Alright people. Let me just say that I know I have to update the Looney story. I'm getting to it! That is all.
Next subject of discussion. Everyone here guessed why Facilier couldn't read the cards. This is where I laugh at you in an evil way. Ahem. MWAHAHAHAHH! No one got it! I have you all in my suspenseful hold! Hahahah! But good guesses!
Next item! Thanks so much to aaaalll the reviews I received! I mean, wow, I didn't expect to get the amount I got at ALL, so I was really grateful when I did get all of them. Thanks so much for all the favorites, follows and reviews. I say it time and time again, but you all are what keeps me going. Next chapter we will see another OC prince, wont say which , but know that it is coming.
This chapter was one I was super exited about. Lillie is here to work on something from New York. So this new job is just a decoy. But now… well, you'll see. But because of my excitement, you all get a super duper long chapter! YAAAY!
P.S. I REALLLY hope you guys like the ending of this chapter! It's a cliff hanger, something I really haven't done in a while! And I really hope I did it well!
Peace y'all!
~Gal
Now onto the reviews!
PirateWizardThief:Thanks! I will PM you, I always need more help!
Rainlily216: Thanks so much! I was really worried about him, because he seems like he'd be the hardest to describe. Unlike the rest of the villains his traits form a little bit more of a complex character and I was worried that if I didn't get it right then I'd just get it wrong. But it seems like I did it well. Whew! LOL, I know. Rain and water are two elements that Disney seems to have trouble figuring out. Sometimes I want to grab a megaphone and shout WATER MAKES THINGS WET! Glad to make your day and hope to do it again!
AngelOfDarkness1959: The villains are hugging you back… sort of… yunno how they are.
Hades- I DON'T LIKE HUGS
Galimatias- JUST HUG HER!
Gaston- No one gives hugs like Gaston!
Thanks for the review!
MysteryGirl7Freak: LOL, actually, this was not inspired AT ALL by that show, HOWEVER it was inspired by abother one. I was watching Disney one day and then decided that I wanted to watch the Big Bang Theory. The idea came to me about two groups of people who really have nothing in common living in an apartment building together! Thus this idea was born! So, as much as I do LOVE how I met your mother, this has no ties to it whatsoever THANKS 1000000X FOR THE REVIEW!
Whiteling: Lol, OH SNAP! And doesn't she know the wet t-shirt rule? LOL, thanks for the review!
Whispurrs: Awww yeah! Adding some dram! Thanks so much! Like I said before, I was so worried about writing him wrong, so I'm soooo super relieved that I did it right! I really do want to include Mozenrath in here, but I don't really know anything about him. So if you wanna see him, then I'd love to know all the juicy details! Thanks again!
Petitprincess: We all would, honey, we all would. And when I read your comment I cheered. That's right she's not a freaking princess! YEAH! She loves you too! Thanks for the reviews!
Dragons redemption: Thanks! And we all know Hades is a perv ;) that's why I wrote him as such, lol. Thanks for the review!
Civilwarrose: Aw! Thanks! OMG! I NEVER REALIZED THAT! Ugh, I really should have made the bird talk. He'd be the first one to open his big mouth. Thanks so much for pointing that out! I'll make sure of that next time, I swear! He's not in this chapter, but he'll be in the next one!
Daydreamer747: LOL, it must have been.
Facilier: I'm not slacking.
Lillie: Are too.
Facilier: …
Thanks for the review!
Ginga no Yousei: Thanks so much! Glad you liked it!
Elemental Queen: I always did love a bit of mystery! Thanks so much!
Miss Magenta Lestrange: Everything will be revealed very soon! In fact, sooner then you think! MWAHAHAHAH! Cough cough, I mean, I don't know…? LOL, I hope this update came soon enough! Thanks for your reviews!
Ultima-owner: I really have to figure out when to bring those guys in… not sure… but I loved his friends, so they have to be in here and soon!
Guest: Thanks so much! Not to worry! All your questions will be answered! And so far no one has guessed why, so my secret secret keeping skills are working! HAHAHAH! Thanks for the review!
