Chapter 1
It was a normal night at the Magic Kingdom. Timber was in the castle tower telling Woody and Stitch about his adventures in Wasteland. "To think," Woody said, "A whole world of forgotten Disney characters." "Yeah, I know," Timber said. He sat quiet for a moment, looking at the floor. "What wrong?" Stitch asked. "It's just that," Timber answered, "lately I've been going to strange places. And not just going there, being sent there without any kind of warning. It's starting to concern me."
Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared next to them. The three got ready to defend themselves, then they heard the intruder's voice, "H-Hold your fire! I come in peace!" The smoke lifted away to reveal Merlin. "What are you doing here Merlin?" Timber asked, loosening up. "Well, you see, I have a very important task for the three of you," Merlin answered, "And seeing how alert you boys are, I'm even more certain in your ability to accomplish it." Merlin reached into his sleeve saying, "I need you to protect this." He revealed a crystal ball. "You want us to protect snow globe?" Stitch asked. "It's not a snow globe!" Merlin snapped. Composing himself, Merlin continued, "At least, not anymore. Anyway, this is the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom." "The Crystal of the Magic Kingdom," Timber repeated, "That sounds familiar. Isn't that from that new game the imagineers just installed into the park?" "Game?" Stitch asked. "Yeah, it's this really cool game where park guests can fight their favorite Disney villains. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like a lot of fun." Timber explained. "Why would you want to?" Woody asked, "You spend all night fighting Disney villains." "Focus boys!" Merlin yelled.
"Yes this crystal is exactly like the one in the imagineers game. As such, it holds tremendous power. Enough to keep the Overtakers at bay." "For something so important, why are you leaving it with us?" Timber asked. "Well," Merlin said, "after your previous endeavors, I can think of no better guardians for it." As Merlin handed over the crystal, Timber could feel the power it contained. "Now remember," Merlin added, "You must keep it a secret. For should the Overtakers find out that it truly exists, they will no doubt plot to destroy it, or worse, corrupt it." "You can count on us Merlin," Timber said. "I knew I could," Merlin replied, "One more thing. One of you should keep the crystal on you at all times. Even if you never spoke of it again, I'm sure the Overtakers will find out about it somehow."
Meanwhile, Maleficent was keeping a watchful eye on the heroes. "So, that blasted crystal is real. Perhaps we should acquire it for ourselves."
Back at the castle, Merlin said his goodbyes, "I'd best be off. Don't let me down." As Merlin disappeared, Timber said, "I'd better go too. It's getting close to morning." As Timber was about to press the button on the Return, he looked at his friends and asked, "Can I trust you guys to find a safe place for the crystal?" "Stitch already have perfect place!" Stitch exclaimed. And with that, Timber pressed the button.
That day at school, Timber couldn't help but think about the night before. 'I still can't believe Merlin gave us such an important artifact to protect.' Timber thought, 'Can't help but wonder where Stitch hid the thing.' Then, Timber realized something. 'Oh crud, why did we let Stitch hide it?! Tonight can't come soon enough!'
That night, Timber hurried to the tower. "Okay guys, where's the crystal?" Timber asked as soon as he arrived. "I've been trying to get Stitch to tell me for a half hour!" Woody said. "Come on Stitch," Timber said, "Where is it?" Stitch checked the surrounding area, and started to gag. "Oh he didn't…" Timber said annoyed. As Stitch continued to gag, Woody said, "It's Stitch. Of course he did." Finally, Stitch puked up the crystal. "Okay," Timber said, "does the emporium sell air freshener?"
Later that night, Timber, Woody, and Stitch sat at a table playing cards. "Fold," Stitch said. As Timber laid down his cards saying, "Two pair!" Woody gave a grin and said, "Flush!" Timber started shouting, "Oh come on! How do you do that?!" As Woody collected his chips, Stitch heard something. "What is it Stitch?" Timber asked. Stitch started barking at the ceiling. It turned out Pain and Panic were attempting to steal the crystal. "Oh man!" Pain screamed. "Run!" Panic yelled. Timber, Woody, and Stitch chased Pain and Panic around the room. Getting fed up, Stitch finally drew his plasma blaster and took aim. Timber noticed this and screamed, "Stitch don't!"
But it was too late, for Stitch already pulled the trigger. Instead of hitting Pain or Panic, the blast hit the crystal. Suddenly, the crystal filled with energy, and broke apart. The shards flew all around the park. "Oh no," Panic said, "Hades is gonna be mad when he finds out!" "You mean…" Pain started. "Don't you say 'if he finds out!'" Panic yelled. Then the two ran off.
Timber looked out the window asking, "How do we tell Merlin?" "Tell me what?" Merlin asked as he appeared in the room. Almost instantly, Stitch hid behind Timber. Hesitantly, Timber explained what had happened. When he finished, Merlin looked at the three and said, "Well, at least it sounds like the fail-safe kicked in." "Fail-safe?" Timber, Woody, and Stitch asked in unison. "You see," Merlin explained, "as an added safety measure, I infused the crystal with a special spell. Should the crystal be attacked with enough force, it shall break apart into eight shards, and scatter across the Magic Kingdom." "Do you know where they might have landed?" Timber asked. "As a matter of fact I do," Merlin answered. He summoned a piece of paper and said, "This map shows the eight locations where I designated the crystal shards to go to."
Timber took the map and said, "Great! We better find those shards." Before he and the others could leave, Merlin said, "Wait a moment. The shards must be found of course, but there's something else that you should know. As yet another length to protect the crystal, the shards have nestled themselves into dimensional pockets in each of the areas. You will need this to open special portals around the park to get to the shards." Merlin summoned a small key and handed it to Timber. "One more thing," Merlin added, "These dimensional pockets exist in a world of special magic. This might aid you."
Merlin casted a spell that surrounded Timber with smoke. When it cleared, Timber was revealed to be wearing a blue robe and red pants. "These sorcerer robes will give you the power to use these spell cards," Merlin explained as he handed a deck to Timber. "To use them," Merlin continued, "simply hold the card in front of you, and proclaim its name." "Anything else to add?" Timber asked. "Just to be on your guard boys," Merlin said, "If the Overtakers have already taken action, you can be certain that they'll be after the shards as well. I'll do my best to keep them off your tails while you search, and I'll send you help when I can."
As the three were leaving the tower, Timber stopped to say, "I'm sorry Merlin. You put your faith in us and we let you down." "Oh don't worry my lad," Merlin said, "We've all failed in attempts to do something in our lives. But the way I see it, it's better to make mistakes and learn from them, than to do something perfectly and learn nothing."
And so, the quest to restore the crystal had begun.