Chapter Four: Realm D2010
Tap! Tap! Tap!
“What is it?”
“I have no idea. A knight, maybe?”
“Does a ‘knight’ normally look so…strange?”
“Depends on the kingdom.”
Tap! Tap! Tap!
“Is he dead?”
“I’m just wondering if there’s even a person inside
this…armor, I guess it is.”
Tap! Tap! Tap!
With her frying pan in hand, Rapunzel tapped upon the red
and gold helmet of the “knight,” as her new companion Flynn Rider called it,
with great curiosity. It was her first day outside the tower and she saw many
new things for the first time; but this knight was something beyond even
Flynn’s comprehension. Again, she tapped the helmet with her frying pan, only
for Flynn to quickly snatch it away from her.
(Authorial Note: Livingston had chosen for Tangled to be one of the featured "Disney Worlds" of The Marvelous World based on the fact that both it and Iron Man 2 were released in the same year and grossed big at the box office.)
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea to poke at the
oddly-dressed knight, wouldn’t you say?”
Rapunzel looked to Flynn innocently. “I just wanted to
see if he would wake up.”
“How do we know if it’s even a ‘he’ at all?”
A groan emerged from inside the helmet, causing Flynn and
Rapunzel to jump in surprise; of course, Rapunzel was more so than Flynn,
climbing on top of him and aiming her frying pan at the awakening knight. “He’s
awake! He’s awake! He’s awake!”
(Disney Note: The way Rapunzel reacts to Iron Man in this scene is similar to how she had in Tangled to a rabbit emerging from a bush.)
They watched the knight sit up and place a hand over his
head, indicating that it was aching. He then spoke in a slightly automated voice, which Rapunzel and Flynn found to be more awkward than his appearance.
“Ugh! What happened? J.A.R.V.I.S., are you still there?” There was no answer,
which left Rapunzel and Flynn to wonder if the knight referred to them,
even though neither of their names were “Jarvis.”
“Is he…talking to us?” Flynn whispered to Rapunzel, who
merely replied by shrugging her shoulders.
The knight stood up, prompting Flynn and Rapunzel to back
away further, and he gazed upon his surroundings until he finally focused on
the two characters standing before him. “Ah, locals…human locals. Guess I didn’t go as far away from Earth as I
thought.” He approached them and said, “Hey there. Uh, judging from your
clothes, I suppose that I landed in Germany or some…foreign…land. Sprechen Sie
Englisch?” Flynn and Rapunzel
made no reply and instead look to each other in confusion. “Ok. Not in Germany.
Maybe I’m somewhere in Belgium.”
(Pop Culture Note: The "Rapunzel" fairy tale originates from the German storytellers, The Brothers Grimm, which places the cultural setting for the story in Germany.)
“Are you a knight?” Rapunzel abruptly asked.
Surprised that it was in fact perfect English being spoken from the girl, the knight seemed
relieved. “Oh, thank god. Without the onboard translator, I would’ve had to
depend on years and years of study. Can either of you tell me where I am? I
think I was teleported here by weird alien technology.”
(Narrative Note: The notability of Rapunzel and Flynn speaking perfect English is a reference to the fact that, in many Disney animated features that take place on foreign soil, the characters speak plain English as opposed to their native language.)
Rapunzel’s face scrunched in immense perplexity. “Alien…what?”
Even Flynn had trouble comprehending what the knight
meant. “My friend, the only ‘weird’ thing here is you.”
“I guess you both come from a relatively small village, eh?” The knight presumed.
“Well, for starters, my name is Tony Stark, but the rest of the world knows me
as Iron Man.”
Flynn smiled over the nickname. “Iron Man, huh? It suits
you, no pun intended.”
(Disney/Marvel Note: Flynn Rider is voiced by Zachary Levi in Tangled. Levi went on to portray the Asgardian warrior Fandral in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, replacing Josh Dallas, who could not reprise the role due to his commitments to the Disney/ABC fantasy-drama Once Upon a Time.)
“Yeah. Like I haven’t heard that one before.” Stark said with great sarcasm.
“Are you…normal like us?” Rapunzel queried.
“Of course.” Stark answered. “This is just a suit. I’ll
show ya.” The helmet he wore suddenly parted all by itself, allowing its wearer
(Stark) to remove it from his head. Flynn and Rapunzel were worried that what
they saw next would be out of the ordinary, but they felt thankful to see a
human face that spoke with a normal voice. “See? Human being.”
Rapunzel climbed off of Flynn and moved closer to Stark.
“So…you are a knight…like Flynn
said?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘knight’ per se.” Stark stated.
“Then what would
you call yourself, Mr. Stark?” Flynn inquired while noting the way Rapunzel was
circling around him.
“Entrepreneur, genius, innovator, philanthropist, hero…”
(Marvel Note: Tony's rundown of titles mirrors his response to Captain America's inquiry of what he would be without his armor in The Avengers.)
“Alright, alright. I get the message,” said an annoyed
Flynn. “Well, thanks for the scare. It’s been ridiculously enjoyable, but we
must be…”
“Would you like to come and see the lights with us?” Rapunzel
unexpectedly asked with great excitement.
