Chapter 23: Villainapolis
When Audrey's slumber started to be interrupted by the feeling of fancy fabrics resting underneath her head and over her body, her first thought was the dreadful possibility that she was going to wake up in Auradon, find everybody else hating her, and be horrified to learn that her adventures and her friends were nothing but a dream. However, when her nose picked up the lavender fragrance of the pillows, she was relieved. She never fragranced her bed with lavender but with chamomile.
Audrey cautiously opened her eyes and saw that she had been placed in a silver canopy bed decorated by lilac-colored bedsheets, the bed itself being twice the size of her old one back in Auradon. How long she had slept, she wasn't sure, but considering how she felt no pain while sitting on the cushy mattress, her best guess was 'a long time'. Audrey felt her cheeks burning and covered herself: her body was covered in bandages and whoever treated her hadn't bothered to cover her.
"Relax, you're still a virgin."
Audrey quickly wrapped herself in the bedsheets when she heard a person speaking to her, but found herself relieved when she saw Jessie lying on a leathered sectional lounge seat and reading a magazine. Instead of the wild style she had back in the arena, she wore something more formal in a red-and-black tuxedo and purple diamond patterned necktie. She didn't wear her mask, but Audrey let out a gasp when she saw the scars that were most likely hidden by her mask when she first met Jessie. Now she knew why. Even with that clown white skin of hers, Jessie's scars were still dark enough for people to see that they formed the word 'BASTARD' and it was a miracle that they didn't interact with her eyes.
"Who did that to you?" Audrey asked.
"My dad the first time I met him." Jessie put down the magazine on the glass coffee table that stood next to the loveseat. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine… I guess. How long was I out?" Audrey then paid more attention to where she was: a penthouse four times taller than her old room, only three of the walls were actually massive windows that revealed the sun setting over a massive city. The one white wall in the room had four small levels that were connected by a circular staircase made of amethyst steps. The first level had a bar and counter, complete with stools, the second was one heck of a walking closet, the third level had small cushioned chairs facing a television and surrounded by DVDs, and the last level had what appeared to be a DJ booth. On the main floor where Audrey and Jessie were located was spread out a variety of luxurious items: leathered seats spread here and there, amethyst lamps, a piano resting by a corner, a dining table, a sparkling clean kitchen, and a circular bathtub based in the floor by one of the windows. Princess Noir was just finishing pouring in some sort of soap from a bottle and began to turn on the bubble-function. Bubbles of rainbow hues started floating their way out, and the presence of six other bottles suggested that the princess really wanted to create a scented bath.
"Eh, you know." Jessie shrugged. "Long enough to take you to our complex, get one of Noir's medics to treat you, get a more efficient one because Lokisdottir really did a number on you, put you under anesthesia so you could sleep, organize your fan mail, and now ripping our hair because at the last minute, Noir's mom decided to organize a cocktail party. So yeah, you've been out for six… seven hours. Noir, what time is it?"
"5:30pm." Noir picked up the bottles and put them away in a cabinet close to the bathtub. "Get out of bed. I'm not having you go to my mom's party smelling like sewage."
Audrey looked at Jessie, who gave her a head gesture encouraging her that ignoring Noir would be a bad idea. Why somebody would put a bathtub in the floor of the same location as the bed, Audrey didn't know, but she dragged herself to stand on the cold floor. Her hands still gripped on the sheets to cover herself.
"Hurry up already!" Noir was getting impatient. "We've already seen your Daphne the Nymph physique, so stop acting like a freaking ingenue!" A purple light show seemed to crawl its way through her eyes, scaring Audrey to run, throw the sheets on the ground, and place herself in the tub.
"Geez, Noir, give her a break!" Jessie got up from the couch. "She just dealt with Lokisdottir beating her like shit for no reason!"
"Whatever! You help her clean while I go get her a cocktail dress! Soon as she's dolled up, we go ASAP! My mom will KILL me if we're even three seconds late!" Noir made a run for the stairs to the second level, where she spent the next minutes frustratingly going over the outfits and accessories.
"Is she OK?" Audrey asked. She winced a bit at the tingling feeling the bath's water was giving to her skin. She didn't know what sorts of soaps Noir had put to give the bath the rainbow bubbles, but Audrey was almost overwhelmed by how they smelled like she had just stepped in the world's biggest flower shop for fragrant flowers.
