DESCENT INTO DARKNESS

[Gabranth]

As the events unfolded, things seemed to calm. A bright green flash of flames consumed the witch, as she began to come ever closer to the Judge. Gabranth had little concern with the other three about the room. His eyes were focused on Maleficent.

"You wish to bargain with me, Magister? Uphold the law...and yet you bribe me with silent threat...a tight hold Hades must have on you, my pet."

Gabranth still unsure of this witches power, spun and thrust his polearm into the ground between him and Maleficent. He took a step back and put his other hand over the head of the staff as to crush it . "A Judge Magister needs not to make threats, further more I am no ones dog." With a condescending tone he slowly removed his hand from the head of the staff.

He reached into his breastplate and pulled out a pendant. "This binds me the that insufferable God. Release me from my chains. I shall then release your will. Know this witch, do not take me, a Judge Magister for a fool."

[Hercules]

Hercules was attempting to stand once more, though failing pretty awfully. He was just too injured, too tired to really move. As he grunted in pain, gladly accepting any help that Meg had to offer, he'd call out to Gabranth.

"What are you doing??" he'd ask, one eye closed against his injuries as the other looked across the wall of fire dividing them. "Just destroy it now before she can play her mind games on you!" he pleaded. "I know Hades has a hold on you, but we can still fix that! My father Zeus might be able to do something!" he tried to reason.

"There's absolutely no reason we should risk her using that weapon on anyone else! It's too dangerous! Get rid of it!"

[Hades]

"Time's running out, buckethead..." a voice whispered in Gabranth's ear... the same oily, snakelike voice that by now should be a source of dread and discomfort.

Speaking of, that very same salesman-like presence would grow thick on the air and from the billowing smoke would rise the Lord of the Dead, a toothy grin on his features as it always was when he was UP to something. He stepped forward, his head on fire and his demeanor on ice.

"Whoah, whoah, hey now... let's all take a breather, eh?" he said, chuckling a bit as he looked between MeadowSong on his right and Gabranth on his left. "And let's look at the BIG picture here, hm?"

Looking over to MeadowSong, Hades smirked. "Yeah, that's right, I'm here to rub your nose in it. Niiice new look, by the way. You been working out? Call me sometime... But seriously? See the armor-boy over there?" he jerked a thumb at Gabranth here, "He's got maybe five minutes before his contract expires. THIS means that unless he puts the kebosh on Wonderboy over there..." he now pointed to Hercules, "he goes up in flames and gets dragged kicking and screaming right back to the underworld where he belongs..."

He smirked a bit, looking back to Gabranth. "OR, he follows through... gets his freedom as we agreed,and everyone's happy!" Hades smirked a bit, his hands clapping together eagerly. "THEN you can kill the heck out of him, big M and basically lose nothing... I'm just saying wait a minute or two for the real show to start!"

With a grin, Hades watched as things grew tense. He basically had things under control here... assuming MeadowSong didn't try to do something stupid beforehand.

[Acteur de la Noir]

The Top of the Tower:

As the Dark One prowled at the zenith of the fortress, surveying the unfolding conflicts and gazing upon the sable gates that led to Kingdom Hearts, he'd doubtless had time to reflect on this grand game he'd been playing...and the numerous pawns he'd set on the board to ensure that his designs were realized. Some had been used quickly, then discarded like so much worthless refuse. Others had been allowed to remain, becoming knights and rooks and countless others as the Fallen's plans had demanded. So many allies and servants, all with their own individual characters and motives...but, for the purpose of Atticus' grand designs, they'd all been reduced to pieces on the chessboard. All for this...the final, eternal night.

And now, one more piece was to be returned to the board for the final gambit. For at that very moment, the darkness swirled and gathered, ripples of penumbral purple forming around the edges of a whirling vortex--a Corridor of Darkness. And who should step forth from the whirling void but that Victorian-dressed Heartless, he of the expressive theater mask and penchant for madcap drama...Acteur de la Noir, the Phantom Puppeteer!

As he alighted on the tower's zenith, Acteur swept into a theatrical bow, paying respect to the Savior of the Heartless. "I have journyed far, m'lord," he announced, "Cast like a cork on the tides of fate...but rest assured I have not been idle. The witch Shantoto was distracted long enough for your designs to be implemented, and darkness has been further spread in a world that struggles to hang onto the Light, e'en as night begins to fall."

