23. Boom Goes the Cannon
After conversing with Stork some more, Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus were able to learn of his deep attachment to the ship he called the Condor. Not knowing where else to begin, they decided to quest to help him rebuild it, and he pointed out a particular locale upon which to begin.
"Terra Valhalla," he specified. "It's sort of like a…hub on this side of the world. They have the most advanced airship technology over here, and it's also pretty likely somebody there will know something about this…Maleficent."
Once Sora had led the group back to the Gummi ship, Stork brightened a bit. "This…is your airship?" He quickly darted over to the side of the ship, running his hand over the spotless, candy-colored hull.
"It's more than just an airship," Sora laughed. "It goes to other worlds, too! It's how we get around!"
"It looks to be in peak condition," Stork muttered. "Aerodynamic wings constructed of…unknown material, streamlined cockpit, dual thrusters…this thing doesn't run on crystal energy, does it?"
"Nope!" Sora shook his head. "It's all Gummi! Same stuff the wings are made out of!"
"The fuel is the same as the construction material," Stork stated in disbelief.
"It doesn't exactly need fuel," Sora explained. "The stuff it's made out of just…makes it go."
Stork stared at him for a while before blurting, "That's physically impossible."
"JUST THINK OF IT LIKE MAGIC!" Papyrus offered.
"Besides, didn't you say you believed in stuff other people thought was impossible all the time?" Ruby added.
"Point," Stork relented. "All right. I won't question the inner workings of your magic ship."
Once the quartet settled in, with Sora and Ruby up front, Papyrus taking one of the central seats, and Stork sitting as far back as possible, the ship lifted off and began a course over the Atmosian Terras.
"I wonder what Terra Valhalla will be like," Sora wondered out loud.
"You think it'll be covered in monsters?" Ruby suggested.
"If it is, then we know what to do!" Sora laughed. "A couple of strikes from Crescent Rose should teach them a lesson!"
As Sora and Ruby launched into more speculation about what the upcoming Terra could hold, Papyrus couldn't help but look back at the rear row of seats, where Stork had his forehead pressed against the window, a blank look upon his face. He was obviously still quite dismayed, and seeing so made Papyrus feel a little bit dismayed himself. He made his way back to the seat adjacent to Stork, planting himself beside the gloomy Merb. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?"
"Oh, nothing," Stork sighed, not turning to face Papyrus. "Just the fact that everything I ever loved is gone forever, and we're on our way to replace literally the only thing that CAN be replaced."
"WELL, I SUPPOSE THAT'S…ONE THING YOU COULD THINK ABOUT," Papyrus replied.
"Let me guess: you have a different suggestion," Stork groaned. "You think if I just think about happy things like rainbows and baby chickens, everything will get better."
"WELL…UM…NO?" Papyrus answered. "BUT YOU ARE AMONG FRIENDS NOW. AND WE'RE GOING TO DO OUR ABSOLUTE BEST TO MAKE YOU SMILE AGAIN!"
"I wasn't much of a smiler to begin with," Stork grunted.
"WHOA!" Sora yelled as he swerved to avoid crashing into another airship. Ruby clutched the dashboard instinctively, and Stork flinched.
An idea took shape in Papyrus' mind. "YOU SAID YOU WERE A PILOT, RIGHT?"
"Yes," Stork sighed.
"DO YOU WANT TO DRIVE OUR SHIP?"
Stork didn't reply.
"SORA!" Papyrus called up to the front seat. "CAN STORK DRIVE THE SHIP?"
"I don't see why not!" Sora called back, looking toward Papyrus and Stork.
"EYES ON THE SKY!" Stork cried, suddenly whipping around to look at Sora. Sora turned to look out the front window just in time to avoid smacking into a flock of birds.
"THAT'S IT!" Stork marched up toward the driver's seat. "OUT."
"Okay then!" Sora and Stork traded places quickly, and Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus all noticed the immediate change that came over Stork once he settled into the driver's seat and took the wheel. His tense shoulders relaxed; his eyes gained focus. And no one could deny that the ship's course was immediately smoother as soon as Stork had taken over.
Stork himself was the first to break the silence: "…Thank you."
"ANYTIME, NEW FRIEND!" Papyrus replied cheerily.
After some time, Stork dared remove one hand from the wheel to gesture out the front window at a spire that reached high up into the sky, bordered by a valley filled with gleaming lights. "It's not exactly the monster-hunting paradise you were talking about," he informed the group, "but welcome to Terra Valhalla."
...
Not long after Sora, Ruby, Papyrus, and Stork had left Terra Lumina, a smaller ship departed it, making way to the same destination. After all, Terra Valhalla had far more advanced medical technology than anywhere else on the Far Side, and the ship's most important passenger was in dire need of care.
...
As Pete stormed down the dirt path that ran between the green fields of the brightly sunny world, he was not happy in the slightest. "That Maleficent!" he grumbled as he stomped along, leaving big, sloppy footprints in the dirt. "She thinks I'm not onto her, but ohohoho, I know her game! She just sent me to this garbage dump of a world to get me outta the way! Well, I'll show her! I'll bring back that thing she sent me for in a coupla hours! Then she'll HAVE to take me seriously!"
The path ahead led to a foreboding fortress, and as Pete neared it, he very nearly quailed. He'd been told that this world contained the homes of several very powerful sorcerers and faeries, and subsequently been placed on the path of the most powerful of them all. Which Pete had resented, seeing it as yet another instance of Maleficent thinking she needed to spell things out for Pete to get anywhere. Over this bastion, the skies turned gray and cloudy, matching Pete's mood a little better. A pair of imps marched back and forth in front of the fortress' entryway, bearing sharp spears. As Pete drew closer, the imps both halted and jabbed their weapons toward him. "Ay!" one of them grunted. "You're not allowed in here!"
