I think I've decided to update regularly once a week, so expect a chapter every Thursday.

I could not take this one seriously, imagining Russia singing the No More Mr. Nice Guy song was just too funny. I could not keep a strait face while writing the scene.

Chapter 9

Pushing the front doors of the Swan Lake castle open, Ivan walked in with Toris on his heels.

"No matter what they do, I'm always one step ahead of them."

Keeping Arthur away from the ball would be easy. But if Alfred made his vow of everlasting love for Arthur, his plans would be ruined. He could just kill Arthur, but then how would be become king of his kingdom? Besides, that wouldn't be much fun. Ivan needed to think of a way to stop Alfred from making his vow and still take Arthur's kingdom.

And then it hit him.

"Of course. Why hadn't I thought of it before?"

To be honest, most of the ten years he'd been banished were spent getting his powers back. He spent hardly any time at all thinking of how he was going to take over Scott's kingdom after killing the king. Marrying the prince just seemed like the easiest option at the time, but the prince was more stubborn than he thought he would be. But with this new plan, there was no way he could lose.

Ivan smiled at his servant, a look of intent in his eyes. Toris shrinked back a little, not liking the look he was receiving.

"What...?"

"It's brilliant. At the ball tomorrow night, Prince Alfred will make the vow to the wrong person."

"But...why would he do that?"

"Well he'll do it unknowingly. I'll make you look like Arthur, and you'll attend the ball in his place. Alfred will make the vow to you," he smirked. "And Arthur will die."

Toris frowned confused. "Why go through the trouble just to kill him? Why not kill him yourself?"

"Because, my dear Toris, that would be boring. Can you imagine the pain Arthur will feel? Dying slowly, heart broken after his love promises himself to another. And then Alfred, how he'll feel knowing it was him who caused Arthur's death. That is much more fun. Then I'll kill Alfred, no one will truly know what really happened, then you and I will rule Arthur's kingdom with everyone thinking you are him."

Ivan felt pretty proud of his new plan, but was disappointed he didn't think of it sooner. Though he supposed it was better late than never.

"Gosh, it's such a hoot to see them quaking. When I'm king they'll treat me with respect. I can't wait to watch their poor hearts breaking. So much for politically correct."

With a flash of magic, a red carpet was rolled down the grand staircase and the whole room changed. The chandelier lit up, the walls were painted, the floor was polished, and the tapestries were void of a single tear. The fountain was also repaired, the statue on top of three women no longer cracked and broken. Even Ivan's clothes changed. His black coat and scarf had turned white, and he donned a shining crown fit for a king. He slid down the staircase banister.

"Up 'til now I've pulled my punches. I intend to eat their lunches. No more Mr. Nice Guy, not for me."

Toris couldn't imagine how eating their lunches could be evil in any way but he wasn't willing to say anything while Ivan was having his moment. Besides, he quickly forgot about the song lyrics when he saw the cute Polish boy the sorcerer conjured up. Before pushing him into the fountain that is.

"If you think that I'm hard-hearted, well, let me by, I haven't even started."

With a zap the three female statues came to life, singing backup. One had shoulder-length blonde hair and emerald green eyes. Another girl had tan skin, long dark hair tied into pigtails with red ribbons, and golden honey eyes. The last girl was oriental with long brunette hair, a long curl coming off the side, and gold eyes. The three of them all wore floor-length pink dresses varying in shades.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy, no siree!"

A blast of magic later, the sorcerer had conjured up Roderich and his band, the magic bouncing between them and their instruments knocking them over. Ivan laughed at the small chaos.

"Soon as my witchcraft has zinged them, I'll gain control of the kingdom."

Next to him appeared an illusion of Arthur, but the prince soon took the form of a swan before disappearing completely.

"As for Arthur, well that's tragic. 'Cause I'm going back to that old black magic."

A black top hat appeared in Ivan's hand. The enchantor reached into the hat and pulled out young Erland by his rabbit ears. The hat and rabbit boy then both disappeared together.

"Good behavior is so much duller. Time to show my one true color."

His three backup girls sang, "Baby, Mr. Nice Guy's history."

Ivan poofed up an illusion of Alfred next to him. "Vengeance is what I believe in. I don't get mad, I get even," he sang before punching the fake prince square in the jaw.

"Arthur can't get to the ball 'cause I won't bring him. So I'll zap up a date who's a real dead ringer."

The sorcerer looked to Toris, who seemed pretty nervous as to what the man was going to do to him. With a zap Toris donned a black formal military style prince's uniform with gold accents. It took a second blast for Ivan to get his servant's face right but soon Toris had short and messy blonde hair, emerald green eyes, and thick eyebrows that turned heads. He looked exactly like Prince Arthur.

"Up to no good, I love plottin'. 'Cause I'm so good when I'm rotten."

With one more blast, Toris now wore the golden swan locket Ivan had taken from the real prince. He looked down at the necklace, feeling bad about what he was going to do...but he knew he wasn't in a position to oppose his master.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy, wait and see."

"Wait and see," the girls echoed.

"I'll become that nasty, naughty, very spiteful, wicked, wayward, way delightful bad guy I was born to be."

And just when you thought it was over, Toris offered a "Once more?". Though he didn't approve of the plan, he did enjoy seeing this side of Ivan. It was amusing. The enchantor just shrugged and continued on.

