Nexus Nevermore

by RogueFanKC

Set in Red Witch's Misfitverse! The Slayers and the Charmed Ones sense trouble brewing, but can the XMen, Misfits, and Joes manage to protect them from the wrath of the Heartless and the Hellfire Club or will the Nexus be lost in the hands of evil forever

10. Knight Takes Rook

CHAPTER 10: Knight Takes Rook

"What the hell is going on?" yelled an aghast Wilson as he continued to film from the sidelines live along with his fellow reporter, Elana, "It looks like all hell's broken loose!"

"Just keep filming!" the female Hispanic snapped back, hearing the excited and hysterical commands from the editor of KTSF on her wireless headset, "Geoffrey says that this is gold! Cut to me in three…two…one…"

Despite the trembling, paralyzing grip of ice on his stomach and heart, the cameraman managed to professionally turn his lens onto the brown-haired reporter as she did her best to remain cool and composed despite the screams, roars, and occasional noises of energy discharging in the background.

"This is Elana Jimenez, reporting live for KTSF!" she said, half-yelling, "What you are witnessing is what can only be called pure chaos, a battle between mutants, humans, witches, and believe it or not, vampires! From we can tell, the Halliwells, also known as the Charmed Ones, are fighting alongside the mutants and soldiers infamously known as the X-Men, the Misfits, and G.I. Joe and a strange group of criminal girls and odd civilians along with the protégée of Batman known as Batgirl! It appears that they are not surrendering without a fight, and to make matters worse for the San Francisco Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, a new and third hostile group of oddities have appeared out of thin air! Professor Xavier has just recently told us via his mutant power that they are vampires, but it is entirely possible that it could also be a cover-up for another band of psychopathic mutants, bent on killing innocent men and women to protect the Wiccans and their allies!"

"Elana, duck!" yelled Wilson immediately as he hurriedly knelt to the ground, covering his head with one hand, and alarmed, Elana forgot all pretense as she threw herself down to the pavement right before a stray energy ball thrown by a warlock whizzed by over their heads and collided against a tree harmlessly. Elana continued to report, her heart racing.

"With so many individuals fighting to protect the Charmed Ones, it is highly likely that everyone in the fight and witnessing the scene from the sidelines will be in real danger! We encourage everyone watching to stay in your homes and do not attempt to come to the neighborhood of the Charmed Ones! As you can see behind me, there have already been tens of casualties, many of them bystanders of the mob that had gathered to protest the Halliwells' existence! And their children! With so many violent threats converging in this very street, more casualties are most likely, and God help the brave men and women fighting the evil threats to protect us all, for this is nothing short of a war-zone!"

Indeed, what the reporter had commented was true. It was a war-zone, and everyone was being caught in the middle of the crossfire between the respective and relative sides of good and evil in the Hellfire club's demented chess game. The Organization and the Inner Circle apparently knew how to go full out when gaining control of Zankou's armies and the Turok-Han alongside their already-reserved armies of the experimental Heartless. If it was a war they wanted, then the Thirteenth Order would give them one, a sure battle that the assembled heroes would not likely survive.

However, if they thought the mutants, the Joes, Batgirl, the Slayers, and the Scoobies could be an easy kill, they couldn't have been more wrong. The warlocks and Turok-Han found out the hard way that the X-Men, the Misfits, the Joes, the Slayers, the Watchers, the Scoobies, the Charmed Ones, and Batgirl could all fight very well, easily being a match for them. Or perhaps more of a match.

And the past days of training at the Pit and at the Danger Room at the Institute only further honed those skills.

"Inflammo Gladius Contego!" Willow chanted, her hair immediately turning white as a testament of her journey to being a future Guardian, her eyes glowing like sparking jewels of sandstone, before she flung a hand at Kennedy, Dana and Chao-Ahn's weapons before their respective swords, knife, and axe became awash with living fire. Their blades became steel torches, hot enough to sear and cut through steel and sharp enough to decapitate any vampire's head as easily as cutting paper with scissors. Like the times they had done before in the Danger Room, Willow was combining her magical skills with the Slayers for an additional edge against the fight, thanks to Wolverine, Xavier, and Giles' studies and commentaries while watching the teens practice their fighting techniques at the Mansion. Even X23's claws glowed with the same telltale luminescence before her very adamantium claws were bathed with magical flames, the heat hardly burning her and the metal remaining cool despite its conductive properties. Rina grinned at the red-haired Wiccan.

"It could be useful," she said simply before she and the rest of the Slayers flung themselves fearlessly at one faction of the vampire horde. The three Slayers charged, roaring as the front line of offense with some of the X-Men, Misfits, and Joes by their side, ready to strike together.

"To quote the Terminator: hasta la vista, baby!" Xander spoke with some jest as he charged alongside with the kat, Razor, unafraid of the numbers against them as Jake immediately and acrobatically leapt up and delivered a nice blow into the heads of two Turok-Han with a midair split-kick while Xander clashed swords with another, the vampire trying to push the human out of the way with its brute strength.

"For bloody sakes, Xander! This is not a game, so do be careful!" snapped Giles as the bespectacled Watcher effectively engaged into a battle with a vampire, parrying his sword against the monster's axe.

Meanwhile, another faction of the heroes split up with the Slayers and Paige and Phoebe as they faced the warlocks who immediately began hurling energy balls and dark magical attacks of all sorts of varieties and magnitudes. Jean and Willow then both teamed up and invoked a shield, combining telekinetic forces and magical Wicca powers which stopped most of them in their tracks. Avalanche then struck with his ability as he raised a hand towards the pavement, and it began to crack and jerk madly underneath the warlocks' feet, the tremors becoming so violent that the neighboring houses were starting to break and tremble. Some of the earthquakes formed deep chasms in the ground, and stupidly, some of the Turok-Han fell into the gigantic rift as they were separated from the heroes, a great divide that physically hindered them from getting close. Yet the men and warriors of the leader, Zankou, were not the least bit hindered as they vanished in thin air, using the demonic method of teleportation called "blinking"…only to appear directly behind the group of heroes.

"Oh shit!" yelled Bezerker as he and Cyclops used their glovatrixes and invoked Tesla barrier force-fields at the last minute as the warlocks attacked, and by a shred of a second, the energy disks of protection warded off the attacks before it could strike their friends. Beast roared in a animalistic, feral growl as he leapt up and tried to attack from above, his gargantuan hand ready in a downward hammer-punch, but before he could hit them, the nearby warlocks blinked again to safety before some of the others in the group were about ready to kill Beast.

"No!" yelled Scarlet Witch as she flicked her fingers and thanks to her hex, each and every one of the energy attacks narrowly missed Beast by several inches before they turned on their own creators, and the warlocks' last sight was seeing their own magical spells being reflected right back at them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" they screamed before they died instantly. Beast looked up at the female Misfit.

"Stars and garters! Thank you, Wanda," Beast said with extreme gratitude.

"Just watch your back, Mr. McCoy," Scarlet Witch grinned as she hexed a axe out of one Turok-Han, causing the metal head to unexpectedly break off and leave the undead warrior weaponless which was perfect as Cyclops killed it, cutting it in half, with a powerful optic blast of sunlight, so concentrated at the spells the Organization cast on the Turok-Han had no chance of protecting the unfortunate foe from the solar radiation.

However, the rest of the warlocks then decided to play the annoying game of keep-away as they kept teleporting all throughout the battlefield and throwing their black magic before disappearing to safety before their enemies could retaliate back.

"Hey! These creeps are like sooooo fighting unfair!" Kitty gasped as she phased into the ground at the drop of a hat and avoiding the energy strike, "We can't touch them when they keep doing this!"

"Yow! They're teleporting everywhere! We can't hit them!" yelped Shipwreck as he narrowly ducked to avoid a lethal blast of paranormal magic, but Phoebe narrowed her eyes before she intoned in a booming voice, not unlike her own, the winds slightly billowing all throughout the street as she raised a hand at the warlocks.

"Evil men of death and gore, use your evasive tricks no more! With these words I hold you still, no longer shall you blink with your will!"

And instantly, the spell took into effect as the warlocks found they could no longer use their powers to teleport all around the war-zone, now seriously and incredibly handicapped.

"What in the name of the First?" gasped one warlock as he looked at his hands, hardly daring to believe it.

"That Charmed One! She did something to us! We can't blink!" exclaimed his comrade in rage. But then he felt a stabbing, searing pain in his heart before he died, screaming, as the Slayer Vi drew out the knife she embedded into the warlock's back.

"Good, then it evens the odds, creep!" the red-head snarled as she then attacked the second necromancer with several punches and kicks, barely allowing him a chance to throw an energy attack. Desperate, the evil wizard drew out a wicked dagger from his belt. But Magma was not going to give him a chance to use it on her friend as she let loose a stream of fire into the opponent's back, and the warlock was vanquished immediately by the surprise attack.

Vi gave Magma a glare of amusement and thanks, saying with good humor, "I had him!"

