CHAPTER 9: Stand-Off
"Get off our block, you freaks!" yelled a enraged man in civilian clothing as he threw a rock at the Halliwells household, trying to shatter a window only to come up precariously short of the pane of glass. Still, even though he and most of the horde couldn't reach the front side of the grand, Victorian house, some used slingshots and miniature catapults to send a number of rocks, eggs, and rotten fruit to pelt the door and wooden walls.
"Disgraceful! All of you!" shouted a mother as she held up a sign that said in foreboding red letters, "Burn in hell, Witches!"
"We don't want your kind in this neighborhood! Go hang out with those mutant freaks and the Batman's friends of yours, Halliwells!" another man roared as he raised a wooden club, pumping it up and down amongst the roars of the crowd of hate and fear, "You cunts don't deserve to be out with our kids! You and your damned family should have been burned at the stake with all the other witches in history!"
"Yeah! Burn them all! Send the Halliwells to hell!" an exuberant teenager yelled as he held up an unlit Molotov cocktail in one hand and a lighter in the other hand. Those three sentences were enough to set the rest of the colossal mob of enraged civilians into a frenzied turmoil.
"Burn the witches! Burn the witches! Burn the witches!" chanted the crowd with surprising and horrific rhythmic beat.
"This is so cool!" marveled one child with his friends, watching the scene of his parents yelling and screaming themselves hoarse along with the rest of the mob, "We're going to see a house go on fire!"
"I have to admit, I've never seen a person being burned alive before," admitted another child as they stood under the shade of a tree at a safe distance. Though commanded sternly by their parents to stay in their rooms and remain hidden until the witches were dealt with. But like all impressionable and foolish youths, the kids disregarded their parents' collective warnings and gathered all the neighborhood kids together to view the spectacle in morbid interest. And like all children, they could only see the entertainment value of such a drama.
The teenager, getting lost in the moment, was about to light the rag stuffed in the mouth of the glass bottle, but two policemen grabbed the teen and wrenched the cocktail from his hands before placing the handcuffs on the boy's wrists.
"You're under arrest for instigating mob brutality and attempted arson…" growled one of the cops, reading the teen his Miranda rights as he and his partner subdued the unruly troublemaker, but this act only further enraged the rest of the maddening throng.
"Get your hands off my son, you jackasses! You should be thanking him for doing your jobs!" shouted the father as he tried to tackle and beat the two officers as they led him away to a nearby squad car, but two additional officers had to physically restrain the parent from going too far.
"Why aren't you storming in there? How can you let them live there? For God's sake, the witches are the ones you should be arresting!" an elderly woman with gray hair and spectacles snapped, her hands on her hips.
"Take them out!" shouted another woman, "Think of our families and children if you let them run about like that, casting their black magic! Why the hell aren't you doing anything?"
"The Halliwells must have them all under their spells! They must have bewitched them!" shouted a man from the Friends of Humanity with accusation as he held up a sign with a not-so-appealing caricature of three women with black robes and stereotypical witch-hats being hung at the gallows. This speculation again increased the level of discontent and panic to new levels unimaginable.
"They'll bewitch and curse all of us if you don't go in there and stop them!" howled a hysterical woman, pointing furiously at the Halliwell manor.
"Freaks are freaks!" roared a small set of representatives from Creed's Friends of Humanity as one, proudly displaying their firearms and wooden clubs, ready to take action into their own hands, "Magical, mutant, or aliens! All freaks must die!"
"If you're not going to do something, we will!" shouted another man, readying his baseball bat.
At the same time, there was a smaller sub-crowd off a bit in the sidelines, and this assembly was composed of an elderly preacher in the usual black pastoral uniform with a white collar, giving a sermon to the pack of fervent Christians, though anyone with a brain or correct religious doctrine could tell that the preacher's message was anything but Christian.
"It's is God's judgment that these witches die for their sins against God, blasphemy against His will and His power to serve themselves with the forces of the Enemy and of Darkness! For I tell all of you, no witch nor Wiccan nor mutant nor any sympathizers of such people shall be welcomed in the Kingdom of Heaven! A man reaps what he sows, and the Halliwells shall suffer forevermore under the light and authority of God, for such works are not part of His works and teachings but of the Enemy's!" the preacher roared, his red face filled with the metaphorical and false emotions of such "fire and brimstone" dialogues.
"Amen!" answered back the ardent and burning bunch, feeling truly elated at the man's words and the bout of tragedy and misfortune that befell the three sisters who were now public-enemy-number-one in all of San Francisco if not the nation. Meanwhile, the reporter, Elana Jimenez was doing her umpteenth coverage for the KTSF station, which had now established so much revenue from the licensing rights of the footage of the Heartless that the station was soon becoming even more popular than prime stations such as CNN, BBC, and MSNBC.
"It is clear that the Halliwells are still hiding out in their home, despite the mobs from enraged civilians, local church groups, and even the Friends of Humanity," Elana reported from the outside boundaries of the police barricade while her cameraman, Wilson, continued to film with the agents, police and the mobs in the background, "Though there is no confirmation, it is rumored that the Department of Homeland Security along with the S.W.A.T. teams and the San Francisco police force will storm in soon if they cannot encourage the three women to surrender peacefully, despite the hastiness and apparent imprudence of such a outcome. However, a representative from the SFPD has been quoted saying that Agent Brain Keyes from Homeland Security acknowledges that it would be a better choice than to remain at such a tense stand-off and allow the Wiccans known as the Charmed Ones to try to endanger others with their magic. As many in the department have voiced eloquently, anything can be happening in the Halliwell house right now, and it is far better to be safe than sorry. But can we truly be safe, especially since there may very well be other witches and Wiccans out there in the world, passing off as normal, every-day folk along with the various threats and dangers of roaming mutants and aliens? This is Elana Jimenez, Channel 6 News for KTSF."
