31Disclaimer: It seems that I still don't own WITCH. It's the property of the mighty Disney Company.
A/N: Hello. How is it going, readers? I hope that last chapter explained satisfactorily the new status quo of this story's Meridian. Having said that, welcome to the seventh part of the Riddle Arc. This marks not only the start of the Guardians' counterattack against Riddle's forces, but also a two-chapter end of Taranee's conflict with Danny, the Ashford family (which includes her boyfriend), and her own mother that started in chapter 11. Having said that, if you ever watched the show Gargoyles (produced, sometimes written and directed by Greg Weisman, who also handled the second season of WITCH), you will catch a lot of references and a few characters that I created driving inspiration from that show in this one. In a total different note, this two chapters will be smaller than the previous one, and aside the end of the Riddle Arc there won't be a chapter as long as the Third Meridian Interlude.
In another note, I will want to thank authors Rain on Roses and Oblivian03 for their continued support and reviews.
Having said that, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.
WITCH
A different story
Chapter fourteen
Riddle Arc. Part seven
New Year of Iron
Heatherfield
December 31st. Seven in the morning
"Good morning Heatherfield, and welcome to Heatherfield Radio News." a male young voice retransmitted from a radio hanging by the side of a window said. "Name's Dimitri Duval, and accompanying me is my new and young assistant; Martin Tubbs, student at the Sheffield Institute. Present yourself, Martin."
"Hello, Heatherfield!" the nasal voice of Martin Tubbs appeared from the radio. "Martin Tubbs here, excited to be a part of this awesome team!"
"Now, that's a good spirit to start this day." Duval's voice came. "Martin will be with us only for a few weeks, by I know by now that we will enjoy his company. Without further delay, let's head onto the news, because we have one really important one to deliver to all of you."
"Whoa, really?" Martin asked. "You didn't tell me that in the meeting."
"Sorry kid, they are fresh news." Duval took air, and his voice changed into a more serious tone. "Judge Theresa Cook, a respectable member of Heatherfield's community, has been arrested under the charges of abuse of authority, manipulation of clues in a case, and extortion. Her son, the young Peter Cook, has been arrested too, under the accusation of robbery and murder, a crime that his mother blamed into an innocent, Daniel Ashford, who spend years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and has died recently…"
"Wait, what?!" Martin yelled.
"Well, I know is a bit shocking, but… wait, Martin, where are you going?!" but Duval never received an answer. The only that could be heard from the multiple radios that the people of Heatherfield were listening to, was the sound of Martin's microphone hitting the floor as he rushed outside the Radio Station.
Heatherfield's prison
Isolation zone (male branch). At the same time.
Peter Cook moved inside his prison suit like a child would move inside a new pullover. The damn thing was too itchy for him. Until now, he had never been on an isolation cell. He had seen some due to her mother's job, but this one was creepy to say the least. There were no windows, no bars, not bed… just a four-wall room made of stone with one big and thick door of steel. The only unusual thing was a little table and a chair that had been put there, and that was because someone with enough contacts inside the prison wanted to talk with him. After almost two hours of waiting, he heard the door to open and saw how Tom Lair entered from it. The slightly fat man walked towards Peter after closing the door, and stood still in front of him, arms closed over his chest. He didn't want to talk in the same level as him, probably due to his friendship with Peter's parents. Then again, that was probably the main reason he was here, and why there were no cameras in this room.
"Good morning Peter" he said. "I hope that your first night here was… peaceful enough to get a sleep."
Peter looked at him. "Do you know if my mother is safe?"
"Your mother is okay, kid" Tom answered. "She is into a very similar cell to this one, but she has refused to talk to anybody. Even in prison, she still knows the law better than any prosecutor or layer we can put in front of her."
Peter emitted a relaxed sigh. "Thanks for telling me."
"No, don't thank me Peter, repay me." Tom said as he got nearer to the table. "Tell me what the hell happened with that Huffman, Danny and everything. Because your mother won't do, and I need to understand."
Peter looked at Tom. He sighed in resignation. "Agh… I don't really remember pretty well myself. It's all blurry and kind of black, but I do remember what lead to it." Peter made a pause and put his hands over the table.
"It all started a few years ago, three if I'm not mistaken, with a pretty casual conversation. I guess everything starts like that." Peter put his fingers together. "We were playing basketball one day and Danny mentioned a girl that he wanted to present to me. Delilah was her name. Oh she was gorgeous... with short, black hair and such... angular features. I fell for her, you know? I wanted to impress her, but I didn't know how." Peter put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair looking at the ceiling. "So Danny and I started to discuss some ideas, but all of them were resumed to the same thing."
"Money." Tom stated.
"Money." Peter repeated. "So we thought 'How can we get money?' and we started to" Peter laughed "to plan a lot of stupid things to gather money. Stupid and completely invented jobs, plans to win on a casino, finding someone who will paid us... we passed in front of the... in front of the..."
"The antiquary" Tom helped him.
"Yes, that." Peter said. "We started to plan things about... about robbing it. It started as a joke, of course. Nothing more than bravado and words over a basketball match. But time passed and one night we... we were in the fucking antiquary. I don't even remember how we get in there. I was so nervous and afraid that I took some... things."
"Drugs?" Tom asked; the surprise and concern of his tone betraying his, until then, stoic display.
"Nothing serious" Peter said. "Just a little pill, that's all. It made everything seem easier, and I felt with more energy than ever. I had never taken it anymore, but the feeling..."
"It probably was ecstasies." Tom muttered, more to himself than to Peter.
"Danny told me that we shouldn't be doing that, but I didn't listen. Then the... the man..."
"Roderick Huffman." Tom helped him.
"Right." Peter said. He had changed from position, now having his arms over the table, but still looking at the ceiling. He really was putting effort into remembering. "He told me... told me; 'why don't you get out of my shop and go home, with your family?'; now I know I should have listened to him. He probably knew that we were just a pair of stupid kids." Peter laughed dryly. "But I didn't listen, I couldn't. The only thing I remember is that Danny was shouting in fear when the man appeared. I had something in my hands. Something cold and heavy, and..." Peter looked at Tom directly at his face. "I'm not proud of what I did, I'll never be. And neither I'm about what my mother did to my friend, I just... Have you ever made such a mistake that you are unable to face it? That you just want to run away and leave it behind?"
"Yes" Tom answered. "But I also know that it doesn't matter how much you run, it will always catch you."
"Yeah" Peter said looking around. He let his eyes to rest in the walls, the ceiling, and the door. The weight of the cell he was in finally pushing over his shoulders. "I know that now." Peter tapped his fingers against the table. "Is true that Danny is dead?"
"Officially, yes." Tom answered. "But between you and me, there is no corpse found, and the people of the prison seem pretty reluctant to talk about it. I don't know Peter, something smells bad." Tom moved and put a hand over the boy's shoulder. At that moment, he wasn't Tom the policeman, but Tom the man, the father. "Thank you for explaining what happened. You mother should have enough friends to keep you in this cell."
"I don't like this cell." Peter said.
"It's safer than a regular one, believe me. Your mother put a lot of dangerous people against her during her time as judge." Tom stated. Then he looked around. "I will pull a couple of favors people from here still own me. I think it will be enough to get you a bed."
Tom got to the door after separating from Peter. "Could you please look after my dad?" the man heard Peter. "And tell my sister we are okay? Neither of them knew."
"I will do what I can, Peter." Tom said as he opened the door. "Try to find something to do in there. Something distracting, until you are able to get a book. But remember that there is only laundry two times in a week. So, try not to... dirty your uniform."
"Thanks, Mr. Lair." Peter said. "For everything."
Tom exited the cell without answering back. The thick, metallic door closed behind him as he went, and Peter was left alone in his cell. "Happy New Year, Danny." Peter said. "Wherever you are, I'm sorry about what I did to you."
The Avalon Bar. Eight o'clock
Even a city as calm as Heatherfield had what is called 'bad neighborhoods' by people who want to avoid the fact that their peaceful town has the likes of robbers, smugglers or even killers. In one of those 'bad neighborhoods' was a dirty, bad-illuminated and smelly bar named Avalon. Inside it, the worst kind between the worst of Heatherfield was, oddly, having something very similar to a party. News about Theresa Cook's imprisonment had spread like fire upon dried wood, and for the majority of scumbags of Heatherfield, the facts that, One: Mrs. Cook was no more around to mess with their lives, and Two: Mrs. Cook (and even more, her fucking son) wasn't so different from them; had left them into a strange state of friendliness towards each other. Tonight, instead of making easier for them to jump at each other's throats, the alcohol and the stench to sweat, piss and other biological fluids made them stay closer and throw a toast at Mrs. Cook's expense.
In one of the bar's messy and dirtied tables, a pair of twin siblings were laughing and joking about what would happen to mother and son in prison.
"I'm telling you, Jackie!" a woman in her late twenties, with an athletic figure and a pretty face; with short brown hair warped in a pair of small ponytails, told the man in front of her. "That woman won't last more than a week! Either she dies or the other girls break her! Maybe we are lucky and she gets raped!"
The man in front of her, her own twin brother and thus of the same age of her, his features ruder than hers, and his brown hair let free in a long, wild mane; however, ditched the idea. "I don't know sis; women aren't so eager to rape in prison (women that aren't you, that's it). I would say that the boy has more tickets in that matter than our beloved judge. You now, time alone in a prison is very hard, and I can tell you from experience Helen, people get ideas." He took a sip from his glass of beer and a sadistic grin appeared in his face. "Like that time I and the pals caught that boy in the showers and I shoved my rod right inside him! His expression was...!" he couldn't finish the sentence, his face twisted in a grotesque grin.
The two of them burst in cruel laughter and after cheering, they drank from their beers. If in that bar the worst of the worst was gathered in that moment then these two were the worst between all of them. Jack and Helen Renard had something broken inside of them. Their own father, a watchmaker, had once said that "these two had a twisted gear in their heads, something that doesn't work as it should".
At the age of five, the two siblings delighted themselves with the smallest of acts. Breaking a glass, ruining their mother's dishes before they came to the table in her arms... small things. As the years passed they discovered the pleasure of ripping off insects' wings and seeing how they squirmed in pain in the floor.
At the age of ten they started to take pleasure in bullying their schoolmates; and that earned them some expulsions from several schools and various visits to a cheap excuse of a psychologist.
When reaching fourteen, they took a dog, gouge the poor animal's eyes out, kill the little one and hang it's corpse out of the therapist's house's door. That earned them various years inside a reformatory.
But of course, a reformatory wasn't enough to contain them. After reaching sixteen, the Renard siblings got out of the reformatory and went straight to pay a visit to their therapist. In the following day, said therapist was found in the door of his house. It never was found out what the siblings did to him, but whatever it was, it left him catatonic.
Neither Jack nor Helen bothered to deny their crime. Helen had remarked that it had been fun hearing the man scream, while Jack seemed amused at the idea of getting their names in the newspapers. Both of them were processed and sent to a much more strict and secure reformatory. Courtesy of recently ascended from attorney to judge Theresa Cook. When they reached adulthood and went to the streets again, the woman always maintained an eye over the pair, knowing that they would surely fall in their vices again. And they did. Nothing too serious by their standards… just a robbery with an aggression. At least they didn't kill the man they robbed, though he ended pretty... scared.
