Chapter 18: Blasted Ylisse, Part 1
"Location: Agrabah, The World Of Disney, November 28th 2110"
George, Nihil, and Xylnn were outside what used to be Rasheed's house.
"Okay, now that everything's been decided, we summon Jafar." George said.
"We shouldn't arouse suspicion. Let's go to the Cave of Wonders." Nihil said.
The trio made their way to the Cave of Wonders.
"Nihil, you do the honors." George said, handing Jafar's lamp to Nihil.
Nihil rubbed the lamp with his palm. The skies turned dark, and there was a flash of red lightning before Jafar in his genie form appeared, having been summoned from the palace in Agrabah. He looked down to see the dark trio.
"You!" Jafar said, pointing to George.
"Hello, Jafar. Long time no see." George greeted calmly.
Jafar growled at the boy and started to form energy in his hand.
"I've heard how you've turned on all of us. Now I can..." Jafar started to say.
"Relax, Tomato Boy. We want to deal with you." Nihil said.
Jafar embodied himself in a streak of red lightning and took on his human form.
"Why would I deal with you after what you've been doing?" Jafar asked.
"Because it's your only chance at revenge against Aladdin's friends. And because of this." George replied.
He pointed at the lamp.
"Fair enough. I shall help you only if you release me from this prison." Jafar said.
In reality, he wasn't planning on helping the three entirely. Once the right moment came, he planned on turning on George and overpowering him, before returning him back to the castle in Richmond.
"Help us first. After all, your chance at ruling this world is in our hands." Xylnn said.
Jafar gave a hateful smirk, yet retained his composure.
"Very well. By the by, I am forced to inform you of the "Three-Wish Rule", as well as it's prerequisites." Jafar said.
"Yes, we know. Now, if you want to even get near Aladdin, you're going to have to deal with Genie first." George said.
"Ah, that bulbous pathetic spurt of magic? You speak of child's play." Jafar said.
"Easier said than done." George asked, walking out into the desert.
"George, isn't Aladdin... dead?" Xylnn asked, whispering into his ear.
"Jafar doesn't need to know that." George replied.
"It would be easier if you wished yourself into the Square instead of walking all the way into town." Jafar said from inside his lamp.
"Nice try. We're going to milk you for all your worth." George said.
The trio and Jafar eventually made their way to Agrabah's front gate. George walked in and summoned Bandit Heartless, which he directed to attack the guards stationed around the area as the trio attempted to run into the palace. However, they stopped as the palace doors grew a face and looked at them.
"Nice try. Sorry." Eden said.
Genie and Jordan appeared as well. Genie grew another hand and wrote on a notebook.
"You aren't on the list. Try coming back some other time." Genie said.
"Okay, Jafar. Our first wish. Destroy those three!" George ordered.
"You didn't even have to wish for it, my boy!" Jafar said, transforming into his Genie form.
Genie, Eden, and Jordan returned to normal form and looked at Jafar in horror, thinking he was rising up against them again.
"Jafar, what are you doing?" Jordan asked as she dodged Jafar's spells.
"At last! I can show you just how second rate your magic is compared to mine!" Jafar replied.
"Go, Jafar!" Xylnn exclaimed.
George turned to her and Nihil.
"Now!" George said.
"What are we doing?" Nihil asked as he and Xylnn ran with George.
"We're going to unlock the Keyhole." George replied.
The trio entered the Cave of Wonders, but didn't notice as a Corridor of Darkness formed behind them. Lacy and Lina appeared out of the portal.
"Let's see if Agrabah is still alright." Lacy said.
She and Lina proceeded to Agrabah. There, they saw Genie, Eden, and Jordan fighting Jafar. Genie had summoned an umbrella over their heads to protect themselves from Jafar's spells, and he, his wife, and his daughter noticed Lacy and Lina amidst the spell rain being fired.
"Could use some help here, Kid." Genie said.
Lacy summoned her Dark Keyblade and attempted to attack Jafar's head, only for it to phase through him.
"Lacy, something must be affecting that power! Look for it!" Lina said.
"The lamp." Lacy thought.
Just then, Jasmine exited the palace while avoiding stray spells, and she noticed Lacy and Lina.
"Girl! You and your friend, follow me!" Jasmine ordered.
"We aren't supposed to be seen by Jasmine or the others, Lacy. This is bad." Lina said.
"Forget it. Call it 'flexible thinking'." Lacy said.
The two cousins followed Jasmine, as the spells began to engulf the city.
George, Nihil, and Xylnn were in the Treasure Room. While Nihil steeped Aladdin's body in darkness, George was by the Keyhole, sulking. Xylnn stepped next to George and talked to him.
"What's wrong, George?" Xylnn asked.
"I'm just thinking. I mean, think about it. My old family and friends wanted peace for the worlds. And I'm taking them apart, one by one. Am I really doing what's right?" George asked.
"Well, it doesn't matter what's right. Sometimes, you have to make your own moral compass and follow that. It'll get you to where to need to go." Xylnn replied.
"Thanks. That was deep." George said.
"No problem. I got it off of a self-help book that merchant had before we killed him." Xylnn said.
"Not surprising. Nihil, how's it going?" George asked.
"Just fine. A new Heartless has been recruited." Nihil replied.
Aladdin's body changed to that of a genie on a flying carpet, with the Heartless emblem on the lamp it carried. It retained the warped face that all Heartless withfaces had. Nihil shooed it away and it warped out of the room.
"So, now what?" Xylnn asked.
"We unlock the Keyhole." George replied.
He aimed his Keyblade at the Keyhole, just as Jasmine, Lacy, and Lina entered the room.
"George!" Jasmine yelled.
Nihil and Xylnn moved in front of George. The boy stopped and turned to look at the three females.
"Well, well. How pleasing of you to witness your world's final hour." George said.
"What are you gonna do, George?" Lacy asked, angered by the boy's presence.
"Destroy this world, of course." George replied.
