FG: Hey, we're back! I put the names of everyone who wanted to be a disclaimer guest into a hat. Just so you guys know, you'll all be disclaimer guests! But there can only be one at a time. Hat, please?
Emma: (passes a hat to FG)
FG: All right! Drumroll, please?
Jake: (pounds on a drum)
FG: This chapter's disclaimer guest is…
Gnecdah: ME!
FG: Please welcome SimpleNClean92, also known as Gnecdah!
Other reviewers: Yay…I guess… (start grumbling)
Tolea: It should've been me…
One Winged Angel Sami: I deserve to be first…
ARandomKid: I stuck with the story for longer than her…I think… (counts on fingers)
Other reviewers: (continue grumbling)
FG: (whacks the other reviewers) It's Gnecdah's turn!
Other reviewers: (whimper like beaten puppies)
Gnecdah: That looks like fun! (whacks other reviewers)
Other reviewers: (hiss)
Gnecdah: (whimpers like a beaten puppy)
FG: ………
Robin: Words can't describe how weird this is.
FG: (shoves Robin out of the way) Okay, say the disclaimer.
Gnecdah: That's all I get?
FG: Huh?
Gnecdah: That's all I get to do?
FG: Um…
Gnecdah: Can't I do something else? Pleeeeeaaaaase?
Jake: C'mon, let her do something!
FG: (sigh) All right.
Gnecdah: Yay! (pulls an MP3 player out of nowhere)
Bernie: Oh, you're going to sing?
Gnecdah: (nods and puts earphones on)
Coeur: Myew, myew, myew!
Eclipse: Hart wants to know what you're singing.
Gnecdah: Shhhhh! (clears throat) WHEN YOU CRIIIIIEEEEEED, I'D WIPE AWAY ALL YOUR TEEEEEAAAAARS! WHEN YOU'D SCREEEEEAAAAAM, I'D FIGHT AWAY ALL OF YOUR FEEEEEAAAAARS!
Everyone else: (twitches)
Robin: MY EARS ARE BURNING!
Jake: (takes out the Ikiteiru Shield) Animate! (fluffy pillows fly in and stuff themselves into Jake's ears)
Gnecdah: AND I HELD YOUR HAAAAAND THROUGH ALL OF THESE YEEEEEARS! BUT YOU STILL HAVE ALL OF MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Everyone else: (crawl out from various places in FG's basement)
Eclipse: Is it over?
Gnecdah: Are you saying that you don't like my singing?
Eclipse: Well…
Gnecdah: (sniffles loudly and blows her nose on Coeur)
Coeur: Myew!
Eclipse: Hey, that's my sister!
Gnecdah: So? (towers menacingly over Eclipse)
Eclipse: (shrinks back) Um…nothing…?
Gnecdah: That's what I thought.
FG: Can you just do the disclaimer now?
Gnecdah: (nod) FG doesn't own anyone except for Emma, Dia, Jake, Robin, Bernie, Tissue…
Coeur: (hisses at Gnecdah)
Gnecdah: (hisses at Coeur)
Coeur: (whimpers like a beaten puppy)
Gnecdah: …Miaow, Eclipse, Taylor, Lyze, Silke, Kinzoku, Sadym, Alissa, and Miru. That's it, right?
FG: For now…MWAHAHAHAHA!
Gnecdah: Awright! I'm so tired of being heeeeere, suppressed by all my childish feeeeeaaaaars!
FG: Run for it! (dashes out of the basement)
Everyone else: (follows FG)
Gnecdah: And if you have to leeeeeaaaaave, I wish that you would just leeeeaaaaeave, 'cause your presence still lingers heeeeere, and it won't leave me alooooone!
FG: (walks back in, wearing earplugs) Cut that out. (covers Gnecdah's mouth) Okay, here's Chapter 13.
Gnecdah: (jerks away) These wounds won't seem to heeeeaaaal, this pain is just too reeeeeaaaaal, there's just too much that time cannot eraaaaase!
FG: (staggers away) Ow.
… … … … … … … … …
The Juu Senshi were sitting on benches or on the floor in the Great Wolf Lodge's lobby. "Isn't this a great way to spend 4th of July?" Jake gushed.
"Huh?" Emma's head shot up, and she rubbed her eyes; she had been napping on the carpet. "Oh…it wasn't a nightmare…" she grunted.
The lodge's infamous animatronic show was playing. "We must be nice to nature!" a disturbing-looking squirrel with a pink hat announced cheerfully.
Some other members of Juu Senshi were still sleeping. Dia mumbled, "Stupid fur trader," then rolled off the bench unceremoniously.
