Maleficent watched from the rooftop of Memory's Skyscraper as Amuk Moonrah destroyed the Eminence Palace. Through Hook's telescope, Maleficent could see Koragg and the Horned King struggling against Amuk's might, but, just like Mozenrath before them, they were no match for the ancient evil. But those two were merely the opening act. The real star of the show had yet to show his face, and Maleficent was starting to get antsy with worry that the Master might let Amuk demolish the entire Overtaken Kingdom before he stepped in.
"It'll work, babe," Hades said assuringly as if reading her thoughts.
"If it does not, then we have truly lost," Maleficent remarked. "Are the others safely inside the Skyscraper?"
"Yeah, I got everybody out like ya told me to," Hades answered. "Moving Grimmie and Winnie wasn't exactly the best idea, though. Those gals look like death, and, believe me, I know death. I see him in the mirror every morning when I brush my fangs."
"We will all perish if this fails," Maleficent stated. "We may not bear the appearance of death as they do, but make no mistake as to the severity of our situation."
"Oy, ever the doom and gloom?" Hades asked. "I mean, hey, that's why I like ya so much, but c'mon, have a lil' optimism here. The Master's gonna go down today, and then, badda-bing, we're back on track to ruling the cosmos!"
Maleficent saw from the telescope that Koragg and the Horned King retreated from the battle via Corridor of Darkness. She held her breath. They wouldn't have retreated like that if their Master wasn't on his way out. A flash of red light and swirls of darkness marked the Master's entrance into the battle. His tentacles writhed and red lightning crackled as he and Amuk Moonrah finally came face to hideous face.
It was show time.
The dungeons of Villain's Vale were full of the Overtakers' prisoners of war from the battle against Organization XIII. Of the thirteen vessels of Xehanort, only six remained in the prison. Luxord and Marluxia shared one cell, the former rendered a blank slate by Steve Newlin's glamour and the latter still living in Loki's delusion. In the next cell, Larxene, still crippled by excruciating self-doubt, was imprisoned alongside the still comatose Master Aqua. One cell over, Terra continued to share Aqua's fate, whilst his cellmate, Young Xehanort, still suffered from the energy drain to his chronal powers rendering him powerless.
The remnants of Xehanort were a sad and dismal sight that hardly warranted being guarded. Steve Newlin had been tasked with keeping an eye on them, but with his and Daken's disappearance, no one was around to enforce the guard duty (and Demyx certainly wasn't about to volunteer). And thus the six prisoners remained unguarded when a Corridor of Darkness deposited a black cloaked figured into the dungeons. Young Xehanort perked up immediately and grinned in recognition.
"So you've come back for us," Young Xehanort said. "I had wondered if our alliance truly amounted to anything. Release me, and we shall restore my future self to this world and begin anew."
"Yeah, not gonna happen," the cloaked figure said. "The old coot's master plan was an epic failure, and now I've got my own agenda to worry about."
"Then why have you come here?" Young Xehanort asked. "To rub salt into the wound that you remain free whilst the rest of us rot in these cells."
"Not quite," he said. "You see, I've got a little loyalty thing to work out the kinks on."
The cloaked figure held out his arm, and Xehanort's black and silver Keyblade, the "No Name," appeared in his hand. Young Xehanort squinted in suspicion at the teal blue eye adorning the tip and immediately recognized it as the true blade.
"What can I say?" he added. "I've always wanted to get me one of these!"
"So it did go to you," Young Xehanort remarked gravely.
"Yep! And that's why I'm here," the cloaked figure announced, waving the blade around when he gestured. "See, it still owes allegiance to Xehanort, and there's still six pieces of Xehanort's heart hangin' around. So I've gotta make sure that you go back to your original time and the other five here... well, I've gotta destroy the last five fragments of Xehanort's heart, now don't I?"
The cloaked figure fired a blast of darkness from his Keyblade that encircled Young Xehanort. The young man smirked and crossed his arms as he vanished back to his original time.
"This won't be permanent," Young Xehanort warned. "My future self will return again, and the Keyblade War will finally be reenacted."
"You? Return again?" the cloaked figure asked as Young Xehanort vanished into the darkness. "As if!"
"The Goblins have left the building again," Alistair Smythe announced as he walked into the office space that the Kingpin was using for a temporary base of operations. "We should be safe to speak freely."
