Oh, cool. Skeletons. Yeah okay, so apparently there were all sorts of ghosts and goblins doing stuff tonight, except that the skeleton was on their side? And Meringa was there, and oh no there they were! He flailed at one of them as it started drawing near, only to open his eyes with the realisation that he'd actually managed to... to chop it up? Had he done that? He... well, he was practising his martial arts. Obviously he could deal with a couple of shadows. Hah, what was he even scared of to begin with? They weren't even there, they were just shadow ghost things! Not even a threat to people!
He still couldn't help but laugh despairingly at the situation, turning into more of a whimper as the sound of terrifying laughter filled the night in response, complete with the words of a terrifying scarecrow-looking thing. Pumpkin on its head and everything. Was... wait, was that the skeleton? What was with the outfit? Why was it friends with them?
And what the heck was that misshapen creature fighting the other shadows?
'Are we gonna die?' he asked nobody in particular, only to realise that his only audience was an unconcerned alpaca. His last remaining guard had already joined the fray alongside the dragon lady and the drunk archer. And everyone else. Even... even a hourers was getting in on it! Dang it, he was making a scene of himself! He knew he could deal with stuff like that if it just dissolved immediately, and... and he was not going to be overshadowed by a horus!
'Okay, Kuzco,' the emperor mumbled to himself as he made his way cautiously forward, 'you got this, you totally got this, you can- you can just... kick them through the chest, right, yeah that'll work. Kick 'em through the chest...' Oh no one of them slunk past the others, there it was, all big and intimidating. Kick through the chest, kick THROUGH the-
'HIYAA!' With a loud yell, he lashed out with his foot, and- oh dang, he totally did it. His foot was very much through the shadow monster - where it had been, anyway, as it collapsed into nothing.
'...HA!'
Aaaaand he just drew the attention of several more. The last time this had happened, he'd run screaming from a pack of panthers... but, heh, noo, these weren't panthers. These were more like weak harmless kittens. Ahaha... yeah, he could take them. Totally could take them, for sure.
As Iago flew selfishly away, Cassim was left to defend himself and the others with naught but wit and blade. It two short slices two of the shadow creatures fell, dissipated by his swordsmanship. He silently thanked Allah they were so weak, much of a surprise that was, due to the sheer number of them that threatened to become an overwhelming tide. In a shorter skirmish the King of Thieves knew he had nothing to worry about, but this wasn't looking to be a short fight and he was no spring chicken. Cassim knew he might need to trust the rest of these intrepid adventurers more than he was used to trusting.
Unfortunately one of those intrepid adventurers happened to be the boorish hunter from inside the tavern, more concerned with something in the distance than the immediate threat that surrounded them all. He ignored the man as his blade dispatched another shadow on the back swing, leading to Cassim kicking off the alley wall of the tavern and into the open streets where he plunged the blade into another monster, vaporizing it immediately.
The creature Gaston was concerned with made its presence known, attacking the creatures with incredible strength, but this was no beast as the hunter claimed. A stout man with a hunched back, his face disfigured but Cassim saw in this one a powerful heart. Esmerelda and her soldier man recognized this disfigured boy which gave Cassim all the evidence he needed to leave the hunchback alone. He spun his scimitar above his head, slicing the hand off a shadow attempting to get the drop on him, then turned to illuminate the monster with his lantern. With a pained cry, it too departed this world.
Cassim took a deep breath and reoriented himself amidst the chaos. In such a short time more had joined the fray, including a man with skin as tanned as his own but remarkably goofy and uncoordinated, as well as a powerful stead without a master. In addition, the Pumpkin King made known why he held such title, somehow having become wreathed in flame and with a jack-o-lantern upon his bony head. Cassim grinned with excitement, for such legends to be witnessed by his own eye were truly fantastic!
The skinny tanned man was getting overwhelmed, so Cassim reacted with the speed of a whip. He directed his lantern toward the group, and tilted the broad end of his scimitar to focus and reflect the light into a sharp point which cut through a number of the shadows and giving Kuzco an opening with which to escape. "Hurry boy!" he called out. "Group with a partner, don't let yourself get surround-Guk!"
Had he headed his own advice, perhaps Cassim would not have found himself with black wisps encircling his throat, crushing his trachea. That one of these creatures could sneak up on the King of Thieves, well it was unthinkable. And that is exactly why it happened.
