The Mirrorverse, a nexus of realities that held within it all of the different possibilities of the Magical World. There were worlds where the heroes with bad and villains were good, there were worlds set in the past and others in the far-off future. The Stellar Mirror is what kept all of these realities in check, and it was the Guardians of the Mirrorverse that made sure it stayed out of the hands of those that would misuse its power.
Gabriel had seen into the Mirrorverse before when he trained the Co-Dream Keepers, facing his own evil counterpart and gaining his upgraded Fantasia is a climatic battle. Now the raven had returned to the resting place of the Stellar Mirror to meet with a friend he had met on that adventure. And who was that person? The leader of the Guardians, an alternate version of Emperor Belos that had taken the path of the hero, sometimes called "Good King Belos" by the others.
"I was wondering if we would ever meet again, Gabriel," Mirror Belos greeted his friend warmly.
"You know I had to visit you someday, Belos," Gabriel laughed, shaking his friend's hand. "So, what's going on the Mirrorverse lately? Any exciting tales for me?"
"I have plenty of stories of the adventures the Guardians and I have been on… but those are for another day," Mirror Belos replied. "How would you like me to show you one of the most interesting worlds I've come across?"
"Sure, why not?" Gabriel shrugged.
Mirror Belos nodded, raising his staff and summoning the Stellar Mirror towards them. "Like most alternate universes, this one starts with a change from a point in time of your own world, Gabriel. For this world, what changed was the gift you gave Rachel and Poe on their wedding: a wishing star."
"A wishing star? And how did that change things?" Gabriel asked.
"It was the wish that Rachel made. As you know, wishing stars are very rare and very powerful, breaking most rules that the Magical World runs on. That was how Lena was able to restore Poe de Spell in the first place, after all," Mirror Belos explained. "But back to the topic at hand, Rachel's wish was for her and Poe to be able to have a family together."
"…But it's against the rules for characters and guests to have children. It's just not possible," Gabriel said.
Mirror Belos nodded. "Yes, but with the power of the wishing star, the very nature of this reality changed. Now guests and characters could have families, but there were greater implications than just that one simple fact. The Magical World became disconnected from the real world, meaning that characters were no longer constrained from what they could do within the Magical World. They could grow older, not be bound by what "canon" dictated they could be and pursue other passions they had in life."
"So the Magical World became fully its own thing… And on the eve of the New Year. I guess you could say that time froze after 100 years of Disney magic," Gabriel mused. "But if the Magical World and the real world were cut off… what does that mean for the Dream Defenders and all of my other guest friends?"
"Luckily another change in this timeline is that your families were there at the time of the wish, or at least the families you all wished to live in the Magical World," Mirror Belos answered. "Although for those that wished to return to the real world, they would lose their memories of the Magical World forever and never be allowed to return."
"That's good. I know some like Aline didn't exactly have a good relationship with their parents…" Gabriel nodded. "So thanks to Rachel's wish, all the guests essentially became characters, and to make it so they could have their own families, the Magical World deviated so much from the real world that it splintered off into its own fully separate thing where characters can grow and change regardless of "canon." Talk about a butterfly effect."
"And now that I've explained all of this to you, let us journey into the "present" of this world, almost fifteen years into the future from today," Mirror Belos said, waving his staff to open up the Stellar Mirror. The image inside shimmered, changing into what looked to be the Disney Castle as the glimpse into a different story began.
[***]
Universe 20: "Dream Keeper Legacy" Dimension
"Come on, where are they…?" Ben muttered, looking at his watch with nervousness. The wolf had grown out his fur in the past fifteen years, looking fluffier than ever in his brand-new space-age attire. Ben had taken up Rocket's offer of adoption, changing his name to Ben Raccoon, and even replacing his wind staff with a new high-tech spear, passing his weapon down to his child.
"I think you need to calm down, Dream Keeper. The kids will be here when they get here," Gabriel chuckled. The raven hadn't changed his looks much in the future, though he had switched his attire to look close to the Jedi of the High Republic era, with a shimmering star pattern on the inner part of his robes and his Sorcerer's Headphones still hanging around his neck like always.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to keep everything in order now," Ben muttered. "…And you got to keep your young looks as well."
