The shear quantity of Corridors of Darkness that Maleficent had to open to transport her Overtakers and her Undertakers to The World That Never Was made it abundantly clear that they would not have the element of surprise on their side. Maleficent hated losing a strategic advantage, but there was truly no more practical way to allow her best asset, the quantity of villains now under her control, to truly be taken advantage of. The crowd of villains gathered in the shadow of Memory's Skyscraper, everyone looking around at the empty city around them with distrust.
"It is far too quiet," Doom commented.
"You just had to be the one to say it, didn't you?" Russell said with a sigh that was shared by several of the pop culturally literate members of the team.
"Enough!" Maleficent ordered, stepping out ahead of the crowd. "We did not come all this way to be ignored. His army would not be practical inside the castle... it must be here somewhere, hiding in the darkness."
Hook couldn't deny the shiver of fright rippling down his spine at that comment. Every shadow suddenly looked suspicious.
"Xehanort! Come out and face your betters!" Maleficent shouted in frustration.
A Corridor of Darkness opened on the rooftop of Memory's Skyscraper, depositing the ever-smug face of Xemnas looking down upon the collection. As much as she loathed Xehanort in his entirety, Xemnas inspired a very particular rage inside of Maleficent's heart. He had been her first adversary aside from Sora, and here he was standing in her way once again.
"We had hoped to spare you the humiliation of defeat," Xemnas said with a chuckle. "Yet it seems you all crave oblivion. O' the wiles of the heart, always insisting upon insanity over logic. If your hearts will not know reason, then let them know fear. For even with this great gathering, you will all still inevitably perish on this day. Why follow to your demise? Are you all slaves to the wishes of the evil fairy's heart? Do you not posses hearts of your own?"
"Sheesh, he monologues more than Beck," Electro whispered to Vulture.
"Heed my words," Xemnas continued. "Your obliteration is the direct consequence of such insignificant emotions, yet the alternative is not one you would wish for. You see, to have no heart is to have nothing but numbness towards all around you. I suppose the truth is that neither having nor losing one's heart is an ideal situation. Yet is this not a fallacy? For how can-"
The sound of a gun firing ended the monologue. The air was deathly still as Xemnas clutched his stomach and fell backwards, vanishing behind the building's façade. The various Overtakers and Undertakers looked around to see who was responsible for this action.
"HA! I whooped him!" McLeach proclaimed proudly from the far right side of the crowd, raising his shotgun into the air triumphantly. "Did'ja see that? PERFECT SHOT! Shot him right outta the sky! Bring on the rest of them Xena-horts! They'll think twice before messin' with Percival C. Mc-"
But a deep rumbling sound caused him to stop in his tracks. Everyone looked around in terror, wondering where it was coming from. All that they knew was that whatever was coming was immense.
"You damned fool," Cruella said, shooting a glare at McLeach. "He's a Dark One! You only incited his anger!"
At that, the sewer grates around the crowd burst with an eruption of Heartless. Shadows were being propelled into the air as if from a geyser and raining down upon the Overtakers and Undertakers with vicious claws swiping ferociously. Maleficent raised her staff and created a web of lightning over herself and her team that caught and vaporized the raining Heartless. From the windows of the skyscraper, Nobodies began to slither out into the area, and though so far only shadows had attacked, Maleficent knew it was only a matter of time before larger and more frightening Heartless arrived.
"My shield will not hold for much longer," Maleficent shouted to her companions. "When it falls, be ready to fight! Strike them down and claim the city!"
The Overtakers and Undertakers readied themselves and got into their stances. When the lightning shield went down, all rushed into action. Maleficent transformed into an orb of green light and flew away from the battle as more and more Heartless and Nobodies flooded into the streets. From inside their minds, Hades, Ursula, Loki, Doom, Russell, Fish, Jafar, Blackheart, Cruella, Grimhilde, Hook, Steve, and Winnie received a message from Maleficent for only their ears.
"My Overtakers, make your way to the castle," Maleficent ordered. "Leave the Undertakers to hold off the army. We have Xehanort himself to attend to. Do not use the Corridors of Darkness this close to the Dark Realm. Hurry! We must deal with him whilst his army is occupied."
Those who could teleport by magic vanished from the crowd. Hook latched onto Jafar as the sorcerer flew into the air towards the castle. Russell and Steve took off at vampiric speeds, tearing through any Heartless or Nobodies blocking their path. Winnie and her sisters took to the skies on their broomsticks and soared after Jafar and Hook.
