Part 7

Running through campus Melinda was late for her genetics class. The morning dew was still on the oval at Berkley and the sun was low in the sky this fine December morning.
The eldest of the Wyatt's did not want to be on the bad side of Professor Shelton for he was one of the toughest teachers in the Biology Department. Despite all of Melinda's earthly and otherworldly talents, she was still a night person and could not get up in the
morning. In afternoon classes she shined, but these seven o'clock classes and really we're tough to get to. Working on her degree in biology, Melinda had decided to go into
homeopathic medicine. With her talent to heal people she had decided that the regular channels of medicine were too restrictive with too many regulations, checks and controls to explain the miracles' she could perform without revealing herself as the daughter of a mystical white lighter. Studying the plant kingdom and the wonders that can be done with alternative medicines and herbs, she could open a small clinic and an herb and puesdo-Wiccan shop. People could still come to her on a backdoor basis for her help. Those that needed help after their dealings with evil could also come or she could be summoned. Her powers had increased several-fold since her Mother had released them four years before. She had inherited the power to see the past and future, transport herself to other places, levitate herself and control objects in other places through her mind. The most important talent was another mental one that gave her an accurate alarm as to when demons or warlocks would attack her or her family. As with her Aunt Phoebe she still had to interpret the premonition and sometimes she was wrong. Melinda would always
know shortly before it happened so she could defend herself. Though her powers were merely defensive, she had a great ability to use them both precisely and successfully.

"Miss Wyatt, would you care to join us?" asked the impatient professor as Melinda tired to sneak in the door.

"I apologized, Professor Shelton. It won't happen again," replied Melinda taking her seat next to Darlene Goodnight, one of her study pals.

Looking worried she warned, "That makes three classes straight! Better watch yourself Melly!

"Shhh!" replied Melinda pulling out her electronic notepad.

"And to continue. Why does nature sometimes delay the most obvious adaptations or niches? This is call delayed genetic implementation. Thank you for that demonstration, Miss Wyatt. So what does Robert Alberts say on this subject?" the professor continued as
Melinda narrowed her eyes and stewed. Class today was going to be long and tenuous. "Miss Wyatt. Please try and exercise a little more professional decorum in my classes," the professor snapped as she was leaving. "My other students want to be here to learn and I'd appreciate the same courtesy and attentiveness from you."

Melinda just smiled and agreed for she was in deep enough with him not snap at him for his attitude.

"How can you stand to work with him?" Melinda asked Darlene as they walked through the biology lab.

Shaking her head she replied, "You must have just hit it off bad with him. In the lab he's quite different."

"Sure, you do everything he asks since you work for him. He's still so arrogant," replied Melinda wincing at the thought.

"The top people in their field often are. He's one of the best herbatogists in the country," retorted Darlene.

"And if I want my degree in this field I best suck up to him. Darlene I've heard that line over and over again. You're stuck in the same old loop," said Melinda twirling he finger in the air making the point.

"And you're going to be late for your chemistry class. Meet me at the lab at six and we can work on our blood chemistry midterm. Bye, Melly," waved Darlene.

Melinda sighed, waved and took off on another quarter mile run across campus.

Back in the Biology Lab Building Melinda walked into Professor Shelton's laboratory calling out Darlene's name.

"Hey there, Melly. Just finishing up. Boy, this work is hard. He's got me going through old records and books looking for substitutes for the strangest things. Sure glad that my shift is over and that you're here," said an exhausted, but happy Darlene.

Melinda helped her with her armload of books that went back on an ancient bookshelf. Glancing through the ancient leather bindings books detailing all sort of plants and herbs with all sorts of medicinal properties were there. The last book on the row was much older and she could barely read the title. Pulling the book out and opening up she found an old wood carving of a witch stirring a caldron. In Latin over the picture were the words "Magical and Mystical Wonders." In side was potion upon potion dealing with
magical spells and curses.

