The Marvelous World: World of Disney 2 - Chapter Twenty-Four (w/ Commentary Notes)

Chapter Twenty-Four: S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier – 2012

            Mindy felt like kicking herself when she received the call from Fury that the Hulk had arrived in the hangar, because she was on the other side of the Helicarrier with Lisa, Sammi, and Pluto, dealing with the dozen thugs that popped in unannounced. With her “Super Soldier” abilities, taking out the thugs was not a problem; but she preferred her skillset to be reserved for the Hulk, who was not only a more challenging adversary but a far more dangerous one to everyone else on the aircraft carrier. Once she was finished putting the thugs into submission, she rushed over to the hangar with Lisa, Sammi, and Pluto in tow and found a half-sleeping Hulk tied down by Mrs. Incredible.

(Authorial Note: The grouping between Mindy and Lisa, Sammi, and Pluto was not intentionally done to establish Mindy's actual identity as a Guardian of the Disneyverse. Considering this story was written before Livingston's initial decision to settle on her being a reincarnation, the grouping is simply a "happy coincidence.")

            At first, Mindy was highly disappointed that she missed out on the confrontation, but disappointment made way for concern when she spotted Fury tending to an injured Ciciley. “Oh, no,” she cried while rushing over to them. “Is she alright?”

            Ciciley groaned – more in anger than in pain. “Argh! I don’t go down so easily to any greenie…even the literal ones.” Her sarcasm was enough to assure Mindy that she was fine, albeit wracked with pain.

(Character Note: Ciciley's surviving the Hulk's attack with only minor injury ties with the rejuvenation Gigi's blood gifted her with, virtually making her immortal. This immortality is discovered further in Marvel Mayhem.)

            “I should’ve been here with you all.” Mindy said, her discouragement returning.

            “Nobody could’ve counted on the Hulk coming to this part of the ship, kid.” Fury justified. “We were all caught off guard. Don’t blame yourself on what happened.”

            Mindy nodded, accepting Fury’s justification for the unforeseen change of events. It still didn’t prevent her from playing out what would have happened had she arrived on time to help them face the Hulk. All her years of training, being built up to be as efficient of a soldier as Captain America himself, put into perfect use against the green behemoth, making both Fury and especially Ciciley proud. Her fantasy was brought to a brusque end when she and the others heard loud, frantic shrieking from past the hangar entrance.

(Character Note: The life Mindy takes up for herself in the Marvel Universe comes from Sean Thomas's strong desire to be a hero, which we've seen in World of Disney. As Guardian, she sees herself being a superhero with her unlimited abilities and finds no better place to make use of them than the realm of Marvel.)

            They watched Gaston enter with Jack-Jack (back in his normal form) still clinging to his head and giggling. Seeing Jack-Jack on top of Gaston’s head, Helen went into her “mother mode,” distracted enough to untie herself from the Hulk and focus on her infant son along with Bob, Violet, and Dash, who were all equally concerned. “What’s that guy doing to my son?” She shouted.

            Gaston, hearing what Helen had said, managed to remove Jack-Jack from his head and hold him in his massive hands, glaring at him. “What am I doing to him? He did this to me!” He pointed to the deep scratches on his once-flawless face, which made him look as if he had been mauled by a tiger. “This child is a monster! And I’m going to do what I always do to monsters!”

            “NO!” The Incredibles screamed as they watched Gaston toss the giggling Jack-Jack into the air and swiftly pull out his bow and arrow, intending to exterminate the infant child while it was in the air.

            Before the arrow could have escaped Gaston’s bow, he was brought down by Sammi, who unleashed an effective punch to Gaston’s already damaged face. Both Gaston and his weapon fell to the floor with a collective thud; he drifted into unconscious straightaway. “Why don’t ya pick on someone your own size, big fella?” Sammi told the beaten Gaston while Pluto successfully caught Jack-Jack by the collar with his teeth. “Way to go, Pluto!”

