Chapter 9: My Name is Woman (double-ux3 . youtube . com/watch?v=o0GonQutmHk)
Memo: Who loves Ayu's song "my name's WOMEN"? I DOOOOOOOO!! And it's so Nex. I mean, fistfighting? Nexus would kick their a's. If I put all my characters together, though, with no weapons, Dylan would kick everybody's rear ENDS! *_* Karate girl...karate girl...8D Oh, and another thing about Nexus: she likes food...a LOT ^^ One more thing: EJ TANAKA!
*~*~*
Sora, Nexus, Donald, and Goofy exited their ship to enter a small bamboo forest. Nexus could smell smoke, like from a fire. Sora thought it was cold. Donald was still wondering why Twilight Town had disappeared from their map. Goofy, as always, was being oblivious to everything.
Suddenly the companions heard a voice.
"Aren't you?"
They exchanged glances with each other, then ran forward a little, slowly slowing their pace. There, upon a large rock, was the black shadow of something that looked sinister.
"A Heartless?" Donald hissed, looking at Sora.
"Let's get the jump on 'im!" Sora said, jabbing his thumb at the shadow. Goofy and Nexus exchanged glances. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought she should probably follow Sora, just to make sure. So when they ran ahead, she followed them.
"Gawrsh, maybe we better look before we leap," Goofy shouted after them.
Maybe, Nexus thought, but it's too late now!
Sora gasped a little as they ran toward the ominous shadow. A small, reddish, lizard-like creature ran out from behind the rock and into a...was it a man or a woman's...arms. Only Nexus could tell. She knew it was a girl.
"Is that Mushu?" Goofy asked upon entering the area. Nexus turned around and cocked her head.
"Who's-"
"That's right, I know you heard of me!" Mushu shouted, popping up from behind the girl's shoulders. "I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"
"I see..." Nexus said, crossing her arms. She shivered as a light breeze passed through.
"Hey, Mushu! We missed you!" Sora said, waving a little.
"Yeah, well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're--you're...Sora! Donald! Goofy!"
Mushu hopped off of the girl's shoulders and walked over to Sora.
"Do you know them?" the girl asked.
"Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together! Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?" Mushu leaned against Sora's leg, but Sora moved his leg away, making Mushu fall. When Nexus giggled, he shot her a dirty look, which she immediately returned.
"Something like that. And...you are?" Sora asked, looking to the armor-clad girl.
"I'm Mulan. Um, no, I-I mean..." The girl stumbled over her words. Then suddenly she cleared her throat and swallowed hard. Nexus raised an eyebrow.
"Ping!" she heard Mushu say. She rolled her eyes slightly.
"Mulan Ping?" Donald asked, looking confused.
"Just...Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou," the transexual armor-clad female(?) said. Nexus bit her lip hard to keep from laughing. What an idiot. Why was this chick acting like a guy? She was terrible at it.
"You know Mushu?" Sora asked, completely oblivious.
"Mushu's one of my family's guardians," "Ping" replied.
"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian," Goofy said, looking a little confused.
Suddenly Mushu popped up into view. "Yeah, that's right!" He scurried up back onto "Ping's" shoulders. "And that puts you three up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here."
"Ping" shrugged and smiled nervously. Another falsehood?
"Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!"
Nexus growled under her breath, "I'm NOT a kid. I'm freaking twenty. Twenty. Two and zero. Ten times two...got it memorized?"
"Mushu..." "Ping" said quietly.
"Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right?"
"I do. I don't have anything to do with this," Nexus complained, folding her arms across her chest.
"And who are you?" Mushu asked. Nexus bent towards the little dragon.
"Hi. I'm Nexus. I have a nice gun, I protect Sora, and I will kill anyone or anything that gets in my way."
She smiled sweetly, then stood upright again and sighed through her nose.
"Hmm, sounds fair, though," Sora said, nodding a little. Nexus felt like falling over. Idiot!!!
"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial army."
Ah. So that explained the transexual thing. But why would it matter? Nexus asked herself. Shouldn't they judge on skill and not gender?
"We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp," Mushu continued, looking over "Ping's" other shoulder.
"Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you."
BINGBINGBINGBINGBING!!! I should've bet on that, Nexus thought, smirking. So this "guy" was really a girl pretending to be a soldier? What drama.
"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" Sora asked. Here comes the lightbulb...
"Well, um, uh, don't--don't worry about that," Mushu said, nervously chuckling.
