Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion chapter of this story!
A Ghost of a Plan
Brooklyn growled as he stared at the raven, it's eyes unblinking as everyone else looked around the area.
"Ow… What happened?" the hyena asked, getting up from the floor.
"Oh, how could I forget," the raven said. "Normally this would be the Ghost Host's job, but since I haven't seen him around, it'll be up to me to introduce our esteemed 1,000th happy haunt."
"'Happy Haunt'? What are you…?" the hyena asked, only to panic when she noticed that her body was glowing an eerie purple, her fur covered in strange markings. "What the- !? Why am I- !?" Her ears went down as she curled in on herself. "Did I really… die?"
"Looks like it," the raven said, landing on the hyena's back. "You're a bit more solid than most ghosts, though."
"That's because she's not a ghost," Lena said. She knelt down and placed a hand on the hyena's head. "She's been touched by shadow magic."
"What's that mean?" Spider-Man asked.
"It means that she's been to the Other Side and back," Scout explained. "Master Yen Sid taught me about other worlds, and those that come back from the Other Side- or the Shadow Realm- sometimes come back still being affected by the shadows."
"I was trapped in the Shadow Realm- heck I was basically created from it," Lena said. "I can tell when something comes from over there." The duck stood up and looked towards Brooklyn. "Alright, why don't we actually know each other, so while we're all trapped here, we might as well introduce each other."
Brooklyn crossed his arms. "The name's Brooklyn, Second of the Wyvern Clan. I was trapped in the Twilight Zone by an enemy of mine, Demona, but somehow I ended up here."
"Hi everyone. I'm Spider-Man," the wall-crawler said, giving a wave.
"Pretty sure I saw you in a movie in my world," Brooklyn muttered.
"I'm Scout, Yen Sid's apprentice and a user of Mix Magic," Scout said.
"Lena, 'niece' of Magica de Spell. I can use magic thanks to this amulet," Lena said.
Everyone turned to the Hyena, who let out a sigh. "Fine. The name's Shenzi, matriarch of the hyenas. At least I was until Scar and his cronies blew me up. But I guess we can't die in this world, so now I'm back with shadow magic apparently?"
"Huh, a matriarch and a gargoyle," Lena mused. "Looks like all we need is a key master and the prophecy will be complete."
"If we can get back to the others, that is," Scout said. "I don't see a portal back to the Resistance base."
"If it is a portal you seek, then allow me to be your guide," the raven said. He flew down a hallway, only to return a few moments later. "Well, are you going to follow me or not?"
Everyone looked at each other, then cautiously decided that following the raven was their best course of action at the moment. Brooklyn and Spider-Man took up the front, with Shenzi in the middle and Scout and Lena in the back. The Haunted Mansion seemed to be much bigger than any mansion had a right to be, with hallways that went on forever, suits of armor that would come to life and try to attack them, and the weird sounds that lingered where there should be none.
Luckily, thanks to Spider-Man's spider-sense, the group was able to avoid many of the scares that the Haunted Mansion provided, but as the group made their way into the dining hall, it was obvious that something was missing in the mansion.
"You know, for a mansion that supposed to be filled with 999 ghosts, there sure doesn't seem to be any ghosts," Lena said, taking a seat at the organ that sat at the end of the dining hall.
"It is most puzzling," the raven said. "I should consult Madame Leota about this."
As the bird flew off, the group spread out around the dining hall, mostly avoiding the main table that was covered in food that looked to be hundreds of years old.
"I hate being in this place," Brooklyn said. "Gargoyles should be on the outsides of buildings, not trapped in a house."
"At least you're in an environment that your familiar with," Shenzi said. "I'm used to living in places full of dead things, but the Elephant Graveyard isn't this empty."
Spider-Man looked around the room, observing the pictures on the walls. His eyes narrowed as a familiar tingle crept down his spine, turning his attention towards the chandelier. "Everyone, back up!" he shouted.
The ornate chandelier suddenly came crashing down on the dining table with a loud CRASH! Food went flying and crystal scattered about the room as everyone grouped up in surprise.
"What was that noise!?" the raven cried, flying in to see what had happened. He landed on top of Lena's head and surveyed the damage. "That shouldn't be possible. The magic of this place keeps it in a state of perpetual disrepair, but always to a point of nothing ever truly breaking."
"So something is stealing the magic from this place?" Scout asked.
"If someone is taking the magic, then they're obviously going to use it for something else," Brooklyn says. "I would guess that it isn't for anything good either."
"If only there was a way to track where the magic was going," Spider-Man said. "Man, now I wish I had Dr. Strange's phone number. He could help with this."
As everyone debated over what to do, Shenzi started sniffing the air, her markings starting to glow purple once more as smoke started rising around her.
"Uh, Shenzi? What are you doing?" Lena asked. The duck touched the hyena on the back, and instantly the smoke spread out around the room, ghostly images appearing around the dining hall. Each seat of the table was filled in, revealing 13 figures in each seat.
