Chapter Ten: Let The Games Begin!
And so, the preliminary matches began. Can people say it wasn't that big of a shock to the boys that their opponents were Heartless? Because it wasn't. Given with all the Heartless they had come in contact with, it was to be expected.
In between matches, Dirk and Jake would go off searching for Jane, Jade and Rose around the Coliseum. Dave and John, meanwhile, would be watching the matches. In the bottom of their hearts, they wished that their friends would show up in one of fights.
After their second match, Dave, John, Dirk, and Jake were approached by Phil.
"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching," said Phil.
"And here I was thinking it was natural talent," mused Dirk. The conversation ceased as someone entered the arena. It was a troll, much like the ones who inhabited Traverse Town.
The troll wore a tight, white shirt with violet squiggles on the front which resembled waves. His black jeans were a little tighter than one would have expected, but he appeared to be able to move in them just fine. His greased hair was pushed back out of his face. The horns protruding from his head were in the shape of lightning bolts. There was a dual lightning-shaped scar on the right side of his forehead, near his temple. The weird thing about him was instead of ears, this troll had fins- much like a fish. Who knew if he had other fish parts or not?
Dave stared at the troll. He stared back with violet eyes, his black work boots digging into the ground. Dave looked towards Phil.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"Cronus Ampora," the satyr answered. "Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."
The four fought through more matches. Although they were winning, with each fight their morale lowered. There was no sign of Jade, Rose or Jane anywhere. The question of whether they were here or not started to linger in their minds.
After a match, John stood off to the side, watching two competitors go at it while Dave went to help Jake and Dirk. He was approached by Phil.
"Say, you're better than I thought, kid!" said the goat. "Wish he was here to see this." John raised an eyebrow, looking over at Phil quizzically.
"Who are you talking about?" John asked.
"Hercules. He's a hero if ever there was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father." John hummed in agreement, turning back towards the match.
While John, Dave, Dirk and Jake fought against the Heartless in their next match, two people watched from behind the stands. Hades and Cronus.
"Those little punks are your next opponents, okay?" Hades told the troll. Cronus leaned up against the wall, his eyes focused on the humans. "Now, don't blow it. Just take them out."
"The great god of the Undervworld is afraid of a couple of kids?" Cronus said snidely. "Tch. Sorry man, but my contract says—"
"I know!" Hades said, causing Cronus to jump back a little. "You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight those kids to get to him. Come on." Hades pointed over to John and Dave. They had just finished their match and were speaking with their teammates. "Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! mean, a casualty along the way is no big deal, right? Definitely not where you're from." He smiled. Cronus rolled his eyes before standing up and walking away.
The final match had come. John, Dave, Dirk, and Jake stood before a fully armed Cronus, a blue rifle in his hands. They summoned and withdrew their own tools of combat.
"Do you really think we'll be able to beat him?" said John in a hushed voice.
"No," Dave stated flatly before he ran forward. He swung his Keyblade at Cronus, who began to dodge his blows. It was as if this wasn't his first time in the Games at all. Jake pulled out his pistols, firing small orbs at Cronus.
"Won't that… you know… hurt him?" John asked. Jake shook his head.
"My bullets are incapable of of killing anyone that isn't a Heartless or otherwise," Jake explained. "They'll injure him enough so we can win though!" Jake moved forward, trying to get a better shot at Cronus. Getting tired of being attacked on both sides, Cronus aimed his rifle at the ground. Just as Jake and Dave got close enough to deal some damage, he fired.
A bright blue beam shot out of the rifle's tip. It hit the ground, with the blast being strong enough to send Jake and Dave back and out of the ring.
"That's the best you can do?" Cronus said, cocking his weapon once more as he stared at Dirk and John. Dirk's eyes narrowed as he ran forward, sparks from where his blade scraped the ground. John could have sworn he saw that the sparks were red-violet.
Dirk slid forward and struck. Cronus held out his rifle so it blocked the blow. Energy mounted between the point of contact. The electric sparks zapped everywhere. Finally, Cronus was able to push Dirk off of him, sending the energy back his way. Dirk was knocked out of the ring, and into the dirt of the coliseum.
John looked back at Dirk for a second before looking over at Cronus. He was the only one left. John dashed forward, with Cronus doing the same. Over and over, the two clashed. John had to duck underneath all of Cronus's attempt to hit him. Eventually, John wasn't able to keep it up. One of Cronus's blast struck the ground before him, sending him backwards on his back.
Before John could get up, he was met with the tip of Cronus's rifle. He stared up at the troll with wide eyes. Dave, Jake and a barely standing Dirk watched from the outside. Cronus stood down at John with narrowed eyes. He sighed, lowering the weapon.
