Sonic and the Secret Rings, Volume Five(a)

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The sound of Sonic’s shout was able to carry through the dust and mist to the others, alerting them to what Haman had summoned. Aladdin and Badoura were the first to react, both of them standing up and staring at the genie as more of him was revealed. He appeared to be missing his brown cape, but he still wore white pants with tan cuffs, brown shoes with pointed toes, gold cuffs on his wrists, and a brown wrap around his waist topped with what appeared to be a jewel. He had reddish markings on his torso, arms, hands, and forehead, and his cardinal red hair curled up and around his head.

“By Allah… He actually brought him back,” Aladdin breathed.

“I don’t believe it… This is what he wanted the Essences for?” Badoura murmured. It wasn’t long before the air had cleared enough to allow the others to see Erazor Djinn as well. A full view of him showed that he was about his normal size, roughly twice as tall as Sonic and a muscular look to his body.

“That’s Erazor Djinn?” Twilight asked, shocked.

Her shock was echoed by the others as well, though Rainbow Dash added, “You know, I was kind of expecting him to be… well, bigger since he’s a world-destroying genie and all.”

Ali Baba and Sinbad were both looking at the genie as well, their reactions considerably more mixed. “I don’t… Can the World Rings really resurrect someone?” Ali Baba wondered.

Sinbad growled, “That crazy old fool and his forbidden magic…”

As if he was waiting for the right time to make his entrance, Haman suddenly appeared next to Erazor Djinn in a red-orange flash of light. It was hard to tell if he was still bleeding or not as his right sleeve was covering up his arm again, but it didn’t seem to matter to him, given his demeanor hadn’t changed. “Hee hee hee~! Look at what my hard work has led to! Isn’t he beautiful? I am truly an artist!” he cackled.

“An artist?! You’re an IDIOT, Haman!” Sonic yelled.

Sinbad backed him up, “You already unleashed that spirit on this world once! Now you’ve broken the rule that even genies normally can’t break and unleashed him again, and you’re patting yourself on the back?!”

Haman replied, “‘Unleashed’, my dear sailor? I’m afraid that’s where you’re mistaken! The Erazor Djinn may have caught me off-guard last time, but not this time! This time, he will only be doing what I tell him to!”

Rarity spoke, “You take selfish to a whole new level, Haman!”

Cadance nodded, “If Erazor Djinn’s past was filled with masters like you, it’s no wonder he developed such desires!”

Haman replied, “Bah! Why don’t you all cry me a river! It will be the last thing any of you get to do!” He tapped the bottom of his staff against the ground, “Now it is time to witness success!” As he was speaking, a nearly invisible red shockwave spread out from where his staff touched the ground.

Sinbad noticed the wave when it came to a stop just past where Sonic, Shahra, Badoura, and Aladdin were and became more opaque, beginning to glow brighter. “Oh no you don’t!” he shouted as he began to run towards the center of the circle, everyone else beginning to follow his lead. They weren’t fast enough, though, as just as Sinbad and Rainbow were about to pass over the wave, a red barrier shot up out of the ground, going all the way to the ceiling and then continuing to spread out, pushing everyone outside of it back to the outside of the circle.

Aladdin, Badoura, Sonic, and Shahra looked at the barrier behind them with surprise, but they soon looked back at Haman when he said, “Ah, ah, ah don’t intrude! Work before pleasure, after all!” The sorcerer looked up at Erazor Djinn and held up his staff, which began to glow red-orange as he spoke, “Erazor Djinn, as your master, I command you to eliminate the pests in front of you once and for all! We’ll have some fun with the rest of them later, but for now, begin my- er, our revenge by spilling their blood on the ground!” With that, he teleported away again and reappeared inside the blocked passageway.

Badoura, Aladdin, and Sonic all tensed up as they looked at Erazor Djinn, but the genie continued to hover over the ground, the same hardened expression on his face as he stared back at them. Seeing some sort of hesitance in his eyes, Shahra spoke up, “Erazor Djinn, don’t listen to Haman! You don’t have to keep going down the path you chose previously! Whatever control he has over you, fight it!”

Haman’s voice echoed, “Nice try, Genie of the Ring, but it’s useless! He lives because of me! I own him! Now do as I said, Erazor Djinn, and kill them!” His words caused Erazor Djinn to move, the genie bending over as he flexed his arms inward. As he was hunched over, a circle of red-orange magic surrounded him, causing him to grow to about twice his height! As the magic faded, he floated up straight and then held his right arm up, and with a flash of light, his razor-like sword appeared in his hand. He then brought it down and held it out in front of him, Sonic, Shahra, Aladdin, and Badoura being reflected in the blade’s smooth, polished surface.

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“Erazor Djinn, please!” Shahra cried, trying one more time to sway him. It was to no avail, however, as with a swing of his sword, Erazor Djinn suddenly shot towards the group! Reacting quickly, Aladdin and Badoura dove to the left while Sonic grabbed Shahra and leapt to the right, all of them just barely dodging the horizontal slash the genie had aimed down at them.

As he landed, Sonic laid Shahra down on her side and asked, “Shahra, are you hurt?”

