Up on the mountain peak of The Land of Departure, Ocellus eyed the few orbs of light surrounding her. Her Keyblade held in her magical aura, she timidly stood in her "stance", but her body wanted her to shift to one of her friends' or masters' stances, slightly throwing off her concentration every few seconds and frustrating her.
"Come on, just pick one," she mumbled to herself. "I want to try fighting my way, too." Too distracted with her positioning, the orbs suddenly shot forward and "attacked". Ocellus looked up too late, getting smacked around a couple times before she ducked and leapt out of the way. She launched a Fire spell at one and stood with a widened stance, but as she moved forward to chase down one to strike, she fumbled over her own hooves when her body suddenly decided to change how she moved, causing her to flop on her stomach. Whining in defeat, the changeling laid there, the orbs disappearing in a flash of light. Aqua, who was overseeing Ocellus's training today, approached the distressed changeling teen. "I keep messing up..."
Aqua helped Ocellus sit up, though the apprentice looked down at the ground in dejection. "You just need to keep on practicing," she assured. "Have you ever practiced with any of our stances you shift between?"
"I-It's not that," Ocellus said. "I can't explain it, but...it's like I have as much skill as you or the others as I fight. It's the constant changing that's always throwing me off, and I can't control it."
"So, basically a jack of all trades, but a master of none." Aqua hummed curiously. Thinking back to when the Young Six had acquired their Keyblades, out of all of them, Ocellus had surprised all of them when she was able to beat Luxord's deadly card game. Not even an hour after her Keyblade appeared, and her skills were made prevalent even before Riku was the first to notice. "Ocellus, when Luxord attacked us that day, did you have any idea how to beat his game?"
"N-No," Ocellus mumbled. "But...I figured it out, even though I didn't know what I was doing."
"And even during practice, you're able to mimic everyone else's stances, and when you shapeshift into a wielder, your Keyblade transforms as well. Let me get a closer look at your Keyblade." Ocellus held her Keyblade, letting Aqua take it and examine it. Despite the key looking more like a saber compared to several blades she's seen, the pure white shade from the teeth to the keychain like it was a blank sheet of paper that could have or be anything it desired. Aqua couldn't feel the same changes Ocellus had been throughout her physical training, though it's more likely due to it having a similar connection to her changeling roots. "Hmm...Can you transform into me, Ocellus?"
"...Umm...ok...?" Complying, Ocellus's body was shrouded in a green aura that swiftly appeared and faded, the small changeling now replaced by a nervously kneeling duplicate of Aqua.
With the changeling's Keyblade held in Aqua's hand, it matched its owner's shapeshifted form, becoming a perfect replica of Rainfell, even when it wasn't in its owner's hands. "Even in someone else's hands, it matches the form you take. Interesting." Aqua held the Keyblade out to her side, letting it fade away to return to the transformed changeling's hands. Ocellus and her Keyblade turned back to normal, staring down at her oddly designed weapon and its colorless design. "From what I learned about what changelings' shapeshifting can do, you can look and sound exactly like the one you're disguised as to a T. The important part of being someone's double is learning everything about their daily lives, from friends and family to occupations. Otherwise, your disguise would make someone who knows that person you're copying highly suspicious."
"B-But...I was never good at disguising myself," Ocellus said. "I couldn't even hide as a rock without my eyes giving me away."
"Were you old enough to be sent out as a scout before you all changed?" Aqua asked curiously. Ocellus didn't answer, but the timid and nervous fidgeting was enough of a response. "...Or you were like Thorax and didn't like stealing love, and the other changelings didn't think you would do a good job blending in."
"M-Mhmm," Ocellus mumbled.
Aqua wasn't all that surprised. Most of the changelings before their reformation obeyed Chrysalis's orders and grew up learning how to be soldiers, scouts, foragers, much like any insect colony. Even with their way of growing up, there would be a select few who would want to defy those rules and have their own opinions on their living situation if they feel like they don't fit in. Ventus even told Aqua about Pharynx while he was still in his old form, and how he treated Ocellus before he finally lightened up for the sake of his hive. She gently rubbed Ocellus's head, giving the worried changeling a comforting smile.
"That part of your life is in the past. I think it's a good thing you accepted this change and didn't end up working as a mindless drone," Aqua said. "Though shapeshifting is a part of your kind's power, it's also a part of your abilities as a Key bearer. You're smart, and a fast learner, Ocellus. If you can master these sudden shifts in your styles, you'd probably surpass us veterans in no time."
"But it feels like I'm cheating," Ocellus said. "I keep trying to find my own way to fight, but I'm just going to end up being a copycat."
"Maybe the different styles you can wield ARE your own way to fight," Aqua stated. Ocellus grew more worried, despite Aqua's confident hypothesis to her battle style. "And before you continue thinking it's cheating, your Mark of Mastery exam isn't graded like a school assignment. We judge how well you fare on the test we give you without resorting to dirty methods like using the power of darkness. Catching your opponent, or opponents, off guard by copying them is an ingenious strategy."
"I-I don't know," Ocellus mumbled again, earning another reassuring pat on the head, then helped back up on her hooves.
"Just keep practicing, and you'll do fine. All masters need to start from the beginning with the basics." Summoning her Keyblade, Aqua stepped back as she summoned more orbs of light around Ocellus. "Let's try again. This time, stick with whatever your body wants you to fight in."
Ocellus sighed, but nodded her head, trusting her master's advice. With her Keyblade in her aura, she tried again as she widened her stance. Even though she didn't like how she wasn't in control of herself, she went along with whatever mysterious force was keeping her in whatever style of combat from her friends or masters it wanted her to stay in.
As the girls hung out in their room, Ocellus was too distracted by her textbook after her personal training with their master. She could barely focus on a single word on the paragraph her eyes were glued to. She toned out the chatter between Yona, Smolder, and Silverstream, having a little girls only study party with their textbooks and some snacks. Smolder tossed a few marshmallows and blew her dragon breath at them, toasting them perfectly, catching each one for the bevvy of smores the trio were making.
"I've never had smores before, but they are delicious!" Silverstream said, plucking one of the toasted marshmallows and squished it between a pair of graham crackers and a piece of chocolate. "I don't think they would have tasted good underwater."
"What kind of sweet stuff did you have under the ocean?" Smolder asked.
"Saltwater taffy," the hippogriff said with a scrunched beak. "That's pretty much it. It gets dull really fast when we've swam in the ocean most of our lives."
Yona scarfed down her fifth smore, her muzzle coated in melted fluff, chocolate splotches, and cracker crumbs. "Yona love smores!" she said, licking her lips clean, then looked back at Ocellus, who was still lounging in her bed. "Ocellus want smore?"
