Showdown in the Land of Dragons!
A/N- As I thought, these next chapters are going to take me a long time to do, but I hope you can all continue to put up with me.
"So we're heading to the Land of Dragons, right Naruto?"
The blond ninja nodded, absentmindedly. He seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts. It wasn't surprising, he had of course been asleep for over two years. He was probably disoriented.
"Uh…yeah. That's the world that I was thinking about when I opened the gate. Is that Shang guy expecting us?" He asked Roxas in return who was acting as their representative and talked to the other world representatives.
"Yeah, we have to join his Imperial Army or whatever. You better be on your toes, Naruto. It's probably gonna be pretty strict."
Naruto let out an annoyed sigh and gave Roxas a look that said 'Yeah I know.'
"Speaking of which…" Naruto turned around to face Sakura, a playful smirk on his face, which made her edge away from him. "You still haven't explained this plan of your's. This one about sending someone in your place in the army. How's that going to work?" The Imperial Army had a rule about not accepting girls, so Sakura wasn't allowed to join with Roxas and Naruto. Of course that wasn't going to stop her.
Sakura played with her hair casually. She didn't answer for a while, until she caught both of the boys looking at her, expectedly. She sighed. "I was planning on just using the illusion card to make everyone see me as a boy. I thought if I used it as a drive form it would make the illusion even more powerful and believable." She shrugged.
The boys shared a look of doubt neither looking happy with Sakura's decision. Sakura didn't like that. "Oh have a little faith." Sakura told them, frowning. "I know that employing the drive forms are supposed to be difficult, but I think I can do it if I concentrate and work at it hard enough."
Roxas bit his lip and tried to avoid eye contact with Sakura. "But, you see, that isn't our problem Sakura. The illusion card can make a great illusion and everyone will think you're a boy, but what if you're told to do something only a boy could do. You know, physically."
Sakura's eyebrows raised, her nostrils flared and her glare made Naruto and Roxas flinch. "Need I remind you that 'Fight' and 'Power' are both female? And then I'm sure I'll be fine. I may not be as strong as you guys are, but I can fight. I know how to use a sword and my magic should allow me to do well enough that I don't come under suspicion."
The boys still didn't look convinced. "I swear!" Sakura yelled, throwing her hands up into the air to emphasize her annoyance. "You guys are sexist pigs. I'm sure Xion and Hinata will love to hear that."
"I'm pretty sure Li would be the same. He wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or anything." Roxas commented, his hands also up, but his to show his surrender and that he didn't want trouble.
"Or be in danger. If Shang catches you, he has the legal ability to order your death."
Sakura sobered up after that. She was cursing herself for not doing the research that the boys had obviously done. Still, she had to be confident enough to just do this, for her pride more than anything. Besides she was trying to help this world.
"You better call on the Illusion card. We're here." Chip told Sakura after a few more minutes. Sakura nodded, gazing out at the world from above. She drew the card from the deck and summoned out her wand. "I call on the power of my star. Ancient forces near and far. Star card, I call on all your might, join with me and prepare to fight!" There was a small flash of light and Sakura was for a moment, curled up in a ball, with the Illusion card circling her.
When the process was finished, Sakura's appearance was a multicoloured silhouette of her normal form, much like Illusion's appearance.
She didn't do anything for a moment and then suddenly her appearance changed. She sprouted shortish black hair, a pale complexion and glasses which went over a pair of raven black eyes. She…he smiled, which looked somewhat creepy. Sakura looked down at her clothing, a special sort of cloak, which made her look like some crazy sorcerer.
"…Eli…" Sakura whispered, looking at herself in a mirror in her room. She returned to the others, who looked at the male form that Sakura had decided to take.
"We thought for sure you were going to choose to look like Li." Naruto chuckled, something told Sakura that the boys had been joking about exactly how Sakura would treat looking like her love.
Sakura shrugged in response. "I have no idea why I chose this form, but I did…It feels familiar. I don't know why." She said, her mind wandering.
"Well whatever. Let's just get down there." Roxas said, opening the gummie ship door.
Down on the Land of Dragon world, a young man dressed in a black and green armour and their black hair tied up in a short bun. A small red Chinese dragon rested on the man's shoulders. They were peering through some trees to look at what seemed to be the ruins of a village. Much of it was still on fire. In the middle of it all was a man dressed in an odd assortment of clothing, with a bird of his shoulder. He was laughing mirthlessly.
The two looked away from the sight, neither wanted the man to see them. "You saw that, right? That's Shan-Yu. The leader of the Hun army. And now he's got these crazy dark things followed his orders too. Come on! I can see it now. Fa Mulan whoops public enemy number one. You'll be famous girl!"
"Mushu, I don't know about this. All I really want is to do is take my father's place and preserve my family's honour. Not getting discovered is a task in itself, but defeating Shan-Yu is a different one entirely." The man had quite a feminine voice.
"Aw come on girl! You're scared, admit it!"
"Well…aren't you?" Mulan answered, looking uncomfortable as the dragon shook his tiny head in disbelief at the lack of confidence the girl had.
