Shadows Swarm

*Safian walks back to Lilith and Thiera*

<Let's finish this quickly.>
---
*Artexi rolls her eyes and follows Nero*

*Lilith fires a beam of light from her Keyblade up into the cloud. Thiera lands & fires her own beam, barely aiming & catching the edge of the cloud. It rumbles & dark tendrils begin moving down the beams of light.*

L"We need more power!"
==================================
*Nero bursts out of the front gates with the others on his tail.*

N"Alright, where's the genie?!"

Jafar<Over here, Boy.>

*Iago drops the lamp in Jafar's hand. He rubs it with a couple of fingers on his staff hand. A torrent of blue smoke issues forth, leaving the glowing eyes of his staff swaying in the smoke.*

Jafar<Things may not have gone as smoothly as I would have wanted. But I don't mind becoming Sultan a little bit faster.>

Jasmine<Sultan? What's he talking about, Father?>

Sultan<Well, I--that's funny, I can't quite seem to remember....>

N"Are you people stupid?! He is obviously evil!"

*Nero points his Keyblade at the cloud & begins charging an orb of darkness at the tip.*
====================================
*Locke runs off somewhere. As they get back on Curly Hill, they encounter no Heartless--only the dormant Tentaclaws. Euryale stares in confusion at the hand holding her own & Roatha just seems to be staring anywhere but at them, in this case at the Tentaclaws.*

R"...We should have those planted at the mansion. Heartless will be all over that place."

Azuma: "So we report back to Jack and the Mayor and mention it."

===================================

Hitomi does the same with her Keyblades.

*Safian and Monu join in as well*
---
Artexi:<You bastard! You're going to get it for running my life!>

*Light covers her keyblade as she charges Jafar, swinging at him*

*The cloud becomes Genie, who takes a blow to the stomach.*

Genie<Oof! What was that for?!>

*As he doubles over, holding it, the orb of darkness on Nero's Keyblade blasts a spiral of 2 dozen dark blasts at them. Genie wheezes & raises a wall of stone along with his arm. This blocks the blasts, but the wall falls.*

Jafar<Genie! My first wish is to be the most powerful sorcerer IN THE WORLD!>

*Genie's manacle glows & his hand moves almost of its own accord, blasting Jafar with magic lightning. As he's laughing maniacally, Ali runs up towards Jafar, but Jafar points his staff at him & fires some kind of red beams out of its eyes, causing his movements to be dramatically slowed by a barrier of red sparkles.*

Jafar<Princess! There's someone I'm dying to introduce you to! Prince Ali, yes it is he, but not as you know him! Read my lips, & come to grips, with the reality!>

*Axel darts around Genie with a burst of flame & shoots fire from his hands at Jafar. Nero is, of course, charging Genie with his Keyblade raised for a stab.*
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*[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] All that's left of Jafar is some bloody smears, the hyenas having taken their spoils home with them. With the disappearance of his Heartless minions, "Be Prepared" ceases. There is a moment of silence, until animals from the oasis come marching in, led by Rafiki, walking backwards. Between monkies banging rocks on a log in an elephant's trunk, birds blowing through hollow sticks, gazelles waving large leaves, wildebeest stomping the ground rhythmically, & Rafiki conducting with his staff, they manage to beat out "Adventures in the Savannah."*

Rafiki<Asante sana, squash banana!>
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*When they enter the graveyard, the Hanging Tree starts to approach them, but quickly turns around & heads to the far corner.*

R"Okay. They're probably in the Town Square, if you want to do that."

Taiyo: "What are you going to do?"

*Safian is headbutted by a pair of lionesses, one who looks older than she is. Safian nuzzles them in return, quiet words exchanged between them*
---
*Artexi charges Jafar, light covering her keyblade as she swings it at him*

R"Stand here, I guess. Maybe read some tombstones. Hi, Zero."

