by Braxton Husk
“Let’s go!” Exton directed, as he and Alana sprinted up the stairs and onto the deck.
All was calm for a few seconds.
“Maybe they can’t walk up stairs,” Alana said.
Jack Sparrow and his pirate crew emerged from the darkness.
“Three a.m., m, m, m, m,” Jack Sparrow repeated, due to a short in his system.
“Three a.m., the time we awake, fellas!” Jack said, as his Pirate posse cackled.
“Who are you?” Exton shouted towards the animatronics, hoping they had some sort of system to answer questions.
“I think it’s more of a what than a who, mate,” Jack sputtered.
“You know, 3 a.m. is the most evil part of the night? Well, in our case, it’s our day. At this hour, we do what we want and where we want!” Jack threw back his tattered head and swung up his sword.
“We’re not scared of you!” Exton shot back. He turned around to find Alana had run away.
“Come on now, REALLY!” Exton’s frustration mounted, as Jack began to walk forward.
“Stand back!” Exton cried out, but Jack just laughed and kept walking.
“I said ‘STAND BACK!’” Exton tensed with anger.
“Come on now, mate. I just wanna have some fun until it’s time for me to go!” Jack muttered.
He swung his sword at Exton, who swiftly dodged it. Jack soon swiped down again, this time at Exton’s ankle, cutting through his pants right above his shoe. Exton screamed in pain from the laceration and collapsed onto the wooden floorboards.
“Our night’s just beginning, but I think yours is pretty much over!” Jack bellowed.
He raised his sword, ready to end Exton’s life. Exton shut his eyes in despair. Then, out of the blue, he heard all of the skeleton pirates fall to the ground. Jack turned his head completely around, and his body turned shortly after. Alana was standing beside a pile of rusty robots. In her hand was the wand with her crystal ball inside.
“Ah! Alana … So glad to see you so soon again.” Jack gallantly smiled at Alana.
Exton was still incapacitated from pain. He tried to stand up but failed.
“Let him go now! I’m not here to start a conversation with you, Jack!” Alana pointed the wand towards him with determination. Exton finally gained the strength to stand up.
“Exton, here!”
Alana let out a high-pitched screech, as she pulled out her crystal ball and tossed the wand to Exton. He swiftly caught it in mid-air.
“This, too!” Alana shouted.
She tossed the green crystal to him. She barely missed him, and it bounced off the side of the ship and landed in the lake.
“Ah, tough luck!” Jack grinned and let out a fake sigh.
Exton quickly used supernatural magic from his hands and shot Jack forward. Jack was only pushed a few feet away, due to how heavy he was. Exton hoisted himself up onto the edge of the ship with all his might.
“Come get me, Jack!”
The pirate rotated around and ran toward Exton screaming, with his metal jaw wide open. Jack didn’t run very fast, but was certainly intimidating. Every step he took with his big metal feel crashing onto the wood made the ship jolt. When Jack got close enough, Exton did a back flip with his arms out, his wand in his right hand, and landed perfectly in the deep dark water.
“Well, at least he’s done with,” Jack said.
Bubbles with a lime-green glow started to form in the water. From the cold lake, Exton came shooting out and flying into the air. He had the crystal in one hand, and the wand in the other.
“Well, I guess this is a Peter Pan moment,” Jack said sarcastically.
Exton swooped down and shot a bolt of energy at Jack. Jack started to shake and gyrate like his short was getting the best of him. Exton shot another bolt, as Jack fell down onto his mechanical knees. Jack’s black hair was dangling over his silicone face, while smoke began to emit from his body.
Exton, thinking he had won, descended down to check it out. Jack was making weird sounds, as Exton’s powers surged through his metal body.
“Is he dead?” Exton asked, as he looked towards Alana.
To Exton’s surprise, Jack unexpectedly jolted into action and threw his sword at Exton’s wrist. Exton was then attached by the sleeve of his hoodie to the wooden spar in the middle of the ship that held the mainsails. As Jack fully sat up, his silicone face melted away, revealing a sculpted metal skeleton-like face. Exton tried to use his wand but couldn’t move his wrist enough to cast a spell.
