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The Calvary Comes

Maleficent had managed to set fire to the sails of the Black Pearl, her captain and crew scrambling to try and put them out while realizing they were losing this fight.

When asked what to do Jack, looking over both how ruined his ship was and how few a crew was left, gave a solemn “Mister….whichever you are.” He pointed to the one who’d asked him. “Run down to the hold. And get me the finest bottle you can find.” Giving this order the crewman gave a small nod before hurrying down. “The rest of you, draw swords and do whatever you feel best. If I’m going down with this ship, I’m going down the best way I know how. What about the rest or you? Are you going to be the sorry lot who runs away, or the sorry lot who fights?”

A large cheer came from everyone, Jack drawing his sword and raising it in the air with the others. The cheer was short-lived, however, as everyone felt a violent shudder before feeling the ship gain unwanted weight at the front. They all looked to see Maleficent holding on to the bow of the Pearl, the upper half of her dragon body body on the deck of the ship while the lower dug it’s calls into the hull.

Jack, standing with his men, stood ready for a fight even as the dragon began to draw breath for a stream of fire to burn then all. Before she could, however, something had struck her in the left hind leg.

Maleficent gave a painful roar before seeing an arrow that was fired by Max from below. He stood there, with Mickey, while drawing her attention as they dared her to come down and fight them. Maleficent snarled before letting go of the Pearl and dropping down in the air. As soon as she did she spread her wings out to soften her landing.

It was then, when she did, that Mickey called out “Now, Elsa! NOW!”

Nearby Elsa had heard his call and pointed her hands up towards Maleficent. She fired a stream of freezing air that, once it reached, had frozen Maleficent’s right wing. Feeling this and realizing what it meant the dragon roared furiously before tumbling out of the sky, trying to flap her wing to no avail.

As she fell Jafar, who’d still been fighting, had finally been disarmed of his serpent staff and flying carpet while fighting Donald, Scrooge and Peg. The carpet was knocked from under his feet, forcing him to fall to the ground. His staff had fell from his grip before being caught by Peg.

As all three stood before the defeated sorcerer Scrooge said “That’s how you use real magic, boyo!”

Realizing he was defeated Jafar got to his feet and tried to run. He stopped, however, when he realized how suddenly dark it had become around him. Looking up and seeing the falling dragon Jafar screamed and held his arms up before being crushed by the downed Maleficent.

Everyone nearby flinched away from looking before Donald commented “I don’t think enough magic’s going to fix that.”

Seeing that Maleficent was down and not moving many of the heroes and soldiers cheered, seeing as the battle was further turning to their tide. However the dragon proved more durable than realized when she rose and gave a resounding roar.

Maleficent spewed fire at some of the nearest troops, so full of rage that she didn’t care if some of her own forces were caught in the way. Mickey had pulled Max out of the way as fire went streaming over their heads before Maleficent began to swat and smash at the soldiers. Donald and the other magic uses fired spells that only annoyed her, making her sweep them down with her tail.

Elsa, intervening, created a wall of ice between her and her friends from Maleficent. This proved useless, however, as she breathed fire to melt it down before swatting it with her tail. Pieces flew about, one striking Elsa in the head and knocking her out. Max and Mickey hurried over, trying to wake the Ice Queen, only to see as Maleficent eyed all of them.

“You fools!” her voiced boomed from the dragon form. “You thought you could defeat the Mistress of all evil? Pathetic!”

Suddenly Peter Pan, seeing his friends in danger, had zipped in and plunged his sword into her left eye. She roared again before snatching Peter in her claws before he could fly away. She forced him to the ground and pinned him down before snarling.

“You die first, boy!” she snarled before plucking the sword out of her eye.

