Capture
Tara was into things that involved dolls and romance. Their little family was situated near the front row of this darkened theater where they could see without the thought that their sights would be blocked. Which apparently was a common trait among Earth. It's been so long since they've been here that the Guardians almost forgot how Tax worked. Or anything really. Taranee sat next to Tara's left in the middle of them while on her right was an empty seat for Star.
Speaking of which, where was she? While the trailers played Taranee looked around right when Star dropped down into her saved seat in between her and Theresa. And dropped a scroll into her lap. "Package retrieved. Let's break it open," she pinged.
Taranee knew the drill. The information in here was classified and had a seal over it made of really thick candle wax. A lot more than usual. She placed her hand over it that made it flash for not even half a second. Then removed her hand to show the melted wax. She swiftly unrolled it and read it over their minds. "Name? Joalee Marinah. Native resident to Northton and... legendary escaped convict."
"Well..." Cornelia groaned. "That's interesting."
"Definitely. Five foot ten, caucasian male, and doesn't take no for an answer. Was arrested twenty years ago by Renegades of Kandrakar at the age of twenty-three."
Irma pinged, "What are Renegades?"
Star leaned back in her seat and answered, "The Renegades of Kandrakar are volunteers. Sort of like Community Watch with more authority and permissions. You rarely hear about them but they're around when we're not. What for?"
"He... Boom. He created a device that managed to take control of the veil. But it didn't really do anything but connect to it, so Kandrakar noticed and grabbed him before anything else happened. His crimes don't end there though. Before that, he was wanted for interrogating knowledgeable persons on the veil through... Torture."
"Elyon did say he was fucking crazy."
"She hangs around you too much. They never talked and were left for dead. He was charged for eight counts of torture, eight counts of murder, and tampering with the veil. He was sentenced to two hundred years in a Metamoor prison."
Melissa assumed, "But he escaped I take it."
"Not exactly. Someone let him out. It was believed to be under blackmail to a guard. After that, not a peep. And it doesn't end there. Shortly after his escape, many people stepped forward from all over the veil and admitted to working for him under blackmail."
"Sounds like he had a lot of dirt on people," Hay-Lin stated.
"Understatement. Three hundred people stepped forward. Managers, officials, those types. He was really good at uncovering secrets and getting people to listen to him, and talk if they knew something. Then it ends there."
Star sighed and stroked her face. She was already stressed out. Her red hair couldn't get anymore frizzled. She pinged, "So he's up to it again. But unlike last time, he's noticed the error of his ways."
Melissa queried, "And what were these 'errors?' Any theorized changes?"
"Not sure. But if I had to hazard a guess, his past device wasn't strong enough. He needs more power. How did he grab ahold of the veil the first time?"
Star shook her head and answered, "The same way he's opening these portals. With whatever the hell that purple stuff is. We need to figure it out as soon as possible. The sooner we get ahold of that, the sooner we can shut this down and go home."
Melissa asked, "And his... Workers?"
"No idea. But we'll figure it out soon. Until then, I'm enjoying a romantic cartoon."
~TLO~
They were onto him. They were onto him and he knew it. Samuel Matthews' desk in TechCom wasn't like any other desk. His office desk was upstairs. But he wasn't upstairs. Not today. Today he was doing business downstairs. Way underneath that same tall spire that was the center of the city.
His laboratory. It only held two rooms with steel floors that covered the stone underneath. His camera room. A darkened closet-like space that held only a desk, computers and multiple monitors. Broadcasting camera feeds of Heatherfield. He had access to every single camera out there. And his eyes were trained on them. Not the large device behind the double doors nearby. A device similar to a crown with a single spire in the middle that towered way above him. Currently rotating, powered from the multiple extensions of cording attached to the walls and large containers of purple fluid. It hummed through the walls and his ears. It was going to be a really big deal when he activated it. He just needed the right moment. Such as getting these Guardians off of his back.
He was smoldering at the screens. Light blue eyes glaring at the live feed of Will Vandom and Taranee Cook walking out of the theater with a scroll. And Taranee's family. He could possibly take them out right now. But based off of Will's earlier performance he witnessed, he would have a lot of trouble doing so. But there will be a grand opportunity to grab her. When her guard is down.
Samuel's eyes glanced through the small glass windows on the two steel doors. Staring at the wall across from the machine. There it was. His tools of the trade. Not much really. Four chains connected to motors. Two on the walls, two on the floor. There was a thermostat in his current room connected to the "Unveiling Room." The machine in there gets really hot once at full speed and he'd have to turn it down well below freezing. That thermostat will have more of a use in the near future. As well as the multiple buckets of water near the engines.
