WHEN DID YOU GO?

A Magical Racing Tour fanfic by Ryan Rinkerman & Homesnork

Disney and Crystal Dynamics are responsible for these fine characters. Neither of us work for either company; this is a fan story, made for fun and not profit.

Since the game was released in 2000, portraying how Disney World looked back then, this story is set in the same year. At first, anyway.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Another race was over, and Oliver Chickly III had come out on top. The young explorer knew his way around the Jungle Cruise ride, so he easily left his competitors in his wake. He pulled his boat up to the dock; as Oliver got out, X.U.D. pulled his boat up behind him.

"You did a fine job today, Oliver." X.U.D. told the bird. "Will you racing tonight as well?"

"I might stop by…" Oliver looked thoughtful. "I'd like to get a little more practicing in before I do, though!"

"Message understood. Best of luck."

Tiara Damáge pulled up to the dock next. A scowl was on her face...but that was no surprise, it seemed like it was the only expression she was capable of making. "Ugh. Third again."

"You didn't do that badly!" Oliver tried to cheer her up. "A bronze medal is still a medal."

"That doesn't mean anything coming from the winner," Tiara glared. "Just try and beat me at the Haunted Mansion tonight. I'll leave you in my dust...but then again, an explorer would like being covered in dust anyway."

"Well, if you want dust, the mansion's not a bad place to find it!" Oliver chuckled.

Tiara grunted. "See you later, Oliver."

With a wave, Oliver left. He found Tiara unpleasant, but he didn't feel antagonizing her would solve anything. He tried to stay as nice and chipper as possible...with how abrasive some of the other racers could be, he felt his friends could use a little kindness in their lives. As Oliver headed out of the park, he thought about that night's race. The Haunted Mansion track was always so confusing; all the different paths and shortcuts made his head spin. Oliver had decided to go back to the Animal Kingdom and drive a few laps to keep his skills sharp.

That, and maybe he could hang around and pet one of the friendlier dinos.

Oliver had a fondness for paleontology, even participating in a few of his father's dinosaur digs. Therefore it was no surprise that OIiver loved the Dino Institute, one of the most popular racing spots in the park. When he and his friends raced they drove the Time Rovers, specially designed cars that could travel through time. During their races, the Time Rovers were firmly locked into two time periods...the Cretaceous period, where Iguanodons and Carnotaurus freely roamed...and the present day. They had all been securely locked into those coordinates...though Oliver had heard stories about a rogue paleontologist who had changed the coordinates behind everyone's back to grab a dinosaur of his own. He secretly wished he was allowed to do that; a pet triceratops would be incredible.

Before long, Oliver made his way to the Institute...a large tan building with green accents, with a blue tiled pool in front of it. The sign above the Institute read "Countdown to Extinction", and the pool had a large statue of a triceratops. As Oliver had done many times before, he went to the control center and started up the computer...unless he wanted to race around the loading dock all day, he had to ensure the time travelling coordinates were correct. Oliver looked over the monitor at the two dates on the screen. April 30, 2000...the present date... and 65,000,000 BC...the late Cretaceous period.

"Ah, good!" Oliver patted the computer. "Exactly when we need to be!" He walked off, not noticing the static that was starting to creep across the monitor...or the spark that shot from the back of it.

Oliver made his way into Time Transport Loading Bay...the tunnel where the time travelling occured. As he started up the Time Rover, the tunnel in front of him filled up with a pulsing blue light. A robotic female voice came over the speakers.

"Time travel commencing in T-minus 10 seconds and counting!"

Once the time had passed, Oliver revved the Time Rover's engine, then drove into the light. He noticed it looked a little brighter than usual...before he could figure out why, he felt his car jostle and shake. Instead of the usual dinosaurs, he saw a rusted out Jeep right in front of him. Oliver hit the brakes, but it didn't help much; he slammed into the Jeep at full force. The Time Rover's hood crumpled and smoked; Oliver coughed and held his head. While he was dazed, he wasn't hurt. Thank goodness these things came with seatbelts, the bird thought. Oliver looked around him, noticing it was still daytime. He noticed rocks with dinosaur fossils in them, and a large wood and plastic structure in the distance. He recognized where he was immediately.

"Wait a minute...this is The Boneyard!" That was a dig site not far from the Dino Institute. Instead of traveling far into the past, he only made it a few yards out of the building! Oliver was surprised to see The Boneyard so empty. Usually this time of day it was packed.

Then again, if the time travel had gone wrong, it might not have been that time of day anymore.

