Tales of the Disneyverse - Tale #28 (w/ Commentary Notes)

…And The Tomorrow Child Comes!
(The Merged Realms of Brave and The Sword in the Stone)

(Disney Note: "The Tomorrow Child," a secondary title for Sean Thomas's Guardian of the Disneyverse, comes from the background song "Tomorrow's Child" featured in Epcot's Spaceship Earth - the basis for World of Disney's iconic Sphere. The song was composed for the ending of the attraction in May 26, 1986, redesigned with projected images of children on screens to fit with the theme and narration by Walter Cronkite. This lasted until August 15, 1994, when the attraction was remodeled again.)

            What is going on?

            Why is it so dark?

            Can anyone hear me?

            I feel so…weird. Actually, I can’t feel anything! What’s going on? What’s happened to me? Last thing I remember was…huh…that’s strange. I don’t remember anything at all.

            Wait! What’s that? Is that…light? Yeah, yeah! There’s light – finally I can see light! I can see! Oh, man! The light’s getting bigger and bigger!

            WHOA! Now I can see everything! But…is that the sky? It looks so messed up!

            GAH! Who’s this old guy with the long beard that came out of nowhere? He’s dressed so funny!

            I can see his mouth moving, but I can’t hear him.

            And now who’s this little fella entering the picture? He’s pretty cute with his little mailman uniform. Oh, wait. He’s not a mailman. He’s a scout. Aww! How cute is that!

(Disney Note: Russell was also confused for a mailman by the pet dogs of Charles F. Muntz in Up, including Dug.)

            Ah! AH! Think I’m starting to get some feeling in my right hand! Yes! YES! There it is! Good ol’ righty! But why can’t I feel the rest of my arm? And why do I feel so much powder? What is going on?

            Long Beard and the little scout are looking at me funny – real funny. Why are they? Is there something wrong with me? Is my head not on straight? Do I even have a head at all?

            My hearing’s now coming back! I can feel my left ear – the chilly breeze tickling it! I can practically feel the goose bumps on it!

            “…she’s reincarnating, I believe.” I hear Long Beard say, pointing his old finger at me. “This… large pile of glittering white dust we’re seeing…is the Guardian!”

            Glittering white dust? Is that all that I am right now?

(Authorial Note: Livingston went with a first person narrative for this tale to give readers a better understanding of what a reincarnation goes through mentally upon their rebirth. He wanted the experience to seem similar to natural birth, only with a slightly more advanced cognitive process in the birthed subject.)

            “It’s disgusting, if you ask me.”

            Hey! Who said that? It wasn’t Long Beard or the cute little scout! Someone else there with them?

            “Nothing but a pair of eyes, an ear, and a hand? Revolting!”

            “Oh, hush, Archimedes!” Long Beard tells the jerk I can’t see. “Be more respectful to the evolutionary progress we are witnessing this very—”

            The cute little scout smiles big as he points to me and shouts, “Hey, look! Something else is coming out of the powder!” Now he looks all confused. “What the heck are those?”

            I’m gaining feeling in another part of my body, but I can’t tell what it is. From the shocked look Long Beard gives me, it must be something big. “Good heavens,” he yells. “Quick! Toss me her robe!”

            Her? So I’m a girl?

(Narrative Note: Although not stated explicitly, it was JeniLynn's breasts that had been seen and clued everyone on her gender.)

            HEY! Now it’s all dark again because of Long Beard putting a long red cloth over me! Well, I might not be able to see him and that cute little scout anymore, but I can still hear them.

            “Well, that was embarrassing.” I hear another old man speaking but don’t recognize the voice.

            “Y-Yes. Quite so.” Long Beard says. “But, like I was saying, it’s all part of the unique evolutionary process of the Guardian. Why, what we’re witnessing is a true miracle! Genevieve was – or is – the last Guardian! Whoever this woman is, she will certainly be—”

            “Merlin?”

            Now there’s another voice – this one sounds very gentle, warm, and kind. It sounds so soothing. I love it.

            “Panda? W-What are you doing here?” Long Beard (I guess I should call him “Merlin” now) asks.

            “We sensed quite a disturbance across the realms.” Panda says. “My goodness! What has happened here? Did this all happen ‘cause of the rift?”

            “Oh, no. It was the Guardian.” Merlin says.

