the_alliance
Cadet
[Halliwell Manor]
Paige throws open the front door and runs upstairs. Phoebe walks out of the bathroom.
“How did your date go?” Phoebe asks with a toothpaste-minty fresh breath.
“Demon attacked and stabbed Danny,” Paige quickly replies, “with an athame. He’s not immune to magic, remember? Actually, he’s allergic to direct magical contact, so if we don’t find him soon, he might die.”
“I think Piper’s already asleep, but Leo is somewhere around the house.”
Leo sticks his out into the hallway from Piper’s room. “What’s all the fuss about?”
“Demon attack,” Phoebe says.
“When? Here?” Leo nervously asks.
“No, at Danny’s,” Paige says. Leo steps into the hallway and closes the door.
“Leo, do you think they’re the same demons that we were worried about?”
“What are you talking about?” Paige asks frustratingly.
“You better fill her in. I’ll check the Book,” Piper says. Leo started to say something but Piper says, “Don’t apologize, I wasn’t really tired anyways.” She drags herself up to the attic.
[Underworld]
Danny’s hands are handcuffed to two chains hanging from the ceiling of the small cave. His feet are anchored to the ground and blood drips from the athame wound. He tries to break the chains.
A woman’s voice says, “I know your strengths and your weaknesses so you can try all you want, but these chains are magically reinforced.”
Danny looks around the cave, but he can’t see anybody. Then a woman steps out from nowhere and he sees her face. “Oh my god, Angelica Blaze. You own the club that’s putting P3 out of business.”
“That’s right,” she says. “It’s quite brilliant isn’t it? Piper has a baby, so while she’s busy nursing that runt, I give her some competition with the club. But having Phoebe help out at the club was an unexpected bonus. With all three sisters tied up and disillusioned with little demonic attacks, I’ve been able to single-handedly unify demons in the Underworld.” She walks even closer to Danny. She is not wearing her usual business clothes anymore, but her normal demonic attire. She wears a samurai-esque helmet with the two horns and an orange dress, fastened at the neck and a belt around her waist. “But you know, all this power may be a little too much for a demon like myself. I might want someone to help me control the Underworld and I’ve got just the person in mind.” She stops right in front of him.
“What makes you think that I would be any good or even interested?”
“Well, if you are as good in handling power as you are Paige…”
“What does that mean?” She waves her hand and an image appears in front of him depicting events that occurred earlier that night in his apartment. “That is twisted, you know that?”
“Twisted, erotic, what’s the difference?” She leans in to kiss him, but he turns away. “Oh, hard to get, huh? I’ll give you some time to reconsider. When you decide to give in, I’ll heal that nasty wound, but if you take too much time, well, that’s going to be one Gordian knot that you won’t be able to cut through.”
Danny looks straight at her shockingly. “What did you say?”
“I said if you say ‘no’, you’ll bleed to death.”
“No, you said something about a knot, what was it?”
“Gordian knot, the knot that was thought to be impossible to unknot…”
“…and then Alexander the Great cut right through it!”
“So what?” Blaze asks thoroughly confused.
Danny recalls what the Oracle told him, “Path is blocked with a knot, but in it don’t be caught. Unraveling is naught, use sword the Great had brought.”
Not wanting to reveal his secret, he says “Nothing, I just wanted to make sure I knew my history.”
Blaze looks at him suspiciously and leaves the room. Danny looks down at his wound and begins to devise a plan to escape.
[Attic]
The Sisters, Leo, and Dave stand around the Book and Leo says, “For the past several weeks, I’ve been tracking down a demon, who is apparently consolidating demonic alliances.”
“Do we know why?” Phoebe asks.
“Power hungry, wants to destroy good, probably the usual demonic motives, but we have no definite reason,” Leo replies. Dave glares at Leo.
Phoebe catches the glare. “Why do I sense fear and nervousness amongst you two?”
“What are you two hiding?” Piper asks. “C’mon, we don’t have all night.”
“The reason Leo has been tracking this demon is because I’ve seen a final battle between good and evil coming,” Dave adds. “This will decide once and for all. Whoever is the last one standing is the winner of millennia of struggle.” Everyone is silent.
“And we’re supposed to stop this?” Phoebe asks.
“No,” Leo says. “You are going to be a part of it, unless the demons can somehow break the Power of Three before then.”
