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REVERSAL
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"Caution is crucial if you're trying to frighten burglars in Gotham. It might be advisiable if you're a Titan or a kid in Young Justice, I wouldn't know! What I DO know is that for the JLA, the team that holds the world in its' hands about twice a month...unconditional trust in one another makes a difference between LIFE AND DEATH!" Superman
9
THE CALM
He sat alone. He, the God of this world. He, the Messiah. He, their King.
And he held his head in his hands, trying to ignore the constant that continued to play through his mind. He tried. But he couldn't ignore it.
What if I lead the way?
What if I make mistakes? (Will-you-be-there?)
What if I change the world?
What if I take the blame? (Will-you-be-there?)
"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Manifest screamed, falling to his knees and clutching his head as the music continued to grow louder and louder in his head. "I CAN'T GET IT OUT! THEY WON'T LET ME! JUST STOP! PLEAAAAASE!"
I remember going back...
To the place we used to lay...
But I keep losing track!
And now the days, they all turn black!
And our dreams all start to fade...
But there's no turning back...
"Cuz...cuz the world keeps tu-turning...and my heart...my HEART..."
He staggered back up, arms flailing around. "Stop, can't...can't get it out, I can't..."
Manifest collided hard with the balcony rail and almost flipped clean off, falling to his death in the dark night as the stars calmly twinkled overhead, his panicked gasps being the only sound echoing across the courtyard as he finally regained his composure.
"...I didn't ask for this. Why did I have to be the only one with this power?...are those others the only people I can really trust for this?" He mumbled.
He finally sighed and headed back to his bed, lying across it in a large sprawl, looking up at the ceiling as he blinked his rainbow eyes.
"...a guitar. Dammit, I need a guitar. I'll ask if they'll give me one."
THE MAD HATTER
Pranks.
I LOVE 'em.
I've been prankin' these guys since the moment I came here. And lemme tell you, I am the King. Da KING of this sort of thing. But I've had help. Oh yes. My dear associate Frequency was kind enough to help me with several of these pranks.
Why don't I show you some of my finest moments? Heh. This one I'm really proud of. Frequency? If you could wheel out the projector?
"Just a moment...here."
CLICK!
Ahh, here we go. Coraline, our dear Red Princess. I did this last night. Since Manifest Destiny's caught, the countries have agreed to a cease fire and, in the spirit of comradery, they've all shacked up here in the White Queen's estate on a sort of "vacation". I think it's good...brings us all together. Helps us get to really know each other outside of stopping terrorist plots and dictating war laws. Plus, it means I get to prank new people.
Observe. See, there's Coraline, asking me to "help her open her closet because she can't quite get it open". Ooh, she is a CLEVER one. But you'll note that I keep myself fairly close to her...I reach for the knob...
Then, just as I open the door I shove HER in, and THA-BOOOM! All those apples she had made ready to fall right on me come a-crashin' down on her.
"Ha-ha-haaaa!"
Nice try, Coraline. But you'll need more than that to beat me.
"Oh, this? This one was MY idea. There's Kualili, going to take a shower. Unknowing that we've SECRETLY replaced the normally fine shampoo here...with NAIR."
Let's see if he can tell the difference!
"...ooooooh. NAAAAASTY."
He can't. ^_^
"He's gonna KILL us when he finds out we did this."
IF he finds out.
"If is good. But you know, I feel so bad about what we've done. I think we should make up for it by cooking them some brownies. With a very special ingredient."
"...ohhhh. Yes, YES. You see, folks...Frequency's got that diabolical track in him. That devious kind of mind. Oh yes, this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship."
...
...
...
... "Listen, we felt just AWFUL about the way we've been tormenting all of you." The Mad Hatter said to Heartwing, the White King and Queen, Josef, General Spainco, Coraline, Oskar and Kualili.
"You SHOULD be." Josef said, folding his arms as he mumbled under his breath something about "What kind of sick mind booby-traps the toilet like that" as Oskar checked his coat again to make sure it was his and not the one that had held the mousetraps in them.