            “The Guardian?” Panda reacts in surprise.

            “He – or she – reincarnated in the middle of an identity crisis.” Merlin says.

(Pop Culture Note: The explosive reincarnation at the end of the previous tale is another Doctor Who nod by Livingston. In the regeneration of the Tenth Doctor in "The End of Time - Part 2," it was so intense that it caused damages within his TARDIS, causing problems for his eleventh incarnation.)

            “Wow.” Panda says. “Well, where is he…or she?”

            “Over there – beneath the robe.” I can almost see Merlin gesturing to where I am as he tells him. “B-But give her some time. She’s still needs time to…bake.”

            “Bake?” Panda repeats the word, making it sound weirder than Merlin did.

            These two are conversing with each other and I’m over here “baking.” I can feel much more of me now. I can even feel the smooth texture of the robe that’s covering me. Apparently, it’s the only thing that’s keeping my bare body warm in the chilly breeze. I finally feel my nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, arms, legs, feet, and the rest of my head, which pokes out from beneath the robe along with my shoulders.

            Here I am, lying on the cold, rocky ground, with a whole body. When my lungs finally decide to make themselves present, I take in my first breath of fresh air through my nose and blow it out through my mouth. Hey, my breath smells quite fresh and minty!

            I lift my eyelids to see the world and people around me. There’s Long Beard and the cute little scout, but now I can see the others – a short old man with a squared head and thick black glasses, a young blond-haired boy with an orange tunic and tan tights, an owl that’s perched on the boy’s head, a happy-looking dog, and a wide, stocky fellow with a goatee and very short black hair that’s slick and thick (I suppose this is “Panda”).

            Sitting up, I nearly lose my robe as it drops down my chest, but I manage to keep it up for the sake of dignity (I am a girl after all). I take in the atmosphere around me and see how devastated it looks. What happened here? It looks like a bomb exploded and took away whatever building that once stood here.

            “Hello.” Panda says to me in that kind voice I love about him.

            “Hi,” I say back to him in my voice, which I’m hearing for the first time. It’s certainly the voice of a mature woman, slightly high in pitch yet sophisticated and even attractive – makes me wonder what I look like with it.

            “Do you know who you are?” Panda asks me, and I shake my head in reply. My answer does not seem to be what he had hoped for, judging from the look of disappointment he gives. I really hate disappointing such a sweet fella. “Well, uh…do you know what name you’d like to give yourself?”

            “What kind of a question is that?” The old, square-head man asks him. He is quickly shushed by Merlin, allowing Panda and I to continue having our little interaction.

            A name. A name I’d like to give myself. Man, could I really use a mirror right about now.

            Would you believe – just as I thought of having one – it pops up right in my left hand? A handheld mirror big enough for me to see my entire face. Instantly, I’m holding the mirror in front of me and see a young woman with long, exquisite brown hair, lovely dark brown eyes, fair skin, perfect teeth, a pixie-ish nose (dainty and delicate), high cheekbones, a good jawline, and a rosebud mouth. As if by pure instinct, I manage to come up with the perfect name with this face…

            “JeniLynn.”

(Biographical Note: "JeniLynn" is based on and inspired by JeniLynn Knopp, an Orlando-based performer and on-air talent for travel news and informational sources such as "The DIS" and "Orlando Attractions Magazine." An avid Disney fan, Knopp is noted as the go-to person for facts and advice on how to have an enjoyable "Disney Vacation," being featured occasionally on Orlando's local Fox News station to update on Walt Disney World's latest progress.)

            Looking away from the mirror and to Panda, he smiles over the name I have given myself. “JeniLynn – that’s a beautiful name.” I smile back at him, happy to see that he loves it, too.

            Our good moment is quickly spoiled by a sudden explosion that erupts not very far from us. There are bolts of black lightning shooting out from a spot shrouded in a dirt cloud before a woman dressed in a sultry burgundy outfit emerges from it. Looking menacing and erotic at the same time, she advances towards us; her eyes set dead-straight on me in particular. Panda and Merlin stand right in front of me – protecting me. They also block the vicious woman from my view, leaving me to only hear her alluring, boastful voice as she says, “So that is the new one, eh? The way you boys just guard her like that is a dead giveaway.”

