Unlike all previous journeys in the Gummi Ship, I chose to pilot it myself toward Atlantica with Donald keeping watch just in case I happened to run into any trouble. He didn't have to worry, not with my incessant pestering him with questions every time I came across something I didn't know about.
I learned quite a bit about the Gummi Ship then, and I'm fairly sure Donald started to wonder if I was really worth the bother of putting up with. I guess this coupled with my various habits connected to the pretence of seeing what was still to come finally got to him.
Knowing full well that Monstro was going to turn up on the way to Atlantica, I paid little attention to it as it first went past the ship, waiting for it to come back instead.
"Monstro!" Jiminy exclaimed seeing it.
"Sora, get us out of here!" Donald insisted, though I noted not trying to take the controls from me.
"No, wait! Remember what Sora said when we left Traverse Town? Geppetto is there, and Pinocchio will have found his way there too!"
"But he's going to swallow us!"
"That's what we want," I answered, sending us right in as Monstro opened wide. "Hang on guys, and don't forget to wake me up in a moment."
I didn't experience Sora's dream of him and Riku when they were younger. I did experience something from when I was young, but I'd rather not go into it here. It wasn't exactly one of the nicest things to remember, and that's all I'll say.
Then Donald was shaking me awake again. I quickly scrambled to my feet to avoid something crashing down where I'd been laying.
Goofy quickly raised his shield to deflect another item, saying, "Today's weather? Expect heavy showers."
"Pinocchio!" I called out. "I know it's you there. Come on out."
There was a silence for a few moments, then the sound of tapping on one of the various wooden constructs in Monstro's mouth came to us, growing fainter.
"Ya think that was him?"
"I know it was him. He'll be up at the wrecked ship ahead, handing a Gummi block to Geppetto."
I wasn't wrong, naturally.
Geppetto took our unexpected appearance in stride, not really seeming too curious about why we were here. That Monstro had swallowed us seemed to be enough for him.
"Pinocchio?" I asked then. "How did you get here?"
There was no reply.
"He's gone!" Donald exclaimed, and I sighed. "What?"
"It means we're going to have to search for him," I answered wearily. "Which means Riku's probably going to show up, and we're going to get lost in the maze of Monstro's belly."
"Can't you just see your way through it?" Goofy asked.
"It doesn't work that way. We're going to have to do this one the old fashioned way. Come on guys, we'd better get to it." Once out of earshot of Geppetto I added, "Not a word about the Keyblade again guys, whether we can see Riku or not."
"But why not? Isn't he your friend?" Donald asked.
"It has to do with something he's going to do later on that I don't want him to do. And I don't want anyone else messing with it."
"You're going to be awfully exposed without it you know, Sora," Jiminy warned me.
"I know. That's why..." I pulled out the Keyblade, quickly changed it to the Lady Luck one, then dismissed it again. "Even if it isn't present, the magic boost it gives will take effect."
"Here," Donald said then. "Take Jafar's staff back then. I'm used to fighting with and without magic. You can do better with it for now."
"Thanks Donald. Come on. Pinocchio will be up ahead."
"Sure?" Jiminy asked from my shoulder. I just nodded, entering the first of the many chambers of Monstro.
"Not a word," I whispered, seeing Pinocchio on a ledge. I remembered this scene clearer now. "Come on out," I said louder. "I know you're there."
"You're taking all the fun out of surprising you, Sora," Riku told me, coming into view. He held an identical copy of my Kingdom Key in his hand – evidently the old key Sora had created, with whatever Sora had made happen with it. Then Riku seemed to notice me and added, "Jafar's staff? When did you get that?"
"Oh, I picked it up on my travels. I guess you could say the same about that big key you've got there?"
"This?" he held it up. "It's called a Keyblade. Turns out this is what that old key you were lugging around really looks like. Shame you don't have one yourself, huh?" he asked, looking at me penetratingly, as if daring me to call on my own.
Donald and Goofy looked to me, trying – badly – to cover their surprise at seeing it in his hands instead of mine.
I feigned stupidity, which as Sora isn't hard to do. "Maybe. I don't see what's so special about some oversized key. What are you really doing here, Riku?"
"Playing with Pinocchio. Isn't that obvious?"
I shook my head, "I don't buy it. I saw you with Maleficent in Traverse Town. Out with it, Riku. What's your game?"
There passed a long moment where he and I kept our eyes locked on each other, then he relented and said, "Catch us up and maybe I'll tell you."
Then he snatched up Pinocchio by one unresisting hand and headed off into the maze.
Among the various Heartless that showed up in Monstro, I encountered another one I'd never come across before – the Grand Ghost. These larger, much nastier and Final Mix exclusive cousins of the comparatively harmless Search Ghosts are totally immune to all physical and magical attacks, dealing some heavy damage back whenever hit with either.
As I was insistent on keeping my Keyblade out of sight while within Monstro, I immediately eliminated it from the list of possibilities. What was left after magic, shield and rod were all eliminated?
Ghosts are a kind of undead, and in many games across many genres, the undead get hurt when you try to heal them. A Cure spell channelled through the staff clearly hurt the Grand Ghost, and several more finally finished it off.
