SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR (MOST) DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Radiant Garden – Ansem's Laboratory
"What?!" Mickey exclaimed. "We're too late?"
"Yes" Ienzo replied to him and Riku, while Aeleus stood by. "Even would know all about the Replicas from his time as Vexen in the organization. He was recompleted like the rest of us, but he didn't regain consciousness. After Lea left, he must have woken and taken his leave. Aeleus and Dilan went out and turned the whole town upside-down to try & find him."
"No sign of him whatsoever" Aeleus reported. "Nobody in town has seen him, either."
"That's not good…" Mickey fretted.
"What about his research?" Riku asked.
"Unfortunately," Ienzo replied, "his work on the Replicas was incomplete. There may still be documents around, but all of them from well before he made any significant progress."
"Do you have any idea where he might go?" Mickey asked.
"There's no place that could go now that he's human. He has no means of leaving this world."
"The dark corridors…"
"…Are beyond his faculties and mine now."
After a few moments of silence, Riku thought of something. "But not everyone's. What if Even was taken?"
Mickey gasped. "Of course! The Organization could also use the Replicas!"
"To fill out their ranks."
Ienzo and Aeleus shared a look.
"We'd better go tell Master Yen-Sid" Mickey said. "And Sora, and the others, too!"
-Scene Break-
Keyblade Graveyard
In the heart of the wasteland, 13 rocky spires stood tall. Atop one of them stood Saïx, looking aside at another black-robed figure.
"Humanity is a precious gift" the Organization's enforcer told the hooded figure. "And yet you desire to return to the Organization?"
"Oh, yes…" the hooded man replied. "Of course. One death at Axel's hands was enough to learn where not to place my trust."
"He gave you a second lease on life."
"He ripped me away from the one thing I care about. I don't require humanity. Give me my research. I must see it to fruition, no matter the cost."
"The Replicas…"
"Yes…" the hooded man chuckled. "Soon they will replace, not just replicate. Given a Heart, they can become just as real as any human."
"What excellent tidings" Saïx had the barest hint of a grin. "I would hate to think we invited you back into our ranks only for you to fail to deliver our final vessel… Vexen."
-Scene Break-
Warping down to the new world they'd been led do, the trio of Sora, Donald, & Goofy approached a monolithic building. The disguise magic that let them blend in had put them under a particularly dramatic transformation – Sora was now a werecat-like being with bright red hair, Donald was a blue monster with bat-like wings and a single eye, and Goofy was a green, vaguely frog-like monster with big googly eyes, one blue and one red.
"Seriously?" Sora looked down at his clawed hands/paws. "Is this how we blend in here?"
"It's about time you caught on" Donald replied.
"Could… you guys take a few steps back? You're givin' me the heebie-jeebies."
"You take a step back!"
Goofy chuckled. "Come on, fellers. I think our new look could turn out to be lots of fun!"
Sora shrugged, turning to look at the building ahead. An emblem above the door showed a big letter 'M' with a single eye in the middle of it, and there was a peculiar slogan beneath that:
"'We scare because we care'?"
"That's odd…" Donald remarked.
"Doesn't sound very caring" Goofy added.
"If they look like us," Sora said, "then they could be trouble. I think we'd better investigate."
MONSTROPOLIS
As they entered the main lobby of the huge factory, they saw a fearful sight: a big furry blue monster lifting up a little human toddler! The trio ran over, causing the big monster and his friend – a smaller monster with a spherical bright-green body, a great big eye, and little horns – to go on-edge, putting themselves between Team Sora and the toddler.
"Hold on, Sora" Goofy held out his arms to stop his two friends. "Let's not jump to conclusions."
"Are you two planning on scaring or hurting that little girl?" Sora asked, pointed his Keyblade.
"What? No!" the little green monster replied. "We don't hurt kids! And we don't scare 'em anymore, either; we're done using scare power. Nobody's getting' scared!"
"Mike, take it easy" the bigger monster said as the toddler clung to his leg.
"You should too, Sora" Goofy said. "See? She's happy!"
Relaxing, Sora dispelled his Keyblade. "Sorry about the knee-jerk reaction. I was just worried." Coming closer, he knelt down in front of the little girl. "Hello. My name is Sora."
"Boo" the toddler came over.
"She isn't old enough to say her name yet, it seems," the big monster said, "so we just call her 'Boo."
Sora smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Boo."
"Hold on" Mike said. "You guys really aren't afraid of humans?"
"Mike Wazowski!" the toddler pointed at Donald.
The green monster sighed. "Come on, Boo! I'm Mike Wazowski."
The big monster chuckled. "Well, you can see the resemblance. That googly-bear eye…"
"Hmph!" Donald crossed his arms. "I'm Donald!"
"A-hyuck! I'm Goofy!"
"Well, my name's Sulley. And this is-"
"Mike Wazowski" Sora answered. "I gathered that much."
Suddenly, there was a wooshing sound behind them, and Boo's smile fled as she ran to Sulley for protection. Turning, Team Sora saw a sizable pack of Floods spawning in, followed by an enormous rotund thing with four long, spindly legs, two long arms tipped with claws, eyestalks with glowing red eyes, and a dark-purple spiked shell on its back.