"I figured why chance it?" the Nova Roma princess grinned as she then turned into her fiery form and began hurling multiple fireballs, showering many of the enemy with a fiery rainstorm of heat and blaze while the Slayer took care of any close-by threats with her fighting skills and knife.

Willow gaped at the scene before she nodded with approval at the middle Halliwell sister, "Wow, that was a pretty good one. I don't think I could have done it better myself. I mean, a spell that only prevents the teleportation of warlocks and evil magicians while making sure it doesn't affect the good teleportation of us? I think you were excellent and wonderful, um…well, your spell casting was excellent and wonderful, I mean, not that I'm hitting on you or anything…"

Phoebe smiled, amused, as she said, "Honey, your babbling."

"That's one of her more lovable sides, if you ask me!" Kennedy called out as she expertly parried a sword out of her opponent's claws with one sword before she used the short-sword in her right hand to plunge the blade into the vampire's head. Then she sensed a presence behind her, and remembering what Logan told her when they first sparred at the Pit, Kennedy instinctively held her second sword and positioned it vertically in front of her left side.

Clang!

At the last second, the sword of the Slayer stopped a Turok-Han's axe from embedding deep into her midsection. The vampire was planning to strike the unsuspecting girl from her blind spot, and had she not blocked the blow at the last minute, Kennedy would have been dead.

"Hm, I gotta thank Wolverine one of these days for pointing out to not leave my left side exposed!" Kennedy smiled to herself with pride as she rammed her elbow into her attacker's face before changing the grip of her sword and driving it behind her into the vampire's gut, causing it to howl in pain. Then the brown-haired Slayer easily cut its head off by crisscrossing her two swords together like a pair of scissors before she lunged, slicing the neck cleanly and leaving the corpse to disintegrate into dust.

"But there's still too many! Phoebe, couldn't you have used a spell that would have vanquished and killed all the vampires and warlocks at once?" Wood bellowed as he and Roadblock attacked two Turok-Han with a combination of their fists, the butt of Roadblock's machine gun, and Wood's sword. The Wiccan gave the Watcher a dry look as she let loose a cross punch into one Turok-Han's face before throwing it effectively with a judo throw.

"Are you kidding?" she snapped, demanding, "I'm not that powerful by myself! I'm not God, you know!"

Giles quickly ran to the Charmed Ones' side as he decapitated the vampire she was fighting, realizing that she would increase her chances of survival greatly if she had a weapon.

"Here, take this, Miss Halliwell," Giles murmured as he handed Phoebe one of his swords. Phoebe gave the Watcher a dry look as she then used it to stab an unsuspecting necromancer in the back, causing him to die instantly and perish in flames.

"You're a little overly formal, aren't you? Not a good time when we're fighting for our lives," she said in between giving another warlock several swift kicks before ramming the pummelstone of the acquired weapon into her opponent's eye and blinding him.

"I'm a Brit, Miss Halliwell. We tend to have dry, detached mannerisms when we're facing death. And for the record, this is barely anything since I've experienced and survived the Hellmouth in Sunnydale. I've been attacked by better classes of evil bastard than this," Giles smoothly shot back as he decapitated a Turok-Han as it rushed past him in its mad dash. Phoebe snorted.

"Oh, I think I can give you a run for your money on that one…sir," she added with extra mock-politeness and emphasis on that last word as she used her sword to parry the club of a rather gutsy and overly violent Friends of Humanity member.

Meanwhile, Dana got in over her head as she tried taking on six Turok-Han by herself, and she was pinned down to the ground as five of the vampires pinned her down with their strength and body weight and the sixth remaining vampire raised its polearm high above its head, ready to stab Dana in the heart. Yet the vampire suddenly was engulfed with flames from behind, and it could only howl inhumanely as it was rendered into ashes within seconds. The other five immediately back off, fearful, letting go of Dana, and the scarred Slayer looked up to see a familiar Joe.

"You creatures of unnatural evil and enemies of the great Spirit of the Earth shall not harm these children, not while we are here to fight you," rumbled Spirit deeply, his dark eyes flashing, as he held up his butane flamethrower that was connected to the small fuel pack lashed to his back, filled with a plentiful supply of the flammable liquid, enough to burn three or four entire blocks of buildings and houses. And the Turok-Han was not immune to fire. It was no magical spell like Willow's tactical attack, but it was more than suitable. The Joe offered his other hand to Dana who gratefully and quickly was pulled to her feet.

"Thank you," Dana said hurriedly as she readjusted her grip on her knife and her stake, holding the blade of her knife pointing downwards, ready to stab. Spirit gave her an approving glance of trust.

"Watch my back, young one. If I miss any, it shall be left to you to handle them," the Joe solider ordered.

"Meh, you don't have to tell me to kill something," Dana shot back easily as the five remaining vampires of the Ancients charged. Spirit let loose a stream of powerful fire from his flamethrower, setting three of them alight, and considering butane was much, much more flammable than gasoline, the Turok-Han were immediately overwhelmed with pain as they stopped and tried to beat the flames off. But it was futile as the heat spread and killed them all. The fourth vampire tried to leap over Spirit's head and attack him from behind but it was immediately halted by Dana. With a scream of rage, Dana karate-chopped the sword out of the vampire's hand, causing it to drop the blade before she let loose a side-kick into the dead ogre's face. Stumbling back, the vampire tried to punch the Slayer, but Dana effectively blocked it before she jammed her stake hard into the Turok-Han's forehead, causing the wooden spike to stick into the vampire's skull. Dana then got behind the vampire in a swift, strafe move before she slashed her knife across the Turok-Han's throat, cleaving the head completely off.

"Don't get carried away, Dana!" Spirit roared as he continued to set some more vampires alight as Dana threw a Turok-Han into two warlocks, causing them to stumble and fall from the heavy body of the vampire colliding with them. Two Turok-Han charged at Dana, but before she could prepare herself, a tremor actually caused the very ground in front of them to rise and toss them back like rag dolls, roaring in surprise. Dana gasped as she turned to see a grinning and sheepish Avalanche.

"Need some help? Us rejects should stick together," Lance grinned. Dana sneered good-naturedly as she tossed the geokinetic a polearm from the ground.

"Think you can stomach killing a vamp?" Dana drawled.

"Well, I'm no Slayer…" Lance began as a Turok-Han leapt at him from his blind spot, but with months and months of training with the Joes and with Spirit, Lance easily dodged the sword before he rammed the blunt end into the vampire's stomach hard before he brought the bladed end down upon the Turok-Han's neck, beheading it instantly in a graceful martial arts move, fluid and seamless.

"…but I think I can manage," Avalanche finished rather proudly.

Meanwhile, Blind Master, Wolverine, and X23 were charging as a group of unstoppable and uncontrollable wave, stampeding through the sea of vampires and warlocks, unhindered and as easily as if there were no obstacles in their path. They moved like the wind, swift and brutal and leaving nothing but a trail of ashes from the numerous warlocks and undead fiends of the First and the Hellfire Club. Blind Master, despite his lack of sight, moved fluidly, hardly showing any shortness of breath from his run as he brandished his katana of pure Japanese steel (and modified with a protective spell by Willow to deflect magical attacks). X23 was running with her claws still covered with fire from Willow's spell, and it performed much noticeable extra damage as she hacked and slashed away with it. And any vampire or warlock that she missed with the claws in her hands, she simply used the lone claw in her foot to stab them with ease. And in the middle of the two was Wolverine, breaking into a pure fury of animalistic rage, a fury so deep and powerful that Logan's eyes practically glowed under the sunlight, letting loose powerful and bone-breaking punches and kicks, taking care to not strike his teammate and his clone. And the enemy was powerless to stop them. If the warlocks tried to blast them, Blind Master simply deflected it with his katana or the three assassins would simply dodge the magical spell, splitting up, before converging again. If a Turok-Han tried to attack them from the side, X23 and Blind Master would simply stab and kill them with their weapons and claws. And any unlucky soul who chose to try and attack them directly in front was met by Wolverine and messily rent into pieces, his claws so swift that no one could detect and discern them until it was too late.

In this case, Blind Master, X23, and Wolverine complemented each other in this tactic wonderfully, and over and over, the three warriors ran, leaving a clear trail of destruction and death, silent and intent on taking out as many enemies as they could.

Meanwhile, Multiple was truly in his element as he punched his palm six times before he formed a line of sixty-four clones, all of them armed with a very powerful and devastating glovatrix as they all faced another charging faction of Turok-Han, all of them armed with swords and axes. Yet thanks to careful and meticulous training by Jake, Multiple was very familiar with his weapon as

"Semtex missiles…AWAY!" yelled all the Jamie clones in unison, and the Turok-Han just wondered dumbly at the approaching and unfamiliar little objects leaving behind trailing lines of smoke as they flew in the air and spiraled directly towards their position…

KA-BOOOM!

