Me: Hello everyone! I'll be updating twice today (assuming you live in Australia). If not, I have no idea of the time difference wherever you are but I will update again in around four hours or so!

Sora: Yay!

Me to Mana: Mana, unfortunately I couldn't see your comment until this morning... Two days after I posted the chapter... I'm actually quite put out because that was a great idea...

Me to Team Wingless: Thanks for the review! Usually I do tend to write more than needed. Still trying to figure out how to not write too much...

Sora: You know, the author notes in this story aren't as funny as in your other stories...

Me: (T_T) Yuffie!

Yuffie: *Yuffie appears and ties Sora up with a rope, effectively shutting her up* I'm on it!

Me: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.


On the gummi ship…

"Can I?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Come on! Just once!"

"Damn it Sora! I said NO!"

"Gawrsh, Donald. If you don't look where you're going, we're gonna-"

"GAHH!"

"Sora, just sit down and shut up!"

"Oh Chip! Stop hitting me! And why are you and Dale on my head again?!"

"If you stop misbehaving, we wouldn't hit you to remind you to behave! And your head is comfortable."

"If it's comfortable, then let me drive the ship!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Yes, it does Donald! Come onnnnnnnnn! Pleasssssssssssse?"

Later at Traverse Town-

Sora was walking well ahead of Donald when they arrived back in Traverse Town, grinning sheepishly as she tried to ignore the burning glare Donald shot at her through the night lights of Traverse Town.

She had nearly caused them to crash into a stray meteor.

Twice.

And that wasn't counting the various heartless ships.

"Hey, it's Sora!" Yuffie ran up to them, holding some freshly bought sandwiches in her hand. "What're you guys-"

Donald and Goofy had caught up to them but before Yuffie could continue, a loud growl went through the area and Sora gasped, face completely horrified.

"Wah!" Donald jumped, looking around for any signs of the monster. "What was that noise?!"

Donald, Goofy and Yuffie got into a circle, looking around with narrowed eyes even as Sora shook her head.

"This is horrible…!" Sora said, looking wide eyed and horrified at them. "I…I haven't eaten!"

Insert massive sweat dropping.

"That…Was your stomach?" Yuffie smiled awkwardly.

And then Yuffie's stomach growled too.

Yuffie coughed a bit to hide her embarrassment even as Donald and Goofy's stomachs rumbled too.

"See, we're all hungry!" Sora nodded. "Let's go eat!"

After eating…

"So Phil was like 'we weren't allowed to enter the preliminaries', but then this cool guy gave us a pass and-" Sora stopped as Leon cut in.

"Somebody gave you a pass?" Leon asked, frowning. "Who was it?"

Yuffie had left a few minutes after they all ate the sandwiches (Yuffie had taken them to the shop where she bought hers and Goofy and Donald purchased some). She had to go on patrol and left them with a wave, a grin, and the bill for the extra sandwiches she had ordered (which left Donald in a bad mood).

They had then returned to the inn to rest for the night, the gummi ship obviously not being designed as a place for them to sleep. Of course, as soon as they entered the inn and saw Leon and Aerith, Sora burst into 'Sora speech' as she explained everything that happened, inwardly berating herself for forgetting to tell Yuffie, even as Donald and Goofy went to their rooms to change and go to bed.

Which was what led her to now.

Sora scratched the back of her head. "He never mentioned his name though he looked pretty creepy…But who cares? We're entering the games! I gotta' go tell Yuffie!"

Sora ran off (presumably to go find Yuffie and tell her the news), while Leon stared at the ground with a frown on his face.

"Leon?" Aerith came into the room, having heard the whole conversation. "What's wrong?"

"It seems weird…Why would somebody go out of their way to help a random kid enter the games…?" Leon muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Something doesn't seem right."

Aerith cast a worried look towards where Sora had run out of the room.

The next day…

"Wow, you're bright and early!" Phil nodded to them. "There isn't any crowds today because it is the preliminaries but if you win this, you can enter all the other competitions! Then the crowd will see your skills!"

Sora grinned, nodding to Donald and Goofy who grinned back.

"We're ready!" Sora smirked, as she summoned her keyblade. "We're going to win!"

-Same time at Traverse Town-

"So they left already?" Leon frowned, as a nagging feeling was telling him something wasn't right.

"Yeah, but what's the big deal?" Yuffie asked, grinning. "It's just the preliminaries. It shouldn't be that hard."

"I dunno." Leon glared at the floor. "It's been bothering me. Why would some random person just give away an entry pass to Sora? It was like they wanted Sora specifically to enter the preliminaries."

"Alright then." Aerith smiled her it's-decided-so-you-can't-say-otherwise smile as she walked into the room with Cid behind her. "Let's go."

Yuffie jumped off the table she had been sitting on, grinning eagerly. "AWESOME! ...Go where?"

"We're gonna' check up on the kid." Cid said, his toothpick ever presence in his mouth.

