Author's notes: First of all, a humongous thanks to CloudRox for the lyrics. I really couldn't recall them for the life of me. Also, many many thanks to all you guys who have reviewed and are sticking with the story. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the next chapter. Read and review ^_^.

Chapter 6.

"God damn Homer, always screwing things up. Good for nothing excuse of a father. Don't know what I was thinking."

Bart was muttering under his breath as he continued on his way down the darkened tunnel. He, just like his father, didn't realize that he had been separated from his companions. He also didn't notice when the whole scenery shimmered around him and changed.

Now, instead of walking down the tunnel, he was walking down the hallway of the school. When he came up to his class, he opened the door and walked in.

Upon his entrance, the whole class erupted into applause. There were cheers and whistles that accompanied him as he walked inside.

"Hey Bart. You're the best."

A kid shouted from across the classroom.

"Bart. You're my hero."

Said Sherri, or was it Terri?

"Good gracious Bart. Where have you been?" said Mrs. Krabapple. "I wouldn't have been able to teach the class if my star pupil wasn't here." She said practically in tears.

Bart was soaking up all this attention. He smiled at one kid, winked at another. He then blew a kiss in the direction of the twins. As he walked by Mrs. Krabapple, he gave her a firm smack on the behind.

"The Bartman is here toots. You can go on with the lesson."

He went and sat down on his seat, with his feet propped up on the desk and his seat slouched back.

"O.K class, we'll be discussing animals today." Mrs. Krabapple said, opening up a book. "Now, this animal is a domestic one. It has pointed ears and whiskers, and belongs to the same family as lions. Does anyone know which animal I'm talking about?"

She looked around the classroom. Lots of kids were scratching their heads with clueless expressions. Martin had his blonde hair in tightly clenched fists.

"Oh ma. I know the answer. At least I thought I did. What is it? What is it?"

Mrs. Krabapple looked around the room.

"Doesn't anyone know the answer? So, like always, we would have to ask Bart Simpson."

Bart made a surprised sound and pointed at himself. Mrs. Krabapple nodded her head.

"Go ahead Bart. Dazzle us with your infinite wisdom." She said with stars in her eyes.

"Hmm let's see." Bart scratched his chin. "The animal you are talking about sounds a bit like, oh I don't know, a cat."

"Excellent Bart."

The teacher said, while the whole class erupted into applause. Martin cried out loudly and broke down into helpless sobs.

"Once again, I have been beaten by the best."

Just then, the school bell rang. While everyone was making their way out, Nelson came up to Bart.

"Hey Bart." He said in a small voice. "Would you mind walking with me down the hall to the lunch-room? Jimbo is after me, with his cronies. If he sees me hanging out with you, he'll leave me alone."

Bart was speechless.

"You..you mean you are asking ME to protect you? From Jimbo?" Bart's voice went a little higher at the end.

"Well, yeah dude. The whole school knows how much Jimbo and his gang are afraid of you."

Bart's eyes went wide.

"Ohhh ho ho ho ho. This is too rich man." Bart laughed out loud.

They both started making their way down the hall towards the cafeteria when a group of screaming girls went past them.

"Hey, what the hell is going on?"

Bart asked as more screaming girls ran past. He then spotted Lisa, whose face had gone red.

"Hey Lis. What's going on?"

Lisa giggled helplessly.

"Oh Bart. We have a new substitute teacher today. He is so dreamy and cool. He even told us to call him by his first name. And he picked on me the most times to answer the questions." Lisa giggled some more. She then looked at him.

"I wish I could borrow your confidence for a while, Bart. The whole time he was teaching us, all I could do was stare at him."

Lisa said in a high voice.

"Hey, calm down Lis." Bart placed a hand on her shoulders. "Come on, let's go see this new guy."

With Lisa and Nelson in tow, Bart made his way over to the 2nd grade classroom. When they arrived, it was very hard for them to make it to the door. A swarm of girls, from all over the school were gathered right in front of the door. They were pushing and shoving at each other to get a closer look. Lunch Lady Doris and Edna Krabapple were among the crowd.

"Hey, one side ladies. Mover over. Watch out coming through." Bart maneuvered his way through the mob and made it to the front door. He then peeked inside.

A man was sitting on the teacher's desk, sifting through papers and marking them down. He was about 5' 9" tall, with long, extremely blonde hair. He had sharp features and a beautiful face. Bart scowled at him through the window.

