Finally updated this!
Sorry for the long wait.
Let me respond to a couple reviews.
Yurosoku: "We haven't seen that much of Kairi in the games. So there might be more to her personality than we know."
Guest II: "Have you read the earlier chapters? Check them if you want an answer about Ven, Roxas, Namine and Xion."
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney or Square Enix. Ruxik belongs to DarthKingdom
Chapter 11: Ruxik and Nessus
Aqua led the group to one of the side roads outside the coliseum, finding a way into the Underworld. Jiminy's journal had described this place in great detail, and she wasn't looking forward to searching the whole place, especially after spending 12 years in the Realm of Darkness.
When they reached the foot of the staircase, they were hit by a blast of icy cold air. They always said that death's grip was a cold one, so it only made sense that a place filled with damned souls would feel the same. She could see her own breath.
Terra and Yuffie were on either side of her, weapons in hand just in case. They stood on a circular bit of rock that branched off in two separate directions. The River Styx was around them, and off in the distance, they could see the massive Underdrome – now in ruins.
"Wow," said Aqua. "I wonder what happened there."
"This place is creepy," Yuffie shivered in dread.
"So, which way do we go?" Terra asked.
"I think Sora said that Hades' room was to the right," Aqua said.
"Well, then that's where we're going," said Terra.
"He also said to watch out for Cerberus," said Aqua.
The three of them ran into a large chamber off the right path, with at least a hundred foot diameter. The place was mostly bare, aside from the torches of blue flame sticking in the stone walls. They ran across it to the opening on the other side. Halfway across, a horde of Heartless appeared around them.
"Never fails..." Yuffie groaned.
Aqua summoned her keyblade, and rushed at a Bookmaster. She dodged a fireball, and ducked under a shard of ice it shot at her. Once she was three feet away from it, it closed the book it read it's spells from, and swung it at her. She jumped over it and slashed it a few times across the chest. She took to the air and eliminated three Hook Bats with one swing. She landed on top of a Morning Star, and plunged her blade into the top to the hilt.
Terra struck down a Shadow with his keyblade, and another, and another. He stopped for a moment to spin around and impale a Bookmaster. He pulled his weapon out of it as he leapt over it and smashed a Shadow. He then turned his Keyblade into a Key-Whip, wrapped it around a Morning Star, and using all his strength, swung it all around him. The massive Heartless smashed all the enemies surrounding him. He flexed his wrist, and the Heartless was freed. It smashed into the cave wall, cracking it.
Yuffie threw her shuriken at a Morning Star, and they stuck into it. She rushed up to it, grabbed her weapon and pulled it out by pushing against the Heartless with her legs. The Heartless died as she touched the ground. She bashed an oncoming Hook Bat with her weapon, and then tossed her dagger at its partner. She pulled it out of the fallen Heartless and stabbed it into a Shadow while throwing more shuriken through four more of them plus a Guard Dog.
The melee lasted for a total of five minutes before the three heroes finished off the last Heartless.
They continued on through the Underworld's maze of dark tunnels, crawling with Heartless.
They didn't find anything worth mentioning to their friends until they entered a long room lined with torches on the walls. There were windows along the sides that showed the River Styx flowing on far below them.
At the other side of the room were two small green and purple demon-like creatures. Aqua recognized them from the journal as Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen. They were pacing up and down by a demonic-looking, black and grey chariot. The image of a face was on the front, and the sides resembled bat wings. Harnessed at the front was a scaly black dragon-like creature with red eyes. It tried to take a bite out of Pain or Panic whenever they got close enough.
Apparently, this was some sort of hanger. The other side of the room had no wall, opening up to the Underworld's great black 'sky'. Pain and Panic hadn't noticed the three of them yet, so they quickly hid behind one of the two pillars on their end of the room. And just in time.
Hades entered from the doorway they had just come through, followed by someone in an Organization XIII coat with his hood up.
"Oh this is gonna be sweet...!" Hades said. "Those Olympian snobs will never know what hit 'em."
"Unleashing the titans," The mystery man said, nodding in agreement. "Nice idea, but where do I come in?"
