Master George Gracey casually sauntered out of the Haunted Mansion's exit, making his way through the crypt. He hummed along with the Phantom Five's harmonic rendition of the end of "Grim Grinning Ghosts," hardly able to contain his pleasure at the evening's events. After Liberty and Jake left, he made a special visit to see Madame Leota. Through the walls, he had heard some faint commotion coming from the street, but paid little mind to it. He was all too used to the sounds of the swinging wakes taking place both inside and outside of the possessed manor.

As he passed the pet cemetery, he made a point to give a scratch behind some ethereal ears and paused to bow in front of the marker for J. Thaddeus Toad. Although his old friend was indeed alive and well, he did miss his presence in the Magic Kingdom. Gracey considered the eccentric amphibian a kindred spirit. He had fond memories of taking motorcars out for wild rides at night much to the chagrin of McBadger, who didn't hold with associating with dead people. They belonged in the ground, he believed, not on the streets of the living wrecking havoc. As MacBadger said, the financial repercussions could be "cat-a-strrrrrophic!"

Gracey had to smile at the memories. Ah, MacBadger. Owl just wasn't quite the same. The Ghost Host frowned. Nor was Winnie the Pooh as fun as Mr. Toad. He didn't like hijacking Captain Nemo's submarines and scaring the giant squid, for starters. Toad was always up for that.

"It's progress, Gracey. Progress."

The ghost shook his head, not wanting to even think about losing his friend John. "I am not going to allow that to happen." Making his way down the lane to Fantasyland, he was stopped by the overpowering stench. "Good heavens!" he waved his hand in front of his face. "That's deadly. Phineas, have you been eating the tacos in Adventureland again?"

Looking from side to side, he waited for a reply. Just the chirping of crickets and the distant whistle of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad answered. He pursed his pale lips and twitched them, disappointed no one was around to hear his remarks. "Hmm," he inhaled, "that's brimstone."

Sniffing, he followed the scent past the Liberty Tree Tavern and the Columbia Harbor House. Tables and chairs were overturned and some pieces of furniture were even broken. "What in the Walt Disney World…" Scorched into the street were hoof prints leading up to, through, and around the disheveled patios.

Further on, at a side entrance into Adventureland, he found the shattered remains of a pumpkin. Crouched down beside the mess, he picked up a gooey, orange chunk. The edges were burnt, black and crispy. "Someone has been mistreating jack-o-lanterns." He arched an eyebrow and chuckled low in his throat. "And of course that could only be the calling card of…" He stood up, and fists at his side bellowed, "Horseman!" Remembering the pumpkin bits, he took a silk handkerchief out of his sleeve and daintily wiped his fingers.

Flames shot up in the center of Liberty Square, throwing deformed shadows across the street. Out of the midst of the fire stepped the black steed of the Hessian. Its hooves left sparks as red as its eyes. As the fire subsided, the Headless Horseman mutely leaned down towards the Ghost Host. His thick leather gloves creaked when he tightened his grip on the reins.

"Splendid show, old boy!" Master Gracey clapped softly. "It's no Wishes or Fantasmic to be certain, but I give it a seven out of ten."

From within the dark void of the Horseman's being came a guttural hiss. "Herr Gracey, I am not summoned forth on foolish whims, nor must I answer to the call of a clownish spirit."

"Clownish?" George giggled and put his hand on his chest in mock shock. "Dear sir, you flatter me! Not in all of my after life have I ever thought I was as frightening as any clown. No one will believe you said that. I might have to ask you to pass the word around yourself." He smiled, his expression identical to his portrait. "As much as I wish this were merely a friendly chat between two souls, I have more pressing matters to discuss." Gesturing to the smashed fruit, he continued, "This, if I'm not mistaken--and I assure you I'm not-- is yours. Didn't your mother ever teach you to clean up your messes? Tut-tut!" he waved a finger.

The Headless Horseman shifted in his saddle. "There are no rules that state I cannot roam as you do."

The smile became a frown and Gracey's tone grew darker. "No, but seeing you is a rare event. Normally, you only come out on Halloween."

With a deep belly laugh, the Hessian slapped his thigh. Joining his master, the stallion whinnied and stamped his feet, snorting equine chuckles. "Herr Gracey, you are an entertaining man, indeed. Surely you do not take offense at me checking up on my favorite funnel cake stand, eh?"

Gracey laughed with him, finishing with a gusty sigh and a wipe of his tearless eye. "Yes, I suppose I was being rather silly, wasn't I?" He braced a palm against the stallion's broad side.

"Don't touch the horse."

He yanked his hand back. "Horseman, as thrilling as it is to pretend you aren't a bold-faced liar," he paused to let the Hessian's anger flare, "allow me to cut to the… chase." Turning his head, he cast his bright blue gaze over the wreckage of the restaurant furniture. "I know you were hunting the Cast Members. Why?"

