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

Season Three Episode Seven: "They Call Me MISTER Tubbs!" Chapter Two

Varthan. Garix stood ready, his soldiers arrayed ten on each side behind him. Aljax stood before them. "Good luck, my prince." he said. "May the glory of Varthan ride with you. Hail Neera, Queen of Darkness!"

Garix and his soldiers returned the salute. As Aljax walked away towards the palace, Garix turned to his men. "Remember, it is absolutely essential that Martin Tubbs not be harmed until I give the word. If any of you so much as lay a finger on him prior to his enlightenment, it could spell doom for us all." The soldiers eyed each other warily.

As Garix turned away, he noticed something odd. A new attachment on the weapons of each soldier. "Some kind of new enhancement probably." he thought. "When we get back I must have a word with Aljax about not keeping me informed about these kinds of things." He raised a transit crystal and opened a fold to earth.

Early Saturday morning Martin and Irma met near her home to walk together to the convention center. He handed her a foam cup. "Mocha Cappuccino, just the way you like it." he said.

"Wow. Thanks." Irma sipped the hot drink as she tried to decide how to broach the subject of an actual date. She had been so mean to him in the past she was afraid opening up now would be misconstrued as a cruel joke. She chickened out. "So, I finally saw the list of guest speakers last night. Can you believe how many big names they got?"

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing. But the thing that gets me excited is this." He held up a picture of an expensive new control board. "Can you imagine what we could do with this thing in the studio? It's too bad Nicklebocker will never agree to pay for one."

Irma looked at the paper. "This is impressive. Are they gonna have one at the show?"

"You know it. It's what they're gonna be using for the in-convention broadcasts. Hey, you think maybe we'll be able to get a first-hand look?"

Irma smiled at Martin's enthusiasm. "I hope they let you use it."

"Thanks." Together they walked on, planning their agenda for the day.

Unknown to Martin, he and Irma were being paralleled one street over in both directions. Will, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Matt were on one side. Cornelia, Elyon, Miranda, and Caleb were on the other. Taranee though to the other Guardians, "You know we've got eight people to keep Martin in sight, besides Irma. Eight people to keep hidden from him. He probably won't think much of seeing one or two of us. But he's gonna start wondering what's going on if he sees too many of us."

"Good point." Elyon answered back. "But what other choice do we have?"

"I wish I knew." Taranee admitted.

The two groups met up outside the entrance shortly after Irma and Martin had entered. They went in together, then broke off alone to scatter through the crowd.

Garix's men were disguised as ordinary humans in business suits. Even Garix himself had use a small portion of his mother's magic to become human in form. Together they walked the convention floor, weapons secreted away in briefcases, pretending to be interested in the latest technologies.

"We can't attack until we know the Guardian and the boy are here." he thought. "But I never anticipated how many humans would crowd into this place. How can we manage to confirm their arrival?"

With Irma's help, Martin had found his awesome control board. He was almost frozen in amazement, especially when the technician told him to roll up a chair and pitch in for a few minutes. "Irma, do you mind if I?"

"Go for it." she replied. As Martin dove into the offered chair, Irma took a step back and used the time to contact the other girls. "Anything off yet?" she asked.

"Just some of these prices." Taranee answered. "This stuff's good but it's not worth what they're asking."

"Tell me about it." Will thought. "Matt found some nice stuff his band could've used, then turned white as a ghost when he saw the sticker price."

Irma screamed into the telepathic link, "Will you guys stop shopping for bargains! We're here to save a life not blow our savings accounts!" Several sheepish "sorry's" came back to her.

Meanwhile, Miranda was wandering about on her own when a scent caught her attention. "It can't be." she thought. Weaving through the crowds, she followed her nose until she caught sight of the source of the odor. A large group of identically dressed men carrying large briefcases. At this range there was no mistaking the scent. She grabbed the cell phone Cassidy had bought her and dialed Elyon. The Queen answered on the third ring. "It's Miranda. They're here."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive. The non-human smell is overpowering, and besides that even if I couldn't smell any better than you I'd still have known the second I set eyes on them. Their disguises are paper thin."

"Where are you? Are you in any danger?"

"I'm near the north wall, tailing them. And I'm safe so far, they don't know I'm here."

"Okay, stay with them. We'll be right there."

Elyon hung up and told the Guardians what Miranda had said. "Now what?" Irma asked.

"We go with the plan." Will answered. "Irma, lead Martin through that empty side hall. Miranda and Caleb will distract him there while you ditch him and join us. Matt puts up a glamour zone to keep people outside from seeing, then we confront them."

Irma said to Martin, "C'mon, I gotta find someplace to sit down for a minute."

"Okay sugar sweetness. I think there's some tables at the end of that empty hallway. Let's go."

On the way to the hall, Irma became aware of a large group of men following them at a distance. "They noticed us." she thought. "Perfect, now we'll be able to confront them in the tunnel, away from other people, once I get rid of Martin."

Right on schedule, Miranda and Caleb showed up, 'just happening' to be walking by. "Whoa! What are you guys doing here?" Martin asked.

Caleb said to him, "Nothing better goin' on in town. Thought we'd check it out."

"Martin, I've got to, uh… visit the ladies' room. Why don't you go with them. I'll catch up." Irma said. She was relieved when he went without an fight. Alone, she quickly found the other Guardians. They stood midway down the empty tunnel, waiting.

The wait was short. Less than a minute later, Neera's men arrived. Miranda had been right, their disguises were ridiculously thin. A small, narrow, absurdly gawky-looking man stepped forward. "Ah. The Guardians of Infinity. We meet at last."

"Mystery villain enter and sign-in please." Irma murmured.

Cornelia was resisting the urge to laugh. This guy was so wimpy looking he made Martin seem buff. "You're the best Neera has to send? We'll wrap this up in no time."

The man laughed. "Fool. I am Prince Garix, son of the Dark Queen! And the form you see is but an illusion!" With that, he roared and began to transform. The human illusion slipped away and Garix stood as he truly was, a large and powerful entity, half-man and half nightmarish spider. All eight legs were strong, and every inch of him was heavily armored. "Still think you'll trounce me?"

"Corny." Irma said, "I'm only going to say this once: STOP ANTAGONIZING MONSTERS!"

"Here we go." Matt thought. He transformed and began to create an illusion.

Will held up the Heart. "Guardians Unite!"