creature fell to the ground. The Ursa, caught off guard, had been killed. The beast of darkness slowly evaporated as its body faded away.

The girls were amazed at the boy's skills as they took on the monster despite its large size. Bloom was without words as her eyes gazed at the boy who bravely took down one of the monsters, it sort of reminded her of the stories of a knight coming to the rescue.

Knut, on the other hand, was in disbelief that a Grimm had been taken down so easily. "No way! He took down a Grimm?"

"Hah, not so tough without them, monster?" Stella taunted him as he seemed less confident with one of his top monsters defeated.

Taren had just killed his first Grimm, and the rush of power and adrenaline surging through his body felt incredible. Although he had trained against simulated monsters, nothing compared to the real thing. As he was about to check on the girl he was with, he suddenly cried out in pain. Something was biting his leg. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, looking down to find one of the gremlin-like creatures biting his leg. Though it hadn't pierced his skin, it was still painful. He tried to remove it but felt it tear the bottom of his pants.

Bloom rushed over to help and kicked the creature away from the keyblade wielder. The creature ran back to its master, holding a piece of torn cloth in its mouth. Taren couldn't believe how he had let his guard down. He could see the bite marks on his lower left leg, but they didn't seem too deep. Bloom knelt and checked the leg that the creature had bitten. Taren winced as she touched it but tried to ignore the pain. "Are you okay?" Bloom asked.

Taren replied. "Yeah, I can't believe that thing bit me." He needed to use Heal to recover and not let himself be vulnerable.

The remaining Ursa seized the opportunity to charge in with full force. Taren was unable to get up properly and use his keyblade. The girl was right beside him and saw the Ursa charging towards them. Without thinking, he threw himself over Bloom, forcing her to the ground and using himself as a human shield to protect her. But an unexpected moment came when a human-size blur shouted out of the forest and came straight at the unsuspecting Grimm, colliding into the side of its face by a powerful impact and hurtling it across the field and leaving it buried in the debris of earth it made.

"Damn, if it wasn't for this magical aura protecting my body, that would've seriously broken my fist." Taren opened his eyes and slowly raised his head, letting go of Bloom when they both saw Ben standing a few feet across, shaking his hand after using it to throw a punch.

Ben looked at them and smiled. "Sorry if I took the fun but figured you could use a hand."

Taren grinned and couldn't be glad to see his best friend. "I could've taken that thing if it wasn't for that stupid imp biting me." Sat himself up and dusted the debris off of him.

Ben let out a chuckle at Taren's tough-guy act. "Yeah, sure you did. And that gave you the chance to save a damsel in distress."

Bloom couldn't help but feel her cheeks flush by the comment, uncertain why but was more grateful for him trying to protect her from the monster.

Knut couldn't believe what he had witnessed, not just one keyblade bearer but TWO, and defeated the Grimm with incredible power. Decided not to chance it and make a retreat, receiving the torn cloth from one of the creatures. "We'll meet again." Raising both his hands together, and a thick purple cloud enveloped his body, the remaining ghouls with him vanished to make their escape.

The Ursa was left behind, not knowing the others had left, but that hardly seemed to matter for the creature of darkness. Slowly bringing itself up on its feet, feeling the side of its face fractured by the impact it received, and now prepares to attack the second keyblade bearer.

"Are these monsters that tough?" Stella asked as she joined them, but was feeling weak through exhaustion and uncertain if she could keep up.

However, it felt something sharp run down its back, staggered for a moment as it received their attention to what was going on until it collapsed. Standing behind it was Mal with her keyblade. She walked around the corpse, not bothering to cast a glance at her kill, and carried her keyblade in one hand with the other in her pocket.

She saw her friends present and spotted the blonde-haired girl who they were searching for. "Do you have any idea how big this forest is just to find you? Next time why not come to the front door to save us the trouble."

Stella didn't take her tone well and huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, it's not like I asked to be chased by monsters. And those clothes, ugh, so tacky, seriously have you looked in a mirror?"

Mal instantly felt a twitch from her eyebrow and didn't like how the blonde girl just commented on her taste in clothing. "Well look who's talking, that outfit shows too much glitter it could blind someone with that."

The two glared at each other with intense gaze, sparks of lightning danced between them. The boys could only sigh, they only just met and already arguing over their choice of outfits.

"Sometimes I wonder why girls can be so obsessed over fashion." Taren muttered next to him, not wanting to draw the girls' attention.

"That's just something we may never understand in our lifetime." Ben agreed. The two didn't know whether to intervene or leave them be then risk.

Bloom, on the other hand, didn't want to see anyone fighting after what happened. She was happy it was over but couldn't help but think about what power she used just earlier, Kiko was beside her and was glad he was safe and sound.

"Hey, you alright?"

She snapped out of it and looked up to see Taren beside her. "Uh, y-yeah but thank you for saving me just then." Stroking her arm and felt herself very nervous all of a sudden. "But, what about your leg?"

"It's fine, doesn't seem much but I'll fix it up."

Received a smile of relief from her, but noticed the blonde girl looked drained and collapsed but was caught by Mal before she hit the ground. They witnessed her clothing change into a dress after losing consciousness. "Is she ok?"

Mal check on the girl she caught from falling. "She just fine. Only exhausted after that fight." Knowing she won't be strong enough to take them to her home dimension, they're stuck on Earth until she gets better.

"Well, we can't stay here, too risky for us to stick around if they come back." Ben said.

Bloom had an idea and spoke out to get their attention. "You guys can bring her back to my place, she'll be safe there."

The three looked at each other and felt a little uncertain. However, Taren seems ok with it. "Ok sounds good to me." He came up to pick her up from the shoulders while Ben took her feet.

"Hold it! First up, we don't even have a clue who this girl is and isn't with her!" Mal stated and looked at the red-haired girl, clearly felt something very off about her and didn't know what it was. Something about her aura was way off and didn't like it;.

Ben sighed and knew she had a point. "I understand how you feel, but we got no choice as we can't leave this girl out in the woods by herself."

Taren nodded and turned to Bloom. "Ok listen, we'll explain everything after we take her to your house. But it's gonna be hard for you to believe us."

Bloom understands him completely, it is not every day someone meets magical creatures and people wielding large key-shaped swords. "Ok, follow me." She picks up Kiko and heads back to her bike before she returns home with four people she just met.

Mal let out a groan as they walked, having a bad feeling that neither Yen Sid, nor Macbeth would be happy when they found out. "How did I get dragged into this mess?"

Chapter Text

Unknown Location

"Knut! Come forward." A female voice spoke, eyes glowed through the dark mist, and all three pairs of eyes stared down upon the ogre who returned without the sceptre. "So, you have failed?"

"Not my fault your highness. I almost had the sceptre in my hands. But then these earthling teenagers intervened and messed everything up!" Knut tried to defend himself by explaining what happened.

"Earthling teenagers?" A second voice spoke up, finding it hard to believe a non-magical human could defeat him.

"Oh, but they aren't normal. She's got magic and pushed back my ghouls with such power. And these two boys, one of them easily defeated them! But not only that. They're not just normal kids, they're keyblade wielders!"

"Keyblades? Are you certain of this?" The first one asked him with a surprised tone in her voice.

Knut nodded his head. "Oh, definitely! They're just like those from the war many years ago. They took down the Grimm I summoned with ease!"

A third voice spoke up after receiving the information. "Interesting. Describe them."

"Uh, well for starters, both the girl and boy have... uhh, red hair, and this boy's eyes were..." Trying his best to remember what they looked like until he was interrupted.

"Knut, your glasses. Where are they?" The second asked him.

He reached into his pocket and pulled them out to show them. "Right here, Your Highness."

"Well... PUT THEM ON YOU DOLT!"

Knut didn't need to be told twice and not to anger them further. Frantically putting them on to see better. "An Ogre with glasses. Looks kinda l-"

"QUIET! Everyone, this could be trouble. If there are Keyblade wielders, it could be trouble for us. We need to inform our partner about this." The first one spoke. "If only we know where to find them."

"Oh, but your highness, don't worry! One of my ghouls took this piece of clothing from the keyblade Wielder." Pulling out the piece of clothing ripped from Taren's pants from the battle. "To us, this is nothing, but to a Hunting Troll, it's an important clue!" Knut demonstrated, a large blue-skinned troll with long dark hair came forward and took the piece of clothing, sniffing it to get a scent. "See?"

This made them feel pleased about it as the troll now got a scent of it. "Good Then go back to Earth and find them, and this time."

"Don't let us down!" All three of them proclaimed at the same time.

Gardenia, Peters Residence

After the group followed Bloom to her place, her parents didn't expect to bring guests unannounced, but when they saw the girl unconscious, her parents helped Ben and Taren lay the unconscious blonde gently on the couch to rest until she woke up. Bloom tries to explain to her parents what happened back at the park while the keyblade bearers just sit and have a private chat with each other in the kitchen area.

"So, any plans on how to get out of this?" Mal whispered to the two before casting a look towards Taren.

Taren blinked his eyes from the way they were staring at him. "Why ask me?" He asked her but knew exactly what she meant by the tone of her voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him as if he was at fault for it. "Well, let's recall what happened, shall we? You were the first one to find Stella. Exposed yourself to the redhead girl who saw you summoning a keyblade in your hands." Pointing her finger at him in an accusation.

Taren held up his hands in defense for his reason. "Hey, I didn't know she was there in the first place and I couldn't do anything when that ogre summoned the Grimm and attacked the girls."

Ben found it a logical reason and sighed. "He's got a point. I mean, we would've done the same thing as that's what we do to save people. But we know that someone is after Stella for a reason and that guy must be working for Tezzeret if he can control the Grimm."

"But what surprised me was she can do magic, possibly just discovered it," Taren told them that he saw Bloom back in the park and felt powerful magic coming from within her.

They glanced over to see her explaining what had happened. Hearing her say she saw Taren and Stella use magic to fight the monsters. Mal signed and facepalmed after hearing her trying to explain to her father who doesn't buy it. Ben couldn't blame him. If you try to tell someone you saw people using magic to fight monsters, they won't take you seriously. Taren wished he could support her but didn't know how to, as this was his first mission.

"I know we may risk getting into trouble, but she deserves to know about us." Ben gave a suggestion.

"Well, we can't say something like 'Yes, we have magic and also save the universe from the monsters that terrorize the worlds.' You think they'll buy that?" Mal asked the brunette who got what she was saying.

"Yeah, she's right. They'll never believe us, and we can't risk revealing too much. Yen Sid and Macbeth will not be happy about this." Taren said.

Mal looked at him with uncertain about his choice of words. "Um, what do you mean 'us'? If-no WHEN they hear about this, I had no part of this."

The boys looked at her with doubtful looks, but not surprising that she'd try to make an excuse to get out of punishment. They noticed her parents now turned to the three of them and probably wanted answers, especially Bloom, since they had promised they explain everything to her after helping them carry Stella to her place.

"Alright, so mind if I ask who you are and what's your story?" Her father, Mike, who has blonde hair, wearing a blue shirt and pants, and a pair of light brown shoes. Crossing his arms and was wary of the three, as not only he didn't know them, but could be troublemakers since teenagers at their age could do unpredictable things. Her mother had mid-length brunette hair and wore a yellow top and green overall pants with a pair of sandals.

Taren felt somewhat awkward about this and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, well, first off, my name is Taren and these two are Mal and Ben."

"Hello." Ben responded.

"Hey." Mal just crossed her arms in front of her chest, showing she wasn't much trying to get involved.

"The thing is, we were supposed to meet up with the girl named Stella, who was supposed to take us on an assignment we were given to help with... problems."

"Really? What assignment is that?" Bloom asked.

"And what happened to your pants? Looks as if some dog ripped them." Mike asked him as he noticed the torn edges of his pants and saw the faint bite mark on it.

Taren forgot about that. "Well, wouldn't say a dog did it but nothing to worry about." Giving him the ok look, didn't want to say that a magical creature tried to take a bite out of his leg.

"The thing is, she was in trouble and Taren came along to help her out. Your daughter was kind enough to bring her to your house and then be left vulnerable in the park." Ben explained to them, at least trying to be as truthful as he could but didn't want to bring up the part about monsters.

"Well, whatever happened, this girl needs to be sent to a hospital." Mike suggested. However, the keyblade wielders didn't agree with his idea until they heard a soft groaning noise.

"No, don't, please. Don't tell anyone." They turned to see Stella waking up.

"She's coming too. How do you feel dear?" Vanessa asked her as she became fully conscious and saw everyone around her.

"I'm alright, thanks for helping me out back there." She thanked them after recognizing the girl and the wielders who had saved her life.

Bloom smiled. "Oh, it was nothing."

"Yeah, glad you're alright." Taren said.

"My name is Stella." The blonde gave her name to them.

"Hi Stella, my name is Bloom." Bloom offered her hand to shake after introducing herself to Stella, who smiled at her and shook it. "You met the others who helped you, right?" Stella looked at the three keybearers and remembered them for saving her from the two horrible monsters that were more frightening than the Ogre.

"Should we call your parents, Stella?" Vanessa asked her, thinking they must be worried about her.

Stella smiled at her. "That's gonna be difficult. I come from a place that's far from around here. Have you heard of a place called Solaria? It's a kingdom from another world. I'm a fairy, you know, and was going to meet these three to take to Alfea when I was ambushed by those monsters after I landed on your planet."

'Great, now we're in for it.' The keyblade wielders thought at the same time. Now that she just told them who she was and where she came from, it is more difficult to keep their secret. They obviously can see Bloom's father wasn't buying it and hardly blame him.

"Oh, but of course! I'm calling the police. Doesn't take a genius to see that this girl is seriously out of her mind." Mike reaches for the phone to dial the number.

"If only you knew." Mal rolls her eyes at how little he knows.

Before Mike was about to dial, the phone suddenly transformed into a cabbage and carrot, and they found out that it was Stella who did it to prove him wrong. Looking at the shocked expression on his face gave some teens a snicker.

"Think that's enough proof for ya?" Taren covered his mouth while trying to hold in the chuckle.

Mal even had to admit that it was funny to see the look on his face.

"I saw her dad and I believe her!" Bloom said and couldn't believe it herself.

"Like I said, I was sent here to pick up these three but got attacked by those horrible creatures. They saved me and your daughter from those monsters." Gestured to the three, who felt a little sheepish about giving credit. "She pushed the ghouls with an energy shield."

"I don't know how I did it." Bloom couldn't understand how she did it and somehow used magic. Her parents were confused and shocked.

"A fairy doesn't need to know how she just does it," Stella explained and somehow knew Bloom was a fairy.

Mal asked her, almost sounding surprised. "Hold it, wait a sec! Are you saying that Bloom is... a fairy?"

For Taren, it made sense after what he just saw he do.

Bloom couldn't believe to find out she was a fairy. Something like this felt like a fairy tale and always dreamed of being one since she was a little girl, and it actually came true. "I'm a fairy?"

"Of course you are. Don't tell me you're not." Stella wondered how she could not have known. Sensing no magic from her parents, perhaps recently used them or something. "Have you registered for the new program at Alfea Castle? It's the best school for young fairies like you and me."

Mike couldn't seem to handle any of this and thought he was dreaming. "My daughter? A fairy? Oh, great. I feel like I'm going crazy!" Mike said while putting both his hands to his head after realizing what she had said about Bloom. Turned to the three who were acting calm while one of them sat down on the couch when pretty relaxed to hear about this. She said something about them being magical as well but needed to be sure. "And what about you three? Are you magic as well?"

Taren, Ben, and Mal looked at each other, knowing they couldn't reveal too much, but they did at least deserve some answers.

Mal gave a sigh when she gave in, knowing they couldn't get out of it now. "Oh, alright, might as confess. We're sort of, but pretty much human as you are." She tried to make it simple for them.

"Only that we do possess magic to wield certain abilities. Like Bloom, we just started to learn how to use them." Ben explained to the parents and the fairies present who were listening to them. Leaving out the part of being from other worlds, at least until they easily digest the knowledge slowly.

"You mean like those giant key-shaped swords you used?" Bloom asked them, amazed that they were also magic users and how they used them, causing her parents to be confused by what she just said and looked at them. Stella thought they were incredible weapons, maybe even thinking of asking them how she could get one herself one day.

"Believe me, it is too difficult to explain, and there are things we can't reveal at the moment." Taren chuckled nervously and was not sure they could take it in one. This was probably a relief to Mike as he probably couldn't take much more of the surprises in one night.

Mal stood up from the couch and pulled out her phone. "I better call Yen Sid." Turned to Mike and Vanessa. "You wouldn't mind if I take this out in the backyard? Just gotta give him the heads up on things."

"Of course." Vanessa offered to lead her out the back to make a call.

"How about I show you guys my room and we can talk up there?" Bloom suggested, thinking it be nice to get to know them better and know about this Alfea.

"That sounds like a great idea." Stella agreed.

Ben didn't seem to mind and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not."

But Taren somehow felt nervous going up to a girl's bedroom, even for someone they just met today. However, with Ben beside him, he wouldn't go up alone to avoid the parents getting ideas of what's going on. They followed her upstairs to her bedroom, letting the three have a look around and a nice room.

"So this is your room, huh?" Stella asked her liking the place. Noticed the sketches by the corner, and looked. "Did you draw these?"

"Yeah, what do you guys think of them?" Bloom asked.

"Gotta say, these are pretty good." Ben had to admit she was a good artist. "Seems you have something in common with Taren."

"Really? You're an artist?" Bloom asked Taren and became interested to see some of his work if he had any.

Taren looked at her and couldn't help but blush with embarrassment. Looking at Ben at the corner of his eye and knew he was smirking a little. Shyly looks away to hide the blush, hoping she doesn't notice. "Y-Yeah, I just had this hobby since I was a kid, seem to get it from my mom."

Bloom was oblivious to his blushing, maybe being shy about his talents or those bright amber  eyes that caught her attention. She seemed curious about him since they met, yet, for some reason, she couldn't help but find them... interesting? However, it didn't escape the thought of the other two and kept quiet about it. For now. But they noticed something was troubling Bloom as she somewhat seemed down.

"Bloom, is something the matter?" Ben asked.

"Sure, things are... no, things are not ok. For instance, I still don't understand what happened in the park." She looked at her hands from what happened after blasting magic out of them.

Stella seems to get the idea and tries to help her understand. "Bloom, you used your powers to save us. You should be proud of yourself." She looks out the window. "In my world, magic is a part of life, and powers such as yours are perfectly normal."

"Yeah, and I thought it was cool. You wiped the floor with them after your first time." Taren thought of encouraging her, which caused her to smile and feel her face turn red at his encouraging words.

"So is that what your world is like, Stella?" Ben asked her, as he was more interested in learning about her dimension while she went through one of Bloom's books.

"Is it?" This time, it was Bloom's turn to ask her.

"Yes... almost." Going through the pages, and closed the book. "But it's much nicer in here. But it's still different."

"I guess it all depends on your point of view, Stella. But I can't still can't get over what happened." She felt a little frustrated and had so many things to know about how she did it.

"Strong feelings such as fear have summoned up the wonderful powers that are in you." Stella explained to her about using magic. "They were always there, and you just didn't know it. It's just a question of concentration."

Listening to her seems to bring back some memories of how both Taren and Ben called their keyboards for the first time when their families were in danger. Thinking of Bloom reminded them of the first time being confused and uncertain about their abilities.

"Speaking of magic, I'm interested to know about those key-swords you guys used. They must be amazing!" They turned to the girls when Stella asked them and seemed very interested to know about them.

"Uh, well, the thing is, they're called Keyblades. But yeah, they're awesome and well known around most parts of our worlds." Ben said, getting them more interested. "Basically of a magical weapon but much more for those who are chosen."

The young female redhead was unable to hold back her curiosity and excitement to see them, turns to Taren to see his once more since she didn't get a good look at it. "Can we have a look? Please, Taren. I promise it will only look and not break it." Bloom promises him to be careful with her hands together and giving a begging look.

"Surely there's nothing wrong with that." Stella took her side and wanted to see them. "After all, it is fair to know each other after that horrible encounter with those monsters."

Taren and Ben were somewhat reluctant about it at first, but then again, the Keyblades would not harm innocent people and she was right about giving  them a look of their keyblades. But an idea popped into the Aurodan prince's head and smiled.

"Well, guess we can't say 'no' to two ladies. You can see Mal's sometime later." Ben accepted their offer.

Taren looked at his best friend, wondering what he was thinking. "Wha... Ben what are you saying they can't..." He noticed Ben gave him a nod to the side and immediately caught on to what he was up to. "Can't use them without us summoning them first. now I'm with ya."

Waving his hand called forth the Light's Rebellion alongside Ben, summoning his Beast Within. Stella's eyes widened in awe, mesmerised by the sight of the two keyblades up close. Bloom couldn't believe how incredible they looked and could feel the strong power of them. However, this feels too easy, and feels like there was a catch if these were so important.

"Here you go, just be careful." Ben gave Stella his keyblade holding out the shaft before handing it to her.

Taren held his blade out in both hands before Bloom, who couldn't help but gaze at it. He could tell she was enchanted by it before reaching out to the shaft. "Don't worry, it won't have sharp edges but best not to swing it." He advised her with caution before handing it to Bloom. She reached out for it but inadverttaitnly brushed her figures against his to get a good grip on it. For a moment, her cheeks flushed but vanished as she got a good firm grip on it.

She was in awe just by feeling it. "Wow."

"Yeah, but the next surprise will happen in a few seconds." Taren said, trying to hold in the smirk growing on his face.

She looked at him in confusion at what he meant. "Why what's gonna-" Suddenly the keyblade in her hand vanished, much to her surprise and so did the one Stella held who looked around to see where they had gone.

"Wah-where..."

"Sorry about that, girls." They turned to find the keyblades back in their owners' hands, both smiled sheepishly, and Ben explained what happened. "You see, Keyblades only choose those who they consider worthy to wield them and have a strong connection with our hearts as the source of magic. So if someone tried to get them from us, they just come right back." Both their keyblades vanished into the light once they finished their demonstration.

"Yeah, that's what makes them so special to avoid bad guys from getting their hands on them." Taren explained to them he was a little guilty of tricking them.

"Aww, no fair." Stella pouted and crossed her arms together, causing Bloom to giggle over Stella's response since she didn't seem bothered by it. At least she got to know that they weren't dangerous.

"So, how did you get them?" Bloom asked.

"Well, for starters, they chose us. We got them when we were just ordinary teens until monsters came about and we fought them." Taren told them but was uneasy to bring up the subject as he still remembered being taken away from the islands against his choice.

Bloom could feel something was wrong with him but didn't know what it was. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry just thinking of my parents, that's all, and hoping they're OK," Taren said, not wanting to lie to her but didn't want to bring it up

Ben shared the same feeling and thought of something to change the subject. "So, Stella, could you show us some of your magic?"

"Not at all, here let me try these pencils." Waves her hands towards the pencils on Bloom's desk. They watch in fascination as the pencils begin to glow and fuse into a large pencil.

"Wow." Ben was impressed.

Stella nodded and looked at Bloom. "OK, so now it's your turn. Give them back their original shape."

Bloom was a little hesitant at first, but seeing how it was made with magic, she wanted to give it a chance with her new gifts. Reaching out her hands, and waved her fingers around, trying to get the pencil to revert to its original small form. It shook a little until it fell to the floor, much to her disappointment.

"Well?"

Bloom sighed and gave up. "Nothing. I can't do it."

"Come on, it can't be that bad. You just need to practice a bit more." Taren tried to help her out, knowing it wasn't easy learning magic on the first day.

"He's right, and I know just the place where you can learn about magic. Alfea is the best place to study, it's a school for fairies." Stella told her and believed she might fit in there.

"You think she can learn magic? Ben asked her.

Stella strongly thinks so. "Oh, for sure, I'm certain she would make an excellent fairy!"

"Where's Alfea?" Bloom asked her.

"It's in the realm of Magix. A place beyond time and space where everything is possible." Stella explained. "If you want to come to see the school, I'll show it to you." She brought out a card and dropped it on the ground where it grew to a size of a large portrait.

"What's that?" Taren asked.

"This is a gateway to take us to Alfea by saying the place you want to go. Watch." She takes a step on it to show its functions. Clearing her throat to say the name clear. "Magix." By saying the word, she slowly sinks into the portal. "Now follow me."

The three watched in awe as she slowly vanished into the gateway and looked at each other. "So, who wants to go first?" Bloom asked.

"Might as well check it out. You coming, Ben?" Taren asked him.

"Better stay here in case Mal comes and finds we're not here."

Taren and Bloom thought it be a good idea, so she took the first step to give it a shot.

"Um, like this? Whoa." She felt herself slipping in.

Stella spoke from the other side. "Yep, so hurry if you guys want to follow through. Quick, before the gate closes."

"I'll follow through." Taren followed her and felt his body being pulled through. Turns to Ben before he disappears. "Tell Mal we'll be back in a moment."

"Gotcha." He watches as Taren vanishes. The portal closed, and it is a normal-looking card, but still large. Thinking about what Mal is doing while talking to master Yen Sid.

Meanwhile, Mal was outside trying to think of a way to explain the situation to Master Yen Sid. Looking at her phone and sighed. "Ugh, you guys owe me for this." She muttered and dialed the number to contact the sorcerer. Holds it up against her ear and waited for him to pick up, but was so nervous. Deep down, she prayed he wouldn't pick up.

"Good evening, Mal. How is your assignment? I hope you had a safe trip to Gardenia." Hearing the elder's voice.

'Oh yeah, had the time of our lives(!)' Groaning from that dreadful taxi ride they had. She gulped nervously and replied. "H-Hello, Master... We got here safe and sound. The good news is we found her and she's ok."

"Very good. But I feel there is more to which you called for that." He said, making it unearthing how he knew something wasn't right.

"Yeah, see... we were unable to find her, so we split up in the park and found she was attacked by this ogre after she landed on Earth."

"Is she alright?" Asked her in worry, disturbed by the news of Grimm.

"She's safe, recovered after using her magic to defend herself, but we came and helped. But there's something you ought to know...we ran into some problems." Decided to explain the full details. Explaining about Taren coming to her help, but unexpectedly received help from a girl named Bloom who suddenly finds out to have magic. She even told him about the ogre using the Grimm creatures to attack until Ben came to his help. She could probably imagine that the grand master was surprised by this news, yet relieved to know they had dealt with the situation and could imagine him proud of them taking on the Grimm on their first battle. Yet, now they have a complicated situation, especially to find out about them in the residence of a family of this teenager. "Yeah, I know! You said no magic, but we had no choice. She was eager to help us and had nowhere to go until the blonde recovered. But that's not all, this Bloom girl, her name that is... she used magic. Stella said that the reason she could do magic is because she's a fairy."

"Are you certain she is a fairy?" The keyblade master wanted to be certain he heard her correctly and sounded very surprised.

"Yeah, I'm positive. I can sense strong magic coming from her but seems to have just awoken. It could be why I had trouble finding Stella's magical aura. Sending you the photo." She snapped a photo of Bloom when no one was looking in the case and sent it to him.

"Hmm, this is serious Mal. As you are aware, there have not been any fairies on Earth for many centuries. I will conduct some investigation. Make certain that you keep a close watch over her after arriving at Alfea safely."

"Got it. The boys are with them now so-" She stopped talking when she could hear some voices nearby. She could feel a magical presence near the house and decided to find out.

"I lost the scent, he's disappeared!" A growing voice caught her ear and the sound of sniffing.

'He's scent? Who are they talking about?' Mal was curious until she recognized one of them. Peeking over the corner and recognised the yellow-skinned monster just before he left. They must've used the torn piece of Taren's pants after the battle, using the big blue fella as their bloodhound.

"Master gotta go. Might have unwanted visitors." She whispered through her phone.

"Very well, I wish you the best of luck, my dear."

Hangs up the phone and races back to Bloom's house to alert the others and calls Ben to give a heads-up.

"Ben, it's me, just a little heads up that we're about to have guests over, and not in a good way."

After Stella brought Bloom and Taren to a forest, they could see a pink-colored castle which must be the school. "This is Alfea Castle. Nice huh? I'm sure you would like it here."

Bloom was a little uncertain about all of this, everything is so sudden and if she were to come here to learn about magic then she would have to come, but that would mean leaving her family and friends on Earth. She had to admit Alfea was beautiful but still a tough decision. "But, what about my high school in Gardenia. I mean, everything is happening so fast."

"I get what you're saying, it's a big decision to make if you want to be a fairy." Taren knows from experience that he had to leave behind what he considered a 'normal' life when he received the keyblade and was chased by Grimm.

"Well think about it. I got to leave tomorrow morning with or without you." Stella said.

Bloom sighed, there was not much to think. "Alright, I'll sleep on it. Now how do we get outta here?"

"Easy, all you gotta do is jump up."

They looked up and realized the gate back to Earth was still there. She jumped straight up and vanished, Taren and Bloom looked at each other as he smiled and shrugged his shoulders before doing the same thing to follow her. Returning to see Ben there and didn't seem happy.

"What's wrong?" Bloom asked him.

"Got trouble coming."

Mal rushed inside and locked the door but it wouldn't stop them from coming in, should give the others time to prepare. She noticed the rabbit from earlier saw them coming and cried out, rushing to her and tugging her pants. "Yeah, big and ugly." Couldn't blame the pet and entered the living room.

"Hey, might need to head for cover, got trouble coming here." Mal said.

"What? What are you talking about?" Mike asked her, uncertain what she was saying while Kiko was frantic and tried to get their attention. "Not now, Kiko we'll play later."

"I don't think that's what he's trying to say." Mal knew he wouldn't believe them until the door burst open and they saw the large troll barge in. The couple didn't believe what they saw as Mike took cover to protect his wife from the ghouls that were all over the living room while Mal stood before them and glared at the troll and ogre.

Stood her ground with her hands on her hips. "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to barge into people's homes, let alone crash the place?"

Knut stared at the purple-haired teen, uncertain who she was but didn't care. "Step aside, little girl. We came for the fairy, so unless you want your bones intact I suggest you get out of our way."

Listening to his threats and saw the troll approach her, not bothered by his size, and just smirked. "Really? Guess we'll have to do this the hard way." Noticing one of the ghouls trying to make a jump on the witch but saw it coming so easily and threw a roundhouse kick against it. "And I'm guessing you're looking for the Keyblade wielders, right?"

This surprised Knut that she knew about them, they must be close by if the fairy was here. "You know about them? Where are they?"

"Looking for us?"

Catching the familiar voice and turned to see the fairies and the wielders by the stairs. Stella transformed into her fairy form and was ready for a second round with the ogre. They were so distracted by the group, that they forgot about Mal, Mike, and Vanessa. Perfect opportunity for Mal to use her skills and to buy them time for cover turned to the couple. "You two get out of here, we'll make sure to take care of these guys."

They were a little unsure about leaving the teenagers to handle this, especially with their daughter in the face of danger. However, they seem to know what they're doing and feel they can be trusted. "Alright, but make certain Bloom is safe." Vanessa said.

Mal nodded and turned to the group. "Yoohoo, fellas." Whistled to catch their attention.

Knut turned to her in annoyance. "What now?" Growled but noticed the girl was smirking in a devious way that made the ogre feel wary about her.

"This." She leaped towards the troll waved her hand and summoned her keyblade right before clobbering the monster in the gut. Pushed it back to the kitchen to the surprised Knut who realised she was one of them.

"ANOTHER ONE!? Just how many of you can use them!?" He held his hands up to his head and felt a headache coming up.

Mal smirked and revealed her Shadow of Redemption to them, resting it on the ground. "More to take you on. So don't mess with us." Pointing it towards them.

Taren decided to join in to help and called forth his keyblade to get into the action until Ben grabbed his shoulder. "Hold up, we need to think of a way to clear them out of the place."

"Good point, we should try to split them up to handle their numbers." Taren agreed with him, thinking of how to handle the situation.

"Ok, I'll take care of the ghouls." Bloom made a run towards the backyard, getting their attention to follow her out of the house.

"You two can take care of the troll. I have a score to settle with this fella." Stella told the boys who were uncertain but seemed very eager for payback. She joined Mal and stood beside her. "Mind if I join in?"

Mal looked at her and only shrugged her shoulders in response. "Fine, so long as I get a piece of this fella since the boys had most of the fun."

Stella smiled and made her wings flutter. "Least something we can agree on that."

Knut had a bad feeling that these two were going to team up against him. This was not his day. 'Oh, crud.'

Bloom ran outside the house with the ghouls that followed her as part of the plan, the girl then saw a moving boiler pot and picked it up when it was near her feet, discovering the quivering Kiko using it for cover.

Taken by surprise to find both the troll and Knut sent flying out of the window and door. Knut landed on his ghouls where as the hunting troll was sent further ahead, grunting after greatly underestimating the keyblade wielders after being warned by Knut from the first battle. The rest of the group followed them outside as they slowly got up.

"Wow, you guys sure good at this stuff." Bloom said.

"Yeah, but don't think the big guy is ready for quits." Taren spotted the troll getting up and looked mad.

Stella didn't seem bothered. "Don't worry, I called the Specialists."

"The who?" Bloom asked which caught the other three's attention.

The troll took a moment to which of the teenagers to attack and turned his attention to the fairies as the easiest pickings for him. Charged towards them with his fists held up for the attack, but before any of the wielders could jump in to stop him a whip wrapped around his neck. The group was confused until they saw four guys wearing blue and white outfits with capes. Each carrying a weapon made up of energy. The first one had light brown hair with glasses. The second had blonde hair wielding a sword and shield. The third had magenta-colored spiky hair and carried daggers connected to the whip he used to keep the troll at bay. And finally, the last one had brown hair with a

The keyblade wielders didn't know who they were and decided to ask them.

"Say, who are you guys?" Mal asked them.

"No worries, we're the Specialist." The blonde-haired Specialist answered.

"Specialists?" Ben asked if he heard him right.

"Yeah, more like Specialists in the training of Red Fountain. Stella called us for help." The trio realized who they were and learned that they were one of the top three schools in Magix.

Taren looked at the troll who was trying to get the whip off him, might not belong to break free. "Well in that case, how about we take care of this guy before he causes more trouble."

"What's the rush, red, this guy's not anyway." The magenta-haired haired stated but the troll grabbed the line and hoisted him off his feet, throwing him over towards the girls.

Mal sighed and turned to the remaining group without little confidence in their abilities. "Not going anyway huh?"

The glasses-wearing trainee chuckled nervously. "Well, it is our first mission so there's bound to be some snag."

The troll came at them, attacking the blonde who held up his shields to take most of the attacks as he continued to pound his fists against it. Taren decided to help him out by slamming the back of the Light's Rebellion against the side, pushing him away.

"You ok?" Taren asked him.

The Specialist smiled at the save. "Yeah, thanks for the assist." He noticed the strange weapons the three possessed but decided to focus on capturing the monsters first before asking questions about them.

The brunette took his turn and swung his sword down into the ground, causing the earth beneath them to split.

Mal decided to use some distraction and try to catch his attention. "Hey, big blue and ugly! Over here!" Calling out to him, waving her hand out. When he looked at her, he failed to realize one of them come up behind him.

"My turn!" Held out an advance-looking gun and fired energy projectiles circling around the troll's feet, causing him to fall into the trench with a loud crash.

"Least that's one down." Mal said before turning to the remaining ghouls, who held their weapons firmly, and noticed the one who got thrown over stood up, she could tell he was being unappreciated by their attempt to help him.

Attacking them with his blade until Knut snuck up and punched him by surprise, when his back was turned Stella and Bloom fired a magic blast they used together. The three can tell she is amazed and seems to be getting the hang of the whole magic.

"Looks like she's got some talent." Taren said.

"I'll say." Ben agreed until they surrounded Knut and his ghouls.

"So, what's it gonna be? Come quietly or just run away?" The brunette gave him the choices.

Knut had one trump card up his sleeve and knew these Specialists wouldn't stand a chance against the Grimm. "How about the third option, I summon creatures more dangerous than a hunting troll with th-" As he reached into his pocket, he stopped at his sentence when realizing something was missing, sweat appeared on his head, and chuckled nervously.

Mal knew what he was looking for pulled out of her sleeve to reveal an amulet that he used earlier. "Looking for this?" While the Specialists had no idea what was so special about it, the others knew exactly what it was and felt relieved she stole it from him. "Should've kept it someplace secure, and can't call on the Grimm without it." She tossed it in the air and cast a spell to blast it into pieces.

Both Taren and Ben grinned and gave her a nod for a good job.

Knut growled and stepped back, knowing he was outmatched, and decided to retreat. Clapped his hands and vanished before their eyes.

"Finally this one's over." Stella said, much more relieved about it.

The Keyblade wielders and Bloom decided to meet the Specialists and thank them for their help.

"Guys, allow me to introduce the Specialists."

"Riven." He hardly showed any smile to them, and Mal could tell she didn't like him for his attitude.

"Prince Sky." The brunette with the broad sword smiled and nodded to them.

"Timmy." He waved to them and smiled.

"And Brandon, Prince Sky's squire."

Brandon walked up to them and offered his hand to shake with theirs. "Nice to meet ya, and thanks for helping out." Giving his praise to them.

Taren smiled and accepted his hand. "No prob, you guys did good."

"So who are you guys, never seen those swords before." Timmy asked and was interested in the keyblades.

"Well, my name's Taren. And these are our keyblades." The redhead wielder introduced himself.

Ben nodded and shook their hands. "I'm Ben, have to admit your weapons look interesting, what are they?"

"They're called Phantom Blades, all Specialists back at Red Fountain use them for combat and training." Timmy replied.

"Interesting name, you can call Mal."

Brandon held his chin up as something he wanted to ask. "Say, what was that thing you destroyed? Whatever it was the ogre was ready to use it."

"Trust me, it's best that you don't." Mal said, not wanting to reveal too much unless it was necessary.

They find the troll climbing out of the hole but before he could get a chance to make a run for it Timmy snapped a collar around his neck.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The troll growled and was paralyzed by the device from doing anything. Bloom's parents arrived to check on them, only to see the troll being taken away as it was.

"So what you guys gonna do with him?" Taren asked them.

"He'll be put into Red Fountain's custody until he'll face charges." Sky said.

"We better go, if you guys should visit Red Fountain give us a heads up, like to see how good those keyblades of yours are." Brandon said.

Both Taren and Ben smirked and thought of the same thing, mostly Taren who was eager to accept a challenge. "Sure, we'll promise to go easy on you guys."

Riven glared at them. "Yeah right, those dorky weapons won't be a match against us, later." They stood beside each other and vanished in a bright light, obviously back to Magix to take the troll to a cell.

The witch didn't take that tone of his well and narrowed her eyes at him. "Hmph, that guy seriously needs to loosen up the attitude."

The boys looked at their partner after her response, Taren leaned over to whisper. "Like she's ever so innocent." Before Ben could respond, his eyes looked over and widened in surprise.

"Oh really?"

He was unaware that Mal was close enough to hear him and pulled him into a vice-like grip.

"Come on, Mal I was kidding!" Waving his arms in desperate to escape her grip. Both struggle to outwit the other and argue. Bloom covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from laughing just by watching the two wrestle each other, even her parents thought it was amusing and took their minds off the carnage that happened tonight. Been thinking about what she saw and feels like a calling to her to be a fairy, plus, she has Stella to help her and hoping to get to know more about the keyblade bearers.

While everyone was retreating into the house, none of them was aware of a small metallic construct with a spheroid-shaped body and four spindly legs, silver-colored and a large emerald eye that watched the battle, hiding above a rooftop to avoid being spotted. A black vortex tore open behind the insectoid probe, turned around, and crawled through, once it disappeared the gateway closed itself and faded away with no traces of energy left behind.

The next morning...

Everyone was up and cleaning the house, the trio felt bad for being partially responsible for last night's battle and offered to lend a hand. But at least nothing serious was broken as it would've been difficult to explain how it happened to anyone around.

Stella came in to see them cleaning up the living room to find Mike, Taren, and Mal cleaning up, the latter didn't seem to enjoy it much. They noticed she wore a different set of clothing. Wearing a green halter tank top, and an orange short skirt, and her hair was styled with a purple hair band. "You know it would be easy for me to straighten up everything with a little magic."

Mal silently pleaded for him to accept as it do she could her's to make it quick, sort of reminds her of the chores they did back at Macbeth's mansion without relying on their powers for shortcuts.

"Thanks, Stella but I prefer it this way." Mike knew she was trying to be helpful for what happened last night, he thought it be better to take some time from the whole magic business for a while.

Mal groaned and grumbled, much to Taren's amusement to see her like this. After cleaning up his part, Taren turned to Mike's apologies. "Still, it's sort of my fault for leading them here if I've known they were following us."

"You don't have to blame yourself, Taren, nobody was hurt so that matters." Mike assured him and was grateful for their help. This made Taren better and smiled.

Ben came in and wiped his hands and had some bit of dirt on his clothes. "Alright, I've sorted out the damage outside and filled that hole up."

"You think those So-called Specialists could've at least helped out." She muttered under her breath, feeling her body ache after spending the morning cleaning up everything.

"I'm ready." They see Bloom with her mom and carrying the suitcase, they figure she must have made up her choice.

"Are you sure about this, sweetie?" Mike asked if she was serious about it.

Bloom nodded. "Yes, Dad, I'm going with Stella to the realm of Magix at Alfea castle.

"Call us as soon as you get there and let us know everything." Her father said and started to feel worried about all this. "I still can't believe we agreed to this. W-what if you get sick? Or if you meet these monsters again?"

"Dad, I'll be careful I promise." Bloom assured him that she was going to be ok.

"Bloom, we love you so very much, and please come home as soon as the session is over next summer. We'll miss you." Her mom asked her, knowing that Bloom would be far from home for some time.

"I'll miss you too, so very much." Bloom smiled at them softly as she would miss them.

"Nah ah ah, did you think we let you go just like that?" Mike told her. "No, we're coming with you. So, not like using a cab or anything, right?"

The moment he mentioned a cab, the trio flinched and felt their color drained away as they remembered the near-death experience they had yesterday with the Fates. They made a vow; NEVER to take a cab ride from the Fates or anyone related to them again.

"Are you alright, you three look as if you've seen ghosts?" They were snapped out of the nightmarish moment after hearing Vanessa spoke out.

"Oh, nothing." Mal brought her hands up and tried to make a convincing smile. "It's just that we had a... bad experience with a cab ride on the way here." Both the boys nodded and smiled sheepishly, the others didn't know what they were on about but decided to let it slip.

Taren thought of something and asked Stella before they left. "Say, Stella aren't there rules about bringing people who don't have magic to your dimension?" Bringing up the subject as they remember that Bloom was the only one among her family to possess magic.

"There are rules that don't allow it, but as they say; rules are meant to be broken!" Stell said and transformed her ring into its staff form. Raised her staff and opened up a portal that would lead them to Magix, when they arrived the group had a rough but soft landing in a forest. They all looked to see Alfea for fairies to attend.

For the wielders of the keyblades, this was the next part of their journey and now in the Magic Dimension. They won't know what lies ahead but know without a doubt, that Tezzeret and the Grimm are near, but that's what they've been preparing for since day on

Chapter Text

Ever since the day Taren was swept away from Destiny Islands, it was the hardest moment Sora and Kairi had ever experienced since the day he was born, fearing that their enemies would come after him. Kairi was in tears the moment she learned of his disappearance and used her husband for support while in an emotional breakdown worrying nonstop about what could happen to him, fear that something terrible had happened to him.

It was then they learned that not only was Taren the target, but so was Ben, Belle and Adam's son when their world was attacked by the creatures known as the Grimm. However, all is not lost as they learned about Yen Sid's gone but were told he was with the new keyblade wielders to train when they had recently been chosen as the new wielders. Sora was both proud and worried that his son was given a keyblade just like him but at the same time feared for his concern. The princess of Radiant Garden was slowly recovering, but still clinging to hope for his safety and bringing him home no matter how far he is, they will find Taren.

But one day, something changed when they heard the news.

"YOU FOUND HIM!?" Kairi and Sora both raised their voices so loud, that anyone in the building could hear them shouting from the top of their lungs.

"GAH!" Cid fell from his chair when they shouted after giving the news. , He was much older with greying hair from the sides and a short beard across his chin as a sign of his age. He remained physically active and Felt the ringing in his ears and narrowed his eyes at his parents who almost made him deaf. "Jeez! Will you turn down your voices?! I could lose my hearing if you keep at it."

Both of them calmed down until they responded, Sora held his hand on Kairi's shoulder who was blushing with embarrassment for startling Cid. "We're sorry, it's just that for the past several months we heard nothing from them and hoped he was ok at least."

Kairi nodded and agreed with him. "And especially with these Grimm about, we feared he might be in danger. But, is it true... you found him and Ben?" At least hoping to give some good news to Ben's parents, Belle must be as worried as she was.

"Well, at first we didn't, but it was just then we finally received word from the old man himself."

"Yen Sid?" Sora thought, knowing it had to be him.

