Chapter 37
Max kept on driving away from Mustafar, and everyone was listening to Bruno's words.
"So Chernabog is playing everyone for a fool! This can't be real." said Donald.
"Chernabog thinks he's steps ahead of us, but he isn't." said Goofy.
"How do we stop that colossal creature?" asked Riku.
"If we all team up, we may be able to beat him." said Max.
"Sounds easy enough. But if Chernabog is using all of us, just to get into unnecessary fights…. Gosh this changes everything." said Sylvia.
"We can't let that thing beat us!" cried Vanitas.
"You've seen Chernabog. How big is he exactly?" asked Sora.
"He can do whatever he wishes. He can transform into whatever thing he wants." said Riku.
"Not good." replied Sora.
It was then Kairi looked over her Keyblade. "What is that?" asked Riku.
"I don't know. It appeared when I was… fighting Sephiroth." said Kairi.
Sora looked over Kairi and smiled. "That's a Keyblade." he said.
"A what?" asked Kairi.
"A Keyblade. It's a weapon that protects the light in people's hearts. Or so they say." said Sora.
"You've seen this before?" asked Kairi.
"I have seen it many times in my dreams. I have seen different people use those." said Sora, not mentioning that he too had one in the dreams.
"So that light that came from it, it's a good thing?" asked Kairi.
"It saves lives and it's awarded to people who believe in the good." said Sora.
"But why do I have it? Why did it appear to me?" asked Kairi sadly.
Sora sat closer to her. "You were fighting against someone who was going to hurt our world. Sephiroth needed to be stopped." said Sora.
"I killed him. I killed three people." said Kairi, her eyes widening in sheer terror.
Everyone in the car didn't say a word. Goofy didn't know what to say and Donald was getting anxious. Sylvia however put her hand on Kairi's shoulder.
"Kairi, we are in a war. Sark, Vader and Sephiroth were going to kill a lot more people if they were not stopped. Do you think Vader felt pity over his enemies? No. Sephiroth would laugh watching people starve to death. And Sark would have simply followed orders like a lapdog. Kairi, you saved a whole lot of lives by taking those men out. There is nothing to feel guilty about." said Sylvia.
Kairi was about to say more when the truck came to a sudden stop.
"What was that?!" cried Marvin the Martian.
Sora was about to say something when he suddenly felt his eyelids heavy. "Sora, wake up!" cried Donald.
"Everyone! Look!" cried Max, pointing out the window. Everyone turned and they saw what appeared to be a large tower. A very long one that almost reached to the sky. And to their surprise, they saw Frollo from afar. He was walking towards the long towers' entrances. With him, he had two prisoners. They were in chains and they looked like they were wearing some sort of armor. Sora, Riku, Vanitas, and Kairi were horrified to see that it was Roxas and Namine!
"Our friends!" cried Sora.
"Frollo has them. He's taking them to that tower." said Vanitas.
Goofy looked up and shook his head. "Oh gwarsh. It can't be." he said.
Bruno smiled. "Aye. It is my friend. This is the Tower of Terror." he said.
"But that place was closed down after those murderers!" said Max.
"Apparently, it's still in operation by that man in black." said Bruno.
"We have to rescue them. That's my brother Roxas. And that is Namine. She had my dreams. And I know she's valuable to Xehanort." said Sora.
"I remember her! You were looking for her last year!" cried Goofy.
"The girl you've been looking for? That was her?" said Donald.
"It's a long story, but yeah, I found her and she was supposed to be safe, until some bad things happened." said Sora.
Kairi pulled out her Keyblade and looked out the window to see Frollo force Roxas and Namine inside.
"They need us. We need to stop him." said Kairi with a determined edge to her voice.
"Kairi…" Sora was starting to say.
"Let's follow them! And there is nothing that old man can do." said Sylvia.
"Yeah. Wait what?" asked Marvin the Martian.
"Be careful everyone. Frollo is tougher than he looks." said Bruno, putting his hands together.
