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The Rescue Attempt

Not very far outside the kingdom of Corona, princes Rapunzel and her former thief turned prince Eugene were enjoying a small picnic near a dairy farm.

It had been a little over a year since the events that brought the two together, reunited Rapunzel with her parents, freed Eugene, who used to go by the name Flynn Rider, of all his crimes and had led to the two eventually marrying. Any time she would look back on all the events Rapunzel would comment how the one thing she really missed was her long golden hair, now short and brown after it was cut.

As fun as being a prince and princess was the two often needed to come out and relax by getting away from the crowded, busy life of the kingdom itself. This was not the first time they’d come out to the dairy before, mainly because Rapunzel loved having fresh milk and seeing the cows, and the spot they were at was a favorite of theirs.

The two were currently sitting and laughing with each other as they waited for more milk to be brought out. Eventually it was carried over by their befriended horse, who was also the captain of Corona’s royal guard, Maximus. A small crate of it was carried on the horses back before he’d reached the two.

Picking up the crate Rapunzel said “Thanks, Max.” before handing one bottle to Eugene. The two drank a little before the princess gave a delighted hum and said “It just gets better with every sip you take.”

Eugene heard this before asking “How about a nice piece of bread to go with that?”

She nodded as he reached in to the basket they brought to get the bread. He felt around before pulling out shrieking a little as he pulled something out. He opened his hand a revealed Pascal who had his cold finger wrapped around Eugene’s finger.

The prince groaned before saying “I hate it when you do that, you know.”

The chameleon giggled a little as he crawled off him and onto one of the other bottles of milk. Once at the top he used his tongue like a straw and started drinking it down, only to fill like a balloon after one big gulp. Rapunzel giggled at this before Maximus nudged her with his nose and gave her a desperate sort of look.

Knowing what he wanted she said “Okay, okay.” She reached into the basket and pulled out a few things which she held behind her back as she got up and asked “So what does my brave horse want?” She pulled out one hand with an appel and asked “Granny Smith?” Max grew a little excited before she pulled out another apple and said “Or Honeycrisp?” She pulled out two more and asked “Golden Delicious or Red Delicious?” Seeing how anxious Maximus was she held out all of them and said “Or how about all of the above?” The horse wasted no time in scarfing down all the appels held out before him. Rapunzel only giggled as she saw how much he was enjoying it before petting the horse’s snout and saying “Enjoy, boy. You deserve it after all the hard work you’ve been doing.”

As she sat back down Eugene commented “Hard work? The worst that happened was someone caught jaywalking just because they had a bad leg that made them wobble.” Maximus gave him a dirty look before he shrugged and said “What? I’m just saying things are quiet around Corona. Which is a good thing.”

“And we have our brave horse in shining armor to thank for that.” Rapunzel said as she pet Maximus more. “Isn’t that right, boy?”

As Maximus took in the praise Eugene commented “Good as he is, he didn’t stop the Stabbignton’s from breaking out of prison, did he?”

While Maximus looked a bit nervous about his one mess-up Rapunzel defended with “Oh come on. Everyone makes at least one little mistake. Kind of like when you mistakenly ran into my tower, thinking it was safe.” Eugene gave an awkward chuckle while Maximus and Pascal gave him smart looks, Rapunzel finishing with “Besides I’m sure those two brothers are far away by now. What do we have to worry about?”

Eugene shrugged at this, thinking she was right, before sipping down more milk. Maximus and Pascal started enjoying the meal the prince and princess had set along with them as they tried to enjoy their nice day out.

None of them saw as Pete and his family were watching the royal picnic from the bushes and trees in the nearby forest. The four of them looked to see their target: princess Rapunzel. Once they had a clear look to her Pete nodded to Peg who nodded back before indicating for PJ and Pistol to follow her.

While the rest moved on Pete walked out of the forest straight over to the picnicking group and said “Pardon me, folks. Sorry to bother you and all, but I’m a little lost and thought you could help me out.”

Right away all in the group looked oddly at Pete, since he was a humanoid cat creature, before Eugene slowly got up and said “Uh….sure. Mr. Cat….thing.”

