They found Aladdin waiting for them easily enough with the palace guards in combat with the Mamluk's. "Everything go okay?" Aladdin asked.
"I don't know." Aziz answered his dad truthfully. "Will and Gregory did go into the Cave of Wonders and found a box with two more gems in them, like what we use." Aladdin seemed encouraged by that news and his son added, "The problem is that Reviveslime showed up too. I don't know if we just exploiting the fact that we're missing half of our team or if he knew about the gems, but either way we were attacked."
"Everyone alright?" Aladdin asked.
"Bruised egos maybe." Mal joked weakly. She had been a bit disturbed to realize that without half her team they had been half as effective. One or two had been missing with little to no problems but that had been a huge blow to realize what happened when so many were unable to be there.
"It could be worse." Aziz said. "A lot worse."
"It is worse." Aladdin said. "It's not just Mamluk's we have to worry about."
"What do you mean?" Jay asked.
"Mirage?" Will asked.
"Or Mozenwrath?" Aziz suggested.
"They could be related." Aladdin said. "But follow me and I'll show you." It didn't take long as they saw what had to have been the major problem. It was a monster that was again bigger than a normal sized monster but not quite big enough to use a zord again, whether they had access to them or not. It was something they hadn't thought about.
At first it seemed as if the thing had no head though there seemed to be a brain where it should be. But then Mal realized that it seemed to have something it its back that resembled a very small human or an average sized dwarf that almost seemed to be controlling. The thing itself had massive red claws that also were present on the bottom of its ankles, serving as its feet.
"That thing is kind of disgusting looking." Jane remarked and looked to Aladdin. "How do we defeat that?"
The sultan shook his head. "I don't know." He answered. "This is something that I've never seen here in the Black Sands. At least with the Mamluk's I knew enough about them but this…this is a bit beyond what I've seen."
"That's exactly what I was expecting, something that none of you have either seen before." They saw on one of the rooftops emerge a guy about the same age as the rangers. He had black hair all but pasted to his skull and wore a blue suit that almost looked like a wizard. Aladdin did however recognize something on his right hand all too easily.
"That's the glove that Mozenrwrath used to wear." Aladdin said and looked up at him. "Who are you and where did you get that?"
"My father gave it to me on his deathbed." The boy revealed. "And you may call me Marcellus." He looked at them all. "The power rangers, just as Mirage had said." He laughed. "Including the son of my father's rival. How fitting."
Jay gave him a glare. "Looking to continue that pattern?" He asked. His father rivaled Aladdin and yet chose not to continue that with his Aziz.
"And you are…ah, yes. The son of Jafar." Marcellus noted. "We really should be friends, you and I." He noted.
"That won't happen." Jay said to him. He wondered if he and Aziz should be worried for Audrey and Ally, if this guy was anything like Chad had turned out to be. "Release our friends, now."
"Sorry, but that won't happen." Marcellus said. "If you want any chance of getting your friends back, you're going to have to get past my guardian the Kindred Spirit."
Mal frowned; having to grant that was an appropriate name for creature like what was looking down at them now. "We'll do what we have to." The purple haired girl announced. "To rescue those we love." She looked to her friends. "Let's get to work." Jane used the magic wand to transform into the white ranger. Will and Gregory just had to channel their powers since they didn't have an iPhone made for them yet, while the remaining team members took out their iPhones, input their numbers and transformed.
More Mamluk's appeared and Aladdin moved out to help the guards deal with them, leaving the rangers to deal with the much bigger monster and Marcellus. Mal looked to Jordan and Gregory. "You two try and deal with gloved one junior over there." She instructed. "The rest of us will somehow figure out how to topple Kindred Spirit over there."
"They're here." Evie whispered instinctually. "Mal, Doug and the others. They're here."
"I wish I knew how to help them." Ally said. "They're facing an army at half strength."
"At least they have all the magic users. That might be beneficial to them." Carlos replied.
"Not all of the magic users." Audrey realized and looked at Evie. "You're here. Is there some way we can capitalize on that?"
