"Izunia, I have need of you," Doom bellowed as he pulled Ardyn aside.
Ardyn raised an eyebrow in confusion. He and Doom had barely had a single conversation with one another. The notion that Doom would desire to speak to him now was a baffling one. Still, it intrigued Ardyn, and so he obliged.
"What can I do to be of service, my good doctor?" Ardyn asked with a pleasant smile.
"Are you sincere in your brotherly affection for Loki?" Doom asked.
Of all the possible conversation topics, that was far and away the last thing Ardyn expected.
"I... beg your pardon?" Ardyn asked.
"Do you truly care for Loki?" Doom asked. "I require assistance in a critical endeavor, and it will not do to bring along any who do not truly have the trickster god's well-being at heart."
"Oh! Oh I see," Ardyn replied. "Is he in some sort of trouble? Well, what am I saying? Of course the situation must be dire if you require such assistance. Yes, certainly, you can count on me. Loki has been more family to me than my own blood. I would not see him imperiled."
"Then we must act quickly," Doom remarked. "My scanners indicate that Loki has abandoned his appointed task to return to Asgard, effectively abandoning the Overtakers."
"Why would he do such a thing?' Ardyn asked with a touch of hurt flashing in his eyes.
"That is a question to ask him personally," Doom remarked as he beckoned for Ardyn to follow. "You and I must venture to Asgard to bring him back forthwith."
"Of course we must!" Ardyn nodded, following after. "But where are you headed right now?"
"Loki was tasked with retrieving Amora the Enchantress from Hell," Doom explained. "We need to ensure that the task is completed as instructed, lest we provoke Maleficent's fury."
"Should I ask Blackheart to do so?" Ardyn asked.
"Your paramour is the reason she was sent to Hell in the first place," Doom said as he stopped before a door to one of the bedchambers. "He and Loki are... not currently on the best of terms. It would not do to involve him in this. No, Winifred Sanderson has been to Hell and back. She will suffice for this task."
Without bothering to knock, Doom threw open Winnie's bedroom door and invited himself in. Winnie bolted upright when Doom barged in, using her green comforter to cover her bare chest. Next to her, scrambling to cover up his erect manhood, Davy Jones looked positively furious.
"You DARE?" Winnie shrieked.
"Get dressed," Doom ordered. "Both of you. You have an important task to complete."
"Now I'm going to discard these two cards," Jafar narrated as he put the useless two cards into the discard pile, "and I'm going to Fate you, my dear."
Hook groaned audibly when he realized Jafar was pointing at him... again. Jafar plucked out the top two cards from Hook's Fate deck and selected a card that powered up the enemy card on Hook's board. Said enemy card had four power up cards already attached.
"Bloody Hell, why would you do that?" Hook asked angrily. "The boy has fifteen power points by now! Do you realize how many more pirate cards I'm going to have to play to defeat him?"
"I believe it is my turn," Grimhilde said as she began to narrate her own actions. "I have successfully brewed enough poison tokens, and I have the card to defeat the princess right here in my hand. I believe that is my game, gentlemen."
Jafar scowled and knocked his mover piece off the table in frustration. "Why does she always win?"
"Hmm, I don't know," Hook said sarcastically. "Maybe it's because you only target me!"
"Enough games!" Davy Jones declared as he hobbled into the room. "Doom and Izunia have entrusted Winifred and meself with the task of retrieving the Enchantress from the bowels of Hell. It was indicated that some of you might be persuaded to accompany us."
"I've no fondness for that lesser beauty," Grimhilde sneered as she rose from the table and proceeded out the door. "I will not be joining you."
Davy scowled at her but quickly jerked his head to face down Hook. "Boy?"
"Not a boy," Hook said, "not since you left me."
Davy scoffed. "Enough of your whining. It's unbecoming of one of my blood."
"And it is more unbecoming for a neophyte to speak with such condescension towards an Overtaker who fought in the battle to claim this castle," Jafar interjected. "Learn to understand the pecking order, Jones. You may be Hook's father, but with regards to the Overtakers, he is far above the likes of you."
"I've little need to hide behind rank, Jafar," Hook interjected. "I'm not some coward who can't stand up for himself."
Jafar sneered. "Then by all means, do as you please."
"And what is this man to you, boy?" Davy asked with a suspicious cock of his eyebrow.
"Well, he's... to put it in no uncertain terms... well, you see, he's... my lover," Hook answered sheepishly.
Davy scrunched up his nose in disgust, earning a practically venomous glare from Jafar.
