Fantasia Crisis
By Lord Akiyama
Inspired by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Chapter Eight
---
"We cannot allow them to destroy another influence," Chernabog said, calming his voice from bursting with frustration. "Any more and I shall not gain my full strength to make my claim."
"It is becoming increasingly difficult to counter them, Chernabog," Maleficent said. "This last strike was tricky to identify, especially when it is discovered that they had been shrunken in size."
"Regardless," he said. "I cannot afford another strike. We shall need to secure all the remaining influences and ensure that these strikes never happen again."
"Do we know the location of all these influences of yours?" Jafar asked.
"Nearly all of them," Ursula said. "The Hun and the pirate are locating the remaining influences. This would really be so much better if The Horned King were not looking for this Black Cauldron."
"It has become a necessity," Maleficent said. "The Cauldron Born are an invincible army that no man, mortal or immortal, can defeat. With The Black Cauldron, we can send these armies upon the twelve with ease."
The Firebird appeared with a screeching sound of flame escaping his beak. Chernabog turned to his sphere and looked upon the cry of his servant. "Members of the twelve are on the move," he said.
"Have they located one of the influences?" Maleficent asked.
"No," Chernabog said. "They are not upon a world where an influence of mine is. It appears that they are attending to their end of the deal they made with Hades."
"I suggest we strike them now," Jafar said. "As long as the twelve are in form, they are more than likely to continue causing us problems."
"The vizier is right," Maleficent said. "It is time we eliminate the twelve to ensure your victory over the master of masters."
Chernabog thought about it for a moment. "Very well," he said. " The Firebird shall cut off those of the twelve upon this world. And be quick about this. The sooner we can eliminate the twelve, the better my victory is ensured. Leave now!"
---
"I don't like this," Robin said, climbing the snow covered mountains with ease. "I don't like this one bit. Are you sure about what we are supposed to do, Hercules?"
"Believe me, this is something I didn't want to do myself," Hercules said, lifting himself upward. "Hades said that we are supposed to come to this world and to go to where the light touches the mountain. From where, we're supposed to retrieve some spirit amongst the sea of spirits. His word, not mine."
"Maybe The Spring Sprite will have a better understanding of what to do once we're up there," Beast said. "I'm sure you all agree with me in that the sooner we can get this thing over with, the better."
The Spring Sprite looked nervous as the four of them continued to ascend the mountain. In time, they made it to the top and found themselves in awe of what they saw before them. The lights were of tremendous beauty and they could see the many spirits within.
"Wow," Robin whispered. "This is some sight, lads. I'm sure the others would love to see this."
They all continued to stare in awe, especially The Spring Sprite. She saw many other spirits, unlike any she had ever seen. It was truly a wonder to behold. Suddenly, she looked away. Something was here. She slowly turned to see The Firebird perched upon the end of the mountain top, staring at her with narrowed eyes. Seconds later, The Firebird swiftly flew toward her.
---
"They've been attacked?" Amelia said. "Yen Sid, you must send us to rescue them and swiftly!"
"There's something wrong with this," the master of masters whispered.
"Of course there's something wrong," Aladdin yelled. "Four of our own is being attacked."
"There's something else wrong, Aladdin," Yen Sid said. "It has to do with where they are at."
"What could be more threatening than that creature attacking?" Mulan cried.
Yen Sid studied the sphere carefully, ignoring the pleas of the others. He squinted further, hoping to catch every detail. Moments later, his eyes shot wide open. "Hades, what have you done?" he whispered.
---
"No," Chernabog said. "No, no, no, NO!!! Curse you, Hades! He shall die a thousand deaths!"
"What is going on?" Maleficent asked. "What has Hades done?"
"Those spirits," Chernabog said. "Disrupting them will disrupt the entire balance of the worlds. And with The Spring Sprite and The Firebird there... The Firebird must be called back."
"What do you mean?" Jafar said. "Why should you call him back when he is surely about to destroy The Spring Sprite?"
