"Are you insane?" Paige asked. "Do you have any idea what's going on out there? Everything is changing into the Land of Oz. Leo and Cole tell us that eventually everything will be affected. And once the magic is strong enough nothing will be able to change it back."
"Of course I know what's going on," said the warlock. "I'm a Mystic Warlock. I know exactly what's happening."
"That explains how he was able to so completely submerge us in the movie in the first place," said Cole. "Mystic Warlocks are a specialized type of warlock. Their magic affects peoples' dreams, fantasies, and imagination. They can actually make a person's dreams become real, at least to a point."
"Or put living beings into a fantasy," said the warlock. "That's how I was able to put you in the movie to begin with."
"It's getting out of hand," said Piper. "It's not just us that's being affected. It's everything, this entire reality. You need to help us put things back while we still can."
"Why should I?" the warlock asked. "This way I get your power without a struggle. Something I could never do ordinarily. You're much too powerful. This way the magic does all the work. I just step in and reap the benefits."
"That's right," said Cole. "Their magic protects them. You'd need a stronger magic to get around that protection. Something you don't have."
"Exactly," said the warlock. "A direct confrontation would have been suicide. Many of my colleagues discovered that the hard way. So did my younger brother, Jeremy."
"That's right," said Piper. "You said Jeremy was your brother the last time we met."
"That's right," said the warlock. "Oh, as I said then, I'm not upset you vanquished him. But I had to come up with a way to get your power that didn't include a direct confrontation. That's why I came up with the idea of putting you in the movie. This particular movie is a fantasy. I knew its magic would accomplish what I could never do. But the movie wasn't the real world. Your Power of Three was able to draw you out of the movie back to the real world.
"But you took the slippers with you. And all the fantasy magic of Oz is contained in those slippers. I knew it was only a matter of time before that magic began to assert itself. And as I'm sure your friends have told you, nothing is more powerful than fantasy magic."
"And you're willing to destroy everything just to get their powers?" Leo asked. "That's cold even for a warlock."
"Save your breath, Leo," said Cole. "He's right. There's nothing any of us can do that's going to change his mind. We all might as well just go home and wait for the magic to overtake us."
"I can't believe you're just giving up," said Phoebe. "Cole, there has to be some way out of this."
"There isn't," said Cole. "You heard him. It took a power a lot stronger than the three of you to do this. And you can't force him to help. Nothing can stop this without his help. Leo and I will soon be overcome. And eventually even the three of you will be. You'll probably be the last ones because of the power that protects you. But in the end everyone will be permanently changed. And I mean everyone."
"Your demon friend is right," said the warlock. "Your power will protect you right up to the very end. But you can't prevent it. None of you can. Once the magic is powerful enough it will... Uh oh."
"Uh oh?" Paige asked. "What do you mean uh oh?'
"I was wondering how long it would take before that dawned on you," said Cole.
"What dawned on him?" Phoebe asked.
"He can't take your power until the magic overtakes you," said Cole. "Until it turns you into your characters. The problem is that once the magic is that powerful, no being will be able to resist it. Not even the warlock who's feeding it. And it's only a matter of time before even he becomes the character he was cast as. Our characters will replace whom and what we all are. Including the wizard."
"It seems I made a slight miscalculation," said the warlock.
"You think?" Cole asked. "It seems to me you now have a choice to make. Help us stop this now or eventually become the wizard. With no memory of who or what you were before."
"Are you ready to cooperate now?" Piper asked.
"It was a good idea," said the warlock. "Just one tiny little flaw that I forgot to account for."
"You can analyze later," said Phoebe. "Let's just figure out a way to put things back like they're supposed to be while we still can."
"That's easy," said the warlock. "The magic is fueling my spell. Once I cancel the spell everything will revert back to normal."
"Then do it," said Paige.
The warlock just smiled and closed his eyes. He concentrated for several minutes. Suddenly the smile faded from his face.
"How long is this going to take?" Piper asked.
"Longer than I originally thought," said the warlock. "We have a problem. I can't end my spell. The magic has gotten too strong. The magic is continuing to alter things and will continue to do so until we've all been changed. And there's no one who can stop it."