Chapter Thirty-Two:
Realm Zone – 1937
Diana stared upon the group of characters that had landed
within the boundaries of the chamber; some of them were familiar to her while
others were less so. Each of the characters slowly began to rise to their feet,
and Diana provided some help for one of them. Unbeknownst to Diana, it was one
of her future granddaughters who she helped up – a very young redhead with a
strong personality and went by the name of Meagan. Even as Diana helped Meagan
to her feet, the young woman displayed her feisty attitude before her.
(Authorial Note: Not only is this the first scene Diana shares with Meagan and even Kimberly in the story, but this marks a gathering among three members of the Disney Ghostbusters cast, each portrayed as different characters.)
“Whatever happened to the days when people would say
‘Excuse me’ before sending them into a parallel universe?” Meagan dusted
herself off before turning to the woman who helped her up and showing some
sincere gratitude. “Thank you for…” As soon as she looked at her face, she
stopped and stared with her mouth opened wide in surprise. “Oh, my…”
Soon the others were staring along with her, all of their
eyes locked on Diana, who felt a little awkward. Tracy walked into the scene
and stood beside Diana, smiling over all of the surprised stares that her
long-lost aunt was getting from the group. “So this is what it’s like when
you’ve been missing for thirty-four years,” Diana uttered to Tracy. “The
strangest part is that it only feels like thirty-four minutes.”
Tracy chuckled as she introduced Diana to Kimberly,
Meagan, and Ciciley. “Aunt Dye, these are your granddaughters…Joanie’s
daughters.” She watched as Diana stood overwhelmed from seeing the young women
before her, who were looking back at her in the same manner. Diana felt like a
comatose patient who just woke up and started catching up on a world that had
completely passed her by.
There was a peaceful moment of silence between Diana and
her future granddaughters; all of them lost in thought. The moment was soon
broken once Fozzie approached Diana with Gonzo, Scooter, and Kermit and
exclaimed, “Diana! We’re so glad that we finally found you!”
“Joanie’s been worried sick about you.” Scooter added.
“Are you okay?” Gonzo asked. “Do you need us to get
anything for you? Like a peanut butter and sardine sandwich or something?”
(Pop Culture Note: A peanut butter and sardine sandwich was the meal Gonzo requested while imprisoned by C.O.V.N.E.T. in Muppets From Space. The sandwich was served by Bobo the Bear, an agent of the organization who shared in Gonzo's odd taste in food, and Gonzo's alien family used the sandwich to communicate with him.)
Kermit awkwardly looked to Gonzo. “Uh, Gonzo? In case you
haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly in the right setting to get a peanut butter
and sardine sandwich…not that there’s ever
a right setting to get one.”
Diana laughed over the courtesy of her Muppet friends, raising
her hands in protest. “Guys, I’m good. I’m just…” She looked back over to her
granddaughters, who continued to stare with much awe. “How long have you all
been looking for me?”
“Well, considerin’ da fact dat we’ve been travelin’
through time and space lately, it’s kinda hard ta tell.” Rizzo answered.
Rizzo’s answer reminded Diana of the story that Tracy
recently shared with her; she was so awestruck by what just transpired that she
had forgotten. “Oh, right. Well…what now?”
“How ‘bout findin’ a way outta here?” Clifford suggested.
“Don’t know about ya’ll, but this place is givin’ me the creeps.”
“Without Bunsen knowing where we are, there’s no way we
can get out of here the same way we came in.” Scooter indicated.
“We’ve got bigger problems, guys.” Ciciley stated while
looking out of the only window within the Queen’s private chamber. “Does this sight look familiar to anyone?”
Everyone gathered with Ciciley near the window to see how
the bright, sunny day had been eclipsed by dark gray clouds that had shrouded
the skies; fiery explosions erupted from inside each one. It was the same
unnatural storm that followed the destruction of the Aladdin realm – something that Ciciley, Kermit, Fozzie, Scooter,
Gonzo, Bobo, and Bean bore witness to before. Upon seeing the unearthly sight,
the Queen’s guard muttered, “Good heavens.”
“More like bad
heavens there, buddy.” Bobo corrected the guard.
“Ya wanna share with us what dis means?” Rizzo requested.
“Remember what we told you all just after coming back to
the real world from the Aladdin
world?” Ciciley inquired. “The world literally came apart around us because
there were so many of us there, just like there are so many of us here.”
Thinking back to earlier in the Muppet Theater, Scooter
reminded himself along with the group, “Brandy said that if too many subjects
from the real world were within one of these Disney worlds, then the world
itself would collapse and cease to exist…the same way that last one did.”
BOOM! BOOM!
A couple of tremors suddenly emerged, shaking the entire
room so much that grime streamed down from the ceiling and landed over Rizzo’s
face. Spitting the grime out (just as he did back at the Theater), Rizzo
yelled, “Why does dat keep happenin’ to me?!”
