"My voice?" Judy asked, her paw rising to her throat, "What—why do you want my voice?"

"Oh, you've got it all wrong my dear!" Ursula exclaimed, "I don't want your voice, no, you see, nothing would warm my heart more than to help you and your foxy little prince find each other, but alas, that's not the way magic works. The problem isn't me, it's the magic."

"What do you mean?" Judy asked, eyeing the sea witch with suspicion, "Are you saying that you're not in control of your own magic?"

"No, no, of course not!" Ursula dismissed the bunny, "I control the magic, but the amount of power required to turn you into a land mammal, that's not a small request. I can do it, but I can't generate that much raw power on my own, which means I need a… substitute." Ursula watched the bunny with beady eyes, hoping that she'd believe her.

"How is my voice a substitute?" Judy asked, her paw unconsciously rubbing her throat.

"It isn't your voice that creates the power." Ursula explained, "It's the sacrifice, the willingness to give up something so integral to you."

"But how am I supposed to get him to fall in love with me without my voice?" She countered. Ursula hid her smile behind an exasperated glare. She had the little merbunny on the hook.

"You'll still have your looks," Ursula replied, "your pretty face. And don't underestimate the importance of body language!" Judy chewed on her lip as she considered the sea witch's offer. Sebastian opened his mouth to say something, but Flotsam and Jetsam snaked around him and Flounder, effectively gagging them. Ursula snapped her fingers and a glowing contract appeared in the air.

"Just sign right there dear." Ursula urged, pointing to the X at the bottom of the page, "Sign right there and he can be yours." Judy swam over to the contract and took the fishbone pen from Ursula. She rolled it between her paws while she thought.

"I'm a very busy mammal." Ursula reminded the indecisive merbunny, "I haven't got all day. Make your choice."

"If I'm going to sign a binding contract, I'm at least going to read it first." Judy snapped at the impatient honey badger.

"Fine." Ursula responded, rolling her eyes, "Read the contract." Judy ignored the witch's annoyance and began scanning the long piece of paper. When she was done, she looked up at Ursula in disbelief.

"I only get three days on land?" Judy asked incredulously, "How am I supposed—"

"That's how long the magic will last." Ursula interrupted, "Until the prince falls in love with you, you'll be an outsider in the surface world. There will be nothing to anchor you, to keep you there. The magic can only sustain you for three days."

"And what happens if I can't do it in three days?" Judy asked, looking at the sea witch with newfound wariness.

"Then you belong to me." Ursula replied. Judy's throat suddenly went dry and she was unable to swallow.

"Why—"

"I don't run a charity." Ursula said, "I have to treat you the same as I treat my other customers." Judy looked back towards the entrance hall at the brown weeds and gulped as reality dawned on her.

"And I'm not allowed to explicitly tell him who I am?" Judy asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"It means you can't just write out who you are for prince pretty mammal." Ursula huffed, "It would break the spell."

"How would that break the spell?" Judy shot back, anger, frustration, and uncertainty filling the bunny, "This contract is ridiculous! Couldn't you just change it a little?"

"No." Ursula snapped, snatching the pen from her hand, "I can't change the rules that govern magic you insolent little thing. So if you don't like the deal, leave." Judy froze in place as she was faced with the choice. Sebastian struggled against Flotsam, trying to shout out a warning to Judy.

"But know this," Ursula continued, grabbing the contract from the water and rolling it up in her paws, "These are the best terms your likely to find and I'm one of the only mammals in the entire world, both above and below the sea, that can work this spell." Judy's ears drooped as she considered living the rest of her life trapped in the vast oceans controlled by her father.

"I can do it." She told herself, "I can do it in three days." Ursula cleared her throat.

"I'm waiting." She prompted the indecisive merbunny, "Do we have a deal?" Judy's thoughts flashed back to her moments on the beach with the fox prince; his soft, downy fur, his beautiful emerald eyes, the way his friends cared for him.

"I have to." Judy thought to herself, meeting the honey badger's eyes for the first time.