"Oh yeaaaaaaah?" Pete reached down and grabbed each imp by the back of the collar. After a couple spins, he launched the screaming imps high into the air; they flew past the horizon to where he couldn't see where they landed. Brushing his hands off, Pete let himself into the cavernous front hallway.
A sorceress clad in a dusk-colored gown, with black hair shot through by a streak of bright white, stood in a chamber decorated with a scattering of magical devices but absolutely packed with mirrors. It was into one of these mirrors she stared at the moment, brushing back her hair and admiring herself. "Beautiful as usual," she told the reflection staring back.
The door to her chamber crashed down in a shower of splinters as Pete barged into the room. "HEY YOU!" he yelled, pointing at the sorceress.
"How DARE you!" the sorceress growled, spinning toward Pete and taking a wand up into her hand. With a flick, she had Pete bound up in cords made of pure magic; Pete struggled, but could not break them. "Who do you think you are to come barging in on me like that?"
"The name's Pete!" Pete growled. "And I'm here on a mission from Maleficent!"
"Maleficent!" The sorceress gasped. "THE Maleficent?"
"Yeah, that's the one!" Pete confirmed. "How many Maleficents you know?"
"That's right," the sorceress recalled. "Reports did say she'd been traveling with a bloated, imbecilic cat. That must be you."
"YEAH, YOU BETCHA THAT'S – heyyyyyyyy, wait a minute!"
"What is it you want?" the sorceress asked haughtily, flicking her wand and dispelling the cords of magic.
"I came here lookin' for this!" Pete reached into one of his many pockets and retrieved a scroll, which he unrolled to reveal a detailed drawing of a brilliantly violet teardrop-shaped stone set on a chain.
The sorceress gasped. "The Amulet of Avalor?"
"Yeah…that!" Pete affirmed; he'd forgotten the name until the woman had pointed it out just then. "You help me get this, you're in on Maleficent's big scheme! Capisce?"
"Capisce indeed!" the sorceress said giddily. "I know EXACTLY where to start looking for THAT."
"Good!" Pete replied. "Then we're in business, Miss…uh…what was your name again?"
"Morgana le Fay," the sorceress answered.
...
Mozenrath stepped proudly out of the Corridor of Darkness onto the soil of Terra Lumina. The Huntsman, Yzma, Ravess, and Snipe strode after him, looking around at the glowing crystals embedded into the ground.
"So THIS is the Far Side!" Ravess gasped.
"I don't see what's so special about it," Snipe grumped. "Cyclonis spent all her time trying to get over HERE? For THIS?"
"We've literally been here ten seconds," Ravess groaned. "You don't know what's here that Cyclonis wanted!"
"Actually, we do," Yzma reminded them. "A crystal to power the battleship."
"I don't suppose your old master left directions to wherever that could be found on this side of the world, did she?" Mozenrath asked.
"You think Master Cyclonis ever told us ANYTHING important?" Ravess seethed.
"We'd best begin our search here, then," the Huntsman decided, striding toward the heart of the Terra. "And Mozenrath, try not to give away our position as badly as you nearly did the first time you came to this world."
"You weren't there for that," Mozenrath argued, stepping out in front of the Huntsman to take the lead of the group. "You don't get to judge."
As they made their way into rockier terrain, they completely passed by the resting place of an unconscious girl without noticing. They were on higher ground, and she lay down below. As Snipe brought up the rear of the group, his foot dislodged a rock that went rolling down the hillside to where the girl lay, and the noise of it buzzed into her brain, gently waking her. The quintet of villains was already long gone by the time she snapped into consciousness, and that offered her a moment of respite, for two of them would surely have recognized her.
After registering the sound of the rock, Piper woke up with a start.
Her breathing became fast and shallow. The last thing she remembered was the complete and total destruction of the Condor whilst she and her squad – her friends, her family – were all still aboard. Propping herself up on an arm, she cast a look around, hoping one of the others could be located nearby. Unfortunately, the only thing she could locate was the twisted wreckage of her skimmer.
She winced; her injuries from the explosion were catching up to her. Her staff, miraculously undamaged, lay next to her, and she dislodged an ice crystal from its tip in order to run it over her burns. This offered some relief.
"I gotta get into town and see if any of the others made it out," she muttered. She vainly hoped that someone could have been around to hear, but alas, she spoke only to herself.
With some effort, she hoisted herself off the ground and set out for civilization.
The architecture of Terra Lumina was mostly wooden, with conical thatched roofs on circular buildings. Homes and shops were nestled in between rock formations that housed glowing crystals whose only purpose was to give off light. It was regarded as one of the safest Terras on the Far Side, as its constant luminescence repelled the Nightcrawlers. Once Mozenrath, the Huntsman, Yzma, Snipe, and Ravess arrived in the center of civilization, they conducted quick reconnaissance in order to find their best lead.
Upon a reunion, the Huntsman indicated a larger building. "It appears to be a crystal shop. Various sorts are sold there. I assume they are all relatively common. Nothing similar to what we're looking for, but it may be the best lead we have on this Terra."
"So what's the plan?" Yzma asked.
"I've got a plan!" Snipe smacked the palm of his hand with his weapon. "We go in there and I BASH THE GUY'S HEAD IN WITH MY MACE!"
Ravess made an "ugggh" sound before replying, "If we BASH the clerk, we won't have time to GET ANY INFORMATION OUT OF HIM."
"We'll just have to use our powers of persuasion," Mozenrath resolved.