"I thought they'd never leave!" Kingpin said with a sigh. "Curse Osborn for creating those two low-life lunatics! If he were still alive, I'd break him in two!"
"A fate he'd more than deserve after how he forced my father to stay inside that burning building," Smythe remarked coldly.
Kingpin's face grew grave at the mention of Smythe's father, and Smythe's cold fury was practically tangible. This was, of course, one of many realities. One such world had birthed a Peter Parker who had managed to rescue all of these tangential realities, but this world was not that Peter's point of origin, nor had it fully seen the effects of his work. Yet the history between Kingpin and Smythe had been similar to a point in both realities. Osborn had hired Spencer Smythe on Kingpin's behalf to destroy Spider-Man, but that incident led to the alleged death of Spencer. In reality, Kingpin abducted Spencer and had him cryogenically frozen, a fact he hid from Smythe. After which, Kingpin had recruited Alistair Smythe to be his lieutenant, a partnership that lasted for years.
However, after a crippling fallout involving Kingpin's son and the discovery of Kingpin's involvement in Spencer's cryogenic freezing, Kingpin had Herbert Landon turn Smythe into the cyborg monster he was today. After that moment, he and Smythe spent years trying to destroy one another, with Smythe throwing in his lot with Kingpin's archenemy Silvermane. Yet the paths of the realities diverged there. After Kingpin was betrayed by Herbert Landon and Silvermane had Spencer Smythe killed, Kingpin and Smythe put aside their differences to destroy their common enemies.
The two supervillains still had a great deal of bad blood left hanging between them, but with the apocalyptic state of New York City thanks to Spider-Carnage, the two found that they still needed each other's comfortable presence in order to survive. But that didn't mean that all was forgiven.
"It is best not to harp on such things," Kingpin said coldly. "We must focus on destroying those Goblins! Have you successfully recreated Dr. Ohn's time dilation accelerator technology?"
"I am close to a break through," Smythe said. "The science needs a bit more testing before I am comfortable using it. If not, we could wind up stranded in limbo."
"I'd like to find a portal to limbo and throw the Goblins into it," Kingpin huffed.
"Sounds like we've got a common goal," Daken said as he and Steve entered the room.
"GUARDS! GUARDS!" Kingpin bellowed.
"Shhh! We only wanna talk," Steve said. "The four of us all want the same thing here, and you can trust us way more than you can trust the Goblins."
"I don't trust anyone," Smythe replied.
"Smart man," Daken said. "But hear us out anyway. We've actually got a pretty sweet deal for you two."
Kingpin scratched his chin and sat down at his desk, gesturing to the two chairs on the opposite side.
"You're not actually indulging this, are you?" Smythe asked. "After everything with Spider-Carnage and the Goblins?"
"It rarely hurts to listen," Kingpin shrugged. "If I do not like what they have to say, I can always have them destroyed."
Daken smiled. "I think you and I are gonna be friends, Kingpin."
The Master lashed out with his tentacles as Amuk Moonrah simply swiped them away with his claws. Amuk chortled loudly as he unleashed a barrage of fireballs that hit the Master square in the chest, knocking the beast backwards.
"Such powerful magic," the Master gurgled as he recovered. "I must have it!"
"Amuk will give you all of it!" Amuk threatened as he summoned two additional fireballs to his hands. "You shall burn until you are naught but a smear of ash on the ground!"
"Unlikely," the Master said with a laugh as tentacles sprouted from his mouth.
A funnel of energy extended from the Master's mouth and wisps of flame began to fly from Amuk Moonrah's body into the Master's mouth. Amuk quickly realized what was happening and attempted to fly away from the Master's magic absorption, yet he could not escape. Amuk's entire being tore apart at the seams, and soon all that was left of Amuk was crimson smoke and orange fire than was quickly sucked into the Master's gut.
"How deliciously filling," the Master announced after Amuk was no more. "It has been centuries since I have enjoyed so rich a-"
The Master cried out in anguish as purple lightning sputtered around his body, delivering unto him immense pain.
"What is this?" the Master bellowed in fury.
In a flurry of green flames, Maleficent manifested a few yards away, smiling wickedly at the Master's pain.
"This is what happens to those who try to enslave the Mistress of All Evil," Maleficent announced.