The Key Wielders landed in a thicket of bamboo. They were supposed to meet Captain Shang at a nearby camp, where he was training his solders and recruiting some new ones. It was a small walk from where they were now.
The three started walking in the direction that they thought that camp was in, the reason that they didn't land at the camp was that the boys both decided that Sakura needed a bit of time to try walking and acting like a boy. It was soon obvious that the time was well needed.
As the three were walking, they bumped into what seemed to be a solder. He seemed bashful, but he had a small dragon with him that more than made up for his shyness. "Hey there. Are you joining the Imperial Army too?" Naruto asked him, as they stopped to talk.
The boy hesitated. "That's right." He mumbled.
"Yeah that's right! My…boy here's gonna be number one! Gonna teach that Shang guy a thing or two."
"Mushu. Please." The boy begged. Sakura frowned. 'There's something not right here.' She thought to herself.
"Yeah we'll see. Captain Li asked us to join the army and help out against the heartless. You know the black guys following this Shan-Yu guy around. My name's Naruto. And these are my friends Roxas and…" He hesitated, looking at Sakura unsure of what to do.
"Eli." Sakura answered, without thinking. It was the name she thought of when she first took the form and it just seemed…right.
The boy nodded. "I am…Ping! Son of Fa Zu." He said, puffing out his chest and deepening his voice.
Sakura's frown deepened. "So, uh…who's the little guy?" She asked, indicating Mushu who was glaring at her, not appreciating being called something so demeaning.
"His name is Mushu. He's one of my family's guardians." Ping told them all. Nobody said anything for awhile and then Ping's eyes lit up, as if he had just had a thought. "Could I join you guys. It would be easier to fit in the Imperial Army if I'm with guys like you."
"What do you mean 'fit in'?" Roxas asked, eyeing the two characters suspiciously, probably also checking their hearts for darkness.
"Uh…well. You know. I'm just…shy. I thought people might accept me more if I was with you three, who came here at Captain Li's personal request."
Naruto didn't look impressed. "You know, you should really do that…" But he was cut off by Sakura.
"Sure, we'd love to have you along with us. But that would probably mean some rigorous training. You'd be pushed harder than the other solders. Would you be okay with that?" Naruto glared at her and Roxas raised his eyebrows in her direction. He wanted to see where she was going with this.
Ping nodded, vigorously. "That's okay. I can fight and I'm not that weak. I can handle myself at the very least."
Sakura nodded and turned to her male companions. "There you go see. Another girl who can do anything a guy can do and willing to do more!" She said, victoriously.
Naruto's and Roxas' jaws dropped open and they turned to Ping. "You're a…girl?"
Ping smiled a bit at their reaction. "You didn't notice?" She asked, her voice much lighter now, obviously belonging to a girl. They shook their heads in response.
She smiled a bit longer and then turned to Sakura and her smile faded a bit. "But you saw through me almost straight away." She said, sadly. "And I was so sure this was going to work."
Sakura giggled and shook her head. "It's okay. Another girl might be able to recognise you, but a boy wouldn't be any the wiser."
"Another girl?" Sakura's appearance faltered a bit, before returning to her original appearance. She smiled at Ping.
"My real name is Sakura Avalon. I'm here because I want to help my friends and this world, but Shang's rules made me resort to these measures, as I'm sure you already know."
Ping nodded again. "My real name is Mulan. I'm here to preserve my family's honour, since my father can no longer participate in the war and I was unable to find a husband." She said, sadly.
Sakura shook her head, in disbelief. "What? Is this whole world sexist. We need to do something here. God!"
The camp site wasn't too far away after that. The four found it within minutes, tents were set up everywhere, with a large one up front. That must have been Captain Li's tent.
A loud noise, like a horn of some kind, went off just as the four entered the camp. At first they thought it might have been to signal their arrival, but it soon became obvious that Shang didn't consider them that important.
The horn was instead signalling it was time for lunch. The solders were made to line up in what the Key Wielders thought was Shang's tent, but was in fact a place where medicine and food was stored. Sakura didn't see any other kind of large tent, all the others were the same.
"Well at least he seems to believe in equal rights for Men." She said, with only a tad bit of distaste.
"Come on. We might as well line up too. Best way to talk to Shang, since he's probably the one handing it out." Roxas said, shrugging.
The four lined up, like all the other men. "Outta my way!" An unattractive, podgy man dressed in a red armour named Yao, came and pushed Naruto out of his place in line.
Two other men, one in yellow (Ling) and another in blue (Chien Po) took Yao's lead and pushed their way into the line too. "Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Naruto fumed.
The solders didn't even bat an eyelid, as he yelled. Naruto couldn't let it go, of course. "Damn it! Don't ignore me!" This time Yao did react, he turned and threw a punch at the ninja.
Naruto's reflexes were good, but he wasn't expecting it. Also at Yao's height, it went straight to his stomach. He groaned for a moment, his eyes flashing with anger.