"You ain't vworth killin'. And you looked like him..." Cronus said. "VWhy vwould Hades vwant me to take you and your friend out?" Cronus pulled John to his feet.
Loud footsteps echoed from behind him. Cronus turned around just as a giant, black claw knocked him out of the way. John took a few steps backward, looking up at the beast before him.
A three-headed dog with red eyes had entered the arena Darkness emanated from its jaws, each of its razor sharp teeth bared. The beast moved in to attack the boy, but was pushed back by a man.
Extremely muscular, with broad shoulders and a comparatively thin waist, the person was wearing orange-brown armor that ends in metal kilt. His armor didn't extend to his arms, nor to most of his legs. He wore a brown belt around his waist with a gold emblem with a lightning symbol printed on it. His sandals were knee-high and have cross-shaped straps and were brown, as were two wristbands he wore. He had a reddish-brown headband tied around his forehead, pushing back his rust-colored hair, save for one bang that fells over it. He had sky blue eyes and short, deep blue cape.
"Herc!" Phil shouted. John looked at the man with wide eyes, taking slow steps backward. This was the mighty Hercules Phil had spoken about before.
"Phil, get them out of here!" Hercules shouted back as he struggled against the beast. Jake took Dirk by the arm, pulling the weakened warrior as the competitors raced inside the lobby.
The four humans leaned against the door to hold it shut against the beast. Dirk dropped to the ground.
"The one time we need Jane…" he muttered to himself, "Jake. Heal me."
"You know that I can't," Jake answered. "Come on. Get up. You've been hit worse." Dirk looked up at Jake before getting to his feet.
"Whew, that was close!" said Phil, looking over at the boys.
"What was that?" asked Dave.
"That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not… This doesn't look good. I hope Herc's okay. Wish I could go in!" John looked back over at the door. He put his hand on it. Someone grabbed his arm, stopping him. It was Jake.
"Where are you going?" he asked John, letting his arm go. John sighed.
"I'm going to face Cerberus," he said. There was a pause.
"You're crazy," said Dirk. "That thing isn't a Heartless. It's too dangerous for any one of us to face it. It'll kill us."
"It's going to kill Hercules and Cronus too! We can do something to stop it!"
"He did spare John," Dave reminded the other two. "We do owe him."
"I'm in," said Jake. Dirk rolled his eyes.
"And I'm out voted," said the older Strider. "Let's go." They turned, ready to run back into the Coliseum when they were stopped by Phil.
"Kids, you're not entering the arena, are ya?" said the satyr. "This ain't just some match. This is for real!" John nodded.
"We're not afraid," he stated proudly. "You can decide if we're hero material or not."
"Careful, kids!" With a short nod, the heroes ran back towards the fire.
The company entered the Coliseum arena once more. To some of their relief, Hercules had Cronus slung over his shoulder. The rest of their relief was gone because of Cerberus's giant jaws bearing down on them, inches away from tearing them to pieces.
As the humans entered the arena, Cerberus's perked up. The dog turned around to face the four with their weapons drawn. This distraction allowed Hercules to run Cronus to the Lobby, past Phil standing in the doorway.
"Kids, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!" said Phil before the Looby's door slammed shut.
Cerberus wasted no time in attacking our heroes. He roared, stomping around the arena in an effort to catch his latest prey. This lead to Jake, John, Dave and Dirk to being spread out around the mutt. Cerberus, confused, began to go after whoever was closest.
The team had managed to stay out of the beast's warpath so far. Getting tired of just running, Dirk decided to take action.
"Cover me!" he shouted. Jake began firing into the air.
"Over here!" Jake called out, pulling Cerberus's attention towards him. Dirk came to a stop. The blade in his hands became charged, red-violet electricity wrapping itself around the metal. Dirk ran at the beast. He plunged his sword into the ground, sending the electricity out from his blade and around Cerberus, electrocuting him to some extent. But it wasn't enough to deteriorate him from attacking the Keyblade Wielders.
Fireballs rained down on Dave and John all while this was going on. Dave tightened his grip on his Keyblade.
"Hey!" he yelled at Cerberus. The dog launched a ball of flame at him. Dave swung his Keyblade, much like a bat. The fireball flew in the opposite direction. It hit Cerberus dead center. "Home run."
This didn't please Cerberus too much. The beast roared loudly and turned his attention to Dave only. He snapped at him until he got close enough for John to hit one of his heads.
Cerberus reared up on its hind legs.
"Move!" Dave ordered. He and John moved out of the way of the dog as it dropped to the ground. No matter what part of the arena they were in, the shock wave travelled up all of the boys' spines.
The creature's mouth began to froth with a dark energy. He bounded after the older two, it's mouth spewing darkness.
