Chapter 7: Welcome to the Steamy Tropical Paradise!

Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Velvet Room

"Why hello Sora… Welcome back to the Velvet Room," Igor greets me.

"I see you've bonded with a new friend," Margaret informs me. "This has allowed you to now create Personas of the Priestess Arcana." A card appears in blue light above Margaret's book. She opens the book, the card lands on it, and turns into a blue light. When the light diminishes, on one page is a picture of Namine, and the other is a picture of the Priestess Arcana.

"The disaster looming in your future is claiming human lives as it draws even closer," Igor tells me. "But there is nothing to fear, you already posses the power to fight back."

"When you truly need us, the door will open, and we will offer you our assistance." Margaret smiles.

Igor chuckles. "I'm looking forward to it!"

The Velvet Room fades into the fog outside

May 18, 2015
Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Mirror World

"Woah." Namine enters through the wall of mirrors Donald made for us a while back. "We really went through the mirror!"

"Oh yeah, this is your first time coming here that way," Yuffie says.

I walk toward Donald and Roxas. "What do you mean you can't trace him anywhere?" Roxas asks Donald.

"My magic tells me that there's another human here, but I can't seem to find out exactly where!" Donald defends, his arms waving frantically. He really needs a chill pill.

"Well, why not?" I ask.

"There's been a ton of stuff going through my mind! Like where'd I come from? Who am I? I can't seem to figure it out!" Donald taps his head with his wand.

"How could you?" Roxas asks. "When I unzipped you, it was just empty."

"Well, what can we do then?" Namine asks. "We won't be able to know where to go without Donald leading the way."

"Do you want to call it quits then?" Roxas asks.

"Of course not!" Yuffie scolds.

"Wait, so we can't?" I ask.

"You too, Sora?" Yuffie faces me with scrunched brows.

"Wait!" Donald claps. That's probably his version of snapping since you can't snap feathers. "Maybe if you get some info on him, or even an item that he's had in his possession for a while, I could use my wand to find him!"

Time of Day: Afternoon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Tatsumi Textiles

We enter the textile shop and see Riku's mom rearranging some items. "Finally, we get some shade from the sun!" Yuffie stretches. "To think it'd be this hot in the spring."

"Yeah, I know, right?" I walk toward Ms. Tatsumi. "Um, excuse me you're Riku's mom right?"

She turns around with an expressionless face. Her posture seems to have worsened from the last time we saw her. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"Is he here by any chance?"

A small frown appears on her face. "I'm sorry, but he hasn't been home since yesterday. It's been dangerous out lately, so I told the police."
"You must be worried." Namine says.

"Indeed. He always leaves without saying a word, but this is the first time he's never come back home." Her face becomes even more saddened.

"That's surprising," Roxas adds. "I thought he'd be out at night fighting or something."

"Don't be rude Roxas!" I warn him.

Ms. Tatsumi chuckles. A bit odd if you ask me, with her looking all depressed. "It's okay. I'll admit, he can be a bit rough sometimes. A while ago, he got into a fight with some delinquents and their motorcycles."

"Are you talking about that obnoxious biker gang?" I ask. "I couldn't get any sleep at all when they were around."

"Neither could I! But, what he did was partially my fault." Ms. Tatsumi looks away from me and blankly stares at a picture of what seems to be a young boy. He has straight, shoulder length black hair, and blue eyes. Could that be Riku when he was younger? "It was because of my complaining about no sleep, Riku got angry. He came home late one night, and the next morning, he was on the news, saying that he defeated an entire gang!"

"So he beat up an entire gang for you?" I ask. "Now he just sounds more like a dedicated son than some punk."

"Um, excuse me?" I turn around and there's a little boy by the door of the shop. "Is that guy with long hair here?"

I walk toward him. "Riku? The one who lives here?"

"Yeah! He fixed my older sister's bunny keychain for me." He takes out of his pocket the same bunny that fell out of Riku's pocket when I first met him. "One time when I borrowed it from her, I lost it. When I was by the beach crying, he came up to me and told me to cheer up."

"Really?" I ask. "What did he do then?"

"He said since I'd lost it, he'd make me a new one. He said to tell my older sis that I was sorry when I gave the new bunny to her. He even made one for me!" He takes out a small blue bunny. It has a struggle bat and a yellow cap on.

"So he made those from scratch?" Roxas asks.

"Can I see it for a minute?" Namine asks the boy.

