Monstropolis pt2
Monstropolis pt2
After taking out the Unversed and powering up the door, Sully led them through and they ended up on another platform somewhere else in the large chamber. They saw Boo’s door pass by on another rail and hitched a ride on some more doors to follow. At one point, Riku was daring enough to jump off of his moving door and make a grab for the decaled door, but missed and had to take a detour to another platform, joined shortly after by the others. Thankfully, this platform had an elevator which they took to the ground floor, searching the doors in the bottom part of the factory until they came to a turn.
“There it is!” Sully exclaimed when he saw the door, pink flower decals and all. He ran to it and entered it, followed by Mike with the wielders close behind.
“When did the door get here?” Riku asked his companions as they followed through. “Was it brought here by—“
But Riku didn’t need to finish when he realized that they were not in the bedroom of a little girl, but in another part of the facility.
“Wait, this isn’t right!” Sully exclaimed as he looked around in confusion. Suddenly, the group heard someone snickering behind them. They turned to see nothing there, until a pair of narrow eyes and a wide toothy smirk appeared in the air, spooking the wielders for a moment.
“It won’t matter for long,” the disembodied face said as the rest of their body formed, revealing a purple lizard monster with two sets of arms and two sets of legs. “Because you won’t be getting in my way anymore after this.”
“Randall?!” Sully and Mike gasped in shock, glaring at the monster.
“Who’s he?” Riku asked them, looking up at Sully.
“He was banished from the factory after he tried to take screams by force,” the blue furred monster said as he placed Boo down on the ground, the little girl glaring at the lizard. “He used to be Boo’s scarer.” The little girl made cute little growls at Randall before blowing him a raspberry, showing that she was not scared of him in the slightest anymore.
“How did you even get back here?” Mike demanded from him. “The door we sent you through is sawdust!” Randall huffed at him as he crossed his top set of arms, the bottom two on his hips.
“Yeah, and I almost got turned into someone’s wallet,” he said with a growl, but his smirk quickly returned. “But luckily for me, a real nice guy came along and fixed it up for me.”
“Vanitas,” Aqua snarled as she glared at Randall. He must be the only possible person responsible for that.
“And now that I’m back, I’m numero uno,” Randall said with a sneer. “The best, top of the leaderboard, baby.”
“You?” Mike asked with a chuckle. “Ha, like you could be a top laugh collector. In your dreams! My laugh totals are off the charts!”
“Who said anything about laughs?” Randall questioned them as he rubbed his chin. “I’m after negative emotions, and my new friends kindly invaded the factory to get ‘em for me.” Aqua growled at the mention of negative emotions while everyone continued to glare at him. Vanitas was definitely behind everything. “Laughs just aren’t sustainable, ‘cuz once junior chorts his last chortle, you’ll need to start over,” Randall continued as he walked around the group. “But negative emotions? Especially sadness? Give ‘em something that’ll really break their little hearts, and they’ll stay sad forever. We’ll never have to worry about energy ever again.”
“There is no way we’ll let you get away with that,” Riku declared as he summoned Braveheart, drawing Randall’s attention towards him. “Not you or the Unversed.”
“Just try and stop me,” Randall said with a sneer. “You wait and see. I’m gonna be a legend around this place. So, consider your careers officially over.” Randall let out a chuckle as he walked away, vanishing as his camouflage kicked in.
===
With Randall back and causing trouble while taking control of the factory, the three wielders and monsters needed to step up their game if they wanted to keep Boo safe. Since Randall got them through the fake Boo door, Sully suspected that they were at the far end of the facility, and they would need to go through the factory and the power station to reach the door vault.
However, when they reached the factory, there was static interference over the speakers before they heard a familiar voice.
“Just to let you know, I decided to add a few ‘improvements’ to the factory. Some real doozies I know you’re gonna love,” Randall’s voice said over the speakers. “In fact, you’re not gonna get out of here alive.” Randall then let out another chuckle before the speakers shut off. Riku looked back at the monsters as they entered a room full of metal containers, mechanical arms, and a single long conveyor belt.
“What do you think he’s got planned?” Riku asked the monsters. “You used to work with him in the past, so do you have any idea?” Mike frowned hard as he crossed his arms.
