Monstropolis pt3
Monstropolis pt3
While Mike and Sully were a big help in taking out the blob Unversed, it was still a difficult battle. Many times, the Unversed would charge across the storage area at full speed, knocking over anyone in its path, or, when they thought it was done it would summon tentacle-like arms from the ground, attacking the group while it regained energy. At another point, it summoned over 20 more tentacles as the blob took on a bird-like appearance, its huge wings sending them flying. After multiple healing spells, Hi-Potions, and joint attacks, the blob Unversed let out one final roar before the sludge melted away, leaving behind the pieces of metal from before, covered in black slime. The Unversed symbol on its head faded away, and the wielders could no longer sense any darkness from it. They had won.
“No!” Randall shouted as he slithered down the wall and over to the slime covered remains of the Unversed. Realizing that the lizard monster wasn’t a threat to them, Riku and the other wielders dismissed their weapons as they watched Randall. Behind them, Mike looked over and noticed that there was a door covered in cracks, held together by a dark force. The wielders missed Mike giving Sully a silent visual on scaring Randall enough to shock him before they saw the big blue monster quickly rush past them, Lea attempting to call out to him only to be silenced by Aqua as they watched him. He stopped right behind Randall, who sensed someone behind him and turned around. When he did, Sully bared his teeth and let out a deafening roar.
He wasn’t called the top scarer for nothing, after all.
===
A short time later, Randall was surrounded by the monsters and wielders inside of the vault, facing the cracked door with a frown. Mike strutted up to the door and opened it for the lizard with a smile.
“Now, in ya go,” he said with a flourish of his arm, making Randall snarl. Boo glared at him from Sully’s arms, giving him another cute growl.
“There is no place for you here, anymore,” Sully said as he hugged Boo, smiling down at the little girl. “Now we’re in the business of making children laugh.” Boo gave the monster a giggle as she hugged him back.
“Oh, you think this is so funny?” Randall said angrily as Mike patted him on the back.
“Hilarious!” Mike exclaimed. “The more you whine, the funnier.”
Randall continued to growl at the monsters until he saw Riku, Aqua, and Lea out of the corner of his eye, each of them glaring at him while the silver haired teen had Braveheart resting on his shoulder as a silent threat. The lizard knew what kind of damage he could do with it, he visibly deflated before walking to the open door, pushing Mike out of the way.
“Enjoy your extended vacation,” Sully said with a wave, Boo waving along with him.
“You clowns are gonna be sorry,” Randall snarled as he walked into the door. “I’ll be back one day, and this place will be--”
“Mama, that gator’s in the house again!” a male voice called out from the other side of the door.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” a woman shouted. “Get me my shovel!”
Mike let out a string of laughs and grimaces as he closed the door, drowning out Randall’s cries at whatever was being dished out on him on the other side.
“Now, all we have to do is break the door,” Sully said as he approached the closed door, balling up a fist with the intent to smash it.
“But, won’t he just find a way to rebuild the door again?” Riku asked the monster, making him stop mid swing. The thought didn’t seem to occur to him until just then, so he dropped his fist. “What do you guys think?” Riku asked Aqua and Lea. Lea just shrugged while a small smile came to Aqua.
“I have a better idea,” she said as she summoned Master Keeper, approaching the cracked door. She raised her key up to the door, the tip glowing as a keyhole appeared on it. The young woman waited patiently as a stream of light came from her key and into the keyhole, giving off a golden glow that left the monsters and little girl in awe. After a moment, they all heard the click of a lock, then the door glowed one last time before disintegrating into sparkles of light. “Now he won’t be a problem anymore,” she said as she smiled at everyone, Mike and Sully giving sighs of relief.
“Thanks, Aqua,” Riku said with a smile while Lea gave her a thumbs up. The actions made her blush slightly, however, it only made her monster cheeks turn purple.
They eventually found Boo’s door a few rows up, everyone had to use the other doors to climb up, balancing on the rails to take a rest. When they reached the white door, Sully grabbed on along with Mike, the wielders standing on the surrounding rails.
“It’s time to go home, Boo,” Sully said as he smiled down at the little girl. “You must be tuckered out, but we’ll play together again real soon.”
But before they had the chance to try and turn on the door, it suddenly began to move, making the monsters look around in shock. Riku, Aqua, and Lea quickly grabbed onto a door that followed close behind them.