The pink-haired genie looked up at him, her eyes misty with tears, and stammered, “N-No, Sonic, but Erazor Djinn, he… Did you see him, he…”

Sonic replied, “Yeah, I saw that.” He glanced in Erazor Djinn’s direction and saw him going after Aladdin and Badoura as he said, “Maybe if we wear him down enough, we can get through to him.” He looked at Shahra and stood up, holding his right hand up as finished, “For now, I need you to trust me, Shahra. Stay in the ring for now; I don’t want him to get you again…” Shahra looked up at him for a moment before nodding and turning into a ball of light, vanishing into the ring. After giving it a pat, Sonic turned to look at Erazor Djinn.

During this, Aladdin and Badoura were dodging a series of slashes from Erazor Djinn. After dodging a zigzagging slash, Badoura leapt at the genie while surrounding herself with flames, but he was able to knock her back with a swing of his arm and she landed on the ground with a grunt. Aladdin quickly leapt in front of her and drew his saber, holding it up. Erazor Djinn just looked at him questioningly and Haman laughed, “Really, Aladdin? You actually think a genie is going to be afraid of a tiny little knife like that?”

Aladdin replied, “Maybe not now, but…” While holding the blade in his right hand, he swept his left hand over it, a blue glow coming from his hand. Blue energy began to gather around the blade of his saber, soon forming a blue blade of energy that greatly elongated the length of it. From outside the barrier, as the group was attempting to break through it, Twilight noticed that the blue blade looked similar to Silver’s Psychic Knife.

Erazor Djinn glared down at the white hedgehog and brought his sword up, charging at him with a deep, ghostly growl. Aladdin brought his sword up again, this time assuming a defensive stance. The genie’s blade met the hedgehog’s, but he was surprised when the longer blade not only didn’t break, but Aladdin was able to stand his ground against him. In his surprise, Erazor Djinn was pushed back and Aladdin pressed the attack, both of them slashing at each other for several moments. As Badoura got up and joined Aladdin, he jumped back and made a horizontal slash, sending the blue blade flying at Erazor Djinn as Badoura threw several wisps of fire at the blade.

The wisps wrapped around the blue blade and caused it to burst into flames, though it kept flying at Erazor Djinn. The genie grunted and tried to block it, but it broke through his guard and exploded. Aladdin and Badoura looked at the resulting cloud of smoke apprehensively, sure that Erazor Djinn wasn’t finished yet but not sure what to expect next from him. They soon got their answer when Erazor Djinn let out a loud growl and shot out of the smoke, crashing into the two and knocking them back onto the ground before they could react. He brought up his blade, preparing to take them while they were down, but Sonic interrupted him when he struck the side of his face with a Homing Attack. The hit stunned him for a moment, but he quickly whirled around and punched Sonic with his right hand, sending the blue hedgehog flying all the way across the field and into the barrier!

Sonic hit the barrier so hard that he ended up creating an indent in it. He remained in it as he shook off the impact of the crash, but as he was shaking his head, Shahra whispered to him, “(Sonic, look out!)” Sonic looked up and saw Erazor Djinn flying towards him and letting out a yell, his sword pointed right at him! Sonic narrowed his eyes and, a moment later, pushed himself up and off of the barrier. The tip of Erazor’s sword broke through the barrier, but Sonic landed on top of it, the hedgehog quickly charging up a Spin Dash and hitting the genie in the face. He kept going after the hit, flipping around in midair and landing a short distance away from Erazor Djinn, facing him.

As he was retrieving his dropped saber, Aladdin noticed that as Erazor Djinn pulled his sword free, the break it left in the barrier was beginning to close up. He glanced in Haman’s direction. He couldn’t completely make out the sorcerer through the red, but he could see that his staff was glowing again. He then looked back at where the hole had been in the barrier, an idea forming in his head.

After dodging a slash from Erazor Djinn, Sonic used Speed Break to hit him and jump back over to Badoura and Aladdin, sliding across the ground and stopping in front of them. They all looked over at Erazor Djinn, the genie shaking his head and growling after the hit. “He may be invincible, but there must be a way we can subdue him,” Badoura said.

Sonic nodded, “Yeah. It might take some help from the others to do, though. …I’m open to suggestions on how to get them past that wall.”

Aladdin placed his hands on Sonic and Badoura’s shoulders and murmured to them, “I think I have an idea. It involves him, though.” Badoura and Sonic looked at him, leaning in closer as he whispered his idea to them. As he finished whispering, they had to jump out of the way of an attack by Erazor, thanks to Shahra and everyone outside of the barrier helpfully alerting them, but as they landed, Aladdin asked, “What do you both think?”

Sonic replied, “Well, like your plan to free Badoura while magic boy’s back was turned, I like it!”

Badoura nodded, “I agree, but how do we let the others know about the plan without either Haman or Erazor Djinn finding out?” They all looked to see Erazor Djinn glaring at them and holding his sword up once again, seemingly preparing another charge.

“If I can just get a moment between his attacks, I should be able to pass the message on to them,” Sonic said.

Aladdin held up his saber and used his magic to extend its blade again as he replied, “I think that can be arranged.” Badoura nodded in agreement, the air around her hands already starting to spark with small embers.

Instead of charging at them, Erazor Djinn stomped his right foot against the ground, creating a shockwave and causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. Sonic went first, Aladdin and Badoura following him as he leapt over the shockwave and avoided the falling rocks. The blue hedgehog leapt at Erazor Djinn in a Homing Attack, but a block by the genie followed up with a swing sent him flying off to the side. This left Erazor’s defense open, however, and Aladdin slashed him across the chest, the white hedgehog leaping back as Badoura created a fiery explosion.