"We have a deal." She said, holding out her paw to the witch.

"Wonderful!" Ursula exclaimed, shoving the pen into her open paw and rolling open the contract with a flourish, "Sign right at the bottom!" Judy placed the tip of the pen on the page and paused for a moment, thinking about the enormity of what she was about to do. She signed her name and started in surprise as the contract rolled back up and disappeared with an audible POP.

"Now," Ursula began, fixing the merbunny with a predatory grin, "sing." Judy raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't question the sea witch.

"ah ah ah." She started as the water began to whirl around her, "Ah Ah Ah," Smoky green claws appeared in the middle of the tempest and began drifting towards her.

"KEEP SINGING!" Ursula shouted, a mad gleam in her eyes.

"AH AH AH, AH AH AH, AAAH." She continued. As she sang, the claws grew closer, until one forced her mouth open and withdrew a small, glowing sphere of golden light. Drifting out of it was a faint voice, singing the same melody as Judy. She opened her mouth to keep singing, but nothing came out. Her eyes grew wide as she watched the green tendrils retract towards Ursula. The predator plucked the sphere of light from the claws and stowed it in a mollusks shell on her necklace. As if someone had flicked a switch, the singing stopped and the water returned to normal. Flotsam and Jetsam uncoiled themselves from Sebastian and Flounder to return to their victorious mistress.

"Oh Judy," Sebastian whispered as he watched the merbunny try to speak, "What have you done?" The merbunny swam up to Ursula and tapped her arm, reminding her of the deal.

"Oh, of course." Ursula exclaimed, tearing her eyes away from her prize, "After I give you legs, you have until sundown on the third day to earn a kiss of true love from the prince. Understood?" Judy nodded her head.

"Perfect." Ursula said, swimming over to her cabinet, "You might want to hold your breath." Judy gave her a quizzical look. Ursula sighed and threw a vial at Judy's feet, causing it to shatter. The contents clouded the water, slowly enveloping Judy in a yellow mist. Judy began to cough as Ursula's magic concoction took effect. Suddenly, the bottom half of her body felt disconnected and uncontrolled. She looked down and let out a gasp of surprise as she saw her new legs, causing seawater to flood her mouth.

"Judy!" Sebastian shouted, swimming over to the struggling bunny, "Flounder, we need to get her to the surface! Now!" Flounder shot over and together, they lifted Judy towards the surface. Her last sight before she lost consciousness was Ursula, lazily waving goodbye.


"She is, without a doubt, the most gullible mermammal I've ever dealt with." Ursula cackled, "She ate up every word I said! Even the nonsense about 'the rules of magic' and breaking the spell!" Flotsam and Jetsam circled their jubilant mistress as she celebrated.

"You truly are brilliant." Flotsam schmoozed.

"Yes, yes I am." Ursula preened, glancing down at the shell containing Judy's voice, "And in three short days, I will own Triton's precious little daughter."

"What if she gets the fox to fall in love with her?" Jetsam asked.

"You two are going to follow them and make sure that doesn't happen." Ursula ordered. The eels nodded and swam towards the surface, following Ursula's most recent victim.

"You'll pay for what you did to me Triton." She muttered, holding the shell in her paws.


Flounder breached the surface with Judy on his back and the bunny coughed up a lungful of seawater. Sebastian popped up next to the bunny and glared at her.

"Judy what were you thinking!?" He scolded. Judy shrugged her shoulders and gave Sebastian a weak smile.

"We can talk about this later." Sebastian said, changing his mind as he noticed the haggard look on Judy's face, "But right now, we need to get you to that prince." Judy nodded her agreement and the three of them began swimming towards the palace.

After what seemed like an eternity, an exhausted Flounder deposited Judy in the shallows. Judy raised a concerned eyebrow at the drained fish.


"I'm alright." He panted, "Just give me a minute."

"Look at this!" Scuttle cried as he swept down out of nowhere, "My favorite merbunny!" Judy smiled and waved one of her newly acquired hind paws at the seagull.