Of course, this time Theresa sent them to jail, where they stayed until their sentence ran out. It hadn't been a particularly long one, but as Theresa put it herself: "better to have the streets clean for a brief period of time than to wait till they do something horrible and we can put them behind bars permanently when they had already murdered someone." Of course, she was confident in that she could judge them again. That opportunity will never come now. And so, the siblings celebrated the good news as did all the scum that populated Heatherfield's criminal underworld, clapping to the fate of the judge.
The door of the bar opened them, and from it both Jack and Helen could hear heavy footsteps approximating the center of the bar. Even with all the shouting and drinking, all noise seemed to dry down after every person in the bar realized the newcomer's presence. There, standing in the center of the Avalon Bar like nothing important was going on, was the form of Danny Ashford, holding a suitcase, his cybernetic visage clearly surprising the crowd surrounding him. He looked at one side and then another, and directed himself to the bar, as if he wanted to take a cup.
Of course, his appearance triggered whispers, which evolved into conversations, and then into laughter. A full blown laughter directed to Danny's guise. And yet, Danny noticed, the Renard siblings weren't laughing, opting to look at him with an interested grin in their faces. The barkeeper, an man in his fifties with white hair and a short, cut and elegant beard wasn't laughing either; neither was a bulky man in his thirties with a thick moustache and a Mohawk in his shaved head. The four of them just looked at the mechanical stranger, while the others laughed. Now, the only thing that was needed for Danny to gain their interest aside from their attention was…
"Hey dork!" a more or less drunk man shouted to him. And there it was; a stupid one ready to be a volunteer. The man picked up one of the billiard sticks he and his friend were using in order to play the game and, holding it up, directed himself towards the robotic man. "You got the Holidays wrong, punk! It's New Year, not Halloween!"
The billiard stick was swung towards Danny's head as strong as the semi-drunken man could use it. It hit the cyborg's cranium… and shattered into nothing more than splinters. Danny, who had been turned into the barkeeper's direction, turned around and looked at the man who was holding the now completely broken stick, attention divided between the destroyed weapon and the man in front of him. Danny amused himself with the fact that the man's expression was slowly becoming one of fear. Even if drunk, it was clear to him that he had picked in the wrong person.
"Well, seems that you got the Holidays wrong." Danny said as he picked the man by his shirt and held him over his head with his free hand and without effort. "It's New Year's Eve; not Saint Patrick!"
And as he said that, he threw the man across the bar, and he impacted against a wall and then fell on top of the billiard board he was playing before. This prompted the other customers to attack Danny with everything in hand; chairs, sticks, glasses. And as he did, the Renard siblings, the barkeeper and the Mohawk guy continued to stare at him and the spectacle he was providing. Sighing at the incoming excuses of adversaries, Danny let his suitcase in the ground and prepared himself for a little bit of exercise.
What followed was the most blatant example of a one-sided bar brawl that you can imagine. In what didn't amount to even ten minutes, Danny had all the men in the bar laying in the floor unconscious. He must admit, when you are built up for the exact purpose of defeating a pyrokinetic girl with enchanted strength and senses, you can beat any regular guy.
"Well, that was interesting to see, but it's bad for the business." the barkeeper said. "I'm calling the police."
"Yes, go ahead, call the police." Danny said in a sarcastic tone. "Sebastian Smith, right? Or should I say Frederick Foster? Or..." Danny's eyes narrowed, as if he was smiling under her metallic mask. "Macbeth."
That last one name stopped the man in his tracks. He sighed and looked at the floor. "Agh... swizzle sticks." He turned around as fast as he could and fired three bullets directly to Danny. Two impacted in his chest and the last one right into his forehead. Of course, the bullets just impacted against his armor and fall out of it, without leaving a mark.
"Please, old timer, no need for that." Danny remarked.
"Don't call me 'old timer'." the barkeeper, or Macbeth as he had been called, said. "What do you want, freak?"
Danny chuckled. "You don't want to be called old timer, and you call me freak..." Danny moved his hands randomly at his sides. "See the problem?"
"Who are you?" the man of the Mohawk asked, still sitting at his table. He was looking at Danny half curious and half wary. "Why are you here?"
"Declan Wolfe, if I'm not mistaken." Danny identified the man. "Name's Daniel, but everyone calls me Danny. As for why I'm here..." Danny pointed to the suitcase. "I just wanted to make an offer for a job. This," Danny pointed to the unconscious forms of the multiple people he had beaten up "this is what I would call a tryout."
"And why do you think we will listen to you?" Macbeth asked the cyborg.
"Well, maybe is because he just beat the crap out of all these in an instant?" Jack commented from his seat as he indicated with his hand to the bodies in the ground.
"Or maybe because he just shrugged off your bullets?" Helen supported her brother's statement with her own.
The old barkeeper grumbled at the siblings' commentary. Then Danny intervened. "What about considering it a favor?" the cyborg said. "For the man who put Theresa Cook behind bars."
That got their attention. Danny was finding this situation incredibly funny. Was this the same thing that Mr. Doomstad felt while speaking with him? The sensation of knowing something that the person in front of you doesn't know, but that they know that you know. It felt tickling to be the one in control.
"You put the Cook Bitch in prison?" Helen remarked. "You are awesome!"
"How?" Jack, always a bit more level-headed than his sister, asked. "How did you do that?"
"The same way I know who you are." Danny explained. "Gaining information and using it." Danny then took one of the chairs that hadn't ended smashed against him and, putting it back on the ground he took a seat, making sure that the suitcase was near to him. "You can go everywhere with some info. For example" he pointed to the barkeeper. "The famous, and yet supposedly retired arms dealer only known as 'Macbeth'."
Danny pointed to Declan. "Declan Wolfe, a former professional wrestler, a little too much enthusiastic about hunting endangered species, and let's not talk about the anabolic drugs..."
Danny then directed himself to the Renard siblings. "As for you two..." something flashed in his eyes, and then it dimmed out. "Helen and Jack Renard… Oh, boy. Where do I start?" this remark had the siblings chuckling in cruel pride.
He clapped his metallic hands. "And here you are, all wasting your time in a lousy, dirtied hole; all so different, and yet you four have something in common. All your lives went to hell thanks to goody-two-shoes Mrs. Cook. Well, here I am to get you all in the game."
"So, you are basically offering me a way to regain my former operation?" Macbeth asked.
"Yes, and money, tons of money; but not only that. Ever wanted to sell the best of weapons? Ever wanted to be as strong as no one? I can give you all that." Danny said. "But of course, first you have to do me a favor, since I already did you the one of imprisoning Mrs. Cook."
"And that will be?" Declan Wolfe asked with impatience.
Now he had their interest. Good, Mr. Doomstad was right; these were the right kind of people to use. He took the suitcase and opened it, revealing a screen inside it. "I think that was your entrance's phrase, boss."
The screen turned on, revealing the image of Victor Doomstad in it. "Thank you, Daniel" said the burgundy wearing blue eyed man, in his usual deep voice. "Hello, gentlemen, lady." he directed to the attendants. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounties of cybernetic 'Trans-Humanity'?"
Cook residence
Sweat, tiredness, muscles aching. Taranee was punching a huge punching bag in her garage. She had found it under a few old things that her dad had kept in there. At first she had thought that she could punch it to blow some stress, but now she was just doing it for the exercise. Being a Guardian, even if not transformed, had its perks. You healed faster than the regular human beings, you were stronger… but it didn't come right with a combat instruction for solitary duels. A Guardian's best strength lies in her companions; that was one of the first lessons that Yan Lin had taught them all. That fact had almost cost her life months ago, when Nerissa had attacked her while the other four were in Meridian. And then Danny had practically killed her, and her friends and companions had also almost died when they fought Doomstad and the others separately. Taranee had learned the hard way that, if teamwork was a Guardian's best strength, fighting alone was their biggest weakness.
"You are doing it wrong." her father's voice took her by surprise. Leaning against the frame of the door that connected the garage to the house, Lionel Cook looked at her daughter pounding the bag.
"Oh, emh… sorry dad." Taranee apologized.
"You don't have to just punch it. Punching things straightforward is how rookies get defeated in everything that entrails physical contact." Lionel said while approaching Taranee and the bag. He put himself behind the training device and hit it softly, making it to move from side to side, like a pendulum. "You have to think that this is a person, not a punching bag. You have to made it move, wait for its movements, adapt to them. You have to endure the blows and the pain while you are waiting for an opening to attack. That's how you use one of these." Lionel stopped the bag's movement. "Will has called. She has said that she will understand if you want to stay here, but she said that they are meeting on the Silver Dragon."
"Dad, if you need me here, I…" Taranee said, but Lionel cut her mid-sentence.
"No, go ahead, really. I think that, right now, is better if you are with them. I will call you if I got a call from the prison or the family's lawyer. Just… try to not get into trouble, Taranee."
The black girl hugged her father and kissed him in the cheek. "Thanks dad." the Fire Guardian said as she get out of the garage and headed to the bathroom in order to have a shower before leaving. Lionel looked at her go, thinking that, in this type of situations, a friend was the best thing that could be around you. A friend. Years ago, Peter and that Danny boy had been inseparable. And look how that turned out to be. What the hell had been going on lately? First his little girl is sent to the hospital, and then his son turns out to be a murderer, and his wife a corrupt. Lionel looked to the punching bag and, without thinking it two times, punched it with all his strength. The bag got torn and a thin line of sand fell to the ground from inside.
"What an awful New Year's Eve…" he thought to himself.
The Silver Dragon
In the basement of the Silver Dragon, the members of WITCH were having a meeting. But instead of chatting, they were planning as if they were army commanders. A map lying over a table depicting the entirety of Heatherfield, and the five girls around it. From time to time, Yan or Mera would enter to see if the girls wanted something, or if they needed to contact the other members of CHYKN. Apparently, one of the benefits of having Halinor back on Earth was that the old timers were able to use their telepathic link again and link it to the girls'. That provided a good way of communication between both parties.
When Taranee arrived, the other four girls were already there. And to her surprise, so was Susan Vandom, who seemed a little awkward around such young people acting like if they were battle-hardened soldiers. It didn't stop her from giving Taranee one of the warmest smiles of her life after the dark-skinned girl answered the woman's questions about her well-being with an evasive answer.
Taranee joined her companions. "What did I lose?"
"Not very much, really." Will said. "We were just revising what we already knew."
Cornelia pointed to one of several crosses that were painted upon the map, this one depicted over Villa Ludmoore. Someone, probably Hay Lin, had written the words 'Evil Hideout' under the cross. "So, as far as we know, Riddle and the Doomstads operate from here. And we also know that they are after my sister."
"I don't think that they will go straight for her" Taranee said, getting in the conversation. Perhaps some tactical-chat would distract her from her problems. "They probably prefer to remove us from the picture before that. It will be much easier for them to act with only the Regents opposing them. Speaking of the Regents..."
"They will be with Lillian 24/7 from now on." Will said. "Matt will patrol around the Hales' during day and Huggles during night. Napoleon will be directly with Lillian, no matter what."
"So not really wanting to be that guy" Irma intervened. "But what do we do?"
Will opened her mouth, and then closed it after that. "The best thing to do would be to play at the defensive."
"So we wait for them?" Hay Lin asked.
