Back to the DISNEY Future 1.10

Back to the DISNEY Future Part I
EPCOT Day

   The sun had shined that day as I enjoyed the EPCOT Center opening day celebration. Figment had invited me to hang around with him and Dreamfinder as they went around and greeted guests. As I walked around, following my friend and his creator, I felt crowded. Dozens of park guests surrounded me, curious to see what Disney had come up with. Their emotions were mixed, their smiles showing their joy, their curiosity, and their excitement. It made me feel great, people even waved at me, thinking I was a Disney walk around.
   And you wouldn't believe some of the people I met!
   Figment had invited me to a taping for a television special of the park, and immediately I said, "Yes!"
   Little did I know that I'd be meeting the famous Danny Kaye, a wonderful singer and actor, along with Drew Barrymore, the wide eyed, pony-tailed co-star of E.T., or the robotic, wide eyed robot character Zeiko. When I saw those three, I swear, I hovered a few inches off the ground. Boy was I happy that I wore a tie that day. Figment didn't talk too much, but Dreamfinder certainly said a mouthful.
   As he talked, a question popped in the back of my head: What happened to the Blot?
   The Prism was still in my pocket, yet to be used. In my head, it would be the perfect night to attack Mickey: the crowds were large, and everyone would be too busy enjoying the rides to focus on screams and pleads for help. So, why wasn't the Blot doing anything? Was he waiting until I left? Without me, he could get rid of Mickey easily. Would I have to stay just to destroy a shadow?
   My thoughts of the Blots were interrupted when Kaye and Dreamfinder finished talking. I was able to get his autograph, as well as Barrymore's on the Spectrum Prism. As I walked, I admired the signatures as though they were fine gold. Figment had found a bit of time to slip away from Dreamfinder to talk to me and as the two of us walked down the sidewalk, Figment said, "Well, today's the big day!"
   "Yeah, just look at this place," I said as I shoved the diamond shaped object back in my pocket, "It's great. Sorry about your ride not opening on time dude."
   "Oh, that's no big deal," Figment said.
   "Yeah," I said my shoulder slouching. In reality, his ride opening late was actually a sign of things to come.
   "I'm not talkin' about that," Figment said, "Today's the day we send you back to the future!"
   "Yeah, it's gonna be great," I said, stopping us at the green, metal fence surrounding the World Showcase lake. As the sun glistened across the water's surface, creating a beautiful, twinkling shine, I said to Figment, "I'll miss this place a bit, but it'll be nice to return home. I'll get the pleasure of sleeping in my own bed, I can ride rides from my own time, I can see my fri-"
   That's when I remembered the sound the bullets made when Doc was brought down to his knees.
   "What is it Ossy?" Figment asked, wondering what was wrong.
   "It's Ludwig," I said, leaning back against the fence, "I'm trying to tell him something that could save his life, but he won't listen to me."
   "Oh, is it that thing about the future?"
   "Yes."
   My legs started to give in under me as I slid down the rail and onto my rump. How was I gonna save a friend that wouldn't let me save him? Figment could see my frustration, and thought it was sad. That's when he got an idea. He looked around, to make sure that no one was paying attention to us. The park guests were, but the dragon wasn't concerned about them.
   "You know, maybe he doesn't have to listen," Figment said, flashing a mischievous smile.
   "Well then, how's he gonna know if I don't tell him?" I asked.
   "Who says you have to tell him?" the dragon asked, earning my attention. He then flew down low, next to my head, and lifted up my long, black ear. He whispered to me his idea, and as he did I nodded slowly. That might work.
   That night, the rain pored down. It was an average Orlando rainfall, a light drizzle with a bit of heat. Yet, it didn't affect Ludwig, who was making the last few adjustments to the wire jutting out of Cinderella Castle. The only thing that was affecting him was the small step ladder, which looked older than me. And THAT is saying something. It wobbled and it tattered, and the soaking duck was struggling to keep balance as he checked the line. A bad line meant something would go horribly, horribly wrong. Parked beside the sidewalk on Main Street was the car, the car that had caused me so much trouble, hidden under a tarp made of various colored patches.
   Figment and I were inside a local restaurant on Main Street, drinking nice, tangy beverages. I wanted to help Ludwig, I felt sorry for him being out in the rain, but I figured this would be the only moment I would have some peace and tranquility. That is, if I didn't focus on Figment's loud, slurping as he gulped down huge proportions of Donald Duck Orange Juice. I hadn't taken a sip of my drink yet, a nice hot cup of light caramel colored coffee.
   I was too busy writing
   Before me on the table was a piece of paper, the top right corner stained by Figgy's bright orange juice. In my hand was a black, ball point pen. I was trying to think of something good to write, something Doc would make sure to read. I wrote on the paper:

   Dear Doc,
     You should know that, on Tuesday, July 27th, 2011 at Space Mountain, you will be shot by a mad monkey named Frankenollie. Please take any precautions you can to prevent you misfortunate death.
                                                                                                    Your friend, Oswald

   As I finished off the letter, I looked back over at Figment, who gave me the idea to write the letter earlier today at Epcot. As he finished off his drink, I thought about how much both Ludwig and Figment had helped me the past few days.
   I covered my hand over the letter, and then added:

   PS: Make sure Figment's attraction stays the way it is now, will ya'?

   Back outside, Goofy was watching Ludwig inspect the wire. The rain had stopped finally stopped, creating pools of raindrops in the street that reflected the moonlight. Goofy walked up next to the shielded off car and said, "Whatcha doin' Ludwig?"
   "Oh you know," Ludwig said, keeping his eye on the wire, "Just a little meteorology."
   "There's a meteor!" Goofy yelled, shaking in his shoes, "Oh no! Run for your life!"
   "No, you silly dog," Ludwig said, trying to calm the big doggy doofus down, "I'm doing some veather experiments."
   "Oh. Well gwarsh, now I feel just silly."
   That's when Ludwig turned around and saw that Goofy was starting to peek under the tarp. Ludwig yelled down at the dog as he jumped off the wobbly old step ladder, "Don't touch dat! That right dere is very sensitive equipment."
   "Really? What does it do?"
   Ludwig froze. He obviously hadn't expected anybody to ask him that. As he walked over to Goofy and told him the biggest whopper ever, Figment and I walked over to the car. On the hood of the covered vehicle was the duck's lab coat, a bit soggy due to the rain. The two of us made sure Doc wasn't looking as I slipped an envelope into the coat pocket.
   It read: Do Not open until 2011!
   After that was said and done, the dragon and I went down to Epcot in search of Mickey. In my last few hours in 1982, I decided to have a bit of fun. At first, Doc had protested against this, but Figment convinced him it was a good idea. The two of us searched the crowds centered at the stage where the West Boy Glee Club was set to perform. I expected Mickey to be somewhere around here, since he had called me hours before telling me to do this task exactly. Figment thought the three of us could squeeze in a few more fun things to do before I left, as did I. But, in reality, I actually had a plan.
   I'd be using Mickey as bait to lure out the Blot.
   I was determined to defeat the Blot before I left, even if it meant using my brother to lure him out. And, I was in a bit of rush, since I only had about three hours to do so. I was still thinking about what would happen if tonight's plan failed, and what would happen if I were to become stuck here in 1982. How would I adjust? I couldn't be in a Disney cartoon, or else Universal might sew Disney. That, and I couldn't hang out in the Dreamport forever, I would be an out of place character. But none of that mattered compared the biggest lost.
   Ortensia.
   If I became stuck in this year, I would never see her again. I'd never hear her sweet, melodic voice again. I'd never be able to feel the warmth I had inside whenever she gave me a hug. I'd never be able to guffaw at both her inner and outer beauty. We'd never be able to dance together again. I'd never be able to feel her tender kiss again.
   "No!" I said to myself as I wiped the salty tears off my cheeks. I WOULD defeat the Blot, I WOULD go back to 2011 tonight, I WOULD see Ortensia again, and I WOULD make everything right again, even if I die trying! Nothing would stop me!
   That's when he stopped me.
   In front of me stood Mickey Mouse. He had a large, goofy grin running across his face, and he was wearing his classic red shorts, big yellow clown-like shoes, a jacket, and an EPCOT Center baseball cap that seemed to be brought down unusually low. I wasn't focused on that though, I was just happy to see him.
   "Hey Mickey!" I said, slapping him on the back, "You Disney fellas sure do know how to throw one heck of a party. I mean, I heard Ray Clark and Alan Sheppard were here. Isn't that awesome!"
   "Sure is," Mickey chuckled.
   "Yeah well, it would've been more fun if you were here. Where were you anyway?"
   "Oh, I was just takin' care of some last minute business," he said. But when the word 'business' slipped from his mouth, his smile seemed to grow a bit. He then continued, "Which reminds me, I gotta do something real quickly, do ya' mind helpin' me out with something?"
   "Hey, as long as you sign the paychecks, I'll pick my nose in public for ya'."
   As I turned to say something to Figment, I saw that he had a suspicious look on his face. His brow was low, his eyes were fully open, the corners of his mouth were bent down slightly, and his arms were crossed with doubt. The looked puzzled me, since Figment always seemed to trust people. Especially people like Mickey Mouse.
   "C'mon, let's get goin'," Mickey said, as he grabbed my arm and pulled me along.
   While Mickey did that, Figment shrunk down to the size of an orange and touched down onto my shoulder. He whispered in my ear, "Oswald, don't help him!"
   "Why not?" I curiously asked. Why was Figment acting so strange?
   "Because-" Figment started. Yet, the small purple dragon couldn't complete his sentence as he dodged into my pocket. This made me wonder more. I looked ahead and saw that Mickey was leading me to a golf cart. The sight of it brought shivers to my spine as I remembered that day on Big Thunder Mountain when the Blot tried to turn me into the Headless Horseman. The fact that Mickey had one did make me raise a brow.