Roxas, usually the level headed one, was outraged by Yao's unneeded violent outburst. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
The little man turned to him. "Do you want some too?" He asked, his lips positioned to make it look like he was snarling. Neither Roxas nor Naruto moved an inch. They both looked quite unimpressed actually.
"Try it." Naruto said, confident. Yao growled and Naruto growled back. It wasn't long before they were matching each other hit for hit, rolling on the floor.
Roxas shook his head and sighed, but tried to help him out. Sakura, along with the solders that arrived with Yao got involved as well. Mulan was taken aback and was especially surprised by Sakura's actions.
"Please!" Mulan begged. Everyone stopped, immediately, and looked at Mulan with a varying looks. The solders looked a mixture of shock and disgust.
"Please?" Yao repeated, glaring at Mulan who trembled under him.
"Uh…I mean. Knock it off!" Mulan said, deepening her voice and puffing out her chest again. The solders rolled their eyes and started making fun of her, as they regained themselves and returned to their place in line.
Shang walked down the line, inspecting what the cause of the commotion was. He glared at the solders in red, yellow and blue, before turning his eyes on his new recruits.
"So you're the famous Key Wielders. In the flesh. I would expect, you who apparently saved the universe from the Heartless would have a little more restraint from you." His eyes passed and locked on to Mulan and Sakura.
"And who are these two?" He addressed Roxas and Naruto, instead of asking Sakura and/or Mulan to introduce themselves.
"My name is Eli. Sakura asked me to come in her place." Sakura said, defiantly.
Shang raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware of anymore Key Wielders."
"I'm not well known. I like to stick to the shadows. I'm sure if you ask the right people, someone can tell you who I am." Sakura answered, impressing those around her, by lying quickly and fluently.
"And you?" Whether he believed Sakura or not remained to be seen. He not turned his attention to Mulan.
"My name is Ping. I asked the Key Wielders, personally, if I may be of help to them. I am from the Fa family. It's a honour Captain." She bowed, and Shang seemed stuck between the fact that he knew nothing about the 'man' that was before him and the fact that he was better tempered and mannered that the group he was supposed to have invited here, personally.
"I see…" Shang left, thoughtfully. But he was faced with heartless, just as he was leaving. The solders started to panic, knowing that their normal attacks usually didn't affect these creatures. "You! Quickly. Do your job. This will test to see if you're worthy of serving the Imperial Army!" He shouted, while ordering all other men to get back and observe.
Sakura didn't look happy being belittled by Shang, but realised she might as well do her job great and earn his respect, rather than pout about it.
"Shield! Dark! Light!" Sakura cried, the two male Key Wielders looked at each other and told 'Ping' to get back. "Yin Yang Vortex!" She cried, the shield card, taking a round shield like form, lay flat out of her open palm. A Yin Yang decoration on its front. The symbol began to move and it opened, suddenly the heartless were being sucked into the shield. Into, what Sakura could only imagine as another dimension or something similar.
Afterwards, Sakura fell to her knees, exhausted. The attack was probably Sakura's most powerful, and as such it drained her to a dangerous point. Mulan rushed to her side, to help her up. "Well done." She whispered in the other girl's ear. Sakura nodded and thanked her.
"Eli, is it?" Shang said, after Sakura was back on her feet. She nodded. The captain smirked. "Those skills out there were quite incredible. Are the rest of you that strong?"
Sakura shook her head. "Me and Sakura are on the same level, but Roxas and Naruto are much stronger." She told him. Shang looked impressed. He nodded and went on his face.
He noticed Mulan, entering Sakura's tent, just as he was leaving. "But you still need to prove yourself. I haven't seen any talent from you yet." He told her. Mulan nodded, earnestly.
"I'll do my best sir." 'He' told Shang, who nodded and wore a facial expression that told 'Ping' that, that was expected of him anyway. He wanted to see more.
"I've a mission for you four." Shang told the Key Wielders some few days later, as it was continued to show that the four worked well together and Mulan was slowly earning some of the Captain's respect.
"We're moving up the mountain soon. There's a village up there that has requested our assistance and protection. However, the mountain path is blocked by boulders and is crawling with heartless. As you can probably guess, I need you four to go up first and scout the area, eliminating anything that might be problematic for the rest of the army on your way."
The four nodded and hurried to get packed and move out.
Once the four were safely at the mountain path's entrance, the four came to a halt. There was a large amount of boulders in their way for one thing, but Sakura had asked the others to wait, while she broke her connection with the 'Illusion card'.
She sighed, heavily. She had made a rough estimate of how much power she used up, having Illusion fuse with her, constantly. The answer was 'A lot.' So, she had to break off the connection whenever possible, otherwise she could do real damage to herself.
"You take it easy." Naruto told her, he made a hand signs, summoning shadow clones. Two of which went over to Sakura to help her walk. She was proud, but also smart enough to accept help when she needed it and surrendered herself to the two clones, who carried her.
Roxas watched her solemnly, then turned his attention to Mulan. "We're going to be taking on all the heartless that come around, while Naruto focuses on the boulders okay?"
Mulan nodded, curtly and took out her father's sword, looking ready for battle.
