Dark Storm Dawn

By Lord Akiyama

The follow-up to "Fantasia Crisis"

Chapter Four

Step forward. Step back. Step forward. Step back. Step forward, left, right, left, left, forward, back, right, right, left, STOMP! Lilo and Stitch smiled wide as they let their feet follow the instructions on the screen, the techno music blaring out of the speakers at high velocity. Minutes later, Stitch took a wrong step and the two ditched the directions and danced about in their own rhythm. They laughed about before falling to the floor gently. All this before the selected track on Dance Dance Revolution ended.

While Stitch hopped about in laughter, Lilo took a look at the clock. For the past two hours since Nani left for work, they have been playing Dance Dance Revolution on her newly acquired Playstation 2. The clock read five minutes till noon. She exhaled with jolly before pushing herself off the ground and onto her feet.

"I clean up in here, Stitch," she said with a smile, "if you can make us one of your smoothies for lunch."

"Ooooooo," Stitch said before smiling and chuckling. Lilo laughed along as she watched him bounce off into the kitchen to mix together their lunch. Lilo sighed once more before turning off the Playstation 2 and changing the television back to normal setting. A local news report about what appeared to be some more potential UFO sightings have been marked all over the island. Jumba must be working on a new prototype or something, she thought.

CRASH!

Lilo stopped in place just as she was rolling up the dance pad. She looked over at the doorway that led to the kitchen. Stitch probably dropped something on accident, she thought. Then came a familiar growl from him. It wasn't a growl of frustration. It was one of deep anger. Suddenly, there was yelling. Stitch wasn't alone.

"Is everything alright, Stitch?" Lilo asked cautiously.

What replied was a series of crashes and screams. A quick flash of light came and went out of the kitchen. The camera's in there, she thought in realization. Seconds later, an even bigger crash was heard. Though it sounded much more like an explosion.

Lilo quickly popped up straight. Moments later, she took a step forward and then started running toward the kitchen. She stopped just out of the doorway's path. She rested herself up against the wall and slowly started to peer her head through. Soon enough, she just stepped to the side and looked in horror.

The entire kitchen was an utter mess. Nearly every little thing that was in this room was broken. Every glass, every plate, every piece of wood. And there was a large hole in the wall that led outside. It was just like when see saw Gantu for the first time as he tried to capture Stitch. She looked out the hole in the wall to see movement in the ground. It seems that whoever Stitch was fighting with took their battle outside and somewhere in the forest.

"Stitch?" Lilo said quietly. She stood in place for a moment, hoping beyond hope that Stitch was somewhere close and was going to return. That he was not in any real danger.

"Stitch?"

The waiting started to get to her. She was nervous that something did indeed happen to Stitch.

Finally, she couldn't wait any more and dared to venture after them. She stepped through the hole in the wall and took a look at the movement tracks on the ground. She took another step in the direction of the tracks. Moments later, she kicked up her speed and started to run after them.

A gentle whistle of wind blew through the house. As if appearing out of thin air, pixie dusts started floating in a downward motion just at the kitchen doorway. More pixie dust began to appear and soon they started to swirl. Seconds later, The Fairy Godmother appeared.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped as she looked at the sight of the kitchen. There was no doubt Stitch was attacked. She examined the hole in the wall a bit and noticed the tracks on the ground. Before stepping out to investigate further, something caught her eye.

Hanging on a doorknob was a camera. The Fairy Godmother looked at it for a moment and noticed something sticking out of it. It appeared that this camera had taken a picture. And it was quite possible that the photo might contain the identity of Stitch's attacker. She looked around for a moment before removing the photograph and examining the photo.

"You know Aladdin," Jasmine said with a smirk and her arms loosely crossed together, "they say that it is expected of the king to think less of personal glory and more about the welfare of his people. I'd imagine that your venturing to tombs and graves that such statement would not apply to you."

"Personal glory?" Aladdin responded with a smirk of his own, gently wrapping his arms around the the waist of his wife. "Now why would you say a silly thing like that? Of course I'm thinking about the welfare of our people. The fortunes and history we are discovering, all to benefit them."

"You're just lucky they these trips of yours are producing the gold and treasures to support your claim," Jasmine said, her arms uncrossing and gently wrapping around his husband's neck. "Otherwise, I would have to explain to them why their King died a foolish death to some trap in a tomb. How I am to govern without an heir."

"At least I'm cutting back on the number of ventures I take," Aladdin whispered in reply, his smirk still visible.

"And it's a good thing, too," Jasmine whispered back before planting a quick kiss on her husband's lips. "Because we both know how I am like when I do not have my husband to turn to when in dire need." The two shared a light laugh before sharing a longer and more passionate kiss. "So, what did you retrieve this time?"

"Aside from the usual assortment of treasure chests and gold Abu drools over," Aladdin replied, "we found a rather interesting book. Talks about something called the sands of time and some dagger that supposed to utilize these sands to manipulate time itself."

