As Mr. Shadow tore through the world of Nibiru, Zorg looked on in mild horror, thankful that such a thing had not been directed at his home planet and suddenly very aware of how empty Mr. Shadow's promises of material wealth had been. Mr. Shadow had been a monumentally poor alliance, but perhaps things had all worked out in Zorg's favor thanks to Hades. Hades reveled in the sight of the planet crumbling into flames and dust. The primitive civilizations that lived on the planet were utterly eradicated, and none would manage to survive this. Once home to vibrant red flora, now it was nothing but gray ash. Hades mused to himself how much Maleficent would have enjoyed witnessing this sight, but he quickly shook such thoughts from his head. This destruction was for him and him alone.
Yet the destruction just wasn't enough. He couldn't shake his thoughts of Maleficent, no matter how hard he tried. Her rejection still burned hotter than any of Mr. Shadow's fires. Hades knew he couldn't strike against Maleficent herself without essentially declaring war on his former ally, but that didn't mean that he couldn't work out his deep seated rejection issues in other ways.
"Yo, 'scuse me, Mr. Shady," Hades said, pulling out the ceramic model. "We're movin' on to a new target."
"Where we headin'?" Zorg asked.
Hades smiled devilishly. "We're gonna pay a lil' visit to my ex-wife."
Maleficent observed Hades's destruction of Nibiru in Grimhilde's magic mirror. Of all the possible outcomes of Hades's termination, this was not one she'd expected.
"A fiery temper, that one," Grimhilde commented with a cackle.
"Indeed so," Maleficent agreed.
In her heart she felt... strange. She felt a draw to Hades once again that he'd all but squashed in his attempts to court her. As much as Maleficent hated to admit her own fickleness to herself, Hades's attempts to be romantic and kind to her were not at all what she'd desired. His kindness was repulsive. But now, seeing him destroying and wreaking vengeance upon the worlds, she found that she'd never been more attracted to him.
A dreadful notion crossed her mind that such a revelation had come far too late.
Hook sat on the battlements of Suledin Keep, sharpening his hook on a whetstone. What Loki explained yesterday about the circumstances of his resurrection hung heavy on Hook's mind. So much of him had been left behind, and he didn't even realize it until Loki pointed it out. Milah in particular left him feeling the worst. Hook didn't even remember what Milah looked like. He just remembered how badly it hurt when she was killed and how nothing ever truly filled that void. The tattoo on his right arm was a monument to his pain, not any of the pleasant memories that might have once existed.
"You seem distressed," Jafar said as he walked over.
"You don't bloody care," Hook said. "So save your mock sympathy for someone who doesn't know any better."
Jafar, however, did not seem deterred by Hook lashing out. He crossed his arms in judgment and raised a single eyebrow.
"I suppose you're right," Jafar said. "I have little patience for your pity party. You were done a great kindness, and you sit here feeling sorry for yourself."
"A kindness?" Hook spat as he got to his feet. "Entire portions of my life were taken from me!"
"No, your entire life was taken from you," Jafar corrected. "You were dead. And Maleficent, in her generosity, salvaged the parts of you that she could. Were it not for her, you would be burning in some Hell right now."
Hook scowled. "Just because it's the lesser of two evils doesn't change the fact that I am missing entire parts of who I was."
"You have an opportunity to begin anew," Jafar said. "Yet you squander it bemoaning the past. Let it go, my friend. Together, perhaps we can build for you something better. Something that won't put you on a path to the grave."
Hook scoffed at that, though Jafar's words made sense to him. He didn't want to just move on past it, but perhaps he should. After all, if this was his life now, maybe it was better to just accept it and make the most of it.
"Well what would you have me do?" Hook asked. "Now that I know I'm not the man who Milah fell in love with any more, I've nothing to look forward to... nothing to sate my being."
Jafar rolled his eyes. "Surely you didn't become a pirate solely to pine over a woman."
