Once the path to the next world was opened by Sora, the group returned to the ship. Tenmei was the first to arrive, but he still did not look completely calm, as he sat waiting for everyone to catch up. He glanced over at Sora, Donald and Goofy. "You three are in charge of navigation", he stated, leaving no room for argument. "Hikari and Yumi will be coming with Ren and I into the training room. Shun... do whatever, I don't care right now."
"I'll hang with Sora", Shun stated, following after them, not really wanting to be around them after what had happened on Hollow Bastion. "Who knows, maybe we can bond over stuff." He shrugged, chuckling a bit before heading off, leaving the girls to their fate with the Twilight Princes.
"Look, Tenmei-" Yumi started, but she was immediately shot down.
"Not a word until I've said my peace", Tenmei stated, turning away. His gaze lingered over to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "And we will not be discussing this out here. Training room. Now."
With little choice, the girls followed after Tenmei and Ren, entering the bigger, improved training room. There was a computer over on the side, probably to run some simulations for their combat practice, and plenty more training dummies. But the two Twilight users did not bring them over to the dummies; instead, they were brought to the resting area, and with one point, they knew they were expected to sit.
"So... I hope you both realize that you're not anywhere near the level you should be", he stated simply. "Whatever 'stasis' or whatever you call it you were put in... it didn't keep everything as it should be. If it were true stasis, you wouldn't have grown at all... and perhaps your strength and magic would be much closer to mine and Ren's."
"But I've always been the better one at magic!" Hikari immediately stated, trying to defend herself.
"I was a heartless for a year", Ren pointed out, causing Hikari and Yumi to wince at the old wound that Ren just reopened. "Using the keyblade in that state was a double edged sword, one mistake and I would've been vanquished. So, I opted to use magic most of the time instead, and I got pretty damn good at it."
"And you can see that I'm not using my keyblade", Tenmei pointed out. "I've also learned some new techniques, as well as picking up on my magic training, in order to not slack behind Ren." As an example, he pointed over at a dummy, firing a short beam of light at it. The burn mark it left behind indicated the power he was at, even without channeling any spells, as Yumi let out an audible "gulp" at that. "So... honestly, Hikari, you need to drop that damn ego you have and admit you can improve."
He then rounded on Yumi. "You, on the other hand... what the hell was that? Why, of all times, did you decide to try and pick a fight with one of the stronger members of Organization XIII? What made you lose your cool at them, of all things?"
Yumi was silent for a moment, looking down. She clenched her fist tightly, looking back up. "Because... I made a promise to myself... after you both left. I... I promised I would be stronger. Strong enough that... I could help you both. That I could stand my ground and not just... sit on the sidelines and cry. Again." She grit her teeth, thinking about what happened back at the quarry. "Seeing those heartless... those... eyes... they made me feel so weak... so useless. I started losing it fighting those Nobodies... and I guess I was just still itching to hit something."
"Yumi, there is a difference between true strength and brashness", Ren explained, shaking his head. "You don't go picking fights with someone just because you think you're weak. You improve on yourself one step at a time." He paused for a moment, sighing to himself. "Learned that one the hard way."
Tenmei, meanwhile, looked over to the side, the shame rising within him.
IT'S YOUR FAULT.
"... same here", he muttered, clenching his fist.
"W-what happened?" Hikari asked them both, looking between the two. "Are you talking about...?"
Tenmei looked back at Hikari, before shaking his head. His silence told her all she needed to know. Instead, he reached over and took Yumi's hand. "Come on, let's get to work. Ren, can you handle Hikari's magic training for now?"
Ren nodded, stepping off to the side with Hikari following after him while Tenmei took the startled red-head. The blonde, meanwhile, looked a bit confused at Ren, who's expression was not readable right now. "So... what are you going to be focusing on with me?"
"Everything", Ren stated, which caused Hikari to almost face fall. Ren looked over at her, sensing her emotions. "I mean it. We need to get you back up to speed with everything. Offensive magic, defensive magic, you name it."
"Look, I'm not as weak as you think I am", Hikari stated, crossing her arms. "And I mean it, it's not an ego trip."
