Chapter Nine: Realm
Zone – 1991 (After Temporal Displacement)
Everything appeared extremely hazy before Joanie’s eyes
as soon as she opened them. She heard birds chirping, which made her sudden
dilemma seem a bit cartoonish for her taste. It did not take her very long to
realize that the reason for everything being so hazy was the sudden loss of her
glasses. This was confirmed as soon as she touched the area around her eyes and
felt only her eyelashes and skin.
“Are you looking for these?”
She looked up as soon as she heard the deep, powerful
voice of a young man, seeing a tall, dark figure standing near and handing
something over to her. Without hesitation, she reached up and grabbed the
object being given. Delight registered on her face when she realized it was her
glasses, which were found by this kind stranger that she wished to see, along
with everything else. All she remembered before blacking out was being sucked
by a strange vortex that had engulfed her, Buzz, Robin, and Kermit.
Once her glasses were back on her eyes, the world around
her came into focus, and she found herself once again back in a forest. Only
this one looked vastly different from the other she was a part of in the other
Disney World. The trees lacked the luscious green leaves that made them whole,
leaving them with a very unappealing look. Even the grass looked unkempt, being
wet and muddy in a few places and totally pale in most others. And, to top off
the brooding atmosphere that the forest had, the sky looked very gray – almost
as if a rainstorm was on the approach. If this was indeed the same forest
Joanie was in before, it certainly changed drastically in the short time she
was away from it.
(Narrative Note: This chapter takes place entirely in the world of Beauty and the Beast, which was earlier referenced earlier in Chapter Four and foreshadowed the arrival in this chapter.)
Joanie’s gaze finally rested on the stranger standing
near her – a young black male who was not much older than her. Much to her
surprise, he looked almost identical to Tomas in many ways, not just from
heritage. He had a very friendly face, which eased Joanie’s caution over his
presence a little. After what occurred in the previous realm she was in, she
was certainly not going to let her guard down. Whoever this young man was, he
clearly was not going to hurt her – at least not after he so generously
returned her glasses.
“Everything good?” He asked her.
Joanie nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
The young man nodded along with her. “Good. Now you can
help me figure out where I am and how the heck I got here.”
His statement came as a surprise to Joanie, as she
figured that he might have been from this world himself. However, she should
have realized that he wasn’t, considering the way in which he was dressed in
blue jeans, brown hiking boots, and a red t-shirt. Her curiosity peaking, she
asked the young man straight out, “Who are you?”
(Authorial Note: Most of the characters inspired by friends of Livingston have chosen the attire for their fictional counterparts based on their personal taste or clothes they have worn in real life. Livingston chose "blue jeans, brown hiking boots, and a red t-shirt" for his character since they are articles directly from his own closet.)
“My name is Sean,” he answered while holding out his
hand.
Looking at it, Joanie smiled – he certainly was a
friendly individual. Not wanting to be rude, she reached up and shook his hand.
“Joanie…Joanie Navarro,” she introduced herself.
Sean grinned. “Well, it’s nice meeting you, Joanie. But I
figured you might want some help in getting your butt out of the mud.”
Joanie looked down at where she was sitting, and she was
indeed deep in a muddy section of the grass. “Oh, shoot!” She yanked on Sean’s
hand and Sean yanked in the opposite direction, working together in getting
Joanie out of the mud. Surveying the mess made to the back of her jeans and
lower half of her shirt, she couldn’t help but to gripe out loud. “Bunsen’s
blasted machine! If I ever get back to the real world, I’m going to tear that
thing piece by piece!”
(Narrative Note: In World of Disney and its subsequent installments, there have been many instances in which destroying the Sphere has been the main goal of the primary player, but none have reached as far as completing the task.)
“Not sure that’d be a good idea.”
Joanie glanced at him, seeing the cautious look on his
face, which made her even more curious over his presence there. “I don’t
remember seeing you in the basement when that thing sucked us in. Were you one of the members of tonight’s
audience?”
Sean shook his head and chuckled. “It’s so crazy.”
“Whatever ‘it’ is, it can’t possibly be any crazier than
this.”
Again, Sean shook his head – only he did not chuckle that
time. “When you hear it, you’ll know for a fact that it is.” For a brief
moment, he was silent. And, finally, he revealed to her, “I’m from the future.”