"We'll come along to retrieve the Enchantress," Hook announced before either man could say anything else or hurl a spell, "as a favor to Doom. Not you."
"Fine then," Davy replied as he turned to leave the room. "Prepare yourselves and meet us at Winifred's cauldron room in an hour's time."
After Davy hobbled out of the room, Jafar turned to Hook with a suspicious glare. Hook pretended not to notice and kept his eyes on the empty glass that held rum at the beginning of the game. Hook cursed every cruel twist of fate that he hadn't developed the magical prowess enough to summon more drink to his cup. He could certainly use the numbing power of alcohol after that encounter.
"Why would you agree to accompany your father on this excursion?" Jafar asked after a moment. "Especially after his reaction to learning about the state of our affair?"
"It's... complicated," Hook said without facing his boyfriend.
Jafar raised an eyebrow and sneered. "You desire his approval."
Hook picked up his empty glass and mourned the lack of rum. He desperately wanted a sip after that question. Jafar sighed and snapped his fingers. By the forces of magic, the glass filled itself up with the drink.
"I love you," Hook said as he took a swig.
Jafar waved his hand dismissively as Hook set down the freshly emptied glass.
"I'm... uncertain what I want from that man," Hook admitted. "Part of me wants him dead, but part of me wants his love and respect."
"A feeling I know quite well," Jafar admitted.
"Was your father a difficult man as well?" Hook asked.
"Not exactly," Jafar answered. "He was weak and complacent with his lot in life as a lowly sycophant to the Sultan. But I was not referring to my father before. In my formative years, my peers treated me with contempt and disdain. No one ever wanted to know me; they were intimidated by my charisma and mystique. I would often be left pondering 'Why Me?'"
"You couldn't decide if you wanted them dead or if you wanted to be valued and included," Hook remarked, picking up on the subtext of Jafar's tale. "Did you ever figure it out?"
"There was one boy who tormented me considerably by the name of Aman," Jafar relayed. "He was the son of a prominent general to the Sultan. By the time I was thirteen years of age, I could take his abuse no longer. I released a cobra into his room at night, and when he awoke with a sudden motion, the snake struck him. He was dead within minutes. That was the first man I ever killed."
"So you chose death for your enemies," Hook remarked.
"Let me finish the story," Jafar said. "Well, I relished being free of Aman's torment, yet it did very little to improve my social standing. To my surprise, my peers wept for him and mourned for him. He became a martyr whose adulations were sung constantly. The momentary satisfaction of destroying him was nothing compared to the rage I endured at the realization that I granted him a position of love and respect that I would never have. It was then that I had a sudden onset of clarity: there are things so much worse than death. True vengeance, a true triumph, would only come by forcing my enemies to watch as I elevated myself at the expense of all that they held dear. You see, it is neither death nor respect that is truly the answer. It's abject humiliation!"
A sinister smile crept onto Hook's face at that notion. "That... might just be perfect."
From Hades's chariot, Maleficent and Hades observed the Enchanted Dominion from the space between worlds. Maleficent's ever-faithful raven, Diablo, sat perched on her shoulder. With the Fist of Might and the Fist of Ability embedded in her staff, Maleficent engulfed the entire kingdom in her dark sorcery.
"Yowzah!" Hades remarked. "Talk about your top shelf fireworks. But, uh, just for clarity's sake and not because I didn't get it the first time or anything, run it by me one more time: how exactly does all of this booga-booga work?"
"With the power of the gems combined with my own sorcery, I am accelerating time on this miserable world," Maleficent explained. "For the rest of the cosmos, it has been but an hour's time, but for the fools who dwell in the Enchanted Dominion, seventeen years have passed."
"And they actually passed, right? This isn't like the fast forward button on a remote control?" Hades asked.
"Correct," Maleficent nodded. "It has simply happened far quicker in comparison to every other world. The denizens of this world will not have noticed anything unusual or amiss. And because Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are off tending to Sora's affairs, it means Queen Aurora has endured nearly two decades with her dear fairy godmothers having abandoned her, and young Princess Audrey will have grown into a young woman without their guiding hands."
Hades chuckled at that. "Oh that's cruel, babe. I love it!"
"Thank you," Maleficent said with a malicious smirk. "It will allow us to better target Princess Audrey. As a young woman, she will be most vulnerable to certain... manipulations."
Maleficent set down her staff and the sickly green glow of the Enchanted Dominion faded away. Time would now progress as normal. Diablo hopped down to perch atop Maleficent's staff.
