The next morning everyone was surprised when, after about 15 minutes of waiting and talking amongst themselves, they saw Pippi take Capri's place.

Donna was as surprised as everyone else, and though she did notice Nathan and Christine whispering to each other, they were always doing that, so she didn't think anything unusual about it.

"Court is now in session." Madonna announced, and the people kept looking around questioningly and whispering until Pippi spoke up.

"I am taking Miss Monroe's place today. She is too ill to preside, and I hope she has a very speedy recovery.

Donna paled and glanced to Ameh. "I hope last night didn't have something to do with this." she whispered to her and NT. "I thought she looked tired, but..."

"Oh, no!" NT whispered back.

"I don't know, guys, if it wasn't now she'd get sick later anyway considering how she was working herself into the ground." Ameh whispered, trying to reassure herself as well as the other two.

"The court calls Mrs. Rebekah-Leah Myles." Madonna announced.

Rebekah came forward, and after being sworn in, took her seat at the witness table.

As Mrs. Myles' questioning began, Donna saw how tense Miranda looked, and reached over to give her a hug.

As the testimony continued, Miranda began wailing, and Donna along with Ariel tried to comfort her.

Finally, Mrs Myles was released, and then it was Ariel's turn.

Her testimony was no less traumatic, especially for NT, and even though Donna couldn't keep from crying, she tried to help Sarah keep her from losing control.

That was when Lisa Halden started yelling at Nathan, then threw herself at him.

This in turn, set NT to screaming hysterically, while Melanie Benson collapsed in a sobbing heap and Ariel and Madonna had their hands full with both of them.

Donna wanted to help, but Kendra was crying as hard as she was and holding on to her too hard.

Donna cried out as she saw Christine leap from her seat and hurl magic at Lisa Halden, who fell screaming to the floor, and that made NT even more upset.

But whatever Christine had done had evidently been only a minor spell, as Lisa recovered quickly.

Which was when Brett lunged at Nathan and grabbing him, caused him to change color, going to a brilliant green.

When Nathan realized what'd happened, he shouted at Brett then both men began fighting. Lisa jumped in, trying to get them apart, though she was hampered by not wanting to risk hurting Brett herself.

Donna bit her lip. Kendra was holding on to her, and meanwhile Shawn was trying to join the fight but Shirlee was holding him back. The whole courtroom was in an uproar.

Then Ameh started in on Christine.

Donna wanted nothing more than to go over there and take a few pieces out of Christine and Nathan herself. But if this went on now someone other than them could get hurt and she didn't know how to stop it. There was someone who could, though...or at least she hoped they could.

She reached over and gave Kendra a hug. "Mom, it's ok. But somebody's got to stop this before someone gets hurt."

And before Kendra could say anything, Donna had transported herself to outside Capri's room.

She knocked at the door. She just hoped Capri wasn't too sick to even get out of bed--or that Capri wouldn't be too upset being called like this, but she didn't know what else to do, no one was listening to Pippi.

"Capri? I'm sorry, it's Donna, can I come in?"

Capri opened the door and motioned her in. "Wha's on yer mind? Yer not feelin bad 'bout last night I 'ope 'cause I 'ardly think that's what did it."

"It's not last night." Donna replied. "Everybody started fighting and--and I'm afraid someone'll get hurt. Lisa lost it when she heard about her parents, and then Brett went after Nathan. Then Christine and Ameh got started.." she sighed. "Pippi's trying but no one's listening to her."

"Blimey." Capri sighed, "Alright, I'll be right there, jus' gotta put on some decent clothes." And with that, Capri went into the bedroom for a few minutes to change, leaving Donna by the door.

When they finally got to the court room, it was total chaos, and Capri already had a headache.

Donna returned to her mother and reassured her.

Meanwhile, other people were milling about, the place resembled a disaster area.

Capri dragged herself into the middle of it all, staggered up to the bench, took a deep breath, and then, suddenly the room was being blasted by a succession of blinking, blinding lights, and an ice cold wind.

This startled everyone into silence where they all were.

"Now that I got yer attention, get back t'yer seats, pronto!" Capri demanded.

There were murmurs among the crowd, Titania, Jesse, Ariel, Sarah, and NT among them.

Donna hadn't noticed Nathan until she'd come back with Capri, and seeing Capri staring at Tompkins, who she now saw was a brilliant green. All over. That *had* to have been Brett's doing. She saw Capri fighting not to start laughing, and losing the battle...and found herself laughing along with her and everyone else.

Finally Capri got her breath back, composed herself somewhat, but only somewhat, hit the gavel on the desk and the crowd fell silent again save for the odd whisper or supressed laugh.

"OK...Who's...(splutter)...Behind this...(laugh)...improvement in Nate's looks?" Capri asked between splutters.

