**This is a partial re-write of Chapter 13. I finally figured out how to make Maleficent seem more in-character and I ended the chapter in a way that will make the next one easier to write. I have had the worst bout of writers block, so much so that I lost my love for these characters and wanted to give up on fanfiction all together. I definitely want to continue with this story and I have the next chapter of If Harold Hadn't Switched The Votes half done. As for Total Drama Disney World, well, if I can brainstorm an ending for the challenge then I will continue with it. If anyone wants to help me write Total Drama Disney World, you are more than welcome to do so. In fact, I would love a co-author for Total Drama Disney World. PM me if you are interested. For now, I hope you enjoy What Lies Beyond The Fifth Dimension - version 2!**
Authors Note: First and foremost, HAPPY 45th BIRTHDAY, WALT DISNEY WORLD! Well, guys, I'm back!...and I apologize for taking so long, this chapter was hard to write. I had one part written from when I first story years ago, but I kept having to tweak everything leading up to that part to make sense with how the story is going now. Right now, I have no game plan for the future of this story. I do have a few ideas that I can play with, but not right now. I will be updating Total Drama Disney World, and hopefully, If Harold Hadn't Switched The Votes before I continue with this story. Don't get too worried, through, I AM continuing this story! Anyhow, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
"Geoff, dude, you sure you want to do this?" a thin, physically fit, tan-skinned young man in a pink tank and blue shorts asked the party boy.
"So sure Brody, its for Duncan" Geoff answered solemnly. The cowboy hat-clad teen was constantly worried about his best bro.
The two of them were setting up an epic prank on their teachers. It was something that Duncan had concocted especially for the last day of school.
"You still won't give me any real details on what happened to him, bro" Brody mentioned, placing the last pieces in their specific locations.
"I told you, its hard for me to talk about" Geoff stated bluntly. He really wanted to tell his third (DJ is second) best bud everything but he couldn't involve Brody. Not only would Jazz be pissed, but he could also be putting Brody's life in danger.
After his core group, Brody was his next closest friend. He would be in the group were it not for the grudge that Noah still holds against him. Long story short, Brody's mistakes would regularly backfire onto Noah. It was never on purpose, at least it wasn't on purpose at first. It was a shock when Geoff took Noah's side instead of Brody's, but Geoff owed Trent big time. Brody was very mad at Geoff at first, and it didn't help that they were neighbors. However, after a little while, Brody began to understand why Geoff did what he did, and they made up.
"You know that I'm going to ask Deej when he gets here, bro" Brody added.
"He wasn't there" Geoff stated, almost matter-of-factly.
"You said that he was" Brody inquired.
"Uh, well, he picked us up and helped me get Big D to the hospital" Geoff lied not looking at the other man on purpose. "Isn't that right, Deej?" the rest of Geoff's friends had just arrived to school having carpooled with DJ, who was running late. Geoff lent his Camaro to his second oldest brother, Keith, because his pick-up truck is in the shop for some scheduled maintenance.
"What are you talking about dude?" the tall, muscular teen asked, unsure of the situation.
"You picked me and Big D up last night after the accident, right?" Geoff tried to get DJ and the others to understand that he was using a cover story.
"What?" DJ looked confused for a second before replying, "oh yeah, I-I did pick them up. It was a nasty injury and to make things worse, I accidentally used Mama's Ford Focus instead of my own. I have to pay her back all of the money she has to pay to replace the stained areas."
"Aww man that sucks" Brody reached up and put his hand on the larger teen's shoulder. Brody wasn't the brightest bulb and it did not take much to convince him of anything.
"So what is all this man" Trent asked, looking around.
"Big D's super prank that he came up with for today" Geoff replied, still unable to smile.
"I want no part of this. I'll be in the library until homeroom and then after classes are over, I'll meet you guys at DJ's car" Noah walked away. He enjoyed their company but growing up with so many older siblings gave him a deep hatred of pranks. Sometimes he met up with them at the wrong time and was sucked into one of their pranks. Most of the time, he could avoid them and today, luckily, was one of those days.
Meanwhile:
The girls were walking to their homeroom feeling like zombies. This had to be the worst morning of their lives and now, to make matters worse, the much-hated Queen Bee of the school is up to no good again. She might not compare to a Disney villain, but in their state, she was just as much of a pain in the ass, and just as much a danger. Luckily, she was only targeting Leshawna today, and Leshawna, even on her worst days could easily take care of that b*t*h.
"Girl, get out of my way! Today is one of those days when you DO NOT want to piss me off" Leshawna warned the skinny Asian teen in front of her. The girl was wearing denim shorts no shorter than what school policy allowed, a moron halter top, moron and black sandals as well as a part sweatshirt, part denim jacket hoodie. She kept her long hair down and tucked behind her ears so as to display her large 14 karat gold hoops.
"Ugh loser it's not my fault you take up most of the hallway. If I were you I would throw out the snacks that I'm sure you packed for lunch" the girl known as Heather shot back.
"Really girl? You want to go there again? Really? Okay then, let's do this" Leshawna challenged.
"Bring it" Heather replied, she was a girl who never backed down from anything.
"Senoritas, please, don't let your tempers get the best of you" a hispanic teen wearing a moron collared button down cotton shirt, jeans, black dress shoes, and a bull necklace walked over to the pair who were about to brawl in the hallway.
"Oh its you" Heather replied, pissed. Leshawna walked over to where her three best friends, who were just as exhausted and anxious was she was were standing. Once she approached them, the group them walked to their homeroom so that they would not be marked late.