"I AM NOT A CHICKEN!" Iago flew overhead, dropping a large brick from his talons. The building block plummeted on a crash course for the shadow constricting Cassim, slamming through its vaporous body, dissipating it and saving his friend. However Iago did not descend to join the rest of them in the battle. "I just don't have a death wish like the rest of these bozos, you talking salamander!"
"Cassim!" Jack called as he noticed his fellow trickster getting slogged in the gut and choked out by another shadow. Everyone else was handling their own encounters pretty well, though the king of thieves could use a hand. Jack smiled and obliged without a spoken word to him, tossing a jack-o-lantern over Cassim and banishing a shadow that was going to join the fight on Cassim from the mortal world with a simple flash of a blaze. "Everyone, stay strong! We can handle this struggle so long as we don't falter!" The Pumpkin King shouted to his friends before a spirit came sneaking up towards him, almost like it was trying to get the drop on him...
"Oh? And who are you, trying to spook the most terrifying creature?" Jack turned to face the shadow head-on, grabbing the edges of his mouth and pulling them down past his shoulders. With a terrifying howl, Jack let loose a potent red flame, blasting out of his gaping maw and onto the transparent yet solid flesh of the shadowy figure, though it didn't last for long as the shadowy form began to melt in front of everyone's eyes, it becoming nothing more than a pile of residue on the floor. Letting go of his mouth, Jack placed a hand to his forehead and cackled into the night sky. "I guess it's just too hot for some of these shadows to bear! In fact..."
Jack sprung up into the air, smiled from 'ear to ear', then brought his hands to his side as hes tarted to emblazon the surrounding area of the tavern, courtyard, and several streets with a bright blaze. So much for subtlety, but it kept the area lit up, and hopefully it'd be enough to keep the shadows from continuing an endless assault. At least, that's what Jack hoped his illusioned flames would do. If they didn't, hopefully the pressure could be kept up.
Zero, meanwhile, was rushing through shadow after shadow, 'smashing' into them with his bright red nose and causing them to vanish from the inside out. Seems like the light of the ghost pooch's nose was enough to banish the shadows away from the world. Regardless, it was racking up a decent 'kill' count by simply rushing around, finding himself right back inside of a familiar bathtub. He barked at the creepy cavalcade of cartoonish creations happily before licking Lock, then Shock, then Barrel. Sure, they were mischievous, but they were still Zero's friends!
((Due to a personal issue IRL, on behalf of SystemOfEleven, I will be taking Phoebus and Pierre this go-around.))
Would that the Holy Virgin make the ground more stable so he could more easily follow precious Cynthia and get her back to her parents before the mob found her first! Pierre stumbled towards the stables after the fleeting little girl. Well, from behind, she certainly had her mother’s dark, unruly hair and taste for purple clothing. And the hat - ah, probably a gift from Clopin, who had an affinity for fine headwear himself! Yes, he remembered - no, no, focus, Pierre! No time to think of christenings and holidays when Esmeralda’s child was in danger of being burned as a witch! He vaguely realized she was certainly small for an eleven-year-old…was she eleven? Or five? Pierre’s head hurt as he briefly tried to remember the timeline his drunken mind conjured up. Five when...right, something about festivals. So she should be about eight.
Still rather young to be tried and burned as a witch, though, which meant he must get to her first!
“Waaaait, dont’t tun Cyn--” Pierre tripped on a jagged cobblestone and wobbled for a moment, but found his footing, “--wait fer me!”
He followed her to the stables, and to one of the first stalls. He saw “Cynthia” trying to climb into...he wasn’t sure, but she probably shouldn’t be there. Pierre dove to try to catch her.
“I’ll s-s-saaave--!”
The child jumped to evade his grasp. Pierre crashed inside the whatever-it-was. He groaned as he landed on...all sorts of things. Some large and round, others small and sharp. The whatever-it-was began to move, with a rocking motion on either side. Pierre groaned, but the movement felt familiar. After a moment, it came to him. But of course! It must be Cynthia’s cart, pulled by none other than his precious Djahli. She wasn’t trying to evade him - why would she, when she knew him to be a pillar of valor, a valiant hero with the heart of a lion and the bravado of a charging stallion? - she was simply hooking the little goat to her cart!
Clever girl. Much like her mother, she had a plan to get away.
