Chapter XXVIII- Monstro (Part 3)
The gang all fell down and landed in a narrow tunnel. Riku and Pinocchio was nowhere to be found.
Immediately Sora turned to his brother. "You said you talked with him,why is Riku acting so strange?"
Koga frowned. "He's working with Maleficent."
Donald and Goofy gasped as Sora's mouth went agape. "No, that can't be true!" Koga pulled out a picture of the silver haired teen talking with Maleficent, he silently took it right before he confronted him.
"It's the truth, and his mind is in a dark place." He said staring blankly to the other end of the tunnel.
"Are you okay Koga?" Goofy asked concerned.
"Y-yeah, it's just that Riku said some things that kinda hurt." He said sniffing a bit. "Like how I am just a useless tag along, and that we don't care about Kairi. It got me so mad I almost..." Immediately he felt Sora put a hand on his shoulder with a look of concern for his brother. Koga let out a shaky breath and aknowledged his brother's comfort. "I know he was lying." He pulled away. "Look, we don't have time to waste. We gotta get Pinocchio back." Sora nodded grimly.
The group continued on and made their way to what is most likely the stomach of the whale. They were surrounded by a large pool of stomach acid and Riku stood in the center next to a unconscious Pinocchio up above them was the Parasite Cage hanging by it's tentacles.
Sora glared at the teen. "Hey, let Pinocchio go Riku!"
"A puppet that lost it's heart to the Heartless... Maybe it holds the Key to helping Kairi." He mumbled, then turned to the others. "How about it Sora, why not join forces and save her? I'll even let your brother tag along." He said walking towards them. Immediately they all pulled out their weapons to attack. Riku looked at him with surprise.
"I didn't want to believe it but you really did say those things to Koga."
"I only said what was true. He's a useless tag along, what good is he to anyone. I bet you wish he wasn't your brot-" Koga gave a warning shot at Riku which narrowly missed him. He gave a stern glare. "Guess I touched a nerve? So is this what it has come to, abandoning Kairi and fighting your own friend, over a puppet."
"At least he has a conscious unlike you." Sora said with righteous fury, pointing his Keyblade at him. "You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side."
Riku turned to Koga with a half smile. "What about you? Don't you remember our promise?"
"You are not the person I considered my best friend, not anymore." Koga said. "Our promise means nothing anymore."
Riku snarled at them. "Then you leave me no choice." He pulled his hand back as it filled with dark energy. Before he unleashed it Koga sprinted forward and kicked his former friend square in the nuts. Riku lurched back in pain, throwing his dark fireball upwards. He quickly slashed at Koga with his sword before jumping back. The dark projectile hit the Parasite Cage and it shrieked badly as it lost its grip and slipped. It landed in the pool with a splash as it was dissolved by the acidic liquid. The pool started turning an inky black color as the entire whale shook at the unknown food it's digesting. Riku used this distraction to disappear into a dark portal.
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy said running to the boy's side. Pinocchio weakly turned his head to the cricket.
"Jiminy, I'm not gonna make it." Pinocchio said. Suddenly his wooden nose grew by a few inches. The puppet looked at it with a surprised and happy look. "Oh, guess I'm okay!"
"What's going on?" Donald said. The stomach was still rumbling and the acid pool was bubbling. Suddenly they heard the whale make this strange sound.
"I can only think of two things that's gonna happen, both of which has the whale expelling it's contents." Koga said freaked out.
"We need to get back to the ship before we get shot into space!" Sora said waving his hands frantically. Suddenly the Parasite Cage jumped right out of the stomach acid, half melted and extremely angry. The acid mixed with the darkness to make some kind of awful dark bile concoction that the Heartless is feeding off of. It gave a garbled roar.
"Run for it!"
Koga picked up Pinocchio and Jiminy hopped back onto Sora's side. They all dashed like crazy through the tunnels and chambers of the whale. The half digested Heartless pursued them like a crashing wave. Any debris caught in it's wake got absorbed and dissolved.
The Parasite Cage slammed it's tentacles at them trying to crush them but they stayed out of it's range.
"Please let this work." Koga put Pinocchio on one arm and used the other to summon his Keyblade. He shot at a large pile of driftwood they passed that was listing on it's side. It toppled over and fell on the Heartless.
"That won't hold him forever!" Jiminy said holding on to his hat.
They reached a new chamber that had a steep drop spanning all the way to the end, making it impossible to traverse to the other side.
"It's a dead end! We have to go back!" Donald said. They looked back and the Heartless was gaining on them.
"It's coming!" Sora yelled. "We have to think of something quick!" Koga looked at the summon charm he got and he got an idea..
