Sorry for taking forever, but hey, work and school projects are no fun. At least I got it in before the end of the year. And yes, I stink at writing fight scenes. Hope you enjoy this latest adventure.

All characters belong to Disney.

Two days later...

"So this is the town of Blooming! Isn't it just romantic?"

As per the norm, Daisy's attempts at romance went ignored. However, this time it wasn't because Daisy was being horribly annoying. A little something had changed within the party, ever since they met their newest arrival.

Currently, Minerva – now dubbed 'Minnie' by her companions – was sitting in the carriage, along with Goofy and Daisy. Her story was plain and simple, unlike her beauty. She was on her way to see her mother, who was residing in Camelot. This was nothing but a hitchhiking ride.

Yet, try telling that to Mickey and Pete.

The former Prince , on top of his gray steed, was mouthing long speeches to memorize, in order to impress the damsel. Such a lovely lady deserved to be on his arm, he believed. What an excellent Queen she would make! After all, there was little doubt in his mind that he would not become king. In time, she would swoon over him, and become his. They'd marry, have little Pete-lings, and live happily ever after.

As for Mickey...it was a tad more complicated. He wasn't sure what he was feeling for Minnie. He enjoyed her presence, sure enough. Heck, he enjoyed everything about her, from her cute little bow down to her petite feet. It was just bizarre...how could merely looking at her feel him with such elation? Even now, he was taking glances at the carriage, hoping he could see her sensational smile.

Ye gods, what was wrong with him?

Inside the carriage, returning to the conversation, Minnie merely nodded at Daisy's observation, before looking to Goofy. "So...Merlin - "

"Goofy." he interrupted with a smile.

"Oh, yes, Goofy. I just want to see if I have this all correct." She looked outside of the carriage, to the left. "You're all bringing Prince Pete to Camelot to see if he is the next King of England."

"Yup!" The magician responded, giving a thumbs-up. "We're all here to help out Pete! And you too, I guess." He rubbed his chin. "Lesse...if what Donald said was right, we gotta pass through here and get to Hercule's Stadium, and then we'll be straight on through to Camelot!"

Minnie frowned, however, petting down her frilly dress a little. "It sounds dangerous...have women, like the one with the snake, always been attacking you?"

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about." Daisy replied, waving the matter away with her hand. "It's just The Covenant...they're nothing against this team."

"Oh, yes, that's right." Minnie slowly nodded. "You're a former member."

"Bingo." Daisy quipped, although she didn't remember when she had told Minnie such a fact. She dismissed it, and looked back outside. "We'll probably need to stay here for the night...an inn shouldn't be too far away. It's a busy place."

Blooming was a large town, circular in shape. It seemed as if everyone was moving, and nothing was standing still. All the residents seemed to be tall, and even the playing children created large shadows on the walls. The bustling town took no notice of the new tourists, too busy with their own lives.

Donald suddenly lifted his head up, and cupped a hand to his ear. "Hey...does anyone else hear that?"

Pete and Mickey, startled out of their daydreams, looked to the fowl. "I don't hear nothin, duck!" Pete snapped., angry that he was easily forgetting his monologues. "Don't you run off like the Mouse did!"

Ignoring the embarrassment that came of that, Mickey sat up straight, paying close attention. "...Actually, I hear something too." he finally said, looking quite curious. "I think it's trumpets!"

The wizard poked his head out of the carriage, hearing some of the fuss. "We ran into some puppets?"

"TRUMPETS." Donald quacked, glaring down at Goofy from atop the carriage. "We heard TRUMPETS. I think they're coming from the left..." With a snap of the reigns, he managed to make Spirit move in the direction of the loud instruments.

Right in the town square, which already stood out in the circle of a town, were four long poles, stuck right into the crevices of the stone that paved the ground. There were red strings connecting the poles, creating a bit of a box. Some people had actually paused in their schedule to see what this was all about...many of these were muscular men, bulky and intimidating. The strangest sight amongst these lanky men were the smallest creatures the heroes had yet come upon...two brown chipmunks, belting out ear-shattering tones from golden trumpets.

The carriage came to a slow stop, and the passengers stared in shock. Just what in the world was going on here?