“Oh just call me Pete.” He said with a sly grin. Before anything else he looked over Eugene’s shoulder and said “Hey! Aren’t you that girl? You know, that princess Rapoozel?”

“Rapunzel.” She corrected.

“Right, right.” He continued. “But didn’t you go on some big adventure to find your family? And you had long, blonde hair you used to heal people with?”

Rapunzel gave a curious look to Eugene before answering “Yes. Why?”

With a grin Pete said “That’s all I wanted to know.” Before pushing Eugene back on the ground.

After the prince fell Maximus jumped to both his and Rapunzel’s protection. Pete took a step back before Pistol, dropping down from above, swiped a bag over the horse’s head. As she called out how much she loved riding the horsey PJ ran in and took Maximus’ reins to keep him under control.

Eugene got to his feet, only for Peg to cast a spell that bound rope around him, making her say “No so fast, hot stuff.”

Pascal panicked and changing into the color of Rapunzel’s dress as he hid on her shoulder, she backing away and saying “Who are you people? What do you want?”

“We’re here for you, girly.” Pete said as he walked towards her to brag her. Rapunzel tripped backwards on the ground before reaching into the picnic basket, Pete saying “Now don’t make this hard, princess. Just come along qui-”

Just as he reached down for her Rapunzel smacked Pete right in the face with a frying pan hidden in the basket. Pete fell back before she threw the pan at Peg, who ducked only for Eugene to take the chance to jump back and push her. She stumbled back into PJ who let go of the reins which gave Maximus the chance to toss Pistol off of him before pulling the bag off his head.

Rapunzel quickly picked up her frying pan and said “Never leave home without it.”

As Pete and his family started to recover Eugene picked Rapunzel up and put her on Maximus before saying “Get her back to the castle. She’ll be safe.”

“Wait!” she said. “What about you?”

“I’ll keep them busy.” He explained while looking back towards the others. “Just go, alright? You’ll be fine.”

“But you won’t be.” She pleaded, holding his hand.

Eugene chuckled and said “Don’t worry.” Before surprisingly pulling out a sword hidden in the picnic basket. “You’re not the only one who comes prepared.” He gave her a quick kiss goodbye before saying “Now get out of here!” He slapped Maximus to get him running before turning back to Pete and his family, pointing the sword at them and saying “You don’t know how hard it was, stuffing this in the basket. Now which one of you is first?”

Instead of looking to Eugene they all realized where Rapunzel had run off towards and started chasing after her. Eugene looked surprised when they all rushed back him, not even bothering to stop and look back or even try to fight him. He looked confused before seeing them run off after Rapunzel.

He called out “Hey!” after being ignored before looking around for a fast way to catch up to Rapunzel before they could. A moment later he ran up to the dairy farm, managed to find the farmer owning the place, and said “Sorry, sir. But I need to borrow a cow.”

Eugene quickly found a cow and threw a saddle on him. He clicked to get the thing movie but the cow just stood there with a dull complexion as it chewed on grass. He kept trying to get it to move but still the cow wouldn’t budge. He soon had the idea of sticking his sword into it’s rear-end which, thankfully, finally got the bovine moving.

As Rapunzel rode through the roadway towards the kingdom of Corona she kept looking back to see if either Pete and his family or Eugene was following. By the time she turned back, however, she was stopped when the Headless Horseman jumped out onto the road to block her path. She gasped while Pascal gave a little lizard scream at the sight of the undead rider.

Maximus tried to act brave and gave a loud neighing sound towards the horseman. In response the black horse the horseman rode gave a louder, more threatening whiney that almost sounded like a roar. It even spurted fire from its nostrils before stomping it’s hooves to show its dominance. Maximus immediately backed down and took a few steps back while Rapunzel clung to his neck.

“First animal people, now a headless guy with a fire breathing horse.” She said to herself in a frightened tone. “What next?”

Before she knew it Pete and his family arrived behind her, he saying “Nowhere to run, girly. And nowhere to-”

Before he could finish Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Max and Scrooge all bust from the nearby bushes and trees of the surrounding forest and attacked the family of criminals. Donald and Scrooge battled with magic-to-magic against Peg while Mickey and Goofy dealt with Pete, leaving Max to handle PJ and Pistol. As surprised as Rapunzel was she turned back when she heard the Horseman coming towards her, only to be stopped when a bright ball of light appeared in-between them.

