Chapter
Eighteen: Battle Scars
Muppet
Theater – 1982
It was a quiet late summer evening
outside the Muppet Theater. Only a few cars drove by the front of the aging
complex, paying no mind to the marquee that promised a great upcoming show with
special guest star James Earl Jones. This was Los Angeles after all – lots of
shows with promise in lots of guest appearances. The Muppet Theater was no
different.
(Star Wars Note: James Earl Jones is best known to longtime fans as the cyborg voice of Darth Vader. The physical, on-set actor David Prowse was intended to talk in Vader's armor, but his West Country accent made Vader seem too silly, hence Jones dubbing his signature intimidating voice for the character via dubbing. He would not be credited for his work until Return of the Jedi, as he felt that he didn't deserve the credit due to only supplying his voice for Vader. He would again voice Vader for Revenge of the Sith, in Anakin's first transformation from man to machine, and the second season of Star Wars Rebels.)
But if passing drivers stopped
and looked more closely to the theatre’s left side alleyway, they were certain
to find entertainment beyond the parameters of the Muppets in a bright flash of
light with resemblance to lightning above the theatre. It was not accompanied
by any thunderous boom, which left it
undetected.
A pointy blue hat plummeted from the
sky. The wind kicked at it a bit, directing its descent straight into a trash-filled
dumpster.
Another flash of strange, silent
lightning.
This time, there was a sound – two sounds, in fact – that
accompanied the flash; neither of them thunder. They were the screams of two
women, as they fell directly into the dumpster, landing onto the hat and
burying it further into the trash heap. Bits of loose, shredded paper flew up
in conjunction with their rough touchdown.
Joanie and Vanessa might have been
dirtied by the muck of the dumpster and its unsanitary contents, but they were
nonetheless blessed to have escaped the wrath of the Emperor, Vader, and Yve
Ette. Joanie’s body still smoked and wracked with pain from the blast Palpatine unleashed, but she was otherwise alive.
They crawled out of the dumpster,
both wincing.
“You O.K.?” Vanessa asked Joanie,
hunched over.
“Yeah, just…give me a moment,” she
answered, slumping against the dumpster.
Vanessa was on the same page as her.
Before she knew it, she slumped down right beside her. She rested her back
against the rusted, metal green-and-brown hull, only to recoil and let out an
agonized whimper.
Noticing this, Joanie realized that
she was more in pain than her. “Are you
okay?” She returned the question asked of her just a second ago.
Vanessa bit her lower lip, clinging
onto the rim of the dumpster and struggling to pull herself back to her feet.
“I’m cool,” she groaned. “Just…need to walk it off…that’s all.” She left her
place beside Joanie, moving to the right side of the dumpster and leaning
against it.
Joanie soon caught sight of
something unsettling: a large blood stain on the spot Vanessa briefly rested
on. She touched her right index finger to the stain – it was fresh.
Disregarding the subsiding pain in
her body, Joanie shot up to her feet to check on her companion. The redhead moved from leaning against the dumpster to slouching on the brick wall of the
theatre.
“You’re wounded!” Joanie observed.
“Lemme check to see how bad it is.”
Vanessa permitted her, leaning
forward ever so slightly to allow her entire back to face the young blue-haired
woman. Joanie’s eyes bulged – Vanessa’s back was practically coated with her
blood! The leather in her jacket, the fabric of her dress, and her flesh had all
been slashed open in simultaneous manner.
She heard Joanie breathlessly
whisper “Oh, god.”
“It’s worse than it looks, isn’t
it?” She chuckled. “Yve Ette got me good. I wasn’t fast enough to get both of our butts out in time before she
got her lick on me.”
“You were protecting me? Oh, sweetheart. You didn’t have to
do that.”
“Of course I had to…you’re my
mother.”
Joanie gazed on the tall redhead
much differently now. She moved around her, facing from the front to get a real good look at her. Those long, flowing red locks of hair hung over a face that
was gorgeous yet plagued by continuous twisting in response to the deep gash in
her back. And those dazzling blue eyes, twitching and reddened with tears of
agony.