"Why? Aren't you trying to taint the worlds? Why do you have to destroy them?" Lacy asked.
"As the worlds are destroyed, the World Hearts enter Kingdom Hearts, and they taint it with darkness as well. Since Kingdom Hearts is the cornerstone of all worlds, it will allow us to remake the worlds in the image and power of the darkness." Nihil replied.
"No! I won't let you!" Jasmine said.
She ran up one of the accompanying stairwells, only to have Aladdin's Heartless warp into the room and block her path.
"Jasmine." a voice said.
"A-Aladdin?" Jamine asked, worried about his welfare.
"Kill her." George ordered.
The Heartless summoned magic from it's lamp, which traveled towards Jasmine, only for Lacy to jump in and protect her. She turned to Jasmine.
"Are you alright?" Lacy asked.
"I'm fine. I have your cousin. Just kill that thing!" Jasmine replied.
"Y-Yeah!" Lacy said.
"George, our Heartless is under attack!" Nihil said.
"Forget about it. We can always make more. Help Xylnn guard the Keyhole. I'll buy us time." George ordered.
Nihil and Xylnn nodded and moved to their respective duties. Meanwhile, George landed on the Aladdin Heartless's magic carpet and pointed his Dark Keyblade at Lacy.
"I had a feeling I'd get to wipe that smirk off of your mouth sometime." George said.
"You!" Lacy said angrily.
"Well anyway, I'm happy you came to visit. Now I can get you out of my way." George said.
He got off of the Aladdin Heartless, charged at Lacy, and tackled her across the Treasure Room. The boy then slashed at her rapidly, but she was able to avoid them all. Lacy then ran towards George and kicked him into a wall, before spinning around and knocking his feet out from under him, Before he hit the ground, Lacy grabbed George and smashed him into the ground. But before she could deal more damage, she felt a quick pain on her arm as George managed to nick her with his Dark Keyblade. The pain stunned her a little, and George took the opportunity to get up and slash at her again. Lacy blocked the attack with her Dark Keyblade, and the two clashed away at each other some more, each of them getting more and more cuts and bruises on each other. Eventually, George knocked Lacy's guard down and knocked her into a wall. Lacy groaned in pain and looked down to see a nasty cut across her chest, starting to bleed through her jersey a little, and she looked up to see George approach her.
"I don't know why you try, Lacy. You've failed your friends, the worlds, and the Realm of Light. You can't win no matter what you do." George said.
Lacy grinned, revealing the gap in her teeth.
"You're right, George. But there is one thing I haven't done." Lacy said.
She pressed down on her left shoulder. There was a flash of light and Lacy wasn't wearing her normal clothes anymore, but was now wearing a set of Keyblade Armor. It was a silver color, with small blades on the arm gauntlets, and the helmet had a light blue visor over the front of her face. The girl suddenly disappeared. George looked around with his guard up, but he was caught off guard when Lacy appeared next to him and punched him multiple times with her Keyblade gauntlet, sending the boy flying back. George groaned in pain, but he was hit again when Lacy rammed into him with a Keyblade Glider, which resembled a speeder, sending him flying int a wall. Lacy was then about to charge at him, but George shot Dark Ice at her, freezing her left leg. Lacy quickly punched her leg, breaking the ice, but that left her open for a Dark Slash from George, damaging her armor. Lacy charged at George and they both clashed blades. George then slashed at her repeatedly at a fast pace, and Lacy was barely able to block. The girl then tried to hit George, but he was easily able to dodge out of the way and slashed her arm, making her drop her Dark Keyblade. He then slashed Lacy's legs, making the white haired girl fall to the ground. Jasmine realized Lacy would die if she continued fighting George and decided to intervene.
"We have to get out of here! We aren't strong enough to fight them." Jasmine said.
Lacy knew she was right and nodded, getting up with much effort and grunting in pain.
"Right! Move out!" Lacy ordered.
She, Lina, and Jasmine fled the cave.
"Aw, they got away." Xylnn said.
"Doesn't matter. This world's finished. Come into the heart with me, guys." George said.
The trio entered the heart of the world.
Lacy deactivated her Keyblade Armor and stopped to take a break outside the Cave of Wonders, breathing profusely. Sweat dropped from her white hair, and blood poured from her cuts and dripped onto the sand.
"We have to get out of this world! Now!" Lacy said.
The girl took Lina from Jasmine and opened a Corridor of Darkness. Lina then offered Jasmine the chance to come with them, but after she refused, they ran through the portal without her.
Meanwhile, Genie, Eden, and Jordan had been defeated by Jafar and imprisoned in a magic cage, but once he knew George, Nihil, and Xylnn were gone, he released them and explained that him attacking the three was all part of a plan. He had actually planned on turning on George and bringing him back to Peter, but was waiting for the right time to do so. But before they could think of a way to stop him, they stopped short as the sands near the city to begin to collapse in on itself, creating a sand dune the size of the city.
"What now?" Jafar asked.
Meanwhile, Jasmine stood outside of the Cave of Wonders, looking on at the dune.
"No. What could be causing this?" Jasmine asked.
"Almost there, guys." George said.
However, he suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"George!" Xylnn cried.
She and Nihil helped George up, but he was unconscious.
"I'll keep watch on him. Finish the job!" Xylnn ordered.
Nihil resumed staining the heart, while Xylnn left the heart and set George down near the Keyhole. Nihil exited as the cave started shaking.
"We must exit now!" Nihil said.
"And how do we do that? We can't summon a whale in a cave this small!" Xylnn asked.
"We'll have to escape, the old-fashioned way." Nihil replied.
"And how do we do that?" Xylnn asked.
"Hold my hand!" Nihil replied.
Xylnn took Nihil's hand. The Heartless transformed himself and Xylnn into a Shadow form, and they sunk into the floor, avoiding any rubble that may have landed on them. They exited the cave and resumed normal form, with George in Nihil's arms and Xylnn spinning around dizzily.