As she prepared to breathe fire down on him everyone looked away or tried to call for Maleficent to stop. There was no way of saving Peter any other ways. Even he, the boy who never grew up, only closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Before the fatal blow was made a sudden bright blue light shone from above. Maleficent stopped as she saw it spread over Peter’s face, making her and with everyone else looked up. The dense clouds around Bald Mountain and the surrounding area were suddenly broken by the bright light shining through. Maleficent, looking as though this was all familiar to her, stepped back from Peter and the others while watching the light grow brighter. The others picked Peter up and brought him back to where Elsa and Max were before seeing the blue light suddenly grow even brighter to the point of almost blinding them.

A large concentration struck down on the ground in front of them before the light faded away. When they looked everyone was shocked and amazed to see, of all people, the Blue Fairy standing between them and Maleficent. The Mistress of all evil growled before, suddenly, changing herself back to her more natural form.

Once she did she glared at the Blue Fairy before saying “You! So you’ve finally decided to show your face, after all this time.”

“I’ve stayed out of this long enough, Maleficent.” She declared. “Stand down now, and this will be easier for you and your men.”

Gritting her teeth Maleficent responded with a blast of dark magic while shouting “I will not surrender to you!”

The magic struck but the Blue Fairy, holding her wand out, had created a bubble around her that protected her. The heroes nearby were still reeling from the fact they were seeing the Blue Fairy in person and in the middle of a fight, let alone managing to stand against Maleficent easily.

Once it was finished the Blue Fairy said “Then you leave me no choice, sister!” before attacking her.

The two began to firing and block one spell after another. The nearby heroes had to move out of the way, Max carrying the still unconscious Elsa while Mickey helped the injured Peter, before trying to wake the others up. All the while glancing back to see the Blue Fairy tangle with the Mistress of all evil.

During the fighting Maleficent declared “You can’t hope to win this fight on your own!”

The Blue Fairy only responded with “Whoever said I came here alone?”

Pointing her wand up to the break in the clouds that she created the Blue Fairy had shown Maleficent what she meant when hundreds upon hundreds of little lights began to stream through. Everyone looking at first thought they were stars but, as they came closer, they realized they were all fairies. Even Tinkerbell, seeing this, seemed to burst with excitement as the hundreds of fairies flew down into the battle and began to help subdue the enemy forces.

Among them, to everyone’s further surprise, was the Spring Sprite. Her arms were out like wings as she seemed to be the biggest, looking like a flowing green angel as she flew down with the fairies and began to create plants and roots and vines that sprung up and tangled around the enemy forces.

Despite this Maleficent still fought with the Blue Fairy while the heroes watched and cheered. As Elsa began to wake she looked around, seeing what she’d missed and let out a little laugh of glee at the sight. The battle was practically over. And they’d won.

“We did it!” she said. “We’ve won.”

“Not quite.” Mickey retorted before looking up the fortress on Bald Mountain. “There’s still Merida and the others. I just hope they’re doing okay like we are.”

********************

Merida, Belle, Aladdin and Eugene had all tried to attack Alice, now revealed to be possessed by the Horned King, only for her/he to blast them back with a bolt of magic directed at all of them.

All of them were pushed back against the wall before falling to the ground. The blast was strong but not fatal. Either the Horned King, as they would refer to their enemy now, didn’t have enough power or he was only toying with them. And given what some of the heroes knew about him it was likely the latter.

Merida, trying to get to her feet with Lilo’s help, gritted her teeth before saying “Where’s Alice? What have you done with her?”

“As I’ve already said. She is gone.” The Horned King replied. “Locked away in what’s left of her mind. Imprisoned and forever trapped. I am the only one now. I, who defied death itself!”

“But….you can’t be alive.” Eilonwey said, shaking her head. “I saw you die when the Black Cauldron was destroyed. Arawn pushed you in along with Taran.”

“What you thought you saw, child, was what I wanted you and everyone else to see.” He explained. “I created a duplicate of my former self who played out my story for me. I used this to my advantage, keeping all others from suspecting.”