"Is that wild? He collects old books of magic. The Professor said he found more interested herbs and things in those books. That one is over five hundred years old from some bookstore in Italy," said Darlene as she grabbed her coat.

"And what's the purpose of what you're doing for him?" asked a very inquisitive Melinda.

"Cancer. Is that great? I'm helping him find some lost cure or new combination of these herbs to help destroy cancer. Is that great?" gushed Darlene. "It really makes you feel part of something big. I mean like humanity size!"

"Yea, really great," Melinda said quietly as they exited the building.

"Well, it seems your professor has been dabbling in the magical arts. The Elders have definitely felt magical disturbances in his vicinity. Hard to tell whether his goals are demonic or passive," explained Leo at a family or coven meeting.

"All I know is from the lists of herbs he was working on," said Melinda pointing to the list. "Supposedly a new cure for cancer."

"And Gram's chicken could really cure a broken heart. Right! Let me see. Something's missing. This partial list could do anything from summoning a fury to curing the common cold to killing a witch," mused Piper toying with the list.

"Killing a witch?" asked a startled Patti.

"We don't know that. He may be a jerk, but I don't think he's demonic related," said Melinda reassuring her sister.

"You haven't seen some of the demons I've dealt with. Major ay-holes!" replied Piper.

"But what are really up to there, Doc Brown? Why are you playing around with the toys f a witch? Mmmm?"

"Just the same, a little midnight sleuthiness would be in order. He could be the cause of some future calamity or the innocent victim of his own folly. Right now we won't know what cause totake," said Leo laying out the problem.

"Um, all right then. This one is mine. I don't want any of you girls involved in a 407, breaking and entering," said Piper looking not too happy.

"And your going to get back the Glamex 2300 security system?" asked Melinda looking more motherly than usual.

"Yep. Done it before, Melly," Piper replied sharply.

"And ended up in the county jail. That was quite a mess we had to fix," Leo reminded her.

"Let me orb you in, Mother. Besides I'm studying biology," Melinda said to Piper. "Let's do it together."

"May I remind you that I was stirring the old cauldron before you were born? Besides figuring out all those ancient recipes is second nature to me," said an irate Piper.

"You're right. I just think we need each other. I'll tackle the science and new stuff and you can handle all the ancient conjuring," compromised Melinda.

"Fine. Let's do it together," said Piper talking with her hands. "Let's get this over with. Bye, dear," Piper said kissing Leo.

"Careful darling," he replied. Piper held onto her daughter and they orbed out with Leo and Patti hearing from far away, "And watch out about ancient age cracks…"

The darkness was momentarily lit by Piper and Melinda orbing into Professor Shelton's laboratory. The distinct smell of plant life and Bunsen burners filled the air.

"No major alarms around here. Don't touch the door to the hallway or the windows or they'll turn the dogs on us," Melinda warned. She pulled out a shielded penlight and investigated the lab workbench. Nothing looked odd among the beakers, test tubes and the massive girder set of tubes and glassware. His electronic notebook lay carelessly open on the desk. Piper sat down and went to work on the keyboard

"Simple algorithms. No major firewalls. Piece of cake. We try this. Go to there. Viola! Laboratory Project 45E. Elemental biological inter-cosmic manipulation. Gibberish. There's a whole history here. He's gone through dozens of ancient texts going back centuries. Greek, Roman, Druid. He's identified plants from all over the world. Every continent and from every age. This database is amazing!" marveled Piper putting her hand on her chin.

"Any clue to where he's going? Let's not bust someone writing an encyclopedia," remarked Melinda leaning over to look at her Mother's work.

"There! That file entitled Tiberius. Damn. It's cyber-encrypted," cursed Piper. "No wonder the other files were so easy to break into."

Melinda placed her hand on the notebook, thought for a moment and then gave her Mother the password pathway.

"Very good. You're control is impressive, Melly," remarked Piper.