It suddenly formed into Master Yen Sid who declared “You will not harm this princess, you undead fiend!” before firing a bolt of magic at him.

The Horseman ducked from the blast before commanding his horse to attack, the black beast breathing fire from its mouth towards Yen Sid. The ethereal wizard created a barrier before returning the fire towards the Horseman and his steed.

While the two fought Rapunzel looked frazzled as ever by what she was seeing, not helped when Stitch hopped up on Maximus’s head and declared “We here to save you!”

She screamed before smacking Stitch off with the frying pan. He fell off before groaned and rubbing his head Rapunzel realizing he landed near where Mary Poppins and Merida stood.

The nanny looked up and said “Now really, your majesty, is that anyway to treat someone trying to rescue you?”

Rapunzel, still confused, asked “Who….who are you people?”

Merida huffed and said “We’re the good guys of course.”

During the fighting Max and PJ were locked in combat, though it was more like PJ just clumsily defending himself with a sword while Max took small nips here and there. Seeing that his friend wasn’t trying to fight while shaking were he stood Max swatted the blade out of his hands before giving him a more friendly look to indicate he wasn’t angry with him. Before either could say anything Pistol jumped on Max’s back and started pulling his hair and poking his head.

“You always were the slippery one, Pistol!” Max said as he struggled with her, dropping his sword in the process. He managed to stop her for a moment before asking “What are you even doing, trying to kidnap a princess?”

“Are you kidding?” she said while struggling with the boy knight. “The Master said we can have anything we want. Just imagine all the stuff we’ll get when we’re rich like kings and queens. All the ponies I could ever want!”

Max finally managed to knock her off, Pistol landing on her head, before saying “Just as greedy as you’re dad. And just a smart too.”

Just as Max picked up his sword Pistol got to her feet and took the one PJ dropped. Coming at Max like a zipping bug on the ground the two started fighting, Max mainly just trying to keep up with Pistol’s flailing with the sword.

Pete was doing his best to block attacks from both Mickey and Goofy before he could see Rapunzel, still on Maximus, being led away by Mary Poppins and Merida. He took a chance and knocked Mickey away with his fat belly, right into Goofy. He started to chase before being stopped by Stitch.

“And what are you gonna do, shrimp?” he asked with a chuckle.

In response Stitch revealed his antennae, extra pair of arms and spikes on his back before jumping at Pete. The big cat shrieked in fear as Stitch pushed him down before using his superior strength to start tossing him about while using his claws to shred his clothes.

“PEG!” Pete called out for help, his wife managing to see what trouble he was in.

She also noticed that Rapunzel was still getting away before realizing what she needed to do. Holding back Donald and Scrooge she cast a spell that made a large cloud of smoke suddenly appear. It spread far, even to where Yen Sid and the Horseman were, blinding everyone. By the time it cleared the heroes realized that the villains had managed to slip away, obviously going after Rapunzel.

Yen Sid looked towards where they were heading and said “There they go!” before turning into a ball of light and giving chase.

“C’mon!” Mickey said. “We need to catch up with them. Fast!”

Donald was the one to ask “How?” before they all heard something come from behind.

Eugene rode in on the cow, stopping once he saw the group, and asked “Anyone seen a princess run by here?”

The heroes all looked to each other and started to realize what they could do. As soon as they asked where he got the cow they all rushed back, Eugene looking confused by this.
Mary Poppins had lead Rapunzel and the others far enough away before they stopped and heard the villains coming after them.

Merida suddenly jumped onto Maximus, making Rapunzel ask “What are you doing?”

“Taking over from here, blondie.” She said before looking to Mary Poppins. “Can you hold them off long enough? I can still get the princess to the castle in time.”

Mary Poppins sparingly scoffed at this before saying “Practically perfect people do not get involved in battles. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t provide some aid.” She reached into her carpet bag and fumbled around before finding a sword which she handed to Merida. “Get Rapunzel to safety. I’ll be waiting at the entrance point.”

