Back to the DISNEY Future 1.4

Back to the DISNEY Future Part I
Jigawatts

   "Okay Doc, here we go," I informed my mallard friend. I had just finished plugging in my portable camera into the television Figment had in the Entertainment part of the ride. We were surrounded by dozens of movie props and a chest full of Dreamfinder's spare purple coats and black top hats. It also held all of Figment's spare yellow and red sweaters with his name on it. No wonder this was the only thing he wore in the future show.
   "Oh, are we watching a movie?" Figment asked as he poofed in the room next to me. He then asked, "Who's got the popcorn?"
   "I do!" Ludwig said as he sat on the other side of me. These two must've spent way too much time together. But then again, I probably spend more time with him now then Figment did. Or at least, I used to spend a lot of time with him.
   Quickly, I shook the thought out of my head and played the tape.
   On the screen appeared the fuzzy image of Ludwig von Drake in front of Space Mountain and the car that had brought me here.
   As soon as Ludwig saw his future counterpart he said, "Great Scott! That's me, in the year 2011! Thank heavens I still have all my hair!"
   "You still look old," Figment explained.
   "Guys, quiet this part's important," I told them. Just then on the screen, the nutty duck then explained the main source of power. But, none of us could hear what the heck he said.
   "What did I say?" Doc asked.
   "Here, hold on," I said as I pressed the rewind button on my camera. The film rewound just a few seconds back, until I found what I was looking for. I pressed the play button, and soon Ludwig was telling the camera all about the power source again.
   The recording said, "But I needed something to generate the one point twenty one gigawatts of electricity I needed."
   After the recording said that, Ludwig jumped up, spilled his popcorn all over me and the dragon and yelped with panic, "ONE POINT TWENTY ONE JIGAVATTS! ONE POINT TWENTY ONE-"
   He continued to mumble these words as he walked towards the science part of the ride. Figment and I chased after him and I asked, "Doc, what the heck is a jigawatt?!"
   Doc then sat in a weird futuristic chair the center of the room. It was held above the floor, and was under a crank. The Dreamfinder would use the crank to show us the marvels of science on the circular screens surrounding the room. Right now it was showing clips from Walt Disney's original television show, "Disneyland".
   "One point twenty one jigavatts!" the duck yelled to the screen, "How could I have been so carless? Can it be done Valt?"
   "Doc, if I know you, you can do this," I said, trying to encourage my downed friend, "All we need is just a little bit of Plutonium."
   "Well, I'm sure in the future you can just pick up a bit of Plutonium at Wal-Mart," Figment explained to me, "But here in 1982, it's kind of hard to come by."
   "Oswald, I'm sorry," Ludwig said as he turned to look at me, "But I'm afraid you're stuck here!"
   "WHAT!?" I asked, now filled with panic, "But Doc, I have a LIFE to live back in 2011. I've got a- uh… I have to- uh… I really need to, erh…"
   It was then I remembered that the year 2011 was not my year. I had nothing to go back to, nothing at all. But I still didn't want to be stuck in 1982. I then said to Doc, "Doc, isn't there any other way we can get one point twenty one jigawhatsis into the car?"
   "The only other thing that can generate that kind of power is-" he began. But he was soon cut off by the booming, echoing sound of thunder coming from the screen. We turned to look that instead of the familiar face of Walter Elias Disney, the screen was now showing clips of lightning. Bolts of the stuff were flashing across dark, blackish purple skies. Ludwig then said, "That's the only things that can generate that kind of power. And unfortunately, you never know when or where it'll strike."
   It seemed like then all of my hope was gone. Figment patted me on the shoulder, trying to comfort me. That's when I remembered it! I quickly pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of my pocket and then unfolded it. It was the letter from Ortensia saying she was leaving me. I ignored the letter part, and turned it over to see the flier. Just as I thought.
   "Hey Doc," I said boldly as I handed him the paper, "We know now."
   Doc then took the paper from my black, furry hand and read it over thoroughly. His eyes then widened, his mouth formed a grin, and he said, "This is it! It says here that lightning vill strike Cinderella Castle during the Epcot opening ceremony at nine o' four pm! If we could find a way to harness the lightning-"
   "Yah," Figment said, "It just might work!"
   "Woo Hoo!" Ludwig said as he jumped out of his chair and danced, "Kid, ve're sending you back to the future!"
