Chapter 32
(The following chapter contains a few triggering moments. Reading discretion advised)
Elliot stood in front of DisneyLand. At the gates. Watching the park burn. A cast member wearing a Goofy costume was on fire, screaming while he was burned alive. Elliot simply smiled.
The nightmare made Sora sweat. He was asleep in the truck with Vanitas and Riku. The first person Sora was looking for was Goofy. He saw him, snoring loudly. Everyone was asleep outside, with tents, yet Sora saw Goofy in the truck. He figured his family was asleep outside. He slowly got up and stepped outside of the truck. There was a nearby stream of water close by. He decided to sit there for a while, processing what he dreamt.
"Can't sleep?" asked Riku, who sat beside him.
"I had a nightmare. A really bad one." said Sora.
"You've been having less dreams and nightmares lately. That's a good thing. You shouldn't worry about those things." said Riku.
"Each dream or nightmare present their own story. Sometimes, they are the same stories, but told differently. And sometimes, I see memories of things that happened in the past. And so far, I haven't seen one of you Riku." said Sora.
"My past is none of your business." said Riku.
"In another life perhaps, we were friends. Childhood friends and we grew up on Destiny Islands. We were inseparable in the dreams. I'm surprised that here, we met at Oblivion." said Sora.
"Like I said… those dreams shouldn't really come back to you. It's a lot of burden for you and those involved." said Riku.
Suddenly, as they spoke, there was an explosion. Everyone woke up. Riku and Sora turned around and headed back to camp.
"Ahyuck. What was all that?" asked Goofy.
"Something is following us." said Sylvia darkly, pulling out her large staff.
Roxanne pulled out her guns. "I don't like this. Where's Max?" she said.
"I'm right here. I'm going to scout ahead." said Max.
"I'll go with you." said Roxanne. The two of them then held hands and left.
"Be careful you two!" called out Sylvia.
"Holding hands while scouting? Are they for real?" asked Donald, grumbling in his beak. He was still wearing his PJs and holding a teddy bear.
"Ahyuck." chuckled Goofy.
Donald gave him the "eyes" and everyone else stood their ground as another explosion was heard.
"Is there a meteor shower going on?" asked Vanitas.
"No. This is something else." said Goofy, seriously this time.
Another explosion. That made three already.
"What is going on?" asked Sora.
Roxanne and Max came back running. "We need to go!" cried Roxanne.
Everyone nodded and headed for the truck. Kairi helped Donald up and held Sora's hands. "Sora, your hands are cold." she said softly.
"I was out with Riku." said Sora.
"Really?" asked Kairi looking at him. Riku nodded and they silently sat in the truck as Max turned it on and pressed his foot down on the pedal. Within seconds, another explosion was heard.
"Are we under attack?" asked Vanitas.
"Seems like it. But those explosions are hitting at random places." said Goofy.
"What did you guys see?" asked Kairi to Roxanne and Max.
"We didn't see anything. But the explosion were getting closer." said Roxanne.
Another explosion. A louder one.
"Don't stop!" cried Goofy.
"Everyone hold on to someone or something! I'm going to go fast!" cried Max.
"Safety first! Seatbelts everyone!" cried Sylvia.
"Quack!" cried Donald in panic as another explosion was heard. Within seconds, more and more explosions were starting to happen. The forest they were in was catching fire.
Sora looked out the window to see how the forest was slowly getting burned. And the smell of ashes were starting to enter his nostrils. And then he looked up at the sky. Indeed, they were in the middle of a meteor shower.
"Where is this coming from?" cried Donald.
"It seems to me we are in a hot spot for a meteor shower. That explains why there were no animals in this forest!" said Sylvia.
"There are hot spots for that?!" cried Sora.
"Of course! But they happen only in certain areas. Areas where people dare not go." replied Sylvia.
"Just like DisneyLand." said Goofy.
"The unhappiest place on Earth." grumbled Donald.
"Wait… there was a place called DisneyLand?" asked Sora.
Donald was about to reply when the truck came to a sudden stop. Max pressed on the brakes.
