Part three
Evil fights back
 


	" So now that the world is safe from evil, how are we gonna spend our summer?" asks Cora, stretching as she gets up off her couch. All the girls are there and, since the day they defeated Nella and Riak, they've been bored out of their minds. Gwyn gets a twinkle in her eye and Aria sighs.
	" Mall." she says. All they did was go to the mall and, after a while, there's not much left to do there. Gwyn still loved it though, of course.
	" I can see Rojer." says Willow. Now that she had all this spare time she had made flirting a daily mall activity. 
	" Well, let's go." says Gwyn, grabbing her two sisters by the arms. " I drive one car!"

	They walk past the box office as they always do and Willow gasps.
	" He's not here!" she cries with a frown. " Where is he?"
	" Who knows?" says Mira. " The boy deserves a break. He must work every day of the year."
	" But what am I supposed to do?" asks Willow.
	" Live with it." says Aria.
	Willow nods and they head off towards the food court when Rojer comes walking into the mall. Willow's frown turns and she walks over to him. 
	" Hey Roj." she says with a little smile.
	He ignores her and walks past. He pushes a few people out of the way as he reaches the box.
	" What an ass." says Jade.
	" He doesn't usually do that." says Willow, her eyes filled with worry. " Something's wrong. I should go talk to him."
	" Leave him be Willow." says Sera. " Come on. I'm hungry."
	They head back to the food court, Willow glancing back every few feet to look at Rojer.

	" Have you seen mom today?" asks Gwyn as she joins her sisters on the couch that night. She towel dries her hair as Willow flips channels.
	" Nah." says Aria.
	" I can't believe he ignored me." says Willow. " He's usually so sweet and..."
	She was interrupted by a loud bang on the door and, when Aria answers, Kyra comes running in. It's raining outside and there's a crash of thunder as she begins to speak.
	" Something's really wrong." she says. She out of breath and soaking wet. " You've gotta come out here and see this."
	They follow Kyra out into the storm and gasp. The sky is black and the clouds are all swirling into a tornado without a funnel. There's tons of lightning and the wind is whipping.
	" It wasn't like this a minute ago." says Willow.
	" I know." says Kyra. " But those clouds were there and I thought they looked strange. On my way over here the sky just opened up and this started. It was instantaneous."
	" Do you think it could be....?" asks Gwyn.
	" We destroyed them." says Willow.
	" Maybe we didn't." says Aria. " Maybe there's more."
	" More?" asks Kyra.
	" We need to get the group together and talk." says Aria and the rest just nod.

	" It must be the evil." says Sera, pacing. " This storm has been going non-stop for four days now, just getting stronger and stronger."
	" Any luck getting Orion?" asks Gwyn. Aria had been trying to get a hold of the goddess for a while now but all traces of her had left their minds.
	" No, she's not...." starts Aria and then jumps back when Orion's image appears infront of them.
	" Girls.." she says. " The Earth is in danger. The evil has collected enough energy to start it's conquest. That storm you see is the beginning of the end."
	" Not if we have anything to do with it." says Aria and, grabbing her coat, she runs out the door.

