"I'm afraid we'll have to take away your powers, my little friend," one of the Triad grinned wolfishly. "And then, maybe if you're good and bring the other witches, we'll let you live."
Balthezor looked at the High Demons and shuddered, thinking of what they'd do to Phoebe if she ever came. "No. Never." He heard Prue's head drop limp, and his heart sank. Without her here, he didn't have a chance.
A bolt of scarlet lightning arced from the ring of fire behind the Triad and hit him in the chest. His last thought before he blacked out was of Phoebe's glance when they'd discovered where her heart was placed, back in colonial Virginia. He heard again her whisper of "Cole," and then the pain overwhelmed him.
Prue straightened instantly, taking a backwards glance at Cole. She called up Piper's power and froze the scene. As she tried to disengage the grotesquely distorted demon from the lightning, she saw Piper and Leo appear—outside of the ring of fire. Piper waved her hand experimentally and Prue watched as one of the High Demons slowly crumpled. But then, to her dismay, it got back up. Leo frowned, then said something she couldn't hear through the shield. Piper nodded and Leo orbed out, reappearing moments later with—Darryl?
The policeman was no longer frozen since the time back in the alley had returned to normal. He pulled out his pistol, giving Leo a suspicious glance, and shot the demons. The bullets embedded themselves in the cloaked figures, but did no other damage. Leo decided to return him and then bring Phoebe to help.
Then time unfroze. Obviously down here even their combined powers were very weak. Prue could only manage a mild curse under her breath before she tried a football tackle on Balthezor. Prue felt the electrical current zap through her until the pain was nearly unbearable, and then she was through the bolt. Cole, struck by her flying weight, flew out of the lightning's range with a strangled "Oof!" and lay still. She tried to awaken the unconscious demon and get Leo to bring them out, but he couldn't get within the magical barrier.
Phoebe was getting very agitated outside of the circle, and began trying to distract the Triad to keep them from throwing more lightning at her sister and Cole. Then Piper and Phoebe combined powers to throw one of the Triad at the same time. It stumbled, and its section of the flames died down a bit. It turned to face them, its eyes glowing like dark coals. Leo orbed in at that moment to pick up the High Demon and deposit him outside of the Circle. The ring of fire now had a gap in it; Prue tried to wake Cole up so that they could escape.
"Prue, get out of there!" Phoebe rushed in and dragged her out. The other two demons snarled ferociously but couldn't hold the full circle without the third member, who was rushing to regain his position from…oh, maybe a mile away. Leo returned with a great smirk on his face.
The three sisters concentrated on throwing another of the demons out of their circle. It was ready this time, though, and it put up a barrier about itself. They ducked quickly as the force passed over their heads to strike the approaching demon squarely in the chest. It howled with agony and shriveled up.
"One down and two to go," Phoebe tried to joke. The other two demons flung a lightning bolt at them. Only Piper, used to her powers, remembered to put up a Freeze spell, and the bolt stopped in midair. The three leapt to one side as it unfroze.
"Whoa!" Their powers were waning quickly. They threw their combined bolts at the remaining unprotected demon. He screamed, a high girlish scream, and then withered away.
Leo tried again to get within the Circle, but failed. He could not grasp the last demon or approach it. Then Phoebe had an idea.
The three witches dodged another crimson-edged lightning bolt, and then suddenly all three were airborne. They then threw their combined force down upon the bemused demon's head.
It snarled one more time, then disappeared. The three Halliwells hovered a bit longer and then lowered themselves to the ground. Phoebe dusted off her hands. "Now that is the way to vanquish a demon." She laughed, then sobered as she thought about Cole.
Prue looked at her younger sisters with an apologizing glance at Phoebe. Her hair still stuck out at odd angles from the electric shock. "I'm really sorry about Cole," she said quietly. Phoebe nodded acceptance.
"Yeah, Prue. I know."
Prue smiled, her guilt finally released. Then her knees gave, and she fainted.
The remaining sisters could do nothing but stare at her in surprise. Then they rushed to her side. Phoebe laughed weakly. "Seems strange. We've all been knocked out cold at least once…" Piper looked at her patiently. "What?"
Together they managed to get Prue into a more comfortable position. Piper fussed worriedly. "Where's Leo?" They sat by the side of their unconscious sister, alone in the midst of the enormous rust-colored cave.
Leo kneeled over the crumpled form of Cole. The former demon showed no signs of life other than breathing. He looked vulnerable and much younger among the cushions and the blankets on the couch. Leo put his hands on Cole's chest and began his Healing.
Then he felt the tearing pain within, the same ache that he'd felt the night he and Piper had attempted their wedding. He gasped, powerless, as his powers drained out of him and watched helplessly as the blue glow slowly rose upward, shouting fiercely, "They're still down there! Your goddamned witches are still in Hell!" Tears of fury flowed freely down his face. "Did you always want it to be this way? Did you want us all to be separated from the ones we love?"
The glow faded. He sank to the floor, sobbing. Nothing could ever bring Piper back. The Halliwells were as good as lost.
Balthezor opened his eyes, wondering what true Hell was like. Then he saw the Whitelighter, Leo, shaking upon the carpeted floor. This couldn't be Hell. Whitelighters were never able to get past the Triad.
"Leo?" He stretched out a hand, surprised to see normal human fingers instead of his accustomed coal-black talons, and touched the Whitelighter's shoulder gently. "Are you okay?"
The man raised his face, showing puffy reddened eyes. "What do you care? I just tried to heal you and your demon magic took mine away. Now I'll never get Piper back. I'll never see her again," he snarled. The demon-turned-human was taken aback.
"What do you mean, you lost your magic? I'm Healed, aren't I?" He looked at Leo. "You don't mean…"
The man nodded wearily, tired from his grieving. "Since I lost my powers, I can't go back there to bring the girls home."
Balthezor looked at his fingers, tried to shapeshift back into demon form, but failed. "Phoebe's down there. I have to get to her." He clenched his hand into a fist and shook it angrily. "Damned Triad."
They sat in silence, brooding over the newest turn of events. Leo now understood Piper's wrath at Them. He growled deep in his throat. "I swear I'll get you, you wimps," he raged suddenly. "You can't even come down to Earth to help us. All you can do is screw up our lives!" Balthezor patted Leo's back awkwardly, and then felt a jolt of power fly through him.
"What—" Then he felt his shape shimmer as it had always done before, and laughed triumphantly as he felt himself teleport.