A/N: In a bit of a hurry here, so I'll make this quick: thank you to the two anonymous reviewers, y'all are awesome. Here's the next chapter. It's a bit sad, but that's to be expected. Review, s'il vous plait!

PART TWO: THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER NINE

Approx. 30 minutes earlier

"Uh, Philby?" Charlene asked the redhead as the three of them—Philby, Willa, and her—entered the Carousel of Progress. "Why is the ride on at midnight?" She bit her lip nervously. What if the Overtakers had already gotten there? What if the hat was gone?

"Dunno." He said. "But I doubt its good." He sat down in the first row, the two girls following behind him.

Like the Hall of Presidents, the Carousel of Progress was a stage show preformed completely by Auto Animatronics. Only in this case, the characters weren't presidents, but an extended family living through the 20th century. There were four scenes, each set on a different holiday: Valentines Day, Fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas. They took place on various times throughout the century, each demonstrating the new technology of the time. The last scene was set in the future, depicting voice activated stoves and virtual reality video games. Philby had always enjoyed the ride, though he never quite understood how the family went through an entire century without aging.

The curtains opened, and narration began, telling the audience about Walt's idea for the ride. The song "A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" played, and the theatre moved, switching into another stage with a different scene.

"So why this ride?" Willa whispered to him as the scene began.

Philby shrugged—he hadn't really thought about it that much. "Well, it's one of the oldest rides here." He said. "And some people said it was Walt's favorite." Willa nodded.

"How exactly are we going to find the hat?" She asked. "We can't exactly jump up on stage and look for it."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." He answered.

Meanwhile, Charlene was paying rapt attention to the ride. She had been on this ride hundreds of times in the past—she remembered even the most random details about it. She studied the AAs, listening to their lines and looking for anything out of place. The other clues had been easy enough to find, but it wasn't as big a deal if a guest or castmember had found it. Here, the Sorcerer's Hat was hidden. Almost two weeks of searching, and their quest would be finished. Charlene just hoped this would be the end of their troubles, at least for a while.

~.~

"Ugh." Charlene moaned as they switched to the fourth and final scene. "If I here this stupid song one more time…"

"No kidding." Willa muttered. "It's almost as bad as Small World!"

The scene transitioned into Christmas. "Isn't it a pleasant day?" The husband—John—said. "Finally, the people we've been told to wait for have finally arrived." The Keepers exchanged glances—that certainly was not the original dialogue.

"Welcome, you three." The sister, Patricia greeted. "We have what you're looking for."

"Yeah!" The brother chimed in. "We just need to confirm it's really you."

"We just need you to answer this simple question." John explained. "Where did you find the answer to the Stone Cutter's Quill?"

"One Man's Dream." Philby answered. John nodded.

"Good." He said. A blue shimming sphere formed in the middle of the stage. It glowed brighter and brighter until it formed a cone. Philby could barely make out what it was—the Sorcerer's Hat. Cautiously, he stood up and grabbed the hat from the stage.

The hat felt warm. Philby's fingers tingled holding it.

"Be careful." The mother warned. The ride began to move again, until the Keepers were left in front of the drawn curtains, ending up right where they began.

"Well, that was easy enough." Charlene said after a few moments of silence. Willa nodded in agreement.

"Let's go." Philby said.

"Back to the apartment?" Charlene asked. He nodded.

"I'm not sure where we'll put this, but for now, we should get out of here."

~.~

They found Wayne outside, waiting by the Astro Orbiters ride. Philby wasn't sure how Wayne knew they were there, but decided not to question it. Wayne didn't always make sense, but he knew what he was doing.

"Congratulations." He greeted them. "You were successful."

"Here." Philby handed Wayne the hat. Wayne examined it for a few moments, before saying, "We need to get out of here. It's not safe anymore."

"What do you mean?" Charlene asked, confused. How was this any different than before?

"Something has happened… something I was afraid would happen." Wayne said mysteriously.

"What?" Willa asked concerned.

"I will explain when all seven of you are together." Wayne told them. "Right now, it's not safe. We can't be overheard."

