CHAPTER 4: Bishop Takes Pawn
It was past ten at the San Francisco television news station, KTSF, and Becky Gibbons was ready to turn in for the day, her shift as the lone secretary at the building. All the other secretaries had left, and her stint was just about done, and though there were still some editors and technicians around, the three-story building of black stone, concrete, and tinted windows was mostly empty, somewhat peaceful and serene as compared to the hustle and bustle, chaos factor that plagued and besieged the employees every day with the hourly drama and gridlock deadlines.
Which was why Becky groaned when the phone on her desk rang right as she was about to reach for her coat and purse. Becky's lips went into a grimaced pout. None of the others were available to take the call, and if she handled it, she would surely miss the next bus to her apartment. Still, if she overlooked a lead, it could result in her losing her head and her job. Most hot tips and callers calling in about newsworthy occurrences hoping to make some quick cash with their footage were nearly an everyday occurrence, but once in a while, the station got a gem of a tip. And Becky herself had lost count of the number of prank calls, idiots who couldn't string two words together but somehow wanted fifteen minutes of fame, or overenthusiastic fans who wanted to see if they could visit the studio to see their favorite TV reporter, but the station always wanted to keep their lines open for that one special informational tidbit.
Hence why the secretaries screened the calls to the station before transferring them, and why there usually needed to be more than one.
Still, Becky was trained to take any call, no matter how late or how mundane it may have seemed, and following her usual protocol (though inwardly cursing at the bad timing), the young woman picked up the receiver and demanded rather irritably, "Hello, KTSF station. How may I help you?"
A few tense seconds went by before Becky brusquely replied, "Mr. Sullivan is busy for the moment, but may I ask who is calling?"
Becky's face went into a deep frown when she was told the identity of the mysterious informant. Though there was a possibility it was valid and he sounded real enough, the employee still had to check…
"Please hold on," Becky said in a somewhat intimidated and breathless voice as she rapidly clicked a few commands on her computers while checking the automated caller I.D. system. In addition to the caller I.D. provided by the telephone company, KTSF had a computer interface that could trace the current phone call's digital signature and automatically locate the point of origin with precise accuracy via an automated addressing program, similar to MapQuest or any other map program on the Internet. Since they needed to trace authenticity of their various sources before taking them seriously, the station's computer phone-tracer system was a wonderful supplement to the secretaries' numerous avalanche of calls.
Becky's eyes lit up in surprise when the computer program displayed the address in less than five seconds, and it too coincided with what the screen interface of the caller-identification apparatus was displaying. And her scant knowledge of such premises made it possible to believe wholeheartedly that it would be difficult for any prankster to call directly from the White House. She then almost felt weak at her knees as it hit her who was on the phone.
"I'll…I'll transfer you to Mr. Sullivan right away. Please, hold."
After shakily pressing the button and placing the receiver back into its proper setting, Becky rushed, breathless and tearing up the two flights of stairs into Geoffrey Sullivan's office on the third floor. Geoffrey was the current head editor for the moment, and it was entirely possible that he would simply ignore the call or not realize the importance of the person phoning into the station. Geoffrey looked incredibly frazzled as he was plowing through a pile of paper on his desk when Becky barged into his glass-paneled office next to the news anchor's studios, and from the look of fatigued irritation on his face, he wasn't in the mood.
"What is it, Becky?" he asked in a deadpanned and restrained voice, but the woman ignored the look of exasperation as she hurriedly explained, panting and her lungs burning from the sprint.
"There's an urgent call for you on Line One, sir!"
Geoffrey's face soured as he heatedly retorted, "Becky, take a message and let it be for me to take care of when I have time, which is something I truly don't have at this point! I have to schedule Warren's meeting with the mayor interview at the last minute, two gaffers have called in sick, and - !"
"But he won't take a message, and he demands to speak with you about a news lead! And you won't believe who it's from! It's from the White House!"
There was a tense silence as Geoffrey took that one fact in, almost stunned beyond comprehension. Never before in Geoffrey's history as leading editor for KTSF has there ever been a call from the White House.
"Who is it?" the editor asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Becky told him, and Geoffrey's face paled a bit as his eyes widened, his breath died in his throat.
"You…you sure? Him? He's calling here?"
Becky nodded again, almost as if she herself was trying hard to convince herself of the very same fact as she emphasized, "I checked the connection, the caller I.D, and everything! It…it really is him…and he's on hold on Line One, sir."
Geoffrey literally jumped for the phone before he lifted the phone next to his ear, the blood ringing, as he asked in a shaky voice of disbelief.
"He-…Hello?"
"Yes, this is Lex Luthor. I have a lead that I think may be quite intriguing and profitable for you and your network, Mr. Sullivan…"
---
Inspector Sheridan strolled alongside of the Halliwell sisters' two-story Victorian house. Though it was late morning and the sun was shining, the San Francisco suburb was unusually quiet, mostly due to the fact that most of the neighborhood were out at work or too pre-occupied with their own routines and matters to take notice of a single, blonde, athletic woman making rounds along the house, and naturally, Sheridan acted so at ease and so relaxed at her work that anyone who actually took the trouble to glance her way simple assumed that she was a welcome guest with Piper, Paige, and Phoebe, especially since she had come over to visit them more than once in the past. Add to the fact that she was doing her work in the manor's backyard, and no one was even vaguely aware of the officer.
