I stayed up extra late just to get this chapter out! Feel special! It is like 5:10 am as I type this lol this is the entire Monstro world, and then some, probably one of my longest chapters yet I think...I have to go back and check xD I wouldn't doubt it...5 pages in word! This chapter, Riku's the main focus, but why? Is he okay? Well, you'll just have to read to find out!

I'm so so sorry if it seems rushed. I have alot going on this week, and I'm afraid it showed! D: This chapter was completely written from scratch. Princess of Darkness stopped at 25, and now that I've gotten farther, it'll take a while for updates, especially with me going to Alabama soon for vacation, but I'll still be able to write and update! If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! :D Oh, and I jumped the gun and have written the final chapter! But you can't see that now~ anyway, enjoy!

This Love, This Hate - Hollywood Undead, the most amazing band ever!

Riku had plenty of time to think on the way to his destination. He had been noticing a change in Toni lately, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. She had fallen for Sora. He had no idea when or where it happened, but all he knew is that it happened. It hurt just to think about it. He really did love Toni, even more so when she told him her story. He vowed to help her. But the lie she had told him about Kairi always stuck with him in the back of his head. He still wasn't over that, and in his mind, if she lied to him about that, maybe she was really lying about her feelings for him. That would totally tear him apart if that were true…but he couldn't rule that possibility out. He had to find out the truth, but not from Toni. He now he had to change his focus. He had another young woman to worry about, a red head whom his princess had taken from him. He had to find her, with or without her help. He would do anything now, even if it meant going deeper into darkness.

'Whatever you do, please stay as far as you can from the darkness, Riku…' Toni's voice echoed in his head. 'I don't know what I'd do if I lost you to it…'

Well, there was only one way to find out, Riku thought grimly. He hated thinking like this. He always felt so guilty! He had been with Toni for so long, he'd helped her through so many rough times, comforted her, laughed with her, cried with her, always with her. They were like best friends, lovers, and now here he was, doubting everything they had been through.

"Everything happens for a reason…" he muttered darkly as his assignment came into view.

---

The little puppet wandered off to a shipwreck inside of the giant whale, carrying a large and heavy looking block. An elderly man stood by a desk, looking over a few old papers. He noticed the boy and smiled.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?" he asked in a fatherly voice. The puppet set the big block, a Gummi block, at the man's feet.

"With this, we can get out of here, Father!" He said excitedly. The elderly man laughed and examined the block.

"With this?" he asked, looking closely at the oddly colored building material.

"It's true." Sora said from the ships edge. Him, Donald and Goofy were hanging off the edge, watching the two. The old man looked up, a bit surprised. "So, how did you get here?" he asked the two. The old man sighed and shook his head.

"Oh, my. So the whale swallowed you, too. My goodness…" he said and rubbed his head. Sora shrugged his shoulders and climbed onto the ship.

"Looks like it." He said with a smile. The old man laughed slightly.

"My name is Geppetto." He said. "I'm Pinocchio's father. When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again." He said with a happy smile. While introductions were being made and stories being shared, Pinocchio spotted movement from the corner of his eye. It looked like a blur of silver hair, but he couldn't be sure. Curiosity got the best of the little puppet, and he wandered off after the blur, into another chamber of the whales' insides.

"So, you seem to know Pinocchio quite well. I hope he was a good boy in my absence." He said with a laugh, moving the large Gummi block. "Well, we've all had quite an adventure, right Pinocchio?" No answer. Geppetto's face dropped. "Pinocchio?" Nothing. Sora and company added the worried man in searching for his son, but with no luck.

"Oh dear…" Geppetto said, worried. Sora smiled and jabbed his thumb into his chest.

"Don't worry, Geppetto. We'll find him!" he said with a smile. Geppetto smiled back, though it was still a worried one. Sora, Donald, and Goofy searched the whole area before traveling deeper inside the whale. In the first chamber they came to, they saw Pinocchio near the back, looking at the way to the next chamber. Sora sighed.

"Pinocchio, what are you doing? C'mon, let's get back." He said in as stern a voice as he could muster up. He obviously wasn't close to being father material yet.

"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you." Goofy added, going for the guilt factor. Nothing. The puppet boy just stared into the next area. Sora grew a tad annoyed. Ugh, kids…

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around! This is no time for games." He said more seriously and turned to leave, expecting the boy to follow. He hadn't even taken a step when a blast from the past reached his ears.