Jubilee watched on from the distance behind the barricades along with the rest of the crowd that had been unable to pass the officers and federal agents that had now formed human walls on both ends of the street, blocking other curious and frantic people who had the strong desire to join in with the insane mob now gathered in front of the Halliwell manor. Thankfully, now that all the attention had been garnered and focused on Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell, not a single officer or civilian noticed Jubilee clandestinely walking around, which made it easier for her plans against those who murdered her parents. The last thing she needed was some bystander to recognize her as a mutant student from the infamous Xavier's School for the Gifted. But the attention now presented a problem: how was she to storm in and take her vengeance on Phoebe with so many people around? If Jubilee just marched there, she would be escorted out by the cops. If she tried to use her mutant powers to take out the Charmed Ones by force right then and there, it could be suicide, especially with the agents of the Department of Homeland Security and the Friends of Humanity around. Still, nothing would dissuade her. The Chinese mutant was fervent and almost mad to see that Phoebe and her family would pay for killing her parents. But still, how was she to get there?
The sewers…they never expect an attack below…the sewers connect to the basement…
Jubilee's head snapped up with a gasp, drawing a few curious looks, but she hurriedly walked away, her heart pounding. Though it was a bit silly…Jubilee could have sworn that someone or something was whispering in her ear…
"Of course!" Jubilee gasped to herself. The sewer systems ran underground, and despite the number of officers topside, it was rather dubious if Agent Keyes would send his own men to wallow in the tunnels of pipes underneath amid the filth and human waste. And the mutant could easily blast her way through the metal surface and into the basement! She could literally travel the network of pipes until she could find the closest point to the basement of the Halliwell residence! And with her ability to shatter even reinforced-steel thanks to her ability to generate explosive plasma, she could burrow her way underneath! And attack them all from within before the Halliwells could do anything about it!
Jubilee looked at the scene, studying the number of houses from one end of the block to the other, counting and estimating the distance she would need to position herself until she could reach the very spot where she would, by her best guess, tunnel her way through the underground room.
As Jubilee left to find the nearest, abandoned manhole cover that would allow her to slip through into the sewers, away from the invading eyes and attention of eyewitnesses and onlookers, she didn't even stop to think about how weird and strange it was to suddenly have the idea pop into her head out of nowhere, as if someone had planted the idea in her head. Nor did the former X-Man even bother to look up and notice her surroundings as she fled for the nearest abandoned alley. For if she did, she would have noticed the warlock leader, Zankou, smiling evilly to himself and watching with smug satisfaction at the fact that he managed to ever-so-subtly lead the mutant to do his job via the magical imprint of telepathic suggestion.
It was far too easy. Humans could be so easily led, especially when wallowing in grief and wrathful desires of hate and revenge.
Jubilee would do his work for them.
And soon, Zankou would hold his end of the bargain for Blackheart…and get what he at last longed for so long.
Meanwhile, a certain, blond-haired, female inspector was warily watching the crowd with unease as she held her Service pistol in her hand before glaring poisonously at Agent Keyes who was armed and beside her.
"Still think releasing the footage of the surveillance along with Lexcorp's footage of that Heartless attack was a bright idea, Keyes?" grumbled Inspector Sheridan as she watched the swarm swell and grow in their anger and alarm, eager to watch the downfall of the Charmed Ones. She was with Keyes and his men as they were stationed right in front of the crowd and all lines up, surrounding the house of their targets. To be fair, no one likes hear an I-told-you-so, but considering the magnitude of the crushing, massive crowd and the increasing agitation of both the officers and the civilians, Sheridan was irritably blaming the federal agent for letting this get out of hand.
"Don't start with me, Sheridan," retorted Keyes heatedly as he glared at the blond officer, "And if anything, that footage was enough to give us a chance to gain warrants for a tactical strike against the Halliwells from the city thanks to the hysteria and the pressure from the higher ground for the San Francisco officials to do something and save face in the public eye."
That was true.
As soon as the news started to broadcast all around the world as early as one o'clock in San Francisco, the entire city was in an uproar at the news of the existence of the witches named the Charmed Ones and the prophesized Gathering of Twilight and the new threat called the Heartless. And to make the feelings of mistrust, loathing, disdain, and hate increase even more precarious, Agent Keyes allowed the footage of the surveillance to be added, showing the world that the Halliwells also consorted with the likes of hoodlums and mutant vigilantes. That was enough to send most potential sympathizers who watched the events on TV to join the popular opinion that magical beings and witches were of the same threat as mutants and extraterrestrials.
And indeed, Agent Keyes was taking the force of the Charmed sisters as nothing short of a threat of mass destruction.
The entire neighborhood block that the sisters had been living on had been sectioned off and barricaded appropriately with the yellow-and-black striped tape and with plastic, orange, flashing hurdles warning of danger. All the neighboring streets were secured as well, establishing a perimeter sanctioned off from the general public, guarded closely by numerous members of San Francisco's finest police squadrons. However, that had barely been enough to prevent the surrounding civilians from establishing a bloodthirsty and unforgiving mob outside the very front lawn of the brown, two-story house where the targets of their revulsion and detestation resided. Heck, it took all the arranged officers of the police to prevent people from climbing and trespassing over the brick walls in the back and side yards of the Halliwell residence in order to exact unauthorized, vigilante assistance via mob justice. And the calls back from the police station headquarters said that they couldn't jail so many people for long.
The mob, though congregating as a massive cluster of several hundred, were respectfully if not forcefully kept at bay by the presence of the S.W.A.T. team and the federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security, each and every one of them armed to the teeth with black bulletproof vests, guns, shields, grenades, and some even had bazookas, ready to deliver small-missiles with enough explosive force to destroy a small, armored vehicle with reinforced-steel plating. Keyes additionally had several of his men station in the surrounding houses nearby on the rooftops with high-caliber sniper rifles, with the order to shoot to kill should the Halliwells put up a resistance to arrest. There were even two helicopters circling high in the skies above, spying upon any sign of possible breakout from the Wiccans. But Keyes was eager to fulfill and receive the fruits of his hard-earned investigations and covered every possible base he could think of.
In short, there was simply no escape.
Keyes bellowed out in his white megaphone, making himself audible despite the roaring of the crowds, "Halliwells and residents of the house, this is your final warning! Come out with your hands up, and I promise that no harm shall come to your children!"
Like we can't see the lie in that one a mile away, you jerk, Phoebe thought angrily to herself as she peeked behind the drawn curtains, hiding thankfully under the clandestine cover of the inside of the house. As soon as the news started to broadcast the scene and revealed the Halliwells' secrets for the entire world to see, Piper reacted as best as she could in any emergency. Briskly, the eldest sister had Leo and Phoebe help her barricade all the doors and windows, blocking them with cabinets, the sofa, anything she could think of to help prevent people from storming in and breaking down the house to mob them. Paige had been ordered to go orb to the Golden Gate Bridge and call for the Elders' help and their interference to turn back time and stop this madness before it started. So it was just Leo and the two eldest Halliwell women as they did their best to fortify their home from outside threats, making sure to nail down the windows shut, block the chimney, and jam the garage door, making it impossible to open it from the outside.
