AN: Hotcha! lyokoMARVELanime is back once again with another exciting chapter of Kingdom Hearts Dual Keys!
Donald: It's about time! We've been waiting for you to update this for two months now! [gets whapped on the head by two of author's fingers] Ow!
AN: Do you want me to make sure that the chapters I write are not a piece of crap? Yes? Then don't complain about time it takes for author to update!
Goofy: So is that part of the reason it takes you long to update all of your other stories too?
AN: Pretty much. Well that, and the fact that I've got other projects to work on too. Now, how about we answer some reviews before we get into things?
Sora: How about this one guest review that asked an important question that I wanna know the answer to just as much? The one about me flying the Gummi Ship?
Donald: How about never! [gets whapped again] Ow!
AN: That will happen soon enough, but it won't be until...next chapter at the earliest.
Ventus: Hey, there's this other Guest review about Sora being my Keyblade Inheritor that's kinda got me a bit confused.
AN: Yeah, I know the one you mean. Yes, I am well aware of all those things, but tell me, was there a question in there, somewhere, or were you just trying to point out something that's already well established both in the actual series and in this story series? I don't think there's really anything else to say this time, so how about we roll on into things.
Ventus: I'm good with that. I can't wait to see the action that you've got in store for us today.
Sora: You the mean the action he's got in store for you today. You did way more than all the rest of us did this time around.
Ventus: One extra moment of fighting, and that's it. But come on, it was an awesome showdown, and...
AN: Hey guys! How about we let the readers decide such things for themselves and get on with it?
Sora&Ventus: Yeah, okay. We're cool with that.
AN: Enjoy the show!
I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter VI
Getting through the rest of the tournament turned out to be a breeze for the team of four, and with each battle they fought, each of their skills grew more and more. In the case of Ventus, it was really more in terms of knowledge on how to fight the Heartless, because while they were similar to his old foes from years ago, they were still different enough for him to need to know a few more specifics on just how to fight the creatures of darkness. Yes, he knew how to fight a few of the more basic Heartless, due to certain experiences from his journey ten years ago and his experiences in Traverse Town, but he never once fooled himself into thinking that those were the only types of Heartless to exist, and this little tournament was proving just that, so he was very glad to have the chance to gain this new knowledge. Donald and Goofy on the other hand had learned quite a few new tricks that they could use in fighting their enemies. The two of them had always been a strong team, of course, but as was proven back in Traverse Town when they first met Sora, they had a lot to learn when it came to fighting the Heartless. Thankfully, this tournament was helping them learn just that, and they were learning quickly, too. Goofy eventually figured out that he could not always be on the defensive, despite how against fighting he was, and thus learned quite a few ways on how he could really strike back with his shield, while Donald figured out how to rely a little more on his own natural combat skills instead of always depending on his magic to get him out of a jam. That did not mean that the two did not still get themselves into tight spaces, but thankfully, their two Keyblade wielding friends were always close at hand to help them out, if they were not able to help each other out that is.
Out of everyone in the group though, it seemed that Sora was the one to improve the most. Yes, he did have some skills in sword fighting, but those skills only grew stronger and stronger the more he fought, right to the point where one would start to think that Sora actually had a bit more training in sword-fighting than he had received back on Destiny Islands from Riku. The main thing that helped in this regard was when he finally figured out that the Keyblade was often trying to help guide his movements as he fought, and that helped him to have a little more of a realization regarding just what Ven had meant when he said that the Keyblade was now his ally and partner, because there were many times in the fight when he had just barely escaped being hit by a seriously harmful attack, and he was certain that said attacks would have landed if he did not have the Keyblade to guide his movements. Aside from that, it also helped him figure out how to vary between his use of magic and normal fighting abilities in battle more effectively, and that was something that Ventus knew he would need to be able to use the Command Styles to their fullest, assuming Sora could use them at will and not out of an instinctive reflex like he did back in Wonderland. All in all, the games were proving to be just as effective a method of training for the four as Sora had believed it would be when he first suggested they enter for the purpose of training.
Throughout it all, the crowd was constantly roaring in excitement for the four and their progress through the games, and among those who excited viewers was a particular satyr who had to admit was growing more and more impressed with both Ventus and the three rookies he had brought along with him. This was a fact that he was willing to admit as soon as the team came out of their last match before the final round. "You know, your little apprentice kid's a lot better than I thought, Ven. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're just as good a teacher to him as I was to Herc," Phil nodded.
"Well, I don't know about that," Ventus shrugged, modestly.
"Uh, who're you two talking about," Sora asked, while Donald and Goofy looked at the two with confused expressions that were asking the same question.
"Hercules," Phil replied. "He's a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father right now, because I'm sure he'd like to have chance to at least face off with Ven here so that they can give each other a test of their strengths."
Ventus only chuckled at the thought of fighting Hercules, clearly still remembering the teenage kid he had met and trained with the first two times he had visited Olympus Coliseum, but a small part of him could not deny that he was actually kind of curious about how well he would stack up in comparison to his old friend now that Hercules had become a true hero, at least according to Phil. He shook it off before looking over to the satyr and said, "Well, I guess all that's left now is the final round, huh?"
"Yep, and it looks like you're gonna go all the way and win the whole shebang just like your old pals, Terra and Aqua did, Ven. Bet you wish they were here to see you win it all, huh," Phil asked.
"Yeah, you've got that right," Ven admitted with a sad smile and a far off look.
Sora's face immediately scrunched up in confusion as he looked to his teacher and wondered once again just who this Terra person was. Three times now he had heard that name mentioned, and yet he had no idea who the guy even was. It was obvious that it was someone Ven knew, given how often people brought the name up around him, and the look that Ven would get on his face afterwards depending on who brought it up clearly implied that it was someone very important to him. If that was the case, then why had Ventus not mentioned Terra before now? Was he another Keyblade Wielder that Ven knew, did he ever come close to becoming a master, or was there something else that made it hard for Ventus to talk about him? These questions were running rampant in Sora's mind the more he wondered about this Terra person, and he just had to know before he lost his mind. Just when he was about to ask though, Phil started to tell them about their opponent for the final round of the games, and he knew that he had to pay attention to this detail.
"Well, looks like you're really going to have to work for it if you guys want to win the games, because your last opponent is going to be that tough contender we came across earlier: Cloud," Phil revealed.
"Oh boy," Donald and Goofy both moaned, while Sora and Ven both felt intensely serious expressions form on their faces.
"Well, good luck out there," Phil waved before he moved aside so that the four could head for the arena.
