25. Know Your Enemy
Once Ocula had left Sora, Ruby, Papyrus, and Stork on their own, Sora voiced what Ruby and Papyrus were thinking: "You don't think it's that guy from Beacon and Knightdock, do you?"
"WE DID COME HERE TO FIND THEM," Papyrus pointed out.
"And how many people do you think go around wearing dragon skulls?" Ruby added.
"This is one of the people that's been tormenting you?" Stork asked.
"Yeah," Sora said with a nod. "Ruby and I caught him escaping Ruby's homeworld after he and his friends wrecked everything there. Then, when we went to Papyrus' homeworld, he and Ruby fought the same guy at the police station to stop him from killing Papyrus' friends. We know he's working with one of Ruby's enemies. There are a bunch of them working together, actually, but we don't know everything about them yet."
"AND IF THOSE CRYSTALS ARE REALLY THAT BAD…" Papyrus began.
Ruby smacked a fist into the palm of the other hand. "Then we CAN'T let the dragon-helmet guy get them."
Stork looked to Sora. "You think you can take this guy in a fight?"
"I know I can!" Sora beamed. "I've done worse than that guy!"
"And am I the only one thinking we should probably take a look around to see if we can't turn up anything else about him?" Stork continued. "I don't know this guy like you do, but in my experience, the bad guys tend not to play by the rules. They always show up with some other plan."
"Should we try and get the drop on him before the battle?" Sora wondered out loud.
"Then he might try to get away with saying we broke the rules and get the king and everyone who works for him turned against us," Ruby replied. "I don't feel like we should get mixed up in anything before the actual battle unless he starts it."
"COULD WE JUST TRY TO TALK TO HIM?" Papyrus offered.
"That would probably get him to start it," Stork sighed. "How tough IS he?"
"I'm pretty sure Sora can beat him," Ruby informed Stork, "but he's no pushover. Papyrus and I had to team up with two other warriors and a scientist with a taser last time we went up against him. Though he did have Neo that time…"
"He might have Neo again this time," Sora pointed out. "They said he was the one fighting, but they didn't say if he came alone."
"We'd better not get close to this guy before it's time if we can help it," Stork decided.
"THEN WHAT SHOULD WE DO?" Papyrus asked. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SAID WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING!"
"We can try and figure out his game without getting close to him," Stork stated. "If we know where to look."
...
"That one." Capercaillie pointed to an airship in the fortress' courtyard. "The others were all here earlier, but that one's new. I'm pretty sure it's the one they came in on."
"Thanks again for helping us," Sora told Capercaillie.
The prince shook his head. "Something is very wrong here. If they came here looking for the Leviathan Crystals, they're not up to any good. If I were king, I wouldn't have offered them the chance to fight for them. And if I can be honest, the only reason I'm trusting YOU to fight for the crystals is because I know Stork would never deceive us."
It crossed Stork's mind to wonder if Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus were as trustworthy as he believed, but such thoughts had been flashing into his head every now and again since they'd met. He didn't know what alternate course of action he had besides to trust them…and anyhow, he liked them.
"Let's go," Sora commanded, urging his teammates on with the wave of a hand as he walked toward the ship. Ruby, Papyrus, Stork, and Capercaillie followed.
The interior of the ship looked as though nothing were out of the ordinary. "Don't move too many things around," Ruby whispered. "We don't want them to know we were in here."
"I EXPECTED THIS SHIP TO LOOK MORE…EVIL," Papyrus commented. "MAYBE WE'RE IN THE WRONG ONE?"
"What would an evil ship even look like?" Ruby asked.
"Black and silver, with more guns and pointier wings," Sora answered. "Maybe more of those helmets inside. You think he wears the same one every time?"
"I don't know," Ruby replied. "You think it's a real dragon skull, or just a helmet that LOOKS like one?"
No one had an answer to that question.
The five stealthily moved through the ship, pulling open all of the doors to look for signs of evil, turning up nothing again and again until Ruby opened one door, took a brief look inside, and then quickly closed it. "There's someone in there!" she hissed.
Sora took up the Keyblade. Capercaillie drew his weapon, a good-sized mallet outfitted with a yellow crystal in the hilt. Papyrus summoned several large blue bones to hover in the air before him. Stork ducked and hid behind the aforementioned three.
Ruby shook her head. "No! There's someone TIED UP in there!"
"Now that's the kind of evil I was expecting," Sora stated as weapons were dismissed and put away.
Ruby eased the door open and flipped on the lights of the small room. A squeak came from the net-bound prisoner at the opposite side. At the same time, Stork gasped in recognition; "Piper!"
"STORK?" Piper replied, taken aback. "You're okay!"
"YOU'RE okay!"
"You know each other?" Sora asked.
"Piper is another one of the Storm Hawks," Stork explained.
"SO THREE OF YOU SURVIVED!" Papyrus crowed victoriously. "JUST LENDING ALL THE MORE CREDIBILITY TO MY THEORY THAT ALL OF YOU DID!"
"Three?" Piper repeated in confusion. "Who else – "
"Finn," Stork answered, "but he's kinda…covered in horrible angry burns." He took a step into the room, reaching for the net.
"No!" Piper hissed. "This net is holding me in place with paralyzer crystals! If you touch them, you'll get paralyzed too!"
Capercaillie took one look at the net and the crystals holding it together. "I can fix that," he stated, stepping forth and raising his hammer high. He went into a kneel and brought it down hard on one of the weights, shattering its crystal before raising the hammer for a second blow."
"Here." Sora entered the room as well. "This'll be faster." He summoned his Keyblade yet again, swiping across the net and tearing it wide open. He and Stork then lifted the immobile Piper out of the crisscrossed sphinx hairs.
"ARE YOU OKAY?" Papyrus asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," Piper sighed, "except for the fact that I can't move from the neck down. But it should wear off in a little bit. Probably faster than the guy I paralyzed with the Binding."
"You did WHAT?" Stork asked incredulously.
"Long story," Piper told him.
"What happened to you?" Ruby asked. "Were you captured by somebody wearing a helmet that looks like a dragon skull?"
"That's the one," Piper confirmed, "and he came with friends, including Snipe and Ravess."
Stork's response was a flat "What."
"LET ME GUESS," Papyrus volunteered. "THOSE WERE YOUR PERSONAL ARCHNEMESES!"
"Well, Cyclonis would probably take that title," Stork admitted, "but Snipe and Ravess are up there. If they're working with dragon-skull guy, that's bad. VERY bad."
"I think you should tell us EXACTLY what happened," Ruby told Piper.
"While we get you up to the fortress," Capercaillie decided. "Hanging around an enemy ship isn't a good idea."
As the group carried Piper toward the mighty castle, she related to them the tale of the Huntsman and his associates and their search for the Leviathan Crystals.
...
Cedric, Aghoul, Mim, and Neo's long walk toward Morgana's fortress had at last come to an end. As they neared the towering structure, Cedric finished up his description of the Amulet of Avalor: "In conclusion, it is the most powerful magical object in the known world. However, before you get any ideas, YOU wouldn't be able to use it."
"And why not?" Aghoul asked.
