New Chapter
New Chapter. And now in this second half of the journey, more bizarre instances of "The Order" appear randomly in certain places. But for the moment, they go straight to Agrabah.
Warning: I should tell you that this is going to be one doozy of a chapter.
Chapter 10: Sand
Kennedy didn't sleep that night. Lack of it, as he figured out on his own, came just through the form nostalgia. But this was different. In the back of his mind, something was terribly wrong.
He lay there in his cabin staring at the chrome ceiling like it was staring back at him, up close. He didn't know why. It was a creepy feeling. There wasn't a sound other than his breathing in the room, dimly lit by the internal light source. The clock on the far right read 12:00, and it showed that by the time he had snapped out of a stoic state, he realized that hadn't slept at all. Heading spinning, he wondered- why was he awake? Right then, he took in other things around him, like the not-so-distant raspy snoring of the butler who lay below him on the 2nd bunk. Bizarre as it was, they had to share the same room. Then, to Kennedy's surprise, he envied the 43-year-old's ill-gotten luck. He was sleeping peacefully; whereas, Kennedy's eyes were wide open and veins were threatening to pop. How unfair was that?
So far, they had been to a number of places, and each time, something bizarre happened, and it always happened on some kind of poorly timed inconvenience- right when Kennedy entered the scene. And most of these happenings left a bad taste in his mouth. It bothered him and he narrowed his eyes; his current name wasn't his real name that he knew for sure. It was a temporary alias. So what? He scoffed inwardly to himself. But this wasn't another of those moments where he had constantly acted out of place, like an ass, like an overexcited child. No. He wanted to be serious about this, because for the first time, he began to suspect that something about their journey seemed off kilter.
It has something to do with this 'Key'. I just know it… but I can't tell how! He thought, slowly angrily grinding his teeth as if it was difficult to think.
He tuned out everything else to think it through, but it wasn't easy. Between juggling the randomly and unnecessarily collected assortment of thoughts, most likely brought on by the curiously bizarre and wacky behavior of his comrades, and the terrible snoring of his unsolicited roommate, Kennedy was caught between a rock and hard place.
Mr. Herriman talked to Merlin about something big and the dignified imaginary didn't want anybody finding out. Ken wanted to understand what it meant but would've killed to find out. Lazlo, Clam's newly, and probably the only other friend he knew in this universe hatefully discarded his offer of assistance in whatever other mess Lazlo was already tied up with. Lazlo had already known Kennedy's name, and about the Keyblade, the shock of it that didn't bear heavily on the Key Bearer himself when Clam talked to him secretly an hour later. His brain hurt. And whatever Clam did see in his friend, what they both had seen was clearly not the desired result. It showed that these bizarre "People" from different worlds had their squabbles and troubles, and it made him sad to think that he couldn't help. That it was just their business and not his. Besides, this boy without an actual name, swinging around some weird weapon in a weird universe as a sorry excuse for a "Hero", talking out of phrase, not using his brain and acting as impulsively as a 2-year-old, who the hell was he to shove his nose straight into their personal affairs?
They acted weird, and they're always keeping secrets, He thought deeply. But why? What so damn important that they have to keep it a secret from me?
The next problem didn't help either; there was some kind of opposition standing against them, but they weren't in any position to know whom exactly it was. A black-cloaked creature with an Animal's head that could use magic powers and weapons; all it sounded like was some nerd's comic book fantasy gone horribly, horribly wrong. But then, what had possessed him to think that? Sweat came down his and woke him back right up with just the tiniest slither down his cheek and reminded him, this was no laughing matter. He couldn't possibly understand, or, he tried his best to understand. They were part of some opposition, and according to what everybody else said, were working in groups. In this case, they were the 'enemy'. Worse still, they knew Kennedy. And how? To his unexplainable panic, they said "Shu-ku-mei." Something about that name induced a bone-chilling fear. But did that mean that they knew Dualsphere and Nephilim? No, he thought, assuredly. I don't think they do. It seems like they've never heard about them, but they sure as hell seem to know a lot about me.
Ah. He moaned like he was in pain. So complicated. Why is everything so complicated? Why are they calling me weird names? Intense and burning were these chain of thoughts sliding quickly past him like a suburban electric train, passing him as he waved on listlessly when it passed on away from the station. Animals in black cloaks. Those 'Xaldin' Guys. These guys. This Keyblade, and that… bracelet.
In the end none of it made any sense. What cloudy otherworlds awaited him, he'd never know, and when he did arrive, to his disappointment, there would be even more questions and fewer answers. This stuck in his mind when, eyelids flatly locking away, he succumbed to sleep.
"Gordon? Gordon? Gordon? GORDON?"
Somebody knocked on the door of a large, and expensively quaint-looking mansion around 10:00. But the house was silent.
"Mmm…" a frown deadening her radiantly sunny visage, the girl wearing nothing but a pink t-shirt and blue jeans ran along the side of the house up to the window nearest wear she'd have a bulls-eye view of the inside. She was disappointed, because shortly after, she found that most of the windowsills were far too high up for her reach. She got anxious, but at the same time, a little bit curious. This was the most unusual thing she had seen all day; the Cramdilly Household had the atmosphere of an eerily dead silent graveyard.
Huh? Isn't Gordon supposed to be here? 3 years of so many exciting visits and unexpected supernatural occurrences, and the wheat-color haired girl with eyes like the precious though poorly valued black onyx felt, if not for the first time, a little shaken, so to say, by the off-beat, graveyard-quiet appearance of the house home to one of her closest yet limited circle of friends.
But, she thought, that can't be right. It can't be right, right? She shook her head viciously to clear her mind and make sense of the impossible; whenever she was around, windows would break open. Rockets would shoot off into the air like fireworks. Lasers would be fired at uncalculated speeds in unbelievably unforeseen directions. She'd see the house flipped upside down. Cats would shoot like stray bullets using the power of just… elastic? Floors would overflow with a disgusting, indeterminable greenness. Weirdly enough, when she visited, even the stars themselves were viciously ripped clean away in their insane wake.
But this?
Whatever the reason, unexplainable, unquestionable, irrational phenomena or no, this beat all. Even Kimberly Anne Noelle, colloquially known mostly through her alias "The Human Kimberly", went shockingly pale as the obvious realization hit her innocent head with the force very much like one of her friends' typically misfired artillery: there was nothing weird going on, because there was nobody home.
"Gordon?" she cried out again. Nobody answered. She gasped, the fear hitting her and making her voice rise to a level of fright she'd never known. It was too weird, but somehow, her keen intuitiveness kept bringing her back to her previous assumption. But, she thought deeply. Don't they have a Butler or somebody? After all, besides being your typical domestic Feline, they had an unusual vast immensity of wealth in cold-hard cash and gold. Rich. Totally, incomprehensibly rich. Therefore, if she knocked on the door, wouldn't their butler (she forgot his name, because he had not much notability beyond his laughably submissive status) have responded immediately?
