Once upon a time, there was a princess named Tess. Princess Tess was the most beautiful girl in the world, with long, curly blonde hair and eyes the color of the ocean. Her skin was a soft peach, and her lips, the red of ripe raspberries.

Tess' heart was beating so quickly she would have a heart attack soon if this didn't stop. That was good. At least one muscle below her neck was still moving. What the hell was Michael doing?

The woman laughed. "Nice to finally meet all of you. I'm Lainea. One of your 'Dark Angels.'" She laughed again, mocking Tess as she moved closer to her. Tess tried desperately to pick her foot up off the ground, but to no avail. "I've heard so much about you." She grinned, and stopped right before Tess. "Especially you. Apparently, somebody had been playing with my little Mickey's heart before I got to him. Evil, evil girl. Hello, Tess." She spat in Tess' face. The wench. As soon as this thing ended and she could move again, that woman was going down. "And you." Lainea moved towards Isabel. "Maria."

"Um, that's Isabel," Michael corrected her. Lainea looked back at him, angry. Oh my God, she's going to kill him. But suddenly, her saccharine facade came up again, and she smiled. "Of course. Isabel. You're the cold-blooded little bitch, right? That's what Michael thinks, anyway." She looked back at him for confirmation, and he nodded.

Now, besides being a beautiful princess, this girl was very special. She was an extraterrestial being, and she had magical powers. She could change what things looked and felt like, she could pick up on things just by glancing at them, she could make people see things that weren't there, and she loved Tabasco sauce.

"Does he really?" Isabel challenged, her eyes blazing. Don't Izzy, don't. Can't you see she's only trying to incense you? "Does he also know what I think of him? Does he know that-" and her voice disappeared. She kept speaking, but there was no sound. Oh, God, Izzy.

Isabel's eyes widened as she noticed what had happened--that Lainea had stolen her voice. Her mouth started to tremble in shock.

Since she was a princess, she could have all the Tabasco sauce she could ever want. In fact, she had everything she wanted--everything, that is, except one. Prince Charming.

Michael laughed, and Tess' blood ran cold. There was nothing of the Michael she knew in that laugh. This laugh was evil and sadistic. The Michael she knew would never laugh at Isabel's expense. "I love it when you do that," he told Lainea. Ugh. If Tess had to stand this much longer, she would vomit.

So one day, Princess Tess set out on a journey to find Prince Charming. She took her closest friends and most loyal servants and left, following her instincts, on the long voyage.

Lainea didn't look flattered. "Get me my crystal," she commanded him. "This is tiring." With that, Michael disappeared through the doorway and came back a few minutes later, carrying the "crystal."

It wasn't a crystal at all. It looked more like a glass globe with some kind of pink mist inside. Why did she call it a crystal? What a dumbass wench.

The trip took a long time, but one day, as Princess Tess was looking out at the land, she saw him. "It's Prince Charming!" she yelled excitedly, and they all got out of the coaches. She ran up to Prince Charming, grasped his hands, and asked him, "Are you my Prince Charming?"

Michael handed the non-crystal to Lainea, who cradeled it in her arms. "Thank you, Michael." She winked at him. She actually winked! "Your turn."

His turn for what? Was she going to freeze him now? And kill him? If she tried to kill him, Tess would murder the witch, freezing power be damned.

He looked up at the princess and laughed cruelly. "No, I'm her Prince Charming." He pointed to a girl nearby, an ugly girl with long, plain brown hair. The witch started to laugh too, and Princess Tess just stood there, bewildered.

But all Lainea did was step back and look at Michael. Oh. His turn to torture them. Oh, God. Was Michael going to torture her? How? How could he stand it?

Michael walked up to Max, who was frozen with his hands on his hips. "Stop it, Michael," Max ordered. Because Michael, in his lobotomized state, would listen to him. Right.

Michael laughed and punched Max in the stomach. Max stood still, but the expression on his face showed how much pain he was in. "Is that an order, Max?" Michael punched him again, and the breath flew out of Max's mouth as he hung his head, defeated.

"Michael!" Maria cried, begging.

Michael just tossed her a look of disdain, and turned to Lainea. "Can you?"

Lainea nodded, smiling as if she had a secret. It froze Tess' insides, almost the way her outsides were frozen. Then she waved her hand in Maria's direction.

What had she done? Had she stolen Maria's voice, too?

Maria opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. Yes, apparently the witch had stolen her voice.