Snapped out of her daze, she looked down at the girls, letting out a small sigh before closing her book. "I'm not really feeling hungry," she said.
"Uhh, I forget. Do changelings even eat food?" Silverstream asked curiously. "I mean, I heard they ate love, whatever that tastes like, but that was when you were...not so nice."
"...We...do," Ocellus mumbled, wincing slightly from being reminded of who she used to be. "I'm just...worried."
"What Ocellus worried about?" Yona asked.
"Well...you know I had personal training with Master Aqua today, right?" The girls nodded, knowing their scheduled days with some one-on-one training with their master to improve their latent abilities. "Nothing bad happened, but I still can't get used to...how I fight."
"Oh yeah. You kinda mimic what we do," Smolder said. "Physically, at least. If a changeling could breathe fire like a dragon, then that would be terrifying."
"Didn't Master Riku say it was a pretty interesting kind of style when we found that out?" Silverstream asked. "I think it's pretty cool. You copied our other masters perfectly."
"But fighting is a whole different story," Ocellus said. "Anytime I try to do anything, some part of me acts against what I want to do and suddenly changes how I fight almost every few seconds. Even when Master Aqua informed me that I should stick with whatever way I'm forced to fight, it STILL changes, and I'll never find out my own style like you all have."
"Really?" Silverstream asked. "Like a weird muscle spasm, but it's a different part that freaks out?"
"Basically, but it's more frustrating than anything else." Ocellus slid down from her bunk, overly stressed and burnt out. "Maybe I shouldn't have been taken in as an apprentice."
"But if Ocellus not want to be apprentice, Ocellus not be with friends more," Yona said.
"Well, that technically wouldn't be true, but we wouldn't hang out more often," Silverstream added, trying to find a silver lining under Yona's short example.
"We all made a choice to fight and help Master Aqua, and none of us are gonna quit on her," Smolder said. "Gallus and I had it rough in another world, but that doesn't mean we're giving up on our promise, so you shouldn't either."
Despite her friends' encouragement, Ocellus was still uncertain. She was the more meek and almost pacifistic of the group, more brain than brawn, and though she was a quick learner from the practice drills to magic spells, she couldn't figure out how exactly she was meant to fight. Just by copying someone else's techniques, or pulling off something she had no knowledge of from someone else flawlessly, it was only a horrible reminder of who she used to be as a changeling: a love-sucking creature who could disguise themselves into anyone and anything. She wanted her own identity as a wielder, but it always eludes her through something out of her control.
A sudden knock on their door before it opened, revealing Sora as he stepped in to greet them. "Hey, girls. Am I interrupting a tea party?"
"It's a study party, not a tea party," Smolder grumbled.
"Would tea sound like a good drink to compliment smores? Or maybe milk?" Silverstream questioned randomly.
"Definitely milk," Sora answered for the hippogriff. "But, considering I'm here, I think you all know what that means."
Yona gasped, quickly getting up and eagerly hopping over to the stallion. "Keyblade field trip!"
"At this time?" Smolder asked. "It's almost sunset."
"Hey, it doesn't matter what time it is. Heartless could be anywhere in the day or night," Sora said with a shrug.
"Ooh! Ooh ooh ooh! Who's going next!?" Silverstream squealed, joining Yona as she flapped over to Sora, both hippogriff and yak dancing in place in their respective positions.
"Heh. Uhh, you two are actually going to be a bit disappointed," he said. Yona and Silverstream froze, the latter's wings stopping as she landed on the ground. "Aqua wants me to take Ocellus this time."
Shocked, Ocellus looked at Sora while Yona and Silverstream were a bit disappointed that they were going to have to wait again. "M-Me?" Ocellus uttered. "I-I-I don't k-know if I'm ready to..."
"Aqua let me know about your 'dilemma'," Sora said. "Maybe some actual battles will help you get used to the constant changeups from practice. I learned how to fight Heartless pretty fast when they invaded my home years ago, and I was more of a novice than all of your girls."
Gulping nervously, Ocellus had a feeling that idea could work, but she still feels so unprepared. Not wanting to argue with a superior, especially someone like Sora, she got herself ready for her first trip to a new world. Walking over toward her adventuring saddlebags, she looked over her inventory to make sure she was properly prepared for emergencies. Once she was sure she counted enough Potions and Ethers, given a few from Aqua with how skilled she was with her magic spells, Ocellus strapped her bags on her back and followed Sora.
"Good luck, Ocellus!" Silverstream called out. "And let us know about how fun your world is!"
Ocellus looked back at the hippogriff with a small nod, though she was clearly not going to have any fun if she was going to be a liability for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, even though they'll have her back if she ever got in trouble. On the walk to the Gummi ship, Sora could tell Ocellus wasn't mentally ready for her first proper outing to a new world. Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket and stood on his shoulder.
"Hey, Jiminy, you wanna hitch a ride on Ocellus for this trip?" Sora asked the cricket.
"Oh?" Jiminy curiously voiced as he glanced back at the nervous changeling.
"I don't know when we might get split up from another apprentice again. Figured it would be best to have someone look out for her in our stead so none of us have a panic attack like the last few times," he said.
"That does sound like a great idea," Jiminy agreed. From his pocket, he pulled out a smaller Gummi phone built for his size. "We can stay in contact with these. It's also much more handy logging in journal entries than carrying a physical journal. Just as long as we don't have another mishap with my first journal being completely erased and sucked into cyberspace while decoding the mysterious messages that were appearing."
"I was a little more surprised to know you guys made a data version of me to help figure that out," Sora said with a laugh. "I'm always saving someone, whether or not it's the real me."
"How true it is. It's like you never went back home," Jiminy added.
The cricket hopped down onto Sora's back, then a huge leap from his flanks to jump onto Ocellus's snout. The changeling squeaked and stumbled back slightly, but immediately calmed down when she saw it was just Jiminy Cricket.
"Oh. You startled me, Mr. Jiminy," Ocellus said.
"Just Jiminy is fine," he said. He hopped onto Ocellus's head as she continued following Sora. "Sora suggested I stick with you during your first venture. Just a small precaution in case we split up from you."
"Like what happened with Gallus and Smolder," Ocellus mumbled with a nod. "I-I see..."
"Nothing to worry about. Third time's the charm, as they say." The changeling teen gulped, hoping she wouldn't end up becoming another target for the Organization to find and hunt down.
Donald and Goofy were already set up for the trip inside the Gummi ship as Sora and Ocellus arrived. Without another word, they all strapped themselves in and prepared for takeoff. Ocellus was a little bit safe having a small chaperone watch out for her, but Jiminy wouldn't do much to protect her with his size. The Gummi ship soon took off and headed off toward a new world out in the cosmos.