Goofy swung open the carriage door, and instantly tripped, his face landing flat in a puddle. He then stood up, dusted himself off, and smiled, as if the painful accident had not just occurred, and as if water was not dripping off his face comically.

Mickey slid off of Pegasuses , and touched the carriage door, looking at the inhabitants inside. Seeing that Minnie would be next to walk out, he quickly took off his hat, and put it on the puddle. The female looked down, but gave him a smile, carefully stepping on the hat, and then walking onto dry ground. The final woman, Daisy, stood in the doorway of the carriage, smirking at Mickey. "Feeling chivalrous today, are we?"

With a bit of tint coming to his cheeks, Mickey quickly grabbed his feathered hat, and plopped it down on his head. He winced at the cold feeling, but nervously smiled anyway. "Well...she...uh...she is our guest." He stammered. "No reason for her to get her shoes dirty because of us."

Daisy gave a theatric roll of her eyes before leaving the carriage.

When the entire gang was assembled, this seemed to be satisfactory for the chipmunks, as their music, if you could call it that, stopped. To the left, the one with a red nose, stood up straight. "Welcome one and all, to Blooming's twenty-fourth annual Strong Man contest! I'm Dale, and this my brother Chip, and we'll be your hosts!"

"That's right!" The other squeaked, with noticeably smaller teeth and a black nose. "As always, the prize is one million pounds, and the title of the Strongest Man in Blooming!"

There were many murmurs among the crowd, now quite interested. Pete rubbed his hands together greedily, already imagining how he'd spend the riches. "This'll be easy as pie!" He boasted, to anyone that would listen. "My pa always said that I had too much muscle to have any brains!"

Donald frowned, although not from the obvious stupidity that was just shown. "It sounds too easy...there's always a catch."

As if hearing the duck's complaint, Dale spoke once more, gesturing to the ring. "After you sign up, the tournament will begin, and the finalist will have the honor with going against our reigning champion, Clayton!"

The chipmunks blew their trumpets again, as a well-dressed man entered the wrestling ring. Smoothing his small mustache a bit, he smiled at the crowd, soon after giving a bit of a bow. "It's my pleasure, boys. But as always, this victory isn't for me...it's for my children!" He waved a hand to the right of the ring, and three beings stepped out. The trio consisted of a a girl with ragged hair and curly lips, a taller boy with a thin face, that held a sneering expression, and a fat, round boy that was deathly pale with a haunting grin. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel...it's always for my adorable kids."

The trio burst into high-pitched fits of giggles, sending anyone near them quickly inching away. If they were adorable, what was Clayton's idea of ugly?

Chip waved his arms about, trying to recapture the crowd's attention. "Sign up right now, and the fights will begin at six o'clock tonight! Step right up, and take a chance!"

In a matter of seconds, the square became nearly deserted.

After watching a dust ball roll by, Goofy finally spoke up. "Gwarsh...looks like they're all afraid of Clayton."

"That scrawny guy?" Pete snorted, finding the idea laughable. "He wouldn't even be a challenge to me!"

Mickey shrugged. "We should probably go and find an inn...we don't need this to hold us back, I'm sure we can keep going on the money we have."

"That's too bad." Daisy chirped, calmly placing an arm around a startled Minnie. "Because, well, maybe it's just me, but this does seem like a good time to impress a nice girl..."

There seemed to be a long pause, as this single thought registered. In the next moment, Chip and Dale were nearly run over by the prince and the squire! After manging to slam in their brakes, Pete glared down at the frightened animals. "Sign me up! I'm going to win this, hands-down!"

Dale pointed to his brother. "Uh...y-you have to do it with Ch-Chip!" He shook, ready to run at a moment's notice.

Chip already had a scroll of paper out, along with a long quill pen. Mickey carefully took the quill, and scribbled his name down.

Pete stared at this, and then held his belly, roaring in laughter. "You're signing up, Mouse?" He guffawed, nearly in tears. "You're a pebble compared to me! You wouldn't last two seconds!"

The squire shot a glare up at his superior, ticked off. "Well...after some thinking...a little extra money wouldn't hurt..." He tried to regain his composure. "And if we're both entered, there's a bigger chance of us getting the pounds."

