Go the Distance

Sora rubbed his head in exhaustion as he just stood in waiting hall with Star and the others. The games were about to start very soon and he wasn't even close to defeating Cloud let alone actually win in the games. Without the wand, with Donald and Goofy, he was going to be toast. Phil had said not to worry, but he couldn't help it, he was worried. Really, worried, though not as worried as Star who kept pacing back and forth as the clock continues to click.

"Oh , this is not good, not good, not good," Star said.

"Calm down Star, your a good fighter even without the Wand". Marco said, "The Wand isn't who you are, it's just a weapon.

Sora chuckled, "Easy for you to say, I have a magical weapon and I can't even get it to work half the time. Not like they can take the Keyblade away from me thankfully"

"Not helping," Marco frowned.

"Sorry, sorry," Sora sighed, "I'm worried too".

"Don't be Sora," Goofy said, "Just give it your all and you'll be fine"

"Uh Goofy, these are battles to the death" Donald said, "There are no second chances."

"Still it's a good sentiment"

Sora just rubbed his head in pain. He kept thinking about how he was going to deal with Cloud. No strategy or any training technique he could think of came to him.

Speaking of which.

"Cloud" Goofy said looking shocked.

They saw him walking inside to the main entrance, he quietly ignored them. He barely even looked at them, except for once when Sora and him locked eyes with one another. Then he stoped, as if to get a better look at him for the first time.

Sora glared at him, "You know he's probably tricking you right. Siding with the Heartless, it's never going to end well...Believe me, I know. He's just gonna use you in the end".

Clouds eyes narrowed before walking away.

"He's a talker" Marco said.

Janna smirked, "I kinda like it"

"Alright, alright," Phil entered the room now looking at Sora with some confidence, "Alright champ, take a deep breath...Relax, everything is gonna be fine...Well...maybe not fine but uh...we've tried".

"Thanks Phil" Sora muttered, frowning.

"No mention, just go out there, and kick some behind. Go the distance".

Sora sat there looking at his feet for a moment trying to get into his head just what those words even meant. They had to mean something, Go the Distance, Go the Distance, Go the distance

Sora

I have often dreamed of a far off place

Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me

Where the crowds would cheer, when they see my face

And a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance

I will find my way if I can be strong

I know every mile would be worth my while

When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong

Star frowned, "Sora I know your worried right now but now is not the time for a song about your internal thoughts!"

"Kids got some lungs though," Jannah snickered.

"Sorry"

Sora could feel his stomach started to churn again,

"Keep it together Sora," He took a deep breath, "Keep it together,"

A horn blew from outside, it was time for the games to begin.

-000-

The stage was set, everything was ready.

Sora and Star walked with confidence as they arrived on stage. Both were nervous as they heard the roar of the souring crowds. Hundreds if not thousands of people had attended these particular games. All of them coming to see the great fights and the show. Donald, Goofy, Phil, Tom Jannah and Marco took there seats in the crowd.

Now it was time for the games to begin, Sora tried to find calm as he thought about everything he and Phil and put into their training.

"Scared?" Star asked.

Sora nodded, "Yes".

"Good luck Sora," Goofy shouted from afar,

"Go Star go!" Star shouted.

Donald waved to him, "You can do it,"

Sora gave them both a faint smile.

"Heh, heh...Oh this is gonna be good," In a puff of smoke Hades showed up in front of them, a wicked smirk on his face, "So, are we all ready to have some fun, no pressure or anything….Oh wait...Sorry, there is".

"Hades!" Sora sneered, "What do you want".

"What, just here to say hello, see how my favorite Keyblade Master is doing, you know, that sorta thing…...Anywho, well I hope you enjoy before you get to Cloud, you gotta get through a few of the boys I've lined up to help"

Sora looked to the stage a swarm of Heartless emerged.

"Heartless!" The keyblade emerged as Sora said that

"Yep….Good luck"

Hades vanished laughing.

Sora sighed.

"Come on," Phil interrupted, "It's time".

Sora and Star nodded.

Together the two of them head up to the main stadium, audience cheers roaring in the distance. There screams excited and rabbid. They shook the ground beneath the players feet, Sora looking over to them, feeling a boost of confidence that he couldn't help but give a dramatic bow to them, shaking his fist in the air triumphantly.

