The Magical Quest

Before we return to Mickey's story, let us enter a far-off land, a land where darkness covered all. The sun never shone here nor did it ever rain. This horrid, baron wasteland was known as Peteland, run by a fat cat named Pete.

Inside his large castle, the tyrant king sat on his throne, small flying creatures with helmets fanning him while a guard that resembled a smaller version of entered, giving the man an army salute stating, "We have the princess, sir!"

The king grinned wickedly, laughing while saying, "Excellent! Everything is going according to plan!"

With that, the cloaked figure flew into the room, taking off his robe to reveal a vile creature underneath. He had an imp-like face with white bat wings coming out of his back. He was short and stout, wearing yellow overalls and a small silver helmet.

The creature had a bag humped over his shoulder as he bowed to his king saying, "The plan went off without a hitch, sire."

Pete grinned wickedly, laughing like a mad-man while the imp-like being opened up the bag, but the two were shocked by what came out. Rather than seeing the beautiful young mouse they had sought, a bloodhound rolled out of the bag, panting for breath until he looked up and noticed Pete, his eyes going wide.

Pete lowered his eyelids as the imp-like creature slowly inched towards the door, the cat shouting, "INGO!" at the top of his lungs, the imp trembling with a nervous grin on his face while saying, "It was an honest mistake, sire. Anyone could have made it."

"SHUT UP!" Pete snapped as the servant laughed and made a zipper motion across his mouth, shrugging while the cat looked down at the dog as Pluto started to bark angrily. Before the king could even respond, the dog rushed in and sunk his jaws into the cat's leg, Pete crying out in pain demanding, "GUARDS, LOCK THIS MUTT AWAY!"

The royal guards entered the room, giving the king an army salute before placing a chain around Pluto's neck. The dog fought hard against the force, but it was no use as the guards overpowered him and dragged him out of the room.

The imp, Ingo, looked at his master, still trembling while he said, "I have no idea how this happened, sire. I specifically told my minions to go after Minnie's chair. That dog must have gotten in their way or something."

Pete nodded and said, "Well, if this dog cared enough to risk its neck for her sake... then maybe it belongs to her," winking at Ingo as the imp grinned, nodding his head and said, "That's good thinking, your liege. Maybe we can use the dog to bring the princess here!"

Then Ingo proceeded to place his hand against his chin saying, "Say, Pete, sir, you never did fully explain this plan of yours. Why do you need Magic Kingdom? You already took this one from your father and named it after yourself, and it's a very fine kingdom to boot," the imp looking out at the city adding, "Depending on your definition of 'fine'."

"Well, I had to," the cat replied with a grin, "Did you know that old fogey wanted to call it Celestia? What a horrible name for a kingdom!"

Ingo grinned and nodded his head. Of course, as you have probably guessed, he wasn't in full agreement with everything the king said. But it wasn't his place to argue. After all, King Pete could have had anyone executed if he pleased.

"To answer your first question," Pete continued, "Magic Kingdom holds a power that I want, but in order to have it, I must own that very land. If I can't have the land, I can't have that power!"

Ingo nodded, still rubbing his chin before stating, "If you don't mind me saying, there is a possibility that the princess has already sent her royal guards to retrieve her dog. If they by chance succeed, that could ruin your plan."

The cat's eyes widened as he slumped down on his chair. That was a good point. However, his look of fear soon turned to one of confidence as he grinned, laughing insanely.

"Uh... sire?" Ingo asked as the king clapped his hands and shouted, "GUARDS! BRING ME MY BOOK OF SPELLS!"

A group of guards rushed into the room, standing atop one-another like a pyramid as the one on the top handed the king a big book, Pete opening it up and snapping his fingers, eight guards wheeling in a big cauldron. With that, the king let out a devious laugh while Ingo looked with curiosity. He didn't know the king knew magic.

With that, Pete starting to conjure up magical energy as he explained, "When I was a boy, I wanted to learn the dark arts! My mommy said it was just a waste of time!"

Ingo had to admit, he was now very interested in all of this as Pete shot a blast of magic into the cauldron adding, "If she could see me now, she would eat her words because I now sing this enchanting rhyme!"

With that, ghosts that resembled Pete emerged from the evil king's hands while the cat continued, "With my power, I'll summon demons to take care of those pesky fools! One-by-one each of them shall fall and with their blood I shall make some rather big pools!"

Ingo cringed at the sound of that. Sure, he was a demon, but even he found such imagery disgusting to think about. Pete let out a thunderous laugh while bolts of magic shot into the cauldron, the king stating, "With my magic, I shall construct the finest and strongest and smartest of beings, each with an intellect and power so high, they'll never show remorse!"

"How can you be sure they'll be so smart?" Ingo quipped as the king proudly placed a hand against his chest remarking, "Why, they'll be modelled after me of course," Ingo muttering, "It figures."

With that, Pete proceeded to bring up images of various different areas, shooting magic and sending ghosts resembling him into each one, all the while laughing wickedly at his handiwork. All the while Ingo trembled with fear at the very idea. Truly the king had gone overboard with his plan. Takeover was one thing, but murder? Despite the demon's state of fear, this act also gave him a bit of respect for the king. The truth was that he had been hoping to receive such orders himself.

