Jenny spent less than a second taking in the scene. Kyle on the floor, a hole through his stomach. A healing hole, but a hole. Jenny knew Kyle could heal from almost any wound. She had no idea how much it would actually take to kill Kyle, but she also had zero intention of waiting to find out.

She threw everything she had against the force coming down the hallway, chagrined at the realization it was using a lot of HER power for these assaults. It was able to damage Kyle so much because of the power it had absorbed from her, with its creepy floating teddy bears. And Tanya, of course, but Jenny had a lot more magic to steal than Tanya did.

Of course Tanya would probably know an actual spell to do something about this, while Jenny was just pouring all the magic she could down the hallway. She could sense it down there, something black and malevolent and lurking. She still couldn't tell what it was. She was about to ask Tanya, but the sorceress ran right past her.

"Keep it up Jenny!" She shouted. "I'm going to try something!"

She ran to Kyle's side and knelt there. Abby was already there, crying at Kyle's side. She hadn't been able to bring herself to go, even though he'd told her to go. Actually she might have been about to run, but Jenny exploding through the wall had kind of upset everybody's plans.

"What the hell is going on?" Abby asked, years still streaming down her face.

"Do you know? I think I actually know." Tanya grabbed Kyle's hand. "I've been think about it and I think I can put an end to this whole mess. But you've got to do a lot of the heavy lifting. First, Kyle, you need to heel up faster."

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"I can do that?"

"You've done it before. Channel your magic through your eternal node. You're just really messed up. Do that until I can't actually see the floor through you anymore, then we'll do the other thing."

"I can't keep this up!" Jenny called back.

"Just a little longer!" Tanya shouted back, gripping Kyle's hand tighter. "Okay, I think your organs are functioning well enough to try this. I'm going to link my power to yours and I'm going to guide you in casting a spell. I can't cast it, only you can. Work with me."

Kyle nodded, and let her guide his power. It was strange to feel her magic flowing along with his. Her power felt like ice cold wriggling vibes, and his every instinct screamed at him to expel it. It was like he could feel someone else's blood mixing with his, only it could move.

That was a terrible analogy. He was starting to suspect that his body might have restored his organs, but he was still suffering from significant blood loss. So he turned his focus back to what she was trying to guide him to do. And he realized it wasn't just him she was guiding. The power was flowing through Jenny. It felt familiar. He'd known nothing about magic before, but it was almost like..."

"This is a wish," Kyle rasped, his voice thick.

"Sort of," Tanya said. "I know Jenny talked to you about it. It's a spell to sort of simulate a wish a sorcerer who's got a genie bound to them can cast."

"I thought you said you couldn't get any more wishes," Abby said.

"I thought the wish cheating spell always backfires," Kyle chimed in.

"Real ones don't, yes this spell usually does, but that's because the genie fights it and messes with it. Nobody's been as close to their genie as you in recorded history, and Jenny is made of niceness and kittens. I'm taking a chance."

"What do I wish for?"

"Nothing. This is a terrible version of an unreliable spell. We're just giving Jenny access to wish level power for a split second."

"Hurry up please!" Jenny called back. "I'm almost out of power and the stabby carpet is getting closer!"

"Okay ready?" Tanya said. "If I'm right about everything, things are gonna get a little weird."

Before Kyle could ask what she meant, the spell completed and the world went white.