Goofy was all green. His eyes were different sizes and different colors, one red, and the other blue. His nose was sharp and pointed. “Seriously? Is this how we blend in here?” Sora inspected his transformed hands, then checked over the rest of his body. No two ways about it, he was now quite the monster. Maybe I’m in no position to talk, but Donald and Goofy look freaky. If I woke up in the middle of the night and saw them by my bed, I’d be scared silly. “Could you guys take a few steps back? You’re givin’ me the heebie-jeebies.” “You take a step back!” Donald leaped up angrily. They’re just so creepy! Not sure what I look like yet, but if that’s what the magic did to them, I must be terrifying. “Come on, I think our new look could turn out to be lots of fun!” Goofy said. He always took everything in stride. Yeah, Donald is kinda funny…I guess? Nope. Still creepy. “Wonder what kind of weirdos live here…,” Sora mumbled to himself as he looked around. He couldn’t see any strange creatures nearby, but if these new forms were supposed to help them blend in, that might mean the place was full of monsters. We’ve transformed into all kinds of things before now, but monsters is a first. Oh, wait—we did get some creepy getups when we went to Halloween Town. Sora sighed and then started toward the factory, resigned to his fate. “Who’da thunk he’d get so creeped out?” Donald whispered to Goofy, and the two of them shared a laugh. Oblivious, Sora read the words written on the building. “It says ‘We scare because we care’?” “That’s odd,” said Donald, tilting his head to one side. If they were scaring people, then… “Doesn’t sound very caring,” commented Goofy. He was right; it was hard to imagine good guys would be going around upsetting people. “If they look like us, then they could be trouble. I think we’d better investigate,” Sora suggested, then opened the doors of the building. They walked into a hall and immediately spotted a big horned monster with blue fur and a small girl in its clutches. “Oh no!” he yelped, and the monster turned around. “Hmm? I wonder who those guys are?” “What?! Careful, Sulley. If they see the K-I-D…,” said a second monster in a panicked whisper. This one was green and round like a ball, with two horns and a single eye. The blue creature didn’t look too worried. “It’s fine. We got nothing to hide.” “But you’re the CEO! You set the example,” the one-eyed monster said quickly before running over to Sora and his friends. “Guys! Guys, it’s not what it looks like. Okay, listen. That kid over there just popped out of nowhere! We gotta call the CDA. Uh… It’s a…uh… Oh yeah, a Code eight-three-five!” he babbled. Sora held out his Keyblade. “Are you trying to scare that little girl?” “Yes! I mean, no, no, no! We’re done with scare power. Nobody’s gettin’ scared.” “Mike, take it easy,” the blue monster said to his one-eyed friend. Goofy turned to Sora. “You should, too, Sora. Ya see? She’s happy!” Now that he mentioned it, the girl was laughing as the blue monster patted her on the head. Sora put away his Keyblade and walked over to her, then knelt down to eye level to introduce himself. “Hello. My name is Sora.” “Boo,” said the girl. “Oh, is that your name? Nice to meet you, Boo.” Boo giggled happily. “Hold on!” Mike cried in surprise. “You guys really aren’t afraid of humans?” Boo pointed at Donald. “Mike Wazowski!” Donald leaped into the air in surprise. “Wak?” “Come on, Boo! I’m Mike Wazowski.” Mike tried to correct her, but Boo turned back to Donald and said it again. “Mike Wazowski.” The blue monster chuckled. “Well, you can see the resemblance. That googly bear eye.” “What’s going on? I’m Donald Duck!” Donald rushed over to Boo and complained, but she just pointed again. “Mike Wazowski!” she yelled before starting to chase him. Well, Donald and Mike did both have only one eye. Sora’s other friend introduced himself as he normally would. “A-hyuck! I’m Goofy.” The blue monster smiled. “Well, my name’s Sulley,” he replied, “and this is—” “Oh, we know. Mike Wazowski, right?” Sora interrupted. Boo bounded up alongside Sora and giggled innocently, and the five monsters couldn’t help but join in—until she spotted something and went to hide behind Sulley. “What’s the matter, Boo?” She yelped fearfully. Sora turned around to see what could be the cause, only to find— “Heartless!” he shouted as he got his Keyblade ready, but then he noticed something different about them. The darkness forming these creatures was a sort of bluish-black color, and the emblem etched on their bodies was unlike the usual one. These aren’t Heartless, are they…? “No… That’s not the Heartless’s emblem!” Sora exclaimed. “Then, what?” asked Donald. Goofy cocked his head