Hey all! Here we are with another Secret boss for Reconnected. This time we're heading back to Agrabah and battling a villain of the Aladdin TV series. I hope you guys enjoy and I still claim ownership of nothing other than the plot and my OCs. Enjoy!
Reconnected: Black Sand
The Gummi ship touched down upon Agrabah's surface for a second time, it's inhabitants ready to eliminate any threat to the world. One by one each team member appeared in the middle of Aladdin's old hovel. Of course, no one expected the former street rat to be occupying it anymore. Not since he and Jasmine had just tied the knot and they had put the whole king of thieves incident behind them.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, West, Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Max all looked around, pleased to find that no heartless were anywhere near their location. Well, most of them were happy about that.
"Aw man! I was all fired up to fight!" Lea wined. "Why aren't there any heartless around?!"
Kairi rolled her eyes. "I think that's a good thing Lea. The last thing Aladdin and Jasmine need is heartless roaming around."
"Especially after their wedding was trashed once by them." West agreed.
"Still, why would someone send out a signal to us if everything was fine?" Mickey pondered.
"I wouldn't call everything 'fine'." A voice rang through the hovel. In the next second, Genie and Carpet appeared, flying through the large window. "I wouldn't have called you guys if everything was okay, after all." The genie said.
"Hiya Genie!" Goofy waved. "So you were the one who sent us the distress signal?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"But, everything seems so peaceful." Sora said, eyes scanning the city below them. "So why did you call us?"
"Well, it's true there's no problem in the city." Replied Genie. "But, when me and carpet were out on our morning flight, we noticed some heartless in the desert. We were hoping you could check it out for us, ya know, before it turns into a big problem." Carpet waved his tassels in agreement.
"That makes sense." Mickey said, turning to the magic carpet. "Carpet, can you take us out there?" Carpet nodded.
Sora nodded his head, ready for another adventure, "Okay, I'll head to the palace and tell Aladdin-" but, before the young keyblade master could move an inch, Genie appeared in front of him.
"Actually, Sora. You think we could maybe keep this between us? I don't wanna interrupt the newly weds if it can be helped."
"Well, it doesn't feel right keeping this from Aladdin, but I guess Genie has a point." Stated Max. "He has been through a lot lately."
"And we haven't?!" Donald grumbled.
Riku stepped forward, turning to Genie. "Okay then, Genie, while we go with carpet you'll have to stay here."
"What? Why?" Asked Genie.
"Aladdin doesn't know we're back, right?" Riku asked while Genie nodded. "Well, if both you and Carpet disappear, he and Jasmine might get suspicious. Besides, Sora has your summon charm in case we need you."
Sora nodded his head. "That's right. Besides, Genie we need someone to keep an eye on Agrabah for us."
"You got it, Sora!" Genie smiled and saluted. "Good luck out there you guys!" And with that, Genie disappeared in a flash of colorful magic.
As soon as Genie left, Carpet flew in front of the team, inviting them to ride on his back.
"All right!" West exclaimed, pounding her fist into the air. "Let's go kick some heartless butt!"
"You can say that again, West." Riku smiled as they all piled onto carpet. No one noticed a small flying eel peeking through the hovel's window, flying away before anyone could see him.
~*KHIII*~
Meanwhile, inside a dark room far away from the city, a tall, dark figure stood over a map of the city of Agrabah, a smirk upon his face and his dark eyes narrowed. His form was covered in dark blue, gold and black robes and a matching turban with a small red jewel covering up his wild, black hair rested upon his head. Lastly, upon one, single hand was a brown gauntlet while his other hand remained bare.
"Well, I have to admit, the heartless are much more powerful than I would have imagined. It seems Jafar knew what he was doing after all." He smirked. "Soon, I will take over this world and all will know and fear me. Especially you, Aladdin."
At that moment, the same eel that was spying in Agrabah slithered through a nearby window and landed on the sorcerer's shoulder.
"Master, have news!" The eel said in a scratchy voice as the man began to pet him.
"Welcome back, Xerxes." The sorcerer said. "Tell me, is our dear friend Aladdin still blissfully unaware of my plans?"
