Chapter Twenty-Five:
Realm Zone – 1977
“Think, think, think.” Pooh sat and muttered to himself
after being helped out of the bush that he fell into, trying to climb up a
honey tree. “Oh, bother. There was something or someone that I was trying to
think about or think of…but I’m forgetting.”
(Authorial Note: Livingston had not chosen any specific Pooh story to represent these scenes from the Hundred Acre Wood, since the stories "sort of write themselves and give freedom to create something original.")
Bella and Michelle stood before Pooh, observing his
moment of pondering and murmuring amongst each other of how “cute” and
“precious” the Pooh bear was to them. Hearing of his dilemma, Michelle knelt
down to be face-to-face with him and asked, “What was the last thing you were
thinking about before falling from the tree?”
“Oh, that’s easy.” Pooh said with a chuckle. “It was
honey.” He looked up at the tree he had fallen from and pointed to the very
top. “I could smell the honey when I
was close to it; but, unfortunately, being a bear with very small arms, I
couldn’t reach it.”
“Bless your heart.” Bella sadly said.
(Cultural Note: "Bless your heart" is a term used by the residents of the southern United States, particularly near the Gulf of Mexico, to express to someone that they are an idiot without saying such harsh words.)
“I’m sure we can
help you get it.” She turned to Brandy, who was sitting upon a rock nearby and
fiddling with her wristband. “Brandy, don’t you have something that could help
Pooh get his honey? With all of the wonderful tools you have, I’m sure there is
something you could pull…”
“May I speak with you girls for a moment please?” Brandy looked up and said
without giving Bella a chance to finish her statement. From the stern way she
spoke out her request, the sisters knew they were in trouble – both of their
hearts glowing a pinkish color. They walked over to Brandy as she stopped
fiddling with her wristband and heard her give them a strict reprimand. “You
two realize that, by interfering with the story of this dimension, you’re not
just putting the status of this world at risk, but our world as well.”
“We know, Brandy,” Michelle acknowledged, “but…it’s
Winnie the Pooh.”
“We both grew up on the stories.” Bella mentioned. “Our
mother used to read them to us when we were little, and we read them to Sean
when he was little. It’s sort of a
family tradition.”
(Narrative Note: Another example of Bella and Michelle's home realm is given with the inclination that only books exist but not television or movies. Adding this to Bella's surprise to Baskin-Robbins in Chapter Sixteen, it's a given as to how old-fashioned and simplistic their world is.)
“So you can understand us being so excited to be here,
don’t you?” Michelle asked.
Brandy looked left and right, seeing the great pleasure
in the faces of the two sisters. It was the happiest she had ever seen them
since discovering them in their realm and involving them in this bizarre
expedition of hers. After a long, deep sigh, she got up from the rock that had
been stinging her bottom for nearly an hour and walked over to Pooh, who was
still in thinking mode. “Uh, Pooh?” she said, feeling just as awkward
conversing with a Disney character as she did in the Little Mermaid world. “You still want that honey from the tree?”
“Oh, yes. More than anything.” Pooh remarked. “But I
don’t wish to fall from it again.”
Punching in a few holographic numbers on her wristband,
Brandy commenced in building a schematic of Pooh’s physique. A holographic
readout popped up from her wristband that noted Pooh’s height and body mass
index, as well as analyze the length and width of the honey tree. Once the
array of information was inputted into the wristband, a translucent blue beam
shot out from the device and placed an aura around Pooh, turning the bear from
yellow to a greenish hue. He giggled from the tickling sensation Brandy’s aura
gave him as he floated to the very top of the honey tree. Once he reached the
hole that he got near in his previous attempt at climbing the tree, Pooh
reached right inside and scooped up all the honey he wanted, putting it in his
mouth.
Pooh sang with delight as he treated himself to the
honey: “Hum dum de dum, hum dum de dum!
I’m so rumblee in my tumblee! Time to munch an early luncheon! Hum de dum dum!”
(Disney Note: "Rumbly in My Tumbly" is a song from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, which was released February 4, 1966. It was the studio's only Winnie the Pooh production released before Walt Disney's death ten months later of lung cancer. It was later added as a segment to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and served as a companion to the 1966 Disney Classic The Ugly Dachshund, starring Dean Jones.)
Over the entire time Pooh was enjoying the honey from the
tree, Bella and Michelle were watching with delight and feeling proud of Brandy
for helping the bear in the way she did. The two sisters then noticed how she
was inputting some other information into her wristband, which – from looking
at the holographic readout – appeared to be coordinates for another Disney
World. Becoming worried of this, Michelle asked, “We aren’t leaving now, are we?”
