Stall. Stallstallstall. This scene only lasted so long. Maxine curtsied even lower.

"As you may have inferred," she drew the words out with casual calm, "the Princess, her majesty Aurora, upon the event of her sixteenth birthday, this very day," ...that should be just about enough. "Is returning to the castle. You'll find her in the dusty backroom by the creepy staircase. Meet you there!"

Scene shift, hallelujah. Had the fairy queen been raising her hand at the end, there? In a somewhat villainous, you've-served-your-purpose manner?

The (aspiring) Queen of Evil leaned against her knight. "She's... going to kill us." Yeah. Pretty sure. "Let's try not to die until we can kill her, okay?" What even happened if they died in here? It was a cartoon. A Disney cartoon, which some punk Mansion kid had put them in. She couldn't bring herself to be all that worried for her life, but she was certainly worried for her coronation as the new Queen of Darkness.

Meanwhile, the Princess was looking at them with big doe eyes that weren't half stupid, for a Disney princess.

"...Did you say 'kill'?" Somewhere in her heart, she knew this wasn't the way her story went.

Sucked to be her.

>>"As you may have inferred, the Princess, her majesty Aurora, upon the event of her sixteenth birthday, this very day, Is returning to the castle. You'll find her in the dusty backroom by the creepy staircase. Meet you there!"

Nice save. Thank god the scene was short, even by movie standards. Gawain could have sworn Maleficient did not approve of some younger, prettier fairy stealing her spotlight. Or spotshadow.

>>"She's... going to kill us. Let's try not to die until we can kill her, okay?"

>>"...Did you say 'kill'?"

"Yes, sweetheart" Gawain said with little patience for the story's main character "Someone needs to get rid of the evil queen and you are obviously not cut out for the task." he nodded towards the staircase "Panic room. Scoot. We'll take care of the rest, don't worry."

If anyone was watching this disaster of a movie, they must have been screaming at the screen by now. But he did not hear a thing, and neither did Aurora. That included the voice of reason. Standing up, she walked up the eerie stairs.

"And that's that." Gawain concluded "So, what's next? Castle falls asleep, Prince... oh sh*t."

Castle falls asleep.

Grabbing her by the hand, the knight dragged Maxine out of the room.

"These wings are worth sh*t you know that right?!"

There was a higher pitch in his voice. Panic? Excitement?
Hormones?

Never go up the stairs. It was rule two of horror movies, right after 'don't pick up the phone.' But then, Soon-to-Be-Sleeping-Beauty hadn't seen many movies in her hick corner of the woods, had she? Up she went, like a good little girl, with only a last worried look behind her.

"Yeah," she echoed her Dark Fey Knight, watching the girl go. "Castle falls aslee—"

>> "Oh sh*t."

"—Eep!"

And then she was getting dragged away from the scene of the upcoming crime, at a pace that didn't match up well with her skirts. She balled them up in one hand, flashing the lady-like tennis shoes and jeans that still lurked underneath. What was his hurry? Not that she was protesting the sudden hand-holding and ducking down deserted passageways, but she didn't think his breaking voice was due to pubescent urges.

>> "These wings are worth sh*t you know that right?!"

"Of course they don't work for you: you're a guy," she panted, racing behind him. "That's the way Disney works: boys get swords, girls get magic." It was the same reason she'd pocketed both wands, instead of sharing the loot. His little dragonfly shimmers might look pretty, but Disney magic just didn't cover boy fairies. "So why are we--?"

Wait. Castle falls asleep?

"$%^&. Hold on—I'm going to try something."

They were coming up on an artistically long, winding staircase overlooking the grand hall, where the two kings were awaiting a prince and princess who were destined to be no-shows. Maxine grabbed his other hand: then, with a flap of her own wings, she put her own theory to practice: she flew, right over the railing, her knight in tow. It didn't work well: these wings were only made to carry one aspiring villain, not two. But it was enough to skim them over the top of the expectant crowd—le gasp of surprise from the plebeians!—and out the front doors, which had been thrown open to the city in celebration.

Like she'd said: boys got swords, girls got magic. Sexism worked. She never doubted for a second that it would.

>>"Of course they don't work for you: you're a guy. That's the way Disney works: boys get swords, girls get magic."

That only received a huff from the young knight as he dragged his evil mistress down the hallway, hoping they can get out before they get stuck in eternal slumber in a lame Disney castle. That was soooo not happening to an X-man.

Maxine finally seemed to catch up to the storyline.

>>"$%^&. Hold on—I'm going to try something."

And then they were flying over the head of everyone, followed by gasps and yells. Oh well. Once outside the door they should be safe. As soon as their feet touched solid ground once again, the young knight turned to look up at the tower. There was green light in a window.

"That should be it." Maya observed, turning back to look at Maxine with Disney-princess-eyes landing on the wands "Now, can I have one of those?"

