The Silent Ballroom

[General Beatrix]

"Curses!" she said under her breath and turned back to Cloud once more for reassurance. With that, she collected herself and continued up the steps.

She stared at Acteur and watched his movements, gestures and listened closely to the crisp similarities he had with Kuja.

Could he truly be...She reached Shego and reached out to grab her hand, but stopped, feeling a sense of dread rising in her stomach. She hesitated once more, and met the other woman's eyes.

"Note that when the time comes, some day in the future, I will end you." She reached out and grabbed the woman's hand, only to feel an onrush of immense pain and sadness lunge forward into her body. Beatrix could feel it squirming at an alarming pace to her her heart, and she staggered, dropping to her knees, holding on for dear life to her chest, ultimately letting go of Shego's hand.

"Ugh-gaah! The...darkness!"

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]The thief starred down upon the kneeling knight, and she smiled fiendishly. She would kneel in front of her, and lean close enough to speak in whispers, brushing her cheek against the other's as she spoke into the girl's ear, "We only have one chance at this working, BeeBee... I just gave you a little 'courage' to go with what YOU have to do, Swordy." The thief seemed to cough a little, and within the little gesture, said something incomplete, revealing some sort of message with the way she carried her words, "five doorways to the left."

Shego continued to speak in whispers, her eyes transfixed on the new tuscan color Beatrix's hair had aquired, "...to get out of here. You must become a double agent. You know what that means, don't you?" her voice continued to sound sweet, and as-a-matter-of-factly, " Tell me that you were wrong in leaving... tell me that you have been mistaken... tell me you are one of us, and prove it."

The thief leaned back to stare into the eye of the General, her eyes glowing a soft green, " Prove your loyalty, your sword ....to me... to us, by either taking that guy's life...or making him a heartless..." she blinked once, "...and I'll make sure, you can run along to those troublesome friends of yours. This way, we help each other; either he dies, or you both die, really... what did you think Queeny was going to do with a traitor anyway?" she insinuated, "forever... encased in stone... in a lowly prison, unable to do your knightly duties and watch all of your 'friends' fall... or be able to do something, if anything, to prevent the onslaught? Easy pick... if you think of what's at stake, General. This way, we have more to gain, than you are to lose."

The thief gave her a wink, and a small smile, "Do we... have an understanding, Chuckles?"

There was something about Shego's closeness that suggested a... Heroic come back from Beatrix. A dark, cleverly designed come back, featuring the "denial" of her request, as the first act to working with her.... was she asking the newly, darkly-pumped knight, to be a part of a play?[/glow]

[Cloud]

"Beatrix!" Cloud called, and ignored the warnings he had been given. He ran forward, using the path cleared for Beatrix to get to her. Acteur was too close for comfort, so in a lightning-fast strike, Cloud attempted to drive the pointed tip of his makeshift dagger into the eye-hole of the ridiculous puppet's mask. He then knealt down next to her to try and shake some sense into her.

"Fight it, Bea!" he said, using a shortened, more familiar name with her to try and coax that connection between them into the light. "Don't give in to darkness!"

Come now... Cloud... A voice whispered in his head. Apparently, he'd been steeped too long in it himself, and certain memories were trying to force the darkness to take the form of his worst Nightmare. He shook his head a bit, trying to focus. "Not now..."

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix listened as best she could to Shego, her attention fading in and out, the blackness closing in on her. For a moment she could only see blackness, and a million yellow pairs of eyes staring at her, and then she could see her heart glowing, being surrounded, ambushed, and she clutched her chest harder.

A moment later and Beatrix collapsed. It was after a couple seconds she slowly rose to her feet. Her blue eye had turned Amber, her hair darkened, and her white light only some could see surrounding her had blackened.

With the speed of lightning she dropped her shank and instead replaced it with Shego's throat. She forced the woman to the ground and mounted her chest. She bent in close, a wicked, heartless grin spread on her face.

"The Eyes of Her Majesty are all around us, Shego. Have you not learned that? What a foolish decision, making you into an apprentice. Did you neglect to notice that she is a powerful witch?"

She chuckled mockingly, her other hand slightly covering her rosy lips.

She then raised her hand outward to the side and Save the Queen appeared, the blade slightly black with taint, the graying. She pressed it close to where she was clutching Shego's neck and pressed it into her jaw.