Here, Acteur paused--for a moment, one might think that he was even hesitating--as gleaming yellow eyes peered from the theatrical mask upon those massive shadowy gates. "I see the Door is soon to open, Maestro," he observed thoughtfully. "I gather that all is as you've planned it?"

[Atticus the Fallen]

The swelling of darkness and the subsequent arrival of one of his "pawns" as it was so put, drew Atticus' attention way from the burning gates of Kingdom Hearts. His form slowly turned to face the "man" behind him in an eerily similar way to another manipulator of darkness that once called this castle his bastion. His ebony feathered wings would flutter lightly in this motion, breaking the unsettling silence atop this altar high above the mayhem below.

"Look again... in the time it's taken for your return, I've already assaulted the source of light, and now only wait for its dying breath..." spoke the dark one. He slowly began to walk toward Acteur, his hands behind his back and his eyes staring straight forward, yellow and horrible as they pierced that infinite darkness concealed just below the rim of a tattered magician's chapeu.

"Victory is in our hands... now we need only not let our resolve faulter... Nor give the light any quarter..." A hand lifted to place itself on Acteur's shoulder. "You did well at Castle Oblivion to distract the magician... but something troubles me, Acteur..."

Here, that hand tightened. Claws that had ripped apart beauty and slain grace now dug into the wooden shoulder of his compatriot, and lifted him upward so that they were at eye-level to one another. Atticus pulled the madcap performer closer, those eyes piercing deeply into the very soul of his creation.

"You continue to show mercy to that little girl. I believe I gave the order quite some time ago to make short work of her..." Atticus whispered, his voice everywhere at once and horrifyingly layered, the voice of a monster bubbling from just below the surface, riding a tide of barely-contained rage. "... And yet she continues on in the light. A light, mind you, which is in its death throws. Now I warn you. Finish your task, Acteur. Or..."

Here, Atticus lifted his other hand to the near-featureless mask. In one motion, he tore it away, revealling the truth behind the illusion. "...I will unmake you, as befitting a puppet that does not dance as its strings command..." the dark one finished. "And to make certain that you do not faulter in the future..." he added, as a dark, inky substance crawled out from under his coat, coating his hand and injecting itself into Acteur's shoulder. Darkness in its purest form, so thick and untainted by light that it was almost tangible. Atticus was pumping it into his servant like a super-dosage of steroids.

Then, he released Acteur so that he would fall backward. He then tossed the mask onto the man's chest before slowly turning away to gaze up at the night sky, and the dark, twisted nightmare gates of Kingdom Hearts born of malice and hate.

"You'll find Orestes on the Harbinger. Assist him in locating the Red Rose, then locate your little lost lamb. Everything even resembling the light is to die... and if you want her to survive, you'll do as you were told."

These were Atticus' final words. As such they were beyond contestation. Any attempt to go against these orders would be dealt with by the very darkness Atticus had sent into the wooden man, in dark and painful ways.

[Acteur de la Noir]

One of the boons that came with an artificial body was a decidedly heightened tolerance to pain. As such, Acteur de la Noir wasn't duly bothered by the monstrous claws that cleaved his jacket and dug into his carved shoulder--his immediate thoughts bent more towards dismay at the damage to his finery than any sort of agony. But oh, there was distress in abundance...and nothing as simple as blinding pain from physical assault.
For torment came in many forms, in varying degrees of severity. One could crush bone to powder, cleave tendons into bloody strips, sear flesh till it was nought but ash, poison blood to the point where every heartbeat brought a stab of agony, twist limbs to angles they were never meant to even approach. To name but a mere few. Agonizing, indeed...and yet, with the proper form of resistance, be it the ability to withstand (or even savor) pain or the power to detach oneself from their senses, these forms of torture could be subverted.

But to break a person's spirit--to subject them to cruel, soul-shattering revelations and realizations that they could do nothing to counter? That, surely, was the most insidious torture of all. And no body of wood could protect Acteur de la Noir from that.