"Byakugan! Rasengan!" Using his gift from Hinata to spot weak points in the boulder formations and taking them out with the Rasengan proved to be a good strategy and Naruto moved quickly.
Nightwalkers and Assault Riders were two breeds of heartless, the gang hadn't encountered before coming to the Land of Dragons. Both kinds were formidable foes, which Mulan had trouble subduing. "Stop!" Roxas cried, making his enemies freeze in place, so he could defeat them without any trouble.
The group made it to the village without trouble soon after that. Sakura had to return to her Eli guise, as Naruto signalled for the rest of the troop to make its way up the mountain.
The first to arrive was Yao, Ling and Chien Po who, humbly, admitted their wrongs and complemented the group, especially 'Eli' and 'Ping' choosing to use the term. "Finest men among all men." Which made Roxas and Naruto chuckle and they had to leave, before they burst into laughter.
The Captain was the next one up. He nodded to the two out of the group of four remaining. "Good work. You better do us proud now." His eyes hesitated on Mulan. "And Ping…well done. You seem to be keeping up with the others just fine." He walked off. Sakura congratulated her on getting Shang's approval, who did likewise before they settled in the village.
"I'm telling you guys. There's this shady looking guy hiding out in a cave not too far from here. I know it's Shan-Yu." Mushu told the group. He had gone off to explore, almost as soon as they had arrived in the village.
"If it's Shan-Yu, then we should tell Shang and get the troops to surround him." Roxas suggested, a part of him loved having so many people to coordinate into a fight.
"He's right." Mulan said, nodding.
"Not so fast Mu- eh…Ping." He said, as some solders were passing by at the time. He lowered his voice and continued. "Mulan, girl, you're here to bring honour to your family. The best way to do that is to fry up that Shan-Yu guy good. I know with all four you on him together you can do it."
Mulan hesitated, realising that Mushu was right. The others exchanged looks. Roxas sighed, as everyone eventually turned their gazes on him. He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright. We'll go check it out. I guess this means we won't be putting any of the other solders in harm's way…" He trailed off. The others smiled, victoriously and the group headed off to the cave that Mushu had discovered.
The cave was close to the village, closer than any of the group would have liked. Way too close. They explored with Mulan and Sakura leading and the boys bringing up the rear.
They eventually found the end of the cave. A round room, lit by candles. It did look like someone had been using it as temporary living conditions. But there was no one there at the time.
"Dead end." Roxas said. "He's not here. We might as well go back and inform the Captain about it though."
Naruto nodded, not seeing anything of interest in the cave and turning around to leave. The girls remained in the room for a moment longer, before deciding to leave as well.
Of course, the room filled with heartless at that exact point. A barrier went up between the boys and the girls separating them. It was made of darkness, and Roxas probably could have destroyed it in moments, if he wanted, but sounds of screams and a hair raising laugh distracted him.
"Go on! We can take care of ourselves here!" Sakura said, breaking the connection between her and 'Illusion'.
The boys nodded and ran towards the village. That left Sakura and Mulan in a room full of heartless. "Let's go." Sakura told Mulan, who nodded getting to work on the Shadow heartless that clumped together in groups.
"Release the Light!" Sakura said, drawing five different talismans from her pocket. "Fire! Water! Earth! Wind! Lightning!" All around her streams of energy zoomed around, taking out heartless whenever they could. "Sword."
The group of heartless wasn't strong, but there was a lot of them and so it took the two girls awhile to defeat them all. "Dark card!" Sakura cried, summoning out the black mistress who handled the barrier and freed them from the cave. The two girls rushed out, Sakura making sure her disguise was back on before leaving.
The two girls gasped at the state of the village, as they arrived. It had almost been burnt down to the ground. Shang was lying against the wall of the village, clutching a wound. Roxas was covering any remaining flames and also healing anyone who had been injured. Naruto was defeating the last of the heartless.
The two regrouped with the four. "It was a trap." Roxas said, bitterly. "Shan-Yu was hiding out. He tried to lure us and trap us in the cave. Too bad for him, me and Naruto got out when we did."
"Where is Shan-Yu now?" Mulan asked. Shang was the one who answered.
"He went towards the summit!" Shang breathed, shakily. He was still clutching his wound and was barely able to keep himself up.
Mulan turned on Roxas. "Why didn't you heal him too?"
"He wouldn't let me!" Roxas replied, defensively.
"It's just a scratch." Shang said, trying to smile, but failing miserably.
"We'll go and stop him. Once and for all!" Mulan said, determinedly. Seeing the captain like this must have sparked her passion.
Mushu hung his tiny head in shame. "It's all my fault. I was stupid enough to fall for that rat Shan-Yu's tricks…"
"Stop that!" Naruto said, patting him gently on his scaly back. "Anyone would have done the same. You were just trying to do what you thought was best for your friend. Trust me, that's how every good guy gets tricked."
Mushu nodded, still sad but at the same time his eyes had the same determination that Mulan's were showing off. "Let's go!"
The gang headed towards the summit of the mountain, it wasn't a long journey from the village, but it was difficult to climb up, especially with the slippery snow on the ground.