"They'll never know what hit them!" the king exclaimed, "They'll never be prepared! All them little worms will fall right into my trap, never knowing what is coming to strike them from behind. It's a shame I have go to such great lengths, but if I didn't do it, my plan might fail..."

Pete let out a sigh and laughed asking, "Who am I kidding? I love this job," then proceeded to shout to the heavens, "It won't be the dog but their ends that they'll find!"

As the king laughed wickedly, he turned to Ingo and said, "Go to the forest and make sure all goes as planned! I cannot afford any mishaps, you got that? Assist my demons, if you must!"

Ingo nodded, giving an army salute and said, "Yes, my lord!" flying from the castle while laughing maniacally and turning to the readers saying, "Sometimes, it pays to be evil."

After a good night's sleep, Mickey awoke at five in the morning. He needed to make sure no one would stop him, and he knew they would. If his friends knew about this, they would worry about him and plead him not to go. It hurt the mouse not to tell them, but he knew that this was the right thing to do.

He quickly entered his work space, pulling his working gloves out of a closet. After all, he didn't want to get his hands dirty during his quest. He also pulled out a mop, but after a few seconds, he blinked and tossed it to the side pulling an axe out of the closet saying, "Now that's more like it."

But just as he was about to leave, he heard footsteps behind him, his eyes going wide at the sight of a familiar-looking duck. But what was Donald doing up at this time? If anything, Donald was the heaviest sleeper of them all.

The duck rubbed his eyes, yawning while saying, "Good morning, Mickey," before his eyes popped wide open, the duck shouting, "Mickey!" as the mouse held his finger in front of his mouth making a "Sh" sound.

Donald stared at the mouse with confusion as Mickey sighed, "Look, Donald, Pluto is my best friend. If anyone should save him, it should be me."

The duck's eyes widened at the sound of that as he looked at the mouse with concern. It may not have been him rushing into danger, but he still cared about his friend and there was no way he would just sit back and let Mickey kill himself.

"The guards will handle it!" Donald stated as Mickey shook his head saying, "For all I know, Pluto's probably being tormented right now."

Donald put on a look of anger saying, "I will tell the king if you go," Mickey halting for a second to turn toward his friend as he remarked, "Go ahead," the duck's eyes going wide.

Mickey had ignored him. Donald had warned Mickey and the mouse just carried on as if the ex-sailor's words meant nothing. Donald was not going to stand for this. He knew it wasn't his business, but as mentioned, he didn't want Mickey to throw his life away.

"Fine!" the duck retorted, "I will tell! I'll march right up to the king and tell him to bring you back to the castle!"

Mickey let out a sigh and walked toward the exit saying, "Donald, I didn't understand a thing you said back there," making his way out of the room while the duck groaned, walking in the direction of the king's chambers muttering, "Stupid Mickey throwing his life away for a pet..." however, those very words of the duck's caused Donald to freeze briefly, the duck lowering his head and shaking it while grumbling, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Mickey had walked a few feet from the castle as he turned to it, a look of sadness in his eyes. This was it. There was no turning back now. Once he entered the forest located just outside of the kingdom's barriers, he would have no choice but to carry on. His chances to return were slim, but he knew that he had to do this.

Just as the mouse turned away from the castle, he heard a familiar voice crying out, "MICKEY, WAIT UP!"

Mickey turned to see a duck running towards him wearing a sailor uniform before shaking his head, saying, "Donald, nothing you say is going to change my mind!"

"No, I'm coming with y-" Donald started to say, but was cut off as he tripped over a pebble, rolling hard into Mickey as the mouse fell on his back.

As the mouse slowly shook his head, rubbing the back of his head, Donald pulled on his collar saying, "I'm coming with you."

"Are you pulling my leg right now?" Mickey remarked as the duck shook his head saying, "It's the truth. I can't let you go off on your own!"

Mickey let out a sigh, shook his head and smiled before letting out a chuckle saying, "I knew you'd come around sooner or later," before climbing back to his feet and saying, "You know what they say. The more the merrier," as he continued on his way, Donald following close behind.

The duck was already beginning to regret his actions, of course. After all, he knew that he too was putting himself in danger to help a friend. But how was this any different from what Mickey was doing? After all, Mickey also knew of the dangers that lay ahead, but his bond with Pluto kept him going anyway. Donald may have had a thick head, but he understood what it must have felt like for Mickey to lose his best friend.

Soon enough, the two had entered a large forest full of life and beauty. Here, the sun shone bright. Covering this forest were huge trees, tomatoes twice the size of an average man, rivers and much, much more.

"Well, this is it," Mickey said with a laugh as Donald's eyes darted back and forth, the sailor nervously uttering, "Y-yeah, this is... it..."

However, this forest wasn't nearly as peaceful as it looked as nearby, a large blue snake with a face that resembled Pete's was sleeping nearby. As Mickey and Donald trekked through the forest, Mickey stepped on a branch. This caught the snake's attention as it grunted, slowly opening its eyes, a look of anger in its expression as it eyed the two.