"Unversed!" Sora summoned his Keyblade.
"Get Boo to safety!" Donald shouted to Sulley.
"What are these things?!" Mike asked as he & Sulley got Boo behind the front desk.
"They're the Unversed" Goofy replied. "Creatures of darkness, negative emotions given life and form by dark power as deadly monsters!"
"More like demons than monsters, I'd say" Mike said nervously.
"They're living dark emotions?" Sulley asked, stunned. He then shook his head, scowling and baring his claws.
The Floods spread out and attacked from different angles. Sora destroyed a couple with his Keyblade, but the others dodged his swings and fell back, waiting for another chance. Donald zapped some of them with Thundara, while Sully smashed one with a claw-swipe that sent it flying. Suddenly, the Spiked Turtletoad leapt high and tried to body-slam the heroes, who scattered to avoid being squished. It released a damaging shockwave upon landing that knocked Goofy and Mike for a loop, but Donald healed them both as Sora and Sulley started slashing at its face. Sora was flung back by a wild swing of the big Unversed's arms, but he fired a pair of Firaga shots as soon as he landed, taking out one of the monster's eyes.
The Spiked Turtletoad flailed around in anger, inadvertently crushing a couple of Floods, and charged at the heroes. Sora and Donald took position behind Goofy, charging his shield with their & his magic, and when the Unversed hit, it bounced back with a clang, stunned. Sora struck with a withering Ars Arcanum barrage, followed by a close-range Strike Raid that finished the Spiked Turtletoad off. Meanwhile, Sulley & Mike had taken care of most of the remaining Floods, and Donald then blasted the remainder.
"Nice, Sulley" Mike high-fived his buddy. "Even with those extra pounds you put on."
"Heh, still runnin' circles around you, butterball."
"Kitty!" Boo popped out of hiding, noticing that it was safe.
"Why would the Unversed show up in force here?" Sora wondered. "We haven't seen much of them recently, compared to the Heartless at least…"
"You guys wouldn't happen to have any 'scream power' still left in storage, would ya?" Goofy asked Mike & Sulley. "The Unversed might've come for that – they could probably use it to make more Unversed!"
Sulley sighed. "We do have some stored that we haven't properly disposed of yet, yeah. Those things… they felt evil. I'm not keen on the idea of them getting hold of our old scream power and using it to reproduce."
"So, you guys came here trackin' these things down?" Mike asked.
"There's a group of bad-guys using dark creatures for various purposes," Sora replied, "and the Unversed are one type of their minions. In fact, two of the bad-guys' members are 'Unversed Lords' – the inherent Darkness of two other people's Hearts & souls, ripped out and made manifest as separate beings of pure darkness. They're probably here to steal your old 'scream power' and use it to make more Unversed."
"Which means that one of those two – either Vanitas or Karidé – might be here, too" Donald added. "They're both super-dangerous – murderous, cruel and sadistic, and really powerful!"
Sulley's expression hardened. "Then we can't have them skulking around in my factory. Mike and I will do whatever we can to help. But, if things are gonna get that dangerous around here…"
"Then we really should get Boo home safe before stuff kicks off" Mike finished.
"So, how are you going to do that?" Sora asked.
"It's kind of a long story, but Boo's from another world. And we gotta send her back there, to keep her safe. See, we got this great big array of doors that we can use as portals, each one leadin' to a different kid's room…"
Sora nodded. "Okay, then. We'll help. The Unversed might cause more trouble before we can get Boo to her portal, so we'll come with you guys as extra security. That way we can focus on taking out the Unversed."
Sora and Mike shook hands. Boo then ran off, with Mike & Sulley happily play-chasing her.
"You always gotta help…" Donald remarked.
"Hey, they need us" Sora replied. "Besides, we've gotta figure out how all those Unversed got here."
Sora, Donald, & Goofy followed Mike, Sulley, & Boo down the main hall.
"So," Sulley explained, "Monsters Incorporated used to rely on scream power from human kids as energy, but now we 'collect' their laughter instead. It turns out laughter's ten times more powerful. And we'd never have figured it out without Boo."
As he followed Boo onward, Goofy turned to Sora. "Our ship's powered by smiles and laughter, too! Guess we've got that in common."
As they entered the door-room, however, they were met by the sight of numerous Unversed – Floods along with a new kind that looked like a vine or snake with a flower for a head – traipsing about and messing with the door controls. A Flood would open a portal-door, go in and scare the human child inside, and absorb that fear energy, boosting its power and storing the energy up for later reproduction.
As Sulley helped Boo find a place to hide, Team Sora charged in and got to work. Fira blasts from Sora and Donald took out a couple of Flowersnakes, and a shield-throw from Goofy destroyed a few Floods. As more Unversed spawned in, they included two Turtletoads – about half the size of the Spiked Turtletoad from the main lobby, their shells thinner and not spiky. One of them rushed at the heroes, and Sulley planted his feet and caught the charging best, straining as he brought it to a halt. It tried to skewer him with its claws, but Goofy smacked the incoming blows aside while Sora pounded the Unversed with heavy Keyblade strikes. Sulley then lifted the beast up & over, slamming it to the ground head-first, finishing it off.
