Our story begins with one particular villain, who simply had the misfortune of picking the wrong pair of frogs to pick on. Or so he’d say, if anyone cared to ask.
The sound of splintering wood shattered all of Witch Doctor Facilier’s dreams of taking control of New Orleans, becoming rich beyond his wildest dreams, and most importantly, keeping the shadows from collecting on their debt. “NOOO! How am I ever gonna repay my debt!” He cried, as he fell to his knees, desperately grabbing the wood chips in his hands, but as the sound of low voices singing ominously to a heavy beat, he knew he was already doomed. Little shoots of patterned light began swirling around him, and he turned around to see the masks coming out of the stone graves, singing louder and louder as they came nearer. “Friends!” He said, trying to keep his tone light, and only really managing to sound squeaky and nervous. They chanted at him unforgivingly.
“Are you ready?”
Frantically, he shook his head, withdrawing as he spoke, sheer panic in his eyes. “No! I’m not ready at all. In fact, I got lots more plans.” He pasted on his best salesman smile, but they were clearly unaffected, the strange patterns swirling around him more ferociously than ever as he waved his arms as if to protect himself from them.
“Are you ready?”
He stared around himself wildly, and spoke as quickly as he could, trying to convince them, “This is just a minor setback in a major operation!” He wheedled. A hand popped out of the ground and he yelped, continuing to speak quickly even as voodoo dolls crawled out from the stone ground and advanced. “Soon as I whip up another spell, we’ll be back in business! I still got that froggy prince locked away. I just need a little more time!” His shadow placed its hands on his shoulders to back him up as his back pressed against one of the headstones, but he jumped away from it and gave a scream of surprise again as the biggest mask of all became that very headstone, teeth bared ominously, eyes glowing an unforgiving green. “No please!” He yelled, more frantic than ever, still backing away, but it was too late. A shadowy hand grabbed his shadow by the foot and began dragging him towards the mouth of the mask even as his fingers scrabbled at the ground. “Just a little more time!!” He pleaded, but the voodoo dolls beat their drums furiously, and the other masks lined up in a direct avenue as he continued to be pulled towards the big mask. “I promise I’ll pay y’all back!! I promise!!!” He yelled one last time, but he turned back to look just as the giant mask opened its hideous green mouth and only had time to scream before he was sucked into it.
He was not simply allowed to go to the regular Underworld. No, the shadows had their own special place for the souls in their debt. A dark place, where no one came and no one went. There was neither light nor sound nor food, just an eternity of nothingness. It was the kind of place where you could feel your soul being drained away bit by bit, day by day, consumed slowly, each bit torn away in eternal, torturous agony. A minute was an hour, and hour was a year, a year was an eternity, and if that didn’t drive you mad, it was only because you had something you were fixated on. Something you couldn’t let go of.
Facilier had that. There was just one thing he couldn’t let go. It wasn’t the money, or the power. No, the one thought that made Facilier determined to come back was REVENGE. If it hadn’t been for that stuck up prince and his little side-kick Ms. I-Wanna-Restaurant Tiana, he would have had everything. He wouldn’t be stuck here. He would get out. And he would DESTROY them. HE WOULD DESTROY THEM BOTH. “CURSE YOU.” He roared suddenly into the silence.
“You want to make a wish?” An irritatingly bright and cheerful voice rang through the darkness.
“Who’s there?” Facilier started, unused to hearing any voice for so long. Extremely startled, he swung his head madly back and forth, trying to find the source of the unexpected words.
A pair of round, yellow eyes appeared, sans well, anything else that belongs with eyes, really. “You know…” it said, continuing to speak in its irritating tone of voice. “I may have something for that. If you ask nicely.” A blue cat with tufty ears and purple wings joined the eyes, and its appearance rather seemed to match its voice, as it had a weird sort of skinny body, and an irritating expression of self-satisfaction. “It won’t cost you anything.”
“Who are you?” The witch doctor repeated in a threatening tone of voice, staring down the eyes with his fists balled, paranoid hatred still full-throttle.
“Sitting here day after day. Doesn’t it get… boring?” It asked impertinently. Facilier fell silent. Anger had exploded in his mind at the cruel comment, but he could sense an opportunity, so he just watched the cat warily. “Why don’t we mix it up a bit?” It went on blithely. A crystal ball appeared in front of the two of them, as the creature floated in the air comfortably. “Look at that. A happy family.” Inside the ball was indeed the image of a happy family, a mother, father, two daughters. They were sitting around a dining table talking and laughing animatedly under the warm yellow glow of the lamp hanging from the ceiling. “So… boring.” The word echoed around the room with a sort of dangerous disdain. It was almost as if the cat were angry. ”We can’t have that, now can we?”
