Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Twenty-One: "War on Three Fronts" Chapter Four
Hectate Canyon. Courtney set her eyes on the gems set into the new armor of Garix' soldiers. They were quite beautiful, and had to be worth something even on their own, let alone the fact that they were clearly magical as well. "Gotta have one." She whispered to herself. As quickly as she could fly, she dived down onto the nearest man and made a grab for one of the enchanted gemstones. She got a nasty electric shock that sent her sprawling.
Laughing, the man turned his attention to her. "You'll need to do better than that." He said. "But if you like them so much, let me show you what they can do. Thundara!" Courtney rushed to escape the lightning bolt she knew was coming, and half succeeded. She didn't take a direct hit, but was close enough to be throw high into the air by the shockwave.
Meanwhile, General Stanrych had acquired a target lock on Sandra. He opened fire, but before the girl could be hit Courtney flew directly into her, knocking both clear of the blast. Sandra was annoyed for a moment, before they both saw the shells pass through the space she had occupied moments before. "He tried to kill me!" Sandra exclaimed, pointing down at Stanrych.
"You stay here." Courtney said. "I'll deal with him." She flew straight towards where Stanrych stood…
Nearby, Judas and Garix stood facing each other. Garix was in his half-spider combat form, still wearing no armor but clutching a magically imbued crystal, similar to the ones on the soldier's armor, in each hand. Judas held the Heart of Zambala in his hands. "In the end you can't defeat us." Judas taunted his opponent. "I've got the power of two hearts here."
Garix laughed. "Insolent whelp. The Guardians recently defeated a foe with three hearts at his disposal. The weapons matter only as much as the skill of their bearer. And you have very little skill."
"No matter." Judas answered. "We'll see who's still standing when this is all over. Now enough talk. Let's fight… If you can work up the spirit with my girl keeping her power over the whole area."
"You mean the despair power? More foolishness. I am the son of our Queen. Despair fears me. But yes, I agree on one thing. Enough talk. It is time for action!" With that, Garix leapt into action, pressing a mighty attack on Judas, who began to fall back before his enemy…
Moments before Courtney would have reached General Stanrych, she slammed into a barrier. Confused, she looked up to see the Guardians hovering over the General's position. Cornelia was protecting him with a force field. "Our little cease-fire doesn't apply to keeping you from attacking the good guys." Taranee said. "I suggest you go pick on Garix or some of his men."
Angry, but seeing there was no point in arguing, Courtney answered "Well… I do still want one of those gems… Alright, but look out when Garix is out and we're on again." She flew off in search of a new target.
Stanrych stared up. "The Guardians, I assume?" he asked.
"You called it. And, of course, the Regents of Earth." Irma said, motioning towards Matt and his own teammates.
Alchemy noticed Anthony huddled down on the ground. "Oh my gosh, is he hurt?" she asked.
"Not physically." Stanrych answered. "It's that girl up there. She's doing something to everyone on both sides of this fight."
Miranda looked up. "Sandra. Figures. I can get this, but it'll keep me out of the rest of the fight…"
"Go." Will said. "We'll take care of the rest."
Miranda nodded, then flew up to Sandra's height and began countering Sandra's despair powers with her own aura of Hope. On the ground below, the impact of Miranda's effort was immediate. Soldiers on both sides rose and resumed the battle.
Rising, Anthony expressed his appreciation to the girls. "All part of the service." Irma replied.
General Stanrych then said "As much as hate deferring to someone else, you ladies are the ones with experience in these sorts of things, so I'm open to advice. Though, I'm also wondering what you meant by having an agreement with those five."
"It's like this sir," Taranee explained, "Have you wondered why Prince Garix only has a few soldiers with him? It's because there's a barrier around Varthan right now, keeping him from going back or bringing any more soldiers here."
Elyon continued "The barrier is powered by the Heart of Zambala, which is currently in Judas' hands. That makes Garix by far the greater danger, because if he were to get that Heart away from Judas he could remove the barrier…"
Stanrych immediately saw the implications. "And then he'd bring his entire army here."
"Exactly." Will confirmed. "So we made a deal with the Dominators to leave each other alone until Garix is taken care of."
Stanrych looked towards the center of the battle. Narrowed his eyes. "Then let's take care of him…"
Reality was starting to penetrate through Judas' thick skull. It was finally dawning on him that picking a one on one fight with Garix, even with the power of two Hearts, wasn't the best idea he had ever had. The Prince was winning, and winning easily. "And he still hasn't even used those magic gems in his hands." Judas thought.
Holding the Heart of Zambala in one hand, Judas used his other hand to pull the necklace with the Heart of Varthan from around his neck. He concentrated, drawing power from both Hearts as he held them up, directing a tremendous blast of raw power that struck Garix square in the chest. The power of the attack was so great that even as it threw Garix backwards, it also ate into the ancient rocks of the canyon, creating a smooth-walled tunnel nearly half a mile long.
Judas shuddered, nearly fell to his knees from exhaustion. He began to laugh between gasps for air. "So much for the weapons not mattering." He said. "Adios sucker."
Half a second later, moving so fast Judas didn't even have time to see him coming, Garix surged out of the new tunnel and pinned Judas to the ground. "Adios sucker indeed." He said. But you are the sucker in this equation." Judas closed his eyes as Garix reared back, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
Before he could throw the punch, Garix heard three words he had learned to hate: "Light of Meridian!" Garix attempted to dodge the attack but he was too late. For the third time he took the full power of Elyon's light-bomb attack, which threw him off balance and left him vulnerable to being throw back even further by a combination of Will and Cassidy doubling up on Quintessence blasts.
As Judas rose from the ground, the girls lined up behind him, hovering just off the surface. Uriah, Bess, and Courtney joined Judas. Garix faced them, eyes filled with rage. "Perhaps it is time." He said. "Guardians! Dominators! Enemies of Varthan! Welcome to your deaths!" He raised his arms, opened his hands, palm side up. In each, he still held the gems he had been holding throughout the fight. Power began to flow out of them, combining into a glowing point of light in front of the Prince. Garix spoke one more word: "Ultima." As he spoke the word, the point of light exploded out in every direction except towards Garix, a wall of mystical energy combining every element and every type of magical energy into one irresistible tidal wave of destruction.
When the dust cleared, only Garix remained standing. Everyone else in range, Guardian and Dominator alike, were unconscious on the ground. "And now for Mother." Garix said. "And the Heart of Zambala." He strode confidently towards Judas…