Chapter 7: An Uprising
Later that night back in Toon Town in Mickey's house, Mickey slept in his bed while Pluto slept on the floor next to him. At this time it seemed that nothing would disturb his sleep; until the phone rang unexpectedly.
RRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!!!
Mickey woke up by the sound of Pluto's barking. "Whoa, what is it Pluto? Is something the matter pal?" Then he turned his head to the phone when it rang the second time. "Oh, well now who would be calling at this hour?" Picking it up, he answered. "Hello?"
"Mickey Mouse, I'm sorry to call you this late," It was Sara Hawkins speaking, her voice a bit anxious. "But it's Jim. I don't know what's gotten into him, but he just woke up with this…this cold emotionless look on his face. I told him to get back to bed, but he shoved me on the floor without even apologizing." Her voice choked. "Then Jim said he was going to give Michael a piece of his mind…before taking off on his surfboard. He ignored every word I said."
Mickey was shocked by this. "What, that doesn't sound like Jim. Was there anything else he said about Michael?"
"All Jim said was that he wanted to give Michael a piece of his mind and make him pay for all of this," answered Sara hesitantly.
"Haven't you tried calling the space cops?"
"I've done that, but they were unable to track him down. Now I'm worried Jim might have flown down to Michael's office doing who-knows-what to get himself in trouble."
"Alright, now calm down Mrs. Hawkins," Mickey pleaded. "I'm sure Jim is fine. Perhaps he's still a bit worked up from what's been happening with our company lately. So…"
BEEP! Before Mickey could finish, another sound signaled a call on the other line. Thinking quickly, he spoke to Sara.
"…listen I got a call on the other line. But if Jim is still on Montressor somewhere, keep this in touch with the space cops. I'll check the office and contact the Toon Patrol." He dialed on the other line for the next call. "Hello?"
"Mickey, this is Pearl Gesner speakin'," the voice answered with the same hysterical tone. "I just woke up after hearin' a commotion outside and witnessed the girls stompin' their way outta the farm. I tried to stop'em, but they wouldn't listen to me. They just kept marchin' and marchin' till they was outta sight on the train headin' to California."
Mickey listened in as Pearl's anxious words went on when she explained how her dear cows had these angry, emotionless expressions on their faces as if they weren't themselves. And when another call came from the Atlantis crew, Mickey was already getting this bad feeling that something fishy was happening with the five and realized that he needed to drive down to the office to check on things right away.
In front of the office
Mickey drove his toon car hastily until it was parked in front of the office. Then he and Pluto hopped off to dash up the stairs. To their surprise, the doors were torn and the windows were broken. Mickey's face had turned pale as he looked around, taking a full scope of the damage. The glass and wood pieces littered the ground.
"Oh no," Mickey's voice was empty and hollow-sounding while he stared at the big wreckage. "What happened here?"
"THEY HAPPENED HERE OF COURSE!"
Mickey jumped a bit when Michael Eisner just popped in front of the torn door, shouting in an angry, outraged voice.
"Those characters from those five useless movies just came crashing in here and started tearing up the place, trying to get to me. Look at the mess they made inside!"
Entering the office, Mickey's eyes grew wider with shock to find shredded paper, chewed wood, broken pencils, and other office supplies scattered all over the place. It was almost as if a strong gust of wind had blown itself in and messed up everything in its path.
"Oh my goodness!" Mickey gasped, as did Pluto. "I can't believe what I'm seeing. Are you sure it was…?" his voice trailed off.
"I'm positive Mickey," Michael interrupted, picking up some shredded paper to show him. "Look at this, paper torn apart and bitten by two talking bears." He pointed to the doors. "Doors knocked down by three cows. Windows are broken and it's going to take forever to clean up this mess. I gotta call the janitor tomorrow and tighten up security."
"Now wait a minute Michael, there must be some kinda mistake here. No one in my family would ever do a thing like this on their own unless…" He then turned to Michael with a meaningful glance. "Where are they now? I'm sure I can straighten this all out by having a talk with them. Where are they?"
That was when Michael suddenly clapped his mouth in silence, and then turned to walk out of the office, leaving Mickey's question unanswered. Mickey furrowed his eyebrow suspiciously, sensing that there was something hiding behind the CEO's silent treatment. And it certainly wasn't going to stop the beloved mouse from anything.
"Michael, I said where are they?" Mickey shouted sternly, catching up to him. "What's going on here?" Michael kept on walking down the halls until Mickey hollered angrily. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" That was when the CEO stopped in his tracks, but refused to turn his back to Mickey. "I deserve to know what happened with every member of my family. This is my park and my home as it is Walt's. And I ain't leaving here until you tell me what happened to them."
Seeing that there might have been no use in keeping the mouse in the dark, Michael reluctantly admitted to his act. "I…sent them away…Mickey."
Mickey's face turned paler with an expression of shock and betrayal. Pluto had done the same. Did he just say what Mickey thought he said?