"Aladdin not know, but Genie and rug saw heartless!" Xerxes replied,
His master only chuckled in amusement, cracking his knuckles. "No matter. Knowing that blue fool he'll try to handle things all on his own. I can take care of him without a problem."
"Genie not coming." The eel stated.
At that, the sorcerer paused. "What?!" He snarled, grabbing Xerexes around the neck. "What do you mean he's not coming?! He wouldn't just ignore a potential threat to Agrabah!"
Xerxes choked as he pointed his fin towards a nearby window. "C-called...f-friends..." The sorcerer snarled in annoyance, violently threw the eel into a nearby wall and stormed over to to window. His eyes widened at what he saw.
At the edge of his ruined kingdom, he found a team of nine intruders standing there and waving off Aladdin's magic rug. But, what really stood out to him were two familiar figures among them. One with silver hair, the other freckles and long brown pigtails. A smirk appeared upon the sorcerer's lips, a small chuckle escaping them.
"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." He said as his gauntlet began to glow with sparks of electric blue. "I told you we'd meet again, didn't I? And Mozenrath, lord of the black sands always keeps his word. It'll be nice to see you both again, Riku, West." Releasing a dark laugh, he vanished from the room in a burst of blue light.
~*KHIII*~
The second Sora's feet touched this new area, he immediately had a different feeling than back at Agrabah. This city was completely dark, run-down and deserted, even the sand was black.
The team watched as Carpet left to return to Agrabah.
"I still don't get why our ride had to ditch us." Max grumbled.
"Because, Max. You saw how shaky Carpet looked, he was obviously scared!" Explained Mickey. "And I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone in a place like this when we're fighting."
"I'm scared, can I go back to Agrabah too?" Asked Donald.
Sora laughed. "Sorry, Donald but we need your help here." He said while the duck pouted.
Riku and West were both busy gazing down at the black sand they were standing on.
There's something familiar about this black sand. Riku thought. For some reason, I can't place it.
I wonder why I'm getting a sense of déjà vu. West pondered. Meh. Its probably nothing.
Both were pulled out of their thoughts by Sora speaking up. "Okay, we'll cover more ground if we split up."
"You got it." Riku nodded as he left down a dark alley with Mickey and Goofy. Sora, Kairi and Max leaft down another path. Soon, the only ones left were West, Donald and Lea.
"Okay. Where should we start looking?" Lea asked, rubbing his gloved hands together.
"Maybe someplace with less fire hazards?" Grumbled Donald.
West laughed at Donald's remark. "Come on, I don't think there are that many fire hazards around here."
"Yeah! Causing random fires isn't always my fault." Said Lea as he took the lead down a dark, almost black alley. West had barely two steps into the alley when a gloved hand reached out from the shadows and covered the thief's mouth. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as a second hand pinned her wrists behind her back and pulled her into the shadows with her attacker. In the next moment, her vision turned dark.
Lea and Donald spun around at the sound of the sand shifting slightly, just noticing they were now one party member short.
"Huh?" Donald quacked in confusion. "Hey! Where'd West go?"
"I don't know, she was just here." Lea said. But then, just at that moment, the two of them became surrounded by a large army of bandit and fat bandit heartless. Lea and Donald raised their weapons, ready to fight. "Looks like we have to take care of these guys first." Said Lea as he knocked away a bandit with one of his chackrams.
"But, what about West?" Asked Donald as he cast blizzard on a fat bandit.
"She can take care of herself; we have our own problem to deal with right now!" Lea said. And he was right; with every heartless he and Donald defeated, two more took its place.
~*KHIII*~
West groaned in pain as she slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in a strange, unfamiliar place. It looked like it was a study of some sorts with books, scrolls, potions, tapestries and candles scattered all over the room. She could feel herself sitting on the sting cold floor and leaning against the wall.
"What? Where am I?" West asked. The young thief tried to push herself up, but soon found she couldn't move. "What the?" West looked down at herself and gasped. Her body was bound tightly with tight, thin coils of black sand.
"This black sand, it's so familiar." West murmured, then gasped in shock when she finally remembered. "No way! It can't be!"
