Greetings from another world…live long and prosper! Hi there faithful readers! Thanks for the reviews, you made me very happy! …but then I got hit by a bus…seriously! Okay, so I didn't actually get run over, but it smashed my arm because it was driving too close to the pavement! And just in time for my exams, I have a very sore arm…again! At least it's the non-dominant arm this time! And it's not broken so it won't take as long to heal, but it's taking me ages to type! I think the world (and bus company) is conspiring against me! sigh
Prince Halliwell- thanks for the review! Yeah, Andy T was my inspiration for Andy's outfit! Lol! Leo as a Pirate is fun, but I had to try my best and not make him like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean! Lol!
Silver-star-0- Thanks for the review! I'm a big Wicked Witch fan so I had to include that line! Lol!
Peanut2lb- Thanks for the review! I always thought Piper would make a good 'wicked witch' after she compared herself to her in one of the early episodes! Lol! And I really enjoyed coming up with the costumes!
Money makes me smile- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it so much! Lol!
.elementbabe- Thanks for the review! Don't worry, Mark hasn't been effected by the spell, only the Halliwell-Wyatts! I'm glad you liked it!
BlueOrbs998- thanks for the spectacular review! But, puts on lord of the rings voice 'you shall bow to no man' (nvm…lol!)) I miss season 1 and 2 Phoebe too! And the mental image of Cole as Peter Pan was just too funny (and strangely scrumptious…) to resist giving my readers! Lol! And rocking-ness should also be a word! It has now been added to my vocabulary! Teehee!
s.halliwell24- Thanks for the review! And you won't have to imagine any longer because Piper will actually do that in this chapter…you'll see!
Powerof4- Thanks for the review and I promise you'll love the baby! Lol!
Charmes1s-halliwells- Thanks for the review! You have a broom too? I thought I was the only one! Lol!
Rebanana- Thanks for the review! Don't worry about the exclamation marks thing; I tend to do that a lot too! (see what I mean?) I think someone finally noticed Paige's moustache because it's gone now! Lol!
Passions- thanks for the review!
Rangers1036- thanks for the review!
Cherry7up- thanks for the review! It took five days to read? Wow! Lol! Glad I can keep you hooked for so long!
Moonfirefairy- Thanks for the review. I know I haven't reviewed for ages, sorry! I'll try but I am really busy at the mo!
Okay, here I've taken inspiration from 'Pirates of The Caribbean' and 'The Wizard of Oz' in this chapter, none of which I own. It's probably going to get a bit far fetched, but trust me fun is needed in this chapter! By the way it is REALLY long! Lol!
Chapter21- The Wild, Wild Witch of the West
Phoebe and Paige wore identically shocked expressions, mouths hanging open, eyebrows raised. The fanned away the burst of red smoke which had just clouded around their sister, allowing her to disappear, and looked to Leo for an explanation.
"What just happened?" Danielle asked timidly from her place on the floor.
"Aunty Pipew getted new powas!" MJ exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah," Paige replied, "…powers just like the Wicked Witch of the West…"
"Oh my god!" Phoebe barked, it finally dawning on her that Prue and Piper had turned into characters from 'The Wizard of Oz'. "Leo, how did this happen?"
"It's Captain Wyatt to you lassie!" He snarled in an English accent, pacing forward with a looming stance. (AN- Giving him an English accent is my way to dig at the Charmed writers. Why is everyone English in Charmed evil?)
"Crap!" Phoebe brought her hand to her forehead and scowled, but her scowl soon turned to a look of panic as she realised who Leo was headed towards.
"Well Poppet," He growled, removing the sword, which now looked rather unlike cardboard and a lot like metal, from his belt and pointing it towards MJ. The childish gleam that usually twinkled in his green eyes was replaced with menace as he placed it under her chin and forced her head up. "You'd make a nice maid for my ship… too bad it's bad luck to take a woman on board, even a miniature one…"
"Get the hell away from her!" Phoebe yelled spinning round to knock the sword from his hand.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you." He growled, hauling his sword from Phoebe's grasp. His grin showed a set of blackened teeth and his breath held an utterly repulsive stench. There was a coldness dwelling behind his eyes, which told the remaining Charmed Ones that this was not Leo, and they had no idea what had happened to him.
"Um…Captain Wyatt," Paige began, approaching him with a confident façade. "You don't, by any chance, feel like sticking around for a while?"
"Not when there's so much to be done!" Leo replied aggressively. "Places to go, treasure to find, people to kill."
"I didn't think so- wait, what?" As Paige finally registered what Leo had said, she stumbled backwards in shock. Before she could even think to stop him, Leo had dashed across the room to the open window.