"Grundy!" Fish said urgently. "Can you get me through this crowd to the castle?"
Grundy nodded, scooped Fish up in his arms, and began to barrel through the crowd, protecting his only friend from any Heartless or Nobodies blocking their path. Cruella, being the only one left behind, quickly looked around her for a path to the castle, yet all she saw was Cerberus tearing through the enemies. Cruella took a deep breath and exhaled green magic onto the three headed dog.
"Get me to the castle, boy," Cruella commanded.
Cerberus knelt down to allow her to climb onto his back, and then took off in the direction of the Castle That Never Was. As Cruella looked back on the crowd, everything looked like a giant mosh pit of Heartless and Nobodies with a few people fighting to just stay alive. She hated the almost certain death of her Animal Cruelty Squad, but more for their lack of help later on than any sense of guilt or remorse.
The core Overtakers leaving the battle was not lost upon Morgana. She'd kept a close eye on her sister when she disappeared. Morgana wasn't the smartest fish in the sea, but she knew better than to let herself die for her sister's cause. Morgana slithered off to the edge of the battle where she saw Mysterio slipping away quietly. She chased after the bubble headed villain and grabbed onto him with her tentacle.
"I was simply getting into position to use my illusions," Mysterio said. "The great Mysterio would never abandon his-"
"Quit your carping and listen," Morgana said, setting him back down. "I'm not dying here either. I can get us a portal outta here, but I need your illusions to give us some cover."
"Won't Maleficent and the others be infuriated?" Mysterio asked. "After all, the last thing I need is Doctor Doom hunting after me."
"There's another faction rising on the periphery," Morgana whispered. "I'll bet they wouldn't leave us to die like animals."
"Partners, then?" Mysterio asked.
"Partners!" Morgana agreed as she and Mysterio ran away from the carnage.
Meanwhile, the Vulture had taken to the skies to battle against the airborne Invisibles breed of Heartless, but as he sliced through the flying foes with the razor sharp edge of his wings, he noticed Jafar and the Sandersons making their way through the air towards the castle. Unwilling to be left to die like some old fool, Vulture took off after them.
Down on the ground, Rhino was charging through crowds of Heartless and smashing them with his bare fists, but even with all his strength, he didn't seem to be making a dent. Echidna, the Hydra, the Nemean Lion, and Memnon gave the Undertakers a distinct advantage thanks to their immense size, but they were quickly fighting their strength counteracted by the arrival of giant Darkside Heartless and Twilight Thorn Nobodies.
Horace and Jasper made the mistake of fighting Heartless too close in proximity to where Scorpion was fighting. Horace made one wrong step to the side and found himself hit in the face by a spritz of Scorpion's poison. Horace gasped for air and the hallucinations started making the world around him turn green. Jasper rushed to his brother's aid immediately.
"OI! Watch it, you freak!" Jasper shouted angrily.
"What where you're standing, dumbass!" Scorpion spat as he leaped over to another clump of Heartless.
"MEDIC! MEDIC!" Jasper called out.
Doc Terminus's Landship came rolling through the crowd wildly at Jasper's call. Hoagy struggled to steer the blasted thing properly while Terminus fumbled to keep the merchandise from shattering off the shelves. The cart screeched to a stop near where Jasper had pulled Horace aside from a brief respite.
"Oh this is not looking good," Terminus said, examining Horace's eyes. "Here, drink this potion."
Terminus uncorked a bright green bottle, and Horace chugged greedily. Horace immediately felt better and the hallucinations stopped, but he was insanely tired and drained. There'd be no more fighting for him this day.
"Boss, we're running really low on potions," Hoagy said. "We may have to start using some of the elixirs."
"No, you moron!" Terminus snapped. "Those are only for me in case I get hurt!"
"And me too, right boss?" Hoagy asked.
"Yes, yes, and you too, Hoagy," Terminus agreed with a roll of his eyes.
Madame Medusa set herself up on the rooftop of a nearby building with a sniper rifle. From up above, she took out the stragglers and the airborne Heartless with precise accuracy. A pair of Invisibles flew up behind her, ready to take her out whilst she was otherwise occupied. The Heartless drew their swords and dove to plunge their blade into her back. Yet, before they could kill their target, two large alligators struck unexpectedly. Each Invisible found itself being torn apart by the chomping teeth of Brutus and Nero.
