The World That Never Was
“At last,” said Xemnas, looking around the lab. Seven capsules were placed around the outside of the room, each with a child locked inside it. “Soon, I will have Kingdom Hearts, and will have a Heart of my own.”
“And what about Kairi?” asked Riku, who was standing beside him.
“She will be a worthy sacrifice to a noble cause,” said Xemnas. “All of them will be.”
“Can’t you simply take another child?” asked Riku. “I’m sure if you looked hard enough and acted quick enough, you could…” Xemnas turned to face the boy and smacked him hard across the face.
“Silence boy,” snapped Xemnas. “I have waited far too long for this moment. I’m not wasting any more time trying to gain another child for your sake.”
“But…” started Riku.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Xemnas. “I didn’t revive you to let you have free will. You will do as you’re told by choice, or I will make you. Either way is fine by me.”
Riku still looked defiant, but eventually relented. “Fine,” he sighed.
“Very good,” said Xemnas. “Now, I need you to keep watch for your friends. They will be coming soon.”
“You have a thousand Heartless outside guarding the castle,” reminded Riku.
“This is a boy who defeated Luxord by a fluke when he didn’t even know what a keyblade was,” said Xemnas. “Now he’s a trained fighter, with plenty of back-up coming with him. I have no intention of being distracted by his interference. You will stop him from getting in here when he comes.”
“Yes sir,” said Riku, leaving the room.
“Your Majesty?” called Sora, entering a small room. Inside he found Elsa sitting beside a bed. Sora stepped closer, and saw a girl of about sixteen with dark skin and black hair lying there, unmoving. “Is…is this…?”
“Moana,” confirmed Elsa. “She was such a big help to us, she fought so hard to protect us. But in the end…”
“I know,” said Sora. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” said Elsa. “You weren’t you then. You wouldn’t have allowed something like this to happen.”
“At least let me do something for her,” said Sora, a bright ball of light in his hand. “Ow.” The ball expanded until it took the form of a big balloon man.
“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,” said Baymax. “I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?”
“I’m not the one in trouble,” said Sora, revealing the bed behind him. “It’s her. Is there anything you can do for her?”
“Initiating injury scan,” said Baymax, the sensor in his chest sending a blue light across Moana’s body. “Scan complete. The patient appears to be in a coma, though physical injuries seem to be minimal. Some head trauma and some fluid build-up in her brain. Estimated time of treatment completion: one hour.”
“Wow. You can really do that?” asked Elsa.
“This is one of the things I was programmed to do,” said Baymax.
“Thank you Baymax,” said Elsa. “Come on Sora, we have a world to save.”
“Alright, everyone’s here,” said Axel. “Now, there’s no easy way to say this, so I might as well be as blunt as possible: we’re probably going to die. However, since Xemnas will probably kill us anyway, we’ve got nothing to lose, right?”
“Axel, we’re trying to motivate everyone,” said Elsa. “Though unfortunately, he’s right. We’ve got very little chance of success and even less of surviving, so I want each of you to give everything you’ve got.”
“Are you guys sure you want to tag along for this mission?” asked Sora, facing the team from the castle. “I mean, I know Elsa, Judy, and Rapunzel can fight, but what about…”
“I’ve got these,” said Hiro, lifting his hand. Suddenly, hundreds of tiny metal things erupted out of some barrels behind him. “These are my microbots. I control them with this headband, and their use is only limited to my imagination.”
“And Penny?” asked Sora. “I mean, Bolt might be able to do something, but…”
“Hiro gave me this cool suit,” said Penny, pressing a button on her chest. Suddenly, she became engulfed in a nine foot tall hologram with enormous hands. “See, now I’m Wreck-It Ralph. But wait, there’s more.” Penny swung Ralph’s hand downward, nailing Sora into the ground. “If you get hurt, I can do this.” Penny pressed another button, and suddenly her hologram was a short handyman with a golden hammer. Penny hit Sora with the hammer, and suddenly he felt much better. “If I feel like shooting something, I can also turn into Sergeant Calhoun…” Penny pressed another button, and became a tall blonde woman in black armour and a lot of guns. “…and for speed, I can become President Vanellope von Schweetz.” Penny pressed the last button, and became a short dark-haired girl, before disappearing and reappearing behind Sora.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Sora. “So Lewis, what did you get?”
“I…err…I don’t anything,” said Lewis. “But that’s okay. I’ll just give them a bit of this.” Lewis threw a few punches into empty air, before accidentally tripping over his shoelaces.
“Yeah, you’ll do great kid,” said Axel sarcastically.
“I know what you should do,” said Sora, a glowing ball appearing in his hand. “Do you remember the first time we met?”
“You mean…” started Lewis, and Sora nodded.
“Trust us Sora,” said Hiro. “After all the times you’ve put yourself in danger for the greater good, it’s time to let the six of us be the big heroes.”
“Alright guys, this is it,” said Axel, opening a dark portal. “No backing down for anything.“
“What…is this place?” asked Sora, walking at the front of the group, keyblade in hand. Either side of them were large buildings, though everything was still dark.
“This is The World That Never Was,” said Axel. “Mostly, this was Xemnas, showing us the extent of his power. He wanted us to know he could create such an intricate world without breaking a sweat. He wanted us to know he was powerful.”
“You make him sound unstoppable,” said Sora.
“I have faith that you won’t be killed by him immediately,” said Axel. “Now, be on the lookout for…”
“HEARTLESS!” cried Rapunzel, as several shadows rose up from the ground, giving shape to some dark monsters.
