Eleanor and Alex shared looks of caution, just before they saw Evilini come down the stairs. "Did my messenger fish just tell you two my evil plan?" She asked them. "No..." Alex and Eleanor responded in sync. "Alright, this time, pay attention." The fish stated, and the girls gave nervous stares as the fish started to say the message again. Eleanor raised her hand and covered his mouth. "Okay, maybe he did tell us." She pointed out. Evilini took the fish from Alex. "Both of them are not my mother, you stupid fish!" 

"Hey, at least I didn't tell her about Volcanoland." 

"I never said anything about Volcanoland."

"Well, you have to go to an undersea volcano to drain a wizard's powers, and Volcanoland is the onl-" Evilini dropped the fish in the discipline bucket, to cut him off. Eleanor slowly backed away from the scene, and wanted to run into her dorm. She was stopped when something patted her leg. Looking down, it was Mirage with his paw. "Mirage!" She exclaimed, picking up the feline and holding him close. "You are in trouble, mister!" "Hey, is it my fault if I sense a possible evil plot?" Mirage tried to defend himself. Eleanor looked back to see Evilini and Alex conversing; giving her an opportunity to run.

~~~~~~~

For the whole night, Eleanor couldn't sleep. She had stayed up all night with caution and held Mirage close. Thankfully, Evilini hadn't come after her. Everywhere she walked, she would turn her head in case the meanacing woman was behind her. She had kept Mirage close in her bag, just in case Evilini had spotted him before. "El, please help me!" Alex ran up to her. "I'm already in enough panic from just last night." She groaned. "So, yes, enlighten me!" Eleanor then stated. "I need your help in getting Justin out of this tournament. If he loses his powers, it's like I'm asking to be sent to Wail Land." Alex explained to her. "Of course, I'll help. I am not going to let that woman take his powers...although, she scares me."

Alex rolled her eyes and dragged her best friend to where Justin had been training. He was dressed in WizTech sports clothing and wore his spectacles, as he hit multiple balls several times from an opponent. "Justin, can we talk to you?" Alex asked. "I need to practice. I'm playing in the semifinals tomorrow." Justin tried to reason. "No, you're not. Evilini will drain the champion's powers at Volcanoland." Eleanor stated. "We can't let you win this thing." "I'm sorry, volacno what?" He questioned. "Her messenger fish told us. She wants to become the most powerful wizard." Alex said. "So, there's a volcano and a messenger fish." Justin said, as if the two girls were being delusional. "We need to focus on Evilini. I don't know if you know, but she's evil." Eleanor said. "No, her name's Evilini."

"And how much clearer could it be?"

"Okay, if she was really evil, don't you think she would've changed her name to Really-Friendly-ini or Nice-ini or Totally-Not-Evil-ini?"

"Alright, we're not getting anywhere. Listen to us!" Eleanor stated. "You know, Alex, this is exactly why I didn't want you to come to WizTech. Stop bother me, and I need to focus and concentrate." Justin directed the attention to Alex. "Oh, so I'm chopped liver!" Eleanor raised her hands up and down in annoyance. "O-Of cour-course not, my dea...ah, I mean Eleanor! I believe you, mostly..." She crossed her arms with a look. Justin raised his hands in surrender. "If I could focus, I would've hit those." He turned back to Alex. Some balls came flying, making Justin duck, but the two girls just stared. "Sure..."

~~~~~~~

Seeing that Justin wouldn't see their way, the girls and white cat (hidden in the backpack, as always) had gone to the headmaster; Professor Crumbs. "Headmaster Crumbs, we need your help." Alex said. "What seems to be the problem?" He questioned, with a full mouth. "Dr Evilini's gonna drain the twelve ball champion's powers at Volcanoland, and I think my brother may end up champion. You have to do something." She explained to Crumbs. "I can't. My hands are tied." He told the two girls. They sighed in dismay, as they thought that the headmaster didn't believe them either. However, he raised up his hands to present them with LITERAL tied hands; explaining that he had lost a bet with Evilini. Eleanor crossed her arms with a sigh, no doubt to stop him from ruining her plan. Mirage let out a small meow in annoyance. 

