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, 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.
(Real World Note: The "Castle Suite" of Cinderella's Castle legitimately exists. It was intended to be an apartment for Walt Disney and his family while in Florida. After Walt died in 1966, the suite was left unfinished. On June 7, 2005, Disney announced plans to completely decorate the suite and upholster it as a "royal bedchamber" that could sleep up to six people. It was available as a prize for the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration in 2007 that included an overnight stay in the apartment.)
“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.
(Real World Note: The stained glass window that Joanie busted is one of two that identifies the location of the suite in the center on the north and west sides of the castle, about two-thirds of the way up.)
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 do 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.
(Narrative Note: Another case of foreshadowing with the reference to Fantasmic and Mickey Mouse.)
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.
(Narrative Note: The cost of repairing the broken stained glass window from a historical piece of property is well over Joanie's 1970s salary, especially from the low-budgeted Muppet Theater.)
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.
(Authorial Note: The choice of color in the smoke is meant to match the skin tone of Bunsen Honeydew, the inventor of the Mind Control Spray, and not Kermit the Frog.)
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.
(Authorial Note: It was planned for the characters to fall into the moat along with the chunks of tower debris, but Livingston wanted to keep the characters dry to avoid changes in attire, particularly for Joanie.)
The green haze fogging around the castle rooftop soon
dissipated, allowing Joanie to breathe 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.
(Biographical Note: "Jennifer/Bella" is inspired by and based on Jennifer Brown, whose modeling name "Bella J" was used as her character's after Livingston featured another character named Jennifer in a previous story. Much like most of the cast of friends that gave inspiration to the characters in World of Disney, Jennifer is Florida-based. Her role is much in similarity to that of Joie and Gina and works to give new dimension to the story in more ways than one.)
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.
(Authorial Note: Switching perspectives in character is a storytelling practice Livingston learned from his time in writing his Marvelous Muppets series on Muppet Central. This works best after scene transitions and new characters are introduced. It is the trickiest method of perspective storytelling for Livingston to maintain, specifically when they have not yet met the previously-established characters and speakers can only be identified by physical traits.)
“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.
(UP NEXT: Any more surprises?)
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