Oh Raya! Of course I could finish this in time! I like to do things at the last minute. That was once my middle name before I had it changed. Anyway, I'm out for the 2005, so I just wanna wish all of y'all a wonderful New Year (of the chicken). And look out for episode 5 soon!
James pushed Wesley away from him (again) and motioned with his hand. The Book of Light floated gracefully around the front of the cave's opening.
"Thomas!" he shouted, "we got the Book! If you want it, come and get it!"
"It's about time," Thomas voice resonated around the brothers. "I've been expecting you."
"Where are you?" Matthew asked. "Show yourself."
Thomas suddenly appeared behind the brothers, startling them when he cleared his throat. They all turned around to see him standing there, about twenty feet away, with his arms folded across his chest.
"What were you saying about Matt's plans?" James whispered to Wesley.
"Didn't you ever wonder why you managed to get here uninterrupted?" Thomas asked.
"The thought did cross my mind once or twice," Wesley said to himself loudly.
"Stop that!" Matthew said, glaring at Wesley before turning to Thomas. "If you want the Book, you come and get it."
"You came to give it to me," Thomas said, walking towards them. "You bring it to me."
"No," James said forcefully, pulling his brothers closer to the cave's opening. "We didn't want to come here in the first place."
"Stop messing around, witches!" Thomas roared. "Haven't you had enough fun yet? You'll never be able to vanquish me. I've lived long enough to see all your ancestors die. I've waited for the day when I'd be able to meet the infamous Complete, so I could kill them myself."
Thomas burst into laughter. Taking advantage of his temporary distraction, James turned and shoved his brothers into the cave. It was too dark to see an inch in front of them, but they were prepared. They each pulled out flashlights and switched them on, illuminating part of the area. Once inside, they noticed that the cave itself was not as spacious as they had thought. They quickly jerked around to see Thomas standing behind them, still laughing.
"Congratulations," he said, "you've found me. Not too bad for amateur witches, I'll admit, but now you're dealing with the real me. You have no idea how powerful I really am."
"I guess we'll just have to find out, then," James said.
Thomas thrust his hand forward and James was snatched backwards, flying through the air and slamming into the rock wall behind him. He fell to the ground, dazed, while his brothers looked on in amazement. Thomas used the same power to attract the Book to him, since James had dropped it, but Wesley jumped up and caught the Book in midair, securing it. Matthew turned to attack Thomas, but the warlock seemed to be ready for him.
After a few punches, Matthew found himself in defense mode, struggling just to keep his ground. He was beginning to tire while his foe was not showing any signs of weakness. His arms began to get sore as he blocked punch after punch. The fight didn't last too long, but it was enough to completely wear Matthew down. James had meanwhile recovered and, seeing his brother fight a losing battle, sent Thomas flying through the air with a wave of his hand.
"Matt!" Wesley shouted, running to his side, "are you alright?"
"I've had better days," Matthew said, shaking his head vigorously.
"What about you?" Wesley asked as James joined them.
"Bump on the head," James said, "but otherwise okay."
"Consider that a warm up," Thomas said, picking himself up.
Thomas used his powers again and the Book flew out of Wesley's grip and flew through the air towards him. James quickly reacted and used his own powers. Soon, he and Thomas were engaged in a telekinetic tug-of-war with the Book of Light at stake. Matthew was about to attack Thomas when a clone suddenly faded into existence and began to fight him. Wesley lunged at the clone from behind and together, he and Matthew managed to subdue it, causing it to vanish.
"I got an idea," Wesley said between breaths. "Say the spell with me."
"Abolish his powers.
Banish his hours.
Within this time and…"
With his free hand, Thomas pointed at Wesley and Matthew and they were suddenly thrown into each other. Another clone appeared and attacked them mercilessly. The clone kicked Wesley in the stomach, then picked him up and threw him to the ground with tremendous force. Matthew tried to hold the clone off, but he was still too weak and the clone easily tackled him to the ground.
"Get up!" James shouted to his brothers. "I'm dying over here!"
"Join the club," Wesley said, pulling himself up. Every part of his body was aching and he fell back to the ground, exhausted. "I can't move; I hurt too much."
"Same here," Matthew said.
Thomas focused and the Book inched closer and closer to him. James was getting tired, but he had no other choice but to keep trying. He was fighting not only for himself and his brothers, but for his entire family, going all the way back to William White, the first good witch who had created the Prophecy of the Complete. He kept thinking about his family; he thought about his brothers and his parents, who were killed right in front of him. These thoughts fueled him to keep fighting, but the overuse of his powers was quickly taking its toll. Finally, Thomas forced him to the ground and the Book landed in front of his feet.
