"Hey, wake up!" Sora yelled, pressed against the PS2 screen. "If this is about the crack about your glasses, I'm sorry! JUST WAKE UP!"
Jane looked over at Sora. "Who are you talking to, Sora?"
"Yeah, who're you talking to?" Goofy echoed.
The pointy-haired boy ignored his allies, waving his arms around frantically. "HEY! WAKE UP ALREADY!"
Donald tapped his foot impatiently. "I think the sun melted Sora's brain. There's nobody there!"
Sora gestured to a hologram of an unconscious Emma that had appeared in front of him. "Look, there's a girl right there! She fainted when I said something to her!" The others stared blankly at him. Sighing heavily, Sora faced Emma again. "WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!"
"Mmmmm…" Emma sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. "That was a weird dream…" She glanced up at Sora, who was glaring back at her. "AGH! IT WASN'T A DREAM!"
"Be quiet!" Sora scolded. "Listen, my friends think I'm schizophrenic at the moment. I'm the only one who can see you, so if you want to talk, you'll have to find a way over here."
"To…to Deep Jungle?" Emma asked, staring blankly.
"That's right."
"How?"
Sora shrugged. "I thought you might know that answer to that. Well, how can you talk to me right now, first of all?"
"Some guy gave me a cheat code."
"A what?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "You know, a cheat code. To give you extra things in video games." Sora twitched. "Yeah, you're in a video game. Walk it off, tough guy."
Trying his best to remain ignorant of Donald, Goofy, Tarzan, Jane, and Terk's stares, Sora cleared his throat. "Well, can he give you another one? To get you in here?"
"He called me out of the blue. I don't know his number, or who he even is, for that matter. How am I supposed to contact him?"
Sora glanced behind him. His voice dropped to a whisper. "They're seriously weirded out…listen, I can't think of anything, but if you try pressing every button, maybe you'll get some results."
Emma shrugged. "It's worth a try. I'll contact you again if it doesn't work. For now, just go get your new Keyblade."
"New Keyblade?" Sora asked skeptically.
"Yeah, new Keyblade. Trust me, this is my eleventh time playing Kingdom Hearts."
"What's Kingdom Hearts?"
"Nevermind. Go!"
Sora started to turn from the hologram of Emma, then stopped. "Hey, before I forget, what's your name? I can't just call you 'girl', can I?"
The gamer pushed her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose. "My name is Emma. Now go already!" she insisted. Sora smiled and nodded, then turned and motioned for his allies to follow him out of the Cavern of Hearts. Well, let's try pressing every button. But if something bad happens, I swear I'm going to find a code that forces Sora to walk around in his underwear. She padded inUp, Down, Left, Right, Triangle, Square, X, Circle, L1, R1, L2, R2, L3, R3, Select, and Start.
Suddenly, a blinding, green light filled the basement. Emma shielded her eyes instinctively. Glowing green flames, the source of the light, appeared a foot in front of her. An eerie voice started to speak. What are you so afraid of?
"Huh?"
What are you so afraid of? it repeated.
Oh! The questions from the beginning of Kingdom Hearts! I wonder if I can choose different answers… Emma slowly uncovered her face. "Er…being made fun of," she admitted.
What is your most prized possession?
Emma wasted no time in replying, "My PS2!" she chirped.
What do you want out of life?
Her happy expression left as quickly as it had arrived. Shyly fiddling with the zipper of her school uniform, she whispered, "I want…I want friends."
Your journey will start in the afternoon, the voice told her emotionlessly. Keep your wits about you, and your head high, and your journey will be a pleasant one. Suddenly, it stopped speaking. Before the flames lowered and the light dimmed, Emma was surprised and confused by the voice's final words: Good luck to you…elementalist.
The flames shrunk until they were barely off the ground. They shimmered slightly, and formed a small circle that fans of Kingdom Hearts would recognize as a save point. I think it worked! But just in case… Emma looked around her basement for a test subject. Her eyes finally chanced upon a small Beanie Baby, a near-bald zebra that was smeared with lipstick; she had tried to give it a make-over at the age of five.