Satisfied by this, Pierre allowed himself to enjoy the ride, at least until the “cart” stopped and two more children joined in. In his drunken haze, he barely picked them out as boys. Right. Children. Pierre pondered on their names. The shorter one was broad...brad...Bradley! Yes, that sounded right. Young Bradley, a precocious little scamp who tagged along behind his older brother...what was his name? He looked like he was named something foreign. Jonas...Jonah...Jonathan. Why couldn’t he just be a Jaques? Oh, right. Phoebus made strange friends in the war, and lost some… Such a bittersweet christening that was.
The boys came to either of Pierre’s sides, while “Cynthia” positioned herself at the back. Ah, such wonderful children, helping him to sit up so he could see their grateful parents’ faces. He vaguely picked out Esmeralda’s form.
“M’fine,” he said reassuringly. “S’no...s’no trouble at all...”
Pierre felt himself slide against the edge of the “cart”. He gave a goofy grin and a small wave as he tried to stand, only to slip back down. The children made a second attempt, and the next thing Pierre knew, he was smacking into the cobblestones.
Well! Such rude children! Surely, they’d be getting a talking to from their father for ungraciously throwing him out of their cart like that! He tried to stand to at least have a word with Esmeralda, but his ex-wife stepped in front of him to handle one of those black-clothed hooligans. Djahli came barreling out from behind Esmeralda to headbutt a shadow that threatened to get too close.
“My pretty!” Pierre happily called out.
Djahli ignored him and back-kicked a different shadow. He wasn’t able to take it out, but in the bathtub beside him, Lock traded his slingshot for a spiked club and finished the job. The little goat gave a grudging scoff of approval before situating himself beside Esmeralda.
In the main part of the square, Phoebus was shoved away, but he caught himself before he fell. In a quick motion, he retrieved his dropped sword and glared at the hunter before him.
"That was no beast!" he exclaimed, more hotly than intended, but this buffoon could have severely hurt Quasimodo, or worse. "He's a friend!"
A large burst of light momentarily diverted his attention. Phoebus kept his sword drawn, and could hardly believe what he saw.
"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
The walking skeleton was now a walking scarecrow?! A more religious man might have crossed himself. Phoebus simply watched the scarecrow in horror for a second, and more, the shadows heading his way. He quickly took a defensive stance and readied himself to cut them down. He could berate Gaston later; right now, he had more immediate concerns, such as keeping these things from the tavern, and by that right, Esmeralda, the strange children, and Pierre. His sword cut through a shadow as it leaped for him.
With the scarecrow providing a new source of light, the shadows fled...but many of them, dark but sheer before, became more opaque once directly out of the Pumpkin King's immediate glow. As the saying went, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. They avoided Jack directly, but the more opaque they grew, the more they strengthened as the brighter light contrasted with their darker forms. So long as a direct beam of light didn't hit them, they could use the light to their advantage.
Gaston was about to argue back, but the increasing severity of these monsters forced him to focus back on the immediate danger. His blunderbuss reloaded, Gaston took aim and fired a shot through three shadows standing close together.
A strange device landed near his and Phoebus’s feet. A sharp, loud sound, a burst of light, and a sudden shrill whistle emitted as it sparked and spun. Phoebus cried out in terror as the loud BANG and shrill whistle reminded him of a cannonball sailing by. He unwittingly swiped at the air and barely missed striking Gaston. Gaston shoved him away with a snarl. Unlike Phoebus, the sound reminded him of his glory days in the war. He swung his blunderbuss to take out two more shadows and buy himself another moment to reload.
Esmeralda saw the burst of light, heard the sharp, shrill noise from the strange weapon the trickster children threw, and the startled cry from Phoebus. In the second it distracted her, a shadow grabbed the fire poker and tried to pull it from her grasp. She kicked at it, but a few more slipped towards her. She wrested the poker back as more shadows came her way. Behind them, she saw the newcomer and called out to him.
"Quasi!"
The hunchback came barreling towards her, moving with grace to avoid some of the shadows, while taking out any that directly crossed his path. Quasimodo only briefly glanced at the light from the firework before continuing on his way. The light and color from the strange device caught his attention more than the loud BANG that came from it. Near-deaf as he was, though, even he heard it.
More of the shadows tried to block his path. In the light from the tavern windows behind her, Quasimodo saw Esmeralda's lips move, though he guessed she'd uttered his name even without it.
"Esmeralda!"
He kept going, as aside from his dearest friend, he also saw three children in a basin of sorts, and a drunk and likely useless Pierre nearby. While he trusted Esmeralda could handle herself, there were others who needed protection. He tackled another shadow, and - with greater difficulty than before - took it out.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked over at the strange man Esmeralda called out to, and curiously took him in. The three of them grinned under their masks. Two more shadows went down from their slingshots before they turned to Esmeralda.