            Helen and the other Incredibles rushed to Pluto and Jack-Jack. She took her baby from Pluto, who was shown gratitude for his quick-thinking by the superhero family as they petted him. Dash was so thankful of the noble dog’s actions that he randomly exclaimed, “I wanna dog just like this one!”

            The sudden request caught Bob off guard. “Well, uh…we’ll consider that when we get back home, Dash.”

            Meanwhile, Lisa expressed her own gratitude for the heroic actions of Sammi, giving a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. “That was a brave deed, apprentice.”

            “Had to do something, Master. Couldn’t let this ol’ bully hurt that lil’ guy.” Sammi said as she looked upon the unconscious Gaston and felt a surge of confidence. “Wow. Don’t even know my own strength, do I?”

            “Only because it was not your strength – it was Sammi’s.” Lisa stated.

            Sammi blushed and chuckled as the mouse behind the make-believe S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was reminded of that fact. “Oh, uh, right.”

(Authorial Note: Livingston had the idea of Yen Sid and Mickey taking on more of the physical traits of their real world characters in the lengthy duration they have spent as them while powerless and stuck in the forms of "Lisa" and "Sammi." He wanted for them to develop mental traits - i.e. memories - as well, starting a descent into losing their true identities, but he did not want too much focus to be on the transformation in the final moments of the story.)

            When it seemed that things had calmed down after the downfall of Gaston, the growl of a reawakening Hulk returned chaos to the provisionally peaceful atmosphere. Mindy’s body grew tense, as did the others in the hangar with her, upon seeing the Hulk return to his feet and glare at them all. Mindy looked around at the group – Fury and Ciciley were already exhausted and battered from the earlier confrontation, the Incredibles were now tasked with protecting their youngest member from the monster, and there was so much Lisa, Sammi, and Pluto could do in this situation. She realized that the moment she had prepared herself for had come, and she did not waste any time in engaging. All of her frustrations in missing out on her previous opportunity, which resulted in Ciciley’s injury, she put into each remarkable blow that she released on the Hulk.

            Ciciley watched and smiled proudly over the variety of fighting skills Mindy used against the Hulk, each one taking the creature by surprise. Mindy was too quick for him, cartwheeling and back-flipping her way around and even over him while at times knocking him off his feet. She was indeed the female equivalent of Captain America and surprising everyone in the hangar, especially Fury.

(Marvel Note: Mindy's moveset in this confrontation with the Hulk is inspired by that of Emil Blonsky in his super soldier-induced combat with the Hulk in 2008's The Incredible Hulk.)

            “Remember – that’s my girl,” Ciciley whispered to the smiling S.H.I.E.L.D. director.

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            From the moment he first laid eyes on its round, gigantic structure, Sean had been profoundly curious to see the inside of the Sphere, which made accompanying Sheryl inside of it not so bad for him. The interior of the Sphere was not as exciting as he expected it to be. The corridors that he and Sheryl passed through looked not nearly as engaging as the ones in the Helicarrier. To him, it looked more like the corridors from Captain Kirk’s Enterprise, only more chrome-plated. A pair of red and green pipes ran along the upper half of the walls – to where they led, Sean didn’t have the foggiest idea. It was hard for him to believe a Muppet designed and constructed such a massive innovation.

(Narrative Note: This can be observed as the second time Sean Thomas - as his "Sheryl" reincarnation - has been inside the Sphere, but the first for his parallel counterpart, Agent Sean Livingston.)

            “Is it true?”

            He heard Sheryl question him while they were rapidly walking through the corridor. “What?”

            “What you said about having vertigo? Is it true?”

            “What does it matter? It got our big butts in here, didn’t it?”

            Sheryl stopped just as they reached an intersection, urging Sean to stop as well and see the intensity on her face as she addressed him. “It matters because it means all other versions of me in different realms are like me in personality but not in lifestyle. For example, do you hate spicy foods?”

