Chapter 57: Power Outage

Buffy, Prue, Piper and Phoebe are sitting in an alcove at Payson's. Phoebe is looking around for Cole.

"Alright, look, we know that Belthazor is not going to stop until he kills us. Phoebe? Phoebe!" Prue says as Phoebe looks at her. "Hi. I hate to interrupt your whole staring off into space aimlessly thing that you've got going on right now but in case you forgot, evil triad agent."

"Like you would even let me forget, Prue." Phoebe says.

Prue sighs, "Well, if he's as powerful of a demon as Leo says he is, he is probably gonna be immune to our powers. That's why we need to practice our counterattacks so the next time he shows up, we can get some demon flesh."

"White meat or dark meat?" Buffy asks.

Prue sighs, "I don't like the idea of demon fillet either, but it might help us with the vanquishing potion. Hello? Pheebs?"

Phoebe nods, "Cole is forty-five minutes late. You would think he would be on time after he sleeps with a girl, you know."

"Can we fast forward? Because I got Fastball coming in in a couple of days and I need to get some stuff done." Piper says.

Phoebe smiles, "Cole!" She stands up as she sees Cole is walking towards them. "He's here, he's here."

"Alright, we are practicing the, uh..." Prue says.

Cole approaches them. "Sorry I'm late."

Phoebe smiles, "It's okay."

"The earthquake drill tomorrow at 3:00." Prue says.

Buffy rolls her eyes.

"I'm sorry, madam president, but I have a doctors appointment." Piper says.

"And Giles has me doing some stuff." Buffy says.

"Buffy, Piper, you never know when an earthquake is going to strike." Prue says.

Piper sighs, "I guess not. I guess I will reschedule then."

Buffy nods, "I'll talk to Giles see what can be done."

"Phoebe, we, uh, need to talk." Cole says.

Prue nods, "Uh, Phoebe, earthquake drill tomorrow at 3:00."

Phoebe nods, "Okay, but if you need me there by 3:00 you have to lend me your car because I have class right after it."

Prue nods, "That's fine, just try not to leave my gas tank on empty this time."

"I left your gas tank empty once, okay, get over it, let it go." Phoebe says.

Prue shakes her head, "Twice."

"I'm sorry, what-what were you saying?" Phoebe says.

"Actually, if we could, uh..." Cole says.

Prue frowns, "Oh, and Pheebs, I need the car back by 5:00 because I have a photo shoot at Payson's tomorrow."

Piper frowns, "Payson's? Did you forget to inform the manager of Payson's? Or did you talk to the owner?"

Buffy shakes her head, "Didn't talk to me."

Prue shakes her head, "I'm sorry but my location fell out at the last moment and I couldn't find you or Buffy and I thought that you both would say yes."

Piper nods, "Of course you did and did you forget about our home owners meeting that's at our house tomorrow afternoon?"

"I totally spaced. Uh, Pheebs, Buffy, will either of you cover for me?" Prue asks.

Phoebe shakes her head, "No way. In the last one it took them two and a half hours to decide where to put the garden gnomes."

"Um, alright, do you want the car or not?" Prue asks.

Phoebe glares at Prue, "Hate you."

Prue shakes her head, "No you don't you love me."

Buffy sighs, "I could do it, I guess."

Piper nods, "I'd love to get back to work. Okay, you two kids behave."

Buffy, Prue and Piper walk away.

The next morning. Prue is on the phone and Buffy and Piper are sitting at the table.

"No, I'm planning on getting to Payson's early to confirm the stylist. Alright, I'll see you there. Bye." Prue says before she hangs up. "Hey, where's Phoebe?"

Phoebe walks in. "I'm here. Do you guys know if Cole called?"

Piper shakes her head, "Not since the last time you asked."

Phoebe nods, "Okay, I need some sisterly advice. Is he doing the whole blow her off after sex thing and I'm just not reading the signs?"

"Probably not since the signs Prue read as an empath prove that he loves you." Buffy says.

Phoebe sighs, "Okay, well, supernatural guarantees aside, I am getting the feeling that he is avoiding me. I have no idea where we stand."

"Well, maybe it's got something to do with whatever he's hiding from me." Prue says.

Belthazor barges through the door.

