Chapter 21: The Jolly Rancher
"Alright, so are we all in agreement that our princess has officially gone off her rocker?" Wendy mumbled whilst in the middle of a yawn, "Because she must be quite mad to request we meet her here. For goodness sakes the sun isn't even up yet."
"It is kinda weird." Peter was actively struggling to keep himself afloat as his eyes started to droop, but he snapped them open at the last minute, "But I'm sure she has her reasons."
Tinkerbell (who was sprawled on the red-headed trickster's hat) gave a vague nod in response. Her usually glowing cheeks were now saggy and a bit grey with fatigue. Her gossamer wings opened and closed intermittently as she stared down at the swaying Lost Boys who had resorted to pushing each other just to remain standing.
Just then, Dakota twirled into the meadow whilst balancing two piping hot trays in his hands. "I made wafflessssss!"
Slightly tilted his head…well slightly, "Waf…wa *yawn*…what?"
Dakota almost dropped the plates in shock, "You guys have never heard of waffles?! What kind of sick, twisted, horrible place doesn't have waffles?!"
"London." Wendy answered wearily, "How on Earth can you be so chipper after the rather trying events of yesterday?"
"What can I say?" He managed a shrug as he started passing out the treats, "I'm a morning person by nature. God… I wish we had some maple syrup to go with these."
It was as if the universe answered his prayer as two waterfalls of a sticky golden substance dribbled from the sky and landed onto the waffles. Puzzled, Dakota scooped some of it onto his index finger and stuck it in his mouth.
He smacked his lips a couple times before declaring, "This is honey."
"Sorry about that, I've never actually tasted maple syrup before." Mindy admitted as she strolled in on the scene, "Anyway, I bet you're all wondering why I gathered you here so early in the morning."
Dakota threw his head back with a groan, "Okay, who ate the last chocolate chip cookie again? I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."
All eyes flicked towards Cubby.
"What?" He asked, "I don't even like chocolate that much!"
"You were the last one to leave the kitchen last night." Nibbs pointed out.
"Honestly, you woke us up at five in the morning for this? "Wendy moaned.
"Of course not." Mindy pinched the bridge of her nose, "That would be silly…but I have come to inform you that due to recent developments concerning my powers, I've managed to successfully construct a suitable vessel to get us back to The Dremesphere."
Peter immediately brightened up, "Really?"
"Yay!" Dakota handed both of his trays to Wendy so he could tackle the princess in a hug, "I knew you could do it I'm so freaking proud of you kiddo! So where is it?! Where is it?!"
Blushing profusely, Mindy politely removed herself from his grasp and cleared her throat, "Mr. Cricket, drumroll please!"
Jiminy emerged from behind her hair, and started banging a tiny marching drum attached to his chest with a blinding smile.
"Ladies, gentlemen, fairies, and crickets it is my privilege to present…" The drumming escalated into a mighty crescendo as Mindy removed the enormous tarp in the center of the meadow (that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere), "...our neeeeeeew ship!"
Simultaneously, everyone's jaws dropped at the sight.
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary pirate ship in every way.
There was a crow's nest, three masts with billowing sails, a proper deck, rigging, and stern, and a flag with a skull-and-crossbones symbol perched at the top. Mindy had even taken the liberty to make it the same color scheme as the original Jolly Rodger. The only problem stemmed from the fact that the materials those things were made out of were unnaturally shiny for some bizarre reason.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Dakota crept towards the ship.
He leaned his face close to the hull of the vessel, and took an experimental lick… "Is…is this what I think it is?"
Mindy couldn't hide her smirk if she tried, "I call it: The Jolly Rancher."
"You didn't just-" Dakota burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all.
Sure enough, the entire ship was made out of nothing but Jolly Ranchers.
Cherry-flavored ones made up the bulk and the masts while lemon-flavored ones replaced the golden trimmings at the rear. The flag, sails, rigging, and coils of rope had been constructed out of millions-upon-millions of candy wrappers sewn and twisted together, and the barrels, cannons, and the helm itself were made of grape-flavored ones. For absolutely no reason at all, specks of green-apple flavored ones were hidden amongst the other flavors, and ruined the otherwise perfect illusion that it was indeed a replica of the ship that they'd lost.