While Badoura and Aladdin continued distracting Erazor Djinn, Sonic landed on his feet further away and quickly ran over to the others, everyone stopping their attempts to break through the barrier as he came to a stop in front of them. “Sonic!” Rainbow exclaimed. She was silenced when Sonic held a finger up to his lips. Stealing a glance back at Erazor Djinn, he looked back at the others and made several hand gestures: he brought his hands together and then swept them out, a stabbing motion with his left hand, and a punching sign with his right hand followed by quickly opening his fist. With that, he turned and ran back towards Erazor Djinn.

“Uh, okay, what was that all about?” Spike asked as he looked at Sonic’s retreating form.

After a moment, Sinbad spoke, “They’re going to try to get us an opening. We just have to be ready for it.” He then glanced at Twilight, Rarity, Shining, and Cadance and said, “And if I’m guessing right, your magic will be what we need to ‘punch’ through.” Though they were still a bit confused, everyone decided to trust the adventurer’s words.

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As he ran at Erazor, Sonic called, “Heads up, Erazor!” The genie grunted and turned to look behind him, only to get hit right in the face with another Homing Attack. With the opening in his defenses, both Aladdin and Badoura struck, Aladdin throwing his glowing blade at the genie while Badoura unleashed a large fireball that pushed him back slightly. The trio regrouped afterwards, waiting to see what he would do next. They soon got their answer when Erazor Djinn growled and stomped the ground with a foot, causing more rocks to fall from the ceiling. Sonic, Badoura, and Aladdin moved to dodge the rocks, though this time they ran away from the genie, moving away from each other as they came to a stop in front of one of the barrier’s walls.

After the rain of rocks stopped, Erazor glared at the three of them. Aladdin was on the genie’s left and Sonic was on his right, leaving Badoura in between them. While he looked between them, Sonic started waving his arms as he called, “Hey, what are you waiting for, big guy?”

Badoura, while holding a hand on her chin, spoke, “I believe he’s, as they say, chicken.”

Aladdin made a gesture with his left hand as he taunted, “Hey chicken, come on!” Erazor growled in frustration and charged at Aladdin first, the white hedgehog dodging to his left and running over to Badoura as the genie pulled his sword free and turned to face him. Erazor smirked as he saw a chance to impale them all at once and charged again. Aladdin wrapped his left arm around Badoura and they both jumped, both focusing their powers to clear the attack.

Sonic, meanwhile, stepped to the side as Erazor brought his sword down on where he was standing and then did a Spin Dash into his chest, uncurling and kicking him in the face as he flipped back. As he landed, Sonic smirked, “Tag!” Erazor let out a snarl and did a quick slash at the blue hedgehog, which simply dodged it and then ran up along the side of the barrier. As he began to run away, he called back, “Catch me if you can!” Erazor answered his challenge, flying after him while Aladdin and Badoura ran after him, Aladdin’s sword once again extended.

As Erazor Djinn pursued Sonic, Aladdin and Badoura ran along his open side, both occasionally throwing an attack at the genie to break his focus on Sonic. When they attacked, the genie would take a swing at them, but it was more to try to get them to back off rather than a planned attack, so, much like Aladdin and Badoura actually trying to hurt Erazor, these swings were halfhearted at best. Still, by messing with him, the genie had trouble lining up his strikes and ended up hitting the barrier instead.

Haman quickly realized what they were trying to do and, as he struggled to repair the breaks in the barrier, shouted at Erazor, “Stop that, you fool! You’re helping them ruin my hard work!” But the genie paid no attention to his words, his frustration growing as his enemies kept attacking, taunting him with their continued existence. It didn’t take long before they were about to pass in front of where the rest of the group was. It was at this point that Erazor Djinn let out a loud roar and deliberately thrust his sword into the barrier, aiming for the spot where Sonic was going to be!

Erazor’s roar had thrown him off, but Sonic saw what he was about to do with his blade and clenched his right hand into a fist as he yelled, “TIME BREAK!” As time began to slow down, the blade broke through the barrier, everyone outside of the barrier jumped back, and Sonic, Badoura, and Aladdin started to skid to a stop.

As Sonic slowed down, he stuck his left foot out in front of him and planted it against the side of Erazor’s blade to stop himself. Making use of the temporary surface and slowed down time, he planted both feet against the barrier and cancelled the Time Break, pushing off with all of his strength. He struck Erazor in the face and landed a second later. As he, Aladdin, and Badoura ran away from the genie, he called back, “That doesn’t count!” Erazor let out a growl at that and removed his sword from the barrier, turning to pursue the trio.

As Erazor’s sword was removed from the barrier, it left a large, gaping hole in the red wall. Once he was sure that the genie was distracted, Sinbad spoke, “Now’s our chance to open it up!”

At this, Shining said, “Let’s get in there!” He, Cadance, Rarity, and Twilight galloped forward, the hole already beginning to close as Haman tried to shut them out. They managed to get their horns into the hole before it could close completely, Twilight and Shining Armor stood crouched down low while Rarity and Cadance stood above them side by side. As they all began to charge their magic, Shining grunted, “If we can interrupt the magic here…”

Cadance nodded, “It should shatter the whole thing!”