"In other words, you'll be asking yourself what Snatcher would do the whole time," Yzma translated.
"No," Mozenrath growled.
"Oh, right," Yzma amended. "Up until the point at which we need to force information out of the clerk through violence, at which time you will ask yourself what Roman Torchwick would do."
"I WILL ASK MYSELF WHAT I WOULD DO," Mozenrath replied sternly. "AND RIGHT NOW, I WOULD – "
"BASH THEM WITH A MACE!" Snipe volunteered.
"Why do I even TRY with you?" Ravess moaned.
Moments later, they entered the shop to find a lone clerk working the counter. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"You might be able to." Ravess strode confidently up to the counter. "After all, I am one of the Talons, working under…MASTER CYCLONIS."
It wasn't true at all anymore, but it was the argument the five had come up with that they thought would best convince the sales clerk to talk.
"I'm…afraid I don't know who that is," the clerk replied honestly.
"You know, Master Cyclonis," Ravess went on. "Master of all Cyclonia."
"I'm…not sure what Cyclonia is," the clerk admitted.
"You're just holding out on me because you KNOW she banished me, aren't you?" Ravess asked through gritted teeth.
"Ravess…" Mozenrath cautioned.
"If dropping names won't make you talk…" Ravess fitted an arrow to her bow, drawing it to aim at the clerk's head. "Perhaps THIS will."
"RAVESS!" Yzma shoved the archer aside, giving the clerk her best smile. "What we mean to say is…do you happen to have any crystals meant to power up a battleship the size of an entire kingdom?"
"I'm afraid not," the clerk said, visibly shaken from the near attempt on his life. "I didn't even know that was a thing people could do."
"Let me put it to you this way," Yzma rephrased. "TELL US WHERE WE CAN FIND THAT SORT OF CRYSTAL, AND SNIPE WILL BASH YOUR HEAD IN WITH HIS MACE!"
"YEAH-HAH-HAAAAAH!" Snipe laughed, raising the mace in joy.
"She meant 'or,'" Mozenrath and the Huntsman said as one, deadpan.
"Listen!" the clerk babbled. "I don't know anything about that kind of stuff! I just sell basic crystals! I really wish I could help you, but I can't!"
At that moment, Piper entered the shop, having come to find new crystals to replace those she'd lost in the great blast and see if any of her squadron had come to do the same. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Snipe raising his mace and Ravess holding her bow off to the side. "Snipe? RAVESS?"
The siblings turned to face her. "YOU!" they both barked.
"And who's this?" Mozenrath asked as he, Yzma, and the Huntsman all followed Ravess and Snipe's direction.
"One of the Sky Knights that tried to keep Cyclonia at bay," Ravess informed the others, a sly smile spreading out over her face. She took a few steps toward Piper, watching as the girl grew nervous; "But where are all your Storm Hawk friends now? Why are you all alone all of a sudden?"
"That's not important," Piper replied, steeling herself and clutching her staff. She looked to the left and right at the shelves of crystals. "What's important now is that I can't let you hurt innocent people in the name of…whatever scheme you're doing this time!" She looked to Yzma, to Mozenrath, to the Huntsman. Who were these three? Were they also Talons?
"Awwww, does the pwecious widdle girl think she can stop us?" Mozenrath mocked. "Please. Either go pick on someone your own size, or you'll figure out the hard way that we're not so noble."
"I say we bash her anyway!" Snipe laughed.
The Huntsman put up a hand. "She may be the key to what we're looking for if she has fought Cyclonia in the past."
"Who even ARE you?" Piper asked.
"Cyclonia had its heyday," Mozenrath answered. "We're what's next." He stretched out his right arm, letting it glow with a faint blue aura before flicking his wrist, sending a shockwave toward Piper.
As soon as she figured out Mozenrath was about to attack, Piper darted for the shelves of crystals, loading up her hands with the shining gems. She turned a beam of energy back against Mozenrath's attack, and the two powers collided in midair, causing a loud boom and shaking the entire building.
"Who's gotta go pick on someone their own size NOW?" Piper snapped, bracing herself for another attack.
"Lucky shot," Mozenrath remarked before drawing his arm back as though pulling the string on a bow like Ravess'; twenty arrows made purely of blue energy appeared in the air, and when Mozenrath let fly, they rocketed toward Piper. The girl countered by activating a fire-based crystal; twenty small whooshes of flame neutralized the arrows and left a dusting of ash over the floor. Knowing it was only a matter of time before Snipe, Ravess, the Huntsman, and Yzma got involved to try and take her down en masse, Piper quickly rearranged the crystals in her hands for a desperate move. She'd never tried the Binding on someone who was not an ally before; perhaps what she was about to do next was the reason Cyclonis had declared the technique to be evil. A beam of energy shot directly into Mozenrath's chest, and Piper called out, "LOCK UP TIGHT!"
A quip about how Piper was making no sense was on the tip of Mozenrath's tongue, but he was rendered unable to speak it; Piper's spell caused every muscle in his body to seize up, unmoving. The sorcerer hit the floor like a bowling pin.
"That does it!" Ravess huffed. "Snipe! Take care of her!"
"YEAH, I GET TO BASH SOMEONE!" Snipe rushed Piper, mace raised high.
Piper was ready for him. Strength training with a certain eccentric mentor had enabled her to punch Snipe completely out once, and she was ready to do it again. Waiting for an opening, she ducked around the mace, and with a fistful of crystals, she landed a fist against Snipe's jaw with enough force to send him crashing into a display wall, crystals raining down onto the disoriented warrior.
