AN: Here is the next chapter for The Adventures of Team W.I.T.C.H. and Batwoman. Sorry for the long wait, had a HUGE case of writers block, then got caught up in trying to finish my War for Meridian's Throne fic before doing anything else.
But now I'm back now I got inspiration once again and will try to avoid taking so long with the next chapter.
Before I begin the story, I would like to thank Starwin for being a stand in beta reader until Wilhelmina Vandom to get back online and would also like to thank the following people who reviewed last chapter: Mystic Girl567, cartoonloverfan101, JanessaVR, lost prince, GuyverZero, steve rogers, japanese of red dog, DREAMCOLE, Philip Gipson, Angel Maria Cloud, Irma Valenti, Angel Of Darkness513, A J, AyameKitsune, Anime Girl
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I have finally brought the girls' superhero costumes. For actual pictures of them, please check my bio for the links.
Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H., Static Shock or Batman. (now that I got all that out of the way, on with the story!)
Chapter 4: Not You're Usual Shopping Trip
Will left for the mall right after she finished breakfast. She at least was hoping to get at least one new outfit before she met up with the girls. Even Will was getting tired of wearing the same set of clothes for days on end.
Will picked out a red t-shirt with a white 1 on the front, a pair of blue jeans and a new pair of black runners. Will loved the way new clothing fir and felt; that was something many of her old clothes back in Fadden Hills were not like, and the redhead was not going to miss them.
'I better get going. The other are probably at the food court by now.' Will thought as she headed for the meeting place, after using a washroom to change into her new clothes. She was still worried the other girls would only see her as the daughter of Susan Vandom and not a friend. Will still hoped they could be real friends, despite who her mother was.
As Will approached the food court, she found that the girls were waiting for her. Will took a deep breath and made her way over to the table; bracing herself for whatever was to come.
Will sat down and waited nervously for one of the others to speak — not trusting her voice at the moment. Cornelia was the first to speak, breaking the awkward silence.
"Will, you could choose from some of the best places in the mall. But instead you go someplace Irma would probably go? I know you're a tomboy, but still! Add some style to it!" Cornelia joked; making most of the group giggle, with the exception of Irma.
"I will not turn Corny into an ice sculpture. I will not turn Corny into an ice sculpture. I will not turn Corny into an ice sculpture." The other tomboy chanted under her breath.
This just made everyone giggle harder. After a long while the giggling subsided.
"Will, we all talked last night and agreed we should try to avoid taking too much from Vandom Industries." Taranee told Will, who was surprised at this.
Before Will could ask why, Elyon added, "We know you're scared about how we'll treat you – now that we know about your mom but we want to be your friends and money has nothing to do with it."
Will felt relieved to hear this; she had five girls who did not care about her just because she had millions of dollars. For a person who had been alone all of her life, that was very important to Will.
"So what's the agenda for the day?" Taranee asked. When no one spoke up she turned to Irma. "Didn't you say you had an idea on how to get some equipment from the police station, so that we can listen in on their transmissions." Irma blinked, surprised. "How do plan on getting it exactly?"
"Well…" Irma said before adding, "It should be easy…in theory." Irma said thoughtfully. "First, Will zaps the electronic locks and gets us in through the back. Then, Hay Lin goes invisible and swipes the stuff and we high tail it out of there before we get caught!
"The rest of us might wan to cause to subtle havoc in the main part of the station with our powers, just to be safe though." Irma told the group, the girls had to agree it was a good plan.
"I can probably do the distraction completely on my own; since all it would take is a small earthquake and they cops will run out side the station. That should give Hay Lin about five or ten minutes to get in and out." Cornelia added, making the plan seem rather solid.
"I think we should get the rest of what we need before we do that though. Hay Lin is going to need material for the costumes she is making for you guys." Elyon said, making a few of the girls groan since they knew how into the whole costume idea Hay Lin.
"I got a bunch of designs for your guys… except you Taranee. I can't come up with anything because you're all human-torch and stuff. But I was able to come up with an idea for you Irma – even though you cover yourself with ice." Hay Lin said quietly so no passerby would overhear her Then cautiously she took out her sketchbook.
The sketchbook was filled with different costumes for each of the girls. They could tell which Hay Lin had chosen for herself, since it was the only sketch of her in the whole book.
Hay Lin's chosen costume was very imaginative. The top was dark green and sleeveless. It only covered her chest, leaving a lot of skin revealed but kept her decent. There was also a linght pink skirt, gray boots and the gray Storm cape Hay Lin had mentioned yesterday. And, to keep her identity a secret, there was a pink mask that Hay Lin could wear on her face.
As they flipped though the pages, Cornelia pointed at one and said, "I would go with that one, I like the style." This drew everyone to look at the picture and could see why it might be to Cornelia's liking.
