W.I.T.C.H. 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. That's why it's called fanfiction.

AN: This is a mix of one of XV-Dragons ideas and one of mine. It's comic based, right at the beginning of the series.

Susan Vandom toyed with her all to familiar Ankh shaped ring. It annoyed her to think in spite of all the monsters she'd faced and the enemies she'd beaten, one small man called Thomas Vandom had driven her out of Fadden Hills. Still the company was flexible in its transfers and for that she was glad.

She had been with the company since she had discovered her powers. Back then she was a rebellious teenager with parents who really didn't care. A far from ideal starting point for one of the companies best mages. Tony had taken advantage of that and married her when she reached sixteen. A year later, Will was born. The one good thing about her marriage was without doubt Will. Telling Will the truth about what she did was of course out of the question. After all, Will deserved an ordinary childhood and adolescence. In other words, not hers.

Will was in the middle of a nightmare. She was naked and alone in the middle of a terrible storm and she woke with a jolt. How little did she know what that nightmare was connected to and how it would change her life forever.

The first night in Heatherfield didn't go quietly for Susan. After Will had gone to bed, the company was forced to call her in. A mage of her talents was rare enough, but couldn't it wait until she had a chance to get settled? Susan thought to herself. Just one night, for crying out loud. Still, trouble was seldom so obliging. So on this stormy night, Susan Vandom found herself searching walking Heatherfields Central Park, looking for this particular creature.

The first attack seemed to come out of nowhere. A huge claw swept out of nowhere and would have sliced through Susan, had she not ducked at the last moment. Touching her Ankh ring, she felt the power of transformation flow through her. Her familiar black robes replaced her normal clothes and a skull headed staff appeared in her hands. If she lived a hundred years, she would never tire of this feeling. Ok she was unlikely to live to one hundred in this profession, but still it was the thought that counted wasn't it?

Bracing her feet apart, she watched the creature emerge from the shadows. A huge, crocodile shaped head sat atop the body of what looked like a misshapen T-Rex.

"Oh great." Susan murmured to herself. "A Growre."

Susan wasn't worried about this creature. A Growre would present considerable danger to a different type of mage, but Susan was a highly competent necromancer and a Growre was from the other side of death, through and through. Any creature so immersed in the other side was easy to control for a necromancer. Raising her staff, she began the invocation to defeat the creature.

"By the powers given to me by death himself, I command you return from whence you came."

Her staff glowed and the skulls eyes turned green. A pulse of dark green energy surged from the staff and enveloped the creature. After a few seconds, the Growre vanished.

"Impressive." Someone commented behind her. Staff in hand, she spun round to face a man with slightly grey hair, in a police uniform. He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa wait up, I'm with the company." He extended a hand. "Detective Tom Lair. I came along in case you needed backup."

Susan glared at him. "I'm a necromancer. It would be a pretty poor showing if I couldn't handle a mere Growre. How many of us mages are there in this town anyway?"

"Well aside from you, there's me a weapon mage, Joan Lin at the Silver Dragon, an illusionist, Dean Collins a history teacher at the Sheffield Institute, a seer and finally Judge Theresa Cook, who's a Paladin."

Susan smiled. "Five of us?" she asked incredulously. "Surely you're joking. I can feel the magic in this place so intensely, I can practically taste it."

Tom shook his head. "We're not exactly prolific in this town. Most mages choose to leave as soon as they get here. So it's just us."

Susan sighed and powered down. The situation was very bad. With all the magic in this town, there were more dangerous and intensely hostile magical creatures than normal. Normally there would be maybe a dozen mages for this big a tear in reality. It would certainly make for more work. She mentally shook herself. She owed it to Will to try at least. It wouldn't be fair to move her again before she had a chance to settle at least.

Returning home she looked in on her sleeping daughter. She was determined that Will would have a chance here. She most certainly wanted her to avoid her fate, dragged into a war that no one knew about and would never end. Unfortunately for Will, the council of Candracar was about to change that with a vengeance.

AN: Yes I know it's a little short, but the chapters should get longer after Will and co become guardians. I'm going to be focusing on some of my other stuff for a while but I will return ASAP.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I only own this story, not the characters etc.

AN: I actually like the Cornelia/Caleb relationship in the comics, especially the way that it formed. (Unlike the cartoons, it's actually pretty cute) However, this is a hybrid between one of my ideas and XV Dragons and as a sign of respect to that fact and the fact that I'm an Irma/Cornelia or Cornelia/Elyon shipper, I've made a few changes.

Will groggily opened her eyes as sunlight streamed into her room. She lay there for a moment, trying to hold on to the remnants of her dream, especially the face of that boy. The boy in question had been haunting her dreams and daydreams for the past two years. Not that she minded having him there, he was very cute, with his windswept brown hair, dreamy brown eyes and sweet lips. Despite the fact that she had never seen him in the flesh, she felt certain he existed, but she couldn't really tell why. It was just a feeling really. She turned her face towards her alarm clock and swore as she saw the time.

"I'm late!" she exclaimed to no one in particular as she jumped up and began rushing around to get dressed. Mystery boy would have to wait for later. Grabbing her bag on the way out, she ran to school.

Three hours earlier

For Susan Vandom, the start of the day was far less hectic. Despite a late night and the early start, Susan was used to getting by on little sleep. Although it had given her trouble when she first started, soon she found a suitable daily rhythm. Something Will needed to work on, she thought, a slight smile on her face. Still, Will had her alarm clock. That should get her up on time.

