"I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it," PJ Halliwell recited the mantra.

She had been mentally preparing herself for this. This morning, she even practiced in front of her mirror. She's got every word down.

Bart was conversing with his classmates while the room cleared out. PJ stayed behind, silently hoping to catch him alone.

"I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it." She recited again. Her heart pounded uncomfortably in her chest, making her feel a little dizzy.

Bart finally left his friends and headed up the stairs for the exit. And he was headed in her direction. He caught her glimpse and stopped. "Yo, wassup, PJ?" he said.

"Hey," she said dumbly. Her heart slammed against her ribcage like a jackhammer, and air instantly left her lungs. She forced oxygen down her throat to avoid choking. Her insides twisted and she felt like she was melting into a puddle. "Not much. Are you heading to practice later?" I'm gonna do it.

He nodded. "Yeah. The game is coming up soon, so we all hafta keep in shape. What about you? Are you going to practice too?"

She opened her mouth to say the words. "Yeah, definitely. I mean, I am co-captain of the volleyball team. Staying in shape is mandatory." Why am I saying this?

"Cool. I'll catch ya later then. I have to get some coffee." He nodded as a gesture of goodbye before walking off, leaving PJ standing there like an idiot. Which she was. Who would be so shy that the words she'd meant to say turned into something else entirely? She huffed in frustration. The melting sensation from before died down as her heart sank to her stomach. She had been psyching herself all this time for nothing. Talk about having no guts. She felt a sudden tinge of jealousy toward her cousins, and she knew why. They were all angels and had tremendous powers, and they were all about taking risks to fight demons. Her father was a Cupid; an angel who fought the good fight by spreading love instead of directly participating in it. PJ and her sisters, Parker and Peyton inherited those traits and therefore were more pacifistic, and preferred to use their powers in matters of love instead of war.

But even so, being half-Cupid didn't grant her the ability to confess her feelings with ease.

"Great," she muttered to herself sarcastically. I guess I'll do it next time.

Melinda studied hard in her bedroom for the exam next week. Her eyes were feeling heavy. She had been studying non-stop since she got back from class. She knew that she should rest, but she couldn't.

She's had to take classes since to keep up with modern knowledge, and even worked part-time to pay the tuitions. Tomorrow will finally be her chance to enter the physics program, and make her step at becoming a doctor. Her dad, being an angel who helped others find love, believed that psychology would be more of her field of expertise. But no matter how many times she looked at it, it didn't fascinate her like physics.

Melinda checked the time.

"Five hours?" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes. "I guess I could use a break."

Her eyes suddenly grew heavier. Keeping them open was like lifting a ton of weights. Her foggy mind ate away at her senses. Before she knew it, her face had softly landed on her textbook and sleep pulled her into unconsciousness. She woke and found herself standing in a desert… if it could be called that way. There was nothing but a vast wasteland… no plants, no animals, no sign of other life forms. The dim sunlight was partially shrouded by sinister-looking clouds in the sky. They all had two small holes and a large one that silhouetted a face. Suddenly, she was surrounded by breaking sounds. She could hear it in every direction, and seemed to be closing in. Soon her eardrums were aching and her chest vibrated with the frequency.

A loud explosion made her turn. A young Asian man with cropped hair and a sleeveless dusty green jacket held an exotic white guitar in his hands. He didn't seem to notice her.

"Who are you?" Melinda asked.

He didn't answer or look in her direction. The clouds descended and formed into three demons with bat wings extended from their backs and horns on top of their heads… and they were all moving at the young man. Melinda wanted to reach out and shove him out of harm's way, but before she could reach him, he snapped his fingers on the strings on his guitar and sent a massive wave of energy. It disintegrated the demons as soon as it touched them. Melinda stared with wide eyes. This level of power was extremely rare, and the only person she knew with that kind of power was her brother.

More demons descended right then. No, there were hundreds. An army. She looked to the Asian man again, and saw his own army. All of them were men and women. They raised their hands up in the air. Lights burst out of them and joined with each other. The combined light was so bright that it was blinding. Melinda shielded her eyes with her hands.

A groundbreaking laughter throbbed into her ears. It was so loud that she could feel the ground vibrate under her feet. It was then everything blurred.

Melinda gasped in horror as she found herself back in her dorm room, still seated with the textbooks on her desk. What the hell was that?

She jumped when her phone rang. After calming down, she snatched it up to see the caller ID. "What's up, Dad?"

"Hey, honey. Are you ready yet?"

"Ready for what?"

Silence. "Your cousin's sendoff party. He's moving to Washington for his training, remember. I told you I was coming to pick you up so we can shop for your mom's ingredients."

Melinda slapped her forehead. She had totally forgotten about it in the last five minutes. Glancing at her textbooks again, she flipped them closed. "I'm on my way. I'm just changing. See you in a few."