“Yeah, that,” said Axel, chakrams appearing in his hands.
“Quick, this way,” called Elsa, only to be stopped by more Heartless. The group looked around them, only to find every pathway blocked by Heartless.
“Well, guess we’ll have to fight our way out,” said Sora, readying himself for a fight.
“No Sora, you need to get to the castle and fight Xemnas,” said Elsa. “We can hold these guys, but you need to get moving.”
“But…” started Sora.
“GO!” yelled Rapunzel, shocking everyone. The long-haired blonde whipped her hair at a group of Heartless in the direction of the castle, clearing a path. “What are you waiting for?”
“Here, take this,” said Sora, a glowing ball in his hand. “They might be able to help.” The ball shaped itself into a door, which swung open to reveal four monsters. Except…
“These are the guys Mike and Sulley told us about?” asked Axel.
“Ho ho, don’t let our not so threatening demeanour fool you,” said a pink monster with tentacles. “Name’s Don Carlton, and me and the boys from Oozma Kappa will help you with the fight against these creatures.”
“Are…are you sure?” asked Axel, looking very sceptical at the thought.
“Hey, don’t worry,” said one of the heads of a two headed orange monster. “Terry can perform magic…”
“And Terri can dance,” said the other head, dripping with sarcasm. “Seriously, what are you gonna do with that?”
“I can do the splits,” said a furry purple monster, who kicked out both his legs, and accidentally killed two Heartless in the process.
“And the other guy?” asked Axel, looking around. “Hey, where did…?”
“Hi,” said a squishy pink monster, who was suddenly behind him.
“…well, if you think they’ll be of much help,” said Axel with a shrug. “Let’s move.” Axel dragged Sora behind him as they proceeded down a nearby street. Their remaining allies formed an honour guard around them, attacking Heartless as they appeared.
“Is she gonna be okay?” asked Sora.
“As much as it pains me to say this, we have to hope she and the monsters can handle things,” said Elsa.
“Heads up,” said Hiro, blocking a Heartless who’d burst out of one of the buildings. “I’ll take these guys.”
“Mind if I help?” asked Penny, morphing into Calhoun.
No…not at all,” squeaked Hiro, turning a bunch of his microbots into a sword. The others snickered at his embarrassment as they continued on down the road.
As the group progressed down the road, the number of Heartless began to increase, as did the strength of each Heartless, slowing the group’s progress more and more. “This is getting ridiculous,” said Lewis, holding the glowing orb in his hand. “I’m calling him.” Lewis closed his eyes for a moment, then a large dark portal appeared in the road. Out from the portal appeared a large shape, that of a tyrannosaurus rex.
“You called?” asked Butch, looking down at the group, surrounded by the swarming Heartless. “Wow, you really do need my help.”
“We just need to get Sora to that castle,” said Lewis. “Do…do you mind if I ride you as a means of helping you kill as many of these things as possible?”
“I’ll allow it,” said Butch. “Just watch my back, and tell me if one wants to try and sneak up on me.”
“Fine by me,” said Lewis, climbing up Butch’s back. “First up, just go straight down this road, and take down anything in your path.”
“Fine by me,” said Butch, slowly picking up his pace as he charged down the street, swinging his tail to sweep down Heartless either side of him, and snatching up other Heartless in his massive jaws.
“Well that helps,” said Judy, leading the four remaining fighters up the street. Butch didn’t manage to get all the Heartless in his charge, but most of the ones left over were in no condition to fight back. The group made it to the end of the street, where they found the entrance to the Castle That Never Was. “Come on guys, we’re almost…”
“Judy, look,” said Elsa, pointing behind them, where hundreds of Heartless were converging on the stairs outside the Castle.
“Oh…” started Judy, before straightening herself up. “Your Majesty, Sora, Axel, leave them to me.”
“Judy, there’s no way…” started Sora.
“That I’ll survive?” finished Judy. “But how many more will die if you don’t get in there? Now get going.”
“You’ll need some back-up,” said Sora. “And I know just the guy.” Sora cleared his throat, then began to sing. “♪Who’s your friend who likes to play…♪”
A glowing ball appeared next to Judy, which soon formed into a pink, fluffy, cat-elephant. “♪Bing-Bong. Bing-Bong♪” sang Bing-Bong. “Hi Sora, what can I do for you?”
“Would you be able to help Judy get rid of those Heartless?” asked Sora.
Bing-Bong looked out across the crowd of Heartless approaching them. “Wow, there’s a lot of them,” said Bing-Bong.
“Please Bing-Bong? We need to keep them away from the castle to save Riley,” said Sora.
“You’re saving Riley? Why didn’t you say so?” said Bing-Bong. “What are you waiting for rabbit?” Bing-Bong ran straight into the middle of the Heartless, decimating many of them as he went.
“Well, that’ll help,” said Judy. “Thanks Sora, now get in there.” Judy followed Bing-Bong into the fray, as the rest of the group entered the castle.
“Let me guess, Xemnas is up the top?” asked Elsa.
“That’s where his lab is,” said Axel. “I can’t imagine he’d be anywhere…” Axel was interrupted by a loud bang. The group turned to see an enormous Heartless had just landed in the room.
“Go,” said Elsa. “Defeat Xemnas. I’ll take care of this guy, then catch up to you guys.”
“You sure?” asked Sora.
In response, Elsa fired a massive blast of ice between them and the Heartless, making a wall to separate them. “I’m sure,” she said, just as the ice started to crack. “Now go, before he breaks through.” Sora and Axel nodded, before running up the nearby staircase.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” said Axel. “She only has to fight the one Heartless. Your other friends are fighting a much larger…”
“I’d rather not think about it,” said Sora. “The sooner I can get rid of Xemnas, the sooner I can get back to help them.”