Merida nodded before clicking Maximus’ reins to get him running, Mary Poppins watching as they rode off before looking to see where the villains were coming from. She slowly backed up so they wouldn’t see her before walking through the forest back to the entrance point, so calmly as if nothing was truly going wrong.

As the two princess’ rode off Rapunzel asked “Do you do this whole rescuing thing often?”
“This would be my first.” Merida answered. “But to be honest this isn’t the craziest thing I’ve been through today.”

A moment later the two princesses looked back as they heard the cackle of the Horseman giving chase. He came rounding the corner of the road into view before Merida told Rapunzel to get in front on Maximus. The two maneuvered to switch places before Merida readied her bow with an arrow.

As she aimed and pulled back Rapunzel saw this and commented “I didn’t know princesses practiced archery.”

“Practiced?” Merida said with a laugh before firing. The arrow managed hit the Horseman in the chest dead center before she said “I’ve mastered it!”

The Horseman plucked out the arrow as before, not being truly hurt by it. However this time he wasted to chances and primed his hand with a fireball ready to throw at them. Thankfully Master Yen Sid, still as a ball of light, flew in and blocked the Horseman’s attack just as he tossed it towards them. With the intervention of Yen Sid the Horseman was drove off the side of the rode, the ethereal wizard as a ball of light giving chase to keep him occupied.

The two took a moment to relax before Pascal got their attention, pointing out how they were about to run right off a steep hill. Rapunzel managed to stop Maximus in time, everyone taking a breath of relief, before turning only to see Pete and his family had caught up with them.

Before any of them could make a move Merida readied her bow and said “First one who makes a move gets an arrow right in the gizzard!”

With that threat in mind they did take a step back before Peg retorted with “Think you can hit us all fast enough?”

Merida only pulled her bow back and responded with “I can try.”

Peg shrugged at this and said “Well what can you do?” before surprising everyone with a spell caused a small flash in front of them.

This spooked Maximus enough to make him stumble back and off the cliff. He, Pascal and the princesses slid back and down the hill, Pete and his family running over to see as they all eventually crashed and fell off at the bottom.

Pete looked to Peg with bewilderment and said “What were you thinking, Peg? You almost got the princess killed. The master would have our heads ready for lunch if she was dead. How could you…?” He stopped when peg gave him a burning angry look, making him gulp before nodding “Yes, dear.”

Down below Maximus, Rapunzel and Merida were all knocked out from the fall. Only Pascal, who’d hidden in Merida’s great, long, curly, red hair was awake and could see the villains approaching as they slid down the hill towards them. The lizard shrieked before crawling to Merida’s face to try and wake her. When poke and slapping her with his tail didn’t work he resorted to what he knew was a surefire way to wake her up: sticking his tongue in her ear.

With a yelp Merida woke and looked around before seeing what Pascal had done and how close Pete and the others were. Quickly she searched for her bow and arrows before seeing them a few feet in front of her. She crawled over and reached out only for them to be knocked away by a blast of magic from Peg.

Just as the others woke Pete and the others surrounded them, he chuckling as he said “End of the line, girlies.”

Merida tried to go for the sword Mary Poppins had given her but was stopped by PJ and Pistol who tackled her to the ground and held her. Maximus tried to get up but Peg used a spell to make the nearby tangle of branches reach out and coil around him to keep the horse secure. Rapunzel realized there was no way out as Pete came towards her, ready to snatch her. However he and everyone else stopped and look when they heard the odd sound of cows mooing.
They all looked up to the top of the hill where they saw the heroes all riding in on cows to the peak to look down to where they were. Max and Eugene shared his while Mickey, Stitch and Donald shared one and Goofy and Scrooge another.

“Alright!” Goofy called down. “We’ve got cows and we’re not afraid to use them.”

As everyone looked almost stunned by this Merida commented “Given everything I’m seeing today, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

The heroes all rode down the hill on the cows towards the villains, Pete and the others all standing and looking confused on what to do. By the time they reached the bottom all the heroes used the cows to knock the Pete’s back and away from the heroes. All but Max hopped off their cows, Scrooge using his magic to undo the tangled roots around Maximus to free him.

“Nice rescue, boys. But I had it under control.” Merida commented as she got to her feet.
“Really?” Max asked in a friendly coy tone. “Didn’t look like it from up there.”

