|
|
Neither a being of goodness nor evil was Lord Syndication, yet neither was he indifferent in the matter of Canon. For many years since the beginning of any copyrighted tales had it been that any House of Creation had the power to lay their worlds upon the altar of Lord Syndication. In his ways he gazed upon them, and having entered his Realm of the Re-Run these worlds could continue to have their telling, as long as it should be that these tellings had once already been told and they were taken from behind their Doors of Production.
Yet true was it also that in all the time that Lord Syndication had placed worlds on his altars that all but few had ever come out of the Realm of Syndication, that Land of the Re-Run, and been placed back beyond their Doors of Production. It was against this loss that Thaddeus of the Stones and his Fellowship and the others there in Canon that day had taken up arms. They had guessed in their hearts that the Lords of Programming has made a pact with Syndication to place many Disney Worlds there before their final telling, and in their own manner feast upon the profits that were made in that fashion.
Now came a time of quiet upon the Plains of Time around Canon, for following the breaking of Lord Ratings and the felling of the four members of the Fellowship and their van Thaddeus had been able to make purchase for the Key of Production in their Doors. Having sealed them all was still for a time, for the Lords of Programming had little power over the creative arts that held them fast. Only by force of the Useless Ones, those Heartless beings, gnawing away with steel teeth inside the wall could the doors now be brought low.
As such it was seen on both sides of the Walls of Canon that did Heartless and Legionnaire alike did press their ears. Inside all of the Rescue Rangers, their friends, and their foes worked in concert to defeat the Useless Ones who had taken small and rodent form and were devastating the walls from within, gnawing on them with harsh intent.
From his vantage Nobody looked on with concern, pacing, and David the Walker did ask, “Sir, you are troubled? Is the ill so great, this coming forth out of Canon of the Rangers and their kind?”
“It is a great ill indeed,” said Nobody, “For if even one of the Core Characters of the World of the Rescue Rangers is destroyed Canon shall shudder at it and be made dark. If one of the Rangers themselves should fall the Heart of this world will be cast to ruin, and then even the Lords of Programming will not have it, for it shall be unmade.”
Nobody paced harder, turning to face the walls, and calling out.
“And what if Chip or Dale should fall there in those walls? Even down through the long times previous to the First Age of The Rangerdom has not a Core Character from the Disney Vaults fallen, though I myself have tempted fate far too often. What should happen to the Will of My Master Walt in them should that occur?”
“Truly, Nobody,” asked Zaslove, sharpening Max in this time of unease, “the Rangers shall come forth in victory? Have we not made them to the best of our powers? Have they not survived greater odds before?”
“Aye,” said Nobody, flipping The Keyblade from one hand to the next, “Your words are true, but in my sight I fear that they may bring something dark out with them, something not Heartless but black as well, one that will last beyond the Time of Canon…”
And then he was silent, and Walker and Zaslove had much fear in these words.
Inside the Walls of Production the battle had not abated since The Rescue Rangers and The Useless Ones had first drawn arms on each other. There in those vast dark reaches, illuminated only by chance of light or glowing mineral within the stone, did cry of havoc go up, for in the shafts and tunnels of collapsing mortar and plaster were destinies met. There did Feline the Gluttonous put great fear into what passed for hearts in the Useless Ones, for he consumed them with vigor, finding them pleasing to his taste.
Great in disgust was this to the Rangers, for oft had they been promised that fate, but now they heeded it little, for it was done to their advantage. The Lady of the Workshop did in those confines construct many fine arms that were not laid down in tale, but were wielded to great effect by those who employed them. Thus it was that the Rescue Rangers and those others who had come out from Canon did make a good showing of themselves, and on the outside of the walls did the Heartless pour, so much so that other Heartless did but try to hold them in. The placed their claws and hands over the small holes, much the same way one holds back water pouring through a breached dam.