“Do you really think you can do that?” asked someone behind him. Sora turned to see a familiar silver-haired boy standing there.
“Riku?” said Sora. “Are you here to help us, or…”
“Help you?” laughed Riku. “You left me, you wanted me to get caught by the Organization.”
“What? No,” said Sora. “Riku, that’s not what…”
“Luckily for me, the Organization does want me around,” said Riku, drawing his keyblade. “Don’t worry Sora, I’ll forgive your betrayal, but you do have to come to see Xemnas peacefully.”
“Riku, I didn’t betray you,” said Sora. “Xemnas is lying to you.”
“YOU’RE THE LIAR!” yelled Riku, charging at Sora. “You will pay for your ignorance.” As Riku got close to Sora, a fast moving circle of red flew at the silver-haired boy, and bounced right off.
“Okay, that didn’t work at all,” said Axel, retrieving his chakram. “That’s a worrying thought.”
“Riku, listen to me,” said Sora, blocking a powerful blow from the other boy. “Xemnas just wants you to help him regain his Heart.”
“And what’s so bad about that?” asked Riku. “Is it so wrong for a Nobody to want to be a Somebody?”
“He’s going to kill Kairi to do it,” said Sora.
This seemed to strike a chord with Riku, whose face fell for a moment, but then he shook his head as though to clear it. “Don’t try to confuse me,” snapped Riku. ”You’re the evil one. You are. Now, you’re coming with me to Xemnas, whether you like it or not.” Riku swung his keyblade at Sora, and hit him with such force that Sora flew into a wall.
“Whoa, Riku. You’re…so strong now,” gasped Sora, picking himself off the ground, only for Riku to kick him down the hall.
“Yeah, Xemnas gave me a ton of his power,” said Riku, picking Sora up by the neck.
“FIRAGA!” yelled Axel, as a large column of fire erupted around Riku. As the smoke cleared, the two of them saw Riku standing there, unfazed by the powerful spell. “Oh, this is even worse than I thought.”
“Exactly,” said Riku, turning his attention to Axel. “ULTIMA!” A dark purple blast shot from Riku’s hand, sucking Axel into it. Seconds later, Axel fell out from the energy, unconscious.
“No…” wheezed Sora, still struggling against Riku’s grip.
“Oh, don’t worry, he’s not dead,” said Riku. “I think Xemnas wants some words with him too, before he kills him. Come on.” Riku grabbed Axel by his long hair, and began to drag the two of them down the hall.
‘Am I awake?’ thought Kairi, trying to open her eyes. ‘I don’t know. I remember being at Radiant Garden, then those Organization guys turned up, then…’
Kairi’s eyes shot open, then she closed them again. The light outside was extremely bright. Slowly, her eyes adjusted, and she looked out to see a room that appeared to be a laboratory. ‘Oh no,’ thought Kairi. ‘Xemnas has me. That means he’s got the seven children.’
Kairi was started to regain her senses. She appeared to be in some kind of suspended animation. She could feel some kind of liquid around her, but it didn’t feel like water. A gel to keep her alive? It was hard to tell. Over her mouth was a breathing apparatus, so she was in no risk of drowning at this stage. She looked out of the tube she was in, and saw Xemnas examining something. Around the sides of the lab, Kairi could see other tubes like hers, with some of the other kids within them. At that moment, the door to the lab opened, revealing Riku, who was dragging two familiar faces behind him.
“I got them, Master,” said Riku, bowing to the Nobody.
“Excellent work, Riku,” said Xemnas, turning his attention to Sora.
‘Master?’ thought Kairi. ‘Oh no, Riku’s being controlled by the Darkness. I have to do something. But I can’t do anything in this tank.’ Kairi thought for a moment, then came up with a plan. She may only have one shot of it working, but now wasn’t the time to worry about success rates. “Hank,” she whispered. “I need your help.”
“You have been a bit of a thorn in my side, young Roxas,” said Xemnas. “But now, I’m about to win. I have the seven children, and soon I will unlock Kingdom Hearts.”
“My name is Sora,” snapped Sora. “And I won’t let you win. My friends will be here soon, and together we’ll…”
“Oh, you mean these friends?” asked Xemnas, showing Sora a screen.
“Wow, these Heartless fellows are a bit tougher than they look,” panted Don. “I…I think…I need to stop.” Don stumbled back to the door, and walked through it.
“Yeah, sorry princess,” said Squishy, throwing one Heartless into another. “I don’t know how much more I can do.” Squishy sighed, and retreated to the safety of the door.
“Ooh, are we going home now?” asked Art, who rolled himself back through the door.
“Don’t worry princess, I still got plenty in me,” said Terry, clicking his fingers, and a ball of fire exploded another Heartless.
“But I’m done,” said Terri, breathing heavily.
“That’s because you think dancing is an effective method of fighting,” said Terry. “Just stop, man.”
“You stop,” said Terri, trying to drag his conjoined brother back to the door.
“Hey, stop that,” said Terry, trying to pull himself back, with Terri pulling the other way, until Terri tripped, sending the two of them back through the door. As soon as the twins were gone, the door closed, and vanished from sight.
“Well, thanks anyway guys,” said Rapunzel. On the plus side, the number of Heartless was a lot smaller, much smaller than if it had just been her doing it. Rapunzel smacked another Heartless away from her with a frying pan, but failed to see the even larger Heartless behind her. The creature of darkness punched Rapunzel with enough force to send her into a wall.
