"What came over Maester Seymour and me?" Ansem wondered. He and the guardian were sitting in his study. "That could not have simply been us acting on our own. And how is it that you are able to talk now?"
"Ponder that at a later time, Ansem," Guardian ordered in a scratchy voice. "We must prepare for the Keyblade Master's arrival. He will be coming for the Dark Keyblade, so he can free the Princesses of Heart."
Ansem nodded. "We can attack him when he comes. But what of that pesky girl? She is a great threat to us. We refused to admit it before. She will not only prevent us from changing the plot to our tastes, but she will change it to her own."
Guardian snapped his pointed fingers. "I will summon a few Wyverns to fetch her."
"Very well. Have them bring her to me."
"This is a crucial job. It is in our best interests that I keep the girl. I will send the Keyblade Master and Riku to you."
Ansem sighed. "Why do I never get the fun jobs? It's always, 'Ansem, go to Destiny Islands and freak the Keyblade Master out! Ansem, go possess a teenage boy for a while!' You get to kidnap people!"
"Now, Ansem, you-"
"I'll have my own fun without you!" Ansem wailed. He sat down in a chair, then spun around. "Whee! I'm having fun! Watch me have fun! WATCH ME!" Ansem snapped at his guardian. He stopped abruptly. "Hold on! I know whose fault it is that we are being possessed! It must be the girl!"
Guardian shook his head. "It cannot be her. She is only concerned with saving her friends."
"The little boy?"
"Too innocent. Too stupid."
"Then it must be…"
"The teenager!" Ansem and Guardian exclaimed simultaneously.
Ansem put a gloved hand to his head. "I swear, I am going to kill her. Shall we kidnap her as well?"
"No, she would surely resist. Just kill her when you kill her younger brother and the king's lackeys."
"Kill the little boy?" Ansem repeated. "But he is no threat at all!"
"He may be. Keep an eye on him." Guardian disappeared in a wave of darkness.
Ansem grunted, then looked both ways. "WHEEEEEEEEEE!" he shrilled, spinning around and giggling insanely.
… … …
"Unlock my heart? How do we do that? And is it safe?" Sora clarified.
Riku led Sora, Emma, Dia, Donald, and Goofy through the passages of Hollow Bastion's castle. "We need to find the Dark Keyblade. You just have to stab yourself with it, and the hearts of the Princesses will be free. That includes Belle, Jasmine, Alice, and…Kairi." Sora nodded resolutely. "You'll release your own heart too, but Emma and Dia know how to turn you back to normal. Right?"
Emma gave him a thumbs-up. "You're supposed to turn into a Shadow Heartless, but I might be able to arrange for you to be a Wizard, or a Defender, or a…"
"WYVERN!"
"Yeah, or a Wyvern."
Riku shook his head wildly. "No, I mean there's a bunch of Wyverns coming at us!"
Around ten Wyverns flew toward Sora and Co., and stopped in front of them, not moving for a moment. "Whoa!" One of the Wyverns grabbed Emma, and flew off with her. "Let go of me, you freaks!"
"Emma!" Riku started to chase after them, but the other two Wyverns stopped him. He turned around. "Can you guys take care of these Heartless? I'm going to get Emma and the Dark Keyblade!"
Dia took out the Grand Mallet. "All right. It's four to nine, but we're stronger than these morons. Hurry up!" The rest of Sora and Co. took out their weapons, while Riku ran after the first Wyvern.
… … …
Huh, déjà vu. Emma was tied to one of the columns in Ansem's study, as she had been in Oogie Boogie's lair. Maybe the Wyverns will let me down to play Casino. Do Wyverns play card games?
Guardian chuckled evilly. "You are finally awake."
"No, I'm talking in my sleep," Emma told him sarcastically. She raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you're the guardian! How can you be talking?"
"You are not the only one who can change the game. It appears that one of your little friends is at fault. I would attribute my ability to speak to the little boy, seeing as your older friend's ability seems to be the possession of Ansem."
Emma grinned. "Really? Dia will do flips when she hears that!"
A faint smirk could be seen under Guardian's gauze. "Unfortunately, you'll never get to tell her. I intend to kill you, elementalist."