"Yeah, you got us good. We...laughed and laughed." Coraline mumbled hatefully.
"Yeah, you made us into a monkey's uncle!" Heartwing said. "And I'm STILL scrubbing flour out of my-"
"Aw, no fighting among brothers, right?" Frequency said cheerily. "And to show we're sorry...we made you brownies." Frequency said cheerily, gesturing at the Mad Hatter as the white-haired harlequin-esque man held up a plate filled with steamy, delicious fudge brownies. "And the secret ingredient is love."
"Ooh, that makes them EXTRA special!" Heartwing said, popping one into his mouth as the others eagerly joined in.
"I had a brother once. He liked to paint things. Bring in strays and find them homes. Kept telling me I shouldn't feed my pet rabbits so much that they looked like giant slippers." Coraline commented quietly.
This made the White Queen, who positively ADORED cute little bunnies, shudder in disgust.
"Actually the secret ingredient is something...SPECIAL, if you get my drift." Frequency mused, chuckling as he held one paw to his chin, blowing an imaginary smoke ring in the air as the others began chewing their brownies.
"Never had this kind of brownie before. But I'm willing to try almost any dish at least once." The White King decided, shrugging slightly. "...just once. That's it. JUST once."
"Mmm. They're GOOD." The White Queen mused as she savored the taste of the brownies. They were practically melting in her mouth. It was like somebody had taken the essence of yumminess and stuffed it firmly into this little thing she was chewing on now. Soft...not too sweet, not too chewy...just right, yes, just right. And such a fine aroma to the brownies to boot!
"Mmm. Mmmm." Josef murmured as he sat near Coraline. "Whaddya think? These are good, huh?"
"You look familiar." Coraline admitted, tilting her head to the side. "...were you ever in theater camp? Doesn't he look like Greg from theater camp?" She asked Oskar.
"No, I've been in several Romany performance groups of "Oklahoma", but not theater camp." Josef told her, shaking his head back and forth.
"You SURE they're special?" Oskar asked Frequency.
"The BEST kind of special." The blue-furred being said, winking.
Half an hour passed. Everyone sat around, Heartwing nervously rubbing his arm.
"...I'm...nervous...about this." He mumbled. "...I mean, I've heard a LOOOOOTTA horror stories about people who got high. I hate this anticipation!"
"Yeah, I kinda expected the clock to start walking off the wall by now." Josef admitted.
"Something is wrong. I don't feel "special"." Legato commented, scratching the back of his neck.
"Me neither." The White Queen mused.
"Are you sure they were "special" brownies?" Coraline inquired. "I've had special brownies before, even compared with hookah..."
"You've had Hookah?" Josef asked.
"The Caterpillar is VERY generous. Point is, most "special brownies" will usually have gone to work by now."
"Oh trust us. They were special." The Mad Hatter said, steepling his fingers, raising an eyebrow high.
"In fact, I think we still have some of the secret ingredient still left." Frequency mused, pulling out something from his pocket. "Chocolate Super-Ex-Lax!"
"OH...MY...GOD." Coraline screamed, her mouth falling open.
"You DIDN'T!" Heartwing screeched.
"We DID." Frequency laughed.
"Now maybe you'll get who's REALLY in charge of things here in this place." The Mad Hatter chuckled out as he held his hands to his mouth.
"Well nice try, because I don't feel a THING right no-OOOOH-HOO-HOOO!" Legato screeched, flying up from his seat.
"EEEEEH." Coraline squeaked.
"GAAAAH..." Heartwing moaned.
"UUUUAAAAAHHHH!" Oskar howled.
Everyone ran for the door, Frequency grinning from ear to ear as the Mad Hatter laughed so hard he fell completely out of his chair. "I can die happy now." Frequency mused out loud. "Nothing like giving someone explosive diarrhea to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling."
"When-when do you think they'll...they'll realize there's not enough toilets or that we got rid of all the toilet paper?" The Mad Hatter managed to get out in between laughs.
"OH YOU SON OF A!"
"Right about now."