But having witnessed it for herself, that no one came to the door period, it became clear that for some reason, beyond her ability to understand, they weren't here. No, she told herself. It may have been a likely excuse, but giving the nature of their 'eternal' war with the untamed and boundless existence of nature around them (A daily, odd, and unexplainable occurrence), hadn't they just simply left for just a short period of time? And Blik, (For reasons she'd never figured out) had abstained from having anything to do with their butler. In fact, she could see that Blik loathed him. They had all the fun, while he worked. Were she not so caught in this fear, Kimberly would've felt some kind of pang or empathy for the butler. Still, it hadn't any answered her earlier question. She frowned, still pining for answers.
A good question, she assumed, nodding her head, though there was no one to approve at. And then it caused a second question to form itself. What possible, desperate reason would drive the 3 cats to bring their butler with them? She didn't know them or him long enough to figure it out. It was a useless question anyway.
Assuming it was true, it helped Kimberly explain the rebellious hedges and green, rapidly growing grass along the house, the mail from the mailbox in front of their house that was never retrieved, and finally, the large, smoking black meteorite shell with its 'top' blown completely off, sitting on the sidewalk extremely close to the street. It was starting to sound like some her exciting and often thought-provoking "Nancy Drew Mystery Comics" she read often and constantly every day she came home from school. It made openly decide to be aware of and constantly examine things around her. But had 'Nancy Drew' ever encountered this? An empty house devoid of life and cats and unusual displays of explosive or reckless excitement? No. Kimberly distressing feelings, though she could never pick them apart like a lab subject, were just as unexplainable as the evidence itself.
"They're… gone. But where? And why?" Tears formed in her eyes. She suddenly felt so afraid of the cats' (and oddly, the butlers') unexplainable fates.
"Hey Kid!" A sour, burly voice called from just up behind her. "Move it!!"
A jolt of fear running through her back with lightning speed, she turned around like a bad cop was about to arrest her, just as the mystery of the cats' disappearance arrested her thoughts. But she calmed down, barely, when she saw it was none other than Tad, Lunk, and Luther.
Tad eyed her curiously, like she was some kid who ate something bad for breakfast. He didn't really care. He had a pretty bad breakfast this morning himself, especially with a monstrous idiot of an asshole like Lunk who'd eat just about anything in sight. Tad couldn't honestly see the fear and awful worry in Kimberly's eyes. "Kid? Whatcha' doing here? This is the STUPID cat's place, with all the STUPID cats inside leaving their STUPID stink everyhere! Stupid. We've come to administer the traditional beat their stupid asses to their curb! Then steal their STUPID cat stunk Alien!"
With how poorly he worded it, anyone would've taken the Chumpy chumps for a dirty trio of your modern-day Neanderthals just coming along to take cheap shots at her cats for friends; they were just that stupid. Stupid enough to equal the cats at least. But something about the last thing Tad had said suddenly struck Kimberly like a finely sharpened accurately fired arrow.
Tears suddenly stopping like they had never come at all, her ears were still reverberating with the clean of air of the last word in his sentence. Her eyes went wide and her heart beat wildly in the wake of this new discovery. "Alien?"
(HP and MP Restored over course of Sleep)
Kennedy woke up with a yawn. He hadn't had a sleep like that for who knew how long. But he couldn't enjoy it for very long by the time he heard a familiar voice over the intercom:
"Kennedy!! Get UP here, NOW! We've arrived!!"
Since he was already in the clothes he received from Gordon, Waffle and Hovis, he jumped out of his bed with incredibly energy and bounded out of the room for the 'upstairs' and the bridge.
On both sides, everyone was gathered and had apparently made headway with being ready for the leaving. They were lively making conversation. Blik's voice thundered over them all and it was the signal for them to be quiet.
"Hey, hey, HEY!!" Blik grinned proudly, but his anger was getting the best of him, something that happened more than Kennedy had never seen. "I've got news! This place we're going is…"
"Agrabah?" Mac meekly guessed, despite Mr. Blik's proud charge to take 'command' of the situation. Blik shot the tenacious and hardly unnerved youth a frosty glare. "Yes. That's the world. It's pretty weird. I mean, come on, we're talking about Sultans and Wizards here. What did you THINK?"
The awkwardness of that moment, Blik was disappointed to admit, made him feel even stupider for asking such a question. But the setback didn't last for more than a second. "Fine. I'VE decided who goes."
"You have?" Kennedy didn't know what to think. Blik seemed to always want to be in command, and it was a petty, surprising habit he disliked.
"Yes! YOU, of course, Kenny, then Mac, and… Frankie!"
"Me!?" "Miss Frances!?" Both Frankie and Mr. Herriman answered simultaneously to Blik's outrageous proposal, which wasn't the least bit of an agreeable exchange for an unusually large number of reasons. Blik must have been reading their minds, because he asked, "Any problems?"
Both just sadly shook their heads and said nothing anywhere near a complaint. But the dignified imaginary rabbit was a bit more upset by Blik's bigoted, braggart, do-what-I-say attitude, always wanting the last word when the clearly the baton was in Mr. Herriman's gloved hands. And in some small way, it bothered him that he asked Miss Francis and not him.
"Are we going?" Kennedy foot tapped impatiently, like a single step alone would've caused the ship to collapse. "I really want to get down there to Fight!"
"Yeah, yeah," Blik brushed him off. He instructed them further with other pointless warnings that weren't essentially important until they decided that should just head on down to the world anyway. Ken, Mac and Frankie went down to the transport room, with Blik's booming voice shouting even further useless instructions.
(Scene Change; Agrabah, Center street)
The sun continued as it did almost every day, to ascend in the sky and scorch the land below in a hellish blaze of unbearable heat, but Princess Jasmine was unmindful to its torrid effects. More than she had been before, her heart beat in unimaginable terror and she could've cared less about the great lamp in the sky. She felt justified for her feelings, because she hid in one of the empty bazaars that sat along the lifeless, dusty walkways in Agrabah's Main Street. Sweat fell down her silky tanned skin and over her blue clothing. Immune to the effects of the sun, and practically invisible, she hadn't breathed a single puff of air when she heard faint voices entering the street.
"… And the Keyhole?"
"Hmm… The Heartless are still searching for it."
A third voice came crashing down on them. "That won't be enough."
"Be silent, you!" the second voice demanded viciously. "The darkness cannot possibly consume me. For you see I will soon be sultan of ALL AGRABAH!"
"Not unless you find the Keyhole first. And the princess." Out into the open 3 figures came, who were walking slowly towards the entrance of the desolate city, void of all life but the very fiends that had driven them to flee. Jasmine shuddered so, that if she had breathed even once, she feared she would scream. The first was a tall, proud looking man with snide and over-confident grin on his features, whom Jasmine knew all too well. He wore a large, ceremonial robe with an onyx black cape and carried a great and terrible staff with the shape of a serpent's head. He had dark, unmerciful eyes.
But the ones accompanying him had an air about them, which made them just as undesirable and puzzlingly malevolent. The 2nd was a dark and straight-faced woman whose face was as pale as sheet, and her head adorned with a black crown of thorns. Her deadly sharp fingernails decorated the tip of the frosty hands; any normal person would've been frozen still by her frosty glare. She looked slightly aggravated at the overzealous and careless conduct of Jafar, the sorcerer.
