Chapter 10: The Last Resort

BlueTiger321: Okay! So now we're nearing the end of this thrilling tale! What exactly will happen: will our heroes save the two worlds from Xemnas's reign, or will they end up failing? Read and find out for yourselves!

The group sped down the street like lightning, trying so desperately to reach CN Square before it was too late. Their latest escapade had taken longer than they all thought, so now they were going to have to try twice as hard to keep the spell from spreading to the human world or else everything they've fought for will be for nothing. All they had to do was place the star at the top of the tree and then the spell would be broken. It seemed quite simple to them, but they knew the sorcerer wasn't going to hold back this time so they had to be on their guard.

All of them could see that CN Square was only a few blocks away. The giant Christmas tree in the centre stood tall and proud as a symbol of holiday joy. It would also stand as the symbol for everyone's freedom once they arrived.

Aerrow and the Storm Hawks happily cheered through the skies while riding their Skimmers, though the Sky Knight still kept his face in a serious stare as he scanned what was around him for any more trouble. "This is it, guys," he said. "Now let's put an end to this so we can enjoy our Christmas in peace!"

"Oh yeah!" said Finn. "Nothing can stop us now!"

The sharpshooter's words didn't come true as they all noticed something wrong with their Skimmers. The needles on the gauges were dropping and the engines stopped exhaling energy. All of them then became worried that now they were going to crash for some unexplainable reason.

"What's going on here?" said Junko.

"We're going down!" Piper said worriedly.

Stork turned to Finn with spite in his eyes and said, "You really have a habit for making things worse, don't you."

Aerrow could feel Radarr grabbing onto his neck in panic while he tried to get his Skimmer under control, but he knew it was useless. "Hang on!" he said.

The Storm Hawks then fell out of the sky while the others looked on with dread. Pretty soon, Danny felt like a sharp pain was forming in his body. June noticed it in the boy and put her hand over her mouth.

"Danny, what's wrong?" said the girl.

"I... can't... stay up... much longer!" said the halfa.

All of a sudden, June felt pain swarming her body as well. It wasn't long until their bodies were being covered in a red light that forced them both to descend along with the Storm Hawks.

The Avatar's group saw what was happening, and so the boy pulled on the sky bison's reins to help them. But then, Appa started grumbling as he too was being covered in the same red light and being inflicted with pain. The light spread up to the group in the saddle and made them all cry out in agony.

"What's happening?" shouted Zuko.

"I've got a pretty good idea who's behind this!" replied Katara.

Everyone riding Appa then descended from the sky with the others. BlueTiger321 looked through his car, seeing all the toons being forced down by the magic. His look of fear then changed to determination as he would have to help them. But then, he noticed that his car was acting strangely. It suddenly stopped by itself and had been shut off in the middle of the road. The man tried to start it up again but it didn't do any good.

"No!" shouted the human.

BlueTiger stopped what he was doing when he felt a pain suddenly spread throughout his body. He groaned as he could see that he too was being covered in the red light. All he could do was watch as the light forced him to exit the vehicle and walk outside towards the others.

The Storm Hawks had managed to convert their Skimmers back into vehicle mode before they descended, but now they were covered in the red light like everyone else. The energy commanded them to get off their rides and let them fall to the ground. Danny and June soon joined them with the Avatar's group following. The group struggled all they could against the unseen force but it overpowered them and forced them to their knees.

"This can't be happening!" said Sokka. "Not when we're so close!"

A cloud of black smoke then appeared before everyone, and they all saw two figures step out once it disappeared. There on the street was Xemnas and Naminé. They could see a look of anger frozen on the sorcerer's face while the girl hid behind him in fear. Xemnas then walked over to BlueTiger and stopped before him. The human looked like he was ready to spit in the sorcerer's face for what he did but could do nothing as long as the magic restrained him.

"I believe you have something I want," said Xemnas. With that, he held out his hand to the man.

BlueTiger tried to resist but all the pain he felt was too much for him to handle. Xemnas commanded him to reach into his jacket and pull out Merlin's star. The others watched with their eyes wide open in shock to see the sorcerer had finally won. As the star was brought out, it levitated in the air and flew into Xemnas's hand.

June felt tears sting her eyes after watching such a horrible thing. "It can't end like this!" she sobbed.

Naminé stepped up to the sorcerer, hoping to find out what he was doing. "Xemnas," she said, "what's going to happen to these bad people?"

A thought then came to Xemnas's mind as he remembered Naminé was still under his control and would still be able to supply him with more power. Looking at the girl calmly, he said, "Oh, I'm only going to use my magic to change their hearts. After all, you want everyone to enjoy your Christmas, right?"

The group saw what Xemnas was doing, and now they knew their only chance was to try reasoning with Naminé and get her to see that the sorcerer has been misleading her.