It couldn't have been done soon enough. Already, in the wee hours of the morning, the threats and screaming began as various neighbors, people Piper laughed and conversed with so many times and friends and in happier times, turned quite ugly and beastly as they shouted profanities and demanded that the sisters leave the neighborhood. Some of the stuff they said was enough to make anyone's hair stand on end with affront and outrage as the verbal harassment continued for two hours. Some started throwing rocks and rotten produce, leaving several shattered windows and messy mulch throughout her entire house, attracting flies and stinking the place. Some set fire to the bushes and tress all around the house as they tried to further vandalize their home (and Phoebe thankfully had the foresight to cast a fire-protection spell on the house). One person spray-painted the message "Whores of Satan" on their garage door for the entire neighborhood to see. And when the police and federal agents came roaring in with the typical bravado of any overblown group of trigger-happy idiots, the crowd actually got larger and larger, roaring so loudly that Piper and Leo were surprised that half of the city didn't hear the clamor. And the phone calls weren't much better. Regardless of the number of people calling to shout threats or other vocal hostilities, there were also some from film and TV executives and producers, wanted to ask for in-depth interviews and sessions and permission to market their story for the public, hoping to get in on the bandwagon of the media firestorm that was now gripping that world about the Charmed Ones.
It got so terrible and stressful that Leo had to unplug every single telephone in the house.
"Phoebe, get away from the window!" cried out a voice, jolting the middle sister from her deep thoughts and flashbacks as she turned to see a rather agitated Piper, "There are snipers on the surrounding rooftops! I don't want you to get shot! Please, just come over here where we can be out of reach from any bullets or bombs!"
Indeed, the night and morning was not good to the oldest brunette. Phoebe could see it taking its toll on Piper. Piper had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep and worry, her hair disheveled and falling limply on her shoulders, and her eyes were bloodshot and red from the numerous times she just broke down and sobbed, having a good cry at the stress and turmoil and frustration of it all. Wyatt and Chris had been put upstairs, in the safety of their room in their beds, unable to sleep because of the mob and the chaos surrounding their house. Piper sang them songs and fed them, hoping to take their minds off it all, but it was really no use. And it was clear on everyone's minds that they might not be able to escape this with their lives. And Piper couldn't bear it, the thought that she may very well die and her children would grow up without their parents or without a family, to be taken in and treated like animals by the people hounding them. And she was pretty sure that the Friends of Humanity wouldn't have any qualms with kill two babies.
In short, Piper and Leo were at a loss. And things were so grim and bleak that Phoebe was pretty sure that not even a magical spell from the Book of Shadows could save them. Only the Elders had the power to turn back past events and time and alter the precedent, but only that could be done under the most severe and extreme of circumstances. The Halliwells couldn't use their magic to fight because despite the people harassing them, they really were innocents and not demons. And thus, to attack them would be against the code of the Halliwell matriarchs and the Power of Three. And Leo and Piper pored over the Book of Shadows for a solution until they were all weary and dizzy with lack of rest, but they couldn't find anything to erase people's memories (again, only a Whitelighter Elder had this ability), turn back time, or send them to a far away place where they could live in peace (there was nowhere to run to and they couldn't abandon their home and the Nexus).
In short, they were truly stuck and they had no way to get out. And Piper felt like she was going to cry again, her façade of being the strong, eldest sibling cracking into miniscule pieces. And things were even more depressing, dour, and dismal as Paige orbed back into the hallway, immediately jumped on by the other two sisters and Leo.
"Well?" Phoebe asked breathlessly, but Paige miserably shook her head, her face white and her eyes shining with tears of sadness and anger.
"They wouldn't come," Paige said, her voice quaking, "None of the Elders would come to meet me at the bridge, no matter how many times I pleaded and begged. They won't help us, Piper. I…I'm so sorry, I tried. I really tried. They won't help us. I think most of the Elders agree with Gideon and don't trust us anymore because of our betrayals with the Avatars. And even the ones who are on our side like Sandra are probably forbidden to come help us. I know Sandra would come if she could, I know it. But it looks like we're on our own."
"Oh God," Piper sobbed as she wept, her head in her hands as she shoulders shook. Leo held her wordlessly, thinking, before he then said, "Then there's only one thing we can possibly do at this point. We need to flee and escape out of here, away from all of these people and the police. We'll have to try to destroy the Nexus and escape someplace, and Paige needs to orb us as far away as she can. It'll be all right and I'm sure Sam will be willing to - "
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the entire house and threw everyone, Leo and the three sisters off their feet, and the entire foundation rocked and wobbled like as if it was struck by a minor earthquake, the tremors so startling that Wyatt and Chris from upstairs started wailing.
"What on Earth was that?" gasped Phoebe as she helped Paige rise to her feet, "It sounded like it came from the basement!"
Leo's face paled as he exclaimed, "The basement! That's where the Nexus is! It's where the Nexus resides in, where the heart of the manor draws its energy from!"
Alarmed, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige got ready to dash for the basement steps, but they were stupefied when the door to the room below flung open…to reveal and livid, bitter, and unforgiving Jubilee, her eyes blazing and her clothes and jeans soaked with raw sewage from traveling through the large pipes until she managed to blast her way through below, entering into the Charmed Ones' home. Piper cursed as she realized the spell she cast to banish Hawk, Batman, and their teammates on that fateful night didn't constrict Jubilee from entering…because she wasn't present at the time Piper cast the spell on the Slayers, mutants, and Joes in the first place.
Thus, unlike Cyclops, Wavedancer, Hawk, Batman, and the others who had appeared on that night to accuse Phoebe of murder and how the Halliwells were selfish for not helping them combat with the Heartless and prevent the Thirteenth Order, Jubilee did not have the limits and restrictions of the magic charm preventing her from entering.