He smirked and daydreamed of his sick plans. Then trained his eyes back on the monitors. Taranee Cook and Will Vandom were now leaving the theaters with that family. Good. Right on time. Samuel grabbed his corded phone and quickly dialed a number. Then put it up to his ear and waited for an answer. After a few seconds, the line picked up and someone answered, "Sierra Donnel."
"They're on their way back," he whispered. His eyes were burning into the next monitor when he pressed the spacebar. Freezing the play on Will Vandom. "Don't let me down."
"You got it." The line hung up next. So Doctor Matthews placed the phone down and trained his eyes back on Will Vandom. This was a really complex plan. But based off of everything he's seen so far, it was definitely going to work. He was a master at complexity. And this was child's play.
~TLO~
The walk home was filled with theories flying through the minds of the Guardians. Star's steps were eager. Anxious to get all of this over with. She was already sixteen once again, she didn't need to be weirded out even more. Being in Heatherfield around her much older brother and barely aging mother was already enough. Speaking of which, she had yet to speak with her.
"Hey." Star looked over and up to Taranee when the greeting reached her ears. She had a gentle smile on her face with hands clasped together in front of her. Eyeing Star down with kindness. "So... You wanted to settle down."
Star sighed and faced forward when they walked behind the others through the outdoor mall from earlier. Now peaceful and timid, a great contrast from earlier. Star nodded her head and whispered, "Yeah, I uhhh... I was hoping to raise a family with Melissa. She can continue being a Guardian while I take care of the baby since I have everyone's powers. It'd be kind of pointless to have me around if I can do what everyone else can, right? So... I thought it was a good plan. But now..."
Taranee replied enthusiastically, "Oh it still is. I support you. I just wanted to say... Good luck, you know? Raising a baby I'm sure is hard. And since you're..." Taranee motioned to Star's height and younger appearance, earning a much requested slap to the hand. "All of that, I know it's going to be hard for you. But just know you have our support. You really really deserve it."
Star smiled and blushed at her praise. It wasn't everyday someone else said that to her. Yeah Melissa says it all the time. But since all of them are rough and tumble girls, you don't hear it a lot from the others. Let alone anyone else but Queen Elyon. Star scoffed and whispered, "Thanks, Tara. How about you? I mean, I know what happened here so long ago had traumatized you, but—"
"Trauma? What trauma?" Taranee and Star bumped into Theresa's front when she whirled around at the term. She was actually listening in on their conversation when they were having it. And was quite surprised to hear about Will wanting a baby. Yeah, she was at that age when things were actually going to get pretty fulfilling, but a baby? From her? Eh, we'll see. But then the word traumatized came up for her daughter.
Taranee and and Star glanced at each other then back to Theresa for a moment. Star seethed through her teeth and answered, "Er uhhh, it's a sensitive topic we really don't like to talk about."
"No, it's..." Taranee sighed through her teeth and cast her eyes to the sidewalk she started walking again. "I think it's about time she knew about it at this point, Star."
Star looked around Theresa and asked, "Wait, really? You're going to talk about it? Now?"
Taranee looked over her shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, I mean... I'm already fifteen years behind. So why not?"
Star just bounced her eyebrows in a response. "Well in that case... I guess I'd better take my leave. Thank you so much for letting me come with you guys, it was fun."
Theresa nodded at Star and replied, "Anytime, Will. Be safe okay?"
"You too." With the scroll in hand, Star turned her body and walked into a deserted alley. With the thought that there were a lot of those around Heatherfield, she slashed open a rift and stepped through. Then closed it back, leaving Taranee with her mother and family.
Theresa focused back on her and instinctively grabbed her hand supportively. "Sweetheart?" She whispered. "What happened fifteen years ago?"
Taranee sighed and began walking again with her family. "Well, it was more like fifteen and a half. A few months before Will turned evil. I was invited to a Graduation Party and..."
~W.I.T.C.H.~
When Star rifted back in, she rifted into the Cordeau's backyard. The day was still alive, and everything was still bright and loud. Even though it was the afternoon, everyone was still active. Melissa was in the backyard playing basketball with her father, surprisingly winning. Well she was his height and moved much faster than he did.
With an idea in mind, Star ran forward when Melissa was about to take another shot. Then jumped up and snatched it out of her hand from behind.
Melissa eeped and whirled around at the same time she passed the ball to Samuel. He d finitely got the idea. So he took the shot and let it soar graciously into the net. He shot his hands up and announced, "Score! Yeah! Thanks, Will! I was losing badly."
