Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.
Defeat
Keilphorte grinned maliciously. "They don't call me the Strategist for no reason," he bragged.
"Yeah? Maybe you ought to think up a strategy on how to make you better looking."
"Paige!" Piper scolded. "Don't make him angry."
"Sorry," Paige replied. "But I don't like looking at him. He's gross. I think I like the newer demons better. At least they actually look human. This thing is just, I don't know, eew."
"Shut up!" hissed Cole, his gaze never leaving Phoebe.
"Just trying to lighten the mood, Cole. Jeez! You don't have to be so-"
"Evil?"
"I wasn't gonna say that!"
"Sure you weren't," Cole rolled his eyes.
Phoebe worriedly glanced between the two. Something was up. They argued a lot, but there seemed to be something more to this fight. She didn't have time to ponder further though as she saw Keilphorte raise his arm in the air, preparing to strike.
'You get to be first, vain little witch,' thought the evil demon. With a wave of his hand, a figure materialized behind Paige. Using the mind control he'd recently learned to perform, Keilphorte ordered the man to take out the Witch-lighter.
"Paige, look out!" Phoebe yelled from across the room.
Spinning around, the new mother came face to face with a Darklighter. The gruesome man's arrow, filled with a Whitelighter poison, was aimed directly at her heart. "Cross bow!" she called, her arms waiting to receive the deadly weapon.
Keilphorte laughed as nothing happened. "Only demonic powers will work in this room."
"Then, I guess I'll have to vanquish him myself," Cole said, an energy ball already forming in each of his hands."
"Not so fast, Belthazor." With another wave of his hand, Cole was surrounded by a cluster of demons.
"Low-level? I'm disappointed in you, Keilphorte," Cole announced, knowing from being raised in the Underworld to never show anything but bravery in the face of dangerous opponents. Inside, however, he knew something was very wrong with the situation. 'He knows I can easily defeat them, so why would he bother making them attack me? He wouldn't get this desperate, even if no upper level demons would help him? What's he planning?' He threw his attacks and watched, shocked, as the demons seemed to absorb them. Cole's eyes widened as he took in the small metal plate dangling from each of the demon's necks. "Amulets… but how?" he muttered. "They only protect good."
"Does someone want to help me?" Paige called, orbing away from another arrow. "I can't keep orbing all over the room!"
"Phoebe, shimmer home, now," Cole told his wife, noting the demons around him slowly stepping closer.
"No way," protested Phoebe, inching closer so she could help. "I'm not leaving you here."
"You're not fighting in your condition, especially since you're the one he wants," Piper sided with Cole. "Now shimmer away."
"She's not going anywhere," Keilphorte sneered, placing Phoebe into another magical cage.
"Not again!" Phoebe tried to shimmer out. Her daughter's powers were once again blocked.
"Cole, would you stop playing around!?" Paige yelled. "Blast them already and help me!"
"I can't," Cole said, throwing a punch into one of the demon's faces and dodging a blow from another. "They're wearing amulets."
"So? Amulets don't protect evil!"
"These apparently do. My powers don't-" he abruptly stopped talking as an energy ball hit his back.
"Cole!" Phoebe yelled.
"I'm fine," he picked himself up off the ground and gritted his teeth.
"How are they able to use amulets like that?" Piper asked. She ducked and narrowly missed being hit by a stream of fire.
Keilphorte waved another hand and produced four demons around Piper. He laughed at his enemies' peril and decided to humor them with an explanation. "These demons think they're good."
"Just because," Paige orbed mid-sentence, "someone says they're good doesn't actually make them that way."
"You sure you're still talking about these guys?" Cole yelled over his shoulder.
Keilphorte didn't let Paige respond. "But my minions truly believe they are good, that you are an evil they must terminate, so in turn the amulets do also. Unfortunately, they still only protect against demonic powers, which is why I had to guard this room from witch ones."
"Demons take pride in being evil. They can't really believe they're good,"
Looking at Paige, Keilphorte said, "Of course they can. Because I made them think so."
"Mind control?" Cole asked, moving away from another blast of energy.
"Yes, I actually only recently acquired it. I'd read about it a while back and could never seem to get it right. But, it seems having your psychic witch in my grasp was able to raise my own almost non-existent mind powers. There are psychic remnants all over this room for me to pick up, not to mention that your spawn is telepathic. I was able to pick up on that a bit, too." He grinned, "I can't wait until I have the whole of its power."
