Deals with the devil. (Hades, closed)

[Rook]

This dank corner of the world smelled of sulfur. It was a pit where no light did shine and the strong darkness of corruption and evil held firm. Shadows crept as souls wandered. Denizens of the Underworld, bound to it's halls for eternity.

A corridor into the darkness billowed open, spilling umbra across the dirty cavern ground. And from it emerged a being who felt as home in this hellish nightmare as he did in the throne of his castle.

Ansem did not stop. He did not hesitate. He stepped from the corridor as though he not only belonged, but controlled this place. Not even the mighty Cerebus could break his stride this day. The World Heart of the Caribbean was now his, added to his victories. Things were going to plan for his Dark XII, but now the situation called for something else.

Diplomacy.

He was well-versed in his own dealings. He knew how to pull at the strings of darkness in one's heart as though it were a marionette, he had long held that power. But it there was one dent in his presence here today, it was that he had only dealt in fair trade on few occasions.

He thought of sending a Shadow to do his work, an emissary of the Darkness to announce his arrival. But the dark, deep strength of his presence, he assumed, should be enough to gain the attention of the one he sought.

Hades. Lord of the Underworld.

[Deleted]

(I give you apologies for lateness in a box of assorted pole dancers, enjoy)

"Next....next....next....NEXT!!!!" a usual yelling was filling the halls of the Underworld. It was its Lord getting impatient with...well just about everything. His tournament winner had vanished, Hercules had not even bothered to challenge Hades for the Stone ever since he had acquired it, and to make things worse Hades was getting bored.

"Come on! You call that tap dancing?!" he yelled at an enslaved soul trying to entertain its master. Its ghostly legs were flipping wildly with tap shoes attached to its tendril like feet; as valiant as its effort was, the spirit was set ablaze by the disdainful Lord of the Dead.

Said Lord of the Dead arose from his chair, having Pain and Panic appear from behind the throne and follow closely behind to cater to any whim their master may feel an urge to make. Seeing those two once again cower at his feet made Hades roll his eyes, with everything he's taught them they should be out terrorizing Olympus and not shaking in their horns at his feet.

He turned, hair turned red with fury, at the two imps and was about to shout at them when loud thuds and vibrations filled the chamber room. Shortly after Cerberus could be seen running past the slitted window on the side and further into the depths of the underworld in fear. Hades, in all his power and knowledge of his own beasts, could not understand what could cause the guardian of the Door to the Underworld run away with fear; until he felt what caused it.

Even the two imps could feel the overwhelming darkness making its way towards them and began to run away before Hades stopped then and scolded them.

"You idiots...if that is who I think it is then pay respect. Even I hold some for...him. Now, GET TO THE DOOR AND BE READY TO GREET HIM!!!!!" he screamed with his hair turning back to the ruby red fire and he made his way back to the throne and waited for Ansem to appear.

[Rook]

(For my own lateness, I say we share said box of pole dancers.)

Raising a gloved fist to his eye-level, Ansem gave the door a single, solid knock, resounding through the cavernous workings of the Underworld's front gate. This was the first time since he, as a young apprentice, knocked upon the door to Ansem the Wise's study in his final attempt to reach him about the research into the Heart and unlocking it's mysteries.

He recalled it well. The creature he would come to know as the King of the Realm of Light stood across from the Wise Ansem, who ate his silly ice-cream. His pleas fell on deaf and dumb ears as his master rebuked the research efforts of the young Xehanort and his fellow apprentices. Shortly after, they began their clandestine methods without their master's watchful eye.

If only the Seeker of Darkness had known just how successful his findings would be. The hiccup with the Keyblade Wielder notwithstanding, his Heartless still plagued Worlds, the Realm of Darkness ever closer to breaking fully into the Realm of Light, and his Dark XII reaping entire World Hearts.

He would have assassinated both the King and Radiant Garden's ruler then and there. But the power was not his yet...

Still the single, knock on Hades' front door was more respect than he had shown to anyone else since that day. It could not be said that Ansem was not improper... but it did not mean he would take kindly to waiting long.

[Deleted]

"OPEN THE DOOR YOU IDIOTS!" the Lord of the Dead yelled at the two imps under his command. Not wanting to invoke the wrath of him they opened the door, running back to a dark corner of the Underworld to hide from Ansem. The Lord of Dead gave his normal, creepy toothed grin at the sight at the Seeker of Darkness. He rose from his throne, bowing before he walked towards the Dark man.

