Chapter 12: Woogy of the Dark Side Part 1

Jedi Academy, Earth – Grandmaster's Apartment

Angel, Buffy, Willow and little Padme sat in mediation as an aftershock shot through San Francisco. Pictures fell from the walls or tilted at an awkward angle and glassware slipped off their shelves and shattered on the floors before everything settled. As quick as it had come, it had gone again.

"Is the technology we're getting," Willow said with a sigh, "something that will help put a stop to earthquakes."

"Possibly," Buffy said as they began straightening up the apartment. She stopped in front of a picture of Joyce and straightened it reverently. "There you go, mom." She turned back to Willow. "Coruscant is artificially regulated since it's a city planet and earthquakes would decimate the planet, potentially killing billions. So, the technology exists. I will see what the Mon Calamari say."

"Mom," little Padme said.

Buffy turned toward her daughter and could that little Padme was in the midst of a Force vision.

Phoebe conjured a large knife in her hand. "You're in no position to tell me what to do." She snapped, preparing to step down.

Little Padme looked at her mother when she had come out of the vision. "Aunt Phoebe is in trouble," she said.

"What did you see?" Buffy asked.

"A being of the dark side, it takes control of her," little Padme answered.

Halliwell Manor

Prue was the second to enter the kitchen and she immediately stopped in the doorway causing Phoebe to crash into her. With a glare in her direction she slowly walked after Piper. "Okay, okay, okay, does anybody smell that?"

"Uh, yeah, I caught a whiff of it first thing this morning. I think it's coming from the basement," Piper explained.

"Gas leak?" Prue squeaked with wide eyes.

Piper shrugged and turned her gaze to her elder sister's. "I don't know, but I called somebody to check it out. They should be here…" she trailed off as the doorbell rang. "…Now. I'll get it." She squeezed around the table to head to the front door.

"We're never going to pull this off." Prue fretted the moment Piper had left her sight. She froze where she was with wide blue eyes flickering to her younger sisters. A few moments later Piper returned with the gas man.

"Morning ladies." he greeted and took a moment to survey the area. "Wow, that's the smell, huh?" He slowly frowned thoughtfully. "It doesn't really smell like gas."

Prue took several nervous steps forward. "Yeah, but if it is… well we don't want to take the risk."

"Well, let me check it out and see what's up," the gas man suggested, looking from sister to sister.

"Great thanks. The basement is through that door." Piper pointed in the corresponding direction and watched as he disappeared down the stairs. She grinned at her baby sister and couldn't resist jibing at Phoebe. "Look, Phoebe, he's going into the basement, alone."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and glared at Piper. "Don't even start," she snapped.

"Phoebe," Prue said as she turned her attention toward her baby sister. "You really should master that fear. You know what Buffy keeps saying about fear."

Phoebe looked at her eldest sister and nodded. "That it leads to the dark side," she said. "And I was five years old when I was afraid of the basement."

"Oh, so, what, now you're over it, which is why you haven't been down there in what?" Prue asked. "Eighteen years?"

"I know," Phoebe said with a sigh as she looked at the basement door

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The gas man surveyed the basement curiously, his eyes eventually landing on a huge crack in the foundation. The gas man knelt down beside the deep crack and used the screwdriver to open it up more. A shadow spewed from within as the man's eyes widened in fear. "What the?"

The shadow wrapped around the terrified gas man. "You have freed me and now you will help take back the house," the shadow announced ominously as he entered the man's body. The gas man suddenly smirked and looked back toward the door that led upstairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Phoebe opened the front door to find Buffy standing there. "Buffy, I thought we didn't have training till later today," she said surprised to see her cousin.

"We don't," Buffy admitted. "I came over because little Padme had a vision of you and a being of the Dark Side."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The gas man suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs.

Piper was the first to speak after it became apparent the gas man was waiting for some acknowledgement. "So what's the verdict?" she asked as she spotted Phoebe and Buffy joining them. "Hi, Buffy."

"Bad," the Gas man replied shortly.

Prue paled and laughed nervously. "Bad, as in, you can fix it quickly, it'll just cost more than my entire education?" she demanded snappily.

"By tonight, there will be no more problem," the gas man answered cryptically. Without another word he turned and disappeared into the basement.

"So, it seems Padme had a vision," Phoebe said.

"Of?" Prue wondered.

"Of Phoebe and a being of the Dark Side," Buffy said as she smelled the strange odor. "I assume you have a gas leak?"

