All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.
Chapter 104: The Girl Who Never Grew Up
"I promise you that I will settle this."
As Kitsuni headed out, she knew that she had to get the Order to help save Amity's brother.
"This is an inter-dimensional-incident," she muttered while using her magic to create a portal… until something came in front of her. "What?!" She felt a fist hitting at her face, prompting her to slide back from the portal. She saw a hooded, kunoichi standing in front of her.
"Not so fast… sister," said a blue fox yokai dressed in a black kunoichi wardrobe. She had blue fur with black and white facial sides of her fur. She wore a black tunic with black baggy pants, with arm guards and shin-guards with socks in sandals. Her red eyes looked at Kitsuni while sporting a mischievous look. "Surprised to see me…?"
"Yui?!" Kitsuni was surprised, but she dodged the swing of a club prompting her to flip back.
"Hey sis, long time no see," Yui said. "How's Mai doing? Still taking things apart?"
"What are doing here, Yui?!" Kitsuni demanded while the two circled each other.
"What am I doing here? Gee, I wonder why…Oh yeah, I'm on a… gig you could say." She saw Kitsuni rush over to her, her claws extending as she slashed at Yui, who blocked her with her large blade.
"Just because we're part of the same quadruplets, doesn't mean I won't hesitate to take you out!" Kitsuni declared while delivering a kick towards her. Yui grinned as she delivered a kick as well, the two sisters clashing against each other with their kicks.
Yui flipped over as she landed on a tree, looking around her area. "I must say, this realm's a nice place!" she commented while throwing dozens of needles at Kitsuni, who dodged them.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Kitsuni demanded.
"What? No, I would never want to hurt my own family! Except our 230th brother, Hana, he owes me some yen," Yui said while throwing more needles at Kitsuni, who dodged most of them, but one of them managed to slash her.
"Gah!" she winced, feeling the cut on her arm. "You have a funny way of showing it…"
"I'm serious, Kitsy," Yui said while bringing out a scroll, opening it so that out of it popped an iron chain net. Kitsuni tried to dodge it while Yui summoned more nets after her sister.
While dodging the nets, Kitsuni shot blue flames at her sister while duplicating herself. However, her vision started to get blurry. "W-What?" she asked herself white she saw her clones disappearing one by one. Yui stood in front of her.
"Those needles are laced with jellyfish venom," she said with a grin. "Not lethal… but it's still going to put you to sleep for a while…" She headbutted Kitsuni, who fell back.
Kitsuni laid on her back, Yui crouching over her as she watched Kitsuni's body go numb. The last thing Kitsuni saw was her sister smirking at her.
"Oberon gives his regards," Yui declared with a grin.
"O...beron…" Kitsuni said as she blacked out.
The Underworld.
The trio of Mel, Trini, and D-Josh had arrived, bringing Edric, King, Cups and Mugs with them.
"Oh it's so good to be home!" Mel declared as she stretched out. "Don't mind me, I'm just gonna change into something more… comfortable."
Mel then started to change out of her current appearance, dropping the glamor. Edric and King's eyes widened when they saw Mel's true form…
She was tall with long black horns above her purple hair and the left-half of her face was darker. She had dark green eyes and in place of her clothes was a purple, one-strapped toga dress split frontally. She also wore sandals and sported the emblem of the Underworld on the strap of her toga.
"How'd you like my true look, Ed?" Melinoe asked, striking a pose. "This is what a goddess looks like…"
"Uh… you look… great…" Edric said.
"Ed, don't fall for this she-devil's spell! " King told him before turning to Mel. "You can't keep us down here, we have a home and families! What right do you have to take us away from them?!"
"Oh please, we gods can take a mortal as pets whenever we want," Mel dismissed while turning back to Ed. "Look, Eddie, I'm sorry for how things turned out. I really like you, I do, and I did plan on telling you about my true self… but then that Fae-sister of yours had to spoil it. Where does she come off…"
"Are you fucking kidding with me right now?!" Edric snapped at her, which shocked Mel. "Do you honestly think you are in the right for kidnapping me, King, and those two over there?!" He gestured to the Holder brothers. "I've been deceived before by someone I used to love, and now I've been deceived again by someone who shows no regard for her actions, has lied to me from the moment we met, has hurt people, kidnapped us from our homes, and let Donna get taken by Jackson! Not to mention you just referred to me and King as your pets, which we're not, and you endangered my little sister!"
"Hey, watch your tone!" D-Josh told him. "You're talking to a goddess!"
"I don't care who she is!" Edric spat while glaring at Mel, his face is red with anger. "You've crossed the line, Mel! Consider us through!"
D-Josh and Trini looked to Mel, who just stood in silence following Ed's rant. She then started to laugh, which confused Ed and King.
"Ohohoho, Ed, you are so cute to think that we're through," Mel said as her eyes glowed. "I mean, did you forget that I own you? Besides, I'm the only one who truly appreciates you, not your so-called family. And I mean, you're one to talk about hurting people, you're the one who wanted to see Luz get hurt at the Brawl. You didn't even care, you were glad that she got all cut up because your sister chose her over her own family!"
"That… that's not true!" Edric claimed.
"Ed, I don't want to be that guy, but you showed no reaction when Luz got hurt by Scarface over there," King pointed out, which angered Trini who had a scarred look.
"Why you little-!" She was stopped by D-Josh.
"Look Ed, like it or not, this is your new home now. You wanted a life on your own, I'm giving you that life," Mel told him while turning to D-Josh. "D, send them and my things back to my room, and prepare Cups and Mugs."
"You got it," D-Josh said as he snapped his fingers, making him, Edric, King, Cups, Mugs and the stuff disappear.
Mel turned to Trini. "You should go get that face checked," she pointed out while walking away, leaving Trini to walk in the opposite direction. "My, it's so good to be back!"
She walked through the dark large cave that was her home, passing by the creatures that were awaiting her.
"The minotaur's my butler, cyclops my valet." she sang while passing by her butler minotaur and the large cyclops in a valet suit that bowed to her. "A centaur drives my chariot that takes me down the way!"
The blue centaur, Nessus, pulled the chariot once Mel got in, taking her over a bridge of blue flames.
"Through a river made of fire! Through a street that's paved with bones!" Mel sang while riding down the bone-made path, stopping in front of a group of skeletal minions. "I got a dozen zombie skeletons to walk me to my throne!"
She jumped up as the zombies held her up on a carrier, leading her down a path.
"In the land of the dead, heck, boy, ain't it grand?" she asked while summoning herself a drink. "I'm the overlord of the underworld, because I hold horror's hand! In the land of the dead, I'm darkside royalty, I'm far renowned in the underground, and you can't take that from me!" She took a sip of her drink while raising it up. "Come on boys, say whoa!"
"Whoa…" the zombie skeletons sang along.
"Whoa!(Whoa!)"
"Whoa!(Whoa!)" They stopped and lined up in front of her, allowing Mel to disembark while stepping on their heads. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" they grunted as Mel moved along.
She was then met with the large, three headed dog, Cerberus, who looked happy to see Mel.
"Cerberus, my lap dog! As loyal as he can be," she sang as she petted them while they wagged their tail.
She then found herself in her bedroom, seeing the large mattress made of skulls. "My bed is made of skulls, I'm in the lap of luxury!" She jumped in to lay on it before she disappeared and reappeared in a hot tub of red substance. With her were some gorgons. "I got a dragon's blood jacuzzi, the gorgons think it's cool! And a seven-headed hydra living in my swimming pool!"
She pointed at the hydra who greeted Mel while relaxing in the largest pool of the Underworld.
"In the land of the dead, heck, boy, ain't it grand?" Mel jumped out as she danced, with the skeletons dancing along with her, doing the skeleton dance. "I'm the duchess of the underworld, because I hold horror's hand!" She and her skeletal minions did the Thriller for a bit, followed by the Charleston. "In the land of the dead, I'm darkside royalty, I'm far renowned in the underground and you can't take that away from me~! No, you can't take that from me!" she declared as she finished her song. She then turned to her skeletal minions. "Alright, that's a rap, take five," she told them as the skeletons crumbled down.
She began to approach a tower, but then stopped as she sensed something hiding nearby. She smirked and then disappeared.
The two imps, Pain and Panic, were in a hiding spot.
"You don't think she spotted us, did she?!" Panic asked, shivering.
"Shh, keep it down!" Pain told him. "She was pretty distracted with that song number she did, there's no way she saw us!"
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure…"
The two froze and turned around to see Mel behind them. She sported a sinister grin.
"MEL!" they cried out as they tried to run, but Mel pulled them back by their tails.
"Pain! Panic! How are my favorite toys doing?" she asked while holding them up, giving them noogies. "Hope you don't miss me!"
"Oh, we uh… of course we missed you, Mel," Panic said while feeling her fist rustling his skull.
"But we thought that you'd be out a little longer!" Pain said while the two were held upside down.
"Yeah, well I wanted to stay longer but I had to cut my visit short! However, the Boiling Isles that you suggested were great! So many sights, so much chaos, not to mention the riots I've caused!" she declared with joy. "The Human Realm has gotten boring, but the Demon Realm was a blast! I wonder what Eris would think of all the chaos I've committed? Or maybe Ares, he's always good for a little bloodshed!" She looked back at the two with a smirk, which made them nervous. "Say… would you two be up for a little game?"
"Um, I got a dental appointment scheduled-AAH!" Pain cried out while a fireball was shot out from Mel's fingers. She sent another at Panic.
"Hey! Stop! I'm not ready-AAH!" Panic cried while Mel forced them to do a dance for her while she laughed, shooting fire at their feet.
"Hahaha! Dance for me!" Mel declared before she stopped. The two sighed in relief. "Now how about some paddle ball?"
The two looked absolutely terrified. "NOT PADDLE BALL!" they cried but before they could flee Mel grabbed the two and smashed them together, turning them into a paddle ball, with Panic as the paddle and Pain as the ball connected to the string.
Moving her arm rapidly, she swung the paddle ball as Pain ended up bouncing against Panic's face, giving them pain as Panic screamed while Mel just counted. "3, 6, 9, 12…"
"Melinoe!" a female voice shouted.
She turned and saw a red nymph woman coming down the steps of the tower. She had long pointy ears, long red hair, glasses over her red eyes, a beauty mark, a black business suit with a red tie, a short skirt, and black heels. Her hands were noticeably green up to her wrists. "So you've returned."
"Oh hey, Minthe, how's business going?" Mel asked her while still playing her paddle ball made out of the two poor imps.
Minthe didn't answer the question. "Your father wishes to speak with you."
Mel stopped, her expression changing. "Oh… does he, now?" she said while looking at the nymph, tilting her head with a bored look.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Hades demanded, having Melinoe sit on a chair facing him at his office. "I got back from having a little guy's night out, only to learn that you left the Underworld without saying a word. I haven't heard from you in weeks. WEEKS!"
"Relax, I was just… hanging out with my friends," Mel told him. "Having some harmless fun."
Hades groaned. "You were in the mortal realms, weren't you?"
"Not the Human Realm, just some backwater realms that I was checking out, not even worth sparking my usual brand of trouble," Mel said while crossing her arms. "I grew tired so I decided to head back to the Underworld and see how it's been doing during my absence. I mean, did you really mind not having me around?"
Hades was silent for a moment. "This isn't about me, alright this is about you. I promised to Persy that I would make sure you didn't get into any trouble so she could visit her mother with zero interruptions. She's dealing with enough from the Order calling for her, if she has to come here she will not be happy…"
"Hmm, yeah," Mel muttered. "But hey, we can keep this between the two of us. She doesn't have to know about my absence."
Hades looked down at her. "What are you getting at?"
"I think you deserve an overdue Father's Day present," Mel said as she clapped her hands. "D-Josh."
Appearing next to her was D-Josh, who was eating a sandwich. "Hey Mel," he told her while looking up at Hades. "Your darkness."
"Josh…" Hades muttered.
"D-Josh, why don't you bring the… present for dad?" Mel requested.
He nodded and snapped his fingers. Popping up in the office were Cups and Mugs with a bow tied around them and a 'Belated-Father's Day' banner over them.
Hades's eyes widened in shock. "Are those…?!"
"Yup… the ones that owe you a soul!" Mel declared which woke up the Holder brothers.
"Oh… what hit me?" Cups asked as he and his brother looked around.
"Where are we?" Mugs responded as the two witch boys then noticed the flaming haired blue god in front of them. "Oh, isn't that Mr. Hades over there?"
"Oh yeah, it is him," Cups replied.
…
…
"MR. HADES?!" The two brothers' eyes widened like dinner plates, they began to scream and shout while in a panic.
"WAAAH! HELP! WE'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED BY MR. HADES!" Cups cried out.
"CALL THE EMPEROR'S COVEN!" Mugs shouted while spotting Mel. "MEL! HELP US!" he begged while Mel just looked at them in amusement.
Hades groaned as he turned to D-Josh. "Shut them up," he said as D-Josh did just that by taking away their mouths. This caused the Holder brothers to be muffled while they tried to scream. Hades then turned to Mel and just sighed. "Mel, this is not what I had in mind as a Father's Day gift."
"But I thought you wanted them to come here!" Mel pointed out.
"Well, specifically Cups, he's the one who owes me a soul," Hades explained. "But you shouldn't have brought them here, especially since they're still alive! Do you know how illegal it is now to have mortals be brought down here if they didn't pass? I was just planning on waiting for Cups to die of natural causes, or his own stupidity, before claiming his soul!" He sighed again and started rubbing his temple. "Look Mel, just send those two idiots back to the Demon Realm, cause the last thing I want is another word from the Order…"
"Okay, I guess I could," Mel replied, sounding disappointed. "I mean, I thought that you could at least have some fun with them first, while you have the chance. Nobody would have to know…"
Hades hummed, thinking about Mel's suggestion. "Maybe… I could use some entertainment for myself after losing a debacle with Xibalba during guy's night. Never arm wrestling him again." He rubbed his arm with a bitter look. "Alright, I'll consider having fun with those two bumbling fools before sending them back. Pain! Panic!"