With Mulan leading the group, Roxas found himself bringing up the rear. They were almost to the top, when Roxas stopped. He could feel something. No that wasn't right. The truth was he couldn't sense anything.
Roxas turned to see a man in an organization cloak. He wasn't giving off any kind of presence. Actually, it was like he was hiding his presence somehow. "Who-"
Before Roxas could finish his sentence, the man rushed past him and the others, with a great speed. "Wait!" Roxas cried, chasing after him.
None of the others noticed the man, until he rushed past them and by then it was too late to stop him.
"Organization XIII?" Naruto asked Roxas, who had gotten the best look.
Roxas hesitated before answering. "I don't know. Maybe. I couldn't sense his presence. But he was wearing their cloak…"
Mulan looked troubled by the man. "He's one of the bad guys?" She asked, to which the others nodded in response. "That's what I thought. There have been rumours for awhile now about a spy dressed in black lurking in the mountains."
The gang took in the information. "Come on. We need to get going!" Naruto cried, bursting with energy.
The gang reached the foot of the mountain within moments after they encountered the man in the cloak. Shan-Yu stood at the summit's top, looking tall and mighty, with his falcon on his shoulder. He began to laugh and it soon became obvious that Shan-Yu had the upper hand here. He had a heartless army of easily a thousand. Naruto cursed.
He, along with Mulan and Sakura, went right into the battle taking out the heartless that soon surrounded them.
Roxas was going to charge in too, but something stopped him. For a second time, he turned around to see the cloaked man looking at him. "Who are you? Part of Organization XIII or…" The man didn't answer, instead he pointed behind Roxas. The blond turned and swung with the X-Blade taking out a few of the heartless that were about to attack him. The cloaked man seemed to be laughing. He took out a blade. It sparked a memory in Roxas' mind. But the blade looked also slightly different. It reminded Roxas of Soul Eater. It reminded him of Sasuke.
The two's blades clashed together and then the guys separated to attack the heartless around him. "Oblivion Arrow!" Roxas cried, sending a dark powered attacked at his opponent.
The man in the cloak didn't seem phased. He raised his hand and a shield went up. It was made of darkness. Then he fired a multiple of dark orbs. "Reflect." Roxas said, sending the orbs at the surrounding heartless.
The man came at Roxas, quickly, his sword infused with both darkness and light, he began slashing wildly. If Roxas had any doubts they were gone now. "Oath of Oblivion!" The attack sent the man flying. He landed at the foot of the summit, but part of his body was hanging off the ledge.
Roxas rushed to the man, but before he got there the man let go of the edge. Roxas eyes followed the man down to point where he disappeared through a corridor of darkness. Roxas chuckled. "Sasuke. What am I going to do with you…"
The others were about done with the rest of the heartless, but there was still quite a few heartless still around and of course Shan-Yu was still around. He seemed to be taking a back seat to the battle. That being said, he seemed he was now happy to take the battle into his own hands. He charged down the summit, his jagged sword raised above his head.
Yao, Ling and Chien Po arrived at that point, they were carrying some kind of giant firework of some kind. The three seemed content to aiming it right at Shan-Yu to take him out.
Mulan look worried, she seemed like she was about to say something, but instead shoved Yao aside and took the firework for herself. Very boyish.
Mulan instead aimed the firework at the mountain side above the summit. She fumbled around for something to light the firework. Finally her eyes locked on her guardian and despite his protests she pulled his tail, making sparks erupt out of his mouth.
The firework took off to the mountain side, black some following it, until a small explosion took place on the mountain side, causing a huge avalanche.
"Yes!" Mulan cheered. She looked around to smile at her companions, but her smile faded when she saw that the still injured Captain Li was limping towards them. Her eyes switched to the avalanche and then to the Captain. He was going to be caught in it.
Shan-Yu howled, as the huge amount of snow rolled over and crushed him. Mulan ran and grabbed Shang's hand, pulling him to safety. "Run for it!" Yao cried and everyone started running away too.
Everyone was breathing heavily as they finally reached a point where they were no longer in danger. Especially Mulan, who had to practically drag her injured captain. "Thanks Ping." Shang breathed, gratefully.
"It…it was nothing." Mulan said, helping the Captain up and then falling to her knees. She moaned in pain, clutching her stomach, in agony.
"You're injured." Shang realised. "Lie down. I've got a first aid kit with me, I can deal with your wounds."
"No! Please. I'm fine!"
"Don't be silly. Here, take off your armour…"
"Ping! Captain!" Sakura said, coming towards them.
Shang's eyes were ablaze with fury. His lips were quivering with anger. The three had seen a lot of things in their time, but they almost cowered under his glare. "You knew! You all knew, didn't you? That Ping was actually a girl named Mulan."
The boys didn't meet his eyes, but Sakura did. "Yes, but so what. She saved your life and defeated Shan-Yu. She saved this world, for crying out loud. Male or female, it shouldn't matter." She broke her connection with the 'Illusion card', revealing her true self.