“No, I am.” Brandy said. “You two deserve a break, so
I’ll leave you here until you’re ready to go back. I’ll go and look for Sean
and Joanie.”
Bella and Michelle both smiled and unanimously said,
“Thank you, Brandy!”
“No problem. Just make sure you catch that little dude in
twenty minutes – that’s when the aura will wear off.”
Michelle and Bella nodded in affirmation of Brandy’s
warning while she departed from the Hundred Acre Wood in a bright flash.
Realm Zone – 1992
A dark alley within the city of Agrabah suddenly grew
bright as a ball of sparkling gold energy emerged within it. It transfigured
into a human form and finally merged into Brandy herself, donning a black,
hooded Arabian cloak. She looked at herself, impressed by her new threads, and
shut off her wristband to conserve its energy. Gazing around the new scenery,
she was shocked from the sight of the unnatural storm that was happening above
the city, fiery explosions erupting from inside the dark gray clouds. Something
was very wrong, and she had to guess it was because things were happening in
the realm that were not supposed to be.
(Setting Note: Alleys, dark or otherwise, have become a signature for Livingston, being featured as a setting in most of his works. It is the main place for supernatural events or shady encounters, the latter of which the darker alleys are reserved for.)
All of the sudden she heard a loud scream close nearby;
it was the scream of a young woman. It was soon followed by the voice of Robin
the Frog. “Let us go! We didn’t do anything wrong! Joanie, what’s happened to
you?!”
“My name is Dawn, creature!
And you and your companions will keep silent if you know what is best for you!”
(Narrative Note: This exchange between Robin and Dawn was used for the opening to Marvel Mayhem, which featured selected lines involving the "Dawn" character through the stories preceding it.)
The voice of a character that Brandy was unfamiliar with
sounded powerful and sinister, yet it was recognizable as well. Slowly moving
down the dark alley, Brandy peeked around the corner to see what was taking
place in the area. In the street, a group of palace guards were guiding some
beggars toward the palace. Amongst the beggars was Aladdin and Jasmine, but a
closer glance revealed Sean, Ciciley, Kermit, Robin, Fozzie, Scooter, Gonzo,
Bobo, Bean, and a woman whom Brandy did not recognize. They were all led by a
dark, menacing figure that – much to Brandy’s immediate surprise – was Joanie.
“What the heck…?” Brandy muttered to herself.
Knowing she had to get to the bottom of whatever was
going on, Brandy switched her wristband back on; it was a risky move,
considering the very little power left in it. What Brandy did next only
endangered that small amount even more. She activated a “stealth mode,” turning
herself invisible in a matter of seconds. Using her invisibility as an
advantage, Brandy closely followed the group as they traversed to the Sultan’s
palace. Not a single one of them detected her presence, which was good news for
her – as long as the wristband was retaining power.
(Spoiler Note: The Disney Access, which re-explores the events of this story from an entirely new perspective, will center on another version of Brandy that is less techno-savvy than the one we're introduced to here, yet still maintains a grasp of mid-21st century technology.)
When the group arrived in the throne room of the palace,
they were greeted by a surprised Sultan and Jafar. “Jasmine!” He exclaimed with
a mixed reaction of joy and worry.
“Father!”
However, it was not the
Princess Jasmine that approached the Sultan and hugged him, but rather it was
Princess Jasmine as Ciciley performing the action. It generated some bewildered
reactions from the others, noticeably Jafar, the palace guards, Ciciley (in the
guise of Jasmine), and especially the Sultan. Watching this, Brandy guessed
right away that yet another case of reanimation had occurred between Princess
Jasmine and Ciciley Thomas. She knew that this had to be a result of Bunsen
Honeydew’s primitive machine, much
like with Joanie.
Before circumstances became even weirder than they
already were, Sean pulled Jasmine away from the Sultan. Free from her grip, the
Sultan approached the woman who he thought was his actual daughter, Ciciley. “Jasmine, are you alright? Dawn told me how she
discovered you’d left the palace. Why?”
“Fath…” Ciciley could not longer play this charade any
longer; the situation had become too dire to do so. “Look, dude…I’m not your daughter. My name is Ciciley
and that…” She pointed to Jasmine.
“…is what I look like! Your real
daughter has switched places with me for some bizarre reason or another!”
The Sultan glanced back and forth between Ciciley and
Jasmine, his head practically spinning from the rapid gestures it was making.
“Wh…What?! Is t-this…sorcery?!?!”
