Hello everyone! Back at it again with another one-shot adventure. This has Riku and Kairi exploring the world of Monster's Inc, learning how making a child laugh can make one's own heart grow.
Landing their Gummi Ship, Riku and Kairi noticed a ton of monsters were walking the streets like nothing horrifying was going on. "Uh…" Kairi looked to Riku but nearly jumped out of her seat, fear suddenly overtaking her. Riku just looked at Kairi dumbly, holding up his Gummi Phone and showing her herself. They looked at each other and didn't know what to say. Riku looked like a fluffy bear, his body coated with thick black fur and three black eyes. Kairi's hoodie dress was a lot more scaley, with her hair oddly moving around as if they were snakes. She noticed her vision wasn't super great, noticing only one eye on her face. "So we're monsters now…"
"And that means we're in the right spot." He hopped out of the ship and whistled a jolly tune to himself. Kairi followed, slight fear dancing in her heart. W-Why am I still scared of monsters? She pondered, memories of her childhood haunting her somewhat. Monsters always came up to her and… Cracked jokes? It scared her, confusing herself and seemingly the monster too, remembering the creature sighing as it walked out of her room. How come Mom never noticed that? Shaking her head, she saw a colorful city buzzing. Monsters with three eyes and tentacles waving hello, walking a little slug-dog-thing. Tall monsters the size of bigfoot acting like traffic guards. Even a coffee shop where the monster gurgling the coffee in its two mouths and spitting it out for customers.
Eventually, they found the place they were looking for; Monster's Incorporated. The world that Sora and his friends encountered and fought off the Unversed, with now Hazard Mat Guards watching over the entrance, shewing off whatever heartless that tried to enter the factory. Riku smirked, happy that one world took the heartless seriously enough so they didn't have to hop in all the time. His eyes caught a flyer though, picking it off the door and reading it. "Monster's Inc Yearly Play: 5PM." He looked at his Gummi Phone, it saying that very time. "Well, guess we're seeing this." He passed the flyer to Kairi, who just nodded as she followed.
Walking into the factory and heading to the lunchroom, they saw a cluster of monsters wearing yellow helmets. Finding two empty seats, Riku and Kairi looked around them, hoping to find Mike and Sully here. The curtain slowly was lit up, with Sully coughing as he tapped the mic. "Hello? This thing on?" He noticed blank looks from the crowd. "Welcome to the Yearly Rendition of 'Put that Thing Where it Came From, Or So Help Me! Produced and…" Mike peaked out from the corner. "Written by Mike Wazowski." He was going to say more but the light shut off and Sully ran behind the curtain.
"Put that thing where it came from or so help meeeee." Mike started pacing around wooden door props, with Sully following along the best he could. Kairi snickered at the sight, somewhat recognizing the green monster. Riku just sighed, folding his arms and wondered why this play seemed so… Amateurish? Silly? "So help me or I'm going to crrrrry."
It went to the next scene and Kairi kept on laughing, seeing monsters running across the stage in a restaurant. The following scene made her shed a tear, one of her hair strands wiping the tears away. Even Riku smiled, enjoying seeing the monsters putting the 'child' away behind the door. "Sully opened that door the wrong way…" He whispered to Kairi but was ignored by her loud clapping. He sighed, clapping himself.
"Thank you! Thank you for coming everyone!" Mike shouted, holding out his hand and shaking fellow workers and guests alike. Sully just stretched his back and leaned on a wall, having a warm smile. He knew Mike loved having the spotlight, so he just let his best pal do his thing. "Gotta tell ya Sully, this play's a hit every year. Gotta take it to Broadway!"
Sully chuckled, making Mike roll his big eye. "Sure thing, though the props need work." He picked Mike up, with the monster moving his arms and legs around. "Come on pal, we need to get back to work."
"I know…" Mike said dejected, but they both paused, seeing two monsters come up to them. Riku and Kairi waved hello, making Mike grow a dumb smile. "Buddy! We got fans!" Sully put him down and he held out his hand. "Say, you both liked my smile? Or impressive acting?"
Riku couldn't hold in a dumb laugh, with Kairi sharply elbowing him. "What?" She just held out her hand, Mike shaking it.
