Hook was sprawled out, only half-dressed, on Jafar's bed. Jafar didn't mind. Without a shirt or vest, Hook was exposing his hairy chest and the full extent of the harness that held his hook in place, a sight that was most pleasant for the sorcerer. Rarely ever did Jafar relinquish power or dominance, yet Hook's forcefulness back in Lalotai had prompted a need in both men for something a bit different when they returned to the bedroom. With the moment now past, however, Jafar had dressed and resumed being furious over the Tamatoa debacle.
"Not only was I denied my revenge," Jafar ranted, "but I was dealt a humiliating defeat!"
"A travesty indeed," Hook agreed half-heartedly whilst absent-mindedly picking dirt out from under his fingernails with the tip of his hook.
"And what's worse?" Jafar continued. "You forced me to retreat before I could get the LAMP!"
"I saved both of our lives!" Hook argued as he pulled his attention away from his nails.
"Bah! A simple-minded reaction," Jafar objected. "You claim that your encounter with the Beast strengthened your resolved, but I see now that it has made you cowardly and quick to surrender."
"No, I've simply been reminded in the worst possible way that I value my life above my desires," Hook said as hopped off the bed and glowered at Jafar. "You should learn the same lesson, mate."
"A fool's lesson," Jafar remarked.
Hook saw that this conversation was going nowhere fast. He reached for his satchel and peaked inside to make sure that the lamp was still there. Hook knew Jafar's mood would improve dramatically once he saw that Hook had managed to get away Scott-free with the lamp.
"Well perhaps I may know... something that'll improve your mood," Hook said.
"I have little interest in you peddling your flesh a second time," Jafar said with a sneer. "I need to devote my time to divining a way to get that lamp away from the infernal crustacean since you had to retreat to save your own worthless life."
Hook felt the stinging bite of Jafar's words and closed the latch on the satchel. "On second thought, there's nothing I can offer you that'll make you in any way happy, I see."
Hook got up and began to put his shirt and vest back on when the sound of Maleficent's summons echoed throughout their chamber. Hook and Jafar walked in silence to the room that had once been Where Nothing Gathers. Currently, the room had been repainted a deep purple to match the rest of the Eminence Palace with thirteen thrones of a reasonable height circled around a tiled mosaic of a dragon. Maleficent had taken to renaming this room "Where Villains Gather." When Hook and Jafar arrived, they saw that Maleficent, Grimhilde, Pete, Ursula, Fish Mooney, Imperious, Loki, Cruella De Vil, and Winifred Sanderson were already in attendance. Hook and Jafar grabbed vacant seats on opposite sides of the room.
"All who I have invited to this meeting are now present," Maleficent said.
"And why only us, hmm?" Imperious asked. "What secrets is the Mistress of All Evil keeping from the others."
"Be silent and listen," Maleficent warned. "My plan will be revealed all in due time, but you must be patient. For now, we must set the stage for our glorious return to power. There are three critical tasks before us, and those of us present will be attending to them. Winifred, the first task lies with you."
"What dost thou ask of me, o' great one?" Winnie asked, eager to please.
"Ursula and Fish Mooney have brought back troubling news," Maleficent explained. "That fool Mozenrath has gathered allies and seized control of Twilight Town. I care little for whatever petty conquests he has made, but I underestimated him once before." Maleficent shot a glare at Jafar, who merely rolled his eyes in response. "That will not happen again. Therefore, Winifred, I am tasking you and your sisters to establish an outpost within his kingdom and monitor his movements. Should he become a threat, we will destroy him."
Winnie rose from her throne and gave a bow. "Thy will shall be done! We will depart immediately!"
Maleficent nodded in satisfaction, and Winnie vanished into a Corridor of Darkness.
"The second order of business," Maleficent continued. "The meddlesome heroes who thwarted our plans to rewrite reality. They must be punished for their transgressions. Grimhilde has a plan to get revenge on Sora and his lackeys, and she shall lead this undertaking."