Mike and Donald took on more of the Floods and Flowersnakes, the little green cyclops grabbing a snake-like Unversed and using it as a flail against its fellows. Donald caught several Floods in a Zero Gravira spell, and then reversed the spell to slam them down to the floor with bone-crunching force, splatting them all. Sora & Goofy hit the other Turtletoad with a Goofy Bombardier, knocking it senseless, and then they & Sulley beat it around until it leapt and tried to body-slam them, forcing them back. When it tried again, Sora blasted it with Blizzaga mid-leap, leaving it to partially shatter itself when it hit the floor, leaving it easy pickings for a quick series of blows from Goofy.
Once the last Unversed were vanquished, Mike pulled out a card and ran amongst the portal-door mounts, sliding it through and calling in a few doors on a hanging conveyor track.
"Ride's here!" he said. "Climb aboard and hang on tight!"
After Sulley grabbed Boo, everyone climbed onto one of the three doors. As they all rode the doors back through the gateway into the main door storage area, they didn't notice a cloaked figure watching them go…
With Sora riding the lead door, he noticed as suddenly a pair of Vermillion Sambas spawned in up ahead; so the Heartless were here, too… Leaping up top, he used magic to grind along the rail while firing magic blasts from his Keyblade. As they sped along the track, more of the 'magic music' Heartless types started spawning in, and Sora did his best to shoot them down before they could do the same to him.
They jumped off at an interchange station, with Mike running over to a door leaning against the far wall. Unfortunately, the portal was offline, and what's more, a pack of Soldiers and Vermillion Sambas spawned in behind them.
"Sora, we gotta make Boo laugh to open the door" Mike explained.
Sora flung his Keyblade in a Strike Raid that took out a Soldier, then warped himself to his weapon and lashed out with a spinning strike that destroyed two more. Watera spells from Donald quickly disposed of the red floating Heartless, but then some Marine Rumbas spawned in instead, flinging water blasts right back at the mage. Sulley and Goofy smashed a few more Soldiers, while Mike leapt onto a Marine Rumba and rode the Heartless around as it tried to shake him off, making it fire Water spells at its fellows.
A few Large Bodies spawned in, the rotund Heartless wading in and swinging with their big meaty fists. Sulley got into a sumo match with one, while Sora danced around another and dealt repeated blows to its back. As Sulley overpowered his opponent, he swung the big Heartless around and tossed it at some of the smaller ones, knocking them all away. Team Sora added their own strikes, herding the Heartless into one place. Then, the youth grinned as he picked Mike up, spun him around, and rolled the screaming monster at the Heartless, slamming into them all and knocking them every which way.
"Strike!" Goofy called.
As Boo laughed with glee at the spectacle, the light over the portal-door came on. Sulley opened it up, and everyone jumped through. Emerging at another interchange spot inside the enormous factory chamber, Sulley caught sight of Boo's door amongst the hundreds being ferried around. Everyone grabbed hold of some doors, with Sora then magic-grinding atop the rail, shooting at Heartless as they went.
Catching sight of Boo's door, Sora made a leap for it, only to miss and land on a lower rail. Eventually they made it to another interchange spot, with more Heartless waiting for them. Sora fired a Ragnarok barrage that took out most of the weaker Heartless, while Goofy & Sulley worked together to hurl the leading Large Body over the ledge. They quickly found another portal-door, this one already online, and passed through to emerge in the factory's lower level.
"Boo's door should be right around here somewhere" Mike said.
They proceeded through the area, eyes open for any attackers, and soon they found Boo's door leaning against a far wall. Sulley passed through, followed by everyone else, Goofy closing the door behind him. …And then a six-limbed snakelike purple monster with a wicked grin de-cloaked from his position clinging to the door, quickly slipping inside after them…
As the gang emerged from the door, they found themselves not in the little girl's room, but in another section of Monsters Inc.'s lower levels.
"Wait," Mike said, "how'd we take a wrong turn?"
"Who cares?" a new voice said, decloaking and looking at the group with a smug grin. "All that matters… is that it's the last turn that you losers are ever gonna take."
"Randall!?" Sulley growled.
"Who's this guy?" Sora asked.
"A creep we banished for trying to collect screams by force. He used to be Boo's scarer."
"How did you even get back here?" Mike asked angrily. "The door we sent you through is sawdust!"
"Yeah," Randall glowered, "and I almost got turned into some hillbilly's wallet. Lucky for me, a real nice guy came along and fixed the door. So here I am. And starting today, I'm numero uno! Top of the leaderboard, baby."
"Ha! You, a top laugh collector? In your dreams, Randall. My laugh totals are off the charts."
"Who said anything about collecting laughs? I'm after negative emotions, and my new friends have kindly invaded the factory to get 'em for me."
"So you're working with the Unversed?" Sora brandished his Keyblade.
"Laughter's just not sustainable. Once junior chorts his last chortle, you've gotta start over. But negative energy? Especially sadness? Give 'em something that really breaks their little hearts, and they'll stay sad forever. We'll never have to worry about energy again."