"She went through a lot today." Jessie sat on the ground, still giving her a dominating appearance over Audrey. "Most of our plan was a waste of time, we had to deal with both fixing you and making sure her boyfriend recovered, and of course, her mom. Rich supervillains have a tendency of throwing parties to celebrate new recruits in gangs, especially if it's their kids' gangs. So imagine Noir's mom, one of the most important figures of town, seeing an insanely powerful mage who rivaled a demigoddess and joined the ranks of her own daughter's gang, reacts. Naturally, she's going to want to show it off by throwing a massive party at her place. And Noir, a total make-mommy-proud chick, is paranoid."
At this rate, Audrey might as well think that Villainapolis was the over-luxurious counterpart of the Isle of the Lost, where the locals were bloodthirsty and wilder. Oh, and a 'demigoddess' was basically Mal's evil counterpart, if you remove the old 'make-mommy-proud' behavior Mal once had and put it in the paranoid princess counterpart of Evie.
Jessie passed her a sponge, which Audrey proceeded to use to scrub herself. "I won't lie, it was amazing how you almost matched Lokisdottir. Like I said, a bunch of supervillains sent you some fan mail while you were sleeping. A lot of flowers and retail… and also some cards begging for a date before Lokisdottir ruins you."
"Excuse me?" Audrey nearly hissed and squeezed the fluids out of her sponge.
"Let me rephrase. Not a lot of people are known for getting her attention and seen again. We either never see the people they used to be… or they're just gone forever."
"I don't even know what her problem is with that so-called demigoddess…"
"Dude, are you slow-minded?" Jessie nearly sounded exasperated. "Her last name is Lokisdottir. Literally the way of saying Loki's daughter! She's the half-mortal, half-immortal bastard of the Nordic God of Mischief Loki. She basically lives for chaos and self-entertainment, which, you know, is a massive insult to injury for a decent supervillain."
"Jessie, get her a towel! I got her a dress!" Noir called out.
"Already on it!" Jessie merely grabbed the discarded bedsheets and handed them to Audrey after the latter stepped out of the tub.
"I thought that villains enjoyed tormenting people," Audrey said in a confused tone as she rubbed herself dry.
"Yeah, but with professionalism. A decent supervillain does evil for valid reasons. Most people here would tell you shit like 'I do this to get rich', 'I want to be on top of the social food chain', 'I want to get revenge on this douchebag', or even the frequent 'I'm an extremist but hey, I do this because I think I'm well-intentioned'. But villains like Kory Lokisdottir? It's basically 'I like being evil because it's fun and I treat anyone beneath me like shit or make them my personal toys.'"
"You know what I heard my mother tell the Bloody Countess once back when I was ten? Apparently, that she-demon's idea of being a 'daddy's girl' was to ditch him in the rock the Asgardians had him chained on while everybody else ran away from the Auradonians." Noir came down carrying a dress. "He's probably still out there, screaming his life out while a serpent drools venom over his face."
"And Kory just left him there?" Audrey couldn't believe it.
"I know!" Jessie rolled her eyes. "The irony is that he spoiled her during who cares when her childhood was, whereas my boss…"
"Penna De Mort?"
"Yeah. Her old man was worse than mine. Literally never gave her one fucking grain of love, practically saw her as only a weapon he could dispose of once he was done, and long story short, unlike Kory, my boss had every reason to imprison him in limbo."
"OK, we can keep talking about this, but we really got to get going!" Noir shoved the dress and accessories she had selected for Audrey. "Put these on now! Jessie can help you with your hair; I got to make sure we all leave in time to catch the bus!"
"Why don't we take the limo?" Jessie asked.
"On rush hour? After the afternoon mayhem the Possible Parliament and the Akuma Associates caused during their turf war northeast? Traffic will be terrible!"