"Whoa!" the Slayer Rona gasped as she looked on at the payload of explosives made a big, charred, smoldering crater in the street, the only telltale remnant of where the vampires once stood. The small throng of Turok-Han had completely disintegrated, and even the force of the explosions from Jamie's glovatrix attacks had seriously thrown back and injured several more enchanters and spellcasters and vampires. Multiple grinned as he gathered back together and blew the smoke off the mouth of his glovatrix rather showily.

"When you got it, flaunt it," the adolescent bragged.

Meanwhile, the X-Men, Misfits, Joes, Slayers, and Charmed Ones saw no end to the number of wizards in sight. Yet suddenly, the warlocks stopped and screamed, behaving very erratically. Whatever it was, it appeared to be affecting them enough to just stop in the middle of their tracks and claw at their temples, heads, and eyes, howling with intense levels of fear and confusion. Several even fell to their knees, convulsing madly and foaming at the mouths.

"By Lucifer! They're all around me! They're everywhere!" roared one black-magic caster as he was throwing dark bolts of energy left and right in the air, hitting nothing in particular.

"It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop!" shrieked another enchanter, clutching his head painfully as his skull felt like it was going to explode and erupt into a torrent of oil and fire.

"By the First and Samhain!" swore a third necromancer, "Not even Hell is this excruciating!"

"What on Earth is going on?" Vi asked, her blue eyes wide and her jaw dropping in astonishment, but a telepathic voice spoke in all of their heads, echoing in their minds as most of them turned to see the Professor concentrating his telepathy on the numerous warlocks, his fingers on his temples and his brow furrowed.

I'm distracting the warlocks long enough so that they don't endanger you or the other innocents here! Quickly, subdue them before they destroy the entire block and all of us in the process! Xavier warned telepathically.

And sure enough, to the teens' collective alarm as a good portion of the X-Men, Misfits, and Slayers charged, some of the warlocks already seemed to be recovering steadily from the telepathic assault. One boisterous male witch even got up and started throwing energy spheres at the heroes which, thankfully by Jean, got reflected back with a simple telekinetic push.

"Professor, what about the Turok-Han?" Jean yelled as she sent several said monsters flying back before they could stab Low Light and Shipwreck from behind, "Can't you put them to sleep or something?"

No Jean, hissed Xavier mentally, I cannot! The warlocks and the Turok-Han are too many in number for me to put them all out at once and distract! I can barely keep hold on the warlocks themselves! And no, it would do you no good to try yourself, Jean! The vampires are immune to my telepathy! I cannot even sense a soul or a conscious mind inside them! Telepathy will not work on the Turok-Han!

"Funny, our powers work just fine!" reported Daria with some satisfaction as she, Brittany, and Quinn held hands and shot at a close Turok-Han with a small bolt of psychic lighting, and the Delgado Triplets were immensely pleased to hear the undead drone howl like an animal. Apparently, telepathy and psychic lightning were two entirely different forms of attack. Brittany spoke on her communicator to Professor Xavier as she and her sisters' collective eyes turned white upon invoking their powers.

"We'll take care of the Turok-Han! Professor X, you and Jean handle the warlocks!" and with that Trinity hovered up high in the air, safe from harm since the spell Piper cast on all the guns made the snipers' bullets absolutely harmless as they aimed and fired upon the three mutant adolescents repeatedly. Ignoring Keyes' men, Trinity rose from the air as they besieged as many of the primitive vampires they could, the sky now crackling with static electricity as shafts after shafts of white, unadulterated mental energy showered down. A good portion of the Turok-Han were completely blitzed with pain, forgetting their commands as they dropped their weapons and shrieked, unable to deal with the agony of the psychic lightning. And thanks to the Danger Room sessions, the Delgado Triplets were able to accurately strike only the enemies without even grazing a single ally or team member.

And the screams, howls, and wailing of the undead were music to the Triplets' ears.

"Bad Turok-Han!" yelled Trinity in an ethereal voice, "Bad Turok-Han! Bad Turok-Han! Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!"

"We do not bite and suck blood!" instructed Brittany as she zapped a vampire.

"We do not take orders from the meanies in the Hellfire club!" lectured Quinn in a stern tone, as if she was a teacher giving a good dressing to a disobedient child.

"And above all else…!" Daria yelled.

"No killing! Bad, Turok-Han, bad! You all need a spanking!" Trinity yelled as they continued in their psychic assault.

"You know, Trinity is really starting to grow on me," Caridad chuckled as she rammed her fist across as Turok-Han's face with a solid hook before slashing the blade of her sword over its throat, "I don't know why, but I'm actually starting to like those little rugrats…"

Then Caridad and Shannon saw another cluster of Turok-Han charging towards them, and both girls them remembered their earlier training as they saw that Piotr was busily fighting two in his steel form.

"Go! I can hold the fort in the front while you get them from behind! Go, like we practiced in the Danger Room! Don't worry, I know what to do! Just get Colossus to give you a lift!" Shannon yelled as she let loose a crossbow shaft fly, hitting a Turok-Han directly in the eye. Caridad grinned at her best friend before she ran towards the metal X-Man.

"Colossus, I need a fastball special! Your position, six o'clock!" Caridad yelled as she quickly dashed towards the metal X-Man with her sword in one hand and a heavy, spiked mace on a stick in her right hand. To Caridad's relief, Piotr immediately faced her after knocking away the vampires he was fighting, and Caridad allowed herself to be held in his strong yet gentle arms before she flew headfirst over the heads of the vampires, high enough to avoid their weapons before she landed on her feet behind the mob. With a yell, Caridad picked off the vampires one by one, using her made to club them or her sword to decapitate them. Confused, most of the assemblage of vampires tried to gang up on the Filipino Slayer, but because their attention was diverted, Shannon was able to seriously injure many of them by repeatedly shooting arrows into their heads and chest, her aim true and barely even needing a fraction of a second to aim. Soon, the vampires were attacked on both sides, trying to defend themselves as best as they could from Caridad's physical melee attacks and from the deadly shafts that rained the sky and embedded into their heads and bodies rather painfully.

Split into two like this, they all succumbed to the deadly teamwork of the two Slayers.

Willow then saw a warlock approaching Colossus from behind…

"Colossus, here!" Willow yelled as she flung a hand at the Russian X-Man's steel form, and there was a faint shimmer in the air before Piotr felt a strange yet surprisingly pleasant sensation all over the metal armor of his body. The warlock then snarled as he then summoned a shaft of black-lightning and flung it at the young adult. But to Colossus' immense surprise, the magic bounced off the steel-skin and ricocheted back at the wizard, incinerating him under the crackling bolts of darkness as he howled in agony before dying in flames. Piotr blinked before he turned to Willow.

"I placed a reflective spell on your armor!" Willow exclaimed, "I didn't want to chance it and hope that your mutation could be enough to ward off any magical attacks and dark magic! As long as you stay in that form, you should be able to reflect back any magical attacks…I think."

"Comrade, thank you!" Colossus praised as he nodded before he charged, roaring mightily, with his fists ready at ten vampires at once, all of them armed with swords and axes and polearms. The vampires snarled as they blitzed the mutant, hacking away with their weapons and blades, but to their dumb astonishment, the weapons broke upon contact of the unbreakable, organic-steel, leaving the Turok-Han dumbfounded as they just stared lifelessly at their ruined armaments. Which was exactly how Colossus was able to pound them out of mortal existence as his fists went flying, multiplied in strength many times by his mutation. Two of the Turok-Han immediately crumbled into the dust when Colossus took off their heads in a single backhand, and six of the group then leapt up and tackled the mutant, trying to pin him down and claws at his flesh while hanging on his body. But like the others, they were sent flying by the strong-man's fists, so powerful and formidable that many of the Turok-Han disintegrated into dust in the air before they could crash to the ground.

At the same time, Blob was furiously fighting alongside Chao-Ahn as they fought together against a crowd of Turok-Han (much to Dragonfly's brief jealously, even though the adults and Giles and Wood surmised that based on their past training, Lina would be of more help fighting Zankou's men than she would of the vampires). Remembering their training, Blob struck wildly, and his impenetrable skin was strong enough to withstand the teeth, claws and weapons of the vampires as he charged with Chao-Ahn on his back, using her flaming axe to slice and hack at any vampire who tried to get on Blob's shoulder and back. One lone and daring Turok-Han managed to latch on the fat mutant's back, but several rams with the butt of her axe followed by a downward slash with her weapon caused the Turok-Han to wither and die as Chao-Ahn killed it. And none of the vampires were able to stand up and restrain Blob as he roared, his fists battering poor vampires left and right as he trampled them with his massive weight, not even faltering in the least bit.

Fred was not known as the "unmovable" Misfit for nothing. And with Chao-Ahn and Blob acting together, they managed to beat down a path of flattened, crushed and hacked bodies that were dying and turning into dust under the sunlight, almost exactly like X23, Blind Master, and Wolverine's tactic.

"Hiya!" yelled Batgirl as she let loose a swift kick into a vampire's stomach before strafing herself to the side and throwing the stunned Turok-Han far from her person with a fierce judo move. Faith was watching Batgirl's back as she single-handedly managed to throw off two Turok-Han who were trying to pin her down and stab her with their polearms. Many tried, but none of them were the least bit successful as the two girls used their fists and martial art skills to beat them back.

