Book I: Serial Dilution

Chapter XXV: That's Not How the Story Goes

Inside of the old Castle, Sora watched with narrowed eyes and clenched fists as Varian methodically fiddled with the controls on the huge steam-powered drill. The young alchemist stuck his tongue out of his mouth as he focused intensely on getting the drill into just the right position…then gently stroked his fingers through the long coils of beautiful blonde hair that had been carelessly stuffed into the feeding tube of the machine. A small bit of hair stuck out of the hollow point of the sharp metal drill bit.

Sora glanced to Rapunzel, who experimentally tugged at her own flowing locks; she stopped when Varian shot her an absolutely murderous glare.

"Resist too much," he warned, gravely, "And this will hurt a lot more than it has to."

Rapunzel gulped, bit her lip, and nodded. She glanced over to another part of the room.

Sora turned and followed her gaze; he shuddered as he saw Queen Arianna backing up further against the wall as the Soranium crystals slowly but surely spider-webbed their way over the chains and spots on the floor toward her…

On the table, Pascal whimpered, still locked tight in the cage Varian had put him in, glancing nervously to the King, who looked to the Queen with the most intense worry.

Kaboom!

"What's that?" King Frederic grunted, turning fast to look back over his shoulder, as he stood trapped at Sora's side; both of them were still stuck to the floor by the goop from Varian's trap.

"You didn't think I'd be unprepared for some sort of attack, did you?" Varian answered, catching both of their attentions. The alchemist smiled in a truly sickening way. "Believe me, they won't get far."

Sora glared icily.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

Varian's smile fell. A look of unnatural, frosty cool came over his face; he turned away and checked the gauges that jutted from the drill base.

"I told you," he said, softly. "To free my father. I will make him proud."

"Proud?!" Sora exclaimed. "Varian, do you honestly think Quirin would-"

"MAYBE!" Varian yelled, rounding on the keybearer with a snarl, and pointing to him with a shaky finger. "Maybe he would! Maybe if I could prove I was stronger, BETTER, he could see it! If I can get him free, if I can FIX THIS, I can prove that I'm…I'm not just…!"

He ground his teeth together faltering…then hung his head and sighed, arm going limp.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't I?" Sora pressed.

"My boy," Frederic warned softly, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder, as if to hold him back…but Sora brushed it off, and looked imploringly into Varian's eyes.

"Wouldn't I, Varian?" he all but pleaded. "I know what it's like for others to see you as…a-as weak, o-or foolish! I know what it's like to feel like others won't listen to you, no matter what you try! I know what it's like to feel like people you trusted hurt you, I know what it's like to lose people you care about. You have no idea how much I relate to it, but this…this is NOT the way to fix it all!"

Varian's expression didn't falter once. He paused, looking Sora up and down with a frosty glare…then took a deep breath, and marched towards the trapped keyblade warrior.

"Alright," he said, softly. "Then I have two questions for you, Sora. And if you can answer them…perhaps all this CAN stop."

Sora blinked, and paused, looking taken aback. Before he could comment on that fact, Varian was standing only a few inches away. They were nearly nose to nose. The older teen felt suddenly strangely self-conscious of Varian's slightly smaller height…and it bothered him, for reasons he could not fathom, that he could not help but look down on his fellow youth.

It clearly bothered Varian, too, but neither of them commented upon it.

"First of all, if you knew all those things, why didn't you help me?" Varian asked.

Sora blinked.

"…We…w-we couldn't, Varian, we-"

"Sure. Sure you couldn't," snorted Varian, clearly not believing a word of it.

Sora snapped his mouth shut; there was no point arguing with that attitude.

"Second question then. Of all the things you claim to know," Varian began, calmly, "There is one thing you neglected: do you know what it's like to be seen as dangerous? To be seen as a threat or an unwanted pest, when all you ever wanted to do was help? Do you know how it feels when everyone seems to see you as the bad guy?"

Sora paused. He looked into Varian's eyes deeply. The teen almost seemed to be pleading with him somewhere deep inside, but he couldn't quite reach that place. Couldn't fathom what he was asking him to do. Stop him? Help him? Both? Neither?

Whatever the case…the noble young swordsman knew his answer.

He hung his head and sighed.

"…No, Varian. No, I do not."

"I didn't think so," sneered Varian. Then stepped back. "Well. I'm fed up with that feeling. I'm fed up with fighting that idea. You want me to be the bad guy?"

He paused…then pulled down his goggles, the tint hiding his blue eyes from sight.

