Magic Kingdom (part one)
The sun was just as bright, if not a bit hotter than the day before. A fact that made it very hard for England to retain his cheerful mode for his partner. The Englishman had awoken to very sore legs had not wanted to get up at all. It took America making his morning tea for him and the promise that this was, in fact, their final day at the Disney World theme parks. The Brit then managed to arise, albeit not without a grumbled curse here and there, and prepare himself for the day ahead. They soon found themselves waiting for a train to come and take them to the Magic Kingdom.
''Wouldn't it have been faster to get on the ferry? It has already left.'' England pointed out to America as they stood within a group of fellow Disney visitors.
''You'd think that, but that boat goes so freakin' slow it is ridiculous. The train'll be here in a sec, so just hold your horses.'' As he said this, of course, the sound of the electric train approaching could be heard, and sent a few nearby children into excited giggle fits. England smiled amused at the children before he was quickly pulled on to the train by America.
''QUICK!'' They made a mad dash for the entrance, but the crowd was just as fast. Despite the best efforts of the employees, there was no way to slow down the excited crowd present, and England and America were swiftly pressed against the far wall of the compartment. An indignant 'oof' was heard from England as America was pressed into him, however the noble hero quickly moved his hands on either side of England's head and pushed himself off, while also seperating the slightly shorter blond from the crowd.
''Well...this is pleasant.''
''Ya ya, shut up. Hey, check out the window!'' Both men took a quick glance out of the wide window and gazed at the famous Disney Castle. As soon as he noticed others taking snap shots of the wide view, America grabbed his own camera and took a photo of the picturesque setting they were nearing by the second.
''Before you say anything, yes I know we'll be a lot closer in a second, but I don't care.'' America looked down at England with a smile and the Brit just rolled his eyes. True to his statement, America was soon able to move away from the wall of the train and usher England down the platform of the station. Following the large crowd already present, America and England arrived at the gate to the Magic Kingdom. Classic Disney soundtracks played in the back round as England allowed his bag to be searched and he slid in his ticket one last time.
''I must say, I will not regret leaving the constant searches.'' England mentioned as he righted his pack and slid his sun-glasses back down over his eyes. America laughed and grabbed his partner's hand.
''Come on, Artie! We've got one more day, and you are gonna LOVE it!'' The bulky American quickly made his way through the main tunnel and entered Main Street. This square and street combination was a collection of gift shops, restaurants, sweet shops, and even a store specifically designed to dress up as your favorite Disney character. It made sense, England thought as America excitedly pointed out specific locations, seeing that this area was often considered the most popular of all the Disney parks. They walked down the street, America talking non-stop as they did, when suddenly he put his hand out to stop England from walking farther.
''What is it? You can't possibly want a snack already-''
''No no! Check it.'' America nodded toward the street where a lightly colored trolley had appeared with twelve men and women on board. The Disney music playing over the speakers began to fade out and was soon replaced by an unfamiliar upbeat tune. The cast of men and women, now obviously in costume for the part, began singing and dancing. England had to look around for a moment to make sure that he wasn't the only one watching and they hadn't landed themselves in a musical. It wouldn't have been the first time a spell had gone horribly...horribly wrong. However the choreography being performed did not come rushing to the front of his mind and he had no idea what the lyrics of the song were, so he felt safe. Once the show was over and the performers loaded back on to the trolley to be taken away, the spell cast on the park visitors seemed to break and the hustle and bustle returned.
''That was fun, huh?'' America asked brightly, a large smile plastered to his face. England scoffed, however allowed himself to smile. Of course, it was a smile that could accompany a rather bored, 'You're kidding, right?'
''It was...interesting. Certainly sets the mood of the area. Is it all like this?''
''Oh heck no! There are like five different areas. But let's head to Tomorrow Land first!''
''Alright,'' England said with a resigned sigh. ''Lead the way.'' The two blonds walked forward but right before America could turn up the proper path, he noticed that England was no longer right by him. When he turned around, he noticed England standing about five feet away with his camera. America looked farther down the road and saw what it was England was getting a picture of.
''You know, we'll be closer to the castle in a little while.'' England narrowed his eyes just so towards America, however quickly snapped another photo.
''I don't care. Besides, this way I don't have to work to get the entire bloody thing in focus.'' America laughed but herded England down the path toward Tomorrow Land. This area was dedicated to mainly space travel. Obviously the title, 'Tomorrow Land' brought to mind the thought of the future, but that seemed to represented mostly by the subject of space travel and the like. The very first ride, in fact, that America took England to was called "Stitch's Great Escape". They crossed through the gates and after a few recorded instructions, walked through the doors and into the halls of the United Galactic Federation.