Phoebe, who had turned her back to the scene for a brief moment to check that Melinda-Jayne was okay, picked up on her sister's sudden panic and spun round to find Paige attempting to grab Leo, whose legs were already hanging out of the ground floor window. The youngest Charmed one had a grasp on the sleeve of Leo's coat, but appeared to be struggling to keep a hold of him. "What the hell…"
"A little help might be nice!" Paige barked, frustration towards the situation bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Pirate Leo was definitely not the same gentle soul as the whitelighter she knew and loved and the dirt laden fingernails that were digging into her arm's exposed skin were making it hard for her to maintain her grasp. "Fu- Ow!" She yelled, biting her tongue to stop herself from saying what she had really wanted to say as his rotten teeth sank into her flesh. Apparently he was willing to resort to anything to flee the house and Paige wasn't going to stop him any longer. She pulled her arm backwards and clutched the red mark which was forming on it, pain etched into her face. "You'd better run…ass hole!" She screamed out of the open window in his direction, too utterly bewildered by the situation to take anything in.
"Paige!" Phoebe scalded, "You let him go? We can't let him just roam around the city unsupervised! I know this is San Francisco on Halloween but someone's bound to notice! And we don't even know what's caused it! What if a demon attacks him or something?"
"He bit me!" She replied in disbelief, but the appearance of Cole and Jason in the doorway stopped her from getting angry with her sister.
"Um…" Cole looked from a worried Phoebe to an angry Paige and finally to his petrified wife, "Did Leo just jump out of the window?" He asked, his brow knitting.
"And why is Prue harassing us about the Yellow Brick Road?" Jason added.
"I can't tell you exactly why, but apparently they now believe they are who or what they've dressed up to be…" Paige explained vacantly, "I think we need to go to the Manor, scry for Piper, who, hopefully, still counts as a witch and look in the Book of Shadows…"
"Paige, we can't just leave Leo wondering the streets!"
"I'll follow him." Both Cole and Jason offered in unison. They looked to each other in disgust, both regretting the offer, but it was too late to take it back now.
"Oh, thank you!" Phoebe told them, pulling Jason into a huge, appreciative hug and giving Cole a grin. "You'd better hurry."
"Cole, take you're cell honey." Danielle told her husband, giving him a quick kiss goodbye, secretly wishing she could join him. Magical situations were not something she liked the thought of dealing with.
Cole and Jason grudgingly made their way towards the door, not looking forward to having to spend an evening with each other chasing Leo through San Francisco. Neither was entirely sure of what was actually going on, but if you were part of the life of the Charmed Ones, you got used to being kept in the dark.
"Bye Jay Jay, bye Daddy!" MJ called as she watched her father and stepfather trudge down the garden path.
"Bye Princess!" Cole replied, while Jason gave an unenthusiastic wave.
"Be good!" She called, mimicking what her mother would tell her every time she left the house.
Phoebe quickly shut the door, cutting her daughter's farewell off, realising that Prue was eyeing the door in contemplation. Leo and Piper had already escaped and she was not willing to let her niece do the same.
Back in the dining room, Paige and Danielle were trying to calm down a very raucous Andy. The two and a half year old cowboy was certainly not acting like the sweet little boy he usually was and Paige was beginning to think she should wash his mouth out with soap. Something very demonic was afoot- at least she hoped it was. If Andy knew the words 'dirty whore' without being under demonic influence then she really would wash his mouth with soap.
"Andrew Victor Halliwell-Wyatt, you get your little cowboy butt back here this instant!" She yelled as he paced away from her, clicking his heals on the floor as he did so.
"Lookee here Missy," He snarled, turning to face his Aunt and running his hand across the brim of his hat, "Nobody tells me what to do."
"Ho ho, buddy! I'm gonna tell you exactly what to do!" Paige retorted, marching towards him and grabbing his wrist. Despite the fact he now acted like a rowdy, adult cowboy, he still had the physical form of a two and a half year old, which made it very easy to drag him from the room. "Mark!"
"Yes, my darling?" He said, emerging from the living room with Charlotte resting on his hip, his words slurred because of his plastic fangs. Apparently he had no idea of what had just happened.
"Watch this little toe rag for me, will you?"
"Um…" Mark looked to his wife with confusion and turned his attention to Andy, who was glaring at the woman who kept a firm grip on his wrist. He was aware that the Halliwell-Wyatts had arrived because he had bumped in to a very flustered Prue, but he had brushed it off as normal Halliwell behaviour. Now, however, he was beginning to wonder if something had happened. "Why did you just call Andy a toe rag?" He asked in confusion, bouncing Charlotte on his hip to stop her fussing.
"Because he is acting like one…of course that's only because he thinks he's a cowboy, but that's not the point. He called me a dirty whore, so I-"
"Wait a minute Sweetheart!" The nauctater interrupted, suppressing a laugh, but struggling to keep up. "He thinks he's a cowboy?"
"Oh right…you don't know, do you?"
"Know what?"
"Well, from what we can gather, someone- or something- has cast a spell on the Halliwell-Wyatts and now, they've turned into what they dressed up to look like!"
"…Right…" He looked at Paige and couldn't help but smile. She looked so beautiful when she worried. "But you were ranting on this morning about how Piper was going as a witch and that she should be fighting the cliché instead of embracing it…doesn't that mean she's okay? Why can't she take care of Andy?"