"See, my boys are locked up tight," Hades explained. "No way I can open their jail myself, at least for another eighteen years. So I'll need a keyblade."
"And what of Sora and Hercules?"
"They should be all tied up with Nessus while we do it. I even got the princess and the dark kid there too. We'll have taken Olympus before the match even starts. And even if they win, we'll be ready and waiting for them."
"Their allies may be able to get to Olympus before we do, however. They have four more key-wielders, and others."
Hades simply waved it off, "We'll deal with that if we have to. After all, there's no way they could know exactly what we're up to."
"Fine. Just remember..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know kid; I join your little band of evil buddies. Works for me."
Yuffie gasped quietly, but Aqua put a hand on her shoulder.
"Stay calm," she whispered.
But they knew they had to stop them.
They sprang out from their hiding place and attacked.
At least, they tried to.
Halfway across the room, they were stopped by what looked like a giant cage of crackling electricity. They were surrounded by vertical bolts of flowing white-hot electricity. They were effectively trapped. Hades and the mystery man turned around, casually.
"Wow, you three are idiots," Said a female voice from behind them.
They turned around to face the speaker. Standing there was a woman in an Organization coat. She had short, thin blonde hair that seemed to stick to her head. Apart from two long strands that started at her forehead and went to either side of her head to where they sort of resembled antennae. Her eyes were bright teal, and just her smirk was enough to get one's blood boiling.
Larxene, Number XII, the Savage Nymph of Organization XIII. Originally destroyed by Sora at Castle Oblivion, and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed killing the cruel, sadistic bitch!
"Larxene!" Yuffie hissed. "What are you doing here?!"
"What?" Larxene asked. "You mean I can't go wherever I want?"
"Well, look what the cat dragged in..." Hades chuckled.
"So," The mystery man said, taking a few steps toward the cage, "You must have heard our little chat then. Well it won't make a difference kids, you're not going anywhere."
His voice sounded like a teenager, and it was slightly familiar.
"That voice..." Terra muttered. "Who are you?"
The mystery man pulled off his hood, revealing a head of blackish-silver hair, poison green eyes, and a face that everyone instantly recognized.
Yuffie gasped, "R-Riku...?!"
"Close, my name is Ruxik," The teen introduced himself. "I'm Riku's Nobody."
"...So it's true, then..." Yuffie whispered. "Riku did lose his heart..."
"Yeah, when he turned on "Ansem" at Hollow Bastion," Ruxik corrected them.
"What are you doing here?!" asked Terra.
"Unfortunately, we're on a bit of a schedule, so we can't stay to chat," Hades said. "Love to, but can't."
"If they try anything, you know what to do," Ruxik told the sadistic blonde.
"This will be fun," she giggled, evilly.
With that, Ruxik walked into the chariot with Hades, Pain, and Panic. The creature at the front let out a screech and took off into the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the Coliseum, spectators were filing into the stands. Waiting in the atrium with Kairi, Riku, and Hercules; Sora figured they'd be in for a show.
"So, who do you think this guy is?" Riku asked.
"Didn't Hades say he was 'eager to meet you again' Hercules?" Kairi asked. "Is there anybody you know who might carry a grudge against you?"
"That's a long list," Herc answered. "I must have a hundred creatures who'd like nothing better than to tear my arms off and beat me with them."
"Join the club," Sora said. "I've had computer programs, a jaguar, undead pirates, lions, and an evil genie after me. The list goes on for a few miles. I was even attacked by a cave, once."
"Well, your enemies are a lot more diverse, I'll give you that..." Herc chuckled.
Sora couldn't help but laugh a bit, too.
Then Phil walked in, and the debate on who had the better enemies ended, "You guys ready? 'Cause the guy is here."
"Bout time!" Riku said, impatiently.
"Yuffie will be fine, Riku," Kairi said, knowing he was worried.
"So, who's our opponent?" Hercules asked.
For some reason, Phil let out a short, harsh laugh, "You remember your old pal, Nessus?"
"Hades sent him here?" Herc said with a smug smile, then he laughed in relief. "Oh man, and here I was starting to get worried."
"Who's Nessus?" Sora asked.
