AN: Like I said before, with these monthly chapter releases I'll be doing multiple, shorter stories in one chapter. I'd like to thank people that gave ideas last time, and without further ado, let us begin!
Rachel and Aline: Schemes of the Pyramid
Within the confines of an ancient tomb, a portal suddenly opened up, dropping a surprised Aline and Rachel unceremoniously inside. The two girls would have surely faceplanted if it wasn't for Rachel's quick thinking, pulling out her Keyblade and casting a gravity spell to slow their descent.
"Whoa! That was close," Aline said as the two touched down on solid ground. "So… where exactly are we?"
"I thought you knew, considering you're the reason we got tossed through that portal in the first place," Rachel frowned.
"Hey, I just asked the Collector if he could help me visit one of my other counterparts. I didn't think he'd actually open the portal below me!" Aline defended herself.
"This is why I don't think we should be befriending cosmic beings like that," Rachel sighed. "The only good ones on my book are the Watcher and Figment." She looked around the room and pulled out her sword, holding it up as she illuminated the room with light. "Huh, it looks like we're in a tomb or temple of some sort."
"Man, now I wish we had Adam here. He's great at ancient puzzles and stuff," Aline said. "But if we are here that must mean my counterpart is close! …Huh, I didn't think a counterpart of mine would be the adventuring type."
"Or maybe she's a ghost!" Rachel joked.
"…Yeah, no, leave the jokes to Toren," Aline said bluntly, making Rachel roll her eyes as they went about investigating the place. It became apparent that the place they had arrived in was Egyptian in origin based on the hieroglyphics on the wall. Soon the two girls stepped into a large chamber where a coffin was stationed on the other side of the room.
"Oh boy, a coffin in the middle of an Egyptian tomb. I wonder what's going to jump out at us…" Rachel said sarcastically.
"Hello? Is anyone out there?" a voice called from the coffin, making the two girls jump.
"Gah! There's someone in the box!" Aline exclaimed.
"I can hear you, you know! Can you please let me out?" the voice asked.
Rachel and Aline looked at each other before cautiously approaching the coffin. Rachel raised her sword in defense as Aline pushed open the lid, revealing who was inside. She was a blonde-haired girl with green and purple streaks in it, wearing a 1930 style dress. "Oh thank goodness! It was getting hard to breathe in there," the girl gasped for air.
"Well, at least it's not a mummy," Aline sighed in relief.
"I've dealt with mummies before, and let me say this: they do not like to play fair," the new girl said.
Rachel looked between Aline and the new girl, humming to herself. "Aline, I think this girl is your counterpart."
"Really?" Aline said with surprise. "…Well, now that I'm getting a good look at her, she does look similar to me…"
"Counterpart? Oh, you mean like when Azrael met Gabriel last summer," the girl said. "I always wondered what my counterpart would look like… I see we both like having streaks in our hair at least."
"I'm Aline, and this is my friend Rachel," Aline introduced herself.
"My name's Violetta. Nice to meet you," Violetta said.
"So… why were you locked in a coffin?" Aline asked.
"Well to explain that I have to show you this," Violetta said, pulling out an amulet shaped like a crocodile. "You see, I'm considered the chosen of Sobek, crocodile god of the Nile River. It gives me awesome water-based powers, but also makes me a target of creeps like Imotep, aka The Mummy. Luckily my friend, Julie, is a monster hunter by trade so she normally helps me out whenever he comes knocking… Actually, she looks pretty similar to you, Rachel."
"She must be my counterpart in the Epic Universe," Rachel nodded. "So then, did Imotep lock you in this tomb?"
Violetta shook her head. "No, I was instead captured by these two creeps named Hotep and Huy. They're the head priests for King Ramses and captured me to deliver me to their king. Apparently Ramses is looking to collect people like me chosen by the gods. And I just wanted to visit Egypt so I could finally meet Moses…"
"Moss? Like, from the Bible?" Aline questioned.
"DreamWorks made the Prince of Egypt movie, so I can visit that Moses," Violetta explained.
"That gives me so many questions I'd want to ask…" Aline muttered.
"You can think about the implications of biblical figures existing in this world later. We should be working to get out of this tomb and then finding a way back home," Rachel said.
"I can help you with that last part, at least. This tomb is blocking my cell signal, but once we're outside I can call Azrael and he'll get you both back to… whichever world you come from," Violetta said.