"Remind me never to take the Nihil Express again." Xylnn said.
Nihil summoned Monstro as Jasmine ran up to them.
"What have you evil creatures done?" Jasmine asked angrily.
"Your city that was so bent on isolating itself from the outside will now be sucked away into the abyss!" Nihil replied.
"Yeah! If any of you are left alive, remind yourselves to build your city in a place without so much sand." Xylnn said.
Nihil looked at Xylnn with disdain.
"See? This is why gloating should be left to the professionals." Nihil said.
"What? I tried." Xylnn said as they boarded Monstro.
Monstro left the world as the dunes became sharper and more massive.
Jafar had started shielding the city from the dunes.
"What's going on?" Jordan asked.
"It's the end of the world!" Genie replied, taking on the form of a town crier.
He then switched to the form of a football fan.
"End of the World celebration, people!" Genie said
He summoned a beer keg and started drinking, with more Genie clones appearing.
"Chug! Chug! Chug!" the Genie clones shouted.
"Help me with this city, you buffoon!" Jafar shouted.
That caused him to break his concentration, allowing the dunes to overwhelm him and the other three.
"Mere sand won't stop me! As long as my lamp contains me, I will live on!" Jafar said.
"Oh, almost forgot this!" Xylnn said.
She broke the lamp in two with her boomerang.
Breaking the lamp caused Jafar to break free of his confines and increase his magical power. But before he could ponder why he suddenly felt a disconnection to his lamp, the sand dunes took on a purplish glow as darkness seeped from the sand, causing Heartless to form on the dunes's surfaces.
"What?" Jafar asked.
He was overwhelmed by the sand again, but he raised a shield.
"No! Agrabah is done for!" Jafar shouted.
Jafar was then absorbed into the sand as his shield failed, with him screaming for help as the dunes finally overtook the city.
George was still unconscious. Xylnn looked out of one of Monstro's eyes as Agrabah was consumed by darkness, the world's heart going to Kingdom Hearts. She turned back to face George and Nihil.
"Another one down." Xylnn said.
George woke up and looked up at Nihil.
"Did we... make it?" George asked.
"Yes, the deed is done." Nihil replied.
George smiled and fell back asleep.
"Location: Paradise Falls, Kingdom Hearts Dimension, November 28th 2110"
Back in Paradise Falls, the dogs, now dripping wet after failing to catch Carl and Russell, were cowering in front of Charles. He had also been joined by Morgan (F), who had joined him on the pretense of helping him capture Kevin, but was secretly planning on abandoning him when he was done so she could go forward with finding the Keyhole and destroying the world.
"You lost them?" Charles asked angrily.
"Uh, it was Dug." Beta replied.
"Yeah, he's with them. He helped them escape!" Gamma added.
Charles snarled in anger.
"Wait. Wait a minute. Dug." Charles muttered.
He leaned over a radar tracking device and used it to discover Dug's location.
"Location: Ylisse, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, May 21st 2170"
Iniabi had decided to help the heroes for the moment, while he still decided on what to do following Avina visiting him. TheDisneyFan365 had assigned him to investigate a report of an attack on the Outrealm Gate back in his future. He and Cynthia, along with Nah, Citrusella, Swizzle, Toxika, and I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden, were on the island where the Outrealm Gate was located.
While TheDisneyFan365 had restored the terrain before they returned following the Nightmare King's second defeat, not all the terrain was the same as it had originally been. South of Ylisstol, towards the forests and plains that surrounded Southtown, the same plains where Chrom had met Robin many years earlier, were gone. In their place were vast stretches of dry terrain. They were the Ylissean Badlands. The Nightmare King's conquest of the world in addition to the other worlds he had taken had initially caused most of the ground to be eroded away by wind and water, but after TheDisneyFan365 restored the land, the Badlands shrunk enough to only cover Southern Ylisse, covering places such as Southtown and the Farfort. The ground was now covered by nothing but sand, shale, and dust.
Unlike the Southern mainland, the terrain on the island was still lively. Iniabi looked out towards the coast. The Badlands produced a vast color display ranging from dark red to black and blue. Canyons and ravines could be seen in the distance. The sight was beautiful, but it was also very tragic. The land had been quite fertile once. However, there were still people living there. In fact, they had to take a ferry from a port to the island, it having been operated by a girl named Sarah. She was a noble girl, her parents, Phillip and Takkie, being one of the highest and most influential nobles from Plegia, and close friends to Iniabi and Cynthia. They had sent Sarah out to experience the world before she could return and inherit the family title and lands, and she was currently operating a ferry that took people from the coast to the gate with the Outrealm Gate. They had used it to travel there.
"Almost all the world had been like this once." a voice said.
Iniabi looked up to see Cynthia looking at him.
"Anthony had done it to slowly kill of the humans he didn't kill himself. We weren't able to fight against it, but fortunately, TheDisneyFan365 restored most of the land, so the Badlands aren't covering everything." Cynthia explained.
Swizzle looked over at them.
"Ready to go find the Outrealm Gate?" Swizzle asked.
Iniabi nodded.
"Yeah. I'm ready." Iniabi replied.
Cynthia took out her lance.
"Be prepared for anything. The person that attacked the Outrealm Gate could still be here. Be careful." Cynthia said.
She and the others headed across the island, making their way to the Outrealm Gate, with Cynthia leading the way. Eventually, they managed to reach it, but they were in for a terrible surprise. Anna was lying on the ground, with multiple injuries and what appeared to be fang bites to her body. Blood was trickling from her mouth and she was no longer breathing.
"Who did this?" Citrusella asked.
"That would be me, Citrusella." a voice replied.
