Fantasia Crisis
By Lord Akiyama
Inspired by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Chapter Fourteen
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"The woman is still becoming a problem," Maleficent said. "I still cannot figure her out. It is as though she is properly reacting to my commands, but it is all just a ploy. Maybe I should just release my lock and let that man do away with her. She is beginning to take up too much of my concentration to hold."
"Try to hold it on a little longer," Chernabog said. "You know what she will do when she is no longer under your possession and we do not want that to happen. Especially when the others are getting close."
"Yes, it is getting very difficult indeed to get rid of them," a familiar voice sounded. They both turned to see the smirk face of The Horned King. "My apologizes for being so late, Chernabog. I was having great difficulty locating The Black Cauldron, especially after the balance disruption two years ago."
"Oh, we were so worried about you," Maleficent said sarcastically. "We were wondering when you were finally going to reveal yourself before us."
"That I can see," The Horned King said. "Your control over the twelve has become very success on your own, no doubt." He chuckled as he watched the rage within Maleficent rise. "Dear me, is that a scar upon your cheek?" Maleficent turned and was prepared to attack.
"Enough!" Chernabog commanded. "Maleficent, settle down and concentrate. You say you had difficulty locating The Black Cauldron, Horned King. Why is it that I do not see it before me?"
"Patience," The Horned King said. "It is of great virtue, I do believe. The Black Cauldron fell beneath the cracks of the earth and into a... thriving society unaffected by the alterations of the balance disruption. My presence there alone will surely cause me additional difficulty in retrieving our greatest weapon. Therefore, I must request your servant The Firebird for assistance."
"Are you quite certain you cannot retrieve The Black Cauldron alone?" Chernabog asked.
"Very so," The Horned King nodded. "Though I am strong, I am not powerful enough to defend myself from their... weapons. They would harm me, but they would be nothing more than a tickle for The Firebird."
"Very well," Chernabog said. "But I have lost contact with The Firebird since the balance disruption."
"Oh, you do not have to worry," The Horned King chuckled. "I do believe I know where he be."
---
"Are you still sure it was wise to leave them on the ship?" Amelia asked, walking down the path with Robin and Simba.
"I'm sure they are more than capable of taking care of themselves," Robin grinned.
"I'm more concerned about the possibility of an extirpation of the ship," Amelia said. Simba couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. It was more than possible with Stitch back to his normal self.
"Well, then I guess we better--" Robin stopped in mid sentence and began to sniff the air. "Something is burning," he said. It was then that Amelia noticed the red dot on the device.
"Look likes we found our other companion," she said as the three began to jog further on the path. "I wonder what kind of situation this one has placed themselves in."
They run up until they could see the center of a village. It appeared that all the villagers were gathered, yelling that what was taking place was cruel and inhumane. Robin looked closer to see a post and stacks of branches being thrown at the foot. "It's a public execution," he said. "The officials are going to burn someone and the crowd doesn't like it one bit."
"I can only guess who is going to get burned," Amelia said. "One of our own."
"You're right about that," Robin said. "It's Helga."
"This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it," Simba said.
Helga threw the whole of her weight against her assailants. Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength left at this point for much of a fight. Still, she wasn't going to make it easy on them.
"This is ridiculous!" she shouted again, though her voice was already becoming hoarse and the stench of the burning fuel wasn't helping. Shouting wasn't likely to do much good, anyhow. This guy was certifiably insane.
She was getting tied to the post when he appeared. The crowd grew louder and acted more aggressive. They hated him, but they felt helpless against him. All they could do was voice their displeasure. There was a smile on his face seeing her about to burn. "The prisoner, who refuses to name herself, has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft," he called to the public. "The sentence. DEATH!"
The crowd yelled some more, a few going as far as to throw things at him and ended up missing. He smirked as he walked over to the prisoner. "The time has come, nameless one," he said. "You stand on the brink of the abyss."
Helga's bare wrists twisted against the hemp rope pinning her in place. If she could only pull them free, she'd show him the brink of the abyss...
As it was, her lips curled instinctively in a snarl. "You're making a huge mistake," she tried again.
"Is that so," he said. "Why, it wasn't you who I caught red handed performing your wicked deeds? You can plead your case all you want, nameless one. You are going to die. Do you have anything to say before you burn?"
"See you in Hell," Helga hissed in a low voice, her dark eyes narrowed beneath the loose cascades of hair.
"If you insist," he grinned. "Bring forth the other!" The guards then brought a second. Only she was crying her eyes out, tears flowing endlessly down her cheeks. The crowd became rather silent when they saw the second prisoner. They were not sure how to make out someone who seemed human, but did not appear so.
