Before the Games

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]It wasn't hard for Shego to find the Colosseum, much less sign up for it when a perverted satyr was the one in charge. Still, they were a long ways away from starting, and she was competing with something important for her mission. She was now on a forest opening, just a few ways away from the Colosseum and prying eyes, warming up- training and honing on her skills, along with finding out the new things she could do.

"Ok, buddy." She would ask the small creature that had fondness for her, and likewise, "Tell me what can I do, go through things? Make things? fly? ... cartwheels, what? What can I do?"

She did a few cartwheels and flips, jumping higher and faster than usual. She would set her hands on PLASMA mode, and twirl in mid-air for a light show before falling on a foot and knee.

"I'm faster and I feel stronger, but what else...?"[/glow]

[The Heartless Army]

The little one that had made itself her companion watched her interestedly as she went through the motions of her attacks. She was trying out her newfound powers, and it was making her heart more dark the more she relied on them. Sooner or later, she'd be ready to join them, a thought which thrilled the little heartless. It seemed to like her, and to invite her into the hive was more a joyous thought than a ravenous one.

She asked of it what else she could do, and it tilted its head curiously. It couldn't speak. No mouth. Furthermore, most of the Heartless hive were more... feral than intelligent. Granted there were MANY that demonstrated a hightened sense of self-awareness, but on the whole Heartless tended to be creatures of instinct and passion. So, when asked something as simple as "what else can I do" the little one could only sit there staring at her with its antennae flailing about madly.

However, this wasn't just some random behavior. They could communicate amongst each other... and this one was calling out to one who could help her discover herself. One that knew the powers she now possessed...

He was calling for the Fallen.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]Shego chuckled a little, leaning forward to be near eyes height from the creature, "Aww, lookit' you... What are you trying to tell me... uhm... Uuh... wait calm down..." The thief would watch the antennae closely, thinking it was its way of communicating, "Uuh.. Up, down, up, left, down, forward?... X?"

The thief scratched her head a little, trying to figure the little guy out.[/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

"Your fondness for our kind is... refreshing..." came a voice all around Shego. It was dark, whispering, almost as though it were right up next to her. The owner of the voice, however, was right behind her, a fact which was betrayed by the little heartless she was so close to running past her to leap up into his arms...

He was... intimidating. Even without doing anything, the larger Heartless was a terror. His cape was tattered at the edges, his shoulders spiked upward dangerously around a feathered collar that hid all his features save two glowing, angular eyes peering out from the edges of a dirty hat. His chest had the symbol emblazoned over it, which was repeated on the backs of his clawed hands which gingerly patted the little creature which purred lightly and happily there. He stood a little taller than her, and the world around him almost seemed to dip deeper into darkness in his mere presence.

He looked up from the thing in his arms to Shego herself, his eyes chilling. While the little ones had creepy eyes as is, his seemed like they knew your every secret... like they were dissecting you right then and there, peeling away every virtue you might have until all that was left was the darkness clutching around your heart in eager, almost lusting desire to rip it out and make it into one of THEM.

"Not many are as... enlightened as you..." he said again, his voice echoing through the shadows of the trees, as if his voice didn't COME from him, but from darkness itself. "Not many see us for what we are... mere mortals seeking prosperity like any others... What can I do for you... Shego?"

[Shego]

"Your fondness for our kind is... refreshing..."

[glow=green,2,700]A voice echoed around her, and she grew alarmed-- She thought she had picked a nice desolate spot to train with her critter friend, but apparently they weren't alone. She looked around, and behind her- her arms set aflame with green plasma as she did.

"Did you hear--" She paused, turning to her Heartless friend, only to find a LARGER creature there, holding it... petting it, "HOLY-- ahh.." she held at her chest, trying to calm her spooked heart, "Do-- do me a favor and don't sneak up on me like that..."[/glow]

"Not many are as... enlightened as you..."

[glow=green,2,700]The voice came around, but not from him... was it a telepathic communication? It wasn't new to her, Drakken had meddled with such things back at the lab. She shrugged a little, trying to play it cool, though she had an unsettling feeling, " What, of Cuddles there? You should of seen em-- I thought they were kinda spooky before, but you should of seen how they kicked butt back at the Underworld. Those things can pack a wallop!"

Shego held out her hands, Hades rubbed off on her, she started to use her fingertips to explain what had happen, "There was this little annoying kid there, and he summoned a bunch of thingies, and cuddles and his friends just OWNED them. I tried to keep some of the thingies off the buddies, but Cuddles and the others seemed in control. They are fine by me, my kind of partners!"[/glow]

"What can I do for you... Shego?"