...
...
...
... "This is an unusual way for stress relief." Heartwing admitted as he looked upon Legato who had put on a toga-like outfit and was somehow levitating a large hunk of crystallized light over to his body so he could do to IT what he'd done to the other hunks within the enormous art gallery within his castle: bash it over and over, pumping into it like it was a punching bag until it resembled something that resembled art as he screamed furiously.
The galleria of the White King and Queen was covered all over with hundreds of blotches of paint. It was the only place in the entire castle that seemed to have been deliberately "let go". There were benches slightly overturned in artistic fury, tables chipped and blotted with remains of art sculptures and paint, and, of course, many an easel that had the remains of semi-coherent art lingering upon canvases stacked in a corner, some flaw evidently "ruining" the picture and thus dooming it to gather dust.
But the sculptures...these sculptures made of the crystallized light energy that Legato had ordered Heartwing to generate, these were always perfect in shape and smoothness. Some were beautiful images of entwined lovers, others were tiny stars and planets, some were families sitting together, happily enjoying meals.
One in particular caught Heartwing's eye. A father sitting with a son and daughter, telling them a joke of some kind. The look of laughter on their faces was so convincing...it was like they were an inch away from being real. What kind of joke was it though? Lightbulb? Man walks into a bar?
No, no, these kids were too young for that. Probably something like-
"What do you think?" Legato gasped out, wiping his brow as Heartwing turned from the father/son/daughter sculpture to this new piece, a bright and beautiful statue of the White Queen clutching what appeared to be-
"Is that the little star I made?" Heartwing asked.
"There's a reason she asked you to make that kind of sculpture." Legato told the draconic experiment. "I gave a present just like that to her. I had my ring hidden in it. She broke it open to find the treasure inside, but I always wanted to make another sculpture just like that. Unfortunately not too many people can crystallize light energy..." He admitted, shrugging slightly.
"Not too many people have been willing to...accept this position." The White Queen said as she held her rapier up and then placed it upon Oskar's shoulders, first the left one, then the right, then his head. "But I am now pronouncing you to be the new Captain of the Guard, Oskar."
Oskar stood before the White Queen's throne, proudly beaming as Coraline rolled her eyes, covering her face with one hand as Oskar was immediately given a rapier of his own, and the White Queen led him down the hall to the armory where he would be given his own suit of armor. "I can't believe he's so desperate to earn money."
"It is quite the gig." Kualili said calmly. "And it means I'll get to be his boss." He added, smiling to himself as he patted Coraline upon the head in a slightly condescending tone. "I know how you feel little girl, don't be sad, you'll have plenty of toys to play with at the upcoming charity ball in a few days. Until then, how about I get you a snack? I know you get cranky if you don't get your snack."
"OOH, yooooou..." Coraline growled, shaking her finger in Kualili's face as he sniggered and walked off, his laughter ringing in her ears. "Just you wait." She muttered, heading down the hall and rubbing her hands together. "When you least expect it, Manifest will belong to the Red Kingdom!"
Meanwhile, the Caterpillar was checking his mail, bringing it in to the kitchen at his lovely Tokyo estate, chatting with Green as she and Princess sat at the kitchen table with his ex-wife. "Bills...bills...bills...bills...a copy of "A&D's A-Z"..."
"Oh, that's for me." Tak insisted, snatching it out of his hands and looking through a kind of "People" imitation, making Green blink in surprise at the devoted intent she had to reading this magazine.
"More bills." The Caterpillar mumbled, shaking his head back and forth. "Oh, wait. This is new." He said, holding up a white, shimmering invitation card. "It is from Legato and Merrily. They're hosting a charity ball to raise money for those who have been affected by the Infection. Families of the infected lost people who brought home the bacon, they need support, help getting back on their feet."
"Of course you'll go, right?" Green asked calmly.
"Absolutely." The Capterillar insisted. "But I must ask, what have you three been talking about in here?" He wanted to know.
"Shoe shopping." All of the girls said at once, the Caterpillar sighing as he left the room, Tak turning to the girls.
