Makenna knew she and Tracey were running out of time. Her fairy instincts told her. However, she had finally reached the east wing. She was almost caught by Mr. Nelson, who roamed the corridors, but Raeven warned her and pulled her behind a wall, where she was well hidden.
Makenna thanked him and waited for the coast to clear. Once it did, she slipped out, as quiet as a mouse, and headed down the hallway.
She was about to enter a closet when dust tickled Raeven's nostrils, and he sneezed.
"Raeven!" Makenna weakly yelled.
Raeven chuckled. "Oops."
Unfortunately, Mr. Nelson had heard him.
He appeared from out of nowhere and gasped at the sight of Makenna. "I've got her!" he yelled, pulling his bazooka's strap over his head. He pointed it at Makenna. "The Metamorphic Fairy's cornered!"
"Raeven!" Makenna repeated. "You big mouth! Why did you have to sneeze?"
Where he stood, Cody pulled back his bazooka's trigger and fired a net toward Makenna.
However, she dove out of the way, taking Raeven with her. The net flew over her head and missed her.
Makenna slammed down on her front, and Raeven dropped from her shoulder.
He got up and urged her to her feet.
Makenna struggled to stand, but managed to.
Raeven nudged her forward and called, "Go, Makenna!" through telepathy. "Find your brother and Tracey. I'll take care of Peter's dad." He hurried to Mr. Nelson. "Stop, you criminal!" Raeven smacked him with his wings.
Makenna, growing paler and paler—she now looked like a ghost—stopped running and turned back to her bat friend, bringing her fists to her chest.
"Raeven," she feebly spoke. Her voice was fading. It sounded as if Makenna was trapped between two dimensions: Life and Death.
Raeven again yelled, "Go!" and knocked Mr. Nelson and his bazooka to the ground. He blew them a raspberry and hurried toward Makenna.
She moved; however, she didn't get far.
Makenna closed her eyes and fell.
Raeven shouted, "Makenna!" and moved faster.
Mr. Nelson punched the ground and reached for his bazooka. "Annoying bat," he mumbled. "Wait until he gets a feel of my Super, Super Smacking, Awesome, Electric Net." He picked up his bazooka and loaded it with another one of his inventions: a special type of net that would electrocute whoever was caught with it.
Mr. Nelson aimed the bazooka at Raeven and muttered, "You're going to be punished, bat, for coming between my ultimate prize and me." He prepared to pull the trigger.
Where Makenna was, she slid on the ground and reached for a locker's handle. Grabbing it, she tried standing, but slipped and fell again.
Makenna took deep breaths. Sweat fountained down her face, but she refused to try standing.
She weakly called, "Raeven," and turned her head. Makenna gasped. "Raeven!" She saw Raeven flying toward her, but also saw Mr. Nelson aiming the bazooka.
Makenna's eyes widened. "Oh no, you don't!" She tried shooting a spell, but only smoke escaped from her palm.
"I'm coming, Makenna!" Raeven called.
Right after he said that, Mr. Nelson announced, "Fire!" and pulled back his bazooka's trigger.
The electric net shot out of it and flew straight toward Makenna's avian friend.
She saw that and shouted, "No! Raeven!" With her last bit of fairy strength, she closed her eyes, struggled to her feet, and hobbled toward the net and Raeven. Makenna knew this would hurt, but she had to do it for the sake of Raeven, Gina, Tracey, Caleb, and the fairy world.
The net continued to fly toward Raeven.
Finally, he saw it and let out a yelp. Electric bolts escaped the net's ropes, and Raeven felt a tiny pinch on his foot.
Closing her eyes, Makenna cried out, "Raeven!" With that, she threw herself between Raeven and the net, and the net caught her instead. Immediately after it did, it electrocuted her, and Makenna screamed. It felt as if every bone in her body was breaking.
"What?" Cody Nelson asked. He quickly stood and hugged his bazooka.
"Makenna!" Raeven shouted. "Why would you do that?" He tried flying to his friend, but the intense electric bolts forced him to back up.
Continuing to scream, Makenna dropped to the ground. "I had to, Raeven!" she painfully shouted. Even though she was in pain, she struggled to her feet and held her hands before her. "I can't let this criminal kill you. Just promise you will get Tracey to the hospital."
"But, Makenna!" Raeven begged.
"Just do it!" Makenna said. "Tracey doesn't deserve to die. He's done nothing wrong. I, on the other hand, do, after all the troubles I've caused. I had to, Raeven. Selene was right. I don't deserve to be a Metamorphic Fairy, but Caleb does."
"Makenna!" Raeven blurted. "No! I'm not going to leave you!"
"Go!" Makenna added. Her eyes were tightly shut.
Mr. Nelson only stared. He couldn't believe what just happened.
Suddenly, a zephyr rushed through the hallway, and the electric bolts from the net metamorphosed into blue and pink sparkles. They circled Makenna and lifted her into the sky.
She opened her eyes and felt her strength returning, gasping.
Raeven did, too. "Makenna!"
Makenna was lifted higher into the sky. She peered down and watched as the pink and blue sparkles bit into the net's ropes, burning them. The ropes were ripped from Makenna's body, and there was a blast of light. Her strength continued to return.
"What's going on?" she wondered.
