I am so sorry this took so long. Writer's block hasn't really been a problem for me in this series but I just hit a pipeline of it. Ouch, I know. Oh, well, hopefully the size of this chapter and the suspense leading to the next one should make up for said situation. Bear with me on the next chapter, too. After this story, I shouldn't have this problem again for a while, don't worry. Now on with the story!

Chapter 10

The gang reappeared in the tower. They fell through the portal. Kelly landed next to the stove and quickly scurried to the fridge and stuck her head inside it, sighing with slight relief. Ryan, Sarah, and Michael landed on the couch. Jack landed on one side of the couch and Robert on the other. Duck, Wendy, Daniella, Sophie, and Rev all landed on the coffee table or against it. Nadine, Benny, and Lucy landed in different chairs. Austin, Ace, Lexi, and Slam flew into the wall.

And Tech shot through the island and landed on the floor. "I'm not sure whether to interpret that part as good or bad."

Benny, cradling his still injured hand, walked over to him. "You OK?"

Tech looked at him. "Yeah. More or less."

Sophie scurried over there. "You sure?" She reached over to help him up, but her hand went right through his.

Tech helped himself up. "I'm said I'm fine." With that, he walked off through the wall.

Sophie stared after him, cradling the hand that had gone through his. She just couldn't deny it. She wanted him back. Really back. None of them wanted it this way, Tech specifically. But they had no way to bring him back completely. This was how it would have to be.

Meanwhile…

Valentina, in snake form, led Esmeralda to a dance club on the South Side.

"Mind telling me what we're doing here?" asked Esmeralda.

Valentina morphed into human form. "I'll show you." She turned a sign enough to reveal to Esmeralda what it said:

"Karaoke night – all comers accepted"

Maximum capacity – 500

Esmeralda smiled when she realized what her new friend's plan was.

A couple minutes later, Valentina, once again in snake form, opened the back door, leading Esmeralda to the backstage area. Valentina quickly found a victim.

Esmeralda nodded and discreetly took out her dagger.

Valentina turned back to human form and used the blade to slice her hand open.

Esmeralda then proceeded to sneak up on the victim from behind and slit his throat so he couldn't scream.

Valentina slithered over there and then mixed their blood, taking his youth.

Esmeralda simply held her hand over them, taking his soul.

The two villainesses exchanged smiles. The plan would work perfectly with them together. In fact, they had absolutely no need to ditch each other like any other villain team would. Together, they could hit 5 birds with two stones. Or…whatever.

25 victims later, the mic opened.

Esmeralda held up her sparking hand and smiled. "I'm at stage two already. After we hit this place completely, I'll be well over halfway to maximum power and I'll be nowhere near losing my power."

Valentina smirked and looked at herself in the mirror. "And I can see I'm back to myself." Sure enough, she was practically 16. "I just need those Loonakids' immortality and it'll stay this way. But I should probably keep hitting this place until I've got the full deal."

Esmeralda caught sight of the open mic, smiled again, and looked back at Valentina. "Hold it for me. We're about to get it all." With that, she strolled onto the stage. She held her hand behind her back to tell Valentina to stand by. She looked at the audience. There must have been about 40-something people there. Well, under maximum capacity, but who was she to complain? This was perfect! She smiled and snatched the mic. "Before I get started, allow me to just say how much I love a captive audience."

"Ha!" said a guy in the audience, "Joke's on you, lady! We ain't captive!"

Esmeralda glared at him, her eyes flashing eerie green. "Oh, really?" She snapped her fingers and all the doors slammed shut.

Valentina then slithered up to the front door, turned into her human form in front of everyone, and locked it.

You can guess how much panic came next.

Esmeralda just sang at full volume.

Everyone there (except Valentina, who, by Esmeralda's orders, had sense enough to block her ears first) was instantly knocked unconscious.

Esmeralda smiled. "You go first? Or shall I?"

Valentina just smirked and morphed back into snake form. She dove at a young woman and did what she wanted.

Back at the tower…

Kelly was in her room, sprawled on an ice bed under the full-blasted ceiling fan while the air conditioner was set to -100 degrees. Suddenly, the ice bed melted. "Oh, COME ON!"

Ryan peeked his head in the door and instantly came out shivering. "I d-d-don't think the ice t-treatment's w-w-working."

