Part 6
"Okay, ya gonna run that buy me again?" Hades mumbled, his eyes in resignation as Jafar repeated himself, tired of having to talk to this idiotic buffoon yet again. Did he not understand the simplicity of his statements, the subtle yet oh-so-clear nuances to just WHAT he was saying? Was this man hard of hearing? Was he, perhaps, stupid? Perhaps that was the explanation: that his fiery skull simply ate up whatever brains he might have possessed.
"I'm afraid that, if you intend on declaring war on whatever Gods you keep babbling about right now, there is a very good chance this rival faction could overwhelm and DESTROY us! Now, do I need to reiterate myself once more, or is this the time you'll finally comprehend the words coming out of my mouth?" Jafar asked, his voice lowering to a deadly whisper.
"I got what you're sayin', I got what you're sayin'-BUT I DON'T LIKE IT!" Hades snapped, his hair flaring into the air as his façade of control faltered, only to return to normalcy with a sudden hick-up sounding laugh. "Eh-hehe, alright, Jaffy, listen very careful. We have the Black Cauldron, some of the old lady's chemical do-hickies, and a trident! Sure, we lost a genie, but let's face it: how much damage can-?"
"You idiot! The lamp is worth far more than a stupid piece of metal, a stick with smaller sticks in it, and whatever is in that idiot woman's cabinet!" Jafar snapped, eyes wide with frustration.
"Woah, cool it down a notch, Jaffy!" Kronk, the muscle-bound idiot that had entered the scene with that stupid skinny old woman. He approached the slender vizier, wrapping his arm around Jafar's shoulder, with a chuckle on his lips. Why did this man even touch him? Why was he even here? He clearly had no ambition whatsoever, beyond perhaps becoming a male supermodel or winning a body building contest. Only Gaston was afraid of him, and that was mostly due to the fact that Kronk might have taken away Gaston's newly established status as strongest looking individual in the room. "Now, the way I see it, you need to settle down a bit, take a few minutes in the corner over there. Do I need to separate you two again?"
"Again? When did you separate us originally," Jafar asked, finding himself growing calmer as the stupidity of Kronk's statement settled in.
"Uh-good point."
"Don't mind him," Yzma laughed, nervously drawing Kronk away, a chuckle on her strained, dead looking lips, "He was dropped on his head when he was a baby."
"I can see that," Oogie Boogie replied, chuckling to himself before turning to Hades, "Jafar has a point, though. You want to put all the balls in your corner if you're gonna shoot for the gold, ya know? Before you roll the die, make sure they're weighted enough. I want extra insurance to make sure I don't die, ya know?" Even if Oogie Boogie wasn't exactly a fine ally for the sorcerer, he did aid him more than he could imagine. It was amazing, really, how much a bag of bugs could do when given the right incentive.
In this case, living.
"I say we destroy Neverland, and take all the fairies there," Captain Hook replied. There was an audible silence for several seconds. Finally, Hades repeated Hook's words in a tone so flat that Hook's eager smile, after enduring the uncomfortable silence that permeated the room, fell to the wayside, replaced with a somewhat embarrassed frown. "I thought it was a good idea."
"Yeah, great plan. What're a buncha fairies gonna do?" Hades laughed.
"They could be perfect for some of my potions, though," Yzma stated, smirking.
"Alright, you two go hunting fairies while the rest of us do something more useful," Gaston chuckled, masculinity, "Like attracting women."
Hades stared at Gaston blankly for a moment before slapping him across the face, unenthusiastically. "Woah, hold on, snap out of it, kid. Look, we aren't just here to get a buncha dames, okay? We're here to go out, take down Zeus from Olympus, and rule the entire cosmos, okay? Get that through your head. Once you rule the world, then start up your chick recruitment club, but business before pleasure for now, bub."
Gaston returned a flat, enthusiastic glance at the overlord before turning toward the Horned King. "Hey, do you want to pick up some girls?"
"Does it look like I enjoy doing that?"
"Not really."
"There, you have your answer," the Horned King replied, turning toward Jafar, "Now, what we should be doing is fortifying our group. After baring witness to what sort of horror is in Agrabah, I feel it's not just a good idea to act. It's a requirement. We NEED to do something now, or else all we will do in the future is for naught. This new opposition needs to be put down permanently. If they attack Olympus, then we'll need to launch emergency countermeasures, but let's prepare for such an event first."