"But, Sora, I thought you liked games. Or are you too cool for them now that you have the Keyblade." The voice sounded playful, but Sora could hear resentment. The Keyblade master wheeled around and saw none other than his long lost friend, Riku, grinning at him. Pinocchio stood behind him, not sure what was going on. Sora's jaw dropped. He'd found Riku again!

"Riku! Wh-what are you doing here?!" He stammered, caught between excitement and shock. Riku smirked.

"Just playing with Pinocchio." He said cooly. Sora made a face. He seemed…different.

"You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" He asked, eager for more information about his long lost, but never forgotten, friend. Riku narrowed his eyes at him and pretended to examine his nails, acting like he didn't care. That hurt Sora.

"Maybe." He said, then shot a grin up at Sora. "Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know." He said and grabbed Pinocchios arm and took off. Sora and companies jaws dropped. He was acting like the bad guy!

"Oh come on!" Sora shouted after him, but Riku was long gone. Sora grunted and took off after him. In the next chamber, though, he saw no sight of them or a clue as to where they might have gone. Sora groaned. This could take a while…

Riku stood in another chamber with none other than Maleficent. He had lost Pinocchio, but was confident that he'd find him again. Maleficent grinned down at the silver haired youth.

"Why do you still care for that boy?" she asked. "He had all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all." She said, filling his head with more lies. She knew him and Toni had been on the rocks since the little Kairi fiasco, and now was a good time to take advantage of him. He was lost at the moment, and would more than likely believe anything she told him.

"I don't care about him. I was just messing with him a little." He said coldly. He had taken lessons from Toni, and they were paying off well. He had taken lying lessons as well. Sora was his best friend, of course he cared. But…he DID seem to care more about the Keyblade than him, Kairi, and Toni...

"Oh really?" Maleficent said with a grin. "Of course you were…" she saw straight through his lie, but Riku could care less right now. "Beware of the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey on it." She said, the same exact words Toni always told him, but in a more indirect way. Riku glared up at her.

"Mind your own business." He snapped. Maleficent shrugged and formed a dark portal, into which she stepped and vanished. Just as she did, Pinocchio ran in, closely followed by Sora. He stopped when he saw Riku, a confused and hurt look on his face. Pinocchio ran behind Riku again, staring at Sora.

"Riku! What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?" he asked, hoping to talk some sense into his once best friend. He said once because he was sure Riku was against him in this battle against darkness…Pinocchio sensed the tension in the air and took that moment to flee into the next chamber. Riku glared at Sora.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?"

Sora gasped, taken totally off guard. Donald and Goofy looked shocked as well. Sora got a very hurt expression on his face.

"Of course I do…" he said quietly. He has to save Toni too. He wondered if Riku knew that…

Suddenly, Pinocchio yelled from the next chamber, interrupting the little argument between Sora and Riku. The two temporarily put aside their differences and rushed to the little puppets aid. In the next chamber, the group sees Pinocchio trapped inside what looks like a Heartless cage. Sora quickly took out his Keyblade at the same time Riku took out his sword. The two glanced at each other as Donald and Goofy readied their weapons as well.

"You up for this?" Riku asked, knowing it was a stupid question. Sora grinned at his friend.

"No problem. Let's do it!"

The four of them got to work bashing away at the Parasite Heartless, having a hard time avoiding the large appendages the Heartless used as weapons. Only the very top of the Heartless was vulnerable, and it was a bitch to get to! Riku really did help, though, by distracting the Heartless for Sora and his group to go after the top. Sora found it awkward, though, to fight next to Riku. It didn't feel right anymore. Something felt…off. He couldn't put his finger on it. His moves seemed different as well, like he was thinking too much about something…

Finally, Riku delivered the final blow to the Heartless. It rose to the top of the chamber, spitting Pinocchio into the hole where it once stood. Wasting no time, Riku dove after it. Sora, though, watched as the Heartless vanished into a hole in the roof. He growled and then turned his attention to the hole in the floor. Donald and Goofy quickly jumped in, followed closely by Sora.

The hole led back to the shipwreck in the whales mouth. What Sora saw shocked him beyond all belief. Riku stood on a high platform, in front of another entry way to another part of the whale. He had a limp Pinocchio under his arm, his cold blue eyes staring down at his upset father.