Jake prodded Dia's head. "Sis? Sis?" He continued this for a few moments, then shrugged. "I guess she didn't get enough sleep!"
Robin, who was, surprisingly, the only sane member of Juu Senshi fully awake, growled, "No, she was prob'ly bored 'a this stupid show." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Now, let's go ta the arcade! Nobody but you wants ta see this!"
Kairi shook her head. "No! This is fun!"
A stereotypically-dressed Native American girl came out of the animatronic figure storage. She started singing a weird song about beavers. The plaster beavers below made even weirder noises. "Beaver friend, beaver friend, I love my beaver friend!"
"NYAAAAAAAAAA!" the beavers replied.
Bernie clapped. "The beavers are so cute!"
"No…they're annoying…" Riku replied, only half-awake. His chin was resting lazily on the handle of the Soul Eater. "Isn't there some fireworks display today?"
Emma yawned and rubbed her eyes again. "Not until 9:00 PM…"
Donald wobbled around groggily, then also yawned. "We have to leave as soon as we can. What time is it?"
Emma looked down at her watch. "It's 12:05 PM."
"Huh?" Sora sat up. "Then why am I so tired?" he wondered, just waking up. Emma, Robin, Riku, and Donald all pointed to the show. "Oh." Sora hunched up his shoulders.
"Yay!" the figures cried, then retreated back to storage.
Jake sighed. "Myeh…it's over."
"HOORAY!" Goofy cheered, who had also recently woken up.
In an excited voice unlike her usual one at all, Robin leapt off the bench, yelling, "Time ta go ta the arcade!"
Dia hoisted herself off the ground, glaring at the Japanese girl. "Time ta go ta the arcade," she mimicked angrily.
"Let's just go," Emma advised.
… … …
By the time the Juu Senshi got to the arcade, they were much less tired. In fact, Emma and Dia were standing on a DDR 7th Mix pad, dancing to a fast, difficult song, rapping the words to Hysteria 2001. "Stoppin' for no one, just like the shogun! My blade is my rhymes, usin' it, then I'm done!"
Emma grinned, hopping from button to button. However, Dia stood still. "Picture me, I'm on top of the world now! Picture me, I'm ahead of my game! Never stop, not for anyone, not now, gonna take you up all the same, all the same, all the same!" Sweating, Emma stepped off the machine. "Are you okay, Dia? You weren't dancing for the last several lines…Dia?"
Dia was petrified. "Shogun…" she echoed faintly.
"Aw, Dia…" Emma pulled Dia off the machine, then patted her back. "We'll get him back. I know it!"
"You guys are tough," a feminine voice agreed. "Ugh! I have faith in you guys! Ugh!" It grunted again.
Emma chuckled. "First time, huh, Lyze?"
The Magic Daimyo was frantically whacking purple moles with a large mallet. "Yes," she replied. "Ugh!"
Dia returned to normal as she heard Lyze's voice. "Why're you still here?" she demanded.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" She rapidly tried to bash the moles. Lyze crossed her arms. "Stupid moles…EVIL GAZE!" She whipped out the Joyeuse. A purple light dropped into all of the moles. Suddenly, they uprooted themselves and started beating each other up.
Several kids ran up to Lyze, prompting her to put on a pair of gloves and a puffy beret to hide her pointed fingers and her ears. "How'd you do that?" an incredulous little girl asked.
"Uh…" Lyze made some 'mystical' hand gestures. "…I'm a magician!"
A boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right! I bet you can't even pull a rabbit out of a hat!"
"Oh, yeah?" Lyze teleported a top hat into her hand, then quickly switched it with her beret. She pulled her head into her vest, so only the top hat could be seen. "And…presto!" Lyze announced in a muffled voice. She brought her head back up, taking off her hat.
The boy stared. "Wow!" He was focused on Lyze's brown rabbit ears. "That's awesome!"
"Thank you, thank you!" Lyze bowed deeply. "I'll be here all week!"
"Where'd you get that sword?" the girl wondered.
Lyze glared at the Joyeuse, which she finally realized that she was still holding. "Er…I won it," she lied. "For 5,000 tickets."
Another boy's eyes shot open. "Really?" Lyze nodded numbly, starting to hate all attention she was getting. "Wow! I'm going to win all the games I can!" He and the others ran off.
"Hey, amasahdymecd!" a male voice cried happily, accompanied by a flushing sound.
"Hey!" Emma waved to the highly conspicuous blonde man walking towards her.
Sadym strode out of the boys' bathroom. "Nice place, huh? The toilets flush automatically!" Emma just gave him an odd, slightly disgusted look. "So, what did I miss?"