On the other side of the chamber, Haman yelled, “No, no, no! You will all stay right where you are!” The red-orange glow surrounding his staff seemed to intensify at his words.

Back with the group, Rarity suddenly let out a yelp as she stepped back slightly, as did Twilight, Cadance, and Shining Armor. “What’s wrong?!” Rainbow asked.

“He’s… trying to push us back!” Twilight exclaimed as she tried to stand her ground.

“We need to focus or we won’t get through!” Cadance said. A second later, she suddenly felt something press hard against her from behind. Although she couldn’t look back, it was Pinkie pressing her head up against the pink alicorn.

As the others joined in, Ali Baba, as he helped Twilight, said, “You focus! We’ll help you!” With the extra push helping to counter Haman’s magic, the four magic users could focus on their task, their horns glowing brighter as they readied their magic. After several seconds, a bright white light and a loud whooshing sound filled the air, managing to catch Sonic, Badoura, Aladdin, and Erazor Djinn’s attention. The bright light forced them to avert their gaze, but seconds after the whooshing died down, it was followed by the loud sound of glass breaking as the barrier shattered into pieces.

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Moments later, both Sinbad and Shining Armor called, “ATTACK!” At this call, Rainbow Dash shot out of the remnants of the white light carrying Ali Baba with her forehooves, who in turn was carrying Rarity with his right hand. The pegasus shot straight towards Erazor Djinn, letting go of Ali Baba when they were close enough, all three hitting the genie with a flying kick together, causing him to grunt as they leapt back.

That was not the end, though. As she and the others ran forward, Twilight charged up a horizontal Mystic Blade, finishing it and launching it at Erazor at the same time Aladdin threw his blue magic sword at the genie, both hitting him in the chest. Both Spike and Badoura unleashed fire on the spirit as Cadance and Shining fired magic beams from their horns at his face. Sonic leapt into Pinkie’s Party Cannon and was fired at Erazor’s chest as she shouted “Sonic Power Cannon!” As the hedgehog landed, Applejack leapt onto his back and used him to get the extra height needed to buck the genie in the stomach, followed by Sinbad jumping up and punching him in the face as hard as he could. As he was knocked back, Erazor’s sword flew out of his hand, disappearing when it hit the ground, and he fell to his knees, panting heavily.

As the group stood together looking at the genie, Aladdin said, “I think he’s down for the moment.”

Applejack nodded, “Yup. Ah don’t think he’s gettin’ back up anytime soon.”

Twilight wondered, “But what do we do with him now?”

Shining looked at Cadance and asked, “Cadance, do you think your magic could break Haman’s hold on him?”

The pink alicorn replied, “Maybe…”

Shahra leapt from her ring, taking on her normal form as she floated off to the side. She spoke, “Wait! Let me try talking to him first! I… Maybe he’ll listen.” She looked at Fluttershy and asked, “Fluttershy, do you think you could…?” The yellow pegasus caught onto what she was saying and nodded, walking over to Shahra and staying at her side as she floated towards Erazor. Everyone else watched carefully, waiting to see what the genie would do.

As the two got closer, Erazor raised his head and glared at them, letting out a snarl. Both Shahra and Fluttershy stopped at this, but while Shahra looked at him worryingly, Fluttershy steadied herself and narrowed her eyes slightly before she resumed walking. This kind of behavior wasn’t unusual for her; plenty of the animals she knew had acted similarly towards her the first time she approached them, but she was able to calm all of them down fairly easily, so even though Erazor wasn’t an animal, she was sure her experience would be helpful here. She was only stopped when Haman yelled, “Bah!” The sorcerer suddenly teleported close to Erazor’s left side and held his staff up in Fluttershy’s direction, causing her to gasp fearfully.

“Fluttershy!” Shahra and Rainbow exclaimed. They both quickly flew up to the pegasus and got slightly in front of her, Shahra on Fluttershy’s left and Rainbow on her right, both of them ready to defend her.

Haman glared at them for a moment before saying, “As usual, if I want something done, I have to do it myself!” He turned to Erazor, his staff beginning to glow again as he said, “Erazor Djinn, I order you to give me your power! Grant me your genie powers and I will destroy them all!” Everyone gasped at this and looked at Erazor Djinn, but the genie remained panting on his knees. Haman growled and fired a beam from his staff at the side of Erazor’s face before saying, “Didn’t you hear me?! I revived you; you serve me! Give me your power, NOW!”

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When there was still no response from Erazor, he fired another beam at his face, and this time he seemed to get his attention as the genie turned his head left to glare down at the sorcerer. Haman hesitated at this, but he shook the surprise off and fired another beam at Erazor. This time, the genie held his right hand up in front of his face, the beam hitting his palm and not doing anything. After the beam stopped, in one quick movement, Erazor swept his left arm out and hit Haman’s hand, causing him to stumble while the staff was knocked out of the circle.

Haman stared at where the staff had landed for a moment before turning back to Erazor Djinn, only to see that the genie was once again hovering over the ground. Before Haman had a chance to react, Erazor reached down and grabbed him with his right hand, lifting him up until the genie’s face was all he could see. He then slowly spoke, in that same deep yet ghostly voice he had been using, “I serve… NO ONE!” As he finished speaking, he released Haman and then unleashed purple beam from his palm at him, the sorcerer screaming as he was pushed back until he was outside of the circle, at which point the beam surrounded him, forming a transparent, spherical barrier that was almost too small for him, all of his limbs cramped inside of it.

