PART TWO
Evil arrives
 


	" It's been almost a week and there's no sign of her." says Willow in despair. 
	" And we've been going out everyday, early, staying out late, and still nothing!" cries Jade as she plops herself onto Cora's bedroom floor.
	" Use the crystal." Aria hears Orion say.
	" The crystal?" she asks aloud.
	" What?" asks everyone.
	" The crystal!" shouts Aria.
	She takes it out and runs out of the house. The rest follow her, confused. She throws the crystal up in the air and it shows Mrs. Mayfield attacking a small boy.
	" That's Davie!" cries Kyra. " He lives on my street!"
	" Come on!" shouts Aria and they run towards Kyra's block.

	They get there and see Mayfield ready to attack.
	" Hey!" shouts Mira.
	Mayfield turns and the boy disappears.
	" What?" says Sera.
	" I did it!" cries Aria. " I can transport!"
	" What are you talking about." asks Willow.
	" Nevermind." says Aria and she flings her arms out.
	The teacher slams to the ground and Ivy makes the grass grow long, twisting and wrapping itself around her.
	" Water!" yells Mira.
	" Ice!" yells Sera.
	Their powers combine and freeze the grass.
	" Earth!" cries Jade.
	The earth rises carrying Mayfield upward. Jade swings her arms and the tower of rock breaks, causing the teacher to fall to the ground.
	" Wait!" cries Aria.
	" What? Why?" they all say.
	" We don't want to kill her." says Aria. " Just the evil."
	She again takes out the white crystal and it glows bright. Mrs. Mayfield glows too and she melt, the grass falling away. She floats up into the air and from her mouth comes a black smoke. It flies up screaming. The girls see it has bright red eyes and it screams once more before it flies away. Mayfield drops to the ground and stops glowing. The crystal stops glowing too and Aria puts it away.
	" She'll be fine." says Aria.
	" Huh?" Mrs. Mayfield wakes up and holds her head. She's alone and gets up to walk home.

	" So the evil is going to be in people we know?" asks Jade. " This sucks."
	" Yeah." says Sera. " It does suck."
	Gwyn and Willow come running into Cora's house.
	" We have a problem." says Gwyn, out of breath.
	" What do you mean?" asks Mira.
	" It's Jerad." says Willow.
	" Oh my God." starts Kyra. " Is he okay?!?!?!"
	" He's the next one." says Gwyn. " He's evil."
	" No, not Jerad." says Kyra. She collapses down onto the couch.
	" It'll be okay." says Aria. " We can save him. Just like Mrs. Mayfield."
	" Come on." says Willow. " We need to go now."
	They run out and Kyra tags along behind.

	They get as far as the park and hear a scream. Running towards the sound they see Jerad draining the energy out of a girl a few years younger than them.
	" Jerad!" cries Kyra. " Stop!"
	Kyra runs over but Jerad throws her out of his way. Kyra lands on the ground a few feet from him. Jerad pauses, maybe recognizing her.
	" Jerad." she says with a groan.
	" Kyra?" he says softly. Then his eyes turn black and he continues to drain energy.
	" He knows her!" cries Willow.
	" But he still has to be stopped!" yells Mira as the small girl falls to the ground. " Water!"
	With a strong blast of water, Jerad is knocked over. He slowly gets up and returns the blast.
	" What!" cries Mira dodging the water beam.
	" Earth!" yells Jade and Jerad is carried up into the sky.
	He takes a great leap and lands perfectly on his feet.
	" Earth!" he yells back and Jade is carried to the sky. She jumps but doesn't look like she'll make it.
	" Water!" yells Mira making a deep pool underneath Jade. 
	She splashes in and, placing her feet on the bottom, it disappears. Sera gets ready to use her power but Aria places her hand on her shoulder.
	" He's absorbing all our power." she says. " We have to fight him a different way."
	" We have no other way." says Cora.
	" We must." says Aria. " But I don't what."
	They turn and gasp, seeing that Jerad has disappeared.
	" Where did he go?" asks Gwyn in surprise.