Pete shook his head, hastily grabbing the pen away from the smaller one. "If you want to embarrass yourself, it's no skin off my bones." He dabbled his name down nearly illegibly, and then took a step back.

"Hey, fellas." A smooth voice came from behind. "Mind if I take a swing?"

The heroes turned around to see the only challengers remaining. In Pete's direction was a gray bear with a light-toned belly. His muscle and fat ratio seemed to be evening out, and his arms swung about easily, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Name's Baloo." He spoke again, lightly taking the quill. "Always cool to have some extra dough laying around...may as well give it a shot." He leaned down, and took his time signing in.

The second he was finished, the pen was snatched away by the second of the pair. This one, a human, was more muscular, and a bit handsomer, with his long black hair in a ponytail and a strapping young face that heightened his features. "Yes, yes, if you're quite finished, the real winner must put his name down." With an elegant grace, he began to write, pronouncing each letter. "G, A, S, T, O, N. That would be Gaston to all of you." He dropped the pen, and Dale tried to catch it. He went on, undeterred. "The most handsome, suave, and soon to be strongest man in all of Blooming. You can all ask for my autograph later."

Donald glanced to Daisy, whispering. "Never thought we'd meet a guy with an ego bigger than Pete."

Daisy nodded. "Meet Pete squared."

Clayton leaned against one of the poles, studying his future opponents. "This is going to be an interesting year...all right, come six o'clock, the first match will be between the cat and the bear."

Pete pointed directly at Clayton. "That's Prince Pete to you!" He then swiveled to Baloo. "And I'll try to go easy on you..."He smirked devilishly. "But no promises!"

"'S all right." Baloo smiled, scratching his tummy a tad. "Hope we have some fun."

Clayton stretched the ropes, stepping out. "Then after that, the mouse will fight Gaston."

Mickey looked up to the snob, and held out a hand. "Good luck to the both of us." He smiled, waiting for a handshake.

However, Gaston turned away, dusting his hands. "Luck? I do not NEED luck...I am Gaston! I'll try and hear your cries of mercy."

Clayton, now behind his children, finished his announcement. "The winners of those matches will fight each other, and the finalist there will face me. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go prepare for the match." He began to walk off, his children following.

"You'll win, Dad!" Lock cackled, wiggling her fingers.

"You always do!" Chorused Shock, snickering wildly.

"No matter what!" Giggled Barrel, stumbling about on his pudgy feet.

After the big exit, Chip tugged on Mickey's robes, trying to get his attention. "We have an exclusive inn where the fighters can stay until the matches. It's right this way!" he began to dash off, his brother quickly following. Fighters and friends alike followed, dreaming about the matches that would follow that evening.

With two hours until the first match, the participants, along with the non, made a modest meal, and trained for battle. While Pete, Baloo, and Gaston were lifting heavy objects in order to increase their muscle, Mickey was outside, running back and forth , from building to building, leaping from the edges of windowsills, and exercising all of his limbs and agility.

Stepping outside of the inn for a moment, Daisy put a hand to her beak, and called out. "Mickey! Soup's on!"

Leaping from the roof of the carriage, the squire landed before her, although wobbling a bit on his entrance. "W-Whoa..."He gathered his balance, and stood up. "Thanks, Daisy!"

She tilted her head, looking at him quizzically. "Mickey, what in the world have you been doing out here?"

He gave off a chuckle, holding his hands behind his back, and swaying on his heels with pride. "I hate to admit it, but Pete's right. I'm not the biggest or strongest fellow out there...but what I lack in size, I can make up for in speed!" He leaned from side to side, stretching out his legs. "They can't toss or hit what they can't catch."

With a giggle, Daisy gave her friend a thumbs up, and stepped aside to let him inside. "I know you've got as much chance as anyone else..." As he walked inside, she winked at him. "And here's hoping Minnie watches!"

Mickey paused in his stride, and turned around to look at her. "Are you still harping about that?"

"Harping's such a ugly word." Daisy stepped inside, closing the door behind her. "Accurate, but ugly."