"Not exactly." Will answered to the Air Guardian. "But I don't want to rush in that manor or that factory again. Khor is probably living down there. I doubt that Doomstad and Riddle want him exposed to the public."
Cornelia shivered a little. "Yeah. I'm not very into facing Big Bad Wolf again."
"Our best chance is try to weaken them while getting more info about what they try to do to Lillian." Will said. "Attacking them head on while they are all gathered in the same place would be a suicide."
"Oh, oh, oh! That's the Divide and Conquer thing, right?" Hay Lin said in her cheering tone.
"Yes." Will answered. "We have to find a way to isolate them and then strike."
"I think that Danny is our best option there." Taranee intervened, getting some worried looks from her friends. "He was just walking the streets when he confronted me yesterday."
None of the girls said anything. It was pretty hard for Taranee with just everything with her mother to add the fact that her boyfriend's older brother was trying to kill her. They knew that Taranee had been completely avoiding talking about or with Nigel since the reveal about her mother's involvement into Danny's imprisonment
"And the info part?" Cornelia spoke in order to put everyone's focus back on the plan.
"That's where we can really move around." Will said, and then breathed deeply. "Mom, when you are ready."
Susan approached the table and, taking something out of her pocket, she put it over the table. They were two pieces of paper, invitation tickets, if the girls weren't mistaken. "Will, what's this?" Irma asked.
Susan was the one to answer. "These are invitations to a charitable party in the Ludmoore Manor. Doomstad and his wife are throwing it in order to gather money to help the families that lost someone during what happened in the mall. Since Heatherfield Electronics is a filial of Prometheus, I have been invited."
"Well, at least they are trying to repair their mess" Irma remarked dryly. She touched her nose and noted how Hay Lin did the same with her stomach from time to time. In order to not get discovered by their parents, both Air and Water Guardians were wearing a little glamour that hid their new scars. But the scars were still there, they could feel them aching from time to time, the reminder that there was a part of their bodies that would not be the same again.
"Yes, but by doing so, Doomstad will have the entire of the city eating from his palm." Cornelia said, getting Irma out of her thoughts.
"That's not the point." Will told the blonde. "The point is that both Victor and Sephiria will be on a party, my mother will be there and none of them know that she knows who we are, and who they are."
Silence took hold of the five teenagers and the adult woman. "Will" Hay Lin broke the silence. "Are you planning to use your mom to attack the Doomstads?"
"What? No!" Will said, almost jumping. "But I had an idea of how to take advantage of that."
Will raised her right hand and generated a bolt of Quintessence, holding it in his almost clenched palm. "I have been giving some thoughts to all that 'using my powers to their full again'." Will smirked. "And I have a very good idea to use it."
"Are you sure?" Irma intervened. "What if you become that Elemental you again?"
"That's not a possibility. Not with what I have planned. And you heard Matt, we have to grew out of that fear sooner or later." the redhead remarked. "I already told mom about it, and she has agreed."
"Look girls," Susan intervened "I know that it's a bit weird to have me here, but I want to help. And you could really use this kind of opportunity."
"Mom is right" Will remarked. "We can't let this opportunity to pass in front of us like nothing. We don't know what Riddle and Doomstad will do in continuation, and we need to, otherwise we will always be one step behind them."
The other four girls looked to their leader. "Okay, Will." Cornelia said. "What's the plan?"
Ludmoore Manor
Hours after that
Reading a quartet of informative dossiers, Theodore Riddle sat at a table in one of the spacious rooms of the Ludmoore Manor in company of Victor Doomstad and another attendant. He had been giving the final touches to their next move in the plan. It was a step that Victor had improvised after those two sages of Kandrakar entered the stage. Who knew how many more could interfere? So they have been forced to gather more 'pawns' in order to use against them. Of course, it was meaningless, and if everything went as planned, their interference shouldn't be changing anything, but Victor had to disagree. And so, he had sent young Daniel into searching some 'aid'; which he had found into the form of four criminals that had accepted a deal with Victor in order to gain money. And of course, Victor's upgrades had been incredibly welcomed by them. Well, by three of them, at least. The fourth one was currently sitting at the table with both Riddle and Victor.
"Why 'Macbeth'?" Theodore asked to the white haired and white bearded man in front of him. He had changed from his barkeeper attire to a particularly dark outfit. It consisted in a pair of black trousers and combat boots, a dark blue pullover over his torso and all of it enveloped in a dark and long coat.
"I like Shakespeare" the man said. "And I found his take on the tale of Macbeth quite entertaining. Frankly, I feel rather identified with him. That's the reason I choose that name as my alias."
"You have done quite the good work into erasing your original identity, though." Riddle remarked. "It's really remarkable that an organization like ours only can find your false identities, but not the original, real one."
"Says the man named 'Riddle'." Macbeth thought to himself. "I'm going to get paid or not?"
"Of course, the quantity should be already in your ghost properties." Riddle remarked. "But one more thing, why did you reject Victor's offer about the augmentations?"
"That intrigues me too" Victor said, entering in the conversation. "I actually had prepared quite the set for you." He sounded disappointed, like a child that has lost his opportunity of using a new toy.
Macbeth shrugged. "I don't want anyone to treat my body like that. This is my body, and like this it will remain till the moment of my death. I was born human, and human I will die." Macbeth's eyes hardened. "If I have to do a 'job', then just give me a gun and I will do the rest."
Riddle smiled. Now that was an answer he liked to hear! It was such a shame that he had to find Sylva before finding this man! And what did he ask in return of his service? Money! Trivial and unimportant money! Well, money and weapons.
"Don't worry about that detail" Victor assured him. "I will provide you with weapons that no one has seen until now." the blue eyed man looked at his watch. "It's almost twelve o´clock. The others should be ready by now, so you should be going to meet the upgraded versions of your companions, Mr. Macbeth."
The man nodded, sat up and left the room. That left Riddle and Doomstad alone. "Well, with this, Sephiria and I will be able to be in the party while Danny and these four take care of the side operations. You could just sit and watch from the sidelines as always, Theodore."
"Thank you, Victor." the bald man answered. "But are you sure these four will be enough to deal with their targets?"
Doomstad took a finger to his chin. "They aren't as strong as Daniel, that's for sure, an frankly it would have been stupid to made them otherwise, but they will be enough due to the type of weaponry they carry. They had been equipped with the best I could manufacture in anti-magic weaponry I could create."
"One has to admit, finding another one of those… what was the name you gave them?"
"Anti-Magic Particle Source, or A.M.P.S., for abbreviations" Doomstad answered.
"Right," Riddle said, sounding a little stupid. "As I was saying, it was fortunate to find one of those under this manor." Riddle said. "Speaking of young Daniel, where is he?"
"Sephiria has gone to get him." Victor answered. "She should be back in time to attend the party and the guests."
"Speaking of the guests, Victor, one of those Guardians' families will be assisting, right?" Riddle had pronounced the word Guardians with such hatred that his tone had lowered a little upon ending the phrase.
"Susan Vandom will be assisting, yes; in company of Dean Collins." Victor answered. "I got the confirmation a few hours ago."
"Keep watch over them, Victor." Riddle ordered. "That redhead girl is not someone that lets opportunities like these to pass over."
"Do you think that she has told her mother about her secret?" Victor said. "That seems unlikely with what Sylva's data said about her."
"I know" Riddle said. "But I don't want to let nothing else in the plan to chance again. Keep an eye on them during the party."
"I doubt they will be able to do anything but…" Victor tapped the table with his fingers. "I will keep watch over them, don't worry. Everything is progressing to the final stage just as we planned, Theodore, there is no need to be so wary."
"Good." Riddle said. "Now, the only thing that lasts is waiting, isn't it?"
"Yes." Victor answered. "Do you want to play chess until Sephiria gets back?"
Riddle smiled. "Why not? It has been very long since I defeated you."
"Last time I checked, Theodore." Victor said with a grin. "You were defeated by a mere girl."
"That was just because I decided to face her without reading her mind, and I underestimated her." Riddle protested. "I haven't lost with you since the last time, and I'm not going to start now."
"If you insist…" Doomstad said while the two men prepared the chessboard and the pieces, as their laughter invaded the room they were in.
Nigel's home
"So, that's how it is…" Martin said as he finished his conversation with Nigel, one of his oldest and closest friends. Even after entering high-school, Nigel and Martin had kept close. Even if, as those ridiculous, unwritten but apparently sacred teenage-rules indicate; Nigel should had become a cool-boy while Martin was in the right direction of becoming what's usually called a nerd; they kept their friendship. Even if Nigel was more interested in sports and Martin in audiovisuals, they kept their friendship. And now, when Nigel's life had taken such a dark turn, there was Martin Tubbs. Always loyal and ever caring Martin Tubbs, who now was sitting with Nigel in the latter's old sofa, while his parents were trying to not sink into a depraved sea of lawyers, policemen and journalists. Take about good way to start the New Year. The glasses wearing scrawny teen put a hand over Nigel's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man. I can't begin to understand how you feel."
"It's funny, you know?" Nigel said. "I always looked up to Peter. When big brother went to prison, he stuck to me and protected me, guided me. Until now, I thought that it was his way of respecting his friendship with my brother, but now that I know what happened…" Nigel sighed in exasperation. "I think it was probably guilt."
"Have you spoken with Taranee?" Martin asked.
Nigel shook his head. "I don't know how I will react if I look at her face."
"Are you angry at her?" Martin asked his friend.
"No, of course not." Nigel said. "I'm certain that she didn't know, just like I didn't. Taranee isn't as cruel as to date me knowing all that. From what I have heard in the TV, her father didn't know either. I'm more worried about how she feels about herself right now than that."
"Well, dude, you will never find out if you don't ask." Martin said.
"I don't know, man." Nigel said. "My parents are pretty bad right now. My mother has done almost anything but crying since she found out my brother was… Man, how I hate this; it's totally un-sweet." Nigel said in a sad tone. "What in the name of God is going on? Everything seemed so easy and good only two weeks ago! Then the frigging Shopping Mall explodes, and my girlfriend almost dies! Then, I found out that my girlfriend's mother is a total bitch, and then my brother dies in a prison! And the last person that he spoke to was probably me!"
"It's okay man." Martin said, as he put his arm around his friend. "Look, you should talk with Taranee, Nigel. If you still care for her and if you think she still cares for you… then you two should talk. If you don't clear out your feelings with each other, it will only hurt you both."
"Talking from experience?" Nigel asked Martin, regaining a little strength from that funny remark.
"Of course!" Martin said, and the two friends laughed. Because that's what a friend is, a light that guides you even in the darkest of places.
Outside the house, in the top of a near building, Danny listened at how his little brother and Martin talked with each other. He had heard them thanks to a little mini-drone that his new body incorporated and that let him heard from a distance thanks to a large range communication microphone. In the moment he had known about it, he had left it in his house.
"He still likes her, doesn't he?" Sephiria Doomstad took Danny out of his thoughts.
Danny sighed. "It looks like it" he said.
Even if he hadn't heard the woman approach, he didn't show any signs of surprise. He didn't even finch when that cat that seemed to accompany Sephiria to everywhere she went jumped into his metallic shoulder and rubbed against his neck and head. The woman made a giggle. "Look, Josephine likes you too" she said, to which Danny mumbled something incompressible in protest.
