Disclaimer: You know the drill. If I owned this, I would be rich and I would own Dumbo. The dvd. Sadly, I do not. So there! I'm poor: ( And I don't own Jareth! But I do own his evil twin… at least he looks like Jareth, right? But, I don't own his looks… so I just own an enigma! Wah! I don't want an evil spirit!

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Labyrinth: The Dream Never Ends

By: Eriksleadinglady

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Chapter 12: No special sense that hidden hands are pulling strings

In the room, as the rumbling continued, Jareth kept his eyes on Sarah. Instead of the intense fear and worry that he expected to see, Sarah was calm, like she knew this was bound to happen; though, how she would know was beyond Jareth. But Sarah stood inside the bubble, or rather floated there, and just stared peacefully at the tree, waiting for it to come.

When at last it did come, the tree formed its familiar face, proving once and for all that it was the tree from her dreams, grotesque face and all. The tree looked at Sarah and without a word leaned over, its trunk bending forward at the middle, and then arched itself back. As it finished the arch and came back to its center, the tree shot out a line of brilliant white light from its eyes toward Sarah. If Sarah had not been in the bubble, she would have absorbed the light, taking in the magical energy that it offered. However, as it is, the light went straight through the bubble, like it wasn't even there, and went past it into Jouegh, who accepted it like it was coming home.

Upon impact with the power, Jouegh doubled over and nearly fell, but he ended up keeping his balance. Once all the light was within him, causing an unnatural glow – bright like the Friday Night Lights – he began laughing, as he stood up tall. He stretched his hands up to the sky, making it begin to rumble from the now forming storm.

While this happened, Jareth took hold of the chance and ran over to Sarah. But try as he might, he could not access his magick in order to free her. Inside the bubble, Sarah was not moving, but just floating in the liquid, her head bent down and nearly touching her chest. Jareth placed his hands on the sides of the bubble in an attempt to break the hold, but it refused to budge. He tried once more, even harder, but still nothing. Thus Jareth instead put his hands by his side and just stared sadly at Sarah, which was the only thing he could do.

Meanwhile, after Jouegh had gotten the magick, Lila had run over to Jouegh's side, a smile on her face. Once she got to him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and whispered something in his ear. This stopped his onslaught of laughter, and he looked at Lila, a frown growing on his face.

"You dare to interrupt me for that!" he roared as he brought his hand up and struck Lila across her face with a slash of light in the shape of a long, sharp claw. The blow knocked Lila to the ground and made a large gouge on the side of her cheek, which began oozing blood. The cut was so deep that one could see the cheek bone beginning to show and as the blood kept coming out, it ran all over Lila's face and matted her hair with it too.

Turning away from the unconscious Lila, Jouegh faced Jareth and Sarah. With a snap of his fingers, Jouegh released Sarah from her entrapment and the bubble burst, sending Sarah to the ground, the blue liquid surrounding her.

It was only then that Jareth could see the real damage done to Sarah. Because she was the one that was supposed to have gotten the magick, and because she was the link, the magick traveling through her body caused her to appear weak and withered. Over her face, the skin was tightening over the bones, and she was becoming pale as the moon. Also her entire body was becoming so as well, making her appear emaciated. Jareth bent down next to her and cradled her head in his hands. Then he glared at Jouegh, who just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking arrogantly.

"You're going to kill her!" Jareth bellowed.

"I would if I could, Jareth," Jouegh said sincerely enough to make it sound insincere. "However, the Labyrinth needs her in order to keep the flow of magick coming to me. If she were to die, the connection would be lost, and I would no longer have my superb magical abilities. Now wouldn't that be a shame?"

Jareth moved his gaze from Jouegh to Sarah and for a split second thought of what he could do. It would only take a moment to stop Jouegh from having power, and it would save the entire Underground…

As if sensing his murderous thoughts, Jouegh, with his hand out-stretched, grabbed hold of Jareth and craned him into the air.

"Why Jareth! I am ashamed at your thoughts! You would kill her in order to stop me? I feel so… powerful. But honestly, Jareth, you would murder your sweet, dear, little mortal child in order to defeat me? Shame, shame. I thought she meant more to you."

Jareth shot daggers with his eyes at Jouegh. "She means more to me than you could ever know. But one life to save a billion? That's something I am willing to do."

Jouegh shook his head in disbelief. "I am not going to kill a billion people, Jareth." A pause. "I have others who are going to do it for me. Boys!"

Suddenly, all around the room, the ground began to tremble and shake. From the ground, in various places, large holes formed that were twenty-five feet wide and appeared to go down to the depths of hell. Out of one of the holes, to the far left of Jareth, came four of the Titans: Cronus, Atlas, Crius, and Hyperion. All were giant: nearly touching the ceiling of the room they were in – which was over one hundred fifty feet tall. After the four had grouped themselves around Jouegh, through another hole came Cerberus: the giant, three-headed monstrous dog known as one of the guardians of the Underworld. Then, from the last hole flew out a mighty, red dragon. He circled the ceiling with a wingspan of seventy-five feet, roaring as he did so, and then he landed by Jouegh.

Once all his mighty companions were settled, Jouegh looked over them all carefully. He smiled when he was pleased and then addressed them all in a formal manner.