The mouse gave a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples. "Listen, Daisy...I'll admit she's pretty. But that's about it." He turned away. "We barely know anything about her. For all we know, she could be nasty when she's alone...we're just dropping her off to her mother." He began walking away, looking for the dining room. "Sorry, but your theory's a real goose egg."

The former witch crossed her arms, watching Mickey walk away. "I'm a duck!" She snapped, unable to understand the metaphor. "Why must men be so stubborn?" She sighed out loud to no one, and decided to try and see what the female mouse thought. She searched around, and managed to find Minnie's room. She gave a few taps, changing her face of anger to one of sheer merriment. "Minnie, dear!" She cooed. "Dinner's ready!"

There was a pause, and then the door creaked open. The petite pretty stepped out, holding her own hands. "Thank you, Daisy."

The nosy one leaned in, ever curious. "Anyone in particular you want to sit next to?" She murmured, raising her eyebrows.

Minnie gave her a blank stare, trying to understand. She then gave off a small shrug. "It doesn't matter."

"Oh, come on!" the busybody demanded, her voice getting louder. "There has to be someone you'd prefer sitting next to!"

The newcomer slumped her shoulders, rather tired. "It really doesn't matter...besides, I don't want to get any real attachments." She stepped out into the hallway.

Watching her carefully, Daisy spoke again, intrigued. "What do you mean? Don't you like us?"

Oddly pained, Minnie looked at Daisy once more, with a weak smile. "I'm only here for a little while, and it's just to see my mother...once we get to Camelot, we'll go our own separate paths, and probably never see each other again. It'd be much more painful if we really liked each other..." With that settled, she too headed off to eat.

Flabbergasted, Daisy stared at her supposed friend as she left, putting her hands on her hips. "Oooooh..." She growled, grinding her upper and lower bill together. "That settles it. Mice are just dumb, period!" She then stuck out a finger, shaking it to the air as if disciplining an imaginary friend. "But don't you two worry!" She announced, knowing full well neither could hear her. "I'll make it my personal mission to make sure you fall madly in love, and live in romantic bliss, just like me and Donald!"

Donald looked up from his soup bowl, a bit jumpy. "Anyone else get a cold chill down their backs?"

The two mice raised their hands in unison.

The bells of Blooming rang in a nearly haunting manner, six times in loud choruses. The hour of the matches had begun! The town square in a town of circles was filled with an eager crowd, all attention focused on the red wrestling match. The two chipmunks raced to the middle, and blew their golden trumpets to ensure they would be heard. After their playing, Dale spoke up. "Welcome, once more, to Blooming's twenty-fourth annual Strong Man contest! As always, I'm Dale, and my brother Chip and I will be hosting this amazing event!"

"The rules are as follows." Chip added, taking a pause to clear his throat. "The fighters assigned must stay in the ring at all times. If you leave the ring, you are disqualified! These are matches of pure strength...no weapons are allowed! Otherwise, do whatever it takes to make your opponent leave the ring, or have him say Uncle! No time limits!"

"The rounds are as follows!" Dale continued, stepping forward and trying to capture more looks than his sibling. "Pete versus Baloo! And then, Mickey versus Gaston! The winners of those two face each other - "

"And THAT winner will face Clayton for the grand prize of one million pounds and the title of Strongest Man In Blooming!" Chip eagerly finished, smirking at his annoyed brother.

The crowd gave cheers, focusing in one a small spot, where Clayton stood proudly, feeling up his mustache in superiority. The trio of misfits was in front of him, giggling madly. They seemed to have their hands behind their back, but not in the innocent fashion Mickey had done before. Clayton stood up tall and proud, daring anyone to outmatch his pride. "This will be my sixth straight year of victory...I'd like to thank all my opponents who I've trampled up until now. I'll happily add these young fellows to that list...good luck to you all!"

There was another loud bang of cheers and jeers, and it took both chipmunks blasting their trumpets as shrieking volumes to get the audience settled. Once they had, they separated two different corners of the ring. In the upper left, Chip waved a hand about. "In this corner, the former prince of England, the cat who takes no spat, the man with a monster gut and bigger butt - "

"HEY!"

