The last chapter for the Land of Dragons. And the first time I show off Xayn Shu's skills. Enjoy!

Yao: "Hey, wait a minute! What about my skills!?"

(Flicks Yao's forehead with two fingers, knocking him over)

Ling: "HA! Great skills!"

Chein Po (while Ling is getting pummeled by Yao): "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 55: Defenders of China

Xayn Shu looked down on the battle from a safe distance. He saw the Keybearers and their allies battling his forces. They were doing quite well, considering the impossible numbers stacked against them. As he thought this, the red-headed one that had escaped Crucion's grip summoned a huge inferno, destroying what must have been a dozen Heartless.

He had to admit that they were quite skilled, but in the end, it didn't matter how skilled they were. In this war, quantity out ruled quality, and he had both. Already two of them were most likely dead; Xaynew's brother and their renegade slave. He had smelt them, they had survived the avalanche. But after that, surely Vexen and that experiment of his would have been able to take them.

His master would be very pleased to learn of their deaths at his hand.

His eyes shifted, and became those of a falcon. He looked closer on the battle. The girl with the Keyblade Master the last time had just beheaded a Red Fang. He'd kill her personally. But business came first. He turned his sight to the palace. Near the top of the steps stood the Emperor. That defiant old man would die first.

******************************************************

Sora leapt onto the back of an Assault Rider, and struck it in the back twice. He jumped off, and landed behind a Neoshadow, which met the same fate. Kairi came up behind him, and destroyed the Nightwalker behind him with a blast of Light.

They stood together (as it should be) and struck down any Heartless that came toward them. Sora hit low, and Kairi hit high. Working together, they were inseparable, and the smaller Heartless couldn't hope to hurt either of them.

But the sheer size of a Red Fang might. One was sliding toward them now, hissing. It struck at the two, with its mouth wide open. Sora and Kairi leapt apart, to either side of it. Before they turned around to face it, the King leapt at it. He fired a ball of Light down its throat. It had a nice effect, it shot down its throat and exploded on the inside, taking it out.

Mickey leapt through the battle, Kingdom Crown cutting through anything in reach. He came upon an Assault Rider. Its lance swept at the tiny king, but he jumped onto the wide part. He leapt off of it, and struck it in the face with his blade. He landed on the ground and destroyed three Shadows lined up neatly on a row. He spun around and blocked a swipe from a Nightwalker.

Yuffie ducked under two dive-bombing Rapid Thrusters. As they passed overhead, she struck both of them with her shuriken, and when she was done she used it to destroy a Nightwalker.

A Red Fang suddenly loomed over her. She didn't notice until its shadow fell over her. She turned around just as it brought its giant mouth down to crush her head. Then the Guardian shot up from the ground, catching its mouth, and parting it. Yuffie threw a knife down its gaping mouth, striking it in the back of the throat, killing it.

The ninja looked over her shoulder and winked at Riku. He threw her a smile and charged back into the battle. His blade descended on a Neoshadow, and then cut sideways to catch a Nightwalker in the neck. He leapt into the air, and destroyed three Rapid Thrusters with quick strikes from his blade, and before he even landed again, destroyed another with a shot of Dawn.

Axel, Donald, and Goofy stood closest to the gates, ready to defend it by any means possible. Axel was probably doing the most damage, calling up massive infernos upon large groups of Heartless.

If any got too close, Goofy was there to smash them away with his shield. Donald was watching the tops of the walls for the flying Heartless. The imperial archers were fairly accurate, shooting them down if they came too close. But as added insurance, Donald would call down bolts of lightning on them.

Donald shot a shard of ice into the fray farther on, taking out a Shadow before Sora even got to it. He rushed through the space it had occupied and cut down three more like it in as many seconds. Kairi shot over his head, taking down dozens of Heartless on the air, and on land.

Mulan and Shang stood together, practically in the center of the battlefield. Their shining blades were flying everywhere with the skill of practiced swordsmen. Mulan destroyed a Shadow, and the spun around, destroying a Nightwalker. Shang plunged his sword in to the hilt in a Red Fang's underbelly. Mushu came around and reduced a Neoshadow to cinders in seconds.

From the walls above, Ling, Yao, and Chein Po watched all of this happen in total awe. They stared, open-mouthed, as Kairi, Riku, and Sora (on the Keyboard) all took to the air at once, and fired at the Heartless below them in unison.

"Woah..."

They didn't realize that they were in for their own excitement very soon.

******************************************************

Back at Xayn Shu's lookout point, he stood up from the rock he'd been sitting on. He stretched out his back muscles, and decided that he'd seen enough. Over a hundred of his Heartless had been destroyed. Time for the game to end.