"You were very good to call us." Princess said. "Green's happy to assist. You're sure none of the others were able to contend with this thing that keeps appearing?"
"THINGS." Tak mumbled. "I haven't alerted the Caterpillar to what's...going on. I don't want him worrying just yet, not if you two can take care of this secretly. I want it done as discreetly as possible." She murmured, holding her gloved hands low to the table. "None of the others who saw it have told my ex-husband, under my orders, but I don't know how long they can keep silent about...well...the things they saw."
"We'll head to Australia and deal with this." Princess said calmly. "He'll never know anything's wrong."
The two of them left the kitchen, heading upstairs to their guest rooms to pack their bags as Tak steepled her claws together for a moment, taking in quiet, calm breaths before chuckling slightly, getting up from her seat and heading outside to her husband as he and she stood on the balcony, overlooking the city of Tokyo as it shimmered in the distance under the morning sun.
"I do hope..." She mused. "They don't actually perish."
"None of the others did. They'll simply returned drained...and thus, pacifiable." The Caterpillar intoned calmly, holding one clawed hand up towards the sun. "The two share the same sort of "spirit" as young Daveigh and Ashton, as little Junior and Heartwing, as B and Manifest. The time has come..."
He clenched his fist and grinned, his smile stretching across his face like a long and sharp zipper, chuckling darkly. "I will lead my people back to the way of our true destiny. We shall inherit the Earth...and master it in merciful dominion. And we shall lead the conquest...with our perfect mates at our side."
"A pyrokinetic and an omnipotent being, with minds easily molded." Tak whispered, a type of giddy, kid-at-Christmas joy rising in her as her ex-husband smiled and nodded in agreement. "And they'll only be the first. Speaking of Australia though, I must ask..."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" The Caterpillar said, faint amusement rising in his voice as he whistled, Terri Irwin coming to the balcony as he held her head in one hand, lifting her chin up with his palm.
...
...
...
...it was 10 in the morning, with the White Queen letting more people in to the castle, cheerily waving at them as they were escorted by her new and WELL-PAID captain of the guard who had yet to be horribly murdered and have his upper body removed from the rest of him. Oskar was leading the people along with Kualili to Manifest's room when the White King approached his queen, clearly angry about something.
"What're you doing?" He asked, frowning as he folded his arms. "Only one gate's open? Let's get the rest opened up and bring even more of our citizens in, I want to see them all cured." He insisted.
"I KNOW you want to be vindicated, sweetie, but we can't have TOO many people crowding in here. Besides, we need to save the most heavily infected for last, and that will require a lot of careful planning and selective force-"
"What I really want to know is if you got the paint remover for the art room."
"Paint remover? You've never asked me about paint remover, I would have remembered it." She said, scratching her head.
"This is SO like you." Legato grumbled out, rubbing his forehead temples as irritation seeped into his voice. "I bust my ass all the time and you don't do anything but sit on your ass!" He threw his hands up, stomping off. "Next time you want something, don't come a-crawling to me!"
"...you...alright, miss?" Oskar asked the White Queen. He found himself very bothered by this sudden display of fury from the White King, and his employer was practically on the verge of tears from this sudden outburst from Legato. He put one hand on his shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face. "He's probably just stressed out, I mean, there's a lot of work to do..."
"I...I appreciate what you are saying, Oskar." The White Queen said, taking his hand and squeezing it as she smiled warmly at him. She really did, it was so...off...of Legato to say something like this, she had NEVER heard him speak this hatefully, this furiously to her. What was up with him?
Coraline tapped him on the shoulder, approaching the two from the side. "Might I speak with you ALONE?" She asked the Prince of Yurpean Sweden, making him blink in surprise. What was this about? Shrugging apologetically at the White Queen, he followed her off as she grumbled under her breath. "Can't BELIEVE she's makin' me plan the entertainment for this charity ball."
"I thought she ASKED you." Oskar said. "I mean, you take EVERYTHING she says as an attack."