"Piper, freeze her!" Leo yelled, but before she even could, Jubilee attacked…
---
"Stop this, all of you! Leave them alone!" yelled Spirit as he and the rest of the Misfit handlers along with the Slayers (consisting of Vi, Caridad, Rona, Shannon, Dana, Chao-Ahn, Kennedy, and Faith), the Scoobies, Giles, Wood, the X-Men, the Misfits, and Batgirl rushed towards the front lawn, trying to force them the officers and the mob to cease their hateful behavior.
"Yeah, back off and go pester someone else, landlubbers!" Shipwreck snarled, but if anything, this made the crowd madder and even more enraged at the presence of mutants and mutant supporters.
"We're not listening to any mutie-lovers! You X-Men and Joes have no jurisdiction here, so back off or I'll have my men shoot - !" Keyes yelled, but then from inside the house came several explosions and telltale flashes of light similar to fireworks as there was general screaming and sounds of objects breaking, a sure indication of bloodshed. And then the front door exploded, flying out in a combustive effect of splintered wood and glass before Phoebe flew out and crashed onto the grass, flat on her back and heavily injured. She had caught a stream of multi-colored plasma full in the stomach, and everyone could see that her midsection was bleeding profusely, a gaping, messy and seared hole, and the full intensity had been so great that Phoebe was sent flying backwards to the outside of the house.
"What the hell?" Sheridan gasped, thoroughly confused as Wood, Whitelighter and Dragonfly rushed to help heal the brown-haired Wiccan, Jubilee stumbled out, trying to fight with Leo as he caught her in a bear hug while Paige and Piper rushed out, out of their minds for Phoebe's safety.
Upon seeing the X-Men and Misfits and Joes, Piper couldn't help but scream shrilly with rage, "This is all your fault!"
"Nice to see you too!" snapped Faith.
"Shoot them all!" yelled one FOH member as he and his comrades aimed their guns.
Piper, thankfully using her quick thinking and foresight, then voiced as quickly as she could, praying she could finish voicing the spell before the mob started to attack, "Weapons of death and men of hate, hear these words to keep us safe. Bullets will fly and rocks shall stone, but come no hurt to blood and bone. With this spell I cast this charm, reflect the attacks to those who harm."
The men fired at once, and so did several of Sheridan's fellow officers (despite Sheridan's insistent screaming for them to stop), but to everyone's surprise, none of the bullets and deadly projectiles struck close.
"Whoa!" Iceman gasped.
"They're not hitting us?" Tabitha exclaimed in disbelief. Indeed, it was quite rare and remarkable to witness magic up close and in action such as this.
"No, my sister protected us with a spell! As long as it's in play, none of the bullets will even hit us!" Paige gasped as Whitelighter finished healing Phoebe, but Jubilee broke free from Leo's grasp as she tried to tackle and strangle Phoebe on the ground right there.
"You murdered my parents! You murdered my parents!" Jubilee kept screaming hysterically. But as Phoebe tried to focus herself and defend against the hands trying to choke her (despite Storm and Wolverine trying to grab the Chinese mutant off), Phoebe's power of clairvoyance suddenly and miraculously activated…and she saw everything, including the meeting between Tala, Pierce, and Leland. And at the same time, Jean and Professor Xavier, by some miracle or because the force of the magical vision was so blaringly intense that they had no idea that they were picking up on it, inadvertently saw the same thing Phoebe did.
And it was the final piece of evidence that proved once and for all Phoebe's innocence.
"My word!" Xavier exclaimed as he then projected the image to his fellow X-Men (including Jubilee), the Misfits, and the Slayers before the crowd, now completely out of control, charged, trying to overwhelm the mutants.
Batgirl then exclaimed, loudly enough for half of the crowd to hear her when she viewed upon Phoebe's premonition, "Oh my God! I recognize her! That was Tala! Tala was the one murdered Jubilee's parents!"
"Tala? Who is Tala?" asked Remy, blinking, lost on the strange woman in the crimson-burgundy robes before he let loose a charged kinetic card that exploded upon contact in front of several Friends of Humanity, causing some of them to stumble in pain, but mostly become enraged at the third-degree burns now peppering their skin. Though Gambit was adamant to prevent the hate-mongers from injuring any of his teammates, he wasn't going to sink low enough to endanger their lives.
"She's an enemy of the Justice League! Tala's an evil sorceress! She's an enemy!" the red-haired vigilante exclaimed.
Beast then put it together instantly along with Scarlet Witch, Wavedancer, Jean, Forge, and Giles, saying, "Oh my stars and garters! And Lex Luthor is also a member of the Hellfire Club along with one of Batman and Superman's worst nemeses! So if he was behind the KTSF gaining the footage of the Slayers and the Charmed Ones - !"
"Then he must also have been responsible for sending Tala, another fellow villain who hates the Justice League, to kill Jubilee's parents into order to frame the Halliwells! He and the rest of the Inner Circle have been planning this from the start! They set Jubilee up! They set all of us up! They've been doing this from the beginning!" Wanda gasped as she hexed a bazooka out of the hands of a S.W.A.T. soldier.
"But how do we know it wasn't made up? How do we know what we just saw is even the real thing?" Rona yelled above the din as she gave a swift kick to a man right in the stomach before he could try to bash her head in with his baseball bat.
"Smoke missiles, away!" Razor yelled as he fired several pellets of thick, cloudy smoke, causing it to obscure the views of several of his attackers before he, Cannonball, Vi, and Amara set themselves upon the attackers with their martial arts and fighting skills.
Quinn then gasped as it came to her as she shouted, "No, don't you remember what Hawk said? Phoebe has the power to see the past and future with her magic! She can't have imagined this because her Wiccan powers did it! This must have really happened!"
"And it's valid as well!" Storm shouted as several gunshots rang overhead, "I recognize two of those men from various meetings we had with Charles! That is Donald Pierce and Harry Leland, members of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club! And there is no way Phoebe could have ever known them before because she is no mutant! So the only way she could have seen them is that if this was true to begin with! Child! Jubilee! Stop this at once! Phoebe is innocent!"
"No, I don't believe it!" Jubilee sobbed, as Wolverine dragged her off a shaken but now fully-healed Phoebe Halliwell, but now the others were beginning to see the truth as it logically and rationally clicked into place.
"Oh my God!" gasped Lina, her hands to her mouth, "We were wrong! We were wrong about everything! The Charmed Ones really are innocent! They didn't do anything to deserve this!"