"The Magical World. It's like here but Disney," Rachel said. She pointed her sword back towards the entrance of the room. "But for now, let's find a way out of here."
The three girls went on through the tomb, finding that the Hotep and Huy had put traps in place to they couldn't escape easily. Luckily Aline was still able to use her magic, meaning that by turning into a cat she could slip past the traps and disable them on the other side.
"So, what's your relationship with Sobek like?" Aline asked. "I have a friend or two that have made deals with old gods as well."
"I've never met Sobek in person, but I'd like to one day," Violetta said.
"Our friend Adam has met the Sobek of our world once. He caused a bit of trouble on the river cruise there, though that was due to our Sobek siding with Ammit at the time," Rachel said.
"Maybe you could turn into a crocodile, like I can turn into a cat!" Aline said.
"I don't know if I'd want to do that… I might get mistaken as one of those croc bandits from the Kung Fu Panda world," Violetta said.
The trio soon entered into another large room, this one having a massive set of doors on the far end. "That should be our way out," Rachel said. "With my Keyblade I'm sure opening it won't be a problem…"
"Not so fast!" a voice shouted. The girls turned around to see two men, one fat and one skinny, standing there with a girl tied up between them.
"Hotep and Huy…" Violetta growled. "And you have Julie captured as well!?"
"We found this girl snooping around the tomb and used our magics to subdue her," Hotep said. "We couldn't have Sobek's chosen escaping before the ritual to extract his power for our king, could we?"
"Well you're not going to get away with any of your plans," Aline said as she and Rachel stepped forward, ready for a fight.
"I've seen your movie before. You don't have real magic anyways," Rachel scoffed.
"Oh but we do, thanks to Imotep," Huy said. The two priests held up their hands and started chanting, magic gathering around Julie and transforming her into a wolf-bull hybrid. "By the power of Hathor, destroy them all!"
"Woah! What kinda powers does your counterpart have, Rachel!?" Aline exclaimed as she jumped out of the way of a charging Julie.
"I should have mentioned that Julie is dating the Wolfman, and she uses a magic ring to become a werewolf herself," Julie said. "The priests have infused the spirit of Hathor into her, turning her into a were-minotaur!"
"It should be a minolupus, actually," Rachel corrected, raising her sword to cast a fireball spell at Julie.
"Were-minotaur, minolupus, wolf-bull, whatever! Just grab the ring off her finger and the spell should come undone!" Violetta shouted. "I'll fight the priests, you deal with Julie!"
"…Huh, she's being a bit bossy, isn't she?" Aline said. "Was I like that when we first met?"
"She probably hasn't had all of the character development you have," Rachel shrugged. "Gabriel did say that the Epic Universe hasn't had a Dream Defender-like team for very long."
The two Dream Defenders focused back on the mission at hand, Rachel's eyes turning to slits as she tapped into her Dragon Queen persona, giving a roar that caught Julie's attention. The wolf-bull turned and huffed, pointing her horns at Rachel and charging. The sword mage held up her sword, standing her ground against her counterpart as they clashed against each other.
"Aline, now!" Rachel shouted, her hands turning to claws as she tapped more into her dragon side to hold the wolf-bull back.
"On it!" Aline exclaimed, turning into her cat form and hopping onto Julie. She used her paws to push at the ring on her finger, Aline eventually managing to get the piece of jewelry off. "And… got it!" she cheered, only to get flung against the wall by a screaming Julie.
"Aline!" Rachel gasped, pushing Julie away as she reverted back into human form.
"I'm okay…" Aline replied, dazed but unharmed as she turned back into a human as well.
"That was a neat trick, but let me show you the real power of Egypt!" Violetta said, pointing her amulet at the priests. Hotep and Huy comically jumped into each other's arms as Violetta cast a powerful water spell at them, flushing them back into the tomb with a torrent of water.
"We'll be back…!" they exclaimed as the tomb slammed shut behind them.
"They may have real magic now, but it's no match for what I can do," Violetta said.
"Why didn't you do that when we first say them?" Rachel asked.
"I couldn't risk them hurting Julie. She's a good friend of mine," Violetta replied. "Speaking of which… You okay, Julie?"
Julie sat up and nodded. "I'm good now… Who are your new friends, Violetta?"
