Were you wondering about what was up with Nick Wilde's sudden powers? Well the other characters are too! Time to see where Oswald's team will go, as well as meet some characters that I haven't gotten into. Luckily for me, a recent event in the real world has let the stars align with this story…
Joining The Resistance
Galaxy's Edge, Hollywood Studios
"Okay, where are we now?" Oswald asked in confusion. "One moment we're being chased by natives in a riverboat, and the next we're in the middle of a spaceport of all things!"
"I hope Skipper Dan is okay…" Tod said in a worried tone.
"Don't worry kid, he acted like he's dealt with those guys before," Nick reassured.
"At least we're out of that humidity," Angel sighed. "That river was not being kind to my fur."
"But now we've lost track of the next person in the prophecy!" Magica complained. "We were on the trail of the Statue, and somehow my magic failed to take us to them."
"Guess your magic isn't as cracked up as you thought," Lena said.
Magica pointed her staff threateningly. "Don't test me, little shadow. I can send you back to the shadow realm as easily as I created you from it."
"I'm not as powerless against you as I was last time," Lena said, grasping the amulet around her neck. A blue glow started to surround her body. "I don't know how, but I have my own source of magic now, and it's just as powerful as yours is."
"Guys, you might want to not make a scene at the moment," Scout warned.
The team turned to see what the sorcerer's apprentice was talking about. A group of men in white armor turned towards them, each of them holding a blaster of some kind. "Those two look like Jedi," one of the men said. "You there! In the name of the First Order, you will come quietly with us for questioning."
"How about… no," Magica said, turning her staff on the men and blasting one to the ground. The men returned fire, making the team duck behind some nearby objects for cover.
"Wait, I think I recognize those guys," Nick said. "Those are Stormtroopers, from Star Wars!"
"I've seen those movies," Lena said. "I think Webby is more into them than I am."
"I still remember seeing 'The Phantom Mongoose' as a kid," Nick said. He paused. "Wow, that makes me feel really old."
"You can have a mid-life crisis later, gramps," Lena said. She threw a few bolts of magic at the Stormtroopers before ducking back behind cover. "We need a way to get these guys off of them. Hey, pink dog lady, why don't you do the singing thing you did on that freaky alien?"
"They're helmets might block out my song," Angel said, pulling out her blaster to retaliate against the Stormtroopers. "And don't call me a dog."
"What we need is some luck on our side," Magica said. She eyed Oswald, a devious smile coming onto her face.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked nervously. The witch then proceeded to grab Oswald in her magic, tossing him at the troopers as he flailed wildly. "Uh, we surrender?"
Suddenly, the sounds of many feet could be heard, making the Stormtroopers look to where the sound was coming from. In a rush of movement, a massive wave of dalmatians of all things came in and swept the Stormtroopers away, the shock of the event making them drop their weapons in the process.
"…Okay, I don't know what just happened, but I'm okay with it," said Nick, coming out from cover and picking up one of the dropped blasters. "I'll just be taking this."
As the others recovered from the shock of the moment, another, older looking dalmatian came out from the other side of the street. It had a distinct black right ear and a red collar with a star dog tag on it. The dalmatian barked at Oswald's group, making Tod's ears perk up.
"He wants us to follow him," Tod said.
"You can understand him?" Nick asked, holding the kit up.
"Yep!" Tod replied.
The dalmatian barked again, wagging its tail and running off towards the other side of the space port. Shrugging, Nick followed after the dog, with the other team members following after him. They were eventually led into a shop, which looked to be run by a raccoon in a jumpsuit and a tree person. The dalmatian barked, taking the raccoon's attention away from the weapon he was working on.
"Oh, you're back already?" the raccoon said. He then noticed the rest of the group with him. "Oh you brought guests. Did you remember to pick up parts for me?"
"Is this your dog we've been following?" Scout asked.
"Dylan belongs to no one but himself," the raccoon said. "The name's Rocket, thanks for asking. Now then, unless you've got parts to trade in, I suggest you leave before I have to blow a few more holes in those First Order jerks."
"I am Groot," the tree said.
"Nice to meet you, Groot," Tod said, waving a paw.
"I am Groot," Groot said.
Lena tilted her head. "Yeah, you already said your name."
"Groot can only say I and Am and Groot. Exclusively in that order," Rocket replied. He then eyed the blaster Nick was wearing and grabbed it up, despite the fox's protest. "Hey, this is just what I needed! Now then, get out of my shop."