Which made Sheridan's job much smoother as she attached another white, miniscule camera to the outside window pane of the first story, positioning the lens to point right into the living room and veranda. It was a perfect fit, and the white camera was the same tone as the rubber layer covering the insulated window frames; only a sharp eye would have been able to locate the apparatus located in the corners. And Agent Keyes said that these cameras were the perfect spy-equipment. Waterproof, could withstand snow and heat from the sun, and were tiny enough to be no thicker than the average human index finger, but the cameras, though small, were powerful enough to run on a tiny battery cell of hydrogen and liquid natural gas. It was the perfect tool. And with their powerful wireless antennas built inside, Agent Keyes said he and his men could receive the signal easily back at the police headquarters, and the live video feed could run for twenty-four hours while his men analyzed and witnessed any incriminating images the cameras would capture.
Though Sheridan was eager in her task, she was a bit bothered and disconcerted that she was feeling a touch of…guilt. The female inspector wanted to persecute and bust the Halliwells by the law, following the rules and regulations she adhered to with a fervent belief of respect. She remembered how much of a stink she raised when Keyes said that they could keep close watch of the witches and their family without a warrant (and contrary to popular belief and to the Criminal Resource Manual of the Department of Justice, surveillance needed no warrant if done from the outside of the premises), but Sheridan was against it for she wanted to take legal action and arrest the three on charges legitimately, for the books and by the books. The last thing she wanted to do was damage the very law and terms she swore to uphold, and what infuriated her was that Keyes was not the least bit concerned about bending the law and called her a fool to her face for being so willfully shortsighted.
Yet when Inspector Sheridan took her request to not one but two judges, she (as Keyes so annoyingly predicted) was denied of a search warrant to the Halliwells' manor on grounds that there was not enough evidence to deem them as dangerous, and as such, wiretap and video surveillance inside the sisters' house was completely out of the question. As much as Sheridan hated having egg on her face, she hated it even more when Keyes said in no uncertain terms that he was right in an "I-told-you-so" manner. If they were going to single out the Halliwells and arraign Piper, Phoebe, and Paige as national threats to homeland security, then they would have to overlook the rules for once, and follow the ever-so popular axiom: the ends justify the means.
Not that Sheridan was comfortable with it, but Keyes then realized how much of a godsend Inspector Sheridan could be. Not only would she be able to have a greater likelihood of antagonizing the Charmed Ones into using their powers and exposing them, but that she would be perfect for being the fall-guy for any repercussions for bending the law. Had Keyes or any of his agents have attempted to set up the surveillance themselves, it would have greater ramifications since they are part of the federal government and such events could ruin years of their investigations of the three sisters. Yet if Inspector Sheridan did the deed, the outcomes and consequences could be less severe, and it would greatly spare Keyes and his men from taking the brunt of the fall.
Sheridan was not pleased with this (and she was surprised that the federal agent even remarked this bluntly and to her face), but Agent Keyes said that if she wanted to back out, she was more than welcome to, but then she could kiss her chances of being part of what could possibly be the largest sting operation in the United States and not to mention forget being able to satisfy her vendetta against the Halliwells. At least once the secret was made public and the Wiccans were exposed, Sheridan's minor bout with bending the rules would be overlooked, pardoned and be considered irrelevant once the media and government and general public got wind of the sensation that the sisters would cause. Like most juicy news flashes, people forgot the boring and mundane when they focused on the much bigger commotion, such as how the mutant crisis came to be when the world was made aware of the existence of mutants. And Keyes promised Inspector Sheridan that the Department of Homeland Security would lessen the ruckus sent at her (a few members in Congress even owed him favors).
But as much as she was willing to participate, then why did she feel so at unease? Could it be that the thought of exposing the Halliwells wasn't as tantalizing as she first thought, especially when she was compromising her beliefs and integrity for it?
"Oh, get over it," Sheridan muttered heatedly to herself as she attached the last camera to the parlor window, and after calling on her cell-phone to Agent Keyes who confirmed that all the cameras she placed outside the manor were fully working, she went back to her car, now half-eager and half-anxious to see how it would all play out in the end.
---
Two days later…
"Rotten, stupid, two-faced Russkie!" muttered Lance to himself in a feral voice as he, Scarlet Witch, and Xi were walking alongside the streets of San Francisco under the night sky and crisp air from the nearby ocean. All three of them were in their civilian clothing for it would have been too noticeable and drawing if they toured around in their battle uniforms. Unfortunately, Xi always chose to never wear an image inducer, so he and the others were drawing a lot of unsolicited and hostile attention from most of the people that they passed (and add to the fact that the X-Men and the Misfits were infamous worldwide). Wanda had already lost count of how many times she and the other Misfits and Joes had heard that phrase or similar insults for the past two days since they arrived in San Francisco to patrol. It had gotten rather tiresome to the point where Scarlet Witch was wondering if she should have bribed (or threatened) Pietro into doing the patrol round with Lance. Then she remembered that she and Xi drew the short straws this day, so as a result, they were stuck with Avalanche's non-stop grumbling about Piotr.
Xi bit back the sigh he was eager to let out as he pointed out rather blandly, "Lance, at least Peter apologized to you about the remark about your parents when we left."
"That's because Beast and Kitty made him apologize, remember? If Kitty didn't hold that threat to cancel their date at Steel City next week, Peter wouldn't have even said it," Wanda retorted, rolling her eyes and wondering if the next store they came across sold any aspirin. The lizard Misfit was still trying to look on the optimistic side.
"A backhanded and forced apology is still an apology," he said, "And besides, I'm sure Peter regrets saying it now that he's had time to think about it. And Peter's definitely had time to think it over since he's cleaning the Danger Room and the Professor's office as part of his probation for wrecking it."
Lance has a gleeful smile of satisfaction on his face for a moment as he chortled, "And I'll treasure the great way the Metal-Head's face turned red when he found out that most of the grown-ups agreed that he started it, and that I'm exempt from the punishment of clean-up duty. And that leaves me a perfect opportunity to try to hang out with Kitty while I can."
Wanda and Xi looked at each other meaningfully with looks of pity and disbelief.
