Thanks to: Kira, the only person who reviewed the last chapter (sigh). Still, I'm getting plenty of reviews for my other work-in-progress 'Miranda's Secret Diary', so when you're done reading (and reviewing, please?) this chapter, why not go and take a look. Go on, you know you want to.

Random Quote: What's the point of the end of the world if you can't drive through a goddam board fence? ('Cell' by Stephen King)

In the right-hand section of the newly-divided room, Layla, Mimi, Nini, Charlotte, Taranee and Hay Lin stood facing off against Stormy, who hovered above them with an evil glint in her eye.

"Hah! Just look at you little dweebs," she sneered as she surveyed the girls in front of her, particularly the younger and smaller earth girls. "Looks like I've got the easiest bunch of the lot!"

"Hmph! Try telling that to your Ifrit friend!" Charlotte replied with a wry little smile on her face.

"Yeah, let's face it - if Shaz can take down an indestructible demon..." Mimi started.
"...a single witch with bad hair should be no probs at all!" Nini finished.

Stormy's face visibly darkened when she heard the twins' put-down - how dare they diss her hair, her pride and joy?

"So, you think you won't have any problems with me, huh?" she growled in anger. "You're about to find out it wasn't just Darkar who got a little power-up! Ball Lightning!"

A rapid-fire series of blue-white energy balls suddenly shot out of her outstretched hand and sped towards the unsuspecting girls at high speed. Stormy laughed at the sight of them jumping this way and that as they tried to avoid getting hit, and revelled in the sound of the lightning balls slamming into the ground with a dull thud.

"Enjoy that, did you? Well have some more!" she yelled, releasing a dense flurry of lightning balls at a rate so quick it was impossible to count just how many. For what seemed to them like an eternity (but in reality, a good few minutes), the girls were forced to duck, weave and leap as they struggled to keep out of reach... but in their already weakened state, it was only a matter of time before the pressure told.

As she acrobatically dodged one ball, Layla was caught unawares by another that struck her a glancing blow in the side and sent her staggering. That was quickly followed up by two more hitting her full on. She stood bolt upright, her eyes clenched tight as the electricity jolted through her body before she fell to the ground, clutching herself and twitching until the energy dissipated. She let out a soft groan as the pain finally subsided.

Charlotte looked at her friend as she slowly picked herself up, then glared back at Stormy.

"Bollocks to this!" she muttered through clenched teeth. "No more running - I'm attacking!"

With that, she released a flurry of her own - a volley of fireballs that matched their owner, small yet powerful. Taranee, who was standing on the other side of their section followed suit, firing off some of her own in an attempt to broadside the weather witch. It was no use though - no matter how many they released, Stormy was able to dodge them easily, sailing through the air as though their shots were flying in slow-motion. Stormy looked down at them with malicious glee.

"Awww, you can't be getting tired already little girls? Come on, try again! I'll even stay still this time!"

Charlotte and Taranee looked at each other, nodded, then continued their assault. True to her word, Stormy made no attempt to move. Unfortunately for the girls, she didn't need to - with nothing more than a nod of her head, she suddenly whipped up a tremendous gale which blew Charlotte and Taranee's attacks straight back in their faces.

The seven girls shielded their faces to avoid the small bits of dust and loose stone that was being whipped up by this windy onslaught, and all the time they were getting more and more frustrated. Here they were trying their hardest to defeat bad guy after bad guy in order to rescue their friend, and yet right now they were having very real problems just staying on two feet.

Stormy on the other hand was amused... very amused - and she decided it was high time to increase her amusement just that little bit more. Remembering the number she had just done on Layla, she added a bit of rain to the mix, turning a mere gale force wind into a full-scale hurricane. The witch couldn't help laughing at the sight of those girls, sprawled out on the floor before her all tired and completely soaking wet.

And then, with no warning at all, Stormy stopped. The wind and rain died down almost as quickly as they were whipped up, but if the girls were thinking that was end of her assault, they were in for a shock - literally.

Stormy closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her.

"What's she doing now?" Hay Lin asked.

The Air Guardian's question was answered very quickly as from out of nowhere, white sparks of electricity started to crackle around Stormy's body, dancing around her in an almost mesmerising tango. The crackles grew brighter and more intense until, for no apparent reason, they disappeared back into her.