"...It's PETE!"

Stretching apart some of the long ropes, a vastly aggravated prince stepped inside, glaring at the small animal before, swelling up in his ego, taking in the hoots from the audience. He began to swing his fists around, stamp his feet, and look like a general idiot in his attempt to get more praise.

Dale, in the lower right corner, gave a small trumpet bleat, ready for his own announcement. "And in this corner, the big bad bear, the jazzing jungle man, the one and only hullabaloo, BALOO!"

The gray one easily swayed inside, chuckling as he heard all the various noises. He gave his sear a scratch, and flicked away a small bug, before giving a happy smile to those all around. While Pete gave off a foolish arrogant air, Baloo seemed like he didn't seem to care whether he would win or not.

The brothers then fled the ring, watching from the safety of outside the ring. "Aaaaaaaand..." they both squealed harmoniously, "FIGHT!"

With a gigantic roar, Pete ran forward with arms flailing, intending to squish Baloo flat as a pancake. The bear merely stood there, with his casual smile, but then stepped to his left. Pete, unable to stop, ran forward into the ropes, stretching them out, and then was sprung backwards, landing right on his behind. Comical laughter came about from the audience, infuriating the feline. He got up on his legs, and tried to swing punches at Baloo. The gray one merely swung back and forth from side to side, easily dodging all attacks.

"Come on, Pete!" Goofy called out, among the audience along with his companions. "Ya gotta calm down if you wanna win!"

"YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP, GOOF!" Pete snarled, shaking a fist at the magician. He then returned to the losing battle, hissing as he was unable to even touch his foe. As each attack failed, he began to grow exhausted, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

In the crowd, Mickey rubbed his chin, studying the fight. However, he caught something out of the corner of his eye...Clayton too was memorizing the battle, but his children were huddled together, whispering to one another. The girl, Lock, began to nod, and tapped the pudgy one, Barrel, on his shoulder. The three then faced forward toward the fight...but Barrel was wearing a mask, making his face look like a skeleton.

"What an odd time to play dress up..." Mickey murmured, trying to concentrate back on the arena. He then shook his head, doing a double take...Pete was landing punches on Baloo! When had that happened?!

"Take that!" The former Prince mocked, hammering over and over into his opponent. "And this, and some of that!"

The bear flailed slightly, his back bending behind, but his legs wouldn't move. "Hey, man, what's with my feet?" He tried to hold his head, reeling in pain. "Feels like I've got steel wrapped around my ankles..."

"That's the power of the PRINCE PETE PUNCH!" The black cat roared, sending both of his fists zooming forward, in a double whammy right to Baloo's nose!

The bear roared in agony, holding his face. "OKAY! Uncle, Uncle! I give, man!"

Chip and Dale hopped right back into the arena, tooting their horns three times before Chip spoke once more. "Baloo has surrendered! The winner is Pete, and he will move on to the semi-finals!"

Pete flexed slightly before stepping out of the ring, absorbing all the cheers from the crowd. He looked down at Minnie, and squeezed his arm to show off a bicep. "And that was me going EASY." He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Minnie looked him up and down, seeing him sag out of breath, and wrinkled her nose in the stench of his dripping sweat. "...I'm sure you were."

Baloo had to literally be dragged off of the stage, groaning something or other about his legs. The triplets cackled, now all faces bare once more. The chipmunks blew once more, and then retreated to their corners for the next match.

"In this corner!" Chip whistled, trying to get the crowd to settle and listen. "His name is his claim to fame, he's the hunter who just can't get caught, he never misses the mark even on your heart...GASTON!"

The well-toned egomaniac stepped into the ring, waving his hands to his supposed admirers. He then began blowing kisses, trying to entice more cries of praise. "That's it, keep it coming!" He hollered, smiling and showing off his pure white teeth.

Fortunately for Dale, it only took one blow of his horn for that mess to die down. "And in this corner, that little louse of a mouse, the zero who can become a hero, that squire who's not for hire...MICKEY MOUSE!"

"Go get 'em, Mick!" Goofy whistled, helping shove his tiny friend into the square. Donald gave a thumbs up, and Daisy tried to encourage Minnie to cheer loudly for their friend.

