PrismRain13: I'm back! And Happy Hollidays! Disclaimer, please Kuzco!
Kuzco: eww... That sounds like work.
PrismRain13: *glares*
Kuzco: ...fine. Prism still owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's. KH belongs to Disney and Square Enix, my movie belongs to Disney and Final Distance belongs to Utada Hikaru. Enjoy this chapter full of... ME!
Chapter 30: Killer Jaguars
"Hold up, your Emperor is a llama?!" Lea exclaimed, hardly believing what Pacha had told them. "What kind of crazy world is this?!" The rest of the group looked upon Kuzco the llama, all with equal expressions of shock.
"He wasn't like this the last time I saw him; I don't know how this happened." Pacha replied honestly.
"Hey! I'm right here!" Kuzco snapped, unaware of he hooves he was using to balance himself, "Whatever you peasants have to say you can say to your emperor!" The team of world travellers shifted around uncomfortably, looking between each other until Sora stepped forward.
"Well... Uhh... You see... You don't exactly..." Sora stammered, trying to find the right words to bring the news down gently. "Look like an emperor."
"What do you mean I don't look like an emperor?!" Kuzco demanded rudely.
"Ever heard of a mirror?" West grumbled under her breath, but Kuzco had heard her.
"You better show more respect onwards your emperor missy! With the snap of my fingers-" Kuzco had raised his hoof to demonstrate, but gasped in shock when he saw the hooves. "Ahh! It can't be!" In a split second, Kuzco had yanked Goofy's sheild right out of his hands to find his llama face. "Agh! My face! My beautiful, beautiful face! I'm an ugly, stinky llama! Llama face!" Kuzco had thrown the shield to the ground and began screaming and crying on the ground.
"Wait, okay, your Majesty. Calm down." Pacha said in an effort to calm the young emperor down. Goofy had picked up his shield and was patting Kuzco's back in a comforting manner.
"What happened?" Mickey asked out of concern as Kuzco slapped himself to get out of the state he was in.
"I'm tryin' to figure that out, okay?" Kuzco snapped, but then seemed to recognize something about Pacha. "I remember you. I remember telling you that I was building my pool where your house was."
"You were going to build a pool where Pacha's house was?" Riku demanded. "Why?"
"It was going to be my birthday gift to me!" Kuzco retorted, brushing Riku off to the side and going back to his memories. "And then you got mad at me... And you turned me into a llama!"
"What? No, I did not!" Pacha stammered angrily.
"Yes! And then you kidnapped me!"
"Why would I kidnap a llama?"
"I have no idea! You're the criminal mastermind, not me!" Kuzco and Pacha both glared at each other angrily, prepared at any minute to strike before Kairi and Sora stepped in between them, West, Mickey and Donald pulled back Kuzco while Lea, Riku, Goofy and Max tried to restrain Pacha.
"Both of you calm down!" Kairi said. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything!"
"What part of 'no touchy' do you peasants not understand?!" Kuzco demanded the group, obviously ignoring what Kairi had to say.
"Peasant?! I'll show you no touchy!" Donald growled, jumping into a tantrum with Mickey trying to restrain him.
"Donald! You're not setting a very good example here!" Mickey tried to stay calm while holding the squirming duck. Riku face palmed, gaining a headache from the fighting. Sora puffed out his cheeks, took a deep breath, then turned back to Pacha and Kuzco.
"Let's just forget about how this happened for a second, okay?" The young keyblade master asked. "Does anyone know how we can reverse this?"
"We have to get back to the palace!" Kuzco exclaimed. "My advisor, well ex-advisor Yzma has a 'secret lab'. I'll just snap my fingers and order her to change me back!"
"What fingers?" Max grumbled to Lea. Kuzco meanwhile had started wobbly walking down the dirt trail.