Arriving at her new office, she headed into the head office for her formal introduction to this branch of the company. As she entered the office, the smell of rotting flesh hit her nostrils. Susan almost gagged, but at the last moment stopped herself. She heard a person chuckle at the other end of the room.

"You know, you're the only person who didn't gag upon entering." The tall zombie said, looking at her in amusement. He waved his hand and the smell disappeared.

"Yeah, well I am a necromancer, it kinda goes with the territory" Susan replied. "But if you're smelling like that, you need to get your anti decomposition spells checked."

The zombie chuckled. "There isn't anything wrong with the spells. The smell is merely a charm. It helps me test our new arrivals."

Susan swore under her breath. Most zombies she'd met were obsessive about any bad smells they had around them. Well, excluding those who were under the control of dark necromancers of course. She hadn't had to fight one of those in, what fourteen years?

"My name is Earl Simmond" The zombie continued. "You have a most impressive service record Mrs Vandom and I'm proud to welcome you to our team." He handed her a set of keys. "Here are the keys to your new office. I'm sure you can handle the work waiting for you."

Taking the keys, Susan left.

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Cornelia brushed a lock of long blonde hair out of the way of her eyes and shook herself. For the past fifty minutes, Cornelia Hale aka the ice queen of Sheffield had been thoroughly out of it. She'd been doing IT again.

This time she'd been staring out of the window, at the red-green maple tree leaves as the breeze blew them around. But then the leaves began to form shapes. At first she saw a squirrel. Then, an image of her best friend Elyon, a crown atop her head and a smile on her face. Her sister Lillian, sneering at her followed this in short order. Then the shape of her friend Elyon assembled once more, this time looking scared and confused, a nasty slash on her face. It was with that disturbing image that Cornelia snapped out of it, heart pounding. Part of her knew she was causing the images to form. But the rest of her was sure that wasn't possible and denied it every time the knowledge came to surface.

She had no idea that the images she was seeing were just the beginning.

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Susan worked on her new computer programme, determined to get it completed in time for her meeting with Mr Collins. It was standard company policy for company mages to have a legitimate reason for meeting up when they did. The fact that as a Seer, Dean Collins could probably write the programme better than any normal person amused her in its irony. Any mage worth their salt knew at least one seer. Seer's collected and analysed data and their magic allowed them to spot underlying currents in seemingly unrelated events. As she started writing the final lines of code, her phone rang.

"Susan Vandom." She said as she answered the phone.

"Hi, it's m-"

"Will!" Susan exclaimed "How was your first day?!"

"Listen, there's going to be a party at school tonight and-"

"Fabulous! That's a great place to make new friends, Will. What luck!" Susan replied, feeling a sense of happiness that Will was beginning to come out of her shell. Before she had come to Heatherfield, Will had retreated into herself so much that Susan had worried that she might never come out.

"Wait," Will said, a tone of apprehension sounding in her voice, but Susan chose to ignore it.

"I'll drive you!" she continued, determined to help Will get on with her life. Will continued to try and pursuade her to say no, but Susan steamrollered over her objections. After saying goodbye, she put down the phone and smiled to herself. She knew full well that Will wanted an excuse to stay in her shell, but Susan knew that she wouldn't do Will any favours by letting her stay that way.

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Susan sat outside the grave and tapped her fingers impatiently. Normally she felt a sense of calm in graveyards, but she was running late for her daughter's lift to the Halloween party. Why couldn't vampires choose more convenient times to rise? She wondered idly to herself. At 9:30 she finally saw the earth around the grave begin to move and she touched her Ankh ring. Swiftly she transformed into her necromancer robes, just as the vampires head poked out.

"Oh damn." He said as he looked at her. "Hey if it's about those two tramps I killed, it was an accident, I swear."

"Not according to Paladin Cook, it wasn't" she replied sardonically. Cursing under his breath, he launched himself at her yelling.

"And now I'll kill you as well!"

With a sigh she swung her staff, skull first into the attack. With a sudden flash, he let out a slight "oh" of surprise and collapsed into a pile of dust. Susan dusted herself off and breathed a mental sigh of relief. Irish/American style vampires were by far the most convenient and easy vampires to deal with and it meant that she didn't need to wait for a cleanup crew. Hoping Will would forgive her lateness and trying to think up a good reason for being so late, Susan dashed to her car and headed for home.

As Susan opened the door to their new apartment, she noticed that despite the late hour, the lights weren't on. Switching on the lights, she soon saw why. Lying on her bed, Will was fast asleep. Susan smiled to herself. She looked so sweet when she was sleeping like that. It also meant that she didn't have to explain herself either. Settling down in the living room, Susan prepared to act like she'd arrived at a normal time.

AN: Most people are unaware of the fact that the types of vampires that exist in popular culture are derived from the Irish variants. This is because of the popular novel Dracula, which forms the baseline of modern vampire lore. The fact that the author of the novel, Bram Stoker never went to Transylvania is irrelevant.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The W.I.T.C.H comics are a highly innovative look at an old theme. Needless to say, I am not so innovative and therefore I clearly don't own W.I.T.C.H.

AN: Apparently, Chinese women retain their maiden name after marriage. So it is entirely feasible that Yan Lin is Joan's mother, rather than Chen's. Also, in the comics, Joan tells Hay Lin that Yan Lin used to tell her Chinese legends when she was a little girl every night. It makes more sense if Joan Lin is Yan Lin's daughter.