            Sean scoffed. “What does that have to…?”

            “Do you?”

            He saw that she was being serious with her inquiry; this was something that she desperately needed to know, despite the highly important mission they were on. With a heavy sigh, he answered, “Yes. Yes, I’ve always hated spicy foods.”

            Sheryl nodded. “You are me. Or, at least, you’re who I once was.” She shook her head negatively. “No, no. You cannot be here with me, Sean. If anything happens to you…”

            Their conversation ended just as a loud boom echoed throughout the intersecting corridors while a hail of gunfire whizzed by their heads and struck one of the overhead pipes, releasing a geyser of steam. The two turned to find a familiar character standing further down their corridor and aiming his rifle at them both. It didn’t take much focus for Sean and Sheryl to recognize the visitor as they both shouted out his name: “Clayton!”

            Another hail of gunfire escaped the barrel of his rifle, prompting Sean and Sheryl to take cover at one of the corners of the corridor that intersected theirs. Sean drew out his Screaming Eagle but was quickly stopped by Sheryl. “No! We can’t hurt him!”

(Marvel Note: Agent Sean Livingston's standard handgun, the Screaming Eagle .50, is one of the weapons of choice in the Marvel: Avengers Alliance online game. It is based on the real-life Desert Eagle gun, which also has a caliber of .50.)

            “Then you come up with another way to keep him from bustin’ a cap in us!” Sean demanded with aggravation. “I don’t know why he’s shooting at me anyway. The last time I met this guy he nearly killed me with that same gun. And now he’s trying to do it on purpose? Something’s not right here.”

            Taking this information into consideration, Sheryl poked her head around the corner and stared directly at Clayton, who saw her exposed head and took aim. Her eyes briefly glowed as she fleetingly “scanned” Clayton before moving her head back behind the corner in time to avoid the shot Clayton took at the architecture, barely putting a scratch in it. After receiving the info she needed from her scan, she turned to Sean and said, “He’s been enchanted by Facilier, just like the Hulk. He’s no longer in control of his thoughts or actions.”

            “So what do we do?”

            “I have to bring an end to this nightmare he’s created. It’s the only way to get everything back to normal.”

            “Then go. Go take that fool down. I’ll take care of this one.”

            Sheryl desperately sighed, taking one last look at Sean. She hugged him and whispered in his ear, “Stay alive, brother.”

            Sean smiled. “Same to you, brot—er—sister.”

(Authorial Note: Livingston was inspired of the idea of Sean's counterparts - both parallel and reincarnation - addressing one another as "brother" and "sister" while writing this scene. He thought of them being like siblings, since they are all the same person and of one blood. The idea was also inspired by Livingston's real-life manner of addressing friends as "brother" or "sister.")

            She then left his side and ran down the intersecting corridor, crossing Clayton’s field of vision and encouraging him to try and take another shot at her. Sean robbed him of that chance by firing his Screaming Eagle Clayton’s way, making sure not to strike him. He took cover again as Clayton fired at him, hitting the floor that time. Sean realized that the gorilla hunter (now man hunter) was getting closer to his position. Searching for another way of dealing with the adversary, Sean spotted the pipe that Clayton struck; steam continued to shoot out of it, clouding up half of the corridor. This gave him the excellent strategy against Clayton.

            Putting his Screaming Eagle to a more effective use, Sean fired upon the pipes. Large quantities of steam shot out from them, obscuring Clayton’s view. The strategy worked too well for Sean as his view was obscured by the dense fog also. Smooth move, Livingston, he cynically thought to himself. Using his S.H.I.E.L.D. training, he kept his focus keen, just as he anticipated Clayton had done, and hoped that he didn’t have to use the Screaming Eagle against the armed Disney villain.

(Disney Note: Clayton's "manhunt" for Agent Livingston mirrors that of Tarzan in the climax of the 1999 film, albeit he is more aware of his actions in that scenario.)

