The Magical Quest

Back at Peteland, the king was once again sitting on his throne as a bat flew into his room carrying a parchment in its talons. The cat looked up with interest as the bat dropped the parchment into Pete's hands. Pete whistled as a guard entered and handed the servant the parchment saying, "Read this to me."

The guard nodded and opened up the parchment, knowing not to question the fact that his king still couldn't read, and cleared his throat before stating, "There was a problem in the Fire Grotto as the demon Moldor was defeated."

Pete groaned in response to this as the guard continued, "This caused the lava in the cave to rise up. While four unknown figures escaped, our very own soldier Ingo was left to be consumed by the lava."

Upon reading those exact words, the guard's eyes widened, his jaw dropped. Ingo was the best they had. With him gone, what were they to do?

However, Pete didn't seem quite as fazed by this as he simply let out a sigh saying, "Well, good riddance. He deserved it for defying my orders."

The guard stared at the king, his jaw dropped. Sure, he knew Pete was cruel and selfish, but he had no idea the man could be this heartless. Ingo had been Pete's most trusted ally for years and now that he was dead, the king didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Pete looked over at the guard as the man simply regained his neutral expression, the king shrugging and stating, "These four heroes are a lot more difficult than I first thought. So far, they've beaten my beautiful snake, my lovely spider and Moldor. I may actually end up having to do something."

Thinking hard about this, the king shrugged. What a silly thought. Kings shouldn't have to do anything, right? They had servants to do it all for them. However, who was to say these heroes wouldn't defeat his other minions?

Meanwhile, Mickey and the others had entered a less frightening area to say the least. It seemed as if they were up in the clouds, and they really were high enough to be touching them. Minnie looked over a nearby ledge and noticed that they were on top of a mountain that was very high off the ground.

More importantly, it was late, the sky now very dark. With all these clouds around, it would be even more difficult to see. Thus the group decided to pack it in for the night.

Shivering, Mickey looked around and suggested, "Perhaps we should find some leaves or something to cover us up," as Goofy chuckled, "Ahyuck, nonsense! We won't need leaves!"

The other three stared at the jester strangely as he pulled quickly pulled out tent-making gear from under his sleeve. This was just weird. After all, Goofy was a jester, not a magician. Nevertheless, this was certainly convenient.

"Thank you, Goofy," Minnie said with a bow as the jester blushed and replied, "Gorsh, twas nothing, really."

Donald looked at this with a grimace while muttering, "What kind of freak carries a tent under his sleeve?" as Mickey picked up the materials saying, "I'll set up camp in that clearing over there," pointing at an area below a chunk of rock sticking out of the mountain next to the one they were on.

Donald nodded happily and walked over, picking up a couple of tent sticks as Mickey simply took them from the sailor saying, "It's okay, Donald. I can handle it myself."

The duck let out a sigh and sat down on a rock while Minnie looked out into the distance before noticing Mickey setting up the tent, a sigh escaping his mouth. Once again, the peasant was thinking about Pluto. After all, it had been a whole day since he'd lost his best friend.

The princess walked over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, Mickey looking at her with a smile. After all, they had made it this far. And for all they knew, Pluto was probably fine.

A few minutes later, the tent was set up and everyone was ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day. Mickey was next to Minnie, a blush coming over his face as he chuckled and said, "Goodnight, Princess Minnie," the princess smiling while saying, "Goodnight, Mickey."

"Goodnight, Donald," Goofy said with a grin as the duck rolled his eyes before closing them. All four were now sound asleep.

Minutes later, Donald awoke with a startled look, finding himself in what appeared to be a dressing room as a young man walked entered saying, "Good evening, Mr. Duck. Your public awaits you."

The duck rubbed his eyes, looking around at all the expensive decorations and commander outfits hanging up in a golden wardrobe. The sailor simply looked at the man before him and asked, "Who are you?"

The man laughed and replied, "Good one, Mr. Duck, pretending not to know your own manager, Mr. Smith! You really are too much!"

Donald had no clue what was going on, but who was he to complain? This was like a dream come true. But it got better as the man known as Mr. Smith directed the duck to a big stage where hundreds of servants had gathered to see him.

The duck had a big smile on his face as he asked, "Are they all here to see me?" as Mr. Smith nodded saying, "They sure are, Mr. Duck. After all, you're a big hero in everyone's eyes!"

Then noticing Donald's sailor outfit, he shook his head and said, "I told you not to get too attached to your old sailor uniform. You'll need something much more fitting," then pulling out a dressing curtain, he quickly changed Donald into a commander's outfit.