"If you see the future, tell us… what's going to happen?" asked Sora.
"Really, you are asking him to tell you something we know? We are going to beat Frollo up, and save Roxas and Namine." said Riku.
Bruno closed his eyes and then he gasped aloud. He opened his eyes and shook his head wildly with his hair moving all over.
"Death is coming! Death is coming for us all! Death, death, death, death, death…" Bruno kept on repeating non stop.
"Snap out of it you crazy man!" cried Donald.
"It's no use. He's been doing that as of late. He's super traumatized." said Marvin shaking his head.
"Jesus…" said Riku. He then slapped Bruno and he fainted.
"RIKU!" cried Sora.
"Better to have him stay in the truck than to come with us." shrugged Riku.
"Besides, it's for his own good." said Vanitas.
Donald smiled. "I'm starting to like these guys." he said.
…
In the Tower of Terror, Roxas and Namine were chained against a water fountain. They were bruised and hurt all over, yet they held hands while being tied up.
Frollo walked over them and sneered. "You two have meddled into our affairs for the last time. For one whole year, you two have been nothing but trouble. It's only fitting that I get to be the one to kill you both." said Frollo.
"We did everything we could to stop you and that bald old skeleton! We are doing this to protect the light!" cried Roxas.
"We are servants of Kingdom Hearts! You will not stop us! Soon, you will pay with your life for all the crimes you have done!" cried Namine.
Frollo rolled his eyes. "Kingdom Hearts! Bah! Fairy tales, the lot of them! There is no such thing." said Frollo.
"Let them go!" cried Goofy's stern voice. It was very rare for him to talk like that. Frollo turned around and saw everyone with their weapons drawn. Even Marvin the Martian was with them, and he had a tiny lazer that Donald loaned him.
"The Mouseketeers. Leave! This does not concern you!" commanded Frollo.
"Step down and let the kids go!" cried Donald.
Frollo pulled out a dagger and aimed it at Roxas's head. Goofy got his guns ready. It was then that Frollo recognized him.
"Dippy Dawg. How wonderful to see you again. Look at you now. You are now an adult, with your guns drawn against me. ME! The one who gave you a second chance at life!" said Frollo.
Goofy didn't say a word. He flat out ignored the treacherous man.
"Is this anyway to speak to a Holy Man? It seems you still have much to learn Dawg." said Frollo. He snapped his fingers and a few Heartless appeared out of nowhere. They were not the bugs that everyone faced before. These ones had armor and looked almost human. They had long claws with red on the tip.
"Kill them all." said Frollo. The Heartless surrounded everyone and they all started to fight, except Sora, who managed to sneak away and tried to untie Roxas and Namine.
"Where have you been!?" cried Roxas.
"Gee, it's nice to you see you too brother." said Sora.
"We've been looking all over Oblivion from top to bottom just to find you!" cried Roxas angrily.
"Can we talk about this some other time?" asked Sora.
"So Terra, Aqua and Ventus were right. You did leave the school. Thank goodness you're safe." said Namine.
Sora didn't want to ask questions. He had enough of questions. He knew there was so much more left to cover. He looked up and saw Frollo running up the stairs and enter an elevator.
Sora felt weird. There was something very wrong. After he untied Roxas and Namine, Sora ran after Frollo. He pressed on a button and it opened. Sora got in, and pressed all the way to the top floor. He had a hunch that was where the old man was going.
As Sora walked out, he was at the very top of the Tower of Terror. Frollo was standing close to the edge, with his arms out. Sora felt chills seeing Frollo in that pose. As he was about to step out he %%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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Sora woke up with a jump. He fell asleep. He got up slowly and Frollo was nowhere to be seen.
"He fell. You won't be seeing Frollo again, that's for sure." said a familiar croaky voice.
Sora turned around to see Xehanort, standing a few inches from him.
"I got to say, putting you to sleep was the only way so I can push Frollo from the roof without any interruptions." said Xehanort.