Dirk and Jake ran out of the way of the pools of dark matter as the pools quickly began to shoot up in a beam of darkness.
Dirk's blade began to charge again. Jake aimed his guns towards Cerberus. Dirk swung his sword, allowing the energy to roll off of it and shock Cerberus once more as Jake began shooting it.
Dave ran forward at the creature while the other two had it distracted. Cerberus began to snap at Jake.
"I think we should hurry!" Jake said in a panicked tone as he ducked under a set of massive jaws. John dashed forward, running alongside Dave. The pair raised their Keyblades in unison. They brought them down on Cerberus.
It had worked. The final blow dealt by the Keyblade Wielders sent the hellhound crashing to the ground. There was utter silence as all four humans gathered around the fallen beast.
"Bad dog," John said, releasing his Keyblade. "Dogs? I don't know." Dave poked it a bit with his foot.
"Is it dead?" he asked. His answer was a low growl emanating from the creature.
"I'm taking that as a no," Dirk stated. "Let's get back for it wakes up." Dirk turned heading for the exit. The dog twitched, which made both John and Jake jump and follow after Dirk. Dave gave Cerberus one long, last look before leaving the arena.
John, Dave, Dirk, and Jake stood before Hercules and Phil in the Lobby. Phil read from a piece of thick paper as Hercules stood next to him.
"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes," Phil read aloud, "and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—" Dave raised a hand to stop him.
"What do you mean 'junior heroes'?" he questioned.
"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."
"So, what does it take?" Jake asked curiously.
"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did," Hercules said with a smile. John nodded.
"No problem!" John said enthusiastically. "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games!"
"There ain't gonna be any games for a while," Phil said. He motioned over to the closed sign over the arena's entrance. "Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."
"Okay, we'll be back."
"If we can," Dirk added as the four boys left the Coliseum.
The four human beings headed for the Coliseum Gates. Just outside was their ship. John took one last look around the place. Who knew when he would be back here?
That's when someone sitting in the steps near the xit caught his attention. John nudged Dave beside him, gesturing over to the person. After a silent dispute, the two boys split off from Dirk and Jake and towards Cronus. He didn't seem to notice them.
"Hey, are you alright?" John asked. Cronus looked up at the pair.
"Yeah," he replied simply. Dave shoved his hands into his pockets.
"So why did you go along with him, anyway?" he asked. "Hades." Cronus groaned, shaking his head.
"Do you really vwant to knovw?" John gave a small nod as an answer.
"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help," the troll explained. "I tried to exploit the povwer of darkness, but it backfired." Cronus stood, looking up at sky above. He looked disappointed, most likely in himself.
"I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."
"You'll find it," said John. Cronus looked down at the boys. "We're searching, too."
"For your light?" Cronus asked with a small smirk. Dave nodded. Cronus walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't lose sight of it." John and Dave nodded in unison.
As Cronus started to walk away, Dave spun around to face him.
"How about a rematch sometime?" he called out. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved." Cronus turned his head, running a hand through his hair. He looked far more optimistic than he had been only a few minutes ago.
"I think I'll pass.," he said before walking on. After a second, he turned back to Dave and John "Oh, and if you see a guy vwho looks like me, kinda hipster-ish. Can you tell him I'm looking for him? And I'm gonna kick his ass for running off vwhen I do." Dave and John exchanged a look with each other. They looked back at Cronus. He was already gone.
"Dave! John!" shouted a voice from the gates. It was Jake. "We're leaving!" John nodded.
"We're coming!" John shouted back before he and Dave raced towards the exit.
Dave leaned back in his chair on the Gummi Ship. The stars outside were passing them by. It was absolutely quiet.
"What did you mean?" asked Dave, breaking the silence. All eyes but Dirk's fell on him.
"You have to be more specific," Dirk answered as he fiddled with the controls. Dave sat up.
"You said earlier that there were other ways to be strong. Without being physical." Dirk nodded. "How?" Dirk took a quick look over at the younger Strider.
"You're just going to have to find that out for yourself." Dave leaned back in his seat, watching the stars go by. "It's not a hard thing to do. And that's coming from me." Dave rolled his eyes, looking out the window. Dirk was now as confusing as ever. He just wanted to get to the next world as soon as possible.
Dirk: We have a couple of notes here. I'm not going to read any of them.
John: Why not?
Dirk: Her handwriting is impossible to read. But, our Author will be back after this chapter., so you can all rejoice about that.
Dave: Thank fucking god.
Jake: Praise Jesus!
...
Jake: What?
Dirk: Not everybody practices the same religion, Jake.
Jake: Oh. Than praise the god of the religion you practice!
Dave: Memo. Our Author will also be working on a cover for the story, so keep an eye out for that.
John: Later!