Ursula shot down towards the sea floor, towing Judy behind her like a prize. Cackling, the sea witch tossed the merbunny onto the ground, eliciting a cry of pain.
'Oh hush." She commanded, smiling maliciously. With a maniacal laugh, the witch raised a paw, wisps of dark energy dancing through her claws.
"Any last words princess?" She mocked.
"Ursula STOP!" Triton commanded, appearing and grabbing the honey badger's arm. Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief as Triton yanked her away from Judy.
"Triton." Ursula snarled, wresting her arm from his grasp, "What an unexpected surprise."
"You are to let my daughter go immediately!" He commanded, the trident in his paws humming dangerously.
"Oh, Triton." Ursula tutted, collecting herself, "I see your precious little daughter didn't tell you everything. We have a contract." The sea witch pulled out a roll of parchment and threw it into the water. The paper unraveled, revealing Judy's contract, with her name signed at the bottom. With a howl of rage, Triton aimed the trident at the offending document and loosed a blast of enormous power. Ursula gulped as the blast hit the paper, but instead of obliterating the paper, it was absorbed, making the contract glow with a golden light.
"You see Triton!" Ursula crowed, hiding her relief, "Not even you can break it! Judy belongs to me!" Triton looked at the witch in horror, then at his daughter floating behind Ursula, ready to pay the price for her headstrong actions.
"What do you want Ursula!?" He roared, glaring at the tentacled fiend, "She's just a child!"
"I suppose I could be convinced to take something else." The badger wheedled, glancing at the trident, "Something of equal value."
"No." Sebastian whispered, looking at Triton, "No, you can't!"
"There's no other way Sebastian." He replied grimly, a look of utter defeat on his face.
"No there isn't." Ursula said with relish. With a snap of her claws, a contract appeared before Triton with a fishbone pen floating besides it.
"The terms are simple. Your trident for your daughter's life." Triton gave Judy a wan smile before taking the pen and signing the contract.
"Dad, NO!" The merbunny shot towards her father, but one of Ursula's tentacles swatted her away. Triton finished signing and tossed his trident at the badger in disgust. With a cackle of glee, the sea witch caught the trident and pointed it at the king of the seven seas.
"Goodbye Triton!" She snarled, the weapon glowing in her paws. A beam of light shot from the prongs and struck the defeated king. Crying in pain, the merbunny began to shrink, becoming brown and shriveled until he was a scraggly weed, swaying in the current.
Nick ran to the side of the boat and looked over at the foaming water below.
"Judy." He whispered, eyes wide with concern.
"Nicholas, are you alright?!" Grimsby shouted, fighting through the crowd of wedding guests to try and reach Nick.
"I'm going after her Grim!" He yelled back, pulling off his formal wear until all that remained was an undershirt and shorts.
"Don't you dare young man!" The wolf warned, closing in on the prince. Ignoring Grimsby, Nick leapt onto the rail and dove overboard, disappearing beneath the waves without a trace.
Nick opened his eyes and recoiled at the sting of the saltwater before propelling himself deeper and deeper, searching for Judy. A flash of light far below caught his attention and Nick redoubled his efforts.
"I'm not losing her." Nick promised himself as he neared the sea floor.
"That felt even better than I imagined." Ursula crowed, laughing at Triton's current, pathetic state, "The mighty king of the Seven Seas laid low by his own trident. It's poetic really." Judy picked herself up off the sea floor and rushed towards her father.
"Oh no you don't." Ursula scolded, aiming the trident at Judy, "Now, what should I turn you into, hm?"
"You promised my father I wouldn't be harmed!" Judy screamed, glaring at the sea witch in hatred. Ursula shrugged.
"I never said anything about leaving you in your present form though." She chuckled, the trident beginning to glow in her paws. Judy lunged to the side in an attempt to get away and Ursula raised a tentacle like a whip, ready to strike the merbunny once more.
"AHHHHH!" Ursula howled in pain. Judy glanced back at the sea witch and saw Nick slashing through her tentacles with his claws, air bubbles leaking out of his snout as he snarled. Without a second thought, Judy rocketed back towards Ursula to help Nick.
"Get OFF!" Ursula roared, finally shaking the vulpine loose. Whipping around to face Nick fully, the honey badger fixed the trident on him.
"And I was going to let you live." She growled, releasing a blast of power aimed at the prince. Judy shot out of nowhere, tackling Nick out of the way as the blast tore through the water he'd occupied moments earlier. The merbunny kept going, carrying the prince to the surface as fast as she could.
"You can run Judy!" Ursula shouted after the fleeing mammals, the trident beginning to hum in her claws, "But you can't hide!"
