Last time found Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava setting sail on Port Royal. They teamed with Captain Jack Sparrow, who was looking for a huge treasure, that just happened to be guarded by a cult of Cthulhu worshipers. Nessie and the other agreed to help Jack in exchange for using his magic compass to find Jacob. One thing lead to another, resulting in confronting a trio of demons who were trying to get the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis from the Cthulhu cult, which they didn't actually have. Our heroes wound up fighting and destroying an Old One monster, freeing the cultists from the thrall of Cthulhu, and also destroying the demons. With the treasure secured, Nessie borrowed Jack's compass and it pointed her to where she needed to go next to find Jacob. At the same time Olette took from the treasure a single gold key. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 7: A Heroes' Path
"We should be at Olympus Coliseum soon," said Sidney, "I suggest, Sora, that you inform our remaining guests our arrival."
"Hercules and Phil are still in the exercising room?" Aiden asked, "doesn't he get tired?"
"Well, he's Hercules," said Sora in a matter of fact tone.
"Well I think we'd better go get him and Phil," said Riku, "we're just about in orbit around their world."
Just then Hercules and Phil walked onto the bridge, "not a bad gym you've got here, Sora," said Phil, "it could use some more 'intense' training machines, and a few other challenging things, but not bad."
"And you might need some repairs," said Hercules, "I kinda went a bit overboard with some of the weight machines. I went all the way up to their limits, then I began lifting the machines themselves, then two at the same time, then three."
"You are strong," said an impressed Tess.
"Strong enough to challenge Hades himself and win," said Hercules, "but I'm worried. He's been too quiet over the past few weeks."
"We haven't heard anything from him since he and Ursula tried to ruin The Tournament of Light," said Sora.
"And we haven't heard anything from Ursula either," said Kairi, "not since Maleficent dragged them off our world."
"Last we heard," said Phil, "old fame-hair's been really quiet since he got back from your world. But he's not one to be quiet for long; no, he's up to something."
"Then we'll just have to stop it, whatever Hades is planning," said Sora.
Jacob then walked onto the bridge, "have you guys seen what muscles here did the gym?"
"It isn't a pretty sight," said Lyra as she and Pan walked onto the bridge.
"Just send the repair bill to Zeus," said Phil.
"I hope he has a good credit report," said Sidney in a slightly miserable tone, "and just after Aiden fixed the ship."
"Don't get me started on that," said Aiden.
"So who's beaming down this time?" Sora asked as they headed for the transporter room.
"I think we'll all go," said Kairi, "I'm not so tired as I was after using my armor for the first time."
"Tron did say it would take some getting used to," said Riku.
"We'll have plenty of time to get used to them," said Tess, "And plenty of experience, if the rest of the worlds here are as crazy as I've seen so far."
"I can hardly wait," said Aiden, "I haven't had a chance to try out my armor yet."
"At least you have armor," said Jacob in a jealous tone, "me, I'm just an awesome shape shifter."
"And I have a compass that tells the truth," said Lyra in an equally jealous tone, "why couldn't we have gotten armor? I would have liked armor."
"Ask Tron to design suits for you," said Sidney, "I'm sure he would if you ask him nicely."
"Couldn't you design armor for them, Sidney?" Kairi asked, "you are sort of Tron's daughter."
"I just run the ship," said Sidney, "my 'father' never gave me much in terms of creativity."
"If you and Kairi, don't mind, Sora," said Roxas, "Naminé and I are going to sit this one out."
"But if you need us," said Naminé, "just give us a call and we'll pop out."
"You got it," said Kairi. With that Naminé and Roxas merged back into the hearts of Kairi and Sora.
"That has to be the most bizarre thing I've ever seen," said Jacob, "and I come from a world of vampires and shape shifters."
"I've seen stranger things," said Lyra. "I've seen people the size of insects, and met creatures who travel on wheels that grow on trees."
"She isn't lying," said Pan, "and she's told plenty of lies in her time."
"I haven't seriously lied in a long time," said Lyra, "I know the value of the truth."
"True," laughed Pan. At that Sora and the others laughed as well.
A few minutes later they were all in the transporter room and had beamed down to the Coliseum below. Immediately, Sora was impressed by the rebuilt stadium and arena.
"Wow," said Sora, "you guys really fixed up the place after that hydra attack."
"We had a good reason," said Hercules, "the games have to go on after all."
…Olympus Coliseum...
"What kind of games?" Aiden asked.
"The kind that are great, of course," said Phil, "games of strength, speed and endurance. Mostly it's a bunch of teams fighting each other until only one team is left to claim victory. But we've also got training programs that'll get you in the best shape of your life."
"Well we've had pretty intense training during The Tournament of Life," said Kairi.
"We ought to introduce Phil to Nodoka Sensei," said Riku.
"You know," said Sora, "if Nodoka Sensei did get that divorce from her no good husband, maybe we could try setting her up with Phil."
"I don't think that would work out," said Riku, "Nodoka Sensei might not appreciate being set up on a blind date," he looked at Phil, who was discussing his training regime with Aiden, "especially with someone from another world, but that's just my opinion."
"Just remember three things that can help move your training along without stressing too much," said Phil to Aiden, "Eat, sleep, bathe, yoga."
"That's four things," said Aiden.
"It's his thing," said Sora, "So, Herc, when are the games starting again?"
"They've been going on for a while," said Hercules, "we've got all sorts of teams competing, and not just Heartless and monsters. There's a lot of people who are trying out to be the next Heroes."
"I think we can show these wannabe heroes a thing or two," said Kairi, "if given the chance."
"I'll bet that we could win one of these tournaments," said Riku.
"Well you junior heroes are in luck," said Phil, "there's a tournament starting in an hour; The Ares Cup. The arena's much bigger than normal, and there are twenty rounds of the most intense smashing and bashing you've ever seen. The crowds love it. The winning team gets bragging rights and the biggest trophy yet; the Aries Trophy."
"A chance to test our prowess against others in a winner take all competition?" Tess asked, "count me in!"
"Same with me," said Aiden, "I'm in the mood to kick some ass."
"Count us in as well!" said Sora, while Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.
"If it's alright with everyone," said Jacob, "I think I'll sit and watch."
"I'll watch as well," said Lyra, while Pan nodded in agreement.
"That's fine with me," said Phil, "everyone who is fighting in the cup, just sign up and we can get started as soon as the rest of the teams get here."
"This is gonna be great," said an eager Aiden, "And this time I'm going the distance. And no idiots with cameras in sight!"
"We're all gonna do great," said Sora, "we'll win this tournament, no problem."
"Oh, you've got a problem, alright," said an irate Hades as he watched our heroes through his viewing pool, "a big problem, you and Jerk-ules. Just as soon as I figure out how to get free of what that pale-eyed witch, Maleficent, did to me!"
"I'm sure that the mistress of all evil had her reasons for confining you to the Underworld," said a demon that stood behind the flame-haired god. The demon was humanoid, but had large, shovel-like hands that ended in digging claws, while he wore coke bottle glasses and had a face that resembled a mole somewhat. He spoke in a high-pitch nasal voice that, combined with coke bottle glasses and a green and orange business suit, gave the demon an image of a nerd.
