Meanwhile back at the Fourth Kingdom, Vox had just received word from Blitzo that Princess Charlotte had been rescued and was on her way, so he immediately made preparations for the wedding. And by he making all the preparations, I mean he would say what he wanted done and Captain Pentious would do all the work.

"Have you booked the court house?" Vox asked him.

"Yes."

"And it is being remodeled just as I requested?"

"Yes. Construction should be done within three days."

"Hired someone to marry us?"

"It was difficult to find an ordained minister who wasn't religious but I got one."

"What about the stereo for the reception?"

"Got it."

"The flowers?"

"Plastic orchids."

"The food?"

"Expensive but without meat, sugar, spice, or butter. So Spring rolls, tofu sausage, and a wheat grass wedding cake."

"Excellent. Now I only need to work out the wedding attire, the decor, all the guests, my throne, and my crown. Oh Blitzo!" He called to the imp.

"Yes my lord." He replied in an annoyed tone of voice.

"What is the most modern and futuristic fashion for bridal wear?"

"Champagne gold, cocktail dress."

"Pentious arrange for the best designer, champagne-gold, cocktail wedding dress to made and then have my finest suit pressed."

"Yes sir." Pentious said.

"Also Blitzo, how many guests can the court house hold once the remodeling is done?"

"About everyone in the Fourth Kingdom."

"Perfect."

"But wouldn't it just be easier to get married in a church?"

"He banned church and temple, remember?" Pentious said.

"Oh right."

"But my remodel of the court house will make it grander than a cathedral." Vox boasted. "By the time it's finished, no bride will dream of getting married anywhere else."

"I wouldn't say that." Blitzo said. "Your bride to be, like most women, has a few ideas of her own regarding her big day."

"What ideas?"

"Well for starters she didn't want a huge, extravagant display in an elaborate courthouse. She always dreamed of a simple yet lovely gathering outside, surrounded by nature."

"Why? Nature is filthy."

"She wanted live music."

"Stereo is better."

"Her favorite flowers are Magnolias. Real magnolias."

"Orchids are fancier and fake ones don't have pollen and bugs in them."

"Food that includes meat, sugar, spices, and butter."

"The vegan diet is what's hip now and I don't want my wife getting fat. What do you think people would say if their king has a queen who's a heifer."

"Is there at least going to be champagne at this thing?"

"Of course."

"Okay so there's still hope for your wedding."

"Watch it with the comments Blitzo. You wouldn't want to lose your horns, or your head."

"Sorry." He gulped. "I'm just pointing out that your princess may not agree with your wedding plans. You're not even letting her pick out her own dress and that's a must for every bride."

"And what dress did she exactly have in mind?"

"Well she is a princess so naturally she would want to wear something in the fairy tale department."

"But that's so old fashioned. No modern woman wants that pretty, lacy, gown type anymore. She's better off with the dress I picked out."

"Careful my lord, I wouldn't be too controlling of her if I were you." Blitzo warned. "At least not before you're married."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well if you start off making all her choices for her and refuse to hear her out, she may not say 'I do' after all and you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Good point." Vox said rethinking things. "Fine. Pentious cancel the cocktail dress, tomorrow you and Blitzo will work on whatever she wants to wear. She's a real looker so it probably won't matter if it's pout of date."

"How considerate." Blitzo mumbled.

"Enough planning for today. I need my beauty sleep. Captain Pentious, take the imp back to his cell and fix me my evening martini."

Captain Pentious did as he was commanded while Vox retired to his chambers. Soon he was relaxing with a drink in his hand and Charlie's image saved on his big screen. He lustfully memorized every detail of her appearance.

"Ah, she is perfect. I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces when they see her walking down the aisle. They all think I'm crazy, they all think I'll never be a real king. But I am a real king. I have power, I have a title, I have wealth, I'm only missing one thing and that's a queen to make it all legal." He sipped his drink. "And she will not only make me a king, but she'll make me the envy of all the other kings. Their wives have now become old and ugly while mine will be the youngest and most gorgeous queen in all the nine kingdoms. It really couldn't be more perfect."


