Charmed: Season of the Risen Devils by Instant Classic Superstar Pac
Show and cast disclaimer: Charmed is complete property of the late Aaron Spelling, Constance M. Burge, Brad Kern, and co., as are all characters and pieces of the storyline previously depicted on the show. Characters created by either myself or a friend of mine who for all intents and purposes we will call Blacksheep Noble will be depicted with an asterisk in "casting" credits in the first episode they appear. Preexisting characters whose names I devise will have their in-show identities placed within dashes for their first appearance in this story. Regardless of whose vision they are, all characters involved either were and/or would be portrayed by actual specific human beings, each with at least an iota of believable acting ability, each owned by self, and none having actually acted the events introduced by this story. And last but not least, I own none of the suggested episode music, either. *sigh*. There, hope that covers it.
Rated: T for Teen
Summary: "One would think that the future was set in stone after the vanquish of the Ultimate Power, but clearly that isn't the case. That view is long overlooking a dangerous threat capable of ending it all… as well as salvation from the unlikeliest of sources."
NOTE: I'm gonna try to do some things with this fanfic to helping the end of where you could actually see this as the show. Which, btw, does not mean script formatting. What it does mean is that 1) every character with an ounce of individual importance will have an actor's name cast to them, so to speak, whether originally done by the show or by me and/or my Blacksheep Noble friend on a would-be basis, so that even if you don't recognize the character (if they're from the show) or my description of them doesn't work (if I created them), you can use a public screen face to see what I see. (Not all will be super well known, though, so IMDB is vital here if you care for this.) And 2) each chapter is either part A or part B of an episode, with the significant cast listed a scene or two into part A, as if we were talking opening credits and city scope music intro.
Music side note: Speaking of opening music. I'm not envisioning "How Soon Is Now" on main credits for this. Instead, I'm envisioning a custom remix of Alter Bridge's "Open Your Eyes" which I call the Charmed Edge Army Mix. A link will be in my profile to a minute-and-some-change version of that. Also, I'm not sticking to one genre for city scope themes, so not everybody's gonna like every song I point to. This black guy has expanded his musical horizons into even more forbidden black guy territory than before. You have been warned.
Now to enjoy the show.
Episode 1 - "Rekindling the Spirit of Charmed"
Central Date: September 5, 2007
Part A
" 'And, although we certainly had our struggles and heartaches over the years, we're a family of survivors, and we will always be. Which is why we've truly, been, Charmed,' " the elderly woman once again recited the story of her magical youth to the young child.
"Again, grandmamma. Again," the girl requested, to which the old lady chuckled at her excitement.
"Oh, dear. No, I can't," she declined, taking a breath. "I need to rest. But you can look at it for a little while if you'd like, hm?" After handing the girl the book, she planted a kiss to her forehead. "After all," she continued as she rose to her feet and looked down happily at her granddaughter, "it'll be yours someday."
The thought that came across her as she walked towards her husband, standing and waiting in the middle of the living room for her with a smile of his own on his face, was that it never ceased to amaze her how young Prudence always perked up at hearing the tales of her grandmother and great-aunts as the incomparable Charmed Ones. But alas, this old body couldn't go on forever, and so she needed her rest. As her husband put an arm around her shoulder, the two walked on together through the living room and up the staircase with the assortment of pictures hanging on the wall next to it. One of their firstborn son when he was a baby. Of both of their sons a few years later. Of their wedding day. Of her grandmother. Of her mother sitting down and reading with her big sister when she was a child. Of him playing with their two sons. Of their sons as adults, roughly near the age she'd become Charmed. Of her parents, still married. And finally, Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt walked by the picture of herself, and her younger sisters Phoebe and Paige, during those first five years they knew Paige.
Back at the front door, more of the grandkids came rushing in from school, to which Prudence smiled and closed the door using her telekinetic powers… as a triquetra appeared on the crystal ball and the view of the manor faded to black. The two beings watching this vision were thoroughly pleased thoroughly enjoyed what they had just seen on the ball, as the smiles on their faces gave away. One was a fairly stout-figured man with round face, white hair, and goatee whose physical age could be no younger than 55. The other was a woman with African features such as nappy hair and dark skin. Both possessed dark brown eyes, which may have been coincidental, and sky blue robe garments, which most certainly were not a coincidence, but a sign of who they are - Angels of Destiny. And they'd just finished watching up on the prospective future of the Charmed Ones, now that the Ultimate Power had been vanquished.
