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.

168. Out of the Dark

A/N: We got some body horror coming up, so warning for that. Also, there's a song you'll need to know, and it's "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

...

"…They do know we can see them, don't they?"
This was Yzma's exasperated sigh as she, Wuya, Mera, Prisma, Morgana, and Darla gathered around the scrying sphere that Morgana had conjured up. They'd seen Rapunzel, Stork, Papyrus, Ven, Sofia, and Stormy take a direct flight to Avalor.

"What are they even supposed to be doing?" Morgana rolled her eyes. "Like there's REALLY some kind of powerhouse in that amulet that can stop us at this point."

"You might think that," another voice broke in. "But you'd be wrong. By all means, though, keep it up if you want to be blindsided by your defeat."

Daria had floated on down, leaning against a wall, arms crossed. Since she was levitating, she really had no need to lean on the wall, and was obviously doing it to cut an entrance. Morgana had of course returned her voice after the Chrysta manipulation.

"Oh, someone's Little Miss Snide today," Morgana sneered.

"See, I thought you would appreciate that," Daria replied with a grin. "Seeing as you're not the queen of tact yourself."

"Touché," Morgana replied. "Well? You're from around these parts. What're they going to find in Avalor?"

"Depends," Daria replied. "Maybe nothing. Maybe something. After all, intel on Nueva Vista tells us that Duke Cristóbal, known terrorist against sirenas, used to have family in Avalor before they were cut down by sorceress Shuriki. Some legends say there are still members of the royal family surviving, trapped in some kind of magical limbo. Nothing we could prove from under the sea, but it's still something to wonder about."

"Go back to the words 'cut down by sorceress Shuriki,'" Wuya said. "That sounds like someone we want on our side."

"No…no, you don't," Daria huffed. "You'll never meet a human more exasperating. Look, I know I already have my issues with humans, so take this with a grain of salt, but around here, there's this general sense of…hmm, what should I call it…flair. Shuriki is all destruction and no flair whatsoever."

"Get me a visual," Wuya told Morgana.

Morgana tapped the scrying orb with the trident. The view was of the Avalor throne, occupied by a raven-haired woman wearing a high-collared, dark-green dress and a disgusted scowl.

"Ugh, looks like a party pooper," Wuya grumbled.

"Who approved that shade of green?" Yzma spat. "There's a point at which you're not trying and there's a point at which you're trying to be dull on purpose!"

"Well, she could be SOME help to us," Prisma suggested. "We might not want to be friends with her – and looking at her, I agree she isn't worth it – but if she's really that awful, then maybe she'll take care of our little hero problem for us!"

"Maybe," Yzma replied. "But I know better than to rely on the universe lining up in my favor at this point. We'll go to Avalor and head off the nutmeg pastry gang before they can foil our plans!"

"Are you forgetting something?" Daria said coldly. "We had a deal. You use my voice, you help me get rid of Nueva Vista. I'm not putting that off just because of a few stray humans."

"Those 'few stray humans' could end up throwing our entire boat off the tracks!" Yzma yelled.

"Train?" Mera suggested.

"…What?"
"Boats don't go on tracks," Mera sighed.

Yzma waved it off. "You know what I meant! Anyway, the sirena has a point. But so do I, and you see where the problem comes in."

"If only someone could come up with a solution that's something like splitting up our already-huge team so we could get both things done at once," Wuya said casually.

"Hmm." Yzma thought it over, then burst out, "A-HA! We'll split up our already-enormous team so we can accomplish both goals at the same time! It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!"

"Yes, you are, baby." Wuya leaned over to kiss Yzma on the cheek.

"Did you SERIOUSLY just do that for her fragile ego?" Mera groaned.

"Do what?" Wuya said in mock innocence.

To split the team, they needed the whole team, and so everyone gathered round: Yzma, Wuya, Mera, Indus, Prisma, Morgana, Undertow, Cloak, Dagger, the Lobster Mobster, Shrimp, Darla, Max, Twitch, Daria, and the brainwashed Chrysta. "…This team really is enormous," Yzma muttered to herself. (And that wasn't even everyone on her to-recruit list.) "Eh-ahem. All right, we're here to talk business. We have two goals that need accomplishing, so we're splitting the party. One team will go to Avalor to track down the nutmeg pastry gang – "

Wuya held up a sign that said "CINNAMONS" behind Yzma's back.

"And the other will focus on the razing of Nueva Vista," Yzma said. "But wait! There's more! I'm not coming back to find another usurper queen redecorating my glorious Yzmatopia, so we're ALSO leaving behind a team to watch the palace and make sure there are NO MORE INCIDENTS. All right, let's decide who goes where."

"Obviously Daria and I will both be on Team Nueva Vista," Morgana said.

"And I'm going on that one, too," Wuya said. "Yzma, darling, you'll be coming with us, won't you?"

"I – erm – of course," Yzma sputtered. "I definitely have a lot of things I can do there."

Wuya raised a brow.

"What?" Yzma grunted. "Is it that you think my lack of magical power means I won't actually be able to knock anything over and I'll most likely be waiting on the sidelines while you have all the fun? Because I can assure you, I'm not that incompetent!"

"Well, there are other ways to skin a dragon," Wuya said. "Any small thing can be a POISON on society, and I'm sure Daria will appreciate help keeping people out of the WATER."

Yzma snapped her fingers. "That's it! I'll use a potion to poison the city's water supply!"

"I'm not sure if you're being cute or creepy when you do that," Mera told Wuya.

"I'm the most adorable schemer you're ever going to meet," Wuya replied. "Don't let Jack Spicer try and convince you otherwise."

"Actually, if I could suggest one more thing," Daria said. "I had a backup plan in place in case I couldn't get anyone on my cause. It's a big risk, and it's more or less the obliteration option. But there is a magical item that may or may not be able to give you power to join in the more direct aspects of the raid."

"Ohhh, do tell," Yzma said slyly.

"It's called the Scepter of Night," Daria relayed. "Supposedly one of the most powerful Dark artifacts on this world."

"It's not possessed by a fashion-confused body-stealer, is it?" Wuya sighed.

"Not this time," Daria replied. "Basically, it's a tool for people to wield Dark magic. Now, the problem is it was never clear to me whether it gave just anyone that power or if you had to be a mage beforehand. I was banking on the former when I was thinking of it for just me. Now, it would've been a risky play for me to go blasting through the walls on my own with it, but with you all in my corner? It might do us some good to arm Yzma with extra firepower."

"The Scepter of Night sounds exactly like my aesthetic at any rate," Yzma said happily. "I always have been one to prefer the kindly moon to the burning sun. And then I could poison the water OR wield the scepter's devastation!" (Somehow, everyone knew this time what she meant.)

"It's also purple," Daria confirmed. "The thing is, it has three pieces. I know where the first one is, and it'll be easy to pick up. The other two, you can only find once you have the first piece, because it gives you the clues to their locations. So we'd have to commit to it for a bit. But since it directly contributes to the Nueva Vista problem, I'm willing to put in the time. And one more thing: what little research I turned up suggests there's at least one piece in Vallastrella, realm of the jaquins. The only way you can enter Vallastrella is if you have a jaquin. So we'll need to…borrow one from Avalor for a bit."

"Or just make use of your local strangeling!" Twitch made a show of changing into a large black feline with a white diamond on his chest and raven-feathered wings protruding from his back. "Ta-daaa! Jaquin!"

"That…actually works," Daria said with a grin.

"That puts five on our team," said Yzma, "and right now, we divide up pretty easily into three teams of five if you either don't count the fairy – which I don't – or you count the two stingrays as one entity."

Cloak and Dagger fired off a pair of condescending glowers.

"Okay, since you guys monopolized Team Nueva Vista, I'm calling myself team captain of Avalor," Mera said, "and I'm appointing Prisma my second-in-command."

"Yes!" Prisma threw a fist into the air. "This is going to be so much fun, putting those little upstarts in their place! I'll be sure to bring enough snacks for the road!"

"I'm also bringing along Indus," Mera said. "Partly because he's my friend and partly because we already know we can't fricking trust him to watch over the castle."

"I am honored!" Indus replied.

"Don't be," Mera sighed. "Then…let's see. That kind of makes Darla the only non-idiot left, so she should watch the house."

"I didn't want to go on any of your road trips anyway," Darla sighed. "What if the public sees me assisting you? And more importantly, this castle has so many luxurious things I haven't tried out yet, like the hot tub or the canopy bed designated specifically for afternoon naps!"

"I will watch over Miss Dimple," Max said dutifully.

"Now wait just a minute!" the Lobster Mobster broke in. "Are you implyin' I'm one of the idiots?"

"Yeah, and what about me?" Undertow snapped. "I'm not an idiot!"

"Bigignorantdumbasssaywhat?" Mera rattled off quickly.

The Lobster Mobster and Undertow gave a synchronized "What?"
"Point proven," Mera said with a grin. "Gets 'em every time. But no, seriously, we'll take you guys on Team Avalor. We could use the shark muscle, and I dunno, maybe the lobster can con them out of their wallets or something."

"Then that leaves me and Max with the other sea creatures," Darla said sweetly. "The stingrays can help paint my nails during naptime!"

Cloak and Dagger both hissed at her.

"How about I do your nails instead?" Shrimp asked. "I'll make 'em all pretty. I'm thinkin' we can do three stripes of different colors on each one, just to make sure we get all the colors in."

"Um…let's stick with pink," Darla told him. "Otherwise you're hired."

Max looked down to Cloak and Dagger. "You will guard the exterior," he commanded.

The rays couldn't argue with that.

"And we'll also have Chrysta to send running around the castle to bring us food, water, and whatever else we need!" Darla concluded.

Chrysta saluted. "I'm ready to serve! Say the word and I'll do anything!"

"Even if we said to do a handstand on one hand?" Shrimp volunteered.

Chrysta immediately did a front-flip to land on one hand, pushing the rest of her body into the air, feet pointed at the ceiling. "What else can I do for you?"

"I love that spell so much," Morgana sighed. "Anyway, that should settle the teams."

"Now, Darla," Yzma said, "we'll need to borrow one enchantlet for the road. Preferably the purple one. If there's ANY emergency back here at the palace, you call us using it. Understand?"

Darla tossed the enchantlet that would've been Rapunzel's over to Yzma. "Sure. Whatever. Like anything will happen."

Yzma fastened it around a wrist. "I believe that puts everything in order. Now let's MOVE!"

...

Dawn broke over Lastonbell, and a great reunion in the streets. Velvet had needed only to glimpse that mint-colored hair to realize that Emerald was here, and, Velvet being so used to wanting to hang tightly to the ones she loved, she rushed to embrace her straightaway, holding her so tight, kissing her hungrily.

"Did you think I died or something?" Emerald embraced right back.

"It wouldn't have been the most unpredictable tragedy I've known," Velvet replied solemnly.

"You are a sap." Emerald swatted at the lower ends of Velvet's long hair. "I love it. So I hear Eleanor and Magilou are having a little trip to the memory spa?"

"They'll have so many more stories to tell you when they get back."

That was the most actually functional part of the reunion, however.

"I can't fucking believe you," Yang growled. "We stop here specifically to rest, and YOU stay up all night just to sabotage us. Then I find out you invited HER here?" She pointed at Neo.

"What can I say?" Roman yawned. "I'm a night owl. Also fuck you."

Snatcher nodded sagely. "I hadn't much wanted to get out of bed, but Roman so insisted, and I realized that getting under your skin was a worthy enough cause."

Neo just smiled, white teeth sparkling from ear to ear. Putting just enough malice into it so Yang would wonder if Neo was feeling murderous again.

"Seriously, though, why'd you invite her?" Harley asked, one foot forward so she could step in between Neo and Yang if a fight broke out.

"The rest of us are here too," Melanie sighed.

"We are the vanguard," the Mukhtar answered, his voice slightly muffled from where he had a scarf pulled up over the lower half of his face. "While you complete the ritual of the Shepherd, we will determine the location of the one you seek."

"You're trying to save your friend so you don't have to work with us anymore, aren't you?" Elsa realized.

"Guess we couldn't have hid that one," Miltia grumbled.

"There is a great probability that we will not be able to rescue her without the Shepherd," the Mukhtar went on. "Do not plan on the parting of the ways. All the same, if I were you…I would not go unprepared for this alliance to quickly dissolve."

The threat hung heavy in the air until Giovanni broke in with "Geez, do you guys always have to be this dramatic about things?"
Meanwhile, Molly nervously greeted the smallest of her new associates: "Uhhh…hi. I'm Molly, and I'm kinda the Shepherd…"

"You're not scared of me?" Cat replied. The illusion had been dropped, leaving her in her feline-insectoid glory, and now Molly could hear in the other girl's voice that Cat was definitely the younger of the two.

"Of course not," Molly sputtered. "I mean, yeah, but not for the reason you think, more just because I'm an introvert and meeting people always kinda makes me nervous and so do phone calls but I'm the Chosen One so I have to get over it pretty quick and I should stop talking." She paused. "I like your fur."

"…Thanks," Cat muttered. "I like your stars."

"I know you're going to ask," Molly said, "and yeah, they're technically edible, but you really don't want to."

"Trust me," Giovanni said. "I know that one firsthand."

Someone happened to pass, and, seeing the Mukhtar and Cat, broke into a panicked run, screaming, "THE HELLIONS ARE BACK!"

"HEY!" Rose yelled after him. "THEY'RE NOT HELLIONS! SHUT YOUR FACE!" She turned back to the group. "Sorry about that. Also, so not cool that you might be traitors, but, I mean, if you guys do find Heldalf and DON'T actually find a reason to dump us over it, that's kinda great. Actually, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel that you're being upfront about this."

"We are still villains," Harley pointed out. "Well, a lot of us are, anyway. This just comes with the job."

"Don't worry," Roman assured. "There's only one of you we actually want to kill."

Yang pointed at Neo. "Get out of my fucking sight."

So Neo went invisible.

"Great," Yang grumbled. "I asked for that one." She put up both hands, flesh and mechanical, bracing in case Neo rushed her.

"Just shut up already, party-crasher," Melanie huffed. "We'll get out of your messy tangled hair in a minute."

"Okay, Neo can put up a fight, but I can DEFINITELY kick your ass any day," Yang reminded her. "Oh, wait, I have kicked your ass multiple days."

"Shut up," Melanie groaned.

Neo returned, somehow sitting on the edge of a nearby rooftop, kicking her feet in the air and raising her parasol against the dawn sky.

"…I'm thinking we should get moving," Emerald suggested.

"For the sake of both our factions, that's the best move," Velvet told her. "But be careful out there. Especially with them."

"I don't have to worry about them," Emerald said softly. Then she dropped to a whisper: "It's Yang they're all mad at. Not me. And no one else."

Velvet nodded. "Then be careful in general. I want you to come back to me."

"Oh, I will," Emerald assured. "Also, we got you guys a present. It's outside that gate." She pointed.

Everyone went to take a peek. There awaited a fleet of covered wagons, even more luxurious than the ones they'd left behind at Guinevere.

"It seems I, Don Karnage, will in fact be doing the wagoning on this day of fatefulness," Karnage sighed.

"You'd better not be thinking of making me drive again while you sleep it off in the back seat!" Foulfellow chided Roman. "I'll remind you that our contract has a strict clause against taking advantage of me twice!" He unrolled a piece of paper before Roman.

"You know, those things aren't legal unless we both sign them," Roman replied. "You also misspelled 'contract.' But if it puts your mind at ease, I WON'T make you drive this time."

"About time you started pulling your own weight!" Foulfellow rolled up the contract, which had been drafted about an hour before this moment, and put it back in a pocket.

"I'll make Stripes and Tawna do it," Roman said casually. "They are the race car royalty around here, after all."

"Shoulda seen that comin'." Pinstripe rolled his eyes.

"Bet I can keep my wagon ahead of yours." Tawna nudged him with an elbow.

"Oh, you's on!" Pinstripe teased right back.

"Where did you even get these?" Harley asked.

"That's the thing," Roman said. "We might want to get on the road, like, now, because this right here is grand theft wagon."

"Works for me!" Harley rushed toward the nearest wagon. "C'mon, Yang!"

Yang followed, eager to get to the safety of the wagon before she could snap and try to kill Neo right there in front of everybody else.

Neo, in fact, faced Roman one more time. "You got this," Roman told her.

She cocked her head and smirked. In other words, she knew she got this. She put out a hand, palm up. Roman slapped it on the way down, and the two teams parted ways at last.

While Emerald, Neo, the Malachites, the Mukhtar, and Cat stayed back in the city, the rest rolled out in the wagons. It was agreed upon that of the WHAM ARMY contingent, those who needed to catch up on their sleep (Roman and Snatcher) would have one wagon, driven by Tawna, while those who could stay awake and be raucous about it (Foulfellow, Gideon, Karnage, Mad Dog, and Dump Truck) would take another, driven by Pinstripe. Both wagons were outfitted with plenty of spare blankets for the sake of comfort.

Roman set about turning the base of his wagon into a blanket nest immediately. "I dunno about you," he said, "but I'm about ready to sleep off the actual long part of the journey."

"Right." Snatcher leaned stiffly against the side of the wagon, sitting completely upright. "Enjoy that, then."

"You're…going to try and stay awake the whole time, aren't you?" Roman realized.

"All it takes is a little will and fortitude," Snatcher replied.

"And you're going to sleep when exactly?"

"If I had my way, never," Snatcher grumbled, "but for now, I only need to last the rest of our little excursion."

"Pretty sure you won't actually make it that long awake."

"Are you casting doubt on my abilities?"

"No, no!" Roman changed tacks. "In fact, that's actually a solid idea. Can't believe I didn't think of it myself."

"All right, what are you on about – "

"But just between you and me," Roman said softly, "I wanna check something. Just for reassurance's sake."

He gripped both Snatcher's shoulders, prompting the latter to ask, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Trust me, okay?" Roman guided him away from the wall, laying him down on the pile of rumpled blankets.

"This had better not be some cockamamie scheme to make me sleep," Snatcher warned.

"No, no!" Roman told him in a voice that was not at all assuring. "I just…wanna make sure you're…safe."

"Whatever do you – "

By then, Roman had Snatcher's shirt untucked, and then both of Roman's hands, suddenly ungloved, were sliding up beneath that shirt, running over the abdomen beneath. "Yep," Roman said softly. "Still holding together. Which you knew, but it's nice to be sure. No tearing wounds, no nothing."

Snatcher still was sure Roman had an ulterior motive, but he wasn't going to pass up being caressed by those hands, which were slowly moving up toward his chest. It would keep him awake anyhow.

"Still perfect," Roman muttered. "Have I said that lately? This is just…perfectly shaped. In fact…" He lay his head down right there, at the upper curve of Snatcher's stomach. "Perfect softness, too. You make an excellent pillow. You know that? In fact, I could just…"

Roman let his hands fall away, and now Snatcher was onto his game. "You're not going to sleep THERE."

Yes he was. He was going to be pinning Snatcher down to the blankets the entire time. "I'm not making you sleep, you know," Roman muttered, eyes already shut. "You do what you want. I'll just be here."

"Roman. Get off of me this instant."

"Would you treat a cat on your lap this way?"

"No, but that's besides the – "

"And I'm so much cuter than a cat, too," Roman mumbled.

Of course, Snatcher could just easily toss Roman off to the side. But after Roman had so seductively tricked his way here, Snatcher supposed he could let Roman have the win and annoy him that day. "I'm not about to be sleeping. I won't make a fool of myself in front of the others."

"Mmhmm." Roman was less than half conscious at this point.

Did he not understand this was serious? If Snatcher should have another bout, and everyone else saw…but perhaps it wouldn't happen again, now that more time had passed. Yes, he could definitely fend it off if the nausea fit overcame him a second time. Why had he even been thinking otherwise? (Why had Roman not just used that argument instead of turning Snatcher into a pillow? Because he was Roman Torchwick and he was infuriating, that was why.)

Well, Snatcher didn't want to take any chances or let Roman win this. Even though he certainly could sleep without fear of harm, since he was the sort of man who could fight off such things easily. (Right? Right.) Still and all, he wasn't going to sleep. He'd spend the whole ride awake if he had to.

Lying on the soft blankets. Being held down. Not able to sit back up unless he disturbed Roman, and Snatcher was definitely letting Roman stay where he was as a calculated move in their social chess and not because of any silly reason like the redhead looking ridiculously adorable in his sleep.

Fine. Snatcher would stay awake. He'd show Roman.

He'd show him, all right.

Definitely…show him.

(He was out within five minutes.)

Back in the city, the Mukhtar had produced a particular amulet, one that in its primary form appeared to be a flat disc comprised of concentric golden rings pressed tightly against one another. He held it out before his eyes as he walked the streets with Neo, the Malachites, Emerald, and Cat in tow.

There was another brief incident in which someone stopped short before the group to scream about Cat. "KILL THE HELLION!" he yelled.

The Mukhtar ripped the cloth away from his face, revealing all his scales. "If she is a Hellion," he growled, "she's not the only one. Do you want to know how evil I can be if given a reason?"

The stranger ran off squealing like a pig. The Mukhtar fastened his face-covering back in place.

"That was so badass," Miltia sighed.

