Chapter 13

"So, there really was a microship in the Refections of Earth." Finn tried to process all of what Nikki explained to him about their mission last night.

"Yep. I never thought of it to be possible, but there it was." Nikki shrugged as she kept on explaining.

"And you didn't…jump into the computers, did you?" Finn give her a serious look.

"Oh, no. I didn't." Nikki shook her hand truthfully. "I already promised I wouldn't. And besides, Wayne explained that since the Overtakers may have control of the computers, none of us are safe by jumping into the computers. Or else they'll try to trap us there and we would never wake up again."

Finn signed with relief. "Good. Because I wouldn't want any of you guys to get hurt or caught. As a leader, I have to look out for you."

"I understand that." Nikki's tone softened. "And I want to protect you all the same way. Because we're a team. Actually we're like a family. We all have to look out for each other. Especially all that we've gone through."

"Thanks, Nikki." Finn smiled. "So, you and David were doing this mission together. Did he say anything to you last night?" He asked her curiously. He shouldn't he interfering into their business, but the curiosity got the best of him.

"Umm…not that I'm aware of expect what Wanda's been telling him. Why? Was there anything he was supposed to tell me?" She asked him with confusion.

"Oh! Um…." Finn stuttered. Nice going, Whitman. He shouldn't of asked that. Especially when she didn't know.

"Finn Whitman." Nikki narrowed her eyes. "What did David say? Did he complained about me?"

"No no! It's not that." He nervously said. "He likes you. Really likes you."

"Actually, he has a crush on you." Amanda said from behind Finn. Which caught him by surprise that she had been standing there this whole time.

Nikki give them both a shock expression. "Wait, David likes me that much?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, he really likes you, Nikki. I'm shocked you don't notice." Finn nervously rubbed his arm.

"He's crazy about you. He's told me so much about you that he won't shut up about you." Amanda laughed before sitting down with them. "David is a lucky friend. To have a crush to someone as amazing as you are."

Nikki was silent for a long moment. "David….has a crush on me? Well, that could explain why he's been acting weird. But…" Then, a smile drew upon her face.

"I saw that." Amanda smirked.

"Saw what?" Nikki blushed, trying to pretend she doesn't know what she's talking about.

"You like him, don't you?" Finn teased her with a smile.

"I think you both are crazy and I have no idea what you're talking about." She said as she picked up her tray and began to walk away.

"Awww…two love birds." Amanda smiled as she watched Nikki walk away. "It reminds me of how we met back then."

"It certainly does." Finn warmly smiled to Amanda, taking hold of her hand underneath the table.

…..

Nikki had just put away her books from the last class of the day. Getting ready to leave and meet the other Keepers at Aunt Jelly's pottery shop. Just as she closed the locker and turned around, her eyes met with Greg Luowski who glared down upon her.

"Ah, Luowski." Nikki grinned to try to hide her fear, trying to act cheerful. "Good to see you on this fine day."

"I know you have it, Tyler." Luowski said emotionless, his false green eyes stared at her without blinking. It was like he was being under control.

"What? My lunch money?" She raised an eyebrow.

She jumped slightly when Luowski hit his fist close to her to hit the lockers.

"Don't play with me. You have the microchip and I will take it from you!" He threatened to her as he crept closer to her where they were face to face. He was making it harder for her to escape. Worse of all, his breath was foul with rotten eggs and meat. It made her stomach drop.

"I don't have a microchip. If you want one, go to the science room." Nikki said, wanting so much to turn her head away to get away from his horrible breath.

"Not that kind of Microchip! The one you took from Epcot. And she wants it!" Her blood ran cold as he mentioned 'she'. As in Maleficent.

"Hand it over! Or I'll have to break your arm!" He grabbed her arm tightly, squeezing it.

"Don't you dare Luowski!" Both heads were turned to Finn's voice as he was charging towards him. He didn't want to fight him, but he was willing to do anything to get Luowski off of Nikki before he did any harm to her. "If you dare hurt her, you're going to have to deal with the teachers. Or with me." He glared.

"Or me!" Amanda was standing next to Finn, having her hands up to show that she was willing to use her powers to take him down.

Luowski smirked by his words, slowly letting go of Nikki's arm. "You Keepers will give us the chip, and you have till tonight to do so. Or there will be consequences." He stepped back and turned away. Disappearing down the hallway. This wasn't even Luowski's words, Finn thought. He was certainly being controlled by Maleficent.

Amanda was the first to rush over to Nikki to check up on her. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" She asked with concerned. Wanting so much to use her powers on that bully, but knew she would get in trouble for doing it in the school.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She panted. "It's not the first time Luowski has done this. But, I am worried of what he said."

"So am I." Finn went over to the two girls, looking concerned as well. "What did he want from you?"

"The one thing that David and I took." Nikki answered. "But, how could we know about that? Unless…"

"The OTKs must of followed you both last night and found out that you took the chip." Amanda figured.