"But you shall all die here, anyway!" rang out a sinister and strong voice from behind, startling both the crowd
As one, the San Francisco Police Department, Agent Keyes and his squad of S.W.A.T. and Homeland Security agents, the Friends of Humanity, the Scoobies, the Slayers, the Joes, the X-Men, the Misfits, and Batgirl looked up to a rather bone-chilling scene.
"What the hell?" Sheridan gasped, her hands clammy and cold against the touch of the gun in her hands as she stared at the distance, now truly knowing the real essence of untarnished, petrifying fear as she stared at a huge mass of the strangest and most vicious crowd of…things she had ever witnessed in her entire life.
"Oh no! This can't be!" Vi gasped to herself as she went for the knife strapped to her belt.
Batgirl turned pale as she cursed loudly, "Damn it, where are the others? Why aren't they here?"
---
"We have a situation!" yelled Superman as he and Batman fled towards the main control room of the Watchtower in orbit that served as the alpha-communications center, the very same room that Kurt and Todd had accidentally let loose a family of hamsters and Tabitha accidentally activated the sonic incapacitator machine. There in the room, the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl stood ready as they watched the scene happening upon San Francisco at once.
"We have to get there immediately!" Wonder Woman gasped, her dark eyes troubled upon the images on the monitors, "By Hera, there is no telling what will happen if those things are let loose upon the city! They are surely creatures of the foulest evil!"
"And Batgirl is already down there, waiting for our reinforcements against this threat," Martian Manhunter said in his usual calm tone, deep and permeating throughout the room.
"I'm using the Watchtower's Mass Device thanks to Trinity's blueprints to set the coordinates into the Halliwell Manor right now! Hang on! We'll teleport there in several seconds!" commanded Green Lantern as he furiously clicked upon the console, his fingers nearly bludgeoning the keys before the African-American warrior finished with a final flourish. There was a flash of light as the seven members of the Justice League were engulfed with the telltale essence of mass energy before they disappeared…
…only to reappear back into the very spot they stood before in the Watchtower's control room.
The seven heroes failed to transport themselves from their headquarters to San Francisco.
"What the hell?" Green Lantern exclaimed as he rushed back to the console, "I was sure I entered in the commands correctly!"
"Maybe we forgot to pay the teleportation bill," quipped Flash. Thankfully, everyone ignored him as they bit their tongues. Hawkgirl then had a sudden thought as she looked at the head of her mace, and the red-haired Thanagarian's eyes widened as she spotted the telltale glow surrounding the metal sphere of her weapon.
"Look!" Hawkgirl said sharply, raising her mace for the other six to view upon, realizing the significance of the luminescence of the N'th metal. Batman's eyes narrowed as he came upon the answer in a split-second as Wonder Woman clutched her hands to her chest.
"Magic!" the Amazon gasped, her eyes now even further troubled, "It must be all around us and the Watchtower!"
"And there's nothing wrong with the systems of the Watchtower according to the specs I'm reading from the mainframe and the Mass Device…" Hawkgirl pointed out in a flat tone, though inside, she was rather distressed and uneasy at their predicament.
"So something must have been cast around the Watchtower, to prevent us from leaving!" Flash said, realizing that things got worse, "And that means we can't go to San Francisco to help defend the Halliwells or the Slayers!"
"And the magic is apparently blocking my telepathy and all transmission signals emanating from or coming to the Watchtower, so I cannot warn Professor Xavier with my telepathy nor can we utilize the communications center to contact the Misfits or the X-Men or anyone else to help them," J'onn said, concerned.
"And it's the same reaction I got from the enchantment that caused Supergirl to fall into the coma, so whoever is behind the same mystical energy that attacked Supergirl and her powers is also coincidentally behind the barrier that is preventing us from leaving," Hawkgirl said, connecting the pieces of the slowly developing mystery. Superman frowned with deep thought as he looked at Shayera.
"Then that means even if we tried to physically leave the Watchtower, we still probably wouldn't be able go to Earth to help Hawk and the others," Superman muttered.
"But it shouldn't have been able to happen!" Flash exclaimed, protesting, "The Watchtower's sensors had been on full-alert and the highest setting ever since Kara got attacked! We can even detect a single grain of space dust from a thousand miles in space! Not even Faust and Morganna have been able to use their abilities to attack our base!"
Meanwhile, back on Earth, a sudden surge of black, telekinetic shadow-force swirled out of thin air right outside the boundaries of San Francisco, creating a cyclone of powerful energy as it took into the shape of a gigantic and magnificent raven before the bird arched back its head and let loose a shrill cry of demonic presence before it disappeared, to reveal Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, the five members of the original Teen Titans.
Starfire blinked as she looked around before she remarked, "Um…Friend Raven, I do not think this is the manor of the Halliwells in which the Misfits and X-Men had asked us to meet as the place that was assigned for a meeting to defend the Nexas."
"That's Nexus, Starfire," Raven returned dryly, deadpanned, before she turned to Robin, her eyes anxious and awkward underneath the shade of her hood, "I don't understand, though. My powers should have teleported us directly into the city, and I could sense the magical energy originating from San Francisco, the force of the Gaia life-essence of the planet. There is no way I could have messed up."
Robin then had a sneaking suspicion, but before he could voice it, Beast Boy said rather enthusiastically with the typical hyperactive, stupidity of youth, "Well, c'mon! We can make it if we run for it! We're still in San Francisco! C'mon! Last one to the Halliwells has to pay for the next pizza delivery!"
"Beast Boy, no!" commanded Robin fearfully, but it was too late as the green-furred changeling transformed into a green, spotted cheetah and dashed away directly towards the city from their position. Unfortunately, there was a flash of multi-colored light before the cheetah hit head-first into an invisible barrier of force, and the touch of contact sent painful and excruciating jolts of energy into the animal. Beast Boy arched back and howled in pure agony as the magic continued to assault him, causing the fur to scorch and smoke. And what made it worse was that the Titan was stuck, unable to extract himself from the clutches of the barrier; it was as if he was an insect caught and fastened by a spider web.
"Damn it, let go of him!" roared Cyborg as he aimed his grappling hook and fired, knowing that if he tried to extract the young adolescent physically, he too would become enveloped into the paranormal net and trapped. The snare attached itself firmly around the cheetah's waist before Cyborg and Starfire yanked back with their strength, and gracefully, Beast Boy flew backwards out of the deadly shield and landed unconscious into Cyborg's arms, now reverting back into his human form.