“Oh… That’s not good,” Sonic muttered at this.

“Yeah, no kidding. Way to go, Haman!” Sinbad growled. Erazor Djinn glared at the sorcerer for a short while as his prison held him a short distance above the ground, the sphere beginning to float away. While he was distracted, Cadance quietly released a pink heart from her horn, hoping it would have an effect on him, but the genie turned around before it had reached the halfway point. He glared at it and held out his right hand, lightning sparking from it that turned the heart black and made it burst.

He then glared at the group for a moment before hunching over again, though this time the magic that surrounded him was dark purple. As he straightened up, seven streaks of colored light circled him before shooting up towards the top of the Skeleton Dome, exploding when they hit the ceiling. Everyone looked up in surprise as it looked like the explosions had weakened it greatly. They were proven right as a large boulder broke free seconds later and fell towards the ground, a couple of smaller boulders falling with it. “Move it!” Sonic called as he turned around, everyone scrambling to get out of the circle. Shahra and Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy and got out with the others just moments before the boulders landed, the center of the circle almost buried. And all the while, Erazor Djinn was growing larger…

As everybody caught their breath, Twilight asked, “What’s going on? What’s Erazor Djinn doing?”

Ali Baba panted, “I have no idea. With all of his talk, I thought Haman really did have Erazor Djinn under his control…”

Shahra thought for a moment before saying, “I think his spell wasn’t cast correctly. Sinbad was right again.”

Badoura looked up at her, “What do you mean, Shahra?”

The young genie replied, “When we were coming here, Sinbad speculated that Haman needed Sonic and Aladdin for something. Considering the dark nature of the magic he used, that must’ve been what he meant when he said he would ‘make do’…”

Aladdin soon caught onto what she was suggesting and asked, “He needed OUR blood to complete the spell?!”

Shahra nodded, “I think so. Most dark magic that I’m familiar with usually does require a more pure sacrifice.” Looking back at Erazor as he continued to grow, she said, “By using his own blood, though, he brought Erazor Djinn back as something worse than before: a monster!”

Sinbad growled, “If that’s the case, then ruling over worlds might not be enough for him. He’d probably rather destroy them instead!”

Rainbow looked at Shahra and asked, “Shahra, how can we stop him?”

The pink-haired genie looked up at Erazor Djinn. The genie had stopped growing, by now his head being close to the top of the dome and his feet hovering over the circle. After a moment, she spoke, “We have to drain the Essences from him somehow. They’re giving him his power; if he doesn’t have them, surely he won’t be able to maintain a physical form!”

Pinkie asked, “How do we do that?”

Sonic suggested, “What if we reopen that portal? Make sure he goes back to the other side?”

Shahra spoke, “Yes… Yes, that might work! If we can reverse the spell, the Essences should be removed as well!” She then eyed the center of the circle, “But to do that, we’ll need to use the rune that Haman placed…”

Applejack groaned, “Well, ain’t that just…” She was cut off when a loud crackling sound came from overhead. Everyone looked up to see that Erazor Djinn was forming a purple sphere between his hands, the sphere growing bigger as he charged it more. “What’s he doin’?!” Applejack cried.

“He’s trying to escape! With the dome as damaged as it is, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to escape!” Ali Baba exclaimed.

“He needs to be close for this to work! If he escapes from here…” Shahra trailed off. Sonic looked up at the large genie, thinking for several seconds. He then looked down at the ring on his finger as he raised his right hand up and used his left hand to rub it. Shahra immediately snapped to attention at this and bowed, “Oh Master, how may I serve you?”

Sonic looked at her and said, “I wish for magic carpets, Shahra! Magic carpets for everyone!” Shahra nodded and held her arms out, using her magic to create small magic carpets big enough for everyone to stand on.

While she was doing this, Badoura looked at Sonic and asked, “What are you thinking?”

Sonic replied, “I’m thinking we’ve got a chance here!”

A magic carpet flew next to Twilight and stopped, hovering in the air. She looked down at it for a moment before looking back at Sonic and asking, “What plan do you have in mind? What are we going to do?”

Sonic answered, “It’s simple! We need to get that rune uncovered, and we need to make sure Erazor doesn’t leave! If you’ve got the magic and/or the strength to move heavy rocks, then you’ll handle that part!” He jerked a thumb up at Erazor Djinn, “The rest of us will get his attention! We’ll buy you the time you need!”

Shining nodded, “Sounds like a plan to me!”

Rainbow pushed the carpet next to her away as she said, “I don’t think I need a rug for this! I’m much faster with my wings; I’ll get that genie’s attention!”

Sinbad looked at Sonic, “Applejack and I will help with the unearthing, but once that’s done, we’ll be right up to help you!”

The orange earth pony nodded, “Until then, hit him once for us!” Everyone soon knew what they had to do and they moved to do, everyone except Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Shahra taking a carpet to help. Shahra, Sinbad, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Cadance, and Shining flew towards the pile of rocks in the circle while everyone else flew up to distract Erazor Djinn.