Lucina stepped out of the shadows, with the remote that controlled the Outrealm Gate in her hand. She also wasn't alone, either. What appeared to be some sort of snake was wrapped around her body. It was about ten feet, with the appearance of a dark colored king cobra, but the size of an anaconda and boa constrictor. It had a two inch golden portion of scales on it's nape behind the head, and it's head and hood bore Avina's insignia. It's scales were a dark navy color, with some light brown and gold bands every six inches that reached to it's tail. The tail was that of a rattlesnake's and it's underbelly was maroon. It was currently biting onto the back of Lucina's right hand, and it draped itself on her shoulders, coiled a bit on her back to act as a back brace, and wrapped it's tail around the upper half of her other arm. However, the blue haired woman didn't seem bothered or pained by the snake's presence or how it was biting her.
"Hey. I was expecting to see all of you here." Lucina greeted.
"Lucina? What are you doing here? And what happened to you?" Cynthia asked in surprise, her and the others having thought she was still dead following Iniabi having killed her.
"You came at the perfect time. I was about to open the Outrealm Gate on Lady Avina's orders. I will summon Outrealm Monsters to this continent and world. Anna tried to stop me, so Nathaire here and I killed her. When the Outrealm Monsters infest this world, laws will be meaningless. Only the survivors, those strongest enough to survive, can shape it as they see fit. That's the world I wish to see." Lucina replied.
"But that's horrifying!" Swizzle said.
Lucina grinned.
"It will cease to matter what family one is born into. Only the powerful will be respected. That will be the new way of the Haldom of Ylisse." Lucina said.
She turned to her nephew.
"You understand me, yes, Iniabi?" Lucina asked.
Iniabi nodded.
"I guess so." Iniabi replied.
Cynthia widened her eyes at Iniabi.
"Iniabi... what are you saying?" Cynthia asked in shock.
Lucina frowned at her niece-in-law's words.
"Cynthia, this is reality. It may be hard for one who has had a more comfortable life than myself to grasp." Lucina replied.
The bluenette put her finger on the remote's switch.
"But no matter. I never expected my choice to be a popular one. It's the price I pay for joining Lady Avina." Lucina said.
She pushed the remote's switch and then tossed it aside. Cynthia grew angry.
"Lucina!" Cynthia yelled angrily.
She attempted to charge at Lucina, but stopped as the Outrealm Gate activated. There was a flash of white light, and everything went dark for everyone present.
"Location: Unknown, April 16th 2148"
When Iniabi woke up, he found himself in Ylisstol's throne room. But something felt off. The room felt like it had been abandoned for awhile, and looked darker and worn-out. He looked up to see the others, Lucina included, speaking. Nah looked over at him when she heard his stir.
"Hm? Oh, Iniabi, you're awake. Thank Naga." Nah said.
The others noticed he was awake as well.
"Hey, don't change the subject, Nah." Lucina said.
Nah ignored the blue haired woman and looked at Iniabi.
"My apologies, but you came to as we were having a conversation." Nah said.
Toxika looked around the throne room.
"So, Cynthia, this is Castle Ylisstol's throne room, right? Why are we here when we were just at the Outrealm Gate?" Toxika asked.
"Why would I know that? I simply found myself here upon waking up." Cynthia replied. She turned to glare at Lucina and started to say "This is all because you opened the Outrealm Gate, you know. Iniabi, myself, and the rest of us tried to stop you, but...".
Lucina was confused.
"Hold a moment. What was that you said? Iniabi was at my and Nathaire's side when we activated the Outrealm Gate together." Lucina said.
The others became confused themselves.
"But that can't be! Iniabi was with us!" I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden said.
"Impossible. Iniabi and I killed Anna!" Lucina said. She huffed and said "We're going around in circles. I'm getting a headache. I'm going out for fresh air." Lucina said.
The blue haired woman walked away.
"Me too. I could use some of it." Swizzle said.
He followed her out. Everyone else except Nah did the same. Once they were gone, the redhead turned to Iniabi.
"Iniabi? What are your plans now?" Nah asked. She then shook her head and said "I think I'll have a look outside. Come join us when you're ready.".
The Half-Manakete girl walked away.
"Location: Enchanted Dominion, The World Of Disney, November 29th 2110"
After heading out on their mission, Maleficent and her group had made a stop at her castle on Forbidden Mountain. The group consisted of those from worlds that Avina's forces had currently attacked. There was Pete, Frollo, Cruella, Hook, Licortwist, Creamy, all five of the Nicktoons, and Chloe. Timmy had also grown into his adult form and had married Tootie, but still acted almost the same as he usually did and still retained Cosmo and Wanda.
Currently, Maleficent was meeting with everyone in her throne room except Pete, as he was currently off looking for more allies. He had recruited the Nicktoons, Cruella, Hades, and Hook after the original group left the fortress, and was out to continue his task.
"Gentlemen, Cruella. So I see that Pete isn't as useless as I thought he was." Maleficent greeted, even though she was pleased with his work.
"Yeah, we got his message." Tak said from within the shadows of the throne room.
"But, the interesting thing is, what could the Mistress of All Evil have in store that required this little party? Unless of course, she just needed the company of her companions." Hades asked, approaching Maleficent.
"Lackeys is more like it." Hook replied.
"Really, Captain? After all the years of working together, you would think I would just consider you disposable lackeys?" Maleficent asked.
Although evil, she was sincere with her feelings for them, and had formed a friendship based on their long history of being Disney Villains and companions.
"Whoa, whoa, simmer down, Mal. Now, why have you called us here?" Hades replied with a smile.
"I've called you here today because we have a very important task at hand. Building up a team to find out what Avina is planning." Maleficent replied.
"Build up a team? From what we know, Avina is easily the strongest person we've ever fought. She's more powerful than even Anthony is, and gathered a bunch of incredibly powerful villains from the past and a bunch of new ones." Timmy said.
"Which is why we must turn to new recruits. New friends to welcome into our league. Pete is out in search now." Maleficent said, a thin smile on her lips.
"Why should we invite new friends, when old friends are much... better company?" Hades asked, stepping towards Maleficent, the flames on his head burning brightly.
Maleficent smiled.