to one side. “And how come I feel like I mighta seen ’em before?” Sora made up his mind to fight them anyway. “Well, they aren’t friendly.” They weren’t Heartless or Nobodies, but they were still enemies. Behind Sora and his friends as they drew their weapons, Sulley scooped up Boo in his arms and hid her behind a reception counter in the back of the hall. “Stay here. Kitty will be back.” “Those guys are right, Sulley. This has got ‘bad news’ written all over it,” Mike grumbled. “Yeah, we gotta keep Boo safe.” “I’m on it,” Mike said, agreeing with his friend. They were going to fight, too. Sora charged. “Here goes nothing!” Meanwhile, Sulley crept up on the enemy from behind and let out a sudden roar. He had seemed so kindly before, but the creature shrank back in terror from his bared teeth. While they were cowering, Sora closed in with his Keyblade. As for Mike, he darted around the enemy until they started trying to chase him down. Donald used this opening to blast them with magic. Sora turned his attention to the largest of the group, a creature shaped like a frog. Once the last of their opponents had fallen, Sulley and Mike gave each other a high five. “Nice, Sulley. Even with those extra pounds you put on.” “Heh, still runnin’ circles around you, butterball.” The two were clearly old friends as they needled each other. Boo had crawled up onto the counter. “Kitty!” she called. Once Sulley returned with Boo in his arms, Mike asked Sora, “So, any idea who those guys were?” “Well…they couldn’t have been Heartless…” As Sora thought the answer over, Goofy tilted his head to one side. “Hmm… It’s on the tip of my tongue,” he mused. “I remember the king told us somethin’ about…nega-tive emotions.” The name came to Donald first. “Unversed?” “Oh yeah! Them!” Goofy nodded. Sora had never heard the name before. “Uh-huh. A while back, the king fought a whole bunch of battles against ’em with the three missing Keyblade wielders,” Goofy explained to Sora. Then those three missing Keyblade wielders must be— “The same three that we’re looking for? Aqua, Terra, and Ventus?” “Uh-huh. We need more dependable help than you!” Donald jeered. “Hey!” Sora snapped. “Still, how come they’re showin’ up now? I thought those monsters were— Oh.” Goofy scratched his head as he lapsed back into thought. He had a point. Why were monsters from way back then appearing here? Why now? Sulley and Mike shared a look at the word monsters. They had been listening to the conversation, but they had no idea what was going on. Donald turned to them. “Is it because they use scream power?” he asked accusingly. “Hey, I told you—we’re through using that!” Mike retorted. “Besides,” Sulley said lightly, “we have no idea who or what you’re talking about…” “Oh, you’d really like the king—” Donald and Goofy hurriedly covered Sora’s mouth before he could explain. “Order!” Once he was free to speak again, Sora uneasily tried to give their new friends the gist. “Umm…basically…we’ve come from far away to get rid of those creatures causing trouble. We’re like…exterminators?” Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement beside him. “Just how far away?” Mike asked. “As far as you can imagine,” said Goofy in reply. Mike scratched his head uncertainly. “Hmm… Okay, okay, let’s just say we buy all that. Are those creeps dangerous?” he asked. “Extremely!” Donald answered with a little hop. Sulley and Boo glanced at each other. “They sure gave Boo a scare.” The little girl bobbed her head in agreement. “Sulley, I know you’ve missed her, but it’s time to postpone our playdate,” Mike said disappointedly, turning to his friend. “You’re right, Mikey. Let’s get our girl home.” The two of them nodded. “What are you planning to do?” “It’s kind of a long story…but Boo’s from another world, and we gotta send her back there…to keep her safe.” Mike turned to Boo once he finished answering Sora’s question. The situation sounds kinda complicated…but if the Unversed are going to be showing up like this, it’s just too dangerous— “Okay, then. We’re gonna help you. Well, the Unversed might try to cause more trouble, so we wanna come along.” “Great! We could use a couple of exterminators around here!” Mike nodded joyfully. “Yeah, thanks.” Sulley sounded very grateful. With that out of the way, the two of them began walking farther into the building. “You’ve always gotta help,” Donald quacked, slightly disgruntled. “Hey, they need us,” Sora said with his usual grin. “Besides, we need to figure out how all those Unversed got here. C’mon, let’s get moving.” With that, they all started walking together. They passed through the hall and entered a well-lit corridor wide enough for all five of them to walk abreast. At