"Lying, loathsome, never tender, indiscreet repeat offender. No more Mr. Nice Guy, that's not me."

As he finished his little number, the room faded back to being that cold and dark wreck that it was, his female backup singers turning back to stone on top of the fountain. Ivan laughed as he exited the castle, calling back to his one person audience, "Thank you, thank you very much".

The next day, in Queen Elizaveta's grand ballroom, preparations were being made for the ball taking place that night. Roderich was rehearsing with his band, Elizaveta was arranging bouquets of flowers, and servants ran around doing their own jobs. Alfred came in yelling for Lovino, for he hadn't seen him since they were out hunting the day before. He figured the Italian had gotten scared while being left alone and had gone back to the castle without him, leaving Alfred to pursue his swan. The blonde prince gave up his search for his best friend for a minute, instead approaching his mother when he saw what she was doing.

"Mother, what is this?"

"They're roses," she said with a raised eyebrow, wondering if her son was serious in not knowing what roses looked like.

"They're red."

She turned her attention back to the roses saying, "Of course they are."

"But I don't want red roses. I want white ones. You know, like a swan. Anyways, have you seen Lovino?"

"No," she answered dismissively.

Alfred then turned to Roderich to comment on his choice of music, fast and lively. "No no no no, not like that."

The Austrian musician directed his band to stop playing and looked at the prince slightly insulted that he didn't like his masterpiece. "What's wrong?"

"Tonight the music must be played..." he paused, trying to think of the right words, "rubato, soft and graceful. Like a swan."

Roderich raised an eyebrow in question. "A swan?"

"Have you ever seen a swan, Roderich?"

"Of course I've seen a swan."

"Well, if you could play a swan, what would it sound like?"

Roderich instructed his tuba player, the musician playing a sound that was supposed to sound like a bird squawking. The Austrian laughed at his bad joke. Alfred just rolled his eyes, but with a smile.

"Soft and graceful, Roderich." The prince turned to the rest of the room and asked again, "Where is Lovino?"

Elizaveta finally answered for everyone, "No one has seen him, Alfred."

Alfred just grinned and put his fists on his hips. "Well then who's gonna be my best man?"

The queen blinked, taking a moment to figure out if she had heard him right. When she regained her senses she smiled, tightening her grip on the roses she held in her hands.

"Best...you mean-?"

Alfred's smile grew as he winked at his mother, silently telling her he finally found the one he was going to marry.

"Oh Alfred, I'm so happy! Who is it?" she questioned while Roderich and his band began playing a much softer song than before.

"There you go, Roderich!" Alfred began to dance along with an invisible partner, until he took his mother's hand and danced with her. Elizaveta happily laughed and danced around the room with her son. She let out a surprised yelp when she was dipped back, her long hair falling into a punch bowl and temporarily being dyed red. But she was too giddy to really care at the moment.

"Don't be so secretive, Alfred, tell me who it is!"

But Alfred wouldn't tell just yet. He wanted it to be a surprise when Arthur arrived. So he ignored his mother's question and pulled her back up, spinning her out onto the dance floor. When she spun, her wet hair splashed Roderich, who let out a not-so-manly noise. Alfred now held the roses Elizaveta had been carrying before he whisked her away to dance. He laughed, feeling happier than he had since before Arthur had gone missing, and tossed the flowers high up into the air.

As Alfred's roses fell down, so did the ones Ivan dropped down to Arthur. The evil enchanter had the poor swan locked in a water-filled tower of the castle. The prince just ignored the flowers, looking up at Ivan with anger and defiance in his eyes. Ivan looked down upon the swan from a window of the tower, much too high for anyone from inside to reach.

"Now now, don't look at me like that, Arthur. I hate to lock you up, really I do. But a king must make difficult decisions. You understand, da?"

Arthur refused to speak and instead ripped apart the roses given to him with his beak.

"Oh you're mad at me. I just can't do anything right, can I? I can't leave like this, because if you're unhappy then I'm not happy. Hmm...I know, since you can't go to the ball, I'll just bring the ball to you. First thing you'll need is a prince."

The wooden door next to the window opened, revealing Toris trying to push Prince Lovino through the doorway and into the water. Arthur almost immediately recognized him as Alfred's best friend. The Italian wasn't going down without a fight, gripping the edge of the doorway, curses falling from his mouth every other word. But with one hard push he lost his grip and fell head first into the lake water. When he resurfaced he took hold of a chain dangling down next to the stone wall to help keep himself up. The water was in no way shallow and it would take too much energy to stay afloat alone.

"Poor thing was lost in the woods."

Ivan was just about to leave when Lovino yelled up to him, "Get your ass back here!"

"Oh I'm sorry, but if I don't go now, I'll be late. And that's just tacky." As he was about to close the window he caught a glimpse of Arthur scowling at him as best he could with a beak. "Don't you give me that look. You just had to be sneaky, dragging your prince into this, didn't you? Well that's fine with me. Just fine," he said before slamming the window closed, locking it so the bird couldn't fly out.

We're coming down the home stretch, I think this will only have two chapters left. Maybe three, I'll probably do an epilogue chapter.

So I'll see you all again next week! If you haven't checked out my Moulin Rouge story yet, I ask that you take a look!

Review!