"Hey, you guys! No time to waste. Let's go!" The llama snapped at the people surrounding him. But no one made a move to follow him. Kuzco noticed and pointed towards the trail. "Hey, I want to get out of this body. Wouldn't you? Now, let's go!" Still, no one moved towards him, except for Pacha who stepped in front of the group with his arms crossed.
"Build your summer home somewhere else." Was all he said. In response, Kuzco glared and started marching back towards him.
"You want to run that by me again?" Kuzco asked dangerously.
"I can't let you go back unless you change your mind and build your summer home somewhere else." Pacha spoke calmly, but was surprised when Kuzco smirked.
"I got a little secret for you. Come here. No, closer." Kuzco smirked, Pacha leaned in close to him but was unprepared when Kuzco screamed, "I DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH PEASANTS!"
"Then I guess we can't take you back to the palace." Riku snorted.
"Fine, I don't need you. I can find my own way back." Kuzco huffed, the llama turning back down towards the dirt trail. But, was stopped when Pacha stepped in front of him.
"I wouldn't recommend it. It's a little dangerous if you don't know the way." The villager warned.
"Nice try, pal." Kuzco smirked, walking right past him into the jungle.
"No, really, I'm telling you, there are jaguars and snakes and quicksand!" Pacha called after him when Kuzco started singing.
"La la la la. I'm not listening!" Kuzco sang off-key as he walked further and further away.
"I'm not kidding! Listen, you cannot go in there!"
"La la la. Still not listening!" at that moment, Kuzco had disappeared through the foliage of the jungle and Pacha was steaming with irritation.
"Aw, you... Fine. Fine. Go ahead!" Pacha roared after him.
"Gawrsh. you're really gonna let him go on his own?" Goofy asked.
"If there's no Kuzco, there's no Kuzcotopia. Takes care of my problem." Pacha replied.
"I like the way you think, man!" Lea stated, swinging his arm over the villager's shoulder. "Now why don't we go talk to your wife so we can all get some shut eye. I'm beat."
"But Lea, Kuzco could die out there!" Kairi protested.
"Relax, Kairi." Donald said. "Like Pacha said; he's not our problem anymore!"
"So we're just going to sit here? What if Kuzco gets attacked? Who's going to help him?"
"Kairi's right." Pacha sighed. "I know I'm probably going to regret this, but we need to at least help Kuzco through the jungle."
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mickey exclaimed, Pacha talking the lead into the jungle, most of the world-travellers following him. Lea, Max and Donald were the only ones who didn't move until after their group had long since disappeared through the jungle.
"We're following them aren't we?" Lea asked, crossing his arms.
"Yep." Max replied.
"We're going to save the whiny emperor who probably won't thank us?"
"Yeah." grumbled Donald.
"Man, we don't get a break!" Lea grumbled as he, Max and Donald wandered into the jungle.
~*KHIII*~
Meanwhile deep within in the damp, dark, cold jungle, Kuzco wandered along a dirt path, laughing at the scenery and mocking Pacha's warnings.
"Scary jungle. Right. Ooh, a leaf. Ooh, it might attack me. Oh, it's a scary tree. I'm afraid. Ha ha. Please. Never find my way? I'm the emperor, and as such, I'm born with an innate sense of direction. Okay, where am I? Wha-" Kuzco shivered in fear, noticing how scary the jungle really was.
Suddenly, a small cute squirrel holding an acorn jumped out of the bushes. "Hmm. What do you want?" Kuzco snapped rudely. The squirrel only held out his acorn for Kuzco. "Oh, for me? Why, I don't know what to say." The squirrel blushed before Kuzco threw the acorn hard on the squirrel's head, causing him to release a yelp of pain. "Hit the road, Bucky!" The emperor snapped as he began walking away, but Kuzco was stopped dead in his tracks by the jaguar heartless, known as the wild pouncers appearing out of dark shadows, surrounding the stunned llama. The squirrel smirked, pulled out a long red balloon animal and holding a sharp needle to it.