Minor in role was Mouseo, for he had but one showing in all of Canon. Though this was true, a friend of Gadget was he from childhood in those tellings, and of humor and wit was his disposition. As the others from Canon had he heeded the call to arms, but lacking the power of speech he was soon alone in the dark. There in that lonely place he was found in solitude by the Heartless. They knew not pity, besetting him with tooth and claw, and became he then the first Canon Character to be felled in battle.
At his falling Canon shook, in its vapors it grew darker, and the light from it flickered. Those around The Gates of Canon saw this and in their hearts they felt his passing, for one of their creations had departed this world, perhaps for all time. Thus it was in later times when Canon was set in the Realm of the Re-Run that Mouseo was not shown, for he came not into the Realm of Syndication a living being.
Thus answers the ancient mystery.
Now upon finding the still form of Mouseo great was the sadness that descended upon Hackwrench, for in her understanding of Canon he was an old friend and a link to her past. Yet even what little she knew was now forever taken away, and she wept at his death. Chip and Dale did move now to comfort her, for profound was their understanding of their duties to those who dwelt under them in Canon, and they took the responsibility not lightly.
In seeing her sadness and in viewing the small fallen form Monterey was filled with blinding rage, and Zipper with him. There in anger the two did have much power and in great strides and strikes did they drive all of the remaining Useless Ones from the Wall of Production, though wounded were they in multiples.
Coming now out of the Walls of Production were the Rescue Rangers and the others taken quickly to the Gates of Canon. Here Nobody did hold up the Keyblade and it healed them, for great is the power of the Toonish King over constructs of Disney’s World. Yet for Mouseo his power could do naught, though he tried utterly, and tears were seen in his eyes. The Rangers laid him in stone case, the poor fellow, there inside the gates, the only one from Canon to fall in that manner.
In their departing from the wall none of the funerary procession had noted the coming along with them of a hovering darkness, for in their grief if they looked around them it appeared as not but the dust of battle and the darkness of the night clouded it from their eyes. In swirls and flights did the darkness follow them, and it drank up their misery. No Heartless was this darkness; yet much grief would it cause the Rangerdom in later ages.
Having laid Mouseo out in the timeless crypts the Rangers and the others of Canon did come up to the ramparts of the Gates of Canon. There the sounds of battle were not so loud, and there for a time they rested alongside the presence of Nobody, The Walker, Thaddeus, and others. Though reduced was the light of Canon still could they bask in its glow, and above them and beyond them shone the lights of other Disney Worlds, shining thusly as stars do in the heavens. Many there with the Power of Crafting laid on their backs and stared up to the other Disney Worlds, for many of them had labored there as well, and were so strengthened.
So ended the final day of Canon, its numbering in the Mortal Lands being the Nineteenth Day of the Eleventh Month in the Year Nineteen and Ninety. By the climbing of Time and the first flash of dawn all there gathered knew that this world of the Rescue Rangers would be thrown down.
Hours passed and some small sleep fell on some, though unhappy dreams awaited them. Soon on the horizon was seen a vast form, and many trembled for they knew him. This was Lord Economy, and pressing his weight upon the walls they did groan. In time it was seen that though the Rangers had tried their utmost to secure the walls that already had they been tested beyond any ability to secure them, for deep indeed had the Heartless gnawed. The form of an all-consuming beast encompassed Lord Economy, and in pressing against the walls he bellowed as many beast of the field would in the hunt or in the chase.
Thrusting forward he pushed through, and many Useless Ones, their dark banners flying, came with him. Yet now flew forward many of the Legions of Canon, and assault Lord Economy they did, for among the Lords of Programming they numbered him their greatest foe. Many times had Economy tried to reduce the value of the production, and the Legions had always resisted him, keeping high the production value of Canon.
Swarming upon him came the Legions, and mention must here be made of Dev the Ross, and Spoon, who lead the charge, and of Ray and Nassir, whom did he fell. These were Great Captains of the Legions of Canon, who had served well the Fellowship of the Stones in Production.