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            When Sheryl arrived in the Sphere’s generator room, she expected it to appear the way it did when she was there last time as Sean Thomas. It was the most majestic area of the Sphere, housing its main power source. Whether it was science or sorcery that powered the generator, Sheryl would never be certain about; but she was certain about Facilier being there. The scene that welcomed her presence in the area was not that of a majestic one but an eerie, terrifying one instead. The gigantic area – shaped in the same manner of the sphere it was contained in with walls that reflected its exterior structure – carried an atmosphere reminiscent of a voodoo shop. The glowing, spinning, and floating mini version of the geodesic sphere in the glass cylinder – that was part of a large, complex generator mechanism housed at the very center of the room – was purple rather than orange.

(Setting Note: The atmosphere of the Sphere's generator room, while under Facilier's control, is primarily based on his shop from The Princess and the Frog, but Livingston incorporated the feel of the seance room from The Haunted Mansion, with the mini-sphere reminiscent of Madame Leota's crystal ball form.)

            Shadows of monstrous creatures moved about the walls, darkening the large room to the point where the mini sphere was the only source of light that illuminated a tiny portion of it. The moving shadows, which Sheryl figured were Facilier’s “Friends on the Other Side” (accompanying him in his goal of “universe domination”), stopped and glared her way as she entered. From their awareness of her, she realized that Facilier was aware of her presence as well. He stood in his dark form at the end of the walkway leading to the control panel; Yen Sid’s hat glowed in an eerie purple hue on top of his head. Slowly, he spun around – not with his body but by the magic he possessed – and looked towards Sheryl with his glowing purple eyes.

            “So…got your fancy body back, eh?” He spoke in his new voice, which sounded deeper and more hallowed than the last time she heard it. “You are just like your dear mama. Just too bad she ain’t here to cheer you on. You’re all alone.”

            She didn’t allow his taunts to get the best of her. Instead, she focused on her primary goal and began moving down the walkway with a surge of confidence. “It’s over, Facilier. That magic isn’t yours anymore.”

            “It is mine, child. Just watch what I can do with it.”

            Sheryl felt her next steps hard to take. Looking down, she saw that her feet and shins had melted into a puddle of mixed colors on the walkway. She was cut down to size because of Facilier’s trick, putting her at a foot below her regular height. The shadows – Facilier’s “Friends” – cackled at her weakened state. However, unbeknownst to Facilier and his connections, Sheryl remained calm and focused. They watched in surprise as her melted lower half reformed itself, enabling her to continue advancing towards an unsettled Facilier.

            “You think you can just take it away from me so easily? Well, you’re wrong!”

            Sheryl felt an odd, prickly sensation come over every inch of her body. She looked at her hands and witnessed the flesh dissolve from it, giving way to just bones. The rest of her body followed the same process until only her skeleton remained. Her skeletal remnants then dissolved on their own, leaving only a pile of ash and clothes on the walkway. Facilier smiled and his “Friends” screeched over the sinister deed. Unfortunately for them, the celebration was short-lived as Sheryl’s ashes and clothes swirled upwards by an invisible force and she was returned to normal right before the stunned eyes of Facilier.

            She grinned at the so-called Shadow Sorcerer’s facial reaction, which implied panic. “All out of tricks, Doc?”

            Facilier did indeed panic as Sheryl got closer and closer to him. But when he saw that confidence in her face – the same confidence Sean showed when he had him cornered back in the base – an idea struck the mind of the Shadow Sorcerer. He smiled and told the sorceress, “Just one.”

            Again, Sheryl felt the odd, prickly sensation come over her body. Believing him to have used the same spell, she was heavily unimpressed. “Such a lame attempt at…” She stopped at the moment she heard her voice, which wasn’t her voice. It was the voice of her original incarnation, Sean Thomas. Looking at her hands, she noticed that they were the hands of a young black male. She reached up and touched her hair; it was very short and curly instead of long and straight.