"Is that right?" Ren asked, looking at her with a fierce look. "I know you, and I am damn well aware that you can only cast Level 3 magic when you're emotions are spiked. Meanwhile, I've learned how to effortlessly use Level 3 magic on multiple targets at once... care to counter that one?"
Hikari blushed a bit in embarrassment, remembering how effortlessly Ren cured everyone on the ship. "O-okay, fair point... but I am sure I can defeat you in a magic only duel!"
"Wanna find out?"
Hikari yelped, suddenly turning. Ren had somehow appeared directly behind her, warping so fast that Hikari's mind had not processed it. She snapped her head back to where he was, then to where he currently stood, flabbergasted. "H-how?"
"Case in point", Ren muttered. "You need training, now let's start."
Tenmei, meanwhile, took Yumi over to the opposite side, letting go of her hand. "Alright, now, for what we'll... Yumi, are you okay?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting in concern.
The redhead only then realized she had been in a daze, and quickly shook her head, fighting down the blush that had spread over her cheeks. "I-I'm fine... sorry." She lifted her shield up, staring him down. "I'm ready to start!"
Tenmei quirked an eyebrow, but soon shook his head, sighing. "Okay... anyway, what you and I need to cover is your power." He walked over, pressing his hand against her shield. He pushed against her hand, and she found herself gritting her teeth as she struggled to keep her shield in the same spot. "Your technique and muscle memory are still in good condition - some very minor tweaking and you'll be back in business - but you need to build up your muscles a bit to pack a bit more 'oomph' in your punches."
"Really?" she asked, glancing over at her arm. "I thought I was still stronger than I was when we arrived here..." That was when she thought back to what he was saying about "stasis". "So, you think while we were sleeping, some of my muscles might have deteriorated a bit?"
"Exactly", Tenmei confirmed. "If you get back into the exercises you were doing with Hiroto, you should build up your strength in no time." Then he looked away, blushing a bit. "Plus... that might help with... another problem you, personally, have."
"Problem?" Yumi parroted, blinking. "What problem?"
"W-well..." Tenmei stated, realizing he was in a bit of a corner here. Almost anything he said now, on this matter in particular, was likely to get him in trouble, he was certain of it. He gave a sigh, knowing it was too late to back out. "... they... might not go back to B-cups, but... maybe they'll get smaller...?"
Yumi's eyes widened immensely, her face turning bright red in an instant. Even though he had left before she said that, he still heard that? Had he been staring at them when they were going to Yen Sid's tower? Was that why he avoided eye contact like the plague when she first woke up?
"Y-y-you PERVERT!" She screeched, and before the prince could react, he was hit with a wild right hook, catching him right in the cheek. He got knocked flat on his butt, sliding across the room a bit before his legs dropped, promptly knocked out.
Hikari and Ren suddenly looked over, Hikari with a shocked look on her face at the sudden outburst and the punch to Tenmei's face. Ren, meanwhile, had heard it all, and only gave a small huff as he aimed his hand at Tense and muttered 'Curaga' under his breath again, healing Tenmei instantly. "Alright, back to work, firecracker."
The former prince sat up immediately, groaning and rubbing his cheek, but he made no move to accuse Yumi of anything. "I... probably shouldn't have said anything about that, should I."
"Definitely a big no", Yumi said, glaring a bit as her arms instinctively moved to cover her chest. "Don't bring it up again, and I won't knock you out again. Deal?"
"Deal", Tenmei agreed, before standing once more. He stretched his jaw a bit, hearing a tiny 'click' as he rubbed his cheek again. "Alright... so maybe you don't need as much catching up as I thought..."
The training session continued all the way until they heard a shout from Shun, informing the group that they had arrived at the Land of Dragons. Ren huffed a little, stretching a bit as he got ready to disembark. "Alright, we will resume once we get back."
"C-Can't we rest after the world?" Hikari whined, following after Ren as he walked out of the room.
Tenmei only shook his head, following right behind them with Yumi in tow. The four caught up with Sora, who got a bit too excited and already left the ship with Donald, Goofy, and Shun (who griped a bit about babysitting them). Currently, they saw what looked to be a young man in armor, cowering before a large shadow.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think that was a heartless", Tenmei murmured, crossing his arms.
"Let's get the jump on him", Sora whispered, grinning as if he had come up with the best plan ever.