"Good work, babies," Medusa said, never taking her eyes off her targets. "Keep those big bad cretins off me while I'm working."
Electro quickly found himself swamped by Dusk Nobodies that latched onto him and started pushing him down to the ground. All he could see was white and it was getting hard to breath. Electro yelled out as lightning exploded from his body and vaporized the attacking Dusks. Electro gasped for air and looked around at the dead werewolves and vampires littering the streets around him. Daken was nearby, slicing Heartless and Nobodies into ribbons as if they were nothing, but Electro knew even he couldn't keep that up forever.
"We're getting slaughtered!" Electro shouted at Daken. "We need to get the Hell outta here!"
"No," Daken replied, never turning away from his kill.
Electro grabbed Daken's shoulder and forcibly turned the mutant to face him. "This is not worth my life!"
Daken turned his head and before Electro knew what was happening, Daken kissed him. Suddenly, all of Electro's concerns washed away. It was like nothing else in the universe mattered. Electro couldn't help but notice that Daken smelled... really good. And something about the sweat and darkness splatters decorating Daken's brow made him looking all the more attractive. As Daken pulled away from the kiss, he smiled. The dopey look on Electro's face told him that his pheromone powers had worked like a charm.
"I'm in charge, Electro," Daken said. "This is my show. And we stay."
Electro momentarily agreed that Daken, in all his beautiful wonder, was correct. They needed to stay. But a quick look around at their current situation drug Electro back to his senses.
"You can stay and die if you want," Electro said. "I'm retreating!"
"No," Daken said, glancing up at the roof of Memory's Skyscraper in mild horror. "You're not."
At the top of Memory's Skyscraper, a Heartless that looked like a giant cloak with a glowing heart underneath its robes fluttered down. The Phantom Heartless raised its ghostly arms, turning the neon billboard of the skyscraper into a digital clock counting backwards. Up above Echidna's head, she noticed the same numbers decreasing as an eerie blue glow overtook her.
"What kind of trick is this?" she asked as she flew up to attack the Phantom.
She clawed at the Heartless's cloak, but her talons swept right through harmlessly. She tried to lash out at the Phantom's glowing red heart, but her physical attacks did nothing. It was then that the clock stopped at zero. Echidna roared out in pain but soon went silent. She fell with a crash down on the pavement below. The mother of all monsters was dead.
"MOTHER! NO!" Memnon shouted, unleashing a jet of fire breath on the Phantom's glowing red heart.
The Phantom wordlessly shrieked in pain, for when its heart was red, it was vulnerable to fire. The ghostly creature switched its heart to a bright yellow and reset its clock. This time, the timer appeared over the had of the Evil Manta. Manta growled angrily and flew up to face the Phantom.
"You foolish creature!" Manta shouted. "Your little spell is nothing to me! I am more POWERFUL than ANYTHING!"
Manta charged up the stinger on his tail and an unleashed a jet of powerful lightning on the yellow glowing heart. The Phantom's shriek this time was more blood curdling than before. The Manta's power was far too great. The Phantom Heartless faded into nothingness, and the billboard returned to normal. The fearsome death curse over the Manta had been broken as well.
Yet there was still a battle to fight.
Inside the castle, the fourteen Overtakers went separate ways. They combed over the white and gray halls to search for Organization XIII's members and finally put an end to this battle. Hook had his sword drawn and ready as he walked out onto Havoc's Divide. Organization XIII could be behind any corner, and they were all the Dark One. This was finally Hook's change to avenge Milah's death. After all, she'd have never died if Rumplestiltskin remained a cowardly cripple.
The hairs on the back of Hook's neck stood at attention. He could hear something running up from behind him. Hook lunged backwards with his sword, only to find that the noise was merely Steve Newlin. Hook's blade had barely missed slicing Steve's neck. The vampire was quite lucky he'd managed to stop when he did.
"Bloody Hell, mate!" Hook said, letting out a sigh.
"Why did you wear a black leather coat on this mission?" Steve asked, pushing the sword away. "I thought you were one of the Organization."
"Our standards would have to be low indeed for us to accept him," a posh British voice echoed throughout the room.
