CHAPTER 36: Inevitable fate
Trapped and isolated in one of the governing rooms under the imprisonment of Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin tried to contemplate what he had did wrong for all of this to happen. He's a changed person, surely? so why is he suddenly back to square one, just like the time he was under the capture of Charming at his old base? one thing was for certain in his mind; he's not going to be alive by this time tomorrow, based on the hints that Charming has given. The more he recalls the sight he had seen outside before, when Charming and his forces were gaining upon the territory of Duloc, the more it horrified him. Innocent people were killed, practically for the sake of it, and now, Duloc's under the threat of returning to it's old roots, except this time, the dictator will arguably be a hundred times as bad. Prince Charming didn't mind going through all of that, though, if it meant he could fulfill his desire of conquering power once and for all and impressing his late mother, Fairy Godmother.
The door had two wooden planks situated across it on the other side. They acted like the barriers to prevent it being open, and of course, only the people on the outside have the ability to open it up. Rumpelstiltskin, on the other hand, was trapped without a single chance of busting it open. What else does he have to do to change his luck, now that he's changed himself entirely? that was a question he couldn't answer, given that his heart was beating rapid rounds out of the pure apprehension. There was a clanking sound coming from the door, prompting Rumpelstiltskin to frightfully emerge onto his two tiny feet. The two planks were placed onto the walls besides the door itself as it opened, in which two knights were unveiled from it.
"Boy, has the King been waiting for you..." one of them said, carrying the spear that one of those old Duloc knights had before they were attacked.
Rumpelstiltskin knew what he had to do. He was shivering all the way from his chest down to his legs as he moved closer towards the door and the knights. This was Charming's doing, and whatever 'King' Charming was wanting to discuss, Rumpelstiltskin was dreading every single aspect of it. It's dawned on Rumpelstiltskin now though, that Charming is a person who should be taken a lot more seriously since he's managed to nearly conquer Duloc into his hands, albeit some more 'clearing out' to do.
As he stepped out between the knights, he looked to the side to notice President Baystood's fallen, non-moving body near the hallway walls; he was...dead. Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened and his breathing took on a heavier, rapid pace with the desire to let out a bunch of tears. Seeing a dead body just casually slumped there was disturbing, but this was Charming after all, so of course it'd be there.
"When you're ready, Mister Stiltskin..." A voice had said, in which the source of it came from Prince Charming himself, standing besides another door.
Charming was getting accustomed to this castle, and it spoke a ton of words about the progress that's been made by his forces when he's already using it as if he's the true leader of Duloc. Two knights had grasped upon his armpits from both sides, forcefully making Rumpelstiltskin walk at their pace towards the room that Charming wanted them to go in. Just by looking at the other rooms, and judging by the sheer silence from the direction of the doors along the hallway, Rumpelstiltskin's chilling feelings furthered when it dawned on him that whoever was in power alongside Baystood, they had most likely been killed already.
Charming took his comforts into the old office of Baystood, precisely the place where the Armoury Minister had murdered him. When Charming entered and Rumpelstiltskin was in too in thanks to the knights, they slammed the door shut, prompting Charming to reach over to the table and hold up his sword that he left in here before, not too long ago. The knights refused to let Rumpelstiltskin go from their hard grip, and Charming seemed to 100% approve of that.
"You must be terrified? you think you've passed it all, you think you're so good and mighty to have escaped. But now, imprisoned by me once again, you find yourself trembling in your tiny miniature boots again. Strange, isn't it?" Charming asked.
"C-Charming...what have you DONE?!" Rumpelstiltskin pleaded.
"See? this is what I'm talking about, 'Stiltskin. You were mouthing off back at the camp, but now suddenly, when I've got everything in my hands, you're as weak as water. But hey, I guess that's what you always were. What have I done? you ask? well, I'd happily show you what I've done, but I think I demonstrated our newly acquired strength when we did what we had to do, so I won't waste your time. But here's what I'm GONNA do..."
Rumpelstiltskin gulped when Charming started approaching him, holding a piece of paper. Charming briefly held the paper in Rumpelstiltskin's face, to give him a demonstration as to what his intentions are.
"You see this?" Charming asked, holding up the paper that was signed under the negotiations that were used to transform Duloc into the democratic PND, or People's Nation of Duloc.
