Zaboru quickly went to his desk because his mind could no longer stay calm after Walt Disney left. He sat down slowly, leaned his elbows against the table, and stared at the documents in front of him without really reading anything.
"Walt Disney..." he muttered quietly.
Honestly, to Zaboru, Walt Disney was far more than a business partner. Over the years, the old man had become something closer to a grandfather figure. In this world, Walt was not just the legendary creator of Disney. He was also a warm, stubborn, mischievous old man who treated Zaboru like a troublesome but beloved grandson.
That made the conversation from earlier hurt even more.
Walt had laughed, joked, and acted as if everything was fine, but Zaboru could clearly feel the weight behind his words. His time was limited. His body was weakening. And whether Walt tried to hide it behind humor or not, he knew his own ending was approaching.
At the same time, Walt Disney was not only emotionally important to Zaboru. He was politically and culturally powerful too. Aside from owning and creating Disney, Walt had his own invisible protection built through decades of respect, influence, personal connections, and public admiration. Many people in the United States still viewed him almost like a national treasure.
Because of that, ZAGE had also been indirectly protected.
Corrupt companies, hostile media groups, and certain political powers in the United States could not casually attack ZAGE too openly while Walt Disney stood beside it. His presence alone made many enemies hesitate.
But someday, when Walt Disney died, that protection would disappear.
ZAGE would need to stand fully on its own.
Zaboru understood that very clearly, but for now, he did not want to think about politics, enemies, or future attacks. Right now, what weighed on his heart was not the shield Walt provided.
It was the thought of losing the old man himself.
Zaboru sighed softly. "Dad might also want to hear this..."
Walt Disney was not only close to Zaboru. He was also surprisingly close to Zanichi. In fact, there was a quiet irony in their relationship because, without saying it directly, Zanichi seemed to see Walt as the father figure he never truly had.
Zanichi's real father, Zenzou Zagashira, had never loved him properly. To Zenzou, children were not family to be cherished, but tools to be shaped, controlled, and used for the family's ambition. The moment Zanichi chose his own dream instead of following the path his father prepared, Zenzou discarded him without hesitation. In his eyes, Zanichi's dream of becoming a mangaka was foolish, useless, and shameful.
That rejection had left a deeper wound than Zanichi ever openly admitted.
That was why his relationship with Walt felt so different. When Zanichi was around Walt, he became strangely casual and open in a way he rarely showed to others. He could joke, complain, ask questions, and even act a little childish without feeling judged. Walt, with his blunt warmth and old-man stubbornness, treated Zanichi not like a failure or a tool, but like a talented man worth respecting.
Maybe that was why Zanichi unconsciously saw Walt as a "good father" figure.
The kind of father he should have had.
The kind of father Zenzou never became.
Zaboru then leaned back slowly. "Still... Walt Disney's legacy, huh..."
He chuckled softly.
Honestly, in recent Disney and Pixar movies, Zaboru had already started adding recurring easter-egg characters as a small tribute to both Walt and his own strange habits as a creator. It was similar to Zabo-man in ZAGE games. Zabo-man appeared in almost every game Zaboru was personally involved in developing, becoming a legendary hidden mascot among fans.
But for movies, Zaboru created another recurring character instead.
Mr. Waltzer.
Mr. Waltzer was a strange recurring background character who always appeared differently in every film, yet somehow remained recognizable because of two consistent details: a thick mustache and a red necktie.
Sometimes he appeared for only a few seconds.
Sometimes he had no dialogue at all.
Sometimes he appeared in completely ridiculous forms.
For example, in Finding Nemo, Mr. Waltzer appeared as a shark wearing a red tie and thick mustache who suddenly swam across the screen, stared directly toward the camera, and asked:
"Where is Z?"
Then he immediately disappeared without explanation.
Audiences initially thought it was random comedy.
But after Mr. Waltzer kept appearing repeatedly across Disney and Pixar films, fans slowly became obsessed with finding him. Entire online communities started creating theories about whether Mr. Waltzer was secretly connected across every movie universe.
Some people even joked that spotting Mr. Waltzer was harder than finishing hidden quests in ZAGE games.
Zaboru smiled faintly while remembering it.
Honestly?
He liked creating small things like that.
Little recurring details that made worlds feel connected.
But beyond simple easter eggs and tributes, there was another project Zaboru truly wanted to create someday.
Kingdom Hearts.
In his previous world, Kingdom Hearts was famous because it mixed original characters, Final Fantasy elements, and Disney worlds into one strange but memorable adventure. Based on the lore, Disney characters did not simply appear as random cameos. Their worlds existed as separate places across a vast universe, each protected by its own heart. Characters like Donald and Goofy traveled between those worlds because King Mickey had left to investigate the darkness threatening them. Sora, as the Keyblade wielder, became the one who connected those worlds together, visiting different Disney settings while fighting Heartless and protecting the hearts of each world.
That was why Disney characters could naturally exist in the story. They were not treated as actors or references, but as real inhabitants of their own worlds. Aladdin lived in Agrabah, Ariel lived under the sea, Hercules fought in Olympus, and each world carried its own rules, problems, and emotions. The main story tied them together through the conflict between light and darkness, the power of hearts, and the Keyblade's ability to open or seal paths between worlds.