the end of the hallway, they turned left into an open room—an odd chamber with countless doors, each marked with unfamiliar symbols. What was this room used for? Sora decided to ask Sulley. “What’s this place?” “The laugh floor—although it used to be called the scream floor.” “What do you mean?” Goofy asked. As Mike walked out ahead of them, singing something to himself, Sulley carried a giggling Boo in his arm and explained. “So, Monsters, Incorporated, used to rely on scream power from human kids for energy, but now we collect their laughter instead. It turns out laughter’s ten times more powerful.” Apparently, each of these many doors was connected to the room of a human child. The blue monster paused and set Boo down on the floor so she could chase after Mike, then started walking forward again. “And we’d never have figured it out without Boo.” “Our ship’s powered by laughter, too!” Goofy replied. “Guess we’ve got that in common.” “Sora’s a laughter machine!” Donald added. Sora was getting embarrassed. “Come on, I am not.” Still, he had to admit that as long as they were able to keep laughing, things did have a way of working out. And laughter was definitely better than screams. Suddenly, Boo came to a frightened halt. There were Unversed all over the wide floor, opening doors and darting through them. Beyond the door, they could hear the screams of children. “Unversed are back!” Sora rushed out with his Keyblade. After a shriek came from behind a door, a big crane would lift the door and carry it off on rails. “Look! There’s Boo’s door!” Mike was pointing at a white door with little pink flowers—it was already being transported away. Sulley ran after the door in a panic, but Mike stopped him. “Go get Boo!” Now that his thoughts were back in order, the big blue monster picked up the girl and placed her safely behind some machinery. “Kitty!” “We’ll have to play another time, Boo. You stay here.” The girl nodded meekly. She really seemed to trust him; it warmed Sora’s heart to watch them. “Ready to clean house?” Sulley and Mike joined Sora’s team in facing down the Unversed. These guys were a little quicker than the Heartless, but Mike was just as fast on his feet. Sulley’s frightening roars could freeze them entirely, which was extra helpful. “Let’s keep it up!” Sora sent the Unversed scattering. Still, I wonder why these creeps are showing up here. Maybe this world is connected to the three missing Keyblade wielders somehow? As soon as the Unversed had been dealt with, Mike swiped cardkeys through a few machines next to a door. Three fresh doors came down and latched into place next to the devices. “Ride’s here! Grab on to the door when you’re ready.” “Got it.” Sora climbed onto one of the doors. Donald and Goofy got on another, and then Boo, Sulley, and Mike hopped aboard the last. The doors began rising toward the rails. “Whoa!” Sora clung tight to his door. A few seconds later, a section of the supposedly empty room warped and wavered suspiciously. “Oh, I just got a great idea,” the distortion whispered, then vanished completely. The doors made their way into a warehouse where thousands of others were kept in storage. Sora and crew had no choice but to follow the rails, which were taking them straight toward another pack of Unversed. “Leave the bad guys to us! You keep Boo safe!” Sora called toward Sulley and Mike, then climbed up to stand on his door. His footing was a bit wobbly, but he had to work with what he had. He fired off shots from his Keyblade and sent the creatures tumbling to the warehouse floor. “Watch out!” At Sulley’s warning, Sora hid behind the door to protect himself from an attack. Man, just how many of these doors are there? We gotta find the one that leads to Boo’s world. When they reached the end of the line, they hopped down onto a platform. Before them was a single door, a white one with pink flowers on it. “There it is!” Mike ran straight up to the door and opened it. Boo’s room was just on the other side, and there she would be safe. But when they stepped through… “Wait! How’d we take a wrong turn?” Mike looked at their surroundings. They weren’t in Boo’s room, but another part of the plant. Just then, a strange voice came from near the door they had just passed through. “Who cares? I just made a few adjustments to it.” There was no one there, but they could hear a voice. It was unfamiliar…and quite unsettling. Soon, its owner revealed himself; apparently, he had camouflage abilities. “All that matters…is that it’s the last turn you losers are ever gonna take.” “Randall?!” Sulley cried. Randall resembled an eight-legged chameleon, except his scales were naturally purple. “Who’s he?” Sora asked. Sulley scowled at