"W-wait, fellas!" Goofy stated, looking after Sora and Donald as they began to sneak up on the shadow. "Maybe we should look before we leap!"
This was ignored, however, as Sora and Donald leapt from the bushes and almost collided into a giant rock, where a tiny dragon was standing giving a lecture to the person wearing some armor. At the sudden appearance of newcomers, the dragon let out a squawk, jumping into the person's arms before spouting about how he was Mushu, the great dragon guardian... until he saw who had startled him.
"Sora, Donald, Goofy... five weirdos I don't know!"
Weirdos? Ren thought, his eye twitching a bit.
"You know them?" the armored 'warrior' asked.
"Yeah, we used to kick all sorts of bad guy butt together!" Mushu explained, leaning on Sora's leg. "I helped these guys out of a ton of jams!"
"Something like that", Sora chucked, stepping forward so that Mushu fell on the ground. "So... who are you?"
"I am..." the warror began to explain, before suddenly clearing their throat and speaking deeper. "I am Ping! Son of Fa Zhou!"
"... I don't think Ping is a first name no matter what language you speak", Tenmei muttered. "Not that she's fooling anyone with that..."
"How do you know Mushu?" Sora asked, not hearing the prince.
"Mushu is one of my families guardians", Ping explained, as the lizard-like dragon crawled up 'his' body, perching on 'his' shoulder again.
"Gawrsh, we didn't know we were borrowin' someone as important as a family guardian", Goofy stated.
"That's right!" Mushu declared, his eyes flashing like he suddenly got a fantastic idea. "Which means you owe my boy Ping here a few favors! Well, it's payback time, kiddies!"
"Alright, then", Hikari stated, stepping forward and looking 'Ping' up and down. "Then let's start these favors by helping you out a bit... you really need to improve the voice a bit, sister."
Sora and Donald took a second to process that, before suddenly they looked at her with wide eyes. "W-wait! You're a girl!?"
"...was it obvious?" a now feminine-voiced warrior asked Hikari, looking a bit embarrassed.
"A tad", Hikari nodded. "A bit less forced, there are feminine sounding boys after all... take Ren for example!"
"Hey!" Ren pouted, crossing his arms insulted at the remark.
"See what I mean? Also... I take it women aren't allowed to join whatever it is you're doing, correct?" Hikari asked, and the disguised woman nodded, causing the blonde to sigh. "Great... Yumi, come with me."
"Wait, what?" Yumi managed to say, before being caught up by her sister and pulled away from the group.
Tenmei stepped forward next, crossing his arms as he stared "Ping" down. "So... what's your real name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"... it's Mulan", she admitted, sighing. "But please... just call me Ping while I'm dressed like this, alright? If anyone finds out I'm not a guy... I'll be put to death."
"Then why are you doing this?" came the question. "If you're risking so much, there's a good reason, right?"
"My father... he's the one who's supposed to be here, joining the army", Mulan explained. "But... he's already served in the army before, and he got seriously injured. He can't go anywhere without a cane anymore. I couldn't let him be pulled into another war and die for no good reason."
Tenmei nodded, listening as she gave her story. Soon, he nodded. "I understand. Then, I'm assuming we're all on board with helping Ping here with 'his' quest, correct?"
Sora nodded. "Definitely. Anything to help out Mushu for the hard work he's done."
"We're back", Hikari announced stepping forward, her skirt having transformed into pants, her hair in a braid, and her breasts mysteriously gone. Though she couldn't hide the feminine features in her face, she had done enough of a good job to hide enough of her to look questionable enough. "Yumi, come on! You look fine!"
Yumi walked in as well, and it was obvious for the discomfort. Her hoodie had been zipped up, along with her hood raised over her head. Much like Hikari, her shorts had also been turned into pants, and two features also mysteriously gone. "... this is very uncomfortable", she said, her voice sounding a bit strained.
"It's called a 'sports bra', sister", Hikari explained, sounding a bit annoyed at her complaining. "Yes, it sucks, since you're literally being squished. But we only have to deal with it for awhile, ok?"
"Fine... and I know what a sports bra is, Hikari", Yumi stated, looking a bit annoyed as well. "I've worn them more often than you have, you know. It's just... this one's really tight."
