The entire WHAM ARMY assembled in the control room, awaiting instruction after their summons. The fact that they had been asked here instead of to the room where the spell was currently set did not bode well, but who were they to question Mozenrath's orders at this point?
The eight founders – Wuya, Yzma, Mim, Ayam Aghoul, the Huntsman, Roman Torchwick, Archibald Snatcher, and Mozenrath himself – were the last to enter. Mozenrath rose into the air as he walked, hovering over the crowd and drawing their eyes.
"Friends and allies," he announced, "the moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. Our spell has all twelve of its required ingredients. Multi-world conquest is ours."
Scarlet gave a whoop, and this snowballed into thunderous applause and cheering.
"Yes, yes," Mozenrath said in response, "it's all thanks to me. Though I suppose I had SOME help."
He knew the other seven – and the group at large – were well aware of their roles played in the acquisition of the necessary items. It stunned Mozenrath to think of how far he'd come after so long trying to work schemes on his own.
"Unfortunately," he went on, "while we can assume there will be no more trouble from Maleficent until she finds a replacement for the Dragon's Eye, we still have the key-brat to worry about. That's why while the founders and I remain here to cast the spell, the rest of you are going to Radiant Garden to make sure there's nothing they can do about it."
The cheering immediately soured into miffed grumbling.
"Complain all you want," Mozenrath groaned, "but I am NOT having this plan ruined by some last-minute savior. Besides, you won't need to see the spell get cast to reap its rewards. We'll still be the WHAM ARMY after today. Provided, of course, that no more of you turn out to be traitors."
An awkward silence followed.
"That…was a joke," Mozenrath clarified.
"BOO!" Roman yelled. "YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR SUCKS!"
Mozenrath found himself having to aerially dodge a tomato lobbed at him by Mim. That got more of a laugh out of the crowd than his "traitor" quip.
"In all seriousness," Mozenrath stated, "I'm deploying all of you except the founders to Radiant Garden immediately. Stop the do-gooders who live there by any means possible. Remember, they have means of spying on us, and they could see what we're doing at any time. Therefore, time is of the essence."
Xayide stepped forward of the group. "I have the means to prevent our adversaries from interrupting us," she stated, "but it will take the hands of all present."
"Then I'm officially putting Xayide in charge of holding off the cavalry," Mozenrath declared. "Xayide, I'd say 'When you're ready,' but the only acceptable time for you to be ready is now. I'll send a message by scroll when you can come back."
Xayide cast a Corridor, and one by one, they filtered through: Xayide, Neo, Vexen, Ravess, Snipe, Irmaplotz, Rémington, Grany, Zevon, Scarlet, Herb, Gothel, Jack, Hannibal, Katnappé, Tubbimura.
Once the Corridor had shut, Mozenrath lowered himself back to the floor, cape fluttering gracefully as he landed. "Now, to the room where the magic happens."
The eight found themselves surrounding the spell in its chamber. Mozenrath raised his right hand, declaring, "We're going to need a little extra protection."
The walls of the room shimmered.
"What did you just do?" Yzma asked.
"That was a blood magic seal," Mozenrath explained. "It put a barrier around this room that literally no one can cross unless they share my blood. Should Xayide's front fail in Radiant Garden, we now have a fallback."
"One problem," Yzma reminded him. "There IS someone out there who shares your blood who has it out for us."
"For one, Aladdin is going to be trapped with the rest in Xayide's plot," Mozenrath said confidently. "But if he does show up? To tell you the truth…I almost wish he would."
...
The lesser members of the WHAM ARMY appeared in the town square below the castle. The sky was striped with the colors of the setting sun, indicating that night would soon fall.
"What is this plan of yours?" Vexen asked Xayide.
"You see," Xayide explained, "I know a spell that will cast a barrier shield around the entire castle. Its durability depends on how many people are involved in the spellcasting and the strength of their souls. Even half of us together would make a shield that would be incredibly difficult for the residents of the castle to break through with any magic, or to teleport through. All of us working together should create an impenetrable wall."
"I suppose it does not matter that so few of us are truly adept with magic," Vexen rebutted.
"I am the only one required to provide the initial magic," Xayide explained. "For the rest of you merely to touch the barrier will be sufficient. We must surround the castle at roughly equilateral points. Once we have dispersed, wait for me to cast the spell. It will land at your feet, at which point you may put your hand to it to contribute your energy. Now make haste."
They split up as they made way for the castle, losing sight of each other.
It was this moment of separation that allowed Ragdoll to place his hand on Firefly's shoulder, pulling him back around the corner. "If I may make somewhat of a suggestion," he began.
"Why do I think I know exactly where you're going with this?" Firefly asked.
"It merely seemed to me that if we wished at all to, oh, I don't know…disappear," Ragdoll stated, "now would be the time to do it, yes?"
"You want to look for Harley," Firefly realized.
"That was my intention," Ragdoll confirmed. "It has become increasingly clear that we cannot reconcile our bond with her and our affiliation with the WHAM ARMY. Given time to think it over…I know which is more important to me. Of course, I'd rather it not be a choice at all, but Roman thoroughly dashed those hopes, didn't he? Ergo, I considered abandoning ship. However, there is one factor that decides everything. Harley may mean more to me than the WHAM ARMY, but you mean far more to me than all of them combined. Should you wish to stay…"
"Peter," Firefly said solemnly, "let's get out of here."