"Demon!" Phoebe says as she levitates in the air and kicks him. He falls against the table. Belthazor throws out an electric spark.

"Piper, watch out." Piper freezes it. Prue astral projects onto the table behind Belthazor. "Uh, excuse me." She kicks him in the head. Prue flips off the table. Buffy throws a fireball. "Piper, now."

Piper picks up a knife and slices his neck. Belthazor changes into Leo.

"Ouch, you got skin." Leo says.

Prue astral projects back in her body.

"Hey, Leo, do you think you can make yourself look like Brad Pitt?" Phoebe asks.

Prue shakes her head, "Alright you guys, that was, um, good. Although, Phoebe, I think you need more force on your kick and Piper, a little less hesitating on the slicing and dicing, okay. Should we try it again?"

"No, I'd like to have a boyfriend left when this is over." Piper says.

Phoebe nods, "Okay, where are your keys, Prue?"

"Hey, don't forget to pick up food for the homeowners meeting." Prue says.

Phoebe nods, "Okay, how am I possibly gonna pick up food when I have to get your car back right away?"

"Well, I can't do it, I have to prep for my shoot." Prue says.

"Well don't look at me. It might look a little suspicious if I flame out holding a bag f groceries." Buffy says.

Prue and Phoebe look at Piper.

Piper sighs, "What? Don't look at me. I guess I'll reschedule my doctors appointment again. Buffy I could use your help."

Buffy nods, "Sure, my sister."

Later the home owners meeting is being held in the living room. The neighbours are arguing.

In the kitchen Leo enters as Piper and Buffy starts to carry trays of food out.

"Oh, watch the- uh-" Leo says.

Buffy trips over Prue's tripod, which is lying on the floor under the table. Leo catches her and manages to save the tray of food.

Buffy frowns, "Oh! Ohhh... Prue! Welcome to Prue's world of cluttered photography."

Piper sighs, "I can't believe I got roped into this."

"Me neither," Buffy says.

Leo hands Buffy back the tray as they head back to the table. "How did you get roped into heading the refreshment committee?"

"They didn't have time." Piper says.

"And you two do?" Leo asks.

Piper nods, "Well, my doctor's appointment doesn't count as high priority."

"I had to get Faith to take over patrol tonight." Buffy says.

Leo nods, "Well, couldn't you make something simpler, you know, chips and dip?"

Piper shakes her head, "Leo, I was a chef. I can't make chips and dip."

Buffy shakes her head, "Don't look at me. Piper's still teaching me to cook."

"Maybe you two need to tell your Prue and Phoebe how you feel. Better yet, next time just say no." Leo says.

Piper sighs, "Okay, Leo, you obviously do not have sisters. One minute you're arguing about something and then suddenly you're arguing about who stole who's Malibu Barbie in 1979."

Buffy nods in agreement.

Prue walks in. "Hey, is Phoebe home yet?"

Piper shakes her head, "No, and where-where's all the mineral water?"

"Uh, there's some down in the basement." Prue says.

"I'll get it." Leo says and he goes down in the basement.

"Prue it would be nice if you moved your equipment. If not for Leo I would have dropped this tray of food." Buffy says motions towards the tripod.

Buffy and Piper carries plates of food into the living room.

"It's our property, it's our money and we are building a fence."

Piper smiles, "Goat cheese pizza and onion tartlets for the vegetarians..."

"We want our privacy because we've had enough of your snooping."

"Snooping?"

Buffy nods, "And the chicken satay has peanuts in case anybody's allergic."

Phoebe sneaks in.

"Phoebe, nice of you to show." Piper says.

Phoebe smiles, "Uh, Piper? Buffy? She walks over to Buffy and Phoebe. "I need a huge favour. Can I talk to you upstairs?"

Buffy shakes her head, "Oh, no you don't."

The neighbours start arguing. Phoebe starts to go upstairs.

"Phoebe." Piper says and she freezes the neighbours. "Phoebe, this is not fair."

"I know it's not but the last thing I expected was for Cole to ask me out, okay. So could you please cover for me?" Phoebe says.

Buffy shakes her head, "Piper already rescheduled my doctors appointment twice. And I had to talk Faith into patrolling for me tonight."

"Well, Leo was a doctor before he died." Phoebe says. "Buffy we can give Faith the night off tomorrow while you and I patrol for her then."

