Chapter 21: A Hero's Strength

We all flew towards the portal. Whatever was causing it to shoot lightning out of it, we had to make sure it wouldn't hurt anyone. But by the time we got there, seeing the scared looks on Mickey, Donald, and Goofy -who successfully got the police to back off during our fight with the villains- as they saw us approach them and the portal, it wasn't a good sign. Especially since the once round portal now looked like it was folding itself like a round piece of paper.

"I thought we closed it when we came here!" Goofy told us in a scared voice.

"This has never happened before." I stated as I made my wings disappear. "They're supposed to close. What's wrong with it?"

"Oh, this is terrible!" Donald worried, as if he knew what was wrong.

"Why?" I asked him.

"The portal's been open for too long, it's become unstable!" Donald explained to me. "It'll close in on itself and destroy everything within a five mile-radius."

"Can't we evacuate the city or find shelter?" Pearl asked.

"It wouldn't matter." Alex shook his head. "It's too late of a warning."

"What about the protection spell?" Goofy asked.

"It's not effective against the portal." Fauna worried.

She was right. If anything, the portal's lightning bolts were weakening the protection spell, and making it disappear with every blast it struck. Which meant that the city would be vulnerable to the portal closing, and a devastating explosion.

"You guys have to get back to Disney, now!" I told them as I saw the portal grow more unstable.

"She's right, we have to get back to our world," Merlin told us. "But someone must stay behind to hold the portal open long enough."

"You mean, someone won't make it if they stay?" I summed up the fate of the one who would choose to stay behind.

Merlin gave me a reluctant nod. "It's a sacrifice we're willing to make."

"But so long as you have this, dear child," Flora told me as she gave me back the spell. "You'll be able to send them back when things have calmed down."

"I'll do it." Hercules volunteered himself. "I'm the strongest one, I might be able to hold it open long enough."

"Herc, you can't!" I tried to stop him.

"I have to." Herc told me. "As a hero, it's my job to keep everyone safe."

Hercules then turned to try to hold open the portal, but just as he was about to touch it, the portal reacted violently and started to cause a tremor -much like the one that happened when I first read the spell a few days ago- and it sent him stumbling backwards and everyone else falling to the ground. Had Pegasus hadn't caught him in time, Hercules could've hit his head on the pavement. Thank God for loyal winged horses.

I helped Hercules and the others to their feet -except for Ariel, who was tended to by Genie- as we watched the portal continue to reshape itself in horror.

"It's too powerful!" Merryweather exclaimed.

"What do we do?" Ariel asked worriedly as Genie helped her onto Carpet.

There was only one thing to do. Someone had to stay to hold open that portal long enough for all the characters to get back to Disney, and it wasn't going to be one of them.

So, without saying a single word and looking at the crumbling and sparking portal with the most determination a person can give, I started making my way towards the portal. Everyone tried to tell me to stop, but I didn't listen. I wasn't losing any of my friends to the destruction of the portal, so if anyone was going to hold open that portal long enough so everyone could get back to Disney, I knew I had to do it. I grabbed the top of the portal, my feet held the bottom of it in place, and held it open as I turned around and faced everyone, so I could see their faces in my world one last time.

"Frankie!" Aladdin called out.

"Go, just go!" I grunted as I kept holding the portal up as much as I could.

"Quickly, everyone into the portal!" Mickey told the others as he instructed them to go into the portal.

The other characters listened to their king, and all went into the portal, each of them doing their best not to bump into me and make me lose my concentration of holding up the portal. Mickey went in after everyone else did to make sure they all got back to Disney safely, that is, until I spotted two characters who didn't leave quite yet.

"Frankie, you gotta let go!" Pain yelled in fear.

"We can't just leave you like this!" Panic tried to push me out if the way to save me.

"Go!" I stopped him and Pain as I kept holding open the portal. "I'll see you both when this is all over!"

"You promise?" Pain asked me.

"Of course, I do." I told them. "I love you guys."