"You realize there won't be any going back. This will be aloha. Sayonara. Farewell."
"I left her to die," Firefly reminded Ragdoll. "I haven't felt like this since the time I had to tell you I tried to blow up Gotham with you in it. We had a good run, but it's done."
"You know, somehow I had a feeling you and I were on the same page," Ragdoll said with his trademark smile. "Otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up."
"In fact, I can buy us some time." Firefly retrieved a certain trinket. "Shadow Splicer."
Illusion replicas of himself and Ragdoll appeared, facing the real pair.
"Go stand around the castle," Firefly told them, "and look convincing."
The illusions charged.
Firefly wrapped an arm around Ragdoll. "Prepare for takeoff."
"Where to?"
"Not sure yet. But we'll find a lead."
As Firefly soared high into the sky, Ragdoll gave the castle one last look, knowing the rest of the WHAM ARMY had already assembled around it. Now more than ever, he was resolute in his declaration of "Toodles."
Xayide positioned herself at the front door of the castle, giving the others a moment to get to their places. Once appropriate time had been allotted, she sent up the barrier: a bright red dome that encircled the castle.
One edge of it landed neatly at Neo's feet. As Neo pressed her hand to the magic, its crimson became deeper.
Vexen placed his hand upon the hemisphere, and its color became likenable to blood.
A false Firefly lay its hand flush with the magic.
The spell was complete, the dark red barrier holding the Radiant Garden castle prisoner. Xayide smiled, knowing she had her enemies right where she wanted them.
And yet, as time passed, it seemed none of them even knew they were trapped. No one had tried to leave the castle.
This was a favorable outcome. It was better for all if no one attempted to leave in the first place. They were all likely distracted, resting on their laurels. However, Xayide couldn't help but feel slightly miffed. She had gone to all of the work of creating this barrier, and no one was even around to appreciate how trapped it made them. She wanted her work to be appreciated.
So she snapped the fingers of the hand not pressed to the barrier, sounding a great explosion just outside the doors. It was merely noise, nothing more. It was, however, enough to get attention.
Vexen gritted his teeth upon hearing the sound. He knew exactly what had happened. He couldn't imagine himself anywhere else besides the WHAM ARMY at this point, but did they truly have to be so given over to theatrics?
...
The Radiant Garden castle ballroom hadn't been used in quite a while. The more Ienzo thought about it, the more he realized the last time he had seen festivities actually hosted here was when he was still a small child, before Xehanort and Braig had converted him to the Darkness. After that…well, the castle would have been turned right over to Maleficent, and since regaining it, the Committee had been strictly business.
Seeing the floor alive with dancers warmed Ienzo's heart. The caprices and concertos that had once played in Ienzo's youth were now replaced with drum beats, synth sounds, and heavy guitars blaring from a turntable that Genie and Vida took turns on to allow each other time to dance, and while it struck Ienzo that others might find the change unwelcome (Even sprang to mind unbidden), he liked the livelier sound of these tunes.
The Mystic Rangers formed a dance line that was more or less coordinated – going down to four when Vida took her turn as DJ. Moana was showing Riku a traditional dance from Motonui, to which he was taking. Jaune spun Kairi across the dance floor happily.
"You're a really good dancer," Kairi complimented.
"Well, I've got a good partner," Jaune replied.
"I learned classical styles when I was really young," Kairi giggled, "but I've kind of gone for my own style since then. What about you?"
"My sisters taught me everything I know," Jaune replied. "It's kinda funny. Last time I danced this much, I was actually wearing a dress."
"I'd have liked to see that," Kairi said with a smile.
"You'd get a good laugh out of it," Jaune told her.
"Actually," Kairi corrected, "I think you'd just look good. I wouldn't laugh."
Jaune hadn't expected that, but it filled his heart all the same.
They clasped hands and spun; Kairi got a good look at those still standing against the wall. "Hey," she commented. "Ienzo's alone."
"You wanna invite him to dance with us?" Jaune asked, reading her thoughts immediately and agreeing with the sentiment.
"I can't just let my brother be a wallflower," Kairi laughed.
They ran for Ienzo together, each grabbing a hand and pulling him out to the floor. Ienzo was instantly overtaken by a smile. "What's this?"
"This is you having fun," Jaune told him.
"I've never danced to this sort of music before," Ienzo admitted.
"You just make the rules up as you go!" Kairi encouraged. "Even if you look silly, you just have to have fun!"
The other wallflower in the room, Sadira, watched Ienzo get invited to the floor with a sigh. She knew it would have been easy just to go join Aladdin, but watching Jaune and Kairi dance together had made her jealousy flare up just a little.
"Hey there," a smooth voice suddenly said.
Sadira looked in its direction with a start; Eugene had his hand outstretched toward you.
"Might I interest you in a dance?" he asked.
"You have a girlfriend," Sadira laughed.
"Yes, I do," Eugene confirmed. "But last I checked, dancing was a thing that could be done between friends."