Both shared smirks while the prince and princess of Corona shared a hug before Mickey asked “Where’s Mary Poppins?”

Merida answered with “She went back to wait for us and the entrance point. And Yen Sid disappeared when he was dealing with the Horseman.”

“No need to worry there, Merida.” Scrooge said. “The Master can handle that cackling blighter.”

Donald added with “But right now we need to get you two to safety.” Indicating Rapunzel and Eugene.

“Why?” the princess asked. “What do they want with me?”

Eugene thought and asked “This doesn’t have anything do to with any debts I owe, is it? Because I paid everything back…..maybe kept one or two percent for myself. But still!”

While Rapunzel gave him annoyed look for mention this Mickey said “It’s a long story. We can tell you once we’re safe back at the castle. From there we could-”

Suddenly someone called “No one’s going anywhere!” making everyone look back to see Pete and the others recover and emerge from the bushes they were knocked into.

Everyone, including Rapunzel with her frying pan, stood ready to fight. Merida recovered her bow and arrows and aimed one right at Pete while Maximus snorted to show how angry he was and Pascal cracking his little lizard knuckles.

Max, still on the cow, said “Hate to burst your bubbles, Pete, but there’s almost a dozen of us and only four of you.”

In response Pete motioned to Peg who nodded and started conjuring a spell with her hands. After building enough energy in her hands she clapped them together over her head. A flash of light temporarily blinded the heroes before their vision recovered and they saw what Peg’s spell had done. Four copies had been made of each of the members of Pete’s family, himself included. Now instead of four there were sixteen villains standing in front of them.

“Count again, buddy.” Pete said with a smirk.

Seeing this Mickey asked Scrooge and Donald what it was before the old duck wizard said “A copy-cat spell. Only one of them is the real thing, but we can’t be too sure.”

Mickey, realizing how dire the situation was, looked and said “Max. Get Rapunzel and Eugene out of here. We’ll handle this.”

He nodded before Eugene said “Oh no. I’m staying here and helping.” Rapunzel began to protest before he said “They’re after you, remember? If holding them off means you get away then I’ll keep them busy long enough.” She tried protesting again before he kissed her to silence her before saying “I’ll see you again. I promise. Remember what you said about promises?”

Rapunzel thought for a moment before saying “When I promise something, I never ever break that promise.”

“And neither do I.” he said before kissing her again and then putting her on the cow with Max. He looked to the boy knight and said “Keep her safe.”

Max nodded before getting the cow to run off with the princess holding onto him. Pete ordered for some of the copies to follow only to be stopped when Maximus jumped in the way and whinnied at them to make them stop. With that Pete and the others realized they would have to fight, making him order for all the copies to charge forward and start fighting.
Despite not all being copies the duplicates of the Pete family proved just as skilled as the real ones. It was Merida who realized that the fakes were determined by the fact they would disappear into smoke after being beaten. Seeing this the other heroes all knew what they had to do to single out the fakes from the real ones.

PJ was the first to be found out after all his duplicates were defeated by Eugene, leaving him left to cower as he realized they were losing. Next was Peg who Donald and Scrooge managed to blast away with a combined wind spell that turned the fake hers into smoke while she was blown back into a tree.

As the remaining heroes dealt with the last of Pete and Pistol’s copies a ball of light suddenly flew in and casted all the fakes away. When the real ones were found Stitch quickly held Pistol with all four arms to keep her from running while Goofy managed to knock Pete right in the face with his shield, sending him on the ground.

The ball of light turned into Yen Sid just as he asked “Where’s princess Rapunzel?”

“On her way back to Corona.” Mickey answered. Seeing how desperate master Yen Sid looked he asked “What’s the matter?”

“The imbalance of the worlds is starting to set in this world, Mickey.” He said, looking around. “I can feel it. Things are starting to change.”

After hearing this Donald started to ask “Hang on, Master. If you’re here, then where’s the….”

Realizing what he meant Goofy gasped and called “Max!” before hoping onto Maximus and ordering “After them, quick!”

Eugene hopped on too after Maximus looked back, a little reluctant at first to follow Goofy’s orders, before he said “C’mon! Rapunzel’s in trouble too, remember?”

