Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. Had a huge writers block for both of my fics that I just couldn't get past till now.
Chapter 40: Plan of Attack
"Micky, are you sure you're feeling ok?" Mike asked the next morning as the two of them woke up. Micky nearly snapped back that he was fine because he was getting a little irritated that Mike kept asking him. Neither of them had slept well, which was understandable, but every time Mike had woken up and seen Micky awake, he'd asked him the same question. Micky had to remind himself that Mike was concerned about him, and considering that Mike's greatest fear was failing them, Micky couldn't fault Mike for wanting so much to make sure that they were all ok. So instead of snapping at him, Micky took a deep breath and slowly answered.
"I'm fine, Mike," Micky answered. "Neither of us are sleeping all that well."
"I know," Mike answered. "I'm just worried about you."
"I know you are," Micky answered getting out of bed. "But I'm fine. I just need a little time."
"I understand," Mike answered also getting out of bed. "But you know I'm here if you need to talk."
"I know," Micky answered. Not wanting to talk about it at all anymore, he walked downstairs to take a shower. When he finished and walked into the living room, he realized that Mike, Peter and Davy all suddenly stopped talking. Which meant they were talking about him. Micky sighed and walked right past them up to his room without saying anything. He really didn't want to deal with this. He lay down on his bed, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw those images flood through his mind again. Mike in his arms bleeding to death. Davy choking to death. Peter on the ground with a broken neck. No matter what he did, he couldn't erase what he'd seen from his mind. Because of this, Micky only really slept for about 15 minutes at a time which made him really tired. Micky was about to fall asleep again when he heard a soft knock on the door.
"Micky?" Mike asked poking his head in carefully. Even though his eyes were still closed and he was still lying on the bed, Micky could tell Davy and Peter were right behind him.
"Look," Micky said too tired and frustrated to keep himself from snapping angrily at his friends this time. "I get that you are all concerned about me, but please stop asking if I'm ok. I'm fine. I can't sleep, so I'm tired. I'm sure none of you are sleeping either. So how about you all just drop it and leave me alone!"
"Ok, we get it," Mike said defensively. "We all went through a lot, and that's why I want to suggest that we take care of this."
"Take care of this?" Micky echoed.
"Kick the Devil's butt," Davy said.
"I don't know, guys," Peter said. "I don't think it's such a good idea to do this."
"You really want to go after the Devil after what he just did to us?" Micky asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Mike answered. "What he did to you guys is unforgivable. He needs to be stopped."
"And what makes you think that we would survive?" Micky demanded. "You seriously want to throw us directly into harm's way?"
"Of course I don't want to do that!" Mike defended. "But I am not just going to stand by and do nothing while he attacks us!"
"You haven't seen what he can do," Micky snapped, the image of Mike bleeding flashing through his mind. Mike and the others were silent for a moment. Mike sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Look, I know what you saw was bad, Micky," Mike said calmly. "But by bringing the fight to him, we take him by surprise and we have the upper hand."
"The upper hand against a demon?" Micky asked. "That's not much."
"You were able to hurt him," Mike said. "Twice. So we know it's possible to hurt him. If we hurt him enough, he'll back off and leave us alone. Until then, I'm not going to be able to sleep because I'll be too busy wondering if the Devil is going to turn you into a demon tomorrow."
"Are you going to go fight him alone if we don't go with you?" Micky asked.
"If I have to," Mike said.
"Mike, that would be dangerous," Peter said. "Please don't do that."
"I am not going to let anything else happen to you," Mike said. "I plan on talking to Piper and doing as much preparation as I can on this."
"I agree with Peter," Micky said. "I think this is more of a vengeance thing. You want to go after him because you want him to pay for what he did to us. That's not a good reason to go against him. With intentions like that, you're only going to get yourself hurt."
"We do need to stop him," Davy said.
"I also agree there," Micky sighed. "I'll tell you what: I'll agree to do this if you calm down and lay off the vengeance motive. I am not going to have that illusion come true. If you go into this with a vengeful mind, you're going just have a clouded mind and not be able to think clearly which will get you killed."
"I don't know," Peter said slowly. "I still don't like it. I don't want to fight anyone. Especially after what just happened."
"He's not human, Peter," Davy pointed out. "And if we don't do something, he's going to do a lot worse to us than we could do to him."
"I understand that," Peter said. "But I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of this."
"If we sit around and do nothing waiting for the next attack, we're just going to get hurt anyway," Mike pointed out. "Probably even worse. I don't want anyone getting hurt either, but we have to do this. We aren't really left with much of a choice here."
