Their worry about Belle was interrupted by an amazing sight. Amid the driving rain, colorful rods of light bolted from the sky and crashed onto the stone balcony. Mrs.
Potts, Cogsworth and Lumiere stood frozen, watching in awe and horror as the Beast's body rose into the air. Was this, they wondered, what it was like when
someone descended into heaven?
It was true that the Beast was harsh and unkind, but underneath, Prince Adam was a gentle soul. And now he was gone forever. The rose in the glass dome had
deceived them in the worst possible way. Just when they thought it would never happen, Belle declared her love for the Beast, right before the last petal drifted from
the stem. It should have been enough to break the spell but alas, it was not. They were doomed to stay in their respective forms forever; a teapot, a clock, a
candelabra, a teacup and a footrest.
The three bowed their heads in sorrow, oblivious to Gaston's presence nearby. They couldn't look at him, and for a moment they wished that Prince Adam did not have
such a big heart. If things had been different, The Beast would not have saved Gaston from going over the castle wall.
The beast's huge body continued to rise until it was fully upright. But what happened next was an incredible transformation. As though swept up in a hurricane, the
Beast's body turned around and around. His outstretched paws became large human hands and bare feet. His clothing ripped into pieces, as though he was now too
big for them. But suddenly he was someone that they remembered.
"Adam!" Mrs. Potts cried. She and the others tried to go to him, but they were stopped by Gaston's burst of anger.
"What is this?" He demanded.
"It's wonderful!" Mrs. Potts declared. And unexpectedly she returned to her former self; a plump, gentle woman with a big heart. "Oh my!"
Cogsworth was no longer a clock, and Lumiere was no longer a candelabra. "What's this?" Cogsworth asked, looking himself up and down.
"It's a miracle!" Lumiere exclaimed.
"Where's Chip?" Mrs. Potts asked.
The footstool and the teacup came rushing toward them. "Here I am Mamma!" Chip cried, but then gasped as the teacup and footstool were caught up in the
windstorm.
"Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Potts cried in horror. "Chip! What's happening?"
"I don't know!" Chip replied. "Help me, Mamma!"
But before she could help him, Sultan had returned to the scruffy dog he had once been. Chip was once again a blonde haired little boy, sitting on Sultan's back.
"Oh Chip!" Mrs. Potts shouted, scooping him into her arts. "It is a miracle!"
Chip hugged his mother tightly. "Mamma! It's you!"
"Yes! Lumiere was right, it's miraculous!" Adam rushed over to the group of friends and hugged them tightly. "Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts! Chip! Lumiere! And Sultan! This is
wonderful!"
"What's going on here?" Gaston demanded once more.
"The spell is broken! The spell is broken!" Chip sang.
"Spell? What spell? What are you talking about?"
"Nothing that concerns you, Gaston! Now go away!" Adam ordered.
"Me? Go away? You'll have to make me!" Gaston sneered.
"Adam, don't!" Mrs. Potts warned. "He's just going to try to hurt you! Or worse! Think of Belle!"
Adam froze. "Belle? Oh my God, where is she?"
"She's gone." Mrs. Potts said.
"Gone, what do you mean, gone?"
"She fled the castle, saying that she was to blame for everything that happened." Gaston said. "We tried to stop her, honest, Prince Adam!"
"We must find her!" Cogsworth added. "There's no telling where she went in this weather. She's liable to get hurt or killed!"
"No! I won't let that happen!" Adam said.
Gaston laughed out loud. "And just what do you plan on doing?"
"I'm going to find her!"
"Not in this lifetime!" Gaston shot back.
"You can't stop me, Gaston!"
"Are you sure about that?"
The friends were terrified.
"Adam, be careful! He's dangerous!" Cogsworth shouted.
"Don't do it, Gaston!" Lumiere yelled.
"Mamma, what's happening?" Chip cried. He jumped into his mother's arms and buried his face against her shoulder.
"Just hold tight to me, dear." She said, reassuringly. "Adam, please think about Belle!"
"Believe me, I am!" Adam replied. "When I'm through with Gaston, he won't be able to hurt her ever again!"
"What do you mean, hurt her? I'd never do such a thing!" Gaston yelled.
"I don't believe you! You've hurt everyone, including Belle!"
"Once she realized how much I love her, she'll change her mind."
"You don't love her, Gaston!" Adam said. "You only love yourself!"
Gaston pulled out a sword, causing Mrs. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth and Lumiere to gasp. "You'll pay for that, Beast!"
"I'm not the Beast! You are!" Adam yelled. And thus began a duel in which Adam had an unfair disadvantage. For he was the only one without a sword.
The three friends shouted for him to stop, but Adam didn't listen. He dodged Gaston's sword again and again, remembering full well what had happened before, when
Gaston had stabbed him. He was left for dead on the stone floor of the balcony, and was saved thanks to a miracle. But now that the miracle had occurred, he was on
his own. He couldn't let Gaston live, not when Adam himself had so much to live for.
As though someone above had heard him, he managed to grab Gaston's sword and was now in control. Adam could see the horror on Gaston's face as he charged
foreword, determined to end the man's life once and for all. Killing was wrong, Adam knew, but he had to defend his honor and his friends. There was no telling what
Gaston would do to them-or to Belle. And Adam wasn't about to find out. In the end, he didn't need to worry. Gaston began to teeter and sway until he fell backwards
off of the castle balcony, to a certain death.
The rain came down in sheets and for a moment all he could do was stare into the distance. Somewhere below, Gaston's body lay on the ground. But Adam was no
longer worried about the fact that for the first time in his life he had killed a man-even in self-defense. All he cared about was Belle. He had to find her- and he would-
no matter what it took.
