AN: Sorry I couldn't get dis chapie done faster. I gotta lot of skool work, but I'll trie my best 2 rite dis stuff, so her goez chapie 8!

Chapter 8: Road To A Hero

Don't Worry, This Is A Shortcut. We'll Be In Traverse Town In No Time.

That was what Donald had said 3 days ago when they left Wonderland. "Jeez Donald," Sora scolded, "your little shortcut has us going for two extra days getting to Traverse Town." "Yeah well," Donald retorted, trying not to admit that he was wrong, "you couldn't do any better." "Uh guys," Goofy said, "look over there." And in the stars was a coliseum with statues of gladiators and clouds surrounding the edges. "Maybe someone over there can actually put us in the right direction," Sora commented sarcastically at Donald.

They landed their ship and got out. They opened a pair of huge oak doors to see a huge courtyard made of sand. On the other side there was a huge pair of wooden doors with golden gladiator statues and empty scoreboards. They headed inside and saw a red goat-man standing on top of a podium with his back faced to them. He was short and pretty fat, but Sora decided to ask him anyways.

"Um…" he started, but the goat man interrupted him saying, "Good timing, help me move that block over there," he said pointing to a huge block the size of all three of the group put together. Sora and the group tried and tried to push the heavy block, but to no success. "Man," Sora complained, "that block weighs a ton." He went back to the goat-man and replied, "That's way too heavy!" The goat man seemed surprised, "Too Heavy! Since when have you been such a little…" he turned around and saw Sora and the group.

"Oh," he said, "wrong person." He looked rather small for a person and had a large stomach. "The name's Phil," he said, "and what are you doing here? This is the galaxy famous coliseum. Heroes Only!" he added. "You've got heroes standing right in front of you," Donald added smartly. "Heroes?" Phil laughed, "That pipsqueak?" He walked on over to the block and added, "If you can't even move this…" he tried pushing the block, "you can't call yourself…" he struggled huffing and puffing, "a hero," he muttered not able to push the block himself.

"Okay, okay," he said, "I get the point, but first you need some training." He took Sora outside. "Pretty classy huh?" he asked, "but it needs someone to get the dust off of it. I'll put 25 barrels around the coliseum and you'll have to break all of them within the time limit of 1 minute 15 seconds. Ready? Go!" he yelled as Sora sped off. Phil expected Sora to fail, but Sora raced throughout the stadium and destroyed all the barrels within 45 seconds. Phil was speechless and just said, "You may be good, kid, but you need a pass to enter the games." And with that, he shooed them out of the stadium.

"Rather stubborn old goat," said a creepy voice, "wouldn't you say?" And out of the shadows, Sora and the group saw a man, blue with burning blue fire instead of hair. He was wearing a black toga with a skull button. Sora pulled out his Keyblade and said, "I don't know who you are, but you're giving me the creeps." "Oh yeah," Hades replied, "I get that a lot. Name's Hades, but listen, I couldn't help overhearing that you wanted to enter the games." With that, Sora lowered his Keyblade and replied, "I'm listening."

"Well you need a pass," Hades reminded, "and I'm just the guy who has one," he added while whipping out a Olympus Coliseum pass. "Wow!" Sora awed but then added, "What's the catch?" "Well," Hades replied, "just make sure you win the games for me. At my old age, I can't actually fight so I, Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has decided to bestow upon you this pass. Good luck, I'm rooting for you!" And with that, he vanished into flames.

Sora was so excited that while running into the lobby, he tripped over the steps and fell right on to Phil. "I got a pass!" Sora exclaimed. "Ow…"Phil complained, but then he looked at Sora with dismay, "What did you say?" "You heard me," Sora replied, "I got a pass, which means I'm allowed into the preliminaries tomorrow." Phil had no choice but to sign him up.