Rumpelstiltskin barely had any time to see it.
"President this...democratic that...President here, President there...what a cowardly way to go about it, wouldn't you agree?" Charming said, placing his two hands onto the paper to rip it up right through the middle.
The sound of what appeared to be an important treaty of some sorts ripping had made Rumpelstiltskin feel the expression that an entire population has just officially been handed over to a ruthless, murderous dictator.
"Listen, Charming, I've learnt enough to realise that what I did was wrong...I'll make sure that you-" Rumpelstiltskin stopped himself from getting overly cocky, because he was sure that with Charming's surprising achievement, he was ten times as barbaric than he was at the camp.
"Hahaha...you're going to what? huh? come on? what have you got, little guy? hey?" Charming ducked down to Rumpelstiltskin to slap his face, harder by each slap, "what've you got? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING..."
"You see Mister Stiltskin, as impressive as your past claims you are, you're deluded. Once I place myself in charge of this place, I will have the power to do everything I wanted to do when we first met...this is only the start, and with my control, I will annex every single worthless piece of land that's there to annex, nobody will be walking freely outside during the night, NOBODY leaves Duloc, and nobody will see a grasp of the outside world EVER again. And as for you? well, let's-"
"The one thing I can rub into your face, though, is that you'll NEVER ever get Shrek...he's rightfully left, so much for your revenge, hey?"
"Are you squaring up to me? guards, why don't we show Mister Stiltskin here what happens when people square up to me?"
The knights rapidly shoved Rumpelstiltskin against the wall with his arms, like a swing, colliding him against it with a thud, emitting a burning sensation amongst the front of his chest, and his head. He turned his head so his cheek was laying specifically on the cold hard wall of the room. The knights kept him against the wall with a hard grip.
"When did you side with Shrek, hey? don't blame me for what's happening to you, little Stiltskin. You were the one who wanted to get back at him, and it just so happens that you turned to me. Every single time you bring up Shrek, the sheer hypocrisy in your tone makes me chuckle to the final bit of air going through my mouth. And as for Shrek, the second he steps back into Duloc, he and his family will no longer see the day of light...remember, it was you who did this, not me...so I guess I have you to thank, huh?" Charming said, with Rumpelstiltskin developing a depressing mood of thoughts in his head upon the realisation that what Charming's saying was true.
He did, after all, want to avenge himself against Shrek, and he DID turn to Prince Charming, eventually with Felicia. So technically, this was all Rumpelstiltskin's fault. He couldn't bare remembering that, though, because it only made him realise that he should've changed a LONG, LONG time ago. Just recalling Felicia's crying face from the time Charming had yelled at her had only made him feel more sympathy for Shrek and Felicia herself. He's never had a family, before, so he couldn't imagine just how much worry Shrek was going through when Felicia had disappeared from him. He still wanted to try and get the last word in on Charming.
"Y-You're crazy..."
"I believe history will see things differently...alright knights, send him back, and prepare to overtake that church we've found in this place..."
The knights nodded, grabbing Rumpelstiltskin with an aggressive set of movements to drag him out of the room. Prince Charming stood there, smiling, as he watched the guy he's going to execute tonight be dragged back; it felt PERFECT to finally be in the ruling of his own place. He's more than impressed his mother, he thought, but that wasn't enough. He still felt like he had to do more, and that meant the executions, solidifying his grip on power, and most importantly, the commencing of the brainwashing of the citizens into thinking that Fairy Godmother was the creator and the eternal god of Duloc, like a perfect dictatorship. He felt like nobody could stop him, and he LOVED it.
"Mother, the tears of those citizens empower our potential, and our strength. I will stop at NOTHING to succeed in this...what I did today was not just the right thing, but it was also a good feeling...the tactic I used helped me to unleash those vindictive feelings I have developed ever since that dreaded orge took away everything from me...mummy, our destruction is just starting...and there's nothing ANYBODY can do about us having what we should have done a long time ago...I love you, mummy..." Charming said, secretly, looking up towards the roof to talk to his mum, Fairy Godmother.