"I guess not," Peter finally admitted.
"Micky?" Mike asked. "Are you in?"
"I guess I have to be," Micky said. "Let's go talk to Piper. Tell her what happened and hope she can help us figure out a way to get to him. It won't be easy and it won't be pretty, but we will die if we go in unprepared. And remember what I said about having a clear mind, Mike." He wasn't happy about it, but there was no way he'd let his friends go after the Devil alone. He would not let his illusion come true. He would die long before they ever did.
Down in the Underworld, the Devil was finally happy. He'd finally been able to at least make them suffer. Yes, he would have enjoyed it so much more if he could have prolonged their suffering, but he'd take whatever victory he could get right now. But he'd also learned something from the ordeal; these boys would make powerful allies. All these boys had been able to overcome and fight him in the past. That meant they were not to be fooled around with or taken lightly. They each had their own strengths and they would each make formidable demons. If he could somehow turn each of them, not only would he gain powerful minions to do his dirty work, but he would also see their souls suffer for the rest of eternity.
The one thing that protected them was their bond. Without that bond, they would easily crumble and succumb to their inner darkness. If he could figure out a way to break that bond, he could break them and he would get what he wanted. He paced his chambers thinking of a way to accomplish this task, but he realized their bond was just too strong. Especially after what he'd just put them through. He couldn't break them by pitting them against each other and nothing else would work. The only thing that would work would be to make sure they had never met in the first place. But that would entail going back in time, and he didn't have that power. He searched his brain for a demon that did have that power and how he could get the demon to do his dirty work.
The demon Tempus had been killed years ago, so he wouldn't be able to help. There were several other demons that could open time portals, but the portals were not reliable. You often would never know where or when you would end up, and that wouldn't do for the Devil. He had to figure out a way he could go back in time and split the quartet up before they ever met. Then their bond would never have been formed and he could bend them to his will a lot easier. Then it hit him: there was one being that could do exactly what he wanted, but he knew convincing him wouldn't be easy. This was not a being to be trifled with. He would be hard to find and track down and it would be even harder to convince him to assist the Devil. But the Devil would have to figure that out as he searched for him.
"Are you guys sure you want to do this?" Piper asked setting a stack of books on the table in her shop. They had come over an hour earlier and told her what had happened and what their new plans were.
"Yes," Mike said firmly trying to sound confident despite the fact his stomach was knotted in fear. Fear more for his friends than himself.
"You can't kill him," Piper said. "He's immortal."
"We understand that," Mike answered. "But if we can do something to get him to leave us alone, we have to do it."
"Ok," Piper said. "If your mind is set on this, then at least let me help."
"That's why we're here," Micky said. "We need you to tell us whatever you can about how to get to him and how to hurt him."
"That's not what I meant," Piper said. "There's no way you're going to get anywhere near him without me. I'm going with you. The Underworld is a very dangerous place full of demons and other terrible creatures you wouldn't even be able to dream up in your worst nightmares."
"I don't want you getting hurt," Micky argued.
"I'll be fine," Piper answered. "I haven't been to the Underworld often, but I've been a few times while chasing a demon or two. Trust me; you would not be able to survive without me. The Underworld can play lots of tricks with magic. I can't even guarantee that my powers would work well enough down there, but I can get you out if things start to look bad, and I can do what I can with spells and potions. You need me."
"Alright, fine," Mike said before Micky could argue with her. Mike knew Micky didn't really want to do this and bringing his girlfriend with him into such a dangerous place would surely set him off even more, but Mike knew Piper was right: they'd never make it out without her. He tried not to look at Micky, but he could feel the glare Micky shot him across the table. "Start telling us what we need to know."
"First, I can't bring you down there myself," she answered. "You're mortals with no powers, so you'll need a special passage into the Underworld and I doubt that even then you'd be brought near the Devil. Which means you'll need to navigate through the Underworld till you find him."
"So how do we get to him?" Davy asked. "How do we get this special passage?"
"We should be able to get passage into the Underworld from Charon," Piper said.
"Charon?" Peter asked. "You mean the Greek ferryman?"
"That's the one," Piper answered.
"Who's that?" Davy asked.
"In ancient Greece, Charon would transport the souls of the recently deceased into Hades across the river Styx," Peter answered. "But I thought that was just mythology."
"Well, most people don't think demons and witches exist either," Piper said with a slight smile.
"So how do we get in touch with this Charon person?" Mike asked. "I really don't want to have to die to get in contact with him."
"We don't have to," Piper answered. "There is a spell to summon him, but we'd have to do it in an area of death."
