'Sacre bleu, invaders!' Lumiere said in horror at seeing the mob, as unpleasant memories of the mob that had invaded during the first enchantment came flooding back to him, as it did for everyone else as they remembered that night, even though they had fought back and had been victorious, only because the mob had underestimated them and were easily defeated.

For the others, the only experience they had with a mob was with Anton and his attempted regicide, only they had been tied up and were helpless to protect and save Adam, Belle and Rose, who hadn't been born at the time, as the man tried to kill their beloved master and harm Belle and her daughter but had been unsuccessful, not even fatally wounding him, like he hoped and had been executed for it.

But they feared that it wouldn't be second time lucky, as they believed that this mob might be bigger, stronger and smarter than those before them.

'Encroachers!' Cogsworth said.

'It's just like the mob that attacked us during the first enchantment!' said Babette, 'Look, there's that little man that was Gaston's lackey on top of that log!' as she saw the familiar sight of LeFou.

'LeFou,' everyone whispered at seeing him for the first time in years and were surprised that he had come back to attack the castle, having failed two times before and thought that he would have gotten on with his life and forgot all about Gaston.

Apart from him, there wasn't a single familiar face in the mob as they were young and youngish men and boys, most likely a new generation of villagers who had heard about the past history of the castle, the village and the late arrogant hunter and had wanted to do what he couldn't or maybe just doing it to impress the young woman who had led them here.

'What's LeFou doing here?' said Cogsworth, 'I thought he would have moved on after Gaston's death and the attempted regicide, so why has he come back for a third time?'

'He obviously wants to avenge Gaston again,' said Chip, ' He mustn't have let go of the past and hasn't realised that that jerk has been dead for YEARS and attacking us and the masters ISN'T going to bring him back.'

'Likewise,' Lumiere said, 'and who is that mademoiselle leading them?' as he looked at Amandine, 'I didn't think that a beautiful young lady like her was capable of leading a mob of men to do this to our dear mistress.'

'She could be related to Gaston, since she kind of looks like him and that they want to follow her because of that, but my guess is as good as anyone's,' Chip said, 'and the men and boys must be descendants of the first mob and they look like they mean business.'

'And they don't look like they want to engage in friendly conversation!' Amelie said.

'Oh, you think?' Remy said, sarcastically, 'Did you really believe that they were coming to have a tea party and engage in chit chat? Well, let me tell you something, you DON'T bring WEAPONS and A BATTERING RAM to a tea party!'

'Shut up, Remy, I already knew that,' said Amelie, trying to resist an urge to hit the loudmouth washboard, 'I was just stating the obvious. Of course they're not here for a tea party, they're going to invade and attack us!'

'And that girl has the mirror!' Mrs Potts said, 'How on earth did she manage to get it and lead a mob of men to the castle? Unless..the mistress somehow gave it to Leon and he unwittingly showed her and us to the mob and she took it from him!'

'That means that Leon practically threw us to the wolves!' Remy said, bitterly.

'Way to go, kid,' he then muttered under his breath.

'Katrine, can you see out there?' Rebecca said, 'what's going on?'

'Well, from what I can make out,' Katrine said, while Remy snickered at her last sentence and George glared at him ,'it looks like they are trying to break down the door with the battering ram,' as a thump could be heard against the door, which made everyone flinch.

'And they are chanting, 'Kill the Beast!' she said and soon the awful truth dawned on everyone, as soon as Katrine finished speaking and she too looked horrified at what she had just seen and finding out the reason why the mob was here and it wasn't just the castle and the servants that they were targeting.

'They're…they're..going to kill the mistress!' she said, practically close to tears, as everyone gasped, their worst fears confirmed, as their beloved mistress, already heartbroken and depressed about losing her love, was soon going to lose her life to a vicious mob.

'We have to warn her. If it's a fight they want, it's a fight, they'll get,' Cogsworth said, once everyone had calmed down, although they were still very upset about the whole situation and that Rose's life was now in danger, 'just like we did the last time.'

'You mean that this has happened before?' George said, 'and I don't mean the attempted regicide by Anton, did you encounter a mob during the first enchantment?'

'Yes, we did, George, weren't you paying any attention at all?' said Cogsworth.