Rapunzel picked herself up, before wrapping herself in her hair and whispering an incantation. Her hair glowed for a moment, healing her wounds, but the big Heartless wasn’t done. Grabbing her by the hair, the creature swung the girl around until she fell unconscious, before dragging her towards the castle.
“This is pretty easy,” said Penny, mowing down a bunch of Heartless with Calhoun’s machine gun. Another Heartless tried to jump on her back, but Penny casually grabbed her knife and stabbed backwards, killing the thing with ease.
“Yeah, I thought this would be a little more of a challenge,” said Hiro, hacking and slashing his way through a group of Heartless. A few Heartless came up out of the ground, but Hiro had a bunch of microbots set up either side of them. With a click of his fingers, the monsters were crushed between them. “Guess we’ll be catching up to the others soo…PENNY LOOK OUT!”
Penny turned to see a Heartless bringing its fist down at her. Before she knew what was happening, Hiro had pushed her out of the way, taking the blow for himself. “HIRO!” she cried, before narrowing her eyes at the Heartless. “I’m gonna WRECK YOU!” Penny pressed a button, morphing her into Wreck-It Ralph. The Heartless tried swinging another punch at her, only to have her block it with one hand, the other punching through the Heartless’s chest, killing it. “WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!” screamed Penny, as hundreds of Heartless took her up on that offer…
“YEEHAW!” cried Lewis, as Butch continued to tear through the Heartless. “There’s no way we can lose now.”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet kid,” said Butch. “There are plenty of these things still to kill.”
“But surely the others have taken care of some of them,” said Lewis.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Butch, nodding in front of him. Lewis looked ahead of him, and saw a massive crowd of Heartless waiting for them.
“Do you think you can take them?” asked Lewis.
“Kid, I’m feelin’ mighty drained,” said Butch, panting a bit.
“Oh…” said Lewis.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t take out as many of them as possible,” said Butch, charging straight into the crowd of Heartless.
“Wow…there sure are a lot of them,” said Bing-Bong, no longer running, but slowly walking around the battlefield. “Is…is there any chance we can take five?”
“Sorry Bing-Bong, but these guys don’t play fair,” said Judy, expertly disposing of a few more Heartless.
“Oh…” panted Bing-Bong, falling to his knees. “Can you do me one favour then?”
“What is it?” asked Judy.
“Whatever happens, make sure Riley’s okay,” said Bing-Bong, collapsing, then fading away.
“Can do, Bing-Bong,” said Judy, as she ran between two Heartless who tried to strike her, but ended up hitting each other. Her speed was keeping her from getting hit, but she knew she couldn’t keep this up much longer.
Judy ran straight at one Heartless, kicking it in the face as a way to boost herself up. While airborne, she grabbed one Heartless, which she threw into another Heartless with such force, they both disappeared.
Judy landed perfectly, but she was breathing heavily. She looked up to see the crowd of Heartless was definitely a lot less, but she still had a long way to go. Much longer than she had left…
“You are a tough one, aren’t you?” said Elsa, blocking another blow from the Heartless with an ice shield. “But I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” Elsa created a bunch of ice daggers, and threw them in rapid succession at the monster. The Heartless seemed to feel them, but never slowed down its assault.
“Alright, fine,” said Elsa, focusing her energy. “All in then.” Ice began to form just above her head, shaping itself into a large spear. Elsa threw the weapon at the Heartless, and got it right through the middle of its chest. More ice attached itself to the spear, in the shape of pointed claws and spikes. Elsa started spinning the spear around and around in the Heartless’s chest, until it eventually collapsed.
“Finally,” she gasped, falling to her knees in exhaustion. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she saw more Heartless entering the castle…
“You see Roxas,” said Xemnas, turning the screen off. “Your friends won’t be coming to save you. And you’re nowhere near stronger enough to face me alone. I have won. I have the seven Hearts I need right here, and will soon be able to…” Xemnas cut himself off as his eyes flashed over one of the tubes, only to see it empty. “What? One of them has escaped. But how?”
Sora looked around, trying to figure out which one was missing. “There Spot, Nemo, Boo, Ace, Jack-Jack, that one must be Riley. So that leaves…” Sora’s face lit up when he realised what had happened. “Kairi…” he whispered. “But how did she…?” Then it dawned on him. Hank. He turns things invisible. She hadn’t escaped, at least, not yet. “Hang in there Kairi,” yelled Sora, pulling out his keyblade. “THUNDAGA!” A blast of electricity shot out of his keyblade, hitting the door to the tube and opening it. A bunch of strange liquid spilled onto the floor, some staying in mid-air in the shape of a young girl. Kairi coughed, tried to get up, and fell back on the floor. “CURAGA!” yelled Sora, a beam of white light shooting out of his keyblade.
“Thanks Sora,” said Kairi, getting to her feet. “Now, how about we finish…”
“Oh, don’t be so hasty child,” said Xemnas, just as the door opened. A bunch of Heartless marched into the room, carrying Elsa and the others with them. “If you know what’s good for them, you’ll do what you’re told.”
“Kai…Kairi…” moaned Elsa. “Don’t…you dare…let him win.”
“But, Your Majesty…” started Kairi.
“She’s right,” said Axel, getting to his feet. “As long as Xemnas is stopped, everyone is expendable.”
“Axel, don’t think you’ll be getting out of here without being punished for your betrayal,” said Xemnas.
