Charlene

"Are you okay?" Maybeck whispered from behind me, his arms wrapped around me. I nodded and gulped, looking to see three fried broomsticks scattered across the stage of Muppet*Vision 3D. Maybeck, Amanda, Jess, Willa and I all rose to our feet to see Philby and Finn jumping up and down like a bunch of little girls through Chef's cannon hole in the back of the room. Finn noticed we were looking and jerked his hands down to his side and they both just stared at the wall, embarrassed. 

"Yo, Whitless!" Maybeck called jokingly to Finn, waving his arms. Finn stuck his hand out the window and waved.

"How are we going to get them down from there?" Willa asked me. I shrugged. 

"Mandy, if you please?" Finn pointed to a piece of loose debris that looked about Finn-and-Philby size. Amanda sighed and lifted the piece of debris up to the boys, who gladly stepped on it and Amanda flinched a little at the added weight. She lowered them to about three feet above the ground, give or take six inches, and dropped them with intention. 

"Ah!" They yelped as they fell on top of each other. I elbowed Maybeck as he snickered and started to open his mouth, even though I was laughing too. Amanda just stood with her arms crossed, a smug smile on her face.

"Uh, guys..." Philby tapped his watch after standing. 

"We'd better get going," Willa agreed, taking Philby and Amanda's hand, the start of our Return circle. I had actually forgotten about having to do this, we hadn't had to be in 1.0 for so long. 

"Who has it?" I asked, and all heads turned to Finn.

"Me." He muttered, as if we didn't already know. "Ready?" He asked. I, among the others, nodded my head solemnly. This night hadn't really gone as planned. 

"On three." Philby whispered. "One."

"Two." Willa beat him to the number. 

"Three." Finn finished and pressed the big red button.

When I woke up, it seemed like ages had passed, but really it was only 7:30 in the morning. I jumped out of bed and didn't even change my clothes, I just went to go check my iPhone. 

Finn

Everyone here?

I responded 'present', along with the rest of the Keepers.

Amanda 

Jelly's in 10?

Maybeck

Sure, cmon over..

Philby

No, that's not where we need to go. MK in 20? 

Everyone responded with a chorus of agreement. That was probably the easiest decision ever made by the Keepers, and would probably go down in our history. But we all know why ol' Phil wanted to go to MK. Two words, one name: Wayne Kresky. 

I didn't feel like changing and certainly didn't want to answer my parents' questions, so I left a quick note on the kitchen table explaining where I was going and bolted out the door without a second thought. 

The streets of Orlando were never asleep, even at 7:40 in the morning. I jumped in my car and spent a good fifteen minutes battling traffic to get on Disney property. After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. 

After strolling through the 'No Bags' line like the pro I was (just my phone in my pocket), I got through the gates of the Magic Kingdom at 8:00, after the cute little opening ceremony. After that, I ducked away from the crowd to the left towards the firehouse. I didn't want to use the pole because there were already Keepers of the Magic Kingdom (yes, they stole our title) signing in for the day, but I went around to the side and up the fire escape. Ironic, I know, a fire escape on a firehouse. I knocked on the door and it opened, revealing a holographic Wayne, and it became apparent I was the first Keeper to arrive. 

"Charlene! Come on in!" Wayne smiled at me, the crow's feet and the corners of his eyes becoming deeper. 

"Hello," I gave him a small smile and stepped inside, looking for a place to sit down. 

"Right this way." Wayne motioned for me to follow him and sat me down in a small living room, which contained a love seat and one over-sized and over-stuffed chair. I went for the chair.

A knock at the door followed shortly after I had sat down, and Wayne hustled over to the door. I leaned over the back of my chair, looking to see who it was. Philby and Willa had arrived at the same time, and took the couch to my right, sitting so close that there was probably room for Maybeck too. 

Two more knocks followed after that, one where Finn and Willa arrived, one where Maybeck, Amanda and Jess arrived. Amanda sat next to Philby and Willa on the couch, and Maybeck scooped me up without me knowing it and plopped me right in his lap on the chair. Finn and Amanda just hung out in the corner. 

"I suppose another couch would be appropriate to purchase." Wayne tapped his chin as he looked and the cramped Keepers. I gave a thin lipped smile, knowing Maybeck and I probably looked ridiculous. 

"Maybe." Jess muttered from the floor. Amanda nudged her slightly. 

"So, may I ask why you're all here?" Wayne prompted as he dragged a chair in from the kitchen. He offered it to Finn, who motioned for Amanda to take it, who refused. Wayne shrugged and plopped down in the chair himself. Finn left and returned with another kitchen chair, pushing Amanda down into it despite her refusal, and he just stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, satisfied. 

"Well, we had a few 'issues' last night." Philby started. We all nodded our heads. 

"That's one way to put it." Maybeck muttered. I flicked his leg in response. 

"What kind?" Wayne asked, leaning in so his forearms were resting on his thighs.

"The OTs' are getting stronger. A lot stronger." Finn said. 

"You don't say?" Wayne laughed a little and leaned back, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?" Philby furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Well, you didn't think all activity stopped here, did you?" We all shook our heads in response. "There was an outbreak in It's a Small World last night. Dolls just escaping, the night security guards were a little shocked but handled it just fine." Everyone was tense at the mention of Small World dolls. That was not a memory anyone wanted to revisit. 

"Should we try coming here tonight?" Willa offered. 

"Only if we can get the Base set today. Do any of you think you can make it over to DHS during the daytime today?" Wayne suggested.

"When is the time where there's the least amount of Imagineers there? I mean I know they know about us, but they less they see the better." Wayne nodded at Philby's notion.

"That's very true, Dell. Imagineer lunch break is at 12:00, and very few would even dare to eat around the computers. That's probably your best bet."

"Alright, I can be there. Who wants to come?" 

"I'll come." Finn raised his hand. 

"I advise against more than two of you going." Wayne warned. "Pairs are safe, three's a crowd." 

"Alright, that'll work then." Philby finished. 

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Amanda asked. 

"Just to be careful. Evil is rising, and the goodness in these kingdoms are shrinking. However, you should know to be on the lookout for some new characters from recent Disney movies. They are starting to make an appearance more often, despite lack of being in the parks during day hours." Wayne nodded, and we took that as a cue to go. Everyone said their thank you's and goodbyes, and just like that we were out. 

Everyone went their separate ways, but Maybeck grabbed my hand and we just walked down Main Street U.S.A without saying a word. 

"Shall we stay in the parks for a bit longer, Princess Charlie?" Maybeck asked in his 'prince voice'.

"I think so, kind sir." I giggled and we started to head towards the new Fantasyland. I knew that most of our being the the parks wrecked havoc, but it seemed like a long while since I'd been to the parks for the fun of it, and I intended to enjoy it.

Hello all! So much feels in this. Wilby, Fimanda, Charbeck. You're welcome ;)

That picture at the top is a still from Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. When I was talking about Amanda lifting that piece of debris to Philby and Finn and taking them down, I was picturing that one scene from the movie where Alex and Justin had to take turns levitating rocks to cross that large canyon. I'm a sucker for Wizards of Waverly Place, and know way to many spells. Or I did, a year ago, and then they took it off Netflix :/ Time to study up! 

That's about it for today folks. Thank you for reading, commennting and fanning! This chapter is dedicated to fandomxtrashh because she was super sweet voting and commenting and whatnot. Thank you!

xoxo

~bcruzy_02