CHAPTER 7: Rook Takes Bishop

"Can I kill him now?" Dana asked flatly as she glared with an evil eye at Andrew who was still gaping at Batman while blabbing on and on about mundane details about what he knew about the Justice League, such as he knew Wonder Woman was a princess from Paradise Isle and how Green Lantern was ahead of the polls on sci-fi-geek dot com in the most popular superhero of the League by five percent.

"No, you can't kill him, Dana," Kennedy repeated for the hundredth time as she and the other Slayers and Scoobies along with the Misfits, the X-Men, the Joes, General Hawk, Batgirl, and Batman were settling in the main visitor's lounge in the boarding school in London where Giles and the Scoobies were training the other Slayers. After they teleported away from the Halliwell Manor, Wood, Faith, and Willow discussed it before talking to Hawk and Professor Xavier, saying that they could use some additional help in the war against the Heartless and the Thirteenth Order. Since the mutants and the soldiers from G.I. Joe trusted them with the secretive information about the Heartless that they gathered so far from the trials with Apokolips and Trigon, then it was only fair that they inform them of what the Slayers knew of the Gathering and the Experiment. As much as they were wary and cautious, the group sent to San Francisco knew that they would never be able to handle this threat unless if they had help. And the X-Men and the Misfits were just the people to give it to them.

Thus, thanks to Wood, Willow, and Faith to give them all the coordinates, the Slayers, the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, and their associates managed to use the Mass Device to teleport directly into the dormitory grounds that housed the many Slayers that traveled from all over the regions of the globe to be trained by Giles and Wood and Faith. Once they entered in the main sanctuary, Willow telepathically contacted Giles and Xander, asking them to come greet a few special guests and to not alert the other girls since it was around suppertime anyway, and Willow felt it would be best if they did not disturb the other potential Slayers from the evening meal, not to mention she felt it was best to not alert the others that mutants were in the locality for now.

When Giles and Xander came, they were astounded beyond belief when they recognized the various mutants belonging to the teams the X-Men and the Misfits along with the G.I. Joes, after hearing numerous reports on the news and television. Needless to say, Giles wasn't too pleased upon seeing the mutants invited into the Slayer academy without his proper consent and notification, but then Wood, Willow, and Faith explained to Giles and Xander what had happened in San Francisco regarding the warlocks, the Heartless and Leomon along with actually running into the Charmed Ones. Naturally, this was a big shock.

"Dear Lord," Giles murmured when it was all done. He wasn't so sure what to believe anymore, but he turned to Xavier and Hawk, saying, "But if what they say is true, then I thank you, both the mutants and the soldiers and minutemen from G.I. Joe on protecting the Slayers and inadvertently saving their lives. We appreciate the help greatly, but please excuse me bluntness if I am still wary. Yes, Charles Xavier, I know about you and the X-Men along with the numerous fiascos that you, the Misfits, and your associates have gotten into time and time again, one disastrous escapade after another like a tragic farce of Monty Python. I know both the Misfits and the X-Men have good intentions, but you should also realize that to the outside world, there is the caution and apprehension of the amount of potential damage any mutant can do to the world, regardless of them being good and evil. Please do not think that I am biased. I myself have witnessed a few of the Slayers turning to the dark side as well, and I also additionally confess that I was a rather moody and foolhardy youth in my earlier years as a wandering troublemaker and delinquent. I welcome all of you, but please keep in mind that I am still cautious of mutants being here."

"Boy, talk about like British snobbery," griped Kitty. Yet Hawk and Ororo shushed the valley girl as they nodded gratefully to the Englishman. Then Giles' eyes rested on the Batman who was standing not too far off inconspicuously and the Watcher's demeanor changed. Xander, however, acted shamelessly as his eyes sparkled with disbelief before he squealed like a typical fan-boy and rushed over to Batman before going down on his knees and bowing over and over fervently.

"We are not worthy, we are not worthy, we are not worthy…" Xander chanted, kowtowing to the Dark Knight. Batman had the most disturbed and peculiar look of disgust, surprise, and discomfort all rolled into one priceless expression beneath his cowl.

"Suddenly, Andrew asking the Batman for his autograph doesn't seem so pathetic anymore," Rona commented in a deadpanned tone of voice.

"This is almost too painful to watch," Kennedy sighed in embarrassment as Willow grabbed the one-eyed young man by the ear and lifted him painfully to his feet.

"Will you quit this? You're embarrassing everyone!" the red-haired Wiccan snapped, her patience wearing thin. Then the Gotham vigilante locked his eyes with the Watcher who was frowning at him.

"Batman…" Giles said in a formal yet aloof voice.

The Dark Knight nodded as he greeted back curtly, "Giles."

Xander looked like he was going to have another orgasm of disbelieving happiness as he looked at the Watcher with his jaw dropping wide and asked in pure shock, nearly squealing, "Oh sweet Metriod and Mother Brain and all my comic books in mint condition! Giles, you know Batman?"

"Only through Jason Blood, a mutual friend," Giles said stiffly, "I daresay we are only acquaintances, really."

Logan gave Batman a dry look as he remarked, "Do you have connections to every person on this planet or what, Bats?"

"He must have a groovy Rolodex," quipped Forge, rolling his eyes.

Andrew and Xander both gaped at the aged Watcher, looking back and forth between Giles and Batman, their mouths popping open and closed like goldfish, rasping for air in wheezes and vain attempts to voice a word through their suddenly dry throats. And not surprisingly, to the amusements of the Slayers, the Joes, and the mutants, they kept at this for a good fifteen seconds.

"Think they'd be stupid enough to pay us good money for some of your personal memorabilia that we somehow managed to find in good faith?" leered Daria as she, Quinn, and Brittany grinned with demonic little smiles at Batman.

"I think we can get an easy five-hundred if we charge them for rides in the Batmobile," Brittany snickered. Batman frowned at the Delgado Triplets.

"I should have known you three were behind the mysterious and brief overriding of my security systems to the Batcave last month," the Dark Knight growled, "Which reminds me: what is the new password to my computer systems that you three little monsters so conveniently changed to in your destructive romp in my headquarters?"

"What makes you think it was us?" Daria smiled a bit too innocently.

Batman didn't answer but his frown intensified even more, and Trinity knew that they were dangerously crossing the line so they had better fess up if they wanted their butts intact.

Brittany stated, "We changed your password to 'Superman rules, Batman drools'."

