Dragon Along (Kingdom Hearts 2) in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Sora has awoken and begun a new journey at the behest of Yen Sid, sorcerer and Mickey’s teacher in the ways of light and dark. His task is to investigate the Nobodies and find out what Organization XIII, the most powerful Nobodies that lord over the rest, are up to. After leaving Twilight Town with his new clothes and powers, Sora makes his way to Hollow Bastion where he finds his friends Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, and Merlin in the process of rebuilding the kingdom. Leon shows them something startling, however. Thousands upon thousands of Heartless have surrounded the castle! Offering his assistance, Sora seems about to set out when he is confronted by Organization XIII themselves. They simply came to get a look at the Keyblade wielder and promised they would be seeing him in the near future. After protecting the town from their Nobodies, however, Sora’s HBRC card began to glow and allowed Sora to open a pathway of light to new worlds. After receiving the Blizzard spell from Merlin and learning the Fire spell after his battle with the Nobodies, Sora and company took off in the Gummi Ship to continue their journey. The two paths opened up, after some fancy flying on the crew’s part, to Beast’s Castle and The Land of Dragons. Though Sora promised to check in on his friends soon enough, he proceeded first to the Land of Dragons, which seemed most in need of his immediate help. With nothing to do but to land, the trio landed the Gummi Ship and embarked on their next adventure…

Now…

Down in the Land of Dragons, a man stands among the flaming rubble of a small estate. He is a mountain of a man with yellow eyes and a bird of prey on his shoulder. He wears animal pelts and a fur hood over his visage. As he looks upon the destruction he has seemingly wrought, he smiles maniacally. On a ridge overlooking the estate, a soldier overlooks the scene from the cover of a bamboo forest. A small voice talks to her, telling her that the man is Shan-Yu, leader of the Hun army. Behind her, the shadow of a fierce looking dragon is cast from a fire onto a rock. The dragon tells Mulan that this is her big chance. He could see it now: “Fa Mulan whoops public enemy number 1!” He told her she would be famous. Mulan turns around and tells Mushu that she is not sure. She hadn’t even joined the army yet. Mushu! (Ed.- In case you have forgotten, Mushu was one of our powerful summons from the first Kingdom Hearts. Looks like he made it home.) Mulan said that she had to take her father’s place to preserve the Fa family honor. She just hoped she didn’t get discovered. Mushu scoffed and said she was just scared. Mulan asked if he wasn’t scared too.

Meanwhile, the trio of Sora, Donald, and Goofy had landed on the new world and were walking along a dirt path. As they walked, something caught Goofy’s attention and he looked off into the woods to his right to see Mulan and the shadow of Mushu on the rock. Donald mistook the shadow to be a Heartless and Sora said they should get the jump on it. Goofy, oddly the voice of reason, said that maybe they ought to look before they leap, but Sora and Donald were already flying. Mulan saw the trio running towards them and gasped as a small red dragon gasped as well and leaped into her arms. Sora and Donald came up short as Goofy walked up beside them and asked if that had been Mushu that he saw. Mushu stuck his head up over Mulan’s shoulder and said that was right. He knew they had heard of him. He was little, lethal, and legendary. Yup, that’s Mushu alright. He told them to scram before he got his dragon dander up. Sora told Mushu that they had missed him. Mushu started ranting about how they better hope HE missed THEM, or else. Finally, Mushu shut the hell up for a second and realized who it was. Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Mulan was confused and asked if Mushu knew them. Mushu said that the four of them used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together. Yeah, he had helped them out of a lot of tight spots. Mushu leaned against Sora’s leg as Mulan took in the trio for the first time. Sora moved his leg backwards and Mushu rolled head over…claws, I guess. Sora said it was something like that and asked who she was. Mulan introduced herself to the trio. Then she tried to change her voice to a man’s voice and Mushu said that she was Ping. Donald wondered what kind of a name Mulan Ping was. In her man’s voice, Mulan said it was just Ping, son of Fa Zhou. Sora asked how she knew Mushu. Mulan told them Mushu was one of her family’s guardians. Goofy said they hadn’t known they were borrowing somebody as important as a family guardian. Way to overinflate Mushu’s ego, Goofy! Mushu said that was right and that put them in debt up to their eyeballs to Ping. Mushu said that today was payback time. Mulan tried to hush Mushu, but Mushu said the trio wouldn’t mind, wasn’t that right? Sora said that sounded fair. Mushu explained that Ping (Mulan) was on his (her) was to join the Imperial army. Jeez, this is as confusing as writing a Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner article. I can’t even stop myself. Mushu said that they needed to find the other recruits over at the training camp. Mulan asked if they would come along. It would be easier to fit in if she arrived with guys, like them. Sora asked what she meant by “fit in.” Mushu sputtered and told them not to worry about that. Goofy, ever the mental giant, figured out that Mulan was pretending to be a boy. Well, I guess he must be because both Sora and Donald started, surprised to somehow just realize that Mulan was a girl. Wow. These are your saviors, ladies and gentlemen… Well, let’s just ignore that part, for now. At least they are good hearted and kind to everyone, even those that don’t always deserve it. Mulan seemed surprised that they didn’t notice. They both said they hadn’t. Mulan figured that meant her plan was working. Mushu, in a rare bit of extreme wisdom, said that those two would fall for anything. Sora and Donald, with absolutely no right, got offended at that and said they were standing right there. Mulan walked on by with Mushu on her shoulder as the trio followed along on their journey to the recruit camp.

