Synopsis of Little Monsters

Phoebe and Jason are at a restaurant. They are kissing so much that they don't notice the waiter. When they finally stop kissing we learn that they are celebrating because Jason is finally able to buy his grandfathers winery that had been lost years earlier. Phoebe channels Jason's emotions and says "I love you too" which causes Jason to look concerned. She makes a pathetic attempt to cover her mistake and ends up knocking over a water glass. Paige orbs in nearby and quickly interrupts them. Paige tells Phoebe that Piper is having a "power problem" and she "could use some more." Jason assumes Paige is talking about electricity. Phoebe tells Jason she has to go and promises to talk later.

Paige and Phoebe orb to an alley where Piper hiding. She's watching the demon they were after, it got attacked by a different demon called a Manticore. It appears to be eating the first demon, and/or possibly saving some meat for later. The first demon dies and disappears in a vanquish. The manticore looks like some kind of reptile. One of the sisters makes a noise and it rushes over to them at super-speed. Piper tries to blow it up but the little explosion has no effect. Paige uses her telekinesis to pull some power lines down onto the manticore, vanquishing it by electrocution. A noise catches the sisters' attention and they walk over to the satchel left behind by the manticore. It contains what looks like a human baby boy, except the baby flicks its tongue out at them and the tongue looks like a snake's tongue.

Later at the house, they have put the manticore baby in a playpen. Paige and Phoebe wonder why he looks so human and they doubt he will stay that way. Piper returns downstairs, announcing that she put Wyatt upstairs so he would not be around the manticore baby. Just as Piper is saying this, Wyatt orbs from upstairs and into the playpen with the manticore baby. Piper believes he is a demon and will eventually become evil. Paige insists if the manticore baby were raised by someone good, then he wouldn't become evil. Paige tells Phoebe to go over to him and try to sense something evil from him. Phoebe does not sense anything from him at all. Paige claims this proves her point, that he is "clay to be molded."

Chris orbs in and they explain to him the demon they were after was eaten by another demon, who left this baby behind. Chris immediately tells them to vanquish it. Paige insists they will not vanquish a baby. The phone rings and Paige goes to answer it. Phoebe explains to Piper that she told Jason she loved him but that she accidentally said "I love you TOO" as if he had said "I love you" first. Chris interrupts telling them they need to do something about the demon baby.

In the kitchen, Paige is talking to Darryl. He is downtown where the police have blocked off part of the street because a teenager has taken hostages inside some building. Darryl is calling to ask for help. He thinks he could save the "stupid kid" if he could just get to him. Paige agrees to help. She grabs her car keys.

Piper tries to distract Wyatt's attention away from the manticore baby by playing peek-a-boo. Paige tells the others she is going to help Darryl and Phoebe decides she should go talk to Jason. Chris tries to stop them from leaving, pointing out that there "is a demon in the house" but Phoebe replies that he's just "a baby." Chris is angry that they are leaving and goes upstairs to "figure out what kind of creature we're dealing with."

Another demon, larger and uglier than the manticore, searches the area where the adult manticore was killed. It is called The Beast. When it sees the empty satchel, it lets out a loud howl.

Phoebe arrives at the newspaper office to find that Jason has told his assistant not to let anyone into his office, especially Phoebe. This makes Phoebe angry and she barges into his office anyway. She finds that Jason is in a meeting with three other people. Phoebe is embarrassed. Jason speaks in Italian to the people, excusing himself for a moment. He escorts Phoebe out of the office. She wants to talk to him about the night before and he agrees, but says it will have to wait until later. He admits he is flying to Rome that night. Phoebe immediately becomes angry again and accuses him of planning this trip as a way to escape their conversation about love. She tells him that they both know how he really feels, but she is "the only one who's not afraid of it." Phoebe leaves and Jason looks frustrated.