Evie shook her head. "I'm not sure how. I know it's in my veins, my mother has some magical capability after all, but it's never been in the same category as Mal's or Jane's mothers. And I've never felt much need to even hone what I do have in me." She answered. It was one of the times in her life where she wished she had tried after all.
"Maybe there is something we can do." Lonnie said. The others tried to look at her. "It's called the kindred enchantment; we can channel our energies into those we lo…care for." She thought it would work as each of those captive in here had a love interest rather they openly acknowledged it or not, out there, unknowingly all going against the Kindred Spirit monster. She tried to glance at Evie. "Our words are just words, it's going to be whatever innate magical abilities you have that will allow us to channel that to our friends and make it reality."
"No pressure." Evie tried to joke but it came out strained and she couldn't keep herself from rolling her eyes.
"So what do we need to do?" Ben asked Lonnie.
"If I remember right, we all need to look at Evie and direct our thoughts toward her as we direct our words to those we care for." Lonnie answered. "Hopefully Evie's latent magic will do the rest."
They all looked at Evie, making the blue haired girl feel somewhat self-conscious even though it was part of the enchantment.
"You can do it Mal, I believe in you." Ben whispered.
"I trust you Jay, I'm sure you're strong enough to handle anything." Audrey said softly.
"Come on Jane, I know you're stronger than you think you are. Now's the time to prove it once again." Carlos urged.
"I know you're strong Will." Lonnie said softly. "You can do so much even though you don't have powers. This is no different."
"I know you wouldn't stay behind now Doug." Evie whispered. "Make us…make me proud." Then she closed her own eyes as she tried to direct whatever internal magical power she had to their friends.
Aziz moved in first with his spear and tried to a spiral strike on Kindred Spirit. It wasn't that it didn't hurt the monster; it was more like it just didn't care. It moved rather quickly and slashed the silver ranger hard.
"Maybe we should try to double team it?" Jay suggested to Will. The new green ranger nodded and then they moved in with the soul scimitar and recursive sword respectively and tried to attack, with the same lack of results. It then slashed the two rangers down.
"What are we doing wrong here Jane?" Mal asked as she readied her dragon's eye staff.
"I don't know yet." The white ranger answered their leader as she watched the monster as it started to move closer to them.
"Mal, unleash a stream of energy on him." The two girls heard Doug say from behind them. They hadn't even realized that he had come up behind them. The purple ranger nodded and the she released a stream of energy from her dragon's eye staff as Doug blasted at it with her. It stumbled back a little bit but shrugged it off and again started toward them.
"So we know it's not just physical attacks it shrugs off." Mal noted and shook her head. "Great, where does that leave us?"
The three male rangers recovered and moved in from behind to attack. All three of them struck but again got the same result. It brought its clawed hand back and slashed them again before turning around and trying to pound Doug and the two girls into the ground. Mal tackled Doug out of the way as Jane barely soared above it with her wings.
"How about magic?" Mal called up to Jane.
Jane had her doubts since the Mamluk's didn't seem to be effected by what they had. "We could try it but honestly I wouldn't put much faith in the idea." She called down to the purple ranger.
"We better come up with something." Jay called up. "If we can't get by this thing we'll never get our friends out of that castle."
Mal cocked her head a bit, swearing she just heard Ben say she believed in her. But her boyfriend wasn't even here, that was impossible. Or at least so she thought. "Ben?" She whispered.
Doug looked to Mal. "What's wrong?" He asked the purple ranger.
"I don't know." She answered reluctantly. "I thought…I thought I heard Ben."
"I have to be strong enough to save you Audrey." Jay said next and then shook his head. "What the…where did that thought come from?"
"Are you okay?" Will asked him.
"I think so." He answered. "I just swore I heard Audrey saying something about being strong."
Will was about to question it but then looked around him. "Something is different, I do have powers." He said and then realized he wasn't sure where it came from but something felt familiar. "Lonnie?" he seemed confused.
Jane cocked her head as she looked around. "You think I'm stronger than I…wait, Carlos?" She wondered and then she realized what had happened. "A kindred enchantment." She smiled. "Good thinking. I just hope it works the way it's rumored too."
