A/N: Hello everyone, Tempura here with an extra long chapter. There wasn't really a good place to split it, so it's just a little longer than usual. Hope you enjoy it either way! And thanks to Gry19 for the review.

Now, onto the chapter.

R&R!

Re-sketch

Chapter 10: Olympus Coliseum

They reached the next world a few days after leaving Wonderland. While Donald remained in the pilot's seat throughout most of the journey, Goofy took a couple breaks from the co-pilot's seat, letting Sora give it a go at shooting down Heartless ships while Hikaru hovered behind the chair to observe the controls. "Ahyuck, you're pretty good at this, Sora," Goofy said.

"Thanks. It's fun," Sora said. It was like a video game, but there was some satisfaction in shooting down dangerous creatures in real life that was unattainable in a game.

"It's not a game," Donald said. "And don't goof off! We don't want any accidents in space."

"Yeah, yeah." Sora fired the lasers and shot down a swarm of yellow Heartless ships that buzzed around in front of them like bees. "So, what's this world coming up?"

"The navigation says we'll be landing in a place called Olympus Coliseum," Hikaru said, looking at the screen. "Olympus… Oh, right, Greek mythology."

"Greek?" Sora asked, glancing over.

Hikaru nodded. "Mount Olympus was said to be the home of the gods, like Zeus and Hera and Athena… I wonder…"

Donald pulled the Highwind to a stop above the world, getting up from his seat. "Well, let's check this place out," he said, and he hit the transfer button.

This time they landed on a path right in front of a giant double door. Sora looked around at the layer of cloud cover that stretched out around them; behind them, he saw the stone steps descend below the clouds. By the way he was breathing, he guessed that they must have been pretty high up. Turning back to the large building, he stepped forward. "Well, let's go."

Shoving open the double doors a crack and slipping through, they found themselves in a large open square. Golden pedestals cracked with flames along the edges of the square under the large white pillars that held the walls up. The sky above was cloudless and blue, but it was the giant statues of sword-wielding gladiators that stood as an archway over the doors across the square that caught their attention.

"Whoa," Sora said. "That's awesome."

"I wonder what kind of world this is," Goofy said.

"Well, it is a coliseum," Donald replied.

Inside the building across the square was what appeared to be a lobby. More decorative fires burned along the walls, and a large slab of marble sat at the edge of the room. Standing on one stool-shaped pillar was a strange man with goat legs. Sora stared, absolutely bewildered.

"Satyr," Hikaru said. "Half-man, half-goat."

Sora walked over, trying to get a glimpse of the satyr's face, but he was too busy adjusting a sign on the wall. "Um…"

"Great timing," the satyr said, still brushing away some dust from the sign. "Give me a hand, will ya?" He pointed towards the slab of marble on the other side of the room. "Move that pedestal over there. I'm sprucing this place up for the games, and there's still a lot of work to be done."

Sora exchanged glances with the others. Donald crossed his wings, looking a bit skeptical, and Goofy scratched his head while Hikaru shrugged. Oh, well, might as well help while they were there. Sora walked over to the slab, giving it a test push before he dug his heels into the ground and shoving. It didn't even budge. "Whoa…!"

"Come on, let's give him a hand," Goofy said. He, Donald, and Hikaru walked over, planting their feet firmly on the floor, and on three they pushed with all their might. But it was still too hard to move. Donald slumped to the ground, while Hikaru slipped on the smooth stone floor and landed on her butt.

"It's gotta weigh at least a ton," Sora said, straightening up and rubbing his back. He walked back over to the busy satyr. "It's way too heavy."

The satyr paused. "What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little—" He turned, looking down at Sora and blinking. "Oh. Wrong guy. What are you doing here, kid?"

"We're looking for our friends," Sora said.

"Friends? Well, I can't say that anyone new has passed through here recently," the satyr said.

"Where is here, exactly?" Goofy asked.

"You came all the way up here and you don't know?" The satyr jumped down from the stool, walking over to them and gesturing up at the smooth stone walls and ceiling of the lobby. "This here is the world-famous Coliseum—heroes only. No time for tours today. I got my hands full preparing for the games, so run along, pipsqueaks. Try again next week."

