The monorail drove smoothly for not being on a track or having a driver, at least to their knowledge it ran itself.

Only the familiar colorful blur was outside their windows until they stopped. Then there was  white billowing smoke that rushed in as the monorail's door slid open noiselessly. The whistle of a train helped piece together the mystery of where they were and explained the smoke. Stepping out into a bright day the Casey Jr. train was seen, it had a red and blue engine with a tall smokestack and many unique cars behind it each stylized to the cargo it was carrying. And what noisy cargo it was.

All the circus animals grew restless and rowdy as Casey Jr. puffed down the track and came to a stop at a station as colorful as the train. Lions roared, zebras stamped their hooves, bears growled, and the elephants trumpeted at the top of their lungs. They were all anxious to unload out of the cramped boxcars and begin to assemble the giant tent that would grow to contain the whole circus. Alas, Casey Jr. had only stopped in order to pick up two more passengers, not let any depart. These two new riders, Skylar and Andrew, didn't doubt that the train was solely there for them and boarded the locomotive immediately. As soon as all four feet stood firmly on the train's floor, Casey Jr. let out two clear whistles and began chugging down the track once more.

Like most things they had encountered this train needed no help driving, so there was no reason to be in the engine. The second car of the train was easy enough to jump to, and opening its side door revealed several camels resting in straw. Upon being disturbed they all rose to their feet and held their heads high, full of pride. Seeing that they couldn't turn back, Andrew pushed the side door closed and he and Skylar faced the humped tall creatures. Their long slender legs with knobby knees shifted nervously, kicking at the dry straw.

"Do you think they can talk?" Andrew asked quietly in an aside to Skylar.

"No." She said as if it were the silliest thing to ask.

"They are Disney characters."

"No animals talk in Dumbo except for the elephants and Timothy."

"Okay, my bad." He replied, slightly miffed. "Nice--non-talking-- camels."

They shuffled cautiously by the camels, sticking to the side of the wooden boxcar. Both breathed a silent sigh of relief as the next car was to be jumped to but it was cut short when a realization donned on them. In the next car and all the ones to follow it were all sorts of animals, some bound to be dangerous. Tigers, lions, bears and rhinoceros came to mind, and the fact that the animals were trained wasn't very reassuring. Although, there was nowhere to go but forward in the direction of the back of the train and so on they went. The next boxcar was a supply car, holding a variety of food matching the variety of animals. Another jump and they met docile horses, each with feathered headbands on their heads like flappers. Through several more cars and nothing threatened them. Then at last a door was opened and the mammals inside reacted very loudly.

The creatures cried out thunderously, moving the whole car as their ginormous feet pounded the ground. It took the startled humans a moment to notice two things. One, that this car held elephants. It was hard to tell because two of the pachyderms had their backsides blocking the opening of the door. Two, that the elephants loud uproar was not due to them being there. Listening through all the trumpets and husky sharp cries there was actually a conversation discernible that explained all the elephant's upset voices.

"Just look at those--."

"Ears! Aren't they funny!" There was a short, high-pitched laughter, then a gasp and more shouting voices.

The thick legs blocking the side door shifted, leaving an empty space large enough for two people to crawl through.

"Try not to get trampled." Skylar advised tartly before entering the straw-filled boxcar.

There were five full-sized elephants in the rather small room, four of them encircled the fifth one which had a young Jumbo Jr. with her.

"Who cares about her precious little Jumbo." Said one of the four elephants ostentatiously.

"Jumbo? You mean Dumbo!"

The ring of the four of them burst out in raucous laughter, which caused them to move around.

Unknown to anyone, except perhaps the newly named Dumbo who beamed at the whole brand new world and was small enough to be on their level, Andrew and Skylar had made it half way across the car of elephants. Inching by on their elbows in straw due to be changed the going was already slow. Then, the ladies began to shuffle their feet in wild amusement, which made dodging them a top priority. Rolling out of the way as a foot came down was difficult when sixteen of them tried very hard to crush anything underfoot.

With a narrow dodge done by Skylar a foot came down on her hair which she'd lost track of in the incredibly itchy straw. When trying to move on she almost yanked out every bit of the long hair she had, but cried out instead and returned to the foot that was now her anchor.

"What is it?" Andrew asked, pulling up beside her. He hadn't heard her shout of pain for the ruckus above overpowered everything else but he noticed that she had stopped suddenly.

Skylar pointed angrily to the foot right next to her head and crossed her arm in defeat. The crowd above them had settled down for the time being, with their foot movements at least, and the humans didn't think it wise to make their presence known.

