The ominous dark castle that once stood as the Western Frontier's seat of power and symbol of the Winkies' enslavement was now all but completely deserted. With the Tin Man now ruling the Winkies from a palace made of tin, there was little use for anyone to go near the domain of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Winkies thanked all the gods for that on a daily basis. The wicked old witch was at last dead, and the Winkies could join the Munchkins among the newly liberated people of Oz.
Without the Witch around to give them orders, the flying monkeys took to the wind and scattered about, returning to their natural habitats. Well, all did save for one. The captain of the Wicked Witch's flying monkey guard still stayed behind. Ever loyal to his mistress, the captain contained the melted remains of the Wicked Witch within a black cast-iron crucible. Though his mistress no longer had the power to speak to him with no mouth of her own, the captain just couldn't shake the feeling that the puddle formerly known as the Wicked Witch of the West was still alive in there.
A Corridor of Darkness opened in the chamber and from it emerged Loki. The captain howled furiously and attempted to tackle the intruder to defend his mistress, but he soon found himself blasted by a beam of Gungir's power, knocking him back into the wall unconscious. Loki proceeded over to the cauldron containing the Wicked Witch's remains. It very distinctly still possessed a hint of life in its contents, albeit a dormant one.
"Tales of your wickedness have spread to many worlds far and wide," Loki said to the melted form, though he was not certain she could hear him in her current state. "You may just be of some use to me."
The Heartless situated the Magic Mirror on the wall in the newly designated mirror chamber in Villain's Vale. The Evil Queen stood before it with Maleficent standing several feet behind her to observe.
"Slave in the Magic Mirror," she chanted, "Come from the farthest space. Through winds and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face!"
The glass of the mirror roared with flames, and, when they subsided, the green and blue face of what appeared to be a theater mask floated in the center of the mirror.
"What wouldst thou know, my queen?" the mirror asked.
The Queen thought for a moment on how to best phrase her inquiry. "Magic mirror, do not jest. Reveal where the fabled book doth rest."
"The Book of Prophecies is obscured by light," the mirror stated. "Alas, my liege, t'is beyond my sight."
The Evil Queen growled with frustration. Maleficent had recruited her for her scrying abilities. If the mirror proved her unequal to the task, her days at Villain's Vale would be numbered.
"No matter," Maleficent spoke up, much to the Queen's relief. "Were the task that easy, t'would be an insult. Proceeding forward, I found it most beneficial when that boy, Riku, served me as my apprentice. I would do well to find someone new to fill that void. Someone without a wretched conscience to hold him back."
The Evil Queen nodded and oriented herself back to face the mirror. "Magic mirror, I command you speak, reveal the person whom we seek. An apprentice to bear the Mistress's mark, one filled with rage and a heart of dark."
"In Arendelle's dungeon, bound by chain," the mirror answered, "this man's fury continues to gain. A prince trapped by own fiancée's guard, woe be to one Hans Westergard."
"Then it appears I must pay this Arendelle a visit," Maleficent announced.
Loki strutted into the chambers with his usual air of confidence.
"Ursula told me I'd find you here," Loki said.
"Loki, this is the Evil Queen," Maleficent said. "She and her mirror are aiding in discerning the location of additional allies."
"That is what I wished to speak with you about," Loki said. "I've managed to acquire one who is upstairs currently, and I may have a second to bring to the table as well. However, her physical form was liquefied. Do you possess any spells to reform a physical body."
"I am afraid I do not," Maleficent said. "Queen? Do you possess such a spell?"
"Alas, your excellency, I do not," she replied. "However, perhaps the mirror can tell us exactly how to recreate Loki's potential ally."
The Queen went to turn back to her mirror, but before she could phrase her question, she doubled over in pain. Her body began to shrink and widen and her clothes transform. Her Evil Queen persona dissolved away as the Old Hag appeared back in her place.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Loki whispered to Maleficent.
"This is no uncommon occurrence," the Evil Queen said, turning around to reveal her deformed face to Loki. "My peddler form is as much a part of me now as the regal queen. Now then, to the mirror."
"Certainly an interesting one to add to our ranks," Loki said so that only Maleficent could hear.
"My ranks," Maleficent corrected. "Do not presume yourself to be on equal footing with me, Loki."
"Magic mirror of answers true," the Queen chanted, "Reveal how to forge a body anew!"
"Though the Witch was melted by water's flood" the mirror's voice spoke out. "The body can heal by vampire blood. But hold! Another ally there I see, a vampire who is as cruel as thee. To the town of Bon Temps you must jettison, to seek out one Russell Edgington. Beneath concrete he is laid to rest, until awoken at your behest."
