Fans: Nope. Just here for the popcorn. -eats-
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT CORITA!!!! MUAHAHA-cough-HAHAHA!
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Donald stifled a yawn as they continued slowly down the passage. Corita, who was walking next to him, looked down in amusement.
"Tired?"
"Maybe a little." Donald admitted. "This whole place is wearing me out."
"Yeah..." Corita agreed sadly. "I miss the light...this darkness is hurting my eyes."
"Don't worry, guys. We'll be out soon." Sora said in a reassuring voice. The passage they were in was beginning to widen, and not soon after, they found themselves back in the large chamber they had started out in. The large door, eerily illuminated by the glowing blue torches on the wall, had a large keyhole on it.
Donald ran up to it, clearly irritated. "What? It's closed?! It was open when we came through before!"
He began to bang on the door repeatedly. The others looked at him with interest for a few moments, until the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand.
"Will that open it?" Auron asked, looking down at the shining Key. Sora looked up at him and nodded. "I think so."
Sora lifted the Keyblade and pointed it at the lock on the door. Just as a beam of light shot from the end of it, opening the lock, a loud, ear-spitting roar came from behind them, followed by the cavern around them rumbling.
"That CAN'T be good..." Corita muttered as she struggled not to fall.
"Hurry!" Auron said urgently, taking out his sword and slinging it over his shoulder. Sora, Corita and Goofy rushed towards the door, which Donald had already pushed open. Another loud roar came from behind them, and a second later, Cerberus, Hades' 3-headed pet, lept into the chamber. The black dog was so huge that the chamber seemed to shrink around him.
"Come on!" Donald shouted from the other side of the door as Goofy ran past the door and stood next to him. Sora and Corita, however, were distracted.
"Didn't we already beat him?" Corita asked, her voice torn between nervousness and irritation.
"Yeah..." Sora muttered back, staring at Auron. The brave warrior was already fighting the dog back. Sora couldn't help but be awed by his strength...
"COME ON!" Donald and Goofy shouted together.
"We can't let him fight alone!" Sora cried, running forward with his Keyblade. Corita nodded and, grabbing her staff, ran into the fray.
Donald sighed. "They always have to be in the fight..."
Auron looked down at them as they ran next to him. He didn't say anything, just gave them an amused grunt. They didn't have much time together, however, as Cerberus spun around, causing them to scatter.
As Auron and Sora sliced away at Cerberus, wearing him down, Corita kept them strong with her tireless healing spells. They had already taken Cerberus down before, and that was a long time ago...they had gotten stronger as well as wiser. They weren't prepared, however, for Cerberus running around the chamber, berserk.
"WATCH OUT, SORA!" Corita cried as Cerberus ran directly towards her brother, who was busy charging a fire spell. Sora rolled out of the way and shot a blast of fire at Cerberus, hitting it in its middle face. Auron came out of nowhere, knocking the monster back with his sword. Dazed, Cerberus turned around and began running blindly towards Corita.
"WATCH OUT, CORITA!" Sora shouted.
"AHH, I'M OUT OF MP!! DISTRACT HIM!" Corita cried, running away from the charging beast.
Sora thought quickly, thinking of what he could do...desperate, he mustered his strength, and threw the Keyblade at Cerberus.
"HEY, YOU BIG UGLY MONSTER! TAKE THAT!" Sora cried. It was a direct hit, and Cerberus howled with rage. The great beast fell to the ground, twitching. The Keyblade fell, and Corita, who was running past, caught it before it clattered to the ground.
"Go!" Auron said, gesturing towards the door. He, Sora, and Corita ran as fast as they could towards the door. Cerberus stood up and, shaking it's heads, ran towards them, roaring fiercely.
"Hurry!" Donald shouted, letting them pass. Corita ran in first, followed by Sora, and finally, Auron. They managed to close the door just as the giant dog was 20 feet from them. As Donald and Goofy pushed the door closed, Sora and Corita stuck their tounges out at the fierce beast.
With the door safely closed and Cerberus behind them, they sighed with relief.
"Well, THAT was fun." Donald said sarcastically.
"Hey, I didn't see you helping out there, Donald!" Corita said.
"SOMEONE had to be here to close the door..."
"Will you two stop bickering?" Sora said. "Where's Auron?"
The group looked around, shocked.
"He came through the door..." Goofy said.
"I wouldn't worry too much. He can take care of himself." Sora said in an admiring voice. "Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again. Corita, can I have the Keyblade back?"
"I dunno, Sora..." Corita said with amusement, holding up the weapon. "This is kinda fun to play with..."
She spun the Keyblade and tossed it into the air, catching it effortlessly. Sora rolled his eyes.
"It's not a TOY! It's my KEYBLADE!"
"Aw, you're no fun." Corita said sadly. "Hey, I wonder if I could use it? Look, I bet I can hit that funny-looking rock right there!"
Sora's eye twitched. "I'm the Keyblade Master! Only I can..."