Chris reads about the manticores from the book. They are described as "vicious demons with supernatural strength and venomous claws. Manticores communicate in high-pitched cries and tend to travel in packs." Chris again tells the others they should get rid of the manticore baby before the others come looking for it. Piper refuses, saying that as a mother she can not vanquish a baby, evil or not. Chris says it's not about how evil the baby is now, but how evil he will grow up to be; that they can save innocents by vanquishing the demon-baby while it's still young. Piper is worried about what he could do to Wyatt since she can't keep them apart. Chris tells Piper that there is no known vanquishing potion for an adult manticore. Chris hopes Leo will be able to change her mind and he orbs out. Piper looks into the next room to find the kids playing their own version of peek-a-boo. Wyatt covers his eyes and the manticore baby shimmers out, once Wyatt takes his hands away from his eyes, the manticore baby shimmers back in.

Paige arrives downtown and Darryl tells her the kid inside is not letting any hostages go. Darryl thinks if he could talk to the kid, he could reason with him, except the possibility of getting shot is preventing him from approaching the building. Paige gets an idea and says a spell that gives Darryl invincibility. Darryl approaches the building and the kid warns Darryl to stay away or he will start shooting. Darryl continues to walk toward the building and the kid shoots, but the bullets bounce off Darryl and fall harmlessly to the ground.

Chris orbs in, glad to find Leo after looking several places for him. He realizes they are on top of the Golden Gate bridge and he asks Leo why he's up here. Leo says he is "communing with the others." Leo ask Chris why he's there and Chris wants to know what the elders' policy is on vanquishing demon babies, since there is one playing with Wyatt in his playpen at the moment.

Piper enters the attic with Wyatt and puts him in a playpen. She tells him not to orb down to be with his "little friend" and the manticore baby immediately shimmers in from downstairs. Piper sighs in frustration. Phoebe enters the attic, talking to herself about Jason and why he is leaving town, since she KNOWS he loves her back. Piper interrupts her, pointing out that the potion she is making may not be strong enough to vanquish the manticores if they come looking for their baby. Phoebe wonders if they should reconsider vanquishing the baby.

Piper says there is something about the manticore baby that doesn't add up and points out that Wyatt doesn't put up his protective shield. Phoebe thinks they should keep the children apart. Piper tries unsuccessfully to stop Phoebe from picking up Wyatt. As she picks up Wyatt, Phoebe tells the manticore baby not to shimmer after Wyatt or she will bind his powers. The manticore baby lets out a high-pitched cry and The Beast shimmers in. He hits Phoebe, throwing her across the room, knocking her into Piper, causing them both to fall. Wyatt puts his protective shield up and prevents The Beast from taking the manticore baby. Piper starts trying to blow-up The Beast but doesn't have much effect. The Beast shimmers out, but then reappears behind Piper. The Beast grabs her and they both disappear.

Later, Paige has returned home and gives Phoebe an ice pack for her neck. Phoebe tells Paige about The Beast, describing him as "more beast-like" than a manticore. They wonder why it would want the baby since it was not a manticore. Phoebe thinks it was odd that The Beast showed up right when the baby started to cry, as if it could hear the baby. Paige suggests that if the manticore baby cries again, they could get The Beast back in order to torture him until he tells where Piper is. Phoebe points out they don't have a potion for The Beast. Phoebe tries to scry for Piper but can't find her. Paige predicts that The Beast is holding Piper hostage somewhere in order to trade Piper for the manticore baby. Chris and Leo orb in and ask where Piper is. When Phoebe explains that Piper has been taken, Chris is frustrated and tells them they should have listened to him and vanquished the manticore baby. Paige points out that they need the baby now, as a way to get Piper back. Paige reminds them that she still thinks the baby is not "inherently evil" but Leo points out that nor everyone is born "morally neutral" and that "demons are predisposed to evil." They bicker about it for a minute until Leo decided to take Wyatt *up there* just to be "on the safe side" and that the manticore baby will not be able to follow. They know that the manticore baby will "scream bloody murder" when it realizes Wyatt is gone. Leo and Wyatt orb out. Chris orbs out too. Paige and Phoebe quietly leave the room to make a vanquishing potion.