Embarrassed, Mickey stepped into the ring, unused to all the happy and urging shouts from all around. "...Oh boy..." He gave a timid wave behind him, thanking his companions.

The chipmunks jumped out of the square, but not before shouting "FIGHT!"

Gaston began stomping over to Mickey, putting his hands on his hips and looking down at him. "Well now...why don't we just save our time? Cry Uncle, and you won't have to suffer too much humiliation."

Mickey frowned, tipping his hat up so he could look up at his enemy. "You know, if you don't have something nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all."

The bigger man rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. "If you insist on losing your dignity..." he then made a grab for the mouse, who quickly darted out of the way. With a growl, the human tried to kick the moving rodent, but Mickey easily darted out of the way, using speed to his advantage. Going quick then Gaston had anticipated, he actually wound up behind the taller one, and gave him a swift kick to the rear.

"Way to go, Mickey!" Donald hooted, clapping his hands up high.

Minnie slowly nodded in agreement, looking a little surprised. "...He really is fast." she murmured, watching him duck and run between Gaston's legs. "He might stand a chance at winning."

"HA!"Pete snorted, rubbing his nose. "Even if that squirt did make it past here, I'd easily clobber him in the next round!"

Back in the arena, things took a sour twist. Mickey had concentrated on running...but not on stopping. This explained why he ran smack into one of the large red poles. "OW!"He sat on his behind,rubbing his forehead. "That smarts..."

Gaston grinned,leaning down and yanking the small curly tail that belong to the mouse. As the squire yelped in surprise, the hunter held his prize in the air, freshly caught. "Behold! 'Weakus Rodentius'!"He mocked.

Mickey groaned, feeling blood rush to his head, being upside down as he was. He tried to straighten his vision...and the first thing he saw again was the children. This time, it was Shock wearing a mask, painted to appear as if he were a devil...

...Suddenly, Gaston cried out, and staggered back in shock. "M-my eyes!" he shrieked, stepping backwards. "What...I can't see! I CAN'T SEE!" In his moment of fright, he dropped the squire right on his head. The young one sat up, trying to see Gaston's plight...but his eyes looked fine!

"What happened to my beautiful, dashing eyes?!" The hunter continued to wail, continuing to step back in horror. "I can't see! SOMEONE HELP ME!" He screamed, his back hitting the ropes. "MOMMY!" With one more step, he yelled in terror, and fell over and out of the ring.

The chipmunks looked at each other, shrugged, blew their horns, and announced once more. "By default, the winner is Mickey Mouse, and he will face Pete in the semi-finals!"

Pete grinned, climbing into the ring once more. He made sure to glance at Minnie as he did this, grinning wildly. "This one's for you, babe!"

Minnie laughed nervously, tugging at the collar of her dress, and then leaned sideways towards Daisy. "Does he do this to you?"

Daisy gagged. "No, thank goodness."

Mickey, however, wasn't paying attention to the furor around him...he was staring right at the children. The strange afflictions with the warriors had begun when the masks came on...something was terribly amiss here...he was shoved out of his thoughts when Pete cleared his throat rather loudly. He slowly turned around to meet his superior.

"Prince or not, you still belong to me." The cat snarled dangerously, leaning down. "Which means you still have to obey my orders...and right now, I order you to surrender."

Mickey's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "...Surrender?...But...Pete...can't we at least have a fair - "

"You heard me!"Pete roared, shaking a fist at the inferior whelp.

Mickey shrunk back a little, and looked to his friends. They too shared looks of unhappiness, having anticipated this battle. He sighed, looking back at his owner. "...Yes, Pete..."

"Now hold on just a moment!"

Gasps were flung around the scene, as Clayton stretched the ropes, and entered the ring. "Just an outfight surrender is no fun at all!" he wagged a finger at Pete, but looked quite excited. "How about we spice things up...the both of you, against me!"

The cat and the mouse stared at the suggestion, and then Mickey looked to the chipmunks. "...Can we do that?"

"I don't know..." Chip rubbed his chin, giving it some thought.

"Let him do it!" Shock suddenly shrieked, slamming a fist onto the arena. "Our dad can beat an entire army, he can beat these chumps!"

