Pinkshuchan: LALIHO! Hey, it's Pinkshuchan! Last chapter, with the help of Ryuichi the Sugarplum Kuma, Shuichi managed to get to the Mouse King's castle to save Yuki. What will happen once he reaches him? Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Nutcracker vs. Mouse King

Shuichi snuck around the castle after he managed to find a way in to see where Yuki could be held, but with no such luck. Everywhere he went there was no sign of the nutcracker. He worried that he might've been too late to find Yuki and he's now turned into firewood or something. But he couldn't give up. It was like Ryuichi said; he had to believe. He had to believe that Yuki was still alive and held somewhere in the castle. There was no way he could be dead right now.

He kept sneaking around until he saw something pop right in front of him and he jumped with a tiny squeak. It turned out to be only Kumagoro, Ryuichi's bunny companion. Shuichi sighed in relief and lowered his guard.

"Kumagoro what are you doing here?" he asked, "I thought you're still with the Sugarplum Kuma," Kumagoro did some talk in rabbit language, but after realizing that Shuichi didn't understand him, he did some sign language. The pink haired male managed to understand that. "You're going to help me find Yuki? No wait, you already know where he is?" The pink fairy rabbit nodded. "Where is he?"

Cue in the Chinese Dance! Kumagoro flew to one area where he knew Shuichi could reach and gave the signal for the pink haired male to follow. Shuichi tiptoed his way to where Kumagoro was, which was easy because the ballet slippers he wore were really quiet when it came to moving around. After he reached Kumagoro, the latter moved somewhere else and instructed Shuichi to follow. Like the first time, Shuichi tiptoed his way to Kumagoro. This repeated a couple times, one of the times Kumagoro took a look around to double check which way was the right way.

They finally reached a stairway that led down deep in the castle. Kumagoro cheered and began flying down as fast as he could. Shuichi moved a little faster than he did before while moving through the castle. Hearing Kumagoro calling him from the bottom, he moved a little faster until he was running down the stairs. It wasn't a smart move on his part though because he accidentally tripped over his own two feet and began rolling down the stairs.

Faster and faster he rolled, unable to control himself. With how fast he was rolling, he was beginning to feel nauseous. He stopped rolling the moment he reached the bottom and smashed into a door. That had got to hurt.

"Ow!" he whimpered, "I'm never doing that again!" Kumagoro flew over to him and pointed to the door. Shuichi got up and looked. "Is that where they have Yuki?" Kumagoro nodded. "How do you know it's the right cell?"

The fairy rabbit threw in through the tiny barred window and cause a familiar voice to yell out: "What the hell? Why the hell is there a damn rabbit with wings in here?" Shuichi definitely recognized it to be Yuki's voice.

"Yuki?" Shuichi called into the cell, "Is that really you in there?"

Yuki looked over at the door. "Shuichi? Shuichi is that you?"

Shuichi smiled. It was Yuki! "Don't worry! I'm going to get you out of there!" He began looking around for something to knock the door down. He tried using his own body, he tried using a bar broken off one of the windows, he tried using a giant mace which I don't even know where he got it; he even tried using a tiny bobby pin to pick the lock. But nothing would open the door. Kumagoro came out of the cell and whistled to get Shuichi's attention. The pink haired male looked over to see Kumagoro pointing to something Shuichi never thought of using.

The ring of actual cell keys hanging on the walls beside the door.

Shuichi mentally slapped himself before grabbing the keys and tried opening the door. There were millions of keys on the ring and only one was the one that would open Yuki's cell door. It took him 397 times before he found the key to Yuki's cell. He opened the door and ran over to Yuki to hug him.

"Yuki I'm so glad you're alright!" he cried, letting his tears fall on the wooden should, "I was worried you would already been turned into firewood from that big jerk of a rat!"

"Shuichi," Yuki sighed, "I would either wrap my arms around you in comfort or push you away in annoyance right now if I could but if you can't already see, I'm armless and legless right now."

Shuichi moved back to see that the nutcracker was right. All that was there of the nutcracker was his head and torso. His arms and legs were missing. "Yuki, what did he do to you?"

"Nothing really," he replied, "Just that those mouse soldiers hid my arms and legs somewhere in this entire dungeon. They did it in case I'd escape from their grasp."

"And you don't know where?"

"If I did, I'd tell you but I don't," the nutcracker growled, "Would you hurry up and find them? I feel like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Shuichi walked over to Kumagoro. "Do you know where his arms and legs might be?" he asked. Kumagoro nodded and led Shuichi across the dungeon. Together they were able to find Yuki's arms and legs from all over. They were placed in lots of different places all over but I'm not going to go into any detail on where they were. As soon as they found them, they brought them back to Yuki and put them back on him. Yuki gave Shuichi pointers on which arm and leg goes on which side.

They eventually got them on properly and Yuki was back to regular self. The latter didn't bother to ask where Shuichi found them as he knew he wouldn't want to know. They ran up the stairs and tried to escape the castle. They found themselves at the front foyer and were almost home free, but the way out was locked.