The third whose face was concealed by nothing but a black hood, made Jasmine's spine shiver and become incredibly stiff. The figure was unbelievably small, and carried a big, black book with an unappealing symbolic picture on the front. From behind, Jasmine saw that this strange creature had a tail, and her head begin to spin; what was this vile thing, anyway? Could it have been an animal? The tail curved back; she thought, maybe it was some kind of cat? And thought that it was ridiculous. The cats she knew paraded around the palace or among the tombs, and they always licked their paws and sat in sunlight, their real highlight of luxury. What exactly was this creature?He was walking rapidly to keep up with the long strides the other two, like a young toddler trying to keep up with his parents. His voice, Jasmine knew, was the strangest, because it was too thickly accented. Despite their appearances, the sight of them had truly terrified Jasmine.
"Don't be doing anything uh, reckless-like, okay? We don't tolerate any casualties." Jafar did not even once acknowledge this strange creature who wore a black cloak, but like a sore thumb sticking out, had a rust-colored tail.
"Hmph." He chuckled half-heartedly, but not in anyway as if he was grateful for their concern. "You're concern is touching but hardly necessary."
The pale-faced woman spoke again, and the tone in her voice made Jasmine want to plug her ears- with pair of large tongs, anything that would shut out the awful voice. "Do not reside in darkness too long, Jafar. The heartless consume the careless."
A bird flew overhead and swooped down to his shoulder. Unexpectedly, the hooded figure asked darkly, "This boid, cool?"
The crimson bird bit back a nasty snarl and grimaced at the hooded figure, and it made Jasmine twice as confused. The bird turned to Jafar. Jasmine rolled her eyes and almost felt like snickering.
"Iago. What news do you bring of securing the princess?"
Iago's voice wasn't too far off from the hooded figure and answered in a loud, unbearably tired, and obnoxious voice, "Can't… find her! She's disappeared like magic!"
"Hmph." Jafar rolled his eyes and grit his teeth angrily. He did not appreciate the idea of losing to a renegade princess. Nor of receiving news of failure; it was a thought he could never dare to swallow. "The Girl is more trouble than she's worth. With the aid of the heartless, continue the search."
Heartless suddenly formed right at the utterance of these words, beings that Jasmine could see were truly terrifying, and twice as terrifying up close. They had the appearance of Bandits waving blunt, shimmering scimitars wildly and terrifyingly, and they followed the red Iago as they left, and the witch-like figure asked, "I thought you had it under control. We need all princesses of Heart if we are to succeed."
"Do not greatly concern yourselves with this. It is only a… setback."
They continued walking, and if they said anything else, Jasmine never heard it. She fell back into the tiny corner of her hiding place, and fell deeply in thought. They vanished. For some reason, even though it was hot, her body began to shiver like she was in a really, really cold place, far away. But she couldn't worry about this- she knew she needed to get somewhere safe, and somewhere fast.
(Scene Change; Agrabah Entrance)
"Man it's HOT!" Out of the cool of the airship and into this arid and lifeless place, this was the only thing Kennedy could think of to say.
They landed, luckily, right in front of the mouth of the skeleton-like beast that was an ominous-looking city. Neither Frankie nor Mac could complain about the heat if shade was just literally standing right in front of them. Nor did they waste that opportunity and ran off, with an absent-minded Kennedy trailing behind.
They walked under the sand-golden arch into the dusty streets of Agrabah spread out before them like a map, made mostly of ornate, mystical trading booths that stood empty- or not completely. "Huh, did you guys hear something?"
The Key Bearer and Frankie shook their heads. They heard another weird sound, like swords being unsheathed, and terrifying footsteps that were coming from behind.
It didn't take long for the party of 3 to put two and two together as the sand bandit Heartless were coming up and Ken had produced his Keyblade from the thin air. Mac had his sword poised like he'd always owned it, and Frankie assumed a tigress stance.
"You guys ready?"
They nodded, and then Kennedy acknowledged his right arm, which had a huge, burning sensation running along it like it was on fire. He spoke quietly, trying to focus on it.
"Bend it… Bend all reality."
("Reanimate!")
-Begin Reality Distortion-
-Activating Combat Mode-
Enemies: Heartless X 7
Kennedy was somehow surprised when the "Sequence" had finished, and everything around him, Mac and Frankie warped so slightly that it hadn't even felt like things had changed at all. He stared at the bracelet.
"This… it feels different…"
"LOOK OUT!!"
"What!?"
(ENEMY STRIKE!)
One of the Bandits Slashed at Kennedy, brutally pushing him to the ground as he painfully cried, "Ouch!"
-KHP- 500/600-
"I could feel that." Despite his disbelief at the sudden blow he received, he didn't let it run constantly though his mind. "Bastards!!"
He got up on his feet and dashed for the closest 'Bandit'…
(Skill Trigger!)
"Eat THIS!! Tiger Blade!!" Sending the Keyblade down crashing on his opponents head he flicked them away with an effective hit- K.O.!
Ken smiled at his own handiwork and raised a cheer, but Mac only warned him, "Hey! Don't let down your Guard!!"
(ENEMY STRIKE!)
One of the bandits ran straight for Frankie and slashed- but she ducked them and jumped back- (MISS)
"Ha!" She taunted them coyly. "You want some of this, UGLY!?" And following up on that promise ran over sent her fist crashing in the face of the Heartless who only had a second of life before literally being split in half and fading into the air- K.O.!
Instead of falling over like a stack of old cards, the whole of its body dispersed like it was nothing.
Mac ran up to the next Heartless edgily swinging its scimitar like victory was just only a pooling rain of blood away. Mac swung his sword at it at high speed, and broke its blade, causing that Bandit to wildly gaze at the full extremity of the situation. If there was panic filling its bulgy, dimly lit eyes, Mac wouldn't have noticed it, or cared, swinging down his sword.
The second wave of Heartless Bandits, seeing how easily they were overwhelmed, suddenly ran away. Kennedy had no time to look at the stunned faces of Mac and Frankie watching the bizarre enemy procession retreat.
As the last Heartless faded clean into the air, burned by the sun itself, the bracelet attached to Ken's arm suddenly faded.
Reality Bend Deactivated-
Deactivating Combat Mode-
An exhausted Mac could barely put his sword away. He was already so tired he was about to drop. He couldn't go on. Not like this. How many worlds would they have to scour just for Blooregard Q. Kazoo, should it mean more bizarre, yet nauseatingly tiresome battling? He said to Frankie, "I think I have a good idea where we should go."
Frankie eyed him worriedly, but didn't say anything to show. She had to at least give Mac some level of independency and respect, didn't she? "You know? Where?"
"Down…" he huffed, finally feeling the bad aftertaste of the "Battle's" minimal casualties. "… an alley. She should be down an alley…" If this Place works EXACTLY like I saw it would…
Frankie was already feeling the heat beat on her exposed forehead and knew it was the same for Kennedy, so she didn't waste time and said, "Okay. Take us there." And as she said so, they went off, Kennedy still scratching his head as if he barely understood what they were talking about. What was so important and where were they going?