From out of a Corridor of Darkness, a cloaked member of Organization XIII appeared. He casually removed his hood, revealing short bleach-blonde hair and a goatee. Luxord smiled in a way that wasn't fully devilish but still conveyed the sense of someone not to be trifled with. His amber colored eyes, signifying his status as a Xehanort vessel, shot a jolt of terror into the harts of Hook and Steve.
"Killian Jones, I take it?" Luxord asked. "The Dark One remembers you quite fondly. Your avarice and lust is quite well documented."
"Is that so?" Hook said, his typical devilish snark completely missing from his tone.
"Oh quite so," Luxord said. "After all, I have the memories of all the Dark Ones inside of me. Your dear Milah was beautiful wasn't she?"
"You keep her name out of your bloody mouth!" Hook shouted at the Xehanort.
Steve noticed an eerie purple smoke and glow radiating around Hook's body. He'd never seen anything quite like that before.
"What are you doin' to him?" Steve asked Luxord.
"I have done nothing," Luxord answered honestly. "Your captain is simply allowing the darkness in his heart to come out to play. Oh dear, I do hope you don't become another Heartless for our army. Milah would simply hate that... if she weren't rotting at the bottom of the sea."
"SHUT UP!" Hook shouted.
Propelled forward by the forces of darkness, Hook lunged for Luxord's chest. Luxord deflected the blade with an immense playing card summoned from his deck of cards. Hook swung for Luxord's head, but the Xehanort dodged and sliced at Hook's stomach with the razor edge of one of his cards. Hook jumped back as Steve Newlin rushed in and tackled Luxord. Steve and Luxord rolled towards the edge of Havoc's Divide before Luxord managed to kick Steve off of him. Hook dashed forward with another lunge.
"STOP!" Luxord shouted, using his time powers to temporarily freeze Hook, mid attack.
Luxord stepped out of the way and unfroze Hook, who lunged right over the ledge. Luxord laughed at the pirate's misfortune, but did not see Steve lunging after him again with a powerful upper cut to the chin. Luxord stumbled backwards, disoriented, as Steve delivered another punch to the gut. Hook, with a jet of darkness behind him, propelled himself back onto the ledge of Havoc's Divide and charged back into the fray.
As Hook and Steve rushed forward to continue their attack, a train of playing cards passed in between them and Luxord. When the cards cleared, Luxord was gone. The identical cards shuffled themselves and circled around Hook and Steve.
"A challenge, is it?" Luxord's voice echoed. "Which card is the real me?"
Hook lunged for the card he thought he heard Luxord's voice coming from and stabbed his hook into it. However, once he did, he found himself transfigured into a dice with his face in place of the "one" side. Steve was not so hasty. Light crackled at his fingertips. He knew that particular power came from his DNA being spliced with that of a fairy's. With little other choice but to trust his light, he thrust out a blast of energy at the playing card it wanted to target. The cards instantly dissolved and Luxord stumbled backwards in pain. Hook returned to his human form and regained his footing.
"How can one from the darkness wield the light?" Luxord asked with a growl.
"By being better than you, you bastard!" Hook replied.
Hook reached into his satchel and hurled a bottle of squid ink at Luxord. As the Xehanort tried to stand, the glass shattered against his chest. A wash of blue energy engulfed Luxord and held him still.
"Squid ink can trap the most magical of creatures, even the Dark One," Hook said as he leaned down to get in Luxord's face. "You let that bloody dark demon into your heart. You deserve to die for all the sins of its past hosts. And you will. I promise you that."
Luxord just chuckled at that. "You know the rules. You can't kill me without the dagger as long as I'm the Dark One. Even if you do manage to find it and kill me, then you'll take my place. You'll never get your vengeance, captain."
Hook inhaled and exhaled heavily and angrily. He stood up and turned away from the Xehanort.
"Use your glamour to wipe his bloody mind clean," Hook ordered. "One less Xehanort to contend with."
Steve nodded. "Gladly."
Zorg pursued the elusive Dusk into the Brink of Despair, a large area that the Castle That Never Was hovered over. The entire ground seemed to radiate an emerald green light. Once there, it had nowhere else to run. Zorg unleashed a barrage of bullets from his ZF-1 into the creature, causing it to fade back into Nothingness.
"Ha! That'll teach ya, ya lil' pest!" Zorg declared.
"What the Hell are you doing here?" Blackheart asked.
Zorg yelped and backed away when he noticed Blackheart right behind him. "I was after a little beast, and... uh.. well..."