"Yeah" Sephiria said while putting herself at Danny's side, a nostalgic smile in her face, "that was probably what was going to happen irremediably of what you did or said. Love works that way."
"Don't call it love." Danny protested, while turning around and walking away slowly; his metallic feet making a rattling sound while impacting against the ground. "It's just a teenage thing. He will let it pass."
"Revenge is a sucker's game." Sephiria said, making Danny to stop in his tracks.
"What?" the cyborg asked.
"Victor's motto." Sephiria said. "You know, it was his father's before being his. I lived with them when I was a child, you know? Met Victor there, one of those typical stories in which the kids grow up together and then fall in love. The first time I heard 'revenge is a sucker's game' was from his dad. Pretty boring and work-obsessed guy the old man, but he was good with us. For him, that phrase meant that revenge is stupid because it's not profitable. For Victor, it means that revenge is stupid because it doesn't let you look at the big picture of things."
"So?" Danny asked.
"For me" Sephiria said putting emphasis in that last word, "it means that you shouldn't let that revenge to consume you" she looked at Danny and saw how the cyborg was looking at the ground. Sephiria smiled at him. "Those creeps you took from that dirty hole they called a bar should be finished by now. Victor wants to see you for the instructions for tonight."
Danny mumbled something and started to go away. Josephine jumped from his shoulder and went to accommodate herself on top of Sephiria's head. As Danny went and disappeared from the top of the building, the black haired woman looked at the blue sky above her. Then she hit her temples as a little girl would do.
"I just sounded like a mother back there…" she complained into a funny tone.
Vandom residence
"Are you sure you have picked everything?" Dean asked Will as the redhead put a third bag in her home's entrance.
"Yeah, I think that I have." Will answered. "Shouldn't you be preparing for the party tonight or something?"
"I have plenty of time to do that" the History teacher answered. "And you seem to need help with that." the ginger man said, signaling to the three bags by waving his hand in their direction.
"Right, right…" Will breathed. "It's just I'm a little nervous. Mom and you are practically going to be in the mouth of the wolf tonight, and I'm going to be in dad's house, and I will have to make an excuse for leaving after dinner…"
"Don't worry about that part." Dean reassured her. "Tony and Serena will let you go. They are pretty good people."
Will calmed her and smiled. "Yes, you are right."
After a few more minutes of waiting, Tony Vandom appeared in the entrance to the Vandom's house. After some nice word interaction with Collins, he took Will's luggage and put it in his car, where Serena waited for them. Dressed as sharp as ever, Tony waited patiently along his fiancé while Will said her goodbyes to Susan and Dean. This had been something that the redhead and both of her biological parents had agreed upon a few weeks after Tony's arrival on Heatherfield, according that Will would expend Christmas with Susan and New Year with Tony. Of course, this had been decided before all the 'Riddle mess' started, and now Will couldn't find a way to avoid it without telling her father about the Guardians too. Of course, she didn't know that Tony already knew. In fact, she didn't know that Tony knew what Will would become long before Will being a Guardian.
The two redhead's and the brown woman rode Tony's old fashioned (but still kinda cool) car to the two almost married adults' home at the last floor of one of Heatherfield's skyscrapers. There, Serena showed Will her room while Tony carried his daughter's bags.
"I hope everything it's to your liking." Serena said to Will.
Will looked at the room. It looked like a standard room prepared for a teenager, which Will interpreted as Serena's way of saying that she welcomed her but wanted to let Will to decorate and organize it in her own. Will had passed for too much lately to care for any detail that bothered her, or to not welcome with open arms such a lovely detail, so Will gave Serena a friendly hug. "Thanks, wicked stepmother." the redhead said.
"Aw… you are welcome stepdaughter" Serena said, answering to Will's hug with her own.
"No, no. Don't worry." Tony's voice came from the hallway. "You two can keep looking at the room and hugging each other, and let me handling the bags…"
Serena and Will looked at each other and then, snickering, get to the hall in order to help Tony. As the redhead teen took some bags from her father, the man sighed while the two put them in her new room. "You are conscious that you are only here for, at most, half a week right?" Tony asked.
"Well yes, of course I do." Will answered as it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Then why did you bring all these bags?" Tony asked, but Serena hit him in the back of his head lovingly.
"You can't ask a lady why she brings too much luggage!" Serena said to her fiancé. Tony grumbled without saying anything to that answer, knowing that this was one of those moments in which he wouldn't be able to get out well of any following conversation with Serena, Will or both.
"Okay, okay; sorry." the redhead man said smiling sideways. He then looked at her daughter. "Hey Will, can I speak a little with you in the terrace, alone?"
"Uh... sure dad, but shouldn't I be unpacking first?" the Keeper of the Heart told her father.
"I will take care of that, don't worry." Serena said, and then pushed her a little. "Go to speak with Tony."
Will did as she was told; understanding that Serena and her father had probably spoken about this prior to her coming here. She and Tony exited to the flat's terrace, he two redheads looking at the view of the immense skyscrapers that populated Heatherfield, and the sky of the usual pale blue characteristic of winter. Tony and Will leaned against the railing of the man's balcony.
"Serena and I heard about what happened with Taranee's mother" Tony said breaking the silence. "It's terrible."
"Yes, yes it is" Will retorted to her father. "Taranee feels horrible."
"And you?" Tony asked Will.
The daughter eyed the father. "What?"
"You, Will. How do you feel about all this? She is your friend." Tony said.
Will looked at her dad and then changed her sight to the city once again. "I don't know. I feel sorry for her, and I really want to be there for her. But at the same time, there is so much going on with…" Will looked at her father by the corner of her eye "some things… that I think none of us can really put ourselves in her place. Or maybe is that we can't understand, because we haven't passed for that kind of situation. I don't know, it's just that I…"
"Care for her." Tony ended the phrase for her daughter.
"Yes." Will answered. "But I care for all of them."
Tony looked at Will and, enveloping her with his arm, he ruffled her hair with his hand and smiled. "I think that we should go back inside before Serena is overwhelmed by whatever you have carried in those bags."
"Sure." Will said as the two of them headed inside.
"By the way, do you and your friends have some… 'crazy plan' for tonight and tomorrow?" Tony asked her.
Will smirked at that. "You have no idea, dad." she thought. "Not really, why?"
"Well, Serena and I are going to be at a club with some of her friends she wants me to meet tonight, and tomorrow I have a meeting in the afternoon with some associates of mine. So, if you want to get your boyfriend here…"
"Matt?" Will asked, still not getting the point. "Well, sure I could bring him here, but why should I bring him… here…" Will's face became as red as her hair. "DAD!"
A hand hit Tony in the back of his head fast and strong, and he could have told that he had felt a little electrical force added to it. Will looked at him, her face still something that could pass perfectly as a tomato. "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!" and the redhead teenager went inside, stomping her feet in the ground.
Tony smirked playfully at the show displayed in front of him. "I have the strange feeling that this is going to be a funny New Year." the Count thought.
The factory under the Ludmoore Manor
Seven o'clock PM.
Danny stood in the underground factory with Macbeth at his side. In front of them, the other three 'subjects' (as Mr. Doomstad called them) practiced with the upgrades that the man had provided them with. Declan Wolfe had now something very similar to miniature, cylindrical turbines in his arms, back and legs. They weren't part of a suit or something; they were incrusted in his flesh and bones. Apparently, each one of those could release a special kind of steroid mixed with some nano-machines that made Declan's strength to augment considerably, along with his muscular size, especially in his upper torso. The Mohawk wearing man, a former pro wrestler and heavyweight at that; was now able to punch holes in pure stone. It wasn't as strong as Danny's body was, but it would be enough.
The Renard siblings had taken a path very similar to Danny's, except that, instead of having the cybernetics covering their bodies completely, they only covered their arms, legs and torsos; almost as if the platters were a second skin, a fact that Danny eyes recognized by stopping a few extra moments over Helen's hourglass figure. Their heads had been left completely free (except for Jack's right eye, which was covered into a eyehole that looked like an eye patch), and it was clear from their thin complexion in comparison with Danny's that they weren't equipped with the same weaponry. Just enhanced strength and agility; and as Mr. Doomstad had put it, some 'flashy tricks' with the claws.
Macbeth, in total contrast with the other three, just had been given Victor's finest weaponry, mainly updated and fully functional prototypes that he made for fighting the Guardians before adding them into the robotic designs. Speaking of robotic designs, Danny took his sight from the others a few moments to look back and put it over the new models that Mr. Doomstad had reserved for tonight. They were only two, taller than Danny himself, but still not as big and bulky as the one that had attacked the mall under Sylva's instructions. They were way slimmer than the MK.I and albeit not as humanoid as the P.H.I.L ones that the doctor was going to put to public use, they looked rather aerodynamic.
Danny projected a clock in front of his eye visors. "Is everyone ready?"
"Ready?!" he heard Helen's voice. "Man, I could totally win a marathon or smash the entire police force of this town by myself now!" a phrase followed by a metallic sound resulting of her giving five to her brother.
"Sis is right, this feels amazing!" Jack stated, clenching his new metallic fists. "I feel like I could totally squash anyone like a bug!"
For his part, Declan held his hands in front of him and clenched them with fury. "When do we hunt?"
"You can start now. Night will be falling soon." Danny said, then looking at the former arms dealer. "Macbeth…"
"I'm in charge, aren't I?" he asked.
"You are in charge." Danny answered.
"Swizzle sticks." Macbeth thought to himself. "Well, better have it done as fast as I can." "Okay, you three! Start moving; let's get over this so everyone can do as he pleases with what has been given to him! Let's roll!"
The four exited the room of the factory they were in, and in a matter of minutes, they were again in the mansion and in progress of exiting Villa Ludmoore towards Heatherfield.
Danny directed himself to the (as he had started to call them) and started to turn them on. As the machinery started to function and the eyes of the robots of black metal started to light in red, Danny heard heavy footsteps and a powerful presence behind him.
"You are out again, human?" a deep, animalistic voice asked him.
"Yes I am, Khor." Danny answered, not needing to turn around in order to see that the one that had asked was the demonic werewolf. "What do you want?"
The Great Wolf waited a little into answering back, taken a little surprised by the human's tone. "Humph; your species has grown too arrogant to my liking during my absence, child." Khor growled. "You and Doomstad seem like you humans can just take into everything that it's thrown at you."
"Was that a threat, wolf?" Danny asked in a cocky tone, which make Khor to growl a little. "You know" Danny continued in the same tone of voice as the finally started to move. "For someone that thinks that we humans are inferior, you seem pretty good with helping Mr. Doomstad."
"Careful now, child." the demonic werewolf said. "The only reason I follow Doomstad is because I'm in debt with him. In the moment I have repaid that dept I will crush him, you and whoever I want if I desire to." Khor's growling tone softened. "But besides, I do respect the strong. Doomstad, his wife, and lately yourself; you are strong and I respect you due to that."
Danny sighed. "What do you want, Khor?"
The werewolf shrugged. "I have to kill time before my moment of hunting down the Nymphs comes. Now it seems that it's yours."
"You heard the boss, Khor; we won't let you out unless is one hundredth percent necessary." Danny answered. "And I will handle them tonight, you don't have to move from here."
