Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Two: "Rules of Engagement" Chapter Two
In Heatherfield, three adults sat reading Will's diary very carefully. Suddenly, Dean Collins sat up straight in his chair. "It wasn't a weird dream!" he exclaimed.
Susan and Tom looked up at him. "What are you talking about?" Tom asked.
"When I first moved to town, I had this strange experience that I passed off as a dream." Dean explained. "But now listen to this entry:" Dean read from the diary, "The mage says Phobos has someone disguised as a human in Heatherfield looking for a girl. She says I can reveal this beast's true form by touching the heart to him. We all thought that the new teacher, Professor Collins, just had to be the one. Turns out we were wrong. I feel really bad about what we did to him. Hopefully he won't remember it when he wakes up."
Susan laughed. "They attacked you! Dean I'm so sorry!"
Dean shook his head. "It's okay Susan. They thought I was someone else. Or maybe something else. No permanent harm was done, and they did feel bad about it."
"Dean what did you see when they did this?" Tom asked.
"Can't help you out there. I never saw the first strike coming. My vision was pretty blurry the whole time after that."
"That's too bad." Tom said. "Hey, here's another entry that explains a lot." He read: "Whew! That was close! Sandpit and Miranda came to earth and tried to frame us for Elyon's disappearance. Big problem since it's not like we could explain to them that she's off on another planet. Luckily, Elyon and I were able to convince her adoptive parents to let her come back for awhile. It'll be fun having her in school again."
"Sandpit? Miranda?" asked Susan.
"I dunno about this Sandpit, but dollars to donuts Miranda was the 'Melinda' who tipped us off to look in the Brown's basement." Tom replied.
Susan looked lost in thought for a moment. "That makes me think. I wonder…" She began to leaf through the pages looking for something she suspected…
Aljax strode the line of soldiers, ensuring each one was properly prepared. They were all dressed in clothing that would pass for normal on earth. Weapons were concealed beneath their overcoats. One man had his hat on wrong. Another had failed to button his coat right. These fashion issues corrected, he was certain no one would notice anything unusual about him or his men. They were ready for phase three.
Aljax held aloft the triangular crystal Queen Neera had entrusted to him. A bright fold opened between worlds. Aljax gave the order, and led his men through to earth. They emerged in a deserted part of a forested mountainside. Aljax looked down slope. The huge earth city of Heatherfield sprawled below them. It would be easy to get lost in such a city. Fortunately, they had been provided with maps that would lead directly to their targets.
"Here's the plan," Will said. "These things don't like swirling sand. They won't go through it. Sandpit, we need you to form one wall of sand to herd them from the east. Corny and Hay Lin, combine your powers to make another one from the west. Angle them together at the north and push south. We'll drive them out of town and off the edge of Hoogon Canyon."
"Good plan Will." Taranee said.
Sandpit thought into their minds, "I concur."
"Oh hey! It's like the end of Tremors!" Hay Lin said.
Elyon and Will chuckled at this observation. "Let 'Operation Stampede' begin!"
Sandpit flowed outward, turning into a long high wall of swirling sand. Meanwhile, Cornelia used her power to raise several tons of loose dust and sand into the air, where Hay Lin began to make it swirl and blow about. Soon, a double wall of what looked like a natural dust storm was bearing down on the village.
As the roiling sand moved in, townspeople and soldiers alike were frightened. They didn't know this was the work of the Guardians. Caleb looked up as the sand blotted out the sun. "Just what we need." He grumbled as he and his men, knowing they couldn't fight in the low visibility, ran for shelter.
Across town, all the other soldiers also ran. They expected the larvae to follow and slaughter them, but instead the huge powerful creatures were frightened by the approaching walls of sand. As each one saw the sand coming, it disengaged its fight and ran to the south. Soon all four larvae were fleeing towards the canyon rim. "Keep it up you guys!" Will thought towards Cornelia and Hay Lin. "It's working!"
At the last moment, the panicked larvae saw the canyon rim dropping away. But it was too late for them. They rushed over the edge and tumbled down to the jagged rocks below, where they perished in the sudden stop at the bottom.
Sandpit resumed humanoid form, and the two guardians ended their half of the sandstorm. Together, Elyon, Sandpit, and the Guardians looked down at the dying monsters. "Hey I just thought of something!" Irma said. "Kevin Bacon was in Tremors. We killed these guys the same way he killed the last worm in the movie. Does that mean these things won the 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' game?"
Four Guardians and Elyon groaned. "Girl, that's bad even for you." Taranee said.
Having informed Yan Lin of the girl's whereabouts, Blunk set off into the sewers. The more he thought about it, the better his thought of just moving to earth seemed. No monsters. No imprisoned Cedric waiting to escape and eat him. No Jeek. He could find a nice abandoned control or storage room down here and live like a king. Well, a passling king anyways. Maybe he could even find something big enough to bring Mama over to be safe too.
"Here's what I'm looking for." Susan said. "Dean, do you remember when the pier almost collapsed and you saved me from falling?"
"How could I forget? I almost lost you that night."
"Remember when Will invited you over the next night? She said 'You did save my Mom's life' but I never told her about that." Susan said. "So how did she know?"
Tom said, "You know we never did find out what caused that collapse."
Susan replied, "Here's the answer to both questions." She read: "Went to the pier with Mom and Professor Collins for dinner. Guess I was really immature about the whole deal. But it was good I got out of their sight, because Shagon attacked the pier's supports, trying to destroy it! It was all I could do to fight him alone, especially when I heard a scream and saw Mom dangling from the side. Thank God Collins was there, he pulled her up. Guess I need to be nicer to him now, I really owe him one."
"Wow. No wonder her attitude changed so suddenly."
"Yeah." Susan answered. "Enough asides though. What are we going to do about this?"
Back in the village, the townspeople cheered their saviors. Elyon sent for medical help for the wounded, especially Gargoyle who had taken the brunt of the damage. "He'll be okay your highness," Drake said. "The big guy heals fast. But it worries me that those things were not just mindless monsters. They were smart enough to prioritize Gargoyle as the greatest threat, and concentrate on him."
Caleb approached, holding hands with Cornelia. "Another problem. Those were grubs. As in larva. Which means whatever they are eventually turns into an adult form even bigger and stronger."
Taranee shivered. "Oh man, I don't even wanna think about that."
"Then let's not think about it for now." Will said. "Let's just go home." She held up the heart, intending to transform the Guardians back to normal. Instead, something strange happened. The heart spit out a glowing white ball that circled around Elyon, then passed directly through her, back to front, before rejoining the heart.
"O~kay…." Taranee said. "What was that?"
Will stared at the heart. " I don't know."
"Did you forget to replace the batteries again Will?" Irma joked.
Cornelia focused on Elyon. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Elyon said. "It didn't hurt me or anything. Actually, it kind of tickled going through."
"Let's try that again." Will said. She held up the heart, which this time responded normally, turning the girls back into their normal selves. "That's better. Maybe I need to ask the Oracle for the instruction manual to this thing."