"You…what?"
"I had to banish them Mickey," Michael answered without any guilt in his voice. "They were in league with Maleficent. She was commanding them to attack me. I saw it with my own eyes."
"MALEFICENT?!" Mickey could barely contain his anger from within. "That's outrageous. No one in my family would ever go with the villains under any circumstances and you know it. I know those five! None of them would ever do such a thing!" He then furiously pointed his finger at Michael. "We've waited long enough to settle things with you Michael Eisner and hoped that you would listen. But this time, you've crossed the line! Come on Pluto!"
Pluto made a low growl at Michael before following Mickey outside the office. Michael glanced over his shoulder to see that they were gone in a rush. Believing that he had nothing to fear from Mickey and the other toons, the CEO walked over to the nearest telephone in one of the nearest offices to make a secret call.
"Hello security, this is Michael Eisner calling. Now that those five so-called heroes are out of my sight, I want you to do something else for me. Fire their costars. We can't take any more chances."
Mickey did not want Michael or Pluto to ever notice the tears stinging in his eyes after dashing out from the office to the front gates. He just couldn't believe what Michael didn't want to tell him. The man just drove away part of his family from the park and the home where they belonged. How could he do that? Everyone in Toon Town knew that the real world was dangerous and unknown for a toon to be wondering out on their own without any experience. The heartbroken mouse refused to believe that the five were gone for good. That is until he recently got a call from the Toon Patrol reporting that the five were nowhere to be found.
"JIM, MILO, KENAI, MAGGIE!!" Mickey cried out in despair, clutching the iron bars of the front locked gates. "KUZCO, KODA, GRACE, WHERE ARE YOU!?" No answer came from the outside.
All Mickey saw were cars driving down the streets, but no sign of the banished five. It couldn't be true, but it was. A saddened Pluto tried his best to comfort Mickey with a soft nudge. Mickey was grateful for that when he gave his dog a pat on the head, but deep down, his broken heart remained empty and unfulfilled without the banished five. Why couldn't he have seen this coming? Then he might have known that Maleficent and the rest of the villains would be up to something. But how could he prove that to Michael? Mickey sank to the ground as tears were beginning to fall from his eyes. It troubled his mind to wonder what exactly Maleficent did to cause them to snap and attack the office. She must have somehow used her powers to fill their heads with lies.
"Aw Pluto, how could I let this happen?" Mickey turned to Pluto with sorrowful eyes. "I always knew Michael Eisner was getting out of hand with everything, but I never stopped to think that he would do a thing like banishment…especially if you hear that someone you care about is…gone."
Mickey buried his face in Pluto's shoulder and burst into an agony of tears. He never even noticed Pluto had also wept for him. Since he could not talk, all Pluto could do was stay with Mickey, never wanting to leave him. It pained him too much to see his dear master in this much sorrow and agony. The five underrated heroes could be anywhere by now.
Elsewhere near the docks off the coast of California, the Forgotten Five sadly sat and waited for a boat to come and take them away to a land known as the Island of Forgotten Dreams. The island was known by most humans and toons to be a terrible place where banished toons went to not only be forgotten forever, but to be faded out of existence. The boat however wasn't due to arrive until 4am and it was now 3:15am. None of them were bothered with waiting that long. At least they could use this spare time to chat amongst each other and remember how Mickey's visitation made them feel important and wanted, unlike those silly humans who always scorned them for being different. What was so wrong with being different anyway? Well whatever the reason, the five were now left with the belief that perhaps Mickey and the gang will be better off without them once the boat gets here and takes them away forever.
"So…what do you guys think will happen once Mickey finds out we're gone?" Kuzco piped up, cutting off the long moment of silence. He wasn't in the mood for jokes and he figured that the others wouldn't be as well.
"Who knows," Jim said coldly, his head facing down. "It's not like we're that important for everyone else to even notice that five underappreciated heroes are missing under their noses. They'll be too busy celebrating their own success. I just know it. And if we go back now, what will Mickey think of us when he sees what we've done?"
"Maybe if we tried to explain…" Grace was starting to somehow suggest going back to settle things.
"EXPLAIN WHAT?!" Jim exploded, turning around to face a startled Grace. "How in the heck are we to explain how we found ourselves at the office without knowing it? How do we explain that we had nothing to do with that tall black lady after she appeared and made it look like we were working for her? How could we prove it? No one will believe us!"
Jim's anger and outburst caused Grace to step back and remain silent. From what he mentioned, there was no use arguing with that. Jim could only turn away to face the open sea. He didn't truly mean to lash out at her. But the emotions of disappointment, shame, and humiliation were finally getting to him as it was with Kuzco, Milo, Kenai, Koda, and the girls. He was angry at himself and the world. To be treated differently and ridiculed hurt so terribly, that it stung his eyes with tears.
"Alright, let's not use these last couple of minutes quarreling with one another," Kenai said calmly, holding a sleeping Koda in his arms. "I'm as upset and broken as you all are. But as long as we're together, we'll be fine…I mean…until the boat comes."