Once the satyr was well on his way, Sora and Ven allowed Donald and Goofy to trudge on ahead of them, albeit with a bit more hesitance than they had in the previous rounds of the tournament, in order to collect themselves and start thinking of ways that they might win this match. Or at least, that was one of the things that the two of them were thinking about, and Sora felt that one particular subject on his mind could not be ignored any longer. "Hey Ven, just who is this Terra person everyone keeps talking about," Sora asked the blonde master.
Ventus instantly stiffened a bit when he heard that question, and his face then fell in sadness a little before he replied, "Now's really not a great time for that story, Sora."
"But…"
"Sora, I promise I'll tell you later, but right now, we should focus on the match. If you let your mind wander in this fight, it will cost you," Ventus preempted the boy's protest. It was a couple of minutes before Sora finally gave a hesitant nod of acceptance, and Ven then went on to give one last piece of advice before they stepped out of the lobby. "I noticed that you seemed to be trusting Kingdom Key a little more."
"Well yeah, I guess. I mean, I noticed during the last few rounds that the Keyblade was trying to direct me in certain directions, like it was trying to guide me in how I fought, and after hearing what you said earlier about how the Keyblade's our ally, I figured I should just go with it," Sora confirmed.
"And you were right to do so," Ventus confirmed. "One thing you should always remember when fighting with the Keyblade is that you shouldn't try so hard to move your body, but instead, you need to let your body move you."
"Huh," was the only response that Sora gave, not quite understanding what that meant.
"Letting the Keyblade guide you is always a wise move, because oftentimes, it will know better than you what you need to do in order to make it through a fight. If you try to fight against it, you will end up being your own worst enemy, and ultimately lose the fight. More than that though, you need to learn to trust your instincts when you're fighting, because when you do that, you'll become much stronger," Ventus explained as best as he could.
"Okay, I think I get it," Sora nodded, though Ven could see that there was still a little confusion in his expression about the matter. Still, it was also clear that he had gotten the basics of his point across for the moment so he let it slide for now. There was still one more thing that he needed to tell him.
"Sora, during this match, there's one thing that I want you to promise me to do," Ventus said, his tone serious and indicating that there was no room for argument on this. "If at any point during the fight I tell you and the others to step back and leave the fighting to me, I want you to do exactly as I say and not argue. This guy, Cloud is far different from any of the enemies you've faced so far, and I get the feeling that he's on a level that you're not quite ready for just yet."
Sora wanted to protest this at once, but seeing the look on Ven's face told him that his master would not be saying any of this if he did not think it was for the best. More than that, Sora could see that Ven was seriously concerned for Sora's safety in this matter, so there was really nothing else that he could do other than nod and give his word that he would do as Ventus was asking. With that matter settled, the two marched forward to join Donald and Goofy in the arena, where they would be awaiting their opponent. They did not end up waiting long though, as a few minutes later, Cloud walked into the arena as well, and somehow, seeing him enter from the opposite side of the arena, ready to fight them, made him seem much more intimidating than he had been before. This made Sora understand why Ventus asked him to make that promise much better, but all the same, they all stood firm, ready to face this clearly powerful opponent with everything they had. After a minute of staring one other down, the gong to begin sounded, and the final clash of the games began.
If any of the four were expecting Cloud to be slowed down by his massive sword, they were immediately proven wrong when the tall, silent blonde immediately dashed towards the center of the ring where they were waiting for him at an incredible speed, and while his first swing not all that slow, it was still incredibly powerful, right to the point where it created a shockwave when it hit the ground where the four had previously been before they had dove to the sides to dodge it. Ventus and Goofy were the first ones to attempt to counterattack, being the closest to Cloud after they had avoided his first strike, but the taller man was just as quick to raise his sword up in time to block their combined assault. Thankfully, he had left himself open just enough for Sora and Donald to hit him with a quick barrage of spells from behind, mostly fire and ice magic, and that disoriented Cloud just enough for Ventus to slip past his guard and land a few hits on Cloud's front with his Keyblade. Cloud just barely managed to avoid Ventus' follow-up assault by dashing out of the way, but he was unable to avoid Sora when he came in and landed a few hits of his own with the Kingdom Key. Somehow, Cloud did manage to parry the last of Sora's strikes, but the spiky haired boy managed to roll out of the way before Cloud's counterattack could hit, and Sora instantly followed up with a barrage of fire magic, which was quickly strengthened when Ventus combined it with his wind magic.
The resulting blaze caused Cloud to back off a little, and right into Goofy's shield as the royal knight swung it around to bash it into the blonde man's back. Donald then swooped in to knock Cloud's feet out from under him with his staff before calling down some lightning bolts with a Thunder spell. Shockingly, it did not hinder Cloud in the slightest, but instead, he somehow managed to shrug it off like it was nothing, and then swung his massive sword around to release a powerful wave of energy that knocked Donald and Goofy off their feet and into the barrier around the arena. The two both fell unconscious afterwards, and that was all it took for Ventus and Sora to charge in once more, ready to strike. Ventus took to fighting Cloud up close in a full-on sword fight, while Sora laid down a barrage of fire magic to cover for him in order to make sure Cloud could not take any advantages at any point.
After one last fireball was sent out from his Keyblade, Sora suddenly started to feel something build up inside of him, like his insides were beginning to burn up, and it did not take him long to realize what this feeling was, but it took him just as much time to wonder if he could even pull it off when he had failed so many times already. Just as those doubts were forming though, he suddenly felt a warming feeling in the hand that was currently holding the Kingdom Key, and he immediately glanced over to see what the cause was. Upon doing so, he saw that his Keyblade seemed to be glowing with a faint, fiery aura which everyone else had seemed to have missed, and as he gazed upon this incredible sight, he somehow felt like he heard someone or something speaking to him, encouraging him to try, and saying that they could do this if they work together. It was that last one that made him realize that it was actually the Kingdom Key itself that was speaking to him, and hearing these reassurances from his Keyblade made it all the more easy for Sora's confidence to skyrocket to new levels. With his confidence now raised, Sora nodded to his Keyblade, and raised it before him as he focused the power of this new feeling into Kingdom Key, until finally the power was released around him in a bright red aura that was emitting sparks of fire. No one really even noticed this was happening until Sora suddenly shouted out, "Command Style: Firestorm!"