"I still can't believe Maleficent put a whammy on me!" snapped Hades, "me! The lord of the Underworld! A god among gods! And she's got me stuck here! Oh, she'd better look out when I finally undo her mojo! I'm gonna so burn her! I'll roast her alive and BBQ her brains!"
Hades then glared at the demon, "and you! Shovel-hands! Just what in my domain are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis," said the mole demon, "and my name is Dirk Digger, thank you very much."
"Yeah, sure," said Hades in a nonchalant tone, "whatever."
Just then Pain and Panic came in, the two minions carrying a huge book on their backs, "here's the thing you wanted, your awfulness!" said Panic.
"We nearly got caught, stealing it from Athena's own library in Athens," said Pain, "but we got it."
"Hecate's own spell book," said an eager Hades as he took the book from Pain and Panic, "Maleficent's supposed to have a copy," he opened the book and leafed through the pages and found something in the middle of the book, "and here's the spell she used to freeze Ursula in a block of ice."
"Interesting," said the demon, Dirk Digger, as he pulled out an advanced PDA and took a picture of the spell without Hades noticing, "and it has the counter spell, in case anyone wishes to free the sea witch."
"Good luck finding someone who would want that," said Hades as he flipped through more pages of the book, while Dirk Digger took more pictures behind his back, before finding the page he wanted, "and here's what I want," he said as he grinned eagerly, "this is what that so called mistress of all evil used to keep me from leaving The Underworld!"
"So now you can get out again, boss?" Panic asked.
Hades read the book, then frowned when he came to one passage, "I can, but not yet. According to this, I need five…keys, in order to break the spell."
"Keys as in Keyblades?" Dirk Digger asked as he looked at the image of our heroes getting ready for the Ares Cup.
"Keyblades!" Hades asked. He then grinned wickedly, "yeah…yeah! That could work! I got that schmuck Sora to unlock the Underdome, so how hot would it be if he and his pathetic pals were to set me free!"
"Uh, there's one thing wrong with that, boss," said Pain, "how are you gonna get the brats down here?"
"And how are you gonna get them to undo Maleficent's mojo?" Panic asked.
"Hmmm," said Hades in a thoughtful tone, "that would be a problem," he began pacing, "assuming I do get them down here, they'll have that darn Olympus Stone with them, so the draining effects of The Underworld won't leave them weak as Cerberus puppies."
Hades then saw said 3-headed dog chewing on a cow-sized strip of jerky, "that's right, big guy, those creeps who made you look bad are gonna come down here soon, so you can make then your new chew toys." At that Cerberus wagged his tail and growled in vicious anticipation.
"But how are you going to defeat them?" Dirk Digger asked, "and how are you going to bring them here in the first place?"
At that Hades had a vicious idea, "I'll just negate the power of the Olympus Stone." Hades then went to the spell book, "There's got to be a spell here that can turn off a magical item." Hades then looked at Dirk Digger, "hey, demon, you've been around time and space for a while."
"That's right," said Dirk Digger as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose, "I have been to many universes. Mr. Graves has had me on a lot of assignments."
"Then you've got some weight with your boss," said Hades, "get your boss to bring in some of your friends to keep the brats busy while I get ready to destroy them."
"But how are you gonna get the brats down here, boss?" Pain asked.
"I'll get Meg to lure them down here," said Hades in a nonchalant tone as he summoned an image of Meg in his hand, "I've still got a string or two wrapped around her that she and muscle-boy don't know about." he then found the spell he wanted, "bingo! Those brats are so fried!"
The first ten rounds of the Ares Cup were like other tournaments, mainly destroying all the enemy Heartless without getting killed.
"How's this for a tournament?" an eager Riku after he and the others powered their way through the a round involving a horde of shadows, "this is too easy!"
"No, we're just really strong," said Sora as he and the others destroyed a horde of Neo Shadows, Invisibles and Dark Balls.
"All of our adventures have given us the power to do anything," said Kairi as she and the others destroyed two Behemoths.
But when they were getting ready for the second half of the tournament, Phil explained a new rule, "The next three matches are is a score rounds. You've got five minutes to kill as many baddies as you can, each."
"So we all have to get a high score," said Sora, "okay."
"But there's a hitch," said Phil, "in round 11 you've got to destroy at least 100 Heartless, in round 12, 300, and in round 13, 500. If any of you can't get that score in any of the rounds, that fighter is out of the tournament, no second chances."
"A real challenge," said an eager Tess, "no problem."
As our heroes fought their way through seemingly never ending hordes of Heartless, each of them trying to get the highest score they could in the time limit, they were being watched by Soldiers and Air Soldiers. Just as Sora and the others all finished the first time limit, all of them making high scores, Meg sat next to Hercules.
"So, wonder boy," said Meg, "how was your trip to another world?"
"It was good," said Hercules as the second timed round started. Sora and the others fought their way through a horde of Mega Shadows, "there's a lot out there to see and learn."
"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," said Meg in a disappointed time, "but you'd think you'd miss me."
"Of course I missed you," said Hercules as he held her hand, "I thought about you all the time. But there's a lot of stuff going on out there that I had to help with."
"Yeah, I know," said Meg, "you have to be the hero you are. But as long as you know what you're doing," she watched Sora and the others fight their way to the second timed round, "and you've got some good friends to keep you safe." She then looked at Jacob, Lyra and Pan, who were sitting on the other side of the stadium, "so, what's with these guys?"
"It's the strangest thing," said Hercules, "they fell out of the sky on Radiant Garden." He spent the rest of the round telling Meg an abbreviated version of everything that's happened so far.
A few minutes later the round ended. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess all scored high enough to go to the third scored round, but Donald and Goofy were a few points off.
"Aw darn it!" said an irate Donald.
"Shucks," said a disappointed Goofy.
"Hey, you guys did great," said Sora, "and there'll always be another tournament."
"But in the meantime," said a smug Aiden, "you guys can watch us plow our way to sweet, sweet victory!"
Unfortunately for Aiden, he was one Heartless short of winning the round, so he was also disqualified.
"Oh for the love of crap!" snapped Aiden as he stomped his way up to the seats, where Goofy and Donald were sitting with Jacob and Lyra, "why can't I win these things!"
"You just have that kind of luck," said Lyra as she read her Alethiometer, "some things you just can't succeeded."
"Nothing's easy in life," said Jacob, "otherwise things would be too boring."
"Okay then," said Phil to Sora, Riku, Kairi and Tess, "in round 14 to 16, things are different again. There's a limit to how many times you take damage. First round, your eliminated if you get hit fifteen times. Second round, you're out of if you're hit ten times, and third round, five hits and you're done."
"Easy as boysenberry pie!" said an eager Tess. Unfortunately for her, she was disqualified after taking five hits in the sixteenth round.
"Mother puss bucket!" Tess swore as she stomped up to sit with Aiden, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra and Pan. "Hey, Lyra, why didn't you use that compass of yours to see if I would have won or not?"
"The Alethiometer doesn't work that way," said Lyra, "it can't predict the future, only what happened before and what's happening now."
"It does give hints about what can happen," said Pan, "but not very often."