"Because of the catch that comes with using the Amulet," Cedric explained. "'With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted: a gift or a curse.' Simply put, you act good while wearing the amulet, you get a very special power in return. Act villainous, and you'll find yourself with a bird's beak or hands made out of iron that you can barely move. Trust me. I know from experience. And from what I know of YOU, you couldn't act GOOD to save your very souls."
"That could pose a bit of a problem," Aghoul muttered. "Though I have enchanted necklaces to do my bidding in the past. I might just know how to make the Amulet of Avalor go permanently dormant."
"And what would you get out of THAT?" Cedric wondered out loud.
"Let's just say…sentimental value," Aghoul answered.
"If you're not going to use the amulet for its powers," Cedric asked, "why not just turn it over to me once you've finished with Morgana?"
"We want it," Aghoul growled, "and we're going to get it."
"Since when do we want it?" Mim asked.
"Uh…" Aghoul struggled to come up with an answer that wouldn't ruin the surprise for the one he admired.
Mim then shrugged. "Actually, I don't care. If some do-gooder can get magic powers from it, I'd absolutely love to take that away from them!"
"Now, be quiet from here on out!" Cedric cautioned, taking a detour off the main path to hide behind shrubbery on the side and use that cover to sneak closer to the fortress. "Morgana's castle is guarded by imps, and we don't want to deal with them!"
Mim, Aghoul, and Neo followed Cedric until their place of concealment was closest to the door. They watched a pair of imps marching back and forth in front of the castle's entry,
"Now, how to get past them?" Cedric muttered. "We have three competent mages here. We should be able to come up with some sort of spell with – and WHERE do you think you're going?"
Neo had gotten up and begun to stride casually toward the imps.
"Get back here!" Cedric hissed. "You don't know any magic! You'll alert all of Morgana's forces!"
Neo kept on walking until she faced the imps directly.
"Halt!" they both put up their left hands, clutching their weapons in their right hands.
"Who goes there?" one asked.
Before he could register what had happened, Neo was gone from in front of his eyes. A long, thin blade sank through him from behind, spearing his heart and killing him instantly. The second imp had just enough time to retrieve a horn from his belt and blow it, its sound echoing throughout the grounds, before Neo skewered him through the neck.
At the sound of the horn, a host of imps rushed down through the castle atrium to see what had come to intrude upon Morgana's castle. Seeing the small army rush at her from within the castle, Neo twirled and brandished her blade.
This was going to be fun.
...
Once Pete and Morgana had brought Sofia back to their lair, the young princess had been locked inside of a golden cage at one end of Morgana's chamber while the sorceress and the bruiser inspected the amulet more closely.
"Oh, yes, Maleficent said that there amulet is all kinds of powerful," Pete laughed. "She even said it could summon them Princesses of Heart from their homeworlds! I says first thing we should do is get one of them here to deliver back to Maleficent!"
"No!" Sofia cried. "Please, don't!"
"That's a SPLENDID idea!" Morgana cackled. "Now, which one of them should we capture first? Snow White? Or how about Aurora?" She held the amulet up to the light. "How does this thing work, anyway?"
"Uhhhh…Maleficent left that part out," Pete admitted.
And so the past while had been devoted to trying to coax the Amulet of Avalor into doing something. Morgana had tried zapping it with a variety of wands, dipping it in a plethora of potions, and dusting it with several powders, and yet it seemed to do nothing but sparkle. Watching this experimentation gave Sofia time to think, and she formulated a plan. It was rudimentary, but just perhaps it would work. After all, the amulet had a way of punishing evil deeds just perfectly, and Pete and Morgana were being very evil.
"You're never going to get it to work that way," Sofia blurted after some time.
"YOU!" Morgana whirled to face the cage. "You know how to make it work, don't you?"
"I do," Sofia said, crossing her arms defiantly, "but I don't see why I should tell you."
"Because," Morgana seethed, holding up an ornate wand that sparked with red energy, "if you don't, I'll MAKE you talk with a particularly NASTY spell!"
"Oh, no, please don't!" Sofia pretended to cower in fear, putting her arms up to shield her head. "Okay, I'll tell you! You have to put the amulet on first!"
"Good girl," Morgana purred, lowering the wand and raising the amulet to fasten around her neck.
Sofia thought out what her next move would be once Morgana had fixed the amulet in its resting place. She didn't get the chance. Before Morgana could close the clasp, the door burst open, and Neo strode into the room, shaking the corpse of an imp off her blade.
"WHAT the – " Pete blurted upon seeing her enter.
Morgana spun to face the door. "Who are YOU?"
Neo just grinned madly as Mim, Aghoul, and Cedric fell into line behind her.
"I know you!" Morgana realized.
"And well you should!" Mim snapped. "After all, you're not HALF the witch I am!"
"I didn't mean you," Morgana droned. She gestured toward Cedric. "I meant the washed-up sorcerer who tried to steal from my castle."
"I think you'll find I have a few more tricks up my sleeve than I did last time!" Cedric boasted, puffing out his chest.
"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia cried happily.
"Sofia!" Cedric's attention was turned to the cage momentarily. "Don't worry! I'll save you!" He then looked to the jewel in Morgana's hand: "But first, I have certain other matters to attend to."
Morgana tossed the amulet to Pete. "Keep this safe, and get rid of them!" she snapped.
"Righty-o, Morgana!" Pete stuffed the amulet deep into a pocket. "So ya got tricks up your sleeve, eh? Well, we got MORE tricks!" He snapped his fingers, laughing heartily as a small army of Shadows rose up from the floor and turned upon the four interlopers.
Immediately, Cedric and Neo went to work on the Shadows, blasting and stabbing the tiny creatures so that they collapsed into masses of Darkness that dissipated in the air. Pete charged Mim directly, drawing back a meaty fist; it was caught by the giant claw of the great magenta Grimm that Mim had transformed into. Aghoul, seeing an opening, summoned and lobbed an exploding skull; Morgana flicked her wrist and the skull imploded upon itself before it could touch her. Aghoul then brought his scythe into the fray, taking a swing at Morgana; the sorceress teleported out of its way, reappearing just a few inches to the side of where she'd been standing. Aghoul swept at her again and again with the curved blade, but she kept up the teleportation, making him unable to land a blow. In the meantime, Mim had shifted from Grimm to rhinoceros, shoving Pete so hard that he went rolling backward head over heels like a great misshapen ball.
The Shadows were not just attracted to their masters' foes; they sensed the light in the heart of the young princess held captive in the nearby cage. Sofia cried out as a crowd of the creatures surrounded the cage, toppling it and her on the side. One Heartless reached in through the bars, scraping with its long claws. "Mr. Cedric!" Sofia cried in terror. "HELP!"
"SOFIA!" Cedric's attention snapped toward the cage.
The Shadow succeeded in catching Sofia's arm with its claw, leaving a bleeding wound. The young princess screamed.
Cedric blasted a pathway through the Heartless surrounding the cage, transforming the bars into flowering vines that he easily ripped through, scooping Sofia into his arms. "We have to get you out of here," he said breathlessly, giving himself the command as well as Sofia the reassurance. He gave one last look at Pete, who had collided with the wall at the opposite end of the room. The Amulet of Avalor was still somewhere in his pockets. But there was no time to go after it; the Heartless were regrouping around Cedric, and carrying Sofia made the task of amulet retrieval awkward at best.