Eventually, the Mukhtar received the sign he was looking for: the amulet's rings disengaged from one another, rotating at different axes to create a skeletal sphere in motion. "The ethereal is nearby," he announced. He held the amulet in several directions; when it rotated faster, he knew where to walk. "We are getting close," he said as the amulet went wild.

Then it slowed. The Mukhtar halted, throwing a look over his shoulder, and his team stumbled to a stop as well. "We have passed the site," the Mukhtar announced.

"You think it's that blue-haired lady?" Emerald asked.

Neo shrugged.

"…Of what do you speak?" the Mukhtar asked.

"That woman." Emerald pointed. "Right there."

"I see no one," said the Mukhtar.

"Me either," Cat added. "Are you just making things up?"

"No, there's definitely a person with questionable fashion choices there," Melanie sighed.

Neo nodded assent.

"Curioussss…" The Mukhtar mulled this over. "She must be the source. But why is she visible to only you…what is it you have in common…" Just to check something, he waved the amulet toward Melanie. It slowed considerably.

"Get that thing out of my face," Melanie spat.

"Perhaps it is to do with Remnant," the Mukhtar mused. "If that world gives you glimpses of the ethereal. Do you all see her with equal clarity?"

"Now that you mention it, she is kinda…fuzzy," Emerald admitted.

"I can kind of see through her," Miltia added.

Neo gave a shrug and an expression of disbelief; the woman was perfectly clear to her.

"Something that has affected Neo more strongly than Miltia," the Mukhtar mused, "and Miltia more strongly than – " His eyes widened. "Yes…the Semblance…"

"We all have different ones," Emerald told him. "How are all our Semblances showing us the same thing?"

"Not yours," the Mukhtar clarified. "Roman's. It has left an aura upon you. You see through his light."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Emerald realized with wide eyes. "Neo has perfect vision because she's around him all the time, the Malachites hang out with him but not a lot, and…well…I just interacted with him on business. Which was really just an excuse for us to bully each other. Though, to be fair, half the time Roman and I had beef, Mercury started it somehow."

"And I only just met him," said Cat. "This aura thing he has didn't work on me or Mr. Mukhtar yet."

"Well, the important thing is some of us can see the lady," Melanie grumbled. "And we all just saw her walk away while we were babbling about why some of us see her."

It was true. She was gone. Neo pointed in the direction she'd walked. The Mukhtar had to track her down again, using the amulet to divine her new location. They found her browsing the marketplace. The Mukhtar retrieved another magic gadget – a monocle with runes inscribed on the glass – and now he too could see the woman in perfect clarity. Short hair of deep blue. A modest gown of teal and white.

Sindra, the Lord of the Land in Lastonbell.

The Mukhtar wasted no time in approaching her, drawing his sword for good measure. He pointed it to her; "You are invisible in this town."

"Why are you threatening me?" Sindra asked, unsure whether or not she had anything to fear from this stranger. "I haven't done anything to you."

"Can you put that stupid thing down?" Melanie reached for the Mukhtar's sword.

Miltia lightly slapped her face. "Don't tell my man what to do."

Emerald stepped out of Miltia's reach before saying "Okay, we're just asking for information, so can you PLEASE put that stupid thing down?"

The Mukhtar did not acquiesce. "If it comes to battle, I wish to be prepared."

Emerald sighed. "Look. Ma'am, we're not – we're not here to fight. We're just apparently overly paranoid that we might get into a fight because pretty much everyone here is used to getting into a fight wherever we go. We're just here to ask you something."

"Lower the blade and I may answer," Sindra replied.

The Mukhtar considered it, then finally sheathed the blade. "You will not strike," he told her. "You are honor-bound. As am I. Whoever deals a blow will invite the other to retaliate."

"Are you still more inter-world travelers?" Sindra asked. "You are so easily able to see me, just like the wizard and the mouse."

"The who now?" Emerald asked.

"You must not be affiliated." Sindra shook her head. "What is your question?"

"So we're looking for this big dumb guy named Heldalf," Miltia sighed. "He has this girl named Symonne kidnapped, and she's one of your kind. Any idea where the hell he went?"
Sindra inclined her head. "Why do you wish to know? That is dangerous knowledge."

"Because Symonne is a friend of a friend," Miltia replied. "We're supposed to get her back."

"I know well of Symonne," Sindra replied. "It is odd to hear that she has made…friends. The closest she had was the Hellion pair that Heldalf employed, and even then…"

Neo took charge then, walking out front to stare down Sindra. She rapidly switched illusions, making herself look like a second Sindra, then a Mukhtar, then a Cat. Back to her primary look, she drew her parasol blade, fencing in the air with it.

"I see," Sindra realized. "You remind me of her. I suppose it is natural that anyone who favors you would favor her also. I myself am no friend of Symonne, but I hardly want her to suffer. If that is your true aim…then I will give you knowledge."

"Spill the tea," Melanie urged.

"There is a corrupted patch of malevolence thick around Hexen Isle," Sindra replied. "I did not think it Heldalf's. It is in no way similar to the malevolence he generated before he was slain by the Shepherd. It may, however, be a sign to pursue. Act with care."

"It's a start," Emerald said. "Thanks. That's a big help!"

"I would suggest asking counsel from the other Lords of the Land before proceeding," Sindra went on. "Pendrago is not far if you wish to consult with Morgrim."

"Looks like the next stop is to pick up a map of the world," Emerald said, quite amused.

"If you will leave me be," Sindra said, "I have matters I must attend to."

The Mukhtar bowed. "Our business is concluded. Take your leave."

Sindra stalked away. Cat butted in; "What happened? I didn't see anything." The pout was evident in her voice.

"We have two prospective paths to follow," said the Mukhtar. "Speak with another ethereal being called 'Morgrim' in a nearby city, or investigate an intrusive Darkness on a faraway isle. It follows to do the former first and the latter afterward, if Morgrim confirms the lead."

"So we're going on a trip?" Cat asked.

"Yeah!" Emerald asserted. "Totally! Sooooo…hijack another wagon?"

Neo clapped excitedly at this suggestion, then mimed a shooting motion.

"A wagon doesn't HAVE a shotgun seat," Miltia groaned.

...

At very first sight, the kingdom of Avalor looked gorgeous. One would think it a utopia where very little was going wrong. Its magnificent palace sat upon a seaside cliff, towering over a village of rich architecture that had evolved over decades from quaint to extravagant. One might even notice, fluttering in the skies overhead, the colorful jaquins, winged cats of pink and gold and every color under the sun.

However, nothing about Avalor's façade betrayed the rot within.

Rapunzel, Stork, Ven, Papyrus, Sofia, and Stormy had decided to enter via the port, since it only seemed polite to park their vehicles where the vehicles usually went. Setting foot on the docks, they took a look around.

"It's so beautiful!" Sofia gasped.

"That palace is amazing!" Rapunzel cried.

"I bet we can find help there," Ven mused. "Maybe a princess."

"I've never heard of the princess of Avalor," Sofia realized. "I wonder if there is one, and what she's like…or if it will be a prince or a king or queen…"

"LET'S NOT FORGET TO CHECK IN WITH THE TOWNSPEOPLE ALONG THE WAY," Papyrus said. "AFTER ALL, HELP CAN COME FROM ANYONE!"

"I want to talk to those jaquins!" Stormy chirped. "I've never met one before! They're just like arcticondors, except they have colors!"

The reverie was broken by Stork clearing his throat loudly. "Um. Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but…doesn't anyone else notice something's…off?"

"Off?" Ven repeated. "What's 'off' here? Everything looks beautiful."

"Looks aren't everything," Stork told him. "What have you heard since we landed?"

That got everyone to stop and listen. "It's…really quiet," Rapunzel realized.

"Whenever I visit a big city," Stork pointed out, "it's usually full of loud noises that take a long time to get used to. People singing, people dancing, sometimes there are two songs going on at the same time on different blocks and I have to sort THAT overload out…but generally speaking, that's a good thing. It means people actually live here, and those lives are fun."

"THERE ARE DEFINITELY PEOPLE HERE," Papyrus said, observing the few who were out on the docks and the coastal streets. "SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT AN EMPTY KINGDOM."

"Yeah, that's worse," Stork told him. "If they weren't making noise because they weren't here, well, that'd be tragic, but it'd make sense. But an entire city of people who ARE here and no one's making noise? Does anyone else see a problem with that?"

"It…could mean that the people are afraid to make too much of a sound," Sofia realized.

"OR THAT THEY JUST DON'T LIKE MUSIC," Papyrus ventured, "AND THEY FEEL THE SAME WAY AS YOU ABOUT 'OVERLOAD.' IT COULD BE SIMPLE AS THAT."

The debate was about to be settled when a particular sailor came stumbling down the dock speedily, barking out, "'Scuse me! Pardon me! Heavy box!"

The group stepped aside to allow her through. She looked young, around Ven's physical age. Her gold hair was cut chin-length, and she sported a modest dress of different shades of teal. She seemed to be having trouble carrying a large wooden crate.

"Here!" Ven offered. "I'll help with that – "

"No, no, I got it!" The young sailor pulled away from him, but her pride was to be her undoing. She lost her footing, and both she and the box went over the side of the dock with a "WHOA!"

The splash was followed by several more splashes as Rapunzel, Stork, Papyrus, Ven, Sofia, and Stormy jumped down to check on her. Luckily, it was the shallows, so the young sailor was immediately able to stand back up and start wringing out her hair and clothing.

"Are you okay?" Rapunzel gasped.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the sailor replied. "Pretty soft sand here. Just so long as the box is – "

She gasped. "The box. Where's the box?"

"There!" Sofia pointed.

It had been carried down by the current, but its weight eventually got the better of it, and it sank to a deeper part of the ocean.

"WE HAVE TO GET THAT BACK!" the sailor gasped. "RIGHT NOW! That was another order of Queen Shuriki's diamonds, and you KNOW what happens if she doesn't get what she wants right away!"

There was a stunned silence. "We're from…out of town," Rapunzel admitted. "We don't actually know how things work here."

"You don't?" the sailor was surprised. "Why would you come to Avalor of your own will? It's TERRIBLE here. You don't even know the half of it!"

"Would you mind telling us?" Rapunzel extended a hand. "We'll help you get the box back, and you can just let us know what's going on. I'm Rapunzel, and these are my friends, Stork, Ven, Papyrus, Sofia, and Stormy!"

The sailor took her hand and shook it. "Naomi Turner. Wait a minute, Rapunzel like in the storybook with Mother Gothel and Flynn Rider?"
"That's the one!" Rapunzel said – ignoring the pang in her heart when Eugene's alias was mentioned.

"I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!" Naomi yelled. "This is so amazing. I never thought I'd actually get to meet you! I've read your story about a million times. It's my absolute favorite. Well, okay, Aladdin's story is up there too, and that one about the emperor who got turned into a llama, but I can't believe YOU'RE HERE!"

"It's really nice to meet you!" Rapunzel replied. "Though I didn't realize I had fans on other worlds." But it made sense, because Sofia had recognized her immediately when they'd first met. Rapunzel shoud've remembered her story was told here. "I hope I can live up to it. I don't wanna disappoint you."

"Hey, if you're willing to say that, then I know you won't," Naomi replied. "Anyway…um…the box?"

"Yes, the box!" Rapunzel agreed.

It took a little deep diving, but thankfully the box had sunk into the sand before it could get too far out into the ocean's abyss. Soon it was settled safely on the sands of the beach. "Thank you so much," Naomi sighed. "Seriously, I would've been so dead if I'd lost that."

"So this 'Queen Shuriki' rules with an iron fist," Stork deduced. "That's why everything's too quiet, isn't it?"

Naomi sighed. "I told you. People don't come to Avalor just because they want to. Shuriki basically hates fun. Singing is against the law, dancing is against the law, making too much of a commotion is against the law…the only time we're allowed to put up a noise is when we're cheering for Shuriki. And you know she sends the royal guard ahead of time whenever she goes anywhere so we all know to cheer our hearts out or else."

"That's awful," Ven gasped.

"It gets worse," Naomi went on. "Shuriki doesn't like mess of any kind. Nothing can be out of place in her orderly kingdom. And she's put out a notice saying no one but her is allowed to practice magic. Probably because she's scared people would come for her if they had the power. But of course, as austere as she wants everything out here, she keeps ordering diamonds galore to build her furniture in the palace. Whenever I think it's tough working as an Avaloran sailor, I just remind myself that at least I'm not a miner. Being sent to Shuriki's diamond mines is…something not everyone comes back okay from."

"WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE WHO BREAK THE LAWS?" Papyrus asked.

"Usually jailed," Naomi said. "A one-off singer or dancer can probably get slapped with a warning. But we all know that if you seriously make her mad, she's not afraid to…" Naomi drew a finger across her neck in a slicing motion. "Like she did to the real royal family about fifty years ago."

The stunned gasp that served as her response told a wide-eyed Naomi exactly what she'd just let slip. "Oh my gosh," Naomi said, tone laden with fear. "What I just told you was also very, VERY illegal. Outsiders aren't supposed to know she did that. One time, a visiting dignitary figured it out and threatened to tell the world, and they…they reported that his coach had an 'accident' on the way home. The driver, the footman…no one ever made it back. Please don't tell anyone I told you that. Please, please, PLEASE."

"Your secret is safe with us," Sofia insisted. "We would never want to get you in trouble like that."

"But there has to be some way we can stop Shuriki from ruining this kingdom," Ven insisted. "We can't just let her keep being horrible!"

"If anyone can save this kingdom from her," Naomi said, "I KNOW it would be Princess Rapunzel. She's the most awesome princess ever! …Okay, Jasmine is up there too…"

"I'll tell her you said that," Rapunzel said with a wink.

"You…know…" Naomi's eyes widened. Then she let out a high-pitched squeal.

"But I'm not even the one here who's got the best chance at saving Avalor," Rapunzel said. "I could barely save Corona. But Stork is part of a squad of knights that protects an entire world, and Ven travels all different worlds with his Keyblade, and Papyrus is one of the most motivational people I know, and Sofia has been protecting this world the whole time! The last time I met her, I just gave her advice, and SHE stopped the villain!"

"I wanna help too!" Stormy piped in.

"You will!" Sofia told him. "I think this is gonna take all of us."

Stork made a show of clearing his throat. "Look, I'm all for tearing down the dictatorship, but let's not forget we have another reason to be here, involving the OTHER place we're trying to liberate from an evil tyrant."

"That's right!" Sofia recalled. "Something bad happened in the Mystic Isles – "

"The Mystic Whatnow?" Naomi asked.

"…It's pretty far away," Sofia answered sheepishly.

Naomi crossed her arms. "I'm the daughter of Captain Turner and Captain Turner. I've been all around the world. Try me."

"Well…have you been that direction?" Sofia pointed straight upward.

"…Huh." Naomi looked skyward. "You know…I never imagined there could be land up in the sky, but weirder has happened. Anyway. Continue."

"Someone evil has taken it all over," Sofia said. "We just learned that the key to stopping her is here, in this amulet." She unfastened the necklace, holding it out toward Naomi. "When my dad gave it to me, he told me it was called the 'Amulet of Avalor.' So we came here to learn about this amulet and what exactly it can do. Maybe it's the key to stopping Shuriki too."

"Wait a minute," Naomi gasped. "I've seen this. Where have I seen this? It was in some old book at – " She jolted, standing ramrod-stright. "I know where I saw this."

"WHERE?" the others yelled at her.

"I have this classmate," Naomi explained. "School isn't exactly a very social place. Mostly we just sit in our chairs and focus on our own work, because nothing else is allowed. Thanks, Shuriki. But one of the guys there, he keeps sneaking in contraband books from the pre-Shuriki era. Apparently his grandpa was some kind of famous wizard, so he has all sorts of old texts and stuff. I caught him reading one on school grounds once. He thought I was gonna turn him in so I could get better grades. As if. I just wanted to take a look at what he was reading. It was all about the royal family, the Flores line. There were a bunch of old portraits in it, and someone was wearing that exact necklace. I remember because I pointed it out because it was the coolest thing anyone was wearing in the whole book. Anyway, he and I didn't really hang out much after that, but I always thought that if it was allowed…maybe we would."

"Then we should meet him!" Rapunzel blurted. "He could tell us everything we need to know! He might be what we need to stop both Shuriki and Yzma!"

"I know where he lives," Naomi admitted. "Not that I made a point of finding out or anything. I just…never mind. We could go over to his house and ask for his help."

"WOULD YOU GET IN TROUBLE FOR LEAVING YOUR JOB?" Papyrus asked.

"Not if four people helped me carry in the crates five times as fast." Naomi winked.

So the team worked together to unload the diamonds, and then, using the rest of the leftover time in Naomi's shift, they barreled through the Avaloran streets until they reached a secluded home, surrounded by forest. Naomi was the one to knock on the door.

The woman who answered looked none too happy to receive visitors. "We weren't expecting anyone," she said curtly. "Please leave."

"Ms. de Alva?" Naomi started. "I'm actually a school friend of Mateo's. We were just wondering if – "

"Mateo isn't home," Ms. de Alva answered sharply.

"Okay," Naomi replied. "Do you know when he'll be – "

"This is none of your business." Ms. de Alva shut the door forcefully.

"WOW," Papyrus grunted. "RUDE AND A HALF."

"Actually, probably not," Stork pointed out. "In a kingdom like this, where everyone could be out to get you…"

"Bingo," Naomi sighed. "She's not trying to be mean. She just doesn't have any proof we're not spies sent from Shuriki or something like that. Oh, well. Looks like we'll have to try something else."

A sharp "Psssst!" cracked through the air. Everyone suddenly looked toward the source of the sound, at the corner of the house's façade.

There was a boy, Naomi and Ven's age, waving at them. He was lithe and a little on the short side, with long, dark curls framing his face. He emphatically gestured for them to come closer.

"Mateo!" Naomi whispered, leading the charge over to him. "I knew you weren't out!"

"Actually, Mom thinks I am," Mateo replied. "What are you doing here? It's Naomi, right?"

"Yeah!" Naomi replied. "You remembered! That's awesome!"

"Not really," Mateo said. "You remembered me, and we all remember our other classmates."

"Sorry," Naomi said quietly. "This is just a really weird situation. Look, I'm sorry to put you in this position, but we need your help with something. All we need is to look at a picture in one of your books for like five minutes and then we'll be gone. Promise."

"Is this something to do with the Flores family?" Mateo asked. "Or Avalor before…her?"

Naomi nodded.

"And we can trust them?" Mateo looked back at Naomi's new companions.

"Totally," Naomi replied. "They might just have a way for us to get rid of you-know-who forever."

Mateo gaped. "REALLY? No, wait, don't tell me out here in the open! Follow me."

He urged the others around to the side of the house, where he rolled away a great stone. A crawlspace was revealed, leading down a secret stairway into a hidden cellar.

"And your mom doesn't know this place is here," Naomi said flatly.

"Nope," Mateo replied. "This was Grandpa's. He only ever told me about it. Come on. It's soundproof down there, so we can REALLY talk."

Everyone crawled in one by one, then stood once the stairway area widened out. "By the way," Mateo said, "you look like the spitting image of Rapunzel of Corona. You know that?"

"A few people might've told me…" Rapunzel teased.

The cellar was a wizard's workshop, lined with bookshelves, artifacts, and magic wands shaped like tambourines on poles. "Wow," Ven gasped. "This is amazing!"

"My grandpa was the royal wizard Alacazar," Mateo explained. "Before…you know. Shuriki."

"We've heard all about that," Sofia related. "We know how she got rid of the royals, and how she's making everyone who lives here miserable."

"If she knew we had this stuff, my entire family would be a target," Mateo admitted. "That's part of why I can't tell Mom. If I get caught…she needs to be able to say she honestly didn't know."

"You know," Stork said, "you seem awfully trusting of us for someone who can't even share this with his mom. Just saying."

"Well, Naomi said you were trustworthy," Mateo admitted. "And…I trust Naomi."

"Aww!" Naomi squeaked. "You are AWESOME, Mateo."

"HMM…" Papyrus mused. "AM I SENSING SPARKS HERE?"

"Sparks?" Mateo repeated. Then he gasped; "DID I FORGET TO PUT ONE OF THE MAGIC FLAMES OUT AGAIN?" He whirled about to make sure there was nothing on fire. "Phew! No sparks."

No one pressed the topic after that.

"So what's the issue?" Mateo asked. "How can I help?"

"Remember that book you were reading the one day I caught you with it?" Naomi asked. "It was about the Flores royal family. It had a picture in it that had…well, show him, Sofia."

Sofia held out the Amulet of Avalor once more. "I need to know what this amulet really is. Naomi said it was in your book."

"That's…" Mateo gaped, his voice gone breathy. "That's Princess Elena's. How did you get that?"

"My dad gave it to me," Sofia explained. "He's king of Enchancia – "

"YOU'RE THE PRINCESS OF ENCHANCIA?" Mateo blurted. "This…this is bad. If Shuriki knew you were here on Avaloran ground all by yourself without a royal envoy…"

"I think at this point we're all pretty much on the 'Shuriki would destroy us' boat," Stork clarified. "It's the glue that tenuously holds together our cardboard operation."

"But you know what I like to do with cardboard?" Rapunzel teased. "Give it a nice coat of paint and turn it into a canvas. So, who's this 'Princess Elena'?"
"She…she was princess about fifty years ago," Mateo explained. "The Flores bloodline ended with her and her sister Isabel. The two of them were…well…they were there when Shuriki first invaded. Elena was my age, and Isabel was just a little older than you." He looked to Sofia. "They never even got to live."