"You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't ya?" Goofy deducted at last. Sora and Donald jumped, looking completely shocked. Nexus simply laughed aloud.
"I knew it. Good call by me," she said, grinning.
"You're a...GIRL?!?" Sora shouted, his voice cracking.
"DUH!" Nexus shouted, shooting him a look. "Your real name is Mulan, then."
Mulan smiled nervously, but in a satisfied way.
"You didn't notice?" she asked sheepishly.
"Uh-uh," Donald said, shaking his head.
"Not me," Sora added, doing the same. Nexus sighed, frustrated.
"But you did," Mulan said sadly.
Nexus' PoV
I shook my head a little. She was so naive, almost as bad as Sora.
"Of course I did; I'm a girl, too," I said as nicely as I could manage. "But if they're making as big a deal about there being girls as soldiers as you say they are, that means no other girls will be there to recognize you. So you shouldn't worry."
A sudden thought struck my mind, and I found myself in a sudden pickle.
"Wait, wait. If we're coming with you, I'm gonna need to have some armor and stuff, too. Got any extra gear?" I asked.
"Actually, you're in luck," Mulan replied, throwing me a large pile of armor similar to her own, only red. "What about your hair?"
"It's long enough I can pull it back into a bun," I explained, looking around the area. I saw a strip of bamboo shoot and picked it up. Fingering it gently, I figured it would work as a hair ribbon for a while. As for my bangs...
I scanned the area once again. Anything that would work as a clip would be nice, I prayed, taking a few steps forward.
Suddenly a sharp gust of wind caused a small object to come flying up into the grove. It hit Donald in the face; I definitely laughed. I bent down to pick it up to see it was a doll. It was kind of torn up and its hair was singed, but it had what I wanted.
"Ooooo, a sign from the higher power," I joked, pulling out a black hair pin. Some little girl probably thought this hair-do was the bomb.
Only moments later was I ready to go.
"Can you sound like a guy, Nexus?" Sora asked.
"More than you," I replied, grinning.
"Prove it," Donald said.
Clearing my throat, I prepared myself for getting into my mode. That's right; I could imitate Axel's voice.
"Well, I don't know. You'll just have to give some more thought to who's most important to you. Our most precious memories lie deep in our hearts, out of reach. But you can find yours, Sora," I quoted, smirking.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at me with wide eyes. I simply shrugged. When you spend a lot of time around someone, you learn to imitate them, right?
"Let's go, then!" I exclaimed, leading the way out of the bamboo grove.
.........
As we walked into the soldiers' camp, I heard Mushu whisper something to Mulan.
"Remember, girl--manly!" he hissed. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mulan attempt to strut into the camp. I rolled my eyes slightly and joined Sora in line. It appeared to be a food line, which made me happy. I was hungry.
Suddenly a short, oaf-like man pushed Sora out of his spot right in front of me, sending him into me, almost knocking me over.
"'Bout time we got some grub," he said in a gruff voice. What a jerk!
"Hey, no cutting!" Sora shouted, growling.
"Get out!" Donald added, hurrying to Sora's side.
Before I could say anything myself, the guy whipped around and punched Sora right square in the jaw. I yelped, then growled.
"WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" I shouted, full-out tackling the jerk. Donald was soon joining me, and for once, we were working together to beat the eff out of this guy.
"Back off!" he shouted, punching Donald back. I just kept punching the guy over and over...
"Uh-oh," I heard Goofy say.
Suddenly I felt myself get thrown off to the side. Looking up, I saw a enormous soldier standing next to a skinny one.
"Hey, a space in line!" the skinny one shouted, kicking me and the guy I was beating up away.
"Heyy!" I whined, getting up. I had to dodge the fat guy.
"I wonder what they're serving for lunch today," he said, knocking the other two soldiers out of the way.
"Knuckle sandwiches!" the original soldier guy shouted, throwing another punch. I was half-tempted to whip out my gun. Oh man, I REALLY wanted to~!!
"That does it!" Sora shouted, taking another hit from the short, stocky guy. He pounced on him and pulled at his hair.
"Let me help!" I offered, kicking him in the face over and over.
The five of us continued to duke it out while Goofy, Mulan, and the fat guy stood on the sides, looking concerned. Forget pretending; girl or not, I was determined to kick this guy's ass!
"Please!"
Oh. No. She. Did. Not.
Everyone stopped and glared at Mulan.
"Please?" the tall soldier mocked, laughing.