He pulled his sword from its scabbard. From his back burst two giant falcon-like wings, and somehow, with them released, he grew from being a man of short stature, to a six-foot tall behemoth, as his other had been.

He took a running start, and leapt from his rocky perch. His wings started beating, and he gradually leveled out. He streaked over the battlefield, shooting for the palace.

At the sight of him, the cannons at the top of the wall opened fire. Burning dragon-heads were shooting toward him from all directions. He juked over, under, and around the projectiles.

He rocketed toward the wall, and sliced one of the unprepared cannons in half. He shot over the army (which wasn't actually seeing any action) toward the top of the stairs where the Emperor stood. The old man seemed very surprised to see a supposedly dead enemy flying toward him.

He landed near the top of the steps, and ran toward the Emperor. Two soldiers at the top with him rushed toward him with their swords out. He casually caught one, and forced it out of his hand. The hapless man was then met with a knee in his stomach, and fell to the ground, breathless. The other one was hit in the side of the head with the hilt of his sword, and knocked out immediately.

Xayn Shu ran forward immediately, and roughly grabbed the old man around the shoulders. He held his blade to his throat, and blasted into the air again. The Emperor remained silent.

He settled onto the wall directly over the gate, still holding his blade at the old man's throat. He laughed wildly, drawing everyone's attention, even the fighters below. The Heartless stopped attacking, and sank into the ground.

The feeling of triumph, it was intoxicating.

He didn't realize that in just a few moments, his carefully laid plans would all fall apart.

*****************************************************

The second the Heartless disappeared, Sora's head shot up, as did everyone's. Xayn Shu was laughing like a madman, holding the Emperor's life in his hands. The first signs of despair began to show on his face.

"You had the opportunity to prevent this!" The Nobody announced, smirking down at Sora and Mulan (who were coincidentally standing next to each other). "This world is mine! I'll trade this old one, for the girl and the Keybearers!"

Sora traded glances with Mickey, Riku, Kairi, and Mulan, one at a time. They all looked equally grim. His grip on his Keyblade tightened; he had no idea what to do.

But the decision was taken out of his hands when Roxas exclaimed in his mind, "He's HERE!"

Sora's head shot up. Xayn Shu let out a cry of surprise. For his sword had just flown out of his hand, without causing the Emperor any pain. It soared through the air to two rapidly approaching flying figures. It landed in the left hand of one flying below.

"That's not very nice." Nehrut streaked toward the unarmed Xayn Shu and hit him with a mental blast, gently scooping the Emperor out of his grasp, and setting him down near some soldiers on the wall. Bariss took the sword and tossed it at Xayn Shu while he was still airborne, and it struck him in the side as he fell to the other side of the wall.

Nehrut and Bariss landed easily on the ground back outside the gates, and everyone ran towards them as fast as possible.

"We leave you alone for a few hours and look what happens." Nehrut said with a grin, right before Yuffie crushed him with a sisterly hug.

"You're absolutely hopeless without us, you know that?" Bariss continued, then Kairi was crushing her in her embrace. Sora was so relieved to see the two alive that he wasn't even shocked that she had cracked a joke. He also noticed that she wore a shield on her back, so he assumed that Vexen was no longer a problem.

"We thought you were dead!" Kairi exclaimed, hovering all around them. "I can't believe you're alive!"

"Aw, c'mon Princess," Nehrut said with his usual lopsided smile, "You thought a few thousand piles of rock, snow and ice would be enough to kill me? You'll need a lot more than that. Believe me, people have tried."

They had a brief laugh before the Heartless appeared again. There was a cry of fury, and Xayn Shu appeared above the gates again, wings beating.

"You think this is over!?" He shouted. Immediately, the Heartless sprang into action, attacking the reunited group.

Xayn Shu charged down at them, his sword back in hand. He brought it down hard on the one who had attacked him with it: Bariss.

Her brand new shield was in her left hand in a heartbeat. It intercepted the blade with a loud clang. He pushed down harder (while hovering in the air), but was thrown off when Nehrut struck at the blade, nearly knocking it from his hand. He and Kairi together took to the air, striking at him from either side as the Heartless closed in on the others below.

Kairi slashed at his stomach, and he deflected it, when he tried to strike back, Nehrut's blade was in the way. He lunged at his neck, and he lost altitude to keep away from it. The girl blasted down at him with Light, and it caught him full in the chest. He landed hard on the ground on top of an Assault Rider. He picked himself off of its back.