Melissa's reaction was entirely different. She faced Star with her hands on her hips and scowled, "Hey, you're supposed to be on my team."
There were teams? Star shrugged and tossed her the scroll. "Yeah, but... Why not, right? I love your competitive nature."
Melissa couldn't deny that. Ever since they got married, they've always tried to outdo the other in something. And it usually ended in rough sex. Pushing naughty thoughts to the side, Melissa unrolled the scroll and looked everything over. "Yeah... This is our guy," she whispered. Then glanced up to Will and asked, "So what do we do about it?"
Star rifted around her to the ball and picked it up. Bouncing it, she answered, "Well... We wait for a bit until we are forced to make our move. I'm sure the others know he's trying to do it all over again with these portals. With, or without the Government's approval. And that means, we're breaking things anyway. So find his lab first or catch him in the act and take him to Kandrakar."
Will lifted her arms up and shot straight into the sky. She watched the ball fall through the net. I just realized how good I am at basketball, she thought.
Melissa nodded at Star's plan and tossed the scroll back to her with a smile. "Excellent. But first... I brought something back from the house I think our parents would enjoy very much."
That got Samuel's attention. He glanced up from his phone and asked, "Oh? And what would that be?"
Melissa skipped around her wife and up to her father to place her hand on his shoulders, grinning in glee."Our photo album of our past years. When we got married, live visuals of our memories, things like that. You wanna see me in a suit?"
Samuel blinked at them for a few seconds while he thought. Photo Album? Photo album?! He would never say no to that!
Next thing you know, someone was anxiously knocking on Susan's front door. Making her and Dean jump out of their skin from the kitchen table. Whoever that was, they had a strong knock. Dean stood up from the table and made way for the door before Star just pushed it open.
She walked in with Melissa holding hands, along with the Cordeaus. Smirking at her family, Star raised up a large black book with the letters C and W on the front. "You guys know what this is?"
William shook his head and answered, "No, what is it?"
Will grinned and sang, "This~!... Is our photo album."
Susan shot up so fast the chair nearly tilted onto the floor. "Photo album?!" She repeated.
Will nodded and skipped into the living room while Melissa answered, "Yeah. We have a lot of photos from the past fifteen years. Since Hootakah is just like Earth, we got our hands on a camera and took a lot of photos of us and the girls. Come check it out."
Melissa followed Will towards the couch with their parents hot on their trail. William wasn't really interested in photos. But he dropped his napkin on the empty plate he was eating from and followed after them. He was done with his dinner anyways. It made him wonder what kind of food Will and Melissa ate.
Susan slid into the empty space beside her daughter and eyed the book sitting on the table. Full of photographs. It was so thick that it couldn't contain all of them. Dean looked to Melissa and asked, "How many photos do you girls have?"
Melissa made a sound as if she were thinking with her mouth and answered, "Around two..."
"Hundred?"
"Thousand." She used air to flip the book open to the first page that held a bunch of moving photographs. Unlike regular photos, these photos were literally moving. Like small GIFs. The first one was of Melissa and Will inside a castle of some sort climbing over the back of that same girl that broke the minds of millions that she was an alien. Elyon was trying to get Will off her back, but was obviously having fun if that smile was anything to go by.
Melissa pointed at the next one which was a sneak of Irma having the opportunity to braid the off-gray hair of... A catwoman?! William pointed at her nad asked, "Uhhh, what is that?"
Will rolled her eyes playfully and answered, "That is Luba. One of the Higher heads in Kandrakar. She watches over the powers of the Guardians. Funfact? She and Irma aren't really nice to each other. You can only imagine what happened after this. Wanna see wedding pictures?"
"YES!" Susan yelled. "Where are those?"
Melissa and Star smiled at each other from Susan's obvious desperation. Then Star used her power over air to rapidly flip the pages to a specific bookmark. Then stopped the pages so everyone could fawn.
The wedding was held inside a lovely temple on Merina. It held friends and family members from all over. Kadma, some talking trees, the Council. Caleb and his friends, Sarah when she was much younger and still a brat, and Queen Elyon.
The two brides were in front of some guy in a white robe wearing white dresses. Well Will was wearing a dress. Melissa was wearing a clean white suit with a white necktie and a long white cape. Her long red hair was braided into a single red braid. But since the photo was taken from her left, her burn was still out of sight. Too bad for William.
Melissa said what seemed to be "I do" when the possible bishop asked. Will immediately followed after when she was too. Then the two kissed and sealed the deal.
Susan held a hand over her chest and tried to hold back those tears. She really really did. But a few drops escaped before she pulled her daughter into a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I'm proud of you," she whispered. "So proud, baby."
