W.I.T.C.H

Chapter 28

Double Vision

Kandrakar

The Guardians stepped through the portal and into the Kandarkar Council room. Their arms were raised, ready for battle. What the found instead was,

"Nobody? There's nobody here?"

Not only was the room empty, but it was also flat. Normally the room was surrounded by rows of seats, but they had been lowered to the ground to create a large, round, empty room.

"I don't like this." Taranee said. "I think Endarno was ready for us. Will, we should…"

Before Taranee could finish her thought, slots in the wall slid open, to reveal an army of armored soldiers. They entered the room one by one until they surrounded the girls.

"Hey, these are the same guys that took Elyon." Hay Lin said.

"They're called White Knights." Came a voice from above.

The girls looked up to find Endarno standing high above them on a floating platform.

"Each one was designed to be as strong as a Guardian. One is fierce. Five are mighty. But the twenty that you see before you? Unstoppable."

Will quickly realized that they had walked into a trap. She tried to buy some time to think of a plan.

"What do you want Endarno?" Will said.

"That's Oracle to you, girl." Enarno growled back. "And what I want is to never see the five of you again. So give me the Heart, or face the consequences."

"I hope you got the extended warranty on these Knights, cause we're about to turn them into tin cans!" Irma said.

Endarno sighed.

"I tried, I really did." he said. "But you had to be stubborn. You had to fight. Very well, to battle!"

While the Guardians geared for war, the Honor Guard gathered in a familiar hallway, waiting for the arrival of their Queen. They did not have to wait long, as she and Blunk soon ran down the hall towards them.

"Elyon! Are you alright?" Caleb said, checking Elyon over for any signs of damage.

"I'm fine." Elyon said, brushing Caleb aside. "How's Meridian?"

"It's doing well." Julian said.

"Just wait until you meet Buchan." Darke added. "You'll like him."

"I see you've still got your nose for trouble." Raythor said to Blunk.

Blunk looked up at Raythor with one raised eyebrow.

"Blunk can't remember, is he good guy or bad guy?"

"The jury's still out on that one." Vathek said, but there was no edge to his voice.

Vathek still did not fully trust Raythor, and he wasn't sure he ever would, but he did respect him, and for now, that would have to do.

"Let's get out of here." Caleb said. "Before anyone sees us."

"Caleb, wait!" came a voice from behind, telling Caleb that it was too late to leave unnoticed. His fears were put to rest, however, when he saw Yan Lin walking towards them.

"Yan Lin. How did you know we were here?" Elyon asked.

"I know you all pretty well." Yan Lin said. "One I had heard of Elyon's escape, and based on what I know about the situation, I guessed that you would come here to retrieve Elyon. That is why I requested to search this area alone."

"Why don't you want us to leave?" Tynar asked.

"Because you must not return to Meridian. Not yet." Yan Lin said. "This is still something you must do."

"This better be important." Vathek said.

"It is." Yan Lin replied. "The fate of the Guardians depends on it."

Meanwhile, the Guardians were in the middle of a heated battle with the White Knights. A fight they were losing. While the Knights were slow and had no ranged attacks, they were unrelenting and seemingly indestructible. And it was clear to the girls that the knights were given no orders to have mercy, as they did on Meridian. Any attack the Knights made was aimed to kill, and it was only a matter of time before one of the strikes landed. The fight had gone on for several minutes now, and was taking its toll on the Guardians.

"They're wearing us out." Hay Lin said.

"Yeah, if one of you smart people want to come up with an idea, now would be the time!" Irma added, watching a jet of water slam into a Knight with no effect.

"I got nothing." Will said, firing a lighting bolt into a crowd of Knights. "Taranee?"

"Well, there is something I been thinking about…" Taranee said, thinking. "But it's going to take a lot of teamwork."

"Just tell us what to do!" Hay Lin shouted.

Taranee eyed Endarno, still on his platform. She would have to be careful with her orders, as too much information would alert Endarno to her plan.