"That's awful," Ven said sympathetically. Then he gasped; "I wonder…"

"What?" Mateo asked.

"This might sound ridiculous," Ven said, "but…what if one of them survived?"

"There's no way," Mateo replied. "Well, okay, Esteban survived because he sold out to Shuriki, but traitors don't count."

"No," Ven clarified. "I mean…ten years ago, two of my best friends and I met with awful fates. People must've thought we were dead for all that time. But I was just asleep, getting to see things through someone else's eyes. One of my friends was lost in a world where time had no meaning. And one of them…" He sighed.

"IS STILL OUT THERE," Papyrus concluded, "BUT VERY DEFINITELY NOT DEAD."

"The Which-Way Bow from the Mystic Isles told us there was 'someone or something' to do with that amulet that could help us defeat Yzma," Ven went on.

"Yzma?" Mateo repeated. "Like…from the story of Emperor Kuzco?"

"There's a lot about this that's probably gonna blow your mind," Naomi warned him.

"I wanna know EVERYTHING!" Mateo gasped with wide eyes.

"I just wonder," Ven said. "If Elena was wearing this amulet when Shuriki attacked, and it has protective magic like we know it's had for Sofia…what if it saved her somehow? What if she's waiting, maybe even frozen in time, for someone to unlock that door?"

Rapunzel gasped. "The amulet transferred me from Corona to Enchancia when Sofia needed me most. What if it transferred Elena somewhere safe because she needed that the most?"

"That's…that's unbelievable," Mateo replied. "Which is exactly why I'm starting to believe it."

"You know," Naomi brought up, "there were a bunch of urban legends about a Flores surviving the attack. Maybe there's some truth to one of them."

"I wouldn't bank everything on that idea," Stork said. "Seems like we'd just be setting ourselves up for disappointment."

"We just need a way to test it out for ourselves," Mateo mused. Then he began to flit around the room, gathering items.

"What are all those for?" Sofia asked.

"My grandpa, Alacazar, was one of the most powerful wizards in the whole wide world," Mateo explained. "He knew just about everything. If Elena's necklace could do something like that, he would've known. Maybe he was even the one who gave it the power. We can't ask him. He's…gone. But there is someone else we can ask. Someone who knew everything he did." He returned to the center of the room, setting out books and drums and one of the magic wands – a tamborita. "His chanul."

"Huh?" Ven and Naomi said as one.

"A SPIRIT THAT SHARES PART OF A HUMAN SOUL," Papyrus said without missing a beat. "MONSTERS ARE NEVER LINKED TO THEM, BUT THEY FOLLOW THE DETERMINATION TO HUMANS, MOST OF WHOM DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY'RE THERE." A pause. "WHAT? I THOUGHT EVERYONE KNEW THAT."

"So it's like a spirit animal?" Naomi asked.

"Sort of," Mateo replied. "Spirit 'guide' is a little more accurate. A 'spirit animal' is something from a completely different part of the world, and it serves a completely different purpose. As far as I know, only people of Avaloran heritage or from the surrounding area have chanuls, but in that demographic, everyone's got one."

"Norburg girl here," Naomi said. "No chanul for me. And that's okay."

"Grandpa would talk about his chanul a lot," Mateo went on. "He said Zuzo was wise, and a little playful too. Just because Grandpa is gone doesn't mean Zuzo would be. In fact, they're probably reunited in the spirit world. All I have to do is summon Zuzo – "

"COULD YOU NOT JUST SUMMON YOUR GRANDPA?" Papyrus asked. "THAT WOULD BE FASTER."

"It…doesn't work like that," Mateo replied. "Chanuls can come back and forth across the two worlds. Humans who've moved from one plane to the other…it's more complicated. The closest we can get to each other is on Dia de los Muertos, and even then…we living people can't see the souls that are visiting."

"It just feels like evil people can get the people they want back from the dead whenever they feel like it," Ven sighed. "But we here in the Light have to say goodbye forever."

"That might not be such a bad thing, though." Mateo sat down, cross-legged. "Bringing people back…it would reverse a natural process. And if no one ever died, well, the world would run out of room. Also keep in mind that those people are in the Spirit World right now. They're seeing wonders we have no idea about. It's just the next step in a journey. And from what I hear, there are a bunch of other 'next steps' for people depending on what happened during their lives. It's all a cycle, life and death, and once a year, we can at least share the love across those borders."

"How did you get so smart?" Naomi asked.

"I dunno about 'smart,'" Mateo admitted. "More like…I have way too much time on my hands, and my brain doesn't shut off easily, so I think about things like that. Trust me, I have no idea how to do anything that isn't outlawed wizard stuff. You, on the other hand, know about fifty types of knots that I can't tie."

"Fifty-two, actually," Naomi teased. "So let's get to summoning the chanul already!"

Mateo had everyone sit in a circle around the ritual area. "Now, this is the first time I've ever done this," he admitted, "so the incantation might not work the first seven times. Or eight. Let's make it eight."

"We're ready," Sofia told him with a bright smile.

Mateo held out a tamborita, chanting solemnly, "Appear to us, animal spirit of Alacazar. Illuminara Alacazar wayohel!"

With the flat of his palm, he beat the tamborita, and immediately, every light in the room went out. A chilling breeze swept through the cellar.

"I don't like this," Stork muttered, hugging himself tightly.

A cloud of electric blue smoke puffed into the center of the room, wide and dense. Then, all of a sudden, a shape materialized within it, pulling the smoke into its own outline. A large fox, larger than any fox any present had seen, stood before them, glowing bright blue with symbols of magic pressed into his fur.

"Are you…Zuzo?" Mateo asked.

"Yes," Zuzo replied, "but this is really a bad time. I'm sorry, but Orizaba is attempting another coup on the spirit world, and it occurs to me that you probably don't know who Orizaba is, but let's just say it's bad news, and they really need me there to make sure she doesn't end up queen of all of us! Sorry, but you might want to try another chanul! Good luck!"

"WAIT!" Mateo called out. "We just need to ask you - "

And then Zuzo was gone.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Naomi sighed.

"I guess we have to wait," Mateo said solemnly.

"Or do what he said and ask another chanul," Rapunzel suggested.

"What other chanuls do we even know?" Naomi asked.

"You said everyone in Avalor has one, right?" Rapunzel urged. "And you're Avaloran, right? I mean, your family is?"

"Yeah," Mateo replied. Then he beamed; "Yeah! I DO have a chanul! I've just…never thought to try and talk to them before. They wouldn't know half as much as Grandpa's chanul…"

"But they'd still be from the spirit world, right?" Sofia urged. "That means they'd know more than we do about how everything works."

"True," Mateo mused. "Okay. I'll call up my chanul, and if they aren't also necessary to stop this…Orizaba thing, we'll ask. And if that doesn't work out, we can try Zuzo again later."

"Orizaba," Ven muttered. "It feels like there are villains seizing power everywhere we go."

"That's why we good guys have to stay on top of it," Rapunzel urged. "Try the incantation, Mateo."

So Mateo drew another breath. "Appear to us, animal spirit of…me. Illuminara Mateo de Alva wayohel!"

With a thump on the tamborita, the spell was cast. A new cloud of blue filled the room, again solidifying into an animal shape.

"It's…a sloth?" Sofia identified.

A sloth that had a few big differences from any sloth the others had seen. For one, he too was the same shade of electric blue as Zuzo, with the same markings in his fur coat. The most striking difference, however, was in his face. Naomi and Ven both had seen images of wild sloths in their books, and those always looked like they had a permanent smile affixed to their faces. This sloth bore a dour expression, looking as though he already had to deliver bad news.

"Oh," he sighed, his tone equally dour. "I'm in the human world."

Stork leapt to his feet, striking a defensive pose. His idea of a "sloth" was perhaps the most outlandish of everyone present. "I'm warning you," he seethed, "I held off the entire sloth tribe of the Black Gorge, which was supposed to be unsurvivable, so if you think you can pull a carnivorous metamorphosis on me and my friends, prepare to be STOPPED."

The sloth gave a heavy sigh. "I suppose that's about the welcome I could expect. Probably the best one I deserve, too."

"Uh…hi," Mateo greeted, putting up a hand. "My name's Mateo, and you're my chanul."

"Huh?" The sloth looked to him. "Oh. It is you. I guess that makes sense. Though I should warn you: I'm really not gonna be much help with whatever you called me for."

"Do you have to fight Orizaba too?" Naomi asked.

"No," sighed the sloth. "I wouldn't be much help there either. It's just that I'm not much help anywhere."

"How is this your chanul?" Naomi said in disbelief. "Mateo, you're so upbeat, and this guy's so…well…"

"You can say it," said the sloth. "I've heard just about every disparaging term in the book. Mostly I just call myself those things in my own head."

"He almost reminds me of someone I know…" Rapunzel turned to give a wink to Stork.

"I have nothing in common with SLOTHS," Stork seethed.

"I promise I'm not gonna attack you or anything," said the sloth. "Mostly because I don't want to. It wouldn't be a very nice thing to do. But also, if I did want to, I'd lose to you in a fight anyway."

Stork relaxed, then sat back down. "So. Um. You seem to have some issues."

"I'm just not the best chanul there ever was," the sloth admitted. "The name's Cacahuate, and I'm kind of the black sheep of the whole spirit world, except I'm not even a sheep. I couldn't even do that right. Well, you called. Why don't you tell me what you want so I can just get the disappointment over with already?"

Sofia displayed her amulet one more time. "Do you know anything about this? We know it used to belong to Princess Elena, and we know it's magic. But is there anything else special about it? Like…did it ever happen to protect anybody from Shuriki?"
"Oh, that amulet," Cacahuate noticed. "Haven't seen that in a while. You're right that it's very magical." He leaned over to examine it. "Actually, it almost looks like there's somebody inside of it." He nodded. "Yep, definitely somebody inside of it. Two somebodies, actually. It almost looks like they're fighting for control."

"TWO someones?" Sofia gasped.

"One of those is definitely Morgana le Fay," Cacahuate observed. "No idea why she'd be in there. Recent addition, too."

"WHAM ARMY, probably," Stork sighed. "Figures."

"The other one looks like…yep, that's Princess Elena all right," Cacahuate stated.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO CASUALLY?" Naomi yelled. "This is HUGE! The rightful heir to the throne actually survived, and she's waiting to be let out? AND she's locked in a fateful battle against one of the most famous evil witches ever?"

"You guys will let her out, right?" Cacahuate asked.

"We don't know how to do that," Ven admitted.

"It's easy, actually," Cacahuate said calmly. "All you need is whatever cast the spell that trapped her in there, like a wand, and then you need to bring it to the Crown of Aziluna. Do that, and you can set her free. You could do the same thing for Morgana too if you had that magic, but I'm guessing you don't want to do that."

"I'd rather keep the evil sorceress where she is, thanks," Stork replied.

"That could be a problem later on," said Cacahuate. "See, part of the reason the amulet is so magic is because Elena is focusing it and deciding what powers to let out and give the person who wears it. If you take her out but not Morgana, then the amulet just might go evil."

"We have to save Elena no matter what," Sofia insisted. "Even if that means an evil amulet."

"Is that really worth it, though?" Stork asked.

The amount of glares he received informed him that "Yes. Yes, it is."

"LET'S NOT FORGET THAT LEAVING MORGANA IN THERE MIGHT BE A CRUEL FATE," Papyrus pointed out. "MAYBE WE SHOULD MAKE A LONG-TERM STRATEGY TO RETRIEVE HER. WHAT WOULD WE DO IF SHE WAS PUT IN THERE BY ONE OF THE WHAM ARMY THAT DOESN'T USE WANDS TO CAST SPELLS?"

"That's a good question, actually," Cacahuate said. "I'll have to get back to you on that one. I know there's a way, though. Maybe the sunbird oracles would know more on that one."

"THEN WE – " Papyrus began.

"Can we not pick up another sidequest?" Stork grumbled. "Saving the evil sorceress isn't half as important as literally anything else we're doing."

" – WILL JOURNEY TO SEE THIS 'SUNBIRD ORACLE' SOMETIME FAR LATER DOWN THE ROAD, DEPENDING ON OUR SCHEDULE," Papyrus said.

"That works," Stork told him.

"It was Alacazar that made the amulet magic, right?" Mateo said excitedly. "And it's what saved Elena! So all we have to do is figure out which tamborita he used to cast the spell that – "

"Actually, that won't work," Cacahuate said. "It's gotta be the spell that was going to do the harm that the amulet saved her from. That was technically what put Elena in the amulet. Magic can have some strange rules sometimes. Not even I can pretend to understand all of it."

"So…Shuriki's magic wand," Naomi realized. "That big gaudy glass one she waves around at all her public audiences."

"That's going to be impossible to get!" Mateo protested. "How are we even supposed to get close to Shuriki?"

"WE COULD POSE AS HER ROYAL GUARD!" Papyrus suggested. "WHICH WOULD MEAN, OF COURSE, THAT WE WOULD NEED ALIASES AND UNIFORMS!"

"Royal guard…" Naomi muttered. "Actually, I might have an easier way in. I have another friend who I've had to talk out of this exact idea for a while now because it was basically an impossible mission of no return. Except back then, we didn't even need the wand except to put Shuriki in her place until she found it again. This time, we actually need it, so…I'm gonna let him try. He better not get himself hurt, though. He's a good guy. He's also a royal guard and one of the few that secretly opposes Shuriki. He could get close to her."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rapunzel insisted. "Let's go talk to him!"

"So long as he knows what he's signing up for," Stork stated.

"It is a pretty big risk," Ven admitted.

"BUT I'M SURE HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING," Papyrus said confidently. "WE ROYAL GUARD CANDIDATES ARE ALL CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH."

"Can we bring Cacahuate along?" Sofia asked. "We might need more of his help along the way."

"Bring me along?" Cacahuate reiterated. "You don't wanna do that. It was just coincidence that I knew the answer to your question this time. I'm sure it won't happen again. In fact, what if I give you advice that lands you in deep trouble?"

"I'm starting to regret going on the defensive," Stork admitted. "I think I actually understand you on a personal level. Which is why you're coming on this mission, because it's the only way I ever learned anything."

"Please, Cacahuate," Mateo begged. "You're my chanul. You're the one I'm supposed to trust most of all. And I don't even know the way to the Crown of Aziluna, so you have to at least take us that far."

"Well…okay," Cacahuate relented. "But I am a slow walker, and I wouldn't want to slow you all down."

"Then I'll just carry you," Mateo said proudly. "After all, you're my chanul, and I owe you at least one for that."

"I'm not sure I deserve that kindness," Cacahuate replied, "but if that's what you gotta do, then I'll go along with it."

That was how they all ended up waiting around the servant's entrance of the Avaloran palace, waiting for Naomi's other friend to return and half fearing he wouldn't. Thankfully, he came around the corner soon enough, brandishing a witch's wand of shimmering glass.

Gabriel Nunez was quite tall and broad-shouldered for his age, definitely cutting the look of a royal guard. His raven hair was cropped short above his head, and he bore the uniform of Shuriki's Avaloran guard. He was also obviously far too much of a kind soul to be here, but Shuriki had wanted her guards to match a uniform aesthetic in their body type, and when she'd found out that Gabe had been training for strength on the days he didn't have to work in the Nunez bake shop, she'd recruited him immediately without checking his qualifications. Which temporarily put a damper on the scheme to overthrow her that all that training had been for. He'd hoped to be able to undermine her from the inside, but she kept eyes everywhere; it would have been easier to try and impregnate the walls externally.

Which was why Gabe panted as he ran up to the group; "We have about thirty minutes before she realizes this is missing. After that, it's a wild card what she'll even do."

"YOU GOT IT!" Naomi and Rapunzel cheered.

"You're not dead," Stork said with a soft smile. "That's good enough for me in itself, really."

"So we should get moving," Mateo urged. "Which way to the Crown of Aziluna?"

Cacahuate hung from his front like an infant, cradled by one of Mateo's arms. "If you leave through the south gate, there's a short route to the site," he explained. "Still plenty of time for us to get caught while we're on it, but it seems you won't give up until we try it, so we might as well."

"Then let's go to the south gate!" Sofia decided.

As they headed that way, Papyrus told Gabe, "I KNEW YOU WOULD COME THROUGH FOR US. WE ROYAL GUARDS – OR ROYAL GUARD CANDIDATES – OUR DEDICATION TO DOING WHAT'S RIGHT WILL ALWAYS EMPOWER US TO SAVE THE DAY!"

"Absolutely!" Gabe agreed. "Y'know, I get the feeling that if you and I stick together, we can turn the tide of the battle!"

"BUT OF COURSE VEN WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO THIS," Papyrus reminded Gabe. "AFTER ALL, HE IS PROBABLY THE BEST-TRAINED WARRIOR OF US THREE."

"Really?" Gabe replied. "What's your background?"

"Well, I…" Ven materialized the Keyblade. "I'm on the road to mastery with this."

Gabe's eyes widened. "I haven't seen one of those outside ancient Maruvian pictograms!" he gasped. "How does it work? What can you do with it? Why's it so special? Tell me everything!"

To which Ven was all too happy to oblige.

...

"There!" Rhona backed off from where she'd hung both sets of armor up so they could be used immediately. "Some of my finest work, if I do say so myself. Oh, who am I kidding? All of my work is my finest work!"

The Huntsman nodded as he looked over the results. One suit was bulky and blocky, white and blue, built for cryogenic capabilities inside and out. The other was sleek, meant to be form-fitting, dark with red accents. This latter suit had fully mechanical arms, leaving nowhere for a person to put biological arms – but Rhona was assured that was no error in the blueprint.

"Very well done, Mad Thinker," the Huntsman complimented. "These should be more than sufficient."

"And after you bring them back, you'll take me along too, right?" Rhona asked, wide-eyed. "Right? I can provide many valuable talents, both intellectual and in the field!"

"I mean, I for one respect your ego," Mozenrath said. "It reminds me of someone I'm very, very fond of."

"It's you, isn't it?" Rhona sighed.

"You ARE intelligent!" Mozenrath teased.

"I suppose there would be room for you," the Huntsman mused. "Perhaps it is time for us to take a dual approach to the Grandmaster's tournament. While those of us who are more combat-oriented participate, it may do us well to have a mole on the inside who can assure our victory."

"I can definitely do that," Rhona insisted. "Show me your enemy's computer system and I'll have him on his knees in minutes. I'll be able to work even faster if I don't have THEM hovering over my shoulder!"

Albel and Miratrix had been handcuffed and sent to the corner, where Jihl and Loqi made sure they didn't touch or break anything in the lab. Apparently, Rhona had things here that would literally kill them all if damaged.

"First, of course, the matter at hand," said the Huntsman.

"Now, I'm just warning you all," Mozenrath said. "Our new friends are symbiotic with their armor for a reason. Think about the reason I wear my gauntlet. This won't exactly be a pretty picture."

"How dare you insinuate that a seasoned warrior would be offput by the damage of flesh?" Albel sneered.

"A sentiment I share," Loqi growled.

"I'm not a little girl," Miratrix added.

"Please," Rhona scoffed. "I've seen things in my biology exams that would make most 'normal' people blush."

Jihl tucked away her glasses. "Well, I'm not sure I want to see it." She turned her head, taking only a mere sidelong glance at the scene.

"I'll take that as my signal to proceed," said Mozenrath.

The Huntsman nodded. "It is time."

Mozenrath raised his right hand high, letting it shine bright as a star. Cocoons of blue light bore forth two bodies, raised from the beyond without yet a stitch to cover them.

Rhona, Albel, Miratrix, and Loqi all recoiled; "EUGH!"

"Very glad I didn't see it," Jihl muttered.

Donnie Gill had been confined to his cryogenic armor because of an incident that had left his body heavily scarred. Half his face was discolored and puckered from intense trauma, and more than half his body shared the same pattern, making the man almost a living scar.

But he was hardly anything compared to Mark Scarlotti. No arms, of course. But there seemed to be a few more parts of him that had been connected up to the Whiplash suit – parts that would normally be internal. He looked like something that a massive dog had chewed on, with incisions and pockmarks dotting his body up and down. His legs were the only part unscarred.

Mozenrath flicked his hand; the designated armors rose from where Rhona had set them up, splitting into their parts, opening up to receive their inhabitants. The bulky white armor encased Donnie; the darker, sleeker suit enveloped Mark. The suits left not an inch of human skin exposed, essentially transforming them from men to metal. Hiding the extensive damage to their initial physical forms.

Once both were reconnected to their life support, they drew their first gasping breaths, looking at one another in surprise.

"We are…" Mark, otherwise known as Whiplash, panted.

"Yeah," Donnie, also known as Blizzard, replied tentatively. "Looks like it."

"Gentlemen!" Mozenrath greeted. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. You're probably wondering why you're all of a sudden back from the dead. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Justin Hammer dropped you in a trash compactor and – "

"HAMMER!" Whiplash screeched. He raised his arms, deploying the long metal whips that gave him his name and infamy. They blazed with red electricity, and Whiplash went into a blind rage, lashing out at Rhona's laboratory, searing two machines in half and continuing on.