Judy broke through the surface; Nick slumped over her shoulders. The fox took in a deep shuddering breath and gave Judy a tired grin.
"What were you thinking?" She scolded, voice filled with concern, "You could've died!"
"You almost did." He replied dryly, his breathing returning to normal, "Who was that?"
"Ursula the Sea Witch." Judy grimaced, "She—" A blast of force radiated from the sea floor, cutting Judy off and causing the water to roil and churn. Judy cast a look towards the ship, but before she could react, an enormous creature erupted from the depths of the sea, creating a wave that crashed over the pair and swept them away. A look of despair grew on Judy's face as Ursula the Sea Witch towered hundreds of feet above them, Triton's trident clutched in her vicious claws. The honey badger let out a booming laugh and pointed the trident at the sky. Using her newfound power, Ursula willed storm clouds to form, the wind to speed up, and the sea to whirl and boil. In a matter of seconds, rain was pouring down from clouds that flickered with lightning, the wind was howling loud enough to drown out the thunder, and an enormous, churning whirlpool spun into existence.
At the whirlpool's edge, the wedding party began to abandon ship, launching the lifeboats and paddling away from Ursula's storm. The exodus occurred at an alarming rate, until only Grimsby Max, and the crew were left onboard.
"Sir, we need to go!" One of the crewmembers ordered Grimsby, gesturing towards the last lifeboat.
"I'm not abandoning Nicholas!" He shouted over the howling wind.
"Neither am I!" Max added
"Take the crew and go! But I'm staying!" Grimsby finished, waving him away.
"But—"
"GO!" He commanded. The frightened otter gave Grimsby a quick salute before scurrying onto the final lifeboat with the rest of the crew.
Ursula glared down at the two nuisances, eager to be rid of them.
"Now you can finally die!" She jeered, priming the trident. Judy grabbed Nick and took off again, using every evasive maneuver she could dream off.
"Hold still!" The sea witch complained, narrowly missing the pair once more.
"Judy," Nick wheezed, pointing towards the boat swirling around the whirlpool, "get me to the ship. I have a plan." The merbunny nodded, dodging another blast from Ursula before swimming towards the ship.
"Grim watch out!" Max yelled, pulling the old wolf out of the way as the mast snapped and fell forwards. With a loud CRACK, it hit the prow of the ship, snapping the fox figurehead off and sending it into the drink.
"Thank you Max." Grimsby said, paws shaking as he gripped the railing. Steadying himself, the wolf returned his attention to the boiling water of the whirlpool, searching for his young charge.
"Down here!" Nick shouted as Judy stroked up to the side of the boat. She dropped Nick off before heading back to distract the monstrous honey badger.
"Nick!" Grimsby cried in relief as the vulpine climbed up the side of the ship. Once he made it on board, Grimsby enveloped the fox in a hug.
"Good to see you too Grim." Nick chuckled, patting him on the back, "But we've got work to do. Max, help me with the rudder." Nick raced towards the stern with Max following close behind.
"Grim, I'm gonna need you to tell us when to turn, ok?" Nick shouted back to him.
"What?" Grimsby asked.
"We're gonna use the ship to ram Ursula!" Nick yelled, pointing at the creature in the center of the maelstrom and smiling devilishly. The ship continued to spiral downwards into the whirlpool, picking up speed with each revolution. Grimsby kept his eyes fixed on the honey badger as the ship drew closer.
"NOW!" Nick and Max threw themselves against the rudder, fighting to keep it steady in the rough water. The ship whipped inwards, breaking free from the whirlpool's pull and barreling straight towards the sea witch, smashing into her with a sickening CRUNCH.
The trident dropped from Ursula's claws as she looked at the ship protruding from her midriff. Judy stopped swimming and Nick, Max and Grimsby abandoned ship as the last spark of life escaped the monstrous witch. Without the iron will of the badger to control it, the weather calmed and the sea became glassy smooth. Motionless, Ursula sank beneath the water, never to be seen again.
A/N: Hey guys! I don't really have much to say for this chapter. I did choose to omit the demise of Flotsam and Jetsam because it was more trouble than it's worth to write them in. Especially because I think of them as tied to Ursula's life force so when she dies, they're gone too (y'know because she can speak/see through them. They're like her familiars basically). Anywho, sorry if that bugged you, but it's how this is happening. This chapter also feels a little fragmented (to me at least) because of all the action, so sorry if that's bothersome. The next chapter will be the last (and will also be the epilogue) so sadly, this is almost done. Please let me know what you think of this chapter as well. And for all those people who are consistently commenting, thank you. I really do appreciate it. Thanks for reading!