(Scene Change; In Betwixt)
"Load the Progress of the data Anomaly."
A Huge Wall of neon Green with running numbers appeared from the thin air like open window. The voice next commanded, "Revert."
The Numbers shrank. They flittered across the screen at a burdensomely slow pace. She was running multiple search engines, but the difference here was they were designed to track any biological signature it detected.
"Commence."
A very flat and monotone voice replied. "Verifying Request."
"Locate."
Minutes flew by. Then miraculously they turned into hours, and it aggravated her. Stalwart and faithful as she was, Lilith was growing unbelievably tired of retrying the whole process again and again. She pulled at her dark hair and the purple-dyed curl over the side of her face, too transfixed into a huge, whitening thought. But no matter what she did, to her misfortune, it took absolutely no solid shape.
"Unable to Locate."
"Shit!" It didn't work. The fatalistic compilation added a brick-heavy layer of disappointment on her already brick-heavy list of failures. She could look at how long it scrolled, like a dry tumbleweed rolling along toward the cracking center of a torrid desert, devoid of life and any trace of life ever being born, that all that ever existed along that dry, hollow world was death in it's truest form; it was terrifying. Be that as it may, it didn't change the dead-end results she was presented.
Where are you, brother? What the hell are you trying to do? I miss you…
Lilith knew of course, she wouldn't be getting anywhere this way; there had to be something else, something she had been neglecting all along… a vital and important clue…
Hmm? What's this?
In the lower-left corner of the large screen was a small, seemingly non-existent "box" with the name "Trash" running across it. She enlarged it and looked it over carefully. She looked inside and was surprised at how organized, how clean this file appeared. Sure, Aundul had time to run away, and now he had time to organize his trash? All of the useless projects he planned but never got around to, and they all sitting in one place as if to make a sort of shrine of failures for himself. Weird, she thought. Maybe he left behind something. Trash, meaningless information or no, Lilith realized instantly with a great shudder that her tremendously foolish and predictable sibling (If she could honestly call him so) intended for her to find this. It hooked her attention and fascination, until she was floundering on the dry, death filled hearth of curiosity, shriveling away her own stalwart prudence.
She guessed correctly: preserved edited and re-edited copies. There were even scratched drawing pieces that he threw away in shamed disgust; inwardly, she pitied him and thought, Why would he throw these away? They probably weren't his best, but he seems to be really good at that sort of thing. She pulled out, terrified when one of those drawings, poorly sketched, pictured thick ink lines merged into devilish symbols, almost lured her… what? No! This is too goddamned weird! Why did he do these? And why bother to throw them these away? She looked it all over zooming in. It had the semblance of a pale-white colored school of fish ina huge Ocean of information sat at the edge of the beach that was her own "click of the mouse". But she didn't care. Siphoning out all useless anthologies of 5 Years in their making, she stumbled upon another weird artifact sticking out in the skeleton-dead sea, like the odd man out a huge crowd, where she believed was the heart of the "Trash Bin". Why in Hell would he go to great lengths to organize his junk? It read, "Locked. Keep Out". Out of all the weird things she had seen so far, this by far was the utmost uncommon, and blatantly abnormal-looking of them all.
Prudent Lilith couldn't figure out her own twisted siblings inner intrigues, nor his compulsively mindless necessitation to be so goddamned inexplicable. I feel like a freakin' Toy collector. I'm looking for something that I know won't exist, or won't exist for long, and yet I feel like I got to HAVE it. At the thought, one of her eyes twitched and she damned her brother.
Lilith figured that even if she found this, getting a peak inside would be no walk in the park. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curved into a stony frown. "Scan."
A beeping sound was heard like some kind of church bell, and a red "Filter" ran across the "File" encompassing it in velvet like glow. It took 20 minutes. Lilith wasn't going to take any risks; not when she got this far. If her brother was dead serious on keeping secrets, then damn it, she'd be just as dead serious to exposing them. Sweat pouring on her forehead, she knew with growing dread, as the time for the scan reached its finale, that her skills with hacking would not be worth shit if this failed.
The monotone voice responded when the scan completed. "Scan Complete."
"Results."
"No abnormal data variation. No Viruses detected."
At the brittle light of this one success she thought, I'm THAT good. Aundul, you can't keep hiding from me for very long. I'm coming. Then when she finished self-gloating, said out loud, the black dot that was basically just the design of the system itself circling around, "Contents."
"Several items detected: 4 abnormal data items. 9 documents. 1 item unreadable."
Unreadable!? She thought with disbelief impaling her head, the same kind of pain like when Berevaux's spear impaled her in the stomach. It was crazy. Too crazy that she couldn't even have a good belly laugh at the comic phrase that all the same, softy pissed her off. What kind of bullshit was 1 item Unreadable!?
Again, there was absolutely taking no risk. For all she knew, her brother might have bugged the "Locked" file and if she opened it, what was the chance her own computer would fizz, d-rezz and cease any functionality? And if there was a virus, she was in trouble. Many times she snooped around or cornered something belonging to her brother; and she had an unfortunate run-in with that. A cleverly hidden Large-scale Virus he intentionally set up as an extreme Firewall measure. Her data would get scorched but thankfully, they were easily salvageable and she transferred. An "Eccentric", as she commonly called him, would want nobody looking at his private stuff. The difficultly of it was that it was such a great deal of stuff. And this thing? Something with a name like "Locked" and was currently being "stored away" in the "Trash Bin" must have been obviously important. Seeing it thrust far out of her reach like that made his caring sister angry.
She badly wanted to help, but he was making her work her ass off to get into some cruddy file containing a clue. There would be no doubt that it was carrying that ALL-too important clue she was looking for with the hidden virus, which mad her angrier. What good would it do her to even find that file again and not open it, and he knew she'd be nosy? Oh yes, she knew with a guilty smirk. Aundul can do that. And I'M the one who taught him how. Why me? Cause he's a KIND brother. Cause I WANT to help and he's either pushing me away or drawing me in. Damn me. Damn his stupid obsession and damn this whole craziness. Damn whatever the hell he is planning, which doesn't make any sense to me. Damn it all.
Deep down, she knew, there may have been an alternate method. Deciding against the wind itself, she figured she had nothing to lose.
"Copy. To my personal data."
"Copy Transfer begun."
She closed out of her brother's dead account and looked into her own personal space, more vibrant with wild purple-toned themes she felt more at home with. It was right there. Bingo. But how do I open it? She dizzily wondered. Aw hell. I copied it. I can just as easily delete the viruses off.
Confident, she did so. And to her surprise, it was unbelievably easy. Then she opened the file, her breath enclosed in her throat. Indistinguishable pictures floated in front of her. Some familiar, and some tauntingly familiar; they had the appearance as if a 2-year old drew them. But Aundul's mind worked with the capacity of a 200-year old man. Why would he draw these?
