Hey guys! Sorry about taking so long...school kind of ruins the fun stuff...unfortunately.
But 4000 views so far?! YAY! I'm so excited! How cool is that? You guys are awesome!
This chapter is kind of short, and I do apologize for any simple mistakes, but I wanted to get this one out there as soon as possible.
Without further adieu, here's chapter 28!
Chapter 28: Home
December 3, 2358
Hollywood Studios
Celebrity 5 & 10
12:29 P.M.
Charlene woke up on a bench in Hollywood Studios. Just like old times, she thought to herself.
"She's awake!" She heard someone say. Charlene looked around and noticed that she was in a sitting position, with Maybeck and Willa on either side of her. Everyone else was nearby, probably watching out for Maleficent and her soldiers
She glanced at Willa and then at Maybeck. "How…how long was I out?"
Maybeck pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
"Can't…breathe!"
"Oh…" Maybeck loosened his grip, letting her pull back so that she could see his face. "And you were out for a few minutes."
Willa put a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on Charlie? Why did you faint?"
"I…uh…" Charlene looked between both of them, ending at Willa. "Can I…umm…talk to Maybeck alone?"
Willa hesitated, as if she had just been slapped. "Yeah…uh…yeah sure!"
Willa stood up. "Let's move down the street a little. Let the fiancées have some space to talk."
Once everybody had gone a little bit further down the street—not out of sight, but out of earshot—Charlene looked back at Maybeck. His face was scrunched up in confusion.
"What's going on Charlie?"
"I…" Charlene looked down at her hands. She couldn't look him in the eye. "I need to tell you the real reason why I broke off our engagement the first time."
"Uh…okay…" Maybeck mumbled as he took her hands, trying to get her to look at him—it wasn't working.
"I…I was kind of…forced into doing it."
"What does—"
"Listen to me, Maybeck. Then make all the sarcastic comments you want." Charlene snapped back.
Maybeck held up his hands in defeat. "Okay! Okay!"
Charlene took a deep breath. "The Evil Queen…she…she said you were going to die if I stayed with you…among other things…and…and…and I didn't want to take that chance."
Maybeck shook his head in disbelief. "And you believed her?"
Charlene felt the first tears fall down her cheek. "Did you really want me to chance it?"
Maybeck studied her. She could tell he was trying not to blow up on her, but something was stopping him. It was almost as if…no, he couldn't have known what was going on. Who would have told him? She certainly hadn't told anyone.
Maybeck reached up and wiped a tear off of her cheek with his thumb. "No. But it would have been nice to know what was going on."
"I couldn't risk anything happening to you."
"So you broke off our wedding." He removed his hand from her face and looked down at his hands. "But we didn't know the OT's were back then."
"I think the Evil Queen showing up at my door made it pretty obvious," Charlene muttered under her breath.
Maybeck stewed—at least that's what Amanda and Jess called it. Eventually he looked up at her with a sad look in his eyes.
"What does this have to do with you fainting a few minutes ago?"
"I keep hearing her voice in my head. All the warnings. All the threats. It…it's been giving me horrible headaches. And ever since you proposed again, it's been getting worse. The excruciating pain…I…I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Why didn't you at least tell me you were sick? I would've made sure you stayed back at Wayne's."
Charlene shook her head. "I'm fine."
Even she knew that wasn't true.
"Charlene," Maybeck cupped her chin with his hand. "You and I both know you're not. But now that I know what's going on, I'm going to keep you safe."
He stood up, offering her his hand. "I'm taking you back and we're going to stay in Wayne's tiny apartment until you feel better."
"No!" Philby called out as he hurried over to the couple. Charlene stood up and Maybeck wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close. She turned in his arms so that she could see Philby.
"What are you talking about Philby?" Charlene asked.
"Were you listening to our conversation?" Maybeck narrowed his eyes accusingly.
"I only heard the last part." Philby put his free hand into his pocket. It was obvious that something was in there. "Look, you can't leave. We're about to go home."
"What do you mean?" Charlene asked him, cutting Maybeck off from making any sarcastic remarks.
Philby reached into his pocket and revealed a talisman. "Long story short: if we get Finn and we're all close enough to this when I break it, we all go back to our world."
Charlene's eyes went wide. Maybeck's grip on her went from loving to protective in a millisecond.
"Really?"
A smirk grew on Philby's face. "Really."
