World of Disney (featuring The Muppets)

[muppetwriter]

Oh... the suspense is killing me!

Should I post the next chapter now or wait until tomorrow?

 

[GonzoLover85]

You're quite the tempter aren't you.... ?

Do what you must, but know this:
I used to be indecisive, now I’m not so sure…

That is all.

 

[muppetwriter]

Haha! Thanks, GL! I feel like waiting for today was the best decision.

Chapter Fourteen: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)​

An elevator leading to the special “Castle Suite” of Cinderella’s Castle dinged once its passengers – Joanie, Ciciley, Sean, Kermit, Robin, Gonzo, Fozzie, Scooter, Robin, Pepe, and Rizzo – arrived at the one area of the castle that was exclusive to certain visitors of the Walt Disney World Resort. From the moment Joanie and the others stepped inside of it, all of them were immediately impressed of how majestic it looked. For Joanie, Kermit, Robin, Scooter, Gonzo, and Fozzie, it was nothing like they had ever seen before; for Sean, Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo, it was something they seen before on television, but never in person. Each of them completely forgot why they were there in the first place.

“Wow! How groovy is this?” Joanie excitedly exclaimed.

“Yeah, never expected the inside of Cinderella’s Castle to look so…roomy.” Fozzie commented while feeling how soft one of the suite beds was.

“They only allow winners of the Year of a Million Dreams sweepstakes to spend some nights here.” Ciciley informed. “We’re lucky enough that a family hasn’t already won this suite by now.”

BOOM! THUMP! THUMP! BLIZZZZ!

RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!

The group nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard the skirmish between Buzz Lightyear and the Beast that was happening on the rooftop of the castle. “We need to get up there and help Buzz, before Beast shreds him apart!” Sean declared.

“How’re we going to get up there?” Kermit asked. “All of the windows in this place don’t open. And it isn’t like we could…”

SMASH!

The sound of glass shattering terrified them more than the sound of the Beast roaring. It especially brought an unsettling feel over Sean and Ciciley, who were uneasy already over just being there without official permission. Turning their heads slowly, they saw Joanie standing beside one of the stained glass windows of the suite, which had been busted open from a chair that she used. She cleared out the pieces of glass scattered over the lower frame of the window with the legs of the chair, before sitting the piece of furniture back down and sticking her head outside.

Seeing what she had done, Ciciley whispered to her brother, “Is she insane?”

Sean simply shrugged and remarked, “She is our mother.”

From Joanie’s perspective, she could make out part of the rooftop that Buzz and the Beast were fighting upon, noticing flashes of red light (Buzz’s laser). She also realized that chunks of a tower were falling over the side of the castle and down to the moat below. Feeling more urgent than ever, Joanie brought her head back into the suite and focused on her companions. “Y’all stay here. I’m going up there by myself.”

“No way, Mam…Joanie!” Sean confronted, barely catching himself before he made a slip-of-the-tongue while addressing his past-day mother. “We’re not going to let you risk your life like this. That is a real beast up there!”

“Look, it’d be much riskier for us to all go up there.” Joanie stated. “If something happens to me, one of you can step up next to help Buzz bring this thing down.” She then turned back to the window she busted open, noting the very slim frame it had and adding, “I might need help in gettin’ my big butt through this window.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

“Two corn dogs, five pizzas, seven funnel cakes, nine hamburgers, and one strawberry-chocolate sundae.” Clifford had an actual list of things written on a notepad of all the different foods Bobo had eaten from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, going through everything on it while walking out of the “Mrs. Potts Cupboard” restaurant with Bean Bunny and Bobo himself. “Man, is there anything you can’t eat?”

Bobo looked around briefly and noticed a half-finished cup of lemonade sitting on top of a nearby trash can. “I won’t eat that lemonade over there. Drink it, maybe; but not eat it.”

While Clifford and Bobo were having their conversation, Bean noticed many park guests stopping in their activities and observing something over Cinderella’s Castle. He spotted two teenage girls (one a brunette, the other a blonde) in particular with camera-phones snapping away and capturing footage of something that he could not see from where he was standing, due to the buildings obscuring the castle. Politely, he asked the two girls, “Excuse me, but…um…what’s everyone looking at?”

“Not really sure.” The blonde girl answered.

“But Buzz Lightyear and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast are involved and putting on what heck of a show!” The brunette girl said.

The blonde then handed her camera-phone over to Bean, revealing to him a perfect, high-resolution shot of the two characters combating one another. It looked like something off the park brochure, similar to the climatic image of Mickey Mouse fighting Maleficent from the Fantasmic show in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Everything about it looked really fun to Bean, including how authentic and strangely realistic the costumes looked on Buzz Lightyear and the Beast. However, one thing in the photo startled the Muppet bunny and that was the young woman coming out of Cinderella’s Castle through one of the windows. To Bean, she bore a heavy resemblance to a young Joan Thomas.

“Oh, boy!” Bean remarked in shock. He then turned to Bobo (who started sipping the lemonade he found) and Clifford, frantically shouting to them, “We gotta find Kim, Meagan, and Miss Tracy!”

“Whoa! Chill, Beanie!” Clifford remarked. “What’s the emergency?”

Unfortunately, Clifford was not given a direct answer from the bunny, as he was already heading across the Fantasyland area to find the three women. Clifford chased after him, while Bobo took a few more sips of the lemonade and threw it away into the very same trashcan he took it from. After a quick belch, the bear asked Clifford and Bean while following them, “Hey, uh, where we goin’, fellas?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

As she scaled the wall of the castle, Joanie did her best not to look down at the incredible height distance from the section of the castle she was clinging to and the moat below. The view was breathtaking to say the least, especially from the suite she departed from. A sense of guilt plagued her conscious while thinking of the beautiful stained glass window that she shattered a while ago. The best she could do to make up for it was to have the theme park bill her – she was certain her salary from the Muppet Theater would be enough…that was depending on the cost of stained glass windows of the year 2010.

Joanie finally reached a balcony at the east side of the castle, which the suite adjoined, climbing onto it and taking a deep breath. Then, out of nowhere, there came a thud above the balcony and Joanie looked up to see that it was Buzz, seeming to be worn out from his fight with the Beast. “Buzz! Don’t worry! I’m here to help ya, man!”

Buzz chuckled weakly at her words. “Fear not, young female humanoid! I have this creature right where I…”

RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!

The space ranger turned his head to see the Beast lunging directly at him with both claws held up high. Buzz dodged out of the way once the Beast’s claws swung and connected with the structure of the castle, tearing it to pieces. Bits of debris showered over Joanie, who kept her head down until all of it had passed. She then heard metal clanging over stone and turned to find the Mind Control Spray canister near her.

“Uh-oh.” She uttered, realizing the only thing able to stop the Beast was out of the hands of Buzz Lightyear.

Of course, that was the reason she braved herself to climb up and assist the space ranger. Reaching for the canister and picking it up, she stuffed it into her right pocket and climbed to the rooftop of the castle. A worn-out Buzz Lightyear continued his fight with the ferocious monster, climbing to the top of the same tower that was beginning to crumble under his weight. With Buzz on it, the crumbling came only slightly; but with the Beast itself climbing on, the tower teetered further to the edge.

“I wish to be left alone!” The Beast growled to the space ranger he was slowly advancing on. “I wish to return to my castle!” Buzz kept his laser fixed on the Beast – his only defense against him, after all others had failed – as the monster finally reached the top of the tower. “I wish…”

“Buzz!” Joanie yelled, bringing the two combatants’ attention over to her, as she took the canister out of her pocket and shouted, “SHOOT!”

With that command, she hurled the canister towards the space ranger, who figured out immediately what her plan was. Aiming his laser at the canister, Buzz fired a single blast and scored a direct hit. The canister exploded into a ball of green smoke that Buzz’s helmet protected his sinuses from. Joanie was left to cup her hand over her noise and mouth from the cloud of smoke that fogged the entire rooftop of the castle. While it was spreading, the Beast inhaled a good deal of it and became very light-headed, losing focus quickly. Then, without warning, the furry behemoth collapsed over the top structure of the tower.

That was the final gesture to cause the entire tower to snap away from the castle and fall to the moat below. However, before it had completely done so, Buzz immediately grabbed the Beast’s heavy form and jumped off the falling tower with him, landing right near Joanie. The both of them watched the tower disappear over the edge of the rooftop, falling to the moat with the huge splash that caught some of the viewers watching from a close distance around the castle. Of course, they were far from upset about getting wetter than they would have on Splash Mountain. In fact, they cheered wildly along with everyone else who watched the great “show” atop the castle.

The green haze fogging around the castle rooftop soon dissipated, allowing Joanie to breath in the fresh air. She watched Buzz set the Beast upright; the monster’s feet appeared to have been cooperating with the rest of its body, since he was able to stand entirely on his own. The Beast had a dull look upon its face, seeming to be only half conscious at the moment. Buzz waved his hand in front of his face, and the Beast failed to respond to it.

“I believe whatever the contents of that device were put this creature into a near-comatose state.” Buzz indicated. “Did our plan work?”