"We're not gonna let you hurt anyone like that! Not you or your little Unversed helpers!"
"Just try and stop me. You'll see soon enough. I'm gonna be a legend around this place. Now, consider your careers officially over."
With that, he vanished, cloaking and scurrying away. As the gang looked around for any signs of him, they suddenly heard Randall's voice over the intercom.
"We're in control of this factory now. And I suggested a few improvements – some real doozies I just know you're gonna love. In fact… you're not getting out of here alive…"
"That weasel means business!" Mike said. "He'll never quit."
"We have got to get Boo to safety first" Sulley said. "Then we can take care of Randall."
Sora took the lead as they all started heading through the factory. As they rounded a corner, they were met by a new kind of Heartless – looking like a combination of a shovel and a pogo-stick. The 'Pogo Shovels' hopped around, trying to land shovel-first on the heroes' heads, but Goofy's shield and Donald's Reflect bounced them off, letting Sora's Keyblade and Sulley's claws make short work of them. A few bat-like Flutterings tried to ambush the group, but Donald's Thundaga put them down quick.
Heading up some stairs and into a more spacious area with a conveyor belt slowly moving machinery along, the gang were surprised when the robot arms meant for assembly suddenly started shooting lasers at them.
"This must be what Randall meant by 'improvements'…" Sulley sighed, holding Boo.
"It's nothing we can't handle" Sora said. "We'll go on ahead, find the control panel for these things and shut them down so you guys can bring Boo through."
Sora, Donald, & Goofy made their way up the conveyor belt, using the machine parts on the belt as cover to avoid the lasers. Eventually they reached the other end, with Goofy finding and shutting down the control panel. As Mike, Sulley, & Boo caught up, Sora used his Keyblade to unlock the next door onward.
"Yeah, well, that was just a warm-up" Randall tried to save face. "The real fun's just starting!"
The hallway led to a storage room for scream/laugh canisters, with several Unversed led by a Turtletoad waiting. Sulley leapt in with a shockwave stomp that took out a couple of Floods & Flowersnakes, while Sora and Donald blasted the Turtletoad with Firaga shots followed by a Firaza that incinerated it. Mike was used as a bowling ball again, flattening some more of the little Unversed, and Goofy finished off the stragglers.
Rounding a corner, they reached a large elevator that had no power flowing to it.
"Now how do we get out of here?" Sora wondered. "I don't exactly feel like climbing all the way up…"
"Okay!" Mike said. "We know what to do."
He started looking around, and then grinned when he spotted a room marked by a sign that read "Painting Booth".
"Uh, Mike?" Sulley spoke up. "How's that supposed to help?"
The little cyclops grinned, waving his big friend over and whispering in his ear. Sulley chuckled.
"Heh, that's good!"
"Yep, take it away!"
"Nice try, Mikey" Sulley grabbed him as he tried to slink away. "I'm not doin' this alone!"
Sulley carried the protesting Mike into the booth. As the doors shut and the lights inside came on, Team Sora and Boo watched quietly, confused. Soon the bell rang, the doors slid open, and Mike & Sulley came back out… covered in blue and pink body-paint in a psychedelic pattern. Boo started giggling, joined by Team Sora's chuckles, and the elevator lit up, its gates opening.
"Nice work, guys!" Sora gave a thumbs-up.
Everyone got aboard the lift, letting it carry them up to a higher floor of the factory. Boo took off running, with the concerned monster duo in pursuit, Team Sora bringing up the rear. Boo led them into a room with some pipes carrying water around… and as Mike & Sulley walked underneath, one of the pipes burst, drenching them both and washing off the bodypaint.
"Aw, that paint was kinda growin' on me" Sulley 'complained' with a little grin.
"Speak for yourself, this is way better" Mikey replied.
Sulley responded by shaking himself dry like a dog, getting his friend even wetter. Suddenly, a pack of Water Core spawned in! Sulley snatched Boo up, they & Mikey falling back while Team Sora came forward.
"We've got Heartless here, too?" he said as he zapped one with Thundara.
"Probably givin' the Unversed a little extra muscle to work with" Goofy suggested as he shielded against a water-missile and smacked a charging Water Core in the face, knocking it senseless.
"Let's hope the Nobodies don't join in" Donald said as he froze a Water Core with Blizzaga, letting a couple strikes from Sora shatter it.
With Mikey watching Boo, Sulley leapt in and landed atop a low-flying Water Core, slamming it to the ground and crushing it. Sora and Donald cast Thundaga to stun and weaken the remaining Cores, killing a couple of them, and Sora's Strike Raid and Goofy's shield-throw took them out. Mike & Boo caught up, and the heroes moved on down a corridor, up some stairs and over a catwalk, into a large storage room.
The doors behind them suddenly slammed shut, and several Gold Beats spawned in, using their magic to electrify the walls and some of the storage crates. Some Soldiers and a Turtletoad spawned in as well, and Sora leapt down into the fray, flinging a Strike Raid that took out one of the flying electric Heartless. Another Gold Beat flew at him while swinging its bladed solid-magic chains, but Donald protected him with a Reflera shield, while a shield-throw from Goofy swatted the Heartless out of the air.
