Not All Games Are Fun…
L.A.: Yay! I updated this story in a week. Thanks for the reviews! As you can see reviews will inspire me to continue. I hope you enjoy it!
"My life officially sucks," Rin muttered. The games were just as she expected them to be. A constant struggle of trying to not get killed.
She dodged as a heartless soldier swiped at her. She didn't understand how heartless could enter the games, and it was beginning to annoy her. It also didn't help that the Heartstaff wouldn't cast any spells. "Stupid staff! Freaking do something!"
"Rin," Donald yelled as he sent a blizzard spell hurtling toward a nearby heartless. "Remember what I said, use your emotions to cast the spell."
"Right my emotions." She yelped as a heartless smacked her shoulder. She stamped her foot and aimed the Heartstaff at the heartless. "Gah! I'm angry. Set the stupid heartless on fire!"
A thunderbolt struck the heartless. It let out a shriek before disappearing. Rin blinked. "That works too."
Sora struck the remaining heartless with the keyblade. As soon as it disappeared, a bell sounded siginalling the match was over.
Rin slumped to the ground sighing with relief. "Finally a break."
Jiminy, who had been sitting on the sidelines, hopped up on her knee. "Are you okay?"
Rin nodded. "I'm fine. Just winded from the whole trying not to die thing."
"Well maybe you should have waited on the sidelines with Jiminy," Donald said.
Rin clinched her fists and glared at him. "Well, sorry I'm not a great soceror yet."
With a huff, she stood up and walked away.
As she did, she overheard Goofy whisper "Gawrsh, Donald, I think you hurt her feelings."
She sat down once she was a distance away from them and stared at her feet. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't great. She was never good at sports and she'd just got the Heartstaff for Pete's Sake!
She started when a water bottle appeared in front of her face. Looking up, she saw Sora holding the water bottle out to her, grinning.
"Thought you could use a drink."
"Thanks," Rin said as she took a sip. The water tasted cool and delicious as it trickled down her throat.
"Feeling better?" Sora asked.
"Yeah," she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry for that."
"It's okay," Sora said. "I'm actually kind of glad. You were so shy on the Destiny Isles. I feel like I'm finally starting to see the real you."
"Disappointed?" Rin asked.
Sora shook his head. "No, glad."
Rin blushed but covered it as she quickly stood up. "Well, let's get back to the others then. Wouldn't want to get disqualified."
Sora nodded as he followed her.
When they reached Goofy, Donald, and Jiminy, Phil was with them.
Goofy waved to them happily while Donald looked away guiltily.
"So, what do you think?" Sora asked Phil.
Phil crossed his arms as he tried to keep his expression neutral. "You're better than I thought. If only he could see this…"
"Who?" Donald asked.
Phil shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Hercules. He's a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."
"Who's his father?" Goofy asked.
Phil looked at them in disbelief. "Why Zeus, of course. The king of the gods."
"Hercules' father is a god?" Sora asked. While everyone else was in shock, Rin found herself not surprised. The feeling of déjà vu took over once more. She quickly shook it off as she looked at her feet. What's happening to me?
Hades glared at the quartet as they talked to Phil. He hated to admit it; but he was kind of glad they were still in the tournament. It would make the next chain of events more interesting. He could feel the eyes of his pawn, a blond spiky haired swordsman named Cloud, and the heartless wolf boring into him. He quickly turned around and addressed Cloud "That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now don't blow it. Just take him out."
"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" Cloud said with a slight laugh. "Sorry, but my contract says…"
The blue hair on Hades' head flared and turned orange "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract!" He took a deep breath as his hair returned normal. "I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him."
Cloud raised an eyebrow at him.
Hades put a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Come on. Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"
Without answering, Cloud left.
"Geez. He's stiffer than the stiffs back home" Hades commented to himself.
"He didn't seem to like your idea of fun at all." The heartless said with a slight smirk.
Hades ignored his comment as he watched Sora and company climb on the battle platform. "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by..." He heard the heartless walking away. Without turning around he called, "Where are you going?"
"I want to get a better view," the heartless said as he disappeared from Hades' sight.
Hades rolled his eyes. "That old witch sure has an odd collection of minions. A stupid crow, and a heartless wolf. Who will she recruit next, a cow?" He laughed at his own joke before turning back to the battle. "Still, if everything falls into place, I may not even need her help."