Joanie was not certain if it did or not. To make sure, she commanded the Beast, “Hop on one leg.” And sure enough, the Beast held up one leg and began hopping up and down on the other, keeping the expressionless look on his face while doing so. “Yep…I’ll say it worked.”

~~~~~~~~~~~​

All of the park guests who were watching the exciting “show” that was unfolded on the rooftop of Cinderella’s Castle applauded after the action was over and the characters, including the “unknown brunette” who finished it off with Buzz Lightyear, disappeared from the rooftop. Everyone then continued their day at The Magic Kingdom, either going on more rides, purchasing items from stores, or attending meet-and-greets with characters. However, most were still ecstatic over the show they witnessed and asked park employees several questions about it. Unfortunately, even the park employees were too stumped to give reasonable answers other than “I don’t know.”

One young woman named Jennifer (those closest to her called her “Bella”) remained where she stood even after the show was over, gazing upon Cinderella’s Castle with her green eyes in total disbelief. She was a blond woman who looked to be in her early-thirties with a long-sleeved light blue shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. Her appearance seemed much more majestic than any of the Disney Princesses seen at the theme park, and she was often confused for one by many children who passed by her there. It brought a smile upon her face when she was approached on it, and she felt bad in disappointing them when she revealed the true fact that she was just an ordinary woman visiting the park on her own. Of course, what she had just seen was far from ordinary.

All of the sudden, she felt something brush against her leg and looked down to see an adorable bunny accidentally bump into her. “Oops! Sorry, miss!”

“You’re okay, lil’ fella.” She told the bunny with a smile and chuckle, watching him and two other strange figures run up to three other women who also remained where they were after seeing the bizarre show that happened on Cinderella’s Castle.

“Kim! Meagan! Tracy!” The bunny addressed each of them by their proper names. “Did you just see what happened?”

The redhead named Kim scoffed, “Who didn’t see it?”

“We caught what happened just as we passed by ‘Winnie the Pooh’,” said the stranger with sunglasses and multi-colored dreadlocks, who accompanied the bunny. “How the heck could the Walt Disney Company pull off something that impressive? The budget had to be through the roof – no pun intended.”

The oldest of the three women, the blonde named Tracy, chuckled at the dreadlocked stranger’s comment. “Yeah, no kiddin’.”

Bella couldn’t help but to listen in on the conversation, being as close as she was to the group. It sounded like simple fascination they were expressing until the youngest of their group – the other redhead named Meagan – exclaimed, “Oh my god! Is that Sean and Ciciley?” She pointed to the castle’s archway, seeing the figures familiar to them passing by there and instantly being crowded on by several excited park guests.

Hearing the name of Sean, Bella’s ears perked up beneath her long hair, which covered them. She looked to the archway that Meagan pointed to and could see a tall African American male walking with the characters in the show everyone witnessed, along with others who seemed unfamiliar to her. But the one figure – the tall African American male – was the one she kept her focus on the entire time he was walking through the archway. Kim, Meagan, Tracy, and their friends soon appeared within her perceptual vision, moving to the crowded archway.

Her hand moving to her rose-colored lips in shock, Bella whispered to herself, “Could it really be him?” Feeling overwhelmed, her reaction seemed to have corresponded with a small red glow emitted beneath her shirt, right where her heart was.

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Fifteen: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)​

Joanie felt exhausted beyond belief as she helped Sean and Buzz guide the Beast to the front of the park where they tried to make a quiet exit. However, that seemed easier said than done when half of the guests at the park, including reporters who went there as guests at first but quickly went to business after the “show” Joanie and the other put on, asking several questions that they could only answer “I don’t know” to. And even once they were through the front gate, the questions still continued. None of the guests seemed to have cared that they just walked out of the park, leaving behind whatever plans they had within the hour.

Meanwhile, Sean did his best to ignore the crowd and get to the nearest transit bus they could take back to the Muppet Theater. The Beast was only large enough to fit in one rather than the Explorer, which he would use to follow them back in. He saw one parked close ahead and picked up the pace, moving a short distance ahead of the others and hoping to get to it before anyone else did. Unfortunately, just when he was near the bus…

“Sean!”

He turned his head to see Kim, Meagan, Tracy, Bobo, Clifford, and Bean running to him, all with looks of concern, amusement, and confusion on their faces. “Oh, no…” he muttered to himself, just before he was met by their party and the one he had recently been with at the same time.

Kim and Meagan’s eyes connected with Joanie’s at the moment their paths crossed. And, almost on instinct, the two redheads uttered upon seeing her, “Mama?”

Joanie raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Even Tracy was taken aback from the sudden appearance of her cousin – at least that was who she believed it was at first glance. This young woman was younger…very much younger than the woman she met with recently, who still resides in a beautiful Floridian neighborhood across town. She wasn’t certain if this woman was someone who looked like Joan in her twenties or…no, that latter alternative was just too crazy to consider. But could it be so?

“Joanie…” Tracy finally brought herself to say, “I-Is that really you, cuz?”

Looking carefully at her, Joanie tried to recognize the woman addressing her. “Have we…met somewhere, Miss…?”

“Tracy. It’s me – your cousin…Tracy.”

Joanie nearly fainted from the shock of seeing the forty-something woman in front of her, whom – in actuality – was her “little” cousin. The first thought that came to her mind upon seeing her: Man, time-travel is a trip!

With the reporters and other guests still surrounding them, Sean knew this meeting had to be taken somewhere private. Too many strangers were around to hear the craziness behind a young woman like Joanie being the mother to two women who were close to her age. It wasn’t still part of a show, as they were all led to believe from the moment Buzz and the Beast confronted each other atop of Cinderella’s Castle. In fact, he started helping Ciciley, Buzz, Kermit, Robin, Scooter, Gonzo, Fozzie, Rizzo, and Pepe guide the Beast into the transit bus, which sunk a bit under his weight.

The bus driver, watching the creature enter and feeling the bus shift from its extreme weight, immediately ran out of the bus and confronted Sean. “Hey, man! This ain’t moving truck! Whatever the park officials told you, you tell them I can’t…”

“Listen, here’s a hundred.” Sean gave the driver the money right away. “Just take this bus outside the resort grounds and into Downtown Orlando, until you get to the old Muppet Theater there. After then, you can continue on with your route.”

The driver checked the authenticity of the hundred-dollar bill and grinned at it. “Whatever you say, my friend.” And with that, the driver went back into the bus and started the engine.

Sean brought his attention back to the others and assured them, “Look, I’ll explain everything when we get back to the theat…” While in mid-sentence, he was suddenly met with the angry finger of Joanie.

“You’d better, dude! I don’t know what secrets you’re hidin’, but we will discuss this later!”

A chill went down his spine on his words, which sounded a lot like the scolding she would give him when he was a kid. Shaking his head, he thought to himself, Man! Time-travel is a trip! He watched Joanie got into the transit bus with the others following. It took more promises of things being better explained in due time to get Kim, Meagan, and Tracy in as well, but once they were in, the doors closed and the bus departed from the Magic Kingdom theme park.

After watching it leave, Sean escaped from the crowd of curious reporters and guests by running across the parking lot area, just as another transit bus arrived. It drove right in between him and the crowd and parked there, separating them. Relieved to be free of the chaos, Sean took a deep breath and prepared himself for the chaos that would follow later at the Muppet Theater, when he once again met the angry stare of his young mother. How different she seemed in personality at an age younger than his own compared to the elderly, kind woman he met earlier that morning.

While crossing the parking lot to get to his Explorer parked (ironically) in the “Lumiere” section, he was being watched by two figures from a 2006 Dodge Charger, unbeknownst to him. The two figures were none other than Joie and Gina, the latter expressing great joy in seeing Sean at the parking lot. “Aw, dude! It is him! That’s our little bro! How sweet is this?” Joie did not answer, which left Gina to look away from Sean and to her. Instantly, she saw her eye color change from their usual light bluish hue to a darker, redder one. “Oh, no. You’re ticked about something.” She heard her sister’s hands gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter – almost on the verge of snapping it in half. “JOIE!”

The gripping stopped and Joie relaxed a little – her eyes returning to normal. “I’m sorry…but did you see the way that chick was yelling at him a second ago?”

“Who? The brunette?” Joie nodded. “Yeah, that did irk me a little. Who do you think those people were?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” She turned the key and revved up the Charger’s engine, much to the dismay of her sister.

“Oh, c’mon, Joie! We found Sean now – let’s just go get him, head back to Baton Rouge, and live happily ever after, okay?”

Joie’s eyes turned red again as she looked to Gina. “Are you kiddin’ me? They could be the reason why he disappeared last night! I’m not just gonna leave without getting some answers first!”

Gina tried to talk sense in her again, but the Charger had already sped out of the space it was parked in and racing across the lot, moving past other vehicles that honked madly as it passed through. Approaching his car, Sean heard the honking and screeching of tires and looked to see the Charger leave the parking lot in such an unruly manner. He shook his head, thinking he was the only one having a bad day, and climbed into the Explorer. However, right after he put on his seatbelt and just before he turned the key in the ignition…

“Lil’ brother!”

Sean screamed insanely when he heard the voice, believing to be the only one in the vehicle, jumping so high that he banged his head on the ceiling. Once he shook off the pain, he looked across to see a young blonde woman sitting in the passenger seat with her arms outstretched and a wide smile on her face. He wasn’t certain how hard he bumped his head, but when he looked at her chest, he could’ve sworn he noticed a dark blue hue glowing through the shirt she wore of a different shade of the same color. It was more than that freaking him out that moment – rather it was the fact that woman somehow had gotten into his car without him knowing.

“L-Listen…whatever y-you want, take it!” Sean exclaimed nervously. “I gave the last bit of money I had to a bus driver earlier, s-so…”

“I don’t want money, lil’ brother. I just want to give you a hug. I’ve been worried about yo…”

The woman moved in closer to him and, in the blink of an eye, Sean unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the Explorer. He reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone and began dialing numbers. While doing so, he told the woman, “Okay, make it easy on yourself. Either get out of the car or I’ll have the police come and haul your butt to jail. I’m doing it right now, lady!”

Glancing at the phone in his hands, the woman’s eyes focused past it and to Sean’s chest. She frowned when there was nothing glowing beneath his shirt. “Oh, no. Something’s wrong.”

Hearing what she said, Sean chuckled in response, “Yeah, ya think so?”

That’s when he heard the passenger side door open and the woman climbing out. He watched her move hurriedly away from the Explorer and down the parking lot with tears streaming down her eyes. It was that point when a good deal of guilt rushed through Sean, forcing him to hang up the phone and chase after the young woman. He wasn’t exactly sure why he felt so guilty about yelling at her and threatening to call the police on her, but he did.

“Wait a minute. Hold on.”

The woman stopped and turned to him with tears continuing to come down her impressive green eyes. He noticed the glowing hue of her chest had changed from dark blue to a light purple. At first Sean believed it to be some kind of jewelry she wore that was an equivalent to a mood ring, but there was clearly no sign of jewelry on her. It spaced him out a bit, but he tried to get past it long enough to figure out what her story was.

“Look…whoever you think I am…I’m not that person.” What he was saying didn’t seem to be helping out much, because she was on the verge of losing control again. Quickly, he changed the subject and asked, “What’s your name?”

She looked down shamefully and answered, “Y-You call me…Bella. You had ever since you were a lil’ thing.”

Sean sighed – the situation was becoming bizarre each passing second. Bella appeared to have known him well enough to actually believe they had been together since the moment of his birth. He couldn’t tell if it was a case of mistaken identity or total delusion from her. Whatever the case, he couldn’t leave this young woman feeling so heartbroken and confused all by herself.

Without even thinking twice on it, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it? I’m heading no place in particular.” It sounded like a lie, but it was actually the truth. The Muppet Theater he knew wasn’t supposed to have existed within his time; but on the inside, it did…somehow, it did. “Maybe you can explain how you know me…and where you come from.”

Bella showed half of a smile. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Sean laughed at that statement. “If you went through all I did today, you’d find that to be quite the understatement.”

