Quick reminder for anyone who forgot:
"Talking"
Thinking
"Written text"
"Speaking in another language"
"Singing"
Chapter 1: Darkest Hour:
Earth – Castle Vulpeus
8,023 Years Ago
"What's going on?" Skuld demanded as the Atlantean hover craft landed in the courtyard of the citadel serving as the headquarters of the Vulpeus guild in the days leading up to the Atlantean peace talks. In the wake of the Atlantean empire's destruction, the rest of the world was in chaos. The Keyblade guilds had declared war against each other, but news so was frantic and jumbled that the Vulpeus guild and Ava's Dandelions had no idea what had actually happened in Atlantis. A crowd began to gather as Derax and Ophelia disembarked from the stolen Atlantean yacht with a cluster of Unchained picked up on the way back from Atlantis carrying a large cradle. Necks craned and Keyblade Wielders stood on their toes or climbed up the walls to get a good look at what Unchained were carrying. And when they realized what was in the cradle, cries of despair rose up in a wave that quickly swept through the castle.
Several senior members of the guild dropped to their knees with tears in their eyes as Derax's escort carried Lady Ava's body inside the castle. Some held their heads in their hands to muffle their anguished sobs as the growing crowd followed the procession through the corridors.
"I imagine you've all been hearing conflicting accounts of what happened in Atlantis," Derax began. "So let me set the record straight. Foreteller Leopardos was unmasked as the traitor, and in retaliation, he murdered Master Ava. When Leopardos troops attempted to invade Atlantis, King Kashekim used experimental weapons derived from the Heart of Atlantis to obliterate the Leopardos navy. However the shockwave of the weapons used created a mega-tsunami that completely obliterated the entire kingdom. With Ava's death and Leopardos' treachery, the Keyblade Guilds are now at war. Ursus has sided with Leopardos, while Anguis and Unicornis are fighting each other as much as they are the guilds aligned with Darkness."
"These are difficult times," he went on. "But as badly as we want to avenge Ava's death, we cannot get involved in this war. Ava's greatest fear was for the civilians now caught in the crossfire between the warring Keyblade armies. Out of respect for her wishes, the Vulpeus guild will remain neutral, and focus our efforts on helping refugees escape from the fighting. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Foreteller!" The assembled Key Bearers shouted in unison as they began form a queue to pay their respects to Ava. While Ophelia and new recruit Acrabua Orves left the room to make the arrangements for Ava's funeral, tears began to well up in Derax's eyes as the magnitude of everything that had happened in the last few days finally caught up to him. As Ava's second in command, he was the one expected to take her place as the Foreteller Vulpeus if she perished. But he had never imagined that it would ever happen like this. He had expected to take up the mantle when Ava either retired or else passed away from old age, not for her to be murdered at the onset of a civil war between Keyblade wielders.
"And what about everyone here who's not part of Vulpeus!?" a new voice rang out in the grand hall of the castle, snapping the new leader of the Vulpeus guild out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the crowds parting as a familiar, silver haired young man marched across the hall towards the cradle carrying Ava's cryogenically preserved corpse. The left side of his face was badly burned, with an eyepatch over his left eye and a large scar running from his right cheek to his nose, but there was no mistaking the recognizable, albeit singed, outit. "You can't expect the rest of us to just sit here and let Ava's murder go unpunished!" Ephemer continued as he stood in the center of the room.
"Ephemer," Derax began. "We are all upset, but we have to make sure that there will still be people left when this war finally ends. That's what the Dandelions were formed for."
"Don't act like we're fragile little flowers just because of Ava's nickname for us," Ephemer snapped as he turned to the rest of the assembled Keyblade wielders. "Each and every Unchained is a fully trained Keyblade Wielder. I can respect wanting to follow Ava's wishes, but the rest of us have to make our own choices. Everyone in the Vulpeus guild Unchained themselves on Ava's order, but not ever Unchained is under Vulpeus jurisdiction. Those of us who aren't under your command reported directly to Ava herself, and you and I both know that if anything happened to her she wanted me to lead the Unchained."
"Warriors of the Keyblade," he addressed the ever growing crowd, which now included almost every member of the guild in the castle and every non-Vulpeus Unchained in the entire army. "The time has come to choose. If you are already in service of the Vulpeus guild, follow your Foreteller's instructions and remain neutral in this conflict. But for those of us who cut all ties with our own guilds to follow Ava, we can either sit here and do nothing while her killer pursues his plans of world domination, or we can rise up to be the Legion that puts him in the ground for what he did to her. So who's with me!?"
Without waiting for a reply, he marched out of the hallways leading down to the courtyard. Cheers rose up in the room behind him as every Unchained in the building not already a member of the Vulpeus guild filed out of the room after him, his friend Skuld leading the way. When they reached the courtyard, Ephemer conjured up a corridor of light to a fortress in the wilderness of Sokovia that he and Ava had been investigating as a potential bunker for the Dandelions in the event that her worst fears were realized. Now, he thought as the army of Keyblade Wielders marched through the portal to their new base it would serve as the headquarters of the newly formed Unchained Legion.