"Fine," he said, far too patiently. "Now, I'm the bad guy."

And with those words, Varian turned on his heel. Sora reached out a hand, as if to stop him…then winced and pulled back with a shiver, hanging his head again in regret.

Varian approached the drill and looked to Rapunzel.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his voice monotonous and droning; not a spark of his usual exuberance came from it.

Rapunzel gulped.

"Varian," she said, softly, then paused to make sure he was listening. When she was sure he was, she went on: "If this doesn't work…and something happens to me…please."

She shuddered, and looked him dead in the eye. Sora could see Rapunzel's own eyes were misty with tears.

"…Please…let my Mom go."

Varian didn't so much as flinch, nor lost the droning, dead quality of his voice.

All he said in reply was: "I can't make any promises, Princess."

And with those biting, unfeeling words, the Alchemist turned on his heel, shoved the drill forward till the point pressed against the Soranium casement around Quirin's preserved form…and then pressed a few buttons fast before Rapunzel could even think of responding.

WHIRRRRRR!

Steam burst from the drill's piping, and it spun wildly as Varian jabbed the point into the Soranium. At the same instant, Rapunzel squealed sharply, as her hair was jerked violently in response. She winced, gritting her teeth…as, within moments, her blonde hair began to once again glow with an ethereal, radiant light, like the rays of the Sun were trapped within her flowing mane.

BRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZT!

Sparks flew from the point of the drill as the machine stabbed and spun, grinding against the amber crystals. Sora watched as Varian drove forward; he saw the mad alchemist's expression change from its icy disposition to one of deepest obsession. One of his eyes twitched as he bared his teeth the way a wolf might bare its fangs. His teal-striped bangs fell between his eyes as he gripped the handles of the giant drill with both gloved hands.

Smoke soon joined the sparks. Sora watched with anticipation as golden energy seemed to flow over the Soranium encasing. He held his breath, wondering what would happen. Now, he expected several things: nothing between the amber melting like hot caramel or exploding into a billion fractals would have amazed him.

So, being prepared for just about anything…neither he nor any of the others were prepared for nothing. The energy seemed to be absorbed by the crystal…but the crystal showed no signs of breaking. Rapunzel's hair at the point of the drill scraped against the unbreakable amber…but all they seemed to do was grind against each other…

Varian turned off the drill. He removed his goggles and peered around it…and seemed horror stricken when he saw he hadn't even scratched the surface of his fathers golden prison.

"WHAT?!" he screeched…then, the look of unbridled fury came back over his face. "WHY?!"

With an enraged cry, Varian turned the drill back on; it whirled into life and he FORCED it against the amber as hard as he could. Rapunzel yowled and fell to her knees. Sora went pale as he saw she was beginning to breathe heavily, her own eyes wide and her once lovely face unusually gaunt as the golden energy flowed from her hair into the drill and was sapped up by the Soranium.

"STOP!" the King thundered as he saw his daughter trembling on her hands and knees.

"VARIAN, SHE CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE!" wailed Sora.

"RAPUNZEL!" the Queen exclaimed.

Varian wasn't listening. His eyes were so wide one could see the tiny vessels at the back; he was all but foaming at the mouth as he pushed the drill as hard as he could; fire and gray vapor burst from the tip, but the amber did not even crack.

"Work! Work!" he barked.

As all this went on, one forgotten figure crouched under a chair and whimpered softly. Ruddiger felt his heart growing heavier and heavier as he saw his human furiously screech. The shrieking of the drill grated into his sensitive eardrums, and he could hear the other humans all shouting and calling out. His heart was banging in his tiny, fluffy chest: this was beyond bad. This was almost the worst it could get.

Almost. If he didn't step in to stop something soon, he knew his human wouldn't be able to fix anything. And he couldn't stand the thought of Varian – the boy who had taken him in and helped him when a hunter's trap had caught him; the child who fed him and petted him and made sure to give him medicine when he was sick – hurting himself any further. Let alone hurting other people.

For everybody's sake, his owner's included, he had to help. But how?

A rattle on the table above caught his ear, and the answer came to the coon in a flash. He hurriedly jumped up on top of the chair, then onto the table top.

Pascal was in his cage, tugging and banging against the wooden bars…but the seemingly rickety cage was tougher than it looked, and the green chameleon – squeak and squeal as he might – couldn't escape or get attention to himself.

The latter, at least, was just what Ruddiger needed.