"You know very well the joy of scaring mortals."

"Scaring yes, attempting to disembowel, no." He glowered at the Headless Horseman. "This wasn't just supernatural shenanigans, not with these youths. You were sent after them." He crossed his arms over his chest, fingers tapping. "Who was it, Horseman?"

A growl echoed within the Headless Horseman's armor as if boiling up from the depths of Hell. The stallion took a few nervous steps back and forth, tossing his snorting head from side to side. Wielding his sword, the Horseman brought it to a halt at Master Gracey's neck.

The Ghost Host stood still, gaze never wavering from the demonic spirit.

After several moments, he grinned. "Come, come, good man, are you going to slice me or not? Don't leave me hanging. I haven't got all night, you know. Though I don't see much use in decapitating a dead man."

Drawing his blade back, the headless Hessian laughed. "Oh, Herr Gracey, I do like you, you know. Which is why it's such a shame I and my comrades will have to destroy your beautiful home. Unless," here was a pause, and you could well imagine a sly grin, "you would be open to persuasion. We all know the ghosts and pirates teeter, as it were, on that ledge between good and evil."

Gracey arched an eyebrow. "First you won't tell me what you're up to, now you're asking me to join you. Horseman, you're a terrible, terrible salesman," he shook his head with a chuckle. "And what would happen if I did join your vague," he rolled a hand, "evil quest? What do I get out of it?"

"Absolute power over the World? How does that sound?"

"Like an awful, boring chore, old sport," Master Gracey shook his head. "I have to look over 998 other spirits already on a daily basis, on top of the denizens of Liberty Square. Why for Walt's sake would I want to add to that? In order to ensure power, you have to keep things running, otherwise everyone revolts, there's lots of shouting and screaming and fighting. Bodies are left behind, which believe me stinks to the heavens, and you have to clean it up… No, it's far too much work, and I do enjoy my relaxation time. " Suddenly, he brightened. "I've taken up yoga! Does wonders for the soul. You may want to consider it. It could help with your aggression issues."

The Horseman sighed. "No, violently stabbing people and hurling flaming pumpkins has always been and always will be my outlet."

Gracey shrugged. "To each his own. And now old friend," he bowed, "seeing as how your lips are sealed, I must take my leave. Although, I do look forward to continuing this conversation in the future, hopefully sans threats."

"I make no guarantees. Perhaps, you should reconsider my offer. I would personally see to it your—how do you put it—happy haunting grounds are untouched."

"Hmm," Gracey placed his chin in his hand, "it is quite a bargain, but one I'm afraid I must pass up," he smirked. "You understand."

"I don't think I do, but if it makes you feel any better, at least you and your friends are already dead. HYAH!" With a sharp pull on the reins and a jab of spurs, the Hessian's beast shrieked and reared up on two legs. In an instant they were engulfed in flames and all that was heard was the echo of the Headless Horseman's laugh.

"I'm tellin' you what I saw, and what I saw was a headless feller swingin' a sword about and chasin' those kids!" Wendell held up his broken mandolin as proof.

Sitting around the table, Cinderella, Snow White, John, and Henry listened to the small bear's tale. Henry wrinkled his muzzle and cast an anxious glance over to Jose's empty perch. He hoped his little winged friend was safe. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the others taking worried looks at the chair or window as well. Had it been too long? Should they send for help? What in tarnation was going on?

"It isn't George's fault, though," Henry tried to reassure his friend. "Just because he's got jurisdiction over the area doesn't mean he can control everyone in it. He wouldn't just let that happen."

"I'm just sayin' it's suspicious. You know the ghosts aren't exactly heroes," Wendell huffed. "Where's he been anyway?" He tapped a foot, his claws clicking on the stone floor.

Cinderella was eager to change the tone of the discussion. "He's probably been consulting Leota."

"Consulting?" John chuckled. "Is that what they call it these days?"

Cinderella and Henry rolled their eyes while Snow White's face was blank. Then she blinked a couple of times, blushed, and then held her hand over her lips as she giggled.

"John…" Cinderella began in a half-hearted warning tone that had just a hint of a chortle.

"What?" Holding up his hands, he feigned innocence. "Snow laughed!"

"You're corrupting the poor girl."

"Oh, Snow's incorruptible. She lived with seven miners in a ramshackle cottage in the woods. Yet after all that, she doesn't spit, cuss, or even wear pants," he gestured to the young princess.

She, in turn, looked up from scratching under an arm pit. "What? Did someone say my name?"

Cinderella sighed and put her head in her hands. "If only the guys in marketing could see us now." Despite it all, she had to laugh. Whether or not it was from her genuinely finding it funny, needing the stress relief, or from exhaustion she didn't know. "New to hit shelves this spring, Disney Princess deodorant. I don't know what's worse, the fact I thought of that or the fact it's highly likely."

