ScienceFair
The following are some of the trademarks, registered marks, and service marks owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc.: Audio-Animatronics® Figure, Disneyland® , Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, EPCOT® , Fantasyland® Area, Imagineering, Imagineers, it’s a small world, Magic Kingdom® Park, Main Street, U.S.A., Area, Mickey’s Toontown® , monorail, Toontown® , Walt Disney World® Resort.
Copyright © Page One, Inc. 2023
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an imprint of Buena Vista Books, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion, 77 West 66th Street, New York, New York 10023.
First Edition, February 2023
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2022045918
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-368-09514-3
eBook ISBN 978-1-368-07991-4
Visit www.DisneyBooks.com www.KingdomKeepers.com www.RidleyPearson.com
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Dedication
For My Fellow Keepers of the Kingdom
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
About the Author
DEDICATION
Many years ago an avid reader sat in the front row at one of my book signings. Her Kingdom Keepers books were tabbed with hundreds of markers, and I knelt to discuss those markers with her. Within a month I had (with her parents’ permission) hired her as my Kingdom Keepers continuity expert. She held that job through high school and college, being the first reader of my new stories, going on research trips with me into the Disney parks, and working to keep my stories “on track.” She has since moved on to projects of her own. I, and the readers of the Kingdom Keepers series, owe this young woman a huge thanks for her dedication, her enthusiasm, and the thousands of hours she put into keeping my writing as consistent as possible. KingdomKeepers:Inheritanceis dedicated to her. I miss her and her hard work!
Thanks, Brooke Muschott
FOR MY FELLOW KEEPERS OF THE KINGDOM
After I sent the Kingdom Keepers back in time to opening day at Disneyland—the Return series—I kept wondering about the children of the Kingdom Keepers. They could have so many interesting qualities. They might be super smart or have extraordinary powers. They might inherit the passion to preserve the magic of Disney.
During a visit to EPCOT, Imagineer Jason Grandt shared some fascinating history with me. Walt Disney had envisioned EPCOT as a new kind of city. A place where people lived, worked, and played. Those ideas merged: the children of the Kingdom Keepers, EPCOT as a futuristic city. I found myself making notes, creating outlines, reading more about Walt’s dream for EPCOT. I even drew my own sketches of the park. So now I present to you the first of the Inheritance series. The children of the Kingdom Keepers live in a “new” EPCOT. There are many international Disney parks. New villains. Old villains. Parents who don’t want their children taking the risks that they once took.
Imagination has always been the hallmark of Walt Disney, his films, and his parks. I encourage you to play with your own imaginations. Dream big. Write stories. Draw pictures. Build computers. Ride your bicycle to the top of a mountain.
Inheritanceis a product of my imagination, my love for the Kingdom Keepers. My nightmares about villains like Maleficent. Buckle up. We are going for a ride together.
ELI WHITMAN LIFTED HIS HANDS off the ride’s safety bar and screamed. He occupied the front row of the Animal Kingdom’s roller coaster, Expedition Everest. The ride was older than his parents! He caught a glimpse of seagulls perched atop the Tree of Life. He imagined a bird’s-eye view of giraffe and hippos in the Kilimanjaro Safari.
His friends cried out with him as the roller coaster dove yet again. The three adults with his group waved from far below. Eli wasn’t about to wave back.
As the ride continued, he took in a distant view of Pandora, an attraction more than twenty-five years old. The Siberian Forest Climb and the Great Barrier Reach had opened two years earlier on the Animal Kingdom’s forty-fifth anniversary. Even for a Saturday, the park was overcrowded. That was probably because the following day, Eli’s birthday, there would be a total solar eclipse, and Central Florida was supposed to have one of the best views. All the Disney parks had special shows planned, including a StarWarsSky Search.
When the roller coaster entered the double loop, Marissa Marcellus grabbed Eli’s hand. She squeezed and held on tight. For Eli, who felt Marissa was more than just a good friend, it made it the best ride ever. He had no idea what she thought of their friendship— and he did not want to know.
On their way out, he and the others stopped at the show wall to see a video of themselves. His friends looked strong or pretty. He saw himself as kind of boring looking. Freckles. Brown hair. In the video, wind pushed back his hair. It revealed his oversize ears. His
mother told him to love every part of himself, but she didn’t have wings on the sides of her head.
