Back in Reggie's lab—deep in an abandoned satellite vault hidden within the dimension—Alt-Reggie stood over an array of monitors and swirling lights. A fist-sized, glowing rune stone floated inside a containment field, its markings older than any language known to man.
He was dressed in a long lab coat and protective goggles, his voice low with fascination. "Magical conductivity confirmed... this artifact predates the myth threads. Stored energy is enough to charge a Dimen-Arc Reactor... maybe even awaken latent metagenes..."
Unaware of the outside effects, Reggie increased the rune's charge output.
Then it pulsed—bright like a miniature sun.
That same wave of ancient magic exploded outward.
---
🌩️ Candace and Linda: Changed
Elsewhere in Isabella's estate, Candace was playing a prank on Vanessa with a water balloon and a smirk. Linda was twirling in the hallway, pretending to be a ballerina storm cloud.
Then they both froze, as the magical wave hit them.
Their bodies glowed briefly—a runic aura wrapping around their forms.
Their eyes widened in surprise as energy surged through them, lifting them slightly off the ground. Their hair shimmered.
When they touched back down—they were changed.
Candace looked into a nearby mirror and gasped. Her hair shimmered with red and green, longer and more vibrant. Her ears had become long and elvish, and swirling blue-green rune tattoos now adorned her cheeks like streaks of glowing ink.
"I feel… different," she whispered.
Then she blinked—and her hand phased through the wall.
"What the—!?"
Linda stood nearby, glowing faintly with static. Her pigtails lifted slightly in a wind that wasn't there. Her ears, too, were long and elf-like. She now had storm-shaped rune patterns around her eyes and cheekbones. Sparks arced from her fingertips.
"Whoa! I'm—I'm sparking!! I think I'm a STORM now!" she beamed, crackling with giddy excitement. Thunder rumbled faintly above her.
Candace was not smiling.
"Reggie did something. Something big." she said, eyes narrowing.
Then she smiled again. "Guess that makes us part of the team now."
---
🔬 Back in the Lab
Reggie rubbed his temples as warnings flashed across his screens.
> "Dimensional pulse detected. Rune destabilized."
"Ugh. Why does every experiment lead to superpowers or monsters?" he muttered.
Behind him, the others arrived—Jake and Remy dropping in, still in their powered-up forms.
"You felt that too?" Jake asked.
Reggie turned, then blinked. "Wait… What happened to them?"
Candace stepped forward, phasing through a chair with a smirk.
"Oh, you know. Glowy rock. Magical surge. And boom. We're part elf now."
Linda struck a pose, lightning crackling behind her. "Call me Stormheart!"
Isabella blinked. "Okay… this just escalated."
---
⚠️ The Pulse Had Consequences
Outside the dimensional border, something stirred.
The Echo that had once chased them now twitched—responding to the same magical pulse that altered Candace and Linda.
Its featureless face turned… and multiplied.
---
🔚 To Be Continued…
With Candace and Linda awakened and new powers tested, the team grows stronger—but the world they tapped into is beginning to awaken ancient forces of its own.