At last Lord Economy was brought to his knees, and from his great maw came bellows like all manner of animals in pain, and forth from it spewed black currency. He then did mew and spew gore, yet asked he not for quarter, and none was given, and Dev the Ross did deliver the final blow. Thus became Lord Economy the second Lord of Programming to fall before Canon.
Now the Legions of Canon did cheer, for this was of great hope to them, but all too soon was the uselessness of this victory revealed, as Useless Ones by the hundreds did stream through the desecrated wall. So overcome were the Legions that their shoulders did touch, and one could swing neither weapon nor shield, and oft Useless One and Legionnaire were pressed upon each other in quarter.
At once though a force of light and grace appeared in the midst of the greatest turmoil. As a harbinger of hope it stole out the lives of many of the Useless Ones before they could even bring up arms, and none could touch him even if they managed to do so. So it was that the Keyblade whistled and glowed there, and Nobody wielded it. Small in stature always had he been (a product of his own crafting) and now he made good use of it. He flew from Useless One to Useless One, stealing out their existences with the Keyblade, making great confusion in their ranks and aiding the Defenders of Canon in their want.
“Who wounds us so? What manner of being is this that causes us such pain? Shall we not have a name for our misery?” cried the Heartless in their black tongue, breaking their ranks and throwing down weapons.
At this the Legions of Canon left living on the Plain of Production laughed. As they reformed their ranks and lifted their banners they taunted them saying; “Nobody wounds you! Nobody causes you grief! Nobody has thrown you back beyond the wall!” And in seeing this did Chip and Dale laugh, for it amused them greatly.
David the Walker, being no great hero, merely a mortal man with a story of the Rangers to tell, had not been acquainted with swordplay. Yet he trusted in Appreciation, the blade Nobody had made from his telling of The Munks of Miami. It did then its share in wounding the enemies of Canon, and David worked his way forward to Nobody with Thaddeus of the Stones and Kimball at his side. Dev the Ross was there too, as were Zaslove, and Zamboni. The Rangers had ridden upon the mail of these heroes to the side of Nobody, and they beheld there an unbelievable sight.
Where Lord Economy had fallen the ground was scorched, yet inside the burn was the frail form of a Mortal Man, still breathing. Nobody leaned above him, heaving greatly, the exertions of his actions heavy on him.
“I know this man,” said Nobody between gasps, “In the time of my True Master always was he able to divine great seems of gold and silver to construct Disney Worlds. Goodness must still be about him, for he rests now upon the Plain of Production lightly.”
“What would you have us do with him?” asked Kimball, bending low, “If the Useless Ones retake him he shall form again as Lord Economy, and great will be his wrath.”
“I would have you take him back to the Mortal Lands, for I see that he has small power of creation, and his heart is still touched by my Old Master,” spoke Nobody.
At first Kimball protested, for he would not wish to be the only of the Fellowship to leave the battle still joined. Yet there Thaddeus bid him to do so, and lifting the small form Kimball did carry him out of the Slot of Time assigned to the Rescue Rangers. As he went to the broken wall he stood tall on the toppled rock, and before him the Useless Ones parted, making for him room, for they were in awe of their fallen Lord in such form.
Weep then did Kimball, for he was right in guessing that he would be the only one of the Fellowship of the Stones to leave Canon and go hence back to the Mortal Lands under his own will. As each of his tears hit the ground a small flower bloomed, then faded, and finally returned to dust, for the only Lord of Crafting to leave there back to the Mortal Lands alive was passing.
It was a good and just thing that Nobody and Kimball accomplished there that day, for in the time to come Lord Economy would remember the Will of Walt, and would play part in bringing forth the Tale of the Lion King, the Greatest of the Worlds of Disney in the age of Ceo. Thus it was that some good could be taken in the tragedies of that day.