"Professor Maloney and I got into a beard contest of which I had no business being part of." "Don't you see? That bet was a setup." Alex pointed an accusing finger. "Yeah, she clearly has your hands tied so you can't do anything about it." Eleanor added in agreement. "You two may be onto something, but I can't confront Evilini. She'd only deny it." The headmaster responded; beginning to see reason with the two. "Look, if you both want to protect Justin, it's up to you. Get him to back out of the tournament." "We already tried, but once Alex mentioned Volcanoland and a talking fish, he thought she was messing with him." Eleanor stated. "And between the two of us, Justin can't even look at her without turing to a tomato, as well as, stammering like he's in Antarctica." Alex whispered to Professor Crumbs. 

"Mmm, sounds like you two need some hard evidence to convince Justin. I suggest you knuckle down and go to the library." He suggested to the girls. "Sure, we'll go to the library." Alex smiled, and the two started to walk out of the office. "Oh, really? Is that the truth? Some are evil, some are kind, but now all must speak their mind." He casted on the two, and they were both hit with it; the truth spell.

"I hate libraries. What am I saying? There's no way I'm going to a library. What am I saying?"

"I'm going to feed my pet cat that I smuggled in. Wait, what am I saying?! Mirage loves his ham, what am I saying?"

Crumbs explained that he had put the truth spell on them; wondering if the girls were really going to help Justin or simply off to do their own needs. Eleanor did really want to help Justin but she knew that there was nothing that they could do. The only possible part that he would believe them would be after Evilini takes away his powers. "Well, then go someplace where it isn't boring, like...um...Volcanoland." He told them. "But, how do we get there?" Eleanor asked him. "I can't tell you that." "Then why did you tell me to go there?"

"I didn't. I would never say that. I'm the headmaster, I can't spend a student off campus to Volcanoland."

"What?"

"You should never go to Volcanoland. It could be dangerous." He said, but instead was shaking his head up and down. "So, just to be clear, you want me to go to Volcanoland?" Alex questioned. "I didn't say that." He nodded once again. "But, you did say 'Volcanoland'." "I will admit to that."

~~~~~~~

Alex and Eleanor ran from the office, and down to the main lobby, where the tournament was being held as to who would proceed into the finals. Mirage jumped out of the bag, and ran along with the girls. "What's happening?" Alex asked Hugh. "Justin's fallen behind." He answered. "Ah, good, maybe we don't have to go to Volcanoland." She muttered to her best friend. "The only way he could win now is if he hits the tattler?" "Tattler?" "Yeah, it's an obscure rule. If you hit the tattler, it's an automatic win. But the tattler isn't even in here, so there's no chance."

A little blond girl strolled in and started to talk to one of the teachers. "Who's that?" Eleanor pointed to her. "That's the tattler!" Hugh said. "What's she doing?" "She's tattling. She's the tattler; it's obvious." Justin had remained his fcous onto the oncoming balls. With one hard, hit, one ball went flying right towards the tattler; hitting her. "He did it! He hit the tattler!" Hugh exclaimed, as he and the other students all jumped up in applause. 

"I won! I'm goin' to the finals!"

Alex and Eleanor looked to each other in concern, and they both knew. They had to get there NOW, to save the boy.

"How are we gonna get to Volcanoland?" Alex questioned. "I'd mail myself, but all the mail goes through Dr Evilini, and she's evil." "I worked in the mailroom. I could get around Evilini." Hugh told them. "Are you saying you could mail us from the mailroom without Evilini knowing?" Eleanor asked him, with a knowing smirk. "I'm not saying that at all." Hugh did the same thing as Crumbs, nodding his head.

"What is it with you people and your head nodding?"