Sulley crushed a couple of Soldiers with his claws, while Mikey got the Turtletoad's attention, distracting it so Donald could blast it in the backside with a Firaga shot that left it yelping and hopping around. Sora struck with a Sonic Blade attack that finished the big Unversed off, and Mike & Sulley dealt with the remaining Shadows. Donald hit the remaining Gold Beats with a Zero Graviga spell, bringing them down into range for Sora & Goofy to beat around and destroy. With the mage Heartless gone, the electrified barrier surrounding the area dispelled.
The next gate led into another conveyor area with laser-arm robots going haywire. Like last time, the local trio stood back while Team Sora made their way through the deadly obstacle course, using machinery as cover. At the end of this conveyor, a short hallway led to another laser-lined conveyor belt that went upward. After some harrowing close calls, they reached the upper level and deactivated the lasers' control panel, letting Sulley, Mike, & Boo make their way up to join them.
"All right, I'll give you that one" Randall taunted. "But no more freebies."
The group hurried down the next corridor, reaching a spacious room with some terminals and boxes. Sulley ran ahead to the next door, which was locked tight.
"Once we get through here, we're clear" he said.
"Yup!" Mikey ran to a huge and complicated control terminal. "This is the central control unit for the whole factory! Now whaddaya say we get outta here?"
He turned to the terminal, typing in commands, but after a few seconds he growled and pounded the terminal.'
"Damn! Randall must have messed this up. Nothin' works!"
"We can't get out?" Donald asked.
"Maybe it would be faster to just break it" Goofy suggested.
"Hang on!" Sulley ran over, carrying Boo. "Think I've got a better idea. If we can just short it out, the lock will disengage. And, lucky for us, Boo here is a walking energy generator."
"Hmm… That might work!" Mike said.
Sora grinned. "You're our MVP, Boo!"
Sulley held Boo up atop his head and started running around, with Sora and Mike joining in. Suddenly, Mike tripped, and Sora accidentally kicked him. Sailing through the air, the little cyclops landed on his knees in a flourishing pose… and then Sora's Keyblade clonked him on the head. Boo laughed with glee, her giggles making the control panel start to short-circuit, sparks racing across it.
But then, a pack of Unversed spawned in – Floods, Scrappers, and a Spiked Turtletoad. As Sulley got Boo to safety, Sora flashed blue as he took his Wisdom Form. Skating around on magic, he started blasting the Unversed with enhanced Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder blasts, taking out most of the Floods and some of the Scrappers quickly. He then poured his remaining Wisdom Form stored power into a powerful blast of mana fired at the Spiked Turtletoad, the explosion of Light knocking it end over end.
As Sora reverted to his normal state, Goofy and Sulley hurried in and started pounding the big Unversed until it spun to knock them back, righting itself. Wounded, the Spiked Turtletoad leapt high and tried to body-slam the group, but Donald zapped it with Thundaga, making it lock up and fall right down on three Scrappers, crushing them. Sora finished the big Unversed off with several heavy blows to its head, while Sulley and Donald dealt with the remaining Scrappers.
"We need a bigger burst of laughter…" Mikey said, looking at the control panel. "Man, all my best jokes'll fly right over the head of a 2-year-old…"
Goofy gasped as he came up with an idea. "Sora! Let's do the Funny Face Special!"
"Huh?" Sora rubbed at his head. "Whaaaat? Ugh, if you insist…"
Crouching down in front of Boo, Sora bowed his head and (drumroll, please…) raised it with an "Eeeeeee~!" with eyes rolled upward. Boo started giggling again, and this time everybody joined in. The toddler jumped with joy, giggling like mad, and the control panel glowed and sparked with overflowing power. With a ding, the big door unlocked, and everyone headed toward it…
"Sora's aimin' for your job" Sulley joked to Mike.
"You boys aren't gonna leave without saying good-bye, are you?"
Hearing Randall's sudden voice right behind them, they spun and got ready to fight, glaring at the smirking purple snake-thing.
"Give it a rest, Randall" Mikey said. "You're not gonna get away with this."
"We'll stop anything you throw at us" Sulley added.
"Maybe you will" Randall replied. "Or then again, maybe you won't. I've still got an ace up my sleeve."
"What sleeve?" Goofy asked. "You're nekkid."
Growling, Randall turned to a big, oddly-shaped casing in the corner. "I command you to destroy them!" he shouted at it.
Nothing.
"Huh?" Randall scurried over to it. "Hey! Come on!"
"Looks like your ace is a joker" Mike remarked.
"What a pile of junk!" Randall kicked the thing. "It was supposed to be a big nasty creature that would kill you all! Ugh, I got ripped off!" He started scurrying away, mumbling under his breath. Sora went to chase after him, but Sulley grabbed him.
"Ah, just leave him" he told Sora. "I don't think he can cause us any more trouble." He looked down at the toddler clinging to his leg. "Besides, we gotta focus on getting Boo home. Boo's door has to be somewhere in the vault. If we head outside and go through the power station, we can get to the door vault that way. Follow me!"