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As the sphere he was creating began to get bigger than his hands, Erazor Djinn grinned to himself, “Yes… Yes! Soon, very soon…”

Rainbow shouted, “Yeah, very soon, you’re going back where you came from, pal!” Erazor raised an eye and looked around his sphere to see the pegasus flying up at him, everyone else coming up behind her. He grunted and looked back at his sphere, ignoring her. Rainbow just grinned and said, “Hey, come on, big guy! Since we’re not gonna be seeing each other for a while, let me give you a Rainblow dry for the road!” She shot up to his face and began to fly around Erazor in a tight circle, leaving a swirling rainbow trail around his head. He growled at what she was doing, but he tried to remain focused. Despite this, the sphere between his hands began to shrink.

Seeing this, Aladdin placed his left hand over his saber and created the blue blade once again. As he finished, Badoura called over to him, “Aladdin!” The white hedgehog looked at her as she raised her right hand and created a small flame. She then sent it flying towards him, the flame going into the blue blade and changing it to a flaming blade again.

“Thanks, Badoura!” Aladdin called back. His carpet then shot towards the sphere and he jabbed the flaming blade into it until only the hilt was sticking out. He then quickly turned and flew away as the sword interrupted the gathering magic. Seconds later, Rainbow flew away from Erazor moments before the sphere exploded in his face, causing him to growl as Aladdin’s saber was sent flying.

While Spike went to retrieve the sword, Sonic, Ali Baba, and Badoura quickly shot towards Erazor’s face, all of them attacking once they were close enough. He soon recovered, however, and used his magic to immobilize them and push them back as he said, “Insignificant specks! You will be the first to fall!”

Pinkie piped up, “Not before we have a party, you big meanie!” Erazor looked up to see that the pink pony had flown above the others and was now flying towards him with her party cannon out. She fired at him, confetti and streamers hitting him in the face, a few pieces even hitting around his eyes. This caused him to release Sonic, Badoura, and Ali Baba while he wiped the offending party favors off of his face.

When he was finished, he opened his eyes to see Fluttershy hovering in front of him, attempting to use The Stare on him. While he did flinch initially, any power she had over him was quickly lost and he raised his right hand to swipe at her. Thankfully, Ali Baba swooped in on his carpet to get her out of the way, just missing getting hit by the genie’s arm. As he glared at the two of them, Sonic, Rainbow, Badoura, Pinkie, Aladdin, and Spike shot towards Erazor to attack him again.

While they continued to distract Erazor Djinn, down on the ground, Sinbad, Shahra, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Shining Armor, and Cadance were working diligently to remove the boulders that had fallen from the ceiling. The magic carpets made moving the smaller rocks out easier while magic took care of a few of the larger ones, but the big hurdle was the large boulder that had been knocked loose from the ceiling, and it was completely covering the rune.

“Any chance this boulder can be lifted with magic?” Sinbad asked.

“I think this one might take a bit of time and combined effort to move,” Cadance said.

Rarity wailed, “Isn’t there any way we could remove it faster?” As if to answer her, Rainbow suddenly shot downwards before sharply angling herself upwards, having kicked off a Sonic Rainboom in an attempt to distract Erazor. The force from it stunned everyone for several moments, but when they looked back at the boulder, they saw cracks lining its surface.

Shining spoke, “If that shockwave had been much stronger, it would’ve shattered the boulder!”

Rarity gasped to herself, “Wait… This is just like…” She then called to the others, “I think we can break it into smaller pieces now!”

Twilight nodded, “You’re right, Rarity! If we can make it smaller, it should be easier to remove!” Everyone else nodded in agreement and they all got to work, Applejack and Sinbad jumping off their carpets onto the boulder to stomp and punch it to chip away at it while the others threw the broken pieces out. It wasn’t long before both Sinbad and Applejack jumped back onto their carpets and Twilight and Cadance grabbed the boulder, now barely half of its original size, and threw it out of the circle, revealing the faded rune underneath.

Upon seeing the rune, Shahra said, “We need to repair and recharge the rune before we can use it!”

Sinbad called, “We’ve done our part! It’s all up to you now!” With that, both he and Applejack flew up to join in the aerial skirmish while Shining, Twilight, Rarity, and Cadance jumped off of their carpets and, after Shahra explained what they had to do, they all began to use their magic to fix the rune.

Sonic spotted Sinbad and Applejack as they flew up and called, “Hey, Sinbad, AJ, you made it!” Everyone else noticed them as well at this.

Sinbad called back, “Hoped you saved some for us!” Erazor growled at this and swiped his right hand down at the two.

They managed to dodge it and Applejack called, “Let’s try hittin’ him in another spot where it hurts!” Sinbad nodded and they both flew towards his abdomen, where they both began punching and bucking him in the stomach. Erazor ignored what they were doing as it didn’t hurt much down there, but after a couple of seconds, he let out a groan as he held a hand to his stomach. Seeing this, Sinbad and Applejack flew out of the way as the latter said, “Yeah! Bet ya didn’t know ya could have an upset stomach, did ya?” Seeing their chance, everyone moved in and began attacking again.

Erazor growled at this and soon straightened up, quickly smacking everyone away with a sweep of his left arm. “You filthy vermin! I’m done wasting my time with all of you!” He held up his arms and began creating lightning that came down from overhead in multiple places, trying to hit the group. They all broke off for the moment, trying to dodge the bolts until they died down, at which point they each moved back in to attack.

About a minute later, down on the ground, Shahra finished reactivating the center of the rune as Rarity and Twilight each finished fixing one of the spots where the Essences had been laid. It was now finished, a bright white glow coming off of it as it pulsed with the combined Arabian Nights, unicorn, and alicorn magic. “At last, it’s ready…” Shahra sighed.