So he gave up and ran, bolting out of the chamber and down the hallway, clutching Sofia tightly. He could just come back for the Amulet of Avalor another time, he told himself, though deep down, he knew it wouldn't be that simple.
"My amulet – " Sofia began.
"There isn't time!" Cedric told her. "We have to keep you safe!"
And as they escaped Morgana's fortress, they were quickly forgotten, as all of their enemies were far too occupied with each other to care.
"Out of my way!" Mim shoved Aghoul aside, standing before Morgana. "I'M going to be the one to take HER down!"
"I don't think so," Morgana replied with a wicked grin, flicking her wand. Bolts of lightning burst forth from it, making a beeline for Mim's heart. Mim put out her hands and caught the electric energy, gathering it up as though it were a ball. She then lobbed it right back at Morgana, who teleported before it could hit home. Now feeling even more fed up than before, Mim threw a particular spell of sticking at Morgana's feet; a viscous green energy bound her feet to the floor, and as Morgana learned by trial, it prevented her from teleporting. Mim summoned a heavy double-sided axe to hand, swinging it at Morgana's midsection. Morgana protected herself with a quick deflection shield.
"The amulet!" she yelled at Pete. "Give it to me! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"
Pete had only just righted himself and gotten his bearings. Upon hearing Morgana's call, he obediently retrieved the Amulet of Avalor from his pocket and lobbed it at Morgana. Morgana cast a great shockwave that sent Mim and Aghoul flying across the room and into a bookshelf; Neo, fighting off the last of the Shadows at the edge of the chamber, was caught by the periphery of the spell and stumbled a little. With her vicinity cleared, Morgana quickly fastened the amulet around her neck; it began to glow bright violet. Sensing some sort of great power bubbling up from the amulet, Morgana began to laugh long and loud.
With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power was granted, a gift or a curse. Morgana's outright attempts to harm and murder her opponents did not sit well with the judgment system of the Amulet of Avalor, and so it opted to grant her a curse. It did not give her a debilitating physical feature. It did not hinder her magic. Instead, it referred to a particular curse it had given a young thieving girl once. The girl had wanted to summon a princess, and so the amulet had given her one – an evil princess, Ivy, who had launched a coup on her kingdom and betrayed her. And so, to spite Morgana, the amulet summoned another force of chaos that Morgana could not possibly control: another evil princess. However, this one was a far cry from Ivy.
She appeared in a flash of light, resplendent in a gown of red that stood out brightly against her chestnut skin and shining dark hair. Absolutely baffled, she gazed around the room. Everyone else, similarly confused by her appearance, froze in place; Neo drove her blade through the last of the Shadows.
"Who are YOU?" Morgana huffed.
"Princess Irmaplotz," the newcomer said haughtily. "Commander of monsters, mistress of Darkness, and indebted for three hundred late fees on library books. Who are YOU?"
"Morgana le Fay!" Morgana replied, taken aback. "The greatest and most beautiful sorceress in the known multiverse, and archenemy of Merlin!"
"Now, you take that back!" Mim snapped. "You know quite well that I'M the greatest sorceress in the known multiverse, and the archenemy of Merlin! Though you can keep all that nasty beauty to yourself. Being the ugliest is better anyway."
"The Amulet of Avalor must have summoned you to help me!" Morgana theorized. "Irmaplotz! Side with me and destroy this poseur once and for all!"
"No!" Mim barked. "Side with ME and help me destroy this braggart sorceress!"
Irmaplotz put up both hands, one to Mim and one to Morgana. "Okay, before I pick a side, I'm gonna have to know which of you does poetry."
"Uhhhhhh…" Morgana was at a loss for words.
"Corpse flowers are purple," Aghoul began. "Pitcher plants are green."
"When I rip out your organs," Mim concluded, "I'll start with your spleen!"
Irmaplotz jabbed a thumb toward Mim. "Okay, yeah, I'm with them."
The battle resumed. Pete swung a fist at Neo, only for her to duck just a hair to the left of the punch. He tried again, and she sidled to the right. Now fully enraged, Pete aimed a series of rapid punches at the slender sadist only to be denied again and again.
Morgana swept several wands from their resting places on her tables and wall, arranging them out in front of her defensively. All of them fired rays of pure destructive energy at once, pouring out toward Mim, Aghoul, and Irmaplotz. The trio of intended victims put out their hands, sending a triple wave of magic right back, stopping the offensive energy in its tracks. As both sides poured magic toward the centerpoint, there seemed to be a stalemate.
And that was when Aghoul got the idea.
"I know just the spell that will put her in her place!" he cried. "We're going to make the Amulet of Avalor dormant after all!"
"Is that what she's using to attack us?" Irmaplotz asked.
"No," Aghoul replied. "Just what brought you here."
"Then why are we going after that instead of the wands?" Irmaplotz pressed.
"Because…" Aghoul whispered the rest of his plan.
"OOOOOOOH!" Mim squealed. "How delightful!"
"I'm going to need to channel this spell through the two of you!" Aghoul stated. "On three, I'll drop my end of the spell, and you two take my hands and put my energy back out through your own magic! All three of us casting it together should make it work! ONE!"
Neo backflipped out of Pete's way, landing neatly in front of the wall and giving him a look that dared him to try again. Clenching his teeth and fists, Pete geared up for one final charge; "GET OUTTA MY WAY!"
"TWO!"
Pete hurled himself at Neo, who evaded expertly yet again. Pete smacked fully into the wall, leaving a faint indent and stumbling away dizzily from the impact to his head.
"THREE!"
Aghoul dropped his hand, reaching for Mim and Irmaplotz's free hands and clutching them tightly. Mim, having channeled through Mozenrath before, knew immediately what to do. Irmaplotz figured it out through pure necessity. As Aghoul cast the spell that would affect Morgana and the amulet, it became the only spell that the trio was pouring out, and it was pushing back hard against Morgana's many wands. As one, Mim, Aghoul, and Irmaplotz steeled themselves to give the spell a final shove; with a combined "ARGH!", they forced it to overpower Morgana's magic and engulf the sorceress.
"No!" Morgana screamed when she realized that she was becoming saturated with an enemy spell. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Amulet of Avalor glowed once more: a gleaming lavender. In a twinkle, Morgana vanished, being pulled inside the amulet, a prisoner within its gem. Then the amulet lost its luster, stripped of all of its magic; Morgana could not escape. The gem clinked uselessly onto the floor.
Aghoul strode casually over to it and picked it up, presenting it to Mim. "For you, my dearest. The one who thought she could take your title imprisoned forever in a dead jewel."
"I'll treasure it forever!" Mim cackled, fastening it around her neck.
Pete's head finally cleared, and he got a good look around. Morgana was gone. The amulet was in enemy hands, and the enemy significantly outnumbered him. And besides, even if they didn't, no matter how many Shadows Pete called up, he had it thoroughly demonstrated to him that Neo could take them and him all on her own, as embarrassing as it was to realize. "I'm gettin' outta here!" he decided, barreling out of the room at top speed. Reporting in to Maleficent without the Amulet of Avalor wasn't going to be pretty, but he would at least live a little longer than he would have had he stayed in the same room as Mim, Aghoul, Neo, and Irmaplotz.