"DON'T LET HIM TOUCH THE STEEL CABINET!" Rhona shrieked.

"WHIPLASH!" Blizzard seized him by both shoulders. "Calm down!"

"NO!" Whiplash seethed. "NOT AFTER WHAT HE DID TO US!" Another machine was overloaded with electricity, leaving a column of black smoke spewing.

"STOP WRECKING MY LAB!" Rhona moaned.

Jihl undid the cuffs that held Miratrix and Albel, and they lunged in, swords swinging. Whiplash saw this for but a moment before snickering, wrapping a whip each around Albel's blade and one of Miratrix's. Soon, high voltage coursed into both of them, sending them to their knees.

There was a flash of green. The huntstaff cut through both whips, rendering their electric functions dead. Albel and Miratrix panted and shivered, and Rhona thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't suffered anything similar.

"Is that any way to treat the people who brought you back to life?" Mozenrath sighed.

"You were revived on the condition that we would collaborate," the Huntsman said. "You will have much leeway in that regard. However, strike another blow against my apprentices and you can very easily be returned from whence you came."

Whiplash made a low growl, then muttered, "Very well. So long as you have no connection to HIM, or else I'll have to trade you in for my own life. And make no mistake: I will win that fight."

"Oh, that ought to be interesting to watch him try," Jihl said flippantly.

"Mark," Blizzard said sternly. "Let's hear them out. They could be the key to our revenge. And you're not the only one who was shaken up by being murd – "

"Do not get this twisted," Whiplash hissed. "I am not SHAKEN. I am not one to COWER. What I feel about the whole incident is nothing short of pure rage. Coddle me and I'll show you exactly how much I need your care."

After a pause, Blizzard gave a chuckle. "Good. THAT'S what I wanted to hear. Whiplash and Blizzard, back on top again. So when do we get to kill Hammer?"

"Who said we wanted you to kill Hammer?" Mozenrath taunted. "Maybe we have other plans for you. Plans that pay well."

"Talk," Blizzard said. "Tell us what's on the table. Then we decide."

"Well…" Mozenrath pretended to think it over. "I think as your first mission, I want you to…kill Justin Hammer."

Blizzard clapped Whiplash on the back, and the two of them practically went into hysterics. "At least he gave me the grace of a quick death," Whiplash said. "I don't think I'm feeling quite that POLITE toward him."

"Grace?" Blizzard teased. "You're mad because you didn't even get to enjoy the pain on the way out. I know you."

"You're right," Whiplash replied. "I suppose this means I owe him all the more suffering."

"But this is too good to be true," said Blizzard. "How did you actually bring us back? And is this really a no-strings-attached job?"
"The answer to that question might be a little unbelievable," Mozenrath replied.

"Try me," Whiplash urged.

So everyone explained the WHAM ARMY and the Sakaar tournament. Concluding with the Huntsman saying "Your elimination of Hammer will prove to us whether or not you are what we are looking for."

"…Huh," Blizzard replied. "You're right. That's pretty unbelievable."

"And yet here we stand, back from the precipice of death," Whiplash realized. "We have long known there are ethereal forces at work in the world. I of course had no time to waste on Makluan rings, but it stands to reason that other things might come along to fill the void once they were handed off to the meek-hearted Mandarin. Things perhaps even more powerful than the whole Makluan nonsense combined."

"Oh, you have no idea," Mozenrath said with a smirk. "And now those things can be yours. Well, conditionally."

"Moreover," the Huntsman added, "I will reiterate that I have devoted my life to learning not only how to utilize but how to counter magic in its myriad forms. Those I have assembled here have such strength as well, despite what their short tempers may have you believe. Jihl Nabaat has exerted an iron rule over creatures made of powerful magic. Loqi Tummelt has dueled a gods' chosen hero and lived to tell the tale thrice over. Albel the Wicked has learned to utilize the blade against the mages of his own homeworld without resorting to their particular brand of Runology. And Miratrix is a former seeker of the Corona Aurora, one of the most infamous and powerful items known to exist among all worlds…and it should be known that she succeeded in bringing home one of the five gems of ultimate power."

"I'm here too," Rhona said, raising her hand.

"Rhona might not be a magic slayer," Mozenrath said on her behalf, "but what she lacks in raw power, she makes up for with the fact that…well, without those armors, my necromancy would've lasted all of thirty seconds while you two bled out."

"Hey," Blizzard snapped. "For the record, I don't bleed out. I would've gone into shock. Get it right."

"Hmm." Whiplash surveyed the damage he'd caused earlier. "Perhaps I acted too soon in my anger against – "

"Justin Hammer?" Rhona rolled her eyes. "No, from what I've heard, he's one of the greatest forces preventing me from advancing in this world. You know the glass ceiling? He's practically the entire pane! I GUESS I can forgive your wanton destruction of my devices, but try to be a little more thoughtful in the future. After all, I built both those suits, and I know exactly how to shut them down."

"Fair," said Whiplash, obviously impressed by Rhona's moxie. "Keep proving useful and I may be able to lend you a cut that would BEGIN to cover the costs."

"Funny thing that we're actually using a couple of people raised from the dead to fight Justin," Rhona realized. "From what I heard, they only just found a way to reverse his zombification."

There was a thick silence before Whiplash said what everyone was thinking: "…What?"

"Long story." Rhona waved it off. "We can talk about it on the way to his HQ."

"We'd need a plan before we commit the invasion," Blizzard pointed out.

"Are you insinuating I don't already have our plan down to the letter?" Rhona scoffed.

"That's…news to me, actually," Mozenrath told her.

"Because I wanted to make a grand unveiling and impress all of you at once with my genius, of course," Rhona boasted. "I've been waiting for just the right time to use this little toy."

She sauntered to the steel cabinet that she'd warned against Whiplash touching earlier. Inputting a code into a keypad and looking into a retinal scanner, she popped open the doors, revealing a small glass cube that appeared to be empty.

"An empty box," Whiplash sneered. "How genius."

"It's not empty," Rhona sighed, taking out the glass box and setting it down upon a table. "This is what would've killed us all if one of you idiots had broken it. Take a closer look."

Whiplash and Blizzard did so. Jihl, Loqi, Mozenrath, and the Huntsman crowded around. Miratrix and Albel tried to peer over the others, standing on their toes.

"Nanotechnology," Whiplash realized, seeing only the slightest aberrations in the stillness of the box. "You have nanobots trapped here."

"Killer nanobots?" Blizzard repeated. "Sounds perfect. Just keep 'em far away from me."

"A tiny thing in a box inside of another box." Mozenrath nodded. "Yzma would approve."

"I had them shipped in from up north," Rhona boasted. "This is a living virus created by an inferior mind. It's informally known as 'Technovore.' It was invented to consume any and all technology it came across, though judging by the state of the corpse this was found on, well, it started getting a taste for flesh. After all, what is the mind but the world's most advanced machine?" She scowled. "I lost three good bots in order to get this."

"If it was created by someone so inferior," the Huntsman asked, "then why utilize it?"

"Well, much as I hate to admit it, Technovore is almost conceptually perfect as a WMD," Rhona said. "The only problem is that there's no killswitch. And that's the only hitch still remaining in my plan – though of course I'm very, VERY close to a solution. The point is, if Technovore is let out of the box, it will never, ever stop its rampage until…well, perhaps the whole world is consumed."

"You wish to set it loose on Hammer," Whiplash realized, obviously quite amused by the thought.

"Of course!" Rhona explained. "Technovore will travel up his company's systems, rendering his entire building technologically dead. I'll give it a little push to trigger a security lockdown so he can't make it too far down the stairs. Of course, Justin tends to employ strong security guards. You two know this."

"Probably replaced us with some stooge already," Blizzard grumbled.

"Obviously, he traded down," Whiplash grumbled. "I say we show him exactly how far."

"That's why we need two teams," Rhona went on. "Our stronger fighters will approach from a more obvious entrance to draw out Justin's mercenary of the week. Meanwhile, Mozenrath and I, the brains of the operation, will use the diversion to sneak into the building. Mozenrath's magic can easily take out the cameras that would usually alert Justin to us being there, but we'll leave the ones that are filming the rest of you. If we're lucky, seeing Whiplash and Blizzard back from the dead should give him a mild heart attack as a primer. Mozenrath and I upload Technovore, then we make our escape before it spreads too far. Within less than an hour, I estimate Technovore will have compromised every last system in the company and started work on assimilating Justin's brain into itself. And no more Hammer ever again." She took a moment to give a laugh.

"There it is," Mozenrath sighed.

"There WHAT is?" Rhona snapped.

"The obvious flaw in your plan," Whiplash filled in. "The one you don't have covered."

"I didn't even start to tell you about that yet!" Rhona barked.

"You hardly need to," said the Huntsman. "You said no killswitch. Once Technovore is released, we have a head start, and then it will pursue US."

Rhona sighed. "Admittedly I still have to come up with a barrier that can be deployed at will and fence it into Hammer. If his tech is the main course, I'm sure Blizzard and Whiplash's armor will look just like dessert. That's not even taking into account the Huntsman tech that I'm sure it's never seen before. Without a barrier, we'll need to get far, FAR out of dodge. And even then, well, it'll only be a matter of time before it triggers a technological apocalypse."

"Question," Mozenrath broke in. "Exactly how much about this world are you attached to?"

"This world has been nothing but a giant obstacle to my progress," Rhona seethed. "It will be MUCH better once I impose my order upon it."

"And you?" the Huntsman asked Whiplash and Blizzard. "What about this world is valuable to you?"

"Money, pretty much," Blizzard said. "And the fact that Obadiah Stane could still die."

Whiplash snickered. "I think I see where exactly you are taking this. Instead of answering your question, I'll just answer the REAL one. Yes. I will."

"Wait, what?" Blizzard looked to him. "I'm confused."

"I'm not," Rhona said defensively. "But I'll let our team leaders explain it."

"It's obvious," Jihl realized. "We don't technically have to stop Technovore at all."

"Because by the time it's unleashed," Miratrix said with a wide grin, "we'll be long gone from this world."

"A necessary sacrifice in war," Albel said, tossing his braids. "There will be other worlds for us."

"So if there is anything here you do not wish to be devoured by our weapon," Loqi urged, "speak up NOW."

Blizzard and Rhona thought it over, looking from Whiplash to each other to the group at large. "You know what?" Rhona realized. "There ISN'T anything here I want to save that badly. I'd rather not be operating out of a secret base underneath a mall boutique, but that much should be obvious. With a blank slate…I don't have to."

"Yeah, forget this whole world," Blizzard added. "There's nothing here worth saving. After all, it made me into THIS."

"Don't forget, Donnie," Whiplash teased. "THIS isn't exactly a slouch at our work. You and I, we're both stronger than we ever were before."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Blizzard muttered. "Not that I'm not proud to be a metal monster, but you're still way more used to it than me. Gimme a year or two to catch up."

"And we could be the enders of this world!" Whiplash boasted. "What better revenge is there on Hammer than to take away not just his company and his life, but everything he ever loved?"

"Just so long as there's such a thing as money on these other worlds," Blizzard said. "It'd be a shame to send the economy to waste before we got the most out of it."

"Trust me," Mozenrath replied. "There are better economies out there. Your career will take off like it never has before."

"And," Blizzard realized, "this also means that if no one stops the virus, Stane dies. I'd count that as win in my corner."

"Well!" Rhona proclaimed. "It seems that my plan was flawless genius after all! I should've realized. After all, I've never failed myself yet! So, what do you say? Let's take down Justin Hammer, leave this dump of a planet behind, and make this the first step in a new cosmic era for the Mad Thinker and her bodyguards!"

"Rephrase that now," Whiplash hissed.

"For the Huntsman and his allies," the Huntsman broke in.

"That I can live with," Whiplash decided.

...

Mera, Indus, Prisma, the Lobster Mobster, and Undertow had opted to enter Avalor not by the port but by land, crossing through a thick jungle en route. When an hour or so had passed from their ETA, they began to suspect they were in fact lost in the forest.

"I do not understand," said Indus. "I have been following the map perfectly."

"Is it right-side up?" Mera sighed.

"It is this time," Indus replied. "But the 'we are here' marker hasn't changed since we started."

"What the – " The Lobster Mobster clambered up on Indus' thick shoulder. "Why would it do that? Maps stay still and it's our job to know where we are!"

"It's paper, Indus," Mera sighed. "It's okay. It's okay! I figured this would happen. It literally always happens."

"Even when you are the one holding the map, Lady Mera," Indus pointed out.

"We don't talk about that," Mera grumbled.

"One time," Indus began, "Lady Mera was leading the way through a desert, and as it turned out, she had been told to go East, but she forgot that completely and took us West – "

"I SAID WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT!" Mera snapped.

Prisma chuckled. "I think it's adorable. And that these stories are a good way to pass the time trudging through this dirty jungle."

"We should've come in through the port," Undertow grumbled. "I understand water. Not whatever this is – " And to prove his point, he bumped his nose hard against a tree. The seventeenth since they'd entered the jungle. "WHY ARE THE PLANTS MADE OF ROCK IN THE HUMAN WORLD?"

"Search me," the Lobster Mobster replied, "but we could probably sell plant-rock for a fortune down in Atlantica. People could build their houses out of it!"

"And those houses would dessicate over the course of a couple years," Mera pointed out. "Wood underwater is a big no-go. You guys have seen driftwood, right? You know what driftwood is?"
"So in other words," said the Lobster Mobster, "you're sayin' we could charge top dollar for cheap materials, and if we write the insurance contracts to favor the landlord 'stead of the tenant – "

"And we could also set up an HOA," Indus added, "and tell people it is illegal to have chairs on their porch!"

"Why is that even related?" Undertow growled.

"Because HOAs are the greatest evil of all," Indus said confidently.

"He's…not wrong there," Mera admitted.

Undertow smacked into another tree. Prisma stole the map from Indus with an "Ohhh, give me that!". She looked it over, then pointed a direction that was definitely not the one they'd been walking in. "We need to go THAT way."

"I dunno about you guys," Mera said, "but I trust the Crystal Master way more than anyone else on this whole trip."

"We should even trust her more than you, apparently," Undertow grumbled. "Little Miss East-West."

"SHUT UP!" Mera yelled.

"I'm holding the map," Prisma asserted, "and I say leave Mera alone! She's embarrassed enough already!"

"So the map automatically puts you in charge, huh?" Undertow said sardonically.

"Well, I seem to be the one leading us in the right direction," Prisma scoffed, "so I would say so!"

"Huh." Undertow thought it over. Then he shot straight at her like a cannonball, going for the map; "GIMME THAT!"

He knocked Prisma through a tree line into a small clearing. Prisma brought out her Terra Crystal to whack Undertow on the head until he backed off. Indus, the Lobster Mobster, and Mera hustled to follow them.

"Please do not fight!" Indus pleaded.

"Don't listen to that guy!" the Lobster Mobster yelled. "Fight, fight, fight! Give 'em the old one-two!"

"What the – " Mera went wide-eyed at the scene. But not at the fight. "Hey, cut it out! I think we just found something!"

"Yeah," Undertow growled, "a know-it-all who thinks she can boss us around!"

"I think we found a RUDE AND INSENSITIVE IDIOT!" Prisma barked.

"Indus," Mera sighed, "break them up. Gently please."

A Barrier appeared between Prisma and Undertow, separating them. In the span of quiet as they realized they now couldn't fight each other, Mera pointed; "LOOK. AT. THAT."

They'd managed to stumble next to what appeared to be a short stone vault, perhaps the size of the average bedroom in someone's house. Roots and vines choked its entrance, which looked to be patterned in runes.

Prisma immediately flitted toward it. "This looks like ancient Maruvian writing! I wish I could read more of it…"

Undertow skirted the barrier so he could give the plant blanket a mighty chomp. The vault was soon in full view. Undertow spat out the plants loudly; "UGH! Why do these taste like walruses have been sleeping in them?"
"Oh!" Prisma realized. "It IS ancient Maruvian! And I know what it says, too! Hold on, I just have to sound out these runes…" She traced her Terra Crystal over the ancient writing. "Nahua…cencama…momaqua! That means – "

The doors of the vault shifted, slowly grinding open.

"It means 'the magic word is "escape,"'" Prisma explained. "I…may have just let something out."

Mera, Indus, and Undertow braced for battle. The Lobster Mobster cowered behind Indus.

However, nothing came from the vault. There was simply a featureless stone room, a perfect cube, inside.

"Weird," Mera said as she approached. "Why would there be a whole magic word to open this vault if there's nothing in it?"

"Maybe there is a secret compartment!" Indus raced inside.

"Could be hidden treasure!" the Lobster Mobster figured as he, Prisma, and Undertow all entered the vault.

They'd spent about ten seconds searching the walls for hidden panels when the doors closed on them, trapping them in the dark.

"WHAT?" Mera yelled. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"Do not worry!" Indus took his position behind the doors. "I will free us!" He pounded both fists on the door again and again, but to no avail."

"Phooey," Prisma muttered. "The doors are probably magically reinforced."

"So now the thing that needs to escape is US?" Undertow growled. "No way, sister! I didn't sign up for this!" He started adding his own strength to ramming the doors.

"Hey, be careful!" Mera backed into a corner. "No one hit me, okay?"

Prisma stood out front of her, arms spread. "They'll have to go through me first!"

The Lobster Mobster kept tapping at the wall. "I still ain't given up on the idea that there just might be treasure in here," he stated confidently. "Maybe a secret way out, too!"

"Hitting the doors is not working," Indus realized. "I shall have to change strategies." He paused for a moment, then started hitting the doors again.

"How is that – " Prisma attempted.

"HELP US!" Indus yelled. "WE ARE TRAPPED INSIDE OF HERE!"

"Shut up, idiot!" Undertow smacked Indus across the face with his tail. "We're the bad guys in this story, remember? What do you think's gonna happen when some wannabe hero comes along and finds us? Huh? You think about that?"

"We could act like we're the good guys, though," Prisma said. "That almost worked for me, remember?"

"It DID work for you," Mera replied. "You played that part too well. The problem was we weren't looking for good guys. But we could potentially pull it off again if Indus and I go Museum Guard Mode…"

"Hey, shut up!" Undertow hissed. "Someone's coming!"

The stone muffled it to a great degree, but there were definitely sounds of someone making their way through the jungle, and a pair of voices – one low and husky, one high-pitched. Probably an adult man and an adolescent girl from the sounds of it.

"Maybe they are here to rescue us!" Indus figured. He pounded the door again; "HELP US! WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS!"

"Remember," Prisma said. "Smile, act sweet, ask what you can do to help, and when all else fails, blame someone else and play the victim! We'll just say Shuriki put us inside here!"

The two voices got closer. Now whoever spoke was directly outside the vault. After some muttering, the higher-pitched of the voices yelled out, "Nahua…samsara…momokaa!"

"No, no, no!" the deeper one chided. "That is not how it is pronounced! It is…na-hoo-a sensenna momaqua!"

"We're going to be in here for a while," Prisma sighed.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the higher voice yelled. "I think…yeah, it's nahura cencama momaqua!"

Blessed light spilled into the vault from outside. The five of the WHAM ARMY put on their best faces and brightest smiles as they came face-to-face with their rescuers.

Indeed it was an adult man and a teenage girl. The man was dressed in a sharp suit of deep greens, complete with a waistcoat and cravat; his hair, both facial and atop his head, was kept neat as could be. The girl wore a dress of yellow and black; her dark hair was neatly coiffed atop her head. He was broad-shouldered but trim; she was short and slight.

The man made direct eye contact with Prisma and bowed. "Lady Chatana! It is an honor to have released you from your prison! I am Victor Delgado, and this is – "

"I AM CARLA DELGADO!" the girl barked proudly. "We are going to be the next rulers of Avalor!"

"With your help, of course," Victor said. "You see – "

"Did you just call me CHATANA?" Prisma chuckled. "Really?"

"Erm…yes?" Victor replied. "Because that is who you are. We have journeyed far and wide to find your prison so that we could – "

"No, I'm Prisma," Prisma said. "I'm BETTER than Chatana."

"You know what a Chatana is?" Mera asked.

Prisma waved dismissively. "Just one of the old sorceresses that used to terrorize this world. She specialized in making monsters, but a lot of times they were just silly instead of threatening."

"But…" Carla pointed to Undertow and the Lobster Mobster. "But they are the creatures you have made, aren't they?"

"Hey now!" Undertow snarled. "I'm no silly creature some sorceress made! I'm an apex predator! And if you don't watch it, you're goin' on the menu!"

"What our friend means, of course," the Lobster Mobster broke in, "is that…well, it's a figure of speech, see. We'd never do anything to harm a couple of nice-looking humans like – "

"Drop the act," Prisma said with a roll of her eyes. "If they came here looking for Chatana, they don't want good guys either."

"Oh thank God," Mera sighed. "Yeah, that's the thing, we're just a bunch of nasty criminals ourselves, and we got locked in there by accident, and let me tell you, there is NO treasure in there."

"I triple-checked," the Lobster Mobster said sullenly.

"So you were the ones who freed Chatana?" Carla gasped. She immediately began to look this way and that; "Which way did she go?"

"We didn't free anyone," Prisma admitted. "We thought maybe we were about to, since the incantation is for escaping. But the vault was empty. Which makes sense to me, since Chatana would be long gone by now unless she was preserved by magic."