"Naminé!" shouted Aerrow. "We're not the ones who are evil! It's him!"

The girl heard the cry, making her look in disbelief. She knew she could see only joy, so she wondered why these people would say something like that after all they've done. Naminé looked up at Xemnas, hoping to hear his explanation.

The sorcerer knew what the group was trying to do, so he retorted, "You believe me, don't you? I've only given to you your deepest desires."

Now the group of friends saw they would have to try harder if they wanted to get through to the girl. Danny brought his head up and said, "Naminé! He's been creating an illusion to you this whole time! Everything you've wished for ends up hurting innocent people!"

Xemnas shook his head in protest by the statement. "That is absurd," he said. "Why would I do something so atrocious to this sweet girl?"

Naminé took in everything she heard, and yet she couldn't help but notice these people were sounding sincere. Now she didn't know who to believe: Xemnas or them. It was so confusing to her that she displayed a troubled look.

BlueTiger tried with all his might to sit up, and it managed to work due to his strong will. "Naminé, listen!" he plead. "Xemnas is just using you to gain power so he can take over the worlds of toons and humans! Is that what you want, to have innocent people get hurt?"

The girl paused for a moment while she contemplated everything she just heard. All these statements were so conflicting. Xemnas was doing everything for her, yet she could tell the honesty from the group. She knew that something wasn't right, and so she had to find out who was telling the truth.

"I..." said Naminé. She then shook her head in response to BlueTiger's question. "No. That's not what I want at all. I just wanted to fill everyone with joy on Christmas."

"Then you've got to fight Xemnas's control over you," said Piper.

"Break through his illusion, and then you'll see what he's really doing!" said June.

"Silence!" Xemnas shouted angrily. A red wave was released from his hands that struck the group and increased the pain in their bodies.

Naminé opened her mouth in shock when she saw the sorcerer commit such a cruel act. He promised to her that he would use his magic to get them to change their hearts, and yet all she saw was him inflicting more pain on them. Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly detested this man for what he did. She then tried doing what they suggested as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Xemnas looked back at the girl, hoping to get her support. "Naminé, don't listen to them!" he exclaimed. "They're only trying to trick you!"

The girl ignored the plea from the sorcerer and then opened her eyes. The moment she did a gasp escaped from her lips that showed she was appalled at what she saw. Her fantasy Christmas was gone, and it was replaced with chaos and ruin. People were running away from the same things she imagined, the very things she wanted in order to create peace and joy. The very sight of it reduced her to tears. Now she understood that Aerrow and the others were the ones she could trust.

Xemnas came forward to see if he could still get her on his side. "Naminé, I can explain..." he said.

Naminé didn't want to hear it. She pushed herself away from the sorcerer and looked at him angrily. "Everything you've told me is a lie!" she said. "You've turned my dreams into a nightmare! How could you do something like this? I wish I never met you in the first place!"

Xemnas knew that his secret was out, but still he tried to get closer to the girl in hopes of gaining more power. He said, "Please, I just want to—"

"Get away!" shouted Naminé.

In that instant, a blue wave erupted from the girl's body that sent the sorcerer away from her. Xemnas grunted as he hit the street hard and lost his grip on Merlin's star. Everyone was stunned to see Naminé perform such an amazing feat when they noticed the magic around them dissipated and allowed them to stand up again. BlueTiger immediately ran over to the star and grabbed it while everyone else gathered around Naminé. The girl looked over herself and wondered how she was able to do what she did.

"I... I did that?" asked Naminé.

"You sure did," replied Aerrow.

"How is that possible?" said Aang.

"I don't know," said BlueTiger. "Some of Xemnas's magic must've fused with her body while she was making her wishes."

Everyone then heard the sorcerer groan while he stood up after the assault. His eyes were now filled with fury after losing his supply of power, but he knew it did not matter. "So, you've found me out," he said. "Well, it makes no difference. I already have all the power I need! Now I'm going to ensure my reign over your worlds!"

Xemnas then placed his hands together and focused all his magic. Red lightning bolts soon formed around his body while he emitted maniacal laughter. Soon, everyone watched his body growing bigger and bigger. They all had to turn their heads to the sky to see the sorcerer was now as tall as every building in the city. Xemnas then lifted up one of his gigantic feet and walked away from the group. Everyone soon jumped out of the way before the foot came crashing down. A giant boom rang through everyone's ears as Xemnas walked away with each step.

Everyone was now safe from the giant sorcerer, but now they still had to find a way to defeat him.

"Wow!" said Toph. "And I thought Sokka had a huge ego."

"Where's he going?" said Danny.

"He's headed for CN Square!" answered Aerrow.

"But why would he go there when we're right here?" wondered Finn.

The answer came to Aang, and his eyes went wide with fright. "He's going after the tree!" he shouted.

