Chapter 9: The West Wing
Meanwhile, Gray Wolf walked to White Duck's room, carrying a tray of food while saying to himself, "Alright, act like a gentleman. Act like a gentleman." Gray Wolf had taken SpongeBob and Applejack's advice into consideration and was going to try and apologize to White Duck. "This'll be good," he said to himself, before he knocked on White Duck's door and called out, "White Duck?"
Suddenly, the duck in question, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes came walking down the hallway with SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward and Gray Wolf quickly hid himself. Squidward said, like a tour guide, "And if you'll note the unusual inverted archways, you'll note this is yet another example of late, new, classic Baroque period." As Squidward was speaking, nobody noticed the suits of armor turning their heads to look at White Duck. "And, as I always say," Squidward said, "if it's not Baroque, don't fix it!" Then he noticed the suits of armor facing White Duck and said, "As you were!"
The suits of armor quickly turned away, and White Duck laughed, before she said to SpongeBob, "Oh, SpongeBob, this is all so beautiful. I had no idea!" But then she frowned, as she added, "If only he weren't here."
"Yeah, why you have that bully as a master, I would never know." The Lorax said.
By 'he,' she was obviously referring to Gray Wolf and Odie nodded in agreement, as they SpongeBob, and Patrick walked off after Squidward.
Gray Wolf frowned, as he emerged from his hiding place and said, tossing the tray of food aside, "Act like a gentleman. I'm nothing but a fool."
With that, he ran off.
As Squidward went down another hallway, he didn't notice that White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes were gone, as he said, "Now, if I may draw your attention to the flying buttresses above the-" Then he finally noticed that White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes were gone, and said, "Ma'am?"
White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes had found a set of stairs and were about to walk up it, until SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Dug ran over and blocked their path.
"What's up there?" Rocky asked curiously.
"Where? Up there?" Squidward said. "Nothing." SpongeBob and Patrick had been shaking their heads until Squidward nudged them and SpongeBob and Patrick quickly nodded, as Squidward added, "Absolutely nothing of interest at all in the West Wing. Dusty, dull, very boring."
"Oh, so that's the West Wing," Horton said.
"Nice going Squidward," Patrick said, frowning at Squidward.
"I wonder what he's hiding up there," Rudy said.
"Hiding?" SpongeBob said. "Nothing, nothing. The master is hiding nothing."
"Then it wouldn't be forbidden," White Duck said, as she and her friends passed SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward, but they quickly dashed up and blocked them again.
"Perhaps you'd like to see something else," Squidward suggested. "We have exquisite tapestries dating all the way back to-"
"Maybe later," White Duck said, as she and the others passed them again.
The sponge, starfish, and the squid quickly blocked her path again, as SpongeBob suggested, "The gardens or the library, perhaps?"
That took White Duck's interest away, as she asked, "You have a library?"
"Yes," Squidward said, relieved that he had found something to take her interest off of the West Wing.
"With books," SpongeBob added.
They started to lead White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes away, as Squidward said, "Gads of books!"
"Mountains of books!" Patrick added.
White Duck stopped in her tracks and glanced back at the West Wing, her curiosity getting the best of her, before she and her friends walked back to the stairs, as SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward made their way arm-in-arm to the library.
"Forests of books," Squidward said.
"Cascades…" Patrick said.
"Of books," Squidward finished.
"Swamps of books!" SpongeBob said.
"Books as far as the eye can see," Squidward continued. "More books than you'll ever be able to read in a lifetime! Books on every subject ever studied, by every author who ever set pen to paper…"
Meanwhile, once White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes had gone up the stairs, they wandered down a dark hallway and Pipsqueak nervously climbed on Odie's back so he would feel safe.
Rudy poked his head out of Kangaroo's pouch and said, "Can I come out now, mom?"
"No Rudy." Kangaroo said, before pushing him back in the pouch and said, "Stay in your room."
"But mom-"
"Stay inside."
On the left side of the wall, White Duck glanced at a broken mirror and then up ahead found a closed door with gargoyle handles. The face on it seemed to be warning them to turn back if they knew what was good for them. White Duck was almost considering turning back, but she reached for the handles. But when she did, she hesitated, both because she remembered Gray Wolf's warning her not to come to this place and she was unsure of what she would find inside. Finally, she grabbed the handles and opened the doors while her friends watched.
She opened them partway and they peered inside. It looked like a disaster had swept through the room and were either White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes to look down at the floor, they would see broken furniture.
"So the wolf's secret is that his room is a mess?" Bullwinkle asks puzzled. "Honestly, having a dirty room is nothing to be ashamed about."
They wandered around the room, until Garfield knocked over a table. Horton gasped and quickly caught it before it crashed to the floor. They examined more broken furniture, before Rudy looked out of the pouch and was looking and something. White Ducked turned her head too and gasped.
What she and Rudy had seen was a shredded portrait of a young boy duck that looked exactly like White Duck's age, had black eyes, and black and white feathers. White Duck curiously lifted up part of the shredded picture to connect it and realized there was something familiar about those eyes, but she couldn't put her finger on what. Suddenly, something glowed at the corner of her eye and she and her friends all turned and saw the enchanted rose underneath its bell jar. They wandered toward the table it was on, completely transfixed. Rudy smiles while saying, "Wow, a rose...any chance that we..." Intrigued, White Duck removed the bell jar and was about to touch the rose…
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Gray Wolf shouted, coming into the room, startling White Duck, as she yelped in terror, before she and her friends quickly jumped back, as Gray Wolf quickly covered the rose back up with the bell jar. Garfield smiled nervously and said, "Hello." Then Gray Wolf snapped at White Duck, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry," White Duck said.
"I thought I told you never to come here!" Gray Wolf said.