"You're supposed to be capturing the town with the other Undertakers," Blackheart hissed. "Overtakers only in the castle right now."
"Technically we're not in the castle," Zorg argued.
"You should've listened to the demon," a young man's voice said.
Before Zorg or Blackheart could turn to see the source of the voice, a red and black Keyblade came spinning through the air in a Strike Raid and cleaved Zorg's skull clean in two. Zorg's corpse slumped down to the ground, and Blackheart looked down on it in mild disgust.
"I was going to kill him myself," Blackheart growled, turning back to face their attacker. "Guess I'll have settle for you."
The young man in the Organization XIII cloak immediately unzipped and discarded the uniform, revealing a red and black body armor and a face that looked identical to Sora's aside from his jet black hair and bright amber eyes. Vanitas smirked devilishly as he summoned his Keyblade back to his hands.
"I'd love to see you try!" Vanitas taunted.
Blackheart grew into his true demonic form and roared as he ran towards Vanitas. Vanitas struck back at the incoming demon and sliced him twice across he abdomen. Blackheart stumbled but didn't seem particularly hurt. The demon whipped his tail around, knocking Vanitas off his feet and then punched down for Vanitas's head. The Xehanort vessel managed to roll out of the way, causing the demon to simply punch the ground. Vanitas responded with a blast of Dark Firaga to the demon's face.
"Like the taste of that?" Vanitas asked.
"Actually I do," Blackheart replied with a laugh.
Taken off guard by Blackheart being unfazed by the fire attack, Vanitas was unprepared for Blackheart's barrage of claw swipes which sent him reeling backwards in pain. Vanitas was knocked to the side but stopped mid-motion as if someone had just cast a freezing spell on him. Before Blackheart had time to ponder what was happening, the real Vanitas descended from up above with his blade aimed downward. Blackheart just barely managed to roll out of the way in time to avoid being skewed on the tip of the Void Gear Keyblade.
"They call you Blackheart, right?" Vanitas asked. "Well no one's heart is as black as mine!"
"Oh please," Blackheart scoffed. "You're just a child with a bratty attitude. You don't comprehend true evil, kid. Here, let me show you!"
From Blackheart's claw, a blast of pure black energy fired outwards and encircled Vanitas. The energy engulfed the Xehanort vessel and started to burn away the brat's very flesh. Vanitas cried out in agony as he was reduced to nothing more than a charred pile of bones. Blackheart walked over to his former prey. He knew that the Dark One powers would still allow Vanitas to respawn through the darkness if he did nothing.
Blackheart took a deep breath and projected himself into the darkness. It wasn't hard to find Vanitas once there; Vanitas was practically waiting for the demon. The kid hit Blackheart with a thunder spell and a Strike Raid before the demon could even get his bearings. Taking a fair amount of damage, Blackheart attempted to heal himself, but, before he could, Vanitas lunged forward, Keyblade in hand. Blackheart roared in frustration and lashed out, grabbing Vanitas's remnants by the throat.
"I promised to show you true evil, kid, and now I am," Blackheart hissed.
The pitch blackness of the Dark Realm melted around them and gave way to a realm of fire and brimstone: Mephisto's Hell.
"What are you doing?" Vanitas asked, trying to break free of Blackheart's grasp.
The demon tossed Vanitas into the middle of a platform with a large pentagram drawn on it. Blackheart snapped his finger and the candles at each point of the star ignited. Vanitas could feel the sigil trapping him and draining him of energy. The young vessel of Xehanort collapsed on top of it, unable to fight back any longer.
"Welcome to Hell, kid," Blackheart said gleefully.
Cruella and Cerberus made their way through the outdoor castle walkway known as Fact Within Fiction. Any Heartless or Nobodies in the way were quickly destroyed by Cerberus. The woman and her mind controlled beast arrived at a circular area with floors that where stark white with a gray sunburst pattern tiled into it. Larxene was waiting for them there, looking as smug as ever.
"I never imagined any woman would ever let that withered old man put himself inside of her, yet here we are," Cruella quipped.
"Better an old man than whichever flea ridden creature you last had inside of you," Larxene replied. "But I'm sure your brother is super great once you get to know him."
"Darling I killed my twin brother in the womb," Cruella yawned. "It simply wouldn't do if there were two of us this fabulous. My flair is one of a kind. Often imitated, never duplicated."
"Yes, it does take a special kind of person to look like a dead animal and smell like one too," Larxene spat.