"Because she's not your everyday witch! She's the Wicked Witch- yes the one from Oz- and she's disappeared. So has Leo, who, by the way, held a sword to MJ's throat and preceded to tell us he had people to kill. Now, Cole and Jason are chasing him through San Francisco!" Paige drew a deep breath into her lungs and tightened her grip on Andy, who was still struggling to get away from her and she looked pleadingly at her husband.
"I'll look after Andy for you." Mark told her, trying to take in all the information Paige had just given him. "Go to the Manor and look in the book. Take Phoebe. Danielle and I can look after the kids."
xxxxx
An awkward silence lingered in the air between the two men who were walking at a brisk pace through the streets of San Francisco in pursuit of 'Captain Wyatt'. Neither had uttered a word since leaving the party and neither planned on doing so any time soon. There was a tension between Cole and Jason that could be picked up on from just looking at them, a certain air of loathing. Of course, the reason towards either's dislike was unclear to anyone else, but it was something that had been there since before either knew the Halliwells, back when Cole had been Belthazor, posing as a lawyer.
Flashback- courtroom, 1999
A young Jason Dean's mouth tightened as he awaited the judge's verdict. He knew he was innocent, but the opposition's lawyer, a certain Mr Cole Turner, had been very persuasive, almost intimidating. Jason's online dating business had just taken off to a flying start and the steady income he was gaining from it, added to that of his other businesses, was making him a very wealthy twenty-eight year old. All he needed to put a glitch in his success was a lawsuit from an unsatisfied client who claimed the dating service had endangered her- a client Jason wasn't even aware of having, but it looked as though things were not going his way. A bead of anxious sweat ran down his forehead as he met the judge's eyes.
"Mr Jason Dean will pay a some of two thousand, five hundred dollars to Abigail Smith on account of…"
Jason didn't listen to what the judge had to say after that, as he filled with a nervous rage. He narrowed his eyes and glanced towards the woman who had sued him, and her lawyer. Cole Turner met his eyes and gave a patronising smile, followed by an arrogant wink. Jason knew that if he ever crossed paths with that man again he would have to restrain himself.
(AN- I know this is unimportant to the plot just now, but it will be relevant later!)
Jason scowled, remembering the biggest setback of his career. It seemed petty, even to him, that he still held a grudge against Cole, especially when he was the father of his stepdaughter. However, both men were not the type to stand down easily so neither was brave enough to make amends.
"Holy crap!" Cole exclaimed, breaking Jason's chain of thought and pointing skyward. "I think Phoebe's problems just got a whole lot worse!"
"What? Why?" Jason replied, squinting into the night sky and not catching a glimpse of what Cole had been pointing at.
"See that thing moving around up there?"
"I think so…"
"Well I'm pretty sure that's Piper!"
xxxxx
Chimerak paced the dark and dingy underworld cave and drummed his gaunt fingers together impatiently. His plan was falling into place perfectly. The Halliwell-Wyatts had turned and were running loose in the city. If this didn't distract the remaining family members for long enough for him to take over the Nexus, he didn't know what would. But he was still waiting for the remaining witches to leave the Manor. If they had figured out who had cast the curse on the costumes then they'd be a danger to him if he shimmered into the house whilst they still resided in it. But it would only be a matter of time before they had to leave. They would have to stop their family members from exposing magic.
xxxxx
Paige, Phoebe and Laura, who had insisted she came along, appeared in a twinkle of blue and white lights in Piper and Leo's bedroom. Neither of the charmed ones had been convinced that Danielle and Mark could handle Dorothy, a boisterous cowboy, and four other kids, but they knew that they had to find out what had happened to their sister and her family before magic was exposed. Paige let go of Laura and Phoebe's hands and began to rake around the room, searching for anything that could help.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked curiously, wondering why Paige had orbed them to Piper's room instead of the attic.
"Lookin' for clues!" Laura told her Aunt with a role of her huge blue eyes; as if it had been as clear as day. She began to rumble around the bed.
"We need to find something to go by before we look in the book. There's bound to be hundreds of demons that can cast spells on Halloween costumes!"
"Right, okay! I'll check some of the other rooms and see if I can get a premonition."
"Mommy?" Laura asked, jumping excitedly on the spot. "I finded a clue!" She held out her hand and Paige's eye's widened in shock, as she suppressed a burst of laughter with a startled cough. In Laura's had resided a pair of metal handcuffs.
"Where did you find those?" Paige asked, eyebrows raised.
"Under the pillows."
"Put them down and go to the bathroom to wash your hands!"
"Why?"
"Just do it please Pixie- oh my god, what is that smell?" Paige stopped in her tracks and brought a hand to her nose in revulsion. She opened the wardrobe and found nothing out of the ordinary, but the rancid smell lingering in the area was beginning to seem demonic. "Phoebs, come here!"
"You rang?" She asked emerging in the doorway. "Find anything?"
"Yeah, something that smells like it belongs in the underworld."
"Andy's room smelled awful too!" Phoebe replied, "Do you think that's anything to go by?"