"You made it out of sweets?" Wendy managed to find her voice, "Wh-why did you decide to make it out of sweets?!"
"Two reasons." Mindy replied, "One, I really, really, really, really, REALLY liked the pun. And two, I am not a skilled architect by any means…okay, maybe I used to be. But since I need to work from scratch, it's been really difficult for me for me to conjure wood. I don't know offhand the different types of lumber, and every time I picture wood, I picture paintings of wood or cartoon wood so it either comes out as drips of paint or pieces of paper both of which are most certainly NOTdurable."
"Well I think it's incredible!" Peter proclaimed as he did a quick fly around to view her masterpiece in full detail, "Ha! It looks just like the old one…only made out of candy!"
"One thing I will say though is please don't lick the ship throughout this quest." She begged, "I can replace it if need be, but it'll be unsanitary if the place we're staying in is constantly slathered in saliva."
"You can't possibly expect us to travel in this?" Wendy questioned in disbelief.
Mindy whirled around to face her with a cocked brow, "And why not?"
"For starters, if we use this we will have no choice but to fly at night so that it doesn't melt from the heat of the sun." The Darling girl answered as she crossed her arms, "Secondly, even if we did depart during the evening, how will we get past Chernabog and his flames of doom?"
…
Mindy rubbed her chin.
As per usual, she hadn't thought about that.
Then, a spontaneous idea manifested itself into her whirring brain. She approached her creation and knocked twice on the side of the hull. Sooner than she anticipated, a translucent barrier of magic coated the vessel.
Mindy beamed, pleased with her handiwork. "There, now the temperature will permanently be set to seventy degrees so it won't melt regardless of sun or fire."
Dakota gave an impressed whistle, "You've certainly been busy since last night."
She straightened her new rose-gold lenses with a proud smirk.
"I thought it wouldn't hurt to shake things up a bit and not worry so much about creating an exact replica of Feather Hat's ship." Mindy then clasped her hands together, "Now, let's get packing!"
Meanwhile in The Dremesphere, there was the sound of someone tapping a microphone echoing throughout the realm...
"Testing… one... two… three… good morning, good afternoon and good evening my adoring subjects… this is your oh-so-friendly-neighborhood monarch speaking. For those of you who are unaware, we have an unexpected visitor in our midst… your precious princess has returned to you… but don't get too excited little ones, she will be captured soon enough… for at this very moment, I am lowering the barriers that used to separate all of the worlds. This gives you a thrilling opportunity to participate in the little game I have planned! The first one to catch her and bring her back to the Kingdom That Ceased to Be, will receive their heart's innermost desire... unfortunately, you may only receive one wish. But on a lighter note, the only limit is your imagination… unless the wish involves anyone stealing my throne of course muhahahahahaha! Now… here is my favorite part of the game! Explaining the rules! Oh groan all you want! It will only lead to containment in The Room… and we all know what happens then… Anyhow, rule #1; No character is allowed to leave their specific world unless they have had a recent encounter with the girl. Rule #2; No more than two groups of characters are allowed to join forces in order to find her. And most importantly, rule #3, no harm is to come to her under… Any. Given. CIRCUMSTANCES."
There was an unwavering silence following the intensity of the voice's tone… then it cleared its throat, and it returned to its neutral self.
"As of right now, my finest shifters are slipping throughout the land to broadcast it… the game will begin momentarily… oh and dear thing, if I were you… I would consider backing out while I still had the chance."
With that, the static was cut off… and then… silence.
"You sure you don't want to come with us?"
Mindy and Sorcerer Yen Sid strolled along the gardens surrounding the Tower as Dakota and The Lost Boys finished piling the trunks of preserves, medical supplies, and clothing into the Jolly Rancher. Peter was stationed at the helm ready to go, Wendy was leaning against the railing, and Tinkerbell was preparing herself to sprinkle their ride in pixie dust.