Batman's eyes widened before his left eye twitched ever so slightly and his teeth were now bared and clenched painfully. Of all the underhanded, dirty - ! And what made it worse was that the computer systems required Batman to speak his password verbally so that it could hone in and identify his voice to the correct frequency. And there was no way in hell he was going to say that one out loud.

"I told you that would get him," cackled Quinn, "Look, his eye is already twitching! Boy, no wonder Superman was willing to pay us seventy-five bucks to change the password to that phrase. Oh yeah, and that reminds me, Batman! Superman says this is to pay you back for the time when you drank the last of the coffee in the Watchtower galley, even though the bag had Superman's name on it. He says after this, now you two are even."

"I rue the day you three lunatics were even born," growled Batman, his voice now precariously feral.

"You're not the only one, Batman," Jean remarked flatly from the sidelines, commiserating with the Gotham Knight.

Andrew and Xander then burst at Giles, nearly squealing in falsetto tones, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT YOU KNEW THE BATMAN?"

Giles gave them a glare before he answered sternly, "Because I knew that if I told you, you both would act like complete, bloody dunderheads and do nothing but pester me with questions and requests about Batman's life and whether or not I can get you two his autograph or get your picture taken with him."

"Smart man," Hawk remarked, one eyebrow raised at the Slayers. Kennedy shrugged.

"He has his moments," she replied as she settled down next to the couch with Willow, holding the Wiccan's pale and smooth hand in her tanned and callused one.

Jean then coughed nervously as she asked, "Um…Mr. Giles? Since we're here, can you explain to us about the whole Slayer thing? Please excuse our ignorance, but we have no idea what a Slayer is and since you're being targeted by the Organization as well and it's apparent that these girls aren't normal humans, can you explain to us what exactly is a Slayer?"

"Seems fair since you guys know so much about us," Pietro piped up eagerly, interested.

"Yeah, give us the skinny on this whole Slayer stuff!" Forge encouraged. Shannon gave the mutant inventor of the X-Men a dry look before she turned to Rogue and Shadowcat.

"Does he always speak like some he's some teenager from the seventies or something?" the Slayer asked. Rogue and Kitty just smiled at each other knowingly before they turned to the brown-haired girl.

"Actually, he is," Rogue explained, "Forge is a forty-something person trapped in a teenager's body due to the fact that he spent the last thirty years trapped in some dimensional limbo called 'Middleverse'."

"And because Forge is like so totally set in the rave from the seventies and because he's now like contemporaneous with us when we freed him from Middleverse, we eventually grew up to tolerate his lingo. You eventually get used to it. If anything, what annoys us more are like totally the explosions he causes in the Institute," Kitty explained.

Shannon had the most peculiar look on her face, but some of the emotions on her face were running the gamut of confusion, disbelief, and what-the-hell. The Slayer then muttered crossly, rolling her eyes, "Fine, don't tell me the truth."

"You have to admit, it is a bit like unbelievable when you first hear it," Kitty said to her teammate.

Faith nodded at the Joes, saying, "I don't see why not. Red, think ya' can do some magic mumbo-jumbo to show them a few stuff while we tell the whole shin-dig?"

Willow grinned as she said a few choice words in Latin as she took some powder from a glass jar in the center of the coffee table and sprinkled some of the dust on the wooden surface, causing the yellow substance to glow and sparkle in the light. And to the mutants' amazements, the dust began to swirl and move by itself as if picked up by an invisible force of water or wind before forming a portal of smoke and lights. And in the center of the circular portal were moving images, like a movie projector.

"Whoa!" Lance gasped.

"How is this possible?" Low Light blurted.

Spirit answered, "It's magic. She created a window for us to view certain events from their thoughts and memories, almost like Trinity's Telepathic Projector 5000. Is that correct Ms. Rosenberg?"

Willow nodded, smiling as she said, "Exactly, Spirit."

Then for the next two hours, the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, and Batgirl listened intently as they learned about the legend and lore of the vampire slayer, or more generally known as the Slayer. Needless to say, it was quite remarkable and quite a tale to learn of.

If they thought that the briefing they got from the Charmed Ones was astounding, it was nothing compared to the feelings of amazement and surprise when they learned about the Slayers and the images Willow showed them through her thought-projection spell.

They listened as Giles and Wood narrated how the Slayer is a girl, a single human female chosen in each generation, was gifted by Fate and destiny to be selected to fight and kill all entities of evil to protect the Earth from the scourges of the supernatural evil such as werewolves, demons, hags, zombies, but mostly vampires. They also explained that the entire legacy originated from Africa in which three shamans called the Shadowmen decided to forcibly bless a girl with the strength, agility, and dexterity of a demon in order to be able to prove a match to other demons and monsters. In other words, a Slayer was a human girl who used the capabilities of darkness for the forces of good and to protect innocents, similar to the code of the Charmed Ones, but unlike the Charmed Ones, there could only be one Slayer alive in the world in time (and Giles decided it was best to not explain the whole Faith-Kendra-Buffy subplot at the time). Should the current girl dies due to a violent death or old age (though that latter option has rarely, if ever, happened), then the mantle of the vampire Slayer would magically pass from to another girl who had the capabilities to harness the gift and the curse. Thus, ever since the beginning, girls have been picked by Fate and there had always been a Slayer around and living in the world to protect it.

Then the two men narrated the role of the Watchers and the Guardians, and how the Watchers were a human-formed society of people knowledgeable in the magical arts, folklore, and weaponry created specifically to train and watch over the Slayers, guiding them in their quests to fight evil. Watchers could be either men or women, but they were bound by their oath and their duty to watch over the Slayers under their wards and to train and protect them as best as they could. The Guardians, on the other hand and as Xander put in bluntly, the Watchers of the Watchers, albeit in a supernatural sense. The Guardians were female women, presumed to be immortal, who also additionally protected the Slayers, albeit clandestinely, and to do so, with their powerful magic and gifts, they forged a single Scythe that was used over a millennia ago to exterminate the last Earth-roaming demon and created solely to be harnessed by the Slayer to destroy all mortal evil. In other words, the Guardians were the cavalry for the Slayers when all else failed.

