Taking Back the Crown

by JCMorrigan

Mozenrath. Archibald Snatcher. Roman Torchwick. Mad Madam Mim. Yzma. The Huntsman. Wuya. Ayam Aghoul. Their mission: take over the multiverse, or look fabulous trying. Rated M for swearing, steamy implications and VERY bloody battles. Contains slash and het shipping.

83. The Meaning of Loyalty

A/N: Character death. Though this one isn't nearly as sympathetic as Amaterasu.

...

Vale Kingdom was not how Terminus had last left it. He knew it would have taken some damage in the desolation brought on by the Book of Prophecies. However, having been oblivious to the fall of Beacon engineered by Salem – yes, he had truly been away from this outpost that long – he was unprepared for the level of destruction he found as he led Hoagy and Harley through a labyrinth of rubble. Between the collapsed and abandoned buildings, small hives of rogue Grimm lay in wait. Hardly a person was to be seen on the streets.

"It's a lot more broken than I remember," Hoagy pointed out.

"Ah, well, the lot of them were greedy idiots anyway," Terminus grumbled. "They got what was coming to them."

"But where's that leave Harley?" Hoagy asked.

"Listen," Harley insisted, "if this ain't gonna work out, I can just go on my own. Ya brought me this far, an' that's really all I asked for – "

"Nonsense," Terminus insisted. "We promised to bring you to a safe place, and a safe place is exactly what you will get. After all, even if the rest of Vale falls to ruins, there is no place more secure than the Liminal Space – "

They turned the corner to find a lot that a small shop had once occupied. Now it was piled up with debris from collapsed walls and tipped-over shelves.

"That's not going to be good for business," Terminus said casually.

"Really, it's fine," Harley insisted. "I'm sorry your shop got all torn up, but you don't gotta worry about me – "

"We've come this far," Terminus growled, spinning on a heel to head back for the small Gummi ship, "and by jove, we are going to FINISH this job."

As Harley and Hoagy followed, Hoagy brought up, "It's more than your so-called pals can say. What were they thinkin', leavin' you on the Forbidden World like that?"

"It ain't that simple," Harley argued. "We're bad guys, remember? We gotta look out for number one first. I woulda…I woulda left them too, if I had a whole crime syndicate to back me up that hated them." A twist in her gut reminded her that she was beginning to doubt that sentiment.

"No, you certainly wouldn't," Terminus told her. "And the fact that you can better rely on ME to follow through on securing your safety speaks wonders about their loyalty."

"It's true," Hoagy confirmed. "After all, we're the bad guys, too."

"Well…" Harley was running out of defenses for Garfield and Peter. All she had were memories, and she wondered, shouldn't those be enough? "I just…I can't give up on 'em. I gotta believe they still care about me. They just…don't know how to show it."

"Ain't that what you said about that Joker guy?" Hoagy brought up.

"…Yeah," Harley said softly. "Both of 'em."

"Harley, my dear," Terminus sighed, "you are a joy to have around, but you are TERRIBLY naïve."

"I just like havin' faith in people," Harley said mournfully.

"You see, that's why I have attained the level of success I have," Terminus told her. "I never have faith in anyone. That way, I'm never disappointed."

"Not even Hoagy?" Harley asked.

"He knows he's the exception!" Terminus barked. "It goes without saying!"

"It really does," Hoagy confirmed.

"Trust me," Terminus insisted, "you'll be far better off without those wretched traitors."

"We'd stay with ya longer if we could," Hoagy insisted, "but we do gotta business to run, an' if we're gone too long…"

"That'd raise all kindsa red flags," Harley said with a nod. "That's why I keep sayin'! You got me offa that world, so you ain't gotta go any further!" She brought her hands up to her chest in an X, then swept them out for emphasis. "I'll be fine! Promise!"

"In this wasteland?" Terminus replied. "Hardly. Back on the ship with you."

The ship touched ground once more on the outskirts of the village of Higanbana. This place looked to be in far better shape, its rectangular architecture unmarred by the marks of disaster, recent or otherwise.

"I think I'm gonna like it here," Harley announced as she stepped off the ship.

Terminus handed her a small bag. "This will be enough lien to see you through ONE night at the inn. After that – "

"I'm on my own," Harley confirmed, facing him with a smile. "Thanks for all this, you guys. I ain't never gonna forget it."

"And we ain't never gonna forget you, Harley," Hoagy replied.

"Now that that's done, we MUST be off," Terminus insisted. "Conning the stupid is a task that never ends."

Harley watched their small ship rise high into the sky, waving as it blasted off out of Remnant's atmosphere. She then turned her attention to Higanbana itself, pocketing the cash.

It was a nice village, she thought as she strolled through its streets. Orderly. Too orderly for her, come to think of it. She would either have to bring some disorder to it or simply move on to somewhere that better fit her style. Either way, this was the beginning of something beautiful, and it was time to celebrate.

But instead, she found herself leaning on the wall of a back alley, arms folded over a quaking stomach as she stared down at the street. It seemed she'd come to terms with the Joker a long time ago. She hardly missed him. It was Terminus and Hoagy's comments about Garfield and Peter that brought reality crashing down.

"We had an understandin'," she said to no one. "I told Gar to go be happy. He wanted to. I wanted him to. What's wrong with that?"

A drop of water hit the street.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that," Harley continued as her eyes watered. "I don't even care that Peter didn't come say goodbye. He didn't get the chance. I'm sure they…I'm SURE they…"

Her white makeup smeared across her face as the tears ran faster.

"Forgot all about me by now," she concluded in a whisper.

...

At the moment, Peter and Garfield were seated across from each other at the table in their apartment aboard the warship, unable to make eye contact even though their emotional conflicts were in complete agreement.

"She said we had a good thing goin'," Garfield sighed. "She told me to go be happy. So I did the right thing, right?"

"What else could we have done?" Peter agreed. "Roman wouldn't allow her, and we couldn't very well leave."

They were silent a long time.

Peter broke it: "But where DID we expect her to go?"

"You mean where did I expect her to go," Garfield grumbled. "I'm the one who dropped her like a rock in the middle of enemy territory."

"Technically, she was a good distance away from the fortress. She could've escaped."

"To where? You remember Iceman's report. They built the place up with all their palaces and crud." Garfield let out a sigh. "At least I didn't let her die."

"On impact, that is. You did just point out that technically, leaving her on that world was tantamount to – "

Garfield finally looked directly at Peter, his expression equal parts anger and hurt.

"Not that I don't understand why you did it," Peter hastily amended. "I would've done the very same. As I said, we had no choice."

"Did we?" Garfield asked. "What if…we had left?"

"Left the WHAM ARMY?" Peter repeated. "Abandoned all the friends we've made here? Torchwick? Mim? We belong here far better than we ever blended with the rest of Gotham's rogues."

"It's not like I wanna leave Archie or Irma behind either," Garfield added. "And I ALWAYS wanted to get out of Gotham. I just always thought…we could do it with Harley."

"She made her choice."

"Yeah. The first time. But she wanted in. We shouldn't have had to pick between her and them."

"No," Peter realized, "we shouldn't. Torchwick went ahead and made that decision for us."

"You know," Garfield said angrily, "I love him and all, but he crossed the line. And, look, I know he and Harley didn't have the best relationship."

"He thinks she was aware of the plot to poison us," Peter recalled. "I think it's quite clear that her new Joker didn't mention that part of the plan to her."

"When I was Phosphorus," Garfield said softly, "she was there for me. I couldn't have made it through that time without her. Or without you. You were the one I – "

"I understand. But I'm not the subject of contention at the moment." Peter nodded. "And on the subject, she was there for me during some rather emotional times as well. Not to mention she did murder Tony Zucco in cold blood for me. This does seem a rather poor way to repay that."

"Yeah." A pause. "Hey. Wait."

"Yes?"

Garfield slammed his hands on the table, rising. "Why did we just come back here and get all mopey about this?" he asked. "This wasn't our fault. We wouldn't be dealing with this if Roman hadn't thrown her off the flying disaster. This is his fault. And I'm gonna let him have it."

He turned without further warning, storming across the apartment. Peter was beside him in a moment; "Come to think of it, you're right. I'll be giving him a piece of my mind as well."

But a moment later, Garfield slammed his fist repeatedly against the door to Roman's apartment. Roman answered with a joyous grin, beckoning Peter and Garfield inside. "Right on time!" he declared. "We were just popping the champagne."

"Look," Garfield attempted. "We're not – "

"Listen, I know you want the details," Roman interrupted. "Stop standing in the door like idiots and I'll give you the lowdown."

Snatcher, Mim, and Aghoul were already seated around the table. There was, in fact, a bottle of champagne set at its center, though it seemed Aghoul had opted for a coffee instead. While Mim and Snatcher were utilizing proper champagne glasses, Roman's seat was graced with a pint-sized mug filled with the stuff. Had Garfield and Peter seen beneath the table, they would have spotted the shards from where Mim had shattered each glass she emptied only to conjure a replacement from thin air.

"If it isn't the rest of the gang from our Gotham exploits!" Aghoul cried. "Now, doesn't that just bring back memories?"

It did. This particular arrangement of people made it seem inappropriate to bring up the dissatisfaction with Roman's actions upon leaving the Forbidden World. Fortunately, neither Garfield nor Peter had ever been concerned with what was appropriate.

"So here's the deal," Roman quickly explained. "Righty's tired out, so he's been in his room ever since we got back, and he has the Dragon's Eye with him, but as soon as he's feeling up to it, we're gonna cast that damn spell we've been working for all this time. Fucking finally, right? Meanwhile, we managed to get Wuya out of her box and back to working order as a human being. Or, you know, whatever she is when she's not a ghost. We're waiting on Righty to decide what to do with Snake Eyes, but for now, we shoved him in Angry Traitor Jail and hid the key. The eel's back to normal…if anything can be considered 'normal' on that front…aaaaand since it's been this long already and Horns hasn't written us all out of existence using the Book of Bullshit, we can safely assume she either isn't going to or can't. Now have a seat and join the party."

"Yeah, not gonna happen," Garfield said sternly. "You threw our friend off the eel to die."

"I'm sorry, your what?" Roman gave a laugh that was not entirely confident; now that he realized the vibes Garfield and Peter were giving off, he wasn't sure he could convince them to join the party after all. "She tried to kill us. MULTIPLE times."

"It's rather obvious she wasn't aware of the poison part of the plan back in Gotham," Peter pointed out; though he was quite serious with his words, he still faced Roman with a smile, making an unnerving effect. "As for whatever happened in Blackmoor Manor, you'd already made it clear you were out for her blood. Can you really blame her for retaliating?"

"Which means," Roman concluded, "she is not your friend anymore. She declared war on me, and you're with me. Ergo, war on you."

"Look, we know you're the boss," Garfield snapped, "but that doesn't mean you speak for us."

"Torchwick, please, allow me." Snatcher rose to stand beside Roman. "Misters Lynns and Merkel…I am aware this situation is less than ideal. Your alliance with Miss Quinn was obviously – "

"Friendship," Peter and Garfield corrected in unison.

