AN: Welcome one and all to the fifth installment in the Magical World series! While other stories have been focused on Gabriel and the larger cast, this time around we're focusing in on a smaller group of characters training to become Dream Keepers themselves. A dark alliance is forming, however, putting the heroes in danger as they embark on their newest journey. It's time to go "Across the Mirrorverse!"
The multiverse: a vast, sprawling place that not even the Magical World can fully contain. What is known as "The Magical World" is made up of the collective dreams of the characters and guests of the Disney universes that come together to make an amalgamation centered around the theme parks. You can easily travel to specific worlds from it but venturing too far leads to a risk of being lost in the endless sea of countless worlds and universes.
Some characters can easily navigate this space, such as the superheroine America Chavez or the mysterious Watcher, while certain places within worlds act as a nexus point for world travel, such as the Hyperspace Lanes of the Star Wars Galaxy or simply hopping through a TV in the wonderful world of Mickey Mouse. All of it stemmed from the Magical World, but there was a secret device of great magical potential at the heart of it all that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could spell disaster for everyone: the Stellar Mirror.
This device was a secret to almost everyone outside of Mickey, his friends, and the most powerful magicians in the Magical World. Even someone as important as Gabriel only merely knew of its existence thanks to his vast knowledge, but not of its true location. The Stellar Mirror itself had the ability to call upon other versions of characters, champions to defend itself and the multiverse at large from cosmic and unknown threats. If you've ever seen multiple versions of a character running around, it was probably a mirror double you saw.
In its hidden sanctuary, out in vast maze of floating rocks surrounded by portals to everywhere in the multiverse, a lone figure dropped to the floor, smirking as he laid eyes on the mirror. He was pale-skinned with messy brown hair and piercing brown eyes hidden behind glasses, wearing a white tank top with a black four-point star on it, jeans, black boots, and a black cloak with silver spike patterns clasped around his neck with a green gem.
"Finally, after years of searching, the Stellar Mirror in before us," the boy said, chuckling evilly.
"Eh, you've only been looking for one year, so that's a bit of a stretch to say you were searching that long," said a sarcastic voice.
The boy rolled his eyes and pulled a yellow triangle pendant from his pocket. "You know what I meant."
"I wouldn't put it past him. Humans can be dumb like that," came another voice, this one from a black pendant with an orange eye.
"But this means we can start a new game soon!" came a child-like voice, from a moon pendant with a smiling face.
"Okay, all three of you need to stop talking," the boy said. He held out his free hand, his arm becoming coated with shadows as it split apart into tentacles. "I'm so done with this once we're through."
"Ah-ah-ah, we still have a deal, remember?" the first voice said. "You're going to use the mirror to give me a new body so I can make Gravity Falls Season 3!"
"And an Amphibia reunion special!" the second voice added.
"And a proper Owl House Season 3 so I can show off all my fun games!" the third voice chimed in.
"Does anyone remember when cosmic entities were scary and not snarky?" the boy said, looking at the Fourth Wall with a frown. "Look, I help you, and then I 'defeat' you three so that I can be seen as a hero and people aren't scared of me anymore. That's all this is."
He approached the Stellar Mirror, staring into its murky depths as it pulsed like water. On the other side the boy saw himself, standing proudly and being hailed as a hero by many Disney characters, alongside getting a hug from a girl that looked a lot like him and a nod of approval from an older woman wearing a big, flowing cloak.
"Beth, Mom, I do this so you'll be proud of me," the boy said. He then chucked the three pendants into the mirror, which started to spark and sputter with dark shadow lighting emitting from it. "What's happening? I did as you asked of me!"
"You fool! We weren't supposed to be put in all at the same time!" the second voice shouted. "Now the mirror is being overloaded with all of our powers at once!"
"This is not how I wanted this to go!" the first voice shouted. "Quick, we need something, anything for us to latch onto before the mirror explodes with us in it!"
"How about a game of pretend?" the third voice suggested with a giggle. "And we have the perfect vessel right in front of us!"
Before the boy could back up, three hands reached out and dragged him screaming into the mirror. The symbols of a yellow triangle, an orange eye, and a purple moon appeared on the mirror before it exploded into dark fragments, which scattered across the area. The portals quickly closed as the Stellar Mirror's power faded, but not before the mirror shards fell into the last portal. The sound of the three voices laughing echoed through the area as the portal closed behind them.
"NOW THIS IS WHERE THE TRUE FUN BEGINS!"
[***]
On the other side of said portal, a few minutes before the Stellar Mirror shattered, a quartet of characters found themselves in an entirely different place than the beach of Destiny Island that they started in. They stood on a train platform overlooked a twisted version of Main Street, which in actuality was Mean Street, the counterpart to Main Street within the world of forgotten characters, the Wasteland.
