Chapter 7
The reporters questioned Pudding for quite awhile, and it didn’t take long for their stories to spread across Lumina. Though it was late at night, the head of the magitorium was summoned to the site of the accident and given the details; most of them were the details that Nemesis had lied about to make the situation worse, but either way, the case was a bad one for Pudding and Jinx. Fidget was seen as an accomplice, though no direct blame was pointed his way.
Since it was so late, Pudding was to appear before the magitorium in the morning, immediately after completing the telekinetic portion of her magical exams.
Pudding, Jinx, and Fidget met up early the next morning on the outskirts of Lumina, intending to walk to their test site. Nemesis met them along the way with a group of her friends in tow; they were little more than a collection of the meanest and dumbest pixies in Lumina.
Nemesis had the brightest smile on her face as she said, “Hello, Pudding, and hello to you two losers.”
“Hello ugly, and hello lackeys,” said Jinx. Nemesis wrung her hands and her eyes bulged slightly, but her smile soon returned.
Pudding frowned, but said in her cheery way, “Hi, everyone.” Every single male pixie that Nemesis had brought with her uttered an enthusiastic “Hi, Hello, or Hey, Pudding!” As the group turned and began to walk toward their test site, Nemesis jabbed several of them in the ribs with her elbows.
The exam was to take place outside the habited parts of the city, on a long, risen rectangular plateau of sand that slopes off sharply on each side. The site had been setup to resemble an archery range, with a series of targets on one end and the pixies at the other.
Their task was fairly straight forward; lift a series of seven oddly shaped stones with your mind and hit progressively smaller targets at the far end of the plateau with them. The final task was to lift one heavy stone and, in a controlled fashion, guide it wherever the instructor told you to.
As the two groups of pixies joined their classmates along the edge of the plateau, the instructor gave them their testing order. Pudding was up first since she had an appointment with the magitorium. She shocked everyone when she lifted all seven stones simultaneously and hit every target dead center. The final task was laughably simple to her too. Having passed the test with flying colors, she teleported to the magitorium. Fidget yelled good luck just before she left, but his voice was lost in the wind.
Nemesis was up next. Not to be upstaged, she tried to lift all seven stones too, but only managed to move them a few inches. She tried several more times, but had to eventually give up and complete the task one at a time. She too lifted the heavy stone quite easily.
Fidget and Jinx watched as every student completed the task. A few had some troubles, but none had showed anywhere near as much anxiety as Jinx was now showing. Most of the students returned to their homes after completing the test, as it was the only one scheduled that day, but Nemesis and her lackeys stayed behind. They all grinned when Jinx stepped up to attempt the test.
At first, he thought things would go well; he had picked up the stone and sent it flying toward the target. It even looked like it was on course. However, just as the stone was about to hit its mark, it veered off sharply.
“That’s all right,” the instructor told him. “Try the other six.”
The next stone missed too. So did the third, and the fourth. After every miss, the crowd gathered around Nemesis let out a loud laugh. A few began to taunt Jinx. He redoubled his concentration. This one would hit, he just knew it. The fifth stone whipped around immediately, hitting the instructor in the face.
Jinx gasped. This certainly wasn’t the kind of hit that he was looking for.
“Oh geez, sorry!”
“Just try the heavy one,” the instructor said, while rubbing his face. “If you can lift it even an inch off the ground, I’ll give you the lowest passing rating that I can.”
After that attempt, the nervousness and embarrassment that Jinx felt went away. He was now certain that the group of pixies were using their magic to interfere with his test. Anger was starting to show in every one of his movements.
Jinx stepped up to the heavy stone and gave it everything he had, but it wouldn’t budge. The crowd laughed again. He clenched his hands together tightly, and his face turned bright red with frustration.
“Try this one, Jumbo!” yelled a rather ugly pixie, throwing a tiny pebble at Jinx.
Jinx narrowed his eyes.
“Professor!” yelled Nemesis.
Jinx clenched his hands together even tighter.
“Professor! Maybe you should give fatty a donut and tell him to move it into his mouth. I bet he could do that in a heartbeat.” Nemesis and the crowd began laughing even harder. Even the instructor was smiling, though he continued to rub his face.
Jinx had had enough; he thrust his hand out as fast and as hard as he could, putting everything he had into one massive telekinetic burst … a burst that he sent directly at Nemesis. The spell smacked her right in the stomach, sending her tumbling head over heels down the sandy embankment. The crowd watched as she rolled down the sand, eventually hitting the beach and sliding to a stop.
As she tried to untangle herself from her dress, she stopped to scream at her gawking friends, “Don’t just stand there! Do something.” A few of them ran down the embankment and helped her to her feet. When she had once again reached the plateau, she made her gang come with her as she marched toward Jinx. Fidget quickly formed up with him, standing shoulder to shoulder.
“What’s the plan here?” asked Jinx.
“I’m done being pushed around by her and her dumb friends, I say we take um.” Fidget turned to the instructor, “And if you get in the way, or try to help them … we’re going to hit you with that rock again. Got it?”
Without a single word, the instructor teleported away to get more help.
“You’re the bravest wuss I’ve ever met, Fidget.”
“You can put that on my gravestone.…”
“Peeshaw my friend, we’re far too smooth to lose.”
The ensuing battle between the outnumbered friends and their favorite Nemesis fast became legend in Lumina. Never before had the bullies been stood up to, so they were completely unprepared for the ferocity that Fidget would display. They had assumed the nervous little fellow would teleport away at the last minute, leaving poor Jinx to fend for himself, but what they got instead were some of the fastest casted spells on record. Nemesis would have done well to remember Fidget’s comment about being small, but very quick.
While his spells had little power to them, he flung them out at frightening speeds. The bullies couldn’t hope to react in time. Two were frozen in place before they even knew Fidget had started casting. Another was stung on the nose, causing him to run away in tears. A fourth smelled smoke, and looked down just in time to see that his shoes were on fire. He took off down the embankment, heading for the ocean.
Jinx, quite the opposite of Fidget, had almost no speed, but when his spells hit, the bullies sure knew it. Unfortunately for Jinx, he only sent one of the brutish pixies flying before Nemesis laid him out flat with a flick of her hand. That would be the only spell she could properly aim, because, from his back, Jinx returned the favor. Nemesis landed with a dull thud, twenty feet away.
Before anyone could make another move, the instructor showed up with reinforcements and quickly put an end to the fight. All told, Fidget and Jinx had taken on eight pixies and lived to tell about it. None of the bullies were seriously hurt, though their pride would never be able to recover from their defeat.
Nemesis once again played the victim, getting the instructor to leave her and her friends alone, and instead take Fidget and Jinx into custody. Since they didn’t want to risk Fidget and Jinx getting away during teleportation, the professor and the law officials made them walk the long distance from the testing grounds to the magitorium.
“How do you suppose Pudding is do
ing?” asked Jinx.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Fidget replied.