The duo of imps came to their boss. "Um… yes, your dark lordship?" Pain asked nervously.
"See those two," he said, pointing to Cups and Mugs. "Take them away and have them dressed up and prepared for my amusement."
"O-O-Of course, sir!" Panic responded the two began to drag the still screaming brothers out of Hades's office.
Hades then turned to Mel and waved his hand. "You can go now."
"Yes, daddy," Mel replied while getting up and leaving the office. As Hades sat back in his chair to light his cigar, his daughter smirked to herself…
London, Human Realm
"Hey, it's… been a while," Puck Goodfellow said while looking down. "I'm… sorry that I haven't visited much. I've been all over the place, here and there," he said with a sigh. "But I'm finally back to see you… Wendy."
In front of him was a tombstone, a tombstone that had a name written on it:
Wendy Darling
Beloved sister, mother, and grandmother.
Puck stood in silence, remembering the last time he had seen his dear friend…
Peter Pan flew into the old Darling household. Spotting him was a woman in her forties with dirty blond hair and blue eyes.
"Peter… you've made it," she spoke to him.
"Where is she, Jane?" Peter asked as Jane led him to where he was needed.
Laying on her deathbed was an elderly Wendy Darling. Jane spoke to her. "Mum… it's Peter."
Wendy's eyes looked up, spotting her old friend. "Peter… it's so nice to see you again."
"Wendy…" Peter spoke, looking at Wendy who has grown old. It shook him, but he wanted to see his friend.
"I'm sorry that I don't look like how you remember me, Peter," Wendy told him as Peter knelt before her.
"It doesn't matter… you'll always be Wendy Darling to me," Peter responded, patting her hand with his.
Wendy smiled. "I will always be grateful for the memories you gave me, Peter, as well as the memories you gave to Jane. Would you… promise me one thing, Peter Pan?"
Peter gave her a nod. "Anything, Wendy."
"You have a good heart, Peter," Wendy told him. "And I believe… that you could be more than this. That you can be a force for good that helps people. So please promise me… to be good when I'm gone."
"Yes! Of course I'll be good, Wendy!" Peter told her, gripping her hand. "You have my word."
"I know," Wendy said with a smile. "Because I've always believed in you… Peter Pan."
Sitting on the roof of a building, Puck had been crying. And as he cried, he noticed something in the sky before him… a ball of light. This caught Puck's eyes as the glowing ball of light came to him. It looked… familiar to him. His eyes widened in realization when he saw the figure in that ball of light…
"No way…" Puck said as he saw the pixie in front of him. "Tinker Bell!"
Flying before him was Tinker Bell herself, who was just as surprised to see him. "Peter? Peter Pan?"
"Tink!" Puck shouted as he got up, overjoyed to be reunited with his old friend. "Oh I am so glad to see-"
SMACK!
Puck was slapped across the face by Tinker Bell's hand, making him be taken aback. She hit surprisingly hard for such a small thing. "Ow! Oh… yeah, I deserved that," he said while noticing Tinker Bell's angered look.
"YOU DESERVE A LOT MORE FOR WHAT YOU DID!" Tinker Bell shouted while she was glowing red with anger. "You left me, Peter! I thought it was supposed to be the two of us together! A team for all time! But then you left and didn't come back and everything went wrong and I went looking for you, and then-!"
"Your… eye," Puck noticed after seeing that her eye was missing.
This stopped Tinker Bell's rant and she turned around while covering her face. "Please… I didn't want you to see me like this…"
"Tink…" Puck said. "I'm… I'm so sorry for leaving. And causing you so much pain. I know that I have a lot to answer for leaving, but…"
"And I'm still going to be mad at you," she said while crossing her arms. "It's going to take some time for me to forgive you… but I'm happy to see you again, Peter." She turned around to look at him.
"Well, I don't go by Peter anymore these days…" Puck admitted. "Right now I'm just… Puck Goodfellow… at least, I used to…"
"Well, you'll always be Peter Pan to me… even if you did leave," Tink told him.
Puck scratched the back of his head. "You know, I do miss how red you get when you get mad."
Tinker Bell hid her blush. "It's… going to take a lot more than a little flattery to get you off the hook, you're still in hot water."
"I know, just… trying to light the mood," Puck said. "To tell you the truth, Tink… I did forget about you for a time," he admitted shamefully. "But I did meet someone who reminded me of you…"
Tink realized who he meant. "You mean… Amity?"
Puck's eyes widened in surprise. "You've met her?"
"Yeah, I met her while I was… nevermind. She's a really good kid and so are her friends and girlfriend. I even met a fellow pixie that was with her, Acorn. They really remind me of… us," she said with a smile.
But Puck just looked down sadly. "I've messed things up with you Tink, just as I've messed things up with Amity. I left you and I ended up stranding her away from home. Everyone who has ever met me ends up getting hurt because of me… in the end, I'm cursed."
Tink looked at her old friend, having a thought. "Well, it's decided then."
"What?" Puck asked her.
Tink smiled at him. "Why do you think I came here? I was visiting with an old friend of ours…"
In a house in London, an elderly woman in her mid-eighties was seen reading her book while she listened to an old sixties song on the radio. As she was reading her book, the gray haired woman in her purple gown relaxed in her chair, having the window open for some air…
"Jane?" a voice asked.
The old woman sat her book down, having heard someone call her name. She looked over to her window… and saw Puck, who was in his Peter Pan appearance with Tinker Bell flying next to him. The old woman couldn't help… but smile.
"I always knew you would come back someday," Jane said happily. "I knew it. Come here, you!"
Puck smiled as he flew up over to Jane, the two embracing each other in a hug as tears of joy fell down Puck's face…
Avalon, Fae Realm
Kitsuni gasped as she came to and looked around her surroundings.
"W-What?!" She tried to escape but couldn't. She realized she was in shackles and was in a dungeon of some kind. "Yui?! Where are you!"
"It's just me, little vixen," said a voice.
Kitsuni paused and turned, recognizing that voice.
"Oberon… I should've known you're behind this!" Kitsuni declared.
"Yes, Yui was more than happy to go after a member of her own family… in exchange for some generous compensation," Oberon explained. "She wants to let you know that it isn't personal, she's just doing a job."
"Why did you take me away? I'm trying to stop Melinoe!" Kitsuni told him. "This is going against the Order!"
"Oh, I know all about Melinoe," Oberon said. "While yes, I am still under house arrest, I still have my ways. When I learned that Melinoe was in the Demon Realm, I saw an opportunity. I'm counting on Hades's daughter creating as much chaos as possible, so the later the Order knows is going on the better. When they do find out what is going on, they will be completely distracted and will be kept busy cleaning up her mess while I can't be held responsible, because I have no authority over Mel. Leave that to her mother… actually, her father. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now."
Kitsuni was silent for a moment before she snarled at him. "When the Order finds out that I'm missing…"
"The Order will never be able to connect it to me, especially since I have a skill at making people… disappear," he remarked while coming close to her. "But… one thing that has been itching my mind that I can't comprehend…" He grabbed her by the jaw as he gave an angered look. "How long have you known that Amity Goodfellow was part-Fae!?"
Her eyes widened in a panic as she struggled to breathe. This wasn't Oberon mocking her… he was furious.
"You knew that she was part-Fae and never told me about it!?" he told her off. "You and the Piper will pay for intentionally keeping that information from me!"
"For a good reason…" Kitsuni told him, only to have her be slapped across the face by him.
"When someone becomes part-Fae, it should be my business to know!" he declared. "Amity will be mine and she will come to me. Especially since I already know the perfect tool to use as leverage over her…" He gave a grin. "Yes… a certain… gill child that she's become fond of."
Realizing who he meant, Kitsuni shouted. "No! Leave that poor child alone!"
"It's already done, I've already sent for her," Oberon told her as he began walking away. "Enjoy your imprisonment for a while, yokai."
"Oberon, this is going against the charter of the Order," she told him. "You know how much value the rules-"
"I'm sick and tired of following the Order's rules!" Oberon admitted in a shout. "All these limitations about interfering, I'm sick of playing by the rule books! What I want now… is revenge! And it won't be denied to me… not this time!" he declared with a maddened look.
Then he was gone, leaving Kitsuni alone…
Meanwhile in the Human Realm, Puck had been telling Jane about some of his recent adventures.
"And then, here I was, helping out this family that was being chased by some scouts. With some help from my shadow, of course," he said. "I had them tripping all over each other and it was hilarious, I wished that you could have-" When he looked back at Jane, he saw that she had already fallen asleep while listening to his stories. He looked at her peaceful smile as she rested. "-been there."
He smiled before he helped to tuck Jane in bed. He placed her under the covers and gently lay her on her pillow. He sighed, while Tink flew up to him. "Thank you for bringing me here, Tink," he told her.
"It's no problem, Peter," she replied before looking down. "Do you… wish to go home?"
Peter, now changed back to Puck, responded. "Home? Gee Tink, I… haven't been there for a while. And I don't think I remember how to fly yet."
"Then I'll reteach you," Tinker Bell offered. "I'm going to help you learn how to fly again, even if it takes a billion years for you to remember."
Puck nodded as Tink led him out of Jane's room and onto the roof, hovering in a sitting position as she watched Puck prepare to fly.
"Alright… I can do this…" he said to himself. "Just gotta believe in myself!" he declared while jumping off the roof… only to start falling to the ground. "Yah!" he screamed as he fell.
He got back up on the roof again. "Alright… this time, I got this!" he declared while jumping off. "Yah!" Once again he was sent falling to the ground. "Ow…"
He then got back up the roof to try again. "I'm gonna fly… NOW!" Predictably, he fell again.
Tinker Bell watched in amusement as Puck kept trying and falling over and over again. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh haha, you're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked her while Tink flew up to him.
"Sorry, I'll stop," she said while laughing again. "Sorry, just have a laughing fit." Puck rolled his eyes as Tinker Bell stopped laughing. "Okay, I'm good. Now then… why don't I remind you what the key to flying is?"
"The key to flying? What?" he asked her.
Tink smiled "Remember what you told Wendy, Michael and John… just think of a wonderful thought!"
Puck considered it. "Any happy little thought?"
"Yeah, think of all the joy you'll find, when you leave the world behind, and bid your cares goodbye," she said while sprinkling Puck with a little pixie dust.
He shut his eyes as the pixie dust spread around him. "Think of… happy thoughts," he said to himself. He thought of Wendy… and he thought of Jane, who was still the Jane he remembered, even after these years. He remembered her warm smile and her embrace…
"Peter, look!" Tink shouted.
Puck opened his eyes and looked down to see that he was flying. "I'm… I'm flying," he said while floating up in the air. "I'm really flying, Tink!" he said while crying tears of happiness.
"You can fly!" Tink cheered while they both laughed in joy.
Puck began to swim up while Tink joined him on his flight. He began to fly over London, sweeping over the city and balancing himself on one of the arms of the clock tower. It felt so nostalgic for him as he jumped up, heading to the clouds.
"This brings me back…" he said as he flew.
"Yeah, it sure does…" Tinker Bell responded while looking at Puck with a sadden smile.
Puck noticed her look. "Hey, you alright?"
"I'm fine, just… you'll see…" Tinker Bell told him while they flew up to the north star, which opened into a gateway to Neverland…
Once they passed through the colorful kaleidoscope gateway, Puck and Tinker Bell had made it to Neverland. Puck's eyes widened when he saw his old home…
"Tink… is this… really Neverland?" he asked her while she looked down sadly.
"Everything went wrong, Peter," Tinker Bell responded with a saddened look, tears streaming from her eye. "Since you've been gone…"
What was once Neverland, Peter Pan's own home… was decimated to a barren wasteland.
Back in the Underworld, Edric found himself in Mel's room. He was bound to a chain on her bedpost while sitting on Mel's bed made out of bones. Coming was Mel holding a tray of food.
"Hi, Eddie!" Mel announced. "Look, I know things are a little… crazy, but I got you some food, you must be hungry, so you should eat up!"
As she handed the tray over to him, he turned his head. "I would rather starve…" he told her.
Mel scoffed. "Even if you starve yourself, your spirit won't leave this place," she said while sitting beside him in bed, holding up a fork to give him some food. "Here, a piece of warthog steak. Say ah…" Edric refused to look at her. "Come on, Eddie, eat up!"
"How much was what you told me was a lie?" he demanded, causing Mel to pause. "About your… parents being divorced? Is Mel even your real name?"
"Both of those are true, yes," Mel confirmed. "Though Mel is short for Melinoe."
"Well… what about that other pair of siblings you used to hang out with?" he asked. "Is what you've told me about them true?"
Mel looked down, tightening her fists. "What happened wasn't my fault."
Edric scoffed. "Well you're not the most reliable source, so I'm beginning to doubt that," he told her, only to be met with Mel's angered look.
"YOU DARE TO DOUBT MY CLAIMS, MORTAL?!" Mel shouted in a fury while green flames bursts around her. Her eyes were piercing into his soul. Edric looked in fear and turned away, holding his arms up while he tried to protect himself. Realizing this, Mel started to calm herself down.
"Okay, okay, sorry, I just… have a little of my dad's temper," Mel reassured him, taking a breather. She looked at Edric. "Ed, you don't have to be afraid of me, I'll never hurt you…"
He flinched when she tried to reach out to him. Seeing that he won't look at her, Mel sighed "Fine, I guess I'll just be leaving you then," she said while walking away, leaving him with the food she gave him.
Meanwhile, King was in a cave surrounded by many beasts and animals. He still had that gag wrapped around him.
"Hey, kid, you new here?" asked a starved looking cat demon.
"Yeah, why am I here? Sure, I was brought in like a pet before, but I'm like, practically a person!" King claimed.