Andrew searched around in the straw for anything that could be of use but came up short. Then he remembered the one thing he still held on to, all the way from Tarzan's tree, a piece of glass and a sharp piece at that. He withdrew it from his pocket, still familiar to its cool touch, and presented it to Skylar. She looked puzzled at it, so he made a slashing motion with it and pointed to the trapped hair. Her eyes widened with understanding and then narrowed to slits.

"Don't come NEAR me with that thing." She warned through gritted teeth.

"You just going to walk around with an elephant on your head are you?" He countered, drawing closer with the glass.

"NOT the hair."

"It's gotta go Rapunzel."

"Wait!" Skylar yelled just as she was about to lose 90% of her hair.

"Do you have a better idea?" Andrew asked, still waiting to cut.

"Look!" Skylar guestured, with difficulty because her head was pinned down, to something scurrying in the straw on the opposite side of the car.

He did see something in the dried grass but it was hard to identify what it was exactly.

"I don't—"

"It's Timothy! A mouse that can scare the elephants and move this." She pointed to the elephant's foot still holding her hostage.

"So you'd rather get trampled to death instead of losing hair?" He didn't need a response to know the answer. "Okay," He sighed. "Timothy." He called out to the rodent.

The straw began to part as Timothy hopped over to them.

"Well hey, what can I do for ya?" He said, standing on his hind legs to meet Andrew's eyes.

"We uh— need your help." He looked down over to the elephant's foot still standing in that unfortunate spot.

"Ah, I see what you mean. Overstuffed hay bags they are, the four of 'em. I got just the thing for 'em." The mouse started to walk away but then turned back and said "Watch out for their feet."

Bloodcurdling screams erupted a moment later, and Skylar was free; free to get out of the way of sixteen stampeding feet. Andrew and Skylar made it to the back of the car as fast as possible, even among the straw, and flung open the door. Taking one glance back they saw the enjoyment of Mrs. Jumbo and Dumbo seeing the terror the others had for the little creature Timothy.

They were so glad to jump across to yet another car, seeing a flash of the train track as they did. The elephant's trumpeting was still audible through their closed door and whatever was in the next one they were about to open was silent. Without much caution anymore they pulled open the new side door open and, to begin with, saw nothing but golden straw. The teens still stepped gingerly, but shut the door behind them with a somewhat loud bang.

Skylar and Andrew felt at ease, not having to deal with another circus animal, but they soon realized how false their sense of security was when a swishing sound came from the straw. Both searched for the source of the noise, scouring the ground with their eyes. Finally, Andrew spotted it and showed it to Skylar silently. The noise came from a tuft of brown fur that was attached to a long, thin golden tail that blended in perfectly with the straw. The tail, following it up, belonged to something else golden and large: a lion. This lion was twitching its tail happily, savoring a dream. Soon sleeping cats were noticed all over when they were able to pick them out from their clever camouflage. Skylar discovered she was just inches from kicking a paw, and stepped back preemptively.

Neither dared to talk but instead used crude hand signals to convey a plan. What was said without words was simple: Let's get across to the next boxcar without waking any ill-tempered felines.

Each step taken caused a rustle or crunch that threatened to disturb light sleepers and each was winced at without a noise. Their progress was slower than it had been with the elephants but the elephants weren't intentionally going to harm them. Every so often one of the cats would make the straw crackle or let out a growl-like snore that froze the two intruders in their spots. Luckily, every time they searched the room for an awake lion they found none.

Eventually, Skylar and Andrew both touched the wooden side of the box. The door was opposite the corner they were in. They needed only to shuffle a few feet over to the exit but one thing stood, or rather sleep, in the way. Still careful not to speak, they began the hand signals again but none of them were conclusive. Andrew became tired of the nonverbal argument that was getting them nowhere and simply mouthed "I'm going." Skylar shook her head fervently but with his back already turned he didn't see her disapproval.

Andrew warily took two sizable steps in the direction of the beast. It's golden chest rose and fell soundlessly but shook its mane every few minutes to get rid of an itch. There was minimal space between the circus cat and the door which it was partially laying on but Andrew managed to step over and stand in that space. He was in a position where he could push the door open and slip out it, but that action would surely disrupt the cat resting its head on it so he wanted to do that at the last second possible. Skylar joined him at the door, with less difficulty than he had and saw too how the door supported the sleeping head.

Both had their hands resting on the door and readied themselves to bolt out of it when they flung it open. Skylar held up three fingers, then two, and then only one. "Now!" She mouthed.