"I am in agreement with this," Scar replied, "From what you've all told me, it sounds rather grizzly over there."
"We don't need it, though," Hades snapped, "I mean, let's face it: what's the worse that can happen?"
#
Xanatos sat at the keyboard, smirking slightly as he rested his fingers over each individual symbol and character before him. With a chuckle, he began to punch in keys, a grin on his lips. With a little reworking on his part, everything was going to go according to plan. He glanced at the two victims he was sending out to meet their fates. They were oblivious, of course, to the bearded man's true intentions, but, alas, their ignorance was Xanatos's greatest weapon. A grin on his lips, he pressed the enter button, summoning a great wall of light that exploded outward, filling the world with light as the portals through reality were ripped open, and his plan began.
#
Ariel stared out at the water, eyes wide as tears rolled down her cheeks. The sensations building up inside of her bore no similarity to any she had felt before, and no description could do them justice. The seas had been dyed scarlet with blood as it lapped up against the shores, the castle standing over the carnage that was strewn out around the waters. Pieces of bone and flesh drifted onto the shores, the eviscerated king of the sea now but a smashed up mass of torn apart flesh. Her scarlet hair danced in the air around her as she stared out before her, unable to talk beyond simply making strange sounds in the back of her throat.
She felt a hand interlock with her own, each finger spreading through her slender digits, as she glanced over her shoulder at the man behind her, eyes filled with soft understanding, lips parted slightly as he frowned, averting his gaze for a moment before returning it to hers, a look of silent understanding in his eyes. She stood strong for a moment before collapsing against his breast, his heartbeat her only solace as the beat of her tears running out from her eyes onto her cheeks filled her eardrums, her throbbing eardrums filled with horror and sorrow, loss and emptiness.
Her father was dead.
There was no other word to describe it. She felt little anger, no, that would've been a pleasant emotion next to the vast emptiness. It was simply the acknowledgement that, no matter what, she'd never see him again. Sure, she had given up the chance to see him frequently once she grew a pair of legs, and yet this new turning point, an inability to ever lay eyes on the man she loved as a guardian, was something beyond any threshold of her physical understanding.
"I miss you, daddy…"
"Mom! Mom!"
Ariel glanced up as her dark haired daughter darted up to the keep of the castle, staring at the duo with a desperate look in her eyes. She had her father's face and hair, but Ariel's daughter had Ariel's father's eyes, those passionate, powerful eyes. Strange how a girl with so many traits inherited by men still possessed her soft, gentle form, her beautiful, elegant curves that would no doubt develop beautifully in the coming years. However, Ariel knew that, when Melody's eyes were so passionate, it was best to follow her. Ariel and Eric descended the stairway as Melody darted down, leading to a great vortex in the air, swirling around a singularity before them.
"What in Heaven's name…?" Eric mumbled in awe as the numerous guards in the room stood away from the vortex, pointing great staffs defensively toward it as they inched closer to it. Melody was the closest, unafraid, as she stuck her hand into the hole in the air, much to everyone's fear and alarm, before drawing it back, her arm indifferent, save for the thin layer of sand that had blown onto her skin. Ariel stared at the portal in the air, confused.
"How did this get here?" Ariel finally asked, brushing aside her tears.
"It just appeared, m'lady," a guard replied, "Almost like magic, really."
"Magic?" Ariel repeated, only to remember the trident that now rested in that pirate's hands. Perhaps it lead to his domain. For an instant, rage filled Ariel's heart, but not a vengeful rage that she expected. No, rather it was a guilty rage, a rage at herself for letting her father die. Sure, she knew there was nothing she COULD have done, and yet the rage filled and consumed her nonetheless. Why did she feel such a depressing, crushing anguish was beyond her realm of comprehension. Regardless, she rose toward the portal, and knew what must be done.
The former mermaid turned toward the crowd, and said, in a determined voice, "We don't have much choice, do we?"
#
"Have you found her yet?" Shang asked, desperately, his narrow eyes widened with anxiety as his soldiers arrived. His face fell as each soldier nodded in confirmation that, indeed, no soldier had uncovered the fallen captain's body. Shang sighed, running a hand over her face anxiously as she glanced aside. He knew it was a bad idea to bring Mulan back into combat. She had vehemently protested, of course, dragging her father back to battle the Huns, and yet, when the messenger came to her house to inform her that the Emperor specifically wanted Fa Mulan as a soldier, well, things were a bit different. She wasn't happy, no, far from it, but at the same time she chose to fight, chose to stay at the Emperor's side as a member of his royal guard, for what Shang referred to as a "trial membership."