Without any announcement, Master Gracey literally strode through the door. "So sorry to be late—"

John tilted his head. "Is that a pun?"

"Might be, I'm not sure. I do it automatically anymore; I'm not even aware of it," the ghost explained breezily before sitting down. At the plucking of an off key string, he looked up. "Oh. Greetings Wendell. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Before he could start ranting, Henry stood up to interject. "Uh, my friend here says the—oh, what's his name?—No Headed Jockey—"

"Headless Horseman," George patiently corrected. "Tore through Liberty Square, I know," he sighed. "The damage, which is thankfully only property, will have to be taken care of before day break. I'll look into finding someone for that. Knowing the hitchhikers, they're not doing anything important." Placing an elbow on the table, chin in hand, and tapping his fingers on the heavy oak top, he scowled in thought.

When she felt the quiet had gone on for too long, Cinderella tentatively asked, "Did Madame Leota have any good news?"

He blinked, surprised he'd completely forgotten. "Oh yes," he grinned. "Our intrepid young friends have found the Scroll." Before any celebration could break out, he gravely added, "Unfortunately, it appears much more than the Headless Horseman will be pursuing them, if the few words I got out of him are trustworthy." He got up and went to a window. Pulling the red velvet curtain back, he scanned the park in hopes of seeing the four Cast Members. Down below, at the edge of Adventureland and Main Street U. S. A. he could just barely make out the quartet huddled together. "And unfortunately, I think they are."

Snow White wrung her dainty hands, peering over his shoulder. "Should we warn them?"

He let the curtain fall back. "I'm sure they've figured it out. Let them focus on their treasure hunt." He turned back to face the Representatives. "We have our own puzzle to solve: Who is the mastermind behind the attacks and the removal of the Carousel of Progress?"

Henry wrinkled his muzzle. "Well, villains a-course, right? Who else would it be?" Quite pleased with himself, he leaned back in his chair and slowly scratched his chest with his two-inch long claws. "Just gotta narrow it down to someone powerful enough to do it."

The Representatives all looked at one another before blurting out simultaneously,

"Grimhilde!"

"Hades!"

"Jafar!"

"Maleficent!"

"Horned King!"

Cinderella slumped forward with an exhausted sigh. "That's only a small handful of possibilities. You know," she looked from side to side, "I'm not comfortable proceeding with this discussion without Jose."

Wendell scampered over to the bird's seat and clumsily pulled himself up into it. "How about I sit in for him?" He banged the neck of his mandolin against the table like a gavel. "Order! Order! See, I can do this here official stuff, and speak with a Spanish accent… SEN-YOR-REE-TA!"

Henry grabbed the instrument and bopped Wendell over the head with it. "Get out of that chair!"

Sudden loud pounding on the heavy door made the group jump. The loose handle violently shook with frantic smacks and screams of, "John! John, let me in!"

"Sarah!" John bolted for the door, hands trembling as he unlocked it and flung it open. His wife collapsed against him, brown tendrils of hair sticking out in disarray from her normally tidy bun, eyes and cheeks red from crying.

"John!" It came out as a hoarse croak. Between hard sobs, she struggled to breathe. "They're gone!" She dug her nails into his arms, gripping him tightly. "Patty and Jimmy—I tried…They were screaming … They're gone!"

He grabbed her shoulders, keeping her upright. "Pa--Patricia and Jimmy—How?" George leapt up to give the increasingly unsteady husband a hand as he led Sarah to Jose's seat. Snow White gave her a handkerchief, one of the very few in the park that hadn't been used by Sneezy.

After wiping her eyes and nose, Sarah explained, "I--I went out to check on them, an—and I called out after them." A harsh sob made her cough. John put an arm around her and rubbed her back. "They stepped out of the arcade and then—and then—this black… thing like an arm or a…a tentacle grabbed them and pulled them back in!" Body shaking, she cried into John's chest. "I screamed and I ran as fast as I could, John! As fast as my legs would move, but I didn't…I couldn't…They were gone! They were gone when I got there!"

John hugged his wife and rocked back and forth with her in his arms. "I thought losing the show was the worst thing that could happen to me," he whispered, "but this is a million times more painful."

Master Gracey couldn't help thinking back on the Headless Horseman's words. "I'm so sorry."

Cinderella, who had disappeared without anyone noticing, was now at Sarah's side with a cup of hot tea. "Drink this, dear. It'll soothe your throat." Then she turned away again, and with well trained and controlled fury, she walked up the staircase.

