Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Twenty-Four: "Endgame, Part One" Chapter Four
While the Guardians fought with Queen Neera, their allies staged missions of their own. Caleb, Julian, and Vathic emerged from a fold into the Aura Mirror chamber, along with several Meridian soldiers and the three newest Guardians. "Okay," Caleb said, "We all know the mission. Grab the counsel and get them back to safety on earth. Any questions?"
"Just one sir." A former rebel soldier asked, "Why are we so certain earth is any safer than here? If this Neera is a heart she can open her own folds to follow us."
"That wouldn't work in this case." Caleb answered. "Neera's gone to a lot of trouble to work around her rules and get here. If she takes even one step through a fold somewhere else, that's destroyed. She'll stay right where she is."
"She'll stay if she has a say in it." Julian said. He turned to the Guardians. "Couldn't the other Guardians just open a fold behind her and shove her through it?"
"I'll suggest it." Alchemy said. "But there's no way things will be that easy. She's probably prepared for it."
Miranda added "And besides, shove her through to where? What world would take her besides her own? And we REALLY don't want her back there."
"Caleb, can we help somehow?" Alchemy asked. "I hate just waiting here while everyone else is working."
"You'd better not. Best to stick to the plan." Caleb said. He motioned to his troops and left the room.
"Phooey." Alchemy said.
"Tell me about it Al," Cassidy said as she leaned back against the wall, "Tell me about it…"
"MATT!" Will shouted as she saw her boyfriend under attack. She flew in a wide arc, spiraling in a random pattern to avoid Neera's counterattacks as she dived in to attack, blasting away with Quintessence bolts as she went. Elyon and Taranee joined her, opening up with everything they had.
As electrical jolts, fireballs and explosive bursts of light erupted all around her, Neera was forced to abandon her attack on Matt in order to defend herself. As she turned from her former target, Irma and Hay Lin jumped into the fray, They knew that combining powers to freeze the Dark Queen herself was pointless. She would burst free in seconds. So instead, they targeted the floor under her feet, creating a sheet of solid ice. Neera slipped around, unable to get a solid grip on the floor, her shots of dark power going wildly astray of their intended targets as she slid about.
Will landed next to Matt. "Are you okay?" she exclaimed, voice full of worry.
"I'll be good." Matt answered. He put a hand to his head "Gonna be in serious pain tomorrow though… Remind me to not tick off anymore spiders though…"
"Sage advice for anyone. Are you able to fly?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Matt answered. Together they flew back up to rejoin the others.
Meanwhile, Caleb's team carefully made their way to the outer door opening onto the balcony where the Oracle and the rest of the counsel were disabled. They looked and saw that Neera was too busy to notice what they were doing.
Slipping out the door, the found that the counsel members were stuck to the floor by the same dark bands that were preventing them from using their own powers. Caleb and Julian tried to lift the Oracle to his feet, but couldn't overcome the dark power Neera had bound him with.
"Alchemy." Halinoor said.
Julian knelt down beside her. "What did you say?"
"Alchemy." She answered. "Her powers can dispel evil. She could remove these bands of power and free us."
"She's supposed to stay out of sight." Caleb said. "But I guess there's a time for breaking the rules and changing the plan. I'll go get her." He ran into the fortress.
Alchemy leaned against a column and opened her mind to the telepathic link. "Suggestion from Caleb's dad." She thought to the others, "Trying to shove Neera through a fold."
"It's worth a shot." Cornelia answered. "Will, we could use the ice rink Irma and Hay Lin made: You open a fold at one end, then I tilt the floor and send her sliding into it."
"Whoa." Irma thought to the others, "That's incredible… Corny actually thought things through and made a good plan…"
"Oh, very funny Irma!" Cornelia thought back.
Alchemy was still laughing when Caleb reached her. "We need you. Neera's bound the counsel with some kind of dark energy. Halinoor thinks you should be able to dispel it."
"Then let's go." Alchemy answered. They ran quickly to the balcony door, where Alchemy said "Maybe we can salvage keeping us out of sight. I bet I can do this from here." She closed her eyes and poured out a flood of power that flowed over the counsel, evaporating the bands and freeing Himerish and the rest of the counsel.
As they slowly pulled to their feet, the Oracle said "Those bands did more than immobilize us: they've drained our powers as well. We will need time to recover."
"That's why we're here sir." Caleb said. "Follow us, we've got a fold back to earth waiting for you." Though most of them would have ordinarily protested, the counsel was too weak to argue. They followed as Caleb led the way.
At the moment Alchemy used her powers to free the counsel, Neera's head snapped up. "What was that?" She wondered. "I felt something… Something different…" She looked around. Saw the counsel was gone. "NO!" She screamed. I need them here! How could they have freed themselves?"
Neera leapt off of the ice sheet and tried to pursue the counsel. "Uh-oh." Taranee thought. "Irma, Hay Lin, you better get ready to ice over her landing spot, then we'll try Al and Corny's plan."
"Right." Irma thought. "Hay Lin, let's do this…"