After admiring the dull purple gem for a while and thinking of the torment of the sorceress within, Mim realized what she'd been called. "Wait a moment. What do you mean, 'dearest'?"
"Mim, my lovely thorny thistle," Aghoul gushed, lowering himself to a knee, "you've made me utterly smitten with you. I've never had a wife like you, and there never will be anyone like you to come. Everything you do is absolutely disgusting in the most attractive way! Won't you accept this gift of your nemesis trapped inside jewelry as a token of the closest thing I can feel to love?"
"Now, wait just a minute, you!" Mim snapped. "If you think I'm going to be another one of your wives, you can just rule that out right now!"
Aghoul's countenance fell.
"First of all, if you and I are going to be involved, marriage is OUT of the question," Mim explained. "Oh, I'll have you for my own, all right, but I'm not going to be anyone's housewife! Second of all, while your gruesomeness and macabre charm make you the most alluring man a witch could ever want, if I find someone else I like, you're going to have to share me with him!"
"Does…that mean if I find another woman who comes close to you, and I want her," Aghoul asked, "you'll share me with her?"
"Fair is fair," Mim decided. "So yes."
"And you'll be mine and make me the happiest ghoul this side of the Netherworld?"
"Only if you'll make me the happiest sorceress to have ever crossed Merlin!"
Aghoul rose to his feet, and Mim wrapped her arms around him and drew him in for a deep, fierce kiss. While it caught him off guard at first, he quickly submitted, drowning in ecstasy. Neo applauded.
"Um, excuse me?" Irmaplotz interrupted. "What's supposed to happen to me now?"
Mim and Aghoul separated themselves from each other to look at the princess, who was fixing them with an accusatory glare, hands on her hips. "Well, I suppose the amulet would have sent you right back where it came from if it were still working," Mim mused. "But it's not, so it won't."
"So I'm stuck here?" Irmaplotz sighed.
"Well, not necessarily," Mim replied. "After all, you did put up a good scrap. You said you were a commander of monsters and a mistress of Darkness?"
"Well, mostly zombies," Irmaplotz confessed. "And, for what it's worth, I'm a decent shot at underwater unicycle archery."
Mim glanced at Aghoul, then Neo. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking…?"
"Mozenrath won't mind," Aghoul surmised. "After all, he let us bring Vexen home. For all we know, he's picked up more strays while we were out."
"So you're basically going to kidnap me and bring me back to whoever this 'Mozenrath' is," Irmaplotz summarized.
"You'll get to add your villainy to a beautiful collection of sorcerers, witches, mad scientists, criminals, con men, manipulators, and murderers like you've never seen before!" Mim promised.
"Not to mention we can dig up some books of poetry," Aghoul suggested. "Provided you earn it with suitable acts of evil."
Irmaplotz thought it over for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay. I'm with you. I've got some stuff I'm sick of dealing with back home, and doing evil with some fellow villains should get my mind off things."
"You'll love it with us!" Mim promised. "Oh, I almost forgot. Allow me to introduce myself: the marvelous, magnificent Mad Madam Mim, the one TRUE nemesis of Merlin!"
"Ayam Aghoul," Aghoul added. "Master of the Macabre."
"And that's Neo," Mim concluded, pointing at the third member of their outfit. "She doesn't say much unless her weapon's doing the talking."
"Cool." Irmaplotz smirked. "So where are you guys stationed?"
Mim cast a Corridor of Darkness. "Right this way, your highness!"
Irmaplotz walked through first; Neo skipped after. When Mim and Aghoul brought up the rear, they grasped each other's hand and held on tightly. Mim's hands were rough; Aghoul's were cold and clammy. There was no better feeling as far as either was concerned.
...
As sundown drew near, word spread of the battle about to commence in the great arena of Terra Valhalla. The arena was massive, its seating raised above the combat area below, so as to put the combatants in a high-walled pit and protect the audience. There was no roof, giving an expansive view of the sky. People from both inside and outside the royal fortress wished to witness the fight, and so the arena filled quickly.
"Look what I found!" Snipe bragged as he led Ravess and Yzma through the maze of seats. "Best seats in the house!"
It turned out he had parked Mozenrath next to a massive, ornate black throne decorated with the wings of carved ravens. A smaller throne wrought of gold and silver, patterned after the horns of a stag, was adjacent to it. "I get the big chair," Snipe explained. "You two can fight over the sissy chair."
"You do realize these are the thrones of the king," Yzma pointed out. Ravess merely buried her head in both hands and let out a growl of frustration.
"They are?" Snipe took another look at the embellished furniture. "Huh. Well, that'd sure explain why no one else was usin' 'em!"
"Come on, brother," Ravess sighed, tugging at Snipe's arm. "We'll find somewhere else. Somewhere that ISN'T likely to get us killed over it."
Snipe hoisted Mozenrath up under his arm, a routine Mozenrath was truly tired of. Snipe smelled of sweat and more sweat.
As the two siblings made to look for other chairs, they realized Yzma was not with them. They turned to see her settling into the large black throne. "What?" she said innocently. "I just wanted to see if it was comfortable."
"It is, isn't it?" a booming voice laughed; Ocula hovered over Yzma.
"Your majesty!" Yzma replied, giggling nervously. "I was just – "
"Keeping my seat warm, were you?"
"Yes?"
"Run along," Ocula commanded, "before I stop seeing the humor in the situation. Unless you'd like to challenge me for the throne?"
"Not our intention," Yzma hurriedly said as she leapt up from the throne and followed Ravess and Snipe away from the thrones. "At least…not today," she muttered under her breath.
As Ocula sat down, Capercaillie hurried to the silver-and-gold throne. "Father!" he huffed, nearly out of breath. "You cannot allow the battle to go on!"
"And why is that, Capercaillie?" Ocula asked with suspicion.
"These people…I am more sure than ever that they mean to use the Leviathan Crystals for harm!" Capercaillie insisted. "We found the Storm Hawk Piper captive aboard their ship! They must be stopped and tried for their crimes now!"
"You know the law of the land, Capercaillie," Ocula reminded him. "What they do outside of the field does not affect the outcome of the battle."
"But Father!"
"You shall just have to hope that either Sora or Huginnmuninn prevails."
On the other side of the arena, Ruby, Papyrus, and Stork positioned Piper against a chair and looked out to the arena. Stork's attention was drawn up to the thrones, where Capercaillie pleaded with his father. "Well," he sighed, "looks like our plan of getting Ocula to call the fight off isn't gonna work."
"IT WON'T MATTER!" Papyrus said confidently. "SORA IS GOING TO PUT THE OTHER COMPETITORS IN THEIR PLACES! AND THOSE PLACES ARE FAR AWAY FROM THE LEVIATHAN CRYSTAL!"
"Here's hoping we're not just plain doomed," Stork groaned.
