Fantasia Crisis

By Lord Akiyama

Inspired by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

Chapter Nineteen

---

"You seem to be getting better now, Simba," Ariel said, picking up the empty cups in her tray. "Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," Simba said. He watched her smile as she stepped out of the stateroom and closed the door. Simba sighed, gently placing his head upon the pillow. He had never felt such a thing before. "It sounded to me like you were very concerned when I flopped down in front of you like I did, Helga," he grinned.

"I was just concerned you had put this whole thing at risk doing something stupid," Helga replied from where sat examining a long stick-pin for defense possibilities.

Simba lightly chuckled. "Say what you want," he said. "Of course, I'd do it again if I had to."

"I gave you more credit than that," Helga glared. "You're not invincible you know. You can't go on putting yourself on the line just to help out the rest of the world."

"It just... helps me out better..." he said. "It kind of helps me sooth the guilt I shouldn't have."

"There's no point in guilt," Helga answered sticking the pin point down into the wood. "Who does it serve? No one, it just eats away at you if you let it."

"Well, it's kinda hard to forget when you were only a child," he said.

"You just haven't given it a good try," Helga said coming closer.

"Whenever the dream becomes a nightmare, it's always the same," Simba said. "The sight of my father dying is never an easy thing to let go."

"Death is a part of life," Helga sighed. "It's never fair and it's never easy to deal with, but there's no point to dwelling on it. If you do, it's like you died yourself." Even as she spoke, she knew the hierocracy in her words. She had retreated far into herself when she found out Christopher was dead. It had taken her a while to find the drive to keep going, but she did.

"That's exactly what I've been feeling like, though," Simba said. "Even though I didn't do it, I always have this incredible guilt that I was the one who killed my father."

"But that's what I'm talking about," Helga replied. "You know you didn't do it, right? So what's the point in feeling guilty for something you didn't do?"

"It's because I believed it did do it," Simba said. "I was a child and believed it until I had grown up and confronted the murderer. As I was growing up, I always believed that I killed him."

"And because of that, you think it's fair to put yourself into danger so that other people might have to share some of that feeling of guilt if something happened to you?" Helga arched her eyebrow, her voice just a little harsh.

Simba arched his eyebrows. "You really were concerned, weren't you?" he said.

"No," Helga shot back quickly. "It was just a hypothetical situation."

Simba chuckled. "Well, I guess you can say it runs in the family," he said. "I am the ruler of my pride and it is my responsibility to protect them. I guess I'm just bringing over that idea of protecting you guys."

"Well, you shouldn't," Helga answered after a minute. "Didn't you say you had a family? What about them? How do you think they would feel if something happened to you?"

Simba grinned. "I asked my wife about that," he said. "She said, 'You born into a heritage of placing yourself in danger to protect those you care for. I don't ever want to lose you, but its a risk I took when I married you. If I have to move on should you pass then that is what I will do.'"

"Yeah, well, not everyone's as gracious," Helga muttered. There was a long silence before she spoke again. "I hated my husband for dying on me."

"How did it happen?" he asked.

"Damned if I know," Helga replied studying the ring on her finger. "He went out on what was supposed to be some routine mission. Something happened and he saved the rest of his squad, but he never came home..."

"Then how do you know he's dead?" Simba asked curiously.

"That was over eight years ago now," Helga nodded. " If he was still alive, he would have come home by now. They said those that made it barely survived, but I still held out hope for awhile. I was being foolish," she added straightening up. "It doesn't do any good to hide from the reality of the situation. It's best to face it head on."

"Then why weren't you facing your responsibilities head on back in Atlantis?" he asked.

Every muscle in Helga's body tensed up. "Because I don't have a death wish, that's why," she shot back.

Simba arched his eyebrows. "What happened in Atlantis?" he asked.

Helga stayed silent for a minute looking towards the door. "What happened was a lesson in trust," she answered slowly.

"And how was that?" he asked.

"Did you notice that bright crystal that floated over the city?" Helga asked turning back towards him.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Well, we came down looking for it," Helga nodded. "Rourke found a picture of it in this old book and he was sure it was going to make us rich beyond our wildest dreams and let me tell you, I've had some wild dreams. Anyways," she went on, "we went down on an 'archeological' expedition to find it. But we hadn't counted on finding anyone living down there. It was supposed to be just a lot of rocks and crumbling buildings. We didn't count on the people..."

"And then everything went bad?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah it did," Helga muttered. "Rourke didn't care about the people. He still wanted to go through with it. He said they had no right to something they were just going to hide away, besides, after how many people we lost just getting there, we couldn't come back empty handed. I've been following his orders since I was seventeen. I really honestly trusted him. Thatch tried to tell us something about the people of the city being connected to that thing, but I didn't believe him. He tended to get a little excited at times.

"Well, I was wrong. We forced the princess to take us down to where the crystal had been hidden and the thing... I don't know what it did. There was this light and she just walked out on this lake. Right on it... and the crystal absorbed her or something and the next thing we knew, she WAS the crystal." Helga paused for a moment. "I don't believe in anything I can't explain, but right there, in that moment, I did."

