Chapter 32: Sweet Cheese and Crackers
Imagine The Projectionist's surprise when he found his victim lounging on the sofa with an abnormally stoic expression on her face. She didn't seem to hear him enter, and had her hands folded over her chest as if she had been laid into a coffin.
"Hello dear thing…" He greeted in a deceivingly friendly voice, "You're back sooner than I an-"
"-You can drop the act." Mindy didn't even turn to look at him, "I know what you did."
The Projectionist was a bit taken aback by her straight-forward confrontational tone, but laughed it off in response, "I'm sorry?"
"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about." She was unaffected by his antics, "I figured it out by simple deduction, and just so you know it doesn't change anything between us."
"I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea of what you're mindlessly jabbering on about." He replied as he settled himself in the armchair beside her, "If there is anything that I am not, it is a conniving liar. But by all means, keep making a fool out of yourself…it's intoxicatingly entertaining."
"Whatever." Mindy huffed as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes, "Today has been an absolute rollercoaster, so I don't have the energy to deal with your…youness… right now."
The Projectionist's ever-present smile widened at her choice of words. "Youness?"
"You know what I meant!"
"I'm fairly certain that youness isn't a real word."
"Look, I'm tired." She snapped, "So let's just get this over with so that I can go back to sleep without you interrupting my train of thought every five seconds."
"Might I be so bold as to ask why you are in such a rush to rid yourself of my company?"
Mindy ultimately turned her head to meet his eyes with an antagonizing deadpanned stare…
"I see your point." The Projectionist crossed his legs, and rested his chin in the palm of his hand with an over-exaggerated sigh, "It really is such a shame that you can't stand to be around me."
"I wonder why that is." She rolled her eyes, "I'll cut right to the chase… I want a rematch from our previous chess game."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I guess you'll never know how far I've come the past two days." Mindy sat up and turned to fully face him. She tapped her fingers together and leaned forward with an all-too-cocky smirk, "And you'll just have to lie awake at night wondering what powers I've learned, what tricks I had up my sleeve, and what strategies I might have used."
The Projectionist narrowed his eyes, "You know nothing about strategy."
"Do I?" She hummed, "You'll never know for sure if you don't let me play."
The two held a staring contest for what seemed like centuries.
Eventually, The Projectionist snapped his fingers and the game was set with a flourish of ominous smoke.
Wordlessly, he gestured to the opposite seat.
Mindy cracked her knuckles as she sat down, "Smoke comes before fire."
His head tilted slightly, "Yes, that is how that generally works… it's called science."
"No, I meant-" She sucked in a breath, and pinched the bridge at her nose, "I meant that you have to go first because black is supposed to go before white."
"Oh I see…it's a metaphor." The Projectionist clapped his hands as the colors of the pieces switched right before her eyes, "And since I am a gentleman, then I will allow you to have the privilege of moving first."
"No."
The Projectionist's smile tightened, "What do you mean, no?"
"What you just pulled before the game even started is referred to as cheating." Mindy pointed out, "You're patronizing me by allowing me to go first, but passing it off as chivalry in order to make me feel better about being handed an unfair advantage. Yeah, that's not gonna fly with me pal. Either, man-up and don't hold back, or we don't play at all…capiche?"
He tapped his chin as he considered this before letting out a chuckle, "Fair enough."
She nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he switched the colors back.
Mindy gestured to him with a mocking bow, "Your move, your youness."
The Projectionist's eyes lit up with glee as he slid his pawn on his right side to f4.
She crossed her arms with a raised brow, "Are you sure that you want to go there? You did tell me that you believed in moving the knights first."
"As adorable as it is that you're attempting to plant seeds of doubt inside of my mind, I regret to inform you that your foolish little tricks won't work on me." He shook his head in disappointment, "I'd have thought that you knew that by now."
"Hm, maybe you're right." Mindy shrugged as she moved the pawn in front of her king to e6, "Maybe I can never learn from my past mistakes."
"Of course you can't." The Projectionist drawled as he confidently slid his pawn to g4, "And do you want to know why, dear thing?"
"I have a feeling that you're gonna tell me anyway, so knock yourself out."
"It's because you haven't changed one bit since our last meeting." He insisted as he leaned uncomfortably close to her nonchalant countenance, "Despite how you've behaved thus far, I know that it is all just a façade in a botched-up attempt to make me feel intimidated after what I had done to terrorize you two nights prior. I know that you are still the same naïve, impulsive, cowardly Disney princess who sings songs involving rainbows, unicorns, and following your unrealistic dreams in the hopes that they will inexplicably and albeit magically come true. And putting on an apathetically resilient exterior isn't going to change my mind."
"Okay… but maybe this will." Mindy didn't give him the chance to respond as she speedily moved the queen to h4 with a haughty smile, "Checkmate."