They pushed with more force than it would have taken to open the door and it did open about a centimeter before pushing back on them. Pushing again was no use because something was definitely holding it shut. In the meantime the movement and rattling of the door had awoken the beast at their feet and his low growling woke others soon after. Skylar and Andrew faced them all, backs to the door, standing as still as possible when they finally heard a roar that shook the closed door on its hinges.

"Any ideas now?" Skylar hissed under her breath. She slowly maneuvered her hand into the bag from the Walt statue she still carried and carefully withdrew a pointed stalactite, her eyes never leaving the cat's.

"No." Andrew whispered back, aware that he had only a small piece of glass to use as a defense. "I'd say this is the end of the lion."

•

•

•

•

Kenton hurriedly flipped the light switches of the Roosevelt hotel off, leaving the lobby almost completely dark and then proceeded to duck behind the wooden counter. He had a laptop opened, its brightness dimmed as much as possible, but then shut it, just as an extra precaution. The properties owners were due to visit the decaying building today and see if any project would be able to happen at it. Two people had visited unexpectedly one evening a week ago and Kenton only had a moment to hide behind a dusty sofa, leaving the lights blazing through the lobby. The two men were surprised to see that the electricity hadn't been shut off and noted to check on that, probably wanting to make sure they weren't paying for it. One look around and they set a date to come back with a contractor to assess the damage.

Now three men walked in, talking as they went. One of the two Kenton had seen before found the light switches easily and turned them on.

"What are the abandonment fees on such big building like this?" The contractor asked out of curiosity.

The two others in suits exchanged a look and one of them answered vaguely "Not too steep."

"So uh— what is it you plan to do with this thing, reopen?"

"Refurbish for a— private use." One of the suits answered gruffly.

Something about their manner made Kenton want to shrink back but the contractor saw nothing amiss.

"Ahhh, I see." The damage-assessor chuckled for a second, understanding the words in a different meaning. "So you want to start this project right away? I don't see too much damage here."

A minute passed before either spoke. "We're saving it for later use if our boss sees fit but most likely it'll sit here for another 60 years."

Kenton relaxed a little.

"60 years? Wow that is quite old."

"Yes."

None of them bothered to see what any other floors looked like and after another glance around, left.

Kenton waited another ten minutes before coming out. Quinn and him had been happy to find a place as good as an abandoned hotel with electricity to stay in but would have left as soon as people had come in the first time. They were still extremely cautious around any person because at any time the company could have tracked them down.

With Quinn... detained for the time being Kenton didn't have the heart or the courage to go house hunting. Places at their disposal like the Roosevelt were very hard to come by, so the news that it might be of no interest to whoever the men's boss was a relief.

Kenton was also too busy to take on another complication at the moment. Two fourteen year olds were trying to make it through what he thought was the worst place to be and if—when they made it out he was supposed to be there for them. He didn't know many details but he had to have faith in the person, or rather the mouse, who had set him on his task. If there was one thing that could help him, Skylar, Andrew, Quinn and whatever magic need be saved, it was Mickey Mouse.

•

•

•

"Now isn't the time for one of your jokes!" Skylar said peevishly.

"There is never a time for them, they just come in on the most serious of situations and offer us the generous gift of comedic relief."

"I feel so relieved. Tell the lion how silly it's mane looks, I'm sure that will calm him down too."

The growling grew increasingly loud with every word they murmured and every other minute one of the not-so-calm lions would roar. They all stood, for the moment frozen, fixed ever so intently on the two people who had interrupted their peaceful sleep.

It was evident that any sudden movements, or even the slightest one, might cause one or all of the cats to charge them. Still Skylar inconspicuously tapped on the door with her foot to see if it would give way by some miracle but it didn't. She still clutched the pointed stalactite, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it against the golden felines.

Andrew was holding his own sharp weapon, although it would be a lot less useful when faced by a lion. All he had was a piece of glass that had somehow stayed with him, kept in his pocket hidden in the wildest of adventures, and only used once to escape the tribe in the Jungle Cruise. He knew Skylar probably could've used even that better than him, for she was always prepared for these kind of things, but he stood there trying to be ready for a cat to lunge at him. He heard the door rattling ever so quietly and knew she was still trying to push it open, so he felt through the crevice where the door should have opened and found, much to his relief, that a rope was holding the door shut. Taking the glass back to the pesky rope, Andrew sawed and it fell away in less than a minute.