"What are you doing?" Star asked

Sora looked over Star and winked, "Giving them a show?"

"A show?"

"Yeah...That's why there here right?"

Star looked at the audience and came to the realization "Ooooooh…" She too began to wave to the crowd.

If they wanted a show then they best not disappoint.

"Okay." Sora took a deep breath and extended his hand, now was the time to summon the Keyblade. "Come on-Come on-We can do this."

He held his hand out and concentrated with all his might, the large crowd watching with intensity as he tried to summon the keyblade. Only problem was, it wasn't coming.

"Um...Phil?" Sora said, his voice cracking.

"Just concentrate." Phil shouted.

"Uh, Sora." Star pointed forward.

Heartless began to emerge in a vast swarm. Several of them stood on the other end of the arena in various shape and sizes. Suddenly the Keyblade emerged, Sora held up looking at it disappointingly.

"Dang it, I wanted to summon it myself!" Sora shouted.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Who cares kid. Just attack!"

"Right. Come on guys, let's get going. Ready?"

"Ready!"

Sora and Star charged forward and clashed with the Heartless. He swung his Keyblade as best he could using the moves and techniques Phil had taught him like dodge roll and combat strike. One by one, he took out each Heartless as they struck him down.

Star used the sword she was given and managed to strike the swarms as they charged toward her. Her anger and vigor accurate and precise. She was truly well trained and much more accurate in her attacks compared to Sora, who still managed to fumble around doing most of the battle.

The Heartless were trippy enemies, yet Sora's training had prepared him for that. Goofy used his shield to protect Sora with his magic, while Donald used his own magic to strike the Heartless.

"Come on, guys! We got this!" Sora yelled.

"Yeah! We're doing it!" Star called back.

Phil rollers his eyes. "Don't get cocky, more are coming."

He was right. Another swarm of Heartless arrived and came after Sora this time with full force. All three of them charged forward and attacked with as much strength that they could muster. Training together had made them a team. Just like back in Traverse Town. But now Sora had something to fight for. Hopefully, it will be something he'd keep with him as the games went on.

"I can do this," Sora muttered, "Go the distance"

-000-

The battles against the Heartless were intense but nothing you and Star couldn't handle together. The two of you made a good team. Both of you were young and agile, and it made for a good combination. Star herself was quite fierce that it reminded him of Kairi in a way. Part of him wondered as he battled the Heartless what it would have been like if she was fighting by his side. Him, Riku and Kairi all fighting together instead of being separate and apart.

Perhaps if Riku came to his senses and Kairi woke up that dream could come true. Right now though it was just him, and him alone.

"Okay, champ! Final round!" Phil declared.

Sora gulped. This was it, the moment of truth his battle against Cloud, it would be his strength against Clouds strength. So basically he had lost before the first sword was flung. Yet then he remembered why he was doing it, lives were on the line and whatever Hades wanted with his Key was not a good thing. He couldn't risk losing, he wouldn't lose.

Turning to Star he nodded back them with a look of confidence.

"Ready Star?" Sora asked

Star nodded, "Ready as I'll ever be!"

Sora waited and watched the sheer intensity grew with every passing second as he waited. It was as if each passing second he was getting another step closer to his own death. The fact that Hades had put him and Cloud up to this made those suspicions all the more clear. Suddenly from the other side of the arena he saw him, Cloud. Slowly he began to make his way onto the arena the crowd letting out various sounds of cheers and boos already by this time they had picked their favorites on who they wanted to see win or lose. Cloud, however, did not put on a show as Sora had did, instead he kept focus straight on the boy as he walked up to the platform drawing his sword and pointing it straight at him.

"Oh boy." Sora muttered. "I'm in trouble, I'm in big, big, big trouble"

"Yeah…" Star sighed, "We are kinda doomed.

Sora looked up at Cloud and took a deep breath. "You don't have to do this!" He shouted.

Cloud eyes narrowed. The bell rang signaling the start match. Before Sora could even move a muscle Donald and Goofy were knocked out completely and Sora himself was knocked back without even realizing it, landing flat on his back seeing a sword being pointed straight towards his neck. It was if lightning had struck him without even him having time to blink. All the training and yet it had been for naught.