~~~~~~~

Alex and Eleanor changed into normal clothes, soon as Hugh had allowed them to go to Volcanoland. They observed the large fish, and then ran to the front desk. "Excuse me, I need some information about the volcano." Eleanor asked the front lady. "Fire away. We're encouraged to use volcano terminology whenever we can." She responded. "Is it true the volcano can drain wizards of their powers?" The Martin questioned. "The majority of wizards enjoy the natural wonder of the park and take a lot of pictures that they'll bore their friends with when they get home."

"What about the others?"

"Oh. They use the volcano to drain wizards of their powers." The front lady muttered to them. "That's a separate entrance fee." "We have to prove this to my brother before it's too late." Alex said. The two girls started to think of what they could do, but then, an idea struck Alex. "Hey, could you come back to school with us?" "What for? You got somethin' bubbling?" She asked. Eleanor facepalmed at her joke. Seriously, she might've been worse than Moseby at jokes. "You're a volcano official. Justin always believes people in uniform." She stated. "It's one of the many things about him that annoy me." Alex inputed. 

"Does it make you wanna erupt?"

"Ok, now you're pushing it."

"Does it block your flow?"

"Stop it."

The two girls took the front lady back to WizTech; ignoring her terrible jokes. Eleanor stood with her, as Alex came bolting in with Justin's hand in hers. "Who's she?" Justin questioned. "Hello. I'm the information desk lady from Volcanoland." The front lady said. "Go ahead, Justin. Ask her a question." Eleanor smiled. "Could I get one of those uniforms? I like the fringe things on the shoulders." "Aw, you'd look like a little soldier in that!" Eleanor awed; making Justin blush. 

Alex just looked at them with a deadpanned expression, as she corrected her statement for a question about Volcanoland. She then looked to the lady, gesturing for her to tell Justin. "At Volcanoland, more wizards have been drained of their powers than at all of the seventy-seven wonders of the Wizard World combined. Wizards come from near and far to witness its awesome wizard-power-draining properties." "That was quite dramatic, and I liked it." Eleanor complimented.

"Okay, so you two weren't messing with me about Volcanoland, but that doesn't mean Evilini's taking me there to drain my powers." Justin stated. "Dr Evilini? Oh, she has a season pass to the draining section, and she paid extra, so there's no blackout dates." The front lady piped in. That brought the elder Russo to realisation; he knew he was in danger, and that he hadn't listened to the pleading of his future wife. He felt horrible inside! "I gotta quit the tournament." He said. "While I'm here, would you like to buy an 'I Lava Volcanoland' t-shirt?" The front lady questioned the three, making Eleanor facepalm...again. "No, I don't wanna buy an 'I Lava Volcanoland' t-shirt, because I don't-a lava Volcanoland." Justin exclaimed, before storming off. 

"He didn't have to blow his top."