Piper shakes her head, "That's really not the point."

Phoebe sighs, "I know, and I would never ask but this is important. He wants to have the talk. You know, are we a couple, are we a one-nighter, are we friends, are we friends that had a one-nighter?"

Buffy sighs, "Okay, we get it."

Leo walks in. "Ever planning on unfreezing the neighbours?"

"Buffy, Piper, just this once. You both know how much I want this relationship to work." Phoebe says.

Piper sighs, "Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice." Phoebe hugs Piper and Buffy and runs upstairs. "You are so helping us run this meeting."

The Elders call Leo.

"They're calling." Leo says.

Buffy frowns, "Uh, no, no, no."

Leo orbs out.

Piper frowns, "Leo." He drops the bottle he was holding and Piper catches it. "Chicken!"

"Big chicken!" Buffy says.

Piper unfreezes the neighbours.

"Your fence will block the sun for my flowers."

"Well, then I suggest you take it up with the sun."

"Oh, great, great idea."

Piper shakes her head, "Okay, uh, why don't you build a shorter fence? Or move your flower bed?"

"No, it is not my azaleas that are the problem."

The neighbours continue arguing. The doorbell rings.

"I got it," Buffy says.

"Okay, everyone please just try and calm down." Piper says.

Buffy walks into the foyer and opens the door to find Cole standing there, "Hey Cole." She turns towards the stairs. "PHOEBE! Cole's here."

Phoebe runs past into the foyer. "Bye, honey."

"Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe! Those are my earrings." Piper calls from the living room. Phoebe heads out the front foor. "Hey!"

Andras is standing outside looking in. A ball of light comes out of his hand and hits Piper. Buffy walks back into the living room and she too is hit by a ball of light.

"Okay, everybody shut up!" Piper says as everyone shuts up. "I have had it with your petty problems and your stupid fence and your stupid flower beds. There are bigger problems in the world to worry about. Just get a life and grow up!"

"Ugh, you can't speak to us like that."

Buffy frowns, "Oh yeah?" She throws a plate of food at them. "Everybody get out of our house! Get out of our house before we throw you out."

"With pleasure."

"Perhaps we should build a fence to keep you in."

"Good idea." Piper says.

"I'll speak to Prue about the way you two behave."

Buffy scoffs, "Even better idea! Move it! Move it! Move it!" Everyone leaves. "And stay out!"

In the kitchen Prue is on the phone. "I'm sorry I didn't make it." Buffy and Piper walks in. "No, I didn't forget. I loaned my car to someone and obviously..." Buffy and Piper slams down a plate of food on the table. "They forgot to fill the tank." She looks to Piper and Buffy, "Keep it down will you?" She speaks into the phone. "Alright, one more chance is all that I'm asking for." She looks to Piper and Buffy. "Where's Phoebe?"

"The little witch is not home yet." Piper says.

"No, tomorrow at Payson's will not be a problem. Okay." Prue says.

Buffy shakes her head, "Actually, excuse me." She takes the phone off of Prue. "Hi, actually, you know what? It is a problem. Find someplace else for your shoot." She hangs up.

Prue frowns, "Okay, alright, do you have any idea who that was?"

Buffy shrugs, "I couldn't care less."

"What is your problem?" Prue asks.

Piper frowns, "You are. Get your own damn club and keep your paws off of Buffy's.

Prue frowns, "Okay, whoa, obviously somebody needs a Midol."

Buffy nods, "And I am so sick of all your stuff lying around. If you can't put your equipment away then I will." She throws one of Prue's camera lens on the floor.

Andras is watching from outside. Another ball of light shoots out of his hand and hits Prue.

"Ooh, ooh!" Prue says as she looks around and picks up the blender Buffy gave Piper as a birthday gift. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She throws the blender on the floor.

Buffy, Prue and Piper walk into the living room.

"Sure, you can use Payson's for a photo shoot. Hello? Remember me?" Buffy says.

Phoebe walks in.

"Oh, poor Buffy. Well, you know what? The martyr routine's getting old." Prue says.

Phoebe frowns, "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

"Shut up!" Prue, Piper and Buffy says.

"You know what? I am so sorry that I didn't check with you about your stupid little club, I was too busy being the only witch concerned about the triad." Prue says.

