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The Master of Worlds

“How in the world did one little girl manage to do this to you?” Mary Poppins asked the bound Chernabog while standing patiently.

With strain on his chains he answered “With less difficulty than you’d think. When this One World….this perversion of magic, was created, I was effected by it. It had hindered me….more than I would have believed.” He strained to look down at her, her image reflecting in his pure yellow eyes, as he continued. “You know how greatly I am connected to balance of the Worlds.”

“Indeed.” She nodded. “Far more than any others.” After that she had a look of realization in her eyes before saying “Without that balance you’ve been bereft of your true power. Which means all Alice needed to do was find you and bind you here.”

Cherabog gave a low grumble that soon turned into a growl before saying “That wrenched little…I doubt it this wasn’t part of the great plan from the beginning.” Looking to her again he said “Listen to me, Mary Poppins. You must release me. I can help you stop all of this.”

“At the risk of claiming it all for your own you mean?” she retorted with a more defiant tone. “You think I’m not I’m aware of your tricks and game, oh mighty demon lord? I’ve better things to do than aid in some plan for revenge.”

“No!” he boomed, stopping her from turning to leave. “This is more than some petty means of vengeance. Theirs is more to this plot than you know. What I can do is fix all of this. I can use what power I have and spate the worlds again!”

Crossing her arms Mary Poppins retorted with “Do you think I don’t have plans of my own to do just the same? Believe me, Chernabog, you’ve nothing to say that would convince to so much as dance around like a ninny. Much less free you.”

A coy smile went over the demon’s mouth as he asked “Are you so certain of your plan, nanny? Are you sure it would even work?”

Keeping her defiant look she continued with “I know it would be better than yours. I’m aware of the method you have in mind.”

“As I am yours.” He added. “These eyes can still see farther than any.”

“Beside that point,” she continued “I know your way could mean worlds would be destroyed in the process. Do you think I would honestly risk that?”

“Do you think your plan would work any better? Putting all your dependencies on a mere child?”

“It’s worked before.” She coyly smirked. “Or did you forget about the incident with the Horned King?”

With sneer he answered “No. I haven’t. But perhaps you’ll reconsider when you hear what I have to say.” When Mary Poppins asked what he meant Chernabog smirked before clarifying “Something I’ve known ever since this world was created. One of the reasons I was trapped here. I know the truth behind Alice, the so-called Master of Worlds.”

********************

The battle had slowly turned on a tide as the heroes’ forces found themselves overwhelmed.

The last of the giant snowmen had fallen to either the numbers from the Huns, but not before taking down as many as they could. Donald, Scrooge and Peg had fought their bravest and hardest against Jafar but the fact his soldiers had his support kept them too on their toes to concentrate. Even Adam as a Beast was but one creature and even he couldn’t win an entire war. The enemy was winning thanks to the numbers.

It was made even direr when a horn sounded in the distance. From the slope of one of the nearby hills came the sight of more soldiers, these ones wearing the sigil of Prydain.
Arawn’s forces. They’d been hiding and awaiting the signal to completely swarm one the heroes when the time was ready. The villains had played them all along.

Seeing this for himself Mickey had called “Retreat! Back to the ships!”

As much as everyone else hated to admit it they had to make a run for it now while they still could. With that everyone recalled their soldiers and tried to flee back to the shore. Even King Fergus and Elsa, the two who seemed most heated in battle, had stood down and tried to run with the others and their men.

Seeing this Maleficent laughed before declaring “None of you are going anywhere!”

Raising her staff high in the air she shot out a force of black magic that soon struck the spot at the hill where the heroes’ army had arrived. The ground cracked for a moment before tangles upon tangles of giant, sharp, thorny weeds began to grow and completely cut off the heroes’ means of escape. They were trapped.