"Trying another hackneyed plan to woo and steal back Shadowcat from Colossus, Lance?" groaned Xi wearily.
Lance gave Xi a very offended look as he said with a disgusted grimace, "Please, what kind of jerk do you take me for? I just…want to be able to spend time with her, even as a friend."
"Suddenly, I wish you were trying to steal Kitty away from Peter because that response would have been a lot less pathetic than the sentence you just said right now," Wanda said with sardonic apathy, but sincerely wishing that her teammate and friend would manage to keep his pride for once. She wasn't the only Misfit who had similar thoughts of disdain at the fact that Lance was still hooked on Kitty, even though she broke up with him and chose Piotr in the end.
At the same time, around the ocean-side parts of the city, Fred was talking to Dragonfly on his communicator as he walked alongside Shipwreck, Ororo, Bobby, and Scott. They too, like Lance, Wanda, and Xi, were getting unwelcome stares and even some rude gestures and scathing insults, but in the presence of the large and solid Blob, no one was stupid enough to try anything.
"Anything?" Blob asked on his communicator.
"Nothing we can tell, and I'm not detecting anything from above with Jean," Dragonfly answered as she flew in the skies alongside Jean Grey, who was using her telekinesis to hover in midair and guide herself through the atmosphere while using her telepathy to sense anything abnormal.
"Well, San Francisco is a big city," Bobby remarked thoughtfully as the neighboring people watched with awe and discomfort as Storm grabbing Shipwreck in a headlock before pounding his face mercilessly, "And even in two days, we've only covered like what, half the area?"
"Ow, ow, ow!" Shipwreck hollered as Storm tightened her hands around the sailor's throat in an attempt to strangle him, "OW! Stormy, I swear! My hand just slipped, that's all! OW!"
"Well, at least we're making good headway, despite the number of fights and arguments and the times people tried spitting at us for being in public," Scott said in a barbed voice of frustration as, like clockwork, a moody teenager actually spat a huge blob at Scott's sneakers, and the X-Men leader had to seriously fight the urge to run over there and blast or punch the bigoted creep right then and there.
"Still, it is a little tiring, and after how we had it so good with the Teen Titans at Jump City, it's sorta of a letdown to come to San Francisco and go through the gauntlet of anti-mutant sentiments," Fred confessed, understanding why Bobby sounded so disenchanted with the reconnoiter. Still, Iceman managed to grin despite a rather obscene comment made from an elderly lady passing by.
"Well, better here out in a big city and living the life rather than being back at the X-Mansion under watch and doing probation. I'm just so happy I'm not Sam and Ray right now," Bobby chuckled. Fred then decided that it would have been best not to tell him that when he talked with Tabitha and Jamie on the phone from the local army base near San Francisco (where all the Misfits, Joes, and X-Men were rooming when not on scouting duty), they reported that Jake and Hank were helping the students have the time of their lives with nothing but all-you-can-eat pizza dinners, video game tournaments, and Hank and Jake's special school project to build their own spaceship for the X-Men after Trinity helped provide the blueprints for the Misfits' spaceship in return for Jake's plans for the Aquain. And not to mention Hank was allowing the children to run fun simulations in the Danger Room as part of their training such as scenes from the last battle of Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings, and Jake was helping Remy, Sam, and Ray with their probation by joining in on the clean-up duty.
It would have been a given that the Professor and Wolverine would not have been wholeheartedly pleased if they found out how Jake and Hank were running the Institute while they were gone.
Meanwhile, as Fred, Bobby, Scott, and the incensed Ororo clobbering Shipwreck ambled on towards the mainland, on the other side of the street, walking in the opposite direction were a familiar group of a Watcher, and Watcher-in-training, and a Slayer…
"Why did you let that dumb geek take a coffee break?" Dana grumbled at Wood as Andrew, oblivious to anything except his own contentment, happily slurped some iced-coffee frappucino, ignoring his teammate's annoyance at his mere existence. Dana was so tempted to use the dagger and stake hidden underneath her coat.
Wood sighed, but explained in his usual baritone and understanding voice, "Because we have already been scouting the city for two days now without any leads, and Andrew said he was thirsty and in the mood for a treat. And besides…he wouldn't stop begging for one unless I caved in, so I went with the option of least resistance. Try not to get too annoyed with Andrew, Dana. He has a lot of potential and his heart's in the right place."
"You should have let me slit his throat like I asked yesterday," Dana muttered before Andrew gave another soft slurp with his straw and she turned on his, exploding, "And will you quit drinking so nosily, you techno-nerd? You're annoying me!"
Andrew looked a bit put off before he then thought of trying to lighten the Slayer's disposition with his usual cheerful and overenthusiastic demeanor.
"Do you want some mocha frappucino? It always cheers me up!" Andrew asked brightly as he offered the iced concoction for the girl to sip. Dana gave the blond science-fiction fanatic a dark look before she responded in her typical manner towards the fellow Scooby. She made a fist and punched him hard in the stomach. Andrew crouched over, winded and coughing, breathless at the pain in his abdomen, but Wood had to slightly marvel at the fact that Andrew didn't cry as Dana stomped off.
"Drop dead, you little, Mary Poppins knock-off!" the scarred Slayer retorted as she moodily walked away.
"Ow…hurts…ow…a simple no would have sufficed," Andrew squeaked in torment as he rubbed his mid-section, "And I thought she'd like me because I helped find her in Los Angeles."
"She's a bit hard to deal with, but she's gone through a lot since her childhood days, so try not to take her insults and beatings too personally, Andrew. Giles and I both agree that despite what she says about you, it's to be encouraged that you continue to be tolerant and as empathetic as you can, for her benefit and for yours," Wood said.