"There's still too many! We can't keep this up!" Bobby gasped as he and Jubilee teamed up their attacks with a mixture of ice energy and artic plasma to incapacitate several warlocks instantly.

"We cannot give up, Iceman!" Storm yelled as she hovered high into the air, summoning a furious storm of hail and snow, calling forth in the midst of the suddenly darkened skies, "Winds of the cold and ice, beat back those who oppose the nature of elements! Drive back the unholy alliance!"

The warlocks and the Turok-Han screamed and howled as they were suddenly hammered from all sides with hail the size of gold-balls and sub-zero temperatures, unable to function as ice started to gather in their limbs and seem into their bodies. A few dark magic-users tried to cast their dark spells on Ororo, but she sent down many shafts of lightning additionally, causing many to perish instantly.

"This should help though!" yelled Quicksilver to Iceman as he dashed in between the vampires and warlocks, snatching whatever crude weapons and swords he could reach, moving so swiftly in a blur that they could hardly see the albino mutant. This was perfectly fine with the Misfit speedster as he ran all around the battlefield, leaving many of the Turok-Han helpless as they suddenly found themselves without weapons. And it wasn't as if the hyperactive speedster was leaving the swords, spears, and axes to waste…

"Let 'em have it, Jean!" Pietro said as he dropped all the crude, medieval weapons in a pile in front of the X-Girl before he dashed off again. Jean closed her eyes and concentrated, her hands on her temples, before the weapons were telekinetically lifted in the air before they shot out like bullets towards one large faction of wizards and vampires. Many felt the agony of being stabbed from spikes in the air before they died. Unfortunately, Pietro then suddenly found himself being grabbed by a black cloud of fog as one warlock completely snared the Misfit speedster.

"You mutant scum shall never - !" began the warlock, but he arched back and screamed as he disappeared into flames as Jean Grey plunged one of the Turok-Han's pole-arm into the warlock's back, saving the albino Misfit and causing him to be released from the warlock's hold. Quicksilver couldn't believe it.

Jean Grey killed a warlock to rescue him!

"Whoa! Since when did Miss Perfect get into Slayer-mode?" Pietro weakly quipped as he took the hand that Jean offered him and pulled the Misfit back up.

"First of all, you may be an ass, but that doesn't mean I want you dead…however loathed I am to admit it," Jean drawled with a roll of her eyes as she let loose the polearm she had in her possession with a wave of her hand and used her mutant powers to sent it flying into the head of one Turok-Han who was starting to get too close to their proximities.

"Why Perfect Jean, I didn't know you cared," Pietro sneered good-naturedly as he stuck out his tongue at the red-haired girl before dashing off with his super-speed, intent on continuing on making new chaos in the brawl.

Jean called out snidely, "Just remember that you owe me one…Pietro Jerk-Off!"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT? I PAID GAMBIT AND MULTIPLE TO NOT BLAB IT OUT!" Quicksilver was heard screaming shrilly enough for the entire block to hear him.

"You didn't pay them enough! And it was Flash who told me that one!" the X-Girl shot back as she picked up another Turok-Han and flung it hard against the side of a house, breaking its body upon impact.

"Bola missile, away!" yelled Xander, copying the SWAT Kat gung-ho method perfectly as he held his right arm steady and fired from his glovatrix. Like clockwork and to the one-eyed adult's great satisfaction and joy, the Turok-Han was forced to drop its polearm as it cried out in rage at being tied up with unbreakable rope of diamond-fibers and adamantium coils, the very same lassos that Trinity had constructed. Bound with its arms lashed tightly to its sides, the Turok-Han was helpless to do anything as Giles took advantage of the moment of intervention and cleanly sliced the vampire's head cleanly off.

The Turok-Han disintegrated into dust. Giles gave Xander a deadpanned look as Xander grinned dumbly.

"I guess I'm not the one who needs to be careful, huh, G?" the dark-haired young adult bragged.

"Oh do shut up, and go help the X-Men with the police officers. I daresay that they could use the help much more than we could!" Giles said brusquely, clearly indicating that he was not in the mood for foolishness and banter, as he picked up the fallen vampire's polearm and used it to stab a passing-by warlock in the stomach, causing the wizard to scream and perish in a mess of flames.

Razor seemed to be in complete agreement as he nimbly avoided being stabbed and decapitated by two Turok-Hans' using a sword and an axe, calling out in between his gymnastic moves, "Xander, go! We'll be all right! Just help the other kittens! Hee-ya!"

The ex-SWAT Kat yowled this last word as he managed to do a one-handed cartwheel and solidly kicked the vampire directly in its head with a downward kick while Giles rushed in to block and distract the other undead soldier before it could attack Jake's back. Xander obediently took off.

Meanwhile, Cannonball was being besieged by several warlocks before one stray magic attack cast by an enchanter hit his gravitational shield, causing the young, brown-haired mutant to go flying off-course and crashing through the front door of a nearby house.

"Sammy!" gasped Tabitha before she made a plasma-bomb the size of basketball and hurled it at the warlocks, but it only managed to kill one of them before the other two shot several energy balls at the X-Girl.

"Boom-Boom, watch out!" screamed Dragonfly as she got in front of the X-Man.

The warlock, grinned, expecting Lina to die alongside her friend in her foolish sacrifice.

But what the enemy didn't expect was Dragonfly to immediately draw her wings and fold them in front of her body before the two blasts struck her insect-appendages, and there was a soft glow of multi-colored light before Lina threw her wings outward and hit the orbs of magic with her wings before returning them directly back at the magical foe, like a tennis player.

The warlock gave a final scream as the energy balls struck him and a stray Turok-Han in the background, causing the both of them to perish and collapse into ashes.

"What in the name of the dark kingdom?" yelled the first warlock who was witnessing this, and Lina grinned knowingly, immensely glad that her preparation worked.

"Willow enchanted my wings with a spell that reflects any magical attacks," the insect girl bragged, "A little thing we came up with while training at the Pit. Care to throw me another one? I'll have no problem returning it back to you in full."

Meanwhile, Sam found himself groggily coming back to consciousness before he found himself under the outraged and livid glares of a couple. Looking past the husband and wife, Cannonball realized that in his descent, he took out the entire front side of their house, leaving nothing more than a gaping, jagged hole of where the front door used to be.

"Uh…" Sam gulped before he gave a rather awkward smile, "Uh…sorry about your front door. Uh, heh-heh, bye! Have to go fight some warlocks and all the country-boy stuff!"

And before the husband and wife could even scream in surprise and rage, Cannonball rocketed out of the now ruined house before rushing directly towards the same warlock that attacked Boom-Boom, at killing speeds and with enough force to demolish a runaway train. Because Tabitha was so busy trying to fling multiple handfuls of marble-sized plasma-bombs at the dark wizard, his attention was too completely distracted by the X-Girl to even think about blinking. Which was exactly how Cannonball was able to catch the being unaware until it was too late…

"Hey, wizard-boy! Try blasting this mutant!" Cannonball crowed in his Kentucky twang, and the warlock didn't even have a chance to scream as the mutant actually tore through him. The entire upper-half of the dark spellcaster's body disappeared in a mass of flames and ashes before the warlock died, torn in half by the gravitational shield of Cannonball.

"All right, go Sammy!" cheered Boom-Boom, pumping her fist in the air before she created another glowing energy-sphere the size of a baseball and aimed directly at a group of three dark magicians as they kept vainly assaulting Iceman, Jubilee, and Forge with numerous lightning and energy spheres.

"And here's the pitch!" yelled Boom-Boom as she hurled the bomb, and with a bright flash of light, the three warlocks were sent flying, immediately ceasing their attacks. This enabled Forge to take the chance as he pulled an antimatter grenade from his pocket, and he pulled the pin before tossing it at the warlocks.

"Shield your eyes! This attack is gonna be far out!" Forge yelled in warning, and all three of the teenagers covered their eyes and turned their faces away as the grenade detonated. There was a short, unified scream instantly cut short as a bright, flash of white light enveloped the three warriors of Zankou.

"Whoa! The warlocks are gone! You killed them!" Iceman gasped as he saw nothing more than a mid-sized crater where the warlocks once stood, "What was that thing?"

"An antimatter bomb! I've been making these groovy explosives since they worked so well with the battle with Trigon!" the inventor proudly explained.

"But…but that wasn't magic!" Jubilee gasped, and the X-Men inventor smiled as he repeated something Giles and Wood taught him at the Institute.

"Number one rule about the laws of paranormal metaphysics, Jubes: energy is energy, whether it comes from science or magic."

"Awk! Let me help! Awk! I can use one of those suckers at the far side of these vampires, awk!" Polly, the green parrot of Shipwreck, crowed as he flew down and landed on Forge's shoulder. Forge nodded before he handed the parrot another antimatter grenade, and the intelligent parrot flew off with the bomb in his claws before he flew above another massive crowd of vampires that appeared to form out of thin air. Polly pulled the pin before he dropped in squarely upon the densest part of the faction, making sure it was clear of any of the humans or mutant allies.

