Legacy 208: Ways to Be Wicked
Part 3
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As the Halloween party started getting underway, Payton was checking her phone to see if she had any missed texts or calls from Liam. She was worried that something was up. Her initial fear was that he had stood her up, but she knew he wasn't that kind of guy. That was just her insecurity talking. She headed to the bar for another virgin cocktail and ran into Penny, who was dragging a reluctant-looking Julian along with her while holding a make-up kit.
"What's going on?" Payton asked.
"I stupidly invited DJ." Penny said quickly. "He can't see Julian, so I'm taking him to my office to put him in disguise."
"That explains the grumpy face." Payton noted.
"I already told her, I hate costumes." Julian said. "If me being here is a problem, I'll gladly leave."
"No, don't." Payton replied. "Look, Halloween might not be your thing, but this is the first time in months that we're all together. You said you wanted to be a part of this family, remember?"
"I never agreed to Halloween parties." Julian noted. "It's childish."
"Oh, get over yourself." Penny remarked. "It's okay to have fun, Julian."
"Did you forget what happened the last time I went to a party?" Julian asked.
"I remember, I saw it all in your mind." Penny replied as she shuttered at the memory. "But we don't know what happened exactly or what triggered it. You were alone then, but you're with family now."
"It's still dangerous for me to be here." Julian said.
"We don't know that." Payton replied. "But I do know you can't shut yourself out of everything. So please stay."
"Fine." Julian said reluctantly. "Let's just get this over with."
"Don't worry, you'll look great." Penny replied with a smile. "Payton, do you want to help?"
"I'd love to, but I'm waiting for Liam." Payton said. "I'm sure he'll show up soon."
"He's on the list, so check with Jerry at the door." Penny suggested.
"Thanks, I will." Payton replied.
Payton continued her way to the bar while Penny dragged Julian back to her office. After ordering her drink, Payton looked around the club. With all these costumes, it was impossible to recognize anyone. After getting her drink, she headed to the bouncer as Penny suggested. After a few steps, she tripped over someone's dinosaur tail and screamed. While her drink fell to the floor, Payton was luckily caught by someone. As she looked up at her savior, she saw it was a hero, or at least someone dressed up as Spider-Man.
"Are you okay?" The hero asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Payton replied. "Thank you for catching me."
"It's what heroes do." The hero noted. "Especially when it's a pretty girl. That's a really cute costume you're wearing, by the way."
"Thanks." Payton said. "I hope my date likes it as well."
"I'm pretty sure he does." The hero replied.
"Wait a minute." Payton replied as she stared at the masked person. "Liam, is that you?"
"I guess you figured out my secret identity." Liam said as he pulled off the mask. "But you have to admit, that was a pretty cool entrance."
"It was." Payton replied with a smile. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks." Liam said. "Sorry I'm late, I had to drop my sister off at another party and she took forever to get dressed."
"Been there." Payton remarked. "I'm just glad you're here."
"I wasn't able to save your drink though." Liam said. "Should I get us some new ones?"
"That sounds great." Payton replied.
As Liam headed to the bar, Payton couldn't help but notice how snug his costume was. Her date had a pretty cute butt and she hoped to cop a feel at some point. Their last date had gone well enough, though Liam never made a move. Payton definitely wanted to take the next step tonight. Halloween was a night to take risks, so if Liam didn't take initiative, she would.
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On the other side of the club, Wyatt was catching up with DJ Morris, as they had not seen each other since they were both toddlers. Wyatt knew something had happened between their parents that caused a rift, though he wasn't sure what exactly. He quickly realized that DJ didn't know about magic though, which was better to keep that way considering he was a police inspector. As DJ was telling him about his first weeks on the force, Wyatt became distracted when Chris entered the club. For some reason, his brother was not in costume.
"Hey, is that Chris?" DJ asked. "Why isn't he dressed up?"
"Who knows?" Wyatt replied as he rolled his eyes. "He probably thinks its stupid or something. You know he was born surly, right?"
