A/N: Now it's time to go back to the little club of evildoers where they learn more about what they have been brought together to do. It's also a good time for them to get fully acquainted with one another and see what they have to offer.

Chapter 16

The Puzzle of the Pieces

Back in the fortress, the Villains of a Sort were lounging about, waiting for the return of their newfound allies. Dr. Facilier was playing cards with Loki, with Hades watching. Yzma and Doug were arguing about their chemistry sets. Mozenrath and Kefka watched with amusement as Diablo and Mozenrath's flying eel Xerxes competed in a staring contest. Cruella glared in disgust at Kefka's costume and avoided laying her eyes upon Kuja's garb, while puffing clouds of green smoke. Everyone was avoiding her because of that, save for the Horned King, who could not care less.

Everyone looked up toward the balcony as a Corridor of Darkness rose up out of the shadow, and out stepped Pete and Hämsterviel. The caped gerbil was holding the flash drive. Pete scanned around the room, noticing that not everyone was present.

"Uh, where are Maleficent and Zeromast?" he asked.

"Probably playing the lyre whilst the town crumbles," Kuja suggested. At the mention of the attack on the town, Pete turned around and looked out at Radiant Garden. There was still smoke and dust lingering about, but there was no sign of the enormous, colorful Heartless that had been released.

"Then I guess they'll be back soon," he said, pointing out at the scene.

Kuja floated over to him and saw that the Raid Armor indeed was no more. "Well, those heroes are indeed capable," he observed. "Should put on an extraordinary show should we meet."

Moments later, Zeromast materialized out of nowhere, literally walking through the wall. Maleficent appeared seconds later in a Corridor of Darkness. Zeromast saw that Pete and Hämsterviel had already returned.

"Splendid," the scholar said. "I trust you gathered a sufficient amount of data to aid us in our hunt." Hämsterviel approached him and held the flash drive up to him. However, he was far too short, and Zeromast did not stoop down to retrieve the drive. Pete walked up, picked the drive out of the gerbil's hand with two fingers (much to the scientist's annoyance) and dropped it into Zeromast's open palm. He received it with a "Thank you."

Zeromast took his cinch-sack off of his back and opened it up. He took a sleek laptop out, set it on the table next to Dr. Facilier and Loki's card game, and opened it. He logged in and inserted the flash drive into the USB port. He opened each file and skimmed their contents until he found a section of one file that caught his eye. "Very good, you two," he commended. "This will certainly ensure that we can locate the items we seek."

"While we're on that point of discussion, can you go into a little more detail on what it is we seek?" Mozenrath inquired as he and Maleficent peered over Zeromast's shoulder at the notes.

Zeromast sighed. "Very well," he conceded. He took a step back, forcing Maleficent and Mozenrath to take wide backwards strides to the side. Loki snickered, causing Mozenrath to realize that his turban. He noticed that it was caught on Maleficent's horn and had slumped so it was hanging in front of her face. He gingerly removed the hat, carefully ensuring that he did not make the hole any bigger than it was, and placed it back on his head as if nothing had happened, while Maleficent gave him an annoyed glare.

Zeromast walked toward the doorway, breaking his direct path to move as far out of the path of Cruella's cigarette smoke as he dared without drawing too much attention to the action. When he reached arched opening, he turned so that he was looking at everyone else in the room. All of their eyes were on him.

"As I explained before, there are many artifacts that we must collect to open the way to the power we seek," he recapped. "There is one on every world, and they would be well-hidden and closely guarded. As items that truly hold the potential to destroy and create worlds, they have stood the test of time, surviving everything that would collapse and reform civilizations. They cannot be destroyed, but they can be reshaped with enough will."

Pete raised his hand like a student wishing to say something to or ask something of his teacher. "In most of the files we found, there was something about a 'Mysidian Crystal'. That Ansem guy seemed to think that it held some kind of power, but the only other thing he mentioned was that he was not supposed to study it. Is that one of your artifacts?" he asked.

In response to the question, Zeromast reached into his left pocket and pulled out a small leather sack. He untied the rope sealing the opening and pulled out a small blue crystal. He held his hand open, palm facing up, and let the crystal float vertically right above it. He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose, willing for some magic in or on the crystal to take effect. The crystal began to enlarge, until it was three feet long and four inches wide, with jagged edges and slowly coming to a point at either end. The translucent blue edges emitted a soft ethereal glow. Everyone stared with intrigue.

"Ansem the Wise knew my father, my predecessor, during his early years as a king and scientist. Although my father had tried to maintain his secrets, Ansem discovered the Mysidian Crystal, which, as legends said, was a remnant of a lost society of mages. Detecting its hidden power, Ansem wanted to study it, and asked permission to do so, only to be refused. He respected that; he knew where to draw the line, though he could not forget his curiosity and he was compelled to address it in his notes.

"This crystal is indeed one of the artifacts we seek. But it does not reflect the aesthetic of the other items. Even in the beginning, the items all had wildly different appearances. They could be as distinctive as an idol or an icon, or as innocuous as a spoon. But they will have a similar structure as this: a long, straight frame. Of course, they can be disguised, but their true shape will work in this formula.