"Go, my pet!" Maleficent ordered. "Fly down and learn of all that has transpired!"
Diablo cawed in recognition and took off in flight down towards the Enchanted Dominion.
"We'll be ready for the boy soon," Maleficent said as she turned back to Hades. "Send for him. It is time to begin my ultimate revenge!"
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess, the only child of King Phillip and Queen Aurora. The king and queen loved their daughter, and she was their pride and joy. They showered her with gifts and love and everything her heart could desire. However, she wasn't exactly as compassionate or heroic as her pedigree might have implied. In truth, Princess Audrey was spoiled and vain. The castle staff dreaded hearing her cries and sharp tongue, and though her parents had taught her to always be kind to others, the lesson didn't come naturally to the princess.
There was nothing particularly sinister or cruel about the princess's demeanor. She was simply young and self-centered. Her parents and most within the kingdom felt certain that marriage and the duties of being a queen and mother would temper the princess, and the day of her wedding was fast approaching. Ever since Audrey was an infant, she'd been betrothed to Prince Benjamin of the neighboring kingdom. The king and queen applied the lesson of their own experience and ensured that Benjamin and his parents were invited for annual visits to the castle. Audrey and Benjamin got along well enough, though neither were ever especially interested in anything the other had to say.
All the same, true love was not a requirement for an engagement, and the king and queen were confident that Audrey and Benjamin would learn to love and value one another with time. Though many young girls loathed the idea of betrothal, Audrey had few objections. After all, beautiful princesses married handsome princes and lived happily ever after. That was the way things were done, and Audrey knew quite well that she deserved nothing but the absolute best. As the wedding day approached, Audrey found herself fantasizing about how wonderful it would be to become the queen.
Queen Aurora's three fairy godmothers, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather hadn't been seen in nearly seventeen years. Aurora knew that they were quite busy helping Sora, but she couldn't help but feel hurt and abandoned by how the women who raised her had never even bothered to meet her daughter. Still, it simply wouldn't do for Audrey to grow up without a fairy godmother, and so Miss Nettle, a former apprentice of the three good fairies who favored yellow in clothing, was tasked with caring for the princess. Nettle was something of a braggart who always taught that nothing was worth anything if you couldn't be the very best. Naturally, Audrey took to Nettle's lessons like a fish to water.
To the Enchanted Dominion, it was a beautiful day, unlike any other. Unbeknownst to the citizenry, it was the first day they had lived without Maleficent's accelerated time spell. And on this day, Audrey and Nettle took a stroll down to the castle stables for a riding lesson.
"And now remember," Nettle said to Audrey. "You, of course, will never ride a horse as perfectly as me, but you should strive to be almost as perfect... Oh, but look who I'm talking to! The most perfect princess to ever be!"
"Too true," Audrey boasted. "Prince Benjamin will no doubt be very impressed by my riding when he visits tomorrow."
"How could he not be?" Nettle asked.
Audrey caught a glimpse of her dark brown hair in her reflection in one of the impeccably polished shields hanging up outside of the stables. Audrey snapped her fingers twice.
"Not feeling like a brunette today," Audrey said. "Change my hair, now!"
"Of course dear, how silly of me for not noticing!" Nettle replied.
With a wave of Nettle's magic wand, Audrey's mahogany locks brightened into a golden blonde befitting a daughter of Aurora.
"Mmm, still missing something," Audrey remarked as she studied her hair in the reflection.
"I think I know just the thing!" Nettle said.
Nettle flicked another spell onto Audrey's hair, causing light streaks of pink and blue to adorn her golden locks.
"Perfect!" Audrey declared with a smile.
"Naturally, since I was the one who made it so," Nettle boasted.
The two women proceeded into the stables to find a man there that neither had ever seen before. He was young and handsome, no older than eighteen. His hair was brown, and he wore a black tunic and black cloak. He seemed to be playing with a hunting knife, tossing it up and catching it by the handle without cutting himself.
"Ahem," Nettle loudly cleared her throat.
"I beg your pardon, your majesty," the young man said as he quickly stood up and knelt before the princess.
"Granted. You may rise," Audrey said.
The young man rose to his full height, flashing Audrey a playful smirk that she found both frustrating and enticing.
"What is your name and why have I never seen you before?" Audrey asked.
"My name is Kieran," he replied. "I'm a new huntsman for your family. If you need anything, I'm at your service."
Audrey smirked. "Miss Nettle, go find the stable boy so that we can begin our ride. I'll stay here with Kieran."