"Shall I inform her, then, that her newest poppinjay is attempting a betrayal?"

Her eyes had hazed over with evil, and she looked up to Acteur, a menacing look played about her face. "Bring this traitor before the Black Queen."

She sheathed her sword and stood up, bringing Shego by the neck with her. She hoisted her high and looked into her eyes once more. "The Heartless General has returned."[/glow]

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Shego, was distracted by the sudden push to the ground, and surprised when she felt a sharp blade pressed firmly upon her jaw. When Beatrix began giving orders to Acteur, she merely smiled, and looked to the actor with a look that suggested: "do everything she tells you to do." The thief blinked once before turning to face Beatrix, a psychotic grin upon her face as she was handled roughly. [/glow]

"Bring this traitor before the Black Queen." said the newly recruited evil general, and to this Shego laughed.

[glow=green,2,800]"Takes one to know one, eh, Bee bee?" The woman laughed loudly now, reaching up to hold at her head, beginning to sound almost insane. She hacked a little when she was hoisted up by the neck, a few bones accidentally popping out, but quickly popping into place by her healing abilities,"HAhahahahA," the thief continued to laugh, a few locks of her raven-black hair making their way to cover her face slightly. She slowly reached up to rest a hand upon Beatrix's, holding it tightly within grasp, "Hahaha...oh...ohhh... oh, and about the Queen."

As if something had snapped within the green woman, the comical look she had was suddenly replaced by a serious one. Her eyes wide with fury, and beginning to glow a menacing green, "I don't think so."

Before anything else could be done, Shego's hands BURST into green plasma as her fingers clutched down against Beatrix's gloved wrists and exposed arm. This should be painful to Beatrix. She might be evil, but her element isn't FIRE. This is what happened when a double crosser was double crossed! The moment Beatrix would let go of her neck, would be the moment where she would be pushing the General back down the stairs. Shego needed to make this look good. She banished the corridors that blocked the hallways and made a run for it![/glow]

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix yelped in pain and recoiled, grabbing her burned wrist, screaming. When she turned back to give her a punch to the face, she was instead thrown down the steps, crashing into the cold stone chamber before Cloud.

On the floor she grumbled, her head a bit hazy from the fall, and she looked around. When she could regain her composure and heard the woman's footsteps making a break for it, she turned upon Cloud, and then back up to Acteur. "WELL!? Don't just stand there! Go CATCH her!"

She pulled out Save the Queen once more, and held it with her shaking hands, the burns smoking. "As for you..."[/glow]

[Cloud]

Cloud watched as the General sank into the dark, and arose something else... She wasn't a HEARTLESS just yet, as she hadn't abandoned her body, but she was definately not in her right mind, calling herself the General of the Heartless now. "Tch!" he grunted, but when he saw his opportunity, he took it.

Shego had Beatrix distracted, and Cloud knew there really was nothing he could do at the moment to help her. She was too far gone for him to reach... That was too bad. When she started to advance on him, he merely grabbed her discarded shank and turned on his heel and started running up the stairs. "Not interested..." he muttered as he took off at full speed, enhanced through Jenova cells and Mako energy.

"If I was a buster sword... where would I be?" he asked himself, looking in open doors he passed, ignoring closed ones for now.

Not like you to run away... Cloud. That nightmare in his mind goaded, causing Cloud to growl slightly. "I don't want to hear it!" he hissed as he ran, looking here and there and everywhere.

"C'mon..." he muttered, not sure how far behind Beatrix was. He wanted to find his sword, but Fenrir had a ready supply if it was in the hangar, so that was what he REALLY wanted to find.

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]When Cloud ran off, Beatrix hastily made chase, and was now on the hunt.

As she ran down corridors, trekked down stairs, up stairs, around corners, she dragged her blade behind, that screeching, terrifyingly awful sound of metal grinding stone echoing throughout.

She called out several times taunts, ostracizing him and calling him out. "I sense the darkness in there, Cloud, and I WILL bring it out! Come back here!"

Her imperial-toned laughter was haunting, and she hastened her pace, enhancing the speed with the ability of her uniform.

"You can run, but I doubt you'll be able to hide for long! That darkness is like a beacon for me!"[/glow]

[Cloud]

Cloud kept running. Good of Beatrix to drag that sword of hers everywhere and make a nice loud point of reference so he knew exactly were to NOT be. However, that didn't really help when you had Jenova's Mematic Legacy whispering in your ear.