Melinda smiled. "Just applying some of the control I have for my healing. It's really the same.. Oh my God!" cried Melinda. On the screen were maps of the world showing population distributions by place, sex, age, and income.

Piper screwed up her forehead. "Starting to see a little megalomania here. Let's check out these other files. Umm. There appears to be references to the rituals from a fourteenth century satanic cult in some Germanic kingdom that practiced a form of naturalistic magic. No surprise there. And among their talents was the generation of various
mental abilities through the application of various combinations of plants."

"So they could create their own powers using potions?" asked Melinda.

Piper turned to her daughter, "Yep. That's the short version. For a mortal, he's handling strong stuff. But what are his intentions? Damn. Not there. Not there. No. No. No. No. No."

"Wait, go back. That file Demerin. Darlene was looking into that plant just today," Melinda said pointing to the filename.

"All right. Now THAT is a potion recipe though it one of the most complex I've ever seen. To make this up you would need a…"

"..laboratory setup like the one behind us," Melinda said turning around looking at the lab workbench. "That setup can make a batch biggest enough to affect the whole world. Which doesn't make sense. If he's trying to do that then why would he.. Hold it! Footsteps!" Melinda hit the off button on the electronic notebook and orbed her mother into the back storage room.

"Um-uff. Not so fast, Whoa," exclaimed Piper quietly as the lab door opened up.

In walked Professor Shelton humming an old Wagner opera aria. He turned on the burner and heated up green goo on the lab bench. "Cook my little sweetie, cook." For the next forty-five minutes the room smell of a sickening cooked spinach odor as he fiddled around with his potion cooker. Tweak here, fiddle there. Then a sudden "AH-ah!" "Success!" he proclaimed. He siphoned off a few milliliters into a pipit tube and deposited it into a beaker.

Piper and Melinda were very interested now. Peeking from behind the door of their hiding place, they saw him place the breaker on a high stool and light the contents. Poof! A sudden flash and green smoke swirled up. The smell or odor intensified as the smoke widened into a genie like cloud. Lightning and static electricity came from the cloud circling around the professor's head. He smiled with glee as the electricity began to enter him. Though the penetration was slightly painful, he seemed to enjoy the experience. Finally everything stopped and the room returned to normal. He looked up praising the almighty; closed his eyes and disappeared.

"Um! Whoa," thought Piper remembering once what Leo had said about mortal bodies with supernatural powers. They couldn't hold them for long without driving them mad.

Blink, the professor returned looking ecstatic. Out he blinked again. After several minutes he reappeared. "Morning already in Paris. I'm going to put the sub-orbital shuttle out of business. Yes!" Then the office began to shake and all the glassware rattled to a
very low and deep sound. The professor's glee turned from confusion to terror. A portal opened up over his desk and out stepped a demon with horns and orange scales. He looked around disappointed and then looked directly at the professor. The evil being spoke in ominous tones in an ancient rough Germanic tongue. Anger crossed the face, as
the professor did not reply. He was frozen in terror. Raising his demonic hand, the professor was blasted back against his lab bench after a bolt of yellow lightning hit him in the chest. Cringing in pain the professor said, "What-what are you?"

Changing his language the same demonic voice asked him, "Why have you summoned me? Where are my worshipers, my offerings? Who are you to disturb me, mortal?" A snake like hissing sound accompanied this last comment.

"M-mortal?" he whimpered.

"You freeze him, while I shield the.." Melinda whispered to her Mother.

Piper shook her head. "Let him spin the plot a bit. We still need to know the extent of Doc Brown's involvement. Listen."

"Who are you?" he continued to whimper shamelessly.

"Mortal, you summon up my gifts and yet you do not pay homage to ME? Tis' is your folly and will be your end. The name of the deity that will destroy you is Grytex, master of the Rhine," he sneered.

"Gifts? What gifts? You mean those magical powers? It wasn't for me. I had ..a ..tried to ..Just wanted to bring some of these gifts' to my world. Teletransportation would have made a great difference in my world," the professor tried to explain.

