Cinderella checked her hair, making sure it was all still in place, and took a deep breath. She was seated on her place on the Princess's float, waiting with the rest of the characters for the parade to start. Mickey's Soundsational Parade was the latest in a long line, and had only been running for a few months at that point, but nearly everyone had already settled into the routine like it had been there for years.
Behind her was Rapunzel's tower, soaring high overhead. Aurora, Snow, and Rapunzel were all busy chatting with each other just on the other side. Two floats back, Tiana was leaning out of the riverboat prop on the front of hers to talk to Louis. For the moment, Cinderella was alone on the back of the Princesses'… even though she wasn't supposed to be.
As if on cue, Belle appeared, hastily skirting around the walking performers and hopping up next to her on the float.
Cinderella delicately raised her eyebrows as she said, "And I'm the one they usually comment on being late."
"That's because you are," Belle replied as she adjusted her gloves.
"Where have you been? We're almost ready to start."
"Working." At Cinderella's look in response to the cryptic answer, Belle elaborated, "I'm almost finished with the Astro Orbiters. They should be done by tonight, but I'm going to need some help. If nothing else, to make sure I don't accidentally zap myself with one of the lasers."
Cinderella hesitated. Turning, she looked back over her shoulder, leaning out a little so she could see past the show pieces placed behind her. Closer to the start of the parade train, past the Saludos Amigos group, Cinderella could just see a flash of red hair from where Ariel was perched atop her float.
"Why aren't you asking Ariel with help on this?" she asked.
Belle was quiet for a long time. When Cinderella turned back to her in confusion, she said in an undertone, "Part of the agreement when I took the batteries was to keep her away from them for as long as possible."
The thought hadn't even occurred to her. "Oh."
"And since I've known you for the longest, I thought…"
"Of course I'll help, Belle," she said, looking up at her friend, who was watching her with concern. "Whatever you need me to do."
Belle relaxed and gave her a smile. "I knew I could count on you."
"Always."
In the distance, the soundtrack for the parade started to play. That was their cue to be ready. Cinderella smoothed out a few wrinkles in her skirt, lifted her chin, and prepared her best smile. It was show time.
The park had since closed and the two Princesses were already in the pit surrounding the central spire of the Astro Orbiter attraction. Cinderella leaned back against the wall, for the moment quietly watching her friend work. Belle crouched in front of one of the vehicles. The clear dome covering its nose was off and resting on the ground nearby while she worked on something in the light.
Not even looking up from what she was tinkering on, Belle held out a waiting hand and said, "Hand me the clincher. You know the one."
Cinderella bent down, rummaging around in the toolbox. When she found the tool she was looking for, she handed it to Belle, who took it with a mumbled, "Thanks."
Stepping back again, Cinderella looked around. They were the only ones around that she could see. Characters tended not to wander around Tomorrowland very often. Still, after what happened last time, she couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive.
"Belle?" she said.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think it's a good idea for us to be out here? I mean, after Jafar…"
"I wouldn't worry about it," the other Princess said, sounding distracted. "It's been quiet around here since then. No Villains, I promise."
Cinderella nodded, but her feelings of unease didn't go away.
Belle straightened and wiped her hands off on her jeans. "That should just about do it."
Stepping closer, Cinderella inspected the rocket. "Will it work now?"
"It should. I'm just going to run some diagnostics to check."
Once she'd replaced the dome on the front, Belle snatched up a strange screen with wires attached to the bottom from where it sat propped against the toolbox. She then hopped into the rocket and hooked the wires into ports that had appeared near the controls. After a few seconds of tapping on its surface, Belle was looking at the monitor with a frown.
"What's wrong?" Cinderella asked.
"The orbiters will be able to fly, but not like I need them to," Belle explained, shaking her head in frustration. "They won't have enough maneuverability."
"Is there any way to fix them?"
She considered that for a long time before saying slowly, "I think… The rockets in Space Mountain are more advanced. They're built for actual space travel, not just flying around in circles. If I can get a stabilizer from there, I could replicate it and plug it into the orbiters. It's a long shot, but it just might work."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Belle clambered back out of the rocket and the two of them headed away from the attraction, grabbing the toolbox on their way out. As they made their way through Tomorrowland, Cinderella looked around. Again, they seemed to be the only characters around. Not even Buzz or Stitch were out. The space age themed portion of the Park was almost eerily still.
The sign for the stand by time over the entrance to Space Mountain displayed a 0 as the two Princesses headed into the queue. Their footsteps echoed off the walls and ceiling while the faint sounds of the music tracks and the safety videos on the nearby screens played on a loop.