The sight of the clothing made Audrey feel the energy flushing through her. The dress Noir had selected for Audrey was a pink lemonade sheer dress covered in black lace forming patterns of bird feathers and roses. The skirt of the dress was clearly past knee-level, but what caused Audrey such a turmoil was that despite the black lace, the pink sheer was obviously see-through. And Noir had provided an underwear matching the lace, a black choker with a pink rose, silver finger bracelets, a phoenix hairclip, and black ankle strapped heels. Audrey shot a glance at Jessie, who merely gave her a head shake to say that it was better to give Noir what she wanted than to get her more paranoid. So in the next five or ten minutes, while Noir was downstairs checking on the others, Jessie had helped Audrey put on the dress.
"I feel exposed," Audrey said in embarrassment.
"Nah. That sort of get up is popular at parties, and since it's a high-class shindig, they'll think you look like a pop singer slash supermodel. Oh, that reminds me… Don't freak out…"
"Why would I freak out?" Audrey managed to put on the choker on her neck.
"Uh… Well, your fight with Lokisdottir did lead to a lot of… exposure from that weird magic of hers, and when the medics took care of you, they kinda, totally, unintentionally ruined your hair dye…" To give her a sense of what she was talking about, Jessie ushered Audrey to the vanity mirror closest to the tub. Sure enough, Audrey was alarmed by the sudden appearance she hadn't seen in a long while.
Her blonde hair with blue and pink dyes had been replaced with her natural, chocolate brown hair that waved its way down her chest. Damn, she had almost forgotten she was born that way.
"If it makes you feel better, I prefer you with brown hair. The former hairstyle was too much like my mom's. Plus, it's common fact that supervillains really dig powerful brunettes…" Jessie passed a makeup kit to Audrey, so while the walking harlequin took care of tightening Audrey's hair into a bun that she clasped onto the back of her head with the phoenix hairclip, Audrey observed her reflection as she and it put on makeup the way Ozzy had shown her. Noir came in a few seconds later, just in time to see Jessie help Audrey strap her shoes on.
"What do you think?" Jessie presented Audrey.
"Like a doll that's going to murder a bunch of assholes," Noir smirked. "My mom won't be dissatisfied. Can we go now?"
Minutes later
Noir preferred to save the introductions to the rest of her gang after everyone had gotten onto the silver bus that arrived at full speed in front of her complex. It was a miracle that the bus didn't crash into any jaywalkers at the speed it was using.
Despite how fast it was, Audrey nearly lost her eyeballs when she saw Villainapolis. Noir's complex was pretty tall and Audrey had assumed the buildings she spotted from the penthouse were also of the same height, but as it turned out, the 45-foot tall complex had been standing on a hill overlooking a massive city of multicolored metal buildings, and with all the lights turned on at various heights, it almost looked as if stars were emerging from the ground. In the distance, mountains circulated around the perimeter and there was the hint of suburbs based between the mountains and downtown. Streets, sidewalks, and other ways of transportation were elevated by glass pillars; when the bus drove on one of them, Audrey couldn't even tell where the ground level was. For all she knew, the underworld could be resting at the roots of the wisteria trees that were almost a quarter of the skyscrapers' heights.
Macabretown was spooky and the Troll Lands were festive. Villainapolis, on the other hand, looked like the combination of an elite, luxurious society merged with the apocalypse. Despite the beautiful buildings and advanced technology, there was the presence of some old-buildings with barbed fences, block-sized wastelands of ruins, ashes, smoke, or floods, and of course, the signs that indicated that most of the population was evil.
Doom's Latverian Academy. We mean DOCTOR Doom, not Judge Doom.
Associate. We approve an organization for homicidal artificial intelligences.
Hugo Strange, therapist for the deranged.
Iceberg Lounge.
League of Assassins.
Immediate Murder Professionals. Demon clientele exclusive.
Adagio Dazzle's Musical Theater. Enjoy sirens while strangling the person sitting next to you.
Doc Oc. (Who cares what he does, he's insane!)
Nine Realms Club. Party all you can and lose your existence should you meet the owner!
Porn Studio Theaters. Single parents or people suffering lousy relationships, Lucifer sends you this present!
Hawkmoth's Butterfly Conservatorium. Will personally akumatize anyone at your request!
Aunt Figg's Bank. Guaranteed to keep your beautiful money safe.
Bergen's and Troll's. For the millionth time, WE DO NOT SERVE CANNIBALS!
WARNING! Parademons and Paradooms are dumber than birds and will crash on your windows! BUY PARA-ANYTHING-PROOF GLASS ASAP!
