CHAPTER 2--Terror, Father Time, and the quarrels of young love
TEAM DISNEY, DAY 1 "Goofy, how many times have you watched this stupid show!" Sora cried.
"789, and counting"
"Well let's not make it counting." Kairi grumbled. Marluxia hacked away at the screen with his scythe.
"STOP...PLAYING...CHEERY...MUSIC!" The screen shut off for the 789th time. And Goofy fixed it and turned it back on for the 790th.
TEAM YENSID, DAY 1 "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Riku, Tidus, and Roxas yelled, their voices hoarse from hours of screaming. Leon sighed, drinking coffee he had gone and made for himself somewhere.
"You'd think you'd have gotten used to it by now, after flipping out for six hours straight"
"YOU WERE USED TO IT FROM THE FIRST MILLISECOND, YOU ABNORMAL FREAKIZOID!" Roxas said through his screaming. Leon shrugged. Feeling brave, Riku kicked one of the manikans.
"DIE, SCARY DUDE!" The manikan's head came off and plopped in front of Roxas, who fainted. Tidus screamed louder and kicked it across the floor near Leon. Leon looked at it, blinked, and returned to his coffee while Tidus and Riku continued screaming.
Suddenly everything stopped. The lights stayed on, but the horror ended. Riku sobbed with relief and Tidus fell asleep instantly. Shi walked in.
"Hideeho, friends! Agh, what happened here?" she asked, looking over at Tidus, asleep, and Roxas, unconcious. Riku continued crying. Leon chugged the rest of his coffee.
"The three of them have screamed and cried for six hours, non-stop. He fell asleep, he passed out, and he's crying even though the ride's shut off." Shi sighed.
"I see. Well, you and Riku gather up your teammates and meet me at the entrance to MGM for the first challenge. I'm going to gather up Team Disney. TTFN"
TEN MINUTES LATER "Knock knock, open up!" Shi shouted, banging on the double-door entrance to the actual theater. She was standing in the lobby. Kairi opened the door a tiny crack and gasped.
"Oh it's you...good...is it time to go somewhere else"
"Uh, um...y-yes"
"OH GOODY, DO COME IN THEN!" she chirped. Shi hesitantly walked in, and gasped at what she saw.
Marluxia and Sora were huddled in the back of the room, aplogizing to each other for their rivalry, finally driven to insanity.
And Goofy was singing and dancing to the chorus of "Under the Sea". Sora noticed Shi and ran over.
"Vote me off. Now. Have mercy. 3,125 TIMES! 3,125! IN A SINGLE HOUR!" Shi flinched.
"Um...well, before anyone gets voted off, we have to have the first challenge..." Marluxia ran out the door without even thinking, and Sora followed.
"Where?" Kairi asked, ready to chase after them.
"MGM. Entrance"
"All right..." she ran off. Shi turned to Goofy.
"Time to go"
"One more time"
"I'm sure you were saying that hours ago, and it was all a lie. So no. Come on." She ripped the electrical cords for the screen in half. Goofy walked sadly out the door, solemnly humming "A Whole New World.
FIRST CHALLENGE "Okay. First, rules. We are at MGM, home of two famous rides." She reached into her pocket. "Doggie biscuit shaped graham cracker to whoever gets it right." Riku and Sora's hands shot up.
"Um...Sora"
"WHY SORA! MY HAND WENT UP FIRST"
"I'm sorry, but my superior Soraisbetterthanyou intuition tells me that his went up exactly one billionth of a second before yours. Sora, go ahead"
"Um, okay...Tower of Terror and the Rock n Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith!" "DING DING DING you are corrrrrrrect!" She tossed him the cookie, which he devoured. "And in this case, the Tower of Terror is involved." Riku gulped. "You will all follow me to the ride, where I will make sure each and every one of you gets on. The ride will start, and when it ends, you can choose to get off if you want to." There was a general relief felt through the group, but Leon just stood there. Roxas scribbled more notes. "You can get off at any time. But if you do get off, you're out, and you make it easier for your team to lose. The last person on the ride will win a reward for their team, plus an immunity for their team, and they will not have to go to tribal council tonight. Council is held at the Cinderella castle. And the immunity idol is..." she pulled out a Mickey Mouse plushie. Everyone ooed and awwed. Leon coughed. Roxas wrote more, glancing at Tidus every now and then and nodding. "Sooooo off we goooooo!" They walked through the gates and down one of the side streets, down past the theater where Beauty and the Beast was, and up the path to the Hollywood Grand Hotel--the Tower of Terror.