"Oh Ansem, you sly dog. We really need to sit and chat more; Like we used to. Without the others of course, not worth the time." Clever and mischief undertone laced with hidden agendas. Gray arm gestured for Ansem to enter, take whatever seat he wanted; Throne of Hades if need be. The lord of dead could hardly wait to know why the esteemed Heartless wanted from him.

[Rook]

The door opened, but Ansem did not await permission to step through the doorway and into Hades' throneroom. He diverted towards the side of the room and the window that overlooked the Underworld, waiting for Hades to cease his welcome. He stared into the grey, green and blue toned distance, folding his arms over his chest.

"Cease your sycophantic babbling, Hades," he spoke. It wasn't so much an order as it was a lead-in to his own turn to speak. "I haven't come here to relive your glory days in the Hellfire Club, nor am I here to waste both of our time with simple mindless chatter. I've come to offer an exchange of services with you. To iron out the details of an accord between your armies and mine."

He turned his head over his shoulder, finally looking at the Lord of the Underworld with a coy grin, a devilish look all his own to match that of Hades'. "You have something I want. And I can give you something you want... Interested?"

[Ellie who has 0%]

His hair flickered a red for a moment; he may respect the man, but as a god he hardly liked taking orders. The only one he had absolutely no choice but to follow and endure is from his brother up north in his fancy smancy cloudy kingdom. As quick as it twitched like a candle flame, it reverted back to his cool blue.

His round yellow eyes rolled at the mention of the Hellfire Council. Now that he thought about it he haven't seen that feminine hunk of dragon hide in a while, then again, it wasn't as if there was much for him there. The Council has been unsuccessful badly the last time, and even when Maleficent came back she indulged to continue her endeavor without him, but with a stupid oaf like Pete. Glory was hardly in Hades' life unless he was looking at someone else garnished in it, while he watched from his dark hole of the underworld. For a god who pulls so much weight, he should have glory in his own rights.

But what can he say, he's been preaching that to the choir for years, and even his previous plotting had sent him to the crapper of empty unsuccessful, "Pssh glory, hardly, everyone fell out the sky Phaethon on the blasted sun carriage, except me, yours truly."

The Dark Lord of Death walked past his large desk that had a flat painting of the worlds; his fingers flicked at the rubble pieces of his so called 'cohorts', "All of 'em fell one by one by some lanky kid with a key."

"So with that said Ansem, buddy, what do you have for me? What can you possibly give me," he rose his hands up defensively and smoothly talked over his abrupt questions, "hey not that I doubt you, but with the worlds filled with too many key wielding sunspots aaand even the hero upstairs..."

His blue finger pointed up signifying the domain that laid above and beyond with an annoyed face, "...You can't help but to question how you're gonna pull this off. Hey I'm immortal; still don't know how you got back here, but I doubt you want to end up the same as last time. Eh?"

The God flopped back on his thread, "as they say as long as there's light, buddy we got a problem."

(oooh shiddle diddle and old plot idea came to mind. O-o I hope this seemed...Hades enough. Only watched like 20 minutes of Hercules before posting)

[Rook]

"Then we snuff out the light in every world it exists on," Ansem replied, turning back to face him fully. Hades was cunning but sometimes his plans relied either too much on brute strength or manipulation. In the midst was a fine combination of the two that led to success. And the Seeker of Darkness would like to think that that key, he had.

"You will lend me the power of your Titans to call upon until the end of my campaign," he nodded, letting slip his conditions with a sinister smile, "I will use them to raze the Worlds combined with the might of my Dark XII and Heartless armies, forming a body of war no Keyblade Wielder nor source of Light can halt. We will extinguish every Light and conquer every orb in the sky."

Ansem stepped forward, eye to eye with Hades, giving him a confident nod, "With the Worlds under veil of shadow will come Olympus. Zeus will fall from his throne on high, the Gods of this World will plummet into the pits of your domain for all time, and I and my Dark XII will see to this."

His smile turned into a broad grin, extending his gloved hand towards the Lord of the Underworld, Be it through the strength of your Titans and the Dark power of my XII, together we can see our goals become clearer... and if you so will it, perhaps your reign may not end with Olympus."

