Chapter Twenty-Nine:
Time Zone – Unknown
Brandy slowly regained consciousness after being thrown
into the empty seats near the stage in the auditorium, having landed awkwardly
in one of them; her upper body slid in between the cushions, trapping her arms
and keeping her in a bent-forward position. Squirming a little, Brandy
attempted to free herself from the discomfort, but to no
avail. It was not long before she felt something grab her hips and pull her out
of the spot with great force. Turning to her rescuer, Brandy noticed it was
Joie, who regained consciousness herself along with Gina, Bella, and Michelle
shortly before Brandy had.
“You okay, kid?” Joie asked her.
Brandy nodded. “I’m fine. Are you girls alright?”
“We’re fine.” Michelle confirmed with a nod.
After seeing that the five of them were in one piece,
Brandy grew concerned for the others, including Sean. Just as she thought of
him, Brandy suddenly spotted both him and Joanie running across the stage and failing to notice Brandy, Joie, Gina, Bella, or Michelle standing within the
auditorium. As the two entered backstage right, Brandy could hear Sean ask his
mother from the area, “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Are you…are you alright?”
“That music…it’s bringing back so many memories. I…I
can’t exactly explain it. Just…Just trust me, okay?”
Brandy then heard the stage door open and one of the two
(presumably Joanie) leave the building. Curious to know what transpired while
she and the girls were unconscious, Brandy headed onto the stage and dashed
backstage right with Joie, Gina, Bella, and Michelle following. The girls found
Sean standing in the doorway, looking out into an empty back alley with a
puzzled look on his face. Curious to know what happened, Brandy asked Sean,
“Where did Joanie go?”
Sean shook his head and answered, “I wish I knew. One
minute, I’m watching her leave the Theater, and then…she’s gone!”
(Authorial Note: The initial idea Livingston had for Joanie's disappearance was an invisible barrier surrounding the theater that caused anyone to step outside to be instantly transported to another realm and time. He changed it to only influence her, as it not only would have prevented the other characters from exploring their whereabouts, following the Evil Queen's attack on the Gateway, but drawn out the story further with inconsequential references to more Disney worlds. By this point, Livingston knew a sequel was imminent and merely wished to tie up all loose ends to the story.)
“Well, where did
she go?” Gina elaborated on Brandy’s question.
“That’s what I’m telling you…she vanished out of thin
air.” Sean stated as clearly as possible. “She stepped one foot out of the
building and disappeared right in front of me.”
Hearing this, Brandy turned to her wristband and brought
up a holographic display that appeared somewhat static, despite having been
fully charged prior to the “incident” with the Evil Queen. Glancing at the
see-through, blue-and-purple data display, Brandy squinted closely and uttered,
“Oh, man…”
“What? What’s up?” Joie asked.
Brandy paused for a brief time and answered,
“Well…among other things, the Theater is currently surrounded by an unknown
form of energy that my computer isn’t able to detect…it could’ve been what took
Joanie.”
Sean nodded, appearing to understand the possibility.
“With that magical transformation she underwent in the Aladdin world, I wouldn’t be too surprised if this ‘energy’ might
be the same as whatever gave her those magic powers.” He then shook his head
and added, “Bunsen’s machine really did a number of everything and everyone
around it. My sisters are gone, Kermit and the other Muppets are gone, and now
my mother’s gone. Who knows how this might affect the timeline…”
Seeing how distraught Sean was, Brandy glanced at her
other hand – the one that was not bound with a metal wristband. She sighed and
told him, “I’m your daughter.” Hearing her words, the heads of Joie, Gina,
Bella, and Michelle snapped up in surprise – more from Joie and Gina than Bella
and Michelle.
Sean glanced at her, caught off guard by what she just
said. “What?”
“I might as well come out and say it now because I may
never have a chance again, but…my name is Brandy Thomas…I’m your daughter from twenty-seven years in the future.”
(Narrative Note: In subsequent World of Disney tales, Brandy's conception occurs much later in Sean's timeline. Between the final tale from Tales of the Disneyverse and the prologue of Marvel Mayhem, readers can presume that Brandy's birth occurs sometime between 2017 and 2018. Of course, because of preceding events in World of Disney 3, the exact time and date is a mute point.)
Sean did the math in his head and estimated on the year.
“2037.” He smiled upon Brandy and remarked, “To be honest, I kind of figured
you were.”
Brandy’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? For how
long?”
“Ciciley caught on back when we were in Agrabah – told me
that you look a lot like Joanie and also me.” Sean informed. “I guess the
‘color barrier’ switches each generation.” His statement made Brandy chuckle a
little. “What I can’t figure out is
why you never told me?” The question he put upon his future daughter gave him a
sudden sense of déjà vu; it was close to the same one that Joanie asked him not
very long ago.
“I just didn’t want it to affect my existence by telling you who I was and where I came from.”
Brandy opened up. “I guess it really doesn’t matter, after seeing how you and Grandmama
connected.”
(Authorial Note: At the time in writing this scene, Livingston allowed this to be the excuse of Brandy's trepidation. However, in writing the World of Disney stories between this one and the upcoming Disney Access, he has decided to flesh the character out more. So Brandy is officially not telling the whole truth in this scene.)
Listening to Brandy’s reasons for keeping the truth that
she was his daughter a secret, Sean felt more than determined to get Joanie
back to the Muppet Theater from wherever it was that she vanished to. Without
warning, he took a step past the doorway and onto the concrete outside, much to
the shock of Brandy and the other girls. Brandy screamed for him to wait and
stop before his foot touched the outdoor ground, but it was already down before
she said anything. Even Sean expected something strange to occur, such as
vanishing from sight himself; however, after a few seconds, he and the ladies
realized that he was still standing where he was.