"Hey, I know it's a lot to be the main Dream Keeper of the Magical World, but I'm still here to help out as the new Dream-Finder," Gabriel said with a smile. That's right, the raven had taken over from the original Dreamfinder after the explorer of imagination had retired from adventuring to run the Imagination Institute with Figment full-time. Gabriel spent most of his days now exploring all the hidden nooks and crannies of the Magical World. "As for my young looks, though, that's what happens when your wife has connections thanks to the Pride Lands-Outlands-Wakanda alliance. Shuri's people know how to retain your youth as you get older."
"There's Gabriel, bragging about his amazing wife again," Melody said, the hyena wearing a refined version of her power suit, specifically being Version 6 of the design. She was now an official part of Big Hero 6, which had become one of the Magical World's top hero teams alongside the Avengers. "You know she's not the only amazing hyena you know, right?"
"We all know how great you are as well, Melody," Almyra chuckled, the peahen having grown more beautiful with time. Her business had grown even greater in the fifteen years that had passed.
"And there's also the fact that Almyra hasn't aged a day since the Grand Wish happened," Ben sighed.
"That's because I'm still looking for the one to become my lover," Almyra said. "You know the aging here really doesn't kick in until you have a kid of your own. The same goes for Brain and Beth, as well as Toren."
"That's because I'll always be young, duh," Toren laughed, flying in with Logan, Rachel, and Aline behind him. The Jaquin was the same as ever, though he now travelled across the Magical World in a camper van to see the sights and help out whoever needed assistance.
Logan was now sporting a manly beard and huge muscles gained from his training, though if you looked close enough you could see a bit of "Dad bod" creeping into his gut from having to raise his and Destiny's daughter. He had started up his own wrestling league in the Magical World, working with heroes like Hercules to help train the next generation of heroes.
Rachel, meanwhile, had become the head knight of Disney Castle, with Poe joining her in the castle as the resident dark magic. She now sported light armor for her attire, with her eyes now permanently being dragon-like as a result of her fully mastering her Dragon Queen powers. Some castles had a heroic knight or a mighty dragon protecting them; Rachel was both.
Aline meanwhile had grown into a beautiful woman, now wearing a spring-themed attire to show her bond with Persephone. She and Binx were living together in Liberty Square and they used their own magic door to commute to the Boiling Isles where Aline taught magic.
"I'm guessing our kids have yet to arrive yet?" Logan asked. "I know our partners are all waiting outside for the ceremony to begin."
"They'll be here in time… and if now, I'll go find them myself," Rachel said.
"Let's just let them come when they come. We're not in a rush or anything," Aline shrugged.
"Easy for you to say. This isn't your kid's big moment," Ben muttered.
"It's not your kid's moment either. It's mine," Gabriel reminded him. "Imani turned twelve last week, which means it's time for him to be gifted with his own magical artifact."
"I know Amalie will be jealous since she still has to wait two more years," Aline giggled.
"Still, ever since they were all young, Imani has been waiting for this day," Melody mused. "I'm sure he wouldn't be late on his big day, right?"
"If he is late, he can kiss having the present I got him goodbye," Adam said as he and Silver came in. The cyborg had become the leader of SEA in the future, now being the one that encouraged and gave out expeditions to future explorers and adventurers.
"Adam, be nice…" Silver chided. In the years that had passed Silver had gone from helping out the princesses to becoming a prince in his own right. Staghart had started his own clan at Disney Castle (Clan Walt for those that asked) and with the two married now, that made Silver a prince in the same way that Moana and Pocahontas were. "I don't think we have anything to worry about with Imani… at least, I hope we don't…"
Meanwhile, at Gabriel's house, Imani was still passed out in his bed, unaware of what was going on around him. He was a raven like his father, but with pitch black feathers that had a colorful sheen in the sunlight and purple eyes like his mother. As Imani dreamed away, he was suddenly woken up by a rambunctious duo of hyenas jumping on his bed. The raven's eyes flew open as he tumbled off, rubbing his sore head as he stared unamused at the rude awakeners.
"Jambo!" the first hyena laughed, being a boy with a mane that flared out in the back, his fur mostly brown with purple spots.