"I don't need this right now!" Coraline snapped, waving her hands in the air. "I need several sets of hands to help set up streamers and a stereo system in the ballroom, like, YESTERDAY!"
"...okay, okay, geez..." Oskar muttered. "No need to yell."
"Could you look into someone's mind?!" Heartwing asked Frequency, yanking on his sleeveless white shirt over and over.
"Woa-woah, what?!"
"I want you to look into Coraline's mind for me and find out about what she did to her brother!"
"Little Vladimir?" Frequency asked, scratching his head and blinking his yellow eyes in clear confusion. "...oh, you think she...yeah, everyone thought she killed him after he "disappeared into the river". I mean, they even TRIED her, but...well..." He hesitated. How to put this gently...
"Let me guess...not enough evidence?" Heartwing wanted to know, sighing and holding his hand over his eyes.
"Yes. They had doubts to her innocence, but also reasonable doubts to her guilt, so...she pretty much got off scot free. As for your "can I read somebody's mind" question...well...yes. Sort of." Frequency shrugged before he held up one paw, tapping at the strange gem in the center of it. "These things I grew in my body help me focus my wave-riding powers. And since the human brain consists thought patterns composed of electromagnetic waves, then I suppose I could, with some LUCK..."
"Hey, you're always lucky. You just gotta get her to TOUCH you, right?" Heartwing asked, tilting his head to the side as he took Frequency by the paw and led him to the ballroom. "She's picking out music for the charity ball, this is your chance!"
"You! Make! ME! Feel like I'm livin' a...TEEN! AGE! DREAM! The way you turn me on!" Coraline sang out, waving her arms back and forth in the air along with her butt, giddily dancing to Katy Perry as Oskar sighed, adjusting the streamers across the opening archway. Noticing she wasn't apying attention, Frequency grinned and calmly rolled over to her on his balled feet across the smooth floor, tapping her on the head.
"Yoo-hoo." He said.
Coraline whipped around and Frequency smiled, taking her hands and shaking them. "You should be VERY proud, cuz Mixmaster Frequency's gonna pimp...your...party." He said, giving her a "East Side" gesture with his paw before patting her on the head again. "Just leave it all to me.
"OHHH no, I haven't been s—tin' right for THREE DAYS because of your special brown-"
Frequency reached into his pocket and pulled out a large wad of bills, stuffing them into her mouth. She immediately left the room, Oskar following after, just grateful he didn't have to be involved in this anymore as Frequency held his head, mumbling as he tried to focus. "Take...take my...hand, I'm...almost got it..." He murmured. "Almost got it..."
Heartwing held his hand and then-
A bright flash of light. Smells rushing through his nostrils as he almost choked, falling to his knees and trying to get back up as a scene began to play before his amazed eyes.
Back in her bedroom, an irritated ten-year-old Coraline was sitting up straight on her four-poster bed, holding a doll and brushing its hair with a purple hair brush and hard. The doll's head popped off and she angrily tossed it aside and rested her head in her hand pouting. Suddenly, a happy-looking Vladimir came bursting into her room. He saw her and the five-year-old Crowned Prince ran up to the side of her bed.
"Hey, big sister, guess what!" Vladimir yelled excitedly, grabbing onto the bed sheets and hopping up and down excitedly.
Coraline glared at Vladimir out of the corner of her eye, and rolled in annoyance as she turned away. "Ugh. I don't like 'guessing games', Vladimir." she complained tiredly. "Is this about that white-furred thing you sent to the White Queen? Cuz I don't care what happened to it."
"No, it's just that...well…see, Momma told me that one day…I'm gonna be Emperor of Yurp!" Vladimir told her, jumping up from beside the bed as if he were a mischievous monster from underneath the bed.
The young Crowned Prince's ignorance only made the Princess' hidden rage boil. "Goody…goody." Coraline said slowly with sarcasm, biting the corner of her lip that Vladimir could not see.