“You’ve been hiding in plain sight all along then!” Aladdin declared. “Even when the worlds were apart. You were inside Alice’s head then.”

“And you invited me in, like a wolf among the sheep!” he cackled. “I had to see what you so-called heroes had planned, but even then you had no true inkling of what had transpired under your very nose. And now I have been reborn, in both mind and body.”

As he spoke Merida noticed Mulan having snuck into the doorway of the room behind where the Horned King stood. While she wasn’t aware of the situation she at least knew that the little girl, Alice, had her friends in a sticking situation she’d need to help them out of. With her sword in hand she began to sneak up behind her.

“Why?” Merida asked to keep his attention. “Why do all of this?”

“Why?” he repeated coyly. “Because this is what I am destine for, girl! You would not understand. You were not there.” Looking to Belle, Eilonwey, and Aladdin he pointed out “But you were. You saw when I had become one with the demons lord Chernabog himself. In that moment I had found it. Godhood! I could change the world with a wave of my hand or a mere thought! I was able to summon the forces of creation itself!” His tone had suddenly shrunk from one of triumph to one of awe. “And in that moment I could see beyond the worlds. Beyond existence. I had seen it. The power. The force that brings life and creation to the worlds. What some have called the Tree of Worlds, the great connection that binds all things together, I had seen where the very source. The divine spark…” he closed his eyes before adding “And it was beautiful.” His composure soon went back to the more triumphant tone as he looked to them and said “I will have that again! I will have that power once more, but now in this form. As an Alpha Being who can turn reality itself!”

In that moment Mulan had reached the Horned King, ready to drive her sword through his back. But she was too late as he turned and, with a wave of his hand, had made her blade into a balloon. It harmlessly bumped against the Horned King’s head before he smirked and blasted her with magic.

While Merida shouted for Mulan Belle roared before leaping at the King. Aladdin and Eugene followed but all of them were knocked back when the Horned King used his powers to make the floor beneath them like quicksand. All of their feet were trapped before he made it harden, truly trapping them in the floor.

Merida scrambled to find where her sword, Mulan’s original sword, had fallen during the confusion. Seeing her the Horned King turned before raising his hand. The sheets from the bed lashed out like arms and grabbed Merida by the legs, wrapping them up. The next pair caught each of her arms before hoisting her up in the air.

Walking over to her he said “I don’t know who I’ve found more bothersome. You or the pig boy. It always seems that children are the ones who cause me more distress.” He reached out, grabbing her cheeks and holding them to tight it hurt. “Not talking mice. Nor princesses. Not even disgusting little creatures from the sky. Always children.”

Suddenly something had struck against the Horned King’s head, making him groan. Both he and Merida looked to see Eilonwey and Lilo standing there with tea cups and the like in their hands, tossing them at the possessed girl. The Horned King held his hand up and stopped them all mid-air even as they continued to toss them at him.

“Point further proven.” He commented before using his power to break all the cups into little sharp shards.

Seeing as he turned them to face the two Eilonwey and Lilo ducked behind the nearby chair and table, needing to flip the latter over on its side, before the shards flew at them. Both were safe but it gave Merida a chance as she swung her body out at the Horned King, despite still being tied up. Reaching out with her legs she managed to land a kick to the face that made him stumble back into Mulan’s grip.

With this Merida managed to break from her bonds while Belle, using her strength forced her way out of the floor. Once she was free she helped Aladdin and Eugene out as well. Abu had scrambled about before seeing Lilo and Eilonwey were fine, all of them joining the others as they surrounded the Horned King.

Seeing this the Horned King focused his powers and roared, sending a shock wave that blasted everyone back and released him from Mulan’s grip. He hovered in the air before sending another violent shock wave, this was strong enough to completely destroy the room and half of the mountain it was secured into.

From the outside anyone looking would be able to see as a large chunk of the top of the mountain was gone from the Horned King’s blast. The furniture had been obliterated or tossed out into the air. The heroes, on the other hand, were either hiding behind something or buried underneath small piles of rubble.