"I am going to send my cat after you in a minute."

~~~~~~~

The tournament was here, and Eleanor was next to the Russo family (who had come to watch their son compete); her bag beside her, opened so Mirage could peek out and watch with them. "So, what's the for-one on the hitter?" He whispered from the bag. "Why are you talking like that?" Eleanor squinted her eyes. "I want to try and talk like the younger people." "We don't talk like that! I don't even talk like that!" She slighty exclaimed. Mirage just placed his paws out, and faced the tables. 

Alex came up, and explained to her family that Justin was quitting the tournament. "Why would he quit? That's not good news." Jerry said. "I can explain. See-" She was cut off from the booming voice of Evilini on the microphone. Eleanor just pulled her friend down to sit beside Mirage. "Wizards, student wizards, visiting parents, goblins and ghouls, Larry...welcome to the the WizTech Twelve Ball Finals! Our first competitor, well, what can I say? His name says it all. Jerko Phoenix!" Evilini summoned smoke in front of a door, and the said person instead transported onto the stairs, coming down; booing following. "And a newcomer to the sport and serious threat even though he doesn't look like it, Justin Russo!" The crowd jumped in applause for him. The only ones who hadn't was Eleanor, Alex or the white cat in the bag. He told them that he had quit, so why was he still competiting? 

As Mirage observed him from his expressions, he saw distain and fear. Something like this was clearly Evilini's doing. "What is he doing here? We told him not to play." Alex said. "You need to be more supportive of your brother. And Eleanor, I'm surprised, you and Justin are like two peas in a pod; I thought you would be supportive." Theresa told the girls. "Yeah, one of the peas just stammers all the time." Mirage muttered. "We're trying to save his powers from getting sucked down a volcano." Eleanor stayed sat down, as she scratched behind Mirage's ears. She didn't want to get close to Evilini; she scared her. Alex came back from Justin, and explained the situation to her. She had put a spell on Justin, so that he wouldn't quit the tournament. Evilini was going to win one way or another.

"First serve, Russo."

This started a continuous back and forth hitting of ping-pong balls. Eleanor actually pulled out Mirage in fear, and didn't seem to care if someone noticed she had the kitty with her. She held him close as the cat tried to comfort her. "He's gotta lose. Lose, Justin! Lose!" Alex shouted. Her parents scolded her, and no matter how hard he tried, Justin kept winning.

"Get your eye on the balls!"

"Miss it!"

Justin kept saying that he didn't mean to do anything. "Can someone please stop me?" Evilini simply watched with a scheming smirk. Eleanor hugged Mirage close. "Oh my gosh, they're up to eleven balls. No one's ever gotten to twelve before." Hugh said. Well, that didn't calm Eleanor down at all! Everyone watched as tension filled the air. Justin threw his last hit, as all twelve balls went together in a synced line. Eleanor and Alex gave wide-eyed stares as they watched. Unfortunately, all twelve of them had gone straight through Jerko's top racket. "We have a winner!" Evilini annoucned. As everyone cheered for Justin, Alex and Eleanor looked at each other with dismay. Mirage pawed at the Martin girl's face, and he believed that there were a few tears on it. 

"Congratulations, Justin Russo. You are the best Twelve Ball player in the entire school, what are you going to do now?" Evilini said. "I'm going to Volcanoland!" Justin said into the mic, with shock in his expression at what he said. "You certinaly are." Evilni smirked once the mic disappeared, securing it with a cackle. "That's it. It's over, we tried everything. I just can't beat Evilni, Justin's gonna lose his powers." Alex said. "Who are you talking to, honey?" Jerry asked. "Not now." 

Mirage looked to Evilini, and then back at Eleanor's teary face. He looked back to the woman with the menacing smirk, and hissed. Mirage lept from Eleanor's arms as he growled, and jumped onto the tables; right onto Evilini's face. "Mirage!" Eleanor exclaimed. The crowd gasped in surprise, as the white kitty and wizard engaged in a scuffle. "You had your cat?" Theresa questioned. "I couldn't leave him alone!" Eleanor tried to reason. Evilini did everything in her power to tear Mirage off her face, but he wasn't letting her have the upper hand again. He dug his claws into her face, scratching whatever he could. Even though it was a bit wrong to say, Eleanor actually slightly smirked at her pain. 