"What a girl!" the short one said, joining him.
"Uh..." Come up with something good, I thought, frowning. "Knock it off!"
"Knock WHAT off?" the short one said.
"You punched me!" Sora shouted.
"Cutting in line!" Donald added.
"Being an ass in general!" I growled, remembering to use Axel's voice.
"What a shrimp!" the tall one said. I clenched my fists.
"Who you callin' a shrimp, panda lips?" Mushu suddenly shouted, popping out of Mulan's armor. "I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!"
Mulan struggled to shove Mushu back inside. (After all these years, I've never been able to figure out why she put him there anyway.)
"L-let's just get back in line, okay?" she stuttered.
"Whose side are you on? I just got slugged!" Sora shouted, looking very, very pissed for once. I had never seen him so humiliated!
"Want some more?" the short soldier threatened. Sora clenched his fists again, but a sudden shout caught everyone's attention.
"Soldiers! Get back in line!"
Everyone scurried to get into a spot in line as the assumed captain marched by. Donald took a quick peek to see what he looked like; I decided to as well. He had weird eyes, just like Mulan.
As soon as he was out of sight, Sora waved a closed fist at Yao.
Black spots of darkness caught my attention soon thereafter.
"What are they?" Mulan asked, drawing her sword.
"Heartless," I said, pulling out my gun. Hopefully there's a place with ammo, I thought. I was beginning to run low.
"Oh yeah?" the tall skinny soldier said. He and the other two put up their dukes. I chuckled.
"Ping, I hope you're ready!" Sora shouted, summoning his keyblade.
*~*~*
After fighting the Heartless, the five companions were introduced to Captain Shang. He was rather impressed with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, in disbelief with Nexus' skills, and was doubtful of Mulan. Since they couldn't simply use a feminine name, Mulan went by Ping, and Nexus went by, of course, Axel.
They also met Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po formally.
Since the others needed Captain Shang to trust Ping, the five of them had to undergo rigorous tests. Of course, Nexus and the others were used to it. Ping still sucked...but slightly improved.
They were given one last chance: the leader of the Hun Army, Shan-Yu, was planning to attack a village. Sora, Nexus, and the others were to clear the mountain trail so the rest of the troops could get through. Once again, it wasn't a problem.
That seemed to do the trick. Shang finally--albeit reluctantly--let Ping join the troops officially. The troops arrived at a small village near a smaller mountain cave. Yes, Nexus got more ammo there, probably more than she really needed, but you know how she is. Anyway... Mushu came up with a plot after seeing Shan-yu on the mountainside to go attack him, but when the five of them went to check it out, they were trapped by the Heartless. Nexus, Sora, and Ping were trapped in the dead end with numerous Heartless while Donald and Goofy were on the other side, blocked by an invisible barrier.
After getting out of THAT mess, another thing got in their way. The village they had just left was burnt to the ground. Their captain was injured, and now I'm going to pick back up. Don't you just love how all the boring stuff got skipped?
"Captain, the enemy! Where did they go?" Ping asked, forgetting her man voice momentarily at the sight of their hunched-over captain.
"They went toward the summit..." he replied, clutching his side. Nexus watched, and--in a flash of horror--she pictured herself in that position...hurt...possibly even dying...where would Axel be then?
"We'll stop them!" Ping growled, standing upright.
"It kinda is our fault," Goofy admitted.
"Right," Ping agreed. Mushu suddenly jumped down from Ping's shoulder and walked away so his back was facing them all.
"You mean MY fault," he said sadly.
"Uh-huh," Nexus said. Sora elbowed her hard. She thought to smack him, then changed her mind.
"Uh-uh!" Donald insisted.
"Shan-Yu and the Heartless did this, not us!" Sora added, nodding. "Captain, if you track down the villagers, we'll handle this."
The captain nodded weakly.
Sora, Nexus, and the others looked up toward the summit. It gave them an eerie feeling, as if something bad was about to happen.
"Let's go," Sora said anyway, and they headed up to their destination.
"Hey, look," Nexus said quietly, pointing out a small brown blur in the distance. As it approached them, they realized that it was actually going up to the summit, and that it was Shan-yu's hawk. They hurried through the deep snow to the summit, where Shan-yu awaited them, seemingly alone.
"Leeeet's get this over with," Nexus said, pulling out her gun.
"ATTACK!" Shan-yu shouted, and the five of them looked at each other, confused. Attack? Who else was there?