During the trip, Ocellus quietly watched the stars and any worlds they passed. Ever since her first trip traveling to The Land of Departure, the prospect of other worlds beyond her own fascinated her. Despite being incredibly shy around others, part of her was curious to see what every world out there was like, what kinds of creatures lived in them, and what their cultures were like if they had any. It was more the knowledge from learning of these worlds compared to the social aspect, even though she was opening up a little bit while studying at the School of Friendship. Ocellus wondered where they were going to land at, though she was a bit anxious if they ever ran into any trouble.
"Look! There's our destination!" Goofy announced.
Looking forward, Ocellus tilted her head curiously. Equestria's world being segmented between Ponyville and Canterlot was odd despite how much more the world truly had, and Gallus and Smolder's descriptions of the worlds they went to had a similar sort of "design". They were nothing like they expected a new world to look while traveling throughout the galaxy, but what she saw from this world was...odd. The upper half seemed to look like a huge building with a logo of the letter "M" with an eye in the middle, several small factories on both sides of the building that billowed smoke, most likely some sort of energy plant. But the bottom half had hundreds of doors on thin rail conveyors, sloping up and down and organizing the many colorful and differently designed doors held within metal frames with a red light at the top in the center. It was like the lower half of this world was cut off and used in some weird, door-like roller coaster, or production line, which only made what lies within the world a confusing mess.
"Uhh...Is that...normal?" Ocellus asked curiously.
"Well...At least it's not a specific world that really makes no sense when you're actually exploring it," Sora said with a small, nervous giggle.
"In other words, Discord would probably like it and live there," Donald said.
Sora flew the ship down toward the entrance of the factory, where the actual land of the world was normal. The ship hovered over the huge strip of empty space in front of the main building of the plant. Ocellus was too distracted by the size of the factory compared to the ship to notice lights shimmering around Sora, Donald, and Goofy's seats, their bodies magically transforming to blend in with whatever the world's inhabitants were.
"Alright, let's go see what this place is," Sora said as he stood up. When he stepped around the captain's seat, Ocellus looked up after unbuckling her seatbelt, only to let out a scream at the sight of him. "Ocellus?" The changeling zipped out of her seat and fled out of the Gummi ship. Sora hurried after her as she stumbled down the ramp and backed away, hyperventilating in fear. Under the darkness of night with streetlights and lampposts providing some lighting to see, Sora wasn't human or pony; he was some kind of monster. His body was covered in gray fur with black stripes along his legs and arms, his wide feet had three toes with sharp claws, a short tail with a few dark gray spines trailing down to the tip, long-pointed ears, and his spiky hair was now red and hung over his right eye, almost similar to how he'd wear his pumpkin mask in his Halloween Town outfit. The only thing that didn't change on his person were his blue eyes, his leather gauntlets, his red and black jacket, and the crown necklace around his neck. "Wait, Ocellus! What's the matter!?"
"Did she see something!?" Goofy asked.
While Ocellus's jaw shook, unable to voice the monstrous change, the moment Sora turned around and they both saw Donald and Goofy rush down the ramp to meet them, she screamed again, quickly transforming herself into a small rock to hide. Sora was taken aback, as well as his companions, the trio leaping away from each other and drew their weapons. Donald was covered from head to three-toed foot in blue fur, her feathered hands replaced with claws, his beak sported two sets of sharp fangs on both ends, and he only had one eye. Goofy was completely green, some darker shades splotching his feet and hands, his teeth were fangs as well, and his eyes were bulged out from his head, bigger than they should be for his head, but the right eye's iris was blue and really wide while the left was red and smaller than the other. The two still had their respective hats on their heads, but Donald only wore his magic vest while Goofy had on his sweat jacket.
"Donald? Goofy?" Sora called out.
The trio realized it was just them, slightly relieved and dismissed their weapons. "Phew. I was just about to blast you with some fire, Sora," Donald said with a sheepish laugh.
Sora looked himself over, finding this new transformation a little strange, and yet he's turned into a lion cub, a half man, half dolphin, and a pegasus. "So, if we're monsters, then we're blending in with a world filled with monsters," he said aloud. Glancing down, he let out a huff. "And again, no pants. Why can't every piece of clothing stick with me anymore?" Shoving aside the pant-less issue of his changes to other sentient creatures, he turned back to Ocellus, only to find a trembling rock that stood out from the flat, clean factory grounds. Understanding what got her so frightened, Sora kneeled down to the "disguised" changeling apprentice, gently patting rubbing her head. "Ocellus, it's alright. It's just us."
Peeking her eyes open, Ocellus looked up at Sora. Feeling embarrassed for forgetting Sora and her mentors had the power to transform in other worlds to not upset the world order, she changed back to normal.
"S-Sorry," she apologized. "Y-You all looked...really scary."
"I'll say," Goofy said. "My head feels a little funny. Is it bigger than normal?"
Goofy rubbed the upper eyelid of one of his eyes, making Sora, Donald, and Ocellus wince slightly. "It looks funny," Donald commented.
"And you only have one eye," Sora said.
Donald brought a hand to his face, letting out a startled quack when he could only feel one eye on his face. As the three got used to their new, weird, monstrous bodies, Ocellus looked down at herself. Nothing had changed much for her. She was still bright and colorful, no strange changes or additional appendages grown out of her. She could change her appearance if she wanted to, but it was strange how her masters had the ability to change upon entering a new world, but it never occurred for Gallus, Smolder, or even Princess Twilight. As Ocellus pondered this odd phenomena, she turned around to face the factory, noting the slogan above the entryway, where there was some scaffolding being built nearby to reach its height.
"'We scare because we care'?" she read out loud. "...What kind of place is this?"
Sora, Donald, and Goofy joined Ocellus and looked at the slogan as well. "Huh. Well, I guess it makes sense for monsters to look scary and scare others," Sora pondered. "Maybe...this place is some sort of scare factory, where monsters can scare to their heart's content?"
Ocellus grimaced at the possibility. The changelings were once monsters under Chrysalis's rule. They disguise themselves and prey upon their victims, no matter what creature it is, be they sentient or feral, stealing their love to feed and be the love-sucking parasites they used to be. Even though she looked much more friendly and innocent compared to her old, black chitin-skinned, fanged self, just the thought of being around a place that was meant to scare people and instill fear upset her. It brought back horrible memories of her old life, the forced training she had to go through to be another one of the many drones under the former tyrant's command and pretending to be something she wasn't to drain the love energy from unsuspecting ponies.