"Glad to see that you're finally awake, sleepyhead," the second hyena giggled, being a girl with long bangs that almost covered her eyes, her fur being mostly purple with brown spots.
Imani shook his head at his cousin's antics. These two hyenas were Asani (the girl, meaning "Rebellious") and Jabari (the boy, meaning "Brave"), the twin children of Madoa and Janja. Yes, it was not only guests and characters that could have kids now, but other Disney couples could have children outside of the "canon" as well. Imani was born only a few days after the twins, but the duo still liked to tease him as their "little brother" all the same.
Shaking his head, the raven stood up and went to his closet, pulling out a pair of khaki shorts and a white T-shirt covered in stars to wear for the day. Imani left his room with his cousins in tow, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and eating it while Asani and Jabari continued to talk to him.
"So, are you excited for today?" Jabari asked. Imani raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on! Don't tell me you forgot what today was, did you?"
"I think our kaka mdogo ("little brother") needs some reminding, Jabari," Asani said. "Oh, how about we play a game with him! What's two words…"
"And a special day for Dream Defenders…" Jabari added.
"That you're going to be late for if you don't hurry up!" the twins shouted together.
Imani looked to them with confusion, before spitting his cereal out in shock and standing up from the table. The raven quickly ran to the door, waving goodbye to his cousins before racing down the street to get to Disney Castle as fast as possible.
Jabari and Asani laughed. "He may be gifted in magic, but waking up on time isn't his strong suit!" Asani howled.
"We should get going too. I want to see how Queen Aunty reacts to seeing her own son be late to the ceremony," Jabari said.
Out on the streets of Downtown Disney (Gabriel and Jasiri had moved there from their apartment on Main Street after Gabriel gave the title of Dream Keeper to Ben), Imani was in the rush, holding out his hand and summoning a Keyblade, Advent Red, to it. The raven tossed the weapon into the air, transforming it into a Keyblade Glider before hoping on racing as fast as possible to the castle. Imani then pulled out a Walkman- a gift from his uncle Rocket Raccoon- and put it on, turning up the volume to blast some tunes as the race against time began.
It was a recipe for disaster
A four-course meal of no sirree
It seemed that happily ever after
Was happy everyone was after me
As Imani raced down the street, he passed by a city bus where someone was waving out to him. The raven slowed down to see three people, two boys and one girl, all of them with messy black hair and one of the boys being a hyena. "Imani! You're going to be late!" the girl shouted.
Imani rolled his eyes and nodded in an "I know!" motion. These were the kids of Melody and Hiro Hamada, the boys being Gyokuro and Chai while the girl was Matcha.
"Sis, I think he knows he's late," Gyokuro giggled.
"We're taking the bus just to make Mom and Dad sweat a bit. See you at the ceremony!" Chai shouted as the bus drove off.
It was a cup of good intentions
A tablespoon of one big mess
A dash of overreaction
I assume you know the rest…
Imani continued on his way until his phone rang. Pulling it out, the raven opened up the video call to see an anthro whale shark on the other end. This was Bubbles, Logan's daughter. "Dude, I just got to the castle and you're still not here!" Imani shot her an unamused look. "…Right, don't talk and text while driving. I'll just stall for time until you get here. Good luck, by the way!"
One little slip, one little slip!
It was a fusion of confusion
With a few confounding things
Imani did a kickflip on his Keyblade Glider as he exited the city, arriving at the train tracks as he managed to hop on the back of the train heading to the Magic Kingdom just in time. "I was wondering if you were going to be late or not," a voice next to Imani said. The raven turned to see a girl wearing a deep purple Lolita dress with black cat ears sticking out of her color-streaked hair. This was Amalie, daughter of Aline and Binx. "I just got here myself. Some of the others are waiting inside as well. Come on."
I guess I probably took the wrong direction
Well, I admit I might have missed a sign or two
I ran a light past your affection
At Humiliation Avenue
Imani followed Amalie inside the train car to see few people sitting there. The first was a lion-like gargoyle with golden fur and a white mane wearing a safari outfit. This was Prince Eustace, adopted son of Staghart and Silver. "Oh good, Imani made it. I hope you do well today, Young Prince," Eustace said.