Shining looked at the genie and asked, “What now, Shahra? What else do we have to do to send Erazor Djinn back?”

The genie responded, “All that’s left to do is open the gateway now. And in order to do that…” She turned her head and looked at where Haman’s staff had landed, the bottom of the staff stuck in the ground and the Eye of Gazeem still resting in its hands.

“We need the Eye of Gazeem!” Rarity breathed, realizing what Shahra meant.

“I’ll get it!” Twilight said, being the closest one to it. She galloped towards the outside of the circle, but she planted her hooves into the ground to stop when Erazor’s right foot came down in front of her. Although he had placed his foot down due to an attack from Applejack, Sinbad, and Pinkie Pie, the genie detected the unicorn’s presence and looked down at her. Twilight gasped at this, but she steeled herself and ran around the right side of his foot, aiming for the staff.

Erazor turned his head to follow her, growling as he realized what she was doing. Ignoring everyone in the air, he turned around and held his hands close together, charging another sphere as Twilight got out of the circle. Shining gasped and yelled, “Twilight, look out!” The lavender unicorn looked up to her right to see Erazor firing the sphere at her, which was now just a bit bigger than she was. She quickly charged her magic and teleported away before it could hit her, reappearing a short distance away from the staff. She ran up to it and tilted her head, gripping it with her teeth and pulling it free.

“NO!” Erazor Djinn yelled, holding his arms up; a moment later, an explosion sounded close to Twilight, startling her. She let out a cry and took the staff in her magic, scampering to avoid more explosions created by Erazor. She ran around the circle, trying to avoid the explosions as best she could, but just when it seemed like they were stopping, Erazor said something that she couldn’t understand, and a second later, small pillars of rock burst out of the ground in front of Twilight.

She was unable to stop and, as soon as she got close to them, they they wrapped around her like tentacles. The unicorn let out a shout as she was dragged backwards, the staff falling to the ground as the magic aura around it disappeared. The rocks prevented her from moving much, one even wrapping around the base of her horn as she was held up.

“Twilight!” Sonic, Spike, and several of the ponies called as she struggled to free herself, but to no avail. She soon stopped, realizing Erazor had her trapped much like King Sombra had.

She looked up and saw Sonic starting to fly down towards her. She yelled up at him, “Sonic, no!” When he stopped and stared at her, she pointed as best she could at the staff, “Get the Eye!” Sonic looked at it and realized what she was getting at, turning and shooting off towards it.

He managed to grab the staff, but he didn’t get very far before Erazor shot his carpet with a beam of purple magic, turning it into a pile of thread. Sonic leapt off of it before it could fall out from under him and ran with the staff, intending to make a break for the center. He wasn’t watching where he was going, however, and before he could make his move, a fist made of rock burst out of the ground in front of him and punched him up into the air. It didn’t knock him too high up, but it left him reeling. As he reached the height of his flight, he opened his eyes and looked down, his eyes widening as he saw that Erazor had created a bed of spikes right where he was going to land!

Before he landed on it, he managed to stick the end of the staff between some of the spikes. It didn’t do much to slow or stop his descent, but he managed to stick his legs out between two spikes at that spot to catch himself before he could land on one. He avoided being impaled, but as he looked up at Erazor, he realized he was in a tight situation. The genie would surely counter any sudden movements he made, and he couldn’t hold himself up like this forever…

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZO1yi…>

He turned his head to look up when he heard Rainbow shout, “Sonic! SONIC!” He saw that the pegasus was waving her hooves above her head. Reaching back with his right arm, he grunted as he threw the staff as hard as he could to her, Rainbow flying a bit closer to catch it with her teeth before turning around and shooting away. Erazor growled at this and fired a red beam from his eyes that homed in on Rainbow, the pegasus twitching as the magic took effect. When the tingling from the magic stopped, she realized that her right wing had become huge! “Come on! Not again…” she murmured, struggling to stay in the air properly.

She glanced off to her left when she heard Badoura call, “Rainbow Dash!” The princess was flying down towards her from above, likely to make it easier to pass off the staff. After another wing flap pushed her to the right, the pegasus swung her head around and threw the staff. Badoura managed to catch it and was about to angle downwards to shoot for the rune when Erazor Djinn pointed his left finger out, releasing a stream of flames from it. The flames hit Badoura’s carpet and, before she could react, burned it to ashes in a second.

Badoura let out a yell as she started to fall, but Sinbad got underneath her and caught her. “Gotcha!” he said as he set her down on his carpet.

“Not for long!” Erazor growled before he threw a purple-colored crescent wave at them. It hit them both, Badoura throwing the staff up when she was hit, and sent them both yelling towards the wall. As soon as they hit the wall, the magic condensed around them, creating locks around their wrists and legs.

The staff, meanwhile, landed in Fluttershy’s hooves. Although she was surprised, the shy pegasus was going to pass it off as well, but one look at Erazor caused her to freeze up. Applejack saw that Erazor was going to use another spell and quickly brought out a lasso, throwing the loop and wrapping it around Fluttershy’s waist. She gave a hard tug and pulled the shy pegasus to her, but Erazor’s next spell unleashed a flurry of winds. The winds caught not only Applejack and Fluttershy, but also Pinkie Pie as she was moving in to take the staff next, all three of them getting knocked off their carpets and falling to the ground.