That or you still have to get used to your bazookas, Hikari thought irritably.
"Enough about boobs", Ren muttered, walking forwards. "Let's go, we need to join the army before they're deployed after all." Still irritated, but agreeing, Hikari followed Ren, along with everyone else to the campsite that was just ahead of them. Once there, however, they got into more trouble then they wanted to, as Sora was hungry and decided to get some food... only to be cut in line by some trio.
"Well, this does happen in the main timeline, so...", Yumi observed, looking amused.
"I think Roxas rubbed off on him a little too much", Ren stated, watching the fighting with both irritation and mild amusement.
Tenmei's eye twitched a bit, before looking around. "Where is the captain? In a military, fights like these shouldn't be tolerated..."
Ping attempted to intervene, shouting "Please!", but that only put suspicion on her for a moment... until a powerful voice yelled, "Soldiers! Get back in line!" Almost immediately, both Sora's group and the angry soldiers stepped back into line, just as a tall man with a red cape walked by, staring them all down in a judging manner.
"I'm assuming that's the captain", Yumi muttered to Tenmei.
"Took him long enough, sheesh", Tenmei groused. "I've never seen anyone handle their troops so poorly before."
Before they could continue, though, the sound of the heartless appearing caught their ears, and soon the group found themselves surrounded by the colorful creatures, including Sleepwalkers with some shadows joining in the fray as well.
"And we're on, boys", Shun grinned, drawing his gunblade and firing a few rounds before slicing a Sleepwalker.
"Time to gain enough of a good score to join the military", Ren stated, drawing his keyblade and getting into the fray as well. "Ping, stick with Sora!"
The nine warriors battled the heartless, being observed by the other soldiers and the captain, who was looking at them all with interest, though the ones observing him couldn't help that he seemed disappointed in Mulan's performance. Once the heartless were defeated, the captain approached the group, eyeing them all with interest. "You... what are your names?"
Hikari stepped forward at this, her voice sounding very convincing. "I am Hiro."
"Hiro?" Ren whispered to her.
"Roll with it", she hissed back before speaking to the captain once again. "This is my brother, Yuma. Our friends," she pointed to each person in turn at that. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ren, Tenmei, Shun and Ping."
The captain nodded at each of them in turn, but did not give such a nod to Mulan. "I am very impressed with... most of you. You!" he turned to Mulan, looking disappointed. "I recommend you go home."
Tenmei stepped forward. "Captain, I request you allow him to stay. He does have a lot of potential, if you'll give him a chance to prove himself."
The captain didn't seem too keen on the idea of Ping staying, but soon caved. "Very well", Shang stated, nodding at them. "He can learn much from powerful soldiers like you, but if I do not see enough improvement soon, then my current stance will stand."
"Don't you worry about that, Captain", Tenmei stated, nodding his head. "We'll have him whipped into shape in no time. In fact, give me the first mission with him, and we'll take care of it right way."
"Very well... we need you to scout ahead. It seems like there's more of those creatures blocking our way to the mountain. If you find any of them, clear them out", the captain ordered.
"Consider it done. Come along, Ping", Tenmei said to the soldier in question, and Mulan nodded dumbly before following after him, surprised the captain was so willing to listen to him without any more argument.
"And there goes Tenmei, flexing his prince muscles again", Yumi stated softly, before giving Hikari a glare. "And really? 'Yuma'?"
"I panicked, ok?" Hikari hissed at her, glaring right back. "Didn't see you jumping up with a name, Ms. Not-Appreciative-of-her-Older-Sister!"
"Well, I..." Yumi huffed angrily, realizing she had nothing to say to that. "We are not done here." With that, she stomped away, punching the first soldier that got too close to her in the face and immediately knocking them out as she stormed out.
"Oh, I think we are done here", Hikari muttered, smirking in victory before following after her sister, the grin still on her face.
Ren sighed, shaking his head and muttering something about never getting a break before he too followed after them. The captain had a lot of scouting for them to do, but it mostly just involved battling tons of heartless and checking areas outside of the camp. Eventually, however, all nine of them were gathered up and given their next mission. "Alright, we are about to move camp. There is a village up ahead, and I am trusting your group to lead the expedition. You all seem to understand those creatures' attack patterns, so I am trusting you to keep us safe from them."