~~~~~~~~~~~​

As if the afternoon could not have gotten any weirder, Tracy seemed to have added onto that weirdness by touching every inch of Joanie’s face, from her forehead to her cheeks, doing everything from rubbing, pinching, and stretching. The weirdest part was how she gave her cousin permission to do it, realizing that it was all just to satisfy her amazement of meeting what Meagan called her “Lil’ Mama.” Of course, the nickname did not stick for very long, once Joanie immediately demanded to not be addressed by such a ridiculous name and just be called by her real one. After a few more minutes of face-touching, Tracy stopped and just stared at her face.

“Are you sure this isn’t some surprise you wanted to spring on us while we were here in Florida?” Tracy asked. “You’re not wearin’ botox or got facial reconstruction or something? ‘Cause if you do, you gotta spill, girlfriend! I could really use…”

“It’s really me, Tracy!” Joanie snapped impatiently. “Bunsen Honeydew built a machine that somehow transported Kermit, Robin, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, and myself from 1977 to 2010, as well as trapped my mother into some parallel universe where Disney Animation exists or something. All I wanna do is find where she is, get her back home, and end this nightmare once and for all.”

Kimberly snickered. “This sounds a lot like that episode of The X-Files when Mulder ended up in the Bermuda Triangle and…”

“Hey, hey! Don’t spoil it!” Pepe said. “I haven’t finished watchin’ it on JouTube, okay.”

Joanie moved her fingers through her long brown hair, fighting off the headache she was experiencing at the moment. Seeing Ciciley sitting across from her and eyeing the Beast, who was sitting at the rear of the bus and still appearing mindless, she inquired, “Why didn’t Sean tell me? Why did he hide the fact that I’m your mother? Is he ashamed of me?”

Ciciley shook her head. “No, no…of course not.”

“Maybe a little.”

“Meagan, shut up!” Ciciley said through gritted teeth.

Sinking down in her seat, Joanie folded her arms and sighed in depression. Tracy placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort and told her, “I’m sure he has his reasons for not telling you. Maybe it was to protect the space-time continuum…you know he’s a huge fan of Back to the Future.”

“No, I don’t.” Joanie remarked. “What is it about?”

Tracy opened her mouth to explain, but stopped upon realization. “You’ll find out in another decade.”

The topic of her twin brother reminded Ciciley of the fact that he was supposed to be tailing the bus they were on. She turned to Robin and said, “Is Sean still following us, Rob?”

Robin hopped over to the rear of the bus and made one giant leap over the half-conscious Beast, landing atop his furry head, which made the tiny frog think a lot of Sweetums and how he would often let him do the same with him. He looked out the rear window and noticed a variety of new-age vehicles driving behind theirs. Confused, he looked back and asked Ciciley, “What type of car does he drive again?”

“It’s a dark blue SUV, sweetie.” Ciciley indicated.

Glancing back out the window, Robin spotted one black vehicle driving close behind theirs. He wasn’t sure if it was an “SUV” or not (he didn’t even know what one actually looked like, since they were non-existent in his time), but he was certain it had to be Sean. With a smile, he told Ciciley, “Yep, he’s behind us.” And with that, he returned to his seat next to his uncle.

Unfortunately, Robin was wrong. The vehicle he thought was Sean Thomas’s Ford Explorer was in actuality the Dodge Charger, driven by Joie, tailing the group. Every mile she and Gina crossed was one that she grew angrier on, her eyes like a wildfire in their red hue. Her intentions for following them were anything but positive, and as soon as they arrived at their destination, trouble will soon follow.

END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Sixteen: Time Zone – 2010 (Prior to Re-Animation)​

The impressive scent that Bella gave off stimulated Sean’s nostrils every time he took a whiff of it in the Explorer; it was a strong mixture of strawberries and chocolate. It was enough to make him hungry, which he was certain she had to be from hearing the gurgling noises her stomach made. She might have been a total stranger who made wild assumptions of being his “long lost” sister upon first meeting her. He still could not figure out what made him pick her up from the parking lot or even if she had anyone to take care of her – regardless of which, it was chivalrous thing to do…at least he hoped so.

Located just a few blocks ahead was a Baskin-Robbins store, a perfect place to get something to eat. Although it was important to get back to Joanie and his sisters, the situation he found himself with Bella called for other crucial matters. It was also the ideal spot for calling someone to pick Bella up and take her somewhere to find whatever family or friends she had in the Orlando area. Until she got some help, he would not leave her side.

As soon as they reached the popular ice cream parlor, Sean pulled the Explorer over to the curb and parked directly across from the front entrance. Bella glanced at the B&R building in awe and wonder, turning to Sean with a smile and asking, “What is this beautiful place?”

Sean snickered. “You’re kidding! You’ve never heard of Baskin-Robbins? The best ice cream restaurant chain in the world?” Bella shook her head in response, putting Sean in a state of total disbelief. Wherever this woman came from, it was certainly nowhere near Orlando. “Well, you’re in for a real treat – literally speaking, of course. My mother used to take me here all the time when I was little.”

“Your mother?” Bella reiterated on his statement.

It was pretty noticeable how she made another attempt to convince him of being his sister, which left him sighing with a tad bit of aggravation. “Listen, it’s pretty overwhelming having three sisters in my life – two of whom are close to your skin tone – so I hope you understand how difficult it is to believe whether or not if you are my sister, especially with the…er…” He made a gesture towards her glowing chest, which showed the color orange for some strange reason. Doing his best to ignore it, he continued, “Look, I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this, as soon as we get something to eat.”

Getting out of the Explorer, Sean went to the other side to help Bella out and lead her inside the parlor. The aroma of various ice cream flavors welcomed them. Bella was instantly enchanted with the place, going to the front counter and seeing all of the ice cream flavors in the tubs, as they were scooped out by one of the employees. While her attention was distracted, Sean went to work on contacting the police and sending someone to pick Bella up.

However, just as he was about to dial the numbers 9-1-1…

“For Bella’s sake, I wouldn’t do that, Sean.”

The female voice sounded very unfamiliar to him and, turning to the speaker, the face – although extremely beautiful – was just as much so. Sitting at the table nearest him was a raven-haired, blue-eyed woman with a stunning outfit that matched with her hair color. Her lips were glossed with bright red lipstick, some of which had gotten on the spoon she used to eat her Banana Nut Fudge ice cream. Something about her appearance overwhelmed Sean – it was almost as if he could sense the powerful confidence she carried in her. The weirdest thing of it all was how much she reminded him of Joanie from her facial features.

For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, he asked this woman, “Do I know you?”

The black-haired woman chuckled. “Knew you were going to ask me that.”

“Then you can understand my confusion over your knowledge of my name.” He glanced over to the distracted Bella and added, “So I’m to assume you sent this woman after me in the parking lot of Walt Disney World?”

“In a way…yes.”

“Why? I was five seconds away from calling the cops on her for breaking into my car – which I still have no idea how she did.”

“And you were another five from doing the same thing, weren’t you?”

Sean stood in silence, looking at the phone in his hand, ready to contact the local authorities. Something in him forced his finger to press the “End” key on the digital screen, disconnecting his attempted call. Focusing on the woman, who stared back at him with her sparkling blue eyes, he inquired, “Who are you?”

She smiled and answered, “I’m Brandy…and I’m the one who is going to bring order back into this chaotic time of yours.” Brandy gestured to the chair across from her, offering him to sit down. He accepted the offer and continued listening to her with much intent. “Now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way, let’s get to the main points, such as Bella over there. I take it that you’ve noticed the glow from her heart.”

“Amongst other things, yes.”

“The truth is that she’s from another dimension – one that is somewhat different from this one. In fact, it’s a lot like one of those ‘Disney Worlds’ that Bunsen Honeydew’s invention takes you to.”

The overwhelmed Sean shook his head and grinned. “How is it that you know so much about this?”

“Because I’m an inventor myself and built something just like Bunsen’s machine – only mine enables anyone to travel further between universes, not limited to just a single one.” Brandy looked down at her Banana Nut Fudge as she added, “My invention is also the reason for the time shift you and your family and friends experienced recently also.”

Sean blinked twice on this. “So you’re the reason I’m seeing my mother how she was thirty-three years ago. How?”

“The frequency between our machines came in full contact with one another, causing a temporal shift between dimensions. It’s why Bella and her sister…”

“She has a sister?”

Brandy smiled. “Crazy, huh? She’s right outside, keeping an eye on a portable version of my invention.”