"You are looking muy bonita today mi amore" the teen known as Alejandro complimented. He happened to be an exchange student who came to the school at the beginning of the spring semester. Not long after his arrival at the school, he developed a deep fondness for the Queen Bee. Although she found him to be handsome and charming, his antics turned her off.
"Yeah, well, whatever, um we should get to homeroom" Heather looked at the clock and saw that they only had two minutes before the late bell is scheduled to ring. He nodded his head and the pair fast walked to the room that they were supposed to be in.
Back to the guys:
The half-day ended and school was officially out for summer for the students of Sunshine State High School. The only students who didn't have a pep in their step were those that needed to attend summer school, and four young men who very having a very rough week.
"The prank went off better than expected, Duncan will be proud" DJ tried to make his best friend feel better, but nothing could really help.
"Yeah you're right Deej, I can't wait to tell him all about Principal McClain's reaction" Geoff gave his friend a small smile.
"Exactly man! Hey, why don't we make a stop at Celebration Hospital before we go to Hollywood Studios guys? We have more than enough time to do that and still get some lunch at Downtown Disney" Trent offered his idea.
"Sure, why not?" DJ agreed.
"Oh I don't know dude, I mean it will be hard for me to see him like that" Geoff looked at the ground, memories of the other night flashing in his head.
"Don't worry man, we'll be right there with you" Trent put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Hey look, there's Noah" the guitarist pointed out as they reached DJ's Ford Focus.
"Congratulations on your success, I'm surprised Principal McClain hasn't expelled you guys yet" Noah commented, he obviously had witnessed the prank in action.
"Thanks bro, yeah hopefully he won't be too harsh about it" Geoff got into the front seat.
"If he does kick us out we can go to the girls' school" Trent pointed out.
"That's an upside" Geoff added.
"Amen to that" DJ started the car and they took off for Celebration Hospital.
As they got closer to the Walt Disney World property, Trent took out his cellphone to call Jazz.
"Hey Jazz, its Trent, I'm with the guys right now and we wanted to know if we could see Duncan" To the musician's surprise, the cast member had picked up on the first ring.
"I'm not sure Trent, he's out of surgery but he is still in the ICU in a special area. I would need to be there with you because I have the proper clearance. Right now, I'm kind of busy readying the forces to get Courtney back. I'll ask Dan when my lunch break is and get back to you. Speaking of lunch, I might be a while so why don't you guys grab something while you wait" Jazz responded. She had a feeling this might happen today but it wasn't exactly the best time. She also once had a dear friend in the hospital, it was just for appendicitis but still, she had to be sure her bestie was okay as soon she possibly could.
"Guys, let's head to Downtown Disney for lunch first, we need Jazz's clearance to get in and she's kinda busy right now" Trent explained.
"Sounds good to me dude, I'm so hungry!" DJ replied. "So, Wolfgang Puck, Earl of Sandwich, Bongos Cuban, or Cookes of Dublin?"
"What about Lotus Blossom Cafe or Katsura Grill?" Noah asked.
"Those places are in Epcot man" Trent replied.
"Yes, I know that Captain Obvious" he retorted. "I'm in the mood for Asian cuisine, not fried candy bars or ham sandwiches" the bookworm responded, he was currently reading a book on self defense in the hopes he could be ready for whatever the day had in store for him.
"Sorry bro, I think its best that we go to Downtown Disney" Geoff replied.
"Not in the mood to argue so whatever" Noah shrugged.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at Downtown Disney and found a spot in one of the parking garages. Geoff and DJ went to Cookes of Dublin while Trent and Noah decided to go to Bongos Cuban. After they each got their meals, they went to a table area by the water to eat. The meal was silent with the exception of an occasional comment about random people around them who stuck out for the wrong reasons. The quartet finished lunch within thirty minutes, and as they were disposing their garbage, Trent's phone started to ring.
"Hi Trent, its Jazz, I'm afraid that I have some bad news; Duncan is still unconscious and the doctors have not cleared him for visitation yet. The ax did more damage than we originally thought, but he is going to be okay. Danny said that he could work his magic and get the doctors to let all eight of you, and hopefully Courtney as well, visit him tonight" she felt really badly, but at the moment there was nothing she could do and she had other priorities anyway.
"Yeah, I understand, thanks Jazz" Trent hung up the phone, he was visibly disappointed. "Sorry guys, Jazz says the doctors aren't letting anyone in yet, but maybe we can see him tonight."
"Oh, as long as we can visit tonight then its all good, dude" Geoff commented,very disappointed.
"Let's take advantage of this setback guys. We can go to Hollywood Studios now and gather as much information as we can before the girls get there" Noah tried to be positive, it was new for him, but he knew that his friends really needed it.
"Great idea, Noah" DJ agreed.
Trent and Geoff nodded, then the four of them headed back to the parking garage.
Two hours later:
"Ugh finally! That last class felt like it would never end!" Leshawna yawned as she and Katie walked over to their lockers. The bell just rang and school was over for the day. The plan was to meet up at Gwen's Mustang as soon as possible. They knew that the guys were waiting for them, so it was important that they arrive at Hollywood Studios as soon as possible.
"Yeah it was like, way too boring. I could barely keep my eyes open!" Katie replied as she fiddled with her lock. Although she was very smart, she had a hard time learning how these combination locks worked. Last year it took her until mid-April to master opening her locker.
"Girl, I hate having to lug all of these books home! Finals are THE worst!" Leshawna grumbled as she loaded her bag with everything that she would need to prepare for next week.
"Yeah, it is so the worst!" Katie agreed. "I'm going to see if Bridgette is still at her locker cause she has my physics notebook; meet me there" with that the pig-tailed brunette shut her locker.
"Wait, I'm done girl!" the larger girl shoved one last textbook into her backpack and quickly shut her locker. The two then made their way around the corner to the opposite hallway.
