Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, storylines, or concepts mention in the story, just the OCs.
Chapter 9: Shake Your Groove Thang!
In a particular section of the universe, a wormhole a nothingth of an inch long opened up and released two dozen lawyers, hurling them into the depths of space. So how can such a thing happen, you ask? The answer is simple; the Infinite Improbability Drive was activated, causing the improbable to become possible. The Heart of Gold screamed back into existence closing the wormhole behind it. Although everything outside the ship was normal, inside the ship was another story. The ship's cabin transformed was transform into a music stage with Christina Aguilera singing an eerie prophecy to Trevor. The pop star began dancing to a techno/hip-hop beat as she relay the message to the keyblader.
She sang:
"Listen well, my young keyblader, listen to the words of this song.
Know well indeed that sometimes the heart can be wrong.
I ain't no prophet, no soothsayer, or oracle, but please heed these words.
Don't believe what I have to say is only for the birds.
Beware of your friend, your other, and yourself.
Failure to let go of the past causes many to lose themselves.
Baby, a man like you needs his woman, find strength in her heart.
Though it seems like it, both of you are never far apart!"
Background dancers suddenly appeared signaling that the chorus was drawing near. Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers looked on in bewilderment as they sync up their dancing moves with the pop star.
Christina continued to sing:
"If you want your answers, you'll have to go Beyond the Kingdom.
It is there where you will finally find your freedom.
Wanting to bring back lost souls is no justification,
For destroying the homes of others just because they're manifestations."
The stage reverted back into the cabin, and with a nod and a wink, Christina Aguilera vanished in a puff of smoke. "We reached a probability factor of one to one!" Eddie the computer said brightly. "I repeat; we have reach normality!"
"Eddie…," Miranda said very calmly. "I thought you said if we activated the proofing screens we don't have to deal with the improbable."
The ship's computer quickly analyzed every component of the proofing screen program, before arriving to a conclusion. "It would seem that the proofing screens encountered an error in its programming causing it to fail, sorry gang."
"I knew we should've gotten an Apple instead of a PC," the cartoon bobcat complained snapping his fingers.
Trevor just hung his head low and rubbed his temples. "Eddie, just tell us where we are."
The main computer screen displayed a world covered in thick jungles with temples and ruins spread out along the surface. "My databanks are telling me that this is Kuzcotopia. A world famous for its exotic cuisine, such as spinach puffs!"
"Any heartless activity?" Miranda inquired.
"Tons. In fact, I'm picking up a whole horde of heartless concentrated on one location."
The three travelers looked at one another; this was definitely not a good sign. "Eddie," Trevor said getting up, "beam us down immediately."
"You're the boss!" and with that, Eddie teleported them in the middle of a battle.
"Damn that computer!" Trevor said as he dodged a sword attack from an Invisible. "I hoped that it would teleport us a few feet from the heartless, not in the middle of the nest."
Miranda athletically jump over a charging Dustflier and destroyed it with one hit. "Wow Miranda," Bonkers whistled. "When have you become such an expert swordsman?"
"Kurogane taught me a couple of useful technique during our time in Nowhere," the blonde swordswoman huffed as she destroyed three more heartless.
"No, don't do it!" said a whiny voice somewhere in the midst of the heartless horde. "I'm too pretty to die!" The three warriors turned around and saw a red and black llama cowering behind a large man wearing a green poncho. "Pacha, do something!" the talking llama continued.
"I'm doing the best that I can!" Pacha said fending off the heartless with nothing, but a pitchfork.
"We gotta help those two," Bonkers said as he dodged an attack from a Neoshadow.
"Yeah, but how?" Miranda asked as she performed a horizontal slice on a Mega Shadow. "In order to destroy these many heartless we need speed and expert timing."
A brilliant idea hit Trevor, "Miranda, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"No, not that again," Miranda groaned.
"It is the only way."
Miranda thought for a minute as she fought two Air Soldiers. "…Fine, do it."
The keyblader focused all of his power and released it in one burst. "Buccaneer Drive Form!!!" he yelled as he and Miranda fused together.
When the transformation was complete, Trevor summoned the Follow the Wind keyblade and started hacking away the Heartless with the keyblade. Bonkers provided supportive magic such as Shell and Protect to boost Trevor's defense. After the last Heartless was destroyed, Trevor and Miranda separated and went over to Pacha and the talking llama.
"Are you two all right?" Trevor asked. "Why were the heartless after you?"
"They were after them, because I sent them," said a cartoonish voice high above the trees. Then, a medium sized, blue lump fell from the canopy and landed with grace.
Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers were in shock at the sight that lay before them: a creature wearing a blue cloak.
"I take it, you work for the Forsaken?" Trevor said pointing his keyblade at the creature.
The creature twitched its absurdly long tail, "Indeed I do, Trevor Birch. But one doesn't work for the Forsaken, think of it as merely a support group." The hooded creature removed its blue cloak to reveal its true appearance to the world. If it wasn't odd enough that the creature had a seven-meter long tail, the talking animal resembles a monkey, but has a face like a dog and the fur pattern of a leopard.
"Who or what are you?!" Trevor said backing away a little.
"Marsupilami," the hodgepodge animal said simply.
"Is that what you are or who you are," Pacha asked warily.
"Both," Marsupilami admitted.
"Well, any way you slice it, he is still a freak," the llama spat. "I mean, who on earth would want to kill me, the beloved Emperor Kuzco?"
"YOU'RE AN EMPEROR?!!!" Miranda yelled in surprise.
"Duh. Notice my regal appearance despite being trap in this horrid body."
"Our adventure gets weirder and weirder," Trevor said in a sigh. The keyblader turned his attention back on Marsupilami. "How on earth do you know my name?"
"The Forsaken taught me many things; include what to do to bring back my world and how to deal with annoying pests like you."
"Well, I have news for you," Trevor warned aiming his keyblade at the animal, "This pest is going to wipe the floor with you."
Marsupilami folded his arms and smirked. "He told me you might act like this, too bold for your good." From behind him, Marsupilami pulled out an insignia that has, what appears to be, a family crest. The emblem was a shield with three keys crossing each other on it. At the bottom of the keys was an unrolled scroll, to the right of them a partly sheathed sword, and to the left a regal lion. "Our leader told me to show this to you, so you know who he is."