	" It's been two days and that damn crystal hasn't showed us anything!" cries Kyra. " Where's Jerad? What if he's dead?!?!?"
	" He's not dead." says Ivy, not really to sure herself.
	" Let's go for a walk." says Aria. " To keep our mind of this."
	" We have to find him." says Kyra. " And save him."
	" I'll try again." says Aria.
	She throws up her crystal for the fifth time that day and, pulled by gravity, it falls back down to the ground. She bends down, picks it up, and puts it in her pocket.
	" Do it again!" yells Kyra. " Try again!"
	" It won't work." says Aria.
	" It will!!!!!" shouts Kyra.
	She tackles Aria and fishes the crystal out of her pocket. Knocking Willow and Jade down who try to stop her she throws it up in the air. It falls to the ground and she tries again. No matter how hard she tries the crystal does nothing. Tears are streaming down her face and she gets frustrated. With a loud scream, she throws the crystal against the wall. It shatters into a
million tiny pieces that fall to the floor.
	" No!" cry the rest of the girls and Kyra falls to the ground crying. Their chokers and crystals disappear and they begin to feel tired. Aria chokes in a breath and tries her power. Nothing happens. The rest try as well and none of them have any energy left.
	" They're gone." says Willow in a whisper. " They're all gone."
	" Kyra!" shouts Jade and she runs over to hit her. Cora stops her but sneers at Kyra. 
	" I'm... I'm sorry." says Kyra.
	" Well, that's just great." says Sera sarcastically.
	" Come on let's go." says Mira.
	Everyone walks out of the house and Aria pauses at the door.
	" That was selfish." says Aria and she walks out after the others.
	" I know." says Kyra to herself after they'd gone.

	" What are we gonna do about the crystal?" asks Cora. " Our powers....."
	" There's nothing to do." says Aria sitting on the park bleachers with the rest.
	Kyra is the only one missing and no one had talked to her since the day before. 
	" We're nothing now." says Gwyn almost in tears. " I feel so useless!"
	" Me too." says Mira.
	" Well look who it is." comes a familiar voice.
	" Jerad!" cries Willow.
	" Your not going to attack?" asks Jerad. " Come now. Giving up so soon?"
	" Please Jerad." says Jade. " Go away!"
	" Well, I can't." says Jerad and before they can run, he sends out little strings that attach to the girls and drain their energy. They yell at first but then they don't have the strength.
	" Jerad stop!" shouts Kyra running in.
	" Oh look another victim." says Jerad.
	He sends out another string but when it attaches it is burned to a crisp. Kyra looks at the string with surprise and the rest do to. Then Ivy's turns to vine and snaps, Jade's turn's to rock and cracks, Mira's turns to water, Sera's turns to ice and breaks, Cora's is blown off, Willows flies back to it's origin, Gwyn's is cut with a knife from the air, and Aria's is also cut. They jump down off the bleachers, and face Jerad.
	" Our power's." says Gwyn. " They're back!"
	" That's right." they hear Orion say. " In fact they never left. You just didn't trust yourselves. You didn't really believe you had powers. You just went along with it. But once you lost them, you knew it was real. You were depending on that crystal and it never really did anything. Just looked nice. If you work together, and trust yourselves and each other, your powers will always be there."
	" They never left?" asks Jade.
	" No Jade." answers Orion. " But you must remember, your trust and friendship is your greatest power."
	Orion leaves their minds. They look and see that Jerad is going to attack.
	" No!" cries Kyra and she runs towards him. " Jerad, please, remember!"
	She embraces him and kisses him. His eyes return to their original color and the rest take the chance.
	" Wind!"
	" Water!"
	" Earth!"
	" Nature!"
	" Ice!"
	" Time!"
	" Space!"
	" Matter!"
	Kyra and Jerad are hit with a strong blast of combined power and separate, each flying to the ground. From Jerad comes the same black spirit that had been in Mrs. Mayfield. It screams, then disappears.
	" Kyra!" everyone cries and they run over to her.
	Her eyes open and she gasps for air. Then she recovers and sits up.
	" Jerad?" she whispers.
	She sees him on the ground and crawls over to him. She shakes him gently, trying to wake him up. He groans and opens his eyes.
	" What, what happened?" he asks. " Kyra?"
	" I'm here." she says and she rests his head in her lap. " I'm here."	
	" What happened?" he asks again. " I feel so weak."
	" It's okay." says Kyra. " You.......... were almost hit by a car. The shock must have been a lot for you."
	" But then how did I get here?" asks Jerad. " I can't even see the road from here."
	" We carried you here." says Willow quickly. " You were lying in the road and we didn't want you to be in the sun."
	" Oh." he says. " I really almost got hit?"
	" Yeah." says Kyra.
	" Kyra saved you." says Gwyn.
	Everyone looks at her and she shrinks back.
	" Is that true?" he asks. " Did you?"
	" In a way I guess." says Kyra. " We should get you home."
	" Yeah." says Jerad. He goes to stand up but falls with a groan. " Or not."
	" You should be home." says Aria. " We can carry you. There's nine of us you know. We'll make it."
	So they lift him up, each supporting a limb, and carry him to his house. His mother answers the door and shouts in shock.
	" Jerad!" she cries. " Are you all right honey? What happened?"
	They tell her the car incident story and she believes it and helps them put Jerad on the couch.
	" Thank you very much for taking care of him." says his mother. " I do appreciate it, very much."
	" Your welcome." they say in unison.
	They walk out to the door and his mother follows.
	" Oh Kyra." she says. " I'm so glad it was you and your friends who helped him. If a stranger had brought him to the door I don't know what I'd do. Your a very sweet girl and I trust you with all my heart. I know my son feels the same way."
	" Thank you Mrs. Kacser." says Kyra. " I feel that way about both of you."
	They exchange their good-bye's and head to the three sisters house.

