A/N: Crappy title, I know. But it's a pretty exciting chapter. Usual disclaimers, don't own anything in "Suite Life" or "Charmed." R&R and enjoy.

Chapter 17: The Shadow Rises Again

The elevator doors of the Tipton lobby opened and a troop of leather clad demons marched in. The leader approached the captain of the current patrol.

"Guard change." He growled. The second nodded his head and signaled for his soldiers to follow him. No sooner had the elevator opened when a second group of demons entered, identical to the first.

"Guard change." The leader growled. The other captain looked from the second squad to the first in utter confusion.

"No, they're taking our shift."

"No, we are. You're supposed to switch with the squadron on the prison floor."

"No," called a demon in the back of the ranks, "that's where you're going."

The first demon captain strode warily to the demon who had spoken. "What's the password?"

"Umm…" the demon stammered. "Demons rule?"

Before the captain could say anything further he found himself caught in the back by another's athame. In moments the lobby became a battlefield as the two squads of demons realized what was going on.

"Demons rule?!" Maddie grimaced as the glamour around her and the others faded. "That was the best you could come up with?!"

"I was under pressure!" Arwin cried in earnest, swinging his Morningstar clumsily, but effectively at two of his foes.

"Never mind!" Leo shouted to be heard over the throng of battle as blades and clubs clashed and fireballs were thrown and batted away in all directions. "Maddie, I need you to aim for the back of the ranks! These are swarm demons! If you take out the king, they'll all disappear! Muriel, cover her!"

"You got it hot stuff!" Muriel took a battle position by Maddie, swinging her ball & chain menacingly while roaring at the top of her lungs. Maddie knelt behind her, doing her best to snipe at the back of the ranks while trying not to get hit by Muriel's renegade weapon.

"Lance, Moseby!" Max called. "Get London to the basement!"

Moseby nodded, and jumped in front of London, holding his sword long ways in front of him, bouncing away a fireball that had been intended for her.

Unfortunately one of the captains noticed their endeavor to get to the lower level. "Block the stairs!" Five demons blocked the party's path while more demons shimmered in to enter the fray.

Max bared her teeth in fury, jabbing her knife at a demon who had made a dive for the trio. He jumped back and it missed, barely, but both whitelighter and demon were surprised when purple lightning shot from the weapon. It pierced her enemy in the abdomen, just below his ribcage, vanquishing him instantly. She stared at her athame in shock, trying to figure out how it had managed that kind of power. Then she remembered. Natalia had blessed the athame by channeling her own power into it. The young whitelighter looked back to the demons who were barring their way to the basement.

"Get down!" She warned her friends. They dropped just before she swung her dagger in a broad arc, sending a wave of lightning into their enemies and reducing them to ash. Max smiled at her weapon. "So that's how that feels." This fight was about to get very interesting.

"Occidit una domus"The dark robed priest chanted.

"Occidit una domus" The Heir repeated, his hand on the pages of the Grimoire. He could feel the evils of the world seeping into him, coursing through his veins. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. His throne was only seconds away.

"Omne quas meruere pati poenas" The priest continued.

"Omni quas meruere pati poenas" The Heir gasped with delight. Dark energy erupted from every pore in his gaunt pale body. His piercing grey eyes became as fire and cooled to glassy black orbs. They were completely dark, like inescapable pools of evil. He was The Heir no longer. He stood in the stone chamber, The Source of all Evil. He laughed out loud, cursing the heavens with his very existence.

But his moment of joy was short-lived. The priest made a choking sound in his throat, and The Source watched his face turn red before he imploded.

"I'm sorry." Came the youngest Charmed One's voice. "I think you have the wrong room."

"The Charmed Ones." The Source sneered. "Come to try again? I think you'll find me quite unstoppable without the Hollow."

"We don't need the Hollow." Piper answered defiantly. "We have them."

At that moment the door to the chamber that had once been London's suite burt into flames and Zack, Cody and their mother stormed in, the boys looking more intimidating than their age would allow.

The Source laughed again, tossing his long dark bangs aside. "Two children and their powerless mother, that's the best you could do?"