The August air felt hot and damp. Jungle trees and vines lined the path back toward the Monkey Temple. He welcomed the cool of the shade. He and Marissa and some of the others stopped to watch the monkeys. Ms. Perkins, Lily’s mom, hung with them.
The two other parents stayed with the group exploring the rock canyons leading to Harambe. His parents had once tried to explain what the park had looked like back in 2020. At that time, the Cast Members had been human, not holograms. Certainly not the solarpowered holograms—called solograms—used within the parks today. Sologram Cast Members were now a part of everyday life in the parks. Eli knew the hovercrafts and airfloat boats were also recent additions to the parks. So were attractions like Lock Nest Nessie and the Bamboo Forest Maze.
He knew he was lucky to live with his family in a place like EPCOT’s CommuniTree. He could walk to the park and take the expanded Maglev Monorail to all the Disney theme and water parks.
“Do you wish they were here?” Marissa asked him. She often knew what he was feeling before he did.
“I guess. Yeah.” His parents had left early that morning on the fast train to Atlanta. From there, they would board the Hyperloop and reach Los Angeles in two hours. He had asked them to stay for his birthday. They had deeply apologized to him and had promised to be back for his official party tomorrow, but they had to miss his Animal Kingdom event. Apparently there was a Disney emergency meeting that couldn’t wait. His parents listened to him; they just seemed to never hear.
He wondered if maybe things would change. Being an official teenager was going to be great.
Lily Perkins was a lot younger than the rest of the sixth- and seventh-graders joining Eli’s event. But she was funny and smart. She always made Eli feel better, his definition of a good friend.
Her eye color matched her straight hair perfectly—brown with flecks of highlight in both. Her hair was very fine and hung past her
shoulders. When she giggled she sounded like a complaining squirrel.
“Are you afraid of the eclipse?” Lily asked him.
Marissa laughed.
“No way,” Eli said. “Super excited. You?”
“Maybe a little,” Lily said. “There are all sorts of stupid dishes about it.”
“Superstitions,” Marissa said behind a warm smile. “It’s something people believe that isn’t true.”
“And if it isn’t true, Lily, we don’t have to worry about it.” Eli bumped her gently with his shoulder, and she bumped him back.
“Okay,” she whispered softly. “What do you want for your birthday, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Eli answered.
“Other than for Marissa to be your girlfriend.”
“Ew!” Marissa said. “Out of bounds, girl!”
Eli looked down and chortled. He didn’t dare look at Marissa. She had gone from being Eli’s lab partner, to friend, to the person he messaged more than any-body else.
“You know what I think?” Lily said.
“I’m not sure I want to hear this.” Eli hoped she would stop.
“I think you only wanted to ride Expedition Everest so Marissa would freak out and hold your hand in the dark.”
Eli moved a few inches from Marissa and studied her carefully. That had been exactly what Eli had been thinking before taking the ride. He tried to make a joke of it.
“You were supposed to keep that to yourself, Lily.”
“Is that true?” Marissa’s voice warbled nervously.
Lily hurried off, skipping and laughing. “I’m not telling!” she called back.
MINUTES LATER, ELI STARTED HEARING voices.
It wasn’t his first time. A few months ago, on his twelve-and-ahalf-birthday, his mother had asked him to make sure to tell her if he heard or experienced anything strange happening to him. She confessed to him how she felt like she could move things by focusing and shoving her arms out. She’d want to know if anything like that was happening to him because he and she were so much alike.
It had been a super awkward talk. Especially since there were rumors at school about a group of adults living in EPCOT’s CommuniTree who had once been known as the Kingdom Keepers. The same rumors said some of the adults had strange powers.
A long time ago, around 2010, the Kingdom Keepers had battled Disney villains to save the parks. Kids in school wanted to believe that their parents had been part of the famous group. What kid wouldn’t want parents with superpowers?
Even so, Eli had not told his mother that he was hearing voices. Not exactly a superpower! More like something was wrong with him. So he kept it to himself.
It was his cat. He was pretty sure his cat, Granite, had said something. In English! Eli had told the cat to get off the bed. Granite looked right at him and, without opening his mouth, had said, No.