(Narrative Note: This is the first of few instances in which a reincarnation of Sean Thomas has reverted back to his form. Another case is in Tales of the Disneyverse where most of the reincarnations fused with each other and unintentionally managed to bring Sean back, although there were mental "side effects." The third case is recently in World of Disney 3, as Anne-Marie attempted to reincarnate back into Sean, but only temporarily succeeding.)

            A handheld mirror magically materialized in the hands of Facilier, and he held it right in front of Sheryl. She saw not herself in her reflection but a 26-year-old Sean Thomas. She touched her own face and Sean performed the same action in the mirror. She had really transformed back into Sean Thomas – all because of Facilier. The Shadow Sorcerer relished in seeing how his last spell finally ensnared his opponent. “Look at it. Your old self again. Yen Sid never taught you how to go back to bein’ the man you once were, but I can. It’s what you’ve wanted since becoming Sheryl. Your youth, your manhood, and your humanity. It can be all yours…if you become my apprentice.”

            Sean Thomas looked away from the mirror and to Facilier, glaring upon the Shadow Sorcerer. “You had me until ‘my apprentice.’” Without warning, he reached at the hat on Facilier’s head and got a strong grip on it. He felt an overwhelming surge of negative energy shock and paralyze his hand, yet he maintained his grip on it. His hand slowly morphed back into that of Sheryl, as did the rest of his body, eliminating Facilier’s spell and returning him to his reincarnated form.

            Sheryl remained focused despite the devastating negative energy that attempted to drain out her life force – the same sinister power that killed her mother. She screamed in immense pain, much to Facilier’s delight. But the screams of agony soon turned to those of will. Her eyes glowed in a fierce ghostly white hue while she took control of the evil force that attempted to eradicate her. She grew stronger through her determination; in contrast, Facilier began to grow weaker from his loss of focus. The sudden shift in power caught him off guard; he tried to fight back, but his efforts led to black smoke emitting from beneath the hat and a burning pain that came over his scalp. Now Facilier was the one screaming in agony, whereas Sheryl remained calm.

            After a prolonged struggle between the two powerful entities over the hat, Facilier was finally forced to yield. He fell back, pushed away by an unseen force, and collapsed on the walkway. His “Shadow Sorcerer” attire faded back into his regular clothes, only they had become tattered – presumably from the struggle that he lost in. His hair was completely singed off, leaving only a bald and badly burned head. In his weakened state, he gazed up at Sheryl, who stood victorious with the hat, which had returned to its glittering blue and white design. It glowed under her touch as she looked on it with her glowing white eyes.

            In his horrid, pitiful condition, Facilier panicked and resorted to begging at the feet of Sheryl. “P-Please. D-Don’t take me b-back. Y-Y-You don’t know w-what they’ll d-do to me.”

            “I do know, Facilier,” Sheryl said in her mighty, hallowed voice. “The question is: Are you ready?”

(Disney Note: "Are You Ready?" is one of the lyrics to the "Friends on the Other Side" number sung by Facilier in The Princess and the Frog. It's what he asks of his customers/victims before he places his spell over them. The Shadow Demons sing a reprise of the song in the film's climax when Facilier is dragged to their world for not paying his debt, asking him the same question.)

            Facilier caught on to her reference, and it terrified him. He looked around at the shadows – his “Friends” – and realized that they were all glaring at him in the wake of Sheryl’s victory. “No. No! NO! OH, PLEASE! NO!” He watched Sheryl place the hat upon her head and was blinded by the intense white light that phenomenally emerged from her entire body, consuming Facilier, the shadows, and the entire room.

(Authorial Note: Livingston personally felt this demise of Doctor Facilier was more satisfying than that of the film, even though elements of that end for the Disney Villain are integrated into this scene, such as his fear of what the Shadow Demons will do him. It is virtually the same demise as in World of Disney with the Evil Queen, taking place in the same area - the generator room walkway.)