With nowhere to go the heroes’ and the army were forced to face their enemies again as they surrounded them. Everyone had feelings and expressions of anger, fear, and most of all defeat as this sudden turn. Mickey, trying to keep a bold enough face for the others, stood at the front with his weapon in hand. An indication if he was going down it would be fighting. Enough of an indication to most of the others, like Tiana, Donald, Max, Peter Pan and Adam, who stood with him regardless of an inevitable defeat.

With a victorious smirk on his face Jafar called to the Prydain forces “You’ve sat this out long enough! Now finish them off!”

And with that the head of the Prydain forces ordered the charge ahead. The horn sounded and the men came rushing forward towards the heroes. Many of those who weren’t as strong as the others only huddled or awaited the inevitable.

Elsa, looking towards the sky, gave a sorrowed “I’m sorry, Anna…”

Even Mickey closed his eyes, despite his brave face, and muttered “Minnie…”

********************

“What did you do to him?” Lilo demanded from Lord Arawn at the sight of the ravenous looking Stitch.

With a laugh he explained “Hardly anything. When this little monster fell from the skies it was already a force of destruction on his own. Destroying towns and defeating any and all who tried to stop it. You know the stories still, do you not? How even the mighty Hercules fell to this monster.”

“And you made everyone think you destroyed him.” Belle gasped in realization.

A bemuse chuckled escaped his lips before Arawn continued “My master had foreseen its arrival. So she gave me the means to leash this creature. It is now our personal beast of war that we plan to unleash on the world.”

Gritting her teeth Merida pointed and declared “That’s why you killed Yen Sid, isn’t it?”

“The old fool thought it was better to try and send it home. ‘Back to the sky’ where it belongs. I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow it.” Suddenly everyone heard the horns blowing from outside, Arawn turning for a moment towards the window before saying “Ah, and there we have it. It seems as though my reserve forces have finally arrived.” He turned back to them with a wicked grin before declared “This battle is already over, I’m afraid. And you’ve lost. Everything!”

“Don’t be so sure.” A voice from the doorway suddenly said.

Everyone looked in surprise at the sight of who it was. While she was dressed differently from when she’d been seen last both Merida and Belle knew who it was the moment they heard her voice.

Both gave a confused yet surprised “Eilonwey!?!”

Seeing her Arawn scowled while saying “What do you think you’re doing here, wife?”

Suddenly drawing a sword from behind her back Eilonwey, with a defying look, said to her husband “Ruining your day, as a start.”

********************

As the heroes awaited the Prydain forces to wipe them out all were shocked by the sudden last minute turn of events.

Instead of attacking them the Prydain forces turned mid-charge and began attack the villains’ army. This surprised everyone, including Jafar and Maleficent who looked both confused and outraged by this. The heroes were stunned for a moment before one of the captains of the Prydain forces arrived at their side.

“A personal gift from Lady Eilonwey.” He said while saluting them. “We know who our true friend are in this fight, and we stand with you!”

With this sudden change of events now in favor of them Mickey nodded before calling to the heroes’ and their army “What are we waiting for? Let’s get ‘em!”

Everyone cheered and gave loud battle cries before storming back into the fray with their new allies. They now had the numbers to hopefully handle the villains’ army, especially after the sudden surprise attack they’d made on them.

Seeing this Maleficent gave an enraged look before peering her gaze towards the fortress where Arawn was. While she didn’t know he had no part in it she growled his name, knowing this was still his fault in some way or another.

********************

Seeing the turn in the battle from the fortress Arawn, aghast, looked back to Eilonwey and shouted “What have you done? How could you betray me like-”

“No!” she stopped him, making her way past the others to stand in front of the group. “This isn’t betrayal. This is justice for all your crimes. The lies you’ve told and the people who you’ve bullied with your rule. Even me. But it’s more than that, ‘my love.’” She said in a coy manner. “This is for the boy who you killed before claiming his glory of destroying the Black Cauldron. The one who you lied to everyone, even to me, about. You pretend to be a hero when Taran was the only real hero this whole time. You’re nothing but a liar and a coward!”

