Chapter 21 (Part 3: The Big Book of Everything)
Red and PJ found themselves in a world that looked very ordinary. They were in a neighborhood that felt very suburban. And PJ couldn't help but feel familiarity there. He remembered back when he was a boy, when he still lived with his father, his mother and his little sister. Max was his next door neighbor, along with his father, Goofy. Max was so much fun. He was into comic books, video games and movies. The boys would often play hookey and they would go to an amusement park away from it all.
But that was when they were kids. When they became teens, the world changed around them. Max got interested in girls, while PJ had to suffer the loss of his father to the dark side. After his parents divorced, Maleficent came and took Pete away. Max was never there for him. He had other things to worry about than his friend's suffering. The only one who was pretty much helping him out at this point was Max's slightly older brother, Red.
"What's on your mind?" asked Red.
"Nothing. It's just that… I feel so confused right now." said PJ.
"Confused?" Red said.
"Roxanne is with us. It feels so surreal." said PJ.
"I know. Remember how obsessed Max was with her?" said Red.
"I remember. That was so long ago." said PJ.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked little Clay, who was on PJ's shoulder.
"Just talking about private stuff," said PJ.
"I get it. You guys are talking about that pretty girl with the other team. She is cute." said Clay.
"So Clay, what world are we in now?" asked Red.
"We are in my friend Stanley's world. He's so into animals and he has a talking goldfish for a pet." said Clay.
"He can't be the only one living in this hub world." said Red.
"Nope. He lives with his family. Right about now, his cat and dog are probably singing about the Great Big Book of Everything." said Clay.
"The what now?" asked PJ.
"I don't understand. Are we supposed to know this?" asked Red.
"In a way yeah. And in a way no." said Clay.
Just then, Heartless appeared. As usual. However, something was different. They didn't look like the aggressive types. In fact, they looked like mushrooms.
"Don't bother with those guys. They are harmless. If you do magic spells on them, they give you prizes." said Clay with a smile.
"Heartless that give gifts out? Now I've seen and heard everything." said PJ.
"I read about those in Jiminy Cricket's new book. These Heartless are safe." said Red.
"As long as they are not purple, we're good." said Clay.
Vanitas was hiding in the backyard of a home when he heard Clay said: "As long as they are not purple, we're good."
He smirked slightly, his wings almost hugging him. He snapped his fingers. "Shouldn't kept your creepy stop motion mouth quiet you creepy little thing." he whispered to himself. He then laughed as he heard PJ and Red gasp and pull out their weapons to fight the purple Mushroom like Heartless that appeared suddenly.
"Who are you?" asked a boy, standing in front of Vanitas.
"Damn it." thought Vanitas. He looked down to see the boy. He was wearing a red shirt with white stripes. Stanley was his name. He was by himself apparently and Vanitas let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you an eagle?" asked Stanley.
"Excuse me?" asked Vanitas.
"Yes, you look like an Eagle! Wait until I get my book to look you up." said Stanely.
"I'm no eagle. I'm what you call an eternal nightmare." said Vanitas.
"Oh. You're human. Then you're probably one of my brother's friends. He's upstairs listening to rock music." said Stanely, apparently bummed out.
"Tell me kid. What light protects this world?" asked Vanitas.
"What?" asked Stanely.
"Light. The power of light. What protects this world?" asked Vanitas.
"I don't know what you're talking about. But the sun gives us light. Without the sun, we'll be in darkness for ever." said Stanely.
"I see. Then you don't know. You know nothing of this world's power." said Vanitas.
Stanley backed away a little. "Are you one of them? You know…. A Heartless?" asked Stanely.
Vanitas smiled and pulled Stanley into the air, holding him.
"I'm their proxy. Their leader." said Vanitas with his eyes turning orange with rage. Stanley then bit Vanitas's hand and ran off. Vanitas then laughed like a crazy man and folded his arms.
"It appears these hub worlds were not a complete waste of time after all." he said to himself.
Meanwhile, in another world, Roxanne, Sky and Summer were running as fast as they could. The shadow of Axel was running around the hub worlds, summoning wave after wave of Heartless. In a short amount of time, they traveled through a small circus, then a cute little city and much more. As they were running after the shadow, Roxanne had to stop to catch her breath.
"This thing won't stop won't it?" she said aloud.
Summer stood by her side, nodding in agreement. "The shadow was powered up by something somehow." she said.
"Vanitas did that. I just know it." said Sky.
"Well, since we were running like a marathon, why didn't we see Vanitas earlier?" asked Roxanne.
Just then, a shadow of a winged creature landed to greet them. "You called?" Vanitas said, stroking his chin.
"There you are!" cried Summer, pointing her Keyblade at Vanitas.
"Please Vanitas, we must stop this." said Roxanne.
"I made a deal with your friend there. I cannot break the deal." said Sky.