It was almost impossible from these
features to see it, but Joanie sensed her future son within the woman.
She recalled her conversation with
Genevieve back on Dagobah – what she referred to herself as: “You’re another reincarnation of Sean?” She
glimpsed up and down at Vanessa’s hunched body; in this state, she appeared
much shorter, yet Joanie saw her at full height. She was notably as
statuesque as she remembered the real
Sean Thomas to be. Shaking her head in amazement, she questioned, “How many of
you are there?”
Vanessa gave a small shrug. “I’ve
lost count. But I am the first in a new line after Genevieve.”
(Character Note: Prior to World of Disney 3, eighteen reincarnations of Sean Thomas are introduced, most of them from Tales of the Disneyverse. The inclusion of Vanessa brings the total to nineteen, with more to be established in later World of Disney installments.)
She whimpered again, reminding
Joanie of the gash in her back. Now knowing who she really was, there was more urgency in Joanie to get her some help.
“I’m surprised you can still walk, hon,” she said. “That wound is pretty close
to your spine.”
Vanessa weakly grinned. “I’ve been
through worse,” she remarked. She
attempted to take a step but only caused herself to nearly collapse, if not for the quick hands of Joanie catching her. “But this one feels like the worst,” she hoarsely admitted.
Joanie slowly knelt back to the
ground, allowing Vanessa’s head to rest upon her lap. This felt like déjà vu to
her, as she had herself in the same position with her son five years ago, after
the Evil Queen’s attack on the Muppet Theater. Of course, at the time, Sean
merely suffered a slight head wound; this incarnation of him suffered one much
worse to her back.
(Authorial Note: This is a "full circle" moment that brings this story back to the prologue of the very first World of Disney story. In fact, both stories begin the same way - in the aftermath of a chaotic situation brought on by the primary antagonist, which is fully depicted in the final act.)
It suddenly dawned on her where they
were – the Muppet Theater itself!
They arrived in the back alley. She
spotted the stage door just a few feet to her left. Looking to Vanessa with
confusion, she inquired, “Why did you bring us here and not back at Yen Sid’s?”
“The war has started on Fantasia,”
Vanessa revealed. “I didn’t want you
to be a part of it all.”
Joanie’s brow furrowed in anger.
“It’s not your decision whether or
not I’m a part of it, Sean!”
“It is when you’re carrying my
oldest sister!” Vanessa snapped.
Joanie froze. “What did you say?”
Vanessa smiled. “You’re
pregnant…with Kimberly.”
Caught up in the fulfillment, Joanie
could not help but to remain skeptical of the news: “No, no…that’s impossible. Tomas
and I…we never even got past the first stage!”
“The biology doesn’t matter when you
have the power to make it happen all
on your own,” reasoned Vanessa, whose smile grew.
Joanie took her reasoning to mean that
she impregnated herself through her magic – something she never thought
possible. Her eyes promptly inundated in tears of immense joy. She put her
right hand to her abdomen; she could almost feel her first child kicking in
there, even though such a sensation not being possible for another eight months.
Of course, just now finding out this, she could be well into her second
trimester. That would explain all the
energy and slight weight gain, she thought.
(Character Note: The revelation of Kimberly Thomas being the first child of Joanie born through magic rings in the possibilities of two of her other children - Sean and Meagan - having been born in the same manner. This would explain why they appear so strongly diverse as they do in World of Disney, as Kimberly and Meagan are entirely Caucasian like Joanie and Sean is fully African like Tomas. The only child who could supposedly have been born naturally is Ciciley, who is of mixed race, despite sharing a womb with Sean. Ultimately, this genetic connection plays into the events of the following story, The Disney Access.)
“Now you get why you have to stay here,” Vanessa told her; however, Joanie
did not appear to be listening.
Instead, the young blue-haired woman
reached to the top of her head, noticing that her hat was not there. She gently
propped Vanessa up and rested her against the wall before she dived back into
the dumpster to retrieve the sorcerer hat. Once she found and retrieved it from
the garbage, she jumped back out – muckier than ever before. The hat was
crumpled and dirtied from all their weight on it, mixed with the trash, when
they landed. But Joanie did not seem to care, still placing it on.