"You guys did a great job, but we aren't just here for the show. My name's Kairi and he's Riku. We're looking for our friend Sora." Mike shook her hand, but his eye went wide. Sully noticed and he just laughed good-naturedly.
"Any friend of Sora, is a friend of ours." Sully held out his hand, with Riku shaking it. "Like your pelt Riku, though when it sheds it's not fun." Mike shivered, giving Sully an annoyed look.
"Yeah, I'm the one that has to yank all that fur off…" Sully chuckled with Mike giving a smile back in response. "Someone has to keep you fluffy for Boo." The mention of Boo got Kairi's interest, walking up to the two friendly monsters. "So what's the problem? More pests to exterminate?"
"You could say that," Riku answered cryptically. "But we aren't just here for that, though you got people actually doing a great job for that. Many places that call for our help don't take care of themselves after we leave." Kairi was impressed by how smoothly Riku explained the situation, through the idea of 'World Order' bothered her. Why can't they just be honest about who they are? They aren't monsters, they are humans. Sighing at her thoughts, Kairi folded her arms and had a focused expression.
"Sora got in major trouble during one of his jobs and we need to find him. He told us you guys can travel to other places using doors, so maybe one of them might lead to Sora." Kairi explained, with Mike and Sully having worried looks.
"Please tell us that creep in the black coat didn't show up again…" Mike asked, somewhat pleadingly. "We did the scaring thing for a while but that fella… Oh boy, I was shaking in my pants."
"You have no pants, Mike." The green monster glared at his friend, with Sully continuing. "We didn't really understand what Sora and that guy were talking about, but it sounded like bad news. Glad I was able to throw him through some doors."
Riku nodded, assuming they were talking about Vanitias. Ven told them about that story, being impressed how two friendly monsters handily took care of his darker brother. "He wasn't a problem anymore, so thanks for saving my pal Sully."
"No problem kid." Sully replied, gesturing the group to follow him. "We will take you to the door room, though be careful, the creatures are still around here." Mike groaned, rubbing his large head.
"I tell ya Sully, these are worse than rats." Sully laughed heartedly, with Mike giving a weak smile as they walked into the factory.
A battle or two later, the team found the main workstation, where doors were hanging up from the ceiling and dangling effortlessly. Mike took out a folder, picking out various key cards. "Alright champs, what door should we try out first? Got any idea where our pal is?"
"Do you have a door that leads to a world called Verum Rex?" Kairi asked, with Mike blinking. Sully just tilted his head on confusion, making the girl sigh. "I guess not, cause that's where Sora's next job was."
"Kid travels a lot, I tell ya…" Mike laughed, looking through the keycards. He frowned, seeing none that match up with Kairi's request. "Sully, check the other folder pal." Sully nodded and walked into his office. Riku just studied the door, noticing the light being off. He pointed to the light, with Mike smiling. "Yeah, we use laughter to power doors. Laughter is what powers our world see?" Sully put the folder down for a moment, hopping on a plastic chair.
"I would have thought that since were monsters, we are supposed to scare kids," Kairi suggested, with Mike sighing. He took out a picture of himself, Sully and Boo posing by her door. "Aww, that's such a cute little girl."
"Yeah, that's our Boo." Mike said with a warmly, putting the picture away. "We learned from her that humans aren't something to be afraid of. They are just like us, though less scary look'in." As if on cue, Sully walked in nodding, listening to the entire conversation. "This champ right here was our top scarier and our college days really were something else…"
"Ah, remember when we hated each other?" Sully smirked, making Mike elbow him, as if he suggested a stupid idea. Riku smiled, seeing a clear history between the two monsters. Kairi saw Sora and Riku in their places for a moment before blinking to shew the thoughts away. "But yeah, we learned that scaring isn't even that powerful. Though that black coat jerk said otherwise…"
"That was a while ago pal, don't think much on it." Mike assured Sully, turning to Riku and Kairi. "Fear and Screams really are strong powers for us, heck, we used that to fend off those pests. But with kids? Nah, make them laugh! Not only is it charming, but we get much more power outta that." He hopped off the seat. "Win-Win, we give them a show, they laugh their butts off and we enjoy a nice batch of power for the week." Mike patted a nearby canister, with it popping off and flying everywhere. Child-like giggles echoed the room, making Kairi and Riku snicker. Sully only sighed, rubbing his mane. "Hehe… I will make that up on my shift tomorrow Sul."