*The ghost that just appeared barks at him.*
=====================================
*Jafar intercepts the flames with his staff, spinning & creating a wall of flames between him & Artexi. With his other hand, he freezes Axel in a block of ice with a gust of wind.*

Jafar<Yes, meet a blast from your past! Whose lies were too good to last! Say hello to your precious! Prince! Ali!>

*With 3 blasts, Jafar turns Aladdin's hat back into a fez, his shirt into a vest, & his pants into...worse pants.*

Iago<Or should we say, "Aladdin!">

Aladdin<I'm sorry, Jasmine! I--I tried to tell you!>

*Meanwhile, Genie darts away from Nero & keeps dodging his slashes by turning parts of his body into vapor & bending around them.*

Genie<Hey, kid, what have you got against me? Can't you see you have a crisis on your hands?!>
====================================
Simba<Lilith, do you think that you could make the plants grow back?>

L"It doesn't work like that. I can only summon parts of plants."

Simba<Then we will just have to transplant some from the oasis. The rains & the prey have returned, so I think that the Pride Lands will be safe, once I banish the rest of Scar's minions.>

Taiyo: "Okay....?"

And so Taiyo begins to lead them back to town.

*Artexi throws her keyblade at Jafar, using Spark Raid*

<Your singing sucks, you fucking bastard!>
---
*Safian nuzzles the older lioness one last time, then heads back to Simba*

<Things will grow on their own. They always have before.>

*Nero stops attacking & watches.*

Jafar<So Ali turns out to be-->

*He deflects with his staff, causing the blades of light to come flying towards them.*

Jafar<Merely Aladdin!>

*He then fires a blast that turns a charging elephant with a similar fez & vest, & a head of brown hair for some reason, back into Abu.*

N"Yeah...I GUESS you're right."

*He uses Dark Barrier & starts charging Darkness at the tip of his Keyblade, but finds himself the next to be paralyzed by Jafar's spell.*

Jafar<Just come, need I go on, take it from meeeee!>
==========================================
Simba<We need to make sure that the prey animals have food until then.>

L"Well, good luck with that. We're leaving tomorrow to continue our mission."

Simba<Your mission in another world?>

L"What?! How did you know?!"

*Simba grins.*

Simba<You just told me.>

L"Bastard."

Simba<And anyway, before you came to the Oasis, I saw 5 stars fall from the sky over Pride Rock. You must have been sent by the great Kings of the past to help save the Pride Lands.>

L"...Something like that, yeah."
=========================================
*True to his words, Roatha does not follow. Jack & the Mayor are indeed standing in the town square, next to the fountain.*

Jack<Locke, Shock, & Barrel cleaned up all of their mess. Your friend's plan worked. Where is he, anyway?>

E"Graveyard. You know, if you don't want the Tentaclaws planted in your homes, then what's stopping the Heartless from getting in there?"

Jack<That's a good point. We'll have to pot some of them. Hey, maybe we can even teach them tricks! That'll be a HUGE hit for Halloween!>

*He spreads his arms for some reason.*

Taiyo: "Did you know Oogie was brought back?"

Azuma: "You might want to plant some of those things around the mansion. There were some Heartless there."

*Safian stares out over the Pride Lands*

I wish I could stay and help.
---
*Artexi gets the fuck out of the way, and summons her keyblade. A translucent image of snake forms on the end of Artexi's keyblade, which spits acid at Jafar*

Jafar<His personality flaws-->

*Jafar twirls his staff, causing the magic sand to swirl, catching Nero, Artexi, Aladdin, Abu, & Axel in a tornado of magic sand, which moves up into one of the towers.*

Jafar<Give me adequate cause-->

Aladdin<Genie!>

Jafar<To send him packing on a one way trip, so his prospects take a terminal dip, his assets frozen, the venue chosen, is the ends of the Earth, whoopee!>

*They catch him swinging his staff like a golf club, causing the tower that they're in to rocket in the sky. Jafar & Iago wave to them, the latter of whom has stolen the Sultan's hat.*

Jafar<So long!>

Iago<Goodbye, see ya!>

Jafar<Ex Prince Ali!>

*Jafar's crazed laughter gradually fades away as they lose consciousness from the acceleration.*
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*When they wake up, the tower is half full of snow. Abu is shivering in Aladdin's vest, & a carpet is wrapped around them. Nero is pacing around & Axel is leaning against a wall, arms crossed & sporting ragged clothing & frost bite.*

N"Okay. That didn't work."