That drew all attention to Sora just seconds before he charged towards Cloud, his Keyblade pulled back and ready to strike, and the minute he had reached the blonde, he unleashed his attack at full force, which not only caused Cloud to stagger a little as he attempted to block it with his massive sword, but also caused a stream of fire to swing out towards the blonde man in its wake, prompting him to jump back as fast as he could. Sora did not let up for a second, and continued swinging his Keyblade at Cloud with all he had, unleashing streams of fire as he did so, some of which even went burst out in a ring around him at certain points during his attacks. Eventually, Sora felt the need to channel every last bit of the Command Style's power though his being, and released its finisher an instant later, throwing out a storm of flames onto Cloud when he did. As Sora dropped down onto the ground again with the aura of the Command Style fading out, Ventus could not help but smirk with pride at the fact that the boy had just made another step forward in his training, but that smirk instantly fell when they saw Cloud stand up, slightly singed, but still able to fight.
"You're good, kid, but now, I'm not going to be playing around anymore," Cloud complimented, speaking up for the first time since they saw him, at least as far as they were concerned.
If that simple sentence did not send shivers up the spines of the other three, Ventus was not sure what would, because the slightly taller blonde had pretty much confirmed what he had suspected throughout their match with that one declaration. "So you have been holding back against us," Ventus noted aloud as he addressed Cloud with an even gaze.
Cloud smirked in response to this before he locked eyes with Ventus and said, "What, like you haven't been doing the same?"
Ventus just scoffed with a smirk of his own, having to admit that Cloud had him there, and he could tell that it was definitely time for him to start going all out. But first, there was something that he had to do. "Sora, get to Donald and Goofy, and then get clear."
If it were not for the fact that Sora had already promised he would not do so, Sora would have immediately protested with Ven's orders when he heard them, but there was something else that prevented Sora from arguing with his master. Looking up at Ven, Sora could see a confident, strong glint in his eyes that boasted of determination, confidence, and a hint of warrior's pride unlike anything Sora had ever seen before, and given that look in Ven's eyes and his posture, it was clear to Sora that the Keyblade Master was eager to face Cloud on his own simply because he could tell that the large sword-wielder was going to be the first real challenge that Ven had ever had outside of the king in a long time. Seeing this look and knowing what it meant, any rising complaints Sora may have had immediately died in his throat, and he quickly moved to pull Donald and Goofy aside just as the two were starting to wake up, leaving Cloud and Ventus on their own in the center of the arena.
"Smart move, telling him to get clear, but you do know that I'm going to go after him once I've beaten you," Cloud pointed out.
"You mean if you can beat me," Ven corrected before he dismissed his Keyblade for a moment. The Keyblade Master then slapped his hand on the shoulder armor he wore on his left shoulder, and was immediately encompassed in a flash of light that forced everyone to shield their eyes a little for a moment. When the light faded, everyone wore varying degrees of shock on their faces when they saw Ventus was now clad in a form-fitting, full suit of armor that was colored steel blue, gold, and black with several red lines decorating it. The steel blue helmet had a pair of horns that swept backwards and angled up diagonally, while his face was hidden behind a dull gold, almost black visor, and to complete this new appearance, he also had a flowing, steel blue cape billowing out from the shoulders of his armor. He then re-summoned Guardian Wind and swung it around so that he was holding it in front of him as he finished, "But you'll find that defeating a Keyblade Master is no easy feat!"
Cloud had half expected Ventus to charge him after that declaration, but he was immediately widening his eyes in awe when Ventus suddenly spun around a few times and released a number of star-like projectiles in his direction. He was immediately sliding and dashing in various directions in order to avoid being hit by the energy beams, but such a task was extremely difficult and often unsuccessful, even when he did pause to block the beams, and ultimately, he was pushed back a ways until he was knocked down to one knee. Cloud did not let this stop him though, as he was soon on his feet and meeting Ven's Keyblade with his Buster Sword with a loud clang that seemed to echo out across the world, given the small shockwave that erupted when their blades collided. The two held their positions for a moment before they finally pushed each other back, and Cloud charged in at an even faster speed than he was using before, his Buster Sword ready to stab through something. The man had moved so fast, that it was almost impossible to see him, but Ventus knew where he was moving. This partly because of his ability to sense the presence of others by the light and/or darkness in their hearts, and the rest of the reason was because of the various, high-speed slashes that were being dealt to him and his armor as Cloud dashed past him. After stumbling under the force of one particularly nasty strike, Ven immediately spun around and intercepted Cloud's sword with his Keyblade, bringing the taller man's assault to a hard halt.
The two held their blades against one another, glaring at each other as they did, for a few moments, until Ventus suddenly started to glow with the aura of his Fever Pitch Command Style. The sudden change in his opponent caught Cloud by surprise a little, but that little was just enough for Ven to be able to push the man's sword off and then race around to his blind spot at high speed. The resulting blow from Ven's Keyblade caused Cloud to stumble forward a little, but he still did not fall to his knees. Instead, he simply spun around and leveled Ventus with a look that, though neutral on the surface spoke volumes of how impressed he was as he raised his sword in front of him, ready for the next exchange of attacks. Ventus on the other hand simply stood up straight as he looked directly at Cloud, studying the man with an unreadable expression, mostly due to the fact that it was hidden behind his helmet.
"I'm impressed," Ventus admitted after a minute of silence. "Though I can't help but wonder just why you would really need dark powers for a simple tournament."
"So you noticed," Cloud said, though it was clearly not a question; if anything, it sounded more like an observation.
Ventus merely shrugged as he replied, "When you're a Keyblade Master, it's hard not to notice intense levels of darkness or light. Still, why would you want such dark powers for this tournament? It is just a game."
"Maybe for you, but not for me. Besides, who said I wanted these powers," Cloud pointed out. Before Ventus could further question him on the matter, Cloud's body suddenly gained a dark aura around it that just screamed the fact that he was about to unleash a powerful finishing attack, and even from where they were on the sidelines, Sora, Donald, and Goofy could easily tell that it was going to be a very dangerous one, especially since it would be mostly focused on Ventus.
"Ven, run," Goofy shouted.
"Get out of there," Donald cried out.
"Hurry before he gets you," Sora practically pleaded with his teacher.
Ventus did not heed the three's warnings, but instead, simply allowed the cape on his armor to vanish, almost appearing as though it were retracting into the back of his shoulders where it was hanging from, and said, "Alright then. If that's how you want to end things, I guess I have no choice but to play things your way." An instant later, the light green aura of Ven's Fever Pitch Command Style suddenly started to glow a little brighter, until it suddenly began to change to a bright, shinning blue, which only became brighter and brighter as the power it was giving off increased. Right when the aura had reached what seemed to be its peak Ventus swung his Keyblade outward, and seemed to release six light swords around him in a way that was reminiscent of angel wings, with his Keyblade appearing to become one of the six swords. As the light faded to just a slightly brighter aura than that of his Fever Pitch's aura, Ventus cried out, "Command Style: Wingblade!"
