Confidentiality

Chapter 5

"I've got this handled, Scar!" Ursula snapped, grabbing the illusion of The Duke with one of her tentacles.

"You're missing two tentacles, dear, I don't think you do." Scar yawned, making his position on the lion more comfortable.

"Scar?" The Duke mumbled, furrowing his brow. "What is he doing here? And working with the Sea Witch?"

"They both usually work alone." The Prince frowned, crossing his arms. "I sense that a game's afoot." He murmured.

One of the hyenas apparently noticed the three heroes, because suddenly both Scar and Ursula were looking at them.

"Oh, you have gotta be--" Ursula growled, dropping the illusion of The Duke.

The Prince pulled out his sword, and The Duke pulled out his mace. "Okay, I'm usually against animal cruelty, but I think we can make an acception." The Prince growled, eyeing the hyenas that were growling at them.

Janus glanced at The Prince. "You were saying you had an idea?" He prompted, gaining both of the heroes' attention.

"Princey had an idea? God help us all." The Duke shook his head solemnly.

"Shut up." The Prince scowled. "Okay, this relies entirely on you, Deceit, think you're up for it?"

Janus perked up. Yes! This was perfect! "I'm up for anything." He told The Prince, who nodded.

"Okay, I need you to try and slip away." The Prince began. "Just--" He yelped when suddenly the hyenas were charging towards them. "--be careful!" He finished, slashing one with his sword and kicking another away.

Janus pulled out the guns he had been keeping strapped to his sides. He shot at a couple of hyenas, only feeling slightly bad as they crumpled to the ground. "And then what?!"

"Bonk!" The Duke laughed, bringing his mace down on the head of one of the hyenas.

The Prince explained the rest of the plan to Janus, all the while killing hyenas. "Got it?" He asked after he was done, breathing heavily, covered in hyena blood, but somehow still looking good. His hair was still perfectly styled, and the blood gave him this kind of rugged look.

"Got it." Janus nodded, shooting a hyena that was approaching.

"Re--Duke!" The Prince shouted at his brother, who bristled to attention.

"Mhm?" The Duke hummed, glancing at them despite the hyena that was chewing on his leg.

"I need you to give Deceit an opening!" The Prince ordered. The Duke frowned.

"You're not the boss of me!" The Duke sassed, using his mace to kill another hyena.

"Wha--Are you seriously doing this right now?!" The Prince exclaimed, looking at The Duke in disbelief.

"I serve no man!" The Duke shook his head, using his free leg to kick the hyena that had been chewing on him away. "Or woman! Or non-binary individual! No sir, not me!"

"You are so petty!" The Prince snapped. "I'll give him an opening!" He rolled his eyes, shifting so that he was taking on both the hyenas that were coming at him and at Janus. "Go!"

Janus locked eyes with Scar for a moment as he was slipping away, and the older man gave Janus a wink.

---

When Janus came back, The Prince's breathing was very heavy and labored, but most of the hyenas were dead.

"Come on." The Prince mumbled breathlessly to himself, sweat dripping down his face.

"Uh, Princey?" The Duke spoke up. "Do you need help?"

"Worry about yourself!" The Prince snapped.

Janus took a deep breath, before stepping back into the fray.

Ursula and Scar took one look at him, and did a double take.

"Captain Hook? You were called out too?" Scar asked. "That boy really has no faith in us."

"What an odd villain to call out, though. Your crew isn't nearly as vast in size as Scar's hyenas." Ursula snorted.

Janus blanked for a moment, trying to think of what Mr. Hook would say.

"How dare you?!" He snapped, trying to make that face that Mr. Hook makes all the time. "My crew could give your pack of hyenas a run for their money." He smirked.

Scar snorted. "Yeah, sure. Strength in numbers, my friend." He smirked at him. "You aren't needed here anyways. We have it under control."

"I think it's time I join the fight, don't you think?" Ursula mused, chuckling.

Slowly and silently, she moved her tentacle through the air, too high to be noticed immediately in the midst of battle.

"Which one should I go for?" She pondered quietly to herself, grinning deviously.

She moved her tentacle directly behind The Prince, who was too distracted by the mass amounts of hyenas coming his way. "Goodnight, Prince Charming." She sneered, before the tentacle slammed into the back of his head.

The Prince stumbled for a moment, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell like a stone.

The hyenas that were attacking The Prince backed away.

"Roman!" The Duke yelled, trying to run over.

Ursula grabbed The Prince's ankle with her tentacle, holding his limp form upside down. "Roman?" She echoed, smirking at The Duke, who blanched when he realized his mistake. "Is that the little prince's name? Roman?" She tossed him in the air, catching him with her actual hand.

"No." The Duke swallowed, and it didn't take a genius to see that he was lying.

"Roman, Roman, Roman~" She cooed. "I wonder what you look like without that pretty mask, Roman." She mused, moving her other hand so that she could take it off.

Janus slowly reached for his gun, figuring out in his head how he would rescue The Prince.

"Stop." A voice commanded Ursula.

She instantly froze. "Wha--?"

"Drop him."

She instantly obeyed dropping The Prince like he had burned her. "No!" She cried, scrambling to catch him again.

It was too late, though, because The Duke made multiple illusions of The Prince, making it pretty much impossible to identify the real one.

Ursula only realized which one was real when he landed securely in The Duke's arms.

Janus looked towards the source of the voice that had commanded the giant villain.

It was a hero Janus had not met. His hair was dark, almost black, with the ends being a royal purple. He wore a black mask on his face. The hero was wearing a black suit with purple accents, a long black cape flowing from his back.

"Paranoia." Scar growled, and instantly all the hyenas were growling at the hero.

"Sup." He gave a mock salute.

A/N:

I HATE THE WORD TENTACLE SO MUCH SOUWHEBD H DE