"I wonder if anyone's still here at this hour," Goofy said. "Lights look like they're still on inside."
"Only one way to find out," Donald said as he began heading toward one of the several doorways leading in and out of the building.
The others soon followed with Ocellus lagging behind. Walking inside the spacious front lobby, aside from the reception desk at the other end and an open passageway leading further into the factory, they saw a couple more monsters near the front desk. One was a small, green-skinned monster that had a rounded body with arms and legs, its face in the center of that body with only one eye and two small horns on its head. The other was much bigger and covered in blue fur with dark purple spots scattered all over its body, a tail, and longer horns curved over its head. The smaller monster was watching the bigger one as it seemed to be playfully roaring, and there was a child's giggling in front of the monster. The guests thought it was a father playing with their child, but when the furry monster picked up that child, they were shocked to see that the kid was actually a little human girl, her short black hair sporting small pigtails held by pink bead hairclips, wearing light purple pajama pants, a long pink shirt, and a pair of light blue socks on her feet.
"Oh no!" Sora gasped. "There's a little human girl in this world!?"
"A what?" Ocellus snapped out of her daze and peeked around, letting out a startled gasp when she saw the little girl held in the monster's hands.
Hearing the unannounced guests, the little girl peered over the monster's shoulder, babbling something as she pointed to them. Curious, both monsters turned to face the entrance, the big one surprisingly gentle with the little girl despite his monstrous appearance.
"Who are these guys?" the big monster asked curiously.
"Sulley, careful!" the smaller monster quickly exclaimed. "Don't let them see the K-I-D..."
"Mike, it's fine," Sulley assured the small cyclops monster with a shrug. "We've got nothing to hide."
"You're the CEO! You gotta set an example!" Sully shrugged off Mike's worries, letting the little girl down while the small monster rushed over to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ocellus as they met him, mostly concerned about the little girl's safety around them. "Ok, this isn't what it looks like, guys. Listen, that kid over there just popped out of nowhere! We gotta call the CDA. It's a...uhh...Oh yeah, a Code 835!"
"Ummm...a Code what?" Ocellus mumbled.
Sora summoned his Keyblade, pointing it to Mike with a skeptical leer, startling the monster. "Are you two trying to scare that little girl?" he questioned.
"Well, yes! Er, no no no!" Mike quickly explained, clearly frazzled and caught off guard by the mysterious weapon aimed right at his eye. "We're done with scare power. No one's getting scared here."
"Huh? Scare power?" Sora asked.
"Mike, take it easy." Sulley came over to the group with the little girl happily following alongside him as she held his giant hand.
"You should too, Sora," Goofy said. "She doesn't seem all that scared of them. Quite happy, actually."
Even though the girl was a little shy meeting the new monsters, she was still pretty happy and excited around the two monsters she was playing with. Sora dismissed his Keyblade, relieved to know Mike and Sulley weren't that bad.
"I guess she is." Sora walked over to Sulley and the little girl, who huddled closer to the larger monster timidly. Giving the girl a gentle smile, he crouched down to be closer to her height so he didn't intimidate her. "Hi there. My name is Sora."
Sulley and Mike were stunned by Sora's forwardness toward the little girl. Sulley and Mike were a bit stunned by how forward Sora was, Donald, Goofy, and Ocellus coming closer to greet them, the changeling shying back slightly if she was somehow scarier than her teachers and the two inhabitants they've met so far in this world. Far from frightened, the little girl ran up to Sora.
"Boo!" she shouted before coming to a stop in front of him.
"Oh, is that your name?" Sora asked curiously. "Nice to meet you, Boo."
"Wait, you mean you guys aren't scared of humans?" Mike questioned.
As odd as the question was, Boo pointed at Donald, more specifically at his one eye. "Mike Wazowski."
Confused, Donald pointed to himself while Sulley seemed to snicker under his breath. "Hey, come on, Boo! I'm Mike Wazowski," Mike said.
Boo just giggled, ignoring the monster's complaint since she was only a little girl. Behind Donald, Boo let out a small gasp when she saw Ocellus. Ocellus gulped nervously, but to her shock, Boo came running up to her with a delighted squeal, hugging one of her forelegs tightly.
"Horsey!" she cheered.
"H-Huh?" Frozen in stunned confusion, Ocellus looked down at Boo, then awkwardly back up at everyone watching them. Ocellus thought she would have been scarier if Boo wasn't afraid of actual monsters, but she thought she was a normal pony. Or, "horsey", as the little girl delightfully called her. "Uhh...Hello to you too, Boo?" she said, giving Boo a light pat on the head.
"Seems like Boo's already taking a liking to you guys," Sulley said with a laugh. "Don't worry, miss. She always calls me 'kitty'." Sora, Donald, and Goofy laughed at Boo's little nickname for the giant, blue-furred monster. "My name's James Sullivan, but you can just call me Sulley. And this is my friend-"
"Wait, let me guess," Sora interrupted with a cheeky grin. "Mike Wazowski, right?" Mike let out a sigh in defeat, but at least he was introduced, albeit as a funny name to a little girl like Boo. Sora stood back up and waved a hand over to his friends. "The other 'Mike Wazowski' is Donald, that's Goofy, and Ocellus."
Donald grumbled slightly, being poked fun of by a little girl calling him someone else just by his one eye as a monster duck. Boo continued hugging Ocellus's leg, looking eager to want to go on a ride on the colorful bug-pony. However, when she glanced behind her, she let out a startled and scared whimper, letting go of Ocellus and hurried back to Sulley and clutched him tightly.
"Huh? What's wrong, Boo?" Sulley asked.
"I-I didn't do anything," Ocellus stammered, unsure what she did to upset the toddler.
Sora looked back at Ocellus, but what scared Boo was what had appeared behind the changeling. "Ocellus, behind you!"
Quickly turning around, Ocellus gasped and backed away. Popping up from the ground, she thought they were Shadows, but the creatures that appeared were more blue and black, skinny, had menacing red eyes, and antennae that looked like sharp antlers. Several more shot up from the ground, taking up most of the lobby, along with a much bigger creature that looked like a cross between a turtle and a frog. Dark blue and purples made up its body with those same thin red eyes as the smaller ones, red spikes on its purple shell, two tentacles sticking out from the sides of its face with pink three-pronged "hands", and on its snout was a symbol that Ocellus saw before at the hive. She backed away, having met similar creatures like these when a certain guest of theirs had assisted Chrysalis in her last plan to take over Equestria.
"T-T-Those aren't...H-Heartless," she whimpered.
"Unversed," Sora uttered. Growling, he ran toward them with Donald and Goofy joining him, summoning their weapons. "If they're here, then that means he's here. Ocellus, stay back with them!"