Amalie giggled. "Eustace, just because Imani is the son of a queen doesn't make him a prince."
"In technical terms it does. The definition of a prince is being descended from royalty," Eustace refuted. The good fairies has bestowed the gargoyle with the gift of Wisdom at his hatching, which made him a bit of a know-it-all at times. Luckily he had Gabriel, a fellow know-it-all, to help encourage that thirst for knowledge.
I took a right turn at confusion
A left when I should've gone straight on through
I ran ahead with my assumptions
And we all know what that can do…
"Heads up. Our stop is here," said the other person in the car, a boy with brown hair and green cybernetic eyes wearing a Plus Ultra uniform. This was Adam and Melanie's kid, Gregory, who was both half-cyborg and half-ghost, which gave him the ability to possess technology. Using his powers, Gregory phased out of the train car to go down the street. "See you all at the castle.
"Man, I wish Greg would slow down a bit instead of jumping to the next adventure all the time…" Amalie muttered.
"I think he gets it from Uncle Toren," Eustace shrugged.
One little slip, one little slip!
It was a fusion of confusion
And a few confounding things
As Imani took off running down the street, the raven was suddenly picked up by pegasus that flew him high up into the sky. "You're running late, Imani! Let your friend Charlie get you to where you need to go!" the pegasus laughed. This was Charlie, the genderfluid shapeshifter child of Ben and Nuka. Charlie was actually the natural born kid of the duo thanks to magic, but as a side-effect of said Charlie had no set form or gender, which was just fine for them as they liked to try out all sorts of different forms.
Once they set down on the ground, Charlie shapeshifted into a jackalope, one of their main forms they liked to be in. "Good luck! Alastor's waiting inside," Charlie said before hopping off.
I get the feeling in this town
I'll never live till I live down
The one mistake that seems to follow me around
Imani nodded and went inside, finding a pale boy with black hair and deep blue eyes waiting for him. This was Alastor, son of Rachel and Poe who was just as talented in magic as his father despite looking mostly like his mother. The young wizard looked to Imani and raised his staff, a dragon palsman coming off to zip around the raven.
"Dragomir, make sure Imani is ready for his ceremony," Alastor instructed. As the eldest of the "Next Gen Dream Defenders" as they were called sometimes, Alastor was their current defacto leader. Once his palsman was done inspecting Imani, Alastor gave a nod. "Go on ahead. The waiting chamber is just through that door. Stay there until you are called upon to go in."
But they'll forget about the sky
When they all realize this guy's
About to try to learn to fly or hit the ground…!
Imani nodded, giving a silent thanks to Alastor before heading into the waiting room. The raven removed his headphones and stored them away, moving to a seating area to sit down. Imani closed his eyes and focused, centering his nerves so he could be calm for the upcoming ceremony. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door, with Mickey Mouse himself poking his head in.
"Okay, Imani! Everyone's ready and waiting for you to show what you got!" Mickey said.
Imani nodded, taking a deep breath before standing up and passing through the door. The Next Gen Dream Defenders were all sitting in front of a grand stage, with their parents lined up on the sides to greet Imani has he passed. Gabriel, Logan, Adam, Toren, Staghart, Binx, Hiro, Poe, and Nuka all stood on one side while Jasiri, Destiny, Melanie, Almyra, Silver, Aline, Melody, Rachel, and Ben stood on the other side.
Melody looked at Ben oddly. "Okay, I get that Silver is standing on our side since it's separated between the "Moms" and the "Dads" of the Dream Defenders so either he or Staghart had to be over here, but why are you on the "Mom" side, Ben?"
The wolf blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Remember how Nuka and I used magic so we could have Charlie? Well as part of that magic one of us had to be the "Mom" for us to have our kid, and I was the one carrying our baby around for nine months."
"Yeah, we had to show him the ropes of how to be a girl and everything, remember?" Almyra giggled.
"I even took pictures to make sure he wouldn't forget," Aline laughed.
"I don't know why you didn't just have your kid delivered by stork. That's what we did for Imani," Jasiri questioned.