The group entered the camp and Mushu popped up to remind Mulan to be manly. Mulan puffed out her chest and followed Sora, Donald, and Goofy into the camp, walking very awkwardly. As Sora jumped into a line that had formed, he was pushed out of the way by some angry bearded army volunteer who said that it was about time they had gotten some grub. Guess if I was as short and ugly as that guy, I’d be a dick too. Sora and Donald told the guy no cutting and to get out. The guy turned around and punched Sora, knocking him to the ground. Donald leaped at the guy and knocked him down, the two rolling around on the ground and fighting. Two more guys came along, one in yellow and a giant fat guy in blue. They jumped in, happy to find a place in line. Blue wondered what they were serving today. The midget, dressed in red, said knuckle sandwiches and leaped at the guy in the yellow, knocking him down with Donald hot on his heels. Sora jumped into the fray and, as Mulan and Goofy looked on, Sora and Donald teamed up on the red guy while the yellow guy laid on the ground and the blue guy stood, thinking about food presumably. Yellow got into the fray and squared off against Donald while Sora and red continued fighting until Mulan told them to please stop. All five of them stopped fighting. Yellow mocked her for saying please and red said she sounded like a girl. Mulan got her guy voice on and told them all to knock it off. Red asked what they were doing. Sora countered, saying the guy had punched him. Donald said that he was cutting in line. Yellow called Donald a shrimp. Mushu popped his head out and asked who “panda lips” was calling a shrimp. He was a bona fide guardian dragon! Mulan shoved Mushu back into her hood and said they should all just get back in line. Sora asked who’s side she was on. He’d just gotten slugged! Red asked if he wanted some more. Another voice called out from behind, telling them all to get back in line. As the man walked towards them, yellow said it was the captain. Quickly, all of them got in line. As they stood in line, however, Heartless appeared in the camp, startling Sora, who drew his Keyblade. Sora said he hoped Mulan was ready for this, because the fight just got real. The group fought off the Heartless, including some new ones, and stood victorious. After the battle, the captain asked what their names were. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all introduced themselves. The captain said they were all welcome in his troop and that their battle skills were encouraging. Mulan said she was the son of Fa Zhou, but the captain cut her off and said she should return home. Mulan was dumbfounded. That would dishonor her family! The captain asked if she would rather dishonor his troops. Mushu spoke out from inside her hood, but Sora spoke up and said that if Ping trained hard and did his best, he would get stronger in no time. The captain seemed to be listening, so Sora said that he should give them an assignment and they could prove how well they worked together. The captain said that since they wanted to be tested, the army had been ordered to ambush Shan-Yu’s army on its way toward them. They should be coming through the mountain pass. Donald said that they would smash them. The captain said that he doubted that, but the four of them would be the advance party. Their job was to scout out the mountain for his troops. Sora said if that was it, it would be no problem. Mulan looked nervous, but she said Sora was right. The captain said that he would brief them on the details later. They were to return when they were ready to depart. He reminded them that the smallest mission may have the greatest purpose and wished them good luck. As they wandered around the camp before the mission, they learned that the blue guy was Chien-Po. The short guy in red was Yao and the skinny guy in yellow was named Ling. With nothing else to do at the moment, the group ran back to the captain to check on the missions. One involved a defeating an enemy that had been spotted near the checkpoint. Another involved stopping a mob that was heading for the checkpoint. The third involved defeating hidden enemies within the camp. Sora decided to pick that mission first, as it didn’t involve going anywhere just yet. The group searched around the camp and managed to find and defeat all of the Heartless that were hidden around the camp, including the all new Nightwalker Heartless, which jumped around and attacked persistently. The captain congratulated them on a job well done, but reminded them that there were more missions to complete. Sora chose to head out to the checkpoint next and defeat the Heartless there. The Shadows and Nightwalkers proved to be even less of a problem on that mission. Sora and company faced down another new Heartless there that looked like a centaur.