	" Where are you going?" asks Jade as she and the rest follow Aria down the street.
	" That storm has a center." says Aria. " And that's where we have to go."
	They head towards the middle of the cloud and end up at a tall office building. With a blast of fire, Kyra knocks out the front door and they burst in. The doors reappear behind them, locking them in. Then they hear a female laugh come from somewhere in the building.
	" Welcome girls, I've been expecting you." says the voice. " I had hoped you would've come sooner but your delay has allowed me time to gather more energy. I look forward to seeing you all. Seeing you all die that
is."
	There's another laugh and then the lights go out. Left in complete darkness, Kyra makes a large fireball. Aria finds the switch and turns the power back on and they all look around. The room used to be a bunch of offices but now the whole floor is empty, with the exception of a few boxes here and there. They spot a flight of stairs in the middle and head for them. 
	They reach the tenth floor and sigh. An office building with 35 floors. Great. By the time they reach the top, they'll be too tired to fight. Then they hear footsteps above them and rush up the rest of the steps. Aria finds the light switch with her mind and turns them on. This floor has nothing in it. Not even boxes. They stand there, puzzled, and jump when a black smoke appears across the room. The figure that is under the smoke is not who they expected and Willow cries out.
	" Rojer?" she asks as she takes a step foreword.
	He assumes a fighting position and the rest do the same. Willow just stands still, baffled, and Rojer turns to her.
	" Willow?" he asks, dropping his arms.
	" He recognizes me!" says Willow, running forward. Rojer smiles to greet her but then throws out his hands. Two large fireballs fly at Willow and hit her square in the chest. She is flung back and slams up against the wall with a grown. Gwyn runs to help her and tells the rest that she's unconscious. Then they turn to face Rojer and he laughs.
	" So gullible you all are." he says.
	" You, you scum!" cries Gwyn and she runs foreword. He throws fireball after fireball at her but she dodges them all. She hold out her hand and in it appears a knife. 
	" No, Gwyn!" cries Aria and the knife goes flying out of Gwyn's hand, landing on the ground. Gwyn is knocked out of Rojer's way and his eyes flash.
	" Aria!" yells Gywn. " Why'd ya do that!"
	" We can't kill him." says Aria. " We're here to save him."
	The others nod and face their opponent. Rojer comes foreword and throws out his hands. The girls are surrounded by a ring of fire that quickly covers them in a dome. Mira and Sera try and douse it but nothing works
from the inside. It slowly begins to shrink, little parks falling down burning the girls. Gwyn gets up and makes a hose in her hand, spilling water all over the fire. It goes out and the rest take this opportunity.
	" Wind!" cries Cora, slamming Rojer against a wall. He hits his head and falls to the ground.
	" Water!" cries Mira as she drenches him.
	" Ice!" cries Sera and Rojer is covered in a thick cover of ice. The top cracks and a black smoke seeps out, flying through the nearest vent with a
scream.
	" Fire!" cries Kyra and she melts Rojer's icy covering. He is knocked out but will be fine when he wakes up. The rest continue on.

	" Well, this is it." says Jade, stepping out onto the 35th floor. Their legs hurt from climbing and they were getting annoyed. They just wanted to meet the enemy and get it over with. Willow had to be carried up, still unconscious, and that heavied their burden.
	" There's nobody...." before Gwyn can get out her sentence, another black smoke cloud appears. They all take their fighting positions and Aria lays Willow down.
	When the smoke transformed into the figure they were all shocked. It was Stacie, Miss Popular 1999. Stacie gave them her usual ' I'm the best ' look and took her stance as well.
	" Fire!" cries Kyra and with a wave of Stacie's hand the ball turns to ice. She returns it and knocks Kyra in the shoulder. Kyra cries and falls but quickly picks herself back up.  
	" Water!" cries Stacie and Sera, Jade and Gwyn are drenched. " Ice!" she continues and she sends a wave of frigid air towards them. 
	" Wind!" shouts Cora and the gust is turned away. " Wind!"
	Stacie withstands the blow and puts her hands to the ground. " Ice!" she yells and the ground freezes under their feet. Kyra, Cora, and Jade slip and fall and Kyra jumps to her feet.
	" Fire!" she shouts and melts the ice to an ankle deep pool of water.
	" No!" cries Aria but it's too late.
	" Ice!" shouts Stacie again and, though most manage to jump, Kyra, Cora and Mira are trapped with their feet beneath the ice.
	" Earth!" yells Jade, but it does little damage. Only a few cracks appear and not enough to free their friends.
	" Ice!" yells Stacie, placing her hands on the ground. The ice wave moves across the floor and completely cover Cora, Kyra, and Mira who cannot escape.
	Aria throws her hands out but her wave of energy is too weak. The ice does not break. Stacie raises her hands and a white ball of energy glows above them. She laughs and throws the ball at the remaining girls. They yell but have little time to react. Aria, Jade, Sera, and Ivy are all frozen in place.

	Willow sits up and groans, rubbing her head. How stupid she had been to think Rojer would be like Jerad. She then remembered where she was and felt a cold breeze against her arm. Looking up she sees Stacie, her mouth
turned up in an evil grin. Her friends are gone. She slowly stands up and holds her head, her headache getting worse.
	" What.. what have you done with them?" she asks in a whisper.
	" They are out of the way, as soon you will be." says Stacie. " You will all make fine trophies for my Queen."
	" Trophies?" says Willow in disgust. " We will not be trophies for you or anyone!"
	With her energy returning, she flings out her hands. Time does not stop, however, and Stacie laughs.
	" Your playing on our field now!" she shouts and places her hands to the ground. A wave or ice moves toward Willow but she jumps, remaining in the air.
	" What?!" cries Stacie. " You can't do that! You can't!"
	" I told you.." says Willow, putting her hands out to each side. " We will not be your trophies!"
	She begins to spin and the ice on the floor melts. The girls appear and their covering also turns to water. The floor dries up and Willow stops spinning. She lands gently on the ground and the others stand up.
	" No!" cries Stacie. " This can't be happening!"
	" Nature!" cries Ivy and, through the window, vines fly in and tie up their opponent.
	" Earth!" cries Jade, turning them to stone.
	" Fire!" cries Kyra and her fireball hits Stacie head on, flinging her back into the wall. She slumps down and the black smoke flies up and out of her. The girls quickly untie her and run towards the stairs.

