Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit


Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A Second Chance?

He remembered it all: How he hatched his plot, how much he had to pay for it, and how close he came to realizing his plan altogether. Then, thanks to a little slip-up, a slimy little frog just happened to seal his fate completely. He remembered how panicked he was when he realized that all of his hard work had crumbled before him, and that the same folks he called his friends happened to pay him a visit and collect their 'debt'. He even remembered how he was mercilessly dragged into the very hole he dug for himself, only to face endless torment in the form of fearful images including his 'friends', deafening cackles from different voices, and that same song that he himself sung in his lifetime. It was a miracle that he hadn't been drove to insanity, but with each passing second the images grew more morbid, and the incessant laughing and song louder.

...Then it happened...

He thought it to be neverending, but as he waded in a cesspool of his own torment, everything slowly began getting darker and the images began to fade. When everything was pitch black to him, even the endless laughter and song began to fade out of earshot until there was nothing but endless darkness and silence. At that time, he lost feeling of both his body and mind, as if he were met with a peaceful rest at last. It didn't last long, however, as something surprising happened to him.

He was able to regain feeling of his body, and even gave off a weak moan as the darkness began to lift, opening his eyes only to show something even more surprising. Instead of the hell he wallowed in for so long, he found himself in a clearing of what appeared to be a forest. He gave another weak moan as he decided to speak...

"What the hell is goin' on?
Where have all my friends gone?"

He paused after his little sentence, thinking he rhymed as if on instinct. This could have been a small verbal mistake as he decided to speak once more...

"Whatever happened, I'm glad I'm free.
I wonder what my friends have done to me..."

He paused again, then widened his eyes to his realization. 'Is this some kind of joke!?' He thought, surprised to realize he couldn't rhyme in this thoughts. Ignoring the matter of his verbal conduct, he decided to get up and explore, only to realize something was amiss. When he got on two legs, he fell on all fours, as if he was reincarnated into a quadruped. This only added to his list of surprises pertaining to his current minutes in this new place: Waking up in what almost seemed like a pristine forest, rhyming with each word out of his mouth as if he were in a child's story, and the possibility of having been reborn as a lowly animal of sorts. This wouldn't sit well with him at all, but he should probably find the nearest mirror to see what possible monstrosity he has now become. Spotting a puddle a small distance away, he trotted over 'Wait...I'm trotting?' and gazed upon his new form.

"Of all the things I've seen right now,
All I have to ask is 'HOW!?'"

He couldn't believe what he saw. In the reflection of the dirty water gave way to a figure of an otherworldly striped horse -no- a zebra. A ZEBRA! And if that wasn't wierd enough, this zebra had a horn on its forehead, and possessed the same hat, eyes, and teeth that he had donned in his previous life. Despite the abominable figure in front of him, he already missed his cane. Maybe he could use it to knock himself senseless and consider this another form of torment from his 'friends'. He could save them a period of physical torment with how hard he wanted to hit himself right now. To make sure it wasn't a trick, he lifted a hoof near his face and began waving it left and right for good measure.

...This was no trick...

Dr. Facilier-THE Dr. Facilier, reduced to something Pablo Picasso himself would probably draw on a canvas, and in the middle of a forest no less. He probably thought he was back in Louisiana, in one of their famous bogs, though he spotted no swamps or bodies of water in sight, save for the puddle of cruel realization. He decided to examine himself for other things out of the ordinary in his case. There was some familiarity to the new body he possessed other than his hat and eyes, seeing as how he held a slim and slender figure. He noticed his tail resembled his wacky hairstyle in his previous life, but what really caught his eye was what was labeled on his hindquarters. He noticed what appeared to be an assortment of familiar items painted to his flanks, all bunched up as if they were about to be put on sale. There was a doll with a pin, a tarot card, and a potion flask of green liquid, all behind a cartoonish skull. This only raised more questions for himself, but he couldn't ask them here. He needed to get out of this forest and make contact with possible life, and hopefully scam them into doing what he wants. The Shadowman was always the charismatic type to anyone he spoke to, and would be happy to charm the very first person or animal that came into sight. Seeing as how he himself was technically an animal, he may have a shot of charming both, but then he remembers how out of place he looked ever since coming here.

He thought about moving out of this place, but then he remembered one small thing that he could ever cherish in his life other than his borrowed magic, charm, and physique...

...His shadow...

He practically beamed at the thought of his old chum, and turned to see the very shade he casted in the sunlight. Lifting one of his hooves, Dr. Facilier hoped to see if he would respond, but it only mimicked his exact movement. 'Maybe he's still asleep...' he thought, seeing as how his only true friend is attached to his body, not showing any sign of movement. Giving him a few moments to himself, he tried again, not only getting the same results, but growing irritated in the mix. After waving his hoof once more in a frantic motion, he had enough as he decided to call to his shadow.

"C'mon, shadow, this here ain't funny!
You can move so well while the sky's all sunny!"

No response

The witch doctor felt betrayed at one point, but that feeling was replaced with a faint sense of ire at his own shadow's disobedience. He began to think of harsh forms of punishment if he were to ever catch his shadow awake, only to have a faint and familiar beat make his ears perk up. He looked around as his anger began to recede, and at that moment, so did that faint sound of drums and voices. This began to get all to wierd for him, as he wanted to figure out if this wasn't more torture or not. So, with a sense of confidence and possible (if not, wrong) direction, he began to make his way into the thick of the forest from the clearing he woke up in.

He trotted along the only open trail he found, and continued walking. Looking back, the witch doctor could only see the sun-phased clearing move more and more out of sight as he continued along, noticing how dark and forboding the path has become. All sense of welcoming pleasure the forest had to offer before was now gone as he heard all sorts of animal sounds, as if one of them were waiting to pounce on him and have him for a quick snack. Each tree he passed looked all gnarled, and some looked as if they even had faces on them. He was beginning to think this was all some kind of mind trick played by his 'friends', only to realize what he had discovered after what felt like hours of travel.

He stumbled upon what appeared to be a hut made from one of the trees in the forest. What caught his attention was its exterior design. There were some masks, including one large green one over the door of the hut, and the branches were decorated in bottles tied to vines hanging from each branch. This can only mean one thing: There was another witch doctor here. One that could hopefully clear his mind, and can also be bent to his will. He grinned his gapped teeth at the sight of the hut, and couldn't waste another moment to gallop over there and knock on the door with his hoof. He heard chanting from inside, and upon further inspection, sounding feminine and alluring, causing him to chuckle to himself 'Ooooh~, this is gonna be easy...'. The doctor knocked on the door, and upon doing so, stopped the chanting from inside. There was faint trotting heard from behind the door, growing in sound with each step, then the knob turned with the door opening to reveal the hut's owner.

She, too, was a zebra, but did not possess a horn. Instead, she held dazzling blue eyes, a mohawk(Though at one point, he thought it was normal, since she was a zebra.), and rings on her neck, ears, and left hoof. The mark on her hindquarters depicted a sun similar to what could be seen in a cave painting, but he paid it no mind as his signature charm broke in. He grinned at the zebra mare and greeted himself in his most proper manner.

"Mademoiselle~! Enchanté~...
A tip of the hat, from Dr. Facilier~..."

He added the last part with charismatic emphasis, and was even courteous enough to remove his hat with his left hoof and showing his long and wacky mane. He was surprised to even grab his hat with his hoof, but dismissed the thought as he kept his charming (And almost seductive) guise and looked up at the zebra mare, who only stared with a blank face.

End of Chapter 1