Disclaimer: I do not own Cat Returns
Chapter 13: Rescue the King
Getting up from the bags, Haru and Baron made their way to the inside of the stables. As the began to search, a wall moved revealing a half-cat with white hair, white robes and bright blue eyes waved them to her.
"Follow me and hurry." she called.
Haru, without question, grabbed Baron's hand and followed the cat, feeling a sense of familiarity run through her mind. As they descended into the tunnel, Haru became blind from the darkness surrounding them, the cat ahead having no trouble with her feline eyes nor for Baron with his staff.
"I can't see anything." she whispered softly.
With a smile Baron turned to her to whisper gently while grabbing her hand with great care. "Don't worry, I'll be your eyes," he whispered in what she would have almost called a loving manner.
This thought quickly made her blush as she recalled the company they had ahead of them. She looked forward to have her worries confirmed as the lovely half-cat was looking back at them with a soft and knowing smile, but fell just as quickly as it appeared recalling where she was leading them.
"We must hurry, quickly now," the cat urged.
Baron's face scrunched in thought he began moving again. "You sound familiar," he softly said then his brows rose in realization as he softly called forward, "Yuki? Is that you?"
Yuki smiled back, still quick in her strides but slowing slightly to get closer to the couple.
"Glad to see you still remember me Baron, and it is good to see you too, Haru."
At the mention of the cat's name and the address of her, Haru recalled a memory of her younger self playing and talking with a slightly younger version of the cat before them. Remembering the time, she gave her some of her favorite fish crackers she loved so much that her father would bring back from the city near the castle. She remembered the laughs and games played between the two and a watery but delighted smile broke across her face.
"Yuki, it's been so long I haven't seen you since a was a child." She quietly exclaimed, and Yuki's smile grew tenfold.
"I know; I only wish our reunion could have been in better circumstances." At the mention of this all three of their faces grew serious as they reached a slightly lit doorway, where voices could be heard. Yuki stopped a few feet away from the doorway, as if she could not move anymore.
"This doorway leads straight to the roundtable, I'm afraid I can't go with you. Phoebus has done something to prevent anyone or anything magical to enter. I can't do anything to help Lune," Her eyes fell to the ground, unshed tears brimming at the corners, she quickly rose them with a fire in them, "Please, you have to save him, Phoebus shouldn't see you coming."
The couple nodded, and quickly made their way up the tunnel to the room. The sorceress watching with both hope and trust in her eyes.
In the sky's above the castle, Toto and Natori continued their chase. The crow continued to distract his opponent by calling back insults.
"Here, kitty, kitty," he cackled before laughing. "What's the matter, too slow for a little crow?"
Toto quickly swerved out of reach but when he looked back, the sphinx was gone. He stopped and began to look left in right in search of the enemy only for him to fly up from below and quickly grabbed the crow in his large paws. Toto fought and squirmed to get out of the creature's grasp to no avail.
"Finally, little crow, I have you," the sphinx sneered, suddenly a rough tug on his tail below distracted him as well as a very frustrated voice.
"Pardon me?" demanded Renaldo, as he and Muta floated on their mist below Natori, his brother continued.
"That's our birdbrain you're messing with, kitty," Muta gruffly announced.
Natori looked at them in confusion then shook his head as he slowly brought Toto to his mouth, only to be suddenly knocked away by a large fireball and dropping said bird.
The brother's quickly dove down and caught their feathered friend, Toto looked up at them weakly and Muta smirked down at the crow.
"You owe us big time, feathers," he proclaimed, and Toto weakly laughed.
"Shut up, butterball," he rasped.
For once Muta just smiled as he cradled the bird close then turned his enraged gaze towards the offending, flying catastrophe in front of them who was now once again a bespectacled cat floating on his own cloud of purple mist, patting the fires out from his robe.
"How in the world… who are you two?" he questioned fearfully.