"Their future is certainly a blissful one, don't you agree?" the male angel asked, as the female turned to him.
"Indeed, Malachi. I predict things will be pleasing," the female angel replied, her smile becoming a full-on grin at the notion.
"Glad to see my fellows in Destiny are still as presumptuous as ever," another voice suddenly spoke, interrupting their moment of happiness. The Angels turned and saw that the man before them was a man with short light brown hair, a noticeable five o'clock shadow, and orange-lens spectacles over his eyes.
"Well, if it isn't Sepoth. How, or should I say why, dare you come here," the female angel scornfully remarked.
"Trying to inform you, Derdekea, that the future the two of you and the rest of Destiny see through your crystal balls is nothing more than a fantasy," the man in black replied, leaving questioning gazes on the faces of the two angels.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" the white-haired angel apparently identified as Malachi demanded.
"One would think that the future was set in stone after the vanquish of the Ultimate Power, but clearly that isn't the case. That view is long overlooking a dangerous threat capable of ending it all… as well as salvation from the unlikeliest of sources," the dark angel finally replied.
Principal Cast (Main Credits): Alter Bridge - "Open Your Eyes (Charmed Edge Army Mix)"
::Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell-Wyatt
::Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
::Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews
::Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
::Adam "Edge" Copeland as Derrick Serkan Brady*
City Scope Theme: Daughtry - "There and Back Again"
::Ivan Sergei as Henry Mitchell
::Victor Webster as Coop
::Kaley Cuoco as Billie Jenkins
::Randy Orton as Keith Wilson Shard*
::Jason and Kristopher Simmons as Wyatt Matthew Halliwell
::Sammy Jack as Christopher (Chris) Perry Halliwell
:Julia Di Angelo as Prudence Halliwell II
:Ellen Geer as Elderly Piper
:Gordon Wells as Elderly Leo
:Dakin Matthews as Malachi -Angel of Destiny-
:Denise Dowse as Derdekea -Angel of Destiny-
:Jared Harris as Sepoth*
:Melissa George as Freyja
:Sal Lopez as Zhariggo Zhaikos*
:Susane Lee as Dalia*
:David de Lautour as Petrie*
Inside a certain Victorian manor at 1329 Prescott Street in San Francisco, California, Piper Halliwell-Wyatt was in the kitchen gathering bread and other food items, readying herself for a picnic that she and the family had set up for later today at Golden Gate Park. This was definitively a very important day to her for a number of reasons. One was for this day to be a stamp of emphasis. The other was for the family time with her husband, children, sisters, and brothers-in-law. And the third of the reasons dealt with someone who for a while had been part of the family but has felt a bit like an outcast since the day things started becoming more peaceful, because of her unfavorable hand in the events that led to that whole package. Essentially, this was the day everything was to be placed back together where it belonged. As she gathered up the breadbaskets and accompanying food items, Piper began to hum Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon". The song had been stuck in her head since a couple of days ago after she'd found old tapes lying around in the attic and decided to listen to some, it being among them. She soon found herself stirred out of her routine, though, by the sound of the home telephone ringing.
"Oh, crap," she muttered as she quickly strode over to the phone and answered, holding it up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Piper! Hey, nice to hear ya!" the cheerful voice of her baby sister Paige echoed through the phone. "So, how's everything coming? You ready for the picnic today?"
"Paige, I'm the one that called for this picnic. Why wouldn't I be ready?" Piper asked. "Besides, we're going at about 4:30, not right now."
"I know, I know," Paige noted in sing-song, "it's just, well, I'm kinda anxious to see how this is gonna go, you know? I mean, this is the first time that all three of us, our husbands, and even the kids and Billie, are all gonna be together in awhile, you know? Sure, we all meet up a lot, but we usually split into parts or there's someone missing." She had a great point by that, which Piper really had no choice to agree with. While over the past seventeen months since taking care of the Ultimate Power, the family did manage to stick together through the occasional stop at P³ or "sister's night out", somebody did always tend to stay behind to take care of Wyatt and Chris nowadays, particularly because they're not at the age to go to P³. Usually the ball fell on Piper or her perfect husband Leo, the proud parents themselves, and maybe sometimes a little help from Paige or Henry if they weren't too busy, but over this summer Billie's been taking up the responsibility herself. Billie… yes, the perky blonde chick who comes across halfway like a comedy character when she tries to be the Captainess of Confidence…
"Anyway, it is safe for me to orb there now?" Paige asked, shaking Piper out of her thoughts. "I'm kinda bored here with no charges and nothing to do, and I don't really feel like stopping by the police office for the third time today."