“What now?!” Mike shouted as their doors were pulled along the rail towards the Laugh Floor.
===
When the doors were brought down by the arms and attached to the floor, everyone jumped off and looked around.
“Did you bring us back, Mike?” Aqua asked the green monster curiously.
“Not me,” he declared with a shake of his head. “Someone in here must have called for them.”
“But, I don’t see anyone,” Lea said as he looked around the Laugh Floor. They were the only ones there. Not even the Unversed were slinking about.
“Of course, you would overlook the shadows…”
Riku’s ears perked up when he heard Sora’s voice, making him smile as he turned to face a cloaked figure approaching them, everyone else tensing slightly when they saw the newcomer.
“So—“ Riku called out to his friend, but quickly stopped himself when the boy pulled down his hood to reveal a solid black helmet concealing his face even more. “W-who…”
“Vanitas!” Aqua shouted as she summoned Master Keeper, getting in front of everyone to protect them.
“Isn’t he the one responsible for the Unversed?” Lea asked her, getting into a fighting stance but had yet to summon his weapon. “With that coat, he’s with the Organization as well!”
Riku tried his best to keep up with the others, but his gaze was focused on the masked boy. He was sure it was Sora’s voice calling to him.
“It’s a good thing someone remembered me,” Vanitas said, his expression unknown but his rough voice filled with sass, giving them a little bow. Yes, that was definitely Sora’s voice. A bit on the rough side, in a way, but still, at least Riku wasn’t crazy.
“What are you doing here?” Aqua demanded from the boy, tightening her grip on her keyblade as Vanitas picked up one of the yellow canisters that had fallen to the floor from the earlier battle with the Unversed. “And how did you get back here? You disappeared ten years ago, when the x-blade was destroyed!”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Vanitas said cryptically as he lifted up the canister, tossing it up in the air a few times. “To put it in a simpler way you idiots could understand, I had some help from my master.” The way he spat out ‘master’, Riku knew that he was talking about Master Xehanort. “And thanks to a certain someone with a heart clouded with revenge, my Unversed collected enough screams and sadness to reconstruct my broken heart. After all, it’s only made of negativity, and screams are the most potent form of it.” Riku cocked a brow at that statement. A heart made up of only negativity?
“Yeah, and they ended up trashing our company to the ground in the process!” Mike yelled angrily as he tried to run at the masked boy, Sully literally holding him back with one hand as Boo hid behind him.
“But, even with all this negative emotion, my heart remains incomplete,” Vanitas said in an almost strained voice, dropping the canister to the hard ground, causing the valve on it to rupture and send the canister flying across the room, a child’s scream escaping from it. Everyone scattered to avoid being hit by the rogue canister before it came to a stop at Riku’s feet, completely empty. “I need my other half. The half of me that sleeps on… inside of Sora…”
“What?” Riku questioned as he looked up at Vanitas and saw that he now had a dark keyblade in one hand, a familiar bright green eye in the blade staring back at them. If he was a being of darkness and negativity like he claimed to be, how could he wield a keyblade of his own? “What are you talking about?” Vanitas looked up at the older teen, and for some reason, for only a second, Riku thought for sure his childhood friend was looking up at him.
“You probably wouldn’t know, as I doubt that insignificant speck remembered enough to tell you,” Vanitas said with a shrug as he rested the keyblade on his shoulder in a similar fashion to Sora. “When he was little, Sora formed a special bond with a boy named Ventus - our heart breaking in half after we were forcefully separated - and he joined with his.”
“Ven?!” Aqua gasped in shock, her stance faltering slightly at the mention of her friend.
“Wait, so Ventus’ heart is… inside Sora’s heart?” Lea questioned, looking to his companions. “And this kid is half of him?” Riku saw Vanitas’ shoulders twitch slightly at being called “kid”.
“That’s…” Aqua was at a loss for words, her keyblade going lax in her hand. But just as quickly she shook her head and regained her composure, glaring at Vanitas harshly. “D-don’t trust him! He is nothing but negativity and darkness: there is no way he has any connection to Ven!”
“Of course, you would think that,” Vanitas said with a growl, small wisps of darkness emitting from his body. “Poor Venty-Wenty, so perfect and full of light. But, not everything starts off perfect and wholesome, and Ventus wasn’t always only light…” Aqua growled at the implication, baring her razor sharp teeth at him.