And as if to go right on cue, two Parademons crashed onto one of the windows closest to Audrey and the others on the bus. The vehicle didn't even flinch, and when the bus stopped at the next red light, the driver stepped out to menace the beasts with his taser gun. After they flew away, he proceeded to wipe the blood off the window and got back in the bus just in time for the red light to turn green.
"How often does that happen?" Audrey gulped.
"On Tuesdays like this? At least 5 buses in town get lucky enough to wipe away some blood." Hyde Dent kept flipping a coin in his hands. The nineteen-year-old delinquent disturbed Audrey: his right side wore half of a blue pinstripe suit with white fur on his collar and sleeve, an evening shoe, and a black glove, his brown hair was gelled back, and he had a glyph tattoo just underneath his brown eye. His left side was a nightmare carrying a torn jean, a combat boot, half of an orange snowboarding jacket covered in typography patches, a white glove, his gelled hair was blonde with a silver streak, and the remaining half of his face had a burned purple hue. "The other 5 might just be lucky enough to have some passengers alive."
"What's our odds?" Noir casually asked. "I'd prefer that we make it to my mother's event on time without looking like dismembered vagrants."
Hyde flipped his coin and the trinket landed on heads on his white gloved hand. "Favorable again."
"Then one of these next days are bound to be shit." The only other guy of the gang, Eduard Nygma (everyone in the gang called him Eddie), spoke up sarcastically. Contrary to hide, he preferred to dress more gentlemanly than the former, although his choices of bright green waistcoats and pants and purple shirts was almost too much for the eyes and Audrey wasn't sure why, but Eddie was obsessed with having golden cuffs and buttons shaped like a question mark. Eddie was sitting next to Penny Cobblepot, his girlfriend with a keen taste in black-and-white Lolita dresses, wool tights, high heeled oxford boots, white gloves, a monocle, and fancy umbrellas.
"Don't jinx it, Eddie!" Noir pointed a menacing finger at him. "They'd better announce us as tomorrow's permitted! I'm not letting some wannabe take what will expand my turf!"
"Right." Besides Noir, Jessie, and Penny (we're not counting Audrey), the only other girl engaged in the conversation was the white-haired Iclyn Lincoln, who seemed more interested in playing a game on her phone. She almost reminded Audrey of Queen Elsa if the latter was paler and wore blue corsets over dark-colored tunics and knee-high boots. Contrary to the others, Iclyn made no efforts to doll herself. "Because every single gang in town are full of wannabes. Claiming turf should be so easy!"
Audrey felt like rolling her eyes. This was basically the VKs all over again, except these were more cursing-prone, violent, and talking about vile things like teens discussing the next fad while drinking smoothies at the mall. So far, the only one Audrey could really seem to tolerate was Jessie. The latter had put her mask back on to cover the scars. They eventually reached the sign of town where skyscrapers became scarce and an assortment of mansions, towers, and a castle here and there stood out. Vast gardens were surrounded by stone walls, the sidewalks were shaded by wisteria trees decorated by string lights, and the bus passed a roundabout where some drunkards gathered at a fountain filled with green water. Whoever jumped in it came out laughing insanely. The sight of the fountain actually made Jessie shrink in her seat.
"Reminder, people. My mom's throwing this shindig in my gang's honor!" Noir pointed out. "So please, restrain yourself! Hyde, Eddie, no mind games! Penny, restrain your fauna-loving antics and save them for the next turf clash; then you can lash out! Iclyn, stay away from the bar! And Audrey, reassure me that you're not going to turn into another raging she-demon!"
"Why would she?" Iclyn snorted. "The fan mail made it clear that even the older villains dig a teenaged powerhouse who nearly destroyed an arena while clashing with a chaotic chess player. They obviously aren't interested in the color of her eyes."
"That statement was just wrong." Jessie shook her head in disgust.
"I should be fine." Audrey raised her hands in defense. "I won't turn into the Queen of Mean unless somebody angers me."
"Yeah, I'm sure you got fans among my mother's guest list, but I'd rather not deal with the consequences of the smallest detail gone wrong," Noir insisted. "With the measures we took to keep your hide safe…"
"Better to read about the Trojan War than accidentally revive it?" Eddie suggested.
