Jailbreak: A Disney Fan Fiction

Chapter 20

Daniels had stolen a golf cart from the maintenance workers (why weren't they at their posts?) and was slowly making his way to the monorail station. The first few ways there had been locked, to his increasing irritation, so now he was driving through Adventureland.

As he drove past a "Meet Moana!" meet-and-greet area (with one of the paddles missing), he realized that he didn't pass any guests or cast members. Abandoned drinks, snacks, and Mickey memorabilia suggested that the park had been quickly evacuated. He pondered this for a moment before coming to a conclusion that made him grin.

People must have heard about his attraction already! They knew just from hearing about it that it would be better than Disney World. They must have all left in a hurry and were lining up outside his warehouse, wanting tickets. As soon as he had his characters back, he'd be able to let them all in...for a price, of course.

He began to drift off into daydreams about his attraction, and thus was incredibly startled when a second golf cart drove alongside him. Such was his shock that he spun the wheel and drove right into a bench, popping the cart's front right tire.

It was Mr. Chen, of course. Daniels grit his teeth. Why wouldn't it be? All that man cared about was treating him like a rat, so naturally he'd be trying to stop him from his greatest achievement.

"Rod," Chen said, calling him by his first name as he stepped out of his golf cart, "this has to stop. Can't you see how crazy this is? Things don't have to be this way."

Daniels stayed in his seat, despite the fact that the damaged cart's seat was now askew from the slain tire. He glared at the old man. He wasn't giving up. He still had the Charm. As long as he had the Charm, all of his plans were possible.

"Things do have to be this way, Somsak. You just can't accept that I'm better than you. A better employee, a better magic user! You had access to this–" he held up the Charm "--all these years, and you never used it! Walt Disney had access to it, all his life! And what did he do? He just went and watched stories happen! He didn't take the Genie's Lamp, he didn't take any of Captain Hook's gold, he never decided to use that power for anything! He just told stories!"

Daniels jumped off of the cart, and started taking steps backwards. He was grinning now. Mr. Chen was starting to look a little scared.

"I'm better than you, than both of you, because I know how to use this power! I know how to go wherever I need to go!"

He hoped that Mr. Chen couldn't tell that that last sentence was a bluff. Upon his first experiments with the Charm, he'd learned that, no matter where he went, the Charm would return him to the exact place and moment in his world that he'd started from. He could go to Arendelle, San Fransokyo, Neverland, it didn't matter. He could stay there until he was as old as Mr. Chen and still come back in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. Not the best escape plan.

Still, Mr. Chen didn't know this (he hoped) and he continued waving the Charm around as though he intended to use it. "I hold the greatest magical relic in the multiverse, and you can't–"

Daniels was taken completely off guard when he was whacked in the back with something heavy and wooden. He stumbled forward, making sure he held onto the Charm. By some miracle, it stayed in his fist.

He stopped in front of a small grove of trees, and turned to face his opponents. Mr. Chen had moved closer, his arms spread out to stop Daniels no matter which way he went. The other was Moana, holding a large oar. The words "Meet Moana!" had been painted on the blade; the board had obviously been taken from the meet-and-greet spot. To Daniels' frustration, this didn't seem to concern the princess; she clearly knew how to wield it.

"Stand down," Mr. Chen said slowly, "you can't win this fight."

Daniels sneered at the teenager with the oar. "Really? You don't have an ocean to help you this time, sweetie."

Moana stood her ground, a little smile on her face despite her fiery eyes. "I don't need the Ocean to take you down."

He took a step back. Now that she could see him, he remembered what a fantastic fighter she actually was. He looked at the two, and realized that he honestly didn't know how he was going to get out of this one. Still, there were only two of them. And...Mr. Chen was very old.

The smug smile returned. All he had to do was give Mr. Chen a little push, and he'd be home free. He took a step forward, the smug grin getting wider.

"You two think you're so tough. So...undefeatable." He was taking his time, trying to catch them off guard. They weren't moving. It was almost like they were waiting for something. Waiting for him to make a run for it.

"But you're wrong." Daniels held the Charm up again. He didn't know that there was hunger in his eyes each time he looked at it.

"I have all the power I'll ever need." He looked at them both, bending his knees. He was ready, he just needed to run into Mr. Chen and he'd have a clean break.

"I have ALL the POWER!" He was suddenly shouting. "And no human being could possibly stop me!"

There was a loud growl. Daniels, surprised, turned around just in time to see a lioness leaping from between the trees and landing on his chest. He let out a very unmanly scream as he was knocked flat on his back. The Charm flew from his fingers and landed with an almost musical "ding" as it landed on the pavement. He heard someone, likely Mr. Chen, pick it up.

He was looking into the eyes of a furious lion. She had him pinned down. He couldn't move; he couldn't get away. Nala glared at him, let out another growl...then smirked.

"I'm not a human." She said, then got off of him.

Daniels' fight-or-flight instincts took control, and without realizing what he was doing he sprang up and sprinted through Adventureland.

_ _ _

Mr. Chen was still laughing. "That was amazing! The greatest thing I've ever seen! The look on that miscreant's face..." Anything else he said was lost in laughter.

Nala admitted to herself that pouncing on that jerk had felt good. She felt avenged. The fact that she'd scared him as bad as he'd scared her that morning...well, there was a reason why it was called 'poetic justice'.

"I'm glad you liked it so much," Moana finally said once the park veteran had calmed down, "but shouldn't we go after him?"

Mr. Chen shook his head, holding the Charm to his chest like it was the world's most fragile child. "He can't leave the park, if that's what you're worried about. We've evacuated the guests and shut down the monorails and ferries...hey, how did you and your friends get over here without being seen anyway?"

"Red made up a story about winning an art contest, whatever that is," Moana explained, "and the two men guarding the mon-o-rail, or whatever you call it, believed it enough to give us a personal train car."

Mr. Chen nodded solemnly. "We need to update our employee evaluations. But never mind that now. Now that we have the Charm back, we need to get you two home. Follow me, we'll meet with the others in the tunnels!"