"Beast Boy?" Cyborg murmured with compassion and worry as he gently shook the singed and bruised body of his young friend, "Buddy…c'mon, pal, don't do this ta' me, ya' hear? C'mon, wake up."
"Idiot," Raven said with annoyance at the green prankster (though everyone knew she was just as apprehensive as well) as she laid a glowing hand on the bloody forehead of Garfield, healing him with her powers. Though it was bad, Beast Boy's chest was rising and falling with his rhythmic breathing, his face relaxed. He was still alive, thankfully.
"It's a barrier of Q'aylath!" Starfire guessed, using terms of her native language, "It is a shield, and it must be all around the city! That is why Raven's magic cannot take us into the city! That is why Beast Boy got hurt badly! It is this clorbag barrier! It must have been formed all around the San city of Francisco!"
The robotic Titan looked confused as he then spoke.
"What the heck? Y'all finding this ta' be weird? How the hell can this be happening? It's almost as if - !"
Cyborg stopped as the possibility hit him, but Robin and the other Titans realized it unanimously at the same moment as well.
"As if someone wants to make sure we don't interfere," growled Robin, cursing the shrewd prescience of the unknown enemy.
"Then no one can help the X-Men, the Misfits and the Joes!" Cyborg shouted with ire and helplessness, "Aw, damn it! They're on their own, and we can't help them!"
---
"The shields are now around the Watchtower and around San Francisco, Marluxia," Saix reported, his scared face and cold, green eyes gleaming in his reflection of the fountain of the Thirteenth Order, the stone carvings of the Heartless watching lifelessly from their respective positions above the pool of water as the black-robed Organization member cast his mystical powers over said targets. Marluxia and another Organization member named Xigbar, who proudly bore a black eye-patch among his scarred face and long dark hair tied into a ponytail, watched with amusement and slight anticipation.
"And can they break the enchantments, Saix?" Marluxia asked flatly, his flower scythe resting on his shoulder. Yet the silver-haired male shook his head, his demeanor cold, merciless, and completely devoid of any feeling.
Saix replied rather irritably, "No, Marluxia, not even the Justice League or the Titan, Raven, should be powerful enough to break the seals I placed upon them and San Francisco. The only ones I can imagine who would be powerful enough to destroy such enchantments would be the Charmed Ones themselves, but of course…they are currently going to be fighting for their very lives. So right now, it is safe to assume that the Titans and the Justice League shall not be able to aid them in this fight. No one can get in or out of the city."
"Excellent, and Blackheart is ready with the plans for the Nexus," Marluxia said as he turned, satisfied and faithful that his aforementioned servant would deliver the prize on hand. Xigbar frowned with his good eye as he spoke in his grating, deep voice.
"But why do this, Marluxia?" Xigbar asked with some puzzlement and a hint of suspicion, "The Superior wouldn't approve of such waste of resources, especially when revealing the magical world to the short-sighted residents of the Earth. Why not let the humans kill the Charmed Ones themselves in the firefight to come? Why cause even more confusion and chaos when our primary goal is the Nexus itself? We can deal with the witches, the Slayers, and the mutants well enough once the Gathering of Twilight comes to pass."
"Because I do not trust the likes of the Friends of Humanity or those fools in the city's law enforcement to effectively deal with those heroes who continue to remain a thorn in the Organization's side. If the army the Hellfire Club along with Blackheart is enough to finish the job and ensure that a good portion of those meddling teenagers will perish, then thinning out their ranks suits us just fine. And keep in mind that it is not given yet that the Gathering shall appear on Earth. Thus, until it is absolute that the Door to the Light shall appear in this planet, we must continue to trouble these heroes in any way we can, for our benefit and for the benefit of the Superior."
"And did you ever stop to think that the Misfits, X-Men, G.I. Joe, the Slayers, the Charmed Ones, and the…Scoobies could be more than a match for the warlocks and vampires? What then? I'd doubt that the Superior would be so tolerant of such failures," Xigbar retorted, his voice now even more grating and accusatory. It wasn't surprising that the man nearly grimaced at uttering the name; indeed, most if not all of the Thirteenth Order and the Inner Circle thought that such a title referred to as "the Scoobies" was absolutely ridiculous and silly. Marluxia glared at the Organization member out of the corner of his eye.
"For your information, Xigbar, I have thought of that, so I'd suggest you watch your tone," the man with the scythe said acidly.
"And may I suggest you remember that I have been a member of the order far longer than you, Marluxia!" Xigbar growled.
"Enough!" commanded Saix sternly as he then turned his attention to Marluxia and said, "And why do you wish to draw the heroes in a larger battle? What purpose would it exactly serve us?"
"Simple: we still do not know the identities of the Sovereign and the Champion of Twilight as well as the three people who contain the Talismans. If there are people of pure hearts and strong souls, it is a given that one of the members of the sorry troupe must either be the Sovereign, the Champion, or a holder of one of the three Talismans. And you also forget that a Keyblade wielder must also reside on Earth. If these heroes do manage to survive in the battle, we can gain a better outlook on which could be potentially dangerous to the cause," Marluxia replied in a smug voice.
"And what if they win and stop us from gaining the Nexus? What if Zankou and Blackheart are not enough to stop them? Keep in mind that those mutants and Slayers and soldiers of G.I. Joe have that damned Leomon on their side!" Xigbar highlighted, bitter. Yet Marluxia's grin grew even more cat-like and malicious.
"Again, I have wisely foreseen that possibility," he said with cunning, "You're forgetting the trump card the Cadmus group has for such an emergency…"
---
There, in the very front of the abnormal and ominous congregation, was the dark-skinned warlock named Kahn, Zankou's second-in-command and alpha-chieftain of war, along with a hundred other warlocks, all of them men with horrific, dark tattoos and wearing metal armor and black, leather apparel, all of it enchanted to be lightweight and highly resistant to attacks by blades and the medieval weaponry that the Slayer girls carried with them. And along with their abilities to cast dark magic and energy projectiles, Kahn and the other warlocks were incredibly smug as they stood alongside some very familiar forms that were moving rather erratically, swaying as if moving to a rhythmic dance, snarling and grunting like savage animals…
"Oh dear God in Heaven…" trailed off Giles, white in the face and his eyes glassy behind his glasses.