(Authorial Note: The entire first encounter between Joanie and Sean was envisioned as something similar in tone to the way Doc Brown first met Marty McFly in Back to the Future and Sarah Connor first meeting Kyle Reese in The Terminator. A figure from the future making introduction to one of the past in the most complex way that baffles the past-day character.)
Joanie blinked twice in surprise. “Say what now?”
Before Sean had the chance to elaborate, a familiar voice
shouted out, “Joanie! Joanie! Joanie!”
Both she and Sean turned to where it came from and saw
Robin running towards them with a Muppet rat following behind. Seeing it catching
up with him, Joanie suddenly freaked out and cried, “Robin! Watch out behind
you!”
“Huh?” Robin uttered, doing exactly what Joanie had said
and looking behind him. He saw no one but the rat, whom he did not seem to have
any surprise in seeing.
When Robin was close enough, Joanie snatched him up and
held him in a very protective manner. As soon as the rat came within their
proximity, Joanie started stomping all around him, desperately trying to get
him away. “Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! You filthy little monster!!”
“Hey!”
STOMP!
“Whoa!”
STOMP! STOMP!
“Cut it out!”
STOMP! STOMP!
STOMP!
“KNOCK IT OFF, WILL YA?!”
(Pop Culture Note: Joanie's first reaction to Rizzo is all too common with the patrons of the four-star restaurant he, Kermit, and other rats crashed in The Muppets Take Manhattan.)
The Muppet rat was forced to jump all around the grass,
desperately avoiding the high heels of her sandals. Unfortunately, one of her
stomps missed its mark and caused both her right shoe and her right foot to get
buried deep in some mud. Upon yanking it back out, only her bare foot came out
of the dark brown and gray mess. Luckily for the rat, that was the only thing
keeping her from making another attempt at trying to squish him.
“Lady, are youse nuts?!” He screamed.
“Don’t hurt him, Joanie!” Robin pleaded. “He’s my new
friend, Rizzo!”
(Character Note: Rizzo the Rat made his first appearance on the Christopher Reeve episode of The Muppet Show that aired January 1980. He began a silent background character before growing into a prominent member of the Muppets troupe. In his first episode, he and a group of rats follow Christopher Reeve around backstage.)
Joanie groaned over how cold and wet her foot felt, the
messy state her shoe was in when she pulled it out of the mud, and the sight of
Rizzo himself. “Robin! What has your uncle told you about the rats in the
Theater? They’re not your friends!”
(Authorial Note: This line of dialogue was included to explain why Muppet rats were never featured that prominently until later seasons of The Muppet Show. It also implies, from their adventure with Rizzo in this story and their growing respect for him, how he and his fellow rodents got to be in the show.)
Rizzo chuckled at her comment. “Dat’s not what ya said
when ya invited me into yer home earlier, Mrs. Thom…”
“I apologize if Rizzo scared you, Joanie.” Sean quickly
interrupted his rodent companion. “He’s with me.”
The rat glanced at his friend in confusion. “Joanie?
Shouldn’t ya be callin’ her M…?”
Again, Rizzo was interrupted once Sean began clearing his
throat loudly and pointed to Joanie’s mud-covered sandal. “I think there’s a
creek nearby if you want to wash that off, Joanie.”
Although Joanie felt very grateful of Sean’s suggestion,
she still looked a little disgusted with having to wash out all of the mud from
her shoe. It did not help much that a cool breeze was blowing through the area
either, chilling her bare right foot to the bone. “Thank you, Sean. Ugh! C’mon,
Robin. You can help.”
“Sure thing, Joanie.” Robin graciously accepted, following
her as she limped to the nearby creek to wash her sandal.
(Authorial Note: While writing this chapter, Livingston drew concern over Joanie's bare foot in the cold climate, fearing he would have to explain why she is so immune. But her transformation throughout the story helps readers to decipher this possibility.)
With Sean and Rizzo left by themselves, the Muppet rat
inquisitively asked his human friend, “What’s gotten into ya? Why didn’t ya
tell her yer her son, man?”
“Because I just told her that I’m from the future, and
she could barely believe that alone!” Sean exclaimed, trying to keep his voice
so low that Joanie and Robin could not hear him. “Can you imagine how big of a
shock it’d be if I just came out and told her I was her son?”
(Narrative Note: In Tales of the Disneyverse, Sean - in his third reincarnated form known as "Jacqueline" - was forced to relive the pressure of explaining his identity to his mother.)