"Sure."
"I swear I wanted to go along with your plan, but that green-eyed demigoddess purposely hit my buttons!" Audrey felt the anger boiling her magic. Until her first near-death experience in Auradon, she never thought she'd hate someone like she did with Mal, a half-fairy demigoddess born to the Mistress of All Evil and the King of the Greek Underworld, but apparently the canine fur lover, smile plastered hedonist, sadist child of some Nordic god proved her wrong. Oh, and she killed Carlos! Why was yet to be discovered, but how that murderess had treated it like mere entertainment really made Audrey grit her teeth. "I'm so gonna murder her!"
Iclyn smiled in icy fondness. "How sweet. Baby's finally got a person she wants to shred to pieces. They grow up so fast."
"CASTLE TAMARAN!" The driver shouted as the bus finally came to a stop. The gang rushed out of the bus, with Jessie gently guiding Audrey. The bus drove off as they made their way through a dirt trail shadowed by wisteria trees and into a massive garden surrounding a black-and-purple castle. At first glance, Audrey was almost reminded of Auradon Prep and its garden, but the correction came in when she saw the strictly purple flora decorating the garden: geraniums in amethyst pots, rows of anemones planted to form galaxies, irises framing the outdoor pool, asters the size of pine trees, lavender garlands hanging from the garden hedges, and of course, miniaturized wisteria trees. The biggest garden space, the one closest to the pool, was decorated with fancy dining tables and chairs, a dancing platform, a stand for a music band to play what seemed to be the villains' taste of classical music, and a massive tent bearing a buffet and bar. There had to be at least 40 to 50 villains of all ages gathered. As the gang got closer, Audrey saw that Noir was leading them to some middle-aged woman in a purple and black mermaid dress, who was constantly checking her pocket watch. When they got close enough, Audrey recognized the traits. That woman was basically an older version of Noir, except the purple strands were turning grey.
"You would have been late by a minute," Noir's mother said flatly. "Good thing only a dozen other guests are late."
"Nice to see you too," Noir gave her response with a similar flat tone. The other members of her gang immediately proceeded to bow before her mother. Audrey was on the verge of bowing as well, but Noir's mother prevented her due to the rapid handshake.
"So you're the self-proclaimed Queen of Mean who rivaled that dastardly semi-divine bastard! I'm Queen Blackfire, such a pleasure to meet you!"
"Hi…" Audrey felt Queen Blackfire's hand place itself on her back and ushering her towards a big table closest to the buffet, with Noir and her gang following along. The table they reached was covered by a lilac tablecloth with potted lilacs and light candles perfectly aligned. Amethyst utensils, plates, and glasses were aligned with calligraphed name cards. Blackfire had Audrey sit by the cushioned chair with the name card 'AUDREY THE QUEEN OF MEAN' practically screaming at her. Jessie sat across from her, Noir had a seat next to her mother, and the rest of gang found their respective seats. There were a few seats that were void of any cards.
"I will not lie, my dear, that roughhousing you displayed at the arena was pure work of art!" Blackfire continued. "I haven't seen such an apocalypse since the last time I fought my sister! And I definitely enjoyed how you turned into a pink demoness."
"Um… thanks…"
"WAITER!" Blackfire's barking order nearly caused a waitress to drop the tray of empty glasses she was lifting. "Don't just stand there! Get those aviation cocktails my daughter and I prefer, Irish coffee for her troupe with personal toppings, and a poinsettia champagne for Queen Audrey!"
The waitress gave out a panicked yes and made a run for it. In barely a matter of seconds, Blackfire was snapping her fingers and summoning another couple of passing waiters. "WHAT ARE YOU HIRED FOR? Bring over some food! Deviled eggs, caviar, mini beef tourtieres, fried calamari, stuffed lobster, gnocchi, chicken alfredo, roasted lamb, devil's food cake, gelato, crème brulée! Get them now!"
Though she felt bad for the waiters as they ran for dear life, Audrey had to acknowledge that Queen Blackfire had a personality tougher than her own mother. "Are you the queen of Villainapolis?" She asked.
