Hades, Maleficent, and the Horned King sat around the fairly large table in Maleficent's castle. On the table in front of them was a map of Europe.

"I still can't believe that Wales is a part of England, now," the Horned King expressed out loud.

"Aurora and Phillip's wedding united King Stefan's Wales and King Hubert's England into one nation," Maleficent explained, "Of course, it's more accurate to say that Wales was made a part of England following the wedding considering that the kingdom is still called England."

"And who the heck is this Ottoman Empire?" Hades asked, "They're spreading into Greece like wildfire. How could Zeus have let this happen?"

Maleficent rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You can both brush up on modern history later," she said, "Right now we need to plan for the army."

"Right," Hades replied, "I can go talk to Echidna, the mother of all monsters. We're on good terms with one another and an army of monsters would be a valuable asset."

"I shall go to the Marshes of Morva to bargain for the Black Cauldron," Horned King explained, "I can use it to create an army of deathless warriors to serve us."

"Pfft," Hades chuckled, "I can do that without any cauldron."

"But Zeus can remove your influence from your soldiers while he'd have to sacrifice himself into the cauldron to stop mine," Horned King sneered.

Hades groaned in defeat.

"Then I shall go to Hungary," Maleficent declared, "I'm good friends with their queen. Her nation's armies could be of some use to us."

"Add all three to the soldiers and the goons and we'll have a fairly sizable army on our hands," Horned King observed.

"Still won't be big enough to attack Olympus," Hades complained.

"Then perhaps we should try to recruit the Banshees of Ireland, the Kelpies of Scotland, and the Dark Elves of Norway?" Maleficent suggested.

"I've had ties to the Kelpies before," the Horned King proclaimed, "I should be able to convince them to join forces with us."

"Excellent," Maleficent replied, "Hades, you should recruit the Banshees. As minor death goddesses, they're more likely to respect you, the Lord of the Dead, than either of us."

"Hey, don't worry, babe," Hades replied, "I'll get those ladies on our team in no time!"

Maleficent nodded.

"Then I shall approach the dark elves," she stated, "Let us be off."

The three villains each disappeared by magic.

Hades appeared in front of an immense cave like home with a large wooden door. Hades pulled the string to ring the gong-like door bell. A cyclops came to the door and peered out.

"Hi there," Hades said, "Is your mommy home?"

"Mom!" the cyclops called out back into the house, "The Lord of the Dead is here to see you."

Echidna stomped into the doorway.

"Hades!" Echidna said happily while opening her arms for a hug, "What a surprise!"

"Echidna!" Hades said as he grew to Echidna's size and hugged his old friend, "You look great! Did you have your horns polished? But, hey, sorry to drop in like this but I've got a proposition for you."

"Really?" Echidna asked intrigued, "Well come in. Come in."

Echidna pour herself and Hades each a glass of tea.

"So talk to to me," Echidna said.

"Well," Hades began, "A new friend of mine, Maleficent, and I are planning a big takeover of the world and we could really use some help from you and your relatives."

"Hmm, it sounds interesting," Echidna replied, "But what do we get out of it?"

"Glad you asked!" Hades said happily, "You and your family get an all you can eat passes. From that point forward, anyone on earth that you want to eat is yours for the picking! No heroes to interfiere."

"Ooh, sounds scrumptious!" Echidna declared, "But what about Zeus? Won't he interfere?"

"That's why we're toppling Olympus first," Hades replied.

"Toppling Olympus?" Echidna asked, taken back, "That's a pretty tall order and I'm not as young as I used to be."

"I know, I know," Hades said, "But, hey, just think of the rewards waiting on the other side. And if any of your children are taken out during the siege, they'll just rematerialize later like all you monsters do."

"Well, when you put it that way," Echidna replied thinking about Hades's offer, "How can I really say no?"

"That's the spirit!" Hades exclaimed happily, "Give the other monsters a ring and tell them about the plan and the bring them to the Forbidden Mountains in Wales. You can't miss it."

With that, Hades vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Ha!" Hades said to himself, "Top that, Horned King!"