Author's Note: Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I actually finished Kingdom Ed: The Beginning during NaNoWriMo. The bad news... I actually lost, by 25,000 words. But it's all chill, I'll do better next year, despite the fact that I'll be in college.
Chapter 38: Nova Catastrophe; Can We Beat Jafar?
Eddy looked at Jafar in disbelief; the evil man had a sinister scowl mounted on his bearded face as he stared down the six remaining people. He tried to convince himself that this fight wouldn't take too much effort, but deep, deep down he knew he was dead wrong. Half of his party was already down and out from Jafar's gargantuan Heartless, who knew how strong this guy was? The only hint of that was the battered Double D who was face down in front of the wizard.
"Hey, you!" Eddy pointed to the man's staff which was golden and adored with a crimson red gem that was inside a carving of a cobra. "What's with that staff? You trying to compensate for something?" "Yeah, that was good," he thought. "Gotta look cool, I gotta stay calm."
"Rat," Jafar's baritone voice all but pierced the air. "Do you think you can intimidate me with such a belligerent approach? Such words only affirm that you are an imbecile, a mindless street rat. You know nothing of-"
Eddy then interrupted with a loud 'ahem.' "I don't know what bellibulla means, but we're gonna beat you so hard you're mom is going to feel it!" With that last statement he charged, holding his Keyblade as tight as he could. Just as he was about to swing, Jafar shifted his staff to the side and quiet chanted a short sentence before yelling out. "Fire Ball,"
Three balls of fire shot out from the mouth of Jafar's staff in quick succession, all of them colliding with Eddy, sending him flying back to the others.
"Eddy, don't be stupid" Toph chastised the boy. "He took out Double D by himself, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he replied, dusting himself off as he stood back up. "Can we hurry up and beat him already?"
"Gladly," Toph smiled and then motioned for the others to get ready to attack as well. "Alright, let's go!" She stomped her feet, suddenly dozens of sharp stalactite rocks rose above her, floating ominously above her head. With a sudden thrust of her arms the stalactites were all thrown towards Jafar; then, just as they were above the man's head, they all slammed down on top of him, seemingly crushing him and causing a cloud of dust to cover the immediate area.
"Huh?" Eddy questioned. "That was way too easy. I can't believe he's out already."
"No way," Nazz said. "It's like you said, Eddy, that was too easy."
"The rat is right." Jafar's voice boomed over their heads.
Aladdin's head shot up, his eyes wide with shock as he did so. "He's up there." He pointed upwards, to Jafar, who was ominously staring at him with a scowl.
"Did you really think a feeble attack like that could damage me?" He, however, didn't wait for an answer and instead began chanted a few words under his breath. "Oh hungry fire of the darkest abyss, purge the enemies before me, Aura Flame!"
In a flash, a red orb surrounded Jafar and exploded outward and everyone was pushed back into the castle walls with a loud, painful thud and they all attempted to get up as best as they could before Jafar could finish his next spell. "Flames of Hell, help me vanquish my foes, I call upon my side, you. Flame Tempest!"
A torrent of a strange magma like material flooded the streets like rushing water and crashed against Jafar's opponents, sending the few who had managed to stand up back against the hard stone wall.
"What the heck," Eddy groaned, keeping his head just above the flames. "We can't do anything!"
Donald managed to stand up against the surging fire, using his staff as support. "If we just had a second, I could cure everyone."
"Just a second?" Aladdin asked, he winced as a wave of fire passed over him, leaving him visibly hurt. "Abu," he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Just then, at the top of a building overlooking the battle field, the small monkey crawled out of a crate he was previously using as a hideaway. Slowly, he crawled to the edge and stared at the wizard who was just preparing to cast another spell. Judging by the look on Aladdin's face, he knew he would have to do something to distract Jafar, so without a second thought, he grabbed a nearby apple and with as much force as his tiny body could allow, chucked it at him. Jafar immediately stopped and angrily looked back, spotting the monkey dancing cheerfully. Jafar looked as though he were about to attack the small monkey himself, but his emotionless expression found its way back onto his face and he returned his attention back onto the others, who were just getting up from his short chain of spells.
"Iago, take care of that street rat's pet."
The parrot swooped down to Jafar's side. "Right away," he said nasally as he zoomed down and used his talons to grab the monkey by his skinny arms before taking flight up into the sky. The bird ascended into the sky, eventually reaching the palace's highest point.
Aladdin's heart skipped a beat as he watched the spectacle unfold. "Jafar, get him down!"
"As you wish," the wizard turned his attention to Iago, who opened his talons and let the monkey drop down.
"Abu," Aladdin screamed as he fell to his knees, he watched his friend fall, and fall, and fall and…
Swoosh!
Suddenly Abu was gone.
"What the…"
"Poopoo," they followed the voice to see Ed's Moogle flying with his small wings and uneasily carrying a frozen-in-panic Abu in his stubby arms.
A nervous sigh escaped Aladdin's lips. "What a relief."