Phil then looked at Sora, Riku and Kairi, "okay, you three made it this far. But here's where things get hard."
"They haven't been hard up till now?" Kairi asked.
"It's been easy so far," said Phil, "but not any more. Round 17 to 19 are timed rounds again, with 17 lasting three minutes, 18 lasting five minutes and 19 lasting seven minutes."
"Doesn't sound hard to me," said Riku.
"Yeah, where's the challenge, Phil?" Sora asked daringly.
"The challenge is no recovery items at all," said Phil, "and no healing spells. All other forms of magic are okay, but nothing that can get your hit points back up. Any use of such items or spells will get you thrown out of the tournament faster than Hermes on roller skates."
"Oh," said a now unsure Sora, Riku and Kairi.
"Now things are interesting," said Aiden, "we've been relying on healing items and spells for a while now, so it'll be hard not for Sora, Riku and Kairi to use them."
"I've got a feeling that they're strong enough to last the three rounds without being defeated," said Tess.
As it turned out, Sora, Riku and Kairi made it through the three grueling rounds without using a single Potion or healing spell, but the experience left them feeling like they had been through a meat grinder.
"Now can we use healing stuff?" Sora asked as he, Riku and Kairi struggled to get their breath back.
"Be my guest," said Phil, "you're gonna need all of your strength for the final round. You're gonna face the Rock Titan."
"Oh, okay," said an eager Sora, while he and Riku were healed by Kairi.
"What's the deal with the Rock Titan?" Kairi asked.
"If it's got the word 'titan' in it," said Riku, "then it's going to be one of those things."
"Relax, guys," said Sora, "the Rock Titan's a pushover. Just hit it in the legs until it falls down, then hit it in the heads until it gives up."
"Oh, okay," said Kairi, "we should have this tournament won in no time."
"There's one more thing," said Phil, "The Ice Titan will be there as well."
"Oh," said Sora in a deflated tone, "that's going to make things a lot harder."
"How hard could it be?" Riku asked.
"Very hard," said Sora. He then told Riku and Kairi just how hard it was for him to defeat the Ice Titan the last time.
But then something happened that put all thoughts of the tournament out of the minds of our heroes.
Suddenly, Meg stood up, a distant look in her eyes as she walked out of the stadium. "Meg?" a confused Hercules asked, "what's wrong? Meg? Meg!"
She didn't answer Hercules as she through the Vestibule and out to the Coliseum Gates.
"What's going on with her?" Sora asked as he and the others followed Meg.
"Something's wrong," said a frantic Hercules, "something's very wrong."
"A dark force has taken control of her mind," said Lyra as she read her Alethiometer, "something…terrible."
"Hades!" said Sora, "it has to be him, I know it!"
By then Meg had reached the entrance to the Underworld and walked through without hesitation.
"This has trap written all over it!" said Tess as our heroes stopped at the entrance, "I don't need to who Hades is to know that he's put the whammy on Meg to use her as bait."
"Well if we know if it's a trap," said Jacob, "then we can work around it." he then took off his clothes, "and I can sniff out a trap before they spring it." He then morphed into his wolf form.
"That never gets old with me," said Aiden, "it's creepy, but cool." he then rubbed his wrists, "alright, let's do this!"
"We can't go yet," said Hercules, "without the Olympus Stone, none of our strength will matter in the Underworld."
"He's right," said Sora, "we'll be all but powerless down there. But I don't know where it is."
"It's a good thing you gave it back to me before you went to finish Organization XIII," said Phil as he handed the Olympus Stone to Sora.
"We'll be back before you know it, Phil," said Sora as he pocketed the Olympus Stone, "Riku, Kairi and I have a pair of Titans to beat."
"Lucky us," said Kairi.
"Okay," said Aiden as he rubbed his wrists again, "take 2: Alright! Let's do this!"
With that Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra, Pan and Hercules ran into The Underworld.
"That's really cool that you used a teleportation spell to bring the girl here the second she stepped into The Underworld," said Dirk Digger as Pain and Panic chained Meg to a large obelisk.
"The second that Meg stepped into my domain," said Hades, "she was subject to my rules. And the second I negate that dumb Olympus Stone, Sora and those no-good do-gooders will be playing by my rules as well. All we got to do is wait for them to get here, then the trap will crush them alive!"
"Uh, boss," said Panic, "there's something you need to know."
"We've got a problem," said Panic.
"It can wait," said Hades, "first thing's first, get rid of the brats."
"He has Meg chained up in his inner sanctum," said Lyra as she read the Alethiometer as our heroes ran through the Cave of the Dead entrance.
"Then it's just a downhill run to Hades' room," said Hercules as our heroes fought through the first wave of Heartless. "Part of it is uphill, but that area isn't hard at all."
"Any idea of what Hades is planning?" Sora asked.
"He has a piece of dark magic that will take away our powers," said Lyra, "and leave us helpless."
"Believe me," said Hercules as he ripped a Large Body in half, then smashed a Neo Shadow, "you don't want to be caught down here without your strength."
"So what can we do if Hades takes away our powers?" Tess asked as she stabbed Rabid Dog, then dueled and destroyed a Lance Soldier.
"Well first of all," said Aiden as he swatted a Hook Bat out of the air, "I don't think flames for hair knows that we know his plan. Come to think of it," he destroyed two more Hook Bats, then stabbed a Rabid Dog, "I doubt that any of the baddies know about that gold compass of Lyra's."
"And we'd better make sure that the enemy doesn't know about it," said Kairi, "it could be the edge that we need to finally beat Maleficent once and for all."
"Can we beat her at all?" Riku asked as he destroyed a group of Dusks, then swatted Minute Bomb into the path of a Morning Star. The exploding Heartless detonated, launching the spiked Heartless into the air, where Jacob snapped it out of the air with his huge teeth and ripped it apart, while Donald and Goofy finished off the last of the enemies in the area.
They then moved into the winding tunnel of the Cave of the Dead passage, where more Heartless and Nobodies waited for them.
"Let's just focus on saving Meg," said Hercules, "for now. If Hades' has hurt her in any way, I'll crush the life out of that immortal jerk!"
"Save a piece for me," said Sora, "He's hurt a lot of people, so it's time he got what was coming to him!"
"As soon as Hercules gets here," said an irate Meg, "he's gonna skin you alive!"
"And tan my hide and stuff it," said a bored Hades, "blah blah blah. But first he's got to get here, and he's in for one supreme surprise."
"Boss," said Pain, "you really need to hear this."
"It's important," said Panic.
"Later!" said Hades as he prepared to negate the Olympus Stone.
"I'll listen if there's a problem," said Dirk Digger. Pain and Panic then told the demon what they needed to tell.
"Oh," said a nervous Dirk Digger, "that is serious," he looked at Hades, "I really think you should listen to your minions."
"I don't have time to listen!" snapped Hades, "I've got losers to destroy and revenge to enjoy! So just go look for that stupid talisman of yours, you dateless wonder of a demon!"
"I've been on plenty of dates, for your information," said Dirk Digger, "but if you don't want my help, then yes, I will go look for the talisman," he then looked at Pain and Panic, "and I'll borrow your minions, if you don't mind."
