I only own Bethany and Roger.
Bethany, sitting on the ground with her back against a tree, sighed. Her and her friends had told Sonic and the others all that happened just a few hours ago. Bethany's heart broke again when she saw their reactions to their loved ones' deaths. A single tear fell silently down Bethany's cheek at the memory. Bethany wiped the tear with her finger but instead of flicking it away, she looked it.
She may be full of hope and determination, but her heart still ache horribly. How long will it hurt like this? For the rest of her life? Bethany clenched her fist. Roger…you will pay for this. And I will make sure you won't kill anyone else, or make anyone else's heart ache even more than it has too. I will stop you.
"Hello…Bethany?" asked a small, female voice. Bethany turned her head and saw a small mouse with a red shawl over her shoulders.
"Mrs. Brisby! You're alright!" exclaimed Bethany with joy. She grew up watching The Secret of Nimh as a child, and to see that the heroine was alive filled her with relief and happiness.
"Yes, I am alright…but what about my children? I had Auntie Shrew run ahead with my children while I distracted Dragon and the cats from American Tail world. I managed to escape but…did they?" she asked, fidgeting as if she afraid to know the answer. Bethany didn't blame her. Bethany sighed.
"I don't know. I didn't see their names on the computer but then I didn't see every name on that computer. And I didn't see them at the sanctuary," Bethany said softly.
"Well, can't you create something that can tell you if they are alive or not?" asked Leo, who had just walked up to them. While Mrs. Brisby looked at her with hopeful eyes, Bethany thought carefully. Then she took a leaf that had fallen to the ground and changed it into what looked like a magic 8 ball. Then she gave the ball to Mrs. Brisby.
"Here, just ask it if they are alive and then shake it. The answer will appear on the little window," Bethany told her.
"Thank you," said Mrs. Brisby with both gratitude and apprehension. Then the mouse cleared her throat.
"Are Auntie Shrew and my children alive?" Then Mrs. Brisby shook it with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, she gave a little gasp as Bethany saw tears threatening to overflow her eyes.
"Well?" asked Bethany, who shifted herself till she was on her knees, tense. Please, for her sake that they are okay…
"Auntie Shrew is gone…but my children are alive," said Mrs. Brisby as tears fell down her face, tears that Bethany knew were both from sadness and relief. Auntie Shrew…
"That's great…and sad…ah, what's the proper response here…I'm sad and happy for you?" asked Bethany, trying to considerate. Mrs. Brisby put her hand on Bethany's knee and judging by the small smile, Bethany knew she said the right thing.
"Thank you Bethany." Mrs. Brisby gave the magic 8 ball back to Bethany. "Thank you." With those words, Mrs. Brisby walked away. When she left, a nervous looking Leo held out his hand.
"Can I…see if…Usagi, Leatherhead, and Angel are alright?" Bethany, feeling apprehension, was about to give Leo the ball when there was a voice behind Leo.
"There is no need Leonardo-san. We are right here." Leo turned quickly as Bethany got up quickly. What she saw made her gasp with delight. Leatherhead, Usagi, and Angel were right there in front of him, with smiles on their faces.
"It's about time we found you. You know how long it took us to find you? Too long," said Angel.
"You're…you're alright…" said Leo softly.
"Yes, during the attack we found each other and managed to escape together…and found ourselves here," explained Leatherhead.
"And we're glad to see that you are alright Leonardo-san, though we are sorry about your family," said Usagi solemnly. Suddenly, Leo ran to Usagi and once there, cried into his best friend's furry chest. When Bethany saw that Angel and Leather were about to comfort their turtle friend, Bethany quietly left the scene. She didn't feel the need to intrude in their personal moment.
As she walked throughout the campsite and saw people like George from The Jetsons, Horton from Horton Hatches the Egg, Fred Flintstone, and Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, she wondered how Roger could bear to destroy the animated people. Didn't he love them growing up? How in the world could he go down that track if he had such a good background?
No wonder Roger was intrigued by her, someone with a not so good history. In a story, it would have been her who wanted to kill all the animated people, who understandably cracked with all the bullying and loneliness she had endured. But no, it was Roger, who would have the hero with all the love in his life, who was the villain. I guess it's because it's the person who makes their choices, not the situation. Roger made the choice to let go of hope, and that destroyed him, making him want to destroy everyone else.