"Welcome, mighty creatures from hell!" he began. "Today, I call you all here for one purpose and once purpose alone: to destroy. I want to incinerate all human kind and enslave the magical creatures. Humans have no right to live on this planet and are just a nuisance. For one they do not believe in any of us. That shows their ignorance and now they shall pay for their lack of faith. The creatures Underground – Fairies, Elves, Goblins, and the like – they no longer have the power that was granted to them so long ago. It has been drained from them for they do not deserve it. What have they done with it? Keep them alive? How selfish. But you all… You rely on more than magick – sheer strength. Thus, I command you all to go out to the world and take back what is rightfully ours! And, as a bonus, whatever you overthrow, whatever territory you defeat, shall become yours! Not only that, but I shall give each of you more magical powers in order to efficiently squash those whom stand in our way." He paused as the group gave noise of approval. "So go, my brethren! Go and destroy those weaker than you! Which is, by chance, everyone. Enjoy."

The creatures roared as they went on their way, the floor shaking when they walked. When the beings got outside the castle, Cronus reached up and ripped open a door to the Aboveground – England to be exact. He and the other three Titans stepped through the opening and went to conquer all lands, while the other two – Cerberus and the dragon – went to capture the Underground.

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The people of England were having a normal day. Some were having their afternoon tea while others were working their daily jobs. All was peaceful and it was just like any other day – that is until the monsters came. From what appeared to be out of nowhere came the destructors. Immediately upon seeing them, panic arose in everyone. The people began to scream and run away, a mob forming from all the havoc. The streets were filled with sprinting people, all trying to get to safety, although they didn't really know what could keep them safe. Still they ran all the same, keeping together in a large, screaming mass.

However, from the four titans, only Cronus stayed – one Titan was enough to take over England and all of Europe. From the other Titans, Hyperion went to Asia, Crius went to the America's, and Atlas went to Australia and the other remaining continents. Each continent was the same as England: people running and screaming, trying to get away into their houses, fear crawling into the depths of their hearts.

Even the army came to try and stop the monsters, shooting guns and missiles, but no weapon could cause any damage. The Titans only walked on and destroyed the pitiful humans and their machines.

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Underground, Jouegh had conquered all the territories. After he had received his power and sent out his henchmen, all the magical beings had noticed the lack of their powers. Each being was shocked and disturbed as to why they were powerless. None of them had any idea what was going on and why they could no longer conjure up any magick.

And that's when their entire world changed.

Quick as a flash, the land was relieved of its beauties and natural wonders. There were no more streams, trees, blue skies, or bright, shining suns. All was taken away and transformed into something sinister and horrendous; a barren wasteland of nothingness. All was dry and empty, bearing much resemblance to Jouegh's first place of rule, the Middle Kingdom. The transformation scared many of the inhabitants, and in order to stop the panic, many of the leaders had to call all the people into a giant meeting and talk to them to reassure them.

In the Labyrinth, where the armies were battling, when the land transformation took place, all the fighting stopped. Everyone, good and bad, looked around them in bewilderment. The Elves especially felt the loss of magick flowing through the veins. The dark creatures, on the other hand, looked at the opposing side and snarled menacingly. Their king had said that this would happen when he had won.

Then the dark creatures moved in on the Giants, Elves, and Goblins for one last time. Still, the Labyrinthine side did not give up. Taking a firm grasp on their weapons, they gave one last charge on their enemies, even though they had lost most of their own strength.

But before much damage was done to either side, a giant roar came from above them. They all looked up and saw a mighty, red dragon emerge from the gray, cloudy sky, swooping down at them. A line of fire rushed out of its mouth as it soared at its prey. All the creatures readied themselves for the oncoming terror, but their weaponry was useless. Against the dragon's magical power and sheer strength, they were all defenseless. The dragon, however, did not only attack Jareth's army, but also Jouegh's. It seemed as though they were doomed to meet the same fate as the others. Even with both sides now combined, they didn't stand a chance. Both sides surrendered soon enough and the dragon flew in one last giant circle, and then perched upon the Labyrinth wall to overlook its captives.

Much of the same thing happened in all the other kingdoms, except Cerberus took them over. None of the beings stood a chance without their magick; all were taken over effortlessly. The inhabitants were shackled and taken as prisoners to be slaves. All the creatures would have to be put to use in the new land to help dig for riches, tend to Jouegh's every need, and rebuild the kingdoms to make them please Jouegh. Of course, Jouegh could have done the latter with a snap of his fingers, but where's the fun in that?

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Back Aboveground, the humans, now clustered in one area in each large city, began to form an insurgence. They wanted a last retaliation to give them a chance to live. Already, perhaps one fifth of the population had been killed, and the remaining humans did not want to end up the same way. So they gathered the remaining armies and navies, gathered every weapon they could find, and prepared for one last large-scale attack.

When they were ready, the humans rushed out to attack, weapons in hand, yelling battle cries of every sort. But when they reached the streets, the monsters were nowhere to be found. Just a second ago, the monsters had been on their doorsteps, ready to annihilate them, but now they were nowhere. At first the humans were silent, whispering amongst themselves, but then yells erupted throughout the crowd, everyone cheering for the victory. Some in the crowd, however, were skeptical, for why would the creatures leave so soon?

Underground, the monsters had all left as well. When all the magical beings were in chains and being led to their new homes, the intruders just vanished. In their chains, the beings murmured. They did not cheer, for they were still in chains, and surely the monsters would return. Right?

A/N: Sigh… this story is coming to an end! Only two more chapters! Gasp! I know! What in the world will they do? What will happen? How will they escape? Tune in next time! Many things are revealed!

Thanks fro reading and reviewing! Snapiekins and I appreciate it!

Oh la la!

E. Ll