"Marian!" Robin whispered.
"What was that?" Simba asked, who didn't hear what Robin said. All of a sudden, he watched Robin quickly running to down the path and then leaping off to the side. "Robin! What are you doing?"
"Please!" she cried. "Please, I'm not a witch!"
"If you speak the truth than you are wearing nothing more than a mask," he said, placing his hand on her tear soaked cheek. "Remove your mask and you are free to go."
"It's real!" she said. "But I'm not a witch! Please! I have done nothing!"
Helga pulled even harder at the ropes. There wasn't much time left.
"Get away from her you monster," she muttered, her voice full of resonate anger. "There's no point in torturing her last few minutes."
"Please..." Marian sobbed, her crying overtaking her voice. "I have done nothing..."
"The woman has refused to recant," he said, turning to the crowd "These evil witches have put the soul of every citizen in this village in awful jeopardy."
"Lies!" a voice within the crowd cried. Many turned to see a man wearing a mask stand upon a rock. "You may have a title, but you do not speak for the people, Judge Claude Frollo," he continued. "You speak for your own satisfaction! If you dare burn them alive, we shall make you pay for your hideous crimes against the innocent!"
"Pathetic words from a fool," Frollo shot back. "Under whose authority do you dare speak such abomination toward me?! You are nothing more than a ridicules gypsy!"
Robin tied very long pieces of rope to two arrows and shot them upon a very tall building. Tall enough so that he could swing to the center of the village. Amelia and Simba caught up to him just as he was tugging on the rope.
"Are you crazy?" Amelia said. "There has got to be a better way to approach this."
"We can't get down there fast enough to keep the fire from burning them," Robin said, in a near state of fear and panic. "This is the only way. And it has to work."
"I am not swinging over a hard surface again," Simba said. "I had too much excitement the first time."
"Then stay," Robin said. "I need someone here to protect Marian any way when I get her free. Amelia can take the second rope to save Helga."
"You know this is going to get very ugly very quickly," Amelia said, grabbing hold of the second rope.
"It got ugly the minute I saw her," he said.
"For justice, for our village, and for their own salvation," Frollo called, a lit torch in his hand, "it is my sacred duty to send these unholy demons back where they belong." With a smile on his face, he lit the stack of branches underneath the women's feet. Slowly, the fire began to burn the branches. Marian began to scream.
Helga's face had turned up to the mysterious voice in the crowd. She could feel the rope cutting into her wrists as she pulled, but she couldn't give up now that there was some hope.
That was when Frollo lit the fire. The heat searing against her legs was indescribable. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. No matter what, she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. The smoke curled higher and higher, choking the air out of her lungs as the fire caused the world in front of her to blur.
"MARIAN!" a voice cried in the distance.
Marian opened her tear-filled eyes and looked up in the distance. "Robin?" she whispered. She watched as a figure appeared from the sky, sword in hand, jumping to the square and clashing swords with the guards. "ROBIN!" she cried. Robin knocked the guards off the square and with one swift cut slashed through the ropes that tied the women down.
Amelia swung in to grab hold of Helga and pull away from the fire. Robin carried Marian in one and grabbed one of the ropes in another and swung himself up back to Simba. Amelia drew her sword, moving Helga around to give her air, as she began to clash swords.
"What the devil is going on here?!" Frollo cried.
Helga coughed as she tried to force the fresh air back into her lungs.
"I'd like to know myself," she muttered in astonishment as she saw her rescuer appeared to be a large... cat-like... thing. Half of her wondered if she was hallucinating but... no, there was something familiar...
"Captain?" she questioned.
"In the flesh, Ms. Sinclair," Amelia said in-between sword clashes. "Are you able to move well enough to fight these harlequins?"
"Does that matter?" Helga sneered snatching up a fallen spear off the ground and joining in.
"Oh Robin, my love," Marian cried upon Robin's chest. "Robin, I missed you so."
"I missed you too, Marian," he said. "But I must return to the others and help them out."
"Robin, please," she pleaded. "I thought I lost you forever when you went away. I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me, my love," he whispered. "I shall return. I promise. The lion shall help protect you while I'm down there. I won't be gone for long."
Marian nodded before placing a kiss upon his lips. "I love you, Robin," she whispered.
"I love you, Marian," he whispered back before swinging back into the action. The rope began to burn, noticing that it made contact with the other rope which had been lit by the guards below. Robin leaped from the rope and landed on the guards. He clashed swords and would occasionally fire his arrows.
"Don't just stand there you idiots," Frollo cried. "Kill them!"