"Is that you talking or are you just repeating Genie's translations?" Jasmine giggled.

"A little bit of both," Aladdin chuckled in reply. "Well, mostly repeating Genie's translations, but I'm sure you can tell which of that statement belongs to me."

"Speaking of Genie," Jasmine said, "where is the happy bunch we call our friends?"

"They're on their way back with the last of the treasures," Aladdin replied. "The supply required two trips, surprisingly."

"So how much time do we have alone together?" Jasmine asked with a rather mischievous grin.

Clink. They turned their heads quickly, looking in the direction of the sound. They weren't alone in the room. Only problem was that whomever was also within did no want to be seen. Either the others had returned and were eavesdropping... or there was something else going on...

An explosion hit the wall just over their heads. They ducked instinctively and Aladdin dragged Jasmine along as they headed toward the nearest door. The explosion in front nearly caught him. Aladdin looked over, barely able to catch a shadow hiding in the pillars.

"Find a place to hide," he said to Jasmine, keeping his attention upon the pillars as he drew his sword. She didn't bother to argue as she nodded and headed for the throne.

Aladdin took a few steps forward and examined the pillars, in particular those hidden in shadows. He just caught the moving shadow out of the corner of his eye and moved before the explosion connected upon the spot he previously stood upon. He ran up against a wall, hoping off and grabbing hold of a hanging certain. With all his weight and force, he swung toward the nearest pillar. He leaped upon it and slid down, shift his body so that he circled around as much as he could before his feet touched the ground.

He ducked the in-coming swing of the object, watching it smash and shatter upon connecting with the pillar. He brought his weight back up and swung his sword in a vertical motion at the attacker. It was enough to rip through the clothing and leave a scar upon the body. The attacker nearly screamed before taking a step back. Aladdin charged and ran up upon the attacker and leaped forward. He spotted another attacker releasing something from his object and blocked quickly with his sword before his feet touched the ground. He spun around, his sword cutting the object in the second attackers hand. He continued to spin and extended his leg out, kicking the attacker into the pillar.

Instinctively, he hopped with a backward somersault. He managed to dodge another explosion from a third attacker. Upon landing on his feet, he rolled toward the attacker and rammed his shoulder into the attacker's stomach. The attacker dropped his object and staggered back into a pillar.

Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to catch the second attack pull out an object in each hand. Fire came out of each object and Aladdin was quick enough to block them with his sword.

"Those are not the guns we're supposed to use!" Aladdin turned to see the first attacker one knee and pull out a sword of his own. "We're paid to bring him in alive, not dead!"

"I distinctly remember him saying that we could use any means at our disposal," the second attacker said, his objects still pointed at Aladdin. "And last I remember, both my six rounders were recognized as being part of our disposal."

"Personally, I'd say we just take him down any way we can," the third attacker said, slowly reaching for an object hanging from his back. "At this point, I honestly don't care about the consequences should we kill him." Just then, his shoulder slammed into the pillar and he screamed in pain. All looked and spotted an arrow jammed into his body.

"I'm afraid to disappoint you chaps," a voice familiar to Aladdin spoke. They all turned to see a fox standing on two legs and ready to fire the arrow he had pulled. "But your harassing of my friend comes to an end."

"I recognize this creature," Amelia said upon examining the photograph. "His name is Scroop. A pirate who worked under one Mr. Silver. He vanished into the depths of space when he and Mr. Hawkins fought over the map that led us to Treasure Planet. We were hoping he was gone for good. It appears that is not the case."

Simba nodded as he turned to look about the mystic plane. It had not been any more than just a few hours since he and those visiting Helga and her family arrived. Since then he watched as Tarzan and his mate, Mulan, and Hercules appear just as bewildered as they were to the news that Yen Sid had been captured and they were now targets to this previously unknown captor. The Three Fairies returned with the grave news of Ariel's disappearance along with Clopin's report that Beast was gone. The Fairy Godmother returned with evidence of Stitch's capture at the hands of an individual Amelia was familiar with.

"Scroop is not the kind of person to do anything like this unless gold was involved," Amelia said with a sigh. "No, I believe Scroop is nothing more than a hired hand in all of this. Find the gold and we'll find the person responsible."

"Follow the money?" Helga muttered arching an eyebrow. "That's a lot easier said than done. Whoever is behind this isn't likely to leave us some nice bread crumbs to follow." She paused for a moment to soothe the child in her arms that could sense her mother's tension. "I can tell you from personal experience, there's is usually not a lot of formality to it. Client hands over the cash, job is done, end of story. You don't stop for tea and reminisce."

"Ms. Sinclair is right on that one," Amelia said. "Not to mention Scroop is one of those individuals who is very careful when it comes to not letting on who hired him."

"So that leaves us at another dead end?" Hercules sighed. "Well, that's just great. I still say we pay a visit to my uncle and try to knock some answers out of him."