Ravess fired off several arrows at the same time that Yzma launched a dart; Piper clutched the crystals and willed them to lift her into the air, flipping her body high above her attackers and letting arrows and dart alike embed themselves in the ground. She then plummeted down, one extended leg first, aimed at Ravess; the archer found herself kicked back toward the same shelf as Snipe. Yzma rushed at Piper shoulder-first, aiming to knock the girl down with sheer force of momentum, but Piper was faster, up in the air and kicking downward again; Yzma came away with a new bruise.
As all this had been going on, the Huntsman had been surveying the crystals on display, eyeing up the signs that described the function of each. His gaze alit upon the one he wanted, and he quickly reached for one that was the right size to set in the huntstaff where a green stone had resided. The weapon had been constructed to receive magical crystals and draw upon their energy, and the crystals of Atmos seemed no different than those the Huntsman was used to. He spun the weapon, pointing it at Piper.
"Just put it down," Piper growled.
"Only one of us will leave this shop unscathed," the Huntsman replied. He knew that would stir her up, and she came rushing at him, firing a crystal beam. The Huntsman ducked and rolled beneath the surge, swiping the huntstaff out at Piper's legs. She leapt over it as the Huntsman stood, and she swung her fist, looking for an opening; every time she threw a punch or attempted a kick, the huntstaff blocked it. At close range, she let out another burst of energy from the crystals; the Huntsman twirled the staff quickly enough to deflect it completely. As the blade of the staff whirled, it caught Piper on the shoulder, its new crystal activating as it dug into her skin. Suddenly, Piper realized she'd lost control of her arm, which froze in place not unlike Mozenrath's body. "What – "
This momentary distraction was enough for the Huntsman to fire a blast that hit Piper square in the chest, and she froze and toppled. "I'm sure you're aware of the effects of a paralyzer crystal?" he taunted, waving the staff in front of her face as she lay helpless on the floor.
Piper's head was still free to move, and she regarded the staff with an expression of abject horror.
"Tell us," the Huntsman cajoled. "Where can we find the crystal that will reanimate the Cyclonian battleship?"
"NEVER," Piper growled.
"Yzma?" The Huntsman looked to his purple-clad associate, who, along with Snipe and Ravess, had regained footing. "Have you any sort of truth serum that will cause her to speak plainly?"
Yzma produced a pair of vials from hidden pockets. "You can turn her into a bat or a salamander. Your choice."
"Very well." The Huntsman forwent that idea and turned back to Piper. "I will slaughter everyone on this Terra, starting with the man who runs this shop. The killing stops once you speak."
"NO!" Piper cried.
"If you wish to argue," the Huntsman told her, swapping the crystal in his staff out for a blazing orange one, "do it now, before there is bloodshed."
"The only Terra that has anything like that is Terra Valhalla," Piper said quickly. Her eyes watered; she hadn't wanted to give such information up. She could have lied, but she knew she would be found out eventually, and what would she have been responsible for then?
The clerk watched, frightened, behind the counter, sympathetic to her plight, wishing he could offer some sort of comfort but knowing well that he was safer if he didn't speak.
The Huntsman produced a sphinx-hair net that had been embedded in one of the huntstaff's chambers. Its ends were tipped with weights meant to wrap the net closed around its target. Each weight bore a small rounded slot, no bigger than a penny; the Huntsman swept up several paralyzer crystals just that size and embedded one in each weight. "You're coming with us," he informed Piper, "and you're going to direct us all the way to Terra Valhalla. You're also going to inform us how to remove the curse you placed on Mozenrath. You do NOT get the mobility to remove it yourself." He knelt down and swept the net over Piper, binding the weights together; they charged the net with energy that kept Piper still.
"Without a crystal mage to hold the Binding together," Piper explained, "it wears off on its own. Eventually."
The Huntsman turned to look at the other paralyzed mage on the floor. "For your own sake, you had better be correct," he grunted as he knelt down and gently wrapped arms around Mozenrath's waist, hoisting the sorcerer up into his grip as he stood, wondering what was running through Mozenrath's mind at the moment.
The answer was an incomprehensible amount of rage, a slight bit of fear, and, to Mozenrath's own surprise, a little bit of comfort that it was the Huntsman who had decided to carry him. He knew at least he could trust the Huntsman not to be as volatile or unpredictable as the others.
"Snipe," the Huntsman commanded. "Take our Storm Hawk hostage and make sure she is not damaged. No bashing allowed."
"Gotcha, boss!" Snipe hoisted the net up by the weights and draped them over his shoulder, with Piper dangling adjacent to his back.
"How exactly are we supposed to make it to another Terra?" Yzma grumped. "The only one of us who could cast Corridors is out of commission!"
"Then we'll commandeer an airship the old-fashioned way," the Huntsman answered.
"And that way would be…?" Ravess prompted.
"Snipe will finally get to have his way with his mace."
...
"So what do we do now?" Nick asked as he looked around at the strange new town he, Phineas, and the other Power Rangers had stepped into.
"Well," Chip suggested, "I think the smart thing to do would be to head for the castle. That's where everything important always happens in fantasy stories." He pointed up to where the Radiant Garden castle loomed over the town.
"It's worth a shot," Vida agreed. "Let's go."
On the other side of town, a pair of alicorns trod down the street. They garnered some stares, but many were used to seeing all sorts of beings enter town now that the borders between the worlds were less rigid, and paid them no mind.
"You're sure this is the world we need to be on?" Cadance asked Luna. Never having seen humans before, she did a fair share of gawking herself.
"I do not know," Luna admitted. "But I do believe this world holds many people who could help us. It is said that when the worlds divided long ago, this was one of the first to return to its original state, thanks to the light within the hearts of its foals. Since then, it has been special among the many worlds."
