Three Wishes, Four Turtles

It was humid. Janet hated when it was humid. It made everything sticky. Her clothes stuck to her in awkward places and her hair felt like it was permanently stuck to her forehead; no matter how many times she pushed it back. Mixed with the summer heat, it was just below the line of being suffocating. On days like this where it was hot, dank, and looked like it was going to rain-a good chance it won't-Janet realized one thing.

Louisiana sucked.

"Janet, set that last table up. Come on, come on!" Maw Maw's voice cut through the girl's silent, growing hatred for the boot-like state.

A sharp exhale of breath was her only reply before Janet dragged her feet to fulfill her grandmother's demands. Lucy Staples may have been a sweet woman for the most part, but like most southern women, she would not accept any backtalk. Not from her granddaughter, or anyone else for that matter.

Janet placed mismatched items on the folding table, using the back of her arm to wipe of the new sheet of sweat on her forehead. At least once every summer her Maw Maw's neighborhood held a street wise garage sale, and it was always just her luck that it happened when she came to visit. Janet missed her precious Texas. Sure, the weather was unpredictable. But at least it didn't have this freaking humidity!

"You're doing to break that clock if you keep dropping things on the table," Tessa deadpanned from her place on the lawn chair, tucked safely under a tree for shade. Janet eyed her stepsister enviously. Maybe it was because she was used to it, or, in Janet's opinion, she was some kind of demon; Tessa didn't have one drop of perspiration on her.

"Maybe if you helped, I wouldn't be so tempted to break it on your head," Janet growled in frustration. Tessa merely shrugged and went back to her magazine, flipping through the slick pages boredly. She always looked bored, no matter what was happening.

The action made Janet's shoulders slump in mild dejection. She sighed and turned back to her work, making the table look nice and neat, just for Maw Maw.

The elderly plum woman waddled outside. Years of cleaning for others, as well as an unhealthy diet had shaped Lucy's frame unfavorably. Her poor knees would ache so painfully with each step that she had no choice but to use medicine to keep the pain at bay. Her face brightened at the sight of the table. "Oh! Thank you, my darlin'."

Janet just smiled back. While Lucy had her irritating moments, Janet absolutely adored and loved her. "Welcome, Maw Maw. Need anything else?"

"Not at the moment. Why don't you grab a coke and go walk around? You might see something you like."

"'Kay." The teenager didn't waste any time and grabbed a drink, only stopping when her stepsister called out to her.

"I'm coming with." The blond said as she walked to her side. Janet only gave her a look, but didn't protest. She hated talking to people by herself anyway.

The girls walked from house to house, trying to find something that was worth wild. Most of the things would only appeal to old people or kids, from tea-cup sets to rattles with chipped paint.

"Janet, check this out." Tessa held up an old video tape. After squinting to read the title, a smile crossed Janet's lips. It was none other than Grease. Back when they were younger and the best of friends, Tessa and Janet would go crazy over the old timey movie. They would sing and dance to each song-minus the 'boring sad songs' as their eight year old selves would put it.

Their absolute favorite was "Grease Lighting." Sometimes they wouldn't even bother watching the rest of the movie once that number was up.

"Give it here. I'll buy it."

After sharing the nostalgia memory, Janet felt like she was actually having a decent time with her step-sibling.

"God, nothing good is here. Bunch of poor ass-"

So much for pleasant.

"Tessa! Don't be rude," Janet hissed under her breath, glad that the owner was too busy dealing with another costumer to hear. "There might be something, if you just looked…" Her brown eyes swept over items that were just as misplaced and odd as her grandmother's had been. One object seemed to stand out more than the rest. Janet watched her hand lift and reach for it, almost like it had a mind of its own

It was a bottle. That much she could tell. But something felt…. Off about it. Her fingers wrapped around the narrow, cylinder top of the bottle and brought it closer for inspection.

It was made of glass that was a light blue color, and was cool to the touch-even in this heat. She held it up to the light, expecting to see perfume or even dust inside. Completely empty. It was actually kind of pretty. It had a cork to keep anything from leaking-had it been full, that is. She tugged on it and frowned when it didn't budge.