As he was subjected to his master's thinly-veiled accusation, Acteur found that he was barely surprised--that, somewhere deep down, he'd known it would come to this. Had it been when he'd seen Sarah Appleton Dive, and known that she'd end up receiving a Keyblade? Perhaps sooner, when he'd begun to feel things that ought to have been utterly alien to a Heartless? No, even before that...back when he'd felt Sarah teetering on the verge between Light and Dark, and had lunged to intercede. To stop her from falling. In complete violation of what Atticus had demanded of him. For one who had so cruelly murdered such a wondrous being as Ultimecia, there could be only one response.

Which begs the question, Acteur realized with a sense of growing dread. why did I come back?? Why had he stopped at sending Sarah away, at willing the subtle mysteries of the Corridor of Darkness to hide her destination from even himself? Why hadn't he gone with her? Or to the self-styled Guardians of Light and pleaded some measure of amnesty, offering his intrinsic knowledge and command of the Heartless to their benefit? Why had he come back here, without considering the only possible outcome? Had he gone completely mad?!

Then his mask was torn away. Those cruel words whispered to him, with all the horrifying impact of a thoughtless parent harshly punishing a small child. And in their wake, comprehension dawned on Acteur de la Noir. Of course. That subtle compulsion that brought him back was proof enough. For all of his sentience, for all of his creative talent, for all of the things that set him apart from the mindless Shadows under his command...

...I've been nothing more than a puppet. From the very beginning.

And then, shortly thereafter, darkness came flooding in like a howling tide, engulfing Acteur's senses and swallowing him in the primordial will of his master. In the crushing misery of that horrible epiphany.

He was dimly aware of ending up flat on his back. Of his mask--his precious mask--being tossed carelessly onto his chest. Of that awfully-familiar voice, cutting through the engulfing mists of Darkness to give him his marching orders. Of his own body, moving with a mechanical stiffness as he rose back to his feet without really thinking about it. Of the familiar shape of his mask in his hand, fingers stroking its porcelain surface as he put it back on. Of the bow he affected, solemn and theatrical all at once. He was even aware of his response to his master's edict: "As you will it, Maestro," he murmured in a most sepulchral monotone, his trademark theatricality reduced to a bitter echo that covered blank subservience.

He was aware of it all...but it didn't matter. It was all a bitter dream, a fog that he walked through as though in a daze. As he strode towards the swirling vortex of the Dark Corridor he didn't remember summoning, Acteur de la Noir happened to spot his reflection in a nearby surface. His mask now sported a jagged crack, running down the bone-white material to suggest a fractured psyche. How utterly appropriate, the Phantom Puppeteer thought mournfully as he stepped into the Corridor and let it swallow him whole.

For he was merely a puppet. Nothing more.

To the Harbinger...

[MeadowSong]

[glow=Purple,2,300]As Hades appeared without a proper summons by the self-proclaimed queen of this shattered domain MeadowSong was growing even angrier; the unexpected, uninvited guests were becoming something of a trend, it seemed, and she had neither the patience or tolerance for any of it. Everything was going wrong.

She turned first to the Judge Magister, who seemed to be rather adamant about destroying her sceptre should she not comply and release him from the hold of death--a cantrip ability to her now, perhaps--and she felt like she was cornered to make a decision.

Back to Hercules she watched as the unconscious Meg began to stir; gritting her teeth she turned her attention to Kim, who seemed to be regaining her composure, as well.

Lastly, she turned upon Hades, staring down at him with a menacing glare.

"I do not recall summoning you here, Hades," said the Heartless, her voice sounding more and more like a nightmare with each sentence. "A nuisance, all of you. I thought I told you that I would deal with your hero, as we made a bargain ages ago. I brought the girl here, and he's managed to nearly kill her. Unfortunately, however, another prisoner managed to escape and allowed him to drag the other back into light...so we stand at a crossroad...I release your prisoner, I gain my sceptre back and wipe all of them out; I allow you to take him away and continue fighting these fools without my ultimate weapon to boost me."

She chuckled dryly for a moment and floated dangerously close to Gabranth.

"I daresay I'd rather be rid of them much quicker; that way I'll get the benefit of our bargain, as well as my Faeries' Wrath."