Shang looked taken aback. "I can't believe this. All of you lied to me." He turned his back on the group. "The punishment for lying and disgracing the Imperial Army…is death." He let that sink in, Roxas was ready to get everyone out of here in a moment's notice.
"Get out of my sight." He told them. "You're all dismissed. I thank you for saving this world. This makes my debt repaid."
Roxas opened a corridor, which allowed Mulan to return home. "Thank you. All of you. Especially you Sakura. Thanks for sticking up for me."
Sakura shook her head. "It was nothing really." Mulan smiled. Then she faced the corridor.
Mushu huffed, sadly. "Your daddy's going to be steamed." He told her, she nodded, in equal sadness.
Then the ground began to rumble. A hawk screeched overhead. And a loud, ferocious roar sounded throughout the whole of the mountain.
A giant heartless rose into the air. It seemed to be that of a dragon. Shan-Yu was on its back, with his sword raised. He then pointed it towards the west and the dragon heartless took off.
"He's heading towards the Imperial City. The emperor! We've got to warn Shang."
The others nodded. "Put your armour in the corridor. I'll create another to get to the city." Mulan did so. She wore her hair down and wore a brown and green martial arts robe.
The gang reached the City before Shan-Yu, or at least so it seemed.
The courtyard was empty and the main gate was locked up tight. The group looked around, but couldn't see any way of getting in, except for a large enough gap for them all to crawl through. The problem was that it was at the top of the Emperor's palace.
Sakura and Naruto could get up there with no problem, but Roxas and Mulan would have trouble getting high enough. "Tinker Bell! I need you!" Clutching one of his summon charms.
A huge ball of light glowed in front of them, once it faded, a little blond haired girl in a little green dress appeared. She looked pissed off. She went right into Roxas' face who tried to calm the little girl down.
"Please Tink. I've been asleep. I'm sorry for not summoning you in so long. But hey, it's not like you've aged a day. You're as beautiful, as the first day I saw you." Tinker Bell blushed and tried to hide her smile. She circled the four, allowing them to take to the sky.
"Come on! Let's go!"
The gang found themselves in a long room, lined with lanterns. A man in a cloak was right in front of a door, with a dragon symbol on it. The four floated down to the floor.
"Not so fast!" Naruto cried, running towards the cloaked man. He flinched and turned around on the spot.
Roxas turned his head, as if he was thinking. "Sasuke…?" The others exchanged looks.
The cloaked man laughed a little. He took his hood down, revealing a weathered face. A long scar ran up his left cheek and he had an eye patch over his right eye. His hair was tied in a long ponytail and was streaked with grey. "Never heard of him. It's me; Xigbar, remember? I'm number two in the Organization that's going to be kicking your ass."
He clicked his fingers and suddenly the room was filled with a group of Nobodies. Sniper Nobodies.
They raised their crossbows and took aim at the gang. "Reflect!"
"Rotation!" The arrows made of a powerful energy bounced off of the two's shielding techniques and hit back at their opponents taking them out.
When the Nobodies were gone, the gang looked around to look for Xigbar, who seemed to have vanished. "He's still around…Guys. I'm going after him." He said, turning around and flying off.
"Roxas! Wait!" Sakura called after him.
Naruto shook his head, in disbelief. "There's no point. He's been taking these Organization guys really seriously. Besides, he's upset. He still has no idea if Naminé and Sasuke are alright."
Sakura sighed and nodded, realising that Naruto was right. "Let's go."
The other three entered the Emperor's throne room. The Emperor himself, an aged man, with a long white beard sat in a comfortable looking chair at the very top of the room. Not much of a throne in retrospect.
The three bowed and went on their knees upon entering. "We apologise for barging in like this." Sakura began.
"But please listen to us. Shan-Yu is alive. He's coming here with a large and powerful dragon like heartless. We believe he's coming after you."
"And why should we believe you this time?" Shang said, viciously.
Mulan looked down at the floor, but she clenched her fists and looked Shang straight in the eye. "I realise that you have no reason to believe us. And I don't expect you to give me another chance. But I'm telling you now to warn you, otherwise all of China will be in danger!"
Shang smiled, as did the Emperor. "I see what you mean, Shang." He said. "This is definitely a very interesting woman."
Mulan blushed, taking the Emperor's words as a compliment. "To be honest, we were already warned about Shan-Yu. A young man in a black cloak came and told us about it."
"What?" Sakura asked, but there was no time for a reply. A loud roar came from outside, making everyone brace themselves and frown solemnly.
"He's here." Naruto said. "I'm going to take on the heartless. You two stay here and protect the Emperor." He ordered, taking off.
The two girls nodded and readied themselves for the worst.
"So Roxas. How do you expect to defeat me by yourself?" Xigbar asked, apparently amused by how Roxas had chased Xigbar alone.
"I don't need to get my friends involved just for taking out someone like you." Roxas replied, icily.
"Oh!" Xigbar said, gesturing with his hands to tell Roxas to stop. "That's cold. You're going to hurt my feelings."
Xigbar waited for a bit. The surprise on his face looked genuine. "What? No 'Oh you don't have feelings' crap. None of that from you?"