"Nnf… Stupid thing. Someone must have pushed it in too deep," she muttered in annoyance.

"That's what she said." Janet could just hear the childish smirk in Tessa's voice. "Pretty. But what would you use it for?"

"Who said I'm buying it?"

"You're not? Then give it to me. I'll use it as decoration or something."

Janet moved the bottle out of Tessa's reach. "No way! I didn't say I wasn't going to buy it. I'll use it for perfume." She felt childish, but when Tessa said she wanted it, she had the sudden urge to keep it for herself.

Tessa gave her an irritated look. "Don't be such a baby, gawd!"

"I'm not-Ugh! Whatever. I'm buying it." Janet pushed past her stepsister and walked up to the owner, an elderly woman who always made her think of a bird with her long, thin legs and beak-like nose. "Hey, Mrs. Shimek. How much do you want for this?"

Mrs. Shimek adjusted her glasses, squinting at the object. A look of exasperation came to her eyes once she recognized it. "That thing. Oh, just take it. The sooner I'm rid of that, the better I'll be!"

Janet glanced at the bottle then back at the old woman. "Really? What's wrong with it? It looks like a normal bottle to me."

"That's what's wrong with it."

"Uh…"

"It's just a normal, everyday bottle that has been in my family for generations and I .Gone," Mrs. Shimek spoke through yellow, gritted teeth. She pushed up her glasses. "My great, great, great granddaddy won that when he visited Arabia. Believed that there was a magical being in it that could grant someone's deepest desires. Humph!"

Mrs. Shimek had always made it clear that she did not believe in the supernatural. The fact that something like this was in her family absolutely embarrassed her. "He was crazy, of course. His mind wasn't all there. But he instilled the thought that the bottle was special in his children and grandchildren. Now that I'm able, I want to get rid of it."

Wow… A magic bottle… Janet didn't believe in it either, but it was still a cute thought. That and the bottle was just pretty. "So the price…?"

"Five dollars."

Janet handed the money over. After a quick 'thank you' she made her way back to her grandmother's house, where she spotted Tessa once again glued to the lawn chair. She rolled her eyes and went inside, sighing in relief as the cool air hit her.

The teenager slipped into her room. Well, the guest bedroom. But she always called it hers whenever she visited, even if she couldn't decorate it the way she wanted.

Sitting on her bed, Janet studied the bottle some more. It wasn't interesting to look at all, but she had still felt compelled to buy it…

"My deepest desire, huh?" What was her deepest desire? Sure, there was the usual wish for more money. And maybe a few changes to her appearance. But neither of those seemed right. And everyone said they want world peace, but would anyone ever actually use up a wish for that?

Janet couldn't think of anything at all. Another sigh left her. Maybe she should wish for a better imagination. Or for an adventure. "Heh…" A resigned smile graced her lips at the thought.

She knew her place in the world. If her life had been a movie or a book, she would just be a side character. Maybe not even that. Just an extra to fill up space while the heroine saved the world and lived an exciting life. She wasn't strikingly beautiful or had an interesting trait about her. She was just Janet.

The very thought of her being on an adventure was bittersweet one. She would have loved it, but it wasn't meant for her.

Unless…

Janet looked hard at the bottle in her hands.

No. It was stupid to think it would work, wasn't it?

But what if…?

She ran her thumb over the bottle, the tiniest bit of hope growing in the pit of her stomach. Maybe if she just did it right, a genie would pop out. She waited for something to happen.

And waited.

Nothing.

Of course.

"Ugh, I'm so stupid," Janet laughed, feeling a little silly. Of course nothing would happen! What was she thinking, that she was "the chosen one" or something? "Stupid…"

"Girls! Come on and grab somethin' to eat!"

Shaking her head at her childish hope, she dropped the bottle on the bed. "Comin', Maw Maw!" Her new purchase was quickly forgotten when the smell of fried chicken and coleslaw filled her nostrils. Mmhmm, Louisiana isn't so bad after all.