She turned to Hercules. "But of course you'd also be a fun puppet." She pulled from a pocket of darkness old pieces of parchment and waved them in his direction. "Think me a fool not to have kept tabs on the one you call Sai on occasion? Why shouldn't I have done so? He is a rather important specimen, and I'd like for him to survive until he's deemed expendable." She chuckled once more before going on. "These are Keyblade Notes, something your dear Nobody friend wishes to obtain more than anything in our universe. You have a choice: take down Gabranth before he wracks my weapon and I'll send you all away, unharmed." She turned to Hades for a moment, sure he'd label her a traitor, and smirked. "That way at least I get what I want. And then perhaps you and I will battle at some point later, when our strength is regained. You seem like a worthy adversary, and I would love to test the more potent of my powers on something of a challenge."

Waving the papers again she clicked her tongue. "You might want to take this path, Hercules, for it is the only way you will ever manage to finally be rid of us. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Now you all have a choice." She hovered higher into the air, closer to the arched hallway's ceiling. "Choose well and fast, for my patience grows thin."[/glow]

[Sir Tweedbottom]

If one didn't know better, he'd say the particular section of town Artricia happened to be in was carpet bombed. Such were the effects of her rampage. The utter insanity of the being that formed her had finally cut loose, after having spent so much time locked away in the relative calmness of Arthur's mind. Mawed tendrils of mist smashed doors, tore down walls, and ripped apart any poor sod that just happened to be in her way.

Everything came to a sudden stop when a small flash of light caught the eldritch horror's attention. The metaphysical variant of light would spell her doom, so she decided to return to her human self until she could make sure that there was no threat to her existence. Hidden out of sight, she produced a small cloud of mist in the palm of her hand and sent it on its way to investigate. As it travelled, invisible in the smoke and debris, the little abnormality noticed a young man, hardly past twenty, wearing some sort technologically advanced armour.

Artricia's face split into a grin as she entered the boys mind through nose, mouth and pores.

HardeWare super microkinesis machine speak child prodigy intelligent clumsy- were just a few of the things that ran through her mind as his memories became hers. When she was done, the cloud of mist left the boy's body and disappeared into thin air. Its task was done, and Artricia's grin evolved into a soft cackle, which gradually grew louder, until it caught the Super's attention.

"Who goes there?" he demanded.

With steps that left hollow echoes in the ravaged streets, she emerged from her hiding place, eyes hidden under the shadow of her hat's brim.

"Tsk tsk tsk," she scolded in a mocking tone, "tricked the very God of Death himself, have you, human? Exactly how long did you plan to elude his wrath? Do you honestly think teleportation will help you?"

HardeWare didn't answer, probably wondering how on earth this oddly dressed woman knew about his escapades.

"How lucky you are to have run into me," she continued, "I suppose the effects of your little deal aren't nearly as watertight as you thought."

This got the young super to talk, "How do you know this stuff and what the hell are you talking about?"

She smirked. "That is none of your concern, mortal. Say, how about I send you to him a little earlier then planned? You might as well accept your inevitable doom, as your weapons cannot hurt me, and this will at least gain you a quick death."

At this point, two bright yellow orbs lit up under her hat's shadow, "Defy my generosity on the other hand..."

The boy had nothing of it, readying his arm-mounted laser in response. She seemed like an ordinary woman, and as far as he could tell, had little in the way of backing up her big mouth. But yellow eyes implied Heartless, and he had killed dozens of those already, no sense leaving this one alone.

"You have made your choice..." came from his adversary.

Cackling madly, Artricia raised her pistols, only to have her head blown off, again, by HardeWare's laser. A slight miscalculation on her part she had to admit. This boy had incredible reflexes. Too bad they were mechanical, not natural. The fight might actually become interesting for a change. HardeWare, who had already turned around, jumped as he heard a chuckle erupt from a headless corpse. That wasn't right, was it?

"Wonderful! You're better than expected! Looks like I'll have some fun after all!"

The super stared in amazement as the girl's head regrew in record time, and could barely dodge when she began to fire her guns, much faster this time. He returned in kind with his own barrage of laser bolts, all striking their target, but the woman barely flinched, even when her left arm was ripped straight from its socket. This process of fighting, dying, and regenerating continued for quite a while, but eventually Artricia grew bored.