…
The Projectionist didn't utter a word, and instead studied every inch of the board with an inscrutable expression on his face.
She couldn't help but swallow as a torturous suspense lingered in the air…Great job you freaking idiot, now he's gonna let all hell break loose.
Eventually, he glanced up at her curiously. "How did you do that?"
"What can I say?" Mindy tapped her temple, "It's elementary…"
An excruciatingly lengthy period of silence passed… then The Projectionist slow-clapped with a lopsided smile, "Well played dear thing…it appears that you have a spark of cleverness within you after all."
"Thank you…?" His sudden praise made her feel awkward and on edge, "It uh, wasn't anything special really…it was just a foolish little trick as you put it."
"Oh, don't sell yourself too short!" The Projectionist unexpectedly blurted out, "It was a clever strategy, and you deserve the bragging rights that come with winning in such a short amount of time."
Mindy's lips parted as he eyed him dubiously, "Um…I guess?"
He laughed in response…only it didn't sound ill-tempered or condescending in the slightest. In fact, he had almost convinced her that it was genuine.
"Okay..." She drew the word out as she promptly stood up, "Can't say that this has been fun, because anytime I have to deal with your youness it's never fun."
The Projectionist feigned offense, "Now what's that supposed to mean?"
"Gee, I don't know!" Mindy burst as she threw her arms up in exasperation, "Girl wakes up in a mysterious mind palace that she didn't know she had until this point where a notorious Disney villain has taken up residence and is tormenting her against her will! What about that screams fun to you?"
He gave an innocent shrug, "The tormenting against her will part?"
"Unbelievable." She rubbed her eyes. "Welp, Imma head out."
"Who said that was ever an option?"
"Me." Mindy decided, "As far as I'm concerned, we're done here…I've proven that there's more to me than you originally thought."
"You certainly have." The Projectionist admitted, "But I'm afraid that I'm not quite finished having my fun yet." Her insides turned to ice as he summoned his pen-shaped staff out of thin air, "You really are a foolish, foolish girl aren't you?"
Mindy squeaked as an inky tentacle shot out of his cane, snaked around her torso, and slammed her onto the table. The blow knocked the air out of her, but she couldn't even breathe due to the gooey substance constricting her diaphragm.
He regarded her like a specimen under a microscope as he towered over her trembling form, "It appears that I've underestimated you princess, but don't celebrate just yet. In proving that you truly dohave a functioning mind, you've also proven that you are a threat to everything I am trying to maintain…and we can't have that now can we?"
Her face was starting to turn blue from the lack of oxygen.
She knew that it was impossible for him to kill her within her subconscious, but that didn't mean she wanted to know what would happen if she was pushed to the brink of death. Mindy forced herself to relax her tense muscles as the indigo jewel on her amulet started to emanate a soft glow.
The Projectionist raised a brow… "What's this?"
She fixed her eyes on the tentacle, and tugged at it with her mind. Its grip on her tightened in response, but she was undeterred from her task. She continued to ease it off of her body, until it fell off of the table in a coiled heap on the floor.
Mindy coughed as her heart rate struggled to come to a steady pace…
"Interesting…" Was all her captor could say, "Very interesting."
His eyes danced around the room before they landed on the massive bookshelves behind him.
Mindy flinched when she caught his smile falter for a split-second.
Bewildered, Mindy sat up in order to follow his gaze…and her chest swelled with pride when she noticed what he was so worked up about.
It was a subtle change, but noticeable regardless.
The books that were once covered in cobwebs and layers upon layers of dust were now in perfect condition. Not only that, but each and every one of them participated in creating a gradient of indigo shades across each shelf, contrasting the drab shades of gray that were there before.
She then glanced up at the singular golden lightbulb sticking out from the ceiling…
"This… complicates things a bit." The Projectionist admitted, "However, this is nothing but a temporary setback…I will simply have to 'up my game' in terms of my methods in getting you to crack."
"I for one can't wait to see what you come up with." Mindy's eyes shone with unrelenting determination, "Because whatever it is, I'll be ready…I don't care how many challenges you throw at me, or how many times you try to break my spirit…I am going to defeat you. And everything you say or do is only going to delay the inevitable from happening."
He leaned forward as his teeth glinted threateningly, "We'll see about that."
She refused to break eye-contact as the familiar vortex of light appeared over her head.
The Projectionist waved with an impish grin, "Until we meet again, dear thing."
Mindy glared silently in response as she disappeared into the void…
When she came to, she removed her head from the confides of her arms to look up at Basil of Baker Street.
He sat across from her at a table on the rose-covered balcony outside of the queen's ballroom. The clinking of glasses combined with the endless chatter from within steadily brought her senses back to the real world.
The detective stared at her expectantly, "Well?"
Mindy cast her eyes downwards in order to throw him off…then she smirked, "I won."