"What is that?" asked Max terrified. Everyone looked and in front of the truck was a massive dinosaur. Yep. A dinosaur. With horns and really sharp teeth. It was a Carnatour. An evil looking dinosaur with horns that made it look like something out of a horror movie.
"That explains it! We are in Carnatour terrain! Of course there are meteors here!" cried Donald.
"Yeah! Those things LOVE meteor showers." said Vanitas.
"You look like you're enjoying this." said Kairi to Vanitas.
Max quickly drove away while the Carnatour roared at the truck. "Don't stop like that again!" cried Riku to Max.
"The dinosaur was in front of us! If I hit it, there would be a large fine on my head!" cried Max.
"Carnotaurs aren't an endangered species!" cried Riku.
"Stop arguing you two!" said Sylvia in her mom voice.
Max pressed his foot on the gas much deeper now. The forest was on fire, and there were Carnatours all over the place, roaring. But they were not in pain. Rather, it looked like they were celebrating the meteor shower. Almost as if it were a part of them. Their roars felt more like a triumphant call than suffering. Sora never saw something like this before. He had heard of meteor showers and Carnatours enjoying it, but he never imagined he would see something like that.
He looked out his window and caught a glimpse of something. Something very evil. A boy with black eyes, holding what appears to be a destroyed Mickey plush….
Sora was about to say something when the truck was beginning to slow down.
"Oh no." he said.
"Damn! The gas!" cried Max.
"At a time like this!?" cried Roxanne.
"Don't worry everyone. We are almost out of the woods. All we need to do is stick together." said Sylvia.
"There are Carnatours coming this way." said Riku, looking outside.
"Then I guess we'll just have to fight them." said Donald.
"Perhaps." said Goofy.
"What do you mean perhaps! Those monsters are going to eat us up one by one!" said Donald.
"The thing is Donald, they are endangered. We can't kill one." said Goofy.
"Not if it's self defense!" cried Donald.
The Carnatours were coming closer when all of a sudden, they all stopped. Loud footprints were heard and they all turned. Coming out of the burning forest was a large brute. A monster much bigger and stronger than the Carnatours. It was a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
"Heavens to betsy." said Goofy.
"You see! We are in big trouble now! I'm not going to be a roasted duck in this damn forest!" cried Donald. He stepped out of the truck and pulled out his lightsabers.
"Come at me you giant freak of nature!" he cried.
"Don't be stupid Donald! Get back to the truck!" cried Max.
"That bird brain is going to get himself killed!" cried Goofy. He stepped out of the truck as well and pulled out his guns. Sylvia stepped out and pulled out her white mage wand. Max and Roxanne stood by them, also with their weapons. Max his shield and Roxanne her guns, like Goofy.
Vanitas stepped with Kairi and Riku. They all had weapons too. Vanitas had a sword, Kairi had a blue lightsaber, like Donald's, and Riku pulled out a chainsaw.
Last, but not least, Sora stood next to them. He had only a shield, kind of like Max's. He armed himself with it.
The whole team was mano a mano against the giant T Rex and it's team of Carnatours.
Sora kept his eyes on the reptiles, but something also caught his attention. The black eyed boy walked in front of everybody. No one could see him. Only Sora.
The black eyed boy smiled and looked straight at Sora with his evil gaze. He then pointed his index finger at Sora. "Darkness is the heart's true essence." he said in a double voice.
Sora blinked once, and the boy was gone. And then, the battle began.
Donald charged up against the T Rex and it started to aim it's jaws at Donald. He jumped up into the air and rolled his body with his lightsabers like a tornado, hitting the creature multiple times.
Goofy and Roxanne started to fire away at the Carnatours while Vanitas slid on the ground and sliced away at the Carnatours in their stomachs. Kairi's training paid off. She avoided attacks and attacked one Carnatour head on. Her style of fighting was intense. She was very fast and agile while she performed acrobatic feats to destroy the Carnatours.
Riku on the other hand used his chainsaw and destroyed the Carnotaurs to pieces. Blood and pieces of flesh were sent flying into the air. Sora observed him closely and it looked like Riku was … enjoying the carnage…. To put it bluntly.