Grimhilde cackled wickedly at that. "Yes indeed. And I have chosen Cruella, Ursula, Jafar, and Pete to join me in this little scheme."
"I look forward to givin' that pipsqueak a taste o' his own medicine!" Pete said with a chuckle.
"I had hoped to pursue other endeavors," Jafar admitted, earning a scoff from Hook, "but my revenge against that boy has been delayed for far too long!"
"It's so exciting!" Ursula said, rubbing her tentacles together eagerly. "I'm very happy to be a part of this one!"
"Tonight!" Cruella declared. "Let's do the job and take his spirit tonight!"
"We shall discuss the specifics of the plan in my chambers," Grimhilde added.
Maleficent smirked with evil glee at her allies' enthusiasm. "Off with you, then."
Five Corridors of Darkness flashed across the room, leaving only Hook, Loki, Fish, Imperious, and Maleficent herself in Where Villains Gather.
"So I assume the five of us will be the team for the third undertaking," Loki remarked.
"Indeed," Maleficent nodded.
"I am quite surprised you would chose me to join you," Imperious commented. "After all, you haven't exactly been the most welcoming ally thus far."
"Better to have you close where I can keep an eye on you," Maleficent said. "If I left you behind with the others, who knows what mischief you'd find for yourself."
"A wise choice," Imperious said with a laugh.
"So what world exactly do the five of us have the pleasure of visiting?" Hook asked.
"We are returning to your former home," Maleficent answered. "Storybrooke."
Excitement swelled onto Hook's face. "I don't suppose there'll be ample time to allow me to slay a crocodile while we're there."
"I would hardly dream of denying you your vengeance," Maleficent said. "However, I will need you in particular to act as my guide for my purposes in that town. However, once that is completed, you may seek vengeance to your heart's content."
"I knew I loved you for good reason," Hook said, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
"But what exactly are we going back to Storybrooke for?" Fish asked. "If I recall, you burned it to the ground during your last visit."
"Indeed I did," Maleficent replied. "However, I seek to expand my powers, and to do that, I require something... special that can only be found there."
"And that would be?" Loki asked.
Maleficent opened a Corridor of Darkness in the center of the room and proceeded towards it.
"A pile of ash," she answered as she stepped through.
Demyx was minding his own business, plucking away at his sitar and avoiding any and all work as usual, when a plume of smoke swelled around him. He coughed and sputtered and tried to fan the smoke away. Once it cleared, he found that he was far from the comfortable couch that had taken on a permanent imprint of his posterior. He was in the Villain's Vale dungeons, thankfully still on the right side of the iron bars, staring directly at a very frustrated looking Hades.
"Uhhh, hi," Demyx said with a wave.
"Let's play a fun game of I-Spy," Hades said. "I'll go first. I spy with my little eye... no, wait, I don't spy with my little eye ANY OF OUR NON-COMATOSE PRISONERS."
Hades gestured angrily to the cells that had once contained the captured Norts. Sure enough, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, and Young Xehanort were all missing. Only the comatose Terra and Aqua remained. Xemnas was gone too, but Demyx knew that Maleficent had moved him to a special cell in the Eminence Palace following the brutal eternal torment inflicted upon him. The other four missing Norts did not bode well at all.
"Oh," Demyx said.
"And, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't YOU left behind to WATCH them while Daken and Steve were stuck on that alternate universe Hell world?" Hades asked.
"Technically nobody asked me to do that job," Demyx said. "So, really, it's all Steve's fault for getting turned into a bat demon in the first place."
"WRONG. ANSWER!" Hades said, flaring up orange and getting up in Demyx's face. "DO YOU TAKE YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS FRIED OR OVER EASY?"
"Wait, wait!" a third voice beckoned from one of the cells.
Hades cooled down to blue slightly to see Sarah Newlin waving at him from her solitary confinement.
"I saw the whole thing," Sarah said. "Don't hurt that poor boy, Satan!"