"She's not there!" Katie cried out as soon as Bridgette's locker came into view.
"I'm sure she's planning to give you the notebook in the car, so lets go" Leshawna turned her friend around toward the back exit of the school where the Student Lot is located.
"Yeah…I guess so" Katie sighed, she knew her friend was probably right.
Bridgette and Gwen were waiting next to said Goth's Mustang, which happened to be parked close to the back of the lot. A few minutes later, Katie and Leshawna arrived.
"Hey ladies, how shitty was your day?" Gwen asked, jokingly.
"I do NOT want to talk about it" Leshawna grumbled as she slid into the back seat.
As Katie went to join her in the back seat, Bridgette handed over the notebook.
"Thanks!" Katie smiled, relieved as her physics final was scheduled for Monday.
"No, thank you! I got a B on that quiz!" Bridgette beamed as she got into the front seat.
"Way to go Bridge!" Gwen congratulated as she started her car. She turned on her GPS, made her way out of school property, and set off for Disney World.
At Hollywood Studios:
"Dudes look, the Tower is closed" Geoff pointed out to the other three. They happened to be standing in front of the Wait Times board in Hollywood Studios.
"Yeah, sorry about that guys, Tower of Terror's closed all day for maintenance. It should be up and running tomorrow, though. Since you guys are looking for a thrill ride, give Rockin' Roller Coaster a shot, I highly recommend it" a cast member whose name tag read Grayson had walked over to them. He was a young guy and was probably stationed in this spot to answer guests questions and to change the wait times on the board when need be.
"Yeah thanks man, we'll definitely think about it" Trent said casually as he and the others walked away toward Sunset Boulevard."I say we check out what's really happening at the Tower for a few minutes and then head over to Pizza Planet cause the girls will be here soon.
"In case they're early, one of us should head over there now, no?" Noah inquired.
"Uh sure dude, but um, which one of us?" Geoff agreed.
"I'll go, I never liked Tower and I scare easily" DJ volunteered. He took off without even waiting for his friends' approval. After what happened in Pirates and Haunted Mansion, he was not taking any unnecessary risks. Besides, he was still hungry despite recently eating lunch.
Geoff, Trent, and Noah walked to the end of Sunset Boulevard where the Hollywood Tower of Terror stood. Even though it was silent today, it was still creepy and foreboding. In fact, the lack of guests in and around the Tower made it even eerier than it normally is, daytime or not. The three teens walked to where the locked gates of the closed queue entrances and listened. They could hear murmuring as well as the shuffling of feet, however, none of the cast members "performing maintenance" on the attraction came close enough for them to hear anything else. The little that they could see, however, told them more. At one point, they caught a glimpse of an armed guard who had almost came their way, and a few minutes after that, a cast member put a bag down. It was far away from them, and only the corner was visible. On the corner of the bag, they could just make out the words -SEC.
"Department of Magic Security?" Noah guessed.
"It seems like it man, and I don't doubt that there isn't a department like that" Trent agreed.
"Dudes, Deej sent me a text; the girls are here" Geoff stated, holding up his phone.
"All right! Let's go!" Trent was pumped to see Gwen again.
The girls were sitting in the back of Pizza Planet's second level with more than enough pizza and soda to feed all eight teens, courtesy of Bridgette. Well, Courtney, actually, as Bridgette had used one of her best friend's special employee discount passes to pay for the feast.
"I love you for remembering the meal passes for once and I am sure that your boy will too once he gets here" Leshawna wrapped her arm around the surfer who blushed at the thought of Geoff.
"Uh yeah, thanks Leshawna, you're welcome" Bridgette gently removed Leshawna's arm and went to grab one of the small pizzas. All of a sudden familiar voices carried up the stairs, preceding their owners. Bridgette looked at the rest of her friends who had smiles on their faces, eagerly waiting for the guys to come into view.
"They're in the back dudes, and I hope you're still hungry" DJ came up the stairs first and pointed toward the back of the eatery where the girls were sitting.
"Bridge!" Geoff came up next and his eyes lit up at the sight of the surfer. "Wahoo! Look at all that pizza!" his attention then went to the large amount of food in front of that beautiful girl.
"Noah, man, look the girls bought us food" Trent nudged Noah and he looked up from his book.
Gwen rolled her eyes, of course he noticed the food because he noticed her. Not that it bothered her all that much, hungry guys tend to do that sometimes.
"Gee that's great, I was so looking forward to lunch number two" Noah replied, sarcasm oozing.
'Lunch number two? Is he even hungry? Wait, then did the other three eat too? 'Gwen wondered.
"NOAH!" Katie jumped up from her seat, ran over to the bookworm, and threw her arms around him. She then dragged him to the chair next to hers and made him sit down.
"Nice to see you too, Katie" he replied as he forcibly sat down. Mainly out of politeness, as he was full from earlier, he placed one of the pizzas in front of him.
"Hey Trent, um, sup?" Gwen stood up and awkwardly waved to him.
"I'm good, how did your first final go?" the musician asked, taking the last remaining empty seat, which luckily for them, was next to the Goth.
"It went okay, I think I did well. So, when did you guys get to the park?" Gwen asked.
"Like an hour ago, dudette" Geoff answered for him. "There's a lot of stuff going on at the Tower, and there are like people from the magic protection department there" Geoff attempted to explain what he and the guys had seen during their brief investigation.
"Woah, woah, woah, magic protection department!? Leshawna questioned.
"Yeah one of the guys put a bag down that had -SEC. printed on it. I have a picture on my phone. See?" Trent explained.
"Shit" was the dark-skinned girl's reply after looking at the picture.