December 3, 2358
Hollywood Studios
Tower of Terror
1:02 P.M.
Finn paced up and down the lobby of the Tower of Terror. It had been two days since they had barricaded themselves in here and they didn't have a plan. It was eating him up alive.
"Dude stop pacing it's making me anxious." Marcus blurted. Finn rolled his eyes and kept going.
"It's been two days. We need to get out of here and go find them. What if something's gone wrong? What if they've been captured? What if—"
"Finn you're driving yourself crazy with the what if's!" Dillard blurted out. Finn turned and stared at him. Dillard stood up and gave Finn a frustrated look. "Dude. Seriously? We're safe here. They're going to find us eventually. Just chill."
"I can't just chill! Amanda could be hurt…or worse—"
"Don't you dare go there!"
"Dead."
"She's not dead!"
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
"How do you know they're not in danger? How do you know they don't need me to come help them out?"
"I don't."
"How do you know that they're not all back in the real world by now?"
Dillard rolled his eyes. "They wouldn't leave without you."
Finn wanted to believe it. But for some reason he had a feeling Dillard was wrong. That small voice in the back of his mind told him that Dillard was lying—that they would end up leaving without him. It was his worst fear, but also their best hope. Why stay here when you can be home safe? Finn would understand if they did. He is the savior. He can take care of himself. He should be able to find his own way back.
Find my own way back!
The imaginary light bulb over his head turned on and a plan began to form in his head.
"Finn?" A worried Dillard asked. "Are you alright?"
Finn focused in on Dillard and smiled. "We find our own way home."
"We?"
"Yeah. You me and…and…even Marcus. We need to find a way back just in case we never find them. They've got Philby. I'm sure he's figured it out by now. They probably can get us to go with them, but just in case, there's got to be a way out of this without them."
"There probably is…"
Finn studied him. Why was Dillard so worried? It was almost as if he didn't want to go back home.
But that's the thing. Dillard had no home to go back to. In the real world, he was dead. So was Marcus. They couldn't go back—at least not alive.
"You can't go with me," Finn whispered. "Can you?"
Dillard slowly shook his head. "I'm supposed to be dead, remember?"
Finn remembered perfectly well. He remembered how it felt when the life left Dillard. He still had nightmares about it.
Dillard couldn't come back. The past two days had been just like old times, if Finn forgot about Marcus. Having his best friend around again was so much fun Finn forgot reality for a second. If he went home, Dillard would still be dead. If Finn left for home, Dillard couldn't come. This would be it for them. Forever.
"Someone's coming."
Finn turned around to see Mulan and Rapunzel standing just inside the room near the door that Meg had left through just two days earlier. Mulan had a sword in hand and was dressed for battle. Rapunzel was dressed in the same purple dress from the movie. Her only weapon was a frying pan.
"What are you two doing here?" Finn asked rudely. Normally he would have been more polite and cordial with the princesses, but he couldn't help but be confused. Two days ago Meg showed up and now Mulan and Rapunzel were here? Wayne told him none of the characters were in this world Maleficent had created.
Obviously he was wrong about that. Or Wayne had lied to him. Both had equal chances of being true.
"We're here to help you get out of here alive," Rapunzel said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, twirling her frying pan around on her finger. "We spotted a group heading this way."
"Wait…that could be—"
"Your friends?" Mulan cut in. "Unless they got a hold of guns and other weapons the Overtakers are known for…they're not."
"Then what do we do?" Marcus asked as he walked over to where Finn was standing. "We're safe in here."
"For a short time, yes. We're here to help you get out of here and to a new hiding place."
"And where is that?" Dillard asked.
"We can't tell you," Rapunzel smirked. "It's a secret."
December 3, 2358
Hollywood Studios
Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat
12:58 P.M.
The group reached the giant blue hat and paused. Amanda, Jess, Charlene, Maybeck, Willa—with Lizzie in her arms—and Philby all stood in a row facing it, heads tilted slightly to the side in confusion. Two of the support structures holding the giant blue hat up above the ground had crumbled, leaving the hat at a strange angle.
"It's so weird," Willa muttered.
"Too weird," Jess answered.
Maybeck, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and got over the strange sight fairly quick.
"Let's split up." Maybeck turned to Amanda. "Where do you think the little dweeb is hiding again?"
Amanda rolled her eyes but said nothing about the insult. "Tower of Terror."
"I vote the real keepers go and get him, and we'll meet you guys back here."