"You got it. Seems the bastard who let those Grimm loose on our worlds hasn't found him, yet. Told me to tell you that the kid's fine." Cid reassured the parents, seeing them so relieved about it.

Kairi smiled and hugged Sora, crying in joy while struggling to fight off the tears. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to us."

Sora smiled and stroked her hair. "So where is he now?" Hoping they can find him and see him again, if what they found out is true that he's got a keyblade, it could be worth seeing how much his skills have improved.

Cid however, stroked the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Ehh, see the thing is... he was on a planet called Earth, someplace named Gardenia."

Kairi smiled brightly. "Great! Then let's go there and... wait a minute, 'was'?" Not understanding what he meant, and she might not like the answer.

Gulped nervously and felt her staring at him, afraid of giving the wrong answer. "Well, not sure you're not gonna like it, but you better stay calm and not scream."

Outside his office, Tifa walked up to Riku after learning that they were here, possibly for an update on Taren and the other two teens' whereabouts. "Hey, Riku. Heard the great news." She smiled at the silver-haired male who stood by the door.

Riku looked at the busty brunette and returned the greeting. He was glad to know Taren was ok as was everyone. "Yeah, I'm certain Ben's folks will be very happy about it."

"Yeah, and best of all, they've got keyblades! That must be awesome!" She clapped her hands together.

"Well, if it weren't for the Grimm and new threat about, would've been a little different. But found out where he is, something his parents may not like."

Tifa smiled and "Oh come on, we waited seven months for this day. And besides it's not like something like this never happened before when you were their age and went on crazy adventures, How bad could it be?"

"He's WHERE?!" Both were startled by Kairi's raised voice, possibly being told where Taren was. "What the hell are they doing in the Magic Dimension?!"

"For crying out loud, woman! Inside voices!" Now they could hear Cid complaining about his ears from Kairi's outburst. This was new to Riku and was familiar with the place, but the thing is they sealed the veil between their realms for safety measures.

"Ok... I'm guessing it's bad?" Tifa asked him.

Riku turned to her and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It must be serious if the kids are there. But, I'm sure they'll be fine, like you said. Taren takes after his old man and no doubt is an exceptionally skilled keyblade wielder for sure. Ben's with him, so at least they'll help each other out."

"And no doubt, they'll be off going on adventures, fighting monsters, and villains, and saving damsels and distress." Tifa smirked, thinking it would be something that Taren would do, just like his father had saved Kairi many times. 

It was one of those things everyone would be thinking about, eager to see a new generation of keybladers, out there making their own adventures. Yet, so much face in times of peril and danger. 

They can only hope those kids would be safe and wait for the others to help them.

Magic Dimension

"ACHOO!" 

Taren strangely felt a draft from his nose and sneezed jut after they made it to the world of Magix, unsure why but just did. Rubbing his nose to prevent another coming.

"Gesundheit." Ben said to him after he sneezed.

Taren rubbed and is feeling better now. "Thanks, weird, almost like someone far away just said my name."

Mal rolled her eyes and lightly shook her head when thinking he must be losing it or just trying to mess with them. She could now see the castle as the school for fairies. "So this is Alfea." Mal had to admit, it seemed impressive, and could feel the flow of magic stronger in the dimension than she was used to. They were in some sort of forest but can see the school 

"Guess we finally arrived." She turned to see Ben behind her and seeing the school for fairies close by found Bloom looked pretty excited to learn magic as a fairy, even her parents were amazed by the sight of it. "Now we just have to think of a way to-"

Suddenly, they heard Mike grunt as he just stopped his approach to Alfea, like he bumped into something.

Taren watched him held his hands out and didn't know what was going on. "Hey, something the matter?"

"I dunno. It's like an invisible wall." They watched as Mike was pushing his hands out, almost like he was doing a mime trick. But they were confused as Taren decided to walk passed him to try it out and felt nothing. Whatever it was, something was not letting Mike through.

"Don't feel anything."

Bloom walked past her father and felt nothing either, uncertain if he was fooling around. "Are you guys pulling on our legs?"

"No, honey, honest." Mike said defensively, Mal became curious about it. Stepping through and almost feels certain amount of magic between them, like some sort of barrier .

"He's right, there is something here." Mal brought their attention to her. Casting a spell to tap against where the invisible barrier should be, revealing its presence through a shimmering wave that was some sort of wall between them and Bloom's parents. "The reason you two can't go through is because you don't have magic."

"Oh, that's just the protection barrier to keep non-magic beings out. They do that sometimes." Stella remembered the rules and seemingly forgot about the protective barrier. Turning to Bloom's parents to break it to them. "I'm afraid Mal is correct, you can't go any further from here. Sorry about that."

"You-You don't mean..." Bloom couldn't believe her parents were not allowed to go any further, it feels too sudden for her to be separated from them already.

Vanessa was saddened to learn that neither she or her husband would see her daughter go to the new school due to the rules of this world. But was also sad to leave and bid farewell to their daughter and wish her the best. "I guess it's time to say goodbye, Bloom." Both she and her husband feel they should at least give some encouraging words to support her new goals.

The wielders of the keyblade felt bad for her to see them off so soon, the reason they could pass was that they used magic and wielded the keyblades despite being human. The teenagers watch Bloom leave the barrier to say goodbye to them, Ben smiles and remembers the last time he gave his goodbyes to his parents before leaving home, seeing his mom keeping a brave face and promising his dad that he'll make them proud. But Taren, he never got that chance with his family, only to have been whisked away from the islands to a far-off world after being attacked by the Grimm. Mal was very quiet when she watched them hug each other and give some encouraging advice before they left. She looked to the ground with a downcast expression. Her arms crossed and frowned softly, no one noticed but Ben who kept quiet.

Kiko runs up to his owner to stick close to her since he can pass through it. 

"Taren, Ben, Mal." The trio turned to Mike who called out to them. "Listen, all I ask is if you can keep my daughter safe, and make certain nothing happens to her." He had a feeling he could trust them after helping Bloom last night against the Ogre and his ghouls.

"We'll make sure she's safe here." Taren assured her parents not wanting to see her hurt. Especially from the Grimm and any villains that might hurt her.

"And don't worry, she's in good hands." Stella knew they did not have much time and needed to get a move on. Whispering to Bloom's ear. "Come on we gotta go!"

Bloom promises them that she'll come back to see them on her break and keep in contact, once that is all done, Stella summons her scepter and sends them safely back to Earth. "Ready to take the plunge? Once you cross the barrier, there's no going back."

"My mind's made up, Stella I'm going with you." Bloom said and turned to the keybalde bearers. "What about you guys? Aren't you coming?"

Mal shook her head softly. "Sorry, but we gotta part ways and meet up with our mentor."

Taren sighed and almost forgot about that. "Yeah, Macbeth is probably here now and waiting for us."

Bloom looked a little disappointed to see them go so suddenly, wishing they could stay a little. She was very grateful for them saving her life and especially for Taren for coming to her rescue from the Grimm. "You sure?"

"We're sure, Bloom, also best not to say anything about us or our keyblades. The less anyone knows, the better." Ben said. "Just to keep a low profile for the time being." Can't reveal the whole truth and risk getting the girls involved since they promised her parents to watch over her during their mission.

"Oh, I see, to avoid the fans." Stella seems to have bought it. "No worries, I'm good at keeping secrets." Smiling brightly at them, yet somehow that didn't seem to make the others feel at ease after she told Bloom's parents about her origins.

"Yeah, maybe when we're not busy we could come around to visit and hang out." Taren offered and thought it wouldn't be so bad to hang out with them when not on missions.

This brightened up Bloom's crestfallen look and smiled at him. "Really? Y-Yeah that would be great!" Brushing the locks of her hair, suddenly felt shy for a moment, but couldn't explain why when thinking about it. Unaware of the blonde next to her was fighting the urge to smile.

"OK, you two can have fun later. But we gotta go before Macbeth gets impatient!" Mal grabbed him by the arm and yanked him from his feet as they made their leave before the fairies could say their farewells.

Stella watched them leave and turned to Bloom. "Well that's a pity, I would've liked to ask them more about their keyblades. But that Mal seriously needs to lighten up as if they were in trouble or something."

"You're not gonna keep asking them about wanting your own, are you?" Bloom looked at her, remembering what they told her about a bond with their blades.

The Solarian princess thought about what she said. "Hmm, that's not a bad idea. And if I do, it'll be beautiful and stylish like me!" She proclaimed just by thinking of it, causing the redhead to giggle and shake her head over such an idea. But, having to admit it is interesting to have one herself, if possible. Maybe next time she could ask Taren about how he got his in the near future.

"You know, you could've been a little easy back there." Taren had dusted his coat before sliding his hands in his pockets and narrowed his eyes at the witch for yanking him away from the girls. He didn't see the harm in just hanging out with them.

Mal looked over her shoulder at him. "Look, you heard what Master Yen Sid said, we need to keep a low profile while in Magix to find the you-know-what before Tezzeret does." Reminding him of the reason they came here for. This came at a surprise this coming from a witch that detests rules. She noticed the two looking at her with mixed odd and doubtful looks, causing her to sigh and placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, when it comes to either the keyblade master and sorcerer, along with a guy who trained us through 7 months of torture, would you want to make them mad?"

Both the boys stiffened upon the mention of it as she brought a valid point, the training they received was tough to become strong enough to face bigger foes than just the Grimm. But they didn't get off so easily if failed on practice runs or something like getting into trouble.

"Uh... good point. So long as he doesn't know what happened on Earth, we should be safe." Taren was positive things will turn out ok. "Gotta wait until they finish welcoming the students and we'll go in and meet the principal."

Ben agreed with him. "Besides, we should have more chances of contacting him here now. And if we get the chance Taren can have time for his date." Doing what he can from snickering on the last part.

"Yeah, we should-wait, what?" Taren looked at the brunette with a baffled look. Unsure what he meant by a date?

"Nothing." Acting all innocent and pretending he never said anything. Mal heard him and kept quiet since she knew what the prince was on about. "Anyway, he's right, best to approach the headmistress after the students have gone, she knows him well and perhaps Macbeth be here."

Mal looks at him and thinking over what he said, would perhaps be a good idea to inform her of their arrival in Magix as she is one of the three to contact with. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess it could work. Can use my magic to sneak in and check to make sure no students are present."

"Or perhaps you three can explain the reasons for snooping around outside the school grounds."

The keyblade wielders were startled to see a tall middle-aged woman who appeared out of nowhere and gave a stern look on her face with arms folded over her chest. She has straight brunette hair in a short sharp hairstyle and brown eyes, wearing a pair of sharp glasses to match her style, and wearing a navy blue dress.

"Who are you?" Mal asked her, tempting to bring out her keyblade if the woman was up to no good after sneaking up on them. But waited for her answer.

"I, young lady, am Griselda, Head of Discipline of this school. Now, I would like to whom the three of you are and what you are doing here?" Griselda inspected them with her glasses and was uncertain if they were up to no good or not.

Taren gulped nervously with that look of hers some reminded him a little of Yen Sid. "Uh, h-hey, we came here to meet the headmistress of Alfea."

"Yeah, we're apprentices of Master Yen Sid and were brought here to meet her." Mal added, feeling somewhat at ease but not sure if she believed them.

"Yen Sid?" Cupping her chin to think, hearing that name sounded familiar to her.

"Yeah, has a long grey bear, wears a blue robe and a wizard's hat." Taren gave her the description.

Mal nodded. "And always has that serious look on his face." No matter how much she tried, those piercing eyes were hard to ignore.

By now Griselda remembers the name well and who they were describing. "Ah, yes, Master Yen Sid. We were expecting you to be here yesterday." She responded and questioned for their lateness.

"Yeah, we ran into some trouble back on Earth." Ben said, knowing that they ran into a pair of Grimm on Earth.

"Well, you can explain everything to Headmistress Faragonda. But I expect you to be on your behavior while on school grounds. Is that clear?" Narrowed her eyes at the teenagers, mostly towards the two boys since Alfea is a school for girls learning to use magic as fairies, especially since this is the first day for new students and not want them to cause any disturbance. The purple-haired girl, however, looks like a troublemaker with the way she's dressed and the attitude she displayed just earlier, easily believed she was a student of Cloud Tower.

They all nodded to her in response, being used by those who speak with authority but have her reasons. Leading them into the school with all the students now in their dorms to settle in for their first semester. The trio took a glance at the school as they walked through and admitted it was nice up close, following the Head of Discipline to the headmistress' office but she stopped and turned to the three. "I will let her know you are here, so wait out here for a moment."

They nodded their heads and watched her enter first before they would. Moments later they walked into the office that had so many books, a large window, and a desk where an elderly woman with short curly grey hair stood behind the desk, wearing a blue top with white sleeves and a pink skirt down to her ankles and black shoes. Giving a warm smile to the three as she stepped forward. "I'm relieved to see that you managed to come safely, I had hoped to see our old friend again after many years."

"Well, he was needed back home to make sure the other Keyblade masters and allies are all ok. Said that once things are settled and the bridge between our worlds is fully open, he'll show up." Ben told her about the master sorcerer.

She understood his reasons for remaining behind for the time being but was a little concerned for the three students. Faragonda sighs and begins to explain to them what is happening. "As you are no doubt aware, the Magic Dimension is facing a growing peril as these creatures... the Grimm, are slowly becoming a danger to everyone in the realm of magic. Macbeth came to us the other day and explained that they were under the control of Tezzeret, which isn't good at all with his return."

Mal folded her arms over her chest and mentally agreed with her. "Yeah, which seems like he had others to work with him before we even got here."

This news was surprising to the two fairies of such discovery and not so well. "You mean, someone else can summon them?" Faragonda asked her, fearing that Stella might have been hurt since she was assigned to go to Earth to bring the keyblade wielders to Magix.

"An ogre by the name Knut. Had this thing, some kind of gem or something to command them but we took care of it. And Stella is fine with some help on the way." Ben assured her.

Griselda may be hard at times to discipline any student breaking the rules, but she does have a caring moment, relieved to hear about Stella's safety. "But, we still have problems with them but fortunately we have the barrier for that to keep intruders out for the students' safety."

"But at the time, we should be careful and find out what he's planning. Macbeth is already at Red Fountain with the headmaster, so until then you are guests in Alfea." Offering them the invitation and can find some spare rooms until further notice.

"What about Stella? She sort of found out about our keyblades." Taren pointed it out to her, including Bloom as well but didn't mention her in case.

"I'll have a word with her shortly, the less anyone knows the better." Faragonda said but more to say to them. "And that goes for you as well considering this is an important mission."

They understood perfectly but hoped that Macbeth wouldn't be mad for such a reason. They've been given credit for public transport and free to explore the city of Magix. Watching them leave, Griselda turned to her old friend. "Do you suppose it's right to let them be part of this? They are only children."

The headmistress sighed and would agree with her on the subject. "I understand how you feel, but after what Yen Sid told me about what happened to them was dreadful to be taken away from their families by Tezzeret and his Grimm. However, since they are the new chosen wielders of the keyblades we should give them a chance."

"I hope you're right." Griselda said but had something else on her mind. "But something has been bothering me this morning, about that student princess Stella was with, Varanda. Something about her seems odd."

Faraganda raised an eyebrow and was curious about it. "Varanda? The princess of Callisto? How odd, I could've sworn they sent a letter about her unable to attend the school."

This was something the Head of Discipline did not know. But had a feeling that the Solarian Fairy is part of this, but wondered if those three know something about her since they met Stella on Earth.

"So, seeing as Macbeth is out and granted us the day to relax, might as well have some time to explore." Ben suggested to his friends as they walked around the halls.

"I'm all for that. Man, I could go for something like a hot dog, maybe pizza... or some burritos." Taren grins while eager for food, all the cleaning up at Bloom's home has made him hungry.

Mal shrugged her shoulders and got the chance to find books about magic in this dimension. "Guess we might as well enjoy the spare time and know more about Magix." Going along with it, but also maybe get some souvenirs and spell books to learn.

"So you gotta take Stella's advice for fashion?" Taren resisted the urge to snicker.

Mal gave him a deadpan look. "Funny. Like I take the word from someone who advises on what I should wear after seeing her in that glitter outfit. At least she is in school and I'm not."

The boys were about to respond to her statement when they noticed two familiar faces at the end of the hallway. "Uh, wouldn't be so sure." Taren said. Before Mal could ask what she saw both Bloom and Stella came out, but with three girls they didn't recognize.

Bloom noticed them and was happy to see them. "Hey guys!" Waves her hand to them, the others but Stella doesn't know them and is curious to find out. She didn't expect to meet them so soon but was glad about it anyway, and ran up to catch up with the three. "Did you manage to meet Ms. Faragonda?"

"Hey, didn't expect to run into you here." Mal greeted her. "But yeah, seems our mentor is having some talk with the headmaster at Red Fountain."

"Well, fancy seeing you guys here." Stella greeted them before turning to Mal. "And Mal of course." Purposely pretending not noticing her for a moment, receiving a deadpanned look from the purple-haired teen.

"Remember, we promised to behave." Taren whispered to Mal, reminding her of what Griselda told them to avoid drawing attention themselves in Alfea.

Mal let out a sigh. "Fine." Crossed her arms over her chest. Considering the princess was lucky, for now.

Bloom didn't want her friends to start arguing in front of her new roommates. "Stella."

"Oh, chill, was only teasing to lighten the mood." Stella replied with a wave of her.

"Hello? Oh, I didn't know we had guests." A female voice came from their door, revealing a young girl with tanned skin, emerald eyes, and long soft brown hair with blonde highlights within her bangs. Her choice of attire consisted of a green midriff, an off-shoulder top, a pink skirt with strawberry decoration, yellow bracelets on each arm, and fushia platform pink sandals.

"Of course, me and Varanda met them on the way here." Stella told the brunette and then to Bloom-Varanda as she was now being called.

'Varanda?' The trio had the same thought in their mind, what was going on here and why did Stella call Bloom by a different name?

Bloom nervously smiled, knowing this would complicate things but will have to find some time to explain to them. "Oh, yeah, we just met them and kindly offered their assistance."

"Hope you are settling in, Varanda?" Mal raised her eyebrow and sounding a little suspicious, turned to Stella who seemed to be behind the scheme.

The blonde-haired teen secretly smiled sheepishly. "W-Well, she did say she usually likes to be called Bloom as a nickname, remember?"

"Guess that seems to make sense." Taren easily picked up on it and went with it, unknowingly earning a relieved and grateful smile from Bloom.

"So what brings you to Alfea?" They noticed two more girls show up, the first one had a light skin tone, teal-blue eyes, and magenta-colored hai hair in an asymmetrical hairstyle brushed to the side. She wore a purple and green sleeveless vest and pants, exposing her stomach and showing her hourglass figure. She didn't know why, but something about them seemed off. "Shouldn't you two boys be in Red Fountain?"

The last one had a blue shade of dark hair in pigtails with her bangs in a straight cut and blue eyes. Wore a red one-strap top, a purple armband on her right arm top, and a pair of baggy jeans. Like the other two, she didn't know them and wondered who they were, obviously not students in Alfea.

"Guys, these are our roommates, Flora, Tecna and Musa." Stella introduced the girls in order to the keyblade wielders in-training.

"Well it's nice to meet you, so what are your names?" The one named Flora gave a friendly smile to them.

"Same here, my name is Ben." The Auradon prince introduced himself first.

"Names Mal." But she had a feeling they already guessed when Stella mentioned her name.

"And I'm Taren, nice to meet ya." Taren came last to the rest of the girls. "We just went to meet the headmistress as being... exchange students to Magix."

"Really? Where from?" Tecna asked out of curiosity of what origin of planet they came from.

Both Ben and Mal gave a quick glance at each other to have an idea when Ben took the chance to answer her question. "From a remote world that decided to open up, Auradon. Obviously a place you wouldn't have heard about."

"So we were one of the first to be picked." Mal added with a smile.

"Well, wait until you see the wonders of this place." Flora seemed to buy their story and happy to meet new faces.

"Well, I'm certain the boys would do great in Red Fountain, especially for their amazing- keyblmmph!" A hand shot clasped over Stella's mouth, looking over to find it belonged to Mal, narrowing a glare at the blonde for almost revealing their secret.

Mal was mentally relieved to stop her from finishing the last part they were not supposed to hear. "Sorry, academy secrets that we can't risk exposing to others... for surprise events. Like to keep things safe, you know."

Bloom noted of Mal's excuse for silencing Stella when she realised that she almost said keyblades to her new roommates as it was supposed to be a secret. Decided to play along to avoid suspicion. "Guess she has a point, we just met after all. But hey, we were just heading to head out for a bite to get to know each other. Maybe you guys wanna come along since you wanted to see much of Magix."

Stella pulled Mal's hand off, slightly annoyed but got over it as she almost spilled their secret. "That would be a great idea. So whaddya say, be a blast to see the capital of the Magix Dimension?"

The wielders were thinking of it, would be a good idea to see the place easier. Before anyone could say a word, a strange gurgling noise caught everyone by surprise, and wondered where it came from. Until they saw Mal's face turning bright red and tried to hide the embarrassment on her face and hands over her stomach. They tried not to laugh but couldn't help by her reaction.

"Guess that answers the question." Flora giggled and tried to hide it.

"It's not funny!" Mal growls, having only a light breakfast when they spent the morning fixing Bloom's house after last night's battle with an Ogre and a Troll. Yet still had the blush on her face. Turned to the boys who tried as they might to hide the amused looks on their faces until she gave in by the second rumble of her stomach for food. "Alright, maybe a bite to eat would be a good idea." She thinks it wouldn't be so bad anyway to try out what they serve in this dimension.

"I'm all eager to check out the city while we have time." Taren wouldn't turn down the offer and get a chance to explore the new world.

"Great, I'm sure you'll love the place." Stella proclaimed and was happy for them to come along, and perhaps find out more about their keyblades while she was at it.

"So, the new wielders of the Keyblades have finally made their move after all this time." Several images show the keyblade wielders fighting Knut, his ghouls, and the Grimm they fought with their new abilities. Another thing he noticed was the fairy the ogre fought to retrieve the scepter but failed upon Taren's interference. Frowns upon learning about Knut's failure to retrieve it, but something else catches his eye upon the later events of a red-orange-haired girl who suddenly used magic against them. "So it's true, an actual Earth Fairy. I could've sworn they were extinct since the Great War." He mused, tapping a metallic finger against the armchair, stroking his bearded chin with his human hand, and studying the young girl.

For the past several months, Tezzeret had been searching for the three wielders with his Grimm and machines of his creations to search through many worlds that they might have been hiding. However, it proved futile with a powerful sorcerer like Yen Sid shielding them from his eyes and ears but didn't mean he gave up on his plans, knowing they had to travel to the Magic Dimension to learn to control their new powers.

Patience was the key strategy, biding his time to let them make the move to reveal themselves. But he didn't expect to find an Earth Fairy of all things, freezing the image of her using magic, and yet, something about her was off and couldn't quite put it.

"How interesting, I wonder how this will turn out." His curiosity was focus on the fairy, who just recently discovered her magical heritage would fair against powerful foes.

"But no matter. Soon, they will all perish, that I swear." Pulls back his hood and his right arm extended outwards, revealing its metallic claw, dagger-like appendages used as 'fingers and held together by magic.

The Keybladers and the fairies boarded the bus to take them to Magix City, the capital of the entire Magic Dimension. Bloom was very excited to see it, but Stella wanted her to close her eyes before they got there, wanting it to be a surprise for her. The wielders of the keyblade didn't need to, but they didn't want to spoil it for the redhead.

Ben was thinking of other things, noticing Taren was sleeping in his spot behind him, probably trying to catch up on sleep after getting up early to fix up Bloom's home. Then Mal sat by herself, sketching in a book. Since they met, she hadn't said much about her personal life apart from being a witch and not much of a social person to people other than him, Taren, and the masters during their training. While the girls were getting to know each other until they reached the city, he might as well move to the seat behind her.

"Hey." The prince greeted her.

Mal took notice of Ben next to her. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there." Not minding him taking the seat next to hers, but wondering what brought him to sit with her. "Something up?"

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. "Nope, just checking on you. The girls want to keep this a surprise for Bloom on her first day, and Taren... well, he's asleep anyway." He pointed his thumb to the redhead leaning against the window with his eyes closed and arms folded across his chest.

"If you're asking me about waking him up, I'll do it if it involves splashing or putting itching powder." Mal always loved to play practical jokes on Taren since the two started a bond of rivalry, normally not on Ben unless involved in combat training, especially when getting the son of the heroes out of bed after more than one wake-up call.

Ben shook his head, although sometimes funny to see him dance about with itching powder, but not in front of their new friends. "No, nothing like that. I was seeing how you were doing since we got here. Just thought if something was up."

The purple-haired witch and keyblade wielder looked at him for a moment, feeling somewhat uneasy. "Nothing. Just thought she reminded me of the time I left home for this." She gave a quick response and turned to the window. "You should know what it must feel like to leave yours behind."

"Yeah, I... kinda guess you're right. I mean, not easy for everyone." Ben said to her. He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling she was a little hesitant when he asked her. He decided not to press further and to wait until she was ready. "I just wanted to be sure you were okay, you know, as any friend would look out for each other."

Mal almost made a surprised look on her face when he said she was a friend. At first, when she first met the two, she didn't think much about forming a bond with either of them, but it was a slow progress over the months. Hearing this from Ben made her feel something she didn't expect. What was it? Special? "Really? I... guess that makes some sense. But what do you think of the girls with us?"

tBen thinks about it and believes them to be nice and get along well, thankfully Stella doesn't spill their secret. At least so far. The pinkette called Tecna, seemed to be a little suspicious of them, uncertain if she believed their cover story so they had to be very careful around her. "So far they seem okay, but I still think we should be careful."

"Oh, yeah, especially that Tecna. I get the feeling she may not buy our story. But how long d'you think they find out Bloom isn't who she is?" Mal brooded. Just before they got on the bus, Stella explained to the trio how she convinced Bloom to play along as Princess Varanda in her place to enroll. They were a little reluctant but didn't want to ruin Bloom's goal of becoming a fairy. However, they weren't entirely convinced that it could work, especially should something unexpected happen like the real Veranda arriving or someone personally knew her to blow their secret.

"Come on, you're probably just overthinking it." Ben thought she was getting a little ahead of herself. But he had to admit that she made a good point, also thinking of how long Bloom can keep up the act.

The two looked through the window and realized they were now in the city and were amazed by the futuristic-looking city. The bus finally stopped and opened the doors for everyone to get out. Taren woke up afer feeling the bus stop moving and joined everyone in getting off. She couldn't believe just how advanced the city was, more impressive than Radiant Garden or the city of Auradon.

Taren woke up and saw the view. "Wow." Which was all Taren could describe of the city.

"I know it's amazing isn't it?" Turned to the brunette, Flora, her name was softly giggled at their response. "First time I came here, I couldn't believe how big the city was."

Taren couldn't deny that, hadn't visited many worlds apart from a handful but had never been to anyplace like this. "Yeah, I know some back home would love to see this. Feels like being in some future or something."

They waited for Bloom who was the last to disembark and was guided by Tecna with her eyes closed.

"Are we there yet? Can I open my eyes?" Bloom was too excited and anxious to see the place. Not even sure how long she can stay calm.

"Sure. Go ahead, take a look." Tecna let go of her and stepped back to see her reaction. The keyblade wielders shared a thought that Bloom's reaction would be something awe and amazement like theirs; instead, she looked a little... disappointed.

Mal was confused by her expression as the others were. Placing her left hand on her hip. "Uh, Bloom shouldn't you be, I dunno, excited maybe?" She pondered, assuming this was something to amaze the Earth Fairy.

"Yeah, you look disappointed." Musa agreed with Mal.

"Sorry, but of course I'm disappointed. This is it? Magix? Capital of the Realm of Magic? The most enchanted city in the universe?" Bloon walked around and threw her arms out to the city as it wasn't what she envisioned at all.

"Well, does this convince you so far? What were you expecting?" Ben asked me, although he had to admit that they were expecting some magical feel here rather than all the high-tech that was present.

"I dunno, dragons, unicorns, magical shops for wands and stuff." Bloom said, something she thought since coming here and maybe some witches on broomsticks.

You know, she has a good point considering this is a world of magic," Taren scratched his head when agreeing with Bloom. Mal rolled her eyes. "And this is from someone who reads a lot of comic books." "But that's fairy tale stuff. This is the real world," Stella explained to them. "Here, everything lives off its magical energy. Magic is everywhere." As the Moon and Sun fairy explained, the wielders could indeed feel a lot of magic around them since they arrived. Bloom yelped and jumped out of the way for the car to pass through. They saw it parked nearby and what surprised the four was the driver using magic to create a space between two cars to move in.

Mal was interested in what the driver demonstrated in the parking area, she would want to learn new magical abilities of this dimension that could come in handy in the future. "That's impressive." 

"I know, that's the beauty of having magic," Musa said to her. Stella clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, now that we're all settled it's time for some fun." 

"And now let's eat," Flora proclaimed to explore the area for a decent restaurant for them to eat.

Unknown to them, there was a sphere-shaped probe, similar to the spindly-legged one from Earth, floating through the air. Its single eye focused on the group, particularly towards four individuals; the keyblade apprentices and Bloom. 

"It's them. And they're in Magix at this very moment." Tezzeret observed through the visual screen, after several months of tracking them. They were here right now. Unable to risk drawing their attention and use the Grimm, not without further analysis of their abilities if they had been trained to use their new powers.

He spotted an Ogre who was in such a hurry, he almost ran into the probe before he halted, looking all startled, and stared at it in curiosity. "Knut! What are you doing?" He knew it was the creature that served his allies.

Knut backed off and recognized the voice. "M-Master Tezzeret! S-Sir! Please forgive me, I didn't know it was your robot, I just found the girls in Magix and was just about to alert their Highnesses. They were heading downtown as you can see."

Tezzeret instructed, "Indeed, it seems the keyblade wielders are with them. I'll call the Trix and set up a meeting place over there. We will plan out how to seize the princess' staff. In the meantime, you keep a close watch on them, especially those three." 

 "Y-Yes sir! I won't fail!" Knut stuttered, not wanting to get on his bad side. 

Tezzeret cuts off the link to get in touch with other contacts to inform them. After a moment, a young girl's voice spoke. "Yes?" 

"It is me. Knut has found the Solarian princess, along with the girl and the keyblade apprentices who fought the Ogre on Earth." Tezzeret noted. 

"They're here?where are they now?" 

"They just arrived at Downtown in Magix." He responded to her question. "Knut will join us to share this report."

"Meet us at the Witches Alley. I'll tell Knut to keep a close watch over them but stay clear from those key-brats." she told him, sounding eager and impatient, which irritated the elder male. "You better not lose them."

Frowning with displeasure of her lack of manners and responds. "Patience, young witch. Do remember that I agreed to work with you and your sisters to accomplish both our goals."

He could hear a 'hmph' sound coming from her end. "Fine then, but you better hold up your end of the deal as well, old man. We'll meet you in the ally and bring Knut along and we can discuss our plans to steal the scepter from the princess."

Nodding his head with approval. "Be sure not to be followed." Hanging up and left to his thoughts, ignoring the leader's impulsive behaviour, while understand the means of becoming a greater witch if she and her sisters wanted to become rulers of the Magic Dimension someday. But they are not like many who are far more powerful and need years of training and focus to 

A beeping sound grabbed his attention as one of the probes suddenly went off the grid. He was curious as it was the same one that he had used to speak to Knut. He quickly typed away on his keyboard, ordering the nearest drone in the city to investigate, but he was unable to connect to it. "What's this?" On the screen, it was revealed that the probe had been utterly destroyed, with pieces scattered in the alley as it exploded. No, it had been shot by the enemy. This was not good; someone must be on to him and his allies. He would have to be cautious and make sure that no one stood in his way.

The group eventually found a restaurant and managed to find a table big enough for eight of them. They ordered their own meals whilst getting to know each other. The keyblade wielders were a bit skeptical of what food Magix had to offer, especially Bloom who had never been to the Magic Dimension but turned out to be better than expected. But so far it was not so bad and almost like what they have from their homeworlds.

"So you got expelled for blowing up a lab? And they let you back in?" Taren couldn't believe what he just heard. According to some, the lab was blown up by Stella, her father had to pay for the damages and got expelled. Fortunately for her, the headmistress was a believer in second chances and allowed her back in. 

Mal had to admit, it did sound awesome if she didn't get expelled.

Stella simply shrugged as she explained it many times since they arrived. "Well, no one got hurt and I was trying to go for a new style."

"Yeah, and Griselda was so mad you should've seen the look on her face." Musa could easily tell how fuming she was that morning during the inducton.

Mal smiles softly after finishing her drink. "I could've done better doing something like that. Back when I was 13 years old, was trying to make a bomb into art as an experiment. It gave such a bright color to the dull boring street." Then her smile of such a memory, she could hardly hold back the laughter, until the smile turned into a frown. "Pity I didn't work on the timing right."

Both Ben and Taren knew of her talents, during times when not training she would usually be in her room for personal privacy. "Oh yeah, we've seen some she calls art." Taren mumbles and takes a sip of his glass.

Mal frowns at him with her cheeks puffed. "Oh, come on, so you lost that challenge after my little trick." Mal wore small grin and the boys flinched at the mention of it. The girls were curious to know what she was talking about.

"What? What happened?" Stella was eager to find out.

"Nothing happened." Taren replied quickly, acting like it was nothing.

"Correct." Ben agreed, much as he rather forget that day and hope she didn't say anything.

Mal waved her hand. "Oh, something from our training. Maybe another time." She noticed Bloom with her phone and appeared to be having a problem with it. "Something the matter?"

Bloom looks up and hears Mal asking her. "Seem to be having problems with my phone, it's not working." Points her phone as Tecna was observing it. "See, I press down the number and nothing happens."

"Let me a look, I'm very good with electronic stuff." Tecna offered. Bloom handed her phone over to her if she could figure out the problem. As Tecna examined the device in her hand, she suddenly gave a soft laugh, gaining everyone's attention.

"What's so funny." Musa asked her.

Tecna stopped laughing and took off the covering. "This is prehistory technology. Where did you get that thing?" From the look of the keyblade wielders, they wondered if their phones were similar to Bloom's since their time on Earth.

Bloom was confused about it and didn't know what she meant. "But, it's the recent model." She said before Stella leaned toward her in a whisper. 

"On Earth maybe."

Feeling bad for her sudden behaviour, Tecna decided to make it up to apologize to Bloom. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. It was rude."

Stella told Bloom there was a phone booth that could allow her to contact her family back on Earth through inter-realm, which she could use to phone anyone on any planet or realm. Bloom managed to make a call back on Gardenia hoping to check up on her parents, her mom picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?" Bloom recognised the voice belonging to her mother.

"Hi, mom it's me." Bloom responded, she could hear the surprised tone from Vanessa's voice.

"Bloom? How is your new school?" Asking her daughter to know how her first day went since they left.

She smiles as she replies. "School is wonderful, and I'm sharing an apartment with Stella and three other girls."

"Oh, that's great, and how are your other friends?" Possibly asking about Taren, Ben, and Mal.

"Oh, they're doing fine, they might be waiting for their teacher to show up. I think Taren and Ben might try out for one of the schools. Not sure which one Mal might choose. So the courses don't start until tomorrow morning, but don't worry I'll keep you posted."

"That's good to hear, hope you do well and maybe we might get a chance to see it." Bloom hoped so but was worried that they find out about her little lie to get in, she didn't want to get into trouble but had just found a place where she could truly be a fairy. At the corner of her eye, she potted Knut, the ogre who attacked both Bloom and her friends yesterday, quickly covering her face as he walked past without noticing her, much to a great relief but worried he may be up to no good. "Mom, I gotta go now, my friends are calling me so big hug and kiss Daddy for me, please? Bye!" Takes the card out and follows Knut without being seen.

=====

Back with the others as they left the restaurant to check on Bloom until Taren spotted a familiar ogre walking about. "Guys, look!" He whispered to them without alerting the girls, both Mal and Ben recognized him from Earth.

"Didn't we just kicked his butt the other day?" Mal  asked

"He must be going somewhere, he's gotta be connected to Tezzeret and the Grimm." Ben was sure of it.

"But, one of us should go and the others to stay behind for now, but just in case he's after Stella again or something happens." Taren stated and knew they all couldn't follow without giving away the element of surprise.

Mal stepped forward. "I'll do it, like I said earlier, my keyblade's ability allows me to infiltrate and hide my presence."

Ben was a little unsure if it was a good idea. "You sure you're up to it?"

She gave him a confident smile. "Don't worry, I'll keep you updated before they know it." Summonsing her Shadow of Redemption to her hand. With no one in sight, including the girls she focused on her magic, and the shadow beneath her feet suddenly expanded and pulled her downwards. The boys took a step back and watched as Mal's body descended into her shadow until her entire form was within it. The shapeless form slithered across the road and headed toward the direction the ogre took.

"Ok, have to admit, that's a pretty neat trick." Ben thought, even Taren had to agree with him on it.

"Yeah, but don't tell her that otherwise, she'll brag about it."

"You guys alright out here?" Ben and Taren suddenly heard Tecna who approached the two and noticed the female member of the trio was missing. "Hey, where'd Mal go?" Looked around to see where she went.

"Oh, she suddenly went to the restroom. Wanting to take one before we start to head back." Taren told her as a cover for Mal's sudden absence.

Tecna didn't know why, but the two were hiding something and knew there was something up about them sincethe girls met them. "Well, guess we gotta have to wait for her as well.

Taren was confused by what she meant by that. "Wait, hold up. Bloom isn't back yet?"

The magenta-haired girl shook her head and thought they knew. "No, she didn't come back. It shouldn't take that long to find a public phone. I thought maybe you've seen her."

Somehow the keyblade wielders had a bad feeling about where this was coming from and didn't like it.

=====

Both girls followed Knut while completely oblivious to the other's presence, Mal took a darker area with more darkness for advantage in the alley, inside the shadows her physical form remained intact and floated like she was in zero-gravity observing through the 'window' she finds three girls about her age with knut, she can sense strong magic from the three, more powerful than the fairies and a lot of negative Phibes from them, which concludes that they must be witches. Bloom took cover from the trash to get a glimpse of them.

The first one, possibly the leader of the witches, had long snow-white hair pulled in a high pony-tail, wearing a blue one-piece suit and a cape along with it, boots of darker shades of blue to add, and along with long fingerless gloves

Another girl with long brown hair explained to her, wearing a pair of yellow glasses. She wore a dark purple bodysuit with a pair of gloves and ankle boots to match the outfit.

A witch with frizzy purple hair shaped like a cloud and cyan-colored eyes, pale skin, and lightening bolt-shaped lavender bangs, she wore a dark red dress with a flared collar, matching the elbow-length gloves that stop to the palms of her hands. Most of her outfit was maroon in color and lacked the cape the other two had.

"Well, knut?" Icy, the leader of the group asked, pointing her finger at him.

Knut was nervous about giving the news to the witches he worked for. "Uhh, I saw the blonde girl with the scepter in the square. They're also with the ones who use the keyboards."

"We got to get that scepter. It's the only thing to lead us to powers beyond our wildest dreams." She said, then out of the ground a dark swirling portal opened from the ground, the four watched as something came out and a small black creature emerged from the darkness. It was a black jellyfish-like creature, with an orange glow as a single eye inside its spherical body and red tendrils hanging loose with bone-like plates. Each of the tips had white bony spikes.

Mal realized what that thing was, it was a Grimm! She couldn't tell what it was so has to be very careful of what it could do.

Bloom saw the thing come out, she had the same sense of feeling when those Grimm monsters attacked Stella and Taren. She had a very bad vibe from it and stayed quiet to know what was going on.

"What is this... thing?" The one named Stormy asked, leaning towards the Grimm for a closer look.

"It's a Seer, Stormy, a type of Grimm that allows us to communicate with others who use them. But also for lookouts which is useful." The one named Darcy explained to her sister.

"Well, it still looks gross." Darcy complained.

"Enough." A faint but stern voice spoke, coming from the Seer that caught the I am using a Seer to speak with you, I'm certain no one has followed you."

"I'm very certain. But what about those drones you sent out. Shouldn't they be on the lookout?" Icy asked him through the Seer.

"Some of them have been destroyed, which means we must be very cautious. Especially the three who possess the keyblades."

"So do you have any clue of who they are?" Darcy asked him.

"Indeed. They are Mal, Prince Ben, and Taren. They are from the worlds I attacked with the Grimm many months ago. Forced to abandon their homes and to hide ever since thanks to Yen Sid protecting them." Mal could hear his voice, frowning and trying to keep calm and level-headed, remembering the carnage his monsters had done to her home. She will never forgive him for that.

Bloom was shocked upon hearing this news and suddenly realized the reason Taren was feeling down that night. They must've been forced to leave their homes and families because of the Grimm and this person was responsible for it.

"I hardly doubt they are a problem, they're probably just on their training wheels." Icy scoffed. "We got Grimm on our side and can use them to take care of those idiots."

But Tezzeret didn't seem to approve of her choice of words. "You must not underestimate your foes. Though the fairies and specialists will not pose a problem to invade their schools, the keyblade wielders are different compared to the others." He warned them in a serious tone.

Icy brushed his advice aside. "Whatever, but we should-"

"Hold on." Darcy called out to catch their attention. "We're being watched." This drew the attention of the group, wondering what to do with the spy.

"Then perhaps we should 'invite' the guest over. Don't you agree?"

The witches smiled over the idea and were eager for fun.

Inside the shadows, Mal was startled, she was certain they couldn't sense her presence. But, the one with brunette hair seems to be a sensor type. Pulled up a sash to cover the bottom half of her face, she was preparing for a fight and surprise them. Watching the witch suddenly created a perfect copy of herself for whatever scheme she was up to. If she was being pulled into a fight, she might as well test her limits against these witches of the Magic Dimension.

Her phone vibrated from her pocket, talk about bad timing but maybe alert her friends and answer it. "Yeah, talk to me. But make it quick!"

"Mal? Sorry, but we seem to be missing Bloom. You haven't seen her have you?" Ben called her.

Much to her surprise when it wasn't her that was the culprit. It was Bloom who got the jump from one of the witches. "Uh, actually, I just did. And she's in big trouble. Lock on to my phone, hurry!" She must've followed him to the alley but had the unfortunate of being confronted by a very dangerous person and she won't stand a chance against them.

The witches snicker and smile as they surround Bloom, who looks a little frightened but tries to show some courage like her friends. But it didn't help when the creepy thing was floating beside them, looking down at her with that menacing gaze.

"I am a fairy." Bloom tried to use magic to defend herself, but it hardly did anything but her magic was so weak it barely reached them.

"Such a disappointment, and was so expecting much from the last living Earth Fairy."

"Move aside, Tezzeret, let us show this puny fairy what real magic can do." Icy and her sisters stepped forward as the Seer drifted aside for them to do their work. First Icy unleashed a strong ice magic to create pillars of ice to trap her. This allowed Darcy to blast her with dark energy, shattering the ice and throwing her back a few feet. Then lastly, Stormy whipped up a mini tornado that would send her high above with no chance to get away.

But what happened came to a surprise when a shadowy figure leaped out of the darkness and flew towards Bloom. "Reflect!" A spherical shield of light surrounded appeared out of nowhere and prevented the attack from happening. The witches and Knut were confused and baffled until the dust cleared up, revealing a purple-haired girl standing before the fairy, but what surprised them more was that she was holding a keyblade in her hands.

Mal stood and swiped her keyblade across the air, narrowing her green eyes at them. Couldn't see her face with the piece of cloth covering her lower face, but Bloom recognized who it was. "Mal?"

"You alright?" She asked Bloom without looking but sounded a bit concerned. Bloom groggily stood up but seemed ok.

"So you're one of those keyblade brats we've heard about." Icy glared at her for ruining their fun.

"And the one speaking through the jellyfish is Tezzeret? Right?" Pointing her blade towards the Grimm and could hear a faint chuckle.

"Ahh, Mal, so nice to see you again, and appears you have gotten stronger." Wasn't sure if he was giving a compliment or just mocking her, but didn't matter.

"And I can just probably do some starter runs with these clowns." Mal said, earning the witches' anger for insulting them.

"How about you try to help each other in a dust storm? Stormy!" Icy called her sister who unleashed a powerful hurricane, dust swirled around the two girls who raised their arms over their faces from the debris. Mal was having a hard time seeing her opponents when suddenly she was hit by a magic blast from the side. But that wasn't all when she felt her wrists snared by the lashing tendrils from the Seer, not giving her the chance to use her keyblade or magic, it threw her over the side, and landed roughly against the boxes near her.

Bloom could barely see but heard her friend in pain, but could able to see her slowly getting up from the trash. She tried to help her but Icy got in her way.

"Not so fast, little fairy, I'm not done yet!" As the hurricane died down, she used her magic to toss her across the alley and landed near Mal. The witches, Knut, and the See Grimm approached the two. The witches smirked as they had the upper hand. "Now for the final touch." Icy cast a spell to trap Bloom in a block of ice.