"Welcome, Dream Keeper hopefuls, to the Wasteland!" Gabriel greeted. The pied raven smiled widely, his purple eyes shining with delight as he did a spin to show off his full Sorcerer's Robes, which were a deep purple color with silver and gold stars shining on it, his Sorcerer's Headphones as always present around his neck. "I'm dressed to teach you all the ropes of what it means to be a Dream Keeper if you were wondering. Now then, while I know who you all are, how about you all give an introduction, just for formalities sake?"
The first student was a girl with black hair that had blue and pink streaks in it with purple eyes, wearing a vintage black and grey dress with multicolor steaks on it "The name is Aline, and I'm about all things magic and cat related, sometimes both. I used to be a not-so-good person because I wanted to impress my parents, but by making some new friends I'm starting to overcome that now." She snapped her fingers and transformed into a black cat. "I also specialize in transformation magic now!"
The second student was a Jaquin (a magical jaguar with macaw wings) with topaz colored fur and turquoise spots, wearing a pair of flight goggles and a crystalline scarf that shimmered in the light. "I'm Toren, the Jaquin that's a master of pranks that always has your back! I specialize in crystal magic, which lets me use my emotions for various effects. And for the record, Elena of Avalor is best Disney Princess!"
The third student was a girl with messy brown hair and brown eyes, as well as youthful freckles on her face. She was wearing a bright pink hoodie over a T-Shirt with a Disney quote on it (today was the "We don't talk about Bruno" shirt), jean shorts, and dark pink sandals. "Hello, I'm Bethany, but you guys can call me Beth. I'm all about helping people out, even if they don't realize they need help yet! I'm fearless and ready to jump into any situation, which my magical voice certainly helps with!"
The fourth student was an anthropomorphic crow with black feathers and a golden beak and claws, wearing sunglasses, a golden chain necklace, and a white vest and green shorts. "Sup everyone? The name's Double D, but Dee will do as well. The power of dance is mine to command, and I'll take any song to jive to, though the music of Japan is my expertise."
Gabriel nodded, then motioned for the four to follow him down Mean Street as he spoke. "Now then, the reason I chose the four of you to become Dream Keepers is because you have three unique qualities: you're young, you have spirit, and you have unique magic that the other Dream Defenders don't."
Beth raised her hand. "Don't you also use song magic though?"
Gabriel held up his hand and summoned some magic. "I use Fantasia, which is pure music. Sure I sing a lot to activate Fantasia, but your form of magic is different, Beth. More like the power of a montage. Same with all three of you: I can dance, but Double D can control the battlefield with his sick moves to dodge attacks; I know transformation spells, but Aline uses them more seamlessly and without a magical item; I can channel emotions into magic, but Toren has it perfected thanks to his training with Elena."
The ground suddenly rumbled, making the team stop as they looked around in confusion. A frantic rabbit in blue shorts ran up to Gabriel, hopping around in panic. "Gabriel, thank Walt you're here! It's the Stellar Mirror, it's gone!"
"The Stellar what now?" Double D asked.
"I think that's a thing from one of the mobile games," Beth said.
"It's a powerful magical object at the center of the multiverse, at least the Magical World one," Gabriel said. "But it's supposed to be impossible to find!"
"Yeah, well someone did, and they broke it to boot," Oswald explained. "Mickey sent me a message that the mirror shards were sent here to the Wasteland. Do you know how much trouble that'll cause if those shards start spewing out magic all over the place?"
"Considering that someone bad probably broke the mirror, very," Gabriel nodded. He turned to his students. "Okay guys, I was originally going to have us do some more one-on-one personal training, but it looks like we have a new task at hand. As part of your test to become Dream Keepers, you're going to help me collect the shards of the Stellar Mirror so we can repair it before the bad guy collects the shards."
The four students looked a bit nervous but gave a nod that they understood. Suddenly, mirror shards fell from above, embedding in the ground as they produced dark lightning. From the lightning came versions of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy, but their bodies were completely covered in dark purple crystals.
"Woah, that's freaky," Aline winced.
"The Stellar Mirror can create alternate versions of characters, but dark magic must have corrupted its power," Oswald said. He pulled out his remote and revved up his foot. "Looks like we have a fight on our hands. Grab those mirror shards so these guys don't just come back once we knock their lights out!"
