ericjuneau

[ericjuneau]

Red Hands (Metroid fan fiction)

Copyright 2021 by Eric J. Juneau. All rights reserved.

This story is in no way intended to infringe on the established copyrights and trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd. It is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for sale. It may be freely distributed providing that no alterations to the story are made.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names in this story used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person, living, dead, or otherwise, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Red Hands

by Eric J. Juneau

PROLOGUE

Young Samus walked around the tent. The Chozo had shooed her away, but the canvas had a ripped seam in the back she could slip through. What were they doing?

All kinds of birdpeople were inside. So much so she couldn't move without touching one and alerting them.

One turned toward her.

"What are you doing?" he snapped. The Chozo pressed his clawed hands against her back, pushing her toward the exit. "This is no place for a fledgling. Away. Away."

Someone in a raspy voice said "Is that the young human?"

Samus recognized that voice. That was Hazel Wing's voice.

Hazel Wing was her friend. He was one of the oldest Chozo, but he always had a kind smile and a story to tell. She didn't see him much, but Samus liked him. Why were all these people with him?

"She shouldn't be here," said a Chozo. "She's interrupting the grief ritual."

"I am the one dying here," said Hazel Wing in a turtle-slow voice. "I believe I should have some say in how I do it."

"She's human. And besides she's too young to see this."

"I'm nine," Samus said.

"Let her stay, Thistle Tail," Hazel Wing said. "I request it. Death is no stranger to her. Let her see one that is pleasant. A life well-lived."

Some of the Chozo grumbled, but the one pushing her stopped.

"I sent a message to Red Hands and he did not come. So the youngest of our tribe will have to stand in. Perhaps it is a selfish request," said Hazel Wing.

"Red Hands is the selfish one," said a Chozo. "Is he here? Paying tribute to his father? No."

"Hush, Sable Eyes," said another Chozo. "Do not add strife to his last moments by remembering past mistakes."

"Red Hands is not a mistake," said Hazel Wing. "His sins are mine to bear. I nourished his brain on my own resentment. On the old ways, when we were proud and war-like."

"Who's Red Hands?" Samus asked.

Silence. Hazel Wing lifted his head. With a slight movement of his fingers, he beckoned her closer.

Thistle Tail muttered "Great one, there's no need to tell her-"

"Red Hands is my son," said Hazel Wing, ignoring the interruption. "He has left us."

"Where is he?" Samus asked.

"Somewhere. Out among the stars."

"I thought Chozo didn't leave."

"All but Red Hands," Hazel Wing said. "He has the anger and war of our youth in his heart. Remember when I told you about the metroids?"

"Uh-huh," Samus said.

"We created the metroids to keep other species under control. Then we lost control of the metroids. When we interfere with nature, we make things worse. Always. So the Chozo decided to become observers, content to live with nature, rather than control it. Not everyone agreed with this idea, and I was one of them."

"But you always said we should leave nature alone. That it'll work itself out."

"I believe that now. But you did not know me from that time, when I raised Red Hands otherwise."

"Mebbe... mebbe he heard the message. And he'll come back."

"I never believed he would return. I poisoned his mind against his own people. I told him the Chozo were false-faced. That they scooped from the river with one hand and muddied the water with the other. Red Hands absorbed this. He was in the time of learning and unlearning, much like you."

"But you're his dad, aren't you? It's not your fault if he..." Samus trailed off as she lost words to say.

Hazel Wing touched Samus's hand with his dry crinkly one. "Your courage is slow, but only for now. You are a proud warrior and so is he. But I'm afraid he will fight until he dies, never making real change in the universe."

The little girl begun playing with Hazel Wing's emblem--a two-toned chevron of red and yellow dangling off his neck. Hazel Wing smiled.

"You like that trinket?"

"S'pretty," Samus said in a shrugging voice.

"What you hold is my family's crest. One day, you will grow up and leave this place," Hazel Wing said.

"Nah-uh. I want to stay here," Samus said. "It's scary out there."

"But you must. You will want to be with your own kind."

"But I have Chozo DNA now."

"You tread both worlds. But the Chozo is a race in decline. In time, you will be the only one left on Zebes and you will venture out. I want you to remember something for me."

Sable Eyes whispered "Elder one, no."

Hazel Wing continued. "If you see such a symbol out among the stars, find how it came to be. And if it has an owner, please give him a message. Tell him his father has joined the tail of the great comet. Tell him that hate has never made a difference in the world. That darkness cannot drive out darkness."

Samus nodded, feeling the red and yellow emblem with her fingers, committing it to memory.

"You must do this," said Sable Eyes to Samus. "To deny a dying Chozo's request is a great dishonor."

"She is a child," said Thistle Tail. "Do not place such a burden on her head."

"That is enough," said an important-looking Chozo. "Get the little girl out of here. This is upsetting to both her and the elder."

Some Chozo tugged her away with their leathery hands. Others attended to Hazel Wing

"You cannot rejoin the great sailing comet of the galaxy with such worries on your brow." Sable Eyes tucked Hazel Wing into his straw bed.

"To the contrary," Hazel Wing rasped as Samus left the tent. "I feel as if my wings have returned."

PRESENT TIME

"No bounties, yet?" the bartender asked.

"Nope," said Samus, not looking up from her PDA.

"Maybe you'll have to get a real job, huh?" The bartender gestured to himself.

Samus glared at him from the tops of her eyes. She hadn't come to this dive bar for conversation. She came because the city was having some kind of celebration. And this was the only bar that didn't give a shit about it or anything on the upper layer. It wasn't decorated red, green, and yellow, full of streamers and holographic fireworks. Every time she took a sip of beer, she could feel the grit of coal dust on the bottle. That was how she liked it.

Must have been how Galactic Federation soldiers liked it too.

A troop of four crashed through the door like rhinos. Their hair was oily and disheveled and they smelled of ladies' perfume.

"Quick, get in here. This one doesn't look crowded," said the only blond one.

"Get some seats before they fill up."

"No worries about that," said the bartender. "What'll you have?"

Each of the four shouted individual drink orders at the same time. The bartender didn't ask for a repeat and attended to each one.

"What's with this town. Is it a holiday? Can't find an open bar anywhere on the upper plate," a trooper said.

"Mega cities, man."

"You boys just get back from a mission?" the bartender asked.

"You know it," said the blond one. He appeared to be the leader. They all had the same rank, but this one had a few more ribbons. "Get this--they sent us all the way to the edge of federated space, just to pull us back. Spent more time in hypersleep than working the mission."

"Trouble out there?" the bartender asked.

"It was nothing. They sent us to check out some raids they thought were coming from the neighboring moon colony. No one's even dead. We get to the moon, I don't even think they have space travel. Waste of our time."

"So they send us cronies to deal with it," said the brown-haired one. "We're the Ghost Choppers. We've got better things to do than paw through a bunch of yokel barns."

"Wasn't a total loss. I got this out of it." A third soldier pulled something out of his hip pouch and set it on the table. It was a flat wooden chevron, fist-sized, with one red arrow and one yellow.

"What is it?" the bartender asked.

"Dunno. Found it somewhere. It's a souvenir now. Going to give it to my girl. Tell her it was a piece of art she can hang on the wall."

"Tell it was used in fertility rituals," one of the soldiers ribbed.

Samus stood from the stool and walked around the bar. "Where did you get that?"

"Huh?"

She must have looked ridiculous to everyone--she in her leotard confronting four military men in padded uniforms. A little bird against a squad of tigers.

"The emblem. Where did you find it?" Samus asked.

"Some colony. Independent one, outside the federation. Why?"

"It's not yours," Samus said. "Give it to me."

The men spoke at once.

"How do you know? You weren't there."

"Slag off, cyberbitch."

"Yeah, you didn't have to deal with a bunch of cranky colonists. They're lucky we didn't lift more than a piece of wood."

"It doesn't belong to you," Samus said.

"The hell it doesn't," said the soldier who owned it. "I served the mission, spent two relative months in hypersleep. A little souvenir's not too much."

"Last chance before I take it."

The soldiers who were sitting stood up, forming a phalanx. Their leader said "You better take your bleeding heart somewhere else, lady. We're not-"

Samus grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and flung him to the side. His momentum carried him into the bar headfirst as he contorted to avoid having his ligaments torn.

"Holy-" one soldier said.

The others didn't waste time talking. Three rushed at Samus, one with long auburn hair coming first. Samus delivered a knife hand strike to his neck, a cross punch to the stomach with the other arm, and--while he was doubled over--a drop elbow to the square of his back. He collapsed unconscious.

Samus vaulted over him into a diagonal flying kick. On impact, the second one staggered backwards and landed against the wall, while she landed on one foot.

The final trooper staggered in place, unable to decide whether to face her or retreat. He received a hook kick followed by a roundhouse.

Samus grabbed the token left on the bar counter. The captain moaned. She yanked his head up by the hair.

"Where did you get this?" Samus asked.

"Get slagged," he said through red-foamed teeth.

"Wrong answer," Samus said, and slammed his head into the brass rail.

Didn't matter. She knew where to find the right answer.

Samus marched through the Galactic Federation Police building for Precinct 588-B. She zeroed in the middle of the cubicle farm, where an LED nameplate read "Lieutenant Eaton."

"I need to know where the Ghost Choppers' last assignment was," she said.

"Aw, geez, Samus, what are you doing? There's protocol here. Did you even sign in?" Eaton raised his arms in exasperation. "Tell me there's not a hallway full of bodies behind you."

"The Ghost Choppers. Where were they?" Samus asked.

"Can I at least ask why?"

"I need to know where they found this." She tossed the red and yellow chevron on the table.

"Nice arrow. What's it point to?"

"Someone who needs to get a message," Samus said.

"You know they have e-mail now," Eaton said. "How do you know they're still around? One of the Ghost Choppers could've yanked it off a trash pile 'cause they thought it was pretty."

"Someone's been looking after it. It's been kept up. The wood's not deteriorated or rotten."

"Some old granny could have hung it in her window, like a suncatcher."

"It's a Chozo family crest."

Eaton picked it up. "Doesn't look like a Chozo artifact. Don't they usually have more whatchamacallits and geegaws? Like your power suit?"

Samus didn't respond.

"Look, you know I can't disclose where our deployments go. That's confidential information," Eaton said.

"Not asking about all deployments. Just one. Their mission is over and it's not classified. Or it is and the Ghost Choppers need a lesson about loudmouthing."

"I look forward to receiving the incident report about whatever you did to them." Eaton typed into his computer. After a few seconds, he held up a dismissive hand. "Look, it's Class 8-JB. I can't tell you anything about it."

"Class 8 is a low restriction," Samus said.

"Still means only Galactic Federation Police can access, not citizens. And you're not Galactic Federation anymore. You're a Space Hunter." Eaton bowed his head. "Look, you've done good work in the past. Damn good work. I'm giving you this chance to walk away."

"I'm trading in that chance to know about this mission."

"Samus..."

"You can arrest me if you want. I'll find out one way or another. Someone always talks or lets something slip."

Eaton's eyes shifted behind Samus. Two men had arrived, holding paralyzer rifles. Samus noticed them out of the corner of her eye, but didn't turn her head.

She hunched over the table, barricading the lieutenant with her forearms. "I will find out. Black market, deep web. The information is always out there. And going through those channels just keeps the scumsuckers in business. Or you could tell me now and we avoid a long variance. Your choice."

Eaton let out a deep breath. He held up his hand, giving the wait signal to the two officers, which had become four. While the mission data loaded, the four became eight, then ten. All watching the woman in the center of the room.

"Fine, they were sent to Cirinus. It's a developing planet, way out on the edge. Got some reports they've been raided by the independent settlers on their moon."

"Independent?"

"Outside Galactic Federation jurisdiction. Maybe stealing supplies. Making a hoopla. No one killed."

"Not space pirates?"

"Not space pirates, or you know there'd be a massacre. Just your regular old humanity." Eaton's eyes shifted from the computer to Samus. "Course you know you can't go to the moon since it's independent. Not without federation permission. And there's no way you're getting permission after this stunt."

"Not your concern," Samus said.

"I'm serious. They only grant access if you have a reason to be out there. And you definitely don't."

"On the contrary." Samus picked up the emblem from the desk.

"Look, the area's been vetted. There's never been Chozo presence there."

"There will be," Samus said.

She turned and began walking out of the office. The dozen accumulated officers jumped. They reasserted their rifles and pistols, but didn't fire. The ones at the front parted to let Samus through the double doors.

Samus's gunship floated above dilapidated brownstones and cracked roofs. It was tethered to a minaret with a sign reading "Lelma's Provisory Tethers and Plots."

Lelma's was devoid of amenities and security systems. But Samus didn't need that--she just needed power.

She climbed across tottering ladders into the access port on top. The hatch opened, presenting the hardlight platform. She descended into the ship.

Recirculated air enveloped her, replacing the dusky thick above the rooftops. She returned to the cockpit chair and programmed coordinates for Cirinus. The multiple screens filled with information about location, fuel consumption, time dilation, and social history.

Eaton was right--Cirinus marked the boundary of federated space for its area. And some yokels had been grandfathered into a permit to settle on its moon, also lushly habitable. But independents weren't supposed to interact with Galactic Federation territories. Looked like someone broke that pact.

Her far console lit up with a message indicator light. It was from Eaton. Pre-recorded, the coward. She slid the cockpit chair across via hydraulic arm and opened it.

"Look, Samus. I know this Chozo stuff is important to you. And I don't know why, but I asked if there was a way to get you to Cirinus's moon. No dice. Not even a transport hauler's scheduled for years. But the planet has a request for..." Eaton paused as he read. "...additional forces to escort 'hazardous equipment' to their city. Don't know what that's about, but it almost fell off the radar, it was so low in priority. Sounds like a good angle for a Space Hunter. Maybe they have a way to get you to the moon, if you ask nicely."

The message ended.

Samus had already searched for bounties or solicitations in that area of the galaxy. Nothing remotely close. The edge of the galaxy was a quiet place. Uncivilized, but unpopulated. The core systems held the trade, the politics, the excitement, the delictum.

An escort mission was beneath her. No space pirates to fight against. No alien creatures or interdimensional threats. She had saved whole planets. She'd blown up whole planets. But she sent her acceptance without reading past the headline.

A babysitting mission. Samus ground her teeth as she entered the coordinates and detached the tethers. Then she stood and shedded her clothes as she walked to the aft compartment, where her cryostasis pod was.

She dreamed about Hazel Wing. And the mournful wails and songs sung at his funeral.

Whatever was happening on Cirinus could start a war. The Chozo had already been in a war. Several. And it led to their extinction. If a new one could end before it began, there might be hope. Of course, someone had to listen to that hope.

Samus stopped thinking about this when the beacon for Vesta Base returned her ping. This was the rendezvous point for the mission.

Vesta Base was a transportation port, set leagues away from its mother city of Delnida for safety reasons. If a nuclear-powered vessel crashed during landing or takeoff, it would wipe out the centuries of work here.

Samus's ship was cleared to land instantly--no muss, no fuss. One nice thing about out-of-bounds planets--bureaucracy diffused the further out one went.

A few decontamination protocols later and Samus stood on the landing pad. Black craggy mountains surrounded her. Jagged and prickly, like part-stone, part crystal. Dark mauve and obsidian sparkled within the spines, reflected from the stars.

Cirinus's moon hung above like a ceiling decoration. It filled up half the sky, close enough to reach out and touch.

"Samus Aran?" An attendant in a white uniform, complete with round hat approached her. "It's good to meet you. I'm Headman Clement, I'm coordinating this little adventure."

Samus remembered the name--it was attached to the job request.

"We're glad you're here. We'd almost given up hope the Galactic Federation would send someone. But when we heard it was you, we delayed the convoy until you arrived."

"The Galactic Federation didn't send me. I'm here on my own," Samus said.

"Ah, I see. Then you'll expect to be paid, I'm sure. Um, I'll have to talk to my boss about getting that arranged. But if we can't then-"

"Never mind that." Samus took in the immediate area. The spaceport had been carved in the middle of the saw-toothed mountains. What they were standing on seemed like the same orchid-colored material, just pulverized.

"Why do you need an escort? Do you have enemies?" Samus asked. The Galactic Federation would never settle a planet with existing colonists or apex predators.

"Well, let me explain the whole thing." Headman Clement gestured for her to walk with him.

They treaded across the glittering purple sand, moving closer to a wide fissure. And a giant cylindrical engine at its tip.

"So we need to get this through the canyon to Delnida. It's an outer range Paracelsus Mark V-22Z energy generator. It actually uses some of the applied science from metroids. Thought you'd appreciate that."

"I don't."

Clement coughed through the silence. "It's also using isotrionic crystals. Hence why we can't airdrop it into the power plant. If something goes wrong, it could blow a chunk out of the planet. So it's good old terrestrial navigation from here."

"Then why do you need me?"

"Last time we took something through, everyone was killed."

"Killed how?" Samus asked.

"Bullets. Metal slugs. Didn't think anyone made them anymore. But they massacred the drivers and destroyed the thermobaric viriditron they were transporting."

"Who killed them?"

"No idea. Scrubbed the area in and out. No people, no guns, no trace of black powder. Like they appeared from every which way, then vanished."

"Then use an alternate route."

"That's the rub. This time we've got none. There's only one other path that can fit this baby's girth. And, unfortunately, it has a bedrock full of phi radiation. It would contaminate the Paracelsus's power cells."

"Then clear a better path."

"Wish we could, but the council-leader is pressing us to get this installed on the immediate. You know how politicians are. So it's through the canyon or bust."

They approached the lead vehicle--a small Jeep. Two APCs idled behind it. Then next in the convoy was the Paracelsus lying on a flatbed with pulsing mag-levs. The force keeping it aloft was so strong Samus could feel her bones vibrating. Then a Hummer, a small Jeep, and another APC after that.

A handful of people were gathered around the lead Jeep, including one driver who said. "We got our gal?"

"This is Samus Aran. Samus, this is Commander Cousens, military liaison. And Everit's our head on this game. Samus, you'll be riding with him."

"My gunship," Samus said. "I don't leave it behind."

Cousens said "That'll be difficult. See, we're afraid flying vehicles might be a liability if they catch some ordnance. We've only seen bullets, but these attackers might have rocket launchers or railguns that can scope out the sky-"

"Then find a flatbed to strap it to. I need it for my power suit. Without it, I'm dead weight."

"Not much weight," Everit added.

Clement sighed. "I'll find... something." He turned to Cousens. "You can start your safety checks."

"Good. We'll leave in one half hour."

Clement clapped the metal door and the two headed off in different directions.

Now alone with Samus, Everit said "Looking forward to busting some isotrionic crystal rustlers?"

"They were real bullets?"

"Little metal balls." Everit held up his thumb and fingers. "Ain't much to look at. But one to the brain at high velocity'll get your attention."

"It'd be the last thing to get your attention. Why ammunition? Why not blasters or paralyzers? What do they want?"

"Beats me," Everit said. "Maybe that's all they can get out here. Or they make it themselves. Living on the frontier takes a bit of ingenuity. Plenty of puzzles to solve. But I bet that's why you came out here, right?"

Samus pursed her lips, not wanting to admit he was right. "I came here because I'm more interested in that moon."

"The moon? Really?" He craned his head to the sandy-blue orb. "Just an independent colony up there. If the Galactic Federation isn't interested, why do you care?"

"Made a promise to someone. A long time ago."

"If you got a plan, you wouldn't mind letting me in on it?"

"I don't have a plan. But my business doesn't involve you."

Everit's eyes widened. "Come on. I've been thinking about that moon since I got here. It forces people to stare at it, it's so big. Figure if a bunch of croppers want to settle it, got to be something interesting up there. Something worth having. Maybe something the Galactic Federation don't even know about yet."

"That kind of curiosity will get you killed."

He chuckled. "That's why you do what you do, isn't it?"

"What I do?"

"Curiosity of the unknown. That's why you're out here. It's like a fever. Like an itch, but a good kind. The kind that drives you on. Whether that next big hole might be a chunk of gold or a giant saglfomr worm."

A flatbed truck approached the convoy from the center landing pad. Her yellow and orange gunship was strapped on top.

"The difference is I can deal with the giant worm."

From start to finish, the trip would take a day and a half. Traversing the canyon wasn't the difficulty. The heightened caution and heft of their load would keep them from quick movement. A 500,000,000-kilogram object, even under maglevs, couldn't disobey the laws of physics.

Since Samus was meant to provide protection she had to ride in the leading Jeep with Everit. His incessant questions couldn't have been more unwanted.

"How do you get into a tiny ball like that?"

"The suit partially transforms me into energy. The Chozo were experts in life science and biometric power. Plus Chozo DNA helps bend my muscles and bones."

"You got Chozo DNA?" He said "Chozo" like the word wouldn't fit on his tongue. Choh-oh-Zo.

"Integrated with my human DNA. Otherwise I wouldn't have survived the conditions of their planet."

"Zebes, right? Last Chozo world. They're extinct now, aren't they?"

"Yes," Samus said. "Supposedly."

"Bet Zebes is full of valuable artifacts though. Temples and technology."

"And mutated predators. And acid rain and volcanic eruptions. I'm sure space pirates took whatever was valuable. Planet's better left cold."

"Scarcity creates value. There's always something left behind. Between you and me, we could clean out that planet and have enough to retire on, I'm sure."

"You wouldn't make it past the first cave."

Everit laughed. "That don't stop a folk from dreaming, huh? You know, I got a friend who's got got a metroid talon. Rarest thing in his collection"

"No, he doesn't."

"What?"

"There's no way he has any part of a metroid," Samus said.

"Why, sure he does. Showed it to me. Little claw on the bottom of their-"

"Metroids are nearly indestructible. The only way to kill one is to flash freeze it. The sharp drop in energy destabilizes their cellular structure. And still you have to use an explosive to destroy it, which shatters them at the molecular level. So there's no way your 'friend' has a metroid claw."

"Hm, well. Guess you'd know better than him."

Samus said nothing.

The comm crackled. "Captain Cousens, checking in."

The driver hit the link. "Everit here. Everything's hunky dory."

"See anyone yet?"

Samus rolled her eyes. If she had seen anyone, she would have told them. There would be no need to check in.

"Nothing but rocks, captain," Everit replied.

"I just get the feeling we're being watched. Keep your eyes on the rim. That's the most likely point of attack. Good vantage point."

"I still don't understand why anyone would attack us. It would be a hundred percent suicide rate if anything went wrong," Samus said. Even if they surrendered, what would their attackers do? Take the giant power source home?

"I don't know either, but I'm not a fool and it's not worth the risk. Just follow orders. We'll get you home in one piece."

Samus gristled at being told to "follow orders" as her mind flashed back to the Galactic Federation police.

She leaned into the microphone. "We're driving right into their clutches."

"If there are clutches to drive into. That's why you're here though. I'll contact you at the next checkpoint. Over and out."

Samus leaned back. She hadn't said it, but she had the feeling someone was watching them too. Just no idea whom.

Samus didn't have anyone to relieve her shift. So when stations were changed out, Samus got some sleep in the Jeep's passenger seat. The private who'd replaced Everit was thankfully less chatty.

A radio voice calling her name woke her up. "Miss Aran? Miss Aran? Hey, Samus."

Samus woke with a start. "What?"

"We got some breakfast in the APC behind you, if you care to have some. Drone delivered it up."

Food would be good now, hot or not. Samus glanced at the driver. He was fine. Wide-eyed, inexperienced, low ranking, but fine.

Samus climbed out of her seat and through the sun roof. The convoy drove steadily and close enough there was no problem jumping to the hood of the next car. She unscrewed the top hatch and entered the APC.

The hold was half full. Soldiers used the bench to eat their breakfast sandwiches, fried potatoes, and rehydrated gravy.

Captain Cousens handed her a clear plastic bag with a foamtech cube inside. "Compliments of the Delnida contingent."

Samus was surprised to see him--his last comm put him in the transport behind the Paracelsus. But she took the bag and sat in the corner of the car. Cousens followed her.

"Still ain't figured out who'd be watching us," he said.

"Anyone from Delnida have a grudge?" The cube hissed as she opened it, releasing a chemical that raised the food's temperature to palatably hot.

"Not a soul. Everyone's looking forward to the Paracelsus getting installed. It'll bring us up to the energy potential of core planets. For the city, at least."

"What about observers? Any bystanders watching the convoy come through?"

"Not here. Civilian approach is quarantined within three clicks. And we ain't carrying any supplies to raid, except for the big one."

"What about the colony on the moon? Any trouble from them?"

"Never heard of them, never seen them. If someone hadn't told me there was a colony up there, I wouldn't know it exists."

"They got a way to visit if things go south for them?"

"Not a one. And that I do know. They're xenophobic. Never make contact."

"How about the other way? Anyone visited them?"

"It's forbidden," Cousens said. "Only communication has been the treaty. If it's happened, I don't know the consequences of it. We don't know what kind of firepower they have. I've heard visitors speculate about going there. Never heard anyone tell what they saw."

"That's not much of a treaty enforcement. Going to start seeds for an outright war between the colonies. And they won't win."

"I know that. But what are we supposed to do? Read the 'Terms & Conditions' to every soul here? We're supposed to be expanding this planet. Encouraging population growth. And we can't do that if we set up bureaucratic checkpoints that won't be observed anyway."

Samus chewed her hash brown. "You trust the moon colony?"

"I trust them not to be the one to break the peace. But gods knows what Pandora's box it'll open when it does break. We can only protect others to a point. It's a planet--lots of people have personal space transport and every way up is a point of egress. If they provoke an act of war... well, what would you do?"

"I'd shoot them," Samus said.

Cousens snickered. "I bet you would." His PDA chirped a pleasant sonar ping. "Excuse me."

Cousens stood up and spoke into his comm.

Samus relaxed, believing she'd be left alone. But Cousens's empty spot prompted someone else to fill it.

"Kinda funny. We keep talking about them 'up there' and us 'down here'. But to them we're the 'up' and they're the 'down'," Everit said. Gravy coated the whiskers around his mouth.

Samus occupied herself with her breakfast sandwich so she wouldn't have to say anything.

"I was thinking last night, you said you were on Zebes. So you must have seen some Chozo temples."

"More like shrines. They were all underground. Not a lot of space for a place of worship."

"Oh, so not real elaborate? No traps or anything."

"No."

"Is that where they stored their treasure? I'm sure they didn't have banks," Everit said.

"Chozo didn't use money. They found wealth in the peace of their existence and scientific discovery."

"Uh, yeah, me too. You think there's any more temples out there?"

"All the ones I know are already in the database."

"How about some that aren't in the database?"

Samus stopped eating and regarded him.

"Miss Aran?" Captain Cousens approached them, holding the comm away from his ear. "Looks like we're getting close to the area of the last raid."

Samus nodded. "I'll get my armor on."

Cousens walked away.

"Armor. That's that power armor you have, right?" Everit asked.

Samus stood. Her silence was her affirmative.

"That is one pretty piece of hardware. I mean, there's tech that does what yours can, but not all in one package. How much damage you think that thing can take?"

"Depends on how much energy is stored. With an infinite supply, anything short of the entropy of the universe," Samus said.

"Even a tetraton nuke? Wow. I don't know why you don't sell it. Or better yet, sell copies."

"It's not reverse-engineerable, only modifiable. And I'm the only one who can wear it."

"Because of your Chozo blood, eh?"

Samus scowled. "Why are you so interested in the Chozo?"

"Hey, it's nothing to me. I'm just giving out some free advice. A Space Hunter's not the kind of career you retire from."

Samus walked away. She had work to do.

The flatbed with her gunship was the only autonomously driven vehicle. All the rest had military or scientists on board.

Samus climbed in, then backed against the starboard wall.

"Armor preparation. Code X-G-7-9-H."

The floor and walls flipped opened. Samus stood still while robotic arms slipped on the modular parts of her suit. She stepped into her boots, thrust her arms into the right arm cannon and left glove. The body pieces and helmet closed around her. All sealed with a pressurized hiss.

When Samus emerged, she was able to jump across the convoy to the point vehicle. Everit looked up, startled, through the sunroof.

"Whoo. Now that's what I'm talking about," said Everit. "Gonna take on the world. Can take on anything in that beauty."

Samus scanned the environment with her visor. Nothing special. Composites of the surrounding rock were what she expected. No unusual atmospheric gases. Tectonics a little high, but a world like this had to be unstable. More importantly, no life forms anywhere, except for sickly lichen and moss.

"Samus, we're about to hit the site now," Cousens said over the radio.

There it definitely was, at a clearing in the canyon floor. The ground was covered with a splotch of ebony char, raying out like a black sun. Tiny pebbles dotted the surrounding area--no big stalagmites or formations.

"Reading no lifeforms anywhere but our own," Cousens said. "You see anything?"

"Nothing," Samus said, eyes on the canyon rim.

Something whizzed upwards, fast as a laser, leaving an air trail.

"Sir," a soldier on Cousens's radio band said. "I'm reading high velocity impacts."

"From what?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Well, find out!"

"Protect the payload!"

Objects zinged by them at the speed of sound. High pitched whines. Metal clamored as the projectiles impacted the metal trucks. First one, then a dozen, shooting fast as raindrops. They were hitting her power suit too, but making no damage, ricocheting off too fast to scan.

"I can't see who's doing it!" said a voice amid the chaos.

"Paracelsus armor down to seventy-three percent. But a lucky shot could-"

"I know what a lucky shot could do," Cousens roared.

Something exploded behind her, from the rear of the convoy--probably the tiny Jeep.

"Rear GP gone, sir."

"Armor at fifty-seven."

"Find out where they are!" Cousens yelled.

Samus jumped off the Jeep's roof. Everit crouched within the driver's well, head darting left and right.

"Samus!" Everit shouted.

"Stay inside," Samus commanded.

She set her visor to isolate the area in front of her. But the projectiles were too fast to lock onto for a scan. Shots pinged off her helmet, disorienting her and resetting her efforts. Until she caught a lucky break.

Pure lead, oblong-shaped, like a bullet. But not a bullet--no sounds of gunshots. Trajectory originated from the sides, not above.

In fact, none of the trajectories were aiming down. Whoever was shooting at them was at their lateral sectors. But that didn't explain anything--there was no one by the canyon walls. Unless they were invisible. But her X-ray scanner didn't detect a presence.

It did find something else--tiny holes in the wall. They looked like pockmarks, but each aperture led to a tiny tunnel. Thin branching capillaries reaching all the way into the ground. Not worm tunnels either. Completely straight.

Samus eyed the ground beneath her and activated her thermal vision. A wide lava tube stretched perpendicular to the canyon, about thirty meters below. But that wasn't the cause. The surface rock was quartz, silica, and igneous rock--no magma getting through that.

She pushed her visor's power to its limits. Something was under the magma. A molten lead deposit. Molten because of the volcanic heat above it.

They weren't being ambushed. Their heavy load was pressing the magma closer to the lead. The pressure forced the lead out through the tubes, like some sick version of a geyser.

Except in this case, the metal cooled fast along the way, hardened, and became high-velocity projectiles. Samus was used to planets trying to kill her but this was a new one.

"There's no one there," Samus said into her radio, then explained the situation. "It's not an assault, it's environmental. We need to relieve the pressure underneath us."

And how the hell do we do that?" Cousens asked. "We're a transport convoy. We didn't bring any drilling equipment."

"Thirty-two percent!"

Samus looked down the convoy, hoping an idea would occur. She'd have to do this one herself.

She jumped, reaching a height of twenty meters, and fired her arm cannon into the ground. The fiery energy pulses blew a crater open, spraying shrapnel and jagged rock shards.

Samus tried again, charged up this time. The coronaburst forced anyone, if they weren't running in a panic, to shield their eyes. Splotches of glowing red magma oozed out of the crater. The temperature gauge on her suit filled to critical levels.

Cousens yelled in her ear "We are running out of time!"

He was right. This wasn't working fast enough. She spun into her morph ball.

Now only a meter wide, she rolled into the puddle-sized pool of lava. Gravity dragged her down into the slag. Her armor suit screamed as energy levels plummeted like a countdown.

Samus torqued her body, forcing herself to fall faster, using bombs to propel her descent.

There it was. The bottom of the cavity, bulging like an infected boil.

Samus unwrapped herself, slowed by the thick molten rock. The vibrant pink of her energy reserves dwindled to dead gray.

Floating in the red hot like an unborn baby, Samus aimed her arm cannon. Regular missiles wouldn't cut it--punching through needed the extra speed. She switched to the few super missiles she had and fired. Muffled explosion after explosion pelted the caldera's floor.

As her last energy drained, a geyser of molten lead shot toward her face.

It's funny the thoughts that come at death. Samus wondered if she was, in fact, underneath the Paracelsus right now. But the pressurized wave cut off her thoughts as it carried her up through the crust.

Samus was only out for a few seconds. Her armor suit, though shrieking to get out of danger, still had a few units left. She rolled toward a shadow that ended up being the underside of a truck.

"Zzz-Sam-... zzz-Sam-s-d-... re-d me? You did it! It's stopped."

Voices in the background yelled. "Energy shield's at two percent, but climbing." "Reroute energy to reserves! Keep that bastard afloat." "Casualty report!" "Emergency personnel, check-in."

Cousens voice rose above the din. "I don't know what you did, or why there's a huge-ass volcano in front of us, but you saved the day. What happened?"

"I'll explain..." she took a breath. "...later."

There were no further incidents within the canyon. The lava cooled in little time and they were able to ride over it as the Paracelsus regained shielding. Total casualties were one truck and the four people in it, a dozen seriously injured. Cousens considered that a strong victory, seeing as defeat was total planetary destruction.

The medical bay treated Samus for a touch of heat exhaustion. The engineers gladly brought her power armor back to one hundred percent. Since she didn't need to ride point anymore, the captain offered her a spot in his APC. She accepted, and spent most of the time resting and looking out the window.

Past the canyon walls, the starscape of Cirinus was actually beautiful. Though the landscape was still craggy, saw-toothed purple rock, the starfield of a foreign system kept her engaged. Millions on millions of little white dots against a black canvas of time.

The carved path became a road at some point, meaning they were close to the city. What Samus saw up ahead filled her with more dread than diving into a pit of lava or facing an assault from every space pirate in the galaxy.

A banner reading "WELCOME HOME, HEROES".

"Come on, Samus. PR is part of the job," Cousens said as he climbed out of the vehicle.

PR wasn't part of her job. Samus got the feeling Cousens relished the attention as much as the power of command.

The crowd wasn't large. A banner hung over a stage and podium, where an important looking man was grinning and clapping his hands.

"That's Council-leader Pliny," Cousens said. "He organized this op."

Samus barely noticed. She was suppressing the PTSD from the spouting balloons, holographic streamers, crystalline star globes, and lots of rainbow-colored lasers. Judging by the uniforms of the crowd, most of them consisted of power plant workers. Probably the council-leader had forced them into taking PTO to attend.

Samus followed Cousens up to the stage, while the council-leader continued his speech. The stage looked hastily constructed. Maybe modular and portable. A black shuttle stood out among the taupe skids and landcrawlers in the distance. Its shiny black exterior reflected the starfield, making it look like either a stealth vector or a luxury vehicle.

"What's that?" Samus asked Cousens.

"Oh, that's Pliny's. An intrasystem limocraft, luxury edition. Takes it everywhere. You see it, you know he's there. Never has a speck of dirt on it."

Samus expected the council-leader had used it to zip over and make his public appearance. Then he would return to the city, leaving everyone else to get back to work.

Cousens nudged Samus, indicating she should pay attention.

"And she needs no introduction, but I'm going to give her one anyway," Pliny said to mild laughter. "Our dictionary defines valor as 'boldness or determination in facing great danger, especially in battle'. And in the history of the universe, I only think of one example when this word comes to mind. She is responsible for eradicating the menace of metroids. Eradicating the X Parasite. Eradicated the space pirates, or so we hope." More mild laughter. "Saved several planets and removed the threat of phazon. My people, you thought you'd never see her in the flesh, but here she is--Samus Aran!"

Wild applause broke as Samus walked past Cousens to shake hands with the council-leader. This wasn't an unfamiliar scenario. Even the Galactic Federation held award ceremonies hosted by aspirational officials.

But if they were expecting a speech out of her--forget it.

Lights flashed and clicked as autonomous journal-probes took pictures. The council-leader continued his speech and bad jokes. Samus stepped into the background, hands behind her back, looking disciplined.

Subtly, Samus began shifting backwards until she was at the backstage edge. Then she walked down the risers.

"Where are you going?" Cousens asked.

"I don't need all this pomp. I need supplies for the trip back. Fuel and food. And they're not going to be here."

Cousens opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. She wasn't under his command, she was a volunteer. Plus she had just saved this planet--she could do what she wanted.

Samus took a complimentary conveyance into the city. The Delnida concierge AI pointed out to several stores for supplies. She picked the cheapest ones, then entered a route.

At the first store, no one else was inside, which wasn't atypical. All she had to do was grab things, check out, and be onto the next.

"Say, we just keep running into each other, don't we?" Everit said as he walked past.

He stopped. "Getting used to the planet?" Samus didn't respond. "Don't get much sun, but it's good climate. What are you doing here?"

"Buying supplies," Samus said. This was a supply depot after all.

"Oh yeah? Same. Gotta stock up while I'm in the city. Guess you got a long ride home, huh?"

Samus nodded slightly.

"Where you heading next, soldier?" Everit asked.

"Don't know."

"That ship of yours need any fuel? There's a decent fuel depot in the south part of the city, if you want directions."

"I don't need fuel," Samus said.

"Say, let me ask you something. Seeing as you own your own craft, you must know a lot about ships. What would I look for in a good interplanetary craft? I need something with a sturdy cargo hold."

"Sturdy?"

