Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (31 page)

“Get
to the basement!”  Jana ordered.

“All
I want is you and Drusilla, Letty.”  Cinderella cooed from the screen.  “If you
just do the right thing and surrender, you have my word as a princess that the
rest of your minions will be spared.  I have no desire for any violence.  All I
want is peace.”

…And
that’s when the flying monkeys dropped the first firebomb.

***

Scarlett
was thrown backwards as the blast blew out the wall of the living room.  Her
body went flying, hitting the floor in a heap.  She lay there, unmoving, as all
hell broke loose.

“
Letty!
” 
Marrok’s whole life flashed before his eyes.  He ran for her, not even
processing the fire and shouting and deafening explosion.  “No, no, no,
no
.” 
He dropped to his knees beside her and pushed back a handful of shiny red hair
so he could see her face.  “Baby?  Look at me.  Jesus, don’t leave me.”  His
finger found her pulse and he almost cried in relief when he realized it was beating.

She
was alive.

For
now.

Marrok
scooped her up in his arms.  He looked around and saw that the whole cottage
was going up in flames.  “Jana, where’s the basement?”  He roared.

“This
way.”  The Jabberwocky was already yanking up a trap door in the kitchen and
herding Benji down a hidden ladder.  The bridge ogre had Dru draped over his
massive blue shoulder.  Esmeralda was right behind him.

Wherever
Jana was leading them, Marrok trusted that it was best plan.  Who knew this
place better than her?  Marrok handed Scarlett to Avenant.  He could tell she
was beginning to come around and he wanted to comfort her, but he had to do
something first.

She’d
want him to get that damn shoe.

“Protect
Letty.”  He ordered and sprinted for the stairs.

“Where
the fuck are you going?!”  Avenant bellowed.

Marrok
ignored him and took the steps three at a time as he raced upstairs.  The
monkeys were still bombarding the house with smaller firebombs.  Cinderella
must have been told them to level the place.  He reached Scarlett’s bedroom
just in time to watch the thatched roof get destroyed.  Every piece of
furniture in the room was knocked to its side.

Including
the end table where the glass slipper sat.

Luckily,
years of Wolfball gave Marrok good reflexes.  He dove forward, his palm
outstretched… and the shoe tumbled right into his grasp.

Touchdown.

Above
him, the monkeys shrieked in agitation, spotting him through the burning roof. 
The holes in the ceiling were now bigger than whatever remained of the straw.  Marrok
gave the chimps a taunting wave and dashed from the room.

If
it actually
had
been Scarlett’s glass slipper, he would’ve been happy to
see the damn thing splinter back into sand.  But since Letty wasn’t planning to
wear it to her dream wedding with Charming, he had to rescue it for her.  Drusilla’s
only chance to wake-up was a kiss from her True Love.  Letty would be crushed
if her sister was left stranded in a coma and Prince Not-So-Bright would
probably need proof that Dru was his destined bride.

With
the shoe cradled against his chest, Marrok sprinted back into the hall.  Rather
than waste time on the stairs, he gripped the railing with his free hand and
swung himself over the balcony.  He only had seconds before the entire place
was incinerated.  He dropped to the first floor in a graceful crouch, already
moving back towards the kitchen.

His
entire roundtrip couldn’t have taken more than two minutes, but, while he was
gone, Letty had woken up.  He could hear her furious voice as he neared the
trapdoor.

“Get
your hands
off
me, you son-of-a-bitch!”

“Marrok
told me to watch you!”  Avenant shot back.  “And, for some reason, I’m
listening to him.”

“I
don’t care what he said!  I’m going to drag my True Love down here, whether he
likes it or not!”

She’d
finally called him her True Love.

Marrok
beamed and headed down the ladder, slamming the trapdoor behind him and sealing
it tight.  No way were the monkeys getting through that.  The whole place
seemed to be lined in steel.  “Letty?  I’m here.”