“I think our little game is over now, mate,” Jack said.
Jack pulled out his old pirate gun. Alana immediately ran to the melted mechanical machine and used all the power in her body to throw him against the ledge. Exton ripped his hoodie by pulling himself off the sword.
“Now I think we’re done here … mate!”
Exton picked Jack up with his wand and tossed the lifeless metal body into the lake. As the animatronic sank lower and lower, the body sparked until it finally just gave up.
“Whew!” Exton collapsed in victory. Alana bent over on her knees, laughingly nodding her head.
Exton’s leg began to bleed profusely.
“I guess I didn’t even notice it, with all the excitement flowing through my body.” Exton propped himself against the edge of the boat.
“Let me grab something to stop the bleeding.”
Alana hurried over to one of the lifeless skeleton pirates and ripped a bandana off one of them.
“Here.”
Alana carefully wrapped the bandana around Exton’s ankle.
“Sssss.” Exton reacted in pain.
“Okay, I gotta pull this tight now. It might hurt a bit.”
Alana pulled each end of the bandana and tightened it.
“AHHH!” Exton screams in pain.
“Wait, I almost forgot!”
Alana ripped the bandana off of Exton’s leg.
“AH! What are you doing?” Exton reared his head back in pain.
“Just watch.”
Alana placed her hands over Exton’s wound and began to sing.
“Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine … What once was mine …”
Alana stopped singing and picked up her hands. The wound on Exton’s leg was gone!
“How did you do that?”
“Rapunzel’s reversal spell,” Alana said proudly.
“Oh, yeah, totally knew about that.”
Alana giggled. “Okay, now try to stand up.”
Exton shakily stood up. “Good as new! By the way, what time is it?”
“Oh, umm, let me check.”
Alana pulled out her crystal ball. It began to shine. Exton leaned over to check it out. The crystal ball read: “3:11 a.m.”
“Wait, isn’t 3:00 a.m. the most evil part of the night?” Exton asked.
“I think it is, Exton! You might just be on to something,” Alana said, as she chuckled a bit.
“And didn’t the animatronics come to life at, let’s say, roughly 3:00 a.m.?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“Follow me. We need to check something out.”
Exton began to walk toward the front of the boat. He jumped from the boat to the pathway.
“Where are we going?” Alana asked as she leapt off the boat.
“We need to go to Fantasyland.” “Why?” Alana asked.
“If the animatronics just came alive, then we’re gonna have a big problem in Fantasyland.”
Chapter 9
Exton and Alana made their way back to Fantasyland. They both felt edgy. The lights were off in this section of the park, causing the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride to catch their eye. Exton peeked his head around Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. He heard the sound of something rummaging through a trashcan. All of a sudden, it went tumbling onto the stones on the ground, causing a loud clank.
“What was that?” Alana whispered into Exton’s ear
.
“I don’t know. Stay right here.”
Exton darted towards the carousel and hid behind one of the horses. He gradually looked over the saddle of a fiberglass horse to see what was in Fantasyland with him. Finally, he noticed a large white furry creature walking around. The funny thing was it moved just like an animatronic should.
The creature released a few grunts while holding a trashcan. It then let out a horrific scream. As the scream bounced off each building and into Exton’s ears, he knew where that scream came from. It was from the Yeti in the Matterhorn Bobsleds!
Exton scurried back towards Alana, who had her eyes shut tight and was holding her ears.
“Alana, we have to go now!”
Alana opened her eyes and stared above Exton. She was traumatized.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look …” Alana’s face went white as she pointed behind him.
Exton knew exactly what was behind him. He could feel the cold air breathing down his neck.
