Chapter 8... whew, I'll be glad when I'm done this story...
I own nothing but Sapphire, Joey, and the bad guys.
The two of them appeared behind crates of vegetables. "Let me guess. Ancient China. Why in the world are we in Mulan?" Joey complained. He'd OBVIOUSLY been clued off by the stone walls, paper lanterns, horse carts, and (of course) the Chinese people milling about.
Sapphire glanced around too. "Those guys have some way of tracking us. They'll definitely find us again, and when they do," her eyes narrowed dangerously, "we'll be ready."
"Soooo… we're gonna collect powers?"
"Bingo. We go to Mushu first."
"How'll we get through the crowd? A dog with wings is sure to attract attention."
Sapphire didn't bother to mention that a girl with wings would attract twice as much attention than a dog would. "We get to him the one way we can." She twitched her speckled wings. "We fly."
She snapped open her wings, Joey following, and pumped them. Taking to the air was surprisingly easy for someone who'd never flown before.
Sapphire loved the way the wind felt between her feathers. She rose into the clouds, braid flying behind her. She looked down to see Joey "running" through the air. His legs moved just like they would if he were on solid ground and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. He came flying up to her.
"Isn't this awesome?" Sapphire cried, pure ecstasy edging her words.
"I guess. Except the clouds make my fur wet."
"Stop being negative. This is amazing and you know it." Sapphire looked down through the clouds. "There's the temple where Mushu works. We're going down."
She tucked her wings close to her body and began a nose dive to the ground, snapping them open again 30 yards from the roof. She fluttered down, landing softly on the top of the small building and Joey lighted down beside her.
"Oh my gosh, that was so COOL!" Sapphire squealed, twisting to look at her wings again. "I'm gonna LIKE these things!"
They glided down to the temple entrance. Sapphire went inside, but Joey hung back. "I'll just be a lookout here. I'll yell if I see anything." Sapphire rolled her green eyes.
There were shiny gravestones with Chinese writing on them lining the walls. They shone like crystal, reflecting the "stone guardians" that were carved into a small ledge between the wall edge and the ceiling.
"Mushu? Are you in here?" Sapphire whispered loudly into the seemingly empty pavilion.
"Hey, girl, how'd you know my name?" The teenage looked up, grinning, to the tiny red dragon.
"Just a hunch. Come down here."
He slithered to the ground and Sapphire knelt to be a bit closer to his eye level. "Do you feel anything coming up?"
He gave her a weird glance, then hacked. Sapphire opened her mouth to receive the white ball.
"What was that?" A very astonished Mushu asked.
"I'm not sure, but I think I'm starting to have a slight clue."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Mind filling me in?"
"Actually, I do. It could put you in danger." He just shrugged. "Also, I need a couple of scales."
"What for?"
"A project I'm doing." Mushu twisted his lithe body around and pulled some scales out of his thigh. Sapphire took out her scrapbook and out the scales safely in the "Mushu" page. The dragon looked over the edge, his eyes scanning the colored pictures of himself.
"Is that me?"
Sapphire blushed. "Yeah. I drew it myself. Sorry if it doesn't look good."
"Naw, girl! It looks great!"
"Thanks. But I have to be going now. As far as anyone's concerned, I was never here, ok?"
"Sure. I never saw ya. I was napping the whole time."
"You're sweet. Thanks, bud." She turned and walked out the archway, ignoring Mushu's surprised gasp as he saw her wings.
Sapphire met Joey outside. "Hey Saph! Look what I can do!" She watched, astonished, as he pulled his wings into his shoulders, making them disappear completely.
"Sick!" She exclaimed, smiling widely. She tried it too, bubbling over with glee as her wings vanished into her body. "They're retractable! That is so epic!"
"There she is!" Girl and dog spun around to see five guards in Chinese dress stomping towards them. They all had their swords out.
Two sets of wings snapped out as Sapphire and Joey lifted off, leaving behind flabbergasted guards.
"Now what? Word is getting out about us and it's not good, Saph." Joey glanced over his shoulder at the dumbfounded men.
"We'll dodge guards, collect powers and weapons, and get souvenirs from characters at the same time. The final showdown won't be too far off."
"Alright. If it means we'll be able to stop running," he snuck a look at his back, "or flying, I'm all for this 'final showdown' thing. Where to next?"
"Sam, she's collecting power." Kevin alerted the tall man.
"I know. We'll need backup." He replied, sounding far off.
"Who?"
Sam just shot Kevin a look, and the short man knew.
General Rick.
He gulped. "Y-you mean…"
"Yup. We're going to New York, getting the General, collecting troops, then coming back." He pulled on the goggles. "Hang on."
Kevin hung on and they vanished.
King Mickey frowned. His throne room was filling up fast with characters that had lost their powers. Pascal, The Beast, Aladdin, Panchito, Mushu, and numerous others. Some extras, like John Smith, were complaining about weapon loss. All the noise was starting to make Mickey's head hurt. All cases included the girl and her dog.
Some Chinese guards from Mulan's kingdom had reported seeing her, but then she'd just "flown" off. Mickey couldn't explain how that could've happened, unless she'd just "sprouted" wings.
He suddenly had a very bad feeling.