“Wait here,” she instructed Vanessa
while rushing into the theater through the stage door.
Sitting alone out in the alley,
Vanessa feebly snickered at her mother’s instruction: “Didn’t plan on goin’
anywhere too soon.”
She inhaled and exhaled slowly,
working to maintain her breathing. It had been limited to short breaths, the
duration getting smaller and smaller by the minute. There was no denying that
she was dying.
(Authorial Note: Vanessa was not originally intended to die in this story. At the time I wrote her scenes in the prologue, I planned for her to return to Fantasia, leaving the pregnant Joanie behind in the Muppetverse and containing her there via magic, and take part in the climactic war. She would then return to her timeline with Benji and continue her adventure in World of Disney 5. This changed once I realized how very little Vanessa Marshall would be involved as collaborator in her character, due to Disney and Lucasfilm's prohibition in promoting fan fiction. As such, her role in WOD5 is being shortened in order to retire the character much earlier than anticipated.)
She felt herself slumping further
down, close to a supine position. Her chin touched the upper portion of her
chest. Never had she been so uncomfortable, between the awkward sitting and
stabbing pain in her back. Then there was the grainy sensation in the tips of
her right fingers.
Grainy
sensation? Oh, no…it’s started.
A serene
smile developed on her face, a tear forming on the corner of it.
-------------------------------
Ashley’s words cut like a knife to
Tomas’s confidence. He feverishly paced around the backstage area for a few
minutes before deciding to sit down on the foot of the staircase that led to
the upstairs dressing rooms. The thought of Joanie being somewhere in that
“Disneyverse,” as she called it, and presumably in one world with a handsome
prince…it tied his stomach in knots. He did not want to think that way; he knew
Diana was right about the way Joanie felt about him. Yet there was still that
nasty, lingering sensation – undoubtedly influenced by Ashley.
Suddenly, the stage door nearby flew
open, letting the chilly night air circulate into the warm interior. A figure
hastily emerged from outside and shut the door behind it. Tomas immediately
stood up once he saw that this visitor had blue hair – Joanie’s color. Sure
enough, the visitor was his wife. She looked completely disheveled with her
long hair ruffled, her red robe tattered, and her sorcerer hat covered in
dirt and grime. She was out of breath, her focus on the old, creaky floorboards
beneath her. It was evident that she was involved in some sort of hard
labor or altercation, but she was otherwise unscathed.
“Joanie!” Tomas caught her attention
the moment he excitedly shouted her name and made his presence in the room
known.
The second she caught sight of him,
she instantly rushed towards him and gave one of the warmest, tightest hugs he
ever received. “Tomas! Oh, man! Please tell me that I haven’t been gone for
over a month!”
“Just fourteen hours, my love.” She
was cold to the touch and carried the scent of smoke in her clothes and hair. “Where have you been? And what has
happened to you?”
Joanie disengaged her embrace and
just stared long and hard at her husband’s loving, gorgeous face. It was
certainly a sight for sore eyes, especially for a woman who has been away from
home as long as she had. Without notice, she locked her lips with his, kissing
him in a way so passionate to Tomas he could certainly tell she went through much.
(Authorial Note: At the time I wrote the prologue, my idea was for Joanie to go through much more hell, almost in a literal sense, before returning to the Muppetverse. The smoke scent that Tomas picks up on from her was originally from her part in the Fantasia war, which would have lasted several months and taken her to Bald Mountain to confront Vader and even Chernabog himself. This was abandoned as soon as I came up with the pregnancy for the character, as it would have seemed awkward to have another child born on Fantasia, especially one meant to be in 1983 of the Muppetverse.)
After awhile, he could
barely breathe and had to force himself away. “Joanie! What is the matter?”
She took a moment to catch her own
breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just—”
The second she began to explain
herself, another figure emerged through the stage door; this one being a tall,
attractive redhead in a green mini-skirted dress, a black leather jacket, black
leggings, and black boots. “Sorry, but I cannot
stay out there for another minute. I may not be able to freeze as quickly as
the average person anymore, but I know just when I am freezing my butt off,” she said upon entering. She had a very
powerful voice that was as charismatic as her appearance.