Joan Lin looked at herself critically. Her doppelganger had to be perfect if she was to get going without her mother or her daughter from guessing that she wasn't there. She turned to her husband Chen.

"What do you think Chen? Do you think it'll pass?" she asked anxiously. Chen walked around her, then he walked around her doppelganger.

"A perfect copy." He pronounced in a serious voice, before cracking a smile. "Whether she'll act like the real thing though…" he cracked up as Joan playfully punched him in the arm.

"I haven't messed up like that since I was sixteen and I had to send my doppelganger to the prom instead of me." she replied.

Flashback

Joan Lin's date had been the football teams star quarterback, arrogant and full of himself. His name had been Jake Rogers, his short blond hair, strong chin and deep blue eyes had made him the boy that over half the girls in school wanted to be with, including Joan herself.

Joan had been over the moon that of all the girls he could have asked, it was her, quiet and introvert Joan Lin that he wanted to date. At the time, Joan would've had difficulty stringing two words together around him. So when an emergency requiring her powers had come up, she had created a doppelganger to take her place, determined that she wouldn't lose her position as his girlfriend.

The problem was that although her doppelganger had been a perfect copy of her physically, mentally she had been different. Well actually she had been her precise opposite. While the real Joan Lin had difficulty saying anything around Jake, the doppelganger Joan talked his ear off. But that wasn't the worst of it. Halfway through the night, her doppelganger decided for no apparent reason, to upend the punch bowl over Jake's head before running away. Needless to say, Joan had never rushed producing her doppelganger again.

End flashback

Both of them smiled at the memory. The incident had become a private joke between them, Chen had been one of Joan's best friends at the time.

"Well, see you later Chen." She said as she waved her husband goodbye.

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Hay Lin watched the tea leaves billow and swirl as she poured the boiling water from the kettle into the teapot. The events of the past few days had been strange to say the least. Taranee stopping and controlling the firework that had almost hit Irma in the face, followed by Taranee forcing back a wall of flame. Then there was Irma's clothes changing colour on their own (when Irma had told Hay Lin and the others, they didn't believe her, but after the events of the party, Hay Lin wasn't so sure.) Finally, there was the dream that they had all shared. Hay Lin was so excited about it, she was practically bouncing off the walls. The other girls however, looked nervous and worried.

"So what do you think the explanation is?" Taranee asked Hay Lin as she filled five cups with fragrant tea.

Hay Lin shrugged. "It's not like there has to be an explanation." She replied lightly.

"No!" Cornelia exclaimed as she anxiously turned a cookie round and round. "There's a reason behind everything, and I want to know what's going on! And by the way, I want you all to know that I don't believe in magic or paranormal phenomena."

Hay Lin rolled her eyes as she turned to put teapot on the counter.

"Mysterious dreams, clothes that change colour, flying objects, premonitions," Taranee said as she ran through the list, her voice getting steadily quieter with each item. "What do you call these?"

"Growing pains?" Irma added, with a grin.

"Maybe that medallion is the answer we're looking for" Will replied with a shrug. Looking at her hand, Hay Lin suddenly remembered something. Charging over to her book bag, she pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Look I've sketched a better copy of the medallion. I hope I didn't forget anything." She said as she put the sketch down on the table. Will raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed by the quality of the picture.

"I'd say it's all there" Irma confirmed as she grabbed herself another cookie.

"Hmmm, yes that looks a lot like it." Will confirmed.

A faint swishing in the doorway made Hay Lin look up. In the doorway was her grandmother with a sly smile on her face. Then she pulled out a necklace out of her pocket with a shockingly familiar charm on it.

"Grandma!" she exclaimed.

"That's it!" Will cried out "The medallion from our dreams. Where did you get it?"

"What matters is that you will be keeping it now. This is the Heart of Candracar." Yan Lin replied in her scratchy, high-pitched voice.

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Joan Lin walked up to the dark skinned woman who was waiting at the bus garage.

"Joan Lin?" the woman asked coldly.

"Yes." Joan replied coldly.

"I am Theresa Cook. I've been assigned to help you with this nest of Fetches." Theresa said as she showed Joan her identity card. Joan raised an eyebrow.

"Why does the company think I need help with something as simple as a nest of Fetches?" Joan asked in an offended voice.

"The company want you to show me the ropes in this town." Theresa replied coldly. Joan sighed to herself. This is going to be a long night, she thought.

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Susan Vandom on the other hand, was experiencing the first quiet night she'd had since she'd arrived. It didn't mean that she could relax though. The events of last nights Halloween party played on her mind. According to Dean, no wait, Mr Collins, she corrected herself, someone there had used their magical powers for the first time. Unfortunately, they didn't know just who it was yet. And it was this that had Susan worried.

When Will had been five years old, a seer had told Susan that Will had a great deal of magical potential and that one day it would activate. Susan was worried that it was Will who'd been activated. When a mages power becomes active for the first time it's largely uncontrolled. But when it does become active, normal life tended to take a backseat role. Susan sighed. She wanted Will to have a normal childhood at least, but if she did have new powers, then Susan would be there for her.

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Under a cloaking spell cast by Joan, Joan and Theresa entered the nest. Walking to its centre, Joan dropped the cloaking spell and they attacked.

Joan hit the lead fetch with a powerful dissolution spell, forcing the creature to drop its human guise. She swiftly followed this with a powerful illusion spell, making it question its existence. This made it curl up on itself, resulting in the creature's self-destruction.