Zaboru had always found that concept fascinating. It was ridiculous when explained simply, yet somehow it worked because the game treated the crossover seriously. Disney worlds gave the adventure wonder and variety, Final Fantasy-style characters added drama and coolness, and the original Kingdom Hearts lore connected everything into one large emotional journey.
And interestingly, the original idea for Kingdom Hearts happened because Disney and Square shared the same office building in his previous world.
Back then, Square and Disney Japan reportedly worked inside the same building, and because of that, employees from both companies occasionally crossed paths casually. One day, during an elevator conversation, the idea of creating a game combining Disney worlds with RPG gameplay started being discussed.
At first, it sounded almost impossible.
Disney characters inside a serious RPG?
Final Fantasy-style storytelling mixed with Mickey Mouse?
On paper, the idea sounded ridiculous.
But somehow, the more they talked about it, the more potential they saw.
Disney already had massive worlds, iconic characters, emotional stories, and strong visual identity. Meanwhile, Square specialized in RPG systems, dramatic storytelling, fantasy adventure, and emotional character journeys.
The combination should not have worked.
Yet somehow...
It worked perfectly.
Especially because both sides fully committed to the idea instead of treating it like a joke crossover.
That was why Kingdom Hearts became special. It was not simply Disney characters appearing randomly beside anime characters. The developers genuinely tried to build a complete universe where all those worlds could coexist naturally through the lore of hearts, darkness, light, and world connections.
Zaboru always found that story fascinating because one random office connection eventually created one of the most unique crossover franchises in gaming history.
And now?
In this world, things were even crazier.
Because Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and many ZAGE properties already existed under the same massive umbrella.
Zaboru sighed softly. "In this world, it's going to be completely different..." He slowly leaned back while staring at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting through the many properties ZAGE already controlled.
"ZAGE's IP library is already massive, and Disney still doesn't even have that many movies yet compared to my previous world." That was the biggest difference. In his previous life, Kingdom Hearts worked partly because Disney already possessed decades of iconic worlds and beloved stories. There were countless characters, locations, emotional moments, and adventures that people had already grown up with.
But in this world, Disney was still growing. Pixar was still expanding. Marvel was only beginning to rise again under ZAGE, and many ZAGE original properties themselves were still too new. If he rushed Kingdom Hearts now, the crossover would lose part of its magic.
Players needed emotional attachment first. They needed years of memories with those worlds before seeing them collide together. That was what made Kingdom Hearts special in the first place.
Zaboru rubbed his forehead slowly. "That's why I originally wanted to postpone this project for around five more years," he muttered. "Let Disney and Pixar continue making more movies first. Let more worlds become legendary. Let people grow attached to the characters properly."
Then his expression became slightly heavier. "But with Mr. Disney's condition like this..."
He stayed quiet for a moment. Honestly, part of him suddenly wanted Walt Disney to at least witness the beginning of Kingdom Hearts someday. Not necessarily the full future of it, but at least the moment when Disney worlds, games, imagination, and adventure truly united together into something impossible.
Something Walt himself probably would have loved.
"...I think we might need to move the release schedule earlier instead."
Of course, ZAGE's version of Kingdom Hearts would be massively different from the one in his previous world. It would not only feature Final Fantasy-style characters and Disney worlds. This time, there would also be many ZAGE characters and properties involved. Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, Doomguy, Marvel heroes, Pixar worlds, Disney characters, and many other faces from across ZAGE's empire could all appear inside one massive connected adventure.
Just imagining it already made Zaboru's mind race.
The biggest challenge was not whether he had enough characters. If anything, he had too many. That was why he needed to be careful. If he simply threw every famous character into the game randomly, the result would become messy fanservice instead of a meaningful story. Kingdom Hearts worked because every world had emotion, conflict, and purpose. Zaboru needed to preserve that feeling, even if this version became far larger and stranger than the original.
Mario's world could represent bright adventure and childlike wonder. Sonic's world could bring speed, freedom, and rebellion. Pac-Man could become a surreal digital maze world filled with strange rules and hidden dangers. Doomguy's world, on the other hand, would be much harder to include because of its violent and hellish identity, but that also made it interesting. Maybe it could become one of the darker worlds, a place where the power of darkness became too aggressive for normal heroes to handle.
Then there were Disney worlds, Pixar worlds, and Marvel worlds. Each one carried different emotional weight. Disney could bring fairy-tale wonder, Pixar could bring heartwarming personal stories, and Marvel could bring heroism, responsibility, and larger conflicts.
Zaboru took a slow sip of coffee as his grin widened. The more he thought about it, the more obvious it became that this project could become one of ZEPS 4's main attractions in the future. It would be the same yet completely different compared to the version from his previous world. The spirit would remain, but the scale, cast, worlds, and emotional meaning would belong entirely to ZAGE's timeline.
He placed the cup down, opened a blank planning document, and began preparing the earliest script notes for the project. This was still far from development. It was only the beginning, a seed of an idea.
Zaboru grinned quietly.
"Let's get to work..."
To be continue
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