"Hey DJ." Chris said as he joined them. "I heard you were back in town."
"Chris, good to see you." DJ replied. "How have you been?"
"I think the more important question is, where is your costume?" Wyatt noted.
"I spent the entire day at the hospital cleaning up after drunk idiots in costume." Chris remarked. "As far as I'm concerned, Halloween is cancelled."
"It was the same as the station." DJ noted. "Halloween does seem to bring out the stupid in people."
"Yeah, which is exactly why it's fun." Wyatt countered.
"It's childish and silly." Chris replied.
"You sound exactly like someone else I know." Wyatt remarked. "It's weird the two of you don't get along. You both have no sense of humor."
"Don't even compare me to him." Chris replied.
"Who are we talking about?" DJ asked.
"Oh, nobody." Wyatt quickly said. "Just a distant relative."
"Seriously, you Halliwells sure do love your secrets." DJ remarked. "I see some friends from work, so talk to you guys later."
DJ excused himself and joined a group of men standing by the bar. His last comment was a bit odd, but Wyatt knew that Penny had dealt with DJ a couple of times during magical emergencies. He needed to check in with his cousin to see if the inspector knew more than he was letting on.
"Should we be worried about that?" Chris asked.
"Probably not." Wyatt replied. "Even if he knows about magic, his father has always been an ally to mom and the aunts."
"Not always." Chris noted. "Let's just be careful. You'd better warn Penny to stay clear."
"I doubt she'll listen, but I will." Wyatt replied. "Let's just enjoy the party. We're just waiting for Melinda and…"
Wyatt stopped when he saw agent Reed enter the club. Although he was annoyed with the MIND agent for ghosting him, he could not help being impressed by how handsome he looked in a black tuxedo. Wyatt defensively crossed his arms as Reed walked over, as he was not in the mood to talk. Sensing the tension, Chris quickly ducked out of the conversation.
"What are you supposed to be?" Wyatt asked.
"I thought it would be obvious." Reed replied. "I'm Bond, James Bond."
"I guess that figures, Bond had a habit of disappearing as well." Wyatt remarked.
"Okay, I deserve that." Reed admitted. "Yes, I did disappear, I'm sorry. Something important came up and I had to move fast."
"I know a thing or two about dealing with emergencies, Reed." Wyatt replied. "But you never even contacted me afterwards."
"We're back to Reed?" Reed asked. "I told you my first name when we spent the night together."
"Yeah, when I thought we had something." Wyatt said. "Clearly we don't."
Wyatt attempted to leave, but Reed grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. Part of Wyatt wanted to kiss him despite his anger, but he needed a real explanation why he had disappeared. There was more to the story than a simple emergency. No matter how handsome Reed looked in that damned tuxedo, he couldn't smooth this over so easily.
"You look really sexy, cowboy." Reed said. "Look, can we just start over, please?"
"I'm here to spend time with my family." Wyatt replied. "You can find another one-night-stand."
Reed looked a little hurt by his remark and let go. Wyatt walked away and tried to shake off his bad feeling. He hated being so dismissive, but Reed needed to know he couldn't just vanish and show up whenever he wanted if they meant anything to each other.
Wyatt joined his family at the VIP booth and he saw everyone was there, except for Melinda and Ryan. As he finished his spooky-looking cocktail, he nearly chocked from laughter when he saw Julian was wearing skeleton face paint. Penny quickly explained that he needed to hide from DJ due to some legal trouble earlier.
"Well, at least Julian is wearing something Halloween related." Henry remarked. "Right, Chris?"
"I'm not having this discussion again." Chris replied.
"You're such a party pooper." Penny said. "Let's toast."
"Wait, we're still waiting for Melinda, right?" Laura noted. "Has anyone heard from her?"
"We're here." A familiar voice said.