Then as a final grim reminder, Wood, Willow, Xander, and Giles all took turns telling of the final battle of the Hellmouth in the California town called Sunnydale. The Hellmouth was exactly what the name entailed, an opening to the bowels of Hell and should it ever be opened, it would bring upon an apocalypse to the human world. The four then explained how the First, the very force that created all Evil in the Earth in the first place, summoned all the Bringers and the enemies of the Slayers to round up and kill innocent girls called the Potentials, girls who were lesser in expertise and strength but who had the capabilities to be a potential future Slayer should the current Slayer ever die, hoping to end the line of the Slayer for good and permanently. Upon discovering that the Watcher's Council were all killed, Giles, one of the few remaining Watchers alive, gathered all the Potentials he could find all over the world, and all the girls gathered at Sunnydale to join forces and be trained by the two original and foremost Slayers, Faith and Buffy. And using the essence of the Scythe of the Guardians, Buffy had Willow use the power of the talisman to bless all Potentials in the world to become immediate and activated Slayers, breaking the rules the Shadowmen once created. At that point on, any girl who could be a Slayer was immediately granted the power of a Slayer from birth. At that point on, instead of one Slayer being Chosen to protect the world, thousands of Slayers were being Chosen at an exponential rate.

And with this newly-created army, all the Slayers fought the vampires called the Turok-Han and beat back the First's army with a vengeance at the Seal of Danthazar.

It was quite a tale to behold when finished, and despite what they had seen and been through for the past years, the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, and Batman were silent, awed and full of wonder and admiration for the Scoobies and the Slayers.

"Whoa!" gasped Toad.

"So most of the girls here are Slayers, save Willow?" asked Jean, her eyes wide with surprise. The group nodded. Kurt was feeling a little a little sad as he looked at the Slayers, and some such as Kennedy and Shannon and Vi were touched that he had tears in his eyes.

"But, Mein Gott! All those innocent girls that were so cruelly killed, and that Caleb person so described makes me ashamed to be a part of the Catholic Church! I'm so sorry for your losses. Regardless of what you have been trained to do or how little of a chance you got to know those who died, my condolences are with all of you."

"Thank you," Vi said, nodding, "And I know what you mean. It's never easy to get over it when you view death for the first time."

"Tell us about it," Roberto said, shivering at the memories of the massacre at H.I.V.E. Academy.

Meanwhile, a few of the mutants and the Joes were looking upon the images of the Turok-Han Willow had summoned with her spell. It was a rather daunting sight, and from what they could discern and make out, the vampire was not anything like you would typical see in a low-quality horror movie; this was enough to make anyone cringe.

"So that is a Turok-Han," murmured Fred, studying its movements, "I gotta say, they certainly don't appear easy to take out. Jubilee was lucky to survive the one that was sent to her house to murder her folks."

"Goddess," Ororo gasped, "And this creature of darkness was sent by Phoebe Halliwell?"

Willow shook her head as she explained, "You're forgetting Phoebe is one of the Charmed Ones, and she is also a Wiccan, a white witch. White witches cannot use the spirit of the Gaia force and of the Mother Earth to be used for anything evil or malicious. A Wiccan is a good magic-user, a noble soul and virtuous. There is no way Phoebe could be that evil enough to control a servant of the First."

"I'd doubt it," muttered Blind Master, "She used to be the Queen of Hell, and if she could betray her sisters to fall in love with a demon, then she could be capable of anything."

"No, Blind Master," Batman said, breaking the conversation, "I know the Halliwells, and I still stand by my assertion that they are being framed, especially since Batgirl tells me that Leomon has confirmed my suspicions that the Thirteenth Order is after the Nexus that resides in Halliwell Manor."

"Wait, so what exactly is the Nexus?" Dragonfly asked, looking at Hawk and Batman, "I mean, the Halliwells were able to mention that they know of it, but we have no idea what it is or what it has to do with the whole Gathering and the Organization."

Batman then explained, "The Nexus is a magical force that is the embodiment of Earth magic in its purest form, a neutral entity of powerful mystical energy that can be used for either evil or good. Batman was able to learn about it when we contacted Margali Sefton and Dr. Strange. The reason the Nexus is so powerful is because it is a power that is linked to everything on the planet. Every tree, every living organism, every material, rock, metal, water and air molecule is linked to the earthly essence of the planet which many Wiccans and white-magic users called the Mother Earth, or Gaia. Since the Gaia force sustains life, think of the Nexus as a vitalizing energy that is connected to every living and non-living thing that is created in this planet. And we suspect that it's the huge source of magic we had trouble pinpointing in San Francisco from the Watchtower's sensors. It's because it's located in the depths right underneath the foundation of the Halliwells' house."

"Gee, isn't that convenient," Rogue remarked sourly with suspicion.

"Huh? I don't get it," Toad remarked.

"Think of it as a battery that any bad or good guy could use for unlimited magical energy, Toad," X23 summed it up none-too-gracefully for the Misfit.

Todd nodded as he said, catching on, "Ooooooooh! I gotcha!"

"But…what could the Hellfire Club want with the Nexus? They wouldn't be able to use it! They're mutants, and none of them are wizards! It would be useless to them!" Caridad pointed out, but Batman shook his head.

"You're forgetting that Selene is a member of the Inner Circle along with the Thirteenth Order and Blackheart, people in which I do not doubt that know more dark magic is more powerful and dangerous than anything the First could ever bequeath to the Bringers or to Caleb. They would know what to do with such a thing. Should they ever gain the Nexus, a vest, boundless and immeasurable source of magic and ever combine it to the Heartless…"

"Yikes," Shipwreck muttered, realizing the situation, "Then they'd be pretty damn near unstoppable."

"Yeesh, that's not good," Xi remarked.

Bobby rolled his eyes as he groaned, "And just our luck, it's being guarded and looked over by three witches who want nothing to do with us and who are complete jerks! And I still think that Phoebe - !"

"Shut it, Iceman," Batman growled, and the mutant teenager clamped up, red in the face

"And there's still the problem with the Heartless," Althea added, "Think about it. The Hellfire Club and the Thirteenth Order know by know that we're searching for clues and that we're on to them in San Francisco, and they have the power of the Heartless on their side. And think about this: we couldn't even handle one Heartless, even with the Slayers and magic and the Charmed Ones on our side. Unless Leomon is willing to stick with us and be willing to fight an entire army of Heartless for us, we'll really be up the creek."

"What makes you think we'll have to face an army?" Faith asked, curious. Wood then answered for his girlfriend and lover.

"It makes sense," Wood said, "That Heartless attacking us was no accident, and it was probably meant as a test to see how well our capabilities were, for both the Slayers and the Charmed Ones. Now that they've already gone through a trail run, that means that they'll have no problem releasing an army of Heartless just to wipe us all out in their plans to grab this Nexus the Halliwells are guarding."