"Melinoe brings any beast that catches her fancy here to be as pets, it doesn't matter if they're sentient or not," the cat demon said. "The downside is that she often forgets to feed us… look what happened to Mac!"
King turned around and saw a pile of bones with a collar with Mac's name tag.
His eyes widened in fear. "We really need to get out of here!"
"Getting out of here is out of the question, kid," the cat demon said. "We're never leaving."
At that moment, King felt truly scared. He wanted to see his family again, "Mom… Luz… Amity… Camila… please… save me…" he said as tears dropped from his eyes.
Back in the Demon Realm, Camila and Ghost had returned to the Owl House. Camila had gotten in contact with Viney through the crystal ball with Hooty's help.
"They went where?!" Camila exclaimed.
"Calm down, Camila, it's the only way they could reach Ed and King," Viney responded through the crystal ball. "Luz had a token that she can use to travel down the River Styx, but you need to get through Hell to reach the River."
"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Camila shouted while looking stressed. "I can't believe the kids decided to travel through actual Hell…"
"Is Hell such a serious subject to humans?" Viney asked. "I mean, some of the demons here are descendants from Hellborns…"
Camila pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses. "Look, Viney, I'll call you back," she told her while tapping on the crystal ball to hang up.
"You're really getting used to living here, boss's mom," Brucy spoke as he sat beside Camila on the couch. "You have gotten pretty good with that crystal ball."
"Yeah, I guess I am," Camila responded while looking concerned and stressed out. "I can't believe that my daughter went to Hell… how is Abigail going to react to this… wait, is it alright to tell others that every afterlife exists other than Heaven and Hell?"
"Don't worry, Camila, if I know Lulu, Eda, Luz and Amity, they will come back safe and sound! They've survived worse than a trip to Hell," Hooty reassures her.
"Well, you are right. Luz and Amity have survived worse," she replied as she got up. "I'm going to go check on Kay."
"Alright, and I'll talk to the scouts stationed outside!" Hooty declared while slithering away.
Camila went up to Luz and Amity's room, where she saw Kay still asleep in her tank. With all that's been going on, the gill child was still asleep happily.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone, niña," Camila apologized while Acorn was over by the shelf to watch as Camila pressed her hand on the tank. "But I promise you that the girls will come back for you."
Outside, Hooty was shown talking to some scouts that were camped out.
"Boy, you scouts are unlike the ones that used to try to raid the place!" Hooty said while pouring some tea to one scout.
"Thanks," Cle responded. With him were Hugh and Meg, who was shown in a scout uniform with a red cowl over, showing that she was part of the Bard Coven's own scouts. With them was a blonde biped squirrel demon girl with blue eyes, gray fur, and an orange cowl, as she was a Beast-Keeping scout. Her large tail stuck out. "Anyone else want tea as well?"
"Um… I'll pass…" Hugh declined, a little afraid of the bird worm.
"You think this would be the last place Amity Goodfellow would return to, right?" asked the squirrel demon.
"I don't know, Gidget," Meg responded with a sigh. "But it's… shocking that she's a Fae."
"Look, Amity isn't a full Fae, she's still a witch," Hooty reassured them. "And Amity's not bad, she's just a poor, helpless young girl that just needed a home!"
"Relax, we're not here to bring her in," Meg reassured him. "We're just here to make a report in case she comes back or not."
"We don't plan on hurting her," Cle reassured him.
"Yeah, we're just here to protect and serve, not to hurt kids," Hugh added.
Unknown to them, Yui had shown up while completely invisible. She strolled over to a window, walking on the wall as she spotted Kay in her tank in the room. She then extended her claw and used it to silently open the window.
'This feels too easy!' Yui thought to herself. 'This has to be the easiest job I've ever had! I hate that this is so easy! Oh well, at least Oberon will pay me enough to pay off my college tuition…'
As she opened the window, she crawled across the ceiling while looking down at the sleeping gill child in her water tank. All she needed to do was swoop in, take the child, and head out to contact Oberon for the delivery. Easy as that.
She jumped down near the tank, dropping her invisibility as she reached for Kay.
BAM!
Yui was hit from behind, knocking her away from Kay. "What?!" she cried out as she saw Camila holding up Brucy.
"I don't know who you are, but you will not take this child!" Camila declared while holding up Brucy. "You ready to kick this puto's ass, Brucy?"
"I've been dying for some blood for a long time!" Brucy declared with a grin.
Yui got up. "So I guess things won't be easy then… good," she declared while bringing out metal claws from her gauntlets. "This will be fun!" she declared before Ghost jumped on her back, scratching her down. "OW! Fuck!" she shouted while trying to get Ghost out of her, but the cat Palisman crawled around and scratched her up. "Damn cat!" she shouted while trying to swipe at Ghost who jumped away from her by using her face.
When Yui backs away, she was suddenly punched in the face by Acorn, who flew in at a rapid speed.
"Take that, you fox!" Acorn declared.
Yui stepped back and stepped on a skateboard on the floor, causing her to trip and fall. "WAAAH!" she cried before she hit her head on the wall. "Ow," she said as she got up. "Okay, no more fooling around-"
WHACK!
She was hit across the face by a golf club with eyes and teeth. "Take this, intruder!" he declared while hitting Yui.
"Ow! Ow! Stop!" Yui shouted while trying to get away, ending up down in the living room where she found herself surrounded by items that had eyes and teeth. "...Is this whole house alive?!" she exclaimed.
"Get her!" the typewriter declared as they all rushed.
Yui fled from the living household items as they attacked her, only to run into Camila again. Camila swung Brucy at Yui, who ducked while getting out a smoke bomb. She was about to use it until her arm was bitten by a living bear trap. "AAAAAAH!"
"You've made the mistake of messing around in our house!" the bear trap declared.
As she got the bear trap off of her arm, Camila swung Brucy at her face and kept hitting her while Yui had to crouch down. "Ow! Ow!" she shouted before she leapt up and kicked Camila away. But before Yui could do anything else, Acorn dropped a hot iron onto the fox yokai's tail.
"AAAAOOOOHAAAAHAAAOOO!" Yui screamed as she felt the burning iron that hit her tail.
"Hey! What's going on here!?" Hooty asked as he opened the door and saw the chaos going around. "What is going on here?!"
"Hooty, take her out!" Camila shouted, pointing to Yui. "She's an intruder that's trying to kidnap Kay!"
"On it!" Hooty declared as he stretched out to wrap around Yui, and drag her out and throw her outside, which the scouts camped outside saw. "Get out of here, intruder!"
Yui got up just as the scouts spotted her, drawing their crossbows at her. "Freeze!" one of the scouts declared.
"I have no time for this!" Yui snarled as she threw a kunai at one scout, hitting through the crossbow and into his chest, leaving him dead. She dashed past as the scouts kept shooting at her. She managed to kick one away and then turned around to snap another's neck with her pawed feet. It was then she saw something coming her way.
To best describe them, they look like if you would cross a dolphin with snakes. The dolphinakes, as one would call them, had been summoned by Gidget. They bit and swatted at Yui, who brushed them off before she disappeared, a log appearing in her place.
"Where'd she go?!" Gidget cried out as Yui went behind her, preparing to strike her head off with her blade… until she was hit by a large boulder before she could.
The boulder was summoned by Cle, who stomped on the floor and summoned another boulder which he threw towards Yui.
The fox ninja avoided the attack and brought out a large ninja star to throw at them. Cle and Gidget dodged and the large throwing star hit a tree instead. It was then that Hugh suddenly popped up next to Yui.
"Hey, been around?" he asked with a flirtatious tone.
Yui scoffed while swinging her sword at him, but he disappeared. "What the Hell?!"
"Name's Hugh," the scout said as he popped up while Yui swung at him again, only for it to be an illusion. "Wanna stop for some coffee brew if you're not busy?" he asked as she continued to swing her sword at him, leaving her frustrated.
"Fuck! They're illusions!" she declared before she got hit by three paintballs. "Hey!"
"Thanks for keeping him distracted, Hugh," Mug told him after she used her magic to summon the paintballs. "Now you can leave this up to me," she declared while summoning a large paint brush.
"No probs, Meg," Hugh replied.
"What's paint going to do to me?!" Yui barked.
"Tell me, what color is the paint you were hit with?" Meg asked her.
Yui checked the paint. "Blue, why?"
Meg smirked as her eyes glowed. "Cry."
The blue paint suddenly glowed as Yui felt tears streaming from her eyes. "W-What? What is this?" she asked. "Why am I crying?! Stop this right now!" she demanded, now on her knees. "Why… why do I feel… despair?!"
"That's part of the Bard's painting magic," Meg declared while using her paint brush to splash onto Yui. "But it doesn't just bring out your emotions…"
It was then Meg painted chains around the weeping fox ninja. Yui tried to escape but her body couldn't due to it shaking as she broke down in tears. Meg finished her work, having Yui now chained up as the scouts walked over to see her work.
"What do you call this, Meg?" Gidget asked.
"Hmm, I call it… The Foxy Blues," Meg responded as they looked at the entrapped Yui whose eyes were filled with water.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorrieeee…" Yui cried while in tears.
"So… should we call this in?" Hugh asked.
"We don't know who she is… think she's with that goddess?" Cle questioned.
"I'll take it from here," said a voice.
The scouts turned to see Julia Traveler. They all looked confused at the woman with the umbrella who had just showed up.
"Um… who are you?" Hugh asked while Julia made her way to Yui.
"Don't worry, I'm an old friend of your superior Abel," Julia reassured them while picking up the chained up Yui. "I'll be taking her out of your hands, I'll make sure she won't bother you ever again…"
Yui's eyes widened when she realized just how much trouble she was in…
Meanwhile, back in Neverland, Puck and Tink were exploring the ruins of what was left.
"Dear lord," Puck said while looking through the burned forest, seeing nothing but scorched trees, bones of the dead animals, and some burnt skulls of the former natives. "Everything and everyone… all ruined," he said while looking down in guilt. "I should have never left…"
"None of us saw this coming, not even Hook," Tinker Bell told him sadly.
"What could have done this?" Puck asked.
"There were these… flying creatures," she explained to him. "They looked so unusual, we didn't know what to make of them. But that's when they suddenly started to attack. They would burn, kill, and slaughter everything in their wake! It was like they did all of this out on instinct…"
They passed by Mermaid Lagoon, where Puck saw the bones of the mermaids. He looked shocked, remembering those mermaids who were fans of Peter Pan, while Tink continued. "The mermaids tried to hide, but those things adapted and went down into the lagoon to make sure that not one of them survived…"
In the Indian Camp, he and Tink saw the remains of the Indian tribe. "They… were given no mercy."
"My god…" Puck said in horror as he picked up the headpiece of the Indian Chief. "Pixie Hollow… what about Pixie Hollow?" he asked, turning to her.
"Pixie Hollow was evacuated," Tink answered. "Since then, the pixies have been scattered. Though I don't know who made it out and where are my old friends now… I hope they know that I'm okay, but that's just wishful thinking." She looked down with a saddened expression. "I… I didn't know what to do besides trying to find you and bringing you back to save everyone, but I couldn't find you… and my search eventually led to my capture…" She pressed her hand on where her other eye used to be.
"Tink…" Puck said before they stopped at the part of Neverland that was the most familiar to him… Hangman's Tree. Or at least what's left of the tree. For a moment, both he and Tink just stared at the tree in silence…
He then heard a noise, causing Puck to look around. He ducked when a knife was thrown towards him, hitting a tree instead. "Whoa, hey! Take it easy!"
Popping out of the ground was a blonde boy dressed as a fox. He narrowed his eyes at Puck. "Who are you?"
Puck got a good look at the boy, his eyes widening. "Slightly? Is that you?!"
The boy looked cautiously at Puck. "How do you know me?" he asked.
Puck quickly shifted to his Peter Pan appearance. "Slightly… it's me."
Slightly dropped his weapon and started to shake. "I can't believe it… it really is you, Peter!" he shouted while kneeling down. "Where… where have you been?!"
Puck knelt down, hugging his old friend. "I'm so sorry for being gone, Slightly," he apologized. "It's just… I have forgotten myself for a long time… and now I fear that I've returned too late."
Slightly sniffed. "The Lost Boys… they've managed to survive."
Puck looked relieved. "Really? Thank goodness they did."
"Come, let me take you to them," Slightly said before he noticed Tinker Bell. "Tink… thank you for bringing him back…" She gave him a nod as he led them down into their secret hideout.
Once they arrived in the underground hideout, Puck looked around and saw how dark the hideout was, with only Tink providing some light. He saw the cave paintings the Lost Boys made. He recognizes some from their adventures with Wendy, Michael, John, Jane, and her daughter. But then he saw the new paintings… paintings of the flying creatures Tinker Bell had been talking about… the Exorcists. These cave paintings depicted them slaughtering the inhabitants of Neverland. The tribe, the mermaids, the pirates… gone.
"Slightly, who's there?!" spoke a figure holding a sword, stopping Puck in his tracks.
"Whoa, easy there, lad," Puck replied while Slightly lit a lamp. "Nice to see you again… Rough House."
Standing before him was a brown-skinned teenage boy of Asian-descent. He had red and black spiky hair, a pair of broken goggles around his neck, black eyes and red markings on his face, and he wore a black fur sleeveless jacket with a bone necklace, black ripped pants and red boots. He also wore black cuffs with spikes. "I only go by Ruff these days… Pan."
"Peter's here?!" spoke up one of the twins in a raccoon suit.
"Peter Pan?!" the boy in the bunny pajamas spoke from his cot.
"Peter's back!" spoke up the boy in the bear pajamas, along with the other Lost Boys.
Once the light had filled the hideout, all of the Lost Boys, old and new, ran up to see that Peter Pan was back. They all cheered that he had returned.
"Peter! Peter you're back!" one young black boy in lion pajamas spoke up.
"We've missed you!" the Twins said while hugging Puck's legs.