"Okay, number one, I'm Hades, not the devil," Hades clarified. "I know the devil. His son's a buddy of mine. And believe me, I am MUCH more agreeable than the devil. And number two, you better tell me EXACTLY what happened or I just might just ignore your ex-husband's request to keep you alive and THROW YOU INTO TARTARUS MYSELF."
"There's no need to be rude," Sarah said. "I'm gonna tell you. Some guy in black with a giant key for a sword showed up here, and he sent the gay Mexican with silver hair back in time."
"The racism is strong in this one," Demyx said.
"Then, oh Jesus it was so horrible," Sarah said. "He killed the three others who are missing, and then he stabbed that key into the two sleeping kids which changed their hair color and made them both white for some reason."
"Sounds like he wanted to get rid of Xehanort's heart," Demyx said. "But if he killed Marluxia, Larxene, and Luxord, that means they got recompleted as real people again."
"Uh, 'scuse me, but dead is dead, Dem-Dem," Hades said. "Dead souls don't just get 'recompleted' or any of that booga booga."
"Yeah but they were Nobodies," Demyx said. "And if a Nobody and its corresponding Heartless both get destroyed, then the original person comes back together again."
"Oy, another reason to hate Nobodies," Hades growled. "And where are our 'recompleted' prisoners now?"
"How should I know?" Demyx asked. "I'm not an expert on all this junk!"
"Well that's just great," Hades grumbled. "And now guess who has to go FIND them."
"You do?" Demyx asked.
"Guess again," Hades said through gritted teeth.
Demyx paused for a moment to think before the realization hit him. "Huh? What? ME? No, you're sending the wrong guy!"
Hades snapped his fingers and a Corridor of Darkness opened. Hades then lifted Demyx up by his jacket collar.
"Find them or YOU'LL EARN YOURSELF A ONE WAY TICKET TO TARTARUS!" Hades shouted as he hurled Demyx through the dark corridor.
A Corridor of Darkness opened in the conference chamber of Villain's Vale and from it emerged Russell Edgington, Steve Newlin, Kingpin, Smythe, and Daken.
"Voila!" Steve announced. "Welcome to Villain's Vale."
"Incredible," Smythe remarked. "It was as if you opened a time dilation portal through your own mind, Mr. Edgington."
"It's a perk that comes as a signin' bonus for the Overtakers," Russell said. "We'll teach y'all how to do it too."
"Sounds good," Daken said. "I look forward to learning."
"You are an uppity Undertaker," Russell said. "And the only reason I haven't torn your head off your shoulders for not tellin' me about Steve on the phone is because that's a bad first impression for our newest recruits."
Daken scowled and looked away.
"Russell, wait," Steve said. "Daken saved my life back there. He and I got through that Hell together. If it weren't for him, none of us would be standing here today. And he was a big help runnin' the Overtakers while y'all were away. If anyone deserves the honor of bein' an official Overtaker, it's him."
Daken looked at Steve in surprise, unsure what to think about his comrade's act of kindness. Daken wasn't used to anybody sharing power with him. Usually he had to carve out any power he got for himself by way of bloodshed. This way was... strange to Daken, but in a good way.
"My apologies then, Mr. Akihiro," Russell said. "Any friend of Steve's is a friend of mine. I'll see to it personally that Maleficent and Hades are persuaded to promote all of y'all into our ranks."
"First things first," Kingpin said. "Mr. Newlin, you promised me a city that needed a powerful hand to guide it."
Steve escorted Kingpin and Smythe out to the balcony. The blue and purple stone hills took the two newcomers' breath away. The Hollow Bastion castle peaked out over the horizon.
"Just beyond that ridge is a city called Radiant Garden," Steve explained. "I'm a pretty prominent public figure there: a preacher and well respected journalist. Now I've been pushing for a democratic prime minister election, and I'm gettin' close to forcing our enemy's hand on that matter. But if I run for the position or any of the known Overtakers do, it'll just look like a power grab and we'll lose. That's where you come in."