Randall as he answered. “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 the unwelcome monster. “The door we sent you through is sawdust!” “Yeah, and I almost got turned into somebody’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!” Randall snickered as he whipped his long tail. Mike wasn’t about to agree. “Ha! You, a top laugh collector? In your dreams, Randall. My laugh totals are off the charts.” “Who said anything about collecting laughs?” Randall spat back. Sulley and Mike shared a look. This guy was a serious creep. “I’m after negative emotions. And my new friends have invaded the factory to get ’em for me,” the purple monster said, sinister as ever. Donald and Goofy were unnerved by his words, too. “He’s gotta know.” “Yeah, Organization XIII must be helpin’ him.” Randall ignored them and continued, slithering his way around Sora and crew. “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!” Sora summoned his Keyblade and took a step closer. Randall was definitely not to be taken lightly. “Not you or your little Unversed helpers!” “Just try and stop me,” Randall hissed, dripping with hatred. “You’ll see soon enough. I am gonna be a legend around this place. Now, consider your careers officially over. And that goes for the rest of you, too.” With that, he faded out of view. “Hey!” Sora tried to chase him, but the monster had vanished so thoroughly it was impossible to tell where he was. “We’re in control of the factory now.” Randall was still invisible, but his voice was loud and clear. “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.” Mike looked up at Sulley with a grim expression. “That weasel means business! He’ll never quit.” “We have to get Boo to safety first. Then we can take care of Randall. Time to find a way out!” Sulley was on guard, too. These two seem to know this guy pretty well. Sounds like we’re in for some real trouble. Sora decided to be ready for anything. Donald and Goofy nodded, too. “Okay! Which way? Here?” Donald walked down the hall toward some stairs. “I got it now! We’re in the basement!” Mike dashed up the steps once he realized it. Everyone else followed his lead and found a conveyor belt. It was running right to left—the opposite of the way they were going. To make matters worse, the robotic arms on either side were firing red lasers at Sora and his friends. “Hey! What’s with the machines? They’ve gone totally bonkers! There’s no way we can take Boo through here safely.” Mike ran his hands down his face despairingly. Sulley picked Boo up out of harm’s way. “This must be what Randall meant by ‘improvements,’” he said, looking at the laser machines. But there was no reason to worry. “Nothin’ we can’t handle! We just have to break them, right?” Sora assured them with a grin, summoning his Keyblade. “Yeah! We’ll take care of this!” Donald immediately launched a spell toward one of the arms, which fell still with a burst of sparks. “Now’s our chance!” Sora cried, and everyone rushed forward. Still, running against a conveyer belt proved quite the challenge. They couldn’t even pause for breath, but eventually, they reached another set of stairs. Ahead, they could see a big shutter. They all took a moment to catch their breath, and Sulley especially appeared relieved. “Once we get through here, we’re clear,” he said, and Boo scampered on ahead while he hurried after her. Behind them, Mike walked over to a device along the wall of the room. “Yup! This is the central control unit for the whole factory! Now, whaddaya say we get outta here?” Sora and Donald ran past Mike toward the console. “Let me.” “I’ll do it!” The two started pressing buttons here and there at random, but nothing happened. “Hey, hey! Show a little finesse!” Mike hurriedly pushed Sora out of the way and began working the control unit, but it didn’t respond to him, either. “Rats! Randall must have messed this up. Nothin’ works!” He sighed, frustrated. “We can’t get out?” Donald asked. “Maybe it would be faster to just break it,” Goofy suggested. It was hardly a plan, but Sora summoned his Keyblade anyway. “That’s brilliant!” “Hang on!” Sulley shouted, stopping Sora before he could damage the console beyond repair. “Think I’ve got a better idea. If we can just short it out, the lock will disengage. And, lucky for us, Boo is a walking energy generator.” He set Boo atop his head. The girl immediately started giggling with childlike glee. The control unit was soon crackling with electricity. “You’re our MVP, Boo!” Mike nodded. Sulley began to run around with Boo still on his head, while the rest of the group chased him. As she started laughing in earnest, Mike took a spill, and Sora tripped over him and accidentally kicked him across