A black leather trench coat, complete with black fingerless gloves, partially covered a cute, green, midriff top. The pants were purple and ended in and a pair of black hiking boots. And the 'mask' was a dark pair of wrap around shades that completely hid the eyes. It was a costume that would need to be bough and not made, so Hay Lin was bit disappointed but she would get over it soon enough.
Irma liked the one idea Hay Lin had come up with for her; even if the colors of the costume would be hidden by the thin layer of ice. It was blue top with long sleeves, but it exposed her stomach. There was pink mini skirt and pair of purple boots.
It was not flashy costume but it satisfied Irma; leaving only Will to pick one of the costume ideas. Will skimmed through the pictures until she noticed one she liked at long last.
It consisted of purple suite that left her legs bare. It had long sleeves and a lighting bolt on the chest. It also had a pair of dark green boots, gloves, complimented by a dark green cape that would go down to Will lower back. And like all the others it had a green mask that Will could put on her face, to hide her identity.
"I'll go with this one." Will said and handed the book back to Hay Lin. Hay Lin looked ecstatic to be able to make the costumes, but Cornelia had something to say before the petite Asian got too far headed of herself.
"Before you start taking measurement and stuff, I think there is one more thing we'll need or our identities will be figured out really fast." Cornelia said to the group. "But it's something we need Will's pass card for," the group of girls looked at Cornelia, very curious about what this much needed something thing was. "Trust me, this is something we are going to need. But we should do Irma's plan first, before we go to Vandom Industries."
000
After helping Will grab two more outfits so Susan Vandom would be happy, the group went about borrowing a police scanner. Will shorted out the only security camera that would have scene at the back of the station, so now they just needed Cornelia do her thing and they could start the mission.
"Here I go guys. Will, the second the shaking start, zap the lock. That way Hay Lin can move in, once the place is deserted." Cornelia told Will, who nodded her head that she understood.
It took a few minutes for Cornelia to focus her power enough to get the results she wanted, but she got the ground shaking violently. Will zapped the lock just as she fell on her butt from the shaking, which everyone else did as well.
The only one who remained standing was Cornelia, but that was only because she was the one in control of the quake.
When it was finally over, it only took the station two minutes to get out the building– allowed Hay Lin to do her thing. She went invisible and entered the building. She knew what scanner looked like, since she had been Irma's friend for years.
This belief was half right, because she found the scanner, but it was a bit heavy and took her a while to get half way out of the station. It was at this time; the police were coming back in and trying to figure out what had happened.
"It felt like an earthquake but it only affected our building. You think it was a Bang Baby or something Joe?" an officer asked as he came into the back room. Hay Lin hide in a corner, just to be safe.
"Might have been, Fred, but we might never know for sure. Heck, I'm not sure how we will ever hunt them all down, let alone know if one of them shook up the station for some reason." Joe replied. Hay Lin was trying to think of a way out of this mess.
Just then though, a light brew out in the hallway outside the room, raining down sparks. This drew the two police officers' attention and they rushed over to see what had caused it. Hay Lin on the other hand knew this was Will's doing to give Hay Lin more time to escape and so the Asian girl took full advantage of it.
Hay Lin bolted for the backdoor as fast as she could while still carrying the police scanner her in arms. When she got out side, Hay Lin became visible again and gasped out, "Next time, one of you can grab the heavy equipment and I'll provide the distraction!"
The others chuckled at this and put scanner in the old red wagon they'd grabbed from the dump and covered it up with a blanket, so no one would see that had a piece of high tech police equipment with them.
000
Once they got the Police Scanner back at their junkyard hide out and were setting it up; Cornelia told them her idea on how to better hide their identities. "Last night my mom said that a group teenage hoodlums, with an up and coming crime boss backing them, was using a special serum to make them older for a short time. The police busted the group and the boss and handed the serum over to Vandom Industries to be studied."
"So we grab some of this serum for
ourselves to
make us look older when go out as
Team W.I.T.C.H." Will
finished and got a nod of approval form Cornelia.
"That's right. No one would ever suspect the newest heroes in town to be a bunch of twelve year old girls when they look like they are in their late teens. From what mom told me, the serum adds about five years onto the person's current age at most, so we should be about sixteen when using it." Cornelia added and knew she had the group hooked on the idea.
Now all they needed was a plan to get it with out getting caught and then they would be ready to start putting their powers to use.
000
Around one in the afternoon, Will, Cornelia and Hay Lin were moving to get their hands on that serum. They had experimented with Hay Lin's invisibly power and found if she was touching something before going invisible, that person or object would do so as well, as long Hay Lin remained in physical contact. Although, it did not apply to things Hay Lin picked up or touched while being invisible, it still was a useful trick.