As the moon rose high into the sky, Ocula inserted the base of his spear into a socket in the arm of his throne, and the battlefield below began to change. Crystals lit up all around the arena, illuminating the space where the tussle was to take place. A circular platform gave way in the center of the arena, and a column rose from below the floor; a hemispherical crystal, layered and colored like a rose and surrounded by several smaller brethren of the same color, lay upon the column beneath a crystal dome.
Ocula brought a crystal-enhanced megaphone to his lips, and his voice boomed out over the arena: "TONIGHT, THREE WARRIORS CHALLENGE EACH OTHER FOR POSSESSION OF THE LEVIATHAN CRYSTAL! THE HUNTSMAN, OF A TERRA UNKNOWN! SORA, OF A TERRA UNKONWN! AND HUGINNMUNINN, OF TERRA VALHALLA! ONLY ONE SHALL WALK AWAY BEARING THE REWARD!"
Three doors set apart at equilateral distances in the arena walls opened up. From one, a heavily muscled man clad in mail shorts and epaulets, wielding a double-bladed axe that seemed half his size, strode forward. He fitted a bright red crystal to the base of the axe, and the blades suddenly lit up red, burning hot. Stork recognized this warrior's weapon as being powered by an Inferno Crystal: a rarity on the side of Atmos he came from, but something a little more common on this side. This was Huginnmuninn. His face spoke of grave confidence.
From the second door came the Huntsman, who had replaced the stone on the huntstaff with his traditional green gem.
"THAT'S HIM!" Ruby cried, pointing. "THAT'S THE SAME GUY!"
And finally, Sora walked coolly out onto the battlefield, Keyblade hoisted over his shoulder. As he approached the Huntsman and Huginnmuninn, his gaze became fixed upon the former. "Don't I know you?" he asked.
The Huntsman glared in response. "I recall you," he growled. "So you would challenge me for the crystal?"
"He challenges us both," Huginnmuninn stated, his voice a low rumble. "And you both challenge me, as I challenge both of you."
"WARRIORS AT THE READY!" Ocula's voice boomed.
Sora removed the Keyblade from his shoulder and took a fighting stance. The Huntsman braced himself with his staff. Huginnmuninn smacked the shaft of his axe into his hand.
"You could just give up now," Sora whispered to the Huntsman. "Save yourself the embarrassment."
"As you could walk away," the Huntsman replied. "You could spare your life that much longer."
"BEGIN!" Ocula yelled, and the entire audience erupted into cheers as the three warriors each made their first blows.
Huginnmuninn struck out at Sora, who deftly leapt backward. Sora cast the Keyblade out toward the Huntsman, letting it fly and spin toward its target; the Huntsman parried with his staff, sidestepping at the same time. The Huntsman then turned the point of his staff toward Huginnmuninn and charged; Huginnmuninn brought down his axe so that the point of the huntstaff clanked harmlessly off the flat of it, generating sparks. Huginnmuninn next swung his axe at the Huntsman, who dodged directly into the path of Sora casting a Blizzard spell; suddenly the Huntsman found one arm encased in ice. He transferred the huntstaff to the other arm and used it to strike the coating of ice away, melting it upon contact with his weapon. He fired off three blasts of green at Sora, who blocked each before taking a run at the Huntsman. Sora, however, found his course diverted when Huginnmuninn took another swing at him; he leapt onto the flat of Huginnmuninn's axe, propelling himself off the weapon and taking a flying leap at the Huntsman. Keyblade met huntstaff with such force that the Huntsman was sent skidding back a few feet before Sora vaulted over him, landing behind. Sora whirled to deal a blow directly to the Huntsman, but was stopped when Huginnmuninn's blade came down hard like a wall between them.
Ravess felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned in the direction of the touch to see Yzma looking at her meaningfully.
"Yes?" Ravess said in confusion.
A small glass bottle went sliding into Ravess' lap.
The archer held it up. "One of your po – "
"Hm-hm." Yzma cut her off with a loud clearing of the throat. She then pantomimed lifting up a bow, drawing back the string, and letting an arrow fly.
"You want me to…fire an arrow," Ravess stated.
Yzma made a motion as though she were dipping something into something else.
Snipe leaned over to see what the fuss was about. "Wha? You want me to bring back pretzels and hot sauce?"
After giving herself a hearty smack on the forehead, Yzma removed an arrow from Ravess' quiver, uncorked the bottle of potion she'd handed over, and dipped the arrow tip in the transformation serum before handing the newly poisoned arrow back over to Ravess.
"Ohhhhhhh," Ravess realized.
"Though I'll take a rain check on those pretzels," Yzma told Snipe.
Ravess fitted the arrow to her bow, drew back, and let loose. The arrow sailed downward, into the battlefield, until it pierced its intended target. Huginnmuninn had only enough time to remove the arrow from the flesh of his back and look at it curiously before he was suddenly gone.
A cry of horror went up through the crowd. "CHEATING!" Capercaillie cried, getting to his feet. "ONE SIDE IS CHEATING!"
Ocula put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Sit down, Capercaillie."
"But, Father! One side had help from the audience! And I'm sure I know who!"
"We shall see how the battle plays out," Ocula stated harshly, his single eye fixed on the arena.
"Father!"
"Knowing when to cheat is merely one of the strategies of battle, Capercaillie."
"What's going on?" a high, tinny voice squeaked from the floor of the arena. The Huntsman and Sora both looked down to see a tiny salamander, albeit a well-built one.
"Are you…?" Sora began.
"I am Huginnmuninn!" the salamander squeaked. "Champion of Terra Valhalla! And I demand to know what has happened to me!"
Before Sora could answer, the Huntsman raised his boot, intending to bring it down hard on Huginnmuninn.
"NO!" Sora dove, scooping the transfigured warrior into his hands and sliding onto the floor. The Huntsman's foot planted into his midsection. Sora gave a toss with both hands, and Huginnmuninn went scurrying across the arena until he was out of sight.
"You FOOL!" the Huntsman roared, dealing a second kick that sent Sora rolling. "No matter. The champion is still defeated. That leaves only you in my way."
Sora scrambled to his feet, bracing his blade. "ONLY me, huh? You're gonna eat THOSE words!"
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Papyrus wondered out loud.
"I dunno!" Ruby replied worriedly. "One minute, that other guy was there, and now he's not!"
"Someone fired an arrow at him," Stork muttered, tracing the visual trajectory of the arrow back into the audience. "And I know exactly where that arrow came…oh. Ohhhhhhhh, this is not good."
"What is it?" Ruby whimpered. "WHAT IS IT?"
"We have, uh, two rogue ex-Cyclonians in the audience," Stork identified. "Ravess and Snipe. And I think we can all guess who they're helping."
Sora and the Huntsman glared daggers at each other for a moment. Then they rushed, blades swinging hard at each other.
Those blades never met, because at that moment, all hell broke loose.
A column of green flames erupted from the arena floor right between Sora and the Huntsman. When it subsided, it left two people standing in its wake: one facing Sora and one facing the Huntsman.
"I hear you've been going around invoking the name of Cyclonia in petty robberies," Cyclonis taunted the Huntsman, twirling her staff in a hand.
"So we meet again, Keybearer," Maleficent told Sora with a smirk.