"Yeah, not a lemon. I've seen the scrap metal locals try to sell and it ain't worth a chunk of dirt. I want a good ship. Strong. Take a lot of hard distance travel."

"How many engines?"

"Oh... maybe four. B-class."

"Four'll take you from one end of the galaxy and back."

"Well, what do you got?"

"Relativistic forty-four megahertz. Field-exclusion gluino for a power source."

"Aw, you got a scout ship," Everit dismissed her with a hand wave. "You're a Space Hunter. All you need is to get from one bounty to another," Everit said.

"And what do you need it for?" Samus asked.

"Well, if I could tell you that, I woulda already, huh?"

"Then I can't help you." Samus looked away, hoping an employee would appear. Even a bot would be welcome.

"Doesn't seem you're trying very hard," Everit said grimly. He brought himself up to full height.

"Hard enough," Samus said.

"How much money you make on the average? You save planets and all, but you've only got a fancy suit of armor and a scout ship. You could make more."

"This a bounty you know of?"

"Of a sorts. Long as I get what I want."

"And what do you want?"

"I want a ship. A fast ship. Ship that'll pull through when there's trouble. There's some choice ones around here. I figure if you and me work together-"

A man wearing a supply depot uniform burst out of the door, holding a widescreen PDA. "I just found it. Service- oh."

When he noticed Samus, he stopped and coughed. "This is... what you were looking for."

"Ah." Everit took the PDA from him. "Much obliged." Everit tipped his hat to Samus. "Nice talking to you. Maybe we'll see each other again... but I doubt it. Doesn't seem like we run in the same circles."

Everit walked out the store. Samus watched him, made sure he kept walking. "What did he want?" she asked the store clerk.

"What did he want? To buy things," the young man said innocently.

"What did he buy?" Samus asked. "A ship?"

"What? No. Just parts and tools. Some food. Nothing unusual."

"What tools?"

"I dunno. Hand held-tools. Mechanics. Stuff you'd use for fixing anything. Weirder part was the food. All vicey-stuff, you know? Sugary snacks, couple boxes of spices, frozen meats. Nothing unusual, just not very nutritious."

Samus turned back to the door, where Everit had exited. She doubted what he'd said--they would be seeing each other again.

Takara Sheppard's house was a rectangular box with sharp corners. No decorations. It looked more like a shed or a storage container. Dwellings on this part of the planet--the boundaries of the core city--looked the same.

Its door had a simple "SUMMON" button. No voice pattern or retinal scanner--just a fisheye camera. Samus pressed it.

After a few seconds, an old man with a fuzzy cream-colored beard opened the door. "Yes?"

"Are you Takara Sheppard?" Samus asked.

"Yes. Don't recognize you."

"You wouldn't. I wanted to know about the raid here a few months ago."

"Raid? Oh, yes, right." He scratched his head under his brimmed cap. "Well, the city already reimbursed me for everything I lost. And I told the Galactic Federation police everything I know."

"I'm not from the Galactic Federation police," Samus said. "I'm a Space Hunter. Investigating independently."

"Oh. Well... what do you want to know? Not much was taken. Just some crop stores, some replaceable equipment."

"Crops? You have a farm?" Samus didn't see a wide planting field when she came in.

"Right under your feet." He stomped his clodhopper on the linoleum floor. "Fungal farm. Edible, medicinal. Anything that'll grow, really. I'm on a government contract to see what'll thrive and what won't. It ain't much, but it's honest work."

"What happened when the raiders arrived? Did you see them?"

"Sad to say I didn't. And neither did the cameras or drones. Wrecked my storehouse getting in, but my homestead's all right. That's the advantage of having a farm underground.

"Is that how you got the head injury?" Samus asked. "From them?"

"Fraid not." He rubbed the fading lump on his forehead. "You got a good eye. Thought it had healed up. Naw, when I discovered it, the damage was done. This is from tripping over my own feet running to my storage shed." He grumbled. "First you, then the Galactic Federation. Why you all bound and determined to say I was hit?"

"I'm not. Just sussing out the truth," Samus said. "How many do you think there were?"

"I caught about six sets of footprints. But I might have missed a few, seeing as how they were here and gone like a comet. Wager they came over in a shuttle, hooped around, took what they needed, then up and left."

"'What they needed'? Why do you think they needed anything?"

"They only took basic resources. Food and supplies. Left the valuable stuff. Heck, my cultivator alone is worth more than my last month's crop."

"Any ideas where they came from?"

"Galactic Federation has no idea. Vapor trail had dissipated by then."

"Do they think they came from the city? Or went out to the borderlands?" Samus asked.

Sheppard chuckled. "You think they came from the moon, don't you? Police thought the same thing. And tell the truth, so do I. That's why I don't plan to press charges."

"You don't?" Samus asked, betraying some genuine surprise.

"My grandfather was a colonist. I know how hard it is to work a planet. Anyone who wants to settle a fresh stake must have some down-deep determination, no matter what it is. They wouldn't be swiping from me unless they needed to. And I'm more than happy to let them."

Samus nodded. "Anything you didn't tell the police that you care to tell me?"

Sheppard chewed his lips. "You've got no love for them, do you?"

"I used to be one. Their policies didn't agree with me."

"Well, let me tell you, I ain't got none neither." Sheppard nodded his head emphatically. "Came in here, left a bigger mess than those raiders. Only thing I didn't tell them about was a feather I found after they'd all gone."

"A feather?"

"Little soft downy one. Now there ain't no birds here on Cirinus, you can imagine. Just winged lizards, lepidoptera. Don't know where it came from. Hell, maybe one of them was wearing a down jacket. But it caught my eye, that's for sure."

"What color was it."

"Red, as a matter of fact. Dull red, like blood."

Samus nodded. "Thank you. That's all I need to know."

"Much obliged for your checking in. I'll tell you anything you want. I think you got a better head on your shoulders than those bureaucrats."

They said their goodbyes. Samus walked back to the courtesy autocar, formulating her next steps.

The trick would be getting to the moon without drawing attention from the anti-invasion guns. They would be hidden in ground cannons and satellites. If she learned their locations, she could plot a course to avoid them. Or she could finagle a permit from Council-leader Pliny. Play the "you owe me" card.

The PDA on her belt clicked, indicating a notification. She unhooked it from her her belt. A quik-message from Cousens. She thought she was done with him. Maybe someone wanted another publicity appearance.

"SOMEONE STOLE YOUR SHIP."

Samus vanquished the urge to crunch the PDA in her hand.

"Once again, I'm utterly sorry this happened." Council-leader Pliny steepled his fingers on his desk. "We take theft very seriously on Cirinus. Rest assured this hijacker does not represent the people of Delnida."

"He's not from here," Samus said. "He's a freelancer. Black market relic hunter."

"Everit Gibbons," Cousens read from his PDA. He stood to the side, dressed in a clean uniform, his hat tucked under his arm. "Been on my squad about six months. Not sure where he was before. I get the sense he likes to travel."

"Well, so much the better then. Good riddance. I'm sure the Galactic Federation's surveillance system is tracking him and they'll find him. In the meantime, if you'd like, I can have my assistant talk about scheduling passage on the next transport. Or you can stay in one of our fine hotels. My treat."

"You won't find him," Samus said.

"Wh- what makes you so sure?" Pliny stammered.

"Your security systems only have Hera-class processors and X-2F01 sensors with version 4.0 specs. Inefficient. Substandard."

"I beg your pardon," Pliny said.

"Samus, I'm sure it's the best they can get this far out," Cousens said.

"If you do manage to notice him, he'll already be gone," Samus spit. "Send your Galactic Federation representatives after him."

"Well, frankly, Miss Aran," Pliny said, regaining his composure. "Allocating federation police would take them away from our citizens. It's not a Cirinus ship. And this incident isn't Cirinus's responsibility."

"I think it is," Samus said, lowering her voice. "My power suit is on that ship."

"You're an independent contractor."

"Space Hunter," Samus corrected.

"You came here of free will. The blanket terms of the job state anything you bring with you is your own. In other words, your ship is not my responsibility."

"The asshole who took it is," Samus said.

Pliny leaned back. "And Captain Cousens will deal with that per his discretion. But from what I know, you entrusted the ship to his care in the first place."

Captain Cousens made an imperceptible shrug at Samus. A lot was said in that shrug. My hands are tied. I'll do what I can, but it won't be much.

"They made me surrender it because of your damn energy core. Which I saved."

"For which we are grateful," Pliny said. "But that gratitude doesn't extend here. Your transportation to and from our planet isn't part of Cirinus's civic duty."

Samus slammed her hands on the desk. "You want to talk about civic duty? Didn't you just make a speech about how many times I saved the galaxy?"

The council-leader grinned. "We're trying to work with you, but you're rebuking our goodwill. Doesn't incentivize us to hold out a helping hand."

Samus stayed hunched over his desk.

Then she stood back. She smiled.

"You're right, Council-leader. I have been unreasonable. I need to be patient. I'm sure I can find different transport if I look hard enough."

"There we go," Pliny smiled. "That's the spirit."

Samus waited ten minutes. Then she took an elevator to the government center's parking area and stole Council-leader Pliny's shuttle.

Two quick hacks on the door--one for VIP stall next to center's entrance, one for the shuttle itself. If she'd had her power suit, she could use its high-efficiency computer to hack the code. Or simply rip the door lock off. But her suit was on her gunship, which she was trying to get to in the first place.

It smelled like old cologne and beer. Right after she engaged the engines and headed straight vertical, she powered on the air circulators.

They would never fire on this thing. For one, the vehicle was probably alpha-cleared for the entire system. For another, once Council-leader Pliny realized his luxury limocraft was missing, his first order would be to find it. Then he'd pause and give his second order: "Don't shoot it!"

But they certainly tried their best to discourage her. First, police pointing out laws she was breaking. Then politicians cajoling. Then military ordering.

"Samus, there are better ways to make contact with them than this. You could cause an interplanetary incident," Captain Cousens said over the intercom. They'd finally put him on after three other military adjuncts she'd never heard of.

Samus pulled out a beer from the cryo-mini, set her feet up on the console, and listened.

"We're not sure what ordnance they're carrying, but they could use it. And you being Space Hunter, in a Cirinus shuttle, landing on a self-governing colony... that's a legal snafu that could go on for decades."

True--whoever was on the moon could take her down. Or capture her. Or kidnap her as a hostage. This vehicle wasn't prepared for combat. But she wasn't figuring on dying one way or the other.

"I don't know why you want to see them so bad, but let's go through the official channels for this, huh?"

Exactly what she didn't want to do--go through anything official. Her ship being stolen had just sealed the deal, but she'd always intended things to go like this. If she was going to do any good, it would have to be her alone. Not one army versus another.

Samus shut the radio off and had another beer.

Cruising to the moon only took three hours--a straight shot up, a quick orbit, then a flip-around.

A load of dust kicked up when the ship settled--Pliny would have to take it through a wash when he got it back. The sandy-white land was dry, but it was good fertile soil. Prairie grass and tiny purple wildflowers undulated like an ocean amid islands of flat-packed dirt. It reminded her of old pictures of Zebes.

Her gunship hovered a hundred yards away--the tracking signal shouting into the void. The thief hadn't done anything but take it for a joyride. Maybe that's all Everit could figure out--her UI wasn't a universal design.

The first thing she did after turning off the S.O.S. was to put on her power suit. As the modular components slipped on, she ordered a utility scan. The hijacker hadn't placed any trojans or booby traps--further indication he only wanted it for transport.

Armored up, she ascended. Her visor lit up with data about her surroundings--air quality, wind flow, infra-red, sonic waves, material composites... and tracks.

Standard issue military bootprints heading away from the ship in an easterly direction, like she expected. The power suit's speed made quick work of out-pacing them.

Then one set of tracks became two. The second, smaller set followed for about a hundred yards. Then the two tracks became none. No sign of scuffle. No insight into what happened. Samus peered into the distance.

A Chozo temple lay ahead. Its steeple had rounded spires, harvest gold trim, and straight-line veins pulsing with teal power.

Impossible. She had never seen a real one. Only pictures. Chozo never made it out this far. And furthermore--this temple was new. It wasn't a ruin. This building could only be a few dozen years old. It couldn't have been real.

But a real Chozo warrior was running out toward her.

He was encapsulated in Chozo battle armor--suppurating plates of dark-rust and lava-red. Whoever this was was small and lithe, long limbs augmented by technology. He held a two-headed spear across his chest.

"Stop!" Samus commanded.

He didn't stop, of course. He thrust forward. Samus stepped aside. He swiped at her middle. Samus rolled back and fired a weak shot.

The warrior dashed, jumped, then stabbed her in the chest. Of course, the points clanged off her body armor. Before Samus could grab him, he somersaulted off and regained distance. His fighting style matched what she knew of Chozo martial arts.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" Was there anything she could say? "Caeck qirc graw." It was the only phrase she could remember from her studies--"what is your name?"

The warrior straightened up. But he didn't attack.

"Your pronunciation is terrible," he said.

"I know," Samus said between breaths. She detached her helmet and (as was her habit) fanned out her blonde hair. "No beak."

She opened one of the compartments on her leg, then pulled out the red and yellow emblem. "I think this belongs to you."

The warrior didn't move for a moment. Then the area around his neck hissed as the armored plates retracted. He took off his helmet.

Underneath was the head of a Chozo male. Younger than she had ever seen (though still middle-aged and wizened). His beak was pointed and sharp, not having reached the thick hooked shape of his elders. Solid red eyes bore into her.

"Where did you get that?"

"Doesn't matter. It's yours, isn't it?" Samus asked.

The Chozo didn't say anything.

"Another of my kind came here. A man. I followed his tracks to about here. Then they disappeared," Samus said.

"He was a boorish man. He brought cheap vices to tempt and influence us. Sugars and fatty foods and spices. It did not work. He was easily captured."

"I figured. What happened to him? Did he say what he wanted?"

"He wanted what all of your men want--more. More resources, more valuables, more wealth than they could ever use. He is under my custody, until we decide what to do with him."

"We? Are there more Chozo here?"

"Kindred in spirit, but not in body. I am the only Chozo. I think I shall be the last."

Samus nodded. "Will you let the man go? He's no threat to you, and I can take him back with me."

The Chozo grimaced, gripped his spear tighter. "You honor me by speaking my language, such as it was. It is a tongue I have not heard for a long time. But there is no honor in serving a people that will not respect boundaries."

"For some of us, respect comes slow. I request you have patience."

"Patience is like a birch tree. It bends and it bends and it bends. It can bend far. But eventually it becomes old and breaks."

Samus paused. Then her power armor hissed at each seam. The chestplate opened. She loosed herself from the stilt-like boots, then the arm trappings, like stepping out of a small mech.

"I'm not in my armor now. I will exchange myself for him. You can do with me what you will."

The Chozo's eyes narrowed. "Is this a trick?"

Samus rolled her eyes. "In the history of asking 'is this a trick', has anyone ever said 'yes'?"

The corners of the Chozo's mouth curled up. "My name is Red Hands."

"I know," Samus said.

Samus followed Red Hands into the settlement. He didn't restrain her like she expected. Maybe now that she was armor-less, he didn't consider her any threat.

A low fence surrounded the settlement. Sentients of all types were working standard agrarian tasks--carrying water, tanning hides, constructing and welding, playing with children, grazing the ostrich-like dachora. There were some ceratopsids, some elfins and n'kren, but lots and lots of humans.

A few looked up at the foreign woman in a skin-tight azure suit walking through their grounds. But they didn't say anything.

"You're the leader?" Samus asked.

"As you know leaders," Red Hands said.

"Who are all these people?"

"Like-minded individuals who have followed me on my journeys. I have visited many planets, seeking wisdom and spreading it. Many acceded so strongly they would not be denied more and followed me. They forced themselves under my wing, but I accepted them. Eventually, I decided we must have a home. Like a new-sprouted tree, we need room to grow into a forest. Room and time."

He led her into the Chozo temple. The tall ceiling gave the room an intimidating feeling of humbleness and piety.

Four guards rushed to Red Hands side. He didn't acknowledge them. Instead, he headed further into the temple, down a narrow set of spiral stairs made of stone.

Two floors below the surface, Red Hands opened the door into a spacious holding cell.

"Where's the human you captured?" Samus asked. "Is he still alive?"

"I do not bargain for dead men," Red Hands said.

"Then you're willing to negotiate."

Red Hands didn't answer, but opened the door. He waited for Samus to enter. She did so without any cajoling. Red Hands shut the door on her.

"You think you have tricked me. But I have done the tricking," he said.

"You have?"

"Now I have two prisoners instead of one. This means you are beginning to fear us."

"Are you trying to build a new Chozo empire?" Samus asked.

Red Hands laughed. "If fate decrees it to be so, then so shall it. But it's a future I won't see."

"Then why all this? Your temple is based on the design of your ancestors, so you follow the Chozo ways."

"Far from it," Red Hands said. "The Chozo were strong once. They were architects of the universe. Enlightened. Then when other species became stronger, the Chozo withered and died. And why did they weaken? Because they chose to."

"Bullshit," Samus said.

"They withdrew from the galaxy because they were frightened of its monsters. And when you have the power to take action, but don't, you are no better than your adversaries. You are responsible for the victims left behind. Victims like you, Samus Aran."

He pointed a taloned finger at her behind bars.

"Yes, I know your history. The space pirates killed your parents. Then your surrogate family on Zebes. The Chozo could have stopped the carnage before it started. But chose not to. When they stopped using their technology to end the evil forces in the galaxy, they became weak. Now the galaxy is rife with them." Red Hands grew rattled. "They had the technology and intelligence to stop it. We could see through time. And we did nothing." He stood back. "No more."

"Except there's one problem," Samus said. "The Chozo already tried that. Phazon, metroids, Mother Brain. Every time they interfered with the natural course of the galaxy it ended in disaster. Not just disasters that could destroy planets, but dimensions. I know. I was there."

"I may be the last living Chozo," Red Hands said. "And I will not let my species be remembered for the very thing that caused its extinction. We will grow and we will fight. Already the galaxy is taking notice, or that man wouldn't have come here."

"I hate to break it to you, but that's got nothing to do with you," Samus said. "He was convinced you were hoarding some resource up here. Gold or ammolite or something."

"He said as much," said Red Hands. "Then still we have succeeded, as we have removed a glutton from the galaxy's fold. Your presence means the Galactic Federation is taking notice of us too, or you wouldn't be here."

"Again, hate to break it to you, but I'm here on my own. I'm not part of any Galactic Federation force."

"Nonetheless, they would not let the galaxy's hero die in a prison, forgotten. They will meet. They will discuss. And this will augment our reputation."

"You think kidnapping defenseless people is how that's going to happen? Do you have the gift of prophecy or something?"

"You don't need it to know how luddites will behave," Red Hands said. He turned and walked out of the cell.

Time passed. Maybe a solar cycle. There was no way to tell--the gaol had no windows and Samus had no chronometer.

A light clicked down the hallway. Usually the two guards on either side of the door were hidden in the dark. But Red Hands, holding an elec-lantern, illuminated them as he past.

"What'd you do with my suit? I assume it's safe?" Samus asked as Red Hands walked up.

"That is a Chozo artifact. One you don't deserve."

"I have Chozo DNA. I was raised by Chozo. I deserve it as much as you."

Red Hands grimaced. "You were merely gifted our abilities. I was born with them."

"Who is more worthy of a thing? The person born with gifts or the one who earned them?"

Red Hands hesitated, then looked away.

"The Galactic Federation contacted you yet?" Samus asked.

"They will. They will negotiate terms for your release."

"You know I'd be surprised if they even send a response. I'm just a woman in a galaxy full of heroes."

"The only one who wears Chozo armor."

"The only one who can. But I'm not going to live forever. And the Galactic Federation knows it. Space is big and I'm one person. And so are you."

"Pitiful lies," Red Hands said. "You have defeated the Phazon menace, the space pirates, the metroids, the x-parasites. You are indispensable."

"The only reason a hero exists is because, a long time ago, someone made a mistake. And the Chozo have made a lot of mistakes," Samus said.

"Those mistakes end here. I am teaching my flock the old ways of the Chozo. How to use our technology to fight back," Red Hands said.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You raid for supplies, not to intimidate."

"They serve both purposes. Fear is like wind--it can be felt, but never seen."

"You're not strong enough to take on the city, let alone the entire galaxy. And I think you know that. What do you plan to do if the Galactic Federation doesn't respond? Keep us here? For years?"

"For a prisoner, you speak big words."

"Then hear some big words from your father. He gave me more than just that trinket before he died."

Red Hands regarded the chevron on his belt.

"Before he rejoined the great comet, he said hate has never made a difference in the world. Darkness does not drive out darkness, it only creates more," Samus said.

Red Hands paused. "I'm done listening to you. A prisoner says anything to regain freedom."

"You're still young. You have a lot of people listening to you. Turn their heads away from hate. I don't care what you use your cult for but not this. Not for Hazel Wing's sake. But the Galactic Federation isn't going to listen to you and they're not coming for me."

"They will come," Red Hands said. He turned on the heel of his clawed foot and left.

Three days passed. Samus could tell by the meals she was served. They ate well here. An agricultural surplus meant a promising future for a new community. Small wonder their leader was so ambitious.

Red Hands entered the cell, his talons clacking on the concrete floor.

"Any response from the Galactic Federation?" Samus asked.

Red Hands didn't answer.

"Any ships nearby? Communication chatter?"

Red Hands didn't answer.

"You... did tell them I was here, right?"

Red Hands didn't answer.

Samus smiled. "Or, like I'm betting, no one's done anything. Am I right?"

He fingered a small device in his palm. Like a data stick but with two lights--one lit red.

"Others say I shouldn't come down here. They say my resolve grows weaker each time I do," Red Hands said.

"Or maybe it's just changing direction."

"Like the wind," Red Hands said. "I told them I would rid our planet of you."

He pressed the button with his feathered thumb. It lit green and the cell door clunked, unlatching.

"I have your human waiting for you. Tell the Galactic Federation that I let you both live. That when I held my talon at your throat, I let you go. Maybe then they'll take us seriously."

Samus pursed her lips. "Why?"

"When I lost my emblem, I was desecrated," Red Hands said to Samus. "No one could know my sorrow. It was my last possession from my old life. When I lost it, I took it as a sign to break all ties with my past. But it was a sign the past was coming back for me. Now I think maybe I lost it for a reason."

Samus nodded. "You know, while I lived with Chozo, I didn't believe all their mystical mumbo-jumbo. I still don't. But I also know the universe is full of things we can't explain. Yet. Maybe this is one of them."

"Maybe," Red Hands said.

"If you ever want to join the Galactic Federation, you could petition. They could use a leader like you."

"First I must learn to lead the people who already want to follow me, before I can lead those who don't. But maybe someday."

"Maybe."

The guards were holding Everit at the top of the incline, rope binding his legs and wrists. She cut the leg-ties, then shoved him forward.

When she asked about her Power Suit, they told her it was waiting safely in her ship. On Red Hands order, they found it and activated its return beacon. It had marched itself home. But they must have studied it first, to come up with ideas for their own technology.

"So this is where we split up, right? There's two ships. You go your way, I'll go mine?" Everit asked.

"I'm sure the mayor wants his ship back. I'll tow it back. And you get the holding cell," Samus said.

"Or, or," Everit said. "We join forces, right? You a bounty hunter, me an black-market dealer. A new team."

Samus shoved him forward, throwing him into the field.

Everit stumbled through the reedy prairie grass. When he came to a halt he suddenly started chortling. The laugh grew from a snicker to full blown maniacal howl.

"What's so funny?" Samus asked, shoving him forth.

"Those apes. They are hoarding something. And they don't even know it."

"What do you mean?" Samus asked.

"Look at it. It's everywhere. Cyressus perralchilcum. Reaper's flower. Rare as hell, but they've got meadows of it. You refine the leaves, it makes a black powder stronger than condensed trinitrotoluene. There must be enough here to blow a solar system out of place."

Samus looked around. Little purple flowers stuck out among the sandy-yellow wild grass. Indistinguishable from any other wildflower, but they covered the plains as far as the eye could see.

The gunship rose over the next hill, now within their sight.

"You think he knows what he's got here?" Everit asked. "Or what he'll do if he does?"

"I'm sure he'll figure it out," Samus said. "He's a smart boy."

#END#

[ericjuneau]

Scapegoat by Eric Juneau

Copyright 2020 by Eric J. Juneau. All rights reserved.

This story is in no way intended to infringe on the established copyrights and trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. It is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for sale. It may be freely distributed providing that no alterations to the story are made.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names in this story used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person, living, dead, or otherwise, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Scapegoat

by Eric J. Juneau

The following takes place before "Mega Man X".

Commander Sigma did not need an office. Offices were human constructs to provide private space to focus on work. But a reploid accomplished most job tasks by connecting to a computer terminal. They executed at speeds beyond any organic life form's reaction time.

But it appeased the human politicians and militarists to give him an an office. One with a wall-to-wall window behind his desk overlooking the city buildings. They thought it befit his station as leader of the Elite Seventeenth Unit of Maverick Hunters. An office symbolized status--I get one, you don't. Therefore you are inferior to me.

Zero did not have an office.

Which was why he was standing in Sigma's.

"In my time as commanding officer... no, as a Maverick Hunter at all... I have never seen such a blatant disregard for property," Sigma said. "Do you know what was salvageable from the fire?"

Zero pursed his lips. "Judging by the disaster recovery brief, I would say 'very little'."

"I'm glad you had the mindfulness to at least consider the damage you've done." Sigma picked up the data PDA and held it out. "Nothing. Nothing was salvageable. As one would expect when a geothermal reactor becomes engulfed in flame."

"Sir, I didn't have a choice. One of the mavericks' stray shots hit the fission shielding."

"But you didn't have to add fuel to that fire. You turned a manageable blaze into a raging inferno. The entire district had to be evacuated."

"There were no human casualties. Besides, the plant was a lost cause anyway. The fire was controllable. So I let the natural process of destruction do some of the work for us. As far as I know, we have no standing orders to apprehend mavericks. Correct?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean actively trying to destroy them. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero. There are more of them than there are of us."

"We don't know that, sir. Mavericks hide, stay undercover. There may be more of them, but they don't have a unifying force-"

"Until one day when they do. Dammit, Zero. You have clearly learned nothing from this incident. Since day one, I've been barely able to suppress your brutality and mania. Therefore, I'm demoting you, effective immediately."

Zero gasped. "You can't take away my A-Class. That's verified through independent eval-"

Sigma held up his hand. "No, not that. That can't be changed by your commanding officer. But your mission allocation can. From now on, you are only cleared for epsilon-level assignments."

"Epsilon? That's the lowest there is! It's for privates and emissaries, not hunters of any rank."

Sigma leaned in and pointed his finger. "Until you prove you can handle combat with a calmer head, this is your fate. These lower level assignments will teach you there's more to being a Maverick Hunter than violence and destruction."

"But-"

"There will be no argument. Your first assignment is already in progress. Get to it, hunter."

Sigma didn't have to tell him he was dismissed. Zero turned on his heel and left the office. The door slid shut behind him.

In the corridor, Zero accessed his account. Sure enough, the only tasks on his assignment queue were epsilon-level. Everything else had been filtered out.

Worse yet, all epsilon-class missions required a partner. Zero didn't see who the second delegate was on his current assignment, but it didn't matter. The system would notify him or her that the prerequisites had been filled. Reploids didn't need downtime--didn't need sleep, didn't need food, didn't need to relax. When an assignment was ready, so was the hunter.

Whoever signed on must have been a real go-getter if they didn't care who the senior officer would be. He or she was probably hopping at the door like a puppy.

Zero headed to the transportation bay. Nearly as he predicted, his partner chased after him, waving his hand. He was a blue reploid with angular limbs and a young face. Zero recognized him, though they had never met.

"You're Mega Man X, right?" Zero asked.

"Yes. Although everyone calls me 'X'. Honored to be working with you."

Zero nodded. They walked down the corridor, while Zero discerned first impressions. "So you're the original reploid?"

"Yes, sir. Although I'm not technically a reploid, since all existing reploids are based off my design. You know, since 'reploid' is a portmanteau of 'replicated android'. I'm considered the original prototype."

"But you're with the Maverick Hunters now. Why?" Zero asked. "Aren't we essentially killing your children?"

"Well..." X rubbed the back of his head as they walked. "I don't think of it that way. It could be some kind of programming error, or a fatal bug that makes them violent towards humans."

"Then why have they got you pushing pencils? Taking epsilon-level assignments? You should be with the tacticians and intelligence. You know the most about the vulnerabilities and flaws in your own design."

"Well, one is inexperience. I only joined up recently. Another is... I'm a pacifist." X hung his head.

Zero stopped in his tracks. "You're a pacifist? And you joined the Maverick Hunters?" Zero threw back his head and laughed, yellow hair swishing behind him.

X nodded. "But I realized that I could still do something about it. I wasn't intended for combat but I was designed for it. Every one of them is like me. So if they wreak havoc and I just sit there, I'm as bad as them."

Zero nodded. "Noble," he said as they walked into the elevator. At least he couldn't question X's loyalty. Even if he seemed a little wormy, a little naive for a Maverick Hunter, they'd get along fine.

The elevator dropped them off outside the transportation bay gate. Gristle, a hunched reploid with red bug eyes, was manning dispatch.

"Zero, what's shaking?" he said in a gravelly voice. "Whatcha got going on today? You got a chum?" Zero could almost feel Gristle's datacrawler oozing around his mission log. "Whoa, epsilon-class? What'd you do to get the garbage run?"

"Don't ask," Zero said. "Don't want to talk about it." Zero headed into the bay toward the teleportation capsules, with X following. A long row of booths stood against the wall, similar to restoration chambers. Reploids could use these instead of their own internal teleport circuits, which saved on energy and lifespan.

"Hey, hey!" Gristle shouted. "No, no, no. Not for you. Teleportation's only for delta-class assignments and higher. You take a manual."

Zero looked where Gristle pointed. Small personal vehicles--like ride chasers, cruisers, LUVs--lay scattered in the bay. They were necessary to humans who couldn't teleport. But to a reploid, he might as well have been told to ride a tricycle.

"Ha, ha. I recommend the Little Sultan." He pointed to a two-seated streamlined hovercar. "It's a fine day for a ride anyway, isn't it?"

Gristle's laughter followed them to the hovercar. They both got in and took off through the garage's open maw.

True to Gristle's statement, the day was fine—blue skies with crisp, clean air. But weather control systems will do that for a city. The bright sun certainly didn't match Zero's mood. But X drank it all in, like he had never left Maverick Hunter HQ. Perhaps that was true--rookies tended to get stuck in the bowels of labs and workstations.

"Look, a dog park," X pointed out.

To their right a fenced-off square field enclosed humans with dogs, humans with robot dogs, and robots with real dogs, all partaking of the sunny day.

"Sure is nice to see the city without all the destruction. Something to remind us what we're fighting for. What to look forward to when this is all over," X said.

Zero nodded. "What do you know about our mission?" Might as well make conversation, since the vehicle was self-driving.

"We're delivering an encrypted data package to IngeniVox, a technology manufacturer and innovator." X held up a tiny black rectangle.

"You know what IngeniVox does?" Zero asked.

"Primarily, they make the energen capsules reploids use to restabilize their reactor cores. The data we have is the updated hardware design for the power port interface, so IngeniVox can integrate it into their work."

Zero nodded. "Exciting stuff."

X fiddled with his fingers. "Well, I guess, since it concerns reploid power generation, it's sensitive enough they couldn't risk transmission over the HyperNet. So they needed a courier. And since all assignments require a backup..."

"Only epsilon-level," Zero said. "This mission doesn't need a delivery boy, it needs a mailbox."

X cocked his head. "I take it you think this mission is beneath you."

"It's not my typical fare… but you probably love this." Since you're a pacifist, Zero added in his head.

"Well, it's a safe mission. No one's going to come to any harm or be put in harm's way."

Zero barked a laugh. "I like your optimism, kid. "

X muttered "Kid? I'm older than you. I'm older than every reploid," as the hovercar curved around a corner.

Zero did feel a little lighter as they entered the venture district. Here, manufacturing mixed with business development--the epicenter of progress for the city. Every diamond-glass building glowed in the sun, from skyscraping towers to wide aquaponic fortresses.

The hovercar decelerated into the driveway of a small building shaped like a tulip bulb, covered with mirrored paneling. Maybe fifty people worked there at any given time. A modest logo was stenciled next to the door.

Zero and X entered the reception area. Several flat-panel screens displayed a slideshow highlighting "cutting edge" and "hyper automation" among smart looking humans and teal-and-orange backdrops. The couches and tables looked barely used. But there was no one in the room, not even at the reception desk.

"How do we meet our contact?" X asked. "I expected the entrance to be monitored."

Zero checked the reception console. "Computer is locked due to timeout."

"Is the office closed?"

"It's normal business hours," Zero shrugged. The door to the building proper was secured by a thumbprint reader. Zero wasn't about to violate that policy--he was in enough trouble as it was.

X grimaced. "Something's… off. I don't know anymore than that. It's just... a funny feeling."

They waited for five minutes. X picked up a thermoplastic pyramid that was some business award. Zero examined an abstract painting and a potted palm tree. Surely someone would return after a given amount of time. Security logs would record that the door had been opened and there were occupants in the reception room.

Zero tapped his communicator. "Ophi, are you picking up my location?"

"Loud and clear, Zero. You're at the IngeniVox building right now."

"What's the net traffic look like coming from my location?"

"One second." Zero's eyes darted around the room while the operator examined the input/output transmission at their location. "Seems normal. E-mails, phone calls, internet transmission, all within expected parameters."

"Hmm, okay." Zero shut off the comm. "There's still signals from the building, so people are here."

X didn't answer. He was listening. "Something doesn't seem right. I've never felt anything like it."

Zero again turned his eyes to the door. Authorized Personnel Only.

"X, your buster operational?" Zero asked.

"Yes, sir. It's not as powerful as yours, but..."

Zero waved him off. He approached the door, examined its structure. The electronic lock was a basic "prox" card reader with RFID and 512-bit RSA encryption. Nothing special. A coffee maker could have hacked it. Zero emitted a brute force attack via radio signal and the door opened.

Inside was a typical office building--dispersed cubicles, thin carpeting, uniform desks and chairs. The hum of running machines filled the air. But the lights were off--only the windows lit their way.

"There's people here somewhere," X said. "Maybe they're at a company-wide meeting?"

"I doubt it."

The cubicles occupied only a small area on the way to the manufacturing center. Secure labs, glass windows showing big boxy servers. X peeked in one of the conference rooms. A display screen shuffled through natural landscape photographs.

"Maybe everyone is sick?" X asked. "Or has the day off?"

Zero didn't dignify that with a response. They looked in break rooms, conference rooms, computer rooms, closed-off lab stations, and personal offices. No reploids, no robots, no humans. The only moving object they encountered was a motorized vacuum crossing the floor. It sensed them, avoided their feet, and rerouted to the other hallways.

They stopped and listened, but there was nothing to hear. Nothing but some sinister feeling they couldn't figure out.

"Hey!" Zero shouted. "Hey, anyone!"

"Look," X pointed to an open door. "They wouldn't leave a laboratory open like this. It's a sterile room. And that little box has the chemical symbol for ranmatine. That's highly corrosive."

Without meeting a soul, their sojourn was halted by the other end of the building. They descended the fire stairs one floor.

"Never quite had this feeling before," X said. "I think humans would call it the heebie-jeebies."

Zero smirked. "Leave that out of your report," he said. Assuming we live to see the end of this.

The next floor down was much like above, although missing some of the niceties and human touches. No conference rooms. Just a small reception area with wooden floors and an airlock into the manufacturing floor.

"I've seen abandoned buildings before, but not like this," X said. "Not one that seems so recent. Still full of life-"

"Hold it, X."

The two of them froze.

"Did you hear something?" X asked.

"Thought I heard a... something like crying. Human crying."

X cocked his head, listening for the phantom noise. They waited for the sound to come again.

"HEY!" Zero shouted, startling X. "Is there anybody here?!"

"Let's look in here. This looks like their outbound router."

Inside a closet, taking up all the space, rested a silver and ebony server rack brimming with red, orange, and green lights. The rack was chilled to the touch from the running coolant.

But what caught Zero's eye was a device on the floor--a six-inch black box with an upright cylinder. The top of the cylinder beeped softly every three seconds. A human might have missed it among the snaking wires and conversion boxes. But this didn't fit with the setup. Especially when Zero turned it over and found it had no bottom, just circuit boards and loose wires.

"What is that?" X muttered.

Zero was about to respond when his comm board lit up with an incoming signal. From Ophi. "Zero, can you read me? We analyzed the network traffic coming from the building. It's there, but it's garbage. Random strings and repeated requests. Electronic messages from three days ago sent over and over. Like it's sending mock signals to resemble a normal amount of communication."

Zero turned the device over in his hands. "That's what this is. It's a transponder. Sending simulated network traffic."

"Because if it all stopped, an alert would trigger from the service provider," X said.

"But why? You want to make it seem like humans are still at their desks working. What could-"

Zero's and X's eyes were still on the transponder when they turned from the closet. That was why they didn't see the two reploids standing in front of them. Zero recognized their designations--Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox--and that they were mavericks. But that was all his reaction time would allow.

Phase Crane held some kind of rocket launcher on his shoulder. He fired it as Zero and X raised their buster arms. Two globes of milk-colored glop flew out. The blobs made perfect impact with the apertures of their arm cannons, covering them in sticky biscuit dough.

Phase Crane shifted the launcher tube off his shoulders. "I don't recommend you try to shoot us. That's liquid ceratanium. Well… it was liquid. It hardens quickly."

X tried to pry it off with his fingers, but true to the maverick's word, it had already solidified. Ceramic titanium was the only substance that could repel plasma energy. And his arm cannon was clogged with it.

