Date RP Scene Commenced: WED 3 FEB - 2021


Context: Riku has just arrived back in the office after serving in one of Karla's dreams. As he recounts the shenanigans he had to deal with, 18-Volt has another bout of jealousy and calls Riku out, trying to guilt him for his accumulated behaviours and actions. Riku is put off by this as when Dreamy WB brings back pizza for the group, Riku is not hungry and goes off to be alone. Dreamy WB notices this and talks to Riku. After raising Riku's confidence, she then asks for 18-Volt to be brought into see her, and Murray continues to support Riku's confidence by sharing some stories of his own.

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Riku: You wouldn't believe what I had to deal with last night. I had to find clothes for her because she was stuck in a change room at the shops because the lady didn't sell anything decent.

18-Volt: I'm surprised you helped, man. I thought you didn't like dealing with girls.

Riku: What? Just because I got all awkward when Shiki called me a knight in shining armour? I was fifteen back then, or at least, dreaming as a fifteen year old.

18-Volt: Beats me.

Riku: Well I get along with Aqua, Xion and Namine. And Kairi's my friend too.

18-Volt: Oh you wanna go on that Kairi chick? You left her behind when you moved your ass off to Quantanium.

Riku: It's Quadratum. And Kairi needed to become stronger, but when she finishes her training, then she can come and join me.

18-Volt: Let's see, how many times has Karla told you off because you abandoned her and made all these excuses not to help her?

Riku: Bernie... Can we not go there?

18-Volt: Well Rick; the next time I hear you make her cry, I'm gonna come over there and rap you an ass song right in front of her.

Riku: For the millionth time, it's Riku.

Murray: Hey pals, what spicy argument am I walking in on today?

Riku: sighs

18-Volt: Eh, just giving Riku his judgement day on how many times he's tried to diss Karla.

Murray: Well Bernie, just like it isn't normal for you to be mean to Karla, you can't expect Riku to be fully nice to her as that isn't normal for him. And you know Karla appreciates people for who they are, so I'm sure she's more than fine with Riku.

Riku: Come on guys! I took her to the Royal Melbourne Show one night! And we were going to go on some of the rides until she woke up.

Murray: Is there anything else you've done that's theoretically 'nice'? Go on, maybe we need to prove it to Bernie one more time that he's not at the top o' the ranks like he thinks he is".

18-Volt: Wha!?

Riku: Well... No one raises their reputation by lowering others'.

Murray: At least tell him what you've gone though.

Riku: Uh, well... There's all the countless times I've taken her in the elevator and hugged her tight because she was so scared.

18-Volt: Anything else?

Riku: I let her sleep on my lap when her family was driving us to the other side of the city. I saved her from a teenage sicko in the supermarket, and hey! I even took her to Disney Castle.

18-Volt: Eh, I guess you're okay then Riku. You wouldn't be a dream guide if you didn't have to deal with at least one sick person in Karla's dreams.

Murray: How 'bout you Bernie? You never share your stories with Riku. Tell him all the bad guys you've had to deal with, and then maybe you two will likely connect.

18-Volt: Uh, well... There was a bald college professor making his students cry, I had to send him on his way. And then there was the possessed high school teacher trying to get his mitts on her. And thirdly, a nosey man from her community college wanting to get with her, so I had to keep her away from his sight.

Riku: Have you had to deal with anyone, Murray?

Murray: Aw geez, my days are ancient. I had to fight some thug apes at a school, but that's all I can remember.

Riku: Huh, interesting.

Murray: But you know who's done the most of of anyone of us? WB. She's had to deal with bad teachers, shifty doctors, that guy from SML, and even Karla's own parents! That's why she's the boss. Speaking of boss... She's back! And she's got pizza!

18-Volt: Pizza!? Gimme! What flavour's d'ya get this time?

Dreamy WB: We have a tray of margarita and a tray of Hawaiian.

Murray: Hawaiian? Pineapple!!!! I'm so pumped!

18-Volt: I'll take some of that margarita.

Dreamy WB: What about you, Riku?

Riku: I'm not hungry.

As Riku walked off to the meeting room to be alone, Dreamy WB turns to 18-Volt and gives him a dirty look.

Dreamy WB: Don't tell me Bernie picked a fight again.

Murray: Uh yeah, it was pretty spicy like that chilli on his margarita.

18-Volt: Hey! Don't tell her!

Murray: Sorry pal, but I heard you were being quite aggressive with Riku, saying he was abandoning her and stuff, and then you even had the tenacity to bring his friend Kairi into this.