Nothing registered for Trevor; he never seen that emblem before and can't imagine who would be looking for him. "I don't know what the hell you are talking about."
Marsupilami cocked his head to the side; he was confusing by the keyblader's answer. "I don't understand…"
"Let me spell it out for you," the keyblader said extremely ticked off. "I. Don't. Know. What. That. Thing. Is."
The long-tailed creature sighed and closed his eyes. "I wonder how come you don't remember. Is it amnesia, repressed memories, or just plain denial? You know, for the people like you and me, our memories of our true homes are our only proof we have that we exist. … Ah, screw it."
The hodgepodge creature then lifted up his right hand and exerted a powerful dark energy. Everyone was surprised by Marsupilami's power, especially Trevor whose face turned white. So much power…, Trevor thought, His power even rivals the Bleaks!
"You know our leader told me to bring you back alive," Marsupilami continued, "but I decided to kill you anyways. I could always say it was an accident." The creature closed its fist and two deep purple metal gauntlets appeared on both his hand. "The only one who ever beaten me in a fight was Maurice and you're not even half the primate he was!" The creature slammed both his fist to the ground causing a huge tremor for over eight miles. Pacha and Kuzco held on to a tree, while Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers were struggling to stay on their feet. "I got this," Miranda yelled and charged toward the attacker. Marsupilami however, curled his tail into a ball and punched Miranda in the gut sending her flying across the battlefield. Lucky for her, Pacha managed to catch her.
"Looks like it's up to us Bonkers," Trevor said as he readied his keyblade. Bonkers silently nodded his head and started gathering mana. "When I give the signal, launch a Blizzard spell at me." Before Bonkers could protest, Trevor launched himself toward Marsupilami.
"Your friend already tried that trick, it doesn't work," Marsupilami mocked as his gather dark energy in his gauntlets. In rapid succession, Marsupilami continuously punched in the direction of the keyblader releasing a blast of energy with every punch. With great skill and speed, Trevor dodged every blast as if it was nothing. Something's wrong here, Marsupilami thought, Zackary didn't mention that Trevor have this much skill!
Then Trevor did something that puzzled Marsupilami, the keyblader jumped ten feet in the air. "Bonkers! Now!" Trevor shouted. Bonkers twirled his staff in the air and then launched the Blizzard spell in the air as instructed. Trevor allowed the spell to hit his keyblade as he dash down toward Marsupilami for an aerial attack. "Limit Breaker: Blizzard Raid!!!"
Marsupilami lifted his right gauntlet to block the attack, but the moment the keyblade touched it, the gauntlet froze over and shattered into thousands of pieces. How is this possible? the creature's mind raced for answers. He shouldn't have this much power. He curled up his tail into a ball and tried to hit the keyblader, but Trevor only block the attack and perform a flying back flip to distance himself from his attacker. Marsupilami looked into Trevor's eyes and saw that they were slowly turning black. I see, so he is one of them. Darn it, I don't have the power to defeat a being like him yet!
"I hate to fight and run," Marsupilami announced, "But I'm afraid I overstayed my welcome. But make no mistake," the creature pointed toward Kuzco. "I will have your heart; you can take that to the bank." He transformed his tail into a giant spring and launched himself through the trees shouting "Houba!"
Trevor let out a sigh of relief as he made his keyblade disappear. He was still tense, but at least the battle was over. As he turned around to check on the others, he felt a little lightheaded. "Trevor, are you alright?" Miranda asked in concern. Trevor held up his hand to gesture that he was all right, but he fainted soon afterwards. "TREVOR!!!!" Bonkers, Miranda, Pacha, and Kuzco rushed to Trevor's side. "Trevor, speak to me!" Miranda pleaded. "Trevor? TREVOR!!"
KH-KH-KH
Trevor slowly regained his vision and quickly noticed that he was not where he was supposed to be. He realized that he was no longer in the jungle, but in an urban environment. He quickly recognized this place; his was just outside the downtown mall near his college.
He was back on his home world.
Before the keyblader could think how this was possible, he heard a roar and turned his head to see a giant, seventeen-foot gecko heartless. He tried to summon his keyblade, but it was already in his hand.
He looked at the keyblade closely. This isn't my keyblade, he thought. This keyblade was dark blue, oppose to his brass keyblade. The stem of the keyblade resemble a long, rolling wave that was about to break, the teeth was a spiral seashell, and the guard of the weapon looked like two crab claws. The name Enigmatic Sea flashed in his mind.
The heartless emitted a second roar and launched hundreds after hundreds of needle projectiles at him. Trevor managed to dodge everyone, but something felt off. He wasn't as fast or as powerful as he once was. "Have a taste of your own medicine, buddy!" Trevor turned around and saw a talking rabbit in an orange jumpsuit waving a magic wand around.
"Terror of the Cactaur: 1,000 Needles!" As soon as the rabbit cast that spell, more needles appeared but this time headed for the heartless.
"That was some nice blue magic casting there, Mr. Whiskers." Trevor turned to his right and saw a gray-blue otter holding a sword with runes on it.
What is going on? Trevor thought wildly. Who are these guys and how did I end up back here? Before the keyblader had a chance to do anything, he tasted something bitter and putrid on his tongue and threw up.
KH-KH-KH
Trevor threw up on the hooves of Kuzco, who shriek a little. "Ewwww, Grrrroooooossssssss!!!!!" the llama said as wiped his hooves on the ground.
"Where am I?" Trevor questioned as he looked around like a paranoid man. "Where's the giant heartless?"
"Shh, shh, it's okay." Miranda grabbed Trevor by the face and tried to calm him down. "You passed out for a minute, but Pacha relived you with a special serum."
"The recipe has been in my family for years," Pacha said with pride. "Powerful enough to wake someone up from a coma."
"Well, did you have to use to whole bottle?" Trevor lamented as he slowly got up. "What a strange dream I had; I dreamt that I was back home."