"You all have fun," said Hades as he added the final element to the curse that will negate the Olympus Stone.
"We should have told him," said Panic as he, Pain and Dirk Digger headed to a different part of the Underworld, "about that little girl with that weird compass that can answer questions."
"Villains like Hades don't like to be told what to do," said Dirk Digger, "the only thing we can do is get out of his way. But he'll be alright. He's a god, so he'll be alright."
"Oh he'll be alright," said Pain, "I'm more worried about what he'll do to us when the Heroes beat him?"
"We'd be better off out of his way," said Dirk Digger as he pressed the Send button on his PDA, transmitting the pictures of the spell book off world, "I've got part of what Mr. Graves sent me here for, and now to look for the other thing; the talisman."
Sora and the others had just passed through the inner chamber of the Cave of the Dead and were now fighting their way up the Valley of the Dead.
"Hades is gonna take away our powers the second we get to his room," said Sora as he and Kairi destroyed a pair of Dusks, "and we still don't have a plan!"
"The only thing I've got is that we all rush him at once," said Kairi, "Hades may be a god, but he's just one, and we're many."
"Yeah, but we could all get hurt if we try to rush him," said Riku.
"Not if someone gets to him before he can attack," said Tess as she looked at Jacob, "if our furry friend can tackle Hades before he can put the whammy on us, then we're in the clear."
"Can you do that?" Sora asked Jacob, "can you attack Hades before he zaps us?"
Jacob nodded and barked in affirmation.
"Then let's take that egotistic god down!" said Aiden. They then reached the doors to Hades' Chamber and busted in. They all then saw Meg chained to the obelisk.
"Meg!" shouted a frantic Hercules.
"Herc! No!" shouted Meg, "it's a trap!"
"And it is!" said Hades as he activated the curse.
"Jacob!" shouted Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Donald, Goofy and Hercules felt their powers being drained, "get him!"
Jacob ran at Hades, intending to tackle and rip the flame-haired god apart, but the curse zapped Jacob as well. He collapsed in mid leap and fell to the ground weak as a puppy.
At that Hades laughed triumphantly, "yes! I love it when a plan comes to fruition!"
"You flaming bastard!' shouted Tess. She tried to go invisible and attack Hades from behind, but at the most she managed to become transparent.
"This sucks worse than anything has ever sucked before," said an irate Aiden as he tried to transmute the air around Hades into carbon monoxide, indenting to smother the evil god, but the alchemy failed.
"I can barely get by Keyblade up," said an exhausted Kairi.
"Me to," said Sora.
"That's the idea," said a viciously smiling Hades, "and now you're mine, all of you."
"I don't belong to you, Hades!" said Hercules as he faced the evil god, "I may only have a mortal's power, but I can still fight better than a mortal!" he ran at Hades, who then blasted him with a fireball.
"There's nothing more pathetic than a fallen hero," said Hercules, "I'd stay down, Jerk-ulese, if you know what's good for you." He then glared at Sora and the others, "the same goes for all of you. If you want to live, you'd better put your toys away and do as I say."
"Looks like we've got no choice," said Sora. With that he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess vanished their Keyblades, while Donald and Goody put their weapons away as well.
"There now," said Hades, "let's talk turkey. I'm not going to destroy you, yet. There's something I want you Keyblade brats to do for me. Do it and I'll let you all walk away," he glared down at Jacob, "and your mutt as well."
Jacob growled defiantly at Hades as he tried to get up, but barely had enough strength to crawl over to Sora and the others.
"Whatever you want, Hades," said Riku, "we won't do it!"
"But you haven't even heard what it is I want," said Hades, "how can you say now if you don't know?"
"They can say no," said Lyra as she looked up from her Alethiometer, "because if they do what you want, you'll kill us all anyway," she looked at Sora and the others, "he's got a spell on him that's keeping him here. He can't leave the Underworld, but your Keyblades can set him free."
"What?" Sora asked, "how did you get trapped here, Hades?"
"I'll bet Maleficent did it when he messed up at The Tournament of Light," said Kairi.
"It'd be better for you brats if you didn't bring up that fiasco," said an irate Hades. He then glared at Lyra, "and how did you know that, little girl? And why aren't you powerless like the other brats?"
"That's a good question," said Pan, "Lyra, I don't feel weak at all."
"Neither do I," said Lyra. She looked at her Alethiometer, "oh, it's because I'm from another world, a world that's greatly different than that of Sora's and Jacob's, that I'm immune to some of the magic of this world."
"What!" exclaimed Hades as he turned red with anger, "that spell I used completely negated the Olympus Stone!" he stomped towards Lyra, who defiantly stood her ground, "even the shape shifting mutt wasn't immune!"
At that Jacob growled, as if saying that he wasn't a mutt.
"So how is it," said Hades to Lyra, "that a stupid little girl and her talking ferret aren't affected by my curse? And don't tell me it's because you're from another world," he looked at the Alethiometer, "and what is that thing anyway?"
"It's a truth mirror," said an eagerly smiling Lyra as she held up the Alethiometer, "only someone very, very special from my world can use it, someone very powerful," she then winked at Sora, and then at Jacob, "someone who can defeat a god."
"What!" snapped Hades, "you're just a stupid human! Ain't no way you're stronger than me!"
"Well I am," said Lyra in an eager tone, "I've fought and killed Gobblers and Clift Ghasts. I've outwrestled Armored Bears and vanquished Specters. I've journeyed to the real land of the dead and won over the hearts of an entire race of harpies. I've destroyed angels and demons alike, and I eat Dust for breakfast."
"Uh…you've lost me, kid," said a confused Hades.
"Alright," said Lyra, "I didn't tell the whole truth on that story."
"But we have been through a lot together," said Pan, "and we're not afraid of a false god like you."
"What?" Hades asked in a stunned tone. It was as if what Pan just said had really struck a nerve with him, "what did you call me?"
"I said you are a false god!" snapped Pan, "And I'm no ferret."
"Pan's right!" said Lyra, "I've seen a real god in the flesh, and you don't compare."
"You dare make fun of me!" raged Hades as he burned white hot, "I'll melt you both into mud!"
"Do your worst!" said Lyra, "I've experienced the worst pain a person can ever feel! I had my daemon ripped away from me. I had to give up my soul, but I survived the ordeal; I got Pan back, and that makes me stronger than a pretender god like you!"
"It's true," said Pan, "when Lyra had to go into the real land of the dead, I had to stay behind, so we were separated. We both felt like we were dead, worse than dead, but we grew stronger from the experience, in more ways than one," he winked at Sora and Jacob, "and we're not afraid of anything."
:What are they trying to do?: Kairi asked Sora, :that immortal maniac is going to incinerate Lyra and Pan if they keep this up.:
:I think they're stalling for time,: said Sora, :but what for? Hade's curse has negated the Olympus Stone, and we're powerless without it.:
:Then how come we're able to still use telepathy?: Aiden asked.
:Maybe the spell Hades used isn't as powerful as he things,: said Riku.
:Well of course it's not that strong,: said Tess, :Cause I can hear you all.:
:When did you get your telepathy?: a surprised Aiden asked.