"Because you guys don't tell me there are easier ways to do these kinds of things!" Ben exclaimed, getting a laugh out of everyone.
"If it makes you feel better, I already agreed to be the "Mom" next time we have a kid," Nuka said to try and calm his partner down.
"Come on, people, this is Imani's moment. Save the embarrassing stories for another time," Logan chuckled.
"You mean like the time you and Double D decided to try out the "Drink Around the World" challenge, and that somehow led you to get into even more trouble than the time you kissed Luisa Madrigal?" Toren said with a smirk.
"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again," Logan said, his face going red with embarrassment.
Rachel gave a stern cough, getting everyone to straighten up as Imani finally made it to the stage. Ben smiled and stepped forward, acting as the MC of the event. "Fellow Dream Defenders and family, we are gathered here today for the ceremony of one Imani Aquila, son of Dream-Finder Gabriel Aquila and Queen Jasiri Aquila of the Outlands," Ben announced. "As is tradition, whenever a new Dream Defender turns twelve, their magic potential is revealed to all and a teacher is assigned to them to help with the mastery of their ability."
"I can't believe we still have to wait two more years to get our abilities…" Chai muttered.
"Like we aren't just going to make our own hero suits to be a triplet super team," Matcha said.
"Yeah, then we can join the New Avengers with Uncle Seth and Ms. Marvel!" Gyokuro cheered.
In the future Seth had become co-leaders of the next generation of Avengers alongside Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. It kept the shapeshifter busy to the point that he couldn't make it to the ceremony today, but he had given his regards and the best of luck to Imani.
"Now then, let us not waste any time. Imani, please step up to the stage to receive your gift," Ben said.
The raven nodded, walking up onto the stage and standing in front of everyone. All eyes were on Imani, which reminded Gabriel of his own first day in the Magical World all those years ago, showing off Fantasia to the Fairy Godmother and other magic users. "I wonder if he'll have Fantasia like his old man does?" Logan whispered.
"Imani is pretty smart. Maybe he'll have an intelligence power like me?" Eustace guessed.
"I think he might have an elemental power like me," Bubbles said, holding up her hands to create bubbles of water. "My bet is on light powers."
"He might just have transformation powers," Amalie shrugged, showing off her power by turning into a cat.
"Yeah, shapeshifting is awesome!" Charlie agreed with a laugh. The little changeling was certainly the Toren of the next generation.
"He works with Rocket Raccoon a lot. Maybe he'll be more in line with my family and have tech powers," Gregory stated.
Either way, it's sure to be powerful magic, considering who his parents are," Alastor said.
Imani looked at the crowd, shuffling his feet a bit. He knew that he was supposed to show something to everyone, but he didn't know what he had that made him special other than who his parents were. Gabriel and Jasiri never pressured Imani to be just like them, and all the raven really had was both his father's love of all things Disney and his mother's kind and caring nature to help everyone in need.
Ben put a hand on Imani's shoulder before raising his other hand to sign, "Hey, it's okay. Take your time if you need it."
Imani nodded and signed back, "Thanks, Uncle Ben."
"Please don't call me that. I'm not related to Spider-Man in any way," Ben chuckled.
"What are they doing with their hands?" Chai asked.
"Imani is mute, meaning he can't speak with words. He can still hear just fine, but uses sign language instead to communicate instead of speaking," Bubbles explained.
"Couldn't you just use magic to fix it?" Gyokuro asked.
Alastor shook his head. "Imani's muteness is not something that can be fixed, even by magic. It's just the way he is ever since he was born. That is why we all studied to learn sign language so that we may better understand him and communicate as he does."
Bubbles looked to the trio and hummed. "I thought that your dad was teaching you guys sign language already?"
"We may have slept through Baymax's lessons on world languages," Matcha admitted.
Back on stage, Imani focused once more, bringing his hands to his chest and listening to his own heartbeat. While the raven didn't have the ability to express himself through words, he did have other ways of showing just how he felt. Imani put his hands forward, summoning his Keyblade before focusing his inner light through it. The weapon suddenly shifted, being replaced by a high-tech visor instead.
"That looks kinda like the one you used to wear, Gabriel," Silver pointed out.