Jose panted as he touched down on the round, down sweeping, blue tiled roof of the Temple of Haven in Epcot's World Showcase China Pavilion. The white fence encircling all but the entrance shone in the moonlight. The enormous orange and black koi fish in the surrounding lily pond lazily swam through the water, bothering to speed up only if a dragonfly dared to skim the surface. Gentle, sloping and curled rooftops of the nearby restaurants and shops, coupled with the eye pleasing rock formations and gardens, gave any visitor a sense of ease and tranquility not found in the other pavilions.

The parrot allowed himself to get lost in the peace and quiet, hearing only the occasional splash of shimmering fins. Even by following the monorail track, it had been a long flight, and he knew getting to Animal Kingdom would take an even greater distance. At least Hollywood Studios, his next stop, was close by.

Tracking down the Representatives hadn't been easy. Figment was keener on playing hide and seek rather than being serious, and General Knowledge wouldn't stop barking orders long enough for the bird to get more than a word in. Marlin had been more help, neurotic as he was, even if he did keep babbling about his son missing—again. All that was left was alerting everyone in World Showcase.

A snap and then rustling made Jose freeze. Slowly, he lifted his head away from the wing he had been preening. Something had shifted ever so slightly in one of the trees, just enough to move a patch of leaves.

"Rawk!" Flapping his wings and puffing up his brilliant feathers, Jose attempted to look at least a tiny bit less cute and small. "¿Quién es? Who is there? ¿Amigo?" He watched the tree, waiting for more movement. When nothing happened, he resumed his preening.

By the time he had heard the shrill cry, talons were already digging into his back.

"Stepmother?" Cinderella stood in front of Lady Tremaine's room, fist raised to knock. Shakily, she lowered her hand. No, she was a Princess. She ruled this land. There would be no timid pleading or begging. She set her expression into a frown. "Stepmother, I need to speak to you. Now."

There was the click of the bolt and the door opened. "Why Cinderella," Lady Tremaine gave her a closed and tight-lipped smile, "is there anything I can do to help you? I was just about to go out." Lucifer made a figure eight around and through her legs. She bent down to scratch behind his ears and he replied with a purr.

Cinderella didn't move aside, standing in the middle of the doorway. "Stepmother, the Headless Horseman has attacked the Cast Members, and two children have been taken."

"Oh," her shaded eyelids rose in surprise. "How unfortunate. We shouldn't be surprised, though, not with everything that's happened." Reaching into an ornate, beautifully carved stand covered with spiraling patterns, she took out her cane. "I promise I know nothing about it, and you well know I never go back on my word. I've been here in my room since meeting your friends earlier. Believe me, I'm well aware of how you and others view me, but I've long since distanced myself from the insane, power hungry villains." This time when she smiled, it was genuine. "I much more prefer my comfortable retirement. Now, if you'll excuse me," she stepped right past her step-daughter and her cat followed, "I'm going to visit my sister."

She turned, enjoying the puzzled look on Cinderella's face. "Unless of course you forbid me, your highness."

Should she have? "No," she shook her head, "go on, but," she gave her a fierce stare, not unlike Tremaine's own, "I will be keeping an eye on you."

"Of course, of course," Tremaine chuckled. "Come along, Lucifer."

Cinderella wondered if she had done the right thing as she watched them leave.

A/N: I owe everyone an apology and an explanation. I'm very sorry it took as long as it did to update. Everyone who has left reviews and con crit has been extremely kind and patient. Thank you! I couldn't ask for better, more considerate readers. If you haven't forgotten about me, you're probably wondering where I've been. My school work load this past year was horrendous, on top of being very sick for long bouts of time. I was in a car accident, not a serious one, but it did aggravate some pre-existing conditions. On the bright side, I'm going to be an aunt within the month. I'm so looking forward to holding my baby niece for the first time. WerecatBoy and I are already talking about taking her to Disney World when she's old enough. :D

Also, I have to admit, the popularity of this story startled me a bit. (A mention on TV Tropes? Really?! Holy cow!) The more positive reviews I got, the more I thought I didn't deserve them. It baffled me. I kept doubting the project. I didn't think it was as good as it could be, and I kept going back through my notes and finding ways to make it better. For a time, I almost gave up on it, because I didn't think I could deliver a story as good as people were telling me this was. I didn't want to disappoint, even if it is just fan fiction. If I'm doing something that makes people smile, I don't ever want to slip to sub-par standards. I write not just for myself, but to entertain others. I love making people laugh, smile, or even get a chill. If I can give people even just five minutes of a much needed escape from reality so they can laugh or get away from stress, anger, or sadness, then I've done my job. Because we all need that escape at some point, that safe haven. That's what I want to give to readers.

Is that egotistical, whiny, depressing...? If so, I'm sorry. Well, whatever my moping and groaning was, it's gone now. :)

To all of you who read and leave reviews, thank you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You guys are awesome!