(After tomorrow's concert and returning the Gems and the Ninja to Smoke's base, I'm in the game room playing WWE 2K16 when Sonic and Nick enter)
Nick: Hey there.
Me: (I pause the game) Oh, hey Sonic, Nick.
Sonic: How was Paris?
Me: Apart from having to save the Chipettes, it was amazing. We saw a lot of sights. The Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre pyramid, the Eiffel Tower. And that was just the beginning. Marinette brought us to see a fashion show, we had dinner at the Tour d'Argent, and to finish things off, we saw the Chipettes perform live at the Olympia.
Nick: Wow, sounds like you had a lot of fun. I wish I could go there.
Me: All in due time, Ramos, all in due time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a chapter to get to work on.
(I leave the game room to work on a new chapter.)
Leoladdin
Chapter 6: The Cave of Wonders, Part 2
After an encounter with a magic carpet it leads Leo and Chimchar through the treasure-filled cave until they stop at a gigantic underground cavern. In the center is a large stone pillar with a stairway leading to the top. Water is surrounding the pillar with unevenly placed stones forming a bridge. A beam of light is shining at the top. With nowhere else left to go, Leo begins to cross the bridge.
"Wait here." Leo told his pet as he crosses the bridge.
"Oh. Huh?" Chimchar spots a golden monkey shrine with a ruby egg in its hands. Its glow draws Chimchar to it hypnotically. Leo quickly climbs the stairs. The carpet sees Chimchar and grabs him by the torso trying to keep him away but to no avail just as Leo reaches the top and notices the lamp.
"This is it? This is what we came all the way down here to…" Leo began as he turned around and see Chimchar escape the carpet's grip and make a beeline for the jewel. "Chimchar, NO!" But it was too late. Chimchar had already grabbed the jewel. As soon as he did, the room begins to shake and rumble.
"Infidels!" The cave's voice bellowed in anger.
"Uh-oh!" Chimchar exclaimed with fear.
"You have touched the forbidden treasure." The voice bellowed again. Chimchar nervously places the jewel back, but when he did, the jewel and the shrine holding it melts into lava. "Now you will never again see the light of day!" The cavern begins to collapse as Leo races down the steps until they flatten into a ramp and he skis down it until he flies into the air. The water surrounding the pillar turns into lava and he falls toward it until carpet catches him. He spots Chimchar on one of the rocks of the bridge. The chimp Pokémon looks left and right and notices the rocks sinking into the lava at a quick pace. The carpet races over and Leo grabs Chimchar at the last second. They soon notice a lava wave.
"Whoa! Carpet, let's move!" Leo told the carpet. They race back through the caves, dodging the walls and falling debris. Chimchar latches on to Leo's head and covers his eyes.
"Chimchar, this is no time to panic!" Leo pried his pet off of his head and they see that they're flying straight for a wall. "Start panicking."
The carpet goes into a dive and through another cave, leading to the internal entrance. Outside, the old man notices the cave beginning to growl and close. Carpet and company nearly reach the exit until a boulder drops onto Carpet, sending it to the floor. Leo manages to grab on to the rock wall and holds on. He sees the old man at the top, within arm's reach.
"Quick, help me up!" Leo pleaded.
"Throw me the lamp!" The old man requested.
"I can't hold on any longer. Give me your hand."
"First give me the lamp!" Leo reaches into his pocket and pulls out the lamp. He hands it to him and the old man raises it above his head in triumph.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yes! At last! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" The old man laughs as he places the lamp in his cloak pocket. He looks toward Leo, being pulled out by Chimchar. He kicks away the Fire-Type and grabs Leo by the wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?" Leo questioned.
"Giving you your reward." The old man told him as his voice changed back to Murdoc's normal voice. "Your eternal reward." He pulls out a black-bladed lightsaber and is about to stab Leo, until Chimchar bites his wrist, making him drop the lightsaber and let go of Leo, dropping him into the cave. The old man throws Chimchar into the cave as well and watches the both of them fall. The carpet manages to break free after a bit of struggling. It races up and catches Leo, though he already hit the wall several times, knocking him unconscious. The cave roars one final time before sinking back into the sand. Murdoc feels his wrist, feeling the force of the bite.
"Ugh, the nerve of that chimp!" Murdoc complained before regaining his composure and pulls off his disguise, grinning evilly. "Heh-heh-heh! No matter. I finally have what I seek!" He reaches into his pocket for the lamp, only to realize he can't feel it. "Wait. Where is it?" He looks to where the cave used to be and comes to a conclusion. "No. NO!"
Meanwhile, at the palace, Dawn is on her bed while Regulus looks at her, sad. Sultan Iroh walks in.
"Dawn?" Iroh asked. "Oh, dearest. What's wrong?"
"Murdoc… has… done something… terrible." Dawn explained, close to breaking into tears.
"There, there, there, my child. We'll set it right." Iroh reassured. "Now, tell me everything."