"Please!" Geppetto pleaded. "Give me back my son!"

"Sorry, old man." Riku said coldly. "But I have some unfinished business with this puppet."

"He's no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy!" Geppetto nearly yelled, almost to the point of tears. Riku looked like he could care less as he looked down at the puppet.

"He's unusual…" he said, in thought again, ignoring the pained and angered look he was getting from Sora and his new friends. He was beyond caring. He was so confused, lost, lonely…he had only one mission. "Not many puppets have hearts. Maybe he can help someone who lost theirs." He said and looked directly at Sora, who paled.

"Wait a minute…are you talking about Kairi?!" He asked, shocked. He knew Toni had lost her heart years ago, and there was no hope of getting it back. He couldn't mean her! Kairi had lost her heart…that tore Sora up inside. Knowing Toni was the one who took her, it was hard for him to remember that she was in danger as well. Riku glared at him, easily reading his eyes from as far away as he was.

"What do you care about her?" He snapped, meaning both Kairi and Toni. With that, he disappeared into the chamber he was outside of. Sora just stared. He couldn't believe it! Kairi…lost her heart. More than likely because of Toni…that just killed him inside. Geppetto turned to Sora, worried out of his mind.

"Please! You have to save Pinocchio!" he said. Sora looked at him and nodded once. Donald and Goofy looked worried as well, but for Sora as well as Pinocchio. Without another word, the group made their way into the chamber Riku disappeared into. Once inside, Sora and company see Riku standing across the room, Pinocchio laying limp against the wall. Riku is just staring at the group, his eyes colder than Sora had ever seen them. Something HAD to be wrong…

"Let Pinocchio go, Riku!" Sora demanded. Riku just stared at him, sending chills up and down Donald and Goofy's spine.

"A puppet that's lost his heart to the Heartless." He said coolly. "Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi."

Sora's eyes narrowed at him. Riku just smirked

"How about it, Sora?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Let's join forces to save Kairi. We can do it together. We might even be able to save Toni…" he added, suddenly becoming very serious. Sora's heart skipped a beat at Toni's name. So, Riku DID know…but, just how far was he willing to go to save his friends? Sora sighed and took out his Keyblade, ready for the fight of his life. Riku's eyes widened.

"What? You'd rather fight me over a puppet that has no heart?" He asked, genuinely shocked. But he shouldn't be, and he knew it. But, why was he? He should have expected this from Sora. So many things were going on inside his head, it was almost too much to handle. Sora just stared at him.

"Heart or no heart, he still has a conscious." Sora said shortly. Riku raised his eyebrow.

"Conscious?" he asked.

"It may be small, and you might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear, and it's telling me you're on the wrong side!" Sora nearly yelled, finally coming to terms that Riku was his enemy now, too. Enemies with the same goal…Sora had NO idea how that worked. It was going to be interesting, that's for sure! The two 'friends' stared at each other for the longest time, both having internal wars. Riku wanted so bad to save Kairi, and even Toni, no matter what the cost. But Sora…he was hesitant. Sora, on the other hand, saw things very differently. Riku finally narrowed his crystalline eyes.

"Then you leave me no choice…" he said in a dark voice, almost scaring Sora and his group. Sora just stared, slack jawed.

"…you're not Riku." He finally said, shaking his head. Riku just laughed.

"What? You don't remember your old friend?" he asked.

"LIAR!" Sora shouted. Now it all made sense. "You're not Riku!"

Little Pinocchio started to stir, though it was very little. He had almost no strength left.

"Pinocchio!" Goofy called. Pinocchio barely had enough strength to respond.

"I'm not…gonna make it…"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his nose grew, signaling he had lied. Sora and Riku just stared at the puppet, who suddenly looked 100% better. Sora smiled, while Riku just glared. Suddenly, the whole world seemed to shake as a hole in the ceiling opened up, dropping the Heartless parasite from before into the middle of the area. Donald squawked as the three began to fight. Riku, though, took that moment to disappear into a portal, taking Pinocchio with him. Sora, though, didn't notice. Him, Donald, and Goofy went at the parasite like there was no tomorrow, wondering why it seemed harder this time around. The group had a few too many close calls, causing Sora's stress levels to rise. Finally, after a wicked intense battle, the group defeated the parasite, which began to disintegrate and fizzle away into green smoke, causing the whole world to shake again. Sora frantically looked around for Riku while Donald and Goofy tried to drag him out.