"What was that dream I had?" asked Sora.
"Dream? Ah yes. You see visions. You see Sora, I injected a chemical so you can pass out. It worked briefly." said Xehanort.
"What did I just see?" asked Sora, almost screaming.
Xehanort rolled his eyes and explained.
"This is a fictional world where we live in Sora. All of this is fake." said Xehanort.
Sora was not impressed, nor was he surprised. He didn't feel anything. Why wasn't he feeling anything? He looked at the old man.
"Chernabog was created to be the main villain in this world. I had to do it to make more conflict." said Xehanort.
"So…. if this world is fake… and you're from the outside, why are you here then? Why are you scheming to destroy all we know here?" asked Sora.
"This world we live in came from an actual CD-Rom from the outside world. The people who live in this world are all connected to different worlds and universes. The person who made this CD was a huge fanboy on so many things. Kingdom Hearts, Disney movies, Looney Tunes. You name it. The storyteller is a cartoon fanatic." said Xehanort.
"But what about my friends and family? They have pasts. Goofy has an established past as well as Donald. Their pasts are firmly established in this world as well as ours. So why are you telling me all this?" asked Sora.
"The person who made this CD loves Kingdom Hearts. By now you know you are from a video game. Namine told you as much didn't she?" said Xehanort.
"What happened to her? She's acting like she's a different person. As well as Roxas. Their capture is too easy." said Sora.
"I had to write in the file." said Xehanort.
"Don't talk in riddles old man! Tell me! What are we? What world is this?!" cried Sora.
Xehanort turned around. "In the outside world, thanks to the power of money and business, Disney, Warner Brothers, and even Square Enix have formed an alliance like no other. They planned to create the world of Kingdom Hearts and expand upon it! They added cartoons that one would never think of joining forces with a Disney princess. Imagine, seeing Spongebob fight alongside Queen Elsa! Bah! That is priceless and hilarious!" cried Xehanort.
Sora wasn't scared nor was he panicking."So, if this world is a video game.. Or whatever…. Aren't you part of this? How do you know so much?" he asked.
Xehanort stretched his neck and smiled. "While writing the game, Disney employees were horrified to see Goofy having guns and Donald Duck with lightsabers. Not to mention the excessive amount of violence this game has. To make sure this game would never be released to the public, and to make sure it was gone from the face of the Earth, Disney created a sneaky virus to destroy and corrupt the game. That virus being yours truly. And I was close too. First, I needed to spread rumors, then make a lore out of this world. Right about now, the writers from the outside world are probably scratching their heads as to why the story turned out different." said Xehanort.
Sora looked around his surroundings and closed his eyes. "My dreams… were they part of this game?" he asked.
"Yes. You were scripted to have dreams and question them. You saw Donald and Goofy's past. The way they were intended to be in this game." said Xehanort.
"So, what's going to happen now? There are no Mouskateers. And there are plenty of cliffhangers in this game too. Lots of them. Denzel and Marlene, Oblivion High School, Xion and Vanitas…. Soren… are you saying all this was not worth it?" said Sora.
"Young man, if it makes you feel any better, we are living in the only surviving copy of this game. It is in the hands of a Disney Employee who actually liked this thing and hid it in his closet, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, I'm still here. Once this disc is installed into a computer, I will actually infect this place and all will die!" said Xehanort.
Sora stood up and faced Xehanort. "Then why all this worldbuilding? Why all this story? Was it all worth it? And why am I feeling nothing?" said Sora.
"I'm afraid I corrupted the game…." Xehanort was saying.
"WAKE UP!"
Sora opened his eyes.
His head was on Kairi's lap, in the truck. "What happened?" asked Sora weakly.
"You are not going to believe this. Max drove the truck into a bed of mushrooms that causes severe sleep." said Kairi.
"I was able to cover everyone in the truck with a protection spell. But it didn't work on you because of the mushrooms." said Sylvia.