HannajimaShields: AND I'VE GOT FRIENDS ON THE OTHER- oh! Hi! He he… sorry, fangirling for a moment there. Anyway… Soon everything will become clear! But so far no one has gotten the right answer. So I feel really exited to finally reveal it! And I LOVE that approach. Thanks for the review!
VulpineSnow: I really have to agree with you there. And when I did finally read Greek myths I cheered for Hades and only Hades. Why? Because honestly his brother the serial rapist is more of a villain than he is! Yeah! Let Hades rule! The population would go down, that's for sure! LOL, that's actually a part that I'm going to be putting in here. And don't worry, she does scream at the hero's in this chapter! Like you said, she's neutral. So it cant just be the villains. SORRY HERO'S!
Guest: Thanks so much! And could it be a movie… I wish! This concept would be a GREAT Disney flick. BRING IN THE REALISM! Thanks so much!
yeahIwentthere69: I loved all of your comments and suggestions! Hmm… notre dame? I could see that! Thanks so much!
Vamp829: Thanks! Thank so much! Awwww, I'm blushing! Actually, she's going to be covering that idea more and more as she goes deeper into both sides, so no worries! That was the idea of this in the first place, to show the extremes of both sides. Thanks for the review!
Mr.J: Thanks! And there always has to be someone in between! LOL, well if your cat cant make it then I'm sure Lucifer would volunteer. Thanks for the reviews!
THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN!
Before I go I want to give a shout out to two people. Firstly, PirateWizardThief. My OC, Lillie, has now become part of her story, "Something's Not Right", which is an awesome, action packed adventure. And secondly to Daydreamer747. We are right now working on an upcoming chapter for both our stories together. It's going to be a chapter that kinda mirrors the other. And we're also coming up with an awesome two-shot. Her OC is going to be appearing in my story soon! And if you haven't read it, pop on over to "Working at the House of Mouse". It's a really fun story to read!
Okay! That's done! Onto the chapter!
"What the hell happened?" Hades was pacing furiously back and forth in Facilier's apartment, his own hair illuminating shadows along the walls that flinched at his glare. "Why couldn't you read her!"
"I already told you, chere, I don't know. This ain't never happened to me before."
"Yeah, I kinda guessed that," Hades replied as he paced some more, his arms waving. "But why? She's not special or anything. Mickey would have noticed that by now and given her some title or somthin'."
"Or I would have." Jafar paced forward, watching his friend who was acting more like a pendulum. "I have a talent of finding diamonds in the rough."
"And anything on that, Jaffy?"
"Nothing new." The Arabian man shrugged. "You know I check every time an opportunity presents itself and so far none have appeared. This girl is as much a mystery to me as she is to you."
"We have to figure this out."
"Amen to that, brother." Facilier shuffled his cards, looking under the brim of his hat at Hades. "But don't you think first it might work better to figure out more from the source."
Hades scoffed. "Pu-lease, you think that little sun spot is gonna tell us anything after all we put her through."
"She's suspicious enough as it is," Jafar stated, "and the last thing we need is her to figure out anything."
"Jaffy, we don't even know if this girl is smart yet."
"Even so, chances can not be taken. And to go this forward into a plan is a chance even we cannot risk."
"He's got a point," Facilier said.
Hades sighed and drew a hand down his face. "Fine. Whatever. We'll take it one step at a time."
"The question, my immortal friend, is what this first step should be." Jafar toyed with his sleeve nonchalantly. "That should be our main priority."
Hades looked at Jafar and then nodded slowly. "Okay. Okay, fine."
"Tomorrow," Facilier began, "you've got work. Don't you?"
"Yeah? Why?"
"I'll come with you."
Hades looked over at the voodoo doctor with a raised brow. "You don't even work for the paper."
"Does that matter? And besides, we might be able to figure her out better if there is three of us there. If these don't work then I doubt anything you guys have are any better."
He was right, and both other villains knew it. Facilier's cards were something that even they avoided. They were always accurate and though they were dealt by his hand were controlled totally by every single thought and memory tied to the person choosing them. They were dangerous objects that produced facts and fortune and, of course, just as much misfortune as well. And no matter who's cards they were they were always, always, always right.