"Yes, sir!" the nine warriors saluted, accepting the orders.
As the group began scaling the mountain, once they were clear of the camp and out of earshot, Yumi suddenly grabbed Hikari's shoulder and pulled her aside. "We need to talk", she stated bluntly, a "no arguing" expression on her face.
"Okay, okay, I am sorry I named you badly", Hikari muttered, not wanting to argue.
"It's not that! It's everything else!" Yumi growled out. "First, you get mad at me when I said I still trust Tenmei! Then, you keep your distance, even after we're separated from him and helping Sora out before we got knocked out! Then, you get mad at me because of my boobs that I don't even want, and have been on my case since we landed here! What is your deal, Hikari?!"
"I-" Hikari sighed, defeated. There was no hiding the fact that her attitude lately has not been pleasant. "Okay fine... I don't trust Tenmei, ok? I'm sorry, but I hate the darkness... and I'm surprised you don't keep your distance from him after that 'Dark Surge' shit took over his mental state... I'm trying to get over it, ok? It's just... slow going..."
"Oh...", Yumi responded, her tone going a bit softer. "R-right... but, he's trying, too, y'know? He's doing the best he can to help us out, even now. But that isn't all of it, is it? You've been... awfully attentive since... well, everything."
"I just don't want you hurt, that's all", Hikari muttered softly. "I can't really turn off protective sister mode, ya know... also sorry about the boob thing, I just... dunno what came over me there. Jealousy maybe..."
At that, Yumi gave a sigh. "I don't see why... these things are a huge pain. Literally." She placed a hand on her back. "I've been aching since we woke up, and they get in the way when I was so used to how I was before. I would give anything to have that back." She then looked up at Hikari. "Plus... I'm not a kid anymore, Hikari. You remember what I promised, as we were leaving Hollow Bastion? I'm going to get stronger, so that I won't be stuck crying while you and the boys save the day again. And in order to do that... you need to let me do my own thing. I appreciate you, I really do... but you're just being so... suffocating."
"Yeah, I'll try... sorry..." Hikari sheepishly stated, before looking ahead at where Ren was walking, a sigh escaping her suddenly.
Eventually, after a few heartless encounters and awkward glances from various members to others, they arrived at the small village that they were going to make camp at. As the soldiers unloaded and began making base, Mushu caught the attention of the nine friends, pulling them aside discreetly.
"I just saw Shan Yu go into that cave", the dragon reported, pointing to said cave just outside of the village. "Oh, this is too easy! Now all y'all gotta do is go in there and take him out now! Badda bing, badda boom, war's over and Ping is a national hero!"
"You sure it was Shan Yu?" Donald asked, eying the dragon suspiciously.
"Tall, dark, got a weird eye thing going and is best friends with a hawk?" Mushu countered, his hands resting on his hips. "Yes on all accounts! I wouldn't lie about something like this!"
"Well, let's go check it out!" Sora grinned, putting his hands behind his head. Mulan nodded, and they began to lead the group towards the cave in question. The five future warriors looked at one another, knowing the obvious trap, but also knowing that they had to fall for it, before following after Sora with haste, as they had already fallen a bit behind. It didn't take long for the group to reach the end, and Mushu began gawking at how... empty it was.
"He was here, I know he was!" the dragon complained, looking very confused. The future warriors arrived just as Sora and Mulan got separated from the rest of the group, surrounded by Heartless.
"Well, this is inconvenient", Tenmei stated, crossing his arms. "Do we really have to sit here and wait for them to get free? It feels... lousy, not doing anything."
"Unfortunately, yes", Shun muttered, looking out towards the entrance of the cave where he could see the flames. "It sucks but unless you wanna risk a big future mess up..."
"Hey maybe Sora will actually give us a good show", Ren stated, crossing his arms as he got ready to observe the fighting.
As Sora and Mulan fought, Tenmei looked out towards the village. He had to close his eyes, and did his best to ignore the flames as Shan Yu attacked. But he couldn't help but be reminded of his own home, and could hear the screams of the hearts that Xao claimed. The other four seemed to fair no better, he noticed, and Hikari was practically shaking a bit in the frustration that they couldn't do anything about it. Eventually, Sora and Mulan defeated all the heartless, dispelling the barrier and racing out of the cave.