"Well it's slightly more productive than Piper and Leo's kinky sex toys." Paige mumbled in disgust, quiet enough so that Laura wouldn't hear, brushing past her sister and heading towards the attic.
"What?" Phoebe yelped. "On second thoughts, I don't need to know."
The attic was its usual cluttered mess when Paige, Phoebe and Laura entered. The youngest charmed one made a beeline towards the book of shadows, whilst Phoebe headed towards the table where she could scry for her older sister, praying that she still counted as a witch. Laura followed her Aunt, eager to use the scrying crystal and she gave a broad grin when Phoebe handed it to her, along with a twig from the broom Piper had been holding when she disappeared.
"Really?" She asked, her huge blue eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, I'm gonna help your Mommy look in the book, okay? Do you know what to do?"
"Yup!" Laura replied keenly, "I watches Daddy!" The four year old turned her attention to the map her Aunt had laid out on the table, wrapped the string of the crystal around the twig and began to let it circle the map, fervently waiting for it to land.
Phoebe dashed to her sister's side and saw Paige had already began flipping through the book's ancient pages. Her mind was buzzing and her worry over Piper and Leo was making it hard to concentrate on anything her little sister was saying.
"Phoebe? Phoebe?" Paige snapped in frustration.
"What? Sorry?"
"The demon of illusion? Apparently he uses magic to bring things to life, and to somehow create violence in society-, which makes sense: what creates more violence than a Halloween costume? They're all so gross and evil."
"Yeah, except it doesn't mention anything about a smell and besides, we vanquished him already!"
"Urgh! This book needs an index!" Paige groaned.
"Mommy, I found Aunty Piper!" Laura exclaimed proudly, interrupting her mother and aunt's conversation. "Look, she's near da bridge!"
"Pixie, the crystal's pointing to Twin Peaks." Paige replied with a motherly smile and a sigh of relief. At least now they knew where Piper was.
"No it wasn't!" Laura insisted, "I'll show you!" Before she could even pick the crystal from the map, she let out a startled yelp as it tugged out of her hand and landed on a different spot on the map. "What's it doin?" She asked curiously, not understanding why she couldn't get the crystal to work.
"Aw crap!" Paige exclaimed, "That means that you're Aunty Piper is moving. Phoebs, we have a problem."
"Well at least now, we only have one! I found the demon!" Phoebe replied with a smile. "Chimerak: uses ancient demonic chants to conjure beings and bring things to life; distant relation to the demon of illusion. Distinguishing features are his skeletal appearance and foul smell. Feeds on power."
"Sounds like we've found our man!" Paige said, her heart lightening just a little, "But how is he possibly gaining power from turning Piper and co. into their Halloween costumes?"
"Beats me, but at least we know who we're up against. We need a power of three spell to vanquish him, but there's a potion to reverse the effects of his magic. All we need to do now is find Piper and Leo…"
"Right, have you got ingredients at your place? I don't want to leave Mark and Danni with the kids for too long."
"Yep, orb away!"
xxxxx
Mark had finally managed to convince Prue to sit still in the dining room…not so much as convince, but the only way he and Danielle had managed to get her to stop attempting to escape was by locking her in the room. Of course, Danielle and MJ were in there with her, but Mark could still hear the angry shouts and pleas of his eldest niece coming through the door. He, thinking he had the easy job of looking after Andy, had left Rachael and Ben to sleep in the living room, but he was quickly discovering that cowboys were a lot to handle.
In the kitchen, Andy had overturned the table and smashed Phoebe's best dishware all over the floor. Despite the fact Mark knew that Phoebe didn't cook, she was still going to bite his head off for letting it happen. Andy was currently attempting to get past his Uncle and out of the back door, but with little success. Mark stood firmly in front of the door and tried his best to look intimidating, but Andy seemed more relentless than ever to defy authority.
"Daddy?" Came a sleepy voice from the other end of the kitchen and a very tired looking Rachael toddled through the door, rubbing her eyes with her hands and giving a large yawn, unaware of the danger her cousin posed.
"What Snowflake?" Mark asked, his eyes not moving from Andy, who had quickly turned to face the source of the voice.
"I'm hungy." She said, innocently patting her stomach.
"Well lookee here," Andy snarled, "Why don't you go and kill a wild animal like the savage that you are?"
Mark watched his nephew's green eyes narrow and hand move to the hoister in his belt. It took a moment for him to realise what Andy had meant, but it dawned on him when he looked to his youngest daughter that she was dressed as a Red Indian. He knew the rivalry between the two cultures had been mild in real life and spruced up by films, but it appeared the curse on the Halliwell-Wyatts was giving them a more stereotypical outlook on life. The Nauctater's jaw dropped when he saw what Andy had retrieved from his belt. In his right hand resided a small pistol, and it was not a plastic one like Andy should have had. The pistol was real.
Mark made sure the back door was locked before quietly edging to the side of his nephew. He had to get Rachael out of here.
"Daddy Andy callded me a sandwich!" She said, taking a step forward, but she stopped when her cousin raised his gun. "Yo Mommy say no gun." She told him firmly, knowing the rules of the house. "Put 'way!"