Ocellus quickly flew over to the two monsters and Boo, definitely not prepared to fight Unversed. Sulley quickly scooped up Boo and gently placed her behind the reception desk for safety.
"Stay right here, Boo. Kitty will be right back," Sulley assured the scared girl.
Smarter than she seemed for her age, Boo nodded and made sure to stay hidden until the real monsters were gone. "This isn't good, Sulley," Mike said. "Those guys have 'bad news' written all over them."
"No doubt about it," Sulley agreed. "We have to keep Boo safe."
The two monsters nodded to each other, then, to Ocellus's shock, they rushed over to join Sora, Donald, and Goofy to fight the Unversed. "W-What? B-But you two can't-" Suddenly popping up in front of her were more of the smaller Unversed: Flood. Startled, Ocellus backpedaled until she bumped into the desk. With no choice but to defend herself, she summoned her Keyblade, gulping nervously and prayed that her random battle stances won't be her undoing. "S-Stay back."
The few Flood before her darted forward and lunged for Ocellus. Resorting to use magic, Ocellus blasted the Unversed away with a few Fire spells. She managed to blast them back, but they didn't fade away into wherever they came from and were back on their feet. One of them sank into the ground and zipped toward her, then popped up in front of her and slashed at her, sending her crashing back into the desk. She heard Boo yelp and peek over the desk to see, but she quickly ducked back down and hid. With a helpless little girl in trouble, Ocellus shook off the blow and slashed the Flood that struck her, taking a more determined stance to protect Boo.
While she fended off the weaker Flood, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mike, and Sulley had a rough time dealing with the bigger, squishy reptile Unversed along with several more Flood surrounding them. Mike and Sulley could handle their own, to Sora's surprise. With Sulley's bigger size, he's able to swat the Flood aside, and he can stun and startle any in front of him with a terrifying roar, making them easy pickings to take out. Mike was much more agile, using his own body as he rolled around like a rampaging bowling ball, sending Flood scattered about, and when he wasn't helping in the fight, he helped advise Sulley about any Flood trying to sneak up on him.
The bigger Unversed, given the oddly deserved name Turtletoad, was much more resilient. Not even Sulley could push it back an inch with his own strength. It flailed its tentacle arms wildly in front of it, even charging forward with rapid swipes like dual whips. It even bloated its abdomen and bounced around trying to flatten them. One thing it did that really caught them all off guard was it being able to suck in Donald, quacking and squawking in surprise as he was engulfed by the Unversed, chewed, and then spat out. When he shook off the slobber, Donald shocked the spike-shelled Turtletoad with Thundaga, paralyzing it, giving the group enough time to gang up on it and slay it.
Ocellus continued smacking away the Flood going after her, fighting similarly to Sora as she let her body go with the flow of the battle. Aqua's advice actually helped, and thankfully, she didn't feel a sudden change in her stance this time. Once the last of the Flood was destroyed, Ocellus panted slightly, surprised she did this well for her first true fight, but more winded from the exertion. Her theories of her own powers were put on hold when she had a little girl to check up on. Hovering inside the receptionist's area, she saw Boo hunched down under the desk, looking up when she heard the fighting had stopped.
"Are you ok, Boo?" she asked. Boo stood up and ran up to Ocellus with a small giggle, hugging her foreleg again. Ocellus laughed, giving the little girl a small pat on the head. "I'll take that as a yes."
Ocellus picked Boo up in her hooves, carefully flying up over the counter to join back with the others. Thankfully, the last of the Unversed were taken care of, so it was safe for Boo to wander freely, at least for now.
"Nice work, Sulley, even with those few extra pounds you added on," Mike teased Sulley as the two friends gave each other a high five.
"I'm still running circles around you, butterball," Sulley teased back.
Ocellus put Boo down and let her run up to Sulley while Mike turned to their uninvited guests who helped get rid of the mysterious infestation. "Ok, what exactly were those guys?" Mike asked.
"Uhh...They're obviously not good for the environment," Sora said, hoping the monsters would believe his lie. "We...get locations where they were infesting buildings or even cities, and we get rid of them. We're kind of like...exterminators?"
"Never seen critters like that, or even as big as Sulley," Mike said. "What are they even called?"
"They're Unversed," Sora said. "And they originated from an area far, FAR away from this city. Someone smuggled them in, and they can infest the entire world if they aren't contained."
"Oh, great. As if we haven't got enough problems," the little monster groaned.
"And they're pretty dangerous," Goofy added. "They appear when there's negative energy around."
"Like this scream energy you mentioned?" Donald added skeptically.
"Whoa whoa whoa! I told you guys we were done with scream energy," Mike said. "Nothing negative anywhere in this business now that we're in charge."
"Well, those things did get a scare out of Boo," Sulley mentioned, picking up the little girl as she gave a little nod.
"It's not really safe around here with Boo around," Sora said.
"He's right, Sulley. We gotta postpone our playdate with her until the whole factory's one hundred percent cleared out," Mike said.
"Right," Sulley agreed. He looked at Boo, who was a little bit upset that her fun with "kitty" was ending far too soon. "Sorry, Boo. We gotta get you back home where it's safe and sound."
"Uhh...where exactly does she live?" Ocellus asked curiously.
"She's actually from another world beyond ours," Sulley answered. "We'll show you how and give you all a bit of a tour."
Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ocellus looked at each other, shocked by the monsters having knowledge of other worlds. Mike and Sulley went on ahead as they led their guests deeper into the factory.
"So, they know about other worlds existing, too?" Ocellus asked, both curious and incredibly worried.
"That doesn't mean we can't break the world order," Donald warned, giving Sora a harsh leer.
"Come on, Donald, you know I know better," Sora grumbled.
"I'm surprised they don't know about Heartless if they can access other worlds from here," Goofy added.
Barely making it into the hall, Boo got Sulley's attention, mumbling some incoherent words as she pointed at Ocellus. "Hmm? What's the matter, Boo?" The little girl let out a small whine and tried to wriggle out of his strong, but gentle hold. He glanced back at the changeling, slightly understanding what she wanted. "You want to see Ocellus?"
"Horsey," Boo whined, bouncing slightly in response.
"Oh. You want her to carry you? Or...give you a ride?" Boo nodded at the last answer. "Uhh, I don't know if she-"
"I...I actually don't mind if she wants me to carry her," Ocellus assured. "It wouldn't be fair if her playdate got ruined without some fun."
Sulley shrugged, not wanting to get Boo upset. "Ok. Just be careful."
