Anguish the Blood Siren reclined in the deepest recesses of the Nightmare Void, believing she had lost the battle but won the war.

“Your darkness,” a squawky old crone’s voice echoed from the depths of the shadow palace. “We’ve found the traitor.”

Anguish clasped her frost-bitten pink hands together with a smile. “Excellent, Bubbel. Bring him in.”

Two elderly green witches, one tall and bony and one short and fat, along with a much younger, fair-looking green witch appeared before Anguish. They had a prisoner in tow. He was six-feet tall, sporting wild hair, dark eyeliner and a black-pinstriped tuxedo with spikey shoulder pads. The man was encased in a glowing purple prism. An unusual look of fear permeated from his face.

“So,” Anguish began, her voice completely desensitized. “This is what the mighty Phantom Lord has become. Defeated by a halfling and a child. Then captured by my lowest ranking henchwomen.”

“Please,” the man gasped, his glowing green eyes fraught with worry. “My daugh…Caligari administered a phantom’s kiss. Even from a half phantom, it is near deadly.”

Anguish glared right at the Phantom Lord. “Not only do you sound like half a man…”

Anguish clicked her heels; they were as black as the time after midnight. A smoke curled around the Phantom Lord’s body. His bulky frame shrank; his broad shoulders retracted, and his chiseled chin became frail and gaunt. The jet-black hair on his head turned a snow white. A simpering old man dropped to his knees before Anguish. “You are now half a man,” the siren said matter-of-factly.

“P-p-please,” the former Phantom Lord gasped. “D-don’t kill me…”

Anguish’s eyes widened. “Kill you? I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid. Never will I let a good henchmen go to waste; you’ll simply have to be modified to become competent again.”

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Anguish raised her pink hand. “Take him away, girls.”

Toila and Karen disappeared with the old man, leaving Bubbel to stand with her master. “Your darkness, “Bubbel said. “What are you going to do now that your plans to take over Night Dream Academy failed?”

A bone chilling aura emanated from Anguish’s cold dead eyes, causing Bubbel to swallow hard. “It would be a shame you have no faith in me, Bubbel…” Anguish said.

“Would be?” the fat green witch asked.

Anguish closed her eyes. Her voice was as dead as her skin.

“I don’t want anyone to have faith when it comes to my plans for these realms.”

Anguish approached Bubbel, looking down at the short, stubby witch with a look of utmost confidence. “You of all people should know, Bubbel.”

“I don’t know” Bubbel responded. “You never tell us anything, your darkness. We simply follow your orders”

“Bubbel,” the elder witch responded. “You were tasked with tracking down an ancient book in the floating city of Wormwood, a place I cannot enter.”

Anguish’s frozen pink eyes surveyed her follower. “My greatest ally has created that tome. Within it, they have accomplished unfathomable magic.”

“But your darkness,” Bubbel blubbered. “In Wormwood, I was ambushed…”

Anguish’s pupils shrank and her face curled into a disturbing scowl. She dug her pointy, night-black nails into Bubbel’s shoulder blades.

“You what?!”

“I was attacked by an a-a-army of magical alley cats. Led by a black kitten in a red bow. They stole the book.”

Anguish’s tiny pupils expanded. “Grizabella!” she howled.

The siren shook Bubbel frantically. “She thinks she’s always one step ahead of me. She’ll rue the day I find her and rip those cute little ears off.”

Wordlessly, Anguish raised her hand and blasted Bubbel with a charge of pink energy. The hapless green hag screamed as she flew backward. After hitting the wall, Bubbel’s body was enveloped in a thick pink crystal. The crone’s beady eyes observed Anguish as her superior made demands.

“Listen to me. Track down Grizzy and find out what she wants with that tome. Bring me both or I’ll boil you in your own witch’s brew.”

Bubbel was silent but the fear in her eyes revealed she understood.

Anguish paced back and forth, recounting her plan. “Fortunately, Grizzy’s got nowhere to go. She’s no friend to the Wormwood government either. They won’t harbor her. This gives us an opportunity to seize her.”

Anguish raised her frost-bitten hand and crushed the air. “Promise me you won’t fail this time?”

The ice shattered, leaving Bubbel shivering in its place. “Y-yes, your darkness. I won’t fail.”

“Good.” The siren threw her head back and gave a mad laugh. There was a touch of mirth in her eyes…even with a setback.

“When I get that tome, all the kingdoms will fall in the most unexpected way. My anguish will consume them all.”