	" So, Jerad is doing fine." says Kyra. " I just came from there and he's much better."
	" That's good to hear." says Cora. " Listen, we're sorry about being so hard on you."
	" No, I deserved it." says Kyra. " I didn't think about anything but my problems and it could have gotten us in serious danger. And that wouldn't have been good at all."
	" But we never should have been so hard on you." says Sera.
	" Thanks." says Kyra. " Friends now and forever?"
	" You bet!" everyone says.
	" And partners too." says Willow.

	" Let's go!" shout Gwyn and Aria. " Move move move move move!!!!!!"
	In Sera and Mira's backyard the girls had set up an obstacle course, to train for battles, but mostly because they were bored and could think of nothing better to do. Now everyone except Gwyn and Aria were completing it. Those two were the 'motivators'. Basically, each took turns resting and it was their turn. Willow was over in the corner of the yard practicing her karate. She had been a skilled ninja since she was three but never found use for it. Since she couldn't freeze the enemy more than once, she figured it would now come in handy. 
	Gwyn had provided most of the materials and, sharing Aria's power, they had gotten it up in no time at all. It consisted of five parts. First was a foot maze for agility made up of string tied to some poles. The girls had to step between all the string without tripping, then go backwards, then forwards again. Next was a steep mountain climb made up of one of those dog
show-ramp things. It had been oiled down and was very slippery. After that they had to jump from the top, doing a jump kick, and knock a heavy rock off a tall pole. It wasn't easy because the rock was really weighted down. Next they had to pick up the rock, throw it into the air, and blast it with whatever power they had. The blasting part was easy but few of them were very strong. Last, there was a dummy behind tons of string. The string went every which way and the holes between each piece were very small. The objective was to
control your attack through the string so that only the dummy was hit and NONE of the string. If even a piece was hit you had to start again. The dummy also had to also be hit so it was knocked off it's pole and into a
chalked out circle behind it. The circle was fairly far away and each time it was hit, it was moved back. If any mistakes were made on any part they had to start over. It was a difficult course for the girls because,  physically, they were normal. It was good practice and a good workout for all of them.
	" I did it!" cries Cora. " I made the circle!"
	She was the first to do it without hitting any string. Everyone took a look and congratulated her. Then they went back to the course and Cora and Willow traded places.
	
	They were exhausted after three hours of doing this and decided to stop for the day. The next day and the three days after that they continued their training. After that fifth day three hours didn't poop them out. In fact, five hours didn't poop them out and they were in better shape than ever.
	" Hey, even if this doesn't help in the fighting.." starts Mira. " .. at least I'll be able to wow everyone on the track team."
	" And I can fit in that dress I wanted now." says Cora.
	" I feel great." says Willow. " I forgot how fun karate is."
	" Your really good at it." says Sera.
	" Thanks." says Willow. " I'll need it."
	" So, who's our next victim?" says Ivy rubbing her hands together.
	" Umm....." says Gwyn. " How do we find them without the crystal?"
	" Orion said that we didn't even need it for anything." says Aria.
	" But then what are we supposed to do?" asks Mira.
	" I don't know." says Aria. " Orion?"
	She calls out into space, searching for the goddess's help.
	" I hear you Aria." says Orion. " How can I help you?"
	" You said we didn't need the crystal." says Aria. " But what do we do without it? We can't find out who's inhabited by the evil and we can't save them."
	" You saved Jerad didn't you?" Orion points out. " But I do understand your trouble so.... I'll tell you that your crystal does the same things the old one did."
	" But I don't have that either." says Aria.
	" I believe you do." says Orion.
	Aria looks down and around her neck is her crystal choker. She looks at the others and they also have their crystals back.
	" Hey guys!" cries Aria. " Look!"
	She points out the chokers and they all gasp in surprise.
	" How......?" stammers Sera.
	" Is that all Aria?" asks Orion. " I'm glad you can now call me yourself. And that you're all strong enough to believe in yourselves and trust each other. Farewell and good luck."
	Aria tells the others of her conversation with Orion and about her crystal. This lifts their spirits and they decide to go out and celebrate.