"Everybody in a line." They listened. "Sora, you first. Go in." Sora whimpered and sat in the elevator car. Riku followed, then Kairi, Goofy, Tidus, Roxas, Marluxia, and Leon. The gates closed, and the elevator went up. The preshow started, with the little holograms talking. "Well, there you go then." the hologram said, and almost instantly the car plummeted. Then it rose a few floors, and plummeted again. This continued for a minute or so, and then the car stopped where it had began at the bottom. The door opened, and Shi crossed her arms.
"Anyone ready to get off?" She looked at Sora and Riku, who had turned whiter than snow, Tidus and Roxas, who were getting sick, Leon, completely unfazed as always, Kairi panting, Marluxia crying, and Goofy looking bored.
"I-I'll get off." Kairi gasped, staggering onto the platform where Shi stood. Goofy jumped up.
"I wanna go watch my movie!" Shi shrugged.
"It's your choice to get off, but that takes off half your team's chances of winning"
"I don't care about winning too much, ayhuck. It's not like our well-being depends on it"
"IT DOES DEPEND ON IT YOU"
"Sora, that's enough. Goofy, if you want to get off, be my guest and go ahead." Goofy got off, leaving Sora fuming and Marluxia still oblivious except for his crying. "Okay folks, here we go. No preshow, this time, just the ride, so it's a little shorter. Bye for now!" The car went through the ride again, and Marluxia got off, followed by Tidus. That left three people from Team Yensid and only one, Sora, from Team Disney. The ride kept going, and twenty minutes and twenty rides later, Roxas got off, and Leon left to get some food for himself. Now it was down to just Sora and Riku.
"I'm...not getting off." Riku gasped, covering his mouth in fear of getting sick.
"Neither am I"
THREE HOURS LATER "T-That's it, I can't take it anymore"
"Are you sure"
"Yes. I can't take another ride...not one more"
"Okay, go ahead." Shi let him out.
"SORA, HOW COULD YOU?" Kairi whined. Sora stomped his foot.
"Who got off first, sister"
"Enough fighting. Riku, you win. Riku?" Shi poked his shoulder. He had fallen over from exhaustion. "Oh well. You guys won...and here's your plushie." She tossed it to Tidus, who hugged it. "Your reward is two nights at the All-Star Movie resort, in the Fantasia building. Here's your room keys. You have adjoining rooms, unlimited pool access, free food from the cafeteria, unlimited arcade time...we rigged the games so there's no tickets, but it's free to play...and the whole place to yourself, seeing as it was closed down for this very event. Now off you go, enjoy your reward!" Leon retrieved Riku and walked down the street to the entrance, Tidus and Roxas happily prancing and chatting behind him. "Sorry, but Team Disney, back to camp. Council is in an hour." Sora staggered off behind Kairi, Marluxia follwing. Goofy ran ahead, yelling about his movie. TEAM YENSID "STUPID DOOR! OPEN, STUPID DOOR!" Roxas screamed, punching and kicking the door to the room he was sharing with Riku. Leon walked up behind him and moved him out of the way.
"You're supposed to use the key." He put the card in the slot and opened the door.
"Note to self 354: Leon knows way too much to have a normal IQ. Yet another piece of evidence that he must be an alien"
Tidus finally made it up the stairs, dragging Riku behind him.
"So...many...stairs"
"Why didn't you just use the elevator?" Leon asked.
"YOU HAVE TOO MUCH COMMON SENSE TO BE NORMAL!" Roxas yelled.
"No, you just don't have enough"
"AND YOU'RE WAY TOO GOOD AT COMEBACKS! YOU'RE AN ALIEN"
"An alien"
"Yeah, an alien! Watch your back pal, I'm on to you"
"Whatever." He went inside.
"Smooth move, blondy. You blew our cover." Tidus grumbled, heaving Riku onto a bed and leaving him there.
