The Great Magical Mixup

Chapter 16: Returning home

Finally, after all this trouble, we can go home and fix this mess I caused... is what Solar thought to herself as she and the others head back to Suburbia. The gang including the Wizard Zombie who now regained his memories, head down the spiraling staircase, to the entrance of the tower. 

Outside, they are met with the sight of Rux playing Mahjong with the Jester Zombie, with some Knight Zombies and accompanying imps observing. They don't notice Mandalf and the others until he clears his throat. Rux and the Jester stop playing and both are shocked by the sight of seeing Mandalf standing with Alex and the Plants. 

"Master! They won?! Don't worry! I shall save you!" Jester says as he attempts to attack the gang, only to be stopped by Mandalf. 

"No need. I am fine! Now get out of my way, the gnome needs to come with us. We're headed back to Suburbia!" 

Rux looks a tad annoyed by what Mandalf had said, but he shrugs it off. The Jester, on the other hand, doesn't take the news so lightly and neither the knights and imps. Mandalf tells them to ease themselves and commands them to go back into their town. The knights and imps do so, but the Jester defies his order and attempts to attack again. 

This time, Rux steps in. He grabs Jester by his hat which doesn't come off for some reason and flings him away. Just as they were about to continue on their journey back home, Alex immediately remembers how much time it took all of them to get to Mandalf in the first place. Solar and Peredur were right. It took them more than a week, about 8 to 9 days. 

Rux suggests using his teleporting powder, which Solar and Peredur reject with a gag, covering their mouths while doing so. Alex suggests that he can use his magic to teleport them there. Mandalf, however, states that he shall do that. He reasons that he put them through enough strain with magic, so he figures that he shall use his magic. 

~~With a few words and a large poof, the gang and Mandalf disappear. Meanwhile, back at Suburbia, before they teleported~~

Crazy Dave and the scientists look dismayed at the sheep. 

"Oh man! The plants are starting to act more and more like sheep! I can't even tell who's who!" 

"Dave, you couldn't tell either way, even beforehand!" an apprentice responds with irritation. He looks at the papers the computer printed out. "Let's see... hmm... yadda-yadda, some magic mumbo jumbo..." 

"MUMBO JUMBO?! That's my kind of talk! Gimme here!" Crazy Dave excitedly yells as he grabs the papers from the apprentice, puts on reading glasses and surprisingly reads it thoroughly. "Oh dear, Solar better hurry back! Her friends might not be plants anymore anytime soon!" 

"What on Earth are you talking about now, Dave?" The Scientist asks exasperated. "Well excuse me, Mr. 'scientist', but it says here in the documents that the magic spell Solar accidentally cast on her friends has a curse that must be lifted by Halloween!" Crazy Dave responds, keeping his eyes on the papers. He continues while still looking at the papers, "The plants will remain as sheep forever, if the spell isn't undone, for clarification." 

There is a tense silence that is shortly broken by Crazy Dave yelling out "We need to find Solar and her friends, stat!" as he slams the papers on a table. Surprisingly, as if on cue, one of the apprentices alerts everyone to the large jumbo screen, in the center of the lab. On it, it shows live video footage of the plants and the wizards arriving in Suburbia via teleportation. Crazy Dave is awestruck and filled with glee. The scientist and apprentices, on the other hand, are worried about the Wizard Zombie standing with them. 

Crazy Dave sees him and suspects that the plants must've done something to his brain. With that, Crazy Dave calls Peredur.

~~

Peredur's phone rings. 

"Hello!" Peredur responds with happiness before he's met with the garbles of Crazy Dave's voice. 

"YO! Peashooter Perry! I see you and Solar with the Wizard Zombie on the big screen in the scientist's laboratory! Tell Solar that all of your friends are safe here with us!" Peredur gives an annoyed look. "Okay, Crazy Dave. Also, DON'T. EVER. CALL. ME. THAT. AGAIN." 

Unsurprisingly, Crazy Dave's voice is loud enough that everyone heard the news. Solar asks Peredur for the phone. "Hey, Mr. Dave, come meet us at the Main Town Hall. Make sure all of the sheep are escorted safely!" 

"You got it, Sunflower Solar!" Dave says before hanging up, much to her annoyance.  "Now I know you feel when he called you by that nickname, Perry- Uh, Peredur ." 

"Oh! Don't let it bother that much, Solar! Besides, I like that nickname!" Peredur says to Solar, which makes her eyes shine. However, this little intimate moment is abruptly ended by Rux, who wanted to waste no time. 

"Newsflash! We are supposed to go to the main hall! Now let's Skedaddle!" Rux says as he proceeds to skedaddle. Alex and Mandalf follow, leaving Solar and Peredur behind. The plants share one last tiny intimate moment before catching up with the others. 

~~

The gang makes it to the Town Hall, just in time. Crazy Dave, along with the Scientist and his apprentices, have safely escorted the sheep there. However, the plants notice that the sheep aren't reacting happily at the sight of them. This worries Solar who is soon assured by Peredur that they will be back to normal soon. 

Everyone heads inside the town hall after Dave unlocked the doors. Unfortunately, the sheep were a little difficult escorting inside, further showing that time is running out. Mandalf pulls his book out and turns the pages to the spell that Solar had cast. He invites Solar to recite the curse-lifting spell with him. 

She hesitates at first, but with some encouragement from Peredur, she does so. Together, in sync, Mandalf and Solar recite the Latin chant. After they finish, there is a large cyan glow surrounding the sheep. Dave and the others step back, with some hiding behind some tables for cover. Suddenly, all the sheep start to float up, and then, there's an explosion that releases fog, similarly to the spell Solar had cast before, except the fog is cyan. 

The others who hadn't sought cover yet managed to do so before the fog reached them. The cyan fog engulfs the entire area in the building. The fog slowly dissipates. Solar, who joined Peredur, and Mandalf, who joined Alex, peek out from their hiding spots, hoping to see the spell has worked. At first, there is a tense silence. Soon after, however, there is a familiar voice heard by everyone. 

"S-Solar...? M-Master?" 

"Roseus?" Solar and Mandalf simultaneously respond.

The fog soon dissipates entirely, revealing a sight everyone is joyful to see: All of the plants have returned to normal. Solar and Peredur's eyes tear at the sight. Immediately, Solar runs to Roseus and Hazel and gives them a big tearful hug. They reciprocate and wrap their vines around Solar. Peredur watches with happiness before Solar turns to him and calls him over. He approaches Solar and is soon wrapped into the group hug. 

Alex also shares a hug with his father. It was a bit awkward at first, but they soon had a warm embrace. Rux just stands there and scoffs. He checks his watch to see what time it is. To his surprise, it reads midnight. He announces this to everyone.

"EVERYBODY! Hate to interrupt this sappy moment here, but shouldn't some of you start getting ready?" 

"The Halloween Bash!" All of the Plant Magicians say in unison when they realized what Rux meant. At that, Roseus and the other plants thank Crazy Dave and the Scientist along with his apprentices for taking care of them, and everyone begins preparations for the festive night. 

*** 

Hello everyone!! Would you look at that? We're almost in the last chapter!

Time really does fly! See you all in the next and (possibly) final Chapter!

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