So none of the heroes said another word as they patiently waited in their own sorrow for the boat to come and take them to the Island of Forgotten Dreams.
"You know what I think," Maggie uttered lowly. "I think humans stink. Who needs them?"
The others agreed to this, knowing that her phrase did not include the human toons.
Back at the gates
For five minutes, the five were unaware that Mickey had still been crying on Pluto, lamenting the loss of his friends who were banished from the Magic Kingdom. He did care that they were gone, no matter what people said about them. Everyone in the Magic Kingdom knew that a beloved icon like Mickey Mouse would never lie, cheat, or take advantage of his family for whatever reason. Sure he made mistakes sometimes, but that didn't mean he was capable of hurting someone on purpose. He never had the heart to turn anyone away like Michael just did. What was he to do now?
"Mickey."
Mickey's weeping was suddenly interrupted when his ears perked up at the sound of Minnie's voice. He raised his head to see that Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Horace Horse Collar, Clarabelle, and Daisy were standing in front of him and Pluto, staring sadly.
"We heard what happened after we got these calls and…then we saw you and Pluto," Minnie declared. "Mickey, we're so sorry."
She went over to hug Mickey in a tight embrace and cried with him. Donald, Goofy, and Daisy soon followed. None of his friends could bear to see their club leader in this much pain. In his empty heart, those banished toons were no different than all the other toons who achieved more publicity and popularity, especially from Pixar. Even the critics' snotty opinions wouldn't change his feelings he held for them.
"Don't blame yourself Mickey," Minnie sobbed. "Don't you think that, even for one second that you caused their banishment. Michael did this, not you. None of us knew what was happening."
"Garsh, are we about to be banished too Mick?" Goofy whimpered. "Where would we go then? This is our one and only home."
That was when Mickey wiped away the last of his tears and looked at his friends with determination. "No, I won't have it." Then he stood up, encouragement kicking in. "I for one think we've waited far too long for things to get better around here. If we don't do something now, who knows what other terrible things Michael might do behind our backs. Sure he might have saved the company before when it got out of hand, but that was years ago. That was when he used to care. But this time, he's gone too far!" He stomped his foot in anger, surprising his friends.
"But what are we to do now Mick?" Goofy asked.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do, we're going to gather all our friends to meet us here and start an up rise against Michael. Whether he listens to us or not, we'll show him that we're not as helpless as he thinks we are!"
"YEAH!" Donald stepped up, shaking his fist in the air. "NOBODY BANISHES MY PALS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"
So from there, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and the rest of his pals went back to the park to contact all the Disney heroes, heroines, sidekicks, princes, and princesses by telephone and requesting for them to meet in front of the office right away. Even though it was now 3:45 in the morning, each and every Disney character from past to present had been shocked enough by the news of the banishing five to get up, get dressed, and meet Mickey and his pals over at the front gate. Everybody from Snow White, Prince Charming, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Dumbo, Bambi, the Reluctant Dragon, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Lady and the Tramp, Prince Phillip, Pongo and Perdita, Merlin, Baloo, Bagheera, Mowgli, the Aristocats, Robin Hood, the Rescuers, Basil of Baker street, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Aladdin, Simba, Stitch, and all the rest had crowded their way over to hear what Mickey had to say. When Mickey noticed that the fives' costars did not turn up, he realized the same thing must have happened again as it did with the five.
"Listen up everybody!" Mickey announced. "I'm sorry to have dragged all of you out here at this hour. But I'm sure you've already heard the news about our friends' banishment from the Magic Kingdom."
The crowd of characters was suddenly abuzz and gasped at that awful word. Some of them murmured "I don't wanna be banished from my home" or "I'll have nowhere to go."
"No one is getting banished tonight!" Mickey shouted over the panicking cries. "I won't let it happen to any of you. We're here to up rise against Michael Eisner once and for all. We not gonna stand for anymore neglect and poor management on what our company stands for. Not only has he done damage to our reputation and the animation department, but he's sent away our friends out there to possibly fend for themselves without any proper guidance or experience of surviving in the human world. Walt would have never done that, would he?"
"NNOOOO!!" The crowd erupted.
"Then let's do this!"
Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Daisy led the way as the cast of all the Disney characters followed them down to the front of the office to begin their up rise.
AN: So sorry for the long wait everyone. Things had been a little hectic at home, even through the Christmas holidays. I would like to credit OneLuckyUnicorn for helping me with correcting some of the words and phrases on the first part of this chapter. Sorry if I uploaded this chapter without waiting for an answer on my last reply OneLuckyUnicorn. I apologize, but I just wanted to show people that I'm not leaving this story unfinished. And even if Yensid365 is no longer here, I still wish to give her credit for helping me with some ideas a while back. Did I do alright with this chapter or was it poorly done. I promise the next one will be action packed with the battle of the villains.