"Oh, nothing really, some plastic rodents mauled each other and Lyze pulled herself out of a hat."
"Uh…huh…" The Al Bhed tip-toed away warily. "Ouch!" He bumped into a girl who was focused on a South Park Pinball machine. At least, she was until Sadym tripped on her feet.
The girl snapped, "Watch where yer goin'!" Suddenly, the reprimand became a darkly smug voice. "Well, well, well…if it isn't the machinist…"
Sadym groaned, then looked up from the floor. Robin was peering down at him. "Ev ed ech'd dra fyhhypa drik," he replied disdainfully.
The rest of Juu Senshi had wandered over by now. "Tuh'd dyga ed bancuhymmo, Sadym," Bernie insisted. She then chuckled a little. "Robin rydac ajanouha."
Robin glared at both of them. "Stop talkin' 'bout me in Al Bhed," she demanded. She closed her eyes, trying to remember fragments of Al Bhed from the times she played Final Fantasy X. "Um…oui ec…um…" That didn't work as well as she had planned, so she searched her mind for things that she remembered Sadym and Bernie saying. Finally, she thought of something. "Sadym, oui ec Dah Vekrdanc!" she yelled.
Bernie snorted. Sadym borrowed Robin's smug grin, responding, "I would be honored to become a Senshi no Meiyo, Secc Fuudo."
"WHAT?" Robin hissed.
Emma tried not to crack up. "Well, 'Secc Fuudo', you just told Sadym that he was a Dah Vekrdanc. In English, 'Dah Vekrdanc' means 'Ten Fighters'. And in Japanese, 'Ten Fighters' means-"
"Juu Senshi," Robin finished with a scowl. "Stupid…"
Sadym bowed. "Dryhg oui, Secc Fuudo." Looking up again, he smirked. "E uhmo fecr drana fana cusa fyo du nabyo ouin…" He glanced at the metal bracelet he had given her the day before. "...gehthacc."
Robin scoffed, mumbling, "Dah Vekrdanc…"
The new Senshi no Meiyo just laughed. "So I'm the new Ruhunyno Vekrdan? Senshi no Meiyo? Honorary Fighter?" he clarified.
"Hmph." Robin glared at him. "
"Can I be a Senshi no Meiyo too?" Lyze asked. "Please?"
Eclipse grunted. "In a million years,"
"Why would you want to be Senshi no Meiyo?" Sora wondered.
Lyze sighed. "I'll be quitting soon…Sadym too." Her face brightened. "But if Taylor gets a new Magic Daimyo, he won't destroy Ivalice when I leave!" She briefly glanced at Eclipse, just quick enough so he would see, but nobody else would.
"Guess again, Daimyo Rune. No one ever said our Shogun played fair…"
"Silke!" Jake stared at a floating image of the Sword Daimyo. "What do you want? And why aren't you here in person?"
Silke shut her eyes and turned away. "I…I have been placed under house arrest by Shogun Quinn…" she admitted. "You were all a bit much for me…my shameful defeat has left me imprisoned in the home base."
Goofy also stared. "Gawrsh, that Shogun feller's really gotten Silke down…"
"I agree, this punishment has sucked out my enthusiasm and my will to fight."
"What do you mean by, 'guess again'?" Lyze interrupted. "Is something going to happen to Ivalice?"
"Yes." Silke nodded. "You, of all people, should know that evil seldom keeps promises."
Lyze's eyes widened. "No…"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Silke murmured. "A common saying, and one you should get used to hearing, Juu Senshi." She placed a hand on her forehead. "At first, there was only light and darkness. Then…the twilight came. There are some individuals who walk the path of twilight…" She indicated Riku with a nod of her head. "…but most importantly, there is a whole group who walks the same road. In this group, they are more powerful together than alone."
Dia made a clucking noise. "I knew it. This is where Organization XIII comes in."
Kairi raised a reddish eyebrow. "Organization XIII?"
"Thirteen people who are part light, part dark," Dia explained. "Only seven have been identified in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories; Axel, Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia, Zexion, Lexaus, and the Enigmatic Man."
"Six left, then," Donald announced.
Silke coughed. "Ahem…I believe I was talking…"
"Sorry."
"As I was saying, with this new group in the war, alignments are switching left and right. Enemies fade as allies form." Silke closed her eyes again. "What I have said…that the enemy of my enemy is my friend…well, right now, my enemy is Shogun Quinn." The mention of their father's name sent Dia and Jake spiraling into depression again.
"Taylor's you're enemy now?" Emma scratched her head. "So…if the enemy of your enemy is your friend…"
Silke nodded. "Yes, you are my new allies. That is, if you are willing." Silence and doubtful faces followed. "I have told you before that I follow a bushido-like set of rules. I am far above stooping to tricks."