"Guys, it's good to see you all!" Puck said as he recounted them. "Nibs, Cubby, glad to see you well, and you two Tootles!" he said, patting the silent boy in skunk pajamas. "Curly, still out of trouble?"
"Always ever!" spoke a young boy dressed like a sheep dog.
"Latch, Slingshot, Pockets, so good to see you doing well!" he said to the boy in the lion pajamas, followed by another boy of Polynesian descent dressed like a tiger, and lastly a brown-skinned boy dressed like a jaguar with a lot of pockets. "It's… it's so good to see you all."
"It's good to see you too, Peter," said a female voice.
Puck paused and turned around to see an indigenous girl with tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and red lips with her long black hair loose. She was wearing a fringed dress with pink and red stripes and blue boots.
"Tiger Lily…" Puck said while approaching her. "You're alive as well!" he said happily as he hugged her.
She hugged him back, tears in both of their eyes. "I knew you'd come back… we all did," she told him. "We never stopped believing, even after the attack. We took shelter underground, but everything and everyone above…"
"We survived on imaginary food with our imaginary garden," Ruff said while patting Puck's shoulder. "It was rough, but we Lost Boys survived."
Puck smiled before he lowered his head. "I'm so sorry for leaving you guys… if I had known that this would happen-"
"Peter, don't blame yourself, you couldn't have known," Tiger Lily reassured him.
"Still…" Puck lowered his head. "I should have-"
"Bloody hell!" shouted a voice that Puck wasn't familiar with. "I'm so sick of drinking imaginary rum around here!"
Puck looked confused. "Um… who else is here?"
Ruff, Tiger Lily, and the Lost Boys all shared deadpan looks before Tiger Lily spoke up. "Come on, let us take you to see… the pirate."
Still looking confused, Puck followed them to another room of the underground base, where he saw someone at the kitchen table. "Who's this guy?"
"Well… he's not like the old codfish," Tinker Bell told him as they saw the pirate in question.
"It's just not the same as the old rum," said the pirate, who had long, dark brown hair and short goatee beard. His locks donned beads and trinkets and he was wearing a long brown coat, a faded blue waistcoat with a white undershirt, red bandanna around his head, two belts, hard-wearing linen trousers, and long sea boots. He sat on a chair with his boots on the table. He noticed the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily, and someone he didn't recognize. "Well, what do you kids want and… who's the boy in green?"
"Peter Pan," Puck said before he leaned over to Tiger Lily. "Who is… he?"
"He calls himself… Captain Jack Sparrow," Tiger Lily explained.
"The Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack corrected as he stood, offering Puck a hand. "And it is nice to finally meet the Peter Pan."
Puck raised his eyebrow as he shook Jack's hand. "Likewise… I'm sorry, but I've never seen you around before, not even on Pirate Island."
"Oh no, you could say that I'm new around here," Jack said. "Long story short, I was brought here to Neverland by my compass, which takes me to whatever I want most. Unfortunately, that compass of mine was stolen from me by that nasty sea dog, Hook! He and his Smee escaped when those blasted demons flew down and burned everything! Luckily, I've taken refuge with the Lost Boys, but since then I've become a captain without a crew."
"Wait, Hook survived?" Puck asked and Sparrow nodded.
"He fled while Neverland burned like the coward he is," Ruff said. "Who knows where he is now…"
"I know that it is personal between you and him, Peter," Tiger Lily said, patting his shoulder. But Puck just shrugged it off.
"Honestly, I don't care about Hook anymore," Puck admitted. "Right now, all I care about is fixing things."
Meanwhile, Edric was still in Mel's room when appearing before him was D-Josh.
"Yo, Ed, here to check up on you," D-Josh said while walking up to him. "Mel just wanted to make sure that you were doing okay.."
Edric looked at the genie boy with a deadpan expression. "Does it look like I'm doing okay?"
D-Josh leaned back, seeing his tray of food having not been touched. "Sooner or later, you're gonna have to eat."
"I'm not hungry," Edric told him off while his stomach rumbled. "Okay, maybe I am, but I'm on a hunger strike!"
"Suit yourself," D-Josh said as he was about to turn away.
"Wait!" Edric shouted, prompting him to stop. "D-Josh… why do you hang out with someone like Mel? You saw what she did back there!"
"Yeah, I'm used to it," D-Josh admitted. "And I owe her a debt for freeing me."
"Freeing you?" Edric asked him while D-Josh turned around.
"Tell me, have you ever met a genie before?" D-Josh asked him. "How much do you know about them?"
Edric thought about it. "Well, I do know that Luz knows one who used to run the Detention Track some time ago, I think his name was Anu Bist…?"
"Ah, I hear he goes by Jack the Genie these days, that old Jackal," D-Josh responded. "You see, Genies are meant to be limited and be imprisoned by our own lamp and serve those who hold us by granting them three wishes. However, I'm one of the few that was freed. In fact… I wasn't always a genie…"
Edric's eyes widened. "You… weren't?"
D-Josh nodded. "I was once human, as was my mom," he explained. "Her name was Nasira. And she had a twin brother named Jafar. He was a sorcerer that wished himself into a genie and when his lamp got destroyed, his life was ended. My mother wanted revenge on the people who had killed him and to bring my uncle back." He sat beside Edric while looking at his own fingerless gloves as he sighed. "My mom was obsessed with bringing her twin brother back, resorting to dark magic and trying to break all the rules. It's not like the wild magic your Emperor spews about, no, we were tampering with the actual dark arts."
"The dark arts?" Edric asked as he saw D-Josh's saddened look.
"Some gods caught wind of our tampering and as punishment we were both turned into genies, trapped in different lamps and then separated," he explained while his fists tightened. "I hated them for separating me from my mother, all we ever wanted was to see Uncle Jafar again! It's why I based my whole look on him!" he mentioned, noting his cobra hoodie. "It wasn't until Mel found me and used her wish to free me in return for being her partner-in-crime. And now I'm a genie without his shackles." He sighed in a relaxed tone. "I did end up meeting my uncle down here, Hades used to keep his spirit around as a yes-man before he was sent off to Wonderland. But even now… I still have no idea what became of my mother. I am hoping that Mel will help me find her though…"
Ed gave D-Josh a sympathetic look. "I'm… sorry about your mother, D-Josh."
"Thanks, Ed," he responded. "But… you can call me Joshua, or Josh. D-Josh's a stage name when me and Mel throw parties."
Edric looked at the teenage genie, deciding to ask him another question. "So… what is Mel's deal? Like, why is she doing all this? And what about those two siblings she mentioned?"
D-Josh sucked in his breath. "Um… well…" He looked hesitant at Edric. "That is… something that I can't say…"
"Come on, it's just the two of-" Ed felt D-Josh cover his mouth as he looked around. Joshua had to make sure that neither Mel nor her shadow were around as he summoned many eyes and a shadow-detector to make sure the room was cleared. He even stretched his own head to make sure they were not under the bed or somewhere.
After confirming that they were safe, Josh whispered to Ed. "Listen, I'm just gonna tell you this cause I really value both our lives right now cause if she learns that you know, then it wouldn't be good for both of us. So please, please Ed, do not tell her that you know and especially that you heard it from me. You got it?" Edric gave him a nod and Josh released his mouth. "Okay… let me tell you about… Jour."
Josh then began to tell the tale. "Once upon a time, and I know that's overused, Melinoe came to the Human Realm to stay with her mother, Maleficent, in France. One day, she was bored so she decided to go off on her own, like always. And this led to her fateful meeting with Aurore and Jour…"
Mel was strolling through the forest of France, disguised in her human form while wearing a purple hoodie and dark jeans and purple sneakers. She wanted to be away from her mother and was looking for something fun to do…
But it was then she heard something, the sound of… singing.
"Do you hear that, Joshua?" Mel asked while D-Josh just appeared at a tree.
"Sure," he responded while reading a magazine. "Sounds like someone's singing."
"Hmm, that singing…" Mel was drawn to the singing as she walked over to find the source.
Eventually she found a girl singing to herself while dancing. She wore a white blouse with pink shorts and hiker boots as she sang to herself.
"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…" Aurore sang in melody, while brushing her hair. "I know you, The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam!"
Mel and Josh snuck behind a tree, seeing her dancing around the birds that hung out with her.
"Yes I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem~!" Aurore sang. "But if I know you, I know what you'll do, you love me at once, the way you did once, in once upon a dream~!"
"What do you make of this?" Josh whispered before he noticed a look on Mel's face. "Mel?"
Mel silently walked over while Aurore's back was turned.
"But if I know you, I know what you'll do~!" Aurore sang while Mel walked over. "You'll love me at once,"
"The way you did once upon a dream!" Mel sang which surprised Aurore as she turned to her.
"Oh my goodness, you startled me!" Aurore told her.
"Sorry, I heard you were singing and, well, I was in the neighborhood and thought, you know…" Mel said. "I didn't mean to frighten you or anything…"
"Oh, it's… no problem…" Aurore said while looking at Mel in curiosity. "I was just… hiking in the woods and stopped by to sing to myself… pardon but… have we met before?"
Mel shook her head. "No, I don't think we have…"
"Really? Cause there's something about you that's… familiar," Aurore said while looking closely at Mel, who gazed at her with an awkward look. After a pause, Aurore shook her own head. "Nah, nevermind."
"Maybe I have just one of those faces," Mel joked. "Or maybe we have met before, once upon a dream…."
Aurore laughed, which surprised Mel. "Perhaps… I'm Aurore, what's your name?"
Mel smiled. "You can just call me… Mel," she said while extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, Aurore."
Later, the two chatted with each other as they hung out.
"So do you often sing while hiking in the forest?" Mel asked her.
"Not all the time," Aurore said, rolling her eyes. "What about you? What's your deal in the forest?"
"Just getting away from it all," Mel responded.
"Away from what?" Aurore asked, but before Mel could answer they heard another voice.
"Aurore!" spoke up the teenage boy who confronted his sister. He had dirty blond hair, slightly tanned skin, and blue eyes. He wore a blue zipped jacket with white trims, gray pants and blue boots. "I've been looking for you and-" He noticed that with Aurore was Mel. "Who's this?"
"Jour, be nice," Aurore told him. "This is Mel. Mel, meet my twin brother, Jour."
"Nice to meet you," Mel replied, extending her hand.
Jour looked at Mel as he responded. "Do you know that you're talking to the descendants of royalty?"
"Royalty?" Mel asked in confusion.
"Jour, stop that!" Aurore smacked her brother's arm lightly as she turned to Mel. "Sorry, it's just that we have a sort of… royal status. Jour thinks that makes us rulers, but we just have certain titles, like Duchess and Duke."
"Oh…" Mel nodded.
"But it doesn't mean that we can't hang out," Aurore states while turning to Jour. "Brother dear, let's invite our wandering guest back home."
Jour nodded and the two led Mel back the way they came. And that was how Mel first met the siblings Aurore and Jour…
Once the two brought her to their home, Mel began to explore.
"Didn't know you guys live in a castle," Mel commented, even though she had seen castles before.
"It's a family castle," Jour responded as Mel looked over at the paintings.
"Look around as much as you like, Mel!" Aurore told her while smiling.
"This place does look neat," Mel said while looking at the paintings, which depicted the kings and queens of before. But one painting that interested her the most… was of a prince fighting a dragon. She paused, staring at the painting and at the dragon breathing green flames…
"Interesting, isn't it?" asked a voice.
Mel was surprised to be taken by surprise as she turned around to see an elderly woman who had shown up out of nowhere.
"Uh… yeah," Mel replied as she took her hoodie off, showing her short purple hair. "It's um… an interesting painting."
"Why you could say that this painting is based on an old legend in our family," the old woman said while looking at the painting. "It depicts the young prince, one of our ancestors, fighting an evil Fae who has taken the form of a dragon. And according to legend, she's not even the only of her kind that made this family miserable… those Fae are nasty creatures."
Taking offense to this, Mel snarled at her. "What's wrong with Faes?"
"They do nothing but spread chaos and cause mischief," the old woman explained. "They always curse others without a care, they think they're gods among humanity! They are a plague among humanity… if they were real, of course."
"Now you listen here!" Mel shouted while Aurore stopped her from taking action.
"Mel, no!" Aurore told her, keeping her away from her grandmother. She turned to her grandma. "Excuse us, grandmother," she told her while walking away with Mel. "I'm sorry, Mel, but don't mind her, she's just a harmless old lady who puts too much faith in old legends…"
Mel nodded, but still looked back at the grandmother, noticing the way she was looking at her…
Sometime later, Mel had returned home to the ruins of an old castle. She started heading to her room, hoping to avoid her mother.
"Melinoe," Maleficent spoke, causing Mel to stop her tracks. "I haven't been seeing you around lately. Where have you been spending all of your time…?"
"Mother," Mel said while turning around to look at her. "I was just out with some friends."
"Friends? You mean the genie and that sex demon?" Maleficent questioned. "And don't get me started on that boy, Jackson…"
"No, not them… I was hanging out with some… humans," Mel said while looking away.
"Again? Who are these… humans you've befriended?" she asked.
"Their names are Aurore and Jour," Mel answered, leaving her mother speechless.
And then to Mel's surprise, her mother laughed. "Oh the sheer irony… you're friends with that family…"
"What are you talking about?" Mel asked her.
"You see my two-faced dear," Maleficent began. "Their family has a… very bad history with our kind. Take me for instance, I once placed a curse on their ancestor, Princess Aurora, that sent her into a deep death-like sleep when she pricked her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Of course, that became undone thanks to Prince Philip from another kingdom and Aurora's fairy guardians, who placed a counter on the curse by having true love's kiss be able to break the spell. And yes, kissing a sleeping woman is very questionable, but those were the days."
"But if those fairy guardians helped, why does their… grandmother still have it out on Faes?" Mel asked.