"No kidding" Trent agreed as his phone was passed around the table.
"It figures that they have a magical security department of some sort" Gwen said matter-of-factly as she passed the phone to Bridgette and Geoff. "You guys know what this means, right? It has to be Maleficent or another dark magical being just like her. It figures that a villain would choose the Tower as Courtney's hiding place. I mean seriously, its right next to the Fantasmic theatre. It's the most villain-centric attraction in all of Disney, well, besides the Halloween parties that is" the Goth explained her logic to a chorus of gasps.
"We need to do more reconnaissance by the Tower and in the Rockin' Roller Coaster plaza, also, someone needs to start up a conversation with Jazz. Oh, and we need to use Courtney's credentials to get us into the Fantasmic theatre" Noah instructed. He received confused looks to which he stated, "what? I care about this just as much as the rest of you." The others shrugged.
"Leshawna and DJ can handle the coaster courtyard. Gwen and Trent can go back to the Tower's gate. Noah, how about you call Jazz? Katie, you'll come with Bridge and I into the Fantasmic theatre" Geoff threw a plan out there, hoping to help.
"I'll go with that plan, any objections?" Trent backed his friend.
"Not really an objection, rather just something to point out" all eyes turned to the surfer. "Um, I'm not entirely positive on whether we can use Courtney's credentials to get into the Fantasmic stadium this afternoon. We're not Courtney, after all. We can either show up at seven to get walk-in seats, or, we could see if one of the restaurants has a dinner package spot still open. We can do what we have to during and after the show" Bridgette responded.
"She's right, what was I thinking? Okay, so, until then Bridgette, Geoff, and Katie are going to get intel in other ways. Get creative. Go to Epcot and see what you can see since the back of the Tower is behind the Moroccan Pavilion. Maybe ride Everest and see what you can see with binoculars. Even, dare I say it, go back into the Haunted Mansion and talk to Leota" Noah added.
"Like hell I am going back in that mansion of death!" Geoff protested, just the thought of the Haunted Mansion made him freak out.
"Katie and I will go in, talk to Leota, and then come back out the way we came in" Bridgette offered. "We just have to hope that the ride will break down."
"No babe-er-Bridge, I-I don't want you in that place, I don't want you in the hospital like Big D. Oh, you too Katie" Geoff grabbed the surfer girl's arm and pleaded. Bridgette only gave him a look, confused and secretly thrilled at the fact that he almost called her 'babe'.
"Okay, okay, so then let's go to Epcot first. I doubt Everest will work because Tower will be so far below us and because we'll only have a split second to look, but that's only if we even get the front rows" Katie added, she knew that those two liked each other and was totally fine with being the third wheel for today. She was used to it as her cousin, Sadie, has a boyfriend who is almost always by her side. She hoped that someday soon, Noah would ask her out and she would not find herself as anyone's third wheel anymore.
"Al right guys, let's do this!" Trent fist-pumped with his left arm as he got up from the table. The other arm was holding his and Gwen's garbage.
One by one the rest of the group finished their food and left the table. Everyone was either eager or nervous with but all of them were determined to save their friend and put all of this absurd craziness behind them for good.
Noah walked over to Star Tours, got in line, and pulled out his cell phone. Although he was not a fan of thrilling, jerky rides, he is in fact, a huge Star Tours fan. The Star Wars franchise is one of the few nerd cliches he allows himself to enjoy.
"Hey Jazz, its Noah" the bookworm looked around at the detailed queue as he talked.
"What's up, Noah? I really can't talk right now, I'm sorry" Jazz had her phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder as she walked briskly through the boiler room of the Tower.
"The girls wanted an update on Courtney and asked me to call you" Noah played it as if the girls had annoyed him into calling.
"I'm surprised one of them didn't call me themselves, but I'm afraid I have nothing new to report just yet. However, we're almost positive she's in the Tower. Hey, if I ask you something, can you keep it between us?" Jazz asked tentatively. She valued Noah's intelligence and kind of needed the help of a genius right about now. However, she was afraid his friends would force him to talk if they were to find about this conversation.
"Yeah, of-of course I can" Noah was shocked, Jazz wished to trust him with high clearance knowledge. If he wasn't going to be a doctor or a lawyer, then his third plan was to be an imagineer. Her trusting him like this meant a lot on both a professional and personal level.
There was pause, and then she continued,"okay, so here's the thing, there's this invisible barrier separating the top fifty feet, give or take from the rest of the Tower. Part of that top fifty feet is that window that is lit up at night. We believe that whoever took her, not naming names at this point, has created a room behind that window to lock her in. The problem is that the invisible barrier is deadly upon contact and we don't know how to remove it. We have a few special tools that we have been trying and none of them have worked. Do you have any ideas? Jazz asked.
"What special tools are you using exactly?" Noah inquired.
"We used some magical items that were manufactured especially for us as well as a few items that we borrowed from some…friends of ours" Jazz explained vaguely as she did not have the clearance to disclose such important information over the phone.
"Maybe you should ask one of those 'friends' of yours to cast a counter curse. Also, pray tell, how would one create a deadly invisible barrier? Is it from a spell or a potion or something else?" Noah asked, trying to get to the very root of the problem.
"We thought it was spell or curse, something that was cast. A potion, why didn't we think of that earlier? Good idea, Noah…by the way, where are you?" Jazz asked, knowing that he was somewhere on Disney property and more than likely in one of the parks.