"Sure."

"Amazing! It doesn't even look handmade!" A look of confusion appears on her face. "I'm not sure why he'd hide such talent…"

"This completely disproves the image the town has for Riku," I say. "What's your name by the way?"

"Me?" The boy looks up with an innocent gleam. "My name's Yuuto."

"Well Yuuto, can we borrow your bunny for a while?" I ask. "We're going to use it to find Riku. That way, you can thank him yourself!"

He smiles. "Really? Okay! Just don't forget to give it back!" He hold out his pinky. "I want a pinky promise!"

I wrap my pinky around his. "Okay!"

Time of Day: Afternoon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Moogle Co.- Entrance

"Hey, haven't we seen him in the shop before?" I ask. We were headed back to the mirror we normally use, and we see the raven-haired boy from the textile shop.

He turns around. "So we meet again."

"Yeah," I reply. "What a coincidence."

"Did you hear?" he asks. "Tatsumi has gone into hiding."

"Yeah, we have," Roxas says, entering the conversation. "Come to think of it, what were you and him talking about?"

His expression falters into skepticism. "Why do you need to know?"

"Just curious," Roxas excuses.

"Fair enough." He crosses his arms. "I'll tell you upfront since you seem like you're in a hurry. All I did was ask about his recent activities."

"So it was just small talk?" Yuffie asks.

"Pretty much." He puts his hand on his chin. "But now that I think about it, he was acting a little peculiar."

"Peculiar?" I ask.

"Yes. And I bluntly told him that. That made the color from his face drain."

"He doesn't seem like the type to care," I add

"You can't judge a book by its cover. He might be struggling with some sort of complex." He starts walking toward the exit. "Anyway, I'm heading off."

Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Mirror World- Steamy Paradise Bathhouse

"Umm, are you sure this is where Riku is?" I ask. "The fog here seems thicker than usual… It's more like steam."

Jazz music starts to play. "C'mere pussycat…" A man says in a seductive voice. "Such well-defined pecs!" We hear an amazed man speak. "There's no need to be scared. Just relax!"

"W-Wait a sec!" Roxas says. "I don't wanna go in there!"

"Y-Yeah, it seems too dangerous!" I add

"But Riku is in there!" Donald tells us.

"But I seriously don't want to!" Roxas complains. "It's too creepy in there! There's no turning back once we're in!"

"Let's just go in and get it over with." Yuffie and Namine grab Roxas by the ears and drag him toward the entrance.

"Just go inside, I'll catch up." I tell them. "I need to tie my shoes." Hopefully this works...

Namine looks down at my feet. "But they're tied." Dammit Namine.

"Oh. Well, you see…" I start to run away from the bathhouse as fast as I can. "BYE! I'M SORRY ROXAS! NOT REALLY!" God, I have to get the hell out of here!

"What the hell, Sora!" I hear Roxas scream. "Don't leave me here!"

When it's to the point that I can't see them, Tomoe Gozen, Yuffie's Persona, picks me up and brings me back. I can just feel Yuffie's anger coming from her Persona.

"Geez it's hot in here," I complain

"Maybe we should split up! Namine and Yuffie find Riku, and we go home!" Roxas suggests.

"Perfect idea!" I say.

"Like hell it is!" Yuffie butts in. "Just remember we're trying to save Riku here!"

"Ugh, fine!" I tell her. "Riku doesn't seem so bad." As we walk down a hall, it leads to a curtain that reads COME ON IN! Oh god I can't wait to leave this place.

We open the curtain, and we see Riku a bath towel. It must be his Heartless. He's doing nothing but making the weirdest poses I can think of. "My, my. Thank you for your attention! I'm Ri-!"

"PERSONA!" Roxas and I summon Izanagi and Twilight Thorn.

"ATTA-" Yuffie covers my mouth. "What the hell, Yuffie?!"

"Hold on, not so fast!" Namine tells us.

"Like hell! We're going to snap if we stay in here any longer!" Roxas tells them.

Heartless Riku starts to pose even more. "Thank you for coming to the Suspicious Tropical Paradise! The hot steam is making my heart go wild!"

"PERSONA!" Yuffie summons Tomoe Gozen.

"Hey! Not you too Yuffie!" Donald starts to panic and wave his arms.

"Sorry! He was creeping me out!" Yuffie fake apologizes.