"Pardon my error," Snatcher said casually. "Your friendship was obviously longstanding and built upon a complex rapport. However, Miss Quinn chose to ally herself with those who would see us dead. There was simply no way she wasn't aware of this. She demonstrated that she was through with both of you, and she wanted you out of the picture."

"SHE DITCHED THEM, REMEMBER?" Garfield burst out. "SHE WAS GOING TO COME WITH US! SHE DIDN'T WANNA ATTACK US ANYMORE!"

"Likely story," Aghoul huffed.

"Did you think her betrayal of Maleficent insincere?" Peter asked. "After all, without her, you most certainly would NOT have Mozenrath back among your ranks. Her involvement was nothing short of pivotal. Was that not enough to convince you? It certainly must have convinced Maleficent. I highly doubt her crime would go unpunished."

"Yeah, well, she deserves what she gets," Roman grunted.

Peter's arm immediately shot out to bar Garfield from assaulting Roman physically. "Here's the thing about Harley," he explained calmly, smile ever-present. "She has a tendency to trust entirely the wrong people. For a villain, she does have a horrible habit of trying to see the good in people. Or is it that she sees the sort of bad she considers good? We'd been trying to get her to separate from the Joker for more than a year."

"She always thought he would love her," Garfield seethed. "I bet she thought if she saved the boss for you, you'd love her too."

"Ship sailed," Roman grunted. "You think I'm happy about this? Well, okay, yes, I was glad to FINALLY give her a taste of her own medicine. But she was one of the enemy. Maybe she didn't want you dead. But me? My ass was grass to her. I had a giant fucking target painted on my back, and she had a loaded bow. You think I wanted to risk having her around here to keep shooting?"

"Should we get involved?" Aghoul whispered to Mim.

Mim responded by conjuring a bucket of popcorn (coated in olive oil, not butter, just in case). "Not when it's getting good," she said around the first mouthful.

Aghoul reached into the bag.

"We were never supposed to choose between her and you," Peter informed Roman. "And yet you made that decision for us."

"Are you fucking SERIOUS?" Roman's jaw dropped. "What did she ever do for you? Sell you out to the Joker five million times?"

"Between Miss Quinn and ourselves, it was hardly a decision," Snatcher added. "We brought you out of freelancing and into our ranks. We've conducted a most productive partnership. Mr. Lynns, I would have trusted no other to infiltrate the Radiant Garden stronghold as well as you did, and made such an enjoyable experience of it. Mr. Merkel, you are the embodiment of team spirit, and though I do wish you would not occupy the interior of my hat without my express permission, you were utterly INVALUABLE to us on the World of Twelve regarding that beastly scorpion. An incident in which you nearly gave your life, and we salvaged it for you."

"I brought you the spiderwebs for that," Aghoul broke in.

"We have protected and defended you at every turn," Snatcher argued.

"What, are you holding that over us now?" Garfield asked in awe.

"You're certainly not suggesting that we owe you our loyalty due to you giving us common courtesies," Peter clarified.

"What I am suggesting," Snatcher explained, "is that we are all friends. We have fostered a mutually beneficial bond. Therefore, when it came down to the wire, between us and Miss Quinn – "

"You are ignoring the fact that you were absent for the majority of our partnership with her, aren't you?" Ragdoll asked as Garfield clenched his teeth as an outlet for the rage he was brewing. "'Miss Quinn' has done quite a lot for us, and we for her."

"So what do you fucking WANT?" Roman asked. "You want to fly back out to that dump and pick her up? You want me to fall on my knees and beg for forgiveness? Because, guess what! Not happening."

"I'm starting to see that her working with the WHAM ARMY would be a terrible idea," Garfield growled.

"Finally!" Roman crowed. "Some sense – "

Snatcher placed a warning hand on his chest. "Torchwick, Mr. Lynns is implying the opposite solution."

"You…" Roman stared in disbelief. "You want to leave."

Though Garfield had indeed implied the notion, it had been on the spur of the moment. Frantic now, he attempted, "I never said – "

"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Mim chose that moment to get involved, dumping the popcorn over Aghoul's head as she jumped to the floor and stormed toward Garfield and Peter. "After all we've done for you, you're going to walk out on us? Not on my watch, you're not!" She shook her finger toward the pair. "You signed up with us for life, and you're going to like it! If you even think about turning traitor…" She let a grin cross her face. "It won't be pretty."

"Now, now," Snatcher said hurriedly, "there's no need for that, Madam Mim. For one, if they simply chose to leave of their own accord, it would hardly be tantamount to selling us out to Maleficent or her forces – "

"You're going to LET them leave?" Mim asked in disbelief.

"I am merely speaking in terms of protocol given a hypothetical situation that shall certainly not come to pass," Snatcher grunted. "What will happen is that Misters Lynns and Merkel shall move on from their ill-formed attachment to Miss Quinn after a suitable grieving period, then rejoin our activity as though nothing has changed."

"AND WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHAT WE DO OR DON'T DO?" Garfield roared.

"Do you WISH to leave?" Snatcher seethed right back at him.

Garfield gave him a fierce glare, and it seemed the two would be locked in an ocular standoff for the better part of an hour, but then Garfield faltered, his expression softening. "No," he admitted. "I don't."

"You are right," Peter sighed, his smile fading slightly. "We are…indeed…friends."

"See?" Roman sighed. "Can we all forget about Jester and get back to business? Seriously, we just pulled off the most amazing victory of our career, and you two are killing the mood."

Peter and Garfield exchanged glances.

"Champagne?" Roman asked aggressively.

"No," Peter replied, not taking his eyes off Garfield. "I don't believe we will."

"We'll be back at our place if you need us." Garfield turned away, making for the door, with Peter slinking behind him.

"Suitable grieving period," Snatcher explained as the pair shut the door on their way out. "Enough time and everything shall be as it was."

Roman whirled to face the other three still remaining in the room. "You don't have any beef with me, right?" he asked angrily. "Or do you all think I fucked up when I gave that blonde bitch what she deserved?"

"I see no problems here," Aghoul replied.

"She had it coming!" Mim agreed.

It took only the slightest hesitation for Roman to realize who disagreed with him. "Archie…?" he said in disbelief.

"It isn't that I believe you were in the wrong," Snatcher said quickly. "It simply occurred to me that cooperation with Miss Quinn may have been beneficial to us."

"Beneficial? HOW?"

"Miss Maleficent gained intimate knowledge of Lord Mozenrath's weaknesses by employing a spy among our ranks," Snatcher reminded him. "Were we to bring aboard someone who knew HER defenses well, we could have gained an advantage."

"So what?" Roman said with a dramatic shrug. "We still kicked her ass!"

"Furthermore," Snatcher said, knowing full well Roman didn't want to hear his next point, "throwing Miss Quinn to her doom was an absolute diplomatic faux pas as far as Misters Lynns and Merkel were concerned. Had you not acted on impulse – "

"So you're saying I shouldn't have booted her," Roman said grouchily.

"What's done is done," Snatcher said definitively. "No use in looking back on it now. Give it time and all will return to as it was." He leaned over to peck a small kiss on Roman's cheek. "As you said, now is the time for celebration. Miss Quinn is their problem, not ours."

Snatcher, Mim, and Roman returned to the table, where Aghoul was still seated. Roman took a sip of his champagne bitterly; it was clear he was now conflicted about his decision. Not because of any guilt over Harley's fate, but because of Snatcher seeing the flaw in his actions, and Garfield and Peter's reaction.

Sensing Roman's discomfort but not acting because of it, Mim produced a pack of cards from nowhere, shuffling them in her hands. "Anyone up for a game?"

It went unspoken that Mim was, of course going to cheat her way to victory. All the same, Roman said, "Deal me in," and the quartet began a game simply for the fun of playing.

...

"And in conclusion," Merlin said as the castle contingent gathered once more in the library, "I must commend Sora for his quick thinking. I was not aware you knew the rules of the Book of Prophecies, my boy!"

"Heheh…yeah," Sora said nervously. "Totally knew the rules."

"Of course, this is not without its downside," Merlin sighed. "Unfortunately, the Ten Cities required the presence of the book in order to thrive. Now that it has been destroyed, it is true that neither Maleficent nor any other evil force can ever use it to change fate, but the Ten Cities must be rebuilt upon a new magical platform."

"Then we can help!" Sora insisted. "Just tell us what to do, and we'll go there and fix it! We were the ones who ruined everything by leading Maleficent to the book in the first place, so we should – "

"Absolutely NOT go anywhere NEAR that world ever again," Merlin forbade, "and this time, I hope you listen to me for your own sakes! If they were to find out you were the ones who destroyed their book and thereby the foundations of the Ten Cities, they might very well publicly execute you! I will exert as much damage control as I can over that world, but it will take time to find a permanent solution."

"I wish ya luck!" Mickey told Merlin.

"In the meantime, we do still have a lot to celebrate," Kairi announced. "The sun is back in the sky over all the worlds." Except for Amaterasu's, but everyone knew that; this was no time to rub it in. "Maleficent's reign is over."

"For now," Stork pointed out.

"It was weird," Sora said as he scratched his head. "She seemed like she…ran out of magic."

"That is weird for Maleficent," Mickey agreed. "I almost wonder if somethin' happened before we got there."

"That reminds me," Aladdin recalled, "Jafar said something weird too. He said I was more like someone he knew than I wanted to be. It was almost like…someone else was there right before us, and he was pointing that out."

"What, you think somebody went in there, roughed up Maleficent, and then happened to leave right before we got in?" Kazuichi reiterated. "That's TOO convenient."

"'Too convenient' seems to be our story," Nick pointed out.

"We might never know," Leon stated. "Anyway, the battle is over, but the war is still going. It won't take long for Maleficent to get back on her feet, and in the meantime, we still have Mozenrath to worry about."

"Not to mention we still haven't heard anything from Xehanort since we picked up Kazuichi," Riku pointed out. "We can assume he's still looking for his Seekers, since that wasn't too long ago. But that's not going to be easy to deal with if he manages to collect them all."

"Sounds like we need to ask the hourglass where to go next on a few fronts," Sora resolved. "But I think we earned ourselves a little break first."

"We can't let our guard down," Leon warned.

"But all work an' no play ain't good for a person!" Goofy argued.

"Yeah!" Chip agreed.

"I say it's PARTY TIME!" Yuffie whooped.

"We should clean out the ballroom!" Kairi gasped.

"And blast our tunes as LOUD AS WE CAN!" Vida agreed.

"What if we made some cakes?" Cadance suggested.

"And reserved a quiet corner in a soundproof room for reading books," Ren insisted.

"Like we're gonna let you stay there," Nora teased.

"Let's PUMP UP THE VOLUME!" Genie suddenly sported a necklace of glow sticks, a boom boox hoisted over one shoulder. "RAISE THE ROOF!"

"Is everyone in?" Sadira asked.

"Actually…not me," Sora admitted. "There's something I kinda wanna take care of. But the rest of you should have fun!"

"You had BETTER not be going to the Ten Cities," Merlin warned.

"Nah," Sora told him. "Actually…I'm going home. Just for a night. I need to check in on things there."