But by then it was too late.
Nothing but the charred structures of former buildings remained in the wake of the attack, though it seemed like no lives were taken in the attack. Ren looked around for a bit before touching a wooden frame, which instantly turned into ash before him. "This is..."
"Horrible", Hikari muttered, looking away.
Tenmei looked solid as a rock on the outside, but on the inside his heart was in turmoil. The ashes of the buildings looked too much like home, and as he looked at one of the charred wooden beams, he could have sworn he saw a face in the burned support, scowling at him in anger and hatred. He turned away, letting out a low, shaky breath so no one could see how much this affected him, and instead looked up the mountain. "Well, there's no tracks leading back down the mountain", he said aloud, mostly to distract himself. "If anything... I'd say he climbed up higher."
"Then, let's go!" Ren declared, nodding.
"I agree!" Sora chimed in. "It's time for payback for the village!"
The group climbed up the mountain for a awhile before they came to a slope in the mountain, where they could see the faint silhouette of Shan Yu standing higher on the mountain. He raised his jagged sword, and a swarm of the yellow Rapid Thrusters rose up over the horizon, staring down at them.
"Will you be okay?" Shun asked, looking over towards Yumi.
"That isn't nearly as much as what's waiting for us on Hollow Bastion", the redhead said, punching her fist into her shield as her gauntlet clanged. "I can handle this no problem."
"Good, because here they come!" Tenmei shouted, seeing the swarm descend upon them. There were quite a lot of them, that much was true, but thanks to the weak nature of these heartless, they were dispatched easily. Tenmei, to combat against them without a weapon, summoned what seemed to be a beam of light, which he used like a sword, striking down any of the Rapid Thrusters that got too close to him. Yumi and Goofy teamed up, their shield-play complimenting each other perfectly as they fought side by side. Even Sora seemed to have no trouble, jumping up and actually getting caught in the cloud of yellow heartless as he swung his Kingdom Key around, taking them out left and right.
Finally, the swarm was completely vanquished, and Mulan acted, racing forward and grabbing a firework cannon with a dragon head on it (as well as Mushu, whose screams of protests were ignored), firing it at the side of the cliff before them. For a second, nothing happened, before a huge rumble sounded out, and an avalanche of snow came down, burying Shan Yu alive.
"Nice job, Ping!" Hikari shouted in victory, grinning at her.
Ping panted, having had to pull Shang to safety, and the captain stared at her, impressed. "I guess I was wrong about you", Shang stated, smiling. "I'll make sure you get the highest honor when we see the emperor."
That was when Mushu had to open his big, toothy mouth.
"First she uses me as a lighter, then she fires me at a mountain!" the dragon groused, pulling himself out of the snow. "I can't take this anymore! Let's go home, Mulan, before you give me a heart attack, girl!"
"Mushu!" Sora hissed, but the damage was already done, as Shang stared at the dragon in shock.
"Mulan... a woman? It can't be..." However, when Ping didn't respond, Shang's expression twisted into one of anger and hurt. "You... you lied to me." With that, he walked past the group, pausing only to glare at them. "All of you are dismissed", he said loudly, for all the soldiers to hear. Tenmei could have sworn he heard Shang mutter something about "a life for a life" before calling out to his men. "The Emperor awaits! To the capital, soldiers! Move out!"
After the three soldiers that fought with Sora (and several men who looked completely exhausted) left the clearing, Yumi spoke up again. "Alright... can I FINALLY change out of this?!" she asked, looking about ready to collapse. "My chest can't take this anymore!"
Hikari sighed, turning to look at her, before giving a glare at the boys, rotating her finger as if telling them to turn around. They didn't need to be told twice, and after turning to stare out towards the city they heard Hikari snap her fingers, and a bright glow illuminated their surroundings for a brief moment, the relieved sigh of Yumi informing them it was alright to turn around again, where they saw that the girls were back to normal once again. "There... back to women... and I gotta say I'm happy to be back in my dress!" She grinned, putting her hands in her pockets again, muttering what strangely sounded like "It has pockets".
Yumi gave a sigh of relief, unzipping her hoodie. "I will never complain about my boobs ever again", she said, looking down at her "girls".