This time, though, they hadn't been.
Which meant that nothing they had would be of any use for finding out this girls weakness. If they wanted anything done it would have to be the old fashioned way.
Lillie sat on her bed flipping though the thick book listening to Bartleby's snoring on the floor beside her.
She had grown up in a town with children. And with children came things that children liked. Disney being one of them. Lillie wasn't an idiot and she knew things about this iconic place and what it held. It held magic and childhood and fantasy. Dreams come true and all that jazz.
This was not something that her parents had liked to advertise to their children. Nothing came from dreaming. There was no such thing as magic. No such thing as dreams come true. And of course no such thing as true love, overcoming tasks with it and breaking spells with it's kiss.
Regretfully this had been one of the things she had taken from her parents. Now she still knew that there was no such thing as true love and loves kiss and conquering evil with it. Though, as she looked around her animated room, dog and then flipped casually through the book, she was starting to believe the whole magic thing.
Stopping at a random page she opened up to Hades. Scanning his biography she found that most of what was there she already knew. And though most of the facts were wrong they were based off of things she had studied in college during "Greek Week". His persona here was much different. In mythology, she remembered quite vividly, he was not the villain. Actually, if anyone was the villain it would have been his brother, or as she liked to call him Zeus the Man-Whore. She briefly wondered if he still held his actual personality from Greek myths before turning to the next page.
Jafar and Iago. Lillie snorted. The sorcerer himself was bad enough; slimy and snakelike. On the page it said he was an ex royal vizier in Agrabah. He is narcissistic and cruel and always traveled around with a parrot on his shoulder. Lillie furrowed her brow. Great, just great. So they came as a sort of two for one deal along with a whopping headache for free. She flipped the page.
Doctor Andre Facilier
Her blood froze and boiled simultaneously. That was the man who she had met and who had unsuccessfully tried to read her future.
Also known as the Shadow Man, Andre Facilier is a witch doctor (or bokor) from New Orleans. He's known for using cards in order to discover a persons needs and desires as well as their past, present and future.
She slammed the book shut and placed it onto the floor where her nightstand was supposed to be if she ever got enough time to unpack it.
So that was who she was dealing with right now. And that was what he had been trying to do. Trying to read her? Her wants and desires, her past, her present, her future. All of these were things that she wouldn't normally tell the shadowy character on the street, and yet he had a way to rip them right from her head. The thought sent shivers up her spin. Thank god the cards hadn't worked.
Am I the first one, she wondered, who had the cards fail? Or are there more people?
Leaning back against the white wall she sighed. The things she did for money. Put up with sorcerers, gods, bokor's and every single prissy pink girl there was. She screwed her eyes up, almost wanting to call her boss and say that the deal was off, she wanted to leave and never come back. Of course she couldn't do that. She'd jeopardize her job and what inkling of respect her parents had for her, though she knew that was almost non-existent. Of course if she had no job they'd probably broadcast that on live television just to let her know what a disappointment she was.
Lillie sighed. Though the prospect of money was awesome the price to pay it was seeming to be very high. She looked back down at the book and scowled, as if it had personally offended her. It was a good guide, but it would get her nowhere if she wanted to learn more about these people. What she needed was her own look on them. Facts from the source. And though the chance that they'd talk to her was slim, she could see a heck of a lot from her spot in the office. In fact, the more she thought about it, she could most likely observe them like a nature show, write the damn thing and leave. They didn't seem to be complex people. Just dangerous.
And she'd dealt with danger before. Or at least, very small amounts of it. After all, if you live in New York you'll most likely get his by a cab two or three times. So what the hell did she have to lose.
She looked down at her dog. "If I don't come back tomorrow, you can have the steak in the fridge."
Bartleby just snored.
The next day was partly cloudy and though it was a warmer time of year the air held a strange chill. Lillie had worn a blazer and black pants and could still feel it through the fabric. She ran a hand, the one not holding her purse, through her hair and praying that her hour of smoothing down bed head was not just ruined. She never understood why people with long hair always said she had it easy. Sure, they got the knots. But she got hair that acted like a five year old with play dough. It melded and it stuck and once it was comfy in whatever position it had chosen there was no changing it's mind. Carefully she patted at the incredibly short hair. It lay flat.