"MALEFICENT!" Sora tightened his grip on his blade.
"I don't see what business it is of yours," the Huntsman told Cyclonis coolly.
"As the Master of Cyclonia," Cyclonis replied, "I take claims about my kingdom VERY seriously. However, I'm not here to make small talk with you. I'm here for – "
At the sight of Maleficent, Stork had nearly overflowed with anger and hatred. He vaulted over the side of the seating area, dropping down into the arena proper, landing on all fours to absorb the shock. And once he had gone, Ruby and Papyrus immediately deemed it necessary to follow, leaping into the ring after him. The sudden appearance of the trio cut Cyclonis off. "Well, well," she said with a grin. "If it isn't Stork. I thought I fried you with the rest of the Storm Hawks."
"You," Stork seethed. He extended an arm, pointing dramatically at Cyclonis. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"
"Fret not over this peasantry," Maleficent told Cyclonis. "The Keybearer seems to make friends wherever he goes, and hardly ever are they less pathetic than he."
"HEY!" Sora rushed Maleficent, blade drawn back, only to be thrown back by a projectile of magical energy bigger than he was.
While Maleficent was distracted casting her spell toward Sora, Stork charged the pair. He leapt at Cyclonis, who watched him with a smile, not making a move. Suddenly, Stork's arms were seized from behind by a pair of Nightcrawlers. The audience now noticed the creatures crawling into the arena from all directions, some entering through Corridors of Darkness.
"LISTEN WELL!" Maleficent slammed her staff on the ground, sending a shockwave over the arena that caused all it hit to stagger. "You will surrender the Book of Prophecies and the Leviathan Crystal to me, or your Terra shall be destroyed!"
Ruby let off a volley of shots at one of the Nightcrawlers holding Stork back while Papyrus unleashed a barrage of bones at the other; Stork was quickly dropped, and Ruby and Papyrus hurried to flank him, keeping him guarded.
Ocula rose from his throne. "Though I know not this book you speak of, there is only one way for you to win the crystal you seek," he informed Maleficent through his megaphone. "As all others, you must win it through combat!"
"Father, isn't this ENOUGH?" Capercaillie moaned. "She's threatening destruction of all Terra Valhalla if she doesn't get her way!"
"You will not be taking the Leviathan Crystal this day," the Huntsman announced, striding closer to Cyclonis and Maleficent, his staff braced. "Either fairly or unfairly. That crystal belongs to me."
Maleficent turned to face him for the first time. "And what fool do you think you are to challenge me?"
Ravess, Snipe, and Yzma dropped into the arena to flank the Huntsman, their own weapons drawn. Maleficent's eyes sought out the place from whence they had jumped, and her gaze alit upon the still figure frozen where they had left him behind. At this sight, she began to laugh. All froze, watching her, wondering what had brought on this madness, until she explained; "Disciples of Mozenrath! You truly believe you can defeat me? Me, the Mistress of All Evil? Your leader is a fool and a sham! Look at him now, bound by magic, unable to move! Is this who you put your trust in to fight for you? Is this what you believe sets you apart from me?"
"And look who else went crawling to that sham the first chance they found someone to grovel to," Cyclonis taunted Ravess and Snipe.
"Like YOU'RE anything without US!" Snipe laughed. "Banishing us was the biggest mistake you ever made! We were the strongest warriors you had, and now you…now you…now you don't have us anymore! So HA!"
"Not QUITE true," Cyclonis corrected. "I had one warrior stronger than either of you. And now I'm allied with someone who has power even over death. Turns out Maleficent can bring back anyone she wants. I'd ask you to do the math, but we all know you're not smart enough."
"So, uh…" Snipe tried to work it out. "You had one guy that was stronger than either of us…"
"Why, that could only be the Dark Ace," Ravess presumed.
"And we never found out what happened to him," Snipe went on. "But now you've teamed up with somebody who can bring people back from the dead, and THAT means…and THAT means…"
The Huntsman and Yzma had it worked out immediately. However, they weren't the ones to inform Snipe of the conclusion to the puzzle. A new Corridor of Darkness opened up next to Maleficent and Cyclonis, and a tall, broad-chested figure came striding through.
"It means," the Dark Ace stated, "this battle is already over. We've won." He drew his long, broad sword from his back, letting it glow with inferno power. "Unless you're fool enough to challenge us."
"STORK?" Papyrus asked. "DO YOU KNOW THIS 'DARK ACE' PERSON?"
"Yes," Stork squeaked.
"AND HOW MUCH MORE TROUBLE ARE WE IN?"
"If King Ocula decided to hold a memorial service for us now, it wouldn't be that presumptuous."
"Wait a minute!" Sora had regained his bearings, running back toward the assembled villains. "You're not all…working together?" His eyes flicked between Maleficent and the Huntsman.
Maleficent gestured back to the Huntsman, Ravess, Snipe, and Yzma. "What you see before you is a collection of petulant fools," she informed Sora. "The most they've been good for is keeping you at bay."
"Ohhhh, as if YOU'RE so great," Yzma barked. "So far, we've beaten you and your henchmen…and henchwomen…at every turn!"
"Shall we settle this?" Maleficent asked. "The old fool wishes to see us fight for the crystal. Perhaps it is the only way for you to see how outmatched you truly are! NIGHTCRAWLERS! Bring me the Book of Prophecies by whatever means necessary!"
At Maleficent's command, the Nightcrawlers went wild, attacking whomever was unlucky enough to be in their way. Capercaillie and Ocula both leapt into action, drawing their weapons and surging toward the first Nightcrawlers they saw. Whatever Ocula's feelings about the combat ring, he held fast to the belief that the fight should take place completely within it and not spill over to harm the innocents who had gathered to watch. Capercaillie swung at a Nightcrawler's head with his hammer while his father struck out with his spear. Several Nightcrawlers attempted to enter the arena to assist Maleficent, Cyclonis, and the Dark Ace, but as they tried to spill in, they were picked off one by one by Ravess' sharp aim.
An unspoken agreement passed between all three factions that they were to battle for the Leviathan Crystal. Sora charged from one direction. Snipe and Yzma rushed in from another. Cyclonis and the Dark Ace surged from the third. Stork, Papyrus, and Ruby charged in from the fourth.
Maleficent, however, stayed rooted in place. She watched Stork leap over the heads of his allies to get closer to her, murder in his eyes. She watched Stork skid to a halt as more bright lime-tinted flames surrounded her and her shape began to stretch taller and wider. She watched Stork freeze in place, horror-stricken, far below her gaze, as she completed her transformation into a humongous ebony dragon. She watched Stork turn and run the other way at top speed once he realized how much he'd underestimated his enemy.
But she did not overhear the Huntsman, who observed this transformation, muttering, "You've just made your first mistake…dragon." He charged at Maleficent at full speed, knowing the first tactic she would use would be to try her fire breath. She noticed him coming, and opened her maw, shooting a beam of green heat; the Huntsman dodged this, plunging his blade into her foreleg. Maleficent responded by turning and leaping so fast that the huntstaff dislodged from her skin immediately, turning a 360 and hoping to knock the Huntsman over with her tail; the Huntsman jumped over it effortlessly. Spinning back around to face the Huntsman, Maleficent struck like a cobra, hoping to snap him up between her fanged jaws. The Huntsman took the opportunity to leap onto her head, aiming his staff for her neck; Maleficent quickly twisted and flung the Huntsman against the arena wall. He shook the impact off and went back for more.