"It does… I wonder if Imani got the idea from the old pictures I have from back then," Gabriel mused.
Putting the visor on, Imani smiled before raising his left hand in the air, his Keyblade appearing once more before the raven swung it forward. His body was suddenly surrounded by light, and once it faded away Imani's outfit had changed into a stylish blue-and-brown outfit with rocket boots on his feet and a large vault-like belt around his waist. "Imagination of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon!" a voice called out before a colorful explosion happened behind Imani.
"What was that voice?" Charlie wondered.
"I'm more concerned about the indoor explosions. I didn't put in an order for fireworks…" Poe muttered.
Gabriel and Jasiri though stood up and clapped, with the others in the room soon joining them as Imani smiled. The raven jumped into the air, activating his new rocket boots to hover for a bit before swinging his Keyblade, transforming it into a blaster that fired out a few laser shots before he landed in the classic superhero landing pose. Imani soon reverted back to normal after that, though the belt remained around his waist.
"Now that was something I haven't seen before," Ben said. "And the explosions for your entrance were super cool as well. I'm guessing that belt is your own power then?"
Imani put a hand to his face as if he was thinking, then he held up a finger as the answer came to his head. "I remember seeing this when I was hanging out with Uncle Figment! It's called the Imagination Belt, and it allows the wearer to channel the powers of other heroes though it. I think I wanted to express myself by showing the bonds of the people that raised me, so I must have summoned the belt with my magic."
"Imagination Belt, huh? The power to show off your bonds is very in-line with your family, Imani," Ben smiled. "Your dad, Gabriel, was able to bring all of us together with his Fantasia, while your mother, Jasiri, united the Outlands with her benevolent rule. As their successor, I think your power will show the Magical World that we can all work together to make the place we call home a better place, each and every day."
"It's your own form of Harmony if you think about it, just like your dad has," Eustace pointed out.
"Now he just has to pick who his teacher will be," Gregory hummed.
Imani turned to Ben and signed, "Actually, I was hoping you could be my teacher, Dream Keeper. After all, you can turn into a superhero from as well, right?"
"You mean my Hurricane God form? …Yeah, I guess it only makes sense that us henshin heroes stick together," Ben nodded. "I guess that settles it, then. From this day forward, I'll be training Imani Aquila to be the best Dream Defender he can be!" The crowd cheered after that, with Imani giving a bow to his friends and family. "That concludes today's ceremony. Thank you all for coming!"
[***]
As evening fell over the Magical World, Imani sat on the rooftop of his family's apartment building, looking out over Downtown Disney as he idly fiddled with the Imagination Belt. 'This is it… the first step to my dream of becoming a Dream Defender,' Imani thought. 'And with Dream Keeper Ben training me, maybe I can become one myself someday… if Alastor of Bubbles don't take that role first.'
"There you are! We were wondering where our son had gone off to," Gabriel said as he and Jasiri came up to the roof.
"You did great, Imani. I didn't expect your power to come through as your own form of Harmony," Jasiri said.
"It reminds me of back when I was a kid watching Power Rangers. I think you'll do great training under Ben, Imani," Gabriel said with a smile. "Also, a few of your other friends dropped by to congratulate you as well."
"You mean…?" Imani signed in excitement.
Jasiri nodded before giving her son a kiss on the cheek. "We'll be back in the apartment with the rest of Team Dream Keeper if you need us. Have fun tonight!"
"But don't stay out too late!" Gabriel warned teasingly before picking up Jasiri and heading back downstairs.
Imani didn't have time to relax after that as he was suddenly tackled by six individuals: a gargoyle, an Asian dragon, a raccoon-otter hybrid, a cocker spaniel-blue heeler hybrid, a blue bird, and a fox-bunny hybrid. These six were Imani's closest friends outside of the Next Gen Dream Defenders and just so happened to be the kids of other Disney characters. They hadn't been able to make it to the ceremony, but they were still excited to congratulate their friend all the same.
The first was Staten, a beaked gargoyle with light magenta skin that was dressed in a black tank top with ripped jean shorts. Staten was the son of Lena and Brooklyn created by infusing both of their magic signatures into an infertile gargoyle egg. He could shred on the guitar like no one's business and dreamed of leading his own band one day.