At that, the demonic wolf-like creature turned around and went back to the deepest parts of the factory, near its power source, where the creature had established some sort of nest for himself.
"All systems operative." a mechanical voice took Danny out of his thought and forced him to focus again in the in front of him.
"Good, your instructions should be inside your heads by now. Do you know what are we going to do?"
"Yes" the two machines answered Danny at the same time. "Search and destroy."
The cybernetic young man's eyes narrowed in awe as he thought of fighting Taranee one more time, this one without teleporting weirdoes' interferences. "Yes, search and destroy."
The board is ready, the pieces over it. It's the Institute's turn to move.
Cook residence
Taranee was lying over her bed after having the most awkward and silent dinner with her dad. Well, she had had dinner. Lionel, meanwhile, was trying not to choke himself in the food he had poorly and rapidly made every time that the telephone ran. Sometimes it was her mother's or Peter's lawyer, sometimes it was some journalist, and other times (the majority of times) it was some asshole wanting to mess with her family by laughing at them and telling how pathetic her brother was, how much Theresa deserved to be in prison, or to rant about the horrible things they were going to do to both of them now that they were behind bars. With all of that, Lionel barely had time to sit properly and eat with her. A year ago the house was warm and full of life, Peter cracking jokes, her mother trying not to let her dad to do the same... Now, once the dinner had ended Lionel had just let Taranee to go to her room. The man was worn out, so much that he hadn't mind for Taranee to get out this night. He hadn't even noticed that Taranee had stopped using glasses, her own Guardian regenerative abilities and enhanced senses making her eyes to function normally. Or maybe it was that Lionel thought that she had opted for contact lenses again.
Taranee hated her mother right now. This, all of this shit was her fault. Hers and Danny's. She knew that it wasn't right, but Taranee couldn't avoid hating what he had done. She knew that he had every reason, and on top of that he was Nigel's brother, but... EVERYTHING was so much easier before this. Sometimes, Taranee just wanted to lie back in her bed, close her eyes, and sleep for the entire next year. What an apathetic thought for the Guardian of Fire.
But there were things to do. Lillian needed to be protected, and Riddle need to be stopped. And that was it. In the moment that was handled, in the moment that was settled, that this whole horrifying mess ended...
Taranee created a little flame in her palm and made it dance between and around her fingers. In the moment everything ended...
She didn't know what she would do. She had such a clear image of her future until now. End high school, start college; provably course something like journalism. But now all that seemed... not impossible, just unwanted. She didn't want to think about the future, she didn't want to think about tomorrow. She only wanted to be focused in the now. Probably because the now meant no visits to her imprisoned family. Taranee stopped the flame into the tip of her index finger and pointed it to the ceiling, projecting a little circle of light in the darkened top of her room. She closed her eyes and let the flame to dim out.
After a few minutes she felt Will's call into the Guardians' telepathic link. Her eyes opened abruptly, flaming in gold. It was time to move.
Streets at this hour wouldn't be so empty normally. But as Taranee walked them, it was clear that the festivities had taken the people to their homes, where they were probably dinning and waiting comfortably for the start of a new and, hopefully, better year.
That left Taranee alone in the streets, and actually, having the city like that until all the people got out celebrating was the best thing that could happen to the girls. They all needed this kind of peace in order to shine in all their glory.
Taranee got herself to the center of Heatherfield Plaza, the geographical and literal center of Heatherfield, with the City Hall being the most prominent edification, aside from some banks and coffee shops. In the plaza's center, a majestic and gigantic Christmas tree dwarfed everything around, making clear the time of the year. Perhaps this kind of things were the mayor's answer to what had happened in the shopping mall. Let the people to focus on Christmas, not wanting to attract the public's attention over that matter. Taranee wondered, had her mother not resulted being a corrupt… would she had opened an investigation over what happened? Would Taranee have been forced to reveal her secret to her just like Will had done with Mrs. Vandom? She didn't know. And besides, now it wasn't time for what ifs. Now it was time to focus in the mission ahead. Now, where were the others?
"Surprise!" a cheering voice said behind her before Hay Lin, practically out of nowhere, hugged her from behind. "Hello Taranee."
"Hello Hay Lin." Taranee greeted her friend. "From where have you just appeared? Weren't you at the Dragon?"
"Nah, my family is at the Dragon, we ended dinner a while ago. Since Great Aunt Mera has gone out too and we are out in vacation, they let me out even sooner!" Hay Lin answered. "So, I decided to use the free time in me a little, and then I saw you... here we are."
"Oh yeah… right." Taranee answered, a little embarrassed for not having that in account. "But where were you if not in the restaurant?"
Hay Lin winked and then pointed to her cheek with one finger. "It's a secret." the Air Guardian said, making Taranee to raise an eyebrow. Hay Lin had always been cheering and some kind of a 'free spirit', but never one to hold any secrets. But Taranee supposed that everyone needs to keep things to themselves sometimes.
After a little waiting, the other three girls arrived, and Hay Lin got straight into Irma's embrace, sharing a kiss with her girlfriend. "How was dinner?" Hay Lin asked.
"Nyeh" came Irma's response. "It's weird having all of mom's sisters under the same roof at the same time, and that's just not counting their families. At least they focus more on Chris than in me, but…" the girl shivered. "There are now three annoying little boys in my house, and that's just without counting Chris!"
"Well, speaking of family, my parents are going to take Lillian out to this very place to make her see the fireworks of New Year." Cornelia said. "So what about that?"
"The Regents will protect her." Will said in a calming tone. "I'm sure they will be able to hold back anyone who tries to take Lillian if necessary, and we will be in the zone if there is an attack, so…"
Something then caught the Guardians' attention, something very similar to the sound that a phone does when receiving a call. Recognizing what it was, Taranee took the sound in her head and clarified it so the others could understand it. It was a message, a telepathic message. And there was only another person in Heatherfield that could send them.
"Halinor? Is that you?" Will asked telepathically. "Is something wrong?"
"WILL!" came Halinor's voice, or more precisely, shout. "We need help, and we need it now!"
That sentence took the Guardians by surprise. "Wait, Halinor, what's going…"
"There is someone attacking Cassidy's house!" Halinor's thoughts sounded full of fear.
"Who?" Will tried to maintain her head cool, but it seemed really difficult to calm the former Guardian of Fire. "Who's attacking?"
"Some sort of… mechanic man made of black iron." Kadma's thoughts stepped in. "And another two, bugger than him. I don't know if I can keep him talking enough time, and if that fails I doubt that Halinor and I alone are a match for him."
"We will be there, don't worry." Will assured her, and then the communication broke.
"Danny" Taranee said with a slight hint of hatred in her voice. "That has to be Danny; there is no other person in the world that matches that description."
"And it seems that he has brought friends to the party" Irma remarked.
"Doomstad must have more robots like the one of the mall in storage." Will shouted in anger after saying that. "Shit! I didn't anticipate this! I should have thought that sooner or later Riddle was going to go after them!" the redhead composed herself a little. "Taranee, when we transform send a message to Matt and the Regents, this stinks to a diversion, but we can't let Kadma, Halinor and Mrs. Chacon alone. Everyone is ready?"
Her four friends gave her stares of pure determination. It was time to attack with everything their got, no matter what. Will caught as much air as she could in her lungs.
"Guardians Unite!"
The flash of pink light occurred as always, enveloping the girls and transforming their bodies into their Guardian forms. When the transformation ended, the five girls took flight. Well, at least four of them.
"Ehm, guys?" Cornelia asked. "A little help?"
The other four girls looked at her and saw how Cornelia still lacked her wings. "So not even the transformation was able to heal them?" Will thought with sadness and guilt.
Irma descended to Cornelia's level and put her arms around the blonde. "Don't worry Corny, I'll give you a ride. Ready?"
"Ready." Cornelia answered. "Just make sure to not drop me of anything.
"Only if you behave adorable and nicely." Irma answered in her usual snarky tone.
"Oh, but I'm always nice and adorable." Cornelia said smirking as the girls took to the skies and into Cassidy's house direction.
Outside the Chacon residence
Kadma Starlighter considered her own self the one of a strong woman. Years of ruling Zamballa, wielding the Purple Jungle's Heart had only strengthened that belief. But now here she was, panting over the ground of the street, an arm broken, one eye closed due to being too damaged and the unconscious form of Halinor behind her. Clearly not as strong anymore. It was in moments like these that she envied people like Nerissa, even with anything that the witch had done, they always seemed able to get out of any situation. Kadma didn't know how to get out of this one.
In front of her, Danny was standing like no big deal was being dealt, arms leaning at his sides, eyes looking at Kadma like if she was nothing but a nuisance that needed to be disposed of. With each one of the at one of his sides, Danny felt quite unstoppable, especially by a frail old woman like the one that was in front of him, fighting to remain unconscious. This wasn't the main event, but it was a good heating.
"I will ask just one more time, granny. And if you don't want to end like your friend there" Danny threatened pointing to Halinor, "you better tell me what I want to know. Where are the others?"
Kadma knew about what he was talking about. He was asking for Cassidy, and probably Yan Lin (who was with her family) or maybe Mera. Shit, this was bad, Mrs. Chacon was inside the house, probably sleeping. No, by this point, she could have been awaken by the noise outside. If she came outside...
Kadma looked at Danny. "Let me answer you..." she said while panting, "just like an old and good friend of mine used to answer me when I asked her to let me copy her homework in high school." Kadma took air. "Screw you."
Danny narrowed his eyes. "You know that you just signed for the most painful way of doing this, right?" Kadma smiled proudly at the cybernetic young man. "Well, I suppose you are one of those that likes getting from bad to worse." Danny approached the former ruler of Zamballa, and with minimal use of effort and strength, pressed his palm against the woman's ribs and broke a couple of them. Kadma fell in one knee, her still intact arm moving fast to her side in order to soften the pain.
Danny looked down at Kadma. "One. Last. Chance." he said, and his voice almost lost all its humanity, reduced to a mechanical growl. "Tell me or that other arm is not going to be broken, it's going to be gone."
"Haha..." Kadma laughed dryly. "You know, if we have met just some months ago, I could have obliterated you in an instant. But right now..." Kadma moved her arm from her ribs to the ground. "This must be enough."
Vines and pillars of stone rose from the ground, entrapping Danny and creating a defensive barrier between him an the former Guardians. Kadma approached Halinor as she could. The dark skinned woman shook the unconscious blonde. "Halinor, wake up; we have to get out of here before…" Kadma looked at the wall of stone she had created in time to see a metallic fist piercing it; Danny tearing apart the vines and the concrete as if they were nothing but frail glass. "That happens."
In a matter of seconds, Danny had smashed the wall and was once again in front of Kadma. "Well, that does it!" the cyborg said, both angered and exasperated. "No more Mr. Nice Guy for you!"
Danny threw a punch directed to Kadma's head, and had it impacted, it could have broken the woman's skull. But Danny stopped his fist in midair. Something had put his sensors in alert, and alerted by them, he jumped back in enough time to evade the descending blow of a sword. Looking up, Kadma saw how Endarno had put himself between the cybernetic young man and herself.
"You!" Danny exclaimed, recognizing the man that had prevented him from finishing of Taranee.
"About time!" Kadma yelled at the retired warden of the Tower of Mists. "Where the hell were you?!"