"Heaven's forbid, of course not!" Blackfire laughed. "I did use to rule a whole planet…"
"Yeah, your… ex-home's rulers kinda crushed Tamaran into pieces when they created their kingdom," Jessie cautiously said. "The only parts of the planet that's left for Blackfire and Noir is the perimeter of their castle."
Audrey's eyes darted around the garden, nearly reveling in its dark, purple beauty while diverse incarnations of evil indulge their night out. The notion that Auradon didn't give a hoot of natives while ripping apart the lands had disgusted her since the beginning of the trip; their concepts of what was deemed 'Auradonian' or 'Villain' repulsed her; the fact that her grandfather tried to steal a royal Troll's egg shamed her, but now the idea that they were willing to rip apart planets? Anger was causing her teeth to grit. "Perfect harmony, my ass…" She muttered.
"Ah, the good old expression when you realize that utopian-seekers have random people living delusions," Blackfire smiled as the beverages and food arrived altogether. "Do tell me. Is 'Queen of Mean' primarily your villainous title or did you actually try to take over those wannabes?"
"I did try…" Audrey knew that she was getting dangerous close to the line. Crystal had warned her that if they knew she used to be an Auradonian princess, she might as well ask for her head on a silver plate. But hiding too much details would rise suspicions, so she had to go with what seemed more valid with the way the lies were going. "Unfortunately, the details that led to my downfall at the hands of a demigoddess were nasty. I did try to repent, but all they saw was the Queen of Mean. And when I heard there was a possibility to leave, to some places where nobody ever heard of me… you can imagine where it led to."
"Nearly drowning in a poisonous river and dueling with another demigoddess?" Iclyn asked sarcastically as she drank her Irish coffee.
"Oh, dear." Queen Blackfire looked sympathetic. "No wonder you and Lokisdottir are at horrible." Audrey found it strange when the alien queen gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Don't think much about it. You are now surrounded by your kin."
My kin? That was a first to Audrey. Ever since Mal had replaced her in Ben's heart, Audrey had received treatment that didn't make her feel like everyone else in Auradon wanted her. Uma may have related with her pain a bit, but that was it with limited sympathy. And ever since she left Auradon… Come to think of it, Audrey had to acknowledge that most of those that really came to the equivalent of friends were generally antagonistic, evil, hedonists, sadists, and occasional jerks. And ironically, those chaotic denizens had treated her much better than those from Auradon. And icing on the cake, the villainous residents of Villainapolis seemed to adore her. OK, not exactly adore Audrey; they seemed mostly to adore the raging pink-haired she-demon.
Audrey tried to ignore the thought as they continued to feast and party. The food was savory and richer in sweetness than what she had eaten before; she enjoyed the devil's food cake the most and she surprisingly enjoyed the poinsettia champagne. It was banned in Auradon to give alcohol to people her age, but considering that some of the guests were parents and didn't seem to bat an eye with their kids boozing in the dark of the night… Then again, maybe there weren't laws in Villainapolis. Occasionally, every fifteen minute or so, a villain here and there would be coming by the table, either to ask Queen Blackfire for something or to ask some of Audrey's time for either a conversation or a dance. It did help her keep track of the amount of people who might have an eye out for her: Mina Mind, so interested in knowing if Auradon had aliens (tragically, Audrey couldn't count any), nearly every single one of Hawkmoth's adoptive children (who wanted to either dance with or give Audrey a jar of black butterflies that could brainwash anyone to her liking), Doctor Doom and his daughter Victoria (both ever such fans of magic after technology), nearly everyone in the Possible Parliament (seriously, why did these villains face off cheerleaders as primary rivals?), a few immortals or sorcerers there and some other common (yet rich) criminals over there. There was one point, however, when Noir had to guide Audrey away before she could meet the son of a certain Baron Zemo, who looked very interested in introducing his son to Audrey.
"I'd rather you didn't meet him." Noir kept shaking her head as the girls finally made their way behind a bunch of asters.
"Not a fan of the family?"
"My mother is civil to all high-ranking supervillains outside turf war hours, but her side of villains and the baron's have a long history of rivalry even before your ex-home was created. You know, one of those 'we got the best villains', 'we fight the best superheroes', and even the weirdly occasional 'our stories got told in the best movies or TV shows.' But on the turf wars, my mom's league and my gang are high competitors with Baron Zemo's Cabal and his son's gang. Throughout Villainapolis history, our groups have been known of capturing the most territory."