"One good Fae isn't enough to stamp out the prejudice she has for them, I suppose," Maleficent said. "You know of the Enchantress and her… bad habits?" Mel nodded and her mother continued. "She once posed as an old hag to another of their ancestors, a prince who was nothing but a spoiled brat. When she offered him a rose in exchange for shelter, he refused her because of her appearance. It was then that the Enchantress revealed her beauty and cursed the prince to turn into a hideous beast, while also cursing his innocent staff who were turned into household objects. Only way to break the curse was for him to learn how to love another and be loved in return before the last petal fell or he would remain a beast and his servants would remain objects." She looked bored as she explained what happened next. "And yes, you know the tale, he found someone who loves him back and the curse was broken and they lived happily ever after. His descendants married the descendants of Aurora and Philip, both families having a bad history with the Fae folk…"
"Oh…" Mel said while looking distraught.
"And to think that you ended up being friends with their descendants!" Maleficent mocked. "Do you really think you could be friends with them? How do you imagine they would react if they knew who your mother is and what you really are… they will reject you, because they will realize that you are just like me."
Mel narrowed her eyes at her mother. "You're wrong," she claimed. "I am nothing like you!"
"We both know that's not true, Melinoe," Maleficent retorted. "But you know what? Prove me wrong. Go ahead and continue playing with those mortals, see how that goes…"
Time passed. Mel continued to hang out with the mortals and things were going well… until they weren't.
Jour was sleeping… with Aurore crying onto his bed. Appearing before her was Mel, who looked concerned.
"Aurore… Aurore, I'm sorry…" she said as she went to try to comfort Aurore, but the blonde refused.
"No, don't you dare touch me!" she shouted at her, showing her tears and ruined mascara. "You did this to him, did you?!"
"What? No!" Mel denied. "Aurore, I would never-"
"This has been your plan all along, has it?!" Aurore accused, looking at Mel with anger and hatred.
"What?! Rory, I didn't do this to your brother! I'd never hurt him!" Mel claimed.
"THEN UNDO IT!" Aurore screamed at her.
"I can't!" Mel argued. "I can't undo a curse that's been placed by another!"
"Liar!" she shouted at her. "I welcomed you into our home, befriended you, and even when you told me who you were, I accepted you! But in the end, you're just like your mother!"
This angered Mel. "I am not!"
"Like mother, like daughter they say!" Aurore told her off.
"SHUT UP!" Mel shouted, her temper being released as her flames burst throughout the room as Aurore screamed. Despite losing control, Mel managed to get her senses back quickly and dispersed the flames. She took a breather, looking around and seeing the scorch marks. "Oh… oh no." She looked at the crying Aurore, who was holding her hands. Mel's eyes widened, seeing Aurore's hands burned. "Aurore, I…" She looked at her own hands and saw them shaking while Aurore cried.
Turning around, Mel disappeared from the room. Aurore looked at the spot where Mel had been and she stood up with fury and hatred on her face. "You will pay for this, Fae! Do you hear me? You will pay!"
Far from the castle and in the woods, Mel was crying on the same tree where she and Aurore had first met. She laid there while crying her eyes out. It was then that Maleficent casually strolled over to the tree, giving her a smug look.
"I told you so…" she said.
"I didn't do anything to Jour," Mel said while in tears. "I wasn't the one that cursed him!"
"Well, it doesn't matter if you did or didn't," Maleficent declared. "You are part-Fae and my daughter. They were always going to turn on you. They just needed an excuse."
Mel then raised her head up, glaring at her mother. "It was you, wasn't it? You're responsible for cursing Jour!" she shouted at her mother. "Why?! To prove a point? To make me miserable? Revenge!?"
Maleficent sighed. "Revenge? Over what? Their ancestor humiliating me in the past?" She shook her head. "Mel, how many times have I told you that revenge is a sucker's game? No, Mel, it wasn't me. I didn't curse Jour and I don't know who did… but regardless of who is responsible, you're the scapegoat," she told her while Mel just stood and glared at her. "Oh don't give me that look. I hope that this experience has at least taught you a lesson. You can never change what you are, Melinoe. And this world will not let you forget it," she said before walking away, leaving her daughter in distress.
"And now you know the full story, or at least how I know it," Josh finished.
Edric looked down at the floor. "I mean, that was bad and all… but it doesn't really make me feel sorry for her at all," he admitted. "She still kidnapped me and endangered my baby sister. No sad backstory or falling out or bad relationship with her parents justifies how much of a jerk she is being right now."
Josh sighed and looked at Edric one last time. "Funny, cause that also applies to you right now," he said as he got up and disappeared after a snap from his fingers.
Edric was now alone with his own thoughts.
Back in Neverland, the survivors had gathered around a campfire outside. Sparrow was asleep in the hideout, so it was just Puck with his old friends. Puck, currently as Peter Pan, was enjoying himself as he and the others talked about old times.
While they spoke, Puck found himself staring at the flames of the campfire. And as he stared at it for a while, he began to experience flashes of memories surge throughout his mind… as he started to remember…
A boy had been born to a human woman in India. The woman had passed, leaving the baby without a mother. But it was then a blue light flew down, revealed to be a blonde woman in a blue gown known as Titania. She took in the baby, since she was good friends with the mother. She cared for him as if he was her own, raising him as a changeling.
However, Titania's husband, Oberon, grew jealous of the child. The boy had Titania spend all her time with him as she crowned him with flowers and made him all her joy. And that Oberon decided that the boy should be his minion…
So Oberon plotted and used his henchman, one of the Pucks, to place a spell on Titania. The spell had her enamored with Bottom, a human actor whose head has been made to look like a donkey. As Titania was distracted by her false love, her adopted son was then taken from her by Oberon and the Puck…
During his childhood, the boy was raised as Oberon's minion. The abuse he suffered as a result led the boy to run away from his stepfather's abuse. He would end up finding Neverland, where he would create a new life for himself as Peter Pan. His adventures as Peter Pan continued until he was at Wendy's deathbed, making a promise to her…
Peter, having left Neverland, was at the campfire alone when appearing before him was an old man with black shaggy hair, a beard, and a long cowl. After a talk, Peter realized who the old man was… Oberon in disguised. The Lord of the Fae demanded that Peter come back to his Court, but Peter refused. The two ended up arguing which resulted in Oberon… stabbing his step-son in the back… turning him into dust…
But this wasn't the first time this happened…
Whenever the boy did something wrong, Oberon would punish him and often kill him.
One time he fell in front of his step-father when he was just young and Oberon's response was to stab him.
One time when Oberon was displeased with the good the boy brought to him, he stabbed his step-son again.
Then one day, the step-son was ordered to help set up the drapes. Oberon just stabbed him out of his own amusement.
It was always the same… Oberon would find reasons to stab the boy, killing him.
Over and over again… resulting in the boy to have these… memory problems…
Puck's eyes widened as he stared into the campfire. The next thing he did… was cry. "Oh… oh my…" he started to cry, breaking down into tears.
This had caught the others, who looked at him in shock. "Peter! Are you alright?" Tiger Lily asked, comforting him.
"What's wrong?" Ruff asked while Tinker Bell looked concerned as well.
"I… I remembered…" Puck confessed.
"Remember what?" Cubby asked him.
"Everything!" Puck announced. He calmed himself down but was still in tears. "I… I remember everything now… I remembered my mothers… my human mother and my fairy mother. I remember how I was taken from them… I remembered dying over and over again, forgetting a bit of myself each time! I forgot the woman who loved me as her son! I forgot the name she called me… but I remember now." He took a pause before revealing his true name. "Kumar… my true name is Kumar… and Oberon took that from me! He took everything from me!"
"Peter…" Tink said in shock, covering her mouth.
"Wait, you say your name is Puck, but then your name is Kumar?" Nibs asked. "Which is it, Peter?"
Puck looked at them all. "Call me Peter Pan as much as you like… but right now there's something I gotta do, so… I'm going to have to leave," he announced, shocking everyone.
"Leave?! But you just got here!" Pockets shouted.
"If you're leaving, I'm coming along!" Tinker Bell told him but Puck stopped her.
"No, you stay with the others. This is something I need to take care of myself," he told her, while the pixie looked concerned. "But don't worry, cause I will come back. And this time… I won't forget everyone," he told them all while he gave a determined look.
Puck flew over to France, where he found the dark ruins of an old Medieval castle. It was the castle of Maleficent.
Flying through its open window, he looked around until he found a pair of women waiting for him: Maleficent and Meteora.
"Well, well, well. I was wondering when you would show up," Maleficent admitted while sitting on her throne.
"About that offer," Puck said. "I'm in."
Maleficent smiled. "I knew you'd come around," she said as Puck noticed a third person in the shadows.
"So I guess we're recruiting teenagers now," spoke the man who appeared out of the shadows. He was about as tall as Belos, which made Puck feel a little uneasy. He had a rather unkempt appearance with shoulder length black hair and stubble, dull blue eyes, and pale skin. He wore a black trench coat with a red shirt, black pants, and combat boots. "But something tells me he has it out for Oberon just as all of us do," he said while holding various weapons in his person.
"Who's he?" Puck asked, feeling intimidated about this man.
"His name is Jean Paul D'lowe, or as most would call him, the Wanderer," Maleficent explained. "He is an immortal human born in the 1300s. His tale is a tragic one: a simple woodsman trying to support his poor family: a wife, two kids, parents, and a sister. All of which were stolen from him by the Black Plague…"
"I lost everything," D'lowe said while looking down in guilt. "After that I stopped believing in any higher power. When I went into the forest to die, I came across a Fae who had seen my family dying and done nothing, despite the power that he wields. When I demanded to know why the fae didn't help, he just said humans die all the time and his intervention would have made no difference in the long run. After that I went back home, grabbed my ax, found the Fae sleeping… and chopped his head off."
Puck winced and felt around his neck. "How… did you become immortal?"
"Titania," he said, which shocked Puck. "She told me the Fae I killed belonged to Oberon's court, as his Unseelie Fae were cruel and callous toward the lives of others, often tormenting mortals for their own amusement. She told me that in a vision she had, where she saw a man with an ax burning Oberon's kingdom to ash before killing him."
"Titania brewed a potion to grant him immortality," Maleficent explained. "This man had nothing to live for except for his powerful desire to kill Oberon and I've to grant him that chance to punish him and his Fae for the crimes they've committed. With his mighty ax, he can slay a Fae."
"Basically, he's a Slayer to Faes," Puck realized.
"Oberon's Faes," he clarified. "Even I know the difference between good and bad Faes thanks to Titania." He noticed Puck staring at him. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just… have we met before?" Puck asked him. "Cause I can't tell if you're familiar or not."
"Well I can't keep track of all the minions of Oberon that I've met and fought," D'lowe admitted. "We may have met before… but that is insignificant now."
"Why don't you go meet the others, Puck," Maleficent suggested as she walked over to him. "We have so much work to do…"
Back in the Underworld, Hades sat in his throne while having Cups and Mugs up on a stage. They were dressed in barbershop quartet outfits while Pain and Panic loaded pellets into bb-guns.
"I don't think I like this at all, Mugs," Cups said nervously.
"Yeah, same!" Mugs responded.
"Alright, Cups, Mugs!" Hades called out. "You two will be performing a synchronized duet of 'Making Whoopi' while Pain and Panic shoot you with their bb-guns!"
"The boss used to do this to us all the time!" Pain mentioned. "That is until Persephone made him stop."
"Made him go through that employee harassment seminar too!" Panic added before realizing something. "W-Wait! What if she finds out about this?!"
"Relax, that is… if she finds out…" Hades reassured the blue imp.
"Yeah, yeah, if is good!" Panic replied with a nod.
"Alright, action!" Hades declared as music played.
Cups and Mugs danced on the stage.
"Another bride-" Mugs sang.
"Another June!" Cups sang.
Mugs: "Another sunny,"
Cups: "Honeymoon!"
"Another sea-AAH!, another rea-AAH!, for makin' whoopi!" the two sang while Pain and Panic started shooting at them, making them shout in pain when they got hit in the arm.
"Yer not gonna shoot us in the eye, are you?" Cups asked.
"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it…" Pain said while aiming at his eye.
The music started again as they continued singing. "A lot of shoes, a lot of rice, the groom is nervous, he answers twic-AAH!" Cups cried out as he got shot close to his eye "Hey! That was really close to my eye!"
"Relax, it wasn't," Hades reassured them with a grin. "Say um, Cups, why don't you open your eye?"
Hesitantly, Cups opened his eye just as Pain shot him in the eye. "AAAH! Oh Titan, WHY?!"
"What the hells, man?! You shot 'em in the eye!" Mugs shouted.
"Shut up, Mugs! You keep singing!" Hades ordered him.
"Mr. Hades, sir," spoke Minthe as she came into the room, "Sorry for interrupting your entertainment, but your scheduled meeting with the Chairman is coming up."
Hades sighed. "Well, boys, it was fun while it lasted. Pain, Panic, get those two treated." He then leaned into Panic's ear. "Shot Mugs at the knee when you get the chance."
"Oh Titan, where's Mel during all of this?" Cups asked while his brother healed his eye.
"I don't know, Cups, I don-AAH! Bitch!" Mugs cried out after getting shot in the knee while Pain and Panic laughed.
Mel held up the Sword of Adam, trying to activate it. Watching her were D-Josh and Trini.
"Come on, work!" Mel shouted as she shook the sword. "Abomi, Abomi, Abomi-Knight! HOOOO!" she shouted while gripping the handle of the sword, but it didn't work. She looked at the eye of the sword. "Why aren't you working, you piece of slimy shit?!"
The eye just blinked at her, along with rolling itself in dismissal.
Frustrated, Mel just threw the sword aside while letting out a yell. Trini watched how frustrated Mel was as she turned to D-Josh. "Why don't you go hit the post, D."
"Alright," D-Josh replied while snapping his fingers, blinking himself away.
Trini then walked over to Mel. "You look tense, Mel. Maybe you need some release…"
"What I need is to make that sword work!" Mel declared. "The keyblade worked just fine!"