"So he wasn't the selfish bastard he seemed," Melinda said to her mother.

"Sure, he says that with a his head in the guillotine. Shh!" Piper replied.

"You wish to grant my gifts to the entire world? Maybe you can be of use, mortal. Yes, long has my power been dormant without those to follow me. With a whole world of those lying down before me than my power will be the greatest in my realm as in yours," he said filled with greed

"The whole world worshiping something from hell, nnnooo" exclaimed Professor Shelton trying to stand up and escape.

"That's it. Let's stomp this fly," said Piper who had heard enough. Stepping from out of the closet the demon spied Piper and tried to send a blast at her. Frozen in place the bolt just hung in midair.

The professor was also laying frozen solid on the floor. Melinda ran over to her professor and removed his scraps and aches from being tossed like a rag doll. "Unfreeze him so we can get out of here."

Piper complied and they moved an almost cationic man from the lab. "How about Mr. Dry Tex there?" asked Melinda pointing the frozen apparition. "We don't really have time to prepare some potion or spell. Things should be popping around here shortly."

"No problem," explained Piper as she flipped her fingers and the demon disappeared in a hundred trillion pieces. The last bolt of energy unfrozen and hit the lab setup knocking it on the floor. The mess burst into flames and quickly crawled up the walls progressing to the ceiling. Piper froze the room and the flames as the fire alarm started to ring in another part of the building. "Come on," cried Piper

"Mom, but the fire. We have to do something!" cried Melinda seeing her biology building going up in flames.

"Melly, we have to make choices in our work. First. priority is saving innocent lives. Second, not to get caught doing it. The situation is getting too hot around here. Ha-ha. Literally. Let's get the mad professor to safety," Piper directed as they headed for that exit. Piper also thought that the flames might also be the best for his research too.

"All right. Hope you know best. Come on professor," cried Melinda dragging him behind her.

Piper sighed, unfroze the mass of flames. The heat fell across her face as she took one more look and ran.

Out on the quad, Melinda tired to bring him around as the first floor was ablaze. "Professor Shelton, Professor Shelton." Melinda said applying pressure to his temples.

"Ah, what? Get him away! Get him .. how did I get to be here? Miss Wyatt? Where did that thing go," he said with panic.

"Demon fritters," said Piper quietly. "What?" asked the prof.

"Don't worry, he's gone now. Just rest for a moment," said Melinda trying to make him comfortable.

He looked up startled as a fire engine entered the quad. "Holy shit! My life's work!" he exclaimed looking up like he had had a heart attack.

"Not a bad thing. You were into some pretty nasty business. You might have unleashed a whole lot of trouble into the world," Piper said trying to sound reassuring. The last thing she needed was a lot of extra questions.

"I've spent years and all that research dollars, just to.." gasped the professor.

"Professor. You stumbled onto something that the world is better off not knowing about." said Melinda interrupting her professor.

"Who are you people?" asked the professor.

"Just your guardian angels that happened to save your butt. My angelic advice is to forget about all of this and don't play around with the elemental forces of the universe again!" said Piper almost scolding him.

"Professor Shelton. Some knowledge may be lost to man for a reason. There may just be a higher reason for it," replied Melinda helping him to his feet.

"Look to the future, professor. Believe me digging into the past only gets your hands dirty," said Piper shaking her head. "Believe me I know."

"Are you all right now? " asked Melinda.

"Surprisingly yes. Earlier I could have sworn I'd broken a bone. How can I thank you?" asked the Professor Shelton.

"Go back to finding your cancer cure. Coming Melinda? Our white horse waits," quipped Piper.

"Yes, Mom. Good-bye professor," she said waving. Turning to her mother she exclaimed. "Being a witch can be very satisfying after helping someone like that."

"Absolutely. Take us home, Tinker Belle," said Piper as they orbed out in an inconspicuous corner and headed home.