"Okay, Irma, I need you to stand in the middle of the room and be bait. Will, you, and I need to keep the Knights contained. Make sure none of them get too far towards the edge."

"Got it." Irma said. "Wait, what? Bait?"

"Just do it Irma." Hay Lin said.

Irma continued to grumble as she flew towards the center of the room.

"Try to look more helpless!" Tarnaee shouted down.

"Geez, you want me to start crying too?" Irma shouted up.

As the Knights moved in on Irma, Taranee created a ring of fire around them, stopping any retreat. Will forced any stragglers closer towards the center. Endarno glared at the group, but said nothing.

"I hope the end of your plan is better then the beginning." Irma said, blasting back a Knight. The Knights were getting closer and closer to Irma now, and she was running out of space to move.

"Now, Irma! Fly!" Taranee said at the last second.

Irma happily obeyed, and shot into the sky. The Knights were now crowded in the center of the room.

"Cornelia, seal them in! Four walls and a roof, but leave a small hole at the top."

Cornelia did as she was told, and soon the Knights were encased in the stone walls.

"That won't hold them for long." Cornelia said.

"It doesn't have to." Taranee said. "Hay Lin, remove all the air in that chamber, as quickly as you can."

Hay Lin shrugged, but obeyed. She used her powers to begin sucking the air out through the small hole left in the top of chamber.

"Taranee, what are you doing?" Will asked.

"Testing a theory." Taranee replied. "Remember when Vathek hit a Knight and it sounded hollow? I'm guessing it's also airtight."

"So?"

"So, Hay Lin is creating a vacuum inside the chamber. Now, if you put a balloon inside a vacuum, it explodes because of lack of pressure. The air inside the balloon expands until it bursts. YouTube it, it's pretty cool. I'm guessing that the Knights, which are just big, metal balloons, are going to do the same thing. The trapped air inside the suits of armor is going to expand until they pop."

No sooner had Taranee said this then a loud popping noise could be heard from inside the Chamber. This continued for a few moments as all the suits burst, at which point there was silence.

"Okay Hay Lin, that should do it."

Hay Lin lowered her arms and slowly flew to the ground, where she dropped on her knees.

"Hay Lin, are you alright?" Irma asked.

"Just tired. Removing all that air, and keeping it out, is more then I've ever had to do."

"Well it worked." Will said as Cornelia lowered the walls. "All the Knights are gone."

As the Guardians surveyed the wreckage of the Knights, the Honor Guard, Elyon and Blunk circled Yan Lin.

"What are you talking about? What going to happen to the Guardians?" Caleb asked.

"Endarno knew the girls would come." Yan Lin said. "And he has prepared for them. Kandrakar's motto is 'commitment to peace', but that does not mean they aren't prepared for war. First, he will send out the White Knights. I believe you met them on Meridian."

"Yeah, wasn't a big fan." Elyon said.

"But those things were way more powerful then we were." Walli said. "I don't think we'll be much use in a fight."

"No, there is nothing you can do to help the Guardians defeat the Knights. They are on their own against them." Yan Lin said. "The Knights are powerful, but I believe the Guardians will still find a way to prevail."

"They always seem to, don't they?" Raythor said. He had seen this first hand many times.

"So if we can't fight the Knights, then what do you need us for?" Vathek asked.

"Wait, you said the Knights were first." Elyon said. "What's second?"

"Second is something much, much worse then the Knights." Yan Lin said.

"What?"

"Second, Endarno will send out the Guardians."

Back in the Council Room, Endarno began to clap from his platform.

"Well done, girls." He said. "I was wondering how you would defeat the Knights."

"Your game's over, Endarno." Will said. "We've won."

"That's Oracle." Endarno said. "And you have not won, for my game has just begun. Girls?"