Cloud studied the appearance of this new power for a moment before he smirked a little and said, "So, you intend to fight my dark powers with a powerful light ability, huh?" When Ven said nothing in response, Cloud took that to be confirmation of his guess and said, "Alright then, let's see how your Wingblade can match up to my Omnislash."
Not even a second later, the two were charging at one and other at an incredible speed that was almost untraceable for everyone in the arena, including Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and yet somehow, Donald and Goofy were just barely able to keep up with the two as they lashed out with their two abilities, while Sora only did slightly better in tracking the two combatants. The two were unleashing everything they had on one another now, with Cloud landing blow after blow with his Buster Sword, while Ventus met as many of Cloud's strikes as he could with the six light swords that were acting like wings from him. At the same time, Ventus was also throwing out a massive variety of strikes with his light swords at Cloud, and whenever he swung one of the six swords at Cloud, the other five were soon follow, like afterimages that could inflict serious damage, and boy did they inflict damage, because Cloud could not help but flinch a few times after the six swords had all landed blows on him. The two combatants did not let up in their use of what was clearly their most powerful abilities for even a second, until finally, their barrages came to an end, but what Cloud did not expect was that Ven's attack was not over just because his main assault had ended.
The instant Cloud had landed on the ground again after his Omnislash had come to an end, Ventus leaped into the air with the six light swords spinning out around him, and shouted, "Command Style: Wingblade Finisher!"
A second later, all six of his light swords were thrown down around Cloud in a circular, magic emblem made of light, which he immediately dived down into the center of. The minute Ventus hit the ground, a massive burst of light exploded outward, blinding everyone who was watching, while encompassing both Cloud and the Keyblade Master who had unleashed it within its brilliance. When the light finally subsided, Cloud and Ventus were both still standing in the center of the arena, both back to their normal states, but both clearly on their last legs as evidenced by how they were both panting a bit heavily as they both seemed to struggle to remain standing. Seeing the state of the two warriors, anyone could have told you that the next move would decide the match, and they both knew that just as well, as they both readied their blades for one final attack. The start of their respective charges may have been slow, but they slowly picked up in speed as they got closer to the center of the arena, until finally, they both let out a loud roar of determination as they leapt up and swung their blades at each other as hard as they could. A single flash of light accompanied by the sound of swords slashing through something would have been all anyone would have taken note of if they had blinked when the two collided, because a second later, the two had landed behind their opponent on opposite sides of where they had started, blades held in a position they would have been in after taking a swing at their opponent.
No one said a word as the air became heavy with intense silence, almost as if the whole world was waiting to see who would emerge unscathed from that final clash, until finally, a few cracks formed on the side of Ventus' helmet, before a piece of the visor fell away to reveal the small smirk on his face that was hidden beneath it. "You're definitely good," Ventus commented.
"Yeah, you're not bad yourself," Cloud grunted in return, and a second later, he dropped to one knee, while his sword arm fell limply to his side, indicating that he was no longer able to continue standing or even holding the massive weapon up any longer. That was all the confirmation needed now to prove one thing about this fight: Ventus had won, or at least, that's what it seemed like.
Just before anyone could call the match, Ventus spotted a large shadow looming over Cloud, and after seeing what said shadow belonged to, he did not hesitate to rush over and push his fellow blonde out of the way just seconds before a massive, black paw came crashing down on where Cloud had previously been sitting. After checking to see if Cloud was still in one piece, or at least as close to it as he could be after that match, Ventus heard Sora gasp in shock, and turned around to see that his apprentice was looking up at the beast that had almost flattened them was a gigantic, three-headed dog with shadows oozing out of its mouth. Seeing this beast before them instantly prompted Ventus to stand up and prepare to fight, until he felt his legs go out from beneath him and cause him to fall to one knee.
"Damn, I must've used too much energy in that last fight," Ventus cursed as the monster dog loomed closer and closer to him and Cloud, who was just barely able to stand up as well, and unfortunately, it did not seem like Sora, Donald, or Goofy were going to be coming to the rescue any time soon, since they had all frozen up a little in fear at the sight of the beast.
As he watched this from the shadows nearby, Hades could only smirk as he disappeared into a puff of smoke, while commenting, "Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen."
Ventus continued to glare up at the beast as it came closer and closer, until it was finally close enough to lunge at him, and he finally flinched away a little, but shockingly, the pain he had expected never came. Upon looking up, Ven could only gape in awe at the sight of a tall, muscular man with red hair, decked out in orange-brown armor, sandals, and wristbands, a reddish-brown headband around his head, and a blue cape holding the beast back. When Phil saw this man, he immediately shouted out a name that Ventus was not expecting to hear in regards to this muscular man. "Herc!"
THAT's Hercules, Ventus thought in complete surprise, given that the last time he saw the man he was still a skinny, little teenager as opposed to the massive, muscular man before him.
Ven was quickly stirred out of his thoughts when Hercules looked over to his coach and shouted, "Phil, get them out of here!"
The satyr did not even hesitate to obey that request, and he immediately ushered everyone in the audience out of the arena, along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, with Ventus following shortly after them once he had cast a quick healing spell on himself and Cloud so that they would actually be able to beat their hasty retreat. What he did not realize though, was that Cloud was not following after them, but instead, glaring the three-headed beast down right along with the man that was holding it back.
"Whew, that was close," Phil gasped as he and the four friends from other worlds finally came to a halt in the lobby in order to catch their breaths. Well, Sora, Donald, and Goofy tried to catch their breaths, while Ven on the other hand just collapsed onto the floor as his armor vanished in a flash of light, and he was unable to suppress the small grunt of pain that came out when he did drop to the floor, so everyone was immediately turning their attention to him.
"Ven, are you okay," Goofy asked, panic in his voice while he and the other two rushed over to him.
"I…I'm fine. Just a little more worn out than I thought after that fight," Ven panted. As he moved to try and get into a more comfortable position, he could not help but cringe a little as a slight pain flared up in his left side, and he then added, "Guess I must've taken a nastier hit there than I thought."
"Hold on; I've got it, Ven," Donald reassured the Keyblade Master, his staff already out and waving over the blonde as he performed a quick healing spell.
"Here, drink some of this too," Goofy said as he offered a bottle of Elixir to Ventus.
"Thanks guys," Ventus nodded in gratitude before he gulped down the Elixir.