"Well he doesn't believe us. So we still have a chance to reveal him as the fraud that he is"
"Okay. I'm going to get some food." Roxas watched him walk away.
"AND DON'T CALL ME BLONDY"
"Sure thing, Goldilocks." Tidus called back. Roxas picked up the Mickey plushie and hugged it.
"You won't call me names, now will you? That's right, because you're my best buddy ever!" (Insane much)
TEAM DISNEY "GOOFY YOU ARE SUCH A MORON"
"Ahyuck, that's not very nice"
"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S NOT NICE! YOUR BRAIN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A DUST SPECK! YOU'RE USELESS, USELESS, YOU STUPID MORONIC LITTLE"
"Sora!" Kairi snapped. "Stop it. We're all mad, but you're the one that gave up in the end"
"OH, SO NOW YOU'RE ON MY CASE TOO? GREAT! MY OWN GIRLFRIEND, GOING AGAINST ME"
"WHO SAID I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND"
"NOW YOU'RE DUMPING ME"
"WE WERE NEVER TOGETHER"
"The quarrels of young love..." Marluxia mumbled.
"STAY OUT OF THIS, GRANDPA"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING GRANDPA, SHORT STUFF!" He hurled flower petals at Sora, who grabbed them and tossed them back.
"You're a sissy that fights with dumb flowers"
"THEY ARE NOT DUMB, THEY'RE LETHAL"
"Look, Father Time, we don't need your input." Kairi grumbled. Marluxia turned brick red and started hurling his scythe around, chopping down chairs and carving curtains into shredded bits.
Kairi and Sora continued screaming and yelling at each other over both their so-called "relationship" and what was now known as the TOT (Tower of Terror) incident.
Meanwhile, Goofy was watching his movie for the 4,567th time. In a row.
After about an hour of this, the place was in ruins, Kairi had reduced Sora to tears, and Goofy had broken the movie by playing it too many times. Finally, Sora stopped bawling long enough to say he was cold.
"Well we can't make a fire. We have no wood." Kairi said gently, feeling bad that she made him cry. "I'm going to Tomorrowland to get us some food from that...food place. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." She left, leaving Marluxia and Sora alone, in the same room, both with grudges.
FYI, that's not good.
"So old timer, how's it going on your end"
"STOP MOCKING MY AGE"
"I'm not mocking your age, I'm mocking your aging. You're only like what, 40ish? You look 145ish"
"I DO NOT"
"Yeah, you kind of do...oh well, you're a lost cause and that's that. I need a fire..." Marluxia looked at him with doubt.
"You can't do anything right, so don't try"
"I CAN TOO"
"Oh really? I'll give you 10 bucks if you can do something smart for once"
"Okay then! I'll be smart and make a fire!" He grabbed some chair remains and piled them up, and then whipped out his Keyblade to torch them.
In about 4 seconds flat, the place was in flames.
"See? Nice going. Now the place is toast. I'm keeping my 10 bucks"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I DIDN'T MEAN IT WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH IT'S ON FIRE OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO KAIRI'S GOING TO BE SO MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" He ran outside, followed by Marluxia and eventually Goofy. Kairi came back and saw the pile of ashes that had been the theater, and she sat down and sobbed. Sora walked over.
"It's okay Kai...heyyyy, nachoooos..." "Sora you insensitive dirt clod"
"Hey, dirt should never be used in an insult. Dirt is nice and it never did anything to you so there's no reason to be angry with it." Shi walked out from behind the 10 foot high mound of ashes.
"Wow, you guys look like you're doing..." she cringed. "...well"
"Just go ahead and say it!" Kairi wailed. "I'm the only girl here besides you and I got stuck on a team with the biggest losers known to mankind!" Sora looked at her, shocked.
"I am not a loser"
"YOU ARE TOO"
"SO ARE YOU DUMPING ME AGAIN"
"I NEVER DUMPED YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE WE WERE NEVER TOGETHER TO BEGIN WITH"
"Okay, I'm just going to end this now...get your stuff and come to tribal council." Everyone looked around.
"We have no stuff." Sora said sadly.