The whole time she spoke the more anger grew on Arawn’s face. Everyone could see it to the point where he was practically boiling. And finally, after being called a coward and a liar, he roared with rage before lifting his hand and firing a spell at Eilonwey.
Everyone ducked away, even Eilonwey who was unfortunately grazed in the shoulder by the outburst. She fell down and groaned in pain, her left shoulder singed through the clothing all the way to the skin from the spell. Seeing this Belle gave a bestial growl before chagrining towards him.

“Don’t just stand there!” he shouted at Stitch. “Kill them!”

Stitch gave his own little roar as all four of his arms shot out from his body, adding to his alien appearance, before he changed towards Belle. When the two collided Stitch had proven to be stronger than he seemed; as was usually the case. He leapt onto her face and began crawling about while pulling at her fur or biting at her skin. She gave mixed cries of pain, both human and animal like, while trying to fight him off.

As Merida and Lilo helped Eilowey the princess looked to Eugene, Aladdin and Abu and said “We’ve got her. Help Belle!”

They all nodded before turning their attention, and weapons towards the fight currently going on. After Stitch had actually managed to knock bell away, towards the fireplace where she knocked some of the furniture over, Aladdin came in from behind and tried to swipe at the little beast. Stitch turned and snapped at him, making Aladdin and Abu back off in fear before the alien picked up a nearby chair and tossed it towards them.

Aladdin and Abu ducked before Eugene tried to take the advantage and knock Stitch on the head with his frying pan. He hit but it only seemed to serve to agitate him. He snapped at Eugene before managing to get his jaws around the frying pan where the two began to fight over it. Eugene had just as good a grip as Stitch but it was hard to say if that was a good or bad thing.

Seeing the fighting herself Lilo, standing, said “Wait! Stop! He’s still my friend!”

Before she could walk into the mix of the fight Merida stopped the little girl, grabbing her arm, and saying “Are you out of your mind? You’ll be crushed or worse if you go in there.”

“I’m not just going to sit here and do nothing!” she retorted. “I have to save Stitch.”
Watching as the fighting continued Merida commented “I doubt we can…”

Stitch had managed to toss Eugene away, along with his frying pan, right into Aladdin as he was about to run in and help. The two collided and tumbled before winding up smashed against the nearby bookshelf. Before Stitch could move on them Belle, who’d recovered, leapt from where she was and landed on him, pinning Stitch to the ground.

As they fought Arawn walked over to the injured Aladdin and Eugene, his hand raised and ready to cast a deadly spell on them, while chuckling “You two should’ve remained thieves.”

Suddenly Abu, who had managed to sneak around the fighting, screeched as jump on Arawn’s head and began pulling at his hair while beating against his skull. The lord struggled and yelled before managing to grab him by the tail and toss him away. The brave monkey smacked against the wall before dropping to the floor where Arawn raised his sword at him.

“I’m going to have you mounted and stuffed!” he yelled, ready to stab him.

Before he could, however, Merida, with her sword drawn, yelled as she ran in and attacked. Arawn managed to block her sweep before the two locked blades and looks. Both gritted their teeth as they tested each other’s strength before breaking off. And once they were ready the two engaged in a heated swordfight to see who the more skilled swordsman was.

*********************

The fighting outside had become more chaotic than before, even with the aid for the heroes from the Prydain army.

Everyone had been caught up within the melee as hero and villain and simple soldier alike battle with any and all might in their bodies. Mickey, Max, King Fergus and the other swordsman had helped lead their men while chopping down one opponent at a time. Adam charged and roared and clawed his way through the umbers to cut them down to size. Elsa used her ice abilities as more defense than offense this time, creating walls or freezing the ground where the enemy soldiers were to either make them slip or stop them where they were. Scrooge, Donald, Peg and the few remaining mages, including Tiana, had used their magic to aid those who they would; either with healing or full-on attacks.