"If you fire now, the shot'll bounce back in. And probably blow your arm off." Phase Crane cackled. "But if you want to try, go ahead, by all means. I'd like to see that."

Zero's lip twitched as Phase Crane laughed. He reared his fist and ran forward, screaming. X followed a split-second behind. Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox didn't move.

Halfway there, Zero's and X's legs tripped a taut chain across their floor. Their bodies convulsed with violent electric current, paralyzed by bands of yellow energy. Then they collapsed on the ground.

###

Zero and X's systems rebooted from the catastrophic shutdown as their bodies were thrown on a concrete surface.

"Maverick Hunters..." someone said after their heads hit the floor.

They were in a lab or product storage room. The air radiated with energen.

Zero and X stood. They were surrounded by six mavericks in total--the two from before, plus Grabber Kangaroid, Grease Caribou, Bullet Frog, and one hulking gorilla-dog in the center: Drill Mongrell. Mongrell sat on a makeshift throne made of old chassis and plastic parts. His fists were the size of industrial pistons.

"Maverick Hunters… hey... hey, you're Zero," Mongrell pointed as if he had seen a celebrity. "This here is Zero."

"No, he isn't," said Bullet Frog.

"Sure he is. Red and white armor, blond hair. Only A-class in the hunters. The Elite Seventeenth, right?"

"That's right," Zero replied.

Drill Mongrell stepped forward. His fist embedded in Zero's torso, crackling with energy. Zero rocketed up and smashed into the ceiling. Gravel and gray dust rained down with him as he fell like rotten fruit.

"You barbarous-" X started forward. Five arm cannons leveled at him.

Zero struggled to one knee, his limbs trembling. "Enjoy that, Mongrell." Zero glowered from under his helmet. He grinned. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see, Zero… pride of the Maverick Hunters. But later." He turned to Grabber Kangaroid. "Put them with the others."

"With the humans?" she asked. "Why not just get rid of them? We could-"

"Not yet. They might help us out yet. Hostages and such," Mongrell said.

As Chain Buffalox grabbed X's arm, he turned to the other mavericks. "Imagine that. Maverick Hunters helping us."

"They'll be begging to help in no time," Drill Mongrell said.

Bullet Frog and Grease Caribou picked up Zero and half-carried, half-dragged him away. The other two marched X at cannon-point.

They were in a sub-sub-basement, deeper underground. The floors were made of smooth concrete and shiny plastic, like a garage. It was cool and dry, had few lights, and no decorations.

The four mavericks took X and Zero to a room with a mechanical hatch covering the floor. Blinking servers stood against one wall in glass cases. Bullet Frog typed some commands into the standing console at the corner of the hatch. It hummed and slid back like a pool cover.

Bright light spilled out from an in-ground vat. Inside was an ultra-clean server room, indicated by the grid of black computer boxes. And people. About fifty people standing within the illuminated walls. They looked up and began moaning and pleading to be let out.

The mavericks tossed X and Zero into the pit. They landed on their faces, clanging on the semi-metallic floor. The other humans surrounded them, helping them up, checking for damage. Women and men, ages from young twenties to eighties. Everyone spoke at once.

"Guess we found the people," X said. "Are you all here?"

"We think so," said one of the humans. All looked dressed for a day at the office--some with lab coats, some with collared shirts. Most were roughed up, but uninjured.

Drill Mongrell stepped up to the rim of the pit, his allies on either side. "Shut up! Shut up, all of you!"

The group hushed down, except for one woman in the back who couldn't stop sobbing. Phase Crane leveled his arm cannon at her. She cried like her atoms were breaking apart.

"Lady, I told you to keep quiet. Shut up or I'll shut you up."

A man came to comfort her, holding her around the arms while whispering "sh-sh-sh-sh-sh..."

"Zero..." X said.

"Quiet," Zero said.

"Now that we have some new guests here, maybe you'll be more willing to talk. I'm going to ask you again. Which one of you is responsible for that energen bomb?" Drill Mongrell asked.

The humans remained as disconnected and frightened as before, clammy skin and glistening eyes. No one said anything.

"You know what I'm talking about. Which one? All right. Maybe you know these two I just dropped in. They're Maverick Hunters. Zero, in particular. Finest hunter in the Seventeenth Elite Unit, headed by Sigma. What you do from here on out, any consequences that come to pass, he's accountable. That's his purpose anyway, to protect you from reploids like us. Ain't that right, Zero?"

Zero ground his teeth. "You could say that."

Drill Mongrell bent to one knee, addressing Zero. "One of these weaklings killed Terror Mongrell. Same model, same system software as me. You could call him my brother. I did. Someone killed him with an explosive energen capsule, right when his back was turned. I want to know which one of these flesh-bags did it, so I can treat them to the same fate. And until I find out, there's going to be more death coming. So you talk to them, Zero." Drill Mongrell stood. "You explain to them what's at stake. Take a couple minutes."

Drill Mongrell walked away. His maverick gang followed.

Without the sight of them, the IngeniVox employees closed in.

"You guys got to help us," a man said. "Please. You don't know what they can do."

"Is anyone hurt? Does anyone need first aid?" Zero asked. The people shook their heads.

"Are you really Maverick Hunters?" asked a woman.

"Yes. Mega Man X and Zero," X said. "We came to deliver some engineering data regarding energen capsule ports."

"Oh, that would be Hadleigh Wilkins." The man pointed to a nearby heavyset Black woman in a white lab coat. Her crispy hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked dumbfounded at being called out by name.

X took the little plastic nubbin from the storage compartment in his armor and handed it out. "Thanks, I guess," she said as it went into her pocket.

"Mister Zero, sir?" asked a scared looking blond boy with lean features. He touched Zero on the arm. "H-hi. I'm Ryan Shetler. I-I'm a software developer. L-listen, you've got to do something. Those mavericks are gonna-"

"All right, Shetler. Calm down. We'll-"

A woman with long pink hair approached. "We've got people who don't even belong to the company down here. Maintenance managers and even the coffee shop guy. We've got to do something before they come back. Evelyn wasn't even supposed to come in today. She just came to pick up-"

"We're going to handle it, all right?" Zero snapped.

"Hold on! Hold on!" X said as they crowded in.

"We've got to stop them!" the others shouted. "They're going to kill us!"

"If you try and attack, they'd kill you all, get it?" Zero shouted. "Humans are nothing to a maverick. Your lives--all your lives--are on a very thin thread right now."

Shetler interrupted again. "We were thinking if we all rushed... I mean, there's fifty of us. Some of us might get hurt, but all fifty at once-"

"You ever seen flesh against a plasma cannon?" Zero sneered. "It'd go through you like a bullet through a garbage bag."

That quieted them down. Except Shetler, who meekly said "But... we've got to do something."

"We will. But someone needs to explain to me what's going on," Zero asked.

The crowd shushed then. Hadleigh sighed and stepped up. "They came in this morning. Burst in, corralled us up. I think they were looking for energen. The kangaroo one broke into the lab where I was, pocketed everything I was working on."

"There were no signs of forced entry," X said.

Hadleigh nodded. "They might have come from underground. Or the roof. I don't think they were looking for a spectacle, just the energen. They searched the building top to bottom, waving their cannons around. Weren't paying much attention to us."

"What happened to Terror Mongrell? How was he killed?" Zero asked.

"Some of the team in R&D, they call themselves 'rogue squad'. I guess they rigged some of the energen capsules to reverse polarity and implode. Snuck up and threw them, then ran away. One of them picked it up. Exploded right in his face. Whole torso disintegrated. I guess it was the big one's twin."

"That's when the havoc started?" Zero asked.

Hadleigh nodded. "They pulled any of us they could find, using us for hostages. Human shields. Interrogated us. Found every last human in the building. It was easy. We all gave in--no one wanted to get hurt or see anyone hurt."

"And you've been trapped here ever since?"

Hadleigh nodded. "The 'rogue squad' is here too, but the mavericks don't know that."

"Why doesn't he just kill you all? Then he'd have his revenge," X asked.

Zero shrugged. "Because it's personal. He must want to do something special he can't get from indiscriminate killing. We aren't dealing with mavericks like we used to. They never used to roam around in gangs, terrorizing humans for pleasure. They used to fight alone, popping up here and there. I've learned never to hold any expectations for a maverick."

"Anyway, we've been trapped here since," Hadleigh said. "Mongrell keeps threatening us unless we give them up. Even the guys in rogue squad don't know which one of them did it."

A woman gasped and covered her mouth as her watery eyes flashed. Drill Mongrell had returned, along with his cronies.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen? What's it going to be?" When no one spoke, he eyed Zero. "You get any answers out of them? Did you tell them to do the right thing?"

"The right thing would be to accept that your brother got what he deserved."

"Not on account of some human cowards."

"He was a moron who broke in somewhere and picked up a strange energen capsule tossed his way. If you're dumb enough-"

Mongrel's arms lit up as bright as his eyes. "I'm not gonna take a lecture from a servile thug like you about right and wrong. Now give 'em up." Mongrell held up his barrel-sized fist and cocked it like a shotgun. A surge of ocher energy rippled through. "Who did it? If I have to wipe out every mealy-mouthed meatbag here, I'll find out. I will."

"You think that's going to bring Terror Mongrell back?" Zero sneered.

Drill Mongrell growled under his voicebox. "Grabber, take two of them. That one..." He pointed to a rotund Indian man with meaty jowls. "And that one..." He pointed to Shetler.

"No!" X shouted.

"Mongrell, when I get out of here I'm going to tear you apart. There won't be anything left of you but dust," Zero said, fighting the urge to raise his useless arm cannon.

"You gotta get out of there first," Mongrell said.

Grabber Kangaroid stepped up. Her belly split across the middle and a large claw emerged. The claw, attached by a chain, hurtled out and clamped around the first victim. The clamp yanked back so hard, his neck wrenched hard enough to snap. Kangaroid caught him and threw him to the side.

Three others clutched onto Shetler's body, but that didn't matter. He flew out of their hands and into the mavericks'.

"Well? Anybody got anything to say now?" Mongrell asked once the cries had settled. No one spoke. "All right then. You can live with your decision." Mongrell stepped back. The mavericks dragged the dazed humans out of view.

Everyone stood in hushed sobs, like trembling zombies. Zero and X could do no more than the same, staring at the space above.

There was no charging of cannon, no hum of a power surge, no voices, no crying or pleading. Just two shots, with no way to shut out the sound. Some weeped louder, but otherwise, the death chill had frozen everyone.

"We've got to do something," muttered Hadleigh.

"We will," Zero said.

###

The hatch advanced, becoming their ceiling and shutting them back in a vault. Bright light from the paneled walls and floors irritated their eyes like gnats. Zero didn't know why the mavericks didn't come back and capitalize on the fresh fear. Maybe Mongrell was more gutless than he let on.

X had gone to circulate among the others, maybe to gather information. That suited Zero fine--he could stand against the wall and contemplate the situation. Strategize. Six mavericks, once seven. Still too many to take on, even with a buster that worked.

X returned. "Did you ever send out a distress signal?" he asked Zero.

"Have been ever since they threw us in here," Zero said. "Signal's being blocked. I can't even connect to you. Something's mangling it. Probably whatever lines this room."

"Lead-corbosite," Hadleigh tossed in. "It scrambles all wireless signals, prevents external hacking. These servers are for data-processing. They're only ever supposed to talk to each other. That's why they put us in here. Easier than trying to grab everyone's phones, PDAs, whatever."

"I found the members of 'rogue squad'," X said. "That's just a nickname they gave themselves. They're the top engineers for the company, innovators. Two of them are willing to submit themselves, but two aren't."

"And they shouldn't," Zero said. "We don't deal in lives. We should be thinking about escape."

"Even if we do, we're useless without our busters," X said.

"I know," Zero said. "We're just arms and legs."

"There's some vorticular acetinol in my lab. It can dissolve ceratanium. If we can get out of here," Hadleigh said.

"Eventually we're going to register as missing, either us or the humans," X said. "Then they'll send reinforcements."

"Too much time passes, they're going to come back here and kill another one of us. Or we'll just start dropping," Hadleigh added. "Haviland has an implant that sends neurosignals from his heart to his lungs and it's not working in here. If we don't get out of here soon, he's going to drop dead."

"Reinforcements?" Zero turned to X. "We are the reinforcements."

X, Zero, and Hadleigh spent an hour brainstorming plans, huddled in a corner. Many began shivering from cold, walking around, rubbing their arms and legs together. The vault wasn't meant for human habitation.

"Do they always come in the same way? Stand in the same spots?" X asked.

"Yes, right there." She pointed.

"How many approach at a time? I figure Grabber Kangaroid will always be one of them."

"The only time there's more than two is when the big one is with, the leader."

X's eyes brightened. "Here's what we could do. Zero and I could press against the wall under where they stand. That hatch opens slow, so they'll be waiting. Probably not paying too much attention. We'll wait until we see them. Then we jump, drag them down. Once they're in, we swarm, all fifty of us."

Hadleigh drew back.

"Just long enough to keep them down and confused while Zero and I disable them," X said.

"What's to stop them from signaling from help?" Hadleigh asked.

"Same thing stopping us." X gestured to the illuminated corbosite all around them.

"You don't think they'll be on a higher alert now that we're here?" Zero asked.

"Not without our blasters." X held up his arm cannon, still covered in hardened goo. Zero nodded.

"It's risky," Hadleigh said.

"Life is risk," Zero said. "If we're to have any chance at all, we have to take one."

"You're telling me," X said. "If the heaviest reploids show up, we might be screwed. I don't think I can take that buffalo one down."

"Surprise will be on our side," said Zero. "We'll also need everyone's help. Every last body."

"I'll start telling the others." Hadleigh stood from her crouch and sauntered toward the others.

X and Zero assumed positions where the hatch opened, comparing data about where they would approach from. Then they pressed against the wall to stay out of peripheral vision. After that, all they had to do was wait.

"Gotta admit, X, you've got a mind for method," Zero whispered. "Me? My central strategy is to rush in and start shooting."

"That's why you're an A-class hunter. You never hesitate on the battlefield. You have the skill that keeps you alive," X said.

"Could also be luck. I may take action, but it's not always the right action. You figure out the right action. There might be a place for you in the tactical division."

X looked down. "I could get people killed."

"You can get people killed doing what I do," Zero said.

"No, I mean I... may not be ready... yet."

"Well, with some training-"

"No, you don't understand." X's voice trembled. "You know my story. When Dr. Cain found me, I was sealed inside a capsule. I was supposed to be there for thirty years so it could test out my neuropsychology. Run simulations and correct the AI network. Make sure I wouldn't pose a danger to humans."

"Right, so?"

"So when Dr. Cain analyzed the capsule's computer, he couldn't find the date I was sealed in. The data was either corrupted or erased or... something. So no one knows how long I was in there." X gave Zero a desperate look. "What if it was less than thirty years? What if every maverick is my fault because they're all based on me? Because I was disconnected too early. And they all have it, Zero. Every reploid has my faulty programming. And there are so many of them, we could never stop them all, and they keep making more every day-"

"X, X, calm down," Zero said. "It's not your fault. You didn't make anyone go maverick. Whether it's a virus or a design flaw, you didn't make any of this. Besides you're doing everything you can to stop them."

"I'm doing everything I can because it could all be my fault," X said in a low tone.

Zero grimaced and huffed, unsure what to say.

A loud thud sounded, followed by grinding metal. The hatch was opening.

###

X and Zero hunkered down as the ceiling's shadow slid across the floor. The humans couldn't hear, but X and Zero, with their ultra-sensitive audio receptors, picked up conversation. Mongrell wasn't one of them.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Mongrell. His whole… thing. They were close, I guess?"

"I never saw it. How many should we grab?"

"I don't know. He said to take one or two."

"Well, which is it? One or two?"

"How should I know? They all look the same to me."

"Maybe he meant we take one big one or two little ones."

"I don't think that's how it works. Each human's an individual unit."

Around Zero and X, the people trembled like chickens in a hen house. Hadleigh made a V sign with her fingers. "Two," she mouthed.

"The bigger ones might be more valuable."

"But more of them means more loss. Humans have a higher reaction to large numbers of dead."

"That's true. Maybe we take one small one and one big one. Like that one standing over there, he looks big enough."

"Hey, you. Step forward. Are you important?"

The silhouettes of the reploids crept over the rim of the wall, shadowed by the overhead lights. Zero and X aligned themselves directly under each.

In perfect synchronicity, they leapt up, kicked off the wall, and bounded over the pit. With Zero and X floating before them, Grabber Kangaroid and Bullet Frog stood stunned.

Zero seized Grabber Kangaroid by the shoulders. X grabbed Bullet Frog's bulbous head. As they fell, they dragged the mavericks down with them. Everyone landed scattered from each other with loud clanging.

The humans mobbed the prone reploids. They held them down anywhere they could squeeze in and get a hand on some metal. The mavericks appeared dazed, making little effort to get up as they were overrun.

X and Zero sprang up, no time to spare. They scrambled toward the mavericks, each heading toward one.

"Voice box," Zero said. Simultaneously, X and Zero plunged their free arms into Bullet Frog's and Grabber Kangaroid's mouths. They clutched the biggest chunk of equipment they could find purchase on and ripped it out.

"Arm cannon," Zero said. The humans spread apart, giving access to each maverick's right hand. X and Zero tore them off with as much strength as they could muster. Grabber Kangaroid and Bitter Frog convulsed in pain and terror. Taking away a maverick's weapon was like ripping out their soul.

"There." Zero sat back. "Can you hold them like that for a while?"

The humans nodded, while the mavericks flailed beneath them. "All of us together, we can do it."

"All right, let's get out of here." Zero turned to Hadleigh. "Where is your lab?"

"I'm coming with you," she said. "You need my keycode to get in. And 'rogue squad' told me there are more of those rigged-up energen grenades in there."

Zero should have said no, but time was of the essence. "Fine."

"Get on my back." X hunched down.

Hadleigh wrapped her arms around X like a human backpack. The two wall-kicked and jumped out of the pit, landing on concrete floor. In a darkened corner, they saw the two bodies that had been shot. Holes torn through their chest cavities, crispy flesh bubbling around the edges.

Hadleigh let herself down. "My lab's on this floor. South wing. Come on."

As they headed south, Zero said to X, "I just sent a message to HQ, but they won't be here soon enough."

"There's still four of them and two of us," X said.

"But we know that and they don't."

Hadleigh led them to a laboratory with a darkened door window. She entered a code on the keypad. The hydraulic lock behind the door whooshed open.

The lab was a mess--equipment scattered on the floor with sparkling glass and instruments. Rubber stoppers, vials, blue stain, frayed wires, along with the strong smell of latex and ozone.

Hadleigh reached under a standing table, where towers of differently-sized canisters were stacked. She placed one on the table. It hissed as she unscrewed the top. "Crap," she said. "There's only enough for one."

"X, you take it," Zero said.

"But your buster is more powerful. Mine's only a Mark-17."

"I can handle myself. I didn't become a Class-A solely because of this." Zero held up his arm.

A light entered Hadleigh's eyes. "I think I know something you can use."

X poured out the canister on his arm and rubbed the viscous goo in. In a few seconds, the ceratanium began hissing and smoking, emitting a foul chemical odor. Meanwhile, Zero followed Hadleigh to the corner of the lab. She bent down to a chest. Inside was a palm-sized gold stick.

"Try this. Hold the hilt away from you and energize it."

Zero did so. A needle-thin ray of green light extended out three feet. It crackled a bit, then stabilized.

"It's a laser sword," Zero said.

"It's an irradiated plasma ray with a hydron blocker attached to an output impedance. And an extended amplitude regulator to control the length. But yes, it's a laser sword." She shrugged. "What can I say? We're nerds. Problem is, no one can use it, because we'd chop off our limbs. No human at least--we don't have the dexterity or control. But a reploid..."

Zero stood clear of any objects. He swooped the sword around, stabbing and slashing. Each swing made a vrrrp-sound that increased in timbre with velocity. He grinned.

"I could get used to this." His mind raced with ways to refine it for combat. The hilt was clunky. It could be longer and have an added guard. Maybe increase the blade width. Make it swing in a more fluid arc. And make it green. Or blue. Both? He couldn't decide.

"Zero?"

"Huh?"

"We're ready," X said. He brushed the remaining chunks of ceratanium off his arm cannon. It had a discolored stain, but nothing that couldn't be cleaned. Assuming they survived this.

"I'm ready." Hadleigh zipped up a squarish bag with a vendor's logo and shoulder strap. It was full of small round globes, each with a band of prismatic light around the center.

The three of them made their way to the grand conference room where X and Zero had woken up. Its windows were made of frosted glass and they could see the mavericks' silhouettes inside. They were talking, scheming, hoarding the energen, searching through computers for data.

Zero and X stood a ways from the room, out of sight. "If we could pick them off one by one, we'd be fine," X said.

"Don't think we're going to have that option," Zero said.

X's eyes traced a path along the ceiling. "Is there a maintenance shaft that cuts across that room?"

"I think so," Hadleigh said. "It's always cold in there."

"You thinking about sneaking in?" Zero asked.

"I'm thinking about a three-pronged assault. Surprise them. I can get through the vents--I'm lighter than I look. You bait them out the door. Hadleigh stands to the side and chucks her explosives at them."

"I don't know if we can take that chance-"

"I'm willing," Hadleigh said. "I think it's a good plan."

"We gotta do something now. They're going to get suspicious when those mavericks don't come back," X said.

"All right. I'll get their attention on me. You drop behind them. Then we all unleash hell."

X nodded. He climbed up some boxes to the ceiling, tore the grate out, and climbed in.

"We'll wait a bit for X to get into position. Let's get ourselves ready."

With quiet steps, Zero and Hadleigh approached the conference room door. Without lights, they wouldn't be seen, as long as no one looked too hard. Hadleigh stood on the other side of the door frame. She silently unzipped her bag. Zero stood a few feet from the entrance. From here, he could hear the dialogue inside.

"It's all about psychology," Phase Crane was saying. "You use fear to motivate them. Humans eat up fear. And you know what they fear the most?"

"Uh, snakes?" came one of the answers. "The dark? Squishy things?"

"No, no. The unknown. That's why I told Mongrell to put them in isolation. They don't know when we're coming. They don't know who's going to die. They don't know where we are. So they stew in their little gray brains for hours thinking of the worst case scenarios. Intimidating themselves. Building up their fear. They do the work for us."

There were murmurs of assent and approval.

"I don't care. I want them to pay for what they did to my brother," came Mongrell's voice. "Go find out where the other two are. Tell them to grab the two reploids, the Maverick Hunters. They're harmless now. Kill 'em outright. Let them know there's no one protecting them."

"Don't be so sure about that!" Zero shouted.

The chatter inside halted. Zero held his sword across his chest. Hadleigh shifted her feet.

The door burst open. Chain Buffalox stood there, steam emitting from his nostrils. Phase Crane behind him.

"Kill him!" Mongrell shouted.

Mega Man X dropped out of the ceiling behind them. Everyone but Buffalox turned around--he was rushing Zero. As soon as he cleared the door, Hadleigh started throwing metal balls of energy inside, one after the other. The room filled with explosions. The other mavericks darted around chaotically as X targeted them one by one.

Buffalox tried to punch Zero, but he side-stepped, severing the arm at the elbow. But that didn't faze the buffalo-reploid--a chain burst out of his arm cannon, embedding into Zero's chest. It lit up with an electric surge, stunning Zero, sending pain through him like red hot spikes. Chain Buffalox retracted the grapple. Zero held out the laser sword as he was brought into Buffalox's range. The green ray impaled the maverick through the chest. Sparks and smoke puffed into his face, and the maverick fell over.

Zero rushed toward the conference room. Smoke and screams and explosions saturated the area. Flames crackling and flashing, glass breaking, a gummy acrid smell that burned the nose. Zero pushed himself through the fog. "X?"

Zero's foot made contact with something outside the door. A body. He waved the smoke away. It was Hadleigh. Her eyes were closed, charred skin and blood above her left eye. Body covered in ash. Dead by explosion, not a stray plasma shot. Maybe one of those jerry-rigged capsules rolled back to her.

"X?" Zero shouted again.

"I'm here!" X said.

At Zero's feet, Drill Mongrell's shape crawled along the floor through the smog. Zero gripped under the maverick's chest armor and spun him on his back. Mongrell cried out. Zero stomped a foot on Mongrell's torso and held the sword to his chin.

"It's over, Drill," Zero shouted.

"Ain't nothing over. They killed my brother, I'll kill you too."

"There's been enough killing today."

Drill Mongrell stopped struggling. He grinned toothily. "All right, Zero. That's fine, then. I surrender."

Zero remembered what Commander Sigma had said. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero.

He plunged his sword deep into Drill Mongrell's chest cavity, into the power core. Mongrell gasped as liquid plasma and oil eked out. "I'd rather become a maverick myself than have to work side-by-side with you, rehabilitated or not," Zero whispered.

When Drill Mongrell stopped twitching, Zero unsheathed the sword and turned it off.

"You okay, Zero?" X asked, getting closer.

"Just fine," Zero said.

###

And it was over.

Zero and X rushed back and disposed of the two mavericks held in the pit. The humans had held up their end of the bargain, so X and Zero held up theirs. Shortly thereafter, HQ sent in the cavalry. The humans were treated, the building locked down, and order restored.

X and Zero were standing in front of the doorway when the medical gurney slid out. A body lay under a shroud, carried by the anti-grav lifters.

"A human willing to sacrifice herself, so that us Maverick Hunters could live..." Zero muttered.

"I've learned never to hold any expectations for a human," X replied with a small smirk.

Zero took a breath. "I've always thought of humans as characters in the background. Like sheep that get in the way. I think... I think that must be how the mavericks think too." Zero began to walk away, back to the troop transport. "You know it could be more," he called back.

X turned to him. "Huh?"

"It could be more than thirty years… that you were in the capsule. If they don't know the date, you might have been in there the full duration and you're fine. You were tested fully and the reploids go maverick because of something else. Maybe they get ideas in their head or their programming gets hacked."

"I suppose," X said. Maybe not convinced, but less burdened. "I'm going to stick around, in case they need help with clean-up."

Zero nodded. "See you at headquarters, X." And he walked off.

#END#

[ericjuneau]

Here’s another alternate cover to Reprise (a fan fiction I wrote that’s a crossover between Elsa, Ariel, and Rapunzel). Read it here!

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12225038/1/Reprise

Three princesses. Three curses. One adventure.

Rapunzel's magic hair spontaneously grows back, Ariel regains her mermaid tail, and winter returns to Arendelle. One year after their most meaningful trials and triumphs, something has taken away what they worked so hard to gain. As they leave the safety of their own kingdoms, fate is about to drive these strangers together across oceans, over mountains, into the depths of the sea, and even through the river of time itself. But will their differences stop them before the curse can?

[ericjuneau]

This is the cover image to Reprise, a Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid fanfic. It’s an epic crossover I wrote after seeing Frozen one too many times (I have 2 daughters) and incorporates the fan theory that Elsa, Ariel, and Rapunzel exist in the same universe.

(sorry if this looks weird, I’m experimenting with Tumblr posting)

[ericjuneau]

Here’s an alternate cover image for my fan fiction “Reprise”, which is a crossover between Frozen, Tangled, and The Little Mermaid. You can read it here!

[ericjuneau]

Three princesses. Three curses. One adventure. Rapunzel's magic hair spontaneously grows back, Ariel regains her mermaid tail, and winter returns to Arendelle. Something has taken away what they worked so hard to gain. As they leave the safety of their own kingdoms, fate is about to drive these strangers together. But will their differences stop them before the curse can?

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Epilogue) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

EPILOGUE

Elsa's return to Arendelle met with great celebration. Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf had organized it. They knew something good had happened when the clouds folded and crinkled from the sun's gentle burn.

Elsa met them at the dock, where the Barefoot Maiden lay in repose. Anna couldn't stop hugging her sister.

The royal guards cleared a path for the carriage to take them to the castle. Without it, the citizens would have mobbed their queen in celebration. Instead, they traveled behind the cart, singing songs of victory.

Elsa looked out the window at Arendelle. The sky was still a bleak and dismal slate, though that was typical for the time of year. The grass remained woody and the misty air smelled stagnant. There should have been crocuses and tulips blooming by now. Anyone visiting Arendelle would find a depressing place to be sure.

The podium Ansel had once used to address the citizens remained in front of the castle doors. Elsa took her place behind it, with Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf at her side. She waited for the citizens to finish gathering before she spoke.

"Citizens of Arendelle. I'm happy to announce that our nightmare appears to be over. The magic that brought forth this terrible climate has been destroyed."

The crowd roared in applause.

"Unfortunately, there is no magic to aid our recovery. It will take hard work, but we will bring back summer. This means there are hard times ahead. Our farmland is devastated. Our crops are in blight. I'm afraid we must prepare to suffer through another year of hardship."

Elsa had never felt the mood of a crowd before. When people talked about sensing energy from a massive group of people, she thought it was nonsense. But for the first time, some sixth sense recognized the dismay in the atmosphere.

"However we will have help. We have new alliances. Corona has pledged to give its support--in a non-military fashion," she added as an aside. "We will get through this. And I will be behind you all the way."

Now the crowd seemed confused. Kristoff twisted his face quizzically.

"Someone once told me that... there are some people worth melting for," she said to the throngs. "I think there are some people worth freezing for too. I give this pledge to you now: I am not going anywhere. Though I don't always show it, I love being your queen. I love this kingdom. I love the people in it, no matter what they say. Whisper and gossip in taverns if you want, I won't leave you. Not ever."

And Elsa kept her word. She was behind every citizen's back. Shoveling, carting, cobbling, smithing, farming, harvesting, ranching, even baking. She renovated the plumbing system, all pipes having been destroyed from freezing. She created oxplows from ice, taking time to craft the blade to utmost sharpness. She created a thin coating of snow all around the pastures--the meltwater would encourage sprouting.

In fall, the grass was green again, the livestock was healthy and back on their ranches. The white duck in the courtyard pond even had a fresh batch of fuzzy yellow chicks dashing after it. Elsa noticed this in the garden, during Arendelle Castle's First Annual Children's Tea Party.

When she announced the event, she told Anna "this is the hardest thing I'll ever have to do." It was one thing to be Arendelle's queen. But if she spent all her time holed up in the council chambers, she would never be Arendelle's leader.

"Mmm," Elsa said, sipping from a teacup. She was sitting on the grass, dress spread out, addressing a five-year-old with braided pigtails. The party was wrapping up, but Elsa wanted to make sure she met all the guests she could. "Are you having fun?"

"I don't like tea. It tastes like dirty water," the little girl said.

"I didn't like tea until I was older," Elsa said.

"I like the cookies though. When I play tea party at home, I have to use rocks for cookies. This is different than my tea parties. I have to do friendly smiling here. And my mom said not to run around like a maniac."

Elsa glanced at two squealing boys chasing each other by the pond. "I think if you wanted to run around, no one would mind."

"Is your army run by a giant snow monster?"

"Er... what?"

"I know you got Olaf. But do you have a giant snowman too? In your ice castle? Is he, like, the head of your guards? Do you send people you don't like up there and the snowman eats them?"

Elsa searched her mind for a wise response. "No. He stays up there. Guards it, keeps it tidy. He's not really mean. In fact," she leaned in. "His name's Marshmallow."

The little girl giggled, rolling back on her rump. "That's a funny name."

"Hey, Elsa." Anna stepped up to them, wearing the green and black velvet dress that matched the courtyard garden.

"Excuse me one minute. Princess business," Elsa said to the girl as she stood up.

"I understand," the little girl said.

The two sisters stepped to the side. "Is everything going okay? Everyone's having a good time?" Elsa asked.

"They're having a great time," Anna said, surprised she asked. "This was a great idea. No one can stop talking about it. Just look at Olaf."

She pointed to the other side of the grove. Three boys were juggling the snowman's body parts between them. Olaf yipped in delight. "Whoa... wahoo... yippee... the world is spinning..."

"I've got to say, I never expected this from you," Anna said. "And you were the one to suggest it."

"There's not much point to opening up the gates if people don't want to go inside. The castle doors could be wide open. It doesn't matter unless I keep my heart open too."

Anna smiled. "Anyway, you wanted me to tell you when it was five o'clock. And... it's five o'clock."

"Oh!" Elsa squealed. The tea party was scheduled to end half an hour ago, but she'd been having so much fun. She turned to the little girl. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Aw, but we just started," she whined. "I wanted to have tea with a  queen."

Anna stepped forward. "I can take her place. I'm her sister, Princess Anna."

"Yay! A princess. That's even better!"

Anna gave Elsa a sly smile. Elsa rolled her eyes, then walked away.

"Oh, Elsa," Anna called out. "You will tell me who you're seeing one of these days, right?"

"Who said I'm seeing anyone?" Elsa shrugged. Before Anna could ask anything else, she dashed out of earshot.

"Right," Anna said. She clinked her cup with the little girl.

Elsa ran behind the trees through the grove, peeling away her garrish decorations--the tiara, the bracelets, earrings, necklace. The courtyard's back wall abutted the shoals Arendelle Castle was built on. In its center was a postern--a back way. It was usually locked, but Elsa, being the queen, had asked for and received the key. She slipped through the gate at the same time slipping out of her fancy shoes.

Salty sea-spray kissed her face from the waves striking the rocks. She took a moment to breathe it in, then let out her tight hair bun. The soothing wind played with French braid like an animal's tail.

She stepped gingerly down the rough rocks to the water's edge. A man's head broke the surface.

"Hi," Gil said. He smoothed back his slick wet hair.

"Hi," Elsa said dreamily. She sat on a flattish rock close to him, hugging her knees. "Sorry I'm late. I just got done with the tea party."

"You're not late," Gil said. "How was it?"

"Good. The kids loved it. I might do it again next month too."

Gil pulled out a box from beneath the surface. "Here. I made you a birthday present."

Elsa accepted it, saying "But it's not my birthday."

"I know. But you didn't tell me when it was, so I guessed. Looks like I guessed wrong."

Elsa laughed. "At least you were bold enough to try."

"I only had a chance of one out of three hundred and sixty-five after all."

Elsa undid the seaweed ribbon. Inside the box was a necklace made of tropical cerith and horn shells. "Oh, it's beautiful. There's nothing like this in Arendelle seas." She attached it around her neck. "I'm quite sure I'll be the only one around with this kind of necklace."

"What if they ask you where you got it?"

"I'll tell the truth," Elsa said. "A handsome man gave it to me."

Gil smirked. "Well, half a man."

Elsa smiled. Twice the man of many. "I have a gift for you too."

"It's not my birthday, either," Gil said.

"No, it's not a birthday gift. It's something I meant to give you before."

She leaned down, placed her hand on his cheek, and kissed him. Gil rose out of the water and kissed her back.

"You couldn't find a way to cut it?" the King Frederic asked, equal parts resigned and disappointed.

"No... Well," Rapunzel reconsidered. "I did, but... no. I think it's better this way. Better than the alternatives were."

Rapunzel waited for her parents or Flynn to respond. They had made their greetings and hugs down at the docks. Then again in the village, again at the castle entrance, and several times more just now in the conference room.

"Better this way?" the Queen asked. "What do you mean?"

"I think it sends a message to the people of Corona. A message of hope. That even if the past may be inescapable, there is always hope for the future."

The king and queen didn't know how to respond to that. But Flynn did. "What about all the low-lifes and thugs? People from miles around are going to want that hair. Everyone from warring kingdoms to kidnappers. How are you going to stay safe?"

"I thought you already knew. You got my message, right?" Rapunzel said. "I can't remember when I sent it. The past week's just been a blur."

"Yes, of course. We did everything you said. He's waiting in the dungeon. It was no easy task to get-"

Rapunzel stood up. "What? You put him in the dungeon?"

The King held up his hands. "He asked to be put there. He said it was the only place he felt comfortable."

"Oh." Rapunzel looked down.

"Should we send a page to go and fetch him?" Queen Arianna asked.

"No. I'll do it," Rapunzel said.

"We'll be here," the king said, cradling his arm around the queen.

Rapunzel and Flynn left the conference room and descended a spiral staircase. The castle lay on a foundation of sand-colored bricks, not gray. That, plus the east-facing windows, helped the dungeon from seeming too gloomy.

Each cell had a barred door, but all the ones Rapunzel could see were empty. Which meant he was in the last one, at the darkest part of the hall.

"Can you wait here for me?" she whispered to Flynn, grasping his hand. "He's probably scared enough as it is."

Flynn nodded.

Rapunzel walked all the way to the last cell. There he sat on the bench. The door was unlocked.

"Hello, princess," Omis Ravir said. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine. How are you?" Rapunzel asked.

"I'm fine." Ravir's gaze fixed on the floor. "Nervous."

"No one gave you any trouble, did they?"

"No. But I'm still not sure this is a good idea. My appearance..."

"I don't care about your appearance. And neither will anyone else. I promise. It's going to take some time to ease back into the world. I know. I had to do it myself."

"But you must understand my terms. I won't be seen."

"If you don't want to, you don't have to be. In fact, it's better if you're not. But..." Rapunzel held up a finger. "You'll still be considered a member of the royal guard. Keeping the princess protected is a tough duty. You're the only one for miles around that could do it. That's a high honor. In fact, we already prepared a welcome feast for you."

"A feast?" Ravir asked.

"Mm-hm. Roast pork and cinnamon sauce. Chicken pie with turnip and carrots. Cucumber salad and spiced squash. And chef makes these apple tarts with whipped cream that are delicious."

"I don't remember the last time I ate," Ravir said. "It's been decades."

"Oh. Then maybe we'll just start with some bread."

Rapunzel held out her hand through the door. Ravir looked at it with his yellow eyes. He reached out and put his clawed hand in her soft pink one.