"We heard all about your ceremony, dude. Congratulations on finally unlocking your magic," Staten laughed, throwing up a "rock on" sign. "I'll have to write a rocking new song for you when I jam with the band."
"You mean, once you actually have a band," the Asian dragon giggled. He was colored orange with wild, poofy hair that was streaked with purple and blue and had a constant yellow aura of magic surrounding him, a Dragon Orb held in his tail.
"Huang, why do you gotta put a gargoyle down like that…?" Staten sighed.
Huang just laughed, snapping his fingers and appearing at Imani's side. "You know, I've been training my own powers to with Figment and Star. We should totally have a battle to see which of us is stronger!"
"Let's save that for battle training, Huang," Imani signed before smirking. "Plus, I'm sure that Uncle Long and Aunt Sisu would be upset if you used your powers irresponsibly again, like that time when-"
Huang grabbed Imani's hands and put a finger to his beak. "Hey, hey, hey! We don't need to talk about that time, okay? I know I must use my wish powers carefully until I can master my Dragon Orb." As the son of Sisu and Long (who now lived permanently in the Magical World), Huang had powerful Wish Dragon magic flowing through him, but it was unstable to the point of him needing to use a Dragon Orb to regulate his power. He also fancied himself as Imani's best friend, mostly because they were the closest of the friend group since they were little.
"How about we keep the focus on the future Dream Keeper, guys," the raccoon-otter said. This is Shocket, the daughter of Rocket Raccoon and Lylla and the de facto leader of the group due to being the eldest of the kids. She wore a purple spacesuit and liked to dye the tuft of fur on her head in a different color every week, with pink being the choice today. "So, Imani, what power did you get? Dad hasn't told me yet and I really want to know what our team is going to be working with."
"Not everything is about the mission, Shocket. Imani will tell us if we just give him some breathing room," the heeler-spaniel said. He had tan fur with blue and orange spots, luscious locks of hair rolling down his back in a surfer cut and Jedi robes as clothing.
"Sometimes your whole "Zen" attitude really brings down my mood, Noah," Shocket sighed.
Noah just smiled, sitting on the floor and using the Force to levitate. As the son of Frisky and Rad Heeler (Bluey's aunt and uncle), it was a surprise to everyone when the heeler-spaniel exhibited abilities in the Force at a young age. Lop (who was now a Jedi Master) had taken Noah on as her apprentice, though she made sure that Noah still grew up as a normal kid with his parents as well. The heeler-spaniel was always the one to give sage advice from his Jedi teachings, even if sometimes they sounded more like riddles.
"Just making sure that you remember to be patient, leader," Noah replied. "A fish that climbs a waterfall may become a dragon if permitted."
"Yeah, I don't think that makes any scientific sense, Noah," the bluebird said, shaking her head that made her butterfly hairpin shake. She was the daughter of Kessie and Bia, one of Blu and Jewel's kids. Kessie and Bia had met at a Samba club and after some time together eventually became mates and wished on a star to have their own child, which was delivered to them by stork. Kessie named their daughter Gabriela after Gabriel, and the macaw-bluebird hybrid was just as intelligent as both of her moms, despite being the youngest of the groug.
"What's the word of the day, Gabriela?" Imani signed.
"That would be "elation": a feeling or state of great joy and pride," Gabriela replied. Her favorite thing to learn was new words, and she made it a habit to learn a new word every day to increase her knowledge, earning her the nickname "The Word Bird" by the others.
"And with that fact known to all, let's solve the mystery of Imani's new power," the bunny-fox hybrid said. This was Jessica Wilde-Hopps, though everyone called her Jess. She was the daughter of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, looking mostly like her father but with grey and white fur, bigger feet and longer ears than a normal fox and a set of teeth made to eat both meat and plants. Jess had all the determination of Judy and the cunning of Nick, which made her perfect for becoming a detective like she dreamed of doing when she grew up. She was dressed in a floral print T-shirt with black leggings and a ZPD jacket tied around her waist.
"I'll show you it right now, then!" Imani signed with conviction, standing up quickly.
