Fans: O-o um...why?
Sora53: Because, I'm passing out free caffeine with this chapter!
Roxas: Why?
Joe: WHO CARES?! -chugs 14 sodas-
Corita: Oh, dear. -runs screaming-
Sora53: Hey, guess what?
Fans: No one cares.
Sora53: It's almost KH2's birthday!
Sora: Happy birthday, KH2. Whoot.
Sora53: -sob- you don't sound excited...
Disclaimer: I own Corita, and in no way own anything KH or KH related. Yeah.
"Good job, Sora!" Jiminy chirped from Corita's shoulder. He was scribbling down something in his journal. "You completed every one of Phil's challenges with flying colors!"
"That's our Sora!" Goofy chortled as Sora walked back to them after smashing the last pot.
"Hmm...not bad, kid." Phil complimented.
"Thanks, Phil." Sora said happily.
"Listen, I've gotta take off for a bit." Phil said, turning away from them.
"Oh...where are you going?" Corita asked curiously.
"None of your beeswax."
"Oh, um...okay."
As Phil walked off into the lobby, Hercules came out and walked towards them. He had a look of sadness on his face.
"Hey, Herc!" Sora said in greeting.
"I'm sorry, guys..." Hercules said sadly, "But the Olympus Stone's been stolen."
"What?!" The four of them shouted in unison.
"By who?" Donald squawked angrily.
"We don't know who did it yet." Hercules explained. "All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplices...a bunch of creatures in white."
Comprehension dawned on their faces. Seeing their grins, Hercules asked, "Someone you know?"
"I think so." Sora said. "Hey, if we can get the stone back, can we borrow it for a while?"
"Sure." Hercules said. "By the way...you haven't seen Meg around, have you?"
They shook their heads. Hercules sighed.
"Oh, okay...well, I guess I'll see you later..."
"What's wrong, your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather?" Echoed a loud voice across the stadium. Recognizing the voice instantly as that of Hades, the group snapped to attention. Sure enough, Hades appeared in a burst of flame right next to Hercules. He smiled casually and placed a hand on Hercules's shoulder.
"You know, I though staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description...you know what I'm saying?" Hades said as Hercules ducked away from the Lord of the Dead.
Sora marched over to him angrily. "Hades, we need to talk!"
Hades chortled and knocked Sora to the ground with a flick of his wrist.
"Now, now. Manners." Hades said to Sora. Sora glared at him as Corita and Goofy helped him up. "I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news: seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg went and got herself lost in the Underworld."
"You mean you kidnapped her!" Hercules snarled.
"Well, maybe... But why get caught up in the details?" Hades said with a shrug.
With a look of anger still on his face, Hercules whistled loudly. Mere seconds later, over the Coliseum walls, flew a pure-white horse with a short light-blue mane. It had huge wings that allowed it to cover the distance between himself and Hercules within a matter of seconds. The horse landed lightly and Hercules prepared to hoist himself up onto him.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Hades said in a taunting voice. "You can't leave now, can you? You've got a very important match today, against, um... the bloodthirsty Hydra!"
Hercules turned away from the horse and glared at Hades again.
"I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen." Hades said evilly.
"Yeah, accidents you cause." Corita said bitterly.
"Again with the details! Who needs them?" Hades said.
"You're just a coward." Hercules growled.
"Well, we can't all be heroes." Hades said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Hercules sighed again, and approached his friends. "Can you handle this?"
"Of course!" Sora said brightly.
"Don't forget; we're heroes too!" Corita said cheerfully.
"Junior heroes, Corita." Goofy corrected. Donald sighed.
"You take care of the Hydra." Sora said to Hercules. "We'll handle the rest."
"I'm counting on you." Hercules said. At that moment, the horse trotted back to Hercules and nudged him with his nose.
"Who's this?" Corita asked curiously.
"This is Pegasus." Hercules explained.
"He's beautiful!" Corita said admiringly.
"Um, Corita? You're weird." Sora sighed. Corita glared at him.
"You gotta go find Meg!" Hercules said to Pegasus urgently. Pegasus nodded and took off, his wings creating a whirlwind that nearly knocked them all down.
After saying their goodbyes to Hercules, the crew had departed once again for the Underworld. As they closed the door to the Coliseum behind them and became enveloped in darkness, they began to feel their strength being sapped from them. It became even harder to see as they reached the bottom of the steps, exhaused from even such a short trip. Their energy returned to them, however, when they saw Phil lying on the Underworld floor.
"Oh, no!" Corita cried, running over to him and quickly casting a cure spell on the satyr.
"Ooh, ooh..." Phil moaned as Sora and Donald helped him back up on his feet.
"What happened?" Sora asked.
Phil rubbed his head. "I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black. I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."
"Guy in black?!" Donald cried.
"He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone!" Sora said. "Which way did he go?"