"Finally figured it out, have you?" The smooth, dark voice echoed through the room. Then, the man stepped out of the shadows with the eel floating around his shoulder. "Hello, West. Long time no see."
"Mozenrath." West growled. "I should have known it was you."
Mozenrath gave a small soft chuckle. "So glad you remember. The years have treated you well, you look good. I like the longer pigtails."
"Wish I could say the same about you." West rolled her eyes. "You look like the same power-hungry psyco I remember."
Mozenrath released a chuckle. "I'll take that as a compliement. We have so much catching up to do, little thief."
"Why am I here, Mozenrath?" Growled West.
"It's simple really." Mozenrath said as he knelt down to West's eye level. "I'm finally going to have my revenge on you and Riku. Once I realized the two of you were in Agrabah I knew I had to jump at this chance. You both are going to pay for that defeat two years ago."
"Riku and West pay!" Xerxes growled.
West shook her head. "Sorry, Mozenrath but you're not going to get your revenge. You'll just loose like you did last time."
At that, Mozenrath released a snarl of anger, stood up to his feet and grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her up to his eyes.
"Oh, we'll just see about that, West dear." Mozenrath growled angrily. "Like you, the years have been well to me. I'm not the same wizard as I was back then. I'm stronger than I ever was before. Riku and your other friends will wish you'd never set foot in my kingdom. I'll make sure of it."
The next thing West knew, Mozenrath had opened up a corridor of darkness and dragged her through it as Xerxes followed.
~*KHIII*~
Back in the centre of the dark city, Sora, Kairi, Max, Riku, Mickey and Goofy met up after their separate searches. West, Donald and Lea had yet to reunite with them but the six of them still chose to exchange information, hardly noticing they weren't there.
"Did you guys find anything?" Sora asked.
Kairi sighed. "Just a load of heartless; Genie definitely wasn't kidding when he said there'd be a lot here."
"You got that right." Max agreed. "If there's this many heartless around I'm glad we're here to deal with it."
Goofy nodded. "There's definitely a lot more than in the city."
After looking around at the group, and just noticing three of their teammates were missing, Riku spoke up. "Anyone seen Lea, Donald and West?"
The others looked around, finding that those three teammates were in fact missing.
"That's weird, we should have run into them by now." Said Mickey. "We should stick together and look for them."
Riku nodded. "Agreed. Let's go."
The group of six didn't waste any time in rushing though the black sand-covered ground and back towards the kingdom. The group kept moving, slaying any heartless that crossed their paths. They searched through all the streets and alleys but found no sign of their missing teammates. They searched high and low and refused to separate.
It wasn't until they reached the front of the Citadel at the top of the hill that they found two of them. Lea and Donald were laying on the black sand, unconscious. Their bodies were covered in bruises and scrapes and small pieces of their clothes were torn, showing that they had gone through a long battle. Their chests rose and fell slowly, showing they were still breathing.
"Donald! Lea!" Sora exclaimed as he and the others rushed to their side. Kairi didn't waste a moment in casting cure on them but it unfortunately wasn't enough to heal them completely. Lea and Donald released groans of pain as they pushed themselves up.
"Hey guys..." Lea groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks for the help."
"Are you guys okay?" Max asked worriedly.
"Yeah..." Donald nodded as he cast another cure spell on himself and Lea. "Just got a little overwhelmed."
Riku looked around at their group once more and realized one of their teammates was still missing. "Where's West? Wasn't she with you guys?"
Donald and Lea looked at each other and shook their heads. "She was with us when we started." Said Donald.
"But, the next thing we knew, she was gone and we got overrun by heartless." Continued Lea.
"What? Where could she have gone?" Kairi questioned.
Riku shook his head. "It's not like her to run off like that. Something must be wrong."
At that moment, a dark chuckle erupted throughout the area. "Nothing gets past you, does it Riku? I see you're looking well."
Once the voice was herd, Riku and the rest of the team immediately summoned their weapons and stood alert.
"Who's there?!" Riku demanded. "Show yourself!"
"Oh are you saying you don't remember me, Riku? I'm hurt." The voice spoke again as a corridor of darkness appeared before them. Mozenrath and Xerxes stepped out, causing the silver-haired teen's eyes to widen.