“Did you…What just …” Eli said, staring down at the cat. Granite curled and lay beside him. Nah,Eli had thought. But now, near the monkey cage, the voices came again. Hot.
Afraid. Food. Smelly.
High-pitched. Eli stole looks at his friends, wondering who was playing tricks on him. He moved through them to reach Blair Maybeck. He carefully pulled her away from the others.
“You okay, Eli?” Blair had blue-green eyes, and a warm smile. Like all the other kids with him for his pre-birthday event, he thought of her as his cousin. All but Marissa; she was definitely more like an incredibly good friend, a secret-keeper who made his heart flutter and his legs wobbly at times.
“There!” he said to Blair. “You hear that?”
“A monkey fart? That was disgusting. You stopped me to hear a monkey fart?” Blair started to walk away.
Marissa saw him with Blair and came over to listen in. “Hey,” she said, looking somewhat peevishly at Blair.
“Hey,” Blair said back to her. “Eli is fascinated with monkey farts. Boys!” Blair left to join the others.
Marissa stood taller than Eli, and her clothes were more fashion conscious than most kids at school. Her mother worked for a rocket company that made electric cars. They had moved from Houston three years earlier.
“You look kind of freaked out,” Marissa said.
“You won’t laugh?”
She shook her head.
“I can hear the monkeys talking.”
Marissa covered her mouth.
“I knew you’d laugh.”
“I didn’t laugh. I just have popcorn in my teeth.”
“Uh-huh,” Eli said.
“We should catch up with the others.”
The group was headed for Tornado Alley, a ride that spun you insideatornadoup and over 1) a farmer’s field, 2) a mountain range, and 3) fields of sologram dinosaurs. Possibly the best ride
ever, as far as Eli was concerned. The adults walked past them, trailing the group. Ms. Ranjel checked that all was okay. Eli nodded. When the adults were well past, Eli asked Marissa to listen carefully.
“I am,” she told him. She walked like a snake crawled, all fluid and Jell-O-like. A few seconds passed. “I don’t hear anything.” Darkness, one of a dozen monkeys said. Danger . “There!” Eli jerked his head around looking for who’d spoken. “Come on, seriously?”
He looked to Marissa. “Help me out here.”
“Sorry.” She sounded somewhat annoyed. Darkness.
Danger .
More monkey voices. Eli tried not to hear. But he couldn’t undo what was happening.
“I’ll bet it’s Blair. She’s good at voices,” Eli said. “Blair is nearly out of sight. We should catch up.”
Marissa was right: It couldn’t be Blair making voices.
“But if it’s not Blair, and not you, then who?” Eli said.
Blair and her twin brother, Charlie, who was off at sleepaway camp for the summer, had this interesting “twin connection,” which was probably something like hearing monkeys talk. He wondered if she would understand him better than Marissa.
“If you’re hearing animals, maybe it’s because you feel sorry for them,” Marissa said.
“I don’t think so.”
They passed the adults and caught up to the others.
Eli, who, along with Blair, volunteered at the animal shelter after school, had nearly been caught trying to set several cats free. But he had never heard them talk!
“Hey,” Eli said while walking alongside Blair, “you talk to the animals at the shelter, right?”
“Sure, we all do. So what?” Blair was a rock-solid friend. She was always honest with Eli, even if what she said occasionally hurt.
“I know this may sound odd, but have any of the animals ever talked back?”
“Are you pranking me?” Blair shot Eli a sideways glance.
“Let me put it this way: Do you think any of the animals know there’s going to be an eclipse tomorrow?” Eli did not want others hearing.
“You mean like some animals can sense before an earthquake happens?”
“Yeah, like that.”
“I doubt it’s the same thing,” Blair said. “Why?”
The most recent words Eli had heard the monkeys speak had been darknessand danger.
“Never mind,” he said.
“I guess it’s possible,” Blair said. “I think animals are way more tuned-in than people to that kind of stuff.”
Marissa joined them. “Hey,” she said, “did you hear that they are going to close the gates for allfourparksby eleven in the morning?”
“No way,” Eli said. “I heard that to enter the CommuniTree you have to have a parking pass. They don’t want hovercrafts parked all over the place.”
“That’s nuts,” Blair said. Darkness.