During the fighting Tiana had found Dr. Facilier again, trying to use his voodoo again. But now, with help from Donald, she was able to gain an easier advantage over the Shadow Man. Voodoo could do well against voodoo, but when backed by a different type of magic it wouldn’t be as durable.

Once Facilier was disarmed and helpless Tiana, pulling out some sort of powder, said “Time to meet my friends on the other side!”

With a little blow the powder flew out and surrounded Facilier. The light yellow dust swirled about him, the Shadow Man in fear the whole time, as what seemed light spirits of good voodoo magic began to appear around. Unlike the dark spirits Facilier had made deals with these spirits were more friendly looking, but did begin to make him disappear into “the other side” when the powder eventually settled; even to the sound of a low “hush”.

This was but the first of a small victory to follow the heroes in battle as, suddenly, fire came down from above and struck at the bulk of the villain army. Looking up many would see the Black Pearl, finally joining the battle, reigning down cannon fire on them.

On the deck of his ship Captain Jack Sparrow called “Come on, you miserable, slimy sea dogs! We can’t let any of them have all the fun below, can we now? So open all guns and let them taste the Pearl’s furry!”

More cannons fired and barraged into the midst of the villain’s army. Small explosions boomed and shook the ground where the cannon’s fired with men being tossed into the air. As they watched some of the heroes and their soldiers cheered at the aid of their flying pirate friends.

However Maleficent, looking up to the Pearl, sneered before declaring “Enough of this!” She banged the end of her staff against the ground before declaring “Let’s see you fools face against all the powers of Hell!”

Dark magic burst from where she stood, many stopped to see as it shot high into the air and created an unnatural light. Like a dark pillar Maleficent’s spell shot high before finally settling, clearing away in nothing but smoke before revealing that she had changed into the more ferocious form of a dragon. Many of the soldiers, both hero and villain, had backed away as she roared in the air before spewing fire in the air. And then, before anyone knew it, Maleficent had already taken flight and began attacking the Black Pearl.

Seeing her Jack called to his men “Hang on, lads! The seas….I mean, the air, is about to get rough!”

********************

After hearing Chernabog explain his knowledge of Alice’s secret Mary Poppins gave a little “Well….that’s an interesting development.”

“Now you see the urgency, don’t you?” he boomed to her. “That’s why you must free me! Before it’s too late.”

Mary Poppins was silent for a few moments, considering her options. Given her ponderous look it was clear she was considering any and all routes and options available in this situation. Either there were truly that many or the only ones available were to have great consequences either way.

Finally turning back to him she sighed and said “Very well. You shall be freed, Lord Chernabog.” The demon smiled with relief for a moment before she added “But on one, simple condition. You work on separating the worlds, ONLY that. Leave Alice to me. Understood?”

He smirked before saying “As well as you know me, Mary Poppins, do you really think I’d ordinarily agree to that?” The bold look in her eye indicated otherwise before he bellowed a chuckle and added “But you’re right. Alice doesn’t matter. Not now at least.” He relaxed for a moment before finishing with “So what trick to you have to free me from these chains?”

After taking a moment to look at them, and possibly the deeper, powerful magic involved to keep them strong enough for Chernabog, Mary Poppins placed her belongings on the ground and answered “The best, and quite possibly only means I know.” She raised both hands towards him in the air before saying “I will warn, this is likely to hurt us both.”

While Chernabog was aware of what was to come, no one else knew what exactly Mary Poppins had done to free him. All that was clear, however, was how everything within Bald Mountain began to shake because of it.

********************

The fight between Merida and Arawn was almost as intense as the brawl between Belle, Eugene and Aladdin against Stitch.

As they fought everyone had felt the sudden low tremor but were too busy fighting to take the time to care. While the two royal warriors clashed swords, Arawn proving to be as skilled with a blade as he was with magic, the alien and the she-beast had been rolling about and crashing into one thing after another. Eugene and Aladdin had stepped in whenever possible to help but they were only little distractions at best. It even came to a point where Stitch had managed to lock his jaws around Eugene’s frying pan again, only this time not only did he force his grip off of it but the little alien had actually chomped it down in his mouth before it was completely eaten.