	The go to run onto the roof but instead enter a 36th floor. It's larger then the rest which seem impossible and it's dark and cold. A light appears at
the other side and they see a chair made of crystal. Standing to one side is a boy maybe a year or two older than them and in the chair sits a woman, not much older than that. She stands up and claps her hands together.
	" Ah, so you've made it." she says. She points to the boy. " I don't believe you've met Terran. He's my most prized possession. Hand picked from the finest."
	Terran steps foreword and bows, then assumes a fighting position. The girls face him and the woman sits down.
	" Well, let the games begin." she says with a wicked laugh and Terran jumps into the air. He throws icicle after icicle at them and, when they are avoided, he turns them back for another try. Jade is stabbed in the back and falls to the ground. Willow helps her get the icicle out while the rest continue. Terran then slams Kyra and Sera against the wall and then pins them there with four stone stakes. Gwyn knocks them down and Aria and Mira catch them. They all return to the fight. Aria flings out her hands and Terran goes flying into the wall next to the Queen. He rises and returns the blow. He runs foreword, dodging some attacks and sending some back. Bruised and wounded, the girls hang on. Cora tries to move him but he continues coming. He sends out her wind attack and she slams onto the floor. The girls are being bashed about while Terran is not being hurt at all. Sera fiercely shakes her head and sends out an enormous icicle right at his chest.
	" No!!!" cries Aria and she turn it away, smashing it against the wall.
	Everyone stops and stares at her, including Terran. She steps up, bleeding and aching all over and touches her fingers to her crystal. It glows a bright white light and so does Terran. His eyes turn from black to their original dark blue and he collapses to the ground.
	" What?!!" cries the Queen, springing from her chair. " My fiercest warrior!"
	" He is not a warrior, he is a human being!" cries Aria. " None of these people are evil. It's you who is evil. You are evil. You are hate. You are malice. And you do not belong here."
	She begins to glow the same bright light as her crystal and from it appears another, larger, crystal. She holds it up and it shines. The other girls crystal's glow and they too receive a larger replica in their hands. They all form a large circle with Aria and their crystals fly to the center, making a smaller circle. With their backs to the middle, they grasp hands and begin to glow. The circle of crystal spins faster and faster and glows brighter and brighter. In the center appear another crystal, and it flies up into the air.
	" What?! No!!" cries the Queen and she changes from her human form to her true, black energy. The dark energy cloud grows larger and larger and opens up revealing another dark cloud. From this cloud comes a burst of energy That hits the circle.
	The girls cry out and wince at the pain but never let go. They slowly begin to fall, their hands still clasped. 
	" Something's missing." says Aria in a weak groan. " We're not strong enough. We should be stronger."
	Terran begins to glow and from his chest comes a bright light. A small ball of energy appears and connects with the center crystal, creating a burst of
light. A beam of white energy forms and begins to push back the dark energy but still cannot overcome it. Terran slowly rises to his feet and walks to the center of the circle. Despite the cries of the girls, he reaches up and touches a finger to the crystal. There is an explosion of light that sends a wave of energy all around, like a nuclear blast and it overtakes the black energy, disintegrating the evil being and all it's evil energy. The girls release their grasp and go flying, their bodies spread out across the floor. Then, as quickly as it came, the light vanishes. They are left on the roof with no trace of the 36th floor or the evil Queen.

