The Puppet Master

By GothCloud

(Our story begins at the End of the Universe, devoid of color and light. At the end of all time and all life. You see a soul floating in the darkness. It is the soul of Riku. You then see Riku's body form from the darkness, the souls of those who have long since passed, and the blood of those he cherished. )

Vincent: My new puppet is completed!

Riku: I'm not a puppet! I am not a Heartless that you control.

Vincent: You lost your body. All that remains is your heart. And I have that, see? (holding Riku's heart) This means that I control you now.

Riku: I won't let myself be controlled by you.

Vincent: Hmmm.... They don't make puppets like they used to. Ah well, I shall do so the old fashioned way...

Riku: What?!

Vincent: I will destroy your sanity. I shall make you kill your closest friends and loved ones. You shall be a monster of my creation.

Riku: I can't be used by the darkness anymore...

Vincent: Do you think you defeated the darkness?! The darkness owns you now. I own you!

(Vincent has Riku's heart. He raises his claw, and rips through Riku's heart with it. Riku falls down, holding himself. He feels the pain of a thousand needles ripping through his very soul, sucking out his very few childhood joys, leaving only a void. He lets out a twisted and pained scream that is heard by, he believes, no one.)

Vincent: Now, are you ready to do my bidding?

Riku: Burn in hell!

Vincent: You're pissing me off, kid. Here I am, trying to be a nice guy, giving you a new body, and a new purpose, and all you say to me is...

Riku: I won't be lied to anymore. I sacrificed myself to the darkness to save my friends. I made a pact with Darkness and gave Sora the damned Keyblade of Light to save Sora. I tried to save my friends, so I gave my soul over to the darkness. I found that my so-called best friend found new friends and forgot about me. So, I joined Maleficent to use her. I used the power she gave me to find Kairi.

Vincent: That would touch my heart, if I still had one. But, since I can't do anything about this, I shall let this old friend of yours speak to you. Too bad I couldn't get your little girlfriend. She's somewhere out of my reach. Damn Moniyuuki Guardians...

(Sora comes in. With Goofy, Donald, and Alice.)

Sora: Riku! I have come to kill you! You are the true Prince of Darkness. You're trying to hurt my princess...

Riku: I would never hurt Kairi! And she isn't yours!

Sora: Kairi?! You mean the Placeholder? The one who, for now, holds Alice's place? Kairi's just a poor, naïve girl with too much power and the inability to use it to its fullest potential...It's almost the proper time. In two years' time, we shall drain her of her life force, and transfer her powers to my darling Alice. Purest perfection...and the only one who can attain this level of perfection is standing by my side. Riku, do you not understand? I never wanted to find Kairi because I cared about her. I just want to junction her heart with my keyblade. This way, she can serve me for all eternity.

Alice: Yes, my darling knight, and future King... (rubs Sora's head while Goofy and Donald do poses) We shall rule the Kingdom! And Kairi will be our power supply!

Riku: That plan was a little too smart for you, Sora. So, Vincent's going to make a puppet out of me, and I'm supposed to be your little servant for eternity. When did it ever enter your microscopic brain that I would never betray the True Princess of Hearts? And by that, I mean the real Princess, not this tainted imposter. Sora, don't you get it? Kairi's power doesn't even lie with you. Her heart is linked to the Keyblade master. That is my position. You're just the delivery boy who got just a little too comfortable playing the hero and you even have a little princess with very little understanding of the magnitude of the power she's trying to steal.

Sora: Silence, Infidel! You defend the place of the Placeholder, thus declaring yourself a traitor. You think that you know so much but you're overlooking one thing. That you done so much to be with Kairi but in the end it doesn't matter anymore. Because you will never have her. You are Darkness and she is light. The two can never mix. So in the end it doesn't matter how hard you tried. You two will be forever separated.

Riku: I will have Kairi, if not in life then in death. Sora, where is your family now? Your mother Mimi gave you up at birth. Your mother couldn't take care of you. She couldn't care for a child dedicated, by name, to a woman who got away from your worthless father, Tai. I must question if he should count as a man, let alone a father.

Sora: That's a lie...

Riku: Did you really believe that you were some gift from the sky?

Sora: I am Alice's knight! I will protect the Kingdom of Heart, and its rightful ruler!

Riku: I'm doing that. What you're protecting is False Light.

Alice: For your treason, you must die, Riku! Sora! Get him!

Sora: (draws the Metal Chocobo Keyblade) Die, Riku.

Riku: (draws the One Winged Angel Keyblade.)

Alice: Attack him, my Knight!

(Goofy and Donald jump in)

Goofy: We must protect the princess!

Donald: Sora will help us find the King!

Vincent: This is very entertaining! A rare test. Two former friends, now worst enemies. This takes a strange person to enjoy this. Fortunately, I am a strange person! (laughs as he takes a sip of the Elixir of Life, which is the blood of Aeris.)