Sean looked out the window and noticed a vehicle parked in front of his Explorer at the curb. It was a large black van that seemed big enough to hold seven people, depending on the space inside that could have been reserved for seating. Of course, considering what Brandy had told him that very moment, the space was reserved for something larger in nature. He could only imagine what was in there.

“I promise that I’ll help set things straight for you and your family, Sean…and in turn, set things right for me and mine also.” The last part she said with a hint of guilt in her voice, which interested Sean a little. Of course, instead of focusing on her personal matters, he decided to lend more of a focus on what it was that she kept in that van. Seeing how captivated he was, Brandy got up from the table, leaving her unfinished dessert, and offered to him, “C’mon…let’s go. We have a lot of work to do, like finding your grandmother.”

After some hesitation, Sean removed himself from the table and allowed Brandy to lead him out of the parlor. As he walked out, he looked back to Bella, who continued her observation of the various ice cream flavors that Baskin-Robbins had to offer. She was clearly going to be okay, especially with confirmation of having someone else with her in Orlando. He still found it unbelievable that she was from another dimension, even from her odd biological “trait.”

Sean and Brandy approached the black van, sliding open the door to the rear passenger section to reveal Brandy’s equivalent to Bunsen Honeydew’s “Magic Gateway” invention. In design, it looked close to a futuristic pipe organ. There were a lot of multi-colored knobs, buttons, and lights built on it and even two LED displays that indicated what their labels read, “Time Zone” and “Realm Zone.” The blue display (“Time Zone”) currently showed the year 2010 upon it, while the “Realm Zone” was blank. Right below these displays was a keyboard – not the type a regular pipe organ would have but rather one from a computer. It was chrome in its design, adding onto the futuristic look of the device.

Whistling over the impressive machine, Sean uttered, “Bunsen could only wish to have something like this. What do you call it?”

Brandy looked a little sheepish as she responded. “Er…I don’t really name my inventions. Doesn’t seem too…appropriate.”

“Well, you’ve got to identify it somehow. How else can you…?”

FLUMP!

Before Sean even knew it, he found himself clung into by a beautiful blonde wearing a black, unzipped hoodie with a white tank top shown underneath, blue jeans shorts, and black high-heeled boots. She had her arms wrapped around him, giving a hug so tight that he nearly choked. Once she let go, she gazed upon his face with her bright blue eyes, showing off an equally bright smile.

“We’ve found you! Oh, it’s so good to see you, little brother!”

Sean looked to Brandy and pointed to the ecstatic young woman as he inquired, “Bella’s sister, I presume?”

“Sean, meet Michelle.”

Michelle, looking a little confused, gawked back and forth between Sean and Brandy. “Y-You mean…this isn’t him?”

“Sorry, sweetie.” Brandy told the young blonde. “We’re still searching for him. Don’t worry – we’ll find him.”

As Michelle stared down at the ground in great sadness, Sean could see her heart glowing light purple, much in the same way Bella’s did after the same disappointing realization. Knowing this, he quickly told her, “I-If it’ll help, you can just pretend I’m your brother.” He knew it sounded like a bizarre suggestion, but made up for it by adding, “Since, apparently, I seem like a definite ringer to him, you’re welcome to do so.”

Michelle’s lovely smile returned. “Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Brandy was already inside the van, prepping the machine up. “Alright. I’ve got her all set.” Sean joined her inside and crouched down with her beside the large device, just as she handed him a metal headband. “Here, put this on. This is how the machine will be able to keep up with you in the other world.”

Sean cautiously put the headband on; the moment he did, he instantly felt its chilled texture, which made him want to take it off again. Watching on, Michelle briefly hopped up and down like a giddy little girl and asked Brandy, “Oh! Can I go with him, Brandy? The last visit was really fun!”

Brandy sighed and answered, “Sure, Michelle. Just try to stay with him while you’re in. I need you two together at the same spot if I’m to bring you back.” She handed another metal headband over to Michelle, who removed her hood to place it over her head with much glee.

Things were moving so quickly to Sean that he just had to ask some very curious questions. “I don’t get it. Are you sending us to one of the ‘Disney Worlds’?”

“Just to the one you were in the moment that the temporal shift occurred.” Brandy confirmed, while entering some information into the machine’s keyboard that brought up the year 1991 on the “Realm Zone” display.

“No, no! I need to go to the world for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Sean informed her. “That’s where Joanie…I mean my mother said where my grandmother is.”

And just as easily as she entered the previous information, Brandy entered some that replaced the year 1991 with 1937. “I hope you’re certain about this.”

“If he’s not, at least we get to meet some cute little miners.” Michelle uttered, which triggered some awkward glances from Brandy and Sean. “What?”

Ignoring her comment, Brandy refocused her attention on her machine. “Okay…prepare for re-animation!”

“Wait! Re-what?”

Before Sean could have gotten a full explanation on the unusual term she used, Brandy pressed a button labeled “Execute” on the keyboard and started a bizarre chain of events. The headbands that he and Michelle wore glowed in a bright golden hue, tickling their scalps so much that even Michelle could not stifle a chuckle. If felt so sensational to Sean that he was on the verge of going into a hypnotic state. It was not long before he noticed their bodies starting to vanish beneath twinkling sparks of green and red energy, just as if they were Christmas trees. Within seconds, Sean and Michelle had vanished and Brandy was all to herself in the van, monitoring her machine.

END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Seventeen: Realm Zone – 1967 (Post Re-Animation)​

Everything appeared hazy to Sean after the “re-animation” that he and Michelle went through, courtesy of Brandy’s invention. The process of moving between dimensions was no different from how it was done from Bunsen Honeydew’s version of the same machine. However, there were some side effects, such as disorientation – one thing he had not experienced from Bunsen’s machine. It took some time before things eventually started to come into focus and, before he saw it clearly, he realized that he was surrounded by lush trees. Unfortunately, these were not regular forest trees…they were jungle trees.

“Are you alright, lil’ brother?”

Michelle walked right up to him as he was lying on the ground, his head still slightly spinning. “Yeah…I’m fine.” She tried to help him back to his feet, but he protested, feeling it was not such a good idea in his current state. Instead, he just sat up and took slow, concentrated breaths.

“Are you two all right there?”

Sean heard Brandy’s voice address them, yet he did not see her anywhere near them. The weirdest thing was how clear it sounded, as if she were actually standing right beside them. “Where are you?” He addressed the unseen Brandy.

“I’m still back in the other dimension. The headbands that teleported you two have built-in communicators, so I can contact you from the other side. Clever, eh?”

“Well, that makes one thing!” Sean angrily exclaimed. “You sent us to the wrong place!”

“What? That’s impossible – I double-checked my input status and the ‘Realm Zone’ reads 1937.”

“Well, check again, because from what I’m seeing, this is not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It looks more like…The Jungle Book!”

“Oh, no. The frequency on the machine must still be off. Don’t worry – I’ll have it fix in no time. You two just hang loose.”

Sean heard a click sound before everything went quiet again, at least until Michelle spoke up. “The Jungle Book? Isn’t there a tiger in this one?”

Fear suddenly crept up on Sean upon the reminder Michelle had given him. “Um…yes…Shere Khan…also known as the ‘resident villain’ of this story.”

“Oh.” Michelle uttered, sounding worried herself. “What should we do?”

“Stick together. The last thing we need is for one of us to…”

“Hello!”

Sean and Michelle jumped in total surprise as an Indian python named Kaa dropped down from above and dangled his head directly in front of them. The moment he appeared Sean knew they were in trouble, being aware of the villainous nature of this particular character.

“Stay back!”

“S-s-stay back?” Kaa repeated his command with his slithering tongue. “Oh, no, no, no. I as-s-s-sure you that I’m just a s-s-simple, harmless snake.”

Sean expressed doubt upon his face. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’m certain my reputation as a species fails me, but you must understand that I’m s-s-simply just a pas-s-sing observer.” Kaa stated. “You see, I just recently came across this little man-cub – the first one I’ve ever seen up close – and now I see two beings just like him…or at least somewhat like him.” As the snake made his comments, he circled around Sean and Michelle, almost seeming to be observing them. “Peculiarly dres-s-sed ones, too…definitely unlike the man-cub.”

Sean motioned for Michelle to start moving away from Kaa, fearing the worse was about to happen. He also refrained from making eye contact with him during the entire interaction. “Well, you are very observant. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to…” He pulled Michelle’s arm as a way of urging her to move with him, but she suddenly went rigid under his grasp.

Looking back, he was shocked to discover that Michelle had fallen under Kaa’s hypnotic gaze. Her wonderful blue eyes became a swirl of various colors in the same way that Kaa’s did, revealing the connection of the trance. She hardly even noticed how he opened his mouth completely wide over her head, gearing up to devour her whole. It was clear that Michelle would be the greatest “meal” he ever had from the crazed look of hungry on his face.

With a quick and heavy jolt, Sean was able to move Michelle out of Kaa’s path in time to avoid his head, as it lunged downward and smacked into the ground. The rest of his body, coiled in the tree branches above, fell and piled over his stunned noggin. Underneath the pile, Kaa muttered, “Where do I go so wrong with my consumption of man?”

Sean ran from Kaa, leading Michelle by the hand in their escape. Unfortunately, Michelle was still under a hypnotic state and practically dragging her feet across the ground, slowing down their getaway. Making a quick decision, Sean lifted her off her feet and carried her on the rest of the way. He was not certain where he was going, but he hoped Brandy would get her machine fixed before any other characters crossed their paths.

After a short time, Sean heard what could have only been a river nearby – the perfect spot to take a breather, as well as bring Michelle back to her senses. Carrying her over to the edge, he laid her near the beautiful clear, flowing water and cupped his hands to collect enough water to gently splash Michelle’s face with. Once he brought it over her, he let a few drops rapidly hit her forehead, cheeks, and lips while being careful not to let any fall past her nostrils. A few more drops of water and Michelle started to snap out of her trance, her eyes blinking twice before returning to their usual color.