Mulan, meanwhile, had removed her armor, and undone the topknot in her hair, shaking her head to let it loose, before looking back at them all. "I'm sorry you all got in trouble because of me", she said, giving a sad smile.
"That's alright, but... what are you going to do?" Goofy asked, looking concerned.
"I... guess I'll just go home."
"Honey, your dad is gonna be more steamed than a dumpling", Mushu warned, giving Mulan pause.
The brunette warrior pulled his mage and knight friends into a headlock, giving a cheerful grin. "Don't worry, we'll take a fair share of the blame", Sora offered, with Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement.
"I wouldn't worry about that quite yet", Tenmei said, not having moved from his spot as he stared out over the city.
"What, you think Shan Yu is still alive?" Sora asked.
"I can sense hearts, so... yes", Ren stated, just as Shan Yu suddenly emerged from the snow, looking steamed, before he dashed off towards the side of the mountain, and began running down. "We've got to finish the job, boys and girls."
With Mulan no longer held back by the armor, it was now obvious she was more than capable a soldier than any of the men in the army. Even Tenmei and Ren were surprised by her skill and power, as she easily cut down any Heartless that got in her way.
"... that I was not expecting", Tenmei muttered to Ren.
"I was not either", Ren muttered back. "Then again, she was wearing stuff she wasn't used to, so..."
"Will you two focus?" Hikari asked, blasting a heartless in their path.
"Right, right." Ren muttered, rolling his eyes. Soon, they had caught up to the soldiers of the army, who were staring in shock and horror at the base of the Emperor's Castle. Shan Yu had beaten them all here, and had the emperor at sword point.
"Now, you will bow to me!" Shan Yu declared.
"No matter how hard the wind blows, the mountain cannot bow to it", the emperor said, unfazed by the man.
Translation: Go 'F' yourself, Ren thought, a grin forming on his face at the comment. Before Shan Yu could attack, however, Shun had shot his gunblade, knocking the sword out of his hand. Shang moved instantly, grabbing the emperor and taking him inside, followed by the the other soldiers, leaving Sora and the others to handle Shan Yu, who had recovered his blade and looked pissed at the intruders.
"Sora, you got this one, right?" Ren asked.
"Leave it to me!" Sora declared, grinning. He ran forward, Donald and Goofy immediately by his side as they began their battle.
"So... what do we do now?" Yumi asked, looking around. "Doesn't seem like there's anything else for us to handle."
"I'm surprised he hasn't done anything here", Shun muttered, looking around as well. "But we just need to standby just in case..."
As it turns out, though, there wasn't any need. Sora and his friends defeated Shan Yu, making it safe for the Emperor to come out of his palace. He walked past his soldiers, standing before Mulan, who stepped forward, bowing her head.
"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan", he said, his voice and expression both stern. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an imperial soldier. You lied to your captain and brought shame upon the army. And in the end..." That was when a warm smile stretched on the emperor's lips. "You have saved us all." With that, the soldiers were shocked as the emperor bowed forward, showing his gratitude to Mulan. Behind them, they could hear the cheer of the crowd that had gathered, and could even see the people of the city bow their heads in honor, as well. Even Tenmei quirked an eyebrow at that, smiling a bit.
"Guess this world is in good hands", he stated, looking over to Mulan.
"Can I get an autograph?" Sora asked their friend, nudging Mulan in a joking manner.
Shang stepped forward, Shan Yu's blade in hand as he presented the weapon to China's hero. "Take this", the emperor said. "So that the world may know what you have done for all of us."
"Seems like it's time for us to head out, then", Ren noted, watching as the sword began to glow, and Sora used it to open the next gate. "And of course, time for some more training, right girls?"
Yumi sighed, before reluctantly nodding. "Yeah... can't let Mulan hog all the glory, now can we, Hikari?"
Hikari sighed as well, before smiling a little. "Guess not. We need to show them that we're strong as well... you two play nice now!" She said, waving at Mulan and Shang, giggling to herself as they got flustered from the remark made towards them.
With that, the group returned to the ship, plotting out their next course... unaware of the trouble a certain Nobody was going to put them in.
XxXxXxX
Man, if I keep up these stupid delays, KHIV will be out before we finish this story... sorry for making y'all wait!