Sora could do nothing more than stare down at Ventus in awe right at the moment, and after seeing the spectacle he had just seen the blonde perform, no one could blame him. He had so many questions for the blonde right now, like how was he able to summon that cool armor, what was that ability he used at the start of his fight, because it was clearly not a Command Style from what he could tell, and speaking of which, how was Ven able to use a Command Style out of the blue like that when he had not even cast a single spell beforehand? That last one he figured probably had something to do with the fact that Ventus was a full trained Keyblade Master and had discovered a way to use the Command Styles without needing to cast any spells like that, but the others were still more than valid questions, right along with how long it would be until he could get a cool suit of armor of his own like the one Ven had been using. Right now though, there was something else that was bothering him more than all of those questions. "What was that thing," the young boy finally asked.
"That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld," Phil answered, drawing attention to him. "Don't worry; Herc should be able to handle him."
"You sure," Ven asked as he stood up, now back to nearly full strength thanks to Donald and the Elixir he just drank.
Before Phil could reply a small tremor shook the building, no doubt due to something really strong or really big hitting the coliseum in some way. After that, the satyr's confidence waned a little as he said, "Well…maybe not, but the chances of that are pretty slim."
Ventus glanced back to the entrance to the arena for a minute, worried about his old friend, but if appearances were anything to go by, then he was pretty sure that Hercules could handle that overgrown, three-headed mutt on his own. At least, that was what he was thinking until Goofy suddenly pointed out a crucial detail that they had all missed. "Hey fellers, where's that Cloud guy at?"
"I thought he was right behind us," Donald replied as he started to glance around the room.
Everyone else was soon following the duck sorcerer's lead, only to find no sign of the tall, blonde spiky haired man with the massive sword anywhere around them. "You don't think he's still back there do you," Goofy asked.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly the case from what Ventus could tell, and it seemed that Sora was thinking the same thing, because a second later, the boy said, "We've gotta get back out there and help him then, and Hercules too!"
Apparently his apprentice was a bit quicker on the draw than he was, because Ventus was thinking the exact same thing as Sora was right at that moment, and he immediately turned to lead the group back out to the arena so that they could help his previous opponent and his old friend. Phil on the other hand was not so eager to let the four risk their lives like that. "Whoa, you're not seriously entering the arena, are ya?"
"Of course we are," Sora nodded in response for the group.
"Kid, this ain't just some match. This is for real!"
"Yeah, we know that, Phil, but does it look like any of us really care that much," Ventus asked.
Looking from the blonde master to his three companions, Phil could tell that not one of them had the slightest bit of hesitance in their expressions. They were all planning on going out there to help Cloud and Hercules, and from the look of their faces, they were willing to fight through anything if it meant helping the two out. The thing that settled it for Phil was when Sora said, "You can decide if I'm hero material or not later. Right now, I want to help save our friends."
"You were just fighting one of those two in the final match of the games, and you've never even met Herc before now, and you consider them your friends," Phil asked in surprise.
"Well Hercules is your friend, and from the sound of things, he's Ven's friend too, so that makes him my friend as well. As for Cloud, that was just a match in a tournament, and I don't think he's a bad guy, just a really strong fighter who didn't know what he was getting into," Sora shrugged in a friendly manner.
Hearing that was all Phil needed to stand aside and let the four head out there with one final piece of advice. "Be careful, kid, and that goes double for you and the other guys as well, Ven!"
"You got it. Just make sure you keep the door open long enough for Herc to get himself and Cloud out of there," Ventus nodded, and he immediately turned to the entrance to the arena once again as his friends raced out to meet Cerberus head on.
Normally, fighting something like Cerberus would not be a problem for Hercules, seeing as he had done so once before and won, but this time, there was a huge difference: he was alone back then and did not have to worry about anyone else getting hurt, and this time, while most of the people had been evacuated, one lone person had stayed behind to try and fight off Cerberus as well. Having caught much of the last part of the final round, Hercules was surprised that Cloud was even still able to stand, even with the aid of Ven's healing spell and the Elixir he saw the blonde man drink, and yet here he was, fighting against Hades' loyal guard dog for reasons beyond Hercules' understanding. At least he had been, until Cerberus landed a particularly nasty hit on the Buster Sword wielder that knocked Cloud out cold, and now Hercules was being backed into a corner since he had to stop and pull Cloud over his shoulder so he could hopefully move the man to safety, which needless to say, was not working out so well at the moment. At least it was not until something unexpected happened.
Just as Cerberus was reeling back for another attack, something hit in the back of its middle head, while something else hit the head on its left and a pair of fireballs hit the one on its right at the same time. Turning around to see who had dared to attack it, Cerberus was soon growling at the sight of Donald, Goofy, Sora, and Ventus, all armed and ready for action against the massive beast. When he spotted Phil waving him over, Hercules took this chance to quickly retreat into the lobby with Cloud over his shoulder. The minute that the hero of Olympus Coliseum was clear, Phil looked back to the four who were about to fight Cerberus and shouted, "Kid, I got two words of advice for you: ATTACK!"
"Hey, that isn't two words. I may be goofy, but even I'm not that stupid," Goofy commented, not realizing that Cerberus' left head was lunging towards him until Ventus had pushed him out of the way and hit said head in the jaw with his Keyblade.
"Not the time, Goofy," Ven shouted as he released a Blizzaga spell on Cerberus. A second later, his body was encompassed with the power of Diamond Dust, and he was unleashing frozen terror on Cerberus the minute the Command Style had been released.
At the same time, Donald was scrambling around in an attempt to make sure he was not stomped underfoot of the beast, while calling down a rain of lightning bolts. Unfortunately, the normally short-tempered duck was not paying enough attention to where he was going, and ended up tripping over Goofy as a result, knocking them both down. Cerberus seemed to have the two friends dead to rights, until Sora suddenly dashed in front of them and blasted the giant guard dog with a quick blast of fire, which was soon followed by a burst of wind magic from Ventus, making the fire blast even stronger, and while the overgrown mutt was distracted, Sora took the chance to leap into the air so that he could hit Cerberus a few times in one of his three heads with his Keyblade, while Ventus froze Cerberus in place with the Diamond Dust's finisher. With Cerberus restrained, Donald and Goofy were able to quickly get back on their feet and rejoin the fight, with Goofy starting off by tossing his shield right into the middle head's muzzle. After the shield had returned to him, Goofy dropped down to one knee so that Donald could use his back as a springboard to catapult him up onto Cerberus' back, where Sora was already waiting for him, and the two were quick to land a few blows on the giant, three-headed dog with their respective weapons before they jumped up and unleashed a pair of Thunder spells.