The first thing that Ariel did was hug Eric. Then she hugged him again. And again. And again.

They took it slow. Five days passed before the couple left the castle. It was like a second honeymoon. And with the war over, they had the time to spend.

They shared parts of each other. Parts as ugly as groupers and beautiful as angelfish. Parts they had hidden too long. When they emerged, they emerged holding hands, gazing into each other's eyes.

When Eric returned to the kingdom, he was immediately arrested. The royal guard sent him to trial, charged with treason. He was led in handcuffs to the parliamentary court. Seven lords and three sub-judges from the surrounding villages assembled on a high platform semi-circle. Eric stood in the lonely booth for the accused. On a podium sat the book of law for him to consult, but he did not need it.

Eric's explanation of what happened took an entire day with the council's interruptions for questions and clarifications. Each evening, they sent him back to the gaols while other witnesses and lawyers made their case. But by the end of Eric's deposition, their patience grew short. They began waving off sidebars and arbitrarily sustaining objections.

When the trial was over, the councilors returned their verdict. There could be no doubt in what Eric's actions were--half the kingdom was a witness. And both Eric's account and the evidence proved that he acted with free will, without any coercion. Guilty. No doubt about it, reasonable or otherwise.

His punishment? Tell everyone that he was sorry.

The captain of the guards roiled. He demanded exile, capital punishment, or something equally severe. He disavowed the judge's authority, tried bargaining with council. But the verdict had been made--the verdict the prosecution wanted. And the sentence had already been carried out.

In their final statement, the judges declared that Eric's actions were most definitely treacherous. But once Eric explained his motivation, they were justifiable. The head judge declared that any man or woman worth his character should have done the same thing. When the royal guard heard that, he rescinded his challenge, although he still grumbled about it.

Eric's first act, once he was back in power, was to withdraw from the war. He recalled his ships and support, ignoring any messages or questions from fellow countries, be they ally or enemy. The people backed his decisions, especially when word of Arendelle's situation reached them.

When Ariel returned, the town was still jubilating the end to the war. Each day a new ship returned, bringing someone's father or brother back home.

One of the last things she told Eric before they came out was "I want to make an announcement to the people. Can you arrange that?"

Eric was surprised. She'd never wanted to do that before. "Sure. The official celebration ends next week, when we sign the formal declaration of departure. You could do it then."

"Good," Ariel nodded.

"Can you tell me what it's about?" Eric asked.

Ariel sighed. "I'm not even sure myself."

Days later, the kingdom gathered on the streets. Streamers and confetti flew from windows. Husbands in woolen outfits embraced their wives on the docks as inert warships patrolled the harbor.

Eric stood on the balcony of his castle, overlooking the kingdom. Down below, the crowd was so large it flowed beyond the gates. After he signed the document held up by the minister of war (and the crowd had finished cheering), Ariel came out.

She wore the most formal gown Eric had ever seen--a conservative black dress with tight bodice and paisley trim. After Eric finished goggling, he stepped aside to let her take his place. The crowd whispered to each other, unsure of what was to next. They'd never seen the prince's wife so prim and droll.

"Good people," she declared. "I am not much of a speech-maker. I'm not good with my words. So I'll keep this brief. I know... that I haven't been the best of rulers. I've made some decisions... or influenced others to make decisions that weakened the kingdom. Selfish decisions, careless decisions. That's because I have been living a dual life."

Eric's eyes shot open. Now he knew exactly what her speech was about. And he was frightened.

"As some of you might know, I came to this kingdom under mysterious circumstances. No country, no family background, no dowry. Well, there is reason for that. Up until a year ago, I was a mermaid."

The crowd burbled with surprise, disbelief, laughter, and dubiety.

"More than just a mermaid," Ariel continued. "I was princess of a kingdom called Atlantica, the greatest in all the ocean. I fell in love with a human and, through magic, became what I am today." She paused to let the crowd absorb this. "But that is part of my past. The past is part of who I am and what I will be. And what I will be is queen. Queen of both this land and ocean."

Ariel reached behind her and pulled out her trident. Eric hadn't even seen her carrying it. The gold partisan gleamed.

"This is the trident. It's a weapon forged by the first gods and proof of my birthright. It can only be wielded by the true ruler of the seven seas."

She held it aloft. It began to make a harmonic magical thrum.

"With it, and my coronation, I declare this kingdom part of Atlantica. And Atlantica part of this kingdom. You are all now citizens under both. I will make my decisions and actions in the best interest of both. And any I made in the past that weren't, I will take back."

Now the crowd, unsure of where all this was going, began to come around. The once angrily-toned chatter began to lighten with acceptance.

Ariel looked back at Eric, who had a smile on his face. He approved. They'd work out all the logistics later, but for now, he saw the kingdom becoming stronger. Just like they were stronger.

She turned back to the crowd. "I can't ignore my people any longer. Either of them. Because I belong to both. As do all of you. And I hope... no, I am pleased that you are all now part of my world."

#END#

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 40) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 40: For the Last Time in Forever

From the thick gray fog, it looked like a volcano at first. But the temperature drop didn't agree with that. The floor no longer felt like the soft wood of the boat.

"Rapunzel?" she called out. She waved her hand through the fog.

"You're only here because of your power. You're not my equals. I could have killed you eons ago," Arcius's bodiless voice said. "You're no better than the power you hold. The power you don't deserve to hold. It brought about your weakest moments, when you were your worst person."

The fog in front of Elsa cleared. She was standing on a frozen plain. Another Elsa sat on her knees, weeping, while Prince Hans approached her from the back. He held up his sword, ready to strike.

From nowhere, Anna stepped in between them, arms raised against the incoming blow.

"No!" she shouted.

Anna froze solid into unblemished polar blue ice. The sword struck her ice-solid hand and shattered.

Elsa--the real Elsa--fell on her knees. She had never seen this moment as an observer. Never seen Anna's face as she jumped in between he-r and the sword, so filled with terror and bravery. All while she sat there, weeping like a weak little girl.

"Caused by your cowardice," Arcius said. "Your selfishness. Your indifference-"

"No." Elsa said. She rose. "I won't be tortured by images of the past. I've learned from this. I won't let it define who I am today."

"You don't have to let it exist at all."

The world wiped away into darkness. The air crisped and chilled. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw her mother holding eight-year-old Anna in her arms. Elsa gasped as her father's arm cradled her shoulder. She was standing in this exact spot ten years ago, feeling the same panic and fear.

Grand Pabbie touched his cold granite hand to Anna's forehead.

"It's for the best," her father said.

The best? The best for what? Elsa shook her head without intention. This couldn't be happening again. It's for the best. That was father's response when she asked if Anna would remember her powers. The beginning of his vow to keep her suppressed.

"You can fix this," Arcius's voice whispered. "You can change it all right here. See what a difference it makes."

Pabbie continued. "Listen to me, Elsa. Your power will only grow. There is beauty in it, but also great danger." The old troll waved his arm, sending sparkles into the air. They swirled into a shadowy vision of her using magic, for good and for evil. "You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy."

Time seemed to slow down. Elsa couldn't tell if it was real or perception. Here she could change everything. With the experience she lacked as a child, she could stand up to her parents. She could tell them she wouldn't suffer a decade of misery. She could stop them from the shipwreck that killed them.

"No. We'll protect her. She can learn to control it, I'm sure." Her father gripped her tighter, pulling his family close.

If Arcius was telling the truth, she had only one shot at this. One second to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.  

"Till then, lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people, and keep her powers hidden from everyone. Including Anna," her father said.

Break free. All she had to do was break free. Tell them what would happen. Shout and scream. Tear away from it all.

"No," Elsa whispered. "No, Arcius. I'm not going to let you manipulate me into a decision I don't want to make," she shouted. "Do you hear me? My parents were wrong, but their intentions were right. That doesn't make what they did better, but we all make mistakes. And who knows what else would have happened? Anna never would have met Kristoff. Someone else would become the victim of Hans's treachery. And most of all, I will not become like you!"

The frozen tundra disappeared, replaced with the wispy fog of before. Elsa picked up her skirt and began running through the miasma. "Rapunzel? Ariel!" she called.

Rapunzel heard the same as Elsa did. "The power you don't deserve to hold. It brought about your weakest moments, when you were your worst person."

The fog swept away. She was in her tower room. A woman in a black cloak writhing and howling as her skin whitened and wrinkled. As she neared the window, her feet tripped over a cord of hair.

Rapunzel instinctively reached for her, the same as she did those years ago. But she couldn't reach in time. The woman windmilled her arms and fell out.

It happened again. The woman cackled from one end of the room to the other. She backed against the window and tumbled to her doom.

And again.

And again.

"Stop it!" Rapunzel cried, tears flowing.

"I can't stop it," Arcius said. "Only you can."

When Rapunzel opened her eyes, she was in her castle. It was too dark to see well, but a cool night air breezed across her face. When her eyes adjusted, she was in her parents' bedchamber. A lone bassinet sat at the foot of their bed. And a dark shape was approaching it.

"What is..." Then she realized what she was seeing.

The living shadow hovered over the baby. It reached in. "Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine," she sang.

The cradle emitted a sunny glow, lighting up Mother Gothel's face. She held up a strand of the baby's hair and cut it, halting the glow. The crone's hand morphed from vulture claw to youthful vigor. Then back again. Gothel gasped, as did Rapunzel.

"This is your chance. All you need to do is intervene. Bring back a life with your parents," Arcius said.

Was he serious? Was he really giving her the chance to change everything? Here and now?

Mother Gothel swooped up the infant. Rapunzel couldn't believe it happened this slow. She could jump in now. Stop it all from ever happening. Stop the misery, the loneliness. She reached out a hand.

Then thought of Flynn. What would happen to him? He was a baby now too. She would never know him.

And then what would happen? Everything would be different. He'd be killed as a criminal. And her friends in the Snuggly Duckling would still be there, drinking and fighting instead of pursuing their dreams. Maximus would be just another soldier's horse. The kingdom's rule wouldn't be marked by her parents' mourning. And Mother Gothel might still be alive, making someone else suffer for her mad desire.

The king and queen stirred in their beds. They spied Mother Gothel at the window, baby in the crook of her arm. She flourished her black cape, then she was gone.

A shadow appeared in the fog to the right of her. Elsa burst through. "Rapunzel? Are you-"

Rapunzel's fists clenched, her eyes vibrating. "I let her go," Rapunzel said. "I let her go. So it could all happen again."

"He gave me the same choice too. But I thought about everything that wouldn't have happened. What-"

"You don't... you don't understand. She was the only mother I knew for that long. She kept me safe. I thought she was keeping me safe. I don't..." She collapsed onto her knees and cried into her hands. "She was all I knew for eighteen years," Rapunzel whispered. "You can't let go of something like that. I'm going to be locked in the tower-"

"You're not there now." Elsa held Rapunzel's cheek and turned her toward herself. "You never were. She might have held your body, but not your spirit. Arcius is trying to make it like it's your fault. It's not."

Rapunzel wiped her eyes and stood up, helped by Elsa. For some reason, that got through to her.

"Is Ariel here?"

"Ariel! Ariel!" the two of them shouted.

Your weakest points. Your worst person. What did Arcius mean? It sounded like something was about to happen. The tone was so prophetic.

The mist cleared away and before her lay the sea floor--her home. Open blue expanse, the sandy ground, a few flat rocks. And in front of her was a plant. A mossy-colored seaweed unfurling to the shape of an old man with a long mustache.

"Daddy?" Ariel whispered.  

The polyp's jaundiced eyes stared up at her. How could you? How could you force me into this? Your stubbornness, your ignorance. You've lost us the whole kingdom.

Ariel bent on hands and knees. Tears filled her eyes. "Daddy, I'm so sorry. I never meant for-"

She was barely aware of a shadow in the fog behind her. Memories of this regret and sorrow held her fast. Even though he was only transformed for a short while, at the time, she thought it was forever. This was a memory he took to his death. This was-

"Ariel."

A hand grabbed her neck. She lifted off the floor, her throat constricting.

"Me again," Arcius said.

Ariel scratched at his grasp, but her twiggy fingers slid off his iron grip. He seemed so much taller, so much stronger than last time.  

She lifted the trident. The sorcerer yanked it away, like taking a lollipop from a little girl.

"Like I said before. I only need one of you." He turned his gaze to the trident. "And in your case, not even you."

He dropped her. She collapsed, coughing for air.

Arcius gripped the trident in both hands. Its yellow light glowed and pulsed like a heartbeat. Energy traveled through Arcius's arm, giving him the same amber aura. The trident's majestic brass faded to slate gray, dull as iron.

Arcius squeezed his amber fist. The trident snapped in half like a twig.

"No!" Ariel yelled.

Rapunzel and Elsa appeared out of the mist, running toward them. They halted at the edge. "What happened?" Rapunzel asked.

Arcius smiled. His fingertips glowed with a golden aura. "Yes. This is excellent. This is divine power."

The fog disappeared as light flooded the area. They were in a circular room, on a platform floating on nothing. No walls, just open space. Consoles rimmed the edges of the room depicting mystical runes, crystal objects, and incomprehensible writing.

"Welcome to the laboratus. This is where I do all my best work." He gestured to a pedestal in the center of the room. It was the same pedestal where the grain of time sat, sparkling like a star.

Arcius waved his hand over it and the altar floated up into the aether where it disappeared.

"You're probably wondering how I was able to manipulate events so well. Well, I do it here."

The blackness dissolved into an enveloping view of the world. Landscapes and oceans zoomed out at them. Ragged mountains burst from the earth, then withered away. Rivers twisted through dry deserts like snakes, as lush forests bloomed around.

"I can observe all of time from here. From the first atoms to the last light," Arcius said.

"Stop this," Elsa said. "This is madness."

"No, it is not madness to wish for things to change. It is human. Why you deny it, I don't know. But that hardly matters." He clenched his fist. "With this power, I will be able to control it for eons. And after that..." He regarded the girls. "I have you."

A cylinder of wavering air appeared behind the three of them. It looked like a glass case, big enough for all of them to fit inside.

"Now you can enter that of your own free will, or enter it forcefully. But you will enter it," Arcius said.

"What is it?" Ariel asked.

"A point in space where time slows to eternal days. Do you know what an eternal day is?" He paused as if they would answer. "It's a useful little measurement we savants of chronology employ. You might know it as a proverb. High up in the northland, there stands a rock. It is a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity will have gone by."

Arcius smiled to let it all sink in. "Disregard the philosophical pith for the moment. What it means is that we can extrapolate further units. Three hundred sixty-five eternal days is an eternal year. One thousand eternal years is an eternal millennium. And so on."

The three girls stared at him dumbfounded. Arcius pointed to the chamber again.

"In that, you will last preserved ten thousand eternal years. Oh, you won't sleep. You'll be conscious. But isn't that better? Your bodies will last. Perhaps your mind won't, but..." He shrugged. "Such is the cost. After such a span, all I would need is your power. Now, like I said--you can get in voluntarily or not."

Elsa didn't even speak. She shot her ice power at him. It fizzled out before Arcius with a wave of his hand.

"You tried that before. It didn't work then. It surely won't work now."

Elsa continued shooting, thrusting magic after magic combined with fear and courage.

"Don't make this hard on yourself."

"We will never stop fighting you," Rapunzel said.

Arcius sighed. He waved his hand.

Ariel lifted into the air, carried by a force pulling her towards Arcius. Her toes dragged along the ground as her body knocked Rapunzel and Elsa aside.

The sorcerer grabbed her and wrapped his arm around her neck. Her legs went limp. Only Arcius's grip kept her upright.

"This one, I don't need to preserve."

"Let her go!" Elsa shouted.

"Go on. Attack me."

Ariel shouted in pain.

"Right now I'm making each of her joints stretch out at once. From the knees to the tiny stapes in her finger bones. I can do worse."

"Don't stop." Ariel grunted through gritted teeth and flecks of spit. To Arcius, "I'd rather die than see you harm my friends."  

"I had intended on letting you live. I could simply cast you back into the world and let fate do its will. Unless your friends comply?"

Elsa and Rapunzel froze.

Arcius raised his eyebrows, daring them. "Are you sure? There won't be enough for plankton to feed on when I'm through." He raised his hand. A humming golden aura formed around his clenched fist. Tiny rays sparkled from between his fingers.

Rapunzel picked up her hair nervously, stroking it like an old maid. "Remember Ariel, everyone has a weak point."

Ariel blinked. Something about her tone...

Rapunzel nodded.

Ariel dropped one of her hands like a hammer, nailing Arcius in the crotch.

Arcius doubled over, but didn't lose his grip. His eyes drew to Elsa, expecting her to attack. She was the fastest and could attack from range.

Which is why he didn't see Rapunzel whip out her hair. The golden strands lassoed around Ariel's waist and wrenched her out of his grasp.

With Ariel out of the way, Elsa let loose her full power. Blue ice soared like a shooting star into Arcius's chest.

He staggered back. The yellow aura around his hand fizzled out.

Ariel crawled back to Elsa and Rapunzel. They helped her up, checking for injuries.

Arcius dropped to one knee. He clutched his chest. "Wha... what happened? You...You froze my heart."

"Your heart was already frozen," Elsa said. "Frozen in time. You're locked in some world where past and future have no meaning. And when that happens, you stand still."

"But this isn't just any heart. It's the heart of Temeris." He reached out his hand. Yellow embers fizzled and disappeared. "I can't... I can't use it. You stopped the magic."

Black returned to the spinning world, which disappeared. The pedestal that held the grain of time lowered back down.

"Look," Ariel said.

Arcius's face flashed. Parts of it dissolved into air while others melted. Instead of his handsome, dapper appearance, he looked drained. His sunken-in, yellow eyes gawked as if they had no eyelids. With the white hair, the gray leathery skin, he looked like a decaying corpse. Worse than Lowther or Ravir.

Elsa said to her friends, "I think... I think we did it. Accidentally. Instead of destroying the grain of time or Arcius, all we needed to do was prevent his magic."  

"He did become corrupted," Rapunzel said. "It was just an illusion. Meant to make us feel comfortable."

"I just wanted my time back," Arcius wept. "By the time I learned how to control the magic, I was near the end of my life. I could have gotten that back."

"You gambled on power and you lost. You spent all that time hoping you could live all over again," Elsa said. "Well, gambles are just that. You don't always win. Sometimes you make that journey and win. Sometimes you don't."

Arcius scowled. "I can't afford not to win," he growled.

The sorcerer leapt forward, onto the pedestal, and snatched the grain of time. Amber light gathered from his body's limbs--legs, arms, head--and funneled into the object in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked.

"Conveying all my energy and power into the grain. If I can't use it, it's useless to me."

"How are you going to use the grain of time if you have no power?" Elsa asked.

"Like this."

Arcius slapped the grain into his forehead. An ethereal buzzing--like thousands of wasps--sounded. White tendrils erupted from his body. Arcius pushed out his chest, suspended in pain, as he levitated above the floor. The humming amplified until a white light flashed.

Arcius's clothes turned white, dappled with black. A white aura wisped and sinuated behind him. And his eyes glowed with eerie opalescent fire.  

"Such power," Arcius said. His voice echoed in throngs. "I should have done this a long time ago."

"He merged with the grain of time!" Ariel said.

"Now I have complete control over time itself. I can see all things as they happen. All things as they shall happen. All instances." He looked down at them. "And you have no part of it."

He spun a circle in the air. A giant vortex appeared behind him--swirling black and white mashing together. "Do you know what this is? It's anti-time. This will take you to a time before time. Before the universe began. Where you will have no world. No memory. And no existence."

Wind began drilling against them, pushing them closer. Ariel, Rapunzel, and Elsa joined hands, helping each other maintain footing.

"Give up," Arcius said with a laugh.

"I'll never give up," Ariel shouted.

"You?" Arcius said. "You don't even have your trident. What are you going to do?"

"We don't need her trident," Elsa answered. "We have each other."

"We're stronger even if we didn't have powers," Rapunzel said. "Because we love each other."

"Seriously?" Arcius said. "You're pulling this?"

"You say that because you don't know what love is," Elsa said. "Love is breaking through the ice someone puts around themselves."

"Love is giving up something for your friends, no matter if you want it or someone else gives it to you," Rapunzel said.

"Love means finding your voice," Ariel said. With that she began to sing. The same haunting melody that she sang for Ursula, for Ravir. Now she sang it for herself.

Elsa and Rapunzel joined in, facing Arcius and singing as loudly as they could. The echoing chamber amplified the sound.

A heart began to form between them and the portal. Its iridescent surface was faceted like crystal ice. But a warm aura surrounded it, like the sun's corona. And deep inside, beneath the opaque surface, sloshed a watery core, as dark as the ocean. The elements of their three souls.

"I don't know what that is. But I have no intention of dealing with it. Or you." Arcius shot out his hand. "Enjoy being unmade from existence."

A beam of light, striped in white and black like the anti-time portal, streamed out. When it hit the heart, it fizzled out.

"What?" Arcius shot again. Nothing happened. The beam went out. Again. Nothing.

"I will destroy you if it's the last thing I do." Arcius haunched up, wringing his arms. He flew forward on a course to ram it. White streaks of energy trailed behind.

On impact, Arcius bounced back, careening end over end until he fell into the portal.

He froze. The vortex froze.

All was silent.

Arcius choked. His form turned blocklike. The portal started swirling again like an engine building up. Arcius's limbs twisted, contorting like a surrealist painting. His eyes lost definition.

The portal shrunk around him and Arcius along with it. His arms and legs switched from three dimensions to two back to three. Choking gasps continued while his screams burst from whisper to agonized defeat.

The portal collapsed like a star until it was no bigger than the head of a pin. A white light flashed.

Ariel, Rapunzel, and Elsa shielded their eyes, anticipating an explosion. But there was no aftershock. The portal was gone. Arcius was gone. In its place was the grain of time, floating to the ground. Gold dust trailed behind like the tail of a shooting star.

"Is he gone?" Ariel whispered.

"Looks like it," Rapunzel said. "How did we survive?"

"Because love is eternal," said a voice.

The transparent form of a beautiful woman appeared over the sparkling crumb. She had a magnificent emerald dress and golden hair. Her viridian eyes looked down upon them.

"Love is eternal. Neither time nor anti-time can remove that from existence." She smirked.

"Who are you?" Ariel asked.

"Don't you recognize me? I'm what you've been fighting for this whole time. I am the grain of time."

"You're a person?" Rapunzel asked.

"Mmm, maybe not person. But sentient. All the sands of time are. You can't have this much power and not be." She giggled.

"Did Arcius know this?" Elsa asked. "He was keeping you enslaved for your power. Did he know you were conscious?"

"Time is not just a matter or a concept. It has an energy. Within the sands of time, we are immortal. But taken out, our vitality succumbs to entropy."

"That's why he was so concerned about draining you. You weren't just an artifact. And if you lose your energy, you die," Rapunzel said.

"Yes," the goddess said. "Though sadly, that appears to be inevitable. I've just become too exhausted to continue." Her shoulders slumped. Her transparency was fading. The grain of time was twinkling like a candle, dimming with each flash.

"No," Elsa said. "No. We can... we can find a way. Maybe there's a magic-"

"Oh, don't worry about it," the goddess said. "I welcome this. So many of my kind wonder what's on the other side. I will be the first to know." She smiled. "But I still hold enough spirit within to grant a boon."

"A boon?" Elsa asked.

"A favor. A gift. A wish. To revert that which brought you this turmoil in the first place. Unfortunately, I can only do this for one of you."

They each looked each other, considering what had drawn them here in the first place.

"You could fix the broken trident? Restore its power?" Elsa asked the maiden. The maiden nodded.

"What about Rapunzel?" Ariel countered. "It might be the only way to get rid of her hair. Otherwise, she'd be a target of thieves and villains the rest of her life."

"But you could bring back summer to Arendelle," Rapunzel said to Elsa.

"Yes, yes, and yes," the floating maiden said. "Choose quickly. My life is fading. I can feel it will be gone soon."

The three girls glanced between each other, caught in a standoff of selflessness and well-being.

"We've got to pick something. We can't just let this go," Elsa said.

"How are we supposed to make a decision?" Rapunzel asked.

"Rapunzel, it's got to be you," Ariel said. "With your hair, your healing powers, everyone's going to want you for themselves. You'd never be safe."

Elsa said "But it's your trident. I know how important it is to you. And your people. Let alone it's the weapon of a god."

"The fewer people with weapons, the better," Ariel said.  

"I'm just one person," Rapunzel said. "Both of you have entire kingdoms depending on you. Arendelle is still in danger."

Again, dead silence within the vacuous chamber. Each watched the other.

And then, a decision was made.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 39) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 39: Paying Off Debts

Boats stretched across the mighty fjord, facing outward. Each flew the dual flags of the Southern Isles and Weselton. Hans's flagship held behind the blockade, barely visible.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Ariel asked Rapunzel who steered.

"If Elsa believes it will work, I think so. She's confident enough of our powers."

At the bow, Elsa held a telescope to her eye. She stood like the maidenhead of the ship they were on.

"I just hope she's confident about hers."

Above the bowsprit was a gigantic copper cone, manned by an ensign. The wide end pointed at them, making them think it was some kind of cannon. But it was a megaphone, as they discovered when the captain spoke into it.

"Approaching vessel, lower your emblem and raise the white flag to signal your intent to surrender." The voice warbled across the water, echoing and distorting the words.

Ariel stepped up beside Elsa. "Isn't that cute? They think I'm going to surrender," Elsa said to her.

The opposing captain waited for them to make an intention toward the flagpole. When enough time had passed, he declared "Approaching vessel, signal your surrender."

Ariel raised her trident. "I can make your voice louder."

Elsa grinned and nodded.

"No." Her voice carried with the same volume and weight as Hans's.

"Queen Elsa, this doesn't have to be a bloodbath. Anchor your boat and we'll board you. We'll make this nice and quick."

"Remove your vessels from Arendelle waters," Elsa said. "Or we'll remove them for you."

The captain talked to someone at his side, then returned. "You can't seriously think you're going to overcome two combined navies. You have no armada."

"I have no armada?" Elsa said. She raised her hands. "I AM the armada."

Dark clouds crawled in from the edges of the horizon, surrounding their little section of ocean. A pelting ice rain fell, churning the waters and soaking all sailors to the bone with ice coldness. They could hear the distress from here.

"Cease this immediately or we will open fire. You've given us no choice."

Elsa nodded to Ariel. Her trident stopped glowing as the magic surrounding her voice ceased. "No choice? I'll show you what it's like to have no choice," Elsa muttered. "Full sail."

Ariel and Rapunzel scattered across the ship, readying sails and ropes. Ariel shot a beam into the water, creating a firm wave that pushed them forward. Rapunzel hooked her hair across riggings and swung to each mast, letting out the sails to their maximum spread.

Cannons boomed through the hazy mist of the cold rain. They fell short of the bow.

"Ariel, need you at the front. Rapunzel-"

"I got it," she shouted from the crow's nest, where she already was. "Three-quarters north by northwest."

As Rapunzel called out the location of the next ships to open their cannonade, Elsa focused her attention. Giant icicles dropped out of the clouds, falling in slow motion onto the ships. The icicles exploded into shards as sailors ejected off deck. One ship careened onto its side, already halfway sunk, as the two next to it rocked back and forth.

More cannons. Their whistling call narrowed the gap, prickling their hairs on their necks. Ariel shot the closest. The iron globe disintegrated in a ball of gold light. Another exploded out. Ariel shot that too.

Elsa dropped three more icicles on ships near Hans's. Like divine angels of retribution descending the heavens. They fell as slow as molasses, giving the enemy time to ponder their fate.

"Northwest," Rapunzel shouted. She lassoed the crow's nest crossbar and swung down to the deck, rejoining her two friends. "They're pulling away."

"But Hans's ship is still there- whoop!" Ariel caught sight of a cannon ball mere yards away before destroying it. "It's harder to spot them in time." A boom to the left. Ariel had to fire three times before hitting it.

"No one hurts my friends." Elsa spread out her arms, controlling the storm, the icicles, and now, the snowballs knocking the cannonballs off course. Lead shot crashed into them with an awful tinkling sound.

The temperature around Elsa dropped suddenly enough to make Rapunzel shiver. She looked at Elsa. Her eyes were white. Frost was dripping down her outstretched arms.

"Elsa, be careful," Rapunzel said. "You're using too much power."

This was what she was afraid of. Elsa's power was their best chance at surviving. But that meant putting herself at risk to become a heartless monster again. Rapunzel tugged at Elsa's arm.

"Power? I'll show them power," Elsa said.

A line of icicles stabbed out of the frothing water, trailing towards the ship left of Hans. They speared the boat through its belly.

"Elsa. Stop, you're going to lose control," Rapunzel said.

"She can't stop," Ariel said. "We're too close. They'll kill us."

"One time," Elsa said, cradling a deep breath. "I cut off a horse's tail when I was little. Just out of curiosity."

Ariel and Rapunzel looked at each other.

"I wrote a love letter to the stable boy," Elsa said. "I didn't tell him who I was. I told him I'd meet him behind the fountains at midnight. But I was too scared and never showed up."

Her white eyes faded back down to her normal blue ones.

"When I was nine, I got sick the day they were painting our yearly portrait and I threw up all over Anna and mom. I can't read books where there's a dog, because I'm too afraid the dog will die."

It was working. Whether by whim of the storm or not, Hans's escort vessels angled away, leaving his ship alone.  

"One time I was really mad at Anna and I called her stupid and fat and sloppy when she was being really obnoxious and wouldn't leave me alone. I never apologized to her. Sometimes I faked being sick just so I could get attention from mom and dad. I was always in my room, so it was the only way to get them to stay with me."

Between the pelting rain, the cannons, the ice chunks and trident blasts, chaos swirled around them. Rapunzel ran to the wheel. Ariel used her trident to summon a wall of cascading water on both sides of the ship. The force of the flow would curtail any close shots. But it had the side-effect of closing their view to only the destination ahead.

Elsa stood before the storm, tears like needles in her eyes from the stinging wind.

"I thought about suicide a lot. Like, a lot. Both before Mom and Dad died and after. It would have been easier on everyone if I just hadn't existed. All I did was cause trouble. I stole a kitchen knife, but my dad found it hidden in my dresser drawer and took it away. He never told anyone about it. But I didn't need it. I could have stabbed myself with an icicle. I thought about tying the bed sheets into a noose and jumping out the window. I didn't want to live if I was going to stay in my room for the rest of my life. But when I was going to become queen it got... worse and better. I had something to live for again, but I had to do it alone. I was always alone. I was always-"

"Elsa!" Ariel shouted.

Elsa stopped talking. She saw Ariel below her, holding her hand. Rapunzel was next to her.

"We're through," she said.

Elsa looked around. The sky was bright blue, with the expanse of water before them. No ships, no armada. No Hans.

"Are you okay?" Ariel asked gently.

"It was the only way to keep my heart from freezing," Elsa said. "I had to keep it open." She wiped her eyes.

Rapunzel embraced her cousin in a hug. Ariel joined in.

"I don't want to do that again," Elsa said, sobbing.

"No, no, you don't have to do that again," Rapunzel replied.

"I don't think I could do that again," she said with a half-laugh. "It's just... it's just too much."

"How do you feel?" Ariel asked.

"Like scum," Elsa said.

"Hey." Rapunzel took Elsa's face in her hands. "We still love you. We will never stop loving you. You don't need to be forgiven."

"We all have had terrible things in our lives. Terrible things we've thought about," Ariel said.

"When Mother said I could never leave the tower, I had some really dark thoughts that time," Rapunzel said.

"And I don't know what I'd do if I never got to see the human world," Ariel said. "But it's all past you now, right?"

"Yeah." Elsa stood up straight. "Unless we don't get to that bomb. Then it'll be nothing but the past."

She picked up her telescope. Though distant, she could distinguish Hans on deck talking to the Duke of Weselton. The smugness had been replaced with rage befitting a sociopath.

"They're heading towards us," Elsa said as she snapped the telescope closed. "Let's get ready."

Aboard Hans's flagship, they saw the blockade close in on the single galleon. They saw the storm rage in. They saw cannon fire and heavy artillery rendered useless by snowballs and light beams. They saw spouts of water churn and geyser into the air, sending all the ships distant corners away. Now they saw the galleon heading straight towards them.

Hans fingered the flintlock pistol at his shoulder. He stared at the incoming vessel, searching for a sign to give the command to fire.

But the boat continued on toward them, following the breeze. It curved and slid alongside there's. Still, not a soul had presented itself.

"What is going on?" The Duke of Weselton asked. "It's a ghost ship?"

"There are no ghosts," Hans said.

Once the ship had pulled alongside theirs--only a few yards distance between siderails--it suddenly halted. The wind vanished and the water below became as still as a pane of glass. Neither of their boats were going to move for a while.

"Sorcery," the duke said.

"Of course it's sorcery," Hans said. "That doesn't mean we can't defeat it. And it definitely means someone's in control." To the officers beside him, he said, "Send all but the most essential men over. Search everywhere. This boat didn't sail itself."

The officer nodded. He shouted orders and soon a large contingent gathered on deck. Men lowered three long planks as bridges between the two ships.

The leader of the search party crossed first and shouted, "We know you're here, girls. Come out and show yourselves."

Only the stillness.

Men scattered around the deck, expecting to see someone at the wheel, rudder control, a sailing master, a gunner. But not even a swabbie could be seen.

The lead officer blinked his eyes. To his second-in-command, he appeared frozen in thought. "Sir?"

"I... sorry, I thought I just saw them."

"Where?"

"... nowhere. I just... I feel like they're right in front of me. But I..."

Ahead of them lay nothing but air and the storage compartment on the quarterdeck.

"I feel it too," the second-in-command said. "It must be our instincts telling us we're on the right track. Let's keep searching."

The officer shouted. "Proceed below deck. Leave nothing unturned or unopened." The officer rested his hand on his cutlass's hilt and proceeded onward.

"I think it's working," Rapunzel whispered as the two officers moved further down the deck. She fastened her grips on Ariel and Elsa's hands.

"It's like they see us, but they don't see us," Ariel said. "We were standing right in front of him."

"Do we need to whisper?" Elsa asked. "If they couldn't see us, they couldn't hear us too."

The three of them switched from looking at the sailors invading their ship to the planks. Ariel held Rapunzel's hand with one of her own. The other gripped the crystal glowing contented blue to her chest. Elsa kept her fingers around Ariel's wrists.

"Let's go aboard," she said.

Rapunzel led the three of them across the plank to Hans's ship. No one noticed them. Hans and the duke stood on the quarterdeck, staring at the Barefoot Maiden, waiting for something to happen. The only other people aboard were three men surrounding something against the wall of the gun deck.

"That's Hans?" Ariel whispered to Rapunzel. "I see why Anna fell for him."

Elsa stood in front of the guards, trying to look between them to see what they were guarding.

"Captain!" said the one in front.

Hans turned to him. He did a double-take, but said nothing.

The guard looked sheepish. "There's... I... er, nothing. Sorry."

Ariel and Rapunzel looked at each other. "That was close."

Elsa unstilled herself and stood on tiptoe. Behind them stood a small, innocuous barrel. The word "DANGER" was stenciled in white on the lid. A temperature gauge, like one would find in a turkey, was stuck through the lid.

"That must be it," she said. "How can we get it? I know no one can see or hear us, but does touch could break the spell?"

"Could we use the trident?" Rapunzel asked Ariel.

"What if it blows up?" she responded.

Another of the guards lifted his hands. "There! I see... I mean... no... never mind."

"What? What is it?" Hans asked impatiently.

"It's just. I thought I saw the queen and her cohorts standing right there."

Hans swept his eyes back and forth. He was looking right at the three of them, but didn't know it.

"It's like they're ghosts. It's giving me prickles on the back of my neck," said a guard.

Ariel giggled. The crystal in her hand pulsed once.

"There is something strange going on here," Hans said. He wandered off to confer with the duke.

The left guard reached out his hand, feeling for something that wasn't there. His fingertips came inches from Elsa's nose. She leaned back as far as she could without losing the morimema's protection.

"They're getting wise. We need to do this fast," Elsa said behind her teeth.

"All three at once," Ariel said.

"I got the left, Elsa the right, Ariel--center," Rapunzel said. "One-two-three-GO."

Elsa raised her hand. A pillar of ice rose from the deck, elevating the rightmost guard above the deck. The guard shouted "whoa" and lost his balance. Elsa extended the top of the pillar into a long sheaf of ice. He slid down, somersaulting all the way, and fell into a square hole below deck.

At the same time, Rapunzel bashed her guard in the helmet with her frying pan. He toppled over, chin first. She lassoed his legs with her hair, then whipped him to the other end of the boat.

The guard in the middle started thrusting out his spear at random points in space. "Begone, demons!

Ariel parried it with the trident tucked under her arm. She caught its pointed end between the tines, spun it once, then threw it into the air. The guard was still watching it drift upwards when she blasted the ground below him. The shockwave cast him in the same direction as the spear.

Ariel watched him careen over the side of the ship, ending in a resounding splash. As she smiled, the spear landed, knocking into her hand. Surprise made her jump back, which made her lose grip on the morimema.

The crystal fell to the deck where it shattered into a million tiny glittering pieces. Its blue glow faded instantly, giving the debris the appearance of sand.

"Uh-oh," Ariel said. The three of them looked up.

Prince Hans was standing behind them. So was the Duke of Weselton, holding out a sword. Hans aimed a flintlock pistol.

"I knew it. I knew it was some trick," Hans said. "One of your little ice and water shows."

"I'll give you an ice show," Elsa said, preparing to raise his hands.

Hans brandished his pistol.  "Uh-uh. Keep your precious little gloves on. You too, princesses. I know all about your magic hair and your trident." Hans glowered.