Danger .
Death.
A pair of parrots spoke from up in a tree. Eli found it hard to concentrate.
“Death?” Eli repeated too loudly.
All the kids stopped and turned to stare at Eli. Park guests walked around the group.
Eli did not know what to say. His face felt incredibly hot. Even Blair would not believe him. “Tornado Alley,” he said quickly. “It’s like a total death machine!”
“No kidding,” Blair said. “I can’t wait!”
AGROUP OF PEOPLE SAT around an oval table in a conference room on the second floor of Disneyland’s Team Disney building. Several were guests. Two were Disney executives, both women. Tatana Hikiro was a lawyer. A Japanese woman with short hair, Ms. Hikiro showed concentration that suggested someone serious. Ms. Ibrahim was from the business office. She had olive skin and wore a colorful headscarf.
Dell Philby, one of the visitors, was first to speak. He had very pale, freckled skin; red hair; and sharp green eyes. “We’ve come a long way and would appreciate returning to EPCOT this afternoon, if possible.”
“Of course,” Ms. Ibrahim said in a gentle voice. “This will not take long.”
Dell glanced toward the other parents who had joined him on this visit. Friends for over two decades, they were no strangers to mysterious Disney meetings. Next to Dell were Amanda and Finn Whitman, who were eager to get back home to their son for his birthday. Across from them sat Charlene and Terry Maybeck, alongside of whom were Dell’s wife, Willa, and the Ranjels.
“Since you said we could not do this over encrypted holographic conferencing, we assume it is privileged information,” Philby said.
“It is,” replied Ms. Ibrahim, “and we thank you all for making the trip.”
“No problem,” spoke Terry Maybeck, a tall Black man with his hair in tightly woven cornrows. An artist, Maybeck had an air about him.
“We came up with only one answer,” Finn Whitman added. He was a somewhat plain-looking man whose light brown hair was showing early gray above the ears. The two executives turned toward him. “We came to the decision that you asking us here has something to do with the group that was once called the Overtakers. Disney villains like Maleficent and Chernabog. We’re thinking you looked up employees still working for the company who had been around twenty years ago. We were basically interns back then. I’m sure you know that.”
“You must also know,” Philby said, “that we signed secrecy agreements back then. We’re not allowed to talk about any of that.”
Ms. Hikiro passed papers across to the visitors. “Please sign these documents. They release you from the NDAs. You are free to speak openly.”
Pens were passed around. The visitors signed their names.
“Is it a certain pavilion inside Hong Kong Disney you wish to discuss?” Willa Philby had the highest security clearance of anyone at the table, including Ms. Hikiro, who was painfully aware of Willa’s executive status.
“It is,” the lawyer acknowledged.
Willa Philby had a soothing voice and easy demeanor. “We,” she said, motioning to her friends, “as well as the Imagineers have known for a very long time that Disney characters collect added strength from the belief of their adoring fans. The more they receive, the more powerful their magic.”
Ms. Ibrahim nodded and scribbled out a note on a pad of paper.
“The same can be said for the Disney villains,” Willa continued. “Twenty years ago, they gained too much power and nearly changed everything. Without mentioning names, at the very top of the company, we have been in tough discussions about the Villains Realm Pavilion in our Hong Kong park. An extremely popular new attraction, we’ve seen changes there that remain unexplained. They are a cause for concern. I assume you want our opinions of the Overtakers back then. What they are capable of. What we all should be on the lookout for.”
Ms. Hikiro squinted. “It is interesting you should say that.”
Philby cleared his throat. “Because the real debate now is whether to build more Villains Realms in other parks.”
“We would find that problematic. A cause for worry,” Willa said.
Ms. Ibrahim sipped water from a glass. “The company has reliable information that a messenger was dispatched from the Villains Realm.”
“Reliableis the key word,” Maybeck said. “That sounds a little cloak-and-dagger to me.”
“Our contact intercepted communication from the messenger that was intended to be delivered by hand.”
“So, it couldn’t be intercepted electronically,” Philby said, theorizing.
“Legally and aboveboard,” Ms. Ibrahim said. “The message was coded. Our crypto team broke the code yesterday.”
“Right before you asked us here,” Finn said, leaning his elbows onto the table. Things were beginning to make sense to him.