“How does this involve Danny?” Paige asks impatiently.
“Maybe the demon wants to clutter your mind with worry so you can’t think straight,” Dave says.
“Well, do we know who this demon is?” Piper asks. “Upper level, with what powers, yadda yadda yadda,”
“We know that it has the power to create time portals,” Leo points out, “because we think the demon responsible for that Halloween incident is the same as this one. Other than that, we have nothing.”
[Underworld]
A demon walks by Danny, and Danny quickly says, “Hey!” The demon turns to look at him. “Tell Blaze that I’ve made a decision.” The demon proceeds in the direction he was going.
A few minutes later, Blaze appears in the cave. “So, what will it be?”
“Let me answer your question with another question. Can you imagine how powerful our children would be?”
Blaze walks towards him and whispers in his ear, “What does that mean?”
“It means, I’d be happy to accept your offer.” She jumps on him and gives him a kiss and grabs him in a place he would prefer she did not. He pulls away a bit, “Don’t you think this would work better if I weren’t completely tied up like this?” She looks at him with the “I wasn’t born yesterday” look. “What can I say?” he asks. “It’s not my style.”
“Fine,” she says reluctantly. “But only one hand, I’m sure you can improvise.” She waves her hand and his left arm is now free. She returns to her fantasy fulfillment. In a blink of an eye, Danny’s free hand was tightening around her throat.
“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You are going to undo these chains and heal my wound. I will then escape and not kill you.”
Choking on her words, she still manages to say, “You ***hole"
Danny tightens his grip even though she desperately tries to free herself from his grip. “You know, if one goes without oxygen for about a minute, one dies. I can keep bleeding for a while before I die. The choice is yours.” Her face starts turning purple. “You wouldn’t want all that hard work to go to waste would you?”
She lets go of his arm and motions for the chains to loosen themselves. Suddenly, she hurls an energy ball at him, but at such a close distance, she also takes some of the hit. Danny lets go of her throat as he is thrown by the surprise attack. Blaze collapses on the ground and gasps for air. Seeing that she’s not going to heal his wound, he dashes out of the cave. After getting out of the cave in a split second, he realizes a flaw in his plan: he has no way of returning to the surface world.
Paige throws open the front door and runs upstairs. Phoebe walks out of the bathroom.
“How did your date go?” Phoebe asks with a toothpaste-minty fresh breath.
“Demon attacked and stabbed Danny,” Paige quickly replies, “with an athame. He’s not immune to magic, remember? Actually, he’s allergic to direct magical contact, so if we don’t find him soon, he might die.”
“I think Piper’s already asleep, but Leo is somewhere around the house.”
Leo sticks his out into the hallway from Piper’s room. “What’s all the fuss about?”
“Demon attack,” Phoebe says.
“When? Here?” Leo nervously asks.
“No, at Danny’s,” Paige says. Leo steps into the hallway and closes the door.
“Leo, do you think they’re the same demons that we were worried about?”
“What are you talking about?” Paige asks frustratingly.
“You better fill her in. I’ll check the Book,” Piper says. Leo started to say something but Piper says, “Don’t apologize, I wasn’t really tired anyways.” She drags herself up to the attic.
[Underworld]
Danny’s hands are handcuffed to two chains hanging from the ceiling of the small cave. His feet are anchored to the ground and blood drips from the athame wound. He tries to break the chains.
A woman’s voice says, “I know your strengths and your weaknesses so you can try all you want, but these chains are magically reinforced.”
Danny looks around the cave, but he can’t see anybody. Then a woman steps out from nowhere and he sees her face. “Oh my god, Angelica Blaze. You own the club that’s putting P3 out of business.”
“That’s right,” she says. “It’s quite brilliant isn’t it? Piper has a baby, so while she’s busy nursing that runt, I give her some competition with the club. But having Phoebe help out at the club was an unexpected bonus. With all three sisters tied up and disillusioned with little demonic attacks, I’ve been able to single-handedly unify demons in the Underworld.” She walks even closer to Danny. She is not wearing her usual business clothes anymore, but her normal demonic attire. She wears a samurai-esque helmet with the two horns and an orange dress, fastened at the neck and a belt around her waist. “But you know, all this power may be a little too much for a demon like myself. I might want someone to help me control the Underworld and I’ve got just the person in mind.” She stops right in front of him.