She sighed in relief.
Today was not a day she wanted to be out of sorts. Today was a day that she was going to have to be in order. Because if she wanted to do anything today she'd have to have everything, including herself, pristine and organized. They couldn't suspect a thing, and so far she guessed that they already suspected a lot.
Silently she cursed herself for having that useless book out in the open where they could all see it. How stupid could she get. And as she finally approached the door to the office, a mere 20 blocks away, she was ready to turn and run. Taking a moment to make sure her outfit was in order and her purse had her favorite pen in it (she firmly believed that all writers must have a favorite pen) and a small notepad. She would have used regular paper, but there were just too many things that could go wrong with that. Like someone could find it. And then she'd really be sunk.
Taking one less steadying breath she pulled open the door and began her slow flight up the Mr. Everest stairs that lead to the office.
Like always she was greeted with the Land of Pink, or just LOP, as she was beginning to call it, and the bright a sunny faces for the first time ever looked almost welcoming. And when the Annoying One, Snow White, asked her how her morning had been she had almost hugged the young girl. Anything, ANYTHING to keep her there longer and out of the other office that she was beginning to despise. Because god knows what they would do to her if they knew what she was up to.
Just suck it up, was all she told herself, and man up… or woman up. Whatever. Just go and get it over with. You're gonna be here for a while, so might as well get used to it all.
She agreed with her subconscious, gave Snow White a small, slightly strained smile, and quickly headed down the hallway that lead to the other office of the newspaper. She just hoped that her favorite people wouldn't be waiting for her when she arrived.
"Why hello, Miss Ayman."
Of course she had never been a lucky person.
"Why hello, Miss Ayman." Jafar said, leaning against the wall and staring at the woman with a wide smile. "So good of you to show up.
She straitened her back and gave him a cool smile in return. "Yes, well, I try." She looked over his shoulder at Hades, who was also leaning against the wall. "And good morning to you too." Then she frowned as she saw the figure next to Hades. "What's he doing here?"
"Just here on business." Facilier walked forward, leaning on his cane.
"You don't work here."
"Maybe not yet."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever. Just answer the question. What are you doing here?"
"What? Is it a crime to visit an office."
"It can be." Lillie crossed her arms. "But I'm guessing that a bokor such as yourself doesn't really care about that, do you."
He looked surprised for a moment, his violet eyes widening. Then he laughed his cool, molasses laugh. "Well lookey here, Hades. She is smart. Where'd you find that out?"
She sniffed, "I have my ways."
"I'm sure you do. What else you figure out."
Lillie took a step foreword, hoping it would prove to him that she wasn't scared at all. "Your name is Andre Facilier, you're a voodoo doctor from New Orleans who has a habit of… granting wishes."
"Close enough."
She scowled. "Stay here for today. But until you have a job in this office I never want to see your face again."
"And I'll always wanna see that pretty face, mon chere."
Lillie grit her teeth but said nothing. "All of the rest of you get to work." She walked towards her office and then paused. "And will someone please give me an update on anything."
Jasper, she remembered because of his sheer height, strode forward with a few large sheets of paper in hand. "Mickey wanted you to look over these, boss." The last word was said with so much spite that Lillie almost glared. Instead she accepted the papers and looked down at them.
"This is the paper for this week?"
"Next week." He was keeping his answers far to brief, obviously wanting nothing to do with her.
She nodded. "Good. I'll look at it."
He nodded back. She waited for a moment before turning back to the three males who were still leering at her. "You two," she pointed to Hades and Jafar, "do something productive. And you," Facilier tilted his head, "just stay out of their, and my, way. Is that clear."
"As crystal."
She stormed into her office, slamming the door and relishing the perfect silence around her. Sitting back into her rolling chair she spread out the newspaper in front of her. It was an unpublished format, something that she was very used to after working for the written media.
She scanned it, reading bits and pieces of each article.
