Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart's Greatest Weapon
Chapter 10: Yzma's Downfall
Back at the palace, Yzma growled in disgust, having heard her sent Heartless failed to kill Kuzco. She was having a temper tantrum and nearly tore her head off.
"Uhh...let me guess. The plan didn't work." Kronk said. Yzma eyed Kronk.
"Oh. It did. I'm just angry because....of something else. OF COURSE IT DIDN'T WORK YOU BUFFON!" Yzma screamed. Krong fell to the ground horrified.
"Well, what now? Kuzco can't be too far from the palace now." Kronk said. Yzma growled and tried to calm herself down.
"I KNEW I should've stuck with that "turn him into a flea" plan." Yzma groaned. Yzma stormed over to a nearby window and could faintly see Sora and the others in the distance.
"Great. They're here." Yzma said. But just then, she got an idea and snapped her fingers. In the throne room, Yzma called for the guards.
"Attention guards! What I am about to tell you is very important. The assassins who killed Emperor Kuzco are on their way here. I want you to find and capture them BEFORE they can get to me. Understand?" Yzma asked. The guards gave a group salute before heading out. Yzma cackled.
"Oh. This is going to be good." Yzma said. Outside the palace, Kuzco sighed at the sight of the palace. Sora and Donald had defused along the way.
"There it is. There's the palace. We made it." Kuzco said "Oh. Don't worry Throney. I'm coming." But suddenly, a group of guards came out and aimed their spears at them.
"Halt! By order of Empress Yzma, the assassins of Emperor Kuzco are to be captured and brought before her for appropriate punishment." a guard said. Kuzco gasped.
"Wait! No! You've got it all wrong! I'm Kuzco! I'M Kuzco!" Kuzco exclaimed. But the guards didn't seem to buy it and tried to attack. But Donald used Thunder and managed to zap them into stepping back.
"Out of the way! We've got the real emperor!" Rikku shouted. But again, the guards didn't believe them.
"Well, only one way through then." Sora said. He, Riku and Cloud went into a charge and effortlessly took out the guards. Mickey rushed towards the palace gates.
"Come on! If this "Yzma" is the one giving the orders, she has to be behind Kuzco's change!" Mickey called. Sora and the others followed Mickey inside and eventually ran into more guards.
"Again?!" Donald groaned.
"Listen! This IS Emperor Kuzco! Your empress is lying!" Sora shouted. But these guards didn't believe them either.
"Gawrsh. Yzma must really have people believing you're dead Kuzco." Goofy said. Kuzco sighed.
"When I get my hands on her, she's REALLY going to get it!" Kuzco groaned. Still, Sora and Riku fought the guards and knocked them out as well. As they continued ahead, Kuzco explained his past with Yzma to them.
"So, you fired her? No wonder she wanted revenge on you that badly." Cloud said. Kuzco groaned.
"Come on! Let's just get to the throne room and get Kuzco back to normal!" Pacha shouted. But just then, Kuzco came to a screeching stop.
"Wait a minute. She wouldn't be in the throne room. She...She must be in that secret lab of hers. Come on! Follow me!" Kuzco called. Believing Kuzco, they all turned and followed him towards the entrance to Yzma's lab, facing more guards along the way. When they reached the lever, Goofy rushed over. Donald followed.
"All right! Pull the lever Goofy!" Donald called. But Goofy, like Kronk, pulled the wrong lever and sent Donald falling down the pit, squawking loudly. He emerged from another doorway, with the alligator nipped to his tail.
"Okay. WHY does she have this lever?" Kuzco asked. Sora scared the alligator off Donald and they approached Goofy, who pulled the other switch. They all ended up going down the roller coaster and into Yzma's lab.
"All right. We're in. Now how are we gonna change you back?" Sora asked. Just then, they heard soft piano music. A spotlight went on and there was Yzma by the piano with Kronk playing.
"Is...that Yzma?" Mickey asked. Kuzco nodded and Donald groaned.
"You're right. She IS ugly." Rikku said. Yzma groaned and stopped Kronk.
"Yzma! What's going on?! Why did you do this?! What did I do to you?!" Kuzco asked. Yzma chuckled.
"Well, let's say that you firing me was the WORST thing you could've done. Now...I'm afraid that you must pay. Just think of it as you're being let go, that your life's going in a different direction, that your body's part of a permanent outplacement." Yzma said. Kronk chuckled, saying that's what he said to her.