"No, no. No, no, no, no. No, no. No, don't." Kuzco practically begged. The squirrel popped the balloon with a big bang, but the heatless didn't move. "HA!" Kuzco exclaimed, but was stopped when the heartless all released killer roars. "Heh... Heheh... What do ya know?.. Killer jaguars..." Kuzco nervously stammered, his knees shaking. A wild pouncer snarled at the llama and prepared to pounce before it was hit in the back by a shield. A second later Goofy jumped up, grabbed his shield and stood protectively in front of Kuzco. That same heartless was attacked by swipes from Riku and Sora's keyblades and a blast of light magic from Kairi.
West and Mickey shoved their way through the heartless in front of Kuzco and Pacha stood off to the side. A wild pouncer jumped towards Kuzco, but was knocked back by an attack from Mickey. West jumped on to the same heartless and stabbed it in the shoulder, reducing it to nothing. Goofy meanwhile was warding off two wild pouncers with his shield, but didn't notice when another began producing purple bubbles and foam from its mouth. The heartless spat the material at Goofy, causing him to become poisoned and his health to rapidly decrease.
West noticed his current situation, quickly pulled out the antidote she kept from Pocahontas's world and tossed it to him. Goofy grabbed the antidote and drank it, causing the poison to be lifted. Riku used all the magic he knew to attack the heartless followed by Goofy hitting the heartless with his shield. Sora and Kuzco found themselves standing back to back, surrounded by three of the wild pouncers. Sora tossed his keyblade at the heartless, hitting them all before Kingdom Key returned to his hand. Kuzco resorted to trampling and kicking the heartless with his llama hooves, not causing a great deal of damage but the group was happy to see that he was pulling his own weight. Kairi soon found herself surrounded by the remaining wild pouncers, but wasn't too concerned.
"I won't give in!" The princess placed her hand over her heart, levitating into the air as a flower made of light magic appeared underneath her feet. She danced around the flower sending ribbons of light to attack the heartless. After a few ribbons had been sent out, Kairi lifted Destiny's Embrace into the air, a ball of light intensifying at the tip. "Light, give me strength!" The ball continued to grow until it exploded into fireworks of light, dealing a final blow to all the remaining heartless.(1)
Feeling safe, Pacha emerged from the sidelines and Kuzco shook all the dirt off his coat. "Am I glad you guys showed up." Kuzco grinned. "Because now that you're here, you will take me back to the palace!" The group of world-travellers slumped in defeat. "I'll have Yzma change me back, and then I'll start construction on Kuzcotopia. Oh, yeah!" Pacha released a deep breath before approaching his emperor calmly.
"Okay, now, look, I think we all got off on the wrong foot here." Pacha said, Kuzco nodded. "I just think if you really thought about it, you'd decide to build your home on a different hilltop."
"And why would I do that?" Kuzco asked in a snobbish tone.
"Because..." Sora started. "deep down, I think you'll realize that you're forcing an entire village out of their homes just for you."
"And that's...bad?" Kuzco asked, the entire group nodded. "Mmm. Now take me back!" Pacha released a gasp of frustration, stepping in front of the group.
"What? Wait, wait. How can you be this way? All you care about is building your summer home and filling it with stuff for you!" The villager retorted angrily.
"Uh, yeah. Doy. Me. Everyone else in the kingdom gets it. You're the only ones that doesn't seem to be with the program? Am I right?" Kuzco snapped.
"You know what? Someday, you're going to wind up all alone, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself." Pacha replied calmly while Kuzco rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for that. I'll log that away. Now, for the final time, I order you all to take me back to the palace!"
"Looks to me like you're stuck out here, because unless you change your mind, I'm not taking you back."
"Fine! I don't need you! I'll just get my loyal bodyguards to take me back!" Kuzco retorted.
"Kuzco, we're not helping you either!" Mickey told him, crossing his arms.
"What?! Why not?!" The emperor demanded.
"You really expect us to help you after everything you've said and plan to do?" Kairi asked.