Joanie looked to Vanessa
disconcertingly. What is she doing on her
feet, she deliberated.
Tomas stared quizzically at the
redhead, who smiled back at him as she tried to warm up her hands. “Joanie, who
is this?”
The redhead approached him, staring
at his face with great interest. “Oh, dude. This is so tight. I’ve never seen
you so young.” She nodded to Joanie and added, “She was right. We do look a lot alike. Almost like looking
into a mirror.”
Joanie frowned. She never made such
a comment. She only just found out a moment ago, out in the back alley, that
Vanessa was Sean’s reincarnation. Was she really shrugging off the fact that
she sustained deadly injuries? It could just be the deliriousness brought on by
it.
Vanessa’s claim greatly confused
Tomas. He glanced up and down at her. She was the total opposite of him –
Caucasian, older (presumably in her mid-forties), blue-eyed, and (most notable
of all) female. The only real
similarity between them was that she stood close to his height of
six-foot, two-inches; his nose at level with her forehead. Other than that, he
had no clue what she meant.
Joanie struggled with an explanation
in the identity of her redheaded companion, especially after what she told Tomas:
“I-It’s difficult to explain, babe. S-She’s…”
“There you are, lil’ twerp!”
She looked to the source of the
interruption and found her least-favorite person in the world, her only cousin,
entering the room with her mother and the Muppets present at the
theater that evening. No doubt they all heard the commotion from the stage area
and checked to see what was up.
“Oh, brother.” Joanie muttered in
annoyance. It was less than pleasing for her to see Ashley, especially now of
all times. “Look, Ashley. I really
don’t have time for your foolishness right now.”
Ashley snickered. “You don’t seem to
have time for much of anything these days.” She took notice in her cousin’s
disheveled and even more baffling
appearance. “The blue hair was horrid enough – now you’re going with a homeless
wizard?”
Vanessa shook her head over Ashley
and her remarks. “You always were the biggest loudmouth of the family. Was
there ever a time when you showed my
mother the respect she deserved?”
Her words took Joanie by surprise, a
hand going to her face, hiding the embarrassment. Vanessa was not making matters any easier for them.
If it was deliriousness causing this
zany attitude, she might as well just stop and lie down somewhere before she
got worse.
(Authorial Note: The narrative of this scene is purposely copied from the prologue to convey a scene of familiarity for the readers, as they are clued in on what point in the story these events take place in. Only a few alterations have been made to accompany the events earlier on in this chapter.)
Ashley gazed sharply at Vanessa. “Who
are you to talk to me like—” She
stopped cold once she realized the way in which the middle-aged redhead
referred to Joanie. “Your mother?”
That one word stuck out like a sore
thumb to everyone else.
“Your mother?” They repeated in the same register of confusion.
Joanie buried her face deeper into
the palm of her hand, even more embarrassed and exasperated.
“Joanie, you’re supposed to have
only four children, three girls and a
boy.” Scooter indicated from his memory of the incident in 1977.
His reference attracted more confusion from Ashley and Rizzo
with his inclusion of “supposed to.”
“I still do have four children,
Scooter…or, I mean, I will have
them.” Joanie addressed. “It’s just…well… only one has had a bit of an identity
crisis.” She gestured to her redheaded companion and said, “Everybody meet
Vanessa…who is in reality a reincarnation of my future son, Sean Thomas.”
Vanessa held up two fingers (a peace
sign) sideways to the group with a friendly smile, oblivious to the odd stares
they all gave her. “What up!”
Diana, Tomas, Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo,
Scooter, Bunsen, and Beaker were in shock from the discovery.
It suddenly began to make sense to Tomas what Vanessa said the second she
looked at him.
He approached the smiling redhead
and stood close enough to look deeply into her eyes, as if searching for the
actual person behind them. “This…is my son?”
Vanessa shrugged and uttered, “So to
speak.”
Observing the entire scene with
Ashley (his fellow outsider), Rizzo bellowed with frustration, “Alright! What
in dah heck is goin’ on here?”
