A/N: This is it! The last chapter! I mean it this time! Woohoo! Well, there's definitely going to be an epilogue after this, but basically, this is it! As I am writing this author's note before the actual chapter, I'm guessing this is gonna turn out to be like ten pages long. Ah well, we shall see.
Thanks to B Oots for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter 14
This is the best day ever! The Protector paced gleefully, well, not paced in the normal sense – it was more like floating back and forth. As always, his scepter was clutched tightly between his hands, which he held behind his back. The Phillips, and the Bells, are in my control. Plans for world domination are almost complete. What could possibly go wrong?
He did a double take at that last statement. Murphy's Law – what can go wrong, will. Maybe he should be keeping a closer watch on his prisoners. Combined, those witches were the most powerful in existence. That rope around the cell wasn't indestructible –
"Sir?"
The Protector sighed, and resisted the temptation to reduce the interrupting demon to smithereens. The only thought that prevented him from doing so was that he needed whatever message the demon had been assigned to deliver. Gritting his teeth, he responded curtly, "Yes?"
Sensing his boss' annoyance, the small demon's confidence began to falter. "The, um, amulets that you, ah, ordered are here, s-sir. They're, ah, in the main storage room."
I was hoping they'd get here soon! The Protector thought happily. He began floating over to the main storage room distractedly, not giving the immensely relieved minion another glance.
That was, until he heard footsteps coming from the corridor to his right. Turning back to the demon and barked, "You! Go see who is making that noise."
"Yes sir." The all-too-willing demon ran down the hallway. A few minutes passed, and the servant still hadn't returned. Wondering what was taking so long, he went over to the entryway. No…how…His confusion soon transformed into anger when he realized his most valuable captives had escaped and were heading his way. Not letting his fury get the best of him, he pointed his scepter. Several hundred demons instantly appeared around the chamber.
"Let's see them survive that."
"Ohhh shit…" Fiona muttered slowly, taking in the sight before her. Unfortunately, Molly heard it, and the young witch began to feel uncomfortable under her mother's glare. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped aside.
Molly had to consciously keep herself from cursing too. What looked like a sea of demons was waiting for them, and she felt like crap. Most of her powers were null-in-void, her head hurt like hell, and she wasn't sure if she still had her legs. And now she had to fend of what was sure to be a grueling attack. "You know, maybe we should have thought this through a little more…"
"It's too late for that, Mol, they know we're here. They're just waiting for us to make the first move." Irene immediately took charge, seeing as the others were either too tired or unwilling to do so. "Ok, we have two choices. We could go in there and give it all we got, or we could turn back and try to find another way out."
"I'm up for going back," someone said, and the rest started to agree with him.
"Guys!" Jack almost shouted, getting tired of having to boos the others' morale. "We can't go back!"
"Why not?" Clu asked, honestly confused.
"Because, if we do, what's going to happen?" Jack asked, then waited a few seconds to let the question sink in. "We'll get away, sure. But then the Protector will be able to have his way. You think he's gonna wait to capture us again before launching his world domination plot?"
"And we don't know if there's another way out," Ned piped up, surprising everyone. "What if we turn around, but wind up getting trapped in the process?"
"So, are you guys ready?" Irene questioned. When they all gave their consent, she started, "Alright, one…two…three!" Both Phillips and Bells ran into the room, preparing themselves for the worst.
Fi pushed through the masses, losing all sense of direction. She had strayed away from the others, and now was surrounded by black figures, all trying to rip into her side. Needless to say, she was ready cry. Forcing back tears, she kicked and punched, until miraculously she made it to the far corner of the chamber. Not wanting to do anything else, she leaned against the earthen wall, catching her breath as she did so.
She surveyed the disheartening scene in front of her. The forms of her friends and family were easy to spot, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to. They were all fighting, Irene and Rachel making progress with their powers, the boys with their combat skills.
A tear fell when she saw her mother. She was up against the wall on the other side of the room, and Fi could tell that she was trying her hardest to stand on her own two feet. I should have healed her more. She breathed a little easier as she saw Ned move in front of her like a shield, knocking back any demon that came her way. "Go Ned!" she whispered, although she knew he couldn't have possibly heard her. Feeling as if she rested enough, Fi got up, with every intention of helping her mother.
"Touching, isn't it?" Fi stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. The Protector stood in front of her, the tallest she had ever seen him. His scepter was in his hands, and the top was pointed in her direction. Fi slowly began to back up, but she hit the wall. She was trapped.
Figuring she should stall at any cost, she played dumb. "What's touching?"
He could easily see what she was doing, but decided to go along with it. This game of cat and mouse had been fun, and he was tad disappointed to see it end. "The way you humans have this care for one another. I must admit, I've never been able to grasp that concept."
