Tomorrowland: For A Better Future
Disney Smash Bros: Story Arc 1
Part 1: Another Objective (in regards to continuing from the last chapter)
Armed with newfound knowledge exposing the machinations of their most dangerous enemy, as well as the selfless devotion to defend peace, virtues and justice on a thousand worlds, the Imagineer Order is ready to stage an epic counterattack against the Heartless Forces of Zalgo.
Our courageous heroes have taken various defensive positions in San Fransokyo, the largest city in the entirety of Tomorrowland.
It is a vast expanse of land where East meets West, packed with teeming trillions of people, (both human and non-human,) and it serves as the cultural and technological hub of the Disney multiverse, though other great settlements across the cosmos could also lay claim to this vaunted title.
The Imagineers chose this city to focus their efforts on for two reasons:
First off, San Fransokyo was a metropolis comparable to lost Coruscant in population, influence and significance, and any self-respecting eldritch abomination or dream demon out there would inevitably want to lay claim to it one day.
Secondly, there were fables and rumors as old as the Futuristic Kingdom itself that spoke of the legendary Infinity Stones, fragments of Dwayne's First Glass Cup, being hidden somewhere in one of Tomorrowland's biggest urban areas, so it sort of made sense to search the largest one of all immediately.
Sora and Frisk were the last two members of the Tomorrowland Imagineer contingent force to arrive at their proper destination, a largely empty landing area in an abandoned spaceport, where the Millennium Falcon and multiple other vessels of the Order were parked. Apparently, a wormhole journey using the Kingdom Keys could be somewhat slower or faster depending on unknown circumstances.
The good news was, Captain Han Solo wasn't mad at the two teenagers for being late. He was just happy to know that they were so committed to their responsibilities.
"Glad to have you back, Padawan Frisk and Padawan Sora. You two helped retrieve quite the surprise for our intelligence department! We had been in the dark this whole time, and we never knew we were being intentionally deceived, that is, until Coruscant happened. We should've maintained more consistent contact with the Fairy Godmother... but it's too late to grieve now. We have a mission to fulfill! And I brought along someone to help you unlock your latent Jedi capabilities!"
The Return of Mara Jade (If Disney catered to the fans)
This scene will be presented as a full-on gameplay tutorial for the Disney Smash Bros game concept.
In this timeline, where Anakin never fell to the Dark Side, actually fulfilled his destiny, married Senator Padmé Amidala, and became a member of the Jedi High Council, Mara Jade is Luke Skywalker's childhood best friend and comrade in arms.
Yes, the Jedi made an amendment to their code that allows for marriage, since they have been put under the greater umbrella and chain of command of the Imagineer Order, but it comes with a catch: The Jedi in question who gets married must resign from most of their official duties and spend time with their loved ones.
Anakin was still allowed to visit the Jedi Temple even after getting married to Padmé, but his position of leadership was more symbolic than anything else, due to the necessity of being properly devoted to his family.
Lightsabers and extensive training in the ways of the Force (specifically the Light Side) are now considered universal, hallmark elements amongst all Imagineers, regardless if they identify as Jedi Knights or not.
Also:
If I were to make a direct comparison between the roster of a hypothetical Disney Smash Bros style game and the roster of Smash Bros Ultimate, I'd say that the 8 Fire Emblem characters would be the approximate equivalent of the Jedi Knights from the Clone Wars cartoon. Lots of representation from successful, famous staple IP's, although not the ones that made Disney and Nintendo household names in earlier days (like Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, or Mickey and Friends and the animated Disney Princess themed films.)
Without further ado... Here's the Five Kingdoms platform fighter tutorial, brought to you by Star Wars Legends!
For the Nintendo Switch version of the game, the controls are the same as Smash Ultimate, for the sake of simplicity and familiarity.
Additionally, Sora's moveset will remain the same as it is in Smash Ultimate, with a lightsaber added to show his newfound Jedi affiliations.
Frisk's Moveset: Powers Of The Soul (with help from Destiny Island's main protagonist)
This tutorial segment with Mara Jade, returning from Star Wars Legends into Disney Canon, features the androgynous, seemingly unremarkable yet eternally determined main protagonist of one of the most beloved indie games ever, who ended up here because Toby Fox himself gave Pixar permission to make an animated movie adaptation of Undertale- however, he strictly monitored the movie's production and had a list of rules for Pixar to follow, because he didn't want his creation to be bastardized.
As part of the Jedi category of fighters, Frisk wields a lightsaber which they can further amplify with soul energy to tackle different classes of opponents, making them one of the most versatile, powerful characters in the roster, to the point of rivaling several top-tier, non-Star Wars Imagineers, such as Kingdom Keychain Sora, King Mickey, Wreck-It-Ralph and Swamp Sorcerer Kermit.
Neutral Special: Select Your Virtue, Righteous Soul (gameplay mechanics for this are explained further below, in bold letters)
Side Special, Up Special, Down Special: Fully customizable in the Jedi Arts menu. You can choose between one of four different, distinct moves for each one of your specials, and also replace your color changing Neutral Special with one of four extremely strong attacks with a long recharge time, for a total of sixteen available special moves. Many of these would resemble the ones that the Fire Emblem characters use in Smash Ultimate, because the swordsman is the central feature here!
