The Magical Quest

As Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, who was now free from the web sac, carried on towards Pete's castle, Minnie told the two peasants why she had come. She told of Marlon and the exact words he spoke to her. She told of how Marlon had given her the magic rings and told her to give the remaining two to Mickey and Donald. This was quite a bit to take in, but the mouse and duck understood perfectly.

"Well, the rings certainly came in handy," Mickey replied with a chuckle, "But did Marlon happen to know the way to Pete's castle?"

"He said something about Pete statues," the princess stated, "He told us that if we enter those, we'll eventually reach the kingdom."

Mickey smiled and nodded while saying, "He must have been referring to the statue that sent us here."

While the two continued to talk, Donald and Goofy walked close behind them while having their own little conversation. Donald looked as if he was blushing while Goofy was chuckling.

"So Daisy really likes me?" Donald asked as the jester nodded and replied, "Ahyuck, according to Marlon, she's just pretending to hate you."

Donald let out a sigh of satisfaction when the group noticed a Pete statue dead ahead. The leaf bugs simply watched from the back while the four of them entered, not sure where they would end up.

Soon enough, all four found themselves in a much more dangerous climate. The ground was made up entirely of stone while a river of lava and fire surrounded their path. Literally, there were areas where fire was just shooting up out of the ground. Why? Did there even have to be a reason?

Inhabiting the area were a group of bats made entirely out of fire, and unlike the bugs, they were out in the open and just flying around freely. Mickey was just relieved they weren't attacking him and the others right now.

"Gorsh, it sure is hot here," Goofy stated, taking off his hat and wiping some sweat off of his forehead, the others glaring at him as if to say 'thank you, Captain Obvious'.

Donald looked at the fire while his eye twitched, Minnie also with a look of fear. Mickey tried to stay positive, but even he had to admit this was a frightening place. At least they had a path leading them forward.

While the four carried on, trying their best to forget that they were surrounded by a liquid that could potentially kill them if they touched it, they ended up before an entire pit of fire. As if that wasn't bad enough, there were small holes in a big rock next to it shooting fire out of them.

Mickey put on a look of disappointed and sighed, "Well, it seems this is it. We can't go anywhere from here."

"Gorsh, Mickey, we could just jump across," Goofy suggested while Minnie patted the jester on the shoulder and shook her head saying, "Goofy, all the optimism in the world can't get us past this. That pit's too big and there's fire shooting from the walls."

Donald let out a sigh and groaned, "It figures," as Goofy put on a serious look stating, "Look, I know we can get across!" then pointed at a set of stone heads just conveniently floating up and down. Well, despite the improbability of it all, the group now had a way to cross. However, the platforms were moving in a set pattern. They had to time their jumps just right.

Goofy simply leaped atop one without a second thought and skipped happily across while waving at the others upon reaching the other side. The three stared at this, looked at one another and smiled, their confidence returning.

While they skipped from stone head to stone head, Goofy let out a chuckle and said, "Look at this vast world that lays before us! There could be more that's yet to come!"

The others reached the other side, Mickey nodding and adding, "It might be troublesome or even scary, but all will fall if we ever fuss!"

Minnie smiled and placed a hand on Mickey's shoulder stating, "The world is big, it's a well-known fact! Our destination might be far ahead!"

While the group continued to avoid fire, leaping from platform to platform and jumping over pits of lava and fire, Donald grinned with pride saying, "We battled a snake and came out on top, he didn't stand a chance. We also faced one of Pete's royal guards and came out on top with a heroic stance."

"Recently we faced a giant spider that had fear running through us all," Minnie explained, "But despite that, we faced our fears and that arachnid had a very big fall!"

Goofy laughed and pet a fire bat on the head, ignoring the pain in his hand afterwards and said, "If we look deep down inside, we'll find the strength to win. What we lack in size outside we make up for within."

As the four kept going forward, they all smiled while stating, "Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside! As long as we just believe, fate is ours to decide! Just as long as we believe, we'll make it through and through! Nothing will ever bring us down as long as we show them what we can do!"

But as the group progressed, Minnie felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, soon passing out. Mickey turned to her with concern until he was struck on the back of the head as well. Donald held up his fists only to find himself knocked down, Goofy unable to so much as prepare himself as he joined them.

A few moments later, Mickey opened his eyes to notice a group of small red creatures wearing leaf dresses dancing around a big flaming geyser. The mouse then looked down and noticed that he was in water, soon noticing a rim around said water. They were in a stew pot!

"Guys, wake up," Mickey whispered as the others soon awoke, spotting the same sights Mickey had seen and panicking... well, except for Goofy who simply sipped some of the water and said, "Ahyuck, tastes like me," his eyes then widening as he shouted, "TASTES LIKE ME!"

"We're gonna be dinner!" Donald exclaimed as he tried to escape but couldn't. Naturally, these strange beings had tied them up before putting them in the pot. They weren't going anyway.