"That was what Hades wanted all along!" Chernabog yelled. "Destroying The Spring Sprite amongst the spirits will more than disrupt the balance of the worlds. They will crash together! RETURN TO ME, MY SERVANT!"
---
"Oh my God," Robin whispered. He looked in horror as The Firebird had dug both ends of his wings into the heart of The Spring Sprite. The Sprite barely made a sound, staring into the eyes of her murderer. She shook lightly as the lava began to overtake her body. The Firebird grinned with pleasure, watching his adversity covered in his own madness.
"No," Hercules whispered. "No, this can't be happening."
The sprite was completely covered in lava as The Firebird positioned himself to strike her down. Suddenly, her eyes began to glow. The Firebird arched his eyebrows, unsure of what is happened. Suddenly, a burst of light exploded in-between them, causing them both to fly backward. The other three covered their eyes as quickly as possible. Moments later, everything was engulfed in light.
---
"HADES!!!"
The door was burst opened as Chernabog fell to the ground, groaning in immense pain. Smoke was steaming out of his body as he began to crawl toward the throne of Hades. Hades watched as he sipped from the glass of a self-conjured martini.
"Chernabog, babe," Hades said, "didn't you know smoking was bad for your body?"
"I... shall... KILL YOU!!!" Chernabog muttered as he edged closer to Hades.
"Perhaps," Hades said, "perhaps not. You see, you have the power to destroy me alright. But you can't control it yet, am I right?"
"What... in Heaven's name... have you done..." another voice sounded. Hades looked up to see an exhausted Yen Sid slowly approach through the broken door. "What... what was all... all of this for..."
"The master of masters," Hades said, "we finally meet. Glad to see you're at least familiar with my work, hopefully you were impressed."
"Impressed..." Yen Sid gasped. "... what have you done to all the worlds?"
"What don't the two of you have a seat in my nice, comfy chairs and I'll tell you everything you need to know," he said with a grin. He snapped his fingers and two leather chairs were conjured. Feeling no choice, Yen Sid and Chernabog sat themselves in the chairs. Yen Sid exhaled whereas Chernabog moaned.
"You blasted fool," Chernabog muttered. "You know well that when I have restored myself I shall kill you more times then it is possible."
"No doubt, devil man," Hades said. "So, who wants to hear a great fairy tale? I bet you'll like it. It's about these two ridicules creatures, one a devil, the other a wizard. They gather together warriors to play a game of war with the winner deciding the fate of all worlds. If the devil won, he would rule them all. If the wizard won, peace would be eternal lasting.
"But they seemed to have made one small error in their calculations. Everything has a downside. Now, there is a middle man in this game they play. And like every other game, the middle man is holding the deck."
"And... you think that... by being... the middle man... you would... easily... take over... the worlds..." Yen Sid ask.
"Please," Hades said. "Like I said, everything has a downside. The downside to joining Chernabog and losing would be banishment far worse than I was. I don't like that. The downside to joining Yen Sid and losing would be my existence erased. I'd like to exist, thank you very much. The downside to being the middle man would be that I don't get to be in a position of being the supreme ruler. I'd love to do that, but I have to consider that such an attempt would be crazy because you two are more powerful than me and you will recover."
"You won't be saved just because you think you're the middle mad, Hades," Chernabog growled.
"Destroying me would be a very bad idea as well," Hades said.
"And why... is that..." Yen Sid asked.
"Because within me is the soul of the only world that remains," Hades said. "When the balance was disrupted, the worlds collided with one another to form one world. And talk about your chaotic messes, boy. It's like there was a bad party and the fish got away with it. Any ways, the point is that being the middle man I am in the position of deciding the fate of this world. If the world is destroyed, we're all dead. Simple as that, right Chernabog?"
"I swear, Hades," Chernabog muttered. "I swear I will eventually kill you."
"Remember, kill me and you kill everything," Hades said. "Now, here's how we're gonna play the game, gentlemen. If you haven't noticed already, time moved very quickly when the balance was disrupted. It's been two years since. I have possession of the soul of the world, and I will give it to the winner. For Chernabog to win, he will have to kill Yen Sid and the twelve at full strength. For Yen Sid to win, the twelve need to weaken Chernabog for the master of masters to imprison him forever."