"Stay still and it won't hurt as much." Cloud said in a harsh whisper.

Before Cloud to go at it again Star came charging in, managing to keep the grip on her weapon as she and cloud clashed with one another. Sora got up and saw the two clash swords with one another, he was amazed by how well she was keeping up.

"I'm not going to let you win," Sora said, getting a huff, "That Wand belongs to Star...and I'm going to find my friends"

Cloud just stayed there silent, his eyes darting right at the Keyblade.

"Why would the Key choose you" He asked.

Sora grunted charing right towards him only to fall and land on the feet.

In a puff of smoke Hades appeared looking mischievously pleased, "Alright kid, just whack him, and then I'll give you what you want and you can go on your merry way"

Cloud looked at Hades.

Then at Star

Finally at Sora.

"Such a small speck of light, against an ocean of darkness"

Sora grunted trying to get up.

SLASH

Cloud crossed Hades robes and took the Wand handing it to Star.

"WHAT!" Hades sheered, flames roaring before quickly calming, "Hold it, hold it...I prepared for a last minute turn around...Plan B".

"Huh?"

With a snap of his fingers Hades summoned large black portal of darkness causing Cloud and Sora to fling into the air. The cloud began to dissipate revealing the dark figure that emerged from it. In horror Sora their standing before him the shadow of a horrid beast. A three headed black dog, it's eyes pure red and teeth sharp as nails. It roar was fierce like a lion sending shivers down the spines of all it surveyed.

"What is that thing?" Sora asked.

"That's Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld!" Hades chuckled "Yep, Ain't he cute?"

The crowds in the stands began to run in fear and panic, not even the local guard could keep the demon dog at bay.

"Sora! Run!"

"What? No, I'm gonna help you!"

"Don't argue with me Sora! Run before...Argh!"

Too late, Cerberus kicked Phil back off the arena as he began to rampage throughout the arena destroying much of the structure as he passed. It's large feet stomped on the ground matching miniature earthquakes with every step it took.

Sora tried to get up but it was too late the devil hound clawed foot hovered over him, ready to pounce. The poor boy closed his eyes ready for impact but to his surprise was spared, the dog was stomped back by a powerful blast of energy.

Without warning Sora found himself being flung back, looking up he saw that it was Cloud who had managed to save him, the ball of darkness barley missing him.

"Sora!" Goofy cried as he and the others came rushing to their aid, "We got your back".

"Thanks," Sora said to Cloud who put him down, "But what about Star"

Looking to the stadium they saw Star single handling the massive three headed beast herself, distracting it so it that it wouldn't attack the stands.

"Come on doggy," Star cooed, "Good puppy, good big scary puppy"

Cerberus comped at the bit to try and take Star's head, thankfully she was able to dodge and roll avoid it's attack

"Come on we have to go help her," Sora said getting up.

"We can't take on that big thing ourselves," Phill said

"Maybe not," Cloud said, "But maybe we can together...I know a few extra fighters"

"CHARGE!"

Star turned around and saw Sora and Marco, Janna, Tom, Donald, Goofy, running towards the arena now, Star's wand in hand firing magical blast at the devil dog. His heart soar. Taking the moment of reprieve Sora got up and got to a safer distance now, Donald and Goofy joined by his side.

"Guys!" Star beamed

"Don't worry Star" Marco cried, "We're coming".

The moment she caught it she felt empowered again, turning to Cerberus she smirked and jumped into the air, "Rainbow blast!" she shouted unleashing a powerful Rainbow energy field.

"Come on, we gotta help them!" Sora yelled.

"Against that thing?!" Donald said looking at Cerberus with shaking feathers.

"Oh come, on we went to the Underworld and fought a giant Heartless! It shouldn't be that bad."

"Yeah, come on Donald!" Goofy said

Donald sighed. "Fine."

"Come on boy!" Star called trying to get the big dogs attention with her magic wand, waving it around like a stick, "Come on...Get Star….Come on! I got a big chewable wand for ya to play with it."

Cerberus lunged it's head and fired giant balls of flame from its mouth, almost impacting Star and creating large craters on the ground. The young girl managed to dodge but Cerberus merely let out a large barrage of them. Goofy tried to aid with his shield but the power was too great that they flung him back.