"I know…but I just want her to see that I only want to be her friend and that I can be a future Watcher if I have enough time and training," Andrew whined a bit, remembering all the derisive and contemptuous remarks Dana and a few other Slayers have made about Andrew's chances of being a Watcher to any respectable Slayer.
"Give it time, Andrew," Wood egged on with a smile, "Give it time."
At the same moment, several miles away, Forge and Batgirl were surveying the city from the skyscrapers above, the night sky peppered and broken by the thousand of lights of the buildings nearby. Forge shivered as he wished he brought a thicker and warmer jacket during his observation of the Bay Area. They had been at this for over an hour, and already this was getting dull as the X-Man and the vigilante scanner the night with their infrared binoculars.
"Couldn't you use the Watchtower's sensors to detect where the source of gnarly and far out magical readings you were getting here in the city? It's a major bummer to be sitting on an abandoned rooftop, freezing my butt off at the wind-chill when I could be having a bomb with Hank and Jake back at the mansion," Forge griped.
Batgirl shook her head as she continued to survey the landscape, explaining, "No, because the Watchtower could only go so far as to detect that the city had the abnormal traces of energy similar to those that appeared after Trigon, but our headquarters was unable to detect which part of the city was the epicenter of the supernatural spike. For some reason, we're establishing a lot of interference that hindered us from actually locating the cause, and Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman guessed that San Francisco, though a mostly human city, is a center of many mystical and bizarre occurrences, demonic forces and ghostly activity that is supposedly far greater than a lot of places all over the world. In other words, though we can't see it, paranormal activity is high here, Forge, and as a result, it's drawing a lot of unnatural forces that are somehow blocking the Watchtower's sensors! Trust me on this, Forge: we tried. Green Lantern said that he was amazed at how this supposedly unnatural and magical energy is powerful enough to obstruct equipment that can locate a grasshopper on a sidewalk from Earth's orbit, so since this other-worldly magic caused by Trigon's arrival is so prevalent here in San Francisco, we can't pinpoint the exact location on where it's coming from due its disruption. It could be anything, a park, a lake, a house, or even an object such as a tree or a statue, so quit complaining and keep looking Forge!"
While Batgirl was spying on the rooftop with her binoculars, had she looked down on the streets, she would have noticed Rona and Vi actually walking slowly below…
"Whoa, check it out!" Vi gasped with awe as she and Rona spotted Spirit, Low Light, Roberto, Rina, Logan, and Rogue across the street, ignoring and enduring the various taunts and jeers and occasional thrown projectile from the various people they walked by. Rona and Vi both recognized all the members of the group from the countless reports on CNN and other news stations not to mention every periodical and newspaper on the planet.
"C'mon, Vi!" Rona muttered irritably as she tugged at the redhead's arm, but Vi was so enthralled at seeing the X-Men in person, and her blue eyes simply glittered like stars of amazement as she just stopped and stared. And unlike the others surrounding her, Vi looked on without a bit of malice or hate. Rona had to huff angrily and push Vi hard before they could continue walking.
"Oh wow, can you believe it?" Vi exclaimed, "The X-Men are here! The X-Men are here in San Francisco! Oh wow, how cool is that? Xander's gonna be soooooo jealous when he finds out we saw mutant freedom fighters! Hey, maybe they're here to help us fight whatever baddie's here in the city!"
Rona just snorted through her nose as she gave Vi a serious roll of her eyes. Despite being best friends since their early years as Potentials, it was comfortable enough that they could still have their little disagreements and fights without damaging anything.
"More like they're here to cause trouble like they always do with those Misfits and Joes that hang out with them," Rona said bad-naturedly. It wasn't surprising that Rona knew so much about the X-Men, the Misfits, and G.I. Joe. All over the world, there hadn't been a day when the Slayers and the Scoobies hadn't heard, read and watched something about the mutant-crisis that was gripping the world, from the Friends of Humanity and Stryker to Magneto and the Acolytes to the Juggernaut. And it was from these articles of information that the Slayers gained a considerable knowledge about the three teams. Though some such as Xander, Andrew, Faith and Vi clearly supported the X-Men and the Misfits and the G.I. Joes, extolling them as part of the greater good, some such as Giles, Willow, and Wood were neutral at best, if not wary. After all, with evil vampires and warlocks and demons running around the world, the last thing people needed were evil mutants. However, many Slayers, like Rona, had a distinct mistrust and fear of mutantkind, not to the point of bigoted prejudice like the followers of Graydon Creed, but enough to make them uncomfortable if not unwelcome.
Vi seemed a bit offended but she pointed out, "No, I believe the Professor Xavier and that General Hawk when they said that both the Misfits and the X-Men are fighting just to establish peace between mutants and humans, and after what we've seen, it just shows their heroes. Yeah I admit, they have been involved with a lot of craziness and destruction, but considering that they've stood up for innocents before, I'd rather side with them than obvious baddies like Magneto or Cobra."
"Still, I'm not exactly willing to be seen in public with those freaks," admitted Rona sourly.
"Rona! How can you say such a thing?" Vi said, immediately halting right there on the sidewalk as she reprimanded her fellow Slayer with her hands on her hips. The African Slayer held up her hands in defense as she explained calmly.
"Look, I'm just saying handling the fact that vampires, Turok-Han, ghosts, and the First exist was bad enough, but having to deal with mutants too? That's just too much for me to deal with, and frankly, I don't want to. Life's complicated enough as being a Slayer and fighting the First, but if anything, I can live my life just fine without being a mutant-supporter, especially with them being so…weird and dangerous, you know?"
"Oh and being a Slayer is considered normal?" Vi said sardonically with some annoyance.