"Well, I wish this was all a dream!" Kuzco spat. "Then I'll wake up in my soft bed, in my glorious bod, with a whole fleet of servants to carter to my every whim." The emperor turned llama turned a starting walking toward the jungle.
"Don't go in there!" Pacha warned. "The jungle is a dangerous place!"
"Not as half as dangerous as hanging with you clowns," Kuzco retorted.
"Kuzco, get back here!!"
"I'm not listening," the emperor said being childish. "La-la-la." And with that, he disappeared in the thick of the jungle.
Pacha slapped his forehead and groaned heavily. "I can't allow the emperor to die in jungle."
"Don't worry, we will help you." Pacha turned and saw Trevor, Bonkers, and Miranda heading into the jungle.
"Well thank you strangers, but I can't let you-" Trevor held up his hand to silence Pacha.
"Even though we just met as few minutes ago, Kuzco is now apart of our mission. You heard what Marsupilami said. He won't rest until he have Kuzco's heart." Trevor turned and smirked at Pacha. "And we cannot have that now, can we? Even if Kuzco's annoying as hell."
Pacha smiled and shook his head, "Okay then, let's find the emperor."
"Scary jungle, right. Oh, a leaf, it might attack me," Kuzco mocked sarcastically. "'Never find my way,' they said," Kuzco said disgusted. "Please I'm the emperor. I can't get lost in my own kingdom." The human-turned-llama stopped and looked around. "Okay, now where am I?"
From all around him, sounds of the night swirl in the air. It seemed like fierce eyes was staring at him from the bushes. And to add to the creepy mood, he witnessed a spider devouring a fly. "Okay, that was the freakiest thing I ever seen."
The bushes next to Kuzco started to rustle; the emperor was too frightened to move. As he expected to worse, from the bushes came a small squirrel. Kuzco breathed a sigh of relief and then spat, "What do you want?" The squirrel, seeing that the llama was lost and may be in need of food, offered its prize acorn to the emperor. "Ahh, for me?" Kuzco said in mock gratitude, "I don't know what to say." Kuzco threw the acorn back at the squirrel, "Hit the road, bucky."
As Kuzco turned to leave, he fell in a den of sleeping black jaguars. As the emperor looked for a place to escape, the squirrel from before came with a mischievous grin on its face. It pulled out a deflated balloon, filled it with air, made a balloon animal with it, and pulled out a needle. Kuzco realized the squirrel's plan, and whatever small part of him wished he was kinder to the squirrel was squished by the huge part of him that wanted to survive.
"No, no, no," Kuzco pleaded with eyes as big as dinner plates. The squirrel only nodded manically, drawing the needle closer to the balloon. "No, don't," the emperor silently pleaded, hoping to appeal to the squirrel's better nature again. The squirrel's grin grew wider and it popped the balloon.
Even though the popping of the balloon made a loud noise, the jaguars remained asleep. Kuzco seeing this said "Ah!!!!" in a loud, triumphant voice, but then covered his mouth when he realized what he did. His attempt to rectify his mistake came a moment too late. All the jaguars were now awake and threatening him with promises to rip him apart.
The emperor made a break for it, with dozens of vengeful jaguars tailing behind him. It was only now that Kuzco wished that he listened to Pacha. Kuzco came before a cliff and saw that he was trapped. I can leapt to my doom or be torn apart by hungry jaguars, the emperor thought as the large cats started to close in on him. As Kuzco was about to expect his fate, he heard someone call his name. "We're coming for you Kuzco!" Kuzco and the jaguars looked up and saw Pacha, Trevor, Bonkers, and Miranda swinging on vines. Unfortunately, for Kuzco, all four of them failed to grab Kuzco or knocked out the jaguars and continue to swing away from the emperor.
"You know, this plan worked better in one of my cartoons," Bonkers said.
"Let's try this again," Trevor said as he and the others turned around to try to save Kuzco once more.
This time Pacha was more successful by grabbing Kuzco. "Don't worry your highness, I got ya. You're safe now."
"And we are here to back him up," Trevor added. The moment those words left Trevor's mouth, Pacha and Kuzco hit a tree trunk, sticking out of a cliff and Pacha's vines tied both of them to the tree trunk. "That…wasn't suppose to happen…" The next moment, Trevor, Miranda and Bonkers also got tangled in their vines and all three of them were tied to a tree next to Pacha and Kuzco.
"Maybe I'm just new to this whole rescuing thing, but this, to me, might be considered a couple of steps backwards. Don't ya think?" Kuzco said.
"No, no, no. This is just a minor setback," Pacha said thinking quickly trying to figure out a way out of this situation. "We can figure this out together."
Suddenly there was a huge snap and both trees made a downward ten-degree angle. "I hate all of you," Kuzco simply stated.
Both trees broke off from the cliff and fell toward the river below. Our heroes were tossed around and bashed against the rocks in the rapids. After a few moments things settled down, but they were still tied to the logs.
"I don't know about all of you," Kuzco spat at his rescuers, "but I'm getting all fun out."
Everyone just rolled his or her eyes. Pacha and Bonkers, who faced downstream, looked ahead of them and saw that they were about to fall off a huge waterfall. "Oh-no," Pacha said.
"Don't tell me," Kuzco said. "We are about to go over a huge waterfall."
"Yep," Pacha said.
"Sharp rocks at the bottom?" Trevor asked.
"Most likely," Bonkers said.
Kuzco narrowed his eyes and braced himself, "Bring it on."
All of them went over the waterfall and crashed on the water below. Lucky for them the logs and the vines ripped apart on impact, freeing them. All of them washed up ashore panting, drenched, and tired.
"We might as well camp here tonight," Pacha said. "It's getting late and it's dangerous to traveling at night."
"Well, if you done as I told you, we wouldn't be in this mess," Kuzco spat. "The next morning you will take me back to the palace, Yzma will change me back, and I will tear down your house to build my fabulous summer home."
"What!" Trevor yelled as he got up in a start. "Is this what this journey's about?! You want to evict the man, who just saved your life, so you can bring a summer house that you don't even need?"
"Duh, I'm the emperor. I can do anything that I want."