In a flash of red light, an old, old man appeared. The younger girl jumped up, exclaiming “Grandpa!!” happily. But it didn’t seem to be a happy occasion for everyone. The woman stood up abruptly, and held her daughter back as the two parents stared at the figure for a bit, in stunned silence. Falling to her knees and clapping her hands to her mouth, tears formed in the mother’s eyes, and she whispered, “D- Dad?” The father said the only logical thing he could bring his mind to say, “But you’re- you’re dead!” As if to confirm that statement, the old man pounced, sinking his teeth into the man’s neck.
“Surprise!” The cat said, pleased, from where they were watching through the crystal ball.
The shadow man’s jaw dropped open. “How did you-” The cat just shushed him gleefully. “Oh, it’s not done yet, just watch.” Rather than eating his son-in-law, the older man turned his attention to the three females. As each one was bitten, they sunk to the ground, only to rise up again, arms hanging limply by their sides, their eyes vacant. Paying no more attention to each other, they stalked out into the streets, biting people as they went. “Now, wouldn’t you like that?” The powerful cat asked, nonchalantly, as the picture in the ball vanished.
“You see, I don’t like order much, and all these heroes always winning, so boring. I’d do something about it, really, but me causing chaos, everyone would expect. A dead guy causing chaos? Now that’s unexpected. So what do you say, we play a little game? I’ll give you this ball, and once you’ve prepared properly, you can make ten dead people in ONE city, just one, to become like that. They call them zombies, you know. So exciting. They can cross the dimensions and travel through all the universes and go around biting everyone, even animals and other dead people. Oh the bitten people will still be alive, they’ll just be… mindless. Under your control. You can make them do anything you want, go anywhere you like, and destroy anything, or anyone, you want. They can be killed the same as any human is killed, but not changed back. Wouldn’t it be so predictable if there was a way to save the victims?” He gave a low chuckle. “Their bodies will last as long as you like. Who knows, some of them might even be stronger after they get bitten. Inhumanly strong, even. Or maybe they’ll be faster, or maybe their sense of smell will be stronger. Then again, maybe not, who can predict? Even how long it will take after their bitten for them to become your slaves. That will be a surprise, too. Don’t you just love surprises? I suppose the one thing I can’t have them do is talk. I know what you would do with it, making them pretend to be normal, the same strategy over and over again. So… predictable. Let’s see… what else? Ah yes, I’ll have to make them dull to pain, too. It would be so inconvenient if one caught a cold, don’t you think?
“Now then, as long as you have this ball, you’ll control them. Here will be my little game. For one week after you activate the ball, I’ll take all the heroes through all the dimensions, and hide them for their own protection. After that time, they’ll wake up, and if you and your zombies, or anyone else you decide to let tag along, kills them or turns them into zombies, I will let you become a god and you’ll be powerful and live forever. If they come and defeat you, however, you won’t just come back here. You’ll be gone, erased from existence for all eternity, along with anyone who sided with you, and everything will return to how it was before you activated the crystal ball. How about that? A nice deal, isn’t it? I’m not asking for anything, really, just a little, entertainment. It’s not like you’ve got much to lose.” He could see the hesitation on the good (well, more like bad, actually) doctor’s face, so, after a short pause added, “Why don’t we make this even sweeter? The non-human heroes will all become humans, and I’ll take away their memories and any magic they might have. I’ll even start them in the same place. Didn’t expect that generosity now did you? So. Do we have a deal?” The cat grinned and held out its paw.
Facilier hesitated for barely a moment, before shaking the cat’s paw and saying, “We have a deal.” In his low, sinister tones. “Excellent!” Came the cheerful response, “The ball is all yours.” Sure enough, it popped into his hands “What you decide to do with it, well, that’s up to you, but if you let it be boring, I may just decide to switch it up for you a bit as well.” It laughed, and then the cat disappeared again, leaving only a sparkling trace in the air and a big arrow drawn on the floor for where Facilier was to go if he wanted to leave.
Dr.Facilier followed that arrow still in shock from the sudden presence of that flying cat. He wondered what type of creature it was, but rather focused his attention on the crystal ball. Zombies… What an interesting strategy. I wonder how that fur ball found this… he couldn’t possibly have created it. He thought as he entered his familiar old store. He sat on his seat and propped his long legs on his desk as he stared at it.
When he’d been taken away, his “friends” had first ransacked his home, collecting all the magic and spells they’d give him over the years. He still remembered watching them destroy all of his things, only barely leaving the building standing. The ugly state of it, with broken wood scattered everywhere, was a testament to this. He’d gotten temporary reprieve, but the minute they found him gone, they would chase him again. He needed to repay his debt first. He needed a plan. The shadow man wracked his brains, and suddenly remembered something he’d seen as he’d spiraled down to his one personal hell: Hell. Actual Hell, and a god with burning blue hair. That could only be Hades, god of the underworld, whom he’d heard a great deal of from the shadows, grumbling that he was taking all the souls away. A plan began forming in his brain. He didn’t need to just pay the shadows back. He could pay them back and exact his revenge at the same time. A dark grin spread over his lips, as he worked out every little detail. This plan, it couldn’t possibly fail. He couldn’t risk it failing. He was going to need some help.