"Ha! Ha! I knew you would you clever girl!" Basil exclaimed, "I never doubted your ability for a second!"
"Whoo, up top!" She held her palm out to him, much to his befuddlement… "Oh, um-this is called a high-five. In my world, whenever two people celebrate accomplishing something, they slap their hands together."
Basil nodded in understanding before the two high-fived…however they had missed each other's hands completely. They tried again, only for it to have the same result. Laughing, they did it one more time and succeeded.
"You Otherworlders have the strangest customs." He commented.
"It's…kind of after your time to be honest." Mindy chuckled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Thanks for teaching me that relying on my instincts wasn't always a bad thing…I wouldn't've been able to unlock another Symbol of Youth without you. Oh, and for also showing me what a Fool's Checkmate was."
"It is I who should be thanking you my dear." Basil insisted, "Even though you knew the risk that came with it, you remained by my side throughout that rather terrifying experience…you are quite fearless."
"I wouldn't call it fearless per se it was more like…" She searched for the right words, "Adrenaline going haywire at the right time and place."
"Well, whatever it was…promise me you won't let anyone (especially that scoundrel of a Projectionist) take that quality away from you." He replied with a wink.
Mindy couldn't help but smile, "I have a track record of not keeping promises, but I'm feeling lucky since I managed to keep a promise for Dakota Davenport of all people so…why not?"
Basil laughed, "I suppose I can't argue with that line of logic."
The sound of the glass doors opening caused them to whirl around to face Jiminy Cricket.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but do you mind if I steal Mindy for a second?" He bit his lip as he glanced between the two, "It's sorta important."
"Not at all." The detective stood up and gestured to his chair, "I'll give you some privacy, and I will see the two of you at the end of the party then."
As Basil headed back into the ballroom, the conscience slid into the seat, and threw a pristine white book onto the table. "I found this in the detective's study the night you and Peter snuck out of the flat. I should've told you about it before, but it sort of slipped my mind at the time. I figured you deserve to know the truth about this place."
Mindy read the title aloud, "The History of the Dremesphere?"
"Years ago, you wrote a detailed memoire about this world you created." Jiminy explained as he flipped through the pages, "When The Projectionist came, he branded us and created the loops so we would relive our stories for all eternity, but when he realized it wasn't enough, he tried to erase all memories of your existence. Thanks to Master Yen Sid's protection spell, he was unable to lay a finger on us in-in the physical world at least…that was when the shifters came into the picture and started punishing characters in The Room if they refused to cooperate. Since The Projectionist couldn't take our memories of you, he did the next best thing. He burnt your memoires. These books are difficult to find nowadays, and I'm shocked that Basil managed to keep a copy. Ah ha! Here it is!"
The cricket cleared his throat before reading the page out loud:
May 16
As I'm sure all of you know, when I was six-years-old, I banished a bunch of Disney characters from the Wartime Era, The Dark Ages, the Transitional Era, and the Post-Renaissance Era to an island separated from the rest of the Dremesphere.
Now, me being the dumb kid that I was forgot to put in a map of what The Isle of Oblivion looks like, so I will go ahead and quickly sketch one for you guys down below.
"Now, here's where it gets interesting." Jiminy flipped the book so that she could see the crudely-drawn map underneath the journal entry, "All of the films you added to the Isle are specifically labeled from Make Mine Music, to Oliver in Company, to the underrated Treasure Planet…but The Great Mouse Detective is nowhere to be seen."
"Maybe I forgot to list it?" Mindy suggested.
"That's what I thought too until I saw this." Jiminy pointed to a barely noticeable splotch in the bottom right corner of the page, "At first, I thought that you had accidently spilled some ink or paint while you were drawing the map…but take a closer look."
She straightened her glasses, rose from her seat, and peered in…after a few moments of searching, she spotted three nearly microscopic letters beside the dot:
GMD.
"Take three guesses as to what those stand for." The conscience's lips formed into a beaming smile, "Mindy, do you realize what this means? Not only are we not on the Isle of Oblivion, but you spared one of movies that was supposed to be trapped there! In other words, you aren't as much of a heartless bastard as you thought you were! (pardon my language)."
"But this doesn't make any sense." She rubbed her chin in thought, "I don't remember watching this movie as a kid, so why would I inexplicably choose to spare it?"
"Well it must have been worth saving for you to have unlocked a Symbol of Youth from it." Jiminy pointed out, "I think you should ask Basil about this…if anyone would know anything, it would be him."
"I met the guy two days ago, cricket." Mindy slumped back into her chair, "If I don't remember the reason why I spared them from my wrath, then I doubt he would."
He tilted his head towards the ballroom, "It doesn't hurt to try."
She considered this… then she grabbed the book and headed inside to look for him.
She received a collection of ill-tempered stares as she awkwardly swam through the crowd of aristocratic mice.