The question they all had on their minds was soon answered when hundreds of yellow and black Heartless began to swarm and make their way down the hill.
"Ummm, Sora, should we bail or not?" Nexus asked quietly.
"We can't give up right off the bat!" he replied, readying his keyblade.
"I was afraid you would say that," she muttered, marching up the hill.
"Hey, wh-where are you going?" Ping asked.
"To fight, of course," she said, picking up the pace. Nexus began to full out sprint up the hill, gun in one hand, seafoam colored keyblade in the other.
"She's nuts!" Ping said; Nexus didn't hear her.
"Better get used to it," Sora replied, following Nexus. Donald and Goofy and Ping went their separate ways, as did Sora and Nexus.
Even with Nexus doubly armed, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ping fighting with all their strength, Shan-Yu still made his way down the hill. It seemed hopeless until Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po arrived.
"Stand back!" Yao shouted, shoving Sora and Nexus aside.
"We'll handle this!" Ling added, revealing a large cannon. Yao placed it facing Shan-Yu and the endless amount of Heartless. Nexus and Sora looked at each other, gasping for air. This would settle things...
And then Ping yanked the cannon out of the ground and butted Yao out of her way.
"Sorry!" she called to him, running toward the army. Finally she set the cannon down in the snow, for once, completely aware of what she was doing. The new question was what to light the stupid thing with. "Oh, a flint, flint, I need so--huh..." Her slanted eyes fell upon Mushu, who was staggering through the snow.
"Me? Hey, whoa! Whoa! Wait a second! Ah!"
Without any hesitation, Ping snatched up Mushu and stretched him out. Out from his mouth came amber flames, causing the cannon to light. Mushu somehow ended up on the cannon, riding it straddle-legged. And, in only a matter of seconds, the cannon exploded, shooting off towards the mountaintop.
"You're going the wrong way!" Mushu screeched.
Ping ignored him as the cannon hit its destination and did its job: the mountaintop and an avalanche.
"Yes!" she breathed, pumping her fist in the air ever so slightly.
"Captain?"
With that one word, Ping whipped her head around, focusing her attention at said Captain, who was walking her way with a couple of foot soldiers. She glanced back at the avalanche, then back to the Captain.
Springing to her feet, she shouted, "Look out!" and ran over to him. She would have to outrun the snow in order to have any chance of saving herself and him.
Nexus, on the other side of the battlefield, was already sprinting toward the rock Sora and the others were hiding behind. Despite the deep snow, she wasn't having much trouble staying ahead. She dove to safety just as the avalanche reached the rock.
"Run for it!" Yao shouted at the Captain and Ping. They dashed behind the rocky corner of the mountain, watching the deadly snow rush past them and off the cliffside.
"Thanks, Ping," the Captain sighed when the avalanche subsided. The two of them were sitting in the snow, panting.
"It...was nothing," Ping mumbled, standing. She helped the Captain to his feet.
"I should never have doubted you," Shang added. "From now on, you have my trust."
"Thank you, Captain." Ping nodded a small bow of gratitude, but Shang didn't notice. He was engaged in watching a small red dragon pop out of the snow, and he listened to it grumble out loud.
"First she uses me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball," it fumed. "The head ancestor's gonna hear about this. You know, that's it ! I give up! I can't take this no more. C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl."
Shang, at first, wondered what the heck the dragon was talking about and who it was talking to, until he heard Ping say, "Mushu!"
"Huh?" "Mushu" grunted. Gasping, the dragon looked at the Captain and quickly clamped his claws over his mouth.
"Mulan?" Shang croaked. "A woman? It can't be!" He turned to Ping, or Mulan, and she held her head low. This couldn't have confirmed it more.
"Ping! Captain!" Sora's voice rang out through the cold, quiet air as he and the others ran over.
"Oh boy, you're okay!" Goofy added when he saw they were on their feet again.
"You all knew, didn't you?" Shang snapped. "You knew Ping was really a woman in disguise."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood there in silence. Nexus sighed.
"Well, shit, if that's how it's gonna be--!" she huffed in her normal voice. Quickly and skillfully, she undid her bun of hair and let it cascade down her shoulders once more. Shang stifled a gasp--TWO women!? And this one, he'd never seen hair like that before...
"Get over yourself," Nexus said. "I'm a woman, too."
"I can't believe you lied to me," Shang croaked, astonished. "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Army...is death." He turned his back on the group, and they watched in silence. "Get out of my sight...now. You're all dismissed."