"Meanwhile, I can't imagine being forced to wear those boring and forgettable cloaks that everyone else in your order wears too," Cruella said. "Face it, darling, you're a forgettable face among thirteen others. A bore. You'll never stand out like Cruella De Vil."
"That's because I don't lick myself in public," Larxene said, folding her arms smugly.
All three of Cerberus's heads barked impatiently.
Cruella sighed. "Yes, you're quite right, we should just skip to the fighting part."
"Are you in a hurry to die?" Larxene asked. "Because I'm happy to kill you. I'm a Dark One, you idiot!"
"True, you can't die," Cruella said, "And I couldn't kill you even if you could. But you see: I know you can't die, which means for once, I get to have a little fun."
Cruella pulled out her bedazzled pistol and fired five rounds into Larxene's chest, causing her to fall to the floor, bleeding profusely from the bullet wounds. Normally, because of the Author's pen, Cruella couldn't even pull the trigger of a gun if she had it aimed at another living thing. However, since Larxene couldn't die, for the first time in over thirty years, Cruella actually got to shoot someone.
"Ohhhhhhh that was marvelous," Cruella said, taking a deep breath of the gunpowder. "Almost just like the real thing."
Larxene got up from the ground, slowly healing from the damage, her face red with anger.
"You BITCH!" Larxene hissed. "You've just put me in an EXTREMELY foul mood!"
"Oh, I'm SO scared," Cruella said, rolling her eyes. "Cerberus, FETCH!"
Cerberus lunged into action and snapped its jaws at Larxene. She jumped backwards and threw her knives into one of Cerberus's snouts. The dog recoiled. Larxene shot a bolt of lightning from her hand into the snout of one of Cerberus's other heads. The beast roared out in pain, but through that pain gained newfound resolve. The three heads all pulled back together and vomited a fountain of dark energy onto the ground.
Patches of darkness started to converge around Larxene. She expertly danced out of the way of each of them, but found that they led her farther and farther out of range to attack Cerberus or Cruella. Cerberus, however, had no such handicap. Each head one at a time began to spit balls of fire towards Larxene. She managed to detonate them in mid air with some well aimed lightning bolts, however, taking the time to cast those spells allowed one of Cerberus's patches of darkness to strike her. She growled in pain and frustration.
"I've long been of the opinion that the only good mutt was a dead one," Cruella said, "But Cerberus here has me eating my words."
"With that waistline of yours, I can tell you eat more than that," Larxene quipped back.
Cerberus reared back on its hind legs and prepared to smash Larxene with a shockwave, but Larxene was ready for the creature this time. Larxene held her knives as if they were claws, and, propelled by her lightning, she leaped up and stabbed the creature's exposed stomach. She then sent a powerful jolt of lightning coursing into Cerberus's abdomen. The dog squealed in pain and fell in the other direction onto its back. Cruella was barely able to run out of the way to avoid getting crushed.
"Now, you bitch, you're going to get some pay back and then some," Larxene said with a grin as she stalked towards Cruella.
Cruella backed away slowly but then noticed someone slithering up the ramp. Hades's monster Doubt had made his way into the castle through the sewer system, and now the cobra-like creature spread its hood and stood defensively next to Cruella.
"You'll do," Cruella nodded, looking over her new ally.
"Another toy for me to break?" Larxene asked.
Doubt wordlessly hissed back at her and slithered up confidently. Larxene attempted to lunge for Doubt's stomach, but the serpent creature dodged swiftly and retaliated with a well timed strike to the neck. Larxene clutched her neck defensively, and she could already feel the venom coursing through her veins. Doubt's venom, however, was no simple poison. As his name suggested, to be stricken by Doubt was to literally be stricken by doubt. Every bit of insecurity inside of Larxene bubbled up. Suddenly, the once confident woman couldn't find the will to snark at her opponent or even fight.
"I'm a failure," Larxene muttered, sitting on the floor and balling up as much as she could. "Master Xehanort will be so disappointed in me. I can't stop anyone. I can't do it! I'm a fraud. I'm a failure. A FAILURE."
Cruella took the opportunity to dance around Larxene triumphantly with jazz hands and a sing-song voice. "You failed! You failed! You failed, failed, FAILED!"
Cruella cackled wickedly at her victory... technically it was Doubt's victory, but good luck getting Cruella to admit that.
