'Ello everyone. Sorry for the long wait, but this chapter was a bloody pain in the arse to write. Anyway, the drama begins in this chapter. Not too much though, just a tiny hint, and I also need some advice.

I expect a record number of reviews now that I know you guys are out there ;) Actually that's not, the real reason is at the bottom.

Cheerio!

P.S. If you're wondering about the English lingo, it's because a good friend of mine who comes from London is here with me at the moment and she gets worked up when someone takes the muck out of the English accent. She gets all red and puffy and it's just hilarious. Oops, got to go - I think she's about to tackle me O_o

Sora

ȸ

Olympus Coliseum was the first world they visited. Donald transported them into some sort of sandy courtyard. The walls surrounding them were made of stone and behind them was an open gate that led to who knew where. Ahead, there were 2 giant stone statues of gladiators, in the middle of which there was a large golden door – or gate for it was of a towering height.

Sora and his 3 companions walked to the large door and found that for how large it was, the doors were easy to open he walked through and after following some signs he found himself entering a small room labeled 'lobby'. Standing at the other end of the room, writing on some board was a strange red creature. It sort of reminded Sora of a rabbit.

"Um…" Sora started, intending to start some sort of conversation but feeling too self conscious, damn it, this was Meridian's work, he was sure. The witch had him doubting himself now!

"Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I've gotta spruce this place up for the games." The red thing said, confusing Sora. The guy didn't even know who they were but he bossed them around anyway. So, still feeling a bit frazzled Sora walked over to the pedestal with Donald and Goofy and tried pushing it, it was too heavy though and wouldn't budge an inch. He thought that maybe with Meridian's help they could do it but that would boost her already large ego even more and she was too busy glaring at the red guy.

"It's way too heavy!" Sora exclaimed.

This seemed to startle to the red guy. He gave an incredulous scoff and said, "What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little—" The red guy turned around and looked at Sora. "Oh, wrong guy," he said. "What're you doing here? This here is the world famous Coliseum- heroes only! And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks." Meridian let out an angry hiss, obviously moments away from clawing his eyes out. The guy eyed her for a moment before sighing, "Look, it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum."

"You've got heroes standing right in front of you," Donald told the goat.

""Yup, these two are real heroes chosen by the Keyblades," Donald affirmed.

The small man broke out in laughter. "Heroes? These runts?"

Sora felt insulted and exclaimed indignantly. "What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters."

Red guy scoffed and moved to the pedestal and leaned on it. "Hey, if you can't even move this..." The short man started pushing at the pedestal. "you can't call yourself..." The pedestal wouldn't budge and he was obviously tiring, The man gave out seconds later with a big pant. "…A hero," he finished. After he recovered his breath he said, "Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, let's see what you can do."

The red guy introduced himself as Phil, a satyr, half man and half goat. He said the 3 would be doing a few short trials in order to show him their skill. Sora then asked what he meant by 3 and found out that Meridian had disappeared ages ago.

ȸ

The trials were easy and Phil seemed impressed, or so Sora thought until Phil told them that they were not heroes. Disappointed, he left the coliseum and out of nowhere some big blue guy with flaming hair appeared. He had a long and unattractive face with crooked teeth. He was wearing some dull grey and blue robes that would have made Meridian cry out in pain.

"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" the blue giant asked, his voice slightly deep but obnoxious and with a drawl.

"Who are you?" Donald demanded, probably feeling the same sense of mistrust as him.

"Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy!" The blue guy protested. "The name's Hades and wait let me guess. You want to enter the games, right? Well, then, hey, get a load of this." Hades snapped his fingers then and some sort of ticket appeared in his hands with a poof of smoke.

"A pass?" he asked and Hades nodded.

"It's all yours. Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little shorty," Hades replied giving him the pass. Then he grunted. "It looks like your little vixen is back." And without a word he disappeared.

Sora turned back and saw Meridian approaching, two men walking behind her looking like pack mules. Meridian was with them seconds later but the men took a little longer.

"Where the hell were you?" Sora asked the amateur Houdini, who only smirked an turned to the buff tanned men behind her.

"Thank you boys," she cooed, letting out a small giggle that gave the men a lustful sparkle kin their eyes. "But they can take it from here."

The men nodded and, giving meridian one last glazed stare, they departed.

Meridian then turned to them. "Normally I would be going on about how pedophilic those men were being and how wrong it is but I have to admit, pedophilia has its uses. Anyway, load up boys."

"What is all this stuff?" Sora asked, a distasteful look appearing on his face as he realized that there were 8 bags that she expected them to carry. There was no way in hell he would compromise his integrity by being Meridian's lackey.