'When we were under the first enchantment, as many of you will remember, a mob of villagers that was led by Gaston came to the castle and tried to attack us but we defeated them, not by weapons but just as ourselves and Gaston wanted to kill the master when he was the first Beast, just because he loved Belle and stabbed him, but she confessed her love for him and he was revived and transformed back into a human.

But that's not to say that this mob won't be like the first one, they may be wiser, stronger and not wanting to make the same mistakes their predecessors made and they are all young, fit and strong and could overpower us easily.

But we won't let that happen to the mistress. We are not losing her to this mob. We triumphed last time and we'll do it again, no matter what odds are stacked against us.

We have to take action, now who's with me? Who wants to fight and protect the mistress and the castle?'

There was a huge silence in the room, as everyone looked at Cogsworth like he had just planned a suicide mission. There was absolutely no way that they could possibly take on fifty-strong men armed with weapons, especially since they were only household items and would be powerless against them.

It was very likely that they would be torn apart or smashed to pieces before they could make a single punch or assault on their attackers.

Or even worse, once they had killed Rose, they would most likely capture them to be sold or being used in their houses for easy labour. What was Cogsworth thinking? It was like they were lambs being led to the slaughter.

Eventually, Remy said,

'You mean that we should fight the mob as we are?'

'No duh, Remy.' Chip muttered.

'Yes, Remy, that's what I'm saying,' Cogsworth said.

'But we're household objects! Us versus humans who are thirsty for the mistress's blood and want to ransack the castle? That's suicide! You may have been successful before, Cogsie, but this may not be second time lucky!' Remy said.

'That's the smartest thing you have said in your entire life, Remy,' George said, 'Did any of you think about that the first time you encountered the mob?'

'No, but that didn't stop us,' Lumiere said, 'Look, I know this may seem daunting but we can't let the mob kill our dear mistress. We have to be brave and fight back, not just for us and the mistress but for the boy, her parents, grandfather, and the castle. You lot may actually be useful for a fight for this.'

'And this time, l'll be able to take part!' Chip said, 'since I was with Belle and Maurice at the time the battle was taking place and freed them from their cellar by using his wood chopping machine, but I'm willing to fight, if you all are.'

All the servants agreed, knowing that everything was at stake, especially the mistress's life and Lumiere and Chip were relishing the fact that they were going into battle again, the teacup more so since he had missed out the first time but Remy stood his ground and refused, not willing to put his life at risk again, in spite of having done so with the Red Enchantress.

'Well, you guys can sacrifice yourselves, but I'm not! I'm not risking my life, especially not after that evil witch blasted me and I know I was brave to do so, but I don't want to do it again!' he said, stubbornly.

'Remy, I'd like to fight alongside you,' Rebecca said, hoping that would persuade him to change his mind.

He was shocked that she was willing to fight, but touched that she wanted to do it with him and he also feared for her safety and didn't want to lose his love, after pursuing her for so long.

'Becks, you can't!' he said, 'You'll get ripped for sure and the stuffing will get knocked out of you, literally! I don't want to lose you, not after everything we've been through!'

'I don't care about that,' Rebecca said, 'I survived being beaten and abused by my previous masters so I can handle fighting a mob and it'll make me happy if you and I fight it together, my love.

After all, you were willing to put yourself in harm's way when you tried to protect us from the Red Enchantress, so why won't you fight this mob?'

'Well,' Remy said, trying to come up with an explanation, with everyone looking at him, wondering why he wasn't going to fight, especially since he had approached the Red Enchantress without hesitation or common sense even though he had gotten blasted by her magic for it.

'How about it, Remy?' George said, 'I'd love to fight alongside my little brother and our friends. It'll be an honour, even if we get killed, which we hopefully won't. Come on, the Remy I know wouldn't be afraid of a challenge and go down without a fight.

He would be right in their faces, not caring about the consequences or his wellbeing. I know you can do it, little brother.'

Realising that he had been beaten and knowing that George was right and he was acting out of character by backing down out of a fight, Remy sighed and said,

'Oh, geez, Georgie, you had to use the 'brother' and 'the Remy I know wouldn't do…' cards, didn't you? Alright then, I'll do it! No way would I turn down a challenge and especially since you and Becks will do it with me.

But if I die, Lumsie, you stay away from my funeral,' Remy said, giving the candelabra a hard stare.

'I have every plan to do so,' Lumiere replied, dryly.