After one page in she absolutely hated it. And by the time every single page had been finished there was a strange sense of loathing boiling in the pit of her stomach.
Every single article written in the paper was by the 'hero's'. The sport section was all about fishing and swimming, by someone named Eric. The weather was by someone named 'Mother Willow'. The book reviews were from Belle, movie reviews from Sleeping Beauty and the housekeeping from Cinderella.
What she was most appalled by was the front page. From years of reading newspapers to helping write magazines she had learned that front pages were the most important spot of the newspaper. Not only did they advertize what was to come but they also held the best story, the one written by the best author with the best tale to tell. It was the one readers saw first and read first and usually left most of an impression.
You could skip any part of a newspaper you wanted. But like it or not, you always put the thing down with something from the front page burned into your mind. Whether it was the words that moved you or the obnoxiously big picture. It was always the first thing that you saw and the last one that you got out of your memory.
So then why in the world would the most important section of the newspaper, the biggest and flashiest title, say
Why Princesses are Beautiful
Her mind voice immediately switched on. Hell no, was all it said, hell no hell no hell no hell no hell no…
If someone else had been in her position then maybe they'd let it slide. However there wasn't another person in her position. It was her, and she was someone who wrote these things for a living. Or at least to pay rent.
This was not the way to do this.
In her mind she knew that it was a bad idea to get too involved. After all, she wasn't here to do actual work. She was here to do her work, to study the actions of villains and heros and to find out everything about Disney, from the inside out. The job assigned to her was nothing more than a cover, and that meant that it didn't have to be taken seriously. In fact, she could probably never even do a touch of work. And doing any work, especially this sort of work, was dangerous. She could be discovered by the people she was studying, something she couldn't have happen.
At the same time, her professional instincts were screaming. This was unacceptable. This wasn't a good paper? How could anyone read this everyday and say something was wrong. The job of the newspaper was to deliver the news, to make people learn about things that came from the people as much as it was for the people. That was the job of the newspaper. But instead she was seeing a paper that looked like the pamphlet for a beauty contest.
There was no talent in the writing, grammatical errors up the wazoo and a writing style that set her teeth on edge. It wasn't professionally acceptable whatsoever.
All of a sudden she realized that if she did have a cover up job then maybe it would be more authentic it she actually did it. So what if everyone else hated her to. So what if she was the worst boss they ever had. So what, so what, so what. It didn't matter. She was going to fix this and fix it fast. She wasn't going to sit around and let stuff like… that be placed on the front page. What she also wasn't going to do, she realized much later, was think about anything she was doing.
She wasn't thinking when she did it. At least that's what she told herself after the deed had been done. She had stormed out of her office, the door slamming against the wall and making all the villains who looked like they had been in some sort of huddle, jump and turn towards her.
"Who wrote this?" Her voice was sharp as she held the page up.
Hades looked at her like she was insane. "Um… excuse me."
"Just answer the damn question. Who wrote it!"
He looked taken aback, so much so that whatever scheming look was in his eyes numbed. "Um… the princesses… I think."
"I need a definite answer. So someone give it to me now."
No one spoke up. Lillie growled in frustration and took off down the hallway that separated the offices.
"Where are you going!?" She could hear Anastasia Tremaine, if that was her name, call out.
She didn't answer, instead she just fumed and headed farther down the hall. Behind her she could hear the movement of chairs and feet as all the villains simply got up and followed the girl, all curious to see what she was going to do.
Finally she reached the Land of Pink. The villains all stood in the archway of the room, almost too disgusted to enter it, and watched everything unfold. She grabbed a chair from an empty desk, clambered onto it and then, as loud as she could, she shouted, "HEY!"
Everyone in the office either screamed or jumped, finally placing their eyes on her.
She held up the paper. "Who wrote this?"
Slowly, Snow White raised her hand. Lillie jumped off the chair and went over to her, handing her the sheet. "I can't put it in."
There was a dead silence for a moment. A man Lillie didn't recognize stood up. Snow White immediately relaxed when he reached her side. "What are you talking about."
"I'm saying that it cant be put in. It's not a good piece."