"Bombs away, suckers!" Polly cackled as he flew off. The grenade exploded with a flash, taking with it over ten Turok-Han.

Meanwhile, Sunspot and Rogue were flying high above the masses, adding whatever attacks they could from their aerial positions, exactly like how they have practiced briefly in the Danger Room with the Slayers and the Misfits. Rogue was using her Telsa-barrier attachment of her glovatrix to shield Roberto from any energy balls and magical attacks thrown from the warlock army below. And thankfully, Willow and Giles studied the Tesla-barriers before determining that they would be adequate in deflecting paranormal energy (again, the thesis that energy is energy, whether it came from magic or science). With Rogue guarding his back, Sunspot was free to let loose as he continually flung short pulses of solar radiation, radiating furious mini-novas of orange and black sunspots and light. Gambit was below, trying his best to drive back several warlocks with his staff and his energy card. The Cajun managed to bash in the head of one unfortunate supernatural fiend before he used a five-card pronged attack to narrowly evade the magical attacks of the wizards before they killed two on impact, exploding and sending them in a mess of flames and ashes. Then the remaining warlock's eyes turned black before he summoned black Hellhounds, powerfully built from the fires of Lucifer and the flesh and blood of demons, out of thin air.

Gambit paled as five of the dogs appeared and charged.

"Merde!" Gambit cursed as he flung he cards, but thankfully, Rogue and Sunspot were able to swoop down and save their friend.

"Get away from him, ya' yahoo!" Rogue screamed as she sent a Hellhound flying with an uppercut.

"Back! Back, you dumb mutts!" Sunspot yelled threateningly as he shot a continuous stream of energy directly into the chest of one, barely having enough intensity to slow it down before the hound exploded and faded into thin air.

Undaunted, the warlock grinned as he summoned more and more canines from the underworld.

"This isn't good! Each time we destroy them, that wizard will just create more of them!" Sunspot groaned.

"Yeow! Remy wish we had that kind of power to fight with magic!" Gambit said as he flung an explosive card directly in the face of another Hellhound.

Then the Cajun suddenly had an idea click in his head.

"Mon dieu!" Gambit yelled as the thought registered before he yelled at Rogue who was busy trying to avoid the dark hounds, "Chere, you can steal powers and abilities, no? Then perhaps you can steal magical powers from these hommes!"

Rogue actually stopped and pondered it as Sunspot used a shot blast of his mutant powers to neutralize one hellhound before her face lit up.

"Now why didn't I think of that? Glad ta' see you finally have a brain underneath that empty head of yours, swamp-rat!" Rogue said in a rush as she dove down, hurriedly ripping the glove off her hand with her teeth, directly towards the warlock who was controlling the squad of Hellhounds. Too late, the warlock noticed Rogue as she grabbed his face, and both of them screamed as the transfers of magical abilities and powers were copied from the spellcaster to the mutant girl. Rogue's eyes went wide, showing nothing but a sea of black before she felt the contact was adequate enough and sent the foe flying back with a powerful kick.

"Hellhounds, get the Turok-Han and the warlocks! Leave my friends and the Slayers alone!" Rogue commanded, and like clockwork, the dogs of evil immediately listened to their new master as they set themselves on the army of the First and Zankou.

"Ewww…this is not 'PG' friendly," Roberto grimaced as the Hellhounds tore into the fellow dark magicians and Turok-Han, ripping them into pieces and howling with delight at killing their prey despite the screams and rages of protests from the very beings they were designed to follow and protect.

"Wow, absorbing magical stuff feels kinda weird…" confessed Rogue as she looked at her bare hands.

"Remy is just grateful that cherie doesn't have a mirror around," Gambit said with a grimace at Rogue's black eyes.

Meanwhile, Low Light and Shipwreck were fighting alongside, with Low Light transforming his body into pure diamond, the hardest mineral known to man, almost exactly like Emma Frost. And each and every time a warlock or a Turok-Han tried getting close, Low Light simply tore into them with a flurry of punches and kicks as easily as ripping through wet paper. None of the blades and axe even managed to effectively chip the Joe sniper (not that he would even let them get close) and each and every one of the undead servants of the First that tried immediately received gaping holes in their chests and heads where Low Light stabbed his fingers and palms through. It was faintly satisfying to Cooper to feel how easily he could tear through the rough hides of the vampires and stab his fingers deep into their bodies, ripping out their internal organs (if vampires had any). Shipwreck was doing just as well as he continuously fired from his dual Eagle pistols, making sure that he wouldn't hit any of the Slayers of the mutant kids, the air filled with the sounds of bullets flying. And these weren't ordinary bullets either. Willow back at the Pit enchanted them with a spell that could potentially neutralize any black magic with a single hit, and Nightcrawler further added to them by sprinkling them with holy water. And they did this to Roadblock and Cover Girl's guns as well. And since Willow enchanted them and since they were being used to take out and kill evil, Piper's spell didn't affect them.

Meanwhile, Phoebe was helping out Wavedancer as the Misfit leader was using her ninja training to stab one warlock in the chest with her knife after she pummeled him painfully with a barrage of punches and kicks. Paige and Whitelighter were narrowly dodging attacks and fighting not too far from the distance alongside Bezerker and Cyclops as the X-Men field leader then let loose a powerful and devastating optic blast, moving down many Turok-Han at once as he swung his visor across the entire field in front of them.

"It's not enough! We can't face them one by one like this forever!" Phoebe gasped as she stabbed another warlock.

Althea remembered the training she and Cyclops and Kennedy went over in their tactics for fighting the proposed army in the Danger Room.

"If I had a huge water source, I might be able to! Phoebe, you're a witch! Can't you make some water for me? Storm's too busy to make it rain, and it'll take a while before I can accumulate enough to do the attack in mind!" Wavedancer said urgently as she delivered the heel of her boot into a Turok-Han's stomach before she sent it flying back with a powerful hitch-kick.

Phoebe thought for a brief instant before she voiced another spell.

"Naiads, come out by one and two, help us see this battle through. Give us water from rivers, lakes, and streams, supply us a force to wash away this evil team!"

To Althea's surprise, she was instantly surrounded by three young and beautiful women composed of the clearest waters, shining softly in the sunlight as they floated in the air and looking at the Wavedancer as if expecting her command. Phoebe yelled at the eldest Delgado sister, "Wavedancer, they're good nymphs! They're naiads, and I summoned them because they can provide you as much water as you need for your mutant powers! Think you know how much water to ask them for?"

"I think I can manage!" Althea said happily, encouraged and grateful for the help as she said, raising her arms over her head, saying with authoritative steel, "Girls, I need enough water to sweep away a good portion of those warlocks! Give me enough water to trap them into a gigantic ball!"

And with a smile, the naiads summoned a torrent of water from nowhere, twirling from the ground to the sky in w powerful waterspout, enough to fill a small reservoir, and Wavedancer hissed to herself in delight as she used half of the water source to trap and encapsulate over fifty warlocks and Turok-Han.

"Bezerker, do it now!" Wavedancer yelled, and the X-Man was eager to comply as he let loose a gigantic and furious surge of electricity at the sphere of water, a very excellent conductor for electricity. With a furious backlash of energy, all the wizards and vampires were electrocuted before they perished, leaving nothing but ashes as the water became so heated and surged with hot electricity that it exploded, splattering heated water everywhere.

Meanwhile, Paige was instructing a terrified Justin to successfully telekinetically orb like she was doing (and indeed, the Misfit, even during this crucial battle, was still have difficulty)…

"You have to focus and picture it, Justin!" Paige yelled with encouragement, "Not to mention you need to specify the attack you want to orb! Instead of something generic like 'energy attack' which could mean anything, try something more specific like 'energy ball' or 'lightning'! Just hold my hand! Don't be scared! Just picture the attack in your mind when you summon it!"

"Die witches!" snarled several warlocks as they struck, but the Charmed One and the Misfit acted at once in unison.

"Energy balls!" yelled Whitelighter and Paige together. And before Justin could even comprehend it, to his amazement, all the magical blasts disappeared before it could cremate them, only to spear in their hands, and likewise, both the woman and the boy threw their payloads back like tossing a baseball. The warlocks just screamed as they succumbed to their own attacks.

"Whoa!" gasped Justin, his eyes wide. Paige smiled.

"You're learning, Justin," she marveled.

Meanwhile, Kurt was tossing a powder from his bag he kept lashed to his side while whispering with a small object in his hands in front of the giant pillar of water that was still being held by the naiads and Althea in the middle of the war…

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…NOW WAVEDANCER!"

With a powerful push, Wavedancer sent the waterspout high into the sky before the heavens above rained down with water, and to everyone's surprise, the heroes and witches were spared while the warlocks and Turok-Han were screaming, the liquid burning away at their skin and leaving messy flesh wounds, burns, and charred holes.

