Chapter 8: The New Wielder's Deal!
Everyone in the cabin stares at Dorian. He backs in a wall of the ship. He says, "That look is kind of making me… nervous."
"Are you sure he has one?" Donald asks Goofy.
"I know," Goofy says. "It's like a revival of Keyblade wielders going on! But the King said that there were two wielders. But I'm not sure how the story went."
"You mention a king?" Lizzy asks.
"Well," Goofy announces. "We'll be arriving at the Disney Castle docks shortly. Hopefully, we can explain everything when we get there."
The duck picks up a transmitter, "Chip and Dale, do you read me?"
Squeaky voices spoke out of the transmitter, "We hear ya loud n' clear, Donald! We're opening up the bay doors now!"
The Gummi Ship, Queen of Highwind, breaks into the atmosphere. At first, the gang witnesses a large blue and white castle with a "mouse head" symbol on the front-most painted glass. "Prepare for decreased speed," Goofy preps Donald.
Donald flips a few switches and slowly pulls back the thruster, "Slowing down. Docking till 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." All hatches open and every one climbs out of the cabin. The eyes of the new travelers wonder across the gigantic room: whizzing gizmos, giant animatronic gloves roving back and forth on the ceiling, and looking to their right is a violet control tower.
"Welcome to Disney Castle," Goofy announces. "Well, the Gummi hangar anyway!"
"Daisy! We're home," Donald hollers for Daisy. A feminine duck his size wearing a fuchsia floral dress came running flat-footed downstairs towards Donald and gives him a warm hug.
"Donald," Daisy says. "I'm glad you're safe! I was worried you wouldn't come back."
"Aw, I promised I come back in one piece," he says sticking his thumb at Dorian and his friends. "We were just picking up some weird guys."
"Who're you calling weird?" Matt asks.
"Ah," Lizzy bows before Daisy. "I take it that you are the Queen of this land?"
"No I'm not," says Daisy.
"who are you?" Lizzy shouts back from a dubious position. Jade scoops him up and softly clasps his little brother in between his claws.
"Fácil, Lizzy," Jade says to Lizzy. Lizzy then hisses back at him. "Please, forgive my brother. We've lost our home to this evil creature."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Daisy offers her condolences. "I'm sort of the caretaker of this castle. Goofy is the Royal Major and Donald is the Court Headmaster."
"Okay," Ashleigh steps forward. "We sort of understood with the get-up you guys have on. But for the love of God, please tell us what's going on. Why have you brought us here?"
"You mean they didn't tell you?" Daisy narrows her eyes at Donald and Goofy. She sighs and says, "Please, if every one would come with me."
She turns around and walks forward. She turns right at the stairway, and steps up ward towards the control tower. The chipmunks Chip and Dale jump up toward the window to see where Daisy is taking the group. They step out from the doorway and in to the halls of the castle. Blue looks out of the colonnade to find large hedges, trimmed to shape band members playing different instruments.
"Wow," Blue whispers. Sidney yanks him away to catch up with the group. Daisy looks left and enters the second door. They enter a large library.
"Place is loaded," Matt says to Nadine.
Daisy stops at the golden fireplace. She puts her hands to together as if she was praying, and the jewel in her tiara shimmers. The fireplace also shimmers, pushes to the right slowly. They enter another room, not as vast as the docking bay. It features a round table with twenty seats and the generator at the middle of the table. Above it are luminescent lights, circling around the table. Behind the round table is a long computer screen, displaying different worlds with fancily erratic designs.
"This is our Conference Board," Daisy says. "Although we don't meddle with other world affairs, we do monitor the ones that are close to us."
"I still don't know why y'all need our help," Dorian says impatiently. "Why would you think I have this 'Keyblade?' Yeah, I had one in my dream, but that was just a dream."
Donald looks at Goofy. "I told you so," Donald says. Daisy shakes her head and ignores the two and finally explains.
"Our King and Queen have been kidnapped," Daisy says.
Goofy then tells the story, "We were planning a celebration banquet for one of our friends' return from serious training. Then all of the sudden, the power went out! Of course I couldn't see, but I felt a lance hit my shield."
"Someone tied me up in a bag," Donald remembers furiously. "And slammed me!"
"I also remember hearing swords clanging against each other in the dark," Daisy adds. "And Queen Minnie screaming!"
"And then what happened?" Dorian asks.
"As soon as the lights came back on," Goofy continues. "Negaduck carried King Mickey away, along with Mortimer carrying the Queen away, and the Phantom Blot holding up back! Donald, my son Max and his friend PJ, and I followed those thugs to their Gummi Ship! When they took off, Max threw his tracking device on there!"
"A banquet?" Blue asks. Romeo plops next to him and moans. "Sorry if I made you hungry," Blue apologizes to Romeo.
"Who were those three?" Sidney asks.
Daisy punches a few keys to show the images of the kidnappers. "They were kidnapped by these rogues."
"Negaduck," Daisy points. "A ruthless crime lord on his world who wants nothing more than power and destruction alone. He tried to take over his world before our former Lieutenant left here to save it.
"Mortimer Maus," Goofy says. "He used to be the castle's World Chancellor before he started muddling with the Phantom Blot in other worlds' affairs."
"Meddling," Donald corrects Goofy.