"Yeah, sure, you can come…" Piper started, trailing off as she heard a constant sound coming from the sun room. "Hold on a second. I'll be right back." She stated, before quickly walking out of the kitchen and through the hall. "Wyatt! Chris!" She called to the two boys as she headed into the sun room… where she saw the both of them constantly orbing in and out of place. Seeing the boys amuse themselves by essentially becoming flashing lights, she could only muster little resistance against laughing herself, to which they both finally stopped and noticed her.
"Okay, boys. What are you doing?" she asked once she was finally able to stifle the laughter.
"Mommy, we're playing orbing tag!" Wyatt cheerfully announced in his cute little voice.
"Orbing tag?" she asked, confused and maybe a little curious about this new game her sons seemed to have come up with.
"Yeah. It's like tag, except we play by orbing!" Wyatt explained, still chipper.
"Well, then, who's 'it'?" Piper asked again, this time crouching down to meet her son's gaze.
"Chris is it!" Wyatt proudly proclaimed. Piper looked at Chris frowning in the corner of the room.
"That's because you talked first. Not fair!" Chris whined, though it was just then that the sound of someone else orbing into the manor distracted Piper. She got up and turned around, preparing to greet who she was sure it was.
"Guys, I think your aunty Paige is here," Piper announced. "Come on, follow me." The two boys did as she said, following them through the hallway and finding Paige in the living room, dressed casually and sporting large sunglasses.
"Hey!" Paige greeted Piper with a big smile and a wave.
"Hi!" Piper greeted back, at which point the two sisters embraced for a few seconds. "I see you got tired of being the office babe, huh?"
"I guess you could say that," Paige stated, little did she know she was about to be bombarded by two happy nephews.
"Aunty Paige!" Wyatt suddenly called, as he and Chris appeared from behind their mother and ran towards their aunt.
"Hey, guys!" Paige greeted back as she happily crouched down to meet her nephews in a loving embrace, reserving one arm for each of the brothers. "How are my two favorite little nephews doing? I see your mommy let you skip school today!"
"Yeah! We were playing orbing tag," Wyatt explained, with just as much gusto and happiness as when he told his mother about the game just about a minute or so ago.
"Orbing tag? Hmm, that's a new one," Paige commented, a little bemused but definitely entertained. "Could you tell me about this game? It sounds a little like freeze tag."
"Which I would win at every time, by the way," Piper remarked with a big smile, referencing her power, as the happiness of the moment completely overcame her.
"Aha! Now there's a clue!" the youngest sister/aunt replied, bouncing the comment naturally as was part of the Halliwell sister charm.
Meanwhile, on the beautiful cosmic-linked island of Valhalla…
"Wow. I can guarantee you, I'll be sure to ask Cole about some of this," Freyja, the divinely beautiful blonde-haired queen of the Valkyries stated as she spoke to the tall, gray-eyed, and equally blonde man in the thick black trench coat and tights with sun designs.
"Yeah, but uh, don't tell him I said anything," the man replied. He knew that it would be obvious to his friend anyway, as the very reason they were walking along together was because she'd summoned him to engage in conversation so that he could enlighten her on a few things. But it was good humor material to feign innocence.
"It doesn't really make any difference," she stated, which showed that the lack of real importance involved in whether she outed him or not wasn't necessarily lost on her.
"You're right. Apart from whether or not I can speak to him and get a good rib in before he finds reason to threaten to kill me," he pointed out, as something else came to mind for him. "But hey um… I've been curious, have you ever encountered anyone named Odin here?" he asked.
"Why do you ask?" Freyja inquired in return.
"Because, according to Viking mythology, Valhalla's essentially owned by a god named Odin," he pointed out to her. "Just thought it was a cool tidbit to ask about."
"I see you've paid attention to the tales," she stated, seemingly impressed as his studiousness. "Well, then; the truth is, we did once have a champion here named Odin. But he was a witch, not a god, and certainly an egotistical blowhard." This comment drew some laughter out of the gray-eyed man, exposing his toothy grin.
"Sounds like this guy's a walking bag of fun to poke at," he remarked.