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” the monster said angrily. “That weasel will never quit! Not until the whole factory is his!”
“We’ll take care of him, but Boo comes first,” Sully said as he patted Mike on his round head. “For now, let’s just—“
“Look out!” Aqua shouted just in time for the three wielders and monsters to take cover when a sudden laser shot at them, leaving a scorch mark in the ground. Everyone looked up and saw the mechanical arms moving around erratically, shooting lasers at anything that moved too close to them.
“I think I know what ‘improvements’ Randall was referring to,” Sully said with a frown as everyone got behind a large metal container that kept them out of sight. Boo clung to his leg tightly, hiding her face in his fur. Sully picked up the little girl and held her close to him. “It’s too dangerous out there for her.”
“Then let us go ahead and look for a safer route,” Aqua said as she reached up and patted Boo on her head reassuringly, making the child smile at her.
“Yeah, two of us could act as distractions for those lasers and the other can go ahead and turn them off,” Lea suggested, looking over at Riku who nodded in agreement.
“Great idea!” Mike exclaimed with a smile, peeking around the edge of the metal crate with Riku. “At the other end of this belt is a small room in a cage. When you get there, you can turn off everything from the control panel.”
“Got it,” Riku said as he, Aqua and Lea quickly ran around the crate and on to the conveyor belt.
Because of Aqua’s barriers and Lea’s quick reflexes, they were in charge of distracting the rogue arms, deflecting the lasers and dodging them while Riku ran ahead. A short time later, he found the cage with a control panel inside. He looked it over for a power button, and when he saw none he started pressing random buttons, looking past the grating to see what happened. When that didn’t work, the teen growled as he used Thundaga on it, short circuiting the control panel and making it smoke slightly. That did the trick, as the arms and belt shut down, and a moment later he was rejoined by his companions and the monsters, and they could move on from there. They ended up doing this a few more times with Randall constantly taunting them over the speakers and Unversed getting in the way, before they reached a warehouse with a large control panel next to a sliding metal door.
“Once we get that door open, we’re out of the factory,” Sully stated as he looked over the door, setting Boo on the ground. “This will take us to the power station, then, from there, the door vault.”
Mike ran over to the control panel and started pressing buttons while Riku and Lea watched him. “Drats!” Mike exclaimed as he slammed his fist into the desk. “Nothing works! Randall must have changed it!”
“I could just electrocute it like the others,” Riku said as he summoned Braveheart. Mike jumped back in shock at the offer.
“No way, have a little finesse!” the monster said, Riku just shrugging as he rested his keyblade on his shoulder.
“Puppy!” Boo said as she grabbed Lea’s tail, making the redhead jump at the unfamiliar feeling.
“Would you knock it off?” Lea said as he glared down at her, trying to shake her off half-heartedly, making the little girl giggle. Aqua chuckled as she watched the exchange when her eye lit up with an idea.
“We could short circuit the control panel,” Aqua suggested, everyone turning to her. “All we have to do is make Boo laugh enough to cause a strong power surge. That should get the door to open.” Mike rubbed his chin in thought before he smiled.
“That just might work,” he said as he watched Boo grab onto Lea’s jacket, nearly making him fall over. “And I have an idea on how to get us started! Lea, get down on all fours!”
“Like… this?” Lea asked as he got down on his hands and knees, Sully’s brows rising as he realized what Mike had intended. Once he did Boo quickly got onto his back with a giggle, making the fire user look around in embarrassed confusion. “Don’t tell me…”
“Now get running!” Sully said with a laugh, Riku and Aqua chuckling as the fur on Lea’s face turned a darker shade of red from embarrassment.
“You gotta be kidding me…” he groaned as he started running around the room on all fours like a real dog, making Boo laugh. As suspected, once the child started laughing the control panel started to give off some sparks, the screen and buttons flashing randomly.
“It’s working!” Mike cheered as he watched the panel.
Just then, more Unversed spawned in the room, making Boo cry out in fear. When Lea saw them, he pulled Boo off his back and got her to Sully, who grabbed her protectively.