Jiminy, sensing that this was supposed to be a private moment between teacher and student, had hopped off of his client's shoulder, and waited patiently atop a nearby shrub depicting a hippo with ballet slippers.
"I'm sorry child, but I have other more urgent matters to attend to in light of your return." Yen Sid regretted to inform her. "But I'm certain that we will meet again further down the road."
"What do you mean by that?"
His silence served as his only response…
Mindy nodded and kicked a nearby stone with a teasing smile, "Alright wise and mysterious teacher, go ahead and keep your secrets." She then twirled a loose strand of her hair on her index finger, "But…it would really mean a lot to me if you came. I don't know if I can do this without you."
"Why do you say that?"
Deciding to get revenge, she remained silent.
She was rewarded with an amused chuckle from the sorcerer, "You shouldn't sell yourself too short my little apprentice. Look at what you've accomplished today…at this rate, you will unlock all of your powers in no time."
"Yeah but I don't even know where to start!" Mindy blurted out as she tossed her arms into the air. "It was pure luck that whooshed me away to Neverland to find Peter…how am I supposed to find the rest of the pieces in such a vast collection of Disney animated classics?"
Yen Sid clasped her shoulders and gently spun her around to face him, "The answer is around your neck."
She fingered the Amulet of Illusions with a pensive glimmer in her eyes, "The riddles…it's sending me clues but why? H-how?"
"Despite what you may think, it doesn't wish you misfortune." He swore, "Its sole purpose is to assist you in any way it can while also never losing its sense of humor…that is why it opened the portal that brought you here in the first place. It will guide you in the right direction if you hold it close to your heart."
"I feel like I should give it a name, just so it feels more human to me." Mindy looked up as if she were searching the sky for the answer, "Hmm…what about Renaldo? Ouch!"
The necklace provided a tiny electrical shock in disapproval, and she let the pendant drop back onto her chest with a startled yelp. Yen Sid covered a hand over his mouth to maintain his composure.
"I don't think it is pleased with that decision, I suggest you try something else."
"Uh…Craig? Oooh!"
Mindy careened backwards as another zap targeted her chest.
"William?"
Zap!
"Fredrick?"
Zap!
"Andy?"
Zap!
"Xavier?"
Zap!
She stood there breathless…before her features twisted into a scowl, "What the hell man?!" then she gasped as she came to a sudden realization, "Unless you're not a man? Uh, maybe I'm going about this all wrong. I can't choose a name for you because you can't tell me your gender…maybe I should just call you something that works both ways." Mindy then scrunched up her nose in deep contemplation, "How do you feel about Alistaire?"
Mindy braced herself for the shock that surprisingly never came.
"Huh." She released a sigh of relief, "I guess that settles it…Alistaire it is then."
"Why that name?"
"It means protector in Scottish." Mindy elucidated, "It also just so happens to be the name of one of my characters in an ongoing story I've been writing in one of my classes at school."
Her teacher's brow raised in intrigue, "Oh? What is it about?"
"It's uh, pretty complicated." She glanced away in embarrassment, "I wouldn't want to bore you with the details, and it isn't even finished yet."
"Alright little apprentice." Yen Sid tried (and failed) to maintain a look of impassiveness as he said, "Keep your secrets."
"I see what you did there." Mindy giggled, "And for the record, I'm not so little anymore gramps…maturely speaking of course, I am four-foot eleven but-but! I am in fact getting ready to head off to college soon…that is if we make it out of this whole mess in one piece."
"I have every confidence that you will."
Just then, Alistaire lifted itself off of Mindy's chest and attempted to yank her in the direction of the Jolly Rancher like an impatient dog who hadn't been properly leash trained yet. Mindy could've sworn that she even heard it bark as it continued tugging at her neck.
"Okay, okay we're leaving in a minute I promise!" She exclaimed before turning back to Yen Sid, "We'd better be off…thank you so much for your help, we really appreciate it."
"The pleasure was all mine dear." The sorcerer drew her into another warm fatherly embrace, "I'm certain that I speak for nearly everyone in The Dremesphere when I say that it is a miracle that you have returned."