"A powerful stranger with no skeletons in his closet," Kingpin said.
"Exactly," Steve said. "We're gonna get you established as a wealthy public face in the city who everyone will trust. Then, when the time comes for the forced election, you'll win and seize control of the office for the Overtakers without the public knowing."
"I assume a substantial portion of the rewards of this scheme will belong to me," Kingpin said. "The Kingpin is no one's puppet ruler."
"If I wanted a puppet, I'd have put some Joe Blow off the street in a three piece suit," Steve said. "I want the Kingpin sittin' in Ansem's old office, and that means I want everything that the Kingpin entails."
"Excellent," Kingpin said, rubbing his hands together greedily.
"I, on the other hand, am considerably less enamored by this proposition," Smythe said. "If Kingpin is to be permitted to enjoy all the power of controlling this city, what does your head Overtaker, Maleficent, get out of it."
"One day Maleficent is gonna take back that castle and rule Radiant Garden openly," Steve said. "When that day comes, you'll be asked to hand over all power to her, but if you've done a good job, she'll give you a slice of the power to keep. And in the mean time, the city will be yours to amass riches and whatever else you could want as long as it doesn't jeopardize Maleficent's goals. You won't get a better offer than that."
Kingpin scratched his chin, considering this new information. The thought of abdicating power to Maleficent one day did not please him. However, the rewards dangled in front of him were too tempting a treat to pass up. And besides, who knew, maybe one day Kingpin himself could ascend the ranks of the Overtakers as he did the New York mob.
"Very well, Mr. Newlin," Kingpin said. "I accept your terms. Let us begin."
Doctor Doom stepped out of the Corridor of Darkness into the ruins of Castle Doom. Once, Latveria was feared around the globe, and Doom's iron fist made all the world tremble. But now, his great empire was nothing more than a crumbling pile of rocks that stood as a monument to his defeat. He'd lost his mighty kingdom because of those meddlesome heroes and Loki's infuriating father Odin.
"A fortress does not a ruler make," Doom said, echoing what he told Loki when they visited this site long ago.
Doom knew what he had to do: it was time for Latveria to rise again. There would no more waiting around for the Book of Prophecies to do the job for him. He built this kingdom through sweat and toil, and that was how it would rise again. With his great powers, the infrastructure wouldn't even take more than a day to fix. His global standing would only take slightly longer to rebuild.
Amidst the ruins of Castle Doom, Doom saw the silhouette of a woman standing several yards away. He barely had time to ponder who this woman might be when the familiar change in barometric pressure put Doom on his toes. He barely managed to put up a deflection shield in time to protect himself from an onslaught of hot pink energy blasted towards him. Violet lightning crackled through the sky as Doom dispersed the energy and faced the sorceress who'd attacked him.
"Morgan le Fay," Doom spat furiously as his former teacher strolled towards him, demons flanking her on all sides.
"You've stolen from me, Victor von Doom," Morgan hissed angrily. "You came to me and offered yourself to me in exchange for my dark secrets. And yet, you betrayed my trust, and tonight you will die for it!"
"Morgan, look around you!" Doom shouted.
"And all the worlds will be spared any more of your selfish villainy!" Morgan continued, paying no heed to Doom's words.
"Look around you, dammit!" Doom yelled. "Can you not see that I have lost my kingdom?"
"You haven't lost nearly enough!" Morgan shrieked as she unleashed another bolt of pink energy onto Doom.
Doom once again blocked her spell, shielding himself from the blast. The various plant life and mosses around Doom were not so fortunate and disintegrated immediately upon contact with the mystical energy.
"Morgan, I will not tolerate this!" Doom roared in fury as he broke her spell a second time.
"Even your groveling is arrogant," Morgan scoffed. "Go, my pets! Bring him here! Blood and bones!"
At her command, Morgan's demonic legions charged after Doom like a pack of starving dogs, chomping at the bits for a taste of him. And in his heart, for a moment, Doctor Doom felt fear unlike any he had ever allowed himself to experience before...