Mal gasped and witnessed Bloom frozen by the ice witch. Glared at her and made a mental promise to beat the crap out of them, However, she found herself frozen up to the waist with both arms and legs trapped, remained in a kneeling position.

"Impressive. Now to finish off the young witch. She has the information we need." Tezzeret instructed through the Seer.

"Understood." Icy said and looked down at the angered witch. "Such a shame you had to be friends with weaklings like her, you would've made a great addition with such power."

Mal glared at her for a moment and responded. "I'll pass, rather be on the side to kick your oversized asses."

This caused the witches to feel insulted and were about to finish her off.

"Have it your way," Darcy said.

"Leave them alone!" Everyone turned to the source of Stella and the girls, including Taren and Ben who all did not look happy. "Take us on instead."

Mal was relieved that they were, but to find Stella and the rest of the girls with them as well. "Good to have you boys here. And you brought backup." Muttering the last word as the two shared a nervous smile at her response. But their moods changed when they saw Bloom in ice, Taren glared at them and balled his fists for what they had done to her.

Icy didn't seem impressed and found it pathetic. "Oh, look more dweebs to deal with." She pulls out a familiar amulet like the one Knut had from Earth. Creating an enchantment to make it glow. "How about a pack of Beowolves?"

At the snap of her fingers, five black tears opened in the alley, revealing a pack of large bipedal wolves crawling out of the surface, all baring teeth and claws ready to rip the flesh from their prey. The keyblade wielders tensed and didn't like this one bit, Taren recognized the wolf-like monsters back at Destiny Island and they looked a lot bigger and meaner than the ones he remembered. The girls gasped at the sight of the Grimm as they had never seen anything like them before and could feel a strong feeling of darkness coming from them.

The pack slowly moved forward, moving past the witches and Knut as if they weren't there but focused on the group before them.

"Ben?" Taren called him, knowing they would risk revealing their secret but couldn't let anything happen to the girls and their friend near the Grimm. Knowing Mal can escape as long as she is conscious but Seeing Bloom trapped and helpless when frozen was another thing.

Ben looked at Taren, knowing what he was thinking, and nodded. "Yeah, let's. Mal? Get ready."

Mal looked at them in confusion until she realized what they intended to do. But given the situation she was in, better than being some helpless damsel. "Fine, but I call first dibs on the witches."

Stella was wondering if they were going to use their keyboards out here but didn't argue as it's worth saving their friend when revealing their secret.

"I'm bored. Sic 'em!" By Icy's command, the Beowolves let out a beastly roar and charged forward.

One leaped towards Mal, thinking she was easy prey, attempting to strike her down with its claws. Instead, it only struck the block of ice, and her body was not in sight. It failed to notice her summoning the Shadow of Redemption, the witches failed to realize she could turn into a spectral-like shroud to escape. But was too late when she reappeared from the side and cut off the upper jaws in a horizontal slash.

Taren and Ben summoned their keyblades and bashed the nearest Beowolf that tried to attack the group, tossing it back at its own and giving the others space. The fairies took the moment to transform for defense, they knew of Stella's outfit but the others were different; Flora's was pink, Musa's red, and Tecna's a full light purple body suit with a futuristic style.

The trio looked at them and felt a lot of magic from them, and not the only ones when the Beowolves remained where they were and snarled like actual wolves. The girls took a look at their strange key-shaped weapons and had never seen anything like them before, except for Stella, and knew they were at an advantage.

"Now it's our turn you beasts." Stella told them with a serious tone in her voice.

Knut gulped and was glad it wasn't him to fight them, especially the keyblade wielders. The witches observed the group and recognized some of them from the reports.

"She's the one with the scepter." Stormy said after recognizing the Solarian princess.

"And they must be the keyblade wielders, so the stories are true." Darcy mentioned.

The girls prepared themselves for the attack from the Grimm. "Static Sphere!" Techna cast a spell to trap one of the Grimm in a green spherical cage, The two captured by her spell growled in frustration and tried to get out by clawing or biting the bars off.

Musa took her turn to take out the first two. "Sonic Blast!" Two stereo speakers were made from her magic, creating a loud blast of sound that made them howl in pain with their sensitive ears. The two Beowolves were freed, but the sound attack caused the two to feel disorientated and lose their focus.

While they were trying to regain their footing, this allowed Ben to attack them. He struck one down hard with his keyblade, knocking the other with his elbow and twirling the Beast Within in his hand to grab its leg by the hook of his blade's teeth and flipped the Grimm from its feet, sliced it in half through the stomach before it could land. The first one was destroyed as it evaporated into black smoke, now down to the second vulpine Grimm as it started to recover its senses.

Realised its brethren was killed by the wielder of the keyblade, threw its claw down at him but Ben ducked and punched it right into the chest a few times and then threw an uppercut right under its jaws. It backed off a few steps until suddenly it felt the keyblade strike deep into the body. Ben threw it at his target when it was confused and simply walked over and pulled it out when it began to disappear.

Flora took her turn, feeling strong negativity from the monsters made her spine chill but didn't want to lose focus. "Golden Pollen." Blew magical pollen from her hands, surprising one of the remaining two when a plant-like tendril sprouted from the ground and snatching it by surprise. Trapped in a vice-like grip but the magical plant didn't let go and tossed it around like a ragdoll until it was destroyed.

The fairy of Nature was satisfied to rid the monster, but the last one snuck up by climbing up the walls and prepared to throw itself at her. The girl gasped in fear for her safety, she tried to use the Golden Pollen to grab it but it was too fast for her. Cried out and threw her arms out for the worst. But, it didn't come, she looked up and discovered Taren came to her rescue by blocking the coming claw that was intended for her, using his first to stop it with the help of his magical aura flickering preventing any damage.

Stood in her defense and glared at the Grimm as it got back up. "Claws of the lady, furball." Taren muttered as he defended the surprised and awed fairy.

Stella let out a breath she didn't know and was so glad he saved her friends. "Flora, let Taren handle that thing. He can handle it with a keyblade." She said with confidence but didn't realize she just revealed its name.

Tecna looked at her in surprise at how she knew what it was. But sounded familiar to her. "What did you say?"

Using the keyblade in his other hand and struck its foot when it let its guard down, before it could howl in pain and lose its footing, he ran forward and threw a strong punch into the chest, then struck down by the coming keyblade. With the Grimm dealt with he went for Bloom and shattered the ice that trapped her inside, catching the unconscious redhead in his arms.

"I got her!" Taren called out and ran back to them

The witches were not pleased to find their Grimm were defeated by both the fairies AND the keyblade wielders, Icy decided to do it herself, creating a barrage of ice shards at them.

Tecna had a plan to help her friends. "Everyone get behind me. Fire Wall." She called out a green shield and the girls took cover. Ben decided to lend her a hand. "Reflect!" Both their shield spells managed to stop the attacks, but despite the numbers on their sides, the witches were stronger.

Mal thought of a plan to escape before they sent more Grimm at them. "We can't stay here! They too much for us." Seeing the storm witch was ready for her turn, not sure if they could deal with another blow. She took the chance to give them time by firing a wind spell of her one. "Aerora!" Called out the wind magic to counter Stormy's.

Stella nodded and summoned her staff. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Using the magic of her staff to send them away in a safe distance. Just in time before Icy could get the chance to freeze them with her ice.

"Damn it! They disappeared!" She shouted out in frustration.

A window from above opened, revealing an old man with a pair of shades looking down at the group with a stern look on his winkled face. "Don't make me come down there you punks! You won't like me when I'm angry!"

Someplace in the city, Stella uses her magic to warm up the shivering Bloom since she was frozen in that block of ice, melting away the ice to free her. Taren offered to help with his almost similar to hers, seeing her shivering, and decided to offer her use his jacket to keep her warm, revealing his dark brown shirt underneath it.

"Just relax, you'll be warmed up in no time." Ben assured her.

Stella nodded and smiled with pride. "You know Bloom for an Earthling, I must admit you did well. You were really brave-"

"STELLA!" Stella flinched and slowly turned around to face the trio of fairies glaring at her, while Mal gritted her teeth and eyebrow twitching, Taren facepalmed when she blew their little secret. Again

"Seriously?" Taren muttered. He can just imagine an angry Macbeth scolding them and Yen Sid with a more frightening stern gaze upon them for disobeying their orders.

Ben sighed and his shoulders fell. "Oh well, cats out of the bag."

Mal wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her about while questioning her inability to keep ONE little secret.

Musa, Flora, and Tecna, still in their fairy forms and crossed arms and demanding answers

"Is there anything to know about Bloom of Callisto?" Flora scolded her with her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer from the very nervous Stella. And why she called her an 'Earthling' for that matter?

"Ummm, I MIGHT have been fibbing a bit about Bloom's background." She nervously pointed her index fingers together. Stella sighed and knew the jig was up. "Oh... I'll explain on the way back to Alfea."

Mal nervously smiled and slowly crept away while not taking the fall for this. "Gee, this is touching and all, but... oh! Look the bus! Gottagobye!" But before she could make a run for it, the boys grabbed her by the arm and collar to prevent her attempt to flee.

"Not so fast." Ben said without looking at her.

"Yeah, if we suffer so should you." Taren told her to avoid escaping.

Mal grumbled under her breath. "So that's what friendship is for."

Bloom laughed at this and was grateful for them saving her life, realizing she was wearing Taren's jacket and looked up at them as Tecna then walked up to them, making both Mal and Taren nervous about the way she was looking at them, along with Musa.

"And I suppose you have some answers we like to ask." Tecna crossed her arms and waited for a response.

"Yeah, and this time the truth." Musa said, not wanting anymore lies.

Taren was the first to speak for them. "Look, we're sorry for keeping this a secret from you and didn't want to bring unwanted attention but when Bloom and Mal were in trouble we had to help cause it was the right thing to do."

"We didn't want to reveal our little secret at risk of getting you in trouble. That's why we couldn't say much." Mal said.

This surprised the girls with their honesty and reason for being secretive. They looked at each other and thought over, each of them shared a smile at the wielders in approval. Tecna smiled and offered her hand to them.

"Well then after what you did for us, I say you are trustworthy." She said.

"Yeah, and the way you used those key swords against the monsters was awesome." Musa smiled.

Flora nodded and smiled at Taren for saving her. "And also a thank you for saving my life, Taren."

Taren smiled nervously and blushed. "Hehee, it was nothing."

Mal rolled her eyes. "You know, I did risk my ass to save Bloom of course."

"And for that, you have our thanks." Stella said.

Bloom was overjoyed, not just for her new friends saving her, but also for the friends she made in Alfea trusting the wielders. But suddenly remembered what the voice from the jellyfish creature just said and decided to ask Taren something important.

"Taren?" She asked the male redhead who looked at her, along with Ben and Mal to wonder what she wanted to ask him. "Just before those witches attacked us, there was this voice from that Grimm. He said he knew you and said that you guys were taken away from your homes after he attacked them. Is that true?"

They realized she must have heard him speak about their previous encounter with Tezzeret and his horde.

Mal sighed and felt she deserved to know about it after what happened. "Ok, what we're about to say must never be mentioned to anyone. There's a big reason why we've been hiding our keyblades, the ones you saw us use against the monsters?"

The girls glanced at each other and nodded at them. Bloom thought of speaking on behalf of the group and smiled. "Don't worry, we promise we won't tell a soul."

The wielders shared an inquisitive glance at Stella. "Hey, just because I accidentally revealed Bloom's secret, doesn't mean I won't do the same to yours." She huffed, causing the girls to laugh at her response.

Ben cleared his throat and spoke up. "You know those monsters we just fought recently? They're called Grimm. Creatures made out of pure darkness and bent on destroying anything not like their kind or representing light and hope, that's their only function and basic instinct. We were sent to stop them from attacking the worlds of your dimension. "

This news shocked them to find that a horde of creatures made out of pure darkness existed and posed a great threat to their worlds. "But who could've unleashed such creatures?" Tecna asked.

"The guy who controls them is responsible for the attacks on several worlds back home, including our own. Turns out he had some history with previous Keyblade wielders like my dad over a war years ago." Taren only remembered seeing only his heavy coat and a hood over his face, and that metal hand of his.

"Because of him, our homes were attacked, and were sent away for our safety when we were chosen by the keyblades. Sadly we couldn't risk going back for months while he was hunting us down. Bloom and Stella already know a bit about them and fought the Grimm back on Earth when we met them." Mal explained, causing the girls to gasp and turn to their friends who knew all too well.

Stella could barely get them out of her mind after first meeting the wielders. "Ugh, wish I could forget about them, but the ones back on Earth were like bears. If it weren't for you, I be a goner."

The girls felt pity for the wielders for having to leave behind their homes and families but thought of some way to help them if they could since they fought the witches to save Bloom and Mal.

The group made their way back to the school and got to know each other, Tecna apologized to them for being suspicious but understood for her reason, they explained that the Magic Dimension isn't as different to theirs with so many different worlds and some use magic and technology differently to theirs. They were interested to know more about the keyblades and were promised to explain about them for another day.

But another thing to worry about was for Bloom to explain the truth of her origins and hope to not be sent back to Earth since she loved the place. They made their way back to the school as it was late and passed curfew for the students.

"Ok, the coast is clear." Stella whispered, planning on sneaking back in without alerting the teachers. But seems luck wasn't on their side when the spotlights caught them.

"Hm hm! Do you have any idea what time it is?" They heard Griselda speak as she and the headmistress stepped into the spotlights.

"Young ladies we were worried sick." Faragonda told them. "Go to bed immediately and we'll discuss the rules again tomorrow."

The girls walked back to their dorm for the night, but Griselda stopped the keyblade wielders and Bloom. "Not so fast, Princess Varanda, is there something you forgot to tell us."

Bloom sighed and knew it would come to this. "Alright, my name is Bloom and I'm from Earth."

Griselda was right the moment she knew something was up. "I knew it, you're not a real princess. Young lady, you have tricked us." Pointed her finger at Bloom for lying to them.

"True, but still, she must be a magical creature, or the barrier would've kept her out." Faragonda stepped in front of Bloom. She gently turned the girl's head so she could see into her eyes to know her reasons. "Now Bloom, why didn't you give us your real name?"

Before Bloom could be able to answer, Stella came to her defense for being responsible. But Bloom assured her it was ok and revealed that she was really from Earth, much to the shock of the teachers as the planet was outside the realm of the Magix. No known creature would be able to penetrate the barriers as far as they knew.

"I beg you, don't send me away. I've always wanted to be a fairy, and deep down I still did with all my heart. Now I can make my dream come true." Her friends were amazed and awed by her determination.

"Young lady you lied to us and that is unforgivable." Griselda accused.

"But she also has a dream, and she believes in it." Faragonda felt there was great potential in Bloom, much to the great relief of herself and her friends. The headmistress can feel the aura around her that is beyond that of any fairy she has ever seen in her lifetime. "She has displayed a great tenacity and isn't that a quality that every fairy should possess?" The Head of Discipline realizes she makes a valid point, even though Bloom lied to them but has the qualities of a fairy and be given a chance.

"Yes, ma'am." The girls agreed.

The headmistress smiled and turned to the students. "Now off to bed, and please don't make any more noise."

The girls agreed and were thrilled that Bloom was staying, even the keyblade wielders were happy about it.

"Nice to see things turn out well for everyone." Taren said.

"I wouldn't bet on that." A heavily accented voice spoke out.

The girls turned and saw a man in a heavy black coat walking up to them with a face that could rival Griselda's. They suddenly noticed the three were dead quiet, and their faces were pale as ghosts. The girls had a funny feeling this wouldn't end well.

"Ah, Mister Macbeth, so good of you to come. I hope things have been well." Faragonda greeted him as he stopped before her.

Stella leaned to Bloom to whisper in her ear. "Hey, isn't that the name of their teacher?"

"Yeah, and he looks mad." Bloom could easily read his expression when she saw how Taren, Ben, and Mal were quivering. "I hope he doesn't know about today."

He smiled and nodded to the headmistress. "The pleasures all mine, madam. And I had to deal with some 'concerning matters' while I was here." But then turned to the three and eyed them. "And speaking of concerning matters."

The trio gulped nervously and braced themselves for the worst. "Although you were told NOT to reveal your secret to anyone outside our little circle, you be given a punishment for disobeying a direct order."

Giving a moment of pause for them to digest the words, he let a soft sigh and continued. "However, I cannot punish you for doing the right thing by what you thought was best to save these young ladies."

"I happen to agree and will have words with them to ensure no one knows of this. This that understood?" The headmistress asked them and all nodded since they promised their friends to keep it a secret.

"Yes, ma'am."

Mal smiled brightly and clasped her hands up to her face to create an innocent façade to pull it off. "So, does it mean we won't be punished?" Almost giving the sparkly eyes to plead with him.

Macbeth gave a thinking pose with his gloved hand up to his bearded chin to think it over. "Hmm, I wasn't thinking of it." The three lid up in mental glee as if they had gotten away with it. "But since you brought it up, tomorrow morning, running around the school a few times."

Their hopes dashed and jaws dropped in despair, Taren and Ben groaned while Mal fell to her knees in depression with crocodile tears running down her cheeks. Flora and Stella gave her some comfort and patted her shoulders. Bloom also did the same for Taren and felt sorry for him to get the punishment instead of the girls, maybe think of some way to cheer them up tomorrow.

They all went to their dorms and guest bedrooms, leaving the three teachers to chat with each other.

"Is it true, she said she was from Earth?" Macbeth asked them, not believing what he had heard on the way.

"Indeed she is, I didn't think there were any fairies left on Earth." Faragonda thought so as well.

"I thought they all disappeared centuries ago." Griselda said as they watched the group leave.

"Then that leaves us with one question. Who is Bloom and where'd she come from?" Macbeth asked which raised a good question to the headmistress.

=====

"Who?" The girls ask, sitting in Bloom's and Flora's dorm room and listen to what Bloom's response to Bloom's suggestion.

"The Winx, us! I mean, if we're going to be a group, we should have a name! Don't you think?" Bloom thought as she thought the keybladers have their own, sort of and even the witches they confronted had one. Kiko, was pondering over the idea.

Tenca was progressing this information too and thought it made sense. "Actually it's not a bad idea... A name is good for a quick reference."

"It's true! The three witches are the Trix. Not sure what we could call our keyblade friends if they haven't got one yet." Stella seemed to like this idea very much. "And we could be called something like... The Super Five... The Stella Five... Oh, I've got it! The Airy Fairies!" She beamed of the last one, confusing everyone who had no idea what it meant.

"The... The what?" Musa asked.

"The Airy Fairies! It's short and sweet and it rhymes. What's wrong? You don't like it, Musa?" She asked Musa, who didn't seem to like it at all and waved her hand.

"Nah... it sounds terrible!"

Flora seemed to like the name Winx more. "I vote for Winx!"

Both Tecna and Musa casted their votes on it by raising their hands. "Me too."

"Perfect!" Bloom reaches for her draw and pulled out a piece of paper with a sketch she had been working on. It had the word "Winx" on it. "Because you see, I've already come up with the logo! Simple, yet catchy."

Stella beamed of the logo. "This looks fantastic!"

"Yes, but er... What does "Winx" mean?" Tecna asked her, confused over what it means.

"Oh, nothing. Just Winx!" Boom replies happily as she waves her hands side to side and sparks of magic course off her fingertips. Officially calling themselves the Winx.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Lamp Delivery!

Bloom was up early and gathered her books for her first day in Alfea, she was really looking forward to learning magic. Making her way to the cafeteria for breakfast but stopped when she thought about checking on the keyblade wielders while she has spare time. They were giving the guest rooms for the night but also had to take up laps for being in trouble with their teacher after revealing their secret, but maybe she could cheer them up with something later on after school. Finding the guestrooms, Bloom gently knocked on the door and waited for a response but could hear a faint yawn from behind the door.

"Just a sec…" Sounding like Mal groggily waking up, she must've been asleep just then. The door opens and was Mal who looked half awake with tired eyes and wearing a large grey shirt she slept in, her hair was a mess. Rubbing her eyes and let out a loud yawn with a hand over her mouth. "Oh, its just you. What time is it?"

"Sorry, I didn't know you be still in bed. Its just time for breakfast and thought maybe you guys like to come." Bloom apologised when she didn't know that they were still asleep.

"Oh, I could go for that after running." The sound of breakfast was enough to fully wake her up and fill her stomach with food. "Hold up a sec." Closed the door to get changed, she was fortunate to have taken a shower to refresh herself earlier so saves a lot of trouble. Wearing her casual clothes and her hair much neater then it was when she woke up. Both girls made their way to the cafeteria to get some breakfast.

"So, all set for your first day?" Mal asked Bloom who looked excited to start.

Bloom smiles brightly and nodded with excitement. "Yep, got my books ready to make a good impression. I'm just so nervous but excited, I mean, not everyday you get to meet real fairies and go to a school to learn magic."

Mal thought for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "Make a good point."

"Yeah, but hope I do good, still need to work on my magic after yesterday with the witches." She said, still a little shaken but didn't want that to stop her from achieving her lifelong dream.

"Eh, you'll get use to it. Nothing is easy to learn, take it from someone who had been through something like that for months." Mal had learned much when learning under Yen Sid and the training from Macbeth. Entering the cafeteria and seeing many students having breakfast, a wide selection of food for them, taken their trays and started picking some they would have.

Bloom had thought about what the keyblade wielders are doing on the mission as they've been told not to say anything about the mission or the keyblades for their safety. "Anything you guys doing? I mean, seeing as the… thing?"

Mal slowly caught on to Bloom's question and went along with it as they found a table to sit and eat their breakfast. "Oh THAT well, Macbeth is having a chat with the headmistress, so far he did seem considering we go along with the 'foreign exchange student' thing while trying to find a way to stop the villains and the Grimm." Takes a bite of her toast after spreading jam on it.

"Hope you be careful, it sounds dangerous. So would that mean you won't be around much?" She asked, while finding out about their reason for coming to Magix last night, she was worried they might get hurt and something bad would happen like those witches and the Grimm.

Mal didn't seem fazed or concerned of it. "That's why we be coming here to learn some new tricks during our mission, to help improve ourselves and be ready. Least that's what I heard since we've been preparing for months."

"I guess that makes sense, wish I could something to help." Bloom said, thinking if the boys are going to Red Fountain but which one would Mal would attend? She wasn't a fairy and would raise a lot questions. But there's also that Cloud Tower Stella told her about that is a school for witches, if there were some who were mean and nasty she would have to be careful.

"No need to worry about us. Should be more concerned about the annoying thing that's to happening… school." Mal was not so keen about it, maybe it be a little different then being trained to develop new abilities for future battles.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine." The red head assured her, even though she wasn't sure what to expect to learn on her first day but will try her best. "And just for the heads up, Stella will probably thinking of getting her own keyblade one day, so no doubt would wanna get something out of you three."

Mal looked at her, thought as much for Stella when she seemed very interested in their keyblades, she will have to keep a close eye on her while in Alfea. "Thanks for the tip. Best of luck for your first day, you'll need it."

Bloom appreciate the advice Mal gave her and will need the support she can get. She noticed someone approaching the two while they were having breakfast. She recognised him from last night, unable to feel somewhat intimidated by his size. One that she couldn't help but wonder about his name, feels as if she heard it somewhere before.

He came towards the two and stood before the table. "I see the two of you are up early. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, we were just talking." Mal said, leaning back on her chair. "Oh, Macbeth, this is Bloom one of the girls from last night that were with us. Bloom, this is Macbeth, our mentor and tormentor." She mumbled the last part to make certain he didn't hear that.

Macbeth gave a soft chuckle in humor. "And if you keep on disobeying your elders, you'll never learn. So you must be the Fairy of Earth I presume."

Bloom stuttered for a moment when he spoke to her, tries her best to make a good first impression. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you Mr. Macbetb." Offers a handshake to him and he accepts.

"No need to feel nervous around me, lass. Despite what my apprentices have told you, I am a light hearted man." He finds the young girl well mannered and nervous. Still, he couldn't believe that she was actually from Earth the entire time. "And for whatever happened to you on that day, I must apologies for the danger your family must've been through."

Bloom smiled back and shook her head. "That's alright, no one got hurt but if it wasn't for the keyblade wielders." However, she felt partly responsible for them to be punished by their mentor for revealing their secret. Decided to at least try make things right. "But, I should apologies for causing them to get into trouble just to save me and my friends. Back on Earth, I didn't think magic was actually real and was a little… overconfident. So please don't be mad at them, especially to Taren as he saved me and Stella from those monsters."

Macbeth had listened to her side of the story, and he was actually impressed that she spoke up for them. She came forward about a lie made by her friend to get into the school but remembering what the Headmistress' words. Taking a moment to digest her words and spoke up. "Hmm, I appreciate your honesty and you don't need to apologies for them. I would've done the same to save another life."

The Earth Fairy was actually relieved to know he wasn't mad at them and thought he be strict as Griselda.

"So, what brought you over?" Mal asked her mentor.

"Just to make certain you be ready when the headmistress after you fully rested from this morning's training." He replied. "Now, better see that the lads are awake and make certain they get breakfast. If you excuse me ladies."

Macbeth makes his way to check on the others, there was something about that Bloom child that didn't baffled him, on Earth there hadn't been any Earth Fairies for centuries until there were no more. Presumed to be extinct or fled to another world to hide. But still doesn't explain who this Bloom girl is, and he'll have to find out about it.

Mal and Bloom went back to the guest bedroom to check to see if Macbeth has waken up the boys but they saw Ben awake and putting on his jacket, but not Taren who is still sleeping, all flat out and on his front with one arm having over the edge.

"Great sleepyhead is still asleep as always." Mal said with her arms crossed over her chest.

Bloom wondered if this usually a habit, but suddenly realised this is the first time she sees Taren asleep. "Has he always been like this?"

"Yep, since the day we met. Hang on let me wake him." Mal said before guiding the redhead out of the room as it . Mal then walked to Taren and cast a spell, rubbing her hands together as static electricity sparked in her palm. Giving a devious look and aimed her fingers towards the sleeping redhead who had a peaceful look on his face like was having a nice dream. Unfortunately he's about to receive a rather shocking wake up call.

"Thunder!"

Using only a small fraction of her spell to give a good zap, bloom saw lighting came out of nowhere and zapped Taren and saw his skeleton a couple times while Taren was screaming until he fell out of bed. His body twitched by the zap until he could see culprit behind the act.

Taren glared at Mal who was laughing and he said. "You know I am going to get you back for this right?" Grinding his teeth as he was ready to tackle her, but since Bloom was present he didn't want to make himself a fool in front of her.

"I know but until then enjoy having a spikier hair then your dad." Mal smiled and strolled out of the room while keeping herself from snickering. "That helps me feel much brighten up the morning." Giving a bright smile on her face, but Bloom didn't seem amused by her stunt.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?"

Mal turned to Bloom. "Oh, not to worry, it was only a small spark just to make him wake up and hair spiked up a little. Besides, he needed to be up or miss breakfast. Later."

Walks off to meet with her mentor, Bloom stayed behind and maybe check on Taren if he was feeling ok. "Hey, sorry about that, I would've stopped her if she…" Opens the door but only stopped and sees Taren trying to make his hair less spikier then it was.

"No worries, happens a lot. Will get back at her someday." Taren told her, while too busy on getting the static out of his hair after getting a wake up call from Mal, unaware of her cheeks flushing before the male red head. Bloom quickly turned around and decided to leave before it gets any awkward between them.

"Uh, s-sorry, I'll be outside!" Making a dash to the door and shut the door, her heart racing and still had the blush on her face over what happened. 'Oh. My. Gosh! How embarrassing was that! I just walked into the room like it was no big deal!' It never happened to her before, and was aware of the certain things from school and the private talk with her mom about boys. 'He's probably thinking I'm some perv for checking him out or-No wait! M-Maybe he didn't noticed.'

Snapped back at her thoughts when the door opened and Taren stepped out, adjusting his shirt and top when he spotted Bloom next to him. "Hey, you ok?" Oblivious to what was going on in her head.

"Y-Yeah! Sorry about that, I didn't know Mal would do something like that." Bloom stuttered but noticing the time and needed to get to class. "Better get going. Macbeth is waiting for you and Ben to be in the Headmistress' office." Once giving the message to him she kept hold of her books and runs off to avoid being late on the first day.

Taren had wondered what was up with her, probably wanting to get to class on time perhaps. However, he didn't want to start the day with an empty stomach before meeting up with the others.

Taren let out a soft yawn while walking through the corridors after a big sleep and breakfast, apart from getting electrocuted by Mal and finally got his hair to its usual style. Both him and Ben made their way to the headmistress' office with all the students in class.

"So, any idea what Macbeth has in store for us?" Taren asked Ben who was beside him.

Ben had his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "Wish I knew." They entered the room to meet the headmistress alongside their mentor and Mal who took a chair.

Macbeth nodded to them. "Now you all are present we can get started. While we may be here for some time, Headmistress Faragonda spoke about allowing you three into schools to act as transfer students to avoid drawing too much attention."

"So, does that mean me and Taren be studying in Red Fountain?" Ben asked him as he felt it was plainly obvious since it was the one of the three in Magix to have all male students to be trained as Specialists.

Faragonda nodded and took her turn to speak up. "Correct, awhile ago we had a discussion with Yen Sid over the idea of helping you improve your abilities then relying too much of your keyblades against powerful foes."

"Think of it as to learn something new and how you can improve your abilities during your time in Magix." Macbeth said, which seems to make some sense, they were interested to gain new skills and abilities but Mal had something in mind that may be a problem.

"Uh, while that may sound like a good idea for us to pose as students… I hate to bring a SLIGHT problem in the plan for me… while I'm skilled in magic, but transforming into a fairy I have not worked on."

Ben and Taren had the same idea since Alfea was a school for fairies, and Mal wasn't one. But Macbeth had already thought of it. "I had thought of that, and Faragonda had spoken with the headmistress of Cloud Tower who was a member of the Company."

The purpled haired witch blinked her eyes and thought she misheard him. "Um, scuse my sudden outbursts but…. ARE YOU INSANE!?" Mal cried out in a reaction that hardly startled the elders but the two male keyblade wielders had a concerning thought about it. "Last night, I just fought three of those witches who turned out to be in league with Tezzeret! And the moment they see me, I'm dead!"

Ben stood up from his chair to share his thoughts. "Yeah, she makes a good point. Unless… she could use a disguise."

"Disguise?" Mal looked at him in confusion, uncertain where he was going from here but decided to hear him.

He nodded as he remembered how Stella pulled a similar idea for Bloom until they got found out. "Yeah, they only saw you with just a mask over your face, and you learnt to use some basis of magic to change your appearance."

Everyone was starting to catch on as it could work perfectly as she can play the part of a simple student. Macbeth stroked his bearded chin and thought it through. "Hmm, that could actual, but what about you Mal? Will you still accept it?"

She thought it over, not scared of the witches but worries about getting found out if she was not careful. Thinking it over she looked at him with an answer to give. "I'll give it a shot, but got some idea how to keep a low profile from them."

They understand and would've given her some time to think it over but had a mission to do. "In that case, during the day we will be preparing for the annual gala."

"Gala?" Taren asked her.

"A party in honor of the new school year for the students, we'll be inviting the specialists of Red Fountain tomorrow night, however the witches of Cloud Tower are not invited due to their misbehaviour." Griselda explained and aware of Mal's status as one but was not a student of the school for witches, yet.

"Sounds like you'll fit right in." Taren snickered softly until Mal stomped on his foot, causing him to groan in pain.

Ben just rolled his eyes and sighed softly and stood quiet.

"Something you like to share, young man?" Griselda asked with a narrow stare.

Taren glanced at Mal who acted all innocent until he responded to her question. "Nothing, miss."

Faragonda cleared her throat to speak up. "You are welcome to attend as well as students."

"I think that would be a nice gesture as we begin to settle in Magix, so long as you three behave?" Eyeing the three, especially Taren and Mal from a previous stunt just recent and pretended to not know.

"Well, if that's all, we can go and get ourselves ready then for the night." Ben suggested for them to get prepared for the next step.

"Oh, one more thing, this came this morning and was delivered by Master Yen Sid." The headmistress picked up a brown package, leaving them confused and curious to what he sent them.

Taren took hold of it and studied it in his hands. "What's in it?" Held it up and shook it softly, could hear something rattling inside until Mal swiped it from him.

"Let's find out then."

But before she could tear the wrappings off, Macbeth stopped her. "After you get yourselves ready, now then off you go." Watching the three students make their leave, once they were gone he turned to the two fairies. "This did not turn out as we had planned on our arrival."

"None of us could have foreseen it, not even us but glad that none of the children were harmed thanks to your students." Faragonda assured him. "However, I believe it be in our best interest to keep a watchful eye on them to play safe."

Griselda raised an eyebrow in wonder of what she meant. "You believe they would?"

"At a certain age for a teenager, Miss Griselda, one can never be too sure. Now they know our mission, its very uncertain how it will affect them." Indeed Macbeth had spotted the group battling a pack of Beowolves after taken out some of Tezzeret's probes. He certainly had to admit they showed potential when they fought alongside them, but didn't want to bring it up to make the Headmistress uneasy about it as she has that protective instinct over her students.

"Hey Mal, you really going to go to a school for witches then?" Taren asked Mal and figured she would have nerves of steel to do that when the three they fought last night were strong and working for the enemy.

The purple haired witch shrugged her shoulders. "If it's a chance to keep a close watch on them would give us an advantage. Be a surprise if you two run into those Specialists we met."

Ben nodded. "Yeah, guess we be considered classmates if it is. Would be interesting to try out new things then just rely on our keyblades and magic."

Mal didn't know why but thinks she can do better with her magic. "You worry too much, just slay some Grimm and beat the boss and be done before you can say-"

"Hey guys, over here!"

The three turned to see Flora outside the dorm room they were heading to, the Fairy of nature waved to them when she spotted them. "Would you like to come in?"

They accept her offer and followed her in, seeing only Stella and Bloom who for some reason was fixing the bangs that were half way up.

"Trying on a new look?" Mal asked her, earning a giggle from Stella but a frown from Bloom until she finally fixed it.

"Not really, was trying to practice a spell of how to change our looks. And its been making my hair stand for awhile."

"I know how that feels, only to get a ZAP this morning." Taren turned his head to Mal who poled the innocent act after the stunt she pulled on him. Both the girls were puzzled by what he meant, except for Bloom who knew what he was on about and Ben had a pretty good idea. "So this is where you girls are living then?" Checking the place as the first time visiting their dorms.

"Yep, Bloom and Flora share this dorm, Tecna and Musa's are next door." The Solarian princess pointed to where the other dorm is.

"And she has one to herself." Bloom pointed out, surprised and a bit jealous, however it shouldn't come to a surprise for someone who could afford one to store a lot of clothes. The keyblade wielders looked at Stella's room and surprised by how big it was but they had their own rooms during their time at Macbeth's mansion.

"Anyway, just making sure you girls were alright after last night. Not something to expect on our first day of meeting each other." Ben said and thought to check up on them while felt a little bad for what happened.

Stella smiles and waved her hand to them, but appreciate their concern. "Oh its no big deal. Quite the opposite, but maybe next time, give the Winx Club a little heads up."

"No prob… Winx?" Taren asked what she meant.

Stella brought up a bright smile and shared the look with Bloom and Flora. "Yep, last night we thought about how great we worked together against those witches and the Grimm."

"Bloom came up with the name." Flora explained, gesturing her hand to Bloom who had a light shade of pink on her cheeks as she thought of the name for the group.

"So… what does it mean this 'Winx'?" Mal was wondering if it meant something

"It's… well you know something that's like magic." Bloom smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head when she came up with it. Thinking it sounded nice. But suddenly noticed the brown package in Mal's arms and wondered what it was. "Hey what's that?"

Mal held it up. "Not sure, some delivery from Yen Sid."

"Ooh, what is it?" Stella asked and eager to find out what it was. Mal rips off the wrappings and once the box was easy to open to find….

A gold oil lamp.

"What the…" Mal lifts it out of the box for a look at it. "A lamp?"

Taren noticed a small piece of paper fell out of it and picked it up before noticing the lamp. "It says 'consider this a helping hand, and someone you know.'"

"Well looks like some piece of junk to me. How is this going to be a help to you?" Stella pondered while Bloom came up to take a closer look at it in her hands.

Taren didn't say anything as he knew that the great powerful sorcerer wouldn't just sent something like this for no reason, but felt like he seen that lamp before.

Bloom had to admit it looked lovely for being so old and yet well preserved, but also a little filthy. "Maybe something under that dirt could provide answers." Giving the idea she agreed and give it a shot, rubbing her fingers softly on the surface in an attempt to clean it up.

Musa and Tecna walked in to see everyone gathered. "Hey, whats everyone doing?" The music fairy took a look at what Bloom was holding. But before anyone could answer, the lamp started to glow before it was rumbling and shaking violently in her hands. Both the Winx and keyblade bearers were startled when it was shooting out fireworks, causing Bloom to toss it to the ground.

"TAKE COVER!"

Taren didn't had time to think when he grabbed Bloom by the shoulder and threw them both to the ground with him over her protectively, Kiko cried out and took shelter with them behind the bed, Stella and Flora leapt behind hers while the others did the same and watch in awe as the smoke that was coming out of the lamp grew and took form of a large blue humanoid who screamed in agony upon his release.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OI! Man, does it feel GOOD to be outta there!" Stretching his large arms, making crackling noises within his body. "I gotta tell ya, travelling between dimensions can give ya such pain in the neck!"

The spirit was all blue, wore nothing but a red sash and a pair of blue pants, black trimmed goatee and a small ponytail as the only hair on his head. Standing up high with his arms over his chest and carrying the mischievous grin after surprising the group of his entrance. "Shoulda seen the look on your faces! You thought it be like the end of the world or somethin', hahahaha!"

Mal didn't know if she was seeing things or hit her head harder then she thought. "Uh, am I the only one who just saw a genie come out of a lamp?"

"You mean a huge blue guy wearing blue pants? Nope, your not." Musa groaned and rubbed her butt after falling over, and she wasn't the only one but notice something odd about how Ben and Taren were more shocked then the rest for some reason. Taren got up and helped Bloom by offering his hand to help her up on her feet. Kiko took a peak out and joined his owner for protection.

The male redhead turned to Ben since they both know the one Genie from their world. "You-you don't think he could be..."

"It has to be, I mean... THE Genie?"

"Someone mention my name?"

The three jumped back to see the genie puffed behind them, he took a closer look at the two boys. "Say, you look awfully familiar, have we met somewhere before?" Turned into Frank Drebin, pulled out his magnifying glass. "Not some wanted fugitives on the run from the law?"

"No, it's us, Ben and Taren." Ben said, unfazed by the sudden transformation.

"Yeah and you know my dad, Sora who you met at Agrabah years ago."

"Well that's a coincidence, I know two kids by those names and they..." Then suddenly his brain clicked, gasped and wore a wide grin on his face. "TAREN! BEN!" Without warning the boys were snatched up in sudden multiple arms and held in a crushing bear hug and giving them the nuggy. "Ooohh, it's so good to see ya again! Come 'ere let me take a look at you two!" He let them go before they could continue struggling as he held them up by the collars to stand.

"Boy, you two sure grown since the last time I've seen ya." He looked to check out on Ben's outfit. "Oh, Benny, I like the jacket, makes you look ready for action." Then moved to Taren and notice something about him was different.

"Say that looks like a great outfit on you, T. Sure grown a few inches. Guess all that training paid off, huh. When I heard the tragic story of your sudden disappearances, I cried a river!"

Pulled out a napkin and blew his nose into it, very noisy and messy in a sense. "But here you are safe and sound!" Gave a big wide grin and arms spread out wide as he was so happy to see them again.

"Excuse me! But care to fill us in on WHO this is?" The three turned to the girls who were wondering who he was and how the two know the Genie. Feeling embarrassed to not know they were still there, but was overwhelmed to see a familiar face after so long. Ben saw the look on Mal's face and for a strange feeling, didn't know if she was somewhat being cute or scary at the same time when using that look on them.

Taren coughed a little and spoke up to introduce their friend. "Girls, this is someone whose known my dad since he was my age, the is Genie."

Out of thin air, a stage that resembled one of those late night talk shows and the spotlights moved to the centre with the sound of applause to make a show, waving to the crowd. Stepping in the spotlight was Genie dressed in a flashy blue suit with a right grin and waving.

"Hello and it's great to be here folks, the names Genie. Boy, when they say it be a bumpy ride, they weren't kidding." Appeared in his hand and extended his reach to the girls. "So then, can I ask who the lovely ladies are?"

Bloom blinked her eyes for a moment until she responded to his question. "Uh, well my name is Bloom and these are my friends, Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna."

"And as a team, we call ourselves the Winx Club." Stella proclaimed.

"Ooh, like that sound of that! Nice ring to it." Genie said and turned to Mal. "And what be your name, little lady? Wait… don't tell me. Purple hair, outfit and a spot of green, you know you remind me of a certain someone but can't quite put it." Cupped his chin to think.

Mal was somewhat uncomfortable about it and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sure Yen Sid mentioned my name, it's Mal." Giving her name to him.

Snapped his fingers and gasped. "That's it! Must've been thinking of some movie and an actress."

"So you're really a genie?" Bloom couldn't have believed it if she had not been told about being a fairy the other day by Stella.

"That's right! Not just any genie with phenomenal cosmic powers! But I am a free genie!" Changes into a mariachi outfit and playing a guitar. "So the great sorcerer thought to send me over to give a helping hand and I jumped to the call and a chance for a new adventure!"

"Well, that's great to hear. And also we be heading off to the other two schools." Taren said, catching the girls' attention.

"So, you're going to attend to Red Fountain?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah, but Mal will be going to Cloud Tower, but we got that covered to keep the witches from finding out." Ben explained as Mal nodded.

"Witches? Nothing serious is there?" Transforms into a police officer, pointing his sci fi gun.

"We'll fill you in on the way when we let know you're here." Ben suggested to him.

"But best not to be around here, he'll draw too much attention. Especially if he at Cloud Tower which is the last place to be." Mal suggested as she and the Winx realised she had a point.

Taren picks up the lamp and thought of an idea. "Yeah, if you want, maybe come with us to Red Fountain."

"You mean it? Oh this will be great! We'll be staying up late, swapping stories and then, I'm making waffles!" Switches to wear a chef's hat and apron, flipping a waffle and eggs to catch in a plate, until they accidently landed on his face. Causing the girls to laugh by his antics.

Bloom leans towards Taren to whisper. "Is he always like this?"

Taren softly shook his head with a hand held up to his face. "You have no idea." Began to think things couldn't get any crazier then this.

Could it?

Chapter Text

"Alright, we'll be on our way Red Fountain and the grandmaster is waiting for us, so I will be doing the talking and you boys be on your best behaviour while in this school." Both Ben and Taren listened carefully to Macbeth's instructions as they were making their way towards the school for Specialists that are trained into becoming warriors and wizards.

"Got it. But what about Genie?" The prince asked about Genie.

Genie poofed out of the smoke and gave a salute to the group. "Present!"

After the sudden arrival of Genie, Macbeth considered the thought the granter of wishes would be helpful to look out for them with his magic if he wasn't around. "Not to worry, considering he's a magical being genies aren't uncommon in this dimension."

"Besides, I'm an expert in keeping myself out of sight." Flashes into a blue coloured Pluto, then a royal navy admiral, and lastly a small old man before resuming his original form. "We genies are always prepared."

"Least we have more help." Taren said and believes Genie would help a lot in most situations. "Besides, wonder how Mal will be doing in Cloud Tower."

They knew Mal would have to keep a low profile in a school for witches but confident she won't reveal her secret. The group could now able to see the building and bigger then he imagined it. "Always assume to be a high tech place after seeing those... um, phantom blades?"

"Phantoblades actually." Ben corrected him and begins to share his knowledge about them. "From what Tecna explained when we were with them at the city, they can generate a blade of hard light and take on any shape and colour."

Genie gave a Obi-wan persona. "An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

Taren seems to get the idea about them and had the same impression as Genie. "So hoping we make a good impression on this Saladin character, does he know about our-"

"Keyblades?"

Both Taren and Ben almost jumped in surprise when the group were so focus on making their way to Red Fountain and talking they didn't notice a short elderly man just snuck up behind them, plus the second time that happened to them since they came to Magix. He had bushy eyebrows and long greying hair brushed back, wearing a tunic or robe and using a staff with the head shaped of a dragon with a purple gem in its mouth, simply used as a walking stick. He gave a soft chuckle by the boys' reaction and turned to Macbeth.

"I see these must be two of your students, Master Macbeth. A little jumpy perhaps." He gave a mischievous chuckle.

"Well to be fair we aren't use to be people just pop out of nowhere." Ben answered.

Macbeth returned the chuckle and smiled. "Boys, this is Saladin, headmaster of Red Fountain. Master Saladin, these are ben and Taren who the new keyblade wielders in training."

"Uh, nice to meet you sir." Ben was the first to greet him and offered a handshake.

