Damonculous started to move toward the Elder knowing that nothing could stop him. Suddenly he arched his back and cried out in pain. He spun to find the three-foot demon directly behind him. An athame stuck out of Damonculous' back where the demon had stuck it. Without hesitation the small demon suddenly vanished.
The seven demons in the living room didn't wait. As Damonculous turned they all cast their energy balls at him in unison. The force of the attacks knocked Damonculous back into the entryway, knocking him to the floor. The three-foot demon suddenly appeared behind Cole.
Damonculous tried to rise, forming a fireball. The demons again fired their energy balls at him, striking him and forcing him even farther back. In addition, Cole cast a fireball of his own which appeared to do some serious damage to Damonculous. Realizing he had been betrayed, Damonculous howled in anger and shimmer-orbed out of the manor.
"What just happened?" Prue asked as the demons turned to face them all.
"I believe the term is, we saved your butts," said Caprick, smiling at her.
"Wait a minute," said Leo. "What about all that talk about serving a more powerful being and vanquishing your enemies and all?"
"We had to let Lotack get into position," said Caprick, indicating the three-foot demon. "I had to buy us some time. Lotack appears to be such an insignificant creature that more powerful creatures have a tendency to overlook him. We were counting on that with this Damonculous. But you were right, Belthazor. He is very powerful. Any other creature would have been vanquished from our attacks. I think you'll still have cause to worry about him."
"I know," said Cole. "But you came through when we needed you. I won't forget it."
"Don't forget our bargain," said Caprick. "Once you have defeated Damonculous you agreed to dispose of Por for us. With him out of the way we'll be able to return to the underworld."
"We won't forget," said Cole. "First we'll deal with Damonculous. Then we'll vanquish Por for you. You have my word."
"The word of Belthazor has always been good enough for me," said Caprick. "Charmed Ones, under other circumstances I might take advantage of the situation. But I can see that we have no chance against this Damonculous. Your strength is well known. I shall leave him to your care. And hope you are able to stop him."
"We'll do our best," said Prue still a bit confused.
Caprick and the other demons suddenly shimmered and vanished from the manor. Everyone immediately moved to see if Piper was all right. She still lay on the floor unconscious. As Prue reached down to pick her sister up, she received the same electrical shock Phoebe had earlier.
"What was that?" Prue asked as Cole and Leo picked Piper up and laid her on the sofa.
"She's okay," Leo announced, checking her pulse. "I think she's just unconscious."
"Good," said Phoebe. "I was afraid Damonculous had killed her."
"That shock must be your powers trying to reassert themselves," said Percy. "Unfortunately the blocking Damonculous has placed on good magic is creating a sort of feedback, effectively shorting out your powers and producing that obviously unpleasant affect."
"Wait a minute," said Phoebe. "I thought you said we didn't have our powers any more."
"No," said Percy, "I said they were blocked. You still have your powers. The blocking makes them unavailable to you, that's all."
"Sounds kind of like a car battery," said Cole. "It may be fully charged but without the battery cables hooked up all that power is useless."
"A car battery?" questioned Piper. "Prue, take care of Piper. I have an idea. I'll be right back."
Phoebe turned and headed for the stairs running up them as quickly as she could.
"Rather impetuous, isn't she?" Percy commented, watching her sprint up the stairs.
"She always was," said Prue. "And I hate to admit it but sometimes it actually seems to work for her. It's always been a point of contention between us. I'm more the methodical one. A place for everything and everything in its place. Phoebe flies by the seat of her pants most of the time."
"The seat of her pants?" Percy questioned.
"A human term," said Leo. "It means she usually reacts often without thinking about the consequences of her actions. But Prue is right. It does seem to work for her."
"Oh, what happened?" questioned Piper, sitting up on the sofa.
"Just take it easy, sweetie," said Prue. "You took a rather nasty jolt. But you seem to be okay."
"Speak for yourself," said Piper, rubbing her head. "There's a guy with a jackhammer going off in my brain. I could use a couple dozen aspirin."
"Coming right up," said Prue, heading for the kitchen.
"So what happened?" Piper asked. "I'm still alive and so are the rest of you. I'm assuming we stopped Damonculous."
"Actually," said Leo, "some of Cole's demonic friends stopped him."
"Not friends exactly," said Cole. "Let's say more like colleagues. But they did come through for us."
"Just what occurred after I was battered unconscious?" Piper asked.
The others told her all that had transpired after the demons had shimmered into the manor. She listened in amazement as they explained how the demons had forced Damonculous to retreat from the manor serious injured.
"Whoa," said Piper. "I never thought I'd be glad to see demons in the house."
"Well, once we defeat Damonculous," said Cole, "There's Por to take care of. He shouldn't be a problem though."
"Got it," said Phoebe, coming down the stairs carrying the Book of Shadows. "I think I know how to get our powers back. If it works we should be at full strength again. That should help the next time he attacks."
"How do we do that?" Prue asked, handing Piper the aspirin bottle.
"Very simply," said Prue. "The same way we got our powers in the first place."
She opened the Book of Shadows to the very first page.
"We read the incantation that unbound out powers to begin with," said Phoebe. "If I'm right that should provide just the jolt we need to overcome this blocking and free us from it."
"I'm not needed for that," said Cole. "And I have a little errand of my own to run."
"What is it?" Leo asked.
"Something that occurred to me before our friends showed up," Cole said. "I need to go see someone. I won't be gone long."
"What about your injuries?" Phoebe asked. "Piper isn't the only one who took a pounding back there. You took the brunt of it from those warlocks."
"I'll be fine," said Cole. "Besides, there's nothing any of you can do about it right now anyway. I'll be back very soon."
Cole smiled at the group and shimmered out of the manor as Prue, Piper, and Phoebe prepared the spell that had started their lives as Charmed Ones.