Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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I stumble out of the Fold, still trying to regain my sense of balance after Caleb threw me off like that when he yanked me through the Fold.
It takes a few seconds before the outskirts of Ponyville make themselves clear to me.
“Where are we?” Caleb’s voice says in a demanding tone and I’m yanked to my feet, him gripping my arms tightly as he glares into my eyes.
I just glare back. “Maybe, if you let go of my arm and actually let me properly observe our surroundings, giving me enough time to actually process that information, I could relay it to you.”
Suddenly, the sound of a Fold opening makes us look up to see a Fold several feet away, high in the air.
We watch as the Guardians and Regents of Earth fly through it, before something strange and terrifying happens.
The Guardians all freeze in place, before crying out as if they’re in pain, glowing the colour of their respective power, before they revert back to their normal forms and start falling.
“WILL!” Matt yells in his Shagon form, diving, the transformed versions of Mr. Huggles and Napoleon following suit, catching the girls before they hit the ground.
“What…? What just happened?” Caleb asks, before rounding on me. “What did you do?!”
“Oh, yes, because I must be the one who did something despite literally only just getting him myself,” I snap back, yanking my arm free of him. “Grow a fucking brain, you idiot!”
“Will, what happened?” I can hear Matt asking with worry.
Will doesn’t get to answer though, as she and the others as slammed by a freaking tree, sending them all thumping to the ground.
“What the— gah?!” Caleb begins, but is cut off when he slams into a nearby tree, held in place by very familiar webbing.
I turn and see Miranda stepping out from some nearby bushes in her human form.
“So nice of you all to come,” she jeers.
“Where’s my sister?!” Cornelia demands, struggling to stand up.
“Oh, you won’t need to worry about her,” she smiled, before glaring at the Regents. “One wrong move though, and she’ll suffer. You interfere, and Lilian pays the price. You’ve been ordered by her to stand down until I leave this world, got it?”
I watch as Will struggles to push herself onto her knees, holding the Heart up. “Guardians, unite!”
To her, mine and everyone expect Miranda’s shock, nothing happens.
“What?” Will whispers, hers eyes widening with horror.
Miranda cackles. “Oh, that plan worked out perfectly. Now you’re completely cut off from your powers…” she gave a sinister sneer, “and are now at my mercy.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Matt yells, moving to attack, before he halts in place and kneels down, growling.
“Matt?!” Will cries aghast.
“I’m sorry… Will,” Matt grunts, sounding like he’s struggling against something. “She… She’s telling the truth. It’s like Miranda relied an order from Lilian and, as her Regents, we can’t disobey.”
Miranda laughed, a wicked sneer on her face. “I probably could’ve forced her to order you to just give me the Heart of Earth, but won’t it be more fun for you to watch me slowly destroy your precious Will while you still have all that power, but can’t use it?”
Crap. Not good. With Lilian as her hostage, Miranda’s holding all the cards right now and, for some reason, the Guardians detransformed and it looks like Miranda’s done something to keep them from changing back again.
If only Lilian wasn’t…
I stop, sniffing the air. I… I can smell Lilian. Human scents are very different from ponies and I can smell several different ones, but one smell is fainter than all the others.
Hurrying, keeping to the trees, I follow the one scent that’s different from all the others.
It feels like hours, though was probably less than a minute, but I finally find her.
Lilian is unconscious, bound to a tree by webbing.
I yank at the webbing, pulling as much of it free as I can.
When Lilian’s free, I put her over my back and hurry back to where Caleb and I arrived.
“What the—?” Caleb gasps, stopping his struggles to free himself when he sees me returning with Lilian on my back.
“We don’t have time,” I say firmly, moving as quickly as I can to help him break free of his bindings. “You need to use that tusk to Fold out of here. Meriden, Kandrakar, Earth, I don’t care where. Just get Lilian out of here so Earth’s Heart is safe.”
“And what’re you going to do?” he asks, taking Lilian in his arms as he opens a Fold. “And how’re there two of you?”
“She’s an Altemere.” I turn to the field where Miranda is slowly approaching Will. “And whatever I can to keep Lilian and the Guardians safe.”
___________________________________________________________
Everyone watched, unable to do anything as Miranda leered down at Will, taking on her monster form.
“I’m going to greatly enjoy this, Guardian,” she said menacingly. “I’m going to make sure this hurts and I’m going to make it slow.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it!”
The sudden additional voice and whom it sounded like was enough to stun everyone on its own, but when Miranda’s human form came out of nowhere and body slammed into her monster self, they were all completely floor.
What…? What in the world?!
Miranda thumped along the ground, sliding for a bit before righting herself and turning around to glare at the human version of her.
“What?!” she snarled. “How’re you here?! You should be locked away with Phobos and the others!”
“The Oracle isn’t as blind as you’d like to think, bitch!” the human Miranda shot back, running forward.
Monster Miranda laughed. “Oh, please. In that form, what can you possibly—?”
She didn’t get to finish as the Human Miranda rushed forward and punched her in the gut, sending Monster Miranda flying back several feet, her dropping to her knees, gasping for air.