He happily accepts in return and turned Taren. "The pleasure is mine, your highness, and also an honour to meet the son of Keyblade Master Sora and Princess Kairi."

Taren didn't expect for anyone to know who he is and his parents, unless he was a member of the Company of Light. "Wait, you know them?"

The headmaster nodded his head. "Indeed, I met them years ago after they helped saved many lives. I am familiar with the keyblades and blessed to hear they still exist in times of need. But during your stay in Red Fountain, it is important to keep them a secret unless it is necessary should there be a crisis." Knowing that they must keep the keyblades a secret from students to avoid drawing too much attention.

"Sure, we'll try to keep it minimal as we can this time." Taren gave a nervous smile and light chuckle as did Ben.

This caused Saladin to arch an eyebrow and turned to Macbeth. "Let's just say we ran into a... minor setback of the secret part. I'll explain later."

"Ah yes, I did had to have a word with some after they brought back the troll that night." Saladin said. Both the boys looked at each other of what he meant, possibly the Specialists they met back on Earth. "Now then, why don't we head to the office and I'll get you lot settled in. No need to stand out here all day."

"Genie, better stay in your lamp for now until later." Ben told him.

"Sure thing, pal." Genie flew into his lamp and Taren placed it inside his bag to carry, but keeping it slightly open for him to fly out in case of anything happens. They followed the headmaster into the school and they couldn't help but wonder how with the advance tech for a paramilitary school would have the medieval look, it wasn't their place to ask since they know nothing much about the place.

"Not to sound offensive, sir. But from seeing the latest issue of the Grimm, I would've figured you guys have something like a magical barrier or advance tech to keep them or some potential threat from attacking the place." Taren brought up as they walked past the gates.

"Nothing wrong of having an open mind, young one. Nothing can last forever, we must allow changes to take part to learn and grow. Without changes we would be unable to better ourselves to grow strong and be vulnerable should a more stronger foe emerge." Giving his wisdom to the young wielders to understand.

Macbeth wholeheartedly agreed with him on the subject and relieved to know the headmaster was not offended by Taren's curiosity. "There's an old saying back home from a great philosopher in his time. 'those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat' as it goes. And I hope we can learn from each other to overcome this threat we face."

Saladin nodded and smiled at the taller elder. "On that I look forward to, a bond between both sides would be the a great achievement. And as you have arrived, I would like to say welcome to Red Fountain." Pointing his staff to the building and see out in the open fields many students wondering about, they can see some taking sparring lessons with their phantoblades and anything use for combat and to defend themselves. Making their way through the hallways and passing by a few students and teachers who gave a quick glance at them at the group.

"Hey, look whose here!"

They turned to see someone approaching them, Taren and Ben recognised the voice and saw prince Sky and Brandon from Earth.

"Yoh, how's it going?" Taren gave a wave to them.

"Yeah, this is a surprise to see you here." Ben said, extended his hand to them as Sky shook his and Brandon gave a high five to Taren. "Oh, guys this is Macbeth our mentor. Macbeth these are two of the specialists who helped us with the ogre problem on Earth."

"Nice to meet you sir. My name Sky, prince of Eraklyon and my squire and best friend Sky." The brunette introduced himself and gave his hand to him to shake.

Macbeth nodded and accepted the handshake when he heard about them helping the keyblade wielders. "A pleasure to meet you, your highness."

"No need for the formalities, just Sky would do." Said Brandon when he gave a nervous smile to Macbeth and scratched the back of his head.

Macbeth studied the two boys and seemed to well behaved, their outfits were perhaps used for new students since they lack armour for protection. Saladin explained to him that as freshmen, first year students are given small missions and tasks like protecting people, mock battles and scouting assignments to test their skills as Specialists. He considers this a good idea before sending them out on dangerous assignments or face powerful enemies.

"Anyways, I will need to sort things with Headmaster Saladin about the arrangements for us training here, in the meantime you have the rest of the day to prepare for tonight's event."

Both Ben and Taren were excited and restrained themselves from jumping into joy.

"You're the best!" Taren praised.

"Thank you, sir." Ben said.

Macbeth gave a soft smile and made his leave. "Just don't cause any trouble here, and use the time to get ready. Plus, your dorms will be ready for you totake"

Leaving the boys alone and give the chance to think of some ideas for the dance.

"Hey, why don't we show you guys around so you can get familiar with the place." Brandon suggested, the keyblade wielders accepted the offer and followed them.

Sky turned to them and had some questions. "So that Macbeth fella, he's your teacher then?"

"Oh yeah, very strict in combat training." Ben replied, although can't fully reveal their secret to them for rules of not revealing their keyblades.

"And is not someone to take lightly, believe me he aint no ordinary old man." Taren warned them, causing the two specialists to wonder what sort of person is he.

"Wow that tough?" Brandon asked.

Taren and Ben both nodded.

"Well, anyway, hope you guys enjoy Red Fountain heard they making some plans this year to prep the training courses. But least we got the day off anyway to get ready for the dance." Sky said with excitement.

"Yeah, heard there are a lot of cute girls there. You guys thinking of asking any of the girls for a dance?" Brandon asked them.

Neither Taren or Ben had thought about it as they just thought maybe just hang out and chat with the Winx. Taren was obviously not fond of wearing fancy suits, nor wasn't the dancing kind for that matter. Ben had worn suits during formal events for the royal ball and on his parents' anniversaries to celebrate.

The redhead shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, just have to find out then." Thinking this would be worth going to and have some fun.

The Specialist students showed them the training arenas, the cafeteria for the meals the stables where they keep animals to train. Ben was interested to find many types of creatures they have but that would only be happening during the later terms when they are prepared to tame animals. Taren was very much keen to try out the Wind Riders Brandon told them about and also used for racing which further interested in the apprentices.

"Hey you think they let us have one of those cycles?" Taren pondered as they were heading up to their new dorm.

"Doubt they just give them to any freshmen, especially after what you did to one of Cid's latest designs." Ben said, causing Taren to groan about it.

"Oh come on, it was that one time, Ben! One Time!" He defended.

"Wait, what happened?" Brandon asked out of interest to know.

Before the boys could respond a phone was ringing until it turned out to be Ben's new cell phone. "That's mine, just haven't gotten use to the new one yet."

"Listen, we better get going to be ready so see you guys later." Sky said and waved them goodbye and left the two. With just the two of them now, Ben answered the phone and revealed the image of Stella.

"Stella? What up?" Taren asked and moved closer to see.

"Hey guys, we just thought to see how you were doing in Red Fountain and coming over to the dance tonight." She smiled brightly.

"Yeah, we're doing fine, Macbeth is sorting things out with the headmaster there and giving us the day off." Ben said.

"Yeah, after what we been through since day one we deserved a party." Taren said and very excited.

"Oh totally! Least of all to invite you for the help you did. Besides we were going to ask you to come anyway."

"Don't worry, we'll be there to see you girls. We got some outfits for us to be dressed up.

"Well I'll be only go in any formal attire so long as its not a monkey suit." Taren mentioned.

"Wish we could stay and chat but some stuff to do before tonight. Tell Mal the Winx Club wish her best of luck in Cloud Tower." Giving them her support and hung up.

"Best of luck? Think we should worry about whoever crosses her path." Taren pointed out which Ben would agree with him. But then he suddenly remembered something from earlier. "But wait a minute, when did we get outfits?"

"Oh, I ask Genie to do with that, figured to save us the money." Ben mentioned as Genie popped out of his lamp wearing a tailor with measurements.

"Working on the outfits now boys, taken the measurements and taste of style you go for to look good. Arms please?" He instructed Taren to lift his arms up as he did some measurements on him. "Hmm, kept yourselves in good shape too. Yep, this will do. Oh, this will be a great party, the music, the food and the decorations they have. Wanna look great for the ladies, right?" Giving a knowing grin and nudged his elbow on them.

But there was one thing that made Taren feel very nervous about, is he wasn't much of a dancer and feels like he might make a fool of himself to them.

"Well now, this is indeed a surprise to find out we have a Wielder of the keyblade in our school, especially since I received the call from Faragonda upon a request that I couldn't turn down." Sat behind the desk was the Headmistress Griffin of Cloud Tower, the school for witches. She has a pale greenish white skin, purple hair that is pulled up in a shape similar to a witch's pointy hat with lighter purple strands on either side. Wears heavy makeup around her eyes and wears an ankle length dark purple dress with a high collar. Inspecting the young wielder being who sat on the chair before her and find out if she was up to the task of wielding a legendary weapon that were considered stories for some time. With the sudden spread of the Grimm, she made it her task to protect her students and find a way to stop this horde to protect her students. She may appear harsh but has a kind heart to see the witches achieve their potentials.

"Since you'll posing as an exchange student to Cloud Tower, I expect you to follow our rules upon your best behaviour and most of all. Not to reveal your special 'gifts' to anyone. Do I make myself clear, young lady?" Speaking in a firm tone of a strict teacher to them.

One the opposite side of the table was Mal sitting on the chair with her arms crossed while listening to her new headmistress speaking. However, she took on a different appearance as a way to keep the witches from the alley incident from recognising her, not even her friends to play it safe. Instead of her purple hair it was blond and a little curled, wearing a black shirt and a pair of torn jeans and red heels. "I have no problem at all, considering what I heard about this place shouldn't be hard to handle some amateurs here."

Seeing the young witch speak with confidence and no signs of nervousness or hesitation which made Griffin smile a little and will see if she has what it takes in a school for witches. It would be interesting to see what she's capable of.

"We'll see and for that I assigned you a dorm with a student you will be living with for the rest of the semester." This caused Mal's smile to drop and tried to respond but she raised her hand up to silence her. "Here you are a student of Cloud Tower to everyone, and no special treatments just because you wield a keyblade."

Mal never shared a room with anyone and thinks this might not be a good idea. "A roommate? No offence, but wouldn't it be safer for me to have my own dorm without risk of exposure?"

"Well, you better not do it in public and that is the rules for all students, no exceptions." She said to Mal and rather treat her as a student then some special chosen wielder. And I am informed by your mentors of your... rebellious nature and will learn to show respect to your elders."

It was one of those things that Mal had a hard time indeed, with the exception of Yen Sid and Macbeth. She could face an army of Grimm that be scarier then her. Seeing the green skinned witch giving a look that would intimidate people to her will but Mal was strong and not going to go down easily. "If you think the look on your face is going to work on me, its not. And I ain't going to be some frightened school girl." 

Giving her a cocky grin on her face and feels confident that she would easily win this argument with the headmistress. Compared to what she experienced with Master Yen Sid, this should be a piece of cake.

"She was just lucky I am not the murdering type of witch in the neighbourhood." Mal grumbled under her breath, walking through the school corridors, passing female students she can see many were not so nice looking and seem to go for the punk or gothic look. But she ignored that as she makes her way to her dorm, it wasn't because she didn't want a roommate, but just didn't know who it would be, possibly some arrogant freshman who thinks she could be the best witch or cocky. True she always pulls tricks and thinks of herself as a best, but there have been some limits and wanting test her limits of her powers.

Her luggage was already taken to her dorm and just found it from the directions given to her. Found her name on it and someone else on it. "Well... guess I better face the music. And this girl better watch herself if she tries anything." Sighed and knocked on the door.

The door opens to reveal a tall girl with long dark green hair that falls to her waist, Mal noticed she had an angular featured look and wore a off-white tank top with her midriff exposed and a green-and-purple mini skirt with a belt over the tights, military-styled boots and a pair of long red fingerless gloves that go up to her forearms. She gave Mal an immediately distain and glared at her and had her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

'Please don't say she's my roommate.' Mal mentally grunted and didn't dare backed down by this witch. Crossed her arms and spoke up. "Well, nice to meet ya. I'm the roommate here and you must be..." She looked to the sign of who she was sharing with. "Mirta?"

The green haired girl snorted and looked over her shoulder. "Hey Mirta. Guess your roommate finally showed up."

"Oh really? Great, let her in Lucy." This was unexpected and almost hought this one named Lucy was her roommate, possibly a big relief from the way she looked at her like someone was moving in on her turf. The voice from inside sounded calmer and nicer, but best play it cool for now.

The girl now named Lucy walked out of the room, not bothered to say anything as she walked right past her. Mal glared at her and remained standing by the door.

"You must be my new roommate, sorry about Lucy she can be a little stubborn at times. My name is Mirta, its nice to meet you." Mal turned to see the girl who was actually her roommate; she was about her height, with natural pale skin and freckles on her face, short burgundy colored hair with a long blue streak on the side. Has a punk goth look by the way she was dressed with a white shirt that had a pumpkin in the middle and a black vest over it, wearing a black skirt with a gray layer on it held by two belts, white and red, dark red leggings underneath the skirt and a pair of boots with grey leggings up to her knees. She gave a warm smile to the blonde haired witch and invited her in.

"Thanks, I had the idea how I wouldn't be so welcomed lightly in this school." Mal said, she was slightly surprised to sense nothing but good vibes from her.

"Yeah, you probably get that, come on in. I left your half untouched so you can fill it how you like." Mirta smiled and walked into their dorm as her half was filled with her stuff.

"Thanks, didn't matter which side I take, you probably figured I'm a sort of special transfer from my school for the semester." Giving a fake story about being a transfer student to cover her secret.

"Oh, the headmistress told me about it and I hope you like it here and hope we get along." Mirta had shown to be somewhat shy and nervous, possibly trying to make a good impression on her new roommate from her perspective.

Mal shook her head softly and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, besides I was trying to make a statement in case I end up with someone being the least pleasant." Not wanting to go into details but or admitting that Griffin was very intimidating.

Mirta gave a surprise look on her face to Mal when she said that she tried to argue with the headmistress, everyone in school knows of her reputation and not wanting to be on her bad side. One thing she understood the reason if she were in her shoes... but doubted if she had the courage to do it. "Seriously? Anyone who did that would probably end up being a toad for the week or in serious detention for defiling her."

"Well she's not the only one who could pull a face that could scare you. So, I'll get my things unpacked and set things up here." Thinking of what to do for her part of the dorm and set up.

"Want some help? I mean, we got spare time this morning until the headmistress calls for assembly with all the freshmen students." Offered to help as a way to getting to know her new roommate. The blonde girl took thought about it, she didn't expect to have help from another witch. Mal was always told to try to open up to at least a few since she started to warm up a little with the boys during the training.

"I guess a hand would be nice. Thanks." Mal accepted as she grabbed her luggage and carried it to her bed.

"No problem." Mirta smiled and finds this witch pleasant unlike others, maybe a little different but too soon to tell. While grabbing her other bag and help she realised that she forgot her name and smacked her forehead with her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot your name, they hadn't mentioned it when you came a bit late."

"Oh, probably explains it then." Mal had to be careful in case of the witches that are here would recognise her by her name if its not common. Had spoken with her master on a name that she is suited for. "Besides, you can call me Lilith."

Once she was fully settled in Mal-going by the name Lilith walked beside Mirta to join the students who gathered in the hall, taken their seats and remained quite as the announcer spoke.

"Attention please. Here comes head witch mistress Griffin!"

Mal/Lilith had to remain quite and find out what the announcement was, possibly about tonight's event. She sees the head mistress approach and stood by her fancy throne-like chair.

"My young witches, I summoned you here because I have a sad piece of news to share. The Fairies are hosting a party tonight and once again the Witches of Cloud Tower have not been invited!"

All the witches in training gave mixed boos and taunts to the fairies, Mal remained quiet and didn't want to get into the immature acts. "A little personally just to not being invited." It reminded her of a certain story of what happened to a princess that was cursed by a very infamous witch, one she was all well aware of as does Auradon.

"Maybe its part of tradition or something?" Mirta thought which might sound possible, or some personal grudges between witches and fairies. The wielder of the Shadow's Redemption will have to look into the history about it sometime.

Griffin continued her speech. "Yes, my friends I agree with you. But this is an opportunity for you to test your cursing skills, it is the duty of every witch in this school to crash the party and wipe the smiles of their faces! They snuffed us, we'll make them pay, and so I urge you to come up a way to ruin the fiesta. Submit your proposals and I'll select one, may the worst witch wins."

Many students were eager to come up with an idea to ruin the party to prove themselves, but something caught Mal's attention from the corner of her eye, the three witches from the other night: Icey, Stormy and Darcy, least that were the names she heard them. No doubt they would take this opportunity to go after the ring, luckily she would come up with an excuse to say she be representing her 'school' and maybe give the others a heads up.

"A festival you say?"  Tezzerat asked through the communicator to speak with the allied witches while checking on the progress they were making, he was disappointed that they failed to retrieve the sceptre and their alliance is known to the children and the wielders, taking whatever means to cover their tracks from anyone else knowing their plans. His face was barely shown in order to make the covering up the transmission and make it difficult to track the signal, only his red cybernetic eye glowed through the blurred hologram. The witches were speaking with him in their dorm room as the only place in the building to communicate.

"Yes, its an event where the goody toe-shoes fairies celebrate the school year with the Red Fountain boys but never invite us." Icy explained to him.

"And seeing as you were not invited, you play a role to sabotage or crash the party?" He asked and seemed interested in the tradition they have. "Interesting. This could work in our favour, using this for a distraction so you three steal the ring from the princess."

"Oh we have the perfect plan and those losers in Alfea won't know what hit them." Darcy said with a devious grin on her face.

"Even those dweebs and the stupid key users." Stormy added.

They heard him make a frowning noise, obviously not convinced by their overconfidence. "And yet, you failed more then twice to accomplish a simple task." He retorted.

Icy grunted and crossed her arms in frustration when being reminded of the battle. "They just got lucky since they had those loser trio helping them, not even those Grimm couldn't do it."

"Never underestimate your foe, you've just witnessed how a keyblade wielder fights with their weapons and should be cautious on your next battle." Lecturing the witches to never judge their opponents.

"We need to keep them distracted, why use the Grimm to do that?" Stormy suggested to the group.

Darcy looked at her and shook her head. "And risk running into the keybladers who could ruin all we worked for? No, too risky, can't use them all the time to do the work."

"She's right, we'll do this our way and take care of those weakling fairies without a hitch. As for those three, if they interfere again, we'll make them as an example for others who get in our way." Icy proclaimed and formed three ice crystal in hands and crushed them, causing the two to grin and laugh. Tezzerate gave a chuckle through the transmission and disconnected before wishing them good luck, and not to fail again this time.

It was getting dark as the sun was beginning to set and as the dance was coming close to start, Mal in her usual purple/pink attire and hair was making her way to the school and to inform the guys to keep a look out for anything unusual, never got to find out who but had a very bad feeling she knew who it was. Mal was allowed to leave for the school dance being a 'exchange student' so it saved her the trouble of coming. She didn't seem bothered by it and had not got anything on since she was so busy, not that it mattered to her since she had some magic to do that.

"Looks like I came early, maybe the guys are not here yet." Giving them the message that she was on her way

"Mal!"

She looked up and sees Bloom running so fast with a bag in her hand. Waving to her as she was running towards the keyblader wielder, she wondered what Bloom was doing out here. "Bloom? Aren't you suppose to-

"No time! I gotta get ready and I need to get back in time." She stopped to catch her breath and was only halfway there, trying to catch her breath. "But... what are you doing here? I thought you be in Cloud Tower."

"Was allowed to come being a transfer student so can leave anytime if needed to slay Grimm. I was going to be there to meet the others." Mal replied and noticed the bag. "Got a special dress on the last hour?"

When asked about the bag she smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, the girls offered to lend a hand to find a dress for me, but there were some so expensive until I finally found one just right, would've used magic but were not allowed tonight. Only I got less time then I realised."

The witch noticed her down look, thinking it over and feels she could lend a hand. "Well, if you need some help. Take my hand."

The red haired girl looked up in surprise as Mal was offering her hand to her.

"Come on, you needed to make time so I'm offering a lift. But I'm on a busy schedule here." Giving her a limited time and thought about using her keyblade to get them to Alfea faster then waiting for a bus.

She smiled brightly and eagerly clasped her gloved hand. "Really? Thank you! I owe you! But how are we going to get there?"

This caused Mal to smile with confidence. "Guess you forgotten my keyblade's special power?" Summons the Shadow's Redemption to her hand with no one around to see it. Causing Bloom to remember what she said about her magic and that it could allow her to travel through a shadow. "Stay close to me, just relax and let me do the steering."

"Ok, never tried this before." Bloom did as instructed, watching Mal concentrate on her magic as their shadows were forming into a large doorway for the two to enter.

"Right this way." Mal gestured Bloom to go in first, noticing she was nervous but didn't stop her from trying and walked through it like there was really a door. Right behind her was Mal who closed up the entrance.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Bloom was awed by Mal's powers and saw only darkness but enough light to see where she was going, several transparent figures like people, buildings or doors.

"That's my keyblade's main ability, I can use it to project shadow-based magic and able to travel through them to take me where I want to go within the area." Mal explained to Bloom. "That's what I did when spying on those Witches and Tezzeret."

"Do all keyblades have special powers of their own?" Bloom asked her about them where as each of them wield a different kind by their appearances and names.

"Of course, usually based on one's heart I think." Mal said.

"So does it lead you to where Alfea is?"

"Should be just about... now." Opens up the exit and stepped through, finding themselves back in Bloom's dorm. Bloom was grateful for her help but hadn't had the time and made a rush to the supplies. In such a hurry she spooked her pet bunny rabbit that was napping on her bed.

"Sorry Kiko, gotta get ready. Mal could you help, this dress is way too long." Pulling out the blue dress she bought but didn't fit her right by the length and needed scissors to cut it.

"Can see why, could trip over it." Although she had to admit it looked nice, but blue wasn't her colour. Mal watched as Kiko started to try biting it in an attempt to tear it off while Bloom was digging through almost everything for a pair of scissors. Mal let out a giggle and patted the bunny. "Think that's not going to work, little fella."

"Your right, but what." Bloom was having a think and then an idea popped up, decided to use her magic to do the trick. "Ta da!" Pointing her finger and created a small orange beam that easily cut through it.

"Bloom you really got the hang of this." She smiles and was impressed by the use of magic she was using since coming here.

"I know. Hey what's going out there." Bloom could hear something outside.

Both the girls decided to find out what the noise was, Bloom opens the window to step out and learns the Specialists were already here. Mal instantly recognised the familiar faces below and still had a bit of a grudge for leaving them to clean up most of the mess they made back in Gardenia.

"The Specialists are here, and I'm running late!" Bloom was getting worried and feels she won't make it in time.

"That dress must've been worth it. Got it for someone special?" Mal gave a devious grin at her, causing the Earth Fairy to blush and looked up at her.

"Uhh, w-well its... Stella suggested I ask.. well.. Ask-" She found it so embarrassing to ask Mal, as she was having trouble finding the words but then she smelled something. "You smell something?

"AHH!" They hear Kiko crying out in panic and rushed back in, just to see the bottom of the blue dress starting to catch fire. They try to put it out using pillows or anything to put it out before it could get any worse.

At the timely arrival, Genie popped up without being aware of the situation. "Hey Mal, just thought I let you know the others are here." When giving his statement and noticed the smoke. "Something cooking?"

"Genie! We're trying to put out the fire on the dress." Mal exclaimed as she thought he couldn't have come at a better timing.

Alarmed, Genie changed into a fire fighter with a hose and a flashing red light. "Stand back girls!" Twisting the knob and used enough water to extinguished the small flames. Luckily it didn't do any damage to the dress much and was saved. "All in a Genie's work." Dusting his hands together after doing a good job.

"Eh hem?"

Genie looked and suddenly noticed a soaked Mal who did not looked pleased of the state she was in, standing next to a nervous Bloom who was trying her best from snickering. And Mal wasn't the only one as Kiki was wet too after being blasted by water, his tiny arms crossed and tapping his foot. The Genie of the lamp chuckled nervously and tugged his collar. "Oops, hehe, guess I went a little overboard. But nothing a genie can't fix." Flicked his fingers and made them dry as if they were never soaked and wet in the first place.

"Anyway, I thought to come back after you done here. See you girls at the dance!" He made a sprint leaving the two alone.

Mal sighed and knew they forgot something. "I'll head off and get myself ready. And don't worry, I won't spoiler the surprise for your special person." Giving a devious smile at Bloom and walked out with a giggle, able to catch a glimpse of her blushing bright red when thinking of Taren to dance with her but she never danced with a boy before, and wanted to make it special. She wanted to make this up for what he's done for her.

'I hope he likes my dress.'

Taren made his way to Alfea, wondering through the hallways while keeping an eye out for anything since they got a call from Mal about some plot to ruin the dance by witches over some tradition or assignment from Cloud Tower, if it were those three witches they fought against and in league with Tezzeret it could be trouble. So he kept an eye out for anything that could ruin it.

Everyone seems to be having a good time and the food looks good and took a bite out of one of the snacks. Taren wondered what the girls would be like in their formal dresses after seeing so many students in theirs, needed to get his shortly from Genie.

Speaking of the Genie, appearing next to him as a security guard with a pair of shades. Leaning towards the red head for a whisper. "All seems clear on this end, no witches in sight."

This made Taren feel at ease and not have to worry about any trouble for tonight. "That's good to know, and Mal?"

"She's with that girl named Bloom, almost had an accident on the wa,y but put it out but would be ready for the dance." What he didn't want to let it slip about Bloom's dress and thought of making it a surprise. "But... while we're on the subject, anyone you interested in asking?" Smiling deviously to the boy, seeing the flush on the wielder's face upon thinking it. 

"Me? Ask someone? No, I don't really dance." Taren waved it off, not that he didn't want to, but never actually considered asking a girl out. Especially of dancing with a girl, which was all the more reason to make him feel very nervous of anything that could happen, like stepping on their toes, or dance awkwardly, or say something he would regret. Yet, he had this thought to maybe ask someone he had in mind, but was too afraid to ask.

"Oh, come on, there's lots of girls here, and a kid your age needs to go out more." Genie encourages him with some advice and pats his elbow into his chest. "I bet there be someone who go crazy to date a guy like you."

Before Taren could respond to that answer, he suddenly bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry i-I didn't see you there."

"No, its fine, really I-oh, Taren, I didn't see you there." Finds himself to have run into Flora, one of the girls he just met and Bloom's new friends.

"Flora? sorry, got a little distracted there." Taking a look at the pink dance outfit she was wearing, the dress reached down to the floor with a darker pink bodice, It had green decorations, with the vines of the same colour laced around her upper arms and neck, the top of her hair was a pink rose for the final touch. Her hair was done up with pigtail buns that seem much like flowers.

Taren was silent for a moment and taken a look at her dress. "Wow, you look great." Unexepcted to say something like that, but admits of how she looks in that dress. "I-I mean, you look amazing for the dance."

Flora was mildly surprise by his forwardness of her outfit, but took it as a compliment after how much effort she put into it. "Well thank you, and would've assumed you be ready for the dance."

Realising he was still in normal clothes while everyone else was all dressed up for the gala. "Uh, Genie is just getting them ready." Turned to Genie smiled sheepishly. "Right?"

"Oh yeah, sorry was busy with other things but will get them in a sec." Genie responded before disappearing, leaving the two alone in an awkward silence.

Taren decided to say something and clearing his throat. "So you girls all set for tonight?"

Flora nodded. "Y-yep, we're just waiting for Bloom. I just hope she found a dress." Filling the keyblader about how Bloom didn't have a dress for the gala and the girls decided to help her out, especially Stella who offered to pay, they had to come back to the school with little time and not seen her since they left.

"I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss something like this." Taren was certain of it, and obviously no doubt she would have called them if she needed help like before. "I'm sure she just wanted to make a good impression on her first dance in Magix."

Flora smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it, perhaps she wanted to make it a special night." Feeling more at ease and less worried about Bloom. "Well, I better go find the others, maybe you guys can join us for the fun." Giving him a wave and makes her leave to find her friends.

"Yeah, you too." The auburn haired wielder turned around to see and finds Genie again, but noticed the coy look on his blue face with his arms crossed over. "What?" Taren arched an eyebrow.

"Well, it's nice that you're making new friends with the folks around here." Genie said to him with an innocent look on his face, but in truth he had certain ideas and didn't want to spoil the moment. "Especially that Flora girl." Giving him a teasing wink.

"Well, yeah, I mean...Flora's nice and I didn't want to miss this moment enjoy the time while we're here." Taren walks off to find them, unsure what he was on about but didn't seem too important for that matter. "So let's go find the others and find out what Mal got."

"This is ridiculous how can it be so hard to find a pair of scissors." Bloom had little luck finding any scissors through the school while on the night the dance was starting. She opens the storeroom door and found that the path leads somewhere through the stairs, yet, as she was going further down the stairs, she started to hear distant voices below.

"Now which way do we go?"

"Don't ask me. You're the one with the map."

Bloom mentally gasped as she realised who they were. "I recognise those voices."

Made quick dash back up before the witches could get closer. She stayed hidden and decided to follow the sisters to find out what they were up to, only from the corner Bloom could see them standing before some green chest.

"Wonder what those simpletons are gonna give the fairies." Darcy pondered.

"Whatever they are, we'll use them to reek havoc and spread panic. That'll give us the chance to get the ring." Icy said, not aware they were giving away their plan to the fairy and wielder. "Come on Darcy show us where it is."

Darcy smiled at them. "With pleasure, dearest sister. Illusion, show the Trix!" Conjuring a spell to cast for them to find the ring.

'So they call themselves the Trix?' Bloom thought as she watched carefully for what they were doing. Making sure they don't hear her, but so far they seem too focused on the illusion. They can see Stella holding her ring, then placing it was placed in a jewellery box and inside a gold clamp casing.

"Now we know where it is." Darcy said now finished her role.

Icy nodded and turned to Stormy. "Come on, Stormy. Time to do your thing."

Stormy was all to eager to and used her magic to unlock the chest, opening the box and revealed inside were large golden eggs. Both Bloom and Mal were surprise and shared a puzzled look on their faces, curious to know what were so special about them.

Darcy picked one up in her hand, but it evaporated and turned into golden butterflies fluttering away. "Enchanted golden eggs." Awed by the display and somewhat admired them.

Icy felt like she wanted to puke from the cute display. "How tacky. Anyway its time for us to prepare our own surprise." Raising their index fingers above, glowed base on their enchanted aura. "These presents shall become Snake Rat eggs."

Which will hatch with the touch of a Fairy." Darcy chanted after her.

"And spread terror all over." With Stormy to finish the enchantment they casted their spell on the eggs as the patterns on the shells suddenly changed from diamonds to snake-like patterns.

"Well done sisters, now lets get out of here." The ice witch said so they can make their escape. She created a doorway outside using her magic so they can leave without leaving any traces of their presence.

With the Trix gone, Bloom after finding out what they were up to and had to do something. "I have to warn the others." She made a run towards the ballroom, carefully passing through the crowd to find her friends and tell them about the Trix's plan, unaware of where she was going she accidently bumped into someone. "Sorry!"

"Bloom, you ok?" After rubbing her nose, she looked up and realised it was the blonde haired specialist she met back on Earth, Brandon .

"Yes, of course." Smiled softly at the Squire.

"Guess you made a wrong turn, huh?" Brandon humoured to her, while curious of why she was in such a rush. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, sorry in a big rush to get ready." She replied to his question. "I gotta find my friends, its urgent."

"Not so fast, young lady. What's got you into such a rush?" Both of them noticed Macbeth approaching them, he was wearing a formal outfit to look pleasant for the night.

"She was just probably in a rush to find her friends, sir." Brandon explained as to what she told him.

Bloom appreciated his help and spoke to Macbeth now he was here and perhaps could help her. "I just thought to tell you and the others that something important that came up and need your help."

Macbeth raised an eyebrow for what did she needed them for. "Really? Then perhaps we can meet someplace that you share."

Bloom thought it through and perhaps he and the others could help, not wanting to waste further time and nodded. "Okay, sure just outside the room." Pointing her finger to where she came and left when she was done.

Macbeth watches her leave and was about to do so himself, but not before leaning towards the blonde specialist. "Brandon, I think it be better to keep an eye on the chest as a precaution."

Brandon wasn't sure what he meant and thought if there was any danger close by. "You think something could happen?"

"Just have a feeling, but I'll have my apprentices to be on guard for now, as a precaution. Stay alert." Receiving a nod from the squire to follow his instructions and walked off.

Bloom spotted the Winx in their formal dresses. Stella's dress was a dark orange, halter neck style, the top had a jewel in the center. The dress also consisted of a dark orange skirt and a pale orange underskirt underneath. Her headband is orange, but seems to change to both blue and purple. Stella also wore light blue bracelets on her arms and a light blue scarf on her neck.

Tecna wore a gown that consisted of a pale purple dress with light green details and outline. There was a triangular collar on the top of her dress. Tecna wore a crown and a headdress at the back. She had mysterious decorations on her back that look like wings. She also wore light purple and blue boots. Her outfit seems to almost like a classic sci fi movie.

And for Musa' choice of dress was a kimono-style ensemble composed of a pair of flared pants in fuchsia color with red swirls at the end. The pants were long enough to hide her shoes from sight. Her shirt was inverted of these colors, with it being a red, shoulderless, flowy top with large dangle cuffs and fuchsia swirls at the cuffs and hem. The top was belted at the waist with a dark blue obi and gold strings. Her headdress was a red collar connected to the shirt with a fuchsia color on the inside, and pair of red headphones with gold patterns and blue ribbons hanging off.

The girl talking and laughing before they noticed Bloom walking towards them.

"We were starting to worry." Tecna said as they were beginning to wonder where she was.

Flora smiled at Bloom and thought she would have gotten a dress by now. "What took you so long?"

Not wanting to raise a panic and led them out the room to speak. They see Macbeth standing by the door and nodded to them. The girls followed him and they see the three apprentices with him, happy to see them showed up.

"Taren." Bloom beamed to see him again.

He smiled at her when she was with them. "Hey, sorry we're not in our formal outfits yet, but Mal wanted us here for something."

Mal nodded and noticing the worried look on Bloom's face. "And by the look on your face, you spotted the witches, right?"

Bloom confirmed it with a nod. "That's right! The witches are here!"

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked her and didn't like where this was going.

"Icy, Darcy and Stormy have casted a spell on the presents from Red Fountain." Bloom explained. "I heard them talking something called a Snake Rat."

"Mal told us it was part of this tradition the witches from Cloud Tower performed to sabotage the dance." Ben stated from what Mal reported.

Mal nodded. "I didn't get the chance to find out what it was at the time. But from the sound of these... Snake Rats, they must be really bad, right?"

Tecna was curious about this and stroked her chin, but then raised her hand and projected a hologram to look it up. "I'll consult it with my database." The image of the hologram appeared with what looked like a small lizard with an extended spine on its back. "Swamp creatures of the disgustablius genus; they eat toad-"

"Uh, Tecna, not to sound rude but does it say anything about them dangerous?" Taren didn't want to be rude but they were on a limit.

"Yeah, I agree. All we know is they are slimy, vicious, and venomous creatures. Much like the witches we fought." Stella stated. "But what's their goal of using them things?"

"To create panic and confusion in the school. Giving them the chance to get your ring." Macbeth added and now understood their plot; using the prank they've pulled to sabotage the dance as a distraction so during the panic they can just easily get the ring

"Hmm, that's quite the plan, we got to stop the eggs from being handed out." Musa said.

"I already told the Specialists to keep a watch on them." Macbeth stated which was mostly a relief to the others. "But now we must make certain those eggs don't hatch."

"But they don't know what happened to the eggs. The eggs could hatch any moment." Ben said in concern.

"Its too late, look!" Flora pointed her finger out to show them that Sky and Timmy were carrying the chest to the dance floor while unaware of the situation, opening the lid to show the fairies the golden eggs as gifts for them.

"Where's Genie?" Taren asked, thinking he could do something to stall them with his tricks or something.

"In Bloom and Flora's room on a lookout." Mal told him. "But we wont have time when they could hatch any moment."

Stella had an idea and turned to the girls. "We need to form a counter spell and quick. Form a circle and concentrate." The Winx take each other's hands and did so to follow Stella's instructions. "Repeat after me: What is once was, let it be again."

The girls repeated the words and focused their magic to make it work, the keyblade wielders and Macbeth watch and hope the spell works. They see the glowing light form in the centre and flew towards through the crowd to the chest without anyone noticing. Sky was oblivious to what happened and grabbed an egg, handing one out to each Fairy.

"I can't watch." Mal muttered and hoping it worked and not wanting to be near the disgusting creatures Tecna showed them.

The boys watch from the side, getting their hands out ready to summon their keyblades if it failed. But to everyone's relief was instead of the Snake Rats were the beautiful glowing butterflies, everyone in the dance room watched in awe of the display, the group were now relieved to have prevented a disaster.

"That was a close one." Ben muttered, which Mal heard and was greatly relieved when she slumped against the wall.

"I hope this egg brings you luck."

Stella was almost surprised when offered one of the eggs by the prince, turned to see him beside her and accepted the gift with a faint blush. "Uh, I guess I'll find out if it does or not."

Mal had an idea and walked up to Musa when she was looking at the egg. An idea popped in her mind, gave a soft giggle and had a devious grin on her face. "Mind if I take a spare?" She took one in her hand and looked at it.

Taren noticed and learned for some time about Mal is when she smiles with an idea and has a bad feeling about it. "Oh, no. Ben, she has that look on her face." Ben took his warning and shared the same idea

Bloom and Flora noticed what he meant and was confused over what he was talking about. Mal took the egg and began conjuring a spell over the

"Say Musa, how about we... return the favour to the Trix for the trouble they caused?" Leans towards her and whispers in her ear.

The fairy of music nodded and smiled with a giggle. "Oh, that would totally be worth to try."

Taren and Ben gave Sky a grin and a thumbs up as they made the prince go red. "Hey guys, aren't you two changed for the dance yet?"

"We had something to deal with, but don't worry about it now, Sky." Ben said. "But might need to do so while the night is still young."

"Yeah, and I bet you'll love what Bloom has to show." Mal giggles and prepares to get herself ready. The group split up and went to deal with the Trix and get themselves ready for the dance.

Genie was in their home dorm to keep a close watch of anything unusual that comes for the ring after been told what's going on. While also decided to pass the time playing checkers with Kiko as the rabbit seems smart as Iago and Abu.

Genie taps his black pieces over the red. Smiles with confident that he would win the game against. "Alright, see how you can get out of this?"

Kiko looked at his pieces, giving a moment of thought and his face lid up with a grin, moving his piece and taken the two red pieces. Genie was caught off guard, unexpected of such a move and looked at the board. "Oh, that's a good move. Looks like you'll be winning those carrots."

While the two were playing, neither of them became aware of a gold coloured mechanism, similar to the other but different opened the window and sneaked inside, crawling towards Stella's bedroom with its spindly legs, unlocking the door and went through to search for the item of its target. Its single eye scanned the area until it found the treasure chest, a tendril sprouted out and grabbed it to open and took out the golden clamp that contained the ring. Its mission was complete and now making its way out.

"FREEZE!!!" In its way was Genie dressed up as a SWAT officer, pointing a high tech at the legged robot. "You're in violation of the Winx Club's dorm rooms, put down the item or be blasted to dust."

The automaton observed the Genie after realising what he was, refusing to cooperate and ran around, causing Genie to give chase as did Kiko who came to help until it suddenly climbed up the wall and fired an energy net at the surprised pair, pinning them to the wall and allowing the droid to make a run for it. But not when Bloom rushed over and saw the thing, then sees her pet rabbit and Genie struggling to break free.

"Kiko! Genie! Are you two alright?" She rushed over to try freeing them.

"Bloom, that thing took something from the princess' room!" Genie was having a hard time to get out from the net, even his magic didn't have any affect on it. "Boy, someone came prepared! This thing is keeping me from using my magic to break free."

If that thing came from Stella's room, then there was one thing she knew what could have been stolen. 'The Ring of Solaria!' It had to be the Trix behind it, she didn't want to leave them like this, but also couldn't let the ring fall into their hands. So far they seem unhurt and would take a while to get them out of the net. "I'll go get it, you just relax and wait here!"

She runs out the room to go after the stolen ring from the robot spider. "Don't worry, red, we'll just HANG out here." Genie assured her by making a wise cracking joke, causing the rabbit to groan after hearing his joke. "What? Too soon?"

Bloom was chasing the robot, she knew this had to be the work of the Trix and not a coincidence if it was after Stella's ring. "Come back here you. Give back that ring you stole!" She yelled out, running out of the school walls as it was running towards the bushes, but Bloom was much faster and took a leap forward into catching it. Knocing the small robot off the feet and crashed into a tree, damaging the automaton as it's legs twitched and having trouble getting back up. "Gotcha! Now, give me that." She snatched the ring that fell out of its grasp and smiled in victory, decided to head back to get ready for the dance.

"Nosey little missy. Why can't you mind your own business?"

A familiar voice spoke up behind her, turned around and seeing the Trix who were hiding behind the trees and right behind her. It wasn't looking good for her as she backed up, wondering where the others are.

"Are you ready little girl?" Stormy asked her, ready to make the young fairy suffer for interfering with their plans. Icy took the first move by surrounding Bloom in ice, however the flame haired girl didn't want to get frozen again like last time and make a jump for it. But Darcy made her move by stomping her foot into the ground, creating a tremor by her magic and a trench rose up in front of her before she could get away. Then with Darcy who brought a twister that blew towards Bloom, unable to go anyway with the trench right behind her, she slipped backwards but caught the edge with one hand to pull herself up only to see the Trix stand before her as Icy took the ring from the ground.

"You're on your own this time and your friends are not around to help you." Icy taunted her, gathering her ice magic to make the final blow. Least she didn't need to summon the Grimm or their partner to finish her off for them. "Its over, little fairy."

"No! I am a Fairy and I will not fail! I will succeed!" Bloom proclaimed with great determined to stop them, her body started to glow in orange. She was transforming into her fairy form for the first time. Bloomw as now wearing a glittering blue top with a mini skirt to match, a pair of fluttering wings sprouted from her back. The droid from earlier was slowly pulling itself together after being partially damaged by the girl, able to detect an incredible amount of power flowing from her as she transformed and transferred the data to its creator. The Twix were shocked as they saw her transformed.

"Wow, I transformed! Looks like we're evenly matched." Bloom looked at her appearance and feels red electrical energy sparked around her. Unaware of the robot snuck up to her and was about to strike at her with its clawed limbs, however it didn't reached her as the last thing it saw was a light.

The robot was sliced in half and fell into the trench before it blew up, the girls took noticed of this and saw it was Taren with his Light's Rebellion in his hand.

"Did I miss the party." Taren asked in an amusing tone.

"Taren!" Bloom exclaimed in relief and glad to have help.

Icy gritted her teeth when one of the keyblade wielders was here. "URGGH! Not you again!"

Taren ignored her and meets Bloom in her fairy form, which caught him by surprise. "Wow, you actually transformed? Awesome." He couldn't be happy to know she achieved her dream of being an actual fairy. But can sense powerful magic from her that's off the charts.

Bloom giggled and smiles brightly. "I know, how about we take on them together." Feeling confident and now ready to take them on.

"You sure? I mean, you just got your new form." Taren asked in concern, but feels she was not going to back down.

She nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"How cute, but unfortunately it will be your last night as a Fairy when we're done with you, and your friend." Icy said and turned to Stormy.

She nodded and casted an illusion spell on them to make them see things that were distorting their senses. Bloom couldn't think straight at first but realised a trick that could help when she took flight to get out of their reach while pulled Taren out of the way.

"Thanks." Although he had yet to learn new tricks but glad she did.

"Seems some of their magic can't affect on Fairies." She learnt about it as a great advantage against the Trix.

Icy then casted magic to create numerous pillars of ice from the ground, the two dodged them while Taren took out two or three with his keyblade, easily melting them down with his Firaga but were too much. He looked up and noticed Bloom was not having much luck as he was until he saw something emerge, like a frozen face and blasted her with a frost breath, throwing her into the bamboo field. "Bloom!"

"And for you."

Taren turns around, he was hit by a powerful gust of wind and sent to the same direction. Fallen onto the ground hard and groaned, tried to get up but saw a large ice near them and almost had them inside. "That was close." But turned around and saw Bloom getting up, back to her original self since the transformation had reached its limit. Least she was ok and a great relief to know about it.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked her, walked up to her and reached his hand out to her.

Bloom looked up to Taren, she smiled and accepted his hand to help her. "Yeah, I'm okay, almost got caught in that iceburg. What about you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and not seemed a bit hurt. "Hardly bruised, but fine."

"There they are! Taren! Bloom" They turned to see Ben call out to Mal and the Winx as they rushed over, checking to see if they were fine but so far no serious injuries on them. "You guys ok? Looks like you were in a big fight."

"And we saw Taren being blown away by that witch's wind." Musa says.

"Are you alright?" Flora asked them out of concern.

Taren smiles at her as he wasn't injured. "Nothing to worry, we're fine."

"But where were you all?" Bloom asked them.

The girls sighed and answered. "We couldn't get away from the headmistress." Stella slumped down, looking tired from what happened.