Dreamy WB: sighs

Dreamy WB: 18-Volt... I mean Bernie. What did we talk about the other day? You need to get over your jealously and start treating Riku like a member of the family.

Murray: Yeah, imagine what Karla would say if she knew all the stuff that went down in this office.

Dreamy WB: Her heart breaks whenever she hears about any of us being mistreated. She loves us that much. Now speaking of mistreatment, I need to go and speak to Riku.

Murray: You did a bad thing Bernie.

18-Volt: sighs

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Riku: I don't even know why I'm still here. I'm a failure.

Dreamy WB: Don't say that, Riku.

Riku: I just can't seem to give Karla as much attention as she wants, and every time I try, darkness gets in the way. Sora would be a much better fit for her, but she doesn't want that.

Dreamy WB: She wouldn't fighting The Subconscious to keep you if she didn't think it was worth it.

Riku: She's just doing that because I haven't made a year yet.

Dreamy WB: That's not true.

Riku: She literally wrote that in her last letter to me. And yet she doesn't write to me a lot because she's actually scared of me.

Dreamy WB: There are some men, Riku, that she's had to get rid of before the year was up, and perhaps not even a month in, because they were harmful to her in some way, shape or form, whether it was the dream-person themselves, or they amplified the damage inflicted from their real life counterpart.

Riku: The way you talk reminds me a lot of Joshua. Someone I met in my mark of mastery exam and he knew a lot about dreams.

Dreamy WB: There's more than meets the eye when it comes to people, or should I say, projections like us. And Karla isn't scared of you, it's her subconscious that acts up and starts hypnotising her in a way. Only the problem is, the subconscious has never been that bad for the rest of us. It seems to drown you out quite a lot whereas it never did that to the rest of us.

Riku: Why does it do that?

Dreamy WB: Because it, or should I say he, is scared of you; not Karla. Being a Keyblade Master has locked you into a certain relationship with the subconscious. But you can fight this, just like how Karla fights it. In Karla's words, to fight the subconscious and win it back is to seek balance.

Riku: Wait... It's a he?

Dreamy WB: Yes, Anthony. He uses the old office that used to be SW's. I've spoken to Anthony once or twice before as he's tried to make some shifty deals with me, thinking it would help Karla whereas they'd really only hurt her more. He wears a black suit, a black top hat, and spectre shades.

Riku: He seems pretty mysterious.

Dreamy WB: So mysterious that he even forgets Karla's the boss. That's why I have to keep reminding him. And you know why it might have been so hard for Karla to get to you during the lockdown last year? It's because Anthony smokes, and I bet his way of coping during the lockdown was to smoke a lot, which in turn would fog up and damage parts of Karla's brain. And then she'd have to wait until the smoke cleared but it wouldn't take long for Anthony to take another puff and so her thoughts get clouded again and everything repeats itself in due order.

Riku: So... Anthony's been the one that's been trying to get rid of me on some occasions. I did not know that.

Dreamy WB: Yes, and there are times where Karla has become so frustrated with him, because of what he does to you, that she wants to throw him off a cliff.

Riku: That's like the first bit of undercover information that you've given me.

Dreamy WB: Well in all honesty, you've never really been too interested in our major stories. That might be another reason why Bernie looks down on you, because he thinks you're so engrossed in being a Keyblade Master and protecting your World Order, that Karla doesn't matter to you, but that's not true is it?

Riku: No, I love her, but I just wish I knew what to do to make everybody happy.

Dreamy WB: What are some of the things she says to you?

Riku: Hmm... She always asks me to be more present, and she doesn't like it when I leave early.

Dreamy WB: Why is it that you leave early in a lot of dreams?

Riku: It's because I have a lot of work as a Keyblade Master that I have to go back to Kingdom Hearts to fulfil my duties.

Dreamy WB: And you are sure one hour would make such a difference to your life?

Riku: I know. That's why I'm worried she actually doesn't like me because I'm a 'Keyblade Master'.

Dreamy WB: She likes you no matter who you are. The only thing she doesn't seem to like is when you let such a high status consume you, which is why she also doesn't want to go for a corporate company in waking life like her dad brags so much about.

Riku: So she doesn't want to become like me.

Dreamy WB: Once again, she wouldn't be fighting for you if she didn't see something in you. She knows you keep a lot of things to yourself and this is not solely because you're a Keyblade Master. And she knows who you can be because of the way you treat Sora and Mickey. So you should see her like Sora but not replace her with Sora.

Riku: Yeah, hence why she'd be better off with Sora.

- door opens -

Murray: Hey the pizza's almost gone. I left two pieces of Hawaiian for ya Riku.