"And it would be a given that the Hellfire Club will do it," Batgirl pondered, frowning, "They already had no problem murdering the children of H.I.V.E. Academy to produce Heartless experiments, and if they want the Nexus so badly, then they'll be willing to release an army of them. If we can't take out one of these new forms of the Heartless, then image what a small group of them could do."

The thought was certainly foreboding.

"Man, yo," breathed Toad in worry, "Now a part of me wishes we were fighting those Heartless in Jump City before Trigon came, cause they were a hell of a lot easier to take out and make sure that they wouldn't hurt innocent people, yo!"

Though a few wanted to point out the thoughtlessness of that comment considering that those Heartless specimens were kids who had been experimented on by the Hellfire's associates, gracefully, no one said anything. They could understand the reasoning and emotion behind Toad's remark.

"Wait!" exclaimed Avalanche, "Maybe we can ask Leomon to help us protect the Nexus! He seemed to be worried for the Charmed Ones! I'm sure he'll want to help us make sure that the Organization and the Hellfire Club can't get their mitts on the Nexus!"

"Oh God, here we go again," muttered Jean under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Right now, I can honestly say that I would prefer it had Alvers been ranting and obsessively talking about Kitty instead. At least that would have been less pathetic," Cyclops whispered to her disdainfully. Low Light sighed before he turned to the geokinetic.

"I have to agree with Jean and Cyclops, Avalanche. It's too risky to fully trust Leomon, especially since it is apparent he does not trust us. You can't always rely on someone that's not on your team, especially since Leomon's still just as dangerous when we first ran into him at Jump City."

"I don't believe you guys!" snapped Lance, "How can you just sit there and think that? Leomon is on our side, he just won't admit it!"

"And you're too stubborn to admit that Leomon is too much of a risk for us to entirely trust him! Need I remind you what he did to Raven?" Wanda argued as she stood up, her hands on her hips. Lance looked extremely betrayed; had it been Pietro or Toad or Althea to shoot him down, fine, but Wanda and Lance had always more or less gotten along in the past.

"I don't believe this!" shouted Lance, now starting to lose his temper, "If you were my friend, you'd support me in this!"

"And if I really was your friend, I'd tell you when you're doing something stupid! And thinking that Leomon cares about us and that you've developed a bond with him just simply because he saved your life and because you took him with us at H.I.V.E. Academy certainly qualifies as stupid! You're just biased and refuse to look at any real possibilities that Leomon might be manipulating us from the very beginning!" Wanda shot back.

"And you're just biased because Leomon stabbed Raven in order to save her!" Lance retorted.

"Lance, like, Leomon was sent to kill Raven! You can't just totally ignore that! Raven nearly died because of him!" Kitty protested gently, trying to support Scarlet Witch. There was a flash of surprised gratitude in Wanda's eyes immediately afterwards.

"But he didn't want to! He didn't want to kill Raven; he was ordered to do it! And in the end, he saved her! And it was Brother Blood and Trigon who nearly killed her!" Avalanche raged at Kitty. Kitty looked taken aback at the harsh insistence of the Misfit's voice; Lance before had never yelled at her in this way.

"Yeah, by killing her! That's a funny way of saving someone the last time we checked!" Wanda commented flatly, sarcastically. Lance's face reddened as he simply glowered at Scarlet Witch.

Xi, who was remaining quiet until this point, then gently pointed out to Lance, "Lance…also think of it this way: whoever sent Leomon had no remorse of assassinating Raven to stop the Gathering of Twilight and probably doesn't care too much about us to let us know how to stop the Heartless threat. Otherwise, he would have told Leomon to also additionally inform anyone who may be endangered by the Heartless. This points to the likelihood that Leomon's boss, whoever he is, is probably evil or has a hand in the end of the world. And if Leomon's boss is evil, then it's a safe bet that Leomon is too."

"Oh great, now you hate him too!" Lance snarled, whirling on the green lizard.

"Enough," Roadblock said strongly as he got in between Lance and Wanda, "It's going to already rough. And right now, another fight we definitely don't need. We need to plan to fight the Heartless together if we're gonna succeed."

"We'll train, then," Wolverine explained, "We'll need to get ready for the Heartless threat and hopefully find a way to gather and make sure that we'll be enough for a match with the Hellfire Club's army."

"Wait a minute," Wood exclaimed, surprised, "Marvin, you're…you're actually offering to help train the Slayers and the Potentials at the Pit with the Misfits and G.I. Joe?"

Roadblock grinned as he said, "We teamed up before to fight Trigon and Darkseid, and those times were just as dark and grim! Don't' see why the Slayers and us can't work together through the thick and thin!"

"And I as well, Mr. Giles and Mr. Wood," Xavier said sincerely with a small smile, "And despite it all, I do agree with Hawk in this instance. We need more allies, and if we need any hope to take down the Heartless and the Organization, then we need to help ensure that everyone is informed on what we're dealing with and how to deal with it. We can help each other out in this war, if you both are willing. And the Hellfire Club does not seem discriminate enough to leave the Slayers alone if you do stand in their path for the Gathering of Twilight, as Leomon has indicated."

Giles seemed to be wrestling with the decision before he spoke, "Very well, then. I can see it is far better in the long run to work together and perhaps build a relationship of trust and the common goal to protect this planet. And I suppose, this could actually be a wonderful experience to help teach the girls more about tolerance by working with mutants and members of G.I. Joe. You have my full consent, Professor Xavier. Though I can warn you that it will not be easy to integrate our two groups together. It shall take some time."

Kennedy waved off dismissively, "Ah, us Slayers have gone through worse. We can handle anything the mutants can do in their training!"

Scott shot Kennedy a wicked grin of easy-going banter as he warned with jest, "Just to let you know, our training is nothing like what you Slayers have been through before. It might be a little intense being in our Danger Room and in our Institute."

Xi made a sound similar to a scoffing "pcah" as he added, "Oh please, that's nothing. Try doing army training with the Joes for a day. It's enough to make a Level 13 Danger Room session feel like a walk in the park instead."

Xander grinned as he finished in a mock-accent of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "In other words, we're gonna pump up, yah?"

"Yah," answered back Fred, Todd, Kurt, and Roberto in returning horrible imitations of Austrian accents before they all fell into a fit of guffawing.

Giles bit back a groan as he said in an aloof voice of irritation, "And once again, Xander, you ever so manage to delicately boil down an extremely verbose and eloquent idea down to its simplest, possible form as always. Thank you ever so much for that rather tactless and crude joke."

"Always happy to do my part, G," Xander grinned, the sarcasm obviously lost on him.