Among them Aladdin had fallen off the side and was holding on for dear life from the sudden drop below. Eilonwey was trying to uncover Belle, who it turned out had managed to protect Lilo from the rubble that fell on them. The others were recovering before Euegen, seeing Abu screech at him, hurried over and helped Aladdin up.

“Thanks.” He said, looking down the mountain to see how far his drop would’ve been.
“I think, after this, I’m through with climbing mountains ever again.” Eugene commented before Abu gave an agreeable squeak.

Everyone looked back to the Horned King, still floating in the air, as he shouted “You fools! You dare challenge a god?”

“Hey, buddy.” Aladdin said, as he stood with Eugene. “You may talk though, but I don’t see no god.”

“Yeah. More like little demented girl with possession issues or something.” Aladdin added.

Sneering at first the Horn King’s eyes glared red before soon he turned it into a smile. His feet finally touched the floor before suddenly to everyone’s shock, he began to grow. Taller and taller he rose in the air, the other heroes watching as well from where they were at the sight of a little possessed girl becoming a thirty foot giant. Finally, when it was done, the giant Horned King/Alice looked down at all of them with a sinister grin, his eyes glowing green now at the prospect of being able to crush them all with ease.

“I’d make a joke about growing up…” Eugene began “but to be honest, I’m too afraid to even think right now.”

As he looked down at all of them the Horned King’s attention was drawn to the sound of battle from below. He turned to see as his forces looked outmatched and outnumbered now, aided with the help of the Blue Fairy and her forces. He sneered at this, seeing as the Fairy herself had managed to disarm Maleficent during their fight.

“Idiots.” He said, raising his hand. “I really must do everything, eh?”

Using the reality bending powers granted by possessing Alice the Horned King reached out and began to form something, or rather somethings, out of thin air amongst the battlefield. Both forces had stopped and watched as figures were created out of nothing. The more they were shaped the more familiar they were to some, but to others they were a horrifying demonstration of the Horned King’s true power.

As if part of some twisted joke or reflection the Horned King had created darker versions of Alice’s characters from Wonderland. The Mad Hatter and March Hare, along with the Dorm Mouse, giving more emphasis on their “mad” personalities as they seemed dangerous rabid and almost homicidal. The Cheshire Cat appeared in a puff of smoke and gave a more deadly grin, with razor-sharp teeth hollow eyes. A giant caterpillar with all hands bearing claws. All manner of odd creatures from Umbrella-Birds and birds with shovel-like beaks. And the bulk of this force consisted of card-shaped soldiers being led by a vicious looking Queen of Hearts.

As the heroes forces all looked in horror the Queen shouted “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!” which sent her forces charging at them.

While the heroes stood their ground some were soon overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of this dark Wonderland army. Some of the fairies were swatted out of the air. The soldiers of Prydain couldn’t match against the blades of the car-men, which seemed to be made of some durable metal that only a child could think of. And in the end even Scrooge, Pete and Adam, as strong as he was in the form of a beast, were swarmed by them. The other heroes continued to fight but felt crippling blows because of so many lost in a battle that had, yet again, turned on a dime but now to the enemy’s greater advantage.

Looking over this from above the Horned King smirked “And now this world will see the true power of its future god! I will reshape everything into a new and glorious image. And all will soon bow before-AHH!”

He’d felt a sharp pain in his foot before looking down to see the source. Merida had found Mulan’s sword and plunged it into his left foot. He knocked her away with a little nudge before seeing at the others, finding weapons, had tried attacking the giant girl in the process.

“Maggots!” he bellowed before trying to stomp down on Eugene.

It was caught by Belle who managed to hold the foot off long enough for Mulan and Aladdin to find a grip on the skirt of the dress Alice still wore. Both climbed up from behind before reaching his shoulders. Just as the giant Horned King realized this Aladdin had already tossed Mulan one end of a rope which they managed around his neck before hopping off. The rope contorted around his neck as they jumped back down, making his choke for a moment and stumble back. When Eugene was clear Belle used her strength to push against the King’s foot, forcing him to fall back.