"That's not allowed. All of our things are put into the paper."
Lillie glared at the man, accepting the challenge. "Well, I am assuming that I'm also in charge of you, since I see no one else stepping up to the plate. And as your boss I say that this isn't true. In fact, this is only one of the problems. Only about a quarter of your things are going to make it into the paper." She looked around the room. "Belle, your good. And Cinderella, your piece stays as well. But besides that, there are only a few other survivors. All the rest of you are officially cut from next week."
"But you can't-"
"I can. And what I suggest is either taking up another position in this newspaper or quitting all together. If I'm going to be the boss then I'm going to be taking some initiative, and that means that all of you are now under my rule."
"That's not fair!" The woman she recognized from the newspaper picture as Sleeping Beauty stood up, palms on the desk."
"Yes, well you're all going to learn very quickly that life, and my version of life, isn't in the least bit fair."
"That isn't how it works!"
Lillie placed a hand on her hip. "Maybe that's how it doesn't work in your fairytale of a life, sweetie. But here I'm going to be bringing a little bit of reality into the show. Starting with this." She pointed to the door. "If you don't like it, then leave."
Sleeping Beauty opened her mouth and closed it, looking more like a fish then a beauty queen, and finally sat down and pouted.
"Anyone else?" No one did anything, but a few of the princes stood by their ladies and glared. "No? Good. Get back to work. And from now on I want you all to see me with story ideas before they're put out. There wont be as much freedom in here any more." She turned on her heel and faced the villains that stood, gaping at her, in the archway. "That goes for y'all as well." When they just stood there, mouths open, she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at them. "Now."
It was the hero's turn to gape as all the villains turned on their heel, a few with a murmured "yes ma'am" and shuffled back to their side of the office.
Lillie watched them go before turning back to the problem at hand. "Okay. If anyone has anything to give me now, I want it. The paper next week is going to need to be done soon, and more than half of the stuff is in the garbage as we speak." A few looked like they were ready to protest, but one look from the short woman and they sunk down further. "What I suggest is writing something worthwhile. If you need any help I'll assign you something. And if you don't like it, tough. That's what you're getting. So you better come up with something good on your own."
A woman with darker skin and hair the size of a fire hydrant stood up. "You're as bad as they are!" She pointed one bare arm down the hall where the villains had gone. "You're… you're as bad as Hades is."
Lillie offered her a sarcastic smile. "Then may I be the first to say, welcome to hell."
The Arabian woman looked ready to shout back at Lillie, but in one last show of defiance she crossed her arms and plopped back into her chair. At the same time the rest of the hero's seemed to get the message and all scrambled back to their chairs faster then they had before with an air of confusion and fear about them. A few of the princes stopped along the way to stand next to their ladies and glare at Lillie, but eventually all drifted back to their own workspaces as well.
Lillie watched the scene go by, finally nodding her head with approval. This was the way an office was supposed to be. Filled with the sounds of keys clacking and the mumbling of across the room small talk. All the magical elements that had been there were now almost retained, held back in fear of being shot down by reality, whose name it had figured out was Lillie Ayman.
Lillie walked quickly over to Belle's desk. The beautiful woman looked up, a nervous gleam in her eye. "Yes… Miss Ayman?"
"I liked your paper," Lillie said curtly, "and if you'd like to continue doing book reviews I think that I can give you that as a permanent position." The nervous gleam was all of a sudden hopeful, and Belle nodded. "Also, do you have anything else for me. I want to collect what I can to go over before next week."
"I might. Hold on." She searched through the papers with delicate fingers, pushing stacks one way or the other, and finally producing a few papers. "These are mine. Oh! And I think you'll want these too."
Lillie took the few book reviews with a mumbled thanks and then loaded the other pile into her arm. "What are they?" There were too many of them to actually be from Belle herself, and the stapled together documents were far too thick to be singular book reviews.
"They're the villains submissions. We put all of our things into the same box. It's in the hallway between the offices, you'll see it when you go through. Anyway, they always put things in. But obviously we never submit them." Belle waved a hand at the statement as if the idea of submitting anything by those people was ridiculous. "Just put them into your outbox if you have one. That's what all the boss' here do. And if you recycle them long enough then they usually get the point."