"Goofy!" Donald ran up to him raising his staff. "Heal!"

"Thanks Donald!"'

Star was backed into a corner as the dog's sharp glaw hovered over her now.

"Star no!" Marco yelled, thinking quickly of a way to distract the beast. "Uh...Here big Doggy….Big...Horrible...Scary…..Oh boy."

Cerberus roared and went on a rampage, no longer carrying who he attacked so long as he was going after someone. He stomped his feet down hard laying down massive waves of dark energy.

A few Heartless emerged from these shadow pools and distracted the others leaving Sora open to Cerberus's attacks.

Cerberus closed in on him again this time there was no way out, all the others were too distracted by the Heartless to help. Now it was just him and the dog, alone, and without any chance of escape.

Sora closed his eyes hoping that at least his death would be a quick and easy one for him. But as soon as he saw Cerberus raise his claw, it stopped. Quickly Sora raised a eye to see what had happened. The demon dog remained still, however it's glowing red eyes began to dim. Above his head a small speck glowed through the light. As the sun got out of the way Sora saw Cloud riding on the tip of his head grabbing Cerberus by his fur pulling it up as if trying to control it.

The Dog struggled to get off his head but Cloud had his sword and he used it to pierce the dog at it's pressure points causing it great pain. He continued to struggle and bark, causing the ground to shake. This went on for several more minutes until the dog's eyes finally closed, his body beginning to sway until it finally collapsed onto the ground becoming fully uncinous.

Everyone slowly walked up to the dog, it was still breathing but it was knocked out cold. Cloud for his part slid down onto the ground and dusted himself off putting his sword back onto the hilt

"Wow...Cloud….How did you do that?"Sora ked.

"Old trick, fought a lot of these kind of beasts at the day." His eyes once again narrowed. "Now...where is Hades."

Sora turned around and found no sign of the Lord of the Underworld. "He's gone?"

"Ugh...My head." Tom groaned getting up to see the mighty beast knocked out. "Um...What happened?"

"I think we won, Tom." Marco snickered, "I think we won"

Sora looked at Hades with a smirk.

Hades sneered back at him, "This isn't over" with that he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah, that's right get outta here" Phil snickered, turning to Sora with a smile "Hercules would be proud kid"

Sora smiled, "Well...I hope one day I can meet him".

-000-

Clean up from Cerberus's rampage meant there wasn't going to be anymore games for a while. Perhaps a month, maybe more. Sora and the other assessed the damage. The arena was definitely in total ruin. Bricks laid everywhere, the seats were a complete mess and the stage had been crushed, Phil looked upon it all with a hint of despair and grief.

"Well, this is gonna take a while." Phil said taking a deep sigh of exasperation.

"Yeah...So um…..How are we gonna train?" Sora asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh yeah, that…." Phil looked at Sora scratching his chin, as if almost examining him. Sora looked back at Phil confused. "Look kid. You're training…..It's done for now."

"What?" Sora looked surprised.

"Yeah, look, I taught ya some basics. You seem to know the final points of combat and you got something in ya. But I think at this point what you need kid is the best kinda teacher that sadly I can't provide. Good old fashioned experience!"

"Really?"

Phil nodded. "Yeah, Keyblade is more than just a sword as you know, but sadly I only

so much, a lot of it's secrets are just that secrets! Beside, you got friends and a King to find. So long as you help some people when you need to and trust in that key of yours. I know you can go the distance."

"There's that phrase again." Sora snickered he started to become used to it. "You know I'm um...I think I might understand a little."

"Just a little huh?" Phil snickered back at him, hands on his hips looking at Sora with a raised eyebrow. The old goat still knew how to intimidate them. "Yeah, yeah….well...Here." Taking out something from behind his back he handed Sora a piece of paper.

Sora read it a bit of pride coming onto him as he read what it said.

Sora

Certified Junior Hero

"Really!" Sora said sounding excatic.

Phil nodded. "Yep, now you can participate in any future games should we have one. Hopefully, you'll be better."

"Thanks Phil, I appreciate it really."

