On a peaceful starlit night in San Francisco, there wasn't much stirring on a street where a rather rustic looking house resided. This house stood out from the others in the area not only because it looked like something from another time, but also because it housed three very powerful witches. These witches weren't like others who practiced their craft either, for they were known in the magical world as the Charmed Ones. Every demon, warlock and monster who ever tried to destroy these sisters had perished, for their bonds of sisterhood proved to be unbreakable. Even death couldn't shatter the power of three, as had been proven when the oldest sister, Prue, was killed by a demon by the name of Shax. For a short time, the remaining sisters Phoebe and Piper were lost and bereft riddled with grief and guilt over the loss of who had become the most stable figure in their lives. However, their world was changed once more by the arrival of another sister by the name of Paige. This girl shared the same mother as Piper, Phoebe and Prue, but her father had been the white lighter who had a relationship with their mother, Patty, a man by the name of Sam. With her appearance into their lives, the power of three was once more maintained and the sisters were growing used to one another with the absence of Prue. However, unknown to the sisters and indeed everyone in the manor on the peaceful street in San Francisco, something very big was about to happen that would once more turn their worlds upside down. Prowling outside across the street from the house, a very large black cat was watching with hungry eyes. Licking her lips impatiently, she paced back and forth on the pavement as if waiting for someone.
"Don't you ever get tired of the pacing?" a young male voice asked the panther cheekily, "I mean, there really is only so much joy a person can find in walking back and forwards over and over again." Whipping around sharply, the panther snarled in the face of her companion, a young dog fox.
"I'm fed up of all this waiting!" she snarled impatiently, "We know Prue's out there right now, so I don't understand why we can't just track her down and release her. But instead, you and Crystal insist that we stay here while she locates where these pricks have Prue captive!" The fox, completely undeterred by his companion's impatience, merely hoped down from his post on top of a wall. As he walked over to where the panther was standing, he slowly changed from walking on four legs to a young man walking on two. He was a bespectacled young man with a very light and thin build, but tall for his age. The panther snarled at his transformation before turning her attention back to the house across the street.
"Why do you insist we always go around in our animal forms, anyway?" the man asked, "it's not as if anyone living here, let alone the Halliwells, are going to suspect us or hunt us down." The panther too changed into a young woman. She was slightly older than the young man, with a stronger build and she too wore glasses. She crossed her arms and glared at her accomplice.
"Because, they are the most powerful witches after all," she explained, "if they know what we can do, automatically they're going to think we're out to kill them. At least when we're transformed, we can watch them without arousing suspicion. Especially considering they have a white lighter and Powers That Be on their side, we're part of an ancient order they've not heard about. It's only fair we try and keep it that way." Just as she finished talking, the girl turned to see a small brown bat come flying in for a landing. Clinging to a nearby tree, the bat released its grip only to change shape into a slightly shorter girl with hazel eyes. She walked over to the others smiling happily.
"About time you got back," the older girl snapped, "did you find her?" The younger girl continued smiling brightly, loving how it was winding her companion up to no end. She walked over to the guy and kissed him soundly on the lips. Once they were satisfied that they had irritated their friend enough, the couple parted and went over to their team-mate.
"I found where the demons are keeping Prue," she said finally, "It's an area not too far from here, but I think we're going to have trouble getting in and out in one piece." Not waiting for another word, the older girl changed back into the big panther and waited fully poised. The boy turned back into a fox while the third girl changed into a beautiful golden coloured Bengal tiger. Letting out a roar, the panther set off at a gallop with the tiger racing alongside her and the fox following in hot pursuit. Across the road, Phoebe moved a curtain to one side to look out just as the animals were running along the street together.
"Eh, guys, is there anything unusual about a panther, tiger and fox running around a street together?" she shouted through to the others. Running a hand through her hair, Piper came walking into the living room with Leo walking alongside her.
"Phoebe, why would there be a panther, tiger and fox hanging around together anywhere!" she asked exasperatedly. Phoebe said nothing but pointed out the window she was looking out of. Piper walked over and cast a glance outside to see the animals that Phoebe had mentioned running together. Turning back abruptly, she walked calmly into the middle of the living room.
"Right, either there's a circus in town or some animals have escaped," she said slowly, "or there's a new gang of demons or warlocks planning to kill us all. There's only really one thing we should do before panicking." All three of them nodded and headed straight for the stairs to go to the Book of Shadows for any indication on what they were dealing with.
On the other side of town, the tiger, fox and panther arrived at what looked from the outside to be a normal supermarket closed for the night. Turning into their human forms, they all crouched down across from the closed building behind a parked car.
"This is where Prue's being kept?" the older girl asked incredulously, "no offence, Crystal, but I think your sonar was a bit off. This place is a friggin supermarket, plus it's closed for the night. This is one reason why you guys should've let me track her down, and then I could've opened a can of whoopass on them!" As her rage intensified, the girl changed from her normal human form back to a snarling panther. Crystal and the guy rolled their eyes at her.
"Lyra, this is exactly why we didn't let you track the demons back to their lair," the guy explained slowly, "at least Crystal doesn't have a thing for whatever Halliwell sister you've got us out here saving. Remind us why we're here again?" The panther lunged at her friend and pinned him to the ground. She let her retracted claws out slightly so they were pressing lightly into his polo shirt.
"We're here, Tyrk, because Prue's in danger," she snarled, "and her sisters plus that dippy white lighter aren't aware of it. As far as they're concerned, she's up in heaven with her mum and grandmother. That's why it's up to us to get her out of there." A shout from Crystal caused Lyra to lie down fully on top of Tyrk, concealing their presence behind the parked car from whatever was across the street from them. Crystal meanwhile had transformed into a jet black wolf the same size as her panther friend. Both of them looked over and watched what appeared to any normal person to be a young gentleman in a business suit walking along the street. Once he was at the front entrance of the shutter-covered supermarket, however, the young man turned and walked through the shutter. He completely disappeared into it and there was no trace of him ever being on that street in the first place. Lyra turned to look straight into Crystal's yellow eyes.
"Ok, I take back what I said before about your navigation being off," she apologised, "now we need to get in there without being noticed. Any ideas?" A small black rat came scuttling up between the cat and the dog, squeaking frantically to draw their attention. Seizing the opportunity, Lyra reached down and lifted the rat up into the air by his tail. She couldn't hide her amusement as he struggled in her jaws to get free.
"You really should know better than to come up to a cat like that!" she chuckled between clenched teeth. Tyrk continued struggling from side to side before giving up and just hanging limply in the air.
"I was going to suggest that we all go incognito like this," he explained, "then, when we need to actually fight we can go back to our normal animal forms." Putting Tyrk down carefully so that he didn't accidentally land on his head, Lyra pondered his suggestion before looking at Crystal and nodding to her. Within the space of five minutes, a black rat, a stoat and a brown rat were scuttling underneath the parked car and across the quiet and isolated street. They had no problem passing through the shuttered door in the same manner they had seen the suit-wearing gentleman do in front of them.