You need me, Cloud... it would taunt, getting Cloud more and more aggrivated. "Shut-UP!" he growled, still looking around.

You can't do anything without my guidance... the voice chided, then paused. Down the hallway... then two doors on your left it added like a GPS from hell.

The scraping metal was nearby. Cloud didn't have a choice. "Fine!" he grunted, then found the door and entered. Lo and behold, there was the Buster Sword, leaning against a wall like a trophy in a room that CLEARLY belonged to Pete. With a sigh, Cloud picked up the weapon and swung it to make sure it was the right thing. It was.

Now be a good boy and say 'thank you'...

Cloud said two words. The second WAS "you".

With that, Cloud entered the hallway, listening for that sound. "She wants to play cat and mouse... I can play..." with that, he went to find the sound, coming across Beatrix from behind as she made her way down one of the hallways.

"You can run, but I doubt you'll be able to hide for long! That darkness is like a beacon for me!" she taunted... to which Cloud responded by leaping at her from behind, bringing his sword down at the back of her head.

"Who's hiding?" he asked, ready to fight her enough to wear her out. Lucky for him, damage from Shego had her halfway there already. He just needed to slow her down so he could find the hangar...

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]The thief would acquire immense speeds throughout he corridors, thanks to her enhanced state. The see-though cloth of her vest would flow rapidly along with her raven-dark hair throughout her journey up and out of the dungeons. She found herself at the large, lightly broken ballroom from before, and she would bend and hold at her knees, panting heavily.

"Ugh..." she would mumble, reaching up to clutch at her chest, "The heck...am I doing..?" she flinched between each breath, coughing a little after having lost her air. She stood up, looking about, trying to figure out where to run next, she had to keep playing. She just HAD to now, without killing herself! She wondered if Acteur was hot on her trail, playing along as she had instructed. Worse, she wondered if if was a matter of time for Maleficent to step in.

The thief shook her head, running a random direction and clutching at her aching chest. She was at a point where she needed to stop, and so she did, behind a portrait of the great Witch herself, Maleficent. She frowned a little, eyes glancing up at the menacing poise of the Mistress of Evil. All evil, and her crow. It was only a matter of time...right? Still, the plan had to work one way or another.

She just needed the right reason...[/glow]

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]As Beatrix passed the buffoon's room she heard another set of footsteps and prepared for the worst, and turned the moment she heard the grunt of someone lifting something heavy.

She turned, and saw Cloud. Raising her sword, she held it out to block the attack, but when it struck, she felt enormous pressure, and knew the barrier wouldn't hold for long.

"There you are," she growled, and quickly thought how best to make her next move. When her burning hands began working against her, she chose to back into a Corridor she opened, leaping in and clutching her heart.

When she emerged, she was behind Cloud again, a ball of tainted Holy in her hand, black smoke pouring off of it like something foul. Her sword was poised for his spine.

"Run, and I'll destroy you. Stay, fight, and maybe I won't. I'll just unlock that pretty black heart of yours, and release the sweet darkness within."[/glow]

[Acteur de la Noir]

Acteur had watched the quick succession of events as they had unfolded--Shego's clever little scheme, its backfire in the form of Beatrix taking back her old role a little TOO well, and the violent separation as Shego proved herself too wily to be apprehended by the newly-reborn Heartless general. As he watched the green-and-black beauty make a run for it--and, for that matter, the pointy-headed soldier-type taking advantage of the situation to make a break of his own--the Heartless Puppeteer stroked his chin and let out a snicker of amusement at how quickly chaos had erupted. What was that famous saying? Something about the best-laid plans of mice and men...?

Then came Beatrix' imperious order--the presumption that one so recently turned, decorated former general or not, could order him so easily. Nevertheless, appearances had to be maintained--when she repeated the order irately, Acteur swept into a dramatic bow, tipping his elegant hat to the woman who was so close to becoming brethern. "When milady asked so kindly," he acquiesced with a grin in his voice to match the one on his mask. "I would be most impolite to refuse...!"