He got out of his totalled Time Rover, uneasily making his way out of the Boneyard. As Oliver exited, he saw the park guests walking around, all of them in the Disney World spirit. Their mouse hats, their mouse shaped balloons, their wristbands with the mouse logo…

...wait...why was everyone wearing wristbands?

"OLIVER!" A robotic voice called his name...a voice he knew very well. X.U.D. ran toward the little bird, his metallic feet clanking loudly on the pavement. "I cannot believe it! I have not seen you in so long!" The robot hugged Oliver tightly.

"Er...what?" Oliver looked confused. "We just raced this morning!"

"Negative." The robot released his cool embrace. "I did not race at all this morning. I was testing the attractions." The robot patted its chest. "This old bot still has it in him."

"But...I was there!" Oliver protested. "At the Jungle Cruise! I saw you!"

"Negative. You were not there. The last time I saw you was precisely 237 months, 29 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes, and 18 seconds ago."

Oh boy.

As he took in X.U.D.'s words, Oliver looked at the shirts on the people walking by. While he recognized some of the characters...Pocahontas, Mulan, Belle...others were completely unfamiliar. A huge, tattooed Polynesian man? A red car with a face? A goofily grinning snowman? Not only that, one kid's DuckTales shirt looked like it was drawn in a completely different style.

"Er...X.U.D.?" Oliver gulped, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer to the question he was about to ask. "What is today's date?"

"Today is Saturday. February 29, 2020."

Lovely. He didn't make it to the past. He got farther from it.

"Oh no…no…" The young explorer seemed upset. "This is so very wrong!"

"It is not wrong at all," X.U.D. interjected. "It is Leap Year, so a February 29 is perfectly normal."

"You don't understand…" Oliver rubbed his temples. "I need to get back home! I don't belong here, not for another 20 or so years! I need to get back to the Dino Institute! They can send me back!"

"Negative." X.U.D. shook his head. "The Dino Institute closed down in 2000. A computer malfunction sent all their Time Rovers to random time periods!"

"You don't say," Oliver said, disheartened.

"It took them forever to sort out the mess…find all the Time Rovers and bring back the riders. Thankfully, all of them survived...even the one who landed in the middle of a Viking horde. Once they fixed it, they decided the tours weren't worth the hassle anymore. They were able to recover all but one Time Rover."

Oliver's. Of course. Oliver turned and saw a group of children, one of whom looked familiar. He couldn't believe it...there was Amanda Sparkle. She was wearing a completely different headband, and her hair was much bigger and pushed back, but she was still completely recognizable. Oliver was relieved...and surprised...to see another familiar face.

"Amanda!" Oliver ran up to the girl. "How did you get here? And what have you done with your hair?"

"Amanda?" The girl giggled. "That's not my name!"

Oliver tilted his head. "...you're not Amanda Sparkle?"

"No, silly! That's my mom!"

Oliver froze. Was this really Amanda's child? Now that he looked her over, she DID seem slightly younger than the Amanda he knew. "Er...where is she now?"

"Hollywood Studios, of course!" The girl told him. "She's filming another movie...she makes so many!"

Wasn't it called Disney Studios? Well, if enough time could pass for Amanda to have a kid of her own, a simple name change wasn't too unusual. "Thanks for the tip...I've got to go, though. It was nice meeting you!"

"You too!" She curtsied, then rejoined the group of kids. Oliver walked back to X.U.D. "Boy, a LOT happens in two decades…"

"Affirmative. Many rides have come and gone. Your friends' lives had all continued without you...but none of them ever forgot about you. Some took it harder than others. I calculate the chance of them being overjoyed to see you: 100%."

Oliver smiled at that. "Well...if I'm going to be here a while, I'd better go see how they're all doing."

"It's great to see you again, Oliver," X.U.D. hugged the bird again. Once he let go, Oliver headed for the exit. As he did, a pair of vultures watched him from the trees. They looked over at each other, nodded, then followed Oliver. They glided silently, to make sure their target didn't hear them. They would simply observe, not try to attack.

That would come later.

°o°

Oliver made his way to Disney Studios...or Hollywood Studios, as it seemed to be called now. He did some exploring; partially to see what was new, partially to find Amanda. With the building of brand new areas and the loss of the water tower, he could barely recognize the park now. Oliver had walked to where the backlot was, expecting to find Amanda. But instead of the multitude of building facades, there were giant toys and spaceships...and nary a film camera in sight. It didn't seem to be much of a studio anymore...although he had to admit the new attractions looked fun.

The explorer checked out Sunset Boulevard; at least THIS place was more-or-less the same. There was the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, the Tower of Terror...