**CHARMING IS STANDING AT THE STAND FARQUAAD USED TO USE**
Prince Charming's entire brainwashing process of the Duloc citizens begins right now, and he's came up with a motive for the attack he did before during the invasion, and one that'll easily be brought in by these lunatics, as he thinks of them. When he stepped out, all of them were still screaming and panicking, because who wouldn't be that way after a deadly massacre where innocent people, including relatives of families, were killed seemingly without purpose? he waved his hand in the air to try and capture the attention of all the citizens, but they were still screaming and crying. Luckily, the melee knights were still in their positions, to prevent all of the citizens from escaping the stadium.
"SILENCEE AT ONCEEEEEE!" Charming yelled, with the top of his lungs; Farquaad's voice, at the time that Shrek had decided to wrestle the knights, was echoed loudly from here, and Charming's voice was no different, so it got well into the ears of mostly everyone; they fearfully looked up at the guy standing up at the stand.
"I have no idea why you're all crying...whatever it may be, snap out of it...this is a time in which you should be listening to your own supreme leader..."
The citizens weren't as gullible as Charming had expected, but they still played along; they got the sense that if they don't respect this guy and his forces, they're instantly dead. In other words, one false slip, and they're pretty much arrested and tortured, the policy that Charming precisely wants to adopt into his newly acquired kingdom, in order to keep his power as high as possible as the 'Supreme Leader'. His name for this was the 'No Mercy policy'.
"What happened before was a message; a message of the delivery that has been gifted to Duloc in the form of us. Your old leader was a coward, and he was as thin as a single piece of wheat. We, on the other hand, represent a much needed change. Under our power, Duloc will not only become stricter, there will also be MUCH NEEDED limits. You see, your relatives, all your worthless friends or families had died during that attack before, and you know why? it was a PUNISHMENT, inflicted upon US, this is now US, there's no turning back, and that punishment was telling us 'how dare you trust a weakling in the form of the previous leader?' and it has also enabled us to unveil the truth. You see, Fairy Godmother, the long passed entity who is also my mother, was secretly the being who had founded this great place, and ever since she was hidden amongst the floor to make space for all of the predecessors of a weak status, she had developed anger, hatred, and a desire for a punishment. That punishment came in the form of TODAY'S attack. So Duloc is not only going to be imposed into a stricter status, you will all be respecting the dear, long passed Fairy Godmother, who never got her gratitude for giving you lives in the first place..."
The citizens still had tears in their eyes from the sheer panic and apprehension of death, despite listening to Charming's lengthy speech and declaration. They still weren't buying anything he was saying, but they were too scared to show their feelings, given what he and his forces did prior in the form of not only invading Duloc, but killing their friends, families and relatives. It was as if at this point, their lives were now being watched by EVERY single action they do.
"AND SPEAKING OF LEADERS...here's the treaty...FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS, I SHALL NOW SERVE AS THE SUPREME LEADER OF DULOC..." Charming yelled, holding up a yellow bit of paper that was actually one of the treaties from the transformation negotiations.
The citizens clapped to save themselves from any form of punishment and forcefully cheered, trying to hide their broken down voices; they just couldn't hide it entirely, though. They were clearly scared of what may happen to them given that now, Duloc has basically been given one dangerous power grab in the form of Prince Charming. That treaty? was the treaty that had solidified the President's place in power. Charming had scribbled that out and he had signed the following on it. Waving it up and showing it off to the forcefully-cheering crowd, it read this:
Upon the final agreement, establishing Duloc as the official People's Nation of Duloc, the President has every single right to hold power over every single aspect of the nation, thereby allowing her/him to control what his/her ministers do in their assigned roles. PRINCE CHARMING
He wrote his name in capitals at the end of that specific paragraph. Although illegal and unofficial, this only meant one thing, and that thing posed a very dangerous threat to the well being of not just the area nearby, in which Charming wants to ANNEX it, but also the state of the citizens. He wasn't a President, he was a dictator.
Prince Charming is now 'officially' in control of Duloc. This could very well spell the doom of it's citizens, given the tight dictatorship that he wants to turn it into to solidify his power. There was also a reason why he sent one of his knights to check out the church, in particular; he had the idea to use that as the executing area for tonight, and yes, he does intend on FORCING the citizens to attend and watch these executions.
When this is all accomplished and secured, he's going to finally do the one thing that he's wanted to do ever since that tower fell down over him back at Far-Far away; kill Shrek, once and for all, and anybody else who've allied themselves with the orge.