"Yeah, but that keyblade's like a cigarette girl you trade in prison," Trini said while getting behind Mel, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Look, why don't you sit down and relax…"
She led Mel to sit on a rock where Trini massaged her shoulders. Mel sighed in relief. "I forgot how much of a masseuse you are…"
"Well, I learned it from working at Ozzie's," Trini replied as she kept massaging her shoulders. "I still remember how we first met… back when you were hitting up Hell's Rings before you got banned." She moved her hands down to Mel's arms. "I remember when you came to the Lust Ring…"
Trini's tail sneakily moved close to Mel's shirt, digging it through. "Trini…" Mel gasped.
Trini started to whisper into Mel's ear. "If you want… we can do it here…"
"Trini, stop!" Mel jumped away from her while turning to her with a glare. "No, I'm not doing this! I am nothing like my uncle!"
"Come on, we could add Eddie in the mix," Trini said while laying on her stomach.
"I may be an evil goddess, but I'm still Ed's girlfriend and I don't want him to get tainted!" Mel told her off.
Trini sighed. "Maybe I should've taken his sister while we were fighting them… man, those witches are hotter than the stereotypes made them out to be."
"Then you should've said it before we left!" Mel shouted at her, looking frustrated. "Augh! I really don't have time for this!" she announced as she walked away from the cambion succubus, leaving her alone.
"Oh poo, Melly has rejected me… again," Trini 'wept' her eyes out before sporting a sinister smirk. "Maybe I should tell her daddy…"
Meanwhile, with Mel's 'pets', two dark wolves with wings flew down in front of them.
"Alright, listen up, live bait," spoke one named Canis. "Remember, we're here under orders to make sure that none of you leave!"
"So better get comfortable, new arrivals!" spoke the other, who was named Lupus. "Cause you'll be staying here for a long time!"
"Yeah, well I don't plan to!" King declared, earning their attention.
"Who said that?" Canis demanded.
"Better come forward, or else!" Lupus added.
"I did," King declared. "Sooner or later, my family's going to be coming for me."
"You hear that? He thinks his family's coming for him!" Lupus told his brother.
"Let's show the new guy how we work things around here," Canis suggested as the two wolves flew over, Canis snatching King by his overalls.
"Hey!" King shouted while Canis swung around King and tossed him over to Lupus. "Cut that out!"
"Haha! Let's see how chewy he is!" Lupus suggested.
"Yeah, see if he squeaks!" Canis responded as they were about to hurt King until a large rock hit Canis in the eye. "AH!"
"Leave him alone!" shouted a blur who hit Lupus with a stick. The two were blindsided as Lupus turned and got dirt in his eyes.
"AAH! Let's get out of here, brother!" Lupus shouted as he flew away.
"Off to the medic we go!" Canis responded as he flew along with.
King was down as he looked up and saw a hand being offered to him. "Are you alright, new guy?" asked a female voice. King looked up and saw an anthropomorphic female gray furred otter with blue eyes, a scar across her right eye, whiskers, and a tattered blue sweater with ripped jeans. When King saw her pawed hand, he noticed it was covered in scorch marks.
"Yeah, thanks," King replied, grabbing her hand as he lifted up. "But you know, I could've handled those bozos. I have a screech of rage within me!"
"Whatever you say, Skully," the otter girl responded, rolling her eyes. "Word of advice, don't set off those two, that's what happened to Mac last time."
"Yeah, I've heard…" King responded while looking at the otter girl. "You know, I've never met an otter demon. Not in the Isles."
"Otter demon?" she questioned. "No, no, I'm not a demon, I'm just an otter, alright?"
"Just an otter? You from the Human Realm?" he asked her.
"Human Realm? I've heard of it, but no, I'm from a different kind of realm," she explained. "Where are you from?"
"The Demon Realm," King explained. "My name's King Clawthorne, son of the greatest witch of the Isles!"
"Witch, huh? Well, my name's Laura," the otter girl replied. "I'm just a toymaker from where I'm from, but when Mel came to my realm, she sparked a riot and took me away from my family…" she said while looking down. "So she took you from your family as well?"
"Yeah! But not to worry, my family's going to come and rescue me soon!" King insisted. "Because if I know Mom and my sister Luz, they're resourceful! They will track me down here and save me from that crazy goddess!"
"Go ahead and believe that," Laura said while sitting on a rock with a saddened look. "I've just about given up any hope of rescue. I have been forced to survive off the meat from any of the animals that pass away. It's awful, but eating the food around here is a bad idea."
King looked confused. "Why shouldn't we eat the food down here?"
Laura began to explain. "Well from what I heard from the others, if you eat the food from the Underworld, you can't leave the Underworld. Therefore, I and the other animals are forced to eat our dead," she said while King gave a disturbed look.
"Titan's crack, this is a whole level of Hell!" King exclaimed.
"It's not technically Hell… but, might as well be," Laura said while looking down in shame. "Especially for me."
"For you?" King asked her.
Laura sighed. "We only eat the animals that aren't sapient… or at least the ones that don't talk, but it's still messed up for me. Because most of the animals here, not the demon ones, look like the ones from my realm. Where I'm from, every animal is sapient and eating one another is about the worst thing you can do. I'm a predator species, but I hate that I had to give into those basic instincts out of survival!" she shouted while looking down in anger, gripping her head while her ears dropped. "Yet I refuse to eat any of the food from the Underworld because that would mean I could never go home, even if I don't know if I could face my family after what I've done…"
"Mel… she started a riot in my realm after outing someone I know who's like a second sister to me as a Fae," King explained. "What kind of riot did she spark in your realm?"
"The riot… it started as a protest about predator/prey relations. It grew violent when Mel showed up," Laura said while gripping her hand. "She sparked her flames around and it resulted in leaving me scarred. She took me away from my home… I don't know if I'll ever return there but if I do… I'll be treated like a monster." She had a look of despair. "I fear…. what would my family think of me now…"
King looked at Laura, feeling bad for her. She was clearly trying to cling onto her sanity after so long. He moved closer to her. "Well, maybe I can ask my mom to help you out too, along with the others," King suggested.
"Really?" Laura asked him.
"Yeah! I, King Clawthorne, promise to not just help save you, but also everyone else here!" King declared while Laura looked up at him.
"Why are you so confident that your family can even get to the Underworld?" Laura asked him.
"Well, let me tell you a thing or two about us Clawthornes," King said, deciding to tell Laura all about his family. "First thing to know is, we're very resilient…"
"Eddie~!"
Mel was in the room checking up on Edric, who was still on the bed. "Why didn't you eat your food? Your hunger's going to get the better of you, you know?"
"I don't feel like it," he told her while his stomach said otherwise.
Mel sighed as she walked towards the bed. "You know, it's not good to starve yourself, Ed. Sooner or later, you will have to eat," she said as she crawled up, giving a purr to him.
Edric looked at her while backing away. "What are you doing…?"
"Don't worry about it," Mel said while crawling over like a cat. "Just relax…" she said while crawling over Edric, her face drawing close to his…
"MELINOE!"
Kicking the door to the room down was an angry Hades. He marched over as his eyes widened, catching Mel over the mortal witch boy. "WHAT THE FUCK, MEL?!"
"Dad! What the fuck?!" Mel jumped up, away from Edric.
"Please send me home!" Edric begged to the Lord of the Underworld.
Hades looked appalled as he turned to glare at his daughter. He kept his cool… at first. "Melinoe, would you be kind and tell me WHY DO YOU HAVE A MORTAL IN THE UNDERWORLD?!" he shouted while bursting into flames.
"Relax, he's a witch," Mel reassured her father.
"Yeah, but not the kind of witches that come and go from the Underworld!" he told her furiously. "I can't believe this… it's one thing to get complaints about all the riots you've caused over the years in every realm and now this! Persy's not going to like this…"
"She doesn't have to know everything I do," Mel muttered.
"Hey, don't talk back to me!" Hades told her off. "Of all the irresponsible things you've done, this takes the fucking cake! What were you thinking of not only sparking a riot in the Demon Realm, but also taking mortals and sending one to suffer eternal punishment without dying first?! Did you even consider the consequences of what you've done?!"
"Oh now you want to act like a father, suddenly?!" Mel asked, standing up. "You only seem to care about what I do when it makes you look bad! Well, guess what? You don't need me to make you look bad! You're already a loser who is forced to share the throne! You could have ruled the cosmos too if you hadn't gotten soft!"
"Now listen here-"
"No, you listen!" Mel shouted while walking towards her father, her anger rising. "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CAN'T DO!" she screamed as flames burst from her head and hit the ceiling. "NOBODY CAN! BECAUSE I AM A GODDESS AND I CAN HAVE WHATEVER I WANT!"
Hades backed away while Mel floated up, flames surrounding her. "Are you really going to fight me, Mel? Now you're starting to remind me of Hecate!"
"Oh… you wish you wish I was Hecate!" Mel declared as she flew at her father, attacking him.
In the realm of Avalon… a battle was taking place.
It was a battle between Maleficent's coup and Oberon's children, fighting against each other for the throne. Unicorns and goblins fighting against Oberon's Fae, along with sprites and warrior pixies slashing against the enemy Faes. Most of Maleficent's minions charged against Oberon's minions in what would be known as the Battle for Oberon's Court.
Jean swung his ax as the Unseelie Fae, causing them to turn into dust. "Twenty-two," he declared as he swung another couple of them. "Twenty-four!"
"Twenty-six!" Meteora declared, using her claws to slash at the Fae in her path.
Jean narrowed his eyes as he slashed more of Oberon's Fae with his ax before firing his hyperion gun, using special bullets against the Fae. "Thirty for me!" The two were having a competition to see who would get the most kills.
"Better catch up!" Meteora declared while seeing the enemy Faes turn into dragons, while she transformed as well to shoot her flames at them.
Flying through the battlefield was Puck, who teleported to avoid attacks as he used his daggers to slash the throats of Oberon's minions. He was then grabbed by one large hand of a minion, turning around as this guy was about to crush him. However, he got shot in the head by Jean Paul's gun.
"Thanks!" Puck thanked while stabbing the wounded minion in the face.
"You only get one from me, kid!" Jean Paul declared while shooting at his targets.
Several of Oberon's minions were about to charge, only to be cut off by green flames that appeared before them. The green flames started to take shape, transforming into the Dark Mistress of Evil herself… Maleficent.
"Where's Oberon?" Maleficent demanded while facing off the enemy forces.
"We won't let you go through, Maleficent!" one declared.
"Yeah! You're nothing but a has-been!" another responded.
Maleficent just smirked and raised her staff, hitting the ground with it and causing green flames to spread out, consuming the soldiers and causing them to scream out in agony as they were burned alive. They were still screaming as Maleficent just strolled past them.
"Maleficent!" a voice called out.
Maleficent turned and saw the woman before her. She was a beautiful Fae woman with enchanting emerald eyes, blonde flowing hair, a green headband, fair skin, pink lips, and she wore a strapless green dress with black leggings, green fingerless arm-gloves, and green boots. Maleficent smiled. "Well, if it isn't the Enchantress, one sadist to another…"
"Oberon chose to spare your life after exiling you from his court!" the Enchantress declared. "But now you've pulled this coup?! Our king will not be happy!"
"He's not my king," Maleficent said coolly, while holding her scepter. "How does it feel like to be nothing but his little attack dog? Ironic considering your reputation…"
Angered, the Enchantress shot at her with light beams. Maleficent teleported away from the beams, causing them to hit some of the minions from both sides, turning them into living objects. Maleficent responded by shooting lightning at her opponent, causing the Enchantress to turn into a blur to dodge the lightning. The Enchantress flew up while shooting her own flames, red flames, at Maleficent, who blocked them with a wall of green flames.
The two morally corrupt Faes backed away from each other as the Enchantress changed her hands into large vipers. Maleficent blocked the viper's fangs with her staff, which they bit instead. The staff glowed and zapped the two vipers as she twirled her staff to form a green circle, which shot out a burst of green beam of flames at the Enchantress, who changed form into a small crow to fly away from the beam, which hits dozens of Oberon's minions.
"Have to do better than that!" Enchantress declared after changing back, her eyes glowing green while bending the reality around her. She summoned a frost that she sent toward Maleficent, but the dark Fae simply teleported away.
Enchantress didn't notice Maleficent reappear behind her until she got caught by a blast of green lightning. "GAH!" she cried out as she was sent rolling across the ground.
"You were always lacking in your defenses," Maleficent said coolly.
The Enchantress got up and glared at Maleficent while her hands glowed green along with her eyes. "Why do you think Oberon sent me to deal with you? I am one of his most top minions of his court! I've cursed so many with my power. Human, Mewman, Demon… and my curse on you will be especially awful! I taught this one to Circe!" she dramatically declared while sending out her most powerful curse against Maleficent.
Maleficent gave a bored look while casually using her staff to form a shield that deflected the spell. The Enchantress was so engrossed by her attack, she didn't realize until it was too late that the beam was directed by herself.
"AAAH!" the Enchantress cried out as she was hit by her own spell and started to change. Her whole body transformed as it shrunk down. "NOOOOoooooooohhh!" she cried as she was reduced to a form of a simple, mindless pig. "We-weh!"
Maleficent allowed herself to smile. "Oh, I do appreciate the irony," she said as she walked away.
Kitsuni could hear the battle going from the dungeon. She then saw someone popping up in front of her. To her relief, it was Puck.
"Puck!" Kitsuni said, glad to see him.
"Are you alright?" he asked her while releasing her from her bonds.
"I'll be fine, thanks to you," she said while rubbing her wrists. "Oberon had me captured so that he could get his revenge on Luz and Amity! He's going after their gill child!"
"What? We can't let him do that!" Puck exclaimed.
"There's something else… he's now aware of Amity's half-Fae status," Kitsuni told him, shocking Puck. "Puck… you accidentally granted her the abilities of a Fae when you made a deal with her."
