[chapter eleven ] how to make a villain

IT SEEMED LIKE NEW SALEM WASN'T A SCARY PLACE AFTER ALL.  Although it was inhabited by many whose criminal records were strikingly red-colored, no one was mean to each other. And the nature of being a villain in someone else's story was to be simply vile.

It was a competition after all. Everyone wanted to be the best among others, at least that's what fairy tales were telling, pointing out that being the bad guy isn't always the best solution and it will never be. This place proved this premise wrong since the bad things made them good and that was superior to realize.

Even though all of the goodness was camouflaged in the ungodly, still some of the things weren't moral. The self-called villains were sharing tips with each other. Every tip resonated with wickedness on where to get the best poison or how to influence others without using abilities. Was it necessary?

When the clouds of incoming menace covered the skies, this was the first time that Nicholas Strange encountered reality. Why was he here?

He was trying to do this whole time to help people, listen to their stories and be indeed good, therefore there wasn't any reason for him to be able to enter this town and be treated with all of this kindness. He was meant to be their worst enemy, the person on which they had to vent their anger — he was the protagonist in this story twisted by chaos.

Nicholas was sitting on the stone stairs and looking at all of those who enjoyed their stay here, receiving the recognition they all deserved as it wasn't easy to be a villain, the chosen one.

A shadow interrupted him from the stream of thoughts, "Is there anything I can help you with, dear?"

His eyes widened as finally, someone decided to speak to him heart to heart, not just through a song as they were passing by, pirouetting to their destiny. Nick focused on the messy waves, sticking out to several directions, eventually realizing who was talking to him, "No, I don't think so, Mrs. Harkness. . ." he uttered politely.

"Well. . . Then I would highly appreciate if you move a little. You're blocking the door to my house," Agatha pointed to the side aggressively, attempting to give him an impulse to change the location as she was trying to give herself a bit of a rest and perhaps do some vocal exercise.

Nick looked behind, his eyes broadened even more as he perceived a sign clearly spelling Agatha's residence outlined with purple with a size of a font that could be seen easily from afar.

"Oh sorry! I didn't notice." Nicholas said, quite confused, instantly standing up. He was pretty sure that this house was a tavern before. Everything made sense as he observed a fading purple mass near the doorknob.

Agatha dramatically sighed, rolling her eyes, making a few steps closer to the door, and then she stopped, staring at the white door, "What's your name, kid?"

He was about to leave, as she demanded but remained still since she asked him something, "Nicholas Strange."

He didn't even have time to wonder why she was suddenly interested as someone's magic forced him to move and sit on a sofa in Agatha's living room, "Damned spirit! You should've said that earlier!"

Nick was in shock as he noticed many rabbits just hopping around, lying on the carpet, or crunching on a cable of unused tv. In the corners were cobwebs with spiders luring their prey that glinted underneath a muted light with golden particles of dust floating around.

"Don't mind them, they are just all over the place," Agatha cackled from a kitchen, scolding one of the rabbits that were happily eating the violet sofa's padding decorated with tartan from a distance.

Nicholas didn't know how to feel about this so he was silently petting one rabbit that dozed on his lap, patiently waiting puppy-eyed, for what would happen next.

"There you go, pup," she stated as she was handing him a cup with an unknown liquid that he was too scared to drink, not only because of his experience with tea but also because he was currently staying in a witch's lair — everything could go easily wrong.

He thanked in a murmur, accepting the drink, looking into the cup, and waiting for a deadly skull to appear on the surface to help him disguise the poison.

"So Nicky. . ."

"It's Nick."

"Whatever," she paused for a moment as an undetectable smirk formed on her lips as she gulped the sip she eventually took, "I'm so honored to finally meet you! I've been waiting for this day my whole life."

Nicholas raised both of his eyebrows because he didn't understand a single thing about her enthusiasm, "What?" The surprise got him that much, he almost spilled the drink on himself, severally blinking to get a sense of it.

"My friend— I'm sorry. Well, that's not the right term. . . My colleague told me a lot about you," Agatha declared, even though she was talking in mystery, "you're a quite unique humankind."

A frown appeared on Nick's face, he still didn't catch the true meaning behind her words, also it sounded too bizarre to be said aloud. She was talking about a colleague, a mysterious person she didn't want to talk about really. That got him thinking, it could be anyone, even the person in the pub that was staring into his soul every time he made eye contact with him.

"Who told you that?" he questioned, putting aside the drink that the witch didn't like.

"You would like to know, huh? Too bad that's the only secret witches never tell," Agatha said with an unpleasant grin leisurely forming on her lips. She went silent for a second, "Maybe I could give you a teeny-tiny hint if you want."

Nick nodded.

With a gesture of her hand, Agatha indicated to him to lean closer to her, which he eventually did as he didn't have other options as a surge of dark energy forced him to.

"They told me that you did something really really bad. . ." she whispered to his ear. Instantly he felt chills on his nape and shivers going down his spine. Just as she withdrew back, her eyes flashed with a violet tint.

Nick narrowed his eyes with a gulp, discerning the truth, "I have no idea what you're talking about. . ."

"So you're not wondering how you even got here? New Salem is protected with a spell that analyses everyone that comes across the barriers, detecting whenever you're worthy to join our clan. You came through and that means one thing. . ."

Nicholas watched Agatha as she suddenly stood up on the sofa with her arm reaching to the ceiling, where all of a sudden appeared a rope that she pulled after that. A wall that separated the living room and the kitchen fell down like a curtain and revealed a greyscale scene of a theatre stage formed by a crafted scenery with first tones resounding in the area.

From the offstage right part of the stage started coming dancers dressed in plain colorless outfits.