"You didn't tell us--" Barrel started, impressed.
"--You had--" Shock continued.
"--A monster friend!" Lock finished.
There was no malice in their tones, only curiosity and excitement, and Lock's emphasis on the word "monster" came with genuine solidarity. The trio seemed to believe he was one of their own. He'd probably fit right in, in Halloween Town! Lock lifted his mask to get a better look, but Shock elbowed him to get him back on task as the darker shadows came their way.
"Admire your new boyfriend later," she said.
Barrel giggled. Lock stuck his tongue out at his sister and pulled his mask back down, but otherwise went back to assisting his siblings. They had more shadows to fight and trouble to cause.
Having access to a lot more projectiles allowed Barrel to reload more quickly. While he didn't always hit his target, the rapid fire kept the shadows thinned out just enough that his siblings and Esmeralda could more easily handle the ones that slipped through, especially now that they were stronger than before. Shock assisted Barrel on a different side of the bathtub. She couldn't reload her slingshot as quickly as her little brother, but her accuracy was better.
With the first firecracker having been a success, Lock took note of how many they had left. They had a small pile, but they'd need to be careful, especially since the shadow monsters weren't clumped together like they were before. Between the first firecracker, Cassim’s lantern, and Jack's pumpkin flames, the monsters were already adapting to that tactic. They spread out a lot more so fewer of them could be hurt or defeated so easily, and did their best to stay in the sweet spots of Jack's light to allow their forms to darken, lash out at their targets, and double back. Lock readied another firecracker. He lit and threw it when a few more of the stronger shadows got close.
Another loud BANG! and burst of light weakened these newly-powered shadows, only for a barrage of rocks and bone shards to finish the job.
Esmeralda was more than grateful that Lock, Shock, and Barrel could handle themselves. It meant she didn't have to put all of her focus into guarding them, and instead could focus on keeping Pierre safe, and the shadows away from the tavern entrance.
A massive white stallion jumped into the fray and trampled a few shadows under his hooves. Esmeralda watched as the horse kicked away a few more. From behind her, Djahli came barreling through to headbutt another shadow.
Esmeralda smiled at the stallion.
"Thanks," she said, before she stabbed through another shadow with the fire poker.
This one was a bit more resilient, and required a few kicks from Djahli and a direct punch to the jaw to dissipate.
One shadow got behind the stallion and grabbed his tail in an attempt to startle him, all the while minding his hind legs. Several more tried to attack in a wave on one side of the stallion, and conveniently out of line of the tricksters' fire.
Over in the alley, Mulan's shift to defend herself paid off as one of the stronger shadows came for her. It didn't disintegrate like the others before, and would take more work to be rid of, but after a few more swipes, it joined its previously-slain brethren. Another shadow slipped behind her to try to take Mushu. Flame from any source could help or hinder their cause, and they believed the dragon to be more of a detriment.
Kuzco would be able to take a few more down before the next wave.
'...HA!'
The new wave was of the opaque shadows strengthened by Jack's pumpkin fire. The first opaque shadow simply grinned at him when the emperor's foot halted against its chest.
They wouldn't get another chance as Cassim's pointed combination of the lantern and scimitar cut through a group of them.
"Hurry, boy! Group with a partner, don't let yourself get surround-Guk!"
One of the shadows took its opportunity. A second later, it disappeared into wisps of fog as a brick landed in it.
"I AM NOT A CHICKEN!"
He was loud enough to be heard at the tavern entrance, which earned some snickers from the brat pack. Could have fooled them!
Zero's nose combined with their slingshot ammo took out a few more of the stronger ones and bought a moment of reprieve for the trickster trio. Lock, having both of his hands free after throwing the firecracker, was able to give Zero a pet and a proper scratch behind the ears.
"Good boy," he said.
Shock and Barrel each gave him a quick pat before grabbing more ammunition. All three of them giggled at the licks to their faces, or rather, the masks covering them.
"Ready to--" Shock started.
"--Cause some more--" Barrel continued.
"--Trouble, Zero?" Lock asked.
A few more shadows were heading their way.