Meanwhile, Hawk noticed Batman seeming pensive.

"You're worried about the Halliwells," Hawk said. He could tell what his friend was feeling from the way he defended the Charmed Ones earlier when Iceman called Phoebe a whore.

Batman said shortly, "They will never be enough to protect the Nexus and stand against the Hellfire Club. Gideon is sentencing them to their eventual deaths."

Hawk offered, "Hopefully, now that Piper had a chance to calm down and think about it, perhaps she and her sisters will be preparing themselves for the Heartless and if the Hellfire Club should ever try barging their way through their house."

Batman stared at Hawk before he replied, "We're still not going to stand by and watch them get killed."

Hawk agreed strongly, "No, we're not."

With that, Batman laid his hand on Batgirl's shoulder, and using the teleporter watch Trinity gave her, Batgirl teleported via the Mass Device back to the Watchtower with her mentor in tow. There was a small silence of contemplation before Shipwreck piped up as the adults watched the kids eagerly converse among themselves.

"Just so we're clear on the situation," the Joe sailor said, "The Earth and everyone living in it is in danger of being destroyed by an enemy we've never encountered before called the Heartless and the Organization…"

Logan then grunted, "And they're definitely more powerful and cunning than all the other the creeps we've fought in the past, especially now that they've appeared to be bringing in our most dangerous enemies left and right."

"And the only hope to fight this new threat in San Francisco is a bunch of overactive and hyper, if not bloodthirsty, teenagers and adolescents, destined to make or break the world with their gifts and abilities," finished Wood, starting to realize where this was heading.

There was another small silence between the Joes, Logan, Xavier, and the Watchers before Giles winced, the thought of the consequences if all else failed being too painful for him to process all at once.

"Ah yes, the Earth is definitely doomed," sighed Giles with lugubrious sarcasm.

---

Meanwhile, back at San Francisco, things were hardly hopeful at one of the very top platforms of the numerous towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was still early in the morning, barely an hour before dawn, and with all the fog and cold mist surrounding the bay and river, no one would take so much trouble to try to peer upwards and spot for anything suspicious (if they could even see that far up). Of course, thankfully, no one had sharp enough ears either to hear the screaming and raving match (mostly from Piper and Leo) as Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige were "discussing" the past events with the Slayers, the Misfits, the X-Men, and the Batman with Elder Gideon and Elder Sandra.

"You goddamned hypocrite!" snarled Leo, his hands tightly balled into fists and the only things preventing him from tackling and beating Elder Gideon to a bloody pulp were Phoebe and Paige as they held to his arms pleadingly in restraint and the fact that there would be severe consequences if he even attempted it by Krygaw and Damionax. The goateed-man just regarded the ex-Whitelighter curiously with some disdain, not even the least bit intimidated or scared.
"I see spending time as an exiled mortal hasn't really taught you much in dealing with tact and manner, Leo," the Elder regarded stiffly.

"Don't play that crap on us and sideline the issue, you manipulative, smug asshole!" Leo growled, shaking Paige's nervous fingers off him before he fully bellowed, "You, out of all Whitelighters, have the nerve to try and send demons to kill my sons for being of half-Whitelighter and half-Wiccan bloodlines when you yourself are no better, you lousy, two-faced son of a bitch! You have a son who's also half-Whitelighter and half-mortal! And you have the nerve to look down on me and Piper? So help me, when this is all over, I'm going to do whatever it takes to bring you down and beat you to a bloody pulp!"

"Leo, the Council already knew about Justin and his lineage," Sandra explained wearily, trying to act as a peacemaker, "Though it was a shock, I can assure you all that they did not expect the Misfit to develop his powers nor could they foresee that Justin would turn out to be a mutant in the end. That was why the Immortal Council and the other Elders didn't see it to be any use to persecute the boy because he did not pose any valid threat. His powers did not come from magical intervention but because of his X-Gene and mutation. Thus, they thought it would be best to let him be and live peacefully."

"Gee, why is it I'm not surprised?" Piper snapped bitterly at the short-haired woman, "When anything concerning Elder Gideon comes up, you're willing to turn away and look in the other direction while having no problems enforcing the rules with us! No wonder we can't really rely on the Elders! You just let Justin the bastard have a cushy and pampered life while Wyatt and Chris were unfairly targeted and looked down upon by everyone, and when they were in danger, none of you lifted up a damn finger for their sakes! We had to protect them all by ourselves while you just kowtowed to that Misfit for his every whim! It never changes! You sacrifice our well being for everyone else who's less deserving! I wish you never even had a son, Gideon!"

The Whitelighter elder didn't bother pointing out to Piper that she was jumping to conclusions; any additional person to hate that lucky, half-bred mistake was perfectly fine with him.

Gideon's face went dark as he muttered with cheated misery, "For once, I actually agree, Piper. Everyone's lives would have been a lot better off without that accident existing in this world."

"Not all of us," remarked Sandra rather darkly as she glared at an impassive and unapologetic Gideon, "I agree with Hawk, Gideon. What you did to your own son was absolutely horrible, despicable even."

Gideon's eyes went cold as he growled, "Be careful on your words, Sandra. Lest you have forgotten, I am your superior, and I am also the Elders of Elders. You have absolutely no authority to reprimand me."

Sandra was still unwilling to back down and apologize, the injustice of it flaring her temper as she protested with gall, "Your own son, Gideon! How could you treat him like that? He's just a boy!"

"My only sons are Krygaw and Damionax, Sandra," Gideon said with icy finality, and that settled it. At the same time, Piper was furiously arguing with the older sister.

"Piper, stop it!" Paige yelled, now angry and instantly coming to Justin and Hawk's defense, "You can't blame Justin for the fact that we're being targeted by the Thirteenth Order no more can you blame General Hawk for using the Oath when it's his right to use it whenever he wanted! And you're being stupid! Justin said that Gideon didn't do what was right to him anyways!"

"Forgive me if I hardly believe you," groused Piper, "And I can blame whoever I want, so butt out, Paige!"

"Piper, Paige, STOP!" yelled Phoebe as she got in between her two quarrelling sisters, "This isn't going to help anyone, and we need to concentrate on the larger issue at hand!"

Phoebe then turned to Elder Sandra, one of the few Whitelighter immortals who would always be sympathetic and defensive of the Charmed Ones' collective behalf. Sandra herself pleaded and argued for Leo and the Halliwells when they stood accused for treason against the world and the Whitelighters themselves by siding with the Avatars and when Leo chose to become mortal and lose his status of a Whitelighter. Granted, she didn't like their decision or those moments of oversight and failure, but Sandra knew that the magical world needed the Charmed witches in order to survive. And unlike Gideon and a good portion of the Whitelighters (and this Phoebe and Paige appreciated the most), she was not biased against the mortal and "lesser" races such as the Slayers or mutants.