He did not want to turn around, but something inside him made him turn anyway. Exton stared into the Yeti’s eyes, hoping his confidence would make the Yeti not notice him. The Yeti was still standing there with his red glowing eyes staring directly at him. Alana snapped her fingers as the carousel began to light up and spin.
“Come on. He’s distracted. Let’s go!”
Together in one swift movement, they darted towards the castle. The sound of their footsteps on the ground caught the Yeti’s attention. He let out another ear-piercing scream, as he launched towards Exton and Alana.
“Stand right here beside me. On three, jump out of the way,” Exton commanded, as he stood in front of a skinny pillar that was holding up the back of the castle.
“Are you CRAZY?” Alana roared, as she stood beside Exton.
“ONE … TWO …” Exton counted down, as the Yeti was only a few feet away at this point.
“THREE!” Exton shouted, as he and Alana jumped in opposite directions.
The Yeti tried to stop itself, but it was too late; he was running too fast. The Yeti slammed into the pillar, causing part of the castle balcony to give way and come crashing down onto the mechanical beast. Its red eyes began to flicker and fade away from its cold, blue face.
“Wow …” Alana said.
“What?” Exton looked confused.
“I just realized why Disney has such a good cleaning crew!” Alana ran her fingers through her hair and began to crack up.
“Yeah, I guess.” Exton laughed as well.
“We should take a break from all this fighting and do something fun. I mean, we are at Disneyland!”
“Yeah! Seems like a good idea to me.” Exton began to smile.
“Wanna ride Snow White’s Scary
Adventures?”
“But none of the rides are working,” Alana said.
“Here, watch this.”
Exton stuck out his hand and waved it from the left side of Fantasyland, then to the right. The lights began to illuminate, but something wasn’t right. It was too quiet. Usually the crowd during the day filled the void of the quietness. But it wasn’t just the quietness bothering Exton. He felt something there with him and Alana. The rides began to operate without anyone having to work them.
“Did you do that?”
“No, I just turned on the lights,” Exton said, looking around at the rides.
“I guess we can ride Snow White now.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Exton said.
The window where the Evil Queen looked out was open, yet the Evil Queen was gone. Exton just ignored it, knowing that Disney was doing a few renovations. Exton and Alana began to get in a mine cart. The one that had been selected was the Dopey mine cart.
“Ha, I guess we got Dopey because you trip and hit your head so much!” Alana said laughing.
“Yeah, I guess,” Exton said, rubbing his head and giggling.
As the ride began by entering the Seven Dwarfs’ cottage, the music playing was the sound of birds chirping and the dwarfs singing, but all the animatronics had seemed to have vanished.
“Where are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?” Alana asked, examining the room for the animatronics.
“Wait, if the Yeti was alive … Then, shouldn’t these animatronics be alive?”
As they left the cottage, they could hear the Evil Queen talking. They were staring at the spot where she is usually supposed to be. As they entered the Seven Dwarfs’ mine section of the ride, they began to even wonder why they decided to get on a ride in the first place.
The gems and diamonds were glowing in magnificent colors. Various shades of brilliant blues, greens, vivid purples, and radiant reds flooded the mine. However, this still couldn’t lighten the mood of fear. The mine came to an end, as they approached the Evil Queen’s castle. Big wooden dungeon doors opened as they entered the Evil Queen’s lair. It didn’t seem as though the Queen had been in this scene either.
The mine cart came to a halt in front of the Evil Queen’s Magic Mirror.
“Is this part of the ride?” Alana asked, looking slightly worried.
“If it is, I don’t remember it.”
The Magic Mirror begins to crack.
“Um … Exton … is this an illusion?” Alana asked, as she pointed at the mirror.
“Come on! We have to get out!”
Exton used his strength to bend the lap bar.
“Come on! We have to go.”
Exton grabbed Alana’s hand and helped her out of the cart. The mirror shattered into multiple pieces, which were propelled through the air towards them. Exton covered Alana, as they both closed their eyes. When the shards of glass had finally stopped flying, they both stood up and looked at the mirror with allurement.