[glow=green,2,700]"Ah... well, I was asking Buddy here to give me a hint of what new things I could do." She frowned, pointing at her new outfit, "I mean, I know Queeny gave me a new gettup, but she didn't gimme an instruction manual, ya' know?"[/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

Atticus allowed the little heartless to leap from his arms and down around Shego's ankles, holding onto them like a little pet. The dark creature that stood there merely chuckled, seeing this... odd affection. He looked to Shego with those glowing points of yellow light, forming an opinion of her... Apparently, it was favorable, as her skin remained intact. For now.

"Things, you say..." he muttered through the shadows around them, lifting a hand to emulate a stroke of the chin. "Interesting... but my companions are quite... capable. You've yet to see the forest for the trees, however..." he snapped his fingers, demonstrating his point by lighting the trees on fire, a strange, black fire that seemed to burn them away in an instant rather than take forever and spread. Behind the trees, HUNDREDS of varieties of Heartless were seen... "A small sample of the army at your disposal... literally a heartless for any occassion..."

With a wave of his hand, they all disappeared into that dark place they hide when they can't be seen. Atticus walked up to Shego, reaching for her hand to lift it. "Further, your natural abilities can be augmented with Darkness, rendering them far more powerful and dangerous... You might feel a slight tug at your heart when using them, but do not fear... It is merely a sign that you are growing more accustomed to your new abilities..." With this, Atticus let her hand go, then pointed to a nearby point, summoning a corridor of darkness, one of those swirling portals often seen used by Nobodies and Heartless alike.

"You also are now able to travel at will through the darkness to any point in the universe you please. Instantly." He looked to her again. "Once again... extended use will bring you closer to our kind..." he said this like it was an invitation... as easily as one said "please come for a visit some time".

"You are still new to the darkness... so your powers are limited to these so far... but should you decide to open your heart to the unlimited power of the Heartless... You will experience a state of being unlike any you have ever experienced... Sight, scent, sound, and texture will all be heightened. You, my dear, would become the perfect huntress, unstoppable and unbridled."

Atticus looked at his hand, clawed as it was, stretching it out so she could see just in his one appendage the raw, surging rage it contained, a black flame erupting around his hand that didn't seem to hurt him even in the slightest. "In short... The Darkness is freedom, Shego... No rules... no idiot masters... just desire and strength... and the security of a family of millions..." he looked off, the fire extinguishing, into the woods where the other heartless were only moments ago.

"The ones you saw were but soldiers... brave souls who give of themselves for our cause. There are yet more, many more, who live peacefully in the world of Darkness... And I am but their caretaker and champion..." he looked to her once more. "Until you grow stronger... I cannot say what else you will be capable of."

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]The thief stood there, watching, absorbing the information. There were points when she would look down at the creature nestled at her legs and give him a smile, " Heh, wow- you keep amazing me, Cuddles." -- it was her nickname for him, to distinguish him from the others, though they all seemed the same.

"So... using shadow plus plasma equals pain of the necks to all?" She asked, looking down at her dimming, glowing hands, having several ideas rush through her mind on how this battle could now go. The door had opened to MANY possibilities, and how the thief LOVED variety.

"Muscle boy is gunna be surpriiiiised." She chuckled darkly, her eyes glowing a soft green, as she glanced up toward said Caretaker, "I'll think about that offer of yours, Happy, but Queeny is still kinndaaa~ the highest bidder. I want to complete this mission first, see how things go~ but I'll keep your number close. To be the perfect huntress sounds sexy." [/glow]

[MeadowSong]

[glow=purple,2,300]A roaring black and green flame spurred up from a crack in the ground, it's tendrils licking up through each open crevice. A draconic shape emerged from within the fire, until it contorted to fit that of a tall woman in black, crowned with two horns and bearing a thin, green face. At her side she held her sceptre, and atop sat her companion Diablo.

She turned to face Shego, and nodded knowingly towards Atticus.

"Shego," she said, her expression plain. She studied her new little friend and smiled in ridicule. "A light within the darkness...is also that of darkness?" She couldn't hold in her laughter, and clutched her stomach in humorous pain. "I grow weary of this child's play, and have come to watch my apprentice on her first mission."[/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

Atticus nodded, then lifted a clawed finger. "Do not underestimate your opponent... You have us at your back, yes, but if we can help having many of our kind not beaten into a pulp, that would be... preferrable." Of course, his tone was that of concern for his lesser bretherin. A caretaker through and through.

Atticus looked to the little one once more and nodded. "This one seems fond of you... Perhaps you could look after him for me, at least for a while...?" he suggested, looking to Shego. "As for your opponent..." Atticus looked off...