Lillie swallowed hard, looking down at the papers. The first one said Ursulaon top.
"I'll read them."
"You don't actually have-"
"I'm going to."
Belle sighed. "Alright. But it might just be a waste of time. You know that all they think about are villainous activities. And we really cant have a newspaper filled with ways to conquer and kill."
"I'll decide that, thank you."
Belle shrank away and looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers. "Of course, Miss Ayman."
Lillie didn't say anything else, figuring that it would be the same as letting the comment slide. Hoisting the bundle of papers higher into her arms she began her walk back into the other office, taking time only to look around at the hero's to make sure they were actually doing work. When she was pleased with what she saw, or as pleased as she could be, she quickly made her way back to a job she was slowly beginning to regret.
"What the hell are we doing!?" Hades couldn't help yelling as he looked at his computer screen. "We're villains! And we just got bested by a five foot woman!"
"Amen, brother."
"Oh can it, Facilier, you don't even work here."
Hades continued to sulk, not knowing what work he should have been doing, though all the rest of the villains seemed to have found something to do.
"I am as stumped as you, Hades." Jafar sank lower in his chair. "This makes no sense. She has no power over us and yet…"
"And yet she kicked your sorry ass." Facilier couldn't help but chuckle. "Y'all really have it bad don't ya?"
Jafar only pouted.
Ursula laughed at the three of them. "He's right, you know."
"She bested you too!"
"I'm aware," the sea-witch smirked, "but it was a price to pay to see you cower."
"I didn't cower!" Hades' flames licked at his arms, now an orange. Finally they were reduced back to blue and he rubbed his temples. "Hey Jaffy?"
"What?"
"Remember how I said we'd try to figure this girl out?"
"Yes. I recall being there when that statement was made."
"Well, I'm totally stumped." Hades sighed. "Maybe this is just the time to give up, yunno. Throw in the towel until we can think of something else."
"WHAT!" The entire office was suddenly shouting at Hades.
"We are villains, daaaahhhling," Cruella placed her hands on the desk. "We don't simply give up."
"Yeah!" Anastasia leapt up. "We need to get her together!"
"The red heads right." Rourke agreed. "We need strategy. And a really simple plan."
Hades nodded, feeling a small inkling of hope. "Fine. We'll do it together. No more one man show. Or three man show. We'll figure this out."
Queen Grimhilde smiled at Hades, rising from her seat. "Hades, may I be the first to offer up a small suggestion."
"Sure, babe, anything right now."
"It isn't much. But I do think that, for the time, you might find this plan to be suitable."
Hades listened. She was right. The plan was simple. But at the end of her explanation he couldn't help bust smile.
Lillie reached the office to a strange sight. All the villains were sitting at desks typing furiously away on computer keyboards, all doing whatever work they could do. She gave them a look, not knowing whether to trust it or not. She mentally shrugged. Even if they were doing nothing, this did get them off her back for a little while, and that was enough.
Walking into her office she shut the door and placed her papers onto the desk, and sat down in the chair for the second time that day. Only this time she let out a groan. What the hell had she just done. This wasn't a game. She wasn't playing house and being a boss. She had work to do. But now because of her stupid, stupid need to help some stupid, stupid paper she was strung up into a real job.
"Perfect, Lillie," she mumbled to herself, "just great. Now you have two jobs. One that wont pay until your finished, yunno, the real one, and this one, the job that pays shit." She leaned back. "What did I get myself into."
Taking another deep breath she sat up again, preparing to look through the papers she had received. What she did see surprised her.
On her desk, next to the papers and the boxes of unpacked office supplies, was a shiny, red apple.
She furrowed her brow. That was strange. She hadn't had that before. Then again, today she was really starting to lose her mind, so maybe she did bring it in.
Whatever the case was, Lillie just shrugged, picked it up and took a very large bite.
And that's it!
So tell me, faithful reviewers and new ones alike... what do you think is gonna happen next? DUH DUH DUUUUH!