"I know Mikey." He passed Riku and Kairi a keycard. "This should be it, though I'm not sure it's what you're looking for." Kairi hugged the monster, making him laugh softly. "No problem…" He patted her back, the image of a teenage Boo hugging him playing in his mind. The image made him grow a fatherly smile, hoping his little girl growing up to be a great person. Mikey picked up on this, smiling for his best friend. Sully let Kairi go, seeing the girl swipe at the computer. A black door slowly came down, with a 'ding' letting them know the power was flowing through the door.
Kairi opened it, peaking through the door and saw… Sora's childhood room? She blinked at this, turning to Riku and gesturing him to take a peak. They went inside, with Mike and Sully hanging by the entrance.
Kairi walked around the room, it being oddly neat and organized. Pictures of stars, toy swords hanging on the wall and even a Mickey Plushie was on his bed. Kairi smiled at the sight, sitting on his bed and letting it's soft fabrics sooth her now scaly skin.
To both of their surprise though, a loud yawn got their attention, with the two unable to leave fast enough. A little boy with brown spiky hair looked at them and tilted his head. "Uh…" Riku and Kairi were looking at a young Sora, not even older than three, and he didn't even hesitate to hug them. "Hello, champ." Riku stuttered.
"M...Monstar fwend." He pointed at them, making Kairi giggle. She knelt down and ruffled Young Sora's head. "Yos nice."
"Nice to meet you Sora." Kairi said, with Riku waving his hands around, knowing how time travel can be... An experience to deal with. The boy tilted his head, but gave a goofy smile. "You want to play?"
"Play Play Play!" Sora jumped on his bed, grabbing a toy sword and pointing it at Riku. The keyblade master smirked, picking up one of the nearby toy swords and had a mock fight with Sora. Riku handily won, but Sora couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably. Kairi felt warm tears coming down her eyes, which got Sora's attention. He hugged her leg, too short to reach higher. "You sad…"
"Yeah, I'm sad." She patted Sora's head, with Sora hugging tighter. "It's okay." Sora shook his head and pointed to his heart, his toothy smile on full display. He pointed at Riku and Kairi, then to his heart.
"You friends. Friends no sad." Sora started yawning, with Kairi picking the boy up and tucking him in. "Will see again?" Kairi ruffled Sora's head, giving her own toothy smile.
"We will see each other really soon, don't you worry little prince." She kissed his forehead and waved goodbye. Riku knelt down and held out his fist, which Sora shook.
"You be a strong little man, alright?" Sora saluted and felt really tired, his blue eyes closed as he drifted into dreamland. The two keyblade wielders looked at the black door and had smiles reaching to their cheeks.
Coming out of the door, they were surprised to see nearly 40 canisters around the door. And Mike and Sully having dumbfounded expressions. "Y-You outdid our record. You single-handedly gave us two months of power…" Mike went on his knees. "Teach me how to be funny like you guys."
Sully picked up Mikey, but gave a confused look to the teens before them. "Take it you found what you were looking for?" Kairi nodded, with Sully giving a warm smile. "It felt great to make a child laugh, or just happy, huh?"
"Yeah." Riku nodded, folding his arms. "No wonder you guys are so good at your jobs. Making kid's nights every day is a great experience." Mikey nodded, with Sully elbowing him.
Waving goodbye to Mike and Sully, the monsters just smiled at the duo. "It was nice meeting Sora's exterminating friends. Wait…" Mike suddenly sighed, making Sully raise an eyebrow. "We forgot to pay them... Hope the higher-ups aren't going to be mad."
Sully smiled, looking at the picture of Boo before closing his folder, joyful expression on his face. "Besides, I say giving us that much power makes up for any trouble we might get later." Mikey nodded and the two put the black door into the sky, sliding the card into the computer and seeing it go off. They didn't notice a strange keyhole glowing as it went away, the very door vanishing from sight in a gust of dust.