Chapter 6: Old, Warm Hands vs. a Cold Cold Heart

Cloudtower Building– New York City

"Miss Finlay, your ten o'clock is here."

A brunette who appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties with a hooked nose and dark gold eyes leaned forward as she pressed down on the intercom button on her desk. "Send him and his 'friend' up."

"You got it. Though I've gotta ask–"

"Miss Adler, yours is not to question why." the woman replied, her voice carrying a distinct chill. "Now send those two up before I find your…replacement."

"S-S-Sure thing, boss!"

The intercom went silent, and the woman turned her attention to a Newton's cradle on her desk as she waited for the familiar ding of an arriving elevator. If he's late because he and that lumbering armored galoot of his decided to travel on the same elevator again, then there will be hell to pay. she thought.

Right on cue, the elevator dinged, and a man sporting a head of jet black hair and a dark blue suit waltzed in.

"Ah, Morton. So glad you could come– especially without your pet in not-so-shining armor."

Just then, there was a ding from another elevator– more specifically, the cargo elevator. Almost immediately after the doors had opened, the sounds of heavy footfalls, hydraulics, and whining servomotors filled the air, and a colossal figure clad in a pitch black suit of vaguely medieval-looking armor soon lumbered into the office.

"I swear, it looks even more brutish than it did last time." the woman snarked.

The armored man let out a deep, guttural growl before taking a step forward, hand outstretched and level with the woman's throat.

"Black Knight, stand down." Morton ordered, the armored man promptly coming to a halt. "Sorry about that, Darcy. He's gotten a bit…temperamental since we started the latest round of performance boosters. We're considering adding some SSRIs, lithium, and the like to fix that."

Darcy shuddered. "At this point, I don't know which is worse– what they did to my sisters and I at Lightrock Monastery or whatever you did to create this shambling, mindless, soulless thing that was once a man!"

"Like you have a leg to stand on when it comes to matters of morality."

"That doesn't mean I don't have standards, Mister Arthur!"

Both Morton and the Black Knight burst out laughing, the latter's throaty, disturbingly visceral guffaws burrowing deep into Darcy's brain. "You? Standards?" the former asked, wiping tears from his eyes. "I believe that goody-goody fairy joy luck club from back in the day would beg to differ!"

"Don't remind me." came the reply. "Unless you want half your teeth missing, that is."

"Try it and you'll be a greasy smear on the pavement." Morton jeered, gesturing to the Knight. "Now, let's get back to business, shall we? First item on the agenda: that wretch I call a half-sister."

Vandom Residence, Heatherfield– same time

"Call from [Agent Heston]."

Will unsuccessfully stifled a yawn as she woke up and reached out for her phone. "Hello?"

"Good morning to you too, Miss Vandom. Sorry for bothering you on a Saturday, but we've got a situation on the horizon and–"

"Get to the point."

"Short version– we've arranged for you and your friends to have some tutors in matters of the more arcane variety."

"We already know how to use our powers, if that's what you're getting at."

"Consider it refining your technique."

Will bit her lip. "Okay, so where do we meet these tutors?"

Heatherfield Airport

"Feels like it was only yesterday that I was just some sixteen-year-old girl who'd learned that she was really a fairy." Bloom said as she and her friends stood at the baggage claim. "Getting into misadventures, dealing with school stuff, going up against people like Valtor or the Trix– where does the time go?"

"Forward." a woman with magenta hair replied, earning a knowing grin from a nearby blonde.

"Never change, Tecna. Never change." she said as she grabbed a suitcase adorned with sun and moon patterns.

"Your suggestion is duly noted." came the reply. "Though returning to business, where are we supposed to meet these…Guardians again?"

Luna Park– shortly thereafter

"So, what do you think that Heston meant by 'tutors'?" Irma asked. "Is he sending some…I dunno, Trismawhatsit wizards our way?"

"Do they even have those?" Hay Lin replied.

"Wouldn't put it past them. Though if he did pull that off, let it be known that I, Irma Lair, will never be some government stooge!"

"That's why he sent us."