"We didn't mean any harm," White Duck cried.
"Do you realize what you could have done?" Gray Wolf shouted. "GET OUT!" White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes didn't need a second invite, as Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes quickly dashed off. White Duck quickly followed, as Gray Wolf ran after her and grabbed her by her wing, as he yelled at her, "You have no right to be here, no right!" amidst her cries of "I'm sorry!" as she tried to pull away from him.
But when he yanked on her wing again, some feathers fell off her wing and she let out a sob of fear as she fell over, causing Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes to stop in their tracks. They first looked at their friend in concern, as she clutched her wing and started crying, and then glare at Gray Wolf, who looked at the feathers he was now holding. It only took Gray Wolf a moment to realize what had happened, as his eyes widened in shock and horror at what he had done to White Duck.
"Oh no," Gray Wolf said in shock, before he tried to help White Duck up.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" White Duck spat through her tears, as she fearfully scrambled away from him. Once she had crawled over to her friends, they quickly helped White Duck up and continued to glare at Gray Wolf, completely enraged at his treatment of White Duck, as Gray Wolf said, trying to apologize, "No, I-"
But White Duck angrily cut him off, whilst clutching her wing, "Promise or no promise, we won't stay here!" After she had said that, the others angrily nodded once.
And with that, they fled from the West Wing, White Duck still clutching her wing, as Gray Wolf cried, "No, no!" But it was too late. White Duck had already fled with her friends, along with any chance Gray Wolf could've had with her. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry," Gray Wolf said, falling into despair. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to frighten you!" He walked away, before he turned and yelled in frustration, "You don't understand!" He seemed to be on the verge of tears as he bowed his head and covered one paw over his face, before saying, "There's just so little left of me. So little left." Then he began to sing.
Gray Wolf: And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints at kindness
And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within
Is utter blindness
Hopeless, as my dream dies
As the time flies
Love's a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
He looked into a broken mirror and sighed sadly.
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on Earth
If I can't love her
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have loved her
And make her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?
He then looked over at the portrait White Duck and her friends had been looking at earlier.
Long ago, I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking
I moved onward
He then went out onto the balcony, standing on top while singing in powerful tone of voice.
No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore
If I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her
And that she'd set me free
But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Let the world be done with me!
Back in the castle, White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes were running down the staircase, practically tripping over themselves in the process. On their way down, White Duck quickly grabbed her cloak and put it on, as she and her friends dashed past a confused SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward.
"Wait!" SpongeBob said. "Where are you going?"
"Promise or no promise," White Duck said, as she, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes quickly opened the door. "I can't stay here another minute. He's a monster and that's all he'll ever be!"
"Oh no, wait," Squidward said, "Please, wait."
But White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes left, slamming the door behind them.
Outside, a blizzard was blowing, as White Duck escaped on Maximus, while her friends rode on Horton's back, fleeing the castle and into the woods. As they rode through the forest, Maximus was spooked and stopped instantly, as White Duck turned and gasped in terror as a pack of wolves emerged from behind the trees, growling at her and her friends. White Duck quickly pulled the reins and urged Maximus on while Horton ran behind her as the wolves chased them. White Duck quickly ran side to side, making the wolves hit trees and Maximus slammed one wolf into a tree.
Maximus and Horton quickly ran out onto a frozen pond, but the ice gave out under the horse and elephant. The wolves chased White Duck and her friends into the water. Maximus and Horton quickly got out of the water, but soon, more wolves surrounded them. Frightened, Maximus reared and White Duck fell off him, and he tangled his reins on a tree branch. Odie and Pipsqueak landed on a branch as they were dangling above the snapping wolves. The wolves began to attack Maximus, but White Duck quickly hit the wolves with a stick. White Duck stopped to quickly help her friends free Maximus and get Odie and Pipsqueak down from the branch, before the wolves started attacking White Duck, snapping her stick in half with their jaws. White Duck screamed, as two wolves knocked her, as a wolf grabbed White Duck's cloak and tugged on it, as she screamed again.
A wolf was about to jump on her before she braced herself, as the wolf leapt…
However, it was caught mid-jump by Gray Wolf, who howled at the wolf, as White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes stared up at him in surprise, and tossed it away. He stood protectively over White Duck, as the wolves then turned their attention to Gray Wolf. Then he and the wolves began to fight as White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes watched. Soon enough, the fight was over as Gray Wolf tossed a wolf against a tree, knocking it out. The rest of the wolves fled.
Horton and the others stood protectively in front of White Duck, who stared at Gray Wolf, as he just turned and looked at her in despair, before he collapsed. White Duck was about to get on Maximus, but White Duck hesitated, before she went over to Gray Wolf and took off her cloak.
White Duck then feels something: sadness for Gray Wolf. She couldn't leave him out here, the poor thing would die. Garfield, noticing that his friend is still standing there while looking at the wolf and his other friends did also, asks, "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go."
"We can't leave him." White Duck said, much to Garfield shock.
"What! After the way he treated us?"
"He saved us!"
"He probably followed us to capture you so that he can lock you back up in the tower!" Garfield protests to White Duck in worry. But even the others have to agree, it wouldn't be right to leave Gray Wolf out here to die like this. Garfield looks at Odie who looks at him with a worried look before looking at the Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes who were giving him the puppy dog eyes.
"We can't just leave him here to die. We have to help him." White Duck insists to Garfield, making him groan and sigh a bit.
"Okay. We'll take him back to his castle. Then we go straight home."
White Duck and Rudy look at each other and smile.
Moments later, White Duck, Horton, Kangaroo, Rudy, the Lorax, Garfield, Odie, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fishes were leading Maximus, with Gray Wolf draped over him, back to the castle.