Simba nodded, listening to every word. He could only imagine the kind of experience it was to go through something like that.

"Rourke wasn't phased in the least," Helga kept going, a bit of indignation in her voice. "He crated her up and was ready to leave, but half the crew decided to desert, some of them friends. They were just going to stay there even if it meant they were trapped there forever. I wasn't going to end up like Chris playing the noble hero and winding up dead because of it, besides, I trusted Rourke," she shook her head. "Anyways, long story short, we headed up the volcano shaft to reach the surface in this mechanical blimp, the others attacked and when we started loosing altitude, Rourke threw me over the side."

He nodded further, remembering when they were all first gathered she was injured. Yen Sid convinced her to allow Mickey to heal her.

"He was the only one growing up that took me seriously as a person, that saw more in me than just a girl or a woman, but really saw me as an equal, at least, I thought he did..." Helga muttered. "Do you know he had the nerve to tell me it was 'nothing personal'? Actually," she laughed suddenly, "I guess it wasn't for him, just me..." She brushed the fur out of her eyes before going on. "I don't know too much about what happened after that. After I came to on the ground, I shot my flare gun at the blimp and the hydrogen caught on fire. I think it was coming down, but that's when the blurred figure came. I think we can safely assume that everything worked out for the most part since we saw the Princess, but I have no idea what happened to Rourke, or Thatch, or anyone else for that matter."

Simba nodded after listening to all this. "Sounds to me like you were guilty by association," he said. "Doing only as you were told."

"No," Helga shook her head. "I made the conscious decision to follow him. I could have backed out at any time, but I didn't."

"And you didn't because you trusted him despite these second-guesses that were emerging?" he asked.

"I think that's what bothers me the most," Helga laughed slightly at her own foolishness. "If I had it to do over again, I'd probably still follow him. I never trusted anyone, like I trusted him, but you see," she added, "that's where trust gets you."

Simba nodded. "Well, I guess that's where everyone's personalities clash," he said. "The idea of if you could change what you done in the past."

"I don't look to change it," Helga replied in all seriousness. "Like I said, there's no point in wasting time or energy with guilt. I just thought maybe I could move past it. I was wrong. You're right, there's no running away from your problems. They always find you in the end."

Simba nodded. "I remember when I was living as an outcast," he said. "I then had some sense knocked into me that it was time to take up my responsibilities. I've got the bump to prove it. A wise person told me that I could either run from the past or learn from it."

"That's for damned sure," Helga muttered. "I learned my lesson. I don't trust anyone anymore. I rely on me and just me."

Simba chuckled. "If you say so," he said.

"And what's with this, 'if you say so' business?" Helga glared.

"If that is how you come to your conclusions, that's fine," he said. "It's your choice and no one else."

"That's right," Helga nodded folding her arms. She stayed silent for a good minute before looking back to him. "And if you even think of doing something stupid like you did back there again, I'll kill you myself."

"I can't make a promise to not do something stupid like that again," he chuckled.

"Well, don't say you haven't been warned," Helga cracked a slight grin in spite of herself.

---

Amelia stood by as the others, Tarzan, Robin, and Stitch, began sniffing through the snow covered surroundings. She would normally do the same, but the others were better trackers than she was. Soon, the three began to sniff from separate directions to one. Her eyes rose up as Tarzan began to speak in gorilla grunts.

"What do you smell?" she asked them.

"Various animals," Tarzan spoke. "They smell like one."

"Beast," Robin said. "He's been here recently. And we are upon his trail."

"Then we must approach quickly, but cautiously," Amelia nodded. "We do not know the extent of the possession, nor do we know the dangers that are about."

"I shall ask," Tarzan said, leaping from his position and into the trees. Stitch wanted to follow, but Robin pulled him back and shook his head.

"Tarzan is one with the animals, Stitch," Robin reminded him.

"We shall wait in hiding until he returns," Amelia said, looking around for a good resting spot.

Tarzan leaped from branch to branch, surfing through the trees. It was moments before he found animals, a pair of deer hiding under the trees. He quietly slid down so that they could see him. At first they were scared, yet his movement made them more relaxed. When he spoke to them, he spoke their tongue.

"I am Tarzan," he said. "I came from a land far away in search of someone."

"I am the prince of the forest," the male deer spoke. "My name is Bambi. This is my mate, Faline. For whom do you seek?"

"I seek a creature that smells of many animals, but is one," Tarzan said. The deer looked at each other, Faline appearing rather frightened. "You know of whom I speak," he said.

"Yes, we do," Faline said. "It is a creature of death."

"He speaks no words," Bambi said. "He only kills with no mercy and no remorse. We have hidden as well as we could, but we fear he is upon us."

Tarzan nodded with a gorilla grunt. Suddenly, all three caught a smell of ill wind. They turned their heads in unison. Tarzan took a step forward, gripping his weapon.

"I shall hold him still," he said to them. "Run to the west and retrieve my companions of three, for they shall aide me." Before the deer could respond, the creature appeared suddenly. "Go, now!" Tarzan yelled before leaping into the attack.