“But, if that’s true,” Riku said as he stood his ground before Vanitas, getting in front of Aqua as she watched him curiously. “Then you aren’t completely darkness, as it cannot exist without some light...”
At his words, Vanitas went completely still, seeming at a loss for words. But after a second, the masked boy let out another growl.
“You don’t know me!” he shouted as he sent out a strong wave of darkness, knocking Lea onto his back with a surprised shout while Aqua fell to her knees to keep herself in place. The only one who seemed unaffected by the dark wave was Riku, who stood his ground as he took a few small steps towards Vanitas, stopping just a few feet away when he pointed his keyblade at him. The two boys stared at each other, the silence long and intense. Not even their monster friends spoke, peeking out from behind a desk with Boo protectively in Sully’s arms.
“There’s something about you,” Riku said calmly as he watched the reflective mask Vanitas wore, concealing his expressions completely. “If you are connected to Ventus, and he’s connected to Sora, then you have some connection to him as well.” Vanitas clicked his tongue before he gave Riku a harsh chuckle.
“Are you an idiot?” the masked boy asked him. “I already said so before: Sora shared his heart with Ventus, my other half. Of course, we’re connected! Weren’t you listening before?”
“No, the ‘connection’ you speak of is different,” Riku said as he stood his ground, taking the end of the dark keyblade and pointing it away from him as he attempted to take a step closer. However, he stopped when he saw Vanitas tense up. “Tell me… why do you wear a mask?”
“What?” Vanitas asked, genuinely confused due to his lack of attitude. Aqua and Lea watched their friend curiously as they got to their feet.
“I don’t really see a point in wearing a mask when wearing that coat,” Riku stated, giving the shorter male a small smirk. His next few words will either provide him more answers or get him skewered, so he had to be careful. “It does an okay job keeping your identity hidden, but a mask on top of it? Only a coward would hide their face so much.” Vanitas snarled at his words, the keyblade trembling in Riku’s hand.
“Shut up!” Vanitas shouted as he swung his keyblade, only to be blocked by Braveheart, the force pushing Riku back a few inches but not away from him entirely. Aqua gasped as she tried to hurry to them, but Lea grabbed her arm, holding her back.
“Just trust him,” Lea said with a serious look on his face. Aqua looked between the redhead and Riku, her grip on Master Keeper tight.
“Do you take me for a weakling?!” Vanitas shouted as he swung his keyblade at Riku, blocking each hit but making no move to fight back. This seemed to anger Vanitas more as he continued to swing his keyblade, his attacks becoming uncoordinated and erratic. “Are you looking down on me?! Mocking me?!”
“Sorry, did I hit a nerve?” Riku asked the masked boy as he continued to smirk. When he heard Vanitas snarl at him, it made the silver haired teen remember when he and Sora used to fight back on the islands. “You gonna cry about it?” His comment only irritated Vanitas more as wisps of darkness began to rise from his body again, and from his shadow, Riku saw red eyes and dark blue figures moving about.
“So, you want to see my face so badly?” Vanitas questioned the silver haired teen with a growl as their keyblades clashed again. “Fine! I’ll show you who the real coward is!” Riku starred as part of the mask began to melt away, revealing spiky black hair underneath. Then a golden amber eye glaring up at him--
“Leave him alone!”
Riku and Vanitas looked up at the familiar voice as a black figure came right at the masked boy from above, swinging a gold and silver keyblade that forced Vanitas to jump back. He blocked the attack as his mask reformed over his face, a growl escaping him as he pushed his attacker back. Now, they stood between Riku and Vanitas, keyblade raised in defense.
“Sora?” Riku gasped in shock when he saw the familiar Kingdom Key keyblade in the newcomer’s hand. His hood stayed up this time so the teen couldn’t see them clearly, but he knew it was his friend.
“I knew coming after your little boy-toy would draw you out,” Vanitas said with a cackle as he raised his keyblade, making Sora flinch at those words. “Now, you’re mine!” And just as Vanitas charged, Sora did the same, making them both clash in the middle with a strong enough hit that even Riku felt the force of it. Sora was becoming stronger. They continued to attack each other as they darted around the Laugh Floor, and each time their keyblades collided, a miniature shockwave went across the room. Everyone watched in awe as the two boys fought until Sora let out a cry of shock as he was knocked back by a powerful swing attack, landing on his knees near Riku.
