Taking Fantasia : A Disney Fanfiction

Chapter 83: Pixiepunk

Chapter 83: Pixiepunk

The heat woke him up. A thick, beefy heat that swelled, and pushed, and stuck to his skin.

Jim opened his eyes. Nothing. Nothing but black reflections in bronze mirrors.

Blinking, Jim shook his head. The heat and darkness were so disorienting, it wasn't until his spine hurt did Jim realize that someone was dragging him. His collar was pulled up around his throat as his body clunked over nasty, pointed metal things.

"Hey!" Jim hacked. His throat was sandpaper dry. Jim reached for the person pulling his collar.

His heart stopped. Whoever was dragging him...had a metal hand.

"Shit!" Fingers slipping in sweat, he yanked the metal hand.

"Ahh!"

"Ah!"

'Jimmy!"

"B.E.N.? Whoa!" B.E.N spun, blinding Jim with lime green headlights. Twisting like a lizard, Jim stumbled and crashed into what felt like a pile of tiny springs and gears.

Sifting through the metal bits, Jim groped his way through the darkness. He buckled as B.E.N's lime green eyes blasted into his face and the robot hugged his waist.

"Jimmy—!"

"—Oh for crying out—"

"You're alive!"

"Would you get the Hell off of—"

"Oh Jim!" B.E.N sung, hugging crease marks into Jim's stomach. "Oh Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jim Jim! Jim Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jim J—"

Suddenly B.E.N. and Jim stopped. A brilliant, white column of fire exploded from the darkness. The violent contrast of the bright flames was so sudden, it hurt to look.

One arm raised, Jim fell back into B.E.N. Heat undulated from the fire column. Squinting, Jim could just make out a dragon as it soared over miles of spare metal gadgets and parts.

"What..." Jim whispered as the fire extinguished. Darkness returned as the dragon swept overhead. "...what the Hell was that?"

B.E.N scampered beside him. The pile of gears sifted downhill as the robot pushed and prodded. "No time! Come on Jimmy!"

"Was that a dragon? A dragon? B.E.N., where is Wendy? She was with –"

"—No time! No time! No time!"

Jim pulled back. "B.E.N.!" he said, colliding with Morph in the dark. "B.E.N.! What's going –

"We gotta skedaddle, Jimmy!" B.E.N. said, computerized eyes alternately flashing red with worry. Seizing Jim's sleeve, B.E.N. dove into the darkness. "We gotta skedaddle before they come! They're attracted to the light!"

"Who?" Jim asked, stumbling in the dark. Fighting for balance, he suddenly thought of Silver and Facilier. "Who's attracted to the light?"

Then, he heard it. Softly at first, like a distant waterfall. Then, the murmur raised to a rattle as a cloud, blacker than the darkness, fluttered overhead like a swarm of bats.

Jim ducked. He felt B.E.N. trembling beside him, eyes covered.

The blackness spread over them like a sandstorm. The attack was brief but painful – Jim felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper against his brain. All he could think about was his father...his father's rotten, twisted smirk and identical deep, sunken eyes....looking at him...looking straight at him!

Suddenly, the vision of his father snapped away. The black swarm flew at a second column of fire. Jim watched as the blackness devoured the fire, and the dragon, like locus.