With Grand Ghosts figured out, and most other Heartless falling easily to us, if not just to my staff-enhanced magic alone, we moved on through that maze, frequently ending up further back, sometimes doubling back to the start without realising, until we finally managed to make our way to the Bowels of Monstro, where Riku and Pinocchio awaited.
"What're you up to, Riku? Don't you realize what you're doing?" Almost exactly the same line Sora delivers at this point.
"I could ask you the same thing, Sora. You tell me Kairi's safe, but don't know where she is. You tell me you're just visiting other worlds, but you come here having stolen Jafar's staff. Then there's this," he held up the Keyblade.
"What about it?"
"You don't seem to know much about it, but Maleficent seems to think you already have one of your own – and have done since you arrived in Traverse Town after the storm."
"Nonsense," I scoffed. "How could I know anything about it if I'd never even seen one until I saw that one you've got there."
Our debate got cut short with the untimely arrival of the Parasite Cage, which ate Pinocchio of course.
This first fight with the Parasite Cage is relatively easy with Riku's assistance, but made a little more inconvenient with the acid floors, and further so for me without the Keyblade. I would have to rely on Riku's fake Keyblade – something I reassured Donald and Goofy over as quickly and quietly as I dared, knowing they would follow Riku if they thought he was the Key bearer instead of me.
For my part though, I had little to worry about. The staff gave me near-limitless magic, and so I was able to balance between sending magic at it and keeping out of the acid. I used Gravity magic for the first time, though I'm not really sure if it did much good. To be honest, I've never quite seen the point to that spell.
It was fairly easy to defend against the wide swipes the tentacles made, though I had little to worry about. With Riku and Goofy charging into the fray more than Donald or me, they were the main targets. I kept them both healed in between sending a barrage of Fira at the Heartless – despite Riku's continuing antagonism and what he'd likely do later on, he was still an ally and still deserved to be given a hand.
After a second barrage of Fira, Gravity and Blizzara at the Parasite Cage, it climbed to safety, spitting out Pinocchio into a pit. Riku followed him into it, followed by me and the others once I'd ensured we were fully restored on health and magic before following him.
"Give me back my son!" Geppetto was almost shouting at Riku.
"Sorry, old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet."
"He's no puppet! He's my little boy!"
"He is unusual," Riku conceded. "Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe-"
"He can help someone who's lost theirs?" I finished. "Kairi hasn't lost her Heart. It's kept completely safe – or didn't you believe me when I told you that?"
"Where is it, Sora?"
"Like I said – safe. Safe from everything and everyone that wants to use or harm her. And I'll make sure her Heart stays safe until the time comes for her to be reunited with it. Come with me and leave Maleficent behind, Riku – between us, we'll both keep it safe."
"Speak for yourself," he answered. "What do you care about Kairi..." he gave an almost cunning look and finished, "Liam."
He knew. One word, one name that he knew. How he knew was beyond me, but he knew.
But I kept my surprise from showing, and appearing to be unfazed replied, "Who's Liam?"
Riku's cunning grin fell just slightly, then he turned and ran for the upper exit from Monstro's mouth, which lead to the throat. We gained the High Jump ability, though how the same jumping motion now made us jump much higher I never understood.
The Heartless in Monstro's throat were little match for some more well placed magic, allowing us to reach the stomach, where we met Riku yet again.
"Go to Pinocchio," I murmured to Jiminy, nodding toward the unmoving figure on one raised platform. "He'll be fine, but stay with him."
"Be careful, Sora," he warned me before he jumped down. "Something about Riku doesn't seem right."
"I know. I can't do anything about it, it seems. Go on."
Riku noticed us, shook his head and said, "You don't give up, do you? Why don't you come with me instead, Sora?"
"Go with you?" I asked. "You and the darkness Maleficent gave you? You, who kidnapped Alice and Jasmine? Where's your conscience, Riku? Did the darkness take that from you too, or did you just discard it like you're discarding me?"
Riku made no response. He didn't have to – the Parasite Cage made it's second appearance, and I heard the tell-tale sound of a dark corridor opening, even if I couldn't see past the Heartless to see it.
This battle is mostly the same as the previous one, but without Riku around it's not quite so easy. The Parasite Cage picks up a fair bit more power behind it's tentacles, not to mention it can swing itself at you or spew out the stomach acid as a nasty gas.
On the other hand, with Riku out of the picture, I was free to use my Keyblade again, and Jafar's staff was returned to Donald. I exchanged the magic boost of the Lady Luck Keyblade for the power boost of Olympia, then as usual, headed straight in to hack away at it.
The battle reminds me a great deal about the boss monster in one the Legend of Zelda games that goes by the name of Barinade, and certain other bosses throughout the series that bear resemblance to it. Of course, cutting off the tentacles of the Parasite Cage doesn't really change much, although it does annoy it quite a bit.
Defeating it isn't that much of a challenge though, and netted me the final spell for the collection on this round, Stop. Is it just me, or are the second round of bosses suspiciously easier?
At any rate, with all the commotion we'd caused, Monstro spat us out along with Geppetto and Pinocchio, who ended up back in Traverse Town. Jiminy was quickly retrieved by Donald before it happened, and we were once again on our way to Atlantica.