The newly born monstrosity looked a little bit like Danny, though he'd never been that tall and muscular. Beyond that it wasn't even human. Its skin was a dull reddish orange, its eyes glowed red hot. It hovered over the ground on burning dragonfly wings, efreet wings. Its fingers ended in wicked claws, and spikes ran up its forearms, getting shorter the closer they got to the elbow. Something similar has happening from ankle to knee, and its feet were two-towed and hook clawed. When it laughed, fire flicked out around gleaming white fangs.

“Finally!” It roared in a voice like a thousand buzzing bees. “It is finished! We are one. I am...Danny. Of the two names, it seems I like the name Danny best. How strange. Now who'd like to die first?”

“DANNY!” A new voice roared from across the road. All eyes turned to see Kyle standing on a rooftop, with Jenny standing beside him. He'd arrived only seconds before, just enough time to land on the roof and slide Jenny off his back.

“We have a volunteer!” the monster laughed. “You know I've got you to thank for this, Kyle. It was our grudge against you that let us combine as one. That took our power to such heights. But you know what Kyle?”

Kyle was already moving, leaping from the roof towards Danny with his fist raised.

“You just don't really matter anymore.”

Danny raised his hand and let out a puff of flame. It wasn't a beam, or solid enough to call a fireball, just a poof of roiling fire that slammed into Kyle like a truck. He stopped in midair, lost within the flames, and when his burning body fell from the cloud of smoke it was nothing but a charred and steaming husk.

Jenny screamed.

The most horrible thing about it was that Kyle wasn't dead.

A normal body would have died. Half his face was melted away, skin and muscle fused to bone. His chest was burned open, and Jenny could see charred organs pulsing within. She cradled his charred, smoking head in her hands, tears pouring down her face.

“I'm sorry,” she sobbed. “I'm sorry, Kyle. I did this. I-I'm going to try and fix it, okay? I'm going to try and fix it, but I'm gonna need you to help. I hope you can even hear me. I need you to hear me, and help me save you.”

Behind her, the others took the fight to Danny.

Danny laughed as they all rushed towards him. Were they all really so eager to die?

He banished the monsters he'd summoned back through their portals, and closed the portals themselves. This would be too easy otherwise.

The first one to come at him was the cat. Five Elements Cat. He knew what that was, now. Well half of him always had. It was a powerful creature, and Betty was a powerful summoner, but she was inexperienced. She could do so much more for her summoned creature than pour her own power into it. At least she'd figured out what the “elements” part meant. The cat that lunged for his throat wasn't black and silver anymore, the silver stripes had changed to deep blue. Things like fins had grown on it's legs and back. He could feel “water” pouring off it in waves, the power of its very essence the element that countered his own.

That was fine. Danny knew what he was doing. He smacked the cat out of the air, steam pouring into the sky from where they struck. Fire and water don't mix, after all. He felt his own power weaken when it touched the cats water essence, but he just poured on more. Much more than the cat and it's fledgling summoner could counter. So even though it held the advantage, the cat began to weaken in the heat.

Trevor came in next. The armor was impressive. He couldn't take a direct hit from one of those punches. But fire's power was the power to consume. Every second Trevor stood too close to Danny sapped his strength, and Danny was able to dodge his swinging punches without too much trouble, taking to the air on his wings when he needed to. Not too far though. He wouldn't want to spoil the fun.

And oh, it was worth the wait. The moment when his fist landed on Trevor's face, cracking his helmet, was absolute bliss. The impact threw the armored man across the street, skipping him off the concrete. With him out of the way Danny grabbed the cat around the throat, choking the snarling animal before he threw it back at its summoner. Betty dived out of the way as the cat fell to the ground, rushing to its side as soon as it landed. That could be trouble, as long as she had any power to spare she could restore the cat to full strength.

Danny had better go kill her.

Before he could a jet of water slammed into his chest and sent him flying backwards. It angled downward, forcing him into the ground. He whirled around looking for the source and found Tanya, kneeling down to keep weight off her injured ankle. Her entire body was tattooed in glowing vines, stark in contrast to her coal dark skin, and green power played around her hands. She had conjured roots from the ground, which he'd been prepared for. Fire burned wood to ash. But she hadn't attacked him with the vines.