The Sanderson Sisters flew around the perimeter of the castle, scanning the outside walkways for any sign of the Xehanorts. What they found instead was that they were being followed by someone who was decidedly not a Xehanort.
"What a pretty birdie!" Sarah said with a giggle.
"YOU!" Winnie shouted at the aerial intruder. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back at the battle site claiming the city!"
Vulture scoffed at that and halted his flight in mid-air. "I'm not here to die for your cause, whatever it is. If this is to be the end of Adrian Toomes, it will be in a battle against more than just henchmen!"
"Uh, Winnie?" Mary said.
"I could kill you with a single spell, you bird-brained fool!" Winnie threatened. "Now GET BACK to your job!"
"Winnie?" Mary insisted.
"It'll take more than your weak magic to ground the Vulture!" he responded.
"Dost thou thinkest so?" Winnie asked as sparks of lightning danced around her finger tips. "I've had enough of you!"
"WINNIE!" Mary urged.
"WHAT. IS IT. MARY?" Winnie asked angrily.
"I smell children!" Mary said, pointing to one of the castle's balconies.
Sure enough, standing there watching the four flying foes was a man who looked exactly like a teenage version of Master Xehanort with long silver hair and bright yellow eyes. He had the smug grin on his face that every Xehanort seemed to share. Young Xehanort raised his glowing blue Keyblade into the air and caused a flash of light to overtake his opponents.
When the light cleared, the Sanderson Sisters and Vulture were hovering in a circular arena with multi-colored hourglasses adorning the exterior. Young Xehanort stood in the center of the arena, Keyblade drawn and ready for battle. Winnie was the first to engage, she hurled a bolt of electricity directly for Young Xehanort that he effortlessly danced out of the way of. He retaliated with a swipe of teal blue energy that knocked Winnie off her broomstick and caused her to land on the hard tile with a thud.
"WINNIE!" Sarah and Mary shrieked in unison as the flew to help their fallen sister.
Young Xehanort, however, cast a slowing spell upon both of them. The two witches looked more like they were flying through molasses than air. The sight would've been funny for Vulture if the situation wasn't so dire. Vulture flung several sharp blades from his wings at the young opponent, but Young Xehanort simply used his Keyblade to send the blades flying right back for Vulture. Vulture was barely able to dive out of the way of the returned blade, but doing so put Young Xehanort in a perfect position to slice through the flying harness. With significant damage done, Vulture had little other choice but to glide harmlessly to the ground.
By this point, Winnie had finally gotten to her feet and resumed firing bolts of lightning at Young Xehanort, which he continue to deftly dodge. Sarah and Mary finally broke free of the time slowing spell and circled over head, trying to decide how best to aid their sister. Winnie, however, was suddenly hit with an idea that confirmed for her the notion that she was the most brilliant Sanderson Sister.
"Sarah!" Winnie shouted. "SING!"
Sarah bounced giddily on top of her broomstick at that suggestion.
"Come, little children
I'll take thee away
Into a land
Of enchantment"
Young Xehanort struggled to block out the witch's siren song, but his youth made him susceptible to the spell all the same.
"Come, little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden
Of magic!"
By the second verse, Young Xehanort could no longer resist. He couldn't fight or muster the will the resist anything any longer. Winnie stalked over to him and unleashed a barrage of lightning blasts into the now defenseless target. Winnie then shot a blast of lightning into Young Xehanort's stomach that allowed her to levitate him into the air. She used her magic to slam him back down into the ground with a BAM.
"I."
She lifted him back up again.
"Have."
BAM.
"Had."
Up again.
"Enough."
BAM.
"Of."
Up again.
"YOU!"
BAM.
"Time! Stop!" Young Xehanort managed to say, Winnie's attack having woken him from his trance.
Young Xehanort vanished, and in the center of the arena a large white clock winding backwards appeared. The sisters looked at the clock and started flailing around incoherently.
"WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE CLOCK?" the sisters shrieked over and over.
Vulture, meanwhile had gotten to his feet and walked over to the clock with a considerably more level head than his comrades. Vulture was a man of science, not sorcery, but he recognized that the clock was winding backwards. Obviously it was sort kind of spell to reverse time, which meant it had to be exerting considerable chronal energies.