"The cat-girl is Aline, my Magical World counterpart, and the one with the sword is Rachel, your counterpart," Violetta explained.
"It's nice to meet another me from a different world. I can't let Gabriel have all the fun," Rachel said, shaking Julie's hand. "So, the Wolfman, huh?"
"Lawrence is a good man, even if he gets very, very hairy during the full moon," Julie said. "What about you? Do you have someone like him in the Magical World?"
"I do. Poe de Spell, a dark sorcerer. We just got married not long ago," Rachel replied.
"Lawrence and I have spoken of marriage, but we must deal with Count Dracula first. He's a most annoying unwanted suitor," Julie said.
"We can talk more about our love lives once we're out of here," Violetta said. "We do need to find Azrael so these two can go home."
"Oh, Azrael is currently on holiday with his family. He won't be back to help until tomorrow evening," Julie said.
"In that case, we have time to get to know each other, and the Epic Universe," Rachel said.
"Yeah! I want to see all you've got in your world, Violetta!" Aline cheered.
Violetta shook her head but smiled. "Well okay then. I guess I'll be the one giving a grand tour this time. Azrael might even give me a promotion in the Epic Alliance for helping you guys out."
"We don't have ranks in the Epic Alliance," Julie sighed.
"Yep, Violetta is more like Aline when we first met. She'll mellow out as you get to know her, trust me," Rachel chuckled. Rachel and Aline enjoyed the rest of their time in the Epic Universe until Azrael was able to get them back home. It was certainly an encounter they would tell the other Dream Defenders once they returned to the Magical World.
[***]
Melody: Surfing the Space Ways
Melody looked out at the vast expanse of space that laid before her. She fidgeted with the hoverboard in her hands, making some adjustments to the vehicle as Jim Hawkins sat beside her. "I've never seen a board like that. You make it yourself?" Jim asked.
The hyena girl nodded. "Yep, it's self-made. With a bit of help from my friends at SFIT, of course." Melody looked up from her board and towards Jim. "So, why did you want me to hang out with you? It was kinda random when you asked me to come solar surfing with you."
"I'm friends with Logan, and he's told me quite a bit about you," Jim said. "He says you're always in the lab working on tech stuff, so I decided to reach out and get you to do something fun for once."
"Hey, working on tech stuff is fun for me," Melody said. She sighed and looked out at the stars. "But I will admit, it is nice to get out once and a while… So, what are we waiting for?"
"Our other competitor in this surfing competition," Jim replied. "I like surfing and sometimes skating with other people here in the Magical World, and if you're going to Solar Surf, you have to have one of the best riders in the cosmic space ways to join you."
A twinkle in the stars soon shone as a streak of light heading their way. The beam soon stopped on a dime in front of them, revealing it to me a man covered in silver metal riding an equally metallic surfboard. "Hawkins, my man!" the guy said in a surfer accent.
"SS, glad you made it on time!" Jim smiled, giving a fist bump to the newcomer. "Melody, this is Silver Surfer, Silver Surfer, Melody."
"Glad to meet you, dudette," Silver Surfer said.
"Huh, I didn't think the Silver Surfer was actually a dude-bro surfer type," Melody hummed.
"Well, this is the Super Hero Squad Show Silver Surfer, so he's a bit more laid-back and comedic than the 616 Silver Surfer," Jim explained.
"You can call me SS for short if that helps," Silver Surfer said. "So, you two ready to ride some righteous cosmic waves?"
Melody nodded, throwing down her hoverboard and jumping onto it. "Ready when you guys are."
Jim smiled and readied his Solar Surfer, pulling up the sail as the engines kicked in. "The first one to make to the Jedi Temple without wiping out wins, and loser has to pay for ice cream. On your mark… get set… go!"
The three of them kicked off of the platform they were standing on, boards catching the cosmic waves as they started surfing through the stars. The group were currently over the planet of Coruscant, the city planet and heart of the Republic. The trio surfed around incoming starcruisers as they went along, Melody laughing with delight as she felt the solar wind rush through her hair.
I'm falling free in the wind, in the wind…
"Come on, let's get going!" Jim shouted as he started descending down towards the planet.
Free to be me in the wind, in the wind…
Melody grinned and followed him, thankful for the modifications she made to her board that allowed for safe atmosphere reentry.
What would it feel like to be speed of light
And rule the night and day?