"Pipsqueaks?" Sora pursed his lips into a pout. He was no pipsqueak! And he was definitely a hero—he'd already beaten up dozens of Heartless and even the big bosses.

The satyr sighed when he saw Sora's expression. "Look, kid—heroes are going to be coming from all over to fight dangerous monsters and professional warriors in the Coliseum. It's nothing for the small fry to mess around with."

"But you've got grade-A heroes standing right in front of you," Donald snapped.

"Yup," Goofy said with a nod, nudging Sora's shoulder. "He's a real hero, chosen by the Keyblade!"

"And we're heroes too," Donald added.

"Hero? That runt?" the satyr asked. "And you three: a duck, a dog, and a girl?" He buckled over with wild laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked. "I've fought a bunch of monsters!" He caught the expressions of his friends out of the corner of his eye while they stared at the satyr: Donald wasn't happy, Goofy looked a little confused, and Hikaru's eye was twitching.

The satyr managed to get ahold of his laughter, rubbing his stomach. "Kid, if you can't even move this," he said, propping his hands against the pillar and pushing, "you can't… call yourself… a hero." Sora exchanged a skeptical glance with his friends. The satyr had even less success at moving that thing than Sora had.

The satyr slumped to the ground, exhausted. "Well… Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Let's just see what you can do. The name's Philoctetes, trainer of heroes, but I don't need no runts butchering my name so you just call me Phil for short."

"I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Hikaru." Sora puffed out his chest. "We'll prove to you that we're heroes in no time."

"Alright, let's head on over to the training grounds then. The arena's already set up for practice anyway."

Training was not what Hikaru expected it to be. A timed barrel-breaking session didn't seem like the type of training a hero would do, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy were eager to prove themselves. Hikaru supposed that she should just do her best.

"Thunder! Blizzard! Fire!" Donald was blasting off spells in one corner of the arena, blasting the barrels into splintered bits.

Goofy looked like he was having fun, swinging his shield to knock a few barrels into the wall and charging forward to bash through a line of barrels that Phil dropped in front of him.

Sora was trying out a mixed approach, picking up some barrels to throw in one moment, and then running forward to slice through the others in another. He was even taking the opportunity to practice his Fire and Blizzard spells, which Hikaru thought was a great idea.

Hikaru aimed her staff. "Fire!" she called out, letting loose a blast of flames that burned through the two barrels in front of her. She'd have to ask them to teach her Blizzard later. Rushing forward, she swung her staff and hooked a barrel with the crook, using the momentum to spin and hurl it into the wall.

"Keep it up!" Phil shouted at her, throwing another barrel into her corner of the arena. Hikaru's eyes widened when she saw it falling towards her, but suddenly the Cheshire Cat's grinning face flashed to the forefront of her mind and the barrel just phased right through her.

"It still works?" Hikaru fished her glowing Wayfinder out of her pocket. Well, that was handy. She put her Wayfinder back into her pocket, but then thought better of it. She took a good look at the chains, snapping one side a bit shorter before she wrapped it around her belt and bent the links together. At least now she would be able to see when it started to glow.

"I'm done!" Sora called out, pumping a fist into the air. "Yeah! All thirty barrels are done for! What's my time?"

"30 seconds left on the clock. Not bad, kid," Phil said. "You three, keep at it! You can't be a hero if you keep slacking off!"

"I have to say, that wasn't half-bad," Phil said when they broke for lunch and returned to the lobby. Sora was in the middle of eating some spanakopita that an errand boy had brought them, but he straightened up to attention immediately, swallowing his half-eaten pastry.

"Looks like we're headed for the games," Sora said with a grin.

Hikaru pointed at his mouth. "You have some spinach in your teeth."

"Heheh, oops." He scraped it away with a nail while Hikaru, Donald, and Goofy laughed.

"Afraid not," Phil said, breaking the mood immediately.

"Huh?" Sora jumped to his feet. "Why not?"