"And what about this vault makes you think it's not a magic preservation room?" Undertow pointed out.

"Oh," Prisma realized. "Right. She must've been in stasis here. That is, if what you heard about this place was true. But she wasn't here, so either you got lied to or – "

"Or someone else released her before we could arrive," Victor said with great suspicion. He then eyed up Prisma. "You said you were…'better' than Chatana. Perhaps we could ask for your services instead."

"Services?" Prisma asked. "Well, that depends. We're already here to do something. But I guess if – "

"Papá and I are assembling an army of the lost ancient evils of the Everrealm!" Carla proclaimed. "Chatana was the first step. Then we will find and steal the Eye of Midnight to use to permanently summon Orizaba from the spirit world on the night of the upcoming eclipse! Then, finally, we will unleash the Shadows of the Night!"

"You really haven't done any research on this, have you?" Prisma sighed. "Orizaba might work with you. That one's fine. But the Shadows of the Night? They've worked for a hundred different masters and betrayed them a hundred different times. That's their whole thing. They pretend you're in charge, and then next thing you know, they take over the whole scheme and get you out of the picture. That time-freezing one is especially annoying."

"Who are you to know this much?" Victor asked, leaning forward to examine Prisma.

"I'm a Crystal Master from the Mystic Isles," Prisma explained. "Surely you know THAT legend if you were looking for Chatana and the Shadows of the Night."

Victor and Carla gasped dramatically, taking a step back. "We thought those islands were just fairy tales!" Carla blurted. "If they are real, then we could have even more important things to do than get our revenge on Shuriki!"

"So this whole 'recruiting ancient evils' thing is just a revenge bit?" Mera clarified. "What did Shuriki do to you anyway?"
Victor scowled. "An old friend and I conspired to put Shuriki in power so that she would reward us both handsomely. But that former friend and Shuriki shut me out so that I would reap none of their rewards, and I was banished from Avalor. That in and of itself is unforgivable, but in doing this to me, they also assured Carla had no place in the kingdom that the three of us conspired to take! And that requires the most revenge of all. They could have so easily given her a home and a title! Then I would have found a way to reunite with her in time. But Shuriki chose El Segundo over me. He had no children to care for…and was, of course, El Segundo in every respect compared to me."

"That is a nice name," Indus said. "El Segundo. I wish it was my name."

"It's Spanish, you idiot," Mera sighed. "It means 'the second.' As in the second-best. As in the loser."

"But I am El Segundo to you, Lady Mera!" Indus realized. "And I am very proud of that!"

"Is he also one of your creatures?" Carla asked. "Did you create a servant of clay that would obey your every whim?"

"NO ONE HERE IS CHATANA!" Mera barked. "STOP TALKING LIKE WE'RE CHATANA!"

"We just have to be certain you were not testing us," Victor said.

"Chatana? Test you?" Prisma rolled her eyes again. "Please. That woman's blunter than an eroded quartz. You're better off without her. But if it's revenge and the throne of Avalor you want, I guess we could take just a little time to help you out…if you promised to do something for us in return."

"Why should we want you?" Carla asked. "So you're from the Mystic Isles. Big deal!"

"Big deal?" Prisma recoiled. "I'll show you a big deal!"

She flicked her Terra Crystal, conjuring a rainbow cluster of glimmering stones. Victor and Carla gasped in awe.

"They're…really easily amused, aren't they?" Mera realized.

"You can do this sort of magic at will?" Victor reiterated.

"Any old time!" Prisma told him. "I'm just that great. See, I actually just managed to help a friend usurp the Mystic Isles, so Avalor should be a piece of cake next to that. But, like I said, WE need help with something too."

"We're looking for a bunch of brats," Mera sighed. "They're trying to stop us from keeping the Mystic Isles, and they came down here to try and research some weird magic amulet because it might be the MacGuffin that can take us down. So we need to get them off the board before they do anything stupid that ruins our plans."

"Though first, we need to actually get to Avalor," Prisma admitted. "We've had a little…trouble with the directions."

"To guide you to Avalor will be no trouble," said Victor. "Finding your rivals will be somewhat harder…but doable."

"Papá," Carla hissed. "Didn't we read something about the Amulet of Avalor and Alacazar? Could it be?"

"Yes…yes, it could be," Victor mumbled. "It is suggested that the Amulet's power can be awakened at the Crown of Aziluna. Which means we do not even need to step on Shuriki's territory if we wish to set up a stakeout there."

"They HAVE to be going that way!" Carla insisted. "They're trying to turn that Amulet into its most powerful form! You could only do that at the Crown of Aziluna or at that…that one place with the crystals. What was it called?"
"Takaina," said Victor. "Ancient crystal forge of the Maruvians. But we already know it cannot be found. My wife, she…she was lost in the search for it."

"Crystal forge?" Prisma's eyes lit up. "That place sounds like it could do wonders for me! And I bet you we're a lot stronger than your wife."

"You do not bad-mouth Ash Delgado in my presence!" Victor warned.

"Sor-ry," Prisma huffed. "But we should at least try. I'm a Crystal Master, remember? A crystal forge could give me a million new powers! In fact, we'll save that one for later. All you have to do is tell us what you know, and we'll go there on our own, so whatever happens to us will be our own fault."

"We're still gonna get there, though," Undertow said, "and you'll look real stupid for saying it was impossible."

"So if I am to understand," said Victor, "first we shall take you to the Crown of Aziluna to battle these rivals of yours. Then we shall devise a plan to battle Shuriki and take Avalor out from under her feet. That plan may or may not involve the Eye of Midnight. Then, when all is said and done, we shall tell you all we know about Takaina, and you will journey there on your own and inevitably fail."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Carla said.

"Yeah, I'm down for this," Mera said. "All right, let's get moving. And tell us some more about these ancient myths and legends while you're at it. I get the feeling some of this could come in handy later."

...

Vexen, Deymos, and Vincent practically flew down the streets to Olliewood. Deymos sent off a quick message begging everyone to reunite in front of Nergal's Pizza tout de suite.

"We should be well out of his range by now," Vexen panted.

"What is he even doing here?" Deymos groaned. "WHY is he even here?"

"An old co-worker of yours," Vincent said. Not asked; said. "I know that tone."

"Yeah, and he was the office snitch," Deymos replied, stuffing his phone back in his pocket.

"Based on what I've seen the two of you do as part of your job experience," Vincent answered, "I don't doubt we made the best choice by running away."

"Running away is ALWAYS the best choice," Deymos clarified.

"It shouldn't matter anymore," Vexen panted. "We'll rendez-vous, storm the pizzeria, and then – "

They skidded into central Olliewood. Nergal's fortified pizzeria still took up the focal point of the area, with its drawbridge and magma moat that most people assumed were part of the theme restaurant. However, Vexen and Deymos were a little distracted by something much smaller and much more significant.

Isa awaited them before that very drawbridge.

"HOW?" Deymos yelled.

Isa tossed his hair. "The two of you always were Xemnas' star reconnaissance workers. However, don't forget who he entrusted to give you those assignments. I knew every trick that you did and more. When your friend broke into his spontaneous musical number, I knew better than to think it wasn't a diversion from something I wouldn't be seeing. However, to be honest, I would have likely left it alone if we weren't after the exact same thing."

"And how do you know what we're after?" Vexen barked.

"Because you wouldn't have come here if it wasn't for the replica," Isa answered. "I know better than to think the two of you enjoy a decent pizza. That was always Axel's territory."

"Great," Deymos groaned. "GREAT. So you're here to swipe Xion from us."

"As the Superior has ordered," Isa practically mumbled. Then: "It surprises me that the two of you have allied. It is almost a…pleasant development. Tell me. Without Xemnas' shackles, do you find you are closer to…happiness?"

"What's WITH you?" Deymos replied. "You're acting weird all of a sudden."

"Don't tell me you're feigning guilt over the standoff at the rift in Galra Space," Vexen huffed. "As though you would care about anything that wasn't three feet in front of your own nose!"

Isa, surprisingly, winced. "I suppose that is a fair assessment. However, you hardly have any business calling me a narcissist when…well. You're Vexen. And Demyx."

"Deymos now," Deymos clarified. "'Demyx' is the other one. Time travel."

"I see," Isa replied. "It's…fitting that you found each other. You always were the outcasts, weren't you? The ones he would never respect. No wonder it was so easy for you to break free, without his scrutinous eye."

Vexen smirked. "Why, Saïx. You sound almost envious."

"Perhaps I am," Isa replied. "But that doesn't change what has to happen here and now. Only one of our parties is leaving with Xion."

"And why should that party be you?" Vexen sneered. "If I didn't know you far better than I do, I would almost think you would REGRET handing her over to the Lord of Monologues."

"A.k.a. Mansex," Deymos chipped in.

"Ah, yes, the joke we haven't heard ad infinitum," Isa sighed. "Regret plays no part in the requirement that I fulfill my orders. After all, if I don't…" He paused. "But I don't see why you care in the slightest. I can guess at why you'd want your work back, Vexen. Because your insecurities spur you to claw at every last achievement you've made. I know this because you and I are alike in that regard. The only regard in which we are at all alike. However, let me tell you something I have learned the hard way."

His Claymore shimmered into hand. He hoisted it high, propping it over a shoulder. "There are those in this life we will lose," Isa stated somberly. "No matter our actions, no matter what we sacrifice, no matter what we compromise, they will never return to you. Devote your life to chasing another heart and you will soon find that you have lost what made you yourself. In that, I am doing you a favor, Vexen, because I am taking Xion away so that you may never use her again – and then you'll be left to figure out who you truly are!"

Vexen summoned his shield and Deymos his sitar. "So be it," Vexen snarled.

"Also, you sound like you need therapy," Deymos told him.

"Why don't you stay a moment instead of wasting your energy?" Vincent asked, his eyes flickering into light. "After all, we have a certified therapist among our number. I'm sure he'd be glad to set you right."

Isa knew that was a euphemism for one of their allies beating him up. What he wasn't sure of is if they actually had a licensed therapist in their number or if that was somehow a euphemism as well. It didn't matter. He had to be on the offensive, now. He unshouldered the Claymore and lunged.

Vexen caught the Claymore's head on the flat of his shield, throwing his back into holding Isa back. Deymos skidded behind Vexen and struck a chord so that water flowed around Vexen and his shield, curving back around to slam into Isa. Isa was knocked off course and into the air; he quickly regained his balance, landing on his feet with the grace of a ballerina. Vincent threw himself around Isa's neck, squeezing hard enough to strangle; Isa twisted the Claymore to hit him with a metallic CLANG. Vincent sparked and stumbled, losing his hold. The field had flooded with Deymos' water duplicates by then; Isa wasted very little time in shooting around the field, duplicating his own Claymore, hurling a copy of his weapon at every copy of Deymos. The water forms shattered into showers of droplets, obliterated entirely.

"THREE ON ONE!" Deymos reminded him, his fingers dancing on the strings. "NO WAY YOU CAN BEAT THESE ODDS, SAIX!"

"IT'S ISA!" Isa leapt high, descending upon Deymos, only for a massive snowflake-shaped shuriken of ice to slam into him, sending him back the other direction. Vincent lunged, fully feral as his metal parts showed; he pinned Isa down and bit into his skin.

As blood spurted, Vincent muttered, "It's been too long since I've tasted human flesh. I've missed it."

He was surged away from Isa on a berserker's aura. Isa went into his rage, swiping his weapon at Vincent again and again to pummel him.

"NO!" Vexen screamed as he cast a Blizzard line to carry him around to Isa's back. Deymos propelled himself into the air with a burst of water. At the same time, water and ice hit Isa in an eruption of freezing snow, giving Vincent a chance to give Isa another bite on the arm.

"You would – " Isa's eyes faded back to defined irises and pupils. Deftly, he used the Claymore's flat side to bat Vincent away. As the cyborg tumbled, Isa glowered at Vexen. "You would rush to his side to save him?"
"And what of it?" Vexen snapped, spinning his shield and forging an icy blade to extend from its point. He and Deymos went in at the same time, attacking Isa from both sides.

Isa held them both off deftly – destroying a water duplicate here, parrying the ice blade there, parrying the sitar's base there, shattering a line of icy spikes that jutted from the ground and threatened to pierce. "Does he know?" Isa snarled. "Or have you ruined another life the way you did hers? There's only one reason YOU, Vexen, would care so strongly about another's existence, and his unique composition certainly lends evidence to the theory."

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE – " Vexen barked.

Isa backflipped away before Vexen could finish the sentence. He landed beside Vincent, and screamed to him, "DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER ONE OF HIS REPLICAS?"

Vexen and Deymos froze, eyes wide. "Oh…foofie," Deymos muttered.

Vincent raised a single eyebrow. "What?"
"He created you," Isa snarled. "Whoever you think you are, that person either doesn't exist, or you are a duplicate of them, tailored to be what Vexen wants. Don't trust your own memories; they'll only tell you HE was your benefactor, but not that he was your creator! He thinks of you as a tool, a puppet, a PROJECT!"

Vincent's eyes flashed brightly.

Vexen and Deymos each took a step backward, afraid of whatever would come next.

Neither expected, of course, that Vincent would simply say "Of course I knew" before sinking his teeth into Isa's chest.

"Wait – he KNEW?" Deymos sputtered.

"HOW?" Vexen yelled.

Overtaken by surprise, Isa struggled to pry Vincent away. The moment he'd done so, he was blown clear off his feat by a beam of demonic energy.

Angelo Agnus hovered high above him, wings buzzing loudly. Isa had barely stumbled back to his feet when another figure tackled him, sending him head over heels, giving a scream that almost deafened Isa. Vincent actually caught himself laughing when he realized it was Albert who'd just pinned Isa down to the street so that Victor could take aim with both laser arms.

"You will not win this fight," Arius said intimidatingly as Tsumugi, skekSil, Simon, and Xerxes flanked him. "Do you wish to continue?"
Isa answered simply by slamming his hand onto the flagstones beside him. Down he sank into the Corridor of Darkness that quickly enveloped him, and then all of a sudden Albert was hugging the road.

"And he says I'm the coward!" Deymos crowed.

"How unfortunate," Vexen scoffed. "I would have liked to eradicate him completely. He knew that. He's given himself the advantage of returning one day when we least expect him." He then whirled on Vincent; "And what do you mean you KNEW?"

"There was always a flaw in our design," Vincent replied. "All three of us. It gave you away."

"HOW?" Vexen yelled. "THERE WERE NO FLAWS IN ANY OF YOU! I SAW TO THAT PERSONALLY! YOU OFFEND ME BY INSINUATING OTHERWISE!"

"I told your enemy it had been a while since I'd tasted human flesh," Vincent said dryly. "If I were the real Vincent Edgeworth, human flesh could be the only thing I could eat at all. I thought it odd since I was first awakened in that hospital. The truth became clearer the longer this went on."

"HOW IS THAT A FLAW?" Vexen yelled. "IT WAS A FEATURE! I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO HOLD UP THE OPERATION TO FIND YOU AN EXPENDABLE CIVILIAN TO DEVOUR EVERY FIVE MIN – "

"Not a flaw in his efficiency, Vex," Deymos sighed. "A flaw in our LIE."

Vexen threw up his hands, going silent for a moment. Then: "And WHEN were you planning on telling me this? Shortly before you killed me? Were you merely biding your time?"

"Believe me," Vincent growled. "When the truth finally became clear, I wanted to kill you. I was moments away from murdering you in your sleep. You were so close, one room away at Rin's. But…it was brought to my attention that might not be the wisest idea."

"Is there something you're leaving out, Vincent, dear?" Albert was rocking on his heels. "For instance, what took your line of thinking from theory to proven?"

Vincent gave a sigh. "I suspected. But Albert KNEW. He was connected to his original by dreams. Once the three of us were in a better state to…share things, he clued us both in."

"And I of course asked why HE hadn't moved to kill you," Victor broke in. "I, for one, remembered that you had the means to control us in the palm of your hand, and I was wary of that. I thought Albert was hesitant for the same reason. But he saw things a little differently."

"More or less," Albert explained, "I have – no, the other Albert has a friend back in his homeworld whom he made after trying to kill them violently or press them into service as his slave. The two of them became fast friends, and I must admit I was quite fond of Taylor myself. Which was why it was…disconcerting when rumors started out that they'd been…removed from the picture. But it hardly matters. For one, it isn't a problem that belongs to the me you see before you, and for another…I trust them. They're just waiting in hiding. Of course, I saw this all through dreams of those on the real Albert's homeworld. Perhaps some of them told the story incorrectly. Dreams tend to do that. The moral of the story is that Taylor had every reason to want to destroy me, and I once thought I had every reason to want to destroy them. …He thought, not me. Or perhaps there's no difference anymore. In the end, however, we did so look forward to each other's emails. If there was hope for them and me to become civil acquaintances, even friends, then perhaps we needed to evaluate your situation similarly."

"Maybe you were friends of ours," Victor said. "After all, you did bring us to life, and you stood with us when we spoke against Myers and our own enemies. It's clear you've been using us for your own ends…but so far, you've managed to do it in a far more comfortable manner than Myers ever did, so there's room for doubt that you're the monsters of the story."

"I resented you so much for giving me the memories of his pain and not of the rest," Vincent snarled. "Even when I was convinced not to kill you, I wanted to HATE you. Hate you in a way that puts certain old rivalries to shame. But that's when it occurred to me. Do you believe that a person, an individual, is made by their memories? That every experience we have lived, everything we have done or seen, shapes who we are and forges our identity? The original Vincent and I both believed that. It was the crux of our action against Vanora."

"I would think that accurate from what I have seen," Vexen stated. "After all, Xion was made from Sora's memories but not allowed to access them. She hardly became Sora. Her body presented an altogether different gender from Sora. She transformed from a Sora duplicate into something far more powerful because of what I restricted from her and what I gave to her in its place. However, there is no proof as to whether personality is inborn or created, or the effect that memory removal would have on a subject that had already self-actualized."

"When you made me from the other Vincent's pain," Vincent said, "you created who I am now. That pain gave me drive. That pain…broke down a wall I needed to be destroyed. If I am at all grateful for having the life I have, for being who I am, I need to accept what you've done, because had you done any different, I would not be here in this form. I would not exist as you know me."

"At the least, I suppose you want the rest of his memories," Vexen sighed. "If only to know whether or not he completed his revenge."

"No!" Vincent barked. "Not yet. One day, maybe. But if you give me anything else, I will change into someone else. Someone who might not resemble me or the original."

"Do you want a new name or something?" Deymos asked. "Because let me tell you, that'd be really confusing to change tracks right about now."

"No," Vincent replied. "The three of us discussed it at length. We wish to remain with the names and the memories of those who inspired us. They are the names and existences we have. Perhaps in time we will surpass the originals, and those names will fit us better than they ever did the others."

"After all, we were engineered by a genius," Victor said with a wink. "It isn't hard to believe we're the better Vincent, Victor, and Albert. Also, we've taken a vote, and we're putting Myers on the back burner. He was THEIR conflict, not ours. We still hate him, of course, and he'd be better off dead, but we'll cross that bridge once we have a better idea of who we are as opposed to who they are."

"But know this," Vincent snarled. "We agreed that this COULD be a beneficial arrangement. This relies on you respecting us. We may be your creations, but if you dare to treat us the way our originals were treated by Myers…you WILL die. Regardless of if you hold the remote that can supposedly shut us down."

"…I find that fair," Vexen said. "You were always intended to flourish. I would hardly ever see fit to stow one of my creations into a basement where it was to remain unseen."

"I mean, we're already friends, right?" Deymos prodded. "So it makes sense that now that there's no more secrets, we'd still be friends. If we stab you guys in the back now, you'd so be justified in killing us. And I will level with you here: that kind of terrifies me, so I'm just gonna play nice, and you can bank on that."

"Then…" Vincent let out a low sigh. "Then we are at an agreement. We will continue to travel together, as…friends, if that is how you want it phrased to hold our end of the bargain."

"FRIENDSHIP WINS THE DAY!" Tsumugi screamed. "The crux of any good shounen anime!"

"I've said all I have to say on the matter," Vincent concluded. "Now. About the other replica. The girl."

Vexen nodded. "Well, now that we have all assembled, I say we get this over with at once."

Was he a little afraid that Vincent was just playing along? Waiting for a chance to strike? Perhaps. His instincts told him that Vincent was speaking with sincerity, but it never hurt to be too careful. That was why Vexen still held the remote. Once he got back to base, he'd make sure to engineer a couple spares, in case one was ever "accidentally" broken. Whatever the case, he wasn't about to let another one of his most prized creations just slip through his fingers, so if Vincent ever went rogue, Vexen would just have to reprogram him back into obedience. Same for the other two.

Everyone fell in line behind Vexen, a veritable front line of the troops heading toward Nergal's Pizza. Agnus bashed in the gate, and soon they were crossing the drawbridge.

However, brief as Isa's bout with Vexen, Deymos, and Vincent had been, it had also been very loud and very flashy. Everyone inside the pizzeria – all nine occupants – had seen it take place, and they knew what it meant that Vexen was back. Nergal and his family did, anyway. The Brotherhood of Mutants was a little more oblivious.

"They tried to take me away," Xion explained as Nergal, Sis, and Junior ran around the shop, throwing as much as they could into suitcases so they would be fully stocked in the bunker.

