Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Twenty-Three: "Xanatos, Redux" Chapter Four
As had become the usual pattern, Judas started the fighting by trying to blast Will with his Hate powers. Cornelia blocked the attack with a shield, but was driven back when Bess joined in.
Uriah proved more powerful than before; the fear of the trapped students below boosted his might. He drew on that source and found himself able to create images of what people nearby most feared. Yellow-energy images of snakes, spiders, and even a couple of clowns poured out of his hands and attacked the Guardians.
Three of the spider constructs went after Alchemy, who dispersed them with a blast of her own power. Another lunged at Miranda, who just laughed. "You expect me to be afraid of a spider? You've got a lot to learn Uriah." She said.
Irma found herself in-between Bess and Courtney. They both charged at her, only to nearly hit each other when Irma teleported out of the way at the last second. Moments later, Cassidy, channeling Air and Water froze Bess solid, sending her plunging to the ground. Angry, Courtney went after Cassidy.
Taranee and Elyon found themselves facing Uriah's clown images. Taranee tried to burn them apart, but her fire had no effect. "Why isn't it working?" Elyon wondered.
"This might be a bad time to admit I was always afraid of clowns as a little kid…" Taranee answered.
"Help Will and Matt then." Elyon replied. "I've got this… Clowns never scared me. Point in fact, they always kind of made me mad…"
Having destroyed the fear-powered images attacking her, Alchemy saw Bess falling to the ground, followed by screams when she landed. The Faith Guardian flew down to the gym floor where she found Bess struggling to get free of the ice and shards of ice busted off of the block scattered around. The screams had come from Knicklebocker, who's leg had been impaled by one of the ice shards.
"She needs help!" Someone exclaimed. "We've gotta find a way to get her out of here!"
Alchemy then saw her mother kneeling next to the Principal. "No, it'll be alright." Paula said, "Alchemy's right here." She looked to her daughter and said "You can help this, right?"
"Absolutely." Alchemy answered. She knelt down and placed a hand on either side of the wound. "This won't hurt a bit." She said. "Faith!" Alchemy's power flowed into the injury, simultaneously repairing the damage and melting away the remaining ice as it went. In moments the wound was gone, without so much as a scar.
Alchemy stood and started to fly away, then had a thought. She turned back to the Principal and said, "Ma'am? We're terribly sorry about all of this. We'll help repair the damage when it's over."
"You and your friends have nothing to apologize for, this is their fault, not yours." Knicklebocker answered. "Besides, the school's insured, as long as they don't try to say magic powers count as an 'act of god.'"
Battling Judas and Sandra together with Will, Matt suddenly noticed something. The chain Judas wore the Heart of Varthan on had obtained a second gem. He looked again and realized what he was seeing. "You took the Heart of Zambala out of its staff?" he exclaimed. "Dude, that's just wrong."
"What can I say?" Judas answered, "I got tired of carting a big ugly stick around." He created an orb of concentrated power and threw it towards Matt. After a few seconds, the orb exploded, spewing Hate energy in all directions. Matt was thrown back but managed to stay in the air.
Meanwhile, Will was dueling Sandra. With Miranda nearby the Dominator's power was weakened, but she had just enough distance to not be totally shut down. Will tried to blast Sandra repeatedly, but her powers were too weakened by Sandra's Aura of Despair to do anything by the time they reached their target.
As Matt recovered from the orb's blast, he and Will flew back together and faced off against Judas and Sandra, who also hovered next to each other now. "This is ridiculous." Will shouted. "I know you're smart enough that you'd let us help you if you believed us about the danger you're in. What'll it take to convince you Neera's power is poisonous? We need to get you to the counsel on Kandrakar!"
"Kandrakar!" Judas spat out angrily. "This counsel of yours is lucky there's a veil keeping us out! If we could go there, I'd teach them a thing or two!"
Sudden realization lit up in Sandra's eyes. "Judas, we CAN go there!"
"What? What are you talking about? The Dark Veil keeps everyone out."
"No, Judas think about it." Sandra insisted, "Why did we agree to the temporary truce with the Guardians? Because the veil over Varthan was made by the Heart of Zambala, so if Garix had gotten that Heart he could have removed the veil. Well, Neera made the veil around Kandrakar…"
Judas understood. "…And I've got Neera right here. So I should be able to… Dominators, gather here with me!"
Uriah and Courtney broke Bess free and the three of them flew up to where Judas and Sandra were waiting. Judas focused his thoughts into the Heart of Varthan. An enormous surge of power flowed out and up into the sky. Perhaps because he was also wearing the Heart of Zambala, the fold that opened overhead as the Dark Veil fell was enormous, stretching from horizon to horizon. Through it, the fortress of infinity could be clearly seen, though it looked upside down, as if the huge fold were connecting the worlds backwards. Anyone looking up into the fold from either side would be looking down on the other world. There was also some kind of magnifying effect, as the people looking up from earth could see the Oracle and the counsel quite clearly as they emerged to see what was happening.
On the ground below, adults and teens were looking up in fear, confusion, and awe. The adults all gathered together near the center of the gym floor. Elizabeth Hale, among those who hadn't learned the truth until after the Dark Veil was raised and had consequently never seen Kandrakar, asked "What is that?"
"That," Susan replied, "Is Kandrakar. It's the world the Guardian's powers come from."
"The bald guy that just walked out is the Oracle." Dean added.
"Well… This is good, right?" Lionel asked. "I mean, it's a good thing that they can get there again isn't it?"
"It should be." Tom answered, "But somehow I'm not sure…"
"Cop's gut instinct." Stanrych said, "I can appreciate it, seeing as you get something similar from being in the service long enough. This should be good, but something's just… …off."
At the Hale's home, Lillian was watching television with Napoleon at her side and Huggles in her lap. She was still upset with her parents for hiring a babysitter, and was wondering if maybe she could convince them to trust her alone next time.
Then she felt something. It was an odd sensation, the certainty of something unusual happening up above her. She looked up at the ceiling but didn't see anything different. She did notice that the cat and dormouse were also looking up however. When Napoleon ran to a window, she followed, opened it, and looked up at the sky. "Oh wow…" she whispered…
"So that's the counsel huh?" Judas asked when they saw the Oracle through the fold, "Let's go have a word with them…"
Before the Guardians could make any move to stop them, all five of the Dominators flew straight up at full speed, and passed through the giant fold. Once in Kandrakar, they flew down directly in front of the Counsel, prepared to attack…
…And that's when things took a turn for the worse…