A trial by fire, perhaps.
Mulan couldn't just disappear off the face of reality. That vortex lead somewhere. The huns were easy to eliminate once their fearless leader and that buffoon with that loud weapon vanished, which surprised Shang. They were more difficult the last time. It seemed, almost, as though the constant traveling and combat had physically exhausted them, and they were easy to eliminate without a die-hard man forcing them onward. Now that China was relatively safe, he was on a personal mission.
A new soldier ran hurriedly toward Shang, a frantic look in his eye. Shang turned toward him, a smile on his lips. "Did you find Mulan?"
"No, not quite, sir, but I think you should come to look at this just the same. It's a portal."
#
Mulan breathed heavily as she rose to her feet, propping herself up into a sitting position, frowning slightly as she ran a hand over her face, barely able to take in her environment. Where was she? What was she doing? These questions and more filled her brain. Before passing out, she vaguely remembered the circumstances she was in, that loud, long machine ringing throughout the air, filling the silence with sound, before all went dark and vanished completely. Now, however, there was silence in this chamber, leaving her all alone. Where was everyone? Did they all abandon her? Leave her to the wayside?
She slowly rose to her feet, running a hand over her face as she glanced over her shoulder toward the door, nearing it slowly as she extended her hand for it, breathing heavily, slowly, as she turned the knob in her outstretched hand, pushing the door open to find herself in a room filled with chaos.
Bodies laid on the ground in puddles of their own fluids, their stomachs ripped open as a great beast stood before them. He stood on two legs despite his canine appearance, a monstrous man-wolf wearing the attire of a man, attire stained in the blood of others. It's jaws were lined with fierce teeth, all ferocious and grotesque in their own fashion, his eyes mad, full of an incredibly, unsatisfied starvation, a hunger beyond hunger. The wooden tables were overturned as people ran chaotically for the door, longing to escape, despite the occasional glance or two from the fearsome hound of hell himself.
Mulan watched as the hound turned toward her, and grinned.
The Wolf lunged for her, fingers outstretched for her throat. Mulan ducked hastily, slamming her fist headlong into the beast's solar plexus. She recoiled slightly as her injuries surged in hot throbbing pain, but she ignored it. She had experienced worse injuries than a mostly healed up impact wound. The Asian warrior spun through the air, leg extended, as she slammed her leg straight into her enemy's ribs. She felt them shatter satisfyingly under the incredible force, watching the Wolf soar into the counter not far away as his entire body twisted around, his skull clanking against bottles that shattered under the force of impact.
However, this only pissed the Big Bad Wolf off.
As shards of glass tumbled from his ripped open ears, the wolf rose up to its full height, howling fiercely before gearing back, ready to lunge at Mulan. She had no time. She tried to dodge, but soon the wolf was upon her, his weight pressing against her injured shoulder. She cried out for help as the wolf stood over her, jaws wide and ready to devour and crunch down upon her face, ready to tear her limb from bloody limb.
That was, of course, until a dark-skinned woman slammed a frying pan against the wolf's ear.
Mulan watched as shards of glass dug deeper into the hound's skull, drawing blood, as he was knocked over, stumbling as his equilibrium was thrown off. Injuries to the ear were known to throw a person off their balance, and it appeared the same held true for man-wolves. The Wolf tried to stand, only managing to stumble repeatedly into furniture. The woman grabbed Mulan by the wrist, and pulled her away. "C'mon, girl! We gotta get away from here."
"Hang on, we can't just let this thing there," Mulan stammered, in shock.
"Yeah, we can. What do you intend on doin'? Fightin' it?"
"I intend on slaughtering it."
Mulan became aware of that same deep, elderly voice she had heard before passing out. She stopped, as did the black woman at her side. The two of them turned to see a man dressed in long, flowing robes, dark in color, enter the picture, upon his head a large, broad hat, a purple ribbon trailing behind it. In his frail, fearsome hands was a broadsword, something straight out of the fourteenth century or something. The man extended his hand, ready to attack, as the wolf stumbled into the room, glancing around, unable to focus on anything at first.
"What do ya think you're doin', Frollo!" the black-skinned girl stammered, staring in horror at the sight before her.