"Where do we go from here?" Cadance inquired.
Luna gestured to the towering castle. "We must seek out those who are most knowledgeable about this world and hope that they are knowledgeable about the matters of other worlds as well."
Somewhere between the Rangers' arrival point and the alicorn's arrival point, Riku, Kairi, Nora, Jaune, and Ren were lined up in front of Mog's synthesis shop. The three denizens of Remnant had offered their broken weapons up somewhat apologetically.
"I have never seen anything like this, kupo!" Mog the moogle said joyously as he examined one of Ren's StormFlower guns.
"Do you think you can fix it?" Ren asked evenly.
"Of course, kupo!" Mog insisted. "I haven't seen a weapon yet that I couldn't fix! Though because your weapons are so unique, it may take some time. Maybe you should come back in a bit."
Riku nodded. "We can do that."
"What are we supposed to do until then?" Jaune wondered out loud.
Nora sniffed the air. "Is that…? IT IS! I smell ICE CREAM!"
"Does ice cream even have a smell?" Jaune asked.
"It does to Nora," Ren said with a shrug.
"We can get ice cream," Kairi affirmed. "Riku and I also have a few friends here I'd like to say hi to, if that's okay."
"I wouldn't mind checking in on them myself," Riku agreed.
"Any friend of yours is a friend of ours!" Nora chirped.
After the quintet had been supplied with a decent amount of sea salt ice cream, they made their way toward the castle. As they approached, the sole guard outside the door nodded at them, indicating they could and in fact should enter. Riku and Kairi nodded back to Aeleus.
Once inside, the group was met by Leon. "I was hoping you'd come here," he greeted.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked in response.
"Something strange has come up," he replied. "You're going to want to hear about it from the source."
The rest of the Restoration Committee (minus Merlin) was found in the library along with eight strangers: five humans, a troblin, and two alicorns. All eyes turned to the library door once Leon led Riku and his entourage in.
"Riku!" Aerith greeted. "Kairi!"
"Hi, Aerith!" Kairi responded with a wave.
"Who're the new guys?" Yuffie asked.
"NORA VALKYRIE!" Nora cried heartily.
"I'm, uh, Jaune Arc," Jaune added.
"Lie Ren," Ren concluded.
"Uh…who are all of you?" Jaune asked in return.
"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi!" Yuffie answered, puffing out her chest a little. "And this is the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee! …Plus a few guests."
"That's what we needed to talk to you about," Leon clarified. Turning toward the mysterious strangers, he announced, "These are two of the Keybearers. They just might be able to help with your problems."
"Wow," Nora commented. "Nice job volunteering for them."
"It's all right," Riku affirmed. "As Keybearers, helping others comes with the territory."
"That sounds just like something Sora would say," Kairi teased.
"Well, he's right," Riku admitted. "So what's going on?"
Luna and Nick exchanged glances, trying to decide who should go first. Nick took the initiative and stepped forward: "My name's Nick Russell, and I'm the leader of the Power Rangers. A bunch of powerful sorcerers came to our world and destroyed everything, and they took two of our friends prisoner. A magic portal led us here, and we think this is where our missing friends are."
"They described the sorcerers in question to us," Ienzo added, "and the leader of the band sounded quite familiar."
"Maleficent," Leon clarified. "We think she was responsible for the destruction of their world and taking hostages from them. But that's not the only thing."
Now it was Luna's turn to step forward. "I am Princess Luna of Canterlot in Equestria," she introduced, "and I come traveling with my niece, Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire in Equestria. Recently, some very powerful artifacts were taken from our world, and without them, we are doomed. We know that the Elements of Harmony, which protect us from chaos, were taken from us by a unicorn called Mozenrath, but we know not who is responsible for the theft of our Crystal Heart, which feeds the Crystal Empire with love and prevents the cold northern winds from invading its borders. Perhaps it is the same person. Perhaps it is this Maleficent you speak of. Perhaps they all work for this mysterious Maleficent."
"When something stinks, it's usually Maleficent," Yuffie pointed out.
"We knew she was planning something," Lea spoke up from the corner. "We sent in our best recon guy to try and figure out what without getting too close." He cast his gaze downward, scratching the back of his head. "But…we haven't seen him since. Who woulda thought I'd've killed the guy twice?"
"He may still be alive in Maleficent's clutches," Ienzo tried to reassure him. "Even is made of strong stuff."
"We obviously couldn't risk an invasion of Maleficent's castle with the forces we have," Leon reminded Riku. "We've tentatively decided to live and let live. But now she's changed the game. She has two hostages from Briarwood, probably one from our own base, and possibly one of the crystals that went missing from Equestria."
"We'll just have to get them back," Kairi said with resolve. She turned to her four cohorts; "You in?"
"I'm in," Riku said with a nod.
"Where you go," Jaune told Kairi, "I go."
"I'm with you all the way!" Nora crowed.
"As am I," Ren confirmed.
"Wait," Madison interrupted. "Necrolai and Leelee are our friends. We can't just let you invade an enemy castle alone. We're all coming too."
"I'm not leavin' Leelee," Phineas insisted. "Not until I know she's all right!"
"And I can't leave the Crystal Heart, if Maleficent's fortress is indeed where it is," Cadance added.
"Cadance and I shall join your fight," Luna affirmed.
"Anyone else?" Riku asked, looking around the library.
"The rest of us should stay here in case the castle needs to be defended," Leon decided. "We can't afford to spread ourselves too thin."
"Thirteen of you should be able to handle a little old break-in anyway!" Yuffie added.
