All Is Not Well

Maleficent was actually, for the first time in the long history since her encounter with that wretched Keyblade master and the King's lackeys, happy. She had not even been this happy when she was once Court Magician instead of that bumbling, speech challenged duck. She finally had a base all her own. It was even better than that ancient castle at Hollow Bastion, and defiantly better than that crumbling ruin that she had been reduced to after the disaster that had changed her quest to control every world into one of furious revenge. It was newly constructed, relatively speaking. And it was on a world that was particularly hard to reach. One couldn't very well just casually fly a ship into the World That Never Was. No, the former castle of Organization XIII suited her purposes just fine. There had been actual laboratories and libraries on magic and other arcane matters ready and waiting, as if the inhabitants had just left them right where they were. Not to say that there hadn't been at Hollow Bastion, but most of those had been in ruins; the machinery irreparably broken, or (and it made her furious to admit) beyond her understanding The redecorating was almost complete. Maleficent detested the color white. And it was on absolutely everything. That and the Nobodies. They had to go, and without the Organization to do their thinking for them, they had pretty much left for parts unknown, each trying to get its heart back its own way she supposed. Well, good luck to them. It hadn't been much of an effort for Maleficent to trick the Keyblade Master and the King into thinking that she and that fool Pete had nobly sacrificed their very hearts to allow them time to defeat Xemnas. The mousekateers were tired and stressed, being chased by a mob of wrathful Nobodies and hungry Heartless. And, although Sora made a brave speech about trying to help them, Maleficent could see that he was tired, and wound tight as a spring preparing for his showdown with that self-proclaimed king of nothing. And as for Mickey…well, the boat boy king was so convinced in their sincerity that it was easier than taking candy from a baby to fool him.

So they had escaped unscathed. There was a minute, two at the most, of uncertainty when the horde of Shadows had come crawling up the stairs toward her and the cowering Pete. Then they hesitated before her vast, dark presence… and fell on their small knees in worship. And that had been that. There had then been a large amount of crashing and then a huge empty feeling as the presence of some powerful being disappeared. At that, Maleficent knew that the World That Never Was was in her possession forever. Well, at least until she set her sights upon the wider universe. And she had already begun operations on that.

"Pete, where are you?" her cold voice echoed through the deserted corridor that she was walking through. It carried to the many balconies and towers that the castle possessed.

"Y…yes! I'm comin' Maleficent!" yelled a rough voice from the intercom system that Maleficent had installed throughout the place. She could hear a crash and then an "Oops!" then it beeped off.

Maleficent sighed. She didn't know why she kept that idiot around. He was barely of any use as a hand to carry equipment. He could barely control the Heartless on his own; worse, like everyone at Disney Castle he used the power of light to fight, albeit as ineptly as he did everything else. The only times he had been able to carry out missions for her correctly was when they Keyblade Master wasn't present. This, come to think of it, had been quite often recently. It looked like the little brat was out of commission. Even better for her to continue her goals. Time was hard to tell here; watches ran backwards, clock hands spun madly, and hourglasses just stopped running. But Maleficent had been able to sense that they had been here for roughly a year. So much done in one year! It was beautiful. And her final project was going to be completed. Roman Numeral Thirteen, a kind of happy irony, considering the nature of the group that had inhabited the place before her.

Pete finally arrived, panting and out of breath as usual. He had a limited knowledge of how to use the Dark Corridor, but he had either forgotten it or more likely just didn't think to use it. Well, she wasn't going to remind him.

"Are the final steps ready?" Maleficent. "Have all the nutrients tanks turned red?"

"Pete nodded. "They're as red as tomatoes. I even gave the blue tanks a tap for you! And the Heartless are doin' their part" he said.

The soon to be Queen of the Universe nodded. "Good, good. I don't suppose you looked to see if Roman Numeral Thirteen is still breathing?"

Pete's ponderous silence was answer enough. Once again Maleficent wondered why she kept him around. Perhaps because, as annoying as it was, Pete's stupidity was oddly endearing. That and the fact that he was the kind of lackey who was actually loyal, no hidden agendas. She had learned that lesson the hard way. Betraying her wouldn't occur to him.

"I will check on it myself" she said. In a few more days, I think that this one will be ready for testing."

"Which world will we test it on?" Pete asked eagerly as they walked side by side.

"I should say Disney Castle" Maleficent said offhandedly.

Pete stared at her, shocked. "You can't be serious!" he said.

"Of course I'm not serious" Maleficent said. "I would no more attack Disney Castle than I would cut off my own arm. I would not risk rousing King Mickey or the Keyblade Master Sora at this stage of the game." She grinned to herself. It would be delicious to spring her new creation (if this one lived) on the inhabitants of Disney Castle, that ridiculous bastion of light, even better on the ignorant denizens of the Destiny Islands, but that would have to wait. The time would come when she and her Alliance would win over the do-gooders and their friends. But right now, she had to wait. Over the past year, Pete had gone back to the worlds to see what could be salvaged from the wrecks of her plans that the Keyblade Master seemed to leave behind him like an animal trail. Things had not looked good. Barbossa was still alive, but he hadn't wanted anything to do with Pete after the abdominally weak Heartless he summoned had let him down in his fight with his rival Jack Sparrow. Scar was dead. Oggie Boogie was dead. Not that Maleficent had liked his gung-ho attitude very much. Jafar was dead. This particularly irritated her after the hard work she had put into seeing that his lamp was returned to Agrabah. The fool then had to get himself killed by a small "street rat." Ursula, who had somehow returned, was dead as well thanks to the meddling power of the Keyblade. Maleficent thought back to the time when she had first seen the boy after barely defeating the Heartless at Traverse Town. How weak he had been! She remembered Ursula making a suggestion of turning him into a Heartless. Maleficent had waved that idea off, and said instead that they should merely observe the boy. If she had only said yes! What a better way things would have turned out. She had gotten vaguely nervous when Riku had reported that Sora had killed the Heartless in Wonderland that he had sent to pick up Alice. Still she passed it off as mere luck, and the presence of real warriors from Disney Castle. Then Sora had defeated and killed a potential member of her group. That had been what made her realize that the boy was a threat and had to be stopped. But none of that mattered now. Now Sora, if he chose to stick his neck out for his friends across the worlds, was going to get it cut. Because Maleficent had been busy over the past year.

Very busy.

Sorry, I didn't mention this in my first chapter---this is my first fanfic! Please review! Flames accepted, but not too harsh.