"Mozenrath?!" Riku questioned in surprise.
Mozenrath released a chuckle as Xerxes rested on his shoulder. "So you do remember after all, Riku. I'm flattered."
"Hi Riku!" Xerxes said in his scratchy voice. "Long time no see!"
"What are you doing out here?"
"You didn't realize you were in my kingdom; The Land of the Black Sands? How dense of you." Mozenrath shook his head as he petted Xerxes.
"You know this guy?" Sora asked his friend.
Riku nodded. "Back when I was working with Maleficent and we came to Agrabah, this guy gave me, West and Mushu a hard time."
"The way I see it, the three of you would have lost to me if you hadn't cheated your way through our battle." Mozenrath snarled. "But it doesn't matter. Now I have the upper hand." The young sorcerer raised his gloved hand, allowing a small pillar of back sand to rise. Then, the black sand fell away, revealing West, tightly bound with bonds of black sand.
"West!" Kairi exclaimed. "What happened?"
"You were with us then you were gone." Said Donald.
The young thief cringed as she smiled at her teammates. "Uh, hey guys. Sorry, he kinda caught me off guard." West giggled nervously.
Mozenrath violently gabbed one of her pigtails, causing West to release a small hiss of pain. "Now that the little reunion's over I believe it's time for me to take my revenge."
"Mozenrath smart!" Xerxes chuckled.
Riku stepped forward and pointed his keyblade at Mozenrath. "If you want revenge against us so badly then why bring the rest of my team into this?"
"In all honesty, I wasn't expecting a large group to show up; I was hoping for Aladdin. But you're a bonus, Riku. A valuable prize." Mozenrath said as he adjusted his gauntlet. "Now enough talk! Time for you all to perish by my hand! You will soon learn the years have been good to me as well. I've become much more powerful than I've ever been."
With that, an army of heartless and Mozenrath's undead mamlucks rose up from beneath the black sand. They immediately started attacking Kairi, Lea, Donald, Goofy and Mickey. That left Sora, Riku and Max to rush towards West and Mozenrath with their weapons raised.
Max and Riku sprinted towards Mozenrath, ready to fight him while Sora moved towards West and raised his keyblade. The light from the weapon was enough to beak the binds of black sand, freeing her. Mozenrath jumped out of the way of Max and Riku's attacks and counterattacked with a blast of blue energy from his gauntlet, knocking them down to the sand. Max pushed himself back up and jumped on his skateboard and rushed to attack Mozenrath, but before he got close enough, he was knocked off his board by Xerxes. But that gave West the opening she needed to get a few quick strikes in with her knife. Sora followed by casting tundaga followed by strike raid. Riku then jumped up to his feet and started going head-to-head with Mozenrath.
The Lord of the Black Sands was so much stronger than the last time Riku and West last fought him. The magic spells he cast dealt much more damage than before and he was a great deal more agile. The blue flames and blue lightning he cast really hurt and caused a great deal of damage. And the tendrils of black sand he threw at them was able to hold them in place while Mozenrath attacked. In simpler terms, Mozenrath had truly become a foe to be feared.
The battles went on for what felt like ages and it didn't look like the odds were in their favor. The heartless and mamlucks were overwhelming those who were fighting them. Lea and Goofy were already knocked out, Kairi and Donald were both out of magic and Mickey was out of breath.
Mozenrath had knocked Sora, Riku, Max and West to the sand. They were all dangerously low on Heath and magic, West was out of potions and Sora couldn't cast any more healing spells. Mozenrath then stood above them with a dangerous, victorious grin upon his face.
Xerxes laughed as Mozenrath adjusted his gauntlet. "Heroes fail!" He grinned.
"I must admit, I'm a little disappointed in your efforts. I was hoping for more of a fight." Mozenrath sighed dramatically. "But, I suppose with my new power I can't blame you all for falling to me."
"We're not giving up!" Max spat.
"That's right!" Riku agreed as he tried to push himself up despite the pain he was in. "We'll beat you!"
Mozenrath just released a dark laugh. "What do you expect to be able to do now? You fools can barely move as it is!" He continued to laugh as his gauntlet became coated in his blue flames. "Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot!"
