Danny and Barry stood in the hallway in front of them, leering.

“You been looking pretty happy walking around with the new girl,” Danny said with an ugly smile on his face.

“But she's way too hot for a guy like you,” Barry said, his own smile just as horrible. “You wouldn't know how to handle her.”

“Right,” Danny nodded. “So we've decided to take the whole big responsibility off your hands.”

“I don't think I like these people very much,” Jenny said, stepping a little bit behind Kyle.

“Look you're new to the country so let me explain,” Benny said. “Guys like Kyle are what we call losers. A loser can't show a girl like you a good time.”

“Guys like us can though,” Danny said, reaching out and grabbing Jenny's arm. “Come on, lemme show you.”

“Stop that,” Jenny said. “Let go of me!”

“Come on relax,” Danny said. “I just wanna...”

“No seriously,” Kyle said, grabbing Danny's arm. “Let go of her.”

Kyle amazed at how calm he was. He'd been scared of Danny since they were little kids. And not because Danny had been bigger and stronger.

It was because of the dragonfly.

Back then he and Danny had been...not exactly friends. Not really. But part of the same group of kids that used to run around. And one day, he and Danny had been down by the river, and a dragonfly had landed on a plant. Kyle had thought it was pretty. Danny had held up a finger for quiet, then fast as a snake snatched it off the leaf and held it up triumphantly.

“Wow!” Kyle remembered saying. “You caught it!”

“Yeah,” Danny laughed, the dragonfly struggling in his grip. “And watch this.”

He took one of his hands, meaty even back then, and tore off the dragonfly's wings.

“Hey!” Kyle said. “Why'd you do that?”

“Because it's funny,” Danny said, tossing the dragonfly into the river. “Now you do one.”

“What?” Kyle shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“I said you do one,” Danny said, snatching another dragonfly off a leaf and holding it out. “Come on, go ahead.”

“I don't wanna,” Kyle said. “That thing never hurt me.”

“Who cares if it hurt you?” Danny said. “Look at it, small and twitching like that. Come on, rip it apart!”

“No!” Kyle said, backing away, and something changed in Danny's face. For a brief second Kyle got the image of...something else. Whatever it was lived behind Danny's eyes. Twisted and ugly. And yet also...sad. Betrayed. Twisted and ugly and miserable, and somehow its misery was Kyle's fault.

“Then get out of here!” Danny screamed, slapping his hands together and crushing the dragonfly between them. “Get out! Get away! And the next time I see you I'm gonna crush you Anderman! I'm gonna crush you just the same!”

And after that, Danny had made it his mission to ruin Kyle's life whenever her could. And that's how it had gone for another twelve years. Danny had become a classic bully. A cliché. Almost a cartoon But Kyle had never tried to get around that, because he knew deep down inside Danny O'brien was deeply, darkly, dangerously broken, and it terrified him.

But now, in the present day, with Danny grabbing onto Jenny's arm, none of that seemed to matter. He was fed up with Danny, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to Jenny.

“And what are you gonna do about it?” Danny sneered.

Danny cut off, surprised at how easily Kyle pulled his arm away from Jenny's. More than that, when Kyle let go there was a handprint on Danny's wrist.

“What the hell man?” Benny said. “Why'd you let him do that?”

“Shut up!” Danny snapped. “So you been working out, huh twerp? Got a little cocky spending all day with those tits? I suppose I'd better remind you how things work around here.”

“Whatever,” Kyle said. “Chase me, beat me up, I'm used to it. But she said she didn't want to go with you, so leave her alone.”

“And who the hell said you could talk to me like that, you little shit!?” Danny roared, swinging his fist at Kyle. But it was like Danny's fist was moving in slow motion. It was the easiest thing in the world for Kyle to step aside. And then he swung his own fist into Danny's stomach and the bully went flying down the hall, eyes wide in shock, until he slammed into a display about the spring dance. Benny just stared in horror for a moment, then ran to check up on Danny.

“What happened!?” Kyle said, looking down at his own fist. “What the hell just happened!?”

“I think I have a good idea of what happened,” Principal Irons said about an hour later. “Danny and Benny don't seem to want to push the issue, although school policy says I should punish you and Danny both...”