"Look, just drop it, Vi," Rona exhaled as they continued walking, "We're supposed to be spotting if there's something abnormal here in San Fran, not arguing about mutants and such. And besides, you shouldn't even get your hopes up on this considering that the X-Men aren't the type of people to hang out with strangers outside their circle. I'd really doubt we'd be rubbing elbows with the mutants and the Joes any time soon."
Vi had to grumpily concede to that point.
At the heart of the city, Kennedy, Willow, and Faith were running into Chao-Ahn, Caridad, and Shannon back from their expedition from Chinatown, all three of the girls breathless and exhausted from the constant walking and running for the past two days (and Caridad swore she had several blisters on her foot now).
"Anything?" Kennedy asked, but Shannon and Caridad shook their heads.
"Chao-Ahn has talked with every restaurant owner, shop merchant, and every flea-market vendor we came across, asking if anyone has noticed or sensed anything odd in the city, and nothing," Caridad griped.
"On the plus side, we did get some nice bargains and some free Chinese food thanks to Chao-Ahn's social skills," Shannon said with some consolation as she chewed on a steamed pork-bun. Chao-Ahn grinned as she held up a greasy, paper sack bulging with food from the local merchants and vendors that she was able to sweet-talk for some free samples.
"So you didn't find anything significant or out of the ordinary?" Kennedy asked, a little annoyed at their apparent goofing off. Caridad then recalled an important tidbit.
"Actually, there was one thing. We had to ask Chao-Ahn to point out the word in our dictionaries, but we found out that there are mutants in San Francisco! Several people already glimpsed some of them exploring the area!" Caridad gasped.
"Mutants?" echoed Willow in surprise.
"Here?" Faith asked as she contemplated the situation, "Good or baddies?"
"From what Chao-Ahn was able to deduce from various testimonies and from best we can translate, they're members of the X-Men and Misfits, those two groups we keep hearing about in the news. Though they're not vampires, it's still not a good sign, right? I mean, if the X-Men and the Misfits are here, then that means something big is going down in San Francisco," Caridad explained.
"Does anyone want a lotus cake?" Chao-Ahn asked in Cantonese to the group, and when no one answered back, the girl just shrugged to herself as she dug into her food happily, murmuring to herself, "More for me then…"
"Hey, they're not baddies, so if we run into any X-Men and Misfits and Joes, then don't freak out. Still, no need to blab it to them who we are, so just keep a low profile when y'all see 'em, y'dig?" Faith said in a voice close to an order, and Shannon and Caridad did their best to translate it back to Chao-Ahn.
"Well, well, if the little girls from out of town are scared of the big bad mutant freaks, and with no strong men to protect them," commented a grating voice from behind, and the six teenagers whirled around to see two, heavily built men sporting black berets and wearing red T-shirts that proudly proclaimed "FOH" in big black letters. On a second glance, Willow and Kennedy could spot that as they were walking, without their knowing it, they passed by an informational booth for the Friends of Humanity, and the two men manning the table were obviously members of the hate organization. Despite the two males being over six-feet tall and incredibly daunting, Willow cleared her throat nervously.
"Um…if you don't mind, we were having a private conversation," Willow said politely.
"But what's your hurry, sweet-cheeks?" the first man grinned as the second man easily strode next to Willow, grabbing her wrist in a very unwelcome manner, and it was pretty clear that the two Friends of Humanity supporters weren't going to let them be. Kennedy eyes flashed and her face burned underneath her brown hair as she said sweetly with her muscles tense.
"First of all, she's gay, and secondly, Willow's my girl, so either get your hands off my lover, or else I'm gonna stuff that dumb beret from your head down your throat in the next minute, asswipe. Just a little friendly warning," the brown-haired beauty replied with gritted teeth.
The first man gave Willow and Kennedy a look of pure disgust as he exclaimed, "Aw, shit, we've been hitting on a dyke?"
Faith motioned to Kennedy that she was going to take over as she cut herself in front of Willow and placed herself between the girls and the two men from the Friends of Humanity. Faith then said scathingly, "Well, rather be with a dyke and a mutant than a couple of snot-bag, mama's boys who don't move out of their family basements."
That did it.
"What are you, some sort of freak-lover?" snarled the second man, and Faith got a mischievous, little smile on her face as she boldly faced the two Friends of Humanity soldiers, her hands on her hips and in a care-free, suave manner.
"So what if I am? You little pretty-boy dipsticks gotta problem with that?" Faith smirked, hoping to instigate a brawl, and she obviously wasn't going to be disappointed. Her jab was certainly the one thing needed to provoke the two idiots.
"Get her!" snarled the first as both he and his partner blitzed Faith, but Faith was more than ready as she then let loose without breaking a sweat, and within less than ten seconds, she managed to execute a series of rabbit punches, an elbow jab to the sternum followed by an elbow-right-hook combination and a push kick right into the gut followed by a knee to the groin and a sweep kick. And the main Slayer wasn't even finished as she kept wailing mercilessly (but understandably holding back) on the two Friends of Humanity supporters.
"Um…aren't you gonna stop her?" Willow asked her lover, "Oh my, she managed to fit the whole thing in his mouth, though I'm not sure the guy likes the taste of his hat."
Kennedy gave Willow a deadpanned face of amusement as she replied, "Are you crazy, Will? I'm tempted to join in and help."
"I really don't think that you need to. Ouch, that's an interesting way to use a table leg," murmured Shannon as she winced at the bloodcurdling scream of pain from one of the men.
Meanwhile, several blocks away…
Phoebe yawned as she left the front entrance of the building of the publication, The Bay Mirror, and already, she was so drained and exhausted from her shift that she wanted nothing better to do than to soak into a hot bath with scented oils. Her work-schedule was starting to get so hectic, and the fact that she had to finish her column in conjunction to going to a meeting with the San Francisco Chronicle with her boss and helping two other editors handle a previous deadline made Phoebe hope that nothing demon or warlock-related would spring up tonight.