"It's not safe to talk here. We need to find the other Keepers and warn them." Finn cautiously glanced around before he led Nikki and Amanda outside of the school. Charlene was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Seeing the looks on their faces, she frowned.

"What happened?" Charlene asked with a worried look.

"Luowski." Finn simply said. "Call Maybeck and tell him that we need to meet elsewhere. The OTKs know about Jelly's place and they'll start looking there."

"We'll go to my house." Nikki offered. "I doubt the Overtakers know about that place. We should be safe there to talk." She said as she pulled out her phone. She was hesitated, but begins to dial. This was certainly going to make her mother very suspicious. But she had no choice.

…..

Luckily for Nikki, her mother wasn't home from work yet. And her grandmother was the easiest person to trust with her Kingdom Keepers secret. In fact, she offered all of the kids glasses of water. It wasn't Mrs Whitman's cookies, but it was still refreshment. By a knock at the door, she went over to let in the last Keeper, Philby inside. In his hands, he had his laptop that Finn asked him to bring.

"Is everyone all here?" Finn called out, counting if all of the Keepers were there.

"Everyone's here and accounted for." Jess called back.

"Good, then let's get started." He rubbed his hands before sitting down on the sofa while the other Keepers gathered around him. "Nikki, do you have the microchip?"

"Actually, I have it." David stated as he pulled out the ziplock bag with the microchip with the note from Wayne. Finn picked it up from him and began to read the note. His concerns went for Wayne since he had been hiding again from the Overtakers. Then he carefully picked up the microchip.

"Philby, can this fit onto the laptop?" He turned to Philby and handed the chip to him.

"It's worth a try." Philby took the microchip and gently placed it into the small chip insert, hearing the click sound as it fit. He waited a minute before a small video box showed up on the screen. The video went black to a face of Wayne appearing on the screen.

"It's Wayne!" Willa cried out as they all got closer to look at the man on the computer.

"Hello Keeper. If you're watching this now, then you have succeeded with your first part of the mission," Wayne's voice was spoken directly towards them. Finn was relieved to see him that he was alright. Nikki couldn't help but to smile as she saw him. "Listen, your mission might be your most dangerous yet. The Overtakers have grown in power since the last time. With Maleficent and the other villains on the loose, they'll do more harm than before. So far they've try to injure a few workers in the parks to put their plans into action. They're greatest weapon with this is the computers. With it, not only they can gather hidden secret documents, but they can jump into it in hologram forms. Not only they can get around the parks that way, they can even escape and enter into our world. Into your homes. Nowhere will be safe away from them. You must find a way to stop the systems they're using and shut down their plans. You'll have to go into the MGM building where your DHIs were first made and get into the main system. Good luck Keepers. And be careful." He said with his face full of concern before the screen went black again.

Everyone in the room was silent for a long moment.

"That can't be good." Maybeck frowned. "We know that the Overtakers can get out of the parks personally, but by computers they can spy and even jump into our homes in fast pace."

"It's a quicker way to get rid of us." Nikki said worriedly.

"And possibly build more of their army by turning everyone into OTKs." David narrowed his eyes upon this. He too was worried.

"So, what's the plan then, Whitman?" Maybeck asked as they turned to Finn.

"Wayne said that we have to get into the MGM building and get into the main system. And that's what we're going to do." Finn put on his serious, leadership look. Looking into the mission that they were given. "We'll have to split into teams. One team will go into the MGM Studios. And the second team will have to keep the Overtakers distracted so they don't catch us."

"We're going to need a third team. To patrol the area since there might be more Overtakers out there." David suggested.

Finn nodded as he agreed with him. "Philby, you along with Nikki and Jess will be in the control room and monitoring the park. Amanda, you with David and Charlene will be keeping the Overtakers distracted while me, Maybeck, and Willa will sneak into MGM. Is there any questions?"

"Where do we meet up afterwards?" Charlene asked the first question.

"Where the fob would be. Hiding in the lake where Ariel is holding it for us." Finn answered.

"And, what if something goes wrong?" Willa give a worried look as she asked.

"Maybe we can provide a signal to alert the others that there's danger." Philby let out his idea.

"I can always release a bright lightning bolt so it can be seen. That can be the signal." David suggested.

"That's actually a good idea, David." Amanda smiled at the idea.

"And if anything does go wrong, we'll all return to the fob and be went back home." Nikki added.

"Great! Then we have a plan." Finn grinned, feeling proud to be a part of this great team. "We'll all meet at Hollywood Studios tonight at midnight."

"It's a deal!" Maybeck stood up proudly.

"Thanks for letting us come over here, Nikki." Willa said to her with a smile as she glanced around her house, noticing a picture of a man in uniform. Curious, she walked over and studied the picture. "Hey, Nikki? Is this your father?"

"Oh, yes. That's him." Nikki smiled before walking over to where Willa was standing. "He was in the Air Force."

"So, where is he? When's he coming home?" Charlene asked.

Nikki frowned and went silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, but he passed away over a year ago."