Turning her attention away from them, (especially the ones that depicted a monkey and the other a rhino) she looked the other files. They were documents, and unimportant. He probably put these in here to test my determination. Nice try, she thought. But she clearly remembered the main computer exposing 1 "Unreadable" File. And for that one, she searched. It seemed she didn't have to look for very long. Chuckling victoriously, she saw that the file hanging in the back had a haunting glistening glow around the edges, while it still maintained the appearance of a white envelope. Her brother was making this all too easy.
She went about opening it, the roundabout way with typing, and discovered something bizarre. Woah. The immensity of this data. This… can't be right… the File size is 50,000,000 KB!?, and it struck a nameless fear in her body. She raised her fingers and typed quickly on the Holographic Keyboard on the tips of her fingers while the monstrous file opened, her eyes running faster from left to right, a tick in her heart pounding up to a crescendo, her breathing still and she didn't want to stop as all the precious data like the very manna of God himself running across the screen into her mind and filling the rest of empty space making all the free-forming pieces like cells come together… till the contents of that particular file just literally spilled at her feet.
Her mouth was open and her eyes didn't blink. She felt like the rest of her body numbed away, dissolved into the shapeless dark. She stood shock still.
The voice in that mock-endless void was akin to a ghost, a shudder that acted like a filter cone.
"Oh… Oh my God."
She tried backing away as her blank stare made a steady and deliberate survey of what opened in front of her. She couldn't tell if she was breathing; she felt like the weight of a huge planet flattened and crumpled her like a wind-blown leaf.
All those clues he kept leaving behind…
"Oh my God." She couldn't help it. "Oh my God. They match."
(Scene Change; The Alley)
Mac came out first from under the dark arch opening, and into scorching red sun. He stared up at the huge ball of fire that beat down mercilessly on his head, and felt that the whole thing seemed hopeless. But not completely.
"Jasmine?"
Right as if on cue, a black bump revealed itself from behind a tall stack of boxes that sat stored away in the corner of the alley. Ken and Frankie were the last to arrive, and just saw the black bump.
The Arabian princess in curious but frightened voice dared to courageously speak, "Huh? Is somethere there? Hello?"
She came out of hiding. And when they first did, they got a good impression of her. She was very beautiful, and her tan skin, black hair and jaded orange eyes complemented her personality. She wore what was standard and ordinary but ultimately obligatory of a higher royalty, dyed a clear sky blue. There was mistaking it, Mac realized with mouth agape. She was truly a princess. But idiotic Kennedy whistled when he took in a full-blown gaze. "Whew! Hello Royalty- Ouch!" he screamed when at the wolf whistle, a perturbed and angry Frankie Foster conked the Key Bearer on the head.
"W-Who are you?" She stammered. Mac thought it odd, but came to see things from her perspective much later. Considering their current "Attire" and form, they couldn't have made it more blatantly obvious there weren't from around here. "I'm Jasmine, Princess of Agrabah. Do not do anything should you try any infidelity," she rose to a more noble-sounding tone, possibly to compensate for awkward introductions.
Mac shook his head. "Uh, I'm Mac. These are my friends, but we're not enemies, if that's what you're thinking?"
Jasmine understood. But still she narrowed her eyes a little in disbelief. From what she could feel from these guys, was nothing compared with what she felt earlier eavesdropping on Jafar and his 2 sinister-looking guests.
"I'm Frankie Foster and…" Frankie introduced herself, unable to think of anything else to say, but Kennedy blurted out at the wrong time at the last second.
"And we're here to fight the Heartless!" He screamed. Mac turned and dropped his mouth. How could anyone, let alone an 11-year-old kid with a weird weapon, be this stupid? But Jasmine didn't seem to respond in the way Mac had assumed: "You mean… You're here to stop Jafar? Then I gladly welcome you!"
"R-Really?" Kennedy asked dumbly, before it clicked together in his head and he stammered, "O-Oh y-yes! Of COURSE! We're here to stop Jafar! And just for reference, who is he and why is it that Agrabah is overrun with Heartless?"
Mac and Frankie grimaced and exchanged disbelieving glances. If nothing else, Kennedy was good at acting on his feet.
Jasmine on the other hand, ridden with sadness at the current state of her country wholly believed, despite the bizarre nature of these newcomers and explained, with a downcast expression. "Jafar was my Father, the Sultan's court Sorcerer. But now Jafar has overthrown him and all of Agrabah is as you say and as you see. It is overrun with Heartless. All the village people and the beggars in hiding have fled my father's kingdom. Lately I had recently seen Jafar walking with 2 other people draped in Black Clothing. They were talking about capturing me… and something else, I didn't understand, but… something about a "Keyhole"."
Kennedy's demeanor changed instantly. For Mac and Frankie, who found them easier to anticipate the more time they spent with the Key Bearer, did not bear the shocking news any more gently than he did. Kennedy looked like he was about to be sick, and it was a huge vastness that was completely the opposite of his childish, over-excited, idiotic nature.
In a low voice he asked, "Keyhole?"
"Yes," she answered, but sadly shaking her head. "But… I'm afraid that's all I know. I didn't listen to closely. I'm afraid of what that man is going to do… to Agrabah, but maybe, if he could do something…"
"He?" Mac suddenly inquired with surprise in his voice. His fears were gradually overwhelming him as he already guessed right away whom Jasmine meant.
"Yes. But…" Her face twisted up the wrong way, like she was about to cry. "… He told me to stay here, in hiding, and he said he'd be back: with a lamp of some kind… But I'm worried about him!"
Mac didn't need to hear anymore and sadly shook his head. He surprised both Kennedy and Frankie by saying, "I've got an idea. We'll go find him. You can stay here in hiding until we get back, right?" Jasmine was a little surprised by this little urban boy's perceptiveness, despite his huge head and unorthodox mode of wear. But staring into Mac's eyes, she could almost feel like she could… trust him.
"Very well, but please… look out for that evil Wizard. The Heartless, and that… Hooded stranger with him as Well. I've a very bad feeling about that one." her tone fell solid gold weights, and Jasmine was clearly frightened out of her mind. She ran past them for a place to hide and she called back to her new friends, "We'll meet back here in the alley, okay?"
"Okay!" Mac called back, but in a not-so-cheerful voice. He was shivering. It was just too much déjà vu to handle.
Silence fell on the 3 and hot air flew overhead. Frankie, growing increasingly worried about the "whiz-kid" 8-year-old by the minute, felt like something chocked at her throat and she asked, "Mac, what was that about?"
"Uh," he awkwardly replied, weakly managing a mock smile and thumbs up. "I'm just following my Gut instinct, Frankie!" God, I wish Bloo were here. But if Bloo were here, we wouldn't be going on this bad joke of an adventure, would we? And it all was like he thought; a really, REALLY bad joke. But in any case, now they had something to get somewhere in this bizarre 'real' make-believe world, and if they happened to find Bloo in this World, a credit to them right? But Mac couldn't be so sure for an answer, and decided especially not until they did a little investigating themselves.
As they walked out of the alley, Mac turned to Kennedy and said, "By the way, Nice Job back there, Kennedy! You got us out of that one quick!"