"Then I was dreaming?" asked Sora. He looked around the truck and sure enough everyone was there. Donald, Goofy, Max, Sylvian, Vanitas, Riku and even Bruno and Marvin the Martian.
And Kairi.
Sora started to cry. "I had the most horrible dreams of everyone. I'm sorry! They were so awful! I couldn't tell if anything was real or fake! I don't know anymore!" cried Sora.
"What did you see?" asked Kairi.
"It's not important guys. I'm just glad this is the only reality we all have." said Sora.
"The mushrooms. They really did affect you. Oh Sora, we are so sorry." said Goofy.
"I should never have driven there." said Max.
As the truck came to a stop, Sora walked outside for a breath of fresh air.
He. HAD. ENOUGH.
He was tired. Tired of the confusions. Tired of the neverending amount of questions the world was throwing at him. What if what the old man said to him was true? What if this was indeed a world of fiction? Namine made it sound like it the first time! Kingdom Hearts. What was that? And why all this? Why him? Why?
Sora screamed. He screamed so loud, his voice echoed.
For a moment, everything was suddenly quiet. Everyone who was by the truck didn't say a word. Bruno's eyes were glowing green, yet he said nothing. Marvin, Max, Sylvia, even Riku and Vanitas didn't say a word. Kairi on the other hand wanted to run towards Sora. She saw him fall on his knees and began to cry.
She was about to go to him.
She was going to sit next to him and talk to him. But then, Goofy and Donald stepped out of the truck and they both walked over to Sora.
Goofy sat on one side and Donald the other. Both of them didn't say a word. They instead sat with him in silence. After Sora cried out his tears, Goofy hugged him.
"Everything is going to be alright." he whispered. Donald also hugged him.
"Kid, whatever dream you had just now… it's gone. But do you want to talk about it?" asked Donald.
Sora nodded and briefly told Goofy and Donald what he saw. Donald's face crunched in anger.
"The nerve of that darn old man! What was he thinking saying all this nonsense! He was saying that to confuse you!" said Donald.
Goofy shook his head. "He got into your head. Oh dear." said Goofy.
"What do you mean "oh dear?" The old man got into Sora's head and lied to him! LIES!" cried Donald.
"He did. And it's going to cost him." said Goofy.
"What do you mean?" asked Sora, drying up his tears with a handkerchief Kairi handed to him. She was standing beside him, listening.
In fact, everyone stood by. Sora turned to see all the support he had. Max walked up to him and patted Sora like a brother. Vanitas did the same, although Max beat him to it. Riku on the other hand spoke.
"Goofy is saying that Xehanort could have used forbidden magic to get to your head." said Riku.
"Forbidden?" asked Sora.
Sylvia spoke. "Xehanort could have dabbled in black arts to get into your dreams. It is said that such magic is very powerful and dangerous. It's never been done before." said Sylvia.
"And to think that he used it. I bet you all that he won't make it." said Goofy.
Bruno's eyes turned green and he started to cackle.
"What's so funny you crazy man?!" cried Donald.
"Geez Donald, calm down." said Marvin.
"You stay out of this Looney Tune!" cried Donald.
"I am calm. I'm always calm. You remind of that other duck. The angry one with the white collar." said Marvin.
"You compare me to that loser!?" cried Donald.
"You guys! Listen! What's going on Bruno?" asked Goofy.
Bruno looked at everyone with his eyes bugged out. "First off, Sephiroth is still alive."
Everyone gasped. "What?!" cried Kairi.
"Sephiroth is alive. He pretended to die." said Bruno.
"And is that why you're laughing?!" cried Max.
"It's not funny man! Sephiroth is dangerous!" cried Riku.
"Please kids. You think the One Winged Angel would die with lava fire from Mustafar? Please." said Bruno.
"And why are you laughing. It's disrespectful." said Goofy, folding his arms and scowling at Bruno. Goofy rarely looked angry. Max on the other hand has seen him put that face before; a long time ago on a road trip. Bruno looked at everyone. "It's Xehanort. He's dead."