	" Last night was so fun!" cries Gwyn. " That guy who sang at our table was bad but really funny."
	" Yeah." says Willow.
	" Well, let's get down to business." says Cora. " Who's next?"
	Aria touches her crystal and a replica appears in her hand. She gasps in surprise. She's not sure how she knew what to do but she throws the crystal up in the air and it glows like the last crystal. It projects an image that cannot be seen too clearly. Aria tries to clear it up but fails. 
	" Who is that?" asks Sera.
	" Who knows?" says Gwyn. " It's a guy. His back is turned."
	" I recognize the street." says Jade. " It's by your house isn't it Ivy?"
	" Yeah." says Ivy. " The next street down."
	" Well, let's go before too much damage is done." says Willow.
	They agree and start off to face their next enemy.

	" Hel....p." says the boy being attacked, his energy draining faster than the girls had seen before. He's down in a matter of seconds.
	" Who's next?" says the man.
	" We are!" shouts Jade, getting into the mood.
	" Oh really?" says the man. He turns around and faces them.
	" Da....d?" stammers Ivy. " No not you! Dad!"
	She runs toward him and, with a wave of his hand, she is flown out of the way. She hits the ground with a groan.
	" Dad." she says weakly. " No."
	" Wind!" cries Cora and Ivy's father is blown back. 
	He catches his balance and, with a second swing of his arm, Cora is tossed to the side. He advances forward to attack the girls.
	" Fire!" cries Kyra.
	" Earth!" cries Jade.
	The fireball flies just infront of a wave of ground and, although he jumps over the earth, Ivy's father is hit with the fireball. He shouts in sudden
pain and Ivy jumps up to help him. She realizes she can't and steps back. Her father recovers, now angry. 
	" Water!" cries Mira.
	" Freeze!" cries Sera.
	The water freezes into a hundred icicles that fly at their opponent. He flings his arms out all over and each icicle is thrown back. With a cry, Sera dodges. Mira is hit in the shoulder and she falls to her knees. Her crystal lights up and she quickly recovers, rejoining her sister.
	Ivy's father 'picks up' a bunch of rocks and throws them at the girls. Most dodge them but Ivy and Jade are hit. They fall as another batch of rocks is flown at them. Each is hit one by one and each fall. Aria is left standing, too tired to run anymore. The rocks are thrown and Aria crouches down, readying herself for the impact. Instead she hears a cry from the enemy and she peeks out of her protection. He has been hit with the same rocks he threw and has fallen. He gets back up but not in time.
	" Grab him!" cries Ivy and the tree behind him picks him up in it's branches. " Aria now."
	Aria makes her replica crystal and throws it in the air. It glows shortly but then falls, dead, to the ground.
	" What?" cries Aria. " What's wrong?"
	Ivy's father escapes the hold and starts to attack again. Trying to stop him, the girls send out their power. Each one is returned to them with a wave
of his hand. Their crystal return their energy, each time a little slower, and they get up and try again. They try double teaming him and triple teaming him
but nothing works. Aria steps up as his next attack comes at them and, with a wave of her hand, they are returned. They push the rocks and other objects back and forth for a while. The other girls try and think of a way to help. They run around ivy's father forming a circle that surrounds him. Aria is in the center with him, still fighting. Anything that is thrown, weather at her or her partners, she deflects. The rest point their palms at the opponent and each glow their respective colors. 
	" Earth!"
	" Fire!"
	" Wind!"
	" Water!"
	" Ice!"
	" Nature!"
	" Time!"
	" Matter!"
	A blast of energy comes from each of them and hits the center. There is a huge explosion and they are blown out of formation. When the dust clears they see Ivy's father laying on the ground, not dead, but hurt. Aria has disappeared. Her white crystal is on the ground where she had been standing.
	" Aria?" whispers Willow.
	" No..... not...." starts Gwyn, trying to keep her tears in.
	The white crystal glows and flies into the air. It emits a bright light and Ivy's father's body goes stiff. The black spirit come out screaming in a black
smoke and flies away. Then his body goes limp and Ivy runs over to help him. Willow and Gwyn can't move, still in shock over losing their sister. The crystal returns to the ground and disappears. Gwyn rushes to the spot and looks for it.
	" What's with all the gloomy faces?" asks a voice from up in the tree. " We won didn't we?"
	" Yeah but....." starts Willow. " Aria!?!?!"
	Aria jumps down from the tall tree and Willow and Gwyn hug her at once. The others run over and join.
	" I thought you were....." says Gwyn.
	" Never." says Aria.
	" But how did you get up there?" asks Jade.
	" Yeah." puts in Cora. " That's an awful big jump."
	" It is isn't it?" says Aria. " Glad I didn't try and jump."
	" What do you mean?" asks Mira. " How else would you get up there?"
	" Have you all forgotten my power?" asks Aria.
	" You teleported?!?!?!" cries Willow.
	" You sound so surprised." says Aria. " I knew what you guys were going to do. And I didn't plan to be hit too. So right before the energy hit I just thought about being in the tree. And poof! there I was. I  dropped the replica of my crystal when I got there though. Better than falling myself. Which I almost did. I did get burned a little though. Kyra, please learn to aim a bit better."
	She shows her shoulder and her t-shirt is completely scorched. The skin underneath is all red and burnt. Sera gives her some ice and Gwyn makes a first aid kit appear. They help patch it up while Aria tries to assure them she's fine. When that's over Ivy returns to her father.
	" You guys." she says, worried. " He's not waking up. He's breathing but not moving at all."
	" Let me see." says Cora. " I took all of this Health stuff in school last year."
	She checks him out and a frown forms on her face.
	" I think he's in a coma." Cora tells Aria telepathically. " I don't know if it's serious and I don't want Ivy to freak out. What should we do?"
	" We should get him to a hospital." says Aria. " But what will we tell them?"
	" How about we say we found him like this?" suggests Gwyn.
	" Gwyn?" asks Aria in surprise. But this was a private conversation!"
	" Sorry, but it's not like you were 'talking' softly." says Gwyn.
	Aria looks at Cora who is just as surprised and shakes her head. " Back to Ivy's dad " she tells herself.
	" Gwyn had a good idea." says Aria, trying to be as quiet as possible. " Let's do what she said."
	" Let's." says Gwyn with a smile.
	They tell Ivy and, as Cora had worried, freaks out. Mira and Sera comfort her while Aria 'carries' her dad to her house.