Heartless Riku starts to laugh. "Since everyone is burning up, let's move on!" He makes even more ridiculous poses. "Time to take the plunge, and enter the Steamy Paradise of Loooove!"

"Okay, this is bad in more ways than one." Everyone agrees with me.

"It's just like it was with Namine," Yuffie says.

"No way! Mine was nothing like that!" She puts her head down and turns away from us. "Was mine really like this…"

"Well then, in my hunt for love, I will press on!" Shadow Riku starts to run off into the room ahead, separated by another curtain. "Here I go!"

"Hold it!" I yell. As soon as he left the room, Heartless of different shapes and sizes appear out of dark blobs. Some look like large rotund purple and blue bodies, and some look like extremely skinny mummies with pulsing yellow eyes and skinny claws for fingers.

"Is this how it was with me?" Namine asks. "That… That… That pisses me off!" She takes out a paper fan and her Arcana appears in blue light. "PERSONA!" She shatters the card using the fan, and Konohana Sakuya, her Persona, appears in blazing sapphire flames. "ATTACK!" Blue pillars of fire spew from the ground and destroy crowds of Heartless.

"You're up, Thorn!" Thorn comes in, beats a couple Heartless to black dust, and gets lit on fire by Namine's Persona. Roxas is immediately set on fire. "HEY! DON'T USE FIRE SPELLS SO MUCH WHEN IT'S THIS HOT!"

"Ice 'em, Tomoe!" Tomoe gozen freezes a large group of enemies

"Go get them, Izanagi!" Izanagi throws the keyblade, and it becomes cloaked in electricity while it spins in midair. The keyblade goes through the frozen Heartless, and shatters them into shards of ice. "C'mon! All the Heartless are gone now! We can head into the next room to chase after him!"

We open the curtain, and behind it is a hallway. There are lockers on the sides, and some of them are open, revealing some clothes. At the end of the hall is a set of large wooden double doors. Splattered in blue and pink paint reads Welcome to Steamy Paradise! on them.

"This most likely is where the real Riku is," I tell them. "C'mon, let's go inside!" We all stand still.

"I thought we were going inside?" Donald asks.

"Well, we will eventually go inside." I tell him.

"What do you mean eventually?" Yuffie asks.

"I think you know why we're just standing here, Yuffie," Roxas says.

"Let's just go in," Namine tells us. "If we get this over with now, we can leave."

"I dunno…" I trail. "I mean, what happens if we see something so terrible, it could mentally scar us for life?" Everyone is silent.

"Ugh, fine!" Donald walks past the 4 of us. "I'll open the door!"

"Please just wait a couple more minutes!" My plea was disregarded, and the doors open.

Once the door opened, we were presented with the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. "Cut it out, you bastard!" Riku screams at his Heartless while on top of it.

"You're soooo rough! And I love it!"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Riku's temper rises.

"That's just messed up," I say to Riku. Everyone agrees.

"Wha- You people? Why the hell are you guys here?!" he screams at us.

"Um, uh, we came to save you…" I say

"Why the hell do you sound so unmotivated then?!"

"Oopsy daisy!" The Heartless pushed Riku off him and got back up. He started to do more weird poses. "I won't let you interfere! Hmph!" He clapped and liquid overflows from the large wooden bathtubs at the side of the room.

"What's this supposed to do, slow us down?" Yuffie begins to run at the Heartless, but slips on the liquid. Namine attempts to grab her before she falls, but falls with Yuffie.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask.

"What is this stuff?" Yuffie asks. "This isn't water, it's all slimy!" she attempts to get up using her hands, but then her hands immediately slip in the liquid.

"It's so gross! I can't even get up." Namine tries the same, but falls on her butt. Namine and Yuffie are just slipping and getting the liquid all over their bodies.

"Sora, do you have your phone on you?" Roxas asks.

"Hm? Why are you- Ohhhhh. I do!" I reach in my pocket for my phone. I turn it on, and the screen stays black. "Shit it's dead, do you have yours?"

"I lost it."

"Dammit Roxas, we could have made so much money selling a video like this to guys at the school."

"WHO SAID TO RECORD THIS! HELP US US YOU STUPID PERVY BASTARDS! ACTING ALL HOMOPHOBIC LEAVING ALL THE FREAKIN' WORK TO US, AND NOW WE'RE ON THE GODDAMN FLOOR, AND YOU WON'T EVEN FUCKING HELP US UP?!" Yuffie continued to scream at us. Her rage was so strong, the temperature in the room skyrocketed.