"Yeah," Prue said.

"Okay, check the book for any possible likely demon," Buffy said.

"How will we know we found it," Piper wondered. "A being of the dark side doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"I know," Buffy said as Prue and Piper left to head upstairs. "Phoebe, you and I will keep watch on your gas man."

"Buffy, I can't," Phoebe said not wanting to go anywhere near the basement door. "I can't go down there."

Buffy looked at Phoebe and nodded in understanding as she could sense the fear that her cousin held. "What are you afraid of?" she asked.

"Grams called it the Woogy," Phoebe admitted. "It was a story she told us when we were kids. It scared me so much that I've been afraid to go down there ever since."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The gas man stared at his shadow on the wall. "Which one do you want?" He asked it.

At the top of the stairs, Phoebe hung around nervously. "Uh, my cousin and I'll just be up here if you need us," she offered.

The shadow lifted his hand and pointed at the stairs. "Phoebe…"

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 - 0

Phoebe traversed through the Manor on the way to the kitchen when her eyes landed on the picture of Grams. She stopped her progress and regarded the picture curiously as it was crooked. Slowly, she reached out and straightened it for the second time that day.

"Help me!" The gas man's voice broke Phoebe from her train of thought as his voice carried easily through the house. Phoebe met Buffy as they ran to the kitchen.

"Where are you?" Phoebe called, her eyes scouring the kitchen.

"Please, help me!" he yelled again.

Buffy and Phoebe turned toward the door to the basement where the voice seemed to be coming from. Buffy approached it. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Uh, I-I fell," the gas man fabricated. "I think I may have sprained something, my ankle. I could really use a hand."

Buffy glanced at Phoebe who reluctantly nodded. "We're coming!" she said.

Phoebe followed Buffy, keeping one hand on the wall for support she stepped down the first step, only to be pulled into a premonition as her hand brushed against a picture of her sisters, her, and their Grams.

Their grandmother was in the basement, holding her hand out against a laughing shadow. Her back was to Little Phoebe.

"Grams?" Little Phoebe called.

Grams turned around half-way to see her granddaughter. "Phoebe, go back to bed, honey. Go on," she pressed, her voice soothing.

"Phoebe," said Buffy as her cousin jerked out of the premonition and stumbled back up the step fearfully.

"The Woogyman…" Phoebe said in realization. "I can't, Buffy." There was no way she was going down there.

Buffy sighed and nodded. She turned and headed down the stairs. Phoebe looked at her cousin and then hesitantly followed, not wanting to let Buffy face something alone. When they reached the last step they looked around for the injured gas man.

"Where are you?" Buffy asked.

He stepped behind them and blocked their way to the stairs.

"Buffy," said Phoebe as Buffy spun around. She looked at the gas man. "We thought you said you were…"

It was then that they heard their names in a demonic voice.

The shadow had swirled around behind them. "Buffy… Phoebe…"

Jedi Academy, Earth – Grandmaster's Apartment

"We're Jedi. You can't take us." Phoebe said defiantly.

"You'll both fight me at first, but in the end, you both will do everything I ask." The Woogyman replied as he possessed both Buffy and Phoebe.

Little Padme's eyes snapped open and she looked toward Willow. "Aunty Willow," she said as Willow opened her eyes and looked at her padawan.

"Yes, Padme?" said Willow.

"I just had another vision," said little Padme. "Mom and Aunty Phoebe have fallen."

Halliwell Manor

Piper, using the Force opened the door, her arms laden with the grocery bags had made it increasingly difficult to get the door open any other way. She had gotten a call while looking through the book for something at Quake. Afterward she had stopped to pick up the groceries since they were running low. "Don't worry. I can handle it all myself. It's me, the culinary pachyderm," she snapped to the empty room. She stepped across the threshold and jumped as she was shocked by the front door. "Uh, Phoebe, maybe we should call someone to check the electricity too." She suggested loudly, assuming her sister was in hearing range.

Piper threw her purse on the table next to the door, careful not to drop the groceries. Her eyes narrowed in surprise as Kit meowed loudly and ran out the door as if in fright. "Kit? Hey!" she called after the cat, though obviously didn't get a response in return. "Pheebs? Prue? Buffy?"

"I'm upstairs," came Prue's voice from the attic. "Still looking through the book. Phoebe and Buffy should be in the kitchen keeping an eye on the gas man still."