"OLIVER!"

Oliver's thoughts were sidetracked by a somewhat familiar voice. He turned to see Ned Shredbetter, skateboarding over to him. Ned looked the same, yet so different at the same time...a strange feeling. He was now much taller, with slightly more muscle tone. He still wore a blue Hawaiian shirt and red shorts, but now they were accompanied by elbow & knee pads. Ned slowed to a stop, then hopped off his board. "You're finally back! Geez, if you were planning to be gone for two decades, you could have at least sent a postcard or something."

The young bird nervously chuckled. "Yeah, about that…"

"And...you discovered the fountain of youth!"

"Er...not quite…" Oliver stared up at Ned. "I'll explain later. What have you been doing all this time?"

"I've been doing stunts for the movies! My sports career has really taken off." Ned bragged. "Oh! And I also got married!"

"Is that so?"

"Ned!" A female voice interrupted. "I've been looking all over for you!"

There was Amanda Sparkle, the world famous child actress...well, she could safely drop the "child" part, now that she was around 30. Amanda was certainly taller now, but she still kept her fondness for elaborate pink dresses.

"Ah, there she is!" Ned wrapped his arms around Amanda and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, babe, look who came for a visit."

"Oliver?!" Amanda was stunned. "Is that really you?! Wow, after all these years! I want to know what skin creams you use...you look like you haven't aged a day!"

Oliver scratched the back of his head. "Er...I technically haven't…there was a severe malfunction at the Dino Institute. It shot me into the future...which is now the present, I suppose."

"Wow, is that so?" Amanda was surprised. "Oh gosh, you poor thing...you have so much to catch up on!"

"We can start with the movies you made!" Ned winked. "That is one amazing story, dude! How are you liking the future?"

"It's very fascinating!" Oliver excitedly told them. "It's amazing just how much has changed…" He looked back to the rides behind him. "Those rides might be the only things that haven't! They still make movies here?"

"Not all that often," Amanda admitted. "But we still film here on occasion! Right now we're doing an action movie about zombies! And we have the best stunt crew around!"

"Crew?" Oliver asked.

"What? You thought I did all the stunts?" Ned chuckled. "We're filming a scene where the wrestler bodyslams the zombies"

"That's one way to get rid of them!" Oliver chuckled.

"Hey guys!" Another familiar voice...Bruno. In the ensuing decades, Bruno Biggs had become...well, bigger. He was much taller and bulkier, though the bulk was more muscle these days. If he wasn't someone to mess with before, he certainly wasn't now. Two young kids were hanging from his arm and swinging. When he saw Oliver, Bruno's eyes widened. "Oliver?! That you? Boy, you're a sight for sore eyes!" Bruno seemed excited. "The two of us have a lot to catch up on. I could show you video of my latest match!"

"You were racing someone?" Oliver asked.

Bruno chuckled. "Nah, more like piledrivin' them! I've been pro wrestling for years now! I'm pretty famous now...Mickey even came to some of my matches! I'd demonstrate my moves, but eh..." He looked at the kids around him. "...I don't think their parents would appreciate that." He lifted his free arm up to flex.

"Seriously?!" Oliver was wide-eyed.

"A job where I can pound people and trash talk full-time?" Bruno grinned. "How could I turn that down?"

"It's mostly just for the cameras, though," Ned assured Oliver. "He's a real nice dude behind the scenes."

Oliver saw how the kids seemed to enjoy being around Bruno. "I can tell!"

One of the kids around Bruno was the same girl Oliver met at Animal Kingdom. When she saw Oliver, her eyes lit up. "That's him!" The young girl ran towards them. "That's the weird kid who thought I was you, Mommy!"

"I see you've met Miranda!" Ned lifted her onto his shoulders.

"Yeah!" Oliver chuckled. "The resemblance is uncanny!" The young explorer smiled; he was happy to see his friends' lives were going well. It gave Oliver some peace of mind knowing at least three of his friends' futures went exactly how they wanted them. "It seems like so much has changed here...I'd love to know what Magic Kingdom is like now…"

Ned sucked air through his teeth. "Er, no you don't, dude."

Oliver wasn't expecting that answer. "Why not?"

"Er...you need to see the Skyliner!" Amanda said quickly. "It's a new aerial gondola that takes you from here to Epcot! It's quite a sight!"

"And you can see Otto again!" Bruno added. "With his big brain, he could cook up a way to throw you back to the past in no time flat!"

"Good idea!" He smiled. "I should get over there...but it was still great to see you again!" Oliver high-fived Ned and Bruno, while Amanda knelt down to hug him.

