"Leo—you're back," Piper observed, looking around him. "Where are the boys?
You were supposed to get—Leo, are you okay?" She held her breath and waited
for his response but only heard a sniffle. "No...no, they've got to be
alright! What happened?"
"Wyatt used a darklighter arrow on Chris," he choked. "There was nothing I could do to stop it. He told me that if I didn't leave, I'd be next, and if I was hit, then nobody could save Chris...we need to do something, before it's too late, Chris is dying—why are all of these people frozen?"
"Cuz Aunt Piper got pissed of at 'em all," Prue explained casually, giving a little flick of her wrist to unfreeze them. Piper grabbed her hand before she could succeed. "What are you guys saying? Did you find Wyatt and Chris?"
Piper sighed in relief. Obviously she'd entered the room too late to notice what the chaos was ensuing over. "Um, no, not yet. But they're fine. Go find your mommy...and give her a message for me. Tell her that I'm going down to Building 11. It's code. She'll know what it means."
"Code for what?"
"Uh...nothing important."
"Okay." Prue was about to close the book she'd been flipping through when something caught her eye. "Hey, Aunt Piper, I think I've found something! I don't know, so don't get your hopes up or anything, but there's a spell on erasing element disasters. Not from memory, of course, and all the damage will still be done, but it'll remove the water. It needs the Power of Three. Do you think it'll work?"
Piper grabbed the book, eyes scanning the page. She looked back up at Prue, face glittering with excitement. "You did it, honey! Good job! You're being such a good help, now go find Phoebe and tell her what you did. Forget the code."
Once she'd left, Piper held out her hand to Leo to orb her away. "Hurry," she pleaded.
"But we're gonna need at least three witches to do this," Leo reasoned. "It may take a while—"
Mel and Paige both orbed in at that moment, sweating and drenched in water. "Anything on Chris and Wyatt yet? How's everything holding up?" Paige asked.
"If we're lucky, we'll be able to stop this," Piper informed her. "Prue found a reversal spell for the flood. First of all, we'll need three witches to recite the spell. Here's the page. Read, quickly, we don't have much time."
They both rushed up to the book on either side of Piper, leaning so closely together that their soggy hair dripped onto the paper. "Make the element of which we think erase, send it to disappear in time and space." They finished the spell, then Piper tugged on Leo's sleeve to orb her.
"Follow us," she instructed. "Chris has been hit by a darklighter arrow, we need to save him. He's dying."
Mel let out an anguished squeak in shock. Never had she thought that Wyatt would betray the family, kill somebody that had never done anything to cross him but try to help. Once again, she felt her world crumbling. She could save a hundred innocents, but it would make no difference if she couldn't save Chris.
Her mother had reacted faster and grabbed her arm, sending them down with Leo and Piper to the abandoned building that Chris was trapped inside of. She gasped at what she saw: four demons were huddled around the limp form of a boy, torturing him to death.
The boy was Chris, and the demons were Wyatt's "school friends."
Piper immediately began hurling fireballs at them. They seemed to be affected by it somewhat, but it was only hurting them a little bit. The demons were still able to send more fireballs of a sickly green color back at them, which Paige expertly diverted back to their heads. Now they were almost finished off, and Mel knew what she had to do. Hopefully this would be the last time that she played stand-in for the Power of Three.
She closed her eyes for a moment and focused. Of all the kids in the Halliwell manor, she had the most trouble controlling her powers, even if they were never as strong as Wyatt's and Chris'. Her powers were levitation, which she never used in her fear of falling and heights, and a type of energy ball like Piper's, only slightly modified.
Opening her eyes again, she screamed in rage and sent an energy ball at the four of them, thoroughly bursting each and every one to flames. Nobody could stand in her way now. She knew that if she learned to do that more often, then maybe someday she could even practice with Chris and her mother without being afraid.
"Chris!" she shrieked, looking down at him. She orbed to him, Leo and Paige following. He had to be alive, but he looked so...dead. His breathing was jagged and he was wincing in pain at the fresh burns from the demons, unable to defend himself. "Please don't die," she cried. "Please..."