“So, I guess it’s too late to say I captured Sora and his friends for you then?” said Axel.
“Enough of this,” snapped Xemnas. “Heartless, kill them.”
A large Heartless was just about to strike Rapunzel, when a wooden pole with a metal spike on the end came out of its chest. The harpoon withdrew from the Heartless, who fell to the ground and revealed Moana holding the weapon. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” said Moana defiantly.
“Moana?” gasped Elsa. “But…how? Who…? When…?”
“Approximately seventeen minutes ago,” said a robotic voice, as Baymax entered the room. “I explained the situation to Moana, then proceeded to track Hiro and Sora from my internal hard drive.”
“And I came too,” said Olaf, appearing next to the robot. “I couldn’t just sit around and let my twin get killed.”
“Twin?” asked Kairi.
“Long story,” replied Sora.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Xemnas. “This ends now.”
“Kairi, Axel, let’s get him,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade, while Kairi and Axel grabbed their own weapons. Sora began to charge with his friends, when he was grabbed by the collar.
“Not so fast,” said Riku, spinning Sora around. “We settle this now.”
“Riku, can’t you see Xemnas is controlling you?” said Sora. “He’s made you his puppet, and you…”
“I AM NOT A PUPPET!” yelled Riku, attacking Sora.
“Riku, please…” Sora begged, blocking Riku’s attacks. “This isn’t you.” Sora ducked under one swing, only for Riku to kick him in the stomach, which sent him flying across the room.
“Finish him, Riku,” said Xemnas, dodging an attack from Kairi.
“Riku…” said Sora, desperately thinking for a way to escape this. “I…I healed you at Paradise Falls, remember? Why would I do that if I wanted to betray you?”
“Yeah right. Why would you…?” started Riku as he raised his keyblade, then he paused. “Wait…you did do that. But why…?”
“Because you’re my friend,” said Sora. “Riku, Xemnas has been lying to you. He wants you to help him hurt Kairi and the others. Come back to us. Please.”
“Yeah, let’s do…” started Riku, before he started clutching his head. A purple aura started emanating from him. “ARGH! No, I must defeat you Sora.” The purple aura started to recede. “No, Sora’s my friend.” “But the power Xemnas offers…” “GET! OUT! OF! MY! HEAD!” Riku shook his head, and the purple aura disappeared. “XEMNAS! You’re going down.” Riku ran past Sora straight into the fight against the final Organization member.
“Way to go Riku,” said Sora, joining in.
“Foolish child,” said Xemnas, Ethereal Blades in each hand. “This is what happens when some betrays me.” Xemnas threw one of his blades at Riku, only for Riku to knock it away easily. Xemnas threw the other, but Riku ducked under it, before jumping up to strike Xemnas. Xemnas smiled, and with a flick of his wrist, brought the discarded blades flying back towards him. Except, Riku got in between him and the blades, which stabbed Riku through the right arm and left shoulder.
“RIKU!” screamed Kairi, running towards him, only to watch in surprise as Riku continued fighting, as though nothing happened. Xemnas was pretty surprised too, quickly grabbing his blades out of Riku and trying to avoid being killed by the enraged child.
“I commend your courage child,” said Xemnas, blocking Riku’s attacks as they came. “But I’m afraid this ends…now.” Xemnas summoned a ball of dark energy, and threw it at Riku, hitting him in the stomach. Riku stepped back in surprise, and Xemnas took the opportunity to impale Riku with one of his blades.
“NO!” yelled Sora and Kairi at the same time, as Riku slumped to the ground.
“Well, he certainly was a fighter,” said Xemnas, gasping for breath. “But I’m afraid his fate will be shared by the lot of you if you don’t bow down to…”
“Excuse me, Mr. Scientist Guy?” called Olaf from the other side of the lab. “What’s behind these weird doors?” Olaf turned the knob on the one he was standing in front of, only to have it open, and Ace slid out covered in gel.
“DON’T OPEN THOSE!” yelled Xemnas.
“Olaf, keep opening those,” said Sora, turning his attention back to Xemnas. “Come on guys, let’s do this. For Riku.”
“FOR RIKU!” yelled Kairi and Axel, running at Xemnas. Xemnas managed to dodge Axel’s chakram, but couldn’t avoid Kairi’s keyblade. Sora came at Xemnas from behind, and the Nobody didn’t have a chance to dodge a series of vicious blows.
“You will not win,” growled Xemnas, holding both arms outstretched, which sent the three heroes flying across the room. “Now, you will FALL!” All around the room, dozens of Ethereal Blades appeared, all pointed at the three of them. Xemnas, waved his hand, and the Blades went loose.
Sora and Kairi swung their keyblades around in an attempt to keep themselves from getting hit, while Axel just dodged the blades with his own agility. Sora felt a sharp sting on his cheek as one Blade made it past his defence. Instinctively, his hand flew up to his face to check the wound, as another Blade flew right through his chest.
“SORA!” screamed Kairi, as the last of the Blades fell to the ground, but the world was already going black…
“Hey? Hey! You gonna wake up soon?”
“He will. You’ll see.”
“He better. We didn’t die for him to start sleeping on the job.”
“Roxas! That’s really rude.”
Roxas? Isn’t that…
“Hey, knock it off guys. An Ethereal Blade through the chest hurts. I would know.”
Hey, that sounds like…
“Guys, I think he’s coming around…”
Sora’s eyes began to focus, and soon his surroundings became more apparent. He was on a beach, by the feel of the sand, but everything was dark, shaded in blacks and dark blues. Around him, Sora saw three figures. One was Riku, one was a young blonde girl, and one was a boy with golden blonde hair.