"You know you're working with a dark sorcerer now," Ariel said.

"He must be getting desperate if now he's working with the likes of you," Rapunzel said.

"If that's what it takes, fine. He was the only one that came to me when I'd hit rock bottom. I was rotting in a swamp, watching over pitiful peasants."

"And what did he promise you?" Ariel asked. "A kingdom of your own? Treasure and jewels? Revenge on all your enemies?"

"And then some," Hans said.

"Just take me," Elsa said, stepping forward. "I'm the one you want. I'm the one that wronged you."

"What? Oh, you didn't think I cared about 'protecting' Arendelle, did you?"

"You plunged our countries into war!" Ariel shouted. "You killed how many dozens, maybe hundreds of people just to get your share? How could you do that?"

"I'm a chameleon," Hans said with pride. "I adapt to any situation to make people feel comfortable. Comfortable enough to give me what I want."

"Even if it costs your soul?" Rapunzel asked.

Hans grimaced. "You'd never know unless you were me, how it feels to receive the dregs of everything. I don't care who I have to deal with. I didn't choose to be the lastborn of the Westergaards. But I'm not going to let that determine my fate."

"Wait, what?" Ariel said. "Your last name is Westergaard?" She muttered to herself as she eyed the ground. "Westergaard, Westergaard, where have I heard that name."

"In the grotto!" Rapunzel said. "All those debt notices."

"What are you talking about?" Hans asked. "That debt was paid off. It took decades, but it was paid."

Rapunzel pointed at him. "Except the documents were all forgeries. At least that's what the letter said. It said the coat of arms didn't match the year the ledgers were written."

"Someone was going to a banquet to prove it, but the ship must have sunk," Ariel said.

"The spymaster..." Hans finished.

"That's right."

"Everyone in my family knows that story. Three generations ago, the kingdom was in debt up to its ears. It seemed to come out of nowhere. And you-"

Before Hans could turn, the duke grabbed the gun out of his hand and pointed it at him. "Now, now, let's not be hasty here. We have an alliance now. The debt's paid off."

"A debt we never owed you in the first place," Hans said, scowling.

"Well, come on. That was years ago," the duke said. "You don't seriously... expect... all right now, back off." He brandished his gun. "This may only have one bullet, but none of you want to be the one who gets it, eh?"

Rapunzel's eyebrows raised, but she said nothing. She stepped behind Ariel and Rapunzel, letting them hold the conversation.

"If you really forged those documents, there'll be proof of that. We keep much better records now."

"And won't your family be proud that you've solved the case, hm? Then where am I? You think Weselton can pay that all back? Do you think I was in Arendelle a year ago, trying to find their trade secrets for fun?"

"As soon as I get back to the Southern Isles, I'm finding those documents. I'm sure they're in the royal archive. And we'll find out the real truth."

"Then I'll have to make sure you never get back to the Southern Isles." He raised the gun. "Any last words?"

Hans stood stunned, unbelieving his partner would shoot him.

"I do, actually," Rapunzel said, stepping forward. "Just one question. Have you looked at your left shoulder lately?"

"My what?"

The duke turned his head to his left shoulder, as Rapunzel expected. This distracted him from his right shoulder, where Pascal actually was. The lizard darted out his tongue and stuck it in his ear.

The duke shrieked. The gun fired, emitting a puff of smoke, then he dropped it.

Ariel shot her trident at the duke's feet. The lightning bolt impacted and sent the Duke of Weselton rocketing off, arcing against the blue sky. He landed somewhere far away in the water with a distant plop.

Pascal turned cartwheels in the air. Rapunzel rushed up and caught the chameleon in her soft hands. "Are you okay?"

His eyes spun, but he gave a thumbs-up with his three flat toes.

"Find shelter," Rapunzel whispered. She set him on the deck and ran to the two others.

"Is everyone all right?" Elsa asked, patting her body for bullet holes. Rapunzel and Ariel did the same, as if searching for where they left their keys.

"Does anyone hear that hissing?" Ariel asked.

They followed their ears to the source. The barrel was emitting a geyser of smoke from a crack where the bullet had grazed it. The temperature gauge's needle was climbing towards the red zone.

"That can't be good," Rapunzel said.

All three knelt in front of the barrel. Three small locks latched the lid.

"Blast it!" Ariel said. She pointed her trident.

Rapunzel stuck her hand between her and the box. "No, that could set it off! Let's throw it overboard," Rapunzel suggested.

"It's strong enough to destroy a city. I don't think that's going to save us," Elsa said. "Hans, how does this thing work?"

They looked around the deck. "Hans?"

Something clunked against the side of the ship. The three ran to see Hans pulleying the longboat into the water.

"I'm not through with you yet, Duke," he said as the dinghy landed. He detached the ropes and started rowing away.

"Coward," Elsa muttered.

They returned to the barrel. The needle was seconds away from the red zone.

"We've got to do something," Elsa said. "We can't just sit here. Throwing it in the water won't help. Destroying it won't help. I can't freeze it, I don't know what's inside."

"This is just what he wanted," Rapunzel muttered. "For us to call him for help."

"Who?" Ariel asked.

"Arcius. He could turn back time, get us out of this mess, if we agree to help him."

"He started this mess in the first place," Elsa grunted. "I won't give him the satisfaction. I'd rather it explode. I'd rather be destroyed than..." she paused. "Your hair! It's indestructible."

"That's right!" Ariel said.

"Guys, I don't know if it's that indestructible," Rapunzel said.

"Do we have any other options?"

Rapunzel smoothed out a swath of her hair. Elsa and Ariel wrapped it around the barrel like a yarn ball. "Cover it. There can't be any square inch exposed."

They continued wrapping it was taut. A faint whistling began from under the pillows of yellow thread.

"If we can still hear it, does that mean it's tight enough?"

"It needs more," Elsa said. She shot her magic at the ball of crumpled hair. Blue ice formed a jagged meteorite around it. The ice chunk began to vibrate.

"Oh no you don't," Ariel said. She fired her trident. A translucent golden shield enveloped the lump, which began to rise in the air.

It trembled like a fluttering dandelion. Elsa and Rapunzel turned away. Ariel shut her eyes.

The ice ball stopped trembling. It fell to the ground.

Elsa touched the ball of ice she had made. Wispy snowflakes fluttered away like escaping fireflies. When they unraveled it all, the only thing left was smears of black soot, which wiped away easily.

"We did it," Rapunzel said. She shouted into the air. "You hear that Arcius? We did it! We did-"

There was a sound like tearing cloth.

"What was that?" Ariel asked.

"There," Elsa pointed. "Do you see it?" She leaned to the left and the right.

In the space before them, part of the air was sliced and torn. Like the world was made of canvas and been slit by a vandal. Jagged edges marked the fissure. Everything within the tear was the same as its opposite side, though slightly askew.

"What is that?" Rapunzel asked.

Ariel poked her trident through. It emerged to the left as if refracted in a glass of water. "It's like a rip in the world," Ariel said.

"Or a rip in time," Elsa said.

"Should we go through it?" Rapunzel asked.

As suddenly as it appeared, the rip closed. Another appeared, right next to Elsa. She jumped back, colliding with Ariel who caught her. Inside this one, the day was darker. The seas roiled pea green.

"I think we should get out of here," Elsa said as she backed away.

The rip closed. Another appeared on the opposite side of them. Then it closed. Another opened even closer.

The three of them ran back to the upper deck. They had little recourse as the fissures were pushing them away from their ship. As Elsa reached the upper deck, she heard a feminine "whoop"

"Rapunzel?" Elsa turned to her. "Rapunzel, are you all right?"

No answer. The world was shredding itself to pieces around them.

"She disappeared," Ariel said. "She ran right into it."

Elsa and Ariel reached for each other's hands. "Maybe we should stay still."

More appeared around them--thin lacerations winking in and out of existence, each in a different spot. How long would this last?

Ariel dropped. A hole in space appeared under her. Elsa lost her grip--she expected Ariel to be taken from the side, not under.

"Ariel!" Elsa got down on hands and knees and shouted into the hole. No sign of her. The warped space sealed.

Now she was on the ship. All alone.

Another rip appeared in front of her. She didn't wait. She jumped in.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 38) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 38: What You Did in the Dark

The restoration of Arendelle's proper regime would take days. But the first priority was dismantling the resistance, which offered resources they could use. Plus all the men and women involved were eager to get the kingdom back on its feet. It was what they had worked for, after all.

That meant many trips back and forth between the ice palace and the castle. Thankfully, they didn't have to use the secret tunnels anymore. Thanks to Sven, the ice harvesters, and many other volunteers, plenty of vehicles were available to take them up and down the mountain.

The first room they cleared out was the command center. And this was purely Elsa's request. The maps, books, and weapons were no use to citizens who needed food, clothing, and reassurance that Arendelle was no longer under martial law. But Elsa insisted and Elsa was queen. Once the room cleared, Elsa sat upon her throne. And had been there ever since.

But the door was not locked. Elsa and Ariel pulled open the door and peeked in. She was sitting, propping up her chin with her fist.

"Elsa?" Rapunzel said. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," she said.

Ariel and Rapunzel approached the throne. "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking."

Ariel grimaced. Why did she need to spend so much time alone? And what was there to think about? There was so much to do now that Arendelle was free.

"You've been thinking a while," Ariel said. "Why are you here? You helping out at the beginning. Then Anna told me that you went in here."

Specifically, Anna had said that "She does this sometimes. She says she wants to be alone, but she really doesn't. I have to go in and pull her out of her funk."

"I know," Elsa said. "I was going to help more, but... I was afraid they'd ask me to use my ice powers. And I didn't want to. Not yet. I don't... I don't think that would be appropriate."

"Elsa, we forgive you. We already said that. You weren't your right self. But you're back now," Rapunzel said.

"But for how long? The same things keep happening. Winter keeps coming back, because of me. I can't seem to use my powers without people getting hurt. I keep losing control. And men keep using that as a chance to seize power."

"There's always people like that," Rapunzel said. "And you're not crazy. If anything, you should be crazy after everything we've gone through. Ancient sorcerers and bandits and gypsies and pirates. We literally became mermaids and lived under the sea. And we just ended a war we accidentally started. I think you're allowed to be a little bit crazy."

Elsa made a slight smile. "But still, I keep alienating people."

"We're still here. We came in without being asked," Ariel said.

"Everyone else then," Elsa said, her tone rising. "The whole kingdom. How can I be queen if the same things are going to keep happening?"

Rapunzel pointed at her. "You didn't cause this winter. Arcius did."

"Arcius wouldn't have caused it if I wasn't here. Just my presence causes trouble."

"Is that why you never tore down this ice castle?" Ariel asked. "I mean, it was good for us. But there didn't seem to be a reason after you opened the gates."

Elsa nodded. "I kept it in case I needed somewhere to escape to. If things went wrong for me again, like they did on coronation day. But all I did was trade one prison for another. As long as I'm alive, Arendelle is doomed."

"Elsa," Rapunzel said. "You say you keep alienating people. Then why are they all helping return you to your castle? Why are they excited to have you back? Not me, not Anna--you. They're not doing it because they expect it, or because they're your friends. They want you to be queen."

Ariel said "As long as you recognize that you're making mistakes, you can fix them. You can learn from them. It's the people who don't believe they're doing anything wrong that can't be helped."

"People like Arcius," Rapunzel added.

Elsa paused. "I guess so. But we haven't seen anything of him so far."

"He's not going to stop, no matter what," Ariel said. "It's only a matter of time until he finds us again. Or finds someone else to give him the power he needs."

"Which is why we came in. Pabbie and the trolls have been talking about the grain of time, seeing if anyone knows how to deal with it."

Elsa stood up, her dress swishing around her ankles. "Then let us go," a few seconds passed, "and see what he knows."

Rapunzel furrowed her brows. That was weird.

The three of them exited the throne room. Kristoff, Flynn, and Pabbie were standing by the frozen fountain in the main entrance hall.

Flynn said, "Queen Elsa. Don't you have any snow-heralds to announce your presence?"

Elsa smiled. "There's no need for formalities like that here." She frowned at Kristoff. "When did you get a beard?"

Kristoff looked confused. "I've always had a beard. Keeps my chin warm." He brushed at the yellow fuzz. Elsa shrugged it off.

"Pabbie, did you find out anything?" Rapunzel asked.

"I believe so, child. I am old, but there are many antiquities of the Earth more ancient than me. Still, based on what you told me, there may be a way to defeat your sorcerer."

"Really?" Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Then can we destroy the grain of time?"

"Ehhh," Pabbie wavered. "We're talking about an relic that existed before anything existed. Nevertheless, it can be sapped of energy."

"That's why Arcius wants us. Is there a way to..." Ariel paused. She stared blankly at Pabbie for several seconds, as if finding the right words. "Know how much he has left?"

"I'm afraid not. Even so, there is a basic principle that any action can be foiled by its opposite. The way to conquer your fear was with love," Pabbie said to Elsa. "Each of your powers originated in divine magicks. Perhaps as old as the Earth. The sun drop," he said to Rapunzel. "An ancient curse," to Elsa. "And the might of the sea god," to Ariel.

"So there's a way to counter his magic?" Rapunzel asked.

"Maybe," Pabbie said.

"What about the morimema? Any way you can use that?" Ariel asked.

Pabbie brought out the sapphire eighteen-pointed crystal.

"The mor... the whaty-whata?" Flynn asked.

"I saved it from Lowther's castle. It's the thing that stopped anyone from knowing where he was."

"It is ancient, but I know this kind of power," Pabbie said. "Right now, it has no focus, hence the color change. But whatever that focus is, the crystal renders memories of it unable to form."

"So it's like being invisible?" Flynn asked, eyes sparkling.

"Not invisible, but unable to be recognized. It could be standing right in front of you and you couldn't perceive it. No memories would set in the mind. Like how water cannot be absorbed by a rock."

"And it affects everyone. Worldwide. It might be the most powerful magic we have right now. At least for stopping Arcius," Ariel said.

"You may be right, child. But I haven't convinced myself of a way to use it. Arcius's magic is more powerful than anyone's. It's no doubt he can see through this illusion."

"Oh... right." Ariel's eyes dropped. "If he was able to send that message to Lowther, it won't affect him."

"How are we supposed to defeat him if he has no limits. We might as well be trying to stop a god," Elsa said.

"Arcius, for all his power, is still a human. And you were able to defeat one of the sorcerers using only your talents."

"I think I know what Pabbie is saying," Rapunzel said. "Maybe we can get him to believe that we're there to help? Even if it's just to get close to the grain?"

Everyone looked at her strangely.

"What?"

"You stopped," Ariel said. "Just now."

"Like, you paused in the middle of a word," Flynn said.

"No, I didn't," Rapunzel said.

"Yes, you did," Flynn said. "You said 'Maybe we can get...' and then you stopped moving for like five seconds."

"Something weird's going on," Rapunzel said. "I thought I saw Elsa do the same thing."

"I knew it. Kristoff doesn't have a beard," Elsa said. "He never had one. And Anna hates facial hair. She says it tickles her."

Pabbie glanced between all of them. "Girls, hold each other's hands."

Ariel, Rapunzel, and Elsa did so, looking at each other nervously.

"Pabbie, what are they talking about?" Kristoff asked. "Who's Anna?"

Elsa's eyes widened.

"Calm down," Pabbie said. "I think... what's happening... is..."

Pabbie's voice deepened like a gramophone unwound. He closed his eyes very slowly, then opened them again. A blink.

Then all time stopped. The room was still. Not like the calm of winter--even frozen air still moved. This was static. Lifeless. Like a desert, but without color.

"Elsa," Ariel whispered, gripping her hand tightly. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Elsa whispered back. "But don't let go."

Suddenly, the world around them dropped out. The ice palace deliquesced like a melting painting. Azure blended into nothingness. The floor disintegrated like paper, until they stood in a black void.

The sensation of falling gripped them. They screamed and lost each other's hands. Terrified, they tumbled into nothingness. The blackness became a mix of orange and teal. Giant bright globules passed by like bubbles.

In each of them, they could see still images--a beach, the ice castle, the cliffs and forest where Rapunzel's tower stood, a glowing seashell necklace, the giant snowflake over Arendelle, the light festival over Corona's waters, a bright pink dress, the ochre chandelier dropping straight towards her, a set of cutlery in a candelabra, a puzzle on an old pink rug, a brass orb and scepter with a patina of frost, the seven-person vanity where Ariel's sisters made themselves up every day, sunflowers everywhere, laser light bursting through a statue of Eric, Corona's castle's balcony, a boulder by the shore.

As the world lightened, a surface above was closing in, like a falling ceiling. It undulated and the bubbles spread away as they neared. The three ducked their heads as they burst through the other side. It was the ocean. They had fallen up through the ocean. And were still falling. Or rising?

The ocean faded away, too far to see, and all around was marigold sky. Orange swirled into the dark void. A portal. All was weightlessness. They flew through a swirl of prismatic clouds, every glint flashing red or green or blue. The tunnel ended in a black and red vortex. They punched through into nothing.

Something touched their feet. The weight settled--they were standing on something again. And though there was no light, they could see each other.

An apparition walked toward them, blurred and devoid of any color but white. Greys and blacks filtered in, giving depth. The other colors after that, giving definition. He clapped his hands.

"Well done on that rebellion," Arcius said. "Good decision-making on your part."

"You," Ariel hissed. "You did this?"

"I knew one of you would return to your point of formation. I apologize for everything that had to happen to get you there though. Quite a sudden war. I do hope the casualties were minimal."

"You need to leave us alone," Elsa said. "We're coming to get you."

Arcius snickered. "How are you going to do that? You can't even control where you are right now."

Rapunzel stepped in. "We're not anywhere. And you're not either. Otherwise, you'd be trying to capture us. This is all some kind of mirage."

She approached Arcius and passed her hand through his head.

"Reality and energy turn out to be less manifested under the power of time," Arcius said. "This is the power you keep rejecting. This is why I'm here. I don't think you quite realize what it is you're denying."

The blackness lifted. They were in Elsa's castle. It was wintertime, but a natural winter. And at Christmastime, with candles and small paper baskets. The room smelled of roast mutton and vinegar cabbage. Elsa's brain sizzled as the emotions came back to her. But this wasn't a past, this was a future.

Anna was kneeling by the Christmas tree. So was Kristoff. They had a baby wrapped in a blanket. All three of them had red noses and cheeks.

"They just showed him his first winter," Arcius said. "He giggled when snowflakes landed on his nose."

"If you're going to show us a bleak vision of our futures, it's not working," Elsa said.

"Who said it was bleak?" Arcius said. "Arendelle is prosperous. You are a fine queen, and an aunt. And Anna has everything you ever wanted while you stand on the sidelines. You have the people's allegiance but not their respect. And you spend the rest of your life trying to get it back. Days upon days in council meetings and document readings, neglecting your sister and friends. You slave and toil for a kingdom in perpetual terror. A kingdom waiting for the day you perish so they can sleep peacefully again. She moves on and marries. Oh, you pop in once in a while to their lives. But you are forever off to the side, watching her get everything you ever wanted--a close loving family."

"You're undermining your own point. By telling us the future, it can be changed," Elsa said.

"Kid, I OWN the future." Arcius stepped back, letting the temper fade away again. "Sorry. I didn't mean to erupt like that. But this is not some premonition. This is real. You are seeing the power I'm talking about. This is the fate that is written. And yours is the most comforting of the three of you."

The lights went down to pitch. Like a theater, they rose up on a castle balcony. Corona's castle. The sky was on fire, sunset orange and charcoal gray. The ocean roiled like a sea of blood. Hissing explosions popped with balls of smoke.

And overlooking it all was Queen Rapunzel. She was older. Her eyes were sunken in and rimmed with sickly mauve. She wore a drab mulberry dress with thick cuffs. Her gray hair was tied in a bun, except for the wispy strands that had gotten loose.

"What happened to me?" Rapunzel asked.

"What happens," Arcius said, "is that you are a conqueror. Corona became mighty attractive to your neighboring countries, with an inexperienced ruler and singular access to water. They try to take the kingdom of the sun. First through politics, then by deception, and finally by force. The years of war harden you, Rapunzel."

Her breath caught in her throat at the mention of her name.

"Though you are inexperienced, Corona does not fall. The lessons you learn discipline you. The betrayals you have to make, the games for power, sacrifices and under-the-table deals. And your kingdom goes from defender to attacker. Never again will Corona be taken advantage of, that's for certain."

"No," Rapunzel whispered.

"Still," Arcius said, turning to Ariel. "It's a better fate than what happens to your kingdom."

The light faded again. When it returned, they were on a beach. Ariel's beach. She turned to face the castle.

The roof of the tallest tower had been ripped away. Ivy covered the walls near the land. Near the sea, whole partitions had fallen away. Barnacles stuck to the pock-marked walls.

"Your land simply deteriorates. A slow, gradual decline. Very painful for the people. Those who stayed that is. Everyone fled once they saw which way the wind was blowing."

"What... what did this?" Ariel asked.

"A weak queen. Indecisive. Never there when needed. Avoiding accords that would have impact. Her husband works himself into an early grave trying to compensate. And once she takes power, she instantiates silly rules, ratifies all requests, ignores the consequences."

"No, that's not going to happen," Ariel said. "I've already learned that lesson. This is not what my life turns out to be. For any of us."

"Don't you get it? This is exactly what happens. I know it because I've seen it. That's the power of the grain of time." Arcius sighed. "I would think you'd be a little more appreciative of what I'm demonstrating. I offer these images freely, using the last of the grain of time's power. You cannot let it die, it's too important to let it fade into the aether. You can change deserts into forests by planting a single seed. Have the childr- the life you were meant to have."

"Wait, what?" Elsa stood up. "What did you say?"

"You didn't show any of us with children," Ariel said. "How do you know what we're meant to have?" She paused. "Our fates used to be different, weren't they? Something changed."

Arcius's voice thinned. "You must understand. It's the only way I can interact with the world anymore. I cannot simply leave my lair. The grain of time is too precious to leave alone."

Rapunzel wiped her eyes. "But you have changed things. Just how much have you changed?"

"It's nothing devastating. Like I said, plant a tiny seed here and a whole forest grows."

"Or remove a seed and a wasteland appears," Elsa said angrily. "You've already been altering our lives, haven't you? Messing with our past to... to what? Just how much can you change? Did my parents die so you could have-"

"No." Arcius held out his hand. "I assure you, I've done nothing to affect your lives beyond the past year. And even then, only in the smallest of ways. Little changes, nudges in a certain direction. The most difficult part is revising the mistakes. And maintaining the minimal amount of reform possible. Humans are so unpredictable. It took so many corrections until you would find your way to me. And I'm still not happy with how events turned out. Not to mention each reduced the potential of the grain of time. Now you see why I need your power?"

"The birds," Elsa said. "You did that."

"What birds?" Rapunzel asked. At the same time, Ariel gasped.

"When my ship wrecked, Ariel dragged me to a shoal. This was before I knew who she was. We started fighting, but a bunch of birds attacked us and drove us to shore."

"You see how hard it is?" Arcius asked. "It is an easy thing to join two diametrical parties against a common foe. But one must make preparations. To train and breed those birds to be territorial, relocate their home to that specific rock, mend their behavior for the right circumstances."

"Hans's armada. You arranged that," Elsa said. "And the three messages for us."

"And the guy who attacked me in the night," Rapunzel said. "The one using Ravir's name. He was sent by you!"

Arcius said "I needed to get you to Arendelle. I needed you alone, without any spouses to affect your decision or armies backing you up. Any one of you could serve as a source, but it was easier if all three of you arrived together."

"And Ansel. Somehow you made it so he rose through the ranks and became the commander. And-" Rapunzel gasped. "The library! The explosion! You did that!"

"You should have seen yourselves, squabbling over such petty contrivances. Only a significant distraction could have reunited you. Do you know how many tries it took to get that right? Too many people kept dying and left you too demoralized to continue. You kept splitting away to reinforce your kingdoms. I had to create a disaster with enough sentimental impact but no casualties. Do you know how hard that is?"

"You've been changing events this whole time," Ariel said. "So that circumstances would be perfect for all of us to find each other. Do you know how much we suffered? What about that?"

"Do you think this is the first time we've had this conversation?" Arcius let a moment pass for that to sink in. "We've met dozens of times. The reason you don't remember is because I've adjusted events that erase it.

"How could you?" Elsa growled. "These are our lives. You don't get to maneuver them to serve your own goals."

"At any point, did you have a clue that your life's path had been diverted? No. You stayed in blissful ignorance, continuing a single unbroken track. And what worse were you for it?""

"You don't have the right-"

"I have EVERY right." The girls drew back. "Don't you get it yet? I have the power. The person with the power gets the right. That's why he has the power. He earned it. He deserved it." Arcius's chest and shoulders heaved with each breath.  

"Which one of us?" Ariel asked quietly.

"What?" Arcius answered.

"Which one of us has the child? Me? Rapunzel?"

Arcius paused before answering. "You did. A daughter. Named Melody. She looked like her father."

Ariel nodded. "But that's not going to come to pass, is it? Now that you've changed things. It's so far gone it's never going to happen."

Arcius stiffened. "My patience has worn thin. You have forced me from persuasion to threat. Either join me or I will manipulate your lives so you will have no choice."

"We said no. And we mean no," Rapunzel said.

"You must think carefully about your words, young one," Arcius growled. "The magic must be of free will. But free will can be manipulated."

"What free will do we have when you've been tearing our lives apart?" Elsa asked. "We're coming for you. And we're going to stop you."

"My power is not unlimited, but I will use what I have to bend you to my will. Perhaps it will be such a diversion that none of you would know you had lives to begin with. If you do not come to me, I will come to you."

Arcius stepped back. Darkness swallowed his body.

Though they couldn't see it, something pulled them away. The world stretched, contorted towards a single focal point. Vertigo made their eyes shut. When they opened them, they were in the ice castle, still holding hands. Pabbie, Flynn, and Kristoff were staring at them, slack-jawed. Kristoff was beardless again.  

Flynn leaned into Pabbie. "What are we waiting for?" he whispered.

"You didn't see anything happen?" Rapunzel asked.

"How long we were gone?" Elsa asked.

"Gone?" Kristoff asked. "Gone where?"

"You didn't see us leave?" Elsa asked.

"Did time stop? Did we pass out?" Ariel asked.

"What are you talking about? Pabbie said you should hold hands, like something was going to happen." Flynn's eyebrows shot up. "Did something happen?"

"It's Arcius. His magic's unstable because the grain of time's losing power. That explains why you saw Kristoff with a beard," Rapunzel said.

"I had a beard?" Kristoff asked.

Ariel nodded. "A big bushy lumberjack one. It didn't look good."

"Anna! Where's Anna? Where is she?" Elsa yelled.

Kristoff reared back, afraid of Elsa's intensity. "B-back at the castle. Helping with the restoration. Did something happen to her?"

"I don't know. Arcius is messing with time. He could have done anything. He could make it so she was never born." Elsa turned on her heel. "We need to get back to the castle NOW!"

Flynn, Kristoff, and Pabbie froze with alarm. "Sven's outside, all hooked up," Flynn said.

"Let's go," Elsa said.

She was out of the castle and in the sleigh before anyone else. Kristoff jumped in before she could whip the reins and take off. He waited for the others to rush in before calling for Sven to take off.

Blustery snow pelted their faces, like a thousand tiny bullets. All but Elsa pulled up their collars, tucking in against the snow. But the queen leaned forward on the rail, as if she could will them faster. Every passing minute ate at her.

They reached the outskirts by evening and the castle at sunset. Kristoff pulled Sven to a stop at the castle gates. Elsa leapt out before the sleigh fully stopped.

"Anna! Anna!" she yelled. "Anna! Where are you?"

Her voice echoed in the empty entrance hall. Elsa ran through the corridors with madcap fervor. The occasional servant or maid looked up, confused. But Elsa would be past them before they could ask. "Anna!"

"Elsa?"

Anna stood outside the gallery, holding a portrait under her arm.

Elsa rushed and embraced her, nearly making her drop the painting.

"What's going on?" Anna said, bewildered. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. I'm just... so glad... you're my sister," Elsa panted.

"Me too," Anna said. She patted her back.

Elsa stood up. "Has anything happened? Anything strange?"

"I don't think so. Except Ansel replaced all the curtains in the study with green and yellow. Is that weird enough? I mean, green and yellow? Yuck."

Ariel and Rapunzel, who had been pursuing Elsa through the palace, finally caught up with them. "Phew, she's all right," Rapunzel said.

"All right? What do you mean 'all right'? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Ariel said. "And even if there was, you wouldn't have known it."

Anna's eyes opened even wider. Rapunzel elbowed Ariel in the ribs.

"Everything's fine." Elsa caressed Anna's shoulders. "I just wanted to make sure you were fine too. What have you been doing?"

"We're taking out all the changes Ansel made to the castle. I've been looking through the gallery. Look at this portrait he put up of himself. Bleh."

She held up the framed canvas. It was the portrait Ariel and Rapunzel had seen during Ansel's dinner. His austere visage gazed at them, reprimanding any action that did not encourage downfall of the monarchy. He held his hands in front of his snap blue uniform, not a wrinkle on it.

"Where's his book?" Rapunzel asked.

Anna peered over the top of the portrait. "What book?"

"He had a book in his hands. A big blue one with a gold symbol on it. He said he made a special point to include it in the painting. For his 'legacy'."

"What are you talking about? It always looked like this. Unless he had it painted over," Flynn said.

"Not that quick," Elsa said.

Anna chuckled. "Are you saying this isn't the same painting you saw? What do you think he did? Grab a different painting from another world?"

Anna, Rapunzel, and Elsa looked at each other.

"Where is Ansel?" Elsa asked.

Ansel was in the dungeon, nowhere near where Rapunzel and Ariel had broken in. He sat under the window on the bench opposite the bars. He clasped his hands, as if in prayer, when the three girls approached.

Ariel held up the painting.

"Explain this," Rapunzel said.

"It's me," Ansel said.

"It's you, missing one key detail," Elsa said.

Ansel, to his credit, studied the painting. He shrugged. "One of my lieutenants commissioned it. I posed for it, far longer than I would have liked. The last I saw of it was when it was to be hung in the castle gallery. Is there anything I missed?"

"The book," Elsa said. "What about the book?"

"What book?"

"When we saw this before, there was a book in this painting. It had a teal cover and a gold symbol on the cover. Like this." She pointed her forefinger in the air and made a design like an hourglass.

Ansel sat back against the wall. He said nothing.

"Why don't we see it now? Were there two paintings? Was there something special about it?" Rapunzel asked.

"There is no book in that painting because I did not pose with such a book," Ansel said.

"There's more to it than that," Ariel said. "I can see it in your eyes."

"You'd better tell us," Rapunzel said. "Or else Bad Elsa will come out again."

His eyes momentarily glanced her way.

"How do you know about that book?" Ansel asked.

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked.

Ansel stood up. He took a deep breath. "The first time I saw it was in my ship's cabin, heading from Corona to Arendelle. No one on my ship knew where it came from, who had placed it, who wrote it. As if it appeared out of thin air."

Rapunzel, Elsa, and Ariel looked at each other.

He continued, "It alarmed me. My cabin had been encroached. Posted security avoided, which is always present on my flagship. Yet, whoever penned this journal had done so."

"Journal?" Ariel asked.

"A handwritten account describing, in detail, how dangerous Arendelle's queen is." He kept eye contact with Elsa as he said this. Elsa scowled at him, a reminder that "Bad Elsa" could still come out. "All her past transgressions. Potential future ones. Detailed descriptions on how far her power could go. Her friends and allies. Strengths and weaknesses. In addition, her policies, her actions within the state. The condition of the Arendelle citizenry I would be sailing into. And how to manipulate the populace into renouncing her and accepting me as leader."

"The whole book told you how to do that?" Rapunzel asked. "Like a guide?"

Ansel nodded. "What to do, who to talk to, where to go. Almost down to the words I should say."

Again, the three girls glanced at each other. There was no need to ask who had written it.

Elsa said "And what did you stand to gain out of this?"

Ansel shrugged. "Its end justified the means. The ousting of a dangerous ruler and my own installation into power. Questionable good fortune, maybe. Perhaps I would end up owing my benefactor a favor. But the reason was sound, and I followed it." He sat back and smiled.

Ariel's eyebrows shot up. He was being way too generous with his revelations. Anyone behind bars had to be threatened or bribed to give up choice information like this. "Why are you telling us all this?"

"Because there's a reason the book you're talking about is not there." Ansel nodded toward the portrait. "It hasn't been in my possession since shortly after I arrived."

"Why not? Where is it?" Elsa asked.

"The book told me what to say to stave off the navies of Weselton and the Southern Isles... and how to affiliate with them for considerations. They never left Arendelle. They sailed deep into Odin's Fjord and are waiting there."

"Waiting for what?" Ariel asked.

"For my signal. Or lack of signal, I should say." Ansel smiled. "You could call it a contingency plan. Would that I were compromised. Which... well, look, here we are."

"Lack of signal?" Ariel asked.

"The book also included a recipe for a powerful explosive. Combining frozen hydrogen, aldehyde, and Tollens' reagent. Along with a complex mechanism for keeping these ingredient separate until a certain point. They're waiting for a coded message from me. If they receive the message, they remain. But if a certain amount of time goes by without hearing from me, they create a blockade and fire the bomb at the city."

The girls' breaths caught in their throats simultaneously.

"Arendelle should be quite ripe for annihilation. Your fleet is depleted, your soldiers are undernourished, your citizens are questioning their loyalty. No trace of this transgression should be discovered." Ansel grinned. "This kingdom will be a wasteland for cartographers to gray out and dismiss for centuries to come."

"How much time until they need the message?" Rapunzel asked.

Ansel said nothing. He grinned.

Elsa reached through the bars and grabbed Ansel's lapel. "How much time?"

Ansel grinned. "Do your worst, ice queen. I'm no longer afraid of death." He laughed. He laughed and laughed. The laugh of a madman with nothing left to lose. Who saw everything so perfectly that it gave an insane giddiness.

"Come on," Rapunzel said. "We have to take care of this now." The three of them rushed up the stairs. Kristoff, Anna, Flynn, Olaf, and Pabbie were waiting in the Queen's study.

"Well?" Flynn asked. "Was it a time thing?"

"It has to be," Rapunzel said. "Maybe all this time manipulation is letting us see the differences between what should be and what's changing."

"But it's worse," Elsa said. "Hans's navy has a bomb that could destroy all of Arendelle. And they're probably on their way now."

"Hans's navy? I thought he got rid of them," Kristoff said.

"He did. By recruiting them to his side," Rapunzel said.

"Well, we'll stop him. Can't we take out the fleet and stop him from getting close?" Anna wrung her hands.

Kristoff shrugged. "How? That blockade stretched wall to wall. And if they have any of Ansel's allies still on their side..."

"We can distract Hans-" Flynn started.

"That's not going to work a second time," Rapunzel said. "We've used up all our good will. They're only going to listen to Ansel."

"Maybe we can escape. If we go further into the mountains-" Anna said

"No," Elsa said. "I'm not escaping. And I'm not sacrificing anyone else."

Olaf shook his head. "If only you could turn yourselves invisible."

"Invisible..." Elsa turned to Pabbie. "Pabbie. The morimema. Could we use that somehow? You said it just needed something to focus on."

"That's genius." Ariel stood up. "We use it on Arendelle. They forget it ever existed."

Pabbie stuttered. "The artifact doesn't have nearly enough magic left. There's not enough to cover the kingdom."

Elsa rubbed her chin. "Maybe there's not enough to cover a city... could you cover a person?"

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked.

"Maybe we don't have to hide Arendelle. But if we can hide ourselves, we could sneak aboard and destroy the bomb."

Pabbie hummed. "I think I can summon enough power to focus on the three of you. But you would have to stay close to each other."

"We always do," Ariel said.

"But it's not enough to cover the boat, is it?" Flynn asked. "How are you going to float past them?"

"And there's no going around or under this time," Anna said.

"We can do it," Elsa said. "The Barefoot Maiden is sea-worthy. We just have to get past their blockade to the flagship."

"You're not leaving again without our help," Kristoff said. "You shouldn't have gone out alone in the first place."

"Same here," Flynn said. "We won't allow it. That's final."

"Well, I'm queen," Elsa said. "And only I get to say what's final. Otherwise, I can have you locked in the dungeon..." She gave her trademark smirk and cocky eyebrow.

Anna stepped forward. "Well, I'm the queen's sister. And I have the power to overrule the queen if she's doing something stupid or dangerous."

"I'm pretty sure that's not a law," Elsa said.

"It's the law of sisters," Anna said. "And you have to follow it. Or else... else..."

"Anna..." Elsa took Anna's hands in hers. "I know this is scary for you. But you need to stay. Evacuate the town. Get everyone in Arendelle to shelter."

"But..."

"If something does happen to us, I want a good ruler on the throne. A ruler who puts the well-being of her people before herself."

"We're not alone. It'll be the three of us," Rapunzel said.

"We can handle anything," Ariel said.

"They have cannons, guns. If they stop you, you're dead," Kristoff said.

"Then we'll have to make sure we're not stopped," Elsa said.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 37) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 37: Shatter Me

A trail of white crystals followed Elsa. Opal icicles rose out of her footsteps like stalagmites. She had lost sight of Ansel, but she knew this castle intimately. There was not an alcove he could hide in, that she wouldn't find.

The path took her to the throne room doors. She could have taken the side entrance at the back wall. It existed so nobility didn't have to tread the same carpet as commoners. But she was no longer nobility. She was more.

She kicked in the door. Ansel was standing in front of the throne, adjusting his leather jerkin.

"This is not your throne," Elsa said. She stamped her foot.

Her power spread across the floor, covering the walls with rough serrated ice. It formed too fast to freeze smoothly.

