It's Time For a Decree

Sody Pop stood at the center of the chaos, his chest puffed out as his friends lay scattered around him, battered and burnt. But then, a sharp crack echoed in the air—a sound like the snapping of fingers. All at once, the destruction vanished. Dust and debris swirled in reverse, piecing back together into solid ground, and everyone was suddenly on their feet, healed, spotless.

Everyone, except for Bezel.

Cheezborger, brushing off his fur with a grin, broke the silence. "Whoo! That's better. Thanks, Chikn.”

Chikn blinked, his long yellow ears twitching as he tilted his head in confusion. “Umm. That wasn’t me.”

The kitten paused mid-blink, her tiny paws lifting off the ground in surprise. "Oh... Fwench Fwy?"

The wish dragon's head shook, scales shimmering in the sunlight. "Wasn't me."

Cheezborger's brows furrowed, ears drooping as he muttered, "But there’s no one else who could have done it."

Suddenly, the sky was filled with a blinding flash of light. Discord appeared wearing a wide, devilish grin. He wasn’t alone. Haut Saus, the red squirrel, Milkshek, the pink fox, and Old Pea, the round green creature, stood alongside him. All four were decked out in full mariachi band regalia, complete with oversized sombreros. Instruments in hand, the three smaller creatures began playing a lively, chaotic tune, the notes bouncing off the air like they had minds of their own.

“Au contraire, mon petite gatita!” Discord declared grandly, twirling his fake mustache.

Bezel, still on the ground, groaned, his voice heavy with pain and irritation. "Oh, come on! Not him. Not now."

Cheezborger’s eyes widened, her tail puffing up as she stared at the bizarre newcomer. “Who are you?” she asked, her voice small but steady.

Discord dipped his sombrero in an exaggerated bow, his grin never faltering. “Discord. Spirit of Chaos. At your service. Which is what I would say if I had any intention of serving you.” His eyes gleamed with mischief as he straightened up.

Slushi gasped, her turquoise fur fluffing with excitement as she clapped her paws together. “OMG! You must be Chikn’s dad!”

Discord burst into a fit of laughter, his body shaking uncontrollably. “What? You think—? Pwah-hahaha! Oh no, no, no. We’re unrelated, I assure you. Although we do travel in similar circles.”

The mariachi music continued as Discord twirled in the air, shedding his costume in a blink and appearing right next to Chikn. He hovered over the yellow pup, appraising him with playful eyes. “I must say, I approve of your work, my little puppy,” he cooed, patting Chikn on the head with his lion paw. Chikn grimaced slightly, clearly uncomfortable under Discord’s patronizing tone. “It might have been a bit too apocalyptic for my taste, but thankfully the magic of friendship set you straight.”

Discord’s grin widened as he flicked his eagle talon, and a frisbee appeared in his grasp, which he held out like an offering. “Oh, and here’s a little something I’ve been meaning to give you for quite some time now. Roughly three months, I think.”

Chikn didn’t budge, staring at the frisbee with a blank expression. “Are you evil?” he asked bluntly, his voice as flat as his patience. Clearly, after dealing with Bezel, he wasn't in the mood for a repeat of that.

Discord raised a brow, chuckling softly. “Was, Chikn. Was. But I assure you, I am completely reformed.” With a snap of his fingers, he was suddenly dressed as an angel, complete with a glowing halo hovering above his head.

Iscream, the wicked bunny, let out an excited gasp, hopping in place with a grin while squeling, “Ooh! Do a Biblically accurate angel next!”

“Don’t encourage him!” Fwench Fwy shouted, the dragon’s voice exasperated, "Whoever this is might even be worse than Chikn. . . Oh, wait, that came out wrong! No offense, Chikn!"

Chikn didn't seem to give a hoot about when Fwench Fwy had said. He focused on Discord. His glare sharpened, his voice steady as he said, “If you aren’t evil, why are you forcing our friends to play music against their will?”

