The 13th Hero
By H.R.C. Stanley
Inspired by Fantasia Crisis by Lord Akiyama
Chapter One
"Is this true?" the cat spoke.
"Oh yes, Ortensia," the lucky rabbit responded.
"I can't believe you, Oswald," the little android doubted.
"Believe me, Andre," Oswald said sternly.
"So after all these past months," the gremlin pondered, "We finally discovered the truth?"
"Yep," Oswald answered, "That's right Gus."
"Chernabog's going to destroy the whole wide world as we know it?" Andre questioned with clear concern.
"Not exactly," Oswald corrected, as Andre sighed with relief. "He wants to take over our world."
Andre's feeling of relief was short-lived, as it quickly vanished afterwards. "Oh now I'm feeling better," he uttered with clear sarcasm. "This has got to be some November Fool's prank."
"I wish so too," Ortensia confessed worryingly.
"But, of course, not to worry," Oswald affirmed with a newborn confidence, "Yen Sid said he has a big solution to this equally big problem."
"Oh really?" Andre asked back, "And what might that be?"
"He said that he, Mickey, Donald and Goofy are planning to round up twelve of the finest heroes the worlds have to offer." Oswald said.
"And who are they to be?" Gus wondered. Oswald took up seconds to remember any sort or kind of information the Sorcerer confirmed, trying to come up with any answer at all.
"I don't know," Oswald gave out, disappointed in himself.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Andre demanded in disbelief. "Mr. Sid hasn't told you?"
"He didn't tell me whoever," Oswald said in response. "Maybe he's searching for such at this moment."
"Did he at least give you a hint or something?" Gus guessed curiously.
"However, I think he told me what they are, as opposed to who they are," Oswald recalled while reaching down one of his pockets. "I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget."
Oswald pulled out a piece of paper before handing it to his friends. On it was nothing more than a simple list, they didn't understand it at first, but then it began to make sense to them.
An outlaw for the poor and helpless
A princess beneath the sea
A prince trapped within a creature
A thief disguised as a prince
A king of guilt and triumph
A god as mortal as man
A warrior both man and woman
A man of two worlds
A spirit of seasonal spring
A woman fighting for a price
A creature lost yet found
A captain of swift and guile
Ortensi, Gus and Andre looked at each other, equally oddified.
"Ok, but even then, why now?" Ortensia questioned in confusion, "It's Halloween Night tonight."
"Oh yes, you're absolutely right," Gus agreed.
"Besides Ozzie," Andre said, "What can we do?"
"I don't know what we can do," Oswald replied with pessimism, before quickly switchly to optimism. "But I think I got an idea, a plan even."
"Really?" Ortensia said, "What is it?"
"I think we should gather up our own team of heroes to help out defeat this evil." Oswald announced to three of his closest friends.
"I can't tell the difference between idea and plan," Andre mumbled before complimenting, "But either way, it's a good one, buddy!"
"I agree, but can we do that after Halloween Night?" Gus said and asked.
Oswald and Andre quickly remembered again. "Golly, he's right," Andre spoke out. "We even got it all planned out: the Lonesome Manor tour, the Thriller Dance Disco, the Midnight feast, we even got some pumpkin-flavoured ice cream, pumpkin cake, pumpkin sandwiches, pumpkin soup, pumpkin biscuits, pumpkin candy floss, we even got a scare competition on tonight, I hear the Doc might dress up as the Skin Taker!"
"Okay, okay, we can do all that first, then we can go finding some heroes in the morning." Oswald settled out as they all calmed down from their brief panic.
"Deal!" Ortensia, Gus and Andre confidently accepted in unison.
The next morning, just outside the Dark Beauty Castle, Oswald, Ortensia, Andre and Gus began work on a secret project, a special powerful machine, with a little help from other gremlins and the Mad Doctor himself.
Minutes and minutes, hours and hours on end passed and rolled by as they continued constructing their device, nuts and bolts together.
"Andre, can you pass me that spanner please?" Gus permitted.
"Sure thing," Andre said, "So what are we working on again?"
"A portal," Oswald reminded before turning back to Gus. 'Would you like to give the details please?"
"Surely, once fully built, this portal should open and access to other worlds," Gus explained. "It might pick a random one, but this way, we should find our set of heroes."
"Simple and clean after all," Oswald complimented.
"All we have to do is connect the solar flare and our machine's complete and operating." The Doc affirmed.
"I'll be needing your help on that, Jamface," Gus said to his fellow gremlins. "Sure thing, mate," Jamface responded cheerfully.
The two gremlins heaved and hauled as they lifted the flare up high. As Jamface continued holding it up, Gus screwed in the bolts one by one, and eventually, drove in the last spike.
"It's complete!" Jamface cheered out with glee as he swooped down to his buds. "Good to know, mate," Oswald said gladly. "Doc, let's switch before we glitch."
The Doc took hold of the lever, gripped it tight and pulled it quickly and dramatically. The machine sparked and rumbled as its power built up, higher and higher, all the way to maximum. Just then, a warping gate was created, a portal, as the toons stared on with awe.
"Success!" Oswald said with excitement, "Now let's see who we'll meet on the other side."
To be continued...