"Well, we'll just have to stop 'em!" Lance urged. He rose, pounding a fist into his palm. "Right, guys?"
"This is gonna be fun," Pietro said with a smirk.

"Show 'em what for, yo!" Todd cheered.

"I'll deck 'em across the block!" Fred added.

"I'm pretty sure at this point they're more enthusiastic about the violence than protecting you," Wanda admitted. "Either way, I'm in."

Nergal stopped to take inventory, counting off his fingers the things he'd thrown in the suitcase. "Let's see here…cooking utensils, secret sauce recipe, medieval torture devices, extra underwear, emergency cookie jar. Am I forgetting anything? Ah, yes! Friends!"

Five tentacles whipped out into the seating area, lassoing the Brotherhood. "HEY!" Wanda yelled as she and her companions struggled.

"Apologies, dear friends," Nergal said sweetly, "but I simply can't let you go out there where there's all that danger when you're supposed to be my best friends forever. That's too high of a risk! You're coming downstairs with my family where it's safe! Then we can play all sorts of games!"

"Let me GO, old man!" Lance yelled. "Or I'll bring down the house!"

"PLEASE!" Xion clasped her hands. "Please. I don't want any of you to get hurt. And…and I want my friends with me."

This earned her five sympathetic looks. Then Pietro snorted, "FIIIIIINE."

"I wanna know what these games are anyway," Fred pointed out.

"Let's go hang," Todd added.

At the end of it, all nine – Nergal, Sis, Junior, Xion, Lance, Pietro, Wanda, Todd, and Fred – crammed into the elevator at the back of the shop. The doors closed, and down they shot to Pandaemonium.

Meanwhile, the restaurant itself started to change into a form that was a little more protective of its proprietor.

...

The austere stone metropolis of Pendrago was watched over by a most unusual seraph, a Lord of the Land unlike most others. Morgrim was no human or even anything remotely resembling one. To the seraph-seeing eye, she just looked to be a very round and snow-white housecat. When Emerald informed Cat of this fact, Cat became rather depressed that she was the only one who had no way of seeing Morgrim.

"Just give her the eye thing," Emerald hissed at the Mukhtar.

"I require it to hear the news Morgrim conveys," the Mukhtar hissed back. "She is not yet qualified to relay the information."

"So I'LL relay the information!" Emerald snapped.

"I do not trust any other to tell me what is spoken here," the Mukhtar grumbled.

"Y'know," Emerald sighed, "I was half wondering if you were actually, y'know, one of US, since you seem to have a sense of honor in your tracking, but no. You're a dick. Glad the WHAM ARMY has you."

"Are they done fussing yet?" Morgrim's voice, a purr turned into understandable words, cut through, and both Emerald and the Mukhtar realized they'd been talking over the very seraph they'd come to interrogate. Neo fired the two of them a dramatic eyeroll.

"Sorry," Emerald muttered.

"I have nothing to apologize for," the Mukhtar added, which earned him a death glare from Emerald.

"Now, on to your question," Morgrim proceeded. "I have in fact heard of such phenomena happening near Hexen Isle. In fact, it only seems to make sense to me that Heldalf is inhabiting the Calix."

"The what now?" Miltia sighed.

"A facility one used by the Abbey of a thousand years ago to breed dragons and harvest their energy," Morgrim explained. "It was a dimension contained within – "

"Hold on," Emerald broke in. "Breed dragons? That doesn't make any sense. Eizen told me dragons aren't born naturally on this world. They're malakhim that get corrupted. We're pretty sure it happened to him, and that's why there isn't an Eizen alive now. So unless the Abbey was corrupting malakhim in that dimension – "

"And what do you think would stop them?" Morgrim interrupted.

Emerald's eyes widened. "Oh. That's sick."

"You all exude a modicum of malevolence," Morgrim explained. "It is plain as day to see. Any one of you could become a Hellion at the drop of a pin. The reason you haven't is that you've kept that malevolence under control by not denying its nature. Those who employed me at the Abbey were the inverse. They believed their actions were for a greater good, and thus did they challenge their own malevolence, putting pressure on it within their own hearts. Soon it would have had no choice but to erupt."

"In other words," Melanie said, "the Abbey pretended to be the good guys, but they were fucked up and turned people into monsters to make fuel."

"Correct," said Morgrim. "The Calix is a self-contained dimension that takes up no space in the physical world. Hexen Isle is the only place to access it. It seems a perfect place for one such as Heldalf to hide while he deals in his own malevolence. I would be cautious of what he has had time to plan while he cowers there."

"And you're sure this Heldalf guy is there?" Miltia asked.

"One cannot say for certain," Morgrim replied. "But I would wager every last bushel of catnip – "

Whatever she said, the Mukhtar didn't hear the rest of it, because Emerald had swiped the monocle off the Mukhtar's eye and transferred it over to Cat.

"You claim to be above me," the Mukhtar growled, "but you are devious."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Morgrim replied, knowing the Mukhtar couldn't hear. "She's the one who exudes the least malevolence of you all. I would consider it a crime of good intent."

Cat fixed the monocle over her yellow eye, then gasped. "KITTY!"

"Why, yes," Morgrim replied. "And a very pretty kitty at that."

"Yes, you are!" Cat squealed. "I wish I could pet you."

"Well, I suppose we can imagine such a thing took place," Morgrim replied. "I wouldn't want anywhere near those appendages of yours, but I do appreciate the sentiment greatly. Not that I did not already know I was gorgeous, after all."

Neo snapped her fingers, pointing back at herself.

"Ah, yes, the Calix," Morgrim said. "There is a lot I would stake on the idea that he hides there. And if he hides there, your little girl must be imprisoned within the Calix's corners, in one of the dragon pens. Were I you, I would set out immediately. It's no easy journey to Hexen Isle."

"You got a map?" Melanie asked.

"Not on my person," Morgrim replied, "but inquire at any of the shops in this very city and one will not be hard to come across."

"Thank you, Kitty," Cat gasped gratefully.

"Hmm." Morgrim looked her over. "Almost a pity that one such as you is corrupted by so much malevolence. And yet you are no Hellion, despite your looks. Might I say I am quite fond of your appearance? It is not often that I meet companions so feline."

"You think I'm pretty?" Cat breathed softly.

"But of course," Morgrim replied. "Though do be certain to take care of that coat of yours. It appears to have seen a little wear, tear, and neglect."

"Anyway, that about concludes what we came for," Emerald said. "Thanks, Morgrim. Looks like we're heading out for the Calix."

"A pleasure," Morgrim replied. "The best of luck to you."

The group turned to exit, and the Mukhtar growled, "One of you must relay to me what transpired. I trust Miltia's word the most."

"Cool," Miltia replied. "So basically…"

They wandered the streets of Pendrago, looking for a shop that would sell a map. Morgrim waited for them to be long gone, out of sight and out of earshot, before she directed her next comment at the visitor who hadn't sought fit to make himself seen.

"I must admit I am perplexed, Shigure," she said. "After the pains you've gone to in order to hide the Lord of Calamity, you wish for me to tell them precisely where he can be found?"
The man who stepped forward from the shadows didn't go by "Shigure" anymore. Nor the birth name he'd had in that life, "Ichirou." He once had, and it was altogether easier for Morgrim to continue calling him that. But these days, he went under a little bit of a different moniker.

"It's all about setting up the dominoes of the plan," Braig stated. "Who's to say I didn't hide Heldalf there just to make him easier to find?"
"If you wished him defeated," Morgrim asked, "then why support him?"
"You know how Artorius was all 'my way or the Danann Highway'?" Braig replied. "I've got someone even worse breathing down my neck now, and it's better to keep up appearances. Look like I'm in line with the plan so the big boss has somewhere to look while I do what I want in the background. But also, I wanna see just how far the WHAM ARMY goes here. When the tide turns, I need to know if I've got friend or foe here. The Mistress of All Evil sure wouldn't welcome me with open arms, but these guys? Just chaotic enough that they might be useful. So I set up this little test. And so far, they're doing both so much better and so much worse than I ever expected."

"Am I to be a part of this venture that you undertake on your own?" Morgrim asked.

"Y'know, I just might have a spot for you," Braig admitted, "but it'd mean you'd have to leave Pendrago to the malevolence. Pretty cushy job you got here. Glad you traded up in the world."

"I suppose," Morgrim mused. "I would not want to leave Pendrago to flounder, especially since they are all in my debt for it."

"Hey, you got time to decide," Braig told her. "After all, we waited, what, a thousand years to have this conversation?"

"You could have explained that you would survive the duel," Morgrim grumbled. "You left me for quite a while thinking that Rokurou had exterminated you. Only now do I see why you were so eager to have him catch up."

"Yeah, getting tangled up with Artorius was a mistake," Braig grumbled. "I needed more freedom. And I still do. So think about it. You want in, you know where to contact me. You want out, well, just say the word and I'll come visit. But for right now, I should get to a better vantage point. Gotta watch this all play out, you know?"
"It was lovely getting to catch up, old friend," Morgrim purred.

"You know what?" Braig replied. "I missed you too. Catch ya on the flipside."

One minute he stood there, and in the next he was gone. Morgrim paced a circle before laying down for a catnap.

...

Billionaires don't go down easy. Not as easy as Ravencroft escapees whose funds are all underhanded, black-market, and immediately poured into projects that prevent said escapees from building a name. Arguably, Justin Hammer should have been further off the board than Rhona Burchill. But she wasn't a billionaire. He was.

Yes, the world knew about his more illegal activities. A lot of paying investors didn't care and in fact had worse skeletons in their closets. Yes, civilians were boycotting him. Most of his income wasn't from civilians. Yes, he'd had an unfortunate run-in with the Z-Gas he'd invented as the next big bioweapon, and had spent a fair amount of time as a zombie. But thanks to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical unit, he was back to his office in no time. Not that S.H.I.E.L.D. had wanted him cured, but better to erase all traces of the Z-Gas before dealing with Hammer himself. And then all Hammer had to do was promise he wouldn't speak of noticing Nick Fury pocketing a vial of the Z-Gas for S.H.I.E.L.D. use. It was all a game, a game of buyers and sellers, and Justin Hammer was a reigning champion.

And so the young blond settled in at his old desk, polishing off a dish of cerveille de veau. His white-haired assistant, Sasha, stood ever loyal by his side – after all, there were still promotions he could give her yet – and looked condescendingly down at her through her sunglasses.

"Between that and the gulai banak," she sighed, "I'm beginning to wonder if you really were completely cured of the Z-Gas."

"Don't be nonsensical, Sasha," Justin replied. "By the way, I'm craving tacos de sesos for dinner tonight. Do send that down to Dining Services, won't you?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. Then heard a beep from a device in her pocket. Lifting it to look at the screen, she said, "Justin? There seems to be a problem."

"What, are they out of cilantro down in the kitchen?"
"Do you remember that rumor going around that impersonators of Blizzard and Whiplash were out to get their revenge on you because of their raging fanboyism over those idiots?"
"That had nothing do do with my question, Sasha," Justin replied. "That has nothing to do with anything."

With a mild growl, Sasha turned the device toward a giant screen inset of the wall of the office. Using it as a remote, she displayed the scene outside the front door of Hammer Multinational. Two thugs approaching, wearing what appeared to be sloppy cardboard cosplays of the Whiplash and Blizzard armor.

"You can't be serious!" Justin groaned. "Well, they look incompetent enough to be easily rid of. Radio Security and have him clear them out."

Sasha nodded. She then turned her headset to a particular frequency; "Security! We have unwanted guests at the front door. Send them packing…out of this LIFETIME."

A calm voice responded in return: "I'll have to charge extra for this one, you know."

"Yes, yes, we'll cover the costs!" Sasha groaned.

Security was one man. A man dressed in a sleek white bodysuit, hooded and masked. This suit was imbued with technology that allowed him to do amazing things indeed. "That's what I like to hear," said this man, known in the underground as the Ghost, before he disconnected from Sasha.

Instead of using the door, he phased directly out of the solid wall to begin striding toward the cardboard impersonators. "Well, that's a laugh I needed today," he opened.

"Don't say that if you're not literally going to laugh!" barked the fake Blizzard. The voice sounded female.

"Are you here to challenge us, worm?" the fake Whiplash scoffed. "I sorely doubt YOU can hold a candle to the fallen soldiers whose armor we bear!"

Ghost flipped a white pistol into one hand. "I'm guessing you don't know who I am. If you did, you'd be singing a different song. But by all means, keep going. I want to see just how hilarious this gets."

He fired – and the fake Blizzard blocked it. With a sword.

The fake Whiplash charged, swiping out with a hand that Ghost realized either was actually made of metal or had metal form-fitted to it. Ghost put up an arm, blocking the metal wrist with his own, and then, in one fluid twist, he'd flipped Fake Whiplash over onto his back. That had given Fake Blizzard enough time to draw a second sword, leap high, and plunge from above, only for Ghost to simply flash away from where he'd been standing, reappearing behind her once she landed.

He kicked. She tumbled, rolling next to Fake Whiplash. The two looked at one another, sharing a nod.

"I think it's time to show this specter what he's REALLY up against," Fake Whiplash sneered.

"It will be easier to fight without the cardboard anyway," said Fake Blizzard.

Ghost sent off a round of ammo from the pistol. He didn't expect it to actually hit – somehow these cardboard copycats were stronger than he expected – but it would buy him time to ready something bigger and better. The two poseurs positioned themselves so that the ammo grazed their cardboard cosplays, tearing them apart, sending them to the asphalt.

Miratrix had been wearing Blizzard's boxy physique. Albel had changed into leggings for one mission so that he could enter wearing the Whiplash outfit. Now they both stood revealed before Ghost, swords positioned.

"I see how it is." Ghost flipped the pistol back into its holster. "Okay. Let's dance."

He let them come to him, and as they slashed at him, a multi-bladed slicer, he phased through, pivoting his body so that he hardly needed to even take that action anyway. On the other side, he turned on a heel, dealing a blow to the back of each of his opponents' heads.

As Ghost, Albel, and Miratrix entered a delicate dance of combat, the second team was already on the move. "Go, go, go!" Rhona hissed as she and Mozenrath hustled around back of the building.

There were security cameras posted at every entrance. That was fine. All they needed to do was find the weakest point. Standing in a blind spot, Rhona tossed a magnetic disc up to stick to the camera in question. It was a device she and Mozenrath had worked on together: a true work of magitech.

Mozenrath hit it with a burning blue beam. The spell contained inside clouded the camera with an illusion that no one was there. Rhona's programming carried the spell through the camera's network, ensuring every other security camera on that block would pick up neither hide nor hair of Rhona and Mozenrath.

Mozenrath then blasted in the door, and they barged into Hammer Multinational completely unnoticed.

Ghost had managed to bruise Albel and Miratrix up pretty well, but they were slippery, always sliding away before he could do anything worse. Very well. All he had to do was employ one of his other tricks –

Wait.

He heard the snap, the crackle. He had a millisecond to feel the whip wrap around him. In that millisecond, he flashed away, and the whip tangled on itself as thousands of volts charged through it.

"Well, well." Ghost looked up to see Whiplash hovering above him on a razor-edged disc, discharging the failed whip. "This just got interesting. You're a whole lot more convincing than the last one."

"I would hope so," Whiplash hissed. "After all, I'm the real thing."

Whips cracked from both wrists out toward Ghost, who backflipped and flashed away to stay out of reach. "So what was the point of sending a decoy if you were gonna show up in a more accurate replication of the armor?" Ghost asked sardonically.

He was then frozen solid into an iceberg. "Because we thought it would be funny," said Blizzard. "And because you'd let your guard down so far, you'd never expect us back from the dead."

In a flash, Ghost stood outside the iceberg. "Back from the dead," he repeated mockingly. "I'm not sure if you're delusional or you think I am."

"You hear that, Mark?" Blizzard called out. "He doesn't think we're the real deal!"

Whiplash had started to chase Ghost with the electric whips once more. "They do say seeing is believing," he chuckled. "Why don't you take a look?"

Blizzard rushed Ghost from behind. Ghost turned, dealing enough of a kick to throw Blizzard off balance, his heavy armor working to his detriment. However, at the same time, Blizzard disengaged his mask.

"You ever forget a face?" he spat as he tumbled.

For once, Ghost was struck with surprise. "Well. I guess you did survive." He regained his bearings just enough to dodge another whip. "I stand corrected. After all, no one else is that ugly. And I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say Whiplash is real, too."

"Good boy," Blizzard said before unleashing an icy maelstrom upon the battlefield.

Ghost's vision was temporarily whited out by the snow. When it cleared, he was surrounded by Albel, Miratrix, Blizzard, and Whiplash.

"I don't think I like your odds," Whiplash snickered.

"Then allow me to make it even worse," said the Huntsman, sauntering in to complete the circle. He readied the huntstaff, its blade pointed to Ghost. "It has been a while since I've been able to perform an exorcism."

"That's a good one," Ghost replied calmly. "Overused. But still good. Anyway." In a flash, there were suddenly five of him: the original and four hardlight holograms whose pistols definitely worked. "I think I like my odds just fine."

The two sides – Ghost and himself versus everyone else – closed in and clashed.

Up in the main office, Justin gaped. "Is that – no. No, it can't be!" He slammed his fists on the desk, rising in anger. "I KILLED THEM BOTH MYSELF! HOW COULD THEY HAVE SURVIVED?"

"Maybe the same way you un-zombied?" Sasha sighed sardonically.

"THEY HAVE TO BE FAKING IT SOMEHOW!" Justin screamed, pacing the office. "THEY'RE USING THAT MADAME MASQUE TECHNOLOGY OR SOMETHING! OR THEY'RE SOLIGRAMS THEMSELVES!"

"Either way, it's nothing Security can't handle," Sasha said as she watched the five Ghosts spar their opponents. Each Ghost adapting to counter a different, extremely specific weapon. "Hmm…I wonder what he looks like under that mask. His physique is definitely easy on the eyes…"

"Sasha, have you no shame?" Justin groaned. "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! Also I know for a fact he won't date you unless you pay him."

"So he does have a price," Sasha said, licking her lips.

Down in the basements, Rhona and Mozenrath had made it to the server room. At the main computer terminal, a man whirled around, yelling, "HEY – "

Mozenrath quickly strangled him with a length of magical barbed wire he'd conjured from thin air. Then he levitated the corpse and tossed it aside so Rhona could slide in and start working her magic on the keyboard.

"Pitifully simple," she scoffed. "It seems Justin Hammer is fond of his own birthday, since it seems to be working as a password to more than half his firewalls." She tapped the final few keys with a flourish. "Ready for insertion."

A disk drive opened. Mozenrath carefully brought out a case made of botproof glass, bearing the disk they'd imbued with the nanobots. Using magic alone, he cracked the case open and flew the disk to the drive. "How long do we have now?" he asked.

The drive closed. "I'd say about three minutes from where we are," Rhona estimated. "Justin has more like ten."

She and Mozenrath bolted back through the halls. Rhona activated an earpiece she'd worn for this phase of the plan; "Mission accomplished! Commence exit strategy!"

Outside, Whiplash played chicken with one Ghost, Miratrix danced with another, Albel managed to continually fail to hack up a third, the Huntsman was telling himself that he was holding back on purpose to keep the fourth at bay, and Blizzard was re-freezing a fifth over and over again only to see him flash out of the ice and into mobility again. Upon hearing Rhona's command, he let out the strongest attack he had: a literal blizzard, whipping winds bearing the snow and ice generated by his weaponry.

It was a white-out, a Christmas in July in the Hammer Multinational parking lot. "You know what?" Blizzard called out cockily. "I think maybe we CAN'T beat you. You win. Pat yourself on the back."

The last thing Ghost spotted among all the white was Whiplash's hoverdisc passing over him. "I'd say this isn't over," Whiplash taunted, "but…wait and see for yourself."

The Huntsman lit the huntstaff as a beacon for Albel and Miratrix; the three of them caught up to Blizzard and Whiplash outside the storm, hurtling toward the getaway car where Mozenrath and Rhona were already sliding inside.

Ghost hurtled out of the storm. Whiplash hovered down right in front of him, and rather than deploying a whip, he ended the fight in a single phrase:
"Why would we want to retreat, Ghost?"

Ghost was still. "Well played," he said. "This was a distraction, wasn't it? Guess if I want my paycheck, I better figure out what you broke – "

Then came the cacophony of screams over his earpiece. "Wh – " Ghost stumbled, visibly shaken.

Whiplash slammed the car door. "All onboard?" Jihl asked, leaning back from the front seat. "No one needs to use the restroom before we go?"

"Floor it!" Rhona snapped.

"FOR THE WHAM ARMY!" Loqi slammed on the gas, tearing out onto the road at illegal speeds. "VICTORY IS OURS THIS DAY!" A Corridor of Darkness swallowed up the van before it could cause an inevitable thirty-car pileup.

Ghost turned to look back at the Hammer skyscraper, trying to figure out what exactly was happening. Through the windows, he saw sparks flying, lights flickering on and off…spatters of blood.

"GHOST!" Sasha screeched. "WE'RE BEING MASSACRED IN HERE! GET BACK IN HERE NOW AND – "

Ghost simply dropped the earpiece on the ground and crunched it delicately beneath one toe. Then he turned and bolted, phasing through the wall of the nearest adjacent building in order to make his escape. After all, he wasn't that stupid.