"I don't see what the big freakin' deal is. He's just like a normal looking guy."

He commented and turned around. He meeped when he observed the scene behind him. All the girls had quieted down, and had huge scowls on their faces. Their eyes were set on Bart and he could've sworn that he saw fire burning in them.

"What did you say?"

One girl in front asked, very slowly. Bart meeped again.

The girls were just about to start pummeling on him when the door opened and the teacher in question stepped out. All of a sudden, the scowls disappeared from the girl's faces, replaced with shiny, bright smiles.

"Hello Everyone."

The man spoke in a suave English accent. A few girls screamed and some heaved huge sighs. Bart looked at the man and noticed that he had mismatched eyes. Something stirred at the back of his memory.

"Hey man, do I know you?" Bart asked the guy.

"I believe we have had a previous encounter, Bart." Said the man. "We met at the 'cleaners'."

He put an emphasis on the word 'cleaners' while looking straight into his eyes. Bart looked at him for a few seconds and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever man. I gotta run."

Bart dismissed the man and made his way out of the school. He went down the road towards his home. He was just about to cross the street when a car zoomed by fast. The car was blaring with the song which sounded like "O Mandy". When the car passed by Bart, he could've sworn he heard the driver mumble "Yuck, I hate this song."

Bart had quickly gotten out of the way and avoided the impact. When he crossed the street and reached the other side of the road, a baby stroller ran into him, nearly knocking him over. Bart steadied himself and looked down. The baby with one eyebrow, who was also Maggie's rival, was staring up at him. Bart smiled down at him and patted his head. He made soft baby noises at him. The baby brushed his hand away and grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him down close to his face.

"Listen up jerk-face. You better get Maggie back because if she's going to get ugly by anyone, it's gonna be me. Capice?"

The little angelic baby spoke in a heavy demonic voice.

"Ah he he he he heh. Good baby."

Bart laughed nervously as he slowly backed away. When he was at a safe distance, he broke out in a run.

"Damn kids of today. What kind of Satanic formula is his mother feeding him. Sheesh."

Ignoring the baby's words, Bart continued to make his way down the road.

"Heeeeyyyy Baaaaart!!"

At the sound of excited yelling, Bart turned around. Next thing he knew, he was knocked flat on his back and his entire vision had gone blue. His best friend Milhouse had him in a near death-grip and was hugging him around the middle.

"Hey Milhouse, calm down."

Bart tried to soothe his excited friend, but he only held on tighter.

"Oh Bart, you are my most bestest friend in the whole wide world. I adore you. I worship you. Oh Bart, you are the best." Milhouse was rubbing his face in his chest.

"O.K Milhouse, you're starting to creep me out man." Bart tried once again to free himself, and this time Milhouse let go.

Bart stood up, followed closely by his friend. Milhouse stood up slowly as if in a trance.

"Better snap out of it Bart, you have only a few hours left."

He said in a monotonous voice, looking out into the space. His body then lifted slightly off the ground and started turning round and round. He kept repeating those weird words over and over again, as he spun (1).

Once again, Bart backed up slowly and ran away.

"What the hell's the matter with everyone today?"

He finally made it over to his house. He opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes widened when he noticed what was inside. All the walls in the house were covered with his pictures. There were baby pictures of him, his pictures throughout school years, pictures of him taken at parties and different events. There was a rather large picture in the middle where Bart was seated on a throne, with a crown and a thick red fur cape around his shoulders. Marge, Lisa and Maggie were knelt down by his side. A Homer throw rug was placed in the front of the throne, with Bart's foot on Homer's head.

"He he he heh. Life is good."

Bart exclaimed. He made his way up the stairs towards his room. When he reached the door, it seemed larger for some reason. He turned the knob and stepped inside. His jaw dropped open at the sight that greeted him. His room had gone double its original size. He had a huge king-sized bed right in the middle of the room. There was a brand new scooter awaiting him by the window. Right across from his bed, was a giant big screen t.v. and DVD system. He could see Playstation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube already plugged into it. The whole room was cluttered with Krusty brand merchandise. With a loud yell of joy, Bart took a flying leap and jumped onto his bed. He jumped up and down for a good half hour. He only stopped when he felt like throwing up.

