10. Reviving and Retrieving II
It feels still…quiet…dead, even.
Are we inside? It's too silent, then…
Where'd the storm go?
Where are we?
This was what was going through the teens' minds when they lay down on the floor-possibly, that's what it felt like-of a tornado. It was quiet, as they thought. But they only needed to open their eyes to understand where they were going.
And as they did, they were only slightly surprised by what they saw.
Swirls of purple and black were the walls of this weird place. Bits of debris were floating silently around the cylinder like stairs.
Selphie automatically cuddled up to Riku for protection and Riku pulled her close so if something flew at them he would get her out of the way.
"Kairi's in here?" Sora asked. "I can't believe it!"
Suddenly there was a blob of red and the party of four looked up and saw Kairi there with a scared and worried look on her face. "Help me! Save me! Run away! Leave!" She sputtered out randomly. She was bathed in darkness and then disappeared.
The debris moved around now. Up and down. Left and right. Upper left to lower right. In a circle. Everywhere. "We're gonna come get you!" Tidus cried and started to the fist moving debris.
"Wait!" Riku shouted and chased after him, Selphie close behind. Sora followed suit.
They jumped on the debris and climbed up one by one. They stopped on one platform and opened the door. It got really bright and then turned into a beat up bathroom.
Selphie gasped. "I don't wanna go in there! It looks and reminds me of Saw!" Selphie whined trying to pull her hand away from Riku's. "It creeps me out!"
"We all are in this mess. We have to go." Riku replied. Selphie looked back and stepped backwards "No! I'm staying here!"
"Fine, just wait out here." Riku replied. He walked in with the others and said "It's just a quick look." Selphie looked back at the debris and a chair almost hit her. "Ahhh! Wait for meeeeee!" She whined and closed the door behind her.
Room 1
"Okay…no leads, just a room. A stinky, old bathroom that needs to be repaired big time." Sora summarized.
Selphie nodded. There were six stalls, and her stomach grumbled. "Hold on!" She said and pushed open a stall. The door fell backwards towards Selphie. She screeched and stepped back. The whole six stalls fell down in suit and reveled six blocks each with a button.
Sora twitched and mumbled "Deja…" but he stopped and suddenly ran over to the fifth stall and pushed the button on top of the box.
"Sora!" Riku yelped. Suddenly the box caved in and revealed a crowbar. "Huh!" He agreed to himself. The others looked at each other for a while. They nodded and all chosen a stall. Tidus picked the first, Riku sixth, and Selphie third. They pushed the buttons simultaneously.
Tidus' box caved in and revealed a sharp circle connected to a half rusted bent staff, Selphie's ensured her with a ball and chain, Riku's box caved in to reveal that it was a vacant box.
"Oh." Was Riku's reaction. "Watch something pop up too." And so the party did. But nothing.
Sora handed Riku the wooden dagger and butcher knife, "Here, you'll need these…I guess much more than I'll." Sora placed them in Riku's hand. "We shouldn't open up more boxes, what else could be in there? Rabid monkeys? So…" He shrugged and walked away. Riku looked at the small dagger and stuffed it in his pocket, at the rectangular blade he sighed. "Better than nothing."
They all started to walk away from the stalls when Tidus stopped. "Wait-Where'd the door go?" He asked shakily. The party looked and saw as heard.
"Yahh!" Selphie gasped, "We only have a limited air supply! NO! Ahhh! I should've stayed outside so I could leave and tell the people outside outside that you guys are stuck and you have a limited air supply a-" Selphie couldn't finish talking because Riku covered her mouth.
"All we need to do is find a different way out, yes?" Riku said simply. Selphie nodded, and they all separated to find an alternative entrance.
"Kreeeeeeeee!"
The teens jumped and turned their heads toward the noise: The stalls. A black creature with antennae and twelve sharp claws; three on each paw-and big yellow eyes snuggled into the floor and started crawling towards the four teens.
"Ahhh!" Selphie yelled, and swung her ball towards the now airborne creature. It got knocked to a wall and twitched. It sprang back up and it crawled into the floor again and jolted towards Sora.
Eyes wide and alert, Sora crushed the creature with the crowbar and it dissolved into a black mist, making the crowbar clang on the dirty tiled floor.
The party huddled together and waited for a while. They stared at the boxes, expecting another creature to pop out of one of them. But again, silence. They all relaxed and continued to look for an exit.