“Riku!” cried Sora, getting up and running to his friend. “I thought you were dead.”
“Yeah, about that…” said Riku. “I am dead.”
Sora stopped dead on his tracks. “You’re…dead?” he asked. “But…does that mean…?”
“Not yet,” said the girl. “But you are on the verge right now.”
“Oh…” said Sora. “So that Blade Xemnas got me with…”
“You’re not dead yet,” said the other boy. “We won’t let you.”
“Well, thanks,” said Sora. “Uh…I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”
“You don’t know who I am?” asked the boy. “You should. I am you.”
Sora took a closer look at the boy, and saw plenty of familiarity in his face. “You’re…me,” he whispered. “But you’re not me…Roxas?”
“That’s me,” said Roxas. “And over here, we have the reason for your existence, Naminé.”
“Naminé,” said Sora. “The witch?”
“Yes,” said Naminé. “Now, we must hurry. You don’t have long before you pass on forever.”
“Okay, what do we do?” asked Sora.
“You do nothing,” said Naminé. “We have to merge our essence with yours.”
“Okay,” said Sora. “What does that mean?”
“It means we will completely cease to be, though our power will be transferred to you,” said Naminé.
“What? No,” cried Sora. “We could bring you back. We could…”
“Sora,” said Naminé. “If there was a way to do that, I would have. We can’t go on like this forever. We need to move on.”
“No,” said Sora. “Somehow, we’ll find a way to…”
“No Sora,” said Riku. “We’re finished. We can’t come back. But we can give you the strength to stop Xemnas.”
“It’s okay,” said Roxas. “We’ll still exist in your Heart. You just have to let us in.”
“Please Sora,” said Naminé. “We don’t have much time. Look.” Naminé pointed down to Sora’s feet, which had already begun to fade.
Sora took a deep breath, then exhaled in a sigh. “Okay,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t still try and find a way to save you guys.”
“I know you will,” said Naminé. “But you won’t find one. Trust me, you should just live your life, knowing our sacrifice was one we chose to make.” Naminé closed her eyes, then turned into a glowing ball. The ball flew into Sora’s chest, and immediately Sora’s body became whole again.
“Well, this is it,” said Roxas, shaking Sora’s hand. “I risked everything to take down Xemnas once. Don’t waste this.” Roxas turned into another glowing ball, and flew into Sora, giving Sora a bright glow.
“Sora,” said Riku. “It was an honour meeting and fighting alongside you. I’m sorry it had to end like this.”
“It’s okay,” said Sora. “That wasn’t you, it was Xemnas influencing you.”
“Can you do me a favour when you get back?” asked Riku. “Take care of Kairi. I think she really likes you.”
“Of course,” said Sora. “I’ll take care of all our friends.”
“No, I mean Kairi really likes you,” said Riku as he turned into a glowing ball.
“Wait, what do you…” started Sora, as Riku’s essence fused with him.
“Come on Sora, wake up. WAKE UP!” screamed Kairi. She shook him by the shoulders, trying to get a response, as his eyes started to open.
“Whoa, hey, Kairi, I’m okay, I’m okay,” said Sora, gently taking her hands off of him.
“SORA! You’re okay,” said Kairi, throwing her arms around him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Sora, getting up.
“Hold on, I’ll heal you up,” said Kairi. “Cur…”
“No need,” said Sora. “I’m just gonna finish him now.”
“You? Finish me?” asked Xemnas smugly. “You couldn’t stand up to me before. What makes you think you can now?” As if to prove his point, Xemnas summoned more Ethereal Blades, and shot them all at Sora. However, Sora casually knocked the blades aside as he walked towards Xemnas. “WHAT?! What is this?”
“It’s over Xemnas,” said Sora. “I have the power of those who fell to bring you down. Roxas, Naminé, and Riku stand with me.” Sora swung his keyblade at Xemnas, and knocked him into the far wall. “HOLY!” A blast of light magic flew at the Nobody, knocking him to his knees.
“NO! You will NOT win!” yelled Xemnas, getting back up and blasting the walls of the room down. The Nobody smirked as hundreds of Heartless began to rise from the floor.
“Elsa, get everyone who can’t fight out of here now,” said Sora, preparing to try and finish of Xemnas.
“Ye…yes,” said Elsa, picking up a box and putting Nemo into it, as well as a little ice. “Axel?” Axel threw a small fireball into the box, melting the ice and giving Nemo something to swim in. “Lewis, Hiro, Penny, you help the other kids. Judy, Rapunzel, Moana, cover us.”
“Come on, we’re getting out of here,” said Penny, picking up Jack-Jack and helping Riley to her feet.
“Wha…what’s even going on?” asked Riley, not resisting Penny pulling her up.
“You are currently experiencing shock,” said Baymax, carrying Spot and Boo. “This is a natural response to stressful or terrifying situations, and some therapy methods will be implemented as soon as we are out of danger.”
“That’s nice Baymax,” said Moana, picking up Ace. “But can you do the thing you did to get us here?”
“Activating portal,” said Baymax, holding out one hand, then blasting out a dark purple ball. The ball opened up, and became a dark portal.
“Whoa?” asked Axel. “Hiro, how did you…”
“I might have upgraded him to copy your magic,” shrugged Hiro. “You know, in case we need it.”
“Heartless, capture the children, and destroy anyone who tries to stop you,” commanded Xemnas.
“Try it,” said Moana, sticking her harpoon through one Heartless, then flinging its body at another one. Rapunzel whipped one with her hair and hit another with her frying pan. And Judy kicked one with such force it knocked another two down.