"It's that bad between you and Zemo Junior?"
"His name's Zeniko, and yes, pretty bad. I mean, were gang leading rivals, but until recently, I used to be number 4 on his list of rivals."
"He killed them?' Audrey nearly freaked out.
"What? No! The first one's dad took over Baron Zemo's original organization but they had to leave Villainapolis because of civilian anger. Don't ask. And for the other two, Zeniko used to hate one of the kids from the Possible Parliament and my gang's former primary burglar. Those two recently got married and went for their honeymoon before permanently settling in Gotham with her family. But yeah, ever since these three got out of the picture, Zeniko has put his attention on our gang rivalry."
Audrey was getting the picture. "Don't go any further. If Baron Zemo is trying to act like my grandmother, then I'll keep my distances."
This perked Noir's concerned curiosity. "Your grandmother was one of those uptight old folks that had you think upper-class marriage was the only important thing for you?" Audrey's nod was the only answer she needed. "Familial pressure. No wonder you didn't want to get into the details about becoming the Queen of Mean."
"Is it that obvious?" Audrey asked.
"Believe me, at least 70% of this town would tell you that most of their villainy was spiked by their parental issues." Noir turned her head back to the party when she heard her mother's voice calling her. "Look, we can talk about this another time. Maybe tomorrow. I gotta see what my mother needs."
"Go ahead…" Audrey let out a hiccup. "I think the poinsettia champagne bubbles are catching up in my nose. I'll catch some fresh air here."
"Don't worry. Be right back." After Noir rushed back to the party, Audrey felt the hiccup again. She pinched her nose and held her breath in. After a few seconds, she found herself breathing normally.
"Enjoying the party, Sugar Pie?"
Now Audrey wished she had continued on with her hiccups.
Kory Lokisdottir emerged from the aster bunch across from Audrey. At Audrey's best guess, the witch hadn't been invited, thus why she was hiding. Still, she had taken the liberty of dressing up as if she had been. Her green maxi dress was decorated by woven blue beads forming patterns of wolves and exposed enough of Kory's cleavage to reveal the dark Nordic tattoos that went down her chest. Her stilettos also looked like they were made of wolf fangs, and though she had put on fancy jewelry like a vined headpiece and blue earrings, she still carried that wolf pendant. But what disturbed Audrey the most yet again was Kory's newest choice of living wolf fur: a long coat that went down to her ankles and fitted just above her curves. Audrey didn't want to imagine Kory enchanting the poor canines during her horrid fashion pursuits. She made Cruella De Vil look pettier.
"I thought we agreed that I wouldn't be running into you again!" Audrey snapped at her. "Get lost before you get reminded of what you did to piss me off!"
"Sugar Pie getting all burned up? I like the sound of that." Kory leaned in, her never-changing smile still plastered on her. Her pearly white teeth were shining under the moonlight, and because her smile was so wide, Audrey could see that the demigoddess' human teeth were limited to the front. Instead of regular molars were sharp, pointy ones.
"They should have renamed you the Canine Murderer…" Audrey stepped back in disgust.
"Wolves are a natural part of my divine heritage. Naturally, I terrified quite a bunch to serve me." Kory brushed the fur of her coat's right sleeve with those sharp nails of her. "I just happen to wear the skins of those who crossed me."
"Let me guess. You eat their meat as well?"
"No. I feed their meat to my familiar Carmine. She really enjoys eating the meat of weaklings, traitors, and people who have lost their value to me."
"I'm out!" Audrey felt like throwing. She hoped to make her way to the nearest bathroom to puke and to be as far away from Kory as possible, but the latter just teleported in front of her. Now this was getting really irritating to Audrey. Mal never disrupted Audrey's personal space or taunted her in such a manner and it didn't help that Kory was the evilest copy of Mal Audrey would have ever imagined encountering. "Just what is your deal with me? You try to fight me, you purposely provoked me into transforming, nearly causing me to hurt others, you invade my space, and you murdered Carlos! I still demand to know why you did that! People in Auradon think I did it!"