"Why don't you just cut the act already hun?" The Heartless asks Riku

"Bastard!" Riku screams at him.

"What's wrong with just saying what you like to do?" The Heartless asks. "I'm the kind of person you want to be."

"Hell no!"

"Don't listen to him. Riku!" Roxas yells. A circle of blue flames appear around him. He prepares to jump to smash his arcana card, but slips and falls.

"Roxas! I'll get you!" Donald goes to run toward Roxas, but slips and slides forward toward me.

"Donald, watch out!" I tell him. I try to get out of the way, but then I slip.

"SERVES YOU RIGHT YOU FUCKING JACKASSES!" Yuffie screams.

"Oh how I hate girls." Heartless Riku continues. "They look at me and they're all like 'You like to sew? That's gay!' or even worse 'Making dolls? How unmanly!"

"Bitch, if you don't shut up…" Riku slowly falls to his knees.

Heartless Riku mimics a girl's voice and put his hand on Riku's shoulders. "But you're a man! Why don't you act like a guy? Why aren't you manly?" He begins to pose again. "What does it even mean to be manly? Girls are so scary."

"I ain't scared of them!" Riku retaliates.

"Men are sooo much better! They'd never say those awful things. Yes, I vastly prefer men!"

"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD! I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" Dammit, Riku said the forbidden words.

Heartless Riku starts to laugh. "You're me, and there's no denying it!"

Darkness starts to surround the Heartless. Riku backs away from his dark copy. More darkness engulfs Riku's Heartless and forms a black swirling ball of darkness. Purple electricity appears around the ball then explodes. The shockwave sends us flying back to the entrance of the room.

We get up, and run back to the front of the room. We see the true form of the Heartless. It's a large and bulky muscular body. One side of it is black, and the other is white. On its back and shoulder are piles of blood red roses and where its head would be, is the shirtless upper body of Heartless Riku. He has a simple black blindfold on, and on its chest is a Heartless symbol. The black and white lower body is holding 2 Symbols of Mars, one in each hand.

"I am a shadow... The true self... I'm just being true to myself... And that's why... I'll get rid of anything in my way!" The Heartless smashes the Mars Symbols into the ground. Purple lighting appears and shocks Riku. He falls to the ground, smoke rising from his unconscious body.

"PERSONA!" We scream in unison. Our Personas dash toward the Heartless. Tomoe rushes in with a kick, but then is stopped by a large muscular black and white man that has a Heartless symbol on its chest.

He makes a weird pose like Heartless Riku. "Hey! Come on, baby!" God, these Heartless are a bunch of weirdos!

"W-what the hell?!" Yuffie yells.

Sakuya sends a blue fireball at Riku's Heartless. Then another copy of the same Heartless appears and is engulfed by the blue flames. "Oh, niiiice!"

"No way!" Namine says.

"Go Izanagi!" Izanagi rushes the Heartless, and one of the weirdos grab him.

"My, my! What a stud!" The weirdo says.

"S-switch!" Izanagi bursts into blue light, and my arcana card appears. "Rakshasa!" A man in purple armor appears in blue light. He has a katana in each hand, and as long raven-colored hair. "Head for Heartless Riku!"

Rakshasa runs across the room next to Twilight Thorn, and then gets caught in a bear hug from one of the weirdo Heartless. "Hold Daddy tight boys!"

"S-Swi-" One of the Weirdos lands behind us. He smiles creepily at us, and puts his hands on mine and Roxas' shoulders. My body slowly becomes weaker. "I'm down… Take it from here girls…" Everything fades to darkness.

Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Velvet Room

I open my eyes and I'm in the Velvet Room. In front of me is Margaret and Igor. "Why am I here?! I need to go back and help my friends!"

"And you will," Igor tells me. "The time has finally come for you to truly awaken your Wild Card's power." He grins, raises his hand, and 2 arcana cards appear in blue light.

The Velvet Room fades into the fog outside.

Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Mirror World- Steamy Paradise Bathhouse

The fog from the Velvet Room disappears, and I'm back in the bathhouse. I get up from the ground, and raise my right hand. The Priestess Arcana appears on my right, and the Magician Arcana on my left. A large circle of blue light appears under me. In the middle was the outline of a crown. I raise my arms and powerful winds make a cyclone around me. The light from the two cards intensify. I cross my arms, and the two cards smash into each other!