"I just didn't want to end up being the other woman again."
"I sense a story here."
"Not one I really wanna tell," Sadira admitted.
Eugene shrugged. "Fine by me. It just looked like you weren't having any fun, so I thought I'd give you the chance to dance with a partner."
She accepted his hand; he whirled her out onto the floor.
"You wanna know the worst part?" she asked. "You're totally the kind of guy I would've fallen for. Hard. Handsome, chivalrous, shady background…"
"Hey, you'll find someone," Eugene encouraged as he twirled her. "You're pretty amazing, so really, it's just about waiting for the right guy to come to you."
"Aww, you're flattering me!" Sadira laughed. "You're sweet. I'm glad you're my dance partner tonight, Eugene Fitzherbert."
Then the explosion sounded.
"What was THAT?" Kairi yelled across the dancefloor.
"I dunno," Mickey said, "but we gotta go check it out!"
He, Donald, and Goofy broke away from their synchronized dance to lead the charge outside.
The red barrier was immediately noticeable. Merlin identified the culprit straightaway, pointing his wand at Xayide on the other side; "There! That's the miscreant who made the commotion!"
"Indeed, I did," Xayide confirmed. "I wanted you to know that you were well and truly trapped."
"Trapped?" Mickey repeated, taken aback.
"Try with all your might to break this barrier," Xayide challenged. "You shall find no way around it."
"I shall accept your challenge, miss!" Merlin harrumphed. "After all, there are few barriers I cannot break!"
He flicked his wrist twice before sending a beam of sparks toward the barrier. They simply fell to the ground on the barrier's inside, showering glitter.
"Very well," Merlin resolved. "If I cannot break through, I will simply transport myself to the other side! I bet you hadn't thought of THAT!"
He vanished, only to reappear exactly where he had stood with a sound like the crack of a whip.
"Persistent magic, this," Merlin muttered. "Dash it all…"
Genie floated ahead of the wizard. "Nice try," he said, "but plain old wizard magic just won't cut the mustard. This calls for a GENIE'S touch!"
A veritable pile of dynamite appeared at the interior of the barrier, set far enough away from Xayide so as not to harm her. A wire led from the explosives to a detonator box. Genie shoved the handle of the box down enthusiastically, and the TNT erupted in a conflagration of light and color that, unfortunately, did absolutely nothing to Xayide's barrier.
"As I thought," Xayide said smugly. "You are all too weak to so much as think of standing against me."
"Why are you doing this?" Riku growled.
"To prevent you from foiling Mozenrath's master plan," Xayide said with a smirk. "I have been sent to keep you within these castle walls until such time as Mozenrath has completed his work."
"Mozenrath AGAIN?" Nora groaned. "Seriously, when are we gonna be DONE with that guy?"
"Oh, the end of an era will be marked this very night," Xayide promised.
"What's this Mozenrath guy doin' that's so important, he's gotta keep us all locked up in here, anyway?" Goofy asked.
"Did you really think I would reveal the plan simply upon being asked?" Xayide responded.
"Maybe," Goofy replied. "There's lots of villains who do that when they think they got the good guys cornered."
"I am no such imbecile," Xayide informed him. "I am Xayide, witch of Horok, and far more than a simple antagonistic trope."
"There might be another way out," Kairi encouraged. "Let's go find it."
"My spell covers the entirety of the castle," Xayide informed her. "Your search will yield only disappointment, though perhaps you may encounter a familiar face or two."
"We can't just rely on her word!" Kairi snapped. "We have to check for ourselves! Let's go!"
The group hustled back into the main entrance hall.
"We'll have to split up," Leon advised. "We need to check the West entrance, the East entrance, and the laboratory exit. And that's just the beginning."
Upon this declaration, the group moved to split up, each heading for a different hallway or intending to take a different lift. Aladdin, however, found himself stymied. For as soon as he attempted to pick a direction and run, he felt his upper arm seized. His body was pulled aside by someone who yelled "YOINK!", and all of a sudden, he was no longer in Radiant Garden.
"WHAT?" Aladdin yelled, confused by his new surroundings – which looked all too familiar: hallways of black and blue marble. His gaze suddenly lay upon the strangest creature he had ever seen in his life, and given his adventures, that was truly saying something. The being looked to be a patchwork of all sorts of creatures, no part of him symmetrical.
"Who are you?" Aladdin asked.
"I am Discord!" the draconequus introduced. "Master of chaos!"
"I thought that was Chaos himself," Aladdin stated.
"Chaos!" Discord spat. "Don't even SPEAK to me about Chaos! That two-bit ripoff WISHES he were me! But that's beside the point."
"Where are we?" Aladdin yelled. "Why did you bring me here? How did you get around Xayide's barrier?"
"One question at a time, please," Discord said casually. "As you might have guessed, we are in the Land of the Black Sands. Specifically, the Citadel. Luckily, all of Maleficent's forces are on medical leave, so we have the place to ourselves…almost. But we'll get to that."