“The message reads, ‘Jumpers at the ready.’” Ms. Ibrahim appeared troubled as she spoke. “It also made mention of ‘the darkness.’”
“Ruining the fun in the parks,” Amanda Whitman said. Amanda looked about as she had twenty years earlier: vibrant, intelligent, interested, and interesting.
“Or the solar eclipse,” Willa said.
“Disney World is one of the best places to view it,” Philby said quickly. “Does the message have to do with the eclipse?”
“We believe this is the most likely interpretation,” Ms. Hikiro said.
“Any ideas on what a ‘jumper’ might be?” Ms. Ibrahim inquired.
“We were hoping this might be something you might know from your past,” said Ms. Hikiro.
“How certain are you the messenger came from the Villains Realm?” asked Philby.
“That is confirmed,” said Ms. Ibrahim.
“A single message, you’re saying,” said Philby. “If it doesn’t make sense to you, why would you be so concerned? It is bigger than one messenger, isn’t it? There’s more to this.”
“I’m impressed,” Ms. Hikiro said.
“Don’t feed his ego,” Maybeck said, causing his friends to laugh. “Philby is pretty much like this all the time.”
“We have unconfirmed reports that there may have been three to four others. All sent from the Hong Kong Villains Realm.”
“Four or five total,” Finn said. “Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Paris, Shanghai Disney, Tokyo Disneyland. That’s why you’re so worried.”
“You do not miss much,” Ms. Hikiro said. “Again, impressed, but no, it is not as you think.”
“Some kind of attack is being planned,” Charlene Maybeck said. A former high school and college gymnast, Charlene had been quiet up until now. “Putting jumpers—whatever they are—‘at the ready’ means one of two things: be ready foran attack or be ready to attack. What is it you aren’t telling us?”
Maybeck asked Willa if she had ever heard of jumpers. Willa admitted she had not.
Ms. Ibrahim breathed in deeply. She sat up in her chair. “The messenger was heading to Italy. We have reason to believe the other four may be on their way to Mexico, Brazil, France, and Morocco. We cannot confirm that.”
The room went silent. Hovercrafts plied the sky outside the windows. Disneyland’s colorful spires poked up like fingers.
“EPCOT,” Finn said. “All those countries have pavilions in the World Showcase. We live there. You brought us here because we live there.” He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Are you trying to warn us?”
Philby spoke. “Does this have to do with tomorrow’s eclipse?”
“Eli’s birthday,” Amanda muttered.
“If the villains are planning an attack,” Maybeck said, “are you telling us that EPCOT is one of the targets?”
Amanda stood up out of her chair, as did Willa, who directed herself to the two executives. “Warning received. We all know that history has a habit of repeating itself. The Villains Realm pavilion should never have been built. You—none of you—know what the Overtakers are capable of. Now get us home, please, as quickly as possible!”
THE SKY LOOKED AS IT DID when a hurricane was approaching. Eli’s birthday picnic party was underway. Most of his “cousins” and some of their parents, along with other school families, were outside getting ready to view the eclipse.
The parent group that had gone to Los Angeles had been delayed. Supposedly they were now on the Maglev train from Atlanta. Their missing most of the party had put Eli in a tricky mood.
EPCOT stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. For a long time, it had been a Disney park with attractions and a World Showcase. Twenty years earlier, houses and apartments had been built around the park. To see it from his family’s hover-craft, the CommuniTree looked like lollipops sticking out from EPCOT’s lake. Thousands of people lived in the CommuniTree, including the Whitmans and Eli’s friends’ families.
“Supercool, isn’t it?” Marty Ranjel said. He was looking out the Whitmans’ front window at the dark-ening sky.
Eli had lost interest in the eclipse. He wanted to play more hologames on his family’s RealiTee 4D entertainment center.
He, Marissa, Marty, and Scott Morgan had been playing for the past thirty minutes. Eli didn’t know who had invited Scott’s family. The boy wasn’t exactly Eli’s best friend. At nearly six feet tall, in seventh grade, Scott hung out with older kids and the school’s varsity athletes.
Not even having Marissa there helped Eli’s sour mood. He wanted his parents to be home for his party.