He turned slowly to look at Skylar and saw she was exchanging threatening looks with a cat that was a paw length away from her. It had slowly crept up, padding lightly on its own feet to avoid attention being drawn to itself. It wanted to pounce as much as Skylar wanted to strike it, both wishing to act before the other but both were hesitating to start the battle. Skylar glanced at Andrew and then made a motion to thrust the rock at the cat but he grabbed her arm and with all his might pulled her back, throwing  them both against the door that finally opened as the lion jumped at her.

They fell through the door as it swung out and then quickly moved to let it swing closed again. As the lion rammed its head into the wood they held it closed but after the one thud there was no more, the felines didn't seem to believe they could push the door at all.

Andrew and Skylar, when they felt reassured the cats were resting once again, turned their backs on the boxcar and were surprised when seeing the next one, the last one. They had reached the caboose, a little orange platform with a bench that faced the track the train was running down. It had a brake wheel and an iron gate enclosing the small space safely. Sitting down they saw the track grow longer as it shot from underneath the train. The track was straight for a while, then curved in several places.

"Mickey is supposed to be here isn't he?" Andrew said out of the blue, watching the track run away from him.

"Says the toons of Fantasia, yeah." Skylar answered without a beat.

"Looking for Walt..." He didn't know what else to say about it. "The phone is still silent?"

"Yes and I think it will continue to be. Something happened... to our connection or to the people we were communicating with."

"It seems that way."

"Dolewhip?" Skylar said suddenly. Her bag had conjured one on request and she now offered Andrew a spoon.

"Why not?" He took the spoon sullenly and ate a bite of the creamy dolewhip.

"We will get out of here." She put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"If you say so."

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." Casey Jr.'s low mechanical voice said rhythmically.

Andrew and Skylar were forced to lean forward in their seats as the train began to chug up a hill with some difficulty.

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." Casey continued.

The track they faced got a lot steeper but then finally leveled out. After a moment of flatness they were then thrown gently back into their seats as the locomotive went down the hill.

"I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could." Casey chanted the whistled twice triumphantly.

"He thought he could." Skylar said looking directly at Andrew. "I think we can."

Instantly they were no longer on the little determined train but on solid ground in front of one giant circus tent.

"I guess you found a code." Andrew said quietly.

"I guess so."

•

•

•

The seats were full with jeering and screaming people ready to see a lion be tamed or a clown be smashed into pie. All the noise of the audience could be heard behind the red closed curtains that concealed the backstage. Bears were pulling on tutus, monkeys were powdering their noses, and the elephants were putting on feathered hats, as they do.

Two misplaced teens were mixed up in all the rushing stars as the ringmaster shouted orders. The show was about to begin any moment and their place in it wasn't clear.

"Aren't we still in Casey Jr.? The Happiest Place on Earth's version anyway?" Andrew asked, jumped back to get out of the way as a car of clowns sped by.

"I don't think so. This has to be the Dumbo ride, where we fly." Skylar answered, somehow sure of things.

"Flying, that'll be fun. Let's go find the big-eared elephant then."

They ventured over to where most the elephants seemed to be gathered. Skylar wasn't all that happy to see the rowdy group of pachyderms who had her pinned to the ground again but knew it was necessary. Dumbo wasn't far, they found him hiding out in a little haystack off in the corner. Just looking at him and seeing how small he was, they didn't understand how both of them, let alone one, would be able to not only ride but fly on him.

Before either could voice their concerns the room grew very hot. Maybe it was being around all the straw in a room full of elephants but the room grew unbearable with sweltering heat. Along with that heat that none of the pachyderms felt came a thirst that had to be quenched immediately. It was as if all the moisture was sucked out of the air and left the humans throats incredibly and painfully dry. They couldn't speak in their condition but both thought the same thing: find any source of water, now!

The first liquid spotted would have made them whimper in reluctance if they could. It was a barrel, meant for the elephants , but it was something. With only a second's pause Skylar and Andrew dunked their heads in the wooden barrel and swallowed as fast as they could intake liquid into their mouths. After the first few gulps the thirst ceased and the flavor of the water became very strong on their tongues.

They hadn't seen the glass bottle resting in the bottom of the water barrel but its contents it had added to the liquid were apparent.

"What kind of water is-- hic!" Skylar didn't need to finish the sentence to know what it was as bubbles came out of her mouth.

"Get ready to-- hic-- seeee pink-- hic." Before Andrew could finish they saw them.

First it was one pink elephant, then many. They danced about, and clashed  instruments, multiplying into thousands upon thousands. The pachyderms swam before the pie-eyed people, morphing into strange shapes and trumpeting loudly in their faces. The animals were so up close that the teens took drunken steps back and ended up flailing on the ground with the elephants still encircling their heads.