Ben also felt guilty about it as well. "Yeah, we were looking around when we found Genie, he told us you were here and said something about a robot?"

"Well, that thing won't be bothering us now." Taren pointed to what's left of it in the trench, earning Tecna's curiosity and interest about the robot. "But... unfortunately the ring was taken from us, we couldn't get it."

"We're really sorry Stella, tried our best." Bloom apologise to her.

Flora snickered. "Don't worry, Bloom the ring is safe. But what Mal came up with, I wouldn't be in their shoes right now."

"Really? What is it?" Bloom asked her.

"Think I got a pretty good idea." Stella couldn't help but grin at what they'll find out.

"Maybe later, right now lets get to the dance while we got time. Hey, Taren, Genie's got our outfits ready so hurry up." Ben told him as the girls began to return to the school.

"Oh great, I'll catch up after getting my breath." Taren said, but as they were heading back inside, about to catch up to Ben when suddenly he felt a hand grabbing his own and stopped him. Turned around and realised it was Bloom with a warm smile on her face as she looked at him. "Hey, something up?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for saving me back there, especially against the Grimm... it was really brave of you." She said, almost feeling her face turning light red.

"Don't worry, I'm always there to back up my friends. But also thought you did great in that fight." Taren gave a her smile. Earning the same look from her as she felt great build of confidence from his words. Feeling she could somehow repay to help them if they needed help until she mastered her fairy magic more.

"Yeah, you're right. Better get ready, see you at the dance." She was too nervous to ask him for a dance when ready but maybe leave it for a surprise of what she bought to show the others.

Taren watches her leave and needed to get himself ready too, but suddenly stopped and groaned, clutching his head as he was seeing some blurry images.

A faint figure whose face was hidden, wielded a sword engulfed in flames in some battle.

Another with what looked like a fiery dragon as its eyes glowed with bright orange yellow before unleashing its flame against some sort of horde of creatures.

Taren was able to regain his senses, and leant against the wall before making his way back inside. "What... was that?" Was it some vision? Was that a dragon? This never happened to him, not like... the day he was taken. 'This feels like that dream I had from before. What's going on?'

"Hey T-Man!" Genie popped beside Taren, startling him that he almost jumped. "Say, something the matter, you look a little..."

Calming himself and acted all calm. "I-its nothing, just a little warn out after the witches took us by surprise." He made it up, half-truth, didn't know what to say for now. "Anyway, you got the suit?"

Genie grins with his teeth flashing. "Oh, this one will be worth the wait. Close your eyes." Doing as he said and felt a zap from Genie. "Ta-da! What d'ya think?"

Taren opened his eyes and sees a mirror held by Genie to see himself wearing a fancy lightly dark suit with the coat running down to his ankles, a maroon red top can be seen beneath it, he was wearing brown tie that matches with it, along with a pair of black shoes. It even came with a scarf wrapped around his neck with a fire dragon embedded on it. "Wow! You really done a great job, Genie." Taren smiles as his bright amber eyes studied the attire. "Like the scarf." Checking it out as a nice touch.

Appreciating the boy's compliment of his handy work. "I know a thing or two when it comes to thousand years of fashion... or was it 1001? Anyway, Ben is already in his suit, wait til ya see Mal's." Hearing that surprised Taren to see Mal in a dress, that would be worth checking out. "Although I will have to do it a surprise since she seems reluctant."

"Good luck, I gotta get going." Making his way to the dance floor filled with students from both Alfea and Red Fountain who appear to having a great time until they spotted the keyblade wielder entering the hall, he was receiving some attention from the girls who giggled at him, making him flush and smiled nervously over the attention some of them were giving him. He found Ben nearby and thought to stick close for help.

"You look good in that, bud." Ben came up, wearing a dark blue suit with a crest that resembled his father's Beast form embedded on the right chest.

"Oh, wow! Who are they?"

"Are they from Red Fountain?"

"Dunno, never seen them before."

"I wonder if one of them is single! maybe ask the brunette for a dance!"

"That boy with he scarf He's so dreamy!

Taren blushes and smiles nervously, scratching the back of his head with all the attention the girls were given them. "Never knew that it be like this" Taren replied and wondered if he can tell them about his visions. "Hey Ben I gotta ask about something."

"Sure, but I think you might wanna hold that thought first." Ben said, smiling at him while pointing out his finger over his bewildered friend's shoulder.

"Wha?" Uncertain what he was talking about, Taren turns around to where Ben was pointing and froze a moment to see Bloom in a light blue two piece dress: a crop top, detached sleeves with long strings flowing from them, and a pair of heels. He had to admit she looked beautiful in that dress. "Come on, let's go see them." Ben grabbed his arm, ignoring his attempt to struggle until the girls noticed them.

"Well, don't you boys look great, those are so you." Stella said as she liked their formal outfits.

"Yeah, so far it looks great now that we've dealt with the problem." Taren said, scratching the back of his head nervously as he took some glances at Bloom. "Wow, you look great."

Bloom blushes. "You think so? Same to you."

"Say, where's Mal?" Flora asked.

"I thought she be here." Taren pondered and not seen her yet.

"Don't worry, I'll look for here, why don't we have some fun in the mean time." Ben walks off and spotted something that caught his eye, but unknown to either of the boys or Bloom, the Solarian Fairy decided to help give a little extra push to Bloom's growing thing for a certain red head. Casually walked up and nudged her forward, causing the surprised Bloom to stumble forward and caught in the arms of a surprised Taren. The two looked at each other as their faces flushed bright red and noticed how close they were to each other.

Taren cleared his throat and not certain how to approach as it's the first time he's done anything like this before. "Uh, I... would you... like to dance with me? I mean, not really good at it." Smiles sheepishly as if trying to ask her out. Trying to fight off the blush on his face

"Don't worry, I'll take the lead and show you." Bloom pulled herself together and tried to ignore how his hands held her in a comfortable way. She smiled warmly and taken his hand to the dance floor. She took his right hand and put it on the middle of her back while holding her right hand with the left hand. Taren realised as he was doing a slow dance with a beautiful girl in his arms and started to enjoy it, even Bloom was enjoying her time with him as they smiled at each other.

Ben walked through the group while seeing how the others were doing until he spotted a familiar face by the corner and tapped on her shoulder. "Mal?"

The young witch gave a small jump and turned around, he sees her in a purple/pink dress with her arms bare and the hair in a bun but left a strand of hair tot eh side. "Thought it was someone else." She noticed him in a suit and had to admit Ben looked... well dressed. "You look... nice." Mal said, uncertain how to respond in a way.

Ben smiled. "Yeah and I almost didn't recognised you, look amazing."

Causing Mal to be surprised by his compliment. "Really? I... well, just that I thought it looks silly." Uncertain why but tried to keep her heart from beating. She spotted Taren on the dance floor, but was shocked to see him dancing with Bloom. "Wow, she got him to dance?"

"Yeah, sure did." Ben smiled at the scene and turned to her, now feeling somewhat nervous. "Would you like to dance?" Offering his hand to her for a dance.

Mal looks at him in surprise and nervous. "I uh, well, I don't...Ok, I just don't really know how to dance." She thought he would've gone for someone who would love to as she seen how the girls were drooling over them.

Ben didn't seem to mind and thought to help her out. "Not to worry, no ones perfect, even Taren couldn't do well. I'll take the lead." Decided to help her come out of her nervousness and gently takes her hand to floor. Mal at first thought she would've tried to struggle but then when she was on the dance floor with the prince, she couldn't help but finding it... pleasant. She let him take the lead to take her hands in place and slowly started to enjoy it very much, especially with Ben but didn't want to say it openly or ruin the moment.

Chapter Text

Sora walked straight to the office to see Leon, Riku, and Tifa present around a desk with a computer. Leon had changed somewhat over the years, sporting a small stubble around his chin. Tifa, on the other hand, had her hair tied in a braid, keeping her looks intact. She wore formal attire, reflecting her status as one of the important members of the council since the Keyblade Wars and the reorganization of Radiant Garden.

"So, any updates on the situation then?" Leon asked.

"Well, good news, there are fewer sights of Grimm after we dealt with some of them in the Arabian deserts, those giant scorpions and snakes were tough to deal with." Sora responded on his experience.

"More worlds are closed up, so they can't get through, but I'm more concerned for Magix. It has been many years since we heard from them until recently, and who knows what that old bastard could be up to." Riku explained, giving images of the creatures in various areas and worlds they had been to clear them out. "It's just a good thing Gaia was pulled backtogether since the events of opening Kingdom Hearts otherwise we are having a hard time taking them all down.

"But we need to get ready and head towards the Magic Dimension and be ready when they need it. Tezzeret isn't like any other we faced, especially in the war years ago." Sora warned them. The keyblade master had a terrible feeling something wasn't right and had to find his son as soon as possible. Both Sora and Kairi had offered to volunteer to go first the moment the barrier was opened to allow them through. "Anything on the kids?"

"We managed to get some intel on what happened and it looks like they seem to be doing much better than we thought." Tifa said with a smile, knowing this would earn Sora's attention.

She pulls up a laptop and shows their friends what appeared to be Taren taking out a group of small red critters and a large yellow creature that was possibly the leader. Sora's eyes widened in surprise to see his son who had somewhat grown a little over half a year, but what caught his attention was the keyblade in his hand. He did inherit one after all. "Its... it's him.. ?" He mumbled, wishing it wasn't a dream and would show this to his wife to see how much their boy had grown.

"Yep, and that's not all." Tifa played the video and showing Taren easily took out the lot of them in a bright flash, so fast they saw a colorful blur. They see two Grimm known as Ursa emerge out of portals as being summoned by the largecreature, they watch him face one of them off and are astonished by the fighting skills he's picked up in a few months. "Hey, he's not bad, when he and Ben come back, remind me to give them a spar and see how well they've improved."

Both Sora and Riku would probably give them a warning, knowing how strong she is and sometimes scared Tarenwhenever she's mad. The clip then switches to Taren helping two girls, one blonde with a dress and wings and another who appeared to be a red-haired girl, for a moment Sora thought she reminded him of Kairi, yet her hair was more orange and fiery color. Next came another footage showing Ben sprinting out of nowhere and delivering a hard punch to the remaining Ursa in the face.

Riku couldn't help but pull a grin when impressed at how the prince was able to fight despite just taking fencing. "Wow, look at that, those boys show a lot of potential. Wonder who trained them."

"I think Yen Sid mentioned someone by the name of... Macbeth." Leon said.

"Oh, Macbeth, well be interesting to meet... h-him..." All of a sudden, the color on Riku's face was drained away, even his silver hair, Riku's face almost turned blue and his body quivered. His friends noticed this odd behavior and wondered if he heard that name. "Uh... w-what was... that name... you just mentioned?"

Leon blinked his eyes baffled by the reaction and replied. "Um, the one who trained them for combat and physical training was Macbeth. Why, you heard of him?"

Riku's eyes were wide as dinner plates and felt his worst fears come to life. "Oh... no... it can't be..."

"Riku, are you ok? Looks as if you saw a ghost." Sora asked him, having never seen him this pale in his life.

"Not... really. But let's just say I met him years ago... and fought him once." When they learned about this, it was a real surprise that Riku never brought it up.

"What? You have? Since when?" Sora asked him eagerly.

"Yeah, how come we never heard this before?" Tifa asked as well.

"Trust me... I'll explain later, but if Yen Sid called for him for help. It must be more serious than I pictured." Riku said, unable to say anything else, slowly recovering from his shock and too shaken to think about it. "But let's get back to the main subject, what happened on Earth?"

"That's where it gets even weirder, check this out." Leon shows them another footage to explain it himself, what they saw astounded the group as the red-haired girl released a powerful wave of energy and that energy took the form of a dragon. Sora had a sudden flashback of seeing something just like that on the day Taren disappeared "We showed this to Merlin and he was astonished to learn she was an Earth Fairy which according to him, was believed to be extinct on this world for centuries."

"Extinct? How so?" Sora questioned with a raised eyebrow, but as he was taking a closer look at this girl something about her seemed very unusual.

"All vanished without a trace, possibly by being hunted down or wiped out in a genocide, but we're still looking into that. But since then magic had been considered myth and fairy tale to them." Leon explained to them and wondered if she was an Earth Fairy.

Riku was curious about it as well. "So what happened after that?"

"Well, by the look of things, they seem to have been in a fight with something else but had help. We figured perhaps meeting the parents sometime while planning to get to the Magic dimension." Tifa explained, but unlikely all of them could get there due to a barrier to prevent non-magical beings from crossing over for protection and showed the image of Mal. "This one, well by the look of it, she's also a keyblade wielder like Taren and Ben."

"Anything to know about her?" Sora asked when he was looking at them and studied the image.

"Nope, not that I can find." Leon responded.

"Well, so long as they have help over there, can give us some time to prepare." Much as Sora feels the need to help them, perhaps finding out what's happening and as long as they're ok, then that's all he needed to know.

"So you believe this machine is one of Tezzeret's?" Saladin asked Macbeth after he came back what's left of the strange mechanism, learned it was with a group of witches that tried to steal a royal Solarian heirloom. Fortunately, they failed and the ring remained safe. For now.

"There is no doubt about it, I shot down a dozen of his probes that were following the children on the day they came." Macbeth spoke without taking his eyes off the machine, confirming its link to their enemies. "This is a type of technology that hails from Kaladesh during the war."

"Then it proves that Tezzeret is involved, and we need to alert the allied worlds of his return without causing a panic." Saladin frowned over the information. "He'll no doubt make his move when the time is right for him, but he could be one, maybe two steps ahead of us."

"Aye, he'll make his move very soon, these witches who are working with him are probably part of his plan to keep us busy until he gets the real prize." Macbeth said.

"The Dragon's Flame." Macbeth nods at the Headmaster's statement. "Hopefully the Specialists I've chosen will transport the Hunting Troll to the authorities for interrogation, maybe then we can get some answers of what he knows."

At least then he could hope it would be a success to complete their mission but felt he should've been with them or the young wielders. "Still, I should've been the one to do that to save the trouble."

"Not to worry, my friend, you have the keyblade wielders to train and watch over to guide them into becoming something greater in their roles." Saladin assured him.

Macbeth agrees with the headmaster while has been pondering about the recent events that happened since they got here. In the alley he followed the group and stayed hidden, watching both the young wielders and the girls work well together defeating the Grimm and then he spotted Taren and Bloom working together against the Trix despite their effort but pulled through in the end. Much as he had to admit it, they had done better as a team, but couldn't bring himself to let others put their lives in danger since it was meant to be only the keyblade wielders and the members of the Company of Light to deal with it.

"Something on your mind?"

"Hmm?" Macbeth heard the elder ask him, taking his mind off his thoughts of what he was thinking. "Just having a thought, nothing to worry about."

"So then, what have you made plans for their training?" Saladin asked him.

"Just sent them to the forest, or possibly a swamp by the look of it, they need to know their whereabouts and improve their teamwork but also requested by Faragonda to watch over the students in case the Grimm try to break through the protective barrier."

Well discussing further, they were unaware of a certain pair of ears listening in on their plans to transport the troll. Knot was very careful to find out what they were planning and needed to warn the Trix and Tezzeret about what was happening, if they made the Troll talk they be exposed.

"I need to warn them immediately or they might decide to use me as a target practice." Knot didn't like to make them angry for failure. He needed something to report back to them and find out what would happen to the Hunting Troll he sent to Earth weeks ago, they were not so pleased about the incident at the dance that night and made a wise choice to notbring it up in their presence.

The apprentices were sent to the swamp forest and the assignments for their training were to know their surroundings and work together, while also keeping a lookout for any Grimm in the area to keep Alfean students safe from a distance. Taren was resting on a tree branch and taking a moment to enjoy the few of the place despite it being a swamp, he and others just split up but stayed close in range in case of emergency.

So far there were no Grimm nearby, which was good but best to keep his eyes open and to keep his training up. But, he was thinking about those visions he saw, unsure what they were or what to make out. He didn't tell the others as he was uncertain how to explain, maybe when they get back to Red Fountain he'll talk to Macbeth and perhaps send it to Yen Sid if he knows anything about them.

"Taren, do you hear me? It's Ben."

Receiving a call on his phone pulled him away from his thoughts and answered it. "Yeah, it's me. How's it going?"

"So far, things seem calm over here and no sign of any Grimm, a big relief." Ben said. "We should probably see the Specialists flying by soon but Macbeth wanted to make certain they are ok from down here."

"What was it they're delivering again? I never got the chance to find out."

"The Hunting Troll, you know the one from Earth and used your scent to track us." Ben reminded him to refresh his memories of their first encounter.

"OH! That guy, why would Macbeth be concerned? I mean shouldn't the authorities of this world be doing that if it's dangerous?" Taren thought.

"Well, Brandon said it is part of their mission and make certain the big fella is transported safely. But Macbeth feels Tezzeret or the Witche could pull something to break him out, never know if they sent a Grimm to do that." Ben said possibly thinking the same thing as his friend.

"Yeah, might as well practice our skills like Macbeth said. Hey, anything on Mal?" He asked.

"Not sure, maybe she's probably doing some studying in her area or keeping a lookout. " Listening to his friends' words and taking note of it to remember. "Here's something interesting I learned, she has a roommate in Cloud Tower, someone by the name of Mirta."

This gave a surprise to the auburn-haired wielder to find out that Mal actually has a roommate. "Really? Hope she's not giving too much trouble from the way I heard about that place."

"She sounds like a nice person, a lot different from what Mal told me. Maybe not everyone in Cloud Tower are like those Trix girls." Ben told him, which be interesting to know about the person.

"Yeah, but seems it be tricky for Mal to keep her keyblade a secret if it's leaked out. Especially if the Trix found about it to report to Tezzeret and our covers are blown."

"Don't worry, Mal will know what to do. Just remember what Macbeth told us, be resourceful and not be too reliant on our keyblades if we are to beat a strong foe."

"Got it, hope we get out of this sooner and in one piece." Hangs up and decides to climb down the tree to get a move on, not knowing what could be lurking out there. He pulled out the lamp he brought with them and rubbed it to bring out Genie. A puff of smoke came out to take form where Genie was dressed in Iron Man.

"Whatever it is you want kid, can it wait a little? I'm trying to get a spot in the next Avengers movie." Genie said when suddenly many tentacles sprouted out of the lamp and grabbed the shocked Genie, pulling him in before he could scream.Startling the young keyblade wielder who thought he was in danger until Genie came out ok... well, apart from his costume torn. "On second thought, I think I'll just buy the tickets."

"Sorry, but thought maybe we could use some extra eyes in case anything happens and for the girls since they're here. " Taren said.

Genie changed his outfit into safari clothing with a pair of sunglasses and a hat. "Eh, nothin' to it, mate! Ol' Genie 'ere will watch out for anythin' coming my way." Speaking in an Australian accent, he pulled out a shotgun as if ready for action.

Taren chuckled and smiled. "Yeah and maybe get some fish on the way, could go for some bite." But all of a sudden hesaw Genie unexpectedly quiver and revert to his original self. Taren was surprised and had never seen Genie in this state before. "You ok?"

He stopped himself quivering and brought his hand up to his head. "Oohohoho, man, almost as if something bad is about to happen. Either that or I just watched too many movies."

A loud shriek echoed, causing small birds and animals to scurry away in fear, a sound of wings flapping from a distance but getting louder and closer to them, both saw a large shadowy blur flying above them, rustling the trees by the wind. Genie covered the boy from any debris for protection until it calmed down and they could see some large bird flapping its wings.

"Grimm!" Genie cried out in fear and retread into the lamp.

Taren gasped and somehow knew it was too, the dark presence from the avian flapping its large wings with grasping claws out front, a long feathered tail, and the white skull mask on its face. It just flew passed them and assumed it must've sensed their presence but, it didn't.

"I don't think it noticed us." Taren said but worried about what it was going to do, flew too fast for them to know where it was going. Grabs his phone and contacted both his friends. "Guys, it's me and Genie, we just saw a flying Grimm above us."

"What? What was it a huge bird of some kind?" Mal responded when sounded alarmed.

"Oh much bigger and flew so fast it didn't notice us." Genie added.

"A Nevermore gotta catch that thing now before it could cause trouble." She responded, unfortunately, they lost sight of the Grimm it must've flown inside the clouds high above or in the forest for cover. They need to find it fast before it could hurt anyone.

"Genie, you take the look out above I'll head to the direction it was going and meet the others." Taren told him and ran off.

"Can do." Genie flew above to take the look out over it, growing a pair of binoculars, and easily spotted the other two. "Found them, but... hang on a moment." He heard an explosion and saw a small craft that was coming down hard and leaving a trail of smoke. "Uh, I think we might have bigger problems, T."

"Guys, if you get this follow the smoke, I think we might need to see if anyone needs help." Recognizing the ship from Red Fountain and hoping his friends were ok. No doubt the Nevermore would find them easy pickings in the area, hoping he can get there in time before it decides to come back.

Genie wasn't the only one to notice it, almost everyone in the area saw it, even the Winx who were on an expedition class when they saw a Red Fountain aircraft that crashed down, believing the specialists might be in trouble and ran as fast as they can. They were wearing an explorer's type of outfit given to them for the assignment then their usual clothes.

The girls just arrived to see the Specialists come out of the downed ship, a little bruised but able to move about after the crash.

"You guys ok?" Flora asked them.

"Isn't it rather obvious?" Riven replied, trying to act confident and tough in front of the girls. He noticed the fairy of music smiling sheepishly and giggling at him.

"We're all safe and sound thanks-" Sky gasped when he saw the damage done to the ship and groaned. "Oooh no!" It was worse when he realized the troll had broken out and left a trail of footprints. "Where's the troll?!"

"He's escaped!" The squire Specialist exclaimed, causing the girls to panic over the news.

"You were transporting a troll and you guys let him escape?!" Tecna questioned them in shock.

Brandon glared at them with his arms crossed. "We didn't let anyone escape. It was an accident, we just lost altitude and-"

"Mechanical failure." Timmy added.

"Anyway, there's nothing to worry about while he's handcuffed." Riven said with confidence and assured the trollwouldn't get too far.

"Uh, Riven, look what I just found." They turned around to find the prince holding out a pair of handcuffs designed for the Troll to attack or escape. It wasn't so good for the girls as it could be anywhere. They soon heard something rustling in the bushes, the girls stuck together while the Specialists took out their phantoblades ready, thinking it was the Troll or something that might come out to attack them.

"Found the trail guys!" They hear a familiar female voice, stepping out was Mal stepped out to see everyone. "Wow, you guys look like a mess."

"Mal? What are you doing out here?" Musa asked until they heard more rustling noises and voices.

"What the hell happened here." Another voice familiar to the girls.

Following her behind were Ben and finally Taren after coming out of the woods to see everyone and the debris. "You guys alright?" Ben asked them.

"Taren, hey!" Flora waved to him.

"Uh, hi Taren." Bloom also did and was more nervous since the dance.

Taren smiled at them. "Hey, how are you girls doing?"

Mal gave a coy smile and turned to him. "Why don't you ask how your girlfriend is doing." Spoke low enough of a whisper and teasing, causing the male redhead to blush completely.

"WHA..? Bloom isn't...I-I don't know what you on about!"

"Oh? Then what's wrong with your face." She giggled, causing him to stutter, and tried to grab her to keep her mouth shut.

"Wonder what that was about?" Bloom was curious and saw him flush for some reason, but one of Mal's jokes may be from the way they were arguing.

Stella smiled deviously. "Why don't you go up to him and ask, maybe Taren wants to confess his romantic desires for you." Tries to contain the giggling after making a joke on her and seeing her best friend's face flush, finds it adorable as she stammers. Even Flora and Musa who heard her little joke were trying to hide their giggling until they returned to the main problem.

Ben sighed and ignored the two who were too busy arguing and walked up to the group while Mal was teasing the blushing Taren. "We heard your ship crashed and came out here to help." Ben told them.

"Nothing to worry about, Ben, just had a malfunction and had to transport the Troll for the authorities." Brandon explained.

This caused Mal and Taren to stop what they were doing when they heard him.

"Wait a sec, you mean the big fella from Earth you arrested?" Mal asked them.

"Yeah, that's the one. Only he escaped by luck." Timmy said.

"By the way, what were you girls doing out here? We know Taren, Ben, and Mal are doing some training out here but not you." Brandon asked them when being curious.

"We were just doing an assignment, Brandon." Bloom replied

"Then you girls can get back to your assignment and not worry about a thing, the Specialists will handle it!" Riven told them and turned to the other three. "And the same goes for you three, go back to do whatever it is Macbeth told you to do and not bother us."

Mal didn't like the way the boy named Riven spoke to them with such arrogance and the way he had that annoying smirk so she decided to have some bit of fun. Giving a fake bright smile and a faint gasp. "Really? So, when will they come? I'm dying to see them heroes I heard so much about."

Stella couldn't help but laugh and joined. "Oh that I love to see."

This caused Riven to growl and not like her one bit. "What you say, little girl?"

"I'll show you how this little girl can give such a punch!" Ready to show him whose boss was until Ben grabbed her arm and pulled her away, dragged away by her feet. "Come on, Ben! Just let me at him! At least lemme rip his hair!" She tried to free herself from his grip on her.

The prince ignored her as he kept her away from a good distance. "Come on, Mal. Be nice, we're not here to start trouble, remember?" They couldn't risk calling Genie to help with more girls showing up and trying to stay low on their secret.

Taren calmed down and was glad Ben intervened before things could get nasty as he learned that Riven is one of the toughest students in Red Fountain but could have a problem being a little... cocky.

"Sorry about that, Sky. She can get a little worked up." Taren apologizes to the prince who seems not bothered by it.

"Hey, it's no prob, but she must be really brave to challenge him." Sky complimented while surprised how she wasn't backed down.

"Oh, you have no idea." If only they knew what the keyblade wielders were capable of.

"But what Riven meant was that it should be best for the girls to go back to Alfea for your safety, and Taren, no offense to you and the others but this is our mission, and it's our responsibility to make sure we recapture that troll."

Taren nodded as he clearly understood it being their mission. "Hey, it's no problem, if we see him by any chance, we'll let you know."

Riven rebuffed and narrowed his glare at the keybearers. "We don't need some extra help on this, Your Highness."

"And what if any of the girls run into the troll and we're not there to help them?" Mal asked him, keeping herself as calm as possible but standing by Ben.

"If you wanna play hero, be my guess, but don't say we didn't warn you!" Riven replied. "Come on guys, let's get to work. We got a troll to catch!"

The Specialists make their leave to track down the Troll, but Taren almost remembers something and catches up to them. "Hey, wait up, something I forgot to ask before you head off."

Timmy turned around to see Taren and was curious. "What up?"

"This might sound odd but, have you ever seen something big fly by earlier before you crashed? Something that was all black and like a bird maybe?"

Timmy pondered and tried to think of such a description Taren gave out, but couldn't tell. "Odd, nothing we've seen or heard."

"Just thought to give you guys the heads up, could be more dangerous than the Troll." Taren warned them.

"Yeah right, probably just want to get some glory, huh? Just go along with the girls and stop wasting our time, red." Riven told him and walked off, causing Taren to narrow his eyes at him.

"Sorry about that, but we'll call you guys if we find anything. Good luck." Timmy said and caught up to them.

With them gone and only the Winx and the Keyblade wielders alone, Genie's head popped out of his lamp. "Yeesh, that kid ought to learn some manners."

"Yeah, no kidding." Taren agreed with him.

"Hey Taren, what was that about?" Bloom overheard him about something.

Taren turned to see her and didn't want anything to make them more worried. "Well, let's just say we found something dangerous a moment ago before they crashed."

Bloom wondered what he meant until she replied. "Wait, was it something about a giant bird you were after?"

This startled both of them when she asked, giving away their expressions that she was on to them. "Wait, you saw it?" Taren asked her, receiving a nod from her.

"Hey, now you mentioned it, we heard something loud and terrifying, but flew so fast we didn't know what it was." Stella said. "But you saw it?"

"I did, it was all black and looked like a giant bird but with claws and a tail." Bloom described to them.

"It was a Nevermore." Mal told them as she joined them. "We were on the lookout for anything while the Specialists were transporting the Troll and watching you and the students in case anything happened."

Ben pulled out his phone and brought up a photo he had taken to show them. "This might be it." Showing the girls of a large black avian creature that was only a bit blurry, maybe too fast but clear enough to show.

"That's it!" Bloom exclaimed

"So there are Grimm that can fly?" Stella didn't like the sound of that. "Just great, I would've suggested we help them find the Troll, but now we have to watch out for the Grimm in the sky?"

"No, I don't think that's such a good idea, and should get back to the assignment we were given." Flora tried to reason with her as she was only thinking of the group's safety.

"She's right, we know nothing about it." Taren agreed with her.

"First time we've ever seen one that can fly." Ben said as he had never seen one that flew after becoming a keyblade Wielder.

"But we all know about the Troll, he's a wild beast." Stella said. "Sky and the others could also be in danger not just the Troll but a Grimm too. They never fought one like we did. Besides, we have the Keybalde wielders to help out." She smiled and gestured to the trio with them.

"And also a Genie of the Lamp." Genie pointed out with a smile.

Seeing as how she appears to not back down, Flora sighed and gave in. "Ok, if you all think so."

Tecna was in deep thought about something and crossed her arms. "Well one thing for sure, something strange is going on here. Have you noticed the damage to the ship? And anyone noticed something else that escaped someone's attention?" The group wondered what she meant until they took a good look and realized what she meant. There were indeed claw marks on the surface and what was even strange was something stuck around the hole.

Ben went closer to the ship and realized she was right. "She's right, this didn't look like an accident and the explosion was caused by the outside.

Genie appeared before it with a magnifying glass. "Hmm, something indeed is strange." He pulled one out, and toeveryone's surprise, it was a black feather. "I believe I found the evidence of our culprit."

"A feather did that?" Musa expected to be daggers or sharp swords, but feathers?

"May I see it?" Tecna asked him, she studied it carefully using the pad she pulled out to scan it. "Strange, I'm not getting anything at all from this feather, this doesn't make any sense."

"Hold up." Ben took his turn to pull one out and threw it into a tree like a dart, they were astonished when the feather went straight into the tree like a knife through a butter. The Auradon prince was beginning to progress what had caused the crash. "I think that's how it happened. The Nevermore must've swooped in and ambushed them when they didn't see it coming."

"So, it must've helped the Troll escape then." Flora realised where they going from this.

"That's very likely." Tecna concluded and can think of certain people who would use the Grimm to break the Troll out of his jail.

"Then we know who sent the Grimm. We gotta warn the others." Mal told them, knowing everyone was on the same page to find both the Troll and the Grimm.

Ben nodded and agreed. "Right then, I'll go and catch up to them, maybe you two can stay with the girls to help them."

"Yeah, so maybe me and Mal can help the girls find the Troll." Taren suggested.

"Really? You want to come with us?" Hearing this made Bloom all joyed by it.

"Yeah, I mean, you can't use your powers during the assignment, and could leave you vulnerable to anything. The students are spread out so maybe that Troll could be its target to find." Taren said.

"And we also have to try to improve our skills in working together." Mal explained to them. It's this assignment Macbeth gave us this morning to improve our abilities other than Keyblades."

"Hey Ben, better catch up to them fast. You might be able to track them down through the smell." Taren suggested the idea to Ben.

"Ok, give me a moment to try it out, first time." Ben crouched down and focused on the trail, closing his eyes and letting his inner instincts and natural senses find them through the forest until his nose started to twitch, and sniffed the air. A brightly colored aura surrounded him as his ability activated. "Got it. I'll be back if I find something. Wish me luck."

Taren nodded while Mal was silent for a moment. "Be careful, Ben." She said softly. They oversaw the brunette made a sprint towards the woods and jumped from one branch to another.

"Wow, he's fast. What did he do?" Musa was awed by Ben's ability.

"Ben sort of like a tracker, he's got these enhanced senses better than any human." Taren could hardly blame them, with the training he's received, it made the prince faster with his agility and being some activities and sports really paid off. 

Tecna was imputing the data on the keyblades and her curiosity about them had grown much since she first met them. She had many questions about them but perhaps right now to focus on helping the Specialists and stopping the Troll, and alsothe Grimm.

"Ok, but let's be careful everyone. And best follow Taren and Mal, they seem more experienced in this sort of thing." Bloom said that she feels they can rely on them to lead the way.

"Thanks for the support." Taren said, earning a smile from her for giving praise to him.

"Uhh... oh, well Trolls is one thing but Grimm, I might wanna stick around here and finish the assignment." Stella was a little uncertain and did not want to towards the swamp where there were many unknowns lurking about.

Mal rolled her eyes and thought of an idea that could work. "Ok, fair enough, princess. But, suppose something terrible happens, maybe like while we're out there, the Nevermore could swoop in and look for a certain snack." Giving her small smile to the blonde princess and waiting to see how she'll respond.

A few seconds of silence as Stella stood where she was until she gave them her answer with a nervous smile. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go after that Troll!" She said, walking straight across to join them. And also to avoid becoming a Grimm's snack.

Genie appeared next to Mal. "Nicely done, you did."

"Thanks, works every time. Now we'll have to put up with any whining she makes during the trip." Mal said, thinking about how she'll try to keep herself from causing trouble.

Somewhere far from the group, a black portal emerged, and stepping out was the hooded Tezzeret, fully aware that the Grimm had accomplished its task to bring down the Specialists' ship, he waited for the Trix to show up while also on the lookout for the Keyblade Wielders who were here as well. He thought it would be interesting to see how they use their skills up close. But while in thought his nose picked up something that had a strong smell and made his face scrunched, possibly from the swamp gas nearby. Turning towards the source of that smell and saw the Trix emerging from the woods.

"You better have some good news, old man, but if it involves skipping class, that's different." Icy pointed her finger at him, clearly not approving of coming to the swamp with their boots covered in dirt and muck.

"Besides it was a boring lecture anyway." Stormy said. "But if you had been there to help we-"

"Won't make a difference as they have clearly learned about your abilities and have been studying hard, something you should also take notes about. What would be the point of trying to learn something if you all skip class every so often." Giving his lecture to the witches and holding his hands behind his back with the red menacing glow under his hood staring at them.

The Trix said nothing as he made his statement, much to Icy's annoyance as she grumbled. "So if you're done acting as the teacher to us, did you take down the ship?"

"Yes, the Nevermore has done it as I commanded it, and no doubt the Keyblade wielders are looking for it as well as our Troll." He told them. "But somehow, I feel it may not be enough to face them."

"A giant bird that can fly and we only helped by giving a cloaking spell over it like you ask so they never know where it'shiding," Darcy said.

"Why not use a pack of Beowolves, or Ursa to take the ground." Stormy suggested with her hands together when thinking of some sinister plot.

Tezzeret pondered over such thought. "Tempting, but no. I want to see their skills for myself and how they handle two different Grimm they never fought."

Getting the sisters intrigued by his idea. "What do you have in mind?" Icy asked him.

Instead of words, he decided to give a demonstration, lifting his right hand as the sleeve fell. The Trix silently gasped when they saw the metallic arm instead of flesh, almost like a skeleton's arm with three fingers and a glowing red gem in the metallic palm. The elder looked at them and could easily see the expressions on their faces "Of course, this is the first time you saw it, but you will find out how I received it another time." Focusing on his magic to summon a Grimm for the challenge, the darkness grew, much larger than any they've used so far as the earth beneath them began to rise, a dark form rose and towered over them with its yellow eyes opened after being created. Tezzeret remained where he stood while the Trix took a step back with their eyes widening and mouths dropping.

Icy's face turned to an evil grin. "Ooh, this one I like very much." She would certainly love to imagine the looks on those fairies' and keybladers' faces when they see this one.

Ben jumped from one branch to another as he followed the scent. Finding the footprints was easy until they suddenly became lighter, which suggested that the troll was being assisted by someone using magic; he didn't seem smart enough to use or possess it himself. This was likely the same group responsible for employing the Nevermore to attack the Specialists. Ben needed to concentrate on using his senses to understand his surroundings, recalling the lessons he had learned from Yen Sid and Macbeth during his training.

Flashback

"So, you want me to try knowing my surroundings?" Ben asked Yen Sid as he and the other two stepped into the room that looked somewhat like a training ground with equipment and an arena for combat.

"Correct, from your previous sparring after observing each of you three to find the ability that suits you the most as well as how your keyblade relates to that power." Yen Sid explains to Ben to help them understand.

"But, don't they have all sorts of abilities, like different elements, Time magic and stuff?" Taren asked him.

The elder nodded his head and answered Taren's question. "True they can provide a variety of magic spells, the most common uses are elemental types, and summoning, and even the most common ability is to connect the gates between worlds and other specialties that you have yet to master among certain levels of tiers." Yen Sid lectures the three about the certain types of magic their keyblades possess. "For example, each of your keyblades is different with a unique power of their own and the connection with your hearts."

The group listened and absorbed the information until he turned to Ben first. "Ben, from what we gathered on your training, your keyblade has somewhat granted you enhanced abilities greater than an ordinary human would. And also"

Hearing this surprised the brunette prince after the grand master informed him. "So the keyblade enhanced my physical skills?"

But before Yen Sid could respond, Ben's body suddenly snapped and spun around, summoning the keyblade into his grip to block a kukri knife that came from behind. Even Mal and Taren were startled by a surprise attack orchestrated by Macbeth who held the knife before taking a few steps back.

"What are you trying to pull, old man?! You trying to kill us?" Mal glared at him and held her hands out ready to use her magic.

"No need to fret. If I did, he would not have blocked the attack that was for him." Macbeth told her. "It proves Yen Sid'stheory that your heightened senses have also developed which can be useful to defend yourself and know your surroundings. Use it and it will be a valuable asset for your abilities."

"I get it, it's so if an opponent might be fast or use something like hide their presence from us." Ben said as he was starting to catch on.

"Exactly. But be careful of trying to recognize the sound, sight, and smell to find your target." Macbeth advised.

End flashback.

'I have to use my other senses if I can't find them. Remember what Master Yen Sid and Macbeth said: Use it and it will be a valuable asset for your ability.' Focusing his energy and senses to find anything, closing his eyes and taking into a deep focus. His ears could hear various animal noises, branches, and different gases released by the swamp. His ears twitched when he picked up a scent, it must be the Troll turned in the direction and ran through the trees.

"I think I got it." Ben said, feeling confident that he was getting the hang of it. Suddenly hears some rustling noises by the bushes, and pulls out his phone to call the others. "Hey guys, it's me I think I'm on the right track. He shouldn't be too far and.. the hell?" Ben was interrupted when he felt something wrap around his leg, some sort of brown earthly vine that sprouted out of the ground. "Get off me-WHOoooaaAHH!" Taken by surprise when the vines lifted him and wrapped themselves around his body, struggled to break free as they had a good hold of him, binding his legs and arms together.

Ben struggled and could not summon his keyblade in the position he was in. "Whats... going on?"

"Well, glad to see you can join us."

Ben heard a voice and was surprised to find the Specialists tied up like him and hung up by the plants. "Guys! You ok?"

"Do we look okay to you?" Riven muttered as he was trying to break free of them, only to have the vines tighten their grip on him.

"Just calm down, Riven, we were suddenly taken by surprise by these things. No idea what they are, but not friendly." Brandon explained not enjoy the situation they were in. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for the Grimm, only, the same thing happened here." Ben responded to his question. "Any clue to what these things are?"

"Unfortunately no, I don't seem to have the data on them since there are no plant species like this that could perhapssurvive." Timmy explained while trying to stay calm.

"Well, guess they probably don't know that." Ben groaned again as his bounds were tightened once more, he could feel the pressure building up and only a matter of time to struggle for breathing, to his relief they stopped but for now at least."I sent the call to the others, they should be close by. But we gotta get out of here before something else finds us."

The last thing the keyblade wielder needed was for a monster or a Grimm to find them all tied up, easy pickings for them to attack. He can only hope his friends find them in time.

Meanwhile a few minutes earlier...

"Do you think Ben will be able to track the Troll and the others in this swamp?" Tecna asked out of curiosity after they saw him run at an incredible speed.

"Probably, Ben's been training to enhance his senses than any of us can. Some sort of super tracker." Taren said while walking through the swamps

"And at least you have me around, with the forest being my element I'm certain we won't get lost." Mal said with confidence in her abilities.

Flora was surprised to hear this from her. "You mean to say you can feel nature?"

The witch looked at her with a smile. "Yep, can feel the energy flowing around here, so much more since we arrived. And you'll be surprised what I can do."

"Just don't ask for a spar with her, a fair warning." Taren grumbled under his breath.

"Now, now, just because I beat you the last 6 times in a row don't need to be stubborn." Mal playfully taunted him, earning a twitching earbrow from his glaring expression.

"You only won using your nature magic in that one sparring match!" Taren argued, trying to keep himself calm and not make himself a fool in front of the girls.

Bloom couldn't help but found Karen's reaction to be funny of competing with his friends. Yet, while it might be fun between friends, she decided to step in before the two would argue further with their childish antics. "Alright, break it up. We have other things more important."

Genie appeared before them. "She's right, take it from someone so keen to beat a friend of his in a game over many, many, MANY losses." He mumbled, remembering the days of wanting a win against Carpet over a game of croquet and accidentally putting his friends in danger. "But Eventually things will work out, you'll see."

Both didn't want to admit it but they were right as the keybladers needed to work together to stop Tezzeret and find the flame. The group continued for a few minutes, Bloom, Flora, and Mal could feel that they were getting closer to the Trolland following Ben's location.

"Should be up close ahead." Taren said.

"Hey, can I ask you something that you don't mind?" Tecna asked him, something she'd been meaning to ask since they met.

Taren halted along with Mal when they all turned to the pink-haired teen. "Sure, what is it?"

"Well, is there any chance to know a little about your keyblades? I mean, I had seen such magical weapons and my scanners couldn't get a clear reading of them." The fairy of tech gave a question that the rest of the Club had been thinking of since day one.

"Think they deserve a little bit about you guys if you wanna stay friends with them." Genie advised, leaning towards them and hoping they make the right choice after what they did for them.

Both the wielders looked at each other and sighed. Taren spoke up to them. "Alright, I guess you earned it but this should remain a secret for the time being, okay?"

The girls nodded and understood.

Taren started first. "My parents told me a lot about them, so will tell what I know so far. The Keybaldes can seal and open barriers between worlds, much like a lock on any type, possibly to prevent something bad from coming through for the time being." Giving them the idea of a weapon that could unlock almost anything: chest, doors, a locked room, or even a gate

"That would probably be your weapons look like keys, to manipulate the links between worlds must have incredible magic within them." Tecna thought as she was imputing the data about the keyblades in her database.

"Not certain if they work here since we've never been or heard of this place until a few months ago." Mal said, that while it was true both dimensions have not been in contact for a very long time and were uncertain if they even have keyholes in the Magic Dimension.

"Didn't you say that the keyblades are bound only to their chosen wielders back on Earth?" Bloom asked after remembering what Taren told both her and Stella.

Taren nodded at her before stepping over the stump. "Yeah, they do, each keyblade is linked to their chosen wielders who might have inherited one or have a strong heart to possess a keyblade of their own and even obtain others if they wish. We can summon them anytime and even if they were taken away they would simply return to their wielders, which it easier to avoid losing them or anyone trying to steal it."

"Least we don't have to worry about those witches trying to steal them." Musa pointed out, that she could feel relaxed knowing about it but still leaves more questions than answers about them.

"Your parents must know a lot about them, Taren. Are they keyblade wielders as well?" Flora asked, trying to pry into his privacy.

"You bet! They have practically been doing this sort of thing since they were our age and could say it runs in the family I guess." Taren said with a sheepish smile on his face, always looked up to his parents with pride at how they went on all sorts of adventures and wanted to be like them.

"Wow, that's amazing! Can you tell us who they are?" Bloom asked Taren with a bright smile. But before he could try to answer her question about his parents.

Taren was somewhat a little hesitant and nervous if he should bring up their names. Smiles nervously at them and tries to think of something. "Uhh... well not sure you know them but are their names-"

"Hold it! Everyone stay where you are!" Genie popped up with a big "stop" sign in front. "Now I may not be familiar with Magix but if anyone's been paying attention, there's a lot of these nasty-looking plants we've stumbled across." Points his finger to a brown plant that almost looks like a Venus flytrap, snapping its jaws when his finger comes very close near the jaws.

Flora came close to inspect them and immediately recognized them for what they are. "He's right, they're Quietus Carnivorous, they hate to sound so it's best we all stay quiet while we're near them." She told them in a low voice town to whisper.

Stella didn't seem to believe it. "Really? I find it hard to believe." To prove it she brought her fingers to her lips to whistle, so far nothing happened as the plants remained where they were. "See? Nothing's happened-GAHHH!" She felt something grabbing her ankles and lifted him upside down.

Mal approached her and couldn't help but chuckle at how funny she looked hanging upside down. But considering they were on a schedule she had to do something. "Hold still." She gave a command over the plants with her powers to drop her, doing so and Stella fell onto the mud.