"I get it," Riku told him. "You should go. We'll save you some cake."

"You better!" Sora laughed.

As the crowd dispersed and Sora headed down the hall on his own, he soon became aware he was not on his own anymore. Seven followers had joined him.

"No, seriously," Kazuichi asked, "are we going back to the Ten Cities? Because you're gonna need us for that."

Sora turned to face him, as well as Ruby, Papyrus, Stork, Jasmine, Katara, and Rapunzel. "I'm really going home," Sora said with a smile. "I think we did enough damage to the Ten Cities for a while. And besides…you all reminded me that I haven't checked in with Mom and Dad in a while. So I'm gonna do it."

"I think that's a great idea," Jasmine said with a smile.

"What's your house like?" Ruby asked. "Do you live on the beach?"

"A little bit inland," Sora explained.

"What about your parents?" Rapunzel asked. "What are THEY like?"

"They're the best!" Sora proclaimed, throwing his arms wide. "Mom always finds the bright side of any situation, and Dad believes anything's possible!" An idea occurred to him: "Hey…how would you all like to come meet them?"

"US?" Papyrus gasped. "MEET YOUR HUMAN PARENTS?"

"Why not?" Sora asked. "They've already met Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, and now I've been traveling with all of you a lot. I want you all to know each other! I'll even ask if you can stay the night."

"We won't be offended if they say no," Katara told him.

"I'm sure they'll be okay with it," Sora insisted. "So? Do you wanna come?"

"I WOULD BE HONORED TO!" Papyrus said with sparkling eyes.

"I'd love to meet your parents," Jasmine agreed.

"I wanna see what your homeworld is like!" Rapunzel said excitedly.

"I'm in!" Katara chimed in.

"Putting aside all fears that your family won't like me," Stork added, "I'll come along."

"Hell yeah!" Kazuichi said with a smile.

"SLUMBER PARTYYYYY!" Ruby shrieked. "…If Sora's parents say it's okay."

"Let's go!" Sora encouraged, and the eight rushed away to the Gummi ship.

...

The sound of shrill screaming alerted Herb Overkill to the incoming presence of Jack Spicer. The rollercoaster ground to a halt, spilling Jack and the Jack-Bot he clutched under his arm onto the ground in a clumsy faceplant.

"And he sticks the landing!" Herb joked.

Jack quickly stood and brushed himself off. "Landing aside," he said, "that was AWESOME! How'd you convince Wuya to let you put a rollercoaster in here?"

"The way I heard it," Herb told him, "Yzma asked, and she made it."

"Wow," Jack remarked. "Getting a girlfriend really lightened her up. Maybe she'll go easier on me now." He picked up the Jack-Bot once more.

"Step right this way to the headquarters of the newly instated Tech Division of the WHAM ARMY," Herb beckoned, gesturing the way to the back of the laboratory, opposite the medical bay; they passed a very pensive Vexen at his lab table on the way. "I took the liberty of rounding up the rest of your robots that I could find and storing them here for you to work on."

"SERIOUSLY?" Jack stepped into Herb's alcove to find the remaining Jack-Bots leaning against the wall. "AWESOOOOOOME! Okay, I already love this." He turned to Herb. "So what exactly do you do down here besides make giant steam dragons?"

"Me?" Herb replied. "I'm an inventor. I make all kinds of things. Like the Hypno-Hat. I'd demonstrate it, but if I used it on you, you wouldn't remember it, and if I tried to get close to Vexen with it, he'd give me permanent frostbite, so that's a no-go. But I have more plans in the works. Like a collapsible sword that can go from dagger to broadsword with the push of a button. And an anti-gravity ray that makes everything it hits defy gravity. And an infuser that can add fruit flavoring to any ordinary chocolate bar."

"You are officially the coolest person I have ever met," Jack squeaked.

"Of course, those are all still in the works," Herb went on. "I'm still kind of figuring out the how. But in the meantime, I'm trying to recreate my ULTIMATE WEAPON."

He gestured toward a smaller chamber set up on the edge of the room, one he had constructed himself, lined with blinking lights, levers, and mechanisms of all kinds.

"What does it do?" Jack asked, starry-eyed.

"Now that's a secret," Herb told him with a wink. "You're just gonna have to wait for it to get finished to see it in action."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jack proclaimed. "LET'S GET TO WORK!"

"YEEEAAAAAH!" Herb crossed the room to a small radio and slammed his hand down on the play button, sending an upbeat light rock tune blaring throughout the lab.

An icy encasement immediately solidified around Vexen's lab table as the researcher inside made a note to himself that there really needed to be a soundproof partition between Herb and Jack's segment of the lab and his own.

Jack set about dragging a Jack-Bot to the counter, setting it up to examine it for any needed repairs. Herb pried open a panel on his ultimate weapon, fine-tuning the inner workings. They worked away happily for a while, the music so loud that they didn't hear the sound of a voice crying "WHEEEEEE!" as its owner careened down on the rollercoaster.

The new arrival became clear when Irmaplotz walked into the lab. "Hey," she greeted. "How's it going? You know, just in general. I'm not asking about anything specific or anything. I'm not down here for a reason. Why would you ask me that? Stop asking me questions! I don't need a REASON to be here!"

"Hey," Jack replied, feeling his heart thudding hard against his breastbone. "Just so you know, I totally respect your right to be here for no reason. I do a lot of things for no reason."

"You know," Irmaplotz said as she sidled up to him, "you did promise me earlier you'd show me how your robots worked." She eyed the bot on the table. "That…that is a robot, right?"

"It sure is!" Jack confirmed. "You know, I could actually use a hand getting the right-side lasers working again."

"I know nothing about this object," Irmaplotz told him, "and I am going to volunteer anyway."

"I'll talk you through the basics," Jack reassured her. "You seem smart. Though that could be because of the glasses…but I'm sure you're smart even without glasses!"

"You think the glasses make me look smart?" Irmaplotz asked.

"Duh," Jack told her.

"Good-smart or annoying-smart?"

"Is there really a difference?"

"Good point."

"…But it's good-smart."

Herb watched the pair go to work on the robot, smiling as he observed. It was just like his first time working on a project with Scarlet, right down to the red dress Irmaplotz was wearing. "You know," he said, "that really takes me back to when I would show my girlfriend my inventions. Back when she was my girlfriend, of course."

"Sorry you got dumped, man," Jack said sympathetically.

"He didn't get dumped," Irmaplotz corrected. "She's his wife now."

"Oh."

"Wait a minute." Irmaplotz realized the implications. "So, uh, does this mean we're…"

"You keep not finishing those sentences," Jack observed.

"Okay." Irmaplotz took a deep breath, then let out a "Do you wanna…"

Jack waited. And waited.

"Curses!" Irmaplotz hissed. "I thought I was going to actually be able to finish that one! Okay, let's try this again." Another deep breath. "Do you wanna go out?" A pause. "I finished that one, right?"

"Yes," Jack told her, "and yes! I wanna go out with you!"

"Good," Irmaplotz told him, "because I wanna go out with you. Just in case you were wondering if I meant it back."

"Wanna keep working on the robot," Jack asked, "or take this somewhere more romantic?"

"Where's more romantic?"

"I mean, I figure this place has gotta have a balcony or something with a view."

"It does," Irmaplotz confirmed. "How about we finish the robot and see where the rest of the day takes us?"

"You got it!"

Herb's own heart swelled. Villainous as he considered himself to be, he did so love to see other villains find happiness with each other.

...

A small house rested some distance inland on the Destiny Islands. Its walls were white but worn; it stretched no more than two stories tall. Its large windows gave it the impression that it was happy to see whoever approached it. Palm trees framed it, and by the time Sora, Ruby, Papyrus, Stork, Jasmine, Katara, Kazuichi, and Rapunzel approached it, it was graced overhead by a late afternoon sun starting to drift into evening.

Sora threw open the door excitedly, revealing a space that was just small enough to be cozy yet big enough to be welcoming beyond. "Mom!" he cried. "Dad! I'm home!"

His words interrupted laughing from the kitchen. A tall brunette man and a slightly shorter woman with hair of the same color emerged together, matching smiles upon their faces and matching aprons and oven mitts covering their bodies. "Sora!" the woman greeted, rushing forward to give her son a hug.

"You're home!" the man said happily, waiting for Sora and his mother to finish up before taking his turn embracing Sora.

"I just said that," Sora laughed.

Sora's mother took a step back, looking at the seven who waited outside the doorway. "Are these new friends?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sora confirmed. "They've been helping me on my latest adventure. I wanted you to meet them!"

"Hi, Sora's Mom!" Ruby waved excitedly. "Hi, Sora's Dad!"

"Well, don't just stand out there," Sora's father replied. "Come on into the house. Have a seat. If your adventures are anything like Sora's usual, you've gotta be tired."

As the seven filtered in, Sora's mother added, "And you can call me Hinoiri."

"I'm Yoake," her husband chimed in. "Don't be afraid to talk to us like friends."

"Because any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours!" Hinoiri affirmed.

"I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby said as she entered the room.

"MY NAME IS PAPYRUS," Papyrus added, "BUT IF YOU WISH, YOU MAY CALL ME 'PAPYRUS.'"

"Name's Stork," Stork said as he nervously stalked into the room, feeling a twitch coming on. So far, Hinoiri and Yoake seemed to be friendly, but still he worried that he might commit a faux pas to sour their opinion of him.

"I'm Jasmine," Jasmine introduced.

"Now, hang on," Yoake realized before anyone else could speak. "We've heard that name. Jasmine…not PRINCESS Jasmine?"

"In fact, I am," Jasmine confirmed.

Hinoiri and Yoake looked at each other in a panic before falling respectfully to their knees.

"You don't have to do that," Jasmine assured them. "As long as I'm here, I'm not really a princess. I'm just a friend."

"Same here," Rapunzel chimed in. "I'm Rapunzel. Technically Princess Rapunzel, but please don't bow to me."

Hinoiri and Yoake stood. "Sorry about that," Hinoiri said sheepishly.

"Don't be!" Rapunzel urged her.

Introductions went on. "My name is Katara," Katara said with a respectful half-bow. "It's nice to meet you."

"If we don't have to bow to princesses," Hinoiri told her, "you certainly don't have to bow to us."

"I'm, uh…I'm Kazuichi," Kazuichi finished off. "Nice place."

"It's always great to come home to," Sora said in a tranquil tone.

"Well, come on!" Yoake urged. "Sit down in the living room!"

The ten found spaces on the chairs and couches, even though it was a little crowded. "So, uh…" Yoake tried to figure out how to word his most pressing question. "Are you winning at saving the worlds?"

"I think we are!" Sora said with a nod.

"Never mind the madman on the loose with his band of evil friends," Stork muttered.

"Things got scary for a while when the sun went out," Hinoiri said solemnly. "But when the sky lit up again, I told your father I knew it had something to do with you."

"That WAS us!" Sora confirmed. "We had to steal the Book of Prophecies from an evil witch so we could put things back the way they should be."

"Why don't you all tell us about it?" Yoake asked.