Kindred Spirits almost stepped on Mal and Doug but again the purple ranger got them out of the way. "We need some ideas here before we become roadkill." Mal said. She then noticed Jane getting ready to pull something off. "What are you thinking Jane?" She wondered.
Jane rushed toward the ground as quickly as she could and allowed her fists to strike into the sand as hard as she could. It hurt a little as it was still pretty hard but was none the less able to achieve her desired effect; causing a small tremor to disrupt Kindred Spirit's balance.
"Wow, when could she do that?" Will asked.
"As far as I know she couldn't." Jay said. "The possibility of a spell notwithstanding."
Jane was by the boys now. "That's pretty much what it is; I mean it's an enchantment that goes mostly off of words." She explained to them. "And unless I miss my guess, we're all under the same thing courtesy of Evie."
"Evie doesn't know magic." Jay pointed out to her. "She didn't want to take the class with you, Jordan and Mal."
"She still has it inside of her system." Jane countered. "Enough to channel something like this kindred enchantment."
"How does it work?" Aziz asked her. He wanted to assume that she knew what the white ranger was talking about. Besides, they were running out of time.
"We can channel their powers." Jane answered. "We might even be able to combine them with our own. I don't know how long it works so we have to move quickly."
"That'll be interesting since some of us don't even know how that really works." Jay pointed out.
"Think about it, visualize it." Will suggested. He then followed his own suggestion as he imagined seeing Lonnie using the power of her own weapons to achieve brief levitation and then jumped in the air, higher than he would have been able to on his own, and then bring his curved blade down on Kindred Spirit as he descended down, leaving two gashes in his wake. The monster growled and stumbled back but still didn't seem so unfazed.
"Alright, for Audrey." Jay said and visualized the first trick he had ever seen her do with her enhanced elemental bow; it had been fire arrows. He felt his hands grow a bit hotter as he realized his soul scimitar was on fire. He jumped around and swung, both slashing and scorching the creature. He was slightly dismayed to realize that though somewhat burnt it didn't seem to notice.
Mal thought a moment about Ben, not sure how they could really have much in common power wise. Then she remembered she could do one thing that the boys could not; magic. She used the energies of her own staff to replicate the shield that her boyfriend would use to fight and then ran over, slamming the shield into the back of its right leg. The monster rocked a little bit, after all just because the pain may not be seen the body still reacts to it. She then unleashed a stream of energy from her dragon's eye staff into its lower back. It didn't seem to notice too much as its claws found Mal and slashed her back hard.
Aziz took a deep breath as he thought about Ally's eyes, seeming as clear as the crystal cards she used in combat, and then launched another spiral strike. This one seemed to carry the essence of the blonde's cards and he slammed into the chest of Kindred Spirit. The semi-transparent cards flew in all direction, and two of them even angled around to slam into the little figure in back.
To everyone's surprise that elicited a bit more of a reaction as it tried to smash its huge hand onto Aziz, though the silver ranger dodged to the side of the attack. Mal looked to Jane and Doug. "What was different about that attack?" She asked though she felt a little dumb that she couldn't figure it out herself.
Jordan and Gregory had taken the battle against Marcellus onto some of the roofs of the city of the Black Sands. Gregory was finding himself a bit outmatched because both the gold ranger and their opponent were tapping into magic to boost themselves in the fight. Jordan found it somewhat ironic since she knew that half of the adventures her father and uncle had had required some magical intervention on her father's part, and so many of those had involved her opponents father. Of course he had bounced back every time, apparently even from what was supposed to be the end to that magic glove his son now used.
It was as if he had read her mind. "Ironic, isn't genie girl, that we would be the ones to be fighting each other?" Marcellus asked.
"Yeah, and ironic that it'll work out the same way." Jordan replied.
Marcellus unleashed a burst of energy from the glove and Jordan angled in a way to catch that energy around her lamp cannon and reflect it back at him with her own power thrown in. He only barely dodged that one. It did seem like a standoff.