The halo over Discord’s head shattered like glass, his white robes bursting into flames. “Touché,” he muttered, snapping his talons again. In a blink, Haut Saus, Old Pea, and Milkshek were freed from their mariachi outfits, gasping in relief. Milkshek rushed to Old Pea’s side, the two of them sharing a quick kiss, while Haut Saus groaned loudly.

“What did I do to deserve being in these insane situations?!” the red squirrel moaned.

Discord sighed dramatically and snapped his fingers one last time, making the trio disappear in a puff of smoke. “There, they’re all safe. As much as I’d love to stay and chat, I need to get going before the fabric of this reality stabilizes and kicks me back into my world.”

Without warning, Discord’s arm stretched out like a rubber band, grabbing Bezel by the collar. The Doomsday Clock squirmed, his purple suit crinkling as he yelled, “Hey! HEY! PUT ME DOWN!”

Discord’s eyes sparkled with glee as he shook Bezel like a ragdoll. “Oh, don’t you worry, Bezel. See, I know a certain axolotl who has a nice, padded cell with your name on it. After a few billion years of therapy, you’ll feel like a new man. Oh, and when you get there, tell Bill that Discord says his book stinks!”

He raised his paw, ready to snap his talons.

“Stop.”

The command rang out, sharp and authoritative. Discord paused, turning to see Chikn staring at him, his expression hardened.

“Let him go,” Chikn said quietly.

Discord blinked, incredulous. “WHAT?! ... Why?” He swung Bezel around by his collar, dangling him in front of Chikn like a puppet. “After everything this freak did to you?”

“He was just doing his job,” Chikn replied in a calm, steady tone. “He’s the Doomsday Clock, after all.”

“But he’s not supposed to cause doomsday!” Discord protested, his face twisting with frustration. “And he did the whole manipulation thing I used to do! He turned you against your friends! He made you think they didn't care!”

Chikn’s gaze softened slightly. “Yeah. He was kinda mean... but I forgive him.”

Bezel's clock face jerked up in surprise. “Huh?” he said.

“Turning you into a bear cub was punishment enough,” Chikn added, raising his paw. In an instant, the damage done to Bezel by Sody Pop’s explosion was reversed, his suit cleaned and pressed.

Discord snickered, shaking his head. “Oh, how nice. You fixed him up all neat and tidy for his incarceration. Dry-cleaned his suit and everything. Now, where was I?” He raised his paw again, but this time, Chikn’s face shifted. His mouth vanished, replaced by seven glowing eyes of different shapes and colors.

“LET HIM GO. . . NOW.”

Discord froze, his lion paw hanging mid-air. With a pout, he dropped Bezel, who landed with a thud on the ground. “Well, I suppose after being forgiven by Fluttershy time and time again, I don’t really have the right to deny this fool redemption,” he muttered, “I’m sure you can handle him yourself, anyway.”

Chikn’s face returned to normal, and he gave a sweet, innocent smile. “Yep!”

Discord sighed dramatically. “Very well, then. You won’t be seeing me around here anymore. Just make sure to live up to your title as Demigod of Chaos. Make me proud, my little puppy.” With a snap and a flash of light, he vanished.

Haut Saus blinked, finding himself floating in a black void.

“Now where am I?” the red squirrel groaned.

Discord appeared before him with a burst of light, looming over him like a shadow. “You were absolutely useless in this situation,” he growled, his tone dripping with annoyance. “Do you have any idea how many people were expecting you to step up and save Chikn?”

“What!? What are you talking about?!” Haut Saus squeaked, his voice high with disbelief. “What could I have possibly done against a demigod?!”

Discord’s eyes narrowed, his voice lowering to a frustrated tone, “You were all alone, isolated from everyone—just like Chikn. You could have connected with him. It was your chance to be something more.”

Haut Saus huffed, crossing his arms. “Chikn doesn’t even like me that much! His best friend Chee was the only one who could’ve fixed things.”

