CHAPTER LVIII
PUPPETMASTER HADES
Hades yanked on the leash that led to Heartless Kronk as it sprung to life – the arms flexed in an impressive display as the legs stomped out into a battle stance.
"Hey, hey! I'm good at this! Am I right, or am I right?" Hades yelled as Heartless Kronk's massive arm smashed down, flattening a hill and sending Sora and his friends flying backwards. "Whoa! This I like!"
After Pacha had turned Kuzco into a walrus and a penguin, they landed a few hundred feet away from Hades and the Heartless Kronk. Yzma seemed to be running back toward the temple…Sora quickly formulated a plan.
"Pacha, you take Kuzco to safety and try to find the right potion to turn him back," he said as Pacha scooped up the penguin Kuzco and ran away from the hills. "Donald, Goofy, you go stop Yzma from getting more guards!"
"You got it!" Donald saluted.
"Okay, pal!" Goofy said.
"Kairi, can you and Riku keep Heartless Kronk busy while I take down Hades?"
They nodded, dashing off toward their respective objectives.
"Can I borrow this?" Riku said, pointing to Pacha's staff.
"Sure thing, buddy…" Pacha said, handing it to him.
Sora ran toward Hades, almost being stepped on several times as the Heartless Kronk flailed his legs wildly. Finally making it through to the area behind Heartless Kronk, Sora came face to face with Hades, holding a small box that was connected to the leash – almost like a remote control…
"Hades! Knock it off!" Sora screamed, swinging his keyblade at Hades, connecting with his torso. Hades flinched, dropping the control box as the Heartless Kronk stopped moving entirely.
Riku and Kairi wordlessly agreed to climb the arms of the immobile heartless, digging their weapons into its swirling, black flesh when the climb became too vertical…they had made it all to way to its shoulders as they started to slash rabidly at its neck…
"This one?" asked Kuzco.
"Goose," replied Pacha.
"How 'bout this one?"
"Pig…"
"C'mon, you stink at this…lemme pick the next one…" Kuzco said, draining another pink bottle into his mouth. Turning into an earthworm, he looked up at Pacha. "I hate you…"
"Get back here!" Donald said, panting to catch up to Yzma. They were halfway up the stairs to the temple before Goofy tossed his mako shield, tripping her flat on her face. "Gotcha!" Donald said, pinning her to the ground.
"Or is it I who have got you?" she cackled, reaching into her dress as she pulled out a small, pink vial… "You didn't get all of my vials…" she said, drinking it down…
In a puff of pink smoke, she was transformed into a large elephant, Donald still riding on her back as she turned to run down Goofy…
Hades couldn't keep up with the speed at which Sora was throwing his keyblade around…as Sora connected with Hades' head, the Burning Mask fell to the ground in two pieces, for the first time revealing Hade's ugly, blue face. His tiny, sharp teeth turned into a sinister smile as his blue flaming hair turned red…with a mighty bellow, he stuck his arms out and cried 'feel the heat!', sending white-hot flames all around him, knocking Sora back into the Heartless Kronk's leg…
Riku and Kairi kept slashing at the heartless' face, trying to do some damage…when Hades wasn't controlling it, it didn't do much…but its health was insanely high…it would take them hours of slashing at its inanimate body to defeat it…especially since Riku had to use Pacha's staff instead of his keyblade…
"Get me offa dis thing!" Donald cried, grabbing onto the Elephant Yzma's ears as she stampeded down the stairway. Her trunk flipped backwards, smacking her own backside as she tried to knock Donald off, but he wouldn't let go. Goofy had tripped, but continued to roll all the way down the stairs, gaining velocity as he went, making sure not to look back at the ferocious elephant trying to trample him…
Hades picked up the control box just as Sora had stood up…the blow was powerful, Sora realized, rubbing his injured shoulder…as he wound up to slash once more at Hades, a black cloud formed beneath his feet, lifting him and the control box gracefully into the sky…
"How's the weather down there, small fry?" Hades laughed, shooting fireballs down at Sora as he started the Heartless Kronk up again.
"Now!" Kuzco said with exasperation in his voice.
"Gorilla…" Pacha said, growing weary as well, tipping yet another vial down his throat.
"Well?"
"Llama…"
"Yay! I'm a llama again!" Kuzco cheered. "Wait…"
As they connected a few more slashes to the sleeping giant, Riku and Kairi were caught off guard as the head started to move, spitting ice in all directions as it spun like a possessed demon…Kairi managed to use a reflera spell to stay on the heartless' shoulder, but Riku wasn't so lucky…as he fell, he tried with all his might to grab onto something…anything…
"Riku!" Sora said, looking up at Riku as he shot down past Hades. "I gotcha, buddy!" Sora positioned himself below Riku, catching him right before he hit the ground – suddenly, as they touched, white light engulfed the hillside, blinding Hades temporarily…
As the light dimmed, there stood Sora – decked out from head to toe in an orange outfit with black accents near the cuffs. He held two keyblades – one of them backhanded, the other forward – the Dawn of Kings and his very own Bloom of Unity. He felt stronger than ever as he masterfully swung the keyblades around him, looking up at Hades and then down to his own feet – his own feet which weren't touching the ground. Instantly he realized that he could fly in this form as he shot up like an arrow toward Hades' black cloud.
Yzma pounded Goofy into the side of the hill with her trunk, stopping abruptly in her tracks as she sent Donald flying off of her back. They landed a few feet away from Pacha and Kuzco…Kuzco in his human form! Gathering all the remaining vials up, Kuzco took a step toward the dizzy elephant…
"How can I say this…you're fired…we've gone a different way…don't call us, we won't call you…buh-bye!" he said, throwing every vial at her feet. In a huge cloud of pink smoke, they saw Yzma change forms rapidly…a dinosaur…a flamingo…a rhino and a leopard…a sloth…and finally, a little white kitten.
"Aww! You so cute! Yes you are! Maybe you can be my royal fluffy-wuffy kitty-witty!" Kuzco teased her, causing her to hiss her dissent. The kitten turned and ran off into the jungle, defenseless as…well, a kitten.