(What is left of the light reflects off of a blood-soaked sword. Its reflection shows an image of Aeris, pinned to a wall by her wings, as her body is sliced up in the most horrible way without killing her. Her blood dripped from her body as the Heartless eat the flesh that fell off of her body. Her internal organs were falling out of their proper places. As the darkness, like a large snake, ripped her soul out, leaving a large hole in her back as it left.)

Vincent: Yes, this is truly entertaining, right, Aeris?

Aeris: (weakly) Burn....in....Hell...

Vincent: Yes. Great idea, but...why don't replace me with you, my dear? (sets Aeris on fire. The fire will never, ever go out. Vincent laughs as he hears her screams)

Riku: ....MOTHER!!! You'll pay, you bastard. (runs at Donald and Goofy, rapidly slashing, and knocks Donald unconscious. He stabs Goofy in the chest with the Keyblade, spinning it as his intestines wrapped around the Blade. Goofy falls to his hands and knees as the blood dripped from his body. He thought of the promise he had broken. His failure to do his duty to find the King.)

Riku: Finished... (slices off Goofy's head)

(Donald runs at Riku casting Thunder with his wand)

Riku: (dodges the lightning and pins Donald to the wall. Donald opens his mouth to scream, but Riku rams his keyblade through Donald's mouth, and it goes out the back of his head. Then, Riku yanks the Keyblade out in one sharp motion.)

Vincent: (looks into Riku's eyes. Riku's eyes are deep blood red, twisted in deepest, blackest sorrow. He loved this look of sorrow in the eyes of his victims. It was like reading a good book.)

Sora; You...Killed my friends.... You bastard! I'm going to kill you. I will feed you soul to the darkness. And watch your body melt into the all-encompassing nothingness!

Riku: I can't lose to someone like you.

( Riku and Sora both run at each other swing their keyblades.)

Sora: When I defeat you, you will be my personal pet...The elusive prince of Darkness, reduced to the level of a marionette. I will give you new meaning! You will serve the true Queen of Hearts!

Riku: You worship a false princess shaped from the sick mind of a depraved monster. You serve the same depraved monster under the false promise of immortality and eternal rule. For this, and for Kairi's safety, you must die! (Riku charges at Sora. With each swing of their blades, they cut into each other, blood flowing in rivers of deep red. Sora stabs Riku in the back with the Keyblade of Light, saying "Your life has ended for now," a sickening smile on Sora's face. On Riku's face, however, a sick and twisted smile forms as the blood and darkness formed two giant needles. The needles fly and stick themselves into Sora's arms, blood dripping from Sora's arms, as they drilled into the depths of his soul, depriving him of all joy, as they keep Sora pinned to his spot on the wall.)

Riku: Glory always fades, Sora. (From one of Riku's cut, Oblivion forms. He charges at Sora, swinging the One-Winged Angel. The impact causes an explosion that opens Sora's chest, his insides were set on fire. He then throws Oblivion into Sora's chest and sucks Sora's soul into Oblivion itself. Sora's screams are heard as his soul is being dragged through his body, clawing through, mutilating Sora's inner person. This is, of course, reflected in Sora's outer self as well. Riku turns around and Sora says, ever-so-faintly, "Forgive me, my one true love. I have failed you. I am a failure as a kn—"Riku, in one move, takes the One-Winged Angel and splits his mouth wide open, splitting his head in half. Grabbing the One-Winged Angel, Riku rams it through Sora's skull and lifts it above his head, and then strikes the ground with both Keyblade and head, causing an explosion of blood, brains, and torn skin. It splatters all over Alice.)

Riku: Pretty makeup for the pretty princess. Too bad that it was made from your fallen knight.

Alice: But—I—I—I was supposed to be victorious... (Alice summons Sora's soul) But silly boy, did you think that you would make me lose my knight? You're really as naïve as you seem... He will serve me forever... And ever... (Alice forms a new body for Sora.)

Sora: I am reborn! Call me Sir Sora. I have been given the body of a god, thanks to my goddess. I shall defeat you, foul demon!

Riku: Sir Sora, do you hear something? It's your soul, Sir Sora! It says to me, "Take me away, Riku!" Wait, what's that, Sora's soul? You want to be my best friend? You want to be friends to the end?

Alice: He's insane, my darling knight.

Riku: Don't think I've forgotten your soul, Alice. What's that you say? You want to admit something to me? That you're a jealous traitor? That you want to join me and Sora in the darkness? Are you ready, my friends? (extends his hand toward Alice and Sora as the darkness surrounds him, a black hole of sorrow and pain as you see the darkness take the form of two large serpents.) Now, my friends, time to join me in the darkness for all eternity! (Riku laughs demonically)

(Alice and Sora try to escape, but the Darkness Serpents enters their bodies through their backs and rips their bodies in half, dragging their souls, leaving a trail of blood and internal organs where the two traitorous lovers once tried to flee.)