"Of course as soon as Jess speaks up Imani decides to show us his power," Staten said with a smirk, making the raven blush. It was no secret that Imani had a crush on Jess, and she may return the feelings as well, but neither of them were ready to admit to them yet.
Imani shook his head and focused on his power, spinning the gear on his belt as a voice called out, "Imagination of the Pride Lands: Simba!" The visor appeared on his face again as his outfit changed into a pair of baggy yellow pants with a matching vest that had African patterns all over it, green wraps appearing on his hands and feet before his Keyblade transformed into a wooden staff like Rafiki used.
"Far out, dude," Noah said. "I can feel the Force shining brightly from your magic."
"It's extraordinary! Like Sora's Drive Forms but combined with his summons!" Gabriela exclaimed.
"It's even better than Mom and Dad described it as," Huang said.
Imani smiled at his friends, leveling his staff over his shoulders. "So, who wants to go out on the town and see what else I can do?" he signed with a smirk.
"Won't we get in trouble if we stay out too late?" Shocket questioned.
"Only if we get caught," Jess laughed, taking Imani's hand as they stood on the roof's edge. "Lead the way, Birdbrain."
"After you, funny box," Imani shot back, the two smiling at their teasing nicknames before Imani jumped from the roof, using his staff to create vines for them to slide around on.
Shocket shook her head, laughing as she activated her own rocket boots to follow them. Staten and Gabriela flew off behind her, with Noah hopping on Huang's back so they could give chase as well. Time may have passed and things were different, but one thing seemed to be true no matter what: there would always be a team of Dream Keepers to watch over the Magical World.
Author's Note
The day I post this chapter is to the date the four-year anniversary of the Magical World saga. It's pretty crazy that we've come so far, and I want to thank you all for that. I also want to thank everyone that sent in their next gen Dream Defender kid to be included in this story, they were all a lot of fun!
The main focus here is Imani, son of Gabriel and Jasiri who's name means "Hope" in Swahili. He's based on the myth of the Rainbow Crow, which is a story about how the crow sacrificed his colorful feathers and beautiful voice to bring fire to the world, with the color only showing up in the sunlight. That's why Imani is both a mute and has shiny feathers when he's in the sunlight.
As for Imani's power of the Imagination Belt, it's actually based on a real toy that was released in Japan for the Disney 100 celebration. It's quite literally a Kamen Rider style transformation belt with keys based on different Disney characters, and I thought the idea of Imani having a combination of summons and Keyblade transformations was a fitting one for the son of the Dream Keeper. His Keyblade, Advent Red, is the Keyblade that's exclusive to the Switch version of Kingdom Hearts 3.
The song that plays during Imani's race to the castle is "One Little Slip" from Chicken Little, an underrated song in the Disney library. Some other fun facts about this chapter is that Melody and Hiro's kids are all named after different types of tea, and Jessica Wilde-Hopps is named after Jessica Jones, the Marvel superhero detective. I hope you all enjoyed seeing what a possible future for the Dream Defenders is, as well as what the future Team Dream Keeper could be!
Next chapter is going to be a big retrospective on the entire Magical World Saga in the form of an award show/ Top Ten countdown. As a reminder, you can pick any scene from "Living in the Magical World", "Challenge of the Sorcerer's Arena", "Saving the Disney Universe", "Magical World Grand Prix", "Across the Mirrorverse", and "Dream Keeper Chronicles" when voting for these categories. And those categories are:
-Best Musical Moment: What is the best song/musical moment in the saga?
-Best Action Scene: Which action scene made you the most excited when reading?
-Best Dramatic Moment: What moment of drama got you right in the feels?
-Best Comedic Scene: What scene made you laugh the hardest?
There will also be categories for each Dream Defender's best moment as well:
-Best Rachel Moment
-Best Logan Moment
-Best Silver Moment
-Best Adam Moment
-Best Toren Moment
-Best Aline Moment
-Best Double D Moment
-Best Beth and Brian Moment
-Best Ben Moment
-Best Almyra Moment
-Best Melody Moment
-Best Dream Defender Allies Moment (this is for any of the other guests that weren't mentions above)
Leave your votes in a review or PM and I'll see you all in May for the results!