CHAPTER 2: The Evil Within

The various faction leaders gathered in the Main Chamber of the Underworld. "Who called this meeting?" asked Glarg, leader of the Grimlocks.

"I did," said a deep voice. All turned to see a young man of about twenty three enter the chamber. He had long dark hair which was tied behind his head and a sinister gleam in his eyes.

"Who are you?" asked Glarg.

"Your new leader," said Tom as his eyes flamed and turned completely black, and then back to normal.

"The Source...but that's impossible," said Hahn, leader of the combined warlock clans. "The Grimoire has been missing for weeks."

"I am a direct descendent of the first Source," said Tom, sitting down on the throne. "I claim this throne by right of blood."

"Why should we follow you?" snarled Glarg.

Tom looked at Glarg and his eyes flamed again. Glarg exploded almost immediately. Tom then turned his gaze at the other faction leaders. "Does anyone else wish to challenge my authority?" After a minute of silence, Tom continued, "In that case let's get down to business. Does anyone have any issues to discuss?"

Hahn took a step forward. "What do you intend to do about the Charmed Ones? They've been a thorn in our side for long enough," he said.

Tom smiled evilly and looked upward. "Don't worry about them," he said. "I'll take care of them myself. I have something very special planned for them."

****

"Hurry up with that coffee! Time's a-wasting!" said Phoebe. She and Piper were scrambling to get to work on time, as Phoebe had to finish her column for her deadline and Piper had a health inspector coming to P3.

"Good morning, ladies," said Michael as he entered the kitchen with Tom in his arms.

"Good morning, mama!" said Tom enthusiastically.

"Here's my boy!" said Phoebe as she lifted Tom from Michael's arms and gave him a kiss. "And here's my man," she said more seriously as she and Michael kissed.

"Would you two please get a room?" said Paige as she entered the kitchen. "I swear, Michael, you and Phoebe are more sweetly disgusting together than she was with Cole."

"You don't see me making cracks about you and Glen, do you?" Phoebe challenged playfully.

"Well, he and I don't kiss each other in front of other people nearly as often as the two of you," she said, now smiling and her older sister. "Speaking of my boyfriend, I promised him that I'd meet him at his place for brunch, so I'll catch up with you guys later. Bye!" Paige picked up her purse and left the kitchen.

"When will the two of you grow up?" said Leo, grinning, as he entered the kitchen holding Wyatt. "Hi, honey," he said to Piper.

"Well, for once they didn't call you before breakfast," she said, giving him a kiss. Suddenly, Leo looked skyward. "Why do I ever bother opening my mouth when all it does is jinx things?"

"Sounds pretty urgent," he said, quickly handing Wyatt to Piper. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye, dada!" said Wyatt as Leo orbed out.

"Ooh!" exclaimed Piper. "Sometimes I am so tempted to blow him up for this."

"You wouldn't, because that would be evil," said Michael, chuckling.

"How would you like to watch two toddlers today instead of one?" Piper threatened.

"I think I'll pass on that," said Michael.

"In that case, Wyatt, Mommy will give you something to eat after we get to the club," said Piper, grabbing her purse. "See you later, guys!"

"Bye, Wyatt, bye, Auntie Piper!" said Tom as they left.

"I guess that just leaves you and me," said Michael as he wrapped his arms around Phoebe's waist from behind her.

"We can't, honey," she protested. "I've got to go..." she looked at her watch, "...right now! Bye, sweeties!" she said, giving Michael and Tom quick kisses before rushing out the door.

"Well, kiddo, I guess that just leaves you and me for today," said Michael. "Think you could have some fun with the old man?"

"Definitely," said Tom, smiling at his father. As Michael turned away to get Tom his breakfast, he didn't see his son's eyes flame momentarily.

****

Leo materialized in front of the Elders. "You summoned me?" he confirmed.

"Yes, Leo," said Julius, the head Elder. "Something disturbing has come to our attention. It seems that somehow the projected future of your nephew Thomas has grown darker."

"How so?" asked Leo, shocked to hear such news.

"We aren't exactly sure," said Julius, "but we think the recent events have somehow influenced him."

"But we were sure Krito had reversed the corruption," Leo said.

"Are you certain that the evil did not resist being extracted?" asked Julius.

"We thought it had worked at the time," said Leo. "I'll take a look at him when I get back."

"Be careful, Leo," cautioned Julius. "If our suspicions are correct, he could become very dangerous to you in the future."

"I understand," said Leo. He orbed out, hoping that if the Elders were right, it wasn't already too late.

****

"Daddy, can I look at the Book of Shadows?" Tom asked.

"The Book isn't a toy, Tom," said Michael.

"I know that, but I want to look at it so I can fight demons like you and Mommy. Please," he begged.

"Well, I don't think there should be any problem with that, just as long as you're careful with it, ok?" Michael cautioned.

"I promise," said Tom. Michael picked him up and carried him to the attic.

He set Tom on the floor and placed the Book in front of him. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," he said.