Piper is in a house somewhere and her hands are tied. She tries to free her hands and she can hear The Beast moving around. He tells her that he wants "the child." She tells him she has seen worse than him. The Beast doubts it. She asks why he wants the baby, but he won't tell her. He asks how they got the baby away from the manticore mother and Piper tells him they vanquished her; they "got the baby from a demon" and they aren't going to give him to a different demon. The Beast threatens to kill her. During this conversation, Piper has been able to loosen the ropes around her wrists and gets her hands free. The Beast lunges toward her, but she blows up some furniture behind him. Piper rushes to the front door but there is a force-field that knocks her backward onto the floor. She gets up and moves to the next room and hides behind a large piece of furniture.

Downtown, the policemen outside are getting worried about how long Darryl has been inside. Suddenly the hostages come out of the building. Shortly after, Darryl exits the building pulling along another male wearing handcuffs. The criminal is still dumbstruck and asks Darryl how the bullets bounced off of him. Darryl answers it is because he is a "bad ass" but when he opens the car door, it comes off in his hands. The criminal is freaked out and Darryl hurriedly pushed the criminal into the car, but he accidentally pushes him so hard that he goes out the other side of the car, taking the other card door with him. Darryl is worried and looks around to see if anyone noticed.

Piper tries to sneak across the room quietly and she notices a framed picture of a man who looks happy, lying near a pacifier. Suddenly The Beast is behind her. Piper questions him about the pacifier and he throws her onto the bed. He is angry and threatens to kill her. Piper calls his bluff, telling him that if he is going to kill her, why is he waiting? The Beast pauses, then tells that he could do something worse than kill her.

THE BEAST: "I could keep you here. You would never see your child again. Think about it." The Beast shimmers out.

Paige finishes the vanquishing potion, commenting to Phoebe that it is the strongest potion they have ever made. They decide it's time to wake the manticore baby when Phoebe's cell phone rings. Phoebe hurries to answer it to find its Jason calling to say goodbye. She tries to tell him it's not a good time to talk. Phoebe and Jason start to bicker about their relationship and their emotions when the manticore baby wakes up. The baby realizes Wyatt is gone and starts screaming. Phoebe hangs up on Jason. An adult manticore shimmers in and knock Paige across the room. Phoebe throws a potion, vanquishing it. Two more manticores appear behind Phoebe and one knocks Phoebe across the room to land near Paige. Before they can get up, The Beast appears and attacks the adult manticores, killing one and injuring the other. The injured manticore shimmers out, leaving behind a small puddle of his yellow blood. The Beast turns and picks up the manticore baby. Phoebe throws another vial of potion at The Beast, causing a bloody hole in his shoulder. He lets out kind of a hissing sound but then disappears with the baby. Phoebe sadly comments that now they have no leverage to trade for Piper.

While The Beast was gone, Piper has been gesturing at the front door, trying to break through the force-field. After several attempts, the force-field fails and Piper opens the door and is surprised to discover that she is in an upper middle class neighborhood. She hears a noise in the house behind her (it's The Beast, breathing heavily) and she decides to investigate (instead of escaping!). She finds The Beast lying down with the manticore baby next to him, just as he is telling the baby "you're home now." They stare at each other as the scene changes back to the Halliwell attic.

Paige uses a dropper to collect some manticore blood from the floor. Leo and Chris orb in. They and the other elders agree that they should return the manticore baby to the other manticores or vanquish it. Phoebe sarcastically asks if they notice anything missing. Paige and Phoebe explain they are going to scry for the manticores and ask them to fight together against The Beast so they can get the baby and "we can get our sister back." If the manticores don't want to work together, Paige has several vials of vanquishing potion ready.

The scene changes back to Piper and The Beast. She is tending to the wound on the back of his shoulder. She admonishes him, telling him to sit still because they need to stop the bleeding. She asks him what happened and he admits it was her sisters. She dabs at the wound and he yells in pain. She mocks him, telling him to "show a little spine, what kind of demon are you?" He automatically answers that he is "not a demon." She asks if he is really the man in the picture. The Beast claims that is not who he is anymore and tells Piper to go away. She questions if the baby is his son and he admits that the baby is his. The Beast explains:

"Manticores mate with humans to create hybrids, so they can blend in, hide in plain sight. They kill their mates after conception, but I got away. Ever since, all I could about is saving my son, so he wouldn't have to be raised like one of them. The only chance I had to do that was turn myself into this. To become powerful."