"Too late, jump!" Goofy yelled as they all jumped off the ledge before the Heartless grabbed them. It dove after them in a sea of fury.
"Give me strength!" Koga shouted as suddenly there was a burst of bubbles all around them. They landed on something that lifted them up into the air. They opened their eyes and saw them on the back of a young elephant with large ears. It was currently flapping said ears to fly.
"Thanks Dumbo, now let's get out of here!" The elephant gave a happy trumpet as he flew them up out of the chamber. The Heartless roared as it fell into the abyss below.
Monstro seemed to be breathing faster as the coming sneeze was building up. They finally made it to the mouth and it was a complete mess. The mouth was open as Monstro was inhaling deeply (Wherever the air was coming from is anybody's guess) and the strong gust of wind was blowing all the debris around. The gummi ship was pushed back and landed close to Gepetto's ship, a bunch of wooden planks fell on it. The old man was hiding in his ship when he saw them fly in. Figaro and Cleo looked at them freaked out by all that's happening.
"Father!" Pinocchio said jumping off of Koga's arms. Donald and Goofy ran to the Gummi ship to turn it on. Dumbo joined them and spewed high pressure water from it's trunk to knock off the debris.
"Pinocchio, I was so worried about you!" Gepetto said hugging his boy. He looked to the others. "What is happening and why is there a elephant with you?"
"No time, Monstro is gonna sneeze and we are getting out of here NOW!" Sora said. Gepetto's eyes widened but understood the situation. He scooped up Figaro and Cleo in his arms and followed them into the ship. It was a tight fit, holding 5 people, a cricket, a elephant, a cat, and a fish but they made room.
"Alright, system are ready to go!" Donald said. The ship lifted up shakily, aiming at the open maw. "Blast off!" Donald said pressing the throttle. Suddenly the ship stopped mid blast, the whiplash knocking everyone over. The ship blared, saying that there was a increase in pressure to the hull.
"Look behind us!" Gepetto said.
Sora turned around and saw the Parasite Cage has caught up to them. It's tentacles wrapped around the ship in a vice grip. It was going to drag the ship down with it!
Koga slid down into the guns of the ship and tried to aim the cannon but it wasn't in it's line of sight. He then noticed the whale open it's mouth wider than before and realized what was about to happen. "Everyone hold on!" And then the whale let loose.
The sheer force of the sneeze was intense. Even the Parasite Cage couldn't handle the force as it was ripped apart. Debris flew everywhere as the Gummi ship got shot out of Monstro. It spun madly as everyone held on for dear life. Many items crashed against the ship at high velocity, leaving dents and scratches. What lasted a minute felt like an eternity to the passengers. Soon everything calmed down. They looked and saw they made it out of the whale. Monstro looked at them with disgust and flew (or swam?) off into deep space. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly the barely surviving head of the Parasite Cage slammed against the cockpit's front view. Everyone screamed in panic as Donald pressed any random button frantically.
"Hit the window wipers. The Window Wipers!" Koga screamed in a high pitched voice. Donald did as he asked and the remains of the Heartless got shoved aside.
"Whew, we made it." Sora breathed.
Riku looked down at Kairi. After he left Sora and Koga in Monstro he made it onto Hook's ship and used the Captain's quarters to put the currently sleeping girl. He frowned acknowledging Maleficent approaching him.
"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"
"Precisely."
Riku clenched his fists trying to conceal his emotions. "And her heart was..." He couldn't bear to finish the sentence.
"Taken by the Heartless no doubt." Maleficent felt Riku's tone shift to hostility so she added. "Yes, I control the Heartless but true power is out of my hands. There was nothing I could have done to prevent this. That's why I need your help."
"Tell me, what can I do?!" Riku turned to her with desperation in his eyes.
Maleficent leaned in close to him. "Know that there is darkness and light in almost any living being. The Heartless are the beings of pure dark, but even they have the smallest glimmer of light. And out there are maidens known as 'Princesses of Heart'. They are the exception, born with hearts naturally devoid of darkness. We need to gather at least seven of them together and then a door will open to the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts! Within lies untold wisdom and power. There you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart."
Riku thought about this. Sora and Koga may not like this but if he's the only one who can do it then he must.
"Now then, I was watching your confrontation with your friends, you seemed to have discovered a new power?"
Riku nodded bringing his fist up and gazed at it. "That fireball I hit the Heartless with, what was that?"
"That was just a taste of wielding the power of darkness. Give it time and you will achieve much with it. And to help you on your way, I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless!"
A aura of green fire enveloped Riku and he felt a cold but strong rush of power. This power, it felt good, but it left a cold sting in his heart that he suppressed.
He turned to his sleeping friend. When he wakes her, she will understand this was all to help her.