"That's gonna be a long story," Ruby informed him.

"A really, REALLY long story," Katara agreed.

"I think we can make some time," Hinoiri replied. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to get to know you all better!"

"Oh! Before we do that!" Sora interrupted. "I know there's a lot of us…but could they stay the night?"

"Well…it is a little short notice…" Yoake scratched the back of his head, a familiar gesture to anyone who knew his son. "But I think we can make something work. We'll pull out the spare mattresses and blankets."

"We didn't exactly plan dinner for three, though," Hinoiri realized, "let alone ten."

"We can cook something for ourselves, if you don't mind us using the kitchen," Rapunzel said eagerly. "I actually had a recipe I wanted to try for dessert. Could we maybe step out to go shopping for a little bit?"

"Use the kitchen to your heart's content!" Yoake told her. "I'm excited to see what you come up with!"

"Sora," Ruby asked, "how did you get such cool parents?"

"Just lucky," Sora answered.

"I'm starting to see how Sora turned out the way he did," Kazuichi commented. "Which is a good thing."

"Now tell me all about your adventures," Hinoiri beckoned. "I'm so excited to hear!"

"Well," Sora related, thinking back, "it kind of all started when Riku, Kairi, and me were visiting Radiant Garden, and then…"

The eight took turns relating their story, trying to keep it as brief as they could in order to still have time to head out grocery shopping later.

...

As Rémington and Grany Smisse entered the communal kitchen, Rémington remarked, "You know, there is an upside to Demyx turning traitor."

"And what is that?" Grany asked.

"Less competition for who the best thief is in the ship," Rémington said confidently. "Eventually, we're going to come out on top."

"You realize we're still up against a guy who can travel through the air vents."

"We can make up the difference with our sheer charm," Rémington replied. "Besides, we still have pickpocketing on our résumé. Roman can try, but no one can beat us at that."

A new voice: "Oh, really?"

The brothers turned to see Katnappé leaning over the counter, twirling an ornate pistol on her finger.

It took Rémington a moment. Then, recognizing the gun, he whipped to check his belt. Indeed, one was missing.

"Rémyyyyy!" the stolen gun growled. "Make her stop! I'm getting dizzy!"

"Ooh, it talks!" Katnappé gushed. "Now that's unique!"

Rémington whirled on her; "Give it back!"

Katnappé tossed the gun through the air; Rémington fumbled it before holstering it. "I was just having a little fun with you," Katnappé said innocently. "So you're a thief, too."

Rémington's mouth twisted into a sly smirk. "Only the best."

"You're just going to ignore the way I just swiped one of your guns?"

"Being easy to steal from doesn't mean I'm bad at thieving."

Katnappé raised a brow at him.

"Not that I'm easy to steal from!" Rémington said hurriedly. "What I mean is – " His expression hardened. "Stop making a fool of me."

"Oh, but it's so fun," Katnappé laughed. "And besides, you're so pretty. Pretty boys are always more fun to pick on."

"Incidentally," Rémington told her, "pretty girls are always trouble."

"Oh, I'm definitely trouble," Katnappé confirmed.

"So, Katnappé," Grany broke in, "is that your real name?"

"It's Ashley," she confirmed, "but whoever heard of a powerful Heylin warrior being named 'Ashley'? 'Katnappé' has so much more of a feminine, feline ring to it."

"So you're a cat person," Grany identified.

"Abso-mew-tely," Katnappé teased. "Cats are my passion. Now that I live here, we're going to need so many more cats."

"You know…" Rémington suddenly saw the opportunity building. "My brother used to be a cat."

"Really!" Katnappé's eyes widened in interest.

"I'm trying to put that part of my life behind me," Grany said hurriedly.

"He still has a few habits left over from the transformation," Rémington stated. "I caught him playing with a yarn ball."

"I TOLD YOU THERE WAS CONTEXT – "

"Now that's just adorable," Katnappé commented. "Who'd have thought someone as big and tough as you would have a cute side?"

"I – " Grany suddenly realized Katnappé's interest in him was building. And, looking at her, he had no problems with this. That sly Rémington knew what he was doing. "I could tell you more about what it was like."

"Could you?" Katnappé asked. "I've always wanted to be a cat, myself!"

"It's not as glamorous as you think. You end up relying on complete idiots to protect you."

"Sounds like the Heylin."

"I'll leave you to it," Rémington said as he backed out of the kitchen.

He was quite satisfied with himself as he entered the hallway. Then two things occurred to him, one right after the other.

Rémington barged right back into the kitchen just as Grany was explaining, "Mice are harder to catch than they look – "

"Hey!" Rémington broke in. "What did you mean, 'relying on complete idiots'?"

"I know what I said," Grany told him, "and I stand by it."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Rémington grunted, holding out his hand. "I really just came here to get my dagger back."

Katnappé rolled her eyes as she placed the missing knife back in Rémington's palm.

Then and only then did Rémington leave the two to their discussion of the feline life.

...

The sky was beginning to blush pink as Sora, Ruby, Papyrus, Stork, Jasmine, Katara, Kazuichi, and Rapunzel entered the grocery store on the mainland.

"So," Sora asked, "what do we all want to eat?"

"Strawberries," Ruby stated.

"We're gonna need to eat more than strawberries," Sora reminded her.

"I know," Ruby replied, "I just – "

Her attention was caught by the metal wheeled shopping carts lined up in the entryway. "…Hold that thought." She wheeled out a cart.

"GOOD IDEA!" Papyrus told her. "WE WILL NEED ONE OF THOSE TO CARRY ALL OF OUR INGREDIENTS!"

"Actually, this one isn't for ingredients," Ruby admitted. "You wanna know what's fun about carts?"

"Running down the longest aisle as fast as you can, then jumping on the back of the cart and riding it down the rest of the aisle?" Kazuichi asked, his face lighting up.

"You've done this before," Ruby observed.

Kazuichi seized his own cart. "Race you."

"You're on!"

As the two rushed off into the heart of the store, the remainders began to walk through the building, discussing the matter more seriously. "YOU KNOW I AM ALWAYS READY TO MAKE MY CLASSIC SPAGHETTI," Papyrus volunteered.

"No offense," Stork brought up, "but since Jasmine has dietary restrictions, she should probably pick out what we eat."

"YOU HAVE A POINT!" Papyrus agreed.

"That's considerate of you," Jasmine stated. Her attention was caught by the meat counter the group passed; "There's a lot of fish on display."

"Welcome to the island life," Sora told her.

The rattling sounds of two carts sounded behind them as Ruby, tailed by Kazuichi, hurtled down the aisle; they leapt onto their respective carts' backs, whooping joyously as they zoomed.

"I can work with fish," Jasmine said with a nod. "You know, growing up in a palace, I always had all my food prepared for me. As I grew up and realized how sheltered that life was, one of the first ways I tried to gain independence was to teach myself how to cook. I don't really use recipes…I kind of just put things together that seem right. But I know what we'd need for one dish in particular."

"You're in charge!" Katara encouraged her. "Lead the way!"

"We'll need enough fish to feed ten," Jasmine began. "I want to make a spicy sauce to put over it. We'll look for that next. Now, traditionally, in Agrabah, we serve fish over rice, but I don't see why we COULDN'T swap that out for spaghetti noodles. It would have a unique touch. We'd just need a spaghetti expert to boil them – "

"I AM READY!" Papyrus declared, giving a salute.

Only one cart came back down the opposite direction, Ruby now sitting inside of it while Kazuichi shoved it as fast as he could, both of them laughing like children.

"I'll let the four of you handle the main dish," Rapunzel said as she looked back over the dry goods aisles. "I'm going to go pick out what I need for dessert."

"What are you making?" Katara asked.

"It's a surprise!" Rapunzel told her before darting away.

Within the half hour, Sora, Papyrus, Stork, Jasmine, Katara, and Rapunzel exited the store to find a dejected-looking Ruby and Kazuichi leaning against the storefront.

"You got kicked out of the store for playing with the carts, didn't you?" Stork sighed.

"Yeah," the previously rowdy pair sighed in unison.

"I had a feeling," Stork replied, plucking a red berry from the collected goods. "That's why I put MYSELF in charge of getting the strawberries."

"Aaaah, you're awesoooome!" Ruby squealed.

"Come on!" Sora encouraged. "Let's go make dinner!"

They raced back to Sora's cozy home beneath a brilliant pink sky.

...

Scarlet and Neo entered the training room to find an array of broken targets splintered on the floor surrounding Tubbimura, whose rampage was not yet complete. Crystal-powered mechanisms popped targets up all around him; in the time it took Scarlet and Neo to share a synchronized blink, the ninja had broken each bullseye down with a foot or a fist.

"Now that's impressive," Scarlet stated.

Tubbimura was temporarily startled; as he turned to look at Scarlet, a padded target swatted him on the side of the head. Neo zipped over to the control panel to shut the mechanisms off out of courtesy.

"No, seriously, you are, like, really good," Scarlet went on as she walked into the field. "But, you know, ninja, so obviously."

"I am glad you think so," Tubbimura told her. "I am almost constantly underestimated because of my size. No one believes I can hold my own in a real fight. That makes it all the easier for me to crush my opponents."

"Oh, tell me about it," Scarlet sighed. "Well, okay, no, I don't exactly know what it's like to be in YOUR position, obviously, I mean, look at me, I'm…I'm digging a hole. But I do know people think I'm easy to beat up because I'm a woman. Everyone back home looked at me, saw the skirt, saw the figure, and thought, oh, hey, a member of the weak gender. We can make her cry, easy. So then they try it and – " Scarlet illustrated her next point by leaping into the air, performing a 360 spin with a kick outward. "BAM! Never know what hit 'em."

Neo gave a sympathetic nod. She was also used to being underestimated, due to her tiny physique and her being a woman alike. Of course, no one who had ever fought her made that mistake afterward. Mostly because they didn't live to tell the tale.

"So now I'm curious," Scarlet asked. "I wanna know how good you are against ME."

"This is not a comment on you being a woman, but one on my own skill," Tubbimura told her. "I can defeat you easily."

"We have an arena right here. You wanna go?"

"I will not hold back."

"Neither will I."

Neo gave a little hop, clapping excitedly in anticipation of watching the fight.

"On three," Scarlet declared.

"As is fair," Tubbimura agreed.

"One," Scarlet counted, taking a step back. "Two."

She knew he wouldn't wait. She had already bent aside to avoid his flying body, the word "three" left unspoken. His fist missed her face twice before she landed a kick on him. She threw a confident punch only to find it dodged; the side of his hand knifed into the small of her back.

Neo watched them dance around each other, quite entertained. It was clear that both were skilled warriors. Their movements were fast and fluid; whenever it seemed one was on top, the other would have a quick comeback.

Finally, Scarlet ended up with the upper hand, each of her four limbs smacking at Tubbimura in turn and sending him flying into the far wall. He collapsed into a sitting position, thoroughly worn out.

"You have bested me," he said in surprise.

"Yeah, I kinda thought I would," Scarlet admitted. "But you lasted longer than a lot of people."