Poor Blitzo once again found himself trapped in a deep, dark dudgeon with his fellow imp Moxxie, the two of them in shackles and concealed from the light. They both had considered escaping but Vox's high tech security system was too great. There were cameras and motion-detected lasers everywhere, and their shackles were locked by a code that only the captain knew. Escape was impossible.

"At least Millie is free." Moxxie sighed, thinking of his wife. How he missed her and how he wished that he could be free with her. "I hope she's alright out there."

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here Moxxie?" Blitzo asked.

"If Vox king then no. He'll destroy or jail every mythical creature in the nine kingdoms. He may even cause all of us to go extinct. Will he?"

"Moxxie I only know all present information, I can't see into the future. But it doesn't take any special powers to know that him with a crown on his head means we're all screwed."

"I feel sorry for the princess he's marrying. What woman could be happy living with him in matrimony?"

"Yeah she'll probably have it worse than any of us."

"Why do you say that? I mean sure she'll be nothing more than a glorified trophy wife to him but that's not as bad as what creatures like us are going to get."

"Oh Moxxie." Blitzo said shaking his head. "Once Vox finds out her little secret, she'll be lucky if he treats her like a trophy wife."

"What are you talking about? What little secret? Is she not a real princess or something?"

"Oh no she's a real princess but she's not the perfect princess he wants and as soon as he figures that out, Princess Charlotte will be in a situation ten times worse than what she was rescued from."

"I don't understand."

"Moxxie you do know Princess Charlotte's story right?"

"Yes. Everyone knows it. It's in hundreds of storybooks. She was a beautiful princess locked in a tower, guarded by some moth monster and has spent years waiting for a knight to save her."

"Okay but did you ever wonder why she was locked in the tower in the first place? Don't you find it a little odd that the books never mention that small detail?"

"It is a bit odd."

"Well that's because-"

"Hey quiet down there!" Captain Pentious shouted. "I'm trying to get some sleep."

"Sorry." Blitzo called.

"Wait a minute, you sleep down here?" Moxxie asked.

"Yes, what's it to you?" Pentious replied.

"Nothing it's just that I thought Lord Vox's right hand man would have better accommodations."

"You think?!" He hissed, coming to the gate of their cell. "I deserve more than better accommodations. I'm not just his right hand man. I'm the whole reason he has this kingdom under his cybertronic thumb!"

"You are?"

"Yep." Blitzo said. "Pentious was the one who gave Lord Vox his cyborg body and he's also the one who created the machines that help Vox usurp the former ruler of the Fourth Kingdom."

"What about all the upgrades?"

"Vox may have come up with the ideas for that but it was Pentious who did all the designing and the building. He's a prodigy at inventing and machinery."

"If that's true then why do you let Vox take all the credit?" Moxxie asked Pentious. "Why is he running this place instead of you?"

"Because that oil-slick, ungrateful, manipulative little urchin convinced me that the people would like him better as the face of the kingdom because of his charisma and people skills. He said that I was too much of a fossil to appeal to the modern world. He promised me equal ruling if I'd just let him do all the talking but as time went on, he kept putting off that promise."

"So why do you still work for him?"

"Because he's too popular now. He has too many machines, too many weapons, and too many followers. It's too late for me to turn against him. He'd over power me."

"I don't think so." Moxxie argued. "If you really are the true genius behind all this technology then I bet you're smart enough to get the upper hand on him."

"Why do you even care if I stand up to him or not?"

"Because maybe we can help each other out. All three of us are treated like dirt by this guy and all three of us are definitely smarter than him. Why couldn't we work together to over throw him?"

"Because I don't want to die anytime soon." Pentious walked away from the cell. "Now enough talk! Go to sleep! I have a big day tomorrow!"

"It doesn't have to be this way you know." Moxxie called.

"I said be quiet! If I don't get any sleep, you don't get any food for a week!"

Moxxie sighed, dishearted and unsure of what to do now. Blitzo felt the same way. He, Moxxie, and everyone who Vox had ever victimized were all wondering the same thing;

"Is there any hope for us?"