"The challenge. I still haven't given up. I will wake Axel from his shadow form." said Sky.
"Yet you failed miserably. You had a chance back in that stupid car world. Now that we are in a world practically ruled by preschoolers, shouldn't this whole thing be a lot easier?" asked Vanitas.
"You dare mock us." said Roxanne.
"No my dear. I'm just stating the facts." said Vanitas.
"We're sick of your stupid mind games!" cried Summer.
Vanitas smiled and pulled Sky to his side. "If you are sick of me, then come find me and rescue your friend, like your wench master Aqua." sneered Vanitas as he flew into the heavens, holding poor Sky.
"Let me go!" cried Sky.
"And what? Drop you until you die in a preschool world? That would be the stupidest death in the history of deaths, don't you think squirt?" said Vanitas. He flew away, with Roxanee and Summer speechless. They didn't know what else to say but run.
"Roxanne, you stay! I'll handle Vanitas!" cried Summer.
"You'll never make it in time! Here!" cried Roxanne. She then handed Summer a blue summon gem. Summer grabbed it and felt a familiar warmth coming from it. She smiled and threw the gem into the air. It then exploded into a river of water and a large bubble appeared. And out of the bubble was the cutest baby elephant of all.
"Dumbo. Take Summer and chase Vanitas!" cried Roxanne. Dumbo made a funny sound with his trumpet and allowed Summer to climb his back.
"Dumbo right? I'm Summer. Now let's go rescue my friend!" cried Summer. Dumbo agreed and he flew high into the air, chasing Vanitas.
Red and PJ eventually caught up to Roxanne, who was still catching her breath. "Where are we this time?" asked PJ.
"I believe we are in the 100th Acre Wood." said Red, looking around the forest they were in.
"Summer is going after Vanitas. He took off with Sky." said Roxanne.
"What? No way!" cried PJ.
"No. This is bad." said Clay.
Red then noticed two figures coming towards them. They were both wearing hoods, but they took them off to reveal their faces. Clay beamed with delight as he got off Red's shoulder and apparently slid on the ground to meet them.
"Tony! Vivian! Thank goodness you're here!" cried Clay.
"Who?" asked PJ.
"I am Tony."
"And I am Vivian. You ran past our world a short time ago." said Vivian, with a smile.
"What world was that?" asked Roxanne, shaking Vivian's hand.
"The Box House." replied Tony.
"Right! Are you friends with Clay?" asked Red.
"We are. In fact, we are the guardians of this world, along with Clay here." said Tony.
"We've been keeping the Heartless away from here for some time now." explained Vivian.
"However, Vanitas broke through, and summoned his monsters. We had to cancel our summer school program because of those things." said Tony.
"You guys are in luck! They are heroes!" cried Clay.
"We are here to help. But our friend was kidnapped by Vanitas." said Red.
"I know where they are going. We've been tracking the shadow down using our Keyblades." said Tony.
Roxanne, PJ and Red exchanged looks. "Keyblades?" they asked in unison.
Both Tony and Vivian smiled and reached out their hands to reveal two glorious Keyblades in hand.
"No wonder this world is precious. It's protected by the light of education." said Roxanne.
"The what now?" asked PJ.
"The light of education. You see, certain worlds teach us new things and as we explore into the galaxy…." Roxanne was explaining.
"We've got no time for a science lesson! What about Summer!" cried PJ.
"Summer will stop him. We have faith." said Tony.
"My guess is that they are going to the top of the hill, where the Honey tree is." said Vivian.
"It's not too far. But we must stay out of this fight. Only Summer can handle this." said Tony.
"Why?" asked Red.
"The 100th Acre Wood is in danger. This world has never been touched by the Heartless before. In the past, the only one who was capable of coming here was the brave Sora." said Vivian.
"If the Heartless multiply here, they can spread around all the other worlds in the Playhouse and they will hurt our loved ones." said Tony.
"Our friends and family are in danger. We need to stop the Heartless here. As many as we can." said Vivian.
"That will be possible. With Vanitas busy, he won't summon more." said PJ.
"But the shadow of Axel…" said Red.
"It follows Vanitas around." said Roxanne.
"How is that supposed to make me feel any better?" asked Red.
"Summer is tough. And Sky is there. No way Vanitas can handle them together." said PJ.
Tony and Vivian then put their Keyblades into the air and summoned light orbs. They then went into the sky, and all of a sudden, a powerful force of air was spread all over.
"What was that?" asked Red.
"A Stop Spell. It will give us time to find the Heartless." said Vivian.
"That's clever!" cried Clay.
"They won't move anywhere, now that time stopped!" cried Roxanne with joy.
"But Vanitas?" asked Red.
"No buts! Let's get to work!" said Roxanne with her sword in the air.
"She's our boss now," said PJ.
Red rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same.