"There's something different about you.' He said with a frown, eyeing the grinning bunny, "Did you do something new with your ears?" Judy shook her head, the smile growing wider.

"Is it something with your fur?" He muttered to himself, tapping a father on his beak. Judy's smile grew wider as she shook her head again.

"Huh." Scuttle remarked, "Is it—"

"SHE HAS HIND PAWS YOU FOOL!" Sebastian shouted, his stress finally getting the better of him, "And when her father finds out, he's going to—" Sebastian gulped as he tried to imagine Triton's rage.

"Say, those are nice." Scuttle commented, ignoring Sebastian's outburst, "But if you're gonna be a land mammal, ya need to dress like one. I'll be right back." Scuttle flew away, headed for his nest. Sebastian buried his face in his claws.

"If we don't get your voice back your father is going to kill me." Sebastian groaned. Judy patted him on the back, lightly at first, and then insistently.

"What?" He demanded, looking up at the bunny. She held up a paw with three digits raised and smiled at the crustacean.

"You're right." He said, standing up a little straighter, "We have three days. All we have to do is find the prince and getting your voice back will be a breeze." Scuttle returned, trailing a canvas sheet behind him.

"Here we go." He proclaimed, letting the sail flutter to the ground, "One genuine land mammal piece of clothing." Judy grinned at the seagull and snatched the tattered sail from the surf. She swam behind a rock and emerged a few moments later with the sail wrapped around her and held together by a piece of spare rope, and a few strategic folds.

"Beautiful!" Scuttle exclaimed, "You look just like one of the land mammals!"

"Really?" Flounder asked, squinting at the canvas toga. Scuttle bobbed his head.

"Oh yeah, that's what they wear. It's crazy what mammals do for fashion." Flounder took another look at Judy, still unconvinced by Scuttle. Before he could raise any more objections, a white sheepdog sprinted around the cliff and onto the beach.

"Hide!" Sebastian hissed, diving back into the water. Flounder followed his lead and Scuttle took to the skies, leaving Judy standing all alone on the beach.

Max, who had been watching over his shoulder for Nick, noticed Judy just in time. He let out a yelp of surprise and changed course, barely avoiding a collision and skidding to a stop. He trotted back over to the bunny and took in her odd outfit.

"Quite the ensemble you've got there." He remarked as he caught his breath, causing Judy to blush, "Are you lost?" Judy waved her paw in the air vaguely, hoping he'd understand.

"Kinda? Well if you are, maybe I can help you find your way." He offered as Nick rounded the corner.

"Max!" He shouted, slowing down and jogging up to his friend, "Who's this?"

"I was just about to ask." The sheepdog responded. Nick turned to face Judy and his brow furrowed.

"Do I know you?" He asked. Judy nodded enthusiastically. Nick's eyes lit up and hope swelled in his chest.

"Where do I know you from?" He questioned, hoping beyond hope that she was who he thought she was. Judy frowned and gestured to her throat, opening and closing her mouth for emphasis.

"You can't speak?" Nick ventured, earning a sad nod from the bunny.

"Oh, then you can't be the mammal I was thinking of." Nick said, crestfallen.

"Why don't we take her to the palace Nick?" Max asked, elbowing his dejected friend. Nick, remembering his manners, collected himself.

"Of course." He agreed, offering his arm to the bunny. Judy looped hers through his and practically glowed with happiness as the trio walked towards the palace. Far behind, Sebastian scuttled after the group, determined to keep an eye on his young charge. There was still a long way to go.


A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is a little shorter than usual just because I wanted to get it out sooner and I've been a little busy. I tweaked the whole interaction between Ariel/Judy and Ursula because I don't think that either Judy or Ariel would realistically sign a binding document without reading it. I'm equally certain that Ursula would have convincing counter reasons and other such nonsense to convince them to go with it anyways. So that's why I did that. See you next chapter! And thanks for reading!