Roxas shook his head. "I know that Nobodies can feel too. It doesn't matter if you supposedly don't have hearts or not."
Xigbar's hands moved to where his heart would be. "Aw. That's too cute. You're going to make me cry. But there's just one thing. I think I have to teach you a lesson. You're a million years off, from taking me on your own!"
His hands moved as fast as lightning, taking up his Arrowguns and shooting at Roxas, who was fast too and blocked every attack that came his way.
"You'll need to do better than that Xigbar! Oathkeeper Thrust!" Roxas came in fast, charging with his Keyblade, which was empowered by light energy.
Roxas was attacking the air. He looked around to see Xigbar firing shots from behind him. The attacks hit Roxas right on, causing him to fall to his knees. "Thunder!" He cried, Xigbar tried dodging him again, but the thunder magic was fast and followed Xigbar until he resurfaced.
Roxas jumped to his feet. "Stop!" He cried, using his magic to freeze Xigbar and then swinging the X-Blade, which was caught by the Arrowguns.
Xigbar was moving again, smirking at Roxas' skills despite himself. "Blizzard!" He cried, as Xigbar tried to disappear yet again. He began to freeze and Roxas swung again, forcing him through the portal.
Xigbar landed on the ground behind Roxas, laughing like a maniac. "Now that's more like it. You ain't half bad. But I think it's time to finish this." Xigbar joined his Arrowguns together, to create a sniper rifle like weapon. He aimed it at Roxas, and it fired hundreds of shots at one time.
Roxas' eyes widened. How was he supposed to counter something like that. 'What are you doing? Don't you dare give up!' Sasuke!
Something took over Roxas at that point, he raised his Keyblade and focused on the darker side of his heart. Using rage to fuel his attack at Xigbar. "Oblivion…Volley!" From the tip of the X-Blade, hundreds of dark arrows were released. For a moment, Roxas' eyes glowed a golden colour.
Xigbar chuckled. "Not bad, not bad at all. Matched me hit for hit. Now let's see if you can match this!" His rifle vibrated a bit in Xigbar's hands and from out of it came a huge blast of energy, which took Roxas down.
"Damn. You two may look alike, but you're on two completely different levels. Too bad for you." Xigbar opened up a corridor of darkness and was preparing to leave.
"Oathkeeper Thrust!" The X-Blade flew out of Roxas' hand and landing on the small of Xigbar's back. He howled in pain and then started laughing. Roxas summoned his Keyblade back to his hand, after Xigbar had disappeared.
He was seriously weak after his fight with Xigbar, but he forced himself up. "Cure." He tried, but to no avail. He didn't even have enough energy left for that. He moved, slowly, towards the Emperor's palace. Two figures were looking at him, from afar, with worried expressions on their faces.
Naruto had to deal with the Heartless known as the Storm Rider. It didn't look like it was going to be easy. "Flying Thunder God Technique!" Naruto cried, throwing his KeyKunai at the heartless, as it flew past.
Naruto appeared on the creature's belly. He focused a Rasengan right into it. The creature screamed and flipped over, sending Naruto into the air.
He regained his sense of balance, while in the air, but he soon realised that the dragon was stronger than he gave it credit for.
It could control lightning and was sending bolt after bolt after him. "Rotation!" Naruto cried, covering himself in chakra so the lightning wouldn't hit.
The heartless turned over and started dropping bombs all over the area. Rotation wouldn't hold and Naruto knew that. He cursed fluently. "Ice style: White Whale jutsu! Water style: Twin Water Dragon Technique! Wind style: Typhoon Amputation!" Ice, water and wind hit the dragon with enough force to bring it down hard.
Or so Naruto thought. The dragon roared, barriers of electricity went up around Naruto. The beast's horns began to glow. Naruto's eyes widened, as a huge ball of electricity came right at him. Ready to completely destroy him.
Naruto raised his hands in defence. He tried to think of anything that could stop this. What was his strongest attack? The answer came to him in a memory. His last fight against Sasuke. "Ultimate Rotation Rasengan Combo!"
I threw the huge spinning chakra orb at the sphere of electricity, which forced it back towards its maker. With both balls of energy heading towards the Heartless, it never stood a chance.
It gave one last feeble roar, before collapsing and fading into the shadows. A huge heart left its body and raised to the sky.
Naruto smiled at his achievement. He looked at his fist and smiled some more. "I'm getting a lot stronger." He said to himself, pleased.
Shan-Yu burst through into the Emperor's throne room. Sakura, Mulan and Shang were ready for the battle. His falcon was still on his shoulder. He looked at his three opponents, not particularly impressed by them.
"This ends now Shan-Yu!" Mulan told him. The two by her side nodded, in agreement. Shan-Yu simply laughed at them, darkness began to cover him.
Hayabusa flew in at the three, swiping at them with its sharp talons. Shang didn't even bat an eyelid, as he slew the bird with one quick swipe with his sword.