"Well I went into town and bought a sowing kit, a measuring belt, tones of cloth in every colour and other different materials. I mean seriously, these people need makeovers like a smoker needs their nicotine. My first target is that satyr, or a better name would be Ugly Naked Guy."

"I thought you were gone before he introduced himself." How the hell did she know what he was?

"Well I don't remember him introducing himself, so I guess so," she replied then her eyes widened before she gave 'em a roll. "Oh! You mean how I know he's a satyr. Well thats easy he had a weird tail, hoofs but only 2 legs and human upper body so he was a satyr. Duh."

Meridian then walked away leaving him with a growing feeling of despair; after all he had to go on a long adventure with her like in those novels and shows. And they were never short.

Meridian

ȸ

"Get out!" Phil screamed at her pushing her out of the lobby, Donald, Goofy and Dork following close behind. When they were all a couple of corridors away he turned to the others and said, "You three are banned from this place until you get her under control. Good luck with that."

Meridian frowned as she was escorted outside the coliseum. It's not like I did anything bad, she thought as her hurt frown turned into an upset pout. All she did was try to give him a makeover, sure she used words like disgrace, ass's asshole and flabby drag queen but that didn't mean he had the right to kick her out for trying to make his life a little more fashionable. Okay, now she was pissed.

"That little fucker! All I did was try to give him a makeover and God knows he needed one!"

Nothing.

"Hello? This is the part where you say, 'You're right! That little shrimp is an unworthy asshole, we don't need him!' Got it?"

That's when she got the desired response. But Meridian still didn't get what she wanted which was to give someone a make over, so she put on a little pout, spoke a few words and surprisingly; Donald was the first to break.

An hour later Meridian stepped away from the duck and admired her work. Donald was currently wearing a silver silk shirt with black denim jeans. Meridian had to make those herself using those lessons she took a year ago. They were pretty good coming from an amateur, and Donald's shape on made them look better. The top of his feathery head was styled in a short choppy way that complimented his face.

"Are we done?" Donald inquired with an exhausted sigh.

"Yup!"

Meridian turned around and pulled back the curtains of the small studio she set up in the corner of the yard. "Viola," she announced. "I would like to introduce you to the world class model, wearing the designs of Meridian Hart, here is... Double Dee!"

To say that Goofy and Sora were shocked was an understatement. Before them was a stylish model wearing clothes looking like they were taken right out of a magazine.

"Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, let's go. There's some fighting to be done."

And with that Meridian dragged the 3 males inside and after assuring Phil that she wasn't crazy they entered the preliminaries.

ȸ

The first match they fought was relatively easy and Meridian got to see Sora in action. He was strong sure but she found herself disappointed at his lack of technique. He just repeated the same 3 blows over and over. On the other hand her regular technique was 3 quick stabs with her blade, a quick spin then 3 heavy strikes. Her attacks weren't as strong as Sora's but her speed kind of made up for it, but she was no fool though, she knew he was stronger but it didn't bother her. It was always her mission to be the best but she never got sore when she wasn't. In her opinion it made it all the more fun when she squashed the little bugs that were her competition.

Then Meridian noticed that she used her magic more than him. That spell Phil taught them, Thunder, was proving to be more than useful – but for some reason when Sora cast it, the spell was less effective. Maybe she was just more talented when it came to magic.

After the first match Phil came up to them and said "You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching."

Meridian smiled a little at his compliment. He reminded her of both Will and herself when they were being proven wrong about something. She was about to say something to him – but she didn't know what since sometimes her mouth just started sprouting random words before she even registered that she was talking, and this was one of those times. Anyway she was about to say something when a hot blonde walked by. He stared at Sora and her and they stared back. The guy had blonde spikes and pale blue eyes to die for. If he wasn't clearly at least 5 years older than her she would so go for him. His face was perfectly structured and his body was that of an Adonis. He was muscular but in a subtle way, not like that Leon guy with bulging arms that turned her off.

As he passed by her he whispered something to her, "You'll never be free of him."

Before she could question him, the man left leave her to stare after him, the thought of checking out his butt long gone.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat," Phil finally said, "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."

They fought another 2 matches which were just as easy before stopping for an unnecessary, in her opinion at least, break. Then again, she barely fought since she was too busy contemplating the blonde hottie's words. Who did he mean? Sora? She would never be free of Sora? Surely he was lying, as much as resented Sora and their supposed connection – which she had yet to see any proof of – they would eventually be separated when their mission was over. Was he right though? Would their 'connection' force her to go with him wherever he went?

Meridian felt her resentment for the boy grow even further than before. She knew it was without basis but she couldn't help letting the man's words get to her in that way. She wanted to ponder on this more but the sound of Phil's hoofs on the sand.

