Fantasia Crisis
By Lord Akiyama
Inspired by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Chapter Four
---
The Firebird screeched with flame, calling upon his master with urgency. Chernabog and Maleficent appeared and looked upon the sphere the servant looked upon. "It appears Yen Sid has put the twelve to work," Maleficent said. "There appears to be three groups."
"Not all of the twelve are on the move, my dear Maleficent," Chernabog said. "Yen Sid knows that some of them cannot function properly outside their own worlds and the mystical plane of his. Only ten are about and I sense The Spring Sprite and one of the women remain behind."
"This sphere of yours vexes me, Chernabog," she said. "I see the three groups, but I cannot sense where their presence be."
"Four have entered Neverland," he said. "Three are arriving in Greece, more specifically the underworld. Three more are arriving in a realm that may very well become Camelot."
"Is Yen Sid putting forth his efforts to strike?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "Only when all the twelve are on the move can I make such an assessment. It appears he is searching for those who will aid all to travel to the different worlds. Think about the three worlds the groups have arrived upon. Neverland, Greece, Camelot."
"Neverland has a fairy called Tinkerbell," Maleficent said. "If I understand correctly, Captain Hook is dealing with her and the foolish boy companion of hers. Camelot has Merlin, the wizard. I sense he is currently in a wizard's duel. But what of Greece? Surely none of the Gods upon Mount Olympus could help them."
"I did not mention their being in Mount Olympus, Maleficent," Chernabog said. "I mentioned their being in the underworld."
"Who in the kingdom of Hades would provide them service?" she asked.
"They seek aid from Hades," he said.
"What?" she said, shocked to hear his answer. "Why should they seek one who will no doubt join us?"
"Who said he was joining us," Chernabog said. "I spoke with the God recently and I come to the conclusion that he has placed himself in the position of wild card."
"Wild card?" she said, still in disbelief. "Does not he want to rule all of Greece?"
"Hades is a smart man, my dear Maleficent," Chernabog said. "He believes that all deals have a downside. Suppose he joined me and Yen Sid performs the deed in imprisoning me. His association with me would only damage his status much further than it is."
"Being a wild card means he would not only aid us, but the side of our adversity as well," Maleficent said. "Perhaps he is planning his own stake at overthrowing all."
"Maybe so," Chernabog said, "but he is the least of my concerns for now. If you wish to be comforted upon the issue, he is monitored endlessly. We shall know when he performs a suspicious act."
"And what if he service whatever the group there asks of him?" she asks.
"Let it pass," he said. "It means nothing to me at this point. I am bothered, however, by the group in Camelot. They are meeting with Merlin unopposed. The wizard will no doubt be victorious in his duel, and when that takes place the group will have little trouble receiving his services."
"What do you suggest we do with Camelot?" she asked.
"We need to send them some opposition," he said. "I have my ideas. Who do you suggest?"
Maleficent thought for a moment. "What about that one man, the Hun?"
Chernabog grinned. "I like your thinking, my dear Maleficent," he said. "He will do nicely considering the Chinese woman of the twelve is not among the group in Camelot." He turned to his servant. "Call upon the Hun and send him Camelot. When he is ready, summon him into my audience."
---
"Ah, visitors," the wizard said as he exited the hut. "You'll have to excuse the poor woman's yelling. She's very ill you know." He added a chuckle at the end. "Now then, introduce yourselves and do tell me why you wish to speak with me."
"Pleasure to meet you, Merlin," Robin said as he removed his hat. "The name is Robin Hood," he added as he bowed. "The fellow on all fours is named Tarzan and the young lad is named Aladdin."
"Robin Hood, eh," Merlin said. "To be quite honest, I rather suspect you to be... well..."
"Human?" Robin said, cracking a grin.
"Well yes," Merlin said. "Lemme tell you, Wart, Robin will become quite a legend when your time has passed."
"I'm sure he's a legend already," Wart said. "He's a talking fox on all fours wearing a tunic."
"Now lad, it should be clear that I'm not from around here," Robin chuckled. "We've come from other worlds. We're here because we need Merlin's help."
"Well, it's not common I'm asked for assistance," Merlin said. "Well then, how may I be of service?"
"Do you know of master of masters?" Tarzan asked.
Merlin looked as though he had seen a ghost. Wart looked at him curiously. "Merlin?" he asked. "Merlin, are you okay?"
"I don't know, Wart my boy," he said. "Master of masters... Wart, let me tell you of the master of masters. He is one of the most powerful men in the whole of the universe. And when he summons upon others, it is for a good reason. He has summoned for me, which means there is trouble in the air."
"Something like that," Aladdin said. "Look, we need you to come with us so that--"
Something flew by, striking at Wart. The young lad fell to the ground with a scratch on his forehead. Everyone turned to see a black bird making a turn. As it seemed to fly closer, the determined the bird to be a falcon. The falcon flew closer and closer, until an arm unexpectedly appeared within the tree tops. The falcon landed on the arm of a man, who began to stand from where he was upon the treetops.
"What in the blazes?" Merlin said. "Who are you to harm a defenseless boy?!"
"Ruthless," the man said with a smile. He leaped from the tree and landed before them, his arm still out with the falcon resting upon. "I must apologize to all of you as the wizard is going nowhere," he said. He stood up as the falcon flew off his arm. "In fact, you are all going nowhere." Four warriors with similar appearances to the man appeared from the shadows, weapons drawn.
---
"I can only imagine what Meg is going to do when she finds out about this," Hercules said, giving an uppercut to the left head of Cerberus. Simba was fighting off the other two heads as Beast handled an attack from a Hydra.
"Just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm an expert on the subject, however," Simba said, slashing the face of the right head. "She'll get over it, when this thing is over."