Leo bent down to heal Chris, and the wounds faded, but his eyes remained closed. Piper squeezed Leo's arm in confusion. Why wasn't he waking up? Eventually there was nothing left to heal and Leo gently shook Chris, trying to see if he'd open his eyes.
"Chris, can you hear me?"
He nodded. "My head hurts..." he moaned, trying to rub it, but failing miserably. "Make it stop..."
"I can't," Leo panicked, "I don't know what's happening to him!"
"This can't be self-inflicted," Paige reasoned, "Wyatt probably did it, made something in the poison impenetrable in case we managed to save him. He knew what we would do...now that we found out the truth."
"I can't believe that my little boy would do this, to his own brother—"
"Earth to Piper," Mel raged, "he's not your 'little boy.' He's a powerful demon that nobody can stop, on the prowl trying to kill innocents. Don't you get it? This isn't the same Wyatt, he's not all cute and innocent like he was before. In fact, that Wyatt probably never even existed, so get over it. What we have to do now is catch him and help Chris."
She let go of Chris's hand and stood up, towering over the adults crouched over him. "I have an idea—okay, Leo, orb Chris up to the medical wing of the Magic School. STAY WITH HIM. Mom, try to keep a lid on things in the magic school with all the innocents. Orb them back down if you can, and tell Phoebe and Prue to start looking for a pain reliever spell of some kind, or make up one of their own. Piper, you come with me. We're going Wyatt hunting."
Piper rolled her eyes. "You and Paige are so BOSSY—"
"No," Leo countered, "they just know how to KEEP A COOL HEAD in a bad situation, something that you may have yet to learn."
Piper flashed a betrayed glare at her ex-husband, but knew that this was no time to fight. Leo and Paige orbed to the Magic School and Piper looked over at Mel expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
"Well?" Piper questioned. "Now what?"
"I told you," she said irritably. "I can't make myself any clearer—we are going Wyatt hunting, and once we find him...we'll stay hidden, spy on him, and see what he's up to. If we're lucky, we'll find a way to save Chris and turn him back to the light."
Piper was going to fight back but she bit her tongue. "I know we can save Chris," she reassured her niece. "Otherwise Chris wouldn't be able to tamper with time for Wyatt. But as for turning Wyatt back..." She grimaced. "You heard the prophecy. Chris is going to fix that."
"Wyatt used a darklighter arrow on Chris," he choked. "There was nothing I could do to stop it. He told me that if I didn't leave, I'd be next, and if I was hit, then nobody could save Chris...we need to do something, before it's too late, Chris is dying—why are all of these people frozen?"
"Cuz Aunt Piper got pissed of at 'em all," Prue explained casually, giving a little flick of her wrist to unfreeze them. Piper grabbed her hand before she could succeed. "What are you guys saying? Did you find Wyatt and Chris?"
Piper sighed in relief. Obviously she'd entered the room too late to notice what the chaos was ensuing over. "Um, no, not yet. But they're fine. Go find your mommy...and give her a message for me. Tell her that I'm going down to Building 11. It's code. She'll know what it means."
"Code for what?"
"Uh...nothing important."
"Okay." Prue was about to close the book she'd been flipping through when something caught her eye. "Hey, Aunt Piper, I think I've found something! I don't know, so don't get your hopes up or anything, but there's a spell on erasing element disasters. Not from memory, of course, and all the damage will still be done, but it'll remove the water. It needs the Power of Three. Do you think it'll work?"
Piper grabbed the book, eyes scanning the page. She looked back up at Prue, face glittering with excitement. "You did it, honey! Good job! You're being such a good help, now go find Phoebe and tell her what you did. Forget the code."
Once she'd left, Piper held out her hand to Leo to orb her away. "Hurry," she pleaded.
"But we're gonna need at least three witches to do this," Leo reasoned. "It may take a while—"
Mel and Paige both orbed in at that moment, sweating and drenched in water. "Anything on Chris and Wyatt yet? How's everything holding up?" Paige asked.
"If we're lucky, we'll be able to stop this," Piper informed her. "Prue found a reversal spell for the flood. First of all, we'll need three witches to recite the spell. Here's the page. Read, quickly, we don't have much time."
They both rushed up to the book on either side of Piper, leaning so closely together that their soggy hair dripped onto the paper. "Make the element of which we think erase, send it to disappear in time and space." They finished the spell, then Piper tugged on Leo's sleeve to orb her.