Trevor threw his hands up in the air. "People today," he cursed.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot here," Pacha said as he tried to start a campfire.
"Uh-huh," Kuzco said half-listening drawing the number 42 in dirt.
"I know if you really think about, you will build your home on a different hill. Deep down I think you realize that you are forcing an entire village to leave their homes just for you."
"And that's….bad?" Kuzco looked at Pacha questionably.
"Duh, of course it's bad!" Trevor said. "That's being selfish beyond reason. Nobody that's heartless…expect the Heartless themselves. I mean, how can you be this way? All you seem to care about is building a summer house and filling it with stuff for you."
"Ah yeah, doh, me. Everyone in the kingdom gets it, expect you four. All of you need to get with the program."
Pacha looked at the llama with disgust and pity, "You know, one day you will be all alone and you will have no one to blame, but yourself."
"Thanks for that piece of information Captain Letdown. I will log that away and for the final time I order all of you to take me back to the palace."
"You can't give us that order," Miranda said. "Me, Trevor, and Bonkers aren't apart of your kingdom."
"As for me, it looks like you're stuck out here, because unless you change your mind I'm not taking you back to the palace," Pacha said with authority.
This shocked Kuzco, how dare these peasants defy their beloved emperor! "Fine," he spat as he sat down in a corner. "I'm going to sleep and when I wake up you will take me back," and with that, Kuzco lay down and when to sleep.
Miranda shook her head and sat next to Bonkers who was roasting marshmallows over the campfire. "Do you think he will ever change?" she asked.
"For my village's sake, I hope so," Pacha said as he stared into the campfire.
Early next morning, everyone went to the river to wash their faces. Kuzco quietly sat next to Pacha while everyone ignored him. "Hey," the emperor finally said. The other mumbled a short greeting and continued washing their faces. "So I was thinking that when I get back to the city, we will… I mean…well, there are a lot of hilltops and…."
Pacha was shocked, "Wait are you saying you will build your summer home elsewhere?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Pacha stuck out his hand and looked Kuzco dead in the eye. "Don't shake unless you mean it."
Kuzco looked at Pacha's hand for a minute and then took his hoof and shook Pacha's hand. Miranda hugged Kuzco and Trevor patted him on the back. "Well let's get you back to the palace," Pacha said. "And thank you."
When all four of them were out of earshot, Kuzco uncrossed his left hoof. "No, thank you."
The five travelers reached a rickety, old bridge and began to cross it. "Once we cross this bridge, we will reach the palace in an hour," Pacha said with enthusiasm. When they reach the middle of the bridge, Pacha, Miranda, Bonkers, and Trevor fell through and became entangle in the vines beneath the bridge.
"How many times this has happen to us since we have arrived on this world?" Bonkers asked.
"One too many," Trevor said trying to climb up the vines with no success.
"Kuzco, help us!" Pacha pleaded.
Kuzco looked down on them amused, "No, I don't think I will. I was going to throw you guys in prison for life, but I kinda like this better."
"You backstabbing, little cheat!" Trevor spat.
"We shook hands on it!" Pacha yelled.
"The thing is," Kuzco started, "you need hands, not hoofs, to shake hands. Buh-bye." The next step the emperor took was the wrong one and like the others, he fell through and became entangle in the vines.
"You did this to yourself, you know," Trevor spat.
"Whatever, just get me out of this!" Kuzco complained as he struggled with the vines.
"You know, I'm beginning to think that we should've allowed Marsupilami to take Kuzco's heart," Miranda stated.
"I'm beginning to think the same thing," Trevor responded. "It would save us a lot of heartache."
"You know I can hear you," Kuzco said.
"We know," Trevor stated.
"How we are going to get out of here?" Pacha asked.
"How about if I use Aero to lift us out of here?" Bonkers suggested.
"Bonkers, that's brilliant!" Miranda praised.
"Well, what are you waiting for Bonkers, an invitation? Fire that spell up!" Trevor commanded.
Bonkers summon all the mana within him and cast the spell. A great gale surrounded the five of them and lifted them back on top of the cliff.
"Well, that was easy," Trevor said looking over the cliff. As soon as he said that, the piece of the cliff he was standing on started to break off. Before Trevor went over the edge, Kuzco grabbed him and pulled him to safety.
"Yeah, look at me and my bad self!" Kuzco gloated. "I snatch you right out of the air. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh."
"You saved me," Trevor said amazed.
"What's the big deal? Nobody's that heartless. Just don't read too much in to it, it was a one time thing."
"Well, let's get going," Pacha said standing up. "With the bridge out it is a four day walk to the palace."
"You are still going to help me?" Kuzco questioned.
"Of course, we shook hands on it."
"Unlike you, Pacha keeps his word," Miranda scolded.
"Well, I hope all of you realize that this doesn't change a thing. I'm still building my summer dream home."
"Well, who knows," Trevor shrugged. "Maybe you will change your mind along the way."
"Not likely," Kuzco laughed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the world, Yzma and Kronk were searching frantically all over jungle. "We search ever village surrounding the palace and still no sign of Kuzco. Where is he?" Yzma paced around in a circle fanning flies away from her. "I hate this jungle!" She looked over at a tree branch and saw a squirrel offering her acorn. "Get away from me!!!!" she yelled.
The squirrel run toward Kronk and cowered behind the muscular minion. "There, there, little buddy; she's acts like that to everyone."
"You're talking to a squirrel," Yzma scolded.
"I was a junior chipmunk scout, we are required to learn to converse with all the woodland creatures," Kronk said with pride.
Yzma rubbed her temples can't believed that her hired help was talking to a glorified rat. "Why me?" she cried.
"You know, it is not all about you. This little guy said he ran across a talking llama and-"
"A talking llama?!" Yzma said with renewed interested. "Where is this talking llama?"
"Put me in the middle why don't you," Kronk said. He turned to the squirrel to asked him, "Squeak-squeak-mcsqueaken?" The squirrel pointed to the east and Kronk and Yzma headed in that direction with renewed vigor.
"Low blood sugar, huh," Trevor said carrying Kuzco.
"Yeah, it's a curse," Kuzco said glad that he got a free ride.