“Indeed it is, Your Majesty,” Dawn said, “but I can
rectify it.”
“You can?” The Sultan uttered.
“You can?!” Both Jafar and Iago repeated.
Without saying a word, Dawn let actions speak louder than
words. She gestured for the guards to place Jasmine and Ciciley side-by-side
with each other and then walked right in front of them. Placing her hands on
both of their heads, Dawn shut her eyes and focused long and hard. Brandy,
quite the disbeliever of magic, observed the scene with little interest;
however, what she had seen next made that interest grow to the point of
suspicion.
(Narrative Note: This isn't the only circumstance where we see Dawn perform magic in the palace throne room in Agrabah. She displays another feat within the same setting in Tales of the Disneyverse.)
Both Dawn’s hands and the eyes of Ciciley and Jasmine
glowed in an intense white hue. It was not long before Dawn’s eyes started
glowing as well. The transaction lasted for only a few seconds, and everyone
observing the scene as it took place did so with looks of awe and even fear.
After it was done, the glowing stopped and Dawn calmly stepped back from the
two women. Ciciley and Jasmine held their heads in hand and groaned, squinting
hard.
Sean cautiously approached Ciciley and asked, “Cici…are
you okay?”
Ciciley looked down at the marbled floor they were
standing on and saw her reflection on its surface. It was the reflection she
was used to seeing in the twenty-three years she had been alive. She smiled and
looked to her brother as she exclaimed, “I’m me again!”
(Character Note: Also in Dawn's introductory scene from Tales of the Disneyverse, Genevieve - the receiver of the wicked sorceress's magic - looks at her reflection on the marbled floor, only her reaction is not as welcoming as Ciciley's.)
“Hooray!” Bean cheered.
“Mazel tov!” Bobo yelled with applause.
Jasmine went to her father and embraced him again – this
time as her true self. “Oh, Father! I’ve missed you so!”
“I am not sure what has happened, Jasmine, but I am
certainly grateful to see you back.” The Sultan then glanced to Dawn and added,
“You are in my gratitude for bringing my daughter back to me.”
“You can start by allowing Jafar and I to wed here in
your throne room…now!” Dawn
requested.
The request was met with much surprise from everyone in
the room, including Ciciley. “You said that you were going to hold it tomorrow,” she said.
“That was a conversation that you had no place in!” Dawn
told Ciciley, right before she ordered the guards. “Take them to the dungeon!”
“Oh, this is some…”
The woman who Brandy could not recognize was quickly
silenced by the captain guard when he struck her upon the back of her head,
knocking her out instantly. She fell into the waiting arms of the guard as he
and his men led the prisoners out of the throne room. Aladdin showed some
resistance against the guards, screaming to the Sultan, “But we didn’t do
anything wrong!”
Hearing his cries, Jasmine quickly told her father, “He’s
telling the truth! Father, you cannot let them be committed for nothing like
this!”
“They held your daughter against her will, Your
Highness.” Dawn stated. “Such action should be met with crude punishment. I am
simply keeping your daughter safe from the evil
forces we are dealing with.”
The Sultan seemed at a loss for words. “B-But…they don’t appear evil…especially not those two
bears and frogs.”
Dawn moved in closer to the Sultan and Jasmine, glaring
into both of their eyes with a hypnotic gaze that plagued hers. The blue hue of
them began swirling rapidly, causing Jasmine and the Sultan’s to do the same.
Brandy watched closely and carefully, along with Jafar and Iago, as another
display of magic (albeit dark magic)
took place before them. “There is nothing to worry about here. You will focus on the wedding for Jafar and
me. Is that understood?”
“The prisoners are no longer our concern.” Jasmine
mindlessly said.
“Your wedding is more important.” The Sultan stated in
the same manner. “We shall hold it here in the throne room without any further
delay.”
Seeing what just occurred, Jafar and Iago grew scared and
cold.
“I think your new ‘girlfriend’ has surpassed your level
of freakiness, Jafar.” The parrot commented.
Jafar swallowed hard and admitted, “I fear you are
correct in your presumption, my friend.”
The situation had the same effect on Brandy; but, unlike
Jafar and Iago, she intended on doing something about it. As quickly as
possible, she pursued the guards and followed them as they took Sean and his
friends to the palace’s dungeon. If she was going to set things right in this
world, she was certainly going to need their assistance to do so. With power
from her wristband fading fast, she would need to resort to “old school”
tactics…something she did not take much excitement in doing.
(UP NEXT: The price of living evil!)
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