"But Captain..." Sora started, taking a step toward him.
"My debt is repaid," the Captain said evenly, walking away. "The Emperor is waiting! Move out!" he shouted to the remains of his troops. They trudged after him toward the city once more.
Mulan let out a huge sigh as Mushu hopped onto her shoulder.
"Mulan... I blew it," he admitted.
Nexus' PoV
I will not tell a lie: I was really relieved to go back to being a girl. The armor was crushing my boobs, and the whole hair-up thing was beginning to bother me. I hate not having bangs...
"Thank you, everyone," Mulan said when she had also discarded her armor. "Sorry I got you in trouble."
"I'm glad you finally did," I told her with a smile. "I was tired of being a boy."
"Yeah, it's no big deal," Sora added. "So Ping... I mean, uh, Mulan...what're you gonna do now?"
"Go back home," she replied, walking toward down summit.
"You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling," Mushu pointed out. Mulan sighed in reply.
Suddenly Sora grabbed my arm and hugged me to his side, strangling Donald and Goofy on the other side.
"...!!!"
"Relax, we'll take our share of the blame," he said.
"Hey! I didn't even do anything!" I shouted, squirming away from him. "Don't touch me, you little freak."
Sora pouted, staring at me with his big blue eyes. I sighed.
"Thanks," Mulan said, smiling. "You're all wonderful friends."
I thought that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, considering she'd only known us for a few hours. But the more friends, the merrier. It would've been lonely to walk down to the ridge by ourselves. However, we weren't talking at all, so I might as well have been alone.
A screech from above interrupted the silence, and we looked up to see a hawk soaring above our heads. It flew over the summit, and suddenly a hand popped out of the snow, followed by a head that roared. Heartless appeared around the man immediately.
"Shan-Yu!" Mulan gasped as the hawk landed on his shoulder. We ducked down in the snow, watching.
"He's alive!" Sora added in disbelief.
"Maybe he's a Heartless now," I suggested. I didn't think anyone could easily survive that big of an avalanche.
"He's heading for the Imperial City! We've got to warn Shang!" Mulan cried, jumping to her feet. The rest of us did the same, and together we raced toward the palace. We found the Captain just inside the palace walls, and his exhausted troops were behind him. They looked ill, and tired.
"---Shang!" Mulan shouted, catching up to him before the rest of us did. He stopped, albeit reluctantly. "Shan-Yu is alive! He's headed this way!"
"And why should I believe you this time?" Shang growled, irritated.
"But...she's telling you the truth!" Sora whined.
Suddenly Donald make one of his "wak!" noises. He pointed to the same hawk we saw earlier. We followed it straight to a rooftop where Shan-Yu stood triumphantly. Shang gasped as the warrior jumped closer to the palace.
"Guard the palace!" the Captain cried to his troops. "Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!"
Yao, Ling, and Chien Po dashed off with a battle cry, but the rest of the troops stopped. Something about them just wasn't right...
"That's an order!" Shang barked, but the soldiers suddenly changed into Heartless, their souls lost to darkness. Ah.
Sora, Mulan, Donald, Goofy, and I jumped into action as the Captain stood there, his jaw dumbly agape.
"Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Sora told him, keyblade in hand.
When Shang hesitated, Donald whipped around and shouted, "That's an order!"
As the Captain ran off, we began to take out the Heartless. It felt good to be out of that stiff armor. I could move around much more swiftly than before. It was good to be a girl again. Mulan looked like she felt the same way.
"The Emperor's in danger!" Mulan shouted when the last Heartless was vanquished.
"No time to lose!" Sora agreed, nodding.
*~*~*
The group finally reached the palace gates to see the Chinese Emperor standing bravely with Shan-Yu's sword to his throat.
"Now you'll bow to me!" the warrior growled with a smile that displayed yellowing teeth.
Shan-Yu glanced at Mulan, who nervously stared back. That display of fear was enough to distract him for a few seconds.
Out of nowhere, Shang came down on top of Shan-Yu, tackling him to the ground. While the hun lay stunned, the Captain helped the Emperor into the palace chambers, while the only three soldiers left, Yao, Ping, and Chien Po, locked the gate behind them. Shan-Yu, getting to his feet, started after them, but Mulan, Sora, and the others stood guard, weapons in hand.
"It ends now!" Mulan said, taking a battle stance.
"Right now!" Sora echoed.
