Wrong Turn (The Gathering – Part Three)
(The Merged Realms of The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo)
(The Merged Realms of The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo)
The clouds in the sky were graying and blackening right
over the sea; bolts of blood-red lightning flashed within them, ready to strike
out from the puffy yet deadly mass of liquid droplets. Even the wind and seas
became restless in response to the frightening development in the skies. The
rift had taken its toll on the merger of these two worlds, which had been fused
for quite some time now, and it was just a matter of time before both would be
destroyed.
But that did not seem to trouble Shelly very much. She
sat on the beach, her toes buried in the sand and her eyes focused on the
chaotic scene happening before her. As frightening as it should have been, it
somehow seemed soothing to her. The wind blew right past her, sending the locks
from her medium blond hair moving in all directions; she had to brush some of
the locks away from her aquamarine eyes as it had obscured her view of the
chaos. It also ruffled her unique blue robe, which presented a white crescent
moon and stars design to it; but the robe did not matter as long as the
short-skirted aquamarine sundress she wore beneath it was not ruined; it had a
delicate floral design – clean, crisp, airy, carefree, and pure – and fitted
well with her petite, toned, and athletic body type.
(Biographical Note: "Shelly" is based on and inspired by Florida fitness and commercial model Shelly Cannon, who Livingston had collaborated with on his first-ever original "supernatural fiction" The Holidays. He reached a block with the story three chapters in and has not since returned to work on it, due to commitments to other fiction. Realizing that Shelly, who was featured as a main character in the story, was robbed of her chance to be showcased in one of his projects, Livingston gave her the role of a reincarnation of Sean Thomas in World of Disney as compensation.)
What made the atmosphere even more soothing to Shelly was
the music played and sung by the gorgeous redhead accompanying her there on the
beach – the living embodiment of a previous life she lived in her thousand-plus
years as Guardian of the Disneyverse. “Marla” was what she called herself in
this incarnation – her third one; even looking at and listening to her now,
Shelly could remember why she enjoyed being her. Long flowing red hair, light
peach skin, bright pink lips, and blue eyes all made up her glowing beauty; she
was tall as well – standing at five feet, eight inches – although no one who could
have observed them at that moment would have noticed as they were sitting down
on the beach. But it was Marla’s sense of fashion that Shelly loved the most about
her: a blue fedora-style sorcerer hat with the same white crescent moon and
stars design as Shelly’s robe, a blue overcoat in place of a robe, a black sweater,
blue jeans, and brown boots.
(Biographical Note: "Marla" is based on and inspired by Texas singer and songwriter Marla Martin. Impressed by Marla's beauty, tall stature, and angelic voice, Livingston incorporated these aspects to her character, believing them to suit with the Disney-motivated atmosphere of the series, as well as - in the case of her height - a representation of his character in another form. One of her songs both inspired and was featured in a tale out of the Tales of the Guardians miniseries, performed by her character through italicized lyrics.)
Then there was her voice, which brimmed with soul as she sang
along to the tune that she played to the acoustic guitar she always carried
with her on her journeys. During their time there on the beach, she put her
soulful spin on at least a dozen tunes out of The Little Mermaid, which was fitting since the beach they sat upon
was on that side of the merged realms, Prince Eric’s castle standing
majestically behind them. Meanwhile, across the sea – miles ahead of them – the
Sydney Opera House could be seen, representing the Finding Nemo side of the two merged realms. It would have been the
most bizarre thing Shelly or Marla had ever seen, if the two ladies had not already
seen their shares of strangeness in the Disneyverse.
After a performance of her soulful rendition of “Kiss the
Girl,” Marla sighed and looked out to the sea with Shelly. “When is she going
to get back here?” She asked, her southern accent being another memorable trait
to Shelly. “It’s gettin’ even worse out here than it was an hour ago.”
“It’s not too
bad.” Shelly said.
KURRR-BOOM!
A powerful rumble of thunder sounded over them like the sound
that accompanied an intense explosion. Marla frowned over at Shelly and said,
“You were saying?” She noticed how Shelly’s face had expressed surprise and
confusion as her aquamarine eyes were directed to something behind Marla.
Turning around, Marla was startled for a brief moment when she saw a woman with
a piercing stare in her light blue eyes standing near them. “Oh, my goodness!
Girl, you scared the daylights out of me!”
(Authorial Note: Adrienne's "piercing state" is a character trait Livingston emphasized in homage to the aggressive characters Wilkinson has portrayed on screen, particularly her main inspiration, Livia/Eve from Xena.)
“Who are you?” Shelly asked the woman.
“I’m Adrienne.” The woman answered. “And I’m one of you –
or you two will be me one day.” She
groaned when she realized how she was talking. “Gah! I hate it when I get like this – always wanting to sound cool, when I
just come off as an idiot!”
Following on what she said, Shelly stood up and said,
“You’re another reincarnation? Which one?”
Adrienne tried to focus and remember. “Twelve…no, ten…no,
eleven! Definitely the eleventh one!”
(Authorial Note: Adrienne's response is an inside joke to the actual difficulty Livingston had in keeping up with the number of reincarnations he has integrated through this miniseries. Often when the topic of the number would come up, Livingston would review it each time for the sake of continuity.)
