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

Season Three Episode Eighteen: "M.A.C.E., Part One" Chapter Two

Sheffield Institute. The Guardians and friends were gathered together at lunch time. They were eating outside, largely due to the fact that their group had grown too large for one table. "So this is the big day for the bands." Taranee said. "We get to find out who'll be playing at the dance."

"Yeah, and I'm still worried." Nigel said. "Matt, buddy, I sure wish you'd have been around for some more practices. I hear Gideon's band is good."

"I know man. I just have a lot going on right now, there's no way I could make it." Matt said.

Hay Lin asked "Why make such a big deal? If you win you get to play, if you lose you get to dance with your girlfriends. Sounds like a win-win situation to me."

"Me too." Eric agreed.

Cornelia said "Plus, it'll go good for someone else if you don't win. Elyon won't even have her boyfriend there unless his band wins."

"You know, there's no reason you guys couldn't get together and both play. Split playing time down the middle, get the best of both worlds." Alchemy said.

"Nah." said Nigel. "We've just gotta put in our all and win this thing."

"Taranee, speaking of putting in your all, could you help me out with something?" Miranda asked. "I was doing okay with algebra at first, but lately I'm just not following it at all."

Taranee answered "No problem. If I can get Will to pass that I can help anyone."

Will threw a handful of French fries at Taranee's head. "Very funny." she said.

Elsewhere, Judas, Sandra, and Uriah were searching for a generator to steal. "You know, I think maybe we should have some fun before we go back." Uriah said.

Sandra asked "What kind of fun?"

"School will let out in a couple hours. We should pick out a Guardian or two, follow 'til she's alone, and attack. I'd love to turn the tables after how they outnumbered us and picked us off one by one last time." Uriah explained.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'd like that too." Judas said. "Alright Dunn, we'll do it. But for now, let's stay focused on the task at hand: picking out a nice generator for the temple."

"As well as other things we need." Sandra said.

"Right. Let's get to work."

Later in the day, Miranda and Gideon were talking outside the main doors of Sheffield after last period. "Good luck with the tryouts." she said. "I hope you win."

"Me too. Are you sure you can't stick around? It'd do me good to have a fan watching while we play."

"I'd like to." Miranda said. "But passing grades are a big part of my being able to stay here, so I don't dare take a risk with these Algebra problems. I'm going with Taranee as soon as she's ready."

"Gotcha. Yeah, absolutely don't push your luck with something that important. I'll call you after, let you know how it went." Gideon fell silent for a moment, then said "Well, I better go get ready. I'll see you later." He leaned over, kissed her on the cheek, then slipped in through the door. She was still blushed when Taranee arrived several minutes later.

Walking to her home, Taranee said to Miranda "So, he kissed you huh?"

"Wha?" Miranda was surprised by the question. "H-how did you know? You were nowhere around when that happened."

"Girl, if you face had been any redder when I came out the door, I'd have thought it was paint. There's really only one explanation for that kind of look at our age."

Before she could answer, both girls heard a voice from behind. "Taranee's right you know. You've clearly got it bad. It's so unfortunate that he'll never see you again." The two girls spun around to see Sandra standing behind them. "Surprised?" she asked. "It's been a little while, I know. And don't worry, I bought a couple of friends." Taranee looked to see Judas and Uriah landing behind her.

"What do you three want?" Taranee asked. "We don't want any trouble, we just want to help you."

"Please listen to us. Neera's power is slowly killing you. You'll end up dead if you keep using it." Miranda added.

"Judas-" Uriah started to say after hearing this, but the older boy waved it away.

"It's a lie Dunn-boy, don't listen to it." Judas said. "Now, let's start this party… Hate!" Judas launched a blast of black energy that Taranee had to jump to avoid. Uriah began to glow with the power of fear, but made no move yet. Taranee fired off a spread of fireballs while dodging Judas' attacks, but none of them struck home.

While Judas and Uriah attacked Taranee, Sandra attempted to keep Miranda out of the fight with a strong aura of despair. Miranda watched the fight, terribly worried for her friend. In fact, she was so worried for Taranee that it took her awhile to notice something out of the ordinary: Sandra's power was having no effect on her whatsoever. She was worried, but not defeated. Even now, she was focusing not on the fear of loss, but the hope of victory.

With this realization came another. Feeling an odd tingling sensation, Miranda looked down at her hands, which she discovered were glowing with a soft blue light. "What the-?" she wondered. Whatever it was, the power was clearly growing stronger, she could feel the energy building up, even as the glow grew brighter. Miranda was frightened to then realize that whatever this was, it was aiming straight for Taranee. She tried to turn away, but it did no good.

Sandra noticed the glow. "Hey! What are you doing?" she demanded. Before Miranda could say anything, the energy surged out of her, circling around, and struck Taranee just as the Guardian was shooting off a blast of fire. Taranee yelped as she was knocked backwards and an enormous fireball, bigger and hotter than any she had ever before made in human form, flew forward, knocking Judas and Uriah to the ground.

Sandra flew to where Judas had landed, asking if he was hurt. "I'm fine babe." he answered. "But it looks like little Taranee has been holding back on us."

"Miranda too." Sandra said. "She just did something very strange."

Uriah said "I'm outta here. If they're that strong without transforming, no more splitting up for me." He teleported away.

"Wimp." Judas said, and followed with Sandra.

Miranda ran to where Taranee had landed. "Taranee, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Taranee said, sitting up. "Miranda… What was that?"

"I… …don't know…" Miranda said as she looked at the fading glow still surrounding her hands.

"Never happened before?"

"No. Never. "

"Weird." Taranee said.

"Totally." Miranda agreed. "Though… Something about it felt… …right. Taranee, are you sure you're okay? Whatever that was, it really sent you flying."

Taranee answered "Yeah, I'm fine. And it wasn't you that sent me flying. At least not directly. That energy hit me just as I was firing. It seemed to make my own powers grow way stronger than normal. That's what threw me back, that fireball was bigger than I intended, bigger than I expected, and I wasn't ready for the recoil from it."

Miranda watched the last bit of glow fade away. "Huh." she murmured…