When he was down all of the heroes, finding whatever they could use, tried to tie him down, starting with his arms and legs. The Horned King, recovering from his little topple, saw this and opened his mouth. To everyone’s shock fire spewed out as if he was a dragon; another little trick thanks to his reality altering abilities. Everyone ducked away before being burned, Merida’s hair barley being singed, but the Horned King was free now to get back to his feet.

“Impudent little fools!” he shouted before stomping his foot down hard enough to make the floor rumble. As he tried stomping on them, everyone scrambling like bugs to get out of the way, he continued to bellow and shout “You are nothing but incents! You claim to be heroes when you can do nothing but fail to stop the inevitable! I created this world! I have shaped it! I will rule it as is my destiny! None of you understand. All you do is fail to listen and instead challenge authority like stubborn children! But I will not be defeated by a pack of mongrels like you!” Seeing Merida separated from the others in the commotion, he reached down and sized her in one had before saying “Especially you, girl! You will be made the first example of what happens to those who dare challenge me ever again!”

With her entire body trapped in his grip Merida struggled, the others seeing this but realizing there was no way to help her. She looked down to them, seeing the terrified look in some of them, before looking back to the Horned King. While he wore Alice’s face she could see past it to the true monster underneath, something she wasn’t afraid of anymore.

“There will always be people like me to stand up and fight you.” She began. You might be powerful, but even you can’t stop that. So you can take your talks of being a god and all, and shove-AHHH!”

The Horned King tightened his grip around her while saying “They will try. And they will fail. Just like you.”

Merida could feel it now. Her life was being squeezed out of her. Everything hurt. But perhaps this was truly it. She did what she could and brought as many of the heroes she could from this one world together and fought. She did as Master Yen Sid wanted, but there was never a guarantee they would win.

Merida looked down to her friends below, seeing their saddened or shocked or even angered faces. She then looked out to the fighting on the battlefield, seeing as the new dark army created by the Horned King was starting to cut down more and more people. The few heroes who remained fighting to their last breath while Mickey still lead the change.
Perhaps this was not the fight for them to win. Maybe the Horned King was right and she had failed. It was a hollow feeling. And yet part of her knew it wouldn’t end here, with her or any of the others who would die today. There would be someone willing to take up arms against the Horned King, no matter how much power he possessed as he still held control over Alice. At the very least her example would be set after this.

Merida, still feeling as everything was on the verge of breaking, looked at the Horned King and gave a defiant smirk. A sign that no matter what he did she wasn’t afraid. He sneered at this and tried to use both hands now to finally finish her off.

Slowly Merida felt everything going dark. Her air being forces out and her bones being bent to the point of almost breaking. Little by little. This was it. This was…

“Enough!” someone shouted, gaining everyone’s attention including the Horned King’s.

It was enough for the King to loosen his grip on Merida, allow her to catch her breath in one grand gasp. She choked a little before looking to where everyone else had, seeing who had called out the Horned King. It was Mary Poppins.

Pointing to Merida Mary Poppins told the King “Put the princess down, or else I shall have to take drastic action against you.”

The King scoffed at this before declaring “The great Mary Poppins. And here I believed you had run off from the battle, too afraid to dirty your own hands.”

“For the record, I do not engage in battle. So I could not very well run away from it.” She said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. “And secondly, while I try to avoid it my hands will always be clean no matter how dirty they get. You, on the other hand, seem to make a mess with everything you touch.”

He scoffed again and said “Do not think I am as intimidated by you others may be, Poppins. I have more power than you can possibly imagine.”

To everyone’s surprise Mary Poppins giggled in her throat before saying “The only power I see from you is that of your ego. The so-called ‘god among mortals’ you aspire to be when really you seek what no one can ever have.”