"Maleficent! Traitor!" the Master growled.
"Precision, precision, my dear Master," Maleficent said. "To call me traitor implies that I ever had any loyalty to you."
A Corridor of Darkness opened to Maleficent's left and deposited Imperious.
"I, however, would more aptly fit the description of traitor," Imperious announced with a wicked laugh.
"IMPERIOUS!" the Master roared. "You're alive?"
"Alive and finishing what I started!" Imperious declared with a dramatic flick of his fan. "This curse is my own design. It takes all the magic you've ever consumed and turns it back against you! Your very sustenance is slowly destroying you!"
A second Corridor of Darkness manifested to Maleficent's right and unleashed Queen Grimhilde whose queenly veneer had been restored and who now had her old spark back.
"It also restored my magic to me!" Grimhilde revealed. "And I still owe you a reckoning for what you have done to me."
"This changes nothing!" the Master bellowed. "I will destroy all three of you for this insolence!"
"Ignacio!" Imperious called out.
Imperious twirled his fan around and extended it into a full out staff. It sparked with purple and black lightning. The Master attempted to swipe the staff from Imperious's hand with his tentacle, but the sorcerer unleashed the dark energy blast before the beast could stop him. The dark energy slammed into the Master's chest and threw him backwards through one of the still standing walls of the Eminence Palace.
"I would prefer if you did not further damage my castle," Maleficent sneered in disgust.
Maleficent quickly took on her dragon form, and the three Overtakers dashed over to where the Master had been sent hurdling. Through still irradiated with the curse, the Master had gotten back up to his feet and his tentacles waved around threateningly.
"Do not be fooled by this moment of weakness," the Master warned. "I am far more powerful than any of you could ever DREAM!"
Imperious twirled his staff and prepared to unleash another blast of dark magic, but the Master was prepared this time. He opened his hideous maw and a stream of crimson energy fired outward, slamming directly into Imperious's hand. His staff flew in one direction, and Imperious tumbled in the other. The Master levitated in the air, this time directing his attention towards Maleficent. Green fire flickered from Maleficent's mouth in anticipation.
The Master's tentacles fired bolts of crimson energy at the dragon, but Maleficent swatted them harmlessly away with her wings. Maleficent then opened her mouth and unleashed the stream of emerald fire onto the Master. The Master spun around and encased himself in a shield of wind that protected him from the dragon's fire. The Master then opened his mouth to fire another blast of energy at the same time that Maleficent hurled a second jet of flames. The two blasts collided in midair with a shockwave that knocked the four villains backwards.
The Master, however, recovered from this quicker than his opponents. He quickly soared through the air to get behind Maleficent and hurled a blast of energy directly into the spot between her shoulder blades. Maleficent roared in pain as she stumbled forward. The Master cackled with fiendish glee.
"This is the feared Mistress of All Evil?" the Master asked. "I see a Mistress is far inferior to a MASTER!"
"Yet the Queen shall always be the queen," Grimhilde boasted with a twirl as she made her way to a platform on the Master's level.
"Do you have a death wish, hag?" the Master asked. "You should have stayed an old crone!"
The Master lashed out with his tentacles at Grimhilde, but she vanished before they could strike her. The Master looked all around for Grimhilde, but could not spot her. He scoffed, assuming that the wretched queen had simply retreated after her boast. Maleficent and Imperious were recovering for a second wave of attacks, and they would require his full attention. A painful jolt of magic struck the Master from below. He whirled around to see who had dared to attack him and saw Grimhilde standing there with a stream of magic pouring from her hands into him. Her cape and sleeves fluttered in the wind from the spell, but she held firm. The Master could feel that her spell was amplifying Imperious's curse to consume him faster. It took most of his strength to push back on this attack.
With the Master having no energy left to resist Maleficent and Imperious, the two Overtakers struck. Imperious unleashed another dark magical blast from his staff, and Maleficent unleashed another jet of green fire. The Master roared in agony as the three attacks tore into him. They were unrelenting, and in his weakened state, he could not stand against them. A retreat to break the curse and gather his strength in the darkness would be necessary if he hoped to survive, loathed though he was to retreat from anything. With his last jolt of strength, the Master opened a Corridor of Darkness.
"He is escaping!" Grimhilde cried out.