From the distance Maleficent smirked at the god of the Underworld. "You are wrong, my dear friend. If the pieces fall into place, then it will be I who doesn't need you." She turned her gaze down to the heartless wolf who stood beside her waiting for her orders. "Stay here a keep an eye on our good friend Hades."
"And what of his plans?" the heartless asked, his head cocked.
She turned to look back at the scheming god. "His silly plan should fail but if it doesn't…" She paused for a second lost in thought. "Make sure that I am the next owner of the Keyblade and Heartstaff."
The heartless bowed. "Yes, my liege."
Rin was surprised by their next opponent. Instead of a heartless, it was a man with spikey blond hair swordsman. As his eyes caught hers, she felt a chill run down her spine. His eyes were cold and devoid of any emotion.
She gulped as she held the Heartstaff up in front of her.
A bell rang signaling the beginning of the round.
The man shot forward and swiped his sword at Sora. Sora yelped as he barely dodged. The man charged for Goofy next, who barely had time to put his shield up.
As the man charged between Goofy, Sora, and Donald, Rin realized that he was avoiding her. She was the easier target. She was weak at fighting and her spells weren't working half the time, so why didn't he take her out?
She decided to take advantage of the situation. She pointed the Heartstaff at the man. She knew thunder came from anger, fire came from determination, and blizzard came from protection. She was feeling more determined at the moment so fire it was.
"Fire!" She yelled. An orange ball of flame emitted from the Heartstaff. It surged forward and hit the man square in the back.
She grinned at her success; however, her grin disappeared when the man turned and glared at her.
She yelped as the man suddenly appeared in front of her. He grapped the front of her shirt and lifted her in the air.
"Rin!" Goofy, Donald, and Sora yelled.
Rin struggled to escape; but his glare made her froze.
"Don't interfere," the man said, "It's not necessary to fight you."
Before she could ask why, a lightning bolt struck the man. He dropped her. She rolled out of the way before running to stand behind Sora.
"You okay?" Sora asked.
Rin nodded.
The man turned around his sword dragging against the ground. He looked worn out.
A loud quake shook the stadium. The gate doors opened as a large black three-headed dog came bounding in.
Rin grinned at the dog. "Oh, look a dog!"
"Hades," the man yelled. "We had a deal."
From a corner, Hades stepped out grinning. "Oh, right, Cloud, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen." He laughed as he disappeared.
Cloud collapsed to the ground. The dog growled as its three heads lurched forward.
Sora and Rin were about to rush forward when a red haired man in Athenian clothing jumped in between the dog and its prey. He punched the three heads sending the dog tumbling to the ground.
Rin winced. She never liked to see dogs hurt. Even if they were giant three headed ones.
"Herc!" Phil yelled from behind a fallen pillar.
Herc? Rin thought as she gazed at the man. That's Hercules?
For the son of a god, he looked rather human.
Hercules quickly hoisted Cloud over his shoulder. "Phil, get them out of here! I'll deal with Cerberus."
Without hesitation, Sora, Rin, Donald, and Goofy quickly followed Phil back to the Lobby.
Once they were in the lobby, they collapsed to the floor with a sigh of relief.
"Whew, that was close! That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him." Phil said as he puffed his chest in pride. A loud roar and a crash shook the entire coliseum. Phil shifted from one foot to another. "But then again, maybe not..." Another loud roar rang through the Coliseum followed by two more ground shakes. "This doesn't look good..."
Donald and Sora looked at each other. Realizing that they both had the same idea, they turned to Goofy and Rin.
Goofy looked back at them completely confused.
Rin shook her head. "Please don't tell me you are planning to go back and fight."
"Kids, you're not serious about entering the arena, are ya?" Phil said his eyes filled with disbelief. "This ain't just some match. This is for real!"
Sora turned toward Phil. "We're not afraid."
Though Phil tried to hide it under his frown, his respect showed through his eyes. "Well, then be careful."
"Come on Rin," Sora yelled.
Rin hesitated before following.
Once they arrived in the battle arena, they found a badly injured Hercules and an unconscious Cloud trapped in a corner by Cerberus.
"Kids," Phil said, "I've got two words of advice for you: Attack!"
Donald, Goofy, and Sora rushed forward. Rin stood in place cradling the Heartstaff.
Jiminy hopped back on her shoulder. "Rin, what's wrong?"