	At the hospital, Ivy follows the doctors while Willow parks the car. The rest wait in the waiting room. Ivy comes out a while later with tear streaks on her face.
	" They said..." she starts. " They said that he's in serious condition. They want to be honest with me and they're not sure if he'll be all right." She
starts crying again and Gwyn puts her arm around her. " They said they'll do everything they can but it's possible..... he might not survive!"
	She lets it all out and the others try not to follow.
	
	" We did this." says Kyra after Ivy has left the room. " We were too strong and pushed too hard. We killed her father."
	" He's not dead." says Willow.
	" But he might die." says Kyra.
	" God Kyra!" shouts Jade. " Way to be a damn optimist! Anything is possible. Somehow, someway, that man in there will survive. You need to get a hold off yourself! Everytime anything happens you turn depressive and pessimistic and that's the last thing you or anyone else needs! Just, just shut up!"
	" I'm..... I'm sorry." says Kyra, now in tears. She runs out of the room and Sera throws up her hands with a big sigh.
	" I guess I should apologize." says Sera and she leaves to look for Kyra. Only the three sisters are left in the waiting room.
	" God this is bad." says Gwyn quietly. " We're not ready for any of this. We're not ready to take on evil. We're not ready to save the world. We can't even get through a simple battle without falling apart. A big mistake was made when we received these powers. We're not the ones who should have them. We can't use them and we can't control them."
	" I agree with you." says Aria. " We're not ready for this. But we're stuck with this. There's no getting around it. If we sit back and do nothing,
everyone will die. If we try and help, maybe we'll only kill ourselves and loved ones in the process. I suppose we need to think about this as saving the whole world and forget about the people we're close to. I suppose.."
	" I don't want to forget about them, about us!" cries Gwyn. " I don't want to die. I don't want you to die or Willow or anyone to die. What if that had been our mom? I can't do this anymore. I'd rather we all die, together, as a planet, than just lose everything one by one. I don't want to live without you guys. I couldn't. And we shouldn't."
	" We can't do anything about it." says Willow from the corner. " Like Aria said, we're stuck here with this problem."
	" We can do nothing." says Gwyn.  " We can sit around and peacefully live out the rest of our short lives. We're going to die either way, why should we suffer in the process?"
	" You could live peacefully knowing that everyone is going to die?" asks Aria. " Knowing that  , somehow you could have prevented that? I couldn't."
	Gwyn sits down and says nothing more. The three just sit there until it's time for them to go home.