"Amity," Puck whispered, looking down as he shut his eyes. He then opened up his eyes, a look of determination in them. "I will not let him hurt my friends…"
Inside the throne room, Oberon was sitting on his throne, wondering what was Yui taking so long to deliver a single fish into his trap. He then heard a noise.
"You're not Yui," Oberon said as coming into his court was Meteora and Jean. "Meteora… here for your punishment?"
"You robbed me from my family!" she snarled at him.
"And?" Oberon asked before looking at Jean. "What about you, human?"
Jean held up his large onyx ax. "See this, Oberon? I call this ax Oberon's Bane. Named it after you."
"Oh, I am honored…." he told him mockingly as he stood up. "Still, I was getting bored, so this works for me." He summoned his own sword. "Now then… who wishes to die first?"
Jean launched the attack first while raising his ax, which Oberon used his sword to clash against. Meteora charged in with her bear-like claws to take a slash at him, only for Oberon to disappear and then reappear behind them. He gestured with his hand, sending them into a wall.
Meteora changed into a leopard, dashing down towards the Fae king before Oberon just slapped her across the face, sending her crashing down through the wall. He then sensed Jean standing up and bringing up his battle ax, dashing down to strike Fae king. Oberon disappeared before he could hit him, then appeared behind him. He stabbed Jean in the back with his sword, making the immortal man wince. He swung his sword while Jean was still on it, causing Jean to slide off it and crash into the wall.
"Did you all really think you could catch me off guard? I have centuries of experience when dealing with assassins like you all!" Oberon shouted while he looked at the ax where it had landed on the floor. "Pathetic."
"You're one to talk," said a voice. "Locking yourself up in your throne room, letting your so-called Children fight and die for you. You haven't changed, Oberon."
Oberon turned to see who had spoken to him like that. His eyes widened, but he didn't look surprised. "Of course they came with you… Maleficent," he said to the Dark Mistress. "Shouldn't you be cleaning up the mess your daughter created in the Demon Realm right now?"
"What my daughter does in her spare time is none of my concern," Maleficent replied. "You know, being here does make me feel… nostalgic." She looked over at his throne. "I remember when there was another throne next to that, before your wife left you. Of course, I also remember when it wasn't you sitting on that throne. And do you remember who placed you on that throne? You wouldn't be there without me. You would not have been Lord of the Fae if not for me helping you overthrow your mother when she went 'mad'… which didn't stop you from discarding me the first chance you got." She narrowed her eyes at Oberon, who just scoffed at her. "And now look at you, the once proud and mighty Lord Oberon… under house arrest for trying to get revenge on some mortal teenagers that killed the Coachman, who you discarded just as you discarded me."
"You're one to talk about revenge! Why else are you here?" Oberon retorted.
"Not revenge," Maleficent said with a smile. "No, I've learned my lesson. I am here because I saw… an opportunity."
She then held up her scepter, shooting lightning at Oberon, who deflected them with his power. He shot beams of his own, Maleficent turning into a shadowy version of herself to dodge those beams. Oberon then demonstrated his power by having the environment change around him, summoning large, carnivorous plants and thorns to strike at her.
Maleficent fought back with her flames, scorching the area around her. Oberon then unleashed a blizzard towards her, prompting Maleficent to be pushed back.
"You forget your place!" he declared. "I am still more powerful than you'll ever be!"
Maleficent summoned meteors of dark energy that she sent hurtling down to Oberon, but Oberon shielded himself while looking at Jean's ax. He decided to finish her off with this as he grabbed the ax.
"Give my regards to L'Omino," he declared, throwing the ax at her neck…
But it was then kicked away by the paw of Kitsuni, who showed up to stop the ax from killing Maleficent. Oberon realized that the yokai had escaped and he recognized the figure who was by her side.
"The boy…" Oberon muttered, glaring at Puck.
"Are you alright, Maleficent?" Puck asked.
"Yes, he just tried to cut off my head, that's all," Maleficent said calmly.
"Never thought this day would lead up to this!" Kitsuni states while getting out her claws. The three dodged the beams sent at them by Oberon.
"You dare stand against me?!" Oberon growled as his eyes glowed. "I will hang you three above my throne as examples!"
Using his power, Oberon created a storm around them as the three dodged the debris, the court being destroyed around them. Kitsuni used her blue flames to deflect the attacks, Maleficent used her staff to blast debris that came too close to her, and Puck flew around to avoid the wreckage being thrown at him.
"You were always childish, Oberon!" Puck shouted.
"Childish?! Me?!" Oberon shouted, offended.
"You've always hated me," Puck declared while dodging Oberon's attacks. Oberon summoned daggers, launching him at Puck but Puck disappeared before they could hit. He reappeared and delivered a kick to his stepfather. "You abused me, hit me, stabbed me, and made me forget who I was! All because I was someone Titania loved more than you!" he ranted while grabbing Oberon and throwing him towards the wall.
Oberon tried to stab Puck with his sword, but Puck held his dagger to block it with. They fought against each other while crashing through the walls. It was a battle between step-father and step-son, the two clashing their blades against each other. Oberon kicked Puck and attempted to stab him, only for Puck to teleport away.
"Enough of your tricks, boy!" Oberon declared. "I know that you care for those two mortals… Luz and Amity. And that girl… you made her part-Fae, didn't you? Well, when I have my hands on her, I'll mold her into my new minion and her suffering will be on you!"
"No!" Puck cried out as he reappeared behind Oberon, who swung at him, forcing Puck to block his attacks. "You never grew up… you may sit on a throne, but you are just a manchild jealous that a child got more attention than you did and you've never outgrown that, did you? You wanted to have me under your control because I was something she loved and you are still bitter over that! I've grown up, when will you?"
Oberon snarled as he charged at Puck again, this time disappearing and reappearing behind him, stabbing him in the back. "You never learned the price of defying me…" he whispered, only for Puck to turn out to be a log instead. This confused Oberon until he looked up and saw Puck up high in the air with a smirk.
"Wow, I didn't think it'd work," Puck said while joining him were Meteora, Maleficent, and Kitsuni.
"Well it was your suggestion," Kitsuni responded.
Oberon glared at them. "You think you'll win?! You haven't seen me at my worst!" he declared while he began to transform into his dragon form. He was covered in white scales with a yellow scaled underbelly and blank blue eyes. He also had a majestic fur mane and his back had spikes up to his tail. He stretched his wings out.
"He's not playing around anymore," Meteora said while her eyes glowed and she began to transform. "Let's even the playing field."
"You just read my mind, sister," Puck replied as he transformed as well, along with Maleficent.
"I'll change as well," Kitsuni said as she jumped back, engulfing herself in her own flames while the three Fae changed into dragons, Maleficent's dragon form being a monstrous black and purple one with pupiless green eyes.
Kitsuni had changed into a form that resembled a Japanese shrine priestess. She was dressed in a miko outfit consisting of a white kosode top with two golden strap belts around her waist and red hakama trousers. Her tail split into six tails, with each tip holding a small blue flame. Her hair now flowed as it reached her back and she wore socks with wooden sandals. She also summoned a golden staff with a large ring with several rings around it, as it had two triangular antennas up top. This form was Kitsuni's 'Priestess' form, a form that she got to use when she reached a certain age and rank. A form that she could use in case of emergencies like this.
She stepped away from the four dragons battling against each other, looking for an opportunity to strike.
Oberon in his dragon form battled against the enemy dragons. He breathed a white flame against Maleficent's green flames. Meteora shot out her magenta flames with Puck's flames being red. While Maleficent and Meteora kept Oberon occupied, Puck went around to take a swipe at Oberon, who knocked him back with his wings. Oberon was bigger than them, so the three split up as Maleficent took a slash at Oberon's underbelly, causing him to scream as Meteora shot balls of flames at him. The larger dragon swiped at her and while she was hit down, Puck flew over to shoot his own flames at the king.
Kitsuni watched the battle as she tried to get a clear shot. "Come on… move…"
Puck flew up to slash at Oberon's cheek with his wing, leaving a cut. Oberon roared as he slammed his large clawed hand onto Puck, slamming him to the ground. He roared as he felt flames hit his back thanks to Maleficent and Meteora. He turned his head to shoot his flames at them, which they dodged or blocked. He swung his tail at them, hitting Meteora but missing Maleficent as she continued to breathe her flames at him. He was knocked down, but began to pick himself up.
This gave Kitsuni a clear shot as the flames of her six tails beamed down to her staff. She chanted in a Japanese incantation as the ring formed a yin-yang symbol and shot a large arrow at Oberon's back. It struck him, causing him to roar while the three dragons rose up, shooting their flames at him.
Their flames actually collided together into one flame that targeted Oberon. He attempted to shoot it back with his own flames, but he ended up being overpowered and was blasted back. The three Fae did not relent either, continuing their assault on Oberon.
Eventually the white dragon started to change back and Oberon fell to the ground. He laid there as he saw the other dragons hovering before him. He was exhausted as he glared up at them.
"This… can't be!" Oberon declared, looking at Meteora. "I took you in when you were rejected by your people and this is the thanks I get!" He then turned to Puck. "And you… you will always be just another Puck!"
Puck changed back along with Maleficent and Meteora as they looked down on Oberon. "I'm not just another Puck. I'm something that you have never, ever called me… Kumar, a name that means 'son', which you never acknowledged or treated me as. You've lost."
Maleficent stepped in as she patted Puck's shoulder. "Mind if I have a moment with him?" she asked politely while Puck nodded and stepped aside as Maleficent approached Oberon.
Oberon glared up at her. "What do you intend to do to me? Kill me? Imprison me like my mother?" he questioned.
"I'll admit, I have thought long and hard about what I should do with you," Maleficent said with a smile. "I have gone through many scenarios… but there is one that's a favorite of mine. Keep him down!" At her command, Oberon was suddenly held down by Meteora and Kitsuni.
"What… what are you doing to me?!" he declared while he was wrapped in chains from Kitsuni's scroll as Meteroa's shadow held down his own shadow with the help from Maleficent's shadow.
"I'm going to place a curse that I've been saving just for you!" she announced as she summoned a needle. "I am need of a new familiar and with this needle, I cast a curse upon Oberon of Avalon to transform him into a servant of my choosing!" she announced as Operon's hand was left opened by her shadow.
His hand raised, Oberon cried out and screamed as the needle went and pricked his finger. Something black then covered Oberon's hand and began to spread over to the rest of his body.
"No… no, no! Please, stop this!" Oberon cried out and he turned to Puck. "Puck! Please help me! I'm sorry, okay?! Just don't let her do this to me!" Puck just looked away while Oberon's screams died out as the blackness engulfed him.
The blackened Fae shifted and swirled down from the iron chains as Kitsuni and Meteora stood back to see him changed. What was once Oberon of Avalon, was now… a simple raven.
"Caw! Caw!" Oberon the raven cried as Maleficent picked him up and placed her on his shoulder.
"You're no Diablo," Maleficent admitted, fondly remembering her previous familiar. "But you'll do."
Jean had managed to recover and went over to the four, looking around. "Where's Oberon?!" he asked.
"You could say that he's… nevermore," Puck said as he pointed to the raven that Maleficent had as her new familiar.
"Really?" Meteora asked him, raising her eyebrow. Puck just shrugged.
"Are you saying that he's turned into that?!" Jean asked in shock, seeing Oberon in his new appearance. "Goddammit, I didn't get to do him off!" he complained.
"Please, all you would do is swing that fancy ax of yours," Maleficent chastised. "You lack imagination."
"It's an easy solution!" Jean retorted.
"Look, just give it up," Puck advised. "Oberon's no threat to us anymore. That's what matters."
The Dark Mistress turned to Jean. "Don't fret, Mr. D'Lowe, you will still be compensated as we've agreed. Now for another matter." She walked over to Oberon's throne…
And sat in it.
"This Court is in need of a new ruler now… so I shall take over," Maleficent said while Meteroa stood beside her. "As of this moment, the Unseelie Court shall be ruled over by me," she declared, much to Puck and Kitsuni's shock.
"What?! This isn't what I agreed to!" Puck complained.
"What you agreed to was to have your father taken down, Goodfellow." Maleficent said, leaning on her new throne. "And now that you don't have to worry about him anymore, I have no further use for you. So you can just… do whatever you want." She turned to Kitsuni, who looked at her in disapproval. "Oh, and Kitsuni, you can let the Order know that Oberon has stepped down and left me to take over the throne for him. I'm sure we can… negotiate about me taking his place in the Order."
Puck continued to glare at Maleficent while Kitsuni went over to him. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but we'll just have to deal with Maleficent later. At least we don't have to worry about Oberon," she told him. "Right now there are important matters. Like Melinoe for one." She turned to Maleficent when she mentioned the name of her daughter. "She has caused a lot of damage in the Demon Realm, so what are you going to do about your daughter?!"
"I am afraid that I can do nothing about her, since I have a kingdom to clean up," Maleficent replied. "Besides, she's staying with her father for the season, so he'll have to deal with her…"
Kitsuni just glared at her while Puck walked up to her. "Excuse me, but… did you say Melinoe was in the Demon Realm? As in… the Boiling Isles?" he asked while pulling her aside.
"Yes, she managed to escape my notice and go under my radar," Kitsuni admitted.
"And what kind of damage did she do?" Puck asked her.
After bringing him up to speed, Puck felt his blood boil as he learned what Melinoe had done. It was bad enough that he had unknowingly made Amity part-Fae, but now Mel had outed her to the rest of the Isles and had kidnapped her brother.
"Kitsuni," Puck said to her. "I wish to go with you to the Order and help you stop Melinoe. What happened to Amity was my fault and I owe this to her."
"As you wish," Kitsuni said, nodding in agreement. "And I think we're going to need all the help we can get."
And so, the two left for the Order, leaving Maleficent to enjoy her new position…
Back in the Underworld, the battle between father and daughter continued. The denizens of the Underworld scattered as Hades crashed through the structures and offices, picking himself up as he saw Mel flying towards him.
"Stop this, Mel!" Hades shouted at her. "Do you know what you're doing?!"