However, if Beatrix were to take offense at the nature of his reply--which, given his amusement, might be seen as insolence--she could not fault the swiftness with which he departed to do her bidding; with a whirl of his cloak, the Heartless Puppetmaster took off down the hallway that Shego had fled down, his jester-esque shoes leaving the floor as he channeled mana into a form of limited flight--more like high-speed hovering, in this case. As he pursued the thief-turned-apprentice, Acteur made an arcane gesture and flung his hand out, with a cry of: "Halt, knave!"

The shout was accompanied by a volley of elegant daggers materializing from the folds of his cloak, the telltale aura of penumbral shadow around each one streaking like a comet's tail as they flew towards the retreating green-and-black figure. However, it seemed that Shego was not one to be felled so easily--the slender blades, each one made of crystalized darkness, struck the marble floor and walls, missing shapely limbs and back by mere inches...

...or, at least, appearing to miss. For in her mind, Shego would hear a reassuring whisper in the language of the Heartless, reaching into a mind that was growing closer and closer to the darkness by the hour. So subtle and quiet was the message, it would most likely go unheard by Beatrix:

Have no fear, cherie. If Lady Maleficent has indeed been watching, I'll support you--we'll say it was all a ruse to bring Beatrix back under our dominion. If she's not happy with that, well...no fear. We'll come up with something, no?

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]The thief turned to look to Acteur, at first, acting confused, she chuckled, Her tainted black lips would curl upward, into a smirk, and her fingers would flex until they appeared to be claws. She heard his sweet whispers, and she couldn't help but blush as he figured out her plan. "Spikey, is that you, I'm gunna--?!" she paused a moment.[/glow]

Have no fear, cherie. If Lady Maleficent has indeed been watching, I'll support you--we'll say it was all a ruse to bring Beatrix back under our dominion. If she's not happy with that, well...no fear. We'll come up with something, no?

[glow=green,2,800]The woman's heart seemed to emanate loud enough for the Shakespearean poet to listen, "Oh, either way, It will work, Poe," she started panting heavily in place. She had lost a lot of energy, summoning all those corridors in the first place, "You like acting...here's your chance... ! "

Shego's eyes widened, holding her hands up, as if surprised that she was caught, " Shakespeare! Wait-whoah!" she started, shaking her head and backing away from the man, starring into his eerie mask, at his revealed yellow orb of an eye,"You have it all wrong! I haven't betrayed anyone!" the thief was good, well, she HAD to be, to be getting away with it all these years, "I just wanted to get her on our side again, I didn't know she was gunna go all NUT CRACKER on me! Just listen to me!"[/glow]

[Acteur de la Noir]

As he listened to Shego's words--her true ones, not the masterful performance that followed--Acteur couldn't help but marvel at the ease with which the former Middleton supervillain had accepted the voices which spoke from the darkness...and even responded in kind! The beautiful cherie was half-Heartless already. Oh, to help her take those final few steps--to cajole her with the allure of the power and freedom that came with the darkness, and plunge his shadowy grasp into her breast to claim what she was so close to giving up. To partake of the sweet, exotic essence of a heart so delightfully complex, spiced by the currents of madness and ambition...and to watch Shego rise reborn, now truly one of the brood...

But not yet, not yet. Atticus had some use for the master criminal as she was now, undoubtedly...and besides, Acteur had a reluctant suspicion that his master would want the pleasure of taking Shego down that dark path personally. But tempting, so very tempting...

Snapping back to reality, Acteur allowed himself to slip into his role, striding towards Shego with a slow, menacing gait. He hunched forward to let his long black cape slide forth over his lanky figure, hiding much of his elegant trappings and giving him the poise of a vulture advancing on his prey. The posture also obscured his mask-face in the shadow from his hat; the only things visible were the sinister crescent-moon of that carved smile and those keen yellow eyes, gleaming with wicked anticipation as they fixed on Shego's dark, fearful pools. All in all, a menacing sight for any who might be watching.

"Listen to you, you say?" Acteur mused aloud, his voice a thing of diabolical amusement. "You're not the first betrayer to use those words, my dear! Oh, there have been so many others, throughout the ages--countless would-be usurpers and traitors, whose plans went awry. They tried to flee, were caught, and dragged before those they meant to betray, insisted otherwise." Bringing his head up, Acteur swept his gloved hand across the mask, changing the smile into a penitent frown as he began to gesture this way and that, his voice taking on a mock-pleading tone as he pranced about. "I would never betray you; It was all my colleagues' idea! No, I was acting all along; to expose your real enemy! Wait, wait; you have the wrong person! I am ever so loyal...!"