"That's exactly what I want to aim for," Riku agreed. "A break-in. We'll fight if we have to, but if we can sneak in and get back everything we've lost without Maleficent noticing us, then we can avoid a lot of risk."
Leon nodded. "Good luck."
"We don't need luck!" Nora boasted. "We've got SKILLS!" She pumped both fists.
"I like her!" Yuffie chirped.
"Let's go," Riku announced. "We need to see if Nora, Jaune, and Ren's weapons are ready. Then we shouldn't waste any more time."
As he turned to leave, he was followed not only by Kairi, Jaune, Ren, and Nora, but by Luna, Cadance, Nick, Vida, Chip, Madison, Xander, and Phineas.
As Nick fell into step alongside Riku, Riku commanded, "Tell me more about where you come from."
Meanwhile, Luna and Kairi walked side-by-side, and Kairi asked, "What's Equestria like?"
...
Vexen made productive use of his time by rummaging about in the lower levels of the downed battleship. During his investigations, he came across a crate filled with sparkling multicolored crystals, which he knew would be incredibly useful. Hoisting up the crate, he took it up to show his associates, only to find Wuya and Roman laying on the floor of the main room while Snatcher leaned against the wall with a glazed look in his eyes.
"And WHAT exactly is going on here?" Vexen barked.
"Well, I got bored, so I'm lying on the floor and contemplating things that are less boring," Wuya explained. "Roman is also bored, so he's also on the floor. And Snatcher is bored, but he's apparently too dignified for the floor, so he's leaning against the wall. And now you're up to speed."
"Well, get up off the floor and the wall," Vexen commanded. "I may have found something that could get this ship in partial working order."
That got Roman to hustle to his feet and Snatcher to take a few steps closer.
"Not the engine, mind you," Vexen clarified, "but several of the internal mechanisms, such as the turret guns."
Now Wuya was off the floor and surveying the crystals.
"I thought you said just using any old crystal would blow us all up," Roman pointed out.
"As these were kept onboard," Vexen explained, "I find it highly unlikely that they wouldn't be suited to the ship itself. They weren't contained securely enough to be marked as hazards. The variety of colors suggests that each one contains a distinct magical effect, likely elemental. I suggest we use them to reactivate the onboard weapons systems in case we should have to defend the base."
"Against WHAT?" Roman asked. "There's no one else out here for miles! And everybody else thinks the ship is junk, so nobody's coming for it!"
"Somebody invades in three…two…" Wuya muttered.
They all paused.
"Never mind," Wuya relented when no one arrived.
"This is still a case where it is better to be safe than sorry," Vexen insisted.
Roman was already digging around in the crate. "You had me at 'reactivate the onboard weapons systems.'"
Within a half hour, the crystals had been hooked up to various of the systems inside the battleship, and the quartet reunited in the usual room. "Now," Roman mumbled as he looked over the dashboard, "let's try this again."
He picked out a particular button and pressed it deliberately. A loud and distinct boom sounded from outside the ship. "NICE!" Roman crowed, looking for another button. His next selection caused an even louder boom. "Aw, BEST DAY EVER!"
Vexen fired a judgmental glance in Snatcher's direction. Snatcher returned it with even more force.
As Roman selected another button, a cannon inside the room turned on the remaining trio. Vexen and Snatcher danced back several paces while Wuya just put up a hand; a beam of fire was held off by her deflection shield. "All right, now THAT'S just stupid," she sighed. "Who puts a cannon INSIDE the base?"
A Corridor of Darkness opened up in the middle of the room at that very moment. "I think your invasion countdown was a bit off," Snatcher told Wuya.
Cinder Fall strode proudly through the Corridor, surveying the room. She was surrounded head to toe in an aura of bright orange flame "Well, well," she remarked. "One of us should have guessed that this base would already be in the hands of second-rate idle dreamers."
Wuya meant to reply, but Roman stepped in front of her, holding out a hand; "I got this." He faced Cinder directly. "And WE should have guessed the walking cliché herself would come and crash the party! Did you SERIOUSLY think you could walk into this place alone and not expect somebody to be here?"
"That's what you expected," Wuya hissed.
"Not now," Roman snapped back. "Ooh, four on one. That's bad odds, even for you."
"Four on two," Cinder corrected as the flames that surrounded her slid fluidly off her body, separating into another entity, forging into a tall and thin shape that solidified into a humanoid form.
"And I believe the odds are in OUR favor," Jafar announced as soon as he materialized. "Such a tragedy. The four of you would have made acceptable foot soldiers for Maleficent had you chosen to ally yourself with REAL power. But instead, you went in a considerably pathetic direction by aligning yourself with that petulant boy."
"And therein lies the catch," Snatcher pointed out. "With you? Foot soldiers. With him? Warriors."
"Why don't we see just how far your skill as 'warriors' can take you?" Cinder taunted.
Roman was on the same page, bracing his Cudgel as he made a run at Cinder. A sphere of flame, Cinder's own this time, erupted into existence around the bearer of the Fall Maiden powers. Wuya, knowing exactly what was about to happen, surged forward, her feet leaving the ground in an act of levitation. She seized Roman's jacket with one hand and unceremoniously threw him back over her shoulder as an aura of emerald-green flames flared up around her body. Cinder let loose a thick beam of solid fire that would have reduced Roman to a charred skeleton in seconds. And that was exactly what she was expecting to happen. Instead, that beam was met with one of equal force but bright green as Wuya pushed back against Cinder's magic. Due to Cinder having a momentary lapse in focus when her targets swapped out in front of her eyes, green overpowered orange and Wuya's magic sent her flying back into the far wall, where she hit hard and left an indent.
"You're not used to playing with someone on your level, are you?" Wuya taunted as she levitated down in front of Cinder. "I know how THAT feels."