"Follow us," she instructed. "Chris has been hit by a darklighter arrow, we need to save him. He's dying."
Mel let out an anguished squeak in shock. Never had she thought that Wyatt would betray the family, kill somebody that had never done anything to cross him but try to help. Once again, she felt her world crumbling. She could save a hundred innocents, but it would make no difference if she couldn't save Chris.
Her mother had reacted faster and grabbed her arm, sending them down with Leo and Piper to the abandoned building that Chris was trapped inside of. She gasped at what she saw: four demons were huddled around the limp form of a boy, torturing him to death.
The boy was Chris, and the demons were Wyatt's "school friends."
Piper immediately began hurling fireballs at them. They seemed to be affected by it somewhat, but it was only hurting them a little bit. The demons were still able to send more fireballs of a sickly green color back at them, which Paige expertly diverted back to their heads. Now they were almost finished off, and Mel knew what she had to do. Hopefully this would be the last time that she played stand-in for the Power of Three.
She closed her eyes for a moment and focused. Of all the kids in the Halliwell manor, she had the most trouble controlling her powers, even if they were never as strong as Wyatt's and Chris'. Her powers were levitation, which she never used in her fear of falling and heights, and a type of energy ball like Piper's, only slightly modified.
Opening her eyes again, she screamed in rage and sent an energy ball at the four of them, thoroughly bursting each and every one to flames. Nobody could stand in her way now. She knew that if she learned to do that more often, then maybe someday she could even practice with Chris and her mother without being afraid.
"Chris!" she shrieked, looking down at him. She orbed to him, Leo and Paige following. He had to be alive, but he looked so...dead. His breathing was jagged and he was wincing in pain at the fresh burns from the demons, unable to defend himself. "Please don't die," she cried. "Please..."
Leo bent down to heal Chris, and the wounds faded, but his eyes remained closed. Piper squeezed Leo's arm in confusion. Why wasn't he waking up? Eventually there was nothing left to heal and Leo gently shook Chris, trying to see if he'd open his eyes.
"Chris, can you hear me?"
He nodded. "My head hurts..." he moaned, trying to rub it, but failing miserably. "Make it stop..."
"I can't," Leo panicked, "I don't know what's happening to him!"
"This can't be self-inflicted," Paige reasoned, "Wyatt probably did it, made something in the poison impenetrable in case we managed to save him. He knew what we would do...now that we found out the truth."
"I can't believe that my little boy would do this, to his own brother—"
"Earth to Piper," Mel raged, "he's not your 'little boy.' He's a powerful demon that nobody can stop, on the prowl trying to kill innocents. Don't you get it? This isn't the same Wyatt, he's not all cute and innocent like he was before. In fact, that Wyatt probably never even existed, so get over it. What we have to do now is catch him and help Chris."
She let go of Chris's hand and stood up, towering over the adults crouched over him. "I have an idea—okay, Leo, orb Chris up to the medical wing of the Magic School. STAY WITH HIM. Mom, try to keep a lid on things in the magic school with all the innocents. Orb them back down if you can, and tell Phoebe and Prue to start looking for a pain reliever spell of some kind, or make up one of their own. Piper, you come with me. We're going Wyatt hunting."
Piper rolled her eyes. "You and Paige are so BOSSY—"
"No," Leo countered, "they just know how to KEEP A COOL HEAD in a bad situation, something that you may have yet to learn."
Piper flashed a betrayed glare at her ex-husband, but knew that this was no time to fight. Leo and Paige orbed to the Magic School and Piper looked over at Mel expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
"Well?" Piper questioned. "Now what?"
"I told you," she said irritably. "I can't make myself any clearer—we are going Wyatt hunting, and once we find him...we'll stay hidden, spy on him, and see what he's up to. If we're lucky, we'll find a way to save Chris and turn him back to the light."
Piper was going to fight back but she bit her tongue. "I know we can save Chris," she reassured her niece. "Otherwise Chris wouldn't be able to tamper with time for Wyatt. But as for turning Wyatt back..." She grimaced. "You heard the prophecy. Chris is going to fix that."