Before he could take flight again, he found King Mickey all over him. The King's Keyblade was a blur of gold, he leapt at his head, and struck at his face. He was just barely able to bring his blade up in time to block the strike. The King pushed off the blade with his own, and went through an arc over his head and to his other side. He destroyed a Shadow, before twisting around to strike at his back.

The Nobody twisted around to block the attack, and aimed a strike of his own at the diminutive king. He blocked it, and leapt straight into the air, striking at his face. He was successful in leaving a mark across his forehead. He snarled, and struck vertically down at him.

Mickey held his blade horizontally over his head, and caught the strike. Xayn Shu pressed down as hard as he could, trying to break past his guard. Suddenly Mushu was standing on top of the King's head, smoke pouring from his flaring nostrils. He took a deep breath, and flames burst from his gaping mouth.

The Nobody released the King's blade and staggered back, he beat his wings once and he was back in the air. But he wasn't alone.

Riku was just feet away, Way to Dawn in one hand. His Guardian floated dutifully behind him. Riku stretched out his hand, and blasted Dawn energy at the Nobody. He shot farther into the air, evading the blasts. Riku followed him.

The Guardian streaked ahead of him, leaving a glowing trail of orange in the air. It was soon right in front of Xayn Shu. The Nobody swung his sword, but the Guardian brought up one of its muscled arms, and blocked the strike easily.

Before he could do anything else, it grabbed him firmly by both shoulders, and started to squeeze. He dropped his blade somewhere into the fray below them. Riku floated up and occupied the space in between its arms.

Xayn Shu stared at him for a moment, and brought up his knee into Riku's stomach. He managed to break his concentration long enough for the Guardian to loosen its grip. He fell for a moment, before taking flight again.

He cruised above the battlefield for a moment before he found his weapon. Yuffie had it in her hand, and was using it to fend off a few Heartless, admiring it in the moonlight when she had a chance.

This aroused a bit of false anger within him. He shot toward her, and snatched it from her hands in midair. He landed again, and swung hard at her waist. She jumped backwards, and drew a dagger from her belt. He swung again. She displayed a surprising amount of strength for a girl her size and build, and blocked his much larger blade with her own.

She dodged way from his follow-up strike, and tossed the knife at him. It clipped his shoulder, and flew into a Rapid Thruster. Xayn Shu struck at her again, but she was no longer there, only a greyish cloud of smoke.

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and received a face full of boot. He stumbled backwards just a bit, and struck at her head. She brought up her shuriken and blocked it. She disappeared in another cloud of smoke, and in her place were Donald and Goofy.

Goofy smashed his shield into his chest, and he gave ground. He swung at his head, but it was blocked by the shield. Bolts of electricity rushed from the head of Donald's staff, and impacted with his chest. He flew backwards, and beat his wings a few frantic times, and he was airborn again.

But Nehrut was right there, and he was blasted right back onto his back. Sora was above him now, striking at his head. He rolled away from it, and lept back onto his feet. Both of their blades met with a flash of light. Xayn Shu swiped at his head, but Sora ducked under it easily. He stabbed at his stomach, but for a man of such bulk, he moved surprisingly quickly away from it.

He counter-attacked, and only succeeded in removing a single hair from the Keybearer's spiky head. He followed up with a strike at his legs, which he blocked. Sora lept into the air and swung at his head. Xayn Shu parried it, and was about to strike back, when Bariss's whip struck him in the chest (a very sore spot by now).

He switched track, and ran toward her. She now held her shield in her left hand, and used it to block his downward strike. She put her whip on her belt and pulled out Rose Blade. She reached past the shield, and stabbed it into his stomach.

He let out a grunt of pain, and leapt away from the blade. He took to the air just in time to avoid Sora's blade.

And, of course, Kairi was there with her own Keyblade glowing with Light. She swung at the Nobody, nearly knocking his blade from his hand yet again. She kicked him in the chest, sending him reeling backwards, and then followed up with a strike at his midsection.

He blocked the strike, and backed away from her. She came on hard, her blade coming from all directions. He was so preoccupied with the girl that he didn't notice the flaming chakrams coming up from the ground. They struck both of his wings, scorching feathers, and sending him back to the ground.

He landed on his back for the fourth time in the past few minutes. His own sword landed on the ground next to him, nearly beheading him. He picked it up from the ground, and stood. Mulan was cutting a path through the Heartless on her way to him.

He snarled, and charged at her. He brought his blade down on hers. They pressed against the other's blade with all their strength. Xayn Shu seemed to be winning, until Mulan angled her blade toward the ground. His own sword slid down its length. She slid to the side, freeing his blade from hers.

She drove her blade into his side, further opening the wound Bariss had given him with his own sword.