Discord’s eyes rolled, his body sagging with exaggerated exhaustion. “Fine, believe what you want. But don’t think you can keep being so lazy all the time. You’ll get another chance to be a hero soon enough, and this time you had better step up.”

“Me? A hero?” Haut Saus mumbled, scratching his head in confusion. “What could happen that would need me as a hero?”

Discord smirked, and with a wave of his lion paw, an image appeared. Like a floating television scream in space. It depicted a dimly lit room, the walls lined with conspiracy charts and scribbled notes that seemed to stretch endlessly. In the center of the room stood a figure, a silhouette of a bat, its ears big and wide. The bat stood before a large board cluttered with papers, photographs, and red string connecting seemingly random events—all tied to Chikn Nuggit, the end of the world, and something far more sinister. The figure’s glowing white eyes opened, locking onto Haut Saus as if peering straight through the image, and through him.

A chill ran down Haut Saus’s spine, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. He stumbled back, instinctively trying to distance himself from the vision, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. The intensity of the bat's gaze felt as though it was burrowing into his very soul, unraveling every thread of confidence he had.

Discord slithered up next to him, his voice a low, dangerous whisper, barely audible over the sound of Haut Saus's quickened breathing. “A new threat approaches. A new player in the battle of chaos and order. And your world… it’s caught right in the middle of it.”

The image faded, but the weight of it lingered in the air, pressing down on Haut Saus like a suffocating fog. Discord's grinning face appeared inches from his own, those wild, mismatched eyes gleaming with amusement.

Haut Saus swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he stammered, “W-What does this have to do with me? I’m just a squirrel! I-I can’t take on something like that! I mean, look at me!”

Discord just chuckled, “Oh, I know. But, dear Haut Saus, you’ve got something the others don’t—something that makes you perfect for this. You’ve been hiding behind your bad attitude, pretending like you don’t have a part to play in all this madness, but I see it.” He poked Haut Saus’s chest with his eagle claw, right where his heart pounded in fear. “Deep down, you know it too.”

Haut Saus blinked, his brain struggling to catch up. He knew there had been strange moments before, times when he felt like he should’ve done more or stepped up, but it was always easier to hide, to let someone else be the hero. Now, though, with Discord hovering over him, telling him he had some special role in this twisted game of chaos and order, it felt like the weight of the world had suddenly fallen on his tiny shoulders.

“I-I don’t know…” he muttered, shaking his head. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this hero stuff. I mean, Chee’s brave, Chikn’s got crazy powers, Fwench Fwy's a wish dragon, Iscream is a demon, Sody can blow stuff up, even Cofi and Slushi are bigger and stronger than me.”

Discord rolled his eyes dramatically, his long body twisting in exaggerated annoyance. He snapped his talons, the void around them dissolving into a swirling vortex of colors and sounds—like a kaleidoscope had exploded into existence. Haut Saus stumbled back, dizzy from the sensory overload, but Discord remained steady, his form blurring and shifting with the changing surroundings.

“You think you’re just a squirrel, but there’s more to you than you realize. Because more often than not, a friend in the right place can do wonders. Such is the Magic of Friendship,” Discord continued, his voice coming from all directions at once. “And when the time comes, you’ll have a choice. Will you step up and embrace the chaos? Will you be the friend that Chikn needs? Or will you let the world spiral into darkness while you sit on the sidelines, wishing you could’ve done something? So, what will it be, my little furry friend? Hero or bystander?”

Haut Saus suddenly found himself back in his bed, tangled in his blankets. His chest heaved with each breath as he looked around, the room dim and quiet. That image of the deer, the yellow eyes glowing with intent, stayed with him, a gnawing unease that told him this threat was real. Whether he wanted it or not, something was coming.

He lay back against his pillow, staring at the ceiling, his heart still pounding. Somewhere out there, a new threat was looming, and for some reason, he had a feeling this wasn’t just a nightmare.

It was only the beginning.