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When General Grievous’ ship first crashed on some planet called ‘Earth,’ he had been extremely irritated. He couldn’t get any transmissions through to the Separatists, and everyone he tried speaking to either ran away, yelled at him, or gave him a strange look before walking away.
Now, though, it didn’t seem to be all that bad.
The music all throughout the park had been irritating at first, but after a few hours, Grievous didn’t notice it much anymore. He had some sort of sugary candy floss called ‘cotton candy’ in one of his mechanical hands, and a mouse shaped floating bubble in the other. What had the worker called the mouse? Ricky Rat? Grievous couldn’t remember, but he didn’t really care, either. All he knew is that the signs said this so-called ‘Disneyland’ was the “Happiest Place on Earth.” He wanted to see what they meant.
Everywhere he went, people complimented him on his ‘costume.’ He wasn’t quite sure what they meant by that, but he appreciated their words. It had been a really long time since he last received genuine compliments from people. Why wasn’t everyone back in his galaxy this nice?
At one point, he saw a large group of what appeared to be clone troopers… but their armor was slightly different. He had hidden behind a bush to avoid being noticed. He was having a good time, and didn’t really want to get into a fight with so many civilians around. Which was strange. Normally he didn’t mind creating havoc and chaos. But these people… these people were just trying to enjoy themselves, too.
Approaching another one of the stores, Grievous bent over to examine the mouse ear shaped hat. Picking it up, he showed it to the worker. “I would like to purchase this hat,” he said in his gravelly, mechanical voice.
The worker smiled at him cheerfully. “Great!” She exclaimed, scanning the barcode. “That’ll be $20.”
Grievous set the cotton candy down, reaching into his cloak. He pulled out the amount of credits needed, handing them over. The worker looked at them closely with an odd look on her face. Then she just nodded slowly, taking the money and punching something into the computer terminal in front of her.
“You’re all set!” She told him, handing him the hat with a smile. Grievous did his best to smile back at her, but it was hard to get the message across. “Have a magical day, sir.”
“Thank you,” Grievous replied solemnly, putting the hat on his head. After angling it just right, he picked his cotton candy back up before walking away, rejoining the crowds on the streets. They were all gathering on the sides of the road, as if they were waiting for something. But what were they waiting for?
He tapped one man on the shoulder. “Excuse me. What is going on here? Why is everyone sitting down?” He questioned.
The man looked at Grievous for a moment before giving an answer. “The parade is going to start soon. We all want to get the best spots, so our view doesn’t get blocked. Especially the kids’ view.”
A parade? How interesting.
“Thank you, sir,” Grievous told him. He didn’t care much to see the parade, really. He’d seen plenty of those in his own galaxy.
He continued to walk towards what the park deemed ‘Tomorrowland.’ There was some ride called Space Mountain that he wanted to try.
The line for Space Mountain ended up being really long. Grievous didn’t mind. He wasn’t really in a hurry to get back to the Separatists anymore.
And then it was finally his turn.
He ended up getting a car to himself, due to his size. Once the workers checked his seat restraints (why were those necessary?), they were ready to go. Passing along a few hand signals, the workers slowly started the cars up.
With a couple of jerks, the ride crept forward. Grievous watched in amazement as the lights of the ride did their best to replicate what space looked like. And then… a disembodied voice began counting down. Had the ride not yet begun?
He got his answer when the voice reached ‘one’ and the car suddenly went flying forward, the lights in the darkness replicating what hyperspace looked like. Grievous hadn’t been expecting that. He let out a mechanical scream, clutching at the bar on his lap for dear life.
So that’s what the restraints were for.
Once he was past the initial shock, he tentatively let go of the bar.
He stayed in place.
Grievous grinned to himself, throwing his hands into the air like he saw the people in front of him doing. He screamed again, this time with pure joy. He hadn’t felt an emotion like this in so long. He had forgotten what it felt like, and now that he was feeling it again for the first time in forever, it was intoxicating. He was euphoric as the ride finally came to an end. He had to gather his things and exit the ride, but he already knew he wanted to ride it again. And he did. He rode it again and again and again, not caring how long the line happened to be. After the third or fourth time, he stopped counting how many times he had ridden it.
Clutching his souvenirs in his mechanical clawed hands, he finally headed away from the ride. Night had fallen, and lights had come on all around in the park. It was a really nice sight. Something he hadn’t thought in a really long time.
This place was bringing out the best in him.
He spent the rest of the night there. He stayed until all the shops had closed, and the rides had all shut down for the night. He had lost his balloon somewhere along the way, and given his cotton candy to a crying child (No, he wasn’t going soft. The cries were just insufferable, and he wanted the tiny human to shut up). But he still had his mouse hat, and all the photos that the various ride cameras had taken.
As he exited the park, he turned around to look at the sign.
Disneyland.
The Happiest Place on Earth.
He looked at the hat in his hands, his heart swelling.
Yeah. It was a pretty happy place.