5.

This time it was a house, a rather nice looking one, and they were alone; no Trickster, no audience. Their clothes had changed again; both were in low-riding jeans and brightly coloured, rather impractical skimpy tops that showed off their belly buttons, and also their anti-possession tattoos, which had morphed into Wiccan triquetras - a circle through three interconnected loops.

Tara and Alex looked around. A large, sunlit house, filled with rather antique looking furniture and, oddly, pictures of themselves.

"Uh, what the hell?"

Tara picked up a silver framed photo from a table in the hallway, shoving it toward Alex, who took it, frowning.

The picture had been taken in the house they were standing in, and in it, between the two of them, smiling broadly and holding a Siamese cat, was their dead half-sister, Adele Milligan.

"Well, that's creepy. What show can we be in now?"

"One where Adele's not dead?"

"Did I hear my name?"

The voice came from up the stairs, and they turned to see the girl herself, leaning down over the bannister.

"And who's dead?"

Taken aback, it took a moment for Tara and Alex to think of what to say.

"Uh, you are. Or, were."

Adele laughed, seeming much more carefree than when they'd met her before, although to be fair, that had been the ghoul who'd murdered her, rather than the girl herself.

"Who hasn't been, in this house? Come on, potion's nearly ready."

She skipped back up the stairs, leaving her half-sisters to blink back their surprise.

"Potion?" Tara echoed.

"I think I recognise this house."

Alex went over to the front door, picking up the mail on the floor. The letters were addressed to Tara, Alexis and Adele Halliwell.

"Yep. We're in 'Charmed'."

"Ugh, really? Witches?"

"Hey, at least in this world, the witches are the good guys. We won't have to deal with any gross hexes."

Then a lightbulb went off in Alex's brain.

"But magic will work in this place..."

She dashed off up the stairs, heading to the attic, where Adele was waiting for them, bottling an odd coloured, smoky liquid.

Ignoring the not-dead girl, Alex hurried over to the large book on a stand in the middle of the room, flipping through the pages.

"What are you looking for?"

"Summoning spell. We need to call an angel."

Adele frowned.

"You mean a Whitelighter?"

"No, I mean a real, old-school angel."

Tara caught up with them.

"Would the ritual from the real world work?"

Alex shrugged.

"Maybe. We can try that first. See what you can find."

"Why don't you just call Leo?" Adele asked, but her sisters ignored that.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but you're supposed to be dead, and while that ain't exactly unheard of for us, it does make talking to you a little weird," Tara said, rummaging through the witchcraft supplies for what she needed.

Adele pulled a face.

"What's the matter with you two?"

"Oh, don't get me started."

Tara placed a silver bowl on the table, drawing the Enochian symbols out in chalk while Alex searched for any other useful spells in the Halliwells's Book of Shadows.

Within a few minutes, Tara had finished, and ignited the bowl's contents.

"Where the hell are you, Cassie?"

There was a puff of smoke, but nothing else.

They waited, but there was only silence.

Then, downstairs, there was a terrible crashing noise, followed by smashing glass. Without a word, Tara and Alex raced back out, leaving a confused Adele behind.

"But... my potion?"

Back in the hallway, they were immensely relieved to see Castiel stumble toward them, although this was fairly short lived as they took in the state of her - bruised, with a cut above one eye, her clothes in disarray. There was broken furniture in the room she'd come out of, a shattered vase on the floor spilling water and roses everywhere.

"Woah! You okay?"

They hurried over to her side, supporting her arms. The angel nodded.

"I've been trying to get back to you, but... something's not right here."

"You think?" Tara snarked, but Cassie barely heard her.

"There's powerful magic in play, far more so than a Trickster should be able to use. She's been blocking me since I got here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't think she's just a Trickster."

"Then what -?"

But before Alex could finish her question, the front door flew open, blown by a gust of hurricane strength wind that knocked them all off their feet, hurling them backwards across the polished floor.

Groaning, they tried to get up, only to be pinned down by an invisible force as the Trickster swanned in through the door, flanked by her swimsuit hunks, her hands in the air.

"Hello darlings," she said, her tone smugly triumphant.

"And Castiel, how nice to see you again! But I'm afraid you can't stay."

Cassie opened her mouth to say something, her expression outraged, but before she could say a word, she vanished in another puff of static.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Tara demanded, but Alex was more concerned with another puzzling question.

"Do you know each other? How do you know an angel?"

The Trickster ignored Alex.

"Relax, dear. Your pet isn't dead. I just didn't want her spoiling all the fun."

She waved her hands and the force holding them down disappeared.

"Enough, okay? This may be your idea of fun, but I've had it!" Tara struggled to her feet.

"We've played our roles, now let us out of here!"

"Ah, ah, ah." The Trickster shook her head. "That's only half the game."

"What?"

"You've played your roles in here. Now play them out there."

The sisters stared at her, not following.

"I swear, if I had a stake in my hand right now..." Tara muttered.

"Catch up, darlings. I mean your starring roles in the big celebrity death match. You know. Alex, starring as Lucifer. Tara, starring as Michael."

She gave them a big smile, and they gaped back, utterly confounded.

"You... you want us to say yes?" Alex spluttered. "To bring on the end of the world?"

"Well for a start, that ship has sailed, sweetheart. Your doing, yes, when you let Lucifer out of his cage?"

Alex fought the urge to throw something at her, clenching her fists.

"It can't be stopped; it's too late for that, so let's get it over with!"

She spread her hands in a theatrical gesture, striking a pose, but Tara was frowning at her.

"And then what? I mean, you picked a side, right? Which is it? God Squad, or I Love Lucifer?"

The Trickster's expression went from self-satisfaction to annoyance.

"What makes you think I care either way, dear?"

"This-" Tara gestured around them. "Makes it pretty clear you do. I mean, I'm flattered you'd go to so much trouble just to screw with us, but no. Someone's pulling your strings."

This time the Trickster's face was a picture of cold rage. She flung out a hand and Tara was slammed against the wall by the invisible force. The Trickster stalked closer, leaning in until she and Tara were nose to nose.

"Listen to me very closely, you little shit. Don't you ever, ever presume to know me, or to know what I want. Now here's what's going to happen. You and your sister are going to step up, accept your responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you."

Alex edged towards them.

"And what if we don't?"

The dazzling smile was back on the Trickster's overly made-up face.

"Well, darlings, then you get stay here in TV Land, forever. Three hundred channels and nothing's on!"

She made a hand gesture to her underwear model flunkies and made to leave, but before she could, a shout came from the top of the stairs.

"The power of three shall set us free!"

Adele, forgotten by everyone, appeared in view and hurled a small glass bottle at the Trickster, who vanished in a puff of smoke.

But the smoke kept on spreading, filling the room and blinding the sisters, making them cough and choke. They dropped to their knees, crawling for the front door, but as soon as they made it outside, everything changed again.