Emma picked the zebra up by the head, and promptly dropped it into the save point. On the screen, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were swinging above the Hippo Lagoon. The decadent zebra plushie fell on Donald's head. "WAK!" he squelched in shock, losing his grip on the vine he was holding, and also fell. A splash could be heard, along with Sora and Goofy's chuckles. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Donald's roared.
Well, I guess it worked! Emma grinned. She stood above the save point. Wait…I shouldn't go in until they're on land. I'm not particularly in the mood to get drenched at the moment… So, she sat back down and watched Sora and Goofy swing down to retrieve a considerably upset Donald.
… … …
"I'm telling you, it was a Heartless!" Donald insisted as they walked back to Jane's tent to exit Deep Jungle. "I was attacked by a flying Heartless!"
Sora glanced over at the duck. "It looked more like a bald zebra toy, in my opinion."
Donald crossed his arms. "Well, nobody asked for your opinion. It was a…a Zebra Heartless. That's right, it was a Zebra Heartless. Very dangerous," he assured him.
A glowing green light came from the tent. "Gawrsh, what's that?" Goofy asked in alarm.
"Stupid projector!" Emma stumbled out of the tent, Jane's projector lying on the floor. She rubbed her leg, hopping along on one foot. "Sora, there you are!"
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Emma? Is that you?"
Emma nodded. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be me?" Sora didn't reply. Donald and Goofy were just staring, utterly confused. In the awkward silence, Emma reached up to adjust her glasses, and realized why Sora didn't recognize her in the process; her glasses were gone. Yet, she could see perfectly. She looked down at herself, and noticed for the first time that her uniform was gone; she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Her bun had been replaced by a neat ponytail. She shrieked, causing Donald and Goofy to shriek as well. "Man, if I looked like this at school, those kids would sooner eat their shoes than call me Auntie Em!"
"Auntie Em?" Sora asked, not familiar with movies, much less the Wizard of Oz.
"Nevermind," Emma dismissed.
Donald and Goofy were still shaking like leaves. "Sora, who is that?" Donald demanded, pointing a feathered finger at the girl.
Sora gave them a smug grin. "Remember when you thought I was talking to myself? Well, I wasn't. Meet Emma, guys. You probably know Donald and Goofy, right, Emma?"
"Since I was a toddler," Emma confirmed. She extended her hand. "Nice to meet you guys. Cautiously, the two talking animals shook Emma's hand in turn.
Donald tapped his foot again. "Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you. What are you doing here, anyway? Where are you even from?"
Emma glared. "Chicago."
Goofy looked thoughtful. "I've never heard of a world called Chicago!"
"It's not a...nevermind."
"So why are you here?" Donald repeated.
Emma blinked. "Um…I'm not sure, actually. I just came. There wasn't really a reason…other than that I wanted to mess around."
Donald groaned loudly. "So you're nothing but an air-headed freeloader." Emma twitched at this comment. "Since you're already here, why don't you make yourself useful?" he suggested, but his tone implied that it was an order.
The gamer shrugged. "Sure, why not? I have the time. What do you want me to do?"
"Help us find King Mickey."
"And Riku and Kairi," Sora added.
Emma looked aghast. "You want me to fight?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah! Do you have a problem with that? You can go home now, if you want. You don't have to help, but it would be appreciated."
"Of course I don't want to go home!" Emma responded, puffing out her chest. "I'm in Kingdom Hearts! What more could a kid like me ask for?"
Donald and Goofy looked confused again. "Kingdom Hearts?" Goofy whispered to Sora.
Sora shrugged, looking just as confused. "Don't look at me! She didn't fill ME in, either."
"If I absolutely HAVE to fight…" Emma continued. "…then I will. With great power comes great responsibility. Just like in Spiderman."
"Spiderman?" Sora asked.
Emma waved her hand. "Nevermind, it's a real-world thing. So, do you guys have a weapon for me?"
The three characters shook their heads. Donald and Goofy both took one of Emma's wrists, pulling her back into the tent, and back onto the save point. "Then we'll get you one. Let's go to Traverse Town!"