Flora was impressed with how she was able to control the plants but also relieved to see Stella not injured, hoping she take this as a lesson to remember. But her eyes spotted something peculiar lying on a branch, it was a pink feathered bird with red tail feathers and a yellow beak, wearing a white top with a blue stripe across. What made it so unusual was the bird was lounging on a branch like it was relaxing, not bothered by the surroundings until it suddenly noticed her and gave a wave to her with a friendly smile.

"Hey, Flora you ok?" She turned around to see Tecna calling out to her and when she came to look back, the bird was gone without a trace.

"What? Oh, yes. I just thought I saw something. Probably my imagination." She was almost baffled and almost swore she had seen it.

"HEELLLP!!!"

The group heard someone cry out for help, recognized the voice belonging to one of the Specialists, and was close by. Finding the Specialists and Ben hung up in the air by the vines.

"Guys!" Ben was glad to see them here but unable to speak with the vines squeezing him hard, uncertain how long he could keep up with it.

"Don't worry buddy, we'll get you down!" Genie said, changing into a lumberjack and pulling out a chainsaw. "We'll have you boys down in a jiffy."

"Yeah, hold on!" Taren agreed and summoned his keyblade, both of them completely forgetting that the vines belonged to the Quietus Carnivorous that Flora warned them about. Yet, they were too late when a couple of vines snuck up on them, wrapped up Genie's whole body as Taren was suddenly grabbed by the ankles and dangled upside down like Stella.

"Well, this ain't the first time I get snared up by some magical plant." Genie grumbled and yet found it humiliating.

Mal sighed and faced palms after seeing this. "Idiots." Secretly pulled out her phone, seeing them dangling about was too good to miss it. "But so much worth a snapshot."

The redhead glared and couldn't believe this was happening as he dangled limply like a ragdoll. He crossed his arms and frowned, trying to stay calm despite the vines tightening around his legs. "Not one word about this to anyone." The wielder warned them. Bloom and Flora could barely suppress their giggles, while Mal smirked as she took a snapshot for her amusement. Even the Specialists had to hold in their snickering.

"Keep laughing and might upset the man-eating plants that are too busy digesting us." Riven warned the girls, much as it was funny seeing Taren and their blue companion's little performance, making more noises caused the vines to squeeze him tighter.

"Keep your voice down, you dummy. They only hate loud noises" Musa told the stubborn Specialist.

It started to make some sense to Ben as to why they do it, now trying to stay calm and hoping they stop squeezing him.

Taren mentally smacked his head, he forgot about that and grumbled. "Uh...oops." Chuckled softly as well as Flora and Bloom giggled at his impression.

"Not to worry boys, this genie will get us out of it." Genie proclaimed as he was able to stretch out his hand, and with a flick of his fingers, they were all free and back on the ground.

"Thanks for that." Ben thanked him but knowing those vines seemed a little ticked about it. "Uh, maybe we should try to get out of here."

Flora kneels before the vines and tries to calm them down. "Everything's okay, little plants. You can relax now, no one will hurt you." Understanding her soft voice, the vines retreated giving the group the chance to walk out of the forest.

"So is it safe to speak normally now?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, not to worry, me and Flora will make certain they don't harm us again." Mal said in a normal tone.

"I think we should all look for the Troll together at this point. Whaddya guys say?" Bloom asked as she felt it be much safer, especially if that Grimm showed up and the girls would be unable to use their magic to defend themselves.

Flora smiled and nodded. "Well, I'm okay with it."

"No prob here." Taren agreed as did the others.

"I refuse to team up with fairies." Riven argued.

"Well, you're on your own, buddy." Sky said.

"If you see the Troll or anything even scarier, make sure to shout."Taren joked, causing Riven to grumble and follow them in reluctance.

The group made their way to a large river with circular stumps floating on top, a large gap between each other across the other side of the river. They had to look for some that might be stable enough to jump across.

"Seems like a good idea to cross, doesn't seem dangerous here." The blonde squire said.

"Yeah, but after that incident with the vines, who knows what could happen." Taren agreed with him and yet felt like they needed to be careful.

Mal had an idea and stepped forward. "Stand aside, fellas. If you want to cross it, you need a bridge." The purple-haired witch smiles with confidence, it would be too complicated to take everyone using her keyblade's shadow magic at once or many times, but from her training to use the natural elements of nature by her command and will, it was something thatfelt natural and part of her. Focusing her magic to create vines out of the ground before her and reached out towards the other side.

Everyone but the wielders and Genie were amazed by how she was able to create a bridge made out of vines. "Well? Are you coming or not, it's not going to last long." Mal called out to them as she already started to walk across.

The group followed her with Taren stayed behind to make sure everyone got up, Genie popped up. "Well, things seem to be going well not a simple-ooohhhhohh!" He suddenly shivered like he did earlier this morning. "It's that same tingling again."

Taren didn't understand what but he also had a bad vibe coming close to them, a VERY bad vibe.

"Uh, Taren? Do you remember saying something about a big black bird?" Timmy asked Taren as his face turned pale and fidgeted.

"Yeah, why do you-"

A loud echoing squawk thundered, causing everyone to jump in surprise by the noise. Taren turned around and saw the Nevermore flying straight towards them at an intense speed, the group discovered how big it was as it was coming closer. His eyes noticed it flapped its large wings and brought its talons forward. "RUN!" They didn't waste time and made a runfor it across the bridge.

The Nevermore found its targets and within range flapped its wings forward, unleashing a rain of feathers onto the ran up to cover both Riven and Tecna who were still on the bridge, summoning the Light's Rebellion to his hand,and mustering the magic from his keyblade. They were too fast for his elemental magic so needed to use a defensive strategy. "Reflect!" Creating a sphere around them and in time before the feathers struck them.

Once that was done, he called it off and launched another attack. "Fira!" He waved his keyblade, sending a fireball toward the Nevermore. The creature was forced to halt its assault and narrowly dodge the flames, which burned most of the outer feathers from one of its wings, making it furious. With a furious flap of its wings, it dove toward them to attack.

Brandon and Sky watched the battle in disbelief, but their attention was quickly drawn to a loud creaking and snapping noise coming from the bridge, which was suffering damage. The Nevermore's feathers, sharp as blades, easily sliced through the vines like butter. Some of the feathers were stuck, but the damage was clear. They both realized what that creature was attempting to do.

"Guys! Get off that bridge!" Brandon shouted to warn them.

The trio heard him and discovered the bridge wasn't going to last much longer, meaning the Grimm was going for the strike and making certain they didn't make it. They ran to the other side as fast as possible but the Nevermore was getting closer and too fast for them to make it. Its talons were brought out front and only crushed large chunks of the plant bridge when Taren, Tecna, and Riven only jumped but fell into the river. With the bridge destroyed the Nevermore flew off, but not before being taken by a few blasts from the Specialists and Keybladers using their weapons and magic to drive it away.

Riven first got the edge and had some help with Musa offering her hand to him. "T-thanks." He grunted and coughed upwater out of his mouth, not seeing Musa smiling that he was all right.

Tecna swam out of the way from the debris and coughed up when she saw Timmy rush to her aid, she smiled and accepted his help out of the water.

"Taren!" Bloom rushed over, deeply worried as he took a hit, and caught him by the arm.

"Here, let me help." Brandon came to her aide and pulled him up. Taren was bruised up on the shoulder after being hit by a chunk of vine, but so far seems fine. "You alright?"

Taren groaned and coughed, glanced over to them, and smiled at the blonde. "Yeah, should be okay using a Cura butthanks for the help."

The squire smiled and couldn't believe what he had just seen, he was about to ask him what that thing was before Bloom gave a tight embrace to the startled wielder, obviously worried and relieved he was not too injured.

"I'm just glad you were alright." She said, not seeing the blush on the boy's face and seeing Brandon smile at him at the scene.

"But what in the Dragon's name was that? I've never seen anything like it." Brandon asked, watching the monster fly off but has a feeling it wasn't done with them after the attack.

Timmy couldn't take his eyes off it and was trying to find some data on the creature that attacked them a moment ago, even Riven was somewhat shaken but kept himself together and felt the trio knew something about it that they didn'tshare.

"Something you like to tell us? You know something about that thing?" Riven glared at them and demanded answers.

Sky stood before him and held up his hand. "They must have a perfectly good explanation for all this. They did warn us earlier about it, remember?"

Flora came over and checked for any injuries they might have received using potions she brought in case of emergencies."Taren did risk his life to save yours and Tecna's life." She defended causing the others to nod in agreement.

Taren got up with Bloom's help as the rest rushed over to them. He had a feeling this would happen and the Specialists deserved to know, Macbeth and Yen Sid told them this was a secret mission but he didn't want anyone getting hurt because of it but eventually would need the help they could get. "That... was a Grimm. And I guess you guys should know what's going on."

Mal and Ben looked at each other and nodded. "Better talk about it while on the way. That thing will probably come back to stop us." Ben said as they walked off and paid attention to what the wielders had to say while they continued their search for the Troll.

"So let me see if I got this right, there are these monsters called Grimm that are causing harm and havoc across the realms and controlled by this guy named, uh, Teserra guy who controls them." Brandon asked after listening to their story.

"Yep. And it's Tezzeret." Ben confirmed.

"And you are keyblade wielders, like the ones we read about in history books? Almost thought to be made up." Riven said.

Mal rolled her eyes. "And yet we're in a dimension full of magic isn't?"

"She makes a good point." Tecna said before he could respond to that remark but admitted she was right, not that he wanted to say it out loud.

Timmy was taking much of the data as he was listening. "And also you guys were picked because it's also happening in your worlds?"

Taren nodded and replied. "Yeah, that's about it." He was somewhat still a little edgy about being taken away from home against his will, wishing he could at least help his parents, clinging to the day to see them again someday. Taren felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Brandon with a smirk on his face.

"Gotta admit, you guys are full of surprises." The blonde-haired squire said, causing Taren to smirk back.

"Trust me, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Sorry for not saying anything but we had to keep it a secret, it's just that we didn't want to risk panic around here to find out that a powerful enemy is hiding here."

This surprised the Specialists to know the reason why as they were so secretive about it. But they wondered just how powerful and dangerous this foe is.

"When you put it that way, it makes some sense." Brandon said.

"Guess we can now confirm that the Nevermore was responsible for your ship being hit." Mal said, earning the surprised and puzzled looks on the Specialists' expressions.

"What are you talking about? There's no way something like that could've attacked us without even being seen." Timmy told them.

Tecna shook her head in response. "Not if it was cloaked by someone for an ambush. We found a couple of claw marks that match the Grimm from earlier." She showed them photos of the damages done by the Grimm and was surprised they didn't realize it.

"So it was the cause for the Troll's escape. Then whoever used that monster wanted to free him." Brandon thought it started to make sense then.

"Uh, guys think you might wanna see this." They heard Musa call out as she was looking at something.

"What is it?" Taren asked and when she showed them, there were some trees knocked over, trampled, and cut in pieces. They see lots of debris scattered everywhere.

"So much damage, what could have done this?" Flora asked, she felt bad for the trees being torn.

Taren, Sky, and Brandon walked over to find whatever had done it but so far nothing until they found holes dug into the earth in a line pattern.

"Odd look how they seem to be in two lines." Sky crouched down to look closer.

Taren nodded and noticed something about them. "If I didn't know better, I say they looked somewhat like... footprints."

"But it has to be huge to make such damage, way bigger than the Hunting Troll." Brandon said.

"Could it been the Grimm?" Bloom suggested.

"As is it wasn't bad enough to watch out for both the Troll AND the Grimm. Things couldn't get any worse?" Stella complained.

They suddenly stopped to hear the sound of girls screaming nearby.

Bloom recognized the scream as it belonged to one of the Alfea students. "That sounds like Amaryl!"

"Let's hope that's the Troll and not the Grimm." The prince said. They rushed towards the screaming and found the three students backed up against a wall by the Troll.

"There's the Troll!" Riven said while pointing at him. The Wielders recognized him back on Earth.

Genie leaned towards the keyblade wielders and whispered to them. "Uh, some heads up about this guy?"

"He was on Earth and used to follow Taren's scent like a dog." Mal explained and Bloom nodded.

"And was one of the monsters to attack my house and parents. We gotta save those girls before they get hurt." Bloom said in worry.

The prince nodded and thought of something. "No worries, I got an idea but we gotta be quick about it." He turned to the wielders. "You three try to distract the Troll, that way Brandon and Timmy will grab hold of him. Then Riven and I can slip the handcuffs on him"

Ben nodded and shouldn't be a problem. "I think we might have someone for the job. Genie?"

Genie transformed into a medieval knight with the lamp as an emblem on the chest plate, unsheathed his sword, and stood to attention. "I shall smite the foul creature and save the fair damsels."

This would turn in their favor with numbers on their side as Brandon turned to the girls. "While we keep him busy, you get those girls out of danger."

Stella finds it suitable for them without getting hurt. "Not a problem and good luck." She hopes they succeed, and for Sky to not get hurt.

The troll moved ever so closer to the terrified students he had corned until he heard a whistling sound.

"Hey! You big ugly brute! Over here!" The Troll turned around and saw a red-haired boy waving to him, he instantly recognized him from the world after sniffing his scent.

"Remember after we just kicked your a-WHOA!" Taren was interrupted when the troll roared and tried to attack him with his large fists but instead hit a blue genie who had his arms crossed over and a smile on his face.

"Yeah, he remembers us alright." Mal stated and kept clear from the troll.

"Alright buddy, put your hands in the air!" The genie turned into a gunslinger, drew his guns out, and aimed them at the troll. "This town ain't big enough for the two of us." The troll did not seem astonished by the genie, let out a beastly roar cry once more, and pounced on the surprised Genie who didn't anticipate this. The two then wrestled, thus causing a dust cloud to conceal them, punches and kicks shot out of the dust as they fought.

Genie hoisted one of his legs over his back to pin him down.

The troll gives him a nuggy in the head.

They poked each other in the eyes, causing them to cry out in pain. They poked each other in the eyes, causing them to cry out in pain. Then finally Genie tied him up like a rodeo show, much to the Troll's surprise how it happened. "Well, all in a day's work when dealing with a butt ugly Troll." Brushing his hands together as the monster growled and tried to break free from his restraints. The keyblade wielders surrounded them, summoning their keyblades ready if needed.

Taren and Ben knew it would work with Genie's help to apprehend the Troll and now get him cuffed up before he could escape. "Okay, guys, now your chance!" Calling for the Specialists to do their part.

"Right, come on!" Brandon proclaimed as Riven and Timmy brought the cuffs to paralyze the troll.

All of a sudden the cuffs broke into pieces, startling everyone by how they did that. "What the? What did you do?!" Riven exclaimed.

Timmy was baffled by how it happened. "I-I don't know! They broke into pieces."

"So sorry about that." A male voice spoke in a mild-mannered tone.

The Specialists were startled to see a man with long grey dreadlocks in a brown coat and light armor pads suddenly appear out of nowhere, standing perfectly still with a calm face as he looked towards the keyblade wielders then paying attention to others. They could see a cybernetic right eye with a menacing red/pink glow from the eye socket.

"We don't know who you are, but if you're somehow involved in this we'll have to have you to come with us." Brandon said drawing his phanto-blade along with the others. The blonde noticed the three were tensed and glared at him with intense glare, even Taren looked ready to fight him. Something about this guy made him worry.

"Yeah, so start talking." Riven told him. But he simply ignored them and walked past them making his way toward the keyblade wielders as if they hardly existed. "Hey, don't ignore us, pal!" Ran approached him with his saber out to use force to make him surrender.

Mal's eyes widened and she knew what he was up to. "RIVEN DON'T!"

But Riven ignored her and was about to grab his shoulder when he felt a strong fist collide with his stomach and send him back a few feet across.

"You should listen to the young witch." He told him, causing the boy to growl.

The rest of the Specialists were about to attack after what happened until Ben suddenly appeared before them with his arms spread out to stop them from doing anything. "Guys! Don't! That's Tezzeret."

Brandon stopped and realized who that guy was after what they told them. "You mean... that's him?"

Coming right at him with his back turned, a barrage of light orbs flew towards him along with numerous vines shot out towards him. Only within arms reach did the orbs disperse and the vines were incinerated when they clashed into a barrier. The smoke cleared and Tezzeret simply stood where he was without moving an inch, his right hand was held up and the sleeve rolled up to reveal it made out of metal and almost like a skeleton.

Tezzeret noticed it and made a fake sigh, gazing at his right hand. "Well, now you know one of of my secrets."

Genie was grossed out by it even if it were metal, it looked somewhat like a skeleton and creepy. "Ew!"

The Winx Club, Wielders, and the Specialists gasped after witnessing his power when they now knew who he was. Especially seeing his right arm that was glowing with dark energy from it. Bloom couldn't understand why but she could feel a strong power flowing from this very dangerous villain. Growing ever concern for her friends.

"Although your magic seems skilled, but nowhere as strong as mine with great cost." Tezzeret proclaimed, pulling his sleeve until only the hand remained exposed and turned to the brunette. "The prince of Auradon. So good to see you again, a little far from home aren't we?"

The memories of what he did to his home caused Ben to grit his teeth, focusing his energy on controlling his emotions and pointing his keyblade at him. Tezzeret turned to meet the other two, gazed at the purple-haired girl, and brought his left hand to stroke his bearded chin. "So you must have been chosen by the keyblades as well? This is a surprise, from a family such as yours to be given such power."

Mal suddenly quivered and felt her heart skip a beat, swallowed nervously but tried to remain as calm as she could.

Then he turned to face Taren who was most obviously raging with anger towards him, not at the least affected by the roaring power coming from the boy. "And last but not least... the child of Destiny Islands. Indeed looking close you resemble your father very much so, the last time we met was brief and short."

Taren glared at him and gripped hard on the handle. "If you did anything to my family, you'll-"

But Tezzeret stopped him with his hands held upfront. "No need for such threats, I haven't done anything against them... for now. But I have other plans and make certain the masters don't intervene."

Uncertain if he said was true, nevertheless, if he did Yen Sid would've mentioned it or would've heard anything. Genie was here and told them that their parents were safe so that was a great relief. At least then he knew they weren't in danger.

Then Genie popped out of thin air and stood before Taren. "Alright, buddy, leave my friends out of it if you know what's good for ya!" If it's one thing he couldn't stand, it was bullies who mocked others and didn't like how he was making the three emotional after what he did to them.

Tezzeret gave a soft chuckle at the appearance of a Genie. "And what have we here? The comic relief? And I thought your father was clever than this, how he defeated Xehanort is a mystery."

Genie wouldn't let that comment slide and promised Sora and others to watch over the kids. "Nobody talks about my buddy that way and gets away with it. And if you want them." Began growing in huge size, all buffed up with muscles flexed and ready for a fight. "You'll have to get by me first! Your puny metal hand against my semi-phenomenal NEARLY COSMIC GENIE POWERS!!!" Challenging him to a fight.

Mal blinked her eyes and could've sworn she heard him right. 'Did he say NEARLY cosmic powers?' Somehow that doesn't feel right when he's tempting fate.

Bloom felt uneasy about this and was not sure if it was a good idea to tempt him. "Uh, Genie, I don't think that's such a good idea."

But Genie didn't seem to pay attention to her. "Come on, do your worst."

Unfazed, yet seemed more unimpressed, Tezzeret rolled up his right sleeve and flexing the metal arm. Pulls it back before giving a strong thrust.

POW!

Genie went screaming as he was hurtling high up into the sky and hurtling over the swamps by Tezzeret's surprisingly incredible punch.

"Oh, he's going to feel that in the morning." Musa winced, yet stunned of how that warlock could easily overpower a genie.

Before the Wielders and Specialists could do anything metal spikes rose out of the ground to form a wall. He tapped on the bounds of the Troll, setting it free to move again from the restraints and make an escape. "Well, that was a good warm-up. But unfortunately, I must depart for other important things, so for the hard trouble I present a little gift." Tezzeret opened up a dark portal with his hand and simply walked through it.

The metal spikes vanished once he was no longer around.

"Great, any more surprises for us?" Riven asked.

A familiar avian cry caught their attention, everyone looked up to see the Nevermore coming back for another round. The wielders and Specialists readied themselves as it flew over them and landed on the large rocky cliff when looking down at them with both wings spread out.

"Well, that's just great." Sky muttered.

Little did they realize it wasn't alone as the trees were trampled upon by a gigantic scorpion, it was all black except for the white carapace that covered its body from head to the stinger, along with the upper pincers, the red markings on the carapace clearly showed it was also a Grimm just like the others.

Mal turned to Riven who had to open his big mouth. "Is THIS enough for you or do you want more?"

"Oh shut up." Riven muttered and readied himself to face off the monsters.

"Oh man, RUN!" Stella exclaimed and the girls ran for safety as the scorpion was coming right at them.

Brandon looked at the Nevermore and thought of an idea. "Taren, Timmy you two distract it!"

The two heard him and got what he was on about as they ran out into the open. "Hey, oversized turkey! Over here!" Taren shouted out, summoning the Light's Rebellion to draw its attention by firing multiple orbs of light magic at it. Timmy helped out by firing energy arrows at it, unlike last time they were upgraded to fire as fast as bullets. A few only managed to land a hit on the Grimm as it took the air once more and flapped its wings to release a barrage of feathers at them. This time Taren created a defensive shield to cover them while Ben took his chance and unleashed a lightning bolt straight at it, striking its head and causing the Nevermore to stagger before it flew around in the air for defense to recover.

As the Deathstalker moved towards the girls it threw its stinger at them, but out of nowhere a large humanoid creature made from bark and plants used a shield to take the hit before creating a sword to draw the Grimm's attention away. The girls saw this and discovered it to have been made by Mal who was using magic to control it. "Get them out of here prince, we'll hold it off."

Sky nodded and was grateful for her help as he rushed over to help Stella up after she tripped over. "Don't worry, you're safe." Mal decided to create another as a protector for the students and the Winx since they can't risk using their magic without failing because of this and not wanting to risk getting into further trouble.

The blonde didn't say anything and tried to hide the blush after being picked up by the prince. While doing so the Deathstalker used its pincers to crush the tree creature and went towards Mal but to her surprise Riven and Brandon jumped in and clashed their phanto-blades with its pincers and slashed against its face but little damage to the armor.

Genie returned, but with his head all springy after being sent flying by Tezzeret. "Uh, lesson learned: never tempt an evil cyborg into a fistfight. Anything I miss?" Asked after fixing his head back in place. Before anyone could respond the Nevermore gave another loud battle cry as it battled the wkeybladers.

"You okay?" Brandon asked her and received a nod. "Amazing magic you did there."

"Thanks, need it against them." She mentioned.

Brandon had a thought of something and seeing Ben and Taren fighting off the Nevermore, they needed to do something to save the girls and themselves too. "Mal, can you make more of them?"

"Yeah, but why?" She asked him.

"Might have some idea, might be crazy."

Mal only smirked at him. "What we'll be facing after this, why the hell not."

Both the Specialists and Ben charged in towards the Deathstalker, it threw its right pincer at Brandon but the squire raised his phanto-shield that took the hit, tried using the other but Sky came to his aid and swatted it away with his sword. Ben raised his keyblade and cried out "Quake!" Summoning the magic to generate a small tremor pillars of rock struck the Deathstalker's underbelly, taking the hits and staggered back.

"Look at that performance there, Brandon and Prince Sky were taking heavy hits on the Deathstalker's pincers but held their ground with their shields, then Ben came to their help and raised the ground under its feet. Literally." Genie said as a sports announcer holding a microphone and a mug of coffee in the other. "Despite the numbers advantage of the three against a giant Grimm, this scorpion has the weight and size 9 times the advantage which is unfair for them. Whaddya think 'ere, Bill? Do they have what it takes?"

Beside him was a buffed-up boxer with boxing gloves, an upper lip, and crunched eyes. "I think the main man's got a stinging on anything under the gym, but you really want any and then basically John's dig his name but it's needing on a big scale." Spoke quickly and mumbled nonsense to the announcer.

"Whatever it is you just said, I'm 100% with ya. Now let's resume the fight and see how our heroes can beat these monstrous Grimm."

The Deathstalker turned its attention to the wielder of the Beast Within and struck down with its stinger, but Ben jumped and grabbed the tail to land on its back. The Grimm thought it had him until it was distracted by Brandon, Sky, and Riven attacking its legs, becoming utterly annoyed and trying to strike the wielder off its back with the stringer. However Ben thought of an idea, using his keyblade for some idea as he pointed it down. "Time to try out my new technique. AERO!" Creating a strong wind blast to send him flying straight up like a rocket.

"What's he doing?" Riven asked and got out of the way of the Deathstalker's legs.

"Is he trying to fly?" Stella looked up to know what Ben was trying to pull.

Tecna however, had a complete understanding of his body in a position for a projectile. "No, I think he's on to something."

Proving right as he brought his keyblade upwards, his legs bent and fought up as if he were about to touch something above him, a circular barrier appeared, and made himself into some sort of projectile with his keyblade forward. The prince let out a battle cry and slammed the Beast Within into the Deathstalker's protective carapace, causing it to stagger and collapse when succumbing to its fatal wound.

Timmy couldn't believe what he saw and was amazed as pretty much everyone but the wielders were. "That's one down, Ben killed it!"

"Good, now we need to take care of this one!" Mal said and more focused on firing magical projectiles alongside Taren with his fire magic at the flying Nevermore and to avoid the feathers. They needed to get this thing in one spot to make a perfect blow, only an idea lit up in her head, and smiled.

"Heads up, it's going for another attack!" She heard Taren call out to them and seeing it flapped its wings forward to fire multiple feathers towards them, this could do well for her plan. "STOPRA!"

Fires a beam of magic with her keyblade and adds some of her own to fire at the Nevermore and its feathers to be stopped in motion, unable to move after being caught by time magic.

Timmy adjusted his glasses and was baffled. "What did you do?"

"Used magic to freeze it in place, but won't last." Mal explained and knew it wouldn't be for long, she saw Taren land next to them.

"You stopped it? Great now what?"

She turned to him and gave a smile before asking a question. "How good is your Flowmotion technique?"

He was uncertain why and said. "Uhh, rusty but uh-"

"Good enough." Before the boys could ask a large vine sprouts out of nowhere and grabs Taren adjusts itself for her command and hears him shouting at her for answers. "Just be sure you take that bird down before it moves!"

"You sure this would work?" Taren asked her, feeling slightly unsure about this plan of hers.

"Of course." She said with confidence. "Well... Almost."

Taren looked at her and his eyes widened, not liking this at all when starting to have doubts. "'Almsot'? You know what maybe-YYAAHHHHH!!!" Too late to escape and was flung straight towards the Nevermore. It was now or never to try out the Flowmotion with the frozen feathers in the air and slowly begin to move with the spell starting to wear off. Focusing on the magic he needed to use, concentrating on his body. Without knowing it, his body started to glow in a bright purplish color, and feeling the energy building up, his eyes glowed in orange color and visualized where to go. His feet impacted on the first feather and then the other, sprinting from one after the other until he was within reach of the Grimm.

The Nevermore started to move again and by the time it had been freed from being frozen in time, the keyblade wielder was flying straight towards it. Startled and tried to get away but was too late upon being struck by the keyblade's teeth in the chest. Taren pressed his feet into it and ran straight up to drag the Light's Rebellion up to its neck, leaving a trail of its light magic burning until he came to the base of the neck and cleaved it right off. The Nevermore's decapitated body started to fall as it would slowly dissolve into black ashes.

The girls couldn't believe it and was amazed of how the defeat of the Grimm even with the help of the Specialists, almost as if they were on a completely different level compared to them.

"Wow." Flora was in awe of Taren's bravery against the giant bird Grimm.

"That was awesome! Especially after Ben squashed that giant bug, but not without the Specilists' help." Stella exclaimed. "I bet Taren had a lot of courage to do that."

"Uh, I'm not so sure, more like he seemed a little... nervous when Mal threw him in the air." Tecna clarified when she used the goggles to get a closer look and even thought the one named Timmy was brave enough to fight that thing. However, after observing the abilities the Kyeblade wielders used against the Grimm she immediately added some data to know more about them for future studies.

Bloom didn't say anything and seeing them in action to fight the monsters, especially witnessing the man who was the start of it all... her heart couldn't stop pounding and this strange urge to do something out of inspiration for the Winx to learn from them and knew it was something of a big step to think.

"Wait...can Taren make a landing from that high?" Bloom asked and realized it when the rest of the others noticed.

"Uhhh, I think... I might have sent him a little... too high." Mal said with a nervous smile on her face. He would no doubt fall straight down and probably use up his magic. No doubt some people she can imagine would be very crossed with her.

"What are we gonna do?" Timmy asked when worried about what could happen.

"No worries, I have a solution. GENIE!" She yells out to Genie and hoped he heard her to catch Taren before he would hit the ground.

Genie sat on the couch watching the TV of what was happening when he heard Mal calling out for him and brought out the script for the story, brushing a few pages until he found what he was looking for. "Hmm, let's see... Mal catapults Taren into the air. Nevermore's head cut off... falls to his impending doom-" He gasped and looked at the time on the clock when he realised what was happening now. "I'M LATE!"

Taren was falling with very little magic he left or even a parachute to save him, and all for letting Mal throw him so far. Just as he was a few meters from the ground, Genie appeared wearing a baseball outfit with a huge glove for a person his size to catch Taren safely in the nick of time. Sghed in relief and was glad it was all over. For now.

"Phew! Thanks, bud." Taren thanked Genie.

"Genie puts him down and smiles. "Ah, nothing to it for one of my buddies. But I think we might have a little problem."

Taren sighed and understood what he meant, they needed to tell Macbeth what happened, no doubt without the Troll theyhave no evidence of what happened on Earth.

Taren and Genie returned and saw Riven and Sky argue about something, no doubt about the Troll that escaped thanks to Tezzeret despite defeating the two Grimm. He sees the Winx Club come over to Bloom. "Everyone alright?"

Bloom looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, the girls we rescued are ok and headed off, luckily they didn't see anything that happened other than the Troll." She suddenly crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "While what you did was brave, it was stupid without thinking. You could've gotten hurt if it wasn't for Genie."

He backed up and chuckled nervously at the way she scolded him, not that he could blame her but wasn't his idea. "Yeah, actually it was Mal's idea to do that without sharing her ideas with us."

She figured it be Mal's and might have a word with her next time on how she plans things out. "Well, that explains a bit, but just don't do anything reckless like that next time. Ok?" She asked him out of concern.

"Don't worry, I promise." He smiled and didn't know he made her worry for him. They noticed Brandon sitting on a log and looking a bit depressed, Bloom decided to check up on him to see if he was ok while Taren joined him for support. "Hey, Bran, you ok?"

The squire looked up to see the two and smiled a bit. "Oh, hey guys. Well, I guess not everything's ok, to be honest."

"Why is that? We beat the Grimm didn't we?" Taren said while uncertain what he meant.

Brandon shook his head. "No, it's not that, it's just that... we're not real Specialists, not yet at least. Just a bunch of Rookies and all we do well is argue."

"Oh come on, that can't be true, you saved those girls and probably said their thanks." Taren said to cheer him up.

Bloom wasn't sure how to put it when they weren't there. "Umm, that might not be true. They only saw you guys get beat up and thought the Troll did it from around the corner. And thought you were bad."

"So much for gratitude." Genie whispered to him in sarcasm after what they've been through as Taren would agree after being catapulted into the air.

Taren sighed and tried another way to change the subject a bit. "Well, at least they should be glad you came to their help anyway, plus you helped us out fighting the Grimm so they can't hurt anyone else. Besides, we usually argue as well, mainly me and Mal over some stuff, and didn't get along at first, but my dad told me arguments and differences can help build up a better team to understand each other."

Brandon smiled and somewhat better by Taren's encouragement. "Your dad must be smart, but guess we got a lot to work on. But was it true, what that Tezzeret fella said?" Asking the redhead keybearer who suddenly stiffened and was now downcast with the memory of him taken away still in his mind.

"Yeah, he's the one we're after, more like he found us. For some reason, he suddenly released the Grimm on many worlds and my dad knew him, possibly that they were enemies no doubt but was sent away to hide and learn to use the keyblade I recently gained for months."

This started to make sense to Brandon as it was a personal thing, he must be missing his family at home. For Bloom, she couldn't help but feel terrible for him to being taken away from his home and not able to see or hear form his family for so long. "I'm sorry to bring it up, hope your family's okay." The squire said.

Taren nodded and was not upset about it. "No worries, I sent them a message saying I'm fine and hope to see them realsoon. Wanting to be a strong wielder as I can to defend myself and help others like my parents have done." This caused Bloom to smile and be relieved to see him speak about doing a noble cause, even Brandon was glad to hear it as at least he wouldn't use his keyblade's powers for a selfish cause.

Guess we have something in common then, I wanted to take this path to be a Specialists because of some great heroes I got inspired, especially the Keyblade wielders who saved my home that my dad told me about."

This caused Taren to arch an eyebrow and be interested to know who it was he looked up to. "Really? So who was it you looked up to?"

Scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Well, it might sound funny thinking I'm some sort of fan, but it might be-"

"Hey guys, the Specialists managed to patch things up." Musa called out to them before the blonde could finish his sentence. They decided to pause the conversation and walked over to see Riven and Sky shake hands.

"Riven and I have decided to call a truce." The brunette said.

"Glad to see everything worked out in the end."

Everyone turned to find Macbeth standing out of the forest with his arms behind his back. The wielders were so nervous and think he was mad at them for revealing their secret again. "After I saw Genie in the air, it was obvious where you were."

"Macbeth, before you say anything we had no choice, Tezzeret showed up and we-" Mal tried to explain until he cut her off.

"Tezzeret?! You fought him?" Making certain he heard her correctly.

Before any of them could answer Brandon stood up. "It was, sir, and only for a moment before the Grimm attacked and set the Troll free after we almost caught him, we decided to help them after what they did for us since it was the right thing to do." The wielders were surprised by his words and willing to take some of the blame from them.

"He's right, we know it's not our business but you guys are short on numbers and if they need help we're willing to lend a hand. Isn't that why you came here to help them improve their skills?" Sky added as he stepped forward.

"Please don't be mad at them. The Specialists helped them face off two large monsters and while protecting us, they showed good teamwork in defeating the Grimm." Tecna decided to add her part of the reason.

Giving a long thought and crossed his arms over his chest, making everyone worry even the girls and also the Specialists. "Well... If that is what you are all thinking of, then I have something to say."

Genie gulped and was sweating.

Mal closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

Taren sighed and knew what was coming as Macbeth raised his hands and then...

They landed on both Taren's and Ben's shoulders with a smile on his face. "Excellent work."

Taren, Mal, and Ben blinked their eyes and almost thought they heard him right. "huh?" Which they all thought at the same time.

"Well, I had some talking with the headmasters and also Master Yen Sid, though it may be dangerous but truth is you are right we need allies as we can to accomplish this mission. But I was indeed watching just to be certain and while you might have failed your mission, you showed good teamwork and helped each other out in situations, especially against the Grimm and adjusting in battle." Macbeth smirked at them. "True, I would've come sooner had I known he was here, but you were just lucky. For now."

He turned to Brandon. "You might be rookies, but I feel you have what it takes to reach your full potentials, and take word for what young Taren has said, even if they aren't a perfect team in time they will improve." Giving praise to the blonde whosmiled and felt much better.

"Thank you! I'll take word for what you guys said."

Genie flew over and pulled Ben and Mal in a hug. "ALRIGHT! Way da go guy!" This somewhat made the witch a little uncomfortable but

Nods his head and then thinks of asking them. "But correct me if I'm wrong but did you say you almost caught the Hunting Troll?"

"Yeah, almost had the beast until that guy showed up and let him loose." Stella said.

Macbeth pondered and stroked his bearded chin. "Most odd, it just so happened I found the Troll's body a while ago in the woods."

"Wait, hold up, you found him? Then why didn't you... b-body? What body?" Riven stuttered at what he just heard.

"Yes, after we learned it escaped I decided to check up on you but on the way I found it but unfortunately I was too late. Possibly he was ambushed by one of the Grimm in the debris it left behind." Macbeth answered his question. This goteveryone confused and all thinking of the same question until Bloom spoke up.

"But that can't be, he was just here moments ago before."

"If what he said was true... then what was the thing we were after?" Flora said.

Musa had a thought and decided to share it with them. "First they sent the Grimm to help him escape, then they helped him in the swamp and made a copy out of him."

"Unless it wasn't a Troll. Maybe Tezzeret was using a fake or something to trick us." Taren suggested.

"But why would he want to go all the trouble of doing this?" Timmy asked.

"To know of his potential enemies." Macbeth responded. "It makes sense, he's never fought you in person and decided to know about each of your skills and powers."

Mal started to understand where this was going. "And I bet he used those Grimm to test his theory, it was all just to study us?"

Macbeth nodded. "I think so. But let's get you back to the professor, he is worried about your long absence." In his mind, he couldn't help but worry about what Tezzeret was up to, and after the demonstration they pulled, perhaps they should focus on working together and perhaps build a team one day when the others are ready.

The 'Troll' stepped out of the woods and finally away from those annoying brats that almost caught him, waiting for him was the Trix and finally Tezzeret who stepped out of the portal.

"You did a marvelous job, my friend! Almost had me think you were the same Troll under the look."

THe Trix were confused of what he was talking about. "Wait, this isn't the Troll we broke out?" Icy asked him.

"Oh indeed it was, but this happens to be someone who took his place after the... unfortunate demise. Why don't you introduce yourself to the team."

The Troll's body glowed and vanished like a projection, in its place was a seven-foot tall humanoid with a body made of living liquid and a silver metallic outfit with blue linings and a platform where its 'feet' are connected to and even a single orange eye with a yellow pupil slit.

"What is... that?" Darcy asked and never seen a creature like this before.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce a close ally and member of the team. Aqua Seneschal, a Cyber Lord." Tezzeret introduced him to the Trix as Seneschal held one arm over his chest and bowed before them in a manner of greetings.

"Greetings, a pleasure to meet the Descendants of the Ancestral Witches whose deeds are also known to some outside the Magic Dimension." Seneschal spoke politely with a bow. "I will provide information and data for our mission, the test was indeed a 100% success as I have calculated."

Tezzeret nodded and was pleased about it. "It will be like old times, my friend." Held out his artificial hand to Seneschall who accepted the gesture and shook it. "Now then, we must depart before anyone finds us." The Trix nodded and used their magic to transport the group out of the swamp.

With the ship now repaired thanks to Genie's magic along with Tecna and Timmy's knowledge of the tech, they dropped off the girls before making their way to drop off Mal at Cloud Tower and then back to Red Fountain, Macbeth promised to vouch for them of what happened so they won't get into too much trouble for what they went through.

"Well, that didn't turn out how we expected it." Ben said.

"Yeah, we indeed lost the Troll, but it was a great experience in what you guys went through." Sky said, much to their surprise.

"You sure? After what what happened you guys want to help out?" Taren asked him unless he hit his head too hard.

Timmy nodded. "Yeah, I mean this mission made me feel like I was part of something. It may be dangerous but that's what we came here to learn to try over overcome, right?"

"Yeah, and also to kick some Grimm's tail next time." Riven added.

"Good to hear that you all feel confident." Macbeth walked down from the ship. "I will speak with Saladin in the morning about the arrangements, but until you are fully prepared to go with us, you'll have to go through some training. Get some sleep lads, you'll need it to rest for the morning." Walks away and leaves.

Brandon thought of something and turned to Ben and Taren. "So just to give a heads up, is training from Macbeth tough?"

The boys looked at each other and figured out a correct way to answer. "You'll find out, but if you stick with your goals, you'll be fine." Ben said and patted him on the shoulder.

Taren smiled and leaned to Genie to whisper. "Better bring up the first aide for the training." The genie winked at him and had a feeling it would be something like that.

Chapter Text

The sun rose from the horizon as morning came, making their way to the training grounds where Macbeth studied the arena before the training could get started with the approval of Headmaster Saladin and another teacher named Cadatorta wanted to see how Keyblade wielders-in-training use their abilities from his training. For this reason, he decided to do it this morning, as it would be the best time to start the day, discussing his plans to get both sides to work together and improve their skills to defend themselves. He at first thought the teachers would be against it, but Cadatorta supported it with the Grimm threat and Tezzeret loose in the Magic Dimension.

Macbeth examined the arena to ensure it was properly set up for training and had enough space to avoid any damage around it. The warm rays of the morning sun greeted him, making everything much clearer to see.

"Morning, Macbeth." He turned around to see Codatorta coming out of the building. He was a burly, gruff-looking person with dark brown hair slicked back to reveal his bushy eyebrows and a goatee attached to his sideburns along his jawline. He wore a dusty, grey shirt that zipped up the front and had no sleeves, a darker blue belt, khaki-colored pants, blue boots, and silver gauntlets. "Everything seems to be good here."

Macbeth nodded. "Yes, there's nothing wrong with it, and it should be a perfect spot to teach these rookies of your's the true combat against a veteran. Are they still asleep?"

"As if without a care in the world." Codatorta shrugged his shoulders. "You didn't tell them the time to be here?"

"Perhaps, but that would ruin the fun." Letting out a mild chuckle over a devious sense of humor, even the head teacher gave him a smirk.

"Oh, like the sound of that. So how will they wake up then?"

"Should be up in a moment when you hear the loud noises to get them out of bed," Macbeth said.

"This place is perfect for my people to settle after losing our home. Plenty of land for us, and the oceans are beautiful—the sky is stunning, too." A young woman sat on a rock, looking up. She had red hair cascading over her shoulders, and her face was obscured by the light as she gazed at the horizon of the beach before her. "And I think I already have a name for this place, our new home."

Another voice belonging to a young man asked her. "You do? What will be the name of this new home?"

She paused for a moment before answering his question. "Something meaningful, a name that inspires future generations to strive for their goals and embark on their adventures. A name that signifies destiny."

"It better be better than the last suggestions you offered."

"Very funny! I thought it through, and starting today, its name will be—"

The dream came to a sudden stop by the sound of... bagpipes?

"GAAHHHH!!!" Taren was for a moment in shock, he threw himself out of his bed, pulling the bed sheets along as he fell to the floor.

Like Taren, Ben also jumped out of his bed in startlment, startled by the noise that woke him up. "Wha?! What is that?!" The boys discover Genie, wearing a kelt and a bonnet tartan tartan and playing the bagpipes with the national anthem. "I knew taking bagpipe lessons would come in handy." Genie pats the bagpipes.

"The hell?" Taren muttered, rubbing his sore head after a bizarre and unexpected wake-up call. "Why give us this sort ofwake-up call when we got a clock? Not to mention at this hour?"

Ben looked at his clock and realized it was too early, hardly surprising after how many times they had to get up. "Don'ttell me, Macbeth's got some training for us?"

Genie changed back to his usual appearance and brushed his hands. "Now, now, up and about, boys. The others should be awake and join you."

"Others?" the two said at once, but before they could ask, Genie flicked his fingers and disappeared.

The two keyblade wielders find themselves fully dressed and round up in the arena, they find Macbeth and Professor Codatorta present alongside them. They were also surprised to see the Specialist group present, but in their normalclothes, looking tired as well.

"You guys are here too?" Ben asked in surprise.

"Don't tell me you guys got involved in this as well." Taren wondered, but if they did... well, it is best to hope they make it out in one piece.

"Something loud and almost blew my eardrums." The prince muttered as he tried to smack his hand against his ear for some reason.

Brandon yawned and didn't bother to figure out why they were there. "Guess you could say that and Riven complaining about some 'annoying bird'."

"I'm telling you, a stupid bird came out of nowhere and danced about with that annoying sound it made," Riven exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure Riven," Sky responded, not believing him fully but making the keyblade wielders confused. They turned to Genie, who had no clue either, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nice of you all to come here, bright and early!" Macbeth called for their attention and then allowed them to be distracted further on.

Riven snorted and was unhappy about it. "Like you gave us a choice," he mumbled under his breath, but the trainers didn't miss it.

"What was that, Riven?" Codatorta dared him to repeat it.

"Nothing, sir!" Riven responded fast.

Macbeth decided to cut in to draw their attention. "The reason for this is to begin training both Specialists and Keyblade wielders to work together like you did that day in the swamp. But you're not ready to face powerful foes like Tezzeret forexample."

The teens didn't forget about how he easily took on three wielders who were well-trained and powerful enemies to control monsters like the Grimm.

"And after some talking with Saladin, he's allowed me to train you five included alongside Codatorta who will overwatch your training under school grounds." When the boys hear this offer from Macbeth, the Specialists can't help but smile and grin that they can get better and help their new friends.

"Now this I'm glad to hear this morning," Sky said.

Nevertheless, Taren could not help but ponder the way he easily offered to train them. "Then why do I feel like it feels too good?"

"Maybe you didn't get any breakfast?" Genie thought.

Ben shook his head. "No, I'm with him, there must be more to this."

Macbeth gave a soft chuckle. "Nothing gets past you two. Yes, you're correct. Saladin wasn't so pleased about the failed mission to deliver the Troll for questioning, so I told him to give you a few days and decide a special punishment."

