Monstro

The terrain here is soft and spongy, and the smell of fish is in the air. You are really in the belly of the beast now—Monstro the whale’s belly to be precise.

Pinocchio informs you of this as he peers at you from around a corner. Things have taken a turn for the weird, and there is no going back now. Pinocchio now gives you the Key of Beginnings for agreeing to helping him and his father escape this moving prison of blubber.

The starting room has two doors. From here, the doors seem to intermingle and no one way is the right way. The target is the glowing room on your World Map, and the goal is to make your way there as best as you can. From the first room, exit through the door to the right. This will lead to another room, in which you will need to move to the door straight ahead to the north of this room. In the next room, take the door to the right, following the path laid out by the map. Once in the next room, there is one more door to pass through by using the corresponding Map Card. After entering the crown door by using the Key of Beginnings Map Card, you meet Geppetto, who asks you to find his son before something terrible happens.

Sora now gains the Key of Guidance Card and the High Jump ability. This new ability can be used on all those hard-to-reach places and is very helpful when dodging fierce area attacks from regular enemies and during boss fights.

Sora then finds himself back in the previous room, and must proceed through the door straight ahead. Pass through this number door, then left through the door in the next area. From here, move through the next door straight ahead and enter the following room. Up ahead is a crown door, so be sure to have your Cards edited and in order, because once you enter that crown door, you will be playing for keeps. It is time for another good ol’ fashioned boss battle.

Boss Battle: Parasite Cage

This boss by itself is not all that fear inducing or difficult. The real difficulty is the fact that you have to navigate three constantly rotating platforms that float on top of concentrated acid. Performing Sleights, or even simple Card attacks, can be a hair-pulling ordeal. Summon Card attacks can be especially frustrating to pull off while staying off of the acidic floor. Falling into the acid cancels out any Sleights you were performing as well as deals damage to you. It is highly suggested to use fire magic, as it deals a good amount of damage and stuns Parasite Cage.

Parasite Cage’s moves include:

• Parasite Cage uses its tentacles to slam down on the platform you are standing on, causing the platform to fall into the acid. It’s best to leap off the platform when you see this coming.

• Parasite Cage throws a large ball of acid at Sora. This can be easily broken if you have the heroic fortitude.
• After you deplete about a quarter of Parasite Cage’s HP, it will start using an attack that is not easily broken or dodged. Parasite Cage essentially launches across the room, targeting Sora and causing major damage. You definitely want to roll or jump to the side before this hits you. Even if you land in the acid, the damage you take from that greatly pales in comparison to the attack from the launching move.

The best method is to run up on Parasite Cage with a full attack deck and swing away until you have exhausted all of your Cards. Sure, the acid floor will hurt you, but the damage is so minor that you will barely notice it. What you will notice, however, how much lower Parasite Cage’s HP is after one of those barrages.

Whatever you decide to do, keep your wits about you, along with a few Cure Cards, and you should cut this parasite down to size. At the end of the fight you get the Parasite Cage Card.

After the fight, make your way to the last crown door on the map and proceed through. Did you think the fighting was over? Well, you would be wrong.

In the last room, you have to fight a constant wave of Shadow Heartless in an attempt to aggravate Monstro into cutting his losses and spitting out Pinocchio and Geppetto. During the fight, the goal is to make the gauge on the right side fill up completely, which may take a long time. Stick with it until you succeed. After the fight you get a good amount of experience and the Dumbo Summon Card.

Once out of the gigantic whale, you are free to travel back to Castle Oblivion. Sora speaks about the mysterious blonde girl again to Donald and Goofy, asserting that she was a childhood friend of him and Riku. A scene involving Larxene and Axel unfolds, and they speak of Sora being the “key to taking over the Organization”...whatever that means.