"You can't tell me what to do savage!"
"S'ut up!" Rachael retaliated and Mark's heart rose into his throat as a loud bang echoed through the air.
He lunged forward at a rapid pace, using his own body as a protective shield and he winced in pain as a sharp bolt pierced his lower back. His muffled cry of agony was drowned out by Rachael's piercing scream as a mountain of ice shot from her fingertips, encasing the grinning cowboy.
"Daddy!" She cried, her jaw trembling as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Shh Snowflake, Daddy's okay." He tried to assure her, but with little success.
"You's beedin'," She choked, seeing the pool of blood appearing around her father, "Unca Weo!"
"Oh my god!" Came Danielle's voice from the doorway, her face was a wash of shock. "Did he shoot you?"
"Yeah…" Mark attempted to sit up, but found the pain in his lower back unbearable. However, he managed to give Rachael's hand a comforting squeeze before addressing his friend. "Do you know how to dress a wound?"
"Yes, but…don't you have a whitelightery person?" Danielle paced slowly into the room and picked Rachael up from the floor where she was lying, screaming uncontrollably.
"N…no." He replied. It was breaking his heart not being able to comfort his little snowflake.
"I thought you were a witch?" The petite Hispanic woman asked curiously.
"I am." Mark replied, "But I'm a nauctater…they don't have whitelighters. They have-"
His sentence was cut off by the swirl of blue orbs, which appeared behind him to reveal Paige, Laura and Phoebe. Phoebe's eyes were immediately drawn to her ice-coated nephew, but the fact he was encased in an ice sculpture of himself was not what worried her. It was that his arms were held forward with what looked like a gun held in his hands. Laura took one look at her sister and her jaw dropped. She had never seen Rachael look so scared, but when hey eyes averted to he father's blooded form she understood why. Paige was too overcome by emotion to feel anything. It appeared that her nephew had shot her husband and her youngest daughter had witnessed it.
"Ho ho, buddy!" She scoffed, glaring at the tiny ice sculpture, "When this is over you are getting a serious time out!"
"Where's Melinda-Jayne and Charlotte?" Phoebe asked with concern.
"In the dining room with Pr- oh no!" Danielle brought a hand to her forehead and looked timidly at the women who were giving her very curious glances. "I got so worried when I heard the gun that I just panicked and- I think I left the dining room door open."
"You mean- Aw crap!" Paige, who was now kneeling next to her husband turned her head towards Danielle and it took all of her strength not to burst into angry yella. Could this night get any worse? "Pru- Dorothy?" She shouted.
No reply.
"Phoebs, check if she's left the house. If she has, take MJ and follow her. MJ can shimmer you back here when you find Prue. And keep your eyes peeled for Piper too. I'll call my dad to heal Mark and orb the potions to you when they're ready, okay?" The youngest charmed one could feel her stress levels rising and with the huge headache that was forming, barking orders seemed like the simplest thing to do.
"Sir, yes sir!" Phoebe gave a mock salute and shot a still bleeding Mark a weak smile before leaving the room. This was going to be one hell of a long night.
xxxxx
Chimerak smirked as he appeared in the basement of the Halliwell Manor. He, a supposed feeble and weak demon with puny powers and the inability to kill his own kind, had outsmarted the infamous Charmed Ones. He stood in the empty room and paced back and forth, drumming his skeletal fingers together in contemplation. What was going to be the best way to open the Nexus and free the Shadow?
xxxxx
Mark kissed a sleeping Rachael's forehead and smiled gratefully at Paige's father, suddenly very appreciative of whitelighters. "Thanks Mr Wilder" He said, buttoning his shirt and flexing his back to check all the pain had gone from where the wound had been. Now that he had been healed, he no longer felt like he was useless. He could see how stressed his wife was becoming and now he was going to be able to help with the potion.
"Potion's done." Came Paige's voice from the doorway.
Or not. "That was quick." He told her with a smile.
"Yeah, apparently Laura has a knack for potion making as well as spell casting." Paige replied proudly. "I've orbed a few potions to Phoebe and a few to Jason. Hopefully the guys will understand what they're for- that is if they haven't already killed each other."
"Paige," Sam, the usually quite optimistic whitelighter interrupted with a solemn tone to his voice. "You have to find Piper and vanquish Chimerak before it's too late."
"What do you mean?" Paige asked, eyebrow cocked.
"The elders think he's going to try and go after the Nexus."
"This day just keeps getting better and better."
"I'll work on a spell if you like?" Mark offered, easing himself from the couch and approaching his wife.
"No, I'll do it. But first we need to change Andy back."
"Where is he?"
"Danielle's gone to get him. We freed him from the ice and locked him in the playroom so that he couldn't do any more damage."
"What about the gun?" Mark asked with an edge of worry in his voice. "I swear Piper will have a fit when she finds out what he did."
"There is no doubt in my mind, honey; none at all. That is if we can find her."
"I'll ask the elders if they know where she is." Sam said orbing out with a wave just as Danielle and Laura entered with a very angry Andy.