Piper nodded, if her younger sister and cousin were in the kitchen or the basement then they could help her put away the groceries. She stumbled into the kitchen and dropped the heavy bags on the counter. "Oh God!" She screamed when she turned around to find the gas man standing creepily behind her. "You scared me. Is everything okay with the house?"

"It will be," the gas man answered, taking a step closer to Piper.

Piper narrowed her eyes dangerously and took a step away from him. "Good. Could I get…" she trailed off as he took another step toward her so that he was uncomfortably close. "Have you seen my baby sister or my cousin?" Piper threatened, as she stepped back into the counter.

The gas man suddenly reached out and grabbed Piper's arm, causing her to yelp in surprise. He pushed her against the table and pulled her arm behind her back so she couldn't freeze him.

"Prue! Phoebe! Buffy! " Piper screamed for someone's help. Anyone's would be great. She could see the gas man reaching over her, trying to grab the carving fork just out of his reach.

Phoebe and Buffy came running in and stopped short at the scene in front of them.

Buffy started forward when a bat conjured in her hand. With hardly a thought at it, she swung at the gas man, hitting him hard enough that he fell to the ground unconscious and effectively released Piper.

"Buffy… Phoebe… he just…" Piper stuttered, jumping away from the unconscious man.

Phoebe quickly reached out to steady the surprised Piper. "It's okay. It's okay."

"I thought he was going to kill me. I didn't even have a chance to freeze him… Buffy where'd you get the bat?" Piper asked, tilting her head in confusion as it finally registered that Buffy had hit the man with a bat.

Buffy glanced down at it equally confused now that the adrenaline had worn off. "I don't know. It just sort of appeared," she admitted hesitantly.

Piper narrowed her eyes even more. "What do you mean it appeared? Like you opened a closet and found it or you thought 'bat' and there it was?"

"More thought it," answered Buffy. "I can't explain it." She looked at Phoebe. "I think something weird happened to us in the…"

Piper appeared irritated at the lack of explanation. "What? Buffy, how'd you make the bat materialize?"

Phoebe glanced in the direction of the gas man who was lying on the floor. "Safety first, Jedi business later. We got to call 911."

"Phoebe is right," agreed Buffy.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"This doesn't track." Andy commented to his partner. Both of them had been called to the scene regarding the gas man's attack on Piper. He was looking over the gas man's record.

"What's that?" Darryl asked half-heartedly.

Andy slowly followed Darryl as he continued to flip through the information. "I just got the background on the gas man. He doesn't have a record. Not even a parking ticket," he explained. "A family man, church volunteer, Little League coach."

"When good coaches go bad, next week on Fox." Darryl joked.

Willow parked her car along the side of the road as the driveway was blocked by the police and ambulances. She quickly noticed Andy and Darryl and ran toward them. "What happened?" she wondered as soon as she was in hearing range of the two officers.

Andy stepped around Darryl and stopped just in front of Willow. "And who are you?" he asked.

"Jedi Knight Willow Rosenberg," Willow answered. "So, what happened?"

"The gas man that was checking on Prue, Piper and Phoebe's house got a little rough with Piper," he explained. "As the Jedi Order's liaison, I know you have a good reason to be here. But if you don't mind…"

"It's Jedi business," answered Willow with a nod toward Darryl.

Andy nodded in understanding. "Excuse us for a moment," he said as he walked away with Willow. "Well?"

"Buffy's daughter had a vision of Buffy and Phoebe and a being of the Dark Side," she explained as they walked toward Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy. "I came to check on them and let Buffy know." She turned toward her friend. "Buffy?"

"Will," said Buffy as she looked up. "What is it?"

"Little Padme had another vision. This time it included you," answered Willow. "So, what happened, exactly? Sith?"

Buffy shook her head. "No," she said. "Their gas man attacked Piper and I stopped him."

"How?" Willow wondered.

"I don't know to tell the truth, and I can't seem able to replicate it either," said Buffy.

"Replicate what?" asked Willow.

"Seems Buffy received a magical power," said Piper. "She thinks of something and poof it appears. She saved my life."

"The problem I see is why now though?" asked Prue. "I understand when Piper, Phoebe and I got ours because they became unbound when Grams died. But why would you get one now, Buffy? Why not a year ago, or ten years ago?"

"I have no answer for you, Prue," said Buffy.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

After the police and Willow left, Buffy and Phoebe had returned to the basement.