“Sorry Sora,” said Olaf. “I know you’re my twin and all, but I’d rather join the others somewhere safe.”
“It’s okay Olaf,” said Sora. “There’s no point in both of us dying here. You go back.”
“Okay,” said Olaf. “Wait, what was…?”
“Off you go, young snow boy,” said Baymax, pushing Olaf through the dark portal, before following him through.
“You ain’t dying here Sora,” said Axel. “Look at him. He’s on his last legs. That Heartless summoning was just to scare us.”
“I know,” said Sora. “But even if he loses, he’s not going to let us win.”
Axel chuckled to himself. “I knew it would come to this,” said Axel, walking up to Xemnas and grabbing him around the neck. A circle of fire began to swirl around the two.
“What are you doing?” demanded Xemnas. “You’ll never survive this. You’d just be throwing your life away for nothing.”
“No, I’d be throwing my life away to finish this once and for all,” said Axel. “Face it, I may die, but you won’t be in much better shape.”
“AXEL! NO!” screamed Kairi.
“Hey,” said Axel. “The name’s Lea. Got it memorised?” The swirl of fire picked up more and more around the two Nobodies, until there was nothing but a column of fire where they had stood. Sora and Kairi flinched at the sheer heat coming off of the blast, until it disappeared, leaving a severely burned Xemnas where it had been.
“No…” wheezed Xemnas. “No, I will not let it end like…ACK!” Before he could finish his sentence, Kairi stabbed her keyblade through Xemnas’s chest. The Nobody looked up at Sora, as he held his keyblade next to Xemnas’s neck.
“It ends now Xemnas,” said Sora. “The prophecy said it was my choice, and I choose light.” A second keyblade appeared in Sora’s other hand, and Sora sliced both keyblades across Xemnas’s neck, ending his life.
“Sora…” said Kairi. “Did…did you…” A loud explosion cut her off, as the roof began to fall in.
“Talk later, we need to leave,” said Sora, grabbing Kairi’s hand. Judy, Rapunzel, and Moana had just finished off the last of the Heartless, and together the last five heroes dived through the dark portal, landing in a heap on the ground seconds before it closed on them.
Kairi got to her feet, panting hard. “We did it,” she quietly said to herself, then the enormity of what they’d just done dawned on her. “WE DID IT! Sora, we did it.” Kairi pulled Sora to his feet and swung him in a circle, then pulled him in close and pecked him on the cheek. Sora stood there in shock for a moment, before embracing her and kissing her, applause coming from the others around them.
“Congratulations you two. You just saved the world from darkness,” said Elsa. “We’re very proud of both of you. But Sora, isn’t that Riku’s keyblade?”
Sora looked at the second keyblade he was holding, and sure enough it was the one Riku had been using. “Huh, guess it is,” said Sora. “I must have got it when he gave his power to me.”
“He what?” asked Kairi.
“When Xemnas stabbed me,” explained Sora. “I was nearly dead, but then I woke up to see Riku, Roxas, and Naminé there. They said if they gave me their powers, I’d have the strength to beat Xemnas, but they’d cease to be. Guess I inherited Riku’s keyblade in the process.”
“Naminé,” said Elsa, smile on her face as she shook her head. “Even in death, she’s helping us.”
“But now, we have to take everyone home,” said Lewis. “I better get the time machine fired up.”
“Time machine?” asked Riley. “Kairi, what the heck is going on? You never said anything about having a boyfriend. And what were those monsters, and those guys in black, and…”
“It’s a long story Riley,” said Kairi. “I’ll explain it all eventually, I swear.”
“Does this mean I can go home too?” asked Nemo. “My dad must be real worried about me by now.”
“And now there’s talking fish?” said Riley. “I’m never gonna understand all this, am I?”
“Don’t worry kiddo, everything’s going to be okay,” said Judy. “Now, I have to fulfil my promise to Bing-Bong…”
“Bing-Bong? My imaginary friend from when I was three?” asked Riley. “Why does a talking rabbit know…?”
"Guys, Ego’s review just came out,” said Linguini, rushing into the room clutching a newspaper. He cleared his throat, and began to read. “’Tonight, I experienced something new, an extra-ordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at La Ratatouille, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in Radiant Garden. I will be returning to La Ratatouille soon, hungry for more.’ He loved it. I’m saved.”
“Good work Linguini, I knew you’d be fine,” said Sora, shaking the chef’s hand.
“Come on, we need to be going soon,” said Hiro. “Lots of stops to make as we get everyone home. And I do mean everyone.”
“Everyone?” asked Elsa. “As in…”
“As in we can go home,” said Hiro. “All our Fixed Points, they’re back.”
“They’re…back?” asked Elsa. “They’re back! We can go home.” There was a loud celebratory cheer from everyone around the room.
“Well everyone, it has been an honour fighting alongside you all,” said Judy. “But I will never forget any of you.”
“Same here,” said Hiro. “I am going to mi…”
“Hold on,” said Penny, walking up to Hiro. “Back when we were fighting the Heartless, why did you block an attack with your own body, when you could have just as easily done so with your microbots?”
“Oh, right,” said Hiro, clearly embarrassed. “You see, I…err…”
Penny giggled, then pecked Hiro on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I know you like me,” she said. “Hey, if you’re ever back in my time, it’ll be great to hang out sometime, okay?”
“I…err…okay,” said Hiro, at a complete loss for words.
“Guys, the time machine’s ready,” said Lewis. “Anyone who wants to go home, come this way.”
