The flying Jim and Peter carrying Binx, Lilo, and Anastasia landed in the Gracey Family Cemetery. Jim had taken them there intentionally, knowing that witches could not set foot in the graveyard. While Jim was well aware that this did not ensure their safety, it would at least force the witches to remain in the air. Jim sat down Lilo and let Binx out of the burlap sack, while Peter put down Anastasia. Peter looked at his watch.
"Half an hour until sunrise," Peter announced.
"We just need to hold them off for thirty minutes," Binx stated, "Once the sun rises, they shall become dust in the wind."
Jim nodded and gestured for the party to continue forward. However, as they turned around, they were greeted by the ghastly faces of the Hitchhiking Ghosts.
Tiana didn't know why she was hopping towards the graveyard, but she just knew that she had to get away from Facilier. She could hear the sounds of the sinister young man sloshing through the mud behind her. It was a truly terrifying experience for Tiana to find herself in. Her heart pounded rapidly against her amphibian chest. She just had to get away.
"Tear them limb from limb!" Winnie screeched from up above as she and her sisters arrived.
"Jim? Peter?" Anastasia and Lilo both asked with fear present in their voices.
Peter suddenly had an epiphany: the ghosts were conjured by magic and his Pixie Dust had the power to remove magic. Peter reached into his pants' pocket and grabbed a handful of the golden powder. He sprinkled it over the phantoms blocking their pathway, and, in a swirl of blue mist, the Hitchhiking Ghosts evaporated. Winnie let out an angry screech and fired a bolt of lightning at Peter.
"Look out!" Jim shouted as he pushed Peter out of the way.
Jim himself took the full brunt of Winnie's attacks. He fell to the ground in immense physical pain far worse than the pain from any of the witch's previous lightning bolts.
"Jim!" Peter shouted, running over to his friend's side.
"It matters not to me the order in which you brats die," Winnie cackled, "Just know that you all shall die in vain for I still have a vile of my potion, and that's all that we need to suck the life from one child. And one child is all that we need to survive past dawn."
Tiana continued to hop forward as quickly as she could. She heard voices up ahead. Perfect! Maybe one of them could help her! Tiana stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a horrible screech. She looked up ahead to see a woman on top of a broomstick firing a bolt of lightning at her classmate, Jim Hawkins. Tiana turned around to see Facilier approaching. If she went forward she could be fried by a stray lightning bolt, but if she stopped, Facilier would catch her and it would all be over for her and Naveen.
"Tiana, wait!" Facilier shouted, "It ain't what you think!"
Facilier pulled out a handful of pink magic powder from his jacket coat and blew it over Tiana. She cringed, expecting the worst, but was shocked to find that the powder had made her human again.
"I don't understand," Tiana thought out loud.
"I never intended for this to affect you, Tiana," Facilier explained, "This was just a little Halloween joke that I was playing on Naveen, but it got so out of hand. I hope you'll accept my humblest apologies, and, if you'll just give me back my talisman, I'll change Naveen back."
Tiana held the talisman tightly to her chest, not willing to let go simply because of Facilier's charming words.
"No, this isn't right," Tiana said in almost a whisper.
"Come on my dear," Facilier urged, "It was just a bad joke. I'll repair all of the damages that I've done if you'll just hand over that little ol' talisman. I know about your dream of owning a restaurant, and I can make that dream come true!"
Tiana's grip on the talisman loosened.
"You can?" she asked.
"Oh yes," Facilier hissed, "I can let you have your cake and eat it too. It'll be the best little place in all of Camelot. People gonna come here from everywhere! You'll be a regular sensation. You're almost there!"
An image of a beautiful restaurant bustling with people of all different walks of life appeared in front of her.
"You can make all of this happen?" Tiana asked, heavily weighing her options.
"Oh yes," Facilier added, "And let's not forget your poor old daddy."
The image of the restaurant faded, and a flashback of Tiana and her late father appeared in its place.
"Now that man was a hard worker," Facilier continued, "Worked two jobs, sometimes double shifts, and still made time for family. But despite all of his best efforts, he never got to see his dreams come true."
