Bonus Chapter: The End is Near!

"I thought you weren't going to kill us!" I shout at Maleficent.

"Oh, yes. There's a simple explanation for that: I lied."

"What?"

"You should really thank yourself, Ben. How utterly rude you were to me in our first interview; I can't believe I put up with that! But now you both will get what you deserve!"

Me? I think. It was Spatterson that asked about love. That's when she got angry. But then again, I was rather rude to her. Whatever, I shall die by the hands of some evil bitch. It's a good way to go. "What about Spatterson? She asked you some personal questions! You know, about love!"

"Yes, that angered me greatly," Maleficent responded from the storm clouds above. "And yes, I shall answer your question now. I have known love. But my love at the time was destroyed by King Stefan himself on the grounds that he was too dangerous. He only wanted to succeed in his quest for power. Sure, he resorted to barbaric tactics, destroying everything and anyone in his way, but I loved him all the same."

"Wow, I can see why you'd fall for someone so despicable and small-minded."

A lightning bolt strikes the ground a few feet where I stand, causing me to stumble back and fall. I feel a burning sensation in my legs and look to see that my pants have been mostly burned off, my skin scorched. I grunt in pain as I try to move my legs, but soon stop as the pain is unbearable. This is not good, I think. She's going to kill me for sure. And unless I can get to a hospital to treat these burns, I can just say goodbye to my legs.

"Next time I won't miss, you wretched brat!" Maleficent's shrill voice booms from the heavens.

"You'll pay for what you did to Ben, Maleficent!" says Spatterson, taking a large stone from the ground and tossing it up at the black stormcloud. Sadly it only goes a few feet into the air and lands right next to me.

"Watch it Spatterson! You nearly killed me with that rock!"

"Whatever, Ben."

Spatterson! I angrily think. What are we going to do? Two mortals facing an imposing, evil witch with the power to kill both of us in an instant. There's no way we can win. If only the good fairies found us, perhaps we'd have a chance.

At that thought, I see three colourful lights descending. They surround me, green, blue and red.

"Come with us, young Ben," spoke the red light. I then feel myself get whisked away, surrounded in a red orb, flying back towards the castle.

I look behind me to see Spatterson trailing along in a blue light. I think I hear her ask a question. "You're Merryweather, right? Didn't you find it frustrating that you couldn't attack Maleficent when you wanted to? Do you think you'd be able to take her?"

I shake my head as we zoom towards the dark castle. I wonder why we're going there. "Excuse me," I begin, "but why are we heading back to her castle?"

"We need to free Prince Phillip. He's the only one who can break the spell."

NOOOO! I think. All I wanted to do was get an interview in and then get out of here. Now I'm being dragged into a fairy tale. This cannot be happening to me.

"Don't you think this is a little silly? Maleficent is in a terrible mood right now. She probably has seen you and knows what you're up to. Shouldn't we just go back and take her down?"

"That seems very well-thought-out and logical," the fairy says, still moving towards the castle. "But no."

"Why not?"

"It's not how the story goes. Prince Phillip needs to awaken the princess."

"He can awaken her after the evil bitch dies!"

"He'll be able to do it."

Not if Maleficent gets there first.

We enter the dungeon where I'm released from the red bubble. I look to see the prince in shambles; his clothes tattered, and his spirit seemingly broken. I look at the colours of light, seeing sparks ignite from them, cutting through the shackles. Then suddenly the prince is freed, and I see that his clothes have been repaired, donning some new, shiny armor. A shield appears in his left hand and a longsword is gripped by his right. Now being fully equipped, he runs off. I try to follow only to have the dungeon door slide back in front of me.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll be safe here," the red fairy says. "Trust us, Maleficent will give chase when she sees Prince Phillip running off towards the kingdom. There's no way she'll waste her time with folk as inconsequential as yourselves. No offense."

"Why don't you just give us a sword and shield, some armor and we'll all fight her together?" say I. "If I die or Spatterson dies then that's our own fault, right Spatterson?"

"Yeah! Let's battle the nefarious hag!"

"Well, there's really not much time," the red fairy says, "but if what you say is what you actually want, consider it done!" With a wave of her magic wand, the burns on my legs are instantly healed and I arise confidently, relieved to be able to stand on my two feet again. Magical dust drifts around me and I feel chain mail wrap around my torso and my arms and legs. Before I know it I'm totally encased in a suit of armor, complete with a helm and a spear and shield.