Maleficent turned to Loki and said, "It would appear we both have an additional endeavor for which we must attend."
Finding where Russell was buried wasn't the hard part. Blasting through layers of concrete without drawing attention to himself or accidently harming Russell was. Loki slowly but surely carved away strips of concrete with blasts from Gungir. Eventually, Loki's hard work paid off when he caught sight of an emaciated hand protruding from the concrete. With a few more precisely placed blasts, the shriveled and damaged yet still breathing form of Russell Edgington was now free of its concrete prison.
"Can you hear me?" Loki asked.
Russell gave a weak nod.
"I'm going to administer you an elixir," Loki said, producing a pretty golden bottle from his satchel. "It will restore you to full health without your having to feed on an exorbitant quantity of human blood."
Loki uncapped the elixir and poured the shimmering golden liquid into Russell's mouth. The change was instantaneous. Russell began to grow and expand. His hair and nails began to grow back. His skin began to flesh itself out once more, removing the traces of concrete wedged into it. Within less than two minutes, Russell Edgington was back to his old self again.
"Holy shit," Russell said, shaking his head. "That it is some powerful stuff there. My humble thanks for your little miracle drug there, mister-"
"Loki. God of Mischief and rightful King of Asgard."
"Then I greatly thank you, your majesty," Russell smiled. "You plucked me out of a rather uncomfortable position. Concrete really chafes on the skin, and slowly dying of hunger wasn't exactly on my list of ways I'd want to eventually meet the True Death. So tell me, what's a tall, dark haired, and pretty deity like yourself want with lil' ole me?"
Loki stood up and extended his hand out to Russell. The vampire king took it and was hoisted up to his feet.
"You were shown to me by a magic mirror," Loki said. "I sought a way to restore a certain witch to physical form. The mirror told me the task would require vampire blood, and not only could you provide me that, but you'd also prove to be a most valuable ally."
"An ally in what, exactly?" Russell inquired.
"The ushering in of a new era," Loki answered. "An era where all the worlds are remade in our own image."
"Wait, worlds?" Russell asked. "As in plural?"
"Oh yes," he nodded, "there are many worlds in the universe. And once we obtain the fabled Book of Prophecy, we can change all of them to be exactly as we desire them to be."
"Sounds positively crazy," Russell chuckled, "but my definition of crazy has been radically altered as of late, so, tell ya what, I'll bite. This Book of Prophecy, if it can do what you say it can, could potentially help me to realize my dream of supernatural domination of this world."
"Quite so," Loki nodded. "And you could do it with the flick of a pen."
A Corridor of Darkness opened next to them.
"Let me show you," Loki said.
"Of course, darlin'," Russell nodded. "But, first, I am positively famished. I haven't eaten in months, after all. There's this lovely little clothing store across the street where I can replace these old concrete damaged clothes and have a bite to eat in one go."
Loki chuckled. "But of course, Mr. Edgington."
With Hans having returned a second time with his brothers in tow to seal Elsa in that urn, Elsa and Anna deemed him too dangerous to let return to his home country. His elder brothers were all extradited back to the Southern Isles by the diplomatic arrangements of his dear old dad. Of course, Hans's father hadn't bothered trying to get him out; he never was all that fond of his youngest son, not that Hans particularly cared. Admittedly, the dungeon cells of Arendelle were, at the very least, a step up from shoveling dung back at the Southern Isles. He was getting three square meals a day, benevolent treatment, and no manual labor. It wasn't quite the life he'd hoped for, but it'd do.
A flurry of green flames in the middle of his cell caused Hans to panic and scramble for the cell door as quickly as he could. As he went to bang on the door to call for help, a voice stopped him.
"Do not alert the guards," Maleficent commanded as she appeared from the flames.
The intensity and power in her voice was almost hypnotic, causing Hans to stop where he was and turn to face his guest.
"Now then," Maleficent said, "we haven't much time. I am Maleficent, Mistress of All Evil. Do you wish to be free of this prison, Prince Hans Westergard?"
"How did you-," Hans began. "Oh, never mind. Yes, yes, of course I do."
"Very well then," Maleficent nodded. "I shall facilitate your escape on the condition that you serve me willingly as my apprentice."
"You're obviously powerful," Hans said. "Why do you need me?"
"What I need is someone young and malleable," she explained. "Someone able-bodied and willing to do my bidding. Someone with great potential for darkness. And you... well..."
Maleficent looked around at the cell surrounding her. "You need someone old enough to know better."
"I admit I'm curious just to see where this goes," he admitted. "I just need... assurances that I won't be harmed in the process. My last encounter with a magic user left me frozen for three decades."