It had started in the lower levels and climbed up: a program that infected every screen, every robot, every device. A raspy AI-generated voice repeated the mantra "CONSUME TECHNOLOGY, INTEGRATE!" as robots devoured more robots to create massive monstrosities. And then, with a rallying cry of "CONSUME BIOMATTER!", those monstrosities started to eat the most advanced supercomputers they could see: the human staff of the building.

On the top floor, Sasha punched the button of the elevator again and again. It just emitted sparks. Technovore had disabled the system already. "GHOST!" she yelled into the earpiece. "GHOST, CAN YOU HEAR ME? IF WE DIE HERE, DON'T EXPECT TO GET PAID!"

"We don't need him!" Justin yelled, trying to mask his panic with rage. "It's time for the backup plan."

"Backup plan?" Sasha whirled to face him. "What BACKUP PLAN?"

"Why…" Justin slammed a button on a sliding door behind him, letting it reveal the "backup plan" for dramatic effect. "TITANIUM MAN MARK II, of course!"

Once, he had stolen the specifications of the infamous Iron Man armor, and he'd added several of his own touches to create a suit that was much bigger and what he considered to be much better. The massive armor stepped out of its alcove of its own accord, opening up to admit its driver.

"JUSTIN!" Sasha screamed, bolting toward him. "DON'T DO IT!"

"Oh, don't worry, Sasha," Justin said as the armor closed around him. "I'll make sure you have a lovely funeral serv – "

"IT HIJACKS TECHNOLOGY, JUSTIN! YOU IDIOT!"

He gasped, realizing his fatal mistake. Around him, the AI voice of Titanium Man Mark II simply said "CONSUME."

Sasha heard the screams as Justin was punctured with metal and cords, becoming fused with his magnum opus for all eternity as Technovore assimilated his knowhow. Then, once Technovore had flushed out all trace of Justin's free will, leaving him a mangled monstrosity of metal and flesh, the virus advanced upon Sasha.

Sasha had nowhere to run. Her last words were "THIS MEANS I PROMOTE MYSELF TO CEO!".

Perhaps billionaires did go down more easily than previously stated.

...

Ayam Aghoul and Mad Madam Mim raced through the streets of Asgard, looking for all the world like a pair of parental ducks trying to make sure their brood (Sho, Coco, Carrion, Letheo, Shape, Whisp, Valentine, Skulker, Ember, Verosika, Nevan) stayed in line and didn't get broken off from the group.

"So what now?" Ember barked. "We just let the other bad guys take care of him?"

"We can't do that!" Mim snapped. "If they mess it all up, he's coming after us next!" She growled under her breath. "If he were trying to destroy literally everything, that would be one kettle of fish, but just taking HALF and leaving the rest? Quite another! He could at least have the spine to take it the whole way!"

"So we need to fight him," Whisp realized. "Then why are we running?"

"Because if we fight him in the shape we're in, we'll be dust!" Aghoul answered.

"No fighting," Whisp reiterated, "but no running away. So what are we supposed to DO?"

"We'll need a plan," Mim said. "One that allows us to overtake him without any margin for error! A loophole he'll never see coming!"

"Until then," Aghoul added, "we'll just have to stay out of his way, but close enough, while not remaining in any one place for too long."

"YOU WANT US TO RUN CIRCLES AROUND THE CITY UNTIL ONE OF US COMES UP WITH A PLAN?" Valentine huffed. "Gym class was not my strong suit!"

"So you better get thinking of an A+ plan, then!" Mim barked. "This would be far easier if I could challenge him to a wizard's duel. But we can rule that out."

"Generally, I tend to go for whatever ancient cursed artifacts will win the day," Aghoul mused. "Now, in a place like Asgard, ancient cursed artifacts have got to be a dime a dozen. The problem is knowing where to find them. We can hope to collide with something if we keep moving 'round the city, but I wouldn't advise putting all your bones in that coffin."

"I could hit Thanos with a Level i Flare," Sho suggested. "He'll never know what hit him!"

"Oh, yes," Aghoul scoffed. "He's managing to hold off three Horsepeople of the Apocalypse, the embodiment of Lust itself, two rogue Teachers with power over space and time, and a sentient train. I'm sure one of your flares will put an end to him quickly enough."

"Rude," Sho huffed.

"I say we blow up the entire city block he's on." Coco spread out her arms and waggled her fingers to demonstrate. "Fwoooosh."

"Now, that's a plan I like," Mim said. "But it's really more of the back half of a plan than the whole thing."

"Nightmares quelled the Hidden," Carrion pointed out. "Could they not do the same to this Thanos?"

"Perhaps," Aghoul said, mulling it over. "Then again, Enmu and Helen are likely already trying that…"

Letheo held up a knife, a questioning look on his face.

"No," Mim told him flatly.

Shape drew all four of his swords, two hilts to a hand.

"That's the same plan as Letheo's but with more knives!" Mim chastised.

"Turn his shadow into a warrior of near-equal strength that will duel him to the death?" Whisp volunteered.

"We have enough trouble with ONE Thanos!" Aghoul barked. "We don't need a second one! If they go halvsies on the scheme instead of trying to end each other, well, you see the problem there, don't you?"

"Don't look at me," Valentine sighed. "All I can come up with is to seduce him. And we're not doin' that."

"I think we SHOULD seduce him," Verosika argued. "Make him so down to fuck that he can't keep his mind on what he's doing. Besides, I want a piece of that purple ass."

"I'm sure he'll have warded himself against succubi," Mim said. "It's one of the first things I'd think of."

"Besides," Aghoul said slyly. "If it's purple tail you're chasing – "

"If you say I should fuck you instead," Verosika spat, "I'll rip your rotten dick off, find Fenrir, and throw it to him as a treat."

"Come now," Nevan laughed. "He's deluded. The poor man can't see how his physique pales to Thanos. His mind is another matter. As for Thanos' defeat, I can lend my strength as a weapon, as I have done before. I can do little more of import."

"Speaking of magic guitars," Ember said, "how about I play a little song of brainwashing? Write a rockin' ballad about how he should go somewhere else and not bother us again. Maybe even throw in a little love song on top of it so Verosika gets her tryst."

"Still not enough," Aghoul said.

Skulker ejected several cannons from his armor. "Let's see him try and stop THIS."

"Yeah, no, Inviso-Bill could stop that on his own," Ember sighed. "You're a dork and I'm not letting you get obliterated by Thanos."

"What we'll NEED is to put a few of those ideas together," Aghoul said. "But we'll need an extra edge. Something he'll never expect! Something he'll never see coming! What we NEED is – "

It didn't take him long at all to realize he was running far ahead. Everyone else was behind him, stock-still, frozen mid-run. In fact, the whole city was unmoving except for him: a frozen tapestry of war.

"Oh, what NOW?" Aghoul yelled to the heavens.

"Time is a thing that can be on your side." The voice alerted Aghoul to look for Tony. "Like a lever that starts and stops a ride." There was the anthropomorphic clock, leaning against a wall. He pushed off from it, striding toward Aghoul. "So many lessons to learn with your hands." He held up a glittering green stone, playing with it in his fingers. "If I give you a chance to, do you think you can?"
"What are you going on about?" Aghoul asked.

"If I told you, then you wouldn't learn a thing." Tony clasped both hands around the green gem, then opened them to reveal the same gem set into a gold band. "All I will say is your eyes suit this ring."

Aghoul knew a hint when he heard one. He plucked the ring from Tony's palm, fitting it onto his left-hand ring finger. Then he held it up to the stars to look at the gem's luster. "Why, Tony, if you were going to propose to me, you could've at least gone all in on a diamond."

"Now, who went and gave you THAT?" Mim spat.

Tony was gone, time was unfrozen, and the others had caught up. "Well, you won't believe it," Aghoul told her, "but it was a gift from a very, very close friend." He winked.

"Some friend she must be," Mim huffed. "She got you something actually PRETTY!"

"Said friend is rather tone-deaf," Aghoul agreed, "and that's why it would never work. But say whatever else you will; that one would show up to every date on time."

"Less gawking at jewelry and more running, please!" Whisp urged.

The group got back into motion, hurrying into a large plaza. From a distance, one could see the Asgardian palace and the flames that rose around it. "As I was saying," Aghoul recalled. "We need to combine the ideas we were discussing previously, but add a little something more." He looked down at his ring. "I wonder if – "

The road itself ripped from the ground, reconstituting into a brick wall that fenced the plaza in completely. Thanos' Outrider troops dropped in from above, seeming to levitate over the border in order to be trapped with the WHAM ARMY.

"Oh, so we have a wise guy with the telekinesis, is that it?" Mim shook her fist.

Indeed, one of Thanos' own hovered high above them, riding a platform he'd created out of debris from the chaos. "Wise indeed," said Ebony Maw. "I am afraid you are all cornered. But fear not, for you are on the threshold of your next great journey to Death itself – "

"I'M ALREADY DEAD, YOU NITWIT!" Aghoul yelled.

"I see," the Maw replied. "Then I'm not certain what comes next for you. If there's anything left of you to report it, I would love to hear a full explanation of where you went once I'm through with you."

"Once YOU'RE through with them, Maw?" Proxima Midnight had appeared, standing on the rim of the wall. "This is not merely YOUR victory alone."

"Hardly your victory at all." Corvus Glaive was atop the wall across the plaza from Proxima. "This is a job for executioners, not heralds."

"Well, pardon me," Ebony said sarcastically. "I wasn't aware Thanos suddenly prioritized results below who achieves them. Do you suppose once he hears of your military prowess, he will attribute any victory at all to one who is not himself?"
"Are you going to argue all night," Mim yelled, "or is one of you going to come down here to do us in personally?"

Corvus and Proxima vaulted the walls, dropping into the plaza and readying their weapons. A spear of sharp metal and a staff that glowed with blue plasma energy.

"WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?" Ember screamed. "YOU JUST INVITED THEM IN!"

"Perhaps THEY will need to be down in the midst in order to do you in personally," Ebony scoffed. "I, however, do not need to lower myself in either sense."

He gestured to the field, and the bricks of the plaza tore themselves away to fashion themselves into weapons.

"ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE!" Mim yelled as Corvus, Proxima, the Outriders, and the telekinetic barrage closed in on the WHAM ARMY. "GIVE 'EM EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

Aghoul could barely remember what happened in between that rallying cry and the tragedy that followed. It started when two larger Outriders grabbed Nevan in guitar form and pulled her apart like a wishbone.

Then Verosika clutched at her throat, which did little good to stop her severed head from falling off it in a shower of blood.

Skulker's armor was pried open like a can of tuna. His true form – a small bean-shaped ghost who fit entirely inside the armor's head alone – was pulled free and then swallowed whole by Corvus.

Ember was bashed into teal-green wisps of smoke by her own guitar in the hands of an Outrider.

Whisp was buried alive by levitating rubble. Then the rubble compacted itself; rivulets of shadowy blood poured out from beneath the mass of stone.

Valentine was skewered and discarded casually.

Letheo suffered the same fate as Valentine not long after.

Shape's swords were forcibly ripped from his grasp and telekinetically plunged into his vitals.

Carrion was sliced completely in half.

Coco had attempted to try the Maw's own tricks back at him, ripping up her own bricks to throw. That was how she was one of the longest to last. But Ebony was clever, waiting for her to be distracted by her attempts to crush him. He then retrieved the fallen weapons of her comrades – guitar, swords, daggers – and plunged them at her from behind.

Sho had become Cantus Leo and engaged Proxima in a full-contact wrestling match. He pinned her to the ground with his whole body. Then, from beneath his chest, her staff plunged upward, up until it protruded through his back.

And finally – against all odds – Mim was slain, torn apart by Proxima, Corvus, and no less than ten Outriders at once. Her limbs, her organs, every piece of her was scattered far to ensure that the witch had no more tricks up her sleeves if they left enough of her intact.

Aghoul was the last one left, surrounded by the carnage of his comrades. The opposing forces closed in on him, a mountain of debris from above and Outriders from all directions. His mind raced. Surely this could be undone! Death was no obstacle to the WHAM ARMY! After all, he had death bombs in his pocket –

(They were all gone. Left at the End of Line club. Maybe wasted, if Sho's other friends decided to leave them be and stay dead.)
Mozenrath could revive them all –

(Many of them were creatures undead. Ember, Skulker, technically Sho. The rules of resurrection were probably different for Hellborn like Verosika. And if Aghoul himself went down…)

There was no way he could've lost. Not when Thanos would continue on to destroy the WHAM ARMY and everything they'd worked for!

But there was nothing left he could do. He'd been launching skull bombs left and right, but now, he called no more weapon to hand. He simply fell to his knees, admitting defeat.

The whole world seemed to freeze again. Then Aghoul rose to a standing position – not of his own volition, but as a compulsion to reverse his position. In fact, he was now retracing every step he'd made since the battle began, watching with wide eyes as the debris and the Outriders backed off from him. Soon he was back in battle, but in a way all too familiar.

Everything was rewinding. He was fighting the battle in reverse, and not even through his will. Fallen Outriders stood up again. Displaced bricks were one again fitted into their proper places. It all seemed to be going at double the speed it had been when it had happened the first time in the proper order. And then –

Mim was pieced back together. Proxima's spear retracted from Cantus Leo, leaving no wound, and the great beast reverted to Sho's more humanoid body. Coco was un-impaled and back to dueling Ebony completely backwards. Carrion's two halves rejoined. Shape's swords stabbed into his corpse, and when they pulled out, he was alive again. Letheo and Valentine were skewered as dead boys and removed from the spears while living. The rubble exploded out from Whisp, who emerged unharmed. Ember's body was whole now. Skulker flew out of Corvus' throat and into his armor. Verosika's head balanced itself atop her neck to reattach. Nevan was fitted back together into a guitar, then transformed back into her more humanoid form.

Like a VHS tape rewound, it happened quickly, almost stunted. Then, all at once, the road itself ripped from the ground, reconstituting into a brick wall that fenced the plaza in completely. Thanos' Outrider troops dropped in from above, seeming to levitate over the border in order to be trapped with the WHAM ARMY.

Things started going forward again, the way they should. But this time, there was a sense of confusion about the battlefield. Time had just reversed itself to a critical degree, and everyone present seemed to remember it.

"Haven't we done this all before?" Ebony asked, half awed.

"We…we did," Whisp said. "We DIED."

"WTF?" Coco asked.

"Somebody better explain what just went on!" Sho barked out.

Corvus and Proxima scaled the walls once more. "They have a time-reversal method," Proxima barked. "We had WON!"

"You cheated," Corvus snarled.

"Time-reversal?" Mim repeated. "How could WE have reversed time? That must've been something on your end, because we certainly didn't have the ability to do that!"

"The only power I have ever seen that could achieve such a feat is the Time Stone in the gauntlet of Thanos," Ebony scoffed, "and that – "

He froze as it hit him. "Unless you HAVE it somehow."

Stunned, Aghoul raised the hand bearing the ring. The stone was just fading off the end of an eerie green glow. This whole time, without realizing, he'd been wearing the Eye of Agamotto.

The ring caught Ebony's eye. "Actually…" He summoned up a few more bricks to create a chair in the air. "This interests me greatly. Corvus, Proxima, I think I shall leave the second slaughter to you. I wish merely to spectate."

"What are you playing at, traitor?" Corvus yelled.

"Traitor?" Ebony scoffed. "What leads you to think that in any way? I thought my uninvolvement was what you WANTED."

"Stop wasting words with him," Proxima seethed. "Let us end this!"

She and Corvus leapt down into the ring. Mim rounded on Aghoul; "You were the last one alive! Or not alive. WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Aghoul, still in utter disbelief, gawked at the ring on his hand.

"Oh, never mind!" Mim turned away to jump back into the fray. "Just figure it out so we don't all get massacred again!"

The battle began once more as Aghoul processed what he'd just done. He stood still as it raged around him, and for a moment, he seemed utterly disconnected from the entire situation.

"It's…astounding," he said in awe. "Time is…fleeting. Madness…takes its toll. But listen closely – "

"NOT FOR VERY MUCH LONGER!" Mim yelled before Proxima gave her another death blow.

"I've got to keep control," Aghoul realized. Then, punching his fist out toward where Proxima was ripping out Mim's entrails, he reversed time itself.

With another chance on the board, Mim got the upper hand, punching Proxima in the face.

Assured of that small victory – and of what he really had the power to do in this fight, Aghoul broke out into a melodic scream: "I REMEEEEEM-BER! DOING THE TIIIIIIME WARP!"

He raised his scythe high. "DRIIIIINKING THOSE MOMENTS WHEN!"

Mim was at his side, and the two of them blasted at Outriders left and right. "THE BLACKNESS WOULD HIT ME!" Aghoul crowed. "AND THE VOID WOULD BE CALLING!"

Sho's heart was ripped out, and he gave a piteous howl as he expired.

When Aghoul punched to the sky, it was a rallying cry, and all his allies resonated with him in harmony: "LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

Sho was back on his feet, heart in his chest, and wasted no time becoming Cantus Leo to overtake the Outrider that had ended him ten seconds ago. As he leapt about in a ballet of claws, he added his voice to the WHAM ARMY's battle cry: "LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAAAAIN!"

"It's just a jump to the left – " Aghoul sang out, doing such a jump himself.

Coco was sliced apart both at the neck and the waist, Corvus and Proxima smirking at each other over their collaboration in the kill.

And then she was whole once more, and before she could be carved up, she dodged with "AND THEN A STEP TO THE RI-I-I-I-IGHT!"

"Put your hands on your hips!" Aghoul directed.

"YOU BRING YOUR KNEES IN TIGHT!" All his allies took a short break from fighting to do the appropriate dance, hands on hips and knees together. "BUT IT'S THE PELVIC THRUST – "

And when Coco thrusted, she sent from her body a wave of energy that toppled an entire nearby building. Corvus and Proxima rolled away from each other as they escaped it; several Outriders were decimated.

"THAT REALLY DRIVES YOU INSA-A-A-A-ANE!" the group called out.

An Outrider bashed Carrion's head to a bloody pulp against a wall.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

Carrion, his head definitely un-pulped, unleashed a host of sticky yellow Nightmares that evolved quickly from worms to the more traditional shapes of Dream Eaters, latching onto the skulls of Outriders and filling their heads with such fearsome things that the man-made warriors' minds exploded.

"It's so dreamy!" Mim twirled about as she left a trail of sparkling, damaging magic in her wake. "Oh, fantasy free me!" She spun past Shape, who was using all four blades to carve Outriders up like turkeys. "So you can't see me; no, not at all!"

Proxima kicked one sword loose from Shape's grip and plunged it into his skull.

"In another dimension!" Mim signaled Aghoul. "With voyeuristic intention – "

Shape dodged her this time and very nearly took off Proxima's head in his counterstrike, his head undamaged.

"Well-secluded," Mim sang slyly. "I see all!"

Up above, Ebony's foot was tapping. No one noticed.

"With a bit of a mind flip!" Mim sidled up to Aghoul, grinding against his body.

"You're into the time slip," Aghoul responded, giving her exactly as much as she was giving him. "And nothing can ever be the same!"

Valentine unleashed waves of green lightning, enough to fry one Outrider and keep Corvus at a good ten-foot distance.

"You're spaced out on sensation – " Mim gripped Aghoul's hand.

He spun her with a cry of "LIKE YOU'RE UNDER SEDAAAATION!"

Corvus hurled his spear at Valentine, impaling his chest.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

Corvus hurled his spear at Valentine, who ducked this time.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

By now, enough Outriders had been cleared out to give Verosika and Ember a safe space to arrange and put on a little concert. "Well, I was walking down the street, just a-having a think!" Verosika sang out as she strummed Nevan and peppered her opponents with purple lightning.

"When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink!" Ember followed up, the shockwave of the chord she played sending Corvus tumbling off his feet and onto his back.

Whisp gambled the chance that Proxima's shadow would work for the WHAM ARMY's advantage, raising that shadow as a duplicate Proxima and unleashing it on its owner. Proxima was soon locked in combat against herself, cursing out how they'd managed to finally round up a warrior that could match her prowess.

"He shook-a-me up, he took me by surprise!" Verosika belted.

"He had a pickup truck and the devil's eyes!" Ember screamed.

Skulker zoomed about the field aerially, gunning down the last of the Outriders.

"He stared at me, and I felt a change!" Verosika sang.

"Time meant NOTHING!" Ember played out her verse. "Never would again!"

Proxima managed to decimate her shadow duplicate and Whisp in one shot.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

Whisp was back on her feet, and Proxima angered so thoroughly that her next target was Ember. She launched her staff at the ghost, who watched it approach with horror.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

This time, both Whisp and Ember took several dance steps off to the side so that no matter who Proxima attacked (Whisp), the shot would miss.

Corvus leapt atop Skulker, his weight pinning the ghost bounty hunter down. He began to rip at the armor again, searching for the tiny ghost at the core.

"It's just a jump to the left!" Aghoul advised.

Corvus leapt at Skulker, who protected his armor by veering a hard left.

"AND THEN A STEP TO THE RI-I-I-I-I-IGHT!" The WHAM ARMY was once more dancing on the battlefield. "PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HIPS; YOU BRING YOUR KNEES IN TIGHT!"

