Chapter XLIII: What You Need
Reaching the building, Ushio jumped back as Ray flew under it and the door burst open. Dr. Facilier whistled, summoning the shadows he controlled. As Ray moved through the crowd, Ushio set her sights on the witch doctor. Prepping her Keyblade, Shaman and Fortuneteller Heartless surrounded her. With Dr. Facilier free, he chased after Ray, leaving Ushio to deal with the foes around her.
The Fortuneteller Heartless made the first move as the two of them swung their crystal balls at Ushio. Having taken the time to prepare, she blocked the attacks. With her chance now available, she swung wide as she swept both up in her attacks. Sending them back, she narrowly avoided the charge the Shaman made at her. Before she could make a move on it, ice shards whizzed by her. The Fortunetellers made their advance only to be met with her Keyblade. Vanishing from the attack, Ushio switched to the Shaman. It clawed at her as it slightly slashed her shoulder. Feeling the injury, she went to work on the monkey like Heartless. Facing a solid, downward swing, it was dispatched like the other two.
Having finished the Heartless that jumped her, she made her way to the cemetery.
—
After fleeing with the totem, Ray had found Tiana in the cemetery. Flying towards her, he shouted out.
"This proves what we saw ain't what we thought we saw!"
"What is this?" Tiana asked as Ray handed the necklace to her.
"It's a voodoo hayacall. The Shadow Man, he been using it for the-" Ray stopped when he noticed the shadows had almost caught up to them. "You can't let Shadow Man get this, no matter what! Now run, girl! Run!"
Tiana took off with the necklace as Ray faced the shadows. Lighting himself up, he charged the shadows as his light caused them to vanish. With most of the shadows gone, he felt victorious until a hand knocked him to the ground. Having enough of the nonsense, Dr. Facilier looked down on the bug as he stepped on him.
—
Ushio rushed through the cemetery. The dark clouds and night sky brought an ominous air to the whole search. As she maneuvered through the graveyard, she heard a familiar voice call out.
"Back off, or I'm going to break this thing into a million pieces!"
Running towards her, Ushio spotted the Shadow Man catching up to her too. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a strange dust that he blew into their direction. Hitting Tiana, it transformed her back into a human.
Ushio tried moving forward only to find herself in another place. It appeared to be a brightly lit diner establishment. People enjoyed their meals as live music played. Starting toward Tiana, Ushio noticed at the same time as her, the familiar patron.
"Now, isn't this a whole lot better than hopping around the bayou for the rest of your life?" Dr. Facilier asked.
"Shadow Man." Tiana slipped out.
"Got to hand it to you, Tiana. When you dream, you dream big. Just look at this place. Going to be the crown jewel of the Crescent City! And all you got to do to make this a reality is hand over that little old talisman of mine."
"Don't do it, Tiana!" Ushio called out.
"Quiet you! You're not part of this bargain!" Shouting those words, the ground crumpled under Ushio.
—
Finding herself back in the cemetery, Ushio spotted Dr. Facilier staring her down. Yet, it wasn't just one of him as it should've been. Ten versions all looked straight at her.
"Do you know what all I've had to do to get to this point!" he exclaimed. "See, a certain colleague of mine informed me about you. Said you'd be a hassle if you showed up. It seemed those Heartless creatures didn't get rid of you. Now, Tiana and I are going to have a little uninterrupted chat while you discover your place."
The ten doctors approached Ushio. Shadow hands reached out of the ground as they clawed at her. Ushio sucked and rolled her best, yet some claws got through. As a Dr. Facilier stood above her, she struck upward with her key. He fell backward as he reverted into a shadow-like form. Understanding what was going on, Ushio swung at the next one. He too lost his shape, becoming a shadow. Having their weaknesses exposed, Ushio went about her strikes. The shadows lost their copied appearance as they receive blow after blow.
Ushio felt confident as the shadows seemed to lose their ground. It was then, as luck would have it, voices rang out.
"Ushio!"
Turning toward the all too familiar voices, she saw the figures of her father and mother. They rushed to her, their own Keyblades readied.
"Mom! Dad!" she called out.
Running towards them for their assistance, the pair dissolved into a shadowy form as the darkness wrapped her up. The remaining shadows joined in as she was cocooned. Finally, another copy of Dr. Facilier appeared from the ground.
"How sweet. It seems our wanna be hero still looks up to her parents." he mocked her. "Give this up and I'll leave you be. Otherwise…"
"I won't stop." Ushio struggled. "You're going down."
"And how exactly are you planning to do so?" he questioned.
"It's simple really. You've got all your shadows here in one place now." Her Keyblade began to gather light in her hand. "I haven't seen Dad do this much, but here goes nothing." Feeling the energy swell, she cried out. "Light!"