Austin sighed. "I'm sorry, but Kelly is in no position to fight Valentina or Esmeralda."

"But Benny can't do it either," said Nadine, gesturing to her little brother, "Not with his broken wrist. And he's our leader!"

"And I can't exactly face another fight with either of those two," said Sarah, who was still a little dizzy and sick from her encounter with Valentina and her fight with Esmeralda.

"Well, Nadine can take over as the leader for now," said Lucy, "And Robert, Jack, Ryan, Michael, and I can keep fighting with her and Austin and Elena. And the rest of the gang can keep looking for a way to deal with Tech's…problem."

Tech just stood by the island. "No kidding." He leaned against the island and fell through it. He pulled himself up and out. "Seriously."

Back at the club…

Esmeralda looked up from the body she was draining, her eyes filled with the white mist that was the essence of her victims' souls. She'd heard the whole thing by manipulating the sound waves' direction and strength. She smirked as the white mist faded from her eyes to reveal her irises' eerie green glow. She walked over to Valentina as her eyes turned back to their normal blue. "Valentina."

Valentina was sucking out the youth essence of one last victim. "What?"

"We're wearing the Loonies out. I think we can get them off one-by-one and it'll allow us to break them."

Valentina smiled as the plan sunk it. "That's perfect! And, you know, since Elena is fighting with them, we can just take what's rightfully mine back from her."

"I thought you said every Meridian except you and Elena was dead."

"I'm not talking about my boyfriend. I'm talking about my jewel!"

Esmeralda looked at her. But skipping right over that…there was still the matter of how they were going to get the last of the Loonakids separated to put their plan into action. Esmeralda smiled as she held up her sparking hand. "My power's past the fading. It's full-in, just limited. But I think I have enough to play with the Loonies a little."

Back at the tower…

Elena was sitting on the couch.

Michael approached her. "You're a little down, huh?"

Elena just looked at him.

"Why do I get the feeling you left something out of the story?"

Elena sighed. "Fine. I'll just say it: Valentina was the princess of Meridian when she went bad. And yeah, I took her boyfriend, but what really pushed her over the edge was when it was discovered that her sister had the royal jewel that had originally belonged to Valentina and that, with the royal jewel in her possession, the younger sibling was now the one next in line for the throne."

Michael blinked. "Oh."

Elena nodded. "And the royal jewel wasn't left on Meridian. Somehow, it's here. I just know. And she's not gonna stop till she has it. But once she does, since the kingdom is destroyed and the throne, therefore, no longer up for grabs, she'll channel its magic energy into herself and she'll become unspeakably powerful. We can't let that happen."

"What do you mean the royal jewel's here on Acmetropolis?" asked Robert.

"Well, apparently, the lost princess survived and she's here somewhere."

Robert blinked. "Oh."

Elena nodded again. "You guys say 'oh' a lot."

Suddenly, Rev's laptop beeped. "Uh-oh." He typed in a quick code and pulled up a map of Acmetropolis with several blinking dots. "Uh…looks-like-Valentina-and-Esmeralda-have-been-busy-they're-hitting-several-different-banks-and-museums-and-stuff-at-the-same-time-I-wonder-how-that-happened?"

"I bet Esmeralda's got a bunch of Vamps under her control," said Ryan, "We better check it out. Elena, you better come with us. Austin, you stay here with the others and we'll call you if we need backup."

"Uh…" Nadine said.

"Oh! Sorry! Didn't mean to—"

"…good idea."

Ryan smiled.

Nadine smiled back. "Come on. We'll get every spot at once if we split up." With that, she grabbed a list of addresses and led the group out, assigning sectors as they left the tower.

Nadine…

Nadine made her way to the bank she'd assigned herself. "Uh…isn't this the bank Esmeralda already robbed?" She walked in, curious. She looked around the darkness. She started up a fireball to give herself a light—

Suddenly, a burst of magic energy knocked her back into a wall.

Esmeralda was there. "Bet you didn't see that coming, did you, Firefighter?"

Nadine used the teller box to help herself stand up. "What…What'd you do to me?"

"Called a Weakening Charm. The longer it lasts, the more you're drained. Right now, it's shorting out your powers. In a few hours, you'll barely be able to stand up. By this time tomorrow, you probably won't be able to stand up. And by the time I'm at my full power…" She smirked. "You'll practically be dead."