The roots had formed into something not unlike a fire hose. Below ground they must have tapped directly into the water main. Dammit, he'd forgotten she wasn't like the others. The others couldn't match the experience that came with his efreet half. Tanya, on the other hand, was an experienced sorceress. She knew how to use her power, and make up for her weaknesses.

With a roar and burst of power he flew away from the jet of water, the stream folling close after him. But he could outspeed it, even with Tanya directing it personally. He just need a chance to...

From within the thick stream of water came Betty's cat, claws slashing through the air and gouging a deep checkerboard in Danny's chest. Danny bellowed in pain and frustration, molten blood seeping from his fresh wound. Before he could respond the jet of water caught up, slamming him backwards and dropping him to the ground once again.

Fine. Fine then. If up was no good....

Smoke and steam poured out from his body as he melted into the ground, escaping the spray of water underneath the asphalt. Once he was underground he found a part of the root system Tanya had created and poured all the fire he could manage into it. The root burned away, and he could hear the press of water slacken up above. Before Tanya had time to do anything else he burst from the ground again. She was more prepared for it, this time. If her leg had been whole, she'd have been able to dodge completely. But her leg wasn't whole, she was injured and could barely even stand, so the best she did was stumble back far enough for Danny's vicious uppercut to only knock the wind out of her instead of going right through her stomach.

Danny stood over her, raising his fist to finish her off, when the cat came snarling in. But he was ready for it this time, really ready, and he grabbed it in midair. It clawed at his back but he held onto it in a vicious bear hug, squeezing the life out of it.

“No!” Betty shouted, darting out of hiding to try and break them apart. Danny laughed, flinging the cat in her direction. This time she and the cat connected with an ugly crack, and she fell to the ground unconscious. The cat fell on top of her, shrinking down to normal house cat size.

“Yeah!” Danny yelled at them. “That's what you bitches get! That's what--”

The lead pipe slammed across the back of his skull and the world swam. He whirled on his attacker to find Evan standing before him, gripping his pipe like a sword.

Evan.

Fucking Evan Warnick.

Where the hell did he get off?

“Pissant,” Danny snarled. “I thought you were gonna go hide somewhere and wet yourself.”

“Don't involve me in your stupid fetishes,” Evan said. Danny tried to punch him but the little bastard dodged, catching him on the shoulder with the pipe.

“Stay still you little piece of shit!” Danny snapped.

“Why would I ever do that?” Evan asked, dodging swinging blows and bursts of fire from Danny's palms. “I saw what you did to Kyle!”

Dany started after him but something caught him from behind. Trevor was up, and even in his cracked armor he was strong enough to hold Danny in place while Evan came at him with the pipe.

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“Let go of me!” Danny insisted.

“Jeeze man,” Trevor said woozily. “Can't you think of anything to ask for somebody might actually give you?”

Evan was moving in again with the pipe. Danny wasn't sure, exactly, how many hits he could take to the head with that thing. Evan had dome something to it, powered it up somehow, in a way that kind of reminded him of fighting Ammeline. Who, he remembered, he still had to kill. He didn't have time to waste here. Danny flared with burning power and reached behind him, managing to catch Trevor by the head. With a roar of effort he hauled Trevor over his should, slamming him down on top of Evan like a hammer. Both of them lay on the ground in a heap, Danny panting as he stood over them.

“Yeah!” Danny roared, buzzing his burning dragonfly wings and slamming his foot down on top of them. “That's what you get! That's what you fucking get!”

The wires of the long ranged taser gun hit him in the side and sparked against his skin. He turned slowly to look at Goldie, still holding the stun gun in her hands.

“Seriously,” He asked.

“I don't know I'm as surprised as you,” Goldie said, her eyes wide with horror. “I just kind of moved.”

“Cool,” Danny said. “Great. Now move away, little girl. You don't have any magic to threaten me with and I'm gonna kill these assholes.”

He raised his foot, ready to stomp down and crush the life out of Trevor and Evan.

First the world was pain, and then the world was darkness.

Kyle didn't know where he was. It felt too...distant, to be death. He felt like death would feel more personal. Instead he floated in blackness, unaware of anything except the fact that he existed, nothing left of him but a thought in the darkness.

And then there was another thought.

Cutting through the darkness was a thread of light, pinkish-purple light filled with sparkles that floated through the nothingness and wrapped around him, comforting and somehow urgent. It carried with it the impression of a voice. Jenny's voice. She sounded desperate. Sad.