It was like Will could feel the pride flowing off of her. It was one of those feelings when you knew without a doubt that everything was going to be fine.
She peacefully leaned into her mother's shoulder and closed her eyes. Relishing in the love. That feeling she's wanted for so long. Then whispered, "Thanks, mom."
Susan kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Of course, little wings. Now about your hair—"
"Don't push it."
The fun times were interrupted when someone knocked on the door. Pulling attention away from pleasant moving memories to the dark and dirty present.
Susan sighed and was about to stand before Star grabbed her hand. "Wait," she whispered. Then listened to the air. It was creepily silent. Either this house had above standard insulation or there was something going on.
Star looked to Melissa who was just as confused as everyone else. Will usually gets like this when she forgets something. "What is it?" Melissa whispered.
Star raised her index finger to the roof and yelled, "Who is it?!" Then waited for a response.
"FBI, ma'am," someone replied. "We need to ask Ms. Susan Vandom some questions."
Star smirked and shook her head. "No they don't," she whispered. "They know we're here. And they have information we can use. So... Melissa, sit on the staircase. Mom, open the door when she does."
Star and Melissa stood up for their positions while Susan moved for the door. While Star walked, she literally winked out of sight. William growled through his teeth, "Ohhh, how I wish I could do that."
Once Melissa was in a relaxed position on the staircase with crossed arms, Susan unlocked the door. And there they stood. Donnel and Matthews in all their Special Agent glory. Matthews was smaller than Melissa's father. But he probably made up for it in speed.
When he spotted Melissa, he gestured at her and stated, "Well there's one of 'em. Hello, Ms. Vandom. We were going to ask if you knew where your neighbors were, but we found who we were looking for."
Donnel let herself in and marched right up to Melissa. "You have a lot to explain. You and your batch of runaways trying to get the better of us, time to go." Before Donnel could grab her, she suddenly seized up and slumped to the ground.
Shocked, Matthews turned and looked around right before he followed. Melissa just smiled and watched as they dropped. Right there in the living room floor at her feet.
The front door shut back before Star shimmered back into view glaring down at their backs. "Did they seriously think they could get us a second time and we wouldn't do anything about it? That was stupid. Let's check 'em."
Susan just covered her face when Star walked past to start it off. She groaned, "This is not happening right now."
Star playfully pushed her back and ordered, "Stand back citizen, this is government business."
"Uh huh."
Melissa began pulling Donnel's sports jacket off her arms. It was a bit of a struggle, but she managed to pull it off and start searching. William just shook his head and asked, "And why are we doing this to FBI agents?"
Star stopped patting down Matthews and hectically started digging in his pant pocket. "Because they're not agents," she answered. She pulled out a standard Motorola flip phone and flipped it open. Nothing. "What type of agent needs a burner phone? This guy has three phones on him. Why?" She reached into his coat and pulled out two more just like it.
Melissa shook her head and pulled out Donnel's "Badge." She flipped open the wallet and shook her head at the find. Nothing. No documents or anything. Needed more than just a badge on her and she didn't have it. And based off the one Star was holding, the same was for Matthews.
Star clicked her tongue and stated, "They work for our Good ol' Doctor friend. He knows we're here. Why else would these guys be at our old house when we went missing fifteen years ago? The case is cold and they should've been taken off. Not to mention they don't live in Heatherfield. Nowhere near it. He's looking for us. The crazy bastard."
Melissa stood up and asked, "How many underground guys you think he has?"
"I really don't care about them right now. With these guys we can find Doctor Matthews' lab. We're taking them to Meridian. Get the others while I start the move."
Susan moved for the kitchen and asked, "How are you getting rid of their car?"
"That is unfortunately going to Kandrakar too. We're erasing traces." Star slashed open a rift in front of the door. Then grabbed and hefted Donnel up onto her shoulder. "Melissa, Get Cornelia to grab the big one."
Star turned to the door and walked through the red rip in space back onto the Sandy Desert of Metamoor. The Guards at the gates sighed and were about to comment about her winning already before she said, "We need the interrogation room. Now."
"GUARDIAN... GUARDIANS AT THE GATES!" Just like usual, horns blare and the gates open, allowing Star access. She boldly walked past while Melissa and the others caught up.
Hay-Lin flew into Star's peripheral and lifted Matthews chin to look into his face. "Hey... Aren't these the—"
"Yep." The Guards standing at the prison doors immediately grabbed their handles and pulled them open. "These are the same guys from a decade and a half ago. And they work for the mad Doctor. So we're going to get some info out of 'em. The right way."