“I am so lost right now!” Irma said, looking to Will. “Will, how’re there two Mirnadas and why are they fighting each other?”
“I… I don’t understand it either,” Will shook her head. “Maybe… Maybe one’s an Altermere?”
“But how?” Taranee asked, flabbergasted. “And why would Miranda create and Altermere of herself if she knew what would happened once it found out?”
“Will, what’s wrong with our powers?” Cornelia demanded. “Why did we change back when we got here and why can’t we transform now?”
Will held up the Heart, looking closely at it. “It’s like… it’s like our connection is being blocked somehow. The connection to our Aurameres is still there, but, it’s like something suppressing them, keeping them from properly flowing into us.”
“And, without the power of our Aurameres…” Taranee said anxiously.
“We can never be W.I.T.C.H. again!” Hay Lin said with horror.
“Why? Why is that other Miranda fighting so hard?” Matt grunted from his place, watching the fight as the human and monster fought. “And why isn’t the human one changing into a monster to match?”
___________________________________________________________
“Why are you fighting for them, faker?” Miranda demands, sounding genially frustrated as I dive and roll to avoid a slash from her, using my momentum to kick one of her legs out from under her, causing her to fall and slam onto my outstretched fist, knocking her back.
“Do I really need a reason to beat your evil ass?” I growl, standing up straight.
“You could’ve lived a simple, carefree life in this world after you stole my body!” she snarls, lunging forward and I leap back, coming back out onto the open field. “You were terrified of what the Guardians would do if they found you and mistook you for me. So, why? Why did you go to Earth, then come back here?!”
She thrusts her arm forward and I catch it in my hand, both of us pushing back against the other.
I look her dead in the eyes. “Because, unlike you, Miranda, I don’t just think of myself. I actually care about the wellbeing of others. When you showed yourself here in Equestria and let me know you have my memories of Lilian being Earth’s Heart, did you honestly expect me to just sit back and let you get her?”
Miranda looks slightly confused. “Wait, what?”
Suddenly, it clicks and I get an idea, sneering. “You’re a villain, Miranda. And, just like your moronic former master, you’re ego makes you stupid. Just like your precious—” I gag, “Cedric.”
She growls, thrusting her arms outward, breaking us apart. “Shut up!”
She charges at me and I dive underneath her, whirling around and spitting webbing, getting her in the eyes.
“You heard me,” I say, sneering. “Just like Phobos, Nerissa and Cedric, you let your ego get the better of you. All you had to do to instil fear into me was let me know you existed as an Altemere now. But, because you had to feel superior, you told me enough for me to realize you had my memories regarding Lilian being Earth’s Heart.”
She flails around blindly and I quickly run to avoid getting hit.
I stand firm, pointing as she rips the webbing off. “You’re right. I would’ve gladly stayed in Equestria, lived out my new life in peace, hoping the Guardians never find me. I would’ve stayed off the radar.”
I catch a punch from her and, with a mighty heavy, toss her aside.
“But, you never even considered that I’d use what you gave me to push past my fears of what the Guardians would do if they mistook me for you, and go to Earth to warn them. Sure, I failed to get to them in time, but we wouldn’t even be having this fight and you’d have already won, had you not blabbered away.”
“Shut up, you worthless imitation!” she screamed, lunging at me, but I jump up and over, using the momentum to give her a spin kick to the ground.
“I don’t know how you took the Guardians’ powers away or how or even if I can actually beat you,” I rush forward and start punching, her doing her best to avoid my blows. “I may not even be able to outright beat you, but we’re pretty evenly matched, even with my inexperience. Even if I have to keep doing this for all eternity, I will, because I value the lives of the Guardians, the Regents, Lilian and Equestria, far more than I fear you, Miranda!”
“I still have Lilian!” she snarled, managing to backhand me and send me tumbling. “As long as I have her, I hold all the cards.”
I spit, a tiny puddle of blood splattering the ground, a trail of it going from my lips to my chin, and grin. “Actually, you don’t.”
She looks confused. “What?”
I snicker. “I came here with Caleb. While you were droning on about how you incapacitated the Regents and were going to make them watch as you takedown Will slowly and painfully, I found Lilian and got Caleb to take her through a Fold to I don’t even know where.”
“No,” her eyes widen with fear and fury.
I grin. “You’ve lost.”
An enraged raw was her only reply.
___________________________________________________________
“I… I don’t believe what I’m seeing?” Irma said in awe as they watched the human Miranda do her best to keep up with her monster form and the conversation the two were having as they fought. “She’s… a good guy?”
“Sound like it?” Taranee said uncertainly. “From what I can hear, she’s not really Miranda, but someone she forced into a copy of her body?”
“And, she was scared we’d mistake her for the real Miranda, so she hid in this world with the ponies?” Hay Lin asked.
“But, when Miranda revealed she was going after my sister, she not only risked us mistaking her for the real Miranda and went to Earth to warn us, she came here and got my sister out of danger,” Cornelia said, her eyes widen.
Will slowly nodded. “And she’s willing to keep fighting Miranda like this for all eternity if it keeps us, this world, Earth and Lilian safe.”