Stormy opened her eyes with a wicked smile and yelled as she thrust her arms out by her sides. Streaming torrents of lightning suddenly poured out of her body, filling the room, bouncing off the walls from the ceiling down to the soaking wet floors and, most unfortunately, the equally wet girls. With no way of avoiding the myriad of bolts, they were forced to experience first-hand why water and electricity should never be mixed.

As they were quickly felled by Stormy's ultra-painful attack, the girls would've been forgiven for thinking things couldn't get any worse...

They were wrong.

Right at that very moment, a horrifying sound made itself heard from the central section of the room - it was a blood-curdling scream of pure agony that would haunt them for many days afterwards.

Stormy looked over to her side and laughed. "It sounds like Icy's having almost as fun as me!"

Charlotte, who was closest to the thick wall of ice, crawled over to it and peered through the ice as best she could. Although the ice was so thick, she could just about see a figure laying on the ground, and... red... a lot of red.

"Oh my! That looks like..."

All of a sudden, she was hit by a bolt of lightning that threw her many yards backwards.

"Hey! Eyes front nerd, I'm not done with you yet!" Stormy yelled mockingly.

That was it. Charlotte picked herself up with a grunt, her eyes burning with fire, her glasses cracked, her sopping wet summer dress clinging to her petite frame.

"I've had it with you, witch!" she growled.

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do, pipsqueak?"

Saying nothing, Charlotte walked slowly into the centre of their section and stopped, before turning towards Stormy and yelling "Fire Storm!"

The shallow pool of water that covered the drenched floor in front of her began to swirl, and thin wisps of steam began to rise up as the spiral of air above it grew hotter and hotter until eventually the floor directly below it was bone dry. From out of nowhere, the spiral of hot air burst into a spiral of flame that grew larger and more intense as Charlotte poured everything she had into it.

"Oh, how cute." Stormy scoffed. "You're not the only one who can do twisters, you know! Psycho-Clone!"

At the witch's cry, a powerful dark tornado suddenly appeared in front of her and bore down on Charlotte's gathering storm, causing it to fizzle as they touched. Charlotte's face showed the strain as she struggled against Stormy's stronger spell. Taranee and Hay Lin could both see this, and they stood up together and joined Charlotte.

"Time to turn up the heat a bit." Taranee quipped as she added her own Guardian power to the fire fairy's spell.

"And now for a extra spin." Hay Lin added as she combined her forces with Charlotte and Taranee to form an even stronger tornado within the Fire Storm. With the extra fire and air currents building up inside it, the Fire Storm grew even larger and brighter, turning from a firey orange to a massive red hot flame which glowed white-hot in places.

The two massive twisters clashed in the middle, throwing off sparks of fire and eddies of air where they met, but despite the extra strength behind it, Stormy still had the upper hand. She was on home turf, and Charlotte's exertions were draining her fast.

The twins, who had been tending to Layla during all this, looked at each other and nodded.

"Come on Sis"
"Let's show her what the Melody Sistas are all about!"

They lifted off and took up positions on either side of the clash of the elements. Together, they raised their hands in front of them.

"Sine Wave!"

Stormy, who had been completely focused on her attack, was suddenly forced to kneel on the ground, clasping her hands over her ears in agony as the deafening screech of the twins' audio attack burrowed into her head...

The moment she did that, she knew she had just made a major mistake.

With her hold on it gone, her Psycho-Clone attack was quickly driven apart and the souped-up Fire Storm attack was onto her in a flash. With a scream, she was engulfed by its searing hot winds as she was swallowed up by the eye of the storm.

Charlotte wanted to continue the attack further, but by now she was running on empty. Exhausted, she collapsed onto her hands and knees. The Fire Storm slowly dissipated, revealing an unconcious weather witch laying in the centre in clouds of steam and smoke. As an eerie silence fell upon them, the girls soon remembered what had happened before - that scream - and their attention fell onto the ice wall that separated them from their friends.

"There's gotta be some way of breaking through." Taranee said, panting. "Fire!"

The fire guardian let off the biggest fireball she could muster, but it just impacted against the wall with a dull 'whumph' and fizzled out. Again she tried, but it was no use - she was having no effect.

"One last time!" she gasped as she prepared herself... but right at that very moment, a loud BOOM shook the ground, taking them off their feet. A few seconds later, large cracks began to appear at the bottom of the wall, spreading upwards and growing larger until finally, the whole thing fell in on itself with a crash.

A few seconds later, the dust had settled, and the girls gasped in horror at the terrible sight that lay before them...

Ooh! So what is this terrible sight then?