"I'm sure you could take him. You definitely have the wit necessary, and quite frankly, you've done more for us the day you became champion than he did his entire time," Freyja complimented him, before something, or someone, suddenly appeared to their right, and the security alarm rang all over the island. Immediately the two looked over and noticed the Latin-looking tan-skinned man, black clad and raven-haired, with a keen expression on his face, obviously a demon.
"Estás de broma," the visitor expressed with an exasperated groan to clarify his meaning in case his Spanish words didn't do.
"It's okay. Call off the alarm," the blond man instructed the queen while still looking at the suspicious visitor. "I can handle this." Seconds later, with some concentration from Freyja, the alarm was turned off.
"Finally," the newcomer stated, his thick Spanish accent still apparent.
"Do yourself a favor. Talk. Who are you, and how'd you find this place?" the trench coat-wearing champion demanded.
"Ah, muchacho. I'm glad you asked. My name is Zhariggo Zhaikos. But I'm afraid that's all you can know. Because you're going to die," the demon declared, before forming a fireball in his left hand and hurling it at the champion. However, he was able to dodge the attack by orbing in red, following which he held his right arm over the left shoulder of his coat and a spear with a wire-like handle, same color as the coat suddenly appeared there. He took the weapon by the wire and launched it towards the demon, who was surprised and stabbed through the stomach by the extending weapon, exploding in flames shortly afterwards. The now bloody spear then receded back into the coat, and the blonde gladiator felt like something refreshing was seeping through his veins, taking an intoxicated breath before turning to Freyja and looking back and forth between her and where Zhaikos once stood.
"Um… Derrick? Are you okay?" Freyja asked in concern, taking a few steps towards him, until finally his eyes met hers.
"I think I may have just found the sign I've been looking for," Derrick replied.
A couple of hours off from there, one of the many open fields at Golden Gate Park saw Piper and Paige arrive with each hand of Piper's occupied by holding a hand of either of her children, and of course, with certain men behind them talking while carrying picnic baskets.
"So, this new power he gave you only works in the manor?" Paige's mortal husband Henry stated in aside to the former Elder.
"Yeah, I can only swirl back and forth between the manor and Magic School," Leo explained. "I know, it's not much compared to my old powers, but I can't exactly expect a normal life if I'm back to orbing around all over the place, now can I?"
"Good point. You better make sure to keep that in mind," Piper quickly quipped, definitely not missing a beat with her husband. Paige let out a giggle at the interaction between Piper and Leo. Still occasionally snipping, but all in good fun. It was good to know that some things hadn't changed a bit over the summer. Not too far ahead were Phoebe and her husband, the cupid Coop, sitting blissfully calm next to the large red and white plaid picnic blanket set on the grass, as they'd already found themselves and the whole group a spot. As the footsteps and voices came closer, Coop turned around and finally noted the presence of the others.
"Look, the family's here," Coop said to his wife, pointing in the direction of the others. Her gaze followed his finger's lead and she would catch sight of her sisters, brothers-in-law, and nephews as well.
"Hey, guys! Over here!" Phoebe called out while waving with both arms and plastering a huge smile on her face, happy to see her sisters again.
"There's our beautiful sister!" Piper practically sang with a beaming smile.
"Phoebe!" Paige called in a similar tone, taking off and leading the charge toward Phoebe and Coop.
"Whoa, not fair!" Piper mock-complained at Paige getting ahead of her, as she and the kids let go of each other's hands and ran after Paige themselves. Leo and Henry briefly exchanged glances and each managed a chuckle, while as Paige was the first to embrace Phoebe. She kept it on for about ten seconds, but noticeably a small bit longer than she usually did whenever she visited Phoebe at work. There was a particular reason for that, actually. The summer months have actually seen a slight decrease in the level of communication between the sisters, with Paige's visits to the Bay Mirror becoming less frequent.
"Hey, don't forget about your big sister here," Piper stated in humorous spirit, to which Phoebe and Paige finally let go so Phoebe could turn to Piper.
"Piper, I'm insulted. I could never forget about you. Come here!" Phoebe proclaimed happily as she and Piper now hugged each other. Theirs was also slightly longer than usual. It's actually been over a month since Phoebe, Coop, and Piper were last all in P³ at the same time, their attendance at the club on designated family lounging days waning somewhat to other affairs.
"You know, you and Coop really need to start making an effort to be around more often again. It's been too long since I've seen you both at once," Piper .
"Okay, but before you send me to the gallows, you were the only one that didn't show up Sunday at P³. Speaking of which, how'd the restaurant search go?" Phoebe inquired, half curious and half making a point.