            While Panda and Merlin are shielding me, I take advantage of the moment to put on the robe that has been covering me, making sure to close and fasten up the front to hide away my starkness. Standing up is the hardest part; I nearly topple right into my two protectors on my way up. My bare feet on the rocks beneath me only make it more difficult to maintain the right balance. If only had I had some…

            Shoes! Sure enough, a pair of black Converse boots – with the white laces already tied – appear on my bare feet, helping my effort in keeping my balance.

(Authorial Note: JeniLynn's Converse boots were a look that Knopp herself had personally inspired Livingston to incorporate for her character.)

            “Just let her be, Dawn.” Panda tells the menacing woman, whose name I just learned. “She’s only just reincarnated for heaven’s sake!”

            “All the better reason to get at her.” Dawn says, sounding more threatening by each statement she makes. “She’s fresh meat!”

            Meat? Who does this woman think she is calling me that?

            I see Panda and Merlin’s bodies shaking for some strange reason. Before I could have the chance to figure out why, they are suddenly flown in opposite directions by something I cannot see, leaving me open to the frightening woman by the name of Dawn. She advances on me and I haven’t a clue what to do. Why does she want me in the first place? What is all this stuff about reincarnation? Is that what happened to me a few minutes ago? Was I…reincarnated?

            “YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!”

            The cute little scout I saw earlier bravely puts himself in harm’s way…just for me. He latches onto Dawn’s left leg, which she continues to move, even with him on it. When she finally recognizes his effort in stopping her, she simply gives a wicked, insulting laugh. Her amusement does not last long as soon as the little fella takes a huge bite out of her leg, causing her to howl in agony. I smile, feeling proud of the little guy for doing damage to this vicious woman, but even my own delight is short-lived. In retaliation for the attack, Dawn grabs him by the back of his collar, tearing him away from her leg, and tosses him.

            I watch in shock as the scout’s poor little body flies high over the air and falls hard to the ground, tumbling several times before coming to a stop. He’s covered in cuts and bruises, and his little scout uniform is in tatters.

            “RUSSELL!” The old, square-headed man cries; he and his dog rush over to the scout as his little body lays lifeless on the ground.

            What this evil woman has done to that poor child is completely uncalled for. Deep in me, there is something that burns like a fire…something that makes me absolutely hate her for what she has done. What is this that I’m feeling? Oh, right…it’s anger.

            Without a bit of hesitation, I lunge for Dawn, the heels my new Converse boots digging deep into the ground as I ran with much force. From the look of surprise on her face, not even she expected me to attack as I had at the moment. I tackle her to the ground, my knees pinned firmly on her stomach and my hands clasped down tightly on her shoulders. I want to strangle her, which I come close to doing, until I see how my hands are glowing gold while gripped on her shoulders. I try to let go, fearing it’s her doing, but something is keeping me from moving. I then see her crying out in pain, cluing me on the fact that it isn’t her doing this.

            I feel my body stiffen as it glows along with my hands. I’m not sure what the heck is happening, but it seems to have affected Dawn greatly. Her youthful features suddenly turn into those of an old woman – wrinkles and all. When I feel able to control my body again, I let her go and remove myself from her. While she’s recovering from whatever it is I’d done to her, I look at my hands, which are no longer glowing, and start to feel a million times more invigorated than I had seconds ago.

(Character Note: JeniLynn is the most powerful reincarnation of the series so far, possessing the experiences and abilities of seventeen different incarnations. Genevieve comes only second to her, being the most experienced Guardian in her final reincarnated form.)

            “So…you’ve got it all…back,” says Dawn, who sounds incredibly weak and breathless in her elderly state. “Joanie’s essence and the power of your last incarnation – you siphoned it all right out of me.” I have no clue what she’s babbling about, only that I kicked her butt and she seems to be really upset about it. “Well, Sean, no matter what new face you take on or how much power you have in you, I’ll always have that one last magic trick up my sleeve.”

            Before I could even blink, the old woman somehow finds the energy to pick herself off the ground and lunge at me. I expect her to tackle me down the same way I did with her, but she does something completely different…completely alien. She fazes her body right through mine! I can only describe the sensation that comes with this type of attack as chilling – literally chilling! My legs become numb, causing me to collapse to the ground!