"If the tree is destroyed then we'll never be able to break the spell!" said BlueTiger. Glancing at his watch, he then said, "And we only have ten minutes left!"

Naminé looked on in worry, thinking this was entirely her fault. "If only there was some way we could stop him."

BlueTiger turned to face the girl. "Maybe there is," he said. "You still might have some of Xemnas's magic in you. If you concentrate all your thoughts, you could imagine something that can help save everybody."

Naminé thought about the idea. She wanted so much for a merry Christmas and all she got was disaster. But now she figured this would be her only way to set things right and return everything to the way it was before Xemnas came to her. Looking at the man with a smile, she said, "Okay! I'll do it!"

BlueTiger smiled back, knowing the girl was going to be the one to save the two worlds. "Great," he said. "In the meantime, we need to distract Xemnas while Naminé is preparing."

"I'm way ahead of you!" exclaimed Stork. The Merb proceeded by removing his X-shaped armour plate and started pressing buttons and moving a control stick within it.

Meanwhile, Xemnas stomped through the city, crushing everything beneath his feet. He felt so ecstatic to know that he now accomplished his goal and both the world of toons and the world of humans would be under his command. Then, he finally reached CN Square. The Christmas tree was staring at him like it was mocking everything he wanted to achieve. A wicked smile formed on his face as he knew it would be dealt with swiftly.

"Accursed tree!" said Xemnas. "You won't stand in my way any longer!"

The sorcerer raised his hand and was about to strike down the tree when he heard a sound from behind him. Turning his head around, he saw an airship in front of him. The flying craft had two pontoons with a landing strip situated between them on top. A hangar bay was at the end of the strip where the bridge of the ship was placed. Four exhaust ports were placed behind the ship that each exhaled blue energy, and a rudder was situated at the top. On each side of the pontoons was the Storm Hawks insignia painted blue. This was the Sky Knight squadron's fabled ship, the Condor.

Xemnas was surprised to see such a ship come up unexpectedly, but then laughed at how small it was compared to his size. It all changed when he saw two cannons come out of the sides of the ship and fired blue pulses at him. The shots hit Xemnas in the face and caused him to stagger away from the tree, grunting in anger.

Stork was in his Stork-Mobile near CN Square while he controlled the Condor via remote. A smirk came on his face as he watched his beloved ship do so much damage.

Eventually, Xemnas was back up straight and saw something else coming his way. In the air were Aerrow and the remaining Storm Hawks piloting their Skimmers along with Danny and June flying together and the Avatar's group riding Appa. All of them shouted battle cries as they flew to save their world.

Finn started off by firing bolts from his Skimmer's retractable crossbow that exploded into blue pulses upon reaching Xemnas's body. Junko then fired a pair of missiles that were tucked away in the wings of his Skimmer that soon exploded and made the sorcerer clutch his side in pain. Aerrow grabbed one of his daggers and fired off blue pulses from the blade to aid in keeping Xemnas away from the tree as long as possible.

Next up was Danny and June. The Te Xuan Ze leapt off from her boyfriend and landed on Xemnas's shoulder where she proceeded by punching furiously at the side of his face. The sorcerer winced in pain and soon had his hand up to catch the girl but was intercepted by Danny who flew in to grab his girlfriend and fire an ecto-blast at Xemnas's eye.

The sorcerer was blinded by the attack and almost took a step back but was soon caught by Aang and his group. The Avatar formed a tornado in his hands that struck Xemnas in the face while Katara lashed at him with a water whip and Zuko sent flames at him from his fists. Sokka even managed to hurl his boomerang and strike Xemnas in between his eyes.

Xemnas was now getting fed up with the toons constantly aggravating him. Taking in a deep breath, he then shouted loudly that it created huge sound waves. The force of the sound sent everyone back screaming. It took a while for each of them but they managed to self-right themselves in the air. Stork felt the vibrations in the ground and was knocked off his ride, but he still had the Condor under control.

The sorcerer took this moment to turn back to the tree. He smiled upon finally reaching it and would now be able to become ruler over the two worlds. Everyone looked on distraughtly to see they had failed and that all was lost, but then they saw something headed towards the sorcerer they knew would help.

As Xemnas brought his hand high to destroy the tree, he noticed rumbling from behind him. He turned around and was stunned to see before him was a gigantic version of Santa Claus. On one of his shoulders, he could see Naminé and BlueTiger321 looking at him, both with smirks on their faces. The human looked at his watch and saw there were only two minutes left until midnight, which meant they had to get the star on the tree as soon as possible. Luckily, the star was still in his possession, so he just had to get close while Xemnas fought with Naminé's creation.

Everyone else looked at the two giants and thought an epic battle was about to take place.

"Whoa!" said Finn. "That girl has got some imagination."