Elder Sandra had to follow Gideon's authority and rules like any dutiful Elder…but she could soften the blows and ramifications for the Charmed Ones as well.

Phoebe asked, hopeful and distraught, "Is there anything you or the other Elders can do to fix this? You know I didn't murder Jubilee's parents or else I would be powerless and would no longer be charmed by the protection spells of the Halliwell matriarchs. And I don't even have fire powers anymore, not since I rejected Balthezor and annulled our marriage!"

Sandra looked truly helpless and remorseful and sorrowful as she shook her head.

"We know you did not do anything, Phoebe," Sandra explained, "But even if we did, you know the rules as well as we do. We cannot interfere nor exhibit any assistance to the mortal world, even if it is due to a magical blight or evil entity. The laws state that the world of magic and immortals must always remain separate and distinct from the world of mortals and humans. That was the whole reason why the Whitelighters can only speak to their charges and help the witches they are assigned to in order to protect the world. We can only show the path and give advice and valuable guidance…but we cannot fight the battles for them. You have to endure this war by yourselves. I am truly sorry, Phoebe, but we cannot fight this war for your benefit."

"That's a nice way of expressing gratitude!" Piper raged, her hands on her hips, "And it's also easy for you to say! You don't have children and family members in danger from the Hellfire Club!"

Phoebe then pointed out, trying to argue her case delicately, "But what about information, then? That doesn't involve you direct involvement, and we don't know anything except what that Leomon warrior had warned us about how the Organization is targeting us for the Nexus! Can you at least help us with that? We searched through the Book of Shadows, but we cannot locate anything about the Heartless and the Thirteenth Order! Heck, there isn't even anything about this Gathering of Twilight or Experiment 666!"

Paige then broke in, "And I asked all our magical allies that we've helped from time to time, but they don't know anything either. The dwarves, the leprechauns, the fairies, the pixies, the mermaids, and even the valkyries…there's nothing! Apparently, whatever this Gathering and Experiment is, it's not magical and it's not a part of this world before, I can tell you that. These races existed since the beginning of the dawn of time when the magical and mortal worlds on Earth first separated, but not even their historians can detect anything significant! In fact, the only thing close to a 'Gathering of Twilight' was the name of the festival for the fairies on the event of a new moon on Midsummer's Night in order to celebrate the coming of the animals in harmony. No offense, but something tells me that wasn't it."

Sandra again shook her head as she explained, "Unfortunately, the same goes for the Elders as well, Paige. None of our records can even recalling any evil entity referred to as the Heartless ever existing in this world since time began, and there is additionally no such record about the Organization or the Gathering. We have some information regarding the Hellfire Club, especially Selene, but I am afraid to say that it is extremely limited due to the fact that the Elders never bothered keeping record of the activities of evil mortals and mutants. I daresay even Professor Xavier knows more about the Inner Circle than we do. Selene is powerful, and she is an immortal External of black magic that can only be possibly overpowered by the Ancients and the Demon Lords such as Samhain, the First, Skullmaster, or Shendu. But she is Earth-bound. Whatever the Heartless and the Organization are, they are a new threat that is not of the rules of this world or ours or anything on Earth. And that makes them extremely dangerous. Because they are beings that do not follow the rules of our planes of reality and magic. But your mysterious lion-friend was right: we can sense it, and it is coming."

Leo muttered worriedly, "And the problem is Leomon said that it was very likely that is may not be possible to stop it."

Gideon just smiled inwardly to himself as he said brusquely, enjoying the hole that the witches and Leo had dug themselves into, "And thus, your only concern is to prepare yourselves the best you can and fight the Inner Circle. We can tell you that the Turok-Han are very powerful, the Neanderthal version of the modern-day vampire, and if the Hellfire Club has them under their control, then it is apparent that the girl's inadvertent murder of her family in order to frame you is no accident. Needless to say, if those mutant abominations wills not take your word that you did have a hand in the killings nor will they take General Hawk's word, then it is apparent that they will not take mine. And that's only under the assumption that I will even bother showing myself to those mortals, in which I won't."

Piper looked like she was ready to explode, her face now turning into an unhealthy crimson. Leo held on to his wife protectively while glaring hatefully at the two elder Whitelighters. Phoebe and Paige both looked taken aback at the sudden callousness of the Elder Whitelighter. They anticipated there would be some resentment and dislike after the ugly incident with the Avatars, but nothing like this. This was nothing short of abandonment.

"Just take heart to my previous advice, Charmed Ones," Gideon finished, "Either defend the Nexus or destroy it before it can be harnessed by Zankou and his newfound allies. Fail, and you are to blame for any repercussions from your weaknesses."

Piper could hold it in anymore as she screamed, "This isn't fair! You have to help us, after everything we've done for the past years to vanquish evil and protect the magical races, including the Whitelighters and the Elders from the Titans when they were resurrected! We helped you! This isn't fair! You have to help us! You owe us!"

Gideon just gave a haughty sneer.

He said self-righteously, "I believe to echo your own words you said to the X-Men and the Misfits: get over yourself, Piper, for this is not our war to fight. After your betrayals with the Avatars, we owe you and your sisters nothing."

And with that, the two Whitelighters orbed away, and the four were left alone to ponder their own unwilling and unbearable future. Paige didn't say anything as she touched Phoebe and Leo's (who was still holding on lovingly to a devastated Piper) shoulders before she orbed them all back to the Halliwell manor in the attic. Phoebe exhaled, grimacing.

"Well…that's that. There's nothing for us to do but fight, then. As best as we can, and until then, we can only prepare ourselves for the worst," the brunette said. Paige then spoke to Phoebe.

"Maybe we can contact General Hawk again and let him know that we're willing to join him in the fight against the Heartless and the Organization. I don't care if the X-Men suspect us of murder, but if we're going to survive, I'd trust Batman and General Hawk, and if we will have to request their help and return the favor by fighting for the sake of the world, then I'm all up for it."

But before Phoebe could voice an answer, Piper whirled on the youngest, livid, before she snapped, "Absolutely no way in hell! I do not trust Batman or General Hawk, and that goes the same for the X-Men and Professor Xavier! You heard him! That girl who tried to kill us used to be his former student! How do we know he's not trying to manipulate us along with Hawk? And for that matter, how can we even trust the side of the X-Men and join them in fighting and risking our own lives and exposing our magic to the entire world? We are not going!"