When they detangled, Mindy wiped a tear from her eye before saluting, "Well…so long partner, duty calls! God that was such a redneck thing for me to say… hehe I'm so awkward."
She then whistled for her conscience and he leapt onto her right shoulder, "We about ready to go?"
"Yup, let's blow this popsicle stand."
Yen Sid unexpectedly called out to her when she was about halfway across the field.
Mindy paused and looked over her shoulder, "Yeah?"
"You aren't travelling in that."
Before she could ask what he meant, the sorcerer twirled his hands in circular motion before thrusting them out unexpectedly. She watched in pure astonishment as a shower of magic engulfed her entire form and her maroon gown transfigured into a plain white T-shirt with a loose-fitting pair of pastel lavender overalls over it. On her feet appeared some canvas sneakers with rainbow Mickey-Mouse symbols on them.
Mindy did a twirl in midair with an elated laugh as she waved back to her teacher, "Thank you!"
"Good luck!" Yen Sid gave a tiny smile as he waved back, "Have a safe flight everyone!"
Her happiness from the sudden costume change was enough for her to projectile herself all the way to the top the railing. She wobbled a bit, but was able to maintain her balance and plop down onto the cool candy-coated deck.
"Alright Tinkerbell!" Mindy bellowed up at the fairy, "Take us outta here!"
Tink dinged something in return before swooping down from the crow's nest, and showering the ship with her pixie dust. As soon as the substance touched its surface, The Jolly Rancher started to steadily rise into the clear cerulean sky. The gang leaned over the railing to shout goodbyes to the sorcerer. Mindy simply grinned and waved until Fantasia Gardens was nothing but a microscopic speck amongst the aimless sea of black surrounding them…
"Yen Sid." She then recalled a saying she'd heard from Kingdom Hearts, "May your heart be your guiding key."
It was around mid-afternoon and the animated sun dangled above the character's heads with unbridled resilience. But since the majority of them were born and raised in a tropical environment, they were more than a bit unfazed by the sweltering heat.
In Mindy and Dakota's case however, the heat in the cartoon world was far more prominent than in Florida.
When constructing the Galley, Mindy had decided to take a more whimsical approach as opposed to the striking resemblance between The Jolly Rancher and The Jolly Rodger. The interior gave off some major Willy Wonka vibes and smelled like the candy store on Main Street U.S.A. Its bubblegum pink walls had bits of enormous peppermints, butterscotches, and M&Ms covering them. The floor was made of cool minty tiles, and the tabletops were made up of squares upon squares of assorted chocolate.
Mindy chewed on the end of her wonky feathered multicolored pencil as she lounged in a chair made out of pretzel sticks. Her legs were propped up on the dining table and her Dr. Seuss-esque journal was opened to a page that simply read: Chapter 8 at the top.
"What about…Riddles?" Jiminy suggested a title from atop her head.
"It's good, but lately I've been trying to not make my titles so vague." Mindy said, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Although sometimes vague is effective in getting your point across…what do you think Dakota?"
"Go nuts." He responded as he pulled out a tray of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies from the life-sized easy bake oven, "You're the author so it's entirely up to you."
She nodded as Jiminy hopped off of her to go checked out the pastries and reluctantly jotted down: Riddles. Mindy tried to focus on writing her next chapter of the narrative, but ultimately found that she couldn't…
As her companions discussed sweets and such, her mind was elsewhere.
When her conscience eventually noticed that he couldn't hear the sound of her pencil scraping against the paper, he looked over and tilted his head. "What is it Min?"
"I was just reminiscing over the events that took place after Dakota and I got locked up in the brig." She replied as a frown formed on her countenance, "I keep thinking about how we wouldn't have been in that situation if it wasn't for my impulses getting the best of me. How ironic is that? I overthink everything on a day-to-day basis, but I don't stop to consider every possible outcome before I act…and now, because of how much time I wasted overthinking the construction of this ship, Scarlett might be in danger."
Dakota's brows shot up, "Scarlett's here too?"