She cut the call and immediately went to her wardrobe. Studies will have to come a little later. Her mind couldn't concentrate on choosing the proper outfit, because it kept wandering back to the dream. Who was that man? Where did that whole thing take place? It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, and she'd watched Star Wars to recognize the scenery. But with demons? That was a whole other level of weird.

Piper Halliwell, oldest sister of the Charmed Ones, taste tested her own recipe of chanterelle ravioli. Something in the taste was off. Something was lacking.

"Thyme," she concluded, added a pinch into the boiling bowl and resumed stirring.

Her hands flowed ever so freely with the mix. It was a huge relief to work on her stress with something so practical. For some reason, demon attacks had been more frequent recently. She and her sisters had fought immensely less forces that threatened to destroy or take over the world in the last decade than when they first became witches. They had fought so many that no one was able to keep score, and no one wanted to either. They had gained and lost much because of the fight. Like Prue, their eldest sister. She had lost her life to the great battle, and then came back by inhabiting the body of another. But it didn't last. She merged with the source of all magic, and eventually an extremely powerful demon, and subsequently became their enemy. They had to sacrifice her for the sake of the world. All because they were under control of something called "destiny". Even more so, they had so sacrifice a great amount of their lives for the greater good. Gideon, her husband's mentor, tried to kill her oldest son because he believed his tremendous power was threatening and tried to do the world a favor by getting rid of him. She had to fight for her marriage with Leo and everything that came afterwards for the sake of their love. Even her sisters had to sacrifice something for the same reason. Their good friend, Cole Turner, took Phoebe's husband's place when a spirit killing athame flew in his direction. His soul was forever lost and his death was mourned.

Yes, they had indeed suffered many losses over the years. But even so they had gained much as well. She and her sisters now had families, careers that they loved, their children all grew up happy and healthy, and their lives were in the quiet state. Especially now that Piper was no longer head of the Witch Council. She made sure it was in good hands and knew Patience's niece would be a good leader. The girl had a knack for leadership from enlisting in the army a couple of years ago.

"We're here," said her baby half-sister, Paige Matthews, as she entered the kitchen with her husband, Henry Mitchell.

Piper smiled at their arrival.

"Hey, guys," she replied, "Paige, could you come in here and help me place the plates. Henry, do you mind getting the utensils out? I'm still needed in the kitchen."

They complied and separated to perform the menial tasks. It didn't take long before someone else joined in: her husband.

"Hey, guys," said Leo Wyatt, "Wow, that smells great." He wrapped his arms around Piper's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Piper reveled in the closeness. She had always loved his affection, and it only intensified through the years. She loved how they learned to depend, respect and understand each other. It had taken a long time, and they had more than a few fallouts, but it was all worth it in the end.

"Glad you're home. I thought you would be busy for many more hours." She leaned her head back. "Dinner's almost ready, so if you could call Phoebe and the kids, that would be most helpful."

He nodded, immediately releasing her to make the calls. She didn't know how to put it, but something about his posture seemed off. Is something going on? Could there be something?

"Anybody home?"

The sound of her children and those of her sisters' voices brought a sense of peace into her chest. She loved and adored them all; which was why they were having dinner at the Manor tonight. They were having a sendoff party for little Henry.

Life couldn't be more perfect for the Halliwells and many people saved by them. The war was won, and nothing could stop their happiness.

But somewhere far out in space, in a distant universe, good and evil were still at war with one another. Neither side had the upper hand. The leader of the army, Sha Tian, known as the Ultimate Iron Man in his home world, fought with everything he had against the malicious Lord Diablo. Today, both armies fought again. No one could remember how many times they had fought or how long the war had been going. No one kept score. They only knew that they had to keep fighting, for the sake of their worlds and families.

"I will not yield, Lord Diablo," said Sha Tian confidently. "Your darkness will not overtake the worlds. We will conquer you."

A group of demons sent deadly red beams in his direction. He ran his fingers across his electric guitar, Iron Limitless, and sent powerful shockwaves that neutralized the beams and annihilated the demons.

"Your will is strong, as is your power, Ultimate Iron Man, but I'm afraid it is not enough to stop me," said the demon lord. "We have fought for over a decade, and yet you've never won. Your forces are dying out, and eventually you will not be able to go on. And when that happens, the universe will be mine to rule." He laughed.

But Sha Tian did not waver. "I will never let that happen. I will fight. I will defeat you and I will save the worlds." He sent another blast against the lord's army of demons. "You will never win! Light will eventually prevail!"

Diablo just laughed at his optimism. "Hahahaha, that's just pathetic talk. We have been in this war for over a decade already. No one, not even your family, had been able to defeat the darkness. Your power may be unrivaled, but I have fought countless ultimate powers of justice before you. All they ever could do was drive me away, banish me from their realms. But no one, not a single one of them, ever succeeded in defeating me. And neither will you."

His laughter echoed throughout the spacious wasteland.