Everyone looked over at Nikki after she said that. David frowned, already knowing since Nikki already told her a few months ago.

"I'm so sorry, Nikki." Willa give her a sad glance.

"That must be tough on you and your family." Maybeck walked over, gently placing a hand over her shoulder.

Nikki give a nod to them before she glanced over at the picture of her father. "It's alright. It's been hard without him, but I know he's in my heart. I keep moving onwards, fighting to protect Disney for him. He would have been so proud. And, he would have loved all of you." A smile drew upon her face before turning to the others. "He knew of Wayne years ago since I was a child. I don't know how, but they were friends back then."

"Wait, he knew Wayne?" Philby stared in shock.

"Yeah. It was how Wayne found me. And that's when I made a decision to become a Keeper."

"And we're glad that you are part of the team. You and David. And we owe you both so much for rescuing us back then." Finn smiled to her before he placed a hand onto her shoulder. Also smiling to David, which he smiled back.

Just then, the front door opened as Nikki mom stepped into the house. A shock expression spread across her face when there were teenagers in the house. "Nikki, am I missing something?" She asked as she closed the door.

""It's alright, mom. These are my friends from school. We're having a studying party before the exams." Nikki covered up before walking over to her mother.

"That's right, dear. And don't worry, I've been supervising." Nikki's grandmother backed her up as she stepped out from the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Mrs Tyler. We're just about to leave." Philby added on before he folded up his laptop and stood up. "Willa, I'll walk you home."

"Oh, of course." Willa walked over to the door with Philby before turning around to Nikki. "We'll see you later, Nikki. Thank you again." She said before both of them stepped outside.

"I should get going too. Aunt Jelly would want me back at the shop." Maybeck also headed for the door. Giving a smile to Nikki before heading off. Charlene soon followed after him.

"Come on, Amanda. We should get back as well." Jess led Amanda towards the door. Before leaving, Amanda give Nikki a hug. "See you later, Nikki." She smiled to her before leaving with Jess.

Finn turned to Nikki before giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Remember what we discussed." He whispered to her. Nikki give a nod before Finn turned to her mother. "Thanks for allowing us to study here, Mrs Tyler. Your daughter is a really good friend. I just wanted to say that." He ensured to her before he headed out to find Amanda and Jess.

"Well, I guess I should go too." David said before turning to Nikki.

"Yeah, probably for the best. But I'll see you later." Nikki ensured him with a small smile.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but…" He paused.

"You can tell me later. Maybe now's not a good time." She said, already knowing what he was going to tell her.

David gently placed a kiss onto her cheek before he walked over to Mrs Tyler. "I've never got to thank you for all that your family has done for me."

"It's alright, David." Mrs Tyler smiled, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You should be going though. Wanda will be waiting for you." She said before gesturing him towards the front door. Nikki watched as he give her one last glance before stepping out of the house.

"So, those were your Keeper friends?" Her mother said after putting her purse onto the couch.

Nikki gave her a surprised look that her mother figured out who were friends were. "Yes, they're part of the Disney after school program that I told you about."

"I know that. That's odd that you all gathered to do a study session. But, at least you're hanging out with friends instead of being alone like you've been doing lately." She turned to Nikki with a concerned look.

"I know that look." Nikki read her mother's face. "There's more to it."

"I just think that you doing this after school thing is interfering with other stuff." Her mother stated.

"How is it interfering anything?" Nikki questioned her, folding her arms. "My grades in school is still good. And I'm not in any trouble."

"Yes, I know. But last time you were hanging out with those other kids, you were in a coma. And you were almost killed by fictional characters."

Nikki couldn't believe what her mother was saying. "You mean the symdrome. And that's because I was on a mission to save my friends. We're part of a group that's trying to protect the magic. And not just that, we're protecting the world from these villains."

"But I can't lose you, Nikki. I already lost your father. I can't allow that to happen to you." Her mother turned serious as she give her daughter a sad glance. "It's why I think you should stay away from them."

"I can't do that, mom. They're my friends." Nikki spoke up. "They're not the reason. No one will be safe if these Overtakers out there. I'm sorry, mother. But I will not stay away from them. You don't walk away from friends." She turned away and went into her bedroom.

Grandma Tyler stepped out, turning to the other woman. "Pamela, there's no need for that."

Mrs Tyler signed, turning to grandma. "You don't understand. There's something that I haven't told her, and I don't want her to end up in the same fate of the Keepers."

"But, you and Bill were like the Keepers. Back when you were kids in California in Disneyland." Grandma frowned.

"Yes, but that was before the accident." She frowned. "After William died, things changed."

Grandma Tyler was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "What happened to him wasn't either of your faults Pamela. And also, you have to think of Bill would of said. The death of William changed him, but he would never give up on his missions to protect his friends and the magic of Disney. I have no doubt that He would encourage Nikki to do the same." She said before she turned back into the kitchen. Leaving Pamela to ponder and think about her own thoughts. 'Could she be right?"