The mirror seemed to open up to some kind of dark room. A hazy figure began to walk towards the opening of the mirror. Exton pulled out his wand, getting ready to fight.
“Get behind me,” Exton ordered Alana, and she did what he said.
The Evil Queen stepped out of the Magic Mirror. She moved just like the other animatronics did, but she was more fluid and smooth with an enchanting air about her.
“Oh, I don’t want to fight. I am here to help you,” the Queen said in a trenchant tone.
“Why would you want to help me?” Exton asked.
“Because, you and I are not that different, you know,” the Queen said to Exton as she stepped closer.
“How are we anything alike?” Exton asked, challenging her.
“Well, to start, we have both lost someone we loved truly.”
The Queen placed her finger on Exton’s wand and pushed it down.
“We also have a deep anger and hate for someone that has ruined our lives,” the Queen said.
“I don’t have a hate for anyone,” Exton said.
“Oh, really? Then what was this about you destroying your own school? Your anger got the best of you, Exton.”
“What? Wait, how do you know my name?”
Exton pulled his wand back up and aimed it at the Evil Queen.
“My mirror tells me everything I want to hear. Well, except the time it told me I was not the fairest of them all.” The Queen made a mock frown.
“Well, it got that one right, didn’t it?”
Exton said, as Alana giggled in the back.
“SHUT your mouth! I was, and always will be, the fairest of them all!”
“Well, even if it was wrong, it’s broken now, so you can’t even use it!”
“Hm …” The Queen shifted back, as her eyes fell to the floor.
She waved her hand at the glass shards and used her sorcery to hover them in mid-air. Then, she began to form all the shards back together by ringing her hands together tighter and tighter. When the glass was back to its former shape, she pointed her hand towards the Magic Mirror and entombed the glass back into its rightful spot.
“Now, where were we?” The Evil Queen smiled.
“Oh yes! MAGIC MIRROR ON T
HE
WALL, WHO IS EXTON, AFTER ALL?”
Then at once, the mirror began to glow. A face began to appear that resembled a theater mask.
“Malefison,” the Magic Mirror replied.
“Malefison, as in the son of Maleficent?” the Queen asked the Magic Mirror.
“Yes, my lady! The son of Maleficent!” the mirror said.
As the face began to fade away, the Evil Queen turned and looked at Exton.
“Son of Maleficent, eh?” the Queen asked.
She stepped down the stairs and walked towards him and Alana.
“I’m not the son of Maleficent!” Exton shouted.
The crystal in the wand began to glow.
“Maybe not in this life, but your soul is old, very old. In each one of your lives, you were not able to defeat your enemies. Don’t you want to accomplish that for once?” The Queen gave a defiant stare.
“Don’t listen to her, Exton!” Alana cautioned.
“This does not involve you, Alana,” the Queen said.
Exton stood totally still, thinking about what he should do next.
“Exton, please believe me! You can’t listen to her!” Alana said, pulling Exton back.
“What did I just say!” the Queen shouted.
She used her magic to place Alana back into the cart. The lap bar slowly bent back into place and then bent further and to hold Alana in. The cart slowly began to proceed to the ride.
“Exton, NO!” Alana screamed, as she turned the corner, her voice getting fainter and fainter.
“I will give you the power to defeat your enemies, but I’m going to have to be in my real, physical self to do it. So you are going to help me manifest.” The Queen smiled, studying Exton closely.
“What is it that you need?”
“I am going to need my magic box. It’s hidden in the Central Plaza,” the Queen demanded.
“Oh, you mean this?”
Exton gently placed his backpack on the floor, unzipped it, and pulled out the Queen’s magic box.
“Yes, that is it!”
The Queen took the box out of Exton’s hands.
“This is the box I was planning to put that Snow White’s heart in, but my huntsman failed me. I’m sure you know the story.”
“But why doesn’t it have a heart on it with a sword through it? To me, it just looks like some old wooden box.” Exton kept his eyes on the Queen.