Meanwhile…

"I must say," Hades announced to Maleficent, "It's a good plan if I do say so myself. I mean with my trusty friend and that little pipsqueak in the games, nothing can stop us." "Yes," replied Maleficent, "It does seem like all the pieces are in place. But," she continued, "Never underestimate the power of the Keyblade." "Yeah, yeah. But still, I can't believe," Hades continued, "That he fell for it. I mean, he actually thinks I can help him find his missing someone. I mean c'mon, we all know his planet was destroyed along with all the other Heartless eaten planets…"

Bring Em' On, I'll Whup Their Butts One By One.

Sora and the group were really winning. They had already beaten two groups of Heartless in the preliminaries. "Looks like," Sora exclaimed, "we're going to the games!" "Not yet," Phil said, "first you have to beat our other number one contender." "Bring him on," Sora exclaimed, "I'll beat him just like I beat all the other Heartless." "He's not a Heartless," Phil said, "and you're sure going to need all the help you can get. Wish he was here to see this." "Who?" asked Goofy. "Hercules. He's a hero, if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."

Alright, That Little Punk Is Your Next Opponent. Now Don't Blow It, Just Take Him Out Cold And Hard.

Hades was explaining this to a blond-spiked-haired boy, about 16 with a huge blade. This was Cloud. He was a hero back on his planet for defeating the great evil of Sephiroth before it was captured by the Heartless. "Are you telling me that the great god of the underworld is scared of a kid and a key?" Cloud asked, "Sorry but my contract says…"

"I know!" Hades interrupted, "You don't think I know, I wrote that contract. I know it says you've only got to kill Hercules in this tournament, but you gotta beat that pipsqueak to get to him. It's like that old goat says, 'Rule #11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it.'"

"Just be ready with what I asked for," Cloud replied while leaving. "Jeez," Hades told himself, "Stiffer than the Stiffs back home. Still…suckers like him don't come by everyday."

Back In The Arena

"Alright," Phil exclaimed, "This will determine who goes into the tournament, and who goes back home. On one side we have Sora, Donald, and Goofy. On the other side, we have Cloud." "What!" exclaimed Sora, "Only one person. That hardly seems fair to him." "Hey, Rule #47: The games aren't always fair, suck up and take it." "I can handle myself," Cloud commented, "And you while I'm at it." "Begin!" yelled Phil.

Sora tried to strike Cloud, but Cloud jumped out of the way and slammed him hard with his blade. Sora felt like a huge boulder just smashed him, but he took it and tried to blast him with Fire. Cloud slid to the right and struck Sora in the feet and knocked him down. Then he was about to hit a finishing blow before Goofy came and blocked it. But Cloud's blade was so big that it smashed into Goofy's head and knocked him out.

Later, Donald was knocked out by an aerial assault by Cloud. He knocked Donald right into the stands. Sora jumped onto one of the pillars on the corner and struck Cloud straight in the face. "Oh," Cloud yelled, "you'll pay for that." Then he used some sort of skill that allowed him to strike Sora five times straight with a super-sonic fast attack. He knocked the wind out of Sora. "Now," he said, "It's time to finish this." But then, a huge black paw smashed him. "Wha!" Sora exclaimed. It was a three-headed black dog that was bigger than the stadium itself. "Cerberus!" Phil exclaimed while he, Donald, and Goofy ran inside. "C'mon!" Donald exclaimed.

Sora was hypnotized by the dog, mostly because it was so big, but also because it had three heads. He fell to the floor and Cerberus took the time to strike. But just as he was about to bite Sora into two pieces, a muscular man came to the rescue and smacked Cerberus in one of its faces. "Phil," Hercules yelled, "Get em' out of her, now!" "You heard him, c'mon kid," Phil said to Sora as Hercules grabbed Cloud and continued battling Cerberus. Sora and the others ran inside.

Sora and the others waited inside the coliseum lobby for a long time. They wanted to help the man, but seemed too afraid of Cerberus. "Who was that?" Donald finally asked Phil. "That was Hercules," Phil replied, "He beat many monsters in his time, but I've never seen him go one-on-one with Cerberus." "What's so bad about Cerberus?" Goofy asked. "Well," Phil answered, "Besides having three heads, a huge size, and having the biggest reputation of being guard to the gates of the Underworld, I'd probably say nothing."

