Riku's Rage, and the coming of the Dark
Sora, Riku, and Kairi wandered the elaborate gardens of Disney Castle. It was nighttime and the stars could be brightly seen in the black sky.
"So Maleficent is still at it" Riku said through gritted teeth. "I want to come with you, and kick that witch's ass!"
Sora sighed. He had explained already to his two friends that he didn't want them to accompany him to the World That Never Was. It was just too dangerous, and he didn't want to lose them again. Kairi had agreed readily enough. She had been kidnapped by Maleficent's Heartless, but she had been a vegetable at the time. Unlike Riku, who had been tricked into selling his soul to the dark side, she had no grudge against the sorceress.
"Riku, just let it go" said Kairi. "I know she did some pretty bad things to you, but---"
"Yeah, yeah she did" Riku said, his voice rising in anger. "But you weren't there, and neither were you Sora! You don't know what it's like, hating yourself every day when you think about what you did back then! I do!"
Silence followed this outburst. "The only person who I really ever told how I felt about it was King Mickey. He told me that I have to believe that I could be better than that."
"But you were!" Kairi insisted. "Look what you sacrificed for us! You gave up your original form, and didn't know how to get it back! Riku, you don't get much better than that, unless you're a freakin' god!"
Riku was silent. Then he began to walk into a leafy archway, hands in his pockets. "I need something" Riku said. "I need a purpose to fight for. Beating that nutcase Xemnas was your cause Sora. I only came along for the ride. Don't get me wrong" he said, as Sora started to speak. "It's just…I need something I can do for the worlds all by myself…maybe then I'll be able to have a little peace. It's that---" suddenly, he broke off, and clutched a hand to his chest. Riku staggered to his knees.
"Riku!" Kairi screamed. She ran over to him. "Sora, help me, do something, he's having a heart attack, get Donald, the King or someone---"
"I…I'm fine" Riku gasped. "I'm not having a heart attack…or at least not the kind you think."
"Then what kind of attack are you having?" Sora asked impatiently.
"There's…there's something out there" Riku said, looking up at the night sky. "A powerful darkness…it's raging…uncontrolled…I think it came from Maleficent."
"From her?" Kairi asked. She looked up at the sky, as if she could see what her friend was talking about. Unconsciously, her Keyblade, Welcoming Garden, materialized. Kairi was still having trouble about controlling when it appeared. It came in times of high stress. Once, it had appeared in the middle of a science test, and Kairi had gotten sent home for carrying a weapon. Sora was still trying to teach her to teach the sword to appear when she called it. She gripped its flowery handle so hard that her hand began to bleed.
"It's still far away" Riku panted. "But it's coming…I don't know anything more. I must be insanely powerful though…it's like nothing I've felt before…this thing isn't a Heartless, or a Nobody…it's a monster. Sorry" he said, seeing their pale faces. "I don't mean to scare you, but it's true. This wasn't naturally created. Someone manufactured this evil."
There was a lot of advanced technology both within the Hollow Bastion ruins, and even more within the lair of Organization XIII Queen Minnie had said. If Pete has been salvaging these things from those places and if he and Maleficent have been left undisturbed by anyone for an entire year…It makes me ill to think what kind of twisted monster they may have created, or what powerful weapon they have made. Sora shivered unconsciously. Suddenly the sky looked a whole lot less pretty.
Sora and his friends walked back into the entrance of the castle. In the light they felt better. Kairi and Sora were supporting Riku who was still weak from the attack that he had experienced.
"Hi Sora, what's---oh, gosh!" said Goofy as he saw Riku's condition. In the darkness outside, Riku had looked bad. In the bright light of the Castle, he looked terrible. His face was pale and tired looking and there were dark circles under his eyes. Goofy hurried over with a rattle of his ceremonial armor. He picked Riku up easily, and motioned for Kairi and Sora to follow. "We've gotta get Riku to infirmary, quick" he said, already going down the hall.
"What do you think is going on?" Kairi asked Sora.
"I don't know" Sora said. But he thought he did. Maleficent had launched her attack on them, finally. She had sent her experiment to destroy them, destroy him. Well, if that was the way she wanted to play, then he was going to play the game. He was going to play it to win.
"Where am I?" Riku asked when he was finally allowed to talk.
"You're in the infirmary" said Sora. He, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi were gathered around the bed.
"I'm fine" Riku said. "It's just…it was a surprise, that's all."
"Just sit down!" Donald snapped. "You were hurt pretty badly, Riku."
"I guess I should" Riku said. Never disobey a chronically angry duck he thought.
"I came as soon as I heard" said King Mickey coming in. "What happened, Riku?" Mickey asked.
"Your Majesty" Riku said. "I sensed something. It was powerful, it was a monster. Like a Heartless but it was brimming over with the darkness power."
Mickey's brow furrowed in a rare frown. "Darkness power, this close to the Castle? Should I put the Guard on alert?"
Riku shook his head. "It's not that close. I could sense it here because it was so powerful. I could also sense that it was uncontrolled. It came from the World That Never Was. Maleficent's doing I think."
Mickey's frown deepened. "Then the Guard will be put on full alert. Goofy!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Goofy said, saluting sharply.
"I want you to tell the Guards to be on the watch for anything suspicious. If they do see anything, they are to report it to me." He sighed. "It's just as well that you, Donald, and Sora are going on your journey now."
"Why can't we just take a Dark Corridor to the World That Never Was?" asked Sora. He wanted to get this mission over with as soon as possible. Then he could return to his summer vacation.
"We can't use the Dark Corridor because Maleficent has used her power over darkness to seal the ones to that where shut. If you did try to open it, then you would be lost forever."
"How do you know this?" asked Kairi.
Donald looked away from her, Goofy sighed, and King Mickey shuddered. "We tried to send in a strike force earlier last year to stop her" he said, a catch in his voice. "We opened a Dark Corridor and they went in. They never came out. After that, Merlin explained how the ways in the Realm of Darkness can be shut by magic."
"That's horrible!" Kairi exclaimed. "What happened to those soldiers? Did they become Heartless?"
"We don't know" said King Mickey. "They might have become Heartless, they might have been wiped from existence, or they could have been marooned on another world far away from here. Anything could have happened."
"Then we'll have to get there the hard way, won't we" Sora said firmly. "Right, Donald, Goofy?"
"Right!" they agreed. So it was decided. The trio walked out of the infirmary, toward the Gumi ship dock. So it began again.