"I doubt that would do us much good, Hercules," Simba said. "Even if what Mickey is saying is true in that Hades has no involvement in this, I doubt he'd be willing to offer us information just because. You know better than us, he'll want something in return."

"The question then becomes is what he has to offer worth the price," Helga added darkly.

Before any one could answer, the all too recognizable voice of Merlin's was heard echoing throughout the mystic plane. "Fiddle sticks that was a disastrous trip!" he started yelling, adjusting the positioning of his hat and making sure his beard wasn't damaged. "I swear, those rascals would've been nothing more than croaking toads if it were just a fair fight!"

"But it wasn't fair," another familiar voice said. This one belonged to Jasmine, clinging dearly to Aladdin's arm. "They were using everything they could to dodge and hide. I've never seen anything like it."

"They should consider themselves lucky they got away with just nips and scratches," Aladdin seethed through his teeth, wiping his blade with a cloth. "I'd like to take another stab at them just so they would realize who they were trying to mess with."

"Sounds like someone forgot to invite us to the party," Helga sneered.

"Oh, it was just plain terrible, I tell you," Merlin groaned as he took a seat in a chair he conjured. "We arrived just as Aladdin was under attack from three big-looking men carrying guns. Oh rather, rifles! And then the minute they saw me, one of them talked about getting a bigger pay if they nabbed me and started firing at me. And what they fired were not bullets, I can assure you! It's going to take time to examine, but I think this stuff has a serious effect on any person regardless of how powerful they are."

"Must be why Yen Sid was able to get kidnapped if that were the case," Simba said.

"Well, at least we were right that someone up the food chain is pulling the purse strings," Helga shrugged. "And that someone is not of the creative mind Chernabog was. Hunting down a wizard with guns? I don't care what's in them, it reeks of common street thug, not witch or sorcerer, or whatever else you people call yourselves."

"Most certainly not!" Merlin yelled as he lit his pipe. "Two of these gunmen sounded very European, one more so British by the sound of his voice, his posture, and his excuse for proper facial hair."

"Clayton," Tarzan said, noting a bit of anger in his voice.

"I wouldn't know, so I'm going to have to trust your word on that," Merlin said. "Any way, the other chap looked very western with that hat of his and that large dark coat."

"Oh sure, a cowboy," Helga rolled her eyes. "That'll be easy to track down. Not like any of them carry guns or anything. Hey Chris, we have a big lead to follow up on..." she droned sarcastically.

"Wait a minute, didn't he say something like 'we' arrived?" Chris said, raising an eyebrow. "Wasn't fox boy with you when you left, old man?"

Helga looked around suddenly noticing Robin's absence. "You didn't leave him behind...!" she practically shouted as she stared the wizard down.

Merlin paused for a moment before lowering his head. "No... not really..." he said quietly. "Although Robin was fast enough to dodge whatever it was those gunmen were shooting at us... they still had a trick up their sleeve. Just as I was able to get Aladdin and Jasmine out of there, Robin was trapped in a rope net the hunters seemed to have put together. Robin told me to get out of there before it was too late. His eyes told me that he was doing this for my safety as much as it was for Aladdin and Jasmine's."

Helga continued to glare, silently fuming for a pair of heartbeats. "Chris," she said quietly at last, "take Alexandra. I need my clothes and a gun."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Simba said as he watched Chris nervously take Alexandra from Helga. "We don't even know what we're going up against. And they're probably not there any more, taking Robin to where they've brought the others."

"Well I'm not about to sit here and do nothing, either," Helga spun back on him instantly aware that her anger shouldn't be directed at him, but he was the one that got in the way. "Besides, didn't you want to start tracking them? We can't shoot blind, we need to try to find some clues at least."

"I think that regardless of what we're going to do, it's only going to get much more difficult." Every turned their attention to the speaker. Mickey didn't look so pleasant. In fact, he looked much worse than when he discovered Yen Sid was missing. "It seems that the person responsible for all these kidnappings is also causing a dangerous affect on the planet."

"What do you mean?" Amelia asked curiously.

"A disease has plagued the world," a different voice spoke. It echoed through the mystic plane, causing everyone to look in every direction for the origin. To Simba, the voice sounded very similar to that of his uncle. "Chaos and destruction reign upon order and the innocent." Everyone was finally able to locate the speaker. He looked like a cat lacking of fur and whose skin is reduced down to his bones. And yet he still wore a grin that spread from ear to ear.

"Well, it would appear we all have our own problems," Helga stifled a growl as she looked at the disturbing creature.

"Actually, it has become part of our problem," Mickey said. "This is the Cheshire Cat, and he's just come from Wonderland which has been transformed drastically into a living nightmare. And this is also beginning to happen in other places like Neverland. Yen Sid and us mages were supposed to make sure such transformations never existed. Without Yen Sid, we're having trouble catching them before they take affect. And what's worse... those making sure these transformations remain in affect are in league with whoever is responsible for the kidnappings."

to be continued...

Thanks to GoblinQueeen, who provided the dialogue and some action for Helga.