Theresa on the other hand, swung her sword into the other fetch. As her blade made contact, the creature fell apart. Spinning on her heel, Theresa swung her sword through Joan's neck and into another fetch. Joan glared at her, because although the blade had left her neck untouched, no illusionist likes having a Paladins sword go through them. Not least because the two types were entirely opposite magic types.

"I didn't need your help with that one." Joan snarled, before turning round and destroying the two remaining fetches with another illusion, this time of a monster snake that swallowed them. Fetches were formed by a combination of people's imagination and a highly potent carbon monoxide and magic mix and so were extremely susceptible to any kind of illusion, or weapons that destroyed illusions.

"Sorry" Theresa said contritely as they walked out of the bus station. "I guess I've been a little tetchy today, what with being treated like a newbie after FIFTEEN years working for the company and the possibility of my daughters involvement with yesterdays events."

"That's ok." Joan replied with a smile, which suddenly vanished as the second part of Theresa's statement hit her. "WAIT, your daughter is one of the candidates to being a new mage as well?" Joan asked incredulously. "Theresa nodded. "So is mine."

"I guess that means we have something in common then. It's a pleasure to meet you, illusionist Joan Lin." Theresa said as she extended her hand. Joan took it.

"And a pleasure to meet you too, Paladin Theresa Cook." Joan replied, with a smile.

AN: I decided to switch the focus for this chapter, as it's been mostly focused on Susan Vandom. I've had a slight writers block with my existing ideas, as new stories come flooding out of my muse. As for when the two groups meet, I'm expecting that sometime within the next two-three chapters hopefully. But for now, I want to focus on Chaos theory.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: No I don't own W.I.T.C.H

AN: Sorry this update took so long, but the plot bunny got stuck and didn't want to move.

The vision came in with unexpected speed. Images flashed across Dean Collins eyes in an entirely random order.

Vision

First, he saw Cornelia Hale standing in front of a group of violent humanoid creatures, but instead of fear, there was a firm and fearless confidence in her eyes.

Then the scene changed. He could see Hay Lin steadily turn blue as a huge snake man steadily choked her, his hands around her throat. An adult Irma charged at the snake man with a scream and punched him, sending him flying away and instantly freeing Hay Lin, who fell to the ground gasping for air.

The image changed once more. This time it was Will Vandom in the scene, pulling Irma out from under a pile of rubble. A humanoid creature walked around the corner and raised its hand. A beam of magic shot forward and Will was sent flying.

The image changed once more and Dean Collins let out a horrified gasp for the first time in his many years as a seer. It was a funeral and the coffin had a glass lid. Inside lay Irma Lair as a young woman. She was dressed in the most unusual attire. An ultramarine belly baring top, purple miniskirt, striped leggings and purple boots. Irma's friends were there as well, but unlike Irma, they were not much older than they were now. They were all crying, Cornelia hardest of all.

End vision

Shaken by what he had just seen, Dean closed his eyes and tried to make sense of what he had just seen. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes and began to weave a spell of clarity to see if he could figure out what the vision meant. Visions were seldom clear and only represented potential futures rather than certainties. Still, Tom Lair was a good friend of his and a fellow mage, Dean felt he would be foolish not to follow this vision up.

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"Elyon!" Irma called over to the obviously excited blonde girl as she bounced towards them. "Your dates not over already?"

Elyon grinned, breathing hard. "Only round one." She said. "Cedric wants to see me tonight in the school gym."

"I can think of more romantic places," Hay Lin said as she rolled her eyes at Irma.

"He said it was just the right place to tell me a special secret," Elyon continued to gush, completely ignoring Hay Lin's words.

"Oh if that's the case, there are less ridiculous excuses." Irma replied as she winked back at Hay Lin.

"Why don't you guys go with me?" Elyon asked out of the blue as she went pale and her blue eyes clouded over. "With you guys there, I'd feel a lot more comfortable."

"Never deny a friend a favour," Irma announced as she nodded. "Especially if she lets you stick your nose in her business!"

"Same goes for me," Hay Lin added.

"I'll be there, too, Elyon," Will finished, much to Will's surprise.

"And you Taranee?" Elyon asked with a smile. "You'll come too, won't you?"

Taranee looked at Elyon wistfully. "I don't think so. My folks will never let me go out tonight. I just went out last night!"

Irma grabbed Will and Hay Lin into a tight squeeze. "That make three of us. Do you think that'll do?"

Elyon gave an emphatic nod. "Yeah, I think that'll do. That'll do just fine."

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Dean Collins placed his hands on his face and let out a small groan. No matter how hard he studied his vision, it still didn't make any sense. That really annoyed him no end. Normally he'd have the answer to a vision within the hour, but three hours later, he was still no closer to a solution. Leaning back into his chair, he decided to take a break.

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"Elyon! Are you here?" Will called out as she stepped into the gym, flanked by Irma and Hay Lin.

"Elyon is at home, sleeping. Trust me! It's pitch dark in her! Let's go!" Irma said, shivering, but from fear or the cold, Irma didn't know.

"If only I could manage to turn the lights on!" Will exclaimed angrily, her hand feeling the wall. Suddenly she heard Irma and Hay Lin scream and the doors slammed shut.

"Welcome Guardians!" the giant blue humanoid creature holding Irma and Hay Lin growled.

"Let me go, you big ape! If this is a joke, it's not funny!" Irma yelled at the creature.

Will felt herself freeze in fear. "W-what do you want?" she asked nervously. A cruel and malevolent voice answered her.

"To destroy you Guardians. To destroy you and take over your world! By now the Veil is weak and without you, victory will be easy!"

