Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H or the Hulk.
AN: I'm borrowing this idea from Heart of Demons. Thanks for your permission. It starts just before the cartoon series begins.
Cornelia was bored. No wait, she was very bored. Sure the theme park had been great fun, but the drive home was long and boring. It didn't help that she was sitting besides her annoying little sister Lillian. In traffic that had slowed to a crawl. She had tried to sleep through it, but every time she closed her eyes, Lillian made a high pitched squeal in her ear.
On the road coming the other way, a US military truck was carrying an experimental gamma ray laser, for use on the 'Son of Star Wars' missile defence system. With two squads of marines guarding it, it should've been safe from attack.
Walter Frenshaw signalled his men to prepare themselves. They were ready to attack at the next junction. He brought the RPG-7 to his shoulder, took aim and squeezed the trigger gently.
As the lead humvee exploded, the marines fanned out with military precision. Pouring out of their Cadilliac Gage Ranger APC's, the marines formed a perimeter. Stage two was about to begin.
Sergeant Callum Farmer watched the troops fanning out and sighed. He hadn't intended to get into this much dept, but he could never resist a game of cards. Except this time it cost him big time. So when Don Calinee approached him with a deal he didn't have any choice but to go through with it. So with a heavy heart, he floored the accelerator and busted through his fellow marines.
Walter Frenshaw watched as the truck speeding away and smiled. Signalling his men, they began to lay down covering fire.
Lieutenant Thomas Demos stared in disbelief as the truck carrying the laser speed away. Cursing under his breath, he brought his rifle to his shoulder, took aim and fired. Hitting the truck tires, he watched in muted horror as the truck span out of control, heading towards a massive group of civilian vehicles.
The truck smashed into the Hale's car at tremendous speed. Her sister, Cornelia, threw Lillian Hale out of the other side. Cornelia, however was trapped in the wreckage. She looked up to see a series of spinning, glowing metal drums pointed at her. She didn't know what they were, but she guessed that they weren't good. Then they flashed and everything went dark.
When Cornelia opened her eyes, she found herself feeling very groggy. Turning her head sideways, she saw Lillian asleep in the chair beside her bed.
"What the.." she began, but then Lillian opened her eyes and let out a shriek of delight, followed by a surprisingly powerful hug.
"Yourokyourokyourokyourokyouok!" Lillian squealed, excitedly.
Gently pushing her sister away, she looked at her and asked.
"What's up squirt?"
"You've been unconscious for the past two days, ever since they pulled you from the wreckage." Her mother answered from the foot of her bed. Her father was looking at her with relief, as though he thought he might lose her. Cornelia sat up straight.
"What happened to me?"
"Two fractured legs and some minor internal damage." Said a tall man wearing glasses and a white coat. He peered at her over his glasses, before continuing.
"The real mystery about you, Miss Hale, is that you received a dose of gamma radiation powerful enough to kill you ten times over and yet it appears to have done you no harm at all."
Cornelia stared at him.
"Your injuries are from the crash, not the radiation Miss Hale. I'd like to keep you under observation." He said in answer to her unspoken question. Cornelia shook her head.
"It must be some sort of mistake." She stated calmly, belying the panic she felt rising inside her. The man shook his head.
"The whole car was saturated in radiation. You, yourself were still highly radioactive when they pulled you from the wreck. When they realised you were alive, they rushed you here."
Cornelia brought her hand to her head and let out a slight groan.
"How long did you say I'd be here?" she asked in a slightly pained voice. The man smiled at her.
"A few days. We just need to make sure you're ok."
Cornelia threw herself back onto the bed. This was going to be a looooonnnng few days.
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It wasn't long before Cornelia received her first visitor. That is to say her first non-family visitor. Cornelia instantly recognised the girl's plaited, straw blonde hair as she arrived at the door, even though the girls head was looking down and she couldn't see her face.
"Hey Cornelia." The girl said, her eyes widening at the sight of Cornelia's injuries. Cornelia couldn't really blame her, her injuries looked much worse than they actually were.
"Hey Ellie." Cornelia replied, pausing briefly before continuing with a slight smile on her face "It only hurts when I laugh"
"Listen Cornelia, I came as soon as I could I swe-"
"Hey it's ok. Seriously, it's ok. You're here now, right? So don't worry about it."
A look of relief crossed Elyon's face. "That's good."
"Hey, you're my best friend. So tell, how's biz?"
Elyon took a seat and the two girls began to talk. In what seemed like no time at all, Elyons mum poked her head around the door.
"Elyon sweetie, it's time to go home." She said in her singsong voice.
"But mum, Cornelia and I…" she started, before glancing up at the clock. "Wow! We've been here for three hours! I guess I'll have to see you tomorrow."
"Ok see ya." Cornelia said with a wave.
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As Yan Lin entered the room, she saw her daughter and her friends sitting at the table with some snacks. But, she realised as she walked into the room, someone was missing.
