The swirl emerged from the baton with such force that things happened in the blink of an eye. The wind pushed them backwards very fast; away from the car and the spiral.

Jongleur grabbed Majorette instinctively, with his heart beating like crazy due to the fall, and she turned the power of the baton downwards for the second step, knowing they were falling at greater speed because of their weight together and there was nothing to stop the crash.

Actually, they barely made it. Tied as they were, gravity became a big challenge when the Guardian tried to spin her baton. Luckily, the small amount of wind she managed to produce was enough to stop them from falling; and when she used a little more strength, they were both raised again at a safer height.

Floating gently was a nice feeling compared to the gust of wind they had experienced minutes ago, but now the view was significantly terrifying; not only because of the gigantic whirlwind that surrounded them, but mostly for what was inside it. Monster included. The current of the hurricane was a blend of spots that gathered everything it had devoured. And the worst was… it was moving along the city, which meant further damages might occur soon. The most tricky part was left…

“Alright, time to eliminate this thing…”

Jongleur stabilized his center of gravity, grabbing her by the shoulders to keep steady and —unintentionally brushing his nose against her blond hair —realized he was still tied up to her back. His jaw tensed unconsciously and he turned his head away, looking for the knot in the whip. “Just do what you have to”. He muttered, locating his target.

“Yeah, o.k…” Majorette looked around, not sure about what to do, and ignoring Jongleur’s hands by her side, trying to untie the knot.

“So… what are you waiting for?” He asked once they were free.

“To find inspiration.” She replied, clenching her fists around the baton. “I can create hurricanes and kick monsters with a boomerang, but if I use the baton like that with the swirl and it doesn’t work I might lose it. Can’t risk it.”

“How the hell are you gonna get us out of here if you don’t? Why do you have powers if you can’t use them…?”

“You’re one to talk!” She turned around to reproach him. “You also have powers, don’t you? Aside from the way you light your whip-whap thingy, I haven’t seen you using them. If you’re such in a hurry, why don’t YOU get us out of trouble?” Jongleur bit his tongue not to admit she was right and Majorette’s lips curved, for she already knew it. “Just as I thought.”

“In any case” he replied, “if I merged my powers with yours, it could result in a bigger disaster.”

“Well, that IS true.”

Majorette’s lack of attention gave him the chance to take a closer look at her.

He had never taken any interest in girls, so he ignored what they considered ‘being beautiful’... but he did have an idea of beauty himself. For some reason —even though it was hard to admit —, he couldn’t deny that those eyes and the turned-up nose gave her an innocent... yet interesting look. Just then, he had an idea and focused on it to set those thoughts aside. He couldn’t let his guard down.

“Detransform” he said.

“What?” She stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You made this hurricane. If you detransform, the magic will probably fade away with it”

“And what if it doesn’t happen that way?” She replied, before adding in a sarcastic tone: “Frankly, I have no intention of revealing my true identity to you. Moreover; may I remind you we’re standing on a swirl also created by me? Do you wanna fall and die? We can try that if you want.”

He maintained an even keel not to admit she was right AGAIN.

“Fine. What’s the plan, then? We can’t stand here and do nothing.”

“Mh…” She gave it a thought while looking around and on top of their heads. “Maybe we could try to escape from above, but… I fear gravity wouldn’t let us go far enough. If only I could ask Pipoh…”

“The tadpole?”

“He told me how to create the hurricane. I’m sure he’ll know how to get rid of it…”

“You just told me he taught you to make an atrocity that could kill thousands of people… and you still trust him?”

“Unlike you —appearing from who-knows-where to take away my baton —, Pipoh has been helping me fight the monsters from the very beginning. I trusts him more than I could trust you. And if we weren’t in this mess, I wouldn’t even talk to you Jon… something. Whatever your name is!”

A light smile appeared on Jongleur’s face as he felt a little sting in his pride.

“I feel the same… Majorette.” He gritted his teeth, grabbing her arm to make her look into his eyes. “Specially since our obviously bad first impressions, but there’s a damn hurricane running free around the city and if we keep losing time it will get much worse. So, unless you want innocent people getting hurt, you have to focus and fix it.”

“I told you; I need my subguardian!”

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and Alexander gave up the first.

“Argh… fine.” He sighed before tighten his lips and asking the question aloud. “So… where’s Pipoh?”

“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” The squeaky voice suddenly zoomed by and disappeared in the swirl, leaving a what-the-heck-was-that look on both of their faces.

When the pixie appeared again at the other side of the tornado, Jongleur was the one locating it.

“There!” She shouted, following it with a finger.

“I see him! ‘Extend’!” Majoret lengthened the baton and approached it as much as she could to the current of the whirlwind, resisting its gravity. She tried lifting or lowering it everytime Pipoh made a lap, hoping he would grip it, but it was all in vain. “It’s useless…” She muttered, feeling the fatigue in her arms.”

“It’s ok. Leave it to me.” Alexander —who had always been a proud freak of maths and physics—, let her rest and waited a couple of laps to see Pipoh’s path pattern. He then reckoned the nearly exact spot where he’d be able to catch the pixie and, when he threw the whip, he got his target.

Pipoh whined when he felt the pull, but let himself get carried away because he was too disoriented to resist.

“Wow” You’re good at this…” She had to admit it while watching the red-head slowly pulling the rope back with a smile of satisfaction.

“Did you doubt me?”

When she had it near, Majorette took the subguardian carefully in her hands, letting it recover for a second.

“Pipoh, are you alright?”

“I think so… blegh…” He resisted the nausea.

“Good; you have to tell me how to remove the tornado”.