"Well, it went decently enough, but it's not just P³. You guys haven't even come to the manor in three weeks," Piper reminded her. She couldn't go no further in her small browbeating of Phoebe before a child's throat could be heard clearing - Wyatt's, in particular. The sisters looked down and saw that he and Chris were anxious awaiting their aunt Phoebe's attention.
"Hey!" she quickly started in a chipper smile as she came down and allowed them to hug her as well. "Wyatt; Chris! How have you guys been? Are you having fun together in school now?"
"Yeah! But we got to skip today because of the picnic!" Wyatt informed Phoebe cheerfully.
"You guys know that's only for today, right?" she then asked, to which they both nodded.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shade of a nearby tree stood two youths, a young man and a girl. The young man appeared to be in his twenties and had a stern, rectangle-shaped head with medium brown hair and keen blue eyes, clad in black shirt and suit coat and dark blue jeans. The girl was considerably smaller, her black hair longer, and her appearance more youthful and Asian in comparison. She wore a sleeveless purple dress shirt with similar jeans to her male companion.
"You know, this is just wasting time. Why did you have to call me here if she hasn't even shown up yet?" the young man replied, clearly getting impatient with the wait for someone.
"I don't know what's taking so long, Petrie. I could've sworn she was gonna be coming soon," the girl stated.
"Dalia, I didn't ask you to guess when you think she'll come. I asked you to call me when she does come," the guy, Petrie, stated condescendingly. "You're a really bad subordinate, do you know that?"
"Well, then maybe I'd be 'better' for you if I actually agreed to be called by that word. Anyway, you can thank me when she comes," Dalia retorted without fail, an amused smirk coming to Petrie's features because of it as the two continued to watch.
"So what's going on with the whole parole thing?" Coop asked Henry after the guys just finished exchanging their own greetings.
"A couple more guys I've been looking after are finally making some progress," Henry announced. "How about you, cupid? Shoot any arrows lately?"
"No, and to be honest, I'm having a little bit of trouble with a charge of mine," Coop admitted, before turning to the former Elder. "Oh, Leo, how's magic school?"
"It feels great. Kinda reminds me of some old times, actually," Leo replied. "By the way, guys; where's Billie?"
"Oh, she called about, um…" Phoebe stopped to check her watch, "…oh, twenty minutes ago, and said she'd be running a little late. She just finished up on some studying stuff she says has been holding her up."
"Really?" So when can we expect her here? Like, right after we're almost finished and about to leave?" Paige sardonically semi-joked, the "semi" coming from the fact that such a jest about the younger woman could actually be rooted in reality these days. Truth be told, if the sisters were beginning to slowly become distant from each other over the summer on the basis of the waning of their time spent together in that time, Billie had been slowly becoming a bit distant for over a year.
"Actually, seeing how it took you guys a bit of a while to show up yourselves, I'm not sure we'll even get past getting the plates out before she shows up," Coop honestly stated. "At least, if she's really coming."
"Yeah, that's the big if," Piper pointed out. "Not that I blame her or anything. I mean, you can understand why she's been withdrawn from us ever since that day, but it's been close to sixteen months since then. When is she gonna work on getting over this thing?"
"Hey, guys! Over here!" a certain voice suddenly called out off to the far side. Immediately the group turned around and saw…
"Billie!" Piper exclaimed her name, as she noticed the blonde at last walking towards them. They weren't the only ones who took note of the presence of Billie, however; the duo hidden in the leaves took a few steps outward, and Petrie flicked his hand forward in her direction a little bit, sending a quick gust of wind-like energy which hit Billie right in the stomach, quickly causing her to fall back , as well as causing a momentary major gust of wind to attack the general area
"Billie!" Phoebe shouted, this time with much more concern than Piper's call just a few seconds ago, as the whole group quickly dropped everything and ran to tend to the girl, completely oblivious at this point to the picnic blanket being blown away by the wind. Out of the six, Paige was the first to get to her, and as such she quickly checked her pulse.
"She's out cold, but she's breathing," Paige reported. Leo, at this moment, had a strange but bad feeling about the abrupt wind that came with whatever attacked Billie and looked back at a certain tree. There was nothing there, but he still wasn't convinced that this was in any way natural.
NOTE: A billion years- yes, I'm well aware. It's become the pattern. But finally, this show is on the road. Time to read and review, folks! I'm hoping I can have some fun with this.
-Pac.