"Good evening girls. Are you enjoying your snacks?" She asked. After receiving various grunts and words of affirmation, she continued. "And where is Cornelia?"
"She's in hospital Grandma. Don't you remember me telling you that?" Hay Lin replied, a slight twinge of worry in her voice. Yan Lin shook her head.
"Yes, Yes granddaughter. I do remember. She really should've been here but this cannot be delayed."
"What can't be delayed Grandma?" Hay Lin asked, but Yan Lin shushed her.
"Girls" she began "I am going to tell you a story that will have a special meaning for all of you…"
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Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin looked up at the hospital building in front of them and sighed.
"How" Will began "are we going to have time to explain and convince Cornelia about this whole guardians gig? Elyon, Alchemie and her family are always there."
"Yeah. Besides, Corny's likely to freak out a little and I don't think we want to draw people's attention to this." Irma added. Will chuckled.
"No, I definitely don't want my mum to find out. She'd freak out and get me out of Heatherfield ASAP."
"Yeah, mine too" Taranee added.
"Why not wait until she comes out then." Hay Lin suggested.
"Best plan we've come up with so far." Will paused before continuing "It's the only workable plan we've had so far. C'mon, we'd better get to the practice site we found earlier." With that, the girls left.
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Cornelia hobbled into school on her crutches, curious as to what her friends Hay Lin, Taranee and even Irma had to tell her. They had told her there was something they needed to tell her and her alone. Admittedly it was unfortunate that she was wearing a cast on both legs and had to hobble around on crutches on picture day, but at least she was still able to have her picture taken.
As she approached Hay Lin and Irma, Taranee came rushing towards them, holding a backpack with a frog key chain attached to it.
"It's Will's backpack" Taranee said in response to their looks. "I found it lying on the sidewalk. The crystals still in it."
"Maybe she dropped it?" Hay Lin asked fearfully, but before Taranee could answer, Cornelia interrupted.
"What are you talking about? And who is Will?"
Taranee pulled out a necklace with a small round bauble attached to the end. But before she could utter a word, a beam of magic shot out and wrapped itself around Cornelia's legs. Cornelia's mouth opened to scream, but before she could utter a sound, the magic left her, shattering her casts and leaving her legs completely repaired.
"What" Cornelia began in a dangerous tone of voice "was that all about?"
"Um.. It might be a better idea if we take a look at this." Hay Lin said, pointing to the images that were appearing in the crystal.
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Phobos glared at the redheaded girl standing at the foot of his throne, with roots holding her in place.
"Where is the Heart of Candracar?" he growled at her.
"I don't know" she replied, terror in her voice.
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"We gotta go get her!" Hay Lin said as the scene faded away.
"You're serious? You want to skip school on PICTURE DAY?" Cornelia asked incredulously.
"He-llo. Will's been seized by the forces of evil." Taranee snapped back.
"We don't know that. We don't even know how to find her." Cornelia countered.
"Um… We may not know, but this thing seems to have a pretty good idea." Interrupted Hay Lin as the crystal began to make pulling motions.
"Fine!" Cornelia snapped at them. "But you're explaining what's going on, on the way there."
Unnoticed by their teachers and classmates, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin snuck out of school.
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"Ok WHAT is THAT?" Cornelia asked as she stared at the portal. Irma scowled at her.
"It's a portal Corny, haven't you been listening?" Irma snapped at her.
"Don't call me that, Irmy. It's just a lot to take in, ok!" Cornelia snapped back.
"Save it for the bad guys, ok" Hay Lin interrupted
"Why are we doing th-" Cornelia began, but Irma gave her a quick push and through the portal she went.
Hay Lin and Taranee turned to glare at Irma.
"Hey she wasn't gonna go." Irma said in response to their glares and jumped through.
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"Will?" Hay Lin called as she peered over the edge of the oubliette.
"Hay Lin! I'm down here!" Will called up to her.
"Here, catch!" Hay Lin said as she tossed the Heart of Candracar to Will, the Heart moving slowly, as if it were not subject to the laws of gravity.
"Do you think she got it?" Hay Lin asked, but nobody had time to answer before a pink light enveloped them.
"You came for me! You really are my friends" Will exclaimed, looking at Hay Lin, Taranee and Irma. Then she saw a girl she didn't know, looking at her chest and wings with a look of wonder. "Umm, Cornelia right?" she asked nervously. Cornelia turned her blue eyes towards Will and nodded.
"Will, right?" Cornelia asked. Will nodded. As guards began to flow into the dungeon, Will took command.
"Sorry about having to throw you in the deep end right away, but I need you and Taranee to hold off the guards while we get the rebel leader out."
Cornelia nodded in agreement and took to the air and the battle began.
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Escaping the dungeon, W.I.T.C.H and Caleb made it back to Earth. Almost.