"Hah! Look at you, finally acting like a father!" Mel mocked as she shot out a rain of flames at him while Hades ducked down and shot his own flames at her. Mel simply dodged the flames while the demon employees fled to avoid the chaos. "Look at you, you're so old and withered, you can't do much of anything these days, can you? Whatever happened to your ambitions?!"
Hades fought back, sending his daughter flying out of the office and into the ground. He slides down with his shadowy robe while looking down at his daughter. "I gave up taking over the cosmos a long time ago, kid. I may have been dealt a bad hand by Zeus, but I have since learned to make the most of it. But what you're doing, what you've done… I'm going to be in serious trouble when my brother learns about this!"
"Oh you don't have to worry about your brother when I'm done with YOU!" she shouted as she burst into flames again, charging at her father.
She hit him with her flames while he backed away. He fought back while forming a shield. He saw her fly up high as her eyes turned red. "Mel! You come down here, this instant, young lady!" he shouts, while shooting a beam of flames at her.
Mel dodged them while she laughed. "Looks like your age is catching up to you, daddy!" she declared while she uses her powers towards him.
Hades's eyes turned red. "What…?" he said while seeing his surroundings turning black. He looked around and saw that he was in pure darkness. "Mel! What is this!?"
"Your worst fears, father…"
"Fear? I have nothing to fear!" Hades claimed while shooting his flames around the darkness. "Your tricks won't work on me, kid! I'm-Gah!" He felt a strain in his head and he opened his eyes again to find himself inside something that looked more… cosmic. He then heard a… heart beating. "No… nononono, this isn't-!"
"But it is, son!"
Hades froze, seeing other gods and goddesses in the cosmic stomach, slowly being digested. That voice was all too familiar to the Dark Lord. "Father…"
His surroundings changed and he found himself in the palm of a giant, green hand. Hades looked down and saw that he was a scrawny teenager with a black toga, glasses, and zits. "Oh fuck, not this…" He looked up in fear, seeing who this hand belonged to…
"My eldest boy…" spoke the large green giant of a god as he sat on a large throne. He had long red hair connected to his beard, a dark green helmet, green eyes, and a dark green cape with a matching skirt, arm and shin-guards. He looked at Hades with a dark grin.
"D-Dad?!" the teenage Hades spoke nervously.
"Thought I'd take you away from your mother to have a… meal with you," Cronus declared as he raised Hades by holding him by his fingers while opening his mouth.
"No-no-no, dad! Stop this, now!" he cried while struggling in his father's grip. "Dad, please! I don't want to be your meal! DAD!" he cried as he fell into his father's mouth. "...wait just a fucking minute!"
It was then Hades broke free from Mel's control, bursting into flames and incinerating his surroundings, Mel diving out of the way.
"You thought you could use your powers on me?!" Hades angrily asked while shooting his flames at Mel, who shot her own flames at him back. Hades dodged Mel's attacks and formed himself into a cloud of smoke. She went through to him as Hades shot a ring of fire around her. She disperse the flames while flying towards her father, who disappeared and reappeared to shoot a smoking chain around her left arm, followed by one around her right arm. She unleashed a yell as she tried to attack him again, but felt a rope made of smoke wrapped around her.
"Let go of me!" Mel screamed at him, looking more angry.
"Look, Mel, I don't want to hurt you, since you're still my kid," Hades said while Mel just glared at him. He gave a tired sigh. "So I am sure we can work something out, do business with each other. We take that little mortal you have in your room back to his realm along with his friends, get that mortal girl out of eternal punishment, then you just be grounded to your room. And we don't have to tell Persy about this, cause I don't want to be sleeping on the couch again."
Mel simply smirked at her father. "You're right, daddy, we don't have to tell Persy about this."
"There we go," Hades told her as he sighed. "Geez, you gave me a run for my money, kid. You're about almost as strong as your cousin, but with my genes! Makes me feel proud-" He then saw something light up and when he looked back at Mel, he saw that she had gotten out of his smokey bond and was holding something that surprised him…
"Look familiar?" Mel asked, holding the keyblade.
"A… A keyblade?!" Hades backed away. "Where'd you get something like that!?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Mel said with a smirk as she channeled her magic to shoot Hades with a dark beam, making him fall down a steep slope. "And don't worry, I promised not to tell Persy about any of this… though you won't be around!"
Hades got up, but was blasted again by Mel's keyblade as she struck him. He fell back as Mel continued to attack him with her keyblade, striking at him and hitting him. Hades felt the power of the keyblade. Hades tried to fight back, but Mel used the keyblade to deflect his attacks. Mel even teleported behind him, striking him in the back, causing Hades to falter.
"GAH!" he cried out as he turned around. Mel then got in front of him and hit him across the face with the keyblade. It sent him flying, rolling over to the edge of the River Styx. His flames were dispersed as he tried to get back up. He looked up to Mel, who just glared down at him while aiming her keyblade at him.
"Mel… please think of what you're doing!" Hades said, trying to get through to her. "I'm your pops, alright? You wouldn't… hurt your old man, would you?"
"...Yes." Mel shot a blast at Hades, sending him off the cliff, making him fall into the River Styx.
He fell into the waters and tried to resurface, only for the souls in the river to grab him. "No! Stop! What do you think you're doing to me?!" he shouted while kicking the souls, but they continued dragging him underneath the surface. "Oh mercy, not agaaaaaaiiiin…!" he cried as he was swept away by the souls.
Pain and Panic looked down after seeing their boss's fall. "Hades is not going to be happy when he gets out of there…" Pain said before the two felt Mel strangle them from behind, lifting them off the ground.
"If he gets out of there, right?" Mel asked them.
"I-I-If is good!" Panic nodded along with Pain.
"Yeah! If is good indeed!" Pain agreed fearfully.
"Good boys," Mel said with a smirk.
She walked over to her father's and step-mother's throne room, where Minthe was. The nymph went to confront Mel, who was joined by D-Josh and Trini.
"Mel?! What is this?!" Minthe demanded.
"Hey Minty, listen, there's a bit of a company takeover happening right now, so… I'm inheriting the company," Mel said while turning to D-Josh, giving him a nod.
Minthe realized what was going on as she tried to make a run for it, only for D-Josh to zap her and cause her to start to change. "Not again!" she cried while turning into a mint plant.
"I'll be taking your position, Minty," Trini chimed with a smirk, grabbing the clipboard.
Mel then walked over to sit on her father's throne. "Ooh, I could get used to this," she declared while turning to look at Persephone's throne chair, which was pink. "Ugh… that is such an eyesore," she said while grabbing the chair with her hands and throwing it out of the window. "Unlike daddy, I'm not going to settle with being a 'co-ruler', this is my town now!" She then looked at her keyblade, giving a dangerous smirk. "A keyblade can open up any lock. Just think of all the fun we could use with this…"
"Like open all the doors in the multiverse?" D-Josh suggested.
"Nonono, open the bathrooms of the multiverse!" Trini suggested.
"No and ew," Mel told them. "I'm thinking of… opening Tartarus itself!"
She gave a dangerous grin while D-Josh and Trini just gave each other looks.
Sometime later, Mel walked down to a part of the Underworld for a meeting she knew had to happen at some point. She found three figures predictably waiting for her… the Weird Sisters.
"Mel, you've made it!" the Maiden told her.
"Yeah, yeah, I had a feeling that I would be seeing you after I overthrew my father, which I am sure you already knew was going to happen." Mel told them. "Look, I got a busy schedule today, so why don't we hurry this up? But first, can you three put on something more… familiar?"
"We can do that," the Crone responded as the three sisters began to shift between different shifts and forms.
As Mel watched them transform, she briefly saw them flicker to other incarnations of the Triple-Goddess. Briefly they resembled a trio of reindeer known as the Gift Givers of the Grove. Then they took on the form of the Norns, the Graeae, and the Witches of Morva before finally settling on a specific incarnation…
They now took on the dark cloaked forms of three dead-looking women. The Mother had transformed into Lachesis, the tallest with blue skin and a long nose. The Maiden had transformed into Clotho, the medium height with green skin, a shorter nose, and a sharp chin with six worms as her hair. Lastly, the Crone transformed into Atropos, the shortest and fattest one with purple skin, sharp teeth, and three long hairs with a single eye socket unlike the other two. They all shared one eyeball which Atropos held.
The Triple-Goddess had many incarnations and many names. But in the Underworld, they were known as the Fates
"Glad that you came, dearie," Clothos said in her friendly tone.
"Yeah, because it fulfills your prediction, right?" Mel asked, crossing her arms. "Why are you all here?"
"We're here to warn you," Lachesis said.
"Warn me?" Mel asked them. "About what?"
"You know these mortals you've messed around with?" Clotho asked while creating an illusion of Luz and Amity with the eye she took from Atropos. "As we speak, they are traveling down the River Styx to rescue their family…"
"Oh really? Of course they would," Melinoe said with a smirk. "They probably think that they are gonna tattle on my dad, but they're too late now!" An idea then popped into Mel's head. "Looks like I'll have to plan something for my visitors…"
She began to laugh, her laughter echoing throughout the Underworld as she planned her next move.
OCs info:
Yui is the sister of Kitsuni, born of the same quadruplets as her. Like Kitsuni, she follows her own path as a merc-for-hire to pay off her college tuition. She is ruthless and can be a little... crazy. She cares about her family, in her own way, but she often lets the job go first. She has a lot of issues...
Jean Paul D'Lowe is an OC submitted by Trickster3696 of AO3, who we thanked for suggesting this OC to appear and, well, sorry that he didn't get the chance to kill Oberon. We thought it would be fitting to have him be Maleficent's new familiar.
Laura the anthropomorphic otter is an OC from another realm. She was made out on the whim, as we've figured King would meet someone that we've admitted is based off loosely on Lylla, Rocket's girlfriend from the Guardians of the Galaxy. If you know what happened to her in the comics, well, no spoilers.
Roughhouse, aka Ruff, is a direct homage to Rufio from Hook. The newer Lost Boys members are also count as adapting off from Hook.
Gidget is an expy of Bridgette from Total Drama series, shown as a squirrel biped. Another TD expy to add in. She's a scout from the Beast-Keeping Coven as Meg is a scout and part-time artist for the Bard Coven.
So now we can explain a bit about Puck's past. You see, Puck was meant to be the Indian boy that sparked the conflict in A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which we never do see what happens to him after Oberon claims him in the play. So we've adapted that he abuses his stepson by stabbing him in the back multiple times throughout his childhood, resulting in his amnesia. The Old Man that Puck took form when he sent Amity to the Human Realm was the Old Man appearance Oberon used. Hell, this was originally going to be a sidetrack chapter out of this, way before the Human Realm arc, but we've gotten a little… sidetracked around it.
And to show Oberon's downfall as we've actually considered having him be cursed as Maleficent's new familiar. Which means that he'll never got the chance to meet Luz and Amity. Which is the perfect irony of his character, that being he's played up like a Greater-Scope Villain for how he set into motion. However, throughout the time, Luz and Amity have never thought of Oberon as they're dealing with their own thing. Not even when Amity realizes that she's a Fae. Oberon holds so little insignificance of their lives, he's not a threat to them anymore. The irony that despite that he is still a Big Bad Wannabe who in this chapter is essentially a Manchild throwing a tantrum because Kitsuni hid something from him, despite the trouble that going after her and Amity will get him into.
D-Josh's backstory in being not only Jafar's nephew, but Nasira's son. For those who don't know, Nasira was a main villain in the Aladdin video game "Nasira's Revenge" on Playstation. This also confirms that Jafar was a yes-man to Hades, as it adapts the team up between the two from the Hercules/Aladdin crossover. Also Canis and Lupus are former hench wolves that used to work for Hecate from the Hercules animated series.
Kitsuni's Priestess form is heavily based off of Sakuyamon's Maid Mode, specifically resembling a miko, a shrine maiden that is considered a priestess. It is a form that requires her six tails, used only for emergencies and range attacks with her scepter.
The forms the Weird Sisters took form before becoming the Fates are the Gift Givers of the Grove from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic special "Best Gift Ever", the Norns from Norse mythology, the Graeae from Greece mythology, and the Witches of Morva from The Black Cauldron.
Last thing to note, the songs used for this chapter is "Land of the Dead" by Voltiare, in reference to this one animation music video by Daria Cohen. Most of you 2000s folks know this from Billy and Mandy's Big Boogie Adventure. And "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty.
Admittedly, this chapter has come out shortly after Peter Pan and Wendy's release on DisneyPlus. It's funny how things really turned out with our releases… especially how unintentionally we released them on certain dates. Like, the Witches in Wonderland chapter was released a day before 4/20…
Now to answer reviews:
Arsenal3: Probably not the line. Hooty as a God would probably be too far-fetched… or is it? Meh, who knows…
Crosshot: Don't worry, you don't have to. I'm sure someone might when it's released. That's just Alastor always traumatizing others even when he's helpful. For Shere Khan, well me and Buck decided that he'd be voiced by Clancy Brown, who has a lot of experience in voicing evil corporate bosses(Lex Luthor, Mr. Krabs, Destro from GI Joe: Renagades).
Spantidem7: You'll find out…
Moheart7: No prob, bud. Glad to be of acquainted with you.
Ultimate-drax: I knew you would with the historical cameos.
61394: Who knows.
Matteso585: 1) No spoilers. 2) You are specifically hyper focused on that part. 3) It would be too convenient. 4) He's probably aware and disapproves. 5) Not like you expect anything, we're filled with surprises.
Franco Almiron: 1) no spoilers. 2) Stola's side, perhaps. 3) Not on a Deadpool level. 4) There would be some mentions. And you probably knew the answer to where we're facing now.
ReviewerDWJ: Hope you like.
Shuffollower: Yeah, it was Tiana that shot Alastor dead. And you're half-right on D, which is focused on Puck and Mel.
Next chapter… to the Underworld.