Phil approached them and said "Say, you're better than I thought, kid! Wish he was here to see this."

"Who? She asked.

"Hercules. He's a hero if ever there was one. Too bad he's off visitng his father."

They then fought yet another 2 matches until reaching the last one. From what they could tell, they would have to face him next, meaning they would get creamed. Heartless were one thing but he was a human and a much bigger one than them too. How the hell could they win?

Cloud

ȸ

"Did you deliver the message?" Hades asked him eagerly.

Cloud nodded, having whispered the message to the girl when passing by her group. He had told her that she would never be free of him. Who 'him' was, though, he didn't know. Why was Hades interested in the girl anyway?

"Good."

"You got anything else to say?" He asked.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now don't blow it. Just take him out," Hades instructed, making him roll his eyes. He wasn't a little kid needing constant reminders and repetitive advice. He knew what do, and who did Hades think he was to suggest that he wouldn't be able to handle the kid.

"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" He asked, making Hades twitch with suppressed anger. "Sorry, but my contract says—"

"I know! You think I don't know?" The Greek God yelled. "I wrote the contract!"

Hades then proceeded to whine about how he was just taking precautions and blah blah blah blah.

"And don't forget, go easy on the girl. Do what you have to do with the rest but make sure she's still salvageable, if you know what I mean. And don't forget to tell her."

Cloud nodded. He didn't know anything about this damned plot of Hades but he didn't care. He wouldn do as told and Hades would hold up his end of the bargain.

Meridian

ȸ

They were about to battle the blonde man, Cloud his name was, and Meridian was trepid with anticipation, or was it dread. The feelings were oddly similar. As they stepped onto the platform arena, if you could even call it that as it was basically a tiled area in the middle of the sand, fear gripped her when she got a good look at his sword. And as silly and out of place as the bandages on it were, they made it even more threatening; like it was saying, by the end of this those bandages will be wrapped around your corpse.

As the start of the match was announced, Sora was the first to get into action, a completely stupid thing to do, she thought. In a battle like this you need to strategize not strike blindly. This was a bloody human too, so they couldn't tell how good the Keyblades would be but Sora just had to rush in blindly.

Idiot.

With a sigh, Meridian counted to 10 and opened her eyes which she hadn't realized were closed. Then she watched as they fought. Cloud had already knocked Donald and Goofy out. Sora was struggling too, but Meridia wasn't really interested in that. Cloud was an impressive fighter but he wasn't invincible, you just had to block his strikes to throw him off guard and give you an opening. You could also jump to avoid his shockwave attacks and his lunges were avoidable if you dodge rolled out of the way repetitively.

With a determined glare, Meridian silently ran towards Cloud as he was about to deliver a huge blow to Sora. She jumped and brought down her Keyblade on his back. Alarmed, Cloud turned around and this gave her another opening and she manage to deliver a flurry of hits, knocking Cloud away. She then proceeded to give Sora a potion.

"Thanks," he said.

She nodded and quickly told him how to avoid the lunges since that was the most effective attack against Sora. Then they both dodge rolled out of Clouds way as he lunged at them, blade first.

The battle was much smoother after that. The two were able to dodge Clouds attacks and land a few of their own but it really got better after Donald and Goofy woke up and returned to the fight. The two mage and knight were able to distract Cloud leaving the Keyblade Wielders to deal the maximum damage. That strategy didn't work for long however as Cloud felled the duo again and focused on them.

Sora was the next to go down and this left Meridian alone on the field. Her prode wouldn't let her quit but she had to admit, she was scared.

Cloud lunged at her and she blocked it with her weapon. They exchanged blows for a short while until her grip faltered and he got the upper hand delivering a row of blows.

Normally Meridian would have screamed and ran but something else happened this time.

"You son of a bitch…" she hissed. "YOU BROKE MY NAIL!"

Cloud looked taken aback, like he had never been subjected to female rage, or to put it in simpler terms, a demonic rampage.

Meridian did a backward roll and lunged at the enemy. Their weapons clashed once, twice, thrice and 4 times more before she stepped back and aimed her Keyblade.

"Fire," she said with a deadly calm and for a second or two, nothing happened but then a huge ball of fire shot out and hit Cloud. He was sent back a few metres and looked worse for wear but was still standing.

She, on the other hand was about to collapse. Meridian slumped to the ground and the dazed look in her eyes signalled her defeat. Cloud approached her and whispered in her ear; "Unless you do something, you'll be bound to him for the rest of your life."

Meridian was about to ask him what he meant but he simply went to Sora who was starting to rise again, and raised his blade.

Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground with a big black paw?

Meridian rubbed her eyes to see if she wasn't hallucinating, but no she wasn't. Standing right there before them was a giant black police dog with 3 heads.