Eugene, seeing this, gave a wide-eyed worried expression of “He just ate my frying pan….” As he stood from where he landed.

Aladdin handed him an extra sword and said “Here. Try something more useful.”

As Aladdin rushed in Eugene gave a small “But I loved that frying pan…” only to shake it off and charge back into the fight.

Merida and Arawn had fought all the way towards the bed where Alice still slept. It amazed Merida how deep in her sleep she was to not have awoken from all the commotion. Perhaps, however, this wasn’t an ordinary nap. It didn’t matter, however, as she soon locked blades with Arawn again.

“You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side, you little bi-” he began before Merida, seeing an opportunity, reached over to a nearby book that had fallen from the shelf and smacked him across the face with it.

Standing there she smirked “You best watch that mouth. Otherwise I’ll have to wash it out.”

Given her tone, and the fact she’s smacked him so hard, Arawn roared and lunged at her again before the two engaged again. And during this time Lilo had stood where Eilonwey sat against the doorway while looking back between both fights. As she watched Stitch managed to pick Aladdin up and toss him at Eugene and Belle she gasped before a more determined look came over her.

Without a thought she rushed over saying “I have to stop this!” Eilonwey trying to stop her but to no avail. Finally, with Stitch alone and the others injured, Lilo stopped behind him and said “Stitch, stop it right now!”

She was loud enough that everyone heard, even Merida who gasped at this. She tried to break away from her fight with Arawn by pushing him away but as she moved he grabbed her hair and pulled her back into their little duel against her will. Stitch had turned and snarled at Lilo while she, looking scared, didn’t back down.

“Stitch, it’s me. Don’t you remember?” she asked, only to have him snarl and snap at her. She backed away a bit before continuing “Don’t you even know who you are? You’re Stitch, remember? Experiment 626?” This, surprisingly, managed to get to him as he gave a curious snarl. “Yeah. You fell down in a spaceship after running away from the Space Police. And then we thought you were a dog. And me and Nani adopted you and made you part of the family. Don’t you remember that?” This seemed to be working as he was more confused now, snapping at her but then backing away and cocking his head. “I know things are different here, in this big one world place thing, but you’re still my friend. You’re really like this. I know you’re not. You’re not a monster, you’re ohanna.”

The word “ohanna” had seemed to faze him. He gave a little whimper as he began to think to himself. Like everyone else Stitch, in the One World, had dreams of his true life and history. He thought back to those dreams and how he could remember the vague memories of an island out in the middle of the ocean. Two girls who seemed to be special to him. And that word, “Ohanna”, and what it meant.

Looking to her Stitch gave a small whimper of “L…Lilo?”

A little smile came over her face as he said her name, a sign that it was working. However the moment was interrupted when Aladdin, Eugene and Belle all got back to their feet and groaned. His vicious nature kicked in, given how he’d been fighting with them, before running back towards them despite Lilo’s protests.

He leapt onto Belle’s face before she struggled with him. Both gave violent animal noises before, finally, Belle had managed to grab the little alien by one of his arms and toss his hard towards the window. Stitch went through the glass and flew out into the air before landing far, far away. The whole time he gave a violent yell as he did.

Belle, looking back to Lilo, gave a quick “I’m sorry, but he didn’t leave me any choice.”

The little girl sighed before saying “It’s okay. Stitch is really tough. He’ll be okay. I hope…”

Arawn, during his fight, had finally managed to disarm Merida after pushing her back against the wall. He was quick enough to kick the sword out of her reach when it fell from her hand before pointing the blade at her throat.

“I wonder if I should kill you myself,” He began “or perhaps leave you alive for my master once she awakes.” After a moment he said “No. Better you die now. It’ll be more merciful.”