With an angry cry, Cinder launched into the air, propelled by a jet of flame; she slammed into Wuya with her full weight, driving the Heylin witch at the opposite wall. Wuya transferred the weight expertly, flipping the pair over; Wuya's feet touched ground and she let Cinder fly to make a matching mark in the wall across from her first indent.
Jafar, on the other hand, was not so easily matched. He began by calling forth a bolt of red lightning from the mouth of his cobra-shaped staff. Vexen's shield immediately caught and protected from the electrical energy. Vexen then summoned a line of icy stalagmites to pierce upward from the ground, heading in Jafar's direction; all of them suddenly flared into flame and melted. It was a good thing he was missing his heart, Vexen realized, else the sheer amount of fire being used for offensive attacks in the room would be giving him a panic attack. "We needn't fear you," he told Jafar. "Genies can't kill, after all."
"Are you expecting me to be distracted while I tell you 'You'd be surprised what you can live through'?" Jafar laughed, knowing full well that Snatcher was behind him, launching the hammer of his weapon. Jafar let the chain wrap around his waist before becoming intangible as a puff of red smoke, floating out of the chain's grasp and rematerializing some feet away. "I think you'll find I'm much SHARPER than that!"
As Jafar emphasized the pun, a host of swords appeared from nowhere, pressing their edges up against Snatcher's skin at various points: shoulder, hip, ankle, wrist. None of the cuts would have been fatal, but all would be painful and cost him a piece of himself.
Vexen tried to make a step forward but found himself surrounded by a ring of flame. He tried in vain to summon icicles to contain the fire, but everything he attempted melted as soon as it took form. He focused on a different tactic: lowering the temperature of everything around him.
As Jafar let out a maniacal laugh of victory, he was suddenly caught off guard by the full force of an energy cannon blasting into him. He was sent bowling head over heels, and with his focus broken, the swords around Snatcher spilled to the ground and the flames surrounding Vexen died down just enough that Vexen could quell them.
"I'm sorry," Roman mocked as he stood at the control panel of the weapons systems, "what was that? Was that the sound of somebody asking me why there would be a cannon INSIDE the base?"
"Not listening!" Wuya replied as she braced for Cinder's next attack. "Can't hear you!"
Cinder's jet-black swords leapt into her hands, and she rushed Wuya with clenched teeth. A pair of long steel blades materialized in Wuya's own hands, and as fast as the Fall Maiden was, the Heylin Witch was able to parry every strike, silver striking black at every opportunity. And while Cinder was focused on her swords, Wuya took the opportunity to parry, whirl, and connect her foot to Cinder's face.
Jafar, angered, pointed his cobra staff at Roman. The redhead suddenly found himself swept up into a gigantic flask, as tall as the room, that stoppered itself with a proportionate cork. In the blink of an eye, the flask filled from the bottom up with water.
"That's impossible!" Vexen cried. "You shouldn't be able to drown him!"
"Oh, he WON'T be drowning," Jafar laughed. "He'll just suffer the effects of it, unable to die! Which is MUCH more delicious!"
As Cinder continued her struggle against Wuya, she caught wind of this, and she had to admit she quite liked the way Jafar thought. She swapped out her sword for a bow and arrow, lifting into the air and firing a trinity of arrows at Wuya. Wuya plucked two arrows out of the air and kicked the third aside; she then fitted the arrows to a bow that she created out of nothing, firing them back at Cinder, as well as five more arrows of her own creation. Cinder dodged every single one.
From within the flask, Roman turned the Cudgel at the glass with difficulty, firing a single shot. The glass fractured, but didn't shatter. That was all Vexen needed, however, to fill the cracks with ice and make the strained part of the glass explode, sending Roman spilling out across the floor in a wave of water.
Snatcher, for his part, was keeping Jafar busy with the swords that had threatened to cut him to ribbons moments before. He'd never learned how to properly wield one, so he made do with picking them up and launching them across the room at Jafar. The genie phased through each one, but it still kept him from doing anything else for a while. By the time Vexen had broken Roman free, Snatcher was out of swords, and Jafar was ready for another attack. He stretched out a hand at Snatcher, and that hand morphed into a venomous cobra, rearing back to strike.
Roman fired the grappling hook of the Cudgel, catching the snake around the neck before it could get too close to Snatcher. Snatcher then bashed the snake hard on the head with his mallet; as Jafar withdrew the limb, it became an ordinary hand once more. Vexen sent a sharp icicle flying at Jafar, who dematerialized just in time to send the icicle zooming on a direct course for Snatcher; Roman blasted it into water droplets just in time.
Wuya stretched out her hands, summoning a host of minions to build themselves up from the stone of the floor. An entire segment of the floor ripped itself up, revealing a hangar for a host of skimmers below. As the stone built itself into a dozen golems, Cinder blasted off for the ceiling. "I don't suppose your little friends can fly," she said with a smirk.
"If she comes down," Wuya ordered the golems, "tear her apart." She then shot up into the air to face Cinder down. A sphere of orange surrounded Cinder, and Wuya sported a similar coating of green.
"Let's see which one of us is stronger," Cinder challenged. "One on one."
"Spoiler alert," Wuya replied. "You aren't going to like the ending of this one."
They charged at each other, orange and green colliding over and over.
Three wrecking balls swung down from the ceiling, knocking Vexen, Snatcher, and Roman off balance. A multitude of crushing pillars rocketed down from above, and one of them would have shattered Snatcher's legs if he hadn't had the good sense to roll and the luck to be missed by every other pillar slamming toward the ground until he reached the place where Wuya had ripped up the floor. As he dropped into the hangar, Roman and Vexen landed behind them; they'd all had the same idea.