Hours later the neighborhood was quiet with the exception of bullfrogs croaking so loud you could hear it through your walls. Maw Maw had retired to bed early, worn out from the 'deadly' mixture of humid and heat. The girls were watching TV.

"Why do we have to watch this? The Bachelorette is so stupid," Janet groaned, laying her head against the armrest.

"No, it's not. Your stupid cartoons are stupid."

Janet took a deep breath in order not to snap from angry embarrassment. So what if she still liked cartoons?! A lot of grownups did! "It's scripted. It's totally scripted. And how the heck can you feel a special connection with someone and still be okay with making out with like, five other guys?"

"Easily! Not that you would know." Tessa sneered. "Still haven't had a boyfriend, right?"

Janet clenched her jaw. There was nothing wrong with waiting. She knew that. But she absolutely hated how she felt like a loser whenever someone looked down on her because of that. "Shut up, Tessa," she muttered, her cheeks burning.

The blond knew she had won and smugly turned up the volume.

They used to be such good friends… What had gone wrong? It felt like she had missed something important. One day, they were so alike, and then the next Tessa was always partying and having fun, and Janet was still only comfortable being at home in her comfy PJs and watching cartoons.

Maybe Tessa was always like this and Janet simply never realized it. She only saw her during the summer, after all.

Still, she missed what they had…

"I'll be right back. Don't change the channel." Tessa stood and disappeared down the hall. Janet wasted no time in snatching the remote and doing just that, switching to a sitcom. Ha! That will show her.

While the show dragged on, Janet glanced at the hall several times, waiting for her stepsister to run back into the living room and demand the remote back.

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, the brunette was getting a little antsy. Unable to bear the wait any longer, she stood and followed Tessa. So she wasn't in the bathroom… Janet frowned when she saw her bedroom door open. That little…!

"Hey!"

Tessa yelped in surprise, dropping whatever was in her hand and sending it crashing to floor, where it broke into several pieces.

Her bottle!

With an angry growl Janet pushed Tessa away. "You broke it!" she snapped, kneeling down to look at the pieces. "Tessa!"

"You scared me! It's not my fault!" Tessa defended herself just as angrily, hands on her hips. "This is completely on you."

"What?" Janet glared as she stood. "I didn't ask you or even give you permission to look at my stuff! Why were you in here?!"

"I don't know! I just wanted to look at it!"

"Yeah, well you-"

KABOOM!

The girls' furious shouting turned into frightened screams when the room started to shake violently, both falling to their knees. Janet's hand scraped painfully against the broken glass.

"What… What was that?" Tessa asked shakily once the room stilled.

"E-Earthquake?"

"Not quite."

Turning, Janet and Tessa shared a sharp gasp, their eyes widening in fear. Before them was a being by the likes they had never seen, at least not in real life.

He-it was most definitely a he-had the upper body of body builder, mass muscles that rippled with every movement. His strong arms were crossed, but Janet could make out pointed claws on his fingertips.

His eyes were completely blue, even where the white should have been. His ears were long and pointed, and save for a long ponytail, he was bald.

The two most striking features were his blue skin, and the fact that were his legs should have been, there was smoke.

"No way…" Tessa breathed out beside her. Janet was too shock to even nod.

The creature's eyes drifted from them to his surroundings. He wasn't impressed. In fact, Janet had the feeling that he was even disgusted. She winced when his strange eyes locked on them once again.

"Who freed me?"

The girls remained silent, too terrified to speak.

"Who freed me?" He repeated, a hint of anger noticeable in his powerful voice.

"I-I did?" Tessa squeaked out unsurely before Janet had the chance to respond. "Oh, my God, you're going to kill us, aren't you?"

The being smiled, making Janet suck in a quick breath at the frightening sight of his pointed teeth. "Kill you, my master? I would never dream of it."

"…Master?" Tessa and Janet shared a quick, confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Why, I am but your humble servant, here to grant you your deepest wish!" The creature bowed. To Janet, it didn't feel right. Like he was an actor giving a performance for an audience he despised.