Instead of answering, Endarno moved his left hand over Kadma and casted a spell over her while holding his sword with his free arm and pointing it to Danny. "Your pain should be gone now. Take Halinor and get inside the house, when she wakes up she should be able to heal your wounds."
Mumbling and a little reluctant about taking orders like that, Kadma did as she had been told, dragging Halinor inside the house. Meanwhile, Endarno charged a spell in his left palm and adopted a more defensive position with his sword in order to fight Danny. The cyborg was walking in circles in front of the old warrior, almost like a rabid animal would do in a cage. He was expecting the so-called Guardians, not this annoying old man. "Better dealt with him fast" Danny thought.
"Daniel Ashford, if I'm not mistaken" Endarno identified the young cyborg. Endarno looked at the robotic man in front of him. The old warrior's eyes travelled up from the feet to the head, stopping various times in the hardened eyes that Danny had. They were too stern, too consumed in hate for someone that young. "How old are you?" Endarno asked the enemy in front of him.
"None of your business." Danny answered dryly.
Endarno closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "I suppose that there is nothing that I can say to make you change your goal and stop this violence." Endarno looked again at Danny, and above the hatred and the anger, he saw only determination and resolve. "It's sad to see what pain and the desire for revenge can do to a man."
"Revenge is a sucker's game." Danny retorted to the old warrior almost automatically.
Endarno chuckled as he heard the word 'sucker' a term he still wasn't accustomed to. "I couldn't agree more with that sentence." And the old warrior charged towards the cyborg.
Endarno delivered a crescent moon slash towards his opponent's neck, but Danny blocked the sword with his metallic forearm. Retiring the weapon rapidly from Danny's reach, Endarno delivered another set of rapid, small attacks onto the cyborg's body, to no avail. Endarno was sure that this man's armor as too thick and hard for his sword to break it. And so, after delivering another blow Endarno rotated over himself and, at the same time he put some distance between him and Danny, he shot the energy that he had been accumulating in his free hand towards Danny at close range.
It didn't do much. When the smoke resulting of the explosion of the bluish white ball that he had shot cleared, Danny hadn't been forced to really move, arms crossed in a X over his face, feet only dragged a little into the ground due to the pressure of the impact. The cyborg lowered his extremities and looked at Endarno smugly. "Not even a scratch." He raised his arms and adopted a combat position. "You are fast, old creep, I'll give you that. But I bet that if I punch you, you will crack as easy as rotten wood. You are out of your league here."
"Big words from a man that punches defenseless women in the night." Endarno talked back.
Shouting in anger, Danny jumped straight towards Endarno, landing with his punch in a very similar manner he had done when Taranee had been rescued from that factory. Endarno evaded it by millimeters.
And like that, in a total reverse from before, Endarno had to focus on the defensive, while Danny attacked aggressively at the old man, who was barely able to block or parry the cyborg's claws and fists with his sword. Due to Danny's strength in comparison with his, Endarno had been forced to wield his sword with both hands in order to withstand the robotic man's blows. "I don't have time to counterattack..." Endarno thought as Danny's hands clashed with his blade, the friction between the two metals creating sparkles due to the intensity of the fight. "Or cast any spell!"
In one of the exchanges of blows, Danny changed tactics and grabbed Endarno's blade with his hand, holding it tight and strongly within his metallic palm. Then he kicked Endarno in the stomach and pulled from the blade, effectively sending the old warrior rolling to the ground and tossing his blade aside, which landed far away from them. Now with his hands free, Endarno was able to start casting a spell with a more destructive force than the first one, but then something cold impacted in his arms, making him unable to use his powers properly. Ice, it was ice. His arms had been frozen.
"What is this?" Endarno asked confused.
"Liquid nitrogen." Danny answered, pointing a small cannon that had appeared from his now opened left forearm towards Endarno. The cannon retracted itself into the cyborg's forearm. "I was saving it for Taranee, but I suppose it's good for you too."
Endarno condensed more energy in his arms, making them to gain warm and start melting the ice. But it was useless, freezing by liquid nitrogen goes much deeper than simply freezing the skin, and even if he could reverse the process with magic, he was worn out. Just like Kadma missed the Heart of Zamballa in those moments, Endarno missed the amount of energy in reserve that came with being a sage of Kandrakar. Endarno looked at the approaching form of Danny. "When did I…" the old warrior thought, "become so dependant in magic?" Endarno stood up from the ground, taking care that his arms didn't broke as he put more energy into them in order to defrost them properly. "Don't warriors of Basilade…" Endarno eyed Danny, who was approaching him calmly, "only need their bodies to take out the enemy in front of them?"
"Stay down old man," Danny said "this is getting sad even for me. If you don't then I will just…" Danny didn't end his sentence. His sensors had gone out of the charts and he fell back various steps. "What the…'"
Something fell from the sky just between Endarno and Danny, sending a powerful shockwave upon impacting with the ground that was able to shake it in such a manner that Danny was sent flying back, falling to the ground in his back and rolling a little before getting up again. He looked at the epicenter of the shockwave, where the blond, long hair of Cornelia waved in the night. The other four Guardians joined her short afterwards. Finally, the main show was here.
"Don't do that ever again, Irma." Cornelia said in a dangerous tone to her companion, who just smirked at her as if she had just played the biggest of jokes in history.
"Okay, can we focus in the problem in front of us?!" Will yelled, wanting for her friends to maintain attention in the threat that was ahead of them.
"Those are different from the one at the mall." Hay Lin said, pointing to the models as she put herself in front of Endarno and pushed him to go inside the house too.
Danny meanwhile, had met gazes with Taranee. The two didn't have to say anything, it was clear that in the moment the fight exploded they were going to go after each other. Looking back to Endarno, Taranee noted his arms were frozen. She recognized that type of freezing, it was the one resulting of liquid nitrogen; she had seen the substance in action in a lot of science fairs. "Will" the black skinned girl said to her friend and leader. "Let me take care of Danny."
"What?!" Will exclaimed. "Are you nuts?! Last time he almost killed you!"
"I know" Taranee said in a calm tone. "But it will be different this time, I promise. Please, just get the other two things out of the way. Trust me on this Will, I know I can win. I must."
Will didn't say anything. The redhead looked for the other three girls' gazes, and seeing that they didn't have anything against that, she decided to play with that idea. "Hay Lin, support Cornelia from the air and take one of those robots. Irma, you came with me, we will handle the other one. Taranee" Will looked at the Guardian of Fire in front of her. Will sighed. "Go and do whatever you need to. But if you seen yourself in trouble, just fall back with the rest of us. We will dealt with the others and go with you as fast as we can."
Taranee nodded and looked ahead. The had come to Danny's aid, positioning themselves slightly behind him, waiting for the command. Danny looked amused at the quintet of girls in front of him. The little Cook bitch seemed eager to face him alone, which he didn't mind. This time for sure he would be able to finish without interruptions. He cracked his neck and grinned behind his mask of black iron. He then waved his right arm towards the girls, making a signal for the robots at his side.
"Attack" Danny ordered.
Inside the house, Endarno had been able to get back some sensibility and mobility to his arms. Once inside he found Halinor already awake and Kadma getting healed. The old blond looked at him. "What is going on outside?" the former Guardian of Fire asked. "What has happened to your arms?!"
"The Guardians are taking care of that metal man." Endarno answered. "He… froze my arms. They will be better, don't worry. Once you have healed Kadma we should get out of here, and bring Mrs. Chacon to a safe… place… Oh Gods."
As soon as he had mentioned Mrs. Chacon, the old and short woman had appeared, dressed in one of her nightgowns, a gunshot in her arms, the weight of the gun clearly making moving hard for her. Halinor, Kadma and Endarno looked clearly surprised to her. Kadma, who was better than before, albeit her arm still needed some more time to be functional again.
"Mrs. Chacon, what are you doing with that?" Kadma asked her. "You shouldn't be out of bed at this hour."
"But, someone. Outside" Mrs. Chacon said as she pointed the gun to the closed door. "There is someone attacking… someone is trying to hurt my daughter."
Kadma put her sane hand over the elder's shoulder. "Mrs. Chacon, no one is going to harm Cassidy. She isn't even here this night; remember?"
"No! No one will take her from me again!" Mrs. Chacon said, aiming at the door as if something was going to cross it any second. How she was aiming while blind was something no one knew.
"Mrs. Chacon." Kadma said in a reassuring tone. "Cassidy will be safe, I promise you that." the former ruler of Zamballa was able to make the older woman to drop the weapon. "That's right, Cassidy is alright. But we are going to go outside now, alright?"
"Al-alright…" the old woman said as she groped Kadma's arm.
"You two, move. Now." Kadma said to Endarno and Halinor. "We have to bring this woman to safety. I don't know if this house will be standing when all this ends."
The two former sages followed behind her, as Endarno looked outside the windows of the house one last time. Outside, battle unfolded, and te guardians fought tooth and nail against the mechanical monsters that were born from Victor Doomstad's creativity.
"This doesn't make sense" Endarno thought. "We aren't their primary objectives, they should be focusing in…" Endarno opened his eyes wide as realization hit him. "The Heart of Earth! But Doomstad and that woman are in the manor now! Then, who…?"
Heatherfield's streets
"Fireworks, fireworks!" Lillian Hale cheered as her and her parent went out of their home in order to see the pyrotechnic spectacle that was going to be delivered in the Plaza to welcome New Year.
"Well, someone sure is excited, isn't she?" Harold Hale remarked with a chuckle upon witnessing his youngest daughter's behavior.
"Of course I'm excited!" Lillian said. "They are fireworks, they are pretty!"
"I don't know why you had to drag the cat with us, honey." Elizabeth Hale said to her daughter while Lillian clenched Napoleon to her chest like he was a stuffed animal.
"But Napoleon wanted to see them too. Right Napoleon?" Lillian asked the cat in her arms, who just looked up at her.
"Meow?" the cat acted as he couldn't understand just what had been said to him, albeit he could. Truth to be told, he was glad that Lillian carried him everywhere at anytime, including this night. It provided with a very useful way to stay close and protect not only her, but also her family. Napoleon wouldn't straightly admit it, but he had started to care immensely about the Hale family as a whole, instead of just about Lillian. Maybe it was a side effect of being the little one's familiar? Maybe it was that their magical bond also meant to care about the ones she cared about? Napoleon didn't know, and actually, he didn't care.
The Hale family, sans Cornelia, walked through the still lonely streets. There was still enough time, but they were going early. This was due to one of Harold's little paranoias, this one centered around his obsession about getting early to wherever he had to go. At least half an hour before whatever had brought him there was going to happen, Harold Hale would be there, looking at his watch in order to make sure that he had arrived in time. As he usually said, better an hour soon than five minutes late. And with the passing of the years, Elizabeth had grown accustomed to that little and harmless obsession of her husband, trying to instruct it in her daughters too. Punctuality was indeed a virtue
Of course, none of the three had noticed the form of Huggles looking at them from the shadows of the nearby alleys, or the sound of flapping wings that Matt produced while flying over them. Interestingly, the Regents could be victims of not noticing too. In their case, none had noticed the form of Macbeth, keeping vigilance over them. He looked behind him, Declan, Jack and Helena ready to go. Madmen or not, the forcefully retired arms dealer had to admit that the now robotic Renard siblings and the now empowered former wrestler had accepted his command quite fairly. But Macbeth supposed that they were just eager to test their new abilities, so they didn't really mind obeying as long as they obtained their share of the action. Macbeth checked his little arsenal while Jack and Helen just scratched each other with their new claws as if they were little cubs, and Declan tensed his muscles, some of the turbines moving slightly, indicating that he only needed a word to jump directly in the fray. The old arms dealer was the only one having doubts about all this 'kidnapping a little girl' thing. But of course, he had gone too far to back down now. So as he charged a little smoke bomb into one of the riffles that Mr. Doomstad had given him, he kept repeating in his head, "think about the money; think about the money". Macbeth aimed to a point where the family wouldn0t be directly hit buy the shot, but yes by the gas. "As soon as I shot this one, you three go and start fighting those three things Doomstad spoke about" Macbeth directed to his companions. "I will set up the trap and then we will take the kid and go. When we are done, everyone to his own business, okay?"