The power of invisibility would be a key ability to get in without anyone knowing they were there; which would be critical, since if anyone found out they took even a single vile of the serum, it would mean big trouble and lots of questions they did not want to answer.
With Will's powers and her all-clearance-pass as a back up, she was the key to getting inside. Cornelia was the one who knew her mother best, so she would be the one who could find the serum and any files relating to it the quickest.
Getting into the building had been a breeze with Hay Lin's powers. They were already in the main hallways and were heading for the research labs at this very moment. As they got close to where Elizabeth Hale worked, they saw her exit her lab with Will's mother.
"So Mrs. Hale, when will you find out the formula for the serum? Several military and government officials are already asking for a sample of it. Not that I'm thrilled at the idea of them wanting it mind you." Susan asked Elizabeth, as the walked down the hall.
"Oh I already managed to reverse engineer that actually. With the information we received form the police and the computer analysis, I could mass-produce it if you wanted to. The only reason why I say we shouldn't let them have it because of what I discovered, Ms. Vandom." Elizabeth answered, drawing Susan's attention.
"What do you mean? Is the serum dangerous?" Susan asked, sounding like she was getting very worried.
"It depends on who you are and how you look at it, Ms. Vandom. If you were looking for a way to make your youngest solders have the strength of a veteran, then it might not seem so dangerous; unless you're those solders' enemies. I would say we use all legal means to keep the serum in our hands until we know the long terms effects." Elisabeth told Susan, who nodded her head in agreement.
"I was already considering that. So far, from what I heard, those teens suffered no ill effects, but lets make sure that stuff stays here for as long as possible. This company has made enough weapons." Susan said as the two went around the corner.
"Sounds like your mom was just working with what we need. I wonder if it's a good idea to use if we're not sure what side effects it will have." Will said in a whisper, while they carefully made there way to Elizabeth Hale's lab.
"We should be okay as long we use only a little at first, until my mom finishes her tests. Worse comes to worse we start noticing anything even remotely strange, and we stop using it until me know more." Cornelia said to Will, knowing they needed the serum if they did this hero thing.
Will, Cornelia and Hay Lin then went in to Elizabeth's lab and began their search for the serum. It was short search, since it was currently Cornelia's mother's main project. There were ten vials of the ageing serum and an equal amount of the antidote, but they could not take these samples, their disappearance would cause too much suspicion.
They needed to get the formula that was on the computer, then go find the separate ingredients in the building's chemical storage room. It would be easy to use Cornelia's video feature on her cell phone to show the list to Taranee and have her help them get what they needed.
'It's good having genies on the team.' Will mused in her mind, as they let Cornelia print out a copy the list of chemicals, after using her passcard in the card slot and bypass the security.
After Cornelia was done, Hay Lin made them go invisible again and made their way to the storage facility in the lower parts of the building. Will zapped the lock and got them inside, while Hay Lin made them visible again.
It was bit tedious to listen to Taranee's voice come out of the cell phone saying "Next" over and over again, until they found one of the many chemicals needed for the serum and antidote.
By the time they were done, the three girls were swearing that if they had to do this again anytime soon, they would risk brining a fourth person with them and save themselves the trouble of here the word 'next' a thousand times.
The only reason they did not bring Taranee for this job, was because they wanted to keep the group as small possible. All it would take is one person loosing physical contact with Hay Lin at the wrong moment and the whole mission would be blown.
The girls packed the chemicals and few gun-like injection devices into a backpack they had brought along. Then they went invisible once again just as the door to the room swooshed open.
The three girls were surprised to see that it was Susan Vandom who entered the room. The girls quickly pressed up against the near by wall so to not risk getting bumped into by the dark haired woman.
Fortunately, Susan had gone over to the far side of the room and was punching in a code to a secured locker in the corner. Even from across the room, they could see the lock contained more of the ageing serum as-well-as the antidote. They also noticed that Susan placed one sample of each in her pocket.
'What would mom want with samples of that stuff? 'Will wondered, as her mother headed for the door, but then stopped suddenly.
000
Susan glanced around the room, swearing she felt like was being watched, yet… she could see no one.
'I must be getting overly paranoid. But I still feel like there is someone in here… No matter, I got what I need. Too bad I need to work on this and the mutation gas project at the same time, but both of these things need to be taken care of as soon as possible.' Susan thought, then closed the door behind her.
000
Will, Cornelia and Hay Lin breathed a sigh of relief as Will's mom left. They been worried when she started looking around the room. It was as if she thought someone was there, but since she left with out a fuss, they thought they could relax now.
"Let's wait few minutes before we go, just incase my mom, or someone else, is watching the door." Will suggested. The other two agreed. They did not want to get caught after they have gotten this far.