	" We've decided that it's not our responsibility anymore." says Gwyn walking into the living room with the rest. Ivy is missing because she's at the hospital but the rest are there. " We aren't ready for this mission and we can't do it. And it would be pointless to try, die, and have everyone else die anyway. At least this way we don't have to witness it."
	" What!" cries Willow.
	Aria put her hand to silence her.
	" Is that how you really feel?" she asks. " All of you?"
	They nod and she just shakes her head.
	" Then there's nothing I can do about it." says Aria and she gets up and goes upstairs.
	" Aria!" cries Willow. " You can't let them do this!"
	There's no answer and the rest look at Willow.
	" You gonna join us?" asks Gwyn.
	" No way!" shouts Willow. " You've gone to far this time Gwyn. This is just plain selfish and self centered! How can you do this? How can you decide this? It doesn't matter now I guess. But I will never join you!"
	Willow storms upstairs after her sister and Gywn just shrugs. She rips off her choker and motions for the rest to do the same. They throw them down on the ground and walk out of the house.

	" Willow!" cries Aria. " We can't do it! We have to go."
	" But......" cries Willow.
	" Come on!" cries Aria grabbing her wrist.
	They run out of the park, out of breath. Trying to fight without the others just wasn't working. They don't stop until they reach their house.
		" We might as well give up too." says Willow rushing into the house. Aria follows after her. " We're just going to kill ourselves and not even make a dent! Without the others, we're nothing."
	" We have to keep trying." says Aria. " It's our destiny, our duty. A gift or a burden, it's ours."
	" I know." says Willow. " But what are we gonna do?!?!?"
	" I don't know." says Aria. " Maybe you're  right. We might as well give up. And die like the rest."
	Willow nods sadly and they start upstairs to their room. Gwyn walks out of the living room with a frown. She looks upstairs but decides to stay in the living room. Her sisters hadn't talked to her since the day before. They avoided her when they could and if they couldn't, they just ignored her. She was starting to wonder about her decision.
	" Maybe I didn't.......I didn't think about anyone but myself." says Gwyn to herself.
	" You got that right!" Orion's voice booms in Gwyn's head making her jump. " Do you know how selfish and thoughtless what you did was?!?! Do you know what I gave up to save this planet?!? And you're just going to say screw it and give up. You know you made a mistake and you haven't got much time to fix it. Every minute you spend sitting on your ass watching television, the evil is getting stronger! I am sorry to yell but you obviously need it. Now I suggest you go find your followers and talk them into helping the same way you talked them into quitting! And I suggest you do it before it's too late!"
	As Orion leaves her mind, Gwyn sinks deeper into the couch.
	" What did I do?" she asks herself.

	" Aria?" asks Willow peeking into the bedroom.  " Wake up. I changed my mind."
	" What do you mean?" asks Aria with a yawn and a stretch.
	" We can't give up like Gwyn did." says Willow. " No matter what happens we have to try."
	" You sure?" asks Aria.
	" Yep." says Willow.
	" Good." says Aria. " I thought for a minute you were turning into Gwyn."
	" Never." says Willow and, after Aria gets ready, they go out scouting.

	" There they are." says Willow from the two's hiding place in the park.
	" Let's go." says Aria and they run out to attack.
	" Look who's back?" says the boy, the next taken by the evil.
	" Yeah we're back." says Aria. " And this time we're not running."
	" That's good." says the boy. " Now I can finish what I started."
	He throws out his hand and a cage appears around them. Aria smashes it with her mind and presses foreword. The boy again throws out his hand and three replicas of himself appear in front of the two sisters. They attack and Willow jumps up. She does a split kick and knocks two of them in the head. They fall and disappear. She has a little trouble with the third but eventually flips him over her back and onto the ground. As he hits it, he disappears.
	" Well, you've gotten stronger." says the boy.
	He throws out both his hands and a rope appears in his hands. Willow attacks him and he grabs her ankles. He ties her up by the feet, hands, and mouth, and puts her in a cage. Aria backs up a little as he gets another rope. She puts out her palm but he hold onto the rope and walks foreword. She tries to move him but he's expecting it and won't budge. She looks around
desperately to find something to throw but can only find a few small rocks. She faces him and fights regularly, hand to hand. He knocks her down and steps up with rope in hand.
	" Fire!" shouts Kyra, running up.
	She torches the rope and the boy shouts. Gwyn runs over to Willow and opens her cage. She unties her and they embrace.
	" You're here!" cries Willow. " I didn't think you would ever come around."
	" I'm not that stubborn am I?" asks Gwyn with a small smile and Willow giggles.
	" That's it!" cries the boy. " I am sick of surprises!"
	With a loud yell, he throws his arms out. A wave of energy knocks down all the girls and as they try to get up, he continues to send energy.
	Aria slowly gets up and, with the next blow, stays standing. She puts out her palms and shouts, sending a wave of energy that knocks the boy into a
nearby tree. He groans and tries to stand up, but can't and falls to the ground. The girls stand up and walk to Aria. Aria takes out her crystal and tosses it into the air. It glows bright and the boy is lifted into the air. Out of his mouth comes the dark black cloud of evil smoke. It screams then flies into the air. The boy stands up, looks at them confused, shakes his head, and walks away. Aria looks at Gwyn with a frown.
	" Look, Aria, I'm sorry, okay?" says Gwyn.
	" Yeah, whatever." says Aria and she turns and walks away.
	" I am." says Gwyn softly to herself.
	Aria stops and turns to face her. A small smile appears at the corner of her mouth.
	" Are you guys coming?" she asks. Gwyn smiles and runs up to her sister. 
	The rest follow and, as a group again, they walk to the Cambell house.