"Iago, dispose of both of those vermin, immediately," Jafar shouted, scornfully.
"Alright, alright, don't lose a tail feather," he said as he swooped down.
Donald decided to use the interruption to his advantage, after struggling to his feet he pointed his staff up. After a deep breath he opened his mouth. "Curaga,"
What felt like a breath of fresh air flew into everyone's lungs, curing their burns and rejuvenating their spirits.
"We're alive, we're alive!" Ed happily chanted, clutching Eddy in a bone crushing hug. "Oh, I forgot." His smiled morphed back into one of scorn towards Jafar. "You hurt our friends!"
"Yeah, don't think we forgot about that!" Eddy shouted.
"Jafar, give back Jasmine!" Aladdin brandished his sword and stared intently at the wizard. "This'll all go a lot easier if you do!"
"Street rat, you cannot comprehend Princess Jasmine's importance. Her existence itself is far more important than any of yours, for she is needed."
"Needed for what? Don't tell me, you're going to use her to become King, aren't you?" Toph asked. "That's so stupid."
"No, my plan is of far greater scope. You're minds cannot grasp the details, rats."
"Stop calling us that!" Eddy screamed. "We're not stupid rats!" With that, he charged forward again, ready to strike.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, Iago continued chasing Poopoo and Abu, who was still desperately clinging to the Moogle's arms. While Poopoo had gotten a huge head start, Iago was faster and used his claws to clamp himself onto the pompom attached to his antennae. Next came a wing to Poopoo's face, who flinched and dropped Abu.
"Poo," the tiny Moogle felt compelled to slap Iago right back but fought the urge and instead shot down to catch Abu before he could splat all over the ground. With one final movement he dropped Abu off on the nearest building and was ready to take off again until he heard a loud screech. Poopoo inquisitively cocked his head to the side as his listened to Abu say –or for lack of a better term, screech out – something.
"Hey, you!" They both heard Iago call out he swooped down to grab Abu again.
However, before Iago could lock his talons around the monkey's arms again Poopoo got in the way and head-butted Iago away, sending his crashing into a small crate.
"Ow, that hurt." He whimpered, rubbing his throbbing head with a feather.
The other two creatures, however, weren't paying attention. With a nod, Abu jumped onto Poopoo's back and the two took off. Iago soon followed, muttering out a string of expletives as he did so.
Abu shrieked as he pointed to the quick Iago, almost as if to warn that the bird had already nearly caught up with them. Poopoo didn't hear, however, and received a head-butt from below, courtesy of the trailing parrot. Another head-butt followed then another, then a slap, then a claw, then another head-butt. Poopoo was subject to a flurry of other attacks, and all Abu could do was hold on for dear life.
Abu shrieked again, and as Iago flew in for another attack jumped off Poopoo, and grappled onto Iago.
Iago struggled to get the monkey off, shedding plumes of feathers as he did so. "Hey, hey, hey, get the heck off me!"
Abu on the other hand was having just as hard a time holding on; several times he almost slipped off, though he always managed to work up the strength to clamp on even tighter, earning shrieks of pain from the bird. Abu made one last squeal, almost as if he were signaling something, and jumped off Iago. After about a second Poopoo swooped in and caught him again, then with one final movement, Poopoo swung upwards, upper cutting Iago. With that, the bird fell straight down, eventually landing onto a tiled roof and leaving a sizable crater. The two others then landed on the ground, high fiving to congratulate their victory.
Eddy swung his Keyblade, however, just like what had happened before cast out a fire spell. However, just before the fire spell could hit Eddy, a magical protective covering, courtesy of Double D, coated Eddy's body and, while he was hit, Eddy was only pushed back slightly. The boy took this opportunity to counterattack and landed a surprise blow against Jafar's side.
"Yeah, take that!"
"You insolent…" Jafar held his side and huffed for breath. "This body, "Firaga!"
Unlike the last spell, this one was much more potent and actually sent Eddy flying back.
"Eddy, we told you not to be stupid, don't do anything like that again," Nazz shouted.
He answered back from the ground with a thumb up, and then proceeded to stand back up. "I got him; we just have to surprise him and there's nothing' he can do."
"Alright," Aladdin spoke this time. "We can definitely do that." He took a breath and looked down at his feet "We have to, for Jasmine's sake." Even now, he thought about the princess who was still floating inside the magic bubble near the castle's doorway. "We have to do this, guys. We can't let that creep win!"
"Alright," Donald waved his staff around menacingly. "Let's do it!" "Haze,"
A thick, white, smog covered the already dark courtyard and everyone separated into different directions.
"Do you rats really think I will be fooled by such simple diversions? Very well, you assume I can't see you because you can't see me." Jafar took a breath and pointed towards a seemingly random point in the smoke. "Fire Ball," He carefully listened, eventually hearing a loud, oafish, pain filled grunt which he presumed came from the tall boy with the shield. "Hiding in the mist will give you no-" A fist collided with his face and he was sent careening backwards, next came another punch, then a kick that sent him veering back in pain. He looked up to see Nazz with her fists held near her face, ready to land another blow. "Enough!" His voice alone was more than enough to be heard by all the heroes. "I've toyed with you brats for far too long." The man reached into his robes and brought out the lamp again.
