Post-apocalyptic Disney nation cont. 4

A well dressed man sat quietly in the empty office room. Shahid watched him through the security camera however he couldn't see the man's left hand tapping to rival a metronome. After a few moments, Zarina entered the room.
"Now, this is just routine." She said as she sat down. "So, what's your name?"
"This isn't a good idea." The man replied calmly.
Zarina then noticed his perfect tapping.
"What are you doing?"
"Counting."
"Counting what?" She asked.
"The seconds we have left." The man replied with a resigned expression.

Walt stared in shock at the massive man that had climbed the rope after him.  No, climbed was the wrong word. The man had jumped up and latched onto the craft. The pod racer tilted dangerously.
"Is your friend an elephant?!" Ioan shouted as he struggled to make the craft rise.
"No, that would be the giant axe wielder that's attached to the engine." Walt gulped.
"What?!" The imp turned to look.
"GO!" The axeman roared, swinging his axe at approaching Gresh. "GO!"
"You got it!" Ioan punched the accelerator. "Hold on to your pants!"
The engine groaned as the pod racer shot out of the hole in the roof of the cave. With a choking roar, the craft sped away at half speed. Ioan struggled to maneuver the craft through the desert canyon as they raced towards the gulf. Holding bandages to Jack's wounds as best he could, Walt tried to keep him awake.
"Brace yourselves!" The imp roared, trying to turn the pod racer sharply.
A stone wall was approaching fast. Suddenly the engine whined and the craft banked sharply. Walt threw a glance at the axeman and saw that he had dug his axe into the ground, pulling the craft hard right.
"Good man!" Ioan called, seeing the act. "Keep an eye out for danger!"
They continued like this until the great gulf came into view. The weight of what was about to happen sank deep in their hearts. Only the unconscious Jack was unworried by the rapidly approaching edge.
"Ioan, I have a bad feeling about this..." Walt started.
"Nonsense! If he drops the axe, we'll...be fine..." The imp tried to sound confident.
The axeman raised an eyebrow and reluctantly threw his axe aside. The engines jumped a little but the craft didn't rise any higher. The realization that this indeed was a bad idea came too late for any of them to do anything. The pod racer shot out over the great gulf and plummeted. There wasn't even a brief second of cartoonish suspension.
Ramblers sneaking about the wreckage of the world froze, hearing what they thought were the screams of some fantastic creatures. One looked up out of the bones of an engine. Seeing no great flying predator, the plummeting pod racer caught his eye.
"Yensidian!" He called with a whoop.
Other Ramblers called in return, coming out to watch.
Ioan screamed as the ground rapidly approached. Putting his feet on the dashboard, he pulled up on the controls with all his might, trying to arrest their fall. The engines coughed and shuddered as they struggled to obey. Finally, the nose of the pod racer lifted slowly out of its dive. The imp was almost relived until he saw the wreckage they would have to dodge.
"Holy-!" He yanked the controls, barely missing a shattered wall.
Walt glanced up from his work, and saw some people running next to them. The Ramblers, normally content to watch a crash, were assembling a jump engine on the run.
" Niatnuom  roirraw!" One shouted, as he connected two short poles.
" Ronoh ot eht naitnoum!" Another called, configuring something that spun two different ways.
"What are they saying?" Walt asked, yelling over the roar of the engine.
"They speak backwards!" The axeman roared back, tiredly adjusting his grip on the pod engine. "I'm too tired to puzzle it out!"
" Stnenopmoc!" The lead Rambler called.
The other Ramblers tossed their bits of engine to her. She jumped as she ran, grabbing the components with a dancer's grace. As the engine began to take form in her hands, Ioan looked over.
"What is she-?" He started. "Oh snap!"
Before any of them had time to react, she ran in front of the pod. With inhuman skill, the Rambler leaned back as the pod ran over her with inches to spare. With a quick motion, she placed the engine on the underside of the pod. Then she stood up after the craft finished passing over her. Seconds later all heck broke loose.
The jump engine ignited and shot the pod racer straight up. Walt thought for a second that they lost the axman then saw his thick fingers bending grooves in the metal. The shreds of war sped past beneath them as they drew closer to the wall. The craft's trajectory went diagonally up. Ioan realized this and tried to calculate how far up the wall they would be when they reached the solid structure. Had they not had a jump engine quickly bolted to the pod racer, the craft would have automatically prepped for docking. However, Rambler jump engines have no regulations so the imp would actually have to try to drive the pod with an independent engine.
The Ramblers watched, holding their breath. From their vantage point they could see it was going to be close. As the craft drew level with the porthole, a flash of light caught one of the Rambler's eyes. She looked towards the light and saw some one silhouetted in the beam of light. Then just as quickly, the light and silhouette was gone. The Rambler looked back towards the craft and saw the portal closing. There was a scrape on the edge of the wall but no wreckage falling from the sky.

