Jailbreak: A Disney Fan Fiction

Chapter 24

A howl that barely sounded human escaped from Daniels' throat, and he dove at the pieces. Red watched as he lay on his belly, trying to put them back together. He accidentally put himself in the perfect position to be arrested, which he clearly realized when Fatima and Thomas tackled him.

Red couldn't help staring at the pieces. Everything they'd done, everything they'd worked for...it was all for nothing. She looked to Jack, Woody, Buzz, Moana, and Nala, who all shared her expression. They were never getting home.

She felt Marty put an arm on her shoulder. She turned around and hugged him, tears leaking down her cheeks. How could it end like this?

McQueen, seeing Fatima and Thomas lead Daniels away in cuffs, drove up. He was all smiles, clearly unaware of what had just happened. "They got him! We don't have to worry about him...any...more..."

The car saw everyone's sad faces, and realized that something was wrong. He turned to Red. "What did I miss?"

She could only point at what was left of the Charm on the ground. McQueen stared at it for a moment, clearly unsure of what he was seeing. Then it clicked, and horror spread across his face.

"I'm sorry, my friend," Jack answered as Moana hugged him, "but in the fight, Daniels dropped the Charm, and it shattered–"

"What?" Mr. Chen walked over. "No it wasn't."

Red looked at the older man, confused. Had he not seen what had just happened? She looked at him with concern; how bad was his head injury?

"Yes, it was," she said tentatively. "Didn't you see? He threw the Charm on the ground, and it broke, and..."

She saw his smiling face, and remembered when he'd told them about the Charm in the Suite only a few hours before. He'd called it...She hoped she wasn't grasping at straws and looked the smiling Mr. Chen in the eye.

"You said the Charm was indestructible. So, if what Daniels threw shattered, then..." She held her breath, hoping against hope. Behind her, all of the characters stood waiting for Daniels' answer, their hopeful expressions matching Red's.

Mr. Chen's grin grew wider, and he reached into his pocket. To everyone's disappointment, he pulled out old Fastpass tickets from 2005. The old man frowned, reached into the other pocket, and pulled out the Charm.

Everyone either cheered or started shouting questions. Mr. Chen, laughing, motioned for them to all settle down. Then he began answering questions.

"After the incident with Maleficent some years ago, the senior park staff agreed to create a decoy for the Charm. The decoy would be kept in an easier to find place, hidden in the tunnels, while the real one would be in its actual hiding place." Everyone nodded, knowing he meant the secret room in the castle.

"Unfortunately, Daniels found the real hiding place first. It was probably just a case of bad luck that he got up there at all; he was always sneaking off and doing who knows what in the park. How he knew about the Charm in the first place, we may never know.

"When Moana and Nala got the real Charm back from him, I had us split up in the tunnels so I could get the fake Charm. I carried that while the real Charm was in my pocket. When Daniels attacked me, like I knew he would, he took the fake Charm. He only searched me long enough to find his gun (which I'd unloaded), then took off. I meant to tell you, but I didn't expect him to do...this." He pointed at his head, and grimaced.

"Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Marty said, clearly annoyed. Red didn't want to say anything, but she shared her friend's sentiments.

"I meant to, once he had stolen the fake Charm. I hadn't thought that he might use force, and I thought there'd be time to tell you. I was a bit out of it when he hit me on the head. I'm sorry, though, for scaring you."

"All is forgiven." Jack said. "Even I need a good scare now and then."

Nala started laughing, and slowly, all of the other characters joined in. Red knew why, and a grin spread across her face. They had done it. They'd stopped Daniels. The characters of the multiverse were safe. They could finally send their friends home.