A full-scale Jafar stood only a few feet away from Eli. The game was called GateKeeper. Any number of Disney holographic characters would stand guard on a secret passageway. If a player could distract or trick the Gate Keeper away from the entrance, then the real fun began. The game involved haptic sensors inside his wristband WORMS device. It stood for Wireless Organizer and Messenger System. Nearly every Disney fan, especially those living in the CommuniTree, wore a WORMS. It served as your ID, your payment, and your park pass. It monitored and mirrored your arm movement, your running speed, and your health. The RealiTee system used WORMS for motion projection. Eli currently held a shield in his hand.
Jafar held his snake-head staff. It was nearly as tall as Eli.
“I dare you to use that wand,” Scott said in his nasal tone. He was pointing at the Mickey wand mounted to a framed board above the Whitmans’ fake fireplace. The wand’s tip was black—it had once been dipped in a special ink.
“I can’t,” Eli said. “That wand actually belonged to Mickey. It’s a registered Disney Heritage Artifact. It’s my dad’s, not mine.”
“So? He bailed on your party. He’s not here,” Scott said. “What’s the problem?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You chicken?” Scott said mean things all the time. Teachers kept him after school because of it, but he still said them.
“No,” Eli lied.
“Better than a stupid shield,” Scott said.
Eli walked through Jafar’s hologram, pulled a chair in front of the fireplace, and untwisted the wires holding the wand.
“It’s so light,” he said, brandishing it like a symphony conductor.
“Was that really Mickey’s?” asked Marty.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Scott said to Marty. “Mickey’s not real.”
“You don’t know that,” Eli said.
“Try it on Jafar. See how he likes it,” Scott said.
Eli switched the wand to his right hand, where he wore the WORMS.
Jafar suddenly spoke. “You have selected an alternate tool. The nature of this tool is undetected. Please speak the name of your current tool.”
“Wand,” Eli said clearly.
“Interesting,” said Jafar.
“Cool,” said Marty.
“Seriously,” said Scott.
“Doesn’t anyone want to see the eclipse?” asked Marissa. “There won’t be another one for forty-two years.”
“One game, then we’ll do the eclipse,” Eli said, touching his wristband. “Scott, check it out. The red button on your WORMS will let you play Jafar.”
“Now you’re talking!” Scott touched his wristband.
Marty looked out the window again. “It’s nearly there. It’s going to happen. Come on, Marissa, I’m with you.”
Marty and Marissa left the room just as Blair arrived. Marissa turned, regretting her decision to leave. Marty encouraged her again. Together, they headed through the kitchen.
“Fair’s fair,” Scott said. Waving his hand resulted in Jafar waving the golden staff.
Blair stood near Eli. “What’s going on? Isn’t that your dad’s Mickey wand?”
When Eli explained Scott’s challenge, it sounded ridiculous.
“I get the next game,” Blair said.
Eli lunged for the holographic snake staff, hoping the wand might knock it out of Jafar’s hand. That might get him into the tunnel. Scott swung his arm. Eli missed.
“Nice try,” Scott said. Jafar raised the staff. It turned into a long snake whose eyes and fangs looked huge in front of Eli’s face.
The sky outside went pitch-black.
The snake attacked. Its fangs punctured two holes in Eli’s shirttail.
Both boys knew that shouldn’t have happened.
“Whoa,” Scott said. “What’s up with that?”
“No clue,” Eli replied. “You did it!”
“I did not do that! Maybe we should read the instructions or something.”
The snake struck a second time. Eli jumped away, adroitly dodging the strike. “Hey!” he complained. “Enough!”
“That was not me,” Scott said, his voice panicked.
“He didn’t move his arm at all,” Blair told Eli.
“I’m telling you, this game has a bug or something!” Scott stabbed at his wristband. “Shouldn’t this thing undock?” The snake hissed. Scott shouted, “This isn’t right.”
Eli blocked the snake with the wand.
“Take off your WORMS!” Blair called to Scott.
Scott struggled with the wristband. “Won’t…come…off!”
Eli moved back. Jafar stepped forward.
“It’s like he’s alive!” Eli shouted.
“I definitely get next game,” Blair said.
Eli said a bad word. The snake returned to its form as a golden staff. Jafar nearly clobbered Eli with it.