"I ditched my friends at Downtown Disney, took the bus to the Boardwalk, and then the boat to Hollywood Studios. I was originally going to Epcot for lunch at the Japan Pavilion, but then I decided that I wanted some Pizza Planet instead. I'm waiting to ride Star Tours now, the pre-show video is playing so I should be out of this attraction in a matter of minutes" Noah partially lied to Jazz in order to protect his friends. He hated lying to Jazz but if she found out that his friends were scattered all over the park, well, they would all be in trouble. However, he realized, that if Jazz saw one of his friends before he got to the Tower, his lie would make things worse.
"Okay have fun, but meet me at the Tower as soon as you get out" Jazz replied, hanging up.
The pre-show video was about to end, but before it did, Noah sent out a group text message to his friends. He told them that Jazz was about to let him into the Tower and that it would be for the best if she did not find out that they were in the park with him.
Once he left the attraction, he found several replies left for him. Leshawna and DJ said that they would start taking the walking path towards the hotels as it goes by the back of the Tower. Geoff and his group promised that they would stay away from Hollywood Studios for the time being. Gwen and Trent, unfortunately, were caught by Jazz and claimed that they were on a date. They were upset that Tower was closed and so they were going to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster instead. Jazz did not buy their story at all, she knew that Gwen was sensible and put her friends first. Although she saw a connection between the Goth and the musician, she knew that Gwen would not pursue a relationship until her best friend was safe and sound.
Noah made his way around Echo Lake, past the giant sorcerer's hat, and straight down Sunset Boulevard. Upon approaching the Tower, he could see three very familiar figures having a conversation, and he decided to join them.
"Hello" he greeted nonchalantly.
"Hey man! We were thinking that you and Jazz could use a hand. Can you convince her to let us in?" Trent asked. Gwen was standing next to him with her arms crossed.
"Noah, do not side with them! I won't allow you to join us if you do" Jazz warned, concerned for their safety. She also did not want to get in trouble for letting too many people in.
"Jazz, I assure you, these two will behave. They are not scared shitless like Geoff, DJ, and Katie. Nor are they desperate and guilt ridden like Bridgette. They are also not stubborn like Leshawna. Let them in, I give you my word they will not cause any trouble" Noah vouched.
"I know that. The problem is that I barely got permission to let you in, Noah. I highly doubt they will let two more of you teenagers in" Jazz explained.
"Gwen knows a lot about voodoo magic, maybe use that for an excuse?" Trent tried to help.
"Yeah, that could work. However, I still need an excuse to get you in, Trent" Jazz reminded him.
"You don't want anyone else to know that you are seeking help from Noah and myself, so you need to bring Trent in to keep him from blabbing to the others when they arrive for Fantasmic" Gwen replied, she knew that this operation was to be kept top-secret.
"Geez, I feel so dumb for not realizing that. Okay, here are the rules. I am confiscating your cell phones until the mission is complete. Also, you will receive walkie talkies. Oh, and we do have a laptop handy for any and all research required. You will be thrown out if you use the laptop to send an email. You will follow any and all instructions given to you, failing to do so will get you thrown out. Make sure Danny or myself have eyes on you at all times. Lastly, if you find anything suspicious or encounter a villain, let us know immediately. Do not, at all costs, attempt to defeat the villain yourselves. Seriously, we don't want to send anyone else to the hospital" Jazz gave them their instructions, let them walk past her, and locked the gate again.
The three teens and Jazz walked through the outdoor section of the queue and into the lobby. As soon as they got in the door, Jazz took their phones and handed each of them a walkie talkie.
"Jazz, I said one, not three!" A very stressed out Danny Griffins came from the library, also known as the room that normally houses the attraction's pre-show.
"One, we need Gwen's expertise as well, and two, they will talk" Jazz explained succinctly.
"Oh all right, very well, but they are your responsibility" the middle-aged Imagineer turned around and headed for the boiler room part of the queue.
"Yeah I know, Danny, no worries" Jazz called after him.
"That's what I heard the last time and one of them was snatched" Danny reminded her.
"This time they can't go far, the Tower is only so big and there are cameras everywhere" Jazz replied, receiving a grunt in return. She chuckled and then turned to address her three new charges. "Okay guys, first I'll show you our mysterious force field and then we will start working in the library" Jazz said as she led them to the opposite side of the lobby. "Oh yeah, and we'll be taking the stairs, it's a necessary precaution for obvious reasons" she added.
"So, will you be introducing us to the Department of Magical Security?" Gwen decided to test Jazz just to see what her reaction would be.
"How much has Courtney been telling you guys? Seriously?" Jazz was completely thrown off guard that Gwen and the others knew about the Mag Sec Department. Mag Sec was one of the most topic secret divisions in the whole Disney company let alone in the theme parks. It was also one of the oldest, created when the threats had first come to fruition.
"Trent and the guys were looking through the Tower's gates before myself and the rest of the girls arrived. He said that they saw a bag with .Sec on it. It was obvious what it stood for" Gwen explained, keeping her attention on Jazz's facial expression and movements.
Jazz sighed, she needed to start trusting these teens more. They were going to find all of this out eventually, so she might as well tell them now."The Department of Magical Security is called in for jobs such as this one. They protect the guests, cast members, imagineers, and other Disney employees from the Dark Ones. The Dark Ones, are obviously, what you guys would call villains. Yes, the department uses magic. Yes, we collaborate with Light Ones such as Merlin, King Triton, the Three Good Fairies, Fairy Godmother, and Pixie Hollow. No, there are no Light Ones here right now nor will any be coming later. Oh, and Noah to elaborate on what we were discussing earlier, Merlin lent us his spell books, Fauna lent us her wand, and Tink gifted us some pixie dust. We're working acquiring a cauldron, Merlin currently has an experiment brewing in his, and the Black Cauldron is off limits for obvious reasons. Hopefully we'll have one soon, but until then we'll continue using other forms of magic" Jazz explained as thoroughly as she could, bracing herself for a bombardment of questions.