"Remember: we need to gather all of these items so we can gain the power to rewrite reality. Any fewer and the rules of nature that have been tying us down will continue to write our fates." He shrank the crystal back to pocket size and put it back in the sack, which he replaced into his pocket. "Now, we should begin our search in the morning. I will let you stew over what I have told you, and you may come to me if you have any further questions." With that, he retrieved his laptop and walked out of the room, descending the spiral staircase.

Many of them looked between each other, realizing that everyone else was just as perplexed by the scholar's exposition. Yzma finally broke the silence. "So then, how are we supposed to find them?" she asked angrily. "They can be anything, anywhere! What do we have to go on?"

"He said they were indestructible. We could always raze the land until they are all that is left," the Horned King suggested, his gravelly voice cutting a chilling atmosphere as he spoke. Everyone was left shocked at his ruthless sadism, save for Kefka, who was laughing.

"Sounds fun, pal. But if that was something we could just 'do', neither of us would be here," the insane clown taunted.

Pete, for his part, was mortified. "What in tarnation is wrong with you two?" he asked in a mix of genuine concern and exasperated horror.

Kefka shrugged. "Oh, you know. The Emperor decides he wants an army of soldiers with magic powers, so he drains some creatures made of magic and injects their power into me as the first test subject. I get some neat powers but lose a few marbles, but who needs a clear head when you can destroy anything that gets in your way?" he explained, capping it off with his unique laugh.

"I am the Horned King, master of the blackest of magic, disciple of the Death-Lord Arawn. By my fell armies the land of Prydain trembles in fear," the sinister Lich intoned, his demonic voice making the shivering Pete regret asking.

"Uh, anyone here not planning on killing everything?" Pete asked around, hoping that he was not in a room full of homicidal maniacs.

Dr. Facilier tapped his foot and spun a deck of cards out in his hand. "Well, I'm a businessman by trade. I cut deals: deals with people and deals with my friends. My friends on the other side," he explained. As he did a brief dance, his shadow, which sat against the wall and had previously been replicating his every movement, performed a different jig. The shadow jumped away, then stuck its walking stick out and bumped into the back of the head of Loki's shadow. Loki lurched forward as if he had been hit for real, and rubbed the back of his head, unsure what had just happened. The voodoo doctor's shadow returned to its master. "And pretty soon, I will be the most powerful witch doctor and the wealthiest man in Louisiana!"

"Well, here's a story for you," Yzma began. "I am the advisor to a pompous, childish, pathetic emperor! When he was put on the throne as a child when his father disappeared, I was stuck raising him. I wanted the throne for myself, but I couldn't just get rid of him and take the seat without drawing suspicion, so I've been trying to sneak authority whenever he wasn't looking."

"So, then what do you bring to the table, grandma?" Mozenrath asked skeptically, wondering why a rail-thin wrinkly old dinosaur woman was even in the group.

Yzma glared at him. "I create potions in my secret lab, potions with transformative properties. What about you?"

Mozenrath gave a sinister smirk. "I am the ruler of the Land of the Black Sand. I command incredible magical power and possess a vast array of magical artifacts, and I control an army of undead warriors. My ambition is dominion over the seven desert kingdoms and anything else I set my eyes on."

The next person to explain himself was Doug. "Hi. I'm from a city populated entirely by hyper-evolved and civilized animals, kind of like Fat Cat over there. It's mainly the mammals, so nothing like the ugly eel over there," he said stoically. Xerxes gasped and growled, offended. "Except we don't have any of whatever you are… What species would you say you were a part of?"

"Human," Cruella answered, though Kefka at the same time said "Hume".

"Jotun," Loki identified himself, much to the surprise of Hades and Mozenrath.

"Olympian god," Hades said.

"I would be called an Unseelie Faerie," Maleficent was the last to answer.

"Right," Doug pretended like he understood what they were talking about. "No humans or anything like whatever you are, but we're about as civilized. And probably about as socially developed."

"Oh, I would not be surprised," Dr. Facilier muttered under his breath.

"Basically, I make chemical weapons for whoever hires me out. Poisons, knockout darts, hallucinogens, pathogens derived from a naturally-growing plant that can turn those affected by them feral, you name it, so long as I get paid. I'm also a great shot, if I do say so myself."

The next object of curiosity was Cruella De Vil. As far as any of them could tell, she had no special abilities to bring to the table beyond an interesting fashion sense. She noticed that all eyes were on her and chuckled. "I can't say that I fit into a fantasy novel like most of you lot, but I have my wealth and resources. In my recent escapades, I desired a coat made out of Dalmatian fur. Oh, the spots would have looked lovely!"

Some of the other villains looked at each other uncomfortably. "Uh… okay…" was all Pete could think to say.

"But the fur would not have been nearly soft enough if I used adult dogs, so I tried to skin puppies. Ninety-nine of them."

Nearly everyone was flabbergasted at this. "What the—?" Pete shouted in horror.