Three rather nasty looking spider heartless crawled to his feet. He pointed away, towards the colosseum, where they skittered off. Atticus looked to Shego again. "Spyders. They'll get you information on this Hercules..."
Just then, the earth rumbled and Maleficent made her grand appearance. He bowed politely as she appeared, then stood straight. "A pleasure, as always, my queen..." Atticus said, though his tone was one of... almost patronizing sweetness. He did act nicer towards her, but only because he knew keeping her calm was a better path for her. Her false sense of superiority would eventually lead her to their gates...

"Merely showing your new apprentice the extent of her powers... May she use them more wisely than that fat oaf still polishing marble back at the castle..." referring to Pete...

[Shego]

"A light within the darkness...is also that of darkness?"

[glow=green,2,700]The Queen would laugh humorously, and it would cause the Thief to pout, "Hey hey hey! Don't laugh at Cuddles, he's cool- ain't ya' buddy?" she smiled down at the little creature, which was distinguishable from the others because it bore a diamond like scratch upon his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" The thief would ask, an eyebrow raising high while the other would remain low, in question. [/glow]

"I grow weary of this child's play, and have come to watch my apprentice on her first mission."

[glow=green,2,700]"Awe, you are makin' me blush, Queeny." The girl would sound almost sarcastic, but she was touched in a strange way. The thief held her hands tightly, clenching a fist until her knuckles cracked, "I'm thinking of wiping the floor with muscle boy's hair. Besides, kinda have to if I wanna finish my mission. The Jafar guy, Hades and I have a deal over his ownership and-- .....waaaaait, what fat oaf we talking about? You have another apprentice? I'm jealous." she spoke sarcastically now, or was it true jealousy rearing its ugly head? Shego would grow serious, glancing from Atticus to Maleficent with a questioning stare.[/glow]

[MeadowSong]

[glow=purple,2,300]"Yes, Atticus," she said, using his proper name for once, and cocked her head inward. "But overstepping your boundaries will not lead to my approval any. She is my apprentice, and Pete is of no use anymore. He was chosen before simply because he was Mickey's arch-enemy, second to that fool Mortimer. He was all we had, and was easiest to take."

She raised her sceptre and slammed it down. The "click-pang" echoed.

"I shall send my agents in to oversee the battle, as well. I will not allow your failure, Shego." Diablo soon took flight, and from his shadow created far below emerged a swarm of raven-shaped heartless, which flocked into ranks high into the sky behind her companion.

"Fly, my minions, and watch everyone closely. Hades is a very tricky buffoon, and there is no room for error."

After several moments, she turned to Atticus.

"How goes business with my poppinjay?" Maleficent's eyes narrowed, and her knuckles whitened as she clutched tighter onto the sceptre. "What news?"[/glow]

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,600]"Queeny, I don't see why worry- I'm gunna do fine." Shego insisted, reaching up to rest her hands behind her head, relaxing before the big Games. Her lips curled upward to form a devilish grin, " Truuust meee."

Shego continued to watch the reactions and tensions between Atticus and Maleficent, growing curious at this strange... partnership. Who was this Pete, anyway, that was tossed away even though an apprentice? Eh, maybe it was around the time Shego was known when Maleficent fired his rear... but still.

The thief's eyes glanced down at the prickly grass, feeling she didn't know the whole story-- and what kind of a mother names their child MICKEY. Sounds like a name you give to a gerbil, or a mouse. There was still so much she didn't know, other than she was playing for the evil team- her kind of team. That was probably all she needed to know.

"I better be going... Let's go, Cuddles..." mumbled the young woman in a pensive manner, turning in place and making her way to the Colosseum, "I'll be sure to break a leg or two." - she spoke, of her enemy's legs of course. [/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

Atticus looked to the dark queen, taking her abuse in stride. He didn't react to it... as if it didn't bother him. Heck, it was as if he WANTED her to rant and rave like a lunatic. In response to this... Atticus merely nodded.

"Overstepping my boundries, my queen? Never. I was merely helping her perform to her best potential, a result of responding to a call from one of my ilk that was contacting me on her behalf..." he looked over to "cuddles" as he finished his sentence, then back to Maleficent.

"Kefka is in Mobliz, in the world of Cosmos. He is exploring an old grudge, my gift to him for his magnanimous patience in my dealings with Davy Jones... who now serves our purposes under direct persuasion..." He purposely left out HOW he swayed the old cut throat, and what plans he had for Kefka should Davy Jones not... play along.

[MeadowSong]

[glow=purple,2,300]"Very well," was all she said, before disappearing in a cloud of darkness.[/glow]