"Maybe you would if you stopped trying to kill us all the time," Fi said, momentarily finding her voice.
The Protector stared at her, impressed by her nerviness. Not enough to let her go, though. "Nice try, but I have neither the desire nor the capability to understand. As you have surely seen in the past month or so, demons cannot feel emotion, no matter how much they want to, as some do. I, on the other hand, consider it useless. I firmly believe that care for others only results in the destruction of oneself."
"Is that why you've been trying to destroy my family?" Fi shouted, suddenly gaining a surge of courage. "Because you don't care about anyone else but yourself?"
"Precisely." The Protector shrugged, not the least bit put off by her outburst. "If I worried about the safety of humans, do you think I would be attempting to take over the world? And of course, regarding your family, there is the matter of revenge."
"But it's not our fault!" Fi yelled, now completely over her fear. If she was going to die, she was getting the last word in. "My dad didn't know what he was getting himself into! And what's so wrong about wanting to know about the spirit world? He wouldn't have done anything!"
"See, that's where you're wrong." The demon was starting to get ticked off. This wasn't so much anymore when the captive wasn't afraid. "Everyone's intentions are good at first. 'Oh, I'm just investigating this for me.' Yeah, right! There have been people like him before, Fiona! They find out about us, then try to use that information to better themselves! They either sell our story to tabloids, try to alert other humans, or even have to nerve to attempt to control our magic! Humans are nothing but selfish busybodies!"
"But my father's different!" Fi protested. "He wouldn't have done any of that!"
"That's not true!" The Protector roared. "If Richard had been innocent, he would have quit while he was ahead! The Centorium warned him, multiple times! There were signs, which he saw. We tried everything to get him to stop his investigations. I believe you know what happened when he didn't. The bottom line, Fiona, is that both you and your family are more trouble than you're worth."
"Why couldn't you have just left him alone?" Fiona asked, outraged. "All he wanted to do was find out about the supernatural. It wasn't his fault – people can't choose their passion! Believe me, if I could, it wouldn't have been this!" She yelled, gesturing to her chaotic surroundings. "If he was allowed to know the truth, he would have never became involved in your world ever again! But no, you had to go and kill him! You have no idea the hell my mom has been through because of you!" Fi's temper was rising, and she was sure that if she didn't do something soon, she would explode. Figuratively and literally.
"I'm supposed to feel sorry for your mother?" The demon shouted, his voice becoming more menacing than it had been before. "She nearly destroyed me! She had no right to get involved! My business had been with Richard, and him alone! In fact, I'm glad she has been through so much pain! You all got what you deserved!" With that, he shot a lightening beam out of his scepter towards Fi.
Fi, unfortunately, was unable to move. Her whole body was shaken with anger and hurt feelings. How dare he talk about my family like that! Everything's his fault in the first place… The witch kept shivering, unaware that she was about to be blasted to dust. Finally, the beam made contact.
For a second, it looked like the attack was doing its job. Then, the Protector's smile turned into a frown. She's…glowing! He thought with alarm, his grip on the scepter loosening out of shock. My sources didn't tell me that she could form an energy shield! Oh, are they going to pay for this.
Fi opened her eyes, after having shut them as the beam hit. Why aren't I combusting? Suddenly, she noticed that her whole body was giving off some sort of blue light. It must have been some sort of force field. Oh yeah, this definitely rocks. What was the best, though, was the surprised expression on her nemesis' face.
Hmm, let me try something…She put her arm forward and, a millisecond later, a lightening beam came out, much like the scepter's, only blue instead of purple. It pierced through the demon, causing him to double over in pain. Luckily for her, he dropped his precious scepter. Seeing her opportunity, she dashed over and picked it up. It wasn't too heavy, not like she thought it would be, but she could feel that it was oozing with power. Trying with all her might to keep it in her control, she ran to go help the others, figuring that she could always finish off the Protector afterwards.
Meanwhile…
Rachel screamed when she narrowly missed getting stabbed by a dagger. Furious, she telekinetically grabbed a huge rock from the wall and hurled it at the offending demon. As it started to vanish, she shouted, "That was not nice!"
"You tell him, Aunt Rachel!" Carey laughed, then kneed a demon in its sensitive area. Wait, do demons even have "sensitive areas"?
"Guys, a little help?" Molly pleaded from her position up against the wall. Irene went to blow the surrounding demons up, but Ned beat her to it and pummeled themto the ground. "Thanks, Ned," Molly smiled. "I just…couldn't, you know?"