Joanie despairingly sighed. Her
cousin and the Muppet rat were exposed enough as it was to the secret she,
her mother, and the other Muppets so desperately tried to keep from
them and most everyone else at the theater.
“O.K. It’s time you two knew the
whole story about the world of Disney we discovered back in ’77.” She glanced
over to Vanessa, again letting out a deep, exhausted sigh. “And for everyone
else to know the new story that has
developed recently. It all started with—”
(Narrative Note: Not counting the fact this is a repeated scene, the "World of Disney" title is only uttered once in this story through this line of dialogue from Joanie.)
Before she could continue, a loud
thud resounded behind her. Turning to see what caused it, she discovered that
Vanessa finally collapsed. Contents of Kermit’s nearby desk scattered on
and around her signified that she used it to slow her tumble, spilling the
contents along with her.
Tomas was fast in tending to the
fallen woman. He gently lifted her upper body with one hand in front and the
other on the back. He was baffled of how wet her back felt to the touch. Once
he rested her over his lap, he moved the hand from her back and could see his
entire palm caked with a crimson liquid – Vanessa’s blood.
“She is injured!” He exclaimed on
his finding. “We must take her to the hospital!”
He attempted to carry her up until
she swiftly grasped his left arm. Her grip was powerful and cut off
circulation; there was more strength to this middle-aged woman than there
appeared, even in her debilitated state. “D-D-Don’t,” she stammered, every part
of her body shuddering.
Tomas presumed it to be a request
for her not to be taken to the
hospital. He preferred not to let this beautiful woman die in his arms, yet he
had no other choice but to obey her wish. The best he could do was keep her
settled comfortably on his lap as she faded in and out of consciousness.
(Authorial Note: Vanessa's refusal to be taken to the hospital was not just due to her inevitable death but out of fear in her Guardian biology being exposed to the world, putting the Muppet Theater residents - particularly Joanie - at risk.)
She tried to speak again; only faint
wheezing was let out.
“What is it, honey?” Diana asked in
immense concern. She addressed this woman, who was no less young than her, as
if her future grandson was right there rested on Tomas’s lap. “What do you need
from us?”
Vanessa fought hard to get the words
out: “D-Don’t…let me…f-forget…him.”
“Him?” Kermit uttered. “Him who?”
“Buh…Ben…geeeeeee…”
She drifted once more, this time
falling deep into unconsciousness.
Alarmed, Tomas believed Vanessa to
have died, urging him to check for her pulse. In pressing his left index and
middle fingers to her throat, there was reprieve in his disposition. “She is
still alive,” he confirmed to the relief of everyone else. “But her pulse is
fading. She does not have long left to live.”
“Who’s Benji?” Robin inquired,
fixated on Vanessa’s last word.
“Sean’s grandson,” revealed Joanie,
who looked to Tomas before soothingly adding, “Our great-grandson.” He looked to her, seeing the warm, loving
smile on her face. He could tell there was something she wanted so anxiously to
share with him, but it was not the time, unfortunately.
“And my great-great-grandson,”
figured an astounded Diana. “Oh, boy. I’m feelin’ so old from all this time travel stuff. Thought we were done with
all of it five years ago.”
In hearing her aunt mutter the words
“time” and “travel,” Ashley felt her head spinning more and more. “Is anybody goin’ to try to make sense of what’s happenin’ here?” She asked in her
desperation.
“We can make sense of it after we have gotten this woman to a
hospital.” Tomas made the suggestion with more of a demanding tone. He did not
like to be so forceful, but these were dire times. Vanessa was losing a lot of
blood; he could feel his lap soaked more from it by the second.
“She doesn’t need a doctor,” a young
voice spoke outside their party. It came from nearby at the stage door exit.
All eyes turned toward it to see a blond teenage girl, possibly sixteen years
of age, standing there in blue floral print top, skinny jeans, and brown boots.
She looked on the group in glittering aquamarine eyes. “She needs a healer.”