"Most of us in this room all have one thing in common. We're villains, and as so, the cards have always been stacked against us because of the power of the light. We're here today because we are going to change the outcome of this." Maleficent replied.
"And who could possibly have such power?" Creamy asked.
Maleficent turned to her accomplices.
"It isn't a matter of 'who', but of 'what'. A short time ago, I've discovered an alternate version of myself and Pete wandering within a 'datascape', the digital world found inside of a journal that chronicled a boy named Sora and his friends's adventures." Maleficent replied.
"Yeah, yeah, go on, yeah." Hades half-mumbled.
"While inside, my counterpart uncovered the connection between the data and the legendary 'Book of Prophecies'." Maleficent explained.
"The what now?" Cruella asked, fiddling with the cheap costume jewelry she wore on her ears.
"The legendary book that foretold the future. It is said to have the power to create entire universes, and to give complete and total control to the owner of these books when all of them are gathered together." Maleficent replied.
"Data? Prophecies? It confuses my mind. This wasn't part of our original plan, Maleficent." Frollo said.
"No, it was not. Many years earlier in the other world, my counterpart had come across a man by the name of Master Xehanort. He had once told her that gathering seven hearts of the purest light would enable her to rule over all the worlds. But little did she know, he had only tricked her into gathering them together for him for his own purposes. But... due to the many mysteries and complexities of the worlds, it became too difficult to seize them all, which is why I found this new route. If this data and the Book are, in fact, connected as I suspect, by claiming the data of the worlds within the journal... it will give us power over the worlds themselves, and perhaps even Avina." Maleficent explained.
"So, it sounds like we're on a mission to collect some journals." Licortwist said.
Maleficent walked to a table at the center of the room.
"Precisely. We must decide on how to do so for the action plan. With Pete searching the worlds for new allies, we must not refrain from carrying out our next tasks at hand. With the world data in our hands, we will be able to control the worlds themselves." Maleficent said.
She waved her hand over the table. An image of a castle appeared before them.
"The journals reside in the library of a place called Disney Castle, in the other world. There, the royal subjects of that world watch over it with care. A sort of... "contraption" ... was used to control and analyze the data found within." Maleficent explained.
"And that's what we need. The journals and that contraption. Shouldn't be a problem at all." Jimmy said.
"When you all arrive there with Pete, it is certain that the inhabitants of the other world will mistake those of us that have counterparts there for them, and think all of us as enemies. But we must not accept defeat." Maleficent said.
"You won't be joining us?" SpongeBob asked.
"No. My counterpart once tried to take over that very castle until Sora and those heroes restored a contraption called the Cornerstone of Light, when they had traveled through the past." Maleficent replied.
She summoned an image of the Cornerstone of Light.
"Ever since, her darkness has been expelled from that kingdom. It would affect me as well. Do as you wish. All we require is the journals and the data extractor." Maleficent explained
The sound of the large entrance door to the castle echoed through the empty halls of the fallen castle. The group turned their head to the sound of the approaching footsteps that grew closer to the throne room. Moments later, Pete pushed open the large doors.
"Oh boy, couldn't wait for me to return now, could ya?" Pete asked with mock hurt in his voice.
"What news do you have?" Maleficent asked, ignoring her cohort's feelings.
Although Pete and Maleficent had known each other for years ever since the late 1950's, the two of them had never managed to develop an exact fondness for one another. Pete let out a boisterous laugh.
"I got big news for ya, Maleficent! Someone new to the team! When he told me he heard about Avina and wanted to stop her, I knew he'd be a perfect fit for ya." Pete replied.
Danny eyed Pete, curiously.
"Well? Where is he? Where is this 'perfect fit'?" Danny asked.
Pete turned to look behind him.
"You can come in now!" Pete called out in a sing-song tone.
The sound of heavy boots echoed as Gaston walked into the room, bow and arrow strapped to his back, and a rugged look on his face.
"Hello, everyone. It'll be a pleasure working with you." Gaston greeted.
"Location: Unknown, April 16th 2148"
Iniabi left the throne room and gradually managed to find his way out of the castle. But when he did so, he froze in shock. All of Ylisstol and the terrain outside was gone, replaced by nothing but desert, and the sky was a dark red color. They could see nothing but sand for miles. The only structure left was Ylisstol Castle, but it was mostly covered in sand and sunken into the ground. The others were all looking out at the desert in shock.
"What the..." I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden started to say.
"The city is gone." Cynthia said, devastated.
They then noticed Iniabi had joined them.
"Ah, Iniabi. We stepped outside to find this." I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden explained.
"What's happened to Mistress Avina? To Ylisse?" Lucina asked.
"The terrain and city are completely gone. What has become of the Haldom of Ylisse?" Nah asked.
"We're in Ylisse, right? But is this place actually Ylisse?" Lucina asked.
Nah glared at her.
"Would you please not ask me that? I would like to find someone that can explain this to us... assuming anyone can, that is." Nah replied.
"Right. Me and Nathaire will join you." Lucina said. She looked at the snake hanging from her and asked "Nathaire, while we're in this land, please do not attack them. Once we're back with Lady Avina, they'll be our enemies again, alright?".
Nathaire seemed to show some hesitation, but eventually hissed, as if agreeing with her. Lucina smiled.
"Good boy." Lucina said.
Nathaire didn't seem to like the name she called him, but didn't argue. Meanwhile, I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden raised an eyebrow at her and took a step back from the woman.
"Why is Lucina talking to the snake like she can understand him? I better keep an eye on her. She's crazy!" I'm Reader-anon Universe Alden thought.
"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, November 29th 2110"
In Game Central Station, a rift opened in front of the Fix-it Felix Jr. game portal and Sumia stepped gracefully out. She stood and looked around at the small crowd of people passing by that had been caught by surprise when she suddenly appeared. She made her towards the entrance to GCS and the exit to the game, grinning lightly the entire time. Her rather gruesome attributes and unnatural red eyes took away from her beauty, startling the crowd and causing a few of the more timid onlookers to flee. She let out a low chuckle that had fallen over the area of GCS and suddenly made the soft click of the pointed heels of her boots seem rather loud.