Then, without warning, Acteur whirled back to face Shego, his mask now showing the expression of a fang-toothed sneer. "Lies, all of it!!" he hissed. His arm flicked outward as he spoke; with a shimmer of magic, more of those dark daggers flew...and, provided Shego made no effort to dodge, deftly streaking past her. But they didn't miss completely--each blade of crystallized shadow sliced past the cunning thief's arms and legs, slicing open the black-and-green material to expose hints of the pale, creamy skin underneath. As beads of crimson bled from the shallow cuts, Acteur let out a wicked chuckle. "Perhaps I should kill you now, yes? Save the Mistress the trouble of dirtying her hands with a traitor's blood?"

Then he paused, as though struck by a sudden thought--and indeed, as he brought one of his hands past his face to stroke his chin, the features of that porcelain mask had assumed an expression of contemplation. "And yet...what if I'm wrong? Perhaps this was all a clever ruse on your part--verily, Beatrix is certainly one of us, once more. Perhaps she merely over-reacted to your words, is all." He tilted his head to one side, regarding Shego with apparent curiosity. "Could it be that Maleficent chose wisely, after all? Are you indeed a faithful apprentice? How to determine the truth of it, I wonder..."

For a moment, Acteur seemed to ponder the matter, stroking his chin and humming thoughtfully. Then he snapped his fingers, and a sweep of the palm brought a bright smile to his mask. Without a word, he suddenly flung out an open palm in Shego's direction...and something strange happened. To those with sharp eyes, slender strings of what looked like pure darkness shot from those skeletal-thin fingers--glistening, snaking threads of shadow that were stained with subtle hints of flickering color. With astonishing swiftness, they flew towards Shego--unless she made some effort to avoid them, these ghostly threads would wrap around her arms and legs, coiling around those shapely limbs in an artful pattern...and then sliding up around her taut belly and shapely back, seeming to meld into the super-criminal's dark attire and the skin beneath. The final touch was a telltale dancing of intricate black lines across Shego's pale cheeks, suggesting that Acteur's shadowy puppet strings had taken hold of her entire body.

Were Shego so bound, the Heartless puppetmaster would give a nonchalant flick of the wrist...and as if by an unseen force, the thief-turned-apprentice would abruptly sink to her knees, thighs akimbo as those lithe arms went behind her back. Approaching, Acteur would gaze down upon her and let his eyes meet hers, keen yellow orbs locking with deepest emerald.

"I'll know if you're lying, my dear," the puppeteer intoned quietly, in a tone of theatrical contemplation. "Speak now, and truly...lest I choose to accept your actions in the dungeons at face value."

[kefka]

***From the Chambers of the Black Queen, in the World that Never Was***

[glow=Yellow,2,300]A crackle, a burst, a streak of lightning here and there. A black bead hovered in the center of the room, sparks flying from it, albeit small ones, and then firing larger bolts in all directions.

As the bead grew in size, it opened up, tearing and flattening vertically, creating a thread of darkness. Fire and cold mist seeped through the crack, as well as the dancing lightning, before the line tore open, revealing a Corridor of Darkness. A large, tattered crate flew out, as well as several more and a couple of barrels, followed by a series of annoyed, frustrated grunts.

The materials all landed in a small, messy pile, and backing up the rear of this unloading of rubbish was Kefka, carrying with him a large bundle of dynamite, a sick and twisted grin playing about his painted face. He carelessly tossed his load onto the pile and sat on a barrel, closing the corridor. It exploded in a burst of three colors: yellow, blue and red, only leaving behind a cloud of mist.

When he saw Acteur and Shego, he tilted his head. "Apparently I've come at a wrong time," he said with a devilish smirk, noting with mild disgust that she was on her knees and the Heartless stood before her.

"Not that I mind, a good, savage beating's always a wonderful show!" He began clapping his hands and folded one leg over the other. He snapped his fingers and several Heartless appeared all around him, and he directed them to begin carrying his garbage out of the room.

Kefka watched with keen interest, just to see where this was heading. He hadn't been around for a while, instead he was working on other things throughout the castle, and he finally sought to take a break.

"Go on," he said, waving a hand as if he were smacking away a fly.[/glow]