"Well boys?" Clayton smirked, narrowing his eyes. "Feel up to the challenge?"

"This sounds like fun!" Dale shouted, waving a fist about. "Let's do it, right here and now!"

Chip groaned, but shrugged. "Oh, all right...Ladies and Gentlemen!" he announced. "We've reached the finals! The two man team of Pete and Mickey, versus our reigning champion, Clayton!" He took a deep breath, and with Dale, yelled at the top of his lungs, "FIGHT!"

Without any warning to Mickey, Pete rushed forward, trying to drive both of his fists into Clayton's chest. Clayton met this challenge, holding up his own hands, and slamming them into Pete's! The two heavy hitters trying to shove the other one back, growling in frustration.

Mickey quickly thought of a battle strategy, and tried to run forward...but his legs wouldn't move! He looked down at his feet, and while they looked fine, his hips down refused to budge! "H-Hey!" He cried out, slowly putting the pieces together. "This...this is what Baloo was taking about!" To confirm his suspicions, he looked at the children...Barrel was wearing his mask! To make matters worse, Shock was putting his on as well! Mickey waved his arms up and down, trying to catch attention. "Pete! Pete, the kids!"

It was too late, as Pete suddenly cried out in horror. "My eyes!"He stumbled back, and Clayton easily shoved him down. "What's the gag...I can't see!"

Clayton smirked, giving Pete a small kick. "Ready to cry Uncle?"

"NEVER!"Pete snarled, trying to find his footing...and failed, falling again. "SOMEONE TURN MY EYES ON!"

Mickey was yanking on his right leg, trying to get some movement, but nothing came of it. He tried to look at the children, shaking a fist at them. "You three! Stop it, you're cheating!"

Ignoring him, and adding to Mickey's horror, Lock was putting on her own mask...made her features sagged and more hideous...it made the mouse's eyes widen. It was a WITCH mask!

Upon that newly donned mask, Clayton's muscles seemed to bulge, but he had taken no notice. He leaned down, and easily lifted Pete up over his head! "Alley oop!" He laughed, and threw the humongous oaf right into the crowd, where he flattened about sixteen fans. As Pete groaned in pain, Clayton began making his way towards Mickey, rubbing his hands together deviously.

Mickey gulped, and tried pointing to the triplets. "W-wait a minute! Your kids, your kids are cheating!" He stammered.

Clayton placed a hand on the top of Mickey's head. "What in the world do my little angels have to do with any of this?"

"They've been CHEATING!" Mickey shouted, exasperated. "Whenever the wear the skeleton mask, legs turn into lead, like mine! And...and when they wear the devil mask, eyes can't see! And I think that witch mask makes you super strong!"

"Now that's just ridiculous." Clayton began to lift Mickey up with ease, just with that one hand. "Like I need their help in order to win! I'm the reigning champion!"

The crowd murmured, talking about the strange conversation going on. Goofy, cheery as ever, bent over to the children. "Well, I dunno if yer cheating or not, but those are some real nice masks! Can I try one on?"

"NO!" All three of them shrieked, but the magician easily plucked off the skeleton mask. In that instant, Mickey stumbled, his legs unused to the weight shift. However, he managed to catch his footing, and glared up at Clayton.

"Are you quite done harassing my children?" Clayton snapped, cracking his knuckles and looking quite dangerous. Mickey paled...wrong mask. Clayton made a grab for for the mouse, but the little squire ran away...now rather frantic.

"The WITCH mask!" Mickey shrieked, trying to avoid the musclebound foe. "Witch! Witch! WITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWITCH!" Unfortunately, it was too late to follow up on that order, as the champion copied Gaston's move, yanking Mickey by his tail. Showing no mercy, he twirled the rodent in the air, around and around, until there was a black blur above his hand. He then let go, and the mouse sailed into the crowd...knocking right into the triplets. The masks flew off, including the very important witch one...Clayton's muscles sucked back into their regular shape, but it seemed he was the only one who took notice.

"Mickey!" His friends cried out, and rushed to his aide. The crowd gaped and murmured, stunned by the fight and transformations. The triplets , after getting up from being bowled over, crawled into the ring,lest they be trampled.