"I know. It's called cruel irony....kind of like how I depended on YOU to kill him. Kronk! Potion me!" Yzma shouted. Kronk reached into a bowl on the piano and threw a potion at her. She changed into a purple furred saber toothed tiger.
"If those idiots won't do the job, I guess I'LL have to!" Yzma cackled. She snarled and roared. Kuzco cowered behind Pacha as Sora and the others drew their weapons. But just then, a group of guards appeared outside. They saw Yzma and blaimed them for changing her.
"Oh man! Sora! We'll keep them busy." Riku said. Sora nodded as Riku joined Rikku in slowing down the guards. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Cloud faced off against Yzma.
"Come and get it you old hag!" Sora shouted. Yzma growled and lunged for Sora, clawing him. But Goofy used his Goofy Whirlwind attack and knocked her away. Donald then countered with a Thunder, before Yzma came charging through them and raced around the room.
"She's fast!" Mickey shouted. Yzma snarled and attacked from behind. She then raced around again.
"I've got her." Sora said. As Yzma came charging, Sora put up his Keyblade in defense and acted like a blockade, forcing Yzma back.
"Take THIS!" Sora shouted. With a quick combo, he knocked Yzma into the air, where Cloud attacked and sent her crashing. Yzma groaned.
"Potion me Kronk!" Yzma shouted. Kronk threw another potion at her and it changed her into a purple skinned Rhinocerous.
"Ah ha ha ha! I've picked only the BEST potions for you Kuzco. Just think of it as me showing my appreciaton for you." Yzma said. She came charging and rammed everyone down, heading directly for Pacha.
"Don't worry Kuzco! I'll.....ouf!" Pacha exclaimed before Yzma tackled him into a wall. Kuzco gasped.
"Yzma! That is it!" Kuzco shouted. He charged for Yzma and leaped onto her back. He covered her eyes with his hooves.
"What?! Get off me you spoiled brat!" Yzma shouted. She ended up running around, unaware of where she was going. Sora stopped her with a combo attack to her face. Mickey followed with a combo from behind and the attack really sent Yzma spinning, fast enough to throw Kuzco off.
"Kronk!" Yzma called. Once again, Yzma was potioned and she turned into a giant shelled turtle. She started rotating her shell and began knocking everyone around. But Sora was able to stop her, with a quickly timed attack that caused her to flip over and fall onto her shell.
"Now you're gonna get it!" Donald squawked. Everyone leaped onto Yzma's shell and attacked feverishly against her weak stomach. She yelled and flipped over, sending the others flying.
"Kronk! Give me the best one you got!" Yzma called. Kronk threw another potion and this time, she turned into a purple skinned Tyrannosaurus Rex! She let off a loud roar.
"Wow. Now she really IS Yzmasaurus." Kuzco muttered. Yzma came charging at them. However, the new size caused her to fumble in her charge and ended up skidding across the ground. Sora and the others wasted no time in attacking Yzma's face and dealing damage. Yzma, on the other hand, couldn't get up and could only resort to snapping her jaws like a snapping turtle.
"It's over Yzma." Sora said. Together, he and Mickey used a twin attack to knock Yzma's jaw into the air and flip her over, crushing the piano and nearly Kronk! The potion wore off and Yzma returned to normal. However, something was different about her. She looked sick and was slowly glowing black with yellow eyes. She was becoming a Heartless!
"Wak! She's...She's turning into a Heartless!" Donald squawked. Yzma cackled.
"You....fools! This...This isn't over yet! Not by a long shot!" Yzma shouted. She reached into her dress and pulled out one final potion and threw it on herself. A giant explosion filled up the room with smoke.
"What...What is she doing?!" Goofy shouted.
"Be careful. Who knows what she turned herself into this time." Cloud said. In the smoke, Yzma laughed in a deep and scary voice. But when the smoke cleared, Yzma shrunk down to the size of a kitten! Her new appearance left everyone speechless.
"Meow?" Yzma muttered. Suddenly, the broken off top of the piano, still airborne from Yzma's crash, came landing directly on her.
"Welp, I guess that's that." Mickey said. Yzma groaned. Kuzco remembered Pacha and hurried back.
"Pacha! Pacha! You okay?!" Kuzco gasped. Pacha emerged from the wall in a daze.
"Kuzco? Oh. Are...Are you okay?" Pacha asked. Kuzco grinned as he helped Pacha.
"You big lug. Don't get yourself beaten up for a guy like me." Kuzco said. Cloud approached Yzma's potion cabinet and found a potion with a human on it. He casually tossed it to Sora.