"Will, help!" Irma screamed as a huge hand dragged her towards the portal. But as Will raised the crystal to close the portal, Cornelia pushed her aside and ran at the portal. When she hit the hand holding Irma, they both fell through. Gargoyle fell back and let Irma go as he fell. Irma, naturally, went flying into a pool of water. Pulling herself to her feet, Irma watched as Cornelia, who was now breathing very hard, transformed into… something else. If Irma had to describe it, she would have said that Cornelia now resembled a cross between an Ent from the Lord Of The Rings films and the Whomping Willow from the Harry Potter ones. Add long blond floating hair from its head and the description would be complete.
Irma watched in amazement as the tree creature (for want of a better term, tree creature would have to do.) received an Earth shattering punch to the head and was thrown back by the force of the blow. The wood creature got back up and smashed Gargoyle onto the ground with an almighty punch, bellowing "Corny angry!" and she stomped off in the direction of Phobos's castle.
Irma let out a low whistle. "This could be interesting." She muttered to herself.
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Corny continued to march towards Phobos's castle, simmering angrily. She wasn't sure why she was heading for the castle, but somewhere in her subconscious, she knew he was the enemy and that was enough.
The guards saw her coming from far off and most of them fled. The crocodile type creature that had attacked Hay Lin earlier rose out of the water, its jaws open. As the creature reached Corny, Corny grabbed it and threw the creature aside with ease. Then she began to climb.
Inside the castle, a frantic and panicked defence was being organised. Cedric organised the remaining guards into firing positions. Each one of them was firing burning arrows in a desperate attempt to stop her.
"Puny guards think they can stop Corny, but Corny strongest of all. Corny smash!" she bellowed as she smashed her way into the castle.
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Meanwhile, Will, Taranee and Hay Lin came back through the portal, believing Irma and Cornelia to be needing their help. What they did not expect to see was an unconscious gargoyle lying on the ground. Nor did they expect to see a stunned Irma sitting on the ground nearby.
"What happened?" Will asked Irma as she helped her to her feet.
"Something happened to Cornelia. She transformed into this huge monster tree thing. We have to help her, Will, it's my fault she came back." Irma replied worriedly.
"Hey, we can assign blame later." Will snapped back, before continuing in a calmer voice. "Right now she needs our help. Where did she go?"
Irma pointed towards Phobos's castle and off they flew.
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Cedric and Miranda watched as the creature continued to smash through the castle, despite all their attempts to stop it.
"Cedric, I've been thinking…" Miranda began.
"That discretion may be the better part of valour. I agree." Lord Cedric finished. They turned and ran.
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Phobos watched as the creature continued its attack. How dare this thing even think it could defeat Phobos. Opening his hands, a beam of magic flowed and surrounded Corny, imprisoning her in a bubble. He smiled as he saw her pound uselessly against the bubbles wall. She will make a fine addition to my forces he thought to himself, a smile forming on his face.
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The rest of W.I.T.C.H arrived at the castle to see Cornelia's capture by Phobos. They paused for a moment to take in Cornelia's new shape. Then they dived into an attack. But just before they could attack Phobos, Cornelia finally smashed through the bubble with a shattering roar. Phobos turned to face her with a hint of fear on his face.
"NO!" he exclaimed in disbelief as Cornelia (or rather Corny at this point.) smashed into the ground. Corny swung her fist round with a roar and smashed it firmly on top of Phobos. If he hadn't raised a shield, he would have been flattened. Instead he was knocked out cold.
"Hey, it looks like she didn't need our help after all" Irma commented to no one in particular. Will held up the Heart of Candracar and powered down the guardians. Cornelia remained unchanged.
"We need to calm her down." Taranee said, "After all, if her getting angry caused the change, then perhaps she'll change back."
Will shrugged. "It's worth a try"
"I've got an idea" Irma said and flew to the portal.
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Elyon was standing outside the school gates, waiting for Cornelia, when, to her surprise, Irma snatched her up.
"Hold on tight babe, Cornelia needs your help." Irma whispered to her as they flew to the portal.
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Elyon eyes widened as she set eyes on Cornelia.
"Cornelia?" she asked in a quiet voice. Corny looked at her. Then she let out a roar of pain and shrunk down to her guardian form. It didn't stop there either. With a glow of magic, Cornelia returned to her normal form.
"Ellie?" she replied, before her legs buckled and gave way beneath her. She was caught by Will and Taranee before she hit the ground.
Will smiled and extended her hand. Care to join the team?" she asked.
"Ok." Elyon replied as she took Will's hand.
AN: Yes I know Cornelia took most of the credit there, but that's how the story played out. And yes I know the Hulk wasn't created that way, but as the US military don't test nukes in the desert anymore, I changed the story to fit the time W.I.T.C.H is set in. At 6 pages, it's my biggest single chapter I've ever written.