Ocellus nodded as she trotted closer to Sulley. Boo giggled gleefully as he set her down on Ocellus's back. He was going to leave his paw out against the little girl's back to help keep her balance, only to be startled when the carapace hiding her wings raised up to help balance Boo for him. Sora laughed slightly, glad to see Ocellus was getting used to being around the two monsters, though she was really getting along with Boo very well. Sora hurried up to Mike and Sulley, partially curious about their factory and mentioning their scar energy.
"So, what kind of energy plant is this supposed to be?" Sora asked. "That slogan out front, 'We scare because we care,' doesn't sound all that friendly."
"Oh, it's taking us a bit to get rid of that old slogan," Mike said. "We were a little bit busy changing up how things work around here for the better."
"This factory is called Monsters Inc., and it was a scare factory," Sulley said. "All our power throughout Monstropolis and the world runs on scream energy. Big, scary monsters like me would sneak into children's bedrooms through their closet doors and scare them to generate the energy we needed."
The group paused in shock, mortified by the information. Ocellus nearly stumbled forward, horrified as she, as a changeling, had some sort of similar kind of method of acquiring an energy source. She wanted to confront Sulley and the distasteful acts he and several other monsters that worked here to scare innocent children while they slept to gather energy just to survive, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
"They...sneak into other worlds through bedroom closets?" Sora asked.
"Monsters in the closet or under the bed," Donald said. "Sounds like good hiding places for monsters to jump out when you're little."
Sora grimaced slightly. "Y-Yeah." Along the wall, there was a spot that showed many pictures of monsters that have made employee of the month, though most of them were of Mike and Sulley. Beside that section were rows of the best scarers of all time, plaques beneath their frames depicting their names and how long they've been a part of the former scare factory. One particular monster stood out to Sora as he approached the wall and looked at a picture of a blue-furred monster wearing a hat with the letter's "MU" on the front. "Wait a minute...Why does this monster...look familiar to me?"
"Sora, time for bed!" Manami called out from the kitchen.
In the living room, a five-year-old Sora was busy watching cartoons on the TV, letting out an annoyed groan. "But I'm not tired!"
"Sorry, buddy. Mom's orders." Kaito grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Sora pouted as he gave his dad a pleading look, but the man wasn't going to budge an inch. "Gotta get up bright and early in the morning. You're gonna start your first day of school. And when mom says to go to bed, you don't argue."
"Fine," Sora grumbled, getting up from his spot and began making his way upstairs. He went to the bathroom, got his teeth brushed before his mom threw a big fuss over his lack of hygiene, then entered his room. As he climbed into bed, Kaito and Manami made sure their son wouldn't sneak some midnight snacks or stay up later than he should. Manami sighed as she saw the mess of toys littered in Sora's bedroom and went to pick them up so they didn't trip on them while Kaito went over to tuck his son under the covers. "Good night, mom. Good night, dad."
"Good night, son," Kaito said, gently ruffling Sora's hair.
After putting Sora's toys away, Manami came over and gave Sora a good night kiss on his forehead. "Sweet dreams, honey. We'll see you in the morning."
Sora hummed, his eyes beginning to droop as he was more tired than he claimed he wasn't. Kaito and Manami quietly exited their son's room, making sure not to make too much noise as he fell asleep. Closing the door and shutting off the light, they headed back downstairs to enjoy a little time together in the quiet of their home.
Several silent minutes passed as Sora slumbered, the moon shining through his window to provide some light inside. Little did he know that he was going to get a surprise visitor. Across the room from his bed was his closet, standing out from the ocean blue walls with a lighter sky blue with a few stars along the upper half and crashing waves on the lower half. The doorknob slowly twisted, the latch letting out a quiet click to freely swing the closet door open. Shifting slightly, Sora squinted his eyes as he heard an odd noise in his room. Looking at his closet door, he thought he saw it swing open, lifting his head up slightly with a small gasp as he saw something slip out. Quickly shutting his eyes and shaking his head, he looked at the door again, only to let out an annoyed sigh as he saw the sleeve of a long-sleeved shirt dangle against the handle.
Settling back down, Sora closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep. The moment his eyes shut and he laid still, a pair of eyes opened from one of the walls, staring straight at the little boy. Quietly shifting away, it revealed itself under the moonlight from its hiding spot: a tall monster with blue fur that helped blend in with Sora's bedroom walls, spikes running from the top of its head and down the sides, five long tentacle-like legs, and long arms with sharp claws. Slinking down to the floor, it slide toward the bed, raising its sharp claws to the headboard, it scratched down one of the posts. The eerie scratching sound startled Sora, frozen in terror as his eyes shifted toward the sound, but found nothing there. He knew he wasn't imagining things this time, but he didn't know what to do.
Slowly rising from the foot of the bed, the monster let out a low growl to get Sora's attention. Scared, he glanced down, watching the monster rise with his arms out, claws and sharp teeth bared. It suddenly lunged forward and let out a menacing roar, making Sora scream for several seconds. Sora quickly pulled the covers over his head, fearing he was going to get eaten, giving the monster enough time to zip out of the room and closed the closet door. Hearing their son in distress, Kaito and Manami barged into Sora's bedroom.
"Sora!? What happened!?" Kaito asked worriedly.
"T-T-There's a monster!" Sora exclaimed, shaking like a leaf. Peeking under his blanket, he saw the closet door was now closed, and there was no sign of the shirt that hung from the inside, which only terrified him more when that "shirt" was actually the monster's arm. "I-It's in my closet!"
Confused, his parents looked at each other. Kaito went over to the closet door and opened it, but there was nothing but a small space with some of his shirts hanging on the rack inside.
"No monsters in here," Kaito assured, closing the door, then walked over to the bed and checked underneath. "None under the bed, either."
"You were probably just imagining things out of nervousness or excitement for school tomorrow," Manami said, but Sora quickly shook his head.
"But there was a monster! I swear!" Sora claimed. "I-It had blue fur, sharp claws, a-and it was like an octopus!"
Having heard a lot of Sora's tall tales, Manami rolled her eyes, slightly amused by her child's overactive imagination at times. "Alright, we're laying off the dessert after dinner from now on," she said.
"Huh!?" Sora grunted.
"Nothing's going to eat you or snatch you out of thin air," Manami assured, laying Sora back down and tucked him back under his covers. "It was just your imagination running wild from all that sugar. You're safe and sound, and we're only having dessert after dinner for special occasions."
"Uhh, define 'we'?" Kaito asked. Manami gave him a blank stare, deadly serious about her promise. Kaito's face drooped as he stared at his wife, aghast. "Oh no. That means...all of us."
"That's not fair!" Sora and Kaito whined.