"So we've sworn, beaten up old ladies, gender-bended... What's that leave? A steamy sex scene?" The redhead grinned. "Damn. Should have thought of that before midnight."

Still... This might just be the first time she was glad to see Maya. They were into the final scenes now, and she'd take another magic wand on her side over a stabby piece of metal any day.

"Just so we're clear, I'm top fairy." With a flashy twirl, the second wand was retrieved from her sleeve, and held out to her fellow fey. "Those wings do look hot on you though, girl."

"Now let's go rescue a prince, so he can kill the competition."

>>"So we've sworn, beaten up old ladies, gender-bended... What's that leave? A steamy sex scene? Damn. Should have thought of that before midnight."

A wicked grin pushing the boundaries of the PG-13 wearing thin anyway. Maya arched a nicely drawn eyebrow.

"If you ask me, the only thing that kicks up the rating more than a steamy sex scene... is a steamy lesbian sex scene."

Pause.

"... and I think mentioning it just now kinda had the same effect on the rating. Let's move on."

>>"Just so we're clear, I'm top fairy. Those wings do look hot on you though, girl. Now let's go rescue a prince, so he can kill the competition."

"I've got no problem with that because I ain't a fairy at all" said the girl with the dragonfly wings "Which competition? The evil fairy with the minions, or the good fairies..."

Cut.

"... with the wand pointing at us?"

There was three of them, with the foul-mouthed blue one doing the pointing on accord that she was the only one with a wand. Maya raised her own much like she would do a sword.

"You are not hurting the prince!" Blue Fairy said sternly "He is the kingdom's only hope!"

"Believe it or not, we are actually..." Maya started; that was as far as she got before a handful of sparks shot out of the fairy's wand, just to be deflected by her own (wands do work a lot like swords, how cool is that), and blow up a gargoyle conveniently placed nearby for special effect.

"Now, that's just nasty."

They didn't technically have to move on. There were a lot of things Maxine was willing to do for the sake of ratings. Given five more seconds to think about it, she might have grinned, and...

The scene change was just as well, really.

Maxine gave a flippant twitch of her wand, setting the brave prince free from his horrible shackles, etc. She kept the wand out after she was done, but tried to point it at no one in particular.

"The Good Fairy Maya has shown me the error of my ways," she intoned, "and freed me from the dark influence of Maleficent. Oh please, allow me to right my past transgressions, and help save this noble kingdom."

Had she ever seen a villain get redeemed in a Disney movie? Eh. If they didn't buy it, she and Maya would just have to lock them in a closet again. Win-win.

>>"The Good Fairy Maya has shown me the error of my ways and freed me from the dark influence of Maleficent. Oh please, allow me to right my past transgressions, and help save this noble kingdom."

"The good fairy who broke my nose?" the Red Fairy chimed in. Uh-oh. Maya tried to look as guilty as you can when your face lacks texture.

"Look, we realized there is a greater evil out there, and that we need to work together to bring it down. And we are runnin' out of time."

The Prince, in the meantime, was looking a bit lost and confused, looking from one team of fairies to the other.

"All right, let's give the guy some badass weapons, and get this show on the road."

The fairies looked at each other, pondering for a moment, before they agreed with a slow nod. Not totally convinced, but good enough.

Disney fairies: not as stupid as they looked, or were sometimes scripted to act. Maxine's opinion of them was actually getting higher, the more they diverged from the script. And really, the blooming shiners gave them character.

"Right," Maxine said, after Maya's practical diplomacy had taken effect. "So what was it? Sword of truth, shield of justice?"

Sword of truth, shield of virtue, as it turned out. Before that, though: they had a castle of minions to fight through.

"Don't stab them!" She fretted, as the Good and Morally Questionable fairies raced along the hall behind the prince. "Just whap them down the stairs, or something!" Those were going to be her incompetent henchmen, damnit.

She was just one dragon away from victory.

>>"Right. So what was it? Sword of truth, shield of justice?"

That was one fancy sword right there. A bit heavy for Maya's taste, who was an archer, and as such disliked swords to begin with, but the Prince did seem quite happy with his shiny new toys.

>>"Don't stab them! Just whap them down the stairs, or something!"

Maya rolled her eyes as they watched the Prince hop on his horse and ride away while the castle started to fall apart. Green flames painted the sky.

"Here comes the dragon!" Maya pulled Maxine out of the way - best leave the dirty job to the prince. That could at least go according to script.

"Wasn't there somethin'..."

Oh. She turned in time to see the Blue Fairy dart after the raven. Cute. Maya smirked and flicked her wand.

"Bow of badassdom, arrows of win."

Maya was right. She could take down the raven. She just needed the right weapons to do so.

"What did I just say, about the minions, and the sharp objects impaling them?" Maxine huffed, hands on her hips. Though she had to admit, the look on the Blue Fairy's face almost made it worth it. Not to mention the special effects: in the real movie, didn't that raven get turned into stone?

