Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.

Season Three Episode Twenty-Five: "Endgame, Part Two" Chapter Two

Kandrakar. Neera dodged left and right, ducked and leapt into the air, trying to avoid the attacks of the newest Guardians. The elemental Guardians still didn't concern her much. They would need to go Zenith to pose a real threat to her, and there didn't seem much reason for them to do so just yet. The Faith and Hope powers wielded by Alchemy and Miranda were a different story. The merest touch of either was exceedingly painful, and the Dark Queen could not discount the possibility that these energies might actually harm her.

And so she did what she could to avoid those powers, even walking into direct hits from the other Guardians when unavoidable. She continued to attack as well, though it was turning out that blasts of pure kinetic force were more effective than dark energy, hindering her options. Miranda's Aura of Hope was sapping the strength of her attacks as well, reducing their range, while Alchemy didn't even have to worry about a friendly fire risk, since her power was harmless to those on the side of justice.

Several times, Neera tried to ensnare a Guardian with a stream of spider silk, but thus far all such attempts had missed. The Dark Queen tried to calm herself. Soon, any moment now, Judas would arrive with the Heart of Zambala. Once it was in her hands, she could free her armies to attack earth and Meridian, distracting the Guardians and thinning their attack. Neera's many stomaches rumbled. "Perhaps Judas will also make a fine meal." She thought…

Sheffield. Harold, Tom, and Dean tried to stop Judas by jumping on him and pulling him down. The triple impact was enough to knock the boy to his knees, but all three men were throw backwards just as Anthony had been. "There's some kind of shield around them." Stanrych said. "This could be a problem."

"A huge problem." Martin said watching from the sidelines. "If Neera gets ahold of that thing, we'll be up to our ears in Varthan soldiers."

As Judas slowly rose to his feet, trying to stop himself, Anthony shouted to him "The Heart! Can you make yourself drop it? Just relax your hand enough to let it fall?"

"I'll try." Judas answered. He focused all of his effort into releasing the Heart, but to no avail. "No good pop." He said. "Hand's clenched up tight."

Miriabelle stared at the fold Neera had opened. A thought was forming in her mind… "Blunk!" she shouted, "Blunk, we need you!"

Blunk peered up from behind a table. "Someone call for Blunk? Blunk at Meridian's service, though keep in mind, Blunk huge coward…"

"We need your help." Miriabelle said, walking over to Blunk. "You've got that tooth. Think you can close Neera's fold?"

Blunk grinned. "Closing door in enemy's face." He said, "Perfect job for coward." He ran over to the fold, and pulled the tooth necklace off. Jumping as high as he could, Blunk swiped the Tonga tooth across the open fold, which collapsed as it went.

A cheer went up across the room, but it was short lived. Moments later, a new fold opened in it's place. Blunk closed that one too, only to have a third fold open. After the fifth try, Miriabelle said "Forget it Blunk. It was worth a shot, but it's not going to work."

Blunk hung his head. "Blunk fail. Very sorry."

"It's not your fault." Susan said to him, "And stop calling yourself a coward too. You've been a big help to our girls. I don't see coward, I see very brave." Blunk blushed a deeper shade of green.

"That's all well and good." General Stanrych said, "But what about them?" He motioned to the Dominators who were still slowly moving towards the latest fold.

Himerish stepped up next to Stanrych. "I am still weakened." He said, "But perhaps I can be of some assistance with what power I do have." He raised one hand, and released a pulse of light green energy which surrounded the Dominators and froze them in place.

"You've done it!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Yes, but not for long, I fear. This will hold for only a few minutes." Himerish answered.

"Then let's get busy thinking up a more permanent solution." Stanrych said.

Outside the Fortress of Infinity, Neera dodged a double blast of Alchemy's power and a massive fireball from Taranee, shot a stream of silk that nearly entangled Irma's legs, and glanced over her shoulder at the still quiet fold she had opened. "What is taking them so long?" she wondered. "If they've failed again I'm eating them all!"

Narrowly avoiding the silk webbing, Irma thought to the other Guardians "What's up with that fold of hers? She's sure getting worried about it."

"And going out of her way to keep it open." Taranee thought as she fired another shot, "Have you seen how fast she reopens it when someone on the other side closes it?"

"She's up to no good, as usual." Will agreed, "But for her to be this obsessed with not letting it stay closed for even a second, it's even more important than usual."

Seeing Neera maneuvering to get closer to the fold, Elyon fired off a light bomb attack, aiming the center of the explosion to detonate in between the Dark Queen and her fold. Having seen what Elyon was doing, Miranda boosted the power of the attack. The resulting explosion created a huge shockwave that damaged a portion of the fortress and threw Neera halfway across the structure.

Determined to reach her goal, Neera began using ropes of silk webbing to cross between balconies, making her way back to where she had been. The Guardians and Matt converged above the fold. "Question?" Cornelia asked, "If she's a Heart, why isn't she just flying around?"

"Good question." Taranee said. "I guess she can't for some reason, though you're right, I would've expected a Heart to be flight-capable."

"Easy answer." Irma said, "Take a look at her. We'd be grounded if our butts were that big too." The Fortress walls echoed with laughter. Realizing they were laughing at her, Neera grumbled with anger…