Lucas carried the solid plastic toothbrush into wine cellar. He made a bold show of neutralizing Dwane in view of his nightclub full of partying demons.

"Down with the genie!" Everyone had chanted. The entire nightclub vibrated under excited stomps of approval.
Lucas was all smiles as he realized this was the fifth genie captured in just a very short time.

"Before too long punk, we will outnumber you.....then watch out world, we will be in control as it should be!"

Lucas slid the toothbrush into a lava bottle and just before corking the top he mentioned, "too bad you had a problem with solid plastics!" As the bottle was plugged, an evil laughter reverberated throughout the club.

"There's no use trying to fight it D-wayne, you ain't going nowhere."

Lucas slid the bottle into an open slot along the lower row of the wine rack. His eyes narrowed as he noticed a fine dust of diamond chips and lava dust sparkling on the cobblestone floor. He scanned the rows of bottles trying to locate the empty chamber.

To his surprise, everything was where it should be.

"WENDY!" He beckoned.

A moment later, Wendy shuffled into the cellar. "Yes Lucas." She answered, not put off by his temper.

"What is this mess on the cellar floor?" Lucas demanded.

"I dropped a bottle last week. I thought I cleaned it up, I guess I missed some of the granules from it." Wendy managed shrugging her shoulders.

"Dropped a bottle?" Lucas spat. "What exactly was in the bottle that you dropped?"

"Air." Wendy managed, her eyes shifting away from his scrutiny.

"I trust you to keep this chamber in pristine order! If you can't handle a simple job, I'll find someone who can. Maybe, just maybe you should be reassigned to the boiler room."

"Please." Wendy said, her voice catching from the horror of Lucas' threat. "I promise it will never happen again."

Lucas' eyes narrowed and his anger forced his remarkable good looks to shift to demonic. Pustules sprouted from his skin and a deep redness took over his tone. Just a quickly as he had begun to transform, the snapping ceased. It was as if a roller coaster had swung upward on a hill not quite reaching the peak then fell back in reverse to a sudden stop.

Lucas took a deep breath then his attention fell to slot 2232. A victorious smile lined Lucas' lips. "After all this time, Ms. Wishgiven finally gave up?"

"That is correct sir." Wendy announced.

"Oh, this is turning out to be a wonderful day after all!"

"I was sad to see her leave." Wendy admitted.

"Sad for her to leave?" Lucas screamed furious.

"She kept me company while I cleaned down here is all." Wendy said in a timid voice.

Lucas nodded as her meaning registered.

"Never get too attached to their kind Wendy. They are a tricky breed and you never know what they might do to survive. Ms. Wishgiven had proved to be a remarkable opponent. She escaped when I imposed human form on her and she managed to tread above defeat for the longest time. In fact, I suspected she'd hang on indefinitely. Did she let on her reasons for giving up?"

"No. I'm afraid she didn't. She said something about feeling exhausted, then she began to fade away."

"It was probably her will keeping her around all that time."

"Probably." Wendy agreed.

Lucas pointed to the floor as he snarled. "I want that mess dealt with and I'd better not see a sand grain out of place when I return or else you will be posted in the boiler room!"

"Yes sir." Wendy responded, as Lucas stomped away.

Wendy's hand nervously felt for the sterling locket chained around her neck. She pulled it from behind her shirt and forced the chamber open. Her eyes gazed at the photographs within and her eyes lit with appreciation as she straightened them around.

"I'm sorry." She whispered gazing at images of her human parents. "I never thought I'd end up in such a place. I hope you'll forgive me for all the mistakes I made when human."

A single tear fell down her cheek as she clasped the chamber closed. Wendy pulled a electric broom from a closet and prepared to sweep the remains of the bottle.

"We all make decisions... in a split second we make choices. Some we can be proud of, others we regret, but at least the choices are something that we own."

"Forgive me." Wendy whispered overwrought with emotion.

The sound of the vacuum could be heard throughout the nightclub as Lucas pulled a scroll and crossed off Dwane from the current tally of team leaders.

"Without leadership, the army will fall!" He said balling his hand into a fist and striking his desk. The sound echoed about miles above and the city of Chicago felt it's first shimmer of an earthquake. Only those who were resting noticed the shift from beneath and only those who were in tune to alternate dimensions could sense "team evil" ready to arise.