"That's it," Sora said suddenly, "I can't stay here and watch someone who just saved my life go risk his against a three headed dog." With that, he whipped out his Keyblade and began to head for the door. "Hold on, kid," Phil called, "This isn't a game anymore. This is real, and you're just risking your life against something that no one's ever beaten. This isn't heroic, it's suicide." "Hey," Sora replied, "I'm all in for this kind of stuff." "Well," Donald said, "if you're going, guess me and Goofy are too." And they all rushed off into the stadium while Phil said to himself, "Maybe he can be a true hero."

Back in the coliseum, Hercules was cornered, with Cloud on one shoulder and Cerberus in front, all three heads focused hungrily on his flesh. Suddenly Sora called out, "Hey, pea brain." The dog turned around just in time to see Sora strike a huge hit with his Keyblade across one of its faces. As Hercules ran inside, Phil came out to say, "I got two words of advice for you kid. Attack!" With that Sora struck away at Cerberus's heads. Then it got angry and shot fireballs from its mouths. Sora dodged some of them, but he got hit eventually. Donald gave Sora a potion to regain his health, but got slashed into the wall and knocked out. Goofy did a huge rocket attack right onto Cerberus's face. Then Sora climbed up its back, and struck the center head with a powered-up hit. It knocked Cerberus out cold. Then, from the darkest corner of the coliseum, Sora thought he saw some blue flames go up and disappear.

I Do Hereby Dub Thee, Junior Heroes.

Hours later, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were being dubbed by Phil and Hercules as Junior Heroes. Sora and Goofy accepted this, but Donald said "What do you mean 'Junior'. We beat Cerberus! That should make us heroes." "You still don't know what it takes," replied Phil, "to be a 'true' hero." "Well, can you tell us?" Goofy asked. "Well, that's just something you'll have to figure out for yourself," Hercules replied, "just like I did." "No problem," Sora replied, "we'll be back in time for the games. And you'll see what a true champion is." As Sora left, Phil told Hercules, "I still can't believe that little guy beat Cerberus!" "Just between you and me," Hercules whispered, "I softened him up before the little guy came in." "My lips," replied Phil, "are sealed."

Meanwhile…

"He's strong, he's kind, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect," Hades said, staring at an image of Hercules, "Perfectly Infuriating!" he yelled as he turned red all over and fiery, "He Makes Me Crazy!" Then he turned blue again and said, "Wait, relax, all the pieces are in place. I'll let Jerkuleas train the kid, and in the games, I'll crush em' both." Then Maleficent appears and said, "Be careful not the exploit the power of darkness for too long." "Hey," Hades said, "who invited you. Stay out of this, this is my show."

You'll Just Have To Figure It Out, Just Like I Did.

Those words floated in Sora's head. Before he got onto the Gummi Ship, Cloud came running over. "Here," he said, handing Sora a stone, "it's a stone passed down from my family that holds the power to learning the Sonic Blade attack. It allows you to speed at incredible rates and strike up to five times." He turned around but Sora asked, "Why'd you do it?" Cloud turned around and replied, "I was looking for someone. After I defeated Sephiroth on my world, the Heartless took over it. Someone I know was lost. Hades promised to help." "Don't worry," Sora said, "I'm looking for someone too." "Thanks," Cloud said. He turned around, and said, "Your light, keep it burning in you and never lose sight of it. If it keeps burning, if you never lose sight of it, then even in the darkest hour, you'll remember who your friends are."

AN: Man, that took awhile! And it's tha longest chapie I rote yet! Anywyz, I got a lotta stuff 2 do so I mite not be done wit da next chapter for a while. But anywyz, hope u enjoyed dis one. & thx 4 all da ppl who commented and for those who didn't plz comment. THX!