"What does that mean?" Davy asked.
"A graveyard," Micky answered. "If I recall, don't we have to pay him or something? They put coins in the mouths of the dead to act as payment, right?"
"Yes, but I have a friend who can give us some," Piper said. "We don't have to worry about that. What you have to worry about is how you're going to traverse through the Underworld and how you're going to fight the Devil. You have no powers, so you'll have to compensate in another way. Until I say you guys are ready, I'm not going to summon Charon."
"How do we compensate?" Peter asked. "More potions like the one we used on the doors at the house?"
"Yes," Piper answered. "I can definitely make some potions for you all and teach you what they are used for, but you'll also need knowledge. And most importantly, clear heads. You cannot afford to have any sense of hesitation. You also cannot afford to have your bond weaken at all. Got it? Mike? Micky?"
"Why are you singling us out?" Micky asked.
"Because you are the one only one sending Mike eye daggers," Piper answered as she walked in between another set of shelves to get more books. Mike grabbed a book off the top of the stack to absently flip through it and said absolutely nothing. He knew why Micky was mad at him. Mike wouldn't stop asking him if he was ok or pressuring him to talk about his feelings. Mike knew he should back off and let his friend handle it on his own, but Micky was just so worried about Micky. He kept saying he was fine, but Mike knew better. How could someone be fine after seeing what he saw, even if he had rationalized that it was an illusion.
"You guys ok?" Peter asked looking between the two of them.
"We're fine," Micky said pushing himself up from the table rather hastily and walking to the other side of the shop. Mike sighed and threw the book back on the top of the stack. He knew Micky was trying to avoid them and he knew that Piper was right about them having to deal with this so he followed Micky to the back of the store. He heard Peter start to get up to follow them, but Piper came out from in between bookshelves with more books in her arms.
"Peter, sit down and start reading," she said. "Let them work this out alone."
"Micky," Mike said walking up to him. "We need to talk. Piper's right. You're mad at me and I know exactly why. I'm sorry I keep bugging you, but I am just worried about you."
"I know you are, but I really don't want to talk about it," Micky said.
"Can you at least just admit that you're not fine?" Mike asked.
"Is that really that important to you?" Micky said. "If you already know I'm not."
"Yes, it is," Mike answered. "It's very important to me. I need to know that you accept it. That you're not just trying to bury this and that you're at least trying to deal with it."
"Ok, if it means that much to you," Micky sighed. "I'm not fine, ok. I can't sleep because every time I close my eyes I see those images in my head. I can't stop seeing your deaths. I'm trying to deal with it, but I don't know how."
"I can't imagine what that's like, Micky," Mike admitted. "And I want to help you, but I don't know how either. I have to hope that this…what we're about to do…will be the only thing that will help us all."
"If we don't die," Micky snapped.
"If we stick to this plan and work things out, we should be fine," Mike said.
"Oh, and while we're on this working things out thing," Micky started rather angrily, "for you to agree to bring my girlfriend with us into what is probably going to be our deaths for real without even consulting me, was just…"
"It was wrong," Mike interrupted. "I know. I'm really sorry. But you know as well as I do she's right. We have a much better chance of surviving and succeeding with her with us. I only did it because I didn't want to waste time arguing about it."
"I know you're both right, but I wish you would have consulted me," Micky said.
"I'm sorry," Mike said. "I promise next time I'll talk to you first. I just really want this to work. For all of us."
"I know you do," Micky answered. "I just really don't want illusion to become reality. I really don't know what I'd do without you guys."
"Me neither," Mike said. "Look, I'll admit that part of this is being driven by vengeance. I'm pissed that this has happened to you guys. I'm pissed that Peter was made to think he'd hurt you and that Davy was made to think that he'd end up alone and miserable. And I'm extremely pissed that he made you think we had all been killed. I want him to suffer for what he did to you. I want him to pay for it, but I also want this all to stop. By doing this and going after him, I get both."
"You're forgetting yourself," Micky said. "You're forgetting to be pissed at what he did to you."
"I don't care about that so much," Mike said.
"Yeah, well the rest of us do," Micky said. "That's part of your problem. You never think about yourself. You don't really take time for yourself. You always put us before yourself and honestly I'm so afraid that is going to end up getting you hurt or killed. Can you for once think about your own welfare here? If you're going to go into this and not think about your welfare at all, I'm not going to let you go. Can you promise me that you're not going to sacrifice yourself for us?"
"Micky…" Mike started. He wasn't really sure he could make that promise.
"Promise you're going to fight alongside us and not for us," Micky said.
"I promise," Mike answered.