“She’s no villain,” Napoleon grunted, trying and failing to rise. “She’s willing to fight for what’s right, no matter the cost to herself.”
“She’s a good person,” Will murmured, her expression firming. “We can trust her.”
Suddenly, the Heart flared with a light that blinded all of them.
“Will, what’s happening?!” Taranee cried.
“I don’t know!” Will yelled back.
___________________________________________________________
I cry out as Miranda pins me to the ground, winding me slightly.
“I. Have had. Enough!” she snarls, showing fangs. “I don’t care that you’re in my real body! I’m going to end you now and consume you whole!”
Before I can say anything, I feel a sudden rush of energy, before my body feels unbelievably hot.
“No! What is happening?” Miranda yells, taking a step back, shielding her eyes.
Suddenly, I feel myself compelled to say something and, against my will, I find myself yelling, “Guardians, unite!” at the same time I faintly hear Will shouting it too.
The rising power within me surges and I feel white hot energy leaving my body and can somehow feel it connecting to the Guardians.
I feel their minds connecting to mine, feel the warmth of the Heart of Kandrakar as if it’s connect to my own beating one.
___________________________________________________________
When the light faded, Will and the others had transformed into Guardians again.
“Wait, what?” Irma looked down at herself and then her friends. “What just happened?”
“I think she did,” Will pointed.
They all followed her direction and saw a dark light shining around what they realized was the human Miranda. It was like glowing shadows were surrounding her.
As they dissipated off her body, they realized she’d changed.
She looked no different physically in terms of size, but, whereas she’d been wearing the clothes Miranda always did the times she was on Earth before they defeated Cedric, now she was wearing clothing similar to what they were wearing whenever they transformed into Guardians.
In fact, her clothing looked almost identical to Will’s, with only a few key differences. Hers were black tinted.
Unlike Will’s clothing, Miranda’s top was black with web themes. Her skirt was deep purple, while her leggings were light purple and grey and, instead of boots like Will, she had no shoes at all.
It was her back, however, that was most intriguing. Instead of wings like the Guardians had, she had four long golden spikes sticking out, almost like spider legs, but there was webbing stretching between each of two wings, making them almost look like wings.
Not only that, she had small fangs protruding from her upper lip, like vampires in those old storybooks, movies and shows, her nails looked like she was wearing black nail polish and her irises were a blood red.
“I… whoa, what is this?” Human Miranda said, looking down at her hands, which seemed to have some kind of extra black clothing that scaled from her knuckles, going around to her palms, then looking at the rest of her. “What the hell…?”
“No, my beautiful body!” Monster Miranda cried, seeming stunned. “You…” she snarled and screamed with pure rage. “What have you done?!”
She lunged forward.
Human Miranda cried out, holding her hands up and something like black energy shot out, slamming into the monster, sending it toppling back several feet.
Human Miranda looked stunned for a moment, looking down at her hands, before she clenched them and grinned, looking to the monster.
“Oh, you are so going down now, Mirnada,” she said excitedly. “I dunno what’s going on, but you’re so toast.”
Monster Miranda got up, snarling, before she noticed the other Guardians and her eyes widened in horror.
“No! How?” she cried, seeming genuinely worried. “He said it would leave you powerless! How have you gotten your powers back?”
He?
Monster Mirnada looked from the Guardians to her human self, before snarling, returning to her human form. “You win this round, Guardians. Imposter. But, this isn’t over.”
She thrust her arm down, opening a Fold.
“Oh, no ya don’t!” the other Miranda yelled, thrusting her arm out.
At once, black webbing shot from the palm of her hand.
It flew forward, hitting the Mage’s Ring, it coming off as Miranda was stepping through the Fold, her cry of shock showing she hadn’t noticed until it was too late, the Fold closing behind her.
The webbing yanked back, the other Miranda catching it in her hand.
There was silence for a moment.
“Hey. I can move again.” The six turned as Matt, Huggles and Napoleon all rushed over.
Then, all eyes turned to Miranda’s double, who heaved a heavy sigh.
“Yeah. This is going to be a long story.”
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Okay. I think I might have missed it from the last chapter, but didn't the HuMane 7 get transported to Ponyville as well?
I wonder if that's because they're in Equestria, or if it has anything to do with them using a Fold to get there from the EQG world
Give it a moment
That, she can do that... and more when she figures out how
Yeah, classic second-rate villain mistake
Well current theory is that the Heart of this world made her a Regent or Guardian at some point, probably during the invasion
Read it all in one sitting. It has been entertaining if confusing, since I've never seen or read W.I.T.C.H. Will probably have to check that out at some point.
Is she a spider totem from Marvel now? It would make sense since she has the basic spider-man power set. Even a minor spider sense that comes from the whole web of life. With the whole infinite realities thing that's going on the Web that connects the multiverse together would fit and explain some why Miranda is the way she is now.
I'd say the only thing I actually don't like about this story so far is that awkward contraction in the title. Everything happen a bit too fast, but story doesn't seem to suffer from that. Please keep going. XD
And seriously if Runic somehow isn't Grogar and actually not a bad guy I'll applaud to you.