Chapter Seven: Project Geo Base – 2012
It had been no more than fifteen minutes since Rogers,
Banner, and Livingston left with the sorceress, Gigi, and Nick Fury’s
suspicions were already growing. It was never specified how long it would take
to find Tony Stark and bring him back to their world, but Fury figured that –
with Gigi’s abilities – it would not be that long. With little knowledge on how the
sphere worked, there was no possible way of returning them without the need of
Gigi. Suddenly the idea of Bruce Banner hulking out on Gigi was beginning to
sound very pointless.
(Narrative Note: The previous story, World of Disney, established that time between the Disneyverse and the world outside of it worked differently, with only seconds passing for "real world" characters while hours do in the Disneyverse. However, this fact hasn't remained consistent through the series.)
As Fury stood alone in the observation deck and stared at
the sphere the entire time, the silence that surrounded him was soon disrupted
from commotion beyond the door to the room. The observation deck’s door opened,
letting in the commotion that happened outside. Fury turned away from his view
of the sphere and towards the open door to see a familiar woman enter with a
pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were attempting to stop her. Fury recognized
the woman as Ciciley Livingston, mother of Agent Sean Livingston; she looked
slightly older than when he last saw her with a few wrinkles around her face,
which part of it covered from the black, graying hair she sported; at the
moment of her surprise appearance, she wore a black leather jacket over a white
tank top, dark blue jeans, and black boots. To Fury, Ciciley looked “young” for
a woman of sixty-one years of age.
(Biographical Note: "Ciciley Livingston" is based on and inspired by Cici Valdez, who was featured in World of Disney as "Ciciley Thomas," the twin sister of the secondary protagonist Sean Thomas. Other than Sean, she is the only returning cast member from the first story to have an entirely different role in The Marvelous World. The description of her appearance in this introductory scene is based on that of her real-life mother.)
“Nick!” She shouted upon shoving her way past the
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who dared to confront her.
“Cici,” said a welcoming Fury, “Surprise to see you here
after all these years. Never thought you’d show up.” He raised a hand to the
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, beckoning for them to leave the both of them alone in the
room.
As soon as the agents departed, Ciciley commenced in her business,
which she was all about at the moment. “Where’s my son?”
Fury was surprised that she knew about Sean having
arrived there at the base; immediately, he feigned ignorance: “I have no idea
what you’re talking about. He’s in Anaheim where he…”
“Cut the bull, Fury!” Ciciley snapped with her hands on
her hips. “I know he’s here. He called
me earlier, saying something about coming here to take care of some ‘top
secret’ business or whatever crap you’ve got him calling it.”
Fury moaned in aggravation. When is that kid gonna learn to keep his mouth shut around his mother,
he angrily thought.
“And don’t you dare put me being here on him!” Ciciley
demanded. “I showed up because I’m scared for my boy!” She gestured to the
sphere that she could see in plain sight from the observation deck window.
“We’ve had this thing in stock for thirty-five years! Nobody knows what it does! And you bring my son…my son…here to do some investigation or
whatever!” She looked Fury deep in his one good eye. “What have you got him
doing, Nicholas?”
(Authorial Note: Evident from the name of his character, Livingston had integrated bits of his personal life into him, including much of the personality of his real-life mother, who Ciciley's character is predominantly based on.)
When she called him “Nicholas,” he felt like he was in
Sean’s position as the kid in trouble. Ciciley was merely a decade older than
he was; she was almost in line of becoming director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had she not
gone into retirement by the time she reached the age of forty-eight. There was
no getting past such a tough-as-nails former agent without making himself look
like a total fool; so Fury opted for the best choice – telling the truth.
“You’re right. He is
here on investigation.” With this confirmation, Ciciley briskly turned away but
stopped when Fury quickly added, “But he’s not here.” He knew that last comment
totally contradicted his previous one, thus doing exactly what he not wanted to do in front of Ciciley –
make a fool out of himself.
She looked to him in confusion with a hint of
frustration. “He’s here but he’s also not
here.” Fury stammered on an explanation for his puzzling words; his behavior
was something Ciciley had not seen in him since he became director, which was
an obvious clue to her that something was up. Irately, she commanded, “Tell me
what’s going on, Nicholas…right now.”
Fury sighed. “He’s out…with someone…someone who’s working
on the investigation with him.”
“Who is she?” Ciciley asked in suspicion.
He did not know where to start, so he went with the most
obscene part first: “Well, from what she’s told us, she’s…his mother.” He saw
Ciciley’s eyes grow wide – the fire in them clearly evident. Fury had dealt
with many intimidating figures in his time, but none intimidated him like Ciciley did. A mother’s wrath was
about to unfold, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Realm D1999
Gigi did everything in her power to prevent herself from
punching Clayton right across that bulbous chin of his after minutes of him
constantly apologizing for firing upon Sean while he and Archimedes Q. Porter,
an eccentric biologist and father of Jane Porter, helped bring him to their
camp and assist in treating Sean’s wound. They took him inside of a tent and
laid him upon a cot where Archimedes began treatment of the wound. Gigi knew
that she could handle treatment much quicker with her magic; unfortunately, in
the rush to get the wounded Sean to the English explorer group’s camp, she had
forgotten that she left the hat back in the jungle.
“Is he going to be alright, Daddy?” Jane asked with great
concern.
Archimedes took one look at Sean’s wound to provide Jane
with a clear answer. After looking, he frowned and answered, “Oh, dear. This
young man has certainly quite an injury. Thankfully, the bullet wasn’t lodged,
but he will require surgery if we’re
to stop the bleeding.”
That was one diagnosis Gigi did not want to hear. She
stormed out of the tent in anger, a gesture that caught the eye of a
still-shaken Clayton, who followed her out of the tent. “I really am sorry for
this,” he told her. “I saw movement past the trees and I…”
(Disney Note: Clayton is the main antagonist of Tarzan. He has the appearance of many classic Disney Villains, hungry for money and power. What makes him much colder in character is his cruelty to animals, a trait he shares with Cruella De Vil. As uncharacteristic as it seems for him to show sympathy in shooting Sean, his chivalry makes him somewhat human in this case.)
“You thought he
was a gorilla!” Gigi snapped, glaring at the hunter.
Her spot-on deduction surprised Clayton. “Why…yes…yes, I
did.”
“And that’s the problem we have here!” Gigi bellowed.
“You thought with your bullets
instead of your brain!”
“Now see here, madam! I refuse to be talked down to by
some oddly dressed woman! What gives
you the right to…?”
As he scolded her, Gigi saw that he still had the rifle
he shot Sean down with in hand, which only made her angrier. “The right? The right? I’ll tell you what right I’ve
got! The same right to do this!” She then snatched the weapon out of the hunter’s
hand and used her remarkable might to snap the rifle in half over her knee.
Clayton witnessed the incredible feat of strength in wide-eyed disbelief; never
had he seen a woman capable of such force, especially one that shared the same
size and frame as Jane Porter.
(Authorial Note: Gigi's action in this scene was one of Livingston's favorite to write in The Marvelous World. He loves taking the established Disney character into a scene that is literally outside their parameter of "ordinary," which was done quite often in World of Disney.)
(UP NEXT: An enemy from the other side!)
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