Kennedy wiped his nose and looked proud. "Gee, thanks! I always do my best! Let's get down to some investigating! Onward ho!" and he ran forward a couple of steps past them, and Mac and Frankie exchanged glances once more; it was hard to believe that Kennedy of all people could mask his chalky-pale fright.
(Scene Change; The Gladios)
He sat alone at the furnished chair, which had a top that had a plastic split running down the middle to the metal handle that bent to kept it curved up and connected. His hand was on the desk with sheets of white paper which he preemptively took with him should the opportunity ever present itself to write… what did they call it? He wondered. Then he remembered, but remembering the name was anything but an unsubstantial joy for the dignified imaginary rabbit. A memoir. Writing would soothe the unsatisfied urges in his body for being brutally forced to endure the absence of Bills and Documents for so long.
He took out a pen and wrote.
Letter Entry: 1, 1st Day.
"Things haven't been making any more sense along this outrageous and utterly preposterous voyage into the unknown. I haven't the faintest clue where we've arrived, what lies ahead after this. I am…utterly confounded. That is to say, I'm bitterly confused. And what has so mildly, yet heavily confused me so? Everything. The reason we were drawn to this "universe" that Master Mac candidly claims works in an exactly similar way like his and Master Blooregard's (Whom I still harbor a sheer disliking, cursed be him) blasted electronic devices; But even so, I know very little. I'm a little annoyed that that idiotic imbecile Master "Blik" as he calls himself had the gall to rob me of my employee! Honestly, there are far much more important things to be worry about than some ridiculous trek into different worlds! I had no say in it. I was FORCED to let it go… this time, since Ms. Frances had already finished her chores for the day. Different universe or no, as Madam Foster's imaginary friend, She, like Master Mac as well, are under MY supervision and still continues to be the house's Janitorial staff. That is at the UTMOST my greatest certainty.
Ah, but… where to start? Back in my own original "Universe" (As those Brash yet Sagacious refer as) I was the Manager of business affairs and other business-related inquiries at Foster's. Nothing has changed. But has distressed me deeply was how fast everything went so that I DIDN'T even have the time to properly forestall a temporary replacement in my stead to run Fosters! Oh, when I think of all the unfinished Papers and… AND…
I should apologize. I… haven't really been "Myself" as they say, lately. I mean that literally and figuratively. To be more precise, there's this undeniable alteration of my Physical appearance. I'm an Imaginary Rabbit. I was born with floppy ears and of course, a very er, um, 'Well-rounded' body. I could NOT, for any reason, or in any particular manner have changed it I wanted to. Imaginary Friends are born as they COME, as their Creator, such as mine, can vividly imagine them. Once their very persona is personified and balanced out, the Materialization MUST follow. When they are completely imagined into existence, (should their metaphorical entry from one world into another cling densely at a very thin stray line of matter) they come into being exactly as their creator dreamed them. I am, but not without a profound sense of great pride and dignity, no exception. I am as how my dearest Eleanor Rose Foster, true founder of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, dreamt of me. But now… I feel a pang of guilt, mixed in a vast ocean of confusion, tremendously overwhelm me in a crashing tide of despair. If only she could see what I have become now… I miss her, and I'm almost of exact positive opinion that right now, she might still be looking for me. I'm no better off than Master Blooregard.
My physical alteration has prompted me to ask unusual questions about myself, ones that I had not strongly concerned myself with. How DID this come about? Why is it that it happened? I have a vague memory… Before, Master Mac, Miss Frances, and myself arrived in this so-called "Universe", we were traversing down a complex of hallways strung up like a dark maze… Oh goodness! Where are my manners! I haven't even explained exactly how we cam here. I will list so now, before I forget. It may take me just a little bit longer, however, I have plenty of time, and this way, I can keep organized, by sorting out my thoughts. This whole mess began when I met this unusual child named… ugh something absurd, I must admit! Now I remember! But his name was unimportant. He came to me in my office as I was leaving it, and confronted me. He was wearing a Black hood over his head and it almost seemed like he could smell the fear from me, how little deep-seeded it was that wouldn't have mattered. Then he grabbed my hand… and made all sorts of bizarre phenomenon come about! I was, I admit grudgingly, in an unspeakable rage, and a moderate level of complete shock. Yes. I know it's hard to believe, but it is EXACTLY as I said! I will do my best to explain: He told me, "You have an untold purpose waiting", and then viciously and firmly grabbed my hand. My first thought was, What on earth would possess anyone to act so rudely and so brashly!? And what would they expect to gain by acting that way!? My answer came quickly: But it was one that I did not in the least bit desire. He grabbed my gloved hand, and his begin to radiate with a weird light transforming it, like it was on fire! My rage subsided to give way to unprecedented fear. I was terrified out of wits! (I was in a sense an Old imaginary friend, after all.) Expecting the Worst, I closed my eyes, feeling the fire crawl on me like a brigade of Fleas… oh… No. No, Herriman. Don't go down THAT road. Never AGAIN. But when I peeked out through my Monocle, the fire, now a pale, ghastly and blazing white, was around my body, and even more surprising, I hadn't burned into a worthless pale of ashes! The stranger whose face I never saw, did nothing but stand there and stare intently at me, my eyes, like he was waiting for something to happen. I was still held captive by the unavoidable fear that I would be broiled alive by this sinister stranger, even when it appeared that I did not. A faint, but annoying sound filled my old ears, sounds that did not die and continued like an ominous "ringing". What the devil was going on? The shock of this stranger holding me in place, and a peculiar, heavy sensation closing tightly like a set apart space crushing my Left hand underneath the pure weight of what felt to me was gravity, and then… relief combined fright and still the foolish anger rising and dying in all at the same time. He let go my hand and said to me, "There. Now it can Manifest. It's small, and its range is limited. It's starting to accept you. Try not to die." He laughed in my face. His shoulders hunched as he laughed. I had never felt so abused, so personally afflicted in my life. I… I just didn't know what overcame me. He truly pushed me to think that I wanted to hurt him in some way, but I just didn't know how or why!
What in blazes had just happened?
I had been… 'dying' to ask what the devil he did to me ever since. He vanished, and I didn't know how. My hand, well specifically, my Left Arm was still vibrating with a torrid shakiness, as if some aggregate sentience was just simply 'occupying' the space inside my arm. I could even feel it somehow, like it was slowly struggling to assume the shape that was the rest of my figment body. I don't even know how I came to that conclusion. At that moment, I just merely knew. It came to my mind instantly, like bursting from the dark depths of an endless tempest-tossed sea and reaching for the fresh air that sits waiting above. Remarkable. But to put this behind me for a moment, I suddenly heard an unusual sound just outside my office and-
Ugh. I have to end here for the moment. I'm afraid I hear excruciatingly annoying knockings on the door to my dormitory. I shall have to finish this summary of my personal experiences a little later. But I cannot let anyone see this. These are my private collections of musings; they are for nobody else's peeking eyes but mine only.
End Musings-
Stifly, and making other papers on the makeshift desk integrated into the ship literally fly off and scurry off underneath the desk, flustered and edgy Mr. Herriman looked like a remote woodland animal caught in headlights with a stingy black cat standing in the doorway. Mr. Blik, however, wasn't interested in anything the dignified imaginary was writing and asked, "Excuse me, aren't you supposed to helping Hovis?"