Tiana's grip on the talisman loosened still more, and her hand drifted towards Facilier.
"My daddy never did get what he wanted," Tiana confessed.
Facilier's eager fingers reached for the talisman. But Tiana tightened her grip before he could grasp at it.
"But he had what needed," Tiana added, "He had love, and he never lost sight of that! He knew that sometimes chasing what you want makes you lose what you have. He never lost sight of that and neither will I!"
Tiana whirled around and ran out through the graveyard, her frog form returning to her. Facilier cursed in defeat and pursued.
Spells were shooting left and right across the graveyard. Sarah and Mary might have appeared to just be Winnie's two bumbling sisters, but they were as powerful as their sister. Peter stood in front of the two girls and Jim and dispelled all spells that came his way with Pixie Dust. Suddenly, Tiana and Facilier came running out into the clearing from behind the bushes. A blast of Sarah's magic grazed the top of Facilier's hat. The angry voodoo man whirled around in anger.
"Hey, witch, watch where you're throwing those spells!" Facilier shouted waving his fist at the Sanderson Sisters.
"Pesky brat," Winnie hissed.
"Brat?!" Facilier growled.
Facilier conjured up a fireball and hurled it at Winnie. Winnie caught the fireball in mid-flight with a cackle. A look of horror washed over Facilier's face as Winnie hurled the fireball back at him. He tried to dive out of the way, but the fireball still hit his leg. With another wave of her hand, Winnie sent Facilier flying over into a tombstone several yards away.
While Winnie dealt with Facilier, Sarah and Mary continued their ongoing struggle with Peter. However, as Mary launched another blast of red magic at the friends, Peter reached into his pocket to find that he was completely out of Pixie Dust. Peter panicked and was hit square in the chest by the blast. It sent the boy tumbling down the hill. Anxious to help her friend, Lilo ran away from the group to try to help Peter. Winnie saw this as her golden opportunity. The witch immediately began to dash forward on her broomstick and swooped up the solitary girl.
"Lilo!" Binx cried out as he ran to climb up a tree.
"Looks like I've won!" Winnie cackled as she flew higher and farther away from the teens.
Mary and Sarah both cheered for their sister's victory. Jim and Peter both managed to stumble to their feet and Anastasia raced to their side. All three looked up at Winnie, helpless to save Lilo. Satisfied that she was out of the reach of any of the teens, Winnie stopped in front of an old tree in the graveyard.
"Alright you little brat," Winnie hissed, "This will teach you to call people ugly!"
Winnie bit off the cork of the potion vile and pressed it to Lilo's mouth.
"Open your mouth!" Winnie commanded, "Open your mouth, I say!"
From the tree, Binx leapt from the tree and sunk his claws into Winnie's back. Winnie cried out in agony, and Binx used his hind legs to kick the potion out of her hands. Knowing that Winnie would kill Lilo if the potion crashed, Jim caught the potion before it hit the ground. Winnie hurled Binx from her back on to a large rock below. Binx yowled in extreme agony. If he were any normal cat, it would have killed him. Winnie reoriented herself and turned to face Jim.
"Give me that vile!" Winnie demanded angrily.
"Put her down or I'll smash it!" Jim yelled up.
"Smash it and she dies!" Winnie spat back with an evil hiss.
Jim found himself at a stalemate. If he smashed the potion, Winnie would kill Lilo, but if he gave the potion to her, she would suck out Lilo's life anyway and then she would live on to take the lives of other children. Jim weighed his options. He knew what he had to do. With one swift motion, he gulped down Winnie's potion himself. It was the only way to save Lilo.
Facilier cradled his burned leg in severe pain. He conjured up a healing spell and tossed it on his leg. However, the spell did not seem to be working. He realized with horror that this was the disadvantage of him not being able to conjure a thing for himself. Tiana was already far out of his reach by now. But it didn't matter. Nothing changed the fact that Naveen would stay a frog forever.
Tiana arrived back at the side of the lake where Naveen was sitting, consoling a weeping Quasimodo.