"And I say otherwise, Piper!" Paige snapped, not backing down.

"You better, Paige!" the Wiccan exploded, flying off the handle, "Don't you dare do this, especially when we found out how you still helped Batgirl and went behind my back after what the X-Men said and how one of them even tried to kill me! How can you turn your own back on your family and drag us even further into this fight? How could you?"

"It's the right thing to do!"

"And it's not our fight! So stop this now! You're already a terrible excuse of a sister without having a huge ego and a hero-complex!"

"Piper!" Leo reprimanded, but Paige then shot back with the worst insult she could ever say.

"I'm a terrible excuse of a sister?" she snapped, "Well, then by the same token, since you're too stubborn and cowardly to realize that this is our fight and that if we don't, Chris and Wyatt we certainly die and perish if they get caught in the crossfire of the war and the Gathering, then you're a terrible excuse of a mother!"

Crack!

Phoebe gasped before holding her hands to her mouth in horror and dreadful shock while Leo's eyes went glassy with surprise…and tragic hurt. Paige felt her cheek sting agonizingly a bit, but she just shipped her eyes back at her eldest sister, not even showing any indication that the slap Piper delivered on her cheek had hurt her (though secretly, it was more of an emotional blow to her soul).

"Slapping another Whitelighter half-breed, Piper?" Paige growled coldly, "I guess since I'm only your half-sibling, I'm just as good as a stranger to you as well as Justin is. I guess our blood isn't as thick as we once thought."

Though Paige's eyes were stinging and there was a ball of hot grief climbing up her throat, the girl absolutely refused to cry, steely willing herself to not give in the urge to weep. But it was Piper who began weeping as the strangest look of comprehension dawned on her face, as if she was watching a loved one lose their balance and fall off a cliff only to tumble and plummet to a painful death below. Piper actually sobbed softly as she covered her mouth with one hand while her eyes crinkled and tears spilled out.

"Why did you make me do that?" she sniffed, crying, "Why? Why?"

Paige wanted to break, to cry alongside her sister, to hug her and say that she didn't mean it, but she, like her eldest sister, was a stubborn creature of pure grit and persistent doggedness. Without a word and her curly, brown hair dancing off her shoulders in her mad stomp, Paige just silently and passive-aggressively marched out of the attic and stomped downstairs before retreating into her bedroom and slamming the door with extra passion. Exactly like Phoebe did on that night Batman, General Hawk, and Elder Gideon came to visit them on that night. Phoebe then went to Piper before she hugged her sister, tenderly whispering, "It's all right. It's all right, Piper. She knew you didn't mean it…"

Yet as Phoebe and Leo tried to comfort Piper, none of them paid any attention to the leather-bound Book of Shadows. The magical wards and protection wards of centuries, crafted and painstakingly made with loving care and devotion by the Halliwell matriarchs, had finally collapsed, no longer bound by the sisterly bond of the Charmed Ones. And because the magic no longer guarded the essence of the historical tome, there it lay on the wooden stand, vulnerable, exposed…and ready for any mortal or creature of evil to snatch it away for its precious secrets.

Rip!

With a soft noise too inaudible for human ears, the leather cover of the Book of Shadows displaying the united symbol of the triquetra split apart, and jagged cracks like spider-webs delicately crawled throughout the jacket until the triquetra was divided into three pieces, no longer intertwined and each spike of the symbol now surrounded by a permanent tear, a great divide.

---

Meanwhile, several hours ago…

"Oh my God," murmured one federal agent.

"Oh holy shit," whispered another to himself, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets while his jaw dropped so wide, it made his joints ache.

"What the hell have these Halliwells been doing?" a female secretary named Jennifer asked incredulously, taking in the images with troubled eyes, as if scarcely daring to believe it.

"Geez, just when I thought we had enough to handle with mutant freaks and alien freaks, now we have to deal with magical freaks? God, what is this world coming to? Makes it so that us normal human folk can't go anywhere without running into some sort of weirdo that doesn't belong in this planet!" a grizzled police officer remarked, muttering these words with contempt and scorn.

"And we have their discussion all on record," Keyes said in a barely restrained and excited sort of voice, as if finally seeing the fruits of his labor and investigations, "This is just as good as a goddamned confession! Don't you see? We have enough to bring this up to the Supreme Court! The goddamned Supreme Court!"

Indeed, Agent Keyes of Homeland Security had good reason to be jubilant. Every moment of the incriminating footage of when the Charmed Ones, the Slayers, the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, Batgirl, and Batman from the instant they gathered into the living room, not one but two of the cameras that Inspector Sheridan had planted outside the house had dutifully and successfully recorded it, in full glory, sound and color.

The minute Keyes' men had alerted the federal agent from the Department of Homeland Security about a recent development, Keyes and Sheridan simply sprinted to the room where they, Keyes' investigation team, and quite a few officers from the San Francisco police department watched and listened in, curious to what the big commotion was all about. In no time at all, nearly the entire San Francisco task force in the building was gathered around the monitors that the federal agents spliced into the main network, allowing the footage to be broadcast on the monitors of the main foyer for everyone to see, at Sheridan's insistence.

For the past hour, the federal agents, the police officers, Inspector Sheridan, and Agent Keyes listened and watched everything. Like most of the general public, they were no strangers to the recent mutant hysteria that has been gripping the nation and world like a cancerous disease, so most if not everyone could immediately recognize the members of the X-Men and the Misfits, the two infamous groups of mutants who fight for the goal of human-mutant peace. Agent Keyes and Sheridan also recognized the members of G.I. Joe along with their leader and commanding superior, General Hawk. Though Sheridan had to admit to herself that Hawk was a brilliant and steadfast person, Agent Keyes remarked that he and the rest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation refer to G.I. Joe as the mockery of the United States army, a group of military rejects that were looked down as the butt of jokes by all respectable officials in politics and the three branches of government. Considering that they were "pathetic, mutant-loving, bleeding hearts" (as Keyes put it), many were not surprised to see them tagging alongside the mutants.

Yet all became as silent as a tomb in the room and building, save for the phones ringing in the background, as the police officers, the sergeants, the inspectors, and the federal agents listened in as the talking began.

There were a few chuckles when they witnessed Kurt, Andrew, Todd, and Xi singing songs from the parody, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"…and the violent attempts of the girls nearby who wanted to shut them up. Some even outright laughed.