Everyone squared up, magic at the ready as they faced down the dark copies of the Fab Five. Double D did a stylish slide to avoid an attack by Goofy, breakdancing around the evil doppelganger and grooving his way over to the mirror shard. Aline transformed into her cat form to avoid Daisy, zipping between the duck's legs to grab her shard. Toren avoided wild swings from Donald, using crystal magic to coat himself in armor an barrel through his enemy towards his shard. Beth hummed to herself, letting her magic slow Minnie down in order to get around her and grab her shard. Gabriel summoned Fantasia and trapped Mickey in a cage before collecting the final shard.
"Oswald, give them a shock!" Gabriel called, prompting the lucky rabbit to use his remote and electrocute the dark copies, making their crystalline bodies glow before shattering back into dark magic that dissipated into the air.
"So, is anyone going to ask just what those were?" Double D questioned.
"Whenever the Stellar Mirror is used for dark purposes, it makes evil, soulless creatures called the Fractured," Oswald explained. "And we're lucky we caught these Fractured as soon as we did, as they only get stronger the longer they remain active. Now follow me, we need to track down the rest of the mirror shards ASAP!"
[***]
Down at the end of Mean Street, Oswald had the friendly Gremlins build a device that could track the mirror shards. In a few moments they device was whipped up, and the team used the shards they had gathered in order to track the magic signature. "It looks like most of the shards will be easy to get just by having my animatronic friends go around the different areas of the Wasteland," Oswald hummed. "However, there are five larger shard pieces that'll cause more trouble than my friends can handle. Can I count on your for those, Dream Keeper?"
Gabriel nodded. "You know it. However, since the mirror shards are so dangerous, we can't call in our friends in the Magical World proper, or else we risk the villain that did this getting away, we'll have to get some other help, and I know just how to do it." The raven pointed to the mirror shards they had already gathered. "The villain is calling on the Fractured to cause trouble, so why don't we use the shards we have to summon some of our own help. Each of you will get a partner, one that I think will help you on this journey."
"So the mirror can summon our friends?" Beth asked.
Gabriel shook his head. "No, but it will summon alternate versions from the ones we know. Here, step forward and I'll show you." Beth did as she was asked. "Beth, while you have great passion for your skills, you do tend to leap before looking. So, I'm pairing you up with someone that'll be there to watch your back. Hold your hand out to the mirror and focus."
Beth held her hand out, the shards of the Stellar Mirror glowing and pulsing before a figure popped out. It was Gadget of the Rescue Rangers, but rather than her usual attire a purple jumpsuit and goggles, the mouse wore a purple lab coat with mirrored lens glasses and a technologically advanced backpack. "Golly, that was a trip," Gadget said, shaking the stars out of her head.
"Huh, she looks… different from what I remember," Beth mused.
"The Stellar Mirror pulls in characters from all different kinds of timelines and universes from across the multiverse," Oswald explained. "So, while this is a Gadget, this isn't the Gadget."
"At least it's not the Rescue Rangers movie Gadget," Toren whispered to Double D.
"Gadget is one of my favorite characters," Beth smiled. "I always love the little characters. They're so cute!"
"This Gadget comes from a universe where the Rescue Rangers are off in the far future, so she has more futuristic tech at her disposal," Gabriel explained. "Double D, you're next. While you always march to the beat of your own drum, you can also get lost in the music that you lose focus. Your partner will be one that can keep up with your pace but can also take charge to steer you in the right direction."
Double D held his hand up to the shards, with an alligator wearing a feathered cap and cape coming out of the mirror and giving a bow. It was Ben Ali Gator from Dance of the Hours, though this version seemed a bit more noble, with a fencing sword at his hip and light armor on his chest and wrists. "Greetings, fellow heroes. Ben Ali Gator, at your service."
"Wowza, this Ben can talk!" Double D said in shock.
"Indeed," Ben nodded, pulling out his sword and doing a few slashes. "In my world, I became a noble night that teamed up with Mickey and others to battle against the Chernabog for the fate of music everywhere. I learned not just to dance to win the love of Hyacinth Hippo, but how to dance on the battlefield in the ways of the sword."
"Sounds like a world where Fantasia is a fantasy movie rather than a series of music videos put together," Aline noted. "Or a video game plot, that would work too."
"You've teamed up with Ben before, Double D, so I'm sure you'll get along just fine," Gabriel nodded. "Now then, Toren is next. You've grown quite a lot, Toren, so I feel your training should be about your magic instead. You have all the tools you need, now you must focus your talents to further master your craft. Hopefully this partner will help you with that."
Toren held his paw up, and soon out of the Stellar Mirror came a woman with blue hair that shined with yellow light, carrying a purple satchel and wearing a necklace with multicolored orbs on it. "Hey there!" she waved happily.