Sora cringed and braced himself for the blow, but before it came, a familiar voice echoed through the space.
"I don't think so Mozenrath!" The voice exclaimed as Sora felt the pain lift from his body. Sora pushed himself back up to his feet and gasped at what he saw. Aladdin stood defensively in front of them with both his sword and the Midas dagger drawn.
"Aladdin?!" Sora questioned after realizing he healed them. "What are you doing here?!"
"You guys were gone for a long time so Genie found me and told me where you guys were." Aladdin quickly explained.
Mozenrath growled as he saw Sora and the rest of his team regain their strength. "So nice of you to join us Aladdin. Now you can suffer the same fate as your so-called friends."
"Suffer! Suffer!" Xerxes laughed.
"I don't think so, Mozenrath!" Exclaimed Riku. "I think you'll be the one to loose!"
With that, both parties charged at one another. Thanks to Aladdin's support, all their magic was restored and all their wounds had been headed. That alone allowed Kairi, Lea, Donald, Goofy and Mickey to defeat all the mamlucks and heartless. Max used his skateboard to attack Xerxes, who was the one giving Mozenrath his support. West used her knife to inflict quick slices and stole potions from Mozenrath. Sora and Aladdin used their own blades to attack Mozenrath, but the sorcerer did manage to cause some damage himself. But, because Mozenrath was occupied with Sora and Aladdin, that gave Riku the opportunity he needed to deal the finishing blow.
Mozenrath collapsed to the sand, giving Aladdin the opening he needed to confiscate the gauntlet, revealing his skeletal hand.
"No!" Mozenrath snarled in defeat. "No! How could I possibly fail again?!"
"By making the same mistake you made last time; you underestimated the heroes!" West responded with her hands on her hips.
"Better run back to your castle, Mozenrath." Said Aladdin. "Before I call Genie here and have him get rid of your magic glove."
Riku nodded his head. "Might be a good time to retreat."
"Fine." Spat Mozenrath bitterly as he grabbed his gauntlet from Aladdin. "Enjoy your victory while it lasts."
Xerxes looked up at Mozenrath. "Heroes win?"
"For now." Mozenrath growled in defeat as he and Xerxes dissapeared through a corridor of darkness.
Once the dark sorcerer was gone, the team sighed in relief. "Well that sure was a hard fight! I'm glad we got through it." Said Max.
"Mozenrath's a tough enemy. I know from experience." Said Aladdin.
Riku nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it. Me and West had our own run-in with him."
"So why didn't you guys come get me?" Aladdin asked the group in a serious tone, specifically looking at Sora, Donald and Goofy. "You guys know how dangerous it can be out here. Remember Kurt Zisa?"
Sora sighed. "Well, you were on your honeymoon and Genie didn't want to bother you. And we agreed with him." The rest of his team nodded in agreement.
"Yeah." Agreed Kairi. "You've already gone through so much the last time we were here with Sa'luk and all the heartless."
Aladdin shook his head. "I already told Genie this, but no matter what's going on in my life I'm always willing to help my friends. Jasmine agrees with me on this so don't forget that. And please don't try to push yourselves to do anything this dangerous again. If there's a problem around here talk to me about it first before you guys do anything crazy."
"When you really think about it that does make sense." Mickey added. "You are the hero of this world, Aladdin."
The team of world travellers looked at each other then nodded their heads in understanding.
"Okay, fair enough." Said Riku, speaking for the group. "We'll talk to you if there's trouble from now on."
"Good. That makes me feel a lot better." Smiled Aladdin. "Now let's get out of here and head back to Agrabah."
"Sounds like a plan." Said Goofy. "I know someone who has to get back to their honeymoon."
The group all joined in laughter as they gathered on Carpet and made their way back to the Arabian city. What they didn't realize was that Mozenrath was watching them from his lab, an angry look in his eyes.
Well, I'm really glad I got this out! I've been working on this piece for a really long time so I'm happy it's done now. Mozenrath is just such a great villain! I wish more people knew about him. Let me know if there's any other side storys you'd like to see. And, I wonder if I should give Roxas's team a secret boss too. Thanks for reading you guys and be sure to leave a review!