Aladdin<Don't worry, Carpet can fly us back.>

N"Oh yeah, that just solves everything, what am I worried about? How do we beat a guy who sent us to fucking Antarctica?!"

*Nero tosses his arms into the air.*

N"...Wait, the carpet flies? And you named it 'Carpet'?"
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Jack<No, but he has come back before. We'll be sure to take care of all of that.>
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*The next day, Euryale wakes up in Taiyo's bed with weird bat bra still firmly attached. At some point during the night, she'd coiled around Taiyo's legs, but unfurls & climbs to the floor.*
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*Azuma & Roatha had stayed in Taiyo's living room, where Roatha spent most of his time reading every book that Dr. Finklestein had about darkness. Azuma is not sure if he even slept, finding him in the same position as he was the other night, complete with blanket half-falling off of his crossed legs.*
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T"But what about our gliders & armor? How do we use them like this?"

L"Once we get into the Lanes Between, we should be able to return ourselves to normal, & use our Gliders & armor."

T"But won't that expose us to the darkness?"

L"You can use magic to shield us if you think it's that big of a concern.*
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*The next day, having nothing left to do in this world they wait outside of Rafiki's cave. Once everyone is together, Lilith opens a portal to the Lanes Between.*

It was likely a bit of a squeeze cramming the two of them on to a bed that is meant for one person, but I suppose they made it work. The majority of the decor is black and orange as expected for Halloween Town and cat related as expected from Taiyo with a few pink heart-related things likely found in Valentine's Day Town.

There are a few picture frames that don't seem to feature anything other than maybe a ball of yarn or some kind of cat toy as Halloween Town ghosts likely abide by the whole not appearing in photographs thing.

Taiyo yawns and stretches in her usual feline manner.

Taiyo: "Good morning. How'd you sleep?"

===================================

Much like the bedroom, the decor mostly black and orange and cat related as well as some Valentine's Day stuff to give the room some extra color and of course photographs of Kitters that to anyone that is unaware of that just look like photographs of an end table or something.

On the mantle is a wooden carving of a cat wearing a witch hat.

Azuma: "I don't know what's weirder, that cat witch totem thing or the fact you spent the entire night reading books owned by someone who's not all their upstairs."

===================================

Hitomi goes through the portal to make herself human again and suit up.

*Safian summons her armor and gilder, then enters the portal, followed by Monu, who summons his stuff as soon as he can*
---
*Artexi stumbles over to Axel*

<You need to warm up.>

*She glares at Nero*

<We get the lamp away from the bastard.>

OOC: That was better. Slightly.

E"Like a log. Sorry for being such a clingy sleeper. Hope I didn't disturb you."
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R"I've been looking for anything that can help find Senthose. I could probably control the Heartless, or at least the Unversed, but I'm not sure how that would help. But if I could open up a Dark Corridor, it might lead directly to wherever he's hiding."
================================
Axel<What, this? This is all just from that freeze spell. I don't exactly have a problem staying warm.>

*He holds out his hand, flames dancing on his palm.*

Aladdin<She's right. Without Genie, he's powerless.>

N"I might be able to get it away from him with Magnet, or Collision Magnet, or something. But if he really is 'the most powerful sorcerer in the world,' my magics probably won't stand up to his."

Aladdin<Then we'll just have to distract him.>
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T"I think that's Mortal's home world. Do you think the others are there yet?"

L"Well, we have to check it out eventually, anyway."
=====================================
*After knocks on the doors of Xshittyname & Eve, slips of paper are slid under the doors, along with faint thorn beams of nothingness. The papers read "Urgent Meeting. Gray Area."*

*Eve picks up the note and reads it, then heads out to the Gray Area*
---
Artexi:<I don't know, I've never met any powerful sorcerers here. He might not be that powerful.>
---
Monu:<If they ran into trouble, they'll probably still be in Halloween Town.>

Taiyo: "Not at all. It was nice. Just wish I had a bigger bed."

===================================

Azuma: "Won't know unless you try."