The confused imaginary didn't know quite what to say. "I don't know what you mean. Haven't you learned at least to knock on a door before brutishly forcing your way in!?" He snapped angrily.
Blik seemed to not care, feeling that this weird freak from somewhere in a 'distant galaxy far away' had suddenly gone out of his mind. "Aren't you a Butler or something!? Cause I'm pretty sure you ARE!"
His eyes were about to fall quite rapidly out of their sockets; angry, he was thinking, How could anyone in their right mind, let alone this "Cat" be so abominably dense?
(Scene Change; Desert)
Sand poured down his back, pants and vests. Aladdin had been okay as far as having lived out most of his tramp, thin-line existence with living in sand- he couldn't remember anything other than sand. That and the heat and noisy commerce of Agrabah, mysterious morning thieveries from local bazaars and something else- a basic and relatively simple pyramid of hierarchy: there were the rich, and the poor. The rich made up the minority, were well fed, lived in lovely scenery. The poor were miserable and struggled every waking moment to find sustenance and stay alive. The rich didn't- wouldn't, he grew up knowing- lift a finger. They had legions of servants to cater to their every damned whim. The rich were clean smelled of fine oils, worked day after day by pong-ridden workers. A dirty finger raised in anger a finger severed away from the rest of the hand, or from the head. The rest of the poor were silenced, and that was the natural order of things.
Well, he thought as his knees felt like putty pressed against each other thanks to the overwhelming, terrible weight of the sand engorging his body around him, that what it used to be.
He isn't dumb, and knows what's happening. Agrabah just isn't the same as it used to be. It's falling under dark weight; under Jafar.
And those black creatures that spawned at his bid like a deadly plague.
Naturally the quick-witted, daredevil 'street rat' knew to get when the getting was good, but a hitch kept nagging like a large, terribly throbbing skin disease: Jasmine. Jasmine, Princess of Agrabah, and the direct heir to the throne through her father, the sultan, viciously driven away by Jafar and the black creatures with soulless eyes; how utterly above him was she! Like, he dreamt of every waking moment since they first "met", like an angel. He desired her beautified frame more than dropped gold. Aladdin wanted her, body, mind and all, but the nature of his position in society as he knew pushed her out of reach. He laughed at the impossible thought: Princess marrying the "Street Rat"? Ha! He tumbled from the ecstatic height of fantasy with a crash to reality. The pain was so intense; no amount of riches he could wish for in the entire world would heal it.
But he digressed and thought no more of it; he was sinking in quicksand for a measly little lamp. A lamp, that he risked neck and limb for exploring the hellish abundance of a Sultan's Treasure called the Cave of Wonders for. He lost reach of it, barely only seconds away from clutching on to it for dear life. He could feel his strength draining away quickly, sapped by the crushing weight of the sand around his stomach. Jasmine was nothing more than a distant ray of light to cling on in those last awful moments.
"HEEEEEEY!! HOLD ON, ALADDIN!!"
(Kennedy: Re-Animate!)
Combat Mode Activated
Enemies – Heartless Bandits x8
HP: 80
"Quick! Attack them!" Mac cried, jumping straight out onto the front lines with sword in hand. "Eat THIS!!"
(ATTACK) Mac dealt a high blow to the nearest Bandit, sending another hit crashing down on it- 30 point hit!
(Enemy Attack)
One of the Bandits flew into the air like a deadly spinning blade and hit Frankie in the gut, causing her to fall painfully- 60-P D
Frankie fell over, coughing furiously, trying to recover. "Shit… you're making me mad." She got up and focused her sights on the second heartless on the Left…
(Skill Trigger)
Jumping into the air and flying over with incredible speed she screamed, "Take THAT!! Shell Shock!" kicking and rapidly cuffing at the Bandit like a punching bag knocking it clean out of the battle- 79 point hit!
"Don't hog all the Action, Franks!!" Kennedy eagerly and foolishly pranced over after the second Heartless behind the first one Frankie defeated. "Here I GO!"
(Skill Trigger)
"I'm going to FINISH all of you OFF!! RAGNAROK!!" Kennedy jumped straight into the air and aimed the Keyblade down, right when a huge glyph appeared at the end of the weapon and fired Multiple Beams straight down, wilding piercing every Heartless within range- 134 point hit!
Kennedy landed down on the ground with a grunt and hooted cheerfully. "HELL yeah!! We got ALL of them!!"
"Uh, guys!?" Mac's cry abruptly halted Ken's good mood as they heard even more teleporting sounds from behind.
"What the Hell? There's MORE?"
Heartless x10
5 Bandits gathered enough 'brains' to gather around a confused and frightened Mac who caught straight in the middle. "G-Guys!? H-Help me!"
"Mac just hold on!" Kennedy screamed running over, nearly clumsily tripping into the soft-pressing sand.
(Skill Trigger)
"Let's go! SONIC BLADE!!" Energy charged at the tip of the Keyblade was hurtled at full speed, Kennedy bashing All 5 Heartless back into Oblivion with 6 charging thrusts- 80 point hit!
Mac peaked one or two of his eyes open, and both went wide with shock to see all 5 Heartless vanquished so quickly. He stared up at Kennedy, impressively surprised. "Woah…"
Smiling heroically, Kennedy replied, "Don't let your Guard down. Besides, we're Heroes! You done Frankie?"
Mac felt like a Chinese doll when his head turned around, unlike the rest of his body, just in time to see several more Heartless suddenly vanquished with a violent shriek, Frankie's fist still hanging in the air. Frankie lowered her fist and cracked her neck, saying, "I'm getting pretty good at this."
The good cheer was dispelled once again the second that 20 Heartless Bandits suddenly appeared from out of nowhere.
"Damn it! Not AGAIN!" Cried Kennedy, barely able to keep holding up his Keyblade, standing guard over Mac; he began to sense something was amiss but couldn't tell exactly what. By the time he did, Frankie, face white as chalk and close to breaking out in a rash sweat, ran over and grouped up with her 2 friends. Kennedy stare down at his right arm, and his mouth dropped open. "Something's wrong…"
The Heartless were already closing in, and Frankie stammered out, "W-What is it?"
"The Bracelet… it stopped glowing!!"
Reality Distortion Deactivated
Combat Mode Deactivated
By the time the Bracelet stopped glowing, they were surrounded, and it was terrible. The Heartless with constantly shifting bodies were crawling in swarms. But that wasn't what worried Frankie.
"What!? What do you mean, it stopped glowing? Are you KIDDING me?" She was shrieking at an equally confused, frightened Key Bearer, who was haplessly trying to make the Bracelet activate once again, to no avail.
"Damn it all! WHY did stop working on us NOW?" He shrieked at the top of his voice, mentally begging for a second repeal. Mac behind him shivered and couldn't get up, mouth open in horror.
"T-T-they're Coming! Kennedy, DO something!!"