"The Land of the Black Sands," Aladdin repeated. "That means – "
"Ah, ah!" Discord wagged a claw. "I'm not done answering your questions! Second, I'm here because you all failed MISERABLY at stopping Mozenrath. He shouldn't be about to cast his spell! He shouldn't have gotten HALF this far! If you had all been doing your JOBS correctly, we wouldn't be in this fine kettle of fish!"
It took Aladdin a moment to notice that he and Discord were in fact mired in a kettle of fish – still alive and flopping – stood up in the middle of the hallway.
"But we didn't know what Mozenrath was trying to do!" Aladdin argued, swatting a herring out of his face.
"But we didn't know what Mozenrath was trying to do!" Discord repeated in a nasal voice. "Oh, please. Haven't you been paying ANY attention? No matter. I can see you missed all of the signs, so I'm going to have to spell it out for you."
He snapped his fingers, and the kettle was gone. "And to answer your final question, chaos magic is even stronger than genie magic. Well, perhaps 'stronger' isn't the right word. But chaos magic doesn't follow rules. Xayide lay down a rule that the barrier couldn't be teleported around. So I broke that rule. Oh, and by the way, you'll need this."
Discord reached into thin air, his paw disappearing momentarily. When it reappeared, he gave it a snap; a familiar length of fabric was clutched in it.
"CARPET!" Aladdin cried.
Carpet struggled out of Discord's grip, fluttering around the hall in confusion.
"I don't know either," Aladdin informed the rug. "This guy Discord says it has something to do with Mozenrath."
"I'll start from the beginning," Discord said as he began to stroll down the hallway. "Walk with me, and pay attention this time."
"Uh…okay?" Aladdin wasn't sure where this was going at all, and if Discord were friend or foe, but he supposed it couldn't hurt to hear his version of an explanation.
"Since the beginning of these incidents," Discord explained, "Mozenrath has been attempting to cast a spell he found in the Vault of the Huntsclan. That spell lay within that vault for ages, undeciphered. The Huntsman believed it to be pages from the codex of Abraham the Mage, but trust me, if he had a page from THAT, he would know it. In fact, the pages came from a completely different source. But we'll save that for the grand reveal.
"I, of course, knew about this from the start. And, yes, I played a part in helping Mozenrath assemble his ingredients. Why, you might ask? For fun! Being good is so boring. I wanted to stir things up a little. And it was only his fourth ingredient. I never thought he'd actually get THIS far. Once again, due to certain NEGLIGENCE."
Aladdin decided to ignore Discord's further slights toward him.
"As of the battle of the Forbidden World," Discord went on, "Mozenrath has obtained the Dragon's Eye, which is the twelfth and final element needed to cast this spell."
"Wait a minute," Aladdin interrupted. "The Forbidden World. That must've been that world Maleficent created with the Book of Prophecies. That Dragon's Eye thing must've been what made Maleficent weaker when he took it away. They WERE there before us!"
"And they left exactly as you were entering," Discord affirmed, "which one of you dismissed as being 'too convenient.' As though you don't all know how this works by now. If Mozenrath were in fact correct, casting this spell would allow him to claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts itself and conquer all worlds at once."
"NO!" Aladdin yelled. "We can't let that happen!"
"Oh, trust me, that outcome was NEVER on the table," Discord stated. "I could explain the finer details, but why not hear it from the pony's mouth?"
They had entered a small room lined with bookshelves. "Now, let's see…where DID they put that book…" Discord's claw traced the spines. "Aha! Yes!"
He withdrew a tome with a familiar face on its cover.
"Khartoum!" Aladdin said in surprise; Carpet flinched.
"Aladdin," Khartoum responded. "I had never thought to see you again. It is a most unpleasant sight."
"I could say the same about you," Aladdin spat.
"Well, go on, Khartoum," Discord encouraged. "Tell Aladdin about the pages that were ripped out of you by the Huntsclan."
"And why should that matter to you?" Khartoum asked.
"Oh, no reason," Discord said playfully. "I just thought you might want to brag about that little trick you pulled."
"What trick?" Aladdin asked.
"Living as long as I have," Khartoum explained, "I have seen magic of all sorts and learned its ways so much as to rewrite the very multiverse if given the right ingredients. I so happened to stumble upon a conclusion that if concentrated versions of the twelve elements that make up the multiverse were assembled and connected with the proper symbols and incantations, a most interesting outcome would occur. And so I set it down in my pages, hoping someone might one day decipher the spell and bring it to fruition. I encoded it thoroughly to ensure that whosoever uncovered the spell would be persistent enough to gather the needed elements."
"For the conquest of Kingdom Hearts," Aladdin said in awe.
"That is indeed what I wrote," Khartoum said with a knowing smile.
"Yes, yes, that's what you WROTE," Discord groaned. "But what would that spell REALLY do?"
"In fact," Khartoum explained, "it would destroy the multiverse and all in it, starting at Kingdom Hearts and expanding outward. Every last realm would be brought to destruction. Every story would reach an untimely conclusion."
"Why would you DO that?" Aladdin asked in horror. "That'd destroy you too!"
"A mercy," Khartoum growled, "given my centuries of imprisonment. Live imprisoned as long as I have and you gain a certain nonchalance toward existence. You no longer care whether or not it continues."
