Fantasia Crisis

By Lord Akiyama

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

Chapter Twenty

---

Robin entered and quickly made a grab for a cup of water. "Nice to see you guys waited ever so patiently," he commented after a drink.

"We just want to get this done with as quickly as possible," Amelia said. "What did you discover?"

"Hercules is being used as a form of entertainment for the Queen of Hearts," Robin said. "Tomorrow is her birthday and its some kind of major gladiatorial show."

"Swell, and I thought Whitmore's parties got out of hand," Helga sighed shifting her weight.

"It gets better," Robin continued. "There is also a carnival of sorts going on at the same time. What caught my attention was this elephant that had giant ears."

"Any idea of what tomorrow might be like?" Simba asked.

"Hercules is being used as the star attraction of the Queen's games while this carnival is taking place," Robin said. "My guess is that they are trying to attract more than just every resident on the island."

"Which means there would be less chance of our being spotted," Helga mussed aloud.

"But Hercules is out in the open," Beast added.

"Granted," Helga nodded, "but there is a better chance they won't know we're there until it's too late to stop us."

"What if they already know we're going to be there?" Ariel suggested. "After all, there's three left and they are probably not taking chances and placing agents throughout."

"True again," Helga sighed, "but they don't know our exact location or when and where we are going to strike. If we can blend in, it gives us the advantage. It's like masking your rook with a pawn."

"Rook with a pawn?" Tarzan asked.

"Part of a game called chess, I'll explain it later," Amelia said. "What do you say, Simba? What's the plan?"

Simba thought for a moment. "It's how to blend in that's bothering me a little," he said. "You know, I could easily pass as one of the lions Hercules fights."

Helga shot him a glare. "I thought we talked about this kind of thing?"

"Can you think of a better idea of how to get to him without raising suspicion?" Simba replied.

"Beast is not exactly a certain type of animal, no offense," Robin said. "And they're only accepting animals to face him."

Helga folded her arms. "Alright, fine, you go in to fight him. What do we do once he's ripped you in half?"

"I was actually thinking that while I am about to fight him, a diversion be made," Simba said. "That elephant is giving me an idea and you seem like the perfect candidate, Helga."

"What do you mea..." Helga's voice trailed off as her eyes widened. "Oh no, you can't possibly mean... that whole elephants and mice thing is just a rumor, right?"

"We'll just have to find out, don't we," Amelia grinned.

"I was also thinking of getting the queen occupied while all this happens," Simba said. "I suggest we find some clothing to help Ariel pass as royalty with Robin as her servant."

"There's marvelous clothing I can retrieve for you," Amelia said to Ariel. "I'm assuming this is all so that you won't be fighting Hercules alone?"

"That's right," Simba said. "With all the diversions, Beast and Tarzan can sneak in and help me subdue him."

"Oh, and no one's going to notice the servant with the big fluffy tail?" Helga arched her eyebrow.

"You think it's normal that the Queen of Hearts uses flamingos as golf clubs and among her servants are a talking walrus and a rabbit that hangs with a crazy man?" Robin said.

"Ok, I'll grant you that one," Helga conceded. "I always thought the story was more of a political satire, I never really thought of them as real people."

"Alright, I guess that's the plan," Simba said with a sigh.

"Unfortunately," Helga mumbled.

---

Simba was led into the lair where all the other animals were kept. Many of them glared or growled at him upon his entrance, but they quickly reverted to fear. They knew what they were going up against and were very afraid. He didn't blame them. Under normal circumstances, he would not be volunteering for this mission. But if it could get him close enough to Hercules, it was fine for...

"Simba?" a familiar voice said.

Simba stop dead in his track, his eyes widened. He quickly turned to meet the voice. "Nala?"

Helga cursed silently as she jumped out of the way of yet another careless person's foot. She started to pull out her make-shift stick-pin sword, but put it back realizing it would blow their cover. "Of course, I'm not promising I won't sick anyone as we're getting out of here," she muttered under her breath as she scrambled up the side of a cage.

Elephants. Why did it have to be an elephant? They were huge and mean and bad tempered... ok, so far it was sounding like an even match, all except for the huge part. Not at the moment at least. "Still," she mused as she slid down a pole, "I'll take an elephant over a tiger or a rat any day."

"I bring you greetings, Queen of Hearts," Ariel said as she performed a curtsy before queen. Robin kept low in a bowing position throughout. "I am Princess Ariel of the European province."

"Ah, Princess Ariel," the queen said with a smile. "So nice to meet you. I take it the prince is quite busy with business elsewhere to attend my party."

"I am afraid so," Ariel said, somewhat saddened to know that Eric would not be around. "I have come on behalf of my husband, bringing you tidings. The gift, servant."

Robin staggered as he brought forth a present for the queen, who was more than delighted to see yet another present just for her. Beneath the hood he wore, Robin was grinning. "Wait until you actually open the present, your majesty," he thought.