"Two words: You guys ain't heroes," Phil replied.

"Oh, come on!" Sora said as Goofy counted off his fingers. "You said we weren't half-bad."

"Not half-bad ain't the same as being a hero," Phil said. "There's a lot more to it than breaking a couple of barrels. It takes practice and willpower and character. If you really want to become a hero, you can start by learning this spell." He snapped his fingers, and Sora felt a sudden rush in his body, not unlike when the Cheshire Cat gave him the Blizzard spell. But instead of his skin prickling with an icy chill, his muscles felt alive with electricity. "You still got a lot of work ahead of you, and unless you somehow get yourself an entry pass, I ain't letting you in." He walked out of the lobby, heading to the arena.

"Oh…" Sora plopped back down into his seat, picking up his spanakopita, but he had lost his appetite. "Come on, let's just go," he said, setting the bread back on the plate and standing up. Donald did the same, marching off after him with a huff, but Goofy and Hikaru took their food along with them.

"That felt weird," Hikaru said, shaking off her shoulders.

"You felt it too?" Sora asked. "What did he give us?"

"Thunder magic," Donald said.

"Oh. Well, that's cool, I guess…" Sora was still a little sour about not being let into the games.

"Hey, Donald?" Hikaru asked.

"What?"

Hikaru swallowed her bite of food before continuing. "How come Phil gave us Thunder—and the Cheshire Cat gave Sora Blizzard—but we learned Fire on our own?"

Donald seemed to like being asked a question about his area of expertise. "Well, first of all, I had to make sure that the two of you had magical ability and control. Since you'd never used magic before, you had to get a feel for it before you could start casting spells. The more you understand, the easier it is to learn new spells. Some people can even gift you special techniques and spells to help you along, but there's nothing like the pride of learning a spell from the ground up."

"You also tend to specialize your magic when you learn on your own, right?" Goofy asked.

"Right!" Donald said, nodding. "Some wizards have a natural affinity for a certain type of magic. Others can learn all sorts, no problem. But having that basic knowledge about magic is crucial to developing your skills. In fact, if you have a good enough grasp on it, it can come to your aid when you need it the most even if you don't call on it yourself. If you've got the willpower and strong enough emotions, magic can save your life."

"Yeah, like that one time when Donald was helping the King fix the roof—"

"Goofy! I told you never to talk about that!"

"Ahyuck! Sorry… I forgot."

Sora wasn't so interested in the conversation as they crossed the courtyard. Learning a new spell was kind of nice, but what he really wanted was to fight in the games. He'd gotten stronger since the islands—he wasn't the boy who was always in second place anymore. Now he was traveling around and slaying monsters and trying to find his friends. He was a hero, right?

No, he thought, his shoulders drooping as they walked towards the gates. Maybe I'm not… We couldn't even save Alice…

"A rather stubborn old goat, isn't he?"

Sora jerked his head up to see a man with blue skin and fiery hair standing in front of them. "Who are you?" he asked. And where had he come from?

"I was just in the neighborhood and happened to overhear what was going on," the man said, his dark cloak drifting silently over the ground as he walked over to them. "Let me guess—you want to enter the games, right? Well, get a load of this." He snapped his fingers, and a ticket appeared in his hand in a burst of blue fire. "Ta-da!"

"A pass?" Sora blinked. Donald and Goofy gasped, and Hikaru's eyebrows disappeared under her blonde bangs. "Really? For us?"

"Hey, I'm not the kind of guy to snuff out the dreams of a bright-eyed kid like yourself. It's all yours," the man said. "Good luck. I'm rooting for you, Spiky." He walked off, passing through the gates and disappearing out of sight.

"Whoa," Sora said. "That guy was pretty nice."

"I dunno, Sora, he seemed kinda… suspicious," Goofy said, rubbing his chin and squinting.

"But we got a pass," Sora said, smiling. He could have jumped for joy. Now he could prove himself! "Come on, let's go enter the games!"

"Phil! Hey, Phil!"