Ansem's head tilted downward, eyes still locked on Hades', "After all, there are so many worlds out there. Once they are shrouded in Darkness, there will be a time for another to rule them while I resume my hunt for Kingdom Hearts."

The Seeker's hand held in the air, still awaiting Hades' retort. Through their combined might, nothing could stop them. There was no denying this. No Wielder of the Key, not Hercules, not even the Mighty King nor Zeus could stop a war machine that grand.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Sitting back on his iron black throne, Hades propped his arms up and laced is pointed devilish fingers together before resting his bony chin on it, while contemplating. This was generally why he relied on the Fates; they could tell him the odds he was, which tended to be a norm. Now here he sat without much advisory under the persuasion of a Heartless; no he hardly had anything against. To Tarturus, he tried to use them for himself some years ago.

Being a god, he had all the time in the world; immortality had it perks, but he for one had grown sick of failure being his common acquaintance. It was time to make a new one, but being Hades he always had to double check, even if that led him to overthink. He would be damned if he planned so much for the Cosmos only for it to blow up in his face because of a minute miniscule detail, and for years, he's been trying to get rid of it.

From his train of thoughts, his eyes glanced up to see Ansem's gloved hand archedo out towards him, "Hmm give you the Titans, destroy the worlds, make Zeus fall, take over Olympus, aaaand any of the open seats you mentioned...okay okay."

He was on to something as he rubbed his hands together and clap them thickly, "Haaaa Ansem my main man that's good...really good, but we have a little teensie weensie problem."

"In short sweet simple terms, with that muscle head running around particularly I am doomed to failure," he pointed to himself with emphasism before doing the same to his guest, "and by that you in away are doomed to failure."

He broke everything down in a list, which he counted of with his fingers, "No me, No titans, ya loose the whole big army gig, and your reign of darkness ...kinda crumbles there."

For someone so bulky, he moved stealthy like a snake and as fluid as smoke off his throne; he began pacing like a madman on the cusp of an idea that was struggling to break the surface,"No no no, we need something....BIGGER. You see myyyy Titans has been trampling around for years...and trust me they had enough embarrassment this eon."

He couldn't count how many times he put them up against someone and they failed; they too had met the end of the forsake keys, "Sure some workout and power of darkness and hearts mambo jumbo, they'll be great, but THAT Hercules needs to be out the picture..."

That FORSAKEN LITTLE ROADBLOCK to ALL OF HIS ENDEAVORS!

"...completely OUT!," already he was getting a head from his high strong temper as his skin and hair flared a deep red and orange. Luckily for immortality he didn't have to concern himself with high bloodp pressure. Knowing he need to gain control of himself, Hades stopped is moving by returning to his seat. Pacing only seemed to rile up his energy, he needed to breath and think CLEARER than the norm, "no cropping, no photoshiping, no gimping, out ya get me. Sooo you get rid of THAT little speedbump and I'll be totally in."

With that finally said and off his chest, he exhaled, "So...you think your boys can handle that one? Do you think they got what it takes to take out the herooo of Olympus?"

Then he stopped for a moment as he thought outloud is typical low muttering,"You know that wouldn't be a bad match to see. People would certainly pay to see that Hercules VERSUS THE CHILDREN OF DARKNESS! Eeeh hopefully Nyx didn't copywrite that already for her bunch. Oiy, talk about being fruitful and multiply."

[Rook]

With a displaced look of minor annoyance, Ansem's hand hung in the air, unshaken, for a good long moment after Hades went up like a matchstick. As his temper waned and he explained his checklist of failures, for the briefest of moments, the Seeker contemplated simply taking the Titans and smiting Hades where he stood. Ansem had zero tolerance for it.

Instead, he retracted his hand, staring at it for a lengthy moment as he rubbed his fingers together, the soot and blackness from the high heat having charred the tips of his glove just slightly. Pursing his lips as he wiped it away with the rest of his fingers and sighed softly.

"You don't paint a flattering picture of yourself, Hades," Ansem said, his eyes finally sliding back upwards on their axis and meeting the other dark lord's. "But. If you believe so wholeheartedly in your own lack of a chance, perhaps I can redouble your efforts for you."