	" Has the crystal given you any readings yet?" asks Mira.
	" Nah." says Aria.  " But it should work soon. It's been a few days."
	She throws the replica of her crystal into the air. It glows a bright white and shows an image of a small girl, no more than six or seven. Her eyes are
black and evil and cold and it makes the girls shudder. The crystal fades and it rejoins with Aria's.
	" That poor little girl." says Ivy.
	The rest nod, pick up, and leave the house.

	" She's not very strong." says Jade as a small fireball is thrown and Jade intercepts it with ground.
	" She's too little." says Sera, freezing the water that is tossed at her. " But I'm afraid we'll hurt her if we attack. She's too fragile."
	" Maybe we don't need to attack." says Gwyn looking at Aria.
	" Yeah, she's tired from just attacking us." says Cora.
	" It can't hurt right?" says Aria taking out her crystal.
	She throws it into the air and the child's eyes grow frightful. Before the crystal even starts it's magic, the evil smoke flies out of her small body. The
girl faints, falling to the ground.
	" It couldn't control her!" shouts Kyra over the monsters screams.
	" She doesn't understand what he wants, she doesn't know evil." says Mira. " But now what do we do?"
	" Maybe it'll fly away like the other times." says Gwyn hopefully.
	Her hopes did not come true unfortunately and the smoke turned into a man, a human man. He was about 5'9 and he had dark blue hair and eyes. His outfit was different but not incredibly. He wore a uniform, like from the army, but a long cape came down from the back. It was in various shades of blue and hanging from his neck was a long chain, reaching the middle of his chest.
Attached to the chain was a silver ring with a dark blue crystal inside.
	He looks at himself confused for a moment and then turns his attention to the girls.
	" Well, girls....." he starts but then puts a hand over his mouth.
	The girls are now utterly bewildered by his actions and don't know what to do. The man takes his hand off of his mouth and looks again at the girls.
	" I...." he starts still baffled by the language. " I... I."
	He screams again, turns into the smoke, and disappears. The girls just stare and finally walk home.