He let out an animal-like cry of pain; it ripped through the air like a blade. It echoed through the night air, loud in everyone's ears despite the noise of the battle.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for the next few moments. The combatants below stopped what they were doing, and turned to look at the dying Nobody. Leaderless, the Heartless sank into the ground, or opened up different Corridors of Darkness in retreat. Less than two-hundred were left to escape. The soldiers at the top of the walls stared, mouths agape.

Mulan's sword ripped free of the Nobody's flesh, and clouds of darkness shot from the wound.

When time started to act normally again, the grounds outside the city gates were nearly empty, apart from the thirteen warriors, and the Nobody, who was now on the ground, fading away into darkness.

They all converged on the spot from their separate corners of the battleground. They stood over the dying Nobody. Lying on his back, he glared up at them with dull hatred in his feral eyes, which were beginning to go foggy.

"You'll regret this." He said. "My death won't slow him down. You will all regret what you have done."

He faded away totally as he finished his last sentence, becoming black clouds that floated into the air, and into the sky.

They watched the clouds rise into the sky, silent for several seconds, before they heard extremely loud cheering coming from the city. They looked at the top of the wall, and could pick out Yao, Ling, and Chein Po. They were leaping up and down in joy, and were probably cheering the loudest. Chein Po slapped the Emperor on the back, nearly knocking him over the edge.

Then they broke out into relieved laughter.

"Hey!" Mickey exclaimed, pointing at the gates to the city. The world's Keyhole had just appeared on the left door in a flash of golden light. In now stuck out, black and gaping, against the deep red of the door.

"My turn!" The King said, summoning his blade. He pointed it at the door, and a beam of gold light shot from the tip, shooting into the Keyhole. It let out a great light, brighter than the first, and it was gone.

Immediately after, the doors were pushed open, and they walked toward them. On the way, Mushu leapt from Mulan's shoulder, to the top of Shang's head, and down onto Nehrut's. "Soooo... Tell us what happened with you two while you were alone..."

Everyone looked at the two in interest.

"C'mon, tell Uncle Mushu every little, private, intimate, potentially embarrassing detail..."

Bariss reached out and flicked him off his head with her forefinger and thumb.

The second they walked into the courtyard, the soldiers' cheering got louder, and they soon found themselves hoisted onto the shoulders of a few dozen of them. It wasn't something that they were entirely comfortable with. They were praised as the saviors of China, and slowly brought over to the steps. The Emperor was waiting up there for them.

When the soldiers set them down, they bowed respectfully to him. The cheering slowly died away as the man spoke.

"Once again, you have saved us all." He said. "And we are forever in your debt. Know that whatever may happen to you on your travels, you will always find friends here. If there is anything we may do for you..."

Mickey spoke. "If you find anything worthwhile about the Brotherhood of the Dark, then just let us know."

"Uh, actually we could do with some-"

"We will keep an eye out for trouble." The Emperor said, not hearing the rest. Somebody hit Mickey in the back of the head. "But we do have this..." He reached in the inside pocket of his robes, and pulled out a small, silver charm. He handed it to Sora.

It had an unfamiliar emblem on it. It looked something like a rocket ship in front of a sphere with two wings on either side of it. Sora pocketed it.

"My men found it days before this 'Xayn Shu' arrived here. I thought that you could put it to better use than I could."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

The Emperor seemed to have finished talking, so the crowd broke into loud cheers once more.

Eventually, the group was separated in the sea of soldiers, brimming with endless questions about other worlds, the Keyblades, the Heartless. In other words; questions that took a long time to answer.

Some time later, Nehrut made it away from the mass of soldiers. He sat on the wall, and looked over the landscape that had once been a battlefield. He lifted his eyes to the moon now and then.

"Sooooo? Did anything really happen?"

Mushu had found him. He was sitting on his shoulder now.

"No Mushu, nothing happened."

"Seriously man!"

"Why is it that every time I'm alone with a woman you assume that we did something? It's Port Royal all over again!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Anamaria was diggin' all over you, man."

"She's like ten years older than me!"

"So!?"

"And you wonder why I sent that rock of yours to Hollow Bastion... Of course it was supposed to be Traverse Town."

"Look, man." Mushu pointed one clawed finger in his face. "You've got looks, charms, talent. Women should be all over you boy! And I'm talkin' a dozen at a time, boy! I'm just trying to speed up the process a little."

"I appreciate the effort Mushu, but if some good, decent woman ever gave me the time of day, I'd only stay with her."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, Xayn Shu went down quickly. I know. And Mushu used to be Nehrut's partner. I know.

You liked it. I know... Maybe. ^^;

Please review!