This only meant one thing. Another song.

I traveled the world, I heard all the yarns
this planet isn't meant for those like us

Have you heard the story about that witch
she cursed a girl and immediately switched

"Excuse me?" A woman yelled as she turned into Maleficent, hitting the wooden floor with her staff — summoning a pair of crows that flew to the audience.

from being cruel to being good, misunderstood
if you were a true villain that is not what you should do

Agatha with a gentle gesture with her hand made the lady with horns disappear into a bag of dust. In the grayscale scene, there was finally a bit of color. When the bag opened as it fell on the ground, a violet dust explosion colored the place in vivid shades, having the other dancers encircle the pile with twirls.

I traveled the world, I heard all the yarns
not everyone can do the shady stuff like us

Harkness laughed loudly as she watched the dancers stomping on the remains of now-gone Maleficent, clearly it was just an illusion since this character existed only in pop culture. 

They were picking handfuls of the colored powder as they propelled themselves into the air whilst, doing splits as they hovered above the ground, throwing the powder up as they finished the jump as professional ballerinas.

It's all about the mischief, mayhem, chaos
the part the heroes are gonna die it's just a plus

if you were a true villain, New Salem would know

Agatha snapped with her fingers and vanished in an outburst of dark mass, as well as the background dancers in the middle of another jump.

"Know what?"

"I don't understand," Nicholas declared in confusion as he was left all alone in the theater. He was about to leave, knowing that this is the right time. As he stood up, trying to make another subtle move, something was holding him back. His body flickered in purple, it was Agatha's magic all along forcing him to stay. 

Right in front of him flashed a strong spotlight. Nick looked away because the unexpected surge of light almost blinded him. He gasped as he perceived the theater seats crumbling to glittering particles that settled between the joints of the dark tiles that were formatted in a circle just like a web.

Not everyone can be a proper villain
there's something you must know

Agatha Harkness walked through a splash of violet colors while belting a high note, spreading her arms into the catchy rhythm, and making her way step by step to Nicholas.

Having a charm is preferred
in the make-a-villain chart

Her dainty dance moves brushed off the dust that under the impact started to ascend to the air clinging to the fabric of her dark pink suit, making it scintillate.

The key to make a villain
isn't just to have fun for real

She was moving her arms in and out attempting to reach the dust that hadn't stuck to her clothes while positioning her feet to do a pirouette, skipping a few steps to get closer to him.

You do need the right mindset
those in fairy tales had none

"Well let's have a look, what have you done, shall we?" Agatha declared with a playful grin on her face after finishing the chorus.

"What?! No!" Nick uttered in defense, trying to break free, however, it was already too late as Agatha took his hair.

"Repete memoria,'' she whispered, making a gesture summoning a spell that colored the strand of hair vibrant violet. Mrs. Harkness sent it adrift to the dark void where an indigo cloud appeared predicting a blight as the hair went right through it, recalling a memory.

"I'll tell you myself! I'll explain everything! I promise!" Nick insisted, however, it seemed like she didn't hear him at all. She was mesmerized by the occurring menace phenomenon.

Agatha was looking at it in disbelief rather than excitement. She moved close to it as if the darkness was pulling her in, later stepping into the memory that was supposed to remain forgotten. She managed to examine the echo on her own, intruding on his mind as he was still captured by her spell far away, striving the hex off.

He watched her in trance, frightened, due to the fact that she was analyzing things too closely, enthralled that she could see the darkest corners of his brain.

Agatha Harkness was so quiet that the silence began killing those around her. Instantly Nicholas Strange was released from her captivity falling on his knees in the middle of the cobweb set. He took the strength to stand up, ready to stop her from unveiling his secret.

The cloud presenting his reminiscence faded from sight. Agatha passed through the dark specter with a mischievous grin on her lips walking towards Nicholas to lure him back into her power since she cracked the riddle.

The truth is that my spells never lie

Agatha continued singing, gazing into the boy's soul. Unfortunately, he was backing away, realizing that something she saw must have influenced her actions since she craved his attention. Tall walls rose from the ground to cut him off from the world.

Nick looked around terrified, his heart raced yet calmed down as he observed an outline of a door that popped up just behind him. He didn't hesitate a second and ran towards the door, he eventually managed to slip through. 

Nick crashed into a mirror wall with his arm as he tried to change direction, nevertheless, he stopped looking at the thousand reflections of Agatha that were present only through the mirrors.

You're the perfect example
the one that has a charm

Witch's laugh bounced off the looking glasses. Nicholas was shaking his head, moving back in shock to grab the doorknob and take the chance to leave this maze of madness.

Your daddy is not here to help you
cause you had been really really bad

All the reflections transformed themselves into Nicholas, creating a phantasm that he was surrounded by his deeds of the past. He couldn't even look at himself as his own vision made them so distorted and dark, mischievous.

And I don't mean it at everything
Your gaze could sell me anything

Agatha sang as the mirrors began to crumble, sinking into a void of nothingness, dancing around him, duplicating herself, to repel him into the corner where the door was.

A villain that should be worshiping
Show me your darkness, come on, bring it in!

Clearly, she was giving him hope to run away. Sadly Nicholas bumped into Agatha who was standing right behind him. She touched his shoulders which made him startle.

Stop caring about opinions
Let me make a villain out of you

If you were truly that bad, New Salem
would know

Agatha cast a spell, sending it to his right temple, coloring his eyes in deep purple for a moment to push him heartlessly from the edge at the very last note.

Nick regained consciousness and reappeared back, in the living room, lying on the ground encircled by rabbits, staring at Agatha that was now dressed casually with her hair tied into a messy bun, "So are you in?"