Under this barrage, Cerberus seemed to falter more and more, and this proved to be just the opening that the four needed to finish the job. Donald and Goofy started off using a similar tactic to the one they had used earlier, only this time, Goofy spun around to slash his shield through each of Cerberus' legs as fast as he could, and then tossed Donald up into the air as he came out of the last spin. While airborne, Donald unleashed a mighty magic barrage that left Cerberus stumbling into the nearby stands, making all four of them glad that the arena had been evacuated beforehand, because it would not have been pretty if there were still people there when Cerberus' body hit the stands. Using the stands as a way of getting higher up, Sora and Ventus were soon leaping up into the air and bringing down their Keyblades on Cerberus in a pair of powerful slashes as they descended to the ground again. After the two Keyblade Wielders had landed, they all gazed up at Cerberus for a moment, listening to the threatening beast's growls until it finally collapsed before them with a loud thud.
None of the four could believe their eyes at first, but once the stunned awe had worn off, Sora was soon taking the lead in the loud victory cheers, while Ventus just smirked as though he knew something that the other three had missed before he started ushering their group back towards the lobby so that they could tell Phil and Hercules that Cerberus was down, and so that they could check on how Cloud was doing.
After returning to the lobby and relaying the events that had unfolded after Hercules and Phil's departure from the arena, Ventus needed every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep himself from bursting out in laughter at the two's stunned expressions, though it was mostly in regards to Phil's expression since it seemed like his jaw had dropped so hard that he was sure he heard something crack. The two were both able to shake off their shock though and congratulate the four on their victory over Cerberus, and then went on to reveal that Cloud was all right and left just a few seconds before they had come in. They did not know what the blonde man was going to do after he had left since he did not say anything about it, but at the moment, that did not matter, because Phil decided that there were more important matters that they had to address, and he wanted to get the first of those matters out of the way as soon as possible.
That was why Phil was now up on a pedestal with Hercules and Ventus standing on either side of him as he read off something that was written down on a paper to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further…," Phil read, only to be stopped short when a certain duck felt the need to protest.
"Hey! What do you mean 'junior heroes,'" Donald demanded, heatedly.
"You three rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero," Phil waved off as he stowed away the paper, knowing he would not be likely to get any further in his speech.
"So, what does it take," Goofy inquired, his head tilted in confusion along with Donald and Sora's.
"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did," Hercules replied, cryptically. He then smiled a little as he added, "And just the way that Ven did."
"Yeah, hopefully not the exact same way that I did," Ventus chuckled nervously, remembering all-too-well how he had learned that particular lesson. The last thing he wanted was for these three to learn such an important lesson the same way he had.
His nervousness must have gone unnoticed, because Sora was not bothered by the cryptic answer at all. If anything, he seemed to take it as more of a challenge as he confidently declared, "No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games."
"Correction, you will start by continuing your training. It is impressive that you've learned how to use another Command Style, and that you seem to be getting closer to actually mastering the way to use them, but you've still got a long way to go in your training with the Keyblade, kid," Ventus told his apprentice. After taking a moment of pause though, he then added, "Besides, there's a lot more to being a true hero or a Keyblade Wielder in general, let alone a master than just being a strong fighter."
The initial statement caused Sora to deflate a little, but he was so quick to perk back up again that you would have blinked and missed it, and he said, "Well then, I guess I'll just have to train even harder than before until I have done just that."
Ventus was proud that Sora was still so confident in the idea that he could handle his future training, and after the victory that they had just achieved together, he could not really blame Sora for that. Sadly, they all deflated a little when Phil ended up giving them some bad news. "Hate to break it to you guys, but there ain't gonna be any games for a while. Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first. Oh, and I'm afraid that some of the training areas were hit too, so they're gonna be closed down until further notice as well."
"That's okay; I kinda figured we'd probably end up doing a lot of training while on the road anyway," Ventus shrugged while the other three deflated at the news. Seeing this, Ven decided to say, "But we would still appreciate it if you guys could let us know when everything's up and running again so that we can test our skills in another tournament."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy all perked up at that declaration, and stared at Phil as he stroked his chin in thought for a minute until he finally conceded, "Sure, why not. After all, I'd still kinda like to see where these rookies go, and I'm sure Herc here would like a chance to have a little sparring match with all of you depending on how you all do in the future."
The three immediately cheered excitedly at this decision, prompting a round of chuckles from Ven before he finally got them to calm down. "Okay, we'll be back as soon as we hear that you're ready again," Sora said as he waved goodbye before he turned to join Donald and Goofy in leaving the lobby. When he noticed that Ven was not following, he turned back to ask, "Aren't you coming, Ven?"
"In a moment, Sora. There's something that I've gotta take care of here first," Ventus replied. Sora nodded in understanding and then turned to leave as well, and once his apprentice had left the room completely, and when he was sure that the brown, spiky haired wielder was out of earshot, Ventus turned to Hercules with a small smirk and said, "So, I'm guessing that you had worn Cerberus down quite a bit when we finally stepped in, didn't you? Say, right to the point where just about anyone could've beaten him?"
Hercules glanced at the exit that Sora and the others had just disappeared through before he sheepishly shrugged and admitted, "Well, just between us, I might've done just that a little while before that point. How'd you know?"
"Dude, I know how strong you were back when we last met, and you've clearly only gotten better since then. Plus, you're not the only one who's improved in the last few years. I just didn't say anything until now because I didn't want to spoil Sora's excitement over defeating such a powerful enemy. That confidence is something he's going to need in the future if he's ever going to get strong enough to become a Keyblade Master," Ventus pointed out.
"So does that mean you plan on telling him at some point," Hercules asked.
Ventus glanced over to the exit Sora and the other two had left through before he finally replied, "Maybe once they've gotten to the point where it wouldn't matter as much, until then though…"
Phil caught the small looks that were exchanged between his two friends before he said, "Don't worry. My lips are sealed, too."
Ventus nodded in thanks to the satyr and his former hero-in-training before he clapped hands with Hercules and said, "It was great to see you again, Herc. Glad you achieved your dream."
"Great to see you too, Ven, and it looks like you've got a new dream of your own," Hercules nodded.
"Yeah, I've got a few new dreams now actually, and I know that I'll make them come true someday soon," Ventus replied. "But just so you know, if we do get the chance to face off in the games someday soon, I won't hold anything back."
"Same here pal, especially now that I've seen some of what you're capable of now," Hercules agreed.
"Speaking of the games, I think this belongs to you, Ven," Phil interrupted, presenting the blonde with a trophy that signified his victory in the games.
Ventus was stunned at the sight of this, hardly believing his eyes. "But…but the final match was never officially decided," Ven pointed out.
"You really think that matters after the fight you put up out there, or how you were the one who was still standing after that final clash with Cloud just before Cerberus showed up? Just accept the trophy, kid. You've earned it," Phil insisted.