"Yup" Helena answered.
"You are the boss here, old man." Jack said.
"I'm ready" Declan stated. "But just to be clear, I call dibs in the one that looks like a dog."
Macbeth rolled his eyes and pushed his finger nearer to the trigger. "In three… two… one…"
Macbeth pulled the trigger, and the smoke grenade flew in the Hale's direction.
"Showtime."
The smoke grenade fell a few meters away from the family and started to expel its content over the street, the only thing illuminating it the light of the old lampposts. Of course, the Hales reacted with both surprise and fear, falling to their knees coughing while their throats and eyes itched like never before. Napoleon, in the other hand, reacted only with surprise… and also narrowing his eyes and snorting between his teeth. It wasn't long before the lives of Harold and Elizabeth Hale changed forever as the Regent forms of Matt and Mr. Huggles landed in front of them, the waving of Matt's wings dispersing the smoke. But it wasn't to be so easy, oh no. Because as the smoke cleared, the two transformed Regents saw how they had been surrounded. Declan was in front of them, while the Renard siblings were at their backs, and also at the Hale's. The two adults didn't know what to do, but scream in fear and disbelief upon the sights of the augmented humans and the forms of the two magically powered Regents. Lillian didn't scream. She was too much surprised to do so, and besides, she was feeling that the winged man and the creature with similar features of a wolf weren't there to harm her or her parents at all. And on top of that, one of them looked exactly like…
"Matt?" Elizabeth asked, focusing in the winged Regent's face after recuperating from the shock. "Matt Olsen?"
Not wanting to lose very much time, Matt looked back at Mrs. Hale. It was in moments like these that he regretted ditching Shagon's mask after Will and the others had won over Cedric. He had thought about it as a way of showing how he had grew of his 'Nerissa phase' and that there was no trail of Shagon left in him… which turned out to be false, but he didn't want to use that mask again, even after making a deal with his inner demon. But now it wasn't the time for thinking in those details, neither it was for explaining things to Mrs. Hale.
"Hi Mrs. Hale." Matt said to her. "I know that you probably have a ton of question now, but it's not the time. Listen, these people want to take Lillian from you, so as soon as Mr. Huggles, Napoleon and I hold them, you have to run."
"I… what?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief. "That's Huggles? And what did you just said about Napoleon?"
"He said that we will hold them, Liz." the cat answered, talking for the first time in front of the three family members. "I'd have preferred to keep the act a little longer, but sometimes you have to what you have to do." And at those words Napoleon jumped from Lillian's arms, transforming into his Regent form in mid-air, landing between the Hales and the Renard siblings.
"What the…" Harold muttered, eyes wide opened at how Napoleon had changed from being a normal, black furred cat to being a huge humanoid cat creature in a matter of seconds. "Did our cat just call my wife Liz?" the blond man thought to himself.
"Napoleon?" Lillian asked weakly as she looked at the transformed look of her pet cat. Then, after the initial surprise passed, a wide smile appeared in her face. "You can talk! And you are big!"
"And I'm getting extremely annoyed!" Jack exclaimed as he jumped straight towards the Regents and the Hale family, robotic claws extended. Fortunately Matt blasted him with one of his eye-beams, sending him to the ground, albeit the man got to his feet pretty fast. Helen laughed maniacally at her brother's display.
"Got another one in ya'?" Jack asked as a full psychopathic grin appeared in his face and he pointed his claws to the Regents. His very own and sharp fingers shot themselves towards Matt, who shielding himself with his wings, letting the projectiles to impact in them. It hurt more than anticipated, though; as if the projectiles were imbued with something that made them stronger. Matt was expecting them to bounce off his wings, but instead they nailed themselves into them. After merely seconds, another set of ten fingers reappeared in Jack's hands. Not wanting to let these people, whoever they were, any advantage, he flew towards Jack at full speed, taking him in the air and then flying straight into the ground, creating a crater in the concrete upon the impact. Jack didn't seem to be too bothered or harmed by this act as he fought back tooth and nail, nailing his left claw's fingers into the Regent's right forearm, and slashing his chest with the other, letting a really nasty looking and bleeding wound in it.
"Christ!" Harold shouted upon seeing this.
"Mr. Hale!" Matt yelled as he tried to put an end to Jack's struggle. "Run from here NOW!"
Harold didn't have to be told again. He grabbed his wife's and daughter's wrist and ran across the street, letting the Regents handle the upgrading humans behind. Lillian directed one final look at Napoleon, preoccupied even if knowing that he would be okay
Speaking of Napoleon, he was now looking how Helen approached him, moving the fingers of her claws as if she was some kind of predator, circling her prey before attacking. "Here, kitty-kitty, do you want to play with Helen?" the cybernetically upgraded woman asked. "I promise it will hurt just a little... at first."
Napoleon raised his own claws. "Miss, I don't know who you are, but you don't know with whom you are messing here." the feline Regent said.
Smirking as insanely as her brother, Helen let her robotic forearms to be opened in a very similar way than Danny's; except these ones revealed a circular chainsaw in each one. The two devices started to rotate, emitting a buzzing sound. "Neither do you!" Helen launched towards Napoleon, swinging her weapons randomly around her in an attempt to harm the Regent.
Even if her movements were chaotic and erratic, Napoleon had to jump over the cyborg woman in order to avoid being cut. He then turned around and delivered a powerful punch to the woman's stomach that made her cough a blood. But it didn't make her trail back. Instead, Helen retaliated swinging one of her chainsaws and slashing Napoleon across the same arm that he had used to punch her. Then she tried to do the same to his face, but the humanoid cat stopped her arm by grabbing it in with his hands. The chainsaw ended a mere centimeters of his face, rotating fast and aggressively.
Unfortunately for her, Napoleon proved to be stronger. Helen noted how the superficial metal platters of her arm were being slightly crushed under the pressure of the humanoid feline's claw, and Napoleon pulled the chainsaw away from his face. Then he head butted the woman, sending her to the ground in her back. She got back in her feet quickly and continued to swung the buzzing weapons towards Napoleon, and it didn't matter how much he hit her, she continued to do so. "She either doesn't feel the pain" Napoleon thought, "or she doesn't care. Either way, I'll maybe have to kill her if the others fail."
As Napoleon fought Helen, Huggles was facing against Declan Wolfe. The former pro wrestler had started to put his turbines to use in the moment he had been left alone against Huggles his musculature bulging to the extreme that a human's body could, resulting into a mountain of muscles of a man. Huggles, even if not given the ability to speak like Napoleon, could still think; pretty sharply in fact. And right now was thinking that this man was either going to give him the punch of his life, or have a heart attack. As Declan's fist collided with Huggles' face, the Regent knew that it had been the former. Tumbling a few steps back, Huggles punched Declan back. He didn't dodge it, welcoming the punch as it had been a long lost friend.
"Yes, finally..." Declan said, "FINALLY!" shouted the man as his veins bulged with more intensity and he started to exchange powerful punches with Huggles, sometimes trying to grab the Regent into some kind of wrestling technique. But Huggles proved to be too tough for that, and so Declan continued his fist fight against the Regent.
Meanwhile, Matt continued his struggle against Jack, avoiding the man's attacks and shooting him with his eye-beams from time to time. The modified human was proving to be quite fast to Matt's liking, and albeit very few of his shots were hitting him, it was clear that Jack was receiving more damage than him. Still, he could use a little more strength if needed.
"Do you need help?" Shagon asked from inside of him.
"No!" Matt thought back to the hate-demon. "I will call for you when I really need you, but that moment it's not now!"
"If you let me have the reins a little, we could dispatch this fool in the blink of an eye!" Shagon retorted. "You have more power now that I had under Nerissa's command, and yet you are afraid to use it! No one will miss this man if dead!"
"You don't know that!" Matt thought back, with enough anger that he got distracted and Jack was able to kick him in the ribs.
"I told you!" Shagon continued with his protests, but Matt just decided to ignore him, focusing again in the cyborg in front of him. Jack seemed to be having the time of his life, and considering that Lillian had just got into safety, these three seemed to be doing this just for fun. "First Sylva and now these ones" Matt thought. "From where does Riddle pick them up?" Matt evaded yet another shot of Jack's fingers, and this time he flew directly towards the man, impacting in his chest and sending him across the street, making him hit the wall of one of the buildings. Jack fell to his knees and got up again, albeit way slower than before. "Besides, I don't think these creeps can last much longer."
And Matt was right. Once the Regents had recovered from the initial surprise and that the cybernetic upgraded humans had lost the element of surprise, the Regents started to win the upper hand. It didn't last long until Helen and Jack were panting in the ground, her external armor quite damaged by Napoleon; and Declan was punched to his back by Huggles. The three Regents lined up, and looked down at the three defeated cyborgs. Being the holders of a world's source of mystical energy had its advantages. Being able to defeat almost everyone was one of them for sure.
"Who are you?" Matt asked them. "Did a man named Doomstad send you?"
"No, no." Jack said. "Who send us was another guy; 'Sherlock', first name 'No shit'." the Renard brother said as he smirked at his own joke.
"You three…" Napoleon said after hearing Jack joke, as he healed the wound in his arm with magic. "You three aren't the brightest bulbs in the room, aren't you?
"No, I'm afraid that's my role." Three disk-like objects landed around the Regents, and as they did, they started to emit a series of waves of energy that created a dome of pure energy around them.
It hurt. It hurt like nothing that none of the three Rebels had felt in their entire lives. It was as if having bleach running inside their veins, burning their entrails like they had swollen acid. And as the three Regents fell to the ground, the three upgraded humans rose up, and Macbeth joined them afterwards.
"Who… are you…?" Napoleon asked, looking at the man garbed in dark clothes.
"I'm Macbeth, pleased to meet you" the former arms-dealer said, and pulling a strange looking gun out of under his coat, he shot each one of the Regents once, making them to scream in pain. Looking around he failed to spot the objective of the operation. "You let the girl escape, didn't you, trio of idiots?"
"No need to insult us, old man." Jack said, feeling annoyed. "We did as you told us."
"Yeah! And besides, we can catch the little kid in no time! Helen yelled at Macbeth, who just sighed in exasperation.
"Well, why don't you do it?" Macbeth said. "Bring her here immediately."