"Ok, Daddy," said Tom. As soon as Michael left the room, Tom grinned evilly. He gestured at the Book, which pulsed once with a dark glow. Tom then left the attic and went to his own room. "I'm playing with my toys now!" he yelled down the stairs. After he closed the door, he flamed out.

****

Phoebe looked at the pile of letters on her desk and groaned in frustration. It was going to take a miracle for her to get the column finished by tomorrow. Elise poked her head in the office and said, "Remember, deadline is tomorrow at 7:00 sharp, Phoebe."

"Bitch," Phoebe whispered after she left the office. Phoebe then looked at her next letter.

'Dear Phoebe, I found my husband cheating on me and I want revenge. What should I do?'

'Well,' Phoebe typed, 'I'd take a butcher knife and cut off his manhood. That way he'll never be able to stick it where it doesn't belong again.' After she typed this, Phoebe thought, 'What possessed me to type that? It does seem to make sense though. The guy deserves it. At least I have a husband who gives me what I need and doesn't dick around.' Suddenly, Phoebe grinned as she knew exactly what she wanted right then. She quickly saved the column to her disk and yelled to Elise, "I'm going to be working from the Manor for the rest of the day, and don't worry, I'll have the column finished on time."

"You'd better," Elise warned.

As the elevator descended, Phoebe thought, 'God, I should kill that woman. One fireball when she's not looking should do the trick.'

****

Meanwhile, the health inspector was looking around P3 and was nearly finished. Wyatt was growing antsy, and Piper was starting to get frustrated with how long it was taking. "How much longer is this going to be?" she snapped irritably.

"Mrs. Wyatt, you can't expect me to rush this if you want to pass inspection," he said. "I'm just doing my job."

Piper decided she'd had enough. "You know what?" she said. "I don't care about your job. This club has passed inspection every time for the past three years, and quite frankly, it pisses me off that you people don't trust me to meet your standards."

"Please be reasonable here, Mrs. Wyatt..."

"Mommy, he's annoying me," said Wyatt. "Why don't you just blow him up?"

"Hey, that's a good idea," said Piper with a wicked grin. She gestured at the floor next to the health inspector and it exploded next to him. "Now, unless you want that to be you, I suggest that you mark off everything on that report as satisfactory and leave now. Otherwise, I'm going to blast you right now." The health inspector fled the club. 'That was weird,' thought Piper. 'But it was definitely fun.'

****

Paige and Glen were walking arm in arm back from the café where they'd gone for brunch. As Paige was looking at Glen, she thought she saw him eye a blond woman. She snapped, "Glen, what the hell are you doing?"

"Huh?" he said, confused.

"Don't play innocent with me," she said, letting go of his arm. "I saw you eyeing that blond bitch."

"Paige, I didn't..."

"You know what? I don't want to hear it," she snapped. "If I ever catch you eyeing another woman again, I'll skin you and eat you alive." Glen backed away in fear. He didn't know what was going on, but if there was one thing he learned, when it came to the Charmed Ones, anything could happen.

Paige wondered what had come over her, but whatever it was, she liked it. She walked into an alley and prepared to orb back to the Manor. However, instead, to her utter surprise, she blinked...

****

Michael was halfway through a turkey sandwich when Leo orbed into the Manor. "Sorry it took so long to get back here," he said breathlessly. "I had some other charges to deal with first. Michael, we have a problem."

"What's wrong, Leo?"

"Apparently, the Elders think that Tom was affected by the kidnapping somehow, and it made his future darker," said Leo. "They also suggested that the ritual Krito used to reverse the corruption may have been faked or failed altogether."

"Oh, God," said Michael, paling. "We'd better check on him." They quickly ran up the stairs to Tom's room, and were horrified when they didn't find him there. "How could he have gotten out of the house without me knowing, unless..." Michael left the sentence incomplete as the horrible truth dawned on him.

"We'd better check the Book," said Leo. They orbed to the attic and saw the Book of Shadows on the floor. As they looked through the Book, Leo suddenly said, "Michael, things have gotten much worse than we thought."

"What do you mean?" he said. As he looked at the page Leo had indicated, he saw that it read 'Hemlock Spell.' "Oh, God, no...the girls are turning evil?!?"

"I'm afraid so," said Leo. "By this point, they're probably about halfway to becoming warlocks."

"This isn't happening," said Michael in disbelief. Suddenly, he heard the door open and shut.

"Hello, anybody here?" yelled Phoebe.

"Phoebe..." said Michael. Without thinking, he ran down the stairs and saw Phoebe coming up from the living room. "Honey, are you ok?" he asked worriedly.

"I am now," she said seductively. She pushed Michael into their bedroom and closed the door behind them. "I want you," she said, pulling him into a kiss.

Michael reluctantly broke it off. "Phoebe, we can't, something's happened..."

"It doesn't matter," she insisted lustfully, rubbing against him. It was taking every ounce of his strength to resist her. "I need you, Michael. Take me."

"No, Phoebe," he said firmly. "You're not yourself, and I won't take advantage of you like this."