As the group took their leave, the big gate closing behind them, a black-robed figure appeared in the previous area. He extended a hand at the inert mass of metal, and black sludge began to ooze out of it…
-Break-
Moving down a brick-walled hallway, the heroes were beset by a few Pogo Shovels with a pair of Marine Rumbas. Sora started blasting the two flyers with Blizzara shots, while Sulley's claws and Goofy's shield beat the hopping Heartless around. Continuing on, they encountered some Flowersnakes clinging to the walls & ceiling and shooting poison blasts at them. Donald protected the gang with Reflera, and Sora blasted the living 'turrets' with Fire blasts until they were all dead.
The next bend led them outside… and they were met by the smoke and heat of a massive fire raging throughout the factory. As Sulley & Mike stared in horror, a helicopter flew overhead, trying to dump fuel-retardant foam on one of the blazes, only for shots from the Unversed below forcing it to break off.
"We gotta get to Boo's door…" Sulley said.
They hurried down the fence-lined walkway, bulldozing through a pack of Pogo Shovels as they went. In the next wider area, some of the monsters in hazmat suits were trying to put out the fires, but were under attack by Unversed – Red Hot Chilis and Floods being led by a Spiked Turtletoad. Sora used Mike as a bowling ball, flattening most of the Floods, while Donald started blasting the flyers with Blizzard and Water spells.
Sulley dove to avoid a charging tackle from the Spiked Turtletoad, narrowly avoiding its flailing spiked arms. The beast roared and prepared to try again, but then a Monsters Inc. security chopper flew into the area, firing missiles at the creature. Stunned and wounded by the hits, the Spiked Turtletoad was ganged up on by Team Sora, an Ars Arcanum finishing it off. With the Red-Hot Chilis neutralized, Donald started casting Water spells at some of the fires. Soon the area was cleared and the fires contained, and the hero team moved on.
As they advanced, a small team of Soldier Heartless tried to bar their path, but a charging tackle from Sulley hurled them into the walls, letting Donald & Goofy finish them off. A flock of Flutterings infested the next stairway up, but Sora & Donald bombarded them with Thundara shots until they were all crispy critters. On the next level up, another catwalk led to an open area populated by Flowersnakes, Mandrakes, and a pair of Turtletoads. The security helicopter from earlier was still overhead, accompanying the hero gang and lending its fire to the cause; stun grenades from monster troopers inside left the Turtletoads reeling, letting Sora & Goofy take one out with a Goofy Bombardier.
Donald used Zero Gravity to uproot a few Mandrakes, letting Mike and Goofy take care of them. The other Turtletoad swallowed a pair of Flowersnakes which then changed into living 'turrets' mounted on its back, firing poison shells at the heroes while the big Unversed tried to crush them. Donald charged magical power and unleashed a Blizzaza spell that froze the compound Unversed solid, letting a couple rockets from the security chopper shatter them. Sora used a few Strike Raids to finish off most of the remaining Unversed, with Sulley grabbing the last Mandrake and chucking it over the fence to plummet to its death.
In the next area, some monster troopers threw down some ropes, letting the heroes climb upward to the next level (thankfully they moved on before they got a chance to see Boo). Sora led them up a thick pipe, and at the top they were accosted by Gold Beats with a Green Requiem supporting. Goofy quickly beaned the healer Heartless with a shield throw, letting Sora swat it out of the sky, while Donald fired firework-rockets at the electric Heartless to shoot them down.
Going up a spiraling catwalk, the gang sky-dived down to an open-roofed storage area, Sora & Donald using magic to slow their & everyone else's falls. Outside in another courtyard, a pack of Flame Cores with Soldier support was waiting. As the gang rushed in, a fire-control helicopter hovered overhead, turning its water cannons on the fiery Heartless, stunning and weakening them. Sora and Donald blasted the Flame Cores with Watera and Blizzara spells to finish them off, while Sulley and Goofy made short work of the Soldiers, bashing and smashing.
As the heroes made to press on, however, several small explosions caused several huge pipes to collapse, blocking off their way forward. However, Boo pointed out a particularly huge pipe that looked like it would make a perfect ramp.
"Wait, the only place that pipe leads to is the cooling tank!" Mike said.
"Don't worry, Mike" Sulley said. "Just trust me."
They went up the pipe, following the pathway and ending up inside a huge empty cooling tank. As they entered, a Spiked Turtletoad with several Flowersnake 'turrets' dropped down from above. Inhaling air to inflate itself, it started bouncing around, trying to squish them, while its living turrets fired globs of poison. Sora released a wave of Ragnarok bolts that crashed against the big Unversed's armored shell, destroying most of the Flowersnakes clinging to it, and a Thundaga from Donald took care of the rest. The Spiked Turtletoad charged at them, flailing its spiked arms, but Sulley slid forward, ducking beneath the Unversed and slashing at its unarmored underside. The beast roared and tried to hit him, and Sora leapt onto its head and drove his Keyblade down into its skull, killing it.
With the area clear, Sulley ran over to where some barricades were against the wall. "I'm pretty sure Maintenance hasn't finished patching it up" he said.
He pulled one of the barriers aside, revealing a hole in the side of the tank. As they entered the factory area beyond…
"Wait a second…" Mike looked around. "It's the door vault!"
