Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Twenty: "Enemy of my Enemy" Chapter Two
Thirty miles west of the city, the Dominators were gathered together in a small cave. "I think we finally lost them." Uriah said as he kept watch out the front. "Man, who knew Garix was that tough? I mean, we thumped him before."
"He's got a cause to fight for now." Judas said. "That, and his hate, are making him powerful. No worries though, I've still got this." He held up the Heart of Zambala.
Courtney said "You've gotta learn how to use it first."
"Bah, how hard could it be?"
"Well hurry up then." Bess said. "Don't forget, we've still got the Guardians as well as Garix. I know they won't team up with him, but he could create opportunities for them."
Judas scowled. "Yeah… he could…"
The Guardians arrived at school to find a madhouse. Television news crews were everywhere, as were police and a huge crowd of concerned parents. There were no visible ways to get into the school building, so massive was the crowd, and it was growing worse every minute. "Wow." Hay Lin said. "What'dya wanna bet they cancel for the day on account of all this?"
"Nickelbocker?" Irma replied, "Nah, she'll call in the national guard to force open a way in before she cancels." A loud roaring sound, that of a massive engine, grew quickly behind them. Turning, the girls saw a convoy of military jeeps and Humvees. "Holy crud! I was just kidding!" Irma exclaimed.
"C'mon," Will said. "Let's get out of sight and slip in." Together they ducked around a corner into an alley and teleported into an empty classroom.
In the Principal's office, Nickelbocker was meeting with the two detectives who were leading the investigation into her student's disappearance. "This is turning into a media circus." The male detective grumbled.
"I know." His partner agreed. "Don't these fools realize they're just making our job harder this way?"
"They know. They just don't care."
Leaning forward in her seat, the Principal asked "Please tell me honestly, Do you have any ideas at all about what's really going on with our children? These missing five were all trouble, hard cases, but they were still my students. I hate to think something terrible may have happened to them."
"We really don't have any answers ma'am." The female detective said. "But the army is sending soldiers in from Fort Wyvern in regards to what happened with them at the Ridgemont last night, so hopefully they'll give us some answers… assuming they don't call it classified."
Moments later General Stanrych and Captain Ananias entered the office. Recognizing Judas' father from when he had enrolled his son, Nickelbocker rose and greeted him. "Captain, it's good to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances."
Raising one eyebrow, the male detective asked 'You know each other?"
"This is Judas Ananias' father, detective." Nickelbocker explained.
"You don't say?" The detective replied. He turned to the General 'Sir, if it's acceptable to you, I would like to take the Captain along with me on my investigations today. I suspect he might be useful to me."
"Understood detective. Captain, you're at this officer's disposal for the rest of the day…"
Shortly thereafter, Captain Ananias and Detective Cole were sitting in Cole's department-issue sedan, just outside the school's grounds. "So, where are we going to start Detective?" Anthony asked.
Cole sat quietly for a moment. Just when Anthony was starting to think he wouldn't answer at all, Cole turned to face him. "Captain, we're starting right here at the school. There are some students we're going to be following when they leave at the end of the day."
"You suspect other students?" Anthony asked. "Then why sit here all day waiting? Let's go in and talk to them…" Anthony started to get out of the car, but Cole grabbed his arm.
"Hold on Cap. These students aren't suspects. Not in the least, I'm sure they aren't actually guilty… But I'm equally certain that they know something… There's just been too much weirdness with them lately. And that's also why we're just sitting here all day. It'll take me that long to fill you in…"
True to Irma's prediction, Nickelbocker refused to cancel classes. Students were escorted in by police and military, who also kept the crowd of reporters at bay. As a result, the actual school day within the building was surprisingly normal, as long as you didn't look out any windows. And even that got better, as the crowd dispersed by lunchtime.
At the end of the day the girls left school and headed to the mall, where Cornelia selected what she referred to as 'appropriately coordinated' disguises to hide their faces while in Guardian form. They then headed for Shell Beach to transform and try out the new purchases. On the way, Taranee noticed something. "Hey, I just realized, where'd all the army guys go?"
Looking about, everyone realized she was right. They hadn't seen a single soldier or military vehicle since before school. "Maybe they decided it was an overreaction." Will said. "Or maybe they're focusing on specific places, like that hotel that burned down."
"Maybe… …This feels wrong though…" Taranee said. As they continued on their way, they failed to notice the police-issue sedan following at a discreet distance…
Several miles south of town, the Dominators knelt on a cliff top looking down on the valley below. They had been drawn here out of curiosity after hearing the sounds of gunfire from the nearby cave where they were hiding out. Below, on the valley floor, a pitched battle was being fought between General Stanrych's men, and the elite soliders of Varthan accompanying Prince Garix. The human soldiers had their opponents massively outnumbered, and outgunned as well. They most likely would have won in short order had the Varthanians been alone. Garix, however, was an impressive equalizer.
"The army guys aren't doing to bad." Uriah noted. "You think they'll win?"
Judas answered "In a sense. They'll never take out Garix, they'd need to drop a nuke to pull that off. But, Garix isn't going to waste the lives of all of his men on this either. He'll retreat as soon as he feels like he's made his point about how tough he is."
Sure enough, the teens soon saw Judas was correct. Garix signaled for a controlled retreat and his soldiers pulled back, escaping through a fold to some other world. Below, Stanrych and his men watched in disbelief as their opponents simply vanished.
At Shell Beach, the Guardians gathered in a cave. Cornelia handed out the new disguises. "Okay Will," she said, "let's change and see how this looks."
Will transformed them, but before anything more could happen, they heard a voice. "Well well. I knew there was something up with you girls, but I never would've thought of something like this." Turning, startled, they saw Detective Cole and Captain Ananias. "Now then, ladies, it's time for us to talk…"