Zack grunted in discomfort as another bead of perspiration trickled down his forehead. His legs were turning into jelly, and both he and Kit were still waiting in the line, though they had reached the passport agency more than two hours ago. He fanned himself while Kit stood beside him, filling out a form. "Whitelighter," Kit quipped. "Is that my occupation or should I just put guardian angel?"

An elderly lady who was waiting in the line in front of them snapped her head up at Kit's peculiar words and turned around, frowning.

"Hi," Zack greeted, giving her a stiff smile, embarrassed. "How are you doing?" The lady eyed them for a moment, then turned back around to face the front. Zack let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't understand why Kitty was being so hard. "What's the matter with you?" he asked.

Kit stopped writing. "We shouldn't be here, Zack, this is wrong." 

"Wanting a normal life is not wrong, okay?" Zack pointed out. "In fact, it couldn't be anymore right. For crying out loud, stop being so good all the time." His head was beginning to throb. The elderly lady turned back and gave him a look. "Hi," Zack snapped irritatedly. "What’cha looking at? Eyes front."

Eyes widened at his open rudeness, she threw him a dirty look, grunted and turned back to the front. "Zack..." Kit said, trying to calm him down.

Zack sighed. His headache was killing him. He hadn't felt so bad so fast before, and he didn't need anymore fuel. "Kit, look," he held her firmly by the shoulders. "I love you, all right? But I'm getting a migraine here." He looked at her registration form. "Just, look, we're not hurting anyone, we're not breaking any commandments, okay? We just changed a lousy two to a lousy seven. So let go before I blow." Just then the line moved and the both of them perked up a little. "Okay, we're almost there."

Kit did sincerely not want to anger Zack any further when The Elders suddenly made a hollow sound to call her. Obviously it must be something important. "Uh-oh," she muttered, knowing full well that Zack was not going to like her leaving so suddenly.

"What?" Zack asked. Then, as quick as lightning, a knowing light dawned in his eyes. "Oh no," he muttered. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no. You cannot leave right now, okay?" He averted his glance, looking forward. "Pretend you...pretend you're out."

"I can't do that," Kit countered.

"Yes, you can," Zack said as the line moved once more. "Come on."

"I gotta go," Kit said firmly.

Zack's hands balled into fists. He was getting exasperated and his head felt like it was about to explode. "Kitty!" he protested, his anger boiling over. "You-you can't go right now, okay?" He eyed a clock nearby and pointed accusingly at it. "We've been waiting in this line for two and a half freakin' hours!" 

A low, trembling sound was heard. 

Without warning, the clock detonated, exploding into pieces and crashing onto the floor noisily. Screams filled the air and everybody in the line ducked - except Zack and Kit, who were looking around in shock.

"O-oh," Zack croaked, jerking his hand back.

"Alright, I'll start scrying," Zane said the minute they got back to their dorm. He started over to their altar and began gathering some candles, crystals and a map.

"I don't think it'll work," Kit replied. They knew they had to find the witch with the second amulet fast, otherwise her fate would be sealed - just like the first one. "The amulet wards off magic. All magic."

Marie nodded in pensive agreement. "That must be why we didn't find the first witch in time. We didn't get a read on her until after the amulet was stolen."

"Okay, but what happens if we don't find her before..." Zane was cut off by the sudden sound of explosion. The floor vibrated, throwing all three of them a little off of their feet.

Marie looked about wildly and suddenly realized that the sound had came from the kitchen. "Kitchen," she mouthed.

They rushed through the hallway, swerved into the kitchen, and were greeted by a complete mess. Patches of watery, reddish substances were everywhere.

Zack was not pardoned from the mess. Chunks of what seemed like deformed watermelon lay on his blond hair, long-sleeved navy-colored T-shirt and hands. He had his back facing them, but it was pretty obvious that he was shaking with anger.

"Zack?" Marie chimed tentatively.

"Uh, okay," Zane said. "Was it a demon?"

"No," Zack answered. "It was watermelon."

"Honey, why did you vanquish watermelon?" Kit asked, taking small, careful steps forward. Zane and Marie followed her.

"I did not vanquish watermelon," Zack said tersely, his voice sounding all edgy and pointed. "I threw it up in the air and I tried to freeze it and it just exploded!" He swerved sideways in anger, facing the sink, and gestured angrily.

The dishes in the sink suddenly exploded, shattering into pieces, throwing out shards of porcelain like a volcano spitting out lava.

"Ha-ah!" Zack yelped in surprise and turned towards them, waving his hands before him.

Crash!

Kit ducked, flinching as the glass of a kitchen cabinet behind her shattered. The shards of broken glasses crashed noisily onto the countertop. Zack yelped, covered his face with his hands and blinked his gray-blue eyes at them helplessly.

Kit nodded at Zane and Marie. "This is the little problem I was telling you about," she said gravely.

"Hmm." Marie raised an eyebrow. "Okay, Zack, slowly put your hands down and no one will get hurt," she advised, removing the towel that she had used to shield her face from the shattering glass.