Proxima cursed out that the entire contingent was mocking her and Corvus by having time to dance while fighting for their lives. In a rage, she bashed Verosika over and over with her staff, turning the succubus into a bloody mess.

"BUT IT'S THE PELVIC THRUST – "

Verosika avoided Proxima's blow and pelvic-thrusted right against the warrior's groin, running a finger under Proxima's chin tantalizingly. Proxima snarled, ripped Nevan from Verosika's hands, and bashed Nevan against the street.

"THAT REALLY DRIVES YOU INSA-A-A-A-ANE!"

Proxima snarled, grabbed for Nevan, and found herself too late as Verosika activated the guitar's scythe mode and swung at Proxima.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!" They'd danced Corvus and Proxima into a corner, with all the Outriders lying dead on the ground. "LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAAAAIIIIIIN!"

And as a parting shot, Sho enacted a Level i Flare that collided with Corvus and Proxima so hard, it threw them through the stone barrier and punched an exit path for the rest of them.

Proxima was soon on her feet; "I TIRE OF THIS!"

"There must be a better way to end this cycle," Corvus snarled. "Let us return when we have found it!"

"Surely Thanos will want to KNOW that the enemy holds the Time Stone!" Ebony called down to them both. "Or were you going to simply not report in?"

With a snarl, the two warriors raced away, looking for their master.

Ebony lowered his makeshift chair down toward the battlefield. "What a stunning performance. Quite catchy, at that."

"YOU WANT A PIECE TOO?" Mim yelled. "WE CAN DO THIS ALL DAY, YOU KNOW!"

"In fact," Aghoul added, "I'm pretty sure we DID just do that in five minutes!"

With a roll of his eyes, Ebony just flicked a hand.

The Eye of Agamotto loosened from its binding, leaving only a plain band on Aghoul's hand as the stone leapt up to Ebony's hand.

"Oh," Aghoul realized. "This could be bad."

Ebony observed the stone in his palm. "Oh, worry not," he assured. "I will let you live. After all…the strongest survive. And that was a more impressive display than anything the Black Order has ever pulled off. All I ask in return is that you…keep an open mind."

"You can't mean…" Carrion growled.

Aghoul realized what he was getting at. "Wait a minute. Are you keeping us as a backup option for if Thanos loses?"

"What the FUCK makes you think we want you after you tried to kill us?" Verosika snarled.

"Did I not stop the direct violence after you had proved your worth the first time?" Ebony retorted. "Am I not refraining from direct violence now? Perhaps I have changed my mind. To the victor will go the spoils in the end, which is why I am holding onto this little treasure until it is clearer who the victor would be. But to answer your question…yes, I seek some sort of alternate route. But not for 'if' Thanos loses." His brow furrowed. "The word is 'when.' He has faltered a time too many. The only thing inevitable is his powerlessness in the face of what has assembled to face him. Pity. He was such an impressive master in many respects, and I daresay I respected, nay, loved many things about him in my own way. But in the end…" He looked directly into Aghoul and Mim's eyes. "There is always the probability that the half of all life he wishes to exterminate would include me. He would not discriminate on the basis of favorites. And I could certainly not let THAT happen."

"You know what?" Mim realized. "If we can get Carrion and Shape to get along, then there's hope for you after all. And you would be a necessary powerhouse…"

"Then why did we leave the Hidden?" Letheo asked. "What's the difference?"
"He's not half as annoying as the Hidden," Aghoul clarified.

"Onboarding me already?" Ebony chuckled. "But you haven't even won yet! I'll see you if you're still standing after the battle. Not a moment before. After all, Thanos may yet win me over again, and there IS a chance I could survive his little snap. In the meantime, I suggest that you do not fail."

The chair blasted off over Asgard, taking Ebony far away from the battlefield. Leaving the WHAM ARMY with a moment's respite.

"I wonder how that's going to work out," Aghoul mused. "I want to condemn his fickle loyalty…but I'm impressed by how far he's willing to go to get what he wants."

"And it's obvious Thanos and the Black Order can't show him a good time the way we can," Mim added.

"And why don't we sway Princess Boa over to our side while we're at it?" Carrion growled. "We could even stop back at Gorgossium and assimilate Mater Motley in the hopes that she won't destroy us from the inside out!"

"No, let's go let Pariah Dark out again!" Ember chirped sarcastically. "I'm SURE if we sing and dance, he'll definitely tell the truth about being our buddy!"

"How about Joshua and Kitaniji?" Sho groaned. "Make it a full set of elements that DON'T ADD UP!"

"Or summon Arkham from the depths of Hell," Nevan snorted. "I'm sure all he requires is a little friendship."

"Well, all right, let me ask you this," Aghoul barked. "If he decides he wants to be on our side, would you rather have him be WITH us or AGAINST us? Because if we turn him down, he'll definitely be against us! And if he wants to erode us from the inside…well, that's right. You HAVEN'T met Discord, Emet-Selch, or Baron Zemo."

"I would put my money on Zemo taking him down before the other two could even lay a finger on him," Mim chuckled.

"But the problem stands," Aghoul insisted. "We just used all our fancy tricks on two of Thanos' lieutenants, and we didn't get anywhere close until we started abusing the power of time! Which we no longer have! So what option does that leave us against Thanos himself?"

"I like trains," said Coco.

Aghoul stared at her, dumbfounded. "What has that got to do with anyth – "

And then Enmu ran him over again.

"I can't believe he would fall for that again," Coco sighed.

Pollution stepped out of the train, waving excitedly. "Get on board!" they urged. "We have a plan!"

The WHAM ARMY contingent didn't need to be told twice. Mim waited to make sure Aghoul had peeled himself off the street before he joined her side and the two of them were the last to board.

"You think they're going to be angry when they figure out that we actually do want to recruit one of those hypotheticals that was mentioned?" Aghoul whispered.

"Oh, absolutely," Mim whispered back. "That's what makes it so fun."

...

In the remnants of an abandoned stone temple, a cavern filled with twisted roots stretched in all directions to house a subterranean lake that glowed with an eerie blue luminescence. Rapunzel, Stork, Papyrus, Ven, Sofia, Naomi, Gabe, Mateo, Stormy, and Cacahuate beheld this sight from an upper ledge at the cavern's entrance.

"Shouldn't there be some kind of statue here or something?" Naomi pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Cacahuate realized. "It's under the water. You'll have to swim to it."

Rapunzel leaned out over the ledge as far as she was comfortable. "How deep?"

"Pretty deep," Cachuate sighed. "In fact, though it's definitely possible for a human to hold their breath that long, it's still pretty dangerous, and I worry that any of us that would try would end up drowning."

"What about an amphibian?" Stork ventured. "We Merbs can naturally hold our breath for longer. A few hours on average. I can get about one hour before the hyperventilation kicks in."

"An HOUR?" Rapunzel cried. "That's amazing! I can only do about one MINUTE!"

Stork put out his hand; Naomi handed him the glass wand and the amulet. "I'll do it. But I can't guarantee I'll come back up in one piece. That lake is exactly the kind where some sort of horrible guardian monster lives, and hopefully I get the amulet in place before whatever it is wakes up and gets hungry."

"Then don't go alone." Ven stepped forward. "Master Yen Sid and the Three Fairies helped me out with some stuff in training. I can handle water a little better than before now." He winked. "Just trust me."

"Okay," Stork told him. "But don't drown on me."

"That's the thing. I can't."

"YOU KNOW," Papyrus realized, "I DON'T KNOW IF I ACTUALLY BREATHE. MAYBE I COULD GO ALSO. I MEAN, I DON'T HAVE LUNGS…HM. DO I BREATHE? I'M NOT SURE NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT BREATHING VERSUS NOT BREATHING FEELS LIKE, SO – "

"Let's just have Stork and Ven do it," Rapunzel suggested. "We can figure out the breathing thing somewhere safer."

"Ready?" Ven asked Stork. "One…two…"

Without even counting three, the two of them vaulted off the ledge, swan-diving into the mystical lake. On the way down, Ven finally clarified what he'd meant; with a shimmer, he transformed into a merman, sporting a sleek blue tail.

A splash and they were under. The lake plunged to shadowy depths, and when Stork spotted the silhouette of something quite draconian down in the murk, he recoiled, scanning with wide eyes to figure out a strategy to get past the creature.

Ven couldn't help but laugh. "Stork. It's a statue. See?"
Stork felt a right fool when he realized that the "dragon" was standing stock-still and was in fact made of stone. He gave Ven a nod, then started to swim down toward it; Ven followed.

"This must be Aziluna," Ven mused. "We should to go where the crown would be."

They drifted down to the head, upon which there seemed to be a small altar, a sigil circle carved in the shape of a many-pointed sun. An indent in the center for something wand-sized.

Stork deftly placed the wand, then looped the amulet around it. The wand immediately glowed with a bright light; Stork positioned himself in front of Ven, arms out, shielding him from the disaster he predicted was imminent.

The statue shuddered. Obviously, Stork thought, the guardian monster was the statue the whole time, and they'd just woken it up. (It wasn't and they hadn't.) He and Ven weren't quite quick enough to get out of the way as the statue rose from the depths, carrying them both up and out of the waters.

Rapunzel gasped as she saw the statue in all its glory: a colorful beast somewhere between reptile and bird, with scales that could have been feathers. A long neck that was definitely feathered, a pair of wings. "A dragon?" she asked in awe.

"No," Mateo corrected. "A sunbird."

Ven and Stork ended up rolling down the sunbird's sloped back, grunting and complaining as they collided with each other on the way down. The tail deposited them onto the base on which the statue stood, and they lay there on their backs for a moment, stunned at the sight before them.

Down came a small violet shooting star: the Amulet of Avalor. When it collided with the stone at the base, there erupted a cloud of purple smoke, tall and wide as a human being. When it faded, it was clear there was in fact a human inside of it.

She was around the age of Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo: a girl with a long, dark ponytail. She was dressed in a gown of pink and white, cinched with a golden belt.

"No way…" Mateo gasped.

"It's Princess Elena!" Gabe cried.

Stork was on his feet first, awe causing him to start to approach hyperventilation already. "You're – "

"HIIII-YAH!" Elena threw a punch, which Stork dodged by a hair, leaning back so far that her fist passed over him. "TAKE THAT, YOU – wait. You're not – huh?"

She stopped, tilting her head. "Okay. You're not Morgana."

"Um…no," Stork replied.

Ven tried to stand; "We're – WAH!" Turned out a merman's tail didn't make for good feet. Once he'd changed back to human, he tried it again. "We're here to help you and Avalor," he said, approaching her with a hand extended. "My name's Ven. This is my friend Stork."

"Ven…Stork…" Elena looked from one to the other with wide eyes. "You freed me from the amulet?"
"More or less," Stork told her.

Elena was on them in a second, squeezing them both into a tight hug. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUUUUUU!" she squealed.

"Didn't say this was okay," Stork coughed as Elena practically cut off his breathing for a moment.

She let them go and twirled around, enjoying her newfound freedom. "I can't believe it! After forty-one years, I'm finally – WHOA!" She stumbled, falling to a knee.

By that time, the others had all clambered down the ledge and swum across the lake to get to the platform. "Princess!" Gabe cried as he ran to her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Elena pried herself back up. "Guess that's what happens when you've been trapped in an amulet for that long. You forget how to walk."

"What was it like in there?" Naomi asked.

"It was like a dream," Elena answered. "Time just…froze. First I was watching the outside world through the gem, and the next thing I knew, a malvago called Morgana was in there with me. She wanted control, so I started fighting her, and in the amulet realm, things are a lot more…metaphysical." She flicked a hand. "Yup. Knew I couldn't do it. If I was still in the amulet, this would so be doing magic damage right now." Flick. Flick. "Pew pew!"

"Princess Elena?" Sofia stepped forward, curtsying politely. "I'm – "

"SOFIA!" Elena squealed. "It's you! I KNEW you'd be the one! Man, I really started to panic when the amulet got taken away from you, but then, you know, the whole Morgana thing. Pretty big distraction." She sighed. "And I had all this stuff planned of magic powers I was gonna give you if you proved to be true of heart, and we were supposed to find the Secret Library together…oh, well. I guess bad things happen. But we can get back on track now. Not, like, now-now. When it's the right time. Where is the amulet, anyway?"

Elena cast her gaze to the stone where the amulet lay. Its stone had become a deep purple, almost black. "…Oh," she realized. Keeping her movements careful, she approached it, scooping it up. "It's full of Darkness now because of Morgana. I'm…not sure how to fix it without letting her back out." She looked to Sofia with sadness in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I had wanted to give it to you after – "

"It's okay," Sofia told her. "I've taken a lot of time to learn that I really don't need the amulet. My real power is in my heart. That's what Ven would say, anyway!"

She grinned up at Ven, who grinned back.

"You're right," Elena replied. "The amulet was only important because of me. But now that I'm free, all that power really is in you. And there are other ways to learn magic and enter the Secret Library." She looked to the amulet in her hand. "Guess this is just a hunk of junk now." She drew back her hand –

"You might not want to throw that away," Cacahuate advised. "We still need to make sure we put it where it can't fall into the wrong hands."

Being a sloth, however, he spoke a little too slowly. Elena had already thrown it; it skipped on the lake surface twice and then sank.

"…Oops," Elena muttered.

"It seems to be pretty safe down there anyway," Naomi ventured. "Who would think to look for an evil amulet at the bottom of the lake?"

"Just checking," Rapunzel ventured, "but is Morgana…okay in there?"
Elena nodded. "She'll be fine. Decades feel like hours in there, and if you're alone and not trying to fight for your life, it's actually kinda relaxing. Well, okay, not totally relaxing if you know your kingdom just got taken over, but if you can put the outside world out of your mind – " She gasped. "Avalor. Shuriki!"

"Yeah, about that," said Mateo. "She's still in charge. I know it's a lot to ask – "

"But is there any way you'd be willing to help put Avalor back in the hands of the rightful rulers?" Gabe asked.

"Oh, you don't even have to ask," said Elena. "I'm not letting that sorceress sit on the throne for a second more than I have to. Not after what she did to…" She looked floorward. "To my parents and Isa."

A somber silence filled the room.

Cacahuate broke it: "If it helps…your parents are pretty popular in the Spirit World. Not that I talk to them every day, but I've seen them. They were doing fine last I heard. The Spirit World's a nice place."

Elena's head snapped up to its proper height. "You…you're from…you've SEEN…"

"I'm Cacahuate," the sloth explained. "I'm Mateo's chanul. And honestly, I didn't think we'd actually get as far as freeing you from the amulet. This is better than I expected."

"What about Isa?" Elena urged. "Or my grandparents?"

"You know," Cacahuate realized, "now that I think about it, I don't think I ever ran into any of them over there. Huh. That's weird. I'll go check it out again in a bit. See, if we're gonna take on Shuriki, you'll probably need a chanul…and we all know I'm not the guy for the job, so if the whole Orizaba situation has calmed down, I should get Zuzo to swap in for me. He'll be way more help."

"But you helped us so much already!" Rapunzel urged. "We're here because of you! And we took the precautions with the lake because of you, and Elena's free now! You ARE the right guy for this job."

"Oh, boy, you're kinda delusional," Cacahuate sighed.

"Please?" Mateo begged. "You got us this far."

"And what if I mess up from here?" Cacahuate asked. "What if I give you the wrong advice, and it gets you all struck down by Shuriki? I could never, ever live down the guilt of doing something like that!"

"But what if you were the key to us stopping her?" Rapunzel asked with a wily smirk. "What if you're the reason we survive?"

"Um…guys?" Elena broke in. "Not to interrupt, but, um, it's kind of a moot point anyway, because I'm going to face Shuriki alone."

"WHAT?" everyone else yelled.

"BUT WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO BECOME A QUIRKY SQUAD OF HEROIC FRIENDS!" Papyrus pleaded. "I WAS GOING TO START COLOR-CODING US! I WOULD HAVE DIBS ON RED, OF COURSE."

"Look," Stork sighed. "I've been worrying this whole time that even with you with us, it wouldn't be enough people to actually beat Shuriki. And you want to go with less people. DRAMATICALLY less people. How does that make sense?"

"Uprisings have tried," Naomi urged. "They all failed. We need you, Princess Elena. And we need…I don't know, some kind of magic that no one's had before!"

"We do have Shuriki's wand," Gabe pointed out.

"That won't help," Cacahuate said. "It'd only work with someone who was trained in magic, and that's Mateo and Ven here. But Mateo is trained on tamboritas, not wands, and Ven uses the Keyblade, which basically means he doesn't need a wand, and giving it to him would be redundant. Besides, wands of all kinds can be…picky about who uses them. Shuriki might be the only one who's even able to use that particular wand. If I were you, Elena, I'd be thinking more along the lines of something like the Scepter of Light that's been attuned to the royal family for generations, or maybe this is even a big enough problem that we'd need to unseal Taka – "

Cacahuate's eyes widened. "I mean. Um. Nothing. I wasn't supposed to tell you about that last part. Forget I said anything."

"You were about to tell us about a forbidden power source called Taka-something," Stork told him.

"I said forget it!" Cacahuate said nervously. "It's not for ordinary humans."

"But I'm not an ordinary human," Elena argued. "I HAVE to bring down Shuriki. It's my destiny."

"What about the Scepter of Light?" Gabe asked. "That would just be in the royal treasure vault. Probably. That's not ancient forbidden magic."

"You're right," said Cacahuate. "It's not. But I've also just realized it's sitting in the middle of enemy territory."

"And Shuriki probably already figured out her wand is missing," Naomi sighed. "So stealing anything else from her would be pretty much impossible right about now, even for a royal guard."

"Does anyone else hear someone coming?" Stork brought up. "As in an entire party?"

Everyone quieted down. There was a distinct sound of footsteps approaching.

"Bad guys!" Stormy gasped. "No one else knows we're here!"

Mateo quickly withdrew his tamborita, giving it a tap. "Desparci!"

He and the other Cinnamons went completely invisible, quietly watching from below as the newcomers approached.

Carla Delgado was the first to skid out to the edge of the ledge, almost toppling over it. "AHA!" she crowed. "CARLA DELGADO HAS ARRIVED IN THE NICK OF TIME!"

She almost wobbled off again, and Victor had to grab her and pull her back. "It does indeed seem we have arrived before any other interested parties," he mused. "This is good news."

Prisma, Mera, Indus, Undertow, and the Lobster Mobster all peered over the edge to the lake. "That's odd," Prisma said. "I thought that statue was supposed to be underwater."

"It was," Victor said in disbelief. "But no one else is here, so…"

"Let's check that magic sigil thingy and make sure they haven't already been here and left," Mera suggested.

"I will climb the giant Apatosaurus!" Indus volunteered.

"…That is a sunbird," Victor sighed. "But please, if you insist."

Rapunzel knew she wanted to leave and take the entire party with her. They'd have to move quietly and quickly. She didn't have any doubt they could do that. One problem: when no one could see each other, they had no way of knowing who was left behind, who had thought of the same plan, who had already started to leave, or who needed help.

"There's no need for that." A voice that didn't belong to the Cinnamons, or to the WHAM ARMY.

The tall, pale woman was clothed in a smart dress of deep green. Her raven locks flowed down her back. She carried with her an air of maturity, but her physical age had quite obviously been concealed by magic, with not a single wrinkle on her too-perfect skin.

"Shuriki!" Victor recoiled.

"Victor," Shuriki replied with a smirk. "What a welcome surprise."

"You knew," Victor realized. "You knew we would be here, and – " He gaped at Prisma. "You were colluding with her all the while! You gave us away!"

"I would NEVER do that!" Prisma barked. "Not to an evil friend!"

"Oh, relax," Shuriki said as she strode right on past. "You being here is just a happy accident. Now I can take care of two birds with one stone. I didn't come here for you."

She stood at the edge of the ledge, looking out to the lake. "I came here for…"

Her eyes scanned, back and forth. Her ears practically pricking.

Prisma quickly flicked her Terra crystal; "CRYSTALLO!"

The crystals that appeared to fence Shuriki in were quickly shattered, a rainbow shower of shards. Shuriki clutched a golden scepter tipped with a large, transparent crystal; from this, the counterspell had come.

Then the sound Shuriki had waited for. The tiny "choo" of a sloth-shaped chanul who had not been able to control his sneeze.

"REVELOA!" Shuriki pointed the scepter down at the isle. Light sputtered and sparked from the gem, as though the scepter wasn't quite sure it wanted to obey its master, but eventually, Mateo's vanishing spell was undone. The Cinnamons stood in full view of Shuriki and the WHAM ARMY both.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Mera yelled. "THEY WERE THERE THE WHOLE TIME?"

"Them." Shuriki smirked. "I'm here for them."

"I really blew it," Cacahuate sighed. "I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay!" Elena said quickly. "Nobody blames you. But, um…would you happen to have some advice for us, or maybe some good news?"

"Well, I know one thing that's technically good news," Cacahuate said, "but you won't like it."

"HOW WON'T WE LIKE GOOD NEWS?" Papyrus asked.

"Well, remember how we talked about the Scepter of Light being heavily guarded in Shuriki's castle?" Cacahuate said tentatively, his voice breaking. "It's…not being guarded in the castle anymore."

Everyone knew what he meant. The Scepter of Light, salvation of Avalor, was currently in Shuriki's hand, being pointed directly at Elena.