"What is this?" Brooklyn questioned.
"A vision of the past," Lena said. "Shenzi's shadow magic must have connected to this place, allowing us to see what happened here before."
Everyone watched as the vision played out. There was no sound to hear, but one of the figures got up and removed his hood, revealing a corpse of a man wearing a top hat and a suit. He got up from his seat and walked over to the organ, playing a few notes on it before the vision faded out, the smoke pouring back into Shenzi as she fell over.
"What… just happened?" she asked, Lena holding the hyena up.
"You just tapped into your magic, probably for the first time considering how drained you look," Lena explained.
"And you might have just given us a clue as to what to do next," Scout said. She walked over to the organ and played the same notes that the man in the vision had. After playing a short toon (AN: the tune is the main theme of the Haunted Mansion if anyone wants to know), a part of the dining room wall slid open.
"Woah, secret passage!" Spider-Man exclaimed, jumping over to it to get a better look.
"That man in the vision, he looked… familiar," the raven said as everyone gathered near the secret passage. "I cannot say where, but he almost reminds me of the host of this mansion in a way."
Everyone went into the passage, revealing that it led to another hallway in the mansion. However, this hallway was lined with doors, stretching on for a very long time, with each door having a distinct marking on it.
"This marks must mean something," Brooklyn said. He opened up a door with a carving of a lion's head on it, and on the other side revealed a giant baobab tree with intricate carvings on it.
"That's where I came from!" Shenzi recognized.
"These doors must lead to other parts of the kingdoms," Scout speculated.
"Hey, this one has the Resistance logo on it!" Spider-Man shouted from down the hall. "We might be able get back to the base through it!"
"I wonder…" Lena said to herself. She walked down the hallway, passing a few doors before stopping in front of one that had a castle logo on it. Opening in the door, she was greeted by the sight of… the wall on the other side of the door. "Darn it! It's a false door," she exclaimed.
"It would be too easy to just bypass the barrier that way," Scout said.
"I'm not seeing a door that leads to the Twilight Zone either," Brooklyn said. "Perhaps Demona messed with the doors so that we couldn't escape from there so easily."
"This 'Demona', was she wearing a coat like those guys in my vision?" Shenzi asked. "Because the person that killed me, Zira, also had one of those coats on."
"You know what, she was," Brooklyn replied.
"Okay, so here's what we know," Spider-Man said. "There's a bunch of people in coats, and clearly they're using these doors to get around to places really fast. But if magic is being taken away from the mansion, then that must mean that they don't have a use for this place anymore."
"That would be a correct assumption," the raven stated.
"But then, why would they seal off the castle doorway first?" Lena asked. "If they want to get in as bad as my aunt does, then they would have just used that first."
"What if it was sealed off before they got here?" Scout suggested.
"Then what we need to do next is clear," Brooklyn said, stepping in front of everyone. "Those guys in coats seem like bad news, so we should stop them as soon as possible. We'll head back to the Resistance base, gather up those that are part of the prophecy of yours, and get to whatever they want in the castle before they can get their hands on it."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Shenzi said. "Besides, Scar is with those guys, so I'll be more than happy to sink my teeth into him for a second time."
The raven let out a squawk, landing on Lena's shoulder. "I shall go with you as well. The Haunted Mansion seems to be lacking its usual guests, and even those as powerful as Madame Leota have gone missing. If the magic continues to disappear, then staying here may result in me becoming a common raven once more."
"Alright then, you can come with us, Mr. Raven," Scout said, nodding to Spider-Man to open up the door to the Resistance base.
"You may call me Poe," the raven said. He looked to Lena. "I don't know why, but that name seems appropriate if I am to be adventuring with you."
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Haunted Mansion, foolish mortals!
In all seriousness, this chapter was one I was waiting for to write. Lena and Shenzi finally got to meet up, and Brooklyn joins the main team! Shenzi getting shadow magic powers was always in the plans for this story, so I'm excited to show more of what she can do in the future.
The Haunted Mansion is such a classic location, and it's celebrating 50 years of giving Happy Haunts this year! However, it looks like the magic is being drained from this place somehow. The Neo Organization might have something to do with that. I hope that the Haunted Mansion ghosts are okay!
For those wondering who the corpse guy in the top hat was, that's the Phantom, the main antagonist of the Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, which is their equivalent to the Haunted Mansion over there. You should look up the lore on the Phantom Manor, as it's actually really dark and has a different tone when compared to the Haunted Mansions here in the states.
If you get why I named the raven Poe, then congratulations on knowing a more obscure Disney character, at least to more modern fans. 90's kids might know who he is, at least if you can guess his last name. I also just realized that I'll have to come up with a distinction for him if Poe Dameron ever shows up in this story.
Next time: Belle and Basil find out who the Neo Organization members are and what their plan is!
Don't forget to leave a review on what you thought of this chapter!
Characters that premiered this chapter:
Madame Leota (The Haunted Mansion) mentioned only
The Phantom (Phantom Mansion) non-speaking role