Rizzo looked down, his mind processing what Sean just
said. “Jeez, never thoughta it dat way. Wow, dat’d be more messed up dan da
stuff dey do on Maury.”
“Exactly. That’s why we’re going to keep things hush-hush
on the mother-son connection.”
“Well, ya had better tell Cici and Pepe dat when we find
them or else dey’ll spill da beans for ya.”
The mentioning of the other two members of their party
made Sean glance around the forest in curiosity. “Hey, speaking of those two, I
wonder where they are. We all got sucked into the same vortex. You’d think they
would end up the same place as we did.”
Before either of them could have pondered any further on
the matter, they suddenly heard Robin’s voice from the short distance away.
“Hey, guys! Come here!”
Following the little frog’s voice, they both arrived at
the creek, which Joanie was crouched near, washing away the mud from her
sandal. The water was so cold that it not only made her shoe more unbearable to
wear, but it also nearly froze it solid as well. Rather than putting it back on
her foot, she kept it tucked away in her left jeans pocket, hoping the tight
space inside of it could warm the shoe up some. Even as she kept it in there,
it felt just as cold as it would have been on her foot.
Once Sean and Rizzo arrived, Joanie stood up and pointed
directly ahead. “Look over there!” They followed her finger and spotted a sight
that was only familiar to Sean: the castle
from Beauty and the Beast. “I
think that’s the same place where my mother was taken.”
“Taken?” Sean inquired.
“I think I was in this same place not very long ago with
my mother. I heard her being kidnapped by someone, and I think she might have
been taken to that castle there.”
Robin nodded with a look of determination on his face.
“Then let’s go in there and get her.”
With a gung-ho attitude, Joanie and Robin were about to
march their way toward the castle. But then Sean suddenly cried to them,
“Wait!” The two stopped in their tracks and looked at him in confusion, just as
Rizzo did also. “It doesn’t look safe. Maybe we should find help first, before
going in there.”
Joanie glanced around with her arms stretched out in a
questioning manner. “Who’s gonna help us? We’re all alone out here.” She then
wore a mask of intense resolve as she added, “Besides, I’m willing to go
through any danger necessary to get my mother back.” After making that
declaration, she and Robin trekked across the creek, taking turns stepping over
the rocks protruding from the water and creating a simple path for them to
cross over.
“Boy, ya really have been jittery for da past minutes.”
Rizzo told Sean.
Sean gazed at the rodent, clearly aggravated over his
naïve nature. “Do you even know where
we are right now?”
“I dunno. In ‘Da Land of da Lost’?”
Sean rolled his eyes. “Rizzo, my mother was right about
all that talk of parallel dimensions and whatnot. Look at us…notice anything
different?” Rizzo did as he said and glanced over parts of his body, seeing how
animated they suddenly appeared. “We’re in some sort of universe based on Disney
cartoons. It was Bunsen’s machine that sent us here.”
“Wow. Yer right!” Rizzo looked across the creek to see
Robin and Joanie on the other side, waiting for them. “Den where exactly are we
headed?”
“You remember Beauty
and the Beast, right?” Rizzo nodded in reply. “Well, that castle they
spotted is the same one where the Beast lives.”
(Authorial Note: It's been a challenge for Livingston not to write certain dialogue of characters reflecting on facts from movies as just them spouting trivial information. It has to tie with what's happening in the story and addressed to characters who have no idea what is happening.)
Rizzo’s eyes registered extreme fear. “See ya!” He was
about to run in the opposite direction of the castle, until Sean snatched him
by the tail and lifted him high enough so the rat would be directly at his eye
level.
“Did you also forget the ravenous wolves in the movie,
too? If you get lost in these woods, they are bound to find and eat you alive!”
Dangling upside down, Rizzo was not certain if it was the
blood rushing to his head or just plain old common sense that made him say, “I,
uh, guess I’ll take my chances with da Beast.”
“Hey!” Joanie shouted from across the creek. “Are you
guys coming?”
Sean waved in approval to Joanie while whispering to
Rizzo, “Just relax. I’ll make sure we’ll get out of this okay.”
(Authorial Note: The reference to Superman from Rizzo, keeping in mind of his first Muppet Show appearance, was unintentional by Livingston.)
(UP NEXT: The Beast Unleashed!)
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