Professor Caligari, flanked by the two Andromeda sisters, Nebula and Stellaris prepared to battle the towering Triplova. Fusion magic was something the phantom professor had heard of before, but it was a forbidden art in Nightdream Academy as well as the more civilized part of the magic world due to the ability to get fused in unfortunate positions. For instance, someone else’s legs could end up in the position normally occupied by your head. Or you could find a nose on your rear end, so when people said that your bottom smelled, they really meant your nose.

Most unsuccessful magic fusions ended up in sideshow carnivals in the Nightmare Void, but Anguish had clearly taught these comical crones a way to discipline their fusion into utter perfection. Caligari was aware that Arabella Willow was a powerful witch, but she even managed to teach these witch invalids to be powerful too.

Triplova gave a booming yet sultry guffaw. “Three on one seems a bit unfair, but we can handle you.”

Nebula scratched her head. “But aren’t you three people too?

“Wait a minute,” Triplova asked, and started counting on her fingers. “Where did you get the two from? We’re three people in one person. But since there’s only one us of currently, that means there’s only one of us facing the three of you.”

“So technically, it’s evenly matched,” Nebula said, holding up three fingers each. “There’s three of you too.”

“No,” the large, beautiful green witch growled. “There’s three of us, not two of us. Where did you learn how to count?”

“I’m a gym teacher,” Nebula grinned, flexing both her muscles, “I don’t count. But I do know how to reduce you to zero.”

The muscular gym teacher grunted and tore the floor up, generating a giant ripple in the concrete that launched itself straight at Triplova. The miniature earthquake sent the behemoth witch somersaulting up in the air like she was launched off a spring board.

“Stella,” Nebula roared. “Now. Phoenix burst.”

Nebula’s thinner but equally toned sister held her arms out. “Fire like a phoenix,” she said in her sweet but stern voice. “Begin where it ends.” Flames that formed a bird-like silhouette soared at the pirouetting Triplova before bursting, enveloping the fiend in flames.

Triplova tumbled onto the ground, her cocktail dress sizzling with fire. She clapped her hands and a bucket of water appeared, dousing her smoking body with water. Triplova murmured weakly. “Ugh…I still haven’t warmed up this body yet, but I know the perfect way to warm you ladies up to my body.”

Triplova leaped to her feet and held one of her hands behind her head and gave a foxy wink. “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble,” she chanted. “I know a way to make you say hubba hubba.”

Three hearts shot from her lips and nailed each professor right in the chest. Caligari stumbled backwards. Shaking her head, it was like the wind was knocked out of her. Weakly she stood up. Unfortunately, her comrades were not as lucky. “Ohhhh, Triplova,” Stellaris said, batting her eyelashes. “My heart burns for the one called Triplova.”

Nebula clasped her muscly hands together to her chest. “My heart is going a mile and a minute, and I haven’t even run a marathon. It must be that wily Triplova. She will be all mine for the taking.”

Stellaris snapped her fingers in anger, her lovelorn stare quickly diverted. “Sister, you did not say that Triplova was yours? She’s mine. We go way back…to a few seconds ago.”

“Oh yeah, Stella,” Nebula puffed out her broad, muscular chest. “We go back a few seconds too. Right when she hit me with her feminine wiles.”

Nebula shoved Stellaris, and Stellaris, with a feline roar, pounced on Nebula. A cat fight ensued right at Caligari’s feet. “I wonder why it didn’t affect me?” the phantom thought to herself, and then she looked at Gemini facing off with Anguish. “Perhaps it’s because I’ve only got eyes for him.”

Triplova began to cackle manically. “It’s a good thing I’m so irresistible,” Bubbel giggled from inside her three-witch behemoth. “My potions bring all the boys AND girls to the yard.”

Seeing that Triplova was distracted, Caligari launched herself into the air with her phantasmic floating ability. Ectoplasm formed around her fist, and she slammed it into Triplova’s jaw. Colliding with her adversary’s jawbone caused Caligari to recoil and shake her hand frantically in pain, but Triplova doubled over, crashing into the wall. With a dazed head, the witch behemoth groaned. “Did anyone get the license number of that fist…” before dizzily standing up and wobbling around.

Caligari thought back to her study on fusions and remembered something. “The only way to destroy a perfect fusion is from within in.”

Triplova clumsily swatted at Caligari, her eyes were unable to focus on the annoying gnat that was the phantom professor; Caligari took a deep breath and thought to herself, Here goes nothing. She turned invisible and plunged into Triplova’s torso.

The witch giant’s body, much to Caligari’s surprise was completely hollow. Caligari traveled through the hollow pipe-like bloodstream, like an unwanted virus until she reached the center where three witch heads floated in Triplova’s chest. “Oh no, nooooo,” Bubbel cried as Caligari took her hand and ripped Bubbel’s thick head out of the body.

Toila’s head giggled nervously, and bit onto Caligari’s hand but she continued to pull it out with her other hand. It tumbled out of the body onto the ground below.

At last, there was only Karen who simply cried. “I’m going to see your manager about this…”

Caligari smiled. “I don’t have a manager. I have a headmaster,” and she pulled Karen’s head out of the body and soared out.

With no more heads to support her, Triplova’s body deflated like a punctured balloon around the three witches. Bubbel began to sob. “That was our shining moment of glory. Now its deflated. Much like our hopes and dreams…”

Caligari landed next to Stellaris and Caligari who were both shaking their allurement out of their heads. “Are you okay?” Caligari asked both.

“Whooo,” Nebula said, shaking her head. “I haven’t had a headache like that since my college days. Thanks for sorting my marbles out, Caligari.”

“Yes…” Stellaris said, an extremely annoyed scowl on her face. She seethed with rage, looking at Bubbel, Toila and Karen and began to stomp towards them. “I’ll teach you to mess with my emotions.”

“I guess our next date is off…?” Bubbel squawked as the irate solar princess began to chase the three crones around.

Caligari watched silently as Gemini and Mena did battle too. All she could do now was pray for them.