Pre-Battle Option (for Jedi characters:) Utilizing Lightsaber Forms
"My first lesson for you is picking a style of lightsaber combat," Mara Jade informed Frisk. "As you know, there are seven stances in Jedi swordfights, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the color of your lightsaber signifies your primary role in the Imagineer Order and contributes to your own specialized ways of using the Force."
Frisk's lightsaber, set to non-lethal training mode, once again phased between different colors, and they just so happened to pick green, representing the virtue of Kindness, as opposed to red, which signified Determination.
"Now that I know I can switch colors to deepen my connection to the Force by pressing B, what swashbuckling style do you recommend I use?," they asked the female human Jedi. "I've had a little bit of practice with all seven, like every other apprentice, but I don't know what to dedicate myself to, yet."
Not surprisingly, Sora provided a bunch of helpful hints for his best friend before Mara Jade could give Frisk a proper answer, even managing to break the fourth wall while doing so.
"If you wish for a relative balance of offense and defense, then maybe consider Form 6, the technique of Niman. On the contrary, if you wanna go all out on defensive play, using an opponent's mistakes against them, or charge in headfirst like a barbarian, focusing on disciplined aggression, you could pick Form 3, Soresu, or Form 7, Juyo, respectively."
"Each one of the seven stances has a significant impact on Jedi character class gameplay, buffing certain types of moves and allowing you to deal more damage to certain opponents, while conversely weakening other moves and making it more difficult to raise other opponents' damage percentages. In other words, every style has its own benefits and drawbacks."
"Note that in-game, you can only have one lightsaber stance selected at a time, so choose wisely before entering battle!"
The practice round begins!
(Frisk uses Niman Stance in this sparring match)
Now that Sora had done her job of explaining for her, Mara Jade lunged forward, red blade extended, with a perfect duelist slash. Frisk instinctively blocked it with their green blade, smiling confidently.
"So you're gifted," the wily Jedi Master replied, "but you've still got a lot to learn! Keep changing those colors as I COME RIGHT AT YOU, and when you're under pressure, see the magic happen!"
Emerald Soul- Kindness: Lengthens the shield duration and lessens damage taken, but makes you much slower, heavier, and easier to hit.
She pressed the offensive, and eventually shattered Frisk's guard, making them stop and stumble for a short moment. Then, their blade flashed yellow, and they hurled themselves back into action, raining down well-timed and disciplined blows on Mara's chest and shoulders.
Citrine Soul- Justice: Increases damage done dramatically, but you also take more damage yourself, lasts for a shorter duration.
Instinctively, she did multiple backflips to get out of Frisk's striking range, and began using a ranged attack- hurling itty bitty bolts of electricity, like an extremely mild version of Sith Lightning.
But Frisk was prepared, and changed the color of their blade to blue, lending them tremendous speed and agility that let them dodge the electric sparks, leap into the air like an acrobat, and swat Mara in the face with the training saber.
Sapphire Soul- Integrity: Boosts speed and jumping, but significantly reduces your damage output.
Growing impressed, Mara channeled her Force lightning into the ground, leaving patches of static electricity on the floor of the spacecraft landing pad which would shock Frisk if they made one wrong step.
This genuinely dumbfounded the Padawan, until they switched their lightsaber's hue to purple, and remembered the special perk associated with the color, sprinting across the field of crackling voltage unharmed and once again bonking Sifu Mara with their weapon, although they were left somewhat dizzy after this.
Amethyst Soul- Perseverance: Makes you invulnerable to damage for a modest time, but you still can receive full knockback. Once it runs out, you're left stunned for 3 seconds!
Taking advantage of Frisk's fleeting motion sickness, Mara sent them flying with a roundhouse kick that knocked the wind out of their lungs.
This wouldn't keep the experienced apprentice down for long, though, as they got up, shifted plasma colors to orange, and struck back with a furious upward slash followed by a flash-bang stab and spin attack, which blasted the Jedi Master high up in the air, although she did manage to land on her feet despite being shell-shocked in midair.
Topaz Soul- Bravery: Deal much more knockback with your attacks, but you can get knocked around just as easily by your opponents.
Knowing she was running out of time, Mara tested Frisk with one final stroke... a lightsaber cut that came so fast, they had no chance to parry it.
A mere millisecond before the blow landed, though, the Padawan was able to successfully get their blade to turn cyan, nullifying the kinetic impact, and thus, they only rolled on the ground instead of being sent careening across the landing pad.
Turquoise Soul- Patience: Enemy knockback is much less powerful, but your damage percentage will steadily and passively increase while this effect is active.
Ruby Soul- Determination: Items are more potent, and your Brainstorm Meter (Final Smash Meter) will build up at a higher rate. Beware, though, as this effect will end immediately if an opponent hits you with any attack that isn't a projectile.