"You both must not fail me again. You both must use your powers against the others," the Woogyman reminded them in his creepily airy voice.

Phoebe and Buffy glanced at each other. They knew they were possessed, could actually feel it. But the more they fought the more they lost. It was only a matter of time before they were taken over completely and there was nothing, they knew of that could stop it.

"Please don't make us do this. We don't want to hurt them," Phoebe pleaded.

The Woogyman laughed in response. "The two of you are not strong enough to fight me."

Hours later, they were still seated in the basement. A change had come over Buffy and Phoebe. They filed their nails and wore sexier clothes than either of them normally wore.

"It is almost time. Use your powers." The Woogyman ordered them.

Buffy and Phoebe showed no acknowledgement that he'd spoken to them and instead they conjured red nail polish to replace the bright blue that had been on their nails. They smirked and slowly stood from their chairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Piper reached out to turn the blender on but jerked her hand back as it shocked her. "Fu…" She bit her lip to stop herself from cursing. "Flour…" She amended, tightly shutting her eyes until the pain faded.

"There is lava water spewing from the shower heads. Did you turn up the water heater again?" Prue asked a moment later as she came in the kitchen.

Piper turned slightly to see her eldest sister wrapped in a bathrobe and ready to take a shower. "No… no." Piper answered in confusion. She reached out to turn the food processor on and was again shocked, resulting in another jump backwards. "Ow!" She screeched, turning narrowed eyes to her oldest sister. "Alright, the earthquake must have messed up the wiring or something. Try cooking dinner when your own kitchen is attacking you!"

It was then that they noticed the microwave clock that read six began to blink before turning off completely.

Prue frowned. "Something weird is going on," she said as she saw Buffy and Phoebe come up from the basement. "Am I seeing things? Or did you just come from the basement, Phoebe? Wait, what about the Woogyman?"

Phoebe shrugged as she and Buffy sauntered toward them. "It's just a story, remember?" she said as her eyes flickered to land on a large roasting pan. "What's in there?"

"Duck medallions." Piper answered. She and Prue had decided to have a little family get together so had invited Buffy, Angel and little Padme for dinner. She ran forward when Phoebe started for it. "No, no, that's supposed to be part of dinner." Phoebe stared at her incredulously. "Okay, now I guess it's an appetizer."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Phoebe carried the duck medallions from the kitchen. She sat the pan down on the table. "Anyone hungry?" she asked rhetorically looking at her sisters, Buffy, Angel and little Padme. She pulled the top off. Instead of food a real live duck was under it. "Duck medallions."

Angel pulled the top off and Instead of food, a real and alive duck was under it. "Sans medallions."

Prue forced a laugh to cover her family. "That's my sister, the magician. Usually it's a dove or a rabbit." Prue joked.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Lightly simmering…" Piper whispered to the stove, slowly turning the flame up. It suddenly flamed so high that the pan was engulfed completely by the fire. Piper jumped a little and hastily turned it back down. "Okay, okay." She turned it off and backed away. "Sabotage. I am being sabotaged." Piper accused to no one in particular.

"What seems to be the problem?" Buffy asked, leaning casually against the nearby table.

Piper sighed and slowly turned to Buffy. "There is something terribly wrong with the house," she began but was cut off by a loud gurgling sound behind her. She spun around to find the sink spewing out dirty brown water. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" she exclaimed, running forward. "Buffy, can you get Phoebe or Prue to call a plumber."

Buffy ignored her and followed after her. A knife appeared in her hand that she pointed at Piper's exposed back.

"This is complete and utter disaster! Somebody just kill me now and save me the agony of clean-up!" Piper finished dramatically.

Buffy lifted the knife ready to stab it forward. "Ask and you shall receive."

The knife disappeared as Angel came into the kitchen. "Is everything alright in here?" he wondered and then looked around at the kitchen. "Do you need help, Piper?"

Piper looked over at Angel and saw Buffy leave the kitchen. "Angel, I think the house is possessed."

"How so?" he asked.

"It's a lot of little things," answered Piper.

"Daddy," said little Padme as she walked into the kitchen. "I can't sense mom or Aunty Phoebe."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's like their absent in the Force."

"Is that possible?" Piper asked.

"From what Buffy told me, yes," answered Angel. "During the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious used the Dark Side to cloud the Jedi's ability to perceive the future."

"I think we need to talk to Buffy and Phoebe then," said Piper.