Marla stood up from her spot on the beach, her towering
over Shelly and Adrienne now evident. Adrienne swallowed hard as she looked at
her, having forgotten how tall she was when she was Marla. “Well, it’s nice to
meet another of my future selves,” Marla acknowledged. “Shelly over there is
just three lives ahead of me.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve just done the math.” Adrienne
remarked. “So, let’s just cut to the chase – where are Dug and Carl
Fredricksen?”
Shelly and Marla both gave befuddled looks. “What?”
“Let’s not play games. I am really not in the mood to play games.” Adrienne’s hands went to her
gun belt – her left over a saber hilt and her right over a holstered blaster.
Shelly saw how the woman was on the verge on turning
violent and quickly spoke up. “No, no! We’re seriously not playing around! You’re
in the wrong realm…or realms!”
Marla, who also saw how violent Adrienne was about to
become and hid behind Shelly, added to the fact: “Y-Yeah. You’re somewhere
between Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo.”
(Character Note: Each of Sean Thomas's reincarnations has a unique mentality attributed to them, in some cases attributed back to him. Marla possesses a cowardice side of herself, which contradicts her empowering stature. Her reincarnation has lived the longest, due to living a highly cautious lifestyle. In World of Disney, Sean Thomas was the most heavily cautious character of the story.)
Hearing this, a fierce glare appeared upon Adrienne’s
increasingly infuriated face. The bodies of Shelly and Marla stiffened when
they both saw how much angrier she had become, her hands now gripped on both
saber hilt and blaster. Finally, after rapid, deep breaths that reflected from
her developing rage, Adrienne screamed into the heavens, her loud,
ear-piercing, rage-induced shriek echoing throughout the already-chaotic
atmosphere. Once her shrieking had ceased, she fell to her knees and slammed
her fists into the sand, burying them in it.
Shelly and Marla stood perplexed and terrified; neither
woman was certain what to make of Adrienne’s sudden flare-up other than the
fact that she made a miscalculation. After some hesitation, Shelly found the
courage to tell her, “Hey, it’s…it’s O.K. T-The Disneyverse…it’s a really big place. Even I sometimes…”
“Shut up.” Adrienne softly demanded.
“Yes, ma’am.” Shelly quickly complied.
They kept silent for six minutes, which was enough time
for Adrienne to take slow, steady breaths (inhaling through her nose and
exhaling through her mouth) and return tranquility to her body and mind. As
soon as she was done, she lifted herself off the sand, dusted grains off her hands, and focused on Shelly and Marla. “Alright. Here’s what we’re
gonna do – you two are going to come with me to where the Up and Peter Pan worlds
are merging.”
Her sudden command caught Shelly and Marla off guard.
“Uh, well,” Shelly uttered, “Sure we can.” She gestured to the raging sea and
added, “But our friend is out there and we’re…”
“Look!” Adrienne bellowed, her rage returning. “I am
trying really hard not to turn either
of you inside-out right now! It’s frustrating already that I came to the wrong
place – I don’t need to waste more of
my time spending it here! Now let’s…GO!”
On the word “Go,” the sand kicked up to twelve feet
around them. When it had fallen back to the ground, Adrienne, Shelly, and Marla
no longer stood there on the beach. Just as their disappearance occurred, a
blond-haired mermaid by the name of Mindy came up through the surface of the
raging sea, facing in the direction of the now-abandoned beach.
“Marla? Shelly?” She called but received no answer, much
to her immediate surprise and confusion.
Another incredible rumble of thunder erupted from above,
directing her attention to the darkening skies that raged just as madly as the
seas did. Alarmed from this evolving chaos, Mindy ducked back underwater and
swam to where she left Marlin and Nemo floating.
“Did you find your friends?” Nemo asked.
Mindy shook her head, still looking very confused and
even a little disappointed. “No. They weren’t where I left them. Where are
they?”
Marlin let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve had enough
craziness for one day. Nemo, let’s go home. Hopefully we can have a better
start with school tomorrow.”
Nemo and Marlin began to swim away from Mindy, who
quickly protested. “No, wait! I don’t know where my friends are, but I do know
things are going to get bad very
soon!”
Leaving Nemo’s side and swimming back to Mindy, Marlin
furiously got in her face. “You are crazy!
Certifiably nuts! Why should we trust any
of what you say? You’re not even normal!”
The last statement in his ranting struck a chord with
her. “Now you listen here – the things you’ve seen today haven’t exactly been
‘normal’ either, have they? And you have no
idea how abnormal it’s about to get,
unless I do something! I’m alone in
this now, and I’ve got only you and your son to help me! Now will you or won’t
you?”
Marlin glared right into her eyes and boldly said, “I won’t.” He then turned to join with Nemo
again, but he stopped cold as soon as he saw that his son was no longer
floating where he left him. “Nemo? Nemo! NEMO!” Looking around the vast
blueness, he cried out his son’s name multiple times in multiple ways, but
there was no response.
(UP NEXT: One mentally unstable reincarnation tries to make a meal out of Dumbo!)
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