Nadine just glared at her, breathing heavily.

"No use fighting me now. It'll only make it worse." She smiled and walked out.

Nadine just collapsed on the floor, too weak to do anything.

Lucy…

Lucy walked down a street leading towards her assigned hit. Suddenly, she heard a racket come from an alley she was passing. She looked down the alley. "Hello?" No response. She warily took out a stake and started down the alley, making sure to put up a shield around herself just to be safe. "I know someone's here." Still nothing. "Must have been a mouse or something." She let down the shield and turned around…walking right into Esmeralda. She gasped and backed away.

Esmeralda just grabbed her. "I think you have something my friend wants."

Lucy shook her head.

Esmeralda sighed. "You don't get it, do you? Your blood."

"I'm not—"

" Trust in me, just in me, close your eyes, and trust in me…"

Suddenly, Lucy practically fainted in her arms.

"You can sleep safe and sound, knowing I am around." She held up a hand behind her back.

A snake began to slither over there.

"Slip into silent slumber, sail on a silver mist, slowly and surely, your senses will cease to resist! " She dropped Lucy to the ground.

The snake hissed at her and jumped at her.

Lucy came to screaming.

Robert…

Robert could feel something was wrong. Something was wrong with Lucy. "Luce?" He looked around. He saw no sign of any danger on the street he was on. Surely it was safe for him to follow the Warlock vibes to check on Lucy and then come back later.

But while he walked off, Valentina jumped him, pinning him to the ground by holding his arms up behind his back. "You wouldn't believe how fast that control freak can get around."

Robert tried to zap her.

Valentina just slithered out of the way of his spell and went back to pinning him down. "You really shouldn't have done that. You'd think by now people would know not to get me UPSET!" She yanked on his arms.

He cried out in pain.

Jack…

Jack was looking around an old museum. "Hello? Anybody here? Am I too late or too early or what? Nothing." With that, he started off.

Suddenly, someone appeared in the dark and began moving a very heavy object to fall on his head.

Needless to say, he was unconscious about 5 seconds later.

Ryan…

Ryan walked backwards down the dark street, holding his wand at the ready.

Michael…

Michael was walking backwards down his street as well.

Suddenly, the two brothers bumped into each other, yelped and whirled around to face each other.

"Ryan!" Michael snapped, "What are you doing here?"

"Nay assigned me the South Street Bank," Ryan answered.

"Nay assigned me the South Street Museum."

"Wow. Those two need to learn to branch out. I hope they didn't run into each other."

Suddenly, Valentina and Esmeralda jumped out of the shadows and jumped them. Valentina had Ryan pinned down and Esmeralda held down Michael.

"Not only have we run into each other," said Valentina, "We're working together. To get you."

"Of course, for the moment, it's just pure fun," Esmeralda giggled.

Valentina looked at her. "You wanna stage the attack or shall I?"

"We can't drain them too much."

"Then let's not. Just play a little."

Esmeralda smiled. "Now that I like the sound of…"

Elena…

Elena walked along a street towards her assigned destination. Suddenly, something moved through the shadows.

"Hello, Elena."

Elena gasped upon hearing that voice and whirled around to see Valentina.

"I know you're just trying to protect the jewel, but it'd be nice if you'd just hand my sister over."

"I'm not letting you do this."

"Too bad. I've already got what I came for."

Elena looked at her neck. The amulet she'd been wearing, the pink chain with the green sapphire charm, was gone. "What—Where did—"

Valentina turned into Esmeralda. "I can't believe you fell for that."

Suddenly, Elena felt a slithering on her body and looked at her waist to see a snake on her. The snake slid off and over to Esmeralda, turning into Valentina and holding up the necklace.

Esmeralda smiled. "In the bag."

Elena started to walk away but found her feet stuck to the ground. She couldn't move.

Esmeralda walked closer to her. "Oh, and, just to be safe…" She whipped out a dagger and stabbed Elena in the abdomen.

Elena collapsed on the street.

Valentina smirked. "Would take your blood, but I need immortal blood now. You're just not enough." She giggled. "But your little friends are. For now, they're fine. But they're in no condition to fight us. And once we have them all in our hands, it's a one way ticket to complete control. And there's nothing you can do about it." She cackled and grabbed onto Esmeralda with the arm that wasn't holding the amulet. "Zap us off, Emmy."