"Your mastery... how'd you get so good at this, so quickly? Out of all the cadets I've spent time with, you seem to be the most likely to be an outstanding prodigy or a precocious savant. Someone should do a Midichlorian count on you."
Mara Jade hadn't gotten a training session this intense in years. Frisk was clearly special, though for a reason they had yet to understand, as some seasoned Imagineers would put it. And it was a good thing, too. The Imagineers in San Fransokyo needed all the help they could get, and a savant or prodigy of a student was a well appreciated addition to the squad.
"Anyway... you and Sora should check in with Han back at the Falcon. He'll have mission details for you, now that you've gone through advanced education on lightsabers and Force powers."
Heading back to the Millennium Falcon...
"Oh, wow!," Sora exclaimed. "You were phenomenal in that mock duel! I can only imagine you using that uncanny skill, fine footwork, and decisive thinking in a real fight... and we're doing this together, so maybe the others in our group could learn something from you!"
"Well, thanks!," Frisk replied. "To be honest, though, I have NO idea where this hidden potential came from. I suppose some people learn quicker than others."
"Guy, we both received the same training," said Sora, puzzled by this response. "Maybe it just left more of a mark on you? I mean, if we used one of the myriad gadgets made by Grand Artificers Phineas and Ferb, we should be able to look inside your brain, and see how much of the tuition and information you remember. Moreover, Master Jade brought up midichlorians while practicing with you- you could just have an inherently deep connection to the Force."
"I dunno," Frisk mumbled. "I have a bad feeling now, especially about what might come next while we're staying in this big city."
While fine-tuning the Falcon's cockpit controls, Han Solo had an intel update to discuss with the two apprentices.
"Sora! Frisk! We need to talk, urgently! There's been a revelation, one which will make the daunting task at hand much easier."
"Bring it in, then!," Frisk said, eager to hear about the circumstances.
"Our intelligence agents and investigators have been on a relentless hunt for the Infinity Stones that the Fairy Godmother informed us of, with the most rigorous searching activities taking place right here in San Fransokyo. We have scanned more than a million different dense city blocks, looking for signs of extreme, cross-spectrum magical energy emissions, a flawless combination of all the fundamental building blocks of the multiverse- in other words, clues that supposedly only we can detect, leading to the probable location of a Stone. At least, that's what the Order's scientists and magicians told me."
"Have we found the right combination of magical elements in any of those areas?," Sora wondered aloud.
"As it turns out, YES," Han answered, in a tone that indicated his sense of disbelief. "One of our most valuable, respected droids, Baymax, and his crew of high-tech superheroes, picked up a massive leak of arcane energies emanating from somewhere near a very important business building, the center of corporate power in Tomorrowland... the Buy N' Large conglomerate headquarters."
"Great, here we go again with these giant corporations!," Frisk cursed, expressing their disdain for capitalistic corruption.
"And for the love of Dwayne and Sarah, how do we even get in there?," Sora scoffed, shaking his head. "Their security systems are unparalleled in all the realms, they have a virtual candy shop of destruction stocked with every kind of weapon imaginable, and we don't even know for sure if the Buy N' Large main office is the right place to infiltrate, since there are at least a dozen other major industrial facilities in the area!"
"You don't think we have a plan for this?," Han remarked. "Master Swashbuckler Peter Pan, Space Ranger Marshal Buzz Lightyear, and Chief Repairman Fix-It Felix all put their minds together to gather the best of the best for our upcoming endeavor."
"And who would the best of the best be?," Frisk spoke.
"Let's just say... it's a ladies club."
"Wait a minute, we're sending the princesses on this mission?!," Sora shouted, clearly shocked by this choice of action. "I mean, one of them, Mulan, could smash a stack of bricks with her bare hands, and all of them apparently have been trained as secret agents, but what's that going to do when you're faced with a horde of nuclear-powered robotic killing machines?"
"Don't underestimate them," Han noted, his cheesy grin signaling that he was telling the truth. "You should see the damsels in action for yourself... feminism is a force to be reckoned with!"
"Now that we've discussed the matters at hand... I think you should meet up with Baymax and his big band of six. They're investigating another place where an Infinity Stone could probably be hidden."
-CHAPTER END-
I mean, what did you expect? I couldn't do an episode of Disney Five Kingdoms centered around San Fransokyo and Tomorrowland without including the eponymous heroes in Big Hero 6.
Next chapter will be quite ambitious, and could take a long time to make... we'll have three separate plots to follow, with Frisk and Sora embarking on a mission alongside Baymax and friends, the Disney Princesses demonstrating their reputation as the Damsels of Destruction by breaking into the Buy N' Large corporate headquarters, and Zalgo's Heartless followers making their first moves in their sinister plan.
All of this, of course, revolves around a race against time between the myriad forces of good and evil, to snatch an Infinity Stone. Which one of the six stones could be featured in this story arc remains yet to be determined.
Even though the topic of Disney crossover games like Kingdom Hearts is pretty much totally irrelevant by now, I'm still writing Five Kingdoms because I genuinely have fun doing so, and it's motivating me to write more.
Until then... see you when the next chapter drops.