The captain told the four of them that they had done a good job by completely all of the missions. Sora said he knew it. The captain even admitted that Mulan had made a little progress. Donald said she had progressed a lot. Mulan actually agreed with the captain and asked him to give her one more assignment. Then she would show him what she was truly made of. Captain Shang said he would give her one more chance and told them to see him when they were ready to depart. Sora asked Jiminy what that new Heartless had been. Jiminy said that it was called an Assault Rider. It carried a spear an jabbed and spun it to attack. Jiminy warned them to use big attacks to defeat it when it’s health got low so it wouldn’t have a chance to use its most explosive attack. Sora thanked Jiminy for the information and the group got ready to go out on their next mission Captain Shang told the group that their next task was to clear a path to the summit of a nearby mountain and that he had authorized them to be let through. Eager to prove themselves, especially to help Ping/Mulan, the group headed in the direction of the mountain pass. As they arrived, they found their path blocked by boulders as a hawk flew overhead. The group fought off the Heartless as they climbed and Sora used a maneuver called Rockshatter to drive his way through the walls of boulders. Sora managed to supplement his inventory as he climbed until, finally, the group made it to the next area, where they met Chien-Po, Yao, and Ling. Yao said that they weren’t half bad. Ling agreed that Ping was a man among men. Ping/Mulan thanked them for the kind words as they progressed up towards the summit. Mulan worried that they would not have impressed Captain Shan, however. As the captain approached, Goofy and Donald both extolled the virtues of Ping and, finally, the captain relented and allowed Ping to join his troops, though he was still not entirely convinced that Ping had what it took to be a worthy soldier. Sora became angry and asked why not. Mulan told Sora that it was alright. She would find another way to show her worthiness. She just needed a chance. The captain said that she had the right attitude. The captain also continued towards the summit as the trio of Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling returned back down. They congratulated Ping once more. Ping thanked them again.

At the summit, in a small village, Mushu told Mulan that this was her chance. He said he had just seen this really shady guy and he knew that it was Shan-Yu. Sora said that they should tell the captain. Mulan agreed, but Mushu told them to wait and to use their heads for a second. He asked why they were there. To make the captain see Mulan’s talents and bring honor to her family. Everyone agreed with that. Mushu then suggested that they should go find out where Shan-Yu was, by themselves. Then, if they were lucky, they could fry him up for good, though just tracking him down should earn them their stars. Captain Shang would have to notice Mulan then. Mulan said that they should do just that. Sora said that he, Donald, and Goofy would help out. Mushu told them that Shan-Yu was in a cave outside the village. With a plan in place, the group took off in search of Shan-Yu. Inside the cave, the group found nothing but a shrine of some sort. Sora said it looked like a dead end. Donald said that nobody was here. Mushu said they were crazy and to check again. The group went to leave the cave when something shook in the mountain above their heads. Mushu wondered what it had been. Suddenly, Sora and Mulan found themselves cut off from Donald and Goofy by a wall of light. Shan-Yu appeared behind Donald and Goofy and made his way out of the cave while a wave of Heartless appeared to attack Sora and Mulan. The duo managed to defeat the Heartless within the cave and took a quick breather. Sora told Mulan that she had done a great job fighting. As they talked, the light barrier disappeared, allowing Donald and Goofy to get back to their friends. Goofy asked if they were okay. Sora said they were fine, thanks to Mulan. Mushu said that it was time to report back to the captain. Mulan said that Shan-Yu hadn’t been there, but Mushu said they were going to tell him how thousands of Heartless stormed the cave and Ping had taken out almost every one of them.

Back outside the cave, the group found the little village destroyed, torched, presumably by Shan-Yu. Sora couldn’t believe the devastation they saw. The entire village was burned out. As the group made their way into the village, they found Captain Shang, injured and leaning against a nearby wall. Ping and Sora both ran over to the captain to check on him. Sora told Shang not to overdo it as the captain got to his feet, but the captain insisted that it was just a scratch. However, the captain fell back to his knees. Ping asked the captain where the enemy had gone. The captain said that they had gone towards the summit. Ping said that they would stop them. Goofy said that it kinda was their fault, after all. Ping agreed as Mushu walked out and said they meant it was his fault. Donald said no way! Sora said that Shan-Yu and the Heartless had done this, not them. Sora told the captain that if he tracked down the villagers, they would handle the rest. Sora took one last look around and said it was time to go. The group left the destroyed village and made their way towards the summit to confront Shan-Yu.