Doug ran the attacks through in his mind and quickly came found the answer to Mal's question. "We've been attacking the bigger body and it's been taking the attacks. It's just a shell, a cover for the real mastermind of the duo. The little one riding in back." He replied.
"I get it." Will said. "They have a sort of symbiotic relationship."
"Hence the name." Jay agreed with a nod. "So we destroy the small fry and the big guy goes down too. It won't be easy but I think the six of us can do it."
"Twelve of us." Jane corrected him. "The power of our otherwise bound friends is still with us." She looked to Mal. "We need to channel all of that power to take out this thing."
Mal nodded as she looked around. She thought of herself and Ben. She looked at Jay and though of Audrey. Looking at Jane made her think of Carlos. Looking at Aziz made her think of Ally. Seeing even Doug ready to help reminded her of her chosen sister Evie, and finally looking at Will, one the two newest rangers, made her think of Lonnie. "Let's show this thing the true meaning of kindred spirits." She declared confidently.
Kindred Spirit was charging toward them again. Jane brought her fists down again into the sands and caused an earthquake to cause the creature to stumble around. Jay and Mal moved in with Doug providing distraction with his blaster as Mal channeled the dragon's eye energy into the makeshift shield and slammed into the monster hard as Jay again slashed it with his fiery soul scimitar.
All of that distraction was meant for just that, as Aziz let out a whistle and moments later Carpet appeared beside him, and then he and Will were on Carpet and in the air as they angled away from the frontal fight to attack the creature that really needed to be ended to win this fight. Aziz again powered up his spiral strike and drew upon the essence of Ally's crystal cards and unleashed them on the back.
The monster let out a piercing cry as this attack was directed on the upper back where the 'head' of the monster truly resided. The ethereal looking cards slashed all around as the smaller monster let out a shriek. Then Will came down, channeling the powers of the wind into his curved blade and slashed the little monster off the top of the big one.
With a resounding crash the big body fell over as the little monster rolled hard only to see the five rangers had gotten back together again. "Now for some old territory." Mal said. Doug had returned the blaster for this one.
This time it was Will, Jay and Aziz that stepped forward to stand side by side. Mal and Jane jumped onto their shoulders and the five of them drew their blasters and converged the energies into the middle as they unleashed the Auradon Triangle Spark at the small monster, causing its destruction. Still they felt as if it had been more than the five of them who had helped finish that off.
More Mamluk's started to draw closer to the ranger's but then Aladdin and the guards were there to deal with them. Aladdin looked to his son. "Aziz, take your friends in and rescue the others." He said. "We've got you covered."
The door opened and a Mamluk shoved the stake Evie was attached to hard, she let out a small scream as it hit the floor hard and it shattered the team's concentration. There was another Mamluk and Mirage was standing there too. "What are you doing?" She demanded to know.
"Whatever it takes to stop your plans." Ben told her simply.
"You're chained up, you can do nothing." Mirage said but then looked at Evie. "I should have recognized there was some kind of magic in your blood though girl." She approached her and extended the claws on her right hand.
There was a scream of protest and Doug ran right into her. They both crashed to the floor hard and the feline being swung at Doug, slashing him across his right arm. Then she had to take a step back to avoid the staff that was aimed at her face. She quickly vanished upon realizing that the rangers had found them.
"Ben." Mal gasped as she powered down and ran over to where Ben was. She untied him and the instant that was done she threw her arms around him and held him tightly. "I was so worried about you." She said softly as he hugged her back gently.
"Yeah, so much for being safe at the palace." Ben tried to joke lightly and then he kissed the top of her head softly. "It's alright Mal. I'm fine and you guys found us. No harm done." He stroked her hair softly.
Doug leaned down and untied Evie, completely oblivious at the moment to the scratches across his arm. When it was loose enough Evie helped struggle out of them and then when her arms were free she threw them around Doug in a tight embrace. "This was so brave of you." She said in a near whisper. "You don't even have anything to protect yourself."