"Ain't it the beauty of it though, Sugar Pie?" Kory tapped one of her sharp nails on Audrey's nose. "Auradonians, simple mortals, have the natural instinct of believing that villains will go back to performing evil. I mean, you might have been forgiven by the officials, but the commoners are still simple mortals. If you put a zombie in the middle of a crowd of healthy humans, do you think the crowd will welcome it? Reassure it that things will go alright? Offer to help it and restore its humanity?"
"What kind of question is that?" Audrey slapped Kory's finger off her nose.
"Exactly! Because everybody knows that when you see a zombie, you either shoot it down or run away from it. So yeah, it was easier for Auradonians to socially shoot you down, run away from you. My beautiful poison gave that De Vil brat such sudden breathing problems, his lungs were quite petrified. And you wonder why they believed you were responsible! You, what, turned him to stone for a few seconds?"
Audrey didn't know what to say. Kory was really getting scary. With all that magical power, her immortality, and her ghastly choice of aesthetics, the demigoddess made it clear that her most dangerous weapon was her mind. Audrey's thoughts went to poor Carlos. Innocent, friendly, and the most darling boyfriend to Jane; the nicest of the original VKs and such a dog lover compared to his mother. He had even aspired to become a vet until his death. Just like that, his happily ever after was destroyed because Kory Lokisdottir wanted to mess with Audrey.
"It still doesn't explain why you did! He did nothing to you!"
"Sorry, Sugar Pie. I don't give away free answers. However…" The levels of insanity began to rise when Kory grabbed Audrey by the waste and pulled her close enough that the face proximity was the same than at the arena. Audrey unsuccessfully tried to force herself off; she didn't like how Kory's nails were practically sinking through the fabric and trying to pierce her skin. "I can be generous for settling prices."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Audrey was so relieved when she heard Queen Blackfire yell after stumbling on the sight with Noir.
"A demigoddess can't have some self-entitled fun?" Kory smiled at Blackfire.
"Not when you harass my guest-of-honor, especially a minor!" Blackfire managed to forcefully pull Audrey out of Kory's grip. "Are you alright?"
"Y… yes?" Audrey hesitated.
"Noir, take her back to your complex. And you, you scheming silver-tongued semi-divine snake, are not welcome here! You know fully well that you aren't allowed on private properties unless invited and I purposely did not invite you! Leave before we force you!"
"By wasting the lives of a quarter of your guards or are you actually going to play dirty, Tamaran?" Kory kept smiling as if the queen's threat was a joke to her. Then Audrey saw Noir and her mother getting angry enough for fiery purple lights to appear in their eyes. The queen's fists were glowing purple, menacing flames; she could have turned her garden into a bonfire if Kory hadn't shrugged and turned her back on them. She kept her arms behind her back, suggesting no violence but offense as both her hands stuck their middle fingers up. Queen Blackfire calmed down her burning hands, though her cheeks were burning a furious blush when the demigoddess walked away whistling.
"Oh, she did not just whistle that to our faces!" Noir gasped.
"I should have ripped her tongue when I got the chance." Audrey gripped the area where Kory nearly sank her nails. She didn't need for Noir and her mother's shocked reactions to know that her eyes were glowing pink; she could feel the hate boiling within her. Was it possible to hate someone that much?
"Cross your fingers that your friends come get you as soon as tomorrow." Noir kept her arm around Audrey, though out of protection.
"Don't jinx it," Blackfire warned.
"I mean it! Audrey, they just announced who takes part in tomorrow's turf wars…"
"Obviously, your gang?" Audrey scowled. "And even as a temporary member, I still have to take part."
Noir nodded grimly. "It's a rule. And not to mention that with that freak show lurking near you, I don't trust you by yourself."
"OK…" What was going? Why was Audrey suddenly so acceptive of such a topic? While Noir and Queen Blackfire kept talking about a car to bring Noir and her group back to the complex and perhaps adding some extra muscle, Audrey felt all the negative feelings coming in: the anger, the hatred, the shame, the guilt. She had dealt with them individually for about a month now, but now they were forming an eruptive mixture in her.
Audrey didn't let it all out, but she wanted to so badly.
I'm going to kill Kory Lokisdottir, she mentally vowed in her head. Even if I got to be the Queen of Mean to do it.