"He's a centaur I met once a while back," Herc answered. "He acts tough, but he's really just a thug. He'd captured Meg last time I met him, but I beat him easy enough."
"Nothing to worry about, then?" Riku said.
"Nope," Phil said, "I'm gonna introduce you guys soon, so be ready." He walked out.
The four of them waited for about five minutes before they heard Phil's voice, amplified by an ancient megaphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to start the main event! You've seen him battle here day after day after day after night! He's the true hero who hasn't lost a match yet! You know him, you love him... Hercules!"
"That's my cue." Herc said. He walked out confidently, and the crowd screamed like never before.
"And now for his partners!" Phil continued once the applause had died down somewhat. "You've seen him battle in this coliseum before –even go toe-to-toe with the champ! He's the chosen wielder of the Keyblade, and he's saved the universe twice... and he's only sixteen! Give it up for Sora!"
The crowd cheered as Sora came out, waving to the audience and even blew kisses to them.
"Thank you, thank you!" he called.
"And now, two newcomers to the coliseum!" Phil continued from the commentator's box. "They're Keybearers too, and definitely no strangers to combat! Make 'em feel welcome people! Riku and Kairi!"
Whether the crowd was extremely pumped up, or just had to listen to Phil, Sora didn't know. But they cheered excitedly as Riku and Kairi walked into the arena with their heads held high and keyblades in hand. Riku stood on Hercules's other side, and Kairi next to Sora. They waved at the crowd, finding that most of them were off their feet, and jumping up and down.
But Sora heard one dissatisfied voice, "What's a girl doing in the coliseum?"
Apparently Kairi heard it too. Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, and they saw a fat, balding man in the front row glaring at her, "Get out of the arena, girly! This is a man's game!"
In response, Kairi pointed her Keyblade at the man and blasted a fireball at the wall two inches away from the man's body. That shut him up quite nicely.
Sora grinned widely and put a hand on Kairi's shoulder. She smiled back at him. Riku smiled approvingly, and Hercules gave her a thumbs up.
Phil continued, "Our four champions will be facing an old goon from the Underworld team." Phil's tone became much less enthusiastic at this part. "Introducing, Nessus."
Through the doors at the other end of the arena came their opponent. Nessus was a large blue centaur with blue-grey skin. His hooves were the size of anvils, and made a loud noise with every step he took. His hair was jet black, and flowed from his head and down his back. His beard was at least two feet long. He wore chain bracelets on his muscled arms, and he was sneering.
He raised one of his arms and pointed an angry finger in their direction, "Hercules!"
The champ wasn't impressed, "Hey, four-legs."
"Get ready for a stomping!" Nessus growled. And without any further preamble, he charged at them.
Fearlessly, Hercules charged right back, for some reason, head first. The three keybearers followed in his wake, weapons ready.
Nessus and Hercules picked up speed, and met with a resounding crash in the center of the arena. Herc's head smashed directly into the centaur's gut. Nessus let out a huge burst of air, and flew across the air back in the direction he came from.
"Yeah! Way to use your head champ!" Phil exclaimed from wherever he was. "Oh, jeez I'm still holding this thing."
Nessus staggered back to his four feet, clutching his stomach with both hands. But he was smirking. Lifting one of his hands, he snapped his fingers. A dozen Nobodies appeared all around the arena, surrounding them.
These Dark Knight Nobodies were about the size and build of an average human male, and were of course mostly silver. Their faces, however were covered by a jet black Nobody emblem. That black symbol was repeated on their chests. They all carried identical black swords that resembled elongated Nobody symbols.
"Can't handle us on your own, tough guy?" Hercules mocked.
Nessus laughed heartily. Suddenly, he seemed to ooze darkness. Sora recognized the symptoms. The look of pure hatred and fury, the aura of darkness, not to mention the diabolical laughter. Nessus had become a semi-intelligent Heartless, like Shan-Yu and Scar. He lifted his hand into the air, and pointed at the Keybearers, "Get them!"
The Nobodies sprang to life and rushed at the trio. Sora blocked a very fast horizontal strike from a Knight, and then a strike from the opposite direction from another Knight. He jumped into the air over them, and shot a fireball at them while in midair.