	" What was that?" asks Sera.
	" I don't know but that guy was weird." says Ivy.
	" I bet he'd say the same about you guys." says Aria.
	" If he could get it to come out of his mouth." says Gwyn with a giggle.
	Aria rolls her eyes and jumps when she hears a scream from their backyard. They run out in time to see their mother faint at the evil man's feet. He looks strangely at her then sees the girls.
	" I'm back." he says with a stalking, evil, horror movie tone in his voice and the rest take a step back. " Did you miss me?"
	" Now at least we can understand his threats." says Jade sarcastically.
	" Well, let's get to it." says Cora. 
	" Let's." says the man.
	He stands ready for attack and the rest do the same. Then, with no warning at all, he leaps into the air. The girls look up as he throws down fireball after fireball after fireball, his hands flying back and forth as he aims at the girls. They yell and dodge, running and jumping all over. He laughs and continues to throw the balls. Aria tries deflecting them but he's faster than her. Her shoulder is braised and she shouts. The rest are hit more than once but continue to stand up to the evil.
	" Well, you're persistent little creatures." says the man.
	His fireballs come faster and stronger and the girls grow weary. 
	" I can't... do this... much... longer." says Ivy, short of breath.
	" We.. we have to!" shouts Aria and she stops dead in her tracks. " We have to fight back!"
	A fireball is thrown directly at her chest and an inch before impact it is turned away. Aria opens her eyes, which she had closed in fear, and looks shocked
at the fireball, flying back at the man. He shouts and just dodges the ball. The rest stop and face the man.
	" What?" he cries seeing they are no longer afraid. " You must fear me! You must fear me!"
	" We don't have to do anything, " says Willow. " Except destroy you."
	" You can't." says the man. " I am the all powerful, Lieutenant Riak, and you can't destroy me."
	" Wanna bet?" Mira says. " Water!"
	Her blast of water in engulfed in a fire beam that flies at her.
	" Ice!" cries Sera and the fire is frozen and falls to the ground in large crystals.
	Aria lifts the icicles and throws them, one by one, at Riak. He dodges them by transportation for a while but then loses strength. He is hit, first in the shoulder, then the chest, and cries in pain. He falls to his knees and Aria throws a final icicle at him. In front of him appears a black smoke cloud, which then turns into a woman. The woman puts out her palm and breaks the crystal into nothing more than a few pieces. The wave of energy hits the girls and send them all flying backward.
	" Nella!" cries Riak looking up at her.
	Nella is dressed in the same clothes as Riak but it's red instead of blue. Her hair and eyes are also red and they flash with anger. Around her neck is the same chain with a red crystal and two silver rings instead of one.
	" I knew you would need some help." says Nella. " You could never do it on your own. So incompetent."
	" I am not!" yells Riak. " I can do fine. In fact, I can finish the job right here right now. Without you meddling."
	" Mmhmm." says Nella. " I'm sure." She turns to the girls as they start to get up. " I don't believe we've met. I am Nella, Commander Nella of the Red Moon."
	" Yeah." says Gwyn. " Nice to meet you. Really, it's a pleasure."
	" I'm sure it is." says Nella, not noting the sarcasm. " Such puny things you are."
	" Excuse me?" says Jade. " Puny? Maybe you should look in the mirror."
	Jade was right because Nella was only 5'4, 5'5 at the most. She had tiny features and her comment was a complete contradiction. She was the puny one.
	" In power, you dimwit." says Nella, embarrassed by the body she had formed into.
	" The people of the Red Moon still use dimwit." says Cora. " And I was so hoping there really was other intelligent life out there. Oh well."
	" We're intelligent!" screams Nella. " We are smarter than any life form on Earth!"
	" Sure. You keep telling yourself that." says Mira.
	The girls are having a wonderful time making fun of the newcomer. She doesn't seem to understand the concept of sarcasm and is really getting angry. She screams in aggravation again and then whips out her hands. A wave of rock and dirt comes flying at them. The girls, knowing this would happen, were ready. Aria changes the course of the wave and sends it to Nella and Riak. Nella yells in surprise and quickly tries to jump over it. She lands on top though and, before she can stop it, the girls aim and fire.
	" Water!" cries Mira and the wave is turned from rock to water, with Nella still riding on top.
	" Ice!" cries Sera and the wave is frozen in place.
	Nella continues to move and flies off the top onto the ground.
	" Fire!" shouts Kyra and she makes a huge ring of fire around Nella.
	" Earth!" shouts Jade and Nella and the fire is carried high above the
ground.
	" Nature!" cries Ivy and from two different tree's fly vines, which tie Nella's feet and arms.
	Aria looks at everyone and they form a line, with her in the middle. They grasp hands and Aria's crystal begins to glow white. The others turn from their colors and also glow white. Letting go, they face Nella. With a shout, they push out their hands, sending a wave of energy so great that not only does it shatter the rock into dust, it hits trees and rocks for about 25 feet beyond it. When the smoke clears they see that they have destroyed most of the park. Nella and Riak are gone, but so are most of the trees.
	" At least we got them." says Willow. " Our destiny has been fulfilled."
	" And this is fixable." says Gwyn. " At least over time."

	They all stand, staring and the empty, lifeless park. It had to be done, they all think to themselves. One park in exchange for one planet.
	" Who needs time?" Ivy finally says.
	" Hey I resent that." says Willow. " But seriously, what do you mean."
	Ivy bends down and they see a small flower is still remaining. It has been broken but not killed. Ivy places her hand above it and it glows a light green. It's stem stands straight and the petals bloom out again. 
	Ivy rises to her feet and, from that one glowing plant, sends out the green light. It spreads outward and, wherever it touches the ground, new plants grow. Ivy holds out her hands again and the plants grow into trees, grass, flowers, and even weeds. The park is more beautiful than it was before and the others look on in amazement.
	" How... how did you do that?" asks Jade.
	" Just a little thing I picked up when I was a kid." says Ivy with a smile. " Not to that extent but, the idea."
	" That's neat." says Sera.
	" Well, " starts Aria. " I'm bushed. Let's all go to my house and crash."
	" Sounds like a plan to me." says Kyra.
	They all walk to the Cambell house together, laughing.