''Greetings, new recruits.'' So began Captain Gantu's message to the group England and America walked with. The group travelled and was shortly briefed on their mission: they were the newest recruits of a police force, focused on the pursuit and capture of intergalactic miscreants. They were first introduced to a couple of recent offenders, fairly cute by animatronics standards. Suddenly a red warning light and siren began blaring.
''Oh thank GOD.'' America sighed. England chose to ignore him and pay attention to the intercom announcement. Captain Gantu informed them that a level 3 offender, highest priority and most dangerous category of criminal, was on its way to the prison. They were swiftly hurried into the transportation chamber, and once there, sat down in the seat encircling a teleportation chamber. While lights and smoke appeared in the glass case, guns on the ceiling positioned themselves towards the platform and the captain muttered one final good luck to the group. England couldn't help but notice the excited giggles coming from his partner the entire time.
''What are you so happy about?'' England whispered leaning more towards the American.
''It's gonna get fun.'' With that simple yet ominous response, England shook his head and returned his attention to the now rising teleportation capsule. Inside the capsule stood Stitch. England recognized him at once, mostly in part from the name of the ride (or was it 'experience'? England would be sure to ask America for his opinion later), but also from simply being exposed to media during this particular character's release. Nearly every other commercial had been for the little bugger's movie.
At first Stitch seemed harmless, if not confused about his new surroundings. However just before he was transported to a lower ranking detention cell, he began to spit at the guns trained on him. He missed the first few times, causing the liquid projectiles to land on whatever poor soul as in the firing range. After taking out the guns with what England could only imagine was meant to be acidic saliva, Stitch laughed rather manically before the lights of the room went out. The creature's giggling could be heard before startled gasps were also audible form across the room. England tried to become adjusted to the lack of light quickly when something ruffled his hair.
"What the-?" England tried to exclaim, before America clamped his hand over the British man's mouth with a laugh.
"Hehe. I know where that was going." Laughs and mutterings throughout the full room began to escalate while the voices of Gantu and Peakly tried frantically to save them from the "torture" that they obviously had to have been going through. After another moment or two, during which Stitch jumped up and down over everyone's shoulders, the lights returned along with power to the guns. Unfortunately it did not take long before Stitch had hijacked the teleportation system and escaped to planet Earth. With the escape complete the group made their way to the exit and back out into the park.
"Was that hilarious, or what?" America asked while taking quick pictures of his surroundings.
"In a sense I suppose…not a very SANE sense if course. It felt more like an interactive museum than a ride to me."
"Oh dude, those are awesome! But hey, let's not talk about those now. We have to gear up and fight the EVIL Emperor Zerg!"
"Do what? Fight who?" Before and answer was given the two blonds were in another line; this one leading to a Buzz Lightyear themed ride/shooting game. Coming to the moving capsule that would serve as their method of transportation, America leaned over to England and said,
"I hope you're a good shot." England simply raised an eyebrow and sat down by the other.
"I'll have you know, that I am the best gunman I know." America laughed and grabbed hold of the large plastic gun in front of him.
"You've never seen me, huh?" England 'huffed' as dignified as possible and took hold of his own weapon.
"Talk with your aim, not your mouth lad."
England did not have an easy time at first. While the targets on the course were abundant and crowded, the low quality laser gun was a ridiculous step backwards from every fire arm he had ever used before. America did not have half as much trouble as England. While the gun was nothing like he was used to handling, he had learned over the years how to properly adjust to every new weapon he came to use. This particular weapon, which was in his all knowing opinion the equivalent to a pimped out barcode scanner, would be mastered just as easily. Before long the excited blond was conquering the minions of Zerg and increasing his score with increasing ease.
England took longer to adjust. Not that he would admit it to anyone, in ANY way, but he was very set in his ways when it came to fire arms and trying to fire with a code scanner did not work for him. However, as soon as he noticed America's score and the rate at which it was rising, England found the motivation to kick himself into gear. For the majority of the rest of the ride, their scores were nearly tied, occasionally switching who was in the lead. Finally they entered the last room in order to fight the Emperor Zerg himself. England glanced at their scores before they began and took a mental note of them. He was still behind America, but only just. They both began firing mercilessly, neither caring about nor noticing the camera flashes about half way across the platform.
As they came to the loading and exiting platform once again, firing their last shots as rapidly as possible, they looked at their scores. America was now only 100 points behind England. Barely a shot away from victory.