"Provided that you do not bite the hand that feeds," she replied, "no harm shall come to you. In fact, when I have completed your training, no harm will be able to come to you."
"Maleficent, you said your name was?" Hans asked. "I think we've got great potential here."
The self created hole in Russell's wrist dripped blood into the cauldron containing the Wicked Witch of the West's remains.
"Just how much blood does witchy-poo need?" Russell asked.
"I am not certain," Loki admitted. "As much as it takes to see any change."
"Why waste time with the blood?" he asked. "After all, you're the one with that magical miracle drug."
"Which might be useful if the Witch had a mouth to ingest it," he countered. "Look! Look! She's beginning to take solid form!"
And indeed she was. Russell pulled back his arm and closed the wound on his wrist. The formerly liquefied witch was becoming less like water and more like a strange gelatin like figure ever expanding. The witch's form tumbled out of the cauldron and began to grow taller, gaining more and more definition. Her eerie green skin regained color, and her black dress and pointed hat seemingly grew right out of her very flesh. Within minutes, standing before the two men was the Wicked Witch of the West.
"Un-fuckin'-believable," Russell said with a shake of his head, "she's real too."
"Greetings," Loki began. "I am-"
"Loki, I know," the Wicked Witch interrupted. "And this is Russell Edgington. Though I had no ears in my melted state, I could still hear and understand what was said whilst I was... incapacitated. I know of the situation, and I happily accept the gracious offer."
Russell chuckled and turned to Loki. "You're just makin' new friends everywhere you go today, Mr. Popular."
Maleficent and Hans appeared in the main chamber of Villain's Vale to the sight of Ursula, Kingpin, and the Evil Queen complaining to each other about their respective past failures. Night had fallen on the Vale, and still she'd received no word from Pete or Hades.
"Ursula," she said, "has Pete returned?"
"Afraid not, Maleficent," Ursula replied. "Haven't seen him."
"Diablo," Maleficent said, beckoning to a raven perched up within the clockwork.
Diablo soared down from his resting place and landed atop Maleficent's outstretched hand.
"Depart for the Underworld," she instructed him. "Find those two fools and make it known that I demand their return immediately. Now go, my pet!"
The raven nodded and flew off out into the blackness of the night, soon vanishing from view within the shadows.
"Now then, has Loki returned yet from his quest to Bon Temps?" she inquired.
"I have indeed," Loki said as he entered the chamber with Russell and the Wicked Witch in tow.
"Excellent," she said with a devilish grin. "Whilst I had hoped to wait to begin until Pete returned with Hades, it would be foolish to delay further. For those of you who may not know, I am Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil, and your new leader. Quickly, each of you state your name. It would do us all well to be familiar with our fellow allies."
"I am Loki, of Asgard. God of Mischief."
"Edgington. Russell Edgington. Former vampire king of Mississippi."
"I am known far and wide as the Wicked Witch of the West."
"Ursula the Sea-Witch and the rightful Queen of Atlantica."
"Wilson Fisk, but I am better known by my title: the Kingpin."
"My name is of little importance. I prefer to simply be known as the Evil Queen."
"Prince Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles."
"Welcome all of you to Villain's Vale, our temporary base of operations," Maleficent said. "Together, we shall be known as The Hellfire Club. Our purpose, as many of you well know, is to seek out The Book of Prophecy, an ancient tome capable of transcribing events that have yet to transpire and even conjure new ones from its pages. Once we possess the book, all of our respective unholy desires can be brought to fruition."
"And how exactly do we know that such a book truly exists?" Kingpin interrupted.
"I initially believed the existence of the book to be a fallacy," Maleficent replied. "However, after a brief encounter with a world my enemies called the "date escape," I realized that such a power was not beyond the realm of possibility. My previous attempt to steal the worlds' data went unsuccessfully. However, now, with the aid of you seven, I truly believe we can finally succeed. Pledge your loyalty to me now."
Maleficent extended her staff outward over the circular stone table in the center of the room. Loki extended Gungir to join her, and Hans followed suit with his sword. The others, having no weapons on them at the moments, simply extended their hands into the center, showing their newfound allegiance.
The Hellfire Club was forged.
A/N: Though I borrow a few book elements here, my Wizard of Oz canon is solely the 1939 film adaptation. Any backstory for the Witch in this fic will be of my own design, so neither Wicked nor Oz the Great and Powerful are canon here. I intercept True Blood canon after season three but before season four. All seasons after three are going to be AU to this fic. For Frozen, this story picks up after Once Upon a Time season 4A (the Frozen guest star arc).