Disclaimer: I own the name of the Coven, but I own none of its members, its villains, or their allies
Feedback: Very much on the 'must-have' list
Samyo: Glad to hear it went down well; I was starting to feel I was the only person who liked the move
Sean Malloy-1: Maybe, but it's just not my style of titles
LeoLupin: Sadly, they will for this fight, but don't worry; other fights are on their way…
Siamese: Trust me, Belthazor is definitely going to do at least some damage before Cole puts him down… (By the way, what's the address of the website that was recommending my stuff?)
The Coven of Reformed Supernaturals
Ducking under the blow Cole launched at his head, Belthazor lashed out with a punch of his own, striking Cole in the face, drawing his hand back towards him rather than letting it swing back to his side with the force of his blow, smiling slightly as his nail scored a long scar in his future self's cheek. Even as the wound had begun to heal, Belthazor lashed out with a roundhouse kick from his left leg, throwing Cole off to the right.
No sooner had he hit the ground, then Belthazor was on top of him, launching countless punches at his opponent's head, desperately trying not to give Cole even the slightest bit of breathing space.
Because, as soon as it came down to magic versus magic, Belthazor knew he wouldn't have a prayer…
Angel ducked underneath an energy ball thrown by something that looked like Leo's descriptions of a warlock, and then lashed out with his sword, smiling slightly as the sharp blade cut through his opponent's neck, leaving its body to burst into flames as he turned around to kick out at some kind of zombie that was coming up behind him.
"Angel!" a voice called from behind him. Spinning around, Angel cut down an advancing soldier demon that resembled a brainless human, and saw Blade heading towards him, vaulting over a golem as his coat blazed behind him in a manner that almost resembled a bat's wings as he landed.
"There's too many of them; we need to double up!" the dark-skinned hybrid yelled.
"Then we'll need to double-team them," Angel said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Get behind me; you cover my back, I'll protect yours."
"The two part-vampires, huh?" Blade smiled, as he stepped forward to stand behind Angel, as a new wave of demons began to charge towards them. "Let's show them why we're the ones humans think of when they picture monsters."
Angel grinned. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he said.
Then swords began to flash as the demons struck again, and the two heroes were forced to focus on more immediate concerns.
"This is for sanity!" Belthazor bellow, as he struck Cole again. "And for the Halliwells!" And again. "And this is for Phoebe!" Aga-
Cole caught the oncoming fist in his hand, and, with a grin on his face as though it were the easiest thing in the world, threw Belthazor off him, standing up with a grin on his face as his past self lay on the ground, gasping as he tried to get his breathe back.
"You're fighting for her?" Cole said, sounding like he was about to start laughing at his past self. "You know, I was hoping you were at least fighting for something that wouldn't have changed- your ideas of what's good and what's evil, maybe- but her? Do you even know the full story behind what happened after your time?"
"I got the quick and ugly version," Belthazor grunted, looking up at Cole with a determined gleam in his eyes. "You got the Source's power, got vanquished, came back, and couldn't accept that it was over. What else do I need to know?"
"Oh, little details," Cole said, smiling at his 'past' self. "Such as, I don't know… what she said to us?"
Cole clicked his fingers, and suddenly he was Phoebe, dressed in red trousers and a red leather jacket, with a white blouse underneath that had a remarkably frilly neck.
"Look, Cole, my career is the most important thing to me!" Phoebe/Cole yelled at Belthazor. "Okay, so is that your plan? To take it away from me so that I come running to you for comfort?"
Cole shifted back into his normal form, smiling at Belthazor as he continued to speak. "Phoebe, I love you, and I don't know what's going on… but maybe I can help. Would you like me to kill someone for you? Or-or your boss, perhaps?" Papers suddenly flew around in front of Cole's face, as though someone had thrown them. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" he said, before he shifted back into Phoebe.
"I might not be able to use magic, but..." Phoebe/Cole began, before shifting back into Cole.
"You're sexy when you're mad, you know that?" he said, smiling. "I can't wait until I get to kiss you again."
Then he shifted back into Phoebe. "Cole, I will never be with you again. I hate you, I hate you! Do you get that?"
Then Cole shifted back into his normal form, and smiled slightly at Belthazor. "Is it really worth it?" he asked his past self. "After what she'll do to you? You saw her expression; there's no way she'll forgive us unless my plan works."
"Damnit!" Hellboy yelled, as he launched another punch, destroying yet another of the creepy, grey-skinned business-suit-wearing demons that had suddenly surrounded him for some reason. "What the hell are you guys? Will you just give it a bloody rest already! We're kicking your fucking asses, damnit! Will you just take a hint and get lost already!"
Whipping out his gun, Hellboy fired two bullets in the head of a large demon nearby that resembled the offspring of a sumo wrestler and a deranged bull, before kicking out at a thin demon with two long blades in place of its hands, sending it flying back into a couple of Mohra demons, before a large Sammael leapt in front of him.
Ah crap… Hellboy muttered, as he saw the large dog-like form in front of him. I'm in trouble…
Belthazor glared at Cole as he just stood there, smirking at his past self as though he had somehow missed a joke.
"You've lost the point of it, Cole," he said, growling. "You're mad, you know that? Hell, I'm the worst part of your past, and even I think you're being an idiot! You're so focused on getting Phoebe back, you've forgotten the reason you loved her in the first place!"
"I've what?" Cole asked, glaring at Belthazor with a vicious gleam in his eyes. "You're saying I've forgotten the reason the Seer wanted us to marry her? I assure you, that's never left my mind since the day it happened!"