“Oh
thank God.”  She headed for him, the relief in her voice quickly turning to
anger.  “What were you thinking, you idiot?!  You could’ve been
killed
. 
Why in the hell…?”  She trailed off as he held up the glass slipped, her
expression somewhere between surprised and incensed.  “You went back for
that?
”

“You
said you needed it.”

“Well
it’s nothing compared to how much I need
you
.”  She gave him a shove. 
“I can’t believe you would risk yourself for a damn shoe!  Do you have any idea
how stupid it was to…?”

Marrok
stopped the lecture in the most effective way possible.  He kissed her.  His
mouth sealed over hers and she gave that little gasp of pleasure that he
loved.  Her body leaned into his, her lips parting in acceptance, and all was
right in his world.

“Tell
me I’m your True Love.”  He whispered when he finally raised his head.

“You
already know that you are.”

“Tell
me anyway.  I like the words.”

Scarlett
looked at him.  “You’re my True Love, Marrok.  And I’m yours.”  Blue eyes
narrowed.  “But if you even pull a stunt like that again, I will brain you. 
Got it?”

“Got
it.”  He gave her another quick kiss and felt completely safe for the first
time in his life.  “Got
you
.”

“Jackass.” 
She batted him away, but he could see her trying not to smile.  “I have to go
check on Dru.  Try to behave for five seconds.”  She headed over to her sister,
who was stretched out on the floor.

“Well,
there goes another house.”  Jana said philosophically.  “Good thing I hated the
joint.  I usually live down here.”  She sat down on a box of hand grenades. 
“At least, it’s got some style.”

Marrok
looked around for the first time and saw that the space wasn’t really a
basement so much as it was a bomb shelter.  A series of recessed lighting lit
the room, which was filled with supplies.  An interconnected series of tunnels
led off in various directions, providing escape routes.  Computers were setup
along one wall, along with a huge stockpile of food and weapons.

Having
the Jabberwocky for a grandmother-in-law just got better and better.

“I
loved that house.”  Scarlett sighed.  “Something
else
Cinderella
ruined.”

“So,
we’ll build another one.”  Jana waved a dismissive hand.  “I’ve gone through
like six of them so far.  Every one of them just the same as the last.  I even
have identical furniture down here someplace.  They’re just cookie-cutter
masks.  You know that.”

“
This
house was really special, though.”  Scarlett glanced over at Marrok and he
could see her thinking about their time upstairs.

He
gave her a wink.  “It wasn’t the house, baby.  It was the company.”

Her
mouth curved.

“So
what do we do, then?”  Avenant complained.  “Stay here and help you rebuild?  I
have a kingdom to conquer and a low tolerance for grime.”  He ran a finger
along a massive crate of bottled water, making a face at the dust.

“Now
we fight back.”  Marrok told them.  It was all so clear.  “If Cinderella can
use the media, so can we.”

“The
media?”  Scarlett squinted at him like he was crazy.  “What do we know about
the media?”

“Red,
I have my own
fan club
.  I know how get people’s attention.  It’s the
reason I wasn’t tossed in a pit to die long ago.”  Marrok turned to Jana.  “Do
these computers link us to the outside world?”

“Of
course.”

“Then
we’re going to do a public service announcement.”

“About
what?”  Jana scoffed.  “
Not
firebombing?  Does anyone really need an
explanation on why that sucks, especially for the innocent homeowners?  You
think insurance covers winged gorillas?”

Esmeralda
frowned.  “We could rat Cinderella out as a raging bitch, but I doubt anyone
would believe us without proof.  Not with ---ya know-- all the lying we’ve done
and crimes we’ve committed.”

“We
could do a video on why we don’t like monkeys.”  Benji volunteered.  “Because,
I really don’t like monkeys anymore.”

Avenant
looked interested in Marrok’s plan, which had to be a first.  “I’d be happy to
go on camera and give a speech to the masses.  I have
much
to say on why
my enemies should be crushed.”

“No.” 
Marrok kept his attention on Letty.  “We’re going to talk about giving Baddies
a place to belong.  The seven of us can’t stand up to all the Good folk the
Four Kingdoms forever.  But if we had
more
people here and on our side,
we’d have a force.”