Snipe had trouble picking his first target, but once he realized one of them was a walking, talking skeleton, he realized that one would probably be the most fun to crush; bones would fly everywhere! He rushed Papyrus, mace held high, but as he brought the mace down, it was halted by a wall of bones. Papyrus conjured up several more bone projectiles to send at Snipe, absolutely pummeling him. Snipe, however, was as a brick wall: largely unaffected. He took another swing with his mace only to meet another shield of bone. Even if Papyrus couldn't land a blow on offense, he was putting up quite a good defense.
The Dark Ace, on the other hand, went for Ruby. "What's this?" he laughed. "A little girl? I'm tired of children who think they're stronger than me."
His blade swung through the air and was immediately caught in the curve of Crescent Rose. "And I'm getting pretty tired of bullies," Ruby told him. Their blades parted, then met again and again in a shower of sparks.
Cyclonis, on the other hand, had engaged in battle with Sora, her staff clashing against his Keyblade. "You can still give up," she told him. "Let us have the Leviathan Crystal and the Book of Prophecies, and we will let the people of this Terra live."
"They don't have the Book of Prophecies!" Sora reminded Cyclonis. "The king didn't know what you were talking about!"
"Whether or not he does have it," Cyclonis commented as she spun her staff around for another blow, "we've already searched most of this side of Atmos for it and destroyed nearly every Terra. If he doesn't give us the book, we'll just be forced to tear down this one too before we move on to the other side."
Her words chilled Sora, and even though he didn't know the finer details of the search of the Book of Prophecies, he knew he had to do something, say something, if he wanted the destruction to end. "He can't give you the book!" Sora insisted as he blocked Cyclonis' next blow and went in for one of his own.
"Because he doesn't have it?" Cyclonis mocked as she parried.
"Yeah!" Sora insisted. "He doesn't know where it is. But I do!"
"What?" Cyclonis spat.
"And I've hidden it somewhere far away in all the worlds, where you'll never find it!" Sora taunted.
"You're bluffing!" Cyclonis hissed.
"Only one way for you to find out!" Sora told her. "Beat me, and we'll talk!"
Gritting her teeth, Cyclonis turned the staff on Sora to fire a beam of energy at him. Sora merely cast Reflega, turning the energy of the staff back out toward Cyclonis in a burst of light; the young Master was sent toppling.
"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" Sora laughed.
In all the chaos, everyone seemed to have forgotten about Yzma, who had taken cover behind Ravess as the archer took down any Nightcrawler that got too brave. Her atlatl was still loaded with a dart, and that dart was tipped with a nasty potion. As the battles before her raged, Yzma sought out a worthy target. Ruby and the Dark Ace continued their clash nearby, and Yzma already decided she didn't like either of them. She tapped Ravess on the shoulder; "Got a coin?"
"Why do you want a COIN?" Ravess shrieked, not taking her eyes off her next target.
"Oh, forget it, I'm sure I have one on me somewhere." Yzma sought out a pocket sewn into her dress for just the occasion of carrying loose change. Sure enough, there was a single quarter there. She set down the atlatl for a moment to give it a toss; "Heads, the girl; tails, the pretty boy!"
The coin descended, and Yzma smacked it down on the back of her hand. Uncovering it, she nodded at the result. "Heads it is."
As Stork hurtled away from Maleficent, Yzma caught the corner of his eye. He saw her loading up her weapon and aiming it. From where he stood, he couldn't tell if he was going for Ruby or the Dark Ace. One of those, he wouldn't have minded at all, but the thought of the other…
"RUBY!" he cried, adjusting his course. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
"WHAT?" Ruby turned to see Stork making his way toward her as quickly as he could. She ducked backward just in time for the Dark Ace's sword to miss cutting into her face by a hair's breadth; she could feel the heat radiating from the blade.
Yzma let the dart fly.
And suddenly, in between the dart and Yzma's target, there was Stork, reaching for the projectile, grabbing the dart by the shaft but not before it pierced the skin of his stomach. He let out a yelp and hit the ground.
Then he disappeared entirely.
"STORK!" Ruby cried in horror. She spun in circles and circles with Crescent Rose, using the back of it to knock the Dark Ace across the arena. She then rushed to the place where she'd last seen Stork, looking around for some sign of him: "Oh, no, nononononono, PLEASE don't be gone, please don't be GONE!"
"I'm FINE!" a small voice piped up near Ruby's ear. "Just KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE FIELD!"
"Huh?" Ruby turned to see a small green bat flapping furiously in the air near her head. "Um…Stork? Is that…"
"I'm a bat now," Stork sighed. "I don't know how. And right now, I don't CARE. Just DO NOT let the Dark Ace get a sneak attack on you!"
"Right!" Ruby nodded. "Stay by me! I'll protect you!"
The Dark Ace rebounded, taking a run at Ruby; she opened fire on him, slowing him down.
The Nightcrawlers were learning the hard way that an attack on Terra Valhalla was unlike an attack on any other Terra they had experienced so far. The citizens were imbued in a culture of battle, even moreso than your average denizen of Atmos, Nearly every one of them had carried a weapon, and as they were attacked, they fought back. And they were winning, especially with Capercaillie and Ocula throwing their forces into the ring, so to speak. However, it didn't take them long to find one of the few people in the audience unable to defend themselves. As soon as they realized Mozenrath wasn't moving and in fact couldn't move, several of the Nightcrawlers pitched him headfirst over the edge of the arena, watching eagerly for the carnage that would ensue when he hit ground.
It wasn't until after Mozenrath had thrown out his hand to halt his descent, stalling himself in midair, that he realized he had gotten his mobility back. Making a careful flip down onto the field of chaos, he made a beeline for the dome containing the Leviathan Crystal. After all, that was why they were there in the first place.
Having sent Cyclonis flying across the field, Sora spotted Mozenrath, skidding in between him and the crystal. "Hold it right there!"
Mozenrath was faced with a conundrum. He knew he wasn't a match for Sora; that much remained in his memory from their brief encounter in Radiant Garden. However, he wasn't about to turn tail and run because of it. At least not empty-handed. "You should really run along home and leave this to the grown-ups," he sighed.
"Not a chance!" Sora snapped. "I'm not letting you take this crystal!"
"You just HAVE to be a constant thorn in my side, don't you, Sora?" Mozenrath groaned.
"How do you know my name?" Sora was caught off guard. "Who ARE you, anyway?"
"You should probably know at this point," Mozenrath said with a grin, spreading his arms wide. His entire body glowed with a blue aura as he made his introduction: "I am Mozenrath. Lord of the Black Sands, scourge of the Seven Deserts, and soon to be ruler of all the worlds that are!"
"Seven Deserts?" Sora repeated. Why did that sound familiar?