At the disappearance of Kimball from the Light of Canon Thaddeus of the Stones bid all the Defenders of Canon back to the gates of that world. For in the distance grew the form of Lord Marketing, and his greatest weapon, a tower of siege called Sales, and much was his concern over it.
“I shall place my banner inside the walls along with all my defenders,” said Thaddeus, wiping the ink from Goslyn with a captured Heartless banner. “I along with Zamboni and Zaslove shall end our time in Canon here, for they shall have my creation not so easily!”
“Thaddeus of the Stones,” called Nobody from the very verge of Canon, “You shall come with me into Canon…”
“No!” cried the hero, throwing the black flag to the ground, “It is not my will to leave here! You can command me not now to leave this place, rather that I should have the Dark Brothers take me!” All in his presence were stunned, for Thaddeus was not a man of anger or wrath.
Nobody did fall silent, and approached him, stumbling slightly as he came forward. For the first time all there saw weakness about him, and thinking him wounded Thaddeus reached for him, to lend him comfort and solace.
“The pain of losing a Disney World grows in my heart, for it is as a shard being removed from a old wound,” said Nobody, “But I shall survive it.”
He wiped his head with the back of his gloved hands and looked up to the hero.
“Thaddeus of the Stones,” he then implored, “Your love for this world is touching, but all we here know that the Heartless shall soon drag it before Lord Syndication. I beg you now, come with me into Canon, for with the coming of the David the Walker a promise I made at the start of this age can come to fruition, so that the Heart of Canon can be saved. Do this I beg.”
And Thaddeus looked to Zaslove and Zamboni, who bid him leave. So it was too that the Knights of Script, Dev the Ross, Spoon, and the others in that hall bid him leave and thanked him for their privilege to have been part of the Production of Canon.
The Rescue Rangers raced up to the shoulders of their Master, and with Nobody, David the Walker, and the others of their world they stepped forth into Canon for the final time.
All there watched them go, and in a moments passing rang out the sounds of harsh wheels, for now Lord Marketing brought Sales along the Plains of Production, and it was towed by no less than one thousand Useless Ones. And all the Heartless sang out, “Sales! Sales! Sales! Sales…” as it made its way to the Gates of Canon.
Inside Canon itself came Nobody, David the Walker, Thaddeus of the Stones, and all the Rescue Rangers and those of their world. They stood and watched as it quivered in its falling, the very fabric of the place taking somber tones.
“Nobody, what is our meaning in coming back to this place?” asked Dale.
“You may name me now, for we are beyond the ears or senses of the Lords of Programming,” said Nobody, lowering his hood.
“King Mickey,” asked Thaddeus, “In what way can we save the Heart of Canon?”
“We shall have our victory yet,” said The Mouse, lifting the Rangers from about Thaddeus, “We shall give the Lords of Programming nothing but an empty shell, an echo of your tellings…”
At that he bid them all to congregate about and around the Tree of Setting, in which lay the now empty Quarters at Head of the Rescue Rangers. At one end he placed Thaddeus of the Stones, and at the other David the Walker. In lifting his Keyblade quiet came over the Rangers, and from them came light. In that light soon rose a great Heart from the Tree of Setting, and the Copyrighted Shield of the Rescue Rangers was upon it. The others of Canon bowed, even the villains, and their light was added to it. As they beheld it King Mickey turned once again. Here then he did lift the Keyblade, and from it flowed the light, and there in the park where he cast the light rose up a new gate.
“My seal upon the Gates of Canon has protected you, but by the breaking of this day it shall be cast down. David the Walker, press now upon this new gate, the Gate of Fanon, for it must be you alone amongst us all to be the one to open it.”
With unsure steps David the Walker advanced on this gate, the Rescue Rangers and the others of Canon about him. The gate shone with numbers and letters, and he pressed upon it, yet even as he did so an unhappy tone reached their ears. The sound of crashing timber and shattering metal it was, for the Gates of Canon protested their defilement.