"Soon, Kairi. Soon."
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!" Young Sora said.
Him, his brother, and Riku were walking across the island towards a small hidden cave they discovered. Koga was walking nervously close to Riku.
"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" Riku asked.
"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there, I'm telling you! You saw it right Koga?"
Koga fidgeted in place. "I'm not admitting anything."
Riku chuckled. "All right. Suppose there really is a monster... Think we can beat it by ourselves, guys?"
"I mean, we are pretty tough as a team but I don't know if my slingshot can do anything." Koga muttered.
Sora beamed and put a fist out. "No problem. Let's do it!" Sora paused and looked towards the cave. "Listen! There! Can you hear it growling?" They listened closely and heard something that almost sounded like a guttural growl. Koga yelped hearing the sound again.
Riku grabbed his friend's shoulders and shushed him. "We've gotta be quiet so we can sneak up on it. Unless you want to get eaten by it."
"Don't joke like that Riku!" Koga hissed as they tiptoed into the cave. They reached a corner and assumed the monster was on the other end.
"Ready guys... 1... 2... 3!" They all gave a battle cry as they ran in with their wooden toy weapons. They stopped when they saw the cave was empty. Looking up they saw the cracks between the rocks where the wind blew in making the growling noise.
"Aw, it was just the wind!?" Sora groaned. Koga sighed, hiding his disappointment to see a monster.
"Hold on! What's that over there?" Riku pointed at a smooth wooden door with no handle at the end of the cave. He inspected it and couldn't find a single opening to it. "It's just a useless door."
"Geez, is that really all that's down here?"
"What do you expect, nothing interesting ever happens here." Koga says looking upwards. "Gee, it sure is boring around here. I wish we could see something new."
"You read my mind buddy." Riku said looking at them. "Hey guys."
"Hm?" The twins hummed in unison. Riku had a determined look in his eyes.
"When we grow up, let's get off this island. And then we'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"
"Count me in." Koga said with the same determined look. "We'll see it together."
"Promise?"
Koga grinned. "Promise." Riku looked sceptical at first, like he was just teasing him but he smiled alongside him trusting his friend to keep the promise.
Sora eagerly nodded with them. "I'm in too. But isn't there anything fun to do now?"
"Hmm, hey you remember the new girl living with the Mayor?" Koga asked. "You know the one from the meteor shower?"
"You mean the one you confessed your love to barely a minute into meeting each other?" Sora teased nudging his shoulder.
Koga looked at him angrily with puffed cheeks. They all walked together out of the cave, not noticing the door revealing a large glowing Keyhole in it's center.
Koga sighed as he looked into space. He decided to stay in the weapons turret , wanting to stay away from everyone for the moment. He needed to think while they flew the newcomers to Traverse Town. After what they've been through they deserve a safe haven.
"Hey, you okay?" Sora asked, sliding into the space. Koga quickly wiped his eyes. Despite the cramped space Sora squeezed right next to his brother.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." The teen said trying to hide his tears.
"Koga... you were crying weren't you?"
And Koga couldn't even hold it in. He started sobbing silently as he couldn't look his own brother in the eye.
"He was my best friend."
"He was my best friend to." Sora said calmly.
"But we grew up together, played together, and fought together. I looked up to him, he was like a second brother to me. And now he tells me it was all a lie. Am I really such an awful person to drive him away?"
"Don't say that Koga!" Sora said angrily. "You are a great brother and equally great friend. Riku is stupid for taking you for granted."
Koga gave a dry chuckle. "You know, despite everything, I still don't hate him."
Sora sighed looking up. "I don't either. Whatever happened to him, it was Maleficent's fault. We will stop her and bring our friend back. And if he really meant what he said then we will kick his butt together and show him how wrong he was."
"It still hurts. I wish it didn't!" Koga blubbered.
Sora wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders. Koga rushed in and hugged his brother tightly, body shaking with sobs. Sora teared up a bit as well. They fell asleep like that in the chair, brothers in each other's arms, thinking the same thing.
No matter what Riku was planning, they are going to stop him.
Longer chapter than usual but I was enjoying myself too much writing this!
So that Parasite Cage chase section was entirely new. It was inspired by the old 2000 Spiderman PlayStation game, the Monster Ock boss fight (That fight freaking scared me as a little kid). I wanted to try something different with this boss, something that had the same tension as the climax of the Pinocchio movie. What do you think?
And UUGGGHH, THE FEELS! WHY DO I LIKE HURTING MY OC'S!? But Koga feels utterly betrayed by someone he trusts so much! Hopefully things will get more lighthearted in the next chapter.
I'll see you next time,
HAVE FUN!