"And where do you think you're going?"

They turned around to see Taki and his soldiers standing there. The soldiers all had spears in their paws and the Mouse King stood there with his sceptre. Shuichi stood close to Yuki while the nutcracker glared at the mice.

"Yuki, we need to run!" Shuichi cried in a whisper.

"We can't," said Yuki, "If we run he'll be chasing us until we can't run anymore. Besides, that rodent had been terrorizing the people long enough. It's about time he steps down."

Shuichi grabbed Yuki's arm to stop him. "I don't want to see you get hurt!"

"Then close your eyes! I have to fight this battle; for myself, for the people in the Land of Sweets, and for you. If I don't fight him who will?"

Shuichi stared at him for a bit before looking down at the ground, loosening his grip, and letting his arm fall. Yuki faced the Mouse King and drew his sword. He was determined to defeat the mouse no matter what. The mouse smirked at him.

"Are you sure you want to take me on?" he asked the nutcracker curiously, "Your little girlfriend is right; it would be safer for you to run away."

"I've been running away for too long," said Yuki, "Either I fight you or give up on myself entirely."

Taki raised his sceptre. "Bad choice Nutcracker! Prepare to die!"

A duel between Yuki and Taki began. Yuki the nutcracker vs. Taki the Mouse King. A fierce battle that may take centuries before it stops. Okay, I may be exaggerating there but you know what I mean. In fact, the battle isn't really going to be taking a day, but it would seem like it's been going on for days. Yuki's sword kept clashing with Taki's sceptre, making it a tie. However, Taki was not going to play fair, because with a snap of a finger he summoned his guards to surround them and raise their spears at Yuki. The nutcracker found himself trapped. This did not make Shuichi any happier.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he snapped at the Mouse King, "Yuki cannot take on all you mice by himself!"

The Mouse King looked over at Shuichi and smirked. "Exactly!"

The pink haired boy growled at him. "You are nothing more than a rotten cowardly evil bastard of a rat!"

The mice fell silent. Taki glared at Shuichi before he walked to the boy and gripped the peach coloured arm. "And you are nothing more than a naïve idiotic bitch!" said the mouse, "This nutcracker is not worth anything. He's not attractive or kind, so why defend him?"

Shuichi lowered his head. "It's true that he doesn't look gorgeous and he would always insult anyone he talks to. There had been moments when I wished that I could get away from him. But then I got to see the real him. No, I already saw the real him and refused to believe it to be him. When I look at him, I don't see an old worn ugly nutcracker, I see a beautiful prince who I can always depend on. And he's cold to me sometimes, but he actually has a kind heart. He just needs to know that no matter what, alive or dead, he will always be loved. I am and always will be in love with him."

Taki fell back in shock before pushing Shuichi down to the ground. "You love him? Him? No one is to fall in love with him! NO ONE!" The mouse was about to do something until they heard the door slam open. Everyone looked to see a crowd in front of them. It was the entire Gingerbread Village led by Reiji and Riku. Reiji looked down at the little boy.

"Would you like to do the honours?" she asked.

Riku nodded. "Everyone! ATTACK!"

A full out war between the villagers and the mice soldiers began, and it was just Yuki and the Mouse King left to fight. They continued clashing their weapons as millions of battles surrounded them. Shuichi watched as everyone was fighting for their kingdom. Slowly but surely, the villagers were winning and the mice retreated. All except one ran.

That one was the Mouse King.

Yuki raised his sword. "Give up Mouse!" he told Taki, "All your soldiers ran. You don't have anyone to back you up."

Taki smirked. "Who said I needed them to keep this kingdom as my own? I have my sceptre. I don't need them. I'll defeat you and the kingdom will forever belong to me!"

Shuichi, worried on what it would do to Yuki, ran towards the mouse and grabbed hold of the sceptre. The mouse struggled to keep it in his grasp as Shuichi fought for it.

He growled. "You little bitch! Let go!"

"No!" Shuichi cried, "I'm not going to let you lay a paw on my nutcracker!"

The pink haired male wasn't able to keep his hold on the sceptre, for Taki was too big and too strong for him. He was knocked off his feet and staring up at the mouse who was standing over him. The mouse raised his sceptre.

"You've been nothing but a nuisance since the very beginning!" said Taki, "I should've gotten rid of you long ago! Oh well, no time like the present."

The Mouse King was about to cast a spell on Shuichi until Yuki jumped in front of him with his sword and with the metal of the sword, he blocked the mouse's attack and reflected it back to the mouse. Taki's sceptre was destroyed and he was defenceless. The villagers chased him out of the castle until he reached the edge of a cliff and fell to what would be his doom. The villagers cheered that they were free from the Mouse King at last, but something caught Shuichi's eye that he hoped it didn't.

"YUKI!"

Pinkshuchan: CLIFFHANGER! Don't ya just hate them? Luckily, you won't have to wait long. With Christmas coming soon, I'll be picking up the pace to finish the last chapter. Yes, the next chapter is the last. Sad but happy that it's done. Expect the last chapter sometime this week. Read and Review everyone!