"I really wanted to keep that," Nick muttered as he walked to the back of the store, following Dylan.
As they left to follow the dalmatian, Angel waved at Groot. "You remind me of one of my Ohana," she commented.
"I am Groot," Groot said.
Angel giggled. "Sorry, but I already have my bojiboo, so I'll have to decline your offer."
Rocket sighed as Groot looked disappointed. "You're not even on her level, why'd you think she was going to actually going to go on a date with you?"
[***]
Heading into the back of the shop, the group found that the building was a lot larger on the inside than it originally appeared. The façade of the shop quickly changed into a secret base as they ventured further in, with many humans and aliens working at computer consoles, training with weapons, and fixing up spaceships. The dalmatian continued through the base until he reached a door with a speaker nearby. Dylan put his paw on a button and barked into the speaker, making the door open and allowing the team to enter.
"A secret base within a secret base," Oswald said. "Seems redundant, but alright."
"Greetings, travelers," said a distorted voice. The team turned to see a radio set up on a table, which is where the voice was coming from. "If you're hearing this, that means that Dylan was able to get you into the Resistance Base."
"Oh, this is from the new Star Wars movies," Nick said. "Judy and I were going to watch those, but we never got around to it."
Dylan barked, making the radio give a hum. "Your collar is malfunctioning again, isn't it? Go talk to Neeku and he'll fix it for you." The dalmatian barked again and ran off. "As I was saying, we've been monitoring you since you teleported in. Dr. Strange informed us that you would be important for the upcoming battle."
"What battle?" Magica questioned.
"You're trying to get into the Castle in Magic Kingdom, correct?" the radio asked. Holographic screens appeared above the radio, showing off multiple views of the various lands. "We're preparing an assault on CLU's Organization, whom is currently trying to break into the castle itself." More screens appeared, showing the Big Hero 6 team, the Lion King team, and a static connection labeled as 'The Twilight Zone.' "There are already multiple teams getting ready to do the same, so we're planning to head out tomorrow."
"But we haven't even gathered up everyone for the prophecy yet!" Magica shouted. "The matriarch, statue, and key master are still unaccounted for."
"We can help you on two of those fronts," the radio said. "The connection we've been able to get from the Twilight Zone has shown that one of the lifeforms is a creature known as a 'gargoyle.'"
"Which would make it an animated statue," Magica stated.
"That's what a gargoyle is. Everyone knows that," Lena sarcastically replied, getting a glare from her aunt.
"The second is currently on a field mission to infiltrate the Organization itself," said the radio. "He's a Keyblade wielder, so he should fit the bill you're looking for."
"And whatever the matriarch is we can find later," Lena said. "Look voice-on-the-radio guy, I could really care less about this prophecy my Aunt keeps going on about. What about this castle is so special anyway? Does it hold some all-powerful artifact or something?"
"Much more interesting than that," said the radio. The machine turned off, and out of the shadows of the room came a middle-aged man in a suit, his brown hair thinning in the front. "I'm Agent Coulson of SHIELD and the current leader of the Metahuman Branch. What our readings have found is that whatever is in that castle is what made all of our worlds merge together in the first place."
[***]
After getting acquainted to the Resistance Base, the group spilt up to meet some of the base members and prepare for tomorrow's battle at the castle. Oswald went with Angel to talk to the Resistance leader, General Organa, Scout and Lena decided to see if there were any more teenage members of the Resistance, Magica stayed with Coulson to discuss battle strategy, and Nick followed Tod as the little fox went to find Dylan once again.
"I can smell him over here!" Tod exclaimed, his tail wagging as they approached a door.
"Slow down, kid," Nick chuckled. "I don't think that dog is going anywhere." As he knocked on the door, Nick sensed something behind it, a force that he had only felt when he had removed the rubble back during their alien encounter.
The door opened to reveal a young man with blue eyes and short blue hair wearing an orange jumpsuit. "Hello there," he greeted. "Did you need me for something?"
Nick felt that pull in his stomach again; it was definitely coming from this kid. "Hi. The name's Nick Wilde, and my kid- I mean, he's not my kid but I'm taking care of him- is looking for his friend."
"Oh, he met one of the Twilight Bark?" the boy asked. He crouched down and gave a pet to Tod.
"He seems nice, Mr. Wilde," said Tod.