"Well, I plan on killing this hellhound. No doubt it was attracted here by the sin and vice in this city, so only a virtuous hand can slay it. Allow me." The elderly man approached the fearsome beast, unafraid and yet, at the same time, emanating a sort of fearsome aura more terrible than even the raging, violent wolf. Mulan couldn't help but admire this man on some level. Here he was, battling a monster, to save them. That surely was what he was doing, after all.
The wolf lunged toward the elderly man, but Frollo simply swung his blade through the air. Mulan failed to see the exact strike from behind the old man's broad hat, but she did hear the blood splattering on the walls, the flesh ripping upon impact, along with the skull soaring into the ceiling, slamming heavily against it as the wolf stumbled aimlessly around, falling at her savior's feet worthless and dead. The old man turned toward the others, frowning, sheathing his blade at his side as he walked away, the headless wolf now nothing more than a dead animal in a corner.
"What a pathetic monster," Frollo mumbled, his purple ribbon dancing in the air.
"How did he get in here?" the black woman asked, "A good thing Naveen was out. I wouldn't want him getting mauled, ya know?" However, as confusing as the arrival of a monster wolf was to the Chinese warrior, there was one other query that held a higher place in the mind of the raven haired soldier, one that was, for lack of a better term, the 800 pound gorilla in the room that Mulan needed to point out.
"Uh, who exactly are you people?" Mulan asked, confused, "And why am I here?"
"Oh, my name's Tiana, and this gentleman over here is named Claude Frollo," Mulan noticed from Tiana's voice that the title of "gentleman" was one she forced herself to acknowledge, as though their personal savior had, in some way, wronged her in the past. Mulan couldn't fault the man. Sure, he looked like something you'd find under a rock, but he did protect them, so he couldn't be a bad person.
"Thank you for saving my life," Mulan said to both individuals, "But I need to go back to China."
"China?" Tiana repeated, eyes widening, "You came from…? No, you couldn't go back there, not with the conflict and everythin'!"
"Conflict?" Instantly, images of the Hun's invasion came to mind. Mulan's eyes widened in a terrified fashion as she placed a hand over her cheek. No doubt they had overthrown the Empire. No doubt Shang was in trouble. She had to get there as soon as possible. Shang couldn't be hurt! He had to be alright, he just had to be! "Please, I need to get there! I need to see if Shang's-"
"I think, however, this individual must be in the same situation as I am," Frollo said, "It would appear that we have both been separated from our respective worlds, and the France that I wish to return to, like your China, is very different than the place this Heathen refers to."
"Heathen?" Tiana repeated, eyes narrowed, "Excuse me?"
"But then how did I get here? And how will I get home?" Mulan stammered, desperately, eyes wide with terror.
"I-" Tiana began, but the sound of screams alerted her to the kitchen, where she sprinted over. Mulan pursued, closely followed by their black robed messiah. There, in the center of the kitchen, was a man with dark skin, eyes wide as he stared around at the room. "Naveen! What the-were you hidin' in here the whole time?"
"Princess, I-"
"Don't you Princess me! You could've done something out there, you stinking little-"
"Tiana! Look here!" Naveen stammered, pointing directly to a great vortex in the air.
#
The sound of a sword slashing through the air echoed loudly as Taran heaved the great blade across the air, deflecting a swing of a dark, nightmarish sword that slashed right at him, just missing his throat as he knocked the blade aside. To think, after surviving a great assault by the Horned King himself, that he'd be beaten by a tiny little rodent! By the sword he had stolen from the Horned King all that time ago, no less.
He thought of the events that had lead up to this incident, this confrontation. He had simply been tending to the pigs, just as any old day. However, it was then he saw storm clouds up above, at which he ran to protect the animals of the farm. However, in doing so, he saw a strange sight in the sky: a cyclone touching down upon the grass. Taran had thrown his arms up in defense, but he had nothing to fear from the torrents of air. As a single rodent descended from the sky, landing on the ground, a great sword in his hands, Taran knew he had a much more important thing to worry about.
He clearly was losing his mind.
A mouse with a sword? No, that was a rat. What sort of ludicrous dream was this? Things like that just didn't happen. Why would a small rodent appear like that so suddenly? It made no sense to him. He needed a second to collect data from the area before him: there was a cyclone. A familiar glowing blade was in the rat's hands. The rat survived the cyclone, as though it weren't a naturally occurring tornado at all.