"Yeah well-I might have lied a little bit about the last few Keyblade Masters I knew, they weren't that bad, in fact...They were actually pretty decent, maybe not full on heros as I would see it but-They were coming close, and I think you could too."

With that final nod Phil walked off, now it was time to say goodbye to Star and Marco, the two of them were looking at the large piles of rock and trying to put it away. Well it was more Marco trying to put away the bricks and organize them while Star just watched.

"Marco, I don't think you'll be able to organize the rubble." Star said.

"Eh, you should me my house on Wednesdays," Tom snickered

"I think it's wicked, "Janna chuckled.

"Ah...You underestimate me Star, I have a system. Large rocks in the center, small rocks on the left, medium one's in the center, then we divide them by height, width, and smoothness."

Star rolled her eyes. "I could repair this all with a flick of my wand."

"But where's the satisfaction in that?!" Marco argued.

Suddenly they went quiet as Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked up to both of them. Leon, Aeirth and Cloud standing right behind them

"So uh...What are you gonna do now?" Donald asked.

"Well uh, that's the thing," Star said scratching the back of her head, "We kinda were looking to you so you can help us, but ...looks like you still need more help than me"

Sora frowned, "Sorry"

"No, no...Not at all" Star said, "Not the first time Mewni been in big trouble, in a sense...Because…."

A moment of silence as Star frowned, Sora could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Your world was lost wasn't it" Sora said.

Star nodded, "Yeah"

"It's okay, I know the feeling, I will help...as best I can" Sora said, "By finding the King and hopefully him being able to fix it"

"So, what are we going to do in the meantime" Marco asked.

Sora tapped his chin and had an idea, "Easy, go to a world called Traverse Town and look for Leon, he's part of a anti-Heartless resistance, they could use some none Gummi Ship travel".

"Sure!" Star beamed, "Maybe we can find who we've been looking for"

"Who?"

Star took out a paper and showed it Sora on it was the image of a lizard with sleek black hair, long snout, a stoic looking expression wearing a suit and tie.

"His name is Toffee," Star said, "He's a bit of a bad guy from our world and well...long story short we aren't sure if he managed to escape before the Heartless escaped, so far we haven't had any leads, so we are assuming he was lost to the darkness, but we aren't sure"

"Well I'll keep an eye on things" Sora said holding onto the paper.

"Thanks Sora,"

Sora smiled giving the thumbs up. He waved goodbye as he watched the group headed off to Traverse Town. Another sense of dread coming over him, seeing the look of horror and sadness as he realized that another world had fallen and for some reason, he blamed himself. Perhaps leaving everyone in the dust when he found the King wasn't the right thing to do in the long run. He had been investing to much into this quest.

No, he still would go through it.

Suddenly Sora heard footsteps from behind him. "She'll be okay."

Sora flinched as he turned around seeing Cloud looming over them, his blue eyes staring right back into his.

Fiddling his hands Sora took a few steps back stared up at cloud, a confused expression on his face. "Heh ...Uh…..So…...Um."

"Sorry…..I thought I could handle the power of darkness, but it backfired."

Sora looked confused.

"I was looking for someone, Hades promised to help."

"Oh…." Sora said nodding. "I'm looking for someone too."

"For your light?"

"In a way, yeah."

Cloud snickered, giving Sora a wink. "Don't lose sight of it." He began to walk out but Sora called out to him one more time.

"Leon's in Traverse Town you know ...He and Aerith miss you!"

For a moment Cloud paused, thinking about Sora had said, before he gently flicked his hair and moved on.

"He's strange." Sora muttered to Goofy.

"Yeah."

Sora took a deep. "But I think I'm starting to see why Riku did what he did ...Maybe...Maybe I shouldn't be mad ...I think I know what I need to do."

"What?" Goofy asked giving Sora an upbeat grin.

"I need to get his head out of the clouds and make him realize what he did...before it's too late."

With one last deep breath Sora headed off. He would find Kairi, he would find his friends, and he would save Riku from himself no matter what! That was a promise, and when Sora made a promise, he did not break it.

That's what a hero did and if his Mom and Dad were watching, hopefully they would be proud.

Sora

I am on my way

I can go the distance

I don't care how far

Somehow I'll be strong

I knew very mile

Will be with my while

I would go most anywhere

To find where I belong