"Elementalist?" Emma repeated. She glanced down at her necklace. "Oh, yeah. If you're going to kill me, why haven't you done it already? Waiting for your lackeys to bring you a heart? No, that was Oogie Boogie. Waiting to spring some bad-guy speech on me? No, that was Riku. And pretty much every other villain in existence."
"I'm waiting for a certain someone. You see, I will not kill you if I get a good trade. For example, I would gladly trade your life for Riku's service."
Emma groaned. "Why are you obsessing over Riku?"
"He is a powerful boy, and he has already been imbued with the power of darkness. We require him."
"So do we." She swung her legs back and forth for a while. "Is Riku coming soon?"
"I do not know."
"Oh. I'm bored."
"Your life is at stake, and you are bored?"
"First off, my life's not at stake. Whenever I fought Ansem in Kingdom Hearts, it was him who made me faint a lot, not you. You just sort of irritated me. Second, yes, I am bored."
"Then I suggest you do something."
"I'm tied to a column."
"Do something that does not involve your arms or legs."
"Like what?"
Guardian groaned, and slapped himself in the head. "You expect me to know? I just want you out of my way until Riku arrives."
Emma shrugged. "Fair enough." She looked around. "Here's a llama, there's a llama, and another little llama! Fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama, llama, duck!"
Her captor whirled around. "What are you doing?" he hissed.
"Llama, llama, cheesecake, llama, tablet, brick, potato, llama, llama, llama, mushroom, llama, llama, llama, duck!"
"What is that even supposed to mean?"
"I was once a tree house, I lived in a cake! But I never saw the way, the orange slayed the rake! It was only three years dead, but it told a tale! And now listen, little child, to the safety rail!"
"STOP THAT!"
Tee-hee, this is fun. Emma grinned at him. "Have you ever seen a llama kiss a llama on its llama? Llama's llama tastes of llama, llama, llama, duck! Half a llama, twice the llama, not a llama, farmer, llama, llama in a car, alarm a llama, llama, duck!"
"I'D KILL YOU RIGHT NOW IF I DIDN'T NEED YOU AS A TRADING ITEM!"
"Is that how it's told now? Is it all so old? Is it made of lemon juice? Doorknob, ankle, cold! Now my song is getting thin, I've run out of luck! Time for me to retire now, and become a duck!"
Guardian slowly uncovered his head. "Is it over now?"
"Yes, but it repeats over and over again! Here's a llama, there's a llama, and another little llama-"
"Emma, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but please shut up."
Emma and Guardian looked toward the door. "Riku!" Emma squealed. "You came to save me!"
Riku laughed. "Yeah, well, don't get too used to it." He pointed the Soul Eater at Guardian. "Let my friend go, and give me the Dark Keyblade!"
Guardian smirked. "As long as you serve as Ansem's vessel, you may have both the Keyblade and your little girlfriend."
Both Emma and Riku blushed. "I'm n-not his g-girlfriend!" Emma stammered.
"She's three years younger than me!" Riku added.
"Do we have a deal or not, boy?"
"…fine."
"Riku, you don't have to do this!"
Guardian nodded, and the Dark Keyblade appeared in his hand. "He does indeed, elementalist."
Riku held out his hand. "Now, give my the Dark Keyblade. And Emma."
"You must open yourself to the darkness first," Guardian instructed.
"How do I know you won't cheat and keep me, Emma, and the Keyblade?"
"You will have to trust me, I suppose."
"Not gonna happen! HYAH!" Riku ducked down and snatched the Dark Keyblade, then used it to cut Emma free. She immediately fell on the floor. "Oops. Sorry, Emma."
Emma rubbed her head, and stood up. "It's all right, Riku, but for future reference, there's a little thing called gravity you might want to watch out for." She yawned. Aw, man…it's getting late! I'm so tired…but I can't go to sleep now! This is a life or death matter!
Guardian roared. "You insolent children!"
Riku grabbed Emma's hand, and ran down the hall. "Hey, why are we running from Guardian?" Emma wondered. "Can't we just…" She yawned mid-sentence, and rubbed her eyes. "…can't we just fight him?"