"But – "
"Don't try to talk him out of it," Discord grunted. "There's no reasoning with this one."
"The Huntsclan removed my pages hundreds of ago," Khartoum explained, "not forcibly, but at my request. I believed them to be skillful enough to break the ciphers I used to mask the spell. However, not one of them has attempted it in all these years, indicating that no one of any intelligence has as of yet uncovered their secret."
"But someone DID figure it out," Aladdin informed Khartoum. "That's why Mozenrath was collecting magical items! It was for your spell!"
"Mozenrath?" Khartoum let out a booming laugh at that. When he finally settled down, he said, "Do not try to entertain me with jokes. That fool could not even begin such an undertaking."
"And yet," Discord rebutted, "it is exactly because of THAT FOOL that we might all perish. TONIGHT." He abruptly shelved Khartoum once more, having gotten what he wanted. "He is casting the spell as we speak."
"He can't!" Aladdin gasped.
"That's where you come in," Discord explained. "You were Mozenrath's original archnemesis. It's only poetically fitting that you put a stop to this. There's also the complication of that little ward he has up around the room where the deed is being done. You're the only one who can break it. Well, the only one who has any chance of stopping him. I wouldn't try Cassim's luck."
"Why did you say – " Aladdin began.
"You'll figure it out soon enough," Discord informed him. "Anyway, that's why I gave you Carpet. I'm banking on the two of you being strong enough to hold off all eight founders of the WHAM ARMY."
Aladdin had been told what those initials stood for once the Book of Prophecies had first been looted. "So not just Mozenrath," he muttered. "Mim, Ayam Aghoul, Roman Torchwick…"
"We all know what it stands for by now!" Discord huffed. "The clock is ticking!"
He seized Aladdin with his claw and Carpet with his paw, jerking both aside. The citadel library vanished and was replaced with a dark hallway bearing a purple tint.
"Welcome to the WHAM ARMY headquarters!" Discord introduced. "A former Cyclonian warship – well, I really can't waste any more time with details. Now, at the end of this hallway is the door to the room where Mozenrath and his little friends are casting their spell. Your job is to get in there, stop them by any means necessary, and then leave. How you get out of this ship is your problem, not mine."
"If you're so powerful," Aladdin asked, "why don't you just stop him?"
"Because that really wouldn't look good on my résumé," Discord explained. "Which is the same reason I'll ask you to refrain from mentioning that I was ever involved."
"You're thinking of JOINING him?" Aladdin said in awe.
"What can I say?" Discord shrugged. "Friendship really is magic, but the ponies back home are just so DULL. Fluttershy gets credit for trying, but all she really ever did was teach me that if I wanted to get anywhere with that crowd, I would have to stop being myself. I want friends who will accept me for me. Doesn't everyone? But if I'm going to have a WHAM ARMY to submit an application to later, you have to save them from themselves tonight." He gave Aladdin a rough shove toward the door. "Good luck!"
"Wait a minute!" Aladdin spun to ask Discord any number of things to warn him of what he might be walking into.
He stared down an empty hallway, Discord long gone.
"I don't think we can trust that guy," Aladdin told Carpet.
Carpet's folds rippled in the gesture of shaking a head.
"But we can't let Mozenrath finish his spell, either," Aladdin declared. "No matter what it does."
Carpet gave the equivalent of a nod.
"There's no way we can plan for whatever they have in there," Aladdin went on. "But just in case, we should have some trick up our sleeves. It might be useful to make them think they have the upper hand. If I say 'We're down,' that's your cue to act like you've been hit and you can't fly."
Carpet gave this plan a thumbs-up.
"All right," Aladdin said with a shrug. "Let's go save the multiverse."
The door at the end of the hall was marked clearly with a magical seal. Aladdin wondered for a moment why it looked so familiar when the smell of blood hit his nostrils. "Blood magic?" he wondered out loud. "That's his defense? How am I supposed to get past blood magic? I'm not related to – "
But what if that was the entire reason Discord had brought him? Discord had also implied Cassim was the only other person who could pass Mozenrath's defenses. That added up to…
"No way," Aladdin muttered.
He slowly reached out, placing his palm on the seal. The marking dissipated from that spot outward, taking its barrier away with it.
"It can't be," Aladdin said in disbelief. "I'm…related to Mozenrath?"
Jafar's words. You're more like him than you would ever want to be.
Aladdin knew there was little time to waste ruminating upon it. There was one person who could perhaps shed some light on the subject, and he was waiting behind that door.
When Mozenrath, the Huntsman, Roman, Snatcher, Wuya, Yzma, Mim, and Aghoul had arranged around the spell diagram, Roman asked, "How long is this gonna take?"
"The incantations surrounding this enchantment are fairly complex," Mozenrath stated. "I would say…half an hour at the least, an hour tops."
"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?" Roman's jaw dropped.
"What, you thought you could make instant world conquest in the microwave?" Wuya teased. "An hour is insignificant."
Mozenrath bent to lay the Dragon's Eye in its place. Standing back up, he called the pages bearing the decrypted incantation into his hand. "When the peanut gallery is finished with its complaints," he announced, "I will begin."