            As I try to figure out what has happened, I hear a young woman – an entirely different young woman – laughing manically near me. I look up to see a tanned, muscled woman with long raven hair, bright blue eyes, and peach-colored lips standing over me. She wears a tight black leather outfit with short sleeves and a black corset around the waist, along with a pair of black boots to complete the ensemble.

            “Ooh! Now this is nice!” She talks just like Dawn, only with an English accent that goes with the body. “This is…was one of yours, wasn’t it? ‘Yvette’ was her name, I believe. Well, since she’s my new permanent form, I’m renaming her. ‘Yve Ette’ just rolls off the tongue – especially this tongue – much better!” She laughs again, its register echoing through the heavens. “Keep the rest of your sixteen lives, Sean! I’m going to have fun with this one!” She turns to leave but stops halfway to say one last thing to me: “Oh…and we will meet again. Whether it’s by this new face of yours or by one of your old ones, our business is far from over.”

(Character Note: Following this tale, "Yve Ette" becomes the primary antagonist in both Marvel Mayhem - the World of Disney spin-off story - and World of Disney 3. She is most often referred as "the corrupted reincarnation," due to the circumstance of her birth, as depicted in this scene. She only possess all the negative traits of Dawn with the physical strength of Yvette, making her a formidable enemy to the Guardian.)

            I blink once and, before I know it, she’s gone.

            “Are you alright, JeniLynn?”

            I turn to see Panda being the gentleman he is and checking up on me. I realize that I’m regaining the feeling in my legs again and tell him, “I’m okay. Just…what was all that she was talking about? Why did she call me ‘Sean’? Is that who I used to—?”

            I stop my questioning once I realize that there is a child who has been gravely wounded from the fight. I look over to see him, still lying where he is, and immediately get back on my feet to rush over to him, with Panda following at my side. The poor little fella is in bad shape – barely able to keep his eyes open long enough to look at me when I showed up.

            He clutches something in his left hand that he fights to give to me. Putting my right hand out beneath his, I allow him to drop it in there. It’s an old locket. I open it up to see two old photos of people I don’t recognize. “Is this your family?” I ask him, only presuming them to be just that.

            He shook his head at me. “No…they’re yours.” Hearing this, I look at the photos more intently. For the life of me, I just cannot recognize them. “You’ve got…to remember…remember…” He drifts into unconsciousness, unable to finish his statement in his condition.

            “I’ll stay with him.” The old man tells me. “He told me that you can stop whatever’s happenin’ here. He believes you can save everything…and, after all that I’ve seen, so do I. Now go on and do it.”

            I’m not certain what the old man expects me to do, but that look of hope he gives me is enough to do whatever I can with this power I seem to possess. I look to Panda, who seems to know more than he’s letting on about me. “You know where I need to go to stop whatever’s happening here?”

            He nods. “I do.”

            “Please take me there.”

-------------------------

            Panda takes me to this palace that looks like it was once beautiful but is now in shambles. As soon as we arrive, we are welcomed by totally new characters – new to me, at least. There’s this walking and talking mouse (I think he’s a mouse), this tall woman with long blond hair, and another old man with a long beard (however, this guy doesn’t look nearly as funny as the last one – as a matter of fact, he looks dead serious).

            “Panda! Where is Sean? Who is this?” He asks on our arrival.

            “This is Sean, Master.” Panda says, gesturing to me (I really wish I knew who this guy “Sean” is, so I can make sense of why everyone thinks I am him). “He’s lost so much control over his seventeen reincarnations that he turned into a new one.”

            The old “master” looks to me with apprehension clear in his eyes. In a slow, careful voice, he asks me, “Do you know who I am?”

            I take a long, hard look at him, noting his features – the long gray beard, the small eyes with an intimidating stare (I got chills just looking into them), his half-bald hair that has the same color as his beard, and the thick eyebrows.

            It then hits me who this guy is. I think I really do remember him.

            “You’re…You’re…Papa Smurf!”

            His face falls into depression on my answer; clearly, that is not who he is. It was the only name that popped in my head when I see his face. I can’t help it if that’s not him!

            “We’re doomed!” The mouse exclaims.

            “Yen Sid, she can still help us.” Panda says. “She overpowered Dawn.”