Finally emerging from the game, the smaller woman passed over the threshold into GCS and stopped as the normally invisible threshold flashed red and made it's usual sound. As it did, a small electrical current flashed over to the woman, and from it emerged Surge Protector.
"I'm a Surge Protector, and I keep track of all traffic between games. I'm going to need to ask you a few questions before I can let you move on." Surge Protector explained, getting his pen and clipboard ready.
"Alright, fire away." Sumia ordered.
"Name?" Surge Protector asked.
"Sumia." Surge Protector asked.
"And your Affiliation?" Surge Protector asked.
Sumia raised an eyebrow, feigning a look of hurt.
"Affiliation? You mean you can't tell that I'm a baddie just by looking at me?" Sumia asked.
"It's just protocol, ma'am." Surge Protector replied, still expecting an official for-the-record answer.
Sumia chuckled softly and gave in.
"Villain." Sumia said.
Surge Protector looked up for a moment.
"We typically use the term "bad guy" around here instead of "villain". The term "villain" tends to be more offensive to folks." Surge Protector explained.
Sumia held back a snort and placed a hand on her hip, holding it above her exposed rib cage. The action drew attention to a shiny black band with a white diamond attached on her ring finger, as well as her sharp nails.
"My bad." Sumia said sarcastically,
Not convinced that Sumia truly cared about her remarks, but not wanting to press the issue further, Surge Protector continued speaking.
"By entering Game Central Station, you hereby agree to submit to random security checks and agree to not cause trouble in any game you may enter. Understand?" Surge Protector asked.
"Yes sir, officer. I'll be a good little girl. You have my word." Sumia replied, giving a mock salute with her free hand.
"You may proceed." Surge Protector said.
With that, he turned back into a blue electrical current and zapped away. Finally free of the annoying security guard, Sumia swept her cold gaze over the crowd her arrival had drawn and stepped forward. Her grin returned as the crowd, which, with the exception of one, quickly dispersed. The gray haired girl looked down at the one character who remained. Sour Bill, who had decided to stay in the station following Sugar Rush's destruction, was holding a small stack of fliers in his hands. He was unaffected by the woman's presence and simply held up one of his fliers to her, returning to handing them out to other stray villains once she took it. Looking the flyer over, Sumia realized it was an invitation to Bad-Anon, which she recognized from a memory she retained of meeting all of the members.
She briefly looked over at Sugar Rush's game portal. The gate was down and the sign above was out. Nothing but broken pieces of code floating in a void remained inside Sugar Rush's console following it's Heartless invasion. Floating a few inches from the ground, Sumia quickly found her way to the entrance for Pac-Man. Alighting to the ground, she noticed the train was almost full and was large, considering there were only actually five inhabitants of the game. Sumia sat down in a car with Bowser and took out a tablet Avina had given her in order to communicate with some of the other minions. She sent a text, stating "it was time" to two of her contacts, and set it to be sent to another two in an hour.
She actually was doing quite well in the plan Avina wanted her to do. She wanted Sumia to go to the arcade and cause mayhem there, until she found an ally they could potentially use. She was also to be joined up by Vanitas and some of the other minions later on, and were not to return until they had completed their mission. Normally, Avina wouldn't leave Sumia a task as important as procuring an ally on her own without Alternate Jimmy to handle her, but she deemed her puppet capable enough for the mission. She knew that Sumia could handle the task, and that Vanitas and the other villains could handle her if she regained even an ounce of her original self and tried fighting back, so she wasn't worried at all. If they were unable to find an ally, they were to kill everyone and then proceed to destroy the arcade completely.
With that on her mind and a smile on her lips, Sumia tucked the tablet away between her breasts, ignoring the confused look she got from Bowser.
"Location: Unknown, April 16th 2148"
After travelling east of where Ylisstol had been for what they thought was south for about an hour, Iniabi, Cynthia, Nah, Citrusella, Swizzle, Toxika, Alden, and Lucina had still not found any sign of civilization. Currently, they were at what appeared to be a large hole in the ground. It looked like the hole had been formed by the sand having been scooped out.
"It's vacant to the point of being unsettling. The ground here is pocked with a hole, as if it's been scooped out." Lucina said.
"You know, I learned once that the Desert Oasis where that mirage village was supposedly settled near was once a cavity such as this." Nah said.
Just then, Citrusella noticed something.
"Hey, who's that?" Citrusella asked.
Everyone looked over where she was pointing to see a boy surrounded by what appeared to be Grimleal members, except they had some sort of masks covering their mouths. The boy appeared to be around 11, but was already tall and handsome, had a pale skin color, short black hair with a reflective shine, and yellow eyes, and he wore a long dark purple shirt, some sort of locket hanging from his neck, a black belt with a skull, dark purple shoes, and dark purple finger-less gloves. But what was unique about him was that he had dull red markings that outlined the bottom of his eyes and extended into fangs on either side of his cheeks. The markings also extended down under his shirt to his torso as magical tattoos, which were also a dull red color and gave off a little glow.
"Grimleal soldiers? I thought they were all gone." Nah said in confusion.
The Grimleal soldiers attacked the boy with their weapons. However, he deftly avoided the attacks while overwhelming them with what appeared to be dark magic. He then suddenly noticed Iniabi and the others and turned to glance at them.
"Huh? It's dangerous here! Get back!" the boy ordered.
As he warned them, he gauged the distance between himself and the Grimleal. Swizzle hovered in the air and flung one of the Grimleal soldiers, a Mage, onto the ground with blinding force. The boy turned to him.
"You can fight?" the boy asked in surprise.
Swizzle nodded. The boy was silent for a few moments, before nodding back.
"Please, lend me a hand. I need your help. Just take care of these guys." the boy said.