"That won't happen, but it does explain the sudden jump in the amount of demons loyal to you," Cole figured out.
"It's a pity that it doesn't work on upper level demons though. If it did, I would consider allowing you back into the demonic fold, Belthazor."
"I don't want to go back, thanks."
"I figured. But, like I said, I can't use it on upper-level demons anyway." He faced his minions, "Take the traitor and those two Charmed Ones out now. Beat them to within an inch of their life, then I will be able to absorb their powers and deliver the final blow."
"Not gonna happen," Piper threw a potion that replicated her power of blowing things up. One of the demons screamed in agony. Two vanquishing potions took out a couple more demons. Piper threw a kick at the last one near her when it got too close. Her blow was followed by a vial of dark red liquid that finished off that demon. Grabbing a handful of more vials from her coat pocket, Piper hurled them at the demons currently advancing on Cole.
"Thanks," Cole said as three demons near him went up in smoke. He'd managed to knock two of them out before Piper had intervened, but six more was still a lot for him to handle at once, despite his combat skills, especially since they could use energy balls when he couldn't. With some more off his back thanks to his sister-in-law, Cole was able to shimmer behind one of three remaining minions of Keilphorte and plant a knife he'd conjured into the demon's back.
Figuring Cole could handle the last two demons, Piper turned to Paige. She threw a potion at the Dark-lighter. And, she missed.
Paige kicked out and her almost-killer landed on his face in the dirt. His weapon was still clutched tightly in his hands as he began to rise. "Piper, throw me some vials! I used all mine on that barrier."
"That was my last one," Piper began to worry.
Finally able to plunge his knife into the last of his conscious attackers', Cole turned back to the two he'd knocked out. As the knife pierced their flesh they, too, became ashes as they burst into flames. Turning around, he threw an energy ball at the Dark-lighter.
Paige sighed as she was temporarily saved.
"Good work, Paige. I'm glad I brought you to this battle," Cole said sarcastically. "You vanquished no one while Piper and I took out how many demons?"
"Piper hogged the potions and you used evil powers which, by the way, I'm glad I don't have," Paige retaliated. Cole was a demon; he had no right to get mad at her for being suspicious. Besides, with recent events, she pretty much believed he wasn't her enemy in this fight. But, if he still wanted to be a jerk and fight, she could easily play along.
"You could have said a spell!" Cole spat. "There was only one guy after you. I thought you were better at your job after all this time."
"In the time it would have taken me to think of a spell and then say it, that guy would have shot me. I had to keep orbing away, you idiot demon."
"We don't have time for this," Piper broke in.
Keilphorte was summoning minions again. A dozen demons, each wearing an amulet, and two Dark-lighters answered his call. The ancient Evil gave them the same orders he'd given to his previous lackeys.
"Why didn't you grab those amulets before you vanquished the last batch?" Paige demanded of Cole.
"I was a bit too preoccupied with trying to get away and save your ungrateful life to think about that."
"And now we're both going to die, anyway."
Conjuring two sharp daggers, Cole tossed one to each of his sister-in-laws. "We have to take these out and head straight for Keilphorte before he can summon any more."
The three launched at the brainwashed demons. Cole shimmered behind two of the demons, shoving a blade into each. Piper managed to stab one in the stomach. To Paige's surprise, she was physically stronger and faster than one of the Dark-lighter's. She was able to wrestle his crossbow away without getting hit by an arrow. Then, she proceeded to fatally shoot both Dark-lighters with it.
Being the least knowledgeable, and capable, in hand-to-hand combat of the group of good beings in the room, Piper found herself thrown into a wall after stabbing her second demon. It took her a minute to regain her composure enough to stand up.
Cole picked up the slack by killing a demon who decided to try and take advantage up Piper's break. He was lucky enough to grab the demon's amulet before he was completely consumed by the fire. Throwing it to Piper, who quickly put it on, he faced the remaining seven demons.
Paige came up beside him, cross-bow ready and knife in her pocket. Piper soon joined them.
With a shimmer, Cole had snapped the neck of one more, stealing his amulet also. He gave it to Paige.
"Let me take the cross-bow," Piper reached for it. "I don't want you to accidentally touch an arrow, Paige. Take my knife."
Paige slashed at the chain holding an amulet onto her enemy's neck, causing the jewelry to fall to the floor. Cole threw an energy ball and watched as the demon screamed while he died.
