Chapter 3: The Butterfly Effect

"Location: Sugar Rush, February 8th 1984"

Candello walked to the bus stop, his hands in his pockets. It hadn't been a good day. Work had been busy, and he was fairly sure his boss had it in for him. Then the fire alarm had went off and he had to stand outside in the cold for three hours while the fire brigade made sure the building wasn't burning down. To top it all off, it was raining. Muttering to himself, Candello rounded the corner. His bus was in sight, and for a fleeting moment, he could see a green haired woman preparing to board.

Then he was pushed the ground.

"Gotcha!" somebody shouted.

Candello heard a loud clang before being helped to his feet. He looked behind him. A streetlamp had been struck by lightning and had fallen right where he would have been standing if he had kept walking. The stranger, a small green jawbreaker-like creature in a naval uniform, had saved his life.

He had also caused him to miss his bus.

Oh well, he supposed, a bus was just a bus. There would be another along in five minutes, and it wasn't as though he had just missed something that he would never see again, right?

But as Candello thanked the sailor for saving his life, the bus and Candella, the woman he should have met but never would meet, disappeared into the dreary misty distance.

"Location: Sugar Rush, March 12th 1989"

"We're sorry to lose you, Lieutenant-Commander." an admiral said.

Lieutenant-Commander Sour Bill stood in his commander's office, having just handed in his resignation after twelve years of naval service. He had been promoted to officer status five years earlier, after saving a man from being struck by a falling streetlamp. After that, he had risen steadily through the ranks, but now it was time to go.

"Sorry, admiral, but I've been waiting to pursue my true calling for too long." Sour Bill said.

"Yes, your calling in... helping the royal family." the admiral said, disapprovingly. He then smiled and said "Well, whatever you do, I wish you good luck. If it doesn't work out, there'll always be a place for you here.".

"I'll remember that, admiral. It's been good working for you." Sour Bill said.

"And you too." the admiral said, shaking Sour Bill's hand.

Sour Bill saluted, and the admiral returned it before allowing his subordinate to leave his office and the Navy behind.

"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, November 30th 2108"

Kandle paced around his living room, phone in hand. He was not happy.

"No, it's nowhere near development. Your asking me to build this thing in five days... it can't be." Kandle said, talking into the phone. He scowled and started to say "What the heck do you mean I don't have any drive? I have plenty of drive... your calling me a what? A recluse? I'm not a recluse... okay, I can name several friends! There's...". He trailed off and said "Fine, I'll get to work. Goodbye, si... goodbye, sir.".

He slammed the phone onto the receiver and sat down, quietly fuming. He hated this game. He didn't know why. The people weren't that bad, and this part of Sugar Rush was beautiful. He just felt, deep down, that something was missing.

"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, December 17th 2108"

It was an average day in Sugar Rush. Simon was outside, dozing against the wall of Captain K's Diner. A crowd had gathered outside of the diner, lining up for it's new Krabby Patties. Apparently, Mr. Krabs had given Plankton the secret formula, and he and Kaiser had become partners and were selling them together.

At least, that's what Plankton was saying.

Simon woke up, having heard a clang. He looked up at the Captain K's Diner's roof, where a radio tower was beginning to ascend, getting higher and higher above the game. Then, with a loud clang, it stopped and started broadcasting.. For a second, Simon wondered if it was a mind control tower, like what had happened in Bikini Bottom in 2004. If it was, he didn't need worry. After all, he had his nifty new Chum Bucket/Captain K's Diner Bucket Helmet to protect his brain from...

Thunk.

"Location: Enchantia, The World Of Disney, July 5th 2109"

Swizzle was asleep in a bed in one of the guest rooms of the Enchantia palace, oblivious to the thunderstorm outside. He was too busy dreaming.

He was standing on the edge of a rock in the Ghost Zone, looking over a truly massive red portal underneath. He could hear his voice through the wind.

"My name is Swizzle Malarkey, and I don't think me and Vanellope are coming back from this one." Swizzle's voice said.

"Swizzle, please don't do this." A voice pleaded.

"Jubileena?" Swizzle asked in confusion.

Then there was another voice, a high-class sounding British one.

"I did what I did for the benefit of all humanity! I don't need your approval, nor do I want it, but I do need you to listen!" the voice said.

Swizzle felt himself lift off the ground. The world turned to swirling colors before his eyes before he landed hard on the floor. He winced, picked himself up, looked up, and his jaw dropped. He was in the castle in Sugar Rush, but the whole building was gone, and near the castle pathway was a truly massive ghost portal.

Swizzle jolted upright, panting heavily. He was back in the bed, and his portal key was beeping. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Swizzle answered it.

"Hello?" Swizzle asked.

"Swizzle, are you okay?" Vanellope asked from the other end of the portal key's communicator.

"Just a nightmare, Nelly. What's going on?" Swizzle asked.

"My portal key just shorted... at least, I think it did. It shocked me, anyway." Vanellope replied.

"Your sure it isn't static?" Swizzle asked.

"No, these things don't do that. Anyway, I was making sure that it was still functional and... look for yourself, under portals." Vanellope replied.

Swizzle tilted his head in confusion, but he did as he was asked.

"Okay, we've got the real world, Amity Park, Toontown, Monstropolis, Arendelle, Retroville, Fantasyland, Zootopia, Dimmsdale, San Fransokyo, Notre Dame... what?" Swizzle asked.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Meet me and the others in my guestroom. We need a battle plan." Vanellope ordered.

"Got it." Swizzle said.

He hung up and looked at the portal key again in concern.

"Planktopolis. What are you up to, Syndicate?" Swizzle wondered.