"Well, there is a restaurant up ahead," Pacha said glad that he doesn't have to carry Kuzco.
"Good," Trevor said, "As soon as we get something to eat, you're walking the rest of the way."
When they reached the dinner, they dressed Kuzco like a woman so he can eat at the establishment. "The final indignity," Kuzco spat as they all waited for their food.
"Just be thankful that we didn't go with the baby costume," Miranda said drumming the table with her fingers.
The waitress brought five giant pill bugs to their table and left with complete indifference. Everyone expect for Pacha was disgusted with their food. "Well, dig in everyone," Pacha said as he crack the shell of the bug.
Trevor pushed his dish away and announced that his was going to the bathroom. Before he reached the bathroom door, he overheard a conversation two people were having at a table near the men's room. "We should have killed Kuzco when we had a chance," said Yzma staring daggers at the waitress who brought them to this table. "I hate eating at a table near the restaurant's restroom! People keep passing you by going to and fro from the bathroom, and you worry if they washed their hands and could the germs from the bathroom somehow get in your food. Oh, why did she bring us to this table?!"
"Pleasant conversion topic to have before lunch," Kronk said sarcastically.
Trevor continued into the bathroom, but continued to listen to their conversation from the other side of the door. Did they say that they wanted to kill Kuzco? the keyblader thought as put his ear on the door.
"We need to find Kuzco and fast and before he returns to the palace, otherwise our whole plan is blown," Yzma continued. "Worse yet, I think Naraku knows that I am planning to take over the inter-circle."
Trevor almost had a conniption. Did she just say Naraku? he thought. She's working for Naraku?
"Yeah, tough luck with that," Kronk nodded sympathetically. "Especially when you have to go against that Light guy."
"I know," Yzma said as if she was talking to a friend she had not see in a long time. "He is so creepy, and that ability to kill anyone just by writing their name in a book." Yzma shivered a little. "It's just not natural, no one, not even us villains, should have that power."
The keyblader heard enough, he left the bathroom and head straight for his table, there wasn't a second to waste. Yzma looked at the keyblader puzzled. "Is there something wrong?" Kronk asked in concern.
Yzma just shook it off, "For a second there, I could have sworn that that person was a keyblader… But I must be imagining things."
Trevor went over to his table with urgency in his voice. "We need to leave, NOW!!"
"But I didn't finish my meal," Bonkers said pointing to a half-eaten giant pill bug.
"Well, get a doggy bag, cause we'll leaving now!" Trevor said dragging Miranda and Kuzco from the table.
Once outside, Trevor lead them to the back of the restaurant, where the keyblader could explain the situation.
"What is this all about Trevor?" Pacha asked.
"Who cares 'what is it about,' he saved us from that awful food," Kuzco spat.
"Kuzco," Trevor started like he was trying to calm the emperor down, but in reality he was trying to calm himself down. "There was an old woman and a beefy man in there who said they were trying to kill you."
"Whoa, wait a minute," Kuzco said half-understanding the keyblader. "Was this old woman scary beyond reason?"
"Oh yeah, and then some," Trevor said quickly nodding his head.
"That's Yzma and Kronk!" Kuzco cried in jubilation. "They could take me back to the palace and change me back into a human!"
Kuzco got up to go back inside the dinner, but Trevor blocked his way. "Kuzco, Yzma is not who you think she is. She's the one who put you in this situation. And if that wasn't enough she is working for Naraku."
This time, Bonkers and Miranda got up. "Are you sure?" Miranda asked, "Is this woman really working for Naraku?"
"Positive," nodded the keyblader.
"Then we need to get Kuzco to safety," Miranda paced around trying to think of some solutions. "We need to hide Kuzco in a safe place where Marsupilami and this Yzma can't get to him."
"How about my house?" Pacha offered. "My wife, Chaka, could look after him."
"Whoa, whoa, timeout," the emperor said backing away from the four of them. "I know what's going on here; you don't want me to go back to the palace."
"That's not it at all," Trevor stated. "We are trying to protect you."
"Protect me?" Kuzco sneered. "What it sounds like to me, is that you are trying to protect that horrible, small village! I'm afraid that your services are no longer required."
"Kuzco!" Trevor yelled, but it was too late. The emperor already left.
Kuzco made it to the front of the dinner when he saw Yzma and Kronk coming out of the dinner. "We need to kill Kuzco and fast!" Yzma complained. The emperor stopped dead in his tracks and hid in a nearby bush. "I should have known better than to trust you to poison Kuzco." Kuzco's mind raced, Oh my god, Trevor was right! Yzma is trying to kill me!
Yzma continued on, "This time we find Kuzco my way! No more relying on the directions of squirrels!" Yzma stretch out her hand and several small portals of darkness appeared. Out of these portals, several chihuahua-like heartless sprang forth. Their fur was a deep black and they had yellow, blank eyes. Their collars were purple and had the heartless emblem as a dog tag. "How are my babies doin'?" Yzma said to the heartless like a doting grandmother. "Who's goin' to help me find Kuzco? Who's goin' to help me find Kuzco?" The heartless bark and yip like mad, each one trying to please its master.
"Uh, Yzma? Could we, you know, hurry this along?" Kronk asked shyly. "I thought you were on a tight schedule?"
Yzma collected herself and coughed. "Yes, I suppose you're right." She took out a piece of clothing and allowed the heartless to sniff it. "This is a piece of clothing of the peasant that we believe is hiding Kuzco." She didn't even have to give out the order, the heartless quickly follow the road up the hilltop that lead up to Pacha's village. "Quickly Kronk, after them!" Yzma yelled following the heartless, "The game's afoot!"
When Yzma and Kronk were gone, Kuzco came out of the bushes. How could he been so blinded to the truth, so selfish… He looked up and saw Pacha and the others looking for him. They all breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that Kuzco was safe. "I'm sorry," the emperor spoke before anyone had a chance to. "You were right; Yzma was and still is trying to kill me. And now she sent Heartless to search Pacha's house to-"
"She's after my family?!" Pacha yelled cutting Kuzco's apology short. "We got to save them!"