"Seven? Don't you mean eight?" Philby asked. Wayne didn't say anything for a moment. He looked at the three teenagers and sighed.

"I'm afraid you have been betrayed." He said at last.

"What?" Charlene exclaimed. "When? By who?"

"Later, later." He insisted. "Right now, you three need to get to the apartment."

"What's the urgency?" A female voice asked from behind. A blast of cold air hit the teenagers. Turning around, Philby saw none other than Maleficent herself.

~.~

Wayne gave the hat back to Philby. "Go." He instructed. "Now."

"Oh, don't you think you can get away with what's mine." Maleficent growled.

"Yours?" Philby asked. "How is this yours?"

"This is my park now." Maleficent. "I own this place, as well as everything inside it." As if, Philby thought, clutching to the hat.

"And how'd you figure that one out?" He demanded.

Maleficent conjured a ball of electricity in her palms and threw it at Philby. He ducked, missing it by inches. "The most powerful have the most control." The green fairy informed them. "And I am clearly stronger then you four. Honestly—a senile old man and much of teenagers. You have been a thorn in my side the last two years, but it's over now. Once I get that hat—and I will get it from you—no one will be a match for me. This is where it ends, Kingdom Keepers." She said the last two words mockingly.

Maleficent conjured another, this time stronger ball of electricity and aimed it at Willa, who managed to jump away in time.

"Go!" Philby ordered and the three teens ran away from the witch. Wayne was slightly behind them. He ran pretty fast for someone his age, though Philby could tell from the corner of his eye that Wayne was having a hard time keeping up. All the while, Maleficent shot electricity and fire at them. Philby felt like he was doing some type of backwards hopscotch, trying in vain to avoid her spells all while trying to run away.

Wayne caught up, even going ahead of the three Keepers. "Here!" Philby threw the hat to Wayne as he ducked into a shop to avoid a fireball. He emerged a moment later and glanced at Maleficent. The fairy took her own sweet time catching up to the Keepers. Clearly, she didn't have a doubt that she would defeat them.

The four reached the Tomorrowland sign and rested. Panting, Charlene said, "How're we supposed to get away? We're not going to reach the apartment in time."

"We'll figure something out." Philby said.

"We better get going." Willa said, looking behind. Maleficent was only a few feet away from them.

"Give up?" The green fairy questioned.

"Nope!" Willa said, and the four began to run again. They were almost to the Partners Statue when Charlene tripped and scraped her knee. Philby and Willa continued on, oblivious, but Wayne noticed and ran back to help her.

"Aw, look, it's the poor little misunderstood cheerleader." Maleficent mocked. "Everyone thinks you're so wonderful—guess the don't realize what a freak you truly are."

Charlene stared numbly at her. She knew she should get up, run away from this monster, but she couldn't. She sat there, Maleficent's words ringing in her head. Yes, it was true. Charlene was a very different person then most people thought of her as. She wasn't some blonde bimbo—she had secrets, and very important ones too. Ones that even the Keepers didn't know about.

"Charlene!" Wayne voice snapped her back into reality. Maleficent was conjuring another ball of electricity in her hands, one bigger then the others before. The stuff she had been throwing at them had been enough to knock them out or injure them pretty badly. This one, however—this one was powerful enough to kill.

Charlene stood up, but collapsed again. Her legs were bleeding, and she felt pretty weak. Panicking, she screamed as Maleficent threw the ball at her. She shut her eyes, and before she knew what was going on, someone shoved her aside, pushing her onto the grassy sidewalk next to her.

She could still she the light with her eyes shut, and she heard a man's scream. Maleficent cackled loudly, and Charlene could hear Willa and Philby racing towards her, yelling something to her.

Charlene opened her eyes and stood up. Out in the middle of the street, Wayne was lying on his back, his eyes closed. The hat had fallen out of his hands amd was laying on the asphalt beside him. Maleficent stopped laughing, but she still grinned evilly. She glided over towards Wayne's body and gingerly picked up the hat. She turned around and walked away.