Silver Surfer zoomed past both Jim and Melody, creating a cosmic trail behind him that the two used to try and keep up with the herald of Galactus. Jim even did a few tricks on his board as they went along.
Watch as it passes by you, the masses try you
But they just can't keep up
With Coruscant being a city planet, it was a great place to weave between buildings while solar surfing. Jim folded his sail away temporarily to squeeze between some flying cars before unfurling it again, gaining a massive speed boost to catch up to Silver Surfer.
Into the free, into the me
Into the ever knowing
"You're not leaving me behind that easily!" Melody shouted, activating her hero armor and using her gauntlets to blast herself forward at high speed to make up for lost time.
Felt so refrained,
Felt so constrained
But now I'm breaking out and-
With the trio now all caught up and moving at high speed, they barely had time to notice when a Republic Gunship suddenly rose in front of them. Thinking fast they all dodged in a different direction: Silver Surfer went over the ship, Jim sailed under it, and Melody played a risky move by jumping off her board, diving through the open middle of the gunship, and landing back on her hoverboard on the other side of the ship.
I'm falling free in the wind, in the wind…
"That was crazy!" Jim laughed as they regrouped on the other side.
"Not as crazy as me winning this race!" Melody shouted, going into a dive to gain speed as the Jedi Temple lied ahead. Jim and Silver Surfer started diving as well to try and win the race.
Free to be me in the wind, in the wind…
As the temple approached them, it would be a split-second decision to decide just who would win the race. Jim and Silver Surfer came to a stop on the pavement while Melody ended up zooming past them, zipping up the side of the temple before jumping off her board for a magnificent flip trick.
I'm free!
As Melody fell back to earth, Jim held out his hands and caught her before she hit the ground, with Silver Surfer catching her board. The hyena girl looked at Jim and blushed as he put her back on the ground. "Oops. I think I got a bit carried away there…" she apologized.
"I'm just glad you were having fun," Jim laughed.
"That was an excellent trick at the end there," Silver Surfer nodded. "And the vibes you two have are looking good as well."
"What!? No, Jim and I are just friends!" Melody said.
"Don't worry, Melody. I'm used to girls having a crush on me," Jim replied. "I'm pretty sure I'm still considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the Magical World, actually…"
"But I really don't feel that way towards you. I have… someone else that I'm crushing on," Melody said.
"It's Hiro, isn't it?" Jim guessed, making the hyena girl blush again. "Yep, totally is! It makes sense, seeing as you're always hanging around with him and the rest of Big Hero 6."
Melody sighed. "Fine, I have a crush on Hiro- but don't tell him I do! It's… complicated. I want to tell him about my feelings, but I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend already."
"Hiro isn't dating anyone," Jim shook his head, much to Melody's shock. "Sure he's had a crush on other girls and has at least two lover interests in his show, but Hiro never actually started dating either of them, officially at least."
"So… I have a chance?" Melody questioned.
"The heart wants what it wants, dudette. And if your heart belongs to Hiro, you gotta let him know," Silver Surfer nodded.
"Okay… Okay! Wow, my head feels way clearer now, for some reason," Melody said.
"Surfing around at high speeds does that for ya," Jim laughed.
"Hm… Maybe I need to work on doing more stuff outside the lab. I am a potential candidate for becoming one of the main Dream Defenders, after all. How can I call myself an inventor if I don't do some more field tests, like with this board?" Melody said. "Yeah, starting today, I'm going to be a brand-new Melody!"
"You should join us again sometime for more surfing. We also get in on the skating scene as well from time to time," Silver Surfer offered. "We have some other friends that like to join in on the fun that you could hang out with: Jake Long, Kick Buttowski, Max Goof…"
"Actually, Max was one of my crushes as well," Melody giggled.
"Too bad he actually is dating someone else," Jim laughed, making the other two laugh out loud as well.
Their fun was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a police siren. "This the Coruscant guard! You're under arrest for disturbing the peace with your reckless solar surfing!"
"Welp, looks like it's time for us to get out of here," Jim said, readying his board.
"Catch us if you can!" Melody laughed as the trio zoomed off into the city, ready for more races and hijinks as they enjoyed the rest of their day.
[***]
Gabriel: The Heart of the Cards
"And that's game!" Gabriel declared, playing one last card on the table.