"Not quite." Came a familiar voice as the great glass window of the balcony swung open. The wind blew in through The Source's black hair, whipping his braid about, his long dark cloak billowing around him. A shadowy cloud swirled from the sky, obscuring the full moon and landed in the room, reforming into the sorceress who had faced him in the grove all those years ago. "I'll erase your face this time." She hissed.

It was something to behold; the Charmed Ones at the right, the young but powerful witches and their mother at the left, and Natalia facing him. Anyone else would have wished to shrivel into nothing as the seven witches stared them down. The Source merely shifted his black gaze from one witch to the next, as if deciding which he hated more.

"Paige, now!" Phoebe cried, pulling the small wooden chest from behind her back and opening it, revealing the pyrite crystals within.

Paige waved her hand over it. "Crystals, circle!" The gleaming crystals were magically orbed around The Source, a cage of energy rising from them to trap him.

The Source touched it with his black-clawed fingers. It forced his hand back with its magical energy. "Ah, the pyrite crystal cage. I believe Prue invented this." He mused, no doubt relishing the reaction his mentioning Prue's name garnered from the Charmed Ones. "Her work was always flawless. You see, awhile ago this might have been a problem, but not anymore." He turned back to the Grimoire which had been caged with him, and flipped the page.

"Hurry, the spell!" Natalia barked.

All seven witches began chanting hurriedly with rehearsed memorization. "Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Mel—"

But The Source was quicker. "Natum adai necral daya intay layok" Deep below them in the basement at the very heart of the hotel, the Nexus rumbled and its power spiraled upward, turning black to reflect its new wielder. It reached the top floor in moments, entering he who summoned it. The Source drank it in, practically drunk on its power. He tore the sleeves of his tunic away to reveal veins bulging along his pale arms. They had turned as dark as his soul. He stretched his arms towards the walls of his prison. Shadows swirled around them, taking on the shape of massive clawed hands that dug into the energy shield then flung outward, shattering the cage and scattering the crystals.

The seven witches were knocked off their feet from the force, sliding backwards. The now all powerful demon lord turned his gaze on Carey who had her arms spread protectively over her young how had been dazed by the blast.

"Take the weakest link," The Source bellowed, his voice now a low rumble, like thunder, "and the rest will follow." The shadowy hands condensed into twin black longswords. With unnatural speed he advanced on Carey, raising his blades high.

Carey wrenched her eyes shut, waiting for the blow, but was surprised to hear the clang of metal. She looked up to see that Natalia—the soul member of the group who had retained her footing—had conjured longswords of her own, alight with violet fire and was defending her from The Source blade on blade.

The sorceress was skilled with the blade, and was holding her own as clang after clang rang through the air, but the Nexus was enhancing The Source's already inhuman strength and speed. He sailed in with his left sword, which Natalia blocked by crossing her blades just before it reached her midriff. He merely smiled before swinging his right hilt into her head. With Natalia stunned, The Source saw his opportunity to spin a powerful kick into her stomach and send her flying backward into the wall to lie in a heap. Her blades slid along the floor, their purple flames extinguished.

Phoebe leapt to her feet and levitated into the air to send a whirling kick of her own into the enemy's head. The Source spun around, blades swinging for Phoebe, but found himself blocked on both sides. Zack and Cody had picked up Natalia's swords and were defending Phoebe from his attack. The swords were alight with Zack's crimson flames, empowering his and Cody's attack. They were not skilled in wielding these weapons, but they were sufficient in knocking away The Source's blades so Phoebe could move in with her own physical attacks.

"Swords!" Paige called, orbing The Source's weapons way from him into her waiting hands. The Source gazed at her briefly, and on their own Paige's hands clenched the hilts of the blades. Without any control, she swung the blades at Piper who had just gotten to her feet, ready to blast. Piper ducked only seconds before her own sister struck her.

"What are you doing?!" Piper shrieked.

"I'm not!" Paige cried. "It's the swords! Piper, get out of the way!" Paige swung down at her sister again. Piper rolled out of harm's way just before the blade came to rest in the ground where she had just been standing. Phoebe was unable to help for The Source was now engaging her in hand to hand. Zack and Cody found that he was batting their blades away as easily as if his hands were steel.