"REDHEATDS UNITNITE"
Quasimodo had almost reached Esmeralda and Pierre when something landed on his shoulders. In the overall commotion, he didn't hear the "battle cry" and thus had no warning of the approaching princess - not that he'd have heard it anyway from that distance. A sudden weight threw off his balance and focus. Quasimodo quickly reached up to pull the alleged attacker away, thinking it was another shadow.
"I guess it's just too hot for some of these shadows to bear! In fact..."
The new burst of light took out another round of the weakened shadows. The stronger ones, however, still remained, though they scattered to avoid the Pumpkin King and keep him from weakening them again, or any further. The ploy had some success in that some of the hordes that started coming seemed to think better of it. A few of the wiser ones came only close enough to Jack's light to gain a bit more strength.
Several of the shadow creatures began to retreat, though others came towards Jack to strengthen their forms.
It seemed they were gearing up for a final, terrifying attack.
Okay, that was bad. He was getting swarmed, and his kicks were suddenly less and less effective, until the last one just kind of bounced off of its target. As the shadow he'd just booted grinned at him, he grinned back most... emperor-ly. Nervously, he was nervous. Yeah, well, he guessed he was gonna die, then. At least it was a heroic death.
Until the one guy came in with a sword and hacked it to pieces. And then his heroic moment was cut off as a shadow tried to strangle him, and that shadow was beaten by another heroic moment from a... talking parrot? Dang it, how many people had Yzma transformed and gotten away with it?! Also, people needed to stop ruining each other's awesome moments of heroic sacrifice! They were interfering with his own heroic dodging back toward his last guard! Who, incidentally, was handling the shadows much more effectively, given that he did in fact have a spear and muscles. But even then, he was clearly starting to have trouble... what was causing that? Why were they suddenly so much stronger? Was it the light? The pumpkin man's light? He needed to cut it out, then!
'Hey, don't mind me, I'm just gonna get a better vantage point, maybe go group up with some other people too,' he muttered to his final guard, clambering up the guy's clothing-covered back as he sliced at another group of shadows. Man, those made it a lot easier. So did experience with climbing stuff as a llama, actually. Huh. Either way, Kuzco found himself standing and mostly balanced on the guard's shoulders, trying to make sure he had the bright- woah, really bright, too bright to look at- Pumpkin King in sight.
'HEY! TURN IT DOWN! You're ma- WOAH!' he yelled, nearly toppling over as the guard took another swing, this time at the shadows that had been chasing Kuzco himself, whilst making a path through toward that blonde knight from before, and some black-haired gunman. Okay, maybe he needed to do something about the shadows himself, too. 'You're making them stronger!' he finished up, now taking a leap of faith from his stalwart ward's back, winding up into a cool kung-fu pose, then lashing downward with his foot to propel himself with the momentum - bringing his full body weight into one of their faces, all focused on his heel. It knocked it down, at the very least, and that helped them both continue to make progress toward the two other fighters. Perfect, maybe they wouldn't get the stuffing knocked out of them by shadow monsters.
'Hey, fellas!' he called to them both as they kept making progress. 'You mind if we join you?' That was more cursory than anything else. He and his guard were definitely joining their group, whether they liked it or not, because he wasn't a dingus.
Max nodded to Esmeralda, acknowledging her praise. Then Max felt a shadow clutch his tail, but instead of getting startled he got angry. Max quickly pivoted and bit down on shadow's hand forcing it to release his tail, he then promptly kicked the shadow in the head and it dissipated. Max huffed triumphantly, though he noticed a few of the shadows were regrouping that wasn't a good sign.
Max looked over towards three strange-looking kids who were responsible for firing off the fireworks, they had more shadows headed their way! Max ploughed through one of the shadow creatures that was advancing on the kids. While he trampled the shadow an idea hit him, if the kids had more of those fireworks they could rain hell on the cluster of shadow creatures.
Max put himself between the trio and the approaching shadows, briefly looking back at then and gesturing towards the shadows that were using Jack's light to strengthen themselves. He could only hope they understood what he wanted them to do, either way, he was still going to defend the kids so ther could continue peppering the shadows with slingshot fire.
Things were only getting crazier. Now the shadows were building up a resistance to light, or there were stronger shadows, one of the two. More were joining into the fray, the drunken Gaelic was cheering on for redheads, the Pumpkin King’s kids were getting wild, and now an abnormally intelligent horse was even jumping in to kick the monsters around. What a night this was!
”Are these the fabled Parisian nights I’m always hearing about?” Cassim asked Esmerelda, getting in close with his back to her, sword ready to defend them at a moment’s notice. A beast charged straight in but quickly found itself bisected. ”Looks like things are going to get worse before they get better! Everyone! Group up together! Around the children!”
