Hey guys, here's another chapter!
Credit to all respective owners and the like.
Cheers!
Goddamn you autocorrect.
-Y.A.R.N.
P.S. Edited (slightly)
To be honest the interior of the building wasn't quite as... imposing as the outside. Personally I found that to be the most comforting thing about it as I wasn't one for the whole extravagance and showing off thing. We saw what seemed to be a half-goat, half-man thing that was wholly focused brushing off a sign (I think it was called a satyr?). I approached him and was about to ask what this place was when he cut me off.
"Good timing," He said without looking back, pointing off to the side "Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there will ya?"
We turned to see a large block and I gulped at the sheer size.
"I got to spruce this place up for the games." He continued on heedlessly.
Move that?
Sora tried first, pressing against it and trying to take a step forward, straining against the pedestal as hard as he could. Despite his best effort, the most he did was exhaust himself and back away with a huff of exertion. I tried next and despite using all my strength, The block stubbornly remained where it was. Sora and I both tried to move it and while we pushed as hard as we could, even our combined strength did little more than make it squeak and shift 'maybe' an inch over.
"It weighs a ton!" Sora complained to me.
Giving up on that test of our physical strength, we both took a moment to gather ourselves and went back of to the satyr.
"It's way too heavy." Sora said.
"Like more weight than we can possibly move!" I added.
"What?" The satyr yelped in shock, whirling around, "Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little -"
His eyes landed on our group after he glanced down.
"Oh." He said, "Wrong guy. What're you doing here?"
He didn't give us much time to answer before he hopped down from his pedestal and landed on the ground, "This here is the world-famous coliseum - heroes only!"
He advanced on Donald, who began to back away, "And I got my hand full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks!"
Sora's face scrunched up slightly and I grew slightly irritated.
He looked at us and put his hands on his hips, in a slightly softer tone, he said, "Look, it's like this: Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the coliseum."
Donald crossed his arms, clearly looking insulted, "You got heroes standing right in front of you!"
Goofy came and placed a hand on both Sora's and my shoulders, "Yup! These two are real heroes chosen by the keyblade!"
"And we're heroes too!" Donald tacked on proudly.
As much as I wanted to declare that we were heroes, I honestly couldn't completely back up Donald and Goofy faithful endorsing of Sora and I. I knew we had barely started on our quest and in lieu of that, we were probably rookies-at-best. For all we really knew about this world, heroes probably had more than what could be a cumulative day of training and fighting under their belts, learning to refine their techniques and getting stronger over years of practice. Despite all the sparring that Sora and I did on the island, Donald and Goofy were probably the closest to being the heroes that they claimed to be.
"Heroes? Those runts?" He laughed, promptly having a fit of deep laughing at our expense.
And with his insults to our stature (this guy barely came up to my waist! He had no room to mock!), my acceptance of his logic and their world's requirements decided to vacate my head as indignant anger seeped in to fill the void.
"What's so funny?" Sora half-boasted and half-complained, "I fought a bunch of monsters!
As the satyr finished his fit (or at least it lowered to chuckles), before pointing to the block, "Hey if you can't even move this..."
With that he placed his hands against the block and began to ineffectively shove at it.
"...You can't..."
More shoving with no perceivable progress.
"...Call yourself..."
Sora crossed his arms and I rested a hands on my hips as he continued to fail to even push it an inch over.
"... A hero!"
With that he slumped to the ground, panting and huffing even worse than we did after our attempt.
He looked over at us and sighed, "Okay so it takes more than brawn. Well well, lets see what you can do."
After an introduction (the satyr's name being Phil) and a warning that the trials wouldn't be quite as easy as we thought, he led us into the arena. The test was actually little more than smashing a few barrels, however it was timed to see just how fast we could clear it. The first stretch of the run wasn't actually that bad, it wasn't hard to break the barrels that were set around, and if you hit them hard enough, you could send them flying to hit other barrels. So the second one was a bit... more complicated as it involved barrels that were meant to launched into others as well as some placed on platforms that involved a bit of light parkour to get to. Other than that we all managed to clear out respective courses in the time constraints that were laid out for us.