"He's the ultimate evil! We can't even put a scratch on him, especially not by ourselves! Why do you think you only have to fight Ansem in the game, and not Guardian?"
"Oh." Emma yawned again, this time loudly, and faltered a bit. NO! I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP NOW! I CAN'T…I can't… Nevertheless, Emma fell down, and starting snoring. "Good night, moon…" she mumbled.
Riku groaned. "Emma! Now?" He slowly and carefully picked Emma up, and hoisted her onto his shoulder. "You owe me a whole lot of munny when you wake up," he grunted, and started running again. He glanced back, and noticed that Guardian was gaining speed. "AGH!"
"Rocky-rock horse goes fast, mommy…"
"SHUT UP, EMMA!"
… … …
"Riku! What's going on? And is Emma okay?" Sora called, sitting on the Grand Hall's platform.
Riku ran in, panting heavily. He set Emma and the Dark Keyblade down. "She's fine. She just got tired and fell asleep. I've got the Dark Keyblade, but Guardian's coming for me, so we've got to do this quickly."
Sora grabbed the Dark Keyblade. "So…I just stab myself with this?"
"RIKU!" Guardian snarled, knocking open the doors. "WE HAVE COME FOR YOU!"
A silver flash flew past Riku, and he clutched his head. Dia rapidly poked Emma's shoulder. "Emma, wake up! For Pete's sakes, pay attention!"
Emma sat up and rubbed her eyes. "That hurt, Dia," she lamented. Her eyes widened. "Riku!"
Riku laughed menacingly. There was a second tone in the background of his voice, signaling Ansem's return. "Well, well, well. If it isn't you fools."
"We're gonna kill you, Ansem!" Emma vowed, springing to her feet.
Riku/Ansem shook his head. "It is I who will kill YOU, elementalist…FOR NOT LETTING ME GO TO THE PROM! I HATE YOU, MOMMY! YOU DON'T REMEMBER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE MY AGE!" He immediately covered his mouth. "What is happening to me?" he asked in a muffled voice.
Dia snickered. "I don't believe it! I can actually control you! Now, do a little dance!" Riku/Ansem spun around, then started prancing around the Grand Hall. "Man, I love this power. Hey, Sora?" Sora, who was previously preoccupied with staring at his possessed friend, looked up. "Stab yourself already! Ever heard of stalling?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Sora tried his best to ignore Riku/Ansem, who was now singing 'Rich Girl' by Gwen Stefani, completely off key. He raised the Dark Keyblade. "This is for you, Kairi."
"Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na!" Riku/Ansem glanced over at Sora, then ran toward him, yelping, "NO!"
Dia stepped in front of Riku/Ansem, and wagged her finger at him. "Shouldn't you be obeying my every command, Mr. Fluffy-Doody?"
Riku/Ansem stared blankly at her. "What did you just call me?"
"Mr. Fluffy-Doody!" Dia chirped. "That's your name, right? You're fluffy, you're doody, and nine out of ten scientists believe you're a guy! You're Mr. Fluffy-Doody! Now, kid!"
Sora nodded and plunged the Dark Keyblade into his chest. Golden orbs of light floated out of him, and into the Princesses of Heart. Emma started humming 'Simple and Clean' as the princesses woke up. "Come on, guys, open their cases!"
Donald and Goofy looked worried. "But-" Goofy started.
Dia shook her head. "Sora will be fine. Just open the cases!"
Emma clambered up to Kairi's case like a monkey, albeit a clumsy one, and rapped on the glass. Kairi rubbed her eyes, and peered oddly at the other girl. "Who are you? And why am I in this thing?"
"I'm one of Sora and Riku's friends. I'll tell you about why you're in there later." Emma used her metal pole like a crowbar, and pried open the case. "Right now, we've got to get back to the others."
Kairi reluctantly crawled back down with Emma, then walked over to Donald, Goofy, and Dia, who had retrieved Alice, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White. Kairi gasped. "Sora!" she cried. Before she could grab Sora, an eight light floated out of him, and he disappeared. "Sora! What happened?"