Donna watched as Brett admitted to having changed Tompkins, and Christine threw in a few more insults, only to be silenced by Capri, who reinforced the lesson by shrinking Christine to Barbie doll size.

It was all Donna could do to not start laughing again at that.

Then, Capri dismissed the court, having told Brett to leave Nathan in his present condition until the next morning.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Donna went to see Ameh.

"Ameh," she chuckled, "you know something? I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I didn't think I had that in me any more. God I wish I'd thought of doing that, but then I don't know if I could've made Nathan change color like that. She sighed. "And then Christine... damn it. If it'd been me I'd've turned her into a fly. A fly that you step on. But then maybe that'd be too quick for her." Donna paused, her eyes widened in shock at her own words. "Damn it, what am I saying? I don't *want* to be like her and go around hurting people but...but I want her to hurt. I want Tompkins and her both to suffer big time. And then I remember that's just what they want for everyone else." She took a deep breath, though she couldn't keep from shaking. "I won't be like them! I won't! I won't! But I can't stop wanting to hurt them. What's *wrong* with me? Am I turning into Christine already?" Her voice rose to a wail of horror. "God don't let that happen. I'd die first!"

Ameh shook her head. "Believe me, I understand, and I feel the same way. And it's scary when you want them to hurt, but at the same time you must realize that it's not because you're a sadist, you're not. It's because Christine and Nathan are so wicked they bring out the ugliness in everybody whether it's fear or rage, or self dislike."

Donna nodded. "I'd agree there." she said bitterly.

Ameh took a deep breath. "You know, for a long time I wasn't a very nice person. Only I did more than just wanting to turn someone into things or punch them out. I'd been hurt by a lot of people as well as by Nathan and Christine and I thought everybody was either a victimizer or a victim. And I didn't want to be a victim, so, I victimized. Once I learned about my magic, I used it to cause trouble for people. I stole, vandalized, schemed, some people kind of deserved it and others didn't. I didn't have anyone who gave a rat's @$$ about me before I met Pippi, so if I wasn't happy, I didn't see why anybody else needed to be either. So, just for kicks I'd slash tires, break the Christmas lights on people's houses, turn people's memos to their bosses into letters with nothing but insults and cusses, and I sometimes stole."

Donna's eyes widened, she could feel the emotions coming from Ameh, and couldn't think of anything else to do except put a hand on the other woman's arm.

Ameh continued. "But a cheap run down dingy little apartment can be a very lonely place at night, and every time I did something I knew deep down was wrong, I'd get the guilts real bad. Even if I had felt smug a couple of hours before about whatever I had done and gotten away with, or just happy about the money I got from some person I'd robbed, I paid for those crimes and any mean feelings every time in the small hours down in that old apartment."

Donna wasn't sure what to say, she simply nodded, silently encouraging Ameh to go on.

Which Ameh did. "I'd reached a pretty low point when Pippi found me. I had broken into her house one night. I thought no one was there, Later that night she came knocking, and she told me she wouldn't turn me in and that I could keep what I took but that i had to straightn myself out. I told her I would, but the next day I was about to mug another guy who looked rich. only he wasn't going to work - I followed him a ways until he got onto a bridge and was going to leap off it. I ended up talking him out of killing himself - don't ask me how. That night I had a real downer. This guy was feeling so low, and my very first intention had been to rob him - can you imagine? Geez, that wasn't what my parents would've wanted me to be, I felt about as low as Christine or Nathan."

"I didn't stay in my appartment and hide away that night, I wandered around and (the writing becomes a bit blurred) I don't even remember how I ended up back at Pippi's again, but I guess I needed to talk to somebody or end my life, and Pippi seemed to be my last hope. Even when I told her everything she didn't treat me like trash and throw me out. She just sat and listened and told me I must've been pretty hurt and lonely to be so desperate and misguided. I didn't admit that not even then, but she was right."

"But what does that mean to me?" Donna cried. "I don't want to end up stealing from people or.."

Ameh interrupted. "Donna, even at my meanest, I still did kind things to people, I just ducked out of sight so they wouldn't know it had been me. I didn't want people figuring out that I could feel and empathize, and use that against me for their own gain like so many times before. I still feel like being mean sometimes, and yes, Nathan and Christine and people like them deserve that. But I would never ever stoop to the things they did - rape, child abuse, torture - those aren't acts of desperate lonely people, that's just depravity and psycho nutzoid. It's not even human any more. I still regret the things I've done that weren't nice, but I'm sure I won't regret doing anything to Nathan or Christine. When they're gone I'll be relieved completely, at long long last!"

Donna sighed as Ameh finished speaking. "And here I thought I'd had it rough. Damn it!"