"It would have been easier to just give it to me," Thomas said, reaching down to pick up the Book.
As he reached for the Book, it covered itself in a brilliant white shield of light. Thomas found that he could not penetrate it. He yelled in frustration, but did not give up. He called on all of his power and began to fight through the Book's shield. Bit by bit, he eased his hands through the shield, getting closer to the Book. Meanwhile, James crawled to his brothers, who were sprawled on the ground.
"We have to do something," James said, shaking his brothers back to reality. "He's breaking through to the Book. If he gets hold of it, we're dead."
"I'm halfway there already," Wesley groaned as James shook him harder. "Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up."
"What can we do?" Matthew asked.
"We can't do anything," Wesley said. "He won, we lost."
"Not yet he has," James said, standing up. "We're not out yet."
James pulled Wesley and Matthew up and they watched Thomas break through the Book's shield. He was having a hard time getting through, but nevertheless he was getting through. James walked towards Thomas, but Matthew and Wesley both grabbed his arms and held him back.
"What are you doing?" Wesley asked.
"What do you think?" James answered. "I'm going to get the Book back."
"You can't do it alone," Matthew said. "We're all in this together."
The moment Matthew said that, they all began to glow a faint whitish-yellow color. While they were still in contact with each other, James flicked his hand and Thomas was hurled away from the Book with such force that he flew out of the cave. With another motion, the Book magically made its way back to the brothers.
"I don't know where you got that power boost," Thomas said, re-entering the cave, "but it's not going to save you."
"Think again," a voice echoed throughout the cave.
Thomas and the brothers looked around to find the source of the voice. The light that was emitting from James, Matthew, and Wesley intensified. Soon, the entire cave was illuminated. They all looked around to see transparent but visible people appearing inside the cave. They were all generating a warm feeling, letting the brothers know that they were safe. All of the ghostly bodies held hands and began chanting a familiar spell. Then the brothers heard the voice again.
"Say the spell with us, boys!" the voice shouted.
"Mom?" Matthew asked.
"Say it now!" the voice repeated.
"Abolish his powers.
Banish his hours.
Within this time and space,
Send him away forever from this place!"
They all repeated the spell over and over again, while Thomas tried to attack. He found himself unable to move. An invisible force was preventing him from moving. As the brothers and the ghosts kept saying the spell, a whirlwind began to form around Thomas, throwing dirt, rocks, and debris at him.
"No!" Thomas yelled. "You can't destroy me! No one's ever been able to destroy me!"
James, Matthew, and Wesley ignored his words and continued to say the spell. The whirlwind became stronger and the overwhelming force began to rip Thomas apart from the inside. He looked around and saw a pair of piercing brown eyes staring at him from outside the cave. He growled at them, but they only winked back at him.
"You said you'd help me!" Thomas roared. "You betrayed me! You betrayed me Lin…!"
He shattered into pieces before he could finish his sentence. All of the pieces faded from existence as the brothers read the spell one last time. They saw the effect and knew that this time, Thomas had been vanquished for good. Lauren appeared behind the brothers and smiled.
"I knew you could do it," she said, startling Wesley.
"Don't do that!" he exclaimed.
"Who are all these…people?" Matthew asked.
"These are all of your ancestors," Lauren explained. "We all came to help you. We wanted to make up for not being able to vanquish Thomas ourselves. With all the extra witches reading the spell, it had no choice but to work."
"Oh," Wesley said. "Hi, everybody."
"We've done our job," Lauren said. "We have to leave now."
"Wait!" James said. "How are you and Dad doing? Talk to us?"
"We're fine," Lauren said. "We're proud of you, all of you. We'll always be with you, so don't forget that. Remember that no matter what happens in the future, as long as you help each other, everything will be fine. And enjoy the house…"
"How's heaven?" Wesley shouted as Lauren and the rest of the ghosts vanished from the cave.
"Nice!" they all replied as the cave became empty once again.
"Well," Matthew said, "another satisfied client."
"Right on," Wesley agreed. "Hey, did y'all hear Thomas right before he exploded, or whatever he did? It seemed like he was talking to somebody else, like someone set him up. He said 'Lin…" something. Sounded a lot like Lina."
"Don't start," James said. "It's been a long day. Let's get out of here and enjoy what's left of Christmas Break."
"Shotgun!" Wesley yelled as he shot off towards the car, with his brothers chasing him.