Chapter 12: Pioneer Rock

"Your right, Bean. Every time it seems like we're almost there, we're not." Dil said as they neared the rock, even though Bean had said nothing.

Bean smirked and nodded slowly.

Back at the theater, the audience was starting to show up, but Chance was freaking out. He was currently talking to the cast backstage.

"It's almost curtain time and half my cast isn't here! Does anyone want to tell me why this is happening to me?" Chance asked.

Just then, Lucy pulled back the backstage's curtain.

"He's here!" Lucy announced.

"Who?" Mike asked.

"His uncle's cousin's friend who walks dogs for a casting director." Angelica, Susie, Chaz, Sam, and GIR replied in unison.

Chance closed his eyes in aggravation.

"What will I do with the rest of my actors? Oh, my plan's ruined! All my hopes, my dreams, dashed against the rocks like a wayward clam!" Chance said sadly. He then got an idea and said "Oh, wait. I'll recast!". He walked over to Drew and said "Drew, you play first settler.". He then turned to Kimi and said "Kimi, your the second.". He then walked over to a mirror, put on a hat, and said "And I guess, I'll play Smithee Spencer.".

Betty frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

"Eh, I didn't see that coming." Betty said sarcastically.

Sam nodded in agreement.

"You said it." Sam said.

Back in the woods, Peter, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Dil, Stu, Howard, Charlotte, the Disney Characters and Nickelodeon Characters, and Bean reached Pioneer Rock.

"Wouldn't it be weird if we went missing like the settlers?" Dil asked with a calm smile. He then turned around, held the flashlight up so it's light illuminated his face, and asked "Or option two, we run into brain-sucking pioneers and spend the rest of our lives as zombies?".

Peter shook his head and unsheathed Erebus, it's blade glowing in the night air.

"Um, no. If there are any zombies out there, they'll be felled by my blade before any of them hurts one of you guys." Peter replied.

Charlotte looked up at an owl that started hooting and got an uninterested look.

"I'm ready to go back now." Charlotte said.

She, Chuckie, Stu, Howard, and Tucker attempted to turn around and walk away.

"But we're almost there, for real this time." Sulley said.

Chuckie, Stu, Howard, Charlotte, and Tucker stopped walking away and thought for a moment before running back to catch up to the others.

Back at the theater, the play started, and the audience was fully there.

"I, Eliza Lockheart, decree that it is indeed another fine day in this little town that we call New Yorkshire." Angelica said.

Susie walked up, held her arms, and shivered.

"But, it's been cloudy and cold for six weeks in a row." Susie said.

"Makes a fellow wish he was in California!" Randy said.

The cast then started singing the same song that they had sung earlier that day, and while they did sing it perfectly all the way through, the audience didn't look very interested in the performance.

Back in the woods, the group started checking out Pioneer Rock.

"If only this rock could talk, the things he'd say." Dil said to Bean.

Charlotte approached the rock and touched it with her finger.

"You were wrong, Stu. This baby puts my forehead to shame." Charlotte said angrily.

She turned around to face Stu, but she didn't see him anywhere.

"Stu?" Charlotte asked in confusion.

The others looked around, and Tommy lowered his camera.

"Uh... where's dad?" Tommy asked.

Kronk nervously looked around.

"Smithy Spencer went missing!" Kronk replied nervously, his voice echoing throughout the woods.

The group suddenly started calling out for Stu, the ones with special powers or weapons having activated them or taken them out. Peter held Erebus out in front of him in the air, Jim took out a space pistol, Long John Silver had his cyborg arm switch into it's sword function, Scroop, Sulley, and Randall each got into a fighting positions, Kenai transformed into his bear form, Denahi took out his spear, Sitka transformed into his spirit form, Danny went ghost, Zim took out his mawgu plunger, and Tak took out his juju staff.

"Where is he? You know what this means?" Tommy asked.

"Our dad is the first victim of the brain-sucking pioneers. Awesome!" Dil replied.

Lil and Tucker suddenly looked very scared.

"I'm sorry I doubted you guys before, but now I am definitely a believer!" Lil shouted.

"Why are you yelling?" Zim asked angrily, clutching his mawgu plunger tightly.

"In scary movies, the nonbelievers are the first to go." Lil replied.

"Oh, to be young and ridiculously naive." Charlotte said.

Scroop nodded.

"Yeah, Stu probably felt guilty about bailing on Chance, so he decided to return to the show." Scroop said.

"Of course he did. And we should do the same. Now, right now!" Howard said fearfully.

"If he did go back, why didn't he say goodbye?" Denahi asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe he didn't know how to say it in old English." Charlotte replied.

However, the others didn't agree. Tommy put down his Camcorder.

"I'm not leaving until we find my dad." Tommy said, sounding a lot like Eliza when she refused to leave before they found Smithy Spencer.

"Oh, alright, I'll play along. Stu! Where are you? If your already a zombie, cough twice!" Charlotte called out.

"Okay, this is what we'll do. Split into groups and search the woods near the rock. We have to find him before it's too late." Peter said, taking charge.

"Too late for what?" Dil asked.

"Don't ever got no brain or nothing." Peter, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Danny replied in unison.

Back at the theater, Drew, Kimi, and Mike were walking around onstage.

"There's no sign of Smithee Spencer." Kimi announced.

"Or... our horse covered wagon." Mike said, briefly looking at a script attached to his outfit after forgetting his line.

"Are you saying Smithee Spencer stole Julie the Horse and made his way west to the land of sun and raining oranges?" Kimi asked. She then looked at her arm, which had her lines written on it, and asked "Leaving us without food, or water, or even a, uh... something that starts with an n?".

Chance, who was hiding backstage as he watched the performance, facepalmed before quietly ordering Drew to start singing a song. Drew did so, but he did it poorly. Chance facepalmed again and turned to Susie, who was standing nearby.

"You, go!" Chance ordered.

Susie turned around in confusion.

"Huh?" Susie asked.

Chance pushed her onto the stage.

"Sing!" Chance replied angrily.

Susie did so, and she sang beautifully, much to the dismay of Angelica, who was watching the scene from backstage.

After searching awhile, everyone returned to the rock, where Charlotte was halfheartedly calling Stu's name.

"Don't wear yourself out, Charlotte!" Randall snapped.

"What? I had to stay by the big, bad rock in case he was drawn back to it." Charlotte said dramatically. She then frowned and asked "Did you hear that?".

"Hear wh..." Tommy started to ask.

Charlotte shushed him.

"I don't hear..." Jim started to say.

Charlotte shushed him and turned around excitedly.

"That's running water. Underground hot springs, come to Mama!" Charlotte called out excitedly.

She ran off and disappeared around the corner of Pioneer Rock.

"Well, she's dead." Tak said nonchalantly.

"Can you say victim number two?" Phil asked.

"And you know what comes next." Chuckie replied, frightened.

"Don't ever got no brains or nothing." Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Dil, and Danny said in unison.

Howard turned around and started running in the direction that Charlotte had disappeared to.

"Charlotte! I order you to stay with the group-eth!" Howard cried.

Tucker followed closely behind him.

"Yeah! You could get seriously hurt out here!" Tucker cried.

"Dad!" Phil and Lil cried.

"Tucker!" Danny cried.

The group followed, with Tommy filming the whole thing with his camera, but Charlotte, Howard, and Tucker were gone without a trace.