Before the Guardians could react, five figures teletranported into the Council Room, surrounding W.I.T.C.H from all sides. As the figures came into view, Will could see that each of their opponents were women, and was dressed in a uniform similar to that of the Guardians.

"The new and improved Guardians." Endarno said. "They will take the Heart from you, Will. I'd prefer if it wasn't from your cold, dead hands, but it looks like I don't have much choice, do I?"

Caleb gave Yan Lin a puzzled look.

"The Guardians? The Guardians are going to fight the Guardians? I must have missed something here." He said.

"Within hours of Will giving up the Heart," Yan Lin began, "Enarno had appointed new Guardians. But while W.I.T.C.H had been chosen for their compassion, these new Guardians have been chosen for their fighting skills alone."

"But the new Guardians are just replacements, right?" Drake said. "I mean, our girls are the real deal. My money would still be on W.I.T.C.H any day."

"You are forgetting two important things." Yan Lin said. "Firstly, our girls will be exhausted after defeating the White Knights. This gives the advantage to Endarno's Guardians."

"Hold on a second." Elyon interrupted. "If Will has the Heart, what's powering the other Guardians?"

"That's the second thing." Yan Lin said. "Once the Heart disappeared, many thought that that would be the end of Endarno's Guardians. Instead, he took more drastic measures. The new Guardians are not powered by the Heart of Kanrdrakar, but the Engine."

The Guardians backed towards each other as their replacements advanced on them. One of the new Guardians stepped forward. She was tall, lean and muscular. A pure athlete. She had short, blue hair, and cat like features, such as pointed ears and claw like nails on her hands and feet.

"My name is Orube." She said. "And I am the leader of the Guardians of Kandrakar. Relinquish the Heart or we will take it by force."

Will looked around at the other four women surrounding them. All of them were taller and stronger then any of the members of W.I.T.C.H. were. They were also strikingly more alien, and clearly from no world the girls had yet visited.

"She's got some nerve." Irma muttered.

"Just like we did with Nerissa's Guardians." Will said. "Switch elements. Fire against water, Earth against air and so on. Ready?"

But the girls were not allowed to answer that question, for Orube began attacking. The fact that their enemies attacked first came as no surprise to the girls, but what did surprise them was the nature of the attack. Orube had not attacked with any elemental powers. They had expected a lighting bolt, or at the very least a fireball, but instead, Orube had fired a blast of pure golden energy, unlike any attack the girls had ever seen.

W.I.T.C.H flew into the air and were quickly followed by their foes. The girls tried to mount a counter attack, but were constantly forced to dodge energy beams.

"What is this?" Cornelia said. "What happened to the elements?"

"Who cares?" Irma replied. "Just keep dodging!"

One of the beams sailed over Hay Lin's head and almost shattered the wall behind her.

"Wow, these things are strong!" She said, staring at the scorch mark behind her.

"Will, these Guardians and stronger and tougher then we are, and they're not going to play nice." Taranee said.

"I know." Will said. "Girls, I think we may be in a lot of trouble."

Elyon gave Yan Lin a confused look.

"The Engine? What Engine?"

"Engine bad news." Blunk said. "Very bad news!"

"Blunk is correct, I'm afraid." Yan Lin said. "The Engine is what powers Kandrakar. It's what allows us to do everything, from communicating with other worlds to lighting our rooms. It's the single most powerful energy source in the universe!"

"And it's powering these replacements Guardians?" Walli asked.

"Yes." Yan Lin replied.

"But if it has that much power, then the Guardians, the real Guardians, will be no match for them!" Caleb said.

"That's true." Yan Lin replied. "W.I.T.C.H will eventually be defeated by these new Guardians, but that's not all."

"There's more?"

"Yes. The Engine has far too much power to be controlled by five women alone. Soon it will burn out their minds and bodies, with disastrous results."

"Then we've got to stop the connection." Vathek said. "We have to depower these new Gaurdians."

"Yes." Yan Lin replied. "For if you don't, both sets of Guardians will die."