Tossing aside the remaining water in his hands, Sean helped Michelle sit up to clear her head. “Are you okay?” He asked her.

Michelle carefully nodded. “I think so. What happened?”

“You were ten seconds away from being snake food – that’s what happened.”

Michelle’s memory started to kick in and recalled the last thing she had seen being Kaa before she blacked out. Gratefully she reached over towards Sean and gave him a big hug. “Oh, thank you for saving my life, lil’ brother!”

He still felt somewhat restrained to return her embrace. It has only been under an hour since they first met – at least from his perspective. To her, they have known each other since childhood. Of course, that did not exactly mean he would have no respect for her well being. Saving her from Kaa was important to him because she was still a human being…a very rare type of human being, but a human being nonetheless.

In response to her gratitude, he smiled and said, “You’re wel…”

“Oh, look!”

She quickly let go of him and got on her feet, apparently recovering from the hypnotism much sooner than expected. He noticed how she was staring out to the river and followed her gaze. Something large, furry, and gray was floating across the surface with a small child lying over its stomach. It was not long before Sean realized it was Baloo and Mowgli, looking very relaxed while enjoying “The Bare Necessities” of life. Michelle smiled at the sight, which seemed more welcoming than what they were first greeted with upon entering the realm.

“Isn’t that just the sweetest little thing?” Michelle said.

Sean nodded and grinned for a moment. The Jungle Book certainly was one of his favorite Disney films – the music, the story, and the overall theme of the movie were what made it so engaging. And from how Michelle appeared to be reacting from it all, he could tell it was her favorite as well. Ever since this madcap journey through the “Disneyverse” began for Sean, the sight of Baloo and Mowgli relaxing over the river put him into a state of repose himself.

Since everything appeared to be steady for the moment, Sean refocused his attention on the giddy Michelle, becoming curious to know more about her story. After a moment in thought, he asked, “What is it like in your world, Michelle?”

Her attention was so focused on Baloo and Mowgli that she almost didn’t hear his question. “I’m sorry?”

“Brandy told me that your world is somewhat different from the one I’m from. How so? Other than from the glowing hearts, of course.”

Michelle opened her mouth to say something; but before she could have, a pair of hands suddenly reached down from above and snatched her headband completely off her head. Looking up, both she and Sean discovered that a monkey was the culprit. However, it was just any monkey – it was one of King Louie’s “followers.” He took it the headband and climbed up the nearest tree with it, tossing it up the air repeatedly and catching it with either his hands or feet. The whole time he played with it, Michelle politely asked for it…to no avail whatsoever.

“Sean! It’s Brandy! I’ve got everything all set! Prepare for reanimation!”

The sudden update alarmed him, seeing that it came just immediately after he and Michelle ran into yet another problem. Without the headband over her head, there was no way for Michelle to be sent out of the Disney World – that much he remembered from Brandy’s brief tutorial. She also could not hear Brandy’s alert, being too preoccupied with recovering the headband from the monkey. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and he had to warn Michelle as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the reanimation sequence had commenced.

Sean still made an attempt to yell out to Michelle, but his voice was drawing a blank. Looking at his hands, he noticed how his body was vanishing from existence within that world. Michelle, her focus remaining on the monkey with her headband, had her back facing him. He ran to her to try and get her to see what was happening; unfortunately, by the time he reached her, he was gone.

After some time, Michelle gave up asking the monkey to return her headband, so she resorted to getting some assistance. “This little fella is persistent. Sean, could you maybe distr…?” When she turned to where he was standing, no one was there – much to her immediate surprise. Ceasing her attention on the monkey and headband, she wandered through the area and searched for her missing “brother,” calling out his name every few seconds.

Unbeknownst to her, her repeated shouting garnered the interest of a certain tiger whose gaze followed her intently.

END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Eighteen: Time Zone – 2010​

Joie and Gina’s Dodge Charger parked right across the street from The Muppet Theater; the Walt Disney World transit bus was leaving at the time of their arrival with Joanie and the others no longer seen riding it. That could have only meant that the group was inside the theater. With the location discovered, Joie and Gina got out of the Charger and crossed the street to make their way to the theater, both appearing very anxious to discover whom their brother’s “friends” were. In the meantime, Gina seemed to have noticed something rather peculiar.

“Hey, have you noticed that Sean hasn’t shown up here yet?”

Joie’s focus was heavily on the theater entrance; she was too distracted to even notice what her sister pointed out. “He probably made his escape when he had the chance. We’ll find him later. Right now, we need to show these people what happens when you mess with family!”

The two dark-haired young women slowly and cautiously entered the building, both taking a defensive stance on their way inside. So far, they were met with no resistance, which was to be expected since none of their “adversaries” knew of their presence. They passed through the foyer, which heavily resembled the inside of a movie theater and went into the empty auditorium. The outside of the theater certainly was not any sort of ruse to mislead them – the building actually was a theater.

However, Joie and Gina were not there for the scenery and continued on with their mission, all the way into the backstage area. Once there, they started to hear voices close nearby. They hid themselves immediately behind a rail of clothes, which they could peek through without being noticed. Just that moment Pepe, Rizzo, Gonzo, and Fozzie appeared in the room with Buzz and Meagan, all guarding the dazed Beast upstairs to the dressing rooms.

“What da heck are we gonna hold dis guy with? I mean he’s gotta wake up sometime, right?” Rizzo asked.

“I guess the best we can do is just put him in the dressing room and lock the door, so he won’t be able to get out.” Fozzie said. “Bunsen did say it wouldn’t be too long before he got the machine running again and this guy will be out of our hair in no time. Get it? Out of our hair…in no time? Huh? Wocka, wocka!”

“This is no time for levity, my hat-wearing bear friend.” Buzz stated. “We need to focus on keeping this creature at bay until the machine is fixed. I’ll keep watch of him inside the room.”

Meagan was taken by surprise of Buzz’s offer. “Are you sure about that, dude? Look at the size of him. He’s a heck of a lot bigger than he is in the movie!”

“Have no fear, youthful humanoid.” Buzz remarked. “I have faced deadlier creatures across the galaxy.”

“No offense to ya, Buzz, but I’ve watched your cartoon show and I wouldn’t call half of those creatures ‘deadly’.”

The space ranger appeared a little perplexed. “Cartoon…show?”

Meagan stopped at the base of the staircase leading up to the landing, hopping a little as she told her friends, “You guys take care of things without me. I have seriously got to use the bathroom.”

“Take your time! Wocka, wocka!” Fozzie jested.

“Yeah, thanks, Fozzie. That one almost made me pee my pants.” Meagan replied in total sarcasm.

As the others walked into the middle dressing room with Beast, Meagan started heading out of the room to search for the nearest restroom. When she passed by the clothing rail, she was suddenly stopped dead in her tracks at the moment Joie stepped out and instantly placed her in a headlock. Meagan could barely utter a syllable – more or less breathe – from the powerful hold Joie had on her. She desperately struggled while Joie brought her towards the exit, while Gina kept watch for her friends to avoid detection.

After the three women disappeared from the backstage area, Pepe, Rizzo, Fozzie, and Gonzo walked out of the middle dressing room, leaving Buzz behind with Beast. Fozzie made sure to close and lock the door from the outside, still unsure about leaving Buzz alone with the ferocious monster. Being that he was on orders from the space ranger, he carried them out without complaint or regret. The quartet then headed back downstairs to the basement.

Beaker was putting the final touches on the Magic Gateway chamber door, which he was welding back into place while Bunsen was resetting the data onto the machine. Kimberly, Tracy, Clifford, Bean, and Bobo looked on with great interest at the very device that brought two Disney characters to life in a whole new way, as well as brought old friends and family from the past to the present. Joanie, Kermit, Ciciley, Scooter, and Robin assisted Bunsen and Beaker as much as they could on getting the Gateway back together again. Their progress was met with much succession, which was evident from the smile on Bunsen Honeydew’s lime green face.

“Just ten more minutes and we shall be back to getting things in order again.” Bunsen stated.

Joanie soon noticed Rizzo, Pepe, Gonzo, and Fozzie entering the basement and asked, “Has Sean gotten back yet?”

“We didn’t see him come in.” Gonzo answered.

A distraught look crept across Joanie’s face. “I don’t get it. He was right behind us when we left Disney World.”

“It’s my fault, Joanie.” Robin uttered. “I should’ve double checked to be sure. The vehicles in this time look so identical…I just thought I was sure.”

Ciciley gently stroked Robin’s back in comfort. “It’s no one’s fault, sweetie. I’m Sean is just…he’s only…Lord, what is he doing?”

“I don’t know, but he’d better get here by the time we’re doing getting the machine fixed.” Joanie said with a hint of frustration in her voice.

As soon after she made her statement, an unusual buzzing noise suddenly emitted from the machine, forcing all of them to cover their ears. It was remarkably loud and quite irritating, but it did not last for very long. Once it had passed, they each uncovered their ears and looked around in confusion. “What de heck was dat, okay?” Pepe inquired.

Before Bunsen could have given some type of answer, everything in the basement began to vibrate under them. It was as if the machine was activating on its own without the authority of Bunsen. His finger was nowhere near the “Execute” button on the keyboard, which left him to wonder what was going on more than the others were. To make matters worse, the buzzing sound that irritated them before had returned, causing everyone to lose concentration immediately.

“WHAT IS IT NOW?” Joanie yelled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

SLAM!

Meagan’s body smacked hard against the brick wall of the building adjacent to the theater. She had little time to recover from the blow shortly before Joie grabbed her by the neck and lifted her three feet off the ground, her body hugging the very wall she was pinned against. Struggling, she gasped an inquiry to her attacker, “What…do you…want?”

“What I want is for you to tell me what you and your friends did to our brother!” Joie furiously exclaimed. “And you’re gonna tell me or else I’m gonna ring your scrawny little neck!”