"Woah! Wooah!" Oli shouted. "Turn off your engine!"
"I can't!" Ioan shouted back. "It's a Rambler jump engine!"
The engine sparked madly as it tried to break free of the cradle that had latched on to the craft. With a mighty heave, the axman kicked the engine. Astounding Oli, the engine crunched inwards and fused together.
"Engine off!" He grunted, letting himself fall onto the walkway.
"Help me with him!" Walt called, changing the bandages on Jack.
Tying up the man's arm, he noticed that Jack's blood shimmered strangely. Ioan shakily climbed over to him to help. Pulling off a spent bandage around the young man's middle, Walt saw something sticking out that shouldn't even be in someone's body. He carefully gripped the frayed end of a cord and gave it a tug. Jack lurched awake and grabbed the older man's wrist.
"Don't do that," he said and his eyes rolled back. "You'll pull me apart..."
"Ioan, I've got to call this in," Oli gulped, looking into the craft at the bloody scene.

Walt, Ioan, Oli and the axman sat quietly in the waiting room. The axman had been patched up and given some clothes. He looked rather odd sitting there in grey sweats, overfilling the small chair. Walt fiddled with the cane, trying to focus on the here and now rather than dark past memories. The problem was, the here and now strongly reminded him of the distant past. The four started to attention as Dr. Calico stepped into the room.
"Alright boys," she held up clipboard.
"Is he alright?" Walt interrupted.
"Physically, he'll live," she replied with an arched eyebrow. "However, our scans show he has a mixture of wires and mechanics running through him. We don't know what it's for so we can't tell if its terribly damaged."
"He's a robot?" The older man's eyebrows shot up.
"Not entirely." Dr. Calico flipped a few pages on the screen of her clipboard. "He appears to be mostly organic hence why he bleeds."
"Half android?" Ioan looked at Walt. "What kind of friend have you got?"
"You sir, are an imp." Walt replied. "And you think a man full of wires is strange?"
"Yeah, but at least I know what I'm for." The short man replied. "You're his friend. Do you know why he's full of wires?"
Walt didn't have an answer for that. How could he explain that yesterday he was untold thousands of years into the past? He doubted they would even believe him.
"Now, if you're done squabbling," Dr. Calico said. "He's awake if you want to talk to him."
The four jumped up.
"Woah. Woah. Not all of you at once." She held up her hands.
"That's alright." Oli said, rubbing his hands. "I'll go check on me brotha."
"Oh, what's Stan done now?" Ioan asked.
"He fell outta window."
The others winced.
"Give him my best." The imp said. "And tell him he's getting old if falling out a window messes him up."
"I will stay." The axman said solemnly. "I doubt he wants to see me right away."

Post-apocalyptic Disney nation cont. 3

In the security room at Disneyland

"You would not believe what I just saw!" Shahid said.
"Do keep me in suspense," Zarina rolled her eyes.
"Alright, alright!" He practically hyperventilated. "Your man reaches the beginning of the line and ( without stopping) the camera jumps and he is at the front of the line."
"What?"
"Let me explain again.."

Walt wandered down Main Street in almost a daze. The majority of it was exactly as he created it. There were a few additions and something seemed to be missing but it was overall the same. The oddest thing he observed however was that the people walking around acted like normal people rather than tourists.
"Come on Walt," the imp called. "We've got to arrange papers for you."
"Papers?" Walt asked, trotting after him.
"Yes papers." Ioan said. "If you want to go anywhere past Main Street, you have to have papers.
"Hold on fella, all I want to do is go find my friend!"
"Well look, Walt, I don't make the rules, follow?"
"I know you don't," the man interrupted. "But I'm worried about him. And the princess said he'd been taken by something."
'And' he thought, 'the less I know about this place the better.'
"Taken? Wait, was he," Ioan stopped and turned. "Was he taken by a Gresh?"
"I think that's what they said, yes." Walt said. "Is that a bad thing?"
The imp balanced on his left foot and flexed his toes.
"Ok, here's the shimmy." He said. "You go to the emporium and get your papers then meet me by the dapper dans. I've got a... I'll explain later."
With that, the imp dashed off. Walt stared after him for a moment and turned towards the emporium.