Both imps gave me the most saddened surprised looks I had ever seen anyone give me. I could tell that they never had anyone say that to them before, but after all we've been through together, I think they accepted it, because what they said next nearly made me jump in after them.

"We love you too." they told me right before they jumped into the portal.

The imps were the last two characters that went back into Disney, now all that was left to do was to try to let go of the portal before it became more unstable.

"Frankie?"

That voice made my heart drop. I looked up and saw my parents and baby brother looking at the scene in confusion and shock, but that's not what got me. I thought Alex and Pearl told me that my parents were staying an extra night upstate when I called them from Toaster's world, why was my family back so soon? And at the worst possible time to?

"Dad?" I asked with widened eyes.

Before he could ask me what the heck I was doing, the ground started to shake, and the portal started to get heavier and spark out more multicolored lightning bolts. It was becoming more unstable by the second, and I had to let go of it soon before it blows up and hurts everyone.

Pearl noticed what was going on and was the first to react. "Run!"

She and Alex ran towards my parents and brother to try to get them somewhere safe. I tried to follow after them, but I just couldn't move. The pressure of the portal kept pulling me down. And just when I had the strength to push it back up to try to break free from it, another bolt of lightning shot out from it. Striking me in the back. I let out a pained scream and my legs gave out immediately. And so, I let go of the closing portal, fell right back into Disney, and then, dear readers, everything went black.

Pearl's POV

"NO!" I screamed as I saw Frankie fall through the portal.

I ran to where the portal had disappeared, Alex was still standing in shock, and Frankie's parents and baby brother stood there in confusion about what they had just seen. I feel to my knees right where the portal was and tried seeing if I could reopen it again. I had to know if Frankie was okay, or at least alive.

"Franke!" I kept asking as I slammed my fists into the ground. "Frankie, can you hear me?!"

"That did not just happen!" Alex kept saying. "I can't believe that happened!"

"What happened?" Mr. Cole asked us. "Where is she? Where is our daughter?"

Alex and I didn't know how to answer him. I don't know how much he and Mrs. Cole saw before Frankie fell in, but I don't think they'd believe us if we told them that Frankie held a magical portal to another world open so a bunch of Disney characters could go back to their world and so she could save a five-mile radii worth of New York from being blown up. But worst of all, we had no way of knowing if Frankie was still alive after she fell in.

I was about to give up until I saw something next to my hand that I thought I had dreamt up. A small piece of paper with a bunch of dorky poetry written on it: The spell Frankie had that opened the Gay Vortex -or portal, was still in this world. It must've flown out of her hand after she fell back into Disney! This was a sign that Frankie had to be alright, at least I hoped it was.

"Alex!" I called out. "I found the spell!"

"Read it!" Alex yelled at me frantically. "We have to know if she's okay!"

I fumbled a little to open the spell, but when I finally opened it up, I began to frantically read off those dorky rhymes on that paper that Frankie had read just a few days ago"

"A kingdom of magic calls to you,

Where hopes and dreams all come true.

To the land of dragons to the realm of mermaids,

A friend shall come to your aid.

To whisk you away to a land of wonder,

Come, traveler, and seek these to wander."

After I read it, another more stable portal opened up. If this gets us to Disney, it gets us to Frankie. And there was no use sitting around waiting until that thing got unstable again, our friend needed us.

"C'mon!" I called out as I grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him into the portal with me.

"Kids, wait!" Mr. Cole called out as he grabbed baby Leo and followed us through the portal.

"Ed, get back here!" Mrs. Cole yelled as she followed Mr. Cole through the portal.

Later

It didn't take long for us all to arrive in Disney, just a quick trip into a swirling gay cortex, and we all found ourselves in a hallway of some really fancy looking house. A castle maybe? In any case, we were in Disney. Although Alex and I had a more rougher landing that the Coles did. He and I feel to the ground hard before we picked ourselves up.