The deer did as they were told, running as quickly as they could to the west. It was sometime before they saw dark smoke ahead. Quickening their pace, they arrived upon a small camp.

Amelia stood up quickly with her ears raised as the deer arrived. "Tarzan has found him," she said. "He is in need of our assistance. Let's move, gentlemen!"

Robin nodded to the deer in thanks as the three began to follow the trail that was left. Amelia drew her sword with Robin fastening his bow. Their pace quickened as swiftly as possible before they came upon Tarzan fighting with strength against the roaring Beast.

Beast shifted his weight to throw Tarzan against the wall, falling back on all fours and growling at the others. He then made a sound that neither of them could identify.

"So that's what the possession has done to him," Amelia whispered. "He has devolved."

The four quickly began to fight, not exactly sure how to break his possession. They relied upon the ideal of the heat of battle to calm his mind. Amelia and Robin were careful not to use their blades, but rather the hilt and actual bow to battle. Tarzan and Stitch took him on in full force.

In no time, they learned that Beast was just too over powering. Full force alone was not enough to ground him. Tarzan and Stitch were flying around in every which way. The same was done to Amelia and Robin as they continued to attack him with hard surfaces instead of their blades.

In the heat of battle, Amelia was thrown down a small hill of snow. She slowly pushed herself off the ground a little. She looked to see a woman standing near a well looking at her.

"I'm sorry to say, ma'am," she started through her breathing, "but I would recommend you taking leave for your own safety. It's not safe here."

"What is happening," she asked, appearing not to be afraid the slightest bit.

"Believe me," Amelia answered, "you really don't want to know."

One by one, the others began to roll down the hill. Stitch ended up slamming into the well. Beast roared upon the top of the hill before leaping down. Noticing the others would not get up fast enough, Amelia leaped in front of the woman in an effort to shield her. Beast landed before them and knocked Amelia with a swift backhand.

The woman looked up upon the creature as he lifted her up by her collar. She was soon face to face with the monster, and then her eyes widened. Beast bore his teeth and snorted in the cold air, yet there was something familiar. Especially in the eyes.

"... my beautiful Beast..." she finally spoke.

Beast stopped cold upon hearing this whisper. The fierce creature seemed to have melted away, revealing a surprised figure looking at the woman. It was as though he was in a dream. Or rather, awakening from a nightmare.

"... Belle?" he whispered.

The others watched in complete confusion at what was happening. Then a smile came upon Amelia's face. "He remembers," she whispered. "He's been released."

A smile came upon Belle and Beast's faces as they embraced. Beast made an animal sigh to Belle's light laughter. When they finally released their embrace, he gently brought her down to her feet and held hands as they looked into each other's eyes. Finally, Belle looked away with a giggle and Beast chuckled.

"Perhaps you should introduce her to us," Amelia suggested with a grin as the others got to their feet, relieved that Beast was back to normal.

Beast nodded. "Belle," he started. "I want you to meet some people I've met."

---

The Genie yawned, looking like a skinny old man as he emerged from the lamp. "My, my, Al," he said in an old man's voice. "You sure took your time to release me. Now then, how about--" He turned and noticed that he was in a desert surrounding. Reverting back to normal form, Genie looked about before seeing Iago standing near the lamp.

"I know what you're gonna say," Iago said. "You're going to go, 'Oh my God! I've been taken by the feathered puppet of that no good vizier!' Let me assure you that that is not the case."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you?" Genie said sarcastically, sounding a little disappointed.

"You're not supposed to believe anything," Iago said. "All you have to do is grant my three wishes and that's that."

"Fine, whatever," Genie said, looking away. "Ask away, why don't you?"

"Not yet," Iago said. "First, I have to plan out what my first wish should be. The ultimate goal is to overthrow Jafar from power, but to simply wish for him to be overthrown would not be a good idea. He would be on to me just that easily. I'll probably use that for my last wish."

"Wait a minute," Genie said. "Overthrow Jafar? What happened these past two years?"

"There was a balance disruption," Iago answered. "Jafar has since ruled Agrabah with everyone else missing and probably altered."

"The balance got disrupted?" Genie cried. "No wonder the master of masters wanted Al. Something bad really was happening."

"You're going to have to explain this master of masters thing to me, but not right now," Iago said. "I have some thinking to do."

"Why would you want to overthrow Jafar?" Genie asked curiously.

"That bastard discarded me and the stupid lamp all because he is now the ruler of Agrabah," Iago vented. "What better way to extract some revenge than to overthrow him. In addition to him being on to me, simply wishing him to be overthrown would leave an empty chair in the palace with no heir to..." Iago stopped and then grinned. "That's it! We need the royal family. And who better to take the throne than the princess."

Genie nodded as he heard all this. "Well," he shrugged, "I can do nothing but grant whatever wish you desire."

"You got that right, buddy!" Iago laughed. "O Genie of the Lamp, my first wish is for you to bring us to Princess Jasmine."

to be continued...

Thanks to GoblinQueeen, who provided the dialogue and some action for Helga.