Manami just shook her head, giving Sora one more goodnight kiss. "If it'll help from keeping you awake, then it's definitely fair. Good night, Sora." She began walking out while both her boys looked upset at the prospect of no more dessert after dinner. Kaito glanced at his son, giving him a smirk as he held a hand up with his fingers crossed. "Don't even think about sneaking any sweets for the two of you, Kaito! I'll know!"
Kaito winced, sighing and slumping his shoulders in defeat. "I swear it's like she has a sixth sense for this stuff," he grumbled. "Sleep tight, kiddo."
"Night," Sora mumbled, watching his father exit his bedroom door, this time leaving it open a crack with the hallway light on.
Sora couldn't get back to sleep after that encounter, staring at the closet door, waiting for the monster to come back. Eventually, his exhaustion began to catch up with him as he eventually fell asleep several minutes later, thankfully spared from another frightful scare.
After recalling a long-thought repressed memory in his childhood, Sora's jaw hung open in shock. "No way. That's the same monster that scared the daylights out of me when I was a kid," he muttered to himself.
"I see the wall of fame has caught your eye," Mike said. Seeing which monster Sora was interested in, the small cyclops let out a small laugh. "Ah. My idol when I was growing up. 'Frightening' Frank McCay. I always wanted to be a scarer. Even attended the same university to learn to be the best scarer ever. But, it was a pretty...rough year for me and Sulley."
"So, you still keep the monster scare hall of fame from the old scare business you work in?" Sora asked curiously.
"Memories and nostalgia. Hard to put all those pictures away. Especially ours," Mike said with a grin.
"Easy, Mike. Your ego's gonna bloat out your tiny head," Sulley chuckled. "Believe it or not, we didn't really become the best of friends in college. I was the scare jock, and Mike was the scare nerd. Our differences got us in a lot of trouble, which led us to getting kicked out barely a year on campus."
"But with all the hard work we did, starting from the bottom, we rose all the way to the top as the best team on the floor," Mike gloated.
"Does this 'Frightening' Frank still work here?" Sora asked.
"We heard he retired about a year before we became a scare team," Sulley said. "But scaring's now behind us now that we found a new way to make energy."
"Were you a big fan of his scaring accomplishments too, Sora?" Mike asked curiously.
"Uhhhhhh...He looked like...another monster I met before a long while ago," Sora lied, giving Mike a sheepish grin. The monster believed the Key bearer, giving a shrug before he continued guiding their guests further down the hall. Sora glanced at Frank's picture, glowering at him slightly. "I knew I wasn't crazy. I kept my closet booby trapped for a month after that night, and Riku thought I was being ridiculous. First Santa, and now monsters sneaking into bedrooms through our closets."
Throughout the hall, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ocellus noticed some carts were carrying huge yellow canisters against the walls or corners. "Hmm. I wonder what these things are," Goofy wondered aloud. He went over to a group of canisters and tapped the top of one of them. Feeling a knob he could twist, he twisted it, which suddenly let out what sounded like a child's laughter. Quickly twisting it back closed, he let out a small chuckle. "Well, ain't that funny. This capsule's got some children's laughter in them."
"Children's laughter?" Ocellus uttered. "Do...all of those containers have laughs in them?"
"It's our new energy source," Mike said. "Ten times more powerful than human children's screams, and lasts much longer."
"You make kids laugh for energy?" Donald asked. "How do you know that works?"
"She's riding on Ocellus right now," Sulley said. The visiting group looked at Boo, who was busy enjoying the ride Ocellus was giving her and her hands playing with the pink see-through frill along the back of her head. "Long story short, Boo snuck into our world, took a liking to me, and as we tried to get her back home, we wound up doing some goofy or silly things that made her laugh, and her laughs were able to cause the whole city to suffer a blackout from how powerful it could be."
It made a lot of sense for the monsters' guests. Ocellus was slightly relieved that Mike and Sulley had discovered a new way to provide power to their world in a more positive way. Much like her hive, Thorax discovered giving love instead of taking it helped change them to avoid starving day in and day out, and change their appearance to not be as menacing. It must be more challenging for monsters in this world to try to be funny, but from how many of those canisters they have scattered in the factory so far, they were able to get hundreds of children to laugh.
"Sounds like Boo found a way to save your company," Sora said.
"Wait until you guys see our laugh floor. Right this way." Mike ran on ahead, eager to show off the main work floor. As he looked around the corner, he let out a startled yell. "Oh no! There's more of them!"
Heavily concerned, everyone else ran over to the entrance to the laugh floor. There were several rows of desks stretching down the massive room with a spot holding a metal frame, a holster on the left side of each one that's meant to hold the yellow canisters, and a keypad beside each one meant to hold a door sat a few feet away, and scattered around the place were groups of balloons, party supplies or joke gags, and more canisters that held laugh energy. However, causing a ruckus on the floor were Unversed, messing around with the keypad controls as they set up and dismissed several doors that came in on a metal rail hanging high above the room, coming and going through a passageway where the doors were most likely being held. Flood were sneaking in and coming out of opened doorways, each one sporting a red light that was on, leading to the other end of a closet in the many bedrooms that were scattered throughout the worlds. A new variant of Unversed were seen slithering around like snakes, but also had a similar appearance to a poisonous flower with colors of pink and purple.
"Let's take care of them!" Sora said to Donald and Goofy as they summoned their weapons once again. "Ocellus, stay back and keep Boo safe!"
"R-Right," Ocellus said, carefully levitating Boo off her back and held her in her hooves as she flew high and hopefully out of range from the Unversed. Boo huddled closely against the changeling's chest, scared of the negative-fueled creatures, only to point at one of the doors as let out a worried whine. Ocellus spotted the door Boo was looking at, which was a white door that had some pink flowers on the bottom half. "Is that your bedroom door?"
"This is terrible! They're gonna ruin everything!" Mike exclaimed.
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Sulley said.
The guys all charged in, smashing the Flood away from the doors, even dragging them out of any doors they slipped through to avoid scaring any children. Thankfully, the doors they picked at random from deeper in the factory didn't have any kids in their beds, so they were spared from any sleepless nights of frights. Mike made sure to send the doors back after they were cleared through the small console, unlatching each door as they were powered off to rise up onto the rail and be mechanically carried back to where they were stored.
Ocellus watched from a distance, cradling Boo in her hooves, her Keyblade at the ready in case any Flood tried to jump after her. More of the slithering Unversed, Flowersnakes, appeared in the room, latching themselves onto walls high and low around the changeling. Boo let out a scared cry and huddled closer to Ocellus, alerting her of the Flowersnakes. They all spat out globs of purple slime that emanated a disgusting odor at her. Ocellus gasped and flew off, dodging the gunk as it splattered to the ground, one of them almost hitting Donald as he squawked in surprise.