:We'll talk later,: said Tess, :right now we need to figure out how to keep our friends from being roasted and toasted.:
By now Lyra and Pan had gotten Hades so riled up, he was shaking with fury. But instead of tossing fireballs about in rage, he began to calm down, "I don't have to take any crap from you or your talking animal, little girl."
"I'm not an animal," said Pan, "I'm a daemon. And the name is Pantalaimon."
"And I'm Lyra Silvertongue," said Lyra, "so go ahead and do your worst."
"Oh I'll do my worst," said Hades, "I'll do my very worst," he then summoned a ring of flames around Meg, "hey, Keyblade brats! I'm gonna give you one chance. Either use those Keyblades of yours to undo Maleficent's whammy, or Meg here gets to know what heat stroke is all about."
"Don't do it!" said Meg, "that whammy is the only thing keeping Hades from the rest of the worlds! You can't let him out!"
"Oh but they can," said Hades as he grinned viciously, "because your boyfriend is going to make then," he glared at Hercules, "so what's it going to be, boy wonder?"
Sora knew that Hercules was being put in an impossible situation, one that would force him to make only one choice, "do it, Sora," he said in a defeated tone, "free Hades. I can't live without Meg. I…I love her."
"And I love you, Hercules," said Meg, "but seriously, you can't just throw away everything like this. If Hades is on the lose again…"
"I know what will happen," said Hercules, "but keeping him locked up at the cost of losing you, that's something even a hero can't choose to do. I'm sure Phil's going to hate me for this, but I can't give you up, Meg."
"You dummy," said a smiling and crying Meg, "you wonderful dummy."
"Oh cry me a river," said an impatient Hades.
Sora then noticed that Jacob was standing more surely, as if the giant wolf had gotten his strength back. Jacob then winked at Sora, and Sora nodded back.
"It's alright, Hercules," said Sora, "we'll do it."
"Things were a little too quiet among the worlds without Hades anyway," said Riku.
"We'll undo Maleficent's curse if Hades tells us what to do," said Kairi.
"But first we want to know how he knows what to do," said Aiden, "turnabout is fair play after all."
"Surely someone as powerful as a god can afford to answer a question," said Tess.
"Alright," said Hades as he lowered the flames around Meg, still keeping a small ring of fire around her, "I'll tell you what you want to know. After that purple idiot Ursula messed things up at the tournament on your world, Maleficent dragged us to her pad and put the whammy on us. Ursula's trapped in a block of ice, and yours truly was tapped in his own home."
"How did that happen?" Sora asked, stalling for time, "Maleficent may be the mistress of all evil, but you're a god for crying out loud?"
"Maleficent has access to more dark magic than anyone else could know," said Lyra as she looked at the Alethiometer, "curses and spells of the worst kind. She has magic that could even bend a false god to her will."
"Hey! I'm the one telling the story here!" snapped Hades. He then looked at Sora, "but she's right. Maleficent's got some serious mojo about her. I couldn't stop her from locking me up here, and I'm the Lord of the Underworld for crying out loud.
"But I found out how she did it. You see, Maleficent has memorized a spell book that was written by Hecate, the goddess of dark magic. There's only a handful of copies of Hecate's book in all of existence," he then pointed to said copy of said spell book, "and I just got one of them."
"And you used that book to find out how to free yourself," said Riku, "and to put the whammy on us."
"That's right," said Hades, "now, are you gonna unlock me like a Keyhole? Or am I gonna have to BBQ Meg? And then feed her to Cerberus?" Cerberus then poked its heads into the room, drooling in anticipation of the feast to come.
"Not to sound like I'm afraid," said a nervous Meg, "but I'd rather not be cooked and eaten by a 3 headed dog that seriously needs to brush its teeth."
"Actually," said Kairi, "we'd rather not."
"What?" Hades asked.
"I said we'd rather not," said Kairi.
"I'd never thought I'd live to see the day that I would be glad of anything Maleficent did," said Riku, "but locking you up in your own realm was the best thing Maleficent could ever have done. I'd be an insult to her to ruin the one decent thing she's ever done for the universe."
"And I'd rather not be rude to someone I've never met," said Tess.
"Likewise," said Aiden, "though I have met Maleficent, but I'd rather not see her again."
"Oh but you will," said Dirk Digger as he, Pain and Panic, walked in. The nerd demon had in his hands a large gold, jeweled encrusted key, much like the one Sora and the others found in The Land of Dragons. "Maleficent wants you, boy, you and Kairi." He looked at Hades, "is it alright if I take them with me to New Hollow Bastion after you're done with them?"
"As long as they undo the whammy on me," said Hades, "I need five Keyblades to break the spell."
"I've seen you before, demon," said Lyra to Dirk Digger, "you were on my world, trying to find that talisman that your master, Gideon, wants so desperately. And is that key the talisman?"
"Nice to see you again," said Dirk Digger, "and no," he held up the key, "it isn't, but it's a cool thing to have."
"It is cool," said Kairi as she held up the key our heroes found.
"Wait," said a confused Dirk Digger, "what's that?"
"I think it's the same as the one you have," said Kairi. She walked over to the demon and they compared keys, "it's almost the same, but the jewels are arranged differently on each."
"What do they mean?" Aiden asked as he walked over and looked at the keys, "they're the same to me."
"No, they're not," said Kairi as she held up her Key, "you see, this key has the ruby at the top, but the other one has the amber at the top."
"She's right," said Dirk Digger, "but what does it mean? This isn't what Mr. Graves said for me to look for."
"Then what is it?" Kairi asked, "what is this Talisman that your boss wants so badly?"
"He said I'd know it when I saw it," said Dirk Digger, "that's what he told all of us."
"Well that's not fair," said Aiden, "how are you expected to find this talisman if you don't know what it looks like?"
"I know, it's totally unfair," said Dirk Digger.
"Hey!" snapped Hades, "aren't you suppose to grab those two for your boss?"
Dirk Digger then looked at Kairi and Aiden, blinking in surprise as he realized that he had made a mistake, "you're right!" he glared at Kairi and Aiden, "you two are coming with me!"
Just then Naminé popped out of Kairi, "I don't think so, jerk!" she then kicked the demon in the crotch.
"Oh, my bits and pieces!" exclaimed Dirk Digger as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his wedding tackle in agony.
At the same time Jacob ran at Hades and tackled the dark god, biting Hades on the wrist.
"Get your filthy paws off of me, you mutt!" snapped Hades as he struggled to free his arm from Jacob's jaws. Hades wasn't seriously hurt, but Jacob wasn't letting go.
"The book!" said Lyra to Sora and the others, "use it to undo the spell on you."
"Why not just destroy the book?" Riku asked as our heroes reached said spell book, "if it's evil, then let's get rid of it!"
"I'll do it," said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade. Even though the Olympus Stone was still negated, Sora had enough power to use a spell. He aimed and shot a fireball at the spell book, but the fireball vanished before it touched the book.
"It's protected by magic," said Lyra.
"Then we'll just have to find the counter spell," said Aiden as he opened the book. Our heroes then saw page after page of writing in a language they couldn't understand.
"Great, a book we can't read," said Tess, "what's next?"
