Chapter 6 (SORA): Gaston

Chapter 6 (Sora): Gaston

        The world outside of the Beast's Castle was much less creepy and gloomy.  In fact, were it not got the Gothic castle that loomed in the distance as Sora and his team tried to follow Belle to her village, the three would not have remembered who's world it was to begin with.  The forest reminded the three of the woods outside of Twilight Town.  But the village that sat nearby was certainly of it's own.  

       Sora looked off in the distance and noticed a massive crowd of people gathering around one of the houses just beyond the local town.  "Look over there!"  

      Donald and Goofy gathered next to Sora.  "Gawrsh, I wonder what's up?"

      "Do you think they're gathered around Belle's house?" Donald asked.  

      "There's only one way to find out!" Sora shouted, racing back down the path.  Before he could get a better look, Sora was once more surrounded by the creatures that had appeared in the ballroom of the castle.  "Unversed!"  

Defeat All of the Unversed!  

        As the Unversed vanished into the shadows, Sora rallied his friends.  "Are you guys okay?"

       Exhausted but eager, Donald and Goofy nodded.  

       "Good" Sora exclaimed.  "We need to find Belle!"  Sora hurried down the path, with Donald and Goofy close to his heels.  

       As the crowd became more magnified to the heroes, Sora was slowly beginning to understand what was going on in the village.  Dozens of citizens stood shouting and hollering at someone living in the nearby house.  To the left of the mob, loomed a large wagon.  It's inscription read: 

Maison De Lunes 

      Sora walked up to one of the townsfolk and tapped him on the shoulder.  "What's going on here?"

      The townsman, a baker by his appearance, smirked.  "Old Maurice has finally snapped.  For weeks, he's been raving about a Beast in a castle.  We're seeing to it that he doesn't harm anyone anymore.  The Asylum has offered to take him in."  

      "An asylum?" Donald asked.   

      "You know" the baker explained, "like a crazy house!"

      Sora tried pushing his way to the front of the crowd to see what was going on.  Sora looked up onto the porch of the small house, where a spindly old man stood, waiting for someone to open the door.  The door opened and revealed Belle.  "May I help you?"

       The man folded his hands.  "I've come to collect your father."

       "My father?"

       "Don't worry mademoiselle" the man grinned.  "We'll take good care of him."

       Belle looked past the man and saw the wagon.  As men from the asylum hopped out of the wagon, Belle stood her ground against the men at her door.  "My father is not crazy!"  

       A small, pudgy man jumped into the fray.  "He's been raving like a lunatic for weeks now!  We all heard it, right?"  The crowd cheered in approval.  

       "No!" Belle argued,  "I won't let you take him!"  As Belle raced out to argue with the villagers, an elderly man walked out of the house.  

       "What's going on here?" he asked, confused at all of the people surrounding his house.

       "Maurice" the pudgy man called out.  "Tell us again, old man!  Just how big was this Beast of yours?"

       "I told you before, LeFou!" the old man growled.  "He was--he was enormous!  I'd say at least eight--no--maybe even ten feet tall!  He had huge claws and a temper to boot."  The more the man tried to explain the Beast to the townsfolk, the more they laughed at him.  "It's true, I tell you!"  

       "You don't get much crazier than that!" LeFou called out.  The men rushed over to Belle's father and grabbed him.  "Get him out of here!"  As the men dragged Maurice away, Belle pleaded with the men to stop.  

       "No!  You can't do this!" she pleaded.  Noticing Sora in the crowd, Belle cried out in relief.  "Sora!  Over here!  You can help us!  Tell them the Beast is real!"  

        Sora stepped up into the middle of the scene and stood his ground.  "Belle and her father are telling the truth!  The Beast is real!  He's a friend of mine!"  The townsfolk laughed in Sora's face.  

       "Now do you see why this loon has to be committed?" the spindly man asked.  "He's even corrupting young children!"  Sora eyed him curiously.  His voice is changing.  Something's not right.

        Belle lowered her head.  As she was about to give up, a huge brawny man strut up to her side and put his arm around her.  Though his features were very beautiful to look at, Sora couldn't help but feel the same thing he felt when he looked at Prince Hans in Arendelle: mistrust.  "Poor Belle" he sighed, "it's a shame about your father."

       Belle tugged at his arm.  "You know he's not crazy, right Gaston?"

       Gaston stroked his huge chin and grinned coldly.  "Don't you worry, Belle.  I think I can clear up this little misunderstanding...if..."

      "If what?"

      "If you marry me!"

       Belle looked at the hunter with absolute disgust.  "What?"

      Gaston pulled the girl close to him.  "One little word, Belle.  That's all it takes."

       Belle shoved her suitor away.  "Never!" 

       "Have it your way!" the hunter sneered, preparing to walk away.  

       Belle's eyes suddenly widened.  She frantically hurried to get something out of her house.  Sora, unable to wait and see Maurice get locked away, leapt in the way of the asylum workers.  "Leave him alone!"  

       "Stay out of this, kid!" Gaston snarled.  "Let these gentlemen do their job and stay out of our way!"  

       "Try and make us!" Donald called, rushing to Sora's side.  Goofy followed seconds later.  

       "If you insist" the hunter growled.  As he prepared to go after Sora and his friends, his attention was grabbed by the reemergence of Belle.  "Have you changed your mind, my love?"

       "My father is not crazy and I can prove it!" she called to the crowd, who all studied the girl curiously.  In her hand, Belle looked at the mirror and shouted with all of her courage: "Show me the Beast!"  