"No, get away from me!" yelled a man's voice as Phoebe passed by the alleyway behind her workplace that sectioned between the brick building and the Mirror's concrete parking structure. Phoebe looked up to see the fleeting glimpse of a large man wearing a black, leather trench-coat…shimmering out of thin air?
Phoebe gasped. Shimmering was a demon's way of teleporting between the human realm and the demon realms. Warlocks. The Halliwell sister turned and noticed that since it was late at night, the streets had a scant amount of people, and only she was close enough to the alley to overhear the plea for help. Phoebe grabbed her cell-phone from her purse as she discreetly trailed behind and around the corner to see four men, all of them brawny and certainly formidable, wearing long, black coats while surrounding a portly, fat balding man with glasses. The victim was cowering and sobbing piteously.
"Please, whoever you are, just take my wallet! You can have everything! Just leave me alone!" the prey blubbered, but the warlocks just simply advanced on the innocent and helpless man, and one of them created a pulsating sphere of bluish, crackling energy, ready to throw it at the terrified human and incinerate him into ashes. Phoebe hoped she could get to him in time, but she wasn't stupid enough to believe that she could take on four demonic male spellcasters at the same time, and she was immediately grateful when, despite the lateness of the day, Piper answered the phone briskly.
"Hello?"
"Piper, it's me, Phoebe!" the middle sister hissed urgently as she took out one of the many small vials of vanquishing potion she had in her purse for demon-slaying emergencies, "Demon emergency, in the alleys next to the Bay Mirror! Hurry!"
Unfortunately, one of the warlocks had sharp ears, and whirling around in alarm, he saw the brunette woman peeking behind nervously from the corner, and Phoebe's breath caught in her throat. Shit, she'd been caught.
"Looks like we have a nosy eavesdropper!" he snarled as he let loose a round of ebony lightning, and Phoebe dropped her cell-phone in fright as she immediately ducked behind the dense brick wall, and the only sounds Piper could hear were Phoebe fighting before it went to nothing but static, the cell-phone destroyed by the warlock's magic and cutting off the connection.
"Phoebe? Phoebe?" Piper yelled, starting to get frantic.
Willow suddenly gasped as she sensed the sudden influx of dark magic, her connection to the spirit of the Earth allowing her to detect the abnormal and destructive black energy of wicked hellspirits.
"Willow, what do you see?" Kennedy asked, eager and up to speed for battle as Willow's eyes flew open before she then exclaimed to Kennedy, Faith, Shannon, Chao-Ahn, and Caridad her sensation of the heebie-jeebies.
"Oh my…you…you guys!" Willow sputtered at first before she clarified more lucidly, "Demon attack on an innocent! I just sensed it! The same feeling I got from my dreams a week ago! It's somewhere near the alleys right next to some building that houses the 'Bay Mirror' newspaper! The spirits of the Earth are telling me the sudden appearance is next to the Bay Mirror! It could be a lead!"
"Wait, I know where that is!" Kennedy exclaimed, "We passed by that building twice on some of our rounds before! It's where Main Street and Golden Gate Avenue intersect! It's only a quarter mile from our position right now! We can get there if we sprint for it!"
Faith then took out her walkie-talkie as she sent a command to Wood while she and the other vampire slayers along with Willow started running. Wood immediately picked up and activated the corresponding walkie-talkie in his pocket on the second round of beeping, and he, Andrew, and Dana could hear Faith clearly.
"Everyone, Red's got a baddie mumbo-jumbo! The magic sighting's been sensed over at the alleyways next to The Bay Mirror newspaper building! See ya' chumps there!" Faith reported, and Wood immediately honed in to their current location. It was only a couple of blocks away from the publication's head office and they could make it if they tried…
"Finally!" griped Dana, relieved at last, "I need something to kill to take out my frustrations on!"
Andrew looked immediately scared.
"Uh…maybe I should just stay here and…uh…wait to see if anything turns up at the…uh, coffee house - " began Andrew, but Wood just roughly grabbed the protégé by the collar of his jacket before half-dragging him along after Dana.
"C'mon, Andrew. Time for another practical lesson as a Watcher," Wood barked shortly, not in the mood for any nervousness or hesitation as he forcefully encouraged Andrew to run alongside. Yet Wood was in such a hurry to run as speedily as he could to The Bay Mirror residence that he didn't even notice that they were passing by Todd, Althea, and Roadblock in their mad dash. But the G.I. Joe soldier did.
"What the hell? That face just rang like a bell!" Roadblock gasped as he whirled around to see the Watcher, Dana, and Andrew turn around the corner. That one instance was fleeting, but years and years of fond childhood memories was enough for Marvin Hinton to recognize that fleeing person. The Joe immediately tore off towards the group.
"Huh? Roadblock, where you going, yo?" Todd exclaimed.
"Just going around the bend! I think I spotted my old friend!" versed the African-American solider as he ran after Wood.
Meanwhile, back at the Halliwell manor, Piper's heart beat frantically with worry as she hollered loudly for the entire house to hear, "Paige, we have an emergency!"
Piper was never so glad to see her younger sister rush out of the kitchen, busy with making potions and bottling them in miniature, corked glass vials. Paige, despite the argument she had with Piper two nights ago, was ready and eager to jump to whatever demon or magical crisis, her resentment and grudge against Piper's stubbornness immediately forgotten and pushed aside for now. Leo was over at nursery school with Wyatt and Chris before running some errands in the city, so for now, the only people in the house were the two remaining Charmed sisters.
"Piper, what's wrong?" Paige asked, concerned as she wiped her hands hurriedly on her jeans.