Earth – The Isle of Draco
Now
For generations, the Isle of Draco had been a peaceful place. Despite the continual fight against the Huntsclan and various magical conflicts over the last several thousand years, the Dragon Council's seat of power had remained untouched. No one in the magical community dared attack the Council's palace and despite the full backing of the Unchained Legion, the Huntsclan could never find the place. Even in the modern age, defenses against mortal surveillance systems were so thorough that many of the younger dragons began to take the island's security for granted. While they still followed security protocols after the magical world was exposed, many of the guards stationed along Draco's shores spent most of their time goofing off instead of guarding their headquarters.
As a consequence, they were caught with their metaphorical pants down on the day that Malekith the Acursed dared to invade their isle. Laser cannon fire shot down the defenders of Draco before they could even realize what had hit them. Roars of fury and screams of terror rose across the island as the dagger-like form of the Nathalis slid silently down from the clouds. The remaining defenders of Draco, only two dozen in number now, took to the skies in a desperate attempt to repel the invasion. The draconic guards breathed fire, ice, and lightning at the attacking vessel, hoping to bring it down quickly. A few managed to dodge the lasers and get close enough to slash at the warship's armored hull with their claws.
But it was to no avail. With the Dragon Council attending a meeting with the United Nations off island on neutral ground, the island was understaffed and outmanned against a numerically and technologically superior opponent. One by one, the dragon defenders were cut down by laser turrets and the bladed wings of Dark Elf troop carriers flying towards the island. Once Draco's air defenses were eliminated, Malekith's command ship landed tip first in the courtyard of the island's fortress. The Dark Elf king marched confidently down the boarding ramp as it unfolded to deliver him and his entourage directly to the top step of the stairs leading to the Council chamber.
Dark Elf skiffs flew overhead course the volcano in the center of the island. Research teams carried equipment designed to detect the unique energy signature of the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master and its components. As Malekith marched into the Council Chamber, a few of the remaining magical creatures on the island came charging out of the nooks and crannies of the citadel in an attempt to avenge their dragon protectors. Demona and Algrim swiftly hunted down and eliminated all pockets of resistance as Dark Elf soldiers hung a flag bearing the insignia of their military that Malekith had commissioned a few days ago from the roof of the palace overlooking the courtyard.
"Our sensors have confirmed your suspicions, my king," Algrim reported as Malekith sat himself in the central throne at the Council's table, his feet propped up against the tabletop. "The Infinity Gantlet lies buried deep beneath the Dragon Isle's volcano." The Dark Elf king grinned maliciously at that announcement. He clasped his hands behind his back as he stood up from the table.
"Good," Malekith replied. "Order our mining teams to begin digging immediately. I want that gauntlet excavated within the week."
"As you command, my liege," his lieutenant answered as he turned around on his heel and marched out of the chamber to relay the orders. For a few moments, Malekith looked out the back window of the council chamber overlooking the rolling green fields of Draco in silence. We have come so far, he thought to himself as he reminisced over what his late wife and son would think of the scenery. You will be avenged soon, he silently promised his deceased family. This I swear. I will obtain the Infinity Gauntlet at all costs, even if I must sacrifice my armies in order to do so.
New York City – Unchained Safe House
"Wow," Spud remarked as he surveyed the safe house that Rose lead them to. The small, non-descript looking apartment was filled to the brim with everything from ancient battle armor to high-tech modern weapons. "I don't think I've ever seen this many bazookas in one place since I got hired by S.H.I.E.L.D." Jake, Rose, Trixie, and Spud stepped gingerly over and around the piles of equipment and memorabilia that had been scattered haphazardly around the main room. Rose pulled a banner bearing the insignia of the Vulpeus guild off the couch to make room for the four friends to sit down.
"Legend tells us one thing, history, another," she commented as she slipped a metal cauldron around her shoulders before pounding it with her palm to form her old Vulpeus armor. To her relief, it still worked. "But every now and then something comes along that belongs to both." The safe house was her personal bunker and safe deposit box for the last eight thousand years. This was where she had stashed away everything she considered worth saving. During her days as leader of the Huntsclan, this usually extended to weapons, but a few of her personal effects from before the war were still here.
Jake stepped over to put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder as she reminisced over all the friends she'd made and lost over the last eight millennia. She sighed sadly as she moved a box of photos she and her friends Marko and Alana had taken back when they met in Wakanda's tourist areas. The couple had been expecting their second child when the Keyblade War broke out, and even if they managed to survive the world spanning conflict, they were long dead by now. But while Rose was sick of the immortality that came with being an Unchained Keyblade Master, she didn't want to have to die to get rid of it like Ephemer did.