Simba and Nala embraced as they only could, with tears slowly forming from their eyes. "I missed you so," Nala whispered.

"I'm here," Simba whispered back. For a moment, everything seemed to have faded. He then remembered why he was in the lair. "Oh no, they're going to send you up against him, aren't they?"

Helga stared up at the enormous gray beast... well, not quite as enormous as she had thought. Big enough when compared with her, but on the whole, kind of round and pudgy. "I guess Robin wasn't kidding about the ears," she muttered.

The elephant noticed the mouse near the cage door and smiled. He quickly outstretched his truck and grabbed her, pulling her in for a hug.

"Hey... HEY! Not so tight!" Helga exclaimed as she grappled for air. "If I ever track down who thought of that elephants are afraid of mice business..." she growled.

"I'm sure you have been enjoying my birthday, princess," the queen said, her gift placed upon the stack of many other gifts. "Quite the momentous event."

"Quite momentous indeed," Ariel said, doing her best to not feel tired. She hadn't realized just how much weight this dress placed upon the body.

Unbeknownst to them, Robin would occasionally slip his hands into whatever of the queen's money he could get his hands on. The children outside the arena would be pleased.

"I've heard awful things about him," Nala said. "That he could easily defeat a beast in a matter of seconds. And I'm still carrying Kiara inside me, Simba. How could I possibly fight?"

"You won't," Simba said with a look of determination. "I promise you, he won't harm you. Besides, he's not exactly himself and I was originally here to rescue him."

"Rescue him?" Nala said, arching her eyebrows.

"This has to do with this whole saving the world business," Simba said. "I'm just glad we planned this thing out before we all came here."

"Down! Heel, boy! Sit!" Helga tried every command she could think of in an exasperated tone. The elephant released the hug, holding her up with his trunk with a smile as he looked at her. "Ok... so I'm guessing the whole frightening you out of your wits thing isn't going to happen," Helga sighed. "Alright, time to think of another way to cause a distraction and quickly."

The elephant placed her down on the ground, still smiling. "Riiiiiight...." Helga muttered. "You're about as vicious as a poodle, but still... if we got you out of this cage, there'd at least be a commotion while they tried to get you back in..."

"They say that no animal can defeat him," the queen said, marveling at the latest victory from the warrior standing in the center of the arena. "That claim has yet to be proven wrong. Call forth the next group of animals."

A rabbit wearing a stop watch ran up to a horn and blew as hard as he could. He coughed before saying, "And now, dear guests. To celebrate the birthday of the Queen of Hearts, we proudly present the champion as he battle a vicious group of lions."

Simba and Nala watched as the gate began to rise. "Remember what I said," Simba said to her. "When the first group of my companions arrive, you find an exit and start looking for a human with red hair and a fox that appears human." Nala nodded nervously. "I'll be okay," he assured her. "I have to be."

"That's the signal," Helga nodded hearing the trumpet blast. She reached her whole arm into the lock on the cage, tripping the mechanism and opening the door.

Excited, the elephant grabbed Helga and placed her on his hat. He leaped out of the cage and began to fly. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Helga shouted. "Ok, I know I don't know much about wild animals, but I do know that elephants don't fly!"

The elephant yelled the familiar elephant call as he flew around, everyone watching in disbelief and a bit of shock. The elephant made a perfect loop in the air above the queen. "Hold on wait, don't..." Helga started, but it was too late. The elephant had already entered a loop and not really having anything to hold on to, she slipped out and began to fall at an alarming rate, bringing flashbacks to a dark volcano shaft.

"What in Heaven's name is--" the queen started, but never finished. Something fell into her lap. She looked down and screamed in horror at the sight of a mouse.

Robin quickly grabbed Helga and stepped behind Ariel. "Rats, I wanted her to open the present," Robin whispered.

"You can try again at Christmas, fox boy," Helga murmured trying to clear her head out of the daze it was in. "Right now, let's just get demi-god and get out of here."

"Stick to the plan," Robin said. "Beast and Tarzan need to help Simba subdue him and it's not going to be easy."

"Then I suggest we get out of here," Ariel said. "This crowd is beginning to turn violent." Robin nodded and the two began to run for the exit. "Did you do something to make that elephant fly?" Ariel asked curiously.

"Do I look like I the type that goes around cavorting with pachyderms?" Helga shot back.

Beast and Tarzan watched in the shadows as everyone began to run for their lives. They waited a moment before they were sure enough to sneak into the arena. Their only concern was waiting too long, causing Hercules to do immense harm to Simba. As they entered the arena, Simba was performing a hit and run on the the human.

"Glad to know you guys took your time," Simba said, dodging a swing from Hercules. "You mind giving me a hand?"

"With pleasure," Beast grinned. He roared as he pounced on Hercules. Tarzan leaped into action as well, allowing Simba a small rest period.

