The Magical Quest

Mickey and Donald slowly climbed to their feet, Ingo sighing and shaking his head while his minions proceeded to fly into the pair, knocking them both into the same tree from before. Ingo laughed wickedly while the mouse and duck couldn't help but feel useless. So far, they were getting their butts handed to them. What could they do against an enemy like this? Not only could Ingo fly, he controlled a small army. There was no way the two of them alone could deal with that.

However, seeing the imp's confidence in his abilities gave Mickey a plan as he turned to Donald and winked, the duck smiling, realizing that the mouse had an idea. However, the duck's reassurance soon left him when Mickey rose to his feet and sighed, "I guess you're far too powerful for us."

"WHAT!" the sailor remarked while Ingo raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you giving yourselves up?"

Donald shook his head as Mickey shrugged, ignoring the duck's gesture and said, "Yep, we were fools to think we could deal with someone as smart and powerful as you."

All of this was music to the imp's ears as he grinned with pride, standing tall and proud while Mickey proceeded to say, "If anything, you should be the king of Peteland."

At that moment, Ingo froze, his eye twitching and his smile fading, the imp letting out a sigh and asking, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"W-whatever do you mean?" the mouse remarked, Donald still failing to understand what his friend was planning as Ingo pointed at Mickey, his demons once again ramming into him while Ingo flew in, delivering a kick to Donald's face, preventing the duck from possibly interfering.

"That plan would have probably worked on an imbecile," the imp stated, placing his hands against his hips, "However, I'm afraid to say that I am smarter than I look. You were going to trick me into letting my guard down with thoughts of overthrowing the king so you could defeat me."

While Ingo's minions held the mouse up against a tree, the mouse growled before retorting, "At least you're a wimp!"

Now, unlike the previous statement, this one actually had an effect on Ingo as he glared at the peasant asking, "Did you just call me a wimp!" Mickey nodding and saying, "Admit it, if it weren't for your little army here, you wouldn't be able to beat anyone!"

Donald panicked at the sound of this, noticing Ingo fuming in response to this. The duck started to tremble as Ingo grunted, clapping his hands as the demons flew atop a tree branch behind him.

"You'll soon see exactly why I'm second-in-command, you brat!" the demon exclaimed as he once against soared at Mickey, the mouse now ready as he simply leaped over the incoming demon, planing his feet hard into the back of Ingo's neck.

The imp cried out in pain as he fell hard against the ground, Mickey giving Donald thumbs up as the duck finally realized what was going on, a smile forming on his face. While the first plan may have failed, the second one certainly hadn't thus leaving Ingo helpless to defend against the two.

With that, both jumped toward Ingo planting their feet hard into his back, the imp crying out in pain once more while the duo stomped on him repeatedly. After all, they couldn't pass up a chance like this. Everything was finally going in their favour.

However, Ingo's demons couldn't sit back and allow this to happen, worried expressions forming on their faces. The imp was their master. Orders or no orders, they knew what they had to do.

With that, the demons flew towards the two, Mickey and Donald completely unprepared as both were sent tumbling into a pair of nearby trees. The demons then perched themselves beside their master, Ingo slowly regaining focus as he struggled to rise to his feet, soon regaining full control of his body as he breathed heavily, smiling at his minions.

"You may have defiled my orders, but I can't thank you enough," Ingo said while the demons all smiled at him, the imp proceeding to turn his gaze to Mickey and state, "As hard as it is to admit it, Mr. Mouse, you were right! I do need my minions for support, and to be perfectly honest, I am in no way ashamed of it!"

Mickey grumbled, slowly rising to his feet and breathing heavily, helping Donald up as the duck coughed up some dirt. Now that Ingo's minions were once again assisting him, what could the duo possibly do?

That question would have to wait as Ingo pointed at the two, his demons flying towards them once more. However, Mickey was no longer scared as he had a look of anger in his eyes. He was tired of this and he couldn't turn back now. After all, Pluto's freedom was on the line.

Donald noticed the mouse's look of confidence and put on a worried expression as Mickey said, "Donald, I got an idea, but it's easier said than done."

The duck pointed at the demons flying towards them while trembling, Mickey saying, "We'll take care of the demons first. That way, Ingo will be alone."

But how could they do that? The demons were too small and fast to hit. However, Mickey wasn't going to let this stop him as he held out his hands like a baseball glove, one of the demons flying directly into it, Mickey tightening his grip and rolling to the side, barely avoiding another all-out attack.

With that, Ingo and the demons' eyes went wide as Mickey hurled the minion at the other demons, the tossed one spinning and ramming into the others as they each fell to the ground. Donald's eyes sparkled at the sight of this. Maybe they did stand a chance. Besides, how could someone like Donald be scared of creatures that were smaller than him?

Ingo started to tremble, waving his hands in front of his face as he uttered, "Now, now, let's not be hasty here," while Mickey and Donald picked up a pair of demons each, holding each one up, Mickey putting on a look of confidence shouting, "OPEN FIRE!"

With that, the two hurled the demons towards Ingo, the imp panicking as all four rammed hard into him. The general realized that he had been beaten. There was no way he could possibly take these two. With that in mind, he took to the skies and flew in the opposite direction, Mickey and Donald nodding at one-another and running after him. Maybe if they followed him, he'd lead them to Peteland.