Lena sighed and set down her hand, shaking her head before smiling. "Heh, looks like you got lucky this time, Gabriel. You won't be able to beat me next time, though!"
"I look forward to it," Gabriel said with a smirk.
"What are you two up to?" Jasiri asked, coming into the room alongside Kessie.
"We're just playing a bit of Lorcana," Gabriel replied, holding up his cards. "It's the new Disney card game that Lena and I are into."
"Card game? Sounds like fun!" Kessie said, flying over to the table and looking at the cards. "I've never played one before…"
"Is this like that pocket monster game that I've seen kids playing?" Jasiri asked.
"Kind of. Lorcana might be a bit closer to Magic though," Gabriel said. He snapped his fingers, summoning six different cards to his hand. "There are six colors that cards come in: sapphire, ruby, emerald, steel, amber, and amethyst. Each color has a particular type of playstyle, and each deck can hold a max of two colors."
"I like to play emerald and amethyst myself," Lena said, holding up her own cards. "Emerald is all about discarding your opponent's cards so you can get ahead in obtaining points, or Lore as it's called in this game. As for Amethyst, it's all about magic users, putting hands from the field of play back into your deck and freezing your opponent's cards Basically, whenever I play cards, I'm making sure I can score points and leave my opponents in the dust!"
"As for me, I like playing Sapphire and Steel," Gabriel said. "Sapphire can play cards into the inkwell fast, meaning I can play more cards faster, which pairs well with the powerful items the color has as well. As for Steel, it specializes in strong defenses and higher cost cards that can hit just as hard. If I can play the long game, the victory goes to me?"
"And what about the other two colors?" Jasiri asked.
"Well, Ruby is all about challenging and defeating your opponent's cards, as well as outright discarding them without a fight. And Amber cards are great at healing their fellow cards, as well as playing powerful song cards to turn the tide of a game," Gabriel explained.
"There is a bit more to the game that we can really explain here, but those are the basics," Lena shrugged. "The first person to 20 points wins the game."
"So, what kinds of characters are on these cards? Do I have one?" Kessie asked.
"No, but some of your friends like Owl and Pooh Bear do," Gabriel said, showing off some of the cards. "King Simba has a few cards that I use in my deck as well."
"They are going to be adding characters from Ducktales in the next set, though I doubt I'll be included…" Lena said.
"Never say never. Still, it would be cool to have my own card. I wonder what color I'd fall under?" Jasiri hummed.
"You know… since this is the Magical World, why don't we see about making our own custom cards?" Gabriel suggested.
"Yeah! That sounds like a fun weekend activity," Kessie cheered.
"Before we do that, how about we actually show you a full game first?" Lena suggested. "I'm going to show you the power of magic, Gabriel!"
"And I'll stand strong and power through, Lena," Gabriel retorted as the two stood off against each other, cards at the ready.
"I'm glad that Gabriel has found something to be passionate about outside of helping others," Jasiri giggled. "Well then, let's play!"
Author's Note
In the first story of the chapter, Rachel and Aline make and unexpected trip to the Epic Universe thanks to the Collector and meet their counterparts, Julie and Violetta! They also face off against the creepy priests from "The Prince of Egypt", who have access to real magic rather than just their parlor tricks from the movie. Since both of their creators wanted to meet their counterparts, I merged both ideas into this one story, so I hope you enjoyed it.
In the second story, Melody goes on a space surfing with Jim Hawkins and Silver Surfer, which leads to her opening up about some personal troubles and the hyena girl resolving to get out there and be more active in her Dream Defender duties (as well as maybe confessing her crush to Hiro Hamada in the future!). The song the three race two is "Free" from Sonic Free Riders, a game about racing on hoverboards, so it was fitting.
For the final story, I just wanted a chance to talk about Lorcana since I've recently gotten into the card game. Gabriel explains a bit about how the game works, but honestly, I think it's easier to play Lorcana for yourself. If you can I'd look up the artwork for Lorcana because some of the cards have incredible art and designs for the characters with unique outfits you've never seen before. My main deck in real life is also a Sapphire/Steel deck, and I'm excited that Ducktales is coming to the next set (here's hoping Lena gets a card in the future as well!).
Next Time: It's February, so that means another round of "Stories of Love"! Pick your favorite Disney or Dream Defender pairings and I'll write short stories for the top five!