Hiya readers! Before I get into the story, I want to talk to you about something serious. I ended up having to delete a few reviews since the last chapter, where either they showed nothing but dislike for my story, wanted characters offed at certain points, or suggested too many worlds they wanted. So let me clear things up for all of you on those things.
First, this is Fanfiction. To say a story like this should not exist is not something you should vocally speak out, or type out, to the world. If you don't like my story, that's fine. Don't read it. But if you are just trying to start up a rage storm, then I will delete your review.
Someone mentioned repeatedly that they wanted Yui offed along with Kairi, or certain other characters to be killed. I will spoil this on you; Yui will not die! So stop trying to put down the mood by demanding certain characters to be killed. The reviews will be deleted.
As for worlds, I will repeat this over and over again until it gets into everyone's minds; I CHOSE ALL THE ADDED WORLDS FOR MY STORY LONG BEFOREHAND! This has been years in the making while we waited for Kingdom Hearts III to come. I had planned out which worlds are gonna be there, and what stories will unfold from each one. I get that everyone wants their own favorite worlds to be part of the story, and some of you might be disappointed, while others might like the choices I made. There will be cameo appearances from other characters from other games and anime, and possibly a Disney-owned series or two. But otherwise, I have everything planned out.
Lastly, I will tell you that I will go back and for with SAK: Heart's Origin and this series, up until a certain point. Then, I'll mainly focus on Heart's Origin for a while, along with the Chain of Memory's Arc, and another arc that happens after that, before setting right back into this story. There will be a couple more chapters of this before I pause so as not to spoil too much of what is to come, but you will know why Sora, Hercules, or anyone else knows about Philia. You might also expect a Final Mix chapter that explains what happened to Recon after the door in SAKII was closed.
In the meantime, relax, enjoy my story, and leave a review that doesn't fall under the categories shown above.
The team soon realized the difference in time from being blown off the mountain by Hades to actually walking back to the foot of the mountain. "That took a while..." Asuna sighed in relief, massaging the sole of her feet before placing it back in her boots.
"Come on, it wasn't that far." Hercules stated, "Phil even makes me make it to the foot of this mountain and back to Thebes ten times a day."
"That's nuts!" Donald and Sora exclaimed.
"That's just superhuman..." Kirito muttered.
"C'mon, fellas!" Goofy called to the team, as he was moving on ahead, "We need to get to the top of the mountain and stop Hades!"
"Hold on!" Asuna halted him, "Can't he tell Yui needs a time out?" She looked to her daughter, who was drinking some water they packed. She was clearly the most exhausted out of the group.
"I'll be okay..." she answered, "I'm just not use to walking long distances like this."
"Agreed. Most of the time, we are carried long distances by something." Kirito recalled, "Now, we gotta learn to hoof it from now on."
While Asuna was tending to Yui, the boys went on ahead to examine the path onward. However, Hercules was looking at the rushing waters along the path. "What is it, Herc?" Sora asked.
"It's odd. The river's never this full." He explained, looking on ahead, "Something is wrong here..."
"Air Soldiers incoming!" Goofy cried out, pointing to the sky, where over half-a-dozen of the said Heartless were flying down to attack the team.
"We're on it!" Sora declared, readying his Keyblade as he led the charge against the Air Soldiers, beginning with a powerful slash.
(Insert 'Adamas Amalee ver.', TV version)
Music intro
(Rushing through black darkness, glittering shards of light pass by. As music starts, the three main Keyblades suddenly shoot forward like shooting stars, circling around from a distance, then crossing one another, shining brightly, forming the logo of the series.)
I'm trying to understand it but it's making me numb
(Left half of Sora's serious face, the other half hidden by the teeth of his Kingdom Key.)
This swirl of karma leaving such a bitter taste on my tongue
(Right half of Asuna's determined face, the other half hidden by the Lambent Light's teeth.)
'Cause I know the pain and sorrow, it has only begun
(The upper half of Kirito's face, with glaring eyes, the lower half hidden by the Elucidator's teeth.)
Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa
(Flashing through the faces of each hero; Donald, Goofy, Yui, Mickey, Riku, Leafa, Kairi, Axel, and Kayaba.)
Now I'm surrounded by my enemies, but luck's on my side
(In the dusty fields of the Keyblade Graveyard, the camera pans around the circle of the six main heroes as they ready their weapons.)
So I shatter through the walls and change the course of the tide
(In the same field, the camera pans the opposite way around the six other heroes as they ready their weapons.)
Can't stop this surging fate like a volcano set to break, Take a breath until you're set to
(Allies of the multiple worlds they will or have visited pan across the screen, finally ending with the silhouettes of the four Lost Princesses of heart, with the one in the center opening her hands to reveal a bright light.)
face that voice of fear. That god of death that's always looking down on you
(Philia stands on a lone green hill, staring at a card with the picture of Castle Oblivion on it. She feels a hand behind her, and looks to see Flair and Hinata standing behind her, giving assuring smiles, with Tinkerbell coming out of her pocket, and Samson giving a thumbs up.)
"Do you believe yourself?" I won't stop til I've won
(Maleficent and Dr. Temna stand together, with Pete and Tears next to them, and a swarm of Heartless and shadowed foes ready to strike.)
A glimpse of that bright future that's just begun!
(Xehanort's maliciously smirking face appears, as he and fifteen others float together in a circle. Screen splits in half as half of Heartless Oberon and Gouxus take the screen, their eyes shining from yellow to violet.)
Shining like a diamond, The emotions in your heart reflect like crystal
(The six heroes team up together, taking down Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed that come across their path with their weapons, skills and magic.)
As we vow an oath that will ignite your light and mine - And we will rise!
(A Demon Tower nearly falls on top of the six, but they get away, with Kirito, Asuna and Sora in the air, performing Soul Bursts and Keyblade transformation, creating Cloud's Buster Sword, Asuna's SAO Lambent Light, and Sora's twin guns, unleashing a sword beam, ice spears, and magic shots as one.)
So many times I've gotten back on my feet to make it to this moment
(A group of dark energy orbs shoots down the trio from a cliff above, hitting them into the ground. The attack comes from Xehanort, Heartless Oberon, and Gouxus.)
It's time our prayer that's waiting in the dark. Is set free so light the spark and let it shine!
(Sora, Asuna and Kirito get back up on their feet, shaking off their injuries, and raising their Keyblades as they charge forward, beams of sunlight shining upon each of them as they all take a leap at the Organization XVI, with their friends, the other heroes, including Roxas, Xion, Recon, Terra, Aqua and Ven, joining them from behind.)
Song ends.
"That was easy!" Sora cheered as he and the team finished taking on the Air Soldiers.
"Nothing a bunch of heroes can't handle!" Hercules declared, pumping his arms to demonstrate their strength. Donald and Goofy imitated Hercules by pumping their arms.
Kirito smiled at them as he heard Asuna and Yui finally joining them. "Sorry for not being able to help." Yui apologized.
"It's okay. You needed to rest up." Kirito assured her.
"Especially since we also got this entire mountain to climb." Asuna stated, looking towards the top, which was hidden by dark clouds.
"You ready, Yui?" Sora asked her. The little girl smiled and nodded, ready to go.
"Let's first figure out why the river is so high now." Hercules stated, looking to the rushing waters.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of Donald panicking, followