NINE

The demons standing in the living room of the manor all looked extremely similar. Each stood approximately six feet in height. Their skin was a light green and their ears were highly pointed, extending up the sides of their heads much farther most creatures. Three brilliantly red stripes ran down their backs back and their hair was a golden color.

"Ah, the famous Charmed Ones," said Kempo. "It's an honor to finally meet you. Especially since you will secure for me one of the most coveted positions in the underworld. I can't thank you enough for your assistance in that matter. Of course you'll be dead but, hey, there are trade offs no matter where you go, am I right?"

"I don't think so," said Piper, bringing her hands up.

She tapped into her explosive power and Kempo's chest suddenly exploded. Almost immediately his chest reformed and he stood facing the girls apparently unharmed.

"I'm afraid that will do you no good against me," said Kempo. "In fact, it won't do you any good against any of us. We are the Hellborn Alliance. We probably aren't even in your Book of Shadows. We've never been considered important enough for something like that. But that's going to change today. Thanks to you."

"What do you want?" Paige demanded.

"I should think that would be obvious," said Kempo. "We want you. Or to be more precise, your deaths. Once we report that we've vanquished the undefeatable Charmed Ones the demonic hierarchy won't be able to do enough for us. And with the added bonus of vanquishing the traitor Belthazor we'll get whatever we want."

"Cole?" questioned Phoebe. "What have you done to Cole?"

"Oh nothing," said Kempo. "Just allowed his son to do what he's wanted his entire life. Punish his father for what Belthazor did to him. It was quite easy. The boy is just a gullible as most humans. Tell them what they want to hear and they bend over backwards to give you whatever you want. In this case getting Belthazor away from this place so we can deal with you. I wish I could thank Coleson for his assistance. Unfortunately he will be following his father in death soon enough. So many loose ends to tie up."

"We've been set up," said Piper. "Well, you won't find us easy targets. We've dealt with demons before."

"Not like us, witch," said another of the demons. "Kempo, let's get this over with. I'm eager to collect the reward for putting an end to them."

"Kresh always was so impatient," said Kempo. "Still, I suppose he's right. No sense prolonging this any longer."

Kempo suddenly formed an energy ball and cast it directly at Piper. Before it could strike Paige called for the energy ball, redirecting it back at the demon. The weapon struck Kempo knocking him back across the room. At the same time Phoebe struck out kicking another of the demons in the face. The demon was taken by surprise and was put immediately on the defensive.

Piper turned and raised her hands and two of the demons exploded as Kempo had only moments before. But just as with Kempo, the demons suddenly reformed with no mark on their bodies. They just smiled and advanced on Piper.

The remaining two demons advanced on Paige. As one struck out at her with its clawed hand the youngest sister suddenly orbed out. The demon struck nothing but air as Paige suddenly orbed in near the fireplace beside Kempo. She reached down and pulled the poker from the stand as Kempo turned to face her. Before the demon could react Paige shoved the poker through its chest until the point came out its back.

Kempo didn't even slow down. He struck out striking Paige on the side of her face knocking her back against the wall. Paige struck the wall with a thud and slid unconscious to the floor. Kempo immediately turned to help his fellow demons with the remaining two witches.

Leo moved in trying to distract the demons. One simply grabbed the Whitelighter, throwing him across the room. Leo landed in the entryway and slid to the back of it. As he rose and turned for the living room again he saw three demons each moving on Piper and Phoebe. Paige still lay unconscious on the floor. None of their powers seemed to have any affect on the demons. It was only a matter of moments before the demons struck, killing all three sisters.

Suddenly Cole and Peter shimmered into the entryway next to Leo. Almost immediately Peter cast two energy balls knocking two of the demons on Phoebe back across the living room. As he cast the energy balls Cole charged into the living room stepping up next to Piper. With one fluid motion he raised a broken piece of wood and drove it into Kresh's chest. The demon erupted into flames and was vanquished immediately. The demons, seeing Cole and Peter suddenly appear in the manor, began to back away.

"What's the matter, Kempo?" Cole asked, raising another sharpened piece of wood. "No welcome for an old friend?"

'You?" gasped Kempo. "This isn't possible. The boy was supposed to have vanquished you."

"Oh that," said Peter. "Sorry. Slight change of plans there. Instead of me killing my father and Karran killing me we thought we'd just come and vanquish the six of you. And since Cole knows your dirty little secret I'd say the odds of that happening have just gone up dramatically."

"No," screamed Kempo. "This is impossible. The plan was perfect. It couldn't fail."

"Well now," said Cole. "That's the problem with you midlevel demons. You never have a contingency plan. You always figure your main plan can't fail so you never plan for what might happen if it does. I, on the other hand, don't have that failing. That's why I was such a good mercenary. I always had a backup plan."

Suddenly Shellack shimmered in behind two of the demons and before they could even move he shoved a wooden stake through their backs. The two demons died in a conflagration like their two contemporaries had only moments before. The remaining demon looked at Kempo and then suddenly shimmered out of the manor.

"This isn't over," said Kempo. "There are others of the Alliance. When we return there will be enough of us to finish this. We'll have what should be ours yet."

"Don't count on it," said Cole. "Shellack is going to make sure that every demon in the underworld knows how to vanquish you. Who would have thought you could be vanquished by an every day item most mortals can buy in just about any store for a quarter? Shove a piece of wood through your hearts and it's all over. Gee, I'm thinking that a few demons you've pissed off over the years might just find that information useful. If I were you I'd start looking for a deep dark hole to climb into."

Kempo snarled at Cole and then shimmered out of the manor. Leo immediately went to Paige who was just now regaining consciousness. Other than some bruises and a small cut over one eye that Leo was able to heal she seemed to be fine. Cole turned to Shellack.

"Thanks," said Cole. "Looks like I owe you one. Even that many demons would have been hard to take out. Someone might have gotten seriously hurt if you hadn't agreed to help."

"Let's just say we're even," said Shalleck. "After all, I did still owe you for the 60s, remember? Besides, it was the least I could do since I helped to set you up. I still kind of feel bad about that."

"Rule number two, remember?" questioned Cole.

"Yeah, I remember," said Shellack. "Guess I'll have to pay more attention to that one in the future."

Smiling, Shellack shimmered out of the manor and was gone.