“The reaction’s already starting.” Kermit indicated. “It
won’t be long before we start going through the same incident as before…only
this time there’s no escape from it.”
Fozzie nervously nibbled on his fingers before he moved
them away and said, “There’s got to be some way out of this, Kermit. We can’t
just stay here and wait for things to get worse!”
As the others were mulling over a way out of their
situation, Tracy spotted Queen Grimhilde’s book of spells on a nearby podium;
she left it open, possibly having little time to close it when transferring her
subconscious within Tracy’s body in the real world. Tracy approached the book
with hope in finding a solution to the group’s dilemma; what she found was a
book filled with text that she could barely comprehend. The book contained spells
written in a dead language that Tracy could barely recognize; however, they
were titled in plain English. Tracy found one spell listed under “Transference,”
which was where she guessed the Evil Queen got her one spell from. There were
at least five different spells listed in the section, leaving Tracy with hardly
much choice.
Diana soon spotted Tracy with the book and asked,
“Whatcha got going there, Trace?”
Turning to her aunt, Tracy looked to her and the others
with a hopeful look upon her (the Queen’s) face. “I’m not sure, but…I think
it’s the answer to our problem. One of the spells here is the same one the
Queen used to switch places with me. Maybe another spell can take me back to
the real world, so I can find a way to get you all out of here – perhaps even
get my old self back, too.”
“Well, go on with ya bad self.” Clifford encouraged.
(Biographical Note: "Well, go on with ya bad self" is the favorite phrase used by Livingston's older brother, who would often say it to him at times when he struck up the perfect solution to a problem or a good idea altogether.)
“Yeah, get it over with while there’s still time to save
our butts.” Meagan added to her.
Tracy was about to recite the spell that she found in the
book until the guard stepped forward and said, “Wait! If you are returning to your world, you’ll want
to wear this.” The guard handed a dark cloak over to Tracy, who accepted it
with a hint of confusion. “It is the Queen’s. I believe it will serve some use
if you are returning to the world she had banished you from.
(Disney Note: This cloak, which doubles as a robe, is the same one the Evil Queen wears in the guise of an old witch, neither of which she dons at any point in this story.)
Diana nodded in approval for the guard’s idea with the
cloak. “Good idea. If she’s still there in the Theater, I’m sure she won’t be
too happy with seeing her own face again.”
Once Tracy was in agreement with the idea also, she
placed the cloak over herself; it instantly obscured the face of Queen
Grimhilde, making it difficult to see who she was. As soon as the disguise was
in place, Tracy commenced in reciting the spell that she found in the book.
After the spell was recited, the form of Tracy/Grimhilde became translucent,
which she found to be very alarming at first. The others could see right
through her body up until the point where she was no longer in the room with
them.
Time Zone – 1977
(Before Temporal Displacement)
Tracy found herself standing in the back alley of the
Muppet Theater; the stage door was not very far from where she stood near a
collection of garbage cans. Joanie’s brown Lincoln Versailles was parked just
across from her, looking as brand new as it did when she bought it…thirty-three
years ago. The sight of the vehicle was enough of a clue for Tracy to discover
that she did not transfer back to the real world of 2010 subsequent to
everything that she and everyone else had been through, but rather the real
world of 1977 prior to the events. The help that she was hoping to get or any
chance of finding Queen Grimhilde and her true form was not coming, leaving the
spell completely wasted.
Suddenly, she heard the stage door open; her eyes were
directed to it just as Joanie and Robin came out into the alley and approached
the parked Lincoln. Neither Joanie nor Robin seemed to have known that Tracy
was standing there until Robin, after hopping into the Lincoln, pointed to
where she was standing and asked, “Hey, Joanie, who’s that?”
(Narrative Note: This scene links back to the bizarre scene near the end of Chapter One that saw Joanie interacting with the mysterious alley figure, which we find out here to be Tracy.)
Joanie followed his gaze and spotted Tracy where she
stood, which greatly alarmed her. The plan was not to find any help from the
past; that only seemed pointless to Tracy. Ironically, just as that notion came
to mind, Joanie asked her, “May I help you?”
Tracy wanted to tell Joanie there and then all that was
going to happen to her – from her mother going missing for thirty-three years to
having the rare pleasure in seeing her future children, all thanks to Bunsen
Honeydew’s unique machine. It was an opportunity that was just as open as when
Tracy encountered her aunt moments ago in the Snow White realm, but it would be more difficult convincing Joanie
of who she was before any of the events that they had been through together
happened. As these thoughts ran through Tracy’s mind, it became clear what the
only thing she could tell Joanie at that time could have been…the only hint of
advice that she would recognize and take with her. Rather than stating it in
plain English (speaking with a voice that Joanie would be unfamiliar to),
Tracy decided to take the same approach as Diana: speaking in Swahili.