"How are we supposed to-- hic-- see where-- hic-- to go." Skylar, at the moment, had two elephants skiing all around her on invisible mountains.

"That's--hic-- irrelephant-- hic. We need to--hic-- find a code or..."

"Enough with the jo-- hic-- you are seeing this right?"

"The camels? Hic-- yeah."

"Wha--hic! Stop it!"

"I didn't mean to get--hic-- trunk." Andrew smirked at his last word.

The elephants that were now also green, blue, red and checkered moved faster and faster, getting weirder and weirder. Andrew did indeed see elephants shaped as camels for a minute while Skylar saw them as long elephant worms slithering around her. Not only did the elephants begin to flash colors their whole vision flashed red and blue as elephants sped around as cars, and skated and bounced around, filling their whole view of the world with elephants and nothing else but flashing colors.

Then they didn't just see the hallucinations they felt them. Two giant pink elephants, the size of  real ones, came and each scooped up one of the teenagers. They, too intoxicated to tell what was real, were very surprised to see a clear sky devoid of any elephants except the ones they were riding. Andrew and Skylar felt the wind on their faces and touched the clouds in the sky. It became clear after a moment that they weren't hallucinating anymore and that they also weren't intoxicated in the least.

The pink elephants they were riding, although odd, were actually there. Which meant they were really miles up in the air, flying.

"I suppose you were right about us being in Dumbo now!" Andrew yelled over the wind.

"This view is amazing!" Skylar yelled back.

"This view is terrifying!" He looked down once and felt faint.

"Irrelephant!" She shot back in a playful manner.

"It is relevant!" He said, but smiled as his own word was used against him.

The pink elephants were flapping constantly with their ears to stay in the air but didn't seem to have a direction they were going. They soared serenely over grassy plains, seeing a quaint house here and there. Both held a black crow's feather in their trunk for good luck as Dumbo would have. By and by their riders noticed that they weren't really getting anywhere but didn't have a clue how to direct the real delusions.

"Take us back to Fantasyland." Skylar ordered, hoping to see some results.

"You really think they're going to take directions?" Andrew asked skeptically.

Sure enough the elephants began to rise higher, flying into a layer of thick clouds. So heavy was the layer of fog and puffiness that one could scarcely see the pink pachyderm one rode on.  When the sky finally cleared they were in a strange version of Fantasyland, circling around in the air, not landing. There was a random tree planted in Fantasyland that grew to the height they were at. On that tree was a certain mouse that was calling out to them in the faintest voice.

At first Timothy wasn't noticed, and he waved his arms futilely, dressed in a red conductor's outfit. Eventually though, as their pink elephants began to fade to a gray color, Andrew and Skylar realized what an endless circle they were in and noticed the mouse trying to get their attention. Skylar pointed to him in the tree and both of them directed their now Dumbo-looking elephants closer.

"I bin trying to get your attention!" He clucked his tongue in slight disappointment. "Anyhow, ya need to meet Mickey! I believe he's a-waiting for ya."

"Where?" Both teens asked in unison, their pachyderms drawing nearer to the tree.

"How should I know? I just know he's around, it's a rodent thing." Timothy looked expectantly at them, as if they knew exactly what they should be doing only hadn't gotten around to it yet. "Well go on then."

Neither gave an answer but the confused looks on their countenances said it all.

"Ah you need help jumping is that it? Jumping to the next place?" He studied both of them for a minute and knew the answer. "Here then, touch my tail." Timothy received more bewildered looks than he had expected. "I know it's strange Mr. Disney made me one of the 26 Retlaws but apparently ya got some statue of me, me of all characters, in your park."

"I'm sorry 26 what?" Skylar questioned with such desire to know an answer that she leaned off of the elephant a little bit.

"Mickey will explain everything , I swear it. Now ya be on your way." Without another second for words Timothy jumped onto Skylar's elephant and touched her lightly. She vanished and before Andrew could exclaim that she had Timothy jumped over and did the same to him.

After that the mouse wiped his hands together and felt he did a job well done. He whistled in appreciation once. "Those kids sure have-a lot ahead of them, but once Mr. Disney is here everything will be a-okay."

•

•

•

Fini
That's it for this chapter!

On Dumbo's ride the elephants were originally going to be pink, like the pink elephants on parade but perhaps Walt didn't want drunken delusions in his park. So the ride got 10 Dumbos to ride instead. I think it would've been cool if they were pink.

Next ride they're going to... well they're going merrily on their way to nowhere in particular...