"No, he is not!" Imperious declared. "Alufa nullifico!"
With a swirl of magic, Imperious intercepted the Master's Corridor of Darkness, yet the beast still vanished before their eyes. Maleficent and Grimhilde ceased their attacks, and Maleficent returned herself to humanoid form.
"What has happened?" Maleficent asked as she stormed over to Imperious. "Where has he gone?"
"Oh you'll just love this part!" Imperious said with a sadistic laugh. "You see, when we departed from the Fabled Countryside, I left a little trail of breadcrumbs behind. Reflectonishio!"
At Imperious's command, his fan became a window to one of the dark orbs that Imperious had left out in the Etherium. The Master's Corridor of Darkness deposited him inside one of them. He roared in fury at the trap and lashed out at the interior with his tentacles.
"He is trapped and defenseless," Grimhilde said with a sinister smile. "Excellent!"
"That's not even the best part!" Imperious announced. "Keep watching!"
A dark shadowy shaped descended upon the orb that trapped the Master. Maleficent squinted at the image and gasped when she saw what it was: the Chernabog. The Hellbeast had long sought out the heart with the greatest potential for darkness, and now he had found it. Chernabog's massive claw passed through the dark orb's exterior and reached into the Master's chest. The Master roared in agony as his heart was ripped from his chest, its red glow completely obstructed by clouds of black. The Chernabog chuckled deep and low as he greedily scarfed down the magical organ.
With his black heart destroyed and his body weakened by the curse, the Master cried out in agony and fury as he dissolved into the darkness, gone forever.
Across the vast reaches of the Etherium, in Hades's Underworld, another group of three watched as the Master met his undoing. Morgan le Fay, the evil sorceress who once tutored Doctor Doom in the ways of dark magic, scoffed in fury at the image.
"I thought the Master was supposed to be unbeatable!" she spat. "He was supposed to keep Victor and his foolish allies trapped forever! And now Victor and that horrid trickster god will be free to frolic about once more!"
This earned a sinister laugh from one of her allies: the demon Mephisto, father of the Overtaker Blackheart.
"You have quite a lot of bitterness towards Victor," Mephisto teased. "I truly hath no fury like that of a woman scorned."
"Does it not infuriate you that these Overtaker pests continue to thrive?" Morgan asked. "Our plan was perfect! And once again they have evaded our wrath!"
"Oh, Morgan, lighten up a bit," a deep voice bellowed from Hades's throne. "Not like we're down in the pits just yet... HA! Down in the pits! Get it? 'Cuz we're literally in the Underworld!"
"Yes, Lord Cronus, absolutely hilarious," Morgan said in a tone that conveyed that she found nothing funny about her superior's joke.
Cronus was the father of Hades and the other Olympian gods. He was a white-bearded blue-skinned man whose very flesh appeared to be the universe itself. Atop his head, he wore a golden helmet that conveyed his status as the king of the titans.
"All kiddin' aside, resurrectin' the Master was only a test run to get a feel for these allies that my boy has gotten along with," Cronus explained. "They'll get theirs soon enough, sweetheart, don't you worry. But we've got bigger and better things to worry about. I need you sharp and focused for what comes next."
"Of course, Lord Cronus," Morgan nodded. "You can depend on me."
"And me as well, of course," Mephisto chimed in. "I look forward to showing both of our treacherous sons the future we have in store for this universe!"
A Corridor of Darkness opened on the far side of the room, and the cloaked figure brandishing the No Name Keyblade stepped out.
"And now we're one step closer to that goal," the cloaked figure announced as he removed his hood, revealing his long gray and white ponytailed hair, eye patch, and smug grin.
"Xigbar! Glad you made it!" Cronus said. "I take it you patched up our little problem with the Keyblade? HA! Patched up!"
"Yeah, that one never gets old," Xigbar said in a tone of voice that betrayed that the joke did, in fact, get old. "The old coot's heart is finito, and his Keyblade's mine now!"
"That's my man!" Cronus proclaimed with a chuckle. "Can always count on him! Since you've got that ancient Keyblade, we're ready to move onto phase two of the plan."
Cronus's three associates greedily anticipated what was coming next. Cronus smiled with such an intensity that it was visible through his thick beard.
"We're goin' shoppin' for some gems."