   "Great Doc, great," I said, equally as happy, "I could spend a week in 1982."
   "Yeah, I could show you all the cool stuff we've got here," Figment said, "Like the Wonders of Life pavilion or the Communicores, or even some of the cool stuff over in the Magic Kingdom. Oh, you are going to love it!"
   "Now hold it right there you two silly peoples!" the goofy duck said, "You two is not going anyvhere! You, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, are staying here in the Dreamport. Anything you do can have erectable damage on the space time continuum! And dat is not good at all."
   "So you mean I'm going to be stuck here in the Dreamport for a whole week?" I asked, a bit frustrated. It wasn't as though I liked this ride, I loved it. In fact, it was my all time favorite forgotten Disney ride. But, I didn't want to be stuck in there for a week.
   "Sorry," the duck said gently, "But the risk is too risky!"
   "Well, that's just great," I said as I stormed off.
   That night, Figment helped me find a nice place to sleep in the Dreamport. It was in the Literature section, a sideways lowercase 'c' would've made for a nice bed. But, I couldn't sleep. For one thing, I was in the Literature section, which meant every five minute some creepy noise would go off, or I would find someone staring me. I hummed to myself the song "Somebody's Watching Me" to try to calm me down, but it didn't really work. Actually, it magnified my fear. The other reason I couldn't sleep was because I couldn't get my mind off of Ortensia's letter.
   When morning approached, I found myself reading the letter over and over again. And every time I read it, the pain grew. I really blew it this time, I was wondering if Ortensia would ever forgive me.
   I looked over my shoulder and came face to face with Figment. He was looking at me with a sympathetic face and asked, "You miss her, don't ya'?"
   "Yeah," I answered.
   "What does she look like?" Figment asked.
   I thought about this for a second. I pulled out my wallet and showed Figment the picture I kept of her in my wallet. I then said, "Yeah, now she's mad at me. Figment, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get over her. What's the point of going back to 2011 if all she's gonna do is hate me?"
   "You need to go back to 2011 so you can apologize," Figment stated.
   "I don't think it's that simple Figment."
   There was a bit of silence. Then Figment said to me, "You know what you need Oswald? You need a bit of wholesome, clean, Florida fun!"
   "Well, according to Doctor Spectrum over there, I can't go outside. Or else I'll case some damage to the space time cont- continuo- to the whatever it's called. Besides, how are you gonna get me out of the Dreamport anyway?"
   "Ah, that's easy!" Figment stated, "Watch!"
   Soon, he was putting a light blue collar shirt on me and a Disney Imagineers employee badge. He then slapped an Epcot hat on my head, making sure to tuck my ears in. The purple dragon then looked me over and said, "Oh yeah, you are ready to roll my friend."
   Before long, I was walking down the busy streets of Epcot. As I walked down the street, I realized how different it all felt. Ellen's Energy Adventure didn't exist, just the Universe of Energy. Plus, there was a building called The Wonders of Life pavilion that taught you all about the human body. I later found out that it went extinct for a reason. Overall, it seemed like a pretty nice place. And all around me were various Disney toon characters, desperately trying to finish the park before the opening on Friday. And I blended in with them. No one gave me the time of day. Figment's disguise actually worked!
   Yet, as I headed to the China pavilion in World Showcase, a human employee bumped into me. I said to the tall man with spiky black hair, "Sorry about that."
   The man stared back at me with squinted red eyes and a sneer on his face. He snarled at me then simply walked away. As he walked away, I couldn't get the picture out of my head: those glowing red eyes. It almost felt like that creep… knew me! I put a bit more hustle in my step as I rushed to the World Showcase.
   When I got there, I was amazed by all the detail they had put into all the countries. It really did feel as though I had left the United States and had traveled to China. As I started to hum a few bars from "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Mulan, I once again bumped into someone. Only this time, when I bumped into him, I fell down onto my back.
   As I got back up, an ear slipped out from my hat and I barked, "What, is today "Push Me Down" day?"
   When I looked up to see who bumped me, I saw that it was none other than Pete! This time he wore a green colored shirt and jeans that looked like they were one size too small. He also wore a small brown cap on his head. He sneered at me and said, "Hey ya stupid bunny! Why dontcha' watch where you're going!"
   "Hey, you were the one who bumped into me," I said as I got up and dusted myself off.
   He then grabbed me by the collar and showed me his first. And as I stared into his large knuckles he said, "I oughta slug you!"
