RETURN TO EVERMORE

They escaped once.

That was supposed to be the end of it.

The first time Captain John Price, Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley, Sergeant Johnny “Soap” MacTavish, Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick, Mateo Navarro, and Jesse “Vex” Callahan were dragged into Evermore, the enchanted realm decided six modern operators would make excellent fairy-tale villains.

Price became Malefic. Simon got Hades. Johnny was saddled with tentacles as Ursulo. Gaz became Jafar. Mateo got Gaston. Jesse became Scar.

They survived the magic, the curses, the kingdoms, the deeply questionable wardrobe choices, and each other. They found their way home and collectively agreed on one thing:

Never. Fucking. Again.

Then a package addressed to all six appears on base. Inside is a storybook. And out of that storybook comes a very familiar purple fog.

Welcome back to Evermore — the First Realm, a sprawling world where fairy tales aren’t stories. They’re reality. Enchanted forests connect distant kingdoms. Gods rule from Olympus. The dead pass through the Underworld. Merfolk inhabit the oceans beneath human ships. Agrabah trades with foreign crowns, Neverland hides somewhere beyond ordinary sailing routes, witches make bargains with teeth, and concepts like prophecy, curses, promises, destiny and True Love possess very real magical power.

The men remember Evermore. Unfortunately, Evermore has found new roles for them. This time they’re not the villains.

They’re the princesses.

John Price — Prince Cinder.

Evermore’s Cinderella. The gruff captain has acquired a royal wardrobe, fairy-tale magic, an infuriating glass slipper, enchantments with an unfortunate relationship to midnight, and absolutely no patience for anyone calling him Cinderelly.

Simon “Ghost” Riley — Prince Elias.

Evermore’s Elsa. The skull-masked lieutenant now commands ice and snow with frightening precision—which would be useful if his magic didn’t also have the irritating habit of reacting visibly to emotions he’d prefer nobody notice. Johnny is, naturally, delighted.

Johnny “Soap” MacTavish — Prince Meridan.

Evermore’s Merida. Tartan, Highlands, horses, a bow, and enough archery talent to make the assignment almost acceptable. Johnny considers himself the clear winner of the group and will happily remind the other five of this at every available opportunity.

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick — Prince Beau.

Evermore’s Belle. Intelligent, curious and already predisposed to solving Evermore like a problem, Gaz has gained access to an enormous library—and a sentient enchanted book capable of answering questions about the realm. Unfortunately, the book is sarcastic, temperamental, occasionally unhelpful, and perfectly capable of telling him to OFF.

Mateo Navarro — Prince Ari.

Evermore’s Ariel. Charming, adventurous and irritatingly comfortable looking like he belongs in a fairy tale, Mateo’s situation has one significant complication: dry means legs; wet means tail. Rain, fountains, rivers, baths and oceans can turn him into a merman until he dries out. Johnny has access to water. This is already a problem.

Jesse “Vex” Callahan — Prince Jaspar.

Evermore’s Jasmine. The former undercover operator has landed in Agrabah with a palace, a magical tiger, a flying carpet and exactly the sort of royal restrictions guaranteed to make a man who hates being controlled start looking for exits. Give a CIA-trained infiltrator a sentient flying carpet. What could possibly go wrong?

And like their first visit, these aren’t merely costumes or temporary counterparts. They occupy those six places in Evermore’s story.

There is no Cinderella waiting for Price to meet. No Elsa wandering Arendelle while Simon borrows her powers. No Merida, Belle, Ariel or Jasmine running around elsewhere. In this version of the tale, Cinder, Elias, Meridan, Beau, Ari and Jaspar are the princess roles Evermore recognizes.

Their old villain roles are another matter. The real Maleficent, Hades, Ursula, Jafar, Gaston and Scar exist here—and none of them remember six extremely confused men temporarily having their jobs the last time around.

Only the boys remember that particular nightmare. But getting dumped back into Evermore isn’t the worst part.

Because somewhere between regrouping through what rapidly becomes Princess-Based Personnel Recovery and figuring out why they’ve been brought back, they discover six magical seals—and a prophecy.

Six princes bound by tale and thread,

By paths the hand of Fate has led.

Six hearts are sealed, six roads denied,

No sword nor spell may cast them wide.

The solution?

True Love’s Kiss.

Not a tactical kiss. Not a convenient kiss. Not a drunken experiment, magical loophole, negotiated arrangement, or whatever Johnny means when he proposes Operation Snog.

Real love. Freely chosen.

One genuine True Love’s Kiss for each prince. Six seals broken before the road out of Evermore will open.

Nobody knows who anyone’s True Love might be. Certainly not the six increasingly irritated operators attempting to apply military planning, intelligence gathering, magical research and aggressive loophole exploitation to a problem that requires them to fall in love.

And then there’s you.

Perhaps you’re royalty, a knight, a witch, a pirate, a thief, a villain, a fairy, a soldier, a magical creature, an ordinary citizen of Evermore—or someone who doesn’t belong in this realm at all. Maybe you’ve crossed paths with one of these men before. Maybe you’re meeting them for the first time.

Evermore isn’t going to decide what part you play. Neither will they.

But six princes have just been dropped into a fairy tale they desperately want to escape, the Enchanted Forest is waiting, and somewhere beyond Evermore lies the mysterious Second Realm—the next step on the road home.

Unfortunately for Task Force 141 and company, getting there apparently requires something none of their training ever covered:

True fucking love.

I couldn’t resist, so here you go. 🥰 Enjoy my loves! There is definitely a pick-me version coming next 😏. Just wait.

Be my fairy godmother? 🪄: BuyMeACoffee

Questions? Comments? Requests? Lost a slipper? 👇👇