After about ten minutes of waiting, to be sure the coast was clear, the three invisible girls made their way out of the building and back to the junkyard, with the valuable cargo of chemicals in hand.
000
Back in the junkyard when Will, Cornelia and Hay Lin got back their mission at Vandom industries; Taranee, Elyon and Irma had setup the old shack to better act as base for Team W.I.T.C.H. They had finished already brought in Taranee's chemistry lab and were looking over the complex formula that would make the age altering serum.
"Anyone wonder if the Big Bang also made Taranee even smarter then before?, there is no way anyone our age is smart enough to make head or tails of this kind of stuff." Irma asked aloud and making Hay Lin elbow Irma jokingly. The other girls rolled their eyes at Irma's comment.
They went back to hooking up the police scanner, so that Elyon could be their spy for crimes. All they needed was the radio set and they would have all of Elyon's equipment. Now they just needed the serum and the costumes and they would be able to start doing their thing.
They already had the needed materials in large amounts and sewing equipment ready for Hay Lin to use, so it would not be hard to make them in secret and to repair them if they had to.
By the time they got the scanner up and running, Taranee announce she had the first test sample ready. Everyone was bit reluctant to try the serum out, but Will eventually volunteered to be the first to use it.
After stripping off all her clothes behind a partition, so they would not get ripped up as she grew older. Will placed the vial in the injection-gun and placed it against her shoulder. Will winced as she pulled the trigger and the device pumped the serum into her.
A few seconds later, Will felt a slight burning sensation throughout her whole body. Will then grew taller, leaner and her body quickly matured into that of a sixteen year old.
"Guys… I think it worked. But I'm not coming out until someone gives me something to cover up with!" Will called out and immediately got a large bathrobe thrown over the partition.
Will put it on and came out for all to see the now much older Will Vandom. They had to admit; Will had become a bit of a looker and wondered if this was just the serums work or view of things to come a few years down the line.
"Well, the first part is a success. I got the antidote ready as well, but I think we should get the… Uh, awkward fitting session over with before you take it." Taranee suggested and they all looked at Hay Lin, who was blushing a bit.
"I'll try to not look too much Will but…" Hay Lin said. However, Will said it was all right and they went behind the partition again and started taking measurements.
000
After a few hours of getting what Hay Lin needed, despite how uncomfortable it was for all those involved, they found out that both the serum and antidote worked perfectly.
Just as they were about to head home, Will's cell phone rang, it was her mother calling. Will answered it and heard her mother say, "Hi Will, where are you? If you're with your friends I can pick you up."
Will glanced at the time on her cell phone and realized it was seven o'clock! She hadn't realized they had been so busy with all they done that day; she did not realize it had gotten so late.
"We are just heading back to the Silver Dragon right now. We should be there in ten minutes." Will replied into the phone, hoping her mother would not be mad that she was out this late, even if it was summer.
"I'll see you there, Will. I'm glad to hear it. You don't seem so nervous now. I guess that means you're not too worried anymore?" Susan asked, sounding very happy. Will could just imagine the smile on her mother's face.
"Yeah, we worked out that little issue and it's cool. I'll see you in a few minutes mom." Will said and then hung up.
The group then made its way to the Silver Dragon and arrived just as Susan Vandom pulled up to the curve. When she got out, Susan went to the back of the car and took out a radio system and held out to the girls.
"Here it is Will. I don't know what you six plan on doing with it and the walkie-talkies that go with it but I hope it helps." Susan said and let Irma and Hay Lin take the devices.
"Thanks Ms. Vandom. We really appreciate it." Irma said and then she and Hay Lin went to put the radio in a safe place until they could bring it to the junkyard hideaway tomorrow.
Will then said her goodbyes to her friends and got into the car with her mother. As they headed back to Vandom Manner, Susan spoke up.
"Will, when we get home, I need to leave right away. I have an important appointment to take care of; so no time together tonight unfortunately." Susan told Will with a sad smile.
"It's okay mom.." Will replied, giving her a sad smile of her own. Will could not say she was close to her mother yet, but she nowhere near as resentful as she once had been.
"I plan on avoiding such nights if I can though Will. We have a lot of lost time to make up for and I won't waste it if I can help it." Susan told Will
When they arrived at the manor, Susan let Will and out gave her some money to order a pizza, before driving off.
Will waved good bye to her mother as the car drove away then went inside the mansion.
000
Susan entered a hidden tunnel far away form her home and entered a large underground cave, that contained a large computer, lab, training center and a very famous car.
'Will, I'm sorry, but my duty to this city. It's going to be very hard on you I bet.' Susan thought as she went over to grey and black bat suite that was hanging in a display case and changed into it.
Susan Vandom was her daughter's idol, Batwoman and if either one knew both of their chosen paths would intersect very soon.
000
AN: There you guys go. Please let me know what you thought.