Eli backed up farther. He bumped into a chair and stumbled. As he fell, he swung the wand wildly. It drew an X in the air, like slicing a hole in fog.
Some guy leaped through the X and into the Whitmans’ living room. He wore black jeans and a long-sleeve black T-shirt. His face was covered by a ski mask.
This time, Scott said a bad word.
Blair said, “This game is awesome!”
Another figure jumped through the sparkling X. “Him,” a girl’s voice said, pointing to Eli. She also wore a ski mask. She looked around the room. The front door swung open.
The girl crossed her arms over her head and dove through the living room window where Marty had been standing only minutes earlier. Glass flew everywhere.
Uncle Jacinto, Marty’s dad, called loudly from the door. “What the —”
The girl rolled, jumped to her feet, and took off down the street beneath the disturbed sky.
Blair’s eyes widened. She moved, but it looked like slow motion to Eli, who wondered now if this was all a new level of GateKeeper.
“Does this stuff look real or what?” he shouted at Scott.
“Eli …” Uncle Jacinto called out. “Stop this at once!”
A sense of excitement overcame Eli’s fear. Over the past few weeks, he had reached level three of GateKeeper, but he’d never seen anything like this.
It took him a moment to realize the girl had actually broken the window. Her doing that was certainly not part of the game.
The kid wearing the ski mask took hold of Eli and pulled him. Howcouldthispossiblyhappen?Eli wondered. He struggled, but it was no use.
The stranger tugged harder. “Jupiter!” Eli called out loudly. It was his RealiTee shutdown secret word. It was supposed to turn off the game. Nothing happened.
The guy skidded Eli across the carpet. The X in the air had turned oily. Through it, Eli could see what looked like EPCOT’s Morocco Pavilion.
The man tripped Eli and, as Eli fell, pushed him through the X. “Jupiter!” Eli cried out once more. The X mended like a wound being magically healed. It closed behind him.
His family’s living room disappeared.
ELI STRUGGLED TO BREAK FREE of the man’s grip. Looking through an oily curtain, he saw the arch in EPCOT’s Morocco Pavilion.
Hundreds of park guests milled about. Most stared up into the sky wearing odd-looking cardboard glasses. Theeclipse!Eli remembered. So distracted by the phenomenon, no one noticed Eli or the man holding his arm.
The man was not rough with Eli, but he was determined as he moved Eli’s arm. It took an instant for the boy to realize he was still holding the wand. Another X appeared as the first dissolved. Two identical shimmering Xs hung only a few feet apart.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Eli muttered. Having heard animals talk seemed insignificant compared to these oily Xs and this man, this moment.
Eli realized with a sickening feeling that the curtains were coming together, pressing in on him.
With a push, Eli was propelled off his feet and through the hole in the air. He tumbled to the far side, leaving EPCOT’s Morocco and landing on solid ground. The stranger came with him. As the tear in air began to seal behind him, Eli threw the wand into EPCOT from where he had come.
“No!” the stranger shouted.
The air around them was dusty and dry. Florida air was always thick with humidity. Without exactly knowing, Eli nonetheless understood he was a long way from home. What?Where?How?
He smelled cinnamon, sweets, and spices. The metallic taste that lingers following a lightning flash tainted his tongue.
He was too dazed to struggle, too confused to object. Led past large buildings and colorful signs, Eli felt an eerie familiarity about the place. When he looked up and saw Peter Pan flying after the Darling children, he understood why he recognized his surroundings.
The same sign was in the Magic Kingdom outside Peter Pan’s Flight. This one was nearly the same except the paint colors had faded.
“Are we in the future?” Eli asked.
A hand clapped over his mouth and silenced him. “Shut it!” said the man.
“Is this still GateKeeper? Because the graphics are incredible, really!”
The man holding him had a deep voice and a faint accent. “I am not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you. You are insurance. That is all.”
Eli heard the voice, but there was something off about it. Only by watching the stranger’s mouth move did Eli realize he wasn’t speaking English. Maybe French, or Greek or Arabic, but not English. Yet Eli’s brain was translating it into English on the fly. He understood the man perfectly, just as he had understood his cat, Granite, and the monkeys in Animal Kingdom.
The voices that had warned him of danger.