"I just didn't know what to do," Quasimodo sobbed, "And because of that, I did very bad things. I'm so so so sorry."
"We all do bad things sometimes," Naveen replied, "I know I've had my share. But the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes."
"But all of the bad that I've done," Quasi continued to weep, "I can't just wash it away."
"I've got his talisman!" Tiana exclaimed.
"I never want to see that horrible thing again!" Quasimodo stated.
"Would you care to do the honors?" Naveen asked.
"With pleasure," Quasi nodded.
He took the talisman from Tiana and threw it against the ground, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces.
Facilier felt a feeling of immense pain in his chest as it happened. He realized, with horror, that the kids had smashed his talisman. He heard the familiar chanting of his "friends" as they materialized around him in the graveyard.
"Friends!" Facilier smiled in an attempt to win them over.
"Are ya ready?!" the masks chanted.
"No!" Facilier yelled in response, "I'm not ready at all! In fact, I've still got lots more plans!"
Facilier tried to stand to run away, but he immediately fell back to the ground because of his burnt leg.
"This is just a minor setback in a major operation," Facilier cried in desperation, "Soon as I whip up another spell, we'll be back in business! I just need a little more time!"
The giant mask appeared and opened its putrid mouth. Facilier's eyes went wide with horror as it dragged him into the mouth by his shadow.
"I promise I'll pay y'all back! I promise!" Facilier cried as he disappeared into the mask's mouth.
A large tombstone appeared in the cemetery with "Anton Facilier" carved into its stone.
"Hush."
"Now you have no choice!" Jim shouted up at Winnie, "You'll have to take me instead of Lilo."
Winnie threw the girl off the broom. Peter caught her before she too hit the large rocks below. Winnie descended to Jim's level.
"What a foolish sacrifice," Winnie hissed in a whisper, "Your death will only buy me more time to continue sucking the lives out of all of the children in Camelot. Let this despair grip your final moments!"
Winnie grabbed Jim by the collar of his shirt and flew upwards. Jim's soul began to glow around his body like an odd mist because of the potion. Winnie began to suck in as she tried to drink his soul. Mary and Sarah watched with wicked glee, and the three friends below watched in utter horror. Jim pushed away Winnie's face and broke free of her grasp. He began to fall, but quickly grabbed on to the handle of her broomstick. Mary and Sarah gasped.
"Winnie, I'm coming!" Mary shouted as she flew to her sister's aid.
"Oh no you don't!" Anastasia shouted.
Anastasia took the long sash off of her dress and used it to create a lasso that wrapped around Mary's broomstick. Peter and Lilo grabbed on to the sash and helped to hold the red themed witch back from aiding Winnie.
"Sarah!" Mary cried out.
Sarah immediately responded and came to her sister's aid. When Sarah came close enough, Anastasia yelled for everyone to let go of the sash. They did and Mary rammed into Sarah, sending both witches flying into Winnie, knocking both her and Jim off of the broomstick. Both the witch and the boy landed on grass away from the rocks. Winnie pulled herself up quickly and crawled over to where Jim landed. She grabbed his shirt collar again and pulled them both to their feet.
Winnie resume her attempt to suck the life out of Jim, but soon felt a strange sensation in her feet as if both of her feet were falling asleep. She looked down in horror to realized that she was standing on hollow ground. Her feet had already turned to stone and the rest of her, including her dress, was becoming stone as well. Winnie tried in vain to call for her spellbook, but it was too late. The witch was now no different from any graveyard statue. Jim struggled free of the stone hands of the witch to see the sun rising over the horizon.
"Winnie!" Sarah cried out, "Good-bye!"
Sarah's body exploded into purple dust.
"Uh-oh," Mary sobbed, "Buh-bye"
Mary's body exploded into red dust, just as her sister had.
Binx mewed with one final breath of life. His eternal life was finally over with the witches dead. The black cat closed his eyes forever, content that he had made Camelot safe from the witches.
Tiana and Naveen looked to see the sun rising.
"We're too late," Tiana realized, "We won't be able to get your true love's kiss, now."