"Don't worry, Molly. You've been held prisoner for a week. It's understandable that you can't don't have that much strength right now. If you want, I think I could get you out of here if I bulldoze those demons," he suggested, gesturing to the minions to his right.
At that, Molly shook her head vigorously. "No, they need our help. Well, probably your help more than mine." She nodded toward the others, who were having trouble staying alive. Irene was blowing up ten demons at a time, with assistance from Rachel, who was using her ability to control the earth and fire quite often. Jack, Clu, and Carey were using their best moves to destroy as many demons as possible. Molly suddenly wrinkled her forehead in concern. "Ned, where's Fi?"
Ned stopped fighting long enough to quickly glance around the cavern. Spotting Fiona cornered by the Protector, he gulped nervously. "I, uh, I don't know. She must have gotten separated."
"Ned, I'm psychic. I can tell when you're lying. Now, where is she?" Molly demanded. Since she had slid down to the floor, she couldn't see far.
A demon was thrown backward as Ned sighed and turned to face Molly. "She's over there." He pointed to his left, at the other end of the large cavern.
"No…" Tears welled up in Molly's eyes when she saw what he was showing her. Her baby was cornered by the Protector, his scepter aimed directly at her. From what she could tell, through her sight and sixth sense, Fi was shouting at him, and she was really mad. But she was still in danger. Forcing herself up, Molly began to make her way over to her daughter.
"Molly, are you crazy?" Irene called to her, seeing what she was doing. "You can't! You won't make it there alive!"
"I don't care!" Molly screamed back. "She's my baby, and I'll save her if it's the last thing I do!" She started to run uneasily, but halted when she heard a shout. She turned around just in time to see Clu collapse on the floor, blood flowing from his side. The demon about to attack him was instantly blown up by Irene. It was then that she noticed that there were only about fifty demons left. They had made a lot of progress.
Her attention was brought back to the far corner of the room. She broke into a huge smile when she saw Fiona running toward them, the scepter amazingly in her hands. A quick look back to the spot where Fiona had been told her what she already knew – the Protector was down. Once Fiona was close enough, Molly immediately gave her a hug. "I'm so proud of you…"
"Thanks Mom, but you're kind of squishing me," Fi complained jokingly. Out of nowhere, they were broken apart by a demon. Both mother and daughter turned toward it, annoyance in their faces. Without saying a word, Fi brought her hand up and shot out a lightening bolt, the scepter never leaving her side. The demon was now ash.
Molly stared at her daughter in amazement. "How…?"
"New power. Cool, huh?" Fi smiled, then looked around. She frowned when she saw Clu. "What happened?" She and her mother ran over, meeting the others who were gathered around him.
"One of the demons stabbed him with their dagger," Irene explained bitterly. "Don't worry, I already blew him up."
"I don't doubt it," Fi smiled again, then raised her hands to heal him, putting the scepter down in the process.
"Thanks, Fi. That really hurt." Clu sat up, worn out from the pain.
"I bet it did," Jack commented. He then noted the scepter laying on the ground. Gasping, he asked, "Where'd that come from?"
Soon the others noticed it, and expressed their surprise too. Fi grinned modestly. "I stole it. The Protector and I had a show down, and I managed to get it." Her grin became wider when they began whooping and congratulating her.
Calming herself down, Rachel said, "That's great, Fi, but what are we supposed to do with it?"
Everyone looked at each other for a minute, not knowing what to say. They had been fighting all this time just to get the scepter. It hadn't occurred to them that they would have to figure out how to destroy it. When no one said anything, Fi suggested, "We could try – "
"Wait, can't Irene just blow it up?" Jack interrupted suddenly.
"No." Irene shook her head. "My power alone isn't enough to destroy it. The most it will probably do is burn a little."
"We could try using a spell," Fi finished, irritated that she had been unnecessarily interrupted.
"What spell?" Rachel asked. "We don't have the spell book with us."
"Besides," Molly added, "I don't think there's a specific spell for this."
"There doesn't have to be," Irene said, as if coming up with an idea. Everybody looked at her, hopeful. "Think about it. Even the most powerful spells had to be created by someone at some point. And, with Molly being our resident songwriter…"
"Fine, it's worth a shot," Molly closed her eyes and began to formulate a spell.
"You better come up with something fast, Mom," Fi warned, concern in her voice. She hurriedly grabbed the scepter and held it firmly in her hands. "The Protector recovered from my attack earlier, and he doesn't look too happy."
Molly turned around to find that her daughter was correct. The large demon had gotten up, and was now rushing towards them. He stopped abruptly about a few yards away from them, his eyes wide with horror. It seemed that in the mad dash to get back at Fi, he had neglected to note that the scepter was no longer in his possession. Struck with inspiration, she shouted, "Ok, everybody hold on." Molly wrapped her hand around the scepter, motioning for the others to do the same. Quickly. The Protector had gotten over the initial shock that his enemy had his scepter, and was gaining speed towards them, ready to fight.