"What?" roared Kahn, his eyes bulging and murderously bloodshot as he witnessed this, "Impossible! Water doesn't hurt warlocks! We're above such manipulations of the elements!"

"But not holy water," grinned Nightcrawler as he held up the gold crucifix between his thumb and forefinger and the bag of salt in his other hand for Kahn to view perfectly, "The Fathers back home taught me how to anoint it with the exorcism prayers in Germany."

Althea's grin grew even smugger than Kurt's as she clarified, "And if this stuff can even hurt Trigon, a Demon Lord, it sure as heck can stop you and your men."

Meanwhile, at another part of the street…

"Mr. McCoy, look out!" Rona gasped as she and Vi got in front of Hank and blocked a stray energy ball with Telsa barriers…that were coming out of the Slayers' own glovatrixes.

"My word!" Beast marveled. Rona explained as she and Vi got out their weapons.

"Jake gave us these in case we needed the extra protection. He figured that me and Vi could use some additional stuff if the fighting got too intense! And we're not letting you fight alone, Mr. McCoy!" she said.

Hank nodded before he issued a command, "Vi, Rona, stay close to me then!"

"Hey, no fair! I'm the SWAT Kat fan! Why didn't I get a glovatrix?" Andrew whined in the background as Vi and Rona continued fighting for their lives alongside Beast. Rona snapped back impatiently as she plunged her wooden stake into a warlock's chest before he could incinerate her.

"Because we're not stupid enough to give you firearms! Now shut up and fight!" the African-American Slayer retorted before she delivered a right uppercut into another warlock's chin as she madly strafed to the side to avoid an energy projectile. Now a trio, Beast and the two Slayer girls stood as a three-pronged offensive team as the warlocks continued to besiege them. Beast used his fighting skills and his gymnastic abilities to punch and brawl with the warriors while Vi and Rona protected Beast's back, using the Telsa barriers to reflect many of the energy attacks back at their owners, and their knives and stakes were effective at stabbing excruciatingly if an opponent got too close.

Meanwhile, though some of the SFPD officers along with Inspector Sheridan were dutifully shooting at the warlocks and the vampire Neanderthals with their guns, most if not all of the S.W.A.T. teams and the federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security were attacking anyone not associated with the government or the city law enforcement on sight. And upon seeing so many of their fellow friends and co-workers perish under the magical attacks, claws, and fangs of the Turok-Han, most of the policemen and policewomen also turned their guns on the heroes from the Scoobies, G.I. Joe, and the mutants (despite heated screaming and protests from Sheridan and some of the other superior officers in the stand-off). Thankfully, all their gun's ammunition passed by the teens and adolescents harmlessly, regardless of how carefully the snipers and agents aimed and shot at them. Still, it didn't prevent the agents and officers from using their bazookas or charging at them with bullet-proof shields, batons, and tasers.

Thankfully, Shadowcat, Scarlet Witch, Nightcrawler, and Lockheed intervened with the multitude of federal agents with the missile launchers…

"Like Sic 'em, Lockheed!" yelled the X-Girl as she suddenly phased from the ground next to one very startled and very trigger-happy agent before she phased her fist through the electronic components and mechanisms of the high-tech missile launcher, shorting it out immediately before the man could activate it and fire.

"What the hell?" exclaimed the soldier from Homeland Security, "The mutie freak broke my bazooka!"

"Oh like shut up and check the attitude problem, jerkface!" Shadowcat snapped as she phased herself through the armored vehicles of the S.W.A.T. teams, running as fast as she could and not caring if she was phasing through people in the process (if her period of contact with a person in her phase mode was brief, it wouldn't leave any sort of injury). Many agents yelled with outrage and fuming gall when Shadowcat caused much of their electronic equipment and mechanical motors in all the armored trucks and vans to smoke and die instantly when she passed through. And every few cars she passed and phased though, Kitty also managed to graze her hands and fingers along any bazooka or missile launcher nearby, and soon, there was an obvious and erratic trail of dead machinery and ruined, non-functioning weapons.

As much as Piper's spells neutralized the bullets, Shadowcat wasn't going to take any chances on hoping that the spell did the same for airborne rockets packed with explosives.

And Lockheed was doing just as well with his attacks while Wanda was throwing and hurling blue-tinged hexbolts left and right, the air filled with short pulses of chaos-energy.

"Yow!" yelled an agent as the baby, purple dragon continued to dive-bomb her and her fellow enforcement workers, spewing fire on their heads (and in some cases, in their rear ends), "Somebody get that Barney reject off us!"

"Ow, ow, ow! My shield! That dumb lizard of those X-Freaks just melted my shield!" yelled a S.W.A.T. member as his bullet-proof shield was now being reduced to a soggy lump due to the extreme heat of Lockheed's dragon-fire. Lockheed just giggled (well, as much as a dragon could giggle) as he flew and easily evaded the attempts to club him by the livid men and women below. During this, Wanda was actually holding out on her own as she used her military training as well as her mutant powers to incapacitate the federal agents from attacking her and her friends physically. Any bazooka or high-powered weapons that Shadowcat had missed or been unable to reach were immediately rendered useless by a simple hex from the goth Misfit. Tasers, bazookas, missile launchers…Scarlet Witch didn't miss a single one, despite the brief time she had to survey the battlefield due to the fact that a group of the agents were still trying to attack her with their batons. Yet Pietro and Cover Girl intervened thankfully…

"Whoops, finders keepers, losers!" Quicksilver half-laughed with some wry amusement as he dashed in and out between the federal agents of Homeland Security and snatched away their batons and plastic-shields, leaving them with nothing to fight and attack with. And that was just fine with Cover Girl, Wood, and Roadblock as they attacked with their fighting skills.

"Will you creeps back off? We're from the army! We're good guys!" yelled Courtney as she delivered a swift kick into the stomach of an agent. Unfortunately, no one listened to her.

Xi was in a little trouble of his own as he was facing against several thugs from the Friends of Humanity alongside Leo (who somehow managed to arm himself with a baton he stole from an unconscious police officer). Toad rushed in to help, but then he felt a metal pipe take him by surprise and a pair of hands lopped it over his head from behind and press it against his throat before lifting the teenager off his feet so he could thrash and struggle his way out, leaving Toad to kick nothing but thin air. Todd dropped his staff as he choked and struggled, trying to get the man and anti-mutant bigot to stop strangling him.

"I got you now, freak!" spat the man as he pulled harder, and Toad gurgled, trying his best to prevent the iron bar from crushing his wind-pipe entirely, his legs up in the air and wildly kicking nothing.

"Toad!" screamed a familiar high-pitched voice, and before the FOH thug could even turn around, he felt something blunt and lightweight painfully clout him at the back of his skull, causing the man to see stars and drop his hostage. Feeling murderous, the anti-mutant bigot turned, the tire iron still in his hand, to see a meek and scared Andrew, still awkwardly holding his wooden staff.

It was Andrew that saved the Misfit and struck the henchman of Graydon Creed.

"You little punk!" snarled the brawny opponent, and Andrew felt incredibly daunted and intimidated, gulping. Even though the outcome of a fight doesn't necessarily depend on size and strength, Andrew was still apprehensive. But because the man's attention was focused on the Watcher-in-training, it allowed the amphibian mutant to quickly overcome his dizziness and deliver a satisfying back-kick right into his attacker's stomach, causing him to bowl over, his head lowered. Now eager to finish off his payback, Toad growled as he then did a jumping Nidan-geri kick, his first foot connecting into his enemy's stomach and his send kick hitting the man's face, breaking his nose upon contact and causing the bigot's head to crack back before toppling backwards, unconscious. Toad instinctively rubbed his sore and aching neck while Andrew picked up Toad's prized bo staff on the ground and held it out to him.

"Are you all right?" he asked worriedly for his friend. Toad shakily smiled as he grasped his staff.

"Yeah…and thanks for the help, yo," Toad said. Andrew blushed. Toad then indicated to Xi who was still holding on strong with five men from all sides with his claws, teeth, and bo staff.

"C'mon, let's help Xi and even the odds!"

Andrew was still trembling as he quivered, whimpering, "I…I think I can be brave enough…but…"

Toad took the blond teen's hand firmly in encouragement, and though Andrew had no idea why, it was a little comforting and quelled his trepidation a bit. But it was Toad's next words that drove the point home.

"Anya died to save her friends and protect you. If you ever wanna make it up to her and make the others proud, you gotta return the favor! Remember what Blind Master taught you at the Pit dojo! You can do this, yo! I believe it, Xi believes it, and so does Blind Master! But we can't get scared now! Do you want more people to die?"

Andrew shook his head strongly.