"Yes we will!" Naveen declared.
He leaned over and kissed Tiana on the lips. They stayed there in a powerful embrace. Quasimodo watched as the two frogs disappeared, and the human forms of Tiana and Naveen took their place.
"You are my true love!" Naveen said with a smile.
"And you're mine!" Tiana admitted as she leaned in for another kiss.
A tear came to Quasimodo's eye as he watched this happy moment.
"Jim!" Peter shouted as he ran to Jim's side, "I was so worried about you! I was afraid of what might happen..."
"Peter, look, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," Jim interrupted, "I know it sounds crazy but after a near death experience, it made me realize just how much you need to take advantage of life. The fact is, I like you more than as a friend. I know it sounds crazy, but..."
Peter leaned in and kissed Jim before he had the chance to continue. The two held their kiss for a while as Anastasia and Lilo looked on.
"Well if I couldn't find love tonight," Anastasia began, "Then I guessed that it's at least a positive that they did."
"Oh boy! A new slash pairing for my fanfic!" Lilo exclaimed, "That's SO cool! Don't you think so Binx?"
No reply came.
"Binx? Binx?" Lilo cried out as she looked around for her cat.
She found his body, lying next to rocks. Dead.
"Binx" Lilo sobbed, "But you can't die! You're immortal!"
Anastasia, Jim, and Peter ran over to her side.
"He's gone, Lilo," Anastasia whispered sadly.
"Wake up, Binx!" Lilo cried in vain, "Please wake up!"
"Lilo," Binx's voice answered.
The four friends looked up to see the ghost of a teenage boy standing before them.
"The witches are dead," Binx's ghost said with a smile, "My soul is finally free. Please don't be sad, Lilo. I can finally move on to Heaven and be with my sister, Emily, again. And don't worry, I won't ever leave your heart."
Lilo ran over and gave Binx one final hug.
"Hey Jim," Binx said as the hug ended, "Thanks for lighting that candle. And may you and Peter be happy together."
Binx's eyes suddenly went wide. In death, his memories were no longer restrained by Maleficent's curse. He remembered.
"Jim!" Binx shouted, "You must know! You have to talk to Professor Merlin! You're the only one who can save the school. We are all under the power of..."
But Binx could not finish his sentence before green flames erupted around him. The four friends watched in horror as the flames disappeared. Binx was no longer anywhere to be found.
"Well that was cold," Hades sneered, "You couldn't even let him say his last good-byes."
The image of the scene at the graveyard was shown in an immense mirror on the wall.
"He was going to reveal the existence of the curse," Maleficent stated, "I couldn't allow him to do so."
"Whatever," Hades rolled his eyes as he paced around the cavernous dungeon room, "By the way, where is Jafar again?"
Maleficent scowled.
"He said that he had matters to attend to," Maleficent answered.
"And you trust that smarmy vizier?" Hades chuckled.
"No more than I trust you," Maleficent stated blankly as she exited the dungeon, leaving Hades behind.
"What a bitch," Hades mused to himself, "Still, her time is coming. No fear of that."
Facilier awoke in a large cavern with green souls swimming around in the air around him.
"So this is the Other Side, eh?" he mused to himself.
Facilier looked down at his body to see that he was no longer a teenage boy, but, instead an adult man. He remembered what had been robbed of him long ago.
"Maleficent!" Facilier growled in anger, "When I get my hands on her, I'm gonna..."
"Patience," a voice rang in the darkness, "All in good time."
Facilier spun around to see a demonic looking figure standing in the shadows.
"Who are you?!" Facilier asked in irritation.
"Chernabog," the figured stated.
"Ch-Ch-Chernabog?" Facilier questioned in utter terror.
"Yes," Chernabog answered, "And I am making you an offer that you won't refuse."
A/N: Long chapter! So that concludes my Hocus Pocus and PatF storyline. I know, I took you guys on a mood whiplash there at the end, but it really was necessary to get the story moving along. Oh and I still have plans for Facilier. Next up, Jim's going to be facing his biggest challenge yet with The Sword in the Stone storyline.