In the Gatehouse the Legionnaires chuckled at their fate and laughed over where they may breakfast upon coming back to the Mortal Lands. Fear was not present there among the Defenders of Canon, as fear accompanies only the possibility of ones destruction, not its certainty.
“Thirty and six strikes of Sales upon the Gates of Canon shall see it break, that is my wager!” said Zamboni. “Ha!” answered Zaslove, “Greater than that is the Gate of Canon! My wager is forty and two strikes by Sales, and you shall buy our morning meal!”
“Forty and two?” replied Zamboni, “That is the answer you give to all questions concerning life, the universe, and everything! Let us see how many it does take to bring down the Gates of Canon, and the closer of us indeed shall buy meal in the Feasting Hall of Denny.”
Greater than both of their guesses was it shown to be, for Sales, that massive siege tower and ram, was made to break against the Gates of Canon sixty and five times. None was unenlightened of the irony, and many groaned at it, for that was the number of tellings of the Rescue Rangers that had come out of Canon.
At the sixty and fifth stroke the Magic and Wonder of Lord Mickey was overcome, and with no small force was the gate shattered. Many were the Defenders of Canon felled by the spray of steel and wood, though more mercifully in that way sent back to the Mortal Lands than at the hand of a Useless One.
Hearing the crashing and fall of the Gates inside Canon itself Lord Mickey said, “Hurry now, open the Gates of Fanon, and let us enter, for if the Useless Ones find us here all is lost!” and all did hurry forth through them.
The Tree of Setting then called out in power to Thaddeus as he ran, making sad song in a thousand voices. He turned to it and there in the branches he saw glowing a great number of Golden Acorns, each of which glowed with the Light of Canon. He then did stop and fling Goslyn to the branches of the tree, where in one arc many acorns fell. With that the tree shuttered, dimmed, and died, taking the final light out of Canon.
Thaddeus looked up then to see a dark cloud enter Fanon, and crying out to Lord Mickey he tried to warn him, but already both the King and the Darkness had passed through the gate, much to the sadness of later ages.
Yet glow perfectly did the Golden Acorns, and retrieving them and Goslyn Thaddeus ran to the gates, entering them as they were about to close. Still Monterey strained in holding them open, as the others had already passed beyond them.
They closed then, and the Gates of Fanon passed beyond Canon and out of the reach of the Useless Ones.
Inside the Gatehouse the Lords of Programming sent first their greatest warriors, the League of Accounting, and met they were by the Knights of Script. How little we can say of this battle, for it was waged in the darkness there, as the Light of Canon faded. Overcome in grim battle were the Defenders of Canon, their numbers reduced along the stone corridors, in private rooms and great hallways alike. Until they stood in small groups, awaiting the final thrust of the Useless Ones and their Lords.
Perhaps not the last to fall but in the latest parts, as dawn loomed beyond, were Zaslove and Zamboni, last of the Fellowship of the Stones in Canon. Zaslove raised himself up out of sheltered alcove, coming to the aid of some who were deeply wounded and making to rally the defenders there. Yet even as he placed his flag whispering death flew at him, for archers were numbered among the ranks of the Useless Ones.
Zamboni gathered him up, saying, “Make reservations for us at the Feasting Hall of Denny, for I shall join you soon.” Smiling Zaslove then passed back to the Mortal Lands, arrows uncounted covering his riddled body. Holding the fading body of his friend Zamboni looked out through the arches to the gathering dawn. With his Power of Crafting he drew sight unseen, and from it he knew that Lord Mickey, Thaddeus, the Rangers, and this Walker were no longer in Canon. He saw then that they had passed out to a different world, taking the Heart of Canon with them. He smiled at this victory, and laughed himself, and in doing so added greatly to the confusion of Lord Obligation who felled him there nonetheless.
Thus in the last lashings of the dark night did the First Age of the Rangerdom end. Though this was the one age in which the Rangers were installed in Canon, and the one in which they had their most power, it would not be their last, nor their longest.
