Appetite for Destruction

Chapter 8

"Why did we have to leave Bloom with that...that monster?!"
"Stella, calm down. If we were to attack or drag her out it would have hurt her more. That time it wasn't a dream."
"Maybe instead of a gadget you should have made a sedative, Tecna!"
"Girls, please stop fighting." Flora walks between Stella and Tecna, trying to calm the brewing storm between them. Well, it was hard to say whether Tecna was being logical or mildly annoyed, but Stella was brimming with rage at her best friend being left behind, and while staying in the Specialists' apartment sounds nice, right now it made her more stressed. Stella tries to not blurt out gibberish as she bites down on her fluorescent pink nails, not caring if they got chipped.
Tecna sighs and decides to leave the conversation, turning her attention back to Timmy who was flicking through the dusty pages of that vampire book.

"Babe, it's gonna be alright." Brandon - Stella's boyfriend - says, resting his hands on Stella's shoulders. Stella nudges him away. "I don't need your help! If anything, I should be out there fighting that ghoul as the fairy of the Shining Sun!"
"You mean Sun and Moon?" Nabu questions. Stella blinks, her gaze flicking to the green patches on her cheek through some smudged concealer. She shakes her head and asks her bae to pass her makeup kit. Brandon does and she pops open her concealer, starting to apply it roughly to the green spot. Moon sickness, it was no fun. Last time she was stuck in a damp cave full of moon crystals, and she fell so sick she could barely walk. Now she had a bad cough which blew some powder off of her makeup palette.

After applying her makeup she gets up to leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" Timmy asks.
"Monster hunting." Stella bluntly replies, more blunt than Tecna. Tecna shakes her head, "Bad idea. If you throw yourself at him you'll be next—"
"Oh and then you'll ditch me too?" Stella snaps. Tecna isn't sure whether or not she should reply to this. Thankfully the conversation ends as they all hear the door open, and Bloom's fragile figure limps its way inside of the living room.
"BLOOM!" Stella cries as she rushes to the red head to hug her.
"Mm- Stella! I can't breathe-"
Stella lets go of her and dusts her hair off neatly. "Are you alright?", she asks, still holding Bloom's face. Bloom nods, moving her hands away. "I found something really weird. Well, two things." Her teal eyes turn to Sky. "How come you never picked up my call? I tried about 5 times you know?"

"Sorry. Mobile was dead." Sky replies. Bloom rolls her eyes. "Whatever, at least Timmy picked up. Anyways, gang, another weird thing I noticed was Gantlos' aura. It was...different. Unstable."
"Auras?" Riven asks.
"Yeah, like how yours is insecure and helpless." Bloom smiles. Riven blinks.
"Anyways," she starts, "Like I said his aura was unstable. It was like a different side to him, which started breaking out, the vampirism. Well, that and another thing."
"What's the other thing?" Musa asks.
"Melancholy, hurt, spite for the other wizards., tiredness, lonesome...I know I'm suppose to be mad he took away my powers but something just seems off. He did say THEY would have power."

"Jeez if you want to sleep with that wizard just say it." Sky grunts.

Oh my god, Stella and Bloom wanted to choke that bastard with a rich dad. "Ignore him.", Stella advises, "We should go kick some monster butt."
"But first we should get some of these items," Timmy says, "We have garlic and Nabu can make some holy water. But we'll need silver to make the bullets and gun."
Tecna nods. "Flora, you should find a cherry tree to forge a stake out of it."
"I'll explain everything to the plants," Flora nods.
"I'll go with you too." Aisha says, standing up.
"You don't think it's too dangerous?" Musa asks.
"Maybe. But I also didn't train in sword fighting for nothing.", the plasma fairy chuckles, grabbing Sky's sword.
"Hey!" Sky huffs. Aisha doesn't care, especially after that comment he made. "I'll just borrow that and we'll be on our way now!"

* * *

Bloom, Stella, Aisha, and Flora head out, Bloom carrying a duffle bag filled with garlic and a bottle of holy water, exotically brewed by Nabu. The plan was to find the shop for silver before stopping by the cherry tree in the park; Helia gifted Flora one of the seeds enchanted to thrive to plant down as a poetic sentiment; the mood was so romantic that afternoon when they kissed as the petals fluttered. Now the cherry blossom rested alone in the cold breeze of autumn night. But first, they arrive at the shop decorated in ghostly banners and jack-o-lanterns, as well as some thrown toilet paper and smashed eggs; this definitely wasn't decor. They enter the shop, the bell chiming their entrance, and the shopkeeper looks at them through his big tartan scarf and witch hat.
"Welcome to the wizard's lair," he greets, embracing the halloween spirit. "What may I aid you with on this....spooky journey, muahahaha!"

"We're wondering if you have a block of silver, enough for a gun and some bullets," Flora politely asks.
"Weapon forgers? You ladies don't look like it. Eh, how many grams?"
"Uhhh, enough for a gun and a few bullets, say seven?"
"Ok...hmmm, that'd be a lot, plus a gun. You sure you want a gun out of silver? I'll give ya steel instead, it works better."
"Uh, okay."

The girls wait as the seller opens a barrel full of silver ingots and tosses them in a weigher. The metals clank against each other, steel suffocating the iron underneath as the measurements align.
"Ok. That'll be about 10,000 dollars."
Stella smirks as she whips out her golden and titanium credit card. "Put that on Solaria's bill. And in case you're wondering, it's viable for all cash."
The seller nods and takes the card, giving Stella the device to put the pin in before she takes her card back. "Thanksies!"
She snaps her fingers and the silver and steel fly right to her and shrink to a more accessorizable size. "Now we just have to get this to Tecna and we'll be done!", she giggles.

"Oh no you won't! Give us that silver now!"
The girls turn around and gasp. A crooked scowl was painted on his face past his scarlet locks.

The Wizards.