"Turok-Han!" Chao-Ahn exclaimed in Cantonese as she readied her axe, clutching it so tightly her knuckles turned white, "There's a whole army of them!"
"But…that's impossible!" gasped Caridad, "It's sunny outside! The Turok-Han are in the sun! They can't go out in this! The Turok-Han are terrified of sunlight! It's a weakness! They'll die under the exposure of the sun!"
But Xander then hit on it as he murmured, "Magic…X-Men, Misfits, didn't you guys say that this Organization is very powerful because they can control the Heartless? And that they get their powers from the powers of darkness? Darkness, as in the opposite of light! Then couldn't they be strong enough to - "
"- enhance the Turok-Han with the ability to withstand sunlight!" finished Bezerker, his blue eyes wide, "Oh no! Now the Turok-Han are even tougher than ever! Like the Heartless that attacked you guys several days ago! They're somehow getting stronger than before!"
"And they're armed! Oh boy, this isn't good!" Multiple gasped as he readied his glovatrix for maximum use and payload delivery, his breath coming out shakily as the sight of the crude swords, spiked clubs, and pole-arms they bore, tarnished, chipped and made without much care nor purpose except to kill and main as messily and gruesomely as possible.
"What the hell are those things?" exclaimed one federal agent as he visibly shook underneath his vest and armor, feeling that his cover next to the squad cars was not going to be enough to protect him as Kahn then roared his only command, pointing a finger at the Halliwells, the human crowds, the Slayers, the soldiers, and the mutants.
"Kill them all!" roared Kahn as he, the warlocks, and the Turok-Han charged, setting themselves immediately upon their victims, eager for bloodshed, death, and for the Turok-Han, a complete thrill of feasting and slaughter. Professor Xavier then tossed all caution to the winds as he then used his telepathy to warn everyone in their minds, hoping to forewarn the officers and the spectators to flee and escape while they still have the chance.
Run! They're vampires! They'll kill all of you! The Professor nearly bellowed, his voice literally echoing in the heads of the civilians, the soldiers from the Friends of Humanity, and Inspector Sheridan and Agent Keyes' forces and squadrons. But if anything, this made the people even more frightened and angry, maddened by their fear and disbelief, and naturally…they lashed at the mutants and their allies.
"Men, shoot to kill! All of them! It's an ambush set up by the Charmed Ones! Shoot to kill! Shoot to kill!" Keyes roared in his communicator, issuing the highest alert and most extreme command ever given to a federal agent. Sheridan gasped at the words as she looked at the federal agent from Homeland Security; this was absolutely intolerable.
"No, you can't!" she yelled, shaking Keyes' shoulder furiously, "There are innocent people here! You might hit them! Keyes, for God's sake, use your head or some people and your men will die because of this half-assed plan!"
But her pleas fell on deaf ears as the S.W.A.T teams and the San Francisco police offices started shooting upon the Turok-Han, the warlocks, the Slayers, and the mutants, causing an immediate reaction of pure pandemonium. Many of the angry crowd that were so eager to congregate in front of the Victorian house as a way to protest and verbally harass the Wiccans were now fleeing for their lives. Some made it out, managing to dash and scramble madly over the walls and into the nearest houses before locking the doors tightly behind them. Others were not so fortunate. Some trying to flee in terror had stumbled on the blacktop of the street, and in their mad dash, the crowd merely trampled them before they could even rise, stepping and crushing them underneath their feet, killing them mercilessly in accidental death. One of these was the old woman who snapped at the officers for arresting the teenager who was trying to use the Molotov cocktail. Some unluckily were shot at accidentally in the mad insanity and folly of the terrified armed soldiers, but thankfully to Piper's spell, none of the bullets even came close to hitting the civilians as they dashed by in frightful alarm. It was Piper's charm that saved them from being shot at to death.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to save them from the warlocks and the Turok-Han.
Many of the children died instantly when several of the cruel and callous warriors of Zankou fired searing balls of energy upon the youngsters, and though the acts of Quicksilver and Jean Grey tried to protect as many as they could by dashing in and grabbing them out of danger or by using telekinetic shields, the youngsters were far too dispersed for the two mutants to stop and protect all of them. And the warlocks were not the least bit emotional as they let loose upon any defenseless child they could.
"No!" Jean gasped, wailing, tears in her eyes, as she saw one ten-year old girl scream as a energy ball engulfed her and sent the child's body aflame. Pietro shook with anger and disgust at the sight of the small, charred corpses now littering the street as he held the two kids he managed to grab out of the warlock's path of destructive rampage.
"You…bastards!" Quicksilver cursed, his face for once broken with grief and rage, "You monsters! You goddamned monsters!"
"Um…Mr. Mutant, sir?" the girl in Pietro's arms piped up hesitantly, "Mommy says it's not nice to swear."
"Oh, trust me, if Mommy was here, she'd let this one and the next hundred ones slide…" Quicksilver muttered as he grabbed more kids and rushed them out of the barricades and to safety alongside the rest of the spectators who were watching in horror from the distance, away from the fighting.
The preacher who was in the street and preaching that it was God's will to punish the Halliwells gave a short scream before the Turok-Han that grabbed cleanly broke the elderly man's neck with a swift and satisfying snap as the vampire and his fellow brethren threw themselves upon the earlier mob of hate and intolerance, being surprisingly quick in their carnage and butchery. One woman screamed so piercingly that it sent shivers all around to anyone who could hear her as another Turok-Han grabbed her and bit down hard on her neck, seeping out the precious life-force of blood. And the S.W.A.T. teams, the federal agents, and the San Francisco police officers did not go unscathed either.
"Oh God, they're bulletproof! Those magical freaks are bullet-proof!" hollered one S.W.A.T. agent in foreboding dread as he let loose several armor-piercing rounds into a front-line assault of the Turok-Han, but they acted as if they were simply being pelted with confetti, hardly even showing any indication that the shrapnel was slowing them down as they set themselves upon some of the officers. They either fell victim to the brute strength of the undead as they were beaten, stabbed and broken to death or they were eaten alive. One warlock then flung a energy ball strength at the mutants, and by sheer bad luck, it was heading directly at Jubilee who gasped, but Phoebe acted quickly.