Wyatt turned around and saw Melinda and Ryan entering the booth. While his brother-in-law was wearing a very cool detective costume, his little sister was even not in costume. Instead, she was wearing a pretty floral dress. Although Wyatt liked it, it was not exactly Halloween themed. Before he could ask, Melinda and Ryan began greeting everyone. As he hugged his sister, Wyatt realized it had been weeks since they had seen each other. Although he accepted her decision to step away from magic, it sometimes felt like Melinda was drifting away entirely.
"You're finally here, time for drinks." Penny said.
"Wait, please." Melinda said. "Ryan and I actually have something we want to say, so we might as well say it now that we're all together."
"This seems like a family moment." Noah noted. "Why don't I get the drinks?"
"I'll help." Liam added.
"That would be great." Penny said. "Tell them Penny sent you. I had champagne set aside."
"Oh, none for me, thanks." Melinda quickly said.
Noah and Liam left the booth while Melinda and Ryan sat down. His sister was visibly nervous, so Wyatt wondered what her news could be. There was something different about her it and the fact that she refused champagne so quickly was also a little strange. Suddenly a thought popped up in his mind, could it be?
"Does your news have something to do with why you're not in costume?" Payton asked.
"Actually, it does." Melinda admitted. "This is making me really nervous, so I'm just going to blurt it out. We're having a baby!"
There was a moment of shocked silence in the booth, after which everyone started to cheer and congratulate Melinda and Ryan. The only exception being Julian, who awkwardly remained in the back. Wyatt was having some difficulty wrapping his head around the fact his little sister was actually pregnant. He knew she had always wanted kids, but it everything was moving so fast. His face must have been speaking volumes, as Melinda took him apart to talk in private.
"Are you okay?" Melinda asked.
"Of course." Wyatt replied. "It's a lot to take in, but I'm so happy for you. You're going to be a great mom. Does dad know yet?"
"Thanks, that means a lot." Melinda said. "Of course, dad was the first person I told."
"That's good, I bet he was beyond thrilled." Wyatt noted.
"He actually cried, it was really sweet." Melinda replied. "He is going to be such a great grandfather. And I bet you're going to be an amazing uncle."
"An uncle." Wyatt repeated. "I hadn't even thought about that. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"No, we decided to wait." Melinda replied as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "But just between you and me, I think it's going to be a girl."
"Well, she is going to be very spoiled by her uncle." Wyatt noted with a smile.
"Just keep it to yourself." Melinda replied. "I'm going to talk to Chris."
Melinda kissed him on the cheek and then took Chris aside for a moment. Wyatt rejoined the others and congratulated Ryan with a hug. At that moment, Noah and Liam returned with the champagne and poured everyone a drink, while handing Melinda a virgin cocktail.
"Alright, everyone, let's gather around for a toast to the new Halliwell baby!" Penny said.
"Actually, it's going to be baby Lancaster." Ryan noted.
"Wait, the baby's not going to have named Halliwell?" Chris asked.
"Oh crap." Ryan replied. "I wasn't supposed to tell."
"Well, actually, no." Melinda said hesitantly. "Because I decided to take Ryan's last name."
"Why?" Chris asked.
"Because I wanted to share my husband's name." Melinda explained. "And while I love my family, the Halliwell name is tied to magic way too much. Ryan and I want a normal life as much as possible, so we don't want our baby to be burdened by a magical legacy."
"That makes sense." Laura noted. "It's your choice."
"Besides, we're not Halliwells either." Henry added with a shrug. "That name is overrated."
"I'll drink to that." Julian remarked.
"Laura is right." Wyatt said, ignoring his roommates. "It's your choice and no matter what the baby is called, we're all still family."
"Exactly, so let's toast to baby Lancaster!" Penny noted.
As they all raised their glasses, a strange wind suddenly blew across the club and the lights flickered. Wyatt turned to the stage and saw a tornado of green smoke appear out of nowhere. A woman with green skin and red hair materialized, dressed as a stereotypical evil witch. The crowd on the dancefloor cheered, believing it to be part of the band's performance, though Wyatt knew this was actual magic. The witch let out a manic laugh as the crowd applauded her.