There was no way to win. Was there? Tess re-ran every possibility in her head. What if she mindwarped Lainea and Michael and made it look like they'd all disappeared? Michael wouldn't know where they were to torture them, and maybe if Lainea couldn't see them, she couldn't keep them frozen.

She went into the mindwarp, and suddenly, Lainea started laughing hysterically, like the maniac she was. When the witch calmed down, she looked right at Tess. Dammit. "Don't try and work your mind magic on me. It doesn't work." She looked over at Michael. "Isn't that cute, Michael? Tessie thought she could mindwarp me and escape!"

The witch kissed Prince Charming on the lips. Then she leaned in towards Princess Tess and whispered, "He's under my spell. He thinks that he loves me, not you!" She giggled, and turned back to Tess' Prince Charming. "Tie her up. Let's kill her." Something hit the princess on the back of her head, and she saw no more.

The Michael-thing laughed, and walked towards Tess. "Did you really?" He took her hand, her frozen hand, and ran his fingers across it. She would have shivered. She needed to shiver.

He moved his face right down to hers, so that they were eye to eye, three inches apart. "You're trying to mindwarp me, Tess?" Oh my God. He moved in, and their lips touched. Her eyes closed in spite of herself. What was he doing? What about being evil and against them? Was it-

A sharp sting on her cheek interrupted her thoughts. Tears sprang into her eyes by reflex. Michael had slapped her. Oh, no. She couldn't cry in public. She had just cried a few days ago!

"Did you like that, Tess?" the Michael-thing taunted her, and slapped her again. A wet drop rolled down her cheek, and dropped onto her lips. Salty.

When Princess Tess woke up, her arms and legs were tied up so that she couldn't move. She was scared and cold, and the witch was standing in front of her, laughing. Prince Charming slapped her and laughed, "I'm going to kill you, bitch!"

How did the story end? She couldn't remember. How did the Princess get out of the nightmare? How would she get out of this nightmare?

"Michael, you're an asshole!" Kyle's angry accusation came from behind her. Would that work? Would that get him out of his funk? Because it couldn't be the real Michael torturing them right now. No, she'd seen the real Michael, and this was anything but he. "What the hell is wrong with you? What are you doing to Tess? You're killing her, Michael! You're treating everyone you once loved like shit, you fucking scum!" He stopped for breath.

Michael shuddered for a second, and Tess' hopes soared. Thank you, Kyle.

They crashed again as the facade went back up and the Michael-thing smirked. "What are you, like her knight in shining armor? Tess, why can't you defend yourself?"

"Against what?" she asked dryly. "If you're going to kill me, what can I do to stop it? And if you're not, I don't have a problem." Bastard. You bastard! Where was Michael in there?

"I guess I should just put you out of your misery and kill you, then," the Michael-thing said, circling her. "The thing is, I'm not sure how. I can kill quite easily--you've seen me--but it's fast and not particulalry painful. I want to put you in a lot of pain, Tess." Becuse she wasn't in enough already. "Do you know why I want to hurt you, Tess?"

"Because I broke up Max and Liz?" Tess asked sarcastically.

The Michael-thing laughed insanely, and suddenly slapped her, growing serious. "Because, before I got here, I thought I loved you. You almost came between me and Lainea. You little bitch." Her cupped her face in his hands gently, and she winced in order to brace herself for the next slap. It didn't help, though, as the blow knocked her head to the side, and it felt like her cheek had split down the middle.

She couldn't have stopped the tears if she'd tried. "Stop it, Michael! You're hurting me, all right? You're hurting me, dammit!" A shuddering sob tried to escape, but since she could only use the muscles in her head, it came out as a wail. A horrible, ugly wail. "Are you happy now? What the hell do you want from me?"

To her amazement, Michael stepped back and started to shake. Wow. She could almost see the battle going on between the Michael-thing that was standing there and the Michael inside--the real Michael.

"Michael," Tess whispered under her breath. This was amazing. Even just as an observer, it was fascinating watching the two spirits fight for control over one body. She was afraid to speak aloud, in case it affected the fight in Bad-Michael's favor.

"Michael!" Lainea scolded. "What are you doing?"

Stupid woman. Michael, his eyes full of rage, turned to her. Still struggling, he raised his arm, and the "crystal" exploded, throwing shattered glass pieces everywhere.

"Tess..." Michael whispered heavily, still twitching as if being electricuted. He turned around and looked at her, pain and sorrow written all over his face. The twitching slowed down and finally stopped as he slid to the floor, unconcious.