“Come on! Adapt! Change! Use your powers! You call yourself a super!? I’ll show you how a real super does battle!”

The last few words hadn’t even left her mouth before she was engulfed in a blackened eldritch mass of maws, eyes, and tentacles. Each and every maw curved into a sickening grin as the eyes that accompanied them noticed the twinge of fear in the boy’s Heart. The mass advanced towards its opponent, slowly but surely picking up the pace. HardeWare fired several bolts in retaliation, but broke into a run once he noticed it had no effect at all. Every severed tentacle grew back, every destroyed eye reformed, and every gaping mouth welcomed the rays of material light like a delicious meal.

However, with things going as they were, the super would outrun the cosmic horror, and it could not have that happen. One of the larger sets of shark-like teeth opened wide, and an arm emerged, its hand brandishing a seemingly ancient flintlock pistol. With what appeared to be no effort at all, the creature took aim and fired. The young man would suddenly find no support from where his left leg was supposed to be, and thus smacked face first into the ground.

As he gathered his orientation, he could only stare in disbelief at the bloody stump that now made up his leg. The lower half lay several meters away, with small pieces of kneecap in between. A portion of the floating abomination reformed itself into Artricia’s upper body, ending just below her considerable… stack of firewood. She reached and heaved the severed leg from its bloodied resting place, squeezing it softly to squirt out thin jets of blood.

“Heal your severed leg!” she challenged, “Use those nanomachines of yours! Regenerate! I don’t have all night!”

Then she saw it, a hand reaching for the teleportation device, the little fool opted for the coward’s way out. Oh no. Oh no no no. At speeds impossible for the limited human reaction time to follow, she fired five shots in rapid succession, effectively amputating every finger on the super’s one normal hand. What followed was a scream of pain, one of the many which she had come to enjoy so much with the passing of time.

“So I see you for what you are, mortal. You may have been a cunning trickster in life, but when faced with utter destruction you cower like a rat. You humans are all the same, it is what makes you such marvellous prey for beings of my calibre.”

And as her humanoid form once again disappeared into the mist-like mass below, her disembodied voice uttered one last imperative: “Now die.”

Long tendrils with rows of serrated teeth shot forward, with every intent to rip apart and devour. And as they began their feast upon the immobilised super, HardeWare’s second and last scream of pain was cut short as one of the tentacles cut straight through his vocal cords, the only remaining sounds being a few disgusting gurgles as he choked on his own blood. To Artricia’s disappointment, her pets were done way faster than she would’ve hoped. The flesh was eaten and gone, now the Heart was all that remained. Begging eyes pleaded for a bite, but she would have nothing of it. They had disobeyed her after all. Instead, she transformed into her spectral state, returning her gender to that of a male, and took the Heart in his open palm.

“Pity,” he remarked, and why he did so shall remain a mystery for the ages.

Without further delay, he crushed the Heart to dust in his fist, absorbing the fragments through his immaterial skin. The insanity of the being that formed him had gone free long enough, now was the time for patience and chivalry. Perhaps Lady MeadowSong had a new mission for him. And thus, after materialising his cane out of nothing, he continued strolling along his merry way, occasionally complaining about the racket.

[Gabranth]

The presence of Hades as soon as Gabranth made his bargain with Maleficent, made him think he was on the right track. Though Maleficent seemed to have other plans in her sight as she drifted close to the Judge. Still standing with the staff in hand ready to crush it to pieces listen to what the witch as she taunted not only Hercules but Hades as well. This was his opportunity.

Gabranth glanced to Hercules, and said nothing. He stared at Hercules for a moment, as if trying to speak with his eyes. Then he turned his attention to Maleficent. "Enough talk witch! You have no room for threat!" He quickly removed his polearm from the stone ground and took a few steps back to stand with Hades. Turning his back to the witch, he spoke with a condescending tone, "Release me of my bonds witch...or your precious staff will reside with me, in the underworld! You have only moments..." he quickly turned to her thrusting his polearm in her direction. "...to make YOUR decision!"

[Hercules]

It would take Hercules a moment or two to figure out what just happened. At one second, he was being taunted with the keyblade notes, items which he knew possessed the possibility of creating a keyblade which they could use to defeat the heartless... and the next, he was being asked to attack Gabranth!