The raccoon chittered softly, getting the lizard's attention. At first, Pascal seemed surprised to see Ruddiger…then, he glared, no doubt thinking the pudgy, fluffy raccoon was on Varian's side.

In a way, Ruddiger was…but not in the way Pascal expected. The raccoon made a peaceful gesture with his paws. Pascal recognized it, as well as the pleading look in the coon's eyes, and his expression softened.

Ruddiger then cast a nervous glance towards Varian and his drill, to see if his owner would notice. Varian was still in a state of passion…but the rage was giving way to despair. He could see the eyes of his boy flickering with a watery look of desperate desire.

"PLEASE, WORK!" Varian yelled, in a voice so close to when he had first discovered his father's current state, it nearly shattered Ruddiger's pelt-protected heart.

The coon wanted badly to cuddle against Varian and tell him it would all be okay…but now was not the time for such a sentiment. Not when considering the fluffy creature could also see and hear Rapunzel gasping for breath as she clutched her chest and thudded onto the floor, lying on her side. He looked back towards Pascal and chattered in a soft, sad, whimpery sort of way.

The lizard seemed to understand, and nodded, then gestured to the bars. He, himself, was casting frightened glances towards Rapunzel.

Ruddiger smirked a sad sort of smirk…then plucked up an alchemy ball on the table. He wiggled it indicatively…

…Then, with a press of his snout, nudged the cage closer to the edge of the table…then closer…and closer…and closer…

CRACK!

Varian cried out and shut off the drill. Rapunzel let out a sound like a wounded animal behind him, but he didn't notice. He pushed the drill aside and placed his hands against the amber covering. He couldn't see even a speck of fault, but he KNEW he'd heard a sound like something breaking!

He turned fast…and his heart sank into his feet as he saw that what had broken was the drill. The point had burst into four jagged sections, the hair limply hanging through it.

"No…NO!" he screamed, and banged his fists against the amber. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHY WON'T IT…?!"

He tore at his hair and sputtered, eyes darting to find a scratch, a dent, ANYTHING!

Nothing. Nothing. He failed. He'd failed again.

Again.

AGAIN!

The tears rolled freely from his eyes and streaked down his cheeks, tainting them with their salty smears.

"Her hair…i-it should have cut through it!" he choked on his own sobs, and then thunked his forehead against the surface as he sank to his own knees. "Why didn't it work…?!"

Sora's eyes shown with empathy as he watched Varian break down…but while he would have liked to help the younger teen, he was more preoccupied with Varian's victims. The golden sheen left Rapunzel's hair…and she lay limp and lifeless on the ground. Meanwhile, the Soranium Varian had dropped was only inches away from touching Arianna, and thus beginning to consume her.

He couldn't do anything about Rapunzel while trapped…but as for the Queen…

"Your Majesty!" he called out to Arianna, and then summoned the Keyblade. "Stand still!"

Sora pointed the tip of his fabled weapon at the lock on the shackles Varian had placed on her. He glanced to make sure Varian wouldn't notice.

The alchemist was muttering to himself under his breath; Sora couldn't make out a word for it, and had to confess, right now, he didn't care. Saving the Queen was more of a priority.

And if Varian wasn't paying attention, he had his opportunity.

A beam of light flashed from the tip of the Kingdom Key; with laser-like precision (not that anyone in Corona knew what lasers were, mind you), it flew into the lock, and a simple "click" signified the Queen's release.

As the Queen stood up – just before the amber would have begun to coil around her foot – a sudden clatter caught Sora and the King's attention: Ruddiger had knocked the cage onto the floor, and Pascal leapt free as it broke into two clean pieces. The racoon then dropped the alchemy ball into Pascal's mouth, and the lizard scampered towards the trapped monarch and Warrior of Light.

The ball was filled with the neutralizing agent for Varian's "goop grenades." Pascal spat it out between Sora and Frederic's feet, and it burst in a flash of light…and a moment later, the candy-colored adhesive disappeared.

Now free and able to help, both Sora and Frederic raced to Rapunzel's side. Arianna was already ahead of them.

"Rapunzel!" they all cried out at the same time, as the Queen helped the girl up. Rapunzel groaned and blinked blearily up at the group around her. Pascal soon joined them, nudging at her side as the blonde-haired princess moaned and shook her head; she looked dizzy and woozy, but thankfully didn't seem to be hurt.

"Mom….D-Dad…?"

"Sweeheart," Arianna smiled.

"We're here," Frederic said softly. "We're here for you."

