Chapter 51: Enter Charmcaster
A deafening explosion shattered the dead silence of the midnight prison block. Concrete and steel rebar rained down as a massive hole was blown straight through the reinforced outer wall. Dust billowed into the moonlight, parting to reveal a slender silhouette stepping casually over the rubble.
A beautiful woman in a flowing purple coat, her long silver-white hair catching the night breeze, strolled into the maximum-security cell.
"Charmcaster. Why are you here?"
Hex sat cross-legged on his prison cot, not even bothering to brush the concrete dust off his shoulders. His skeletal face paint twisted into a mask of pure indifference.
"Uncle, I am here to save you, of course." Charmcaster offered a sweet, flawless smile. It showed absolutely no hint of insincerity. Naturally, if she did not desperately need a dark magic master to perform the Bezel summoning ritual, she would have let her dear uncle rot in this cell until the end of time.
"Save me? Why?" Hex narrowed his eyes. He did not believe for a single second that his niece had suddenly developed a sense of familial loyalty.
"The total solar eclipse is rapidly approaching." Charmcaster stepped closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "If Uncle performs the Bezel summoning ritual during the eclipse, he can gain supreme magic power. Coupled with Uncle's own incredibly potent magic, he will surely rule the entire world." She paused, batting her eyelashes. "It would be even better if you could bestow a little bit of that power on your well-behaved niece then."
Hex stroked his chin. The words stroked his ego perfectly. 'Hmm... as expected of my niece, she is truly filial.'
He was, admittedly, getting a bit carried away by the flattery.
But then, unbidden, the image of a massive, spinning green turtle flashed into Hex's mind.
The dark sorcerer froze. A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the ruined cell.
Hex let out a long, defeated sigh. His shoulders slumped. "Alas... what is the use of gaining supreme magic power? If I could not beat him before, I still cannot beat him now. And I do not even have the Charms of Bezel anymore."
Charmcaster stared at him, completely stunned. Her jaw dropped slightly. She had never expected the usually domineering, power-hungry Hex to sound so utterly despondent. How could this be? If Hex did not want supreme magic power, who was going to get it for her? She wanted it!
She quickly opened her mouth, preparing to spin another web of lies to motivate him.
But Hex, who had been staring blankly at the floor, suddenly saw his own eyes widen. A spark of manic realization ignited in his gaze. "Right! There is still one more magic amulet! The Keystone of Bezel! As long as I have that keystone, I can reshape the other Charms of Bezel during the total solar eclipse! Then I will gain supreme magic power, and as long as I do not provoke that blasted turtle, I am still invincible!"
"Turtle? What turtle?" Charmcaster blinked, completely lost by her uncle's sudden manic rambling.
Hex did not bother to explain. He simply stood up, dusted off his prison uniform, and marched straight out the hole Charmcaster had just blasted in the wall. Since his primary staff was gone, he lacked the spells to break out himself, but he was more than happy to use her exit.
"Let us go, my niece. We must first retrieve my spare staff."
...
Meanwhile, halfway across the country, Ben Tennyson was currently dealing with the harsh realities of being a hero.
Transformed into the hulking, four-armed Tetramand known as Four Arms, he was carefully helping a frail old lady step off a city bus. He had just stopped the vehicle from careening off a bridge, but he certainly had not expected saving a bus to immediately lead to a severe case of moral blackmail.
It was a good thing it was Ben handling this. If it were Klein, whose moral compass was significantly more flexible, the old lady would have been left standing on the curb while he walked away laughing.
A short while later, back inside the familiar confines of the Rustbucket.
"I did not expect being a hero would also mean being treated like a glorified taxi service." Ben slumped onto the worn fabric of the sofa, groaning as he rubbed his temples.
"You guys do not understand. That old lady actually tried to guilt-trip me into carrying her all the way to Las Vegas just so she could see some magic exhibition!"
"Magic exhibition?"
Sitting at the small kitchenette table, Klein paused. He had been casually mixing a bizarre, glowing green soda with a handful of crushed hard candies, purely out of boredom. At the mention of magic, his ears perked up.
A magic exhibition in Las Vegas. That sounded like the perfect place to find something genuinely weird.
More, Gwen's birthday was coming up, and he still needed a gift. The problem was officially settled.
...
The next morning, the neon-lit halls of the Las Vegas Magic Convention Center were packed with tourists, amateur illusionists, and vendors peddling cheap plastic wands.
Klein wandered through the crowded aisles, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes scanned the endless rows of booths, ignoring the flashy smoke-and-mirror displays. He was looking for something specific. Something that actually carried a trace of real mana.
He had left a note in the Rustbucket early that morning and rushed over alone. Grandpa Max, Ben, and Gwen were probably on their way right now. He had to secure the gift before they arrived. If the Dork spotted something magical first, she would claim it, and his entire plan to surprise her would be ruined.
"Hmm? This thing... looks familiar."
Klein suddenly stopped in front of a dusty, cluttered vendor stall. Amidst a pile of fake crystal balls and tarot cards sat a simple leather wristband. But it was not the leather that caught his attention. It was the stone set into it.
The Keystone of Bezel.
He had assumed he had stripped all the Charms of Bezel from Hex during their last encounter, but it seemed one had slipped through the cracks and ended up in a Vegas pawn pile.
Without a second thought, Klein reached out to grab it.
Just as his fingers brushed the worn leather, another hand clamped down directly on top of his.
Klein paused. He glanced down. The hand resting on his was pale, slender, and undeniably pretty.
But this was no time to admire hands. Klein slowly looked up, tracing the arm to its owner. Standing across from him was a young woman wrapped in a stylish purple coat. She had long, striking silver-white hair and a graceful, elegant figure. By any standard metric, she was a stunning beauty.