the floor like a ball. Mike tried to stop by sticking out his legs, but then Sora’s Keyblade came crashing down on his head. His eye spun, dazed and dizzy, and Boo howled. But then Boo fell silent as she noticed something: Unversed had appeared in her line of sight. Her expression quickly turned to terror. “You guys are a real pain!” The whole group glared at the party crashers spoiling the fun. Sulley roared, and the Unversed froze. “Here goes!” Sora shouted as he grabbed on to Mike’s head and sent him rolling toward the enemies. “Ee-hee!” Boo giggled. “I’m gettin’ dizzy here!” Mike cried as he rolled along like a bowling ball and crashed into the Unversed. Once the creatures were gone, Boo laughed again. “Oh man,” Mike groaned as he clambered to his feet unsteadily. “Hey, at least the Unversed are gone! And Boo’s having fun again!” Sora reminded him proudly. Everyone cracked up—Boo most of all. Her laughter sent sparks dancing across the control unit, and yet— “It’s no use. We need a bigger burst of laughter,” said Mike. “Would you care to do the honors?” Sully urged. “I’d love to.” Mike stepped in front of Boo, grinning broadly, and placed his hands flat on both sides of his face. Each time he hit his face with a palm, his eye would roll in the opposite direction. He kept going back and forth, getting faster each time, until— “Forty to zero. Game and set! I’m not cut out for this racket.” —but Boo was not amused. Not that she even understood what was supposed to be funny in the first place. “Come on. It’s a tennis joke. Should I have gone with Ping-Pong?” “Nothin’ could’ve saved that one,” Sora commented quietly. Mike flung up his hands. “Wait! Nobody move! I dropped my contact!” he shouted, then dropped to all fours. “I don’t think Boo’s gonna get it, Mike,” Sulley murmured. “Do you get it?” Sora whispered to the blue monster. He sure didn’t. “Yeah, it’s ’cause his eye’s so big,” Sulley explained. “The joke is you can’t lose a contact the size of a dinner plate.” “Oh, fine!” an indignant Mike shouted. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at this?” Donald asked accusingly. Mike was getting frustrated. “I am, once I’m warmed up.” “Sora, do the Funny Face Special.” “Whaaat? Ugh, if you insist.” Sora crouched down in front of Boo, pretending to be more upset than he really was at Goofy’s suggestion. “Cheeeese!” He made a goofy smile, and Boo began to laugh. “Everybody join in!” Sora called, and the entire group began making funny faces at once. Boo jumped up and down with glee, and soon the control unit was loudly sparking while its lights flickered. Now the shutter would open and let them out of here. “Sora’s aimin’ for your job,” Sulley said to Mike. Mike didn’t seem too pleased with the idea. Suddenly, someone called out to them from behind. “You boys aren’t gonna leave without saying good-bye?” It was Randall again. “Give it a rest, Randall. You’re not gonna get away with this,” Mike informed the purple monster. Even the soft-spoken Sulley sounded especially determined. “We’ll stop anything you throw at us.” Sora brandished his weapon at the creepy monster, while Donald and Goofy followed his lead. “Maybe you will,” Randall replied. “Or then again, maybe you won’t. I have still got an ace up my sleeve. Now…,” he said, turning around to some sort of metal contraption behind him, “I command you to destroy them!” But the machine or whatever it was didn’t budge. “Hey. Come on! Move… Move, you stupid—” Randall kicked it, but it just sat there like a lump of metal. “Looks like your ace is a joker,” Mike quipped as the tension left his body. “What a pile of junk!” Randall snarled, fading into the background again. “Wha— Hey!” Sora started after him, but Sulley laid a hand on his shoulder. “Just leave him,” he said gently. “Don’t think he can cause us any more trouble. Besides, we gotta focus on getting Boo home.” “You’re right.” Sora sent away his Keyblade. “Boo’s door has to be somewhere in the vault. Follow me!” Sulley called to everyone, and then Mike pressed the button beside the shutter. After it rose, Sora and crew made their way into the door vault. Behind them, in the room they had just left—an inky fog swirled up from the ground to create a path to the Corridors of Darkness. A man in a black coat stepped out and extended a hand toward the broken machine, causing the Unversed symbol to appear on it. A midnight black, tar-like substance oozed from the machine and congealed together into a massive dome. Once the Unversed finally reached its true shape, it opened its enormous mouth, revealing its glaring, magma-red interior. The man in the black coat spread his arms wide. This black mass of hatred isn’t just mine. I can create