Part Seven
Cole and Tyne stand opposite each of other, both holding swords. The ghostly Seer stands between them and lights two torches either side of the rebuilt throne. "If you both read from the sacred scroll forged by the first Source, your powers will be stripped and then bestowed on the sole survivor of a battle to the death. The champion will be the new Source of all evil, and will rule the Underworld – bringing the demonic forces together."
The demon contenders stared in to each others eyes, staying completely focussed on the task ahead.
"Two demons combined, worthy of the power.
Read this spell and are willing to gather
Demonic forces and lead them to hell.
Strip our power and give me that I
Yearn for most. Allow one us
To become your new host."
The room shakes and a bolt of lightening strikes both Cole and Tyne, forcing them to their knees they both glow and stand back up – looking to the Seer.
"It has been done; your powers are that of a mortal. Your demonic forms cannot be seen because they no longer exist. You are the two selected to become the new Source, and as you both know the power cannot be shared; a battle will now decide your fates. The new Source will be the last demon standing and it will be he whom rules the Underworld until death."
"Not even I can foresee the new Source, let the battle commence." The Seer steps back and the two demons cross their swords. Tyne instantly takes command and swipes his sword at Cole's chest, cutting his vest in two Cole immediately feels the pain as he winces and holds his stomach for a moment. Tyne takes another swipe aiming for his head but Cole ducks and rolls past him getting up quickly and cutting his enemy across the leg.
Cole grins and waves his sword about, a pissed off Tyne comes back at him and swings his sword towards his enemy's throat only to get it blocked and Cole goes for the stab only to get that blocked and duck a swipe at his head. He kicks Tyne away and spins his sword around taking three successive steps towards whilst swiping his sword but Tyne is fast enough to block each one. Cole finally spins around to get some leverage on a shot and aims at chopping his rival in half from the head but Tyne blocks and gets in a kick, Cole pushes away another kick and punches him down.
Tyne quickly jumps to his feet, Cole's sword narrowly missing his ear he comes back strong and dummies a shot towards his face before stabbing him in the chest and kicking him to the floor. He kicks Cole's sword away and spins his own – bringing it down for the kill the demonic hero stops it with his hand and slowly gets to his feet whilst holding Tyne's blade in his palms. "No...You're just a man!" He tells Cole.
"And I'm not ready to die just yet." Cole explains pushing the blade off his palms and forcing the hilt in to his enemies face. He executes a spinning kick and pulls out an athame whilst Tyne tries to keep balance, driving it in to his chest. "But I think it's time you did."
At the Manor Phoebe and Lana sit opposite of each other, Lana folding her arms and arching her eyes at the Book of Shadows resting on Phoebe's knee. "I know you're a witch but the book can detect your demon side, which is why it flies away from you."
"But did Cole really used to look like that big red thing?" She asks, referring to the open page of Belthazor.
"Surely you've seen uglier?" Phoebe asks.
"Well yeah, but I just can't imagine Cole turning in to that."
"It was a long time ago. What I need to do now is find the vanquish spell for the Source."
"Is there no way Cole could still be good with the Source inside him? He's good now, and has all sorts of demonic powers."
"The Source is evil at its fullest, what Cole has now is just a collection of demon powers that seem to grow. He's not always been able to fight them, and he's tried to fight the Source before but it's like another person was controlling him. I don't want to vanquish him; last time was the hardest thing I've ever had to do but we have to for the good of... good."
"You don't think he'll let Tyne win do you?"
Phoebe looked up at her and thought for a moment, "I hope not, he wouldn't... No, he wouldn't it's a whole demon pride thing."
"But he knows if he does become the Source you have to vanquish him, he won't want you to kill him will he?"
"Listen Lana, Cole will do whatever he feels he has to in order to save good, and so will we."
"The athame I gave him should help there then. I mean it's not like Tyne won't cheat to win, so I hope Cole uses it to end that bastard."
Back in the underworld Tyne drops to his knees as Cole holds the athame in his chest, "This was never your world; you've had longer than good should have allowed you to have."
Tyne grips Cole's wrist, quickly stands and pulls it away from him taking the athame with him. He screams as the blade rips away from his stomach. He punches Cole to the floor and collapses back to his knees. "This is my world Belthazor, I WON'T BE BEAT!" Cole witnesses a miracle as Tyne stands seemingly pain free.
Cole stands and sends his fist in Tyne's direction; he blocks it and punches his enemy in the chest. Both are clearly tired but Tyne is more in control of the battle than ever before. As Cole throws another punch Tyne moves his head away and kicks him to the floor. He kneels to Cole's tiring body and picks up the athame, holding it to his rivals throat. "Such a basic weapon, and it almost won you the battle." Cole grabs Tyne by his arm that holds the athame and pulls him towards him, pulling up his legs and using them to catapult Tyne backwards towards the flames.
Tyne lands just before the wall of fire and gets back to his feet quickly as does Cole, both stare in to each others eyes and then charge like knights on their stallions. They collide with full venom but neither goes down, Cole punches Tyne in the cheek so hard he knocks out his teeth and then spin kicks him in to the throne. "Take a good look at it Tyne; it'll be your last."
Shaking off the cobwebs Tyne stands and urges Cole towards him. Cole doesn't need a second invitation and runs for him, this time Tyne is the more prepared and smacks Cole in the face with the broken arm from the throne. As Cole drops on the impact Tyne is finally able to drop to the floor himself, both stare at the ceiling – nothing left in the tank. Our hero rolls on to his chest and feels his nose as it's bathed in blood he spits out more blood from his mouth. He feels around the floor knowing he dropped his sword around here, and finally he finds it and grips it strong. The fresher man Tyne finally stands and looks down at Cole who is trying to get to his feet as well, "Why Belthazor? Why not give up and accept death?"
"'Cos you... Piss me off!" Cole tells him standing with a last burst of energy and beheading Tyne. He drops his sword and coughs out more blood, "Oh thank god... I couldn't take much more... Preaching." Cole falls to his knees as the wall of fire vanishes and the demons in robes surround their new master. "Get away from me." Cole hisses at the demons who are quick to back off.
"They only wish to worship a new king my liege, and what better one than you?" The Seer tells him. "Shall we begin the ceremony?"
"Avatar!" Cole shouts, pushing demons away from him.
The mysterious man in black appears again. "Cole, congratulations is in order."
"Whatever, I wanna be an avatar... Now."
"You don't wish to be the Source again?" He asks curiously.
"Do it." He tells him.
It's Phoebe's turn to pace back at the manor, "It's been an hour since we left the Underworld, he's dead... Isn't he?"
"You can't think like that, be positive." Lana tells her placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Cole dressed all in black is at the back of the room watching his girls, he has no signs of scars from the fight. He smiles and begins to fade away, "Goodbye Phoebe." He whispers, disappearing out of her life again.
THE END
I did it! It's been like a year to write three stories of arguably Charmed's greatest character but finally I'm feeling the accomplishment of achieving my goal of writing Cole out of Charmed in much more appreciative way. I don't think I'm the only one who felt Cole's exit from the show was weak and so undeserving. Thanks for reading, thanks for the great reviews and thank you to Julian McMahon for bringing to life such an amazing character that we couldn't help but like even when he was evil!