"Hello! Unanimated girl whose name I have forgotten!" cried someone with a thick German accent. Bethany turned around and saw to her delight, Dr. Scratchansniff running up to her with Hello Nurse, Skippy, and the Brain, all from Animaniacs.
"Her name Dr. is Bethany," said Brain who was Skippy's shoulder.
"Thanks Brain. Now Bethany, I heard that the Warners were with you. Is that true?" asked the Doctor.
"Please say that it is. They may be zany, but we do care about them," pleaded Hello Nurse.
"We don't want you to lie though," added Skippy. Before Bethany could say anything, she saw Wakko, Dot, and Timon riding on the unicorn from The Last Unicorn, obviously looking for somebody.
"Scratchy!" cried Dot.
"Hello Nurse!" cried Wakko. Bethany heard Hello Nurse gasp.
"Is that…" asked Scratchy softly, as if he didn't dare believe it. Bethany just smiled and nodded. Immediately, the quartet turned around and rushed towards the Warners, who by this time spotted them.
"Scratchy! Hello Nurse!" cried Wakko and Dot as they had the unicorn gallop towards them.
"Wakko! Dot!" cried Scratchy. As soon as the unicorn had reached them, Wakko and Dot jumped into their father-figure's arms, and they hugged tightly as Hello Nurse cried with joy beside them.
"Oh you zany kids…you made me sick with worry!" cried Dr. Scratchansniff. Bethany turned around and continued to walk. Though she was glad that Leo and now the Warners had found their missing loved ones, she was still sad. She wished that Pooh, Rabbit, Piglet, Tigger, or anyone else from the Hundred Acre Wood were here. That way, not only will her precious cartoon characters still be alive, she could keep her promise to Eeyore and return them to him. But no, they were all gone.
Suddenly, Bethany heard a bell ring loudly. Immediately, the people around her stopped what they doing and headed quickly passed her.
"What's going on?" she wondered aloud.
"That is the signal for everyone to go to the platform. There, Mickey and the fairies will tell them our plan," said Gandalf who appeared beside her.
"Gandalf! Wait…I thought you, Batman, Mickey, and some of the people here were devising the plan in the central tent, which is way over there," asked Bethany, pointing ahead of her.
"I was but when we finished planning, I came looking for you while the others went to the platform," Gandalf explained.
"Why?" asked Bethany, surprised that Gandalf would come looking for her.
"Because we need you to create some communications so we can tell Bugs and the rest of the people at the sanctuary the plan…as well as what happened." Bethany's heart sank even further at the thought of telling more people the awful news. Could her heart take seeing more heartbreak?
"Don't worry, I will tell them everything by myself, you can listen to Batman explain the plan," said Gandalf.
"Are you sure?" she asked. While she certainly didn't want to tell the others, she didn't want Gandalf to have to tell them alone.
"Quite sure. I want to tell Aragorn myself that I was unable to save the kidnapped. As well as that I was incapable of finding Roger's castle or even this campsite."
"That's not your fault! The three fairy godmothers enchanted this campsite so they could stay hidden from the villains! Roger probably enchanted the castle the same and I doubt anyone could have broken his spell!"
"You could." While Bethany was stunned by the faith behind his words, Gandalf put a hand on her shoulder.
"I hate to request this of you, but if I don't, you probably going to do it anyway so I may as well give you my blessing. The plan is what you probably already guessed: all of us will quickly go to the Black Cauldron land and fight the villains once and for all. Now, in this battle, will you please fight Roger for us? You are the only one who can defeat him. If the rest of us fight him…"
"He could just enchant something to stop you permanently before you had a chance to fight," continued Bethany, remembering the stone spheres that imprisoned Leo and Aang back in the castle. Bethany closed her eyes and memories of watching Pooh, Yakko, Minnie, Pumbaa, Master Splinter, Bilbo, Wonder Woman, Sokka, and the others on the screen occupied her mind. Those memories were followed by her adventures with her friends as well as memories of her associations with Eeyore, Ben, Mrs. Brisby and the others. Bethany took in a deep breath before letting it out as she opened her eyes.
"As you said Gandalf, I was going to do it anyway."
Yay Bethany! So what will happen next? Read on and find out! Till next time, please review!