"The sooner the better," Hercules said, knocking out the left head for good. "The fact that I have to seek the assistance of the one person I wouldn't dare look at only means there's trouble on the horizon."
"Now that I wouldn't disagree with," Simba said, clamping his teeth upon the neck of the right head and slamming it unconscious against the ground. "I have that feeling that something bad might happen back home and I don't wish to be away for too long."
"Can we save such talk for later?!" Beast roared, throwing the entire Hydra against a wall before it dropped into the river of souls. "I wish to get this mission done with."
"I second that," Hercules said, knocking out the last head. "I want this conversation to be as short as possible."
"What, I'm that bad of an uncle?" a familiar voice rang. The three turned to see the throne room and the flaming blue hair of the God sitting upon his throne. Hades was drinking a self-conjured martini. "Look, just because I tried to kill you, take over Mount Olympus, and had your girlfriend's soul be sent down the river doesn't mean I'm not caring, right?"
"He's almost like my own uncle," Simba said with a low growl. "Just without the scar."
"Nice of you to drop by with some fine looking friends you have there," Hades said as the three approached him. "I take it the request for animals for the games are at an all-time high, eh?"
"Cut the wisecrack, Hades," Hercules said. "I'm here against my better wishes and judgment because you can supposedly do something for me."
"Lemme guess," Hades said with a grin, "you're on a mission to save the universe, yet the master of masters can't do anything to keep your body from going ballistic whenever you stepped upon another world."
"That's exactly right," Simba said.
"Don't I win a prize?" Hades joked. "Never mind. I know because ol' Chernabog paid a visit to me the other day with the offer to join his so-called council."
"And we heard you haven't made up your mind," Beast said.
"Bingo, furball," Hades said, sipping his martini. "Maybe I'll decide to join ol' Chernabog, maybe I'll work for you guys. Wouldn't that be fun, Herc? One minute I'm your enemy, the next I'm your ally."
"Why am I not comforted with such a thought?" Hercules said sarcastically.
"But there's a catch to my not making a decision yet," Hades said. "It's called seeing the downside to every plan. If I joined his side and he lost, my status here would be a lot worse than it already is. Banished from ever leaving this dump is bad enough. If I joined your side and you lost, I'll be erased from existence. I'd like to exist if you don't mind. But just because I haven't made my decision doesn't mean I don't want any part in the game of the millennia. If you want my help in any way, shape, or form, you have to do something for me in return."
"Why am I not surprised," Hercules said.
"Oh, it gets better," Hades said. "I'll provide what is needed to make you function properly in the other worlds. You just have to do one simple thing for me."
---
"I do not who you are, ma'am," Captain Hook said in-between sword clashes. "You seem like a worthy opponent, but no one boards my ship and does whatever they wish."
"I do look down upon contravention myself, Captain," Amelia said. "But I am in quite a dilemma, not to mention in a hurry, and it is a necessity. I truly hope you understand. How are you at convincing Mr. Pan about our quandary, Ms. Sinclair?" she called out.
"I don't think either one of us is getting our point across..." Helga shouted back trying not to divert her attention too much.
"Oh, I think I got your point, alright," Peter said, flying around her while clashing swords. "You're tying to pass yourselves off as allies only to kidnap Tinkerbell."
"Listen you adolescent deviant," Helga growled shifting her footing and spinning around to catch him off guard. "If that was what we wanted, trust me, we'd have had her and been gone by now."
Stitch uttered various words that only Amelia could understand as he leapt after Tinkerbell. The fairy was very fast, yet Stitch was determined and was quickly recognizing whatever escape pattern she tried. She was afraid she was going to end up inside his stomach, which he would normally be doing if not for the fact that she was required by the master of masters.
"You guys might wanna hurry up," Mulan called out, fighting off pirates with her sword and kicks. "I'm not having a great amount of luck keeping the kids safe!"
"I'll be right with you in a moment, Ms. Fa," Amelia called out, still clashing swords with Captain Hook. "Well, Captain, I'd love to continue this rather obtuse fight, but I have some innocence to save and you have a date."
"Giving up are we?" Hook said. "And just what do you mean by date?"
"I mean that you have an important rendezvous with a crocodile," she replied. A made a slash and through it connected with Hook's sword, the force knocked him back and he fell off the ship into the water screaming.
Hook began to swim as quickly as possible as the familiar ticking of a clock was heard. "SMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" he screamed. He didn't stop as the crocodile continued to chase him about. Soon, the two disappeared in the distance.
Peter struggled despite being able to fly. Regardless, he continued to clash swords with Helga hoping to find an opening to strike. "Face it, lady," he grinned. "You're just too old to keep up with me. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a wig on your head."
"I've taken down worse than you," Helga hissed. "You just better hope I don't take you over my knee when I do." She swung the sword, causing the impact of the clashing blades to knock Peter back. Helga began to lunge forward when a hand was held up to her.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I believe this skirmish will have to come to a halt," Amelia said.
"Yeah, in a minute," Helga waved her off.
"Well, think about this in that minute," Amelia said. "Hook and his men are singing in the waters and I believe our little fairy friend has given the disheveled creature new meaning to jocularity."
They all looked up to see Stitch floating around upside with Tinkerbell in his hands. Stitch was now floating over the waters and he was beginning to feel frightened about letting the fairy go. Tinkerbell had a grin on her face at seeing her captor's fear of water.
"But..." Helga looked from the floating furball to the arrogant boy, then back to the furball. "Fine," she grumbled. "Looks like your luck held up after all," she added over her shoulder to Peter.
to be continued...
Thanks to GoblinQueeen, who provided the dialogue and some action for Helga.