"Keep the Magic Alive"
Chapter 14
By Aiijuin
Disclaimer: All things "Labyrinth" belong to Henson Companies as well as many other wonderful contributors. I own nothing!
This story is VERY dark, and therefore is marked M+ for Mature content
Chapter 14: Hate to Burst Your Bubble
"I beg your pardon," the Goblin King spat indignantly as he gazed upon a near reflection of himself that was standing on the other side of the ballroom.
"You should beg," Jareth King replied with his eyes narrowed to dangerous looking slits. "And by the time I get through with you, I'll have you begging on your knees."
Sure enough, Jareth King had entered into the Goblin King's ballroom within a bubble. Julia King's eyes traveled from her father, and then back to the Goblin King as she promptly fainted. Jennifer was a bit stronger not to suffer the perils of her twin sister's sudden blood rush to her head. However, she felt like someone has stolen her breath away from her and she couldn't say anything.
Sahara, on the other hand, was jumping up and down and cheering. "Go, Daddy!" She shouted. "Kick his butt!"
The Goblin King spun about to face the fifteen-year-old girl, but Jareth King cleared his throat to draw the king's attention away from the teenager and back towards himself again. The king asked with much delay in his voice, "Who…are…you?"
Jareth's presence was overwhelming, even to the masked dancers and they immediately parted to form a clear path down the center, which allowed him to stroll through completely unhindered. His charisma was powerful and his gaze was unwavering as he strutted calmly forward until he was standing directly in front of the King of Goblins. He was dressed in a casual white oxford button up shirt, with pure white, tailored pants, and shiny, white shoes to match. Jennifer thought that he looked like a wonderful dream come true, despite the weirdness that was occurring. As Jareth locked eyes with his identical competitor, he shouted, "Now, get your damned hands off of my wife, you psychopathic freak!"
At that, Jareth King swung his hands down between Sarah and the Goblin King's hands, which broke the king's grip upon her. She immediately fell to the floor after her physical support was gone. Sarah's husband immediately bent down to remove the glass heels from her lacerated feet and thrust them furiously across the room at several of the guests. Then, he cradled Sarah gently into his arms and lifted her close to him.
Sarah muttered through partially relieved tears, "Am-Am I dreaming? H-Have I gone mad?"
Jareth smoothed his hands endearingly upon her face and whispered into her ear, "I certainly assure you that you are not insane, my Love. However, I'm positively sure that I'm quite crazy….but only crazy about you and our wonderful children."
Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around her husband.
The Goblin King pursed his lips angrily, knowing full well that he didn't like to be ignored. He tapped his heel lightly as a gigantic armored robot with an axe appeared from behind Jareth and Sarah, which sent them diving towards the floor with one swing. Sahara screamed while Jennifer had to hold her sister back, in order to keep her from running down towards the metallic monstrosity. After Mr. & Mrs. King were grounded, the Goblin King walked up and asked again, "Now, who are you? And let's be civil about this, shall we?"
"'Civil'?" Jareth asked, "You call kidnapping my family and making sport of them, a civil action!? You've frightened the bloody hell out of them! You've even psychologically and physically abused my wife and children for your own personal amusement! As far as I see it, I don't owe you any introduction at all, you pompass jackass!"
The Goblin King sighed and lifted up a magical glass crystal. He twirled it in his hand and glowered, "Now, you're being incredibly rude. If you don't answer me at once, then I'm afraid I shall be obliged to do something dreadful to the blind one…"
"Jaime," Sarah gasped as she looked frantically into her husband's eyes.
Jareth took a deep breath and answered without any more delays, "I'm Jareth King! There! Now, I've told you, so leave my son alone!"
The king narrowed his eyes at Mr. King and muttered, "How amazing that you should carry my name and resemble me so perfectly…well, almost perfectly. You're actually an utter disgrace as far as needing a manicure and a bit of flair within your wardrobe….Mmm, and possibly a more fashionable hairstyle would suit you better as well."