He raised his blade, ready to cut her down, while Merida closed her eyes and winced. Before he could, however, something had dropped from above on the shelf and smacked onto Arawn’s head. Merida looked and saw it was a vase that had been pushed off by Abu. He collapsed to the ground giving her time to pick up her sword before kicking his away inside.

The monkey landed on her shoulders and said something, Merida responding with “You tell him, Abu. And thanks, by the way.”

Abu gave a little bashful screech before Arawn began to stir. He looked up and saw Merida armed before backing away, only to turn and stare a snarling Belle right in the face. He jumped and backed up again, now against the foot of Alice’s bed, before seeing he was outnumbered and surrounded. Even Eilonwey stood with them, a look of contempt on her face at her now ex-husband.

Merida told Bell “Hold him.” Making the she-beast picked him up by the back of the collar.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked, while dangling in the air. “You really think you can stop this?”

Merida, looking to the sleeping Alice, gripped her sword while saying “I’m going to try.”

********************

The child continued to chase the creature through the dark void, finally beginning to see as something in the distance.

The creature, as the child realized as they continued after it, was a cat. They remembered that word and what a cat was. Another little piece of knowledge, along with everything else, that began to slowly creep back into their mind as they kept running. Eventually the thing in the distance was closer and closer until the child finally arrived at it.

It was a table that looked like it was set for a party; yet everything looked so old. The table was very, very long and had chairs scattered everywhere. Broken plates and other things all about. The cat had hopped up onto the table and meowed to make the child come closer as they examined everything.

“This…..I know this place.” They began. “I think….I’ve been here before. For…a party? Something… I… I… think…” The more the child thought on it the more things became a little clearer to where they looked to the cat and said “You. I know you, don’t I? Aren’t you….?”

Suddenly a thundering crash came with the old, ancient evil voice booming NO! No more!

The cat hissed before running away into the darkness. The child watched this before seeing the table crack and break apart before her. It exploded into nothing but shards, the child ducking and screaming at this before seeing nothing was left. Everything began to rumble again before the child felt something pulling them up into the air and hold their arms out and her legs together. Something was binding them in place even as they struggled to be free.

As the child struggled they called out “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

Because you are nothing but a figment. A worthless, nonexistent mistake that needs to be erased. You were never meant to linger like this.

“No.” they called. “I want the truth. You…whoever you are, you know who I am! Tell me. Tell me who I really am!”

For a moment everything went quiet. The rumbling stopped and the booming noises died down. The child looked all over, thinking the voice was gone, until another low rumble came. The voice was laughing at them.

Very well. You want to know the truth. You shall have it. You are the Master of Worlds, my dear. And you are never leaving this place for the rest of eternity!

The voice laughed again, booming before slowly fading away. The whole time the child looked in confusion at the answer given. They were some Master of Worlds? What did it mean? Without any answer of their own the child wept in the dark again, praying for help.

********************

While Maleficent flew around the Black Pearl, smacking at the masts and trying burn the sails, Mulan was still dueling with Shan Yu in the fortress.

Both fights were very battle hardening as Mulan and Shan Yu clashed blades while Jack called out orders to try and ready the guns against the dragon attacking his ship. The battle in the air had moved a little closer to the fortress itself.

Shan Yu, locking blades with Mulan, grinned and said “You fight well. A lot better than most of the other soldiers I killed.” He peered at her and commented “Tell me, did I happen to take anyone personal from you? Is that the reason you wanted to fight me?” she was silent but he chuckled and said “Oh there was someone, wasn’t there?”

Angered she pushed back and, finding an opening, managed to slash a cut at Shan Yu’s right side. He yelled in pain before stumbled back towards his men, clutching the wound. He looked down, seeing there was blood on his clothing, before snarling at her.

Standing there Mulan said “Yes, there was a man. His name was Captain Li Shang. And you took him away from me. Him. My family. My home. And my country. You took all of it away.” Pointing her blade at him she finished with “And when all of this is over, Shan Yu, I’ll make sure you live long enough to answer for what you did. This isn’t about revenge anymore. It’s justice.”