       The mirror flashed and revealed the image of the Beast, standing outside of his room in the West Wing, howling and roaring at the moon.  The crowd screamed.  Women and children cowered behind the men of the town.  Gaston stared at the Beast, completely dumbstruck.  "Is he dangerous?" one woman asked fearfully to Belle.

      Belle laughed.  "Oh no!  He'd never hurt anyone.  I know he looks vicious, but he's very kind and gentle and--".  The woman looked admiringly at the Beast in the mirror.  "He's my friend."

      Sora gasped.  She does love him!

      Gaston was not pleased with this turn of events.  "If I didn't know better, I'd say you had feelings for this monster!"  

      Belle lurched away from her suitor.  "He's no monster, Gaston!  You are!"

      Gaston fumed.  He ripped the mirror from Belle's hand and addressed the crowd.  "We've been fooled, my friends!  These people aren't right!  They're just as crazy as the old man!  They say this freak is their friend?  Well, I've hunted wild beasts and I've seen what they do!"  Gaston pointed directly at the women holding children.  "The Beast will make off with your children!  He'll come after them in the night!"  

      The townsfolk gasped.  Belle pleaded with them.  "No!  He would never!"

      Gaston continued to play to the fears of the townsfolk.  "We're not safe until his head is mounted on my wall!  Forget the old man!  I say we kill the Beast!"  The townsfolk shouted in agreement.  Numerous men grabbed pitchforks, axes, daggers, and muskets and prepared to go to war.  

      As Gaston prepared to lead the men to the castle, Belle stood in his way.  "I won't let you get away with this!"  

       Gaston grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the wagon Maurice had been hauled into.  He shoved her inside and shut the door behind him.  "We can't have them going off to warn the creature!"  

       Sora rushed to the wagon, but was ambushed by several Unversed.  Gaston turned towards the spindly man.  "Keep the kiddies here!"  Gaston once more rallied the men of the village.  "We'll rid the village of this Beast!  Who's with me?"

       "I am!" several dozen men shouted in unison.  Gaston charged back into the woods, with several men charging after him.  As they departed, the men who followed Gaston began to transform into Unversed.  

       "What the heck?" Sora asked aloud.  

       "Oopsy Daisy" a mocking voice called out to the group.  

       Sora turned back towards the man who Gaston had ordered to keep them here.  "It can't be..."

       The spindly man phased into darkness and emerged a man completely different.  He had several battle scars etched on his face, with a sniper rifle at his side.  He wore a cold and calculating smile as he studied the situation.  "You miss me, Sora?"

       "Xigbar" Sora shouted, summoning his Keyblade.  "What are you doing here?"

       "As if I'd tell you kiddies about my plan!" Xigbar scornfully answered Sora.  "But, since you've been such a good boy while we've been gone, I think I could tell you a little bit about my boss's master plan!"

       "Xehanort!" Donald shouted.

       "You don't miss a beat!" the former Nobody sneered.  "Well, the first step in the master plan is to wipe out the Princesses of Heart!  We've already got someone prepared to take out Alice in Wonderland, but who'd have guessed that I'd get to find two of our targets in one place?"  Xigbar laughed coldly, then sighed.  "Gee, it must be my birthday.  If only the little Keyblade Princess were here."

        "Why are you after Sora?" Goofy shouted, standing in between Sora and Xehanort's flunky.

        "You're not going to use him as that vessel" Donald growled, aiming his staff at the being of darkness.

         Xigbar laughed.  "You kidding?  Why would Master Xehanort want somebody weak like Sora?  We only settled on him because Riku is too chicken to embrace the darkness like he used to."  Xigbar loaded one of his guns.  "I'm only after Sora to make sure he doesn't interfere with our plans anymore.  Not the most polite way to go about it, but who's counting?"  

        Sora prepared to rush at the enemy, but Xigbar sneered.  "Gotcha!"  With a snap of his fingers, the coach that Belle and Maurice were trapped in suddenly transformed into an Unversed!  Belle and Maurice screamed from inside.  "Oops.  That was definitely my bad!"  Xigbar pointed at Sora.  "You've got a choice to make, Sora.  Take me out right here and hinder Xehanort's need to get all 13 Seekers of Darkness together, or go rescue Belle and stop Xehanort from wiping out all of the Princesses?  It's your call."  

       Without a moment's hesitation, Sora rushed towards the monster that trapped Belle and Maurice.  Xigbar grinned before vanishing into the shadows.  "And so it begins..."

Boss Battle: Wicked Wagon

HP: 290

NOTE: This battle must be completed within 120 seconds, or Belle and

her father are doomed!

Battle Music: Dance to the Death

Get Bonus:

Sora: +5 HP, Learned Dodge Slash

Donald: +20 HP

Goofy: +10 MP, +5 HP

        The wagon howled in pain until it disappeared into the darkness.  Belle emerged, carrying her father out of the wreckage immediately.  Belle looked in the shadows, where Xigbar had been.  "Who was that man?"

       "Xigbar!" Sora answered.  

       "He's one of the bad guys!" Donald explained.  

       "And he's teamed up with Gaston?" Belle asked.

       "Gaston may not even know it" Sora explained.  "The Organization likes to prey on people and exploit their ambition to turn them into beings of darkness.  Remember that Xaldin guy?"

       Belle gasped.  "Not him!"  

       "And Xigbar just sent a horde of the Unversed to the castle to help Gaston kill Beast!"  

       Belle cried in despair.  "This is all my fault!  I have to go and warn him!"

       "Then we'd better hurry" Maurice shouted in pride.  "Anyone willing to fight Gaston is a friend in my books!"

      "We'll lead the way!" Sora shouted, rallying Donald and Goofy to follow him into battle once more.  But this time, the outcome could be disastrous if they failed to help their friend.