Eventually, she got the white cat off her face with an enraged expression. "You!" She pointed at him. "You're the fleabag that's been sneaking in my office! Oh, I'll be sure to give you a punishment you'll never forget, how about if I skin you of your fur?" She cackled. Justin gasped, and grabbed onto Mirage as he attempted to take him back from her. Eleanor ran down and helped Justin, by helping to pull from behind. "Give. Me. My. Cat!" Eleanor said with all of her strength. "I'm going to skin this mangy thing!" Evilini screamed. After a few minutes from this tug of war, Mirage was eventually let go and landed in Justin's arms. Eleanor sighed with relief and took him. "You okay?" She asked. "Yeah, but her nails might've scratched me a little." He replied. "Well, her face looks worse so that's a good thing. It's like a horror movie on her face."

"I've had enough of this woman." Eleanor then said. "Some are evil, some are kind, but now all must speak their mind." She casted on Evilini. "So, it's Justin." Evilini let out a cackle. "I'll take him to the volcano and drain his powers for myself. Why am I saying this? Oh, no, truth spell." Everyone had heard the words slip from her lips and looked to her in surprise. "They'll all hear my plan to become the most powerful wizard! Stop talking!" Evilini continued. 

"Security!"

This school has security? A guard came in and took Evilini away, with a scratched face as a reminder for her actions. "I knew you could do it." Crumbs said to the girls. "You both went to great lengths to help Justin, and you've brought Evilini down, along with a few kitty-cat scratches as a reminder." He smiled, as he petted Mirage's head. "When you apply yourself, you can achieve a lot more than you think." "I guess I can." "Hey, uh, when you two were at Volcanoland, did you happen to buy a t-shirt in my size?" Crumbs asked them. "Yeah. They're gonna mail it to you." Alex lied. However, he didn't believe her and raised his hand to nearly cast the truth spell. 

"Okay, maybe I didn't, but next time?" Eleanor smiled at Alex's lies, and took out one of the t-shirts from her bag. "The lady told me that you really liked the shirts." She snickered. Crumbs took it from her with an estatic smile. "Well, thank you very much, Eleanor Martin." He said, gave Mirage a scratch behind the ears, and started to walk away. He stopped once seeing Justin, and patted his shoulder, saying "She's a keeper, Justin Russo. Keep fighting for that girl." and continued to walk away. "Don't worry, I don't plan to stop."

The rest of the family came running over, in worry for Justin. "I'm fine, thanks to Eleanor and Alex." He reassured them. "I can't believe my baby almost had his powers drained in a volcano." Theresa cried. "We were very concenered. You still get to keep the championship belt, though, right?" Jerry inquired about the belt.

"Alex, I'm kinda glad you came to summer school with me after all. Thanks, you two, for stopping Evilini from stealing my powers." Justin smiled warmly at the girls. "So from now on, you'll believe me?" Alex questioned. "You know what? I will, I think you've grown up a lot this summer." He agreed. "Yeah, me too. Oh, you had something on your shirt."

"I'm not falling for it this time."

It took everything in Justin's body to not fall for the good, old flick trick. However, he got weak and looked down, to which Alex flicked his chin. "Yeah, I saw that coming." Mirage said, outloud. Everyone, except Justin, turned to the cat in shock. "Did Mirage just speak?" Jerry pointed to him. Eleanor stammered and tried to find some reason as to how it WASN'T Mirage. However, she saw that there was no way she was getting out of it. "Yes, Justin actually got me a magic cat, so he can talk." She finally confessed to the family. "Why didn't you tell us?" Alex asked, feeling a little bit betrayed. "Because I know you guys." Eleanor responded, directing the comment at Max and Alex. The two nodded in reply, understanding.

"So, this talking will take some getting used to." Theresa stated. Eleanor nodded in reply. She walked over to Justin and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Even though you nearly lost your powers, I am proud that you won. You ARE a great player, Justin. Therefore, a winner deserves a proper reward." Eleanor said playfully. Then, she gave Justin a long kiss on the cheek; leaving a slight visible mark of her lip gloss on his cheek. She smiled at her friend and picked up her bag, walking away with Mirage at her heels. 

"S-She kissed me...again." Justin stammered, with his cheeks red as a tomato. "Only on the cheek; clear friend gesture." Alex muttered. "I-I'm so in love with that girl." He said, before Justin passed out from his lovestruck feelings, and everyone looked at the boy in concern/dismay. Max only just took his wallet from Justin's pocket, and Theresa eyed him with a mom-like stare.

"What? Finders keepers, losers weepers."