CHAPTER FOUR: WILD GOOSE CHASE, ALL IN A HAZE

Sarox, Max G and PJ took in the structures of the wizard's lair while Zeke rambled endlessly about his robot. They lost interest after the fifth mention of "Brobot's spectacular moves", but he didn't seem to get it.

Instead, they examined the room and did their best to sway Zeke from his robot topic. It wasn't easy.

Jiminy jumped up and down the shelves to look for any object we could not see.

"So what does that mysterious glass door do?" Max G asked Zeke.

"Oh, that's the Russos' portal to the Wizard World," he answered. "You know, the ones that every magical family has." Then he changed the subject back to his robot's functions.

The door swung open and Alex walked in.

"Hey, boys," she said in a singsong voice. "Is Zeke annoying you with his stupid little toy?" She drew out her wand. "Maybe I should make a little tweak."

Something about this Alex made Sarox uncomfortable.

Waving her wand, she blew the robot in pieces. Zeke screamed in horror while the others stared.

"Why did you do that?" Sarox asked with a sharp accusing tone.

She chuckled evilly. "I'll be off to WizTech. See ya'll later, losers!"

With that, she walked through the portal. Zeke continued yelling in horror. Harper, Marlene and Alex came rushing into the lair.

"What happened?" Alex asked.

Alex!

Alex?

What's going on? The question bounced around Sarox's head like a pingpong ball, but came back with no answer.

"What happened?!" Zeke repeated Alex's question angrily. "You destroyed the miniature robot Justin gave me."

She looked puzzled. The same looks appeared on the others' faces. Except for Zeke.

"No, I didn't. I was down in the basement with Harper and marlene. We were trying out some of Harper's clothes."

That's when Sarox noticed the clambake dress replicas on her and Marlene.

"No, you weren't. You came in here and smashed my robot to smithereens!" Zeke insisted.

Sarox didn't argue, but only because he couldn't make out what had happened. Marlene and Harper wore the confusion for a few long seconds, and then Marlene's brows lifted.

"I think I know what," she said.

Alex looked at her, her own eyebrows raised and then she darted out of the lair. They followed her up to the living room, and found the large mirror in pieces.

"Yep, I broke out," Alex confirmed.

"Will someone tell us what's going on?" PJ said.

"Alex cast a spell to extract the darkness in her heart and made a duplicate of herself," Marlene explained. "She was in the mirror when we last saw her. But she broke out."

"And apparently broke Zeke's miniature robot," Max G added. "The question is, why did she pass through the portal?"

The girls turned to Max G looking befuddled.

"She did what?" Alex said.

He nodded. "Yeah, she said something about going to 'visit deck Or something."

"Do you mean 'WizTech?" she corrected.

"Oh, yeah, that's what she said!"

Alex rushed past them down the spiraling staircase. They followed.

All of them arrived in a chamber of Medieval designs. The bookshelves, the desk, the paintings - every part of the room represented medieval times. It reminded of Sarox's visit to Radiant Garden the first time. His mind went back to the first day he realized his father had friends in that world, the first time he began to learn his parents' adventures together.

"What happened in here?" Alex asked rhetorically.

that sent the trip down memory lane to a halt and snapped Sarox back to the present. He gazed around the area and found it in a complete mess: Shattered glass and papers scattered everywhere on the floor, scorch marks on the walls.

"Justin? Justin!" Alex called out.

No answer came back.

"Juliet?" Still no answer.

"Alex, look at this," Max G said.

He held out a a ripped piece of paper.

Alex took the note and read it:

Off to our family reunion. See you there.

Bad Alex

"Oh, no!" she whispered in a panicking tone. "My bad side got Justin, and now she's going after the rest of my family. I gotta go."

She drew out her wand and transported away.

"Where'd she go?" Max G asked.

Sarox read the note. "To her family reunion," he answered. "That's where her bad side went. We gotta follow her."

"How?" Harper asked.

"The Wizard Speed Pass." Sarox turned and ran toward the portal.

Alex appeared in a humongous room of Victorian fashion... and filled with people. She gazed around and took in the natural environment of Tuscany and Victorian style. Then she found her parents in the crowd.

"Hi, Mom and Dad. Guess what? I've changed," she said.

Her dad cringed his eyebrows and made his way to her. Her mom followed.

"Yeah, into a third-grade art project," he said, completely missing her point about 'changing. "Why're you in a clambake outfit?"

She shook her head. "No, Dad. Listen, all of my bad parts are now gone."

An unfamiliar female voice called out. "Geraldo, is that your Alex?"