"Call me crazy, but I'm not too thrilled about helping a selfish, spoiled, whiny brat like you." Riku added. "Not unless you change your mind about this whole summer-home thing." Kuzco could only hang his mouth open in shock at the sound of what the group had to say.
"We should start a fire and camp here for the night." Pacha said. "It's getting late and I think we're all too tired to make it back to the village.
"What about Lea, Max and Donald?" Sora asked with concern.
"I wouldn't worry too much about them, Sora." Goofy replied. "They can take care of themselves and they'll catch up with us in no time! I know my boy's a toughie!" Feeling better, Sora nodded and joined the group in setting up camp, leaving behind a pouty Kuzco.
"Because unless you change your mind, I'm not taking you back. Me, me, me. Moo, moo, moo." Kuzco mocked, picking up a small rock and throwing it directly in Pacha's head. The group of seven instantly turned around and glared at the llama who was trying to look as innocent as possible. "Huh? What? I didn't do anything. I didn't - Somebody's throwing stuff. You going to build a fire or what? What's going on?" Kuzco mumbled, slinking off against a rock.
"Can you believe that jerk?" West grumbled, piling up firewood.
"Forget it guys; he's never going to change his mind." Pacha sighed as Sora lit the wood with a fire spell. "We should sleep in shifts, in case any of those monsters attack. I'll take the first one."
"I'll stay up with you too, Pacha." West said. "I'm really not that tired anyway." Riku raised an eyebrow at her, thinking she had other reasons for staying up.
"You know what, I'll stay up too." Riku suggested. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, the remaining four getting ready to sleep. Goofy collapsed on the ground and instantly started snoring, Mickey yawned and curled up on a patch of grass and Sora and Kairi inched towards the fire, Kairi shivering in her short sleeveless dress.
"Cold?" Sora asked, Kairi nodded looking up at him. In response, Sora pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around Kairi's slender shoulders. "I know it's not much, but I hope it keeps you warm." Sora had no time to react as Kairi kissed his cheek and snuggled up against his chest, pulling his jacket tighter around her shoulders.
"Thank you." Was all the princess of heart said before yawning and falling fast asleep in Sora's arms. It took Sora a moment to register what had just happened before smiling down at the beautiful angel curled up against him. The keyblade master brushed aside Kairi's bangs before lightly kissing her forehead and lying down on the ground, brushing Kairi's auburn hair with his fingers.
I'll protect you, I promise, Was the last thing Sora thought before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Riku, meanwhile had just made it beside West who was staring at the fire.
"Something on your mind?" Riku asked. West shook her head.
"Nothing, I'm just not tired." She yawned.
"It's your night terrors, isn't it?" West stared at him, not expecting him to remember, but sighed in defeat.
"They've been getting worse ever since our fight with Ansem." she explained. "I wake up with a sore throat because of all the screaming. They just feel so real."
"You shouldn't be afraid of sleeping." Riku said, placing a hand on your shoulders. "You need to sleep. They weren't so bad when you knew you had someone to protect you, right? I'll be here all night, I promise."
"Are you sure you don't mind?" West asked.
"What good is a thief when they're sleep-deprived?" Riku shrugged, pulling her head down to his leg for a pillow. With one last yawn, West was fast asleep. Within seconds she was already crying and groaning in her sleep. Riku looked down at her sadly and soothingly rubbed her back. West seemed to relax as her tears stopped and her mumbling lessened. Riku continued the comforting action, looking up at the worlds shining brightly above them.
Pacha was trending to the fire, smiling at the two couples and thinking back to his wife. However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of Kuzco's teeth chattering. He was freezing, being so far away from the fire. Pacha sighed and pulled off his poncho revealing a simple white shirt and brown sash. The village leader creeped over to Kuzco and placed the poncho over him like a blanket as the chattering stopped and turned back towards the fire. What Pacha didn't notice was Kuzco waking up and seeing the small act of kindness the villager had done for him. Without saying anything, Kuzco lied back down and went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, not too far from where the group had set up camp, Lea, Max and Donald were wandering through the jungle. Donald had his staff lit up with a fire spell and Lea held a small flame in the palm of his hand, both being used as light sources.