A year or so back, Vulture had managed to restore his youth, but thanks to Spider-Man and a slimy friend, he lost the youth he so enjoyed having. Since then, Vulture had been investing considerable time into looking over Dr. Sanchez's research on youth restoration and even created modified talons that could absorb the life energies of others to fuel restoration. The youth attained, however, was all too ephemeral. However, perhaps the chronal energies of Young Xehanort's clock could be absorbed by the talons as well.
Vulture clutched the clock with his talons and began to absorb the energies from it. Vulture could practically feel himself growing stronger. No longer did his body ache. His bones felt like they were strong again, and from the top of his head, a shock of auburn hair sprouted out. With the energy drained, the clock shattered, and Young Xehanort fell out of it unconscious. Vulture caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the shattered glass.
"I'm young again!" Vulture declared triumphantly. "And this time it better stay that way."
Ursula slithered into an all white chamber with large purple cages lining the walls. It was the castle's dungeon area. Ursula passed cautiously by the prison cells. There was little use having a dungeon without having someone there to guard it, after all. The clopping of high heels put Ursula immediately on edge, but she relaxed when she saw it was only Grimhilde.
"Not my favorite dungeon I've been in by a long shot," Ursula said.
"It lacks classical influence," Grimhilde agreed. "There's hardly any damp cobblestone or well placed skeletons anywhere."
"A pity you dislike it," a deep voice said. "For it's where you're going to spend the rest of your days!"
The two witches turned to see Terra and Aqua standing with their Keyblades drawn, both sporting silver hair and deep amber eyes. Long ago, both were brave Keyblade warriors and heroes. Now, they were little more than Xehanort's lapdogs.
"You were the one who failed to bring me Snow White's heart," Grimhilde said, recognizing Terra from all those years ago. "I see you found that Xehanort fellow you were so determined to locate."
"And look, he's got a girlfriend!" Ursula said with a chuckle. "Let me guess: Master Aqua? Well, sweetie, we'll see how much you like your name sake when you're drowned at the bottom of the sea!"
"Wait, dear Ursula," Grimhilde said. "I have a plan. For these two used to be the hero types. Can you use your hypnosis to repress Xehanort's influence for but a moment?"
"Honey, there's a reason they called me a witch!" Ursula declared.
Ursula's sea shell necklace began to glow with golden energy, and with her spell activated, Terra's eyes turned a deep shade of brown and Aqua's a bright shade of blue. The yellow of Xehanort's eyes was momentarily under wraps.
"Terra. Aqua. We do not have long," Grimhilde said. "I trust though Xehanort has overridden your will, you still have recollection of all that has transpired."
"Can your magic set us free of his control?" Aqua asked.
"Only for a moment," Ursula said.
"But there is a way for you both to free yourself from Xehanort and stop his plans of recreating the Keyblade War," Grimhilde said. "You know our organization craves the same thing."
"Tell us!" Terra urged.
A bright red apple manifested itself in Grimhilde's hand. "Aqua, you visited my world to help undo my schemes. You remember what I did to Snow White, do you not?"
Aqua looked on at the apple solemnly. Terra, however, had no idea what Grimhilde's gesture meant or what the significance of the apple was.
"What is it?" Terra asked.
"A poison apple," Aqua said.
"The sleeping death," Grimhilde added. "One taste of the poison apple and the victim's eyes will close forever. It will trap you and the fragments of Xehanort's heart that you hold within you. He will never be able to complete his plans."
Terra frowned. "No, there has to be-"
"We'll do it," Aqua answered firmly.
"Aqua," Terra said, concern ringing in his voice.
"Terra, this is the only way we can make sure all of our friends will be safe," Aqua stated. "It's our fault that we didn't stop Xehanort all those years ago. Now... now we have to do the right thing. And maybe one day, Ven will find a way to wake us up."
Aqua took the apple from Grimhilde's hand and took a bite out of it. She could already feel the apple's magic working when she passed it to Terra. He held the apple unsurely as he watched Aqua pass out cold onto the floor, her breath stilled as if dead. Terra took a deep breath and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He then took a bite of the apple as well. As he fell to the ground, Grimhilde and Ursula couldn't hold back their villainous laughter. Two meddlesome heroes and two meddlesome Xehanorts done away with at once without either witch having to expend much energy. That was an unquestionable victory.
"Hey, uh, is somebody there?" a voice called out from one of the cells.
Ursula slithered over to the cell where she'd heard the voice and peered in. When she saw who was there, she gasped.
"Pete? You're alive?!"