"I can hardly believe it!" Mim cried. "We've actually gone and done it!"
"Ohhhhh, I can't WAIT for billions upon billions of insignificant peasants to recognize us as THEIR NEW OVERLORDS!" Yzma crowed.
"Admittedly," Snatcher stated, "this is MUCH preferable to a white hat."
"Well, don't just stand there!" Aghoul waved his hands toward Mozenrath. "Get on with it!"
"An act far easier accomplished if the rest of you would provide him with the proper SILENCE," the Huntsman asserted.
The message came across loud and clear. Gifted with the quiet vigil of his friends, Mozenrath began to read from the pages.
The diagram lit up, each artifact shining brightly as it was invoked: the miniaturized Cornerstone of Light, the amalgamated crystal of Dust, the six human souls, the tiny tree bearing the Elements of Harmony, the Aurora Stone shards, the colorless pebble that was technically a grain of sand, the Eliacube, the Spirit Waters, the meteor, the Fused Shadow, the Celestial Brush, and, finally, the Dragon's Eye. The wealth of twelve worlds, combining the building blocks that made up all of existence, reaching out to tap into the stores of those elements that lay pooled within the multiverse's makeup.
And, unbeknownst to Mozenrath, readying to annihilate them all.
It took Mozenrath toward the shorter end of time to get through the layered incantations, setting the magic in place and only having to give it the word "go."
At the exact moment he was to claim his victory, the door slammed open. Mozenrath's train of thought was broken, and his tongue slipped. The diagram's glowing simmered down and blinked out. Now, if he wanted to cast again, he would have to start from the top.
Aladdin bolted into the room, yelling, "MOZENRATH! STOP!"
Mozenrath stared at him in utter disbelief.
"HE REALLY DID SHOW UP?" Yzma cried. "Should've put money on that one."
"The worst part is, I would've TAKEN that bet," Roman said in awe.
"Well, well," Aghoul commented. "Look who we have. Our old enemy – "
"Aghoul," Mozenrath interrupted, "this is my moment. I'LL be the one to do the taunting."
"He's a nemesis to both of us!" Aghoul argued.
"But, as he's surely figured out by now," Mozenrath commented, "he's only RELATED to one of us."
"You have a point," Aghoul admitted.
"So it's true," Aladdin said in awe. "You and I are…brothers?"
"Half-brothers," Mozenrath corrected. "Your mother wasn't half the woman mine was. Just like you're not half the man I am."
"Don't insult my mother!" Aladdin yelled.
"You're right," Mozenrath replied. "That is an immature blow."
"But…how?" Aladdin asked. "My father and your mother had to have known each other first…"
"She died," Mozenrath explained casually, "your father remarried, I was the black sheep of the family, I ran away from home before you were old enough to remember anything, and you were probably told your older brother died of thirst wandering the desert if they bothered mentioning me at all."
"But she did," Aladdin explained. "She did say she had another son who died – "
Mozenrath forced a laugh at that. "She said WHAT, exactly? That I was HER son? No. I was never a son to her. I was hardly a son to my own father. YOU were the child they loved. And you grew up to be exactly what they wanted. A cocky do-gooder who made friends wherever he went."
"That's not quite – " Aladdin tried to correct, thinking of his unpopularity among the streets of Agrabah before Jafar had roped him into his scheme.
"And what was I?" Mozenrath went on. "A creature of solitude and shadows whose only real friends were in books. Until now. I finally have kindred spirits on my side, and let me tell you, Aladdin…you ain't never had a friend like them." He winced. "Well, using THAT phrasing felt dirty. But you get the point."
"So you're Mozenrath's WHAM ARMY," Aladdin said as he looked from face to face. "Like you weren't annoying enough on your own."
"And how do YOU know how annoying we are?" Yzma asked.
"Trust me," Aladdin explained, "I've heard the details. Mad Madam Mim, following Merlin everywhere to spread doom and destruction. Roman Torchwick, using his petty crime ring to bring down Vale. Archibald Snatcher, turning humans and Boxtrolls against each other so he could run the city. And you know what every one of you has in common?"
"A lust for power," Yzma answered. "That's kind of why we banded together in the first place."
"No," Aladdin corrected. "I'm talking about the fact that you all always lose to the people who do the right thing. Really, you're just a bunch of losers!"
"Well, I never!" Yzma spat. "Just because we lost to you at every opportunity and barely managed to get out of the Forbidden World alive – "
"Sweetie," Wuya interrupted, "he doesn't need to know how many times we lost to Maleficent on top of things."
"I'm guessing it was every time," Aladdin quipped.
"Well, last time was THE last time," Mozenrath stated. "Now that we have everything we want, we're going to – well, I won't bore you with the details. That and I figured out that every time I explain to you exactly what the plan is, you tend to figure out how to make it go wrong."
"One would assume at this point there can be no harm in telling him the plan," Snatcher concurred, "but one would, in doing so, be an utter imbecile."
"I know what your plan is," Aladdin spat. "You think casting that spell with all that magical stuff you picked up will let you take over all the worlds."
"HOW DID HE KNOW THE PLAN?" Yzma cried.
"WHO SNITCHED?" Mim barked.