Jazz answered as many questions as she was allowed to answer, and shortly after the impromptu Q&A session, they got down to work. The five of them worked tirelessly for over four hours. It wasn't until everyone's stomachs started growling that they put down what they were doing.
"While you're out, can you get me a burger from Rosie's All-American? Cheese, lettuce, no tomato, thanks" Jazz asked as she walked them to the gates. "I just found an extra closed sign, which will allow me to leave the gates open for you guys to return whenever you like. Just keep your passes visible at all times" she instructed before walking back into the Tower.
After only taking a few steps from the gates, Gwen suddenly turned back. "I need to ask Jazz for my phone, I was supposed to let my mom know that I can't take my brother to his little league game tonight!" Gwen yelled as she fast walked back into the Tower. Curious enough, there was no one in the lobby. The Goth shrugged it off thinking that everyone was on their dinner break too. She walked further through the lobby and into the library. Not seeing Jazz, she figured that her cast member friend was in the boiler room. The pale skinned teenager pulled on the door to the boiler room and found it locked. Then she heard a slamming sound behind her and ran to the other door. She tugged to no avail, she was locked in the library!
Meanwhile, Leshawna and DJ had just left the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Leshawna had made the reservation earlier in the week as she had planned to dine with Harold tonight. However, she had to reschedule with Harold for obvious reasons but she never cancelled the reservation. It just so happened that DJ really likes the 50s Prime Time Cafe, so Leshawna got to eat there anyway. While they were eating, they were discussing attractions that they enjoyed and Leshawna decided that she would help her new friend get over his fear of roller coasters. The African American female supposed it wasn't the best idea to use Rockin' Roller Coaster as it is pretty intense, however there are no other coasters in the park and she did not want to leave just in case her girl, Gwen needed her. Now on Sunset Boulevard once more, the two made their way back into the coaster's courtyard. Since Fantasmic is set to start very soon, the line for the coaster is only twenty minutes, practically a walk on. DJ braced himself and they entered the queue.
Over in Epcot, Geoff, Bridgette, and Katie had just finished a quick meal at La Cantina De San Angel. Since they had not heard back from Noah yet, they decided to kill more time and ride Test Track, despite the wait time of forty minutes.
"Why isn't Gwen back yet? It should not take this long to make a phone call" Trent was really getting worried. He could barely eat his hot dog from Fairfax Fare.
Noah put down the caesar salad he was enjoying from Cantina Eddie's. "She probably had a hard time finding Jazz and is on her way over here as we speak. I'll go grab Jazz's food and in case Gwen does not show by the time I get back, you should finish your food. Besides, eating might take your mind off of her for a few minutes" Noah reasoned, trying to ease his friend's mind.
"Yeah, I know. Still, I feel like something's not right man" Trent said, looking in the direction of the Tower, hot dog in his hand.
"Hello!? Hello!? I'm trapped in here! Can someone please open one of these doors!?" Gwen shouted, banging on the door that leads to the boiler room. All of a sudden the lights went off, and a single green light started to glow. The glow filled the room, and it couldn't have been eerier. Gwen had a good idea of where the green light was coming from and it scared her.
"Well, well, why hello, Gwendolyn" a chilling voice replied from behind the Goth.
Gwen recognized the voice immediately. Goosebumps ran down her arms and her heart started to pound. 'It couldn't be' she thought, 'it just couldn't be.' She turned around timidly and found herself face to face with the Mistress of All Evil.
"What-what do you want with us?" Gwen asked, fearing the answer.
"Why, what makes you think that I am after all of you? What makes you think that your friend was my target that night?" the evil fairy retorted.
"Courtney...wasn't? Then who?" Gwen asked as calmly as she could. Although she was terrified, she wanted to seem brave.
"No, I asked those bumbling pirates to grab the girl with the short dark hair. It appears as though I overestimated their intelligence. Even my goons could have done a better job. Your brunette friend became a means to an end. My plans are working perfectly, I have everything I need now" the evil fairy explained.
"You will never win no matter how good your plans are, darkness is not strong enough!" Gwen fired back, determined to be strong.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm not afraid. I now have my greatest weapon...you." Maleficent replied.
"You're not just evil, you're bat shit crazy!" Gwen replied, arms crossed. She wasn't going to be anyone's weapon.
Maleficent moved her fingers over the green crystal on the top of her staff and swirled it to reveal Leshawna and DJ boarding their super-stretch limo coaster car. "Crazy am I? Why, then let's see how crazy I can really be. I have sent one of my comrades to send them send them off the track, and I think I shall let him" Maleficent grinned maliciously.
"No. I don't believe you" in reality the Goth did believe her, but she did not want to comply.
"Well, actually you don't need to believe me, but, that won't stop me from having a little fun…" the green skinned fairy then showed her Bridgette, Geoff, and Katie being directed to a row, two sets of guests away from boarding a Test Track car, the evil fairy then showed the Goth the image of Jafar waiting above the tracks of Rockin' Roller Coaster, followed by the image of Hades waiting in the shadows of the heat test room in Test Track. "Oh, and let us not forget about my captive, the lovely Princess Courtney. She's here, in the top room, just as you suspected. My good friend, Queen Grimhilde is waiting up there with a knife at the ready, aimed for her heart" Maleficent finished by showing her Courtney, seemingly unconscious and tied to a chair. The Evil Queen stood beside her, the knife she held was pressed into Courtney's chest, ready to pierce and to kill.
Gwen knew that Maleficent wasn't kidding, and in that moment she thought that she was going to lose almost everyone that was dear to her.