I then look to Spatterson and see that she's dressed similar to me.

"How can you move in this? It's so heavy!" she complains.

The blue fairy opens the dungeon gate, and both Spatterson and I head out as quickly as we can. We near a window where we see Prince Phillip jump out of. We look down to see him mount his steed, who gets freed with help from the green fairy.

"Your turn," Merryweather remarks. We look down to see two horses: one a magnificent black stallion, and the other a brown mare.

Spatterson waddles up to the window, tries to jump, but falls most disgracefully head-first out the window and lands on her back on the stallion. With some help from the green fairy, Spatteron is up and running, driving her beast towards the castle.

I follow suit (aha), jumping out the window and mounting my mare, taking off at full-speed towards King Stefan's Castle. Phillip is ways ahead, and I fear I won't be able to reach him. I really don't want to fight the self-proclaimed Mistress of All Evil myself, should he fail.

Lightning flashes and I fear that Maleficent has found us out. Indeed, just as I think that, huge lightning bolts flash about the castle, lighting up the kingdom so much as to make it appear daylight. I then hear the earth crackle and shake beneath me. I pull up the reigns on my steed slowing her down. Soon I meet Prince Phillip at the edge of the kingdom, seeing him stopped before a forest of thorns.

"We're going to have to cut through it," he says. "It's the only way!"

Yeah, ya think? It's too bad I have a spear and not a sword! Stupid fairies, thinking a spear would be just as useful as a sword.

"What use is this spear?" I ask the red fairy.

"You hold in your hand the Spear of Salvation! Only when you're in grave danger, will the weapon show its true power!"

"What do I have?" asks Spatterson, holding up her weapon, a morning star.

"That's the Dawn Destroyer!" Merryweather explains. "You can rapidly shoot out an infinite number of spiked balls at your opponents!"

"Sweet!" says Spatterson.

"Wanna trade?" I ask her.

"No way, Ben! After everything you've done to me, I at least deserve a weapon as magnificent as this!"

Pfft, the things I've done to her.

"Onward!" shouts Prince Phillip as he trudges through the thorns, easily slashing through them with his mighty sword.

I attempt to follow the prince through the thorns, but they continue to grow back and block my path. They reach out, trapping me in their mess, thorns pressing dangerously close to me and my horse. I try to cut through the thorns with my spear, but it seems to have no effect. "I'm in grave danger," I whisper to the spear, "If I don't keep up with Prince Phillip I'm sure to die." And then the spear seems to respond and begins to glow orange. It vibrates in my grasp and even as I grip it with both hands I still struggle to hold onto it. It points straight ahead and then blasts a bright spiralling beam of light, scorching the vines in its wake creating a navigable pathway. "Nice work, Spear of Salvation," I say as I plod along on my horse.

Eventually I catch up to both Prince Phillip and Spatterson, both whom have stopped in their tracks. "Why'd you guys stop?" I ask them. "There's nothing here -"

A black funnel cloud begins to descend from the stormy sky, and who else appears but the Mistress herself. She definitely has a way of making an entrance.

"Ah, so now we fancy ourselves heroes, don't we Ben? Is that not right, Spatterson?" taunts Maleficent.

"My real name is Sarah Patterson!"

"Whatever, Spatterson!" we all say in unison.

"Now, it seems that I must vanquish all of you," drawls the Mistress, "though I believe it will be more difficult now that there are six of you."

"Actually, I'm just going to sit this one out," I say, and both Phillip and Sarah look to me with incredulity.

"No you're not!" says Spatterson, smacking me on the back of my head with her weapon.

Maleficent laughs to herself.

"You said you wanted to fight, and fight you will!" the red fairy says angily. "Now go get injured so that your spear will work properly!"

Man, I think, adjusting my helm. Alright, fine! If I shall die by the hands of some evil woman then so be it!

"This will be most interesting," Maleficent remarks.

She was right.

THE END


A/N: Thanks Spatterson (Sarah Patterson) for being a good sport and having me poke fun at you in the story. I don't actually know you so some of the quirks I gave you may not have been accurate. But thanks a lot for your enthusiasm, your ideas and interest in the story! It was challenging to incorporate some of your suggestions, but I enjoyed the challenge all the same.

As with my other story, a simple idea turned into something more, and I am glad of the result. To everyone and anyone who has come across this story, thanks! I do appreciate it.