"That way." Phil groaned, pointing. "He's a bad apple, all right. And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break..."
"Heroes, eh? You could've just asked!" Sora pouted.
"You know someone?" Phil asked, excited. Sora smiled and took out the Keyblade, the key gleaming in the dim light.
Phil chuckled. "Good one, kid..."
Sora sighed and hung his head.
"Man, this Underworld Curse is really starting to get to me..." Sora sighed.
"Getting to you?" Corita said. "I have to cure you guys because you're so much weaker with the curse...but I'm weaker too! It's a cycle of weakness and pain!"
"Eh, you were always weak." Donald said.
"Excuse me?" Corita said sweetly.
"Guys, stop fighting..." Sora sighed as they trudged along.
"Yeah, it'll be all better once we get that there Olympus Stone back. Ya just gotta think positive!" Goofy said.
"Goofy, I admire you. Only you could be this cheerful in this situation." Corita said with a smile.
They had been in the Underworld searching for any sign of Meg or the man in the black cloak, but so far they'd found nothing but Heartless. They were just starting to lose hope when the path they were on took a steep incline and let them to the top of a cliff. Below them, a dense fog swirled, the same fog they had been marching through. They continued on into the next room where, at the far side, stood the black cloaked man, facing away from them.
Hearing their footsteps, the man turned towards them and gave a start. "Huh? YOU!"
The man took off his hood. He looked and sounded younger, and he had short, tannish hair. He stared at them for a few moments with a look of confusion on his face.
"Wait a second...Roxas?"
"Excuse me?" Sora asked, puzzled.
"Roxas? Oh, it's no use..." The man sighed.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora asked.
"Let's see..." The man said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. He began to read it aloud to himself.
"'Demyx, if the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition'. Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this job..."
"Demyx, huh...?" Sora muttered to himself.
"He's creepy. Shall I blast him into oblivion?" Corita asked.
"No, not yet." Sora said. "He's still talking to himself."
"...no respect, I can't understand WHY they -"
"Hey, Demyx!" Sora called out.
"Huh, wha? What?" Demyx said, startled.
"What are you doing down here, anyway?"
"Eh, had to get a little something." Demyx said casually, pulling another item out of his pocket. It was small and round, and it was a deep golden color that gleamed in the dark light of the Underworld.
"He IS the thief!" Donald shouted.
"Now that's just plain rude!" Demyx cried. He held the stone above his head, and it began to glow, empowering him. In a bright flash of light, a blue sitar appeared, and Demyx grasped it tightly. With a bright grin, he began playing it.
"Get ready!" Sora said to his friends.
"Always ready!" Goofy chuckled.
Demyx began to play faster. Light continued to build up around him.
"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx cried, and in a burst of light, several clear images, clearly conjured of water, appeared. They began rushing towards the group, prepared to attack.
"SCATTER!" Corita cried, and the group broke apart. They rushed forward and began beating back the water phantoms. Demyx continued to play his sitar, and the more he played, the more phantoms appeared.
"Take this!" Sora cried, knocking one phantom back into the cave wall, causing it to burst into a splash of water. Corita and Donald were casting various spells at the phantoms, leading to a similar result. As the phantoms vanished around them, Sora snuck around behind Demyx, who was playing with more vigor now.
"Dance, water, dance! Dance, water, dance! DANCE, WATER, DA-"
He was stopped by Sora casually bopping him on the head with the Keyblade. In shock, he dropped his sitar, and it vanished in a splash of water just like the last of the phantoms at the hands of Corita, Donald and Goofy.
"Augh!" Demyx cried. He lept away from Sora, then glared at him.
"Not bad, Roxas." He hissed.
Sora merely gave him a blank look. Demyx sighed and created a portal of darkness behind him.
"Roxas, come back to us..." Demyx whined as he backed into the portal. Before they could stop him, he was gone.
"Well, THAT was interesting." Corita said.
"That guy's a broken record." Sora sighed.
"Yeah...why did he keep calling you Roxas?"
Sora shrugged. "No clue...but he did leave us a memento..."
Sora bent down and scooped up the Olympus Stone, gleaming in a puddle of water.
"How kind of him!" Donald chuckled. As Sora held the stone, he could feel warmth spreading throughout his body, followed by a feeling of renewed power. With a smile, he put the stone in his pocket.
"Ah...that's MUCH better." Corita said happily.
"Now all we have to do is find Meg!" Goofy said.
"Yeah...let's get going!" Sora said boldly.
Joe: WHEEEEEE...-is bouncing around the room-
Corita: Um, Sora53? How much soda did you give him?
Sora53: Eh, 147.
Everyone: X-x
Roxas: Everyone, run. Fast. -eats ice cream-
Joe: -explodes-
Sora53: Well, that was resolved easily.
Fans: YAY! HE'S GONE!
Corita: You guys are so bitter.
Fans: -shifty eyes- No...