“You will never speak of this again,” Lea threatened his friends before he summoned Flame Liberator. Riku and Aqua could only chuckle in response before they joined in the battle.
===
The fight against the Unversed ended similarly to how it did before, but this time Mike ended up tripping while charging the last few Unversed, crying out in shock. Aqua saw her chance and kicked the monster like a soccer ball, sending him flying into the group of Unversed with a bang, whipping them out. Boo let out a loud squeal of laughter when Mike came to a stop, eye rolling around in his head again as the Unversed disappeared, an imprint of a shoe on top of his head. The control panel sparked and flashed a bit more before the metal door slowly raised up, revealing another hallway.
“Door’s open!” Sully called to the others. Aqua helped Mike up with an apology for the kick before quickly joining the others at the door. “Now, we just need to cut through the power station.” But before they could leave, they heard a familiar chuckle behind them.
“Going somewhere?” Randall said as he appeared a few feet away, everyone turning to glare at him. “You wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, now would you?”
“Give it a rest, Randall,” Mike said as he crossed his arms. “We won’t let you get away with this!”
“And anything you throw at us, we’ll throw back at you,” Sully said with a growl as he bared his teeth, the wielders summoning their keyblades. Even Boo growled at the lizard as she balled her little fists. Randall smirked at them, unafraid of their threats.
“Maybe you can, maybe you won’t,” the monster said. “But fortunately, I have another ace up my sleeve.” He then stepped to the side to reveal a metal contraption nearby that the group had missed. Everyone tensed as Randall raised a hand up. “Now… I order you to destroy them,” he said as he snapped his fingers.
But nothing happened.
Randall cocked a brow as he snapped his fingers again. Everyone relaxed as the monster turned to the contraption and snapped his fingers a few more times, grumbling when nothing happened. He then slithered over to it and examined it, yanking on its edges to try and make it move. After a moment, Mike chuckled.
“It looks like your ace is a joker!” Mike said, making Boo giggle and Randall growl even more.
“Stupid pile of junk!” Randall shouted as he kicked it before slithering away, vanishing as he did.
“I don’t think he’ll be much trouble anymore,” Sully said with a smile as everyone turned to leave the warehouse. “Now, let’s go find Boo’s door.” Together, everyone left the warehouse as the door slowly closed behind them.
But as they left, they missed a black coat entering the warehouse through a dark corridor. They raised a hand up to the contraption, a black sludge entering the crevices of the metal, the Unversed emblem appearing on a plain metal plate on top.
===
After going through another short tunnel, the group found themselves outside next to the power station. Sully directed them down a path that would cut through the station the quickest, but they were stopped early on when they saw the fires and more Unversed.
“Oh no…” Mike gasped when he saw the destruction. Everyone looked up when they heard a sound from above, being briefly blinded by a bright light as a helicopter flew by.
“Disregard Code 835,” a voice through a speaker called out. “72-16 in progress. We have visual on unidentified life forms.” Everyone followed underneath the helicopter until they were in a more open area, where a multi-armed monster wearing a full yellow hazmat suit descended from the helicopter on a rope. “Stand aside, civilians,” they said as more hazmat wearing monsters showed up with long hoses. “We’ll put the fires out, pronto.” But just as they said that, there was an explosion, and several of the monsters ran away when a large Unversed appeared.
“We’ll take them out while you focus on the fires,” Riku told the monster as he summoned Braveheart, Aqua and Lea doing the same before they charged the enemy.
Because Sully had to keep Boo safe from the Unversed and the fires, the three wielders were on their own fighting them, but they had a better understanding in taking them out by now, so it wasn’t an issue. Aqua used water magic to take out some of the biggest fires the Unversed caused, making it easier to fight them while Lea forced the smaller flames back at their enemy, causing more damage to the Unversed than the environment. A short while later, the last Unversed was slain, and the hazmat workers came in with several hoses to put out the rest of the fires, the three wielders, Sully, Mike, and even Boo helping out when they could. Soon enough, the fires in this sector were out. Sully thanked the hazmat team- who Mike had stated were the CDA- before they moved on to the next area. They did this a few more times, taking out Unversed while helping the CDA put out a few more fires, until they reached the edge of the power station.