Why was the duck being hailed as a hero, though? When did he get such a big fanbase? Better yet, why did he care?

The duck simply strutted out onto the stage as the crowd cheered loudly, a group of singers coming together while Donald started to dance, the singers all letting out the following:

"Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

Donald proceeded to wink at the crowd as girls reached over to touch him, the duck continuing his dance while the singers continued, "He's faced many demons to get this far! He's defeated sharks and a Kracken too, but it hasn't stopped there, oh no, that's just a portion of what he can do!"

As the duck broke out into a break dance, the crowd cheered even louder as the people proceeded to sing, "When everyone was in peril and a two-headed dragon spawned, who was the one who beat him in the end?" the crowd shouting, "DONALD!"

"When a giant dinosaur lost its temper and terrorized the land, one brave soul volunteered to be its friend!" the singers added as the crowd once again screamed, "DONALD!"

"He truly is amazing, the perfect manly man," the singers quipped, "If Donald cannot save our land, then no one else really can. No matter what the danger, no matter what the threat, who will it be who saves us all? It's Donald Duck, I bet!"

The sailor continued to pose and dance while the people started moving to beat themselves singing, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

While the duck continued to bust out a series of dance moves that shouldn't have even existed in this era, the crowd of people all cheered and whistled at him, women blowing him kisses while the men had jealous expressions on their faces. Donald continued to impress the crowd, a look of seriousness on his face as he leaped into the air, performing a series of flips before landing perfectly on his feet, the crowd cheering even louder than before.

Grabbing a microphone that a member of the staff threw to him, Donald stuck out his chest, medals popping out from under his feathers while adding his own little verse that went something like this:

"You see these medals? I earned them all for all my great heroic deeds! If ever you're in trouble, I'll be there to fulfil your needs!"

He blew a kiss at Daisy, who was also in the crowd as hearts filled her eyes, the girl reaching out to the sailor as he proceeded to sing, "I'm incredible, there's no denying it! I'm the greatest hero of all! There's no monster too big for me to face, despite me being rather small!"

Daisy then grabbed onto the sailor's head, kissing him on the cheek as he smiled and blushed, the women all patting the female duck on the shoulder. As Donald winked at Daisy, the fashion's expert passed out from the excitement of it all, being carried out of the area by Donald's agents. Donald simply laughed at the sight of this before turning back to his other adoring public, striking another pose while the crowd whistled and cheered wildly.

"He's faced giants and knocked out demons and taken care of carnivorous plants too," the people sang, "But he's done so much more to earn his fame! There's no telling what he can do!"

As Donald performed a splits formation, the crowd applauded him as the singers added, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

As the song came to a close, the duck proceeded to leap towards the crowd, however, he was shocked when his fans moved away from him, creating the shape of a large hole where they weren't standing. The duck started to panic as he fell into a dark abyss, his eyes going wide as he found himself back in the tent, breathing heavily.

That whole thing... all of it had been a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream... until the ending anyway. Donald looked over at Goofy who was snoring loudly next to him, Mickey and Minnie sleeping soundly as the duck put on a look of shame. All three of them had deserved a nice long rest. They had done so much today to prove their worth. But what of Donald?

He felt that he had done quite a bit today, but he hadn't received any recognition for it. It was Donald who had saved everyone from being crushed back in the cave. Where was his thanks? However, with the others doing so many things he felt he could have done, that was really the only big thing he'd accomplished up to this point.

Sure, he'd stood up a giant snake, but he knew that was a battle he couldn't win and even fled for his life when he realized there was a way to escape. True, he'd helped defeat Ingo in the first fight against him, but Mickey had done most of the work. But wait a minute: wasn't it Donald who defeated the spider? Well, had Mickey not trapped the spider in place, Donald probably wouldn't have had his chance.

With that in mind, the duck got up with a serious look in his eyes. Perhaps if he got to Pete first and defeated him before the others could, they'd finally see him as a worthy addition to the team. After all, how much farther would he really need to go?

With that, he took one of the fruits he and the others had picked earlier and ate it quickly. After all, he couldn't go off and face evil on an empty stomach.

The duck took a few steps forward before looking back at the other three who were still sound asleep. He let out a sigh and turned back in the direction he was headed. If he could pull this off, there was no way the others would ever look down on him again.

As the sailor walked down the path, a bunch of bees watching him from a distance, the duck let out one last sigh before saying slowly, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck?"

Then sniffing, he wiped a tear from his right eye and added, "With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald..."

Looking down, the duck gulped and finished with, "Duck..." before walking off into the night. Just what was Donald thinking? There was no way he could face all this danger on his own... could he?