He snarled again before ordering his men “Get her!”

All of them drew weapons and readied to attack, Mulan getting ready as well, before two cannon balls fired from the Black Pearl had strayed from trying to hit Maleficent and stuck the area of the fortress where they were. Mulan ducked while all the men screamed. The next thing she knew Mulan could hear them, along with Shan Yu, screaming as they fell out and down the side of Bald Mountain. When it was done she looked and saw the destroyed hallway in front of her before looking out the giant hole and seeing the Pearl still dogfighting with Maleficent.

On the Pearl itself Jack called to his men “best to try and hit the flying lizard next time, aye?” before needing to steer the ship away from being burned again.

Mulan gave a little sigh of relief before realizing she still had to try and help Merida and the others up above. She just hoped things hadn’t gotten out of hand without her there to help.

********************

Merida slowly approached the bed where Alice slept, standing at her side, with her sword in hand.

Seeing what she was likely to do Arawn tried to break free from Belle while saying “No! Don’t do it! You can’t!”

“You have to, Merida.” Aladdin insisted. “It’s the only way.”

“No. Don’t so this.” Arawn tried to think before saying “You can take her prisoner at least. She won’t be any trouble.”

“Just so she can break out again? Not likely.” Eilonwey insisted. “I hate to say it, but I don’t think there’s any other way.”

Merida didn’t look to them. She only kept looking at Alice slept peacefully. Given the look on her face she was obviously conflicted with what had to be done. She looked down at Mulan’s sword still in her hand before raising it up to see herself in the gleaming reflection. Seeing herself Merida could also see the white strands in her hair from the incident with Elsa in Neverland. It was another reminder of how crazy this whole One World was. And it was all Alice’s fault.

The question had come back to her, though. Was there truly no other way to do this? Did she have to die? They could try to lock her up, but who was to say how long she would be secured in a prison cell? Even with magic to bind her. And she was the only means of separating the worlds again. As she recalled Master Yen Sid telling her all spells could be broken, no matter how powerful, if the person who cast them was destroyed. And while Arawn may have cast it when the worlds were spate, he wasn’t real. Just living imagination constructed by Alice, the true mastermind behind all of this.

And yet Merida knew it wasn’t her fault. Some influence of her time under the control of the Horned King must have lingered in her mind and made her do this. If there was a way to cure her wouldn’t that be better? But what if there wasn’t a cure? No real way to save her from the state she was in?

Suddenly, during her contemplation, Eugene said to her “Just do it, Merida. Get it over with…”

Finally, after thinking long and hard about it, Merida began to raise the sword in both hands up over her head. The blade was pointed down, right towards Alice’s chest. Everyone held their breath as Merida held it for a moment.

This was it. She had to do this. Didn’t she? Her hands began to shake. Merida, the princess of the Dunbroch lands, the one who helped start this entire journey, had finally come to the end. She had to make the choice. It was as Yen Sid told her. The words echoing in her mind.

No matter what anyone else may say, all events both great and small are all decided by choice. But knowing when that moment will come, and what choice is made, all depends on you.

Merida raised the sword higher and, in one swift motion brought it down. Everyone gasped as they watched the blade fall, but not on Alice. Merida instead stabbed against the ground next to the bed. As soon as she and everyone else realized this she tossed the blade away and turned from Alice.

“What are you doing?” Aladdin asked. “I thought…”

Merida shook her head before saying “Not like this.” She turned back to them and said “We’ll save the world, but not like this. Look at her. She still Alice. She’s our friend! If we kill her now…we’re no better than him.” She pointed to Arawn. “Or Maleficent. Or the rest of them.” Looking at all of her friends, who seem conflicted by her decision, she finished with “I’ve made my choice. What about the rest of you?”

With that each of them began lower their heads. Her words had reached them and they knew she was right. This wasn’t the answer, at least not one they could make morally. Lilo, seeing how she moved them, looked to Merida and smiled, seeing how she was still the hero she knew her to be.