"It's Joy!" Toren said. "Yeah, having the literal embodiment of an emotion as my teacher makes sense. So, what is your world like, Joy?"
"Where I'm from, me and the other emotions act like Imaginary Friends to more directly help people process their emotions," Joy explained. She then looked bashful as she laughed, "I also learned my lesson about appreciating the other emotions earlier than the other me, so you don't have to worry about me wanting things to be happy all the time."
"My turn!" Aline said.
Gabriel nodded. "Aline, your journey is one of self-discovery. I know you still hold doubts about your past, so I hope that this partner will help you to move on despite that."
Aline held up her hand, the Stellar Mirror summoned her partner, a tuxedo cat by the name of Mittens. She looked around a bit, before turning to Aline and smiling. "So, you're the stray that I'm taking in? Okay, but don't expect me to go easy on you."
"This Mittens comes from a world where the events of the Bolt TV show are real," Gabriel explained. "She defected from Dr. Calico and joined Bolt's team alongside Rhino."
"I've got invisibility, a hypnotic gaze, and the ability to get back up from any injury," Mittens explained. "You know, nine lives and all that."
"I always wanted to see more of what Bolt's show was like," Toren mused.
"Then you need to play the video game," Double D suggested.
"I always get along well with cats, so welcome to the team, Mittens," Aline said, letting the cat perch on her shoulder. "So Gabriel, are you going to get a partner too?"
The raven nodded. He held up his hand to the Stellar Mirror, which pulsed with power as Gabriel closed his eyes and let Fantasia flow. Out of the mirror stepped a man in colonial style clothes with a bellowing white cape, long hair tied back in a ponytail, and a golden owl mask obscuring his face. He held out a hand and in a flash of red magic summoned a staff that seemed to be a mix of technology and magic. With his other hand he removed the mask, revealing a face the made the students gasp. "Hello children," the man greeted.
"EMPEROR BELOS!?" the four exclaimed in shock.
[***]
Somewhere else in the Wasteland, the boy from before fell to the ground with a groan, rubbing his head before clutching it in pain.
"Looks like the three of us are still stuck in one body together," Bill Cipher said, the left eye of the boy turning a sickly yellow as he spoke.
"But all the same, it looks like the Stellar Mirror was affected by our magic," Night responded, the boy's right eye glowing orange like The Core.
His face twisted into a childish grin as purple face markings appeared. "Then we can still have fun and make lots of friends!" The Collector chanted.
The combined being held out their hands and summoned the nearby mirror shards, creating many Fractured clones of various Disney characters. "LET'S MAKE THIS PLACE THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- FOR US!" they shouted, the Fractured army marching out to spread over the Wasteland. "FIRST HERE, THEN THE MAGICAL WORLD, AND THEN THE MULTIVERSE. EVERYONE WILL HAVE OUR KIND OF FUN, AND WE'LL CRUSH ANYONE ELSE THAT GETS IN OUR WAY!"
Author's Note
So, a lot of stuff to cover in this first chapter! If you didn't know "Disney Mirrorverse" is the latest Disney mobile game as of the time of me writing this, where your favorite characters are reimagined in different ways. I've been following the game before launch and wanted to incorporate the ideas of alternate characters into the Magical World. So I took the concept of the Stellar Mirror and had it as the nexus of the Disney Multiverse, which our heroes will use to gain their new allies while the villain creates minions to do their bidding.
Speaking of the villain, remember how in the last story Beth mentioned having a brother that made a deal with Bill Cipher? Well, he's the guy that broke the Stellar Mirror, but mostly because he's being manipulated by three villains from the modern era: Bill Cipher from "Gravity Falls," The Core/Night from "Amphibia," and The Collector from "The Owl House." I know that some would say that The Collector isn't a bad guy, but he is a childish cosmic being, which fits with Bill and Night so the three teaming up makes sense. And now that the three are sharing a body due to the Stellar Mirror, our heroes have a lot to worry about with their power over the Fractured (the main enemies of the Mirrorverse game).
Since we're in the Wasteland, our journey this time will take us to new places you've never seen before, pulled from the forgotten and scrapped projects of Disney history. There's five major shards to find, so that's one location for each team member, who will all get a focus chapter to complete their character arc. Beth will learn to be more careful with Gadget, Double D to stay focused on the task at hand with Ben Ali Gator, Toren to use his skills to their fullest potential with Joy, and Aline to forgive and accept herself with Mittens. As for why Gabriel is teamed up with Emperor Belos of all people? Well, you'll have to come back next week for that one ;)
Next Time: our team head off towards their first mirror shard in Ventureland!