"I don't know for sure." Mindy shut her book and rubbed her temples, "But I had a dream about her that I can't get out of my head. It felt so real…she was running away from something and she was crying afterwards. It sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. What if she's been kidnapped and it's all my fault?"
"Hey, it'll be okay." Dakota put down his baking sheet, and came over to kneel next to her, "Our girl's a tough cookie?"
She snorted when he offered her the aforementioned sweet, "That…that was so bad."
"At least it worked." He shrugged as she accepted the cookie, "Don't you worry about Scarlett. If she's in The Dremesphere, we'll find her. Besides, she's a big girl and she's more than capable of taking care of herself. She's a black belt in taekwondo for crying out loud!"
"You know what? You're right." Mindy cracked a smile, "I don't know, maybe the philosophy of this place is starting to rub off on me or something but yeah… we are going to find her."
"That's the spirit!" Jiminy piped up as he landed on Dakota's shoulder, "Besides, that's just how things tend to work in these kind of stories. I'm sure if you all entered the portal around the same time, she couldn't have strayed too far from Neverland."
"And whoever said that Disney logic wasn't reliable?"
The Projectionist.
Mindy shuddered at the thought, but speedily switched into a more upbeat cheery disposition to hide her discomfort, "No one! No one at all! Hahahahaha!"
Dakota opened his mouth to reply when there was a sudden shift in altitude. The pair snagged onto the table as both of their stomachs lurched. A couple of endless seconds passed before they felt the vessel crash gently into the waves…
"Did…did we just…land?" Jiminy questioned.
Mindy didn't get the chance to answer when the doors of the Galley burst open.
"Mindy! It is of utmost importance that you join us on deck at once!" Wendy exclaimed.
The Darling girl's tone made her uneasy, "Why? What's going on?"
"There's no time to explain!" She grabbed the princess's arm and dragged her out into the scorching sunlight, "You simply must come see!"
Jiminy and Dakota glanced at each other before following the pair outside.
Wendy led Mindy to the portside railing where The Lost Boys, Peter, and Tinkerbell were gathered. She then handed her a spyglass. Puzzled, she held it up to her eye and searched the vast stretch of ocean for something out of the ordinary. She was about to give up when she spotted something odd on the horizon line. Mindy squinted in confusion…then her eyes widened in panic when she caught sight of the black tattered sails of an all-too-familiar pirate ship.
"The Black Pearl..."
Mindy moved the outer lens closer and immediately stiffened.
A tall, lanky figure stood at the helm of his vessel with a proud smirk on his face. He was a carbon copy of the actor who portrayed him… only his ringlets of dark beaded hair were real, along with his glinting gold teeth and the many scars that lined his face and arms. His complexion was laughably tan, and his eyes were as smooth as whisky. He wore his iconic dusty brown boots, coat, and three-cornered hat along with delicately applied black eyeshadow and liner.
"Captain Jack Sparrow?"
"Yup, but that's not all." Peter said as he crossed his arms and nodded in the direction of the galleon, "Guess who else decided to join the party."
Mindy's keen eyes trailed along the ship, and let out a low groan of frustration. "You've got to be kidding me."
The infamous Captain James Bartholomew Hook stood at Jack's side with an undeniably wicked smile. When he caught her staring, he tipped his hat mockingly to her. She rolled her eyes before looking away and scanning the main deck… she gulped when she saw that they were severely outnumbered.
"Wha-why the hell is Captain Codfish even here?!" Mindy demanded as she put away the spyglass, "I thought he was chased off by Tick Tock!"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Jiminy shrugged, "Everyone in The Dremesphere knows that Captain Hook and Jack Sparrow get along like oil and water, so I have no clue why they would willingly choose to team up."
"The Projectionist wants me for some reason…I get why Hook would want to be the one to turn me in to him, but I have no clue what sort of grudge Jack of all characters has against me."
Her conscience hopped onto her shoulder. "So…what's the plan captain?"
Mindy glanced up and was taken aback when she noticed all eyes on her.
She bit her lip as she desperately searched for the right thing to say. Then, she took in a breath…"We improvise."
