Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.

Season Three Episode Five: "Damascus Road, Part One" Chapter Five

Meridian. Two days ago. Everything was ready. As soon as Vathic turned away from the control panel for the cell doors for just a moment, she could make her move. Soon enough, he was distracted by another guard making a report. Miranda pulled the tiny crystal hidden in her pocket out and threw it into the energy bars at the front of the cage. Turned away from his panel, Vathic didn't notice the brief flicker in the controls that would have warned him. All she had to do now was wait.

An hour later, she made her move. She shapeshifted into a spider and leapt through the beams, which were now too weak to do any harm. Seeing this, Cedric also tried to escape his cage, but was thrown back upon contact with the bars. Only Miranda's cage was affected.

A group of four guards ran at her, swords held high. She quickly immobilized them with webbing. Only Vathic stood in her way now. As he charged, she shot a string of webbing up and climbed it to the roof, where she scurried out beyond the reach of her final captor. Once in the open, she returned to her normal human form and ran as fast as she could towards the passling village. She hoped the one with the Tonga tooth was home. She needed to escape to earth.

Earth, present day. When Hay Lin rejoined them on the roof of the shelter, Elyon said, "I think we should fly around the long way to meet her. Don't let her know we listened in."

"That's a good idea." Will agreed.

Together, they flew onto an arc that would bring them to the alleyway from the northwest. "Miranda will see us coming from this direction!" Taranee shouted.

"That's for the best." Irma replied. "I agree with Will and Elyon. I think she's serious about turning herself in. But either way it's good if she sees us coming. It won't startle her this way."

Waiting in the alley behind the shelter, Miranda stood in the shadow between two lights. She noticed movement in the sky and looked up. Six points of light were approaching from a distance. "The Guardians and Elyon." she thought. Just before she would have moved into the glow from one of the lights, she heard shouting.

"No! Please! You can't take that, hundreds of people are counting on it!"

"Back off or I plug ya! Back off!" A sudden loud cracking sound she didn't recognize. Two men came out the open back door, carrying a large object. As the approached the truck left in the alley, Miranda recognized it.

"The donations box!" she thought. Then she understood. "Those men are robbing the shelter!" As the thieves loaded the box into their truck, three shelter volunteers and the policeman from earlier rushed out the door. One of the thieves pulled his gun and fired three shots at them. Miranda recognized the report as the same sound she heard moments earlier from inside the building.

The good news was, all of the shots missed. The bad news was, it forced the pursuers back into the building, which gave the robbers the opportunity to jump into their vehicle and speed away.

Miranda looked back into the sky. The Guardians were close now, but the truck would be long gone before they arrived and understood what had happened. She stared at the receding truck. "No. No, I can't let them do this." she whispered. Miranda didn't know exactly how fast these earth vehicles were, though she knew it was faster than anything on Meridian. To give chase, she changed into the fastest animal she knew of, a cheetah.

"She's running!" Hay Lin exclaimed. "Why is she running? I was so sure she was serious about turning herself in!"

"We all were Hay Lin." Will replied. "Maybe she was and got scared. Whatever the answer, we've gotta go after her. Let's bring her in ladies."

Together the Guardians gave chase, but even at their fastest they couldn't quite keep up with Miranda's cheetah speed. None of them noticed the truck she was following.

Frankie and Johnny were ecstatic. They had pulled it off. Thirty five thousand dollars in cash and checks intended for the needy, now redirected to their needs. It had been so easy, though Frankie had to admit he hadn't expected there to be a cop in the joint. No matter, it had all worked out.

Mentally spending his split, Frankie leaned back in his seat and glanced out at the rear view mirror. He couldn't believe what he saw. "Uh, Johnny?"

"Whassup Frankie?"

"Der's a cougar chasin' us."

"What? You been messin' wit dat stuff agains? I've told youse a million times youse gots ta stop before youse messes up your brains."

"I ain't doin' nuttin Johnny! Look out your mirror!"

Johnny looked in his mirror and saw Miranda closing fast. "Youse idiot! Dat's no cougar, dat's a cheetah!" A moment later, Johnny realized what he had said. Did a double take at the mirror. "A cheetah? What da heck?"

Miranda saw she was gaining. She would catch up to them in just a few more seconds. Then, she would pull alongside to the left and jump aboard. Even with their guns, she figured the sight of a roaring, angry cat would spook them into running away. Then the money would be safe and she could still surrender to the Guardians.

"It's comin' around da driver's side!" Johnny said. "Get ready, I'ma swerve over, make cat chow outta dis thing!"

As she pulled up even with the truck, Miranda suddenly saw it swerving straight towards her. At these speeds, she couldn't react fast enough to avoid the attack entirely. She flung herself to the left, missing all but a glancing blow from the truck. Of course, even a glancing blow was enough to send her flying into the wall of the nearest building.

When she struck, it knocked the wind out of her. She involuntarily shifted back to her normal humanoid form. Fell to the ground. Through blurry eyes, she watched the fleeing truck receding from her sight. She had failed. For the first time in ten years, tears filled her eyes…