What was she saying?

He tried to hear.

“...orry,” Jenny's voice echoed through the endless dark. “I'm s.....fix this...listen...”

Fix what? He needed to see her face. He opened his eyes.

He regretted it immediately. The pain was back. He could feelhis charred skin cracking as his eyes opened up. But he could see Jenny, leaning over him, tears falling down from her eyes. They splattered against his face, cool and painful at the same time.

“Kyle!” Jenny said, looking into his eyes. “Kyle, can you hear me!?”

Kyle tried to nod. He wasn't sure if he succeeded. Jenny kept talking anyway.

“I can still save you,” she said. “I need you to make a wish. Remember? I said there was a spell that let wizards make wishes? I need you to cast it on me. Right now. Can you feel it? I've already sent my power inside you.”

He could. The thread that had awoken him was still there, sparkling light wrapped around his soul. He tried to answer, and this time he felt his jaw move. It didn't sound like he made the right noises though.

“It's a familiar pact,” Jenny said. “Just like Betty and Moonlight. You don't have to say anything, but you need to feel it. Accept my power. And then my power will be a part of yours, and you can wish yourself better.”

That sounded good. He tried to do what she said, but he could feel it not working. The power slipped away every time he tried to grasp it in his mid. It was like trying to catch a speck of dust floating in the water, reaching for it made it flow away.

“And then I'll go back into the lamp,” Jenny sobbed.

What? No.

“I never should have stayed out in the first place,” she said. “I should have told you to put me back in the lamp right away, it had just been so long. But all I do is wreck things.”

That was wrong. He reached a hand up to touch her cheek, try to get her attention, but the mangled stump he weakly raised could barely be called a hand. All that was left on the lump of blackened skin was his pinky finger and thumb. Jenny caught it in her own hand anyway, and pressed it against her cheek.

“Ever since I got here things have just gotten worse,” Jenny continued. “Your life has been in danger, and monsters, and this now, and I kept wanting to tell you I should go back in the lamp but I could never do it, I was too selfish, I...”

Those times she'd gotten all quiet. That's what she'd been thinking. But she was wrong.

He had to tell her that was wrong.

Inside him, he felt the power click into place, tied with his own.

I have to tell her she's wrong, he thought, and the wish understood.

To do that, he had to be better.

It was like...like someone had turned safety and comfort into a liquid. It poured through his body, and wherever it touched the pain disappeared. Jenny gasped, letting go of his hand as the skin softened and new fingers began to sprout. She was smiling through the tears now.

“...no,” Kyle managed to croak, and as he talked he could feel his throat healing, feel his voice going stronger, feel the charred flesh of his lips giving way to fresh and healthy growth. “No, Jenny that's not right.”

He sat up. It was amazing how easy it was to move now.

“You're not responsible for what Danny did.”

“But if you'd never found the lamp...”

“Danny might have gone nuts with a gun in the mall,” Kyle said. “Or maybe the efreet would have gotten you and done something worse. Who knows? We can't know about that. And if I'd never have found the lamp, it wasn't just us who'd never have met. It's all of us. You brought us all together. So don't you dare try and take responsibility for his choices. Besides....

“Before you got here my life wasn't bad. It was flat. Gray. I was just...just existing. Since you came here I've made more friends than I ever even dreamed of having. Being with you has made me happier than ever. And not just me, Betty, Evan, Ammaline, Trevor, Tanya...I think maybe Goldie, even. All of us are happier than we've been in years. You did that. You brought us together. And I think maybe that's what I wished for, Jenny. I think I wished for the world to just get better. And it did! All the horrible things Danny did? That's Danny. You made my world a better place.

“So you can't go back in the lamp. It wouldn't be granting my wish. And what kind of self respecting genie could do that?”

“You mean it?” Jenny sniffed.

Kyle grabbed her and pulled her into their second kiss. This one lasted a little longer than the first, because a sudden warning of danger made Kyle break it off.

“Wait!” Kyle said. “What happened to Danny?”

“Huh?” Jenny blinked. “OhmygodI'msosorryhe'sabouttokillTrevorandEvanIforgot-!”

Kyle got there just before Danny brought his foot down, grabbing Danny by the ankle and stopping his foot in midair.