"I'll bet that Santa has got some pretty big presents to give," Junko said jokingly.

"Now we'll win for sure!" said Danny.

"Maybe," said Aerrow, "but we can still help them."

Everyone nodded at the suggestion and flew in to aid in whatever way they could. They all soon realised that they couldn't hold back any longer for the sake of everyone in both worlds.

Piper soon took out her crystals and directed them to her Sky Knight. "Lightning Strike!" she shouted.

A blue beam shot out from Piper's hands that sped towards Aerrow and covered him in the aura. The Sky Knight then leapt off his Skimmer while Radarr took over, and the boy soon flew over by himself with his new power, ready to end this battle.

Aang then stood up from Appa while he closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later, he opened his eyes to reveal they were now glowing white along with the arrows on his arms and forehead. Everyone riding the sky bison watched their friend enter the Avatar State. Aang then floated off towards Xemnas to engage in battle.

Xemnas looked at the giant Santa Claus, thinking this would be another futile attempt from the fools trying to stop him. He balled his hand into a fist and punched his opponent in the chest. The Santa Claus only took a step back before recovering quickly from the blow. Now it was his turn to strike. Naminé concentrated hard and made Santa throw a few quick jabs at the sorcerer. Xemnas tried to block each attack but every punch felt like his bones were being hit with a sledgehammer. Eventually, Santa broke through his defence and punched him hard in the chest.

The sorcerer took a few steps back and then laughed. When Santa tried to hit him again, he grabbed his arm and locked him close, making Naminé and BlueTiger gasp upon being caught in a vice.

"You may have some of my power," said Xemnas, "but that doesn't make you superior to me! You are nothing but a pathetic weakling!"

Xemnas then brought up his hand and made it glow with red energy, and Naminé and BlueTiger could only wait with frightened expressions for the end to come. Suddenly, Xemnas lost the energy in his hand when a sound wave struck his face, making him lose his grip over Santa and nearly stumble back. The human and the girl riding Santa turned to see Danny hovering a few feet away firing his ghostly wail.

Now it was Aang's turn. The Avatar now had each of the four elements revolving around him while he flew towards the sorcerer. In one swift motion, he directed his hands out and fired each element at his chest. The attack made Xemnas cry out in pain and try to prevent his body from being damaged further by covering his chest with his arm.

The sorcerer then cried in pain again when a blue blur flew past him and hit his face. It was Aerrow, and he used his power over and over again to rapidly fly into Xemnas and strike him with ferocity. When he got close enough, the Sky Knight shot out his arms and unleashed a large amount of energy that was able to engulf Xemnas and made him shout as his body was battered by the assault.

As the battle continued, BlueTiger looked at his watch and his eyes were wide with shock. "Thirty seconds left!" he said. "Naminé, I need you to get me over to the tree, now!"

The girl nodded at the request and thought as hard as she could to make the Santa move. They were almost within range when Xemnas was shoved into the giant after being constantly assaulted. The result knocked Naminé off Santa's shoulder where she fell screaming.

"Naminé!" shouted BlueTiger.

The man acted fast by diving after the girl. When he was close enough, he grabbed her hand and concentrated. Extending his legs, a burst of white energy shot out of his feet and propelled him and the girl up to the tree. They were getting close with only ten seconds remaining. Thinking fast, BlueTiger handed the star to Naminé as they were almost at the top of the tree. Xemnas opened his eyes to see the girl he manipulated had foiled his plans as she placed Merlin's star on the tree.

Their mission was completed, and so BlueTiger and Naminé were glad to know they saved both worlds from peril. But they soon realised that now they were falling after crossing over the tree so they both screamed in terror. Everything changed in an instant as a blue blur came in to catch them both. The human and the girl looked up with delighted faces to see Aerrow smiling back at them.

The star flashed brilliantly on the tree and started to emit light that stretched across all of Toon City. Everyone watched as the light covered them, knowing full well this was the counterspell at work. This made them happy to know that their world had been saved.

Xemnas kept shouting, "No! No!" He couldn't believe that his spell was broken and his evil ambitions were coming to an end, and yet he was so close to victory. The light passed over his body and he screamed as its righteous power seared his flesh and turned his body to dust. The evil sorcerer named Xemnas was now gone forever.

The light soon became brighter as it washed over Toon City with its purity, until it ended with a flash.

BlueTiger321: Hooray! The spell is broken!

Aerrow: Yeah! I knew we could do it!

Piper: And not a moment too soon!

Danny: So what happens now?

June: Well, the story's not over yet. There's still one more part left.

Naminé: Aw, just when it was getting good.

BlueTiger321: Sorry, but that's how it goes. Anyway folks, be sure to stay tuned for the epilogue because it's going to tie up everything nicely. So, until next time...

Everyone: Read and review!