"What? Oh! Ha ha! Good joke, princess," Nettle said. "Obviously the help should go perform the task."
"Nettle, I gave you an order, now go do it!" Audrey commanded.
Miss Nettle huffed and flew off to find the stable boy, grumbling something about disrespect.
"She seems like a handful," Kieran remarked.
"Ugh, you have no idea," Audrey said. "All of these servants are so whiny. I mean, they really should have thought about the difficulty of their jobs before they became servants. But, then again, not everyone can be a princess."
"Even if they could, none could surpass you, your majesty," Kieran said.
"Well said, huntsman," Audrey replied with a grin.
Despite sharing her name with the girl who murdered Piper, Audrey had much more in common with Nina, the first girl Kieran and Piper killed during their murder spree. Nina had been a popular rich girl who tormented her peers and only concerned herself with her superficial beauty, and Kieran had quite enjoyed watching Piper cut Nina up. A part of Kieran longed for permission to slit Audrey's throat as well, but he knew Maleficent would not approve. He was there for one purpose only: seduction, an art Kieran knew quite well.
"Perhaps you could do me the honor of letting me come along on your ride?" Kieran asked.
Audrey smirked. "Do try and keep up with me."
Kieran laughed out of obligation, but he found no amusement in her remarks. Self-centered, petty boasts were nothing but loathsome to him. He truly didn't know what Maleficent saw in this girl.
Steve knew Russell was in the library before he was even within range of scent. Russell may have been a mass murdering psychopath whose bloodlust was only matched by his thirst for power, but he was also a literary man. When one is alive for thousands of years, one has little else better to wile away the monotonous hours than reading, and when one has the privilege of watching the canonization of authors happen over an extremely long lifespan, there's a certain immortality to literature that draws one in.
Sure enough, Russell was sitting at the desk on the second floor of the Hollow Bastion library, thumbing through a book called "Mava vol.6." Russell knew Steve was coming. It was impossible to sneak up on a man with superhuman hearing. Yet Russell didn't stir or acknowledge that Steve was approaching the desk. He just sat there, reading his book as if he were in absolute solitude.
"This Mava guy's got a sense of humor," Russell said without looking up from his book. "It's rare to find an academic philosopher writing on the ethics of imperial expansion who knows how to throw in a good joke. Keeps it from gettin' dry."
"Is that what this is all about?" Steve asked. "One great big joke in the middle of me trying to build an empire?"
"Interesting comparison, would make for a lovely essay," Russell mused as he closed his book. "But no. I thought I was pretty self-explanatory. Or didn't you see my television debut?"
"I saw it alright," Steve said. "Everything I worked to build... torn down in one shitty moment."
"Funny how... delicate the immaterial can be, isn't it?" Russell asked.
"Immaterial, yeah, right," Steve scoffed. "So everything I care about and built for myself. That's just immaterial to you? Some unimportant bullshit that you can break without a second thought?"
"Everything you care about?" Russell asked, a twinge of anger showing in his voice. "Well that's telling, isn't it?"
"I didn't mean it like that," Steve said with a sigh. "Don't turn this around."
"Y'know, Mava talks about this lovely little story," Russell began, "about a warlord who encounters a knot so complex that no one could untie it. And what the warlord does-"
"Russell, just get to the fucking point," Steve interrupted. "I don't wanna hear about Mava's bullshit."
"I interjected perspective into your operation," Russell said. "You were so caught up trying to untie a knot that you missed what was happenin' outside of the knot. So I just cut through the knot for you."
Steve shook his head in disbelief. "Justify it however you want, but you intentionally set out to hurt me because you wanted attention. That's what this is all about."
"Maybe so," Russell shrugged. "But could you really blame me if I did considering this big mess that you let us devolve into?"
"Takes two to tango," Steve countered.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one," Russell replied. "But you see, I've found a new perspective for myself, and it's tellin' me that I'm gonna conquer this entire world in record time. And that is bigger than you and me. Your bullshit was just the fucking catalyst towards me finding my own path forward. You reminded me who I am. I'm Russell fuckin' Edgington, the vampire who ripped out a man's spine on TV and made the world tremble in fear!"
"And you're building it on top of the ruins of my path forward that I made for myself," Steve pointed out. "It's always Russell first, right? And I'm just the second fiddle comic-relief sidekick? That about cover it?"
"When a system works, it works," Russell said with a grin.