"The... stipulations..." Yen Sid said.
"That's right," Hades grinned, "there is a stipulation. And the stipulation is me. I am assured that you will leave me alone and grant my one request or I destroy the soul of the world. If Chernabog wins, I am allowed in your council and am able to make decisions. If Yen Sid wins, my banishment is lifted and I get to return to the surface and to Mount Olympus. And just because I give you the soul when you win doesn't mean I can do something like snapping my fingers to cause the soul to be destroyed if you do not carry out my request. Same applied to my wanting to be left alone. Are we clear?"
"One... question..." Yen Sid said. "... Why..."
"Because if I hadn't," Hades said, "you both would've just messed with me. And I have had it with everyone messing with me. First it was my father, then it was my brother, then his son, and now you two. I won't tolerate even the strongest creatures in the entire universe to mess with me any longer. So now I'm running the show. It's as simple as that."
---
His eyes began to slowly open. There was grass everywhere. Above him was a perfect blue sky with a cloud here and there. He slowly pushed himself off the ground and looked around. He saw a familiar figure and walked toward it. "Hey," he began to say. "You're... you're the apprentice, right?"
"Yeah," Mickey said with a nervous chuckle. "Glad you're awake. He wants to talk to you."
"Where is he?" he asked. He stopped for a moment and then thought about it. He turned and faced the master of masters, who was sitting upon a rock.
"I... do not have... a lot of time... to explain... right now," Yen Sid said. "I do not... have... enough energy... and I... must... recover..."
"What happened?" he asked. "Where are we?"
"All... I will say... for now... is that... there is now... only one... world..." Yen Sid said. "You must... find... the others... Simba..."
Simba nodded. "Where can I find them?" he asked.
"They have... been... scattered..." Yen Sid said. "You... have been... asleep... for two years... because... she could not... possess you... successfully..."
"What do you mean?" Simba asked.
"Allow me to finish for the master," Mickey said. "He needs his rest and talking only slows his recovery. Maleficent has taken possession of the others. Additionally, everyone and everything has been altered drastically when the worlds became one. Maleficent could not possess you because you and those in your world were unaffected by the balance disruption. Disrupting the balance alters the reality of those who are easily affected. The master and I are among the few, like yourself, who could not be affected."
"So if Maleficent has taken possession of the others, how am I supposed to free them?" Simba asked.
"The master would know, but he needs the rest," Mickey said. "If he cannot recover before Chernabog does, we're in big trouble. Unfortunately, you will have to figure out how to release the possession on your own. You have to do it fast, too, if you all are to weaken Chernabog for the master to imprison."
"What about The Spring Sprite?" Simba asked. "She was attacked and maybe destroyed before this colliding of the worlds happened. How are the twelve supposed to be if she doesn't exist?"
"The Spring Sprite isn't just a spirit of seasonal spring," Mickey said. "She is the spirit of life and rebirth. Don't worry, she will return. Until then, you have to find the others. The nearest one is in a village not far from here. I don't know who it is, but it doesn't matter. Save the others and await for The Spring Sprite to be reborn. We don't have a whole lot of time."
"What about those from my world?" Simba quickly said before Mickey went off to his master. "What happened to them?"
"They probably scattered, too," Mickey said. "Everything has been altered drastically except for you and those in your world. But that doesn't mean they're safe. If you find them, go ahead and save them, but be swift about it. You're primary mission is to retrieve the others and await for the rebirth of The Spring Sprite. Then you shall strike Chernabog. We cannot delay any further, you must be off."
Simba didn't move when Mickey walked over to his master. Simba watched as the two disappeared before his eyes. He stood there for a moment, not doing anything. He then sighed and looked in the air.
"Father," he said, "I hope you're up there. I am in desperate need of your guidance." He looked back down upon the road, sighed, and began to walk.
to be continued...