"You're… A genie?" She finally piped up, her voice sounded small and weak even to her.

He eyed her boredly before turning to Tessa, as if she had been the one to ask. "That is what you humans have called me in the past, yes. I have been freed so that I may grant three wishes and three wishes only."

"My own genie…" Tessa's voice held a greedy edge that Janet had never heard before. "I can wish for whatever I want?"

"Tessa, I don't think-"

"But of course." The Genie's velvet tone sounded deadly to Janet's ears. "Anything at all."

Tessa pushed herself up and walked in front of the Genie, looking for all the world unafraid. "This is freakin' amazing! I can do whatever I want!" Janet could see the gears working in her stepsister's head. And she didn't like it.

"Tessa, these things never have a good ending. We should just… Wish it away or something!"

"We?" Tessa turned her nose up at Janet, a triumphant smugness on her pretty face. "He's my Genie, Janet. There's no 'we' here. Something out of your stupid books finally comes to life and you're wimping out? God, you can be such a loser." She turned to the magical being in front of her.

"I wish to get out of this hell hole and actually go somewhere where it's fun."

A smile slowly grew on the Genie's lips. If the wish hadn't made Janet's stomach sink, that smile did. This…this didn't look good at all.

"Your wish is my command."

A light so bright Janet was forced to cover her eyes flashed throughout the room. After a moment had passed quietly, she finally brought her head up wearily. "Tessa…?" she whispered. When there was no answer, dread spread through her. "Oh, no… What has she done?"

Who knows what would happen now? Sure, Janet disliked Tessa, but she didn't want her hurt! Oh God, how was she going to explain this to anyone? They'd think she was on drugs or something! "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

"You should calm down before you have a panic attack, lady."

"Eeeek!" Janet scrambled away, her back hitting the wall as she stared at yet a second creature that had invaded her bedroom.

"Oh, me you scream at and try to get away from, but when the big guy is doing his thing, you just sit there in awe! Humans…"

The first thing that came to Janet's mind was an elf. Like a Christmas elf. He was small, like a stuffed animal, with a…well, he had a giant head. Much too big for his tiny body. Kind of like a bobble head, really. Janet would have thought it was funny if it hadn't been for the terrifying experience she just went through.

His eyes were enormous! Yet unlike the Genie, they didn't send shivers down her spine. Not with those light green iris of his. His skin was a normal tan color, and he had a dark head of hair that gleamed in the light. Like the Genie, his ears were pointed.

The little thing smirked at her, revealing fairly normal teeth with the exception of sharp canines. "Hah. So you really think I'm scary?" He sure sounded proud of himself.

Janet could only stare.

"…" He sighed and floated-floated!-over to her, crossing his arms. "Hey. Are you broken? Bash really scared you, huh?"

"…Bash?"

"You know. Big blue guy? Wasn't here not five minutes ago?" The thing folded his arms and had a self-important look on his face. Janet couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, you know him. Everyone calls him Bash, since no one but him knows his True Name."

Janet held a hand up, the other rubbing her forehead. "Wait. What are you even talking about? Why are you here? Who are you? Who was he? What do you mean, True Name? Is Tessa okay?"

He looked at her boredly, his hands behind his head. "Gee, you ask some original questions, don't ya? You can call me Viz, that guy was Bash, and we're Djinn," he continued before she could ask, "You normally call us Genies though."

"But… You're not blue… And you don't have smoke for legs. And you're kind of… Tiny."

"Yeah, and I ain't voiced by Robin Williams either." Viz rolled his eyes. "The reason why I'm here is, because like Bash, I was trapped in that." He kicked a piece of the broken bottle, looking at it with mild irritation.

Janet frowned, biting her lip. "You were both trapped in there?"

"Yep. And let me tell you, Bash ain't the best roommate, know what I'm sayin'?" Viz drifted back over to her, crossing his legs mid-air. "And my 'tiniest' is because Big Blue has been sucking away my energy for a thousand years or two. Only reason why he didn't drain me completely is 'cause he needed a buddy to talk to. He gets lonely."