"But you have to listen to me," Aladdin went on. "That spell doesn't do what you think it does. If you cast it, you won't conquer the worlds. You'll DESTROY them. I talked to Khartoum. Those pages came out of his book! This is exactly what he wants!"
"You'd really think he could come up with a better lie," Aghoul said dryly.
"I'm not lying!" Aladdin insisted. "It's…it…the hourglass. That's why the hourglass showed us nothing. Because if you pull this off, there will be NOTHING LEFT!"
"Do you even realize how desperate you sound, Aladdin?" Mozenrath chuckled.
"Because I am desperate!" Aladdin insisted. "Desperate to stop you from destroying us all, and yourselves! You don't have to do this, Mozenrath!"
"Of course I don't have to do this," Mozenrath scoffed. "I WANT to do this."
"You need to believe me," Aladdin urged. "Casting that spell will just kill you. And…I guess you and I are technically family. I can't just let you die!"
"I knew we were family long before you did," Mozenrath argued, "and that never stopped me from wanting you dead. Which it seems has now topped my to-do list, since you're obviously going to get in the way of our spell."
The Huntsman drew his staff. "I am at the ready," he declared.
"So am I," Aghoul stated, bringing his scythe to hand. "I've been waiting for this moment for an ETERNITY."
"Let me at him!" Mim swung her fists outward, hopping in place.
"Oh, I have the PERFECT potion for this," Yzma declared as she loaded her atlatl.
"If he wants a demonstration of what we can do," Wuya stated, becoming surrounded in a flaming border of emerald green, "I'm more than happy to show him."
Snatcher pointed his own weapon. "It's time this commoner knew his place. Permanently."
Roman gave the Cudgel a toss before it landed in his hand, its barrel aimed at Aladdin. "Oh, he is going DOWN."
"Now, now," Mozenrath said as he strode to the front of the group, gauntlet gleaming. "Knocking him out, immobilizing him, and transforming him into all manner of animals is fair game."
"What about plants?" Yzma asked.
"Knocking him out, immobilizing him, and transforming him into all manner of animals OR PLANTS is fair game," Mozenrath amended. "But the honor of killing him is MINE."
"Okay," Aladdin said with a shrug. "Just remember: you wanted to do this the hard way."
Turning back over his shoulder, he yelled, "CARPET!"
Carpet zoomed into the chamber, and Aladdin made a leap onto the rug.
The WHAM ARMY let loose their fire, but within the instant it took them, Aladdin was no longer there.
"BRING HIM DOWN!" Mozenrath roared.
Snatcher and Roman launched a dual ranged attack on Aladdin, blasting the carpet that was now sailing around the room. Carpet was of the mind that after evading Jafar in full genie prime, outflying the joined explosive and lightning blasts was a piece of cake. He did pull up short, however, upon the appearance of a skull just before Aladdin.
Aladdin smacked the skull away with all his might, sending it colliding with the wall in time to explode. Aghoul took its place, levitating in front of Aladdin and swinging his scythe directly at his target's neck. Carpet took Aladdin directly down and beneath Aghoul, speeding by so fast that Aghoul was sent into a head-over-heels spin.
Mozenrath himself appeared next, floating just behind Carpet and snagging one of the rug's rear tassels beneath his right index finger and thumb, smirking as his magic held the fabric back from flying any further. Aladdin spun, seizing Mozenrath's shoulders to shove him back.
"Let…go," Aladdin seethed.
"Is that any way to treat your brother?" Mozenrath taunted.
"Hey," Aladdin informed him, "I'm just living up to the concept of sibling rivalry."
With that, he brought the side of his hand directly down on Mozenrath's arm, slamming it into the humerus.
The shock that radiated through Mozenrath's arm startled the sorcerer into letting go, and Carpet was off like a shot. He then had to pull up short to avoid becoming ensnared in a sphinx-hair net launched by the Huntsman.
Mim (now a falcon) and Wuya flew through the air to assault Aladdin and Carpet from two different angles; a last-minute dodge on Carpet's part caused them to cross paths before making U-turns and pursuing Carpet from behind. Mim let out a shrill screech, and Wuya began to hurl fireball after fireball, sending Carpet into even more aerial gymnastics.
Aladdin realized he couldn't stay on the defensive for long. He had no way to fight back, and he was incredibly outnumbered. Why did Discord think he could do this, anyhow? Though in thinking this, Aladdin was only acknowledging the outsider's perspective. No rational person should have been able to think that Aladdin could defeat all eight of the WHAM ARMY.
Aladdin himself knew better.
When the first dart missed him by a hair, he knew it was time to enact the plan. "WE'RE DOWN!" he cried.
Carpet plummeted, skidding on the floor; Aladdin let himself be spilled off. Putting on an act that even shamed Archibald Snatcher, he crawled back toward the rug; "Carpet? CARPET!" His fingers tugged at the fabric. "No…no, no, NO!"
Wuya landed; Mim settled next to her, reverting to human form. Across the room, Aghoul and Mozenrath touched down on the ground. Roman and Snatcher had their weapons cocked. Yzma's atlatl was loaded up; the Huntsman's staff was at the ready.