After his strange encounter with a rather crusty gentleman in a bright yellow pinstriped suit, Walt now had papers. At least he supposed this comfortable, close fitting wristband held the necessary information. As he walked towards where the dapper dans were singing, he noticed that everyone seemed to either have a wristband similar to his own or arm band or in rare cases a necklace. Upon reaching the dapper dans, he realized he didn't recognize the song they were singing. Walt watched them for a moment, enjoying their talent and how similar they looked to the boy's he had hired.
"Hey ,Walt." A voice next to him whispered.
He looked around and remembered that his friend was short and looked down. To his surprise, he found himself looking at the top of a fuzzy brown bear creature.
"Who-?"
"It's me!" The little bear looked up to reveal Ioan's face. "I'm in disguise."
"Why?" Walt asked.
"Because you have to jump through hoops to get permission to go out." He adjusted a back pack he was wearing. "I've got one for you too. Come on!"
"Wait a minute!" The man called as he followed the little bear. "You don't plan to put me in a bear suit too, do you?"

Walt watched the forest whip by as the... pod racer thing they were riding sped along faster than the train. The long fur on his suit billowed almost like seaweed. Ioan told him it wasn't a bear suit but he was certain he had made up the word Wookie. Still, it had taken a lot of convincing to get him to put on the hairy suit. The face paint wasn't so bad but the suit was making him itch.
"So, Ioan." He started. "Are you really a fairy?"
"A fairy? No. They have wings." Ioan replied.
"I mean are you really a magical creature rather than human?" Walt corrected.
"Oooh. That's sort of difficult to explain..." He drummed his fingers on the controls for a moment. "Before the apocalypse, or the war they say ended the world, people could decide what they wanted to look like. That knowledge was lost after the war. And the alterations stuck and, I guess, became races."
Walt rubbed his face for a while, processing this information. The future was much crazier than he could have ever imagined.
"So, you're human. You just look different because of the choices of your ancestors?"
"That's the basic idea, yeah."
In record time, they reached the wall. The pod glided to the portal as the engines ran down. The Charles Dickens character that manned the portal folded his arms expectantly. As they landed, Walt could see that the man was the same one he met on the way in. He leaned against the controls for the portal with an amused look on his face.
"Well, well," he laughed. "A Wookie and an Ewok lookin ta go out. I wunda if that's good ole Ioan under there. Ye wouldn't ta be tryan to sneak out woul'ya?"
"Now, Olie!" Ioan jumped off the pod, looking rather silly in his bear suit. "Would I come all this way to sneak past you?"
"Yeah, ye would now." The man replied. "Why do ye wanna break probation and who's your Wookie friend?"
"Walt." The older man held out his furry had.
"Oh, yer the one tha' patrol brought in eh?" Olie said. "Eager ta leave already?"
"No, I'm just worried about my friend-" Walt started.
"And we're just going out to fetch him." Ioan interrupted.
"Hmmm. Woteveah," he rolled his eyes. "Ye know da toll."
"Right...." He said quietly. "Sorry in advance, Walt."
The little imp cleared his throat, paused and made a strange sound. For all the world, it sounded like a yawning/stuttery growl.
"What was that?" The older man laughed.
"Tha' was a Wookie bellow." Olie said. "You're turn."
"What?"
"You wanna leave wiv-out permission you gotta pay da toll." The portal operator said. "You wanna leave, you gotta Wookie bellow."

"Hey you," the man at the desk said. "You're late for your shift."
"Yes I am." Jack said apologetically. "It won't happen again."
"You know I have a problem with that." The man held out a hand.
"I don't understand?"
"You're a time machine. You're physically capable being anywhere at any time." He glared at him. "And you waste time with a little kid."
"Excuse me! Am I not allowed to have feelings?" Jack asked, affronted.
The man leaned forward and flicked him in the forehead.
"You're a computer wrapped in a meat suit." He said condescendingly.

The darkness that had enveloped Jack shattered in a burst of light. He cracked his eyes open. Multicolored figures were running around and a tall figure was looking up. Silhouetted by a hole in the roof of the cave was a whirring metal craft. A shape detached from the craft and lowered towards him.
"Is that a Wookie?" Jack croaked.

Post-apocalyptic Disney nation cont. 2

Back in the present...

Being a security guard at Disneyland had some perks and a few downsides. You got to work for Disney, see all the characters, and, if you were a people watcher, watch people from all over the world. The downsides were holiday crowds, angry patrons, and lost children. Now that Zarina thought about it, sick children might be the worst. Parents had gone out of their way, parted with a good bit of money only to have the lucky kid barf himself senseless.
She scanned the crowds, hoping to find a suspicious character. Though in this crowd... finding herself would be a miracle. Then she spotted a rather attractive looking man walk into the fastpass lane for the Indiana Jones ride. The line wait was about 20 minutes but it was still less than the hour for the regular line. Then Zarina noticed something strange. The attractive man, she knew it was him because he was wearing a very red shirt and black waistcoat, exited the ride ten minutes later.
"Shahid, can you access the cameras in the Indiana Jones ride?" She asked into her walkie talkie.
"Yes ma'am," he replied. "Who am I looking for?"
"A rather attractive man with a red shirt and black waistcoat." Zarina said. "He just left the ride."