"Get your hands off of me!" He yelled, spitting in Danielle's face.
"Buddy, seriously," Paige began, "If you weren't under a spell you would so be in time out. Danni, can you step back?"
"Gladly," The petite Hispanic woman let go of Andy's arm and moved to the side where she stood next to Laura, allowing Paige's potion to get a clear target.
A purple smoke enveloped the small cowboy from head to toe and the occupants of the living room watched in anticipation as he swayed slightly. Paige anxiously approached him as he began to cough quite violently and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Andy?" She whispered, meeting his green eyes with her brown. She needed no reply to know that she had her nephew back and he wrapped his arms around her neck and began to cry softly onto her shoulder. "Shh, it's okay." She whispered into his ear and he pulled away from her.
Mark sighed in relief as he watched his nephew return to normal; one less problem to deal with. He gave a weak smile as Andy warily approached him and he knelt to meet the small witch/whitelighter's eye level. Andy's face was a wash of guilt and he cautiously tugged on the vampire cape Mark still wore.
"I solly," He whispered. Apparently he remembered everything he had done.
"Hey, don't worry about it dude." Mark ruffled his nephew's hair and continued, "It wasn't your fault, okay? It was the demons, and we're going to take care of him…as soon as we find your family."
xxxxx
Luckily for Cole and Jason, the harbour was relatively empty. After making many failed attempts to contact Phoebe, Paige or Mark and warn them about Piper, they had continued their pursuit of Leo and he had lead them to the dockyards. Much to their relief, the only pedestrians they had come across thought Leo to be a drunken fool on his way to a Halloween Party, and Leo's sword had remained in his belt. Unfortunately, it looked as though things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Leo paced the harbour's edge, taking in the familiar scent of the ocean. It beckoned him with its indescribable beauty and the voice on the sea breeze called to him in a hoarse whisper. Cole and Jason watched in anticipation as Leo's eyes swept the vast display of boats, knowing that he was undoubtedly going to commandeer one. How they were going to stop him they did not know, but they were going to have to do something.
"Leo!" Jason yelled in a desperate bid to gain his friend's attention, hoping he could keep it for long enough for Phoebe and Paige to do something.
"Oh look, it's my stalkers." He growled, turning to face the two men. "Scurvy dogs!"
"Yeah, um…" Cole looked to Jason with a narrowed gaze. What the hell were they meant to say?
"We want to join your crew!" Jason announced and Cole tried his best to not show appreciation for the words.
"Well do ye know the Pirate's code?" Leo snarled, removing his sword from his belt, "Can ye fight?"
"Sure!" Cole stepped forward, hoping to show up Jason by using some of the fencing skills he had learned as a demon, but a sudden weight in his pocked stopped him in his tracks. They felt like potion vials. It looked as though Paige and Phoebe had pulled through again.
"Do we throw them?" Jason whispered. Apparently he had received vials too.
"I guess…" He put a hand in his pocket and pretended to be searching for a knife. He pulled the tiny vial out and closed his eyes in apprehension, thrusting it towards his friend.
Leo was wrapped in a fog of purple smoke and his sword, apparently returned to cardboard, dropped to the floor.
"Oh God!" Leo scoffed, his brow knitting and cheeks turning pink. "Did anyone see me? The elders are going to be so mad…"
"Leo, don't worry! We're fine!"
"Right. I guess we'd better go help the girls." With that, Leo grabbed his two friends' shoulders and orbed out, avoiding any ridicule they could possibly give him.
xxxxx
Phoebe was amazed at how fast her five-year-old niece could walk. She almost had to jog to keep up with Prue, and carrying MJ was not helping her speed up. She began to contemplate allowing her eldest daughter to shimmer them to where Prue was, but before she could even register her own decision she stopped dead in her tracks and panic swept through her. Only six feet above Phoebe's head sat Piper, mounted on a broomstick with her long, black cloak blowing furiously in the Autumn wind. Her green skin was illuminated by the city streetlamps and the shrieking cackle she was giving sent chills down Phoebe's spine.
"Aw crap!" Phoebe exclaimed. They were in the middle of San Francisco and Piper was flying around on broomsticks. This was not going to be good if someone appeared on the street.
"Well ring around the roses, a pocket full of spears." Piper screeched, swooping closer to Prue with every word. "Give me my ruby slippers!" She demanded.
"No I shan't!" Prue replied and although she looked very confident, Phoebe was picking up a very sudden burst of panic from her niece.
"Come on Paige…" Phoebe muttered and as if on cue she felt a sudden weight in her pocket. "Thanks sis!"
"Prue! She yelled, before remembering her niece now answered to Dorothy, "Um…Dorothy!"
Prue spun round and glared at her Aunt, at the same time avoiding the prying grasp of 'the Wicked Witch' "Who are you?" She asked accusingly.
"Erm…Galinda!" She was suddenly hit with an idea, "Good witch of the North! I've got something that will help you get home!"
"Really?" The hope that appeared in Prue's eyes seemed so real that Phoebe almost felt guilty.