"Then let's get 'em, yo! Time for you ta' pay it forward!" the Misfit exclaimed as he half-dragged Andrew towards the fracas, and together, the two charged, yelling while brandishing their wooden staffs and started to attack Leo and Xi's adversaries. Two men instantly succumbed to pain to Toad's leaps and kicks, and Andrew managed to successfully catch another FOH supporter unaware as he rammed the end of his staff into the man's sternum. Furious, the minuteman snarled as he swung his chain at Andrew's head and yelping, Andrew managed to block the metal flail with his staff while Toad took out Andrew's opponent from behind. And thanks to their intervention, Xi and Leo were quickly able to subdue his two remaining foes quickly and effectively.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard the Slayers, the X-Men, the Scoobies, the Misfits, the Charmed Ones, the Joes, and Batgirl fought, the horde just never did seem to lessen and cease.

If anything, the numbers of opponents seemed to remain the same, always large enough to be a threat and overwhelm the troupe of heroes.

"It's not enough!" Shannon panted as she bashed a warlock's head in with the blunt end of her crossbow before firing a shaft right into her opponent's chest, killing him instantly, "There's too many of them!"

"They must be distracting us for some reason!" Chao-Ahn cried out before she narrowly avoided getting stabbed by a vampire's sword before she delivered a sound kick into the Turok-Han's stomach followed a sweep-punch across the face and then embedded her axe into the enemy's skull.

"Huh? What did she say?" Multiple asked, blinking, as he stopped and paused from firing a flash missile from his glovatrix at a small, approaching group of Turok-Han.

"She said she thinks that the warlocks and Turok-Han must be distracting us for some reason!" Blob bellowed loudly enough for half the crowd, translating the Cantonese into English, to hear as he grabbed another vampire with the head before snapping its neck, causing it to crumble into dust within seconds.

"Ooooh, okay!" Jamie said in understanding before he snapped back to attention and fired, causing his payload to painfully blind the vampires instantly as they howled and rubbed their eyes. Which gave Trinity the excellent opportunity to land down and pummel the group into submission with their martial skills. Piper was not in the battle; she was shakily trying to break the barrier Zankou placed over the house with her molecular combustion, only finding it ineffective. The spell was too strong and she couldn't get in to save her children.

Piper was absolutely distraught. She was so numb with grief that she didn't see or notice several Turok-Han approaching her from behind, ready to stab her. But someone thankfully did…

"GAIA…FIST OF THE BEAST KING!"

Piper gasped as the large energy attack struck the vampires and killed them instantly before a large, furry giant landed softly next to the eldest Halliwell witch. Piper recognized her savior immediately.

It was Leomon. And it was then that Piper abandoned all resolve and hope as she then reached out to the one last shred of hope that could save her sons.

"Leomon, if you're good, then help me, please! Please! Wyatt and Chris are in there! Zankou put a spell on the house! I can't get in!" Piper said, nearly giving in the urge to sob as she pointed at the shielded house.

The lion blinked.

"Please, get my kids! Please, I'm begging you! Save them!" Piper pleaded desperately, close to wailing. Leomon gave the Halliwell sister a look of concern, disbelief, and a general je ne sais quoi expression of you've-got-to-be-kidding-me, all rolled into one priceless countenance. It was obvious that he was torn between humoring Piper and engaging himself into the battle with the warlocks and the vampires. After several seconds of tense hesitation in which Piper was about ready to scream at the Digimon, the swordsman acted.

"GAIA!" Leomon yelled as he took a flying leap towards the Halliwell Manor, aiming at the front of the second story of the manor, "FIST OF THE BEAST KING!"

With a mighty roar that sent shivers down the spines of the warlocks and even the Turok-Han themselves, the blast of earthly energy struck the barrier Zankou had cast all around the home of Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. There was a furious backlash of energy, causing the ground to slightly quake from the tremors as the heroes continued to fight for their lives and the lives of the civilians nearby. Then with a faint noise, the very part of the energy barrier that Leomon had struck disintegrated, leaving a hole large enough for Leomon to burrow and hack his way through the damaged foundation. Within seconds, the lion disappeared through the gaping, colossal, splintered hole of what used to be the front upper-window of the Victorian house. Indeed, the hole was so large that a quarter of the manor's roof was completely annihilated and even inside, Leomon was using all his strength with his sword as he hacked his way through the walls of wood and plaster, honing in on the very room where the two babes Wyatt and Chris were screaming their hearts out from the noise and chaos.

While Leomon was tearing and clawing his way through, Blackheart and Zankou were down below in the basement, homing in on the Nexus underneath the very roots of the foundation when they heard and felt the effects of the Digital warrior's attack on the premises. Since the roof of the underground chamber was a bit cramped, Blackheart was sitting cross-legged, Indian-style, with his arms crossed over his broad chest and the Heartless insignia, as calm and stoic as ever. Zankou felt a bit pressured with the apprehension he felt, especially when he was so close to his goal of harnessing the Shadow of the very Nexus itself. The warlock leader flipped through the pages of the Halliwells' Book of Shadows urgently as sweat of anticipation beaded his brow.

"Have you found it yet, Zankou?" Blackheart droned a bit emotionlessly, as if he didn't care one way or the other if Zankou managed to harness the Nexus or not. But then again, after seeing the strength of the Organization member, Zankou had no doubt that to the Heartless demon, the outcome of this made no difference to him.

The warlock king and nemesis to the Charmed Ones hissed poisonously, "I need to find the right spell, Blackheart! I have not been well acquainted enough with the sisters' Book of Shadows to know each and every charm and trick those cunts have in their tome of their ancestors! Give me time! But why aren't you up there fighting that damned lion? He could wreck all our meticulous planning if you let that animal run about in the house!"

Blackheart's eyes just gleamed, setting the dark basement in the unholy, soft luminescence of fresh, satanic fire, as he intoned with knowing satisfaction and reassuring ease, "Do not worry, warlock, and take all the time you need to ensure that the Halliwells do not regain their claim on the Nexus. I assure you that stopping one pitiful warlock from obtaining the powers of the Earth will be the farthest thing from Leomon's mind now that his so-called precious allies are endangered. And she will come soon…"

Zankou didn't bothered to ask who was the "she" Blackheart was referring to, but despite the anticipation of finally gaining infinite power and control over every Earth-bound living force connected to the soul of the planet's living essence, he was a bit curious as to how well the anonymous warrior would play out for the meddlesome heroes and the damned Wiccans.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Digimon was able to clearly hear the cries of the two children, howling and wailing for their mother and father at the other end of the house in the spare room next to Piper and Leo's room. Despite the tight squeeze through the wood-paneled hallway, Leomon bravely and forcefully pushed and hacked his way through, his bronze sword tearing the foundation and walls left and right, leaving nothing but gaping, splintered holes, broken knick-knacks, and deep claw marks in the carpet and wood.

If Piper wasn't more concerned about her sons' welfares, she would have been absolutely and murderously livid if she saw how Leomon was tearing up her second story.

Leomon managed to barge into the room where Chris was sobbing, sitting on his rump, and Wyatt was standing on his two feet, holding on to the barriers surrounding their beds, but the older baby instantly stopped when he spotted Leomon, his blue eyes going wide and his face frozen with confusion. Leomon went towards the bed, but then to the warrior's surprise, a blue-colored shield of translucent energy surrounded both Wyatt and Chris and Leomon let out a growl of surprise as the magical energy singed his claws. And he could sense it, the powerful supernatural force originating from the fair-haired child, the one named Wyatt, the eldest child of Whitelighter and witch blood.

"Damn it, kid! Let me through! You want to die here?" Leomon snapped harshly.

"No!" Wyatt yelled, frowning and displaying his mother's famous stubborn streak. Leomon felt his teeth clench tightly against each other in irritation. He really did not want to do this (and in retrospect, he had no idea why he was humoring Piper).

"Kid, I don't have time for this! Let's go!" rumbled the lion, his eyes glittering with annoyance. The shield still remained as Wyatt made a face at the intruder, clearly showing that he wasn't complying with the requests and making things a lot more difficult. And at this point, Leomon had to wonder if the Charmed Ones' children were even bigger pains in the ass than the X-Men, Misfits, and Joes combined.

Leomon then remembered the King's words echoing in his mind, once advising him, eons ago in the past, like a distant yet detailed memory…

Leomon, never treat children as if they were stupid or dimwitted when in reality, they could be the most observant and understanding beings of any race, even when it doesn't seem apparent. If you want a child's trust, you have to talk with them as an equal and show that you don't mean them harm. They may be small, but I've never come across a little guy or gal who doesn't have good instincts. Kids are smarter than they look…

It was so odd to recollect the person's voice…but not the speaker's face.

Leomon cursed mentally for having to do this, darkly thinking that his boss had better be right (he had his pride to think about). And to Chris and Wyatt's amazements, the lion knelt and laid down his sword in front of him, symbolically laying down his weapon for the two to see. Chris was still whimpering but Wyatt's eyes were shining, not with fear but with awe and surprise. Neither warlock nor enemy that had ever attacked his mother and his aunts ever humbled themselves like this before.

Wyatt looked at Leomon, his blue eyes wide and his face apprehensive, studying him. Leomon looked at the child before he growled softly, "I was sent by your mother. If you do not trust me…you and your brother will die. I give you my word that I shall not harm you, but you must trust me."