"You boys didn't think you be off the hook, I went along with it and thought it was perfect timing." The head teacher frowns with his arms crossed. "Here's the deal: you face your opponent and if you win, no punishment be given."

"Guess it sounds fair, sir. But what about Taren and Ben?" Timmy asked.

"They weren't part of your assignment so this doesn't go for them," Macbeth told him.

It felt unfair to them to be excluded since the Specialists had helped them earlier."Uh, I think it would be fair if we were part of it as well." Hearing Ben's suggestion surprised the Specialists to willingly share the punishment.

"You certain about this, Ben?" Macbeth asked him.

Taren sighed and knew his best friend would think of doing a noble act, plus it would not look good on him being the only one out of it. "I think he does, Macbeth. Alright, fine, drag me in it too."

Macbeth smiled and was pleased to see them making efforts of a noble gesture. "Good for you to take part like a team player, lad. But I think we should let the Specialists test their skills against their opponent."

"You won't have time to get your uniforms on, in real life you need to be prepared for anything." Codatorta informed them

Timmy raised his hand before asking a question that the team was thinking about. "So... who will be our opponent, Ben and Taren?"

Both teachers chuckled until Macbeth was the first to speak. "Oh no... that's too obvious since they're still students." His face turned to a devious grin and a face that made the boys shiver. "I'm your opponent."

Both Wielders mentally gulped and both had the same idea. 'This won't go well.'

However, Riven seems to find it funny and laughs. "That's it? Good one, no offense but I think we would easily take you on at once."

Taren leaned close to Ben and Genie to whisper, "This isn't going to end well." The Genie nodded and pulled out a script along with a pair of reading glasses to examine it. "You're right, T. What the author has in mind is beyond me."

Macbeth folds his arms and smirks at the hot-headed teen. "Really? Alright then if you are so confident. I will challenge you five at once. Whaddya think?" Questioning the fellow trainer if it seems fair.

"Hmm." Stroking his bearded chin. "Think so, just don't bruise them too much since they need to complete the chores with both hands."

The blonde squire was not sure about this, from the stories the wielders told them about, and had a bad feeling about this."Um, maybe we should think this through."

"Like I'm going to back down on this, and show him what I'm made up of, I'll bet blondie would love to nurse her prince charming back to health." Riven mocked the brunette who heard him.

"Look we gotta work together like we did against the Grimm, this is serious!"

Timmy nodded and agreed with the prince. "He's right. We don't know his abilities if he's been part of the training for Taren, Ben, and Mal." Feeling like perhaps one of them would sit out and learn his skills and abilities it could give the others understanding if only he had asked the Keyblade bearers about him before they got themselves involved.

Riven turned around and was about to respond when he noticed both Taren and Ben, including their blue weird fella wearing a spirit foam in his hand. "HEY! What are you two doing out there? I thought you be helping us!"

Taren waved his hand out to them. "He said we can sit this out and make a clear space for you guys to show what you got! Don't worry, we're supporting you all the way! WAY... WAY behind!"

Genie changed into a cheerleader and did some poses.

Riven gritted his teeth and glared at them. "Those sons of a" He never got to finish his sentence when Macbeth dashed towards the delinquent, throwing his fists directly at him, forcing Riven to block in defence. "Hey! What's the..."

"Never take your eyes off your opponent!" Macbeth stated and continued to throw his fists until Riven caught it and tried to throw a kick to his side, but the older male saw it coming and jumped back to make a distance. "Well, at least you almost had me, come on now I thought you were the specialists I heard that took on the Grimm. Unless you just let the others do the hard work." He took a metallic rod out of his belt and pressed a switch with his thumb, causing it to extend into a rod, twirling it in his hands ready for a fight, but seems his opponents were without any weapons to defend themselves.

"Uh, don't you think we should need our phantoblades?" The prince asked him, only to duck from the coming side-swipe, catching them off guard.

"You're right, but in the face of battle, you won't have a choice but to defend yourselves!" Macbeth started as a way to teach them a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat, forcing them to back off, and when Brandon tried to tackle him from behind, Sky managed to sneak up behind him for a surprise, alongside Timmy, who watched carefully to find an opening.

"Trying to surprise me?" Macbeth questioned them, wondering what would happen next.

"That." Brandon decided to try keeping him busy and this time jump up to dodge the next strike aimed for his feet, but this time he caught it between his ankles and kicked it out of his hand. "Distracting you." Gave a confident smirk hoisted it in his hand and pointed the tip at his upper chest.

Cadotorta observed and so far mildly impressed with how Brandon was able to disarm his opponent, though felt this was too easy as he noticed the grin on Macbeth's expression. Turned his gaze to the other two transfer students who seemed unaffected and watched the Specialists try to subdue him.

"Impressive, young prince." Looks at each corner of his eyes to see Riven on the left, Timmy on the right, and no doubt Brandon behind him. They managed to cut off his chances of escape...however. They were not dealing with an amateur. Swiftly grabbing the pole to spin to the side, Macbeth threw his left leg up and swatted him to the side, forcing the brunette to groan and clutch his side. Easily turning the tables on him when he thought to try using his pole against him.

Brandon and Timmy ran towards him and tried to tackle him, but Macbeth threw his pole in between the Squire's legs to make him lose his balance and fall over. Then ducked and threw him over his back, but Timmy managed to tuck and roll on the ground to avoid getting injured. Ready for another chance to tackle him Riven went straight for the offensive, watching the hotheaded specialist throw his fists at him but Macbeth easily dodged them moving his head and swiftly brushes them with his hand. "Is that it? Hardly a challenge."

Riven was getting frustrated with the amused smirk on the old man's face and mocking them like it was some game."Something you find funny? This is supposed to be a fight and you just seek to make us like idiots! FIght seriously" He exclaimed and pulled his fist back to deliver a hard blow to the face. He thought he had a direct hit until his hand suddenly stopped and was held firmly in the old man's grasp. Riven tried to pull it away but found it stuck and then noticed his face turned to a frown.

Ben spotted it and knew it wasn't good, even Taren cringed and believed Riven would not last long in the spar now.

Macbeth narrowed his eyes at the magenta-haired teen who could not help but feel like he might have made a misstep."You want me to fight seriously? Well then." He threw his spare fist towards Riven but slipped out of his grasp and tumbled backward when trying to dodge the coming punches aimed towards him, but then he realized how fat and strong they felt within inches, he was now fighting more aggressively and too fast for him to predict. Too focused on his face when he failed to see one of his boots collide towards his stomach, forcing him back a few feet and crouching up some air by the blow.

Timmy couldn't believe how he easily took down their toughest member in one blow, though seems as though he had hardly given his all in the fight. Not able to face him decided to wisely give with his hands up. Macbeth noticed and nodded in approval. "A wise decision, not every battle can be won."

The specialists rushed over to check on him but thankfully he seemed slightly bruised despite that strong kick Macbeth used.

"You're fine, lad. It's just a slight bruise all because I held back the full strength way back," Macbeth stated to him in a firm tone.

Codatorta saw enough and walked over. "Think they got the idea, Macbeth." Turns to the group with the keyblade wielders joining them. "As you get the clear idea of a real battle, there will be times when you will fight strong and more dangerous foes who will not hesitate to take a life. Being a Specialist isn't about gaining fame or glory, it's about doing the right thing and protecting innocent people from danger. With the Grimm investing our worlds, we need all the help we can get to stop them or lose everything and everyone we love."

Taking his advice the Specialists were beginning to understand the rough training, perhaps also why the keybladers were so determined to get stronger and stop Tezzeret. Brandon nodded and stepped forward. "I said I wanted to help and I mean it, got a family back home and willing to put my life on the line to stop them."

Nodding in approval to Brandon's words Macbeth feels this may take a slow effort to form a strong team to improve their skills, and perhaps get Riven to improve his behavior otherwise, it will get him in trouble.

"I think maybe we could perhaps do some more work on our weapons in order to make them more effective against the Grimm's white armor plating." Timmy thought as he remembered how the Deathstalker used its armor as a defense mechanism and other descriptions Taren and Ben described the other types of Grimm known as the Ursa and Beowolves they encountered.

"You can do that after your punishment since you failed the challenge." Codatorta reminded them of the bet they made.

Riven groaned. "Oh, great. So what's our punishment?"

"You'll find out. Now get some breakfast the lot of you, got a lot of work to do." The head teacher told them, that what they had in store for them would be a harsh but promising training for the lot of them.

Mal groaned softly in bed as morning arrived, her body sore and aching from recent training. They had spent the past few days practicing since the battle in the swamp, aiming to improve their skills. With the Specialists offering their help, it would be interesting to see them in bruises from Macbeth. She pulled the sheets over her head and groaned in annoyance."Ugh, not morning! Please say it isn't."

"Come on, might as well get up." She hears Mirta call out to her. Mal poked her head out from under the covers to see Mirta leaving the bathroom in a grey bathrobe, drying herself off with a hairdryer.

Reluctantly, Mal decided to get up since she had things to do. She tossed the sheets away and climbed out of bed to wash up for breakfast.

"Luckily, it's the weekend tomorrow. This has been exhausting." Mal told herself. She had learned plenty about curses and spells that witches often use in combat, even some she never knew existed in her world. Despite being new, Mal had gained praise from most of her teachers for her skills, especially in the art of Defense Against the Dark Arts after she has demonstrated to be skilled in combat. One interesting thing she learned was that witches could gain the ability to fly by using magic to levitate themselves, eliminating the need for wings to make combat "fair" against their rivals, the fairies. She wasn't sure if she could pull it off, but it might be worth a shot—though that would have to wait until the freshmen fully understood the limits of their powers.

She will have to keep a close eye on the Trix for the others without blowing her cover. So far they seem to have a reputation in Cloud Tower, feared and Respected by almost all students for their talents. There could be a slight problem of trusting some and getting along with the Trix is a big NO if they recognize her, she couldn't stand being near them anyway. Mal knew for certain they had something to do with the fake troll the Specialists tried to capture and failed, so there are two possible theories: they cast a spell to duplicate the Troll before it was killed, or... there may be another member they don't know about yet.

They'll have to keep their guard up and find out where Tezzeret is hiding before they find the flame. As for her new roommate, Mirta, she started to get along with her and not like the majority of the witches who try to act all high and mighty. Seems a little timid or nervous but nothing to worry about, yet she never did have many friends such as her kind who are known to cause trouble... Herself included. But hated having to keep her secret from others like Mirta, if anyone found out they would be in danger.

Rubbing her eyes before making her way to the bathroom to freshen up and finish some studies, She pulled the curtains aside and found a pink feathered bird scrubbing himself in the bathtub wearing a cap, when he took notice of Mal, he acted somewhat shy and bashful in front if her when being in the bath.

"Oh, sorry!" Quickly apologizing to the pink feathered bird and about to make her leave when suddenly stopped and thought for a second that they never had a guest and wondered how he got in their dorm in the first place. Grabbing the curtains to yanked it to the side... only to find the bird not there. She didn't know what was going on and checked to see if that strange bird was hiding somewhere. 'I could've sworn it was right here just then.' "So many strange things since we got here." She said to herself and takes the shower while it was running.

After she was done and dressed for breakfast as Mirta waited for her until she received a call on her phone. "Hey, I'll get this call and catch up to ya."

The maroon-haired teen nodded. "No prob, I'll meet up with Lucy and see ya later."

nce she left Mal answered her phone and was surprised to find out it was Ben, not sure why she felt a little nervous answering the phone to answer but feels it might be important to call her this time around. "Hello?" Almost lost her focus but spoke clearly as she could.

"Hey, it's Ben. Er.. sorry for the sudden call but just thought to see how you were doing." Hearing him clearing his throat on the other end.

Raised an eyebrow and was curious to know why would he ask about her well-being. "Well, why wouldn't I be?" Tries to sound as though she doesn't care, but strangely feels appreciated for it.

"Well, just thought I ask before we had out, been training with the Specialists this morning... by Macbeth," Ben told her, causing her to snicker at the thought of them getting their butts kicked.

"Oh, you did warn them to wear protection, right? I would love to see the look on their faces, especially for Riven if he went up against Macbeth." Oh, how much she would love to see the look on his face and take snapshots of it.

"Think they got the basic idea, Genie will watch out for any trouble, Riven might have gotten the hard lesson from Macbeth about fighting seriously. But how are things at Cloud Tower?"

"So far our favorite witches have been quiet, not sure what's been going on since I was given more time to study from the old man's permission to practice my magic. But, thankfully it is what we would call the best day of the week. Friday. And hello to the weekend." Mal was eagerly looking forward to it.

"Yeah, hopefully we get some bit of break to rest up. Have to get going now, and eh, be careful not to let the Trix find out you're there." Almost sounded like he was concerned about her, but possibly her imagination, and took it for granted.

"Not to worry they don't recognise me and won't say what I look like." She said but almost sounded like a tease with a grin on her face. When she suddenly realized what she had done, the young witch felt embarrassed and flushed. "Gotta go by!" She hung up before he could say anything. Remaining silent brought her hands to her face and groaned, running her hands over to her blonde hair. "What the hell? Why did I do that?"

Since meeting both Taren and Ben, she usually kept things to herself and slowly came to regard them as friends, well she enjoys messing with Taren for the laugh of using some mischief, and respects his determination and confidence. But for Ben, the way he always helps them out and smiles at her made this odd feeling inside her, unable to know what it is butsince that night at the dance, she suddenly had this growing interest in him. But she dismissed such thoughts and shook her head. "Oh come on, get your head out of the clouds, not as if some prince like him be into someone like me."

Frowned softly and sighed, thinking she was getting too distracted over such silly thoughts of a guy like him being into her. If he or anyone knew of her secret... not want to think about it right now. Fully dressed and checked herself before she departed the room for breakfast and then some class, wanting to fill her stomach with food and take her mind off the current things.

She went through a lot of work having to take notes studying and conjuring spells until she accomplished certain tasks given to her. As she builds up an appetite for food, she heads to the cafeteria and sees every student enjoying their meals. Her eyes narrow at the group of Trix sitting at their table, no doubt plotting their next scheme to get the ring. She spotted Mirta who finished her studies and her friend Lucy sitting with her. Carrying her tray to the table and sat down. "Wonder what's up with them? They seem a little broody today." Mal was curious.

"Not sure, but I heard someone broke into our school the other day." Mirta pondered about that as well.

Lucy didn't like that and narrowed her eyes. "If they did Griselda would teach them a lesson they won't forget."

Unsure of who it was that caused it, but had to be pretty insane to walk into a dangerous place like Cloud Tower. "Well, hate to be those unfortunate idiots," Mal mumbled as she took a bite of her toast and took a sip from her glass.

"We CAN'T Let them get away with this!" She could hear Stormy's voice and sounded mad about something. Someone must have caused some trouble for them and would've enjoyed the looks on their faces.

"We'll destroy their beloved Alfea, that ought to teach them a less. Those fairies have got to learn to stay away from our turf."

Hearing Icy's plot caught Mal's attention whereas at the Alfea school, the only people that the Trix hate more can only be... the Winx Club. The idea seemed too strange as if the Winx would recklessly break in and get into trouble. But what did they do to tick them off this bad?

"Why do you hate them so much?" Pulling away from her thoughts to hear Mirta ask them a question. "The fairies aren'tthat bad after all." The blonde wielder could see the frustrated look on Icy's face.

"And who is the pert little thing that uttered these words?"

Mirta felt intimidated by her stern glare but didn't want to be back down for what she had to say. "All I meant to say was, I think maybe... we should get along."

Mentally surprised Mal to hear this from her, never asked about her opinion on witches, and assumed she shared some of their beliefs, but... to find out Mirta thinks both sides try to understand each other? But it seems the Trix have a different matter and not the Agreeing kind. They started to laugh and shortly everyone started to join to gang up on Mirta who tried to hold back the tears when made fun of, Lucy remained silent but Mal glared at them as she couldn't believe how immature they were acting COmpared to the things, Mal had done, she would probably be considered the mature one around here.

"Did you hear that? Mirta wants to be friends with the fairies." Stormy mocks her. "Well, well, how quaint. Would you like a sparkle of fairy dust in your soup?"

The Trix continued to laugh until Darcy spoke. "Why don't you keep your mouth shut, girl?" Summoning her magic to create a dark orb manifests before the quivering Mirta. Mal did not like where this was going and before she could call out Mirta, the thing swooped in towards Mirta and engulfed her head. Watching her struggle helplessly and unable to breathe while all the others do was laugh like it was some game to them.

"Mirta!" Mal/Lilith was stunned by the harsh treatment they gave to Mirta, simply because in their belief, they can do what they like. Lucy didn't know what to do either, but Mirta's roommate didn't stand by and do nothing when she decided to give the Trip a little taste of their own medicine. Her hand glowed in a purple-purple aura and managed to pull the purple sphere from Mirta and into her hand. The students ceased their laughter and saw what the transfer student did, and she looked pissed at Darcy. "Here, I think this belongs to YOU!" She threw her gloved hand, manipulating the glob back to the Trix like a baseball.

The Trix ceased their laughter and took cover from the blast, they stared at the transfer student and heard about her being a clever and strong freshman. "You are so gonna regret that, blondie." Darcy narrowed her glare at the blonde.

Tensions between them started to build up and everyone was silent to see how this would turn out between Lilith and the Trix.

"Alright, that is enough!"

Everyone turned to see a frustrated Headmistress Griffin entering the cafeteria, narrowing her stern gaze at the students with disapproval of their childish acts to behave in such a manner. "What is all this mess, can't you think of other ways to amuse yourselves? Now everybody, finish your meals and go to your rooms at once. There will be no entertainment this evening." Given a final glance at the Trix and then to the disguised keyblader before leaving.

Lucy looked at them before heading off. "Try not to cause more problems or the Trix will make your life a misery, newbie."

Mal ignored her and didn't like being put down below others, nor against bullies like the Trix. She turned her attention to Mirta who slowly recovered and offered to help her which she did. "You alright?"

"I'm... I'm fine, thanks, Lilith." Mirta was thankful for her help and couldn't believe what Lilith did to stand up for her.

"Just didn't like how they were getting the idea of being the top witches go to their heads." Mal brushed it aside as if it didn't mean anything to her.

"I mean, you stood up to the Trix when no one else would. Even if I must have been stupid to think something like that." Mirta lowered her head in shame as they stepped into their dorm room. Believing Lilith would think the same as they did.

Truth be told, Mal had friended some who were fairies, even those who made a rough start but were considered trustworthy after helping them out a lot. "Well..." Suddenly she felt her phone vibrating from her pocket and pulled it out to answer the coming call which came from Musa. "Hello? Musa?"

"Hey, Mal. Listen we're setting up a party at Alfea since it's only us girls and the guys are coming over so we thought to have some fun, wanna come over?."

As she listened to her extend an invitation to Mal for a party they were having, she paused to consider whether taking some time off from studying and work might be beneficial. Turning her gaze towards the tearful Mirta sitting on her bed, she felt a pang of guilt for what had happened to her and decided it was important to give her an answer.

"So a party you say? Well... I guess I could come, mind if I bring a friend over?" Mal asked her, Mirta heard her and looked at her in surprise.

"Sure, the more the merrier as they say! If your friend can handle the crazy antics."

Mal nodded. "I'll be sure she can handle it. See ya there." Hangs up the phone and turns around. "Remember when you said about being friends with Fairies? Well, you might get that chance."

Mirta's eyes widened and swore she was kidding. "R-Really? Do you want me to come? And friends with fairies?"

Mal shrugged to give her answer. "Well, some I'm getting to know of, one... maybe two you would get along well... one of them, maybe. So you coming or not?"

Giving a thought perhaps would be a chance to prove to others that both sides could get along and put aside this ancient feud, or at least enough to understand each other. "Sure!"

Uncertain why, but it somehow... feels good to see someone happy. Not want to admit it, but it appears being friends with the boys and the Winx Club to have that effect on her. 'If my aunts see this, they probably think I grew another head. Either that or getting too soft.'

"But just something of a heads up, on the way there are some things you need to know and things to keep quiet, especially don't tell someone by the names of Taren the idiot, Ben Prince Charming, and the Fashion Queen Stella that I went soft, like to keep a rep around here."

Mirita let out a soft giggle and felt a little better. "No worries, as my dad usually says 'got it memorized'."

Mal raised an eyebrow and thought it was an odd memo for someone to say unless it was just her but did not consider asking. "Alright, let's just get going before more trouble comes. A party would be nice to get a break."

Aqua Seneschal was working in a lab updating the data collected from the battle between the newest wielders of the keyblade against the Grimm they unleashed into the swamp, observing the images recorded by the drones tirelessly to study their skills and know about them. Using the Hunting Troll as their sacrificial pawn was a calculated risk as well as removing him from being discovered, a choice that would have to wipe his memories of any connections to them or even the Trix to cover any evidence to the authorities, too much of a risk if someone were to be able to restore them. Therefore, termination was the most logical choice. After the successful mission, they informed the Trix that it be best to lay low for a few days while conducting some of their work for their plans, allowing the witches to do their own such as trying to find the ring.

Returning to the main subject, he studied the group of young students who fought the Grimm. The Keyblade Wielders were very skilled and proven resourceful: The first one to begin was Mal. The Cyber Lord noticed how the young witch was able to control the forces of nature and create creatures to serve, but according to her companions, she could emerge and disappear in a shadow when she summoned her keyblade, a possible source of her abilities. The ability to manipulate the elements of Nature and Darkness could provide her an amazing advantage over her enemies. The Trix once considered the thought of her joining their side as a fellow witch, the thought was tempting, but Seneschal and Tezzeret both feel it was not such a good idea.

'She could prove very dangerous and toy with her foes, much like those of the Darkness Civilization.' Seneschal would have to set a barrier to prevent possible infiltrations should they discover the leads of their hidden base. He will add her to the list of possible threats to deal with for the time being

The second Keywielder, Prince Ben of Auradon. What's interesting is the fact he is the son of Queen Belle, a former Princess of Hearts and the king who was cursed into a beast in his youth until she lifted the spell. So far the prince has demonstrated skills of combat and wielded the keyblade well, he no doubt has enhanced strength after watching one of the battles on Earth when he single-handedly knocked out an Ursa with a single punch using his aura to shield his body and took on a Beowolf in the alleyway. Unable to gain further research into what his keyblade's power is without exposing any probes or Seers being detected. Nonetheless, he demonstrated skills in working with others, the conclusion is to avoid underestimating this boy. Further research is required.

Then for the final Keyblade wielder, one he considers a main threat out of all three: Taren, the son of the keyblade master and hero who defeated Xehanort in the Battle of Scala ad Caelum, and the Radiant Garden's princess Kairi, the current Princess of Heart since the Keyblade War and also keyblade wielder. Since the Cyber Lord learned about this from Tezzeret after his 'dramatic entrance' on the Destiny Islands, Seneschal could not help but feel this one be a major threat, yet intrigued after a sudden burst of enormous power spiked for a moment which caused the boy to vanish without a trace.

After several months of searching for that power, a new surge was detected on the planet Earth, believed to be connectedto the supposed Fairy of Earth. It has been confirmed that the boy has significantly strengthened in a short time, especially after analyzing data from his recent battles, including a fight against the Nevermore, which followed his sudden awakening of the Flowmotion ability. This situation mirrors stories of how his father fought in the last Keyblade War at his age, and there is a possibility that the boy may one day surpass him, which could pose a problem for them.

Flashback.

Seneschal materialized through the portal and arrived on the islands, having located the home of the three Keyblade Masters. He had limited time to spare while the Grimm kept Sora and Riku busy—just enough time before the princess would realize something was wrong. What caught his attention, however, was a young boy with copper-red hair and blue eyes running past, strikingly similar to Sora as a child. The boy was moving too quickly for Seneschal to notice him until a Beringal leaped beside him during the chase and briefly paused to look at the Cyber Lord. Seneschal sensed a strange power within the boy, something that might be of particular interest to them. Without hesitation, he used the control gem in his grip to bend the Grimm to his will.

"I have new orders for you, Grimm. Capture the boy, if he resists... eliminate!" His single eye narrowed as he believed if the capture was unsuccessful, he would have to eliminate the human. The Beringal grumbled and let out a roar to resume its hunt, but not without him following them until the Grimm had the boy cornered by the cliff. Received a message from his partner about the boy being Sora's son, a perfect opportunity to force him into surrender and perhaps put the lives of his family on the line.

About to step out when he noticed the boy looking about, very odd, but a moment ago, he looked ready to give up but then changed his pose as if he was preparing for a fight. "What is he doing?" He said softly to himself and remained behind the trees.

"I don't know what you are, or who that guy is ... but I'm not letting you leave in one piece. I'm gonna send you back to whatever hell hole you came out of!" Taren proclaimed as he gave a glare to the Grimm. "And I'll protect everyone I care for from you monsters! Including that old bastard! That's a promise!"

At first, Seneschal would have thought the boy was foolish into thinking he could achieve such an impossible task, to defeat someone far above him would be futile. When suddenly, he halted and noticed something unexpected happened. Unknown to the boy a powerful aura surrounded his body and greatly surprised the Cyber Lord. And then... It happened.

He couldn't believe what he just saw; a keyblade in his hand suddenly materialized. This was an unexpected turn of events, but this incredible power manifested from him, and before the Grimm could attack, a force threw the Grimm and himself back by several feet. Slowly rising to see a beam of light shooting straight up into the blue sky. Looked back to find the child was nowhere to be found. This was no coincidence, as something happened as something that these creatures would call a 'divine intervention', not wanting to risk being found out he decided to retreat for now and inform Tezzeret what he discovered.

End Flashback.

Unable to understand what had occurred, but it may be somewhat related to his power. He will need to conduct further research on this young wielder shortly.

This both intrigued and baffled him, along with the discovery of a supposed Earth Fairy. As far as anyone knew, Fairies had not existed in that world for centuries, having been presumed wiped out by Humans who coveted their magic—especially by a certain group with whom they would soon have to contend.

He recalled the girl who had captured their attention after their first two encounters through the Seer. Initially, he dismissed her as a threat; however, after she awakened her transformation and defeated the Trix alongside one of the Keybladers in their second battle, he began to reconsider. There was something peculiar about her—her magical readings were unlike anything he had encountered, leaving him unable to figure out why she felt somewhat familiar.

For now, they would have to keep a close eye on her.

"Anything interesting, Seneschal?" He turned around to see Tezzeret entering the room to see him.

"It would seem we may have to remain cautious as I have learned the identity of their aide and possibly responsible for destroying our probes." He brought an image up with his fingers to show him the image of an old man wearing a black trench coat.

At first Tezzeret was puzzled by this stranger until a closer look at his face that his face turned into disbelief. "It can't be... so it's him. Then we have to be very careful. Perhaps we should inform the Trix of our return."

"And perhaps they have successfully obtained the Ring of Solaria, but I have my doubts." Seneschal didn't hold back his skepticism about the witches they were working with, especially how they underestimated their enemies. He types away to contact them on a secure channel as the projection reveals Icy.

"Oh it's you two, so you came back from your trip?" Icy frowns and folds her arms across. "But since you're here, we might give you the good news and bad news situation."

Stormy and Darcy appeared beside their sister as she continued. "You would've been pleased to hear, we got our hands on the ring after tricking that stupid fairy princess over a date she thought to be going to. Those fairies who started calling themselves... Winx Club? Tsk, stupid name. But they almost had us."

To hear they got the ring made the cyborg smile over the good news. "Well done, but what about the Keyblade wielders? Were they not present?"

"Probably been too busy training, we didn't send out any Grimm like you told us not to," Darcy informed them before her face turned to a frown. "But before you give more praise, here's the bad news."

"That ring was useless! The legend said it could hold immense powers, but we found no power of the great Dragon itself!" Icy exclaimed in anger. "All that effort, being blasted, humiliated by those fairies and key brats and it was all for nothing!"

"It could perhaps have been a decoy or was mistranslated from ancient Solarian text." Seneschal shared his thoughts with his allies and brought his hand to where his chin should be. "The only logical planet that knows it is greater than others is Domino, but unfortunately it is trapped in ice from the war."

"Thanks for sharing your logic with us, it's so helpful(!)" Icy retorted in a sarcastic tone when not impressed and too frustrated. "Now how will we find the Dragon's Flame? Without it, both of us won't get what we want!"

Tezzeret was not affected by her rants and raised his gloved hand to show a gesture of silence to the witch before she could carry on. "Calm yourself, Icy. There are other ways to find the flame than just the ring. All we need to do is find an actual source of information on its possible location."

"Affirmative. We have confirmed possible individuals who hold its secrets, such as Alfea's headmistress." Seneschal believed. "For now, it is best to wait and come up with the best strategy to complete such a task. Headmistress Faragonda is not to be underestimated."

Listening to the Cyber Lord give his advice and ideas, the witches thought it over.

"So why send a Grimm jellyfish to spy on them?" Stormy gave it a thought.

Darcy shook her head in disagreement with her. "No, too risky. They would know some things up, but we need to find the right time to sneak into their school without the key wielders to know. And what better way than to sneak into an empty school with all the students and teachers away on a trip to the concert."

Icy nodded her head and saw it as a perfect plan. "That could work, alright we'll go along with your plan for now until something comes up."

"Very good. And remember there are many ways the flame could be found, best of luck." Cutting off the transmission and recapping the information they received. Since the ring is useless to them, there is no point in going after the princess, so they will need to find another lead. "Least this time I didn't have to deal with that strong... smell coming from them."

"Possibly from that false egg Icy had retrieved when assuming they stole the ring. But permit me to speak with honesty."Seneschal turned to face Tezzerect for something on his mind.

"Not at all, old friend."

"Although they're skilled in magic and powerful, they lack discipline, ignorance, and over-confidence to become powerful witches. I calculate that without our assistance, they will have less than a 56% chance of victory. And I do not trust them, considering the last time we trusted their ancestors had cost us dearly."

"You make a valid point, but like it or not we need them as they need us to make this work," Tezzeret said knowing he felt the same way. "For when we achieve our prize, we will make the first move." Given them a small grin pondering of such though, they will wait for the moment to infiltrate the school to find possible secrets they know about it.

Chapter Text

Mal transformed back to her usual appearance and explained to Mirta why she had to change her look. "I didn't want the Trix to discover who I am after our first run-in with them at the city," she said and continued. "Only some know my real name as Mal because I had to adopt a different identity to keep the Trix off my back. The less anyone knows, the better." As they approached the school on the bus, she finished her explanation.

Mirta remembered her saying the names of some but nothing else. And after finding out that Mal went up against the Trix before was a shocker when they were seniors and more experienced witches, she can imagine that if they recognized her, it would be good so it made a lot of sense for the secrecy. "I guess that explains a lot, so any of these friends of yours I should know?"

"Well, the girls for starters; Stella is a major princess in fashion." Remembering her first time meeting her the two were almost at each other like a pair of cats. "Another is Bloom, I think you might get along with her well, she's somewhat of a newbie around here, and the same goes for Flora who likes plants. Musa likes music, I guess it goes with her name andtheir techno wiz is Tecna." Mal says when the bus parks outside Alfea, the two disembark and head to the school. "Huh, they weren't kiddin' that the place seems empty." But confused as to why the Winx Club was here and no one else.

Mirta had no idea but didn't say anything since she had no idea what to say but followed Mal. She admitted being nervous about meeting the Alfea students and hoped to make a good impression. Including these other friends she mentioned butcurious to know who they were. She sees someone coming and sees a girl with pigtails.

"Hey, Musa," Mal called out to the Music Fairy who saw her.

"So you did show up, was beginning to wonder if you didn't show up." She opens the door for the girls to step out, noticing the burgundy-haired girl who was Mal.

Mal noticed that there was no sign of the boys until several hovercrafts that resembled motorcycles she recognized from the magazines called Wind Riders showed up moments later. The Specialists slowed their acceleration, and riding alongside them were Ben and Taren, who were without their vehicles.

Stella was especially happy to see them, specifically towards Sky of course. "You guys sure didn't waste any time! Great to see you!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to Sky, who removed his helmet.

He smiles at her warmly. "Hey you know us, when it comes to partying, the Specialists take matters very seriously."

Taren climbs off after being given a ride from the specialists. "Remind me to get into lessons to ride my own, these things are fast."

"Provided we can and if you keep it in one piece." Ben teases him, only for Taren to be annoyed by his response.

"Haha, very funny," Taren replied sarcastically. Hoping no one heard him until he saw the girls, Mal and a girl with a pumpkin on her shirt. She noticed him looking at her and hid behind Mal, being nervous. "Hey."

Mal rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest before looking at him. "She hasn't even introduced herself andyou already made her speechless, a growing impression on any girl we meet."

"Huh? Me, what did I do?" Taren was unsure what she meant by that, causing Brandon, Stella, and Ben over a fellow redhead's attraction to him.

Mal stepped aside to reveal Mirta behind her. "This is Mirta, my roommate." Introducing her friend to the rest.

Mirta sheepishly waved her hand to them. "Uh, hi, nice to meet you. Sorry about that just a little nervous." She said.

Flora smiled and walked over to her. "Hello there, it's nice to meet you, and it's fine, we're all friendly here." Extending her hand out to her, Mirta accepted the offer and softly shook her hand.

"Sorry, just being from Cloud Tower I thought fairies wouldn't like witches."

Stella shrugged her shoulders. "Well there are some we met, but since Mal is considered one, I see no problem."

"And I'm surprised Mal was willing to have a roommate," Taren whispered to Ben.

Mal heard something from him and narrowed her eyes. "You said something."

"Nothing!"

Both Ben and Bloom chuckled but were glad she made a friend in Cloud Tower.

"Ok, now we know who your friend is, aren't we supposed to have a party?" Riven cuts in their conversation and is eager to have some fun.

Timmy turned to his teammate to remind him of why they were also there. "Don't you remember our deal after losing to Macbeth? We promised to do some cleaning."

"Uh, what's all this?" Mal asked when she heard him about some deal.

Taren looked at her in confusion. "Didn't Ben tell you?" The boys turned to the prince who chuckled nervously. "You didn't tell her, did you? Really? You pulled the shortest straw... and also because she'll lash out at me if I give the bad news." Explains his reasons while Mal acts innocent.

Ben went silent and scratched the back of his head when he was nervous. The Winx Club were curious to know what they were talking about. "Uh, well... I've never gotten the chance to mention it. You see the bet made by Macbeth if the Specialists could beat him, they wouldn't get punished for the mission a few days ago about losing the Troll."

"Yeah, and if we lose we share the cleaning with the girls." Brandon said.

Mal rolled her eyes and knew there was a catch if Macbeth was involved. "And let me guess, you guys lost to him? But I don't see how you could've gotten in serious trouble. Well Stella I could believe it after hearing about that lab accident."

"Hey!"

"Um, the thing is since we got into trouble, Faragonda stripped us of our magic to clean up the school," Bloom explained to her, feeling uneasy about it.

"The Trix stole the Ring of Solaria by making a fake love letter made by Sky which until I found out too late and one of them took my appearance." Stella chuckled nervously. "So in order to get it back we snuck into their school."

Mal and Mirta shared a look and began to get the idea, Mal didn't know whether to believe her or not. But best to keep it between them for now and move on to another conversation. "Uh? That's... new."

Mal didn't want to admit it but was surprised the girls had done something like that and got in trouble. She could understand their determination since the ring is important to them to keep safe and maybe find out where the Dragon Flame is. No doubt Macbeth found out about it and must've thought it was dangerous and stupid to do something like that if Tezzeret had spies over there without Griffin knowing.

"I had this idea and thought with your help we could get this place cleaned up faster and have a party," Bloom suggested as they walked into the school hall. "I thought maybe make the chores more fun with a little touch."

Musa nodded her head in agreement. "We thought why not make a race or game to make it fun."

Out of nowhere, Genie appeared and dressed up as a hockey player with a Mighty Duck mask. "Sorry about that. Just been watching the big game and rooting for Ducks."

The startled Mirta gasped and lost her footing, landing on her butt when she saw a blue man pop out. "Wha-who... how did-"

Mal shook her head and face-palmed when Genie showed up. "Uh, well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Mirta this is Genie. Genie, Mirta."

"He can be a bit... odd but you get used to it," Flora assured her.

"Wanna see some neat tricks? I can throw my voice." When he reached for his mouth, he pulled it off without any harm to him and threw it like a boomerang. Spinning all over the place until returning to Genie but failed to catch his mouth/voice until it hit the wall and landed on the floor. "Catching it is another matter." He picks it up and slaps it back on his face, giving a wide smile on his face.

Instead of being freaked out like she was before, Mirta was actually amazed to see it. "Wow, that's amazing, all I could do is some illusions." She gave them a demonstration by making another replica of herself beside her and then changed to make another Genie who started the mirror gag.

Genie pulled out his tongue to make funny noises, bunny ears, and pulled his nose which caused everyone but Riven to laugh until she called it off. "Ooh, I like her."

"Wow, neat trick." Bloom found it a relief to meet another witch who doesn't hate them. Mirta being nervous around them reminded her of her when she first arrived in Alfea.

"Ok, now that we all know her so can we get this over with and have a party like you said?" Riven called for their attention and did not like the idea of doing chores instead of having fun.

Taren was thinking of what they could do then do their chores and have a fun night. And he might have the idea for one."So, to make something fun for all of us, how about a game we do like hockey to do this fast with all of us?"

Bloom liked the idea and smiled brightly. "That's a great idea!"

"What's hockey?" Flora asked her when not familiar with the Earth game since the Keybladers and Bloom knew more about it.

"It's a sports game for two teams to play against each other and have to use certain types of sticks to pass the puck," Bloom explained what she knew about it. "You know like how Genie was dressed like one."

"Oh!" It started to make sense to them. "Hey, why not make a team against boys vs girls? That'll be fun."

"I think I'll pass on this, sports isn't my strong interest." Tecna declined the offer.

Ben shrugged his shoulders. "No worries. Does anyone want to join in?"

"Me." Taren offered.

"Sure, sounds fun." Brandon joined in after giving some thought.

"Eh, why not." Prince Sky shrugged his shoulders.

"Bring it." Riven became interested.

Mal thought it seemed fun and could give it a shot. "Ok, I'll go with the girls on the team and whoop your ass." Smirking at them.

Stella gave a bright smile. "Great, the buckets are filled and by the side so you can use them." Pointed towards the buckets and mops for them to use.

"I'll pass them over to you guys." Taren volunteered to pass them over to get started, he went for the buckets to hand out to them but what he didn't notice was the pink bird in a white shirt from earlier that was helping him out. "Thanks." The bird nodded and gave him the last bucket full of water, waving at him in a friendly manner.

He gave one to Ben who nodded until both of them paused for a moment and noticed the bird just out of nowhere. Not seemingly fazed by their confused faces, changing his clothes for a pair of swim shorts, flippers, and goggles. Before they knew what happened, the little fella recently climbed up on Taren's head to perform a dive, held his nose, and jumped into the bucket, they looked inside, but only to find no sign of the strange bird.

"...Ben... did you...?" Taren asked him as he was uncertain what just happened.

"Let's just keep this to ourselves for now." Ben thought it was a good idea

Taren instantly nodded his head to go along with it. "Agreed." But still, they had the same idea that this bird could have been the one Riven mentioned and felt like he'd seen it somewhere before.

"Hey, what's taking you guys?" The two heard Timmy calling out to them while they were getting themselves ready. They positioned the buckets on opposite sides to make the goals while Bloom explained about the game.

"So we each have to gain a score while cleaning up by passing something like a ball or something to hit the goal."

"How about some soup? We need something on our feed to prevent slipping." Musa pondered this and then tossed the idea aside as Genie appeared in a referee outfit with a whistle. Genie handed them special brushes for their feet to avoid falling.

"Now, before we do this, let's go over the ground rules. Rule number one: No using mops for dirty tricks or messing someone's face the one who gets a score wins." He gives out the simple rules to the teens as the girls form a team: Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, and Mal. Tecna didn't join and decided to watch alongside Timmy. Mirta thought to watch and maybe have a go when they had the chance for another time.

Mal stood to the center with Genie and Brandon, both keeping close as the Squire knew she could be crafty sometimesfrom what Taren warned him about her.

"Ready to get your butts kicked?" Mal taunted him.

The blonde smirked. "Not if we beat you first."

Genie stood between and blew the whistle before dropping the soap between them, instantly sweeping the brushes to get it until Mal managed to snag it and slide past him and laughed with the soapy floor giving her a boost to build up speed"Too slow!"

Brandon chased after her alongside Riven to try to trap her. "Hey, Stella!" Mal called out and passed the soap with her brush to the side and blew her tongue out to them. "Thanks. Nice try boys!" She took the rules like a game and needed to keep the boys away from it. "First round goes to the Winx!" Proclaimed and determined to get a score.

Taren, Ben, and Riven were closing in on her quickly. Thinking fast, she grabbed her mop and began mopping vigorously, creating a wide, wet area before they could get too close. "Hope you enjoy a bubble bath!" she called out. She made more bubbles than ever and blew them around to confuse her pursuers. As they stumbled into the huge bubbles, they fell blind, accompanied by sounds of painful groans and mops hitting the floor.

Genie winced and watched. "Oooh, talk about a clean trick."

Already in range and struck a goal and no one was defending the goal, Stella took her chance and hit it. "Yes!"

"Two rounds to go and the Winx are already one point ahead!" Genie exclaimed.

The bubbles cleared up to reveal Ben on the floor with Riven and Taren on top of him as they tried to get up. "Can'tbelieve we fell for that," Ben muttered.

"If I knew I was gonna get a bath, I would've given this a pass." Riven wasn't so keen on the idea of doing chores.

Taren slowly stood up with the mop in his hand. "The next one will be ours!"

Starting the next round Musa takes the chance and passes it to Bloom who slipped passed and was about to get a score until Brandon snuck up. "Thanks!" The blonde chuckled and blocked her attempts to get it as he passed the soap over to Taren.

"Oh, you are so on!" She grins and chases after them as they pass it to each turn to confuse her, but Bloom starts building up the speed and almost catches it when Brandon suddenly stops and instantly passes it to Riven.

"This round goes to the boys!" Riven declares and points his thumb to his chest.

Bloom turned to them and smiled. "Not bad, you guys are getting good."

Brandon nodded. "Yeah, this is much fun."

"Next time we get the chance to visit Earth, we should introduce you to the hockey games." Taren said while they have some spare time.

Mirta, Tecna, and Timmy were having good entertainment and cheering for their respective teams, obviously, Mirta was rooting for her friend. Bloom's pet bunny, Kiko cheered for Bloom but noticed the red-pink feathered bird sitting next to the rabbit eating popcorn while watching the game without everyone knowing.

Genie appears in the middle. "Alright, this is the last round and the team with the most scores is the winner."

Musa took her turn to take it and with Ben on the opposite, now tied and want to win the game.

"Alright? Everyone set? GO!" Drops the soap and both wrestled over it with their mops until Musa managed to snare it and passed it to Stella who rushed passed them. She already got Riven and Brandon coming up and needed to pass it over."Heads up, Flora!" She passed it over to Flora who was just ahead.

Flora smiled and managed to dodge the two, slowly getting the hang of it by thinking she was skating. She took the chance to dodge them and head to the boys' goal, keeping the soap moving with her brush from what Bloom told them."Ok, here goes." She spotted Musa but was blocked by Ben and spotted Stella and Bloom ahead of Brandon, but acknowledged that someone was missing.

"Think fast!" It was quick for him to respond when Taren snuck up behind her and tried to steal it from her.

"Oh no you don't!" She intercepted his path, wearing a mocking smile at him, and forced Taren to try to get it while keeping it away until one of her teammates was open.

Ben tries to catch up but Mal blocked his path. "Not so fast, have to pass me first." Smirks at him, which he did as well, both now trying to outmaneuver the other and yet couldn't help but enjoy themselves.

Bloom was open and decided to help Flora, giving her the signal while Taren was distracted. Taren sees her and now trying to get the soap from her, however, Flora gives a strong thrust and sends it away for him to reach. But as he was about to go after it, he sees a large puddle and bubbles before Bloom and thinks she might need to slow down.

"Bloom, slow down!"

Flora noticed as well. "Look out!"

Bloom didn't understand what they meant until it was too late. "Wha- WHAAOOH!" She flailed her arms and slipped, trying to hold onto the mop to slow herself down. However, she was going too fast and spinning out of control. In her frantic attempts to regain balance, she inadvertently collided with the two who tried to help her, crashing into the soapy bubbles. Just then, Brandon caught the mop before Musa, or Mal had any chance to seize it, thanks to his team's blocking. He launched the soap straight into the girls' goal, securing a win for the game.

"YES!"

The boys earned a win, but the girls didn't seem bothered and had a lot of fun.

"Whew! I almost thought we won." Stella said, wiping her forehead with her hand when suddenly given a helping hand from Prince Sky.

"You did good there." Giving Stella his charming smile, causing the princess to stutter and blush.

"I-I-uh, yeah, it was."