Phoebe let go of him and snarled in anger. "Fine, you're too much of a goody two-shoes anyway. What else should I have expected from a rebound marriage?"

"Phoebe!" he exclaimed, shocked at her venomous words.

"Maybe I should have stayed with Cole after all," she sneered as she opened the door. "At least he knew how to treat a girl." Phoebe turned her back on him and walked to the attic.

Michael felt tears rolling down his cheeks. How could she have hurt him like this? How could she even think of him this way? Shaking himself, he went after her.

By this point, Piper, Wyatt, and Paige had all arrived home and were up in the attic with Leo. "I still can't believe I blinked!" Paige said excitedly.

"Believe me, it only gets better from here," said Piper.

"Piper, this is just like the last time, with Dantalian," said Leo. "You have to fight through this."

"Oh, would you shut up!" Piper snarled. She gestured and blew Leo up into orbs. When he reformed, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Hey, everybody, can I join the party?" said Phoebe as she entered the attic.

"Mommy, will you teach me the powers?" asked Wyatt. He, too, had been affected.

"Of course I will," said Piper. "After all, we have to make sure that the next Power of Three follows in our footsteps, right?"

"Phoebe, wait!" said Michael as he entered the attic. "We need to talk."

"I'm through with talking, Michael," she said. Suddenly, she levitated and kicked Michael backwards, and laughed at him. Before Michael could react to that, he suddenly felt something hit him in the back, and he fell forward. He rolled over to see a man in his mid-twenties standing over him.

"Who are you?" Michael asked.

"Don't you recognize me?" asked the man, smiling wickedly.

"No," Michael admitted. "Should I?"

"Oh, that hurts," he said sarcastically. "I recognize you, Father."

Michael's eyes widened. "Tom?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Bravo! Give the man a prize!"

"But, how..." Michael started.

"I chose to shapeshift into the form I would have as an adult," Tom said. "Now, if you'll excuse me Father, I have an Underworld to rule."

"No, son, you have to fight this."

"I don't want to fight it," Tom sneered. "I've never felt so free before." Turning to the Charmed Ones, he said, "Come Mother, Aunts, and cousin. We have an Underworld to rule together." They respectively flamed or blinked out in succession.

As Tom flamed out, Michael used his magic to passively probe his son's mind, and found nothing but blackness. Michael felt his hopes die as he realized that he wasn't strong enough to stop this evil, to save his son, or his wife. 'Maybe not alone, but together we will save them,' a voice murmured in his mind.

'Cole?' Michael gasped.

'Hello, cousin. Did you really think I'd let my nephew or anyone else in my family go evil? Take what you need from me.' Raw power rushed into Michael as Cole bent his vast reservoirs to Michael's desires. Confident now that the Guardian power was flowing through him, Michael orbed to the Underworld.

****

Michael materialized in the Underworld and saw his family standing near Tom's throne. "Have you changed your mind, Father?" asked Tom.

"Actually, no," Michael said grimly. Michael floated off the ground and began to glow with pure power.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Tom yelled.

"I'm destroying what shouldn't be in you in the first place," said Michael. He gestured and a white beam of energy leapt from his hand and entered Tom.

"NO!" yelled Tom. However, the yell was abruptly cut short as a dark cloud flowed out of Tom's body. Michael focused the energy beam on the cloud, and it exploded in a bright flash of light. Almost instantly, Tom reverted back to his normal age, and the girls and Wyatt shook their heads.

"I'm sorry, Father," said Tom. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he hung his head in shame.

Michael picked up his son and held him close. "It's ok now. It wasn't your fault." Michael sighed in relief. "Let's go home."

****

Somehow, everything that had transpired had been resolved rather quickly. After Leo had woken up, Piper had apologized profusely for blowing him up. Leo went to the health inspector and used memory dust to erase his memory of what had happened at P3. Paige called Glen and told him what had happened, and he was quick to forgive her.

After Michael had put an exhausted Tom to sleep, Phoebe took him into their bedroom to talk. "Michael, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I didn't mean any of what I said. I just did it to hurt you. I love you."

Michael sighed. "I know, but I still wonder if you would be happier with my cousin."

Phoebe looked at Michael and said, "Cole and I were great together, but we never had what you and I did nor what you and I have now." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I am more in love with you than I ever was with him, and I don't think we would have lasted even if he hadn't become the Source. Our personalities were too different. To be honest, I think I loved him because he was a 'bad boy'. The point is that I don't want him. I want you, and I love you." Before Michael had a chance to protest, Phoebe pushed him onto the bed and started to kiss his neck.

Michael thought again about protesting, but as her kisses became more passionate, he changed his mind and thought, 'Oh, what the hell. No point in stopping her now that she's back to normal.'

****

"Cole, you used too much power to help Michael, and the barrier is weakened. The Devourers will be able to come through again. I know it was necessary, but now we have to deal with it," said Azar gravely.

"Don't worry, Azar," Cole replied. "I'll take care of it when the time comes."

THE END