Unversed from other people’s emotions now, too. I’m not just wallowing in my own pain anymore; I’m not the kid I used to be. Part of me is asleep inside of him. I know that now. If my heart is nothing but hatred, nothing but sorrow and pain and suffering, then what emotions fill the half that’s a part of him? We’re not the same. Everything inside of me is darkness, but that kid—Sora—is nothing like me. This darkness used to be a part of Ventus before we split apart. I was born from it when he became us. I don’t understand anymore. I disappeared once, and then he summoned me again. And now I’m here. If I connect with Sora, with Ventus, then I can become my true self. What kind of person will I even be? I can’t begin to imagine it. There’s a tiny sliver of a memory inside me—a memory from long, long ago, from a distant past. But…why? I disappeared back in the Keyblade Graveyard, and somehow, I already knew that place. Who did that memory belong to? Me? Ventus? Or someone else? I have no idea. One thing I do know—I have to be whole again. Who am I, really? I am half of Ventus. I am— Sora and his friends finally arrived at the door vault after defeating the Unversed and Heartless along the way. Once again, they found dozens of doors going by on the rails. “Everybody look for Boo’s door,” Sulley called. He was about to get started when Randall showed up again. “Didn’t you learn your lesson with that pile-of-junk fiasco?” Mike jeered. Randall smirked back. “Oh, I learned a lot.” The same machine from before sat behind him. As Mike walked toward it, Boo ran and cowered behind Sulley. “Kitty?” “Wait, Mike. Something’s different!” But Mike ignored Sulley’s warning and turned back with a confident smile. “Oh, please. It’s just more junk.” Randall cackled mockingly as a thick, black substance began bubbling out from beneath the metal. The goop quickly amassed into a great round lump, looming up before them before forming a creature with bright red magma rippling inside its gaping mouth. “An Unversed!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy rushed forward to plant themselves protectively in front of Mike, who edged back in fear. Sulley lifted his green friend up by the head and looked him straight in the eye. “Mike, time to reach down and let the scary out,” he told him. Mike slapped himself across the cheek to get into gear. “Oh, I’m ready, Sulley! I’m ready!” “Finally…,” said Randall. “This is exactly what I need to take over the company. But first, I am getting rid of you. Attack!” At his command, the Lump of Horror raised its oozing arms and went on the offensive. “Whoa!” Sora yelped, dodging out of the way as the appendages stretched toward him like they were made of rubber. Lump of Horror went after everyone else in a similar manner. “I can’t hurt it!” Sulley shouted. It was true—the creature’s form was so slimy that it simply sucked in Sora’s Keyblade every time he hit it. “Wak!” When Donald tried casting spells, Lump of Horror hid the machine on its head and transformed into something resembling a bird, battering the party with wind from its winglike arms. Sora fought his way closer through the gale and found that his hits and Sulley’s punches actually struck home when Lump of Horror was in this form. “Okay, Sulley,” Sora shouted, “time for the you-know-what!” The blue monster gave a nod. “The you-know-what?” Mike asked as he darted around the battlefield. “You know, this!” Sora grabbed Mike by the head. “Oh no, not again!” Sora sent Mike rolling straight into the Unversed. Strike! Lump of Horror let out a roar as bits of black goo scattered everywhere, eventually turning back into a pile of sludge. The dark, tarry liquid seeped into the ground, leaving nothing behind but the machine from before. “Whyyy?!” Randall scurried over to the remains of the inert Unversed and gave them a kick. Watching him, Mike noticed something and gestured silently at Sulley, pointing out a battered door to a child’s room. “Got it,” the blue monster replied with a thumbs-up. Mike went for the door, while Sulley hurried over to Randall and startled him with a roar. When the lizard-like monster drew back in surprise, Sulley seized him by the neck, carried him over to the door, and set him down in front of it. “All right, in ya go.” Mike opened the door for Randall, while Boo angrily stuck her tongue out at him for good measure. “There’s no place for you here anymore, Randall. Now we’re in the business of making children laugh.” Sulley patted Boo on the head and made her smile again. “You think it’s funny?” “Hilarious! The more you whine, the funnier it gets,” Mike replied with a grin as Randall reluctantly approached the door. “You clowns are gonna be sorry when