Gina, who stood by and observed the punishment, had seen enough. “Joie! Put her down! She can’t tell us where he is, if you’re robbing her of air.”

After some hesitation, Joie let Meagan go, letting her body slump to the ground as she fought to get some air back into her lungs. This woman was quite the Amazon compared to her, and she dared not to let her wit get her out of this one. Lifting up one hand in protest, she weakly told Joie and Gina, “Listen, I’ll give you whatever you want – just please don’t kill me!”

“We don’t want to kill anybody, kiddo.” Gina assured.

“But we’ll give a beat-down if he have to.” Joie contradicted. “When you mess with our family, ya get hurt, sweetheart!”

Confusion quickly replaced fear on Meagan. “Family? What family are you talkin’ about?”

The frustrated Joie suddenly reached out and grabbed Meagan by the collar, bringing her in closer to her face. “Let me lay it out plain and simple to you, little girl – we want our brother, Sean!”

At that moment, complete surprise overtook Meagan on Joie’s words. “You’ve got to be kiddin’ me.”

She soon realized that was the wrong answer when she watched in shock as Joie’s bright blue eyes switch to a deadly red color and the complexion of her face fade from peach to a ghostly white shade. Her lips – laced with red lipstick – morphed into black while her clear, white teeth changed to dark and yellow. In less than a second, the intimidating yet gorgeous young woman transformed into an intimidating and viciously grotesque monster.

“Does it look like I’m kidding?” Her voice was deep and dark, a perfect match with her “new” face.

Meagan could barely speak after witnessing the bizarre transformation. “Uh…nope?”

VRUUMMM!

Attention quickly shifted to the theater upon hearing the strange noise. Joie’s face returned to its normal form during the distraction, her blue eyes noticing weird activity happening over the building. It quaked to the point that clouds of plaster shot out and surrounded the entire area. Joie, Gina, and Meagan coughed; but they soon found themselves shielded their eyes, as the entire theater started to glow. The strange noise continued to reverberate through the air, as the glow over the building grew brighter and brighter.

After nearly a minute, the activity ceased and all became calm and quiet. The theater was still intact, no longer glowing. A perplexed Gina then asked no one in particular, “What just happened?”

Joie immediately turned to Meagan and repeated the question to her in a more aggressive tone. “What happened?”

“The heck if I know! After meeting you two, I have no clue what is going on anymore!” Meagan responded.

“Well, you’re goin’ in with us to find out.” Joie demanded before forcing Meagan back on her feet and into the theater.

The three women went inside and were quickly greeted by Ciciley, who ran out of the basement and appeared very scared and confused. Meagan went to her and asked, “Cici! Sis, are you okay?”

Ciciley gawked at Meagan and shook her head in bewilderment. “Cici? Who is Cici?” Her voice did not sound as it normally did. Instead, it was replaced by the voice of another. “My name is Jasmine…princess and daughter to the sultan of Agrabah.”

Upon hearing this, Joie raised an eyebrow and muttered, “Say what?”

Out of nowhere, insane laughter emerged from within the basement and into the backstage area, as Kimberly giddily appeared with a large green top hat upon her head. A label that read “10/6” was sticking out from it, making it an exact duplicate of the one worn by The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. “Oh, my! What on earth happened here?” Not even her voice was the same, as she spoke with the voice of the very character she “represented.” “I bet it was that blasted March Hare! He redressed me in my sleep again, didn’t he?”

Meagan felt as if her head was about to implode from the weirdness taking place in front of her. Panicked, she cried out, “BUNSEN!” Then she ran to the basement, hoping to find the Muppet scientist and the others there. However, once she took a few steps down the staircase, she started to feel extremely odd.

Bunsen, seeing her enter the room, attempted to make an important warning. “No, Meagan! Don’t come down here! It’s…”

“It’s what? Come on, little man! Speak up! I haven’t got all day! Don’t waste my time! Do you know who I am? I’m Cruella De Vil!”

The change occurred before Bunsen could have finished his warning. No longer was Meagan Thomas herself. She had completely taken the persona of the villainess from 101 Dalmatians.

“Well, there she goes.” Clifford indicated.

“Yes, it seems, I’m afraid.” Bunsen stated. “The metamorphosis seems to occur quickly…and in humans only.”

Inside the basement, Kermit, Fozzie, Clifford, Bean, and Beaker were tending to Tracy, who was lying unconscious on the floor. Robin, Gonzo, Pepe, Bobo, Scooter, and Rizzo searched around the room for Joanie, who had vanished without a trance following the bizarre occurrence. Robin searched more feverishly than Gonzo, Rizzo, Bobo, Scooter, and Pepe did, feeling very worried over Joanie’s disappearance.

“Wh-Where is she? She was here a second ago! We have to find her! She’s gotta be here somewhere…anywhere!”

Robin was practically hopping all throughout the room in frantic motion. It took only quick action from Scooter to keep him still. “Robin, try to calm down. I’m sure she’s fine. We’ll find her.”

“But now she and her mother are missing! How are we going to…?”

The tiny frog stopped just as he and the others heard a loud creaking noise from the top of the staircase. Bunsen directly turned to the visitor and warned, “Please don’t come in! The machine is radiating high levels of energy that appears to be affecting humans! One more step and you’re liable to take on the persona of…well…a Disney character!”

Unfortunately, the creaking continued as Joie and Gina entered the area. Of course, after standing in the room for longer than a few seconds, neither of the two women experienced any unusual effects. Shrugging her shoulders, Joie said, “Seems okay in here to me.”

The Muppets were taken by surprise of the appearance of the two women, who were total strangers to them. Kermit inquired to them, “Who are you?”

“We’re just two girls looking for our brother.” Gina replied. “Is that so much to ask?”

“That and some better clothing, dah-ling.” Meagan/Cruella muttered.

Glaring her way, Joie threateningly raised a fist and said, “Say one more word and I’ll make you wish you were never born!”

“Do it and I promise you’ll be answering to my lawyers – all fifteen of them!” With that said, she went upstairs to the backstage area, joining the other two “characters” who were not exactly feeling like themselves.

Bobo, noticing how immune Joie and Gina were to the radiation, questioned to Bunsen, “Hey, uh, if this energy is supposed to affect humans, then how come these two ladies aren’t acting like Disney characters?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Scooter said. “They’re not human.”

The Muppets stared awkwardly at the two women, who – in turn – stared back to them in the same manner.

Joie smirked. “You guys are the ones to talk.”

END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

The next couple of chapters are sort of "Muppet-free" due to a shift in focus on the human and Disney characters. I promise our Muppet friends will be back afterward.

Chapter Nineteen: Time Zone – 2010​

“Sean, come in! Michelle, can you hear me? Someone respond…please!”

There was no response from the speakers built into the machine. Anxiety grew over Brandy, who flipped switches and knobs repeatedly until a voice came through. She then stopped for a brief moment and stared at her right hand, which felt slightly odd. Rubbing it gently with her other hand, she closed her eyes and thought hard to herself. Unfortunately, her moment of thinking did not last very long before she was interrupted by an approaching voice.

“Brandy! Guess how many different flavors they have here!” Bella exclaimed, gesturing to Baskin-Robbins.

“Bella! Please! I’m trying to concentrate here!”

Bella frowned – her heart glowing light purple. “I’m sorry, Brandy.”

Brandy looked at the frown she accidentally brought upon her face with her outburst and sighed in despair. “It’s not your fault, sweetie. There’s just a lot going on right now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve lost contact with both Sean and Michelle, and I have no idea where either of them is.”

Bella did not seem too distraught from this news; rather she kept her optimism up much higher than Brandy’s could have been. “Well, let’s just go in after them.”

The surprise on Brandy’s face told just how she thought of that idea. “Are you kidding? You have no idea how easy it is to get lost in a universe as big as that one, especially with the machine’s frequency out of whack at the moment.”

“But didn’t you say that you have something to prevent that from happening?”

“You mean this?”

Brandy moved to the front of the van and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a large metal wristband that glowed in a rainbow of holographic colors, dependant upon the angle it was held. She placed it right upon her wrist and information identical to what was shown on her machine, such as the Time and Realm Zones, appeared in holographic form on the wristband. Until Bella made reference to it that very moment, she had completely forgotten about it. And the reluctant expression she gave upon looking over it told just how she felt about wearing it.

“The portable backup version of my machine. I never gave it a proper field test. You really think it’ll work?”

Bella smiled. “You can’t live your life without a bit of faith, Brandy.” She picked up one available headband lying nearby and placed it on her head. “Now…where to?”

Brandy shook her head and smiled herself. “I must be outta my mind…but here we go anyway.” With that said, she began dialing some information on the wristband, bringing up some information that projected a few inches above the futuristic device. Her blue eyes widen on what she read off the display. “According to the trackers in the headbands, Michelle’s still in Realm Zone 1967 while Sean’s in…1989?” She stopped and briefly pondered. “That could only mean he’s in the world for The Little Mermaid!”

Bella’s smile grew. “Really? Oh, I love that one!”

“Bella, I’ll need you to go and find your sister in the other world. Please keep your headband on at all times. We’ll stay connected with each other, so that we won’t get lost while we’re in.” She desolately sighed and added, “Still not too sure about this, but if they’re in two different worlds, we’ll need two able bodies to be there to find them quickly.”

“You can count on me, Brandy. Let’s go.”

Brandy nodded in affirmation and began dialing some numbers onto the wristband. Not for very long did both Brandy’s wristband and Bella’s headband glowed, signaling for the re-animation process. Within seconds, the two women vanished entirely from the van. As their forms dispersed, a homeless man crossed the van and witnessed the process as it occurred. He blinked twice and shook his head, continuing on with his business and pretending as if nothing ever happened.

Realm Zone – 1989​

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!