"Whaddya want now, shrimp?" Phil asked, glancing over at them as he cleared the broken barrels from the arena floor. Sora waved his pass in the air, feeling a little smug, and watched as Phil's eyes widened. "Hey, what?!" The satyr swiped the pass from him, holding it up to the sun. "How'd you get this?"

Sora didn't want to lie or mention the man who had given it to them, so all he said was, "Can we enter the games now?"

"Well…" Phil sighed, rubbing his face. "I guess so. I'm a satyr of my word; you have a pass, you got entry."

"Yeah!" Sora said. "Come on, guys, let's get ready."

"Wait one minute, pipsqueak," Phil said, stepping in front of them. "This is one pass. One pass, one entry. Only one of you can enter the tournament."

"What?!" Sora looked to his friends before pouting.

"Rules are rules, kid," Phil said.

"You go ahead, Sora," Goofy said.

"Yeah," Donald said. "You're the wielder of the Keyblade—you can do it!"

"Show them who's boss," Hikaru added.

Sora hesitated, but his friends just nodded their heads and pushed him forward. "Alright, thanks guys! Phil, I'll enter the tournament alone."

"Good to see you made a decision peacefully. Tournament starts tomorrow at noon, so be sure to get a good night's sleep, ya hear?"

"Got it, Phil!"

They spent the rest of the day helping Sora practice his combat and magic skills. As evening crept in, they headed back to the ship to rest up, taking a few plates of the Coliseum's food with them. Sora seemed really excited about the tournament, and it took a while for him to fall asleep.

They were back at the arena by eleven the next day. It was pretty busy by the time they got there—busier than it had been yesterday. It took some time to get Sora signed in, but the process moved quickly once the crowd of spectators passed through to the seats. Hikaru sat in the lower stands with Donald and Goofy as Sora stepped up to the first round with the Keyblade in hand.

"There are some weirdoes entering the tournament, so keep an eye out," Phil said. "Go get 'em, kid."

Sora grinned, giving his Keyblade a spin and glancing to the stands. But as his opponents stepped onto the battlefield, his eyes widened.

"Heartless?!" Donald exclaimed.

"They're entering the games?" Goofy asked.

"Come on, let's go help—"

"Hold on," Hikaru said as Donald leapt to his feet. "They're competitors. If we jump in and fight, we'll be cheating for Sora. He might get disqualified."

"But…"

"Aw, Sora'll be fine," Goofy said. "He's got the Keyblade."

"Hmp, I guess." Donald crossed his wings but didn't argue.

Sora easily swept through the Soldiers and those blue bell-shaped Heartless identical in appearance to the Red Nocturnes. (Hikaru was thinking of calling them Blue Harmonies, but Donald suggested Blue Rhapsody instead.) As Sora returned to Phil's side for a pep talk, Hikaru watched the competitor for one of the following matches walk towards the battlefield, his face obscured by his collar while his cloak billowed in the wind. The man had spiky blond hair, and something shiny and gold glinted on his hand—claws?

He was the very definition of intimidating.

"Gee, do ya think Sora will have to battle him?" Goofy asked.

"He can take him," Donald said stubbornly.

But that guy with the cloak and claws was no pushover. Wielding a giant blade, he managed to slice through the opposing Heartless in just a few strokes, much to the delight of the crowd. In Sora's next round, Sora defeated a swarm of Shadows and more of those Blue Rhapsodies, and in the third he battled both the red and the blue bells. As the competitors battled, some dropping out after sustaining severe injuries from the Heartless, others breezing through until they had to face each other, Hikaru found herself tapping her foot on the ground in anticipation.

"You're better than I thought, kid," Phil said as Sora walked off the battlefield and towards Hikaru, Donald, and Goofy to talk before the fourth match. "I just wish he was here to see this."

"Who?" Sora asked.

"Hercules. He's a hero if I ever saw one—trained him myself," Phil said proudly. "Too bad he's off visiting his father. He'd probably like your attitude."

As Sora and the blond competitor continued to climb the ladder, it became obvious that they would be the ones to meet in battle. Sora struck a pose for the crowd as they cheered for him, and Hikaru couldn't help smiling despite her concern. But could he win by himself?