Back inside the cave, Leo lies unconscious on top of the carpet. Chimchar tries to wake him up. After a couple of tries, Carpet rises up, lifting Leo up. He awakes slowly.
"Oh, my head." Leo groaned as he looks up toward the sealed entrance. "We're trapped." He shakes his fist at the entrance in anger. "That two-faced son-of-a-jackal!" He calms down. "Whoever he was, he's long gone with the lamp." He is soon taken aback when Chimchar shows the lamp he pickpocketed from the old man.
"Why, you fiery little thief!" Leo takes a look at the lamp. "Looks like such a beat-up, worthless piece of junk. Hey, there's something written here, but it's hard to make out." He rubs the lamp, but once he did, smoke suddenly comes out of the hole and the lamp starts glowing and shaking. Thankfully, Leo manages to hold on to the lamp. Then, Peter the Genie comes out with a yell.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! OY!" Peter yelled. "Boy, I got to tell you, ten thousand years being stuck in that thing can give you such terrible neck pain. Hang on a second." Peter then takes Leo by the vest and hangs him by a rock on the wall. He then pulls his head off and spins it around with a yell. Carpet pulls Leo down. "Whoa! It's been so long since I've been out of there! Great to be back, ladies and gentlemen." He looks down at Leo, using the lamp end of him as a microphone. "Hi there, where you from? What's your name?"
"Uh, L-Leoladdin." Leo answered.
"Leoladdin!" Peter said as a neon sign with Leo's name lights up. "Hello, Leoladdin. Nice to have you on the show. Can we call you 'Leo?' Or maybe just 'Din?' Or how about 'Laddi?'" Peter then transforms into an Irishman in a kilt. "Sounds like 'Here, boy! C'mon, Laddi!'" He disappears and takes the form of a dog in the same kilt.
"I must have hit my head harder than I thought." Leo assumed.
"Do you smoke? Mind if I do?" Peter vanishes in a puff of smoke and returns to his original form, spooking Chimchar. "Sorry, Fire-boy, hope I didn't singe the fur. Hey, Rugman! Haven't seen you in a few millennia! Slap me some tassel! Yeah!" He shares a unique high-five with Carpet. "Say, you're a lot smaller than my last master." He lifts his beer-gut. "Either that or I'm getting bigger. Look at me from the side; do I look different to you?
"Wait a minute! I'm…your master?" Leo asked as Peter slaps a mortarboard on his head and a diploma in his hand.
"That's right! He can be taught!" Peter shouted. "What would you wish of me…" He did an impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger "…The ever impressive…" He then appears in a clear cube "…the long contained…" He gets out holding a puppet of himself. "… often imitated…" He soon tosses the dummy aside. "…but never duplicated…" Peter then multiplies himself into multiple Peters that repeat the word "duplicated". "…Peter the Genie! Of! The Lamp!" He then goes into an Ed Sullivan impression. "Right here directly from the lamp, right here for your enjoyment wish fulfillment. Thank you!" The Peter copies applaud for the original.
"Whoa, whoa, back up a sec! Wish fulfillment?" Leo asked.
"Three wishes to be exact. And ix-nay on the wishing for more wishes." He turns into a slot machine and the arm pulls down with tree Peters appear in the windows. "That's it, three." Three Peter caballeros come out of the slot. "Uno, dos, tres." He turns into b/w Groucho Marx. "No substitutions, exchanges or refunds." The duck drops with the secret word "refunds."
"Now I know I'm dreaming." Leo whispered to his pet.
"Master, I don't think you quite realize what you've got there! So why don't you just ruminate, whilst I illuminate the possibilities." Peter told the young street urchin as he broke into song
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves
Scheherazade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck cause up your sleeve,
You got a brand of magic that never fails!
As he sings, he produces 40 thieves armed with blades who surround Leo with them. Peter soon appears in his vest, then sticks his arms out and boxes all of the thieves into submission.
You got some power in your corner now
Some heavy ammunition in your camp
You got some punch, pizzazz, yahoo, and how
See all you got to do is rub that lamp
And I'll say
He makes a boxing ring appear and massages Leo in the corner. Peter then turns himself into a pile of fireworks and explodes after lighting the fuse. Then, he appears inside the lamp, grabs Leo's hand and rubs the lamp with it.
Mister Leoladdin sir
What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, jot it down
You ain't never had a friend like me
No, no, no!
Peter produces a table and chairs and then writes something down on a notepad, like a butler.
Life is your restaurant
And I'm your maître d!
C'mon whisper what it is you want
You ain't never had a friend like me.
Peter reappears as a plate of chicken, then returns to normal, but enlarges his ear to listen to Leo. He finally explodes into four duplicate Peters.
Yes sir, we pride ourselves in service
You're the boss, the king, the shah!
Say what you wish, it's yours! True dish
How about a little more Baklava?