“What makes you think that I would be any good or even interested?”
“Well, if you are as good in handling power as you are Paige…”
“What does that mean?” She waves her hand and an image appears in front of him depicting events that occurred earlier that night in his apartment. “That is twisted, you know that?”
“Twisted, erotic, what’s the difference?” She leans in to kiss him, but he turns away. “Oh, hard to get, huh? I’ll give you some time to reconsider. When you decide to give in, I’ll heal that nasty wound, but if you take too much time, well, that’s going to be one Gordian knot that you won’t be able to cut through.”
Danny looks straight at her shockingly. “What did you say?”
“I said if you say ‘no’, you’ll bleed to death.”
“No, you said something about a knot, what was it?”
“Gordian knot, the knot that was thought to be impossible to unknot…”
“…and then Alexander the Great cut right through it!”
“So what?” Blaze asks thoroughly confused.
Danny recalls what the Oracle told him, “Path is blocked with a knot, but in it don’t be caught. Unraveling is naught, use sword the Great had brought.”
Not wanting to reveal his secret, he says “Nothing, I just wanted to make sure I knew my history.”
Blaze looks at him suspiciously and leaves the room. Danny looks down at his wound and begins to devise a plan to escape.
[Attic]
The Sisters, Leo, and Dave stand around the Book and Leo says, “For the past several weeks, I’ve been tracking down a demon, who is apparently consolidating demonic alliances.”
“Do we know why?” Phoebe asks.
“Power hungry, wants to destroy good, probably the usual demonic motives, but we have no definite reason,” Leo replies. Dave glares at Leo.
Phoebe catches the glare. “Why do I sense fear and nervousness amongst you two?”
“What are you two hiding?” Piper asks. “C’mon, we don’t have all night.”
“The reason Leo has been tracking this demon is because I’ve seen a final battle between good and evil coming,” Dave adds. “This will decide once and for all. Whoever is the last one standing is the winner of millennia of struggle.” Everyone is silent.
“And we’re supposed to stop this?” Phoebe asks.
“No,” Leo says. “You are going to be a part of it, unless the demons can somehow break the Power of Three before then.”
“How does this involve Danny?” Paige asks impatiently.
“Maybe the demon wants to clutter your mind with worry so you can’t think straight,” Dave says.
“Well, do we know who this demon is?” Piper asks. “Upper level, with what powers, yadda yadda yadda,”
“We know that it has the power to create time portals,” Leo points out, “because we think the demon responsible for that Halloween incident is the same as this one. Other than that, we have nothing.”
[Underworld]
A demon walks by Danny, and Danny quickly says, “Hey!” The demon turns to look at him. “Tell Blaze that I’ve made a decision.” The demon proceeds in the direction he was going.
A few minutes later, Blaze appears in the cave. “So, what will it be?”
“Let me answer your question with another question. Can you imagine how powerful our children would be?”
Blaze walks towards him and whispers in his ear, “What does that mean?”
“It means, I’d be happy to accept your offer.” She jumps on him and gives him a kiss and grabs him in a place he would prefer she did not. He pulls away a bit, “Don’t you think this would work better if I weren’t completely tied up like this?” She looks at him with the “I wasn’t born yesterday” look. “What can I say?” he asks. “It’s not my style.”
“Fine,” she says reluctantly. “But only one hand, I’m sure you can improvise.” She waves her hand and his left arm is now free. She returns to her fantasy fulfillment. In a blink of an eye, Danny’s free hand was tightening around her throat.
“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You are going to undo these chains and heal my wound. I will then escape and not kill you.”
Choking on her words, she still manages to say, “You ***hole"
Danny tightens his grip even though she desperately tries to free herself from his grip. “You know, if one goes without oxygen for about a minute, one dies. I can keep bleeding for a while before I die. The choice is yours.” Her face starts turning purple. “You wouldn’t want all that hard work to go to waste would you?”
She lets go of his arm and motions for the chains to loosen themselves. Suddenly, she hurls an energy ball at him, but at such a close distance, she also takes some of the hit. Danny lets go of her throat as he is thrown by the surprise attack. Blaze collapses on the ground and gasps for air. Seeing that she’s not going to heal his wound, he dashes out of the cave. After getting out of the cave in a split second, he realizes a flaw in his plan: he has no way of returning to the surface world.