Looking around quickly, Aladdin realized the setup was too perfect. He couldn't have asked for better. "Aren't you gonna let me have any last words?" he asked as the eight advanced.
Mozenrath sighed. "All right. Have at it."
"I just wanted to say you surprised me, Mozenrath," Aladdin stated with a smirk. "I never believed you could actually find people who wanted to be around you for more than ten minutes."
"And I immediately regret letting you have last words," Mozenrath groaned. "WHAM ARMY, get him."
Aladdin cried out, "CARPET, NOW!"
Carpet shot directly upward just as the eight let their ammunition fly. It was with horror that they all realized exactly what Aladdin had let them walk into.
Wuya's fireballs slammed into Aghoul, throwing him into the wall. Aghoul's skull bomb exploded upon collision with Wuya, sending her to the floor. A shower of sparks from Mim impacted Mozenrath, toppling him. Mozenrath's blue projectile erupted upon Mim, bringing her down. Roman had shot the Huntsman, who collapsed. The Huntsman, in turn, had shot Roman, who tumbled a good distance before his body settled. Snatcher's weapon fired into and paralyzed Yzma. Yzma's dart stuck into Snatcher's leg, transforming him into a potted sunflower.
Aladdin watched the WHAM ARMY take each other out from above; only when none of them had moved for a solid minute did he take the time to lower himself and Carpet back to the ground. He made a quick check, rushing from villain to villain; all were still alive and breathing, just unconscious (except for Snatcher, who was a perfectly healthy plant and presumably conscious but unable to complain about the situation).
"Kinda wish I could bring 'em all back," Aladdin told Carpet, "but we've already gotta fill up with this stuff."
He loaded the twelve artifacts onto Carpet before settling back on the rug himself. "Now to find a way out of here," he mused.
It took Carpet and Aladdin only a short while of searching to find the ship hangar where the WHAM ARMY Gummi was parked. "I'll take it!" Aladdin declared.
Carpet helped him empty the artifacts inside and raise the hangar door. Aladdin took his place at the pilot's seat with only half-confidence. "Never drove one of these before," he remarked. "Well, there's no time like the present to learn. Am I right, Carpet?"
Carpet gave him a thumbs-up with a tassel.
The Gummi ship pealed out of the hangar unsteadily, shaking only momentarily before settling on course. Aladdin flipped through radio channels to pick up a signal from Radiant Garden. As it happened, back at the castle, Cid was broadcasting for help with Xayide's barrier, and the two signals connected perfectly, allowing Cid to give Aladdin the direction to bring him home.
All that remained inside the warship were the bodies of the founders of the WHAM ARMY spread out around a now-useless diagram.
...
Such was the sight that displayed across Grimhilde's mirror, revealing to Maleficent within the bowels of the Forbidden Mountain exactly what had taken place.
"So the fools did themselves in after all," Maleficent mused with a smirk, "and their enchantment proved to be a clever ruse. All the better that we did not try to cast it ourselves."
The voice of the visitor came from behind: "Indeed so. That would have been one blunder too many. Your first, of course, was waiting this long to involve me and my forces at all."
Maleficent turned to observe the visitor and his two companions with a sly smile. Of the two who flanked the speaker, one man was clad in shining metal armor that covered even his face, a green tunic and cape overlaid. The other, not so much a human man as a demon wearing one's form, was pale as snow, his short ebony hair matching the color of the dark, flowing clothing he sported.
Their leader, he who had addressed Maleficent, may have appeared human, but was in fact a far more powerful creature. His skin was pale, though not of the caliber of the demon behind him; his raven hair flowed down to his shoulders, unbound by the gaudy horned helmet Maleficent knew he was usually so fond of sporting. His robes were green, gold, and black, accented with leather and with strategic armor plating. His green eyes and his smug smile spoke volumes; Maleficent needed only look at his face once to know exactly what he was thinking, pages' worth of it. This was, of course, only because he wanted her to. An expert at lies, he could have told her anything he wished and let her believe it, but the trust between the two ran too deep for him to desire any such trickery.
"It was to my understanding that you were occupied with another endeavor," Maleficent stated.
"And it is to my understanding that you are now robbed of most of your magic," the visitor went on, "thanks to that insolent whelp. Were you going to invite me to your Forbidden World, by the way?"
"A palace awaited you and each of your accomplices," Maleficent explained. "You simply arrived too late to take advantage of them."
"Hm. Pity." He stepped closer to the mirror, letting himself smile more broadly at the embarrassing fate of the WHAM ARMY. Tilting his head back from the mirror to look Maleficent in the eye, he stated, "It seems there is much work to be done to restore you to your former glory."
"You will reap the rewards, old friend," Maleficent promised.
"I never doubted you, old friend," the visitor responded. "It is time we turned this entire situation around."
"I trust you, Loki," Maleficent stated.
Loki grinned. "Ever a terrible idea."
...
A/N: The Marvel Cinematic Universe's canon divergence point is immediately after Thor: The Dark World. That is the version of Loki I am using, though other sources may tint him. As for his two accomplices, they are not present in the MCU, but they are Marvel characters, and all will be explained in due time.