It was when Taran recognized the blade as the sword he had traded to that trio of witches for the Cauldron that he grew nervous.
Taran found the first weapon he could, a large scythe, before darting hastily toward the rodent. He could run for help, but, alas, if he wasted a second, the rodent would go off with that blade and cause more chaos. With that sword, he could find the Cauldron yet again and summon chaos into their universe once more. He needed to eliminate the threat now, especially after the years of training he had received in the aftermath of their war with the king.
The sword, as expected, blocked on reflex, the rat grinning broadly. This rat was dressed in a peculiar attire, a suit and tuxedo, as though he were going to a classy gala of some sort. Even then, the attire was strange and foreign. Perhaps he was from a faraway land or something, but, regardless, he would never lay eyes on that world again if Taran managed to eliminate him in time. The rat chuckled in amusement. "Yes, just like Xanatos said. This is a nice little sword."
And that brought them to the present, the two blades slashing through the air, the glint of the sun shinning against the edges of each weapon as they weaved in and out, the rat's body being heaved into the air by the strength of the mighty sword. He drew high into the air, ready to slash down upon Taran, divide him from crown to crotch He blocked hastily, knocking the rat aside, but shattering the scythe in the process. Taran glanced hastily at the barn, darting back for a weapon as the rodent landed heavily on the ground, rolling slightly before extending his sword, blades of grass decapitated drifting and dancing in the air.
He darted forward.
Taran's fingers curled around a second scythe.
The knight in training turned, deflecting the attack, but saw a fatal plan in his defense. The sword tilted forward, ready to shatter Taran's skull down as it weaved forward, over the scythe, toward the teen's face! With a hasty twist, the sword embedded itself for a moment in the barn before freeing itself, holding the rat in the air, his beady eyes glowing with glee.
An arrow nearly missed his head.
Taran and the rat turned to the side as a blonde haired woman on horseback darted toward them, an arrow in her dainty hands. Her eyes were narrowed, bangs falling over her eyes as she readied a second arrow, aiming for the rat's skull. A second projectile hurtled through the air, soaring at the rat. A hasty slash bisected the arrow as Princess Eilonwy drew nearer, placing three arrows in the bow, and firing. Before the rodent could slash, Taran attacked. The rat's body landed on the ground hastily as the scythe embedded itself in the wall, and three arrows nearly pierced Taran's forearm, missing by inches. One even cut across his skin, drawing blood.
"Sorry!" Eilonwy would have called out, but there was no time for apologies in the heat of battle. The only thing there was time for was confrontation. The Princess loaded another arrow into her bow, and fired. Before the rat could block, Taran, nearer to the rodent, threw his scythe straight at the creature. The rat's eyes, tiny as the head of a pin, widened in terror as he blocked the closest oncoming object.
The scythe.
He failed to block the arrow as it landed straight in the center of his chest, piercing out through his spine as he was thrown into the mud, buried under layers of moist soil and rotting feces, forced into the earth so deep that his entire body was devoured by moist ground. A second passed where the water in the ground, dyed scarlet, bubbled as air burst outward, but the bubbling subsided quickly, leaving a small grave for a small rat.
Eilonwy dismounted at Taran's side, reaching for his arms, with tender hands. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you."
"It's fine," Taran replied, ignoring his injuries as he heaved the blade the rodent had wielded with a single hand into the air, examining it. This was, indeed, the same blade he had sacrificed years ago. He stared at it with mild reverence, awe in his eyes.
"Well, I wouldn't have hit you if you weren't so careless," she said, frowning.
"Careless? I was fighting a flying rodent with a magic sword. If I was being careless, I'd be dead."
"You almost were, Taran. You need to just stop thinking about-"
It was as this point the black vortex opened in the air, silencing their argument.
#
Xanatos examined each vortex opening on the numerous monitors, a grin on his lips. He watched the confused faces in each parties' eyes before, after a quick discussion, the designated heroes entered through the vortex. There were several individuals he wanted, but for now, these would do just fine. Just enough to kill all the opposition before dying themselves. And, at the end of Ragnorak, there would be only one standing alive on the wreckage.
His name would be Xanatos.
A God.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
So far, I have a few plans for what is to come next, but please, tell me who else should join in on the fun? Any Disney characters you think might fit into this chaos? Leave in the Review section any requests for characters you'd like to see in future additions.