Piper fired arrows at three of the demons. Paige's knives killed the last two. She picked up the fallen amulet and handed it to Cole. He wordlessly threw it to Phoebe.
It went into her cage, but Phoebe didn't put it on. She prepared to throw it back.
"Don't," Cole stopped her. "You need to wear it. I don't want you hurt in the crossfire."
"But-"
"Please, Phoebe. If not for me or yourself, than do it for our baby."
Looking into his concerned gaze, Phoebe decided to listen to Cole.
"I guess I should've slashed off another one of those," Paige said.
"Like you want me protected," Cole didn't look at the tallest Charmed sister.
"I'm sorry, okay? I should've trusted you. I'm just too suspicious for my own good. Are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Paige fumed.
"We're about to die and they're still arguing," Piper said, annoyed.
"We can't die, Piper. Not when we're wearing these," Paige said.
"He may not be able to hurt us, except Cole, but we can't hurt him either. We're at a standstill. At least until Keilphorte figures out how to destroy the amulets."
"Way to be pessimistic."
"Did you really think I would allow amulets that I couldn't get past within grabbing range for you witches? Those won't protect you from me," Keilphorte interrupted. "You'll be dead in a few seconds."
He waved his un-human hand and the cross-bow in Piper's hands was turned to dust, as were the knives Paige and Cole were holding. "Don't bother making anymore, Belthazor. You won't have a chance to use them." Keilphorte's entire body seemed to burst into flames as he shot a stream of fire at each member of the trio, though not enough to kill them. He did still want their powers, but the only way he could absorb any was from the dying.
Before the blaze hit Keilphorte's targets, however, they were flung into a wall.
"Prue!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"Need some help?" the deceased Charmed One smiled, placing her hands on her, at the moment, corporeal hips.
"That's not possible!" raged Keilphorte. "My cave is protected against witches' powers!"
"Uh, yeah, but technically, since I'm dead, my powers are counted as a ghost's, at least according to the protection spell you used," Prue grinned as she volunteered the information.
"You will not defeat me on a technicality!" He threw a fireball at Prue. It froze halfway to her. "What?" Keilphorte spun on Piper, confused as to how she would be able to use her freezing power. He knew she wasn't a ghost.
"Thanks, Mom," Prue said.
"Anytime, Honey," Patty Halliwell stood beside her oldest child.
"Mom, Prue," Piper happily greeted them.
"I can't believe the Elders let you come down to help us," a shocked Paige said.
"Oh, please. Like we need their permission to do anything. I'll have you know that I am my own boss," Penny Halliwell surfaced.
"Grams!" Phoebe grinned. "Looks like you're a bit outnumbered," she haughtily informed Keilphorte.
"I don't care how many of you there are; I will emerge victorious."
Penny casually waved her hand, sending the fireball her daughter had frozen into Keilphorte's chest. At the same time, two of Cole's energy balls met his back.
"That will not kill me!" Keilphorte hollered, ignoring the pain the attacks had inflicted on him. He desperately racked his brains for a new plan. How can I, the great Strategist, not think of something? Those stupid ghosts; they took me by surprise.
"You three want to use the Source vanquish on him, or should we?" Prue asked.
"If you don't mind, I'd like the honors," Phoebe said. "No one gets away with trying to hurt my baby."
"Ditto," Paige said. "He's ours."
Piper nodded. "Prudence, Penelope, Patricia…"
"…Melinda, Ashford, Helen…" Phoebe continued the chant.
"…Laura, and Grace…" Paige added.
'I will not shimmer away,' Keilphorte thought, 'I am not a coward. And, I'm stronger than I used to be. That spell will not harm me. I am sure of it.'
"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Vanquish this evil from time and space," the living Charmed Ones finished in unison.
As he was engulfed in flames, Keilphorte could only think, 'How could I have miscalculated so much?'
The Charmed Ones smiled in triumph as he was vanquished. Noticing the disappearance of Phoebe's cage, Cole rushed to his wife's side. He swept her into his arms and she tightly clung to him.
"He's finally gone," Phoebe whispered into Cole's shirt, sure for the first time in months that the premonition she'd had after Melinda's birth wouldn't really come true. Cole would be there for their child's birth, everyone would be happy, and baby Prue would be healthy. Phoebe knew demons would always attack, but for the moment, she decided to rejoice in the fact that her entire family was safe. She decided to relish being held by her soul mate while her beloved sisters, all three of them, and her mother and grandmother stood nearby.