“Huwezi kuzuia kwepeka.”
The spellbound look on Joanie’s face told Tracy just how
great of an effect what she said to her had left. Joanie continued staring her way
and barely heard Robin as he asked, “What did she say?”
BOOM!
Tracy nearly jumped, feeling the immense tremor that
came simultaneously with the loud noise emitting from inside the Muppet
Theater. Robin and Joanie’s attention quickly went away from Tracy and on the
stage door, which had hints of smoke seeping through it. Tracy was not sure
what the explosion was, but she figured that it had something to do with
Bunsen’s machine. It was a sign to her that it was not too late to change
things for the better. She opened her mouth to shout to Joanie, but
transference occurred before she could utter even a syllable.
(Narrative Note: The desire to change the events that brought about the events of this story is the central plot of The Disney Access. The consequences of those changes will also be explored in the upcoming story.)
Realm Zone – 1937
“Joanie! Don’t go in there!!”
Tracy’s warning came out just as she unexpectedly
reappeared in the Queen’s private chamber; she was no longer shouting to
Joanie, but to Diana and the others instead. The transference occurred without
her consent, leaving her to deduce that the spell was only temporary, much to
her dismay. The others looked on in confusion and great hope seeing Tracy back
in the room. Breaking the awkward silence that had come over the room upon her
return, Kermit uttered, “You’re back already?!”
Tracy could not believe she was back in the chamber
either. “How long was I gone?”
“Well, you vanished right in front of us for one second
and then reappeared on the next.” Bean informed.
“You shouted for Joanie not to go anywhere.” Diana
pointed out. “Where was she going?”
A distraught look appeared on the Queen’s face as Tracy
responded: “I don’t know. It wasn’t the same place where we left before coming
here. It was 1977 again…I was in the alley behind the Theater, and Joanie and
Robin were about to leave somewhere in Joanie’s car. They saw me there, and I…”
Picking up on Tracy’s description, Diana came to a
realization. “Wait! Was there an explosion while you were there?”
“Something exploded in the Theater, yeah.”
A hand went to Diana’s forehead while an overwhelmed look
was masked across her face. She then revealed to everyone where exactly Tracy
had gone. “You went to the night that Bunsen’s machine first went active.”
Kermit, Scooter, Gonzo, and Fozzie were all just as
overwhelmed as Diana.
“You mean…she was transferred into the past?!” Scooter
exclaimed.
Diana nodded. “I remember hearing and even feeling the explosion while I was
putting you to bed after coming back from the trip you and Joanie took.
Joanie and Robin wandered into the machine shortly after Bunsen and Beaker used
it, and they disappeared to one of the Disney worlds. I remember going nuts
when I found out my daughter was lost in a parallel universe, but we thankfully
got her back.”
(Authorial Note: Livingston enjoyed revisiting previous scenes of the story in this way, as it inspired new perspective from characters who were either unidentified or not present at the time they took place.)
Kimberly, Ciciley, Meagan, Rizzo, Pepe, Bean, Clifford,
and Bobo were listening in, but only Rizzo appeared to have understood what
Tracy’s journey into the past could have meant for their current situation.
“Well, didn’t ya do anything or tell her anything ta help us outta dis?”
“I tried, but the spell brought me back here before I
could’ve told her not to get involved.” Tracy said in disappointment. “I’m
sorry.”
Her apology did not seem to bring any peace over Rizzo as
the rat yelled, “Well, dat’s just great! Da one chance we had ta prevent all
dis from happenin’ and now we won’t get another shot at it!”
“Yeah, well… Huwezi kuzuia kwepeka, Rizzo.” Tracy uttered
with frustration.
Diana’s ears perked when she heard those Swahili words.
“What did you say, Tracy?”
“It’s what I told Joanie while I was there.” Tracy
remarked. “It means…”
“‘You cannot prevent the inevitable.’” Diana translated
in a soothing voice.
(Factual Note: "You cannot prevent the inevitable" can be considered basic rhetoric for paradoxes that characters in time-travel stories hope to achieve but cannot, due to the nature of time itself.)
The others were confused with the meaning behind the
message, which led Kermit to ask Tracy, “What made you tell Joanie that?”
The answer to Kermit’s question did not come from Tracy,
but Diana instead. “Because it’s what Joanie’s father told her…before he passed
away.”
Diana’s answer brought silence over the group once again;
some of them could not help but to see the irony in the message with the
situation that was happening there and then. More explosions rang through the
air, breaking the silence, and flashes came through the window of the chamber.
In immense curiosity, the group moved back to the window and saw how more
violent the fiery sky was becoming over the land. Hope began to disperse among
the group, seeing no other alternative in escaping the dire fate that awaited
them.
(UP NEXT: The final confrontation!)
No comments:
Post a Comment