“Sora!” Riku shouted as he ran to help him, but stopped when a keyblade was pointed right at him, and not from his enemy but from his friend. “Why won’t you let me help you?” Riku asked him, his voice desperate. Sora turned to look up at him but stopped before their eyes connected, and Riku saw for just a moment that more of his hair had turned white and one of his blue eyes was now solid amber.
“You won’t escape me this time!” Vanitas shouted as he charged at Sora with the intent to strike him down. But, Riku would have none of it as he ran in front of Sora, Braveheart out to protect him…
However, Vanitas was stopped when the three humanoid Heartless appeared again from a dark corridor, gripping onto the masked teen tightly- one on his back with its arms around his neck, one on his dominant arm, and the last one on his left leg- keeping him in place. “W-what the hell?!” Vanitas shouted as he tried to shake the Heartless off him, they held on tight as Riku watched them in shock.
“I’m sorry…” Riku heard Sora say softly before he ran past him, gripping onto Vanitas’ coat at the collar tightly, then threw themselves and the Heartless through the portal.
“Sora!” Riku shouted as he ran to the portal, but fell to his knees as it vanished before he could reach it. He dropped Braveheart, dismissing the keyblade as Aqua and Lea ran to his side.
“Are you okay?” Aqua asked him as she knelt down next to him, examining the teen for injuries. Riku was sure she knew he was fine since Vanitas didn’t manage to land a single hit on him, but it was most likely just for her own reassurance that he was okay. Lea just looked down at him with worry in his eyes, before he looked up at the place Sora had disappeared to with Vanitas.
“Who was that guy?” Lea turned around when he heard Sully call out to them, followed closely by Mike and Boo. They looked down at Riku with worry as he stayed on his knees, Aqua rubbing his shoulder in support.
“That was Riku’s friend, Sora,” Lea said as he gave them an apologetic smile. “The one we’ve been looking for. The guy with the mask was Vanitas, a bad dude part of the Organization, a whole gang of bad dudes. He was the one responsible for bringing Randall back and the Unversed, but I don’t think they’ll be a problem anymore.” Mike and Sully let out deep sighs of relief at that.
“It seemed like Riku had it covered,” Sully said with a smile. “We were seriously thinking of getting the jump on him if things went sideways.”
“Yeah, had a plan and everything,” Mike said as he showed the handful of keycards for calling doors from the vault before pointing at a nearby machine surrounded in wooden splinters. Lea wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he had an idea of what they planned to do with the masked boy.
Boo walked past the monsters and up to Riku, everyone watching her curiously as she patted Riku on his head, petting his ears. Riku was a bit surprised at the action, but didn’t reject it as he smiled at the little girl. “Thanks, Boo,” he said softly, making her smile brightly. She then giggled as she gave the silver haired teen a hug, Riku giving her a soft pat on the back.
“Sorry we had to end your playdate a bit early,” Aqua said with a smile as Boo let out a big yawn, rubbing her eyes as she pulled back from Riku. “But you need to get home now.” Boo gave a sad frown at the idea of going home even though she was tired.
“But we can always catch up another time!” Mike exclaimed with a smile to cheer her up.
“Mike Wazowski!” Boo said, making Aqua and Mike blink in shock before the green monster let out a frustrated sigh.
“No, that’s Aqua--”
“Mike Wazowski!” Boo repeated, this time running up to Mike to give him a hug. The monster seemed shocked, but it quickly turned to happiness as he hugged her back. She then pulled back and ran up to Aqua. “Aqua!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her neck, making her gasp in surprise before returning the hug with a bright smile. Lea wasn’t at all surprised when the little girl then ran up to him and hugged his leg while squealing “Puppy!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lea sighed as he patted the girl on her head before she pulled back, giggling up at him.
“Let’s get you home,” Sully said with a bright smile as he held a hand out to her.
And with that, Riku, Aqua, and Lea waved goodbye to Boo as she entered her door, the girl giggling and waving back.
===
A short time later, the three wielders were back on the gummiship and in the lanes between. Mike and Sully had escorted them to the entrance of Monsters Incorporated before bidding them goodbye and happy exterminating, hoping they would return again someday. Once they had left the world, the three had reverted back to their human forms, and they were now sitting quietly in their respective chairs, Aqua and Lea watching Riku with worry in their eyes. He had been tense ever since the encounter with Sora and Vanitas.
Everyone jumped when a sudden song began to play, Riku quickly realizing that it was his phone as he dug it out of his pocket.