The staff was picked up by the winds as well and it ended up in Spike’s possession. He started flying towards the rune, only for Erazor to immobilize him. Before the genie could do anything, Aladdin swooped in, leaping onto Spike’s carpet to grab the baby dragon and put him under his left arm before jumping back onto his own carpet. “I’ve got you, Spike!” he said as he began flying towards Erazor, hoping to throw him off for a second by going behind him before going for the rune. It seemed he knew what the hedgehog was planning, however, as he caused a rock to fall on the back of Aladdin’s carpet, sending it down to the ground and sending Aladdin and Spike flying.

Luckily, the momentum the two had picked up carried them the rest of the way towards Erazor, Aladdin’s face hitting Erazor’s left shoulder before bouncing towards his back, where he managed to grab onto the top of the cloth around the genie’s waist to stop their fall. Erazor grunted in surprise at this and began reaching his hands around, trying to grab at the two. Wasting no time, Aladdin shifted Spike to his back and used his magic help him to run up the genie’s back. He managed to get up just below the shoulders before he stopped and grabbed on, Erazor still trying to grab at him.

As Aladdin tried his best to hold on, Spike asked him, “Aladdin, what are we gonna do?”

The white hedgehog replied, “We’ll think of something!” He turned his head, looking around and hoping to find some way out of this situation. After looking around several times, he noticed Ali Baba was still in the air, the fox hovering to the left a fair distance away from Erazor, looking unsure of what to do.

Nodding to himself, Aladdin climbed up to Erazor’s shoulders and got close to his neck before stopping. “Get off,” he muttered to Spike, the baby dragon letting go of his vest. He dropped down onto Erazor’s skin, but Aladdin surprised him by grabbing the staff with his left hand. He then grabbed the baby dragon and, after some slight resistance, lifted him up, his right hand underneath the baby dragon. “I’m gonna throw you now,” he whispered.

“What?” Spike asked, not entirely comprehending. He understood a moment later when Aladdin made a short running start and threw him as hard as he could towards Ali Baba, the baby dragon letting out a scream as he hurled through the air. Ali Baba had to fly a little forward, but he was able to catch Spike, Erazor momentarily distracted by this action. The genie quickly realized that Aladdin was still on him and turned to his right, seeing the hedgehog beginning to run down his arm. He was carrying his saber in his right hand and the staff in his left, the latter of which was turned away from Erazor.

Aladdin noticed Erazor’s arm was beginning to move and he leapt off of it, starting to fall. He didn’t get far before Erazor’s right hand grabbed him by the vest and held him up to his face. The two glared at each other for a moment before Aladdin spoke, “So you want it? Well, take it, then!” With that, he threw Haman’s staff towards Erazor’s left, the genie quickly reaching up and grabbing it. He smirked as he gripped his prize, but it soon faded as he realized there was something missing from the staff’s hands…

Suddenly, Aladdin let out a shout as he unleashed a large amount of magic, managing to get himself free from Erazor’s grip. A blue aura surrounded him and his saber as he hung in the air for a second before gravity took hold of him, the Eye of Gazeem falling out of a pocket inside his vest as he began to fall. Aladdin went into a freefall, reaching for the Eye with his left hand while aiming for the center of the rune.

He soon grabbed the crystal and shouted down to Shahra, Shining, Rarity, and Cadance, “Get out of the way!” The four of them had stayed in the center to get the Eye when it was passed to them, but at Aladdin’s command, they hurried out of the circle. As Aladdin got closer to the ground, he made a horizontal swipe with his saber, the extended blade creating a rush of wind when it made contact with the ground, slowing Aladdin’s fall as the saber flew out of his hand. He landed on his feet, but he winced as his left knee hit the ground hard when he bent it down. Fighting through the pain, he took the Eye of Gazeem in both hands and slammed it down in the center of the rune, the jewel and the rune beginning to glow brightly as soon as the former made contact.

Aladdin turned his head to look up as Erazor Djinn growled loudly, the genie reaching his right hand down at him. Just as it seemed the hand was about to reach the hedgehog, a whitish-blue beam of light shot out of the Eye of Gazeem, going straight up and hitting Erazor in the chest. The genie reeled for a moment before he let out a loud yell as the light spread across his body. He began to spasm uncontrollably, flashes of light appearing around his body as patches of his skin began to ripple.

As this was happening, the effects of his magic were beginning to dissipate. Sinbad and Badoura’s shackles disappeared and they both dropped to the ground near Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, Rainbow’s wing shrunk back to its normal size, the spike bed Sonic was holding himself over disappeared, causing him to drop to the ground, and the rocks restraining Twilight released their hold on her. It seemed as though Erazor was losing his power, which became more apparent when a yellow stream of light burst out of his arm and shot into the opening vortex.

Looking down at the center, however, everyone realized Aladdin was in trouble. He was trying to run away from the rapidly growing vortex, but he was holding his left hand over his left knee, trying to keep the pain shooting up it every time he took a step to a minimum. He managed to keep ahead of the opening gateway as streams of green and red shot into it, but it caught up with him soon after, the white hedgehog crying out, “NO…!” as he fell into it!

“ALADDIN!” Badoura and Shahra cried, everyone else staring in shock and horror.