   As soon as I stepped in, Mickey slammed on the gas, not even giving me a chance to fasten my seatbelt. We sped away from Epcot, which I thought was odder still. What was Mickey up to? As we blurred past trees, the rain started up once more, and I found myself blinded by the high speeding water pellets. I closed my eyes, not only to keep out the rain, but also because I was a bit afraid. This wasn't like Mickey at all, or at least not like Mickey from 1982. What the heck was going on!?
   Suddenly, the car began to slow, and then screech to a sharp stop in front of a building.
   Lake Buena Vista Cogeneration Facility?
   "What the heck are we doing here?" I asked.
   "I wanna show ya' something," Mickey said, still smiling.
   A few seconds later, and Mickey had lead me inside. It wasn't like the parks, it smelt like dust and cobwebs, and the carpet was not very kind to my feat. The walls were dull, the air was stiff, and the offices were the exact opposite of those they had over at PIXAR Animation. Dull and lifeless. I found no interest at the facility, until we reached the long, metal catwalks. Surrounding the catwalks, blocked off my metal gnash fences were long, electrified tubes. They zapped and buzzed around us as we walked down the corridor, reminding me that I still had to defeat the Blot before I left.
   "Wow Mickey," I said, trying to hold back my sarcasm, "Electricity. That's real interesting."
   "Oh believe me rabbit," he said a sour tone in his voice when he said 'rabbit', "That isn't what I was going to show you."
   The two of us kept walking as we reached the end of the corridor. In front of us was a door, with no markings or signs on it. I looked at him and he motioned me to go forward. I shrugged, not suspecting anything to be interesting, and opened the doorway to a long flight of downward stairs. I lead the way, Mickey close behind me. As I went down the stairs, there was a door at the end that was sealed off air tight. Mickey once again motioned for me to open the door, and I did.
   When I got through, two things happened.
   First, I spotted Mickey and Pete, their hands tied behind their backs as well as their feet and their mouths gagged, sitting on the floor in front of a tall, fat, cement platform in the middle of the room. The concern in their eyes told me something was terribly wrong, and Mickey tried to move towards me, the gags preventing any movement from the terrified rodent.
   The second thing to happen was the door shutting behind me, the Mickey that led me down here chuckling at me evilly. As he looked at me, I got a good look at a few details I had the unpleasant misfortune of missing. Where he had stepped were large, foot shaped, black stains on the floor. But the biggest thing I focused on was his eyes: piercing crimson red!
   His red eyes continued to stare as the mouse transformed from the cute, lovable, high pitched American icon, to the tall, nasty, featureless, rob wearing, faded black monster that had followed me here from 2011. The Shadow Blot.
   "Oh crud!" I yelled.
   "Surprise!" the Blot yelled as he slapped me across the face, sending me down onto the concrete.
   When I came through, the Blot was standing in front of me, his glowing red eyes mocking me. Like Mickey and Pete beside me, I was tied, but I was not gagged. Which meant I could yell at the Blot, or even for help.
   "What's the big idea?" I asked.
   "The future," the Blot said, leaning in closer towards me, "The future dear boy is the 'bid idea'. I believe it concerns the both of us, dose it not?"
   I said nothing
   The villains then said, "Well, it doesn't matter that much at all, really. All I know is that my future shall be glamorous and filled with happiness, yours will end in a few short minutes."
   "Why? You gonna kill us."
   "No, not me. The water will."
   This puzzled me, what harm could water do to us? But as my vision came into view, I saw that all four of us were on top of the platform in the center of the room, a good twelve feet off the ground. The room was big, spacious enough to fit as least two herds of elephants. But instead, it held more electric power lines, a few on each side of the room protected by large, metal tubes. Yet, the tubes still sparked off a bit, the wire mesh fences keeping those sparks back. Below the electric tubes were large holes in the wall, water slowly dripping from it.
   "Seriously?" I asked, "Water? That's how you're gonna kill us?"
   "No, simple water wouldn't be dramatic enough. You see, this place was cut off from the rest of the plant in 1985 due to danger issues. You see, those wholes in the wall are a good five feet from the floor up. Those electric lines, which are about four feet high, are only two feet above the holes. Now, answer me this: What happens when you make toast in a bathtub?"
   My eyes widened as I realized what he intended to do. He'd let the water rise until it reaches the line, and the water would keep going until we were drowned and electrocuted.
   "You're insane!"
   "Am I?"
   "Yes!"
   "Well, everyone has their flaws. Mickey is small and gullible. Pete obsesses for power over his enemies. While you, my dearest foe, are a pestering little rabbit who sticks his nose into other people's affairs."
   "That's because I know when I smell a rat."
   Mickey mumbled a bit under the clothe around his mouth.
   "Not you!" I said, "And c'mon, why do you want to kill Mickey?"
   "Because, I want to take his place."
   As I opened my mouth to say something, I froze, not believing what I heard from the Blot.
   "C-c-come again?" I stuttered.
   "I want to take his place. I want to be adored by millions, loved by all, I want to be an actor! You see-," When he spoke, a top hat formed atop of his head, and a bamboo cane shaped in his hand. He finished off his statement and said, "You see, I've always wanted to be an actor! And now, I shall express my desire to act in song!"
   "Please don't," I begged.
   But, he ignored me and sang anyway:

     Hi-diddle-dee-dee!
     An actor's life for me
     A high silk hat and a silver cane
     A watch of gold with a diamond chain
     Hi-diddle-dee-day!
     An actor's life is gay
     It's great to be a celebrity
     An actor's life is me.

   His singing was awful, he didn't sing the right key anywhere throughout the song, and his pitch was so off that it hurt. He sounded like my wife slowly scrapping her claws against a chalkboard. Plus, the Blot's dancing stunk like yesterday's diaper, I'm surprised the thing didn't trip himself. The dude was ruining a good song. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, he went into his stand-up routine. He asked me, "Okay now, why did the chicken cross the road?"
   "To get away from this lame joke," I said, earning muffled chuckles from Mickey and Pete.
   "SILENCE!" he yelled, his eyes glowing like fire, "OR I WILL DESTORY YOU ALL!"
   "Yes Achmed," I said, rolling my big, black eyes towards him. Something told me this guy didn't take criticism too well. But as I was about to criticize the shadow some more, he began to sing again!

     Hi-diddle-dee-dum!
     An actor's life is fun
     Hi-diddle-dee-dee!
     An actor's life for me
     A wax mustache and a beaver coat
     A pony cart and a billy goat
     Hi-diddle-dee-dum!
     An actor's life is fun
     You wear your hair in a pompadour
     You ride around in a coach with four
     You stop and buy out a candy store
     An actor's life for me!

