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 Five

Kandrakar. The Fortress of Infinity. Himerish stood with the rest of the counsel, facing the newly-arrived Dominators. "It can only be you who removed the Dark Veil." he said, "And I acknowledge that we should be grateful for that. Nevertheless, if you truly think you can defeat us here, at the center of our powers, you have much to learn."

Judas laughed at the Oracle's words, then tried to attack. But instead of the massive blast of Hate energy the Dominator leader expected, he managed only a thin trickle of power. Judas looked at his hands, confused, then cast an accusing glare at the counsel. "What did you do to me?" He demanded.

Before Himerish could answer that he had, as yet, did nothing, all five of the Dominators doubled over, clutching their sides in agony. "Oracle, what is happening to them?" Halinoor asked.

"I do not know…"

Back on earth, The Guardians were hovering just above the ground, parents and friends standing beneath them. Everyone was looking up through the still-open fold, watching to see what might happen next. "Shouldn't we be following them?" Irma asked.

Will answered "We will. But first, let's see what the Oracle has up his sleeves."

The girls and Matt slowly lowered to the gym floor and continued watching, also confused when the Dominators suddenly fell ill. "Is this what you sensed?" Taranee asked Miranda, "Is this the power poisoning them?"

"I don't think so." Miranda answered, "I wouldn't think that would've hit them quite so soon… Or hit all five of them at once."

General Stanrych, standing with the other adults, said "Cop and soldier's instinct, like we were discussing earlier… Something is very, very wrong here…"

In Kandrakar, the Dominator's symptoms grew worse. Unable to fly, they fell to the floor of a balcony outside the Fortress. Then, they were surrounded by a dark aura that lifted them back into the air. They screamed as the powers were violently pulled out of them and back into the Heart of Varthan crystal, which tore free from Judas' necklace as the now powerless Dominators fell once more.

With an ear-splitting shriek and a blinding flash of light, the crystal ruptured. And when the glare faded, there stood Queen Neera, Dark Heart of Varthan, free once more, and in possession of all her powers.

"Finally!" She exclaimed, "Finally I'm free of that accursed crystal, and those ridiculous children! Finally I'm free! And Kandrakar itself is within my grasp!"

The Oracle faced Neera without backing down. He said "You cannot be here Neera. Kandrakar is off limits, as you well know. The rules which constrain your behavior clearly state…"

The Dark Queen interrupted, "Do not presume to dictate the rules to me. I know them well. If there is a fool in these proceedings it is you. You call yourself 'Oracle', yet you fail to add even two and two… You know by now that I am a master of manipulating loopholes in the rules… Yet you did not see this outcome."

Luba, angry, stepped forward. "Explain yourself!" she snarled…

"Oh very well. Technically, the rules do not say I cannot be in Kandrakar. They simply say that I cannot willingly, of my own volition, travel here, and that the same applies to my servants. Now, these idiot humans ceased to be my servants when they betrayed me, therefore they were not bound from coming. And since I was trapped in the crystal, I was bought here against my will… breaking no rules."

"Against your will?" Halinoor shouted, "It was still your intent for them to eventually come here!"

Neera replied, "Yes, but they did not know that. The greater powers in the infinite worlds may not like what I've done, but as I broke no rules, at least technically, they cannot accost me. And now that I'm here, I'm free to do as I wish."

"Are you hearing this?" Will said to the other Guardians, "She planned this all along! Everyone, Us, Garix, the Dominators, everyone… We've been playing into her plans all along…"

Irma glanced over to her boyfriend. "Martin called it." she realized, "Xanatos Gambit. It was just bigger and more layered than we realized."

"So what do we do now?" Cornelia wondered.

"She's alone right now." Taranee said. "First priority is to get to Judas and grab the Heart of Zambala off of him. Get it back here to earth where she won't be willing to follow, since she'd be unable to go back to Kandrakar again if she did. Then, we take her on with the counsel's assistance."

"Our assistance too." Stanrych said. "If the earth is in danger, I'm not sitting things out."

"Neither are we." came a familiar voice. Everyone looked to see Alborn leading an army of Meridian soldiers through a fold. Raythor, Vathic, and Julian were among the troops. The men bowed low before Elyon, including Alborn. As usual, seeing her 'father' bow made the Queen uncomfortable. "Your majesty," Alborn said, "The Guardians have done much for Meridian. Now, the army of Meridian stands ready to aid them…"

"Everyone, five minutes with family, just in case." Will thought to the other Guardians, "Then we go for broke…"

Neera's words hung heavy in the air. "Now that I'm here, I'm free to do what I wish."

Still facing her off, Himerish asked "And what, exactly, do you wish to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Neera asked. She laughed out loud, then continued "Kandrakar is the center. The heart. The nexus at the very core of infinity. From Varthan, I could have spread my power over thousands of worlds. But from here… From here, I can rule them all…" And as the Dark Queen laughed once more, the very foundations of the Fortress trembled…

Author's note: If you liked this story, please stop by my profile page where I have a poll for deciding which of four possible stories to write first, after this one is over. (And after 'Blunk and Napoleon's Excellent Adventure') There are short descriptions of each story in the profile. Thanks!