"Okay then...follow me to the council." They all got up and walked down the street, around a couple corners, and up to the inside of the Cinderella castle, where minature bleachers with three rows had been set up. "Everybody sit down." They all sat, Sora and Kairi in the front row, Marluxia in the middle, and Goofy in the back. Shi pointed to a box after they had all settled down. "You put your votes in that box using the uber-cutesy Snoopy paper I had printed just for the occasion"
"Snoopy?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah, you know, he's sooo cuuute! Anyway, the person who recieves the most votes is voted off. If someone recieves more than two, I'll stop reading the votes and they will come forward.
Sora, you can place your vote first." As he was walking up, Goofy raised his hand. "What"
"What does the winner get"
"There is no winner"
"Well there has to be a winner, ahyuck"
"But there is no"
"OF COURSE THERE IS A WINNER, Goofy!" Kairi shouted, looking at Shi as if to say 'just go with the flow on this'. "They get a special secret prize"
"Oh boy, I hope I win"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you will..." Marluxia growled. Sora came back and sat down. Kairi went next, then Marluxia, then Goofy. "Before I start going through these votes, do any of you have any comments about your first couple days"
"I hate Goofy with a burning passion and if I have to watch that stupid movie one more time I'll break his legs." Sora said menacingly. Shi looked at him with a scared expression. "K-Kairi, anything you'd like to say"
"Marluxia needs aging cream"
"THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY NEXT!" Sora screeched.
"OH WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT INSTEAD"
"YOU'RE ALWAYS STEALNG MY SPOTLIGHT! WHAT KIND OF GIRLFRIEND ARE YOU"
"I'M NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND, SORA"
"THIS IS THE THIRD TIME YOU'VE DUMPED ME TODAY! ARE YOU TRYING TO RUIN MY LIFE"
"I NEVER DUMPED YOU! WE WERE NEVER GOING OUT! SHUT UP"
"I DON'T NEED AGING CREAM"
"CAN IT FLOWER BOY!" Shi started reading the votes to shut them all up.
"First vote--Kairi. And it says at the bottom...'go fall in a ditch"
"Niiiice. That's just super. Thanks for brightening my day." Kairi said sarcastically. She glared at Marluxia, who had obviously placed the vote because he was congratulating himself.
"Good job on your poker face there, you floral sissy." Sora whispered.
"Next vote--Goofy. Third vote--umm...Father Time." Sora burst out laughing.
"WHO NEEDS TO WORK ON THEIR POKER FACE NOW, YOU INCONSIDERATE WHELP"
"Anyway...last vote is...oh wait, it's all blurry...it says...myself. Who's myself?" Goofy stood up, tears in his eyes.
"That's me, and I would like to say I am so honored that someone else voted for me...and I gladly accept the position as the head of security"
"What?" Shi asked.
"The prize! I've always wanted to be a security guard...this is the greatest moment ever"
"Um, okay, fine. If you go out to the front gate with this little slip of paper, they'll give you your shiny badge"
"Yipee!" He snatched the paper and ran off. In about three minutes, Shi got up.
"You can all leave now"
"Where'd Goofy go"
"Ah, the people I hired to help with this little event were waiting out there. They probably shipped him back to...somewhere. Probably some Kingdom Hearts world...Disney castle, maybe"
"Kingdom Hearts...pah! I hate that game. The story's such a chick flick type thing..." Kairi slapped her forehead.
"Sora, everything you ever do that is at all heroic in your pathetic life is in that game. Which is actually your life. Computer-enhanced and packed onto a disc for entertaiment"
"My life is a video game"
"To make a very long story short, yes." Shi said. Marluxia grinned.
"Yes, that's right. Sora, your life is worth about 20 bucks. And it's on billions of CDs that people play for enjoyment...that's right, people toy with your life for fun"
"WHAT"
"Don't say that...even though it's true..." Shi pleaded.
"My life is practically worthless..." Sora sobbed. "I'm going to go be in denile now..." He walked back to where the pile of ashes was.
"Hey, wrong way! I forgot to tell you--your new camp is at the Stitch's Great Escape ride. In the first room, primarily. Not where Skippy and that jelly-doughnut alien are. So go that way." Kairi and Marluxia cheered, and Sora managed a feeble 'yay.
Shi shook her head.
"They're doomed. When it all comes down to what's important in this game, they're absolutely doomed."