Vladimir then ran up to the window looked out over the courtyard. "Dad showed me a map of Yurp and its HUGE, and when I grow up, I'm gonna rule it ALL..." he finished greedily with a chuckle, and with eyes that screamed "money shines". "Hey, do you think this means I'll get a bigger allowance now that I'm recently crowned? There's this easel set I wanna buy..."
"Yyyeah. Well…forgive me for not leaping for joy, little brother. Just really tired, you know?" Coraline frowned, slumping down on her side on the bed.
Vladimir came over and hopped onto the bed and climbed over to his big sister. He rested his head onto hers playfully, though she looked completely indifferent. "Hey, Coraline? When I become Emperor, what will that make you?" the young Crowned Prince asked with curiosity.
"Duchess of Norway if I'm lucky…" Coraline joked dryly with sarcasm.
Vladimir chuckled as he got off his sister's head. "You're so weird." Vladimir said with a smile, though completely misunderstanding her hidden meaning.
"You have NO idea." Coraline put on a false smile to him and sat back up. "So…Dad's been telling you all about being Emperor, right?"
"Uh-huh."
Coraline rubbed her smooth face and commented, "Everything?"
"Yeah."
"Including….opium parties?"
The Prince now looked confused. "Opy-what?"
Coraline now "looked" surprised and turned away, "Oops. Oh, nothing, Vladimir. Forget I said anything."
"You DID say something." Vladimir persisted, crawling up next to him. "What was it?"
"I'm sorry, little brother, but I'm afraid I just can't tell you." Coraline said, crossing her arms.
He whined. "Aw, Come on!?"
Laughing slightly and pulling him close to her, the first-born assured the second, "Vladimir, Vladimir, Vladimir..." She paused. "
Vladimir..." She paused AGAIN. "VLADIMIR. I'm only looking out for my favorite brother." She finished patting Vladimir on the head.
Not tricked, Vladimir smirked and crossed his own arms. "Yeah, right. I'm your only brother."
"That's an even better reason why I have to keep an eye out for you." She assured him condescendingly. "Opium parties are only for the grownups." Then, she faked her surprise by putting her hand to her mouth and gasped, "Oops. There I go again."
Now the Prince looked interested. "An opium party?!"
"Oh, Dear, I've said too much!" Coraline said in fake dismay. "Well, I guess you'd find out sooner or later." She went on to explain. "Well, you see, little brother, it's something grownups do to have fun. But little kids like you aren't allowed to take part."
"Awww."
A sly, cunning smirk began to appear on the Princess' face. "But hey, tell ya what? I missed your baptism last week so maybe I can make it up to you. How about tomorrow night in the fourth palace tower…Bruno and I can give you a little…test taste?"
Getting excited again, Vladimir asked, "Really? That'd be great!"
"There's a good little brother," Coraline smiled as she brushed Vladimir off the bed, who began running towards the door of the room. "Now you go fun and I'll sleep. Oh and Vladimir, one last thing…" Vladimir stopped running as he looked back at his older sister. "Mother and Father wouldn't really approve of this. So why don't we keep this OUR little secret?"
"Sure. But…you sure it'll be fun?"
"Vladimir…it's to DIE for, trust me."
With an eager smile, Vladimir ran off out the door. When her brother was out of sight, Coraline's grin grew and grew until each corner met her ears and she rubbed her hands together.
"...he was FIVE?!" Heartwing whispered. "...he honestly loved her, and she...I..."
It was a choking sensation that now cut off his air as he heaved and hacked, holding his throat, trying not to let his horrified sorrow and fury cut off his air. How could anybody do something like that to...how could they...the MONSTER! THAT EVIL-
A new feeling rose in Heartwing. Something he had only rarely felt before. Pure, unadulterated fury. He kept picturing Vladimir's young face, eyes alit with excitement, and images of a thousand possible ways the child could have died flashing in the back of his mind like he was being covered in scenes from movie reels. He wanted justice for what Coraline had done.
Yet...how to get her? She was being clever...not killing anyone. If he could just get her to admit what she'd done...
...wait.
"Wait." Heartwing scratched his head. "...she just put YOU in charge of the charity ball. Do you think you could...perhaps...allow a PLAY to be put on?"