“I beg to differ.” He insisted. “Others may fail but I have succeeded. And look at what I have created from it!” he indicated everything around them.

Looking around herself Mary Poppins retorted “Yes. A great big mess, and one that will likely need to be cleaned thoroughly by the time this is over.”

“Over? This is far from over! I have only just begun.”

“A shame then that you’ve come this far just to fail already.” She retorted, making her sneer at her. “Put Princess Merida down and you’ll see what I mean.”

The Horned King looked at Merida, who seemed as confused as he was, before tossing her towards Mary Poppins. She yelped as she realized she was too high up and would likely break something from the fall, but thankfully Mary Poppins had saved her. A quick snap of her fingers and Merida was stopped just five feet from the ground, as if held up by an invisible hand. Seeing this she calmed before slowly lowering herself back on solid ground.

As Merida hurried over to her she had to share a quick hug with the nanny, which was returned, before saying “Please tell me you have some secret magic weapon or something to stop her…or him. Or whatever.”

“Something of a sort.” She whispered back.

She leaned in closer and whispered something else, which surprised Merida. She gave the nanny an odd look before nodding and making her way back towards the other heroes, who were behind where the giant Alice/Horned King stood. As she did she kept looking up, watching as the giant possessed girl kept his eye on her. It wasn’t until Mary Poppins spoke that he turned away, allowing Merida to pick up Mulan’s sword in the process.

Once she rejoined the others, a few quick hugs and signs of relief exchanged, Mulan asked “What did Mary Poppins say?”

Instead of answering directly she asked “Anyone have any more rope?” When Aladdin confirmed this and held up some she said “Good. Tie it to this.” She held up Mulan’s sword. When asked she only answered “Rule 42.”

While Belle, Lilo and Eilonwey gave confused reactions, Mulan, Eugene and Aladdin and Abu all knew what it meant. They all gave bemused glances to each other before doing as she said, all the while glancing back to Mary Poppins speak with the giant Horned King/Alice.

“So what do you intend now, Poppins?” he boomed. “Going to try and use some great spell against me in the hopes of saving everyone?”

“Mary Poppins.” She corrected him. “And quite to the contrary actually. You see I’m afraid I’m not as strong as before thanks to my little business with freeing Lord Chernabog from the imprisonment you had for him.” The Horned King twitched a little at this news before saying “And I will not be the one to save the world. Such deeds aren’t meant for nannies after all.”

“You think just because your released Chernabog that I’ll cower in fear of his wrath? I’ve grown stronger than him now, and he has become weak thanks to my spell. Even if he is freed he is far less of a threat to me now.”

“Of that I have no doubt.” She said in a still clam tone. “But I haven’t release him just so he could enact some fruitless attempt at revenge.” Suddenly she licked her finger and held it up, testing the wind, while saying “Instead I had him perform a task far more effective.”

“And what’s that?”

“Trying to break the One World spell.”

Merida and the others had managed to tie the rope tightly around the hilt of Mulan’s sword before it was plunged down hard enough into the floor that it would stick. Once it was tested Merida held pass along the rope to everyone and mentioned to hold on tightly. Eugene insisted on putting Lilo on his shoulders, which she agreed to, while Belle was forced to change back into her human form. While her clothing was torn from her transformation her body was still modestly covered.

“Ha!” the king scoffed. “He doesn’t have the power. And neither do you.”

“True enough. But then that’s the part of teamwork, isn’t it? Pooling strengths together to overcome whatever the challenge may be. And I can safely say you’re already overcome.”

He sneered at her again and said “You’re words won’t save you, woman. You fail to see that this battle is over. I have the power. I have the armies. And I can create even more if I wish. Tell me, how is it that I’ve failed when from where I stand I have already won?”