"Is everyone ready?" Molly asked. When she was positively responded to, she closed her eyes and recited the spell she had made up two seconds ago.
Scepter filled with so much power
this is your last hour
against you we do conspire
be destroyed by our fire
Molly glanced back at the others and shrugged. Alright, so it's not my best work. It's better than nothing. She said the spell again, and on the third time around the others joined her.
Meanwhile, the Protector had been hurtling himself towards them at an amazing speed. When he got within about ten feet or so, he halted, as if he was unable to continue. Which he was. The scepter had created a sort of invisible force field. Without warning, it pulled itself free of those holding on to it and rose several feet above the air. Seeing that their plan was effective, the group stepped back, still saying the spell over and over. Fi got an idea and grasped Jack's hand, who caught on and grabbed Rachel's hand. Soon, all eight of them were holding hands and screaming the spell as loud as they could.
The glow that was emitted from the scepter was an eerie, sickly purple. It started to vibrate, hard enough for it to be noticed. Eventually, it exploded, breaking into two pieces in the process.
The blast was enough to throw the startled Phillips and Bells of their feet, some falling unconscious as they hit the floor. The rest were awake enough to watch the mist that wasset off by the scepter envelop the terrified Protector, who let loose a violent roar that shook the walls of the cave. Boulders fell from the sides, and the ground split open in various places, leading into a black abyss.
After what felt like an eternity to all those involved, the Protector was swept up in the purple haze until he, too, burst into flame. The onlookers took hold of anything they could find as the cave's rumbling reached an all-time high. The shaking lasted several minutes, creating what was sure to be called the earthquake of the century.
Then it stopped. Not slowed down, not sporadically halted and then started up again. Just…stopped. There was no more trembling, cracks in the ground didn't spread any further, and the last boulder crashed to the floor with a resounding thump.
Jack tentatively picked his head up off the dirt and asked, "Is everybody okay?" He breathed a sigh of relief as each member of their small troop answered him, in various types of "yes."
Slowly, they began to stand up, stretching their different body parts, or rubbing their aching head. This went on in silence for a few moments, as no one had sufficient energy to speak. Finally, Fi woozily commented, "We have to find Daddy. He was trapped here, remember?"
Carey attempted to balance himself on his own two feet. Unsuccessful, he sat back down on a large boulder that had fallen from one of the side walls. "We don't know that. He said he was being held prisoner, yes, but he didn't say exactly where. I mean, if he was here, wouldn't he have been in that cell we were thrown into?"
"No, he's here," Rachel stated firmly, causing everyone to look at her. "I can feel him. Somewhere…" She trailed off, her gaze resting on the wall at the far end of the cavern. She broke into a run, her friends and family following. Placing her hand on the wall, she called out, "Rick? It's Rachel. Can you hear me?"
There was quiet for one or two seconds, then, "Rachel?" Rick's voice came through the wall, if a bit muffled. "You have to get out! He'll –"
"He's already take care of. So is the scepter," Rachel assured him.
"It is?" Rick sounded surprised, then laughed. "I was wondering what all that shaking was. So, are you going to get me out of here?"
"Yes we are." Irene stepped about a foot away from the wall, stretching her arms. She glanced at Rachel. "You want to help? You're power, plus connection with Rick, might make this a little easier."
"Of course." Rachel held out her hand and caught the fireball that Irene had thrown at her. "Ok, three…two…one." The witches hurled the fire at the wall, and continued to do so, Irene supplying Rachel with fire every now and then. After a five minute assault, a hole had formed, large enough for them to get through.
Rick was standing on the other side. "Thanks, guys. It was starting to feel like I would never get out of there."
"I can imagine." Molly smiled and wrapped her arms around Rick as he stepped into the cavern.
Soon, he was overwhelmed by hugs from all of his friends and family members. Grinning from ear to ear, he remarked, "You really missed me, huh?" The others laughed, but soon calmed down. There was noise coming from outside. It sounded like dozens of people running, and everyone was sure they heard sirens. Rick's smile quickly turned to a concerned frown. "That's the police. They must think a bomb went off or something."
"And them storming the place wouldn't bode well for us." Irene motioned for everyone to hold hands. Locking one of her own with her husband's, she flicked her free hand. The nine disappeared right before policemen dropped in through a hole they had drilled through the ceiling.
THE END
A/N: Ok, so it's not the end, but it's pretty close. Stay tuned for the epilogue!