Minnie gently sat Mickey up, as his head tilted left to right, back and forth, rather dizzy. "Mickey!" She held his shoulders, trying to steady him. "Oh, Mickey, are you all right?"

Mickey shook his head, trying to straighten his vision...he blinked, hard, to see the lovely maiden's face in such a state of panic. It made his heart stop...so she really was more than just looks. She cared about others. Cared about him, more importantly. He swallowed, and tried to stand up, rejecting her help. "...Uh...y-yeah...just dandy..." He laughed nervously, trying to fight off any signs of a blush.

Fortunately the awkward encounter was interrupted, by Clayton's cruel laughter. "Once again, I am the reigning champion! I'll take my money now..."

"Now hold on just one second!" Donald snapped, pointing a finger to the ring. "Are you blind? You just went from skinny to macho in the snap of a finger! Those masks are magical objects!"

Clayton rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I'm sure you were just imagining things..."

"No, he's right!" Dale called out, and then was accompanied by his brother. "We all saw it!" Soon the crowd turned into an uproar, joining in that they too had seen the startling change. Clayton and the kids began to back up...

Even though he was having a hurricane of a headache, Mickey managed to crawl back into the ring, although his movements were wobbly. "This had to be the first time you were cheating, though..." He spoke up, and the audience grew quiet. "Otherwise, such a transformation would have been noticed all those other years." His eyes fell on the children. "Where did you get those masks?"

"Nowhere." Lock snapped, looking away.

"None of your business." Shock added, sticking out his tongue.

"Big lady in purple and black." Barrel piped up, but was smacked over the head by his siblings.

"You dummy! You weren't supposed to tell!" The boy and girl screamed, ready to tear the fat one apart, but Clayton stooped down, picking Lock and Shock up by the collars of their shirts.

"I want explanations." he growled, his hangs clenching very tightly. "NOW!"

Barrel shyly looked up, toeing the floor. "...Well, dad...lately, we've seen you getting gray hairs...getting tired over big jobs...you looked like you were getting too old to win. One day, we were playing in the woods, and this lady draped in black and purple came up and gave us these masks...she said they'd help you win."

Clayton growled, and dropped the other two, who landed with an 'eek' and an 'ow'. "Did you think I would approve of this? I don't care if I turn eighty and need a cane...the best victories come from the fair ones!"

While the children pleaded apologies, Pete finally regained consciousness, sitting up. "Ow..."He rubbed his head. "...What happened? Did I win?"

"On the contrary." Chip squeaked, he and his brother reentering the ring. "You and Squire Mickey were tossed out of the ring...and Clayton cheated...so you all lost. There's no winner this year!"

Disappointed grumbles came all around, and the audience began to depart. The heroic gang came together once more, tending to Pete and Mickey's slight injuries.

"This is terrible." Daisy frowned, looking over Mickey's shoulder. "I know I used to be a member and all...but I can't believe The Covenant would go as low as to trick children!"

"Brainwash 'em young, keep 'em for life." Donald grumbled, shaking his head in disapproval. "Seems like they really are trying to set England up for their rule." He then looked to the feathered female. "They said something about a woman in purple and black robes...ringing any bells?"

Daisy cupped her chin, and tried to think. "...Well, hard to say...our fashion usually doesn't go much beyond that."

"I think we're all missing a big point here!" Pete suddenly snarled, glaring down at all his companions. "Wherever we go, one of those witches shows up..before we're there, even!" he then leaned down dangerously near Daisy. "Are you sure you aint still working for them?"

Daisy yelped, and hid behind Donald. "I'm not! I havn't even used my magic since I met all of you, there's no way they could trace me!"

"Either way, looks like we'd best be goin'." Goofy added with a chirp, beginning to walk away. "Next stop is Hercules' Stadium...maybe if we're lucky, we can beat the witches there!"

The companions began to follow him, going over the day's events in their minds. How were the witches following them? What would these women do in order to claim England?

Yet one question rang in two heads that suddenly seemed more important than the previous ones...

Am I in love?

End Of Chapter Five.