Corita swung the Keyblade and, missing the rock by 5 feet, banged into a geyser. Green steam hissed out, and she fell backwards in shock, knocking not only herself over, but her brother and friends.
"...use it." Sora said, rolling his eyes.
"Ehehehe..." Corita laughed nervously, handing the Keyblade back to Sora.
"Gawrsh, this sure brings back memories!" Goofy chuckled happily as they emerged from the door into the Underworld. The Olympus Coliseum stood before them, in all its brilliant splendor. The sun was shining brightly above, giving everything an even more magnificent appearance.
"I wonder where Hercules is?" Corita asked, looking up at the coliseum.
As if on cue, the door to the coliseum creaked open, and Hercules emerged. He appeared exhausted, but still gave them a brilliant smile as they approached him.
"Sora! Corita! Donald! Goofy!" Hercules said happily, looking at each of them in turn. "When did you get here?"
"Hey, Herc!" Sora said in greeting.
Hercules walked down the steps and headed towards them. The group met up with Hercules in the center of the area.
"On another adventure, I assume?" Hercules said with a grin.
"Naturally." Corita said happily.
"Just tracking down some Heartless, looking for some friends, the usual." Sora said with a sly grin.
"Junior Heroes, always busy!" Hercules said, lifting his arm.
"You know it!" Sora said, lifting his arm and locking hands with Hercules.
"Why don't you come on into the Lobby? We can talk there." Hercules suggested, gesturing back towards where he'd came from.
"Sure." Sora said, nodding.
"Anything to get out of this sun." Donald moaned.
"It isn't THAT hot..." Corita chuckled, looking down at him. Donald grunted.
"So, did you find those friends of yours?" Hercules asked, opening the door to the lobby and letting them in.
"Still working on it." Sora said with a sigh.
"When we got here, we ran into Meg-"
Corita jabbed Sora in the ribs, and he quickly corrected himself.
"Meg-mega trouble!" Sora said quickly. "So, we had to help someone out. We went to try and talk to Hades...but the Underworld drains our strength. Do you have any ideas?"
Hercules thought for a few moments. A look of brilliance flashed across his face.
"Got it! There's a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."
"Could we borrow it?" Corita asked.
"Sure, why not! I'll go get it for you."
"Thanks a lot, Herc!" Goofy said with a smile.
"Don't mention it." He said. "There's one thing, though...But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone. And I
have a match today, so I can't go with you..."
The group exchanged nervous looks.
"So...what do we do?" Sora asked.
Hercules smiled again. "Know what you need? Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?"
"Hey, good idea!" Donald said.
"Yeah! We haven't seen Phil in a long time. I bet he'll be really happy when he sees how much stronger the Junior Heroes have gotten!" Corita said happily.
"Thanks again, Herc!" Sora said. "Where's Phil?"
"He should be out in the arena." Hercules said. "Good luck!"
The four of them marched out the door into the arena, looking around in awe at the size of the area. About 30 feet away, staring off into the distance, was Phil. The chronically-grumpy satyr, while never particularly friendly towards them, always had good advice on combat. They approached him slowly, and when they were about 5 feet away, he began to talk.
"Hey champ, how ya feeling? Better rest up for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero...capiche?"
Phil had mistaken them for Hercules before, but rather than stopping him, they let him continue. It was endlessly entertaining to listen to the satyr rant to the wrong person.
"Remember what I told you. Victory in the games comes down to two simple words: Eat, bathe, sleep!"
As Goofy counted the words on his fingers, Sora, Corita and Donald burst into laughter. Phil stiffened and turned to see who was laughing at him. He broke into a smile when he saw them.
"Well, if it ain't the Junior Heroes!" Phil said merrily, running up to them.
"How're you doing, Phil?" Corita asked joyfully.
"Never better!" Phil said. "How you guys been? Have you earned your "true hero" wings yet?"
The four of them thought for a moment, and just as they were about to speak, Phil broke in, "Nope, you ain't got what it takes."
They hung their heads and sighed.
"So, what's up?" Phil asked.
"Well, it's a long story..." Sora said.
"I've got time."
"I'll just cut to the chase. We need to take down Hades."
Phil burst into hysterical laughter. The others looked at each other with confused looks.
"What's so funny?" Sora finally asked.
"You guys are gonna take down Hades?!" Phil laughed.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You got nerve. I like that. Hey, you never know---stranger things have happened, right? Better get cracking, then! So you want to train, eh? All right, I'm gonna work you hard!"
"I wouldn't expect any less from you, Phil." Sora said with a sly grin, taking out his Keyblade.
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Sora53: Okay, I know...it isn't the longest or the best, but...it's a chapter, right?
Fans: Yeah, yeah, yeah...there's no excuse for your lateness!
Sora53: Umm...I was busy!
Joe: I MISSED CORITA SO MUCH!
Sora53: Sorry, all. I'm back into writing...I had terrible writer's block!
Roxas: For 3 months?
Sora53: -sob- YES!!!!