"W-Weak?" Will stuttered out. The voice continued.

"When a millennium comes to an end, its weaving loosens…" the voice began. "Light filters through its pores, piercing through our darkness…." The voice paused once more. "And it is then that we see the portals that lead to your world."

Will clutched her chest as she felt a burning sensation in its centre.

"What shall I do with them, master?" the giant blue humanoid creature asked.

"Tear open a pit and bury them in it Vathek." The voice replied. Irma and Hay Lin were struggling against him with all their might, but it was not enough.

"Help!!" they screamed in desperation. Suddenly Will felt the burning sensation stop and the Heart of Candracar form in her hand. Throwing her hand open, she yelled.

"Hay Lin! Irma! Water! Air!" and two balls of magical energy shot towards them. Hay Lin and Irma were engulfed in the magic and Vathek was forced to let go.

"W-What's happening?" the voice asked and Will was glad to hear it sounded uncertain. Emerging from their cocoons, the girls looked at their guardian forms for the very first time.

"We have wings!" Hay Lin exclaimed excitedly.

"This is magic, Hay Lin!" Irma added as she looked her chest.

"Destroy them Vathek." The voice ordered and Will saw the voices owner come into her vision. He was a tall, snake man creature with a red mask over his eyes. Two laser beams shot from Vathek's eyes but Will dodged them with apparent ease.

"Not quick enough, you big beast!" Will taunted the creature. The beams hit a pile of mats and suddenly the portal exploded open behind Irma, sucking everything in to it. Hay Lin rushed over and grabbed her friends arm as she was sucked towards the portal.

"Hold on Irma!" Hay Lin yelled to her friend.

"Get out of there! Fly away!" Will barked out to them.

"I can fly, yes! I'm air!" Hay Lin cried out excitedly as she flew away, holding onto Irma (and visa sevesa) for shear life. But she flew headfirst into Vathek, with his arms outstretched with a bang, dropping Irma to the gym floor. Seizing the moment, Vathek grabbed her wrists and forced her down to the ground.

"Your powers are useless if you don't know how to use them, little bird!" He mocked.

"Hey!" Irma exclaimed angrily as she saw her friend in Vathek's hands. Pointing her hand towards a fire hydrant, she yelled. "Powers of water from the deep, come and wash away this creep!" The hydrant exploded a powerful stream of water into Vathek, forcing him to let Hay Lin go.

"What kind of rhyme was that?" Hay Lin asked Irma with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it might be a bit silly, but I like it, okay!" Irma retorted with a grin. Will looked at them in disbelief. Here, in the middle of a battle (She wasn't sure that battle was a suitable description, but it would do.) and Irma and Hay Lin were JOKING with each other.

"Hurry, let's get out of here!" Will ordered.

"Stop! Where do you think you're going?" the snake man creature asked.

"And you-who are you?" Will asked in return.

Before he could say anything else, Vathek cut in.

"Do hurry master! The portal is about to close!"

"It is not yet time, Vathek!" the snake man yelled, but Will had pulled out the Heart of Candracar.

"Now!" Will yelled and the three Guardians transported out.

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Dean shook his head as he looked at the vision one more time. Clearly there was something missing in his knowledge, but what? And so the stage was set for two worlds to collide. (Metaphorically speaking of course.)

AN: Yes I know most of this chapter is from the comics, but that's how it played out. After introducing the Susan, Joan and Theresa, I felt that this fic needed to show the other mages powers in action before I bring them together. I had to drill through writers block to get this one out, so I apologise for its lacking standards at times.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: While I'm really flattered if you think I'm good enough to own W.I.T.C.H, I don't.

"So what am I going up against Dean?" Tom asked Dean Collins calmly. "Obviously it's not something from the fairy realm or the lands of the dead, or you'd have asked one of the other mages to take care of it."

Dean nodded. "True, true." Dean paused. "There's a sudden flow of demons from a portal that was opened between our world and theirs when the Sheffield School gym caught fire. It seems there was something big going on magic-wise there and it's created a breach."

Tom sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is the portal still open?" he asked in a weary tone of voice.

"No, whatever was there earlier appears to be reasserting itself." Dean answered calmly. "Listen, Tom, I'm sorry you have to deal with this, really I am."

Tom Lair gave a bitter chuckle. Because Heaven forbid we have the right mage for the job most of the time."

"Tom, there's something else we need to talk about." Dean cut in before Tom could leave. Tom raised an eyebrow. "I've had a series of visions of late and your daughter's involved with them." Tom's previously good-natured expression changed into a scowl and Dean really didn't blame him. However, he knew that Tom would never forgive him if he didn't say anything.

"Yes. These were extremely powerful visions Tom, you need to know what I've seen…" And Dean pressed on, describing his visions to Tom perfectly.

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"What's going on Will?" Taranee asked as the Guardians gathered outside of the Sheffield Institute, Will, Irma and Hay Lin sitting on a bench, while Taranee and Cornelia stood.

Cornelia had her arms crossed and a hostile expression on her face, although whether this was because she was STILL denying their magical powers or because of the apparent betrayal by their friend Elyon, well that was well beyond anyone's ability to understand. Except perhaps ironically, Elyon herself.

"Don't ask me…" Will paused as she closed her hand into a fist, before opening it to reveal the Heart of Candracar. "…The answer is here!"

"My Grandma's story was right! We've really got powers!" Hay Lin exclaimed excitedly. Cornelia rolled her eyes.