Trevor summoned his keyblade while Miranda and Bonkers readied their weapons. "Which way toward your house?" Trevor asked.
"Up this road," Pacha said already running toward his house.
Surprisingly, they made it to Pacha's house in no time at all. When they reach the front yard, they saw dozen of chihuahuas heartless yipping and clawing at the front door trying to get in.
"I'll take care of this," Miranda said unsheathing her sword. "Hama ryû-ô-jin!!!" she yelled releasing a wave of energy that destroyed all the heartless.
The front door opened and a pregnant woman came out brandishing a broom like it was a spear. She lowered the broom when she saw her husband. "Well, aren't you tardy to the party," she joked.
Pacha ran over and kissed her on the cheek, "Chaka, what happen?"
Chaka just waved off Pacha's concern like it was nothing. "Don't worry about it; we got things under control here. The kids and I locked that old bag and her friend in the closet."
"Let us out!" Yzma yell, "and we'll burn your house to the ground!!"
"Don't you mean 'or we'll burn your house to the ground?'" Kronk said trying to correct his boss.
Chaka just shook her head and then looked over toward Kuzco. "So that's Kuzco huh? Oh how the mighty have fallen."
"You're not earning any Kuzco-points here, missy," the emperor spat.
Chaka turned to her husband and kissed him on the head. "You and your friends hurry back to the palace and turn Kuzco to normal. The kids and I will stall the old bag as long as we can."
"You're the greatest," Pacha said as he kissed his wife.
Pacha, Trevor, and the others run off into the jungle to get to the palace in a hurry. "Are you sure it's okay to leave your family with Yzma?" Trevor asked confused.
"They can handle themselves, they got things under control. I don't know why I was so worry before," Pacha said as they ran through a clearing.
"But isn't it a four day walk to the palace?" Miranda asked getting her second wind. "How can we get there sooner?"
"You leave that to me," Trevor said twirling his keyblade. "Hastega!!!"
Thanks to the Hastega spell, the five of them made it to the palace in no time at all. They successful made it to Yuma's 'secret' lab unnoticed and undetected; expect for Trevor who was soaking wet and had a crocodile biting his leg.
"Why does she even that lever?!" the keyblader said as he hit the crocodile with his keyblade. The croc made a yipe and ran away whimpering like a frighten dog.
They search Yzma's potion cabinet only to turn up empty. "Where's the vile?" Kuzco panic, "Where the potion that will turn me human?"
"Looking for this?" said a voice from behind them.
The five of them turn around and saw that Yzma was, not only behind them, but holding a red potion as well. Besides her were both Kronk and Marsupilami, grinning like fools.
"How did you get here so fast?" Bonkers asked puzzled. "Weren't you locked in a closet?"
"They were, but I freed them and teleported them here," Marsupilami said pointing at Kuzco. "I told you Kuzco that I will be back. Your day of reckoning has come."
"And I will not only I will be empresses of this world, but of all worlds," Yzma crackled. "Just as soon as I steal that keyblade of yours, Trevor."
"You and what army?" Trevor retorted. "There's five of us and only three of you."
Yzma snapped her fingers and thousands of Zip Slasher heartless appeared behind. All of the heartless banish their duel swords as they prepare for battle. Yzma gave a triumphant grin, "How about this army?"
"I afraid it will take a lot more than that to defeat someone like him," Marsupilami said.
"Oh, and what do you suggest?" Yzma hissed irritated.
"This," Marsupilami climbed on top of Yzma's head and clapped his hands twice. The Zip Slashers burst into gray smoke and started to swirl around Yzma and Marsupilami in a huge tornado.
"Uh, being suck into a dark vortex of evil is not in my contract, so…I'm just going to leave now," Kronk said as he headed for the exit.
Out of the tornado came out a huge floating head and two huge floating hands. All three pieces were made out of yellow stone and on top of the head sat a crown with the heartless emblem on it.
"What is that thing?!" Trevor yelled.
"Looks like some sort of Incan Golem," Miranda reasoned.
"…." the Incan Golem moaned in both Yzma's and Marsupilami's voice.
"Ahhhh, protect me!" Kuzco said cowering behind Pacha.
The Incan Golem slammed its right hand on the ground causing a tremor, while its left hand shot lasers out of its fingertips. Trevor, Bonkers, and Miranda dodge each attack with ease, but fail to close the distance between them and the heartless.
The Heartless opened its mouth and shot a huge energy beam at its attackers. Even though the beam didn't hit them, they received damage indirectly from flying debris.
Use me…, said a voice deep within Trevor's heart. If you want to survive this fight, then summon my power!
Trevor felt the dark energy building within him, it was giving him a much needed power boost, but he was hesitant to use it. He quickly thought about it and arrived at a solution. "Bonkers, Miranda! Get Pacha and Kuzco out of here, I'll take care of this Heartless myself."
"Not a chance!" Miranda said running over toward Trevor. "We will continue to fight along side you."
"Yeah," Bonkers said next to Trevor. "You're stuck with us, kid."
"For better or for worse," Miranda said extending out her hand. Trevor and Bonkers extended out their hands and together all three of them put their hands together. Trevor notice that the darkness was fading in his heart. It was as if he was receiving strength and support from both Miranda and Bonkers.
The Incan Golem didn't stop just because Trevor and the others took a timeout. It gathered energy in the palms of its hands and its mouth. After a few seconds, it released three beams that converged and formed a massive energy wave. Trevor, Bonkers, and Miranda noticed the energy wave coming at them, and remain where they were and started pooling their mana together.
"Friendship protects all!!!" the three of them said together, "Trinity Limit: Reflectga!!!!!!" Mystical green runes appeared in the air and surround Trevor and his friends forming a barrier made up of complicated geometrical designs. When the energy wave hit the barrier, it bounced off it and headed back toward the Heartless. The golem was destroyed by its own attack and it released a giant crystal heart.
When the smoke cleared, they all heard coughing and noticed it was coming from a small, gray cat holding a vile. "Yzma?!!!" everyone said in shock.
"What the..? I've been turned into a cat?!!!" Yzma said in a chipmunk voice.
"Serves you right," Miranda scolded snatching the vile from the cat. "That's what you get for using powers beyond your understanding."