Just then Dirk Digger got back up, an enraged look on his face, "you brats have made me very angry, very angry indeed!" as he spoke, his face elongated and grew razor sharp fangs, while his hands grew even larger and sprouted claws and spikes and a spiked tail grew out of his back.
"Oh great," said Aiden.
Just then Roxas appeared out of Sora, "I've got this guy!" he summoned his Keyblades, "let's go, demon!"
"Gladly!" said Dirk Digger. He and Roxas rushed at each other. He slashed at Roxas with his claws, teeth and spikes, which Roxas countered with his Keyblades.
"How come he's not affected by the spell?" Aiden asked.
"He's a Nobody," said Lyra.
"That makes a difference," said Kairi.
"He's got the demon occupied," said Naminé.
"And Jacob's having fun with Hades," said Pan. True enough, Jacob had Hades up against the wall.
"I told you to get away from me, you stupid dog!" spat Hades as he threw fireball after fireball at Jacob, but Jacob was too fast for the flames to hit him.
"Let me look at the book," said Naminé, "I think I can make sense of the spells."
"Help yourself," said Aiden as he pushed the book to Naminé. She began leafing through the pages, searching for the counter spell.
"Well?" Kairi asked after about 30 seconds.
"Give me a chance to find it," said Namine, "these things aren't always so easy to find."
"Can't you just look at the index?" Sora asked, "or the first page? There's usually a table of contents."
"This isn't a school book, Sora," said Riku, "if what Hades said about it is true, then a goddess wrote it as her personal spell book. She wouldn't have made it easy for someone else to read it by putting in a table of contents."
"Oh look," said Naminé as she looked at the first page, "there is a table of contents. The counter spells are all the way in the back," she flipped to the back pages of the book, "now, to find the right counter spell, otherwise it won't work."
"What's the worst that could happen?" Tess asked, "if you use the wrong counter spell?"
"Hopefully, nothing," said Naminé, "but at the worst, it's best not to think about it."
"That bad?" Tess asked.
"That bad," said Naminé, "wait…I think I've found the right counter spell. Okay, whoever has the Olympus Stone, hold it out."
Sora held up the Olympus Stone, while Naminé chanted the spell. After a few seconds, the stone flashed, and our heroes immediately felt stronger.
"Alright!" said Sora, "we got our powers back!"
"And just in time!" said Kairi as Hades threw Jacob off of him. Jacob landed on his paws several paces away, then ran back at Hades, who teleported out of the way.
"That does it!" said a very angry Hades, "I've had it with you all! Cerberus! Get in here, now!"
The giant, three-headed dog then bounded into the room, which had magically enlarged to allow Cerberus' vast bulk and still have our heroes move around comfortably.
"That is one mean-looking dog," said a nervous Aiden.
"I hope he's housebroken," said Kairi.
Jacob then growled at Cerberus, who then growled back. The two of them exchanged growled for a while, as if they were having a conversation.
"What are they saying, Pan?" Lyra asked.
"Jacob's asking Cerberus why he's working for Hades," said Pan, "and Cerberus says it's his purpose to serve the god of the Underworld. Jacob said that he thought that Cerberus was supposed to just guard the entrance to the Underworld, not do Hades' dirty work. Cerberus says it's all he knows, doing Hades' dirty work."
"Well that's just sad," said Tess, "spending your whole life doing what a jerk of a god tells you what to do," she boldly walked up to Cerberus, mastering her fear of the massive dog with three heads, "you must be so miserable, no wonder you've done such mean things," she stopped by Cerberus' right forepaw, "I'll bet you're not so mean after all, not deep down inside," she stroked the fir of the 3 headed dog and Cerberus was so surprised that someone touched him without any violence behind it, he didn't attack.
"That's right," said Tess in a kind tone as she continued to stroke the fur of Cerberus' paw, "you're not a monster, I've seen enough real monsters to know one that's being made to be a monster to know the difference. You just need someone to be nice to you for a change, instead of being made to obey this immortal jerk."
"What in my domain are you doing, brat!" snapped Hades, "Cerberus is my dog! Mine! And he'll do whatever I want him to do!"
"Oh really?" Hercules asked in a daring tone as he freed Meg from the obelisk, "I think things are about to change around here, Hades."
By now Cerberus had begun to trust Tess and had laid down on the ground, allowing her to pet one of his heads.
"That's right," said a smiling Tess as she scratched behind the ears of the middle head, "you're not a bad dog, you just have a rotten master. You're a very good dog who just needs some love."
By now Cerberus was panting happily and wagging his tail eagerly.
"Get away from my monster!" snapped a now white-hot Hades. He charged up a massive fireball, intending to incinerate Tess and Cerberus, "that's my dog, and if I can't have it, no one can!"
But then Tess glared defiantly at Hades as she used her power to make not only herself invisible, but Cerberus as well.
This caused Hades to completely lose focus. His fireball vanished and his skin and hair turned back to blue. "What…? What…!"
"Oh, this isn't good," said Panic, "maybe we should skedaddle."
"That's the smartest thing I've heard all day," said Pain. With that the two minions ran for it.
Tess and Cerberus then reappeared behind Hades, "your days of animal cruelty are over, fire brains!" snapped Tess. Cerberus then grabbed Hades with his middle head.
"What are you doing, you pathetic excuse for a monster!" snapped Hades as Cerberus carried the dark god over to the edge of the well of souls, "put me down! I said put me down!"
"You heard him," said Hercules, "put him down."
Hades then realized that Cerberus was about to drop him into the soul well, "wait! Don't put me down! Don't put me…" Cerberus then dropped Hades, "…dooooowwwwwwwwnnnn!" with a distant splash, Hades was gone, for now.
"How long do you think it'll take him to get out of there again?" Sora asked.
"Not long enough," said Hercules, "he'll be back someday."
"I think we have a more immediate problem!" said Aiden. Just then Dirk Digger threw Roxas towards the wall. He hit the wall hard and fell to the ground.
"Oww." said Roxas as he tried to get back up, but Dirk Digger moved too quickly for him to react. The mole-like demon then backhanded Roxas into the wall again.
Our heroes then all attacked the demon, but Dirk Digger was much too fast for them, moving so quickly he was a blur.
"How can he be so fast?" an exasperated Aiden asked after Dirk Digger knocked him down again.
"Aren't moles supposed to be slow or something?" Tess asked.
"I'm not a mole," said Dirk Digger, "I'm unstoppable! And don't even ask me what my secret is, 'cause I'm not talking!"
"It's the ground!" said Lyra as she read the Alethiometer, "he draws power from the ground!"
"Of course!" said Hercules as realization struck, "like Antaeus! Sora! We've got to separate the demon from the ground!"
"Easier said than done!" said Sora as he tried to blast Dirk Digger with an Aero spell, but kept missing, "he's too fast!"
"Not even Jacob can catch him!" said Riku as Jacob tried to bite Dirk Digger, but the demon dodged Jacob's snapping teeth and backhanded him to the ground.
"Then it's a good thing I know what I'm doing!" said Aiden. He then transmuted the ground in front of Dirk Digger into a deep water trap, but the demon ran around the newly formed hole and punched Aiden.