Shan-Yu looked taken aback and then angry. He rushed the three, summoning heartless to his aid, as he went. Sakura took out two of her Star Cards in response. "I call on the power of my star. Ancient forces near and far. Star cards, I call on all your might. Join with me and prepare to fight! Fly, Sword! Drive form!"
Sakura's hands were replaced by deadly looking blades. Her eyes were like that of a bird, two large beautiful wings sprouted out of her back. She flew right at Shan-Yu her blades swiping against the Hun leader's skin and the metal of his jagged blade.
Mulan ran to assist her, while Shang was busy taking care of any of the heartless that he could.
Shan-Yu came forward, swinging his blade like a mad man, but against three well trained fighters, he had no chance. But that wasn't going to stop him.
He was insane. "Mulan! Watch out!" The mad swings from Shan-Yu's blade were becoming dangerous for everyone, including Shan-Yu, who was cutting himself at the same time.
Sakura put herself between Shan-Yu and Mulan. Shang wanted to know if she was alright, but Mulan was trying to focus on Shan-Yu. "Mushu! Come on! I need you." She told him, he came out of his hiding place in Mulan's clothes.
"Fiery!" Sakura yelled, summoning out her fire controller. Mushu readied himself to breathe fire and Fiery was going to assist. When Mushu opened his mouth, a huge fireball came out, engulfing Shan-Yu, incinerating him. By the time Mushu was finished, so was Shan-Yu.
The four heroes were called into the Emperor's throne room. The Emperor himself was smiling up on his comfy throne. "I've heard a great deal about you Fa Mulan." He said, Mulan blushed and bowed lower before him.
"You stole your father's armour. Ran away from home. Impersonated an Imperial Solder. You deceived your commanding officer. Shamed the entire Chinese army and dishonoured your family name." Mulan looked like she was ready to cry.
Both Naruto and especially Sakura looked like they wanted to protest. But Roxas told them to wait. "But despite everything." The Emperor said. "You have saved us all." He bowed to her, which seemed to embarrass Mulan to no end.
"Captain Li." The emperor said, turning to his right hand man. Shang nodded and gave Mulan Shan-Yu's blade, which seemed to have survived the flames. He bestowed the blade upon Mulan.
"Take the sword." The emperor began. "To show the world what you have done for China."
"Thank you so much." Mulan said. The Emperor smiled, this time also at the Key Wielders.
"You have done much for China and for my own personal being. I believe it would be unreasonable to grant you a wish for your troubles."
Mulan shook her head. "Please. You've given me enough."
"Nonsense. My dear, what does China's bravest woman desire?"
Mulan thought for a moment, her eyes settling on Shang. "May Shang, I mean Captain Li please have a vacation. He works so hard, he deserves some time off. Especially now since Shan-Yu has been defeated."
The Emperor and Shang both looked shocked. Suddenly all eyes were on the Emperor. He looked awkward and slightly unsettled. "I must admit, I didn't expect a request nearly as humble as that. But I'm afraid I must decline." Even Shang looked sad at this. "Captain Li's job is to protect me and I must be selfish in taking him for myself. However, would you like to serve alongside him and protect me also."
Shang and Mulan's eyes widened even more than they already had. "Two reeds together are stronger than one." He said, cryptically. "Of course the choice is your's." He said.
Mulan nodded, she was smiling widely. "Thank you, your Excellency."
Mulan and Shang exchanged looks. Shang rubbed the back of his head, as if he was embarrassed too. "Um…thank you Mulan. I didn't really say it up on the mountain. I'm sorry if I seemed to be treating you harshly. I was…confused, I suppose you could say."
"Is that all you have to say?" The Emperor said, smiling mischievously. "If you want to win her heart, I would say for a start that you would need a better vocabulary." Shang went as red as Mushu.
Speaking of which. "Here Roxas. You can summon guys right. Call me anytime. And I'll get your ass out of trouble." He said, entrusting a red stone into Roxas' hands.
"Thanks Mushu. I'll be sure to remember you." Roxas promised.
"Now that just leaves you're request, Key Wielders. Ask whatever you wish."
Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look and nodded, before glancing at Roxas. "You said someone in black warned you. What exactly did he say?"
"Huh?" Roxas had still yet to hear this news.
The emperor looked surprised and chuckled. "He told us how one of our legendary dragons had been transformed into a heartless and that Shan-Yu still lived. But he also told us… How did he put it Captain Li?"
"He said some wise guys were coming and they would take care of it." Roxas started to burst into laughter. "That's Sasuke. It's gotta be."
"But what's that guy doing running around with the Organization guys." Roxas shook his head.
"I don't think he is. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. We'll find out the truth eventually. But this is a clue. Maybe soon I'll find out everything…"
Everyone smiled, until Mulan gasped suddenly. Shan-Yu's blade suddenly started to glow and rise to the sky. Sakura's key was glowing in response.
She nodded, realising what this was and opened the gate, thinking of a world where a beauty lived, along with a Beast.
A/N- So yeah. Did I mention that the next chapters would be FREAKING long. Seriously, this chapter is over 8,000 words long. That's crazy. Oh well, it should be interesting.
Next Time- Humanity and Beast-ity!