"Get going, Nala," he said. "The sooner you are on the ship, the better. Remember, Robin Hood is a fox, Ariel is a human, and Helga is a mouse."

Nala nodded as she began to sprint for the exit. She stayed in the shadows hoping to avoid any of the trappers who caught her before. She then saw a cloaked figure with a puffy tail. A tail of a fox. With the figure was a human and there was a mouse in their hands. It had to be them, so she ran to them.

"You're Simba's companions, aren't you?" she quickly asked, causing the others to turn in surprise.

"So much for blending in," Helga sighed.

"Please, I'm Simba's wife," Nala said. "He told me you were his companions and that you would help take me back to your ship."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "How can we be sure we can trust you?" he asked.

"You are Robin Hood," she quickly said, "a fox that appears human. The girl is Ariel, a mermaid princess who became human first through the alterations of the balance disruption and then by the master of masters. Helga Sinclair was human, but drank something that turned her into the mouse I see before me."

"I honestly don't think any one else knows Helga got turned into a mouse," Ariel whispered to the others.

"And in the interest of keeping it that way, let's get her out of here," Helga hissed.

Their first plan was to attack one of the time, often doing hit and runs. Simba then came up with the idea of perform combination attacks. As long as they moved fast, they would wear him down. Soon enough, Beast was able to grab hold of Hercules and slam him down against the ground. Hercules barely had any breath to fight back. They exhausted him. Now they needed to break the lock.

"Hercules," Simba said. "Can you hear me? Do you know who I am? I do. You are the son of a God and a Goddess. When you were but an infant, you were taken from your home and turned mortal. You, however, retained your God-like strength. You soon learned this discovery when you went to the temple of the God whom you discovered to be your father. You were told that you could rejoin your family by proving yourself to be a true hero. And you achieved this when you risked your life to save the woman you loved."

Memories began to flood through his head. His first sight, his parents, his foster parents, Phil, Pegasus, Hades... Meg... the image of Meg froze before his eyes. Moments later, he was back to earth and saw the three faces before him.

"You look tired, Simba," Hercules said. The others began to chuckle.

---

"I hope they didn't give you a hard time," Simba said as he embraced his love. Most of the others welcomed the returning Hercules as the ship left dock. Simba went straight to Nala.

"I will say that the mouse seemed rather caring," Nala said. "She told me, 'Well, someone had to make sure he didn't run off and do something stupid and I didn't see anyone else volunteering.'" The two lions began to laugh softly.

"I wish everyone would stop spreading these vicious rumors about me," Helga muttered climbing quickly onto the rigging.

"She's very much like Timon," Nala giggled. "Always trying to protect that precious ego of his."

"And I wish they would stop talking about me like I couldn't hear," Helga added folding her arms. "These things aren't just here for decoration, you know," she replied sarcastically directing attention to her ears.

"We know," Simba said. "Of course, your ears are nothing compared to your new friend behind you."

Helga did a double take and nearly fell off the rigging as she saw the enormous gray face behind her. "Shoo, off with you," she muttered as she tried to pull herself back up the rope. "Go find a nice flock and fly south for the winter."

The elephant smiled before picking her up with his trunk and hugging her. Some of the others saw this and began to laugh. "I guess that saying of elephants afraid of mice is out of the question," Amelia laughed.

"Ya think?" Helga arched an unamused eyebrow. "Now put me down!"

The elephant, still smiling, did as he was told. He then flipped in the air before flying off. "Bye bye, Mr. Elephant!" Ariel called. "I hope we see you again!"

"Oh yeah, like the plague," Helga mumbled.

---

"Well, we're not in Kansas any more," Genie remarked. They were definitely not in a place familiar to either of them. It looked like a room, but there were a lot of walls. And it looked more like a square.

"I can only imagine what she ended up becoming," Iago muttered, feeling his feathers through various strange objects. Moments later, the door opened. They turned to see Jasmine. Or they thought it was Jasmine.

"I take it strangers are just going to waltz into my apartment on a daily basis," she said with a sigh. She turned back into her room where she plopped upon her bed and bringing up her guitar, gently stroking all the strings.

Genie dropped his jaw, unable to comprehend what he saw. "She's so... strange..." he said.

"As opposed to some blue guy with no legs?" she muttered. Genie looked down and realized he didn't materialize himself properly. "So, what does a guy with missing limbs and a talking parrot want with me?" she asked.

"Ever think you're not who you appear to be?" Iago started.

"Why do you think I'm a musician?" Jasmine replied.

"What if I told you that you were really a princess of a Middle Eastern province?" Iago said.

Jasmine began to laugh. "Oh, sure," she said. "Like I'm going to believe a parrot that I'm a princess. If you'll excuse me, I need to return to the real world."

"Guess talking doesn't seem to be working," Genie said.

"That leaves me with no other choice," Iago said. "Genie, my second wish is for Jasmine to be back to normal."

to be continued...

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