"There's a demon attack on Phoebe in the alleys next to the Bay Mirror! She's against four warlocks! Hurry!" Piper said, her voice rough with emotion. Paige realized the situation, and that there was no time to spare to grab whatever potions she had been bottling up in the kitchen. Their sister's life was on the line, and without a word, Paige grabbed on to Piper's shoulder and she orbed the both of them out of the house.
Unbeknownst to either of the sisters, a small, white camera looking through the window into the veranda filmed the scene…
"Die, witch!" yelled the warlock as he and his friends attempted to kill the lone Halliwell, their current attention to the previous victim now forgotten, and as the leading attacker launched another round of lightning, but Phoebe managed to strafe it easily before flinging the potion at the opponent with a quick flick of her wrist, the movement so small and subtle that not one of the four could discern what happened until it was too late. The small bottle cracked immediately, and upon contact with the warlock's magical aura, the liquid produced a fantastic combustive effect, and the man could do nothing but scream agonizingly, unable to brush the potion off his body before the flames consumed him where he stood.
Phoebe then reached into her purse for another potion, but a second warlock then threw an energy ball, and gasping, Phoebe nearly didn't anticipate the incoming attack as she dodged at the last minute.
Pafff!
Phoebe was breathless when it dawned on her in a second that she was all right, but in her hands, all she held were the tattered and charred remains of two leather straps where the energy ball struck her carry bag.
"Oh…damn it!" Phoebe cursed as she looked at the ruined remains of her purse, now nothing but ashes. And with it, the potions.
The second dark magician sneered as he advanced, thinking it was finished. But to the warlock's surprise, Phoebe was less than docile as she suddenly pivoted her foot before delivering an excellent side-kick into the warlocks's chest, leaving him stunned as the athletic woman then brought a devastating hook before throwing the warlock off to the side with a simple judo toss, using the demon's own body weight to trip him. Phoebe wasn't the least bit tired as she attacked. After all, Phoebe was a third-degree black-belt and former kickboxing champion for nothing. She wasn't as resilient as a vampire Slayer, but she was skilled and strong enough, and the years of experience she had with fighting evil only honed those skills far beyond most people.
She no longer had her active powers of empathy and levitation, but the middle Halliwell sister was far from helpless.
Enraged, another warlock tried to rush her with his fists raised, but despite being more muscular and larger and solid, Phoebe held her own as she strafed to the side at the last minute, twirling around out of harm's way, before delivering a karate chop at the back of the man's neck with enough force to fracture a normal human's skull. Yet since this was a demon, he couldn't be vanquished by most physical hand-to-hand combat and was only left with a dazed and throbbing headache.
"You…ruined…my…only…Prada!" Phoebe snarled, saying with each word with malice as she also simultaneously served a punch or a kick with each syllable, "Do you have any idea how much these bags cost?"
She then finished her assault with a huge kick right into the warlock's crotch, a bit satisfied at seeing a warlock's face turn pale, bug-eyed.
However, while Phoebe was busy fighting for her life, the third warlock from the mouth of the alleyway was completely out of range from the Charmed sister's physical assault and out of her sight, positioned right at her back. The blond-haired demon grinned as he made a crackling, deadly sphere of energy with his left hand, ready to throw it at the unsuspecting and unwary witch. It would be a sure kill.
Then suddenly, there was a soft noise, as if something tore through the air as it sped like a bullet.
Ka-shhoopppshhh!
The warlock let out a surprised short scream before he died, vanishing into flames and disintegrating into dust as the crossbow shaft lodged into his back and plunged through his chest, dead center. And Phoebe and the other two warlocks turned to see a girl with long, curled brown hair and wearing a jean jacket and pants, calmly fitting another arrow into her crossbow notch, her face stony. And next to the girl were eight other girls, seven of them armed with knives, wooden stakes, axes, and other medieval weapons along with a strapping African-American man and a smaller and extremely fearful blond male teenager next to him.
Shannon raised her crossbow again at the nearest warlock as she growled, "Leave them alone, or this next one's going right into your head, jerkface."
"Who the hell are you?" snarled one of the warlocks, an unkempt being with scraggly, greasy long hair, "Go away, tramps! This is none of your concern!"
"It is now," Rona said simply as she and Chao-Ahn armed themselves respectively with a spiked mace on a stick and an axe, "Course, we're all for convincing you the hard way with a good fight. Now get the hell away from the two innocent people you were terrorizing!"
The two warlocks still weren't ready to comply, but then before they could do anything, they suddenly felt a rather hot sensation building up inside them, and to their horror, the surge of heartburn within their souls took only an instant before the two exploded down to the molecular level, and before Willow, Andrew, Wood, and the Slayers' eyes, the remaining enemies vanished into ashes which then faded away into obscurity in the thin air. Phoebe turned gratefully to see Piper and Paige behind her; it was Piper who caused the dangerous, bloodthirsty dark wizards to die via molecular combustion. Upon seeing the armed girls, Piper held up her hands at the leading Slayer which happened to be Faith, instantly assuming the worst and thinking that they were dark witches or witch-hunters.
Piper growled, "Back off, tramp!"
Faith was immediately insulted as she drew out her stake, scoffing, "Kinda like calling the kettle black from they way you dress, Mrs. Pot!"
"Wait, Piper, Paige, stop! All of you! STOP!" Phoebe screamed shrilly, and there was a temporary lull as the two Halliwells turned to Phoebe, with the Slayers and Scoobies ready to spring in an instant. Phoebe then carried on hurriedly before the two groups of people could attack each other again.
"Piper, they helped me! They're good guys! If it wasn't for the girl with the crossbow, I'd be dead!" Phoebe cried out.