With that we took a moment to gather ourselves and walk back over to Phil.
"You know, you guys aren't bad." He said.
"Looks like we're headed for the games then!" Sora cheered, grinning and resting his hands behind his head.
"Afraid not kiddo." Phil replied.
"What? Why?" Sora cried, dismayed.
"Two words:" Phil responded, "You. Guys. Ain't. Heroes."
I sweat-dropped, 'This guy... really needs to work on his counting.'
Phil wasn't done yet though, he held out his hand and in it was a glowing yellow orb of crackling energy, "If you really want to learn how to be a hero, try mastering this thunder spell."
Both me and Sora nodded to each other and touched the orb, and there was the sting of static electricity that coursed through our bodies. I winced and rolled my shoulders while Sora rubbed at one of his arms.
"Well, do you mind if we use the arena to practice?" I asked, deciding to just let my own private disappointment at not being able to join the games go, "That way we can at least make some progress right?"
"Well, I can't let ya into the games, but I think it's fine if I train you for them." Phil allowed.
With that small allowance granted, we decided to at least spend some time there to train. Time probably was of the essence in our quest, but the stronger we got, the better our chances of living through the quest to make it to the end and finding our friends. In addition to learning thunder - after a bit of badgering and begging - Donald also decided to begin teaching us 'Cure', something which I was very enthusiastic to learn myself. Potions and elixirs cost money, and while it was good to carry them on hand and money was inconsequential when compared to health, knowing a spell that was immediate would definitely help out in combat in a pinch or two. We wouldn't have to stop and back up to get bottles and having to yank it out of our pockets, which limited distractions.
When we weren't trying out our spells or meditating, Phil was watching me and Sora spar. For a rather small and pot-bellied goat, he was actually a good trainer, pointing out spots that could use improvement and helping us in sharpening our attacks. He taught us moves like 'Slapshot', 'Hurricane Period', and 'Zantetsuken'; everything he taught us were powerful but required a certain amount of time and finesse to work into our individual combat styles. We got a grounding in it and that was more than enough for now, it was just something we would have to work on improving over the course of our journey. He also would toss pots at as and make sure we wouldn't use our keyblades to deflect them, increasing our reflexes and speed (mainly because being hit with the pots was painful enough to act as a strong motivator).
"Gah!" I yelped as a pot hit me straight in the face.
I heard a snort form Sora before a crash from the same direction made me smirk.
He was groaning as shards of pottery fell out of his hair, "Ow..."
"Not so funny when the shoe's on the other foot is it?" I chuckled.
"Shut it." Sora grumbled.
Donald raised his wand and in a wave of green light we both felt much better and got up, dusting our clothes.
"Well, kids." Phil said brushing off his palms, "It's been fun, but I really don't got more time and you pipsqueaks need to go."
"You sure we can't enter the games?" Sora pleaded.
"Sorry kid, no pass, no entry." Phil replied.
With that firm dismissal, we dejectedly left and began to walk away, for all the fun I did have learning new moves, I really did want to try my hand in the games and see how I measured up with the competition.
"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" A voice drawled from behind us.
We turned to see a man in a black robe with cold blue skin and blue flames burning from the top of his head as through he set his own hair on fire.
"Who are you?" Donald queried.
Ignoring Donald, he began to walk over to Sora and me, "Whoa hold on there, fuzz boy and blue-eye. Wait let me guess. You want to enter the games, right?"
He put an arm around Sora and smiled, "Well then, hey, get a load of this."
With a 'vvrrrp' noise he made, a puff of blue light glowed in his hand to form a piece of stylized paper that was emblazoned with a 'Tournament Pass' on the front.
"A pass?" Sora said.
He placed it in Sora's hand and walked away, "It's all yours. Good luck, kiddos. I'm pulling for you, little short-stacks."
We all looked down at the pass.
"Well..." I said dubiously, "That was surprisingly and somewhat strangely convenient."
"Even so, we got a pass!" Sora cheered, "With this we can compete n the games, we just got stronger and learned a few awesome moves, this'll be perfect to test 'em out!"