The brothers smirked at one another then turned to their foe to proudly proclaim their identity in one voice.
"Why, we're the Moon brothers!"
At this Natori's fur actually turned white as his face gained an expression of fear. "The-the mo-oo-n bro-th-ers," He stuttered, then with incredibly speed attempted to fly off only to be cut off by the large two headed cat.
"Now, now where do you think you're going?" Renaldo calmly asked.
As their foe now victim quivered before them, Muta turned to his brother with an evil smirk.
"Should we teach this pint size, sorry excuse of a wizard a lesson?" he asked darkly.
"I do believe we should," his brother responded with absolute pleasure and the boys' eyes began to glow a menacing yellow-green as they loomed towards the robed cat who could only let out a small helpless meow as he gripped his tail, and closed his eyes waiting for the oncoming pain.
Down in the courtyard, Naoko and Natoru were trying to help the fallen men of Camelot, the farm chickens hovering of to the side of the metal cat, when a metal soldier came swinging his weapons towards them. The group backed away in fear when suddenly Natoru stepped forward with a determined look on his face.
"You wanna dance mace-head? Then let's dance."
With incredible speed he jumped straight from the ground towards the soldier's head, his razor-sharp claws out, and began slicing and whacking away at the metal man's head. Taken by surprise, the soldier tried to knock the cat of to no avail and in his distraction tripped over an out of place stone, falling quickly to the ground. Natoru jumped off his head and landed with great agility on the ground as the soldier landed head-first, effectively knocking him out. He turned with a proud smile on his face towards Neoko and the chickens, who quickly flapped their wing in cheer and ran to swarm the hero cat, his smile only grew bigger at their gratitude as Naoko looked on with both gratefulness and mirth.
Back in the castle, Baron and Haru lifted a stone slab from above their heads and emerged from the floor of the roundtable room. They quickly climbed out and Haru looked towards the table to see King Lune attempting to avoid his deranged cousin swinging Excalibur at him. The demented feline let out a gleeful cackle as he chased the monarch.
"I'm going to enjoy ending you more than when I ended Sir Hasho!" He cackled manically.
At this, Haru's eyes narrowed in fierce anger and she looked about her till she spotted the ladders leading up to a platform holding the beams for the tower wall. She quickly ran to and climbed up the ladders, Baron sensing what she was going to do tried to stop her to no avail.
"Kill me if you want," Lune spat as he tried to crawl off the table, "But you will never destroy the ideas of Camelot, you'll never rule this kingdom."
"Well I have to start somewhere, ending you seems good." Phoebus smirked. He swung the sword down and barely missed Lune who rolled out of the way. He then reached down and grabbed a fistful of Lune's tunic, who tried to free himself from his grasp, and loudly proclaimed to the sky above.
"Say hello to your new King!"
Line sneered and growled lowly through his teeth. "You are no King!"
Phoebus' smile only grew darker as his eye twitched.
"You're right," he laughed, then raising Lune off his feet he held him in the air then threw him to the other side of the table, "perhaps I'd be better as an EMPEROR!"
Lune landed hard, then fell unconscious. From the high makeshift tower above the table Haru stood on a beam tied to a rope hanging from the ceiling, she loudly called out.
"Phoebus!"
He turned and slowly smiled at her. "Ah, Haru my future queen. How did you get here?"
At the unwanted term, Haru grimaced then responded to him with as much venom as she could muster.
"I will not be your anything, Phoebus. No one tells me who or what I am," she informed him with a triumphant look on her face. "Nor will I wed or serve a false king!"
At that last remark, almost exactly like that of her father's, Phoebus' smile fell and his eye twitched with rage.
Haru then pushed her foot on the tower and rode the beam straight towards Phoebus knocking him and her through the stain-glass window and out into the courtyard where the stone rested.