Sora picked up Pascal, holding him in one hand and stroking him on the top of the head with one finger…as the Royal Family embraced one another tightly, sinking into each other's arms with grateful, warm relief. Sora couldn't help but smile himself at the sight…

…But in their moment of reunion and liberty…none of them thought of the boy behind them.

Varian knelt, alone and uncomforted, at the base of his father's alchemy-formed prison. His shoulders quivered as he wept, his tears once more pitter-pattering like rain to the floor.

"No…n-no," he gasped out, and gritted his teeth as he roughly scrubbed the back of his hand against his face, trying to wipe away the tears, but more came. His gaze had gone from icy and depraved to vulnerable and soulful; for a few moments, the madness seemed to change. Not disappear, but simply move in a new direction, as he looked up towards his father's frozen face.

"I-I wasn't wrong!" he insisted, as if someone were speaking to him, and he was answering them back. "No!"

He sniffled and shook his head desperately, all but hugging the amber as he continued to plead his case.

"I couldn't have made a mistake! It's…it's not my fault! None of it is! It's-!"

He froze…and slowly…very slowly…he looked back over his shoulder.

He saw the happy family, hugging each other…safe in each other's arms…protecting each other…holding one another close…while their friend and ally watched on with an equally sappy smile, happy to witness such a joyous scene…

Varian looked between Sora's smile and Rapunzel's weary expression…then, tears still staining his face…his face once again twisted into a snarl of ferocious fury.

"…It's THEIR fault."

None of the heroes of Corona noticed or heard Varian's reactions. The Royal Family stepped back a pace as Rapunzel uneasily got to her feet. She stumbled once…but Sora reached out and took her hand. The two friends smiled at one another as he helped the princess back on her feet. Pascal promptly hopped onto her shoulder and nuzzled her neck.

"Rapunzel, are you okay?" Frederic asked, gently, as he and Arianna stood up, too.

"Yes," sighed Rapunzel, still looking rather tired. "I will be."

Then, a look of realization came over her face, and she looked towards the amber "monument" in the center of the dusty laboratory.

"Varian!"

Sora held out his keyblade, expecting some attack…but as all eyes turned, they realized Varian had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

So too, Pascal noticed, had Ruddiger

"Where did he go?" Rapunzel murmured.

"I don't know," Sora responded, glancing about cautiously. "But I have a bad feeling about-"

He stopped talking as, suddenly, the floor began to tremble. All eyes looked down as they could hear a dreadful noise from somewhere below…like the gates of the Underworld, steadily creeping open.

And Sora knew very well what THOSE sounded like.

Then, a second later…CRASHK! The floor suddenly exploded as a huge, pincer-like appendage, clearly formed from dark metal, burst out of the floor.

"GET BACK!" Sora called out, and everyone inched towards the door as a second arm rose up…and soon was joined by a body. Soon, a great, mechanical ogre loomed over them all, taking two steps as it steadied itself in the laboratory; it barely fit within the chamber. It was not unlike the Automaton that Sora and Varian had faced together, but this thing was twice as large as any of those, and instead of a music box, it appeared to be powered by steam: two huge pipes jutted from its back like spikes. It had the same ape-like proportions as the other Automaton, but instead of five green lights or sensors for its "eyes," it had a single, circular window of crimson-colored glass.

And behind the glass, the group could see a familiar face sneering out at them; surrounded by the ruddy glow of the light within and the scarlet tint of his window, he had all the look of a young devil, rising straight from the abyss.

From within the Mech, Varian's voice came, snarling its vengeance.

"Sorry, my dear keybearer and princess!" he spat. "We WERE in this together. But if I can't have a happy ending, THEN NEITHER CAN YOU!"

And with an unholy shriek, Varian's mech lifted its great pincers high…and then brought them down with terrifying force towards Sora…

Rapunzel jerked free of her family and swung out her hair, looping it around Sora's waist and pulling him back as the fists SLAMMED down, creating a crater in the floor.

"RUN FOR IT!" Rapunzel and Sora shouted together, and dashed towards the exit of the lab.

Varian growled, narrowing his eyes as he clutched the controls more tightly, and watched his intended victims flee.

"I told you already," he said softly: "Resist too much, and this will hurt a lot more than it has to…and you're clearly resisting…"

He let out an unhinged giggle…and with a tug on a lever, the machine started to lumber forward, marching after his quarry with agonizing slowness.

"So I guess this is going to have to hurt…immensely."