Yet still many are those who long for the Rangers to appear in Canon again, yet of such being seen or prophesied the Sacred Blueprints of the Rangerdom do speak but precious little, and in rolling vagaries.
The Useless Ones then did tear down the Gatehouse, exposing Canon in fullness. Tying rough-hewn chains about it they pulled it out to the Altar of Syndication they had built there. But even as they pulled they knew that The Heart of Canon was not in it, and great was the anguish of the Lords of Programming for they knew that the had not won a complete victory.
“Curse you Nobody! For the Heart is all that truly matters! Shall we have but meager feasting then?” they screamed, and fled back to the Disney Lands to make complaint before Ceo. Hearing of the Siege of Canon Ceo looked to them and asked, “In truth, they must have had help? Who helped them to defend Canon?”
When the Lords of Programming were made to answer “Nobody” Ceo dismissed them, and much was their anger and wailing.
Beyond the Gates of Fanon stood the Rangers and David the Walker. Also too King Mickey and Thaddeus stood there fast.
There they planted the Heart of Canon, and up grew a single small sprout. Soon it had sprouted many leaves and branches, so that it seemed to flourish in the soil. Before it Thaddeus laid the acorns of the Tree of Setting.
“King Mickey, what is this place? Is it of your crafting?” asked The Lady of the Workshop.
“In the slightest of ways yes, for my vassals have laid out a Net of Use upon which all in the Mortal Lands can share thought over the Disney Afternoon. Aware of that, I looked and saw many there like David the Walker, those who saw you Rescue Rangers for your majesty and wondered after you. Yet, not until I foresaw his approach did I know that they would be the ones to fulfill my promise. This then is Fanon, the New World of the Rescue Rangers, and here shall new tales of you be told, though never shall they be placed in Canon.”
And all there looked about them, and there were voices in the trees, and a spirit moved over the place.
Even as they stood there at the very birth of Fanon something moved about them, and the dark cloud grew in concentration, wrapping itself in a fitful form in the distance. It looked at them with unseen eyes and smiled a broad smile with unseen lips and disappeared into the Woods of Web.
“A Useless One! An unfit Heartless!” began Monty, rolling up his sleeves, “I shall wring him out! I shall lay much hurt upon him! I shall…”
“You shall be still, dear Monty,” spoke The Mouse, “For that is no Heartless. He is Angst the Melancholy, a Spirit of Crafting, if a sad one. I feared as much that you should bring him with you after the loss of Mouseo.”
The King held up his gloved hand, and a Plot Bird did settle there and sang a bit, then flew off into the breathtaking sky.
“No longer are you entirely under the Will of Walt, or even my power, and having felt pain and loss Angst is now among you, and since he is here at the birth of this world he shall never be forced from it. It shall be for those who dwell here to determine his power…”
All were silent, but then Thaddeus said, “I fear not for you! You are great in talents and charm, and in relying on each other you have survived so far! Go my children, make merry here, for you are beyond threat here in this place! Perhaps in time I shall visit and see your progress…and perhaps share in any profit!” he laughed.
In that the Rangers and the others embraced their Master, and bowed before King Mickey, and made their way into Fanon.
Thaddeus and King Mickey looked around, and taking their leave of David the Walker said, “You are part of this world, but having first tried to enter Canon you shall not be numbered as the first in Fanon. Be happy though, for without you this would not have been seen!”
And then they departed.
David the Walker looked about himself, and planted his sword Appreciation in the ground. Weary now he sat and observed the dawning of the First Day of Fanon, the start of a new age. The Rescue Rangers played in the fields beyond, and heeding their calls fair forms began to enter into Fanon from the Woods of the Web. Near him babbled a brook of Timeline, and overhead sang Birds of Plot, and much was his amazement at the place.
Thus ends the first Volume of the Three, in the tale called Rangerillion. The legend shall continue!