"Where are we?" Mr. Cole asked as he made sure baby Leo wasn't hurt when we arrived.

"Alex! Pearl!" Mickey's voice called out to us.

Alex and I turned and saw Mickey and Merlin rushing towards us. The two of us gasped and rushed to them to meet them halfway, worried about Frankie's condition.

"Merlin! Mickey, we have to do something!" I cried out to them about Frankie. "We have to save her!"

Merlin and Mickey each exchanged regretful looks. This meant bad news to anyone who's ever seen any hospital show or has ever had a loved one in an actual hospital. Frankie's condition was worse than what I had thought it would be in. Correction: Worse than anyone of us would imagine.

"I am so sorry, but I'm afraid there is nothing we can do." Merlin told us. "Her injuries were too much. She has made the ultimate sacrifice."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked them.

"Frankie's comatose." Mickey said sadly. "And we don't know if she'll wake up or not."

I felt my heart shatter as I buried my face into Alex chest. He held me tight as I cried into him. Frankie couldn't be in a coma; she just couldn't be! Not after we had just gotten her back from her getting sucked into Disney to begin with!

"Please, let me see her." Mr. Cole's voice broke when he begged to Mickey. "Let me see my daughter."

Mickey gave him a reluctant nod. "Yes, sir."

He then led us all towards a set of doors, but when he opened them, we all something that shook us all to our cores: Frankie in what looked like a hospital gown, laying in a bed, unconscious. Her body was covered in dark bruises, especially on one side of her head. Indicating that the lightning strike to the back wasn't enough to take her out, and that when she fell back into Disney, she hit her head hard. It couldn't end like this for her. We couldn't lose our best friend!

"Oh, Frankie!" I started bawling as I once again turned to Alex for comfort.

"She got us home, but at what cost?" Mickey said as he wiped away a sad tear. "Her life meant so much more for everyone she helped in my kingdom, even me."

"You're okay, Frankie. Daddy's here." Mr. Cole said as he knelt down by Frankie's head and held her hand. "Daddy's got you."

"She's faking it."

The room fell silent as all heads turned to the annoyed Mrs. Cole, who wasn't shedding a single tear at the sight of her only daughter in a coma. Even poor little Leo, who didn't even understand why his big sister wasn't moving or talking was crying for Frankie. Did Mrs. Cole really hated Frankie more than she loved that douchebag Ty, or was she just born a heartless bitch?

"What did you just say?" I heard myself ask her in a growl.

"Ed, honestly, this isn't a first for her: Always doing something spontaneous to get attention and facing the consequences of what she does." Mrs. Cole brushed off Frankie's condition. "Unlike some of our children, she's just faking."

"Our daughter may never wake up, and you think she did it for attention?" Mr. Cole repeated what she was saying as he handed me baby Leo.

"What else is new? I mean, she's just a little troublemaker." Mrs. Cole began her usual children comparison. "Now, if Tyler-"

"Ty is a fake, Carol!"

Alex held me and baby Leo close as we witnessed Mr. Cole finally snap at his wife. I have to admit, I never thought I'd ever see a man as kind as Frankie's dad ever raise his voice at his wife, but considering that she didn't even care about Frankie, she definitely deserved it.

"That perfect son of yours did nothing but torment and blame Frankie for everything he didn't want to get caught doing!" Mr. Cole yelled. "I didn't say anything, because you're too stubborn to listen to anything anyone has to say if it's not about Tyler!"

I shielded baby Leo's eyes away from his parents fighting each other. Even if Frankie never woke up from what happened, I couldn't let her baby brother see just how heartless his momma was towards his big sister.

"Frankie could die from keeping that thing open! We might lose our daughter!" Mr. Cole said angrily as he gestured towards Frankie's body. "She sacrificed herself to save two worlds, and if you don't care about her for doing that in the slightest, I will take her and Leo far away from you, and you will never see us again! Is that clear?!"

"How dare you speak to me that way!" Mrs. Cole yelled at him and prepared her hand to smack him in the face.