After several slow and agonizing moments, in which the lion was contemplating on abandoning all pretenses and trying to get the two sons of Piper by any force necessary, the azure shield around the two babes faded gently. Wyatt let out a child-like giggle as Leomon sheathed his sword, rushed over, and scooped the two up in his arms.

Meanwhile, outside, Piper just continued looking on, aghast with her hands to her mouth to stifle her sobs, thinking and picturing the absolute worst-case scenario. Wyatt and Chris could already be dead. They may have been taken hostage by Zankou and his warlock commanders. Leomon may not have even found them yet. He could be besieged by more of Zankou's followers that were clandestinely hiding in the manor…

Piper let out her breath in a rush as Leomon pounced back out of the house with Chris and Wyatt in his arms, landing gracefully on the grass of the manor's front lawn, and Piper was actually weeping with relief as she and Leo rushed over to the lion and took their baby sons from the broad, furry arms, but then Leomon's head snapped as he sensed something tear through the air up above them. But before he could grab the sword from his belt, the Halliwell sister acted first.

"Look out!" Piper screamed as she then flung a hand behind Leomon and used her powers to freeze the deadly stream of black fire before it could hit the Digimon directly in the back. Her temporal stasis abilities saved the swordsman's life. Piper then flicked her hand at the frozen stream before it exploded down to the molecular level, fading into miniscule fragments before vanishing and extinguishing entirely. And the act got everyone's attention as they fought the best they could while glancing up at the scene.

"Whoa! What the heck?" gasped Iceman as he froze a good portion of the street, stopping most of the targeted vampires and warlocks as he and his teammates looked at what Piper, Leo, and Leomon. There, in the sky, was a young woman, possibly just barely past her teenager years and around the age of nineteen or twenty. She had peach-colored skin, piercing blue eyes that were displaying a care-free attitude of amusement, and shoulder-length blond hair, trimmed short in a very stylish way. And to everyone's amazements, she was hovering in the air, flying of her own will. And to some of the Slayers and X-Girls' disgust, the youth was wearing a tight-fit white uniform that consisted of a somewhat revealing, long-sleeved top that displayed her cleavage and ample-bosom and a tight miniskirt that barely reached her knees along with matching, high-heeled boots. And there she remained suspended in the air, her arms crossed over her chest, frowning and yet smiling superiorly upon the crowd down below. And what was even more shocking was that this youth looked so much like…

"Kara?" gasped Batgirl as she let her arm holding her two Batarangs go limp and fall at her side.

"What in the name of the Great Beast?" cursed the lion-swordsman as he looked up the scene, truly taken aback.

"She looks just like Supergirl! Well…if not a little cuter," Bezerker said with a slight grin of attraction, and the blond-haired stranger gave a slightly haughty sneer in response.

"Not quite, X-Geek," she said, "I'm her clone, and obviously a lot more perfect than the sorry original."

"Supergirl has a clone? Batgirl, why didn't you tell us?" X23 yelled in disbelief as she stabbed a Turok-Han with several furious butterfly punches, impaling it directly into the chest with her adamantium claws numerous times.

"I didn't know! This is the first time I've ever heard about it!" Batgirl gasped.

"Who are you? Why did you attack us?" Storm asked in a simmering and restrained voice as she remained above in the air after sending several blitzes of painful, jagged hail directly upon several warlocks. Lockheed and Polly both flew up alongside the weather-witch, their eyes narrowed and growling. They obviously didn't trust this stranger the least bit.

"Meh, I go by Tea and Power Girl, but you wimps can call me Galatea," the blond girl announced.

"Gee, not exactly modest, are you?" Magma muttered under her breath.

Xander said flatly, obviously showing some cynicism and his loyal admiration to the Justice League, "How about we just call you a Supergirl copycat-wannabe?"

"Xander," Jean Grey said with great frustration and annoyance, wishing that the one-eyed young man realized that it was usually not best to taunt an enemy with insults, "Word of advice: it is usually not a good idea to piss off an enemy during a battle!"

"Uh…is she an enemy? Maybe she's here to help us…" Paige asked, a bit puzzled at this turn of events. Caridad then cursed in her native tongue as she spotted the symbol on Galatea's body.

"No she isn't! Look at her chest!" the Slayer cried, pointing up at Galatea.

There, in the middle of the blond girl's torso, was the black-and-red emblem of the modified heart crossed out with a thorny "X", proudly worn like a badge of courage for all to see. And every one of the heroes recognized it at once.

"Heartless! Merde! That femme is a Heartless! She was sent by the Thirteenth Order!" Remy exclaimed, drawing out five cards immediately in his hand and charging them with the familiar pink luster of kinetic energy, but his face was pale, not sure if five measly energy projectiles could do much against a girl with Supergirl's strength and invulnerability.

"Gee, and I thought you X-Men and Misfits were supposed to be the dumbest of this sorry group. Can't see why they see you wimps as threats," Galatea said in an amused and smug voice as she threw her hands up in the air, and the Heartless crest then began to shine, glimmering despite the sunlight before two large wings of black fire, flames that could have been born out of the darkest night and the purest obsidian gems, sprouted from her back, their wingspan greater than the combined length of five cross-town buses.

"Holy Jesus H. Christ!" swore Agent Keyes, nearly dropping his gun along with his jaw.

"What the heck?" another federal agent cursed from the rooftops with his useless sniper rifle, "More freaks?"

"She's got wings like Supergirl does!" Wolverine bellowed as he sliced at another Turok-Han, the feral mutant's adamantium claws severing the neck, before the vampire precursor could spear him with its polearm.

"Except they're different!" yelled Vi as her Slayer senses went completely frantic, "We can sense it! That stuff's made of pure darkness! They're not ordinary fire wings!"

"Gee, like we couldn't figure that one out already?" snapped back Cannonball sarcastically. But Willow and Batgirl's eyes lit up when they remembered the prophetic warning Leomon said in that day in the alley after he destroyed the Heartless that held Shannon captive.

"The angel with the wings of darkness…" gasped Barbara.

"Oh boy, not good. Darkness is bad, very bad! And I have to fight her! Oh boy, this is not good, not good, have to fight vampires, have to fight warlocks, have to fight Supergirl-clone with uber-powerful wings, have to protect friends, oh gee, oh gee, oh gee…!" Willow cried, carrying on in her trademark babbling nature. And Galatea wasn't even done as she expanded her winds wide, and like magic, portals of black fire and flames appeared out of thin air all over the street, showing fifty-odd familiar behemoths of black skin and muscled physiques and giant claws exactly like the one the Slayers and the Charmed Ones had faced so long ago in the alleyway…

"Heartless!" shouted Spirit as he readied his flame-thrower, and Shipwreck cursed, knowing that his dual Eagle-pistols weren't going to cut it against this army of behemoths.

"Great, just what we need! Another army for us to fight! And none of our additional back-up's showing up to help!" the Joe sailor cursed at the bad timing.

"Well, at least on the upside, we'll get to see if all that Danger Room and Joe training was worth it and if it helps us out on this fight against a real Heartless," Sunspot weakly joked.

"At least we'll go down fighting!" Roadblock yelled, readying his machine gun at last, packed full with armor-piercing ammunition, "Heck, a chance to go all-out may be exciting!"

"Yes, but that when we faced only one! Facing a throng of these beasts is an entirely different matter altogether!" Beast exclaimed. Cyclops, however, was still trying to make sense of Galatea and the Heartless' appearance.

"But that's impossible!" Cyclops yelled in the meantime, "There's no way a clone of Supergirl can have the same wings as Supergirl! Supergirl got hers from the Phoenix Force!"

"Yeah, so wouldn't that mean that this Galatea also has - !" but Cannonball's blue eyes went wide as it came to him, instantly struck dumb and silent. Suddenly, the mystery of Supergirl's plight became very clear. And Storm and Jean Grey both arrived at the same conclusion as they turned to each other in horror.

"The Phoenix Force! Supergirl's coma was no accident!" Jean exclaimed.

Storm felt her face go clammy as she murmured, "Goddess, the Thirteenth Order! They must have inflicted Supergirl so that they could harness the power of the Phoenix Force through her clone! They must have stolen the power that Supergirl received from the Phoenix spirit when she and Batgirl bonded with it on Apokolips! Now they have the power of the firebird on their side!"

"Uh, hello? Sorry that I have to cut the clichéd monologue between the good guys short, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill all of you now…" Galatea said lightheartedly, obviously not the least bit sorry as she swooped down from the skies, her black wings now making her the metaphorical Angel of Death.

Author's Notes: Yep, the secret behind Supergirl's coma and the hidden trump card of the Cadmus and Hellfire Club has been revealed. And you KNOW it's going to get worse! Check back next Friday when things reach the climax, and not in the heroes favor! Can they save the city and indeed the Charmed Ones now with the Heartless and Galatea on the scene or is San Francisco doomed to perish forever under Blackheart? Find out in the excited second part of the battle, "Hellfire's Checkmate" and until then, read, review, and enjoy! I'll see you soon!