"Perhaps a little "Shakespeare in the Park" out in the flower fields?" Frequency mused, rubbing his paws together. "Ooh, you're CLEVER. I like the way you think, "World" of the Major Arcana. Well done indeed!"
"Look, I have a LOT of work to do for the White Queen." Oskar insisted to Coraline as Legato angrily stomped by them, muttering under his breath. "What exactly do you NEED me for now?"
"The charity ball is in a few days, and my mother will not come back for several more days. So I figured we need to make some more "friends" while we're here to get onto our side. Manifest asked me to bring a guitar to his quarters, so..." Coraline headed into her room, pulling a trunk from underneath the bed and removing a guitar from it. "What he DOESN'T know is I've linked the guitar to a remote electrocution circuit."
"What?!"
"It's only a few volts, it can't kill him. YET. But hey, it'll get us into his good graces and get him to trust us. So I want you to think up a plan."
"A plan of what?"
"ESCAPE, duh?!" Coraline said, whacking him on the side of the head and rolling her eyes. "I want you to come up with an escape plan for him, one that's sure to get him caught...by ME. You'll deliver it to him and say it's from the White Queen, and then I'LL bravely capture him as soon as he's out of the castle, claiming him as a fugitive and by using my rights as a head of state I'll be able to bring him to our-"
"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" Oskar realized, frowning darkly and folding his arms. "You just want to see the Manifest Destiny get screwed over."
Coraline smirked at this. Yeah, she couldn't help it, it gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing what she was going to do."
"It's not FUNNY! He and the White Queen and her hubby are the ONLY people who could cure our kingdom!"
"I just HATE that f-king bitch, Oskar!"
"Oh yeah? Well I like her a whole lot more than I like YOU."
"Oh REALLY?"
"Yeah! You know what the White Queen got me? A JOB. You know what YOU got me? SYPHILIS!" Oskar snapped, poking Coraline in the chest.
"Syphilis never got anybody's chest removed from their legs."
"You know what?!" Oskar muttered, waving his hands in the air as suppressed anger and frustration finally brimmed over the mental dam he'd had in his head. "You're jealous of her the same way you were jealous of your brother! And you're jealous because both of them were...are...better than you!"
"What the f—k is THAT supposed to mean?!" Coraline said, stiffening furiously as she struggled to catch her breath, rage of her own rising in her body.
"BETTER! THAN! YOU! Lemme think!" Oskar mused, putting a finger to his lip and rolling his eyes. "A nice, sweet-hearted little boy who liked fixing puppy legs and doodling in an easel or the little girl who's idea of a "fun time" was getting her FIVE YEAR OLD LITTLE BROTHER high as a KITE off of opium and then PUSHING HIM OUT OF A TWELVE-STORY WINDOW. Yeah, you had SUCH moral fiber. No wonder Vladimir was the favorite."
"You sonofa!" Coraline yelled, arms held up, eyes bugging out as she roared, fury overtaking her.
"KEEP IT DOWN IN HERE!" Legato snarled, making the two freeze still as he glared balefully at them all, seething mad. "Some people...are TRYING! To TAKE A NAP!"
With that, he slammed the door shut, leaving them alone with confused thoughts and deep doubts as Manifest nervously wrung his hands up in his room, looking up at The Mad Hatter.
"Something is happening to Legato. And it started when YOU came into the castle." The Mad Hatter muttered, folding his arms. He was tired of this, the Mad Hatter thought. If anybody kept secrets, if anyone was gonna jerk chains around, it was going to be HIM, not this white-haired would-be prophet. "Start talking."
"...I CAN'T." Manifest muttered. "...I just CAN'T."
"What's happening to Legato and what he could do to Merrily will be on YOUR head!" The Mad Hatter snapped, striking Manifest across the face with a slap as he stormed out. He couldn't BELIEVE the sheer GALL of this stuck up...
"...I want to tell. But it would only make things worse." Manifest mumbled under his breath. "...It would be what he would have done."