Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Thirteen: "The Dark Veil" Chapter Four
Sheffield Institute. Early morning. Irma and Martin were on their way to the radio studio when Principal Nickelbocker stopped them in the hallway. "Irma, a moment please." she said.
"Sure, what's up?" Irma asked.
"I need you to make a special announcement as soon as you get on the air. When the first bell rings, everyone is to proceed to the auditorium. And I do mean everyone, there's not going to be a normal first period today. We have a very important issue to cover with the entire student body." the principal told them.
Irma and Martin could both tell that the woman was very upset. Whatever the problem was, it had her totally rattled. "Is something wrong ma'am?" Martin asked.
"Yes. Yes young man, something is very, very wrong. I don't want to have to cover it twice though, so you'll find out along with everyone else. For now, just pass along the message and be in the auditorium yourselves." Nickelbocker turned and hurried away.
"This is worrying." Martin said. "I've never seen her that distressed."
"Yeah. C'mon, let's get to work."
Varthan. Uriah was the first to wake up. He looked around at his strange surroundings, a dark chamber, the corners hidden in shadows. He also saw Judas, Sandra, and Bess and Courtney Grumper passed out on the floor around him. Fighting panic, he worked to wake them up. Before long, everyone was conscious. "What's going on?" Uriah asked, "Where the heck are we?"
"How should I know?" Courtney answered. "All I remember is walking on my way to my last period class when I heard a strange sound from an empty room. I went to see what it was and these strange guys shot me with a Taser or something."
"Same here. They started chasing me, I ran, turned a corner right into one of them. What about you guys?" Uriah said.
Bess said "When I couldn't find Court I went looking for her at home. Those same guys had knocked out mom and dad, did the same thing to me."
"They got us at the park." Judas said.
"Okay… But who's got us? And why? What's going on here?" Uriah asked.
Standing, Judas said "It's time we found out." He shouted out "Alright! Who's out there? What's this all about?"
From out of the shadows came a female voice, "This is about power. Power and conquest and wealth beyond measure. You are here because I would make you an offer. An offer you literally will not be able to refuse…"
"We'll be the judges of what we can and can't refuse! Who are you? Show yourself!" Bess demanded.
"Oh, no child. I am indeed the judge of that. I am Neera, Queen of Varthan. I am the one to whom you will now pledge allegiance. And if you wish for me to show myself… …very well…" Neera strode forth from the shadows, and Uriah began to scream in terror. For once he wasn't alone…
Sheffield. The entire student body was assembled as ordered. The Guardians and their friends were seated together near the front. "Any idea what this is about Irma?" Cornelia asked.
"None. Nickelbocker wouldn't tell Martin and me anything."
"It must be pretty big if she wouldn't let you just tell us over the air." Cornelia mused. "I wonder what's up?"
"Whatever it is, she was really upset about it." Martin said.
Will said, "Well here she comes. And… whoa… Aren't those the two cops that were investigating Elyon's 'disappearance' awhile back?"
"That's them alright." Miranda said.
"If the police are in on this it's gotta be really serious." Hay Lin noted.
Principal Nickelbocker stepped to the podium and addressed her students. "Good morning. I need all of you to listen carefully, because we have a serious problem to deal with. This morning, I was notified by the Heatherfield Police Department that the parents of five of our students have reported them missing." A subtle gasp went through the assembled students. The principal continued, "Uriah Dunn, Sandra Oswald, Judas Ananias, and both Bess and Courtney Grumper are officially missing. I'll turn this over to the detectives now."
"Guys, does this sound way too familiar to all of you?" Will thought.
"Totally." Cornelia responded. "Here we go again."
"One way or another, Heart of a world or not, I'm getting real keen on the idea of shutting Neera down for good." Elyon answered.
On the stage, the first detective stepped to the podium and said "We believe that your classmates have been kidnapped, as opposed to simply running away. Given their friendship, we would normally suspect runaway as the explanation, however the Grumper sister's parents were assaulted and knocked unconscious in their home by the kidnappers. If anyone here has any information for us, please come see me or my partner after this assembly is over."
The detective then gave the description of the attackers he had received from the Grumper's parents. The girls recognized it as the uniform Neera's soldiers wore. After warning the teens to avoid and immediately report anyone matching the description, he turned the podium back over to the principal, who dismissed them.
The Guardians gathered together just outside the auditorium. "Is this ever gonna stop?" Taranee asked.
"Only if we make it stop." Will answered. "We've got to take the fight to Neera one way or another."
"Will she's a heart." Matt said. "A fully powered heart with a huge army. We can't just barge in and fight her straight up. You've seen the trouble we have with just her soldiers."
Elyon said "But we can't just leave them there. We've got to rescue them."
"Of course we do. But we need to plan this out. Both times we've gone to Varthan we've barely gotten back out alive. A good strategy will help that. In the meantime, it's unlikely Neera will actually hurt them too badly. Remember, if she took them she needs them." Caleb said.
"She hurt Miranda." Will pointed out.
Miranda said "Yeah, but only after I beat her at her own game. And I only did that because of you guys. I kinda doubt these guys will have what it takes, they don't have anyone to help them."
Just then Irma's phone buzzed. She looked to see a text message from her father: "Call me ASAP" it read.
Irma called back. "Hey Pops what's up? Yeah, we just heard. They wanna what? Yeah, I guess that does make sense. Okay, thanks for the heads-up." Hanging up she looked to her friends. "Dad says they're gonna want to talk to me. They recognized the similarity to his description of the men who attacked him and the Grumper's attackers."
"What are you gonna do?" Will asked.
"Go get it over with." Irma answered. "Stay in my head guys, I might need some quick answers…"