===================================

Xyukuse heads for the Grey Area, kicking the letter back under the door.

*In both cases, they see Dusks undulating through the air down the hallway. In the Gray Area is roughly half of the Organization.*

Senthose<Good to see that everyone in the Castle at the moment decided to stop by. First order of business: These things. They're creeping me out.>

*He points to what at first seemed to be another member standing at his side, who is now pointing back at him with a stubby hand concealed in its sleeve. Now, however, they can see beady, glowing yellow eyes under its hood, eyelike markings on its hood, & the most telltale of all, a Heartless Emblem on its chest. It is, in fact, a giant Mushroom Heartless made from an Organization Cloak.*
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N"Of course not. That explains why we did so well against him the first time."

Aladdin<Anyway, Jafar has 2 wishes left. Genie's magic can't make true love, revive the dead, or kill people.>

N"Yeah, but Jafar's probably can. And we don't have any ways to heal the other damage that he can do."
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L"If they don't meet us soon, then we can search for them. Or better yet, try to contact them. But somewhere out here is a witch who stole Princess Aurora's heart, & that takes priority."

T"Because she's a Princess of Heart."

L"Exactly."
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E"Well, that's good. We should probably get going now, though."
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R"I can't freely call on the powers of darkness yet. I couldn't do it all night. Trying just made him laugh."

Taiyo: "Probably."

As Taiyo goes to open the door, a ghost cat comes flying in.

Taiyo: "Hi, Kitters."

===================================

Azuma: "Keep practicing."

===================================

Xyukuse: "And what do you want done with it?"

Artexi:<We charged in there without a plan. Anyway, at least he can't wish us all dead.>

*Artexi falls silent, staring out on the surrounding snow*
---
Monu:<Maleficant.>

*His tone is much harsher than it normally is*

Axel<Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of time to prepare if we want to save your friends. We just have to go in with the plan we already have & hope for the best.>

Aladdin<Right. Once we have the lamp, we can undo his wish.>

*Carpet unfurls from around him & makes little steps. Aladdin climbs up & sits down.*

Aladdin<I can't thank you enough for helping me.>

N"There's something I don't get: If you had a genie's lamp, then why didn't you use it to get out of the Cave of Wonders?"

Aladdin<I didn't know what it was. An old man sent me into the cave to get it for him. He promised me a reward, but instead, he tried to kill me.>

N"Jafar was probably behind that, too."

Axel<So then, just before we showed up, rub-a-dub-dub, you get 3 wishes, & you decide that you want to be a Prince so that you can woo a Princess. That about right?>

*Aladding hangs his head.*

Aladdin<Yeah...but I just wanted to have a chance with Jasmine, not...any of this. I don't even care about the other wishes, I was just going to free Genie from the lamp.>
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R"...Was that a ghost cat?"
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E"Uh...hi."

*Euryale reaches down to pet the abomination.*
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T"Do you know anything about this world?"

L"Yeah, don't try to go to the palace in the sky. You'll just be shot full of lightning. Only the so-called 'gods' can enter."

T"Are they aligned with the light?"

L"Most of them, I think. So they shouldn't be a concern. But if that IS where we have to go to get Princess Aurora's heart back, then we'll find a way."
=====================================
Senthose<I don't know. They get angry when you try to get rid of them. Right now, they just follow people around & imitate them. Anyway, there's something else that I wanted to show you all.>

*He reaches into his pocket--as does the Mushroom beside him--& digs out a flyer for the Olympus Coliseum--the Mushroom merely holds its arm out.*

Senthose<I want you all to join as soon as possible. And collect combat data on your competitors.>

*Eve crosses her arms*

<Do we really all have to join?>
---
Safian:<Then let's head straight for the ground.>

*Monu nods*
---
*Artexi pats him on the back*

<You know, Jasmine told me she likes honesty.>

Kitters purrs and arches what could be its back. Imagine Zero with a cat head and tell me if he has a back. Although I imagine Euryale's hand phases through it.

===================================

Azuma: "You saw a ghost dog yesterday and a ghost cat is strange?"

===================================

Xyukuse: "What are you moaning about? Not like you've been doing anything. When do we leave?"