"Ah, it feels good to be back before an adoring crowd!" The witch called out.
"Hey lady, I don't know who you are, but you ruined our song." The lead singer of the band said. "Get off the stage."
"Why don't you fly off?" the witch remarked. "This is my show now."
The witch waved her hand and the lead singer and his band members became surrounded in green smoke, transforming them into monstrous-looking flying monkeys. They screeched and began flying around the club, causing a panic among the crowd.
"What the hell?" Penny asked. "Who is that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Laura replied. "Green skin, a tornado and flying monkeys? That's the Wicked Witch of the West."
"You mean from the Wizard of Oz?" Payton asked surprised. "How is that even possible?"
"It doesn't matter." Wyatt replied. "We have to stop her before anyone gets hurt or magic is exposed any further."
"Don't worry, I'll handle the innocents." Melinda said.
Melinda threw up her hands, freezing all the innocent in the club. Wyatt was surprised at her level of control, as she had not frozen Ryan or Noah with her move. The witch turned to the cousins with an evil smirk as she summoned her monkeys back on the stage. She wasn't surprised about the freeze in the least, which made it clear she had come to the club specifically for the cousins.
"Such a handy power." The witch noted. "I'm going to love having it."
"What do you want? Wyatt asked as he walked toward the witch.
"You must be the leader of the bunch." The witch replied.
"I am." Wyatt said warningly. "And I'm not to let you hurt my family or these innocents."
"Do you really think you can intimidate me?" The witch replied. "I'm the Wicked Witch."
"He's not alone." Chris said as he joined Wyatt. "Even with your monkeys, you're outmatched here."
"Did you really think I'd come here without a plan?" The witch asked. "That I'd face the powerful offspring of the Charmed Ones empty handed?"
The witch smirked and revealed an ancient-looking book bound in green leather. She was about to open it when DJ suddenly stepped out of the crowd with his gun raised at her. Wyatt was shocked to see his old friend wasn't affected by the freeze.
"Alright, I don't know what's going on, but this isn't part of the show." DJ said. "Lady, put your hands up, I'm placing you under arrest."
"DJ, no!" Penny called out. "Don't get any closer."
"One of you want to tell me what the hell is happening?" DJ asked.
"We'll explain later, but she's dangerous." Penny said. "You're out of your league here."
"Bored now." The witch remarked.
The witch snapped her fingers and the flying monkeys screeched, leaping into the air to charge at DJ. He attempted to shoot, but Chris flung the gun out of his hand to protect the transformed innocents, while Wyatt summoned a force field around DJ. The monkeys quickly changed course to attack the cousins. Laura was able to scare one off with a cloud of ice, while Julian chased another away with a bolt of lightning. One of the monkeys flew straight at Wyatt, though he was tackled to the ground by Reed before it could strike.
"Why aren't you frozen?" Wyatt asked.
"You're welcome." Reed retorted. "So what are we dealing with?"
"Looks like a fairy tale come to life." Wyatt replied.
"That's new." Reed noted. "That book she's holding seems important. We need to get it away from her. Can you orb it?"
"I can try." Wyatt said.
Wyatt got up and held out his hand, attempting to call the book toward him. However, it became surrounded in a green glow and refused to leave the witch's hands. The witch recalled her monkeys again and opened the book, flipping through its pages as she stepped off the stage.
"Enough games, children." The witch replied. "Time to read you a story, one which none of you are going to survive."
The witch threw the book on the floor in front of Wyatt, where it opened a swirling vortex of green energy. Wyatt and Reed managed to grab onto a table before they were sucked in, but it only seemed to grow in size and strength. Everyone held on for dear life, but the magical pull soon become overwhelming. One by one, Wyatt saw his family and friends being sucked into the vortex until only he and Reed remained. As he saw the agent was losing grip, Wyatt grabbed onto him and they disappeared into the vortex together.
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