Jack Crowley was not a violent man. His entire family prized a calm and composed nature. Only one of his many brothers and sisters actually considered any kind of violence. So being placed in a sand pit with an eight foot opponent with an axe... Jack was pretty much at a loss of how to deal with the situation. However, not at such a loss that he couldn't avoid an axe.
The horrible creatures watching the spectacle hooted and howled in approval as the axeman came closer with his swings. Jack knew this situation couldn't be sustained as he would tire faster than the axeman. Which would then lead to proving that he was not immortal by any stretch. Also, without his cane he had little option but to fight back. Searching for a weapon, Jack ran his hands through the sandy floor. His hand caught on a sharp object. Dodging the axe again, he quickly drew the object from the sand.
Much to his horror, Jack found he had pulled out a bone about a foot long. Sure it was sharp but to get past the axe...and then land a hit... The axe whipped past him, barely missing him. Thinking fast, Jack grabbed the shaft of the axe and swung himself at his opponent. His feet connected with a thump. And he bounced off like a kitten.
"Omph!" Jack grunted as he landed in the sand.
The axe came flashing down. The man rolled to get out of the way. The blade crashed down and Jack's eyes widened. He looked down. The tip of the axe was buried in his side. Blood began to ooze from the wound. No one else could see but Jack knew there would be a few flecks of blue amongst the red. The axeman picked up his weapon to strike again. A switch then flipped in Jack that he was unaware that he had and he jumped into survival mode.
Time seemed to stop as he jumped up, wielding his bone. His blue eyes flashed as he dodged past the axe. With a practiced stroke, he cut a line across the axeman's torso. Using his momentum, Jack circled round the tall man and dug the bone into the back of his knee. Crippled, the tall man fell sideways and crashed to the ground. The spectators cheered as he leapt onto the big man's chest and raised his bone to strike. Jack looked into his opponent's eyes and saw something that woke a long forgotten memory.

Twelve years ago (for Jack)

The little boy stood in the middle of the room crying. He looked to be about three and his light brown hair was sticking up everywhere. Tears streamed down his red face. People passing by either averted their eyes or looked to see where his parents were. They were no where to be seen because this small sobbing child was lost.
Jack, on his break, noticed the small boy. He looked around, surprised that no one was stopping to help the poor child. Brushing off his dark pants, the man stood and walked over to the little boy.
"Hey, hey," he said quietly. "Are you alright?"
"Nooo!" The boy sobbed.
"Where are your parents?"
"I dunnooo!" He started to cry louder.
"Hey, it's ok" Jack crouched down. "Look, we'll go find them. Would you like that?"
The boy nodded, choking on a few sobs.  With a smooth motion, he picked up the small boy as he stood up. He carefully dried some of the boy's tears.
"Now, where did you see them last?" Jack asked kindly.

Suddenly Jack was returned to the present as the air was driven from his lungs. The eight foot terror had sensed his hesitation and acted. Stumbling to his feet and hoisting his axe, the axeman favored his left foot. Jack held his bleeding side as he stood, getting his breath back.
'Well, I clearly can't kill him.' Jack thought. 'So... I guess I'll have to prevent him from killing me.'

Walt was riveted to the window on the strange futuristic train. The sleek bullet like train cut through the forest silently. So far, he had seen Indians, a medieval gypsy camp, what appeared to be some knights, and a strange dark figure with a bow. Then Main Street station came into view. The station was ornately carved and painted in bright pastels. Something about it seemed familiar. The train glided into the station and the party disembarked.
A short figure ran up the station steps to greet them. After the three and a half foot boy had bowed to the princess, Walt recognized him. It was the face on the screen they called imp.
"Well, hello!" Walt held out a hand. "I don't think I caught your name, my fine young sir."
"Hear that princess? He calls me young!" Imp pointed at the man proudly. "I'm Ioan Ceadre."
"Mr. Ceadre, are you aware that you have a tail?" The man asked, seeing a flexible appendage swinging back and forth.
"Yes. Call me Ioan," he bowed. "Now come this way! I've got lots to show you!"
Ioan ran towards the steps. Walt followed him, noticing his feet were bare and didn't seem right. The creature, an imp he now realized, leapt from the stairs to a lamp post. Gripping with his tail and toes, he gestured at the scene before them.
"Welcome to Disney Nation!" Ioan proclaimed with a sweep of his hand.
Then everything clicked for Walt. This Jack had some how torn reality and spirited him away. Whether in time or a twisted reality he wasn't sure.
"Dis... Disney what?" Walt asked, rubbing his face.
"Disney Nation," Ioan replied. "One of the safest nations ever since the apocalypse."
Time then. A great deal of time.
"I... I need to find Jack."