The animators really should have considered rainbow explosions from the get-go. For Great Justice.

"Oh, well. Rex would have been jealous, anyway." She sighed, in what might have been her first pardon as the Dark Fairy's heir apparent. Her Majesty wasn't long for this world, at the rate that fight was going. Sure the green fire was impressive, and the black thorns an imposing atmospheric backdrop. It was all in good villainy until someone took a sword to the heart. Which would be right about—

"Expelliarmus!"

The last of the good fairies' wands went tumbling into the abyss, after the dragon's body. Maxine blew lightly on the top of her own, and slipped it back up her sleeve with a gunslinger's flourish as the three fairies crowded defensively around their conquering prince.

Remember that dark shadow from the forest, that had so obligingly hidden them from Aurora during her little song and dance number? It was back, settling over Maxine's shoulders. She tucked in its edges at her throat as it coalesced into a dark mantle, and a crown of eight silver-tipped horns. Nice. Clearly, the animators knew how to pick their victor.

"Thank you for your assistance, ladies." She said. "Now. Why don't you run along, and wake up the Princess Aurora? You can rest assured that she and Prince Philip have my blessings." Her lips curved into a properly diabolical smile. "Just don't forget to invite us to the wedding."

The Queen was dead. Long live the Queen.

>>"Expelliarmus!"

Now that was just... wrong. Why did the Disney universe not collapse?... Not like Maya was complaining, but still...
Maxine transformed into Evil Mistress Maxine. Whoa.

>>"Thank you for your assistance, ladies. Now. Why don't you run along, and wake up the Princess Aurora? You can rest assured that she and Prince Philip have my blessings. Just don't forget to invite us to the wedding."

"Great" Maya sighed "Can I get rid of the wings now?..."

As if on cue, the fanfars of love-conquers-all-shiny-happy-ended were sounded, people rejoiced, and the colorful scene was slightly overshadowed by the evil fairy castle looming in the background. There shall be a sequel... and it shall not be happy.

Maya landed face first in front of the movie screen, enveloped in stunned silence. Rolling onto her back, she looked up, straight into a teenage face of pure amazement.

"Dude..." the whisper broke the silence and the slowly starting shocked murmur "... that was f*** awesome."

Maxine landed on her royal butt with a bounce and a skid, confused for a moment by how much depth this scene had. It was dark enough to be back in her castle, but it was almost...

3D.

>> "Dude... that was f*** awesome."

"You have no ****ing idea," Maxine eloquently returned, her eyes adjusting slowly. Funny; they'd never had to do that in Disneyland. No matter how dark the setting, the ambient light was always just right...

Not like in dark movie theatres, back in the real world. She had the sudden impression that this place had started out pretty full—something about the way there were mom-dad-and-bouncing-kid sized gaps in the teenage population, and a horrified manager standing by the exit door, with a cadre of gaping ushers trying to peer around him.

Maxine stood up, offering to help Maya to her feet, and took a cheeky bow for all the camera phones in the audience. "Maxine Ralls, Wolfs News. And that, friends, is one point for the mutant tally. Power growths ****ing rock."

But whose power growth was it, exactly? It wasn't one of the Mansion kids—a prankster might have caught Gawain the first time, but they'd have no way of knowing he'd cross paths with this random theatre just in time for a night time showing of one of Disney's classics. So that made it either hers (please please please please) or—sigh—the Princ(ess) of Orkney's.

There was need for testing afoot. Maxine returned the next day with a proper lab setting: a VHS of her news segment. She and Gawain had to dig a VHS player out of an old closet to hook it up, but they soon had the TV in the Mansion ready to go, and a few volunteer brats rustled up to tell them what they saw from the outside.

The stage was set for TV-walking.

There was a lot to think about.

How did they end up in Sleeping Beauty?
Whose power was responsible?
How many people knew what happened?
If they were the ones who did it, how did it work?
...
How does one hook up a VHS player to a TV these days?...

Finally, the TV was set up. They even gathered audience, making sure none of their powers was likely to interfere with the experiment. Once the news scene started, Gawain took Maxine's hand.

"Should be similar to mirrorwalking..." he muttered, before he took a deep breath, and they stepped through the screen together...

It worked. It worked perfectly; just a step, an outstretched hand, and instead of running into the screen they stepped... well, into the screen. Damnit. So it was Gawain's power, after all.

The setting was a familiar one, for both of them.

"...In tonight's top story, I present to you a torrid drama of love and betrayal, murder and drugs, unanswered questions and—Gawain?" The redhead behind the desk saw Maxine, too—green eyes met green, with a mutual flare of competitive recognition. But really, how did a girl address her doppelganger?

"Ick," the real Maxine said, squinting at herself. "Yeah, I definitely could have eased back on the mascara."

"...Gawain," her pre-recorded self said, as paperclip tentacles crawled up and over the desk front threateningly. "Explain."