ONE
Phoebe came into the manor and closed the front door behind her. As she did Piper came out of the living room.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Piper asked. "Shouldn't you be at your new apartment?"
"I just thought I'd stop by and pick up a few things," said Phoebe. "If you don't mind. With the latest demon attacks I haven't had much of a chance to do any grocery shopping. Right now I have a bottle of mustard in the 'fridge and a half empty box of crackers in the cabinet. I was hoping I could pick up a few things to tide me over until I get a chance to run to the store."
"Well, I think that can be arranged. Can't have you getting your own apartment only to have you starve to death."
"Thanks. Where's Paige?"
"She said something about looking up something in the Book of Shadows."
"What is she looking up in the book?"
"Apparently nothing," said Paige coming down the stairs. "I couldn't find anything in the book about it at all."
"And just what might that be?" Piper asked. "You hadn't said a word about what you were looking for."
"Those three imposters we just vanquished," said Paige. "I was hoping to find something about them in the Book of Shadows but I can't find anything in the book that fits them."
"They were demons," said Phoebe. "And we vanquished them. Why are you interested in finding out about them?"
"Because they were able to use our powers," said Paige. "Doesn't that make you the least bit curious?"
"Well," said Piper, "Prue had telekinesis. And there have been other demons with the same power. Maybe they just had powers similar to ours."
"And the Oracle and Seer both had premonitions of the future," said Phoebe. "It just stands to reason that with all the magical beings out there that some would have powers similar to ours."
"But those three actually used the Power of Three," said Paige. "Isn't that just a bit suspicious? How could they be able to use the Power of Three? I thought only we could use the Power of Three?"
"Well, she does have a point," Phoebe said to Piper. "Not even those three blonde demons we fought a while back were able to duplicate the Power of Three. And it is kind of suspicious."
"What's suspicious?" asked Leo coming into the living room from the kitchen. "Piper I fixed the drain under the sink. You shouldn't have a problems with it now."
"Thanks, Leo," said Piper.
"So, what's so suspicious?" Leo asked.
"That three demons should be able to use the Power of Three," said Paige. "For the last four years or so you've kept telling me that only we can use the Power of Three and then suddenly three demons pop up and are able to use it."
"Technically they weren't demons," said Leo. "They were doppelgangers."
"What are doppelgangers?" Phoebe asked.
"Doppelgangers are magical beings with the ability to assume the form of any living creature they choose," said Leo.
"Kind of like shape shifters?" questioned Piper.
"They're more than just shape shifters," said Leo. "They also possess a rudimentary form of telepathy that allows them to tap into the minds of the people around them. This lets them blend in better with humans by knowing things the people they're impersonating know."
"So that's how they were able to convince us that one of them was Phoebe," said Paige.
"Well, it doesn't work as well on magical beings as it does on the innocent," said Leo. "That's why you were able to finally see through them. But, yeah, that's how they were able to blend in so well with you. But Paige does have a point. Even doppelgangers shouldn't have been able to use the Power of Three. Even their normal powers shouldn't have been a problem for the three of you."
"See there," Paige said Piper and Phoebe. "I knew there was something suspicious about it. And if they can do it once how do we know they won't try it again?"
"Because we vanquished them?" suggested Piper.
"Paige is right," said Leo. "Whoever was behind them might try again. And although it's never been an issue before there's no guarantee that the three of you would be immune to it. Especially if it's an evil Power of Three."
"Okay, so how were three demons able to use the Power of Three?" Piper asked.
"I don't know," said Leo. "No one has ever been able to duplicate it. Especially using it in conjunction with the real Power of Three. That should not be possible."
"Well, apparently it is," said Paige. "And I think we need to find out how they were able to do it so we can keep them from doing it again."
"She does have a point," said Piper. "If they did it once they might try to do it again."
"Isn't that what I just said?" questioned Leo, smiling.
"Don't get smart," said Piper. "The question is how do we go about learning how they were able to do it?"
"Well, we vanquished the doppelgangers leader," said Phoebe. "Wasn't he the one who was doing it?"
"Not necessarily," said Leo. "Doppelgangers usually work for someone else. Usually a more powerful demon. They rarely go out on their own. So if they were trying to replace the three of you they were probably doing it at the command of something a lot more powerful."
"Which means that whoever or whatever that power is it's still out there," said Paige.
"Exactly," said Leo.
"Which brings us back to our original question," said Piper. "How do we learn who's really behind it and how they did it?"
"There's one way to do it," said Leo. "An operation like that couldn't go on for long without word of it leaking out. Especially to other doppelgangers. If you could find one of them and get it to talk you might be able to find out who's behind it."
"So I guess we need to find us a doppelganger," said Piper.
"I'll check the Book of Shadows," said Paige. "I remember seeing something in there about them when I was looking through it earlier. I'll let you know what I find out."