Now, Hercules was HARDLY in any shape to really do any attacking of any sort. He was badly injured, and it took all his considerable god-like strength just to stand and hold his semi-conscious beloved close to him at once. Not knowing what to do, he looked over to Gabranth, confused... but then salvation came in the form of a smooth move on the Judge's part.

"Ohh..." Herc muttered, then looked to MeadowSong. "What good would attacking him do? Your staff's in just as much danger if I do anything! He'll wreck it before I can even get to him! And if you don't release him soon, he's gonna take it with him anyway!" Hercules glared at the queen, and added. "Only one real option left, huh?"

Still holding Meg, Hercules tried his best to hoist her up so that he could carry her. Chances are likely he'd have to do some running in the near future, and he wanted to make sure he had a good starting point. "Free him to rescue your staff... but if you want to get it back, I'm willing to bet he'd trade those notes for it..."

[Hades]

Hades couldn't help but chuckle at all the madcap weirdness going on about now. MeadowSong was up in arms even though he was here on good terms, Herc was about two steps away from a dirt nap, and even Gabranth was in the middle of dirty dealings. Yep, all was looking good here.

So, when Gabranth suddenly walked to his side and threatened to take MeadowSong's staff with him, Hades couldn't help but laugh a bit at this. "There ya go, Buckethead! You finally figured out which was the winning side!" he said, then threw his arm around the man's shoulders like they were old buddies. "I knew you'd figure it out, but uhm... about our deal... yeah, time's runnin' out big guy..."

Hades then smirked a bit to MeadowSong. "And hey, babe... I know you're not too thrilled to see me after I turned ya down on secondary employment, but think about this a sec. I'm about to come out of this wayyy on top here. No matter how this goes down I'm walkin' away the winner! Gabby here kills Herc? Awesome! I get my prize. He doesn't? Hey, I get him and as a bonus, I get your magic-stick..."

Hades chuckled a bit. "But... hey... what if you try to free my wayward puppy here? Well, at least I get to see Miss High-And-Mighty get humbled by a couple of losers!" His head tilted back an he let out a laugh. "This is too much! They oughtta put you bunch on pay-per-view!"

With a final smirk, Hades looked the group once over one more time before settling his eyes on MeadowSong. "Tick tok, hot stuff... Gimme a good show, will ya?"

[Secondary Characters]

You see... there are advantages to not having super powers or a deal with the devil going on. While the black fairy got herself cornered into a mexican standoff with the armor guy, the greek myth, and the OTHER greek myth, Kimmy had been wisely hiding herself out of sight and hence, out of mind.

She was currently up on one of the unlit sconces, giving herself a bird's-eye view of the situation. She was calculating all the various odds of this game, and making a judgement call. What she knew right now was that the dude in armor had the upper hand at the moment, threatening to take the staff with him should he croak. Regardless what bargaining chip the black fairy had, she'd have to do something to rescue that thing, if it really was so important.

That left the notes she was brandishing at Hercules. Kim Possible had no idea what they were, but apparently they were a major bargaining chip. So, the question now became who'd break first? Whatever happens next, she was poised to make a move to tip the scales in her side's favor... hopefully.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]**From Neverland...The Making of... **

The bickering that happened bellow the teen hero would soon be out of her thoughts, for something much less pleasing was about to appear behind her... or should we say someone?

A black mist would spread from a singular location, and like a quiet wind, the green and black clad thief appeared behind the girl who looked at the scenario bellow. Shego, grinning widely would look over the girl's shoulder, Kim Possible possibly unaware of what was happening. "Ooh.." the thief would finally whisper, placing the shield over back and sword against her waist. She rested one of her hands upon her hip while the other hung loosely over the curious blade before continuing, "Now, pumpkin, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were eavesdropping...how villainous of you."

The thief did not fight immediately, but was rather checking out the teenager's state. Last time she saw her was before she descended into true darkness, and split into two different beings for a little while. She noticed the girl had gone skinny, and with hair rather untamed, it was obvious Kim had been through some ordeals since last time they crossed paths.