            He continues to speak in my defense as the other three argue over my case, saying things like “She won’t be able to stop this rift,” “She doesn’t remember any of what she can do,” and “She will have to be trained all over again and we do not have the luxury of time!” I try to get a word in, but their loud, frightened voices carry over mine. I really do want to try and help. I don’t know what it was I did to Dawn or how I can do it again, but I at least want to make an effort…for that poor child who tried to help me.

            I know you do, sweetie.

            I jump as I hear this hollowed voice speak to me. And, out of nowhere, appears a purple-haired woman who smiles right at me. Neither Panda nor the other three characters in the room seem to see and hear her, since they continue to have their debate while this woman speaks to me.

            “Thank you for saving me, Sean. Because I’ve been in the minds of all seventeen of your lives, I know all the secrets to reincarnation…as well as how to stop the rift. You just leave everything to Mama and promise me this: never stop protecting the Disneyverse. It is your home – it is our home.” I can see tears fall from her eyes as she finally tells me, “Goodbye, my child. I love you so much.” Her voice drifts away while she herself fades right before my eyes.

(Narrative Note: This tale ultimately reconnects where we found Joanie in her first reincarnation as "Gigi" at the beginning of The Marvelous World: World of Disney 2. By tapping into Sean's reincarnations, she is able to create one for herself. Retrospectively, she inherited this ability from her son, who in turn inherited all his Guardian power from his mother.)

            Who was that strange, purple-haired girl? Was she…Sean’s mother? My mother?

            My heart suddenly fells very heavy. I’m in sadness over this woman, and I can’t figure out why. I feel something run down my left cheek and put my left hand to my face to find out what. My fingertips become wet from…a tear? Why am I crying?

            Before I can have a moment to figure things out, my body turns very rigid. Every portion of it tingles as it glows, just like it did when I confronted Dawn; except this time the glow seeps out from my body and flows upward towards one of the large holes in the roof. It “injects” itself into an unusual sphere that looms right outside the palace (I seem to have only just noticed it there).

            I start to collapse, but Panda catches me in time; he and the others witnessed my little light show as it happened. “What’s going on?” He asks me.

            “The purple-haired girl says she’s taking care of us.” I tell him.

            I see the confusion in his face and also the tall blonde’s. It’s only the mouse who manages to figure out who I’m talking about. “Joanie,” he says. It was that name alone that jogs my memory of that purple-haired woman.

            A huge quake comes through the palace.

            “Look!” The tall blonde yells, pointing up.

            We all look that way to see the unusual sphere lifting itself high into the sky. I already know it’s that purple-haired girl – my mother – who is behind this. A smile reflexively comes to my face as I see the sphere explode in a spectacular rainbow of light that sweeps over everything. The palace that we stand in transforms before our very eyes, turning from a decrepit place to the gorgeous structure it once was. Whatever is happening here seems to happen to the atmosphere outside. Lovely blue skies with beautiful white clouds appear and the city below it all seems more colorful and much happier.

            More characters appear in the room with us: a young, handsome boy with a crimson fez and a purple vest, a young, beautiful girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail and held together by two light blue bands, a big blue guy, a short, fat man with white hair and beard wearing a turban, and a tall wicked-looking fellow with a parrot perched on his shoulder.

(Authorial Note: The restoration of the Aladdin realm was redemption not only for the "Joanie Navarro" character but for Livingston himself. He felt that destroying the world in the first World of Disney installment inhibited any usage of it or its characters in subsequent stories. As such, certain characters like Jafar and Aladdin himself are reserved to appear in the upcoming spin-off story "Defenders of the Disneyverse.")

            “W-What has happened?” The wicked fellow voices the confusion he shares with the other four characters. “Everything is back in place! How is that possible? The entire palace had come down over our ears a moment ago!”

            “You mean you still remember your world ending?” The mouse asks him.

            “Vividly.” The wicked fellow replies, right before he realizes that he’s talking to a mouse. “What on earth…?”

            Yen Sid (the old master I’d mistaken for Papa Smurf) addresses the group of baffled characters. “I assure you that things have been restored to proper order in this world and many others. Once my cohorts and I depart, none of you will remember any of what happened to you before you were saved.”

            “Saved?” The young, ponytailed girl says. “Saved by whom?”

            “A great woman…named Joanie.” Even though I know she won’t remember me telling her this, I feel proud enough to say it.

(UP NEXT: Splitting Hairs...and Bodies!)