The Peters give him a shave, haircut and manicure, then Leo mysteriously appears in a comfy chair surrounded by the treasure and being fanned by Chimchar and Carpet. Then Peter appears and fills the place with baklava.
Have some of column 'A'
Try all of column 'B'
I'm in the mood to help you dude
You ain't never had a friend like me
Leo appears balancing on a tray of food on a column with a giant A on top, then jumps over to a column of food with a B on top. He falls over and is caught by a cushion held by Peter. He opens his mouth and his tongue turns into a staircase. A miniature Peter dressed as a magician comes out. The Mini Peter does a little dance with his two giant hands. Afterwards, the hands surround the Mini Peter and squash him into nothing.
Can your friends do this?
Can your friends do that?
Du your friends pull this out their little hat
Can your friends go poof!
Well looky here
Can your friends go Abracadabra, let 'er rip
And then make the sucker disappear?
Peter pulls off his head and duplicates it and starts juggling them. He tosses them over to Leo, who juggles three of the heads with one hand and spins the last one on his fingertip like a basketball. He tosses the heads back onto Peter, who proceeds to try and pull himself out of a top hat at his base. He spirals around and around until he turns into a white rabbit that later turns into a purple dragon. The flames it breathes turn into three beautiful harem girls, who dance around Leo. Just as he was enjoying them, they disappear.
So don't just sit there, slack jawed, buggy eyed
I'm here to answer to all your midday prayers
You got me bona fide, certified
You got a genie for a charg? d'affairs!
I got a powerful urge to help you out
So what you wish I really want to know
You got a list that's three miles long, no doubt
So all you got to do is rub like so, and oh!
Peter mimics what he is calling Leo, then turns into a certificate, which rolls up and surrounds Leo. Peter pulls a long list written in Arabic out of Leo's ear and rubs his butt with it as if he's drying off after a shower.
Mister Leoladdin, sir, have a wish or two or three
I'm on the job, you big nabob
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend
You ain't never…had a…friend…like…me!
You ain't never had a friend like me!
Soon, the dancing harem girls reappear behind Leo and he leans in to kiss one. She turns into Peter, who zaps four dancing elephants into existence and four dancing camels in the other direction and a grand finale dance number ensues. Chimchar grabs as much gold as he could, but Peter wraps everything up in a twister and zaps it all away until they're back in the cave. Peter has a neon "applause" sign on his back. Chimchar turns his fedora over and seeing that it is empty, he pouts in disappointment.
"So what'll it be, master?" Peter asked, anxious of Leo's first wish.
"You're going to grant me any wish I want?" Leo asked.
"Ah, almost." Peter answered a la William F. Buckley. "There are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos."
"Like?"
"Ah, rule number one: I can't kill anybody." Peter explains as he slices his head off with his finger. "So don't ask. Ah, rule number two: I can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else." His head turns into a large pair of lips which kiss Leo. "You little punim, there." He lies on his back and as he sits back up, he transforms into a zombie. "Rule number three: I can't bring people back from the dead. It's not a pretty picture, I don't like doing it!" He grabs Leo and shakes him. He then poofs back to normal. "But other than that, you got it!"
Leo looks toward Chimchar, as if he has hatched a plan. Chimchar gives him the thumbs up. "Provisos? You mean limitations? On wishes?" Leo said. "Some all-powerful genie…can't even bring people back from the dead. I don't know, Chimchar; he probably can't even get us out of this cave. Looks like we're going to have to find a way out of here…" He starts to walk away leisurely until Peter stomps his foot down in front of him.
"Excuse me?" Peter glared. "Are you looking at me? Did you rub my lamp? Did you wake me up, did you bring me here? And all of a sudden, you're walking out on me?" As he asks questions, he gets madder and madder. "I don't think so, not right now. You're getting your wishes, so sit down!" They all board the carpet with Peter taking the form of an airline stewardess, with lots of arms pointing out the exits. "In case of emergency, the exits are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, anywhere! Keep your hands and arms inside the carpet. We're… out of here!" The carpet and passengers fly out of the sand in the desert and off into the distance.
(After finishing the chapter in my office, I leave to find Yuma and the seven Barian Emperors at my door)
Me: Yuma, guys. What seems to be the problem?
Mizar: It's about Don Thousand.
Me: Don Thousand? As in the supreme entity of Barian World Don Thousand? Is he back?
Rio: That's exactly right. He's returned and has stolen the Numeron Code.
Me: What?!
Alito: We need your help in driving back Don Thousand back to Barian World.
Dumon: And since we already have the seven Mythyrian Numbers, finding the Numeron Code will be easy.
Yuma: Yeah, but beating him won't be easy.
Me: I know, Yuma, but we won't give up, not while there's a legendary card to recover. I'll gather the other duelists and meet you outside. You readers may rate/review/fav/follow and the following song is a long-awaited tribute to the late, great Robin Williams. You will be missed. Archer out!