(Character Note: This is Sierra, a character based on/inspired by Sierra Bernal - the daughter of Chrissy Bernal, who was the inspiration for "Chrissy Ryder." Sierra will play a bigger role in the following story, The Disney Access, and World of Disney 5 as someone with crucial ties to the mystery of Chrissy and her copies, first established in Marvel Mayhem and continued through this tale, as noted back in Chapter Sixteen.)
Fantasia
It would be the last time he would
ever see her, so he cherished every moment, every touch, and every scent he had
of her before she returned home. They hugged for the longest time. This felt
like he was saying goodbye to her for good – and, for all he knew, it probably
was.
While Sean and Christina embraced in
the master bedroom, Adrienne stood by with Brandy cooing in her delicate arms.
She absolutely loved holding her, not just because she was the loveliest baby
she ever laid eyes on but for the fact that she was just as much her daughter – or, at least, the part of
her that was “Sean Thomas.” It still baffled her of what everyone said she was:
a reincarnation. She heard the term before, just never in the way it was used
in reference to her.
Standing by her and Brandy was Penz,
who patiently waited while the couple shared their moment. In her waiting, she
also enjoyed much of the time Brandy was still there, making kissing faces to
her and tickling her belly, both of which brought out much giggling from the
infant. It was no question how Penz was such a natural with her, being yet
another reincarnation of the baby’s father.
“Come with me,” Christina begged to
her husband. “You don’t need to be a part of any of this. You have a family to
take care of now.”
“You know we can’t do that.” She
noted the personal pronoun he used. He and Natalie were perfectly synced now.
It was difficult to say which one was in control. “What if this was to reach
you and Brandy, if we didn’t stay to help? Who knows how far the Empire will go
– today it’s Fantasia, tomorrow it could be our
world.”
Christina nodded and smiled, tears
escaping her eyes. “You sound so different with her in there.” She placed a hand to his chest, feeling his strong,
steady heartbeat. “I can’t tell anymore who’s who.”
Without pause, he delivered a long, tender
kiss to her. Once his lips disengaged from hers, he asked, “Does that help you
know the difference?”
Christina blinked rapidly, stunned
from the nature of that kiss. “Nope, I’m still a bit lost,” she jokingly
remarked. “Can you do it again, just so I can be sure?”
He gave a hearty laugh and kissed
her again.
Unfortunately, the second kiss was
brief.
All of the sudden, the foundation of
the castle-mansion shook in conjunction with what sounded to be jet aircraft
roaring overhead.
(Star Wars Note: It is actually an Imperial TIE fighter that is heard here.)
Looking to the ceiling, Sean knew
what it all meant: “The war’s started.”
“Which means we need to get you
ladies back home,” said an urgent Penz, who took Brandy into her care from
Adrienne and stood at Christina’s side.
Christina gave one final, quick kiss
to her husband. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, watching
her take Penz by the hand and vanish from the room with her and Brandy in a
sudden flash of golden light.
Sean wished there could be a minute
for him to sit down and pray. Pray that Christina and Brandy made it home
safely. Pray that he and Natalie would survive whatever hell the Empire brought to Fantasia that he was now part of.
Alas, there was no rest for the
weary.
Immediately following the departure
of Christina, Brandy, and Penz, there stormed in a group of people whose hasty
entrance startled Sean and Adrienne. They saw one of them to be Marcia, who
returned with eight other characters. Six of them Sean recognized – to his
disbelief – to be Captain EO and his merry band of misfit aliens and robots.
Walter was with them as well, as staggering as it was for Sean to see his
friend from the Muppet Theater somehow mixed in all this. The last was a tanned
redhead in a black, short-sleeved crop top, ripped denim shorts, and dark brown
boots carrying an unconscious Mickey Mouse in with her.
Marcia carried in someone herself –
the older Adrienne. The Jedi-Guardian
loudly groaned in her arms, bleeding out profusely from her chest and back. Marcia
rested her agonized body on the bed, as the foundation continued to sway from
the invading Imperial forces outside.
Meanwhile, the younger Adrienne
could barely believe her own eyes to the sight she bore witness to. Yen Sid was
not as crazy as she thought him to be when he spoke of a future version of her
imprisoned by the Empire. There she was, her ravaged body laid out on the bed,
thrashing uncontrollably – her possible future in living form before her for
the first time.