"Watch out!" Phoebe yelled as she tackled Jubilee to the ground, and by her intervention, the mutant girl's life was spared as the energy ball struck the wooden side of the Halliwell home. Jubilee was stunned beyond disbelief.
"You…saved me?" she gasped and Phoebe looked at Jubilee with understanding, realizing that this was the one window to prove to the vengeful mutant of her blamelessness and incorruptibility.
"I'm a Wiccan. I'm a good witch. I help people. It's what I do. And I would never murder your parents like you first believed," she said strongly, and there was longer any question about it.
"She's right, Firecracker," Logan scolded rather harshly, "Her sister's a real bitch, but Phoebe isn't evil like we once thought. We were all mistaken. The Hellfire Club really planned this one out."
"We have to destroy the Nexus!" Piper yelled at her two sisters, both of them nodded with bleak determination, but as they turned to move to the house, they saw to their horror, Zankou at the front door, triumphant and arrogantly smug as he waved his hand, closing the door and invoking a magical barrier to prevent the Halliwells from entering back into their house. But for that fleeting moment, the Charmed Ones saw, to their shock and dread, that Zankou now had the Book of Shadows in his hand, the protective wards no longer shielding the book from evil entities such as the warlock.
"The book!" cried Leo, "He's got the Book of Shadows!"
"But how?" Phoebe gasped, "The only way Zankou could even touch the book would be if the magic no longer was around to guard it out of his reach! And that can never happen except if - !"
It hit them. Their fighting and their emotional breakdowns. The Book of Shadows was linked to the sisterly bond of the Power of Three and the emotions, tied to the souls of the three sisters of prophecy. Should these two vital requirements ever be broken, the Book of Shadows would become vulnerable, and with it, all the Halliwells' magic secrets, just ready for a powerful warlock like Zankou to use for his own gains. And this included…
"The Nexus! Zankou's after the Nexus!" Leo yelled. As one, the sisters held hands before they voiced the spell to "Banish the Suxen", the very same spell Gideon had advised them to use, the very same spell they committed thankfully to memory should they ever need it.
"From ancient time, this power came for all to have and none to remain. Take it now, show no mercy, for this power can no longer be…" the Halliwells chanted, their voices strong as it rang throughout the entire yard. Yet to their horror, it didn't work! The spell to destroy the Nexus didn't achieve its goal! The Nexus was still intact and ready to be fully harnessed by Zankou!
The Halliwell manor was still as calm and pristine as ever, displaying no indication that there was any sudden, violent explosion of magical energy of the Nexus being eradicated.
"Oh no! It didn't work!" Phoebe wailed.
"It must the barrier Zankou and that huge evil demon-thing must have cast upon the house! We can't access the manor or the Nexus now! The protection and magical block that cast us out must also prevent us from using the spell to destroy the Nexus! And Wyatt and Chris are still inside!" Paige gasped.
"No!" wailed Piper, her hands to her mouth.
"We can like help you get your kids, Piper!" Shadowcat exclaimed, jumping at the chance to make amends. But the eldest sister was obviously less than willing (and even more loathed to forgive and forget)
"We don't need your help, X-Men!" snapped Piper hoarsely, red in the face, "You made it clear that you didn't trust us! If anything, you caused this!"
"Look, we're sorry about that, but now's not the time! You have a choice: either help us fight and protect them or die in this battle alone! Either way, we'll still try to help you stop them and stop Blackheart, so no matter what you say, we're helping you! When this is all done, then you'll have your full apology! So shut up and fight!" Cover Girl snapped as she shook Piper roughly by the shoulder, unwilling to waste any time gabbing.
"Yeow! They're blitzing us! Those yahoos are charging! Watch out you guys! This is gonna get intense!" Rogue gasped, warning them all on her communicator as she narrowly dodged a energy-ball that one warlock hurled at her position in the sky from the ground.
"And they're not the only ones! We're being shot at by the FOH and those police officers as well!" Magma yelled as she tried setting the grass in front of them ablaze, causing a wall of searing fire to erupt in front of the charging anti-mutant bigots, slowing them down at least before they could try to club them all with their bats and wooden beams.
"Bozhe moy!" cursed Colossus in Russian, "So it's not like the other battles before! This isn't just one side versus another! We have to hold out and stand up against four different enemies! This fight isn't going to be easy! It's multi-sided, everywhere! And we can't hurt the FOH or the police officers!"
"Preferably, I might point out," grumbled X23 under her breath as she drew out her claws.
"Oh geez, we're going to die, we going to die, we're going to die!" Andrew panicked, nearly wetting his pants and hyperventilating and panicking already as he clutched his wooden staff like a drowning man clutches a life-preserver, "Oh God, I need to throw up!"
Xi gently but firmly clamped a clawed hand on the blond teen's shoulder, saying strongly, "Just stay with me, and you won't get hurt! But we can't fall apart now, especially if they kill innocent people here in the city! Just stick with me and Toad! We'll fight together, as brothers! Just trust yourself and your staff!"
"Take them! The mutants and the Charmed Ones!" roared Kahn as his warlock army and the Turok-Han rushed them all, cornering them against the house, with a fair amount of the gunmen and officers from the Friends of Humanity and the Department of Homeland Security adding more to the chaos as well.
"Hey, so what are us Slayers, chopped-liver?" snapped Faith as she readied her fists, eager to do some major butt-kicking as Wood stood beside her with his sword and throwing stars ready.
It was going to be a battle free-for-all.
As the Jubilee just looked on the approaching threat, numb and trembling, she realized the implications of her actions.
"Oh my God, what have I done?" she cried to herself, cold as ice in her soul and grief.
Author's Notes: Check back next Friday when the real fighting begins! Yep, this is going to get very ugly, especially when Cadmus sends their secret weapon, and things'll be made a little more clearer concerning Supergirl! But can they be enough to stop this threat, enemies all around and even BEFORE the Heartless showing up? And what of the Nexus? Will Zankou be successful? And what of Wyatt and Chris? Find out in the two-part battle for the ultimate power struggle between the Organization and the heroes in "Knight Takes Rook" and until then, read, review, and enjoy! Constructive criticism welcome! And blame real life for my sporadic updates! Yes, I know I'm an hour and a half late! My apologies, but I hope you do enjoy this chapter!