His hand dropped back to his side, reaching behind his back and clasping the other hand, lacing the fingers behind him. "Then let's renegotiate the terms... My Dark XII aides you in being rid of this Hercules. This roadblock seems to be most... problematic... for you..."

He let an unnecessary breath slip from him, and took a moment for this to settle into Hades' hot head. "...And in return, you will give me the use of your Titans to finish the job, and use in my own campaign."

Argue with that, coward. "You worry to much, Hades," Ansem nodded, his hand waiting before lending itself out towards the Lord of the Underworld again. "Besides, can't you fathom the beauty and power of a Heartless Titan? Or the ferocity of your pet Cerberus infused with the Darkness? You sit atop a mountain of unstoppable weapons, who only need to be loaded properly."

[Ellie who has 0%]

The God's eyes narrowed in contemplation. With the golden brat gone everything should be fine, and with everything fine, there's nothing to worry about, and Zeus can squirm in his bed like the unrested dead in their graves, then Hades can take his stance above the position of the errand boy tending to dead people, while the all bask in the clouds. His mind zipped through it all like a computer, and true, he does worry too much. Yet can one blame him with countless of failures before that predates beyond a decade ago?

"Mmhm," Hades started, "well I think I've heard enough."

The Lord from his spot with smoke whispy behind him; he was more animated, fired up, and ready. He walked up to his chessboard, and with the wave of his hand added a few more pieces composing of twelve heartless,"Get rid of the golden tool, and you have yourself a deal."

The twelved circled around Hercules pieces before mashing it into rubbles as the white pieces of the beloved hero popped in the air and tumbled away. In the midst of the broken white pieces on the board rose figure of the titans. "So Ansem my man, when can we start? I do have patience, but I doubt your campaign can rest too long before some little key brat catches wind of it."

[Rook]

A sick grin spread across Ansem's face. He laughed darkly, echoing off of the walls in the cold gray chamber. "There has been some changes in operation, Hades," the Seeker assured him. "Maleficent was too widespread with her plans. The Dark XII exist in shadow right now. We have made our presence known to few, but work in shadow, as our name and nature suggests."

He waved his hand, grandly gesturing to the skies above and away. "We have demolished a World. We have planned our moves. Only enough to spurn the Nothings into action." Ansem's eyes closed, relishing in his own schemes, "I knew my Other would stage some bold move or another in an attempt to outbid me and mine. In doing so, he would distract the powers-that-be away from what my XII are doing... but there are whispers of a focus on Destiny Islands..."

He laughed again. Coldly, malevolently. "Ohh... that I had never anticipated. To attack the Lightest World will attract a flock of retaliation upon the Nobodies. The King himself, perhaps. The Wielders. All allied to protect their jewel. All the while blind to the advancing darkness that looms behind them."

He took a deep breath and let it seep out slow. His face turned stern, though there was still a hint of amusement to be found if one studied him. "Make no mistake, Hades. I am building an army. And you possess key elements to it. When the current tasks of my Heartless have been completed, we shall descend upon Olympus and shackle your World's 'Hero' at your feet. You shall rise to a grander throne and we shall begin our conquests anew."

A Dark portal began to swirl at Ansem's feet. He stepped slowly into it as it began to envelope him. "I may suggest attempting to resurrect your old Hellfire Club. Those who still live may know the Darkness should they so choose. Those who lend aide to our cause will be given what they want, be it revenge or power. Is all understood?"

[Ellie who has 0%]

"Hmm so you're tell me this ...Xemnas guy your other half obviously not the better decided to go after the Islands. Not a smart move if you ask me, he might as well portal them to whatever world he's lingering in," ironically that would be The World That Never Was, a world that somehow was shared between the heartless and the nobody. For seemingly opposing sides working at their own ends, it'd be hard to phantom them working so close to one another hence why Hades didn't even think they were neighbors. "Sounds fishy if you ask me..."

No one would intentionally pull of a suicidal stunt like that.

"Yeah yeah yeah I get everything, so tell me. While your other half is lighting Destiny Island like a Vegas Casino, where are you my friend going to hit next? Since you're workin in the shadows, I have a feeling you want to be discreet. Psssh what am I asking, you know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Am I right?"

He cracked his blue knuckles as rose from his chair, "In the meantime, I better go contact the Hellfire Kiddy Club and see if I can give you more bodies kay babe? You know your way out of-course."