Everything turned white. Red carpet turned to blue. The vases and waving tapestries solidified. Stone walls became purple with dazzling fractal patterns. The ice spread under Ansel's feet and congregated at the throne. Its back grew tall and hexagonal, with jagged shards projecting out the top.

"I see you've made this place your own," Ansel said.

"It always was my own," Elsa said. "You are no ruler of Arendelle."

"Maybe not, but I wasn't unwelcome. You abandoned Arendelle," Ansel countered. "Twice. Each time before you plunged it into wintertide. If not for me, you would have single-handedly destroyed the kingdom. Your own people are afraid of you."

"It is not for them to decide. Arendelle needs its queen."

"Even if some people don't want me, they certainly don't want you. They think you're a monster. Don't try and deny it."

Elsa smiled. "Oh, but I am a monster. I am sorceress the likes of which have never been seen. The energy I yield is ungraspable, unimaginable, and I am its sole gatekeeper. I am as beautiful and terrible as the ocean. As treacherous as the mountain. Stronger than the will of man."

She held up her arm. Ice magic swirled around her hand, coating it with blue ice. Thick spikes with razor points extended from her fingers.

"If you truly believe you are a monster, then die as one!" Ansel shouted.

He lunged forward with his broadsword held in an overhead strike.

Elsa raised her claw arm and knocked it away. He sliced diagonally. She jabbed forward, cutting the loops in his leather armor. He stepped back and thrust forward. She side-stepped.

They began a dance of glancing blows and clanging metal. Though her focus was inhuman, she only managed to make a few nicks in his flesh.

Ansel aimed the sword at her shoulder. Elsa caught the blade in her iced hand. She glared at him. Ansel twisted his sword, only chipping off flakes of ice. Elsa shoved him back. He staggered against the wall.

"I have broken swords stronger than yours with my magic," Elsa said. She started forward.

"I am not yet broken, cold-hearted witch."

Elsa raised her eyebrows. "Cold-hearted? Do you know that phrase's true meaning?"

She raised her hands above her head, summoning a swirl of white ice particles.

"It means to suffer undue torture as your hair turns white, your muscles ache. You cannot move or speak without turning numb and slow. And finally your body betrays you. It freezes into solid unbreakable ice. Forever. I know this because I did it to my own sister."

Ansel hissed. "You are a monster."

"And you will know what it is to have a frozen heart!" She thrust forward. Jagged shards of pure white anger flew forward. Ansel shielded his eyes.

Nothing had happened.

"What?" Elsa growled. Ansel stood laughing.

"Foolish child. Do you think I go unprepared?" He yanked his collar down. Underneath his leather armor was a chest plate of slate gray metal.

"Pyramite," Elsa whispered.

"I made my fortune because I prepared for every possible scenario before my opponent," Ansel said. "I figured out how to exploit every weakness, no matter the cost. So when I found out Corona had a substance incapable of freezing, I bought the whole stock."

Elsa stabbed her iced hand. His armor may have been frost proof but it wasn't unpiercable. The spikes on her knuckles shattered, tinkling to the floor.

Ansel backhanded her. She fell across the throne. Her lip dribbled warmth as Ansel laughed.

Elsa flicked out her wrist. A razor-sharp icicle formed over her head. She sent it sailing. Before it covered half the distance, the icicle diminished to half its size. By the time it crossed the room, it became a collection of droplets.

"I will not let you take over my kingdom," Elsa said, gasping for air.

"I'm not sure you have much choice." Ansel approached. "If you want to surrender it to me, we can make this much easier-"

Elsa's pale blue eyes stabbed into his. "NEVER!"

She leapt forward, hands raised. Ansel stepped back, startled. She jumped on him, wrapping her legs. Her flesh hissed and steamed each time she touched the pyramite, making her scream. But she crawled up and took hold of his neck.

"No pyramite here," she whispered into his ear.

Ansel flailed, but failed to grab her. He backed up and slammed her against the wall. She grunted, but didn't lose grip. He tried again. After the second time, he couldn't catch his breath. She wasn't choking him--her hands weren't squeezing tight enough--but he couldn't breathe.

"In case you're wondering, I'm freezing your breath before it can get into your lungs," she said. "Should be more effective than strangulation."

Ansel's eyes popped out of his head. He gagged and drooled as his hands gnarled, failing to pry away her tiny fingers. It was as if she'd frozen them to his flesh. His throat felt the width of a twig.

"Elsa, stop!"

Ariel stood in the doorway, holding her trident.

"Let him go. For god's sake, Elsa!" she said.

Elsa glowered at her. "If I don't, will you blast me?"

"I will if I have to," Ariel said. "Don't kill him, please."

"The scum deserves to die."

"But you're more compassionate than that. I know you. Please, Elsa, I don't want to have to shoot you."

"And you won't." Elsa shifted her piercing gaze above Ariel's head.

Ariel looked up. A gigantic icicle hung above her, connected to the ceiling by a trembling thread of ice. Without Elsa's will, it would crush her. She could never move out of the way fast enough.

Elsa said "Now you turn around and go tell the people that their queen has retaken the throne. Tell all those disloyal to the crown that-AGGH"

Suddenly, yellow cloth wrapped around her eyes. No, not cloth. Hair.

"Flower-gleam-and-glow-let-your-power-shine," Rapunzel sang as loud and strong as ever.

Whether from the intensity of her desire or her voice, the hair blazed bright as the sun. Elsa screamed as the light penetrated her eyelids.

She dropped off Ansel and clutched at the wrap. But it was too tight, too many fibers to pull away. The warmth and heat made her head swim.

Rapunzel yanked the swath of hair away. Elsa dropped to her knees, palms to her eyeballs as if keeping them from falling out.

Ariel grabbed Ansel by his shoulders and threw him into the hallway. Rapunzel followed them out of the throne room.

"Lock it! Lock it!" Ariel said.

Rapunzel pulled the doors shut and locked it with the key Anna had given her. Ariel grabbed a small table and slid its legs through the door handles.

"I hope that does it," Ariel said. She wiped her brow.

"Just until we can get back to her," Rapunzel said.

Ansel was kneeling on the ground, coughing and massaging his throat.

Ariel yanked him upright. She thrust the trident up to his chin. He had to lift his neck to avoid being punctured.

"You," Rapunzel said, pointing her frying pan at him, "are so fired."

Rapunzel entered the grand hall toting Ansel on a rope, like a zookeeper with an escaped gorilla. Ariel marched in back, trident poised and ready for trouble.

Anna and Kristoff stood near the doors, where they had agreed to wait. Kristoff grinned and clapped his gloved hands.

"We got him," Rapunzel replied.

"Hm, someone trying to weasel his way onto the throne being led out of the palace in handcuffs. Why does this look so familiar?" Kristoff mocked.

"Did you find Elsa?" Anna asked.

"We did," Ariel said. "She's in the throne room still. She went..." Ariel paused to think of the right words.

"She got a little intense," Rapunzel finished. "She just needs time to cool off. Or heat up. Whichever."

Anna looked a little surprised, but not upset.

Ariel leaned into Rapunzel's ear. "She's not blinded, is she?"

"No, it'll fade," she whispered back.

Flynn slipped in through the doors. "There's a mob at the gates. Looks like the whole town is there."

"They must have come running once they heard about the battle," Kristoff said. "Are they angry?"

"I don't know. Once word spread that we'd broken through, the guards stopped guarding, the soldiers left their posts. I think everyone's waiting to see who won."

"Well, let's show them," Anna grinned.

She led the way, strutting across the carpet. Rapunzel and Ariel dragged the Ansel behind. Flynn and Kristoff gleefully opened the doors for them.

Applause rose to a clamor as Anna appeared. Even louder once Rapunzel showed up with prisoner in tow.

Anna approached the podium once used for Ansel's rousing propaganda speeches. Many minutes passed before it was quiet enough.

"Citizens, the true rulers of Arendelle have returned."

More applause. It took as long for them to return to silence.

"We have driven out Lord Protector Ansel and his private counsel. He came here in a time of need under the pretense of safety, but that time has passed. So thank you, Princess Rapunzel..." Anna half-turned to address her cousin, "for the gift of your navy and its commander. But I don't think we'll be needing it anymore."

The crowd's chorus indicated they wanted Rapunzel to take the stand. Anna stepped aside, grinning. Rapunzel wasn't ready for this.

"Anna, you're welcome," Rapunzel said. "I'll be pleased to take him back to Corona and deal with him there. And with the royal family back in control, I'm looking forward to seeing the kingdom back to normal."

Amid the crowd's white noise, someone yelled "Rapunzel, Queen of Arendelle!"

That catalyzed the biggest reaction of all. The crowd whooped and hollered like a multi-headed beast with one brain. Noise rose into such upsurge, no one on stage could hear themselves.

Rapunzel looked to Anna. She had no reaction, except a slight smile. Maybe she was resigned, even pleased. She glanced at Rapunzel and gave a slight shrug, as if to say "it's your choice"

And this was the time to make it. There had been enough time to consider and the people demanded an answer. The queen was questionably fit for office. The princess was abdicating the throne. And the placeholder regime had been toppled. It was a nexus of change, and everyone, even their friends, wanted to know what was next. Rapunzel leaned into the podium.

Elsa stirred. Had she lost consciousness? Did the bright light shock her into swooning? It was so hard to tell with her head full of mashed thoughts. She knew she hadn't been out long. Not more than a few minutes.

When she opened her eyes, the blue of the throne room returned to her. But no one was there. Elsa struggled to her feet and tried the door. It didn't budge.

Locked? They locked her in her own throne room? Why? She had Ansel on his knees. And they took her victory from her. Why? They wanted it for themselves?

Of course they did. They wanted the whole kingdom for themselves. The credit, the glory. The people's love. The love she could never get.

All of them usurpers. They wanted her locked away again. Like she had been her whole life. To suppress her magnificence and terror. No longer. Not ever again. She grabbed both door handles.

The cold channeled down her arms to her fingers. Frost caked the knobs. The brass squeaked in pain. She sharply twisted each knob.

Inside, pieces of the locking apparatus shattered. She broke the metal handle off with a clink and the doors yielded.

No one outside the hall. She headed up the stairs towards the main doors. The castle was as empty as when she entered. If anyone crossed her path she would have frozen them to their soul, but no one did.

No one in the main hall either. But through the door, the crowd chanted. "Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Rapun-zel!"

So it was her. All because the people loved her better. Better than Anna. Better than their own queen. The queen who had spent all her life preparing to serve them, even with the impairment of her curse.

Elsa pressed her eye to the door. The blonde was about to make her acceptance speech. And a perfect time too, in the cusp of upheaval. Some cousin. She should have seen the signs from the beginning. Elsa formed a long, smooth icicle in her hand, contoured to the shape of a dagger.

The chanting continued. Rapunzel held up her hands. "Stop. Stop. Stop, please," she announced. The crowd quieted. Here would be her decision. Her "crowning moment"

"I love you all very much," Rapunzel said. "I love Arendelle. It's like my sister country. I've formed bonds here that go beyond family. But I cannot be your queen. It's true that I want to. I want to live here. I love spending time with my cousins. I love being with you all. But this is not my kingdom to rule. It belongs to them."

Rapunzel hadn't even known what she would say before she said it. She had fought for the kingdom. She had earned the right to be its queen. But it took the spontaneous act of speaking to realize what was in her heart. As much as she might want the job, and as good as she was at it, it wasn't hers to take.

The crowd responded with mild, dignified applause--a mix of disappointment and dignity. Rapunzel stepped back from the podium and took a deep breath. Her eyes watered. She looked back at Flynn, who gave her his signature cocky grin and a thumbs up. Kristoff nodded and clapped his mittens. She turned to Anna, who hugged her about the shoulders.

They turned to the sound of a squeaking cry. Behind them, Elsa dropped to her knees in the doorway. In her hand was a long icicle, the perfect shape to stab a person. She let it roll out, where it melted.

"Elsa?" Anna said.

Elsa's eyes dilated. Her chest heaved up and down as the sobs took hold. The arctic eyes with pinprick dots transformed with the rolling tears. Her normal blue eyes with wide pupils returned, as did the lighter violet highlights. Her hair color softened to its ivory hue. And her dress's accoutrements fizzled into white mist.

Anna kneeled before her. Rapunzel followed, doing the same. "Elsa?" she asked. "Are you...?"

"I'm sorry," Elsa said. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so..."

Anna and Rapunzel embraced her. Elsa bawled, letting all her rage and sadness go. Chunks of the ice around her heart melted, causing such an overflow.

Ariel handed Ansel off to a loyal guard. She dropped her trident and joined the hug from behind. Flynn and Kristoff followed too.

"Hey, what are you guys doing without me?" Olaf toddled onto the stage. "I talk about warm hugs over and over, and the one time..."

Rapunzel, as teary-eyed as Elsa, reached out her arm with a come-here motion. The snowman pressed himself in. No one even felt his cold skin. The warmth from their family reunited overcame all.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 36) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 36: Castle Panic

"Is my outrage apparent? Is it getting through to you?" Ansel yelled. He paced back and forth in front of the crackling fireplace. His five top lieutenants sat on the couch, a comfortable place for getting chewed out.

"Sir, they knew the castle better than us. They've lived here all their lives," said Erlend, the eldest. He had handlebar mustache and bushy white eyebrows.

"That's no excuse, Erlend," Ansel snapped. "Two girls snuck in and took our most valuable prisoner. If not for one slip-up they would have escaped without difficulty."

"We've had to staff the jail with our own men, who are spread thin as it is. We can't trust anyone from Arendelle. They won't help imprison their neighbors."

"The prison is the most important room in the castle," Ansel said. "Think of the information we've lost. And what they've gained."

"They were right in front of you too, sir," said Officer Ingrid. "They were in the same room, serving your food, and you didn't notice them."

Ansel clenched his fist, ready to slap his lieutenant. But stopped himself.

"I think we're missing the more important thing here," the youngest of them said. "The ice queen is back. And she wants the castle."

"Honestly, Lucia, she's not as much of a worry as you think." Ansel dismissed her argument with his hand. "I've been preparing for her return since day one. Plus, her behavior's become irrational. Maniacal, even."

"I'm not sure that's to our advantage," said Erlend. "If a mad dog fights a sane dog, it's the sane dog who gets its ear bitten off."

"A wise maxim. But allow me to counter with another--power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Humans weren't meant to have magic such as hers. I knew there would come a day where it would degrade her mind. Not to mention an individual can't contend with a well-trained army. But the resistance... they are many."

"And they could be gaining many more," Lucia said, "Maybe that's why they infiltrated the castle."

"Exactly my thoughts. This strike may mean they finally feel confident enough to engage us. At least in the cowardly way that terrorists do," Ansel said. "Which is why we need to find out who's helping them. No rebellion succeeds unto themselves. They need companions in the town. Those that can supply food, shelter, resources. Smugglers and sympathetic ears."

"I'm sure there's no shortage of them," Erlend said.

Ansel pounded one fist into his hand. "And thus we must bear down harder. Enact a curfew. Order our soldiers to patrol the streets day and night, so that our presence is known."

"We already have police monitoring the town."

"Double it," Ansel said. "And start demonstrations. Show them what happens when we are defied. Do you understand my meaning?"

The lieutenants nodded.

"If we need more soldiers, get them from Corona. Send them a message. Tell them it's a lot worse here than we thought. We'll need more than just navy. And close out the harbor. No one comes in and out without a thorough inspection."

"Are we looking for contraband or refugees?" Lucia asked.

"Both," Ansel answered. "We'll need to register everyone in town. Fetch the latest census and cross-reference it. I want to know the names and dwellings of everyone within the kingdom."

Lucia raised her hand. "Sir, this is a lot for the citizens to handle. I thought we wanted to make our integration unobtrusive. To get them used to the new regime."

"I'm not letting everything fall into disorder because of a handful of idealistic doves. We have to strike before they gain too much momentum to fail. I want action. Do you understand? If the resistance is not destroyed within a week, I will find others who can."

The lieutenants remained silent as the firelight danced in Ansel's eyes. In the awkward pause, discordant, muffled commotion rose up.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Lucia asked.

Ansel cocked his head to the side. Music? A gathering crowd?

"Sounds like it's coming from the west wing," Erlend said.

Ansel left the parlor and headed that direction. His lieutenants followed, not daring to move faster.

He climbed up the steps to the westmost tower. There stood a guard in a cabasset looked through the window with a telescope. He handed it to Ansel when he came up the spiral staircase.

"My god, they've started," Ansel said.

A large assemblage of people roamed around on the grassy bluff next to the water. To Ansel's eyes, it seemed half the kingdom. Many toted food, tables, musical instruments, as if they were planning to stay a while.

"They've been gathering over the past few hours, sir," the guard said.

Ansel handed back the telescope. "Well, call it in! Don't you know a riot when you see one?"

"But sir, it's... not a riot. None of them have weapons. No one's hurting anyone."

"Dunderheaded fool. How can you not notice the resistance's work? Do you think everyone in the village just magically got together to celebrate right in front of my castle? It's a clear act of defiance."

"Even if that's so," said Erlend, "we can't make them disperse. What excuse do we give if they're not hurting anyone? What kind of demons would we look like then?" The lieutenants murmured agreement. "It would just add more wind to the resistance's sails," Erlend added.

Ansel folded his arms. "You're right. Let them have their fun. But send our military police to monitor. Take positions on all sides. But under no circumstances are they to attack anyone or provoke an attack."

"I'll send the order for our city foreman to pull troops from other posts and redirect them," said Erlend.

"Good... no, wait, no! That's what she wants us to do." He turned to the window. "Clever try, Elsa. But I'm smarter than you think."

"Sir?" Lucia asked.

"They want us to divert our troops from the city. We send them all to one place and thin the herd elsewhere, letting them do... whatever it is they plan to do. Either a raid or surprise attack on our boats or an escape. Pull guards from the castle instead. Only use one quarter of the soldiers in the village. The rest should be from the palace. Make sure they know not to act, just react."

Erlend left to send out the order. Ansel did not take the telescope from his eyes for hours, not until his men arrived.

They filed in, taking positions around the encampment. Although they held spears and emblem-blazoned tower shields, they stayed relaxed. The citizens didn't appear to care about their presence, except an occasional boo.

"Come on Elsa, I'm waiting."

"Sir, we've been up here for hours. There are other duties to attend to," Lieutenant Viktor said.

"I'm anticipating an attack."

"Won't we be notified when it begins?"

"Hmph." Ansel gave the telescope back to his tower guard.

The lieutenants stepped aside to let Ansel pass down the stairs. Only in the hallway did the emptiness of the castle became noticeable. They never realized how many of the staff were guards. "Are you sure they know they are to be explicit in announcing their presence as protection, not aggression?"

"I did, sir," Erlend said.

"But sir," Lucia said. "Won't they get unruly anyway? They'll gain courage by their numbers. Someone's going to throw a rock or get startled by mistake. And that's going to create a riot."

"I'm counting on it," Ansel said. "But I will tell them I gave orders not to strike unless provoked."

"But you're provoking them."

"It's still not my fault. They'll cause their own undoing. It's a surety. I tell you, I have little guilt doing this. But keep in mind this is an act of defiance. Meant to distract us from-"

There was a guttural thunderclap, as if lightning had struck the wall.

"What was that?" Lucia asked. "Explosion?"

"No smoke or fire."

Another reverberating growl. The dull echo came from the other side of the castle.

"If it was a siege, someone would ring the alarm," Viktor said.

"Maybe there's no one to ring the alarm," Erlend said.

Ansel twisted his mouth. Palace guards were still stationed on all key watchtowers and entry points. Nonetheless, he was concerned enough to start heading toward the east wall.

The soldiers on the east parapet--those that hadn't been ordered down to the city--marched back and forth. Walking kept them awake and eyes sharp. However, they could have been sleeping and still heard the tremendous crash against the wall below.

By the time they reached the site, whatever had made the noise had gone. There was no smoking mark of a cannon ball or explosive powder. Just rocks and water below.

In the distance, they heard a sharp twang. A boulder flew out of the streets, streaking toward them like a meteor. It banged against the wall, peeled off and plummeted.

"Rocks?" a guard said.

"Must be the resistance," his partner said.

"Idiots. They'll never penetrate the castle that way."

"Still an attack. We've got to sound the alarm."

The first guard spent a moment untying the bugle from his belt. Another boulder launched, this one sailing right for them. They were about to step out of the way when the rock grew arms and legs.

"Banzai!" it yelled.

The guards froze in surprise. The boulder-man thrust his feet out, and they both careened over the parapet.

Suddenly, dozens of boulders sailed out from the village mass. Mid-flight they turned into little troll men in clothes of moss. Some passed into the castle. Some rolled onto the parapet.

One landed, rolled in a tight circle, and sprang upright in front of the second guard. He readied his spear.

"Hiyaaa!" The guard thrust forward, aiming for the monster's gut. The troll stood there as the metal tip glanced off, bending to a forty-five degree angle.

The guard examined it. He turned back to the troll.

It was slightly smiling, humming a little. Then gnashed its teeth and crooked its fingers. "Rawr!"

The second guard yipped and fell off the parapet, landing on top of the first guard. The troll jumped down with them, and motioned for his companions to follow.

By this time, the commotion had alerted soldiers on the other walls. They stopped when they saw the rocks flying. Some smacked against the upper wall and slid into the castle. One fell short and landed on the parapet. It spun in place and stood up, holding something behind its back.

The two pikemen raised their spears. "The trolls from the valley. It's an invasion."

"Don't let them through," the other called.

The troll brought out the thing behind his back. It was a cake, with pink frosting.

"What th'?"

"Happy birthday," the troll said.

The guards stood confused. The troll tossed the cake at them--a friendly lob as if handing it off to hold. The guard caught it with both hands, dropping his spear. Before they could ask what was going on, the troll scampered away.

"What is-"

Tiny snowmen, no more than a foot high, climbed over the top of the wall. There seemed to be no end to them. They poured in like rats escaping a flood--and jumped on the guard with the cake.

"Aiyee!" The cake flew from his hand. Half landed on the guard beside him.

"Uh-oh."

That was all he got out before the little snowmen scaled him too.

At the east wing's outer wall, Ansel set eyes on the second floor parapet, preparing to ascend. A boulder crashed through the first floor window. Stained glass rained like confetti.

The boulder rolled another foot, then stopped dead.

"Come on, guys. More cake in here!" the troll said.

Dozens of little snowmen gushed through the open window like popped corn. They spread out, looking awestruck with their beady eyes and goofy smiles

"The snow queen," Erlend gasped in a whisper.

The snowmen scurried over tables, knocked over armor, chewed on rugs, whatever mayhem they could cause. Ansel was speechless.

"We don't have enough men for this," Lucia shouted.

Erlend turned back to Ansel. "Sir, I suggest we fall back to the throne room."

"Yes... yes, I agree." Ansel regained himself. "We prepared for this. The instruments we need are there. To defeat the snow queen."

"Aye, sir," Erlend said. "Take formation."

He drew out his rapier, followed in unison by the others. Ansel's defenders formed a diamond around him. Erlend grabbed the signal horn off one of the fallen guards and put it to his lips. An echoing blast filled the castle.

"That's our cue," Anna said. If the town square wasn't so empty, they might not have heard it. But here, facing the straightest, most direct route to the castle, it was quite clear.

"Everybody ready?" Kristoff jostled the reins. Elsa, Anna, and Flynn nodded solemnly (with Olaf squeezed in-between their legs). In the front seat, Ariel leveled her trident. Rapunzel held her frying pan to her chest, ready to swing.

"Hit it!" Rapunzel called.

Kristoff whipped the reins. "Yahh!"

Sven launched forward, straining against the harness. The heavy sled dragged forward, building momentum. Once the reindeer had his grip, Elsa stood up in the sleigh. She aimed her hand at the road.

A spray of ice emitted, coating the cobblestones before them. The smooth, slick path eased Sven's burden and soon they were driving like an avalanche.

"All right, Elsa!" Anna said. "This is the best sled course yet, eh?"

Elsa ignored her.

"There they are!" someone shouted.

Elsa whipped her head around. Patrols were racing horses behind them, readying crossbows.

"Fools. Don't they know the power they're dealing with?"

With her other hand, Elsa flicked her wrist. A barricade of blue icicles sprang up between them and their pursuers. One barely managed to turn his horse before being impaled.

"Almost to the bridge," Kristoff called out over Sven's hoof beats.  

The gates wrenched off their hinges hadn't been repaired, but new guards stood watch in the gatehouse. Those in the towers had already begun loosing arrows. In the back, Anna, Olaf, and Flynn ducked under a blanket. The arrows landed short, embedding in the ice path, and snapped off as the sleigh ran over them.

Ariel aimed her trident. The weapon hummed with energy, then shot a bright beam at the base of one guard tower. The rock crumbled like a sand castle meeting the tide.

Men in the tower shouted as the soldiers underneath scrambled out of the way. Arrows from the second tower narrowly struck Sven's hoof. He whinnied, but kept pace. They dashed under the first tower as it crashed against the second.

Soldiers manning the walkway to the castle saw the sled was not stopping, thanks to the inertia of the ice. Several scattered away. Ones that didn't, Ariel shot at their feet. The resounding blast propelled them into the air in different directions, but out of their way.

But there still remained soldiers holding swords and shields, ready to cut them down as they passed. Two were ready to skewer Sven with their partisans. Ariel took them out their weapons, then ducked as Rapunzel stood up.

"Batter up," she said. The impact of cast iron against sterling brass made an ear-shattering clang.

Behind them, the guards made a half-hearted effort to stand up. The sled was moving too fast to catch them now. Kristoff grinned at the tall double doors ahead.

"Okay, Elsa, slow us down," Kristoff said.

Nothing happened. The steady stream of ice magic continued smoothing out the road.

"Elsa! Stop with the ice," Kristoff said. "Slow down!"

"No," she said.

"Elsa, we need to stop!" Anna said. Elsa ignored her. Kristoff yanked back the reins but it was no use.

The front of the sleigh bumped against Sven's tail. He frantically galloped forward, lest the unstoppable sled crush him. The twin doors loomed closer.

"Elsa! No!" Kristoff closed his eyes and shirked away.  

Elsa snapped her wrist. A small ramp grew at the edge of the ice road. The sled launched into the air. Sven bellowed at the sensation of weightlessness. The sleigh began to twist in midair.

At the last second, Ariel blasted her trident. The doors glowed and bowed in just before they made impact.

Splinters of door flew everywhere. The airborne sleigh barrel-rolled, twisting Sven's reins. It bounced once before landing on its side, still sliding across the hall floor, then slammed against the upper floor pavilion upside-down.

Kristoff crawled out. "Buddy? Are you all right?"

He held the reindeer's muzzle in his gloved hands while the others struggled out. Sven's eyes rolled asynchronously. But he was breathing.  

"Is he okay?" Anna asked.

Kristoff stood tall in front of Elsa. He slammed his knit cap on the floor. "What the hell was that?"

"It was necessary," Elsa said.

"No, it wasn't. You could have killed him. You could have killed us."

"It's just an animal," Elsa said.

"Just an animal?" Kristoff started forward, as if he were about to fight.

Anna jumped between them. "Guys, we're all okay. No one's hurt."

"We'll talk about it after we overthrow the government," Rapunzel said. The six of them stood together. "We've got a mission and no time to waste."

Elsa said in a low tone, "Six of us against a castle full of guards. Do you think we're all getting out of this alive?"

Rapunzel gave her a look, but said nothing.

Anna pulled at Kristoff's shoulder. "We have to go."

"No, I'm not leaving him."

"I can stay with him!" Olaf shouted. "We'll have lots of fun. We can play cards. And I'll keep him safe."

Anna took Kristoff by the hand and pulled him away.

Rapunzel and Ariel took the lead, heading into the center hall. Flynn and Anna took the middle. They paused at each junction to look for patrols.  

The castle was nearly empty. Halfway through and they'd been able to avoid everyone. Rapunzel dashed around corners while Ariel covered her with the trident.

"Look!" Rapunzel pointed.

Someone was sprinting away through one of the castle's arches. Even in the brief glimpse, she knew Ansel's blue uniform and distinctive shoulder pads.

"There he is!" Anna shouted. She started to run after him.

Ariel barred her with her arm. "No. We can cut him off through the servant's quarters."

She turned a right angle and ran parallel to Ansel's path.

"Where's he going? He's heading further into the castle," Flynn said.

"I bet he's heading to the throne room. It's the innermost room, the heart of the palace," Ariel said.

"Why? That's no place to make a stand--he'd be trapped there," Rapunzel said.

"Unless he knows something we don't," Kristoff said.

Ariel shrugged. "Either way, we need to stop him before he gets there."

They flew through the empty service rooms and bounded into the castle's main hallway. Though wide enough for a carriage to plow through, it appeared to be empty.

"Behind you!" Anna shouted.

Two guards were heading toward them. Ariel dropped to one knee and fired at the furthest guard. He flew back against the wall, armor clanking.

The other reached for his sword as he ran. Rapunzel stutter-stepped and bashed him in the head. His helmet spun with an echoing clang. The guard stumbled as if he'd lost his footing, then fell unconscious.

Anna pointed her finger. Everyone turned.

Ansel careened around a corner, then halted. His five lieutenants also skidded to a stop.

"So here we are." Ansel scowled.

"Ansel. This is your last chance," Rapunzel said.

"You have a lot of confidence. Me and my most elite against... whoever you managed to scrape from the gutter."

"Hey, I'm technically a prince now." Flynn pointed to himself with his dagger.

Ansel withdrew his sword. "It's time to end this."

"Ansel of Corona." Elsa pushed ahead of everyone. "You have no power that can compare to mine. And this time there will be no forgiveness for you. Only escape. Either through exile or death. Take heed-"

A ping sounded in the corridor as Elsa's head knocked back. A small trickle of blood ran down her head.

The smallest female soldier held out a slingshot, sling dangling, eyes still on her target.

Elsa staggered to the side. She caught herself, then her eyes rolled up and she fell over, unconscious.

"Ariel, look out!"

One of the officers, an old man with a handlebar mustache, unleashed a whip. It coiled around the trident. He yanked it out of her hands so hard it flew to the ceiling and landed between them. The man dragged it closer.

Ariel ran for it.

Ansel's soldiers ran for her.

Both sides rushed towards each other.

Ariel dove to the carpet, but missed by her fingertips.

Flynn rolled forward. He grabbed the whip and readied to slice it with his dagger. But another soldier kicked him in the face, knocking him away.

"Good one, Lucia. Morten, protect Erlend. Ingrid and Viktor, to the fray."

Flynn rubbed his jaw as he glared at Lucia. Lucia withdrew her sword. The two of them clashed chest to chest, their blades vibrating with tension. Lucia pushed him off and swiped at his head. Flynn ducked. They engaged in a fencing duel--sword versus dagger.

"Get away from him!" Rapunzel ran forward, frying pan held high. She was suddenly yanked back.

Morten held a mittful of blond hair wrapped around his fingers, a sadistic grin on his face.

"Hey, bad form," Flynn said, glancing over while holding his dagger defensively.

Rapunzel got on hands and knees to stand up. Morten yanked again, then laughed at her humiliation.

Rapunzel glowered. She heaved her head forward. What Morten didn't know was how strong her neck muscles were from carrying ten pounds of hair for twenty years. His barrel body carried his momentum toward her.

As Rapunzel stood up, she clocked him under the chin. He shook it off, then withdrew his own military issue saber.

Rapunzel backed up to Flynn, parrying and thrusting with her pan.

"The couple that fights together..." Flynn said.

"Stays alive together?" Rapunzel replied.

With the gap that opened up in the fray, Anna ran to her sister and collapsed by her side. She wiped the blood off her face. "Elsa? Elsa, wake up. We could use your help right now. Psycho or not."

Anna's head darted back and forth, looking out for anyone coming her way. She held her hand to her trembling mouth, silently praying for her friends.

Ariel engaged in a tug-of-war with Erlend for the trident. She held the end with the three tines. It allowed a superior grip, but she had to be careful not to stab herself with her own weapon. Nor could she shoot it.

"What is this thing? Why do you desire it so?" Erlend asked.

Ariel wrenched as hard as she could. He was just trying to distract her, to throw her off balance. She wouldn't allow it.

"Why does a girl as slight as you use this weapon? You'd be better off with a bow or a short sword."

Through gritted teeth, she uttered, "When you rule the ocean, you can use whatever weapon you want."

She punctuated the last word with a sharp torque. The trident flew out of both their hands and clattered against the wall. They both sprang for it, but Kristoff crossed in front of them. He was retreating from Ingrid and Viktor.

"Two against one. Not fair!" Kristoff said.

He backed into a suit of armor, collapsing it and himself to the floor. Kristoff threw the disassembled pieces of costume at them.

Viktor and Ingrid snickered. They drew forward, swords pointed at Kristoff.

Ariel turned back to Erlend. He was going for the trident. She had a split second decision to make. And she made it.  

She picked up the thrown helmet and jammed it backwards onto Ingrid's head. Ariel pulled out her legs. Ingrid crashed to the floor, knocking herself out with the helmet impact.

Viktor turned and swung. Ariel leaned and rolled onto her back. The sword sliced horizontally into open air.

Ariel kicked her powerful legs into his gut. Leather armor or not, the wind was knocked out of him. He staggered back and fell on Kristoff.

Kristoff wrapped his meaty arm around Viktor's neck and locked it with the other. Viktor gurgled, his tongue hanging out, as the sleeper hold took effect. In a few seconds, he fell limp as a noodle.

"Whoa," Ariel said.

"I grew up with boulders for siblings. I learned a few tricks." Kristoff pointed behind her. "Watch out!"

Erlend held up the trident. "So let's see how this works, hm?" The trident began to hum.

Though only the king of the seas could use its full power, anyone could shoot lightning. Ariel flashed back to all the times others had used the trident or tried to steal it.

She squinched her eyes shut and prepared for the hit. As the hum reached crescendo, she had one last ironic thought: now she'd know what being blasted felt like.

"Er-erg-erg-erg-erg-erg-erg-erg..." Erlend vibrated as tendrils of golden electricity danced over his body. He stiffened, unable to release the trident.

The power stopped. Erlend fell into a heap. The trident clattered on the ground.

Ariel snatched it up before anyone else had a chance to. "Thanks, Daddy," she whispered.

Ansel skirted around the slicing swords, heading towards the door. Everyone was too engaged in battle to notice what he was up to. Everyone except Anna, who stood up as he sprinted past.

"Hey," she shouted.

Elsa stirred. "Ow... what happened?" She gritted her teeth. "That troll knocked me out again."

"No, it was one of Ansel's soldiers. He-"

"Ansel," she murmured. She stood as if she had never fallen. "Where is he? Where did..."

"He went that way." Anna pointed to the door, where a leg just vanished from the frame.

Elsa growled. "No. You will not get away, Ansel. Not EVER."

All the warmth in the air disappeared, sucked out. A thick white frost spread from the point where Elsa's feet touched the floor, spreading wall-to-wall. The castle walls blanched.

"What is-?" Morten asked.

The ice grew like vines, coating the hall from top to bottom. It crackled as it sprawled under Morten's boots. He tried to step away, but they became stuck fast. The same thing happened to Flynn. Lucia stumbled back and tripped.

The sounds of clashing swords died away. "What's happening?" Kristoff said.

Ingrid lay on her back like a turtle, held by her helmet and tunic. Rapunzel stayed bent at an awkward angle, her hair glued to the ground.

"This is the ice queen's doing," Lucia said. "She's taking back her castle."

"I can't... I can't get myself free," Flynn said. He couldn't even untie his shoelaces. "Elsa? Elsa!"  

She was gone.

"Ariel, can you use the trident?" Rapunzel asked, forced to lean back and look at the ceiling.

Though in an awkward position, Ariel jabbed the tines into the ice chunks around her feet. "I don't have much choice."

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 35) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 35: Winter Is Coming

All eyes lay on the ice queen, but for different reasons. The eight spearmen held out their weapons, defending the commander behind them. Rapunzel and Ariel lay on the ground, uncertain if this was their friend or not. And what transformation had she undergone.

Ansel was the only one with presence of mind to speak. "Four to me! The rest, seize her," he yelled.

Four men formed a vanguard around Commander Ansel. The others stalked forward, one cautious step at a time.

Elsa swept her hand to the sky, sparkles of frost trailing. As if pounding a hammer, she struck down.

A tall pillar of ice grew out of the ground. It split four ways, like a dividing plant. Each stem curled down and grew long spikes. The pikemen backed away, but not fast enough. On impact, the stems embedded in the floor, pinning each man to the ground.

"Lay down your scepter, you-who-would-be-emperor," Elsa said. Her voiced sounded deep, as if coming from a canyon. "You have sullied my streets with your filthy cronies. "

"I'm not going anywhere," Ansel said. "And I won't allow you to tyrannize this kingdom again."

"It is not your place to decide Arendelle's fate."

"Every guard in the castle is on his way right now. This is your one chance, ice witch. Leave this place or I'll have your head."

Elsa smirked. "Lesser people than you have tried."

"You may have strong magic, but you aren't immortal. All it would take is one true shot from a crossbow. "

While they bantered, Rapunzel crawled to Pabbie, huddled in a corner with Ariel.

"This is bad," he said. "She has let her power overtake her. It's corrupting her sense of self."

"There's got to be something we can do," Rapunzel said. "She doesn't know what she's doing."

"We've got to get out of here and collect ourselves," Ariel said. "Ansel is right. More are on their way. We can't take all of them."

Elsa stepped forward, ready to unleash her powers again.

Rapunzel grabbed one arm, Ariel the other.

"Elsa. Wait. Stop," Rapunzel said.

"Let's get out of here," Ariel said.

Elsa ignored them. The girls grabbed her shoulders--one on each--as infantrymen filed into the balcony.