"You can't beat me!" said Dirk Digger, "and you're coming with me back to New Hollow Bastion!"
"No I'm not!" said Aiden as he got up. He then held up the yellow watch Tron made for him, "and it's about time I got to use this!" he pressed the center button and was surrounded by a yellow light. When the light cleared, he was wearing yellow armor that had high ear extensions on the helmet.
"Let's go!" shouted Aiden as he rushed at Dirk Digger. He was much faster than before and was able to keep up with the mole-like demon, but the demon wasn't showing any signs of relenting as his shovel-like hands blocked all of Aiden's attacks.
"You can wear as much armor as you like, brat!" snapped Dirk Digger, "you can't beat me!"
"That's where you're wrong, jerk!" snapped Aiden. He then jumped back and aimed his Keyblade at the ground, sending a pulse of Alchemic energy into the ground around the demon.
Dirk Digger tried to get out of the way, but the ground around him was transmuted into glass spikes. One of the spikes pierced the demon's leg, trapping him. Aiden then transmuted the ceiling above the demon into another glass spike that reached down and completely impaled the demon through.
"I'd say he's had it," said Aiden as he powered his armor down. He then sighed with exhaustion, "and I'm about done as well."
"Yeah," said Riku, "the armor takes a while to get used to."
"What do you want to do with this jerk?" Tess asked as she pointed at the impaled Dirk Digger.
Jacob then growled, which Pan translated as, "He wants to rip the demon's head off."
"Sounds good to me," said Kairi, "Maleficent's just going to have to be disappointed when Aiden and I aren't brought to her."
At that Dirk Digger coughed up black blood as it laughed, "you stupid human!" he the pulled out his PDA and used it to take Kairi's picture, "Maleficent only wants the alchemist brat so she can use his brain to find the other Princess of Heart. It's Mr. Graves who wants Kairi."
"Why?" Sora asked, "why does your boss want Kairi so much?"
"Mr. Graves has his reasons," said Dirk Digger as he pushed the Send button on his PDA, transmitting Kairi's picture out, "but he will have Kairi. Mr. Graves always gets what he wants."
"Well he's just going to have to be disappointed," said Kairi as she charged up a demon vanquishing spell, "and you, no coming back in 100 years for you!"
"No!" shouted Dirk Digger, "not oblivion! Don't sent me into the void!"
"You should have thought of that before threatening me and my friends!" shouted Kairi. She then threw the vanquishing spell at Dirk Digger. The impaled mole demon then vanished in a flash of white light, while the gold key the demon had fell to the ground.
"I'm starting to get worried here," said Kairi, while Aiden picked up the gold key, "this Gideon guy, what's his problem? What did I ever do to him?"
"Whatever his reason," said Sora, "I'm not going to let him hurt you, ever."
"And if he tries anything else to get you," said Riku, "we'll stop him."
"And we'll make him regret it," said Tess as she pulled out one of the razors her father used in their old barber shop on Metamore, "dearly."
Just then Hades teleported back into the room, "you brats," he said through gritted teeth, "you are seriously burning me up!" He then blasted our heroes with double flamethrower attacks.
Riku blocked the twin streams of fire with his Dark Shield, then countered with a Dark Aura blast. But then Hades began throwing fireballs and flamethrower attacks left and right
"I think we should consider the possibility of running!" said Kairi as she and Sora ducked a flamethrower attack.
"That's probably a good idea!" said Aiden as he got his second wind. He then transmuted the area around Hades into concrete, trapping the firey god. But the gray stone began to heat up, turning first red, then yellow, then white with intense heat.
"Running! We should be running!" shouted Aiden. Our heroes bolted for the door and were halfway down the Valley of the Dead, when Hades blasted out of the concrete dome.
"Where do you losers think you're going!" Hades shouted as he stood on the edge of the path and shot bolts of fire down at our heroes.
"Out of here, that's the general plan!" said Hercules as he picked up a large rock and used it to deflect a flamethrower attack, then threw the rock up at Hades. The dark god teleported out of the way, then teleported to the bottom of the area.
But by then our heroes were in the next area and almost at the passage of the Cave of the Dead.
"Can't we do anything to slow this creep down?" Aiden asked as he transmuted one concrete barrier after another as our heroes ran up the passage, but Hades blasted through each with too much ease.
"I've been trying to think of something!" said Riku, "but nothing's coming!"
"Let's just focus on staying alive!" said Roxas as he, Sora and Donald blasted several Blizzard attacks back at Hades, but the ice attacks melted and evaporated even before they got within an inch of the flaming god.
"Okay, this is serious now," said Tess as our heroes reached the entrance to the Cave of the Dead, with Hades barely a few paces behind them, "time to pray now!"
"Oh you'd better pray!" snapped Hades as he summoned a massive wall of flames that blocked toe door to the Underworld Entrance, trapping our heroes with him in the room, "pray that I wipe out all of you in this next shot, 'cause anyone still left alive is gonna wish they had died instantly!"
"Wait!" said Aiden, "doesn't Maleficent want me and Kairi? Won't she be angry with you if you kill us?" Sora and the others knew that Aiden was trying to stall for time, but it wasn't working.
"Maleficent can kiss my immortal derriere!" said Hades, "as long as I've got Hecate's spell book, I can counter anything Maleficent has."
"You mean this book" Lyra asked daringly as she held up said spell book, "I grabbed it before you chased us out of your den."
"You can kill us, Hades," said Riku, "you can keep our souls here to torment for all of eternity, but you'll have to destroy the spell book in the process."
"No problem," said Hades as he charged up a huge fireball, "I'll just steal another from Mt. Olympus. Athena has another copy."
"You are by far the most unscrupulous fiend I've ever met," said an irate Lyra as she handed the book to Kairi, "and my own mother was one of the worst!"
"Guess you can't trust anyone!" said Hades, "any last words?"
"Yeah," said Hercules as he saw something behind Hades that made him smile, "look behind you!"
"You must think I'm pretty dim to fall for that old trick," said Hades. But then he realized that Cerberus was right behind him. Before Hades could react, Cerberus grabbed the flaming god and threw him out of the room, back into the passage of the Cave of the Dead.
"Let's go before he comes back!" said Sora, "all of us!" with that our heroes, and Cerberus, ran through the Underworld Entrance and was back up top in the Coliseum proper.
They then saw Hades running towards them, but the dark god was stopped cold at the entryway to the Underworld.
"Looks like Maleficent knew what she was doing," said Riku, "Hades can't cross the line."
"You brats!" raged Hades as he pounded against an invisible force that was keeping him in the dark realm, "you get back here so I can charbroil you!"
"In your dreams, sparky!" said Tess. At the same time, Sora, Donald and Roxas blasted Hades with Blizzard spells, forcing the dark god back into his realm.
"Well, we're safe for now," said Hercules, "as long as that spell on Hades is working, he can't come up here."
"And that whammy he put on Meg, it's broken now," said Sora, "I don't think he's got any more strings wrapped around her."
"Thank the gods," said Meg as she hugged Hercules, "the good ones I mean."