"Yeah." Phoebe removed a vial from her pocket and thrust it towards her niece at full force. Luckily, Piper had chosen that moment to fly upwards and was not in the shot, meaning the potion was going to take its full effect on Prue. The small witch/whitelighter shuddered as a purple smoke surrounded her, but as soon as it cleared, she ran towards her Aunt's open arms.
"What happened?" She asked, peering through the dark to see her Aunt's face. "Why was I lookin' for the Yellow Road?"
"Orb to my house and get Aunty Paige to tell you, okay?" Phoebe wanted so much to explain what had happened, but she had one vial remaining in her pocket and a very good opportunity to free Piper from the spell too. "Please?"
"Okay…" Prue looked warily at her Aunt and MJ and disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights. Unfortunately this left the two alone with a very angry Piper.
Phoebe clutched the second potion in her hand tightly as she slipped it out of her pocket. She took aim at her older sister, who was hovering feet away from them, and said a silent prayer. If this potion didn't work, magic was at risk of being exposed to everyone.
"Sorry Pipes," She whispered, her grip on MJ's hand tightening as she thrust the potion towards the green witch. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the small vial made its way through the air. Phoebe's heart rose into her throat and anticipation engulfed her. The potion finally reached its target, but it did not make contact with Piper at all. A sudden flow of, what looked, to Phoebe, like orbs, came with full force from underneath Piper's cloak and pushed the bottle of violet liquid back towards the clairvoyant witch. At first Phoebe thought I was one of the Wicked Witch's powers, but it had looked so much like a whitelighter ability and Piper looked just as shocked as her sister.
"What the heck was that?" Phoebe asked herself, but before she could even begin to comprehend what power Piper had just used, her attention was drawn to the potion vial. This was the only one she had and it was currently hurtling towards the ground where it was more than likely to smash. Acting on impulse, Phoebe let go of a very shocked Melinda-Jayne's hand and dove across the floor to where the vial was headed. She could not let it break.
Piper let out yet another ominous cackle as she watched the potion fall to the ground. The power she had just used was a mystery to her, but the sudden burst of good it had given her had quickly been overcome by wickedness. Whatever it had been, however, she was grateful. Had Piper been in the right mindset, she would have figured out why she had used a whitelighter power immediately, but as it was, she was more amused by the woman lying on the ground. Although Phoebe had managed to catch the vial, she was now covered from head to toe in rainwater and dirt from the street and Piper's cackle made her frown even bigger. Piper's attention, though, was quickly drawn to the little brat who was left all alone. She looked quite like the one who had stolen her sister's ruby slippers…perhaps she was Dorothy Gayle?
"You!" She hissed, landing her broom and taking a step towards MJ. "What's your name?"
"Melinda-Jayne," MJ replied backing away from Piper.
"Don't lie to me you cursed brat!" Piper shrieked taking another step towards the girl she did not know was her niece.
"B…but, Aunty Pipew…I didn't…" Piper was now too close for comfort and MJ, reacting on instinct, formed a fireball in the palm of her hand. She looked at it with a curious glance. It didn't feel hot like it usually did and instead of glowing a fiery orange, the ball of light in Melinda-Jayne's hand was glowing a neon yellow. She hesitated, not wanting to hurt her Aunt, but something in her gut told her it was safe to throw this fireball at Piper.
From her spot on the ground, Phoebe watched her eldest daughter form a fireball in her hand. She couldn't be sure, but the fireball appeared to emit an eerie yellow glow, as opposed to the orange Phoebe was used to. She took a sharp intake of breath as MJ threw the neon sphere towards Piper and she quickly rose to her feet. "MJ, no!" She yelled, but it was too late…or was it? Phoebe's panic turned to confusion as she approached her sister. Did MJ have a new power?
Piper braced herself for a fiery impact. No shield of orbs was going to appear this time. As the 'fireball' came into contact with her legs, however, she felt no pain at al…in fact she felt nothing whatsoever. She glanced down at her body and attempted to move her legs, but they were frozen firmly in place. Perhaps Dorothy Gayle was a witch after all?
"Look what you've done yo cursed brat! Who'd have thought such a foul little girl could destroy my beautiful wickedness?"
"MJ, what did you just do?" Phoebe enquired, making a mad dash towards her daughter and sister. Piper's limited motion was beginning to look quite odd.
"I frozed her legs!" MJ exclaimed excitedly. "Mommy I used a froze powa!"
"Wow…" Phoebe looked at the pride shining from Melinda-Jayne's eyes and couldn't help but wonder if MJ's statement had been correct. Although Piper's torso and arms were flailing wildly, it certainly looked as though the eldest Charmed One's legs had been frozen. If Paige's power was telekinesis, twisted because of her whitelighter blood, perhaps the neon yellow fireball was, in fact, a demonic form of temporal stasis? It made perfect sense when Phoebe thought about it, but MJ must only have been able to freeze a small section of Piper's body. "Well done pumpkin!"
"Trow da potion!" MJ told her mother, pride still spilling from her.