   "You oughta brush your teeth," I replied as I clipped my nose, "Dude, your breath stinks."
   "Why you little," he said as he reared his fist back, ready top strike. But then, I kicked him in the gut with one of my oversized bunny feet. Immediately he let me go as he clutched his belly in pain. I then puffed out my chest and started to wiggle my fists around in a very silly looking way. For some reason, I had a strange sense of Déjà vuh.
   This feeling continued as Pete pulled a pin from his pocket and pocked me in the tummy. Immediately, my chest deflated.
   I asked the big dope, "Jeesh Pete, can't you come up with anything else?"
   "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Then I realized that he hadn't done that to me yet. In fact, he didn't even know who I was yet.
   "Ah, never mind you big dumb palooka."
   "Are you saying I'm stupid!?"
   "Well, now that you mention it-"
   But before I could finish what I was saying, Pete punched me in the gut. As I clutched my stomach, Figment poofed out of no where and addressed Pete by saying, "Hey ya' big jerk, leave my friend here alone."
   When he heard this, Pete simply rolled his eyes and started to dribble Figment like a basketball. Poor Figment, I bet for once he wished he wasn't so bouncy. And when I tried to fight Pete back, he simply placed his hand on my head and kept me away. Hey, have I mentioned that I REALLY hated Pete?
   As Pete began to laugh, a voice from behind him said, "Hey Pete."
   Pete stopped laughing, I stopped swinging my fists, and Figment stopped bouncing long enough for us to turn around to see who it was. I couldn't believe my eyes. My jaw nearly fell off my face. It was him! He wore his classic ensemble: red shorts with two large white buttons, big canary shoes, and white gloves. He was also wearing a teal WDW jacket. But the thing that stuck out about this guy was his ears. Two black circles. I had no doubts that this was indeed my half brother, Mickey Mouse.
   And I could tell Pete was nervous by the way his body shook like a tornado. He greeted the cartoon celebrity ,"Uh, he heh, good morning Mr. Mouse."
   "Good morning Mr. Mouse," Figment greeted.
   "Guys, I told you call me Mickey," he said. Yup, this dude was defiantly Mickey Mouse. He then calmly looked the situation over and told Pete, "Hey Pete, I'm guessing you haven't had breakfast yet. Why don't you head on over to the Crystal Palace for some nice pancakes?"
   "He Heh, yes Mr. Mouse," he said as he gently put me and Figment down. But, before he left, he whispered into my exposed, long, floppy rabbit ear, "That check signing pipsqueak won't be around to save you next time."
   He then left, making sure to whap Figment and I in the back of the heads first. Mickey then walked over to me and said, "Hey, you okay?"
   "Yeah, sort of," I replied.
   "I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name," Mickey said.
   I almost asked him why he didn't recognize his own flesh and blood, but then I remembered something. Mickey wouldn't discover the Wasteland and find me until 2010. So, for now, he had absolutely no clue who the heck I was.
   "Name's Oswald," I replied, shaking his hand.
   "Well, Oswald," Mickey told me, "Don't you worry about ol' Pete back there. His bark is worse than his bite. Although, between you and me, his smell is worse than either his bark or bite."
   "You're telling me," Figment said, "That fella smelled like something you'd scrape off the bottom of the garbage can."
   "Yeah," Mickey and I said in union. Wow, Yen Sid was right. We really are a reflection of each other.
   "So, you new here in WED?" Mickey asked.
   "What's WED?" I asked.
   "Walter Elias Disney," he informed me, "Walt created the group to design and build Disneyland. Ever since then, the name kind of stuck. Although, some of the guys around here like to call it 'Imagineering'. Weird, right?"
   "Uh…," I said, "Yeah."
   Man, the eighty's definition of weird and my definition of weird were two completely different things.
   "So, you new?"
   "Oh yeah," I fibbed. I didn't want Mickey to know that I was from the future, something told me Doc would slap me silly if I told him I was. I then said, "This is actually my first day on the job. I'm on the Imagination pavilion, making sure it's entertaining and stuff like that."
   Now that part was partially true.
   "Oh good, we've been having trouble with that ride."
   "I resent that," Figment said.
   "Sorry," Mickey apologized, "Anyway, I shouldn't keep you two from your jobs. See you later."
   Then he walked off, probably off to check out how the rest of the park was going. He seemed more mischievous when I met him in the Wasteland.