"What exactly are we doing here again?" Spud asked as he examined a pile of Keyblade War-era weaponry. "Not that I'm complaining, this stuff is pretty cool, though."
"This safe house has been Rose's storage locker for the last eight thousand years, Spud," Jake replied. "There's got to be something in here that can help us stop the Legion."
"And there is," Rose replied. "I still have video recordings of meetings with the High Council. The most recent ones are from the early nineties, so he should still be in those meetings." She left the room and returned with a box full of old VHS tapes and began digging through the box.
"Hold up," Trixie interjected. "He? Rose, you make it sound like someone else we know is part of the Legion." Jake and Spud's eyes widened at the conclusion, and their jaws nearly dropped when Rose nodded her head to confirm the other woman's assumption.
"Don't tell me," Spud commented. "Is it Rotwood?"
"No," Rose replied as she finished digging through the box and pushed the tape into the VHS player. "I've also go some old files on politicians and public figures who are part of the Legion," she added as she pulled out a few floppy discs. As the archived meeting footage played on the old TV, Jake, Trixie, and Spud watched as a familiar man walked into the room and took a seat at the table. Although the meeting went on for several minutes, it took only seconds for those present to recognize the dragon in human form sitting alongside the leader of the Huntsclan.
"Councilor Kukulkhan is an Unchained!?" Trixie and Spud shouted. Jake wasn't very surprised. Kukulkhan had always seemed to have it out for him over his relationship with Rose, and the fact that she had betrayed the Legion made sense. There was also the fact that she had told him after their reunion at Turo, but seeing concrete proof of it was another thing entirely. Now the fact that the councilor never showed himself in human form around Rose was starting to become a clear attempt to keep her from recognizing his human form.
"We've got to get this to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Spud commented as he stood up from the couch.
"And the Dragon Council," Jake added. "Kukulkhan's been trying to undermine any attempt at retaliation after Draco fell yesterday. This should get them ready for action. Rose nodded her head in agreement before calling out for Manifold to teleport them to the Playground.
And now things are getting interesting. One of the major elements of this multi-part saga that I've had rattling around in my head for a long time was the idea of a multi-faceted battle with one group of villains occupying the Isle of Draco from American Dragon: Jake Long for one reason, with other antagonists trying to undermine them while the heroes try to stop all the villains and recover the Infinity Stones at the same time. As such, I figured that a major, high-casualty victory for Malekith's loyalists while everyone else is still reeling from Maleficent's death and Sora's capture by the Unchained Legion would be the perfect way to get the plot of the story moving along.
Malekith's thoughts about sacrificing his armies for the sake of revenge are going to become more important later on in the story. With the Unchained Legion stealing two Infinity Stones from right under his nose, he's becoming increasingly desperate to get his hands on the Gauntlet, becoming a bit unhinged as a result. As such, his Villainous Breakdown is going to start driving a rift between himself and his people, especially Algrim. You'll start to see where I'm going with this later on, but this should keep things interesting.
So yeah, Councilor Kukulkhan is an Unchained spy on the Dragon Council. Ever since I started this saga I've wanted to have one member of the Dragon Council from American Dragon: Jake Long serving as a mole for the bad guys and undermining the council a la the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. After cycling through the names of the councilors for a while I settled on Kukulkhan since he's one of the ones we know almost nothing about and who, If I remember correctly, never even had any lines in the show. But there is still one more AD:JL character who's part of the Unchained Legion, so look for that reveal to happen around Part 2 or 3 of the story.
The name Acrabua Orves is Sevro Au Barca spelled backwards. I've become super obsessed with Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy over the last few weeks and I just read books 2 and 3 last weekend. Sevro is my absolute favorite character in the entire story, hands down, and I wholeheartedly recommend the books to anyone who has not read them yet. Pardon my use of in-game slang but go read them all you bloodydamn pixies. I'm in that phase I get into every time I finish an amazing series where I'm still coming down from the emotional high of the ending, so expect to see more Red Rising references sprinkled here and there throughout the story.
I'm pleased to finally have the opening flashback to show the major players of the Unchained Legion back in the days of the Keyblade War reacting to Ava's death to demonstrate how much of an impact her demise had on the Keyblade Wielders of the Vulpeus Union. From here, you'll keep seeing more flashbacks like this every few chapters showing the early years of the Legion during and after the Keyblade War. Due to my travel schedule I may not be able to post the next chapter tomorrow, but since I'll be on an airplane all day Sunday, I'll make up for it by having multiple chapters up on Sunday night.
Marko and Alana are the main characters of the amazing comic book series Saga by Brian K. Vaughan. I included a mention of them as a fun little reference because I was in the mood and thinking of the series before I got on the plane. Nothing more will come of it. This was only a small little shout out done for my own amusement.