The Source kicked upward, aiming for Phoebe's jaw, forcing her to back-flip out of the way. He seized the chance to grab Zack and Cody's weapons by the blades. He clenched them tightly while they tried to yank them free. Instead, The Source snapped them in half like dried twigs. The twins stared in shock at their broken weapons. The Source grinned with his angular teeth, and with a wave of his arm sent them sliding across the floor.

Phoebe retaliated, but was having trouble keeping up with The Source's blinding speed.

"Zack, do something!" Cody pleaded while he and his brother tried to pull each other to their feet. "Hit him with a fireball!"

"I can't!" Zack cried hopelessly. "I might hit Phoebe!"

Cody looked desperately from his brother, to his mother who was trying to rouse the unconscious sorceress, to Piper who was too busy trying not to get killed by Paige to do anything. As Paige unwillingly swung the swords again, Cody got an idea. He stretched his arm towards Paige's weapons and concentrated with all his might. Paige froze in mid-swing. The blades began to tremble from Cody's pull. All at once they were torn from her hands and sent spinning for The Source.

"Phoebe, duck!"

The middle Halliwell dropped to the floor with warrior's reflexes, not questioning why. The swords spun through the air to strike The Source in the chest, sending him careening into the morbid pedestal that upheld the Grimoire. Somehow it had remained untouched by the battle.

"Zack, now!" Cody shouted, taking his brother's hand. A swirling ray of crimson fire shot from their joined hands and hit The Source with incredible force, growing until it became a pillar of flames that roared around their attacker from the stone floor to the ceiling. The flames were joined by amethyst lightning, and the twins looked up to see that Natalia had risen again to add her power to theirs.

The sisters had also linked hands and begun chanting. "The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free." Three beams of blue energy shot from their joined hands, converging into one and adding its power to the already immense attack. A roar of fury and pain erupted from its center. It was unearthly and inhuman. The pillar of fire and lightning and energy was dispersed, spreading across the entire chamber. The seven witches found themselves once again hurtling across the marble floor.

The Source got to his feet. His cloak and tunic were torn and singed. His long black hair had fallen from its braid and now hung wildly about his face and shoulders.

"THIS ENDS NOW!!" He put his hands together, forming an orb of dark energy between them. He pulled his hands apart as it expanded. Black lightning was charging visibly from it. It grew until the ceiling could no longer be seen. The Source of all Evil rose into the air, raising the enormous black orb high, preparing to crush his enemies. All they could do now was wait for the end to come.

The rag-tag group of hotel staff, plus two whitelighters and a CEO had finally managed to get London to the basement where the crater that had once housed the Nexus stood open and ominous in its center. Hurriedly, the group blocked its door, trying to barricade themselves from the swarm demons, still in hot pursuit.

"London, hurry the spell!"

"Right!" London reached into her boot for the piece of paper she had written the spell on. "Naytoom—" she began a little incorrectly, but before she could read the rest screamed as a stray fireball shot from the narrow opening in the door, burning the spell to cinders. "The spell! It's gone!"

"Don't you remember it?!" Maddie demanded, taking a position beside her, ready to fire her crossbow the moment the swarm demons broke down the door.

"No! Do I look like I think ahead?!" A crash sounded outside the door as the demons began ramming it with zeal. The group, who had their backs pressed firmly against the door, were forced forward a few steps before they could reposition themselves. Max's athame was thrown from her hand, and slid uselessly to the farthest corner of the room.

"Come on London, try!" Maddie encouraged frantically.

"Hurry London!" Moseby shouted through the strain of trying to withstand another blow to the door. "We can't hold this door much longer!"

"I think my liver's gonna EXPLODE!" Muriel shrieked.

There was another crash that sent Leo to the concrete floor. Max panicked and tried to help him up, weakening the hold on the door further.

"London." Maddie took her friend by the shoulder. "Remember what you said when you found out that your father was going to sell this hotel? This place is your home, and we're your family. Now's your chance to fight back and do something about it. I know you can do it.

London stared back at her friend as inspiration from her words struck her. Maddie dropped back to her knees, drawing the crossbow.

London clenched both hands around the hilt of her longsword. She closed her eyes and breathed in. Just as the door gave way and the others were sent tumbling over each other, London snapped her eyes open.

"Natum adai necral daya intay layok"