Scarlett
paused in the act of covering Dru with a cozy blanket.  “Yes!”  Her eyes lit
up.  “With a force of Bad folk, not even Cinderella could stop us.”

“Aren’t
Marrok’s online fans mostly horny teenage girls and brain dead jocks?” 
Esmeralda complained.  “How are
they
going to help?”

Jana
frowned.  “Hang on,
I’m
part of his online fan club.”

“And
I appreciate that, but it’s not just my fandom who’s paying attention to us. 
You saw the news.”  Marrok gestured upwards.  The TV was probably a molten mass
of melted plastic by now, but they’d all watched the protesters on its screen. 
“Good folk have pushed people to the edge.  Right now, every villain in the
Four Kingdoms is standing on a ledge and waiting for an excuse to jump off.”

“An
inspiring image.”  Avenant deadpanned.

“All
I’m saying is they want a leader… and we have one to give them.”

“Really?” 
Scarlett asked hopefully.  “You’ll film something about the Enchanted Forrest
being a…?”

He
cut her off.  “Oh no, not me. 
You
.”

“Me?” 
She blinked, her excited grin fading.  “Wait.  No.  Why can’t
you
do it?”

“Because,
no one in their right mind would follow any idea
I
have.  You’ve seen my
psych-tests.  I’m crazy.”

“We’re
all
crazy!  And we’re working together, so this whole thing is
our
idea.”

“Working
together?  Absolutely. 
Our
idea?  Not so much.”  He snorted.  “Even if
it does save our asses,
my
ideas generally don’t involve turning our
backs on multi-million dollar criminal enterprises in favor of do-Gooding.”

“Wait,
what’s
this idea?”  Jana demanded.

Scarlett
disregarded that.  “Marrok, you said yourself, you’re used to being in the
spotlight.”  She tried a persuasive smile.  “And you’re so talented at it.  It
has
to be you.”

“Flattery
won’t work unless you’re trying to lure me into bed.”  He informed her
piously.  “Besides, I might be the most famous one here, but
nobody
can
convince Bad folk to do crazy shit like you can, Red.”

The
rest of the Tuesday share circle nodded.

“We’d
still be locked up if it wasn’t for you, Letty.”  Benji gave her a shy smile. 
“You saved us.”

“Letty
is good at saving people.”  Marrok moved to kiss Scarlett’s temple.  “Even when
they don’t deserve it.  This will be a piece of cake for her.”

She
didn’t look so sure.  “We’re partners, Marrok.  And you’re so much more likable
than I am. 
You
should be the one to…”

Marrok
cut her off.  “You are a
thousand times
more likable than me.  Ask
anyone.”

“I
would agree with that.”  Avenant agreed.

“See?”

“What
does
he
know about being likable?”

“Hey!”

Scarlett
ignored Avenant’s protest and looked around at the others.  Marrok could see
her resolve strengthening at their expectant expressions.  “Alright, here’s
what I think.”  She took a deep breath.  “We escaped together and we should
finish it together.  If we do this media thing, we
all
do it. 
Side-by-side.”

Esmeralda
rolled her eyes.  “Cue the inspirational music.”

Scarlett
arched a brow.  “
Or
we could just cower in the shadows and let all the
Good folk think we’re afraid of them.  That they’ve won and that we’re hiding. 
You like that idea better?”

No
one liked that idea better.

“Is
that what a badass witch would do?”  Letty pressed.  “Or the rightful Prince of
the Northlands?  Or an insatiable bridge ogre?  Or the infamous Jabberwocky?” 
She shook her head.  “I think
those
people would fight every fucking
Good folk who’s trying to destroy us.  Who locked us in cages, and told us were
weren’t pretty, and stole our magic, and abused us because we weren’t powerful
enough to fight back.  Today we proclaim our freedom and we bring our enemies
down.  Today, we take
back
our happily ever afters.”