"I still don't believe you," Sora told her.
"Daimyo Rune…" Silke turned to the Viera elementalist. "…Lyze…" she corrected. "What can I do to prove myself?"
Lyze grinned. "Beg and plead," she ordered. "On your knees." Silke nodded glumly. "Tell me I'm better than you."
Silke took a deep breath, then her hologram fell to her knees, forehead pressed to the ground. "I-"
"Okay, what do you need?" Lyze asked cheerily.
Silke blinked. "I…I didn't beg. Or plead. Or compliment you."
Lyze grinned. "It's enough to see you bowing to me. So, what do you need?"
"Er…it is quite simple, really…" Silke's image stood up. "It requires you to teleport back to Chicago. You must come into the game with me, on Miss Baecker's account."
"We get to go into Kingdom Hearts?" Bernie asked excitedly. "That's…that's amazing!"
Emma smiled. "You don't have to call me that," she insisted.
"Emma's account, then."
Jake pushed forward. "Why not mine? Or Sis's?"
"The Shogun will, without a doubt, turn off our portal while we are inside," Silke explained. "Emma's house is safer."
Lyze groaned. "But to get you, we'll have to go inside Taylor's house! He'll see us! Plus, five people at a time is my teleportation limit!"
"He will not come after me, or you. The others, possibly, but not us."
Robin was fuming. "Whatta 'bout us? We're the Juu Senshi! We're precious cargo!"
"I have a suggestion…" Kairi meekly raised her hand. "Has anyone here heard the a riddle about the wolf, the goat, and the cabbages?"
Silke rolled her eyes. "Is this relevant to our dilemma?"
"Yes!" Kairi announced. "A farmer has to ship his cargo from one side of the river to the other, and he only has one boat, barely big enough to fit him and just one piece of cargo. His cargo is a wolf, a goat, and some cabbage."
Dia's eyes lit up. "I've heard this before!"
"There's a problem, though; if he takes the wolf and leaves the goat and the cabbages, the goat will eat the cabbages. If he takes the cabbages and leaves the wolf and the goat, the wolf will eat the goat," Kairi continued.
Sora thought for a moment. "Can't he take the goat and leave the wolf and the cabbages?"
"Exactly!" Kairi squealed. "So the first thing we do is five of the thirteen Senshi to Emma's house! How about…Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma, and Dia? Next, in the farmer scenario, the farmer still has to take the wolf and the goat across. So, what does he do next?"
Robin shrugged and raised her hand. "Listen, valley girl, this makes no sense. If he takes the wolf, the wolf'll eat the goat. If he takes the cabbages, the goat'll eat 'em."
Sadym couldn't resist the opportunity to show up Robin. "He takes the wolf across." Robin opened her mouth to disagree, but Sadym continued on. "Instead of going to get the cabbages empty-handed, he takes the goat back with him, leaving the wolf alone."
"Now the goat is with the cabbages," Robin replied proudly. "Ya messed up."
Eclipse shook his head. "No, he didn't. The farmer is there to protect the cabbages. He puts the goat back where it was at the beginning, then takes the cabbages to the other side. Now, the wolf is with the cabbages again."
Kairi nodded. "In our problem, the wolf is the next five Senshi, Jake, Riku, me, Bernie, and Robin. However, we don't have to take the goat, the first five Senshi, back to the other side, the lodge. Now, we need to get the cabbages; Eclipse, Coeur, and Sadym."
"This is easy!" Jake squealed. "Lyze just teleports them to Emma's house!"
"Right!" Kairi nodded again. "We have an extra piece, though; Silke."
Lyze raised her hand. "I teleport to the base, then teleport Silke to Emma's house."
"This IS easy," Donald agreed. "Let's go!"
… … …
After some semi-confusing teleportation and trying not to wake Taylor up from a nap on his basement couch, everyone was at Emma's house. "He was sleeping? Daddy's kind of weird," Jake noted.
Emma flipped on the PS2, poking at some buttons. She clicked on Account 11. "Well, there's the save point." Emma gestured to the familiar green circle of flames on the floor.
"ME FIRST!" Bernie shrieked excitedly. She leapt in.
Robin growled and followed her. "Why'dja get ta go first, Loony?" she hissed.
Chuckling, everyone else hopped in. "Silke," Emma asked. "Where are we going? You never told us."
"You will see in time."
… … …
"I'm actually in the Gummi Ship!" Bernie ran around the Valefor, examining every wire and block. "Amazing!"
Silke looked around. "Who is the best pilot among you?"
