When Dark Phenomena arched her legs, causing Mena to arch her legs too, she already knew she was in trouble. Not only was Mena’s selection of spells incredibly basic, mostly limited to firework, simple transfiguration and fireball spells, but now she couldn’t move freely of her own will either. The only advantage she had was an ‘untapped mine of imagicnation’ according to Gemini, but she had no clue how to utilize it.
“Janus, May?” Mena cried out with her feet fixed to the floor. “Can you help me here?!”
Janus unsheathed her pink scythe, ready to reap Dark Phenomena a quick and early death, but the shadow witch extended her hand out. “Shadow barrier, dark wall, keep me safe from them all,” she chanted. A crystalline barrier of dark purple crystal enveloped the two witches.
“Now it’s jus' you and me," Dark Phenomena snickered mischievously.
"Yep," Mena laughed nervously. "Jus' me and my shadow..."
“Your move…” Mena said, trembling as her mind tried to size up a way to outsmart her shadow.
“After you,” Dark Phenomena said, putting her hands forward and baring her fangs. “I am your shadow after all.”
Mena gritted her teeth. Maybe if I hit her so fast with a fireball, she won’t eve have a time to react, she thought. I’ll simply chant the spell really, really fast and then it’ll cast faster. Mena placed the tip of her finger to her head and prepared her mouth for one tongue-tying-twister of a spell chant. “Magic, magic, summon-me-a-fire-blast-so-I-can-toast-her…butt.”
Fire formed at her fingertips and Mena sent one of her signature fireballs whizzing at Dark Phenomena. With a yawn, the shadow witch held her finger out and re-deflected the fire ball into the force field, where it bounced around harmlessly before fizzing out.
Dark Phenomena giggled and stuck her forked tongue out at her originator. “Meh. Is that really all you got, sister? I may be the shadow, but with rudimentary spells like that, you’re the one who's truly dim!”
A smile crept up on Mena’s face once she had finished watching the fireball fizzle out. Undeterred, she chanted again with the words slightly changed. Summon-me-a-fire-blast-so-I-can-toast-her…sassafras!”
This time, she blasted the fireball directly above Dark Phenomena’s head, causing the evil shadow witch to giggle even more. “Now you’re not even aiming for me,” Dark Phenomena said, putting her hands on her hips. “No wonder I’m mother’s favorite child…yowie…!”
The fireball had ricocheted off the back of the forcefield and planted an unwanted kiss on Dark Phenomena’s keester, causing the shadow witch to fall flat on her face.
Mena turned around and shook her butt at Dark Phenomena who scowled with a dirt covered face. “Who’s the dim-bulb now? I may not be that bright, but my imagicnation truly shines!”
Mena started dancing happily as her foe’s rear end steamed. But Dark Phenomena growled. “I’m going to show you the darker side of our imagicnation, sister. The kind you don’t want to see on a bad night when you get home and realize that someone put dog food in your shoes.”
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“Huh?” Mena asked, and Dark Phenomena muttered, "Just roll with it. I'm still getting a hang of this metaphor business."
Without warning, Dark Phenomena’s eyes burned like they were raked with fire. She laughed evilly as she chanted. “Shadow friends from beyond the abyss, grab ahold of my big sis!”
With a wicked laugh, plasms of darkness rose out of the ground with glowing yellow eyes. They rose their goopy hands that dripped liquid shadows and snatched Mena tightly. Mena struggled to get away, despite their viscous hands, they held a firm grip on the young witch. Dark Phenomena picked herself off the ground, dusting herself off. She walked towards her brighter sister with a self satisfied expression. “You mind arsenal is truly weak,” she sneered. “You are too.”
Dark Phenomena shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever do they teach you in that school of yours? It’s a good thing I dropped out.”
“You never went!” Mena exclaimed.
“Same difference,” her doubleganger responded. “Now it’s time to end you and become mama’s number one favorite…FOREVER!”
A ball of shadow ectoplasm formed in Dark Phenomena’s hand, and she was ready to plunge it into Mena’s chest. “I need some kind of distraction or something…” Mena muttered. “But it might be too late…”
But as Dark Phenomena charged up her hand, a piece of paper flew out of Mena’s pocket. It fluttered onto the ground and Mena read it. It was etched in frilly cursive, signed, “Taylor Witch.”
Suddenly, her mind was filled with light and Mena heard music from afar. Was it music from the angels when someone passed on to the next life? No…It was even better.
“Ooh, look what you made me brew.”
A slim young witch with dirty blond hair appeared before Mena and Dark Mena. With a diamond studded belt wrapped above her witch’s miniskirt and blood red lipstick, she was strangely fashionable for a spell caster. She strutted towards Mena and Dark Mena in leather platform boots, singing a top sixty magical pop song and both of their mouths dropped open. “T-T-Taylor Witch?” Mena’s stammered.
Dark Mena immediately exclaimed, “Way Way…!” and ran with eyes widen to witness her first concert performance.
Taylor Witch sang through a broom shaped microphone, otherwise known in the industry as Autobroom, which made your voice perfect. Everyone around the room ceased their fighting to stare at the sudden appearance from this witch chanteuse.
Dark Mena’s head bobbed along happily as Taylor Witch sung. “I don’t touch nobody, and nobody touches me. I’ll be the spellcaster poofing in your bad dreams.”
Even the abominations from the shadow abyss, dropped Mena and started to wave their arms like they were in a magical mosh pit. As Dark Mena mouthed the words along, Mena realized, “This is my chance!”
Mena tiptoed up to Dark Mena who was swaying back and forth, completely hypnotized by the music and chanting. “Magic magic, send me a large book to be bonkin… have it fall straight on her noggin!”
A giant copy of the Dulabet Dictionary appeared over Dark Phenomena’s head and landed flat on it. There was still a demonic grin on her face, but her dazed eyes told a different story. “Best concert eveeeerrr…” she said with a stunned grin. “I regret nothing.”
She sank into the shadows, followed by the shadow creatures and even the force field. Everything dissipated and Mena’s friends cheered for her. Taylor Witch took a bow, before bursting into light and vanishing back into Mena’s mind.
“Wow!” Janus exclaimed, “Nice illusion magic. How didja do that?”
May smiled too.
“I dunno,” Mena said, “I was in danger, I saw that autograph, and immediately, my mind broadcast that illusion.”
"Wowie zowie!" Her eyes brightened up like two lightbulbs. “Maybe this is the imagicnation powers, Gemini was talking about. When it runs wild, my power is limitless.”
Mena’s friends embraced her in a hug. “Great work outsmarting her,” May gushed. “That was so clever.”
Mena laughed and rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing I know me better than…I know myself.”
The trio looked to center of the room where two of the greatest spellcasters in Autolycus were locked in battle. Anguish and Gemini were the only ones who had not finished their battle and Mena knew it would be the clash of the century.