"Great seeing you again, little dude!" Ned gave him a thumbs up. "Good luck, man!"

Oliver started to make the trek over...not seeing the two vultures high above the sky, keeping their eyes on him.

°o°

Oliver was now on his way to Epcot...he did indeed take the Skyliner, much cooler and more scenic than the regular buses. It reminded him of the Skyway that used to run in the Magic Kingdom. That had closed up a few months before this unexpected time travel expedition...Oliver was glad to see something similar had come along, even if it had taken a few years to get there.

Oliver still wanted to get back home, but at least now he knew he had some cool stuff to look forward to.

As the young explorer made his way to Otto, he took note of all Epcot's differences. Spaceship Earth was there as usual, they'd have to be insane to get rid of that. Unfortunately for Oliver, Universe of Energy...another ride Oliver liked for its dinosaurs...wasn't so lucky. The empty space where Horizons once stood was now filled by a futuristic, silver building with a giant red marble up front. He had no idea what was inside, but had to admit it looked pretty neat. And there up ahead was...Test Track? Well, the sign outside said "Test Track", but the blue building didn't resemble the cool grays he knew. He walked over to where Otto's lab was, opening the door.

Oliver was used to the gray, industrial look of Otto's lab...but here, it was completely unrecognizable. The walls were dark blue with a wireframe pattern, streaks of bright blue running across it. One wall showed a spinning model of a futuristic car; the CGI here looked more real than anything his home time was capable of. One wall had a series of pine trees, rendered in simple glowing lines, constantly forming and disappearing.

Oliver wondered if he had walked into Otto's workshop, or a scene from Tron.

Oliver approached a massive blue 18 wheeler. It appeared to be made up of the same glowing blue lines as the pine trees. As Oliver got near it, the lines gradually started to disappear, as if someone was running across them with giant erasers. When the truck had fully vanished, the bird could see the man who had stood behind it. His full body suit and helmet were a deep blue, with light blue lines running across them in a circuitry-like pattern. The lines themselves seemed to glow...no surprise, since it seemed like everything here glowed. When the man saw the young chicken, his expression turned to shock.

"OLIVER?!"

"Otto?!"

"Wow, it's been almost twenty years!" Otto ran over to Oliver with an excited look on his face. "Like what I've done with the place?" The techie-nerd chuckled. "I've got so much to tell you about! My new programs are able to let you design the cars you can ride in! And I can make graphics that can appear and disappear, as you can see. Plus, I converted the heat tunnel into a…" Otto looked down, finally noticing Oliver's appearance. "You know, I expected you to be a lot taller by now."

"Oh, um…" Oliver grinned sheepishly. "There was an accident at the Dino Institute...instead of the age of dinosaurs...it took me here."

"I remember that, they wanted me to help fix the...wait, that was the same time you vanished...oh my goodness, it makes so much sense now! You were the one they couldn't recover! Goodness, all this time I thought you were out exploring!"

"Well, I'm certainly doing a lot of exploring now!" Oliver said with a chuckle.

"You know, I technically had experience with those Time Rovers! Remember the Timekeeper? He always came to me to help keep his time machines working!"

"Oooh, can I meet him?" Oliver asked. "He could take me back to the past!"

Otto shook his head. "No, he left to journey the world in 2006...I haven't heard from him since."

Well, there went THAT idea.

"But I CAN fix your Time Rover!" Otto walked over to a large shelf full of bizarre gadgets, gizmos, and gears. "It's been a long time since I've worked on them, but I still remember how to do it! All we need are…" He saw one area of his shelf was bare. "...good Heavens! They were here this morning! I saw them!"

Boy, getting back was not going to be easy. "Well, I suppose I could stay in 2020 a little longer…" Oliver mused. "I mean, I still haven't visited the Magic Ki-"

"NO!" Otto waved his hands. "You don't need to see that. Er, wanna go on Spaceship Earth? They changed that one a lot...and they're gonna change it even more soon, so we better get there quickly! Oh! And they put Figment back in the Figment ride! Everyone's thrilled abou-"

"What's going on?!" Oliver seemed exasperated. "Everyone is telling me not to go to the Magic Kingdom!"

Otto sighed. "You don't need to go there. Not since…" Otto looked down at the ground below his shelves, noticing a black feather. "Oh, that's not good! Not good at all! I guess we do need to go there after all..."

"What's so bad about it?!" Oliver asked incredulously. "It's the happiest place on Earth!"

Otto sighed. "Not anymore. Well Oliver, you had to figure out sooner or later. Come on, let me show you…"