He was met with a round of disagreements. Patrick, Storey and Mattie all started talking over each other trying to explain why they thought his idea was stupid and how they could help the keepers out.
"I don't think that's a good idea Maybeck," Philby finally said, just slightly louder than the others. Patrick, Storey and Mattie shut up and listened to him.
"You got a better one? I think it's only fitting that we go save the guy who saved us." Maybeck crossed his arms in defiance."
"That's brave and noble and all, Maybeck, but I think it'd be easier and a lot faster if the guys went with maybe one or two girls. What if we meet Maleficent instead of Finn? I don't want to put Willa or Lizzie in that kind of danger."
"I'm right here!" Willa protested.
"Shouldn't have brought your two-year old along then, Phildweeb!" Maybeck fired back, ignoring Willa's comment.
"You know why I brought her," Philby whispered harshly. The only ones who knew of the talisman were Willa, Charlene and Maybeck. He was not about to spill the beans and be responsible for chaos within their group.
"What if we go with your plan and Maleficent shows up right here and surprises the girls? What are you going to do then? You won't be there to save them then!"
"Obviously they're not going to stay out in the open! That'd be suicide! Willa is not stupid enough to do that."
"Stupid enough?" Willa asked, glaring at her husband. A glare that neither Maybeck nor Philby noticed.
"This whole world is suicide!" Maybeck threw up his hands in frustration. "Trying to go home with that stupid voodoo necklace thingy is suicide! We're stuck here and there's nothing we can do about it!"
"Then what are you doing here Maybeck? Why not go back to wherever you were before Finn came and found you? Why not have fun with your buddy Adam Washington? Why stay here when you can have a happy life somewhere else? Why remember all of this and all of us when you just can forget?"
Maybeck took a step back, obviously shocked by his words. Philby stood up straighter and crossed his arms. He was not willing to take back any of the words he had just said. He had meant every one of them. If Maybeck wasn't looking for a way home, why was he even here?
"Well?" Philby asked when Maybeck said nothing.
Maybeck glared at him for a few more seconds before answering. Philby felt all the eyes of the group resting on him at this moment but he didn't care. He wanted to see if Maybeck was in it for the right reasons.
"I'm here to get my friend Finn back."
And with that Maybeck turned around and started marching off toward the Tower of Terror, gun in hand.
"Terry, wait up!" Charlene called as she hurried off after him.
Storey and Mattie hesitated before heading off after the couple.
Amanda started to walk that way, but Jess put a hand on her arm. "I have a feeling things are gonna get bad. You don't want to risk it sis."
Philby wasn't sure what that meant, it could have just been some weird sister thing. Whatever she was referring to, Amanda nodded and stood back—obviously staying behind.
Patrick walked over to Jess and asked if he could pull her aside for a second. Philby could tell by the look in his eyes that he was going to ask her to stay so that he could go. Philby had tried that with Willa many times over the years, the same look in his eyes and everything. It never worked with Willa, and it probably wouldn't with Jess, but he gave Patrick props for trying.
He glanced over at Amanda and she nodded, getting the message. She walked over, away from the group, and sat down on the pavement.
Philby walked over to Willa, making sure his back was to the group and dug the talisman out of his pocket. He put it in her hand and curled her fingers around the bloody thing. If it worked, it would be their blessing in disguise. If it didn't, it would just be another trick that they had fallen for. Philby was really hoping the latter wasn't true.
"Keep this and use it when we get back," he whispered.
"You sure you want to do this? What if it's a trap?" Willa held Lizzie tighter.
"It'll all be okay. We go in, we get Finn, we come back and then we go home." Philby kissed her forehead and Lizzie's. "I love you."
"Love you too," Willa said with a smile. "But I won't if you don't come back."
"Fair enough." Philby kissed her gently on the lips.
Philby turned around and nodded at Patrick. "You coming with?"
"Gotta work my way in somehow, right?" Patrick joked. Jess rolled her eyes playfully and walked back over to her sister.
Philby extended his hand for Patrick to shake. "Welcome to the team."
So it's a little short, and really boring, BUT the next 2 chapters are going to be awesome (at least plot-wise)! I'm going to make sure they are!
And I also apologize for the crappy description of the princesses. They're going to be pretty important in the next chapter, so I'll get better at working them into the story better.
Please review! Or don't. Whatever floats your boat. I'll try to update as soon as I can! Have a wonderful week! :)