"On second thought, what good are you to me if there is no one to use you against? I do enjoy winning, but winning this easily is rather boring. Still, why not cause a little chaos, take advantage of the situation, hmm?" the evil fairy grinned menacingly. "The little princess will be spared and so will the two next door. The other three, well, I will have Hades spare them too…but just. Shall we watch their misery together?" Maleficent brought the image of Test Track back, showing them now seated in their car, waiting for the safety check.
"I refuse to watch!" Gwen turned her head away, although she was afraid on the inside, she refused to let it show in front of the evil fairy.
"Oh, but you have to, you are mine now" she cast a jet of green fire into Gwen's midsection. The blast knocked Gwen down and she screamed as her midsection filled with an indescribable, unbearable pain. The pain continued ed to increase, and as it increased it spread through her body. After a few minutes the pain left most of her body, however it remained in her midsection. "You will do whatever I wish, I can control you whenever I please, and if you even try to go against me, I will know. In fact, if you do feel a spark of rebellion ignite inside you, just remember that I have the power to end your mother and brother in a fiery inferno. The pain you just felt will stay inside of you, whenever you or someone else touches your midsection, the pain will return as a reminder. You are also at the mercy of my five allies; Jafar, Ursula, Hades, Dr. Facilier, and Queen Grimhilde, going against is the same as going against me. You are powerful, Gwendolyn, I have chosen you for a reason, you are more than a spy, you are a weapon, I wish to teach you and bring out your talents, your magical gifts. I want to show you how powerful you truly are. Oh, and after tonight, blue will no longer be your color, it will be purple, same as me. Don't worry about dying it, your stripes will be purple when you get up in the morning. So will all of the blue parts of your outfits. Oh, and when you are mine, you will be known as Guinevere, or Vera, for short" the evil fairy explained. "One last thing, you cannot tell a soul about this arrangement, if you do, well, you know what will happen" Maleficent added.
After Maleficent had tired of forcing Gwen to watch the torture of her friends, she turned off the image and stated gleefully, "well, that was delightful. See you soon, Vera." Maleficent cackled and disappeared into a cloud of green smoke. Gwen fell to the ground and cried. A few minutes later, the lights came on and both doors opened. Gwen wiped her eyes, got up, and made her way into the lobby. She ran up the service stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. Upon reaching the newly created floor, she pushed past the confused cast members and imagineers to get to the door of the room where Courtney is being held. She burst open the door and ran over to the middle of the room where her friend was unconscious, gagged, and tied to a chair. Courtney was covered in bruises and cuts, her clothes were ripped, and she had a huge lump on her head. Gwen removed the gag and untied her. "Thank goodness you're okay" Gwen hugged her unconscious friend.
Jazz and Danny came running in, followed by two EMTs. They carefully placed Courtney on the stretcher and carried her out. Like Duncan, she too is being taken to Celebration Hospital.
"How did you break the force field? Seriously, how!?" Jazz asked in disbelief.
"It..just required some special magic. I'll explain more later, I just want to tell everyone that we got Courtney, that she's safe and on the way to the hospital" Gwen replied, trying to avoid this conversation as much as possible. In the process, she forgot what Maleficent and Hades had done to her friends.
"We will continue this conversation at a later date. But I agree, there are more important matters right now. Here's your phone, oh, and your friends have been worried sick" Danny smiled and gave Gwen her phone, and she ran over to her friends.
"Gwen!" Trent ran up to the Goth before as soon as she came into view and pulled her into an embrace. "When you didn't come out I got so worried."
"Aww Trent, I'm fine. Just lost is all, but thanks for worrying about me" she blushed, ending the hug as fast as she could. She couldn't look him in the eye though as she felt terrible for lying to him. Thankfully, he took the lack of eye contact to be from nervous embarrassment. Public displays of affection weren't generally his thing either, but there were exceptions and this was one of them. "We got her" she beamed. Trent broke the embrace and gave her a shocked but happy expression.
"How? Tell me everything" Noah demanded.
"Later, I promise. I also owe Danny and Jazz that same conversation. For now, lets call everyone. I'll take Bridgette, Trent you take DJ" Gwen instructed, again trying to avoid that particular conversation. Eventually, she'll have to say something, but not tonight.
Gwen dialed her close friend, and to her horror, she did not pick up. "Danny, send Mag Sec to Epcot ASAP! There has been an incident at Test Track and it involves Bridgette, Geoff, and Katie. They were attacked and I know by who but it is a long story, the same long story that explains how I broke the invisible barrier."
"I already know about the Test Track incident. Their injuries are debilitating but not life-threatening, and they are already on the way to the Celebration Hospital ICU burn unit" Danny assured the Goth that her friends were going to be okay. "I know you are tired, so I am pushing our meeting until the morning. We have called your families and prepared a suite for the five of you at the Boardwalk Villas. Go and rest" Danny left the three teens for the evening.
"I just clocked out from my multi-day shift and Leshawna and DJ are in the Toy Story Midway Mania queue, I have someone waiting for them at the attraction's exit. They will meet the four of us at the Boardwalk." Jazz walked over to them, for once not wearing a cast member uniform.
Jazz, Gwen, Trent, and Noah left Hollywood Studios and to their luck, a boat had just arrived. The three friends boarded the Friendship II and set sail for the Boardwalk. Upon arrival, they decided to instead go to Epcot for extra magic hours. Jazz called Leshawna and DJ's escorts to notify them about the last minute change of plans.
"Will we get to visit all of them tomorrow?" Gwen asked, hopeful.
"Probably not all of them, but Duncan definitely" Jazz replied.
"So Katie is also a no?" Noah inquired nonchalantly.