Riku: Thanks.

Murray: And you need to stop talking down on yourself man. Just because Bernie said all this guff to you. That's what jealous people do. They eat at your flesh until you have none left and then ya just feel like a pile o' frail old bones. Ya know Karla would crack the shits if you actually left.

Riku: You're right, and that's why I'm going to stay... But...

Dreamy WB: And Sora is too under-developed for Karla. Even though she may have such a lighthearted personality, her intelligence and intellect is closer to yours. So unfortunately, she thinks Sora's too dumb to be a dream guide, and she's said in the past that she'd rather be his.

Riku: laughs

Dreamy WB: Karla is precisely a mix of you two, in the middle of you both. So she'd rather have the upper hierarchy she can grow from, or at least keep her steady, rather than someone who ought to send her back to kinder.

Riku: Alright, I'll try to be nicer to her. I'm sure Master Yen Sid will understand.

Dreamy WB: Why would you bow to Master Yen Sid if you're a Keyblade Master yourself?

Murray: I just think he needs more confidence in both himself and his little girl. Well... Big little girl.

Riku: Yeah, you're right. I need to stop keeping myself locked up in the past, and I need to realise that everyone outside of Kingdom Hearts isn't a threat or at least a burden.

Dreamy WB: She doesn't want you to be a clone, but she wants you to have the same culture as us.

Riku: I remember at the start, she said she wanted me to be a shoulder to cry on.

Murray: Exactly! So sometimes, you just need to loosen up and be a teddy bear, and not just to curb her phobia in the elevator.

Dreamy WB: And she's happy when she sees us happy. So she doesn't like that Bernie, or 18-Volt in her case, is making you feel like you don't belong here.

Murray: Yeah, the condition is that if WB's gonna stay as the boss, then she has look after us. And we've gotta look after each other. Ya know, I treat her (Karla) like I treat Sly and Bentley... As a part of the gang. So you've just gotta find some way to see Psoriasis in her and have her be a friend to you alongside him and Kairi.

Riku: His name's just Sora.

Murray: Oops, my bad.

Dreamy WB: And hearing some of our stories will definitely help you connect with both Karla and us.

Murray: Yeah, why don't you come on out with me and eat some pizza? And I can share some more stuff with you.

Dreamy WB: Never think of it as boasting, Riku. We only tell you what we do with Karla so you can gain some inspiration yourself. And Murray, can you ask Bernie to come in here?

Murray: Sure thing WB. He's gonna cop a massive blowout after what he said to you, Riku. Nobody in this building puts a colleague off their food and gets away with it.

Riku: Thanks.

Dreamy WB: And chin up, because she loves you.

Riku: Right, now I just need to show that same love back to her, at least get it close to that.

Murray: Now come on Riku; or else everything's gonna match the temperature of the pineapple.

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Riku: Hmm... Actually pineapple on pizza's not that bad, or this must be a good pizza. Though if you see Sora, don't ever tell him or I'll never hear the end of it.

Murray: I'll swear that secret on my life pal. Family members are always respectful about airing dirty laundry to others. Of course you can never commit a good heist if others know what you're doing.

Riku: But isn't stealing wrong?

Murray: That's what Bernie always says. See? You can relate to him, he just needs to stop being mean to you. But hey, with the stealing stuff... We steal from the bad guys. So we kinda promote justice by stealing. It's... Complicated...

Riku: Yeah, and you always have the cops on your tail.

Murray: That's old man. Carmelita and Sly are married now. Only, they haven't really spent much time together because in the canon universe, Sly's been stuck in Egypt for God knows how long.

Riku: Oh, really? Well I guess that's like Sora who's trapped in Quadratum right now.

Murray: And I bet your heart's breaking for him.

Riku: No, not quite...

Murray: Hey don't lie pal. How are you ever going to connect with her emotionally if you can't do it with us?

Riku: sighs. I guess you're right.

Murray: There's a reason she devoted one whole case study to helping you with that. And I kinda wish she'd do that for Sly, but I'm not the one taking her at the moment whereas you are.

Riku: How long has Sly been missing for?

Murray: Short of 8 years now.

Riku: gasps and eyes widen. How did that happen?

Murray: The developers are unfair man. They put all their loot into other stuff and ditched us.

Riku: Can't you steal from them?

Murray: The golden rule is that our developers can touch us, but we can never touch them.

Riku: Huh

Murray: I hate how they made Bentley and Penelope break up at one stage. I hate a lotta things, but I also wouldn't be where I am today without them.

Riku: Same here.

– The End –