-Back with Sora-

They were already in the 7th round, and Sora couldn't be happier. Sora grinned as she easily dodged the heartless coming at her. And then she decided to cast thunder-or at least try to.

A puff of smoke came from her hand and the heartless paused in front of her, no doubt expecting something to happen.

Nothing happened.

"Hehe…" Sora scratched the back of her head nervously before yelping and ducking as the soldier heartless swung at her.

A quick slash of her keyblade and it was gone but her worries were not over because they still had one more heartless to face-a big, fat and round heartless that looked immensely like a ball.

If only I had a bat…

The big heartless started charging towards her and, with a sudden flash of inspiration, positioned her keyblade like a bat and swung at it.

"WHA!" Sora gasped as she was knocked back a few meters from the force of the red bellied heartless ramming into her keyblade.

However, she managed to stay balanced and not fall, grinning as Goofy attacked the heartless that hadn't been so lucky in its balance and had fallen down.

"Winners: Sora, Donald and Goofy." Phil announced, shooting them a smile as he waved the white flag that meant the match was over (it didn't end until the opponents were unconscious, dead or gave up and Phil waved the flag).

Sora grinned as Donald and Goofy followed her off the platform to get some water.

"That was awesome!" Sora grinned, as they waited a few minutes later to be called back onto the arena to fight the next round. "I think we're passed the training stage now! And if we beat the tournament, we're going to go to another world, right?"

"Yep!" Goofy nodded. "So we can quickly find the King and your pals, Riku and Kairi!"

Sora nodded, summoning her keyblade. "Cause they're obviously not on this world! Riku would've definitely participated in the tournament and Kairi would've known we were participating and came to watch or at least wait outside so he could talk to us!"

"Enough talking!" Donald squawked. "We're up again!"

Sora had a sudden thought. "Hey Donald, why can't I cast thunder?"

Donald huffed. "You need to practice-but I doubt that would do any good. Some people just don't have the ability to cast spells-you are one of them!"

Sora sighed but before she could mope, Goofy reminded them of something crucial.

"Hurry, we're going back on! Come on fellas'!" Goofy shouted quickly as he stood near the arena entrance door.

Donald and Sora quickly ran to verse the next lot of heartless. She knew it was heartless because they seemed to like participating more than actual people (Sora hadn't even fought one actual person yet).

Down to one match…

"Okay!" Sora couldn't help the glee on her face as Donald and Goofy wore matching expressions. "If we win this, we can enter all the tournaments and be recognised as true heroes!"

"But Sora" Goofy chuckled. "I thought you just wanted to test your strength?"

Sora blushed and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I do. But when I find Riku and Kairi, I can't wait to tell them we're real heroes! Riku probably couldn't live it down! I'd be the one beating him!"

"Yeah! We'll be real heroes!" Donald grinned, and Phil called them out onto the ring.

Surprisingly, they weren't fighting heartless this time. It was a person this time.

He looks weird…

He had spiky blond hair, spiker than Sora's, at least. Wearing a red cape over his blue pants and singlet, with a belt or rope looping around parts, he looked intimidating.

His icy blue eyes that seemed super black only unnerved Sora more.

But!

She wasn't one to judge by appearances and she stared curiously at him and the huge sword that was slung over his shoulder, wrapped in bandages.

"The Final Match: Cloud vs Sora, Donald and Goofy!" Phil shouted.

There was a few seconds where the competitors were meant to get ready, sizing each other up or formulation plans in their heads.

However, this wasn't openly said and you were meant to figure it out on your own that competitors were given this time as a time to strategise.

Unfortunately, a fourteen year old who was too curious for her own good used that valuable time to ask a question.

Donald and Goofy of course seemed just as interested in the Cloud guy when Sora asked the question.

"Why did you bandage your sword?" Sora asked innocently, tilting her head to the left as she pondered all the sword games she and Riku had played back on Destiny Islands-both in real life and on the gaming console.

She couldn't remember any games in which somebody bandaged their sword. So why did this guy?

Cloud's eyes flickered with something and Sora was able to distinguish it immediately, partly because his mouth lifted up into a small smile, partly because she'd seen it on Riku's and Kairi's face so many times when she'd said something funny.

"Begin!" Phil shouted before Cloud could answer (Sora wasn't even sure if he would answer).

However, Sora didn't have time to contemplate the now forever-mystery of Cloud's bandaged sword. One moment Cloud was in front of her, the next Donald had already been kicked out the ring.

He's fast…!

Still, Sora's eyes narrowed in concentration. She had not done all her training for noth-

Sora gasped as Goofy crashed into her thanks to a swing from Cloud's sword. Luckily, Goofy's shield had made sure nobody was cut up but Goofy's shield was broken, cut cleanly in two. Cloud had cut through it was if it was mince pie.

"Yikes!" Goofy gulped. "He's really strong!"

Sora quickly jumped in the air, swinging downwards and glaring at him.

I am not losing the chance to enter into the tournaments!

Cloud quickly blocked Sora's attacks and even though Sora was putting as much pressure as she could into the attack, he easily sent her flying away.