"Wow. Pacha was right; this jungle is scary." Max murmured.
"Relax. We should catch up with wherever they made camp in no time." Lea retorted.
"A phooey! You're just a bunch of scaredy cats!" Donald said. "I'm not scared of some stupid jungle!" But, when Lea had unexpectedly poked him in the back, Donald screamed at the top of his lungs, dropped his staff causing the flames to extinguish and jumped into Max's arms.
"You were saying, mister high and mighty duck?" Lea laughed. At that moment, Mickey had emerged from the bushes, rubbing sand from his eyes.
"I heard Donald scream, what happened?" The king yawned.
"Just a duck who can't take a little joke." Lea smirked, Donald crossing his arms and muttering insults under his breath.
"Sorry we woke you up, your majesty." Max apologized, setting Donald to the ground.
"Don't worry about it, Max. It was my turn to watch for the heartless anyway." Mickey smiled, leading them towards the campsite. "We all ought to get some shut eye." Before Mickey knew it, all three them had collapsed to the ground and fallen fast asleep.
~*KHIII*~
The next morning, Pacha awoke to the sound of birds chirping, bats flying back to their caves, the sun rising and the world-travellers slowly waking up as well. The villager yawned, stretched and made his way over to a nearby pond. Pacha knelt down, cupping the cool water in his hands and splashing it over his face.
"Uh, hey." A voice spoke from behind him. Pacha turned to fid Kuzco walking over to him with his poncho in his mouth. The llama sat down beside him, dropped the poncho into his hoof and handed it back to its owner. "Thanks."
"Oh. No problem." Pacha replied, picking up his poncho.
"Feels like wool."
"Yeah."
"Alpaca?"
"Oh, yeah, it is."
"Oh, yeah, I thought so. It's nice."
"My wife made it."
"Oh, she knits?"
"Crochets."
"Crochets? Nice."
"Thanks." There was an awkward moment of silence, before Kuzco spoke up again.
"So... so, I was thinking that when I got back to the city, we'd, uh...I mean, there's lots of hilltops, and maybe I might, you know...I - I might..." The emperor stammered nervously.
"Are you saying... you've changed your mind?" Pacha asked, not quite believing it.
"Oh, well, I - I..."
"Because you know that means you're doing something nice for someone else."
"No, I know that. I know."
"And you're okay with that?" Sora asked from behind them. Both world natives turned around to find the entire group of world-travellers standing there, shocked at what Kuzco had to say.
"Yes." Kuzco replied. Pacha, in response glared at Kuzco and leaned in close to him. "What?" Pacha held out his hand. Kuzco held out his hoof, before Pacha pulled back.
"Don't shake unless you mean it." The world-travellers eagerly awaited Kuzco's response, until they shook hands. Pacha's glare was instantly replaced by a smile
"All right. Let's get you back to the palace, Kuzco." Mickey smiled, everyone walking out of the jungle.
"Oh, by the way, thanks." Pacha told Kuzco, pulling his poncho back over his head.
"No... Thank you." Kuzco said, a small, barely noticeable smirk appearing on his face.
PrismRain13: enjoy the little fluff moments? I know I did!
Kuzco: Read and review to get more of me!
SCRLCcs8kingdom; Ven is going to show up, but unfortunately him and the rest if the BBS trio won't make physical appearances until all the Disney worlds are done. Naminé, Roxas and Xion will appear when we go back to Twilight Town. I might have them show up in dreams or flashbacks earlier on, but not confirming that.
Alyssa A; thanks! Always glad to live up to expectations :)
DarknessMaster23; the wait is over, but now you have to wait for yet another chappie :( I will keep it up! Thanks for the support!
(1): Kairi's limit; Floral Light