Trevor bent over the body of Marsupilami who was starting to dissipate. "Here…take this…," the creature handed the keyblader the family crest from before. Trevor got a closer look at the emblem and notice that at the top it says: The Honourable Birch Family. The keyblader was stunned; was this his family crest? Before Trevor could ask any questions, Marsupilami continued, "Sorry I tried to kill you….It's just…I just wanted to go home so badly…" With that, Marsupilami disappeared in a puff of gray smoke. Trevor sighed and put the crest in his pocket. Will he ever get any straight answers?
Miranda gave Kuzco the vile, and the emperor gladly expected it. "Finally," he said before he drank the contents. In a puff of red smoke, Kuzco became human again, wearing his red emperor robe and his golden crown. "Boom baby! I'm back!"
"So that's what you really look like," Miranda snorted with her arms crossed. "Some scrawny, weasel-looking thing."
"I guess I deserved that…," Kuzco said scratching the back of his head. He turned to Pacha to apologize, "Listen, Pacha, I'm sorry that I tried to destroy your village so I can build my ultra cool summer home. I was being selfish, could you forgive me?"
"Water under the bridge, your highness," Pacha smiled.
Suddenly Kuzco's crown started glowing brightly. "Whoa, what's happening?" Kuzco inquired.
"It means your crown is the keyhole to this world," Trevor said as he lifted up his keyblade. The crown transformed into a giant keyhole and Trevor locked the world. When the crown turned back to normal, the keyblader rested the keyblade on his shoulder. "It's time for us to get going."
"What?! Already," Kuzco said disappointed. "I was about to throw a huge feast in your honor."
"That's nice, but Trevor's right, we have other places to go," Miranda said.
The three of them said their goodbyes to Pacha and Kuzco and headed back for the Heart of Gold.
On the Heart of Gold, the three friends were glad to leave the jungle behind them and were ready for another adventure. "Eddie, head for the next world and this time don't use the Infinite Improbability Drive, am I right Miranda?" Trevor expected the female cop to agree with him, seeing how she absolutely hated the Improbability Drive, but she remain silent and stared at Trevor with concern.
"Trevor, we need to talk…" Miranda started.
"Uh, okay," Trevor said a bit confused.
"What's happening to you? Anything that Bonkers or I should be concern about?"
"Uh, no. I'm fine, Miranda, really. I don't know where this is coming fro-"
Miranda grabbed Trevor and slammed him against the wall. This shocked Trevor, he always forgets that Miranda is a cop. "Don't lie to us, Trevor! You fainted for no good reason a few days ago, and before that you summoned a dark keyblade that isn't yours."
Trevor looked in Miranda's eyes; they were so fierce, filled with determination...and also sadness. He realized he couldn't hide his condition any longer. "Alright, I'll tell you. But let me down first." Miranda let go of him and Trevor brush himself off a little. "The truth is I don't know what's happening to me, either. I keep hearing a voice-"
"A voice?" Miranda asked in concern.
"Well, it's not so much as a voice as it is an urge. Sometimes I feel a huge amount of dark energy build up in me and it wants to be release. Sometimes I can't control it, other times it's like it is not even there."
"Trevor, I had no idea…" Bonkers said mournfully.
"That's not all…; remember when Princess Sakura asked me about my grandmother?"
"Yeah," Miranda nodded wanting Trevor to go on.
"Well, the strangest thing happened, I couldn't remember her. Nor my father or mother. It's as if my whole past has been wiped clean. It is as if I just came into existence a year ago. I cannot remember anything before I went to college."
"Oh, Trevor…," Miranda hugged the keyblader and he hugged her back. Bonkers joined in making it a sorrowful group hug.
"What's happening to me?" Trevor asked them. Bonkers and Miranda remained silent.
They didn't have any answers for him.
KH-KH-KH
Somewhere in a far-off world, (Texas to be exact) the Forsaken were having a meeting in broad daylight. The group was made up of a hodgepodge collection of humans and animals, and yet, no one around them seemed to notice.
Why is this you ask? This is all because of the skills of Zackary. Zackary was a twenty-seven year old man with dark hair and piercing green eyes. He was six foot five, wore glasses, a white dress shirt, and black slacks. He had a curious look about him, even though he looked like a scholar he could easily have passed for a model. His every presence commands authority, his every moment controlled, cool, and suave. It was one of the many reasons why he was the leader of the group. A while ago, he cast a spell over him and his group so others won't notice that one member was a fox, the other was a dragon, or that they were watching a holographic image on the table conjured up by Zackary himself. It was perfect; they can conduct business without anyone giving them strange looks.
Hiding in plain sight.
The eatery that they were in, The Burnt Toast Diner it was called has its share of characters besides them. Two of the customers were two Asian males who speak fluent Japanese, rare in these parts. Their waitress was a strawberry-blonde young woman that seemed to be having a good time talking to one of the Asian men. Near the front of the diner, a man dress in dark clothes wearing a cap to cover his eyes, was staring at the waitress like a hungry cat does to a mouse. Zackary saw all of this around him and just shrugged it off as if nothing beyond his table was worth it.
The table that the Forsaken sat at was in fact three tables pushed together so that all eight members could eat together. Zackary sat at the head of the table, of course, as all of them watched Marsupilami's last breath in this mortal coil. He turned off the holographic image and looked every member in the eye. "Well?" he finally said in a voice like black velvet.
"The keybladers are ruining our plans," to the world the owner of the voice looked like a twenty year old British human male with dark brown hair, but to the Forsaken they saw him as he really was: a green dragon wearing a red helmet and a red and blue cloth shirt with the letter 'F' on the front. "Trevor, Sora, Cynthia…they are going to ruin us."
"Have you forgotten that I, myself, am a keyblader?" Zackary asked patiently.
"No disrespect to your kind, Zackary, but keybladers tend to stick their noses where they don't belong. I know Trevor is important to you, but we must get rid of him and the others before they become a threat."
"Exactly," said the young Japanese teen boy of the group who banged his fist on the table. "I won't allow these interlopers interfere with my plans to bring back my world so I can have revenge on my brother. They already killed three of our members; we need to nip this situation in the bud, now."