The boy's eyes widened. "He can talk without a collar?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm with this witch named Magica, and she put a spell on him so that we could understand him," Nick answered.
The boy nodded. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Ezra Bridger, and I'm in charge of the Twilight Bark here in the Resistance."
"That's the second time you've mentioned that," Nick said.
"Tod!" said a slightly high yet still male voice. The dalmatian from before, Dylan, was standing behind Ezra and quickly ran up to the little fox.
"Hi Dylan!" Tod replied.
"The Twilight Bark is a group made up of various dogs that we've taken in here at the Resistance," Ezra explained. The boy led Nick and Tod into the room, revealing it to be a fairly large area filled with dogs and canines of various types. There was a mutt and a cocker spaniel cuddled up together, a Xoloitzcuintle with a long tongue, a golden-furred dog that was talking a lot, and a white German Shepard with a lightning bolt mark on his side. "I have the ability to use the Force to connect with living creatures, so I was put in charge of taking care of these dogs until we can return them to their owners."
"You'd think I'd find this weirder when the only thing back hope we have as 'pets' are bugs," Nick muttered.
"We used to not be able to speak to humans," Dylan said. "But the humans here were able to make these special collars so we could talk to them." Nick noticed that Dylan's collar had the number '104' engraved on it.
"That was based on my former master's collars," said the golden dog from earlier. He jumped up on Nick and gave the Fox a big lick to the face. "My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you."
"Great…" Nick said, wiping the slobber out of his fur.
"Is there a hound dog named Cooper here?" Tod asked Dylan.
The dalmatian thought about it. "I don't think so, but if he's a missing dog, then I'm sure we'll find him. Me and my 99 other siblings are great at finding lost dogs!"
'He has 99 siblings!?' Nick thought. He coughed and turned to Ezra. "Anyway, let's back up a moment. Did you say you were a Jedi?"
"Yeah, I am," Ezra said. "And I can feel a connection to the Force within you. Are you one as well?"
"Me? I'm not a- " Nick replied, only to stop and think about it. 'I was able to move rocks with my mind,' he thought. 'And I can feel a connection with this Ezra kid. Is it possible…?'
"Mr. Nick?" Tod asked, bringing the anthropomorphic fox out of his thoughts. "Can I go play with Dylan and the other dogs?"
Nick smiled down at the kit. "Of course, kid." As Tod ran off, Nick turned to Ezra and put on a serious face, though he couldn't hold back a smile for long. "If I really do have the Force, then let's get me a lightsaber. Teach me to be a Jedi!"
Author's Note
We're in the endgame for this story! The next chapters will be following a linear story, so I'd like to give a thanks to everyone that gave suggestions for this story and to all those that follow and review it!
Shout out to Skipper Dan at the beginning of the chapter! He may or may not become important later...
Star Wars Galaxy's Edge just opened in Disneyland, so naturally we're going to be meeting a lot of Star Wars characters in the upcoming chapters. We've also got some Marvel characters incoming, so be ready for that as well. Rocket and Groot will be around later, as they're one of my favorite duos and a part of my favorite Marvel movies.
I wanted to start Nick's journey to becoming a Force user here, so I hope it's not too out of character for him to be a big Star Wars fan (remember, Zootopia has animal-parody versions of Disney movies). Nick becoming a Jedi has been in the works since I started this story, so I figured that it would be easier if he was already familiar with Star Wars rather than be taught everything from scratch.
Tod also got a new friend in Dylan from "101 Dalmatian Street", which while it's not out in the US yet, but it is available to our friends in the UK and other countries. There are a few easter eggs involving his character in this chapter, actually, so if you can find them, leave them in a review!
Next time: Lena and Scout get caught up in the dark arts, and Angel gets an unexpected reunion!
Don't forget to leave a review on what you thought of this chapter!
Characters that premiered this chapter:
Skipper Dan (The Jungle Cruise Ride) mentioned only
Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017) mentioned only
First Order Stormtroopers (Star Wars Sequel Trillogy)
101 Dalmatians, Dylan (101 Dalmatian Street)
Rocket Raccoon, Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Agent Coulson (Agents of SHIELD)
General Leia Organa (Star Wars) mentioned only
Ezra Bridger (Star Wars Rebels)
Lady, Tramp (Lady and the Tramp) non-speaking role
Dante (Coco) non-speaking role
Dug (UP)
Bolt (Bolt) non-speaking role
Cooper (The Fox and the Hound) mentioned only