"Oh, and this harsh critique is coming from a chap who looks like he just raided Liberace's closet and attended a Poison concert sometime back in 1986," spat Jareth.
The Goblin King ignored Jareth's remark as he produced a staff from out of thin air. Sarah jumped as she recognized it to be the exact one that had been rammed through the front door of her house with the 'note' attached to it. The king placed it under Jareth's chin and gazed deeply into his eyes. "Could it be…?" He started as he trailed off mid-question.
The King of the Goblins walked away for a second while he pondered this strange conundrum. Finally, after much thought and consideration, he spun back around and said, "Dispel him."
The Humongous began to draw its axe backwards to ready a powerful final blow at Jareth King's head, however Jareth King stated smugly before the axe hit him, "I'm not going anywhere, but you certainly are."
At that second, the Goblin King had disappeared from the bubble-ballroom and all of the guests vanished with him, including the Humongous. When the two girls, with Julia in tow on her sister's shoulder, had seen that the room was empty, they quickly kicked off their glass slippers and ran down towards their father and mother.
Jennifer squealed, "Daddy! He's gone!"
Sahara hugged her father and mother and then said, "Daddy! He disappeared! How did you do that?"
"Later, Darling," Jareth patted his daughter on the head. He knelt to check on Julia, and when he saw that she was fine he muttered, "We have to find Jaime and then a way out of this place very quickly."
Sahara banged her hands on a crystalline mirrored-wall that stood by a table and said, "Well, there's lots of mirrors around this stupid place, and since I haven't seen any doors in or out ...well, you know..."
Sarah nodded and remarked, "I guess our luck can't get any worse if we start breaking mirrors..."
Jennifer lifted a chair and smirked, "Here. Allow me."
At that, the twin swung the chair backwards, and then catapulted it at the mirror as hard as she could. The glass immediately shattered as soon as the metal item made contact, and then everybody began to feel themselves falling downward, until they flopped into an old dilapidated bedroom at the center of a trash dump. With the exception of Jareth, everybody had been returned back to their everyday clothing that they had been wearing just before they were taken into the ballroom. Julia began to stir and finally awoke to greet her family.
She asked, "What happened? I think I just had the weirdest nightmare."
Jareth walked over to help his daughter back to her feet quickly, and said, "Yes, but it's not quite over yet, Darling. We need to retrieve your brother and leave at once."
The Junk Hag confronted them before they departed the area, but luckily Ludo had arrived to assist Jareth again and they left the old garbage goblin behind as they walked back into the thicket of a nearby forest. The big furry creature escorted everyone all the way back to the boundaries of the Labyrinth where Sir Diddymus, who had Jaime tucked safely onto his 'noble steed' Ambrosious, had intercepted them. As soon as they said their goodbyes to the two creatures, Jareth held his family close to him and instantly they were taken back to the human world.
Sarah didn't recognize the room that they had been taken to, but it looked like a hospital area of some sorts. It didn't matter to her either way, other than she had finally escaped from that strange retched place…whatever that place was… and had all of her children back. Sarah smiled as she had thought about how Jareth had been her hero that evening. However, as she turned about within the sterile room, she saw him laying face up on a metal-framed bed next to her. Jareth King was strapped in tightly with tethers latched unto the bed. He was fast asleep! Sarah limped painfully over to him and shook him gently, but he didn't stir. Sahara exchanged glances of utter perplexity with her sister Jennifer, as Julia scooped Jaime up within her arms, because the little boy was trying to run over to find out why the mood had suddenly changed again.
He sensed things like that.
Finally, Sarah remarked outloud, "He's breathing, but he's out cold. What happened to him?"
A voice from behind her responded, "They got him with that needle and put him out ta' sleep hours ago… It wasn't long after ya' disappeared, Sarah. I don't know what was in that stuff that they gave 'im, but I ain't been able ta' wake him at all."