“You don’t see it, do you?” she said, shaking her head while testing the air again with her finger. “You speak as though you’re a god, when you have no idea what one truly is. A true god doesn’t abuse power like you do. They use it for the good of all. But then again, you weren’t meant to be one to begin with.”

“Bah! Fool words from a fool woman. I have survived beyond death itself. That proves I am destine to be a god, for I no longer fear death.”

“And yet here you are, possessing the body of a child in order to extend your life.” She smirked. “If gods do not truly fear death, then why do you try everything possible to avoid it?”

Further annoyed by her words the Horned King growled through his teeth before stomping his foot down in front of her. Mary Poppins didn’t even flinch, not even as the ground shook or the small gust of wind blew against her from the impact. The other heroes held their breath, not sure if she intended to annoy him to the point of being killed.

Yelling practically in her face he King said “You’re nothing but a fool woman whose senile mind is clouding her words! You are not but a mere housekeeper. A scullery maid! And I will see you both to me before this is over, do you hear me? I will not….” He stopped when she seemed to ignore him, licking her finger and testing the wind current again. “What are you doing? Why are you still doing that ridiculous thing?”

“It’s just a matter of aeronautical dynamics.” She stated.

“W-What?” he asked, sounding more dumfounded than anything.

She fully turned to him now and said “It’s simple really. When certain objects fall out of the sky, then tend to follow the current of the air. Much as something floating in water my follow the current of a stream as it slowly sinks. Add weight and velocity into the mix and, well…” she fixed her hat before saying “…I believe I’ll need to move out of the way. Excuse me.”

With that she walked through the Horned King’s giant legs, all the while he saying “But…I…. What are you doing?” he watched her go under his legs while yelling “Stop! Stop right there! I demand to know what you’re…” by the time he turned around something had caught his eye. Looking up and seeing it he gave a sudden “…no…”

What Mary Poppins had been speaking of, the thing that was currently crashing out of the sky, was the Black Pearl. But much more than that, it was crashing its way towards where the Horned King stood.

As soon as he noticed he held his hands up, not enough tie to act, while shouting “NNNOOOOO!”

Mary Poppins shouted to the others “NOW!” before leaping off the side of the destroyed room that lead down the mountain.

Taking her word the others all followed, jumping down while holding on for dear life onto the rope. And in that moment the Pearl had crashed into the giant Horned King possessed Alice and slammed her against the wall behind. Given how big it was the back portion of the Pearl hung off the side, almost to the point of tipping over.

When the heroes jumped all of them had hung on as the rope reached its end, thankfully staying secure thanks to Mulan’s sword. A quick jerk and buckle before it settled, everyone checking to see if they were okay. Thankfully no one had fallen off.

Seeing this Eugene laughed loudly, some of the others joining him, before declaring “I love Rule 42!”

Admits their laughing Mary Poppins, who had floated up to safety thanks to her umbrella and levitating powers, hovered near them and said “One of the few pirate rules I can actually agree with.”

In all the commotion of what happened above the heroes on the battlefield realized something had happened when the dark army of Wonderland suddenly disappeared. All were gone almost as soon as they arrived, vanishing into thin air as if never existing to begin with. Seeing this many cheered, thinking it was over. Even Mickey had to join in, knowing in some way Merida and the others were responsible.

Hearing this from above Belle asked “Is it over? Did…did we win?”

“Not yet.” Mary Poppins said as she began to float back up to the top. “We’ve still one more fight to finish.”

Within a few minutes all who were hanging by the rope managed to climb back up, one after the other. When they did they could all see the Black Pearl, destroyed by surprisingly intact, as it took up most of the movable room from where they stood. Only a small pieces of what remained of the original room was left, with enough to make it out if need be.
As they looked around Mulan called out “Captain? Captain are you alright?”