I sighed but smirked, "Then let's go."
We strolled back to phil and presented the pass (with a flourish on Sora's part).
"Hey!" Phil grumbled, "How'd you get this?"
"Can we enter the games now?" Sora inquired hopefully.
"Well, I guess so..." Phil replied hesitantly, "We start with the preliminaries!"
We cheered but Phil cut though our enthusiasm with a warning, "Some real weirdoes signed up for the games. Better watch yourself."
We walked up to the stage and blinked when a barrier rose around the edges to keep from a ring out. We got the shock of our lives when we realized what Phil meant by 'weirdos'.
Heartless were waiting for us in the ring. Soldiers and those blue lantern heartless ( I think they were called a Blue Rhapsody?) were twitching for the match began and lunged when it started. We scattered so we could divide them into more manageable groupings. I took my soldier out with ease, ducking under a cyclone kick and using slapshot to knock it into the path of the blue rhapsody's bolt of ice. As the heartless began to evaporate, I jumped up and swung backwards, using my force to unleash a hurricane period that knocked the heartless into oblivion. I landed and saw that everyone dealing with the remnants as easily as I had.
Phil was waiting for us as we stepped off the arena.
"You're no heroes yet," He said, "but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching."
Just then, someone walked by, he had blonde spiky hair and was wearing dull-dark blue jeans, brown boots, a yellow clawed glove, a ribbed vest, and a red tattered cape. He had a shoulder pauldron and his cape's front was pulled up as though to keep his mouth from being seen and belts wrapped around his clothes and the edges of his shoes and gloves as though to help keep them tight on his body. His icy blue eyes scanned each of us and he heaved his large sword - wrapped in bandages no less - up and rested it on his shoulders as he advanced on the heartless in the ring.
I gulped as I met his eyes, he definitely radiated a frigid sort of experience that reminded me of Leon. If that was the case and his skill was anything like the gunblade wielder, I was going to make sure I wasn't going to pull stops on him if we met in the ring.
"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him." Phil said.
I watched him decimate the heartless that tried to hit him and swallowed again, "Knowing our luck?" I muttered, "I do know. And I don't like it. What's the guy's name?"
"Cloud." Phil replied.
The next match seemed to be more varied and relied more on numbers than strength, as a dozen shadows were twitching under some red nocturnes and blue rhapsodies. I ducked to the side and swept my keyblade in an arc, shouting 'deep freeze' which hit the four of the heartless that lunged at me. One of the bolts of ice hit a blue rhapsody which glowed and fired a bolt at Sora, who rolled out of the way.
"Sorry!" I called as I stabbed my keyblade into a shadow and made it evaporate.
"Careful! Hitting them with magic they use only charges them!" Donald cautioned.
I had guessed that magic attacks of their nature wouldn't hurt them, but knowing they could convert that magic to power their attacks made me appreciate exactly how small and unassuming enemies really could be dangerous.
Either way, we hadn't joined the tournament to get knocked out in the second round.
We smashed the heartless into submission and made our way off the stage.
"Say, you're better than I thought!" Phil said, nodding at us, "Wish he was here to see this."
"Who?" Sora asked.
"Hercules. He's a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."
We waited in the stands as we watched the other matches. I particularly focused on the blond guy as he fought, if I could get an idea of his style we'd probably stand a better chance against him if we met in the tournament. From what I gathered, he was being very smart in how he fought. He knew he was stronger than his opponents so he didn't use any flashy moves that may have cost stamina or show the true depth of his power. He was fast though, just like Leon in that even though he was wielding a crazily large weapon, it didn't seem to slow him or his attacks down all that much. I had only used ice spells to give me some breathing room and because of their wide range and ability to hit multiple opponents, the blond was more than capable of simply powering through most of the magic he was hit with, shrugging it off with very little difficulty or batting them away with a quick swipe of his blade. Granted the magic probably wasn't even as strong as Sora's or my fireballs, but they should at least make him wince. Instead, he simply cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders once as he made his way off the stage.