(Character Note: Because of his strong bloodline to Joanie and his future as her successor in the "Guardian of the Disneyverse" position, Sean essentially should have succumbed himself to the energy field. However, he has not fully tapped into his true power as much as Joanie has at this point, which keeps him immune. What we find out in the next chapter also plays into the reasoning behind this.)
“Dude! Don’t scare us like that again!” Gina exclaimed.
“Sorry.” Sean uttered. “I know Joanie still might be
somewhere here in Orlando, and I’m going to find her…for both of our sakes.” He
placed a comforting hand on Brandy’s shoulder while openly volunteering for the
task that he placed upon himself and then ran out of sight.
Brandy tried to call her father back, but he was already
away before she had a chance. Watching Sean make his departure, Michelle smiled
and said, “Your father is one brave man, Brandy.”
“He should’ve waited before I gave him the other bit of
news I discovered.” Brandy stated.
“What other bit of news?” Joie inquired.
Brandy sighed in grief and replied, “We’re not in Orlando anymore. We’re in
Anaheim.”
“California?!” Joie yelled in shock. “How did we get all
the way out here?”
“It has to be another side affect from whatever Bunsen’s
machine has done now.” Brandy presumed. “But that’s not the worst of it…”
Gina rolled her eyes in aggravation. “I’m almost afraid
to ask, but…what is ‘the worst of
it?’”
“According to my computer, we’re in another version of
Anaheim, California.”
“Another version?” Bella uttered.
Joie added to the confusion by saying, “As in…?”
“Another dimension.” Brandy clarified.
---------------------------
After running a few blocks away from the Muppet Theater,
things did not start to look familiar whatsoever to Sean. Most of the street
names appeared differently than when he last remembered them; many of them were
Californian street names rather than Floridian. Soon the streets were not the
only things that became unrecognizable; several places were different as well.
It was not long before Sean witnessed the biggest difference of all…
Without even realizing where he was, Sean came directly
across what looked to be the entrance into the Disneyland Resort; he would have
first thought that he misread the sign as “Disneyland” and not “Disney World,”
but the entrance looked exactly as it appeared in Anaheim, California. As he
stood awestruck at the colorful Disneyland Resort sign with many models of
Mickey Mouse-shaped balloons “hovering” over it, several people passed by him,
walking under the sign and into the path leading straight to the intersection
of the Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, and Downtown Disney. Eventually, three young
blondes stopped as they passed by Sean, and one of them happily exclaimed,
“Sean! You’re here!”
Quickly noticing that the woman was addressing him, he
looked to her and asked, “Do I know you?”
“Now what way is that to talk to your dear old sister,
man?” The woman remarked, suddenly taking him by the hand and leading him into
the Disneyland Resort. “C’mon! We’re goin’ to miss the cast member preview
while it’s still happenin’!”
The other two blondes followed Sean and the one who
appeared to be the oldest amongst them. The youngest blonde of the three, who
looked to be a few years younger than Sean, soon curiously asked him, “Hey, why
aren’t you wearin’ your tag?”
Sean realized what she meant when he spotted a nametag
pinned on her shirt that read the name of “Aubrie.” Glancing among the other
two blondes, he noticed their names to be “Danny” and “Feather.” Their nametags
signified that they were cast members of the Disneyland Resort, which they
believed Sean to have been as well. “Uh…I left it home.” It was a lame lie, but
it was definitely a believable one for the three women.
(Biographical Note: "Aubrie," "Danny," and "Feather" are based on and inspired by figure models and Livingston's personal friends Aubrie Richeson, Danny Johnson, and Feather Hadden respectively. Had the original draft of "WOD2" been a success with Livingston, it would have been the second collaboration he would have with all three women. Feather is the only one who he still has plans to reintroduce back into the World of Disney series, presumably to help bring closure to the plotline introduced in this chapter.)
Feather, the one blonde who was practically pulling
Sean’s arm off, simply stated in response to the situation, “It’s cool. We’re
invited to have friends and family anyway.”
“Man! I am pumped about this new ride!” Danny said before
nudging to Sean and asking, “How about you, bro?”
Sean attempted to mask his confusion with excitement.
“Um, yeah! I’m really stoked about it.” Using the mock excitement to his
advantage, he then requested, “Hey, do one of you have a map of the park? I
just want to get a good look at it before we show up at the gate.”
“I’ve got one.” Aubrie handed the Disneyland Park
brochure over to Sean, and he unfolded it to look over the map of the park.
Sean had only been to Disneyland once with Meagan and Ciciley last summer and
practically studied the park map while spending a day there. What he saw on the
map looked the same with only one very
noticeable (and eerie) difference – right where Space Mountain was supposed to
be, there stood the iconic 18-story geodesic sphere from Walt Disney World’s
Epcot theme park where it was known as “Spaceship Earth.”
However, on the Disneyland park map, the geodesic sphere
went under the attraction name “World of Disney.” The opening date for the
attraction was listed for July 2011. Upon seeing the date, Sean instinctively
asked the three blondes, “What is today?”
Feather turned her head, looking a little confused.
“Huh?”
“Today…What’s today?”
Exchanging puzzled glances with Danny and Aubrie, Feather
answered, “It’s Thursday.”
“No, I mean the date.” Sean clarified.
The four suddenly stopped just a few feet from the ticket
booth near the intersection and Danny inquired in great concern, “Sean, are you
okay? We don’t have to go if you’re…”
“Would you please
just tell me the date?!” Sean frantically requested.
Aubrie paused before she replied, “It’s the thirtieth of
June…2011.”
It was just as Sean thought…he was no longer in his time, in the state of Florida, or
even (possibly) in the right plane of existence. The first thing that came to
mind upon receiving his answer from Aubrie was Bunsen Honeydew’s machine and where it currently got him.
(UP NEXT: The Guardian is born!)
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