He continues that he kept mixing potions, he didn't know what he was doing, but he didn't care. Piper points out that the manticores will come for the baby so they should get him "fixed up" so they can fight them together.

Paige and Phoebe orb to a cave and find a group of manticores eating something that looks like it used to be another demon. When they notice Phoebe and Paige, they begin walking toward the sisters. Phoebe holds up the vials of potion and tells them to stop. The manticores stop and Phoebe asks if they want "to go hunting."

Piper wants to take The Beast back to the manor but he thinks it's too risky that the manticores will find him there. She assures him that he would not have to worry about her sisters. Piper points out that they have someone who could heal him and they could return him to being human faster. The Beast tells her he can't return to human form unless he dies. Piper asks how The Beast was planning to take care of his son. The Beast admits he was going to "find someone to take care of him, after." Piper points out that since he's injured, he won't be able to run for long and who will save the baby once The Beast is dead?

Phoebe and Paige orb in. Phoebe throws two vials at The Beast, but Piper blows them up in mid-air. Paige questions why Piper did that. Before Piper can explain, a group of manticores appear and begin attacking The Beast. Two of the manticores, grab Piper and quickly drag her toward Phoebe and Paige. Paige orbs the three of them out while Piper protests. The three sisters orb into the manor. Piper orders Paige to take her back quickly. The three sisters orb back to The Beast's house. The manticores and the baby are gone and they find The Beast on the floor. He has several serious injuries. He falls unconscious, resulting in him returning to human form, but he's still badly injured.

Paige orbs the four of them back to the manor. Piper calls for Leo, who quickly orbs in bringing Chris with him. Leo begins to heal the man on the couch and Chris asks about the baby. They admit that the manticores have the baby but they need to get it back from them, which confuses Chris. Paige heads off to prepare more vials of potion. Chris is irritated and asks why they would risk their lives to get back a "demon child" and the man on the couch answers that the baby is his son. The man is relieved to be human again. Phoebe promises the man that they will get his baby back. Chris tries to protest but Leo informs him that once the sisters have "made up their minds, that's it" and points out that he is a father too. Phoebe points out they will "have to find a way to separate the baby before we attack" but the man doesn't understand why. Piper explains that they will be using a potion that "vanquishes manticores, and your son is half manticore."

The three sisters orb into the manticore cave, hiding behind some large rocks. The group of manticores are sleeping, but the baby is awake. Piper attempts to get the baby's attention. Piper covers her eyes and then pulls them away. The adults are beginning to wake up. Finally the baby realizes Piper is playing peek-a-boo and he shimmers out, just as the adults notice the sisters. All three of them begin throwing vials at the manticores as fast as they can and all the demons explode, one by one. The baby shimmers back in and giggles. Piper picks up the baby.

Later at the manor, Piper gives the man some of Wyatt's outgrown baby clothes and he wishes there was something he could do for them in return for all their help. Paige suggests he tell him his name. He says his name is Derek. He never had the opportunity to name his son though. The manticore baby senses it is time to go and shimmers out of the play-pen and into the stroller. Piper offers the bind his powers if Derek ever wants to do that. Derek tells her "no, thanks" because he is a good baby and he will make sure he stays good. In the mean time, Paige has gotten a phone call from Darryl and admits to the others that she forgot to reverse the spell she had put on Darryl earlier. Then we see Darryl as he hangs up the phone. The doorknob is barely hanging on to the door; a file cabinet has a drawer hanging out of it and the table collapses when he hangs up the phone.

Phoebe is walking to her office, but then decides to check Jason's office. She finds it empty. She turns and is surprised to see Jason standing behind her. He tells her that he "cancelled the flight" because the winery would still "be there in the morning", but he wasn't sure if she would be. He admits that he was running away from her, but not for the reason she thinks. He explains that he is not afraid of the way he feels about her, but it's "a little unnerving" when she constantly tells him how he feels before he knows himself. Phoebe feels bad about that. He says she is "very intuitive" but she calls it a curse "sometimes." He asks that she let him express his own feelings, in his own time. They hug. Jason tells Phoebe he loves her and they kiss.

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