"My, my, my," said King Roland, clapping his hands together. "You certainly are full of tricks, Mr. Facilier."

"Please, your majesty, call me the Shadow Man," said Dr. Facilier with a modest shrug. "It's what all my fans call me."

"You didn't screw up any of the magic acts you just showed me," King Roland said, impressed. "And your musical number was catchy as hell! Cedric over here, on the other hand, doesn't have a theme song..."

"You told me that I would suck at writing a theme song," Cedric protested from the corner of the throne room.

"Quiet, Cedric!" King Roland said crossly, giving him one of his world famous "King Roland Death Glares." "You have no business speaking out of line today! Not after you caused for Heroes to be cancelled!"

"But I had nothing to do with that, your highness!" Cedric cried.

"What did I just tell you?!" Roland barked. "If the Shadow Man had been my sorcerer back then, he would've cast a spell on those dumb shits over at NBC to make them keep the show on the air."

"I may have a way to make you feel better, your highness," said Dr. Facilier, swinging his staff around and making a Netflix envelope magically appear out of nowhere. "Try getting into Lost and The Sopranos. Both of those shows were kept on TV until they wrapped up, and I'm sure you won't have any complaints about the way they end."

"Thank you, Shadow Man," said King Roland, delighted. "You see, Cedric? This is how a sorcerer is supposed to treat his king."

"Oh, your highness, please stop," said Dr. Facilier, taking a small bow. "Your words of flattery are just going to make this old sinner blush until his skin turns so red he looks like he had a bad sunburn."

"And what manners!" exclaimed King Roland. "Cedric, you've never been that kind to me whenever I've given you a compliment!"

"That's because you've never given me one," Cedric muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh, don't mind him, your highness," said Dr. Facilier smoothly. "He can't help it if he's not as well-cultured as I am. I've been around the world, you see, visiting the various kingdoms and learning black magic...um, I mean, new tricks everywhere I went."

"That sounds fascinating!" said King Roland. "You'll have to tell me all about it over lunch today!"

"But, your highness, you were supposed to have lunch with your wife today," said Baileywick, pointing at a pocket calendar. "You know how she makes that creepy smile of her's every time you let her down."

"Baileywick, she makes that creepy smile all the time," said King Roland matter-of-factly. "Or do you not pay attention to the show? But no matter. I'm sure that the Shadow Man would love to meet Miranda."

"Careful now, your highness," said Dr. Facilier. "I've been known to be a notorious ladies man. I just might snatch your wife up and keep her for myself."

King Roland laughed a long, hard, hearty King Roland laugh.

"You're a comedian, too!" he bellowed. "You just joked about stealing the heart of the King's wife! That took guts! Shadow Man, you are officially hired as my new sorcerer!"

"What?" went Cedric. "But he hasn't even shown you a resume yet! And what about me?"

"Well, obviously, you'll be fired, Cedric," said King Roland simply. "But don't take it the wrong way. It's nothing personal, it's just that I can't stand you."

"But...but..." whimpered Cedric.

"It's settled then!" said King Roland, snapping his fingers. "Cedric, I will expect your dungeon emptied out by tomorrow morning so the Shadow Man can move in. Also, I'll need you take that crow or whatever it is you have for a pet with you."

Cedric just stood there, so taken aback that he didn't pay any attention when Dr. Facilier told his version of the Aristocats joke, which made King Roland laugh so loudly that he also fired the Court Jester. When Roland had finally left to tend to more King Roland stuff, the Shadow Man approached the heartbroken sorcerer.

"Cheer up, pal," he said placing a hand around his shoulder. "I'd say that this surprised me but, well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't see this coming."

He then handed him a fortune card, and sure enough, there was a small drawing of Cedric holding a bunch of suitcases as Wormwood took a shit on the sad magician's shoulder.

"Come over to my dungeon sometime," he suggested. "I think you'll have no trouble finding it. I can read your future on the house! But, first, I'll need for you to get your stuff out of my new digs, okay, buddy?"

With that, the Shadow Man practically leaped out of the throne room. Everything was going according to his top secret and diabolical plan.

"Now to give one of my most important friends a call," he said to his shadow as he pulled out his special Hell phone which had the underworld on speed dial. "I have a feeling that Evil Sofia is going to be most pleased with me."