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?" Hades said, gesturing from the shadows over to the kid with the giant key who had breezed through the rounds. "Now, don't blow it. Just take him out and we're home free."

Cloud glanced to Hades for only a moment before looking towards the spiky-haired boy. He didn't seem like anything troublesome, and Cloud didn't see why this of all things was what Hades wanted. "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" he asked dryly. "Sorry, but my contract says—"

"I know!" Hades snapped, flaring up red for a moment before he got ahold of himself. "You think I don't know? I'm the one who wrote that contract." He took a deep breath. "I know it says that you're only required to kill Hercules. But it's the semi-finals—you have to fight the brat to get to him."

Cloud didn't say anything. He watched as the boy with the strange key-shaped sword spoke with the three sitting at the bottom of the stands. They seemed to be smiling and laughing and having a good time while the satyr flailed his arms in the air and shouted. Cloud clenched his hands into fists.

"Hey, it's like that old goat says," Hades said, sweeping over to stand next to Cloud. "It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! A casualty or two along the way is no big deal."

Cloud just walked towards the battlefield, eyes trained ahead towards the kid who was smiling and waving goodbye to his friends. This was the kid Hades wanted him to kill? It would be easy enough… But could he kill someone who could smile so freely?

Sora readied the Keyblade as he stared at his opponent across the arena. The man, Cloud, readied his own weapon, a giant sword wrapped in gauze. He was intimidating, Sora would give him that. But Sora had taken on Heartless that had been more than twice that man's size—he could handle this guy.

Sora started off by stepping sideways, and Cloud mirrored his movements until they were circling each other. Cautious. Sora suddenly sprang forward, swinging his Keyblade and hoping that he would catch his opponent off-guard. Cloud blocked the attack, and Sora rolled back to avoid any incoming blows. But instead of returning a swing, Cloud jumped into the air and plunged his sword downwards. Sora narrowly avoided the blade of the sword, but the dark energy that pulsed across the ground knocked him off of his feet and burned his skin.

"Come on, Sora!" Donald shouted from the stand.

"You can do it!" Goofy added.

"Be careful!" Hikaru called.

Sora hid his pain with a grin, readjusting his grip on his weapon. "Blizzard!" he shouted, sending a blast of ice at Cloud. Cloud dropped behind his sword to avoid the spell, but Sora quickly thrust his Keyblade into the air. "Thunder!"

The bolt of lightning that struck Cloud wasn't very strong, but it was enough to startle him. Sora found his opening. He ran forward and began to swing away. Cloud didn't have enough time to sling his blade in front of himself to block, but he endured the hits by holding his arms in front of his body.

"Yeah! Go Sora!"

Sora's smile widened. He was winning! Hah, next time he battled Riku, he'd win. Not like last time when he got knocked over the edge of the island. Sora backed away as Cloud swung his sword in a wide arc, and quickly he aimed his Keyblade again for another spell. "Fire!"

But as the jet of fire shot forward, Cloud aimed his own sword in Sora's direction, ducking low and kicking off of the ground. Suddenly Cloud was speeding in Sora's direction with his sword slicing through the flames, aiming right at his face. Sora rolled out of the way, but Cloud changed direction, trying to skewer him through.

"Sora!" Hikaru shouted. "Look out!"

Sora's eyes widened. He saw Cloud change tactics a moment before he skidded to a stop. That giant sword sliced into the air where Sora would have been if he'd continued to roll. Cloud swung again, slamming the flat of his blade into Sora's side and throwing him across the field. Pain exploded in his arm as Sora hit the ground. Dazed and disoriented, he flipped into a crouch and looked up to see Cloud towering over him with his sword raised.

Sora didn't have time to think. He squeezed his eyes shut, lowering his head and bracing for the attack. But when it didn't come he looked up and saw Cloud lower his sword.

"It wasn't part of our deal," Cloud muttered. "I won't do it, no matter what Hades wants."

"A deal?" Sora asked.

