Chapter 7 – Let It Go

Donkey couldn't move. Why should he? The world was going to end and he was powerless to stop it. He fell to his knees as the Infinite Legion came to their queen. What could he do against this? Elsa laughed at the pathetic donkey but he didn't hear. It was over. There was nothing Donkey could possibly do to save Shrek.

Shrek…

Donkey leapt to his feet and began to run. As he passed the pool of blood that was all that remained of Dean, he quickly ducked down and picked up Dean's silver pistol in his mouth, barely slowing down to do so. He wasn't going to simply wait to die twice. He was going to take down as many of these bastards as he could. Starting with Elsa.

He turned to face her as she gave him a cold smirk. "Aw, look," she said. "The ass wants to make an ass of himself before he dies." Elsa raised her hand to kill him. Donkey began to fumble around with the gun in his mouth, but it was futile. He should've known he couldn't use Dean's gun. Not without hands. Part of him wished he could turn back into Barry, but the rest of him chose to think of Shrek in his last moments. If only Shrek was here, Donkey thought. He could've killed Elsa. Well, before he turned into me he could've.

Elsa hesitated, clearly wanting to keep enjoying the look of despair on Donkey's face. But then her expression fell and Donkey felt a familiar hand on his back.

"Need any help, love?" Shrek said in his thick, Scottish accent. Donkey didn't know how, but he was back in his Ogre body.

Donkey felt tears form in his eyes, from both joy and grief. If Shrek was here then that meant he was dead. Shrek, as if reading Donkey's mind, spoke up. "I'm not really here, my love," Shrek said with a gentle look on his face. "The real Shrek still lives and remains oblivious to your death and replacement by Barry. I am the part of Shrek that resides within you, just as a part of you resides within him. This is what it means to be soulmates, Donkey. Here, allow me to help you." The manifestation of Shrek's love reached out and took Dean's gun from Donkey.

Just then, Donkey remembered Elsa was about to kill him. He looked up at her and saw that she was staring above him, scowling. He was about to look too, when he heard an impossibly loud roar that somehow managed to drown out the marching of the Infinite Legion. Donkey recognized that sound from his first day in Hell and quickly turned around to see the Hell Beast, Leviathan, souring down to the frozen ruins of Gary, Indiana. "Oh, shit," he said.

As the Hell Beast swooped over him and continued on towards its Queen, Donkey grew confused. He grew even more confused when instead of welcoming Leviathan, Elsa began to frantically shoot ice at it. Then Donkey realized. Leviathan was only loyal to the Devil and had come to avenge him. This could work, he thought with a grin.

Leviathan bellowed once more and went in for another dive, before being repelled again by Elsa ice. The two seemed to be at a stalemate, neither one able to kill the other. However, while it didn't look like Leviathan would be able to kill Elsa, it was certainly doing a fine job distracting her. Donkey looked to his side to see Shrek's love aiming right at Elsa with Dean's gun. "Take the shot, dear," Donkey said.

Shrek pulled the trigger. With a bang, a bullet flew from the silver barrel and hit Elsa right in the arm. He was aiming for the heart, but it was difficult with the ground shaking.

"Aw, fuck!" she screamed, blood running down her left arm. "Get the fuck up here right now so I can kill you and your shitty knock-off JoJo stand!" She raised her right hand to kill Donkey, but right before she could cast her spell, Leviathan noticed she was distracted and swooped down. She barely had time to notice the demonic whale before it devoured her whole in one gulp. Elsa was dead. Again.

The Infinite Legion immediately halted as Leviathan came to a stop above the stage, looking down at Donkey as it hovered there. Just then, a figure seemed to climb out of the Hell Beast. It walked forward and stopped once it reached the head. It turned to the Infinite Legion and yelled out. "Return to your stations!" the figure commanded. As the ground once more started to rumble as the demonic soldiers returned disappointed to their barracks, the mysterious figure leapt from Leviathan's head and landed in front of Donkey and the Spirit Shrek that stood beside him. Donkey immediately recognized who this mystery man was.

"You have my gratitude," the Devil said as he adjusted his suit. "If it wasn't for you, that stalemate could've gone on for centuries."

Donkey narrowed his eyes. "I visited your palace. I saw your corpse."

The Devil shrugged. "Just a body double," he said. "All world leaders have them for security reasons. Not often it pays off. Speaking of my palace, I see you found the circle of anti-magic I had planned to use to stop Elsa. My double was supposed to lure her into it, but I don't think that I need to tell you that he failed."

"You knew about what Barry did?" Donkey asked.

"Not directly, but I know of every soul that enters Hell," the Devil explained. "I know that a bee named Barry B. Benson entered Hell due to a deal with some minor demon. I also know that you are that bee. I suppose we should get that sorted out, but with Elsa's recent attempt at causing Armageddon, I doubt Heaven would be in the mood to organize your transfer."

"I can't go to Heaven!" Donkey swiftly complained. "I need to go back to Earth to save Shrek from Barry! I can't do anything if I'm dead!"

The Devil laughed. "That would be a massive breach in protocol! Heaven would be furious! I might even get a visit from ol' Mikey! I love it!" He gestured over his shoulder with a grin. "Portal's over there. Have fun being alive, but make sure to watch out for any angels trying to clean up my 'mess.' Oh, and when you marry Shrek, don't do it in a church. Being brought back to life by dark magic may cause you to immediately die when stepping on holy ground. Anyway, I've got a lot of paperwork to do because of this whole incident. See ya!"

As the Devil walked away, a deeply unpleasant and incomprehensible sound echoed through what was left of the city as reality was torn asunder. After what felt like hours, the sound stopped, leaving a large tear in the universe, connecting Hell to the mortal world. If only Dean could've been there too.

"This is it, my love," Spirit Shrek said from beside him with a gentle smile. "Go save the real Shrek." The manifestation of Shrek's love for Donkey began to fade as it rejoined his soul. A moment later, Donkey was alone in the ruins of Gary, Indiana.

How long had Donkey been in Hell? It didn't matter. There was no time for any more delays. Donkey needed to kill Barry and save Shrek. And to do that, he needed to come back to life.

Donkey stepped into the portal and left Hell.