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma, Dia, and Jake sighed happily, remembering their adventure two years before. "Max…Goofy's son," Emma told Silke. "He was our driver…but he's not here right now."
"And we have no time to fetch him," Silke reminded her briskly.
"Sora, then."
Sora sat down in the driver's seat, then pulled a lever. "Where to, Silke?"
"End of the World."
… … …
"Are we almost there?" Jake whined.
Silke nodded as she led the Juu Senshi and Lyze through the fields surrounding where World of Chaos used to be. "I can see it in the distance."
"See what?"
Emma stared blankly. "No way…we're not…are we?"
"You must be silent," Silke whispered. "There is no telling who may meet us out here."
"I don't know about you, but I have a pretty good idea," Dia whispered back.
The group was standing in front of a massive, crooked, gold castle with green turrets and a bronze door. Outside it stood a man in a black cloak with many zippers. His spiked, red hair waved around due to the wind. His green eyes followed every move the newcomers made. Eventually, he spoke. "Hey. I was expecting you."
"You were?" Sora shivered.
The man nodded. "Of course. But I have to say, you're pretty late." He grinned widely. "That doesn't matter, though. Nothing here matters anymore, thanks to all these plot changes. You should have seen the look on Marluxia's face!"
"You're…you're…" Emma stuttered.
"Hmm? Oh, you're the elementalist!" He looked over the other real-worlders. "And the possessor…the animist…the thug…and the seer!"
"Thug?" Robin glared. "Who do ya think you are, callin' me a thug, ya thug?"
The man laughed. "I don't think about who I am. Unlike most people here, I KNOW."
"You might know who you are…" Kairi spoke up. "…but we don't."
"Figures. Well, I'll have to tell you sooner or later." The man placed both hands on his hips, striking a proud pose. "I'm Axel of Organization XIII, and I'll be your tour guide through Castle Oblivion!"
… … … … … … … … …
FG: This chapter was going to end with the fireworks display, maybe some Eclipse x Emma x Riku fluff, but when I decided to make CC2 more of a CoM fanfic, I knew the Juu Senshi had to visit Castle Oblivion.
Gnecdah: WHEN YOU CRIIIIIEEEEEED, I'D WIPE AWAY ALL YOUR TEEEEEAAAAARS! WHEN YOU'D SCREEEEEAAAAAM, I'D FIGHT AWAY ALL OF YOUR FEEEEEAAAAARS!
Robin: Not again…
FG: Remember those polls I did in CC, like favorite character and which world should be next? Well, here are a whole bunch of polls!
Poll #1: Who's your favorite OC good guy?
…Emma Baecker
…Dia Quinn
…Jake Quinn
…Robin Fuudo
…Bernie Soleil
…Coeur/Hart Kurosato
…Miaow Kurosato
…Alissa Baecker
Poll #2: Who's your favorite Rei no Aku member?
…Guardian
…Taylor Quinn
…Lyze Rune
…Silke Sakura
…Kinzoku
…Sadym
…Eclipse Kurosato (hinthint)
Poll #3: Who's your favorite real character?
…Sora Takahashi
…Riku Ono
…Kairi Anzu
…Donald Duck
…Goofy
Poll #4: Should I make a CC3? (it would be about Kingdom Hearts II, and how it would be affected by everything changed in the original CC/CC2)
…Yes
…No
Poll #5: Who should Emma end up with? (this won't affect the outcome, just wondering)
…Riku
…Eclipse
…Other (be specific in your review)
FG: Remember the bonus chapter from CC? The poll results will be announced in CC2's bonus chapter, along with a preview of CC3, if it's wanted.
Gnecdah: AND I HELD YOUR HAAAAAND THROUGH ALL OF THESE YEEEEEARS! BUT YOU STILL HAVE ALL OF MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Dia: (growls) Shut up! (possesses some Shadow Heartless)
Shadow Heartless: I'm so tired of being heeeeere, suppressed by all my childish feeeeeaaaaars! And if you have to leeeeeaaaaave, I wish that you would just leeeeaaaaeave, 'cause your presence still lingers heeeeere, and it won't leave me alooooone! These wounds won't seem to heeeeaaaaeal, this pain is just too reeeeeaaaaal, there's just too much that time cannot eraaaaase!
FG: Not you, too!
Dia: I can't stop them!
FG: There's only one thing to do at a time like this: RUN!
Everyone else: (runs away screaming)
Gnecdah: Oh, come on! I'm not that bad! (shakes FG) Am I that bad?
FG: Um…FG out, yo! (runs away screaming)
Gnecdah: (whimpers like a beaten puppy)