A loud crash rang through the arena, followed by terrified screams. Sora looked around, but he only had a second to see the giant black shape hurtling through the air in their direction. "Cloud—"

The three-headed dog slammed its paws into Cloud's body, pinning him to the ground and snarling. The dog narrowed its red eyes onto Sora, drool and smoke spilling from its mouths. It reared back with its jaws open, ready to tear Sora apart. But something darted past him, slamming into the giant dog and throwing it backwards into the wall with a rumbling crash.

"Herc!" Phil shouted.

The man rolling back his shoulders looked like a hero. "Phil, get them out of here!" he called, looking to the stands where the audience was thrown into panic.

Phil rushed over, grabbing Sora by the arm and pulling him back towards the exit. Sora resisted a moment, his instincts and conscience telling him to dive in and help. But as the arena devolved into chaos, he allowed himself to be pulled back to the lobby.

"That was close!" Phil gasped, leaning against the pillar to catch his breath. The lobby was crowded with bodies as the spectators that had once been enjoying the tournament fled from the Coliseum in terror. Donald, Goofy, and Hikaru stood, armed and prepared for a fight. Sora was too, even if he was exhausted and sore.

"What was that thing?" he asked, glancing back to the passageway that led to the battlefield.

"Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld," Phil said. "Hades' pet. Who knows what he's doing up here, but Herc should be able to handle him…" He hesitated. "Then again, maybe not if he has his hands full with a rescue… Even if Herc takes him out, this doesn't look good for the Coliseum at all."

"We'll go help him," Sora said, stepping towards the passageway.

"Hey, wait, kid!" Phil jumped up, flailing his hands. "This ain't a match—this is the real deal! You could get hurt, or worse!"

"I'm not afraid," Sora said. Donald, Goofy, and Hikaru all nodded in agreement. "You can decide whether we're hero material or not."

Phil looked like he was going to protest, but maybe seeing the determination on Sora and his friends' faces made him change his mind. He gave a sigh. "Be careful, kid," he said, and Sora hurried back into the arena.

"Hercules!" Sora shouted. He skidded to a stop, jumping back as Cerberus spun around to face them. Behind the giant three-headed beast, Hercules was backed against the wall with an unconscious Cloud slung over his shoulder. "Don't worry, we got this!"

Hercules nodded, charging under the legs of the hound and rushing towards the exit. Cerberus lunged, snapping his jaws, but Goofy flung his shield across the field and slammed the middle head in the face right between the eyes. Cerberus snarled, shaking off his middle head while the left and right heads reared back, letting loose a pair of crackling fireballs.

"Duck and cover!" Sora called out, rolling out of the way as the fireballs slammed into the ground, leaving behind smoldering craters in the hard earth.

Hikaru skidded across the ground, jamming her staff into the dirt to slow her. "Fire!" she shouted, swinging her staff and sending a blast of fire at Cerberus's right head.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted, thrusting his staff into the air and calling down a bolt of lightning to slam into Cerberus's left head.

"Blizzard!" Sora unleashed the gust of icy wind on the middle head. The three elemental spells collided with their targets, making the three-headed dog yelp and stagger back. He shook off the damage and jumped high into the air. As his paws smashed into the ground, a giant shockwave rippled across the floor and knocked them off of their feet. Sora recovered first, pushing himself back up and rushing forward, Keyblade dragging across the ground. He jumped and swung when he got close, but as he hit one head, the other two snapped at him and knocked him away.

He hit the ground hard. "Sora, are you okay?" Goofy asked.

"Cure!" Donald cried, and a healing warmth spread through Sora's body as leaves and flower petals of light fell upon him.

"Thanks, Donald," Sora said, getting up. "We can't hit the heads up close. Not when there are three of them."

"I'll distract them, then," Hikaru said, looking down at the charm hanging from her belt. "Fade!" she called out, her charm glowing and body flashing transparent and smoky. "Hey, Cerberus! Bad dog!" She rushed at the dog before anyone could stop her, waving her equally transparent staff in the air above her head.

"Goofy, you cover Sora," Donald said. "I'll attack him with magic!"

"Gotcha! Come on, let's go!"

