When Ultimecia opened her eyes she was still braced for the pain from the Emperor's trap. But after a few seconds, none came. She chanced a glance around the room in front of her, and realized she was in the top floor of Pandaemonium. The Emperor's throne.

But no Emperor.

She tried to take a step forward, but a shock strong enough to bring down a Behemoth shot up her foot and through her whole body, fraying every nerve ending she had. If the shock wouldn't have scrambled her brain like a word search she would've surely screamed. Instead, she fell to a crouch, using a hand to steady herself on the floor. Breathing heavily, she regathered her wits, touching a clawed hand to her forehead. She shook her head slowly and looked around.

Then she noticed the trap.

She was standing in the center of an un-detonated Dreary Cell. The spikes kept her closed in, but only waist high. What truly kept her from leaving was the electrically charged orbs that floated above the spikes. They were what shocked her.

"So he brought the trap with me! How resourceful," she remarked sarcastically.

Where was he?

She turned around, careful not to touch the trap as she spun. Behind her, contained in similar traps stood Exdeath, calmly watching her, and Kefka, out cold.

"Hmph! 'Doesn't affect you or Kefka?' Isn't that what you said, Exdeath?"

"Mock me not, witch, for you too are the victim of his rage, much as you attempted to avoid it."

She turned back to her trap. "Unless I can break out of this." She called a large, sharp piece of ice to her hands to throw at the trap.

"Don't," Exdeath told her. "Resistance is futile. As our comedic friend discovered, attack of any manner, physical or magical, will increase the potency of the charges." He gestured to Kefka, unconscious on the floor.

She slowly diffused her attack with a sigh. "What of my time magic?"

If Exdeath could shrug, Ultimecia supposed he would have.

"Go on."

With a wave of her hand, she tried to freeze time on the area around the trap. She watched the air shimmer, and concentrated with all her might to seal the trap in a pocket of time. Electricity slowly stopped surging from orb to orb and for a moment she thought she succeeded.

Until she was met with another shock that tore through her, indeed stronger than the first, so much so that her ears rung and her sight went black. Her nerves were on fire, and she did cry out, if only for a moment. Even after the shock subsided, the pain didn't. She continued to squirm, still feeling the residual shocks.

A weak, but unmistakable laugh trickled out from behind her. "I'm gonna guess that didn't work."

"Silence, Kefka!" she yelled. Too bad that clown wasn't dead. She straightened up on shaky knees, and looked around for any other means of escape.

"There IS no escape," the Emperor's voice called to her. He appeared in front of the trio and paced, coldly, menacingly, trying to frighten them. "I've made sure that you do NOT escape me again."

Kefka tried to teleport out of his trap, but a loud buzzing and a whiny cry told Ultimecia that didn't work either.

The Emperor laughed, tossing his head back in sincere amusement. "You brought this upon yourselves! I gave you a task. . ." He teleported right in front of Kefka. ". . . one MEASLY, SIMPLE task-" He jabbed Kefka with the sharp point of his staff and pushed him backwards into the mines. Ultimecia watched his grotesquely cheery face contort into a real grimace of pain. When Kefka fell, the Emperor spoke again, ". . . and not only did you FAIL-"

He went to Exdeath next, and swung his staff like a club. Exdeath put up a block, but the Emperor's mines sensed the magic and exploded through the shield and shocked him. He fell to a knee, and the Emperor teleported to Ultimecia.

". . . but you LIED to me about it!"

He slapped Ultimecia with a resounding smack!, so hard that tears stung her eyes. She managed to avoid the mines when she staggered, however, and the Emperor's temper flared behind his eyes. But he moved on, pacing again before Kefka.

"I suppose a PART of me isn't surprised. Why in the WORLDS would ANYONE put their trust in a group of IMBECILES, TRAITORS, FOOLS, and worthless SWINE like you?! It was THREE on ONE!"

Kefka saw the Emperor raise his staff again, and he smiled. He put up his fists. "Come on! Do it! Attack me! MAKE MY DAY!" he yelled straight into the Emperor's face. He jumped around in the limited area of the trap, rolling his fists. The Emperor could only stare in surprise at the clown's sudden masochistic display. "Come on, come on, step right up! Don't be shy! Have a chance to tussle with KEFKA PALAZZO! Place your bets here-"

The Emperor ended the charade quickly enough with a Thunder Crest. He held the spell until Kefka was on the floor howling in pain. "I wanted her GONE!" he yelled to Kefka. "I wanted her DEAD!"

Back to Exdeath, he reached into the trap and grabbed the man's curved knife. He ripped it from the sheath and stabbed it into the huge man's shoulder, with enough force to dent the armor around it. Exdeath roared, and the Emperor forced the blade in farther, yanking and twisting until the handle snapped. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kefka struggle to his knees, so he spun and hurled the handle at him as hard as he could, hitting Kefka in the head and knocking him back down.

"But you couldn't even manage THAT, COULD you?! She's still HERE! I DON'T WANT HER HERE!-"

His blow meant to connect with Ultimecia's side, but as soon as she saw the strike come through the trap perimeter, she reached out and grabbed the staff, halting it. She jerked it forward, pulling the Emperor with it until they were face to face, separated only by the charges.

"Oh, for the love of CHAOS stop acting like an IMMATURE CHILD!" she yelled back at him. "She's still here, WHICH, might I add, has NO EFFECT on you OR your plans! You just don't want to be reminded of your FAILURE! Have you forgotten WHO it was that pulled her arrows from your CHEST? WHO kept her mouth SHUT ALL this time, so your PRECIOUS reputation wasn't DAMAGED?"

"Wait, wait, wait, WHAT?!" Kefka screamed. "THAT'S why he's so mad? Cuz he LOST to her?"

"Oh, that's not ALL, Kefka!" Ultimecia goaded. "Need I tell them MORE?" she asked, referring to the rejection she subjected him to. She raised an eyebrow. She knew he still wouldn't sacrifice more of his reputation.

As if to confirm her thought, he retreated slightly, but before he could pull away she gripped the staff tighter.

"Don't forget, you need us FAR more than we need you. Do you WANT anybody to weaken Chaos and Cosmos FOR you, or should we leave that to you?"

He was silent, finally taking the time to calculate both her response and his. "That's the scheming little Emperor we know."

After a moment, the traps disappeared and she released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She drew herself to full height. "You do not RULE us, Emperor! We may come and go as we please. And you're LUCKY we haven't left yet. Especially after THIS little escapade. Now apologize."

"What?-"

"You ATTACKED us, brutally, for no reason. I want you to apologize."

The Emperor snorted. "I'm sor-"

"On your knees. An apology, AND a thank you for all the help we've given you."

"Don't push your luck-"

"OUR luck?" She raised an eyebrow. "Down. And make it sound sincere."

With a sneer he slowly dropped a knee. "I. am. sorry," he enunciated slowly.

"Good," Kefka yelled, "and after the thanks, we'll take chocolate flavored potions, an apology CAKE-preferably vanilla on vanilla, new face paints, oh, and we want that brought directly to our realms. And I want a chair so that I can lay down and you can feed me grapes while I-"

"Silence, Kefka!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" he said, shaking a finger at him. "Watch your tone, mister!"

He sighed. "Thank you, for your assistance. Thank you deeply," he said through his teeth.

Ultimecia smiled and crossed her arms. "This is't over," she warned him before disappearing.

She WOULD get him back.