"Yep" Sulley grinned. "What'd I tell ya?"
"Sure, nice job, Sull. Seriously, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually ran the place!"
"Thanks, Mikey. All right, it's not much farther."
They took an elevator down, and a pack of Floods and Shadows emerged. The little enemies' ability to meld into the floor made dealing with them a little tricky, but they posed little threat and were quickly eliminated. As they passed over a catwalk to avoid a fire, they started down a passage leading to the door vault…
"Eww…" Donald looked at the trail of black sludge along the floor. "Watch your step!"
"What is this stuff?" Sulley wondered. "Doesn't look like oil…"
"Wanna bet it'll lead to something that'll try to kill us?" Mikey said.
Once inside the vault, the trail of black goop continued along the same path they were traveling along. They entered a wider area with a doorway leading into the main vault chamber.
"Everybody look for Boo's door" Sulley said.
Suddenly, they heard soft cackling as a familiar purple monster skulked out.
"Randall…"
"Didn't you learn your lesson with that pile-of-junk fiasco?" Mike asked.
Randall grinned, tenting his fingers. "Oh, I learned a lot…"
He stepped aside, revealing the odd metal contraption from before. As Mike smirked and walked over to it, an Unversed symbol suddenly appeared on the circular teal display on it.
"Wait, Mike!" Sulley shouted as Team Sora headed over. "Something's different!"
"Oh, please" the cyclops scoffed. "It's just more junk."
(BOSS MUSIC: Kingdom Hearts III – "Unforgettable (KH3 Version)")
Perched on a higher platform, Randall started laughing. Mike made to say something… and then he heard a gooey sound behind him. He and the others turned, and saw a mass of purple & black sludge flowing out of the pile of 'junk'. The mass rose up, the metal parts opening and shifting, and soon the whole mass had taken the form of a huge blob monster with a great big glowing red maw, dripping arms of goo, metal armor, and multiple scream canisters stuck into it. As Mikey stumbled back while Team Sora got ready for battle, Sulley stepped up and helped his friend to his feet.
"Mike," he said, "time to reach down and let the scary out."
"Finally…" Randall smirked. "This is exactly what I needed to take over the company. But first, I am getting rid of you. Attack!"
The 'Lump of Horror' opened its 'mouth' wide and started spitting fire blasts. Everyone scattered to dodge, with Sora and Donald returning fire with Firaga shots, the Unversed's gooey body sizzling where they hit. The Lump of Horror lunged forward, swinging its claws at them; Goofy protected Mike, while Donald ducked under a swing and countered with a concussive wave of magical force that knocked the monster back, letting Sora get a few hits in.
The Unversed sank its arms into the ground, and trails of sludge extended out and took the form of a half-dozen shadow-sludge arms reaching up from the ground all around it. As everyone tried to dodge the arms trying to swat them, Goofy threw his shield in a boomerang toss, its sharp edge cutting through four of the limbs. Following his lead, Sora used a Strike Raid to sever the rest, and then Sulley threw Mike at the Unversed's face, hitting it right between the eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't do much, and the Lump of Horror responded with a high-speed tackle that sent both monsters flying.
As Donald used healing magic on Mike & Sulley, Sora & Goofy struck with their old "Whirli-Goof" combination attack, battering away at the Lump of Horror's blobby body. The Unversed shifted its form, stretching upward to take the shape of an upside-down teardrop atop a thin 'stalk' of goo, with two huge bat-like wings extending to the sides. The Lump of Horror flapped its wings to generate a powerful whirlwind that blew Sora & Goofy away, and more goo-arms reached up from the ground, trying to grab and swipe at the heroes. Sulley took out a few with his claws, while Donald froze some with Blizzard blasts so Sora, Goofy, & Mikey could shatter them. Sora then started bombarding the main body with magic blasts, capped off with a Ragnarok barrage.
Shifting back to its shorter, stockier form, the Lump of Horror spat out more fireballs at the heroes, who hunkered down behind Sora & Donald's Reflega barriers. Sora started throwing Strike Raids at the Unversed, beating it back, and Donald zapped it with Thundaga, stunning it long enough for Sulley to leap in with a shockwave stomp. The Lump of Horror swatted Sulley back, charging at him afterward, but Donald then charged magic and blasted the beast with a Flare spell, the crimson explosion of fire magic stunning the Unversed and letting Sora & Goofy land a Bombardier attack.
As the Lump of Horror shifted to its winged form again, accompanied by multiple sludge-arms reaching up from the ground, Sora was enveloped in gold as he assumed his Master Form. He floated about, using his twin Keyblades and enhanced magic to carve through the numerous arms, and then started hacking and blasting at the Lump of Horror itself. The beast roared, flinging fire blasts and razor winds at him, but he kept dancing around its attacks and returning fire, chipping away at it. The others pitched in, Sulley and Goofy attacking its body-stalk while Donald blasted the 'head' with various spells. Finally, Sora blasted the Lump of Horror with a Thundaza spell, stunning it, and used that opportunity to charge up a mass of golden light. Just as the Unversed shook off the electrical stunning effect, Sora fired.