Shan-Yu didn't look intimidated at all. His hawk landed on his shoulder, and his whole body glowed with dark energy. He let out a growly laugh, and soon Heartless appeared at the doors, trying to beat them down.
"Donald, Goofy," Nexus murmured. "Let's guard the doors while Sora and Mulan focus on Shan-Yu."
When they nodded, the five burst into action. Magic blazing, bullets whizzing by, swords clashing...the noise was incredible.
"Ow!"
Feeling a sharp pain on her shoulder, Nexus whipped her head around to see Shan-Yu's hawk hovering by her head, its eyes glowing.
"Change of plans," she said to herself, loading her gun. "I feel like chicken tonight."
With the skills only she and Xigbar possessed, Nexus fired her gun at the hawk and hit it right in the face. Squawking, it fell to the ground, where she shot it once more, ending its misery.
"I can't help but feel a little heartless about that..." she murmured to herself. "...Oh well!"
Returning to her friends, Nexus realized that all the Heartless were already gone, and Shan-Yu had literally just met his end. The beastly man clutched his side and fell over, dead. Mushu jumped off Mulan's shoulders, cheering.
"Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun! Aw, yeah!" he shouted, bounding around. "Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute--I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!"
His celebration was immediately silenced by the appearance of the Emperor, who wore a stern look on his face. The group bowed immediately.
"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan," he said, staring at the Chinese woman before him. She bowed again, looking like she might get sick.
"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier." Nexus raised her eyebrows--she had no idea this goody-two-shoes girl would do something like that! "You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."
"We get the picture..." Sora said impatiently.
"You're a young woman. And in the end..." The Emperor paused; Donald let out a sad sigh. "...you have saved us all."
To everyone's shock and utter amazement, the Emperor bowed to Mulan. She gasped, then turned to see hundreds upon hundreds of people cheering and bowing to her from below. Sora cheered for her with his friends, and Nexus couldn't even help but laugh at the irony.
"Your Excellency!" Mulan cried, ecstatic.
"Captain Li?" the Emperor said, motioning for Shang. He stepped forward with Shan-Yu's sword and handed to her.
"Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China," the Emperor insisted with a kind light in his eyes.
"Thank you," she breathed, bowing again.
"Mulan," the Captain said suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Sora."
"Sir."
"Donald."
"Wak!"
"Goofy."
"Yes, sir."
"..." Shang paused. "What is your real name?"
"Nexus," she replied, pointing to her temple. "Got it memorized?"
He nodded, then murmured, "Thank you." He bowed slightly to them, and the Emperor scoffed.
"'Thank you'?" he echoed. "Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that!"
Shang's jaw dropped as the Emperor laughed heartily at his own joke. Mulan giggled as well.
"Can I get an autograph?" Sora asked her with a typical cheeky grin.
"Thanks for everything, Sora," she said, smiling back.
"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian!" Mushu exclaimed in rapture. "They GOTTA!"
"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian!" Goofy said curiously.
"What? Oh, no, no---don't even worry about that, that's just real technical," Mushu stuttered. "Just for us guardians."
"I knew it!" Nexus cried, stomping her foot.
"You tricked us!" Sora shouted, scrunching up his face in anger.
"No, no no no, see I did---I just, uh..." With as much speed as he could get, Mushu darted off, Sora and Nexus in hot pursuit. "You know, I just didn't wanna bog y'all down with all a guardian's deeds. See, they're very complex, a lot of fine print. You wouldn't understand."
Suddenly Sora hit the brakes and came to a complete stop right in front of Nexus, who slammed into him, falling on her butt.
"Ow..."
"Sorry." He helped her up. "But look!"
Shan-Yu's sword, which was now glowing, floated up out of Mulan's arms and into the air.
"Another gate?" Nexus suggested. Sora nodded, summoning his keyblade.
"Okay!" Donald shouted when Sora finished opening the gate.
"Guess it's about time to be movin' on," Goofy said cheerfully.
"You shall be missed," the Emperor said.
"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" Sora asked with a small smile.
"Of course!" Mulan exclaimed.
"We will look forward to your return," Shang added with a smile. Sora smirked.
"You two play nice," he said, giving them a thumbs-up.
"Whoa... Watch it, soldier!" Shang gasped. Nexus smacked her forehead. Kids...
Mulan blushed as Sora waved goodbye. She was grinning, though, as was Mushu, who had hidden with her for safety.
"Goodbye, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Nexus!" she said with a smile.