They rushed out through the busted gates. "Sorry! She's not usually like this," Rapunzel called back.

"After them!" Ansel shouted, pointing.

Carrying Elsa between them, Ariel and Rapunzel ran as fast as they could. Thrown spears clinked against the ground behind them.

At the end of the walkway, the wrought iron gates lay flayed open and twisted, coated with frost. Soldiers on the guard towers lay slumped over the parapets or pinned to the wall by ice shackles.

"Let me go!" Elsa fought against their grip. "This is my vengeance to take. Nothing will stand in my way."

From around the corner, Sven galloped down the path, pulling Kristoff in the sled. He was supposed to be waiting for them in the town square as a backup. For once, Rapunzel was glad someone didn't listen to her.

Pabbie rolled ahead of the girls and stopped in front of Sven.

"Pabbie! I never thought I would see you again," Kristoff said.

"It's good to see you," the old rock troll said. "But we must make haste."

Kristoff stood up in his sleigh, watching the girls sprinting toward him. "I heard an explosion at the main gate. I thought- Is that Elsa?"

Rapunzel and Ariel threw Elsa into the back seat. "We'll explain later. Let's go."

Elsa stood up, trying to make her way out. "Get out of my way. This man needs to pay for-"

"Queen Elsa," Pabbie said.

At hearing the honorific, she turned her head.

"Sleep."

A fuzzy blue orb floated from Pabbie's stubby fingers to Elsa's head. As soon as it dissipated, her eyes closed, her knees buckled, and she fell into a heap. Rapunzel and Ariel shoved her aside to make room for Pabbie.

Kristoff whipped the reins. "Hee-yah!"

The reindeer let out a fierce whinny as spears and arrows flew by. He galloped away from the castle.

They sped through Arendelle, ducking behind buildings and alleys to keep witnesses confused. After leaving the city, with no one behind them pursuing, they headed toward the mountain.

Sven had remarkable stamina. But by the time they reached the palace doors, his legs wobbled with each step and his tongue hung out.

Kristoff jumped down and petted the reindeer's head. "It's okay, Sven. We're here. You can rest now."

Sven turned to him. Kristoff whispered in a chumly voice. "You owe me so many carrots."

"I know, I know." He buried his face in Sven's fuzzy snout.

Pabbie leaned out of the sleigh. "Your animal will be all right. If there are proper herbs, I can brew a revitalizing soup for him."

The giant double doors creaked and parted. Anna rushed through, holding up her skirt with one hand. Olaf waddled behind.

"Is Elsa with you?" she asked. "The lookout said-"

Ariel and Rapunzel hoisted her body out of the carriage. "She's all right. Just sleeping," Ariel said. "Something... something happened to her. She burst into the castle and started... acting weird."

Anna looked into her sleeping sister's face. "Why does she look so... different?"

"We need to put her somewhere before she wakes up. Is somewhere we can lock her up?" Rapunzel asked.

Anna looked aghast. "Lock her up? No... I couldn't."

"She's going to be very angry when she wakes up. She didn't want to leave her castle," Rapunzel asked.

"She almost attacked us. And we couldn't've stopped her," Ariel said.

Anna locked eyes with Ariel and Rapunzel. They all knew what had to be done, but no one wanted to say it. "There's a room in the west wing that can be locked. Just ask one of the others," Anna said, looking at the ground.

Rapunzel and Ariel handed Elsa to Kristoff. Sven followed as he carried the limp body past Olaf.

"Oh, hi, Elsa. She always falls asleep on those long sleigh rides," the snowman said. He turned around and followed them inside.

Rapunzel, Anna, Ariel, and Pabbie stood in a circle, faces as if returning from a funeral. Anna said "Her heart is frozen, isn't it? Just like you warned us could happen. When we were kids."

"No, this is different," Pabbie said. "A frozen heart knows no love or fear. But the ice encases hers. Like a fortress. It lets nothing in and nothing out. But if something is not done soon, it will freeze."

"Is there a way to break through the fortress? A spell or something?" Ariel asked.

"Or some of your magic?" Anna asked hopefully.

Pabbie said, "You must find a way into her heart. Once that is found, the walls will crumble."

"Find the way into her heart? How do we do that?" Anna asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know, child," Pabbie said. "I don't know."

Alone in the war room, Ariel knelt over the castle map. Everyone but Ariel was with Elsa. Kristoff, Anna, Rapunzel, Olaf, even Flynn, were standing outside her cell, waiting for her to wake up.

Flynn entered.

"Is Elsa okay?" Ariel asked.

"She's still out cold... er... sorry. I just came to check on you. Got bored watching a sleeping queen. What are you doing?"

"I'm marking where I saw guards inside the castle. How many I saw, and so on." She sat back on her knees. "I don't think it's going to do any good. I only saw a tiny portion."

"Ansel's going to strike back," Flynn said. "And soon. Especially after getting embarrassed like that. He seems like the kind of person who would take it out on the citizens. Ordering surprise investigations, shakedowns." He started playing with a spinning globe.

Ariel nodded. "That's what I'm afraid of too. I wish we could act, not just react."

Flynn gave his cocky smile. "That's why it's called 'resistance'. Gotta wait to see how it all pans out before making the next move. Oops."

The globe Flynn had been playing detached from its spindle. The ball crashed and cracked on the ice floor.

"Flynn, we've got few enough resources as it is," Ariel chided. She picked up the ball. Something inside rattled.

"There's something in there," Flynn said.

Ariel shook it like a Christmas present. She dug her fingers into the cracks and pulled apart the thin wooden shell. Inside was a small paper square, folded to the size of a coin.

"How did that get in there? It would have had to be put in before the thing was built," Flynn said.

Ariel unfolded the paper to a full size sheet. It was a letter. The signature at the bottom read "Arcius Cansteth"

"Oh, no," Ariel said.

Your dearest highnesses,

As you have no doubt determined from the discovery of this note, my abilities to manipulate time and space expand much farther than you presupposed. Pertaining to this moment, you have returned from the castle and are planning your next move to free Arendelle.

Do not mistake my observance as voyeurism. I merely state this fact to allude to my power. I am not, nor shall I ever, desecrate your private moments.

Let me assure you that, were you within my care, this whole matter could be dealt with swiftly and painlessly. However, I fear the power of persuasion is beyond the reach of this letter. My purpose is to inform you that I have not given up my pursuit. Perhaps I acted in haste when last we met. Staying isolated so long has waned away my good manners.

Nevertheless, and I do not say this in threat or jest, I cannot take no for an answer. The magic is too awesome to let it diminish unleavened. This correspondence in itself should demonstrate that fact. Nevertheless, I wish to convey its magnitude with further veracity. When you have the opportunity, observe the mountain range to the west. Then compare its vista to your previous knowledge of Arendelle. When you confirm the difference, you will know my solemnity on this matter.

Sincerely,

Arcius Cansteth

As soon as Ariel reached the part about the mountain range, she turned her head to the western window.

After she had stared silently for a while, Flynn asked "What? Do you see something?"

"It's completely gone..." Ariel muttered.

The door to the war room cracked open. Rapunzel and Kristoff entered. "She's still asleep. We came to see if you needed help..."

"Kristoff, you've been up living in the mountains since you were a boy, right? And you'd say you've stared at them all your life, right?" Ariel asked.

Kristoff confirmed he did. Ariel gripped his temples and rotated his neck. "Do you remember a mountain right there? It had a kind of a hooky peak and a big gouge down the center."

"What? No. Mountains? What are you talking about?"

"It was a little taller than the others. The top glowed orange when it was sunset. It looked like a torch. I saw it when I first arrived in Arendelle."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kristoff said. "The mountains have always been like that."

"He took out a whole mountain." Ariel muttered to herself. "I don't know how he did it, but he did it."

Ariel explained about the globe and handed Rapunzel the note. She read it, looked up. Read it again, looked up. "Does this mean he's watching us?" Ariel asked.

"He must be. He knew you were going to break the globe. He knew you would be reading the note at this exact time."

"But... he still can't reach us. He still needs us. Why is he doing this? Can't he just leave us alone?"

"He's running out of time," Rapunzel said. "Which means we are too."

"But Arendelle needs us more." Ariel turned toward them. "We need to stop Ansel here and now."

"But how do you expect us to do that?" Flynn asked. "We don't have an army or guns or swords or soldiers or anything."

"What do we have?" Rapunzel asked.

Flynn and the others looked around blankly at each other. "Heart?" Flynn shrugged.

"We've got a girl with magic hair, one who can make ice castles, and the queen of the oceans." Ariel held up her trident. "We can make something happen."

"If we just start attacking, that will hurt a lot of people. On both sides," Kristoff said.

"All we have to do is take Ansel out of power. We don't have to take out all his guards or ships. And no one's going to take his place--Ansel wants to run the whole show. Once we send the leader packing, everyone else will follow or switch sides. It shouldn't take an army to do that."

"Ansel rarely leaves the castle," Kristoff said. "He makes his rah-rah speeches from the gates every morning. That's about the only time anyone sees him."

"We can't wait for him to leave the castle. We'll have to go to him." Ariel slid the map of the castle between them all.

Debates exploded across the table. Subjects meandered from which wall was the weakest to the loss of Arendelle lives to attacks by land or sea to tactics like drawing an ambush or hammer & anvil.

Ariel sat back, letting them all blow off steam. She tuned them out and twirled her trident in her hand. Light gleamed off and on the points.

"Wait a minute," Ariel said. "I've got an idea. What if we make a three-pronged attack?" She scooted forward and rotated the Arendelle map to herself. "First, call together all the people we can. As many as we can. Tell them to gather on this side." She pointed to a promontory outside the west side of the castle.

"I gotcha. We'll create a mob," Flynn said. "Tell them to bring whatever weapons they have. Get Ansel to consume his resources on them."

"No, not a mob," Ariel said. "We're not arming a rebellion or a riot. This is a... a rally. A big hoopla. A party!" Ariel said, getting more excited as her ideas formed. "A big party in the streets. With loud music and food and dancing."

"Are you serious?" Flynn looked at her cockeyed.

Ariel nodded. "As big a party as you can. Biggest Arendelle's ever seen. I bet the city could use it, with everything that's happened. Ansel's soldiers won't know what to do if there's no fighting. And while they're watching..." She dragged her finger to the east side of the castle. "we assault from the other direction. With an obvious attack."

"Like what?" Kristoff asked. "If everyone's on the other side partying, who's left?"

"I believe I can help with that."

Pabbie toddled into the room. He approached the table. "My people are ready with whatever you need," he said.

"Grand Pabbie, are you sure? This is just Arendelle. This isn't your fight," Kristoff said.

"It became our fight when they came after you," he said. "We are family. To besiege one is to besiege us all."

Kristoff smiled from ear to ear, looking like he might cry.

Rapunzel perked up. "The trolls alone won't be enough. Kristoff, what about the snowgies? Do you think they're ready?"  

With a laugh, Kristoff shrugged and said. "As ready as they'll ever be. We'll need more cake. But the town baker owes me some favors."

Ariel smiled. "The snowgies can attack from below while... while the trolls catapult into the upper castle." She turned to Pabbie. "You'll be your own weapons."

All the members of the table were smiling as well. It wasn't enough to have a plan. They needed the confidence to believe in it.

"That's only two prongs though," Flynn said. "What's the third?"

"The third is us," Ariel said. "We go through the middle, enter the castle, and take Ansel out however we can. He'll have the least protection while his soldiers are busy on both sides. And we know the castle better than him. We're going to start this war and finish it the same day."

"Yes!" Flynn stood up from the table. "Where's Anna? Let's go tell her."

Kristoff said, "The faster we can get this going, the quicker we can catch Ansel off guard."

Everyone scooted away from the table. Ariel allowed herself a moment of pride, watching her team march out. As she stood to follow them, Pabbie held out his hand.

"Wait, child," he said. "This third prong. Who do you plan to include in it?"

"Um..." Ariel hadn't firmly thought about who would breach the fortress, besides their small collective. "I don't know. Me and Rapunzel for sure... Anna, Kristoff, Flynn... maybe Olaf."

"Elsa must accompany you as well," Pabbie said.

"Elsa? But she's... something happened to her. She's not herself."

"She must come. If she doesn't, terrible things shall happen to Arendelle and those around her."

"You can see the future?"

Pabbie shrugged. "Others say I have the gift of prophecy. I say a lifetime of experience has sharpened my insight and logic." Ariel didn't doubt him--a lifetime for a rock troll had to span centuries. "But Elsa's heart grows colder by the moment. In this endeavor, you must all be together."

"Why? What happens if we don't?"

A cloudy image formed over Pabbie's head. "If you succeed, Elsa will retake rule over Arendelle. But as she is, she would be a cold undiscerning queen. Inhumane, without a care for people. You must make her see the light."

The silhouette in the clouds raised her hands. Lightning flashed. Hands reached up for her. She struck them all down with a wave of her arm.

Ariel stared, horrified. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know," Pabbie said. "But it will not happen locked in a cage."

Down the narrow corridor, the others had just finished explaining the plan to Olaf and Anna when Ariel approached.

"Everyone's so excited about your plan. This might really work," Anna said.

Ariel looked through the door's small window. Elsa slept on the block of ice against the wall of the crystal-blue room.

"So everyone's agreed on the plan?" Ariel asked.

"As long as I've got my trusty frying pan, I'm in," Rapunzel said.

"Am I on the team?" Anna asked.

"Yes. So is Kristoff--we'll rush the door with Sven--and Flynn and Rapunzel and myself. And Elsa."

"Elsa?" Everyone spoke at once. "Are you sure?" "She's psychotic. We can't take her." "Look at her, she's not in her right mind." "We need to cure her first."

"She's coming," Ariel said. "Besides she's the most powerful of us, this is her kingdom."

"She's not even awake yet" Kristoff looked into the room. "She's not-"

Elsa's pale white eyes stared into his.

"Jeez!" Kristoff staggered back, crashing into the wall.  

She was standing upright, gazing at them.

"How long was she standing there?" Kristoff whispered.

"I want you to know..." Elsa began. Her voice was as flat and hushed as a winter wind. "that I could break out of here at any time."

The others looked terrified.

"This is my palace. This is my element. I could send it crumbling around your ears."

"Well... why haven't you?" Anna asked.

"I want to know why you haven't killed me yet."

Anna looked confused. "You're my sister. I'd never kill you."

"You should. It's what I would do."

Kristoff held an arm over Anna's shoulder protectively. "Elsa, stop this. We know this isn't you."

"But it is. It always was. Within me, lurking beneath the surface. Only now it has come out. And my magic is more powerful than it ever was, ever could be, now that my spirit is realized." She turned to Ariel. "When we first met, I tried to kill you. Do you doubt me?"

Ariel said nothing.

Elsa smirked again. "Perhaps that was a mistake I should rectify."

"Elsa," Rapunzel interrupted. "We know this isn't you. Whatever happened, we can help."

Elsa scowled. "Usurper. You think I don't know? You covet my throne like the others."

"That's not true," Rapunzel said.

Elsa smirked. "Isn't it? You have the audacity to imprison me here, in the fortress I built for myself. Don't you understand? Nothing will stand in my way. Not my friends. Not my sister. Do you think I wouldn't kill you all to get what I want?" She looked at Anna. "I stayed away from you for sixteen years. To the rest of you, my ties are tenuous. At best."

"What if we said we're going to get your castle back?" Ariel said. "That's what you want, right?"

Elsa ground her jaw. "You have my attention."

"You want to take down Ansel? Take back Arendelle? That's what we're doing. Whatever it takes. Throw down Ansel from power or prove he's not the true ruler. It'll be easier if we all work together. You have a better chance with us than alone."

"I am always alone," Elsa said. "It is not a choice."

"Well, you can choose now. If you promise to help, we'll make sure we get your castle back."

Elsa blinked. "As long as you're still useful, I will ally with you."

Ariel let out a breath.

"But make no mistake," Elsa said. "We are not entering this battle in banded company. Only as an alliance."

"Whatever you say." Ariel gestured for the key. Kristoff handed it off, then stepped back as the door opened.

Elsa's pale ice dress sparkled in the light. She gazed at them all with her mysterious eyes. "So when does it begin?"

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 34) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 34: The Will to Thrive

Under the shroud of night, a black shape floated across the fjord. One figure rowed with a single pole. The other sat cross-legged.

"Ariel, I love you. But this seems like a stupid plan," Rapunzel whispered.

"I know. But it's the best I came up with. But I think it'll work," she said.

Ariel oared toward the embankment of sharp rocks. They could have moved faster with the trident, but she didn't want to risk losing it in capture. The last thing Ansel needed was more power on his side.

So far it looked like the resistance's reconnaissance had been correct. Guards were looking for fleets, not small rafts. As a result, no one sounded the alarm.

The flat wood bumped against the shore, right in front of Elsa's cell. New rocks and mortar lay in the point of ingress.

They stepped gingerly onto the shoals. "Still got the stuff?" Ariel asked.

Rapunzel pulled two vials out of her pocket. One was purple, the other a dark buttermilk. When combined, they would create a chemical, volatile but reliable, that could dissolve iron.

Flynn had given them to her before she left. They were expensive and rare, but he always kept them on his person because "a thief always stayed prepared" "Maximus doesn't even know they exist. I was going to use them if I ever got couldn't solve one of his scenarios. Would've thrown him for a loop."

Rapunzel uncapped both vials, kissed the tops to each other, and shook. Something inside fizzed. She poured the mixture on the window bars. The liquid expanded into foam, hungrily hissing and smoking.

After a few pulls, Ariel tugged the bars out with a stoney pop. She tossed them in the water.

Rapunzel waited for the remnants of the chemical to dissolve, then boosted Ariel through. She landed soft-footed on the cold stone floor. The cell door was closed, but not locked. Ariel waited.

A ribbon of yellow hair flopped over the window's ledge. It lowered inch by inch until Ariel could jump for it. The golden hair spooled around her as she pulled it in, end over end. Then it tensed. Ariel continued to pull until two hands grabbed the sill.

"Ow," Rapunzel said. "Usually that goes the other way." She hoisted herself in and landed.

Ariel flattened against the wall and looked through the eyeslit. One corridor was a dead end, the other ended in a locked door.  

They took a deep breath and proceeded down the hall. Another door, this one well lit, lay in front of the guard's desk.

"You cannot hold out forever," said the voice behind the door.

Ariel froze and pressed herself and Rapunzel into the wall. "Ansel," whispered Rapunzel.

"You either you tell us everything you can, or we will destroy you. Believe me, I will find a way," Ansel said.

"He's got Pabbie in there," Ariel said.

Pabbie must have said something, because Ansel responded "Magic no longer has a place in this kingdom. Arendelle has become a city of structure, order, and stability. There are tortures that don't require us to penetrate your hide. Blackmail. Sleep deprivation. Solitary confinement. Everyone has fears. We will find yours in time."

Pabbie's raspy voice murmured something.

"Time is something we have plenty of. Think about that."

The door clicked. Ariel and Rapunzel seized their breath.

Ansel opened the door and turned. They waited for the door at the end of the hallway to click shut. Then they waited a minute more before emerging around the corner.

Hands on the handle, Ariel said "He didn't even lock it." Afraid of what she'd see, she opened the door.

Rats scattered at the sound of their entrance. Pabbie hung against the wall by his shackled arms. He was too short for ankle cuffs.

"Rapunzel?"

"Shh," she said. "We're getting you out."

"I am most grateful to you," he whispered. "And your friend."

Ariel was so fascinated by the troll's appearance--a bulbous nose, grassy hair, and mossy eyebrows--that she almost forgot her manners. "I'm Ariel."

"But you should not have come. This is too dangerous."

"We can talk about that later." She reached on tiptoes and examined the shackles.

"The key is on the desk outside," Pabbie said. "I heard it clink when they locked me here."

Ariel left the room and searched the desk. The keys were right next to an empty dinner tray. She snatched them up and tossed them to Rapunzel.

Upon undoing the first lock, Pabbie swung like a ball on a chain. After the other, he dropped to the ground. The floor vibrated when he landed.

"Now we just need to get..." Rapunzel took Pabbie's hand to the cell they had come from. But when she tried the door, it was shut and locked.

"Did you close this?" Rapunzel asked.

"I... I don't think so. I don't remember."

Rapunzel stood on tip-toes, staring through the eyeslit at the window, and their path to freedom.

"Did you see any other keys in that drawer?"

"Just the one."

"The guards must have the others," Pabbie said. "This is why I said not to attempt a rescue. It's too much risk. You could still escape without me."

"No way. We are getting you out of here. I promise," Rapunzel said. "Kristoff's waiting for us at the backup meeting point in the town's square. If we can just get out of the castle..."

Rapunzel scanned the room, looking for some kind of helpful tool. Her eye fell on the reflective silver dinner tray.

"What was it Flynn said?" Rapunzel said. "No one ever questions the cook."

The kitchen staff was so busy preparing food they didn't notice the door open. Ariel grabbed the two chef uniforms from the hook.

"Nice," Rapunzel said after she returned to the closet. The two of them pulled on the uniforms. Ariel could stuff her hair under her toque blanche, but Rapunzel had to wind the rest under her clothes. Now all anyone could see was their faces--lovely, but generic.

"Ready?" Ariel asked.

"If you think this will work," Pabbie said. He rolled onto the silver platter and bundled up into a rock. Now all they needed to do was leave while trying not to look like they were struggling.

Just as before, no one paid attention when they re-entered the kitchen. Even when passing through the tight spaces between ovens. One of them bumped into Ariel. "Excuse me," she said.

In the hallway, two guards walked past them. Ariel and Rapunzel grinned at each other. This was going to work.

"You there," someone shouted.

Ariel and Rapunzel turned around, mindful of the tray. One of the castle's servants poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going with that?" the servant asked.

"Um... out?" Ariel said. "To the... guard posts. With... food."

"They'll have to wait. Take it to the dining hall. The first course still isn't ready and there's no one providing table service."

He stared at them until they marched the other way. No chance of ignoring his order and running out.

The corner turned into the dining hall. Four elite guards stood in the corners, watching over a long table of dinner guests, including Commander Ansel at the head. Rapunzel recognized some of them as former council members of Arendelle. Others were lieutenants, new allies, or potential ones.

"About time," one of the portly guests at the end said. He gestured for them to come over. Rapunzel and Ariel slid the platter onto the table. "What is that?"

"Bread," Ariel said.

He poked it with his knife. "It's hard as a rock," he said astonished.

"It's made from iron wheat," Rapunzel added. "Stone-ground. An Arendelle specialty."

"Bleh. I've had enough bread," said the emaciated lady across from him. "Fetch some of the smoked salmon. I think everyone here's wanting some."

"Sliced very thin for me," said the portly man.

Rapunzel and Ariel gathered utensils from around the room and began preparing appetizers, using whatever food they found. They tried to stay away from Ansel. Fortunately, he was so engrossed in conversation, he wouldn't have noticed them.

"Weselton's on the run. The Southern Isles followed," Ansel said. "And they've no intention of coming back."

"But you said you don't know where they've gone," said a man in a decorated military uniform. "How do you know they aren't gathering stronger forces?"

"You're right. We haven't been able to locate them. But we've also got spies in all major harbors and countries. And their forces haven't arrived in any. Wherever they are, it's far from here. I believe they've dissolved their alliance and gone their separate ways."

"But you've sent battle fleets to search ships," said one of the councilwoman. Tora, if Rapunzel remembered right. "You've forced them to make alliances just to defend themselves."

"I promised the Princess of Corona that I would make sure no one thinks of attacking Arendelle again. And I always keep my promises."

Rapunzel gritted her teeth as she sliced the cold-smoked ham.

"And the result is a prolonged war," the councilwoman answered.

"Come off it now," said Lord Bjorn, another old member of council. "The best thing Corona ever did was appoint him acting regent. Everything we've done has been to Arendelle's gain. Our economy's improved. Kingdoms are begging for diplomatic relations. Why, people have nearly forgotten our cloudy conditions."

"Other nations believe we're cursed," said a thin man with glasses.

"Let them," Ansel said, holding up his wine glass. "A blend of superstition and force will go a long way towards proving Arendelle's might."

"And just why do we need to prove ourselves?" asked Tora. "The country was quite content before you arrived."

"You say 'content," Ansel answered. "I say 'lacking drive'. 'Unambitious'. Without a will to thrive."

Bjorn added, "Do you seriously think Arendelle had any military influence under the old regime? A couple of young women? One was a sorceress, the other a capricious rattlebrain."

"A capricious rattlebrain that's throwing your domestic situation for a loop," Councilor Tora said. She looked only too delighted to add that in. "It's only a matter of time before everyone realizes the princess has left the castle. And by then, they'll realize what kind of government you're providing."

"By then, they will be used to the benefits I am providing." He offered up his wine glass. Rapunzel had to walk over and fill his goblet without wringing his neck.

"With all the soldiers on the streets, you'd think you would have caught her by now," Toula said.

"It's only a matter of time," Ansel smirked. He swirled his wine. "Besides, have you ever heard of a resistance faction upending the status quo?"

A man who hadn't spoken so far piped up. "I think North America's had some success so far. Great Britain's given up on trying to retain the colonies, haven't they? And Mexico's been having its share against the Spaniards."

"Feh. That's on the other side of the world. Think of France, Serbia, the Ottoman Empire. The more things change, the more they stay the same. But this," he gestured to the castle around him, "is a remarkable fortress. I dare say it's the only reason Arendelle hasn't experienced a true subjugation yet. Surrounded by water, only a single bridgeway to enter. How could anyone get in or out?"

"The snow queen has," Tora said.

"And where is she now, I ask." He leaned into Tora, staring her down from the bridge of his hawk nose. "I think she's adopted the same lack of accountability as her sister." He tipped back his wine with satisfaction.

"When she returns, do you think she will be pleased with her actions?"

Ansel grimaced in mid-sip. Tora smirked.

"I remind you, madam, I did not come here with the intention to rule. But when I saw the state of Arendelle's regimentation, I had to intervene. If she returns, I believe she should answer to what she left behind." He turned to address the entire table. "I am only doing what is necessary to maintain the state. A state which has undergone two cataclysms in one year. If Arendelle falls, its neighbors will fall. Its allies will fall. And we can't afford to let it be ruled by silly little girls."

Lord Bjorn interjected. "Soon the Southern Isles will send terms for surrender. Whether the snow queen reappears or not. The resistance will peter out once people realize how toothless it is."

"And that we do not intend harm," Ansel said. "My goal is not to conquer. It is to reconstruct. Once that is done, everything will be fine."

Two servants appeared from a side door, rolling an covered art easel. "Sir, the portrait you commissioned is finished. Would you like to look at it?"

"Dadblastit," Ansel said. "We are in the middle of the evening meal. Is a painting so important? You make me out to be a narcissist."

"Ansel, don't be so modest. I'd be thrilled to see it," Bjorn said.

"It is art. It will exist later as it is now," Ansel countered.

"Oh, Ansel, it won't take but a moment. I can't stand the thought of leaving it in the room unbidden. I would not be able to enjoy the rest of the night," said the emaciated woman.

"Very well." Ansel gestured to the two servants.

They positioned the easel at the foot of the table and swiped away the dropcloth. It was Lord Protector Ansel looking as regal as ever. His face as stern and dour as any headmaster, even down to the book he held in his hand.

"Interesting choice," Tora said. "I had expected you to be holding a sword or a scepter."

"Yes, I took care to feature that in my legacy. That there is no knowledge that is not power. It is the conqueror of all fear," Ansel replied.

A woman in the middle of the table pinched something on her plate. "Eugh, there's a hair in this fishcake." With her tweezer like fingers she pulled it out.

The hair kept going, even with her arm outstretched. With her other hand, she strung it out as if pulling a thread.

"What th'?" she said. The guest next to her goggled as, hand over hand, she pulled out more.

"What kind of hair is this?" It grew taut, catching a yellow glint from the candlelight chandelier. The thread led to the other end of the room, to one of the servant-girls cutting leeks. The guests fell silent, staring at her.

Rapunzel noticed the silence. She looked up.

"Princess Rapunzel?" Lord Bjorn asked. "Why are you here? Why are you dressed like that?"

Rapunzel's mouth opened and closed, in search of an answer.

"So much for 'no one questions the cook'," Ariel whispered in her ear.

Ansel stood, throwing down his napkin. "Guards!"

The loaf of bread at the far end of the table stood up and unrolled its limbs. The guests gasped as it unfolded into a troll-man. The surprised woman next to him caught his eye.

He put up his hands, stuck out his tongue, and said "nyah-nyah-nyah!"

The woman screamed and fell over in her chair.  

Pabbie rolled down the table, upsetting candles, napkins, garlands. Plates and silverware clanked and cracked as he whirled toward Ansel, who sat motionless. The rock gutted him in the stomach, then switched direction to the door. Ariel and Rapunzel followed.

Ansel coughed--the wind knocked out of him--as the guards rushed from the other end of the room. "After them!" he said, after several seconds.

The guards rushed out the door, passing a portly man who commented, "I told them that bread was bad."

Pabbie waddled as fast as he could. Ariel and Rapunzel ran behind him, pumping their arms and legs. Each of them ripped off their uniforms in transit. A company of guards chased them, spears rattling with each step.

"We've got to get to the main gates," Ariel said, tossing her hat aside.

"They'll be closed," Rapunzel said.

"What was closed can be reopened," Pabbie said.

"Eek!"

Two armored soldiers jumped out, spears pointed ready.

Pabbie tucked himself into a ball. He rolled forward, knocking the left guard off his feet, then double-backed and took out the other, zipping in a straight line. Without a pause, he unrolled. "Come on," he said.

"Nice work," Rapunzel said.

"Guess there's still a few good centuries left in me after all," Pabbie said.

The hallways grew wider, which told them they were heading the right direction. Through the windows, they could tell which direction to go to move toward the town. They came to the two giant doors marked with tan chevrons.

The three of them pushed against the door with all their might. "It's locked. There's got to be a key."

Pabbie pressed his meaty hand to the door. "Too thick to roll through."

But it was too late. Eight guards emerged from the hallways and surrounded the three of them. Ariel, Rapunzel, and Pabbie backed up against the doors. The guards closed in.

In a few moments, Ansel strolled into the entrance hall, adjusting the fingers of his white gloves.

"Clever, quite clever," he said. "Frankly, I didn't know what I would do if either of you came back. But thanks to your actions, we now have charges of criminal facilitation, trespassing, burglary, and, if we find you have ties to the resistance, treason. Which, as you know, is a capital offense." He grinned at Rapunzel. "Maybe I'll hang you by your own hair."

Ariel could tell by his eyes he was serious. He might even order their execution now. She resisted the urge to shiver from the chill of fear running up her spine.

No, it wasn't fear. The door had grown cold under her fingers. "What is-"

The gates burst open. Ariel and Rapunzel flew forward thirty feet into the hall into Ansel and the guards. Everyone lay prone or supine, struggling to get up.

A cold and biting wind howled through the hall. Stinging ice flakes pelted their skin like tiny sling-stones. Ariel and Rapunzel looked back at the doorway, squinting into the wind.  

She stood in silhouette, then stepped into the room. Her pale blue dress had become paler, and now had shoulder pads of ice spikes. Hair that was once ashen white had darkened to deep blonde. Most noticeable was the popping violet of her eyeshadow and lipstick. But her eyes--arctic blue with pinhole pupils--stared into their souls with unfeeling antipathy.

"Elsa?" Rapunzel asked.

Ansel stood up. She turned her gaze to him.

"I am here to take back my kingdom," Elsa said.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 33) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 33: The Resistance

"Watch out for the fire. Don't touch," Olaf said as he picked up a torch.

The tunnel's upward incline told them they were heading north into Arendelle's mountain range. Thanks to the reflective ice on the walls, the single torch kept the tunnel well lit.

As they walked, Olaf explained how he came to be guarding the door. "So then they told me to go stand guard at the door. I guess they've got it all cleaned up now. But the noodles might be stuck there."

No one could get a word in edgewise as Olaf rattled through whatever came to mind.

"I still think we need a catchy name. I even thought of a few, like the 'ice guys'. Or the 'cold warriors'. How do you like that one?"

"But who, Olaf? Who is leading the resistance?" Rapunzel asked.

"We're here."

The endless tunnel tapered into a small alcove. Only Olaf could fit without ducking. "Can you push this up? My arms have trouble."

The three of them pushed on a sheet of wood in the ceiling. Powdery snow sprinkled on them as light filtered through.

The air was thin, dry, and crisp. The three of them stood on top of the world, surrounded by mountains like Earth's lords.

"Watch out, I'm throwing up!" Olaf shouted.

Olaf's head popped out of the hole, landing next to them. His other two body parts followed. He quickly reassembled himself.

"What is..." Flynn turned around. A gigantic castle of blue ice stood before him, embedded in the mountain's peak. Flynn's jaw dropped. "That... is one large castle."

"Another snow queen special," Olaf said. "It's the perfect place to plan a secret rebellion."

Olaf knocked five times on the gigantic double doors. The mountains echoed as the doors unlatched.

A giant snow golem, as high as the double doors, stood in the doorway. Icicles jutted out of its shoulders and back, adding to his scowl.

Flynn swallowed.

Olaf said, "Hi, Marshmallow! These are new members. This is Rapunzel, Ariel, and I didn't get his name but he rides flynns."

Rapunzel stepped forward. "We're friends of Elsa and Anna's. We want to help."

The golem said nothing. It growled and stepped aside.

The bustle of activity echoed against the smooth walls the ice castle. People carried buckets, bundles of wood, and other supplies. Others were mending clothes or crafting tools. There was an odd trilling too, made by hundreds of little snowmen skittering around the castle floor. Each had a smile that was half-adorable, half-terrifying.

"Oh my god, they're breeding," Flynn said.

"No," Olaf chided. "These are my brothers. This one's Sludge, and this is Slush, and Slide and Hansel and Flake and Fridge and Flurry and Powder and Crystal and Squall and Pat and Sverre and William and-"

"It's a... it's a whole new species." Flynn grabbed Rapunzel by the shoulders. "Does anyone realize that? This is a civilization of people made from snow. Can anything get a reaction out of you?"

"Elsa already told me about this. She had a bad cold once, before her powers were totally under control. Every time she sneezed, these little guys would appear. She sent them all up here to live with Marshmallow."

"The big guy," Ariel said, while tickling one of the snowgies under its chin.

Flynn wiped his forehead. "Of course. The giant snow monster is named Marshmallow. And he's on our side. That's great."

"What's going on? I heard the door open." A man with nappy blond hair and a stocking cap appeared at the stairway railing. "Rapunzel! Ariel! You're back!" He turned behind. "Sven! Look who it is!"

A large bull reindeer poked its head over the side of the railing. Its eyes brightened and its tongue hung out like a dog's.

"Is that a reindeer?" Flynn asked. "Because of course. Why not a reindeer?"

Kristoff came down and hugged the two of them. Rapunzel introduced her husband as Flynn Rider. "But if he gets out of line, you can call him Eugene."

"Welcome to the resistance," Kristoff said.

"You did all this?" Ariel asked.

Kristoff nodded proudly. "The tunnel was the hard part. But the castle was too perfect not to use. Ansel doesn't know about it."

"What about these guys?" Flynn nudged away a little snowman nuzzling his boot.

"The snowgies? We're trying to train them, but they're pretty wild. Luckily, they'll do anything for cake." Kristoff reached into his pocket and pulled out handful of crumbs.

The little snowmen froze and turned their beady eyes.

Kristoff held the cake to the left. Hundreds of black eyes followed. He shifted it to the right. They followed. He tossed the cake into the middle of the crowd. The snowgies climbed over each other to get a taste, like puppies diving for a treat.

"The problem is this palace didn't come with a kitchen. And we can't make a fire for... obvious reasons." Kristoff shrugged. "But my family's here. They agreed to help. And others from Arendelle. There's so many we had to convert the throne room into a command center. We've got a supply room, infirmary, barracks, an armory--although that's not very big right now. There's not much access to supplies besides what we can sneak through. We could really use Elsa's help for that. Where is she?"

"She... we don't know," Ariel said. "She's missing."

Kristoff's face dropped. "Missing? Anna's not going to like that."

"She's here? I thought she was imprisoned in the castle," Rapunzel said.

"She escaped. The old 'bedsheets-out-the-window' routine. She said she used to do it all the time when the northern lights were bright. Elsa and her would sneak out and climb a tree to watch."

Kristoff led them up the stairs to the back of the castle. Without decorations or color, every room looked much the same. It was beautiful--full of crystalline shimmer and prismatic beauty--but all the same.

In the throne room, a young woman hunched over a map on the floor, measuring something with a ruler. Ariel and Rapunzel thought she was a stranger. Gone were her trademark braids and make-up. Instead, she wore a tight ponytail and woolen clothes with fur ruffs.

"Kristoff, I said I'm working on this. Stop distracting me."

"Anna?" Ariel asked.

Anna looked up. Her face softened. "Rapunzel! Ariel!" She clambered to her feet and tackled them in a hug. "Where's Elsa? Is she with you?"

Ariel and Rapunzel glanced at each other.

"Is she..." Anna's lower lip trembled.

"She's not dead," Rapunzel said.

"We don't think," Ariel added. "It's a long story."

"I like stories," Olaf said as he toddled in.

Anna sat cross-legged on the floor. "Tell me everything."

It took hours to recount what happened after the blockade and the return to Corona. Anna gasped at learning of Ravir's self-exile and leaned forward at the library fire. Meeting Arcius took a great deal of explanation and backtracking, which was understandable.

Rapunzel and Ariel had agreed ahead of time to fictionalize their moments under the sea. The important part was the bottle that led them to Lowther's domain. Anna's disgust at their description of his lifestyle needed no interpretation. But she rejoiced when learning about their retaliation. Except the end. Because that involved Elsa's last act--casting a protective dome of ice over them as the castle crumbled.