"Don't call me that," Esmeralda snapped.

"Very sorry."

Esmeralda waved her hand and the two of them disappeared.

Once they were gone, Elena, putting pressure on her wound, quickly raced off to find the others.

Back at the tower…

The rest of the group was collected in the lobby.

Kelly was standing in the center of the room in her normal clothes, everyone at least 5 feet away. "Why did you want me to hand over all my electric devices?"

"So I can do this," Wendy answered, picking up a large bucket of ice water and dumping it on her.

Kelly stood there, so drenched that her clothes were clinging to her fur and her ears were pinned down. "No. That did not help at all!"

Wendy shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Austin sighed. "Let's just hope the others are doing a better job."

Oddly enough, that's when the rest of the team walked in. Nadine was having trouble keeping her balance, Lucy was sliced open in her abdominal and chest areas, Robert had a broken arm and a battered leg, Jack was holding his head to keep it from developing into trauma, and Ryan and Michael were bloodied and bruised.

"OH BOY!" Sophie raced over there and helped her sons to the couch while Lexi grabbed Nadine and Lucy, Daniella got a safe hold on Robert, and Wendy helped up Jack. Once she was sure they were all safely situated, Sophie sighed. "What happened to you guys?"

"Valentina and Esmeralda jumped us," Lucy answered, placing her hands on her injuries, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Esmeralda was more than just a regular Witch."

"No," said Sarah, "She's a pretty decent fighter for one thing."

"And she was teleporting and manipulating," said Robert, "Valentina even called her a 'control freak.'"

Daniella got it. "Oh, man! She's a Manipulator!"

"A what?" asked Duck.

"A dark sorceress capable of gaining control over absolutely anything should she gain enough power. We cannot let that happen!"

"Well, we can't fight her," said Lexi, "Look at our heroes here! None of them are in any condition to fight!"

"NO!" Everyone turned to see Elena in the doorway, leaning against it in pain as she kept her hands on her stab wound. "That's what they want! To get them weak enough…"

Austin caught the scent. He raced over there and helped her over to the couch, taking her hands away from her wound to reveal that they were covered in blood.

"Oh boy…" Nadine said, weakly.

"She'll live," said Austin, "They missed any major organs, she's just bleeding it out. Her body's keeping the blood away from its healing process."

"My life isn't all they tried to snatch," Elena said, "They took my necklace!"

"Well, boohoo for you," said Jack, "And here I am halfway to concussion and all you lost was a STUPID NECKLACE! Just be thankful they don't already have their hands on that 'lost princess.'"

"You don't understand!" Elena said, halfway to tears, "I am the lost princess!" That got everyone's full attention. "That necklace was the royal jewel! I am Valentina's baby sister. And that amulet is the power I took from her."

At the warehouse…

Valentina raced through the doorway, giddy with laughter. "WOOHOO! WE GOT IT!" She held up Elena's amulet.

Esmeralda rushed in, just as excited. "And the Loonakids are no longer a threat! None of them are in any position to fight a regular Vampire, let alone us!"

Valentina smiled. "Looks like this whole universe just got handed to us on a silver platter." She held up the royal jewel. "Mind giving me a hand? If you become the ballast that hooks me to the jewel's power, then I can't lose it unless something happens to you, which can't possibly happen after you get the 100th soul."

Esmeralda smiled. "No problem." She placed her hand on the jewel, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

The jewel glowed and its energy flowed into Valentina.

Valentina felt the energy flow into her. "Yes! No longer will my youth fade! I need only catch those stupid crime-fighters and this world is mine!" Suddenly, the aura of a snake overcame her, making her eyes glimmer blood red. "And my power is complete." She let go of the amulet, dropping her hold on it and letting the energy send one last blast at her, launching her back into a pile of boxes.

Esmeralda held up the necklace it was now a blue crescent moon necklace. She quickly threw it across the room and raced over to Valentina. "Are you OK?"

Valentina got up, her hair falling over her face. When she was completely up, she flipped her hair away. Her eyes had turned from green to red. Her hair was an even darker black. Her teeth were sharper, like a snake's fangs. And as she held up her hands, she revealed that her fingernails had been replaced with blood red claws. She smiled and looked at Esmeralda. "Never better."