"Oh, right, without the mighty Prue Halliwell we'd all be dead. Get over yourself, Prue." Piper says.

Phoebe frowns, "Guys, what has gotten into you three?"

"By the way, you owe me for a car tow and a tank of gas, you little leech." Prue says.

Phoebe shakes her head, "I'm sorry, is it gang up on Phoebe day and nobody told me?"

"News flash! The world does not revolve around Phoebe." Piper says.

Prue nods, "Yes, so while you get to spend the night screwing the DA, we are stuck picking up your slack."

A ball of light shoots out of Andras and hits Phoebe.

"What's the matter, Prue? Jealous?" Phoebe says. "All work and no play making you even more boring?"

Prue glares, "Oh, yeah, there's a lot to be jealous of. Jealous that I'm still in school, jealous that I'm still unemployed and jealous that I am still living off of my sisters."

"Yeah, Grams said that you'd never amount to anything." Piper says.

"I am so sick of the fact that I've been saddled with the two of you my entire life. I'm sick of having to be saddled with you too, Buffy." Prue says.

"Whatever, I'm leaving." Phoebe says.

"Oh, sure, you're such an immature brat, you leave every time you can't hack something." Piper says.

"Well, there's nothing keeping me here, now is there?" Phoebe says.

"Oh, well, I see that you've inherited your dad's talent of bailing." Buffy says.

"That's because the two of us couldn't deal with living with the two of them." Phoebe says motioning towards Piper and Prue. "Or it seems with you Buffy."

"Well, at least I'm not so stupid I had to do college twice." Piper says.

"Well, at least I actually had the courage to go away to college. What's the matter, Piper? The real world too much for you? I am so sick of the two of you ganging up on me and judging me." Phoebe says.

"I am so sick of saving your asses." Prue says.

"I'm sick of being taken for granted and those are mine." Piper says as she rips off Phoebe's earrings.

Phoebe frowns, "Ouch! Bitch!"

"So am I," Buffy says.

"At least I didn't run away when the going got tough." Prue says.

Phoebe high kicks Piper but Piper ducks. Buffy pushes Phoebe into Prue and Prue pushes her against a chair. Phoebe throws a piece of Prue's camera equipment at Prue and she blocks it with her power. It flies back towards Phoebe, Phoebe levitates and it passes under her legs towards Piper who freezes it. Buffy powers up a fireball and throws it at Prue who deflects it and it hits the wall beside the painting Buffy gave Prue for her camera piece unfreezes, hits a photo frame and it falls off the wall. Phoebe leaves.

Upstairs in the attic the triquetra on both Books Of Shadows splits apart.

Later Prue is cleaning up some broken glass. Buffy and Piper bends down beside her.

"Here." Buffy and Piper says.

Prue shakes her head, "It's alright."

Piper smiles, "I'll get it."

Prue smiles, "Thanks."

Leo orbs in.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asks.

"You tell me." Leo says.

Piper shrugs, "Well, we had a little..."

"Tiff." Prue says.

Leo nods, "Must've been more than little because "they" felt it."

"What do you mean "they felt it"?" Buffy asks.

Leo sighs, "What ever happened severed not only the power of three but the entire family magic."

"Leo, that's impossible." Prue says.

Leo picks up a glass bowl. "Freeze this." He drops it, Piper tries to freeze it and it smashes on the floor.

"Uhh..." Piper says.

Buffy tries to flame out but nothing happens, "Uh grounded."

Prue tries to move the glass. "What happened to our powers?"

Leo nods, "That's what we have to figure out. Let's start with your little tiff."

"Well, that's a bit of an understatement. It was big." Piper says.

"How big?" Leo asks.

"Um, do you remember Pearl Harbor?" Buffy asks.

"Okay, so what triggered it?" Leo asks.

Piper shrugs, "I-I don't know. Just little things I guess. I really didn't wanna do the stupid meeting and..."

"Neither did I." Buffy says.

"My car ran out of gas and because of that I missed my job." Prue says.

"That's it?" Leo asks.

Piper nods, "Yeah, I mean, it's weird. We were angry but we shouldn't have been that angry. It was almost like something..."

Buffy nods, "Something sort of came over us."

"Yeah, something like Belthazor." Prue says.