Flynn let out a hesitant chuckle. “Rapunzel, I’m sure our
armored stranger here has other
things to…”
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind one bit.” Tony said. “It’s
been some time since I’ve stopped by Germany. I’m sure S.H.I.E.L.D. will send a
rescue party after me eventually.” He then offered his arm to Rapunzel and
requested, “Shall we?”
She wrapped her arms around his huge, armor-clad arm and walked side-to-side
with him through the forest. Flynn watched them with a look of disbelief; he
found it difficult to see how Rapunzel could be attracted to such an odd guy
after meeting him for just five minutes, whereas when she first met him, he got
a frying pan to the head. He refused to admit to being jealous of “Iron Man,”
but – unbeknownst to himself – that was exactly the issue.
Project Geo Base – 2012
Sitting in lotus position atop an examination table, Gigi
calmly ate a small bag of M&M’s;
that was all she could do after explaining to Nick Fury and the rest of the
group about where Tony Stark was, as they merely just stood and looked at her
with gaping mouths and widened eyes for half an hour. Popping the last
few M&M’s into her mouth, Gigi finally snapped her fingers and brought the
group out of the trance she inadvertently put them in. “Told ya it’d be a lot
to take in,” she said with a smile.
(Narrative Note: M&M's were a featured product in Chapter Four of World of Disney as Joan Navarro-Thomas had them available for her children to snack on during their impromptu visit to her home. They are a particular favorite candy of hers.)
“This is crazy…no…this is…insane!” Sean exclaimed. “You’re telling us that the sphere is a
dimensional gateway to another universe…based entirely on Disney cartoons?”
Gigi nodded with a smug look. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Just as before, Sean turned to Fury as if looking for
reasonable thought. “She’s wasting our time, sir. Probably stalling for time.”
“Stalling for whom?” Gigi countered. “I’m all alone
here!”
“She’s not stalling, Agent.” Fury told Sean. “Trust me.
I’ve gone through enough interrogations to see when someone’s stalling or
telling the truth. And she’s telling
us the truth.”
Banner looked as confused as Rogers, Hill, and the other
people in the room. “You mean Tony really is in a Disney cartoon…um…parallel
dimension?”
“And we have to
get him out of there as soon as possible.” Gigi said while hopping off the
examination table and crinkling the M&M’s
wrapper into a tiny ball in her hand until it literally disappeared in it. “If
someone from the real world stays in one of the ‘Disney Worlds’ for too long, a
massive rift will occur in that world, destroying it totally!”
“And how do you know that?”
Fury asked.
Gigi appeared very distraught as she explained: “Because
I’ve seen it happen before. An entire world…literally broken apart…right in
front of me. I barely got out in time when there was nothing left.”
(Narrative Note: This incident Gigi reflects on happens in Chapter Twenty-Six of World of Disney. It has been a focal point in the series until Tales of the Disneyverse.)
“And that’s what is gonna happen if we don’t get Stark
out in time?” Rogers questioned to which Gigi slowly nodded in reply. “Then we
don’t have a moment to lose. We need to send a rescue party.”
“Agreed.” Fury acknowledged. “Cap, you’re going in with
Agent Livingston. We’ll monitor you from…”
“Hold up!” Gigi shouted.
Her command instantly brought silence over the
S.H.I.E.L.D. director, who was not used to taking orders from civilians. “Is
there something you’d like to add, ma’am?”
“Okay, first off, let’s drop the whole ‘ma’am’ thing. My
name is Gigi now, and I’d like to be addressed by that name, if it’s not a
problem. If it is, then you can call me ‘Miss Thomas,’ which I’d strongly recommend from you, Mister Fury.” Gigi’s request was met
with some amused expressions – with the notable exception of Nick Fury himself.
“And second, if you’re sending anyone on any ‘rescue party,’ then you’re gonna
send me, too.”
“Why you? Does this have to do with you being a
sorceress?” Sean queried.
Gigi nodded. “In a way, yes. The sphere and I are
connected, remember? I can take you to the exact
world where your friend is now and have him back here in less than a second.”
Fury gazed long and hard at Gigi, taking at least a
minute to come up with a final decision. “Alright. You’re going in with Cap and
Agent Livingston.”
“I’m going, too.” Banner stepped in and volunteered, much
to the surprise of everyone. “Look, I know you’re going to say it’s a bad idea,
Fury, but…”
(Narrative Note: The grouping/volunteering among the central characters in this scene reflects those in World of Disney prior to a journey into the Disneyverse. In both situations, the characters are in search of a missing person from their world. The difference between the two is the dependence of a machine in the first story as opposed to a flesh-and-blood being in this tale.)
“Actually, Doctor, I think it’s a great idea.” Fury’s response only added to the surprise of the
people around him; even Banner was taken aback from his granted permission.
Fury then gestured to Gigi and added, “Because in case she gets out of line, you-know-who will take care of her.”
Gigi stood confused of what Fury meant by his comment and
was even more so when she heard Sean chuckling and saw him smiling. Curiously,
she asked him, “What does he mean ‘you-know-who’ will take care of me?”
“Trust me…you don’t
want to know.” The young agent evasively answered.
(UP NEXT: Welcome to the jungle!)
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