Haru slowly rose from her fallen place on the ground only mere feet from the now glowing stone. Phoebus, laying on the steps some ways from her, struck the sword into the ground and used it raise himself up, glaring at her with immense rage. As he stood he began advancing towards her and she quickly turned her head to look at the stone then back to him when an idea struck her and she began backing towards the stone.
"You're in the way, Haru, just like your father." He growled lowly as he continued his advance.
Haru slipped behind a pillar as a means of a shield while he continued to speak.
"Since it seems my dear that you are just dying to be like him!" He snapped and swung the sword and hit the pillar right where Haru's head was only seconds ago, she ducked then quickly rolled, landing with her back facing the stone. She slowly stood running her hands along the thorny roots surrounding it, a white glow twisted around her hand.
"Why don't we see if I can't help you ought!" He yelled and rose the sword to bring it down on her.
She raised her arms to defend herself then from the corner of her eye saw Baron approaching with his staff raised to strike Phoebus, but the mad cat suddenly turned and sliced stopped his attack by slicing the staff in half. Baron fell searching the ground for his only means of sight. Phoebus sneered at the blind half-cat.
"Oops," he apologized with fake sincerity, "you probably needed that, didn't you?" He then grabbed a handful of Baron's hair and roughly threw him to Haru, whisperingly lowly. "Where's your crow now?"
She caught him and quickly brought him to his feet, whispering in his ear. "Hold your ground, till the last possible moment." She smiled as Baron rose his head in understanding.
"Yes, and you give the signal." He pulled her close as they both turned their heads towards Phoebus.
The cat rose the sword with point aimed straight for the couple, ready to run them though, the sword twisting on his arm and he smiled maniacally.
"Two for the price of one, this must just be my lucky day." He lunged forward for a killing blow.
Haru called out "Now!" as she and Baron jumped apart just before the sword hit, landing on opposite sides of the stone, where Excalibur now resided again with Phoebus still attached.
He tried to pull it from the stone to no avail. "Oh no, not the stone." As he said this the roots fell away and the three rings began to glow a bright white as he continued to try pulling it out, grunting and screaming in fear.
"Ah-AAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as white light surrounded his arm and a blue beam seemed to fall from the sky surrounding Phoebus and the stone.
Haru raised here hand to shield her eyes but could not look away as he was shrouded in this powerfully, magical glow. Purple light sparked from him, the potion trying to fight back.
A blast of the blue light shot out across Camelot, raising rocks into the sky as the blast shot out it reversed the effects of Phoebus' potion on his men, turning them into flesh and bone men, cat and bird once more. Natoru also returned to his normal self once more and jumped for joy. Renaldo and Muta who were standing on a castle wall, suddenly split apart. They stared at their now individual sets of two hands and feet then turned to each other and hugged with joy.
As the light receded back to the stone King Lune awoke from the table, his arm now completely healed, and looked out to the courtyard.
A blast came from the stone as Phoebus laughed with deranged glee, and began to come apart piece by piece then slowly dissolve into purple light and gray dust, floating to the sky above, leaving Excalibur behind back to its old self.
Haru shielded her eyes as the light faded and a helmet fell from above the only thing left of Phoebus. It was finally over. With a great smile Haru ran towards Baron who was once again standing, for some reason he had his eyes closed and a hand to his head, but she paid no mind as she ran right into his chest wrapping her arms tightly around him. He nearly fell over but quickly righted himself.
"Haru?" he softly whispered.
Her eyes were closed as she fought back tears at the relief of it all being done.
"Oh Baron we won, everything's alright now." She proclaimed happily.
"Haru?" There was now a tinge of confusion and slight fear in his tone, and Haru tightened her hold to reassure him that it was alright.
"It's alright Baron, I'm here." She promised, then his hands gripped her shoulders tightly, shaking slightly as he softly said.
"Haru, I can see you."
A/N: *Ducks from the screams of outrage* I know I know, I'm a bit evil, but I couldn't help but cut it off here. It was too good to pass up, don't hate me ;).