Her dad turned around to an elder woman. "Yes, this is our family wizard: Alex Russo." He nudged her forward to meet the woman. "Alex, this is my cousin Carmela, your aunt."

As much as she enjoyed meeting her extended family and her newfound love for being the purely nice person, she had more important matters at hand.

"Dad, wait," she stopped him. "Please listen to me, my bad side's got J-"

Screams suddenly bounced around the room and interrupted her sentence. People ran in through the doors with panicking screeches. Alex, Theresa and Jerry looked past the panicking crowd and saw them. The Heartless. They were different from the ones she fought last night, but the infinite darkness and emptiness she sensed from them was the definitely the same. Except this group wore attires that resembled ancient wizards.

Alex drew out her wand and darted to the front to protect her family.

"Every Heartless be no more, send them through the path before," she chanted.

Her wand's tip sparked the same time the monsters disappeared.

"Alex!" a boyish voice called from behind.

She turned around. Sarox, Marlene, Max G, Harper, PJ and Zeke rushed to her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded, then looked over their shoulders to find...

Where are they?

"Where's my mom and my dad?"

"You mean these?" a voice talked behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder and found her. The duplicate of Alex's evil side. Everyone else looked in the same direction.

"For all the light of hearts," Max G muttered. "She is you."

Alex's doppelgänger grinned and held up her arm, showing the charm bracelet from Dominic. "Wanna see what's inside?" she said to her good counterpart.

Curiosity piqued and so.

"To see what's stored inside, grant me the gift of supersight," Alex chanted.

She saw it. Inside the jewelries. Justin and his girlfriend, Juliet, Max, and her parents. each of them trapped inside one charm on the bracelet.

"But... why..."

Another figure flashed in beside Evil Alex. She recognized him. She gasped.

"Dominic," Sarox said through his teeth.

The same person, but now had a black aura around him. An aura of darkness.

"Hello, everyone," Dominic greeted with a twisted polite voice and put his arm around Evil Alex's shoulders. She flashed him a wide smile. then she refocused on them and started waving her wand. A new group of Heartless appeared and started charging.

"Light!" Sarox screamed and blew the assault away with his blast of transformation. As the red color dominated his outfit, the second Keyblade appeared in his left hand. Both Alexes recognized the outfit as the one he wore last night when he helped fight the Heartless.

Marlene pressed a hand to her chest and it started to glow.

"Give me strength, Bolt," she said.

A flash of lightning engulfed her body. Alex could feel a new level of strength emanate from her. She then summoned her Keyblade and blasted lightning bolts at the monsters, taking them out easily. PJ and Max G scattered to fight the remaining monsters.

Evil Alex chuckled as though she was watching a really funny movie and making bad comments about it.

Alex held out her wand and aimed at her evil counterpart. Another Heartless jumped in front of her, breaking her concentration, and then Alex found herself locked in a tight fight with the monsters.

The monsters were all but eradicated in minutes, but Alex could not shake off the eerie feeling that they were all just distractions. She started looking around, and found Harper and Zeke behind the Victorian sofa, her distant relatives and her new friends. Anyone but...

She turned back to her giggling evil self and Dominic, and asked, "Where are they? What've you done my family?"

Evil Alex wiggled her bracelet. Dominic smiled with her.

"Wanna get them back? Meet us at the Leaning Tower of Pisa!" He drew out his wand and flashed them away.

Disappointment and pain instantly filled her. "What have I done? I can't even 'grow up' when I try to grow up." Her voice matched her emotions. "My family's taken hostage all because of me." She covered her face and grunted.

Harper went to her side and comforted her.

"Oh, honey. Maybe what you needed was some perspective," Harper said. "People should accept you for who you are, not for who they think you should be."

Sarox stepped beside them. Zeke, Marlene, Max G and PJ followed.

"She's right," he said. "You are who you are. Even if you do want to change, you should do it in your own time. On your terms. Not on someone else's."

Marlene, Max G, and PJ nodded at the same time. Jiminy jumped up to PJ's shoulder and nodded as well.

Their words filled her chest with warmth.

"You're right," Alex said. "Now, I'm gonna get Dominic and get back together with my bad side. Whatever Dominic wants, I'll be sure to make a 'little tweak'."

They joined hands, and Alex flashed them away.

Dominic and Evil Alex waited at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa when Alex flashed in. She lost her footing as the crooked building sent her heels off the slightly steep floor.

She looked around.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"The Leaning Tower of Pisa," Dominic told her, an evil grin crossed his face. "And this is where I chose for my master plan!"