“Is it a bad time?” Ienzo asked through the phone, almost able to feel the tension despite being worlds away.
“No, we just finished up in one world and are a bit worn out is all,” Riku said with a half-smile, Aqua and Lea getting up from their seats to stand on either side of the teen. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, we have managed to decipher more of Ansem’s code, and we have some information on getting Roxas a replica body.”
“What’ve you got?” Lea asked with a smile, eyes lighting up at the mention of his friend. Ienzo gave him a small nod and a smile.
“We managed to find Even’s notes on creating replicas and are going through them, even though it is mostly incomplete. And once the data is completely deciphered, we can place Roxas’ digital heart within a new body. We would be able to get through his notes and complete his research faster if he was here, however.”
“What do you mean by that?” Aqua asked the scientist curiously.
“Oh, I guess I never told you,” Ienzo said with an apologetic frown. “When we all woke up after being recompleted, Even was the only one still unconscious. But around the time Lea left, Even must have woken up and left, or was taken without our knowledge, and we have been unable to locate him since.”
“Do you want us to look for him?” Aqua asked the scientist, but he just shook his head, long silver bangs swaying with the motion.
“No, your mission is to find Sora. We will look for Even while you focus on looking for your friend.”
“Okay,” Riku said with a small smile. “And you said something about Ansem’s code?”
“Yes. We were able to decipher some of his notes and found an interesting passage. I will read it to you.” The young man turned to look over his computer screen as he began reading.
“’I have discovered four unique hearts inside of Sora’s. One is Roxas. The second has been with Sora for nearly as long. And the last two have resided in Sora’s heart for even longer– most of his life. And, based on my findings, these two hearts are even more unique, in that one seems to consist almost entirely of light, while the other mostly darkness while not inflicting any harm to the others. These two hearts also appear to share a bond with each other while maintaining their own separate existence. This is truly an astonishing discovery. While these hearts now melded with Sora– grown silent and indistinct– Sora retains the memories of all four. The memories have been compartmentalized– each placed in its own ‘box’, so to speak. I surmise the hearts can be awoken, provided that each of them is returned to the box that contains the correct memories. Unite the hearts with its memories and provide it a suitable body within it may flourish, and I believe any or all four people can be made real again.’”
Ienzo looked back at his phone screen, seeing the three wielders looking to each other in shock. “This may be a lot of information to digest,” Ienzo said with a sigh. “I will leave you to your mission and contact you again once more data has been deciphered.” And with that the call ended and the screen went black.
“Roxas and three more?” Lea repeated curiously. “Who could those other hearts be?”
“Maybe…” Riku stated as he rubbed his chin in thought, the others looking at him. “And this may sound crazy, but I think two of those hearts are Ventus and Vanitas...”
“Are you really going to believe what he said?” Aqua asked him with a glare, crossing her arms. She seemed very reluctant to believe the masked boy’s words.
“But it makes sense,” Riku said as he turned to look up at her. “I also remember something happening a long time ago, when Sora and I were still kids. One day, he had started crying, saying he could feel someone was in pain and needed his help.” At those words Aqua’s eyes slowly grew wide. “I told him that if he felt it was the right thing to do, then he should respond to them. That was 10 years ago, around the time you said Ventus went to sleep and you fell into the Realm of Darkness. And, it matches with what Vanitas said about Sora helping him when he was a child.” He then turned and gave Lea a smile, making the redhead give him a look. “And besides: Lea was once part of the Organization, and look how he turned out.” Lea chuckled at that as he rubbed the back of his head.
“But… Lea is different,” Aqua said as she gave them a small frown. “Lea was originally somebody on the side of light, who was forced into a situation where he was on the side of dark. Vanitas was created from darkness, and creates monsters from his negative emotions. There is nothing ‘good’ about him.” She walked back to her seat, arms still crossed as she appeared tense. “Even if what he says makes sense, I still don’t trust him.” Riku wanted to refute her claims but stayed silent, glaring down at the gummiship controls. Lea crossed his arms, brows tight with concentration.
“It's still a possibility,” the redhead said after a moment. “A little far-fetched, but we have seen weirder things…” Riku heard Aqua click her tongue, but he chose to ignore her, simply agreeing to disagree with her. “But if that’s true,” Lea continued as he rubbed his chin in thought. “Then, who’s the fourth heart?”
“That I don’t know,” Riku said as he frowned down at the control panel.