“What the fuck!?” Danny screamed. Kyle pulled his arm back, yanking Danny off his feet, and then snapped it forwards to toss Danny down the street. With a buzz of burning dragonfly wings Danny managed not to hit the ground, turning in the air to hover and glare at Kyle.

“Why the fuck aren't you dead?” Danny demanded.

“Would you believe true love's kiss?” Kyle asked. “Because I'm not gonna lie it kind of actually was true love's kiss.”

Danny let out an inarticulate roar and threw another burst of fire in Kyle's direction. Kyle batted it away with the back of his head.

“Ready for it this time,” Kyle said. “I think I might be getting a hang of my powers. Almost dying did me some good. Oh and Danny? I guess I'm finally brave enough now.”

“Brave enough for what?” Danny sneered.

Kyle reached for a power he'd never used before. But he needed it now, and after whatever Jenny had done his power flowed so freely he didn't even think about it. He thrust out his hands, making grabbing motions in the air. Then he pulled them apart in one fast, sharp motion.

Danny's burning dragonfly wings tore off in a burst of sparks, dropping him screaming to the ground.

“All I needed was a bug who'd done something to me,” Kyle said.

“I'm going to kill you!” Danny bellowed as he charged.

“I hope I don't have to fight any other villains,” Kyle cracked his knuckles, “but if I do, I really hope they've got more original dialogue.”

Dany unleashed a flurry of burning blows, but Kyle blocked them easily. At the end of the day, Danny wasn't very good at fighting. Kyle and his magically enhanced memory had been training with Trevor for weeks, and Trevor was a lot better. And unlike Trevor, Kyle wasn't having his strength sapped by Danny's burning magic. Danny tried, emitting the same consuming aura, but Kyle had power to spare. He canceled out the aura with a thought. It wasn't long before he was getting his own hits in, fists slamming into Danny's face and chest and belly, driving him back. Finally he cracked Danny across the chin, dropping the monster to the floor.

Danny swept a kick at Kyle's legs, but Kyle jumped out of the way. Danny used the moment of distraction to open up one of the swirling portals. But before anything could come through, Kyle grabbed the edges of the portal and ripped. The burning ring exploded into a thousand sparks, the portal shut completely. Danny appeared behind Kyle's head, but Kyle stepped aside and smacked him out of the air, bouncing him along the street like a tennis ball.

“I swear I'm going to kill you!” Danny spat as he climbed back to his feet. “I'm not going to stop coming after you! I will kill you and everything you love!”

“I know,” Kyle said. “That's why I decided, this time, I'm going to kill you.”

That brought Danny up short.

“Did you think I couldn't because I didn't do it before?” Kyle said. “I don't know how I'm going to feel once I do it. It might really fuck me up. But we tried the sending you to prison thing and it didn't take. And like you just said, you're a threat to everything I care about. Which is a lot more than it was a couple of months ago.”

Kyle wasn't as strong as Trevor, but he was stronger than Danny. He couldn't use his magic as well as Tanya, but unlike her his body was enhanced so he could still defend himself if Danny got close. He wasn't as fast as Evan, but he was tough enough to take the hits. He couldn't summon creatures to defend himself like Betty, but he could counter all of Danny's magical auras and neutralize their effect.

Danny had an answer for the powers each of his opponents had used against him during the fight. But Kyle had an answer for everything Danny could do.

And when Danny looked in Kyle's face, he had absolutely no doubt Kyle meant it when he said he was going to kill him.

Danny turned to run. A fresh pair of fiery wings sprouted from his back as he shot away, trying to get over the rooftops. Kyle held out two fingers, a glowing point of light appearing briefly in front of them before shooting off through Danny's chest, puncturing his wings as it flew. He feel back, but before he hit the ground Kyle leaped and caught him with one hand in midair, Kyle's hand closing around the back of his head.

“Wait!” Danny said. “Don't you wanna know why I came to this town in the first place? I got bosses! They've been looking for the last genie for centuries, they're not gonna give up just because one of their guys got killed! I could tell them I'm still looking! I could give you information, I could--!”

Kyle unleashed his power. It was almost as strong as the blast he'd fired the first night he'd fought the efreet, only this time it was centered directly on Danny's head. A lance of pure glowing energy shot up into the sky, and Danny's smoking corpse fell headless to the ground. Kyle landed a second afterwards, panting and sweating.

“Okay, uh...” Kyle shook his head. “What the hell do we do now?”