Sporting a full psychopathic grin, Helen ran in the direction the Hales had escaped, her augmented speed letting her to catch up with them fast. Seeing this, Matt started to incorporate. "I won't let you…" but it proved futile when Jack hit him in the face, sending him to the ground again. The feeling from his claws… it was the same that the one it was coming from the dome of energy that was keeping them down! Was this the static sound that Will felt every time she faced one of Doomstad creations?
"I have to give my praise to that Doomstad man." Macbeth said as he inspected his new weapon. "If these things can make such a number in things like you, freaks" he said addressing the Regents, "I can't imagine what they could do to a normal man. I will gain a fortune selling them!"
Matt looked in impotence at the three men that were standing around him, and the form of the cyborg woman that was running in the distance. "Shit, we got played out" he thought, thinking about the message that he had received from Taranee's telepathy before the Hales had gone to street. "Damn it Will, where are you?!"
Chacon residence
Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Think. Count to three. "This is getting us nowhere." Will thought as one of the MK II evaded another one of hers and Irma's combined shots of electrified water. Cornelia and Hay Lin weren't doing any better against the one they were facing. Still, it was clear to Will that the hits that landed in these one counted much more than the ones that they had laid upon the one at the mall. These two were much thinner and smaller, and they didn't seem to the redhead as having the same weaponry as the one they had faced. They tried to attack with two long blades that had appeared from their forearms, and they moved pretty well, fast and fluid in comparison with the one of the one that Sylva had dubbed MK I… but the girls were proving equally fat. Will had to praise Cornelia for her imaginary, though. Since she couldn't fly, she had taken a piece of stone for the street and was making it levitate with her powers, in a very similar fashion that Kadma did with the flying leafs of Zamballa. If they only could land a hit! Several strategic scenarios appeared in Will's mind at the same time, and her mind started to swim through them until she found the most adequate one to deal with these mechanical speedsters.
Will looked past their battle against the robots for a moment while she prepared instructions for her teammates. "Taranee…" the Keeper of the Heart thought with concern. "God, I hope you know what you are doing."
Taranee and Danny were looking at each other. Even with the battle unfolding around them, neither of the two had made a move against the other. Danny was waiting for Taranee to make the first one, and Taranee… had too many things going inside her head now. In front of her was the brother of Nigel, whom she loved. A man that had been imprisoned unjustly; by her own mother no less. And yet, he had attacked innocents under Doomstad's orders, he had tried to kill her. And no matter how much she tried, it was clear for the Fire guardian that the one that had ruined her life, the one that had broken her family, had been Danny. After all, for a teenager, Guardian or not; anger can be an emotion that clouds the mind quite strong and darkly.
"Are you just going to stay there and wait until I oxidize, Cook bitch?" Danny asked mockingly. "I thought you were going to fight me, but considering what I did to you last time, I can understand you being afraid." The robotic man clenched his fists. "And I told you the other time Taranee; didn't I? That I would make you scream."
Taranee narrowed her eyes at him. She had made her decision. She thought about Kadma, Halinor and Endarno. Also about the shadow that was now permanently casted over her father's face. "And I told you too," the Guardian of Fire said, as both her hands and eyes lighted up in golden fire, her anger burning gloriously inside her soul. "That if you dared to touch one single hair of my friends' heads; that armor wasn't going to protect you."
Danny and Taranee charged towards each other, one running in the earth and the other one flying. This time, however, Taranee was ready for when Danny jumped at her, and using that sharp mind she had been gifted with, she dodged the attack by shooting flames from her feet, which propelled her upwards, avoiding Danny's grab.
The cyborg fell to the ground, were the impact of his weight made the concrete of the street to crack slightly. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to catch her, and that she wouldn't be so stupid as to fight him in close range, Danny deployed two miniature cannons from his forearms, each one of them able to shut the same liquid nitrogen-based bullets that he had used against Endarno. Seeing the cyborg's intention, Taranee charged golden flames into her hands and as Danny shot the icing bullets towards her, she shot multiple golden fire balls towards him. The some of the projectiles collided with each other, while some others got to their objectives passed that. While Taranee dodged the ice bullets, Danny let the flame balls impact with him. After all, he had been proved that his new body could take Taranee's attacks as if they were nothing. Why should he bother with dodging?
"Yes, keep doing that." Taranee thought as she watched how Danny let the flames smash against him. "I just found your weak point."
She descended to the ground and, not giving her opponent time to think, Taranee unleashed a full wave of flames upon Danny, enveloping him in a tornado of golden fire that rose itself to the skies as if emulating the biblical tower of flame that God had unleashed upon the Egyptians that persecuted the escaping Israelites. Inside the flaming tower, Danny's sensors were going insane due to the chaotic nature of the attack. "Attention. External armor receiving multiple damage" a voice informed Danny. "Attention. External armor's temperature reaching a temperature of 1000 Celsius grades. Recommendation: decrease external temperature before reaching breaking point."
With an angry yell, Danny jumped straight out the flame tornado, just to receive another blast of Taranee's flames directly in the face. Ignoring the attack, Danny charged towards the Fire Guardian and tried to punch her, but Taranee evaded him using the same extra propulsion by emanating flame from her feet. Positioning herself over Danny, Taranee charged the strongest flames that she could call upon and shot Danny from above.
"AH!" yelled Taranee as she bathed Danny's form in golden flames and her own dreadlocks and eyes lighted up in them. She felt... different. More powerful, stronger and also with much more confidence. And she didn't know why. She just felt different from before. "Don't fight it" an animalistic voice said in her head. "Burn him down to ashes. That's how a Dragon does."
Taranee's flames' temperature raised more and more. Under them, Danny had started to feel something that he thought that he would never feel again since his transformation. Heat. Pure, strong and hot heat, making him sweat under the iron and mechanical plates. "Attention, emergency: external armor's temperature reaching 1300 celsius grades." Danny's information voice said. "Attention, red alert: external armor's temperature reaching 1400 Celsius grades. 1500... 1600... Decrease temperature..."
"Shut up!" Danny yelled, stepping out of the flames once again with yet another jump.
"Do you wish for me to start decreasing the armor's temperature using the reserves of liquid nitrogen?" the voice asked.
"YES!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs.
Taranee descended to the ground, her hair and eyes still lit in flames. The concrete below her started to melt upon the touch of her feet, the resulting liquid a boiling and dense soup-like thing. "Burn him... burn everything around you..." the reptilian voice continued to echo in her mind.
Danny's body was fuming now, probably due to some emergency mechanism designed to lower the temperature of the iron over his flesh, Taranee guessed. The cyborg stood up after the heat had been purged from his body, looking at Taranee. Even from the perspective of an outsider, it was clear that he was heavy-breathing behind the iron mask.
"We aren't so strong now, are we?" Taranee taunted him. "What's wrong, too thirsty to speak now?"
Danny recovered with the help of the armor and the nano-machines that ran through his blood. "You weren't this strong..."
"Funny thing about heat." Taranee said, paying no attention to Danny's words. "You know, even if you can resist the temperature of a volcano without melting, your body will retain the heat of it. And if you keep putting more and more heat into it, the temperature will raise and raise." Taranee smiled smugly for the first time in her life. "Especially when it's metal. It's basic thermodynamics, but I suppose you never understood that. But what else could you expect from..."
"An idiot that jumps to things?" Danny ended the phrase for her, surprising Taranee and silencing her. Then a clacked and metallic laughter escaped his mouth. "That's exactly what she told me. I suppose that you are no different from your momma, eh Taranee?"
That was the worst choice of words that he could make. Taranee glared at him and the golden flames in her eyes danced with fury. In that phrase, she heard every one of the calls that some lunatic made to her home, she saw each one of the looks that people gave her in the street. She saw her broken father. In that moment, at that phrase, Taranee reacted in the only way she could. "Don't you dare telling me that! I'm not like my mother, I'm not her!" Taranee stomped her feet on the ground, creating flames over the ground.
"Ha!" Danny laughed sarcastically. "Have you looked at yourself? Do you think that Khor hasn't tell us about those Purges of yours?! There is no difference, there never was! You lie and act at the back of everyone!"
"So have you!" Taranee yelled back. "You just attacked innocent people! Why don't you understand? You have to stop!"
"Cut the crap out. You aren't people. Mr. Riddle and doc are right about you, you aren't good for this world, nothing but monsters." Danny said with all the hatred he could put in his voice. "And now that I know that, do you really believe that I will stop?! Stop what, helping the only man that believed me, that gave me an opportunity?! I will never stop Taranee, I will never quit going after you! I will never let you in peace! For every year that I have spent inside that prison because of your pathetic excuse of a family, I will hunt you to the end of the world if it's necessary! It doesn't matter if I'm a sucker, I will have my REVENGE!"
Taranee looked at Danny, how angry and determined he seemed; how much hatred was present in his eyes. He wasn't going to stop... and neither was she. Not against him, not against the person who had ruined her life. At her back she could hear her friends fighting the other two robots, putting their lives in danger in order to protect the innocents. She didn't know what to do... at first. Then the answer came to her rather easily, accompanied by the sound of the breath of a big reptilian animal that repeated 'Burn him... Burn him...' inside her head, drumming rhythmically. It was so obvious! It had been in front of her since the beginning, and she hadn't paid it any attention! But now there it was! "Then I... I..." Taranee mumbled angrily. Little by little, her hands, feet and wings lighted up in fire too. The ground, not only around her, but the whole street started to melt, the stone and the cement boiling and melting into something very similar to lava. The words escaped her mouth as if they had life of its own.
Burn him... burn them all...
"Then..." Taranee said, as she eyed Danny, the draconic voiced echoing in her mind as strong as it could. The Fire Guardian made her choice, and as she spoke, she gave a step in a path that she had never thought herself walking, but that since that very moment, she would walk it for the rest of her life.
"THEN I WILL KILL YOU!"
Iron till it be thoroughly heated is incapable to be wrought; so God sees good to cast some men into the furnace of affliction, and then beats them on his anvil into what frame he pleases. Anne Bradstreet
A/N: Hey, people, how was Christmas? Mine was funny, and even if with a little delay I have brought you a present! A Cliffhanger! Yeah, I had a few more things written over there, but I think is better to let them for the next chapter. Because I have left a lot of things without answering, haven't I? What about the party at the Ludmoore Manor? Where are Cassidy and Mera? What is going to happen to the Regents? And above all else, how is going to end this battle of Flame against Iron? You will have to wait, and I don't know exactly how much. I think that putting Taranee in this situation is the best way to end her little character arc. Since the beginning, I have portrayed her as the most faithful Guardian in the system (remember the Raphael issue back at the beginning of the Riddle arc) and the one that has taken the hardest hit discovering the darkness that can dwell within the light. And now here we have her, at just one step of murdering.
In another note, the Gargoyles references that I mentioned amount to the characters that I had presented to you in the beginning. Jack and Helen are Jackal and Hyena, of course; while Declan Wolfe is a combination between Wolf and Dingo. Macbeth is… Macbeth, no differences in that way I suppose; and they are here to provide the Regents with a battle! I'm not going to masquerade it, they are here to fight, and that's it.
So, next chapter we open in the Ludmoore manor and then we will get to Taranee's and Danny fight. Then the chapter will be dedicated to… other things. By the way, it will be called "New year of Flames, Passions and Surprises." Until that one appears, enjoy this present of mine and leave a review if you feel like it. Have a Happy New Year if I don't publish anything else before it hits!