He blasted away more Grimleal and charged off towards another group. Meanwhile, Swizzle and the others rushed in to help the boy. The Grimeal soldiers that went up against them were no match for them. Combining their strength, they were able to completely destroy the soldiers. The boy, having finished off his own group of Grimleal, walked over to them.
"I was with my girlfriend Lupa when I first found myself in my hometown, Royal Woods, years before I was born. Then, I found myself in this desert and have been fighting for about two days. Who are you?" the boy asked.
Swizzle introduced himself, Citrusella, and Toxika as characters from the arcade and as members of the Sugar Rush team, Alden as being from his universe's Sugar Rush, and Iniabi, Cynthia, Nah, and Lucina as being Shepherds from Ylisse. He then explained the situation with Avina and how Lucina was one of the people serving her.
"So we found ourselves here after Lucina opened the Outrealm Gate, she decided to join us until we could get back to Ylisse." Swizzle explained.
The boy nodded.
"I see... I think I understand. My name is Charon McBride. Like I said before, I'm trying to find my family and friends after we got separated in this time. I might as well accompany you until I can." the boy said.
"Sure. We can use all the help we can get." Toxika said.
"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, November 29th 2110"
Once the train pulled into the port leading to Pac-Man, Sumia and the arcade villains got off and found their individual ways to the center of the maze-like game, where the Bad-Anon meeting was always held. Sumia was among the first few to arrive, along with a few of the frequent attendees, as she had simply warped through the maze and they knew the quickest route by memory. She found a seat easily, as the room was still fairly empty, and crossed one leg over the other before propping one of her elbows up behind the chair, giving her a very casual, almost uncaring, appearance. As the rest of the bad guys filed in, Clyde welcomed everyone, pointing out the obvious that they had a guest attendee that evening. Sumia was certain anyone who had attended even once would notice that she was new, for she, in her not so humble opinion, was rather hard to miss.
Starting at one end of the circle of chairs, Clyde had each bad guy introduce themself and do some sharing. They put in their two cents when they felt it might be helpful and Sumia simply listened. All of the stories were basically the same. The bad guys didn't like being bad guys, the others understood, sympathized, and offered advise, that making the sharing bad guy feel less lonely and such. Snapping out of the daze she'd momentarily fallen into, as it was her turn to share because Clyde seemed to be allowing her to participate even though she wasn't an arcade native, Sumia smiled and waved the hand that wasn't propped on her chair back.
"Hey, my name is Sumia. I once lived as a simple Pegasus Knight in the Haldom of Ylisse, but the Great Mistress Avina revived me from the dead, and I serve her as one of her most loyal servants." Sumia greeted.
The noticeable shift from casual to uncomfortable in the general atmosphere in the room made Sumia's smile grow. As the others replied with their customary "Hi, Sumia", she could hear the uncertainty in some of their voices.
"I hate to break it to you guys, but I actually enjoy being a villain." Sumia said casually.
She pretended not to notice the shocked expressions all around her and continued speaking.
"Honestly, I don't get what the big deal is. I mean, as villains, we're more powerful than heroes, more stylish than heroes, and generally more interesting to hang out with than heroes. Honestly, who wouldn't want to be a villain?" Sumia asked.
By that point, the room was speechless. Apparently, she was causing a scene. Sumia feigned a look of surprised confusion and looked around the room.
"You guys all look so surprised!" Sumia said in a mock-innocent voice. She then gasped, put her free hand to her mouth, and asked "Is it 'cuz I said the 'v' word?".
She broke back into a grin, flashing elongated canines, and her voice went back to it's usual tone.
"Seriously, though, you guys are more awesome than you realize. I mean, haven't any of you ever thought about your power? About how easy it would be to tip the balance around here in your favor? You're all more ruthless than the heroes by design. That means you'd automatically win in a no-holds-barred fight. Why sit around in here talking when you could be out there asserting yourselves? Submit to Mistress Avina, and she can give you power, knowledge, and wisdom. I did the same and got amazing power to make up for my clumsiness and weakness. She can do the same with you if you join her." Sumia said.
Breaking the silence, Clyde suddenly spoke up.
"Now, Sumia, I think I speak for everyone when I say that this arcade doesn't have any issues with the balance of power. We've been happily coexisting together since Ralph here saved the arcade a century ago." Clyde said.
He looked around at the room to see the rest of the bad guys agreeing with him. Sumia uncrossed her leg and straightened up to look at Clyde directly.
"Is that so? Well, if these hard-working antagonists were really "happily coexisting", why would they need your little support group?" Sumia asked, standing and striding up to Clyde, her calm smile never faltering.
"Well..." Clyde started to reply.
Cutting Clyde off with a sharp wave of her hand, Sumia turned on her heel, putting the same hand up, index finger raised, and tucking the other behind her back, just below her upper back, her stance now mimicking that of a commander giving their troops a pep-talk.
"I don't think any of you are happy. You want to be, want very badly to be, but you aren't. Not even those of you who have been the loudest advocates of this peaceful time." Sumia said.
With that, Sumia used her raised index finger to point at Ralph, raising an eyebrow challengingly and daring him to disagree with her.
"Now you wait just a minute! I am happy! I have everything I ever wanted and m..." Ralph started to say, standing up so abruptly that his chair was knocked back.
"Mayor Gene. He still gets on your nerves sometimes, doesn't he?" Sumia asked.
Ralph stopped and eyed the puppet before him.
"How did you know?" Ralph asked.
"I've seen it before. No matter how hard a villain tries to fit in, there's always one person who just won't let go of the shadows cast by labels. Who refuses to see the future." Sumia replied, her hands moving to her hips.
She suddenly floated into the air.
"But you guys can be the future. Each and every one of you are more powerful than you realize, and you're squandering that power by sitting in a room and sharing your feelings." Sumia said, turning slowly in the air to address the whole room.