As the blast crashed into the Lump of Horror's body, burning into it, it roared and tried to push back. But then Sora launched himself at it, Rasengan in hand, and pushed the spiraling sphere of energy into the blast of Light, absorbing and melding with the magical energy. The supercharged attack then bored deep into the Lump of Horror and then detonated with incredible force. The goo monster's body was blown into hundreds of pieces that flew every which way, covering the area. All the scattered goo then began to evaporate away into particles of Darkness, the leftover metal bits rusting away and disintegrating as well.
(MUSIC END)
As everyone stood down, Randall scurried over to where his precious trump-card had once been. Meanwhile, Mike noticed a portal-door leaning against a far wall: the door that Randall had been banished through last time, repaired by dark magic. He signaled to Sulley, who grinned and came up behind Randall. The snake turned around just as the big blue monster roared right in his face.
Screaming, Randall scurried frantically away from Sulley… and right over to Sora, who grabbed him and hauled the struggling, cursing monster over to the door Mikey was holding open. With a heave, Sora chucked Randall through the door, which Mike immediately closed. Then, he raised his Keyblade and fired a thin beam of light at a glowing keyhole that appeared on the door. With a locking sound, the door began to float upward, and then disintegrated into motes of light.
"And that takes care of that" Donald said.
-Scene Break-
Riding Boo's door into the main portal room, everyone hopped off as the doors settled into their mounts. Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching. Turning, they saw someone in the Organization's black cloak, leading to Team Sora immediately going on guard.
"Gotta say," Vanitas said as he lowered his hood to reveal his helmet, "you did a little better than I expected, Sora. I thought my newest creation would last a little longer against you. Well, at least it gave me time to finish gathering what I needed."
He pulled out a surplus scream canister.
"Vanitas" Sora growled. "I figured either you or Karidé were involved in all this."
"This whole place used to be powered by scream. And even though they've switched over, they still had plenty of sadness and fear in storage for me to make into more Unversed. That little cretin, blinded by petty revenge, was a useful pawn, too."
"So you helped Randall find his way back here!" Mike accused. "And you had your little demons tear our factory apart!"
"Useful diversions" Vanitas replied. "Now that I've got what I came for, my business here is concluded. I've even got quite a bit of scream energy left over; I can use it for creating my next big masterpiece of an Unversed. …Though, I'll need a little anger and hate for the finishing touches, too; you can't run a rampaging berserker on fear alone. Now then, my Unversed have finishing spiriting away as many scream canisters as they can carry, so I should be going~."
"You really think we're just gonna let you leave!?" Sora charged.
Vanitas raised his Keyblade to block Sora's, and Donald circled around and fired a Blizzaga at the Unversed Lord. The black-clad youth leapt back to dodge, flinging a Dark Firaga at the royal mage, only for Goofy's shield to deflect it. He then flash-stepped behind Sora, aiming for the hero's neck, but then Sulley crept up behind and let out a terrifying roar that actually staggered Vanitas, leaving him open for the big blue monster to grab. As Vanitas tried to struggle free, Mike held open a portal-door, letting Sulley chuck him through. Sulley then grabbed that door and tossed it through a second door, then that one through a third, and then they hurried that door over to the woodchipper, shredding it.
"First Randall, then this guy…" Mike said. "We gonna make a habit outta tossin' bad guys through doors?"
"I hope not" Sulley replied. "Replacing doors we get rid of that way will get expensive after a little while!"
"Thanks for the save" Sora said as he & his friends came over.
"No, we should be thanking you" Sulley replied. "We never woulda managed to get Boo this far if you hadn't come along to help."
"And finally, we found her door!" Mike added.
Sora walked over to the still-celebrating child. "Boo, I know how excited you were to come play with Mike and Sulley. Sorry we dragged you into this."
"Okay Boo," Sulley came over, "time to go."
"Kitty…" the toddler said sadly.
"We'll catch up soon, kid" Mike told her.
Sulley led the little girl through the portal-door back to her bedroom, with Team Sora giving her one last funny face.
-Break-
"Sorry for all the headaches we caused" Sora told Mike & Sulley.
"Eh, don't mention it" Sulley replied. "And actually, it was kinda nice havin' a little adventure for old times' sake."
Mike nodded. "Yeah, the flying and the falling – and hey, let's not do that paint thing again – but nothin' like running for our lives to get the heart pumping!"
"I had a great time here!" Donald said.
"Donald," Sora replied, "all you did was complain!"
"I did not!"
"Any chance that we could drop by again?" Goofy asked.
"The door's always open for ya" Mike replied.
"And maybe Boo can join us!" Sulley added.
-Break-
Sitting atop a lamppost in another world, Vanitas rested his helmeted head on his hand.
"I'm going to kill him…" he muttered. "Slowly, painfully. No-one manhandles Vanitas and gets away with it." He sighed. "But, the old man has stuff for me to do first; I'll have to go get revenge after this whole business is sorted out. Now then, perhaps I'll see to my new creation…"
With a whorl of black, he teleported out.
-CHAPTER END-
I couldn't think of any DDF members to come with Team Sora and get monster-fied, so I ended up having just the core trio for this chapter. Next time, Sora visits some old friends, and then we get another original World…