"Here. This should fix the emperor." Cloud said. Outside, Riku and Rikku returned into the palace, hearing the piano crushing Yzma.
"Sora, you okay? What happened?" Riku asked. Sora looked back.
"Oh. Let's just say our fight with Yzma ended with a "smashing" success." Sora said. He gave the potion to Kuzco. And in one gulp, Kuzco changed back to his human self as the guards entered.
"Emperor Kuzco! Sir!" a guard gasped. Kuzco pointed to the unconscious Yzma kitten.
"Guards! Arrest this.....this.....traitorous kitty! She, Yzma, tried to rule the kingdom by potioning me!" Kuzco shouted. Taking his word, Yzma was carted off.
"Phew. That was close." Kronk said. Just then, everyone looked at Kronk.
"What? Hey. I didn't want any part in this! Yzma! She's the evil one here! Not me!" Kronk shouted. Sora believed him.
"So, what are you going to do Kronk?" Sora asked.
"Hmm. Well, let's see. The emperor's back to normal, Yzma will probably fire me the moment she wakes up and I'll be out of a job.......gah! You've gotta help me!" Kronk cried. He grabbed Sora and dropped to his knees bawling. Sora brushed Kronk's hands off. But suddenly, he remembered Michael's words about forming a team.
"Well, maybe you could come work for us? We're trying to put together a team and you might just be a possible candidate for..." Sora said before Kronk's hug ended it.
"Oh! Thank you! If it helps, I DO happen to be a pretty darn good chef, if I do say so myself." Kronk said. Sora looked at the others, who only shrugged.
"Okay. You're hired." Sora said. Kronk smiled and hugged Sora tightly again. Saying their farewells to Kuzco and Pacha, the group left with Kronk on board in their Gummi Ship. Their destination now was returning to Radiant Garden. But before leaving, Kuzco gave Sora an old keychain he found, meant for a Keyblade. It was named Kuzcoin, giving Sora's Keyblade an Incan appearance with a Kuzcoin as the keychain.
"Wow. This is your ship? Awesome!" Kronk said, riddled with wonder. The ship gently traveled back to Radiant Garden, landing outside the city. They headed back for their newly formed headquarters. Inside, Kairi was the first to notice them.
"Oh. Sora, welcome back." Kairi said. Sora waved and introduced Kronk to Kairi. Just then, the smell of burning smoke filled the air.
"Hey. What's that smell?" Donald asked. Mickey and Goofy took a quick sniff, clutching their noses.
"Whatever it is, it really smells horrible!" Mickey groaned.
"Hey! I heard that!" Pete's voice called. They entered the kitchen, seeing Pete trying to cook something at the stove. He had a chef's hat on and a white apron around his big stomach.
"Welcome back everyone! You're just in time for Petey's good old fashion burgers. Ha ha!" Pete laughed. But the sheer smell of the smoke was enough to spook Kronk.
"What are you doing?! You're going to start a fire!" Kronk shouted. He dashed over and grabbed Pete's spatula and hat, pushing Pete away.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Pete shouted. Kronk turned off the stove.
"I'll tell you what. You're going to start a fire if you keep this up! Plus, look at these. Your food is already burnt black!" Kronk shouted. Pete and Kronk continued to argue as Sora sighed.
"Well, I guess those two will have to learn to get along with each other." Sora said. Donald and Goofy agreed.
"I'll report back to Leon and the others. I should probably give a report about how our trip went." Cloud said. Sora looked back and nodded. But as Cloud left, something else surprised them. Rikku had shrunk back to her fairy size!
"What?! Wait a minute! How did....When did you...?!" Sora gasped. Rikku shrugged.
"What? All I did was change back. It's not like I meant to scare anyone or anything." Rikku said. Sora, Donald and Goofy groaned. But elsewhere, in a dark church like lair, the Dark Knight was meeting with several robed figures, dressed the same way as those who came with him to Radiant Garden.
"So, the Keyblader got lucky. Yzma was a pushover. Ah, I knew I should never gave her control of the Heartless. But still, it's fun to watch a good fight." he said. In a crystal ball floating in his palm, he had observed everything that happened at Kuzco's palace.
"Is it our turn to come out yet?" a white robed figure asked. The dark knight waved his hand.
"Not yet my friends. Not yet. I'll tell you when the perfect moment to strike is. Besides, we've got some time. In fact, I think I'll take this moment to search for other possible candidates.....so I can create more Lifeless from them." he said. The knight laughed as the scene showed five white robed figures and two black robed figures with the knight.
TO BE CONTINUED...