Twisted Wonderland

Reduced to Naught

A burst of bright light blinds the boys in the ocean. Jack raises his arms to shield his eyes.

"What was that flash?"

Ace points at Deuce. "Hey! Deuce, your sea anemone's gone!"

Deuce feels the top of his head. "Whoa, you're right!"

"So's mine! Yours too, Ace!" Grim spins around in the water. "Sweet! Leona and Ruggie pulled through!"

The twins stopped chasing the boys and look at the three in surprise. Jade tilts his head. "Wait, come again?"

"What's goin' on here?" Floyd asks. "And where's Little Shrimpy?"

Grim smirks, putting his paws on his hips. "We cut a deal with Leona an' Ruggie to get them in on our plan."

"Say what?" Floyd's eyes widen. "The guy's basically a sea lion, sleepin' his days away. He'd never lift a finger to help you guys."

"I was under the impression he had no interest in creating disputes with his fellow housewarden, Azul." Jade almost looked amazed. "How did you bend him to your will?"

"See, Y/N made this offer..." Grim explains. "If Leona helped us take back Ramshackle Dorm, we'd leave his room tomorrow without a fuss. But if he didn't help, we'd keep raisin' a racket outside his room all night, every night."

Grim laughs. "Then I gave him a... live demo, I'll call it, to show how annoying it'd be. I basically yowled our lungs out until daybreak, and now we're super sleep-deprived."

"No wonder you were so hoarse this morning, Grim." Deuce smiles at the cat.

Floyd folds his arms. "That sounds less like a deal and more like a threat to me."

Jack grins. "You know what they say: one bad turn deserves another."

"My wind magic's back, too." Ace fist pumps. "It's time to turn the tables here!"

"I summon thee, cauldron!" A cauldron lands on the sea floor. Deuce grins. "Sweet, it worked!"

Grim tries to shoot a fireball but it doesn't quite work. "Myaaah! I can't even tell if I got my fire magic back or not in all this water! That ain't fair!"

"Somehow I think we'll manage without your parlor tricks." Ace snubs the cat.

Jade turns to his brother. "We'd best be getting back, Floyd. If the anemones are gone from their heads..."

Floyd nods. "Yeah, I got a real bad feelin' about this."

The two start to swim away but Ace uses his wind magic to blast a current at them.

"Not so fast." Deuce says. "Where do you think you're going now that we're finally in fighting shape?"

Ace grins. "Where's the fun in turning tail now? Stick around and play with us."

Floyd whips around and glares at the two. "You small-fry pipsqueaks... I'll have you cryin' before you know it."

"Floyd, ignore them!" Jade warns but Floyd rushes to your group. "Too late."

Floyd attacks the boys, but with their powers back, it's harder to get them. Floyd has to dodge multiple shots of magic while avoiding hits from Jack.

Floyd groans in frustration. "For cryin' out loud! These guys are getting on my nerves!"

Jade places a hand on Floyd's shoulder. "We need to go, Floyd. I don't think we have the luxury of toying with them any longer."