Author's note: Sorry about the long wait. Chap. 12 now up:
Kingdom Hearts: Return of the Heartless
Chap. 12 Battle at the Palace
When they arrived at the palace, there was no sign of Shan Yu or his men.
"Where are they? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Kairi was puzzled.
"Up there!" Sora pointed to the large flight of stairs. Shan Yu stood on the palace roof with sword in hand. His men grabbed the emperor and took him inside, guarding the doors. All of the town's audience gasped in horror. China's soldiers tried to get in, but it was no use.
"We need to go help!" Mulan told them.
"But how? They can't even get in," reminded Riku.
Kairi smiled, "What do you mean, how? Of course we can help," she looked at Sora, "We have the keyblade, don't we?"
They ran up the steps and the soldiers were surprised to see Mulan.
"Mulan? What are you doing here!?!" the captain asked.
"We can help…trust me," she replied.
"Yeah, right."
Sora used his fire spell to break the latch open. He twirled the keyblade around his finger.
"Show off," said Riku to himself.
"Oh, you of little faith," Mulan looked at the captain with a smirk.
They stormed into the entrance, finding heartless everywhere.
"Great…" Kairi sighed.
"What are those things?" Mulan was curious.
"They're the heartless," answered Sora, "They track us down relentlessly."
"Heartless?...They're really creepy."
Everyone worked together, slashing and smashing every creature that came near them. Finally, all of them were gone. Down the hall was a larger door guarded by three of Shan Yu's best men.
"We can handle them," the captain told Mulan, "You help the emperor."
Mulan nodded.
Once the guards were distracted, Mulan, Sora, Kairi, and Riku ran to the emperor's rescue. He stood there motionless, Shan Yu's sword raised.
"Not so fast!" Sora shouted.
Shan Yu glanced at them.
Mulan held her her sword up, "You won't harm the emperor!"
Shan Yu's voice was cold and harsh, "Is that so?"
Then, they were grabbed by more soldiers, who held them by the arms. All their weapons were thrown to the floor.
"Such a pity," Shan Yu smiled a cruel smile, "You came all this way and you still haven't accomplished anything," he held his sword up to the emperor, "I'll still win."
"In your dreams!" a voice cried.
Shan Yu was forced to the ground, but got up quickly again, "What!"
Riku had barely escaped and struck Shan Yu with his sword. Shan Yu put his sword to Riku's. The emperor fled.
Shan Yu said, "You shouldn't have done that…Now you will face the consequences."
"Bring it on."
Soon, the were in the middle of an aggressive sword fight. Everyone else was still trying to get out of their not so good predicament.
"Do you think Riku can take him?" Kairi asked Mulan.
"I sure hope so…" she grimaced, "But it's not likely."
"We have to get free," Sora knew.
Mulan had forgotten something, "Mushu…Mushu," she whispered, "You still hiding?"
"Yeah."
"Think you can barbeque these guys for us?"
"No problem," he stood on her shoulder.
"Who's this?" one of the men asked, laughing.
"You're worst nightmare."
The others were now laughing, too. Then, Mushu took a deep breath; fire and flames flew out of his mouth. The soldiers were shocked. Mushu growled.
"Oh, boy," Mulan sighed.
All of the men didn't want to get burned, so they ran away.
"Nice going!" Mulan gave Mushu a high five, "But next time could you not growl. That was lame."
"What are you talking about?"
Mulan crossed her arms, "It doesn't make you sound ferocious at all."
"Those guys must've been really scared, then."
Meahwhile, Riku and Shan Yu were still going at it, unwilling to give in.
"I'm surprised I haven't beat you yet…But do you really think you'll win?"
"We'll see," Riku struck, but was blocked, and Shan Yu did the same. The same thing happened over and over again. All of a sudden, when Riku was about to attack, his sword started glowing, "What?"
His sword had turned into a keyblade. In fact, it was the exact one he had used when he turned to darkness.
"No…How?" Riku was speechless.
Shan Yu had his chance and swung at Riku with all his might. Riku had fallen on the ground, but the keyblade floated in mid air.
Author's note: Oh, great! The keyblade again! What will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter, Shan Yu's Shadow.