“But that's not fair!” Jenny said. “Those two scary guys were being mean to me! Kyle didn't even mean to punch him that hard!”

Principle Irons peered over her glasses at Jenny. Kyle hadn't had much to do with her since he started school here, but everything about her said “strict,” from the tight bun in her hair to the crisp lines of her dark suit to the corners of her squared off glasses and the piercing gaze she gave Jenny over them.

“Since Danny isn't interested in pursuing the matter,” the principal continued, “and knowing something of the young man's character, I'll leave it at that. Of course knowing something of the young man's character I also know he most likely refused because he plans on taking a more personal revenge at some point. Do you understand?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I do,” Kyle said. “But what else is new?”

“Furthermore I cannot condone any violence at the school,” Ms. Irons continued primly. “Nor could I express any satisfaction, if I were to do something as unbecoming as feeling any, that a considerate young man like yourself had successfully struck back at any other student, no matter how that other student behaved.”

“I think I understand,” Kyle said, and he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from twitching just a little bit upwards.

“Now you may both go about your business,” the principle said. “But Miss Ragbah, I'd like you to think about pursuing disciplinary action.”

“What do you mean?” Jenny said.

“Danny and Benny have been...problems...for quite some time,” the principal said. “If you were to make a formal complaint about him grabbing you, I might be able to do something about them. I won't push you on it today, just something to think about alright?”

“A-alright,” Jenny said. She and Kyle left the principal's office and headed off down the hall. There were already a lot fewer students than their had been earlier. School was letting out, and even athletics was starting to wind down now.

“Sorry about all that,” Kyle said.

“It's not your fault!” Jenny said. “You helped me!”

“Yeah but now that I think about it you probably could have handled those guys,” Kyle said. “Cursed them or something.”

“I probably could,” Jenny said. “Now that I've granted your wishes I can only do a few minor magical tricks, but enough to deal with them. But even if I could it was really nice of you to step up for me like that.”

“Oh,” Kevin flushed. “Okay. Well uhm, glad I could help. We should, uh, we should really go and catch up with everybody at the lab.”

“Okay!” Jenny said cheerfully, and off they went.

The thing in the trench coat that flew on wings of fire shambled angrily around town. He'd been here a whole day, it was getting late again, and all he'd managed to get was lunch. And even then the waitress had screamed when he paid the bill and she saw his lumpy paw of a hand. He'd felt like throwing his coat off and really giving her something to scream about but no, he was supposed to be incognito. Looking for some stupid artifact the boss wanted. Some lamp.

He wasn't stupid. He knew if they were looking for a lamp it probably had a genie inside. But he wasn't dumb enough to think that even the deepest wish of his heart could protect him from the boss, if the boss got angry. He'd be satisfied with his bonus for finding it. If he ever got out of this stupid town. He wasn't supposed to make waves if he could avoid it, but at this point he'd have to steal a car.

He was picking one out to steal when a human girl stood in the road. It was late at night and they were in the business district, so there was no one else around. Wisps of magic rose around the girl's body as she stared at him.

“I know what you are,” the girl said. “Who are you, and why are you here?”

“You're supposed to introduce yourself first,” he rumbled at her. “It's just good manners.”

“Fine,” the girl said. If he had to guess she was a sorceress, or some kind of witch. “My name is Tanya Myrdin, of the line of Myrdin, and by the power of the twelve wands and seven pentacles I demand you tell me your reason for coming to this place.”

“Touchy touchy,” he snarled. “I'm just passing through. No law against that, not even an Uzbedi one.”

“We both know who you work for,” the witch said. Tanya. “I've got enough trouble in town right now, we don't need you poking around as well.”

“Enough trouble in town huh?” He growled, a smile playing across his lips. “Oohhh. What kind of trouble? Just so happens I'm looking for a specific kind of trouble.”

“That's my business and not yours,” Tanya said. “If you're passing through, pass already. You have wings, fly out of here.”

“Sure sure,” he said, reaching into his coat. He hadn't thought to try it when he came to town, but he touched the large brass coin in his pocket. A detector the boss had given him. It was warm and vibrating. “Just as soon as you tell me where I can find the lamp.”