Ansem stood beside the group, in his real body. "I had anticipated that it would take more to destroy the Keyblade Master," he murmured. "No matter. I, like, totally love ponies, and cupcakes, and, like, cute boys! REAL-WORLDER!" he bellowed. Dia whistled innocently. "Now that your leader is gone, I shall ensure that the rest of you share his fate. Ugh…" Ansem clutched his head. "No! Stay out of this!"
An image of Riku appeared next to him, surrounded by a yellow light. "I won't let you hurt my friends!" Riku yelled. "Get out of here, guys! The Heartless are coming!"
Dia held one hand out the mob of approaching Shadows. "Hey! Whichever one of you is Sora, I command you to become a Wyvern!" Suddenly, a maroon-colored dragon-like creature rose up from the quivering mass of Shadows. "Well, all right! I like these new powers more and more! Mind if we hitch a ride, Sora?" Sora obligingly hovered next to Dia. "Hop on, we're headed back to the Main Hall!"
"There won't be enough room for all of us," Jasmine pointed out.
"Go to the Castle Chapel!" Riku told the princesses. "The Heartless can't enter there! Kairi, you go with Sora!"
The confused princesses ran out of the Grand Hall, while Emma, Donald, Goofy, and Dia sat down on Sora's back. "Riku!" Emma called. "You'll be all right, won't you?"
"Of course I will!"
"We're coming back for you," Dia announced.
Riku laughed. "What am I, a hot potato? Don't bother, they'll just take me back."
Emma grinned. "Then we'll take you back after they take you back! See you later, Riku!" Riku smiled and waved as his image faded.
… … …
"Everybody off!" Dia ordered as Sora landed in front of the Main Hall. "You okay, Emma?"
Emma nodded, trying to stifle another yawn. "Just a little tired. I normally go to bed around 10:30, so I'm not used to being up this late. I'll just sleep in tomorrow. Taylor won't care, will he?"
"Of course not. He wouldn't care if a drunken hunter knocked on his door and asked for circus peanuts, then shot him in the head with a blowgun."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing," Emma and Dia replied at the same time.
Dia pointed at the Wyvern who was once the Keyblade Master. "Now, hug him."
Kairi turned red. "Are you sure it will work?"
"Do you need an excuse?" Emma chuckled. Kairi got even redder, and threw her arms around the Heartless's neck. In a flash of light, Sora appeared in his place. "There you go! Not only are you back to normal, Donald didn't have to hit you."
Sora rubbed his head, as if the very thought gave him a headache. "Thank goodness for that." He glanced down. "Kairi? I think you can stop hugging me now." Kairi quickly let go and shuffled away. "So…what do we do now?"
Emma rammed her shoulder into the castle's door, trying to push it open. "We go to Traverse Town. We never had the Fairy Godmother look at the Watergleam, did we?"
Dia shook her head. "We'd better get whatever summon's in there to come out. It's a shame we killed Maleficent before we could get the Fireglow," she remarked. "And since there's no Winnie the Pooh, there's no Naturespark. And remember to give us a better summon, Emma. Dumbo's cute and all, being a flying baby elephant and all, but he's not too strong."
"I was already thinking that," Emma agreed. "I was thinking that an Aeon might make a nice addition to the team."
… … …
"Another summon? All right, dears, let's see what we've got." The Fairy Godmother tapped the Watergleam with her wand.
Emma squeezed her eyes shut. Come on! A neighing sound filled Merlin's study, and a bolt of lightning struck the floor. A large unicorn, probably around eight feet tall, appeared. "Yes!" she exclaimed.
Donald jumped back. "What is that thing?"
"It's Ixion, the Thunder Aeon," Dia told them. "Yuna has one just like him."
Goofy patted Ixion's flanks. "Aw, he's a good horsey!"
"Unicorn," Donald corrected. "Do you think Sora and Kairi are done in the waterway?"
Emma laughed. "It doesn't take that long to get a Keyblade and a charm, Donald. Unless, of course, they're doing more than that. Let's go meet up with them." Ixion knelt down. "Huh? Oh, thanks, Ixion!" Emma attempted to crawl onto the electricity-charged unicorn's back. "I guess we're getting another ride!"
Dia grinned. "I know I've said this a million times, but I'm loving this game more and more."