There were some gasps and murmurs of disbelief as they closely listened to Piper, Phoebe, and Paige explain about the legacy of the Charmed Ones and their statement of purpose to protect all innocents, both magical and human, from evil entities and black magic that blight the world.

There was nothing but a stunned and respectful silence, morbid, as the lawful enforcers and government agents overheard General Hawk narrate to the Halliwells and the strange group of girls that refer to themselves as the Slayers about the incidents for the past months. They learned of the Phoenix Force bonding with Supergirl and Batgirl, they learned of the massacre of H.I.V.E. Academy, and finally, they witnessed the scenes of the final battle against Trigon with Leomon's help along with the Titans during the Armageddon, all shown via Trinity's Telepathic Projector 5000.

There were also some looks of horror and amusement at the scene of when it was revealed that Phoebe Halliwell was suspected of murdering the parents of one of the former X-Men named Jubilee, and the big blowout that resulted afterwards between the Halliwell sisters and the mutants, Joes and other guests. And the spell voiced by Piper Halliwell to banish everyone from the room was the icing on the cake, a concrete moment of proof that the women really were witches and that they knew powerful magic.

Needless to say, it was a complete flurry of murmuring and disbelief as everyone took in what they had heard and seen.

"What are your orders, Keyes?" asked one of the federal officers amid the chaotic, furious and hushed discussion all around them. Sheridan just stared blankly at the screen, the images of what she had seen and heard cycling over her frozen brain, erupting new euphoric feelings of vindication, self-righteousness, and pride. Finally! She would no longer be looked down upon as the unprofessional, obsessed inspector, teased and laughed behind her back about her stubborn resolve to prove her ever-so fallible paranoia about the Halliwell sisters. She would no longer be made a fool of, and she would be able to prove her honor and dedication to the force and to her superiors. Yet it then came to a sudden and screeching halt when she heard Keyes' next words.

"Take them out."

"WHAT?" Inspector Sheridan exclaimed, snapping out of her fervor, "Keyes, you can't be serious! We have no evidence that they did anything wrong! All right, so they converged altogether with mutants and some odd girls called Slayers and Phoebe is suspected of murder, but we don't have a damn thing that shows they did anything against the law! Not a damn thing! We can't bring them in or kill them because we don't have state's evidence to convict them! They don't even have a parking ticket, for crying out loud! Trust me, I've checked for anything I could bring against them, but there's nothing!"

"Oh get real, Sheridan!" muttered one officer, "Who cares if they haven't done anything wrong? They're freaks! Magical freaks at that!"

"Yeah, the law only applies to humans, not witches, Inspector!" snapped another detective named Anna, her blond bangs bouncing off her forehead angrily, "Don't tell me after all this time bitching about those Halliwells, you're starting to become a witch-lover!"

Sheridan was still adamant as she heatedly growled, unyielding, "I'm saying that we'd be no better than the very criminals we apprehend and prosecute if we try to ignore the law and go against the rules! I want to book them as much as you do, and now we do have proof of their activities and that they're not normal! But unless we can show that they've done something against the law such as committing murder or stealing, we can't do something! If the public ever got wind of how we did this, they'll be in sympathy of the Halliwells, and that's adding the additional trouble since Batman, the Joes, and those mutants are apparently on their case as well. The Halliwells apparently have powerful allies! But proving that they have magical powers won't hold up jack in court! I say we wait until they screw up so that we can legally bust them! There's a right way to do this and a wrong way! And I want this done the right way!"

Keyes eyes were cold as he gruffly barked, "Keep in mind, Inspector, that you brought this upon them yourself, and it's too late for you to do anything about it now. This is a federal case now, and as such, you have no jurisdiction nor do my men have any need to obey the law in this case, especially since we can easily circumvent it. And let me remind you, Inspector, that you said you didn't care what we did with the sisters as long as we allowed you to be the one to expose them."

Sheridan was now furious as she placed her hands on her hips and growled, "I did this so that I could prove that the Halliwells were dangerous! That was one thing! But making a mockery of the law to unfairly persecute them is another! You can't just storm in there and start shooting without a warrant, without following the rules!"

"Watch me," Keyes emphasized, no remorse or regret in his blue eyes and grizzled features.

"I agree with Keyes here, Sheridan!" protested another officer of the San Francisco police force, "If those witches are a potential danger, then we can act now and worry about the consequences later! Anything to prevent them from using their powers and magic and witchcraft on innocent, normal folk is fine by me!"

Sheridan was shocked at the large number of people in the room nodding in agreement, and very few were openly seeing the unfairness and biased injustice of this. She thought to herself, My God, is this what it has come to?

Suddenly, as if by a cruel twist of fate, things got even more complicated…

"Agent Keyes," spoke one of the federal agents, "You have a call!"

"Take a message! Damn it, Roark, can't you see I'm busy here?" the government agent from Homeland Security snapped, but Roark was urgently persistent.

"Keyes, it can't wait! It's a call from Lex Luthor! And he says he has some footage of interest that can help our investigation against the Charmed Ones!"

It was surprising at how quickly it became dead silent it became at the station at the instant those words left Agent Roark's lips. People were either shocked at the fact that Lex Luthor, one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, men in the world, was contacting them…and about the subjects of their investigation, no less.

"What?" gasped Inspector Sheridan.

"He says he has some footage that could be of some great interest for you, from the local news station KTSF," the agent explained. Keyes and Sheridan just stared at the man, interested and morbidly curious.

Though it would be much, much later in retrospect, Inspector Sheridan could have honestly pinpointed that moment as the precise time when the floodgates to Hell had opened.

Author's Notes: Next Friday is the usual "calm-before-the-storm" chapter, in which we see the hilarious and fun times for our usual bunch of teenage heroes as the Scoobies, the Slayers, the X-Men, and the Misfits enjoy each other's company despite the explosions, fights, parties, and Slayers encountering the Danger Room for the first time (I'm going to have fun with this one!)! Check back for the next chapter, "Nothing Says Bonding Like A Good Danger Room Session" where our three groups mingle and bond!

Joes and X-Adults: AGAIN? After all the chaos and messes we had to endure last time with the Teen Titans? Are you trying to torture us?

I plead the fifth…

Giles and Wood (sarcastic): Oh yes, this looks promising!

Until next Friday, read, enjoy, and review!

Wood: If you readers quit encouraging this maniac with reviews, we wouldn't be put us in these situations, you know!

Quiet you! See you next Friday, everyone!