"Can't get me!" Hikaru shouted, stepping back and forth as Cerberus tried to bite at her. His snapping jaws rushed right through her like she was a ghost, though the stink of sulfur was strong on his breath. The dog seemed so confused, reaching out and pawing at her image.

"Hey, no! Over here, dog!" she called out as the right head glanced over to Sora and Goofy, who were rushing by. She would have thrown a rock, but she couldn't grab anything in this form. Instead she settled on flailing her staff in the air, trying to catch Cerberus's attention with movement and sound.

Cerberus gave a low growl, pulling back his heads and charging up another set of fireballs. Hikaru backed away, not wanting to get caught in that even if she couldn't get hit. She started to run, but the fireballs flew through the air and hit the ground at her feet. She felt the burst of magical energy, felt the force knock her off of her feet, and then the heat that seared at her leg. "Gah!"

It looked like she wasn't immune to magic. She rolled out of the way as fast as she could before scrambling back to her feet and limping towards the stands.

"Sora, hurry!" Goofy called out, raising his shield above his head as the fireballs shook the ground. Between Cerberus's legs, he could make out Hikaru scrambling away. They didn't have much time left! Sora nodded, stepping back before jumping into the air. Goofy felt the impact of Sora's feet on his shield, but he shoved up, acting as a spring for Sora to bounce off of. Sora landed on Cerberus's back, making the dog jerk around and spin. Sora held on tight to Cerberus's sleek fur as the three-headed dog thrashed around and struggled to snap at Sora.

"Whoa!" Sora's Keyblade flashed away from his hand as he clamored over towards Cerberus's heads. A bolt of lightning fell into one, distracting it, while Goofy rushed forward and jumped, catching one of the another heads in the jaw with his shield.

Cerberus started jumping around the field, kicking up shockwave after shockwave as he tried to buck Sora off of his back. The left head reared back and spewed a line of fireballs into the air.

Goofy banged his fist against his shield, the echoing clank loud and disorienting enough to attract Cerberus's attention away from Sora. "Hey! Over here!" he called, jumping up and waving. Cerberus growled, lunging forward and swinging a claw. Goofy blocked with his shield, hiding under it as the dog began to pound his claws into the shield. Goofy squeezed his eyes shut, his legs quaking under each impact. Then the attack ceased, and he looked up.

Sora had managed to grasp onto the middle head's ears, and he was struggling to hold on as it thrashed and snarled. The left and right heads snapped their jaws, lunging forward to try to grab Sora, but suddenly Cerberus began to spin towards the right, the middle head pushing against the right head while the left slammed into its eye. Fire spewed from his mouths, filling the air with heat and smoke, and Sora was flung off the beast as it crashed heads-first into the wall.

"Sora!" Goofy rushed over. Sora coughed and sputtered as Goofy helped him up, but other than some singed hair and a few bruises, he seemed fine.

"Did we beat it?" Sora asked, looking around and waving off the smoke.

Goofy held a hand over his mouth as he laughed.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in future games. Further—"

"Hey!" Donald exclaimed, stepping forward. "What do you mean 'junior heroes'?"

Phil laughed. They were back in the lobby, patched up from the fight but otherwise okay. "You may have taken out Cerberus, but you rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero. Who was it again that decided it would be a good idea to take a handout from the god of the Underworld?"

Sora gave a nervous laugh, scratching his head. Well, in his defense, he hadn't known that the fire-haired man they'd run into was Hades…

"If we don't understand what it takes to be a true hero, then what does it take?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.

"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves," Hercules said, smiling. "Just the way that I did. Don't let that stop you—you guys have a lot of promise, and I'm looking forward to see how far you'll go."

"Heh, no problem," Sora said, pounding a fist against his chest. "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games. When's the next one?"

"Sad to say, there won't be any games for some time," Phil said, glancing towards the passage. "You guys did a number dealing with Cerberus. It'll be a while before the Coliseum's ready for another tournament."

"That's okay. We'll come back later," Sora said.

"See ya," Hikaru added, waving goodbye as they walked out of the lobby.