A pillar of light emanated from her as its brightness caused the shadows to fade.
"No, this can't be happening!" the copy of the witch doctor cried as he was engulfed in it.
—
Ushio opened her eyes as she found herself back in the proper cemetery. Once more Tiana was a frog and to her shock, the Shadow Man has the talisman.
"Even though you both broke out of magic, it's quite unfortunate." spoke Dr. Facilier. "Y'all should have taken my deal. I'll deal with you girl later." He brought down his can on Tiana, pinning her down. "As for you. Now you're going to spend the rest of your life being a slimy, little frog."
Using her tongue, Tiana pulled one over on him as she latched on to the talisman and was able to slide out from underneath his cane. She threw the talisman down, shattering it to pieces.
"No! No!" Dr. Facilier cried out in horror. "How am I ever going to pay back my debt?"
From the nearby tombstones, voodoo masks popped out and began to vocalize.
"Friends." the doctor tried playing it off.
"Are you ready?" the masks asked.
"No! I'm not ready at all!" he cried out scared. "In fact, I got lots more plans. This is just a minor setback in a major operation. As soon as I whip up another spell, we'll be back in business!"
Ushio could do nothing but what the strange sight ahead of her as the masks approached the Shadow Man.
"I still got that froggy prince locked away!" he continued trying to reason. "I just need a little more time." A giant tombstone turned into the main mask as he backed away in fright. "No, please! Just a little more time! I promise I'll pay y'all back! I promise!"
Despite his pleas, the mask opened its mouth. Shadowy hands grabbed Dr. Facilier has he was pulled into it glowing, green maw. With that, it snapped shut and he was gone.
—
With only fifteen minutes left until midnight, Ushio and Tiana races back into town. The pair observed as Naveen seemed to be talking to Charlotte.
"Goodness gracious. This is so much to absorb." she said. "Let em see if I got this right. If I kiss you before midnight, you and Tiana will turn human again? And then we're gonna get ourselves married and live happily ever after, the end!"
"Yeah, more or less." Naveen replied. "But remember, you must give Tiana all the money she requires for her restaurant. Because Tiana…she is my Evangeline."
"Anything you want, sugar." Charlotte replied.
"Wait!" Tiana said as she and Ushio ran up.
"Tiana?" Naveen turned toward them.
"Don't do this." Tiana said.
"I have to do this. And we are running out of time."
"I won't let you!"
"It's the only way to get you your dream!"
"My dream? My dream wouldn't be complete without you in it. I love you, Naveen."
"Warts and all?"
"Warts and all." she said, the pair gazing into each other's eyes.
"All my life, I read about true love in fairy tales and, Tia, you found it." chimed in Charlotte. "I'll kiss him. For you, honey. No marriage required."
However, as they prepared to kiss, the clock struck twelve. Charlotte tried to reason against it and kissed Naveen to no effect.
"I'm so sorry." Charlotte said.
"Tiana! Naveen! Ushio!" Louis called out running down the street. The trio made their way over to him.
"Louis, what is it?" Naveen asked.
"Shadow Man Some laud poor Ray low." Louis replied. "He's hurting awful bad."
The four watched as Ray laid, badly hurt.
"Hey, chere…" he said, looking at Tiana and Naveen. "How come you're still…"
"We're staying frogs, Ray." said Tiana.
"And we're staying together." added Naveen.
"I like that very much." Ray let out. "Evangeline likes that, too."
Saying his last words, the spark of life left Ray. Ushio shed tears as the other three did too.
As they laid Ray to rest, the clouds moved above. Next to the star he'd Evangeline, a new light shines beside it. Ushio and the others couldn't help but smile.
—
Ushio watched on the next day as they assembled in the bayou again for a celebration. Tiana and Naveen stood atop the makeshift altar as Mama Odie finished their vows.
"And with the power vested in me, I now pronounce y'all frog and wife."
Naveen and Tiana kissed as a magical light shines around them. It enveloped them, as it faded away to reveal they'd turned back into humans. Opening their eyes, they were shocked to discover the truth.
"Like I told y'all, kissing a princess breaks the spell." Mama Odie responded.
Having transformed back and gotten married, they approached Ushio.
"So, what's next for you two?" Ushio asked.
"I figure we'll go back and make it official." Naveen said. "Then we'll make the rest of our dreams come true."
"What about you?" Tiana asked.
"I better head out. As much fun as it was helping you out, there's still places I need to go." Ushio stated. "Until we meet again."
Having journeyed around, Ushio left the world and her new friends behind. As she took off, a single figure watched.
"Thanks for the show." Kyra spoke. "We'll be See each other sooner than you think."