Charmcaster, for her part, completely froze the moment she made eye contact with Klein. Her breath hitched. Although the boy in front of her was clearly young, he possessed a sharp, striking handsomeness that completely caught her off guard. He was, without a doubt, the best-looking person she had ever laid eyes on.
"Let go."
Klein's voice was flat. He possessed absolutely zero understanding of what it meant to cherish or pity a beautiful woman. His tone carried the warmth of a winter blizzard. As far as he was concerned, he saw it first, he touched it first, therefore it was his. Who did this woman think she was, trying to snatch his loot?
The cold demand snapped Charmcaster out of her daze. A faint flush of embarrassment crept up her neck. She had just been caught openly staring at a boy.
"Uh... little brother, could you perhaps let me have this?" Charmcaster tilted her head, softening her voice into a sweet, coaxing purr.
Klein's brow furrowed. Just as he suspected. She was here to steal his stuff.
, if they were fighting over an item, why was she still resting her hand on top of his? Klein scowled, deeply displeased by the way this strange woman was taking the opportunity to cop a feel of his hand.
"No. It is mine."
Klein did not budge an inch. His grip on the wristband tightened.
Charmcaster bit the inside of her cheek. She reluctantly lifted her hand and took a step back. If it had been anyone else, she would have simply blasted them with a sleep spell and snatched the amulet. But looking at Klein's face, she felt a strange reluctance to leave a terrible first impression. She decided it would be much easier to simply steal it from him when he was not looking.
With a swish of her purple coat, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Klein shrugged, tossing a few crumpled bills to the bewildered vendor. He had successfully obtained a birthday gift for Gwen.
...
Deep in the shadows of an abandoned maintenance hallway behind the convention center.
"Charmcaster, where is the magic amulet?"
Hex leaned heavily on his spare wooden staff, his skeletal face twisting into a scowl as he glared at his empty-handed niece.
"It will be in our hands very soon, Uncle," Charmcaster replied quickly, smoothing down the front of her coat.
Hearing this, Hex did not press the issue further. He merely scoffed, his voice dripping with dark promise. "If you cannot retrieve it, I will have to take action myself."
'Are you absolutely sure about that?' Klein would have asked, had he been there to hear it.
...
Back on the convention floor, Klein was wandering aimlessly. Grandpa Max and the others still had not arrived, and the fake magic tricks were quickly losing their novelty.
"Well, although the process was not exactly thrilling, at least I got the item." Klein muttered to himself, lifting the leather wristband to inspect his prize.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Hmm... this feels a bit lighter. Wait. Where is my magic stone!"
Klein stared at the empty socket on the leather band. The Keystone of Bezel was completely gone. He hurriedly patted down his pockets, scanning the floor around his feet. Nothing.
Unbeknownst to him, Charmcaster had used a subtle levitation spell to slip the stone from the band while he was walking. Because she had not directed any hostile magic toward Klein himself, and because Klein possessed zero inherent magical sensitivity, he had not felt a thing.
"Is it her? It has to be her."
Klein's eyes narrowed as he scanned the sea of tourists. Suddenly, a flash of familiar purple fabric caught his eye near the exit. Regardless of whether she actually took it or not, she was his prime suspect. After all, out of everyone in this building, she was the only one who had actively tried to claim the stone.
Klein shoved his hands into his pockets and sped up, weaving through the dense crowd. The sheer volume of people made it difficult to keep a clear line of sight. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He could not just transform right here in the open. Not because he was afraid of the authorities, but because dealing with the screaming crowds and the inevitable government cover-up would be incredibly troublesome. And Klein hated trouble more than anything else in the universe.
He tracked the purple coat out the back exit, following Charmcaster into a narrow, deserted alleyway behind the convention center.
He rounded the corner and stopped.
"Hex!...And the magic amulet!"
Klein raised an eyebrow. Standing at the far end of the alley was the unmistakable, skeletal-faced dark sorcerer. Charmcaster was currently holding out her hand, dropping the glowing Keystone of Bezel directly into Hex's palm.
They were a team.
Klein's eyes went flat. Stealing my stuff? Right out from under my nose? Can I actually tolerate this level of disrespect?
Absolutely not.
Klein did not waste a single second on banter. He raised his left arm and violently slapped the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix.
"Terraspin!"
A brilliant, blinding flash of faint blue light illuminated the grimy alleyway. The sound of shifting bones and rushing wind echoed off the brick walls as the massive, bipedal Galapagan turtle materialized in Klein's place.
It was incredibly fortunate that the alley was completely empty. Though, in truth, even if there had been a crowd, Klein would have transformed anyway. When a troll was robbed of his hard-earned loot, collateral damage was a secondary concern. Even if his secret identity was exposed to the world, what could anyone actually do about it? Did the government really dare to cause trouble for him? Even if things went completely off the rails, he could just switch to Alien X and rewrite the timeline.
At the far end of the alley, Hex's attention was instantly drawn by the sudden, intense burst of blue light.
The dark sorcerer slowly turned his head.
His eyes locked onto the massive, spinning green turtle standing at the mouth of the alley. The exact same turtle that had effortlessly humiliated him and shattered his pride weeks ago.
The Keystone of Bezel nearly slipped from his trembling fingers.
"Holy crap!" Hex shrieked, all his dark, imposing majesty instantly evaporating into pure, unadulterated terror.
In that brief, horrifying second, only one thought echoed through Hex's mind: 'Thank you so much, my dear niece, for hand-delivering my absolute worst nightmare directly to my doorstep.'
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