Just then a very irate Phil walked up to Sora, Riku and Kairi, "what is wrong with you guys! You ran out on the final match of the tournament, and those two Titans won by default!"
"Oh, the tournament," said Sora in a deflated tone, "we kinda forgot about it."
"We had a bit of an emergency," said Kairi.
"I don't care about that!" said Phil, "there's 4 words that count when it comes to tournaments; Never Stop Once You Start!"
"That's five, actually," said Jacob after he morphed back into his human form and got dressed again.
"Whatever," said Phil. He then saw that Cerberus was with our heroes, "and what's with this character? Isn't he on the other side?"
"He was," said Tess as she affectionately patted Cerberus's left side. His left head bent down and affectionately licked her, "he just needed to be treated with kindness, in order to free him from the darkness."
"He's not so bad, once he's away from Hades," said Hercules as he scratched Cerberus behind the ear of his right head. Cerberus's right head then licked Hercules. The giant dog then rolled over and Hercules began scratching his belly.
"Looks like someone's found a new master," said Riku. He then looked at Tess, "but what made you try to help Cerberus anyway?"
"He reminded me of Edge," said Tess in a slightly distant tone, "our dog my father and I had, before things got bad for us. Edge…he…he died when the enemy burned our home down."
"Oh," said Riku, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," said Tess as she gave him a reassuring smile, "Edge was a good dog and I'm glad for the good times we had. If I ever get another dog, I'll name him Edge 2, or Edgy, or something like that."
"We're really sorry we had to forfeit the tournament, Phil," said Kairi, "but there'll be another tournament, right?"
"I'd like to try to beat both of those Titans again," said Sora, "I beat them one on one, so both of them together shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, not impossible."
"You can only try," said Phil, "and you'll try alright. There's going to be more tournaments coming up than you could want. There's the Hera Cup, the Aphrodite Cup, the Apollo Cup, the Artemis Cup, the Athena Cup, the Poseidon Cup, the Zeus Cup, and each one is different. Kid, you and your friends have your hands full."
"We can hardly wait," said Sora.
"Lucky us," muttered Donald.
"Next tournament we'll get to fight," said Pan, "right, Lyra?"
"Absolutely," said Lyra.
"Count me in as well," said Jacob, "but we're still looking for Nessie, right?"
"Of course we're going to find Nessie," said Aiden, "your girlfriend has been plaguing our dreams for months, so there's no way we're going to forgo finding her."
"Then we'd better get going and find her," said Riku. With that everyone said their goodbyes to Hercules, Phil, Meg and Cerberus.
"You all take care of yourselves," said Sora. He then looked up at Cerberus, "and you especially take care of yourself." At that Cerberus barked in affirmation, which Pan translated as 'okay.'
A short time later our heroes had beamed aboard The Intrepid Heart, "hope you all had fun," said Sidney.
"It was alright," said Sora as our heroes walked to the bridge, "we didn't get to finish the tournament, but there'll be another soon."
"So, where are we going to go next?" Kairi asked. She held up her gold key, while Aiden looked at his, "and are we going to find another of these when we get there?"
"Whatever they are," said Riku, "they're important, I can feel it."
"They are important, somehow," said Tess, "but we won't solve this mystery by just sitting around. So, where next in this crazy universe?"
"The Alethiometer won't say exactly where," said Lyra as she looked up from her golden compass, "it just says to trust Sora."
"That's what we've been doing for a long time now," said Aiden, "so, Sora, where to next?"
Sora then looked at holographic map of the worlds. Beasts' Castle was nearby, but then on the other side of the map was Neverland, and he remembered that he owed a visit to a certain blond pixy.
"We still need to thank Tinker Bell for the Pixy Dust," said Sora, "we can visit Beast and Belle later. Riku, set course for Neverland."
"Course laid in," said Riku, "and here we go." He pressed the button and the ship jumped into hyperspace.
…New Hollow Bastion…
"Yes, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator as he spoke into his cell phone, while his other hand held his PDA, which showed the picture of Kairi that Dirk Digger took before he was destroyed, "I have her photo now, and I'm sending it right now," The Negotiator then transmitted Kairi's picture out, "it should be on your Mobile any second."
"Outstanding," said a human voice on the other end of the cell phone, "she's definitely the one, just as I knew she would be. I'll admit that my last few choices were flawed, but this girl, Kairi, she's the one, I just know it. How soon can she be brought here?"
"That's not going so well, sir," said The Negotiator, "the girl has evaded all attempts at capture so far. Apparently she's just as powerful as we expected, and her companions are equally as powerful."
"I never said capturing her would be easy," said Gideon Graves, "you're just not using the right demons to get her. If I have to, I'll send one of the Evil Exes."
"I doubt that will be necessary, sir," said The Negotiator, "but if you wish it, it shall be done."
"I will have her," said Gideon, "I will have Kairi. But I'm a patient man, I can wait. Anyway, how goes everything else?"
"Not good, sir," said The Negotiator, "we still haven't found The Talisman. It's not on Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, The Land of Dragons, Port Royal or Olympus Coliseum." his PDA then beeped with a message, "and apparently it's not on Halloween Town either.
"But there's still a lot of worlds to search, sir. We'll find it before the idiot heroes do."
"We'd better find it," said Gideon, "that Talisman is the only thing that can ruin my plans. Find it before the losers do!"
"It shall be as you say, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator, "oh, there is good news. Maleficent is falling into the trap. It's only a matter of time before she's eating out of the palm of my hand."
"Good," said Gideon, "she'll be a key instrument of my final triumph over all of creation."
"It shall be as you say, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator. With that the call ended and the demon went back to work. He then spoke to an subordinate demon, "it seems that we're going to have to bring in the Evil Exes after all."
"But sir," said the subordinate demon, "all of the Evil Exes are on assignment. Matthew Pattel is at Atlantica, negotiating with the thin sea witch for the release of the fat one that Maleficent has locked up in the castle freezer."
"Ah, yes," said The Negotiator, "that time-space anomaly around Atlantica has allowed Mr. Pattell to go into the future and open a dialog with Ursula's psychotic sister, as if the first one wasn't insane enough to begin with. What of the rest of the Evil Exes?"
"Lucas Lee is involved in the deforestation project on Deep Jungle," said the lesser demon, "while Todd Ingram is on his way to Beast's Castle, and Roxanne Ritcher is MIA, and there has been no word either from the Katayanagi Twins."
At that the Negotiator sighed, "I asked Mr. Graves about keeping a tighter leash on his pets. We all know the fiasco they caused when Mr. Graces sent them against Scott Pilgrim."
"I wish I could forget the Scott Pilgrim fiasco," said the subordinate demon.
"The only thing we can do now is wait for Sora and his companions to encounter one of the Evil Exes," said The Negotiator, "and pity the poor fools, for no pathetic hero if this universe can stand against the League of Evil Exes."
But just out of sight, Maleficent watched the two demons, "I look forward to meeting these Evil Exes," she said to herself, "and to the end of this little game of ours. You think you can subdue the mistress of all evil. I look forward to the day I prove you wrong."
The end of chapter 7.
Next chapter we switch back to Team Hayner as they are forced to gamble for their lives against the meanest person in Halloween Town. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!