"Baaartttt!!"

Marge's voice called out to him from downstairs.

"Could you please come down here? There is something I need to discuss with you."

Bart spun around his room once before making his way downstairs. When he reached the bottom stair, he was smothered in a warm hug and was showered with enthusiastic kisses.

"Oh Bart. My special little guy. Mommy is always so proud of you."

Marge said in between kisses.

"Hey Mom. Take a breath."

Even though Bart soaked up that attention, he still pushed his mother off of him.

"Why did you call me down here Mom?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Bart, could you please step into the living room? There's someone here to see you."

Marge said, and Bart followed her in the living room. As soon as Bart stepped in he groaned out loud.

"Damn it. Why did it have to be Skinner?"

He turned towards his mother.

"Mom, whatever it is Skinner says I did it, I didn't do it." He said in a pleading tone. "Please don't believe a word he says."

"Bart Simpson doing something bad? Well Sir, that is just not possible."

Skinner spoke up from his seat.

"No Bart. Principal Skinner is here to give you some good news." Marge said as she sat down.

"Really? Good news from Skinner? Well now I've heard everything."

Bart said in a disbelieving tone. Skinner laughed out loud.

"Oh ho ho ho. You're smart and a funny young man. Well anyway Bart, the reason I'm here is to tell you that since you're the best student at Springfield elementary, you have been chosen to go on an all-expense paid trip to Disneyland."

Bart took a deep breath and then yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Marge sat there with a happy expression on her face.

"Oh Bart, I am so proud of you."

Bart was doing a crazy little celebratory dance.

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, who's the man? I'm the man!"

Skinner smiled and shook his head.

"But you know, that's not even the best part."

Bart stopped in his dancing to listen.

"Guess who you'll be going with?"

Bart's eyes went wide.

"Ay carumba. Don't tell me I can bring my best friend along. I'm sure Milhouse would want to go. And maybe I could ask Nelson."

"Oh no no no no Bart." Skinner laughed again. "That has already been decided. You'll be going with me, of course."

Bart's jaw dropped down to his knees. Skinner stood up and snatched his suit right off his body. What was revealed underneath made Bart's eyes bug out of their sockets.

Skinner was wearing a T-Shirt that supported the logo 'Bart's #1 Fan'. He was also wearing bright, Hawaiin printed shorts that came down to his knees. He was wearing knee-high white socks and black sandals. A fisher's hat was perched on top of his head and he was holding a large Polaroid camera in one hand and a suit case in the other.

"We'll leave whenever you're ready Bart." Skinner said looking down at him, through huge plastic sunglasses.

"We'll have a blast, you'll see. Riding on the rides together. Eating together. Watching the parade together. And practically spending every second of the trip in each other's company. Oh it'll be a blast."

Bart moved back in fear and gave an ear-splitting scream.

"Oh No. God. Somebody get me out of here."

At his words, the whole scene shifted and blinked out of view. It was replaced by the dark walls of the tunnel once again. Still screaming at the top of his lungs, he made for the opening in the tunnel. He came out into the clearing and stepped right up to Hoggle and Homer, who had a large, pointy rock up in front of his face.

*~*~*

"So," Hoggle began once they had all settled down. "You two figured out it was all fake. Them things you saw didn't exist for real."

Homer, who was still clawing at his eyes, stopped mid-motion.

"I knew it was all a lie. I was just so happy I didn't want to let go." Homer said sheepishly.

"And I knew immediately when I saw that Jareth dude pretending to be a substitute. But I stayed for the hell of it. You know, might as well enjoy the ride for as long as I can." Bart said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well then, let's be on our way." Hoggle said starting to stand up.

He had decided that he was not going to go through with showing these two the contents of the box, thereby delaying them further. He really wanted them to rescue the child that was stolen from them.

"Hey relax Hoggle." Homer said stretching his arms upwards. "We have all the time in the world. Why not take a small nap." Homer said lying down on his back in a luxuriating manner.

Before he could lay down completely his head connected loudly with the wooden box.

"D'oh."

Homer exclaimed as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey what the hell is this?"

Homer asked, grabbing on to the item that had just given him a bruise.

"Oh this. Tis nothing. Just forget about it. Let's go."

Hoggle tried to keep the box out of Homer's clutches, but was too slow.