"Can we just walk in like this and take the part?" Cinderella asked as they stepped into the attraction's main building. Despite what she'd done before, she wasn't just about to wander into a random ride without knowing what she was actually getting herself into.
Belle shrugged. "Probably. Not only is Space Mountain a neutral attraction, but it also doesn't have any characters associated with it. I have permissions for most of the Land, so we should be fine."
They passed by an image of Space Station 77 on their left, heading down the ramp leading down to the loading area. The passage was cramped, nearly to the point of being claustrophobic. Everything blurred for a second before clearing again. Behind them, the entry door had closed. They were really on the station now. There was no turning back.
At the bottom of the first ramp, just before the turn to go further down, Cinderella stopped. Ahead of her was a window looking out into space. She stared out at the stars that shone in the vast, empty darkness. There was a whole universe inside this place, unreachable from anywhere except the way they just came in. It was enough to make her suddenly feel very small.
"Cindy."
Belle's voice made Cinderella start. Looking back, she saw the other girl was waiting for her further down the station's corridor.
"We have to keep moving if we want to get this finished tonight," Belle said. Nodding, she hurried after her.
The corridors eventually ended in a circular room with several doorways leading off of it. The only one open had a sign saying Launch Port Gamma over it. Together the two Princesses stepped through and out onto the platform overlooking the launch bay. The only sound was the constant hum of the machinery. Below them, the boarding area was empty.
"So, how are we supposed to find the stabilizer?" Cinderella asked.
"We can't take it from one of the ride vehicles," Belle told her. "That could end in disaster. But I do know where we can get one without anyone noticing." She pointed to the ship docked high above the main loading platform. Mechanical arms kept it hooked into the bay ceiling, and it looked fairly secure. Still, it wasn't exactly within easy reach from where the two of them stood. Cinderella could guess how she planned to get to the ship.
"I'm not sure about this…"
"It'll be fine." The brunette pushed the toolbox into her hands, saying, "Hold this for a second."
Once her hands were free, Belle rolled up her sleeves and climbed up onto the railing. Cinderella could barely watch as she jumped from her perch and hit the back of the docked ship. The whole thing shuddered for a second, but held. The girl let out a short laugh and looked back, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Now it's your turn," she called.
Cinderella blanched and took a step back. "Oh no. No, I won't."
Belle rolled her eyes. "Come on, Cindy. I need someone to help me with these panels."
Suddenly, she regretted agreeing to help in the first place. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Fine, but I'm tossing you the tools first."
"Works for me."
Hefting the box, she tossed it to the brunette, who caught it and set it down next to her on top of the ship. Once that was done, she climbed up onto the railing as well, precariously balancing on the edge. Telling herself not to look down, she jumped. She hit the side of the ship. When she started to slide, she gripped the irregular ridges in the side panels to stop herself from falling. A light set into the side blinked inches from her face. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself up.
"Not so bad, was it?" Belle asked her, and she shot her friend a look.
"Let's just get the part and get out of here."
Belle opened the toolbox and rummaged around inside. Eventually, she pulled out a screwdriver and got to work undoing the panel. Once the screws were out and carefully set aside, Cinderella helped her lift it up. Inside was a mess of wires and blinking lights. Though Cinderella was baffled by the jumble, Belle seemed to know what she was looking for because she half-crawled her way into the ship and started feeling her way through. Eventually, the Princess let out a cry of delight. There was a series of small clicks and snaps, followed by some warning beeps from the ship, before she emerged holding what looked like some kind of metal cylinder.
"Got it," she said with a grin.
As they screwed the panel back into place, a muffled, metallic bang echoed through the loading station. Both girls went silent. Cinderella stood to look over the back of the ship, toward the entrance to the bay. Voices and loud whirring noises came from outside the entrance to the loading station. Then a hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her flat against the top of the spaceship.
"Stay down," Belle hissed in her ear.
Cinderella kept as low as she could, barely daring to breathe as she peered around the edge of the ship.
Out of the corridor came several robots armed with various saw blades and clawed pincers. Behind them, she caught a glimpse of a tall, dark figure wearing a horned helmet with glowing red eyes. Sucking in a sharp breath, she pulled back again.
In response to Belle's look of confusion, she whispered, "It's Zurg."
"What does he want?"
"Search the ships," Zurg commanded. "Find it!"
The robots rolled out, down the ramp, and the two girls huddled together as desperately hoped not to be seen. As the Evil Emperor himself passed them by, dark cape fluttering behind him, Cinderella squeezed her eyes shut.