Leo shakes his head, "That doesn't track because no matter what he does, he doesn't have the power to take away yours. So back to your argument. You yelled and you threw stuff?"

Piper nods, "Well, we did a little more than that."

"We used our powers." Buffy says.

Leo frowns, "What, on each other? Alright, well, then that's what happened. Your powers are rooted in your bond as sisters - as family. Using them against each other must have severed that bond. Alright, you-you-you need to repair the damage of your relationship fast because without your powers, you are extremely vulnerable. So you need to get Phoebe..."

"Phoebe's gone." Prue says.

Leo frowns, "Gone? Gone where?"

"Just gone." Buffy says.

Later in the attic Piper and Prue are scrying for Phoebe. Buffy and Leo is looking through both Book of Shadows.

Piper shakes her head, "Nothing. I-I can't find her. We don't even have basic powers anymore."

"I can not believe this is happening." Prue says.

Buffy nods, "Prue I'm sorry for some of the things I said earlier."

Prue nods, "I'm sorry too Buffy. You know I love you, right?"

Buffy nods, "Yeah and I love you. You like Piper and Phoebe are more then just my cousins your my sisters."

Prue walks over and hugs Buffy.

Piper smiles as she watches Prue and Buffy, "What I don't understand is how could Belthazor make us that angry? That's not his power."

Leo shakes his head, "No, it's not, but it is his." Prue, Buffy and Piper look at the Charmed Book.

"Andras, the spirit of rage. Uses anger as a portal to enrage his victims until they commit a grievous act of violence." Piper reads.

Prue nods, "Yeah, but that doesn't really explain everything. I mean, even if our fight was supernaturally amped, Andras magnifies anger into rage, he doesn't just create it out of thin air."

Buffy sighs, "So we gave him the opening."

Leo nods, "And he took full advantage."

Later Prue's on the phone. "If you hear from her just tell her to come home, okay, it's an emergency. Thanks." She hangs up. "So she's not at the club and none of her friends has seen her."

Piper nods, "Did you try Cole?"

"No answer." Prue says.

Buffy nods, "If something happens to her I'll never forgive myself."

Leo shakes his head, "Nothing's gonna happen."

"Leo, something happened to Grams, something happened to mom, it kind of runs in the family." Piper says.

Phoebe walks in.

Prue smiles, "Phoebe, thank god."

"Has the tribal council spoken? Am I booted off the island?" Phoebe asks.

Piper hugs Phoebe. "Are you okay?"

Phoebe nods, "Yeah."

Buffy hugs Phoebe, "I'm sorry Pheebs."

Phoebe smiles, "I'm sorry too, Buffy."

Piper nods, "Where were you?"

"I was at Cole's. And after a lot of talking and a lot of tears, he convinced me to come home and deal with what happened." Phoebe says.

"Belthazor is what happened." Prue says.

Phoebe frowns, "What?"

Piper nods, "Abbreviated version, he used some underling spirit to enrage us and when we fought we lost our powers. No more triquetra, no more power of three, no more family magic period. Even Buffy lost her powers."

"What, we have no powers? But that means that..." Phoebe says.

Prue nods, "That he's gonna try and come try kill us. Which, when you didn't come home, we thought that he had already..."

Phoebe shakes her head, "No, it's okay, I'm fine. So what do we do? A spell, a vanquish, a potion?"

"You need to try and restore your bond as sisters. I'll give you some privacy." Leo says before he leaves.

"A potion would be easier, huh?" Buffy says.

Piper nods, "Oh, yeah. Um, Phoebe, Grams didn't say you'd never amount to anything. That was just me being mean. She was, is, very proud of you."

Phoebe smiles, "We all know that sometimes I'm not the most responsible person in the world."

Prue shakes her head, "No, Phoebe, that's all kind of ancient history, isn't it? I mean, you've grown up a lot and I'm sorry if I don't treat you like you have all the time."

Phoebe nods, "It's okay. Since mom died..."

Buffy looks to Prue, "Prue, you can use Payson's any time you want."

"Thanks Buffy, that's most generous of you. Next time I will ask you and Piper beforehand though." Prue says.

Piper nods, "Prue, you did take care of us and you do still look out for us all the time and we don't always say thank you. Sometimes we take you for granted."