Tidus tried wiggling the floor tiles. One tile did come off but all he found was mold and a centipede, one with yellow eyes and a black body. Tidus was disgusted by this and slammed the tile back down hoping to squish the bug.
Sora looked around the stalls. He thought he saw the second stall's box shift a little, but he doubted it thinking he's just too worked up.
Selphie observed the area where the door used to be. Did the wall just make some kind of wave? She thought, No, maybe I'm dizzy from the lack of air.
Riku just stood there, seeing all of these events chime together. "Whoa." He said in an amazed voice.
Three quarters of the group turned to see what was 'Whoa.' Selphie looked relived and said "Exit? You found an exit?" She said walking anxiously towards the older teen.
Riku shook his head, "No, but I saw the wall make a wave, and that box move a little."
The box jumped up and down and shot at Riku. He knocked it aside and got out his weapons. It stopped jumping and just sat there.
Then the floor broke apart. Then the whole room turned into a purple chamber sort of like the tornado. The box was laying there. Then it dyed black, and it swelled up into a sphere and grew antennae and a tail, and yellow eyes. It dissolved into a mist and swirled around the petrified group of teenagers. The mist split into ten different parts and reformed into ten different black balls!
"Why us?" Riku whined. They all got into their battle stances and began to fight.
(Darkside Boss Battle Music plays.)
Three of the darkballs turned into mist and swirled around them to keep them in their spot. Sora tried waving the crowbar in the mist but nothing happened and when he tried to run trough the mist, he lost all of his breath and was knocked back.
The mist turned into the darkballs again and tried to bite the party. Selphie choked one of them and threw it into another darkball that Tidus didn't see behind him. Tidus quickly thanked Selphie and charged at a darkball farther away from the group. It jolted around in tiny triangles that hurt Tidus.
Then it bit him on the forearm, the one he used to shield his chest. It took a hold on his arm and threw him into the back of another darkball, which whipped him and threw him to the ground with its antennae. It swallowed Tidus whole. Although Tidus tried to fight his way out, all he could do was delay himself from being eaten.
Riku had already scared away two darkballs already, and he was helping Selphie with a stubborn one when he noticed Tidus being eaten by the darkball. He gave another blow to the darkball he was busy with and ran over to Sora.
"I think Tidus needs your help." He said pointing to the darkball whose mouth was being opened by a pair of hands. Sora got what Riku was trying to say and ran over to help Tidus out, knocking away darkballs on the way.
Sora then jammed the crowbar into the darkball's mouth. He pushed his weight down on the crowbar and opened its mouth a little. Tidus helped by forcing its mouth open along with Sora's crowbar. They managed to open the mouth up halfway so Tidus could slip out. Sora and Tidus then did an X-chop together and the darkball turned into mist and faded away.
Selphie was accidentally left alone with the one darkball she had trouble with. It tripped her with its tail and opened its mouth wide. She kicked out her legs into its mouth and hit the dangly thing in the back of its mouth. She rolled to the side and expected the darkball to throw up glowing black and purple stuff.
Instead it just sat there. Selphie thought it would be a good time to finish it off, so she hit it smack in the head with her ball and chain.
But it caught the ball in its mouth, shooting a You-have-no-idea-what-I'm-gonna-do-so-get-ready glance. It then spun around a few times, Selphie pulled closer to it because now some of the chain was wrapped around its body. The darkball spun again, now Selphie could feel its breath on her face (if they actually have any.).
She thought about the situation for a second and smirked at the creature. She pulled the chain she still had at hand with all her might, which made the darkball spin away all the chain around its body. Once all the chain was off of its body, it was clinging onto the ball on Selphie's weapon as it was twirled around in circles.
The darkball let go and tumbled to the ground. It shot back up with a roar. Selphie was ready, too. They charged at eachother, Selphie twirling her weapon, already planned out her moves. The darkball opened wide and promised to eat her, and Selphie whacked it in the jaw. She followed that move with a pound on the cranium, then swinging it at an angle popped its left eye open. She continued like this half break-dancing until it gave in and exploded into mist.
The clearing was only full of four tired teenagers. Selphie was still swinging her weapon a little like a cone-shaped cloak around her.
"Wow." Riku mumbled. Then it got really bright, and the group was back at the platform they where before in the tornado, except there was no door.
(Music fades away.)