I grimaced at the wave of red nocturnes and blue rhapsodies that awaited us on the stage. The bell sounded and I shifted to my left as some of the heartless drifted forward and other charged. I ducked around a spinning red nocturne and flung my keyblade at a blue rhapsody which evaporated into nothing as my keyblade struck it. Sora was suddenly behind me and I dropped to a crouch as he aimed above me and shouted, "Fire!"
A fireball struck another blue rhapsody and I summoned my keyblade to my hand as I dashed from my crouch to attack three red nocturne that were cornering Goofy. As they switched their attention to me, Goofy crushed two of them and I swatted the remaining one into oblivion. Donald was handling his foes with enviable ease as magic and counter-magic was the sorcerer's bread and butter. The heartless that attacked him met with a swift and likely painful end.
To be honest, Cloud was much more mobile as we watched him deal with his group of blue rhapsodies and red nocturnes. He sidestepped and deflected multiple blasts of magic and dispersed his heartless with every swing of his sword. He gazed at our group for a moment as his round ended before striding off the stage. The next match was a heartless group with pretty much all the different types (sans large bodies) we've had to deal with so far. The mages were turning out to be the most annoying enemy as they had the annoying tendency to interrupt any combo with a burst of magic and - as if they weren't bad enough - never stayed in respective groups as they drifted around. If he red nocturnes were grouped, at least we could use ice magic to destroy them without running the risk of charging the blue rhapsodies, but the mages tried to stick together in varied groups. In response to that way of thought, I decided that the mages had to be the first to go.
And summarily made the next bout - which consisted fo nothing BUT mage heartless - a massive pain as well as tiring as one had to keep moving just to stay ahead of the magic. The mages were dangerous because of their abilities, they didn't have a speed advantage, nor were they particularly hardy, but they didn't NEED to be. They were pretty much there to run as interference for the more damaging heartless or unleash a barrage of magic that could force someone on the defense and give their allies time to charge.
I sat down heavily and let out a slow exhale as I gave my legs a moment to rest. I wanted to use a potion, but I was going to wait until we were about to fight cloud, because if we beat out next match, he was going to be our opponent. Cloud seemed to struggle in the face of an onslaught of magic, using his massive sword as a makeshift shield to block the oncoming spells. Soon though, he got fed up of being on the receiving end of the attack, and with a shout, raised his sword to head level before lunging forward, piercing through the spells and magic with a lancing attack. He only stopped to pivot on one foot and once agains lance through the heartless, obliterating them with little trouble.
My jaw dropped as he simply walked off the stage.
What in the hell was that move? He barreled through the blows as if they weren't even there!
He was definitely going to be trouble.
The last round before we met Cloud (because I was sure as the keyblade was a weapon that he was going to be our opponent) was a round that consisted of four red mages, four blue mages, and a large body waiting for us. I already had my plan of attack mapped and passed it to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Take out the mages and - if need be - keep the large body busy.
The large body - even when struck from behind - could tank a decent amount of hits, however, it was far too slow to even try to hit us when we were moving. They also seemed half asleep until hit enough to get angry, that making them slow enough that we could run circles around it before it could waddle over from its position to us. The mages would probably keep us from beating on the large body and therefore needed to be dealt with immediately. With that, Sora and I were going to act as a vanguard and engage the large body while Donald and Goofy would take out the mages.
And it turned out to be easier than most of the other fights as Donald and Goofy sprang into action. Sora and I continued the harass the large body, shifting just out of reach as it followed and leaving most of the stage clear for Donald and Goofy to take out the heartless. It got mad at us pesky keyblade wielders fairly quickly and began to emit wispy darkness from its body as it began trying to tackle us. Sora and I separated and came up on each side of it as it launched itself at us.
"Hey Sora," I called, "You want to try our newest attack spell?"
He grinned and nodded as he raised his keyblade.
I followed suit and we both yelled, "Thunder!"
A large bolt of lighting dropped from the sky and struck the large body directly on the skull as it got up and made to attack us once more. It stood there, sparking and looking almost puzzled by the attack before it toppled backwards, its body fading into nothingness.
With that we won the semi-final matches, and were now ready to be set against Cloud.