The group fought their way across the mountain, fighting familiar Heartless and even some new ones, called Rapid Thrusters. The helicopter-like Heartless attacked in groups and chased down its targets with speed when counterattacking. Jiminy said that reaction commands were the way to go. After the battle, Sora opened a couple more treasure chests and obtained another couple of puzzle pieces before moving on to the next area. As the group approached the summit, they saw Shan-Yu on a ridge in the distance. As the giant stood up, dozens of Heartless appeared beside him. The group drew their weapons and prepared to fight as Shan-Yu ordered the Heartless to attack. Sora and company countered the initial wave of Heartless, including a new foe called the Bolt Tower, forcing Shan-Yu himself into battle. Shan-Yu charged down the ridge with his sword drawn and the Heartless at his back as the group prepared for another battle. As Sora worried about the approaching Heartless, the trio of Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po appeared and told them to stand back as they readied a cannon to fire into the ranks of Heartless. Realizing that their plan would not work, Ping grabbed hold of the cannon and aimed it at a nearby mountainside covered with snow. Realizing that she needed fire to light the cannon, Ping grabbed Mushu and set the wick ablaze. Mushu got free, only to land on the projectile part of the cannon and fire off into the distance. The projectile knocked a large shelf of snow off the mountainside and caused an avalanche that buried both the Heartless and Shan-Yu. However, the avalanche proved to be more powerful than expected, causing everyone to run for their lives. Ping grabbed Captain Shang’s hand, who had made it to the summit in time to see everything, dragging him to safety. The captain thanked Ping for saving him. Ping said that it was nothing. The captain said that he never should have doubted Ping and that, from now on, Ping had his trust. Ping thanked the captain. Meanwhile, Mushu made it out of the snow, complaining the whole way, saying first Ping had used him as a lighter, then she turned him into a cannonball. He said that the head ancestors were going to hear about this as he decided it was time to give up and go home, telling Mulan that they should quit this charade and leave. Of course, Mushu said all that right in front of the captain, making him realize that her name was Mulan and that she was a woman. The captain tried to deny it. A moment later, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran up, happy that they were all okay. The captain turned on Sora and company, saying that they all knew that Ping was really a woman in disguise. The trio was at a loss for words as the captain started walking away, saying that he couldn’t believe that Mulan had lied to him. He told them that the punishment for high treason and dishonoring the army was death. Instead, he told them to get out of his sight and that they were all dismissed. Sora tried to speak to the captain, but the captain said that his debt was now repaid as he walked back down the mountain. He told the remaining members of the army that the Emperor was waiting and it was time to move out. Mushu apologized, saying that he had blown it. Mulan returned to her normal clothing and apologized to Sora and company for getting them in trouble. Sora said it wasn’t a big deal and asked what Mulan was going to do now. Mulan said she would return home and Mushu told her that her daddy would be as steamed as a chicken dumpling. Sora told them to relax, that they would take their share of the blame. Mulan thanked them and said that they were all wonderful friends. As the group returned back down the mountain, however, Shan-Yu broke free of the snow and, with his hawk on his shoulder, called the Heartless to him. As Sora and Mulan looked on from above, they saw that Shan-Yu was heading for the Imperial City. Mulan said that they had to warn Shang and Sora agreed. With that, the group headed back down the mountain after the captain and the rest of the army. As they made it back to the checkpoint, they found that the way to the Imperial City was no longer barred and continued on in haste.