'As I was saying, who's with me?' Cogsworth said, just as the sounds of the battering ram could be heard outside, which made him yelp in surprise.

'We are!' the servants shouted bravely, as Madame Armoire, Monique and many other objects came marching down the stairs to join them, singing,

Hearts ablaze

Banners high

We go marching into battle

Unafraid although the danger has just increased

They positioned themselves against the door to stop the mob from entering, as they were determined that the humans would not have it all their way by making it difficult for them, while Mrs Potts hopped up the stairs to the West Wing to warn Rose about the danger she was in.

Outside the castle, the mob had approached the doors and was now using all their combined strength and mighty force to open them with the log, determined to get in with Amandine watching rather impatiently at each fruitless attempt and she said to them,

'Remember men, if you find any booty, you may take it, but the Beast is mine!'

'Aw, Amandine, we wanted to kill the beast for you,' Henri said, 'a delicate beauty like you shouldn't be taking on a wild animal ten times stronger than you. Leave it to the professionals.'

'Oh, please, I'm not a pathetically weak woman who can't fight her own battles! How dare you think that?' Amandine said, rolling her eyes at the idiot boy.

'I led you imbeciles here and I have the LeGume blood in my veins and no beast will get the best of me! She will pay for taking Leon away from me by being my fur coat and trophy!'

The men had their doubts but Amandine was adamant that if she was able to lead a mob of men and boys to the castle, she was more than capable of fighting and killing a beast single-handed and they had to believe her, even though they wanted to protect their goddess by killing the creature themselves.

They sang, as they kept battering the doors,

Raise the flag!

Sing the song!

Here we come, we're fifty strong

And fifty descendants of Frenchmen can't be wrong

We'll kill the Beast!

Elsewhere, Mrs Potts had found her way to the West Wing and Rose's room, entering with caution to warn her about the mob and found the sad and miserable beast sitting slumped near the balcony doors with the rose now down to its last two petals, clinging stubbornly to the stem.

It was a heart-breaking sight for the teapot, for not only had Leon left with no hope of his return, Rose would also never see her parents and grandfather who she loved very much again, which only added to her sadness and misery as she remembered doing the same thing with Adam.

It was so sad and cruel that Rose had to suffer the same fate as him for ten years which she certainly didn't deserve, especially after finding happiness again and true love, only for it to be taken away from her, although she had let Leon go willingly.

She had taken off the ball gown and it lay crumpled on her bed and she was now wearing a dark pink dress with light pink sleeves and trim and a dark pink cape and trim rather than the shirt, trousers and red cape she had wanted to wear, thinking that it was all that she was fit to wear but decided against it wanting to keep her rediscovered humanity by dressing properly even if it didn't matter anymore.

'Pardon me, dear,' Mrs Potts said, gently.

'Leave me alone,' Rose said, as she cradled the bell jar with the dying rose inside.

'But dear, the castle is under attack!' Mrs Potts said.

Rose had seen and heard the mob approaching and trying to get in with the intent to kill her and ransack the castle but she was so miserable about losing Leon, who gave her love and hope to break the curse and had taken it away from her when he left, she no longer wanted to live and the mob would be doing her a favour by putting her out of her misery.

'What shall we do, dear?' Mrs Potts said.

'It doesn't matter now, Nana, just let them come,' Rose said, her sadness and anguish evident in her voice, 'My life is not worth living if I don't have Leon and my parents with me and especially since I blew our last chance to break the spell. Just leave me in peace now.'

'Oh dear, this is worse than I thought,' said Mrs Potts as Rose turned away, ready to face the inevitable. The teapot shed a tear at watching her accept her doom and that nothing that she could say or do would convince her otherwise and left with a heavy heart.

She was soon feeling the pain and anguish that Belle and Adam would have felt if they had been here and saw that their daughter was in danger and she could practically hear Belle shrieking, like she did on the day of the curse, in her mind.

Downstairs, the servants desperately tried hard to prevent the mob from entering, as they kept thumping the doors, as the servants pushed with all their might, but as hard as they tried, the mob were just as determined to get in as the servants were to stop them and they were soon on the losing end, as every thump by the battering ram became stronger, threating to overwhelm them.

'This isn't working!' Lumiere exclaimed in dismay.