Cassim rolled toward Lock, Shock, and Barrel, stabbing into another shadow beast as he went. If everyone followed his example, they would have a strong circle able to defend from every angle, with heavy artillery firing out from the center. Whatever was coming would surely be stronger than what they had faced so far.
”Nuts to that! I wanna li-i-i-aaaaah!” Iago found himself yanked by his tail feathers, forcibly dragged through the air by Cassim’s off-hand.
"Normally, I'd like to keep my scaring in the name of fun, but even I know when to stop being scary!" Jack snickered to himself, taking a single bow before the entire area went dark, but only for a brief moment. As soon as the darkness came, it left, and Jack's Halloween fire roared back up once again, only much stronger than it had been before! There wasn't as much fire in the area as there had been before, but there was a considerable amount of light radiating from the King and all around the entirety of the group, surrounding them (and the shadows) with an illuminating warmth. Whatever sweet spots that were around had been erased, and the entire area was practically being baked in light.
Jack himself hadn't changed, save his head being one large flaming pumpkin lantern, and his hands wielding two notable things. A torch in his left, and a bat-boomerang in his right. He brought both up, torch between his head and the boomerang, before he exhaled a fiery breath onto the boomerang, setting it alight in his hand. He clutched it tightly, then threw it as hard as he could, the rang easily cleaving through several shadows near the ghastly gaggle of grim grubs, Lock, Shock, and Barrel as well as this new weird horse before it returned to Jack's hand, extinguished and covered in shadow residue. Yuck.
That being said, the numbers of the shadows began to die down as they all started to retreat, though a few stayed to grow stronger regardless. "I believe they're regrouping for one final assault! Let's make them fear the day they messed with us!"
Zero, meanwhile, was cowering behind the bathtub babies before the sudden flash of a boomerang appeared in his vision, realizing that he might've been safer than he had thought compared to the shadows that were assaulting the group. Though, Zero clearly wasn't as fast as the large horse that was in the area, so maybe... just maybe, Zero could help the horse out. The dog 'jumped' onto the back and head of the horse, sitting on top of the mighty steed and staying near his head. His body wasn't opaque, so the horse could reasonably see through him, and what made it better was that Zero's bright nose was still glowing bright. If that horse was going to defend, maybe he could use his head to see the benefits in what he could do, literally and metaphorically.
Kuzco's yelling seemed to get a lot of the group's attention, as well as the shadows'. A few of them came for him and his guard in earnest.
'You're making them stronger!'
It took Phoebus a few seconds to push back the effects from the second firecracker. This was a battle, and now he knew those bright things were a possibility. He quickly got himself into a better mindset. There were lives at stake. He couldn't afford to falter right now.
Just then, Emperor Kuzco landed between him and Gaston, after his successful attempt to get the fiery scarecrow's attention.
'Hey, fellas! You mind if we join you?'
"The more hands in battle, the swifter the victory," Phoebus said.
He sliced through another shadow with his sword.
Gaston let out a hearty laugh as he reloaded his blunderbuss.
"We're barely getting started!"
"Normally, I'd like to keep my scaring in the name of fun, but even I know when to stop being scary!"
The entire square went dark. Many shadows took those few brief seconds to regroup. A few merged with each other so they could share strength. Then, the light of Jack's torch sent several crawling back to their graves. Others were cut down or severely injured with the flaming bat boomerang that followed.
Back in the alley, Mulan cut her way through another tough shadow to try to gather near the tavern where most of the other fighters were grouping together. She felt Mushu's claws on her neck as he was pulled away.
"Aaaaaaah! Let me go, let me--!"
Before Mushu could let out another burst of flame, the shadow clasped around his mouth. He pitifully struggled in its grasp.
"Mushu!"
Mulan dealt with the current shadow as quickly as she could, though the timing of the second firecracker allowed her to perfectly cut through the shadow and retrieve her dragon. Mushu blew a burst of flame towards it to finish it off.
"Teach you to mess with a dragon!" he cried. "Next time, do it to my face, you limp di--whoa!"
His threat was cut short as Mulan ran for the middle of the square with Phoebus and Gaston.
"Then let's make that victory swift!"
Over by the tavern, Esmeralda was locked with another shadow. Even Djahli's headbutts weren't knocking it back. That strange man in the red dress was right. They were stronger!