Ventus took the trophy in his hands to look it over before he finally smiled widely and said, "Thanks Phil. I'll be sure to show this to Terra and Aqua when I see them again."
Phil and Hercules both nodded in return to this, and the blonde then bade his two friends one last goodbye before following after his apprentice and their other two friends. When he went through the door, he was a bit surprised to see that the three had not gone much further than half-way through the entrance's courtyard. That is, until he saw what it was that had given them reason to pause, or rather, who it was. There, sitting on the steps in front of the main gate, was none other than Cloud Strife himself, and it was pretty clear that the three were a bit curious about how to approach the man who had been their opponent just a moment ago, even though Sora said that he did consider him a friend. Luckily for them, Ventus knew just what to do, and he immediately lead them all over.
"Hey, are you all right, now," Ventus asked, gaining Cloud's attention once he and the other three had reached him.
"Yeah," Cloud replied simply.
When he did not say anymore than that, Sora decided to ask, "So why did you go along with him, anyway?"
Ventus was tempted to point out that, in a way, they had gone along with Hades' little plan as well, but right now, they needed to hear Cloud's reasoning, and it probably would not have done much good if he heard they had gone in while suspicious of the lord of the Underworld without knowing whether or not he had as well. Cloud just stared between the four for a minute until he looked down in thought and replied, "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help."
"Yeah, he does kinda tend to make promises with several different strings attached like that. Trust me, you're not the first he's done that kind of thing to," Ventus reassured.
If Cloud had any appreciation for Ven's concern, he did not show it. Instead, he just stood up and continued talking. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."
That sounded a little too familiar to Ventus, and it showed as he looked away with a faraway expression on his face that almost matched the one on Cloud's. Both blondes lost those expressions when Sora suddenly said, "You'll find it. I'm searching, too."
"For your light," Cloud asked. When Sora nodded, Cloud could not help but stare at the kid for a moment until he walked up and held something out for Sora to take as he cautioned, "Don't lose sight of it." After Sora accepted the item in his hand, Cloud turned to the other Keyblade Wielder of the group and asked, "What about you?"
Ventus did not need to know the full details about what Cloud was asking, but he did still hesitate for a moment before he replied, "Yeah, I'm searching for my light as well, along with some other very important friends, and I know that they're searching for a way to get back to me even at this very moment."
Cloud nodded in response to this and then walked past the group to leave, when Sora called out, "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved."
Cloud paused for a minute before he glanced over his shoulder at the kid and smirked a little as he said, "I think I'll pass. Although…" The large sword wielder glanced over to Ventus and said, "You're a tough opponent. Maybe we'll get another chance to fight in the future."
"Well, here's hoping, and I won't make it any easier than this time for you," Ventus smirked. Just before Cloud could leave, Ventus quickly asked, "Hey, I wanted to ask you something about that sword you're carrying. The last time I saw a sword like that, it was being used by an old friend of mine named Zack. Do you know him?"
Hearing that question seemed to make Cloud freeze up a little before he turned around to face Ventus directly and asked, "You knew Zack?" Ventus instantly nodded in reply, prompting Cloud to say, "He was my best friend, but…he died saving my life. This sword was actually his, and he gave it to me just before…"
That was not what Ventus had expected to hear, and it certainly showed on his face when a long frown fell from his lips while his head started to hang down in sorrow. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all felt bad for Ven. Sure, they did not know this Zack person, but he was obviously an old friend of Ven's, so to hear that said friend was no longer around was all the reason they needed to feel sad for him. They wanted to cheer the blonde up, but none of them knew what to say. Thankfully, Ventus' sad mood lightened a little as he said, "So in the end, he achieved his dream and became a hero, too, and I guess you're carrying on his legacy for him, right?"
"I guess," Cloud shrugged, having never really thought of it like that.
Ventus nodded at that and said, "Well then, I'm glad he had such a good friend. I'm sorry about what happened to Zack. If I had known what was going on, maybe…"
Cloud was already able to see where his fellow blonde was going with that train of thought and immediately preempted him. "Don't try to weigh yourself down with what-ifs. It'll only become a problem for you in the future. Besides, I don't think Zack would want a friend of his to feel bad about what happened to him."
There was no way that Ven could deny that point, so he immediately nodded in thanks for Cloud's words and watched with a small smile as the man departed along with the others. The four continued to look on at where Cloud had just been in silence, until Ventus turned to Sora and asked, "Do you still want to know about Terra?"
Sora had not expected his master to bring that up, but all the same, his curiosity would not let him give any other answer than the one he did give. "Yeah. From the sounds of things, he's really strong."
"You're right, he is," Ventus confirmed with a sad smile. "Terra's my best friend…well, more than that he's like my older brother, and he trained alongside me and Aqua ever since I first met them. Out of all three of us, Terra was always the strongest in terms of raw power and sword fighting, and he was also close to becoming a Keyblade Master. Unfortunately, something on our very first journey through the worlds had happened and…well, let's just say that it doesn't look like he'll be able to take the Mark of Mastery Exam again anytime soon."
"Why not? Is he…" Sora asked, starting to fear that he had ended up like Zack.
"No, he's not dead," Ventus immediately replied. "But to be honest, I really don't know where he is right now. He's out there somewhere, hidden and trapped by a powerful darkness, but I still believe that someday soon, I'll find him and set him free."
Sora did not say anything in response. What could he, really? From what Ven had just said, Terra sounded like a really great guy, if not in general than at the very least in the eyes of Ventus, and he was out there somewhere being held prisoner in the darkness. Despite that, Ven was still determined to find his friend, and still believed that he could save him, just like he believed that he could hold his own in that fight against Cloud, even when the other blonde was displaying such incredible powers that left the rest of them trembling in fear for the Keyblade Master's life. It all made Sora wonder just how the older wielder could be able to believe in such things so strongly, right to the point where he eventually had to question him on it. "How do you know that you'll be able to do things like that," Sora inquired.
"I don't know; I just believe," Ventus replied with a smile. "An old friend that I met years ago once taught me…or reminded me, to be honest, that sometimes, just believing in something strongly enough will make anything possible. It's a lesson I've always done my best to remember, and one that I expect you to take to heart as well, okay?"
Sora nodded in understanding of his teacher's words, and then turned so that they could all depart from Olympus Coliseum, when Goofy suddenly pointed out, "Hey, we still haven't found the Keyhole for this world. Is it really okay to just leave now?"
"I wouldn't worry too much. From the look of things, it doesn't seem like the Heartless have managed to find it here, either, so it should be okay to leave things as they are for now," Ventus reassured the group before they could start to panic.