   "Okay, now pick a card, any card," the wannabe actor said as he extended his straw hat out in front of me. Inside were three paper cars: the queen of hearts, the king of spades, and the jack of fours. I could already tell where this guy was going.
   "I think I'd rather you just kill us already," I said. This earned more muffling from the other two captives. By the tone in their voices, something told me that they somewhat agreed with me.
   "JUST DO IT!" the Blot boomed towards me.
   I rolled my eyes, incredibly annoyed, and picked a card in my head. I said to him, "Now what?"
   "In three seconds, your card shall transform!" the Blot said eagerly.
   But instead of transforming, his hat caught on fire, earning everyone's shock. Jeesh, this guy had no talent whatsoever!
   "I'll work that part out," he said, as he threw his hat to the side, before finishing off his tune.

     H-diddle-dee-dee!
     An actor's life for me
     A high silk hat and a silver cane
     A watch of gold with a diamond chain
     Hi-diddle-dee-doo!
     You sleep til' after two
     You get to smoke on a big cigar
     Your tour the world in a private car
     You dine on chicken and caviar
     An actor's life for me!

   Finally, he stopped, and I looked as though I had watched surgery being done. I shouted out loud, "You suck dude!"
   "So, it won't matter," he said as he transformed back into Mickey Mouse, "No one will care if Mickey Mouse bombs. It's like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he gives his worse performance ever, yet the show still goes on."
   Mickey tried to ask what the heck the Blot was talking about, but the gag still limited his speaking.
   Curiosity then forced me to ask, "Okay, so if you're killing the mouse, then why ya' killin' Fat Boy over here?"
   "Because, he was just a pawn in my fun little game. He captured the mouse for me, and his work was done."
   Now that I had to admit was awful. Pete had helped the Blot? That was bad enough, but the Blot using him kind of balanced it out. And I could tell by the furry in Pete's muffled voice and by the violent trashing towards the Blot that he wasn't too happy about it either.
   "And as for you, I can't have you stop me," he said as Mickey, which creped me out, "Without the three of you, I can make my way to the top, open a touring Broadway show, making a color television show, and retire as a stunt double for Harrison Ford. Oh, what a wonderful life it shall be for me."
   Color!
   Suddenly, remembered that I still had the Spectrum Prism in my pocket, I could still put the plan into affect and save us all. As casually as I could, I reached down towards my left hand pant pocket, trying to reach the object. Sadly though, the Blot saw me, and reached into my pocket for me. He looked it over and said to me, "Danny Kaye. His acting skills are no match for mine."
   I grunted. He had my only weapon now, not to mention his fingers were smudging up my priceless autographs. Why did the universe hate me?
   "And, just in case," he squeaked as he reached into my other pocket. He felt around a bit, until a loud squeak came from within my pants. He pulled out from a pocket a small, plastic Figment toy. He looked it over and laughed, "Too bad your friend wasn't here to see this."
   Minutes later, and he was up in a booth looking over the room we were in through a window. The Blot was standing in front of a long counter covered with various buttons, screens, scanners, levers, knobs, gages, all sorts of electronic stuff. Behind him were computer the size of him, that showed the three of us trapped. The Blot chuckled at our image, and then went to work. Right away, he entered a few numbers onto the keyboard, then pressed, 'ENTER'.
   The system accepted him, and then he started pressing random buttons and levers on the counter. I could see him do this through the window above the pipes, and felt like spitting at him. Yet, as I got the saliva ready, I loud CLUNK echoed throughout the room. My eyes filled with dread as my ears dropped down behind my head. I looked down to see water was beginning to rush from the holes in the wall.
   "This is heavy," I said.
   Mickey muffled, "You're telling me."
   "My work here is done," the Blot said as the water began to rise a few feet, "Now, I must be on my way to EPCOT. Don't want to keep my beautiful audience waiting."
   He then took the contents from his pocket and placed them onto the counter, then left us there to die. By the time he was a good mile away from the place, the water was already up another two feet. I yelled and screamed, trying to find a way out of this mess. Maybe if we jumped in the water before it hit the electricity, we could live! But then I realized the Blot could've locked the door, and we would be electrocuted way before we ever opened it.
   "We're in trouble," I said.
   Back in the control room, there was absolute silence. Our screams were muted by sound-proof glass in the windows, but you could still see all three of us jumping up and down with fear. Little did I know, tat in the small, air conditioned room, something began to move.
   The Figment toy blinked.