"Before he follows us," Snatcher urged, "what can we use against him? Anything, ANYTHING!"
"All I know is that he's phenomically cosmic, he's probably still only just TOYING with us at this point, and that he can transform into a massive cobra at will!" Vexen babbled.
"I've an idea," Snatcher realized.
As soon as he finished explaining, Jafar appeared behind them. "I do hope you weren't talking about me behind my back," the genie said with a grin. "That would be quite rude."
"Please do have mercy!" Snatcher dropped to his knees. "We're well aware it would be all too simple for you to swallow us all whole and leave us to digest for eternity, but we can be of use to you! We'll turn our backs on Mozenrath! We'll become the most loyal servants you could have asked for!"
"I think I prefer the idea of swallowing you whole and leaving you to digest for eternity," Jafar decided. "It's not that our little game of cat-and-mouse hasn't been fun, but Maleficent will be wanting you out of the way once and for all."
The transformation was sudden; one moment, he stood before them in the guise of a mortal man, and the next, he was an incredibly massive black-and-orange-striped cobra that filled the hangar and the room above.
"TORCHWICK, NOW!" Snatcher pointed to the skimmers. Roman hopped aboard one and sped upward, out of the hangar.
"WHY, YOU LITTLE – " Jafar gave chase, speeding after the skimmer, deftly avoiding the still-clashing Wuya and Cinder. Roman led him out the doors of the base and up around the great tower of the battleship, letting Jafar wind his body around and around the aircraft. There were a few close scrapes at which point he almost didn't fly fast enough to avoid being caught up in the snake's snapping jaws, but at last, Roman reached his destination, zooming through smaller doors right back into the room from which he'd originated, where the battle was still taking place. As Jafar crashed through the walls to follow, Roman deftly swooped over the control panel and mashed every single button.
The sound from outside was an absolute cacophony. Cannons of all sorts fired, each one hitting Jafar's body directly, as the snake was tangled up all over the tower. Jafar let out an agonized howl as he shrank back to humanoid shape.
This cry was enough to distract Cinder. Her focus shifted to Jafar for a split second, and Wuya was able to get close enough to her to place both hands on her back and shove her forcefully downward, into the fists of the waiting golems.
Jafar, heavily damaged, cast the Corridor as soon as he heard Cinder's screams. He raised his staff to blast through the golems' rocky forms, hobbling forward as best he could once they shattered. Cinder, out of their grip, collapsed to the ground, covered in bruises and slices. Jafar quickly scooped her up into his grasp before heading through the portal and hurriedly closing it. Maleficent wouldn't be happy, but their opponents had gotten too much of an upper hand, and remaining may just have cost them both their lives.
Wuya landed gracefully on the ground, commanding her golems to disband and reform the floor as though it had never been torn up. Snatcher and Vexen had by that time found a route back upstairs, and they joined Wuya and Roman, out of breath. Roman leaned against the nearest wall for support. Wuya, by contrast, hadn't even broken a sweat.
"I'm sorry," she told Roman, "what was that? Was that you mocking me about cannons while I was busy saving your life from your old boss?"
"Shut up," Roman panted.
...
In the lush green Enchancian gardens, the young Princess Amber had set up her easel and paints and was attempting to capture a visual representation of the multicolored flowers before her. It would have been a lot easier were her stepbrother James and her stepsister Sofia not playing soccer with the royal dog, Rex, in the same area of the garden.
As the soccer ball went flying past Amber's head, she deftly caught it. "JAMES!" she scolded. "SOFIA! You ALMOST knocked over all my paints! Can you imagine what would have happened to my gown if you did?"
"I dunno," James suggested. "That might've made it look cooler."
"James," Sofia said sternly. She then apologized to Amber; "Sorry we interrupted your painting. We'll go to the far side of the garden to play."
"THANK you," Amber sighed.
Sofia and James laughed as they dashed off to the next area of the garden, ball in hand, Rex bounding along and barking.
A few minutes later, King Roland entered the garden to see Amber hard at work. "That is a lovely painting, Amber!" he complimented.
"Thank you, Daddy!" Amber replied with a curtsy.
"Have you seen James and Sofia?" Roland asked. "I thought I'd join their game. You're welcome to as well, of course."
"Hm…I think I'm fine staying here and working on my painting," Amber told her father. "You go on ahead and play. They're at the far end of the garden."
James guarded the ball as he danced back and forth in front of Sofia's makeshift goal. "He shoots…" he announced, giving the ball a hard kick. "HE SCO – "
Sofia leapt after the ball, blocking it in the nick of time before righting herself and stepping on it.
"Awww, man!" James sighed.
"Now SHE shoots!" Sofia giggled as her foot connected hard with the soccer ball. It flew past James and into the area he'd designated as his goal. "That's Sofia two, James one!"
The game was interrupted by the appearance of a Corridor of Darkness that deposited Pete and Morgana between the two children. The young prince and princess immediately shied away.
"Morgana!" Sofia cried in fear.
"Hey, YOU!" Pete turned to Sofia, pointing an accusing finger. "You're the one with that magical amulet!"
Sofia instinctively reached up with both hands to clasp the Amulet of Avalor that dangled from her neck.
"Give it here!" Pete demanded.
"No!" Sofia spat.
"Then we'll just have to take you along with it!" Morgana cackled.
Roland broke into a run as soon as he heard his stepdaughter's scream. He arrived in the garden just in time to see Sofia squirming against Pete's bulky arms as he carried her into the Corridor with Morgana in tow. Then the portal closed, and Sofia was gone.