"It's poison!" Donald exclaimed. "Don't let it get on you!" Ocellus yelped, flying back from another glob of poisonous sludge, which wound up hitting Donald. He shrieked, the warm sludge getting all over his body, suddenly feeling incredibly sick. "Or us..."
"S-Sorry, Donald!" Ocellus apologized while continuing her evasive maneuvers. She tried not to fly too fast with Boo in her hooves, but she didn't want either of them to get splashed by poison. She could play the long-range game with them as well, taking aim with her Keyblade. "Blizzard!" she shouted, launching a magical shard of ice toward one of the Flowersnakes. It struck and froze them solid, causing their tail to slip off the wall and fall to the ground, shattering on impact and killing the Unversed in a puff of dark blue mist and scattered ice shards. "Ok. One down, and only several more to-EEP!"
From below, she didn't notice another Turtletoad had appeared beneath her, grasping one of her hind legs with one of its tentacles and yanked her down. It was a different variant of the Unversed with brighter orange and green colors, but it lacked the deadly spikes on its green shell and was a bit smaller than its blue and purple counterpart. Hearing Ocellus struggle and Boo crying out in fear, Sora quickly turned around and saw they were in some trouble. Seeing a nearby canister filled with laugh energy, Sora snatched it, tossed it in the air and gave it a hard whack. The energy came blowing out with loud laughter, launching it like a huge missile toward the Unversed. Striking its behind, the Turtletoad stumbled forward, losing its grip on Ocellus, letting her fly away and even higher to avoid its reach.
"I've got your back, Ocellus!" Sora said, lunging forward and thrusting his Keyblade into the upturned Unversed's belly. "Just keep an eye on your surroundings! You'll never know when they get you from behind!"
"R-Right. They could jump me, Heartless or Unversed." Ocellus checked Boo, making sure she wasn't too shaken up from getting nearly yanked out of the sky, tightening her grip on her while continuing freezing Flowersnakes up along the upper walls.
Once the last of this "infestation" had been completely dealt with, Mike and Sulley looked around at the mess after the fight. Some of the canisters had been knocked over, full, half full, or completely emptied, even with the one Sora used as a heavy projectile on one of the Turtletoads. The fun party supplies for the funny gags were scattered or destroyed, with many of the balloons popped or cut from their strings as they floated up to the ceiling.
"What a mess! All our profits just went down the drain!" Mike whined. "Oh, these Unversed creatures are going to leave us bankrupt!"
"We can make up for the losses tomorrow," Sulley said, giving Mike a small pat on the head to help calm him down. "Our first priority is getting Boo back home."
Ocellus hovered back down, dismissing her Keyblade, panting slightly from the constant dodging with Boo still held in her hooves. "I...I think there's...a problem with that," she panted. "Her door...is white...with flowers on it, right?"
"Yeah. And in their chaos, those creatures must have sent Boo's door back to the storage unit with the others," Sulley said.
"So, how exactly do we get that door back?" Sora asked.
"Well, the bad news is we haven't got a chance to copy the card key to Boo's door after...rebuilding it," Mike said. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ocellus looked at Mike like he was crazy. "Uh, really long story with us and Boo. Human kids aren't supposed to be in our world. We always thought they were toxic and hazardous, including their toys scattered in their bedrooms. And if a kid is no longer afraid of monsters, or stumbles into our world like Boo, we shred their doors so they don't try to get in if their door is active."
"And Boo's door was 'rebuilt'?" Donald asked. "Her door was shredded, but you fixed it?"
"Eh, I kinda missed the little tyke as much as Sulley did, so I painstakingly went through every piece of shredded wood that was dumped for a few weeks and found every single one," Mike said with a grin.
"Mike Wazowski!" Boo said.
"Yup! All thanks to-!" Mike turned to look at Boo, but the little girl was pointing at Donald again, mistaking the monster duck with him. Sighing, he dropped his gloating and went over to the desks, where some folders were left that had images of a child on each one, along with a card key for their doors. Taking the card keys, Mike went over to three of the consoles, sliding a card through each one as different numbers popped up on the displays. "Anyways, the good news is we're going to get to Boo's door in style."
"That's the good news, Mike?" Sulley questioned.
"It's the best I can come up with on short notice to an infestation of dangerous creatures." Within seconds of swiping the card keys, three different doors came through on the conveyor belt, the assigned ones stopping at the frames their assigned to. A clamp rose up from the center of the frames, grabbing the bottoms of the doors and dragging them down to the ground, turning them ninety degrees so the frames can grab onto the sides to secure them in place. "Hop aboard, everyone!"
"Uhh...is that even safe to do that?" Ocellus asked.
"Nope. But we've done it before," Sulley said. "But I think it's best if you keep carrying Boo, Ocellus. Your flying is much safer than hitching rides on moving doors."
"Oh, we've done much worse dangerous stuff than door surfing," Sora chuckled. "Let's find Boo's door, and fast."
Sora hopped onto the door on the left, Donald and Goofy took the middle one, leaving Mike and Sulley the one on the right as their ride. When the visiting land monsters were all settled, Mike pressed the return button, each station lifting the doors back up onto the conveyor belt, then hopped onto his and Sulley's after pressing theirs. Ocellus flew up to join them and followed, wondering where exactly the doors were being stored, though she had a hunch it was going to be a cluttered mess like the world appeared to be from the outside.
While Boo was still held in her hooves, the little girl squirmed and looked down, babbling about something that nearly lost the changeling's train of thought. "Huh? What is it, Boo? Did we miss one?" Ocellus turned around, trying to see what she saw. There weren't any Unversed, but in a far corner of the laugh floor, her eyes thought they were playing tricks on her when she saw part of the wall shift slightly. Squinting her eyes, she focused on that corner, waiting to see if the strange shifting blur would happen again, wondering if one of the Unversed could camouflage themselves. "What was that?"
"Ocellus, we can't really control these things!" Sora called out. "Don't fall too far behind!"
"Uhh, s-sorry! I'm coming!" Ocellus called back, flying back to catch up with her mentors and monster friends through the opening the doors came through.
As soon as they disappeared, the blur stepped forward, quickly unveiling its camouflage. Long, slender, and reptilian in form was a purple-scaled monster with a sky blue tail, three fronds with pink tips on top of its head, and four arms and legs. The camouflaging monster chuckled in delight, his squinty eyes leering at the factory door passage with a toothy grin.
"Oh, I just got me a brilliant idea," he uttered maliciously.