(Narrative Note: This is the first and only instance of which two versions of the same reincarnated form have shared the same space. Normally, such an event could cause a calamity in the continuum of the Guardian's timeline, most specifically if either version were to make physical contact.)
“Yen Sid! YEN SID!” Marcia cried the
master sorcerer’s name many times in her rattled frame of mind.
He answered the call as fast as
possible, rushing in to see how those he was forced to leave behind on the
Death Star were there. He was relieved to see them all free at first; but, once
he laid eyes on the mortally wounded Jedi-Guardian, he made haste in getting
her medical attention, as well as for Mickey, who he spotted in the arms of
Taryn.
“Adrienne, you stay put,” he
pointed to the young Padawan for clarity. “The rest of you come with me. We
must find ingredients for a healing potion.”
“That’ll work for Mickey here,”
Taryn said, “but would it work for a Guardian?”
Yen Sid resolutely looked to her. “We
must have hope that it will,” he answered.
The young Padawan’s hands fidgeted
in watching the others depart. There was zero desire in her to be left alone
with her wounded and dying older counterpart. Nevertheless, it was how matters
were to be. She stood at a distance from the Jedi-Guardian; she practically
reeked with death. The smell, among everything else, brought her that much closer
to vomiting.
She held her constitution enough to
bravely approach the bed.
The older woman carried much of her
young features, with the notable exception of her more defined cheekbones,
ghostly white skin, and hints of grey in her long, ruffled brown hair. Her
style of dress was somewhat more conventional than hers – barely any exposure
of skin.
She weepily surveyed the broken,
bloodied body. “Is this what my
destiny is meant to be?” She pondered aloud.
There was a low gasp from the
half-conscious Jedi-Guardian, sweating and shivering violently. She heard the
soft voice of her young counterpart and gracefully opened her glazed eyes to
see her. She frailly tittered.
Her amusement perplexed the Padawan:
“Why do you laugh when you are so close to death?”
Blood trickled down the left corner
of the Jedi-Guardian’s smiling mouth. “I’m not
going to die today,” she boldly guaranteed. “That’s whole reason I sent Herc
and Chris to get your sorry butt here.”
The Padawan grimaced at this. “I
don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t, so just shut
up and let me explain,” the Jedi-Guardian rudely demanded. She winced and
groaned before going into her account: “I achieved in findin’ a reserve power
source that’ll help me to bounce back to action.”
“What reserve power source?”
“You.”
The Padawan blankly stared, her perplexity
rising.
“Your body still contains strong
levels of Guardian energy necessary to trigger an emergency reincarnation, creating
a new form for us both that’ll have our
memories but more amplified powers. We’ll be so friggin’ unstoppable, it’ll be
ridiculous!” The Jedi-Guardian laughed in excitement of the breakthrough, only
inadvertently leading it into heavy coughing.
The Padawan only understood half of
what the Jedi-Guardian implied, having been briefed on the science of
reincarnation from Yen Sid. “It all sounds so… unorthodox,” she
said.
“I know,” the Jedi-Guardian
acknowledged. “Interfering with my own personal timeline, fusing young with old,
it could create catastrophic consequences. But it’s the only way that we can
stop the Empire from taking Fantasia.”
The Padawan was highly reluctant on the idea: “I…I’m not so sure about this. The both of us together in one body? A-And the ‘catastrophic
consequences’ you mentioned? It sounds like it will do more harm than good.”
The Jedi-Guardian smirked. “I once
had the same fears as you when I tried something just like this with thirteen
other versions of me – that’s how I know it’ll work.”
(Narrative Note: The great Guardian merge Adrienne refers to happened in the twenty-fifth tale from Tales of the Disneyverse. The only difference is the fusion happened among different reincarnated forms, not two versions of the same form as it is here.)
It
was hard to argue with that reasoning. The Padawan gave a trusting nod to her
older counterpart: “How does it
work?”(UP NEXT: War Comes to Fantasia!)
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