“It’s just down this way,” Mike said, indicating towards a path, but as they approached it, a tank near the path exploded. Everyone shouted as they ran away from the explosions, various tanks catching fire from a few flames they had missed. Once the last explosion was done, everyone looked up and saw the path was blocked by large pipes and other debris. “Now we’re really stuck,” Mike groaned, slumping in defeat.
“There must be another way,” Riku said as he crossed his arms in thought, Sully scratching his head.
“Kitty!” Boo called out as she pulled on Sully’s leg, making him look down at her curiously. The girl pointed at a large pipe that had fallen down, revealing another opening. When Sully saw this he smiled brightly.
“Great idea, Boo,” Sully said as he patted the girl on her head, making her giggle before the monster picked her up. “We just need to follow that pipe.”
“What are you talking about?” Mike asked him. “That leads to the cooling tank! Are you sure you don’t have any better ideas?” Sully looked down at him with a smile.
“Just trust me, Mike. I know what I’m doing.”
Mike wasn’t fully convinced but he did follow Sully and the wielders through the large pipe. They continued through until they reached the empty cooling tank and more Unversed, including a few bigger ones. It took a bit more effort to take them out, but once the threat was gone Sully examined the inside of the cooling tank a bit. He then saw some flimsy sheet metal plating nearby and smiled.
“I think Maintenance hasn’t finished this yet…” Sully stated as he approached the metal sheeting, pulling off one of the panels to reveal a decent sized hole in the tank, leading to a back area. “This way!” Everyone followed Sully curiously into the back area, leading to a large tunnel when Mike gasped in realization.
“This is right outside the vault!” Mike exclaimed as he looked around. Sully smirked at his friend with an ‘I told you so’ expression, making Mike smile. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you ran the place.”
“It’s not much further, now,” Sully stated as they made for the tunnel. As they continued on, Aqua noticed a slimy black sludge coating the floor of the tunnel.
“What is this?” she asked with a disgusted look, shaking her foot as the sludge clung to her. Everyone else noticed the sludge and groaned in disgust as well, Boo sticking her tongue out as she mumbled an “ew”.
“It looks like a trail of some kind,” Lea said as they continued onward then up a short flight of stairs, noticing that some of the sludge was also smeared on the walls. They approached a type of storage area and another large metal door, the sign above reading “Door Vault”.
“We made it!” Mike cheered as they approached the door. However, they were stopped when Randall appeared in front of them, a wicked smirk on his face. “You again?” Mike groaned as he glared at the lizard monster. “Didn’t you learn your lesson from that pile-of-junk fiasco?”
“Oh, I learned a lot,” Randall said with a smirk as he stepped aside, revealing the same metal contraption from before. Everyone tensed up when they saw it, but Mike just brushed it off as he strutted up to it to prove it wasn’t dangerous.
But then, Boo gave off small scared cries as she clung to Sully’s leg, the monster looking down at her in worry. Even Riku and his companions sensed that something was wrong. “Sully, take Boo someplace safer,” Riku said as he hurried over to Mike, Sully nodding as he picked up the girl. The smaller monster turned back to the others with a smile.
“See?” he said as he kicked the metal contraption. “It’s just more junk!”
“No, something’s different,” Aqua said as she looked around for Randall. They all heard the lizard chuckle and saw that he had climbed up a nearby wall, watching them. Then they felt the surge of darkness as something black and slimy moved behind Mike. He must have noticed it as well, as he turned around to see, falling over in shocked fear as the wielders summoned their keyblades. The metal contraption was being controlled by a black sludge monster with familiar red eyes and mouth, the Unversed emblem on a metal plate on its head and scream canisters stuck to its sides. The monster let out a loud roar as tentacle-like arms stretched out of its body. Sully came up besides Mike and helped him up.
“It’s time to reach in and let the scary out,” he said with a smirk, baring his sharp teeth. Mike looked up at his friend before smiling back, smacking his cheeks, then letting out his own growl.
“Oh, I’m ready!” Mike declared as he and Sully joined the wielders. “Let’s show this blob who the real monsters are!”