Phil chuckled, rubbing his beard thoughtfully as the lobby doors slid shut. "I still can't believe the little squirt and his buddies actually managed to beat Cerberus."

"Just between us," Hercules said, leaning over to whisper in his mentor's ear, "I'd already worn Cerberus down by the time they jumped in."

Phil blinked. Well, that sure as heck made more sense than that pipsqueak and his pals beating the Lord of the Underworld's guard dog. But, there had to be something said about that spunk. Those kids really did show some promise. "My lips are sealed."

"That was awesome, Sora," Hikaru said, nudging his shoulder as they walked out of the lobby. "Like a night at the rodeo."

"Hehe, thanks," Sora said with a grin. "You were pretty good too, trying to get Cerberus to play fetch. And Goofy, when you threw your shield and hit him right between the eyes? Ouch!"

"Aw, shucks, Sora. I was just doin' my job. You might need a haircut, though."

Sora reached up and tugged at a scorched spike that stuck out at an awkward angle. No big deal, he didn't mind a few souvenirs of his victory. Plus, it could be fixed with a simple trim.

"How's your leg, Hikaru?" Donald asked.

"It's better," Hikaru said, shaking out her leg. It was wrapped up with bandages and treated with some burn ointment and a Cure spell. She was limping but seemed otherwise alright. As they neared the gates, however, she paused, nodding towards the figure sitting on the steps.

It was Cloud. "Hey, are you alright?" Sora asked as they approached.

"Yeah," Cloud said, looking up at them.

That was good to hear. Sora couldn't help smiling a little bit, but he still hesitated. "You mentioned Hades, right? And something about a deal?" he asked. "Why'd you make a deal with him anyway?"

Cloud closed his eyes, tilting his face to the ground. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help." He shook his head and rose to his feet. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness… and I couldn't find the light. I almost did something I would regret for the rest of my life."

Looking for someone… Sora wondered what he would've done if he'd been given the opportunity to use the darkness to find Riku and Kairi. Although he knew now that the darkness was bad news… if it would help his friends? Maybe he would've taken the chance. "You'll find them," he said. "I'm searching too."

Cloud regarded him with a thoughtful expression. "For your light?"

Sora nodded. Yeah, something like that.

He swore Cloud gave a little smirk. "Don't lose sight of it." Cloud walked over, dropping something into Sora's hand. A rush of energy and adrenaline swept through his body, a vision of that piercing blade technique that Cloud had used on him. Sonic Blade. Sora opened his hand, but saw it empty. One of those gifted techniques.

"Hey," Sora said, turning as Cloud headed back towards the lobby. "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved."

"I think I'll pass," Cloud replied, but Sora knew that if they ever did have another battle, it would be one to look forward to.

"He's strong. He's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating!"

Hades flared red, his flames raging off of his head and shoulders as he paced around the outside of the empty Coliseum. He'd been so close—so close to finally taking out that thorn in his side—that Hercules—and he could've gotten rid of that Keyblade brat too! But of course, of course things would go wrong. How hard was it to find good darkness-induced help these days? Times like these made him wish another one of those gullible saps would swing by, like that dark horse all those years ago. He really should've hedged his bets on that Terra…

Hades took a deep breath, his flames returning to their usual blue color. "Wait a minute," he said. "What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do: let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, you'll take care of them both. Easy enough." He paused as a surge of dark energy opened up behind him. His eyes narrowed, and he glanced over his shoulder. "Who invited you to the party?" he asked. "Stay out of this. This is my show."

The dark fairy stared at him with an amused expression, and all that did was make his ichor boil. "As you wish," Maleficent said. "Fight to your heart's content. I'm sure it will make for thrilling entertainment."

A/N: Oh, yes. I did make that reference.

A lot happened in this one, didn't it? Initially I didn't have that last scene, but I decided it was worth it to add it in. The next chapters won't be as long, but it'll hopefully still be fun.

If you're enjoying the story so far, or even if you're not, don't forget to drop a review. Feedback is appreciated!

Thank you for reading!