"Riku!" He called. "Riku!"

Monstro stopped swimming through space and twisted his face, like he was about to sneeze. He breathed in a deep breath and finally let out a mighty sneeze, spewing out the Gummi ship. Luckily, everyone had gotten on in time. Donald and Goofy had a helluva time because Sora wanted to make sure Riku was safe, but he couldn't find him. Now Sora was stuck in the Gummi ship again, left by the window to think about things that would more than likely depress and confuse him. Man, this whole Keyblade master thing was turning out to be a huge pain in the--

---

Riku had returned to Hallow Bastion for a brief moment. He had so many things running through his head, he just had to talk to someone. Toni was the only person he could think of. He wanted to clear a few things with her anyway…it would be better for him. He quietly opened the door to her room, expecting to see her lounging on her bed or on her balcony. Instead, she was sitting in the middle of the floor, a picture in her hand. She looked so sad…Riku closed the door behind him, startling her. Once she saw it was Riku, relief flooded her face.

"Riku!" She quickly got up and rushed over to him, hugging him tight. Riku smiled and hugged her back, happy to be back in her arms. He almost forgot why he was here. "I'm so glad you're okay." Toni said with a huge smile on her face. Riku smiled back, but Toni could tell it wasn't a real smile. She stepped away from Riku, her face dropping.

"Are you…okay?" She asked. Riku shook his head.

"I need answers." He said shortly. Toni gulped and nodded. Riku wasted no time in asking questions.

"Kairi lost her heart." He said bluntly. "Did you know this would happen?"

Toni hesitated. She couldn't lie to him anymore, not if she wanted to keep him. She nodded her head slightly, a look of sheer guilt on her face. Riku's face twisted into a glare.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked in a loud voice. Toni winced. Stick to the truth, she told herself.

"I was selfish…" she admitted. "There's a way to save her, I know there is…I just…don't know it. I was planning on telling you after we got out of here…"

Riku just stared at her. "You wanted to save yourself first." Was all he could say. Toni quickly tried to explain herself, but Riku stopped her by holding up his hand. Toni winced, afraid he was going to hit her.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked. Toni hesitated. He was going to find out sooner or later…

"You were supposed to be the Keyblade master…" she said in a tiny voice. Riku just stared at her. He got answers…but they hurt. They hurt so much. He still had more, but he was afraid to ask. Toni saw him thinking and nervously looked away.

"I was ordered to go to Destiny Island to keep you from getting the Keyblade and to destroy the world…" she admitted. Riku hadn't heard this story. He knew she was supposed to take Destiny Island, but the Keyblade was new to him. "I got to know you though, and felt guilty about it…about everything. I hadn't had friends in so long, let alone someone who actually loved me…"

Riku just kept staring, not sure whether or not to believe her. She sounded like she was telling the truth. Why would she lie about things like that…?

"Do you really love me, or do you love the Keyblade master…" he said quietly, his pain finally showing. He didn't even wait for her to reply. He just turned and left, not wanting her to see him like this. Toni was so taken aback by Riku's comment she had hardly any time to respond.

"Bu…R-Riku! No! I love YOU!" she shouted after him, but she doubted he heard her, because he didn't come back. Toni's eyes welled up as she was left alone once again, though not for long. Soon, Ansem walked in, grinning.

"Oh my, did someone have a fight?"

Toni quickly dried her tears and went on the defensive. "It's none of your business…" she said. Ansem chuckled and walked into her room, closing the door behind him.

"You did a fine job with your prince, Toni…" he said, still grinning. Toni just stared up at him. "The darkness is slowly consuming his heart. Pretty soon, there will be nothing left…"

"That's not true!" Toni yelled. Ansem just laughed.

"He's becoming very powerful…he shall prove very useful."

"You won't lay a freaking FINGER on him!" Toni yelled in a very menacing voice. Ansem now glared at her.

"This was inevitable. Instead," he said, his grin returning, but it held so much malice Toni recoiled. "think of it as a sacrifice…"

These lies are leading me astray. It's to much for me to stay. I don't wanna live this destiny. It goes on endlessly...I see you so please stay strong! I'll sing you one last song and then I'm gone. I don't wanna live this destiny. It goes on endlessly...This Love, This Hate, Is Burning Me Away...