"Aarrgh!!" It was no use. To Kennedy's horror, the bracelet wouldn't respond, and Heartless were drawing close, and in only a few minutes they'd be dead. The realization hit him like a flying stalactite of ice. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Goddamn it!! GODDAMNIT!! WORK, stupid BRACELET!!
Right as this happened, the stranger, eyes half-lidded and heavy, rose from the sand, and saw the newcomers. Aladdin recovered at the instant his mind wrapped solely on the voice calling him back. His fancy fantasized the beautiful Arabian Princess like a starving man for food; the realization that it was not that person at all disappointed him. And yet, these newcomers… were dressed in some odd clothing. And they seemed to be in danger. Aladdin decided to pull out the "thing" he recovered from the Cave of Wonders recently and see if the legends were true.
"Time to see if the legends are true… Okay, Genie! Come out of the lamp! Get rid of these things!"
Mac, Frankie and Kennedy were too caught off surprise by the Heartless to see the bizarre phenomenon that was taking place almost right on top of them. Right when Aladdin said these words he was rubbing a simplistic-looking lamp. He grit his teeth and waited; the lamp suddenly began to shake. Odd magic clouds started to puff rapidly encircling it. More weird oblongs through a myriad of colors were 'bursting' from it, till the street rat suddenly realized that the lamp was literally bouncing right out of his hands. And was it his imagination, or did he hear… insane laughing?
"H-H-h-hey, oh… HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHOOOOOOO!!" Out from the Lamp emerged the wildest, blue deity Aladdin had ever seen with a beaming grin and ponytail on his nearly bald forehead. "WISH NUMBER 1 COMING UP! Don't worry, Master!! There ain't a THING I can't make right as rain… if there was any! But enough dry jokes! It's clobbering time!"
So the ancient legends were really true, Aladdin thought, his features already roped into an overhaul of shock. This is the Genie!
The Genie waved his hands in the air, beckoning forth a huge vortex of powerful magic that was undoubtedly forming into the pit of his palm, masterfully channeling it until… it poofed. Aladdin was at a loss for words, the childish, expectant part of him waiting for an incredibly amazing thing to happen that never did. But something did happen, and instinct told him to turn around, fixing his gaze upon the crowd of ugly creatures gathering around the bizarre newcomers. The Heartless were beginning to rapidly vanish in throes. Huge, incredible throes.
When the last Heartless completely obliterated in an instant, Kennedy and company turned around and stared at the bizarre 2 figures standing near the sandy pit. Over their faces came an expression of utmost astonishment.
(Scene Change; Many minutes later)
"… Jasmine's in Trouble!?" the bandit, or whatever you'd refer to him as, burst out screaming in horrible shock. The wind caressed his face, curving at the side of his face like a brick structure, running along the side until it soon wavered back into the windy stream. Normally, there had never been any strong winds of that sort between Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders, but as Mac, Frankie, Kennedy, and Aladdin were already on Mach speed via the Magic Carpet that Aladdin had already and accidentally found in his voyage in the bounteous cave, that didn't concern him in the least. Mac, Kennedy, and Frankie took turns to introduce themselves, explaining the nature of their arrival, excluding, of course, their semi-real intent. When they finished, Aladdin was left in the silence of bizarre confusion in his thoughts.
"Yes! We have to go back and help her!" Mac yelled at the raging Aladdin, who looked uncommonly like a genuine bandit. Aladdin was gritting his teeth and resembled more of a searing Gargoyle with stone casing, scaring the 8-year-old brown-haired boy.
Genie, who was now fully exposed and in broad daylight was flying alongside the Carpet, was smiling and his wispy tail fluttering in the high-speed gale whistling past them as they were speeding back their way to Agrabah. Kennedy didn't seem to be enjoying the ride at all, because of his previous memories where he vividly remembered a mute boy, very much like himself, being forced onto a monstrous, growling, thing with 4 titanic-sized wheels. Frankie pretended that she wasn't afraid at all. Mac could distinguish each and every one of those feelings in their traveling companions as they fought against the gale with the sun beating down overhead. Mac surveyed them all, but took note of Frankie's and Kennedy's confused stare. Mac with a worried-kind of satisfaction scrutinized Frankie, remembering once about a story she told him about a horrible experience as a child on an airplane, but the circumstances here were drastically different, he definitely knew. Maybe that's why she's trying to mask it.
To distract his fleeting, irrelevant thinking, he turned to the Genie flying alongside them and asked, "Hey Genie! I guess you don't get out much, do you?"
Genie batted an interested stare at the big-headed 8-year-old. He then said, "Hit the Nail on the Head, kid. I'm Lucky to even see the light of day every Century or two!"
Mac was shocked; he had anticipated this exact answer. That justified the insane thinking Mac had from the ridiculous start of their journey. I don't like this. It's exactly like the Game. Why!? Is this someone's sorry excuse of a joke??
Aladdin was the next person who spoke. "Well, what if I used my last wish to set you free from the Lamp?" No one could've believed, let alone imagine, the stunned, silly half-grin, half-frown curving around the Genie's large, blue-skinned chin. Genie couldn't have believed it either, because after hearing from his master not too Long ago how he desired Jasmine's hand and a Palace that boasted greatness to the Sultan himself (To which he planned his first 2 future wishes would be directed), he was swimming in a dense, dark sea of uncertainty.
"You'd actually do that for me??" answered obnoxious, big-mouthed Genie, who gracefully swooped and curveted against the awesome feel of the World breeze like a pipe-red Cardinal. Agrabah loomed over the endless horizon that was the dead, glistening sea of sand.
Aladdin smiled while still clutching the Lamp in his pants pocket next to his Scimitar, the only other "Treasure" he could afford to snatch from the Cave of Wonders.
"Genie, it's a promise! After we help Jasmine."
(Scene Change; The Gladios)
It almost felt like a Pandora's Box that should not be opened. Ominous and full of pure evil waiting to reach and snatch hold of the life of its releaser. But the notion, like that utter silly nonsense that was the frequently quoted Greek Mythology, was just that: utter silly nonsense. It was coming at him, like a reckless driver, or a carnivorous Eagle, a Cat closing between itself and the Mouse its prey and mortal enemy, but even so, he decided that running away would push him past the point of no return. And besides, why in God's name did he decide come down here in the first place? What sort of impractical satisfaction would beget itself if he went through with this foolishness?
Coming back to reality, the slightly disfigured form of the Imaginary defied all moral reasoning and law, and of his own volition. He knew, with sharp, cleaving Guilt, that this was completely thoughtless and went against everything that he stood for. But if clearing his head of the giant stack of papers towering towards infinity would finally make peace parting to his conscience, then logic be damned. He had absolutely no idea where this overpowering, bold, and (dare he think it?) manly unleashing of confidence came from. He didn't care. He'd do it. A grim satisfaction flittered into his head and so briefly did he shutter to think he was starting to miss that hair-brained goofball named Blooregard Q. Kazoo. While he thought this over and stepped into the 4-poled transporter, the panel next to this bizarre contraption continued reading, Agrabah, just as it had been hours ago.
I won't let you do this alone. I want…I… I just don't know anymore.
Next Chapter: Nuusku