I find my way back and I finally take over this place!” he grumbled as he stepped through, his voice growing distant. Another voice drifted through the door. “Mama, that gator’s in the house again!” It belonged to a child. “Are you kidding?!” a woman answered. “Oh, this time, he’s in for it.” Shortly after, they could hear her smacking the daylights out of Randall with who-knows-what. “So long! Smell ya later,” Mike cackled and shut the door. “And now we just need to do one last thing,” Sulley said, reaching out to the closed door with his left hand. Just as he was about to press the red button above its frame, Sora stopped him. “Hang on! I have a way to lock him out.” Sora held his Keyblade up to the door. A keyhole appeared on it, and then a beam of light shot from his Keyblade. They heard a click as the door was locked for good, then vanished in a flash of light. “Okay, Boo. Time to go home. You must be tuckered out, but we’ll play together real soon,” Sulley said as he spotted her door among all the others and hopped up onto it. The rest of the group jumped up to some neighboring doors, which carried them along the rail all the way back to the laugh floor. The doors came to rest in their fixtures. Now Boo could finally, finally go home. No sooner had everyone heaved a mental sigh of relief than they were greeted by a man in a black coat. “Who are you?” “Gotta say, the strange façade had me fooled at first, brother.” Sora leaped down from the door and walked over to the mysterious arrival. The guy in black removed his hood, but his face was still obscured by a mask. I don’t remember anyone calling me brother before, thought Sora. Still, it feels like I know this guy from somewhere— “Wait a sec… Oh yeah! You were at the cathedral! And hey! Who are you to call anyone strange?” Sora thought back on their encounter. Yeah, this was probably him. It was in a dream, but they had met once before—in the cathedral of La Cité des Cloches, Quasimodo’s world. He wasn’t wearing a mask then, but he definitely feels the same. We’re connected somehow. I can tell. Nearby, Goofy and Donald puzzled over the question. “Say, do we know this guy?” “Uhh…” “We haven’t ever met in the flesh,” said the guy in black. “I am Vanitas.” Donald and Goofy gasped. They had heard that name before from the king, from back when he fought alongside the three missing Keyblade wielders. “This is the part where you spout some mumbo jumbo and disappear, right?” Sora said knowingly, but Vanitas ignored him. “This whole world…was powered by screams. They converted the screams of human children into energy. And this very company made it all happen. It’s as rich a source of negative emotion as we’ll ever find.” “For the last time, we already stopped doing that!” Mike protested. But Vanitas simply picked up an energy canister from one section of the floor and continued. “Did you? Then how do you explain all these canisters of surplus scream? This facility was everything I could hope for. And I was lucky enough to find a pawn whose heart was darkened by thoughts of revenge.” Mike and Sulley realized immediately that he was referring to their former colleague—and now former resident of Monstropolis. “You mean Randall.” “All Randall ever cared about was winning. And this guy took advantage of that weakness.” Randall had gotten his just desserts, to be sure, but they couldn’t believe Vanitas had been using him this whole time. Vanitas turned to face the two of them. “My heart is made of just one thing. And the Unversed collected enough screams and sadness from those children to reconstruct it,” he explained, lifting the canister of energy into the air. “Yeah, and the whole time they were trashing our company in the process!” growled Mike. Sulley grabbed him by the head before he could march over and start swinging. “But, even with all this negative emotion, my heart is still incomplete. I need something else.” Vanitas released the canister, and it went flying through the air. “The half of me…that sleeps on inside your heart.” Vanitas jabbed his Keyblade at Sora. “Vanitas!” As the name left Sora’s mouth, he felt the presence of someone within him. “Huh?” “Ventus…what a strange place to slither off to…you insignificant speck.” Vanitas reached out toward him, but Sora swatted away his hand and took a few steps back. “What are you talking about?” He didn’t have any idea what Vanitas meant. I can feel it—I can feel someone, but… “Oh, you wouldn’t remember. When you were little…you formed a special bond, with a boy named Ventus who joined your heart.” “Ven!” Donald cried in shock. “Is he sayin’ that one of the missing Keyblade wielders is inside Sora’s heart?” Goofy asked. Sora was just as confused. “How