Prue nods, "I don't think I'm the one who's been taken for granted around here. You know, who needs Oprah when we can do it ourselves?"

They giggle.

"Do you think we have our powers back?" Phoebe asks.

Belthazor bursts through the door.

"Oh!" Prue tries to use her power. "Alright, no, you try."

Piper tries to freeze him. "No, mine aren't working either."

Buffy tries to power up a fireball, "No dice."

"We worked on our issues." Phoebe says.

Leo runs up behind Belthazor and slams a chair over his back. Belthazor hits him in the face.

"Leo!" Piper says.

Prue shakes her head, "No, wait. You guys run, I'll hold him off."

Buffy shakes her head, "No, Prue, we're in this together." The triquetra on both Books of Shadows joins back up. "Look, the Books."

Prue uses her power and knocks the knife out of Belthazor's hand. Belthazor throws a lightning ball at them. Buffy throws a fireball and it collides with the lightning ball causing an explosion in mid-air. Buffy throws another fireball and hits Belthazor and Andras gets knocked out of him.

"Okay, that's new." Prue says.

"Demon with demon filling." Phoebe says.

Belthazor looks to Andras, "Nobody crosses me."

A lightning ball hits Andras and he is vanquished. Belthazor picks up the knife.

"Okay, positions." Prue says.

Belthazor walks towards Phoebe and she kicks him in the face.

"Uh, Piper?" Buffy says.

Piper freezes the knife he throws at her. "Whoa."

Prue astral projects behind Belthazor and kicks him in the back just as Buffy throws a fireball at him.

Piper plucks the knife out of the air and slices Belthazor. A chunk of skin falls to the ground. Belthazor roars. He grabs Piper's arm, twists it and hits her in the face. She falls to the floor. Prue astral projects back in her body. She uses her power and Belthazor crashes through the window. He disappears. Buffy, Prue and Phoebe run over to to the window.

"He's gone." Phoebe says.

Prue nods, "At least for now."

Leo helps Piper up.

"Ow. Are you okay?" Piper says.

Leo nods, "Yeah. Good thing I'm already dead. Did you get him?"

Piper smiles, "Ooh, yeah." She picks up the skin. "I got a slice."

"Mmm, yum, the other white meat." Buffy says.

Prue laughs and hugs Buffy.

"Better him than me." Leo says.

Phoebe nods, "Well, at least now we can work on the vanquishing potion."

Prue nods, "Well, better hurry before Belthazor's encore."

Later at Payson's Fastball is on stage playing. Prue walks up to Buffy, Piper and Phoebe who are sitting in the alcove. She sits down.

"Hey, how did the photo session go?" Phoebe asks.

Prue sighs, "Not as good as if it had been done here but definitely better for our relationship."

Piper nods, "Like Buffy said just let us know beforehand we'll be happy to accommodate you."

Prue smiles, "Oh, I promise. By the way, how was your doctor's appointment?"

"It was fine. Everything was normal except my stress level." Piper says.

"Oh, I don't mean to stress you out even more but I ran into Ellen and Claire and they said they worked everything out with Mrs. Snyder. What did you two say to them anyway?" Phoebe asks.

Buffy shakes her head, "Oh, nothing, We just spoke our minds."

Prue nods, "Maybe you two should handle all the meetings."

Piper shakes her head, "No. Absolutely not. Right, Buffy?"

Phoebe smiles, "Wow, you're getting good at saying no."

"Right, my sister." Buffy says. "Though I should stop saying that since you are all my sisters."

Piper smiles, "Thank you."

Prue shakes her head, "You don't have to do that Buffy…"

Buffy shakes her head, "Prue you are not only my legal guardian, or my cousin. But you, Phoebe and Piper are my sisters. And calling Piper my sister is ignoring the fact that you and Phoebe are as well."

Phoebe nods, "Anyway, I think it's good that we got everything out on the table. And for the sake of innocents everywhere, I think we should always tell each other how we feel."

"Well, not always. We might kill each other." Piper says.

Phoebe nods, "Okay, then most of the time. Just enough to keep demons away from splitting us up."

"I agree with that." Prue and Buffy says.

Phoebe looks around for Cole.

"Haven't heard from Cole yet, huh?" Prue asks.

Phoebe shakes her head, "No. I still can't figure that guy out. But I will."