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            In the midst of the wild brawl between Mindy and the Hulk – which battered, bruised, and bloodied the two combatants – the Hulk fell to his knees and clasped his head with both hands. Mindy and the others looked on in confusion, wondering if she struck him hard enough to induce brain damage. In a surprising turn of events, they then saw the green behemoth change back into the form of Bruce Banner and collapse to the floor. They attempted to verbally question the circumstance until a bright flash of light shined into the hangar area, temporarily blinding them. It was not an explosion as there was not a loud boom to accompany the flash; yet it did come directly from where the Sphere hovered in the sky.

            Once the light was extinguished, they saw that the Sphere had disappeared from the sky. In addition to the alien artifact, the Incredibles and Gaston disappeared as well from the Helicarrier’s hangar. But the group did gain one member that appeared in the area while the characters vanished. It was Sean Livingston, who was bewildered to find himself back on the aircraft carrier. “How did I get here?”

            “We might ask you the same question.” Fury remarked.

            “I dunno.” Sean said, still baffled to see that he was there. “One minute, I was hiding from Clayton in the Sphere…then the next, I’m back here.”

            The engines of an approaching jet aircraft directed their attention to the hangar entrance as both the quinjet and Iron Man returned. Soon after the landing, Elendriel departed from the ramp and was taken aback from her half-brother’s presence. “How did you…?”

            “Don’t ask.” Sean replied before she had a chance to finish.

            Static came over Fury’s earpiece; he then heard Maria Hill’s frantic voice annihilate his ear drum. “Director Fury! Are you there, sir? Come in! This is Agent Hill!”

            “Hill, what’s your situation?” Fury asked.

            “It’s…all clear here, sir. The enemy has just…disappeared.” Hill informed. “Every single intruder is gone. So are our friends in this fight – Flynn, Rapunzel, Belle, and Pocahontas.”

            Fury felt relieved over the news. “And so has the Sphere and the Incredibles.”

            “And the Hulk, sir?”

            Fury glanced over at the unconscious Bruce Banner, who was being checked on by Mindy. “Back in our good graces. Banner’s going to need some medical assistance.” He looked down at Ciciley and added, “Make that two.”

            “Screw you,” said a grinning, sarcastic Ciciley.

            From the corner of his eye, Sean noticed shifts in the shapes of Lisa and Sammi. Turning his head to the two agents, he realized that they had morphed back into their true identities as Mickey Mouse and Yen Sid. “So it did work,” he deduced from their display of sorcery. “Sheryl stopped Facilier.”

            “She did indeed, Agent Livingston.” Yen Sid confirmed. “Our magic has returned and order has been restored to our worlds.”

            “I just knew she’d get the job done.” Mickey said while petting Pluto.

            “We must not stay within this realm any longer if we wish not to create a rift between dimensions.” Yen Sid stated.  “Thank you all for the bravery you have shown here today. There are many in the Disneyverse who owe your thanks.”

            Yen Sid, Mickey, and Pluto slowly dematerialized from the hangar. As they had done so, Sean quickly addressed a concern of his that he knew he would never get another chance to once Yen Sid was gone. “Hey! Will I ever get to see Sheryl again? I…I want to thank her for what she did.”

            “She is Guardian of this world and others now.” Yen Sid answered. “Your paths may cross again…or they may never.”

(Narrative Note: Sheryl and Agent Livingston eventually do cross paths again during the events of Marvel Mayhem.)

            The master sorcerer’s ambiguous reply did not help bring Sean at ease. Yen Sid, Mickey, and Pluto faded completely away from the hangar and the dimension. All was quiet in the massive room until Tony Stark raised his arms up and asked, “So who’s for some shawarma?” The question earned him some dirty looks from the others. “Hey, I have declared it an official ‘victory meal,’ so I’m damn well gonna get some after saving the world again.” With that said, the Iron Man proudly departed from the hangar.

(UP NEXT: A grand finale with a surprise twist!)