Author's note: Finally, here is chap. 13. (wow, my fic's gettin' long!)

Kingdom Hearts: Return of the Heartless

Chap. 13 Shan Yu's Shadow

The others were free by now and stared in horror and amazement.

"What is that? Mulan wondered.

"It's a keyblade that unlocks people's hearts," Sora explained.

"Huh?" Kairi pondered, "How do you know?"

"It's the one Riku had…back when Ansem controlled him…" Sora gasped, "That means…"

"Ansem is still…" Kairi didn't want to think about it.

"Uh, what's it doing?" Mulan pointed at the keyblade.

It started glowing brighter, and they all were speechless.

"This can't be good," Kairi was worried.

It flew at Shan Yu, and a thick, gray smoke surrounded him. The clouds of fog grew bigger and bigger, then disappeared. When the smoke settled, a shadow creature floated in front of them. A dark cloak was wrapped around it, and its yellow eyes stared at them in anger. A black hand with long, pointy fingers held Shan Yu's sword.

"Is that…him?" Mulan had never seen anything like this before.

"I don't know," Sora thought, "…If it is Shan Yu, he must've been consumed by the darkness of his heart."

"Well, what are we just standing here for?" asked Kairi, "Let's go get him!"

"Wait! Kairi, go see if Riku's all right. Mulan and I will do it," Sora told her.

"Sure you don't need me?"

"Not really…But…"

"You think it's too dangerous for me, don't you?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Ok, Sora…Whatever you say." Kairi really wanted to help, but did what he said. She went over to Riku, "Riku. Riku, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so…" he tried to get up.

"C'mon, take it easy. You're hurt…"

"No, I'm fine…really…"

"You're not very good at faking, are you?"

"Apparently not…"

"I hope we can find some kind of help."

Meahwhile, Mulan and Sora began to fight the evil creature. It swung at them, over and over, never stopping.

"This isn't good…" Mulan worried.

"Just hit him!"

"I'm trying to, but he keeps blocking!"

The phantom swung toward Mulan but she counterattacked with her sword. They pushed their weapons more near each other, but the creature's sword grew closer every second.

"He's too strong!" she cried.

"Don't give up!" Sora encouraged her. Then, he used his triple fire attack. The shadow disappeared.

"Where is he?" wondered Mulan.

They looked at the exact spot where he had been, and there was a dense smoke rising from cracks in the ground.

Sora was confused, "That's odd…"

Suddenly he was struck from behind, and the black figure stood there.

"Sora!" shouted Mulan.

Sora lay flat on his back and opened his eyes. The sharp edged sword pointed straight at him.

Just then, a whip wrapped around the sword and pulled it from Shan Yu's grasp. Sora turned to look and there was Kairi.

"I guess you did need me," she swung her whip, trying to distract the shadow's glaring eyes.

Mulan attacked from behind and the creature screamed. Sora used thunder, then Kairi threw her whip at Shan Yu violently. He vanished in a puff of smoke, black ash falling to the ground.

Later…

"Thanks for everything," Mulan told everyone, "Now China is safe."

"We were just doing what we needed to do, I guess," said Kairi.

"I wish me and the others could repay you somehow."

"I think you've done quite enough for us," Riku reminded, "I mean, you helped me, you gave us a huge 'Thank you for saving China' party…"

"Yeah, I think we're good," Sora agreed, "We should probably be thanking you."

"Well, you can visit China any time," said the emperor.

"Thanks. Maybe we can come again," Kairi suggested to the others.

"But, now we should probably be going. We still haven't found Donald and Goofy yet," worried Sora.

"I hope I can see you again sometime," Mushu popped out from behind Mulan and stood on her shoulder.

"Me, too. Bye."

Everyone waved, and Riku, Kairi, and Sora walked toward the snowy and mountainous terrain.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The snow crunched beneath their feet as they looked for any signs of Goofy, Donald, or the gummi ship.

"Can you believe we've already been here for a day?" Kairi asked.

"…and Goofy and Donald still haven't showed up yet," Sora had a feeling something was going on.

"Hey, look! There's the ship!" cried Riku.

They ran over and went inside. It hadn't taken much damage from the crash.

"You think it could still fly, Sora?" questioned Riku.

"I'm pretty sure. Now we just need to-"

"Sora!..." Kairi stood near the control panel, holding up a note, "You should come see this."

"What is it?" he took the note and read it:

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Help! The heartless have taken us to 1

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"Oh, no…The heartless have them…" Sora didn't want to think about what would happen to them

"Where could they have gone?" wondered Kairi.

"Ok…it looks like they started a letter…but, what one?" Riku paused.

Sora thought for a moment, "Hmmmm…I'm not sure. I guess we'll have to go to a couple of places before we can find them."

"Sora…There are twenty-five worlds," Riku did speak the truth, "It might take a while."

"Well, let's get started."

Author's note: Where are Donald and Goofy? (Caution: New world ahead)

Find out in Chap. 14: The Small Cottage.