"Jafar, no!" Aladdin said as he ran towards the man in an attempt to knock the precious artifact out of his hands.
"It's too late. Genie, my second wish, I wish I was the most powerful mage in the world!"
"Genie, you can't do it!" Jasmine's muffled voice called out. "Please, use your free will!"
Genie slouched over, sadly. "I'm sorry, that's the rules, I-I have to do it." With that, Genie snapped his fingers. Suddenly a blinding white light engulfed Jafar's being and the evil wizard's chortle could be heard by everyone.
"That's it, that's it. I feel it, this power is unimaginable!" The light died down, and everyone could see that his physical appearance, as well as his clothes had changed.
His once wrinkled face was changed to a much more youthful one and his grayed hairs were changed to jet black. His clothes, instead of consisting of only reds and blacks, were now mostly white whiles his new robe's seams were light blue.
"Yes, yes," Jafar screamed out in ecstasy. "I feel twenty years younger! With this power, I will be able to rule the universe without the aid of Princess Jasmine." He said, scowling her name. "Now, what to take care of first, oh, right." He returned his attention to his opponents, now that the mist was cleared, he could see them all clearly. With a slight flinch a shockwave shot out from his body and everyone fell down to the ground in pain.
"What the heck, I thought we actually had this guy!" Eddy whined.
"Yeah, I guess we'll really have to get going now, guys." Nazz too, stood up, clutching her chest in pain.
"Yeah," Toph laughed rather unconvincingly. "I've been looking for a good challenge."
Ed was next to get up, and he dusted himself off before speaking rather forlornly. "Why are you hurting everyone, the bad guys never win, I, Lothar will make sure of that!
"Don't lose focus," Donald shouted out. "This isn't a game!"
"Jasmine, don't worry!" Aladdin screamed. "We'll get you out!"
"Impudent rats, I'll will terminate your existence once and for all."
No more words were exchanged; instead, everyone charged forward and began attacking.
"You rats will only be a minor annoyance to my new, enhanced form." Jafar made another twitch, and the entire party was sent flying back, though that didn't stop them, instead they all charged forward again.
"Take this!" With a sudden leap, Ed landed directly in front of Jafar and slammed his shield onto his side, sending Jafar soaring away into the wall.
Toph was the next to move and, while carrying a boulder nearly five times her size, threw it towards the still dazed man. Once it made contact the boulder was crumbled to dust and, through the thin veil of smoke that was created from the attack, they could see an ominous baby-blue light surrounding Jafar's standing silhouette.
"It's amazing that you rats still think you have a chance against me, especially with my new body."
"Come on," Eddy slapped his face with the palm of his hand. "Just go down already, you're really annoying."
"I've played with you all for far too long already." Jafar held his staff firmly in both hands as a seal of red energy covered the ground around his feet. "Prepare,"
"No," Aladdin charged and swung his sword and Jafar blocked the strike with his staff, seemingly with little effort. The two were held in a standstill, though it seemed that Aladdin was putting forward a considerable amount of effort just to not get pushed back while Jafar smiled and continued casting.
"Street rats, you're shenanigans end here! Furious Flame of Hell, sacrifice thy spirit…"
Just then an orb of demonic, bubbling red energy appeared in the sky, seemingly getting bigger and bigger as Jafar continued his spell.
"What is that?"
"I don't know, could Jafar be…" Nazz trailed off. "Guys, this is really, really bad, we've got to do something!"
"Disrupt the very fabric of space, burn the very core of the Netherworld…"
The seal around Jafar began glowing brighter, pushing Aladdin and the others back with a rush of searing hot wind.
"Blizzara," Donald attempted to cast his spell, though the only thing that shot out from his staff was a thin stream of water vapor.
Eddy attempted to crawl forward, and despite the gale force winds, managed to clamp himself onto Jafar's ankle. "Knock. It. Off!" The wizard simply looked down in annoyance and kicked his foot forward, returning Eddy back to the wall.
"It's over, Nova Catastrophe!"
"Everyone," they could all hear Jasmine's muffled voice scream. "I-I'm sorry…"
With that, the seal around Jafar disappeared and the bubbling orb above dropped from the sky, landing on the other, fear-stricken six and bursting in a brilliant flash of red.
Once the flash disappeared, Jafar slowly walked forward. Where the others had just stood was now a large crater that nearly covered the entire courtyard. Deep, in the very center of the crater he could see the six he had just fought, as well as the others that his Heartless had taken care of.
"Pitiful." He walked over to Eddy's charred and burned body and kicked the boy away. "To think that these rats thought they could stop my reign. Princess, do you see this?" He looked up, where Jasmine's bubble still floated. "There was nothing you could have done to stop me." He took one last look at the fallen fighters and disappeared into a black void.