As for Kairi, she charged at another Dark Knight and used a Thundaga move to shock one of them, then smacked it down against the ground.
"Get over here!" Riku shouted as he kicked one of the Nobodies in the face, then cut down another one with his Keyblade.
While the key-wielders dealt with the Nobodies, Nessus was actually giving Hercules a hard time. As a Heartless, he had gained a new measure of strength and speed. He rushed at Hercules and threw swift, heavy punches at the hero. Herc weaved in and out of them, and delivered punches of his own whenever possible.
Nessus reared back and punched the ground, creating a shockwave powerful enough to send everyone stumbling, and even upset the spectators in the first row. Nessus ran forward and tried to stomp Herc into a pancake while he was down, but he rolled away from the smashing hooves every time. He managed to roll underneath his body, and kicked up with both legs into his underbelly.
Nessus cried out in pain as he was thrown across the arena. When he landed, he crushed one of the Nobodies Sora had been fighting. The Keybearer flourished his blade and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the centaur, and Hercules joined in. Nessus had gotten himself stuck in a corner during his landing, and could do very little to defend himself from the Keyblade and fists.
Kairi and Riku worked to take out the remaining four Dark Knights while Nessus took his beating. Riku beheaded one, Kairi set another on fire.
The princess then jumped over one that charged at her with its blade ready. When she landed on its other side, she assaulted it with strikes from her Keyblade. It flailed about until she finished it with a burst of electricity from her palm.
Riku locked his blade against the other ones. They struggled for dominance, pushing the other's blade as hard as they could. Riku ruined his opponent's concentration by surrounding his blade with darkness. With one mighty push, he knocked the blade spinning away totally out of the coliseum. He followed up with a powerful blow that cut the Nobody in half.
Hercules finished the whole fight off with a devastating punch to Nessus's jaw, nearly breaking it. The centaur fell to the ground, unconscious. A fine trickle of drool fell from his slack mouth.
There were a few long seconds of total silence, as if the crowd wasn't sure it had ended. Then they all burst into deafening applause, cheering on their champions. Sora could see the man who had wanted Kairi sent out of the arena actually jumping up and down in enthusiasm.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Phil said again. "Our champions! Hercules, Sora, Kairi, and Riku!"
The four of them waved briefly at the crowd, before the Keybearers walked quickly back to the atrium. Hercules gave the crowd one more arm flex and then scooped Nessus up over his shoulder and followed them out.
They walked through the atrium and out into the courtyard, and dumped the centaur onto the ground. Phil and Meg walked out to join them with buckets of water in hand. They stood over the unconscious Nessus and emptied the buckets onto his face.
He flinched, coughed, and raised his head. He was clearly trying to focus on them, but suddenly had his windpipe stepped on by Herc's foot. "And now, four-legs, you're going to tell us all you know about Hades's plans."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thousands of miles away from Olympus and the coliseum, the ocean was in chaos. A demonic creature pulling a demonic chariot, flew fifty feet above the churning waves. In the chariot were Hades and Ruxik, practically shivering in anticipation. Pain and Panic were shivering in fear just behind them.
The chariot stopped in a specific area over the ocean, no visibly different from any other bit of sea. Hades smiled and lifted both hands. The ocean below became three times more violent. It started bubbling, and frothing, sending gouts of water into the air.
The water began to separate, forming a circle empty of water nearly two hundred feet across. Below was a horrible sight; a cage of lightning was covering an opening in the sea floor far below. Behind that, four gigantic figures could be seen, each with glowing eyes peering out.
"Brothers!" Hades called, his face lighting up with manic pleasure. "Titans! Look at you in your stormy prison! Who put you down there!?"
"ZEUS!" Four loud, chilling voices cried out.
Ruxik lifted his Keyblade into the air, and pointed it down at the opening. A beam of light shot out from it, mixing with the cage of lightning. There were a few seconds of chaos below.
"And now that we set you free..." Hades went on. "What's the first thing you're going to do?!"
"DESTROY HIM!" The voices proclaimed. Four giant fists smashed through the lightning.
Hades smiled, "Good answer."
I wanted to do something different instead of the Riku Replica. I honestly thought they could've at least made him look Riku's age.
Read and review, please!