Doug was shocked for a minute before he hugged the blue haired girl back gently. "I borrowed a blaster for a little while. But I couldn't just stand by while you were being held here." He answered her.
Jay got to Audrey and took off the ropes binding her. She threw her arms around the black ranger almost immediately and he could feel her trembling just a little. He could only imagine the memories she had been trying hard not to relive as she had woken up this way. "Hey, it's okay." Jay said to her gently. "We're here."
"I knew you, all of you I mean, would be." She said to him, trying to appear calmer than she really felt. She leaned up and kissed his cheek warmly. "You might not be a knight in shining armor and you might not be a real price, but you're really turning into my prince." That made him blush a little.
Jane went over and helped untie Carlos before hugging him. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you…all of you really but somehow…" She wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.
Carlos hugged her back. "It's okay. I get it." He laughed a little. "Us techno's understand each other pretty well."
Aziz untied Ally and as she landed softly he placed his arms around her waist. "I can't tell you how much you're being kidnapped scared me." He said to her softly.
"I'm sorry." Ally replied as softly.
"Don't apologize; it's not your fault." Aziz chided her gently and then leaned down to press his lips gently against hers. She let her body relax against his as she returned his kiss. For a moment none of it mattered; the fight that was starting to dwindle down outside, the conflicts going on in Auradon, even their friends only inches away. All that mattered was each other. Then the moment of course receded but they both smiled at each other. "Not the worse way to get a first kiss." He said.
"Not at all." Ally agreed with a small laugh.
Lonnie was working to free herself when she saw Will come in and help her. "You have to stop putting your life on the line like this." She said to him half-jokingly though she was glad to see him and was glad he was here to help rescue her. "Coming out her without powers is really dangerous."
Will chucked softly. "Hello to you too." He said jokingly. He then held up the green gem in his hand. "I don't think that lack of powers thing is really going to be a problem anymore."
Lonnie gently placed a hand on his arm. "Have you been holding out on us?" She asked teasingly.
Will shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of it." He promised her with an easy laugh. "No really. I'll tell you about it on our way out of this place." He promised her.
"Where is Jordan?" Ally now asked Mal, now that that fears had been assuaged and personal thanks had been exchanged.
"Outside fighting Marcellus, the son of Mozenwrath and the real reasons all of this has gone down." Mal explained to them. "She's out there along with Gregory." She shot a small smile at Lonnie. "Will's not the only one who came across powers today."
"Time to go then." Ben said as he gave Mal a quick squeeze of hands. Then the team started out.
Audrey gasped. "Wait a minute. We don't have our iPhones, or your weapons." She added as she looked to Ben.
"Shoot." Aziz muttered.
"No problem." Jane took out her iPhone and activated the app she had to track down the gems. It was easy to find as it was only locked up a few rooms away and guarded by a few Mamluk's that were easily taken out by Will, Aziz and Jay. They quickly collected their powers.
They came outside to find that the Mamluk's were few in number and guarding Marcellus. Jordan and Aladdin were at the head of the guards. "It's over Marcellus." The genie girl said to him. "We've beaten your monster and we've rescued our friends."
"And now you intend to kill me?" Marcellus asked with a snicker. "Have you gotten some guts since the last time you fought my father 'Sultan'? He asked mockingly.
"We should strip him of that glove and have him confined to the Isle of the Lost." Jane suggested.
"It's been a while since they've had blood." Jay agreed.
Aladdin nodded in agreement. Jordan used her magic to remove the glove and created a containment box for it. That made the remaining Mamluk's fade away into the ether. "Your hand is still flesh." He noted.
"So what?" Jordan asked.
"Mozenwrath's hand was down to a skeleton when we took the glove." Aladdin explained to her. "All those years of dark magic he used."
"Gross." Audrey stated.
The guards surrounded Marcellus. Jordan made a call to her father to have more guards meet them as soon as possible for the prisoner transfer. Then she looked toward her team. "Let's head back to Agrabah." She said.
Aladdin couldn't help but notice that as they started out; Aziz reached out to take Ally's hand and kept a tight hold of it. "About time." He said to himself.