Janet doubted that, but decided it was best not to say so. "Why were you in there?"

"I was in there only because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Viz looked rather grumpy at that. "It was meant for Bash. He pissed off the wrong old geezer and that was supposed to be his prison."

"Wait… If you've been stuck in there, then why do you talk like that?"

Viz shrugged. "We know everything the human that touches the bottle knows. Otherwise if we got free, we'd never be able to understand the world around us."

Janet sat quietly as she tried to process this new information. "So… Does this mean that you have to grant Tessa's wishes too?"

"Nah. I'm stuck with you."

Her brow furrowed at his choice of words, and the meaning behind them. "Me? But Tessa is the one that broke the bottle!"

"Yeaaassss. Buuut technically you purchased the bottle-thank you, by the way. You don't even want to know what goes on with the Shimeks." Whatever it was, it made the little Djinn shudder in horror. "So you are the real master. However, Bash had a loop hole out, since what's-her-face broke it."

"Why would he want out?"

"Tessa must have a darker mindset than you." Viz floated around the room, touching her things in slight awe. Janet didn't have the heart to yell at him, seeing how he was trapped for so long. "He can use her to his advantage."

Seeing her questioning look, he sighed in self-pity. Humans were so stupid! "He's going to try to break the contract. The one that binds him to his imprisonment after the third wish is up. Once granted, he would be forced back into the bottle until someone else comes along."

"But the bottle is broken. How can he-"

"Magic, dur." Viz didn't even look as he made faces in her vanity mirror. "The bottle is repairing itself."

Janet gasped lightly when two pieces fitted back together by itself. "Wow… So… I can wish for anything?"

"Nope."

"But Bash-"

"Is a liar. Oh, and evil. I forgot to tell you that." Viz zoomed back over to her, wearing a serious expression. "Look. Technically, you can wish for anything. But you wouldn't like the results. Wishing back a loved one? You'll get a walking corpse. Want money? It's the same as stealing from the bank. Immortally? You'll go down in history as a hero or something, always to be remembered."

He floated on his back. "There is a twist to everything, unless worded correctly. And before you ask, I can't undo any of Tessa's wishes. Bash is simply too strong for me."

"Then… Then what do I do? She can't be safe with him!"

"She's not." Viz twisted around, eyeing her once more. "But, with the right wish, we can find someone who can help."

Janet groaned, covering her face with her hands. The right wish? There was so much pressure there! She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Alright… I just need to think. The right wish." Chewing on her lip, she closed her eyes as she thought long and hard.

I wish someone could help me. No, the wish could turn around and someone could help with something stupid, like… like homework or something!

It had to be specific.

"I wish," Janet started slowly, picking her words carefully. "I wish… For the most suitable people for the job of helping me save Tessa-and defeat Bash," she added quickly.

Viz narrowed his large eyes at her. Her heart thumped quickly, hoping she had picked the correct words. When he smirked reassuringly at her, she sighed in relief. "Your wish is my command!"

The next thing she knew was that up was down, left was right, and there was no real sense of direction in the crazy vortex she was in.

Everything was spinning and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Oh God, she wanted to puke and never move again!

"Here!"

Janet was dropped on a cold stone floor, her head dizzy. "Uuugh… Viz, what the heck was that?"

"Sorry. Fastest way to travel," came his rather sleepy sounding reply. "Whew… That took a lot of magic… I think I'll take a nap now."

Janet was about to demand her whereabouts when a cold, sharp object was pressed against her throat. Her eyes different upwards, taking in green, scaly skin before looking into weary, dark blue orbs.

"No waaaay, it's a kappa!" Viz slurred in a daze before passing out in her arms.

"Dude! We're turtles! Why does everyone get that wrong?"

It was too much. Too much had happen in so little time, Janet simple couldn't handle it. First a giant evil bald man kidnapped her stepsister, than a wise-cracking elf-thing told her magic was real, and now there was giant green monsters with weapons and it was just too much. She joined Viz in slumber land.

Michelangelo rubbed the back of his head as he looked at his brothers. "Was it something I said?"