"Oww…" Sora mumbled as Donald cheered them on from the sidelines (once out of the ring, he was disqualified and wouldn't win unless his team won).

'Don't worry Donald! I'll definitely win for us and we can all enter the tournament!' Sora thought.

They continued to fight Cloud, but even Sora could tell it was a losing battle (not that she knew how-he had bandages around his weapon for goodness sake! How could his attacks hurt her and cut through Goofy's shield so easily if the sharp part of the blade was covered by cloth?!).

Sora's arms shook with exhaustion as Goofy collapsed outside the ring, having been thrown out by a kick from cloud (at least he hadn't used his sword-Goofy would've been chopped in half no doubt!). Cloud showed no reaction whatsoever as he turned to her, seemingly completely immersed in the fight and Sora narrowed her eyes.

I've got to win! I want to be a hero!

Charging at him once more, she barely dodged his sword and tried to deliver an uppercut but he moved faster than she could see and she was kicked back near the edge of the ring (though luckily she managed to stay inside it). She started to get up, trying to find the strength to stand but only managing to flop onto her back and stare at the sky.

Cloud came towards her, sword raised with his expression still blank.

Grr….I guess I've lost…I can't get up…

Cloud put the sword near her throat, face still blank and both he and Sora waited for something. Sora, of course, was waiting for Phil to call the match. Cloud? Well, she had no idea what he was waiting for but she believed he was waiting for Phil too.

Though he seemed to be frowning. "Just a kid…Why would he want me to kill you? What the hell's he up to?"

Wait.

Sora's eyes widened and she felt panic course through her.

Cloud was trying to kill her?!

Suddenly, Sora realised how very real this situation had become.

She wasn't playing games at home with Riku and Kairi anymore.

She wasn't playing games on her gaming console where losing just meant you could try again.

This was real life.

Sora struggled to get up and surprisingly, Cloud moved his sword away from her, face expertly blank once more.

So…He wasn't trying to kill her…?

Cloud lowered his weapon but before Sora could feel relief, a huge black paw suddenly slammed into Cloud, knocking him unconscious as Sora scrambled to find her strength to move away.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!

Sora felt terror well in her as she looked at the gigantic three headed dog that growled threateningly at her. It was humongous, all black and razor sharp teeth dripping with saliva.

It looked like it was something from her younger childhood nightmares.

It was even bigger than that huge heartless she had to fight on her island.

Sora felt frozen to the spot, fear preventing her from moving as she stared into the angry eyes of one of the heads which were lunging towards her.

But then somebody was in front of her, using pure physical strength to keep the head that had lunged at Sora from snapping her up. He had an orange cape on, orange hair and lots of muscles-however weird they looked, it was his muscles that was saving Sora so she wouldn't complain.

"HERC!" Phil shouted distantly from somewhere behind Sora and Sora was surprised to find out how tired she was as she took a nervous step back while this 'Herc' guy wrestled with the dog head and tried to prevent it from coming closer.

"Get them out of here!" Herc shouted and Phil was suddenly near Sora, dragging her with Donald and Goofy who were already running back inside to the Tournament resting room to safety.

Sora's heart was beating erratically as she tried to stop panicking. She sat on the ground, trying to convince herself everything was okay. They were safe now, inside the building and away from the huge dog. She hadn't been eaten. She hadn't died.

"That was Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld. Hercules should be able to handle him." Phil said, but he looked worried.

Well, Phil says this Herc guy-wait, Phil called him Hercules…Well, he can handle Cerberus…There's no reason for me to interfere…

"But then again, maybe not…" Phil sighed, eyebrows creased in worry. "This doesn't look good."

Sora frowned before she clenched her fists and got up.

She may have been scared at first but…(well, admittedly, she was still scared but…)

She couldn't let Hercules die! Or Cloud! He did spare her life!

And when did she let fear stop her before?! She had been prepared to travel on the raft, despite fearing there might not be a world or the other worlds might be scary! She had, when she was younger, climbed the huge trees even though she was scared to show she could do it. And hadn't she fought that huge heartless on her island AND that armoured boss heartless in Traverse Town only a few days ago?!

She may be scared but if she wanted to help Hercules, she had to have courage.

And that was something she had plenty of.

Grabbing an ether from her bag, she smiled when she regained her energy just like the first time when the moogle gave her one back in Traverse Town.

She should use them all the time.

"Kid, you ain't going in their alone, are you?!" Phil's mouth dropped open and Sora paused by the arena entrance, turning to Phil with as confident a face she could muster.

"I am! I'm going to go save Hercules!" Sora shouted, summoning her keyblade to her hand which brought her some comfort as she turned and ran into the arena.

And she wasn't completely defenseless. She had trained all her life with her toy sword and the keyblade was almost the same with only heavier weight and shape.

She could do this.

She would.


Me: And that's that! Updating in four or so hours!

Sora: How am I meant to fight a three headed dog anyway?!

Me: Anyone care to guess?