"Sorry, had other plans," Helga smirked twirling the spear lightly in her hand before swinging the blunt end hard into his stomach.
"God, that felt good," she whispered under her breath.
She felt someone coming up behind her and crouched down a bit before flinging them over her shoulder into
another pair of charging soldiers.
"I don't suppose you bothered to think of a plan to get us out of here before you came barreling in," she shouted over the din to Amelia.
"Don't look at me," Amelia smirked. "The fox with the bow and arrow is the one you should be asking. He's the one jumping into the thick of things to save his lover."
"And I'd gladly do it again, ladies," Robin called. "The crowd doesn't seem to like the guards very much so make for the crowd and start running like hell up the path. Simba and Marian will be waiting for us."
"Great, and I was just feeling like a nice jog," Helga muttered rolling her eyes. "Coming?" she called to Amelia, using the spear to vault her way into the crowd.
"Right ahead of you, Ms. Sinclair," Amelia said, leaping over the others into the crowd.
"Don't you dare allow them to escape!" Frollo cried to the guards.
"Defend the innocence!" the gypsy cried. As the guards charged after the three, the crowd charged after the guards. Chaos ensued as the gypsy looked to find the three heroes emerge. "The path lies this way," he said. "Quickly before Frollo gets to his horse."
"Wait, just why should we trust you?" Helga asked indignantly, catching her breath.
"We don't have time to argue, we're going on the same path any way!" Amelia yelled. They began to run with the gypsy tagging along. Amelia looked back to see Frollo mounting his horse. "I'd move those feet faster if I were you."
"Up here, come on!" Simba yelled with Marian upon his back. "I've got room for one more, Helga, so you better hop on quick before I start making for the ship."
"Robin, hurry!" Marian cried as Simba began to turn toward the path.
Under any other circumstances, she would have flat out refused, but right now, Helga had to admit she'd never be able to keep pace otherwise. She reluctantly made a leap for Simba's back, clutching at the fur to stay on as he continued to race along. " We will never speak of this again, understood?"
"I'll agree to that," Simba called back. They began to run quickly as Amelia turned her head. Frollo was having trouble passing through the crowd, but he got through nonetheless. He quickened his pace to catch up to the group.
Marian began to panic and look around. She noticed up ahead a log. "Um," she tried to say quickly, "Mr. Lion..."
"Call me Simba," he said. "And yes, I see what you're seeing." Simba picked up the pace and snatched the log of the ground and toss it up. Marian caught the log and tossed it around Helga. The log connected against Frollo, who was clutching hard upon the reigns, dragging his horse down with him.
"Well done, my love!" Robin called, smiles on his and her faces.
"The ship is up ahead!" Amelia yelled. "Ariel! Tell the crew to set sail immediately! We're gonna leap on board!"
"We're going to what?!" Helga shouted. "I think I've brushed with death enough for one night thank you!"
"Believe me, you're not the only one," Simba called back. "But we don't have much of a choice."
They ran faster and soon they began to leap into the air. Marian gasped and nearly closed her eyes before they all crashed onto the deck. Ariel ran down to check on the others as they groaned themselves up into a sitting position.
"Second time you fell onto a ship, Simba," Ariel tried to joke.
"Oh, I'm sure Timon would be proud," he chuckled through the minor sting.
Helga stayed where she was on the deck of the ship, staring up into the masts where the crew was already bustling about. "Since when did you get a ship?" she mussed aloud. "And a crew?"
"Crew is mine," Amelia said. "Ship is being borrowed from Captain Hook. Course we had to force him to lend it to us by knocking him into the water. By the way, good sir. We thank you for helping us rally the crowd back there, Mister..."
"Clopin," the gypsy said, lying on his back. "I am Clopin, and it was more than enough I could do for you. His mistreatment of others different from his ideals have gone on for too long and am generously glad you came along to disrupt his chaos."
"I wish I could say happy to oblige," Helga muttered examining her bruised wrists and slightly burnt skin.
"Well, I guess this is a good time as any for all of you to rest," Ariel said, hoping to turn the mood happy. "The others are upon another land, right?"
"That is correct, Ariel," Amelia sighed. "I believe it is a four day journey to..." She paused for a moment and looked to see Robin and Marian in an embrace. Marian crying upon Robin's shoulder, Robin looking to appear as though he too could shed tears. This brought a smile to her face.
Simba smiled as well upon seeing this. "Maybe we should give them some time alone," he suggested. "I'm sure we could get Helga something to eat."
"Thanks, but a change of clothes would be more preferable," Helga quirked an eyebrow. "White just really isn't my color..."
to be continued...
Thanks to GoblinQueeen, who provided the dialogue and some action for Helga.