"Listen Hay Lin…" Cornelia began, but Hay Lin cut her off.

"But you've got to believe! If not, try…"

"TRY? Try to do WHAT?" Cornelia replied cuttingly before Hay Lin could finish.

"Look inside yourself for, instance." Hay Lin finished, half-glaring at the wall Cornelia had placed her hand against.

A vine snaked its way up Cornelia's arm, causing her to jump away with a shriek of fear and shock.

"Did….did I do that?" Cornelia asked Will in an uncertain tone.

"Yes, Cornelia! The powers of Earth are yours now." Will replied, before turning to face Taranee. "And you Taranee, have been given the powers of fire!"

"Hey! Before you do anything, let me get out of the way!" Irma joked, leaping back in mock fear.

"I'm really scared Will! I WANT TO UNDERSTAND ALL THIS!" Taranee cried out.

"We all want to understand….but it will take time." Will answered in a reassuring voice.

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Tom Lair glared at Dean and frankly Dean didn't blame him. Most fathers cared about their daughters and Tom was closer than most. Finally, Tom spoke.

"Have you told the others about this?" He asked, keeping his voice level.

"I'm telling Joan later today and I intend to let the other mages know ASAP." Dean replied.

"Good. Well thanks for the warning." Tom continued as he got up and left. Dean Collin's watched him leave without saying a word. After all, what could he say to a father at risk of attending his own daughter's funeral?

* * *

When Irma Lair arrived home that evening, her dad was waiting for her with a 'we need to talk' expression on his face.

"Whatever it is, I'm entitled to a lawyer!" Irma exclaimed quickly. Tom grinned at his precious daughter's wit.

"Irma, you're not in trouble." He said soothingly with his hands held up in front of him.

"I'm not?" Irma asked in surprise. Tom fought to stop himself from laughing at her expression.

"No Irma, you're not." Tom paused. "Has anything…unusual happened to you lately? Anything that seems too weird to be true?"

"What, like the triple bill of the X-files coming to DVD?" Irma asked jokingly. Tom gave his daughter a look. "No dad, trust me everything's fine." She finished, rolling her eyes. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Just a hunch really."

* * *

Joan Lin looked at Dean and sighed. "Well Mr Collins, I'll try talking to her, but Hay-Hay is more likely to talk to my mother about magic than me." Joan looked wistfully at her mother's photograph standing on the wall. "My mother has always encouraged my daughter to believe in magic, far more than I ever did." Dean grinned.

"Maybe I should just ask your mother instead." Dean Collins joked and Joan Lin glared at him. "Ok, I'm going!" he said, raising his hands in mock surrender.

* * *

Tom shook the AK-47 magazine dry as he pulled it out of the holy water, before casting the spell once more.

"Three magazines of AK-47 ammunition spelled up spells an infestation to me." He heard Anna say quietly. "An infestation of what particular local magical nasty this time though?"

"A group of demons by Sheffield." Tom replied grimly. He clicked the first magazine into the AK-47 and cocked it. "Shouldn't take long."

Anna stepped up to her husband and gave him a quick kiss. "A kiss for luck and a safe return." She whispered to him.

"Hey, I'll be ok." He replied, giving her a quiet smile. "I won't even have a scratch, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that, Mr Lair." Anna replied with a grin as he stepped out of the door. Tom merely grinned back.

* * *

Theresa Cook gave Dean Collins a look she normally reserved for the very worst offenders brought before her in court. Dean Collins automatically pulled away, despite himself.

"So let's get this straight. You think my Taranee is a part of something highly magical, but you don't know what it is." Theresa Cook said angrily.

"That's about the size of it." Dean replied

* * *

The first demon looked exactly like the classic image of the devil. Goat legs, human torso and horns, combined with a three pronged trident jumped up at Tom and stabbed at him. Not even bothering to take aim, Tom fired a single shot through the demons chest. There was a sudden squeal and the creature dissolved.

Without even looking, Tom swung the AK-47 around to face another demon creeping up behind him and fired again. This time it was some kind of snake.

"Why is it that demons are so unimaginative?" he asked himself as he put another shot into a spider shaped demon. "They can take whatever shape they like, and still they keep using the same shapes."

"Maybe it's because the old ones tend to work." A seductive voice whispered in his ear. Spinning around, Tom's AK was knocked aside by what at first appeared to be, an impossibly beautiful woman, her appearance almost ethereal. Tom pulled back and narrowly avoided having his eyes clawed out as the woman's clawed hand narrowly avoided scratching his eyes out, but left a scratch mark on his cheek. Pulling up his revolver he fired twice and the woman dissolved away.

"Blasted Succumbus's." he cursed under his breath. Picking up his dropped AK-47, Tom continued to clean out the demons from the gym.

* * *

Dean nervously approached the front door of Susan Vandom and nervously prepared to knock. His palms were all sweaty and his heart was racing. In short, he felt like a teenager about to talk to the girl he was crushing on for the first time, which was ridiculous, because Dean knew full well that this wasn't his first time meeting Susan Vandom. It wasn't even a date even, just a message.

"Oh boy, I've got it bad." He said with a sigh and knocked.

"Dean what are you doing here?" Susan asked in surprise. Dean took a deep breath and plunged straight in.

"Susan, I'm afraid we need to talk."

"Yes?" Susan asked curiously.

"It's about Will…"

* * *

Tom yawned as he sat waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive. Gingerly, he touched the scratch the Sucumbus had managed to land on him.

"Anna's never gonna let me forget this." He murmured to himself.