Inside the city, Mulan and Sora ran along beside the army, reaching Captain Shang. Mulan yelled out and said that Shan-Yu was alive and heading this way. Shang asked why he should believe her this time. Sora argued that Mulan was telling him the truth. Donald, hearing a bird cry, pointed out that Shan-Yu’s hawk was high above. The hawk circled above the city and drew the captain’s attention to one of the parapets along the city wall, where Shan-Yu stood, looking down on all of them and smiling. Shan-Yu leaped outside of the city. Shang told his army to guard the palace and not let the enemy near the Emperor. A few of his soldiers stood swaying and he told them that it was an order. However, the soldiers were not human, but Heartless in disguise! Shang was aghast, but Mulan and Sora ran in, weapons drawn and said that they would secure the courtyard, allowing the captain to save the Emperor. Donald yelled that it was an order. Shang nodded and ran off to protect the Emperor while the group of heroes stood and readied for a massive battle against the Heartless. The group faced off against its first group of Heartless in the courtyard, but Sora and Mulan’s newly acquired Dragonblaze Limit attack finished off the entire group in short order, allowing the group to run in the direction of the palace to protect the Emperor. As they approached the Palace Gates, they found Shan-Yu standing before the Emperor with his sword drawn. Shan-Yu said that the Emperor would now bow to him. However, the appearance of the group distracted Shan-Yu and allowed Captain Shang to knock the beast to the ground and guide the Emperor inside the palace, where Chien-Po and Ling closed the gates, leaving Captain Shang to hope that Mulan and the trio could handle Shan-Yu all by themselves. Shan-Yu ran for the palace gates, but the group barred the way and told him that it ended now. Sora agreed. Shan-Yu’s hawk landed on his shoulder and, as the evil Hun laughed, a dark energy began to flow from him, giving him power. Shan-Yu was a true sword master and attacked with all manner of slashed and strikes, knocking Sora and crew around the arena. Sora and Mulan took out the first wave of Heartless with a Dragonblaze Limit attack. Sora began landing strikes on Shan-Yu after parrying an attack and knocking the giant down. After a few seconds, Sora was able to access his Valor Form and launched a string of acrobatic attacks at the Hun leader, leaving his health hanging by a thread. Sora, sensing the presence of Shan-Yu’s devious hawk nearby, finished the bird off with the last energy from his Valor Form. With Sora’s magic gauge recharged, he and Mulan stood together in front of the gates and, as Shan-Yu made one desperate, final charge, the duo launched another Dragonblaze Limit attack, finishing the evil leader off.

Shan-Yu flew backwards and fell down, leaving the palace safe at last. Mushu jumped out and said that was what he called burning some hunny-bun. He said that Mulan was the best. Then he changed his mind and said that he was the best. Mushu was the best! A short time later, the group stood in line in front of the entire army as the Emperor approached them from the palace. He said that he had heard a great deal about Mulan. She had stolen her father’s armor, ran away from home, and impersonated an Imperial soldier. Mulan wanted to defend herself, but kept her head down. The Emperor continued that she had deceived her commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored her family name. Sora shook his head and said they got the picture already. The Emperor said that she was a young woman, and in the end, she had saved them all. Mulan looked up in surprised and almost-horror to find the Emperor bowing down to her. As the group turned around, they found the entire Chinese armor bowing to them. Mulan thanked the Emperor, but the Emperor was not done. He asked Captain Shang to give the sword of Shan-Yu to Mulan, as well. The Emperor told her to take it so the world would know what she had done for China. Mulan thanked the Emperor once more. Captain Shang also wanted to address the group. He said that he also wanted to thank them. The Emperor asked if that was all that he wanted to say. If he wished to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China’s bravest woman, he would have to be a bit more eloquent than that! Captain Shang gasped, embarrassed as ever, as the Emperor and Mulan laughed. Sora asked if he could have Mulan’s autograph. Mulan thanked him for everything. Mushu said that the ancestors would have to let him go back to being a guardian now. Goofy said that he thought Mushu said he already was a family guardian. Mushu told him not to worry about that. That was just a technicality. Just for the guardians. Sora yelled that he had tricked them. Mushu said no, he just didn’t want to bother them with all the technical stuff and whatnot. Sora chased Mushu down when, suddenly, Shan-Yu’s sword began to glow with a bright light and float in the air. Sora stopped chasing Mushu and drew his Keyblade. Just as in Hollow Bastion, Sora shot a beam of light into a Keyhole of Light that appeared in the air, opening a pathway to an all new world. Goofy figured that meant it was time to move on. The Emperor said that they would be missed. Sora asked if it would be okay if they came back to visit. Mulan said of course it would be. Shang said they would look forward to Sora’s return. Sora told Shang and Mulan to play nice, embarrassing them both. Shang told him to watch it, jokingly, as Sora and company walked off. Mulan said goodbye to the group and Sora received the Hidden Dragon keyblade. The trio took off in the Gummi Ship. Instead of making for the new world in the distance, they decided it was time to visit Beast and Belle. They set course for Beast’s Castle and landed in the all new world to visit some old friends.

Last updated August 06, 2015