"Are these the fabled Parisian nights I’m always hearing about?”
Esmeralda fended off the shadow long enough for Cassim to cut through it. She accepted his position at her back, as it gave Pierre a chance to crawl away and courageously hide behind the bathtub.
"It hasn't been this exciting since last year's battle for Notre Dame," she said.
"I believe they're regrouping for one final assault! Let's make them fear the day they messed with us!"
Esmeralda worked with Cassim to take out a few more shadows, before the King of Thieves tucked and rolled towards the tricksters.
"Looks like things are going to get worse before they get better! Everyone! Group up together! Around the children!”
”Nuts to that! I wanna li-i-i-aaaaah!”
Lock, Shock, and Barrel giggled.
"He can--" Barrel offered.
"--Hide in here--" Lock continued.
"--With Zero," Shock said, sweetly.
She gave the ghost dog a quick pet, before she rejoined her brothers in slingshotting the shadows.
Quasimodo barely kept himself from completely throwing his assailant to the ground when he saw a girl's face in front of him. He could smell the mead on her, and now factoring that he had a drunk girl on his shoulders, he shifted his position to better see the shadows.
"Woah calm down, it's just meeeeeee… You take the ones in front, I will watch your back."
Quasimodo picked out a strange tinge in her voice now that she was practically right by his ear, and as he read her lips, he "heard" her clearly.
"I-if you're sure," he said.
He didn't have time to fight or argue, as the shadows were coming together a lot more quickly. If anything, the drunkard on his shoulders was probably safer there than under his or anyone else's feet. Quasimodo pushed past two more shadows as he continued to make his way to the tavern.
He watched as the white stallion galloped towards the children in the strange basin. The three little hellions took notice immediately. Lock and Barrel each fired another shot while Shock reloaded. Lock, being the closest, looked up at this new white beast. Shock took notice as well.
"What--" Lock started.
"--Is--" Shock continued.
"--It?" Barrel finished, without looking up from his slingshot.
Shock fired another bone shard to cover him. Lock watched as the creature gestured into the tub with its nose while Barrel fired off again. The creature then looked to the shadows, snorted, then back to their tub. Lock got it a second later. The white creature was pointing out the fireworks. He nodded in understanding.
"We--"
Shock picked up on it next.
"--Got you--"
Barrel reached back for another projectile.
"--Covered."
They let the white beast situate itself near their bathtub. They would have to time this perfectly.
Zero, having been inspired by Jack's fiery show of shadow destruction, rose up to assist the strange beast. His glowing nose provided a beacon for the group overall, marking their gathering place.
At Cassim's command, Mulan ran for the bathtub.
"He's right, and so is the fiery one!" she cried. "They're desperate! Everyone, group up, hold strong, and keep a clear mind!"
Phoebus didn't need to be told twice. He followed Mulan and pulled Kuzco and his guard with him as they went behind the bathtub to provide cover from any shadows creeping up that way. Blunderbuss reloaded, Gaston was going to fire again, but reluctantly followed Phoebus and Mulan. As much as he wanted the glory of taking these things down, he knew he couldn't do it alone. Nevertheless, when the final attack came, he'd be ready for it.
Quasimodo wasn't able to hear Cassim or Mulan, but he quickly picked up on the plan when he saw the rest of those battling the shadows gathering around the children. He positioned himself near Esmeralda to close the gap.
The shadows all formed into one giant mass as the group gathered and situated then. Then, with those few precious seconds, they swooped forward in a wave of darkness to cover the brave heroes and Pierre.
”Prepared yourselves,” Cassim warned, slashing down another shadow as it charged toward them. ”I’d guess they have a trick up their sleeve!” Almost on cue the shadows began to congregate in a large mass together. It was fortunate that they had all gathered round to defend one another in a single position that left no openings from any angle. Even Iago recognized that being right in the middle of it all was, ironically, the safest place to be!
”I should’ve stayed with Aladdin!” the macaw complained, covering his head and ducking back behind hte trio of tricksters. ”At least the most dangerous thing I’d be dealing with then is his marriage!”
The shadow monsters crashed over them all as one like a tidal wave. Cassim held the line where he stood, slashing fiercely at the oncoming beasts, but his age was starting to show and his sword arm grew more sluggish with each swipe. Finally, one made it past his defense and managed to lay a claw on his arm. ”Argh!” he cried, rectifying his mistake by planting a strong kick into the shadow as he slashed another .
