Andras crouched in the bushes watching the young couple sitting on the porch playfully bickering and examined the witch he'd identified as the elemental witch. Not even the witch could see him currently, he was sure of that and the playful bickering was an avenue he could use in getting to them. He just had to twist it. From their point of view it would look like playful had turned serious until one or both of them were driven to an act of violence.
He absently listened to the content of the bickering as he sent a pulse of power into them both and it began its work, twisting and amplifying a tiny seed of anger into a towering mountain of rage.
"I think this is the perfect time. We're well settled into not just our home, but our life. We always said if we could, we would and now we can."
He wondered if they were referring to advancing the witch's Magic, if so than this was a chance to destroy this ally of the Charmed Ones before such an advancement in power could happen. Andras believed Belthazor was waiting nearby for the chance to destroy the sisters, so that left it to him to destroy this witch, once weakened by the rage cutting off the connection to the elements. The bickering began to escalate and Andras grinned cruelly enjoying watching as once again, he used rage to destroy someone.
"You know how much I've wanted this, it was a huge part of why we made the choice we did, to become techno vamps." One of them growled.
'What's a techno vamp?' Andras wondered. 'A modern term for a technopagan? But they use technology to augment their Magic and that's different from an elemental witch, they work the elements. How would one use technology to do that? No matter, it's not the point of tonight's exercise, destroying that witch is.'
"It's not that I don't want more, it's that we have very little idea what it entails, how we would manage it. I'm just saying we should be cautious, that's all!" The other one insisted.
'Caution and rage don't mix.' Andras' grin widened as he sent another pulse of power at the couple. 'How much longer until they break?' He wondered. 'The rage pouring off them is incredible. Damn, I'm good.' He gloated.
Xander and Cordelia had been relaxing in their living room, barriers lowered as they enjoyed the peace they found in each other's presence when the bickering started. They winched as the voices increased in volume and emotions battered at their minds. They instinctively blocked it out, even though it meant raising their barriers and interrupting their precious peace, but they did not want to be feeling other's emotions, anymore than they wanted to be hearing their thoughts.
"Cautious, my ass, you're afraid! You always told me you wanted more and now when we have the chance, you turn coward!" One of them accused the other, who's rage escalated at being called a coward.
'That's right.' Andras thought. 'Twist the knife. Not long now.'
"I am not a coward! How dare you say that to me, after everything, the pain, I willingly went through for you. Because I love you!"
"It was nothing compared to mine! And I'm the one taking all the risk, not you! What do you have to lose?"
"Both of you! If it goes wrong, I could lose both of you!"
"Well then you'd just find someone else, wouldn't you?" She glared at him. "Maybe you already have, another all picked out, ready to go. As soon as I'm gone, that is!"
"And now you're into stupid!" He growled at her.
"Well, what else am I supposed to think? Either you're a coward or you've got another woman waiting in the wings because why else would you not even want to consider something we always said we'd do if we could? Coward!"
As the sound of the smack of hand hitting flesh registered with Xander and Cordelia both were out of their seats and hit the door running, pulling up short when they hit the front porch and saw Margaret Chase holding her cheek and staring incredulously at Charles Chase, who was staring in horror and confusion at his hand, as though he'd never seen it before. Like it had a mind of its own...
"What's going on?" Xander demanded.
"I don't know." Charles confessed. "I don't even understand why I was angry, it's just gone."
Xander narrowed his eyes at his father-in-law and lowered his barriers. "Open you mind to me, Charles, now!" He ordered. It was the voice of the Progenitor of their race and Charles instinctively obeyed. Or maybe as the one who'd made him, Xander had some control over Charles' nanites. Which one didn't matter, as Charles relaxed his own barriers and let Xander in. Xander saw the memories of the argument and found something else, a strange pulse of Magic, multiple ones. The escalation of thoughtless rage corresponded to the pulses.
"Mom, let me check you." Cordelia said softly to her mother. "Something's wrong, we need to figure it out." Margaret willing lowered her own barriers and let her daughter in. Cordelia found the same thing Xander did, pulses of Magic that corresponded to the increases in rage.
Xander searched mentally and found a mind nearby. "Show yourself!" He ordered and the four watched as a demon appeared in the bushes. "Identify yourself and your mission!" He ordered, eyes blazing golden brown. His weren't the only eyes glowing, Cordelia's glinted a slivery green, Margaret's a silvery blue and Charles' own silvery green glared at the demon.
"Andras, Demon of Rage, sent by Belthazor to destroy the Charmed Ones and their allies."
"Why did you target these two?" Xander asked.
"She's an elemental witch, she said she had a hurricane in her. The Charmed Ones ally is an elemental witch." Andras explained.
"I'm the elemental witch." Xander told him.
"And I'm a Warren witch." Cordelia stated. "You made my father hit my mother, that's unforgivable."
"And I know the perfect punishment." Xander's face was expressionless as he stared at the demon. "Charles, Margaret, anyone can do Magic to a certain degree. Would you like to participate?"
"She looked afraid when I hit her, it's something it never occured to me that I'd ever see in her face because of me."
"It's something it never occured to me that I'd feel because of you. I say we fry him." Margaret snarled.
"I'm in." Cordelia agreed.
The sphere of infinite agonies eventually killed Andras, but he begged for death long before it did so.