"No!" Philby ran after her, but Wila grabbed him and held him back. "We can't let her get away!" He hissed, but Willa shook her head.

"There's no use." She said. "Maleficent is way too powerful, especially with the hat. She'd kill you. We don't need anymore casualties."

Charlene walked to Wayne's body a felt for a pulse. Nothing. His heart wasn't beating, he wasn't breathing…

"Oh, God." She exclaimed in realization. "Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God!"

"Charlie?" Willa asked, turning around. She gasped.

"Charlene." Philby said, looking at Wayne's body. "Is he…?"

"Yes." She answered simply, before bursting out crying. "This is all my fault!" She cried.

"Don't be ridiculous." Philby said softly. "This isn't your fault—it's hers."

"She was aiming for me." Charlene explained. "If I had gotten out of the way in time, Wayne wouldn't have pushed me and…"

"Shh." Willa shushed her, tearing rolling down her face as well. "Philby's right—it's not your fault." She hugged Charlene.

"I still feel awful." Charlene whispered.

They stood there in silence, not knowing what to stay. Finally, after a few minutes, Charlene pointed out, "Jess was right, you know."

"Huh?" Willa asked.

"Her drawing—she drew Maleficent holding the hat. I was looking at something in the background. I couldn't figure out what it was at the time. I never would've guessed it was a body…" She drifted off.

"We need to contact the others." Philby decided after a moment. "I'll call Amanda. Willa—try to get a hold of Wanda. Charlene, you can call Maybeck or your sister."

"No need." She said.

"Huh?" Philby asked confused.

"I said, there's no need." She pointed towards a figure emerging through the Tomorrowland sign. "Maybeck's coming."

~.~

"Maleficent killed him?" Finn asked once Maybeck had finished his story. He knew he shouldn't be surprised. Maleficent was ruthless, and her powers were deadly. But still, that had never happened before. He never knew anyone who had died outside of family. He couldn't quite process everything Maybeck had told him. It didn't seem real. He felt like at any moment he would wake up in his bed and realize it was all just a dream.

Maybeck nodded. "She has the hat, too." He said. "We lost."

Finn stared at the ground, thinking.

"Wanda's at the apartment." Maybeck told him. "We're supposed to meet her and the others there in a few minutes." Finn nodded.

"I'll get Holly." He said, and went back inside the restaurant.

~.~

A crash from the kitchen told Finn where Holly had gone.

He ran into the room. Utensils were scattered across the floor. A white draw was on the ground, and Holly was trying in vain to scoop up the utensils and put them back in the drawer. "Shit!" he heard her curse.

"Need help?" He asked, walking towards her.

"Very much, thanks." She said, continuing to clean up the mess. "I'm not really sure how I managed to knock this thing down."

"What're you doing in the kitchen?" He asked.

"Exploring." She said with a shrug. "What can I say? I'm bored out of my mind." She scooped a fistful of knives in her hand, accidentally cutting her self with one of the blades. She cursed again.

"Careful."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Holly said. "Hey, did Maybeck tell you what was going on?"

"Yeah." Finn answered, pushing the drawer back into the wall. "Uh, Holly, I've got some bad news."

"What's wrong?" She asked curiously, wiping some blood onto her shirt.

"Wayne's dead." Finn told her. Holly's eyes widen.

"Oh." She said, surprised. "I'm really sorry, Finn."

"Yeah…" He mumbled. Holly turned her back away from him and walked to one of the counters. She picked something up, though Finn couldn't tell what. "Maleficent got the hat. It's a long story, and I'm sure your sister can explain it better. Anyway, we have to get to the apartment." He sighed. "I just wonder how Maleficent knew."

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Holly asked, her back still turned. "Someone betrayed you. Someone told her where the hat was hidden, so she went to the others and stole it from them."

Finn frowned. "How do you know that?"

She turned around. Finn wasn't sure what happened next. He didn't know if he tripped or was pushed, but somehow he was lying on the ground and Holly was pointing a knife at his throat.

"Because," she answered matter-of-fact. "I'm the one who betrayed you."

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