"We'll see, Bridgette and Geoff were worse off than her, so maybe" Jazz replied, not making eye contact. "We will discuss tonight's events later when we actually go to our suite."
"Oh yeah, dudette, that's awesome!" Geoff suddenly got very excited at the idea of seeing his best bud again. He missed Big D a lot, and he felt terrible over what happened at the mansion.
"Speaking of the mansion, we never got a chance to head over there. Mainly because I knew that Geoff wasn't comfortable. Look, I want to speak to Leota. Geoff said that she's on our side, and I think that she could be an important ally. Gwen, come with me, tomorrow maybe" Trent pleaded. She knew the risk, but she knew that the villains mean business. She also had a few important questions that only a being such as Leota could answer. For starters, why Courtney?
"Maybe another day, Trent, but it's definitely on the to-do list. How about after the meeting we consider tomorrow a day off? After we visit Duncan, we could go to Downtown Disney for lunch and a movie. 'The Whispers In The Dark' is supposed to be good, I think" Gwen suggested.
"Hell yes to a relaxing day out, but no to a horror movie. I know that you love them, but I don't" Trent smiled, putting his arm around her waist.
"Fine, no horror movie" Gwen playfully rolled her eyes, she winced in pain when he placed his arm around her waist and she gently brushed it off. "I'll take Duncan to see it another day" she shrugged.
"The snacks are on me" Trent agreed. He attempted to put his arm around her waist again, but she moved to the side. He found it odd, but he shrugged it off thinking she will be a little more open to public displays of affection after their first date.
"Really, you two are making goo-goo eyes after everything that happened today?" Noah was already upset about Katie and was in no mood to be in the presence of a happy couple.
"We have to get our minds off of these nightmares somehow" Gwen shrugged still smiling at Trent who nodded in agreement.
Leshawna and DJ joined the group just in time for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. The fireworks were not just beautiful, they were symbolic of the day finally coming to a close. They were looking forward to going back to their suite and relaxing for a little while. They are going to need it, for little do they know, tomorrow will be their last day of peace for a long, long while.
**I plan on updating this chapter one more time so that I can include the torture scene on Test Track. At first I did not want to go into detail on something so horrific, but I realize how important it is to this chapter and to the next chapter. Look out for it soon!**
Author's Note: Hello again! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll admit its not my best, but hey, its not my worst either (at least I don't think it is). So, yeah, Gwen is now bound to Maleficent and the other leaders of the Dark Ones. Yes, I'm going to start writing her a little extra OOC because the longer she is bound to the Dark Ones, the more her personality is going to change. I packed this chapter with important information and I hope it wasn't too much, but it was necessary. Since I haven't written for Duncan and Courtney for a little while (for obvious reasons) I am definitely putting them in the next chapter, but that is the only thing that I know for certain about the next chapter. No preview means more facts, enjoy! Thanks again for reading this chapter, thank you to all who have faved and followed this story recently, and please, please, please, please, please give me some reviews! Reviews really do mean a lot to me!
From Disney Wikia:
"Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is a roller coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and at the Walt Disney Studios Park at the Disneyland Resort Paris in France. It opened on July 29, 1999 in Disney's Hollywood Studios and together with the park on March 16,2002 in Walt Disney Studios Park. The attraction features American rock band Aerosmith and their music. e coaster accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds (making this the second-fastest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, behind only Test Track and the fastest ride at Disneyland Paris). The riders experience 4.5g (44 m/s2) as they enter the first inversion, more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch. Both versions of the attraction feature five trains, although only four can run at one time. The remaining train is kept in backup while being serviced (each train is rotated out periodically for safety reasons)."
From Disneylists .com:
"When you first walk toward the attraction, look up and you will see the neck of a guitar above your head. If you keep following it, you will see the huge red base of the electric guitar that makes up the front of the building for the attraction. This guitar base it a whopping, impressive 40 feet tall. This "limo" coaster launches you from 0 to 60 in only 3 seconds, and during your quick drive to the show you experience 4.5G forces, if you don't have any idea what that means, think about astronauts. This is more than the force they experience when they launch a space shuttle! So if you want to know what it feels like to be an astronaut, you get that on this attraction! The cars that you ride in are your "super stretch" limo that is out in the alley and ready to take you to the big show. The design for these cars were influenced by the 1962 Cadillac. You will notice that each limo has a different license plate. There are 5 different ones and they each read: 1QKLIMO, 2FAST4U, BUYBYE, H8TRFFC and UGOGIRL. Very clever! And if you can get a good look, you would see that there is also a hidden Mickey on each one with numbers. Those numbers are the birthdays of imagineers that worked on the attraction. Each guest is surrounded by 5 speakers, which are 4 around the head and 1 subwoofer under the seat. When you multiply that across all of the guests in each limo and then by the number of limos in circulation it is easy to see how there are that many speakers throughout! Each limo plays a different track so depending on which limo you get will dictate the song(s) that you hear while you ride. They are all Aerosmith songs, of course! Here are the song that you might hear: "Young Lust"/"F.I.N.E."/"Love in an Elevator" medley, "Nine Lives", "Sweet Emotion", "Back in the Saddle"/"Dude Looks Like a Lady" medley and "Love in an Elevator"/"Walk This Way" medley. Well, there are actually only 5 limos that are used at a time (this is why there are only 5 license plates and 5 different song loops). The 6th limo is used to change out when one of the limos need to be taken down for maintenance or any kind of issue. They change the license plate from one of the limos over to the backup limo so that the change out is unnoticed. The limo that isn't in circulation always sits with no license plate. The appropriate song is also added to match when the limos are changed out, so it really is a seamless change."