There were many stops to make in returning everyone to where they were supposed to go. First up was Spot, who was quick to jump out of the time machine when he saw Arlo.
“Guys, you did it. You got Spot back,” said Arlo. “I don’t know what to…” Before Arlo could finish, a howl rang out across the valley. On a nearby hill, a family of humans appeared. “Humans…” said Arlo, looking down at Spot. Spot was staring at the family, looking wishful. Arlo sighed. “Spot, it’s not right of me to keep you if you want to live with your own kind. If you want to go, go.” Spot looked up at Arlo sadly, hugged the dinosaur’s leg, then ran off towards the family.
“It’ll be okay Arlo,” said Sora, patting Arlo’s flank. “If it’s any help, we saw a farmhouse just past the next hill there. Do you think it could be your home?”
“I think so,” said Arlo, wiping away a tear. “I recognise this area. Thanks Sora, thanks for everything.”
“No problem,” said Sora. “Well, gotta go. See ya buddy.” Arlo waved goodbye as Sora boarded the time machine.
“Here we are Jack-Jack,” said Kairi, picking up the baby as they landed out the front of the Parr family house.
“Jack-Jack, you’re home safe,” said Helen Parr, taking her baby from Kairi. “Thank you so much for bringing him ba…” Before she could finish, a light blue beam shot out and imprisoned her.
“Yes, thank you for bringing him here,” said Syndrome, picking up Jack-Jack. “Now, if you don’t mind, me and Syn-Jack will be…” As he was monologuing, Jack-Jack enveloped his body in flames, except for one of his fists, which was made of hard steel. “WHOA! What the…” started Syndrome, as Jack-Jack punched him in the face. Syndrome fell to the ground, unconscious, as Jack-Jack crawled over to his mother.
“Would you look at that honey? His just beat his first villain,” said Bob Parr. “Thanks for bringing him back guys.”
“No problem,” said Sora. “Hopefully we’ll see each other again someday.” Sora waved as the time machine flew away.
“That’s it, they’re never coming back,” said Marlin. “I knew we couldn’t trust humans.”
“Hey now, don’t say that,” said Dory. “I’m not sure what you said, but don’t say it.”
“Well, it’s not like Nemo’s ever coming back,” said Marlin.
“He could,” said Dory, as there was a splash just above her. “See, look, here he is now.”
“What are you…” started Marlin, as he turned to see Nemo swimming next to Dory. “NEMO!”
“DAD!” cried Nemo, swimming over to his dad to give him a hug. “I thought I’d never get to see you again.”
“Don’t be silly, I never gave up hope,” said Marlin, signalling to Dory to not say what he’d just said. Dory just looked at him confused. “Come on, let’s go home.”
“Where is she?” demanded Mr. Andersen. “Riley should have been home an hour ago.”
“I’ll try her cell again,” said Mrs. Andersen, picking up her phone, just as Riley came through the door with Kairi. “RILEY! Oh my gosh, what happened?”
“I…I…” started Riley.
“She was attacked by some thugs,” said Kairi. “Luckily I found her, and chased them off.”
“WHAT?!” yelled Mr. Andersen, wrapping his arms around his daughter. “Riley, are you okay?”
“I…don’t know…” sobbed Riley, burying her face in her father’s shoulder.
“It’s okay sweetie,” said Mr. Andersen, hugging his daughter tight. “Thank you so much Kairi. If there’s ever anything we can do…”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said Kairi dismissively. “Hey, I gotta get going. I just wanted to make sure Riley got home safely.”
“Alright sweetie, but you have to come back for dinner one night,” said Mrs. Andersen. “It’s the least we can do for you.”
“Thanks Mrs. Andersen. I’ll come by real soon, I promise,” said Kairi, running back down the street towards the time machine.
“You did it. You got Boo back,” said Sulley. “But…uh…”
“What’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“She has to go back to her own time,” said Mike. “Like, forever.”
“Really?” asked Kairi.
“That’s the way it has to be,” said Roz, now wearing a yellow CDA vest. “We can’t have humans knowing too much about this place.”
“That’s not fair!” snapped Sora. “After all Mike and Sulley did to protect her…”
“Sora…” said Mike, holding Sora’s arm, then pulling him in close and whispering. “Don’t worry, I’m planning on reassembling Boo’s door in secret.” Sora nodded and winked, careful not to let Roz see.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye Boo,” said Sulley, carrying the young girl through her door. “Sora, Kairi, thank you.”
“It’s what we do buddy,” said Sora, climbing back into the time machine. “Maybe we’ll see you again sometime.” The door to the time machine closed, and the monsters and humans waved goodbye to each other.
“Next stop is Destiny Island,” said Lewis, as they arrived at a beautiful tropical island. “Sora, it’s been nice knowing you.”
“It’s been nice knowing you too Lewis,” said Kairi. “I’ll be getting off here too.”
“Kairi, are…are you sure?” asked Sora.
“Sure, why not?” asked Kairi. “I have nowhere else to go, why wouldn’t I want to stay with my boyfriend?”
“B…boyfriend?” stammered Sora. Kairi giggled at his embarrassment, before pecking him on the cheek and jumping out of the time machine onto the beach.
“Go get her Sora,” said Elsa. “If we’re ever in need of a hero again, we know where to get two of the best.”
“Of course,” said Sora. “If darkness wants to come back, it’ll have to go through us first.” Sora jumped out of the time machine, and caught up to Kairi on the edge of the water. The two teens held hands as they watched their friends fade away on their way home.