"Not that crap about needing her to conceive your magical heir, you fucking twat!" Belthazor yelled at his future self. "You never loved her because of the power; you loved her for who she was! You've lost the whole point of love; you want her, but you don't want her!"
He took a deep breath, and glared at his future self again.
"You don't want her anymore; you want what she represents," he explained, already tensed to lash into action again. "You want stability back; you want things to be the way they used to be, not the way they are."
He paused for a moment, to make sure his future self got the point he was about to make, and then spoke again.
"Whatever part of me is left in you, you have to realise… you can't change things. If there's anything left of me in you… let her go."
Leo yelled out in rage as he ducked under a swipe from the claws of an enraged werewolf, desperately stabbing out with his dagger at its chest, already preparing to orb the second
He'd known even before he'd met the rest of the Coven that he'd be in out of his depth- only Elders had any offensive powers, as far as he knew- but he'd had to join them; he was the only one who knew how dangerous Cole could be…
Then something blue charged into the werewolf with such force that Leo could have sworn he heard its neck crack, and he found himself staring at the blue-haired, red-leather-clad form of Illyria.
"Are you well, guardian?" Illyria asked, looking back at Leo as she held out a hand to him, hauling him back to his feet.
"Yeah… with your help," Leo said, smiling at her. "Thanks."
"You are welcome," Illyria said, before turning back to the demons around them. "Shall we?"
"Let's go," Leo said, grasping his daggers.
The two of them dived into the oncoming mass, Leo's daggers slashing at the throats of several of the demons and warlocks coming towards them, while Illyria tackled the larger fighters, including a couple of extremely muscular demons that resembled minotaurs.
Cole laughed at Belthazor.
"After all you've heard of my past, you actually believe that crap?" he asked his past self, looking at him in amazement. "Don't you see that power is all that matters now? We gave up everything we'd ever known for that woman, and what did we get out of it? Pain, agony, torment, and being driven to the brink of insanity!"
He glared at his past self. "Was it worth it, Belthazor? Was it worth it!"
Then he seemed to calm down, and, walking towards his younger self, placed a companionable hand on his shoulder.
"But it can be worth it… if you let me go back," he said, smiling slightly at Belthazor as he spoke. "Let me change things… and we can all get what we want. You get the life you want… I get the life I want… and everybody's happy, right?"
Belthazor brushed the hand off his shoulder and turned to look at the battle being waged around him. Angel and Blade were back-to-back, fighting against almost hopeless odds… Leo was slashing desperately at a mass of warlocks that had him cornered, while Illyria tried to dodge their various long-range offensive powers (One of them was even now firing a bolt of lighting at the blue-skinned demon)… Hellboy was desperately punching away at some of the larger demons near him, including at least three golems…
Belthazor growled.
He wouldn't let them be risking their lives for nothing.
"No," he said, as he turned back to his future self.
Cole blinked.
"I'm sorry… did you just say 'no'?" he asked, sounding almost surprised.
"I did," Belthazor said, as he glared back at this monstrosity that he might become. "What happened to us was terrible, yes, but if there's any way we can stop it, I know one thing for sure; it's not you!"
Cole sighed as he shook his head mockingly at his past self. "You're so naïve, Belthazor," he said, as he looked at his past self. "But, eventually, you'll realise the truth; you want something to be right, you have to make it that way."
"Might makes right?" Belthazor asked, as he and Cole crouched slightly and began to circle each other. "I thought we joined Phoebe to fight that?"
Cole sighed. "What will it take to make you see my point, Belthazor?" he asked his past self. "A complete update on the year or two you've missed, or what?"
Belthazor didn't even bother to reply now; he just charged forward and head-butted Cole in the stomach, following it up with a swinging blow to the head and a rapid knee to the groin, before a spinning kick knocked Cole to the ground and gave Belthazor the chance to grab something that had fallen to the ground earlier.
It was a dagger.
Before Cole could get back to his feet, Belthazor was on top of him, straddling Cole's waist as he held the dagger to the back of his neck, hovering just over the point where the brain joined the spinal column.
"One false move and your brain isn't going to be linked up to the rest of you," Belthazor growled as Cole stared up at him in horror, as though he couldn't quite believe that his past self still wanted to kill him after all this. "No matter how tough you are, I'm prepared to bet even your healing abilities can't overcome something like this fast enough for you to stop one of us killing you for good."
Cole just glared back at Belthazor.
"You know, I could just kill you with an energy ball," he said, trying to sound casual despite the undercurrent of fear in his voice.
"Yeah, go ahead; I'd take you out on reflex anyway," Belthazor said, grinning at him.
Cole looked up at Belthazor for a second or two…
And smiled.
"Really?" he asked, as he raised one hand slightly. "Well, if we're talking about reflexes…"
He clicked his fingers…
And Belthazor nearly dropped the knife in shock as Phoebe Halliwell- two years older than he remembered her, but still evidently Phoebe- appeared out of thin air, her throat clutched in Cole's hand, just out of Belthazor's reach, and the nails on Cole's hand digging into her neck sharply enough to draw faint traces of blood.
"If you sever that tendon, you'll not only kill me; you'll kill Phoebe, as my hand closes on her on 'reflex'," Cole said, chuckling up at his past self.
Horror-stricken, Belthazor could only stare at Phoebe as she looked back at him, confusion and terror obvious on her face.
"B… Belthazor?" she asked weakly.