"L-leave…"

Frankie's parents stopped fighting. when that groggy sounding voice spoke up. Everyone's attention went towards the bed Frankie was lying in, and everyone was in a mix of shock and relief the moment Frankie sat herself up and glared ice at only one person in the room.

"Leave Dad alone!" Frankie yelled at her mom.

Frankie's POV

You guys thought I was dead? The accusations of my condition were greatly exaggerated. I was out, but I could still hear everyone.

So, that's how my mom really thinks of me? Here, I thought all she ever wanted me to be was to be just like my stupid brother, but no. She never cared about me at all, and what she said showed. I get knocked out for a solid 20 minutes -I think, everyone thinks I'm either comatose or dead, and all she thinks is that I got electrocuted just for kicks and attention and she thought she had the audacity to treat my father so shamefully for defending me? I thought all those villains my friends and I fought were evil, but she: My own mother truly is a real monster.

Dad gave a smile of relief as he rushed over to hug me, followed by Alex, Pearl, and Leo. I was happy to be surrounded by the people I loved, but I wish I could say the same thing to my mother. As soon as everyone stopped hugging me, I stared angrily at my mom, who had a horrified look on her face after getting caught about what she said and almost did to my dad.

Mom tried her best to find an explanation. "Frankie, I-"

"Save it, Mom." I shut her up with an icy glare. "Everything I ever did was never to get attention. I was living my life the way I wanted to, but you didn't care. You don't care about me at all!"

The room fell silent as I saw my mom shudder with the truth I had thrown at her. I had spent so long keeping these feelings about her inside, but I'm opening that bottle and letting it spill out so she can know the pain she caused me my entire life.

"So, save your half-hearted attempts at wanting forgiveness for sixteen years of doing nothing but hating me and comparing me to my brother, because you are way past that!" I finally spat.

Mickey gave a nervous gulp as he approached my mom to break the tension. "Maybe you should leave the room, Mrs. Cole."

He and Merlin then led her out of the room, thankfully before I could shout words at Mom no good woman should ever yell, leaving me alone with Dad, Alex, Pearl, and Leo. I finally did it, I finally actually called out my mom for treating me like nothing but garbage my entire life. Sure, we had arguments before, but she never gave me the time to speak for myself.

"I fought several villains, got electrocuted, got knocked out for a while, and even survived a fall," I listed as I fell back onto the pillow. "But standing up to her was probably the scariest thing I've ever done."

"I'm proud of you, honey, and I'm so glad you're alright." Dad smiled as he kissed my forehead. "You really became a hero, just like you've always wanted."

"I've always been a hero, Daddy." I corrected him with a weakened smile. "It just took me a while to realize it."

"Frankie! You're alive!"

I sat myself back up and saw Pain and Panic standing outside the open doors, each of them with relieved smiles on their faces and tears forming in their eyes. They both flew from the door and right at me for a tight hug. I don't blame them, though. I caused quite the scare. And I would've pushed them off my extremely sore body, but I was so happy to see my imps again.

"Barely." I said in exhaustion as I recalled my injuries. "So, that's what it feels like to be electrocuted, huh?"

"How do you feel?" Panic asked me as he and Pain broke off the hug.

"I hurt," I gave a pained chuckle. "But it's kind of a dry hurt."

"It'll be like that for a while." Pain assured me. "Believe me, I know."

"I know you know." I smiled at him as I ruffled his hair, recalling the time he got electrocuted by a bunch of eels during our adventure in Atlantica.

"What about your back?" Alex asked me.

Pearl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, girl, you got hit pretty bad there."

"And your legs?" Dad then asked. "How do they feel after that bolt hit you?"

So many questions, but to wrap up their answers: My lower back felt so sore that it was hurting just sitting up talking to everyone, but I could get over my back pain. It was something else about me that was worrying me too much.

"I…" I gave a worried look. "I don't think I can feel my legs."