* * *

Dean could feel the waves of anger rolling off of Susan Vandom and not for the first time, wished he'd never had that vision.

"I'd like to think that if Will does start showing magic, that she'd be prepared to talk to me at least." Susan stated with calm anger.

"Susan, I don't even know if she's started yet. Just…keep an eye out. Please?" Dean begged.

"I will do." Susan replied firmly. "Good night Dean."

As Dean left, Susan let out a deep breath. Although she didn't want to admit it, Dean's words took her back to a Seer who'd informed Susan, very proudly, that Will was going to be a mage of unparalleled importance. Susan however, wanted her daughter to have her own chance at a relatively normal life. She certainly wouldn't wish magic on a fourteen year old. Susan just hoped that Dean's visions were wrong.

Still, in her heart, Susan knew that wasn't the case. And that was what worried her most of all.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.

AN: I am so very sorry that it's taken this long to update this fic. I've also set up a poll on my profile page as to which fic I should focus on after I finish Swordmaster, so feel free to head over and vote.

Dean glared at the chaotic set of pins on the map and closed his eyes with a groan.

"Magic's flaring all over the place, far more than usual. Why isn't the pattern clear?" he muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes once more and rubbed the bridge of his nose, still muttering.

"Too many missing factors. Far too many," he continued as he paced up and down before punching the board in frustration. "How am I supposed to connect the dots when half of them are missing!"

Throwing on his coat and shoes, Mr Collins stormed out his front door. He wasn't getting anywhere with second hand reports. He needed to go to the sites himself and examine them personally. Maybe, hidden in magical residue, he might find something that could shed more light on what was happening. According to his predecessor, surges like this had been known to happen in Heatherfield, but unlike Dean, he had dismissed them as a local phenomenon and not worthy of further investigation. Dean Collins however had a far more personal stake in this and he wasn't going to just let it go.

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"I thought you said you wouldn't get a scratch?" Anna asked teasingly with a smirk on her face. Tom chuckled as he leaned forward and kissed her.

"It's only a little scratch," he protested and Anna just gave him a bemused smirk.

"Ah, but you said to me Mr Lair, that 'I won't even have a scratch, I promise.' That is what you said," Anna added with a grin, before hugging him tightly and whispering in his ear. "Make sure that's the closest I get to losing you."

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Theresa Cook was troubled. Very troubled.

When Theresa married Lionel, she swore to herself that she would never use her powers on him, or her children. It was far too easy to slip into the habit of using your powers freely, never needing to trust someone absolutely because you could always know. It could corrode a relationship from the inside out as it slowly drove the people who mattered away and destroyed the trust of those who used their powers in that way. It was one of the hidden side effects of paladin magic, the psychological effects of being able to see everyone's darkest secrets with a glance. And that in itself was a good reason for not using her powers now.

Theresa had never been so tempted as she had today though. Taranee was definitely nervous about something, something more than the usual teenage worries her daughter had. And with the knowledge that her daughter might have magic made it a very tempting to use her powers.

"No, I will NOT sink to that level!" she snapped quietly to herself as she heard Taranee enter the house.

"Hi mom," Taranee said with a smile as she walked into the lounge and pulled her homework out of her bag. Theresa watched with a small smile as she watched her studious, clever, amazing little girl concentrated on her homework.

"Taranee…if there was something…unusual going on in your life, something out of the ordinary, you would tell me, wouldn't you?" Theresa asked with uncharacteristic nervousness and Taranee gave her mum a strange look.

"Mom…?" she asked, her eyes questioning.

"It's just…you can talk to me about anything if it's bothering you or…" she stumbled and Taranee looked at her with concern.

"Mom, are you okay?" Taranee asked in a tone of wary concern.

"I'm fine," Theresa said with a sad smile. "Now I have a few court cases to look over. Would you like something to drink?"

"Some squash sounds good," Taranee replied with a forced smile. "Are you sure your okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm just being unusually emotional," Theresa said breezily as she stood up. "Nothing to worry about."

Taranee frowned as she watched her mum leave the room. Was it possible that she somehow knew about her Guardian activities? She gave herself a mental shake. That was silly, how could she? But still…it might be worth bringing up with the others tomorrow at school.

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Joan Lin smiled as she watched her daughter become completely involved with her drawing. Whatever else Hay Lin was, she was a truly gifted artist and Joan felt a small surge of pride in her daughter's skill. More pertinently, the subject of her daughter's attentions was ideal.

"That's an interesting picture Hay," she said and Hay Lin jumped in surprise before giving her a genuine, wide smile.

"It's something I saw in the clouds today," she explained cheerfully. "It's a sorceress with the ability to manipulate the elements!"

"That's good," Joan said, looking interested and Hay Lin continued.

"I've gone for all these loose ribbons on her dress," Hay Lin continued, gesturing to her drawing. "They're all fluttering about to show her connection to air and exaggerate her movements. And I've given her a crown of fire to show her control over that element." Hay Lin paused and gestured to the woman's arms. "I've got a couple of small rivers running down her arm and her feet are literally rooted to the ground. I'm thinking of giving it to grandma as a get well soon present."

"Wouldn't it be fun to have powers like that?" Joan said with a smile, while reminding herself that magical powers also had a tendency to go wrong as well.

"Yeah…we could wave our hand and make Grandma better. That would be wonderful," Hay Lin replied dreamily and Joan suppressed a wince. Magic couldn't cure everything and it was always a disappointment when new mages discovered that.