Steve shook his head and watched the floor tiles very carefully. He positioned himself in a specific spot before turning his attention back to Russell.
"Russell, baby, come here," Steve said, putting on a sweeter and more submissive tone of voice.
Russell wasn't sure what Steve was getting at, but he obliged, standing a few inches in front of Steve.
"Look, Russell, I'm tired of fighting," Steve said.
"So, you're finally gonna see reason?" Russell asked.
"Y'know what you said before? About how when a system works, it works?" Steve asked.
Russell grinned. "Yeah."
"Well...," Steve said as he pulled out his phone. "Operation Repose is a system that works."
Steve quickly type in a command code, activating the trap door beneath Russell's feet. Russell dropped suddenly, and Steve quickly shut the door again to prevent his boyfriend from flying right back up. Russell landed with a splash in a few inches of water in a chamber in the castle waterways. The stench of mildew was overpowering and the stone walls were green with algae.
"Bad fuckin' mistake, Steve," Russell growled under his breath as he pulled himself to his feet.
Russell attempted to fly back up the way he came, but before he could reach the trap door, a sterling silver gate extended to block his way. Russell growled in anger and attempted to exit the waterway another way, yet he quickly found that he was effectively caged by sterling silver gates on all sides.
"Silver? Fucking REALLY?" Russell roared in anger.
"Watch your language, sweetie," Ursula teased as she slithered up to the other side of one of the gates.
"Ursula," Russell hissed. "First my boyfriend turns against me, and now my friends are turnin' too? What fuckin' shitty luck!"
"I think you need to cool off a minute," Ursula said. "I'm doing this as a favor for you."
"Like fuck you are, you slimy bitch!" Russell scoffed.
"I think you'll find that speaking to me that way isn't in your best interests," Ursula said. "Or did you forget who brought you back to life in the first place?"
Ursula snapped her fingers, and Russell's skin instantly began to melt off of his arm as if it were merely skim atop a bucket of milk.
"Okay, okay, I get your point," Russell said.
Ursula smiled and returned Russell's arm to normal. "Good boy."
"Takin' Steve's side is gonna bite you in the ass, you know," Russell warned.
Ursula cocked an eyebrow. "Was that a threat?"
"Observation," Russell replied. "Imperious was blackmailing him with somethin', and if it was enough for Steve to kill him, then it can't be something light that'd be no big deal to y'all."
Ursula eyed Russell suspiciously, trying to decide if the vampire was telling the truth.
"I'm not the one who y'all need to be worried about," Russell added. "You're all fuckin' blind to the fact that Steve isn't the cute little baby vamp he was when I recruited him."
Prince Hans let out a battle cry as he charged towards Riku, sword drawn. Riku held up the Keyblade to guard against Hans's blade. However, when Hans brought his sword down onto the shaft of the Keyblade, it shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Why does that always happen to me?" Hans asked as he looked down at the broken blade.
"Bad karma?" Riku suggested as he cast a sleeping spell on Hans.
Hans collapsed to the ground, snoring and drooling in peace. Figuring that Hans had limited capacity to cause any further mischief, Riku took off running to find another Undertaker that needed to be defeated. From up atop a nearby rooftop, two figures watched the whole exchange.
"That kid was one of yours, wasn't he?" Xigbar asked his companion.
Standing next to Xigbar was Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. With Demyx's form utterly destroyed by Maleficent and Hades, Ansem had been able to salvage what was left of his host's body to forge himself a new body. With dark skin, amber eyes, and long silver hair, Ansem looked exactly the same as he had when he'd faced off against the Overtakers back in The World That Never Was.
"Indeed he was," Ansem remarked. "But he need not concern you. The Overtakers' fumbling has provided us a golden opportunity to act beneath the notice of the heroes."
"I mean, that was the plan, right?" Xigbar asked. "I gave the kid Operation Repose just like you said. So now what? What was so important that you couldn't tell me before? I don't actually work for you anymore, by the way."
"All in good time," Ansem replied. "The Keyblade still serves you, correct?"
Xigbar summoned the blade to his hand. "That answer your question? It's weird though. I had to cut down everyone with Xehanort's heart to get it to swear loyalty to me. Yet here you are, walking and talking, and the Keyblade hasn't wavered once."
"A Heartless cannot wield a Keyblade," Ansem answered, "and that is why you play a critical part in this juncture."
"What exactly are we after here?" Xigbar asked.
Ansem smirked in a way that was entirely too reminiscent of Master Xehanort for Xigbar's comfort.
"Everlasting darkness."