That part was true. Though the particular events that led up to him becoming a pirate were a bit of a blur, he remembered quite enjoying the life of pillaging, commandeering, and sailing the high seas. He remembered that part of why he'd loved Milah was to have someone to share the thrills of being a pirate with. Perhaps it was time to get back to basics and just enjoy the simple pleasures of piracy. Maybe he could even share those pleasures with the Overtakers. After all, what other pirate could claim to have plundered all the worlds? But there was still one matter with which to attend...
"I need my ship," Hook said.
"Is a boat really the sum of your ambitions?" Jafar asked.
"She's not just a ship, mate," Hook answered. "She's the fastest ship in all the realms, carved from magic wood. With her back in my possession, there'd be no treasure that could elude us."
Jafar smirked. "Perhaps you're not as much of a lovesick fools as I thought."
"Wait... did you just say something nice?" Hook asked with a grin.
Jafar groaned and twirled his cape as he walked away. "A momentary lapse in judgment. Nothing more."
Radiant Garden's trick-or-treaters frolicked through the streets, each dressed in an outfit spookier than the last. It was a Halloween activity that was beloved on many worlds, and it was also a Halloween activity that Winifred Sanderson hated on every single world. Disgusting little brats roaming around collecting sugary treats was nothing short of disgusting to Winnie. Yet, it did provide an opportunity to abduct a few unsupervised children for her to suck the life from. Winnie stood on the street corner, sizing up her prey.
"Winnie! Winnie!" Mary called out while holding an oversized box of gummy worms as she waddled over to where Winnie was standing. "Look! I have stolen from a baby a box filled with delightful worms with which to make worm and cricket pie!"
"Mary, you great buffoon!" Winnie spat as she slapped the box out of Mary's hands. "T'is not real worms! That's Halloween candy! And you know why we can't have that... stuff."
"Yes Winnie, sorry Winnie," Mary apologized profusely. "Thou art always correct."
"Now then, we must take advantage of this night of idiocy and suck the youth out of all the little children we can capture," Winnie said. "Sarah! Use thy voice! Lure the little brats to my spider web."
"Umm... Winnie... where is Sister Sarah?" Mary asked.
Winnie groaned. "Art thou blind? She's right here next to-"
But when Winnie turned to where Sarah had just been, she found nothing but empty air. Winnie turned around, looking for her sister in all directions. After a moment, she spotted Sarah over with one of the single dads, about to lean in for a kiss.
"SARAH!" Winnie shouted, prompting her sister to skip back over to them.
"Can we keep him?" Sarah asked, gesturing longingly back to the man.
Winnie grabbed her two sisters by the ears and pulled them away just as Sora, Donald, and Goofy rushed up the doorstep of the house they'd just been in front of. Riku, Vance, and Kairi walked at a more casual pace behind them. The trio of eager trick-or-treaters had opted to dress in their Halloween Town ensembles, whereas the others settled for wearing black and orange Halloween esque variations of their normal clothes.
"He's like a great big five year old," Vance commented, gesturing to Sora.
"Yeah," Riku said with a laugh. "He's always been that way too."
"I think it's great that he's so passionate about everything," Kairi said, jumping to Sora's defense. "He just enjoys life without caring what other people think of him. Sometimes I wish I could be like that."
Vance rolled his eyes, but Riku nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Riku said. "He makes things a little more bright."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran to rejoin their friends with pillow cases filled with candy in tow.
"There's so much candy to get here!" Sora said, excitedly.
"Yeah! Tons!" Donald said, holding up his bag of candy triumphantly.
This proved to be a grave mistake, as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, riding a broomstick piloted by their friend Witch Hazel, swooped down and snatched the candy bag right out of Donald's hand.
"Thank you Unca Donald!" Donald's three nephews yelled in unison.
"That's for last year, Duck!" Witch Hazel shouted back with a cackle.
This, of course, prompted Donald to devolve into a series of incoherent angry quacks.
"Aw, gawrsh, Donald," Goofy chimed in. "I've got lotsa candy to share with ya."
Donald crossed his arms and huffed.