He didn't have much time to think on it before Mozenrath charged up a bolt of magic and lobbed it directly at Sora. Sora attempted to Reflect it back, but Mozenrath was quick to teleport, zapping in behind Sora. Cyclonis, running at Sora for another attack, caught the brunt of the Reflected blow. Mozenrath charged his fist with magic, using it to smash through the crystal dome and levitate the Leviathan Crystals from their home setting.
No sooner had he done so than he was blasted off his feet. He wasn't the only one to have regained mobility. When Mozenrath got his bearings, he saw Piper, clutching two of the smaller Leviathan Crystals, standing over him. "Don't you dare!" she barked.
Mozenrath actually laughed. "You again. You just don't know when to give up, do you?"
"I beat you once," Piper reminded him. "I can do it again!" She aimed the crystals at where the sorcerer lay.
But then he was gone, having teleported behind her. "One problem with that," he told her. "I know your tricks now."
His next blow sent Piper tumbling across the arena. She was quick to rebound, weighing the crystals in her hands. She remembered what they could do when in the hands of Cyclonis. Perhaps it was time to let out a bit of their darker nature.
Mozenrath had gone back to trying to levitate the larger crystal; Piper ran at him with hands extended and crystals pointed outward. Two silhouetted serpentine monsters extended from the stones, snapping their jaws at Mozenrath. One caught each of his upper arms, and they dragged him down and back, causing him to let go of the large crystal once more. A single blow from the gauntlet severed the necks of the semi-holographic creatures, and Mozenrath rolled around into a standing position, sending a shower of sparks over Piper's head. Piper ducked and rolled before getting up for another shot.
The Huntsman was still locked in a fierce battle with Maleficent. When next she tried to roast him, he was able to block it with a deflection shield conjured from the green gem of his huntstaff. When she swiped at him with her ferocious claws, he deftly rolled away, managing to dig the point of his spear into some other part of her body. Maleficent was becoming more and more aggravated. This was obviously a man who had spent much time around dragons and learned to counter all of their attacks. Perhaps, she thought, she was better off taking another form.
But the thought came too late. When Yzma had transformed Huginnmuninn, he had left his enormous axe behind, and it lay blazing on the ground where warrior had become salamander. The Huntsman, seized with a flash of inspiration, dove for the axe, hefting it up with all of his strength – he realized then just how much more weight Huginnmuninn was able to carry than he was, for the axe was quite difficult to lift. Red-hot energy coursed through its blades. The Huntsman spun in a circle once, twice before letting the weapon fly.
Unlike the sword of Prince Philip that had sent Maleficent to her doom so long ago, the axe of Huginnmuninn was not blessed by faerie magic. It was, however, sharp and superheated. When it struck Maleficent in the chest, she knew the wound would not be fatal; all the same, it elicited a scream of utter pain from her and caused her to stumble, quickly changing form back into a humanoid woman. Her staff materialized in her hand, and she attempted to raise it against the Huntsman only to be forced down by her many wounds, using the staff as a crutch to keep herself propped up.
Around this time, Sora had become fed up with Cyclonis' constant attacks. "All right!" he resolved. "Time to get some real firepower in here!" He dug into a pants pocket until he found a small medallion. Raising the Summon Gem high, he cried out, "I could use a little help here!"
The Summon Gem tugged at the aura of one who was far away; several worlds away, in fact. As soon as he felt the pull of the gem, he knew he was needed by Sora, and he was all too happy to oblige. In a cloud of bright blue smoke, he appeared, floating over the battlefield: big, blue, and lighter than air.
"What is THAT?" Cyclonis growled.
"Just your friendly neighborhood semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic Genie!" the newcomer introduced himself.
The familiar voice startled Mozenrath. "The Genie?" As he turned his head to look, he opened himself up to a hard blow from Piper's crystals.
"Genie!" Sora greeted. "Good to see you!"
"Thanks for inviting me to the party," Genie replied, "though something tells me you didn't give HER an invitation. How many uninvited guests are we talkin' here?"
"Start with her!" Sora suggested.
Ruby leapt back in between Sora, Genie, and Cyclonis, fending off another blow from the Dark Ace. The Dark Ace swung his blade once again, and Ruby sped to the side. Stork clung to her shoulder all the while.
"And while you're at it, that guy with the huge sword!" Sora added.
"One fireworks show, comin' up!" Genie made a show of pretending to roll up his sleeves.
"Will you start making SENSE?" Cyclonis spat.
Genie extended a hand toward her and a hand toward the Dark Ace, and a barrage of fireworks and rockets hurtled toward each, catching the two Cyclonians up in a wave of colorful explosions. Ruby and Stork fell in line next to Sora, and they watched the pyrotechnic display throw their foes about. When the fireworks dissipated, Cyclonis and the Dark Ace were removed of all of their energy, lying on the floor and refusing to get up for their bruises and burns.
Maleficent locked eyes with Sora. "This is not over," she said coldly before columns of green flame enveloped her, Cyclonis, and the Dark Ace, taking all three away.
"Summon gem's almost out of time!" Genie told Sora. "Not to mention I think I left the oven on. Anything else before I go?"
"Nah," Sora replied. "We should be able to handle the rest of 'em on our own!"
"They all look like pushovers to me anyway!" Genie remarked, surveying the field…and then he saw the all-too-familiar face. "EXCEPT THAT ONE!" He pointed in fear at Mozenrath.
Mozenrath would have responded, but Piper was putting up a strong offense, and he had to put all of his focus into not ending up paralyzed a second time. Given the desperation of the situation, all he could think of to say was "HOW ARE YOU HERE?"
"Don't tell Mozenrath anything!" Genie cautioned Sora. "He'll find a way to use it against you! Especially if it involves anything magical!"
"You KNOW him?" Sora asked. "Who is he? What's his deal?"
"He's one of Aladdin's strongest archenemies!" Genie asserted. "He – uh-oh. Summon time's up! Gotta go!"
The gem dismissed Genie back to his homeworld. Sora, Ruby, Papyrus, and Piper reconvened in the middle of the arena, with Stork fluttering worriedly in the midst of them. Snipe, Ravess, Yzma, the Huntsman, and Mozenrath closed in from around.
"We await your orders," the Huntsman told Mozenrath.
For a moment, Mozenrath considered giving the command to strike out of sheer pride. But then he really sized up what they were going up against. Piper and Sora had each bested him on their own in the past. Ruby had been part of the Huntsman's humiliation. Papyrus was pretty tough as well. And there was another reason they'd come to this arena in the first place. The order he gave was "They're not worth it."
He called the Leviathan Crystal over to him with a magical tractor beam, then cast a Corridor of Darkness that led back to the abandoned Cyclonian warship. He threw the crystal through, following it and letting the Huntsman, Yzma, Ravess, and Snipe follow before the corridor closed.
"HEY!" Ruby cried. "GET BACK HERE!"
"They got away again!" Sora swung a fist in disappointment.
"At least they're not bothering us anymore?" Piper pointed out.
Papyrus looked around at the audience section of the arena. Most of the Nightcrawlers had been beaten back by the Valhallans, but all the same, he wondered out loud, "MAYBE WE SHOULD GO CHECK ON THE REST OF THE TERRA?"
"Good idea," Sora said with a nod.
The small band of heroes charged out of the arena.