Suddenly all of them heard something up front, at the remains of the bow of the ship. All tensed, unsure if it was Captain Sparrow or the possessed Alice, recovered and ready to fight again. All waited and watched before seeing that it was actually both, in a sense.
Jack Sparrow squeezed his way out from behind the bow of the ship, on the ground, while carrying a knocked out Alice, who was back to her normal size, over his shoulder. His one hand kept her steady while in the other he had a bottle of rum that was already open and half drunk. His clothing was tattered and dirty from the landing but otherwise he was unharmed.

After taking another quick swig of rum he looked to all of them and pointed out “And that, my friends, is why we need the rum.”

Some of them laughed at this before making their way over to him. As they did Jack was careful to put Alice down on the ground in front of them. Her eyes were closed and her clothes were ripped and dirty too, but at least she wasn’t a giant or awake and trying to kill them anymore.

“Is she…?” Merida began to ask.

“Only out like a light.” Jack answered. “And, oddly, not big and giant-like anymore. Thought it a bit odd to see a giant girl anyways, but given odd and macabre this whole day has been I thought why not crash it into something that’ll be useful.”

“Well the Pearl might be wrecked, but at least it worked in our favor.” Mulan said. “But what now? How do we keep her from waking up again?” she indicated the sleeping Alice.
“I think the bigger question is how we get rid of whatever part of the Horned King’s still in her noggin.” Merida stated.

“Indeed.” Mary Poppins said, dropping her carpet bag. “Then, of course, there’s the matter of dividing the worlds to the way they were again.”

“Oh yeah…” Aladdin said, a hushed tone of sudden realization in his voice. “It’s just one thing after another, isn’t it?”

“Fortunately I have the solution to all of it right in here.” Mary Poppins said while fishing through her bag. As she looked she muttered how the Horseman, still trapped inside, had better not trying anything again. Apparently he listened as a moment later she held up a small mirror and said “Ah-ha. Here it is.”

Seeing it in plain view Belle pointed out “Wait a minute. I know that mirror. That’s the one Adam gave to me. It used to be his.”

“Before it was stolen by Lord Arawn at the orders of his master, here.” Mary Poppins explained while indicating Alice. “But thankfully for us he’d neglected to retrieve it after we arrived back at the Haunted Mansion.”

“And that little mirror is somehow going to fix all of that?” Eugene asked.

“I never said that.” Mary Poppins retorted. “I only said it was a solution. Or rather part of it.” After that she cleared her throat before speaking into the mirror. “Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?”

From the other end a voice had said “Yes, Mary Poppins. Loud and clear.” Merida pointing out it was Queen Minnie’s voice.

“It’s time, your majesty. Bring her through.”

“Understood.” She said before both stopped talking and Mary Poppins indicated for everyone to stand back.

“What was that all about?” Eilonwey asked.

“You’ll see soon.” Mary Poppins answered. “In exactly three… two… one…”

And right on cue the thing Mary Poppins had counted down to had finally arrived. It was, to everyone’s surprise, a portal spell. It was being created by Queen Minnie, along with Donald’s nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie on the other side. All four of them needed to concentrate, given the odd nature of such a spell, and keep it open long enough for who they needed to walk through.

Everyone watched and waited until the person arrived. Though it turned out to be someone they didn’t expect. “Rapunzel?” Eugene said, seeing her there.

Indeed it was her, the long-haired princess whole’s long and flowing locks dragged against the ground as she walked through the portal. She was still a child as before, but everyone was glad to see her, despite not knowing exactly what she was going to do. She was careful to pull all of it through before it had finally closed. Along with her was her mother, the Queen of Corona. Seeing Eugene the little princess gasped before running over and hugging him.

“Thank goodness you’re alright!” she exclaimed, still holding him.

Smiling and hugging her back he said “More or less.”

Once they were done Mary Poppins, kneeling down to be at eye level with her, said “We haven’t much time, your highness. It’s time we put your gift to the test.”

Rapunzel looked down to Alice, who was still sleeping, before asking “What…what am I supposed to do?”

With a smile Mary Poppins said “Why save the world, of course.”