"The candy tastes so much better when you collect it yourself, though!" Sora boasted as he unwrapped a Scrooge McDuck Million Dollar Bar from his bag and scarfed it down.
The effects were nearly instantaneous. First Sora started to feel queasy and had trouble standing up. Then, without warning, Sora doubled over and projectile vomited a glowing green froth.
"What's happening to him?" Kairi asked, rushing to help her friend.
"Heal!" Donald shouted, casting a cure spell on Sora.
The spell, however, didn't seemed to do any good as Sora again spewed more of the putrid green vomit.
"He's been poisoned," Vance deduced. "Quick, get him to my shop! I can make an antidote if we hurry!"
Riku scooped up Sora and carried him bridal style as they ran for Zero District. Vance eyed the sight with suspicion. Riku was awfully quick to rush to Sora's rescue. Could it be that the spell was wearing off?
All across Radiant Garden, the story was the same. Every kid who ate the candy became deathly ill, throwing up a glowing green goop. Parents were beside themselves, unable to help their children. They cursed a single name with their lips, the name attached to the brand of all the candy that had been passed out: Scrooge McDuck.
Russell, with vampiric strength, propelled the jack-o-lantern through the air, easily getting the farthest distance of any of his friends. He watched as the flaming pumpkin slammed into a pedestrian walking the street and splattered over him, causing the unsuspecting man to stumble down onto the cobblestone. Blackheart and Cruella cheered and toasted Russell's strength with their beers.
"Thank y'all, thank y'all," Russell said with a coy bow.
"No, no, watch this," Blackheart said.
As the man struggled to get to his feet, Blackheart launched a dark fireball at the poor victim, lightning him and the pumpkin innards clinging to his clothes on fire.
Cruella cackled raucously. "Happy Halloween!"
Cruella passed out cigarettes to her two friends, and Blackheart lit them all on his finger. The three villains each took a drag of their smokes and promptly attempted to blow their second hand smoke in each other's eyes for a little trick.
"Are you three fucking kidding me?" Fish asked angrily as she stomped over to the trio of Halloween mischief makers. "You're pulling this bullshit here and now?"
"Relax," Russell urged. "Have a lil' fun, Fish. It's Halloween. It's the one night of the year you can let loose and just fuck shit up."
"Have all three of you just conveniently forgotten the lengths Ursula, Steve, and I have been going through to get this city to like us?" Fish asked. "Now dispose of that body and take your bullshit elsewhere for the rest of the night."
"Fine," Russell groaned, stomping out his cigarette. "Party's over, guys. The killjoy police are shuttin' us down."
Russell walked off with Blackheart and Cruella in tow. Cruella bumped shoulders with Fish on her way out.
"Party pooper!" Cruella said with a sneer.
Normally, Fish would put Cruella in her place for such a gesture, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment. Fish pulled out her phone to see one new text message from Ursula.
"Sora's sick. The brew is working. You know what to do."
Persephone loved tending to the woodland creatures of all worlds. As the goddess of spring, it was her job to visit each and every world in its vernal season. And though Radiant Garden was in the middle of autumn, the home world of Sora's friend Bambi was at the beginning of spring, the season known to all the little animals as the time of year when they got twitterpated.
Persephone passed out vegan gluten free treats to all of the little forest creatures, from the deer to the rabbits. She was, after all, passionate about helping all to maintain a cruelty free diet. As she served a basket of clovers to a couple of rabbits, suddenly, the atmosphere around the planet began to change. All of the animals ran to burrow away from the strange energy they all felt radiating throughout the world.
Persephone, being a goddess, had keener sight than the animals, and when she looked to the sky, she saw clearly the reason for the shift. Mr. Shadow was approaching the world rapidly. And flying alongside this ball of ultimate evil was none other than a face she knew all too well: Hades. Persephone could hardly catch her breath from the shock, but she knew she had to collect herself. The animals of the forest were depending on her. Yet there was one thing she knew all too well:
This would be the most strenuous battle of her entire immortal life.