"And when we broke through, she was gone. We found her footprints walking away, so we know she was okay."

"How long were you in there?" Anna asked.

"I have no idea. It was pitch black and constantly rumbling. I might have passed out and not known it," Ariel said.

"Why hasn't Arcius tried to contact you? Or kidnap you?" Kristoff asked. "He needs you to complete his plan. And he doesn't sound like the kind of guy to take no for an answer."

"Maybe we're really good at hiding," Ariel said.

"You know, Pabbie might know something about this grain of time. He's old. Not as old as the world, but still pretty old."

"Let me guess. Pabbie's a snowman too?" Flynn asked.

"Of course not. He's a rock troll," Kristoff said.

"And his grandfather," Rapunzel added.

"Grandfather rock troll. Sure, why not. Makes perfect sense. Sounds fine," Flynn said.

Anna was shaking her head. "Kristoff. We both agreed we weren't going to try a rescue mission. He told us not to."

"Rescue mission?" Ariel asked.

"That was before Rapunzel and Ariel arrived," Kristoff responded.

"Wait, what's going on?" Rapunzel asked.

Anna gave Kristoff a look. "Ansel heard about the Valley of the Living Rock. He marched in. We managed to get everyone out. But they got Pabbie. He used his magic to hold them off."

"Is he still alive?" Ariel asked.

"Our inside sources say he is," Kristoff said.

"How would you even kill him? A chisel?" Flynn asked.

Kristoff didn't look amused. "They haven't killed him, but that means they want him for something. Either information or his magic or ransom to get at the resistance."

Ariel stood up. "We've got to bust him out of there."

"How?" Kristoff asked. "We're nowhere close to the manpower we need to attack the castle."

"You don't need to attack. You need an infiltration. You can't overtake them, so you undertake them."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Kristoff asked.

"That..." She looked down at the map. "I need a little time to figure out."

"I can help," Flynn said. "Sneaking around castles is my thing."

Olaf jumped up. "I'll get the cocoa!" He toddled off. "A little hot cocoa always helps you think."

On hands and knees, Ariel studied the map of the castle and surrounding area. Kristoff hovered over her, pointing out what she needed to know. Flynn squatted next to them, making suggestions.

Anna pulled Rapunzel aside. "Hey, I missed you," she said.

"I missed you too," Rapunzel said.

Anna tugged into the hallway, where they were alone. "So after you left, I found out what the people asked you. About you... becoming queen."

Rapunzel's eyebrows shot up. "Anna, I'm sorry. I never said anything to make them-"

"No, no, listen, it's all right. I understand why they did it. I'm not... I'm not like my sister. I'm not good at the whole ruling thing."

"That's not true," Rapunzel said. "You're driven and protective. They believe in your guidance. You're a great queen."

"That's sweet of you to say. But we both know you're a better one. I'm kind of scatterbrained. I hate schedules. I can't make big decisions."

"But what about this?" She gestured to the palace. "You're organizing an army to take down that dictator. The people of Arendelle are lucky they have someone who cares about them so much."

"That's for now," Anna said. "What about when it's over? What happens when it goes back to the day-to-day schedule. Just studying one law proclamation takes me all day. I can't make speeches--I'd trip on the way to the podium. What kind of queen is that? What I'm saying is... If Elsa doesn't come back, and you want to take the offer, I'd understand."

"Anna... I can't... I mean... what would you even do?"

Anna shrugged. "Live somewhere else. Maybe Kristoff could teach me how to be an ice harvester. Could travel the world. And there's other kingdoms and duke... doms... what do you call them? Duke-places? Dukeries?"

"What about your dynasty? Your titles? You'd just throw it away like that?"

"You know I'd rather be living with people than controlling them. Arendelle needs someone like you. Now more than ever. What I'm saying is, I wouldn't stand in your way."

Anna's eyes were sincere. She had learned things about herself in the time of their separation. Everything that had happened had made them take a hard look at themselves and their futures. Anna wasn't doing this because it was easy, but because it was right.

Rapunzel coughed. "Um, Kristoff said you had an infirmary. I assume that means you have some wounded?"

Anna nodded. "I'll take you to them."

The two of them walked into the hallway. Side-by-side but not together.

Ariel sipped her cocoa without realizing only sludge remained at the bottom. Instead, she tipped the mug back and downed it.

"Whoever designed this castle was smart," she said.

"It's part of the reason Arendelle's endured so long," Flynn said. "There are guard towers here, here, and here. And it doesn't help that the castle's surrounded on three sides by water. I mean, I know it works out for the castle..."

"The walls are too sheer to climb. Best we could do is launch a small assault squad, but I don't know the castle's defenses. And I don't want to attack our own people," Kristoff said.

"We can't help it. No matter what we're going to be attacking Arendelle people," Flynn said.

"But we can't tell who's on Ansel's side and who's just doing their job guarding the castle," Kristoff said.

"I don't want to get into a fight either. They can destroy us easily. The trident's powerful, but it's not that powerful," Ariel said. "But that's not the mission right now. The mission is to rescue Pabbie. Not to take back the castle. Not to attack anyone."

"I suppose there's always the old 'hide in a barrel' and pretend you're a delivery."

Kristoff shook his head. "Everything's opened and inspected before it goes past the doors. Ansel already thought of that one."

"What if you get a job? Apply to be a cook," Flynn said.

"The longer you're in the castle, the more chance you have of being caught," Kristoff said.

Ariel couldn't help but nod. She stared at the map, willing some alternative to come to her. This wasn't her land. It wasn't her castle. What did she know that would help?

"Elsa told me she broke out of one of the prison cells. Where was that?"

"Here." Kristoff stuck his thick finger on one side of the castle facing the fjord. "In the lower level."

"Was that ever repaired?"

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 32) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 32: Follow the Flakes

The dockworker stood where they would have lowered the gangplank, blocking their path.

"Welcome to Arendelle. May I see your permit please?"

"Permit?" Flynn asked.

The dockworker tapped his foot. He wore a domed helmet with a nose guard. As far as Rapunzel could see, all the dockworkers had been replaced by royal sentries. They paced up and down the shoreline with sharp spears.

"All ships need to have writ of consent from one of the allied kingdoms before being granted dock."

Rapunzel whispered to Ariel. "That's new."

"We can't allow in a potential risk, if your kingdom is not part of Arendelle's axis of compatriots. These are tumultuous times. What flag do you sail under?"

"Look, it's just me, my wife, and..." Flynn pondered Ariel's role, "my sister. We're a trade ship."

"Trade ship?" The guard looked behind him. "What are all those guns and cannons for?"

"That's... that's what we're trading. Do you need any? Can never be too careful in these tumultuous times."

"Do you have an arrangement with a specific guild?" the guard asked.

"A guild? Ah, sure. The guild of..."

"Here." Ariel held the folded up flag from the mercenaries. She threw it down to him. "Our buyer said to show you this. He said we'd be greeted as friends."

The guard fingered the material as if he expected it to fall apart. "Hm, this is a sanctioned banner. Still, this is all a bit suspicious."

Rapunzel whispered in Flynn's ear. "Do the smolder."

"What?" Flynn whispered back. "But it's a guy."

"Just do it. Trust me."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "All right," he sighed. "Here it comes." He propped one knee on the railing and gazed down. "Hey." His eyebrows knitted together. Lips puckered and pursed. His voice dropped to low and soothing. "I understand. You gotta be careful. If more kingdoms cared this much, there'd be less to worry about. And, may I say, that leather armor really compliments your shoulders."

The guard grew a bemused expression. "All right, you can dock."

Rapunzel and Ariel lowered the gangplank while Flynn cocked his eyebrow, confused.

"Thank you, sir," Rapunzel said to him as they passed. "Have a good day."

Once they passed by, Flynn whispered to Rapunzel, "How did you know?"

"Women's intuition," Rapunzel said.

The situation only worsened the further they went into town. Partisan-holding soldiers walked the streets in pairs, wearing armor with the insignia and colors of the new empire. Occasionally, a coach passed down the street. Not a friendly caravan, but a black, square coach with gilded edges, pulled by a war horse.

"Hey."

Across the street, one of the gendarme shouted at a citizen. "Pick up that can." He pointed his spear at the ground.

The old woman in the grubby wool cloak snatched it up. "Sorry, I just dropped it."

The guard grimaced. Rapunzel noticed soldiers with crossbows lurking on rooftops, observing the exchange. Townspeople darted across streets, huddled under awnings, and avoided anyone's gaze.

Their mouths dropped when reached the town square. It was devoid of people, but full of stocks and pillories. No one was in them, but it did its job of scaring the populace.

"This is awful," she said.

"I know," Flynn said. "It's worse than what I imagined."

"What should we do? Where should we go?" Ariel asked.

"The castle. I am the cousin of the rightful queen and Ansel's superior," Rapunzel said.

Flynn caught up to her as she took off. "Wait, wait. Are you sure that's a good idea? His seat of power's already got an indentation of his butt. It's going to take more than a stern talking-to for him to give it up."

Two guards stood in front of the iron-wrought poles, while others around the boundaries patrolled or watched.

"What do you want?" the guard asked.

"I demand to see Commander Ansel."

"Yeah, right. Take off, love," he said.

Rapunzel fluffed out her hair to make sure he noticed. She couldn't believe he didn't recognize her. "I am Ansel's commander-in-chief and cousin to Queen Elsa."

"Come off it. You don't look a bit like her."

Rapunzel pursed her lips. Hadn't Ansel told anyone to look out for a waify blond with seventy-foot long hair?

"Commander Ansel will recognize me, if you just let him-"

"She's brunette and you're blond. Unless that's a wig. Ridiculous wig, though. Hey, Hemming. Check out this girl's hair."

"What's she wearing? A stalk of wheat?" Hemming answered from his guard post.

"I know, right." He turned back to her. "All right, cutie, take off. You're wasting my time."

"I am not leaving until-"

Flynn grabbed her shoulders as the guard's scowl deepened. "I'm sorry, sir. My sister's a little addled. Likes playing pretend. Thanks for humoring her." He steered Rapunzel across the street, around the corner of a building.

"Did that go as well as you expected?" Flynn asked.

"We should be happy we weren't arrested," Ariel said. "Hasn't Ansel declared us public enemy number one, two, and three?"

"Maybe he's been too busy," Flynn said. "He's sending ships to every corner of the sea. He wants to make sure he's recognized."

"Or he never expected us to walk up to his front door," Ariel finished. "So we've got that going for us. What else can we do? Sneak in? Wait for him to come out?"

Rapunzel was still grousing. Until, across the street, a familiar face walked by.

"Augie!" She ran across the street.

"Who?" Flynn asked.

An old man in a blue coat perked up. "My dear lady. I never thought I'd see you again." They held hands. "It's a wonder to see your shining face. Much needed in these dark times."

"What happened?" Rapunzel asked. "How did it get like this? What happened after we left?"

"Oh, it was bad. I mean, yes, they drove away the blockade. Princess Anna did a boffo job of keeping them guessing until Ansel's ships arrived. Once they saw Corona's flag they high-tailed it out of there. Not a shot was fired."

"That's good," Ariel said.

"Don't relax yet," Augie said. "They asked permission to come ashore for a long-term stay. He says he wants to help Arendelle with the winter, keep it protected. Ansel set himself up in the castle, directing his men, sitting in on meetings with the minister of defense. But days go by and he's acting more and more like he owns the place. A few orders this day, a few more the next. To people he doesn't even have authority over."

"Why did they listen?" Rapunzel asked. "Didn't Anna say anything?"

"He slid in so slickly. And I think she was grateful for the help. But then one night, there's a fire in the bakery. There's a riot--people are stealing all the bread they can before it burns. They're hungry, you know."

Rapunzel nodded.

"But Ansel says this is what happens when you let people suffer for so long. That they're inviting a revolution. The longer they take inaction, the bloodier the castle's walls will be. So he declares martial law."

Ariel raised her eyebrows. "Anna would never allow that."

"She tried not to. There was a big fight in the throne room. At the end, Ansel orders his men to detain Anna in her room. Says she's responsible for letting Arendelle get this bad. She's no longer fit for the crown and he's taking over."

"Then the war starts," Ariel said. "Corona versus Arendelle. Arendelle versus my kingdom. My kingdom versus Corona."

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced." Flynn extended his hand. "Hi, Flynn Rider."

Augie squinted. "Are you sure? You look like that new prince in Corona. What's his name? Eugenia Pitzfervert or something?"

"He's my husband," Rapunzel interjected. To Flynn, "Augie's the royal astronomer for Arendelle."

"Was," Augie corrected. "They kicked me out as soon as Ansel took over. First thing he did was eliminate anyone without combat training. There's nothing but soldiers in there now. Recruited half the town into military ranks."

"Where is Anna? Is she still in the castle?" Rapunzel asked.

"I suppose. Imprisoned in her room, as far as I know. Ansel keeps saying she can stand by his side when she's ready to accept the responsibility of a leader."

"If she was dead, he'd be showing off her body," Flynn said. "He'd want to prove the old rulers are dead to cement his hold on the throne."

"And to brag about it," Augie added. "He built a pulpit in front of the castle gates. Makes speeches every day. Talks about how the old monarchy was weak. Promises to rid Arendelle of this icy plague even if they have to take the town apart timber by timber."

"I don't know what to do," Rapunzel said. "They refused me entrance at the castle. Didn't know who I was. And Elsa's missing. I thought she might have come back to Arendelle, but..."

"We're three people against an army," Flynn said.

Augie nodded. "You are not alone. There are others helping." He looked around for anyone eavesdropping. "See this?"

He pointed at the other end of the alley. There was a marking near the ground--a jagged snowflake in blue chalk.

"Rumors abound that there's a resistance building. And this is their symbol. That's all there is right now--rumors," Augie said.

"How can we find them?" Ariel asked. "They've got to be looking for recruits."

"No one knows. Either they're good at keeping secrets or they're not interested. Could all be hopeful dreaming from the people. But I've seen soldiers wiping away the marks when they see them."

"So they must believe they're out there," Ariel said.

Rapunzel stroked her chin. "If they believe, maybe they know more about them than we do. We could ask... but we'd have to be sneaky about it."

"Excuse me," Flynn interrupted. "But did someone say 'sneaky'?"

By order of Lord Protector Ansel, the "Mossy Stone" had become an outpost for the city's soldiers. Of course, Ansel had paid the owner a fair fee for its lease and goods. But that didn't make the people happy that one of their watering holes was now a military installation.

The interior still looked like a bar, although all the liquor and foodstuffs had been removed, to prevent temptation. It was meant to provide shelter for soldiers trading shifts, to store arms, and hold detainees.

Gustav and Teodor were playing cards on one of the tables. They were the only two inside, and had been for hours. Until the door opened.

"Boy, rough shift today. Rough shift," the man entering said. He wore a full uniform with helmet. "Those Arendelle airheads don't appreciate what we're doing for them. They might gripe about us, but are thieves roaming the streets? No, of course not. So what are they complaining about, I say."

Gustav and Teodor glanced up. Usually the first thing a soldier on break would do was sit, put their feet up, and wish the pub was still stocked.

"Yeah, guess so," Gustav said.

"Haven't thought about it," Teodor added.

"And how about that resistance, huh?" he continued. "You see those snowflakes all around. Frustrating, isn't it? I've had to wipe away seven of them already today."

Gustav shrugged. "Not a big deal."

"I've only seen two myself," Teodor said. "And I didn't bother cleaning them off."

"But they must be doing all kinds of nasty things." The helmeted soldier pulled out a chair, turned it backwards, and straddled it next to them. "Like that one time... uh... you know that one time?"

"What one time?" Gustav asked.

"That big thing that they did recently. You know."

Gustav and Teodor gave him blank stares. "I haven't heard anything. Lieutenant's never mentioned it in his briefings."

"All I know is they like putting pretty snowflakes on buildings." Teodor laughed.

"Still, defacing our fair city. Our city we work so hard to keep clean. I wish I could head to the stockade and thrash the ones we got," the soldier said.

"We captured one of them?"

"Oh... we haven't caught any of them yet," the soldier said.

"Not as far as I know," Gustav said, placing a card.

"I bet there's someone who knows something. Do we know of any resistance sympathizers? I bet we could go interrogate them," the soldier said.

Gustav scoffed. "You want to? Be my guest. Standing orders are to make sure we keep good relations with the people."

"We want them to get used to us. We're going to be here a long time," Teodor said.

"But that just means we have to crack down. Find their base of operations, what they're planning. Slink into every rat hole and dustbin they might be hiding in."

Gustav regarded him. "Why haven't you taken your helmet off? Aren't you off duty?"

"Oh... I am... I mean, I'm not. I just stopped in to pee. Gotta go." He scattered off his chair and backed toward the door. "Go Ansel." He raised his fist in the air before he shut the door.

"Did he even pee?" Gustav asked.

Teodor shrugged. "Are you going to put a card down?"

Ariel asked, "Well?"

Flynn took off his helmet, now safe in the alley. Ariel had been keeping watch while Rapunzel knelt on the ground, scrutinizing one of the snowflakes.

"Those guys are iron tight," Flynn replied. "Couldn't get much out of them. Luckily, they don't know much either. They don't have any in custody and they don't know any members or sympathizers."

Ariel suppressed a sarcastic smirk. Flynn walked over to Rapunzel, who hadn't taken her eyes off the marking.

"What's the matter, honey? You fall in love with the wall?"

Rapunzel huffed. "There's a snowflake here. And there's one over there." She pointed to the corner of the next block. "Why are they so close together?"

"They want people to notice, to be inspired to fight back. They're spreading the word," Flynn said.

"If they wanted to spread the word, wouldn't it be more spread?" She hugged her arms and tapped her foot. "If there really is a resistance, there's got to be some way to get in touch with them. But they can't make it obvious or they'd be caught."

"Are they exactly the same?" Ariel asked. "They say no two snowflakes are alike."

Rapunzel perked up. She zipped into the next alley, then dropped to her knees and studied that snowflake.

"Ariel, you're the best!" She rose and ran further down the street. Flynn and Ariel sprinted behind her.

Rapunzel slid in the street and followed the path down to a lamppost. A small blue snowflake was painted on the base.

"What? What did you find?" Flynn asked.

"This isn't just a snowflake. It's a compass," Rapunzel said. She pointed to a thorny congregation on the snowflake's six arms. "See this? It changes on each one. It's the direction we're supposed to go."

"I never would have figured that out," Ariel said.

Flynn smiled. "Comes from all that art."

The three of them followed the symbols all over the city. At points, they got lost, or so they thought. But a little backtracking led them to the signpost they needed. The trail wound a loop around the town square and soon they were heading out of the city. Flat land became bumpy hills.

The three of them, huffing and puffing, climbed upward. If they turned around, they could see the kingdom spread out below.

"Are you sure... this is where... we're supposed to go?" Ariel asked between gasps.

"Should've packed my mittens," Flynn said.

"Look!" Rapunzel shouted, pointing to a pine tree. A snowflake had been inscribed on its bark. "We're still going the right way. We're heading to this..."

Her finger tracked from the pine tree to a small cave, hidden by the snow. They had to stoop to enter, though the cave ceiling was tall enough for them to stand.

No tunnels or passageways, but there was door at the other end. A door made entirely of ice.

Rapunzel walked up and knocked. The doorknob was locked. Ariel pressed her ear against it, cupping it with her hands to protect from the cold. After a few seconds, they heard singing. Whoever was on the other side was happy, judging by the tune.

Rapunzel knocked again, louder. The singing got closer. A window slid open, but only showed darkness.

"Hi. What's the password, please?" asked a jolly voice.

"Olaf?" Rapunzel asked. "Olaf, is that you?"

The voice on the other side chuckled. "Nope. Olaf-olaf-is-that-you's not it. Wanna try again?"

"Olaf, it's me, Rapunzel."

"Rapunzel? Hi! What are you doing out there? Ooh, do you know the password? I can't let you in without a password."

"I didn't know there was one." Rapunzel said. "How do I get it?"

"You know, I'm not sure. Someone just told me."

"You could tell us," Ariel said.

"Oh yeah. It's... Oh no, that's how I got tricked last time. No, you have to say it."

"Can't you give us a hint?" Rapunzel asked.

Flynn, rubbing his shoulders, approached the door. "Look, we don't have time for these games. It's freezing out here. I'm turning into a snowman."

"Snowman! That's it! See, you did know it."

The door clicked. It opened, revealing Olaf's goofy smiling face.

"Olaf!" Rapunzel knelt and embraced the little snowman. Not too hard, lest she crush his body parts.

"Rapunzel!" Olaf said. "I knew it was you. Are you coming to join the resistance? It's a really cool club. We don't have t-shirts yet, but I'm working on designs."

"Uh, that is a talking snowman," Flynn said. "Does... does anyone else see this?"

Rapunzel clucked her tongue. "Really, Eugene, I think he knows he's a snowman. You don't need to point it out."

"It's just... when I... the magic hair, I knew, but... this is a... how did?"

"Elsa made him," Rapunzel replied. "Didn't you know she could do that?"

"The ice... yeah, but... I mean, this is a... She can create living things? Out of snow? How did?"

"Sweetie..." Rapunzel tapped Flynn's face gently. "You're so cute when you're astonished." She followed Olaf through the door.

Flynn stood stunned at the door. Ariel sidled up to him.

"By the way, I'm really a mermaid. Just so you know," she said as she passed by.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 31) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 31: The Right Friends

There was no noise. The bangs and booms had ceased. The ground no longer vibrated.

"Unh, come on," Ariel said. She jabbed her trident at a point near the dome's ceiling, chipping at the ice. A blast of lightning in these tight quarters could be disastrous.

Rapunzel sat against the wall. The passing time, the muffled silence, didn't bother her. The image of Elsa did. She hugged her knees as ice chips spattered her cheeks.

Ariel felt all three tines embed, instead just of the center point. "I think we're almost there."

Three more digs and a beam of light appeared. Ariel scraped against the aperture. Rapunzel pulled away the loose rocks.

It was daylight all right. They could see trees and hear birds.

"How did we get outside?" Ariel asked. "Did we teleport?"

Rapunzel knew the answer, but said nothing while Ariel hacked into the loose hole. One final blow excavated enough space to push out their thin frames.

Ariel gripped each side of the hole, pushed out her head, then her whole body. Weaving through portholes of sunken ships had prepared her for this. She tumbled onto grassy ground.

"Where's the castle?" Ariel asked.

"It's gone," Rapunzel said.

All around them lay a forest clearing. Thick, powdery snow covered the tall grass, like a patch of arctic in the middle of a forest. No trace of the castle remained.  

"Elsa! Elsa, where are you?" Rapunzel shouted.

"Elsa!" Ariel shouted. "Elsa!"

"Ariel, she might have... she was in the castle at the time."

"If she saved us, she could have saved herself," Ariel replied.

They searched, spiraling out from the center. As they got closer to the edge, the sad reality ebbed in. Elsa could have protected herself, but didn't. The power had taken over. She had been so single-minded, she'd forgotten her own self.

Ariel poked the ground with her trident. Something underneath the snow was glowing.

"What's that?" Rapunzel asked.

"The morimema," Ariel said. It lay in the snow, now dull blue instead of pink, on the remains of its glass case. "I guess it's all that remains of Lowther now." She placed it in her pocket. "It must have been the only thing not made with Lowther's magic, so it stayed when he..."

Rapunzel reached the edge where only pebbles lay on snowy grass. Where Lowther's illusion ended, so did the snow. "Ariel, we can't stay here looking. We've got-"

"No, look!" Ariel pointed to the ground. "Footprints. In the snow."

"It must be her. They're too small to be a man's." Rapunzel laughed and hugged Ariel. "She's still alive!"

Side by side, they followed the footsteps north into the forest. All they had to follow were the direction of the footsteps, which ended when the snow did.

Hours passed while they called out "Elsa! Elsa!" But no answer. No sign of her passing, no ice on the trees. They didn't dare rest, for hope they could catch up to her.

Ariel remembered--from studying the map--there was nothing much in this direction but a small, rarely-used pier.

"She's going where I had the Barefoot Maiden dropped off," Ariel said. "I bet that's what she's heading for."

"She can't sail it without us, can she?" Rapunzel said.

Ariel shrugged.

Through the trees, they could see the ocean, along with the orange, pink, and red hues of sunset. And still no Elsa.

Rapunzel kicked a rock. "This is getting too frustrating. Nothing is going our way. Everyone we meet is trying to kill us. Your own kingdom, even," she said to Ariel. "And now Elsa's disappeared. Or something's happened to her. And we have no one we can turn to. No friends."

"We don't need a lot of friends," Ariel replied. "Just the right ones."

"Everywhere we turn, there's something new trying to attack us or stop us. What's going to be next?"

Their last steps brought them out onto the low cliffside before the pier. A boat was definitely docked there--a giant battleship. Its bow shadowed them, like the chest of a giant.

A group of naval soldiers walked up the gnoll towards them. Upon sight, they unshouldered their muskets and aimed. "Hold!"

Ariel and Rapunzel stood there dumbfounded.

Someone on deck shouted down. "What ho?" He had highly decorated lapels.

"A lucky find. Look now."

"Blast me..." he said. "Bring them on board."

Half the soldiers held their rifles while the others readied the rope. Were they mercenaries? Pirates?

They dragged Ariel and Rapunzel, bound and gagged, up the gangplank and on board the galleon. Other crewmembers gathered to see the commotion.

"Well, well, well," the captain said. "Here we are, waiting to prey on any passing ship. And who do we come upon but the two biggest enemies of the state. I would not dare calculate the chances of this. But a sailor knows not to question good fortune."

Rapunzel asked "What are you talking about?" but went ignored.

"Prepare the brig, sir?" one of the sailors asked.

"No. Execution. Immediately."

The deck murmured with mixed delight and surprise.

"Sir," one of the men said. Instead of a uniform, he wore a grease-stained apron with a saucepan hanging off his belt. An equally greasy handkerchief covered his grubby face. "Wouldn't it make more sense to bring them back alive? As hostages? We could use them for negotiations."

"As long as they still live, they have the chance of escape. I will not preserve them for the sake of my ego or to curry favor. Their bodies will earn all the accolades we need."

"What about that blonde one? They say she's got magic hair. Make ye live forever."

"Irrelevant. I'm not going to make a tactical mistake because of base greed. Too many have made the same mistake--they failed to use the opportunity when it came. Their pride or avarice got in the way." He turned to the others. "If he speaks again, stab him." To his lieutenants with guns, "Men, stand at attention."

Four men situated themselves in the middle of the deck. The ones holding Ariel and Rapunzel backed away and rejoined the crowd.

The captain unsheathed his sword and held it upright. "Ready!"

As the soldiers cocked their guns, Rapunzel looked for the man in the apron. He was their only advocate, plus something was familiar about him. But he had disappeared in the crowd.

"Aim!" The rifles dropped. Four empty black holes stared at them. Ariel squealed.

Rapunzel located the cook climbing up the rigging to the crow's nest. No one noticed him--all eyes were on the impending execution. Halfway up, he yanked a kitchen knife from his pocket and cut a rope.

"Fire!"

The cook swung down with the knife in his teeth as the word was spoken. He launched into all four, knocking them down like dominoes. The shots went wild. Two splintered the wood behind them.

The deck erupted into chaos. The cook rushed over and cut through their bonds. "Who are you?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, that's a fine greeting," he said. "I mean, granted, this is a good disguise, but not that good. It's the nose, isn't it? The handkerchief hides the nose."

"Eugene?"

The crewmen helped the soldiers to their feet.  

"Traitor!" The captain pointed his sword. "Who are you? Talk and your death will be... less slow."

The man pulled his handkerchief off. "Why, you are in the presence of the one and only Flynn Rider. The finest rogue and magsman in the country."

The crewmen stared at him. "I thought his nose was different."

"Yeah, bigger."

"And more crooked."

The captain growled. "Kill them!" He thrust his sword in the air.

"Well, don't just stand there." Flynn handed Rapunzel a frying pan from behind his back. "'The smolder' won't work on these guys."

Flynn blocked the captain's overhead swing with his kitchen knife.

Two approached Rapunzel. They stepped in the loops of hair spooled around the deck. She grabbed a chunk and yanked. The loops tightened, pulling their feet out from under.

Ariel pulled out her trident. She spun the blunt end forward and socked one in the stomach. Another behind her back held up a cutlass over her head. She executed a 270-degree turn, whipping the end of her staff into his side. He whimpered, then crumbled into a ball.

But now her back was to most of her attackers. The nearest, she thrust her pole down. Its pointed ends jabbed into one of the sailor's boots. His eyes spun as he yelped with pain.

Ariel checked on Rapunzel. She was keeping the others on the ship from engaging with Flynn and the captain. It was all she could do to keep them away.

Someone sprinted towards her, cutlass outstretched to run her through. "Rapunzel! On your left!"

Rapunzel quick-stepped to the side and banged his head with the frying pan. He tripped and fell into a barrel. She gave a thumbs-up to Ariel.

Someone threw a metal bucket. Rapunzel smacked it with the pan, returning their serve. It wedged onto the thrower's head so hard it stuck. She glanced back at Flynn.

"I should have known you were a spy," the captain said as metal clanged.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. I've been doing this for years." Flynn parried another blow.

"You think you can win with a chef's knife?"

"You'd be surprised how handy kitchen utensils can be."

The captain grimaced, then followed with a flurry of determined slashes.

Flynn backed up against the railing, defending against the jabs. The tip of the captain's sword slashed his wrist. Flynn lost grip on the kitchen knife, which fell over the side.

The captain pointed his sword at Flynn's heart. "And now, miscreant, the die is cast."

KA-BONG.

The captain's head shivered. His body tensed. He fell to the side, slumped into unconsciousness. Rapunzel stood behind him, holding her frying pan.

"You mean 'cast iron'," she said. She reached out to help Flynn up.

"Thanks, Blondie. We should tally up who's saved who the most, just to make sure we're even."

"They say keeping score is bad in a marriage," she smiled.

A growl alerted them that the fight wasn't over yet. The remaining crew members were closing in on them.

"Guys!" Ariel shouted from above. She was halfway up the main mast, holding onto the rigging with one hand. The trident in her other hand gleamed. "Hang on to something."

Rapunzel and Flynn grabbed the railing of the ship for dear life.

Ariel pointed the trident into the ocean, off the side of the ship. The ethereal charge reached a pinnacle and a single gold beam shot into the water. Water rose like a tide at the impact point. At the same time, the opposite side lowered. In seconds, the ship had tilted forty-five degrees and still climbing.

The crew, those who weren't unconscious, scrambled against gravity. The floor that was supposed to be horizontal had become vertical. Barrels and bodies knocked into most of them, sending them splashing into the ocean.

One last sailor managed to clamber onto the opposite railing. His legs kicked in the air, but he wouldn't let go.

Rapunzel scowled. She grabbed a tress of hair and spun it with a sharp thrust. It sailed up and wrapped around his leg. She tugged with all her might. The sailor let go. With arms and legs flailing, he splashed into the water like a cannonball.

Ariel ceased her magic, righting the ship steadily. Once everything was level, she jumped down from the netting.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked.

Rapunzel and Flynn were already hugging and kissing each other. Ariel rolled her eyes and smirked, a little embarrassed.

"What are you doing here?" Rapunzel playfully punched Flynn in the chest.

"Figures. I finally find my love and she doesn't know whether to kiss me or kill me." Flynn cocked his head at Ariel with a hint of roguish smolder. Ariel giggled.

That didn't stop Rapunzel. "How did you get here? Why are you dressed like that? Why are you on this ship?"

"I'm spying for Corona."

"As the ship's cook?" Rapunzel asked.

Flynn grinned. "Number one lesson for sneakery--no one questions the kitchen staff. Someone got too nosy, I just threw potatoes at them and threatened to serve moldy bread. Better than being recognized as His Royal Highness Prince of Corona."

"But why? What's happening in Corona? Did you figure out the library fire? Did Ansel return?"

Flynn sighed. "That's a long story."

"We need to get to Arendelle," Ariel said. "We lost Elsa. And Arendelle's the only place I can think to look for her."

"No problem." Flynn rubbed his hands together. "I know this ship like the back of my hand. Just find a comfortable cabin, ladies, and old Flynn Rider will do-"

"I got it." Ariel trotted to the back of the ship. She leaned over the side and pointed her trident into the water.

A moment later, the world leaned again, twisting to the left. Flynn and Rapunzel held onto each other for balance as the wooden boards creaked and groaned.

Once the ship faced the open ocean a sudden jerk swept them off their feet. The masts swayed as the ship burst forward.

"There," Ariel said. "Arendelle by morning, at this speed. Assuming we don't veer off course. Keep the prow true north and we shouldn't have much trouble. The anchor's weighed and the rigging line's secured. Watch that boom, it felt a little loose. Do you know if the oakum is holding?"

"Um... I... I can steer," Flynn said.

"Good," Ariel patted him on the back. "And let's remember to take the flag down this time."

"So here's what we know..."

Flynn adjusted the wheel to the left. Ariel leaned over the rail, watching the ocean pass by. Rapunzel helped her husband steer.

"When you left Arendelle, Prince Hans and the Duke and were still in the harbor. Then all of a sudden Commander Ansel comes over the horizon with half the Corona navy. Hans's navy skedaddles. Ansel makes it to shore. Big celebration. He stays docked in Arendelle a while, just to make sure they don't come back."

"Good thinking," Rapunzel said. "People would know the queen was gone before long. Anna could use the help."

"Yeah, except for the part where Anna's disappeared and Ansel's declared himself ruler of Arendelle."

"What? When did that happen?" Ariel asked.

"How did that happen?" Rapunzel asked.

"No one has any idea. They've been keeping their borders tight. All we know is, he's sending out diplomats and ambassadors to other countries, seeking aid and alliances. He's declaring himself Arendelle's new governor. And not under Corona's flag either. I think he saw an opportunity to conquer and he took it. Arendelle was weak, covered with snow, helpless."

"That dirty... I trusted him," Rapunzel stammered. She rubbed her forehead. "I told him everything about Arendelle's defenses. I spent hours going over the landscape with him. He must have walked in like he owned the place."

"It was a bloodless takeover. Calling himself Lord Protector, so it sounds less like an overthrow," Flynn said.

Rapunzel looked up, startled. "What happened to Anna? Is she-"

"Don't know," Flynn said. "He hasn't said either way. Just that he's instated himself."

Rapunzel wiped away tears. "I should have stayed. They were facing a war and I just left."

"Princess Anna was there, wasn't she?" Flynn asked.

"She... she's not... exactly..." Rapunzel sighed. "Look, I've got to confess something. While Elsa was gone, I took over most of Anna's duties. I formed the laws, made judgments, held meetings. And the people loved it. They loved it so much they asked me to be their queen."

"What?" Flynn said. "Are you serious?"

"They wanted me to usurp Elsa. For Corona to annex the country."

"Wasn't Anna their queen regent?" Flynn asked.

"She was. But... they think I'm better."

"What were you doing taking over her job?" Ariel asked.

"It wasn't my fault, I just sort of... slid into it. Anna was inconsolable when she thought Elsa was dead. She holed up in her room for days. Meanwhile Arendelle was still under having problems. Someone had to run the kingdom, and I was the queen's cousin."

"They really wanted Corona to take over?" Flynn asked. "Huh, they got their wish."

Rapunzel frowned. "Ansel no longer represents Corona. I would never tell him to conquer Arendelle. He's a traitor to the crown. As of this moment, I declare him an enemy of the state."

"I'd think twice before shouting that from the rooftops, blondie," Flynn said. "He's got a handful of countries backing him, and more he can call forward. Plus he's building up loyalty every day."

"We can't let him get away with this," Ariel said. "We can't let him bully his way into a kingdom that's not his."

"I don't know if it's bullying. The people weren't too happy with Elsa either." Rapunzel looked at her hands. "I mean, we know her. But there's been two unexpected winters in a year. And she controls the weather."

"But this wasn't her fault. And we can prove it," Ariel said.

"It doesn't change the way they feel. They think she's an emotionally unstable sorceress who can bury the town in blizzards. And people shouldn't be afraid of their leader. Between her and Anna, no one's confident in the royal family. And I was thinking... maybe they were right. I was thinking about doing it."

"What?" Flynn asked. "You mean become queen of Arendelle?"

"They were... When Anna had to step up she... She's a great person. She's bold and inspiring. She's always trying to make people laugh. But she doesn't like conflicts. I saw her make some bad decisions just to avoid a fight. Instead of reading documents, she took us horse-riding. Some people just aren't good at making hard choices or inspiring faith in people."

"So you want to take her place?" Ariel asked. "I thought I knew you. But you're just as bad as Ansel."

"No!" Rapunzel said. "I'm not trying to brag. I'm really not. But you weren't there. I saw the way they reacted when I stepped in the room."

Flynn shrugged. "She does have a point. People in Corona say she'll make an excellent queen. They've never seen anyone as kind-hearted or supportive."

"Does Anna know you were thinking about this?" Ariel asked.

Rapunzel shook her head. "Elsa returned before I had to make a decision. I didn't even tell Anna. I... I was too afraid to ask."

Ariel scoffed. "Because she would have said 'no'."

"No, because I was too afraid she would say 'yes'."

Ariel softened. She shirked back and looked over the ocean. Rapunzel, puffy-eyed and holding back sobs, stared at the opposite corner of the deck.

"What did you decide?" Ariel asked.

Rapunzel took a deep breath. Before she could answer, Flynn pointed straight ahead.

"Whoa, look at that."

They passed by a buoy, signaling the border of Arendelle's waters. The flag, instead of the violet crocus, was black and gold with a fist in the middle.

"Hold tight. We are definitely entering dangerous waters," Flynn said.