Merida smiled back before feeling someone grab her wrist and say “How sentimental.” She looked and saw it was Alice, awake and looking at her with a smile. “But utterly foolish.”

Merida felt a surge of magic go through her body, causing her pain. It was coming from Alice. She tried to pull away but Alice’s grip was strong. She screamed and yelled as the magic continued to hurt her before Alice finally let her go, letting her fall back on the floor. After that the little girl rose from bed, the heroes all tensing with fear at the sight. She threw her feet over the side and hoped down, looking at them all. She was awake and they could tell she’d been changed.

Looking back to Merida she said “You should’ve taken the chance and killed me while you could. And now, because of you, Merida, you’re entire mission was a failure.”

As Merida looked in shock at her Aladdin stepped forward from the towards Alice with a sword ready to fight her But she merely waved her hand and sent all of the heroes near Arawn flying back against the wall. Even Belle who gave a loud grunt when she fell to the ground. With that Alice walked over towards Arawn, on his knees, as he tried to plead to her.

“Please, master. I tried my best. I kept them from disturbing you, at the very least. Please.”

“But you still allowed them into my room.” She began. “And you let your foolish wife get the better of you and turn your forces against mine.” Raising her hand Arawn coward for a moment before she rested it gently atop his head. He looked at her before she said “While you’ve been ever so helpful to me, Arawn, so loyal, I’m afraid you’re usefulness has ended.” He pleaded again before she calmly finished with “You’ve failed for the last time. Time for you to go away.”

His plea turned into a scream before he felt himself wither away. Everyone watched in horror as he slowly began to fade away. Not into dust or smoke or anything. It was like being erased from existence entirely. Eventually Arawn was gone. Nothing left. As if he never existed at all.

Merida, struggling to her feet, said “How could you? He was your friend! How could you?”

“He was just a toy. Nothing more. One that I’ve grown bored with, and don’t need anymore.” She answered.

As she tried to approach her Alice turned to Merida and raised her hand. The princess felt a force grab her before hoisting her into the air and tossing her towards the others. Merida was lucky to be caught by Belle but the landing was still rough.

As she recovered she said “Alice, don’t so this. Please! We can still stop this all. You can still stop this.”

“Stop it? Why? This is everything I’ve wanted!” she declared.

“No!” Merida insisted. “This isn’t you! You’re mind! It’s under a spell or something. But you’re not really like this. You’re not a monster, Alice. You’re our friend. Please, try to remember who you are!”

Alice stopped, surprisingly, and seemed touched by her words. A look of confusion and sadness went over her face. She breathed a little harder as it seemed she began to have a revelation as to who she was. Merida hoped it was working even as Alice hid her face, almost on the verge of crying.

But then her slight sobbing soon turned into giggling. And built into a chuckle. And that soon grew into a laugh. A grand cackle that was horrifying to hear, even from her.

Looking back to them now she said “I’m no longer Alice. Alice is gone! Eaten away, bit by bit while I’ve been growing more powerful inside her this whole time.” As she spoke her voice became different, changing into something old, ancient and most of all evil. “I’ve existed within her mind ever since I was able to control it. A part of myself infused within her, living and growing like a parasite while influencing her. I was the one who made her into the Master of Worlds, for I AM the Master of Worlds! I have been reborn from death itself!” Her shadow soon grew and changed from a little girl into a horrible demonic shape, one that some of the heroes knew all too well. “For I am eternal!”

“No…” Eilonwey shook her head, tears building in her eyes. “It can’t be…”

The more they looked the more it became clear. The shadow had now reflected a familiar form of a demonic being with two jagged horns. The voice that came from Alice was no longer hers but an old and terrible evil that some of them had faced before. And to further cement this fact to them the heroes could now see as Alice’s eyes had changed from an innocent blue into an inhuman red.

“I am the Master of Worlds!” She declared “I AM the Horned King! And now I will be a god among mortals AGAIN!”