Whirring and buzzing sounds came up from below along with robotic voices that must have belonged to his minions.
"Well?" he spat.
"The standard version won't be powerful enough, my Evil Emperor. We need the stabilizer from the ship registered in the docking port to make it work."
Cinderella's eyes snapped open again. The two girls looked down at the part Belle still had clutched to her chest and back up at each other with identical looks of horror.
"Go," Belle mouthed.
Together, the two of them climbed onto the back of the ship and crawled across it, heading for the exit. An alarm went off and steam began to escape from the arms holding up the ship as it sank toward the bay's floor. Leaping from the back, they both barely cleared the railing and landed on the upper platform. The robots were two distracted by the descending ship to notice as the two Princesses slipped from the launch port and back into the station's corridors.
Grabbing Belle's arm to stop her, Cinderella reminded her, "We can't get back out the front, remember? The façade's down. We're stuck."
The brunette frowned, and she could almost imagine gears turning inside her head. Then her brown eyes seemed to light up. "I have an idea. Follow me."
The two of them hurried up the corridor until Belle stopped at a small box set into the wall that looked like some kind of radio. Handing Cinderella the stabilizer, she pried the front of the box open and began meddling with the wiring inside. It sparked and she bit back a yelp. Static came out of the speaker and Belle clicked the panel back into place.
Pressing a button on the front, she said, "Star Command, can you read me?"
Silence. Then Buzz's voice sounded over the radio.
"Belle? What are you doing on this channel?" There were muffled voices in the background before he returned, saying, "The LGMs can't get a lock on your signal."
"That's because we're not in your galaxy," Belle quickly explained. "We're trapped on Space Mountain, inside Space Station 77. Zurg's in here with us."
From below, a robotic voice called out, "It's not here, my Evil Emperor."
"Keep looking!" Zurg roared. "Find it!"
"We're running out of time," Cinderella gasped. How long would it be before he realized they were in here, too?
"Buzz," Belle hissed into the radio. "Buzz, get the door open."
"Hold on. I'm on my way."
The radio went silent and for a long time all Cinderella could hear was the unintelligible shouting of the searching robots below. She tensed as she watched the hallway they'd come up, clutching the stabilizer tight, ready to run if she had to. There was the sharp hiss of air being released, followed by a shimmer that rippled through the air around them. The façade was back up again.
"Let's go," Belle said and took back the stabilizer.
They hurried up the remaining passages leading back to the entrance. Sure enough, the door leading back to the outside portion of the attraction queue was open. Buzz waited for them on the other side.
"What were you both doing in there?" he asked.
Belle held up the part. "This. I needed it to finish work on the orbiters."
"Understood." He peered down the hallway they'd just left. "And Zurg is still down there?"
"With some of his robots," Cinderella said with a nod.
"I'll inform the others. You two should get back to work on those rockets."
Buzz flipped open the communicator on his wrist while the two girls headed back down to Belle's workshop.
Cinderella had her head down on the worktable, half asleep. They'd been at it for what felt like hours, and she had no idea how long it would take to make all of the replicated stabilizers.
"Almost done, Belle?" she asked drowsily.
She heard a final sharp click. "There. Finished."
Lifting her head, Cinderella saw a pile of the new, smaller stabilizers on the table. One for each of the attraction's vehicles. She sat up straight, stretched, and got to her feet.
"I suppose it's time to test them out," she said.
Each of them grabbed an armful of the parts and carried them back across Tomorrowland to the Astro Orbiters attraction. Belle took one of the stabilizers and installed it into the rocket that still had the diagnostics screen wired in. Once she was finished, she hopped back in and tapped away at the monitor again.
"How does it look?" Cinderella asked.
Belle looked up from the screen with a grin. "We're good to go."
Unhooking the screen, she leaned out of the rocket to hand it to her.
"You might want to stand back," Belle said.
Once Cinderella had retreated to a safe distance, she turned on the rocket. Its engines roared to life. The arm it was still attached to lifted into the air. From the ground, Cinderella could hear Belle muttering to herself as she fiddled with something on the dashboard. Then the rocket unhooked itself from the arm and took off, arcing wide around the entrance of Tomorrowland. A few blasts from the laser fired as Belle's ship sailed overhead. Cinderella laughed as she watched her go.
"Outstanding."
She turned to see Buzz standing behind her.
"Belle did it," she told him with a grin.
"She did," he replied with a nod of approval, but quickly turned sober. "Zurg was gone by the time we got a team down to Space Station 77, which means he's still out there, biding his time with the rest of the Villains." Looking back up he went on, "But with these rockets flying, we might stand a fighting chance after all."