"For now, at least," hissed a familiar voice, and everyone turned to see the previously cowering male, now completely devoid of any human emotion on his face, his tearful demeanor vanishing on the spot only to be replaced with a satisfied sneer. With a snap of his fingers, his appearance melted away via a simple glamour spell before he revealed his true form.
"Zankou!" gasped the three sisters as they backed away in defense from the goateed warlock. Willow, Wood, Andrew, and the Slayers just looked a little lost as they glanced back and forth between the three Wiccans and the warlock.
"Um…can someone help us out here?" Caridad asked, a bit annoyed, from the sidelines as she held her sword. Paige looked at the strange throng of people next to them before she decided that if they hadn't attacked them and that they had no idea who Zankou was, then they were temporarily not a threat to them. Yet.
"Uh…he's evil, we're not," Paige clarified. Kennedy turned to Willow who also nodded her approval and validation at the statement.
"They're Wiccans, white witches, so what they speak is true. They're not evil…I think," Willow finished lamely, looking a bit uncomfortable at speaking out loud.
"Good enough for me," Faith said simply as he readied her stake before hurling it like a knife at the warlock in front. Yet Zankou deflected it easily with a simple wave of his hand. Piper then took her chance as she flicked her hands at Zankou again, but to her surprise, the air around the warlock shimmered as a barrier of multicolored energy flickered at once upon the attack by the eldest Wiccan. Piper cursed; Zankou was especially prepared for her powers and abilities.
"Oh, please, like a Slayer can kill me so easily," he scoffed as the powerfully built man levitated high into the air, "And you Charmed Ones are simply no better if you all managed to come here just as I planned."
"Slayers?" Phoebe and Piper gasped as they turned to Wood, Andrew, and the girls, "You're Slayers?"
At the same time, Willow was also staring the Piper, Phoebe, and Paige with a mixture of awe, surprise, and reverence. She had heard of them, but only in mystical legends and stories of heroes such as the Lady of the Lake and the Guardians…
"The Charmed Ones? Oh…wow! You're the Charmed Ones?" Willow sputtered in her usual nervous and timid candor.
"Can you save the introductions for a minute while we deal with an obvious baddie? It's a trap!" Kennedy snapped as she drew out her twin short swords, her left eyebrow twitching at the bad timing.
Zankou then smiled as he raised his hands and scoffed, "And how right you are, Slayer."
Immediately, a black bolt of lightning from the clouds above flashed before descending down on the ground before the Halliwells, the Scoobies, and the Slayers, bringing forth a small yet quivering and squelching blob of black matter, like solidified putty mixed with tar. The mound quivered and made sickening, gurgling wet noises like a newborn baby.
"A gift from the Organization. Enjoy your deaths, you fools," Zankou sneered as he shimmered into thin air, disappearing as the Charmed Ones, the Slayers, Wood, Willow, and Andrew then saw the mound of dark tar unfold and expand, growing bigger by the instant before their very eyes.
They could only watch in petrified horror (even Willow with her past experiences was truly astounded) as the mass of shadows began to solidify and coagulated into black flesh and leathery smooth skin, as black as the darkest obsidian and ebony. The gelatinous mass then began to rise until it very nearly reached the top of the surrounding five-story buildings next to it, sprouting grotesquely lankly, muscular and deformed arms, fingered claws pooping out at the end of the bulbs which soon grew into grimy hands. Its neck was long and misshapen with mounds of flesh like as if someone mishandled a long tube of clay, and at the very end was an egg-shaped head, devoid of any hair, and two uneven eyes so white it was blinding with black and blue pupils. And in the center of the pupils was a glowing dot of red crimson fire, like fresh blood. The thing's mouth was wide, a horizontal line that ran across the entire span of its lower face, large enough to chew a human in half, and when the abomination opened its orifice, the Slayers, Scoobies, and the Charmed Ones could see row after row of white, razor-sharp teeth, with strands of slimy mucus running from the top to the bottom. Its chest was perfectly and proportionally muscular, but gaunt and able to show its ribs protruding underneath its hide, and in the center of its torso was a black-and-red symbol of a heart crossed out by a thorny "X". It was humanoid, but smelled like something dead and decaying, it the way its body was proportioned made it look like a cross between a shriveled mummy and a hulking zombie. After rolling its eyeball and focusing its sight upon the group, the creature hissed as the muscles
With a small yet bone-chilling and inhuman roar, the Heartless ambled slowly towards them, making small tremors and craters where its feet crushed the cement and concrete underneath its heavy weight.
"What the hell is that thing?" screamed Shannon as she got another shaft for her crossbow ready.
"Whatever it is, it's tough! Girls, we're gonna be in for an ugly fight!" Wood yelled with warning as he let loose four razor-sharp shuriken into the towering giant of darkness, but unfortunately, it just sank and embedded deep into its flesh without even causing the slightest discomfort to the monster. Meanwhile, a little off behind them, Jubilee was observing this with petrified astonishment.
"No way…" Jubilee murmured to herself.
In one of the neighboring rooftops, Trinity gasped as their pink scanners detected a very familiar essence trace in downtown San Francisco. Quinn shouted urgently on her communicator, "You guys! Code Red! Code Red! We detected a Heartless!"
At the very same moment, quite far from the battle, a lone giant sensed the disturbance with a sudden jerk, and sniffing the air, the figure murmured with surprise underneath his deep voice.
"By the Great Beast!" the figure swore, groaning, as he fled towards the action…
Author's notes: Yep, and the chaos hasn't even started! Next Friday, check back the chapter, "Worlds Collide" when everyone gets into the mix to take down the Heartless, but are they strong enough to do it, especially when Jubilee and a reluctant ally join in the fray with the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, the Slayers, and the Charmed Ones? Now is when things really get hectic when three worlds drop into the hardest fight yet! Until next Friday, read, enjoy, and review! Constructive criticism welcome!