Sulking, Zack let out a frustrated groan, reluctantly tearing his hands away from his face. As he clasped them tightly in front of him, Zack can't help but notice that they were standing at least eight feets away from him. 

Great, he thought. Might as well wear the 'Danger' sign around his neck. He had never felt so pathetic before.

"Honey," Kit said soothingly. "It's gonna be okay, we're gonna figure it out." She took a daring step forward.

"No-no-no!" Zack said hurriedly, resisting the urge to wave his hands to stop her. "Don't come near me, I don't want anybody to get hurt." He didn't know what was wrong with his powers, but he could tell that they were majorly screwed up.

Ignoring his pleas, Zane headed for the oven, slipping the oven mittens off of their hooks and boldly waltzed back towards him. 

"Okay," he said determinedly. "Uh, put these on. Maybe this will help." Distressed, Zack allowed his little brother to help him put on the mittens. "Put these on and..." Zane looked around and his eyes lay on the kettle on the stove. "Okay, now try the teapot." he directed. "Try the teapot." 

Taking a deep breath. Zack relaxed, feeling his taut muscles release its tension. Okay, he told himself. I can do this. Freeze the kettle. He held his hands in front of him, then looked at the kettle and...

Boom! The lid of the kettle popped out and flew through the air. Water splashed all over the stove. 

"Whoa!" Zane yelped, throwing a hand back. Using his other hand, Zane quickly pushed Zack's hands down. "Okay, okay," he said, stumbling all over his words. "Uh, it wasn't that bad."

Marie came up to them. "Alright," she said. "Just relax, okay? Just calm down because I think your emotions are making this worse."

Kit, who was standing shocked by the doorway, spoke up. "I'm gonna go check with the Elders, and see if they know what happened to your powers."

"Hurry!" Zack griped.

"Oh hey," Zane piped up just as Kit's body started glowing blue. "And ask them how we're supposed to find..." Kit's body burst into sparks of blue and white lights, and orbed out. "...the second witch," Zane finished off. He turned to Marie. "I hate when she does that."

"Well, look on the bright side," Zane said as they descended the grand stairs. "At least you got a new power that you've been bitching about for long enough."

"Yeah, well, careful what you bitch for," Zack muttered bitterly.

They stopped short at the bottom of the stairs as the air a few feet away from them began to shimmer. Zane's muscles went taut. He knew what that meant: warlock attack. Promptly, a frizzy-haired male warlock shimmered in and saw them. 

Instinctively, Zack threw his hands up and waved at the warlock, summoning a time-freeze.

But instead of freezing the warlock, a pot of Fichus plant near him simply cracked and toppled over, the soil spraying all over the marble floor. Zack stared miserably at his piece of 'artwork', mouth and eyes wide opened, dumbfounded.

"Uh…" Zane stuttered, trying to come up with some sympathizing words. But before he could, the warlock reeled his hand back and hurled a ball of bluish energy their way.

Pointing his index finger at the energy bolt, Zane concentrated and shoved it with his mind. In a fiery display, the energy bolt veered awkwardly to the right and exploded against the wall. Then, in a sweeping motion, Zane lifted his arm and telekinetically sent the warlock flying past a bookshelf and crashing against a wall. 

As the warlock quickly got onto his feet, Zane jumped forward and gave him a kick in the stomach. It seemed to throw him off a little, so he high-kicked him in the head. The warlock stumbled, and Zane used his power once again to throw the warlock against the wall.

"Try again!" he yelled at Zack. Looking dreaded and upset, Zack exasperatedly waved his hand one more time.

Boom!

As he watched in horror, the bookshelf near Zane collapsed onto him, knocking him out. "Oops?" He averted his gaze to see the warlock getting up onto his feet and advancing towards him. Uh-oh, Zack thought, wishing he had already controlled his new powers.

"Somebody?" he squeaked as the warlock came closer. "Help!" Zack was totally powerless now. The warlock swiped at him - almost connecting - and Zack high-kicked him in the head, throwing him off just enough to buy some time. "Somebody!? Anybody!?"

He heard a sound at the staircase, looked up, and saw Marie standing there. "Watch out!" Zack yelled as the warlock reeled his hand back and threw an energy ball at Marie. Marie jumped over the banister, landing hard on some furniture.

Zack turned around and faced the warlock. Oh please, he thought. Please-please-please-please-please let my powers work. He took a deep breathed to calm himself down. "I can do this," he said, sounding more confident than he felt. "Just calm down. Focus." 

Forcefully, Zack once again flicked his hands out at the warlock.

The warlock stopped in his tracks, poised like a statue. Then right before Zack's eyes, he shuddered, and without any warning, bloated up and exploded into nothingness.

Zack let out a loud and sharp gasp. "I did it!" His heart leaped with joy and he felt light-headed. Zack rushed to help Marie, who had groggily witnessed what had just taken place. "I did it!"

"Very good," Marie commented as she got onto her feet and rubbed her back. Zack gave a goofy smile. "Well, of course I was trying to freeze him."