"Besides, we need to hurry up and find the king," Donald added. "And we can't do that if we spend all day here looking for something without any idea where to look."
"Not to mention that we still haven't found Riku or Kairi yet either, so maybe we should get going as soon as possible," Sora reminded everyone.
"Calm down you two. We'll find all of our friends soon enough, so there's no need to get all worked up," Ventus reassured them.
"Okay," the two agreed, and the four then left through the main gate to return to the ship.
Once they were aboard, Goofy immediately locked onto the location of the next world and Donald quickly set course for it, leaving Sora and Ventus to do their own thing. Sora had wanted to ask Ven every single question he had after seeing the latter's fight against Cloud, but before he could, Ven told Sora to head to his room and get some rest, since they had a great deal of time until they reached the next world. Sure, the main reason for that was because Ven was feeling extremely tired himself, but he could see that his apprentice was just about as exhausted as he was, and that was immediately proven true when Sora trudged off and disappeared into his room just seconds before a light amount of snoring was heard from the halls. After Goofy and Donald reassured him that they could handle things on the bridge while he got some sleep, Ventus also collapsed on his bed and began to sleep like a log, a nostalgic smile forming on his face as he recalled some memories about the days he spent with his old friends.
The very same night that the four heroes, or rather three junior heroes and one true hero had left Olympus Coliseum, a certain god of the Underworld was sitting around in his domain glaring at a small, life-like figurine of Hercules as he grumbled about the recent events that had taken place, and about the hero in question. "He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy," Hades roared as the blue flames that made up his hair turned orange and red before expanding to the rest of his upper body and erupting into the air like a volcano blowing its top. After a minute, Hades took a deep breath to calm down and said, "Wait a minute. What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do: let Hercules help the former Keyblade kid train the new Keyblade kid, and in the next games, I'll take care of them all."
It was a perfect plan in his eyes. Not only would Hades be able to get rid of the son of his hated, immortal enemy, but he would also have a chance to destroy one of the three brats who had meddled in his affairs ten years ago and his apprentice before they could mess with his plans any further than they already had. Well, to be more accurate, they were the plans he and his newest compatriots had been making, and one of said compatriots had just appeared before him to stick her nose where he felt it did not belong. "Who invited you to the party," Hades asked Maleficent before she could utter a word. "Stay out of this. This is my show."
If Maleficent was upset, she did a grand job of not showing it, both in her stance and in her words when she said, "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content."
Hades nodded smugly until the evil fairy's words registered in his mind, prompting him to turn and glare at her departing form in anger. The only thing that was stopping Hades from attacking Maleficent was the fact that she was one of the most powerful dark beings in existence, and stood a strong chance of being able to destroy him if she wanted to. Only a chance, not an absolute certainty, but Hades knew better than to try his luck with such chances, and there was also the fact that she knew the most about this grand scheme of theirs out of everyone else in their group, so he managed to swallow his pride and let it be for now. With his temper now calmed, Hades returned his attention to his own plans, grinning devilishly at what would come if he succeeded (Pun intended).
AN: Well how about that, huh? Talk about incredible face-offs, right? I mean seriously, did you guys see all that action that happened between Ventus and Cloud alone?! Did you see that?!
Ventus: I gotta agree, that was fun.
Cloud: Same here.
AN: WHOA! Where did you come from?
Cloud: What? I didn't hear anyone say I couldn't be here.
AN: I know it's just...well, I didn't think you'd be the type to show up here.
Cloud: And yet you somehow got Lightning Farron to make several different appearances in these things for other stories besides the one she's actually in.
AN:...Okay, fair point. Now, on another note, what I want to add is that looking back at my last Kingdom Hearts story, I couldn't help but notice that I really only went over the details of one of the abilities that was used in "Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep", the Command Styles, and while I did have a couple of people use Shotlocks, they only did so one time, and then I pretty much zeroed them out completely. I'm hoping that this time, I can try and make sure that they make more of a regular appearance here, so that's why Ventus used one at the official start of his one-on-one face-off with Cloud. In case I didn't make it clear, that particular Shotlock was the one known as Meteor Shower.
Sora: You know I'm gonna be begging for answers about that and several other things come next chapter, right?
AN: Yes, I am well aware of this. Originally, I had wanted Sora and Ventus to talk about Shotlocks, Ven's armor, and pretty much everything else incredible that Ven did during the fight at the end of this chapter, but as I wrote the thing, I felt that it kind of took away from the core features of the chapter, so I kept it where it was for the moment.
Ventus: And yet you still found a way to get me to talk about Terra.
AN: Well, I kinda had to make that a point here, since there was no way Sora could've been able to wait forever after hearing about him several different times throughout that very day.
Also, the fight with Cerberus, yeah it was short, but consider this: Hercules had admitted to softening up the overgrown, multi-headed mutt before the heroes...
Goofy: Ya mean Junior Heroes.
Donald: [grumbling about the title]
AN:...Right, uh anyways, Herc had softened up Cerberus before the guys had jumped in, so I felt that it was necessary to show that by making the fight so that it was nothing too spectacular or lengthy, at least in comparison to Ven's fight against Cloud.
Cloud: I'm kinda disappointed that Zack didn't show up like that one reviewer was hoping.
AN: Yeah, sorry about that "Librarian343", but like you said, Zack's part of the reason why Cloud's hunting Sephiroth, and I didn't want to change things that drastically. Besides, that whole thing happened outside the events of the game's main story, so unless I had Ventus or someone else do something to help, Zack was ultimately not going to show up here.
Ventus: By the way, was that item that Cloud gave Sora the Sonic Blade ability like in the game?
AN: Uh, no. This time, it was actually something else. If you want to know what it was, well, we'll only be giving a clue on that, or maybe even reveal a possible idea as to what it is next chapter. Speaking of which, Onto the Preview! everyone...
Ventus reveals more about the abilities of Keyblade Wielders to Sora as the team's journey continues, but their lessons soon take a backseat when an argument between friends causes the group to crash land on the world of Deep Jungle. Can Sora and Donald resolve their differences? How long can Goofy and Ventus handle playing peacemaker? And just what will it take for the team to be able to really understand a word their new Ape-Man friend, Tarzan is trying to tell them as he attempts to help them in their search for their friends? Be ready for things to go wild, next time.
Oh, one more thing, I've got a little poll up on my profile in regards to the new summons for this story that I would very much appreciate you all casting a vote on. Seriously, please do so as quickly as possible, because it will have a huge impact on an important detail in the sequel to this story. With that said...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon!