So when the shadows came a-calling, he had already prepared what to say. As they closed in with beats of doom, he spoke, his voice cracking unexpectedly, much to his disappointment. “M- My frieennddss!” He cleared his throat slightly, and tried to speak in his old unctuous salesman tones, “I know I owe you a lot of payment for before, a- and I know I failed in this last attempt.” A growl of discontent came from the main mask, but ceremony halted as he hastily spat out his next words. “B- b- but…. I have come up with a brilliant plan to not only pay you back but to give you what you desire most of all! I will offer you the underworld!” The music stopped abruptly, and there was a riveted silence, as the great mask stared down at him imposingly, his execution paused for just a moment. Then, it gave him a nod, and an expression that gave him permission to continue.
The doctor chuckled to himself nervously, rubbing his hands together before taking a deep breath. With a flourishing wave of his hands, a small conjuration of all of Fantasia appeared hanging in the air, “This world is ripe for the taking and it offers up not only a chance for revenge but the chance for you, my friends, to relish in all the souls of all the universes! I only ask that you give me an ally. I need someone that can help me bring this world to its knees! My friends, if you help me here, I will rid you of the foolish god Hades and give you the power and status that all of you so rightly deserve!” His voice grew more confident as he spoke, until he reached the inspiring end of his speech. The demons all looked around at each other as they contemplated the foolish man’s offer. Before long, large wicked grins grew across their faces and they howled in approval, convinced by the conviction in his own voice.
Tearing open a portal to the underworld, the demons unceremoniously threw Doctor Facilier through the portal. Down, down, down he spun, a dizzying journey that left him battered, though miraculously alive and unharmed. Grumbling a bit to himself the doctor slowly climbed to his feet and dusted himself off before taking a look around. For all the hype about the underworld, it was a rather unimpressive place. All he saw were large red stalagmites and stalactites and fire. Lots and lots of fire. It was nowhere near as scary and imposing as he thought it would be, nor decorated with the bones of the dead. The only truly horrifying thing about it was the screams of the damned that echoed throughout the cave, almost making Facilier clench his own teeth in pain. However his gaze was soon drawn to a lone figure.
There, chained to a single stone slab not only a few feet away from him, was the dreaded sorcerer known as Jafar. The man looked beaten and broken, but, shining from his eyes, there was power and a hunger for revenge that could be seen for miles. It radiated off the man like heat from a flame and Facilier knew that this was the man he was looking for. One of the demons whispered the name of the man to him and what powers he possessed before slithering away. Facilier chuckled to himself and walked towards Jafar like a proper business man with a wicked grin on his face.
“Jafar! Sorcerer supreme and the rightful Sultan of Agribah! Look how low you have fallen! Defeated and banished to the underworld.”
Jafar looked up at the doctor and narrowed his eyes with hatred. “I might be chained to these walls and have no chance of escape but I am still the most powerful sorcerer in the world. I will be free one day, and I will get my revenge on that blasted little street rat! Then he’ll be the one chained to these rocks and tortured for eternity. I’ll see to it.” The once smooth voice of the sorcerer was rough and low with pure, unadulterated rage, but Facilier’s grin simply grew a little wider.
Stepping back, he held his arms out to the side “That is why I am here Jafar. To offer you a chance at revenge.”
Jafar was taken aback by the strange man’s words. Narrowing his eyes at him, he scoffed and shook his head, thinking the other man was trying to make a fool of him “You have no power to free me, and one day you will pay for your taunts.”
“That is where you are wrong my friend.” Facilier now easily slipped into his smooth, oily tones, cajoling with great pleasure. “I have powers given to me by the very creatures that act as your prison wardens. It is they who brought me here to you. To give you a chance at freedom. For a higher purpose. If you join me not only will you rule Agrabah and get your revenge, but I offer you the chance to rule the entire world! You only need to take my offer and you will be free.” One dark palm spread out in front of him, a gesture of offering. “We will work together as equals to bring revenge and destruction down on those that deserve it and take back what belongs to us. How about it?”
Jafar fell silent at the doctor’s offer. If what he said was true then he could finally get his revenge on that blasted street rat Aladdin and reclaim the throne of sultan! “Fine.” He spat, already regaining some of his old pride as he commanded in a booming voice, “Release me, and I will help you in any way I can.” As soon as the words were spoken the shadows screamed forward and destroyed the chains that bound Jafar’s soul to the underworld. Jafar looked around in amazement before he laughed to himself and stood up “I do not yet know who you are, my new partner, but I know that we will not fail.” His tone was a snarling promise of dark plans already being concocted.
“No.” Facilier agreed. “No, we shall not fail. Now come Jafar. I am Doctor Facilier and we have a new destiny that awaits us.” With that, the demons reopened the portal and the new partners stepped through to the mortal world, the god of the underworld unaware of his charge’s escape, and the misfortune that would soon befall him because of it. The Fates cackled as their one eye saw the darkness of the impending future, and perhaps, for once, Fate and Chaos were one and the same.