"When I was your age, I think I would've been terrified of suddenly gaining magical powers," which is exactly the way Joan HAD reacted when she first gained her powers, she mused internally. "I wouldn't have told my parents at all," Joan continued, while she suppressed a grin as she remembered the things she'd done to keep them hidden. "Which probably would have been a better idea. It's a shame that type of magic doesn't exist."

"It's such a shame, but you'd always find some idiot willing to screw it up even if it did exist," Hay Lin replied, thinking of her encounter with Cedric and her mission that she and her friends had been entrusted with.

"Of course, you can always talk to me about anything that's bothering you," Joan finished. "No matter how strange it might be."

Hay Lin gave her mum a very tight hug and smiled at her.

"I'm sure Grandma will get better," she said as she wrapped her arm around her mum's shoulder. "I'll make some tea!"

It took a few seconds after Hay Lin left that Joan realised that she hadn't really answered the question. Next time perhaps.

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"Hi Will," Susan called out as she heard her walk through the door.

"Hi mom," Will said as she walked into the flat. "Finish early?"

"Yeah, I finished early. I wanted to spend a little mother/daughter time, especially after all the trouble you've had lately," Susan said almost breezily.

"Trouble?"

"You know, having to move to a new city and all the trouble at the Halloween party," Susan continued smoothly, "You know you can confide in me about anything, don't you? No matter how strange it sounds."

"Come on mom, what could possibly happen around here that's strange?" Will replied after a brief hesitation. "I've already made some friends here, we…have some stuff in common."

"That's good Willster. But, if you need to talk, or are in some kind of trouble…"

"Mom, trust me," Will said firmly. "I'll tell you if something happens," she added, crossing her fingers behind her back. The whole Guardian gig was weird enough as it was and she was pretty sure her mom would freak if she had any idea of just how weird her life had gotton recently.

"Okay then," Susan said with a kind smile. Will's hesitation hinted at perhaps something more, something she wasn't sharing. "Just so you know…"

"Mom, are you okay?" Will asked with concern. Susan gave her daughter a smile.

"I'm fine. Just my-" Susan gestured to her stomach "hormones playing up I think."

Will raised an eyebrow in a questioning way, but said nothing, much to Susan's relief. If she told Will that she was trying to find out if she was doing magic, she had no doubt that Will would freak out. But there was definitely something.

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Dean knelt over the ashes where the fire in the gym had been. It was certainly lucky that the building hadn't burned down, but it didn't stop him wishing for a bit more material to work with. Reaching out with his hands, he began sifting his way through the memories the ashes held.

The images, when they came, were fast and disjointed and few made sense. This in itself was not unusual; it was in the nature of psychometric trances to be that way.

Flash

An image of Cornelia's best friend Elyon, standing tall with a malevolent expression on her face and a crown on her head. A towering snake-man reared up behind her with an evil glint in his eyes and a malicious smile.

Flash

He saw Hay Lin, swept up in a magical cloud of some sort, something completely unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

Flash

A medieval world and above it stood a towering figure of a man who was clearly related to Elyon, his face etched in a regal pose and an evil look in his eyes.

"How is this possible?" Dean muttered to himself as he pulled himself away from the trance. There was nothing even remotely close to the world he had just seen in his vision in the local vicinity and certainly nothing that would involve Elyon or Hay Lin at all. Putting his hands back to the floor, he returned to his psychometric trance.

Flash

A magical portal, around seven or eight feet wide began contracting and a blue-skinned creature pointed at it shouting something.

Flash

Will Vandom was clutching her chest as though she was drawing something out of it.

BANG!

Dean was suddenly thrown back as something very powerful slammed him out of his trance, something in the vision itself. He let out a string of violent oaths as he fell over. Then he stood up and looked at the ashes with interest. Normally psychometric visions ended when he wanted them to, but this time, something extremely powerful had kicked him out violently, something that didn't want him to see something. But what it was, he couldn't tell. Stepping outside, he started walking home.

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"Hi dad, what's up?" Irma asked as she walked into the house.

"Hi Irma. Just going through the forensics reports for the fire at your school," Tom replied. "You were supposed to meet your friend Elyon there, weren't you? Did you see anything?"

"Na, we got there too late," Irma replied nonchantly. Tom's detective instincts kicked in however and he could sense that she was hiding something, or lying completely. He wasn't a Paladin, but in the absence of such skills, he had only instinct and in his case, instinct worked very well.

"Did you see anything unusual at all? Anything out of the ordinary?" he continued and Irma frowned slightly.

"I don't think so. Nothing comes to mind anyway," Irma replied. _I only had an encounter with a giant SNAKE creature!_ She added in her head. But Irma figured that if she told her dad that, he'd probably freak. So instead, she said nothing.

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"That's it! That's it! I've got it, I've got it!" Dean exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. "Or at least part anyway."

He started putting pins on his map of Heatherfield, letting the magic guide his patterns.

"What if the tear in reality is the result of some kind of magical reality shield pushing against it?" he continued as he made more and more links. "What if the REASON that the surges are happening is because the shield flips between quiet and busy stages?"

He pulled out the records made by his predecessor and scanned through them with ease, noting the patterns as they formed.

"He never thought to look, did he?" Dean muttered to himself. "But then again, why would he? It's so well hidden that unless you happen to run a psychometric trance practically on top of where one was, you'd never find it."

Exhilarated, Dean picked up the telephone and dialled the number of the local company offices. This was important!


End file.

W.I.T.C.H., Adventure, Fantasy