"Boy, do you need a Naco..." she would grimace a little, somewhat understanding of the Hero's situation, "...not a good feeling being locked, is it, Princess?" she then sat down near the hero, and looked bellow with a smug grin, never had seen Meadowsong in such a pinned state with a lively bunch-- it seemed so unfair, "...I wonder which one of us will have to step in first...? "

"Tick tok, hot stuff... Gimme a good show, will ya?" Hades could be heard saying, and to this...well...why wouldn't she respond?

Of course, she would not wait for the girl's answer, in fact she jumped down from where she was, and unsheathed her keyblade and shield to disappear through a temporary corridor, only to appear behind the strange Tin-man she had a glimpse of back at the underworld. They were back to back from one another; she was acting as his shadow before crouching down, and taking a low swipe with the shield at the back of his knees where the armor was most weak for some maneuverability. If this worked, his balance would be off for a split second-- long enough for her to pry the staff from his fingers while he regained balance with his pole-arm.

"Lemmeborrowthisthanks!" The thief said, then backed a few feet before disappearing from sight, reappearing dead center between him and the faerie heartless, "Whoo, Queenie-- I'm only gone, like, what-- a day or two and these things happen to you?[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Kim blinked a moment when she heard... or was it when she felt... an all-too familiar presence just next to her. She glared immediately, listening to Shego's words because well, she couldn't very much do anything to retaliate just yet. Of course Shego was on their side. Leave it to that plasma-blasting theif to always cause trouble.

Then, just as quickly as she came, Shego was down below making a move. With a click of her teeth, Kim Possible was forced to make hers as well. She didn't have corridors to cheat with, however. She had to rely on her acrobatic skills alone. So, the microsecond Shego leapt into her little teleport puddle, Kim jumped up and kicked her way off the wall, launching herself like a torpedo just over the shoulder of the black fairy.

She came in fast like a bullet, snatching the notes clear of the woman's hand and tumbling forward when she reached solid ground in order to roll a little ways away from the magical fairy. She had to bat at her clothes a bit, as they'd been scorched lightly from the fires around the dark creature, but she was for the most part no worse for wear. Before she could let her guard down, she got into a defensive position, keeping her eyes on all the assorted baddies at once.

"Okay... that didn't quite go as planned..." she said aloud, addressing all the dealmakers around them. "Look... I don't want to be here any more than any one of you... so why don't we just call this little transaction handled, and move on? Fairy girl, you've got your stick just like promised, and I'm sure from your little rant earlier you're in no mood to get bossed around by the guy with the flaming tupee' over there... And we've got the notes now, so maybe we can all just nice and calmly walk away from this?"

She was expecting a contestation to that, but strongly hoped this would be the end of it. Everyone (minus maybe Hades) was getting what they wanted here... If any of them were smart, they'd take what they can get and bail...

[MeadowSong]

[glow=Purple,2,300]MeadowSong had never been happier to see Shego in her entire life the moment she punched through a Corridor brandishing Faeries' Wrath, taken rather swiftly by the threatening Judge Master. She nodded to the thief, moving close and tearing the sceptre from her hands.

"Thank you, Shego," said MeadowSong with a hint of satisfaction singing alongside her voice. "Well, Judge Magister, it appears that I have no reason to consider your deal any longer. As for you, Hercules," she stopped a moment, her arms folding as she looked him over. "I could finish you off right now for Hades, getting even more prizes."

A chuckle escaped her thin mouth before turning to Kim. "Won't you be a dear and take care of him for me?" She watched as the woman swiped the notes the Notes the queen had been willing to hand over. "I have no need of them, anyway, but perhaps your friend could. As for him, though...Hades, I'm sorry, but he'd be a valuable pawn in later times."

Raising her sceptre MeadowSong directed it towards Gabranth, chanted something in the language of the dragons, melded with darkness, and a stream of black lightning bolted forth from the gem, wrapped around Gabranth and made him glow. As it dissipated, there was a sound of "c-click", indicating that something had been unlocked and he would be free.

"Now get out!"

Waving it again, Faeries' Wrath conjured a gateway for those uninvited to pass through safely. "Get out, and be sure to get those notes to one of Beatrix' men--the Nobody they are traveling with." She shook her head, unsure whether or not this was a good idea. "I am ready for a challenge."[/glow]