All five Guardians' heads swiveled around to see seven women in their mid-to-late twenties/very early thirties standing nearby. "Um, who are you?" Will asked.

"My name's Bloom Peters." one of the aforementioned women (a redhead like her, noted Irma) replied. "As for my friends, you can call us the Winx."

Cornelia took a breath. "So, when do we begin?"

"Right about…now."

Heatherfield Woods

"Ready, aim– fire!" Briar proclaimed as a blast of magical energy suddenly erupted from her hand before striking a dead tree, leaving a smoldering hole at the site of impact. "Not too shabby– but let's see if I can hit a smaller target." Her gaze proceeded to shift to a nearby shrub. "Ready, ai–"

Right on cue, a flash of light filled the air, whereupon Briar let fly her latest bolt– a bolt that sailed just above a freshly materialized Hay Lin's scalp. "No– it can't be! It can't be! I made sure that nobody could find this place!" the former screamed.

"Is something wrong?" Taranee asked, her gaze soon gravitating to a nearby cauldron.

"I wanted– no, needed to keep this a secret, but it turned out I couldn't!" Briar bawled. "It's just what it looks like– I'm a witch!"

Told you there was something hinky about her. Irma mouthed to the other Guardians, receiving four very irate glares in return. "I mean, I told you there was something special about her! Yep, the minute I saw her, I knew she had some kind of special talent!"

"You mean you're not afraid?"

Will sighed. "Trust me, we've seen worse things." She then turned to Bloom. "Think we've got room for one more?"

Somewhere in upstate New York– same time

"Mister Arthur, a strong thaumic energy reading has been detected in Connecticut. Signature appears to be consistent with Ring of Solaria." a computerized voice said.

Morton smirked. "So, Roxy and her pals are back, are they?" he said to nobody in particular. "In that case, what better time to not only prune that particular branch of the family tree, but also rid the world of those other six meddlers and put those new armor upgrades through a field test?" His face turned into a full-blown psychotic grin. "Send out the Black Knight!"

"Winx…" the Knight groaned as his support crew prepared him for deployment– putting his shield and colossal sword (a sword that, by all rights, should've qualified as a two-hander for any normal person) on his back, switching out both his sword and armor's power cells, running maintenance checks, and so on and so forth. When all was said and done, the being that was ready to board the nearby VTOL was nothing less than the ultimate killing machine– a living weapon, single-mindedly devoted to hunting down and annihilating one target.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, this one's a doozy, isn't it? As for my previous statement that the first arc would be a low-stakes affair, that's still true– it's just that the Black Knight's going to help kick it into full gear and give a bit of a taste of what's in store for the Guardians down the road. Also, some other notes…

In the original pre-Winx version of the fic, the reveal of Briar being a witch was intended to happen much later. Speaking of, Briar herself underwent several changes during the planning phases, with the earliest version being a witch serving as a Trismegistus agent, with a subsequent iteration planned to be a psychic.

Morton was originally intended to be both the first big villain and a solo act, with the Black Knight being a spur-of-the moment addition. As for Morton's true identity, the main clues are his name and his relationship with Roxy– and if you figure out said true identity, please keep it to yourself. This is something that was planned to be a big reveal from the minute I started planning this fic, so please don't spoil it in the reviews.

As for the Black Knight's appearance, the best description would probably be something reminiscent of Overwatch's Reinhardt, though with the helmet switched out for a visored sallet (aka the stereotypical knight's helmet) and the suit itself being…well, painted black.

Regarding W.I.T.C.H. and the Winx, you could probably argue that they're foils for each other– i.e, the Winx learned to use their powers at a formal school, whereas Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin taught themselves. And in regards to training, since the Guardians' and the Winx's primary powers don't really line up (I think maybe the closest one-to-one matches would be Taranee and Bloom or Aisha (or Layla, depending on what version of the show you're watching) and Irma– though owing to a hiccup in my research, I'd assumed that Morphix was closer to plasma in the sci-fi sense.) As such, their training's primarily going to focus on the Guardians' secondary powers like Cornelia's powers over plants.