"Guess this is the end," Mickey said with a gulp, Minnie sighing, "Mickey, before we die, I want you to know something."

But before she could say it, another red creature, this one wearing a head dress, stood tall before the others and held up his hands, the creatures bowing. This must have been their chief. He then proceeded to lower his hands before lifting his right one back up shouting, "DANCE TIME!"

Some of the creatures started to beat the tops of rocks creating a beat while the others looked at one-another, Mickey asking, "Did he just say... dance time?"

The creatures began dancing even more quickly while the chief held up both hands, the creatures all stomped their feet against the ground while singing, "Bing-a bang-a boka bing bam boom, bing-a bang-a boka bing bam boom! Boma-boma bama bam boom ba! Oh! Bika-bika-bika boka bim boom-boom!"

Suddenly, they all stopped before shouting together, " DANCE TIME!" resuming their strange little number while their captives thought up a way to escape, figuring that as long as they were busy dancing, now would be a good time.

However, untying themselves was difficult, especially since they could neither move their hands or feet. But as luck would have it, Goofy's ring started to glow as his outfit was replaced by fencing gear, a sword strapped to his back.

"Ahyuck, convenient," Goofy chuckled as the others looked at him, Minnie confused by all of this. Did this mean the rings gave each bearer more than one form?

While the creatures continued to dance, unaware of the change, Goofy shifted his back against up and down, his sword scraping against the rope until it was finally cut. With that, Goofy slowly drew his blade, cutting the others free while the creatures were still oblivious and too caught up in their dance time.

However, as the four escaped, Goofy's gear made a loud splashing sound as it was heavier than what the others were wearing. The beating of the rocks stopped as the creatures turned to face the others, Mickey grinning nervously while whispering, "We should run now."

With that, the two made a break for it only to end up at a ledge, a pit of fire burning down below. The creatures advanced towards the group, shooting fire up from their mouths and covering them with flames as Donald knelt down and started to pray for a miracle. After all, what could they do? These creatures had covered themselves in fire.

However, Goofy, as usual, didn't seem the least bit fazed by any of this as one leaped at him, the jester swiping his blade at it and knocking it and causing the creature to flinch. With that, the jester put on a look of confidence, performing a flip into the middle of the tribe, swinging his blade around while asking, "Anyone else want a go?"

However, while the jester continued to show off his skills with the fencing blade, one of the creatures charged into his rear end, the dog's behind catching flame while he ran around screaming in pain while trying to put the fire out.

And with that, Goofy's fencing uniform left him, replaced by his jester outfit as the tribe glared at him, advancing towards him. What could the dog do now? Let alone that, how could the others help him? He couldn't touch these creatures without burning themselves.

As all seemed lost, Goofy let out a sigh and placed his hand against the flower on the front of his outfit saying, "This last one's for you, Mama," squeezing the flower as a bit of water came out, the creatures staring at this, eyes wide open. Even the chief was trembling with fear now.

Goofy noticed their scared looks and asked, "What's wrong? Do I not look tasty enough for ya?" as Mickey slapped his forehead shouting, "GOOFY, THE FLOWER!"

"Flower?" the jester asked, then looking at his squirt flower, he smiled and gave it another squeeze while a small bit of water landing right in front of one of the creatures as it ran off in fear.

The creatures all cried out in terror, fleeing for their lives while Goofy continued to send warning sprays towards them. After they were all gone, the jester laughed while saying, "They weren't all that scary after all."

The others looked at one-another and smiled before running over to Goofy and giving him a pat on the shoulder. It seemed that the problem had now been solved and with that, the four carried on.

While walking, Minnie looked at Goofy with a strange look as Mickey laughed saying, "Oh, don't worry, Minnie. Goofy's always been positive in the worst of situations."

"No, it's not that," the princess replied, "It's just that... he took on a different form the first time he used the ring."

Mickey blinked in response to this, placing his hand against his chin and wondering if maybe they had other forms too. However, that train of thought would have to wait as one more thing was on the mouse's mind.

"Say, Minnie," the peasant said, his eyes moving in various directions as he continued, "What was it you were going to say to me before that little interruption?"

Minnie's eyes went wide at the sound of that. That's right, Minnie was about to say something. However, she really didn't feel now would be a good time, so she simply shrugged and replied, "I just noticed you had a hot coal on your head, but it's gone now."

Mickey simply let out a light, "Oh, well, that would have been nice to know for sure," before looking down, Minnie laughing nervously and doing the same.

"I don't know why she can't just say she loves him," Goofy said, staring at the two while Donald shrugged and replied, "Maybe she's just playing hard to get like Daisy," before a silly smile crossed his face, the duck chuckling and blushing. Love was truly complex.

Soon enough, the four found themselves in front of a cave and looked at one-another, gulping before entering. Who knew what dangers awaited them inside?