"Hey, is anyone missing somewhere?" Mirta saw everyone standing up and noticed as well until Genie cleaned up the place and found it.

"Found them!" Gave a growing grin on his face to find Taren in between the two girls. Bloom groans and slowly sits up to see Flora on her with both on top of Taren, only for him to have a bucket over his head, unaware of each other blushing to be this close to a boy.

"Ugh..." Takes the bucket off to find himself in an awkward position with both of them, despite his blush as theirs he tries to think of something. "Did... someone win?"

Both were surprised and looked at each other before letting out a laugh over his response.

"Are we interrupting something?" All three turned to find Mal, Stella, and Ben with amusing expressions, causing them to stop.

Taren groaned in annoyance. "It's not what it looks like."

"Bloom slipped and we tried to help." Flora added to explain.

"And yet you guys seem a little without any injuries." While true to his point, they did seem somewhat less uncomfortable with the position, the girls seem somewhat reluctant but do not want to be any more awkward with Flora close to Taren and Bloom's growing crush. Both girls managed to get up and helped him out while he noticed his friends smirking at him and giving the 'not a word' look on his face.

"Well, at least it was fun and maybe do it again sometime but without the cleaning." Ben suggested as they started to clean up now that the place was much cleaner than it was.

"Now that's over with, what say we head to our dorm and get the party started?" Musa thought since they were probably eager for some food and dance to have fun. Both groups were eager for a party and it helped them make the chores more fun.

Genie impersonates a celebrity, Wolfman Jack as he plays the records with Musa and helps out to get the party started. "Alright, baybah! Here's a little magic comin' at ya right now! Let's see some on the dance floor!"

"Yeah!" Musa was excited to get the party started.

Genie uses his magic to levitate several CDs into the players to start up the music, alongside making snacks for them for the hard work cleaning the school. Some of the teenagers decided to relax in comfort and have some drinks, while the others enjoyed themselves dancing.

Bloom was glad everyone was having fun and knew it was a good idea to throw a party. "It went well." She told Stella, who couldn't agree more.

"You betcha! And what's more, I discovered that Prince Sky is a perfect man around the house." Taking a glance at the brunette and then back to Bloom with a smile on her face. She could not deny the fact that she was having a crush on him since they first met. And speaking of crushes, she smiles coyly at the redhead. Moving close to make a whisper to Bloom for only both of them to chat. "So? What's the deal between you and Taren?"

Hearing the question took Bloom by surprise that it made her stumble before correcting herself, looking to Stella with a shy expression of what she was talking about. "Wh-what are you talking about? Taren and I are just friends.

"Liar." Stella giggles. She knew for a fact that Bloom had developed an affection for him since they met. Stella learned much about Taren and he was not bad looking for her taste, not to mention quite the heroic type who would come someone in danger and how he defended her against the Grimm. she realised Bloom might have a crush on him and thought to play matchmaker for the two, especially how she got them into dancing together. "It's obvious that you like him, I saw how you look at him when he's not noticing, and while you two were dancing back then in the gala night, you just couldn't take your eyes off him."

Bloom didn't want to admit it, but she really started to like Taren as they spent time together, especially how he always came to her rescue. And wanting to be supportive to help him get back to his family, it was obvious that they be missing him terribly. Still feeling a little awkward after they fell on each other, especially for pulling Flora but least no one was hurt.

"But if I were you, I get the chance before someone would get the chance."

"Huh?" Bloom didn't know what she meant as Stella explains.

"Well think of it, he's handsome, brave, polite and with a legendary weapon that makes him one of a kind and hard to find these days. Not to mention appears quite the looker for the girls so maybe a competition." Stella wore a devious smiles as she adds on. "If you want him, take the chance before it's too late. You won't find anyone like him."

Bloom took a moment to think about it, she turns to give a glance at Taren while he was busy talking to Ben, causing her to smile warmly and continue dancing. But couldn't help but ponder what Stella meant by 'competition'?

Mirta sat on the bed with a glass filled with soda in her hand, watching the other teens dance and found herself comfortable around them. "Hey, you alright?" She turned around to see Taren, as she remembered, who was one of Mal's friends.

"Oh yeah, just not used to all this, but so far great." She smiles softly and takes a mouthful of her drink. "So how is it you guys met Mal? She never said much of her past." Not wanting to be rude but was curious to know about it.

Ben thought of how to answer without exposing their secret to her. "Well, we were met as students and made part of the exchange group." Giving the least truthful version as he can. "She's not much of saying anything about her history."

"Only she likes to torment others with her jokes." Taren added a sense of humor.

"Only to those I find fun and annoying." They turned to see Mal behind him with a sandwich in her hand. "Ignore him, probably his head still spinning after hitting on Bloom and Flora."

"Very funny." Taren rolled his eyes and wish she just not make him part of her jokes. But Mirta tries to prevent herself from giggling. "I'll be getting some more snacks. Hope you have fun, Mirta."

Decides to leave his spot and walks off. She gotten to know some of them, they seem very nice. Well, that Riven guy looks to be all cocky and obnoxious like the witches but not mean. Musa likes to have fun with music and gets along well with Flora and Bloom being more friendly when they make her feel welcomed while Stella also seems nice. She did give some advice on her choice of clothing as informed earlier but seems both she and Mal have an on-off friendship thing the others say it's nothing to worry about as how she and that Taren fella get along on their first meeting. If she can somehow convince others about her opinion of getting along between both sides, they don't need to hate each other, if only she could try to talk to Lucy, but she's been a little distant lately since the Trix has started to build up a reputation for being seniors.

Thinking about when the Winx told them about sneaking into Cloud Tower, she hopes the Trix don't ruin this moment or attack them not with rumors of monster sightings but wanting to be strong and brave like the heroes her parents told her about for stories when she was a little girl.While the teens were having a fun night, unaware that they'll be having a group of party crashers.

As everyone was having a good time at the party, they were unaware that a bright vortex opened up outside in the courtyard. Casually stepping through was the Cyber Lord Aqua Seneschal, his eye scanned the area and indeed no one was present until his sensors picked up several signatures from one of the dorms. This somehow complicates their plans to sneak into the school without anyone knowing and could pose a problem. A flash of purple lightning struck near him, only to change into the Trix who arrived at the same time.

Icy spotted him and nodded. "So you did show up, was wondering if you were going to or not."

Seneschal remained neutral and ignored her comment. "Though it seems we may have some... unexpected circumstances."

Uncertain what he meant until Darcy heard something, almost like music, realised what he was talking about and stepped forward. "Hey, didn't you say the school was suppose to be empty?"

The group turned to see the lights on the third floor, where the music was coming from, the Trix were thinking of flying over until Seneschal brought his hand up to stop them. "Wait. They might see you and I have brought drones with me for extra eyes." Summoning a small drone hovering around them and giving the command to investigate, small and unnoticeable for them to slip passed. Move closer to the window without being spotted and find the Winx, Keyblade wielders, and the Specialists in the dorm rooms having a party, drinking, and having fun. Oblivious to what is going on outside and remain hiding from their sight.

"It is the Winx, along with the Keybladers and Specialists."

Icy didn't like the sound of it but feels a strong source of magic close while her sisters have other ideas.

"Too risky with that many people around, let's go back to Cloud Tower." Darcy suggested but Icy stopped her while in thought.

"No, sisters! I have this feeling... Let's conjure up the vacuums... I feel that the energy we're looking for is somewhere in the school, hidden in something perhaps." She explained, uncertain where the source of the power but it was somewhere in the school.

"And using the Vacuums to find the strongest source of magical energies. But to do so we must keep our enemies distracted while Vacuums search for the Flame." Seneschal suggested which could work in their favor, creating a plan to keep their enemies distracted for the Trixt to find it.

"Alright, sisters prepare for the conjuring." The Trix moved into a triangle position, using their magic to create three bottle-shaped crystals, each different but sharing a color such as blue, purple, and red by the Trix, swirl designs wrapped around the crystals. They connected each other with purple energy in a triangle formation like the witches after the conjuring was complete.

"The Vacuums will take us to the source." Icy said but heard Stormy bringing up something else that could be a concern.

"But... the Winx and the Keybladers?"

"That's where Seneschal comes in, Stormy to keep them busy." Darcy told her.

The Cyber Lord nodded in agreement. "Correct, though perhaps it is best to keep them separated from each other. Small numbers will surely be in favor of the Grimm."

"Not to worry, I got an idea that could give them a helping hand to take care of them for good," Icy says, leading the group into the building to sneak in and could wish she do it personally but had the mission in mind. They entered the main hall and found it the perfect place for them to summon up a small force to deal with the students, they watched Seneschal pull out a small device in his hand with the same type of crystal they use to summon and control the Grimm.

"Stand back." He told them before summoning a small pack of Beowolves. They looked about and snarled until the Cyber Lord commanded them to be silent from giving away their presence "They shall cause a distraction to the Keybladers,and perhaps the Specialists in training."

Icy nodded to him and was ready fro her turn. "Alright, now its our turn. Are you ready?" Asked the witches who nodded and held each other's hands to cast a spell to summon their own creature.

"Elevat onum in abbat. Ercat sorennum. Inya re sabat. Alfea devastat in lamine et piantum!"

A swirling vortex opens up within the centre of the trio and came out of it was a large minotaur-like beast rose from the floor, like the creature of ancient Greek myths, it had the body of a man and the legs and head of the bull, a large pair of horns, dark blue skin with four powerful arms with wristbands and a red mane. "Sisters, Seneshal, I present to you the Whip."

The creature named the Whip snarled, stood beside them until it noticed the Grimm, and let out another snarl as if it seesthem as rivals, the Beowolves possible felt the same but halted to obey their masters.

Seneschal was impressed by their summoning of a powerful creature, which may not be a match for the keyblade wielders but to others, the Grimm could make a difference. "Most intriguing. Now to begin our plans"

Back in Winx's dorm room, the party seems to have come to an end, much to everyone's disappointment with the teachers and the rest of the school to be back soon.

"Well, guess it's seems the party's over I guess." Mirta had somewhat hoped to last a little longer but did had fun.

Bloom nodded and had the same idea. "Yeah, it's too bad the party can't go on forever."

"Maybe not forever but I was hoping it would go on at least until morning." Sky said.

Taren grins and liking the sound of it since its been awhile that they had fun and not think about their mission about Grimm, bad guys and stuff. "Yeah, wish we could."

Ben chuckled but hated to ruin the moment. "But knowing Macbeth, he'd rather we be in top shape than party a lot."

"That's true, but as long as we keep the place tidy!" Flora said and turned to Mirta. "I hope you had a good time, Mirta."

"It was great, hoping next time to hang out." She smiled back at them and glad to have come along with Mal, feeling much better after being bullied by the Trix. Suddenly she heard a faint rumbling noise and looked out the window. "Hey, did you hear that?"

Stella looked to the prince once she heard it too. "Um, is that your stomach rumbling? You want to eat something?" Offering him a sandwich.

"No. But, kinda thirsty." Brandon said after declining the food and held out his cup for her to fill but suddenly felt the floor shaking.

Stella noticed and thought something was off with him. "Your Highness, are you nervous?" She started to feel the tremors getting bigger, spilling over his hand by accident.

"U-u-u, per-fectly clam it's the school that's shaking!" Brandon exclaimed and this time everyone felt it.

"Ok, nobody told me there be earthquake in Magix." Genie said and pulled out a guidebook to look into.

Flora opened the main doors to find out. "It's coming from inside!"

"No way, that felt like something coming from outside." Taren could tell something wasn't right and felt something a moment ago. Most of the group stepped out on the balcony to check it out.

"M-maybe one of the classmates left the TV on too loud." Stella thought.

"It must be really big with speakers to do that shaking." Mirta said, doubting that a TV could do all the shaking but then felt them stop. Mal agreed with her on that where as she can feel strong magic coming from the school, someone or something was here.

"See? It stopped." But seems Stella was proven wrong when something was thrown out the top window on the other side of the school. "Or...or maybe not." Stella started to doubt herself and shaking with fear, and not the only one with Bloom and Flora beside her.

The Specialists called for their wind riders while Genie could easily teleport the others to where the destruction happened. They find the place a mess with cracks, large debris, and possibly marks that made them by a large beast.

"What kind of creature could do this kind of damage?" Timmy pondered while trying to examine the area for clues butTecna found something on the walls.

"A big, heavy creature."

"Oh golly, I never would've guessed(!)" Riven replied in a sarcastic and unimpressed tone but she seemed to ignore the remark.

Turned to Riven to give her response. "It's two and a half meters tall and weighs close to a ton, its fur is bristly and has horns, and multiple clawed arms. It also has a musky odor. Now, is that better?"

Stella couldn't help but laugh and smile. "Hahah, way to go, Tec-Whoooh!" Suddenly the shaking happened and spooked her.

Brandon and Taren knew something was close by and big to make the ground shake. "Ok, that was it!"

"Yeah, that came from the big hole in there." Taren agreed with him on that.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" The prince was ready for action, bringing out their phantoblades before going further.

"Wait for us, we're coming with you." Bloom wanted to help but was stopped by Riven.

"Stay where you are, little fairies. This isn't a job for you."

Mal glared at him along with Musa. Riven didn't know what was the music fairy's problem and left them. "Um, did he forget they CAN'T use magic? It is a bad idea to leave them vulnerable."

"She's right, maybe be a good idea for some of us to stick with the Winx in case there are more." Taren said and not likingto leave them in danger, but couldn't leave the Specialists on their own in case it might be the Trix or Tesserect around.

"Hey, I can use my illusion magic to keep us hidden from whatever's out here, I may be a witch but that doesn't mean I can't help." Mirta thought and maybe be of some help.

"You sure about that?" Mal was a little uncertain to put her at risk, especially if she knew of their secret.

"We got no choice, me and you will have to go after the guys in case it be Grimm, Taren you stick with the Winx with Genie and Mirta being the only ones to do magic apart from us."

Tecna nodded and found it reasonable. "That sounds logical."

Genie changed into a knight with a sword in his hand. "As knights of the Round, no harm shall come to the fair maidens."

"Ok, best of luck to you." Bloom said before they split up to find the beast in a different direction, running through the hall with their knowing around the place.

"You guys know where we going?" Mirta asked to keep up with them.

"Don't worry, just follow us and look out for anything." Musa told her.

But the group was unaware they were being followed by the Trix's Vacuums that were leading them to the source of the Flame. They stopped and uncertain what was going on.

"That's odd, the Vacuums stopped." Icy was curious about what was going on but decided to check on their partner. "Seneschal, it's Icy anything on your end?" Speaking through their phone to contact him.

"Just as I had predicted, the Specialists have separated from the others but appears two of the wielders are with them. The Winx have yet to be found."

"Well, if the Whip doesn't get them, the Grimm sure will." Darcy smiled with a devious look on her face just thinking of the trouble those brats will be in.

Meanwhile the Specialists alongside Ben and Mal who caught up with them followed the carnage left by the monster, entering a classroom that was pitch dark for them to see.

"Seems we need to make some light around here." Mal suggested.

Brandon nodded and thought it was a good idea. "Yeah, Timmy why don't you give us some light?"

"Sure thing." He managed to bring some light into the room using one of his gadgets to help. Lighten up the room and revealed more damage than the rest, but what caught their attention was the huge hole in the roof which could be where the beast might have made to escape.

"It went up that way. Let's go" Brandon told them, leading the group to climb up.

Ben followed but something didn't seem right to him, his ears picked up something, a faint snarl... and yet familiar. "Guys wait." He called out to them before they could take another step.

Brandon was confused and turned to Ben. "What's the matter?"

"Do you see something up there?" Narrowed his eyes to try getting a good look, he could clearly see something moving and more then one by the look of it until he noticed familiar glowing eyes. But now he heard a low growl that came from behind them, the prince turned and gasped.

"RIVEN LOOK OUT!"

Riven didn't know what until it was too late when the first thing he saw was a great big lycanthrope with black fur and bone-white armor lept towards him with its jaws ready to tear him apart. It pounced on him to the floor but he quickly grabbed its jaws with his hands before it could sink them to his head.

"Riven!" Brandon cried out in alarm to not see it coming.

The sword-wielding Specialist grunts, using much of his strength to keep this monster from getting too close. "No way... you having me... for dinner!" He was having a hard time and could not reach for his blade to skewer this beast while his hands full at the same time. But luck was on his side when the Grimm was attacked from the side, throwing the beast off him towards the wall hard with Timmy's gun and Mal's keyblade.

Brandon and Ben ran towards him to help him up. "You okay?" The squire asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But what the hell was that?" Riven grunted and dusted himself off, no scratches so far on his body.

"A Beowolf. A wolf-type of Grimm we fought on our arrival." Ben answered seeing the Grimm stagger from a surprise attack.

"So another Grimm? But this one couldn't have done all this on its own." Brandon thought, holding his weapon close.

"Which means there are more then one here." Timmy remembered what Macbeth told them about the Grimm come in various shape and form, it bears the resemblance to a Lycan or werewolf, and some could come in packs.

"They must've been waiting for us up there to make an ambush." Sky concluded.

"Very perspective." Everyone turned in the direction to the end of the room and found a strange being with a single eye and wearing a high-tech suit. "It appears I need to step up my plans more."

"And you are?" Mal asked, she felt something about him wasn't right and her instincts were telling her to be on guard.

Brings out his hand to his chest to answer her question. "One of many foes you will face in the coming battles, my dear." Crawling out of the hole were more Beowolves, jumping through the roof and landing around them.

"Then you must be working with Tezzeret and the Trix then." Ben stated and knew he was right if this person was able to control the Grimm.

"Correct and according to my scans on the Winx, they are without magic and therefore, vulnerable to our attacks." The group gasped and realized he was on to what happened, but so long as Taren and Genie were with them, the girls were safe. "Grimm. Dispose of these... sub-forms." Giving the command, the Beowolves snarled, eager to sink their claws and fangs into their prey.

"Oh, that's it! No more Miss Nice Witch when I break you into pieces, one eye!" Mal retorted and pointed her keyblade at him.

"First time we agree on something." Riven stood ready to fight and not let some alien Cyclops insult them. "Now this is my kind of party."

The others grouped up when they all ganged up on them using their numbers to their advantage, keeping the Grimm away with their weapons, and helping each other out. Brandon held his shield up clobbered one of the Beowolves in the face and skewered the second through the rips. Riven ran straight to them instead, swinging his blade at them but it caught it using its teeth. Riven would take it by chance and yanked it back to throw a punch in its face, knocking it back to lose a grip and allowing him the chance to slice the upper jaw clean off.

Smiles in victorious of his plan worked. "They ain't so tough." Unaware of another Beowolf stood behind him, noticing too late when it was about to throw its claw down on him when it was showered by multiple bolts and fell to the ground.The one who shot it was Timmy holding his advance-looking gun.

Sky jumped over the coming Grimm and slashed his sword across its back, staggering it and thrust it through to finish it off. "Might wanna stay focused, Riven." He said and nodded to Timmy for saving his teammate. The brunette was worried for the girls, especially Stella that could be in danger.

Riven didn't appreciate it and glared at him. "I didn't ask for your help, just go help your prince."

Mal and Ben teamed up to take on the biggest and meanest looking Beowolf of the pack, using its clawed fists to clash with their keyblades until Ben threw a roundhouse kick to the side. The Grimm groaned and turned to the prince, growling but then felt something coiling around its legs. It realized there were growing vines as they reached up to the waist to prevent its escape, allowing them to finish it off.

"Ben."

"Got it!" He nodded and lept towards it with Mal beside him, both simultaneously slashed their keyblades diagonally through its chest. The Beowolf remained still and then evaporated. He sighed and was glad none of them were hurt before he turned to Mal. "That was great, you really starting to get better."

Mal took it as a compliment. "Well, learned something new and weren't so bad yourself."

"Everyone okay?" Sky asked to be sure.

Timmy nodded. "No bones broken. But, I'm afraid our 'guest' decided to leave." He said and everyone realized Seneschal was nowhere in sight.

"He must've used them as a distraction. We gotta warn the girls." Brandon said and knowing Taren will need help.

Mal used her phone to call them but received static and was unable to reach them. "Ugh, no signal."

The others checked theirs and strangely it was the same thing. "This can't be a coincidence, that thing must've done something to block the signals." Timmy theorised and tries to get it working.

"Won't have time, they could be in danger right now." Ben told them and headed off to find them before it was too late. But they were unaware that Seneschal had not even left the room, only to use a cloaking device to hide his presence. Although he suspected they would succeed, it did provide him with knowledge about the Specialists and perhaps use it in their favor. It was decided to leave and allow the Trix to complete their part of the mission If  they succeed.

The girls including Taren, Genie and Mirta searched the other part of the school and so far no sign of anything.

"Nothing. Maybe it went away." Bloom suggested in hope while having no magic to defend themselves.

"Maybe it was just a wild animal." Flora thought.

Taren didn't seem to believe it. "I dunno, Flora, something's not right about this."

They noticed Mirta with her phone and getting scrambled signals. "Yeah, my phone's got no signal. It was fine a minute ago."

Tecna was curious about it and took a look at it. "Let me see." Mirta handed it over to her and find out what she could find. "Hmm, that's odd. Everything seems fine with it but no signal is coming through."

"That's real comforting, what if something comes after us." Stella was a little shaken up by the idea.

Genie decided to try cheering them up. "Nothing to worry about, me and T will take care of anything dangerous with my cosmic powers and his ke-uuh...keen skills of survival! That's it, the kids had a special course to deal with these moments back home." Almost slipped the secret to Mirta who was unaware. Puzzled by what he was going to say but let it go and moved on.

Flora walked beside her and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing, probably the way he acts." Secretly giving a glance to Bloom and Stella, nudging her head to Taren.

Nodding her head and thinking the same thing but not sure how Mirta will handle it. "Stella, I think maybe she deserves to know the truth before something happens."

Stella nodded and whispered back. "True, but somehow I doubt Taren will be willing since it's meant to be top secret."

Bloom sighed and knew she was right, plus Mirta spoke highly of Mal like a true friend, she'd hate to ruin the friendship they have if something bad happens. She sees Musa taking the lead when she suddenly bumps into something.

"What the?" She steps back to notice something in the way. "Hang on! There never used to be a wall in this corridor.

Mirta noticed it was moving and made her nervous and feels she should move away from it fast. "Uh, I don't think that's a wall."

"And walls don't have horns." Taren added when they noticed it turned and revealed it to be the Whip summoned by the Trix. The Whip let out a loud roar, leading to spit landing on Stella's face, much to her disgust.

"EWW! That is totally disgusting! UGH! You are so gonna get it!" The princess screamed out of frustration, eager to teach the monster a lesson. But there was one problem.

"Uh, Stella, didn't you say you got no magic?" Taren reminded her of the problem, causing Stella to smile and chuckle weakly upon realizing it.

"Eh, right, what I meant to say is YOU deal with it." She slowly backs away and decides to let Taren and Genie take the fight instead. Before they could do anything the Whip stopped and saw many bugs flying around it, trying to swat them as if they were annoying the beast.

"Huh?" Everyone turned to find Mirta casting her magic to distract the monster.

"Sorry but thought maybe a better plan to find the others?" Mirta suggested not sure how long she could hold it up

Taren nodded and thought it didn't seem like a bad idea. "Sounds good to me. Run!" Giving the word the group wasted no time thanks to Mirta's help.

But by the time she lost control it started to chase after them. Running through the corridors to outrun it, taking the stairs to the next floor in hopes to buy time for a plan. Taren was right behind them along with Mirta when they see Flora tripped over and slowly getting up again, came to her side to help. "Come on!" Grabbing her wrist but careful to avoid pulling her too hard.

Thinking this be far enough for them and taking a stands. "You guys find the others, I'll take care of the guest."

Flora looked at him in worry. "Are you sure?" But knowing he made up his mind and did deal with larger beats such as the Grimm.

"Not to worry, Genie will help I got some ideas." Not caring if Mirta will learn and will explain later as he summons the Light's Rebellion for combat.

The witch sees it for the first time and can't believe what it is. "Wha-is that-"

"We'll explain later, Mirta but trust me he can handle it." Bloom said to him and glanced at him. "Be careful." Shewhispered and the Winx head off for cover. While doing so Genie built a wall made up of bricks to block it's path or slow it down.

"Those are some fine bricks, not even the Big Bad Wolf could blow them down." Genie said with confident.

"Yeah, but could it deal with a four-armed Minotaur?' Taren pointed out, which seemed to have slipped Genie's thoughts when he suddenly realized it.

He didn't need to answer that when the Whip punched through it easily, along with its strong hooves to kick the debris. It looked for any of the girls until spotted two males that were with them, one suddenly dressed as a bullfighter flapping a red cape.

"Taro! Taro!" Genie spoke with a Spanish accent, this time Taren joined him with his jacket to do the same.

"Come on, you a bull or a chicken?" Taunted the beast and hoped this idea of his works.

Flaring its nostrils, just like any other bull it prepared itself for the assault with the horns out front and fists against the floor. Charging towards its targets at full speed to strike.

"Steady. Steady... " Genie said and when the Whip was close they lept to the sides and let out "OLE!" Flapped the cape and made it rammed against the walls thanks to the sharp horns, but not before Taren delivered a horizontal strike across the side to wound it, causing the Whip to roar in pain and anger.

Tecna came out to check and let out a sigh of relief. "Nice job."

"Can't believe that worked." Taren got himself up and breathed easily with the creature subdued and ready to finish the job done, but curious of who or what sent this thing as it wasn't a Grimm but certainly magical.

Stella walked close to it with her hands on her hips. "Look at him, he's struggling and sweaty, he really stinks too."

Taren arched an eyebrow at her statement. "Not sure how that helps, but at least we caught it."

Genie decided to give a smell to find out if she was right and flinched after getting a whiff of it. "Pee you!" Puts a peg on his nose. "Don't know where he's been but obviously never heard of a shower."

Stella smiled and had something to help. "Not to worry. This will help." Pulls out a can of perfume some were confused about where she got it but watched her ready to spray it, only to make it more aggressive than ever once freed.

"Great, Stella! You made him even more angry!" Tecna exclaimed and could see it looking at them for another round.

The Whip chased after them through the corridors, but Genie appeared with a stop sign to pull and blew a whistle. "Stop! In the name of the law!" Stood there thinking it would work, but the Whip made no attempts to stop and sent him flying straight over the teens.

Musa looked behind her shoulder and saw the Whip closing in on her first. Decided to do something to help rather than let be some damsel, she jumped to the side of the wall using acrobat skills and was able to push the Whip downwards on its head, giving Taren the chance and do the same but threw a high kick into the furred chin.

The Whip ceased its pursuit and focused on the two that attacked it, starting with the fairy by throwing a strong punch while she was in mid-air.

"Musa!" Taren shouted and glared at the monster for attacking his friends. But stopped to see someone catch her in time.Revealed to be Riven along with the Specialists and his friends.

"That's it you beast, you asked for it!" Riven said, gently putting the recovering Musa on her feet.

"Sorry we were late, but had some pest problem." Mal said with her keyblade out, which didn't go noticed to Mirta who saw it just like Taren's but different, especially Ben's too.

"Girls, you can sit back and relax. We'll put him through the wringer!" Riven said.

Mal's eyebrow twitched and not liking the way he talked that way. "Um, better rephrase that smart mouth! Cuz no way I'm letting you have all the fun."

"Fine but stay out of my way, 'cause now I'm about to finish this party crasher." Riven engages in battle with the Whip, slashing his sword against it but receiving no damage to it. Lashed out at him but Riven jumped back to keep clear of the fist.

"It won't work, we need to work as a team." Brandon told him.

"I'm with Brandon on this, my keyblade hasn't done much work on him so far." Taren agreed while behind it, using a thunder strike to hit it from behind causing it to roar out in anger, and tried to swipe him but kept moving to distract it. "Remember what Macbeth said, we have to work as a team!"

Riven scuffed at their advice and more on the action. "Just worry about your prince, pageboy, and same to you keyboy."

Charged in with the Specialists to join the fight, Ben and Mal were about to help when Riven took the hard punch and was sent straight to a glass window in another room. "Oh, that's gonna hurt," Mal mumbled but thought he should have been more focus on the battle then his own ego. She slipped past it while focusing on the guys to check on the girls. "You alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But we got to do something to help" Flora said.

Mal hummed and stroked her chin to think of something. "There's gotta be a way." Tapping her keyblade softly on the floor while thinking, they can't hold it off forever so a spell will need to do with it.

"Maybe this could help?" They heard Mirta who was carrying some brushes while Stella was holding a few buckets.

"Look what we found?" Stella said with a smile and gave Bloom an idea.

Ben lashed out an Aero Strike against it, dodging a fist and used a reflect spell to protect himself, giving helped the prince and squire with Taren coming to their aide. "Remember the spar with Macbeth? We need to work together to outsmart it."

Sky was a little beat up but understood what he meant. "You're right, one thing for sure is this guy ain't Macbeth. Need something to distract it for an opening."

Taren nodded and noticed the girls were up to something, Bloom nodded to him with a smile. Nodded back and looked up at it. "Hey, big ugly! Yeah, you! I bet your brain so small, you can't even count to four!"

The Whip turned to Taren and glared at the magenta-haired teen.

"Taren, what are you doing?" Brandon asked him.

"Giving us time for an opening." Taren took a moment to focus and rushed towards it, dodging the stomping hooves and sliding under. Jumping on its back slashed his keyblade down across its back, knowing a single strike wouldn't hurt it much but enough to annoy and distract it.

Ben caught on to what he was doing, along with the Winx using some tools they had for something special and smirked along with the others. "It's working." Using some of his to strike it onto the legs while Timmy short some lights to blind it for a few seconds.

"Whatever the girls are planning, better work."

Mal whistles to it for her turn of the plan. "Yoohoo! Big, blue, and muscles, come and get me~" Waving her hand nervously, hoping it worked as the beat noticed her too and chased after her. 'Bloom, this better work for your sake!' She mentally groaned at being the bait and stood where she was for him to see.

"Mal! Get out of there!" Ben called out for her, until she sank into the shadow under her feet, causing the Whip to run straight past her.

"Now!" Bloom gave the signal and they drenched the floor with soap and water, causing the Whip to slip on it and going so fast it fell straight into the courtroom, unconscious.

The group followed it down to find the beast not moving, much to everyone's relief.

"Damn, this thing is big." Taren said in amazement after getting a closer look at it.

Flora shivered in fear of it. "You certain it's not moving!"

Taren pokes it with his blade to confirm and hear it breathing. "Not dead, for certain."

"I almost had him." Riven said.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Just be glad we took care of the problem." Making sure it won't cause more damage she summons a few vines to wrap it up by the hooves and arms together to prevent its escape. "There."

Mirta watched in awe of seeing her use her magic and didn't miss the part where she just vanished into the shadow like a ghost, so much to ask her when Bloom spoke out.

"What I want to know is where did the creature come from?"

"Well it turns out, this guy wasn't the only one who was here. We ran into a pack of Grimm." Timmy replied.

"Grimm? They couldn't possibly come here by themselves and paired up with this thing." Tecna thought and knew who sent them.

"That means Tezzeret was here." Taren narrowed his eyes at the creature.

Stella nodded. "And possibly a gift left by the no-good Trix'R'us company."

"I'm starting to think this was a big distraction, whatever they came here for can't be good." Mal said.

"She's right." Bloom agreed with her and had an idea after learning much about the school during her stay. "Let's go to Faragonda's office. I know that with her crystal ball, she can keep watch over pretty much the whole school."

Some of the Winx weren't so sure about it and had no interest in getting into further trouble than they are now. "But that wouldn't be right! We can't go into Faragonda's office if she isn't in there!" Much as Flora wanted to but was too nervous about breaking the rules.

Tecna had to agree in reluctance. "That's true. It's strictly against the rules."

"Rules are made to be broken at times and we won't know what they're after if we don't do anything." Mal told her since she wasn't much of a person to follow them all the time. "I'm with Bloom, even if the rules are for everyone's own good its better then not doing anything." Looking at everyone who seem to agree but then realised someone was missing. "Uh, anyone seen Genie?"

"Found him." Brandon pointed up to see a pair of blue legs sticking out of the wall, which slipped passed them in a funny way.

"Hey, Genie? You okay?" Taren called to check on him after getting knocked out by the Minotaur.

"Oh, I'm just dandy, just now concludes the story of how we found the fairies. Next week, I'll tell ya about Goldilocks and the three excruciating head impacts."

Musa sighed and rolls her eyes. "Well, I think it's safe to say he's fine."

Not wanting to wait another moment, while Genie was recovering from a minor injury for him. They made their way to the Headmistress' office, so far everything seems quiet and no lights about and maybe catch the Trix by surprise.

"There's someone in here." Riven alerted them.

Mal turned to Mirta knowing she can't be seen with them for her safety. "Mirta, you better find a place to hide. Can't let them see you."

She nodded and had the same idea. "No kiddin." Much as she wanted to help, but was no match against the Trix and still afraid of facing them in Cloud Tower. But decided to help give them cover and wait for the Trix to arrive with a bright shining orb. They looked about and followed it until they stopped."

"Hmm, this is odd." Icy said. "The vacuum clearly indicates that the power of the Dragon is hidden in this room but I don't see anything."

'So they are looking for the flame.' Taren thought but curious to know why they came here, could Faragonda know something about it? But remembering what the Fates said a while ago, what was it they said?

Icy narrowed her eyes and was frustrated to not find it easier without their ally who was possibly busy with the others. "I guess we'll just have to trash the place and search every nook and cranny until we find what we want-"

"We won't let you!" The startled Trix discover the Winx, Specialists, and Keyblade Wielders right before them. Icy growls and Bloom jumps onto the desk. Icy gasps and Riven turns on the light and laughs triumphantly.

"What are you doing here?" Icy asked out of frustration.

Bloom glared at her and was just about to ask. "No. What are YOU doing here?"

"That's what I was going to ask you all."

Everyone was startled to find Faragonda walking in her office, alongside Macbeth who followed her. "Until a moment ago, this was my office."

"And perhaps you like to explain why you're on her desk, young lady?" Macbeth asked her with his arms crossed as he saw the Trix for the first time. His hard gaze caused the witches to flinch.

Bloom quickly jumps off the desk and tries to explain to the teachers of what happened. "Well, you might not believe this but we can explain."

"Better come up with a good excuse." Taren taunted them while Mal snickered and stuck a tongue out to them to further annoy them.

The Specialists were getting their things together once the Whip was secured in a bubble, ready to head off after they said their goodbyes to the Winx.

"Everything's set, the Whip won't be going nowhere," Brandon said after checking the containment. "How's Genie? He's gonna be fine?"

Taren chuckled and smirked. "He's taken more hits than any normal person can."

"No worries, pal." Genie grinned and was in good shape after recovering from his injury. "Say, remind me to tell you guys about my adventures back in Agrabah."

Brandon gave a grin at Taren. "Listen, we'll give ya a moment before we head off." Genie noticed and waved to him with a wink to the confused Taren.

"Hey." He turns around to see the Bloom smiling at him, holding her hands behind her and barely able to look at him without flushing. "Listen, thanks for everything, Taren. Even if it didn't turn out as I hoped."

Taren responded with a nervous laugh and scratches the back of his head. "No worries, it was lot of fun. Aside from the monster chase. And you girls really did great without your powers."

Hearing his words made Bloom feel happy and yet flustered by his praise for her, she suddenly thought back about what Stella said. But surely she only thought of him as a friend, at least that's what she keeps telling herself.

They smiled and then saw the prince gave the surprised Stella a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, that's probably something unexpected." Taren said, causing Bloom to giggle and thought of teasing her in the future for payback.

Not aware to either of the two, Flora gazed at them, mainly towards Taren with a soft smile, but something made her feel a little odd inside and wanted to thank him for saving her but, yet she was too nervous to approach him, it would make things somewhat awkward if she came up with these strange moments. Especially after that accident in the game and also with Bloom becoming more interested in the keybearer. "Hey, something the matter?" Snapped out of her gaze andlooked to see Mal with Mirta coming up to her while the Trix were still inside to be brought out.

"Wha? Oh, no nothing's the matter. Just thought it was an interesting night. And really sorry how it turned out for you, Mirta." Flora apologizes to her and feels pity for Mal to answer what is going on.

Mal sighed and was uncertain what she would think. "Listen, I'm sorry I didn't say anything. But the thing is no one can't know about me being a-"

"Are you kidding? It was awesome how you guys used those weapons! I mean, sure I was a little annoyed that you kept something like this, but I can see why." Mirta told them with a smile, making them happy to hear. "And I actually thought you were cool facing that monster, Mal." She turned to Flora to say something. "Maybe next time we hang out be someplace without being chased about. Like a cafe or some shops. Deal?"

"Deal." Flora nodded and mutually agreed as she was happy Mirta was not angry or upset as she liked to maybe spent time with her. "Looking forward to seeing you again, Mirta."

"Yeah, and uh, next time you have a party - don't bother to invite me, alright?" Hearing Riven's remark shocked the girls and huffed when he left, much to their relief.

Mirta huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, couldn't believe he said that after the effort they had made. "A 'thanks' would've been nice. Geez, I can see why you think he's a pain."

"No kidding." Mal agreed, felt Kiko on her shoulder with the crossed Genie beside them when Bloom's pet bunny gave his reply by blowing a raspberry.

"Kiko! Show a little respect! Riven can't help it if he's mean, pig-headed, and OBNOXIOUS, AND CRUEL-" Genie suddenly switched to a more casual tone after briefly raising his voice as he saw no point to it. "ahh, go ahead and rasp him."

Kiko again blew a raspberry sound. "I'm with him, though not sure what Musa sees in him." Mal whispered, causing Mirta and Flora to chuckle.

"Then what about you and Ben?"

Hearing this statement caught her off guard when Mirta suddenly remembered something. "Oh, yeah, I thought his name sounded familiar. Didn't you say he was a prince-"

Mal panicked and clasped her mouth with her hand before she could finish the sentence and laughed nervously. "Of course, he's a prince! Yeah, but look at the time! Webettergonowniceseeingya!" Making a quick leave and pushing the surprised Mirta in front to make their leave with Genie catching up to the others. But didn't go unnoticed by the amused Musa and Flora who had a pretty good idea.

Once they were gone, Macbeth and the head teachers brought the Trix. "Griselda, remind me to send a letter to Director Saladin of thanks for the help his students gave us. And as for you three young witches in training, I will immediately take the matter up with Director Griffin." Giving her statement about the witches on their actions. "Your behavior here this evening was totally unacceptable. Tomorrow morning, she will receive from me a formal complaint. I have never seen such a total lack of respect! I trust that you will be disciplined accordingly. Goodbye, girls." Snaps her fingers and sends them back to Cloud Tower to receive their punishment. Now the three turned their attentions to the remaining group.

The Winx were glad they were gone, but not out of the woods yet when Griselda spoke up. "And now... it's your time."

The Winx stood before Faragonda and Macbeth to await her response to them after the incident. "Now... I've looked at the situation as a whole. And so, I will not reprimand you" Faragonda said. Seeing the relieved expressions on their faces to not be punished. "This evening's events have shown that you can handle difficult situations intelligently, creatively, and without magic. And so, I will give you back your powers. Your punishment has lasted long enough." The headmistress smiles and snaps her fingers. Girls' powers are returned to them. After the girls had left the office.

Macbeth smiled and glad to see things go well for them, before making his leave for Red Fountain there were important matters to deal with. "With the sudden news of another foe, this worries me for the students. It was plain obvious the Trix were after the Dragon's Flame."

Fargonda nodded upon the news. "Yes, but what would they have found in my office? I made certain nothing important could be found." Pulling out the crystal ball to show them the image of the mysterious being the Specialists and keybladers encountered puzzled them. "I feel we may need to contact Yen Sid of the recent development. While they have shown working together better, but there are trials to be tested of their bonds if they are to overcome any challenges."

"Indeed. We must find the Flame before it is too late. I will have to make my leave to inform Saladin about this, I hope Griffin knows what she be doing to keep those Trix from getting further involved." Macbeth said.

"We were so close and those brats beat us! AGAIN!" Icy screeched in anger, not only being beaten but facing punishment from her headmistress too along with her sisters. Contacting Tezzeret about the update while he was receiving some updates on his cybernetics.

"Yet now we know it is within Alfea somewhere. But no doubt the remaining Company of Light and Keyblade allies will be more determined to find it before us." Watching the footage of the students working together, fighting off the beasts and Grimm. "They are getting better, and stronger and will use that against us unless we have something against them." Clutching his metallic clawed hand his right eye glowed bright red.

"They're supposed to be newbies at this and yet they keep beating us! How are we supposed to beat them if those damn Key-losers keep helping them and the hero wannabes?" Hearing Stormy's whining and complaints would've annoyed the others until Seneschal took the

"Perhaps we may have a solution." Seneschal stood beside Tezzeret to receive the audience. "Perhaps we could use someone from within our course. To be our eyes and ears."

Now intrigued, Tezzeret became more interested in hearing more about this. "You sound as if you already found one in mind."

The Cyber Lord nodded and brought the image of Riven. "This male is so far the most aggressive and less social among his team. Eager for action and glory, does not trust the others nor the Keyblade Wielders."

"Seneschal's right! When we found him, I could feel some force of darkness within him, almost at the level of a prince of darkness." Darcy supported the idea.

Stormy didn't seem to think so. "I think he's just another average Joe idiot, a waste of time. Besides, if he knows of us it won't work"

"Unless we have something in mind to make him work for us." Icy suggested and smiled. "I think he could be useful to us indeed. But not yet when it feels right. What do you think?"

Giving time to think in silence and stroked his bearded chin and slowly gave a small smile on his face. "I think we have an agreement. And one thing, did you say you met a mentor by the name of... Macbeth?"

"Yeah, old guy with a thick accent from someplace. Looks tough as well and heard he started working in Red Fountain the same day those keybladers showed up. You know him?" Darcy asked him as they could see him chuckling softly with a smile.

"Oh... very, he and I go back a long, long time."

Destiny Islands

It was getting dark as the sky was dark orange, Sora decided to make his way to the Secret Place he used to go to with his friends since their childhood. Bringing back fond memories of when they made drawings on the walls, and one that brought a smile to his face of a picture of him and Kairi sharing a Paopa fruit as kids. So many crazy and bizarre adventures they took, even after the war against Xehanort was over it hardly seemed to have stopped them from carrying on to be heroes.

He remembered it was in this cave that he proposed to Kairi for her hand in marriage, which was funny how she tackled him to the ground in joy. The keyhole was still there but this time some protection was sewn over it so that only a keyblade would activate it for precautions. Kneels down and softly runs his fingers across, a lot of things have happened over the years.

"Thought I find you here." Sora turned and noticed Kairi behind him.

"Kairi? Shouldn't you be at home with Hana?" He asked her.

"She's asleep with Riku looking after her and thought to check up on you." She made her way towards Sora, reaching out towards him with her hand stroking his cheek

"Just thinking of so much has happened in our lives, especially the days when we were just kids." Sora remembered how everything changed when they started going on adventures and fighting to save the world.

"Yeah, but after the Keyblade War things began to settle, which I was glad. Well apart from searching your butt for saving me."

Sora chuckled and pulled her in his arms. "Hey, you know the moment you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me after sharing that fruit."

She smirked and pulled him for a kiss on the lips. "And I would never regret it, the day you brought me here to propose and then have a family with you. Sora Strife." Indeed as the name he shared with Cloud when in fact they were cousins when separated, much to everyone's surprise Aerith found out through her feelings for him. Sora found out that Cloud was watching over him in a promise to his late father should anything happen but didn't see him due to keeping his enemies from knowing. Some speculated why the two had some similar traits and now know the reason, Sora was happy to know he had cousins and accepted the name.

Kairi smiled for a moment and sighed, burying her face into his chest. "I really miss him, I just hope nothing bad happens."

"I know, we'll see him soon when we get there to help. After all, he's not alone and I'm certain he's missing us too. He's got some of it from us."

She looked up at him with a face that told she was not amused. "Or more of you, and if he does do something similar to how you rescued me, twice. He's grounded for life. Got it?"

Sora nervously smiled and remembered when they reunited after using the Awakening she said she would never let him leave her sight, and even began to scare him at times whenever she gets mad. "Oh come on, I'm certain it won't be like those times since we're not dealing with Heartless anymore." Calming her down sits down by the stone next to the door while Kairi was rubbing her eyes when feeling a little tired. "Anyway, I spoke to Yen Sid, and he told me the Company of Light will be close to-WAHHH!"

Kairi blinked and puzzled by his words. "Close to Wah? Sora, are you sure your head is in not in the clouds aga-" Turning around to find her husband vanished and a large door-sized hole appeared by the wall. "Sora? What happened? Where did this come from?" She called out and could hear him groaning.

"No idea... but uh, might wanna get a torchlight. Something in here you might wanna see." Kairi couldn't believe there was a hidden passage in their hangout, coming here all these years, and almost believed the door to the world's heart was just the only thing here. What was down there that Sora found and how long has it been here?