It took Brandy several seconds to maintain a focus on her surroundings, until she finally saw the fireworks exploding high above her in the night sky. If she knew the feeling after re-animation would leave her and other subjects that disorientating, she would fix the machine to avoid the issue right away. All that mattered, of course, was making it to the other side and finding Sean. Once she was completely recovered from the disorientation, she attempted to get to her feet, having arrived lying down for reasons unbeknownst to her. However, a collection of hands suddenly clamped down on her arms and legs, letting her up in a more forcible way.

Brandy was surrounded by a large group of sailors who appeared to have been engaged in celebration until she made her presence known. It was the celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, who was there himself with his pet sheepdog, Max, and confidant, Grimsby. It was Eric who spoke on Brandy’s behalf as the sailors kept restraint upon her. “Whoa, whoa! Guys, take it easy! You act like you’ve never seen a woman onboard this ship before.”

“We’ve seen women…just not stowaways!” One sailor angrily indicated.

“I-I’m no stowaway, I promise!” Brandy remarked. “In fact, I can be of some help to you all.”

All of the men, with the notable exception of Eric, bellowed with laughter from Brandy’s claim.

Calming down the sailors by shushing them, Eric asked, “Help us with what? Celebrating a birthday party?” He smiled and then turned to Grimsby. “Grim, did you set this all up, ya old madman?”

Grimsby maintained a gentlemanly posture while addressing the situation. “I assure you, Eric. I had no part in this whatsoever. This young woman is a stowaway, just as these sailors have claimed.”

“I say we throw her overboard and let the sharks deal with her!” A sailor boldly suggested.

“No one is throwing anyone overboard.” Eric demanded.

One of the sailors keeping grasp over Brandy’s arm lifted it up to show the special wristband that she wore. “Look at the strange jewelry she wears! No doubt stolen, I’d say!” The sailor’s fingers connected with the surface of the wristband and triggered a holographic readout that shot out of the device and projected remarkably large and wide over the area.

The sailors instantly let go of Brandy at the moment the occurrence took place. Her hands free, Brandy quickly shut off the projection, before some of the older sailors on the ship suffered a massive heart attack. Once it was off, she sheepishly looked to the men and smiled. “Sorry about that.”

“She be a witch!” A sailor claimed in fear.

“Throw her overboard!” Another sailor viciously yelled.

The sailors began to advance upon Brandy, backing her into a corner. Eric tried the best he could to bring order to the situation, but no one – including Grimsby – was willing to hear him out. Even Max expressed some distain in Brandy’s presence, growling at her amidst the advancing sailors. Just when it seemed as if an unfortunate circumstance was about to break out…

KURR-KRACK!

The lightning and thunder appeared suddenly, accompanied by a darkening sky. All focus on Brandy was soon directed to the storm, which rocked the ship violently. Eric and the sailors went to work on keeping the ship together. In the meantime, Brandy fiddled with the wristband, trying to fix the reconfiguration – having been disrupted by the sailor’s touch – and escape while she still had the chance. Unfortunately, it proved to be quite a challenge between the rocking of the ship and the pouring rain.

KURR-BOOM!

Directly above her, one of the sails was struck by the lightning and set on fire, putting Brandy and the crew in more danger than before. The scene was playing out in front of her just the way it did in the movie, only she was observing it up close and personal. And if memory served her well, the worst was coming…in the form of a very large rock, which was directly in the path of the ship. Brandy tried to warn the crew of it, but she was too late…

BANG!

The impact was intense. Everyone, including Brandy, was tossed overboard. Before she even hit the waters, Brandy blacked out from the whiplash she received. The sound of the immense explosion that soon followed was nothing more than a muffled pop to her, as she floated lifelessly across the sea with her face above the surface to support for air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

“Brandy…Are you okay? Brandy, wake up!”

Feeling more disorientated than she did after re-animation, Brandy slowly opened her eyes to a bright sun and a tall figure standing in front of it, providing enough shade for her weary eyes. Once they were in total focus, she saw it was Sean who was standing beside her on the shore she had washed upon. She sat up carefully with some help from Sean and took deep breaths before saying to him, “Are…Are you okay?”

Sean chuckled at her question. “I should be asking you the same question. You look like you just got your butt kicked by Ursula.”

“So you do know where you are.” Brandy noted. “Well, now that I’ve found you, we can get to…” She touched her right wrist – the one she wore the wristband on…or at least she was supposed to be. When she touched that wrist, all she felt was her own exposed flesh. Panicked, she immediately got to her feet and patted herself hastily. “Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Sean asked in confusion.

“When you found me, did you see a metal wristband on my wrist?”

“No. I found you just the way you are now.”

Brandy’s hands went to her long black hair, almost ready to tear it out in intense alarm. Her blue eyes were widened with terror, signifying an oncoming mental breakdown. “I knew this would happen! I told Bella it was a bad idea from the start! Now we’re stuck here for good!”

The alarm finally reached Sean at that point. “Whoa! Stuck here? What’re you…?” He stopped in mid-sentence as soon as he heard a harmonious voice singing a familiar song nearby…

What would I give to live where you are?
What would I pay to stay here beside you?
What would I do to see you smiling at me?​

Sean recognized the verses from the song “Part of Your World” as sung by Ariel herself. However, this voice was not the little mermaid’s; and yet it was a familiar voice nonetheless. With Brandy following close behind, Sean moved across the beach, approaching a large pile of rocks. Past those rocks was an eerily memorable scene: a redheaded mermaid with a gorgeous, sparkling green tail sitting beside the unconscious Prince Eric while a seagull, a yellow-blue fish, and a stressed-out red crab looked on.

Gazing closely at the scene, Sean and Brandy were shocked once they saw the face of the mermaid. No doubt she was a redhead and a mermaid; but she was not Ariel. After careful examination, Sean and Brandy discovered the face belonging to Joanie Navarro. She sang with her own voice, which was on par with Ariel’s, and appearing to be fully in character while singing to the unconscious Eric…

Where would we walk?
Where would we run?
If we could stay all day in the sun?
Just you and me
And I could be
Part of your world​

END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN​

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Twenty: Realm Zone – 1967​

Bella fought through foliage in the middle sweltering jungle atmosphere to find Michelle. She was practically sweating just a little through her shirt with a heavy yellow glow shining through it. For minutes she had stepped through the jungle, almost stepping in mud at one point. It was almost beginning to seem as if she would never find Michelle, until…

Music…High tempo music.

It sounded so good to Bella that she turned her head in the direction it sounded from, spotting a ruined temple that appeared Hindu in design. The temple was a short distance away from where she currently was, so she went right after it with great curiosity. Thoughts of finding Michelle were still fresh on her mind, but she could not avoid the music. She even bobbed her head back and forth to its rhythm; she did this the entire way there.

When she arrived at the temple, she climbed over a crumbled wall that led her directly through an entranceway into the temple. The moment she walked in, she was met with a welcoming yet surprising sight: her sister, Michelle, dancing with a large collection of monkeys. Draped over her head was a banana peel, which she did not seem to care was on there the entire time she was dancing and singing with the monkeys. She danced in step with the monkey’s orangutan leader, King Louie, singing a song that was not of the cartoon that realm was based upon, but more of a real world one.

“My jungle love, yeah!” Michelle sang.

The monkeys followed with the chant, “Oh-e-oh-e-oh!”

“I think I wanna know ya!”

“Know ya!”

A few niftier dance steps between Michelle and Louie and then the song came to a close; the monkeys wildly applauded from different sections of the ruined temple. Bella even applauded herself after witnessing the excellent display of entertainment. She soon found herself forced to stop applauding, on the other hand, as she was suddenly grabbed by the back of her jeans and hauled up into the air. The monkeys that surrounded the temple were tossing her one-by-one to King Louie and Michelle, until she was dropped a few feet right in front of the two.

At the moment Bella appeared before her and Louie, a large and wide smile emerged on Michelle’s face. She helped her sister to her feet and gave her a huge hug. “My sister! It’s so good to see you again!” Both her heart and Bella’s glowed dark blue, responding to the great happiness between them.

“It’s good to see you, my sister. I just wish I didn’t have such a massive wedgie at the moment.” Bella uttered, gazing behind her to see her purple underwear grotesquely sticking out of the back of her jeans.

King Louie approached Bella, observing her very closely. “Crazy, man! There are two of you now!”

“Your Highness, this is my dear sister.” Michelle introduced.

Louie stood on both of his hands and extended one of his feet out to Bella. “Any ‘sister’ of the woman-bear is a sister of mine!”

As she shook Louie’s foot, Bella whispered to Michelle, “Woman-bear?”

“It’s like ‘man-cub’. Cute, isn’t it?” Michelle answered.

“Now, then…let’s hear about that fire.” Louie told Michelle, immediately getting down to business.

Michelle chuckled and said, “Now, now, Louie…you have to hold up your end of the bargain. First, I give you a swingin’ party; then, you give me the headband; and, after that, I tell you about fire.”

Louie did not seem too pleased on the deal he was reminded about. “Aww, phooey! Alright, then, woman-bear.” He then whistled to one of the monkeys hanging around the temple, playing with the very same headband that Michelle was requesting. When the monkey heard the king whistling to him, he turned his head to him. Louie “scatted” an order to the monkey, signaling him to throw down the object to the king.

The monkey was just about to oblige to King Louie’s command, until…

RAWR!

A monstrous roar bellowed throughout the ruined temple, bringing total silence over the once overjoyed kingdom. All heads turned to the entrance, where the powerful, sophisticated, and deadly tiger known to all in the jungle as Shere Khan stood, menacing as always. His mere presence brought chaos over the temple, as all of the monkeys scattered, swinging and climbing their way out of the ruined temple. Even King Louie, the fun-loving animal he is, grew heavily serious upon the appearance of Shere Khan, losing his cool very quickly.

“Uh, I-I’ll see you woman-bears later! I’ve gotta split!” Louie exclaimed.