A giant eight-headed green serpent appeared behind me. "Woah… Just, woah." I hear Roxas say.

"You fused the Personas?" Namine asks.

"Hydra!" The serpent roars. I point at the enemy Heartless. "Sic 'em!" Two of the head extend their necks and wrap around the 2 Weirdo Heartless. "Roxas, get Riku!" I point toward Riku in the front of the room. He moves a little, but not to the point that I think he's trying to get up.

"Okay! Thorn, get Riku back here!" Roxas sends Thorn over to Riku.

Heartless Riku prepares another attack. "Not so fast!" I scream. The Hydra blows powerful winds at the Heartless and freezes it. Thorn then successfully brought Riku to us and put him behind me.

"Hey Riku," I call him.

He looks up and I show him Yuuto's bunny. "Hey, isn't that…"

"Yeah, it's the bunny you made for Yuuto. You did make it if I'm not mistaken."

"What? Got a problem with that?" Really, trying to be tough after all this shit going down?

"Nah, if anything, I think it's pretty cool." He looks up at me with a surprised face.

"I think it looks cute!" Namine adds. Yuffie and Roxas agree with her.

"I-I-It's cute?!" We hear the Heartless say. "It's super-duper cute! I love anything cute! It's so goddamn fluffy you would freaking die from diabetes because of how sweet it is!" Purple lighting strikes the frozen Heartless, and shatters the ice encasing it.

Riku gets up and starts to walk up to his dark copy. I hand him the bunny, and he clenches it tightly. "You're so persistent!" His Heartless says.

"Yeah…" Riku replies. "That's right."

"What's right?"

Riku starts to run at his Heartless. "I LOVE CUTE STUFF AND SHIT LIKE THAT!" He punches his Heartless with the fist that was clenching the bunny.

"Ooh baby! So rough!" The Heartless flies back, and dissipates into a mist of darkness and roses. At the same time, the Weirdo Heartless explode into dark mist and pink confetti.

I take off my glasses and clean them. "Um, did you just defeat your own Heartless?" I ask.

Riku turns to us. "Um, thanks for not being jerks who think what I make is girly."

I grin at him and put my hands behind my head. The dark mist from Riku's Heartless completely fades away. What's left is the version that we first met. But this time, thank God, he's wearing the same clothes as Riku, not that bath towel.

As he walks toward us, dark shards and black wisps coming from its body rise into the sky. "Won't someone, anyone just accept me?!" He runs at us with open arms.

"I said to stop doing that!" Riku yells. "The mere thought of you being me, makes me sick." He put his hand on his dark copy's shoulder. "It ain't just about men or women. I'm just scared shitless of getting rejected. I'm a total pansy that tries to get everyone to hate me!" He takes his hand and put it in a fist. "You're me, and I'm you, you crazy piece of shit weirdo!"

His Heartless smiles, and glows with blue light. The light becomes stronger, and then the sound of shattering glass resonates around the room. The light grows dimmer, and Riku's Persona is revealed.

His a large black muscular body with a heart shaped hole in its torso. It has two pairs of crooked antennae on its head, one pair starts out thin, but then thins out to the width of the other pair. The Persona has small yellow eyes, and and a large grin with sharp teeth. It has tattered bandages wrapped around it's body, most notably in an X over its mouth and on its chest. There are purple veins all over the body, and has no legs, just a tail. In the Persona's right hand is a sword with a demonic looking eye above the grip, and a purple and red blade that looks like a demonic wing.

The Persona then turns into blue light, and then into its Arcana form. Riku puts his hand out, his card lands on it, and disappears. Riku falls onto his knees.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask as we walk toward him. He just smiles as he looks as the small bunny in his hand.

Time of Day: Night
Weather: Cloudy
Place: Dojima Residence

"So Terra told me you were hanging around the Textile Shop." Zack tells me. The three of us were eating dinner. "What were you doing there?"

Terra? Why was he… "Namine took me there to see it."

Zack looks at me with an extremely serious face. "You're not getting into any funny business, are you?" I look Zack straight in the eyes.

"Are you two fighting?" Usagi looks at us with a sad look on her face.

"No, we're just talking." Zack tells her.

"Really?" She asks

"Yeah," I tell her. I look down at my food and continue to eat.

Hopefully no one was offended by the way Riku and those Heartless acted…

Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. R&R please!