“Euh…” Our little guy looked at her and, suddenly, realized the presence of Jongleur, who was looking at him with suspicious eyes. “What is HE doing here?”

“That’s not important.” She insisted, shaking him a little. “Tell me how I get rid of the hurricane.”

“The hurricane…?” Just then, Pipoh remembered where he was and the great issue at stake. “The hurricane!” He raised from Majorette’s hands and looked all around. “We’re… inside…”

“Yes! Now tell me what the hell must I do!” She shouted, impatiently.

The subguardian took one of his little hands to his lips while considering their options and, not really convinced, said: “Well… if you want it gone… you should cut it with ‘sharp wind’.

“‘Sharp wind’?” Jongleur didn’t like the sound of it.

“Perfect.” She didn’t mind at all. “How do I use the spell?”

“Not so fast; this time it’s not gonna be that easy.” The pixie descended to her eyes’ level and faced them in concern. “You see… ‘Sharp wind’ it’s a very powerful spell and it should only be used by someone who can totally control it. You’re still a trainee…”

“But I have to do something, no? I can’t let the tornado swirl around.”

“No, but if you use the spell in here… you may kill us all.”

Majorette and Jongleur shared a look.

“What do you mean I…?”

“Just as I said” explained Pipoh, “it’s very dangerous. The current of the tornado is made of wind, just like the sharp wind. If you can’t exceed it, you’ll unleash a type of razored gust and the eye of the hurricane will become a deadly prison.”

“Right, just like a blender.” Muttered Jongleur.

“I don’t know what’s that, but it probably works as an example.” The little guy nodded. “If the ‘sharp wind’ moves with the wind, it will cut anything that stands in its way, including us. And if it kills the monster in a wrong way…

“The Dreamer will die too…” She finished.

“Dreamer?” Our ginger kid looked at her with confusion.

Even though they had no time to lose, Majorette took a minute to answer him.

“The person that is connected to the monster.”

“What are you talking about?”

She sighed.

“Listen, the monster isn’t here by chance. It’s somebody’s nightmare turned into a reality; and that someone is probably asleep right now, unaware of what’s actually happening. They’re both connected; and to break that bond I must drain its energy first. If I kill the creature or use a spell before it’s done, I could kill both of them; that’s why I have to leave it K.O. before terminating it. ¿Do you understand?”

Jongleur blinked once, processing the information in his head and realising that it had nothing to do with the story he’d been told by Jester. Despite that, he nodded and let her keep on arguing with Pipoh.

“Aren’t there any more options besides the ‘sharp wind’?”

The pixie shook his head.

“I can’t think of anything right now. The vortex is too big and the other spells won’t weaken its strength. Quite the opposite: they’ll strengthen it. Unless we find a way out of here… we can’t help it.”

God… what did I do…? Bibiana took her hands to the her temples in fear.

If I don’t make it disappear… lots of people could die… It may even destroy the whole city!

She tried to get them away, but her fears took full control of her thoughts at such a point she felt she would cry. She couldn’t let it happen. She couldn’t deceive all the people who trusted her and put them in danger…

“You said… the spell must be used from the outside, right?” Alexander, who had been focusing on the problem instead of the new information he had received until then, expressed his thoughts aloud. “What are the chances to create another swirl, strong enough to cross the hurricane?”

“Huh?” Pipoh and Majorette looked at him.

“What do you have in mind?” Asked the pixie.

Jongleur took his gloved hand to the jawline.

“If we can create a kind of wind tunnel, powerful enough to resist the hurricane’s force, we could cross to the other side. Am I right?”

“Well… that would be possible if the tunnel was as powerful o more; but it wouldn’t last long. Besides, interacting forces could end up in a big jolt…”

“But would it work?” Majorette stared at him with home. “Could we create a tunnel to cross to the other side of the hurricane?”

“Yeah... “ muttered Pipoh, “if we do it in the weaker side of it. But, even in that case, the gravity won’t let us move forward.”

“What if there’s a hook on the other side?” Jongleur insisted. “Let’s say… a rope or something that is well tied.”

“I suppose that it would help if it’s really…” When he saw the red-headed extend the whip, he understood what he was up to. “Wait! You won’t be able to tie the whip to anything if you throw it directly into the vortex!”

“That’s why we’re gonna use the wind tunnel.” Replied Jongleur, looking at Majorette. “Can you create a smaller hurricane to intersect with this one so I can reach the outside with the whip?”

“Well…” she felt the baton in her hands and took a couple seconds to gain the confidence she needed. “Yeah, I think I do… but if I fail and I end up making another monstrosity…”

Jongleur put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly, forcing their eyes to meet once more.

“Right now, you’re the only one that can do something, so focus and do it.”

She nodded and got ready.

“Tell me exactly what do you need me to do.”

“Good. First, raise us to the highest possible spot of the hurricane. It will be easier to cross from there.”

She intensified the strength and height of the swirl they were standing on for long and the three of them reached the top of the tornado.

“And now?”

“Now we have to be completely synchronized.” Jongleur stood by her side and held her by the waist with his arm, even though he wasn’t feeling comfortable with that. That little detail, also surprised her, but she rather focused on what mattered most. “I want you to throw a wind swirl, strong enough to go through this funnel.” He told her. “At the same time, I will throw the tip of the whip, using the breach to get to the other side. If we’re lucky, the tip will reach something to hook around and pull us out of here, but you’re gonna have to keep the tunnel open when that happens. If you don’t, we’ll end up in this mixer again.”

“Got it.” She turned her eyes to the horrible wind wall in front of her and breathed deeply while Pipoh sticked to them. “Let’s go… ‘Hurricane’!.”