"Even if we were interested in all of this, you seem to be forgetting that the good guys always win. It's part of the program." Saitine said.
He got sounds of approval from around the room. Suddenly breaking out into a mad grin, Sumia opened her arms wide as if to encapsulate the whole room.
"That's the beauty of all this "code" and "program" stuff. All of your heroes are specifically tailored to defeat you, but not the villain next to you." Sumia said.
She suddenly spun and pointed at Bowser.
"For instance, do you think that Bowser here could be defeated by Felix, from Ralph's game?" Sumia asked.
There was hesitation, before a general consensus of "no" was reached.
"Precisely!" Sumia exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
She spun again to point at Dr. Robotnik.
"Do you think anyone from Mortal Kombat could defeat you?" Sumia asked.
"Of course not! My genius intellect and machines would keep me well out of harm's way." Robotnik replied.
Once more, the room slowly conceded that they agreed.
"See? Villains and heroes are designed side-by-side to fight each other, but if a villain strays, the hero is powerless to stop them. Why do you think Calhoun had to go to Sugar Rush to fix everything when the Cy-bugs got loose? Because she was equipped to deal with them! The only reason Ralph managed to defeat them in the end was because he took the end-game plan from Hero's Duty and managed to create a beacon in Sugar Rush. If he hadn't, those Cy-Bugs would've won." Sumia explained.
She landed, her grin still quite mad.
"All you have to do is submit to Mistress Avina, and switch games with a neighbor and then attack! You'd be able to finally get out of the heroes's shadows and be the great villains you were all meant to be! You'd finally be able to give them a taste of what it's been like for all of you all these years! And it would be so easy! By tomorrow, you would already be living in a completely different, new, better arcade!" Sumia said.
Sumia turned to Ralph and allowed her grin to die down into a less-mad smile.
"No more Gene. He isn't even an important part of your game." Sumia said.
Next, she turned to Clyde.
"No more having to host these meetings. If you really care about your fellow villains, what I'm suggesting is the best course." Sumia said.
Sumia flew up and addressed the whole room once more.
"I guarantee that this plan will succeed! Join me and serve the Great Mistress Avina! I guarantee that by tomorrow, you will all be living in an arcade where villains are no longer treated like trash! Now, who's with me?" Sumia asked.
No one reacted. However, after a few seconds, M. Bison stood up.
"Sorry, Sumia, but I won't be joining you and your so-called "Glorious Mistress Avina". Fighting against the good guys would destroy the core of programming and end up destroying all life as we know it here in the arcade." M. Bison replied.
Clyde nodded.
"M. Bison is right. Even if we managed to succeed, all the other Disney Characters and Nickelodeon Characters would eventually come after us. We wouldn't be able to handle them." Clyde added.
One by one, the other bad guys gave the same answers, choosing to stand by the first two. Once they were done, Sumia frowned.
"So... that's your answer? You refuse to join me?" Sumia asked.
"No, Sumia. We stand together against you on this subject. I'm sorry." Ralph replied.
Sumia shook her head.
"Big mistake. I was going to let you live, but Mistress Avina said to kill anyone that get's in her way. So that means all of you. When we're done here, you'll all be floating in the abyss, suffering for all eternity and wishing you had accepted when you had the chance!" Sumia sneered.
Without warning, Kano charged at Sumia and threw one of his knives at her. The girl surprisingly didn't try to avoid the blades, and was saved when the Void Gear Keyblade suddenly appeared and blocked the knife, which flew back at Kano, who caught it in surprise.
"Too slow." Vanitas said, still standing in front of Sumia after having guarded her.
Sumia giggled.
"Nice save." Sumia said.
"Who are you?" Bowser asked.
Vanitas pointed Void Gear at him.
"The name's Vanitas. I'm also a servant of Mistress Avina. I heard you refused to join her, so I'm going to have to end you. Hope you don't take it personally." Vanitas replied.
Sumia looked at him.
"Vanitas, why don't you and the Unversed go and kill the other characters in the station? I'll take care of the baddies here." Sumia asked.
Vanitas smirked underneath his mask.
"With pleasure." Vanitas replied.
"Like heck we'll let you! Countless innocents will not be lost to the likes of you!" Robotnik snapped.
Vanitas laughed.
"Just try me." Vanitas said.
He immediately summoned five Buckle Bruiser and six Tank Toppler Unversed.
"I'd like to see all of you win against these." Vanitas said.
He immediately directed the Unversed to attack the Bad-anon attendees. They put up a hard fight and managed to take out the Unversed, but Vanitas continued to spawn more powerful Unversed to replace the ones that were lost, while still guarding himself and Sumia and repelling any of the bad guys that attempted to attack them. Eventually, the villains started tiring out, and half of them had been killed off permanently by the Unversed, leaving only Ralph, Clyde, Satiine, Robotnik, Bowser, and Kano. Seeing the fight was lost, Kano looked over at the survivors.
"Go on without me. Warn everyone else in the arcade to evacuate. It's not safe anymore. I'll hold them back." Kano ordered.
"But what about you? We can't just leave you behind." Bowser asked.
"You fools! If we all die, everyone in this arcade will perish! I'm giving you time to get out! I'f I'm to die, I'll go down fighting. Just go!" Kano replied.
He gathered his strength and went all out. The other bad guys reluctantly agreed and left the maze, heading out of Pac-Man to GCS. Meanwhile, Kano went berserk against the Unversed, managing to distract them from the departing bad guys. However, he was eventually knocked down by a blast of Dark Fire from Sumia. Kano knelt on the ground, breathing heavily.
"It's such a shame, really. You're one of the toughest Street Fighter characters, but were brought down by just a simple spell. And all of this is because you refused the hand of grace Mistress Avina has so generously extended to you. You could have made such a valuable asset. Give our regards to your friends on the other side." Sumia said.
She held up her hand, on which charged up a large ball of Dark Fire. The last thing Kano saw was it flying towards him before it consumed his whole body and melted his flesh.