"I can't hurt dogs," Rin muttered. "It's just… not right."
"Rin!" Donald said as he sent a fireball hurtling towards Cerberus. "What are you doing?"
Cerberus suddenly cocked his heads at Rin. He bounded forward and Rin braced herself for his attack.
When it didn't come, Rin opened her eyes again.
Cerberus was wagging his tail and panting. When he saw her looking, he promptly lay down and rolled on his back.
Rin giggled before reaching out and rubbing his chest. "Good boy, Cerberus."
The others including Hercules stared at her with their jaws dropped.
"What?" She said.
"How did you do that?" Donald asked.
Rin shrugged. "I like dogs and I guess the feelings are mutual."
Cerberus yipped excitedly as his foot twitched.
From the stands, the heartless wolf watched the group down below.
They were able to move Cerberus to a safer area. With Rin around, Cerberus had turned into a complete puppy.
The heartless wolf grinned as he walked away. "You were always good with dogs."
Once they entered the lobby again, Phil and Hercules presented each of the quartet with an award. Phil cleared his throat. "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further…"
"Hey! What do you mean 'junior heroes'?" Donald quacked.
Phil shook his head. "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."
While the others complained about their junior status, Rin stared at her award in awe. Me? A hero? She grinned as her finger trailed across the award. I never thought I could be that.
"So, what does it take?" Goofy asked, stirring her from her thoughts.
Hercules smiled. "Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."
Sora shrugged. "No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games."
"There ain't gonna be any games for a while." Phil said as he looked around at the ruins of the once great coliseum. "I gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."
"Okay, we'll be back." Sora said as they left.
Once he was sure they were out of earshot, Phil said, "I still can't believe those squirts were able to tame Cerberus."
Hercules leaned in toward him. "Just between us, I'd already worn Cerberus down by the time the little guys jumped in."
Phil made a zipping motion with his lips. "My lips are sealed."
Cloud sat near the tournament's stats board when they exited the coliseum.
As they walked towards him, Cloud glanced up.
"Hey, are you all right?" Sora asked.
Cloud leaned back against the board. "Yeah."
There was a pause as the two regarded each other.
Sora kicked a piece of dirt. "So why did you go along with him, anyway?"
"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." He stood up. "I fell into darkness, and couldn't find the light."
Sora smiled. "You'll find it. I'm searching, too."
"For your light?" Cloud glanced at Rin. "You've already found your light. It's been beside you the entire time." He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. "Don't lose sight of it."
"O…kay" Sora said slightly confused as Cloud began to walk away from them. He looked at Rin who just shrugged. He quickly shook off his confusion. "How about a rematch sometime?" He called. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved."
Cloud paused for a moment as if he was thinking. "I think, I'll pass." With a slight wave he left.
Hades growled at the miniature image of Hercules in his hand. "He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect." He crushed the image in his hand reducing it to smoke. "Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy." Hades took a deep breath and rubbed his hand across his face. "Wait a minute. What are you talking about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kids. In the next games, I'll take care of them both."
"Mighty confident are we?" said a sinister voice from behind him.
Hades whirled around to see Maleficent and the heartless wolf watching him.
"Who invited you to the party?" He glared at the heartless. "Let me guess your crony? Well, stay out of this. This is my show."
Neither Maleficent nor the heartless seemed fazed.
Maleficent gave a slight bow. "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content."
They left Hades to his brooding. Once out of earshot, Maleficent turned toward the heartless. "I have an errand I need you to run."
"What is it, my liege?" The heartless asked, his tone neutral.
"I want you to pick up a boy who just landed in Traverse Town."
"A boy?" The heartless cocked his head. "Why do you want a boy?"
Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're curious." She handed him a picture of the boy. "His heart has opened to the darkness. He could prove quite useful to us."
The heartless glanced at the picture once, his memory taking in every single detail of the boy, before handing it back to her. His curious expression had returned to a frown.
Though she could tell that he greatly disapproved of her scheme, she chose to ignore him. "Now go."
The heartless hesitated for a moment before giving a stiff bow. "Your wish is my command, my liege."
He vanished into the shadows as Maleficent walked toward the exit of the Coliseum. "Yes," she said with a sinister grin. "Soon that will be very true for everyone."
L.A.: Dun, dun, dun. Cliffhanger. Anywho you know what to do. READ and REVIEW!