Tanya's face twitched. It was the briefest thing, but he'd been looking for it.

“What lamp?” she said.

“Too late for that,” he chuckled, holding out his furry, paw-like hands with claws at their tips. He held a ball of fire in each one. “But if you wanna do this the hard way fine by me.”

“I will cut off your filthy peasant hand if you try that again!” Ammeline snapped.

Things were going well.

Actually no joke they really were. Evan and Ammeline's project was almost up to where it needed to be, they were on step nineteen. Kyle, Trevor, Betty, and Jenny had mostly been there for moral support, although having them all there made setup a lot faster than it could have been. Ms. Saunders was theoretically watching them, but she'd only been in and out a few times to see how they were doing. Which might not have been completely up to school regulations but no one was likely to have a fit about it.

“Alright alright,” Evan said. “We're here trying to fix your mistake after all...”

“What does that have to do with you trying to grab my ass!?” Ammeline demanded.

“She has a point,” Kyle said.

“I wasn't!” Evan grumbled, but he turned his attention back to the experiment...and mouthed “traitor” in Kyle's direction when nobody else was looking. Kyle shifted uncomfortably.

“It's getting dark outside,” Jenny says. “The stars look so pretty. And different from what I remember.”

“Well it's been...” Kyle stopped himself before he said “thousands of years.” It had been of course, which was why the positions of the stars were different, but they were keeping that a secret. “I mean you're a long way from home.”

“I guess I am,” Jenny said. “I kind of like it here though.”

“And...” Ammeline poured the contents of her test tube into her beaker, “Step 21. Done!”

“Oh good,” Evan sighed. “Let's pack up.”

“We'll help,” Betty said. Kyle was a little worried about her. She'd been having a hard time, watching Evan chase Ammeline around.

“Yeah,” Trevor said.

“Thank you,” Ammeline said. “Actually, I, uhm, I wanted to thank all of you. I did make a teensy little, a small...a mistake. And you all...well, thank you.”

“We were happy to do it!” Jenny said.

“Oh,” Ammeline blushed. “Well, I mean. Thank you. Yes. I...”

Ammeline was obviously uncomfortable thanking people. She was saved from having to come up with what to say next by the massive explosion that rocked the building.

“What the hell was that!?” Trevor said, dropping the empty beaker he'd been putting back in the fridge.

“Something just blew up outside!” Evan said from the window.

“It's not just an explosion!” Jenny whispered in Kyle's ear. “It's magic! Pretty strong magic!”

“I know,” Kyle said, his whole body tense.

“You do!?” Jenny hissed. Kyle nodded. It felt like his skin was tingling. Like the whole world was pressing down on him. He could feel there being more to the fire than just a normal explosion. If there was magic here, then it must have something to do with Jenny. It was too big a coincidence. And that might mean Jenny was in danger. He had to protect her. He had to see what was going on.

“Stay here!” Kyle told everybody, running for the door.

“Kyle wait!” Evan called after him. “What are you going to...”

But Kyle wasn't listening. He pounded down the stairs and out onto the school grounds. Fire was still licking at the sky, fresh plumes and gouts of it rising into the air. There was another explosion and something flew towards him, landing in the dirt and leaving a deep furrow in the ground as it skidded towards Kyle's feet. When it stopped he could see it was person, bleeding and bruised and covered in mud and soot.

“Tanya!?” He gasped, kneeling down next to her.

“Kyle...Ardman...” Tany said.

“What happened?” Kyle said. “We need to get you to a hospital!”

“No....run...” Tany said. “Efreet...”

“What's an efreet?” Kyle said.

He got his answer a minute later, when it landed on the grass nearby them. It still wore the tatters of a trench coat, as well as a pair of ragged pants, but they didn't hide the creature's inhuman nature. The thing was eight feet tall and muscled like a wrestler. It was covered in lumpy orange skin, and it's face was a hideous mix of wrinkles, lumps, and enormous tusks. It's eyes were tiny, piggy things that flickered like flames. It's hands and feet ended in wicked black claws. Behind it's back wings like a dragonfly's made of fire twitched.

“Stupid bitch should have just told me what I wanted to know,” the efreet snarled. “Hey you. Dumb looking human kid. Do you know where the lamp is?”