"HA! HA! Who's a good shot now, ya blighter?"
"Hey cool! We both got 'Space-Ace' rankings!"
"Don't you bloody ignore me now! I-beat-you!" Of course, America did continue to ignore him, and England smiled viciously as he spotted a tiny vein twitch on the Americans bright face each time he mentioned his victory. England continued his probably absurd and childish, yet well deserved ranting until they had ascended an escalator and were seated in a car moving along a track.
"Where on Earth are we going now?"
"Just taking a break on the People-Mover." America answered casually as he draped an arm over the Brit's shoulders.
"The what?"
"Peeeeooplllleee….Moooovvveerrrr." America annunciated slowly and comically. England beat him on the head a couple times.
"I know what it is called, wanker. What is it for?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." America responded with a smile, though he still massaged his head lightly. The aptly named 'people-mover' took them in a rather long circle but it was, Englad admitted, a good way to relax. After leaving the "slow moving contraption" as England had dubbed it, they moved towards an almost triangular dome.
"Alright Artie. This is my favorite part of Tomorrow Land. SPACE MOUNTAIN!" England stuck his finger in his ear to help stop the ringing in his head.
"The line is rather long, isn't it?" the Brit mentioned while glancing at the wait time.
"No problemo! Give me your ticket." England did so and America nodded.
"Now wait here for a sec." The American ran over to a small machine not too far from the entrance to the ride and came back after about five minutes with two white ticket stubs.
"Fast passes for the win. Now let's go!" They moved to the massively shorter line and as they passed nearly a hundred people standing still, England decided not to question the phrase, 'For the win'. As they made the final turn in line and boarded a small rocket, England began to feel a tad worried. The two rides he'd been on, since he did not truly count the last two as RIDES, were exciting however rather shocking. Considering how America was now literally bouncing in the seat in front of him…he was beginning to acquire a foul feeling in the pit of his stomach. They finally started to move, so England double checked his safety belt and tried tightening it a little more. After climbing a fairly short yet steep incline, England could see occasional white blips, stars perhaps. They approached the top of the peak and as they dropped with alarming speed, all England could see was…darkness.
The screams of his fellow "ship-mates" and those further along the ride rang out in the dark room. England could clearly hear America in his seat cheering his heart out. However England barely made a sound. Now, while immortal, Nation personifications can be injured. They can have certain aspects of their appearance damaged or even taken away depending on what had gone on within their own country. The one and only damage that could never happen to a being such as England or America is blindness. Vision could be impaired, of course. America could attest to that, but nothing could permanently rob a Nation of their ability to see. It was this fact, England assumed, that made the lack of vision (no matter how short it actually was) so truly terrifying for him.
The jerking movements of the car, the yells of swiftly passing cars on all sides, and the sensation of the tracks speeding over him as they passed were all amplified by England's lack of sight. Soon, luckily, they came to the exit and into the light once again. England sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hands before getting up and out of the space ship.
"So? Pretty freaking cool, huh? It's a little weird how dark it is in there, right?" America inquired as they walked on.
"uh…yes, I believe that is a good way to describe it. Just don't make me do it again."
"Haha! Come on, Artie. It wasn't all that bad, was it?" England did not respond and walked almost all the way through the exit before realizing America had stopped further down.
"Alfred…?" The American had glanced up at the photo booth for a quick peak before catching up with England. He was genuinely surprised at what he saw. England was sitting almost curled up in his seat with his hands over his face. Now that he thought about it, England really didn't make any noise that America had heard. The blue-eyed hero furrowed his brow in concern and turned back to the Englishman a few paces ahead of him. England had his hands on his hips and a prominent eyebrow raised in confusion at America's dawdling.
When America had rejoined his partner he couldn't help but retain his worried expression.
"What's your problem?" England asked nonchalantly as they continued walking.
"..Are...you ok?" America didn't want to set the Brit off in any way.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Just that…umm…" America had no idea how to approach this. England was never one o admit he felt less than satisfactory, not to mention frightened about something.
"In the picture…you looked pretty freaked out. You okay now?" England flushed at America's concern. Balls. He hadn't thought about the picture…
"Well…I was rather shocked by the setting, I suppose. But I'm perfectly alright now. Thank you." England nodded and tried to give America a comforting smile. No need to ruin the lad's happiness when he had gone through all the trouble of arranging this trip.
"Alrighty then. Let's keep moving!" America responded with a smile. He took England's hand but quickly gave him a peck on the cheek before jogging towards a more colorful area of the park.