"Right," Goofy continued. "And lastly, the robed guy is the Phantom Blot. He went against the King every time he demanded the throne. He used schemes from playing tricks on our townspeople, even bringing armies of Unversed monsters!"
"The King locked him away a long time ago," Daisy says. "We weren't sure how Phantom Blot escaped his prison in the Lanes Between," Daisy says. "And what's worse he's released Mortimer, too."
"Okay," Ashleigh says. "Why can't you send Donald and Goofy to go find the King and Queen?"
"See there's a problem with that," Goofy says.
"Come again?" Ashleigh asks.
"They are able to," Daisy says. "But that means I'm left to protect the castle with Max and PJ, from Heartless!"
"Let me guess," Matt says. "Your King and Queen are sources of your castle's defense?"
"Absolutely," says Donald. "Our Queen is a smart spell caster! And our King is a splendid Keyblade master!"
"Somehow Negaduck and the others," Goofy says. "Gained a lot more strength to beat King Mickey and Queen Minnie! Now that they're gone, Daisy's doing all that she can to maintain the shields."
"What about our home?" Dorian asks Daisy, Donald, and Goofy. His friends look at each other with looks: Sidney, Romeo, Ashleigh, and Lizzy are pleased while Jade, Beige, Nadine, Blue, and Matt are puzzled.
"What about it?" Donald rudely asks.
"I wanna to know if we can still save it," Dorian says clenching his fist. He hears a small blip, same pace as a high heart rate. He looks upon the large screen to find a circular world: chockfull of skipper jacks in the harbor, blue egret chicks hatching and being fed by their parents. "It can't be Charm City."
Sidney runs over to the screen and sees the egret chicks and says, "Chickpeas!"
"Didn't he bring one humongous storm to try to wipe us out?" Matt asks.
Lizzy hops on the dashboard. "More importantly," he says. "Whatever storm Tartarus harvested to destroy the world had slowed down.
"Maybe that hurricane he summoned isn't finished," Blue says. Maybe he is right: Lighting still flashed and torrential rain poured!
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Matt asks Dorian.
"Could you excuse us for a minute?" Dorian asks Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. He turns around and beckons his friends with hand waves. "Bring it in," he says. "Bring it in."
The Elemental Force huddles. "DUDE! Matt whispers. "Did they just ask us to go rescue their King and Queen?"
"It's selfish enough of them to ask us for that," Dorian says. "But we got leverage here."
"What would that be?" Nadine points out. "You're not going to bluff that actually have this 'Keyblade,' are you?"
"They keep going on about Dorian and that thing," Jade says. "I don't even know what it looks like!"
"Before we can make that bluff," Ashleigh says. "Could we ask them how we can like restore our world? Like, are there any special steps?"
"What if they don't know how?" Blue asked.
"They have to," Dorian says. "They look like they might've seen this happen before. The world vanishing into darkness, some glimmer of hope."
"Don't forget about the Heartless," Beige chimes. "Are you all going to see more Heartless?"
"You're not coming?" Jade looks down, as did Romeo.
"WHY, BEIGE?" Lizzy wails. "You are a powerful asset to the team!" Every one else looks at him for grand disillusion. "WHAT?" Lizzy squeaks.
"How am I?" she sighs. "Besides, I'll get in the way and distract you guys. And you guys might be destined to be heroes! You might have to visit all of those worlds on that screen to train yourselves every single day to reach your peaks of power!"
"She's right," says Lizzy with a single tear dripping. He sniffs and says, "Come on. We need to tell them."
The huddle breaks Dorian steps forward. Goofy gulps of the awaiting decision. Daisy folds her hands, hoping to hear a positive outcome. Donald leers at Dorian with crossed arms, tapping his webbed foot.
"After we save our world," Dorian says. "We'll save your King and Queen."
"WHAT?" Donald head turns red and shouts! "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" He runs for Dorian but Goofy catches him in time! "LET ME AT HIM! LET ME AT HIM!" Donald chants angrily.
"You'll help us find the King and Queen?" Goofy asks. He then picks up Donald upside down, still swinging his knuckles.
"Once we find your King and Queen," says Dorian. "We'll guarantee their safe return to Disney Castle."
"It's a done deal," Daisy says.
"But," Dorian says. "You mind telling me what's up with Donald?
"We're all friends with the King and Queen," Daisy answers. "But Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey have had a lot of adventures together when they were younger. In a way, the King sees those two as family."
"And I pissed him off because I said we were going to save our world first?" Dorian asks.
"To be honest," Daisy says. "I was a little mad when you said that. But I have faith that the King and Queen are still out there, managing a way out of this mess."
Dorian smiles as he shakes hands with Daisy and Goofy. After a long day, every one rested easily while in the hands of the castle caretaker Daisy Duck. Meanwhile, Chip and Dale are in a process of building the gang's Gummi Ship to travel to different worlds. Goofy, Daisy, and Donald tour the Elemental Force around the Castle's in and exteriors. They visit the Tech Room last. Goofy introduces them to his son Max and his friend PJ, respectively the Tech Specialist and Sergeant of the Disney Castle Army.
When the evening sky rises, they relax as they sit down for a feast and prepare themselves for one hell of a journey of a lifetime!