While Louie made haste out of the temple, the monkey that carried Michelle’s headband tossed the object aside. Michelle noticed the action and ran to catch the falling headband. Unfortunately, it fell through her grip and rolled across the ground, forcing Michelle to chase after it. As she had done so, she tripped over a rock and fell hard to the ground, her arm outstretched. Thankfully, she was able to get a grip on the headband before it could roll any further from her reach.

Michelle smiled, but it soon faded once she heard deep, sinister purring. Her blue eyes darted upward and met with the fierce glare of Shere Khan. She was so stricken with fear that her grip on the headband began to loosen. As it did, its metal surface angled with the sunlight, creating an intense glare that connected directly with Shere Khan’s sight. The tiger was blinded, his left paw going over his eyes, and Michelle saw an opportunity in getting to her feet and escaping the temple with Bella.

“C’mon!” She cried to her sister upon leaving the area.

The two young women ran as fast as they could across the jungle, leaping over foliage and ducking through branches along the way. As they ran, Michelle quickly placed on her headband. “Now what do we do?” Bella asked her.

Michelle then addressed an unseen member of their party. “Brandy! Can you hear me? If you can, you have to get us out of here no—”

Both of them suddenly skid to a halt as they came across a large cliff with what looked to be a fifty-foot drop. They turned to run back the way they came; unfortunately, Shere Khan appeared, having caught up with them. Instead of attacking them at the moment he made his presence, he just slowly and menacingly advanced towards them. “No where else to run,” he sneered to the two women.

Michelle and Bella stood and watched helplessly as their end approached.

“You know what would be really pleasant right now, my sister?” Michelle inquired to Bella.

“What’s that?” Bella remarked.

“If we were someplace a little less terrifying…like the Hundred Acre Woods.”

Bella nodded with a frail smile. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Shere Khan was only a couple of feet from the two sisters; and, after stopping for a brief moment, he pounced. Michelle and Bella held each other and shut their eyes tight. However, during the entire incident, something quite unexpected – mostly to Shere Khan – occurred. The two women dematerialized from the very spot they stood, disappearing completely before a shocked Shere Khan’s eyes. The once-ferocious tiger quickly found himself soaring over the edge of the cliff, screaming in the process.

Fortunately for Khan, he did not fall completely down the fifty-foot drop. Rather, ten feet down, he landed upon a huge branch that was elongated from the wall of the cliff. The branch was strong enough to hold Khan’s weight, but that did not make up for the fact that he was a good forty feet above a river that he was not sure was shallow or deep. If there was one thing that terrified the mighty Shere Khan more than fire and man’s gun, it was extreme heights. There was no telling how long the tiger would remain on that branch.

Realm Zone – 1989​

“Ariel!” Sebastian exclaimed. “We must return to Atlantica immediately! Your father is probably wonderin’ where you are now, child!”

The stressed-out crustacean was addressing the green-tailed, redheaded mermaid sitting upon a large rock and staring out towards a majestic castle that belonged to Prince Eric. Unbeknownst to Sebastian and the other two characters at the scene – a seagull named Scuttle and a fish named Flounder – the young girl before them only a manifestation of the little mermaid known as Ariel. In actuality, she was Joanie Navarro, who mentality believed she was the character herself.

“Ah, give dah kid a break, Sebastian.” Scuttle said. “She’s in love…with a human…man!”

“That is precisely da reason we should get out of here, you idiot!” Sebastian retorted. “Her father’s gonna kill dis crab when he finds out about all of dis!”

“He won’t find out if we don’t tell him, Sebastian.” Flounder notified.

“You’re right, Flounder. We just gonna forget da whole thing happened. Da Sea-King will never know.” Sebastian calmly told Flounder. “You won’t tell him. I won’t tell him. I will stay in one piece.” And not a moment later, the crab frantically told the mermaid, “Now let’s get back to the waters, before…”

“JOANIE!”

Ariel’s (Joanie’s) eyes moved from Prince Eric’s castle to the beach where two humans (one male, one female), who had their attention solely focused on her, ran their way. Realizing they have been noticed by the humans, Sebastian lost his cool and shouted, “We’ve been spotted!” He then jumped back into the water with Flounder following him, while Scuttle took flight to the skies.

Ariel (Joanie) attempted to retreat herself; however, something compelled her to stay on the large rock and watched as the two humans ran across the shallow water, splashing their way to Ariel and not seeming to care how wet their clothes got. Once the male human reached her, he excitedly said to her, “Joanie! Man! Am I ever glad we found you! Are you alright?”

The mermaid gazed closely at the human, appearing rather confused. She had never talked to a human before, yet she felt unusually comfortable talking to this particular one. “My…My name’s not Joanie. My name is Ariel.”

Both of the humans exchanged a look of bewilderment over her response.

“And…who are you?”

The male human chuckled and answered, “Joanie…it’s me…Sean.” He swallowed very hard upon adding, “I’m your son, remember?”

Ariel’s (Joanie’s) eyes grew wide. “My…son?”

The male human called Sean turned to his female companion, still looking very confused. “Brandy, what’s up with her?”

Brandy shrugged. “If I could guess, I’d say that she’s experiencing some sort of ‘dimensional flux’ – a process in which a subject from one universe merges with one from another.”

“Did we do this?” Sean asked, moving from confusion to caution.

“No, this must be an outside source, possibly a result of Bunsen Honeydew’s machine.” Brandy answered. “It’s rather an impressive phenomenon. Your mother is the first-ever subject to cross-dimensional reanimation. You should be honored.”

Sean glanced to Brandy oddly. “Are you kidding me?”

He suddenly felt his short, black, curly hair being touched and quickly turned his head to see Ariel’s (Joanie’s) hand over it. “You have such beautiful, soft hair,” she told him. “Do you use a dinglehopper?”

Sean looked very uneasy from her “observation.” “O.K., now this is getting weird, Brandy.”

As Brandy watched the exchange, something on Ariel’s (Joanie’s) wrist soon caught her attention. It shined in a rainbow of colors every time Ariel (Joanie) turned her wrist. Brandy was stunned upon the realization that the object was her wristband. Ariel (Joanie) found it and was wearing it. Of course, she obviously could not just take it from her, since she would claim ownership of it, unless…

“That’s a beautiful…uh…bracelet you’re wearing, Joani…I mean, Ariel.” Brandy told her, and when she brought the object to everyone’s attention, Sean was just as surprised to discover it was the wristband.

Ariel (Joanie) smiled to Brandy. “You like it? I found it while saving the life of a handsome human named Eric…and he’s a prince!” The object glared in her bright blue eyes as she gazed upon it. “It’s so beautiful. I’m planning to see him again tonight and return it to him.”

“Awesome.” Brandy uttered. “Can I see it for a moment?”

“Certainly.” Ariel (Joanie) acknowledged without a single bit of hesitation, much to Brandy’s surprise, and handed the wristband right over to her, after removing it from her wrist.

Brandy put on the wristband and immediately pressed her right index finger over its cold metal surface. An array of holographic images then shot out from the device, instantly alarming Ariel (Joanie). Seeing how scared she was, Sean promptly told her, “No, it’s okay. Nothing to be scared over. She’s just…er…doing her human thing.”

“How is she doing it?” Ariel (Joanie) questioned.

Sean shook his head. “I don’t rightly know myself, but I promise it won’t hurt you. Don’t be scared.”

“Oh, I’m not scared…just fascinated.” The mermaid replied. “I’ve always wanted to know more about the human world – its treasures, its people, its wonders! So much I want to see; and, now…I’m seeing it all before my very eyes! It’s so magical!”

Sean grinned at her; her attitude while taking on the persona of Ariel was strictly the opposite of her normal Joanie Navarro persona. It was somewhat ironic that she even ended up in the predicament that she was currently in, seeing how much she despised being in the world of Disney – only to become one of the characters in one. He almost wished she could stay that way, mostly to avoid the tongue-lashing she would give him for not telling her that she was his mother had she gotten back to normal. Of course, to preserve the timeline, he had to bring her back to her usual self. And when Brandy suddenly made a puzzling request to him, he wondered if she found a way to do that.

“Sean, put your headband on her head.”

He did as she requested and took off his headband, placing upon Ariel’s (Joanie’s). The mermaid gazed upon it as he did so, smiling and saying, “Oh! Is this something you’re giving me? Is it a crown?”

Brandy grinned. “Eh…something like that.”

She dialed in some holographic numbers projected from the wristband and, before Ariel (Joanie) knew it, she felt a tingling sensation over her head. It made her laugh uncontrollably. “Ha, ha! Hey, this tickles! Ha, ha!”

Watching her, Sean turned to Brandy and asked, “What’re you doing?”

“Retracing her brainwaves…they’re totally out of sync right now.”

Ariel (Joanie) continued laughing from the sensation, but she suddenly began to twinge, holding her head and squinting hard. “Ow! OW! Stop it! It hurts!”

Alarmed, Sean cried, “That’s enough, Brandy! Knock it off!”

“The sequence isn’t done yet! I have to keep going!”

“No! I said…KNOCK IT OFF!”

Sean grabbed at her wristband, disrupting the activity that Brandy was engaged in. All of the sudden, Ariel’s (Joanie’s) body faded before their eyes, disappearing completely after merely a few seconds and leaving the headband falling upon the rock she was sitting on. They watched the event occur with total shock; Brandy quickly dialing onto her wristband, while Sean started questioning the whole thing.

“What happened? Where did she go?”

Brandy did not respond.

“Where did she go?”

As soon as some information appeared on the holographic display, Brandy informed him, “Agrabah…she’s in the Aladdin realm.”

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY​

 

[The Count]

Mmm... I loves me that fish girl. But I <3 her sister Arista 2.
You know, I thought that once this chapter got posted we'd be all caught up both here and at fanfic.net... But you went and posted the beginning of Joanie's adventure in Aladdin 1, up to the Cave of Wonders incident... Which means that the entire rest of the movie's still left, with whatever reworkings are affected unto it due to her presence.

Anyway... Thanks, more please!