	Aria groans as she lifts herself up from the rooftop. She looks around and sees all her friends doing the same. She is weak and tired and her whole body aches. The rest look about them and Aria sees that the only one not moving is Terran. He had been the center of the blast. The origin of the blast. She drags herself over to him and checks his pulse. He has none and he has
stopped breathing. She bursts into tears and rests her head next to his. She had never met him, never even spoken to him, but she felt so close to him. Somehow she felt that he and she were one, that they were connected
somehow. And now he was gone. She would never get to meet him or speak with him. Her sobs grew stronger and the rest came over to try and comfort her. Nothing helped though.
	" Willow!" she suddenly cried out, her tears stopping. " Willow, you can help him. You can...."
	Willow just shakes her head. " Even I cannot do that." says a voice from above. Orion floats down and rests her hand on Aria's shoulder. " You cannot turn back time and change the future. It against the rules."
	" Rules?!" shouts Aria jumping up. " Rules!! He's dead!! Dead!! You could save him but won't because it's against the rules?!!"
	" I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do." says Orion calmly.
	Aria lays her head back down next to Terran's but this time she doesn't cry. She just closes her eyes and lays there.
	" Orion, why did he do that?" asks Gwyn. " Why did he take such a risk?"
	" It was the only way to defeat the evil." says Orion. " I thought you nine were the only ones who had the power of the elements inside you but a small piece escaped me. It was reborn in Terran. A combination of all the elements, but too small for him to know. That was why he was such a strong opponent. And that was why he entered the circle. Without his energy, your powers
would not have been complete and you would have been defeated. Evil would have taken control of the Earth and the Earth would have been destroyed."
	" He died because he knew he realized he had that power." says Kyra sadly. 
	Orion nodded and they all looked down at Aria, who could no longer keep her tears in. Then there was a flash of light and a woman, dressed like Orion but in white appeared above them. They all gasped, including Orion, who flew up to meet her.
	" I will take it from here Orion." says the woman and Orion nods and disappears. The woman floats down and stands over Terran and Aria. " I am Leah, Goddess of Life and I have come for Terran."
	" No!" cries Aria, putting herself between the goddess and Terran. " You are not going to take him away.
	The woman's crystal laugh echoes through the night sky and she shakes her head. " I give life, " she says softly. " Not take it. The Gods have decided to make an exception on Terran's part. He still has the elemental power within him and they are needed for further protection of the Earth. Your power, girls, can only be completed if he is alive. After this, however, you are all on your own."
	Aria steps back and Leah places a hand on Terran's chest. A silver light spreads through his body, then disappears. Then the girls crystals glow and they feel a burst of energy. When it's over, Leah rises and faces them.
	" He'll be fine but he no longer has any power." she says. " He will still be strong and remember everything. I must again remind you that this incident
was only for the good of the planet and, after this, you are all on your own."
	With that, she disappears. Aria runs over to Terran. He groans and sits up, holding his head. Aria cries out with joy and wraps her arms around him. He winces but smile and returns the embrace. The rest cheer and laugh, and join the two to talk to Terran.

	" Ah, Willow and Aria." says Mrs. Mayfield as the three sisters walk out of school after their first day of their junior year. " Welcome back."
	" Thank you Mrs. Mayfield." the two girls say and as they walk away they let out a giggle. None of the people who they had previously fought remembered their evil involvement. Jerad and Kyra were still going strong
and Jerad still believed he had almost been hit by a car. Their mother never recalled that night in the backyard and Mrs. Mayfield just figured she had been drunk when she woke up in the park with no clue how she got there. Ivy's dad remembered being rescued by his daughter but he wasn't really sure he saw the rest which was good for the girls. Stacie went back to snob-central
and Rojer still worked at the box office in the mall. Willow said he wasn't smart enough for anything else and is now chasing Antony with Gwyn's help. Gwyn had stopped thinking with her hair and eyes and is now very interested in the government. Ian still raved about the girls in the county jail while he was being treated for a "mental collapse". Everything was pretty much back
to normal and the only worry's the girls had now were homework, tests, and when to make time for shopping.
	" Hey guys!" shouts Mira and Sera and they rush over to walk with them. Kyra joins them and Jade runs over to Gwyn to talk about the Homecoming dance. Ivy and Cora wave and run over and, in one giant group, the nine girls walk off to spend a lazy evening at the Cambell house.

	Aria throws down her bookbag on the kitchen table and the rest follow. They all plop down in the living room and flip on the t.v. when there's a knock at the door. Aria jumps up to get it while the rest keep their eyes on the tube. 
	She opens the door and there stands Terran, his bookbag over his shoulder. Aria smiles brightly and wraps her arms around him. He gives her a tight squeeze then, dropping his bookbag, he lifts her in his arms and carries her to the living room.