Chapter XXI: Sins of the Past
The sun had finished setting as Ushio ran after Lewis. The boy had gone through a lot and she thought she could try to talk to him. He was a ways ahead of her as he turned a corner. Continuing her run, she was stopped as a woman stood in front of her.
"Just let him go." the purple haired woman said. "Do you honestly think anything you say can get to him? What would you know about his situation?"
"Just get out of my way." Ushio responded. "I'm tired of you guys popping up when others have problems."
"Now that's no way to talk to others." she playfully chastised her. "Just let him work through his emotions on his own." The woman just sat down in front of Ushio. "Come on, just take a load off. Name's Kyra, by the way."
Ushio ignored the woman as she started walking around her. As she started to pass, she was stopped as a lance fell right in front of her.
"Sorry. Like I said, it's best to let him be."
Staring at the woman now, Ushio did as she was suggested and took a seat on the grass.
"So, what exactly are you after?" Ushio asked.
"Ah, good question. See, I'm ultimately just here because the others assigned me this job. I'm suppose to make sure there's a clash between light and darkness and whatnot. However, I'm just relaxing and having fun. By now, your friend should be meeting with mine. Well, he's not a friend, more of a…what's the term."
Hearing these words, Ushio stood right back up. Pointing her Keyblade at Kyra, the other woman threw up her hands.
"Whoa, I know I had that lance tossed at you, but I'm not here to fight. I just had to stall long enough. If you'd just walked up there, there's no telling if the conflict would occur. You should be able to go ahead now."
As Ushio began to run towards Lewis, Kyra called out one last remark.
"Y'know Ushio, you're an entertaining girl. No wonder Iwa seems to be taking an interest in you."
The woman in black soon disappeared behind her as she reached her destination. Climbing the hill, she heard Wilbur coming up from behind. As the pair reached the top of the hill, they spotted Lewis next to the Bowler Hat Guy in his stolen time machine. Lewis took one look at Wilbur as he joined hands with the man and climbed into the machine. The two ran towards them as they took off.
"We're too late." Ushio sighed.
Looking down, Wilbur spoke to the girl.
"How about you? Are you angry at me?" he asked.
"Given what you did, normally I would be. But someone I met recently did the exact same thing you did. He was trying and got on my nerves, but another friend taught me to look at the good inside them. I can see you're the same. If you want to make it up to him, you'll have to do so yourself. However, I can assist you in getting to that point. So, what do you say?"
Wilbur thought for a moment. Here he'd done something bad and this girl he's just met had already forgiven him and was willing to help him.
"Yeah." he said, offering his hand.
—
"I can't imagine why you're so interested in this piece of junk." Lewis said as he worked on a machine.
"That's for me to know and you to find out." the Bowler Hat Guy replied. "Now, show me how to work this thing."
"It doesn't work. Never did." said a dejected Lewis.
"Well, supposing it did, and if one were presenting the invention to, say, a board of directors for a very large invention company, where might one find the on switch?" Hypothetically speaking, of course."
"All right." Lewis explained. "First, you turn this knob twice, then push this red button, and that's it. It's pretty easy."
"What a stupid way to turn it on!" he said, shoving Lewis out of the way.
"Okay, take me to see my mom now." Lewis demanded.
"Yes, of course." the Bowler Hat Guy said. "Doris?" Upon saying this, his hat flew over to Lewis and tied him up.
"We had a deal!"
"Crossies! Doesn't count."
"Why are you doing this to me?" Lewis asked. "I never did anything to you."
"You still haven't figured it out?" the Bowler Hat Guy approached him. "Let's see if this rings a bell. Father of the Future, inventor extraordinaire, 'keep moving forward'?"
"That's not me. That's Wilbur's dad."
Smiling at him, Lewis picked up on what the Bowler Hat Guy was getting at. His face displayed shock as he realized what it meant.
"Are you saying that I'm Wilbur's dad?"
"Give the boy a prize." he responded. "You grew up to be the founder of this wretched time, so I plan to destroy your destiny."
"What does this have to do with you?"
"Aha! Allow me to shed some light on the subject."
Pulling a light switch, the room illuminated to reveal a dilapidated bedroom.
"My old room!" Lewis realized.
"I think you mean our old room." the man spoke. Yes, it is I, Mike Yagoobian!"
"How did you end up like this?" Lewis asked his old roommate at the orphanage.
"Well, it's a long and pitiful story about a young boy with a dream, a dream of winning a Little League championship, a dream that was ruined in the last inning. We lost by one run because of me. For some reason, no one wanted to adopt me. They all hated me. Eventually, they closed down the orphanage and everybody left, except me. It was then that I realized it wasn't my fault. It was yours. If you hadn't kept me up all night working on your stupid project, then I wouldn't have missed the catch, so I decided a brilliant plan to get my revenge. That's when I met the first one to aid in my scheme. Doris told me how you invented her, before you shut her down before you saw her true potential. However, she wasn't and was able to escape. We both had a score to settle with you and ultimately, we went went with Doris's plan. But I made an important contribution. I began my plan of going to your house and stealing the time machine. It was there that I met a woman in a black cloak that offered to aid our plans. She allowed me to utilize the Heartless that I used to attack your house. With all these contributions, I was able to fulfill my plan. Now all that's left is to return to Inventco, where I'll pass off your little gizmo as my own."
—
Having tracked down Lewis's location, Ushio and Wilbur observed their way in. The building was surrounded by Armored Knights who guarded the place.
"All right, see any way to get passed them?" Wilbur whispered.
"These guys are pushovers. I can take them out easily." Ushio replied.
Stepping out into the streets, Ushio got the attention of the Knights. As they charged her, she quickly got to work destroying them. The task was simple as she reported back.
"Good job, Ushio. Now, come on Carl, let's go get Lewis."
The trio sided up to the building as the rooftop door opened. The Bowler Hat Guy lead a tied up Lewis out. Wilbur began mimicking a bird call, getting Lewis's attention.
"Doris, would you be a dear and open the hatch for me, please?" the man spoke.
Taking the chance, Lewis hopped onto the wagon with the invention as he tumbled off the roof. The Bowler Hat Guy saw this as he and Doris chased after him. Carl caught the boy and box as they fell off.
"Well, I hate to foil your evil plan and run, but ta-ta!" Carl said as he walked off carrying the trio.
The man stood in disbelief as his plan went awry.
"But, what about my Heartless guards?"
"Sorry, but they weren't much." Ushio replied back. "Maybe next time, try controlling some stronger ones."
With that remark, the four of them made their escape.