Sora's soul: DON'T LET ME BE DRAGGED OFF INTO THE DARKNESS! I don't want to be alone in the darkness!

Alice's soul: Don't let me die! I'm too young! I want to give everyone a piece of god...

(as their souls are sucked into Darkness, Riku turns to Vincent)

Riku: Your fate will be infinitely worse, my friend. What I did to them, at least their souls will live. You, however will die the worst death ever.

Vincent: (laughs evily) Silly little Riku. Do you think you're my first, or only puppet? (Vincent sticks his claw into a soul. Sephiroth walks out of the darkness)

Riku: Father?....

Vincent: Not your father, my puppet. My precious puppet. See, Riku. You will be part of the Family.

Riku: What family? You destroyed it.

Vincent: Now, Riku. Choose now. Your family or your love? Ah, the choices are difficult, and the clock, it does tick. (small laugh)

Sephiroth: My son... free me from my chains...free my soul... free my body...bring me life and freedom with your blade...

(Riku runs toward Sephiroth, crying white-hot tears, plunging Oblivion into his chest. Blood squirts everywhere. His body is oozing and melting. Riku jumps into the air.)

Sephiroth: ...Finally, I am free... (His last thoughts are of his family. His darling wife and cherished son. His last thoughts are of the joy he once shared with his son, who would now become his murderer. As he sees Aeris as his angel descending from pale blue heavens, he reaches his arm to her, saying, "I want to hold your hand one last time before I join you. Can I join you?" As he says this, Riku runs the One-Winged Angel through Sephiroth's back, through his chest, his body explodes, and all the blood splashed onto Riku's face and into his eyes. As Riku looked up, he cried tears of his own father's blood.)

Vincent: Who knew you had it in you? (grins demonically) It seems as if you broke my toys. You have passed the test! Would you like to be my new puppet, since you killed my old one and all.

Riku: What I'm about to do to do to you will make you crave natural death...

Vincent: Then by all means... (Vincent discards his cape. As the darkness gathers around him, it enters his body, warping and twisting his body into his most hideous form, Chaos.)

Vincent: Now, are you ready to face me... (Vincent grabs Riku's head and rams his body into a wall of spikes. As he rammed Riku to the wall, a giant needle went through Riku's neck, two through his arms, and one through his stomach. As this was happening, Riku's body felt as if it was burning, as his insides were being frozen. As the blood ran from Riku's body like a tsunami of pain and sorrow, Vincent appeared behind Riku and rips the wings off his back. What is heard between Riku's screams is the sound of bone snapping and flesh tearing. Vincent's claws take the forms of blades and he stabs them into Riku's back, literally turning him inside out. You see intestines and other body parts as they fall to the ground. Riku is now coughing up blood and one of his lungs.)

Vincent: Had enough get? (Vincent pries Riku's ribcage open, sticks his face in the hole he had made, and rips Riku's heart with his teeth)

Riku: ...Kairi...

Vincent: You're still alive?! (Vincent caresses Riku's face and takes his claws and runs it through Riku's neck in one swift motion. As a waterfall of blood runs down whatever is left of his body, his last thoughts are of Kairi. Her smile. Her laughter. How horribly he had failed her....)

Vincent: And now I finish. (Vincent kicks Riku off of the spikes, reaches into his now-exposed back, and rips out his soul, leaving a large hole where his back had once been. One can now see what was left of his insides. The remaining blood is now a thick ooze, forming a pool around the mutilated being that was once Riku. Vincent devoured the tortured soul.)

Aeris: ...Riku...Sephiroth...all gone.... (Aeris lets out an earth-shattering scream)

Vincent: Don't cry, soon you'll be joining them...

(Oblivion rips through Vincent's chest, making him implode, as if a black hole were sucking him into the nothingness from which he came. Riku's battered and bloody body merges with his soul. Aeris is free now, as she runs to catch Riku's battered body. As she catches Riku, he realizes he has no time left.)

Aeris: Riku...

Riku: ...When I die...I want to be your guardian angel...I will watch over you and Kairi. See, the bad people will never hurt you again, because I'm watching over you... (Riku's body is no longer solid, as it is now becoming a very thick ooze as he melts. The blood on his body and his flesh are now mixing like paint, as his body slips through Aeris's hands and arms. As his body slipped through his mother's arms, his soul is burning along with his body turning into thick liquid.

And all that remains is a thick liquid ooze of blood, flesh, and internal organs, melting into the ground)

Aeris: This wasn't meant to happen. All I wanted...was to save my son... and all I did was kill him.

(Aeris's eyes turn toward the sky. As the sky and the sea turned the same blood red, she let out a wailing weep, for she was the only one who truly knew that the only way to save Riku was for him to die. For he will be reborn, with a new body, meaning, and life.)

The End!