'Oh no, we're under attack! We're under attack!' Remy shouted, 'These guys aren't giving up easily! Chippendale was right, they mean business!'

'Oh, you think?!' George said.

'What was your first clue?' said Lumiere.

'Lumiere, what shall we do?' Rebecca said, 'They're getting closer and I don't think we can hold them back any longer!'

'Yeah, Lumiere, this is your idea and you've been through this before, so what are we going to do?' Amelie said, 'Just stand against the door and hope that they won't get in? This isn't what I had in mind and it's making them angrier!'

'Kill the Beast, kill the Beast!' the mob chanted from outside.

'Well, Amelie, the one thing we shouldn't do is..' Lumiere began, only to be interrupted by a cry of,

'PANIC!' which came from Raymond as he ran or rather waddled around and round in circles, as he usually did whenever he got hysterical and panicky, screaming until Amelie intervened and calmed him down the only way she knew how.

'Get a hold of yourself, Raymond!' she shouted and slapped him hard, which shocked him but made him calm down and he stopped panicking.

'Thank you, cherie,' he said.

'Don't mention it,' she replied.

'I could've done that to you after what you had said earlier.' Amelie then said to Lumiere, who grinned sheepishly at her. Then, as if out of nowhere, he suddenly remembered what they had done the last time, as a memory came back to him.

'Wait, I know what to do!' he said, 'Everyone listen to me! I have a plan that worked for us before and it'll work again! The mob won't know what hit them once we unleash our fury on them! Trust me, this is the best way!'

The objects looked eagerly at him as he then told them the plan and soon they were spread out and hiding out of sight in the darkened room until Lumiere gave the signal to attack.

Two suits of armour were standing guard outside the room where Belle, Adam and Maurice were, just in case the mob decided to attack them as well, which was a possibility and they were not prepared to take that chance.

Soon after, the doors finally gave way as the battering ram successfully opened them with one final thump breaking the lock off, which allowed Amandine and the mob to enter the castle, ready for the battle against the beast that threated them and the village.

'It's quiet, too quiet,' Amandine said, as she and the mob walked across the foyer, expecting the beast to already be there waiting for them, so they could kill her right on the spot but instead they were surrounded by darkness and eerie silence sans for a faint source of light that seemed to coming from a candelabra, which Henri picked up and waved around, not realising that it was Lumiere.

'This is too easy,' she chuckled to herself at the absurdity of it all, 'the beast must have known that she wouldn't have been able to face me and decided to hide. Well, she won't be for long!'

'Or maybe she's just lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on us when we aren't expecting it,' said Henri, ' I know this, since I've hunted beasts before, even though I haven't actually caught one.'

'Yes,' said Amandine, wondering why this incompetent boy had been the leader of many hunting expeditions in the forest, especially since he and his group had always come back empty handed, due to his bad leadership and terrible skills.

The men and the boys squinted against the dark and the dim light from Lumiere to try and find the beast and barely made out the outlines of furniture and household objects scattered around the room, like they had been put there to stop them from going any further than the foyer.

But these were no ordinary objects, not that they were aware of it yet, as Pierre saw various pairs of eyes looking at them, which made him shiver in fear and although he couldn't actually see where they were coming from, he had a pretty good idea about it.

'Let's get out of here!' he said as his voice trembled, 'This place gives me the creeps! Those eyes are looking at us and I think they're from the furniture and objects that are surrounding us!'

'Don't be ridiculous!' hissed Amandine, 'everyone knows that ordinary furniture and household items DON'T have eyes and can't move! And we're not leaving until the beast is good and deceased, so suck it up, you sissy boy!'

'But I want to go home!' Pierre wailed.

'Shut up!' Amandine shouted and any remaining doubts the mob had about being here and carrying out the terrible deed quickly went away as they didn't want to anger their beloved goddess anymore.

They had come a long way to get to the castle and with the little reputations they had on the line, there was no turning back now, as they poised themselves for battle, aiming to destroy anything that stood in their way of victory and the riches that had been promised to them.

They would not make the same mistakes that their predecessors made but unbeknownst to them, they were underestimating the servants, who were willing to put their lives at risk to protect their beloved mistress, at their own peril.

I know I said that this would be the battle scene, but it didn't come to me and I promise that it will be in the next chapter, so bear with me!

Read and review!