They must take me for a call girl. Mindy thought as she briefly looked down at her lacey black-and-red dress, ripped fishnets, and tiny heels. She tried to pull her breezy skirt further over her already over-exposed legs, but all that did was lower her neckline slightly. Well there goes that option…
No matter how many times she tried to politely get them to part, they would ignore her entirely. Mindy gathered that it had to do with the fact that she was a different species dressed in an unorthodox manner. Either that or it was associated with her trapping them onto the Isle of Oblivion despite the fact they had yet to discover that she had spared them all from such a terrible existence.
Mindy eventually used brute force to get out of the crowd and into the open ballroom. She didn't pay attention to the cries of outrage swarming around her as she scurried through the sea of dancing mice.
Finally, she found Basil, Scarlett, and Dakota standing in a semi-circle around two glittering stain-glass windows.
She approached them right as the detective took hold of Scarlett's hand and whisked her off to the dance floor. Mindy's brows crinkled as the girl passed her with an uncertain, nearly timid look in her eyes.
"Whaaaat is happening?" She asked through her teeth.
"Dunno." Dakota appeared to be just as puzzled as she was, "I've never seen Bloom and Gloom's cheeks look so…well, scarlet."
Mindy wheezed at his joke, "Typical."
"Come on, give me some credit." He punched her lightly, "Even you couldn't have seen that one coming."
"You're right."
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"No, seriously we're in a crowded space so you're gonna have to."
"You're ridiculous."
"Not as ridiculous as Basil trying to flirt with our girl."
"Wait, what?" Mindy whipped her head towards him, "When did that happen?"
"It was too weird for me to intervene." Dakota explained, "Although, I did give him the 'I'm watching you sign' when he commented on how ruthless she was when she didn't hesitate to take care of those thugs back at the Throne Room."
"Um, hello?" She started to haphazardly sing to the tune of "Beauty and the Beast", "This is blasphemy…and a felony…Bestiality."
He laughed in response, "Did you just come up with that?"
"Does it matter?" Mindy demanded, "We're talking about a mouse and a human! Two things that are obviously not supposed to go together in terms of what goes into a healthy, well-balanced, relationship! And how are you of all people so okay with all of this?!"
"Would you relax?" Dakota waved it off, "I'm not worried because I already know that it'll never work out! Besides, I'm taking it as a one-sided sort of deal where Scar is flattered by his attraction to her, but isn't really interested in the long-haul."
"Does that look like someone who isn't really interested in the long-haul?!" She pointed to the girl in question who was looking as flustered as someone who had a crush on the most popular person in school.
Scarlett and Basil seemed to be discussing something, but Mindy only caught snippets of their conversation. However, she did hear them laugh in unison at something one of them had said, and they continued to dance whilst trying to hide the lingering snickers.
"You might have a point on that one." He admitted, "But maybe that just stems from the fact that this is her favorite Disney movie, and she's still reeling from being in the atmosphere and presence of the one and only Basil of Baker Street himself?"
That was when the lightbulb illuminated over her head, and the connection became all too clear… "Dakota, you're a genius!"
"Oh honey I already knew that!"
"No I'm being serious!" Mindy exclaimed, "Jiminy came to me earlier, and showed me this map of the Isle of Oblivion I had drawn when I was a kid (Oh, it's the island where all of the movies I deemed unworthy of joining the Dremesphere were banished to and where Captain Jack Sparrow lived, he has a petty grudge against me because I banished his crew there that's why he teamed up with Captain Codfish for my capture). Anyhow, all of the package films, vault rejects, and post-renaissance films were labeled in their correct places all except for The Great Mouse Detective! I chose to spare it from being marooned on the island, and I didn't know why until you brought up that Scarlett's absolute favorite Disney movie was this one! I think that's also why she ended up here as opposed to Neverland like you and I did. Now, I remember all of the times she ranted on about how she was already a huge fan of Vincent Price films to begin with, and that Ratigan was her favorite role he had ever played! Ha! It's all coming together now!"
Dakota blushed, "Well, ya know…I tend to have my random bursts of magic-based knowledge from time-to-time."
"I did it because I thought that if I ever decided to bring you guys to The Dremesphere with me, Scarlett wouldn't be disappointed to find out that her favorite Disney characters were trapped on a cursed island forced to relive their story over and over again…" Her eyes widened as the realization of what she had done enveloped her, and she buried her face in her hands with a groan, "Jiminy was right. I'm not a total heartless bastard, but I'm still a bastard regardless! I have to talk to Basil, and tell him what I've learned!"
As if on cue, the dance came to a close and the mice applauded.
"I'll see ya later, okay?" Before he could respond, Mindy pecked him on the cheek before chasing after the pair, "Thank you, you're the best!"
Dakota watched her go in befuddlement.
He then touched the spot where she had kissed him, as unusual warmth spread to the rest of his freckled face… "Sweet cheese and crackers."