With that in mind Maximus nodded before running off, the other heroes running after and leaving Pete and his family behind. With them gone the villains all got to their feet, groaning over their injuries and defeat. However Pete, hearing everything they said, chuckled before walking away with his family following. He knew they’d already won today.

********************

After a few more minutes of riding Max and Rapunzel could see the main road leading into Corona, both looking relieved to see the large village with the spiraling castle in the center.

Max laughed a little with confidence before saying “See? We’re home free, princess.” Suddenly Rapunzel began to groan, as if she were sick, making him ask “What’s wrong?”

“I….I don’t know.” She grumbled while holding her stomach. “It feels like…” she looked back and gasped before shouting “Look out!” pulling Max’s head down to avoid being hit by a fireball.

Max looked back and realized the Headless Horseman was right on their tail, cackling as he clicked his horse to go faster. Max looked back to how far they were from the castle as the cow kept running, making him click it to go faster too.

“We can make it!” he kept saying to Rapunzel. “We’re going to make it!”

All the time Rapunzel only groaned more and more until finally giving a painful yell. Max looked back with shock and confusion as Rapunzel’s short brown hair suddenly started to change. It became longer and suddenly turned blonde, the same as it was before it was cut from her head a year ago. As Rapunzel started to realize what was happening her hair was growing longer and longer and flowing behind her as they rode. Max realized how long it was growing all too late as the hair reached far back enough towards the Horseman. He grabbed hold of her golden locks and yanked to send her flying off Max’s cow and into his lap.

Max shouted “NO!” in protest as he reached back too late to grab her before looking ahead and seeing a portal suddenly form a yard in front of him.

The Horseman saw this too and clicked for his phantom horse to go faster, speeding towards and past Max to reach the portal in time. Max, seeing this, took the chance and jumped onto the Horseman as they passed.

Goofy and Eugene came riding in on Maximus just in time to see what Max was doing, Goofy calling out “Hang on, Maxie! Hang on!”

Max looked back when he heard his father, giving the Horseman a chance to elbow him to try and knock him off. Max managed to grab hold of his red cape before falling and hung on as they still rode for the portal. Seeing this Max realized he had a choice: keep fighting long enough to get into the portal or let go in order to stay with his father.

Realizing there was only one choice gave one last look to his father before pulling his way back onto The Horseman where he struggled with him more. Goofy tried to make Maximus ride faster but it was a fruitless attempt. A moment later Max had been taken through the portal along with the Horseman and Rapunzel.

Goofy cried out “MAX!” trying to reach the portal before it could close.

He was too late. Just as the last of Rapunzel’s locks went through the portal it closed. She and Max were now lost to wherever the Horseman had gone. He stopped and shared a look of defeat with Eugene and Maximus as they all realized they’d lost their loved ones.

By the time the other heroes arrived Goofy looked back and showed the look on his face, Mickey and the others knowing what it meant and all reacting with the same air of defeat. The Master had claimed his final prize. They’d failed.

********************

In Master of World’s base Rapunzel was brought before him, unconscious in the arms of the Horseman.

He was standing in the middle of his throne room where the objects he’d been preparing were all placed together and a large circle with odd marks and ruins had been carved on the floor. It was big enough to cover almost the entire room, showing how long and how detailed he was with preparing it. Pete and his family had returned as well, they standing near a chained Max who was fighting his bonds with Pete and PJ holding him.

Seeing the captured princess the Master smiled under his hooded robe and declared “Excellent work. All of you have done so well.” He walked over and touched Rapunzel’s hair, squeezing a few strands in his hand, before saying “Now we can finally begin.”

The Horseman bowed before walking off with Rapunzel, Pete asking “Hey, boss, what about Goof’s kid here?”

The Master looked back towards the young knight before saying “Let him have a front row seat to what is about to happen. Let him be the first to see as the worlds will be turned by my will.”

He gestured for them to take him away before Max called “You won’t win. Whoever you are! My dad and my friends are on their way. And when they get here you’re in a whole lot of trouble.”

Hearing this the Master burst into laughter before saying “I welcome them to try, boy. I welcome them to try.”