"I purchased eighty-four of them legally, but my dear old schoolmate and her husband refused to sell me the fifteen that their dogs just had," she resumed, oblivious to the concerns of everyone else in the room. I had the puppies kidnapped, but the imbeciles I hired allowed every single one to escape!"

There was a long silence as they let Cruella's description of herself sink in, before Loki broke the silence. "Well, I suppose we could just see how it goes with her around." Then he turned to Dr. Facilier so that De Vil could not see his face, and mouthed Puppies? For clothing? in a disturbed tone. The witch doctor simply shrugged.

Loki realized that everyone was expecting him to say his piece. He cleared his throat. "I was raised as a son of Odin, the king of Asgard. My brother, Thor, was the heir to the throne, but I wanted to become a ruler who would make my father proud," he began with a masterful flourish. "But then I came across a dark secret: I was not born Aesir, but I was the son of the Frost Giant king of Jötunheim, abandoned only to be found and taken in by Odin during Asgard's war with the Jotuns. When my Father and brother were… indisposed, I led Asgard to the best of my ability, and I was sure that Odin would see me for what I was after I slew the Jotun king and destroyed the enemy realm. But as my plan to destroy Jötunheim failed thanks to my brother, Odin looked upon me with shame before I fell into the abyss." His expression grew dark, his deep-seated rage and resentment starting to breach the surface. "I tumbled through space until I found myself on a planet inhabited by a warlike race that made a deal with me. I get an army with which to conquer the mortal world that my brother loves so dearly, and in return I deliver to them a source of great power."

"I do hope that this artifact is not one of the artifacts we seek," Kuja pointed out.

"I quite doubt it," Loki quelled his concerns.

"And you intend to betray them when they exceed their usefulness before they do the same to you?" Kuja pressed further.

"Given the slightest chance," the god of mischief answered bluntly.

"Well, sounds good. Who's next?" Hades skipped through the closing argument and transition. "What about you?" he asked, "volunteering" Dr. Hämsterviel.

The gerbil scientist glared at him with his red eyes, though he somehow failed to be threatening. "Don't patronize me, you flame-tipped dentist's nightmare!" he shot back. "I am a brilliant evil scientist from a distant corner of the galaxy. I commissioned and worked with my old colleague to create an army of destructive genetic experiments. I did try to remove my colleague from the equation so I could use the experiments for my own ends, but I ended up in police custody instead. After learning that the most powerful and dangerous experiment had escaped from the Galactic Federation's mothership on its way to banishment and has since been somewhere in this sector of space, I escaped. My cruiser was shot down and crashed on a large asteroid, and they believed me to be deceased, but I built a new ship from the wreckage, spent the following years amassing my resources, and continued my search for my experiment."

"Neat story, Hamsterwheel," Hades sarcastically complimented.

"That is Hämsterviel!" the gerbil corrected angrily. "Veal! Like the delicious meat speck!" This outburst only elicited laughter from the others, much to his chagrin.

Kuja chuckled into his hand. "Well, I suppose it is my turn," he said. He waited until the laughter had died down and he had everyone's attention. "I am a warmonger. I profit on donating my magic and weapons to powerful leaders so they can wage war and further my agenda of death and destruction. I have even swayed a few of them to their darker impulses to give them that extra push over the edge. War, it is my purpose, as I have made it since some time after I came into being. And when civilizations have been razed I shall make the world anew in my ideal vision," he explained with a theatrical flair.

"So, I see we're a bunch of destroyers, conquerors, and manipulators with a wide variety of talents and abilities," Mozenrath observed. "Many of us want to rule the world, while some of us want to destroy it. I wonder what will happen should our goals clash…" The other villains looked at each other uneasily, realizing that at some point they might have to destroy their alliance and try to kill each other so they can keep the power they want for themselves.

"It will hurt bad," Xerxes growled in a mix of uncertainty and slight fascination.

"We shall concern ourselves with a compromise or confrontation of our ambitions when the time comes," Maleficent declared, alleviating their worries for the moment.

"In the meantime, what do you make of that Zeromast character?" Yzma asked, rubbing her chin curiously. "We know nothing about him, and he appears to have an agenda of his own."

"Yzma is right," Mozenrath concurred. "He knows very much about us, and knows nearly everything about our objective, whereas he remains an enigma. How can we trust him to work with us all the way through? We don't know what he wants from this power. He has control over this situation, something which I am sure infuriates all of you." He glanced at Doug. "Though as long as you get paid, I'm sure you don't care," he added snidely. Doug shrugged apathetically.

"True, he maintains a secrecy about him," Maleficent admitted. "But bear in mind: we cannot do this without him, and he cannot do this without us. So let him keep his secrets for now. We may find out more over time, and if he turns out to be an enemy, we will treat him accordingly." Diablo cawed in agreement.

Kefka cackled. "Yeah! We can always just kill him when we're done with him! Or sooner, if anyone cares."

"Then let us work together for now," Hämsterviel declared, "and nothing will be able to stop us!" He let out a high-pitched laugh, and Maleficent, Pete, Kefka, Cruella, Yzma, Kuja, and Dr. Facilier saw fit to join in.