"Hey Hoggle. Why were you hiding this back there?" Bart asked and turned towards Homer. "Go on Dad, open it up."

Homer nodded his head and opened the box.

"Oh. My. God."

Homer and Bart both exclaimed simultaneously. Inside were things that they both wanted most in the whole world. Bart took out the thing that held his interest.

"A super-duper, all syrup, Kwik-E-Mart slurpie." He said in an amazed tone. "Apu makes these only on special order."

He stared at it in disbelief as Homer took out the other thing. He was starting to salivate profusely at the corners of his mouth.

"A Krusty brand rib-wich. I thought these were for a limited time only."

He held up the rib-wich in sunlight as if wanting a more clear look at it. Hoggle was shaking his head. Well, since they fell for it, might as well go all the way.

"Yeah. I was saving these for you two. Reckon you might be hungry."

Bart, who had shown a little more brains in this ordeal then Homer, looked at the large cup in his hand suspiciously.

"Hey, I don't know man. The last time I had one of these things, I ended up as a boy scout in Flanders' team."

He said putting the cup down.

"And by the way, where did you get these things? I didn't see a Kwik-E- Mart or a Krusty Burger around here." He said eyeing Hoggle.

"Well..ummmm..you see..." Hoggle stammered.

"You got these from that Goblin dude, didn't you?"

Bart said and immediately looked at Homer alarmingly.

"Don't eat it Dad. It might be poisonous."

"Huh!"

Homer said stupidly while sucking on his fingers. The rib-wich was long gone and now Homer was basking in the after-taste.

"Hmmm, all the tender meaty juices.uuurrgghhhh."

Bart and Hoggle were looking at him closely to see what would happen next. All of a sudden Homer's face twisted and his eyes bugged out.

"Oh no," he said in a distorted voice. "intenstines....rejecting the rib- wich ..arteries ..getting clogged...with cholesterol...breathing..becoming hard...heart beat.normal."

Homer said the last word in a calm happy way, and the next instant he collapsed straight on his face.

"Oh no, Dad." Bart rushed to his side. "Wake up Dad. Come on wake up."

Bart shook the prone figure vigorously. When Homer gave no response, he sat down next to him.

"Well, he's out like a light." He said to Hoggle, who was shaking his head.

"Knowing that Jareth, whatever he gave Homer must be pretty strong. He could be out for a long time."

Hoggle had barely finished the sentence when Homer sat straight up.

"O.K what did I miss?" (2)

Hoggle looked at him disbelievingly.

"H...how's this possible?" He asked in an amazed tone.

"Well Hoggle, this is how it is." Homer started to explain in a smart tone. "You see, I've been subjected to and sometimes volunteered to many drug testing experiments. I have had things injected in me that would put an elephant flat on his back. Plus working in nuclear power plant has been lots of help too. My body has become immune to lots of things. Drugs, hallucinogens, magical potions, you name it and I'm immune to it."

Hoggle shook his head and stood up.

"Well then folks, what are we waiting for? Let's get going."

All three of them stood to make their path down the road. They started walking again with new gusto. They had walked a little way when they came upon a fork in the road. The left side of the road led to a dark, dreary forest and the right side led to a beautiful, huge garden, with lots of lush green trees where many colorful birds were fluttering about. Golden sunlight poured over the exquisite garden whereas the forest was immersed in inky black darkness.

Homer stepped up.

"Hmm." He looked to the left.

"Hmm." He looked to the right.

Bart and Hoggle sat down on the road.

"Might as well rest our legs. This could take a while."

Bart muttered under his breath while Homer continued to look from left to right and back again.

*~*~*

TBC.

1. Have you noticed that Milhouse has the tendency to have strange things happening to him? Remember the episode when Homer was late in picking up Bart from football practice, and Bart sends him a telepathic message. Which gets picked up by Milhouse and he is seen writing "Pick Up Bart" on his wall, backwards. ^_^ Well, I couldn't help myself, and had to torture him here.

2. Remember the move "Emperor's new groove"? When Yzma thinks she had poisoned Kuzco and he was dead. He then wakes up and says "O.K what did I miss?" I just loved that scene so much, I had to put it up ^_^

O.K another chapter done. Thanks so much to the people who are reading and reviewing this. Oh, and coming up next is more creature torture!! Muahahahahaaaaa *evil laughter*. See you next time ^_^