Ingo was in far too much panic to care whether they were tailing him or not as he spotted a stone structure just a few feet from him. It looked like a sphinx with Pete's face. Perhaps this was one of those Pete statues Marlon had spoken of, and it sure seemed that way as Ingo quickly flew into the open mouth on the statue, vanishing in a heartbeat.

Mickey and Donald both froze at the sight of this. Was there a tunnel hidden in that statue? It was clear as day even to one standing in front of that statue that it had a backside. However, now was not the time to question such things. Mickey knew right away that if that was where the imp was headed, surely it would lead him to Peteland. With that in mind, Mickey and Donald nodded at one-another and ran through the opening.

All the while, Minnie and Goofy were simply walking through the forest as Goofy looked around saying, "Ahyuck, pretty."

The princess, however, wasn't feeling nearly as positive as the jester was. What if Mickey had actually gotten himself killed? Let alone that thought, Minnie and Goofy possibly survive if they were to be attacked?

Goofy noticed the princess' expression and asked, "Hey, Princess, why are you so glum?"

Minnie sighed and remarked, "How can you ask a question like that? We're putting our lives in danger!" then looking down and taking a deep breath, she added, "We're doing exactly what Mickey and Donald are doing."

"Aw, cheer up!" Goofy replied, reaching for his back and pulling a lute out, Minnie staring at him asking, "Do you carry a lute with you all the time!"

"Lute?" Goofy remarked, looking at it and chuckled, asking, "Where did that come from?"

The jester then shrugged and started playing it and saying, "Perhaps some music will lighten the mood!"

Minnie stared at the jester in response to this. How was it that Goofy didn't seem to worry about anything? Let alone that she seriously doubted music would help.

While strumming the instrument, the jester laughed and started to sing, "When I was just a lad, cute as I could be, my momma approached me one day. Do you know what she said to me?"

Minnie's eyes shifted back and forth as she shrugged, Goofy continuing, "She said 'My boy, you're always positive, but others surely ain't. While things like dirt and spiders make you smile, those things make others faint! If you ever meet someone who is just like that, there's something you could do, even if it's, let's say, old hat.'"

Minnie continued to stare at the jester as he smiled, rearing his face closer to the princess and sang, "She told me there was something that could lighten any mood, and I'll let you in one what she said, it's actually quite good."

With that, he performed a back flip away from Minnie, losing his balance and hitting his head against a rock, still playing the lute as he lay on his back singing, "Give em all a little laugh, it'll brighten up their lives! It will please the boys and girls and husbands, even all the wives!"

Goofy rose to his feet and started to sway from side to side adding, "If you give em all a little laugh, it'll make all bad feelings go away. Give em all a little laugh and everything'll be okay!" the jester swaying right into a tree, his body twitching while he continued to play the lute, Minnie looking at this and chuckling a little.

"Things may not seem all that good, I must admit, it's true," Goofy quipped, regaining full control of himself, "It doesn't seem there's all that much that we can really do," a swarm of purple bugs flying into the area while he continued, "But if we can just laugh a bit, things won't seem so bad. Just give em all a little laugh and there's no need to be sad."

While Goofy continued to play, Minnie had a small smile on. It seemed as if this was working. As the jester strummed, the bugs flew over and picked up his hat, Goofy's eyes going wide, the dog turning to face the bugs and chuckling. He then continued strumming the lute with one of his feet, using his now-free hand to point at his head, signalling the bugs to return it.

The bugs then nodded at one-another, shoving it in Goofy's face. The dog chuckled, reaching to place the hat back on his head as the bugs took it away again, Goofy frowning while still playing the lute. The jester chased after the bugs as they taunted him with the hat, holding it in front of a tree as Goofy dove for it only for the bugs to fly out of the way, Goofy's face ramming into the tree, his face now trembling, some of his teeth shaking back and forth, making piano sounds, Minnie laughing hysterically at this all the while.

After the bugs let out a laugh of their own, they placed the jester hat back on Goofy's head as he said, "Thanks, fellas," and resumed strumming his instrument and singing, "Give em all a little laugh and bring light to a dark day! Why feel down in the dumps when you could just smile anyway?"

Minnie started to dance with Goofy as the two walked into the distance, the bugs following close behind while Goofy sang, "If you give em all a little laugh, life will no longer seem so bad, so give em all a little laugh and they'll have no reason to feel sad!"

However, things weren't all well and good. Sure, that Pete statue had taken Mickey and Donald somewhere, but it sure wasn't Peteland. They instead found themselves in another forest, this one much darker and more dank than the last one. There was barely any sunshine coming through the leaves and unlike the last place, this one gave off bad vibes.

To make things worse, it seemed Ingo had escaped. Mickey let out a sigh of disappointment. Maybe if they hadn't stopped to think, the imp wouldn't have gotten far enough. But on the plus side, they were on the right track... at least that's what they thought. And that being the case, they couldn't stop.

"Well, we've made it this far," Mickey said with a nervous smile as Donald nodded, forcing a smile of his own saying, "Yep, we sure have."

The truth was that both were scared. What if that huge snake wasn't the worst of their worries? What if there was far worse ahead? One thing was for sure: it was too late for them to turn back. It was as Mickey had said. They had gone too far to throw in the towel.