"What? Oh!"
The cloud of Purple smoke faded quickly from around Piper and the eldest Charmed One shot her sister and niece a grateful smile. "Oh thank God!" She looked at her hand and her smile widened, "I'm not green any more!"
"Aunty Pipew, I getted a froze powa like you and Laura!"
"I know! I'm very proud of you!" Piper crouched next to her niece and kissed her cheek.
'It's about time I got a new power.' Phoebe thought to herself.
"Stop being so bitter Phoebs." Piper scolded.
"What?" She knew she hadn't said that aloud.
xxxxx
The entire family, including Danielle, Cole and a sleeping Benjamin, waited in the Manor's living room waiting anxiously for the Charmed Ones to return from the basement. They were all quite shocked to see them appear only three minutes after they had departed.
"Well that was the most anti-climactic vanquish in the history of the Halliwell line." Paige said, taking a seat on her husband's knee and planting a kiss on his lips.
"Tell me about it!" Phoebe agreed. "For all the trouble he caused he was pretty ignorant."
"Yeah, but if we had been thirty seconds later than we were, he probably would have control of the Nexus." Paige reminded her sister.
"Who cares, I just want to go to sleep." Piper slumped into the armchair next to her husband, who was still avoiding everyone's gaze. She no longer felt wicked and her skin was back to normal, but she couldn't help but wonder if the Wicked Witch's powers had stayed in her. Her mind was buzzing with thou sound of hundreds of voices, murmurs and whispers. She couldn't clearly make out what any were saying, but they were getting louder and louder.
'I can't believe I bit Paige.' Leo's voice rang in her ears as she turned to him in disgust.
"You bit Paige?"
Leo looked shocked and faced his wife. How did she know that? From Phoebe's they had gone straight to the Manor, with no time to share any of the evening's events. "Yeah, but it was because of the spell!" He insisted, giving her an embarrassed smile.
'Spell or no spell, Leo, if you weren't my brother in law I would have orbed your balls to Kentucky. Those teeth were gross!" Paige thought silently with the roll of her eyes.
"Paige!" Piper scolded, "You are not going to do anything of the sort!"
"Did I say that out loud?" The youngest charmed one asked Mark curiously. She knew she was one for speaking her mind, but she was sure she had kept that thought to herself.
"Say what?" Mark asked in confusion. Perhaps Piper had bumped her head when she was flying because nothing she was saying made any sense to him.
Paige looked at Piper and surveyed her. Her hands were pressed firmly over her ears and her face was contorted. "Piper, what the heck is with this freaky telepathy crap?"
"Telepathy?" Piper questioned. Actually it did make sense. The magical strength in Halloween had given MJ a new power; perhaps she had received one too? "Leo, is it possible I'm a telepath?" She asked excitedly.
"No." He replied bluntly, "Your powers are offensive and molecular based. Telepathy is a mind-based power."
"Then how-" She lost herself in thought knowing that she was definitely using some sort of telepathic power, but Leo said they couldn't be hers. As far as she knew from reading the book and watching the film of 'The Wizard of Oz', The Wicked Witch wasn't telepathic. How had she developed a new and totally obscure power? Unless… her mind flashed back to the previous night and a happy realisation dawned on her. This must have been how she used orb deflection earlier in the evening too. It now made perfect sense, but was it possible for a new life to develop powers so quickly? She knew the answer already though. She could feel it in her heart. "Oh my god." She thought, not realising her thoughts were being projected into everyone else's minds too. "I'm pregnant!"
The room erupted into happy squeals and Piper sat in a stunned silence. Was the one day old foetus already able to project thoughts into people's minds too? This pregnancy was going to be interesting…
AN- So… I know the ending was anti-climactic, but soon you'll understand why I needed to give you light entertainment. I'd like to credit Prince Halliwell for making up 'orb deflection'. If you need an explanation of MJ's power it's basically this: Her fireballs were a demonic form of molecular combustion, but everyone believed them only to be normal fireballs because normal fireballs blow things up anyway. Her new power is a demonic form of temporal stasis, meaning the 'fireball' will freeze whatever it comes into contact with, but because the fireballs are small, thy can only freeze a certain amount of the person. Hope I didn't disappoint you! Please review!
Laur x
Next Chapter- A crossover between my fic and Prince Halliwell's 'Being Charmed'. (You don't have to have read it but I recommend you do anyway!) Paige, Laura and MJ are sucked into an alternate reality where Paige finds her family's life turned upside-down. Prue's alive? Phoebe's with Cole? Her counterpart is struggling with two loves and neither of them is Mark! And she has a daughter with Glenn? Will they get themselves out of this mess, managing to avoid a demonic attack? And will seeing Phoebe and Cole together reopen old wounds for MJ?
Important: I apologise profusely, but I doubt if I will be able to update next Sunday. I have exams next week, which I desperately need to revise for, and one arm in a sling. From now on I'm keeping my arms glued to my sides when I leave the house. Once again, I'm SO sorry. I'll post chap22 ASAP!