is that possible?” Sulley and Mike watched the three of them warily. “Now, you will return Ventus to me.” A strange dark thing arose from Vanitas. My chest hurts. As Sora dropped to his knees, his two friends moved in to protect him from the violent black wind emanating from Vanitas. “Donald, Goofy…” Goofy struggled to stay upright in the gale. “The king told us about this. Ventus wasn’t able to defeat Vanitas. They struck each other down, and then the king said that Ventus’s heart never returned to him!” “You’re not gonna do that to Sora! No way!” Donald yelled. But Vanitas sent them flying with an especially powerful burst of dark wind from his hand. “Stay out of this!” Sora tried to raise his Keyblade, but Vanitas just knocked it away as he slowly approached. “Sora!” Donald and Goofy shouted. My chest is killing me—it’s like something squeezing my heart hard enough to break it. But I have to get up. Sora desperately tried to stand. “Join your heart…with mine!” Just as Vanitas was about to pierce Sora’s chest with his Keyblade, a huge shadow loomed up behind him. “Made you look.” Then Sulley roared. As Vanitas flinched backward, the big monster seized him in his furry clutches and lifted him into the air. Vanitas’s Keyblade tumbled to the ground. “Let me go!” He struggled to free himself, but Sulley’s grip was firm. “Over here, Sulley!” Mike yelled. He had a door ready to go beside him. Sulley ran over and hurled Vanitas through it. “Okay, now!” Mike immediately slammed the door shut and ran to open another one. Sulley picked up the first door and threw it through the next, then picked up that one and threw it through the next, over and over until they ran the final door through the shredder. Sulley and Mike gave each other a high five, and then both gave another high five to Boo. “That was awesome!” Sora said as he got to his feet. As soon as Vanitas was gone, the pain in his chest vanished like it had never been. Behind him, Donald and Goofy were just as grateful. “Thank you.” “We owe ya.” Who knows what would have happened if Sulley and Mike hadn’t been there. “No, we should be thanking you. We woulda never managed to get Boo this far if you hadn’t come along to help.” “And finally, we found her door!” Sora knelt down before Boo, who was bouncing around excitedly between Mike and Sulley. “Boo, I know how excited you were to come play with Mike and Sulley. Sorry we dragged you into this.” “Watch it! You’re gonna scare her with that face!” Donald snapped, jumping in front of him. “Hey, you are way scarier.” “Gawrsh, I think you’re both scary,” Goofy offered, and everyone chuckled a little. “Okay, Boo. Time to go,” Sulley said to the little girl. “We’ll catch up soon, kid,” Mike told her reluctantly, but Boo only looked cheerfully back and forth between him and Donald. “Mike Wazowski!” Mike looked back at the other one-eyed monster. “No, that’s Donald, Boo,” he reminded her, and the little girl gave him a hug. “Mike Wazowski.” “Better. I’ll see ya, kid.” Mike patted her on the head. Boo walked toward the white door with pink flowers, ready to go home, but then Sora, Donald, and Goofy called out to her one last time. “Boo!” When she looked back, the three of them were making funny faces for her. Boo giggled. “So looong!” And with that, Boo went home to her room. Sora and crew headed back to the hall where they had first met Sulley, Mike, and Boo. Sora turned around toward Mike and Sulley, who had come to see them off. “Sorry for all the headaches we caused.” “Don’t mention it. And actually, it was kinda nice havin’ an adventure for old times’ sake,” Sulley replied cheerfully. Mike nodded in agreement. “Yeah, the flying and the falling—nothin’ like running for our lives to get the heart pumping!” “I had a great time,” Donald instantly replied. “Donald! All you did was complain!” “I did not!” As he and Sora descended into another one of their spirited arguments, Sulley and Mike watched in amusement. They were already used to this by now. “Any chance that we can drop by again?” Goofy asked. “The door’s always open,” Mike replied. Sulley shared the sentiment. “And maybe Boo can join us!” “Yeah. Good-bye!” Donald called happily, although he was sad to go, too. I was a little iffy about this world at first, but Sulley and Mike turned out to be really great guys. I’m even used to being a monster now! “For the record, I still get the most laughs!” Mike called out to Sora as he started to walk away. “Happy exterminating!” Sulley added. “Thank you!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy replied, and then they bade this world farewell. Still…I can’t stop thinking about what Vanitas said. Is Ventus inside of me…?
Chapter 15
34 min read