Sora has never seen Riku with this look of insanity before. In person. In his dreams, long ago, he had a dream where Riku was possessed by the darkness. And spoke in a double voice. Just like the black eyed boy from before. As everyone was fighting, a Carnatour roared in Sora's face and he quickly shielded himself. Max appeared and kicked the creature with his own shield.
"Sora! Get back into the truck!" cried Max.
Sora felt utterly helpless and useless. He didn't want to let everybody down. He quickly to a Carnatour that was about to bite Vanitas and pushed it's snout away with his shield.
The T Rex and Donald were still at it, while it endured the lightsaber burns.
"What is this thing MADE OUT OF!" cried Donald.
He threw his lightsabers at the T Rex's throat and beheaded the animal. The Carnatours stopped fighting and watched as their alpha fell to the ground headless.
"WHO WANTS SOME!" cried Donald.
Goofy stood next to him with his guns pointing out and everyone else came to the center, next to Donald. Blood and guts were on the ground and everyone either had smears of blood on them or pieces of Carnotaurus skin.
The monsters roared and quickly turned around, back to the comfort of their burning forest.
Donald screamed. Sora watched the scene unfold. And it bothered him greatly.
….
That night, Max took the truck to a motel, the Cozy Cone motel, which was a safe distance from the burning forest. The inhabitants of the town they went to, Route 66, were talking cars. However, they had human stuff that everyone could use.
Max checked everyone in. They all were exhausted and ready to hit the hay. Sally, the blue Porche who was working in the front office, didn't charge them.
"Carnatours?" she asked Max, who was covered in dried up blood and smelled of sweat.
He nodded and Sally gave him the keys.
"I'm sorry you guys had to go through that. That horrible forest shouldn't even exist. We put signs all over town to stay away from there, but some people just laugh it off. You guys working for Mickey?" she asked.
"We are members of the Mouskateers." said Goofy, puffing out his chest.
"Nice. Me too. I offer sanctuary here. Route 66 is safe. You guys get some rest." said Sally.
After a few hours, once Sora was showered, he stepped outside and walked into town, which was illuminated with neon lights. He heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Goofy.
"Gwarsh. Sorry to scare you." he said kindly.
Sora nodded and turned away slowly. Goofy walked up next to him.
"You've been kind of quiet after the meteor shower. Were you scared?" asked Goofy.
Sora sat on a bench in town and Goofy sat next to him. They were in front of a beautiful gas station. Flo's it was called. There were other cars and even people there. Perhaps Mouskateers or just civilians spending some time there. Sora looked up at the starry sky and then at Goofy's warm face.
And then Sora started to cry. Goofy held on to him while Sora weeped in his arms. After a few minutes, Sora caught his breath.
"I was scared. That was so horrible. Everything I saw… Donald screaming with blood all over him, and you guys covered in dinosaur guts. It was so not like you guys." said Sora.
"I know. It was horrible." agreed Goofy.
"And then the boy. That horrible little boy with the black eyes…" said Sora.
Goofy's eyes widened and quickly asked Sora.
"Was he a little blonde boy? Was he wearing a stripped green shirt?" asked Goofy.
Sora nodded, surprised Goofy perfectly described him.
"Then you say DisneyLand." said Goofy.
"I have. And I haven't." confessed Sora. "I only see bits and pieces of it. I see different versions of the park and it's founder. Walt Disney. In some versions, he's a very good man. But in other versions, he's very mean and very mysterious. And the park is either good, or a bad place. There is so much going on in that place. And you guys are there, but not really. People dress up as you or Donald or even Mickey. And people are either happy, or not happy. And sometimes, that boy appears. And this one time, I had a dream where the park was on fire and he was standing in front of it while a man dressed up as you was on fire, screaming for help.
Goofy held his hands together and exhaled. "I wish you didn't see all that. You shouldn't see those terrible dreams." said Goofy.
"What is DisneyLand? I heard Donald mention it." said Sora.
Goofy looked up at the sky. "It's not a good story. Let's say that was the place where we met Mickey. Good things happened as well as bad. And this boy you see in your dreams… he should be dead." said Goofy.
"What?" asked Sora.
"I will tell you everything Sora. You need to hear this." said Goofy .