Tubbimura slowly returned to his feet. "And what of your friend?" he asked. "What is her skill?"

"Oh, Neo?" Scarlet laughed. "Don't even think about it. If you can't beat me, you DEFINITELY can't beat her."

...

Sora's household kitchen was not big enough to hold all eight cooks at the same time, so they took shifts. Papyrus set his noodles to boil, then left the room for Jasmine to stir her sauce. Katara removed the bones from the fish the way she had learned to do in the Water Tribe, then handed them off to Kazuichi to fry in vegetable oil, since part and parcel of his knowledge of machines was an expertise in perfectly cooking meat over any device. Ruby rinsed off the strawberries in a bowl. Rapunzel kept back, insisting no one could be in the room when she made her dessert.

Hinoiri and Yoake couldn't help but smile as they were seated at the dining room table, which had every chair in the house crowded around it. "We didn't expect to be served a high-class meal tonight," Hinoiri laughed.

Noodles were piled onto plates and the fish lay on top of it, spicy sauce drizzled as the uppermost layer. Strawberries were partitioned into a bowl to sit beside each plate.

"Fish over noodles," Yoake observed as Sora dealt him his portion. "Is that a traditional dish from one of your worlds?"

"It's kind of something we just put together on our own," Jasmine informed him.

It was delicious. The noodles were perhaps not cooked to the perfect softness, but no one could complain given how well it was all put together in execution.

Rapunzel then barricaded herself in the kitchen while the others remained seated over their empty plates. "So…I've been wondering something," Stork brought up.

"Go ahead and ask," Yoake bade him.

"How are you…so okay with all of this?" Stork asked. "With your son ending up in mortal danger every other day, I mean. If I remember correctly, he went missing for a whole year with no explanation."

The brief silence that followed gave Stork enough time to fear he had made the dreaded faux pas.

Then Yoake spoke: "It was hard, at first. Sora disappeared into the night without leaving a clue, and then the storm came. After that…"

"We weren't sure exactly what happened that night," Hinoiri admitted. "The way Sora tells it, we disappeared with the world. Our hearts were held captive. We weren't conscious to worry."

"Then everything came back," Yoake continued, "but Sora wasn't here. Riku went missing, too, and his father is more of a worrier than we are. All we had was Kairi to try and explain everything that had happened."

"Well, no, not 'try,'" Hinoiri corrected. "She did a good job. It was us who couldn't understand at first. Everything about other worlds and hearts and Keyholes…"

"All we knew was that our son wasn't coming home," Yoake said somberly. "We were beside ourselves for a night. And then…suddenly, it was like we never had a son at all."

"That was when I ended up in Castle Oblivion," Sora clarified. "Naminé put me to sleep to save my memories, so everyone else forgot about me for a whole year."

"We were worried for Riku's father, having to lose his son," Hinoiri said, "but somehow it never occurred to us that we had a child of our own. We talked about it that year, how strange it was that we had been together for fifteen years and never wanted a child, even though we had talked about it so much when we were first dating. Sora's room was still there, and everything in it, but we thought it was just mementos we had collected from our own lives for decoration. Though…sometimes, I would walk in and pick something up and feel like it was familiar in a way I couldn't quite place."

"Then, all of a sudden, it came back," Yoake went on. "We remembered Sora. At first, we couldn't get over the guilt that we'd forgotten our own son. But then we understood it must have been the same kind of thing that made up the Keyholes, or held our hearts captive. It was something we couldn't understand. It was magic."

"When Sora first came home with Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey," Hinoiri explained, "we were ready to keep him home forever and never let him leave again. But then we heard about all of the amazing things he did. All on his own."

"Not on my own!" Sora corrected emphatically. "I couldn't have done it without my friends!"

"We realized our son had grown up more than we could have expected," Hinoiri stated. "There were people out there who needed him, and he came through. We couldn't just hold him back after all of that."

"We'll always worry," Yoake clarified. "But we know Sora can take care of himself…especially if he has good friends by his side."

"We trust him," Hinoiri said definitively. "That's why when Master Yen Sid summoned him back for the Mark of Mastery, we told him to go and fulfill his destiny."

"And all this time," Yoake added with a nod, "we've trusted he's been carrying out things he needs to do, and that he's able to take care of himself. We always know he'll come home."

"That's right!" Sora said with a wide smile.

The other six silently agreed not to mention the Fox Rods and how Sora had very nearly not been able to come home from that.

"Thank you for all you've done for him," Hinoiri said sincerely. "We know he's in good hands with you."

"We're in good hands with him," Katara replied.

Rapunzel burst from the kitchen, holding a tray laden with cookies. "Okay, here's the surprise!" she announced. "Coconut cookies. They're completely halal, and there's no chocolate in them at all. Now everyone can eat!"

"Coconut always gives me the hiccups," Ruby said stone-faced.

Rapunzel's face fell. "Oh."

"I'M KIDDING!" Ruby said with a smile. "Seriously, I'm going to need about three of those cookies."

"You had me at 'coconut,'" Kazuichi piped up. "I'll take five."

The tray was cleared in no time.

...

After winning twenty-five straight games of cards – ranging from Blackjack to a popular Remnant gambling game to a monstrous hybrid of games from various worlds involving poker chips and rolling a D20 – Mim was kicked out of Roman and Snatcher's apartment, and Aghoul on her heels. It was clear Roman and Snatcher wanted some alone time, and their intentions were crystal-clear. Aghoul proposed that he and Mim do much of the same, but Mim was in more of a destructive mood, fueled both by her happiness at the WHAM ARMY's recovery of Mozenrath and retrieval of the Dragon's Eye and her dissatisfaction at not getting to actually kill Ursula.

That was how the laundry room ended up flooded.

Ravess attempted to step in to retrieve her wash, finding that once she opened the door, she was met with a waist-high wall of water that refused to flow out of the room. Spotting the culprit levitating in the air above her work, Ravess growled, "MIM! REALLY?"

"Did you need something in this room?" Mim asked mischievously.

Ravess cast a wistful glance at the top of the washing machine that held her uniforms. The flood water wasn't even clear. It was a soupy green. Goodness knew what kind of bacteria you would contract by attempting to cross it. "Not anymore," Ravess growled as she turned and stormed away.

The next person to pry open the door and give the room a look was Hannibal. "Now that's odd," he remarked. "This room always like this?"

"This is just for fun," Mim told him gleefully.

Hannibal looked across the surface of the water to the door at the opposite end of the room, which he had intended to use as a crossing route. Without a second thought, he put his arms together, connecting the halves of his favorite Shen Gong Wu. "Moby Morpher!"

The next thing Mim knew, he was a duck paddling casually across the surface of the water. Once he reached the opposite door, he became a human-sized bean once more, re-entering the hallway.

Mim spirited to his side, letting the water drain out into the hall Hannibal had entered from (where it made a miniature tidal wave that bowled Yzma over). "Now, that was a nifty trick," she remarked. "I had almost forgotten that trinket of yours could do that."

"That's why it's such a particular favorite of mine," Hannibal told her.

"How far can you push it?" Mim asked. "Can you become anything?"

"Haven't met nothin' I couldn't be with it," Hannibal informed her.

"Try this on for size," she challenged.

Sparkling with magic, her form expanded to the shape of an Ursa, giving a bellowing roar.

"Impressive!" Hannibal told her. "Now, let's give this a try."

Mim found herself staring at the mirror image of herself: an Ursa, though this one was more of a brown color, Hannibal not knowing what their true palette was.

"All right," Mim challenged, "but can you do this?"

She became a crocodile then, and so did he, though he lacked the tuft of lavender hair uncharacteristic for reptiles but found atop her head.

Now Mim was starting to get miffed. Wuya's old friend was at risk of putting her out of a job if he was her equal at shapeshifting. "I bet you can't do THIS!" she challenged as she became a Penrose triangle whose sides actually connected.

"Well, now," Hannibal remarked, "that is a challenge." Still, he felt confident he could copy the move.

He was wrong. After becoming all sorts of triangles that adhered strictly to the laws of physics, he fell apart and gave up, returning to bean form.

"I WIN!" Mim, now a human once more, began to twirl round and round. "I WIN, I WIN, I WIN, I WIN!"

"So you did," Hannibal told her. "You wouldn't happen to be worried I'd be takin' your place, now, would ya?"

"Me? Worried?" Mim scoffed. "Never! If I thought such a thing at all, I would merely be furious! And then you'd have to die. It's for your own good that I was hoping you couldn't match me, because you're quite fun to have around! I wouldn't want to have to kill you this early in the game!"

"Glad I met expectations, then," Hannibal replied, not perturbed in the slightest by Mim's hypothetical threat. "But don't you worry, now. All that power comes from the Moby Morpher. Take it away, and I'm just your average bean with above-average skill in combat."

"Funny," Mim told him, "Wuya seemed to think you were some sort of all-powerful demon."

"Oh, she ain't wrong on that front," Hannibal informed Mim. "But it ain't shapeshiftin' that gave me that reputation. It's how low I'm willin' to go. Sneakin' into people's heads and givin' 'em ideas they think they thought of themselves."

"You can do that?" Mim asked.

"I do hope that wasn't steppin' on your toes again," Hannibal told her casually, seemingly more concerned with being polite to Mim than he was saving his own hide.

"Not at all," Mim replied, "but it does give me some ideas. What do you say we go convince Snipe it was his own idea to bash down every table he could find for fun?"

"A sucker like him's gonna believe it, too," Hannibal laughed.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

"You sure are somethin', Mim," Hannibal complimented.

As they strolled down the hall, Mim remarked, "I am quite glad I don't have to kill you after all."

...

Mattresses, blankets, and pillows had been dragged from every spare closet. Jasmine, Katara, Rapunzel, and Ruby were set up with sleeping areas in the guest bedroom while Papyrus, Stork, and Kazuichi made bedding on the floor of Sora's room.

Before they split into their respective rooms, however, the eight gathered in Sora's room to have a chat. The sun had long since set, and only black night poured through the window that graced Sora's bed.

"I've probably said this," Sora stated, "but I'm really glad I met all of you."

"So am I," Ruby concurred.

"This is a good little group, isn't it?" Rapunzel said with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to our adventures after this," Jasmine stated.

It was then that Papyrus said, quite seriously, "I…HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE."

"I knew it," Stork squeaked. "This is the part where he tells us he was a plant by Mozenrath or Maleficent the whole time. He's going to send us off with some one-liner that contains a terrible pun, whip out a doomsday weapon, and that's it for us."

"Don't say stuff like that, man!" Kazuichi said worriedly. "Papyrus wouldn't do that! …Right?"

"OH, DEFINITELY NOT," Papyrus confirmed. "IF I REALLY WERE EVIL, YOU PROBABLY ALL WOULD HAVE FIGURED IT OUT BY NOW, REALLY." He took a deep breath that echoed hollowly against his ribs, then let out a great sigh. "YOU ALL KNOW HOW WHEN WE FIRST MET, I SAID I HAD A GREAT MANY FRIENDS AND WAS INCREDIBLY POPULAR?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sora recalled. "And then you introduced us to all your pals!"