"Sasuke, you have nothing to worry about," Zackary said to the teen. "You will get your revenge in due time. As for you," he turned to the dragon. "If you ever suggest that we kill Trevor again, Flicker, we will expel you from the group like we did that green alien and his idiotic robot.
Flicker looked down at the table embarrassed; he did not want to be expelled like Zim and Gir. "I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again," he said softly in his British accent.
"What I'm more concern about," said a cruelly beautiful redheaded woman, "is Naraku and his cohorts. They seek the power of Kingdom Hearts and ultimately we also need Kingdom Hearts' power, do we not?"
"True," Zackary said, "But he is losing more members than we are. Let the keybladers handle him."
The strawberry-blonde waitress came over to their table with a perky smile on her face and a Texas twang in her voice. "Welcome to the Burnt Toast Diner, my name is Charlie and I will be your server today. Can I get you fellows anythang?"
"I will have some waffles," said a Japanese teenager a little older than Sasuke. He had huge spiky hair and crow wearing a red bandana perched on his shoulder.
"What is with you Japanese people and waffles?" Charlie joked. "Those guys over there ordered the same thing," she pointed to the two Japanese men sitting across the diner. The shorter of the two men noticed this and waved at Charlie with a huge grin on his face. "Hi Hiro!" Charlie yelled at the man. She turn her attention back to the party she was serving. "He's a real sweat guy, that Hiro. Aww, look at your bird." Charlie lightly scratched under the crow's beak. "You know this crow's scientific name is Corvus brachyrhynchos."
"But you can call me the love doctor, baby," the crow said, but due to Zackary's spell all that Charlie heard was a 'kaa.'
"And what can I get you?" Charlie said to Flicker.
"Oatmeal, if that is alright."
"Oh my god, you're British! Well, this town is turning into a world's fair. Like you sir, you are from India aren't you?"
Charlie was now talking the man sitting on Zackary's right. Even through he looks like he's a handsome man from the subcontinent of India, he was in actuality a black panther. "Yes, I am," the man said in a British accent. "My name is Bagheera."
"Like in the Jungle Book?" Charlie said shocked.
"I do not follow," Bagheera said.
"The Jungle Book is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling and was published in 1894. It was adapted into several movies and cartoons over the years."
"Oh, that Jungle Book," Bagheera said playing along. "Yes, I do recall that book."
"In one of the stories in The Jungle Book there was a character named Bagheera. He's a black panther you know."
"You have no idea," Bagheera said sipping his coffee.
Charlie continued with a dreamy look in her eyes, "My favorite story in The Jungle Book was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. When that mongoose saved that boy from the cobra, I cried. That was a good story and it was adapted to a wonderful cartoon."
"You're like a walking encyclopedia," Flicker said in amazement.
The waitress blush a little. "I know it's strange that I talk a lot, but since couple of days ago I've been able to remember everything. It's more than just a great memory; it's like….like…."
"It's like you have developed a super power," Zackary finished for her.
"Something like that," Charlie said as she shifted her weight. "So how about the rest of these orders?"
An hour later, the Forsaken finished with their meals and were wrapping up their meeting. "We need to leave this horrible world," Zackary said as he threw his napkin on the table.
"So soon?" Flicker said a bit disappointed. "We could use this world as our base. Besides, I want to try this dish they call an 'apple pie.'"
"No, this world is too eventful I afraid," Zackary left a huge tip for the waitress and got up from the table. The other members followed suit. "Besides, you know our assigned fates. We are the gypsies of the universe, cursed to be nomads till we find a way to bring back our home worlds."
As they left the diner, Zackary noticed that the man in the cap was still watching Charlie with a hungry look in his eyes. As he passed by his table, Zackary noticed that the man written something on his napkin: I AM SYLAR!
The Forsaken walked down the street and put on their blue cloaks. The average person would have thought that they were supermodels going to a fashion show, but that was far from the truth. "Bagheera, it's your turn to try to bring back your world," Zackary said as he put the hood of his cloak over his head. "But this time, I'm sending someone with you. A secret weapon as it were."
"Who?" the black panther asked.
From the shadows of a nearby alley, a dark figure emerged. He had long dark hair, a prosthetic left arm, a red cape, and matching headband, and piercing red eyes. "He means me," the figure said in a voice that can make a brave man weep.
"I don't know why Hojo and Yzma thought you were broken," Zackary said staring at the figure. "You work just fine." He turned his attention back to Bagheera, "Now both of you go to Cape Suzette and do your job." Bagheera opened a dark portal and he and the dark figure was about to enter it when Zackary gave a final command. "Be sure to tell my little brother I said 'Happy Birthday.'" Bagheera and the figure nodded and then they disappeared in the portal.
"So what now?" Sasuke asked.
"We continue to search for a home base," and with that all the Forsaken members disappeared in a portal. Just in time too, because in a few moments Charlie is going to be killed by Sylar and Hiro will travel back in time in a vain attempt to save her.
But that's another story…
Next Chapter: Kyle's Awakening
Miranda's Log Updated!
New Characters:
Christina Aguilera: real life(1980-present)
Kuzco: The Emperor's New Groove(2000)
Pacha: The Emperor's New Groove(2000)
Chaka: The Emperor's New Groove(2000)
Marsupilami: Marsupilami(1992)
Zackary (OC): Kingdom Hearts III: Beyond the Kingdom
Flicker: Blazing Dragons(1996)
Sasuke Uchiha: Naruto(manga 1999)
Bagheera: The Jungle Book(1967)
Hiro Nakamura: Heroes(2006)
Charlene "Charlie" Andrews: Heroes(2006)
Sylar: Heroes(2006)
A/N: I got the idea of a pop star singing prophecies from the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, which by the way, is an awesome book. Anyone who wants to find out more on Hiro, Charlie, and Sylar watch Season 1 of Heroes, episodes 8 through 10 or read the novel Saving Charlie by Aury Wallington. The mystery of Trevor's vision in this chapter and the identity of the sandy-blond young man will be revealed in the next chapter! So stay tuned!