Through the explosion of light, pink and blue sparkles circled Makenna's head. Over her forehead reemerged the crystal circlet she had when she first transformed into a Soon to be a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy.
Makenna turned her head and body, smiling. Her hair grew longer—it now almost touched her heels—and a warrior-like appearance was given to it. The blue highlights reappeared, as well as pink ones that decorated the lower layer of her hair. Makenna's hair waved.
Still smiling, she extended her arms. Blue and pink magic covered her body, and sparkles circled her wrists. Over them appeared silver gauntlets.
Makenna executed a backflip and kicked her leg, performing a ballet move. The magic was sucked away from her, and she clenched her fist.
Makenna grinned when she saw that her outfit had changed. She now wore a blue and silver tunic with knightly shoulder pads, accessorized by a translucent, silver organza cape. Mixed in with her tunic were scale patterns.
Makenna leaped up and down, moving her body from side to side. She turned her back to the audience and flapped her arms like wings. During the process, tall, warrior-styled, knee-high boots covered her feet.
Shooting backward, she flew in an arch. Makenna acted out three more arches, and then she stopped, kicking her legs. Sky-blue, feather-like wings, similar to the ones Percy Jackson wore on his flying shoes, appeared behind her knees.
Makenna faced forward and lifted her hand over her head. Materializing into it was a blue wand with a star-shaped head, tipped with pink.
Makenna announced, "Makenna! Metamorphic Fairy of Seabrook Island!" and pointed her wand at her back. Sparkles escaped it and circled her back. From there, she popped a brand-new pair of fairy wings. They weren't as large as her Level 2 wings, but they were still large. The new wings were made of real crystals, each crystal outlined in blue. Just like her Level 2 wings, rainbows shimmered in them.
To finish off the phenomenon, crystallized fairy studs appeared in Makenna's ears.
She had done it! Makenna doubted she would succeed, but she did! She had earned her Crystal Metamorphic Fairy transformation.
After Makenna transformed, the magic left her, and there was one more blast of light. Once it faded, Makenna hovered in the hallway, revitalized. She ignored the soreness.
Looking serious, Makenna met Mr. Nelson's eyes. She closed hers and clenched her fists. Makenna bent her body and released a blast of magic that threw the rest of the net off her.
Raeven and Mr. Nelson stared at her, open-mouthed. Mr. Nelson even dropped his bazooka.
Makenna cupped her hands, and a ball of rainbow light appeared in them. She launched the spell at Mr. Nelson, which hit the floor beside his feet. Right after it did, rainbow vines lifted out of the floor and wrapped around him.
"Holy guacamole!" Mr. Nelson yelled, glancing at the vines.
"That's for capturing my brother!" Makenna yelled. "This is for Peter Nelson trying to kill me!" She ordered the vines to slap Mr. Nelson in the face.
"Stop!" he pleaded to furious Makenna, but she continued to glare.
"This," she yelled at Mr. Nelson, "is for Raeven!" She next hit Mr. Nelson with the Paintus Completeness spell. He was now covered from head to toe in blue and pink paint.
Makenna wasn't finished with him yet. She still had one last thing to do. "And this," she finished, "is for Tracey!" She hit both Mr. Nelson and his bazooka with a beam of light.
He yelled when he was thrown backward, and the vines pinned him to the ground. His bazooka exploded, and pieces flew in every direction.
Makenna protected herself and Raeven behind a translucent, light blue shield.
Finally, everything calmed down.
Exhausted, Makenna ordered her shield down and floated to the ground, landing on her hands and knees. Makenna sighed.
Mr. Nelson struggled to release himself from the vines, but they held him tightly.
Where Raeven hovered, he called, "Makenna!" and soared to her. "Makenna! Thank you! You saved me! How do I ever repay you?" He stared in amazement at Makenna's new, warrior-like transformation and added, "You've done it! Congratulations!"
Makenna soon opened her eyes and looked herself up and down. Realizing what had just happened, she smiled and said, "I did it. I really did it. I can't believe I earned my Crystal Metamorphic Fairy powers. Wow." She stood and glanced back at her new wings, shimmering with rainbows. "Holy smokes. Are these real crystals?"
Raeven nodded. "They are, Makenna," he explained, hovering before her. "That's why this transformation is called the Crystal Metamorphic Fairy transformation. Those wings belong to an amazing fairy like you. I never want you to doubt yourself again. You are meant to be a fairy, Makenna. Believe it. There's a reason why Selene chose you instead of Caleb."
Makenna listened carefully.
"When Tracey and Merlin first learned about you," Raeven continued, "Selene communicated with each of them and explained that you are the one destined to become a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy and help stabilize the world of fairies. You have proven your worth, Makenna. You have a powerful heart. I don't think you realize that yet."
Makenna feebly smiled. "Thank you, Raeven." She pulled Raeven out of the sky and hugged him. "I'm sorry I scared you, but I couldn't let the net hurt you."
Raeven blushed. "You didn't have to do that, Makenna," he admitted. "I know you weren't expecting to earn your third transformation, but you did."
Makenna hugged him tighter. She then said, "Now all that's left is rescuing Tracey, Caleb, and Gina and getting Tracey to the hospital. Let's go, Raeven."
"Yes," Raeven giggled. "Let's."