"Holy crap!" Meridian exclaimed. She scrambled to her feet, much like everyone else but was knocked down by the dog.

"Herc!" Phil yelled from the sidelines.

"Phil, get them out of here!" a big hulking man yelled as he raced onto the scene. The guy somehow managed to hold back the dog while the others ran. Meridian though ran to help Cloud who was injured from the blow the dog gave him. Meridian need to get answers and she wasn't about to let her only source of information die on her.

"What are you doing?" the big man yelled as he punched away the dogs paws. "Leave!"

"No way in Hell!"

Meridian then proceeded help Cloud up and drag him – seeing as his legs took the majority of the damage – to the side, where he would be far away from the battle. She then searched his pockets and found a potion which she used to heal him.

Then Meridian ran to help the big guy. She didn't know why, but some over whelming instinct of hers just forced her to run over and take out her Keyblade. When the fight started moving towards where Cloud was, she ordered the man to take Cloud to safety, she would handle things for now.

Oh how wrong the girl was.

As soon as the man left the hell dog lunged and started snapping at her. She tried to block but eventually, a head darted out and almost swallowed her head. Her Keyblade came up just in time to counter but the dogs jaws closed on it and it was stuck.

Shit...

Sora

ȸ

"Whew, that was close!" Phil exclaimed. "That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Hercules should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not..." He paused. "This doesn't look good."

That did it. Sora, couldn't let this Hercules handle him all alone, and Meridian was still out there. If something happened to her he'd have his work doubled and she would whine and bitch about it to him, and then her kids and grandkids when she grew old and senile. Sora snickered at the thought of a pudgy, grey haired Meridian walking around with a cane and smacking everyone around. "Listen sonny boy, you better not take me too lightly, I'm still the same spitfire I was as a teenager! You hear me...er, what was the question again?" (Gaddaffi was the inspiration behind that last part :D)

Anyway, Sora and co restocked on potions then entered the arena, with minor protest from Phil.

The first thing he saw was Meridian being cornered by Cerberus and with her Keyblade – which she was still holding on to –trapped between those monstrous jaws. Quickly reacting, Sora summoned his blade and aimed, timing it so that it would hit the dog and make it let go of his fellow Keyblade Wielder. After some careful calculations, well not really, he just held it in place behind his head; Sora, threw his weapon.

His Keyblade spun rapidly at his target but what happened next was unexpected. Meridian's hand started glowing and the glow spread to her blade. A second later, it turned a fiery red, causing the dog to howl and let go of her. And all this was well and good but it meant that she moved away from Cerberus and was in the way of his blade.

Moments later his large, blunt weapon hit Meridian in the head, knocking her out in the process. Sora, winced. Meridian had to turned to face them just before she was struck. If the witch was kidding about that head in ass thing before, she definitely wouldn't be when she woke up.

ȸ

And he was right.

Halfway through their trip to the next world, after a brief stop at traverse town; a scream resonated throughout the ship.

"SORA YOU ASSWIPE! PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR KEYBLADE SHOVED UP YOUR HOLE!"


So what do you think? This is the longest chapter yet, I think. But more importantly, I have some questions for you which I hope you will ansdwer in your reviews ( thus the whole I expect a record amount of reviews thing ) :

1) Did I go overboard when it came to the world story?

2) Were the fights too repetitive, in action or in the way I phrased them (eg. did I use the word 'struck' too much?)?

Review Replies:

Harajuku Flavors: Thank you very much :D And yeah, she is so not one of those girls. Believe me when I say the hatred will remain for a while to come. And me too, but I love witches in general - you know the bitchy or the supernatural kind ;) Thanks for the review!

Dracula X: Thanks :) Glad you liked it! I know she's a bitch yet I can't help but love her for it :) And I'm sure that's an exaggeration, but if it isn't then I hope I get an award. And don't worry her attitude will change but I'm not sure to what extent yet.

Scented-Marker-Sniffer: Aww thank you so much! Your review made me smile for hours after I read it! -_- Woah, I'm hyper. I'm using way too many !'s and :D :) for a cynic. Lol, I love that saying. I might make it my motto. Oh I can't say I agree with that. I'm sure there are many flaws to the story but if you enjoy reading it then I will keep writing for you :D

Lele-mi-compadre: Duh! She's Ridia Hart! She commands attention wherever she goes...YOU FORGOT! Damn, I was slacking off thinking Lele will com through for me, no need to work on plot -_- Yeah, I read that! Thanks for the shout out :D Can't wait to see Mayu!

Well that's it. Review please xD

P.S. ignore my unusually perky A/N's. I just finished a bucket of Malters with said English friend and we're very hyper!