"You mentioned it once or twice," Rapunzel recalled.

"WELL…IT…IT WASN'T EXACTLY TRUE," Papyrus sighed. "I NEVER DID HAVE ALL THAT MANY FRIENDS. I WASN'T POPULAR. IT WAS ACTUALLY THE OPPOSITE."

"But…the people you introduced us to," Ruby argued. "Mettaton and his theater crew. Alphys. Undyne. Your brother. Frisk."

"ARE PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY FRIENDS I HAD BEFORE THIS," Papyrus explained, "AND ALL OF THEM EXCEPT SANS AND UNDYNE WERE VERY RECENT FRIENDS. FOR A LONG TIME, SANS AND UNDYNE WERE THE ONLY TWO FRIENDS I HAD. AND BEFORE THAT, IT WAS JUST SANS. I'VE…HAD TROUBLE MAKING FRIENDS FOR MY WHOLE LIFE, REALLY. I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHY. I TRY TO BE FRIENDLY. I TRY TO BE CONFIDENT. I MAKE ENGAGING PUZZLES THAT STIMULATE PEOPLE'S INTELLECT. I SERVE EXCELLENT SPAGHETTI, THOUGH THIS IS PROBABLY ALSO THE TIME TO ADMIT THAT I NEVER ACTUALLY ATE IT BEFORE SORA, RUBY, AND I MADE IT TOGETHER – "

"That was your FIRST TIME ACTUALLY EATING IT?" Ruby said in awe. "You should've told us then! We could've made a bigger deal out of it! Had a spaghetti party!"

"Why would you make something you literally never eat to serve to your friends?" Stork asked in confusion.

"Because it's a nice thing to do," Katara said, and that was all the explanation that was needed.

"AFTER I MET YOU," Papyrus went on, "EVERYTHING SUDDENLY CHANGED. I BEGAN TO MAKE MORE AND MORE FRIENDS. ESPECIALLY THE SEVEN OF YOU. I REALIZED THAT…I ACTUALLY WAS WORTHY OF HAVING THAT MANY FRIENDS."

"But you've always been worthy of having a lot of friends!" Ruby gasped. "I thought you knew that! You were always going on about how you were the great Papyrus!"

"I ACTED MORE CONFIDENT THAN I REALLY WAS," Papyrus admitted. "BEFORE WE LEFT MOUNT EBOTT, I WAS VERY LONELY. I WAS MUCH LESS LONELY AFTER THAT, AND NOW, I'M SUDDENLY SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE I LOVE, AND WHO ACTUALLY LOVE ME! I GUESS WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO SAY IS…THANK YOU. FOR GIVING ME A CHANCE, AND FOR GETTING TO KNOW ME AND LETTING ME GET TO KNOW ALL OF YOU. EVEN IF WE DO DISAGREE ON ETHICAL CONUNDRUMS SOMETIMES." His fingers scratched his face where a tear had escaped to roll down the bone of his cheek.

"We're really glad to have you," Katara assured him. "You're amazing!"

"THANK YOU," Papyrus told her. "I DON'T OFTEN ACTUALLY HEAR THAT FROM OTHER PEOPLE."

A sniffle came from the other side of the circle; all eyes turned upon Kazuichi. "Aw, fuck…" Kazuichi was trying not to cry as well. "You're a great guy, Papyrus. It's me who's the loser. Even back when I did put trust in people, I could only ever get the one guy to talk to me. And I never even really got to know the other people in my high school class until after a fucking killing game that brought us down to five people. I didn't expect all of you to actually like me this much." He wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

"We love both of you!" Ruby chirped. "Seriously, I'm so happy I met you guys. Okay, maybe I didn't have it as bad as either of you, but when I was at Signal, before Ozpin found me, I didn't really have good friends either. Just Yang. So it kinda turns out a bunch of us were losers."

"Well, be losers no more!" Rapunzel announced. "We have each other now, and that's not gonna change!"

"But what if it does?" Kazuichi whimpered. "What if something happens to break us up?"

"We'll work our hardest to make sure that doesn't happen," Jasmine insisted. "We'll keep talking to each other and working out our problems."

"But, let's say, worst-case scenario, something breaks us up," Stork went on. "At least now we know we're actually able to make new friends instead of just being social pariahs for the rest of our lives."

"Here's to the Cinnamons," Sora said, beaming. "We'll always mean something to each other, and we've got each other's backs."

"To the Cinnamons," the others chimed in.

...

Angry Traitor Jail consisted of the cell in the farthest corner of the warship dungeon, with iron bars locked tight over stone walls. The only light came from dim crystal-powered torches on the wall. The cell's only ornament was a wooden bench. Obviously, the Cyclonians had not built their dungeon with prisoners' comfort in mind, and the WHAM ARMY had taken the concept and run with it.

It was upon the bench that Chase Young sat, cross-legged, eyes closed and mind blank. The barely perceptible sound of soft footsteps – the sort made by those who wore no shoes – broke into his sphere of consciousness. His eyes snapped open just as Wuya approached the bars of his cell.

He cut an intimidating figure in the dark. If Wuya didn't have the security of the bars between them, she might have actually been worried. Chase appeared to her as a humanoid shadow, his reptilian eyes reflecting the light from the torches. How long had it been since he had imbibed the soup that kept him in human form? It didn't matter; Wuya knew the bars could hold him even if he became a dragon. She had tested their durability herself once he had been locked up.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Even with his body subdued, Chase's tone was lilting, casual. Mocking.

"I had to look at you," Wuya informed him. "Alone."

"Wistful, perhaps?"

"Not for what you may think." Wuya waited a moment before speaking again: "I always suspected you would attempt to betray me again. My mistake was underestimating the stakes under which you would."

"I was merely finishing a job you began," Chase informed her. "You planned to dispose of me long ago and ally permanently with Hannibal. Though given your nature, how long would he have been safe before you became bored with him?"

"Who really knows?" She was now as flippant as he was. "A year. A few days."

"And yet you hold it against me that I wished to secure our goal by sacrificing you."

"As much as you hold it against us you for giving you that cell to sleep in," Wuya retorted.

"Who says I hold it against you?" Chase asked. "I don't need all that many creature comforts."

"Don't lie to me," Wuya told him. "I don't need to read your mind to know you're going stir-crazy in there. Or you were before you decided to empty your mind altogether, because if you let yourself think about what you brought upon yourself, you'd be terrified."

"I fear no one," Chase informed her. "Certainly not your inexperienced sorcerer and his delicate features."

"You really DON'T know the first thing about Mozenrath," Wuya told him. "He'll eat you alive. …Not literally. I realize that needed clarification."

"I have sustained threats from many of your allies already," Chase reminded her. "I fear none."

"Not even the Huntsman?" Wuya asked. "Everyone really gives you way too much credit."

"So is my fate sealed?" Chase asked. "Am I to die for my transgression?"

"That's all up to the inexperienced sorcerer and his delicate features," Wuya reminded him. "I'm sure he wants you dead, but he'll want the satisfaction of doing the deed."

"Why would he?" Chase inquired. "I did what I did to save him. Surely he understands that."

"Did you really?" Wuya asked. "Or did you just see a convenient excuse to dispose of me and hide it behind a noble cause? You had no reason to be loyal to Mozenrath. You didn't even know him. And it's clear now that you looked down on him from the moment you lay eyes on him."

"Over and over again, you berate me for attempting to rid myself of you," Chase told her. "You're really nothing but a hypocrite. You would have done the same to me."

"Would I?" Wuya posed.

"You said it in no uncertain terms," Chase reminded her.

"Long ago," Wuya corrected. "Before the Huntsclan got ahold of my puzzle box. Before I became the 'W' in 'WHAM ARMY.'"

"What an imbecilic name," Chase berated. "Which I suppose makes it all the more fitting. Is this the difference, then? Did your life become more valuable than mine because you had more people on your side?"

"Yes," Wuya confirmed. "It did. But stop and think about why I have so many allies and you don't. I learned something the longer I spent time with these people. I learned that there might in fact be more value in cooperation with like minds than competition."

"Don't tell me you think you've become friends," Chase mocked.

"I KNOW we've become friends," Wuya insisted.

"How touching," Chase spat. "You've gone soft."

"You can tell that to the corpses of the guards I left littered at the Fire Nation prison," Wuya said flippantly. "Or to Amaterasu. Oh, wait…you can't." She might not have been able to read Chase's expression, but she knew he could full well see her smile by the light of the crystal lamp.

"So you got what you wanted," Chase spat. "You finally found a way to remove me from the picture."

"It didn't have to be like this, you know," Wuya told him.

"What could it have been like?" Chase asked. "There was no other way."

"That's the thing I learned," Wuya informed him. "There is another way. None of us just thought to entertain it."

"Friendship?" Chase sneered. "I'd sooner be ripped apart by Mala Mala Jong than consider myself your friend."

"Oh, and to think we were at one time so intimate," Wuya said mockingly.

"That was never about friendship," Chase reminded her. "Also, need I remind you that you threatened me onto your little team in the first place? Does that speak to you of friendship?"

"I was talking to you in the only language you seem to understand," Wuya informed him.

"So why did you really come here?" Chase asked. "Just to preach to me about the magic of friendship?"

All she had really wanted was to look into his eyes one last time: to see through them into the very nature of the one who had dared imprison her and turn her over to the one who would have surely destroyed her. It simply hadn't seemed fitting, given their history, for her to let him walk to his execution without addressing him one final time, even if he was going to waste it completely.

She changed the subject: "You know, Jack Spicer's affection was wasted on you."

"That much was clear from the beginning," Chase stated. "Though it did make him SO obedient."

"He traded up," Wuya told Chase, "and I'm actually glad he did. But more than that…" She leaned in closer to the bars, letting him get one good look in her sparkling eyes. "So did I. She's everything you never were."

"I have a hard time believing that decrepit crone can give you what I could," Chase taunted.

Wuya straightened up. "Now I understand why Roman beat Hans half to death," she muttered. "The difference is I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of getting a reaction."

She turned away.

"You'll tire of them," Chase called after her. "You will realize how hollow friendship truly is to those of us who are pure evil. You will never miss me, but one day, you will realize you wouldn't miss them, either. And you'll see how foolish this venture was from the start."

On the way out of the dungeons, Wuya muttered, "Memo to self: give Hannibal a good punch in the face for recruiting him."

...

Jasmine, Rapunzel, Ruby, and Katara had gone to the guest bedroom, changed into their sleepwear, and shut the door. So Sora, Kazuichi, Stork, and Papyrus put on their own sleepwear in Sora's room and began the process of trying to fall asleep while tucked in their respective bedding.

Which, given that three out of four of them suffered chronic insomnia, was not an easy process.

"What time do you guys usually fall asleep?" Sora asked, stifling a yawn. He was feeling quite tired, but he didn't think it fair to just pass out while his three roommates were wide awake.

"Way later than we should," Kazuichi answered.

"Do you guys usually talk while you're up?" Sora asked.

"WE GO UNTIL ONE OF US STOPS ANSWERING," Papyrus replied. "THAT MEANS HE'S FALLEN ASLEEP, AND THE OTHER TWO OF US SHOULD BE QUIET."

"I might fall asleep first," Sora admitted. "But I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, so you three should keep talking anyway."

"We wouldn't keep you up like that," Stork told him.

"I'm serious!" Sora insisted. "Otherwise I'm just gonna have to not be the first one to fall asleep."

"I WONDER WHAT THE OTHERS ARE DOING OVER IN THE GUEST ROOM," Papyrus mused. "DO YOU THINK THEY'VE FALLEN ASLEEP ALREADY?"

"Probably," Stork theorized.

"I dunno," Kazuichi chimed in. "I bet they're probably having a pillow fight."

"Kazuichi," Stork said warningly.

"Wait, no!" Kazuichi backpedaled. "I didn't mean like a SEXY pillow fight! I'm improving, remember? And Ruby and Katara are, like, sixteen. I'm just saying pillow fights are a thing people do at sleepovers! Especially girls!"

"I dunno," Sora replied. "I have kind of a hard time picturing Jasmine having a pillow fight."

"I have an even harder time imagining KATARA agreeing to a pillow fight," Stork added. "Now, Ruby? That's completely her style. It wouldn't even really be a pillow fight. It would be all-out war."

"Poor Rapunzel," Kazuichi commented. "She's the kind of person to just have normal, fun pillow fights. Ruby would clobber her."

"IT'S A MOOT POINT," Papyrus insisted. "THEY'RE NOT HAVING A PILLOW FIGHT."

"Do you guys wanna have a pillow fight?" Sora suggested.

"It's late," Stork replied. "Your parents are asleep. Everyone in their right mind SHOULD be asleep."

"WE JUST AREN'T IN OUR RIGHT MINDS," Papyrus added.

"Damn straight," Kazuichi confirmed.

"I dunno," Sora mused. "It might be fun."

"Weren't you actually tired?" Kazuichi recalled.

"Yeah," Sora said with a pronounced yawn. "But if you guys wanted to – "

"We're not having a pillow fight," Stork said definitively.

"I MAY NOT HAVE OUTGROWN ACTION FIGURES," Papyrus added, "BUT PILLOW FIGHTS ARE TOO JUVENILE."

"Heh…yeah," Kazuichi said in a tone that betrayed his uncertainty. "Juvenile. Totally."

A soft knock came at the door. "Hey, guys?" Katara's voice sounded from the other side.

"Katara?" Sora replied.

"Can you let me in?" Katara asked. "I have something important I have to tell you."

"Just come in," Sora urged.

"I'm just…nervous," Katara went on. "I'm not really comfortable saying what's wrong out loud. Can you just…open the door so I can tell you quietly?"

"WHAT CAN'T YOU TELL JASMINE, RAPUNZEL, AND RUBY THAT YOU CAN TELL US?" Papyrus wondered out loud.

"It'll make sense when you hear it," Katara said softly.

Very concerned, Sora slid out of his bed while Stork, Papyrus, and Kazuichi all sat up to look at the door. Sora flung the door wide open, as he was used to doing, and asked, "What's wr – "

Katara whacked him in the face with two pillows, one wielded in each hand. As soon as she had done so, she yelled back "IT WORKED!" to the guest bedroom, then took off like a bullet out of a gun, the door to the guest bedroom slamming behind her once she was safe at home base. The sounds of Ruby, Rapunzel, Jasmine, and Katara laughing echoed down the hall.

"That's it!" Sora's vigor was renewed as he hurried to his bed, stripping away the pillow. "It's on!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY SENT KATARA FOR THIS!" Papyrus said as he stood up, clutching his own pillow. He didn't need to be asked to join the fight.

"Of COURSE they sent Katara to deal the first blow," Stork grunted, whipping his own pillow into hand. "She's the one we'd never have expected. But if they want a fight on their hands…we'll give them one."

As Sora, Papyrus, and Stork charged out of the room, armed with feathery weaponry, Kazuichi attempted to stand before remembering that his right leg was propped up against the wall nearest his mattress, resulting in a stumble he was glad nobody saw. The retrieval of one prosthesis later, he was right behind his brothers in arms.

Sora knocked on the door to the guest bedroom, declaring, "WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE THAT LYING DOWN!"

"Three of you already did," Katara's voice sounded from the other side, laughter backing her up.

"PREPARE TO BE RETALIATED AT!" Papyrus announced.

"Awww, they think they can beat us in a pillow fight," Ruby's voice echoed.

"That's it!" Sora declared. "We're coming in there!" A pause. "You're all, um, decent, right?"

"We are," Jasmine's voice confirmed.

"Then PREPARE FOR WAR!" Sora threw open the door to the guest bedroom.

Ruby, Jasmine, Katara, and Rapunzel held their pillows at the ready. Sora, Stork, Papyrus, and Kazuichi barged in, their own weapons braced. Their eyes locked, all ready to begin pummeling each other –

"Wait," Rapunzel said suddenly. "This might not be such a good idea. Yoake and Hinoiri are trying to sleep, and…"

"Yeah," Sora agreed, lowering his pillow. "We shouldn't make so much noise up here."

"You're right," Ruby concurred. "We shouldn't make this much noise…UP HERE."

It took five minutes for the eight to empty out into the front yard, smacking each other playfully with pillows beneath the light of the moon.

...

A nap of a couple hours would have been understandable. A few more hours could be allotted to someone who had recently had a harrowing experience and needed to rest it away. Mozenrath, however, had not been seen for the better part of a day. The Huntsman knew quite well something was amiss.

The thought that he could have been led astray by yet another traitor was unlikely. The Huntsman was sure he knew exactly where to find Mozenrath. So he made his way toward the sorcerer's living quarters, a hot covered tray in his hand.

His opening move was a polite knock on the door. When this got no response, he knocked firmer. That earned him a sigh of "Just come in."

As it turned out, the door had been unlocked, and the Huntsman entered easily, crossing through the living quarters of the apartment to make way for the bedroom. It was there that he found Mozenrath, clad only in a plain white shift and his ever-present gauntlet with his hair tied back, sitting in bed and rolling the Dragon's Eye on the palm of his covered right hand.

With his body so still and unoccupied, the Huntsman was well aware Mozenrath's mind must have been a traffic jam of long trains of thought. "You hadn't been seen for quite a while," the Huntsman began.

"I was just rescued from enemy territory," Mozenrath said in a tone meant to sound idle as his eyes remained fixated on the glass globe. "Is it a crime to need a moment to myself?"

"I had merely thought that with the acquisition of the final element of your plan, you would have wanted to enact the spellcasting as soon as you had the chance."

"I'll get to it," Mozenrath grumbled.

All the more sign that something was wrong. "Forgive my assumption," the Huntsman went on, "but I suspected perhaps you had not eaten since your arrival home."

"I have a well-stocked kitchen," Mozenrath reminded the Huntsman as the covered dish was set down on the side table and its cover taken away. "I can care for mys – "

The smell hit him, and he looked away from the globe to the food. A golden mass of hardened rice. Definitely cooked by a novice, but unmistakably tahdig. "Someone was listening in on my conversations," Mozenrath said casually.

"I was seated nearby," the Huntsman said evenly. "It was not hard to hear."

"I suppose I can't turn it down."

"We both know you can."

"Well, I don't want to," Mozenrath affirmed, setting the globe next to the plate as though to pick the food up instead – but leaving both objects there, his hands empty.

"Mozenrath," the Huntsman said somberly, "I must ask if something is amiss."

"No," Mozenrath replied. "I'm fine. Is that what all of this is about? Because I don't need to be babied."

"It occurred to me that merely a listening ear might be helpful."

"Well, there's nothing that needs helping, so you can leave."

The Huntsman nodded. "In that case, I shall."

At least he'd verified that Mozenrath was alive. If Mozenrath didn't want to discuss whatever was on his mind, the Huntsman wasn't about to wring it out of him. He turned, walking out of the bedroom –

"George…don't leave."

The Huntsman stopped, turning back to look at Mozenrath, who was making eye contact with him for the first time. He appeared utterly drained, his eyes hinting at a soul that was hollowed out and filled with silt. As the Huntsman had suspected, though he couldn't quite be sure of the nature of the trouble. He did not speak, waiting for Mozenrath to set the tone and choose the subject of discussion.

"I failed," Mozenrath began.

This, the Huntsman couldn't help but comment on. "I don't see how. We are in possession of the Dragon's Eye."

"How quickly you forget the part where I was held hostage by the enemy," Mozenrath sighed. "Which I might be able to live with, if Maleficent had overcome me by brute force. Not ideal, and certainly annoying, but acceptable. What really happened is I walked right into her trap by believing in something I swore I was done with. I let someone say pretty words to me, I followed him into what could be seen by any outsider as an obvious trap, and I gave him a part of me that I can never get back. He had no magic, he barely had any competency on the battlefield, and yet he now knows that he bested me using nothing but lies. I was supposed to be a force to be reckoned with. But I was easily humiliated and ruined." He suddenly found he could no longer look at the Huntsman. "This was all a farce."

"What do you mean?"

"The WHAM ARMY. Commanding all of you. Thinking I could conquer the worlds. Twenty-five years, and I thought I was the kind of person who could do it. But the results speak for themselves, don't they?"

"I hardly see how you can blame yourself for being lied to," the Huntsman replied. "He was convincing, and furthermore, he evaded Wuya's telepathy. It was that trickery that gave us all security in his loyalty."

"You knew he was a fake. I know you never liked him. Snatcher and Torchwick had it figured out too."

"We did not like him," the Huntsman corrected. "None of us suspected the depths of his treachery."

"But I should have," Mozenrath sighed. "The only thing he told me the truth about was that I was an idiot. He made it clear when he had me where he wanted me."

"You do realize," the Huntsman countered, "that by doubting yourself because of him, you are still playing into his hands."

"Well, I've already managed to get this far down by doing exactly that," Mozenrath said with a dramatic shrug, "so why stop now?"

"How quickly you discount the rest of your achievements based on one deception," the Huntsman continued, moving to sit on the side of the bed. "You have brought us to victory on world upon world. When first we met, I had my doubts. You managed to prove them wrong. You conquered the throne of the Ivory Tower. You brought Amaterasu to heel. You turned back time itself using the Eliacube. And you are poised on the verge of dominating all that ever was and ever will be. Are you to let yourself be swayed by one convincing liar? I have known you far too long to believe it, Mozenrath. This is not who you are. The man you are wishes nothing more than to stand up and prove his naysayers wrong. That must be what you want at this very moment, and yet you refuse to let yourself have it."

"I had JUST given up on romantic distractions because of you," Mozenrath said stonily. "I swore not to let them lead me astray again. And then immediately, I let someone else play with my heart. I played myself for a fool twice."

"The fault between us lies not with you but with me," the Huntsman said sternly. "I let entirely the wrong priority take over what I knew to be sensible. I never should have let you go."

That gave Mozenrath pause; he certainly hadn't expected to hear those words.

"I know what you must be thinking," the Huntsman went on, noting Mozenrath's silence, "and I do not expect you to return the sentiment. I am merely clarifying the truth of the situation. Furthermore, I am curious. What did Hans tell you that you believed to be lies?"

"Besides swearing to me his loyalty?" Mozenrath replied. "He had a very saccharine speech prepared. You're so smart, Mozenrath. You're so beautiful, Mozenrath. You're so powerful, Mozenrath. I love you." He flinched.

"He certainly did not love you," the Huntsman corrected, "but while he may have thought the rest of what he said was lies, it was in fact the truth. You are a man worth following, Mozenrath. Though given your experiences hearing such words, I do not blame you for not believing them when they come from me."

"No, I…" Mozenrath gave a slight shrug. "I WANT to believe I'm not an idiot. Hearing it from you is a bit of a comfort." He then smiled slightly, the first time since the Huntsman had entered his chambers that he had done so. "After all, you did return my gauntlet to me."

"I did what must be done."

The smile faded. "When Maleficent took control after that, I gave you some new scars."

"Think nothing of it," the Huntsman said hurriedly. "The wounds healed without scarring. It was not you who harmed me. It was Maleficent."

"That's…good," Mozenrath said softly.

They were both silent. The Huntsman looked Mozenrath directly in the eye, repeating his thesis: "You never have been able to brush off a setback. That is what is keeping you in this room. Your belief was shaken when you were deceived. But you know very well you are worth more than he believed you to be. Prove him wrong."

"And about the fact that he humiliated me?"

"Make a point of returning the favor," the Huntsman insisted. "There are seven who wish to see him eviscerated because of this and who will accompany you in any quest to pay him back. Though I do not think it will be difficult, seeing as he has given his own right hand."

Mozenrath was confused by this statement. "What EXACTLY did you do to him?"

"He took a piece of your heart," the Huntsman said casually. "I removed a piece of his body. At the moment, he won't be able to wear anything on his right hand, let alone your gauntlet."

"I wish I'd been awake to see that," Mozenrath replied, his tone now pleased. "You know, you do always come through for me in the end. Sometimes it takes you literally abandoning your loyalty to get there, but we're here now, aren't we?"

"That we are," the Huntsman affirmed. "I do not wish to abandon you again."

"And just so we're on the same page: you do still have feelings for me."

"Yes, but I do not intend to let them get in the way of – "

Mozenrath had crawled across the bed in the time it took the Huntsman to form the beginning of that sentence, and he stopped the end of it from coming into being by enclosing the Huntsman's lips with his own. Without thinking, the Huntsman responded; their tongues interlocked. One of the Huntsman's hands brushed over Mozenrath's pent-up hair.

Mozenrath was the one to break it. Softly, he said, "Just so we're clear, I don't love you."

"Nor do I."

"But I do want you."

"As do I."

"Lead me on and throw me out again," Mozenrath insisted, "and there will be consequences."

"I do not intend to be such a fool again."

The Huntsman's strong arms wrapped around Mozenrath, taking him in close as they met for another, deeper kiss. Mozenrath let himself be held, gave his vulnerability to the Huntsman for but a moment, where he knew it would be safe.

When this kiss broke off, taking twice as long to do so as the first one, Mozenrath stated, "You know, you are right. I do want to prove him wrong."

"Then do so."

They struggled to disentangle from each other, but as they did so, the Huntsman brought up, "On the subject, however, there is another of us who was betrayed, and the perpetrator is within our grasp. Just as we all wish to see Hans pay for his crime, we are equally eager to see Chase Young punished. We have been waiting on you for a verdict."

"That will be just the thing to put me back in a good mood," Mozenrath said with a smirk. "Engaged as we are, I still would rather you let me dress in private. I have to wear my best to an execution, after all."

The Huntsman rose from the bed. "I trust I will see you shortly."

"This carriage has been off track for too long already," Mozenrath informed him, crossing to the closet to select his blue-and-black garments. "It's time I get things back to how they should be."

He had needed the Huntsman to steer his perspective back to the correct place, however. He had no intent of saying that in such words, and instead simply hoped the Huntsman could read between the lines.

As he left the room, the Huntsman knew very well what Mozenrath thought of his assistance. He did not congratulate himself for it. All that mattered was that Mozenrath was once more himself.

...

The next contingent to enter Chase's domain came on eight pairs of feet, shoes clattering loudly on the stone. Chase looked calmly ahead as Mozenrath, Snatcher, Roman, Mim, Aghoul, Yzma, and a particularly smug Wuya assembled before his cell, all bearing expressions of malice.

"I see you have decided upon my punishment," Chase declared. He was barely shaken, but that was more than he had been.

"I want to make sure you know exactly the gravity of what you did," Mozenrath began. "Honestly, I would respect you more if you had abandoned us in our hour of need. No, you subdued one of us – one of MY FRIENDS – and attempted to turn her over to our most powerful enemy to be used, tortured, and/or killed. We're no moral paragons. I can understand a lot of forms of treachery. But that was unforgivable."

"It was for my own defense," Chase argued, "if not now, then later on. Eventually, she would have destroyed me."

"That sure worked out well for you, didn't it?" Mozenrath taunted. "Instead of having a few more months to wait for her to turn on you, which, mind you, we have no guarantee would've happened, you bought yourself an immediate sentence. You really didn't think that one through, did you?"

"I found it unfathomable that Wuya would have found allies who would actually want to defend her honor," Chase admitted.

"Her honor," Mozenrath corrected, "and her LIFE."

"You're a necromancer. What does life mean to you?"

"You're right," Mozenrath realized. "I am a necromancer. You know that. I know that. Maleficent knows that. Ergo, Maleficent would have done everything she could to Wuya up to avoiding outright killing her. So you didn't just try to destroy Wuya. You signed her up for a fate worse than death."

"I can see my words will have absolutely no sway with you," Chase said calmly. "I will stop trying. You wouldn't even listen to my warning that Wuya will be the ruination of you all."

"Oh, please!" Yzma scoffed. "You don't think we know her better than that?"

"Just inform me of my fate," Chase stated, "and bring it about."

Yet he did not intend to go quietly. He could feel his transformation building inside of him. Ever since Hannibal had corrupted him, he had required certain magic to retain a human shape. He had gone too long without it, and was soon to become a creature too powerful for the WHAM ARMY to handle. The moment they opened the bars to his cell to lead him to the execution block, he would be able to retaliate.

"I'm glad you have such a good attitude about this," Mozenrath replied as Chase concentrated, keeping the lid on his force until the last possible minute. "See, I thought it over, and I actually think I have the perfect punishment for you. Though…" He turned to Wuya. "He technically is YOUR nemesis. Would you prefer this honor?"

"You're having so much fun," Wuya said with a toothy grin. "I'd hate to stop you now. Moreover, I'd hate to give Chase the mistaken impression that he actually means anything to me."

"Then without further ado," Mozenrath declared, "I'll continue."

"Lead me to whatever punishment you have in wait," Chase growled.

"You would want me to open this door, wouldn't you?" Mozenrath replied. "Well, THAT'S not going to happen. No, I'm going to give you what you deserve without letting you out of that cell."

Chase was knocked off-kilter by this revelation.

"Well, to be honest, you do get to leave THAT cell," Mozenrath corrected. "You're just going straight to this one."

Chase realized, then, that Mozenrath had been keeping his right hand hidden. When he brought it into view, the puzzle box sat atop his palm.

Chase could no longer contain his shape. He exploded, all at once becoming a lizardlike reptile with spines all along his back and wickedly sharp claws that banged against the cell door as he crashed his entire body into it, sending his eight jailers backpedaling.

"And they say I throw tantrums," Mozenrath remarked. "Now I have to ask if GEORGE would prefer to take out this garbage."

"I am not of the mind to intervene upon your moment of triumph," the Huntsman stated.

"Now how long was it that Wuya was trapped inside one of these?" Mozenrath asked mockingly. "About…fifteen hundred years, wasn't it? That should be enough time for you to think about what you did."

"YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME!" Chase roared.

"So you are a coward after all," Mozenrath said calmly. "Just like I thought. Anyway, we've all wasted enough words on you. Enjoy a millennium and a half of pure, agonizing solitude!"

He tapped the lid of the box, which sprang open. Chase was transfigured into a deep green vapor that was sucked immediately into the wooden prison, its lid clasping shut and locking behind him.

Mozenrath let the box sit in his hand for a solid thirty seconds. The others all knew what was coming. "Fifteen hundred years is a long time, isn't it?" he remarked casually.

"Very long," Wuya replied with a gleeful cackle.

"I never was a patient man," Mozenrath declared.

The puzzle box went up in neon-blue flames, burning down to ash and taking Chase with it.

Mozenrath dumped the ashes unceremoniously upon the prison floor. "Now," he continued, "who's ready to conquer the known multiverse?"

...

A pocket dimension just outside of Equestria housed floating landmasses connected by twisting, impossible bridges among its darkness, colors that contrasted horribly popping to the view of the eye. At the heart of it all was a seemingly average red cottage with a yellow roof, conspicuously normal-looking given its surroundings – which made it all the more unusual.

Inside this house, Discord had finished up a productive day. He had swept the floors, leaving a coat of dust everywhere his broom had touched. He had smudged the windows, making them impossible to see clearly out of. He had dirtied all of the dishes. After such hard work, he was ready to kick back and do some light reading.

The draconequus settled himself before a sleek computer, pulling up the website through which he got his entertainment fix. Here, the stories he loved to read were updated chapter by chapter. In truth, everything he read here was an account of real events happening across the multiverse (though if you knew the truth about the way the multiverse really worked, what stories weren't true in some capacity?). Though the content was more akin to the evening news, he ingested it in the format of a story written for pleasure.

His favorite saga so far had just been updated with an eighty-third chapter. It was exactly the sort of chaos he loved to read, with eight characters tagged as main who most certainly didn't go together under any other circumstance. Discord himself even had a bit part in this tale, though he was hoping for a bigger and better role later.

Chapter eighty-two had been a ride. Perhaps a bit long, but filled with intense confrontations, plot-twisting betrayals, and the saving of the worlds from a persistent threat. How could eighty-three possibly hope to follow up on that?

Discord scanned the text hungrily. It seemed there was discontent among the primary faction of villain protagonists, possibly setting up for a more complex subplot later. Other than that, besides the character death at the end, it was rather mundane. But that was how life worked sometimes, wasn't it? If the heroes were having a slumber party and the villains were settling their new members into their ranks, that was just what Discord had to read that night. At least the spell had been stopped…

That was when it really hit Discord for the first time: the spell hadn't been stopped. The Book of Prophecies had been removed from the equation, and everyone was celebrating a victory over Maleficent. But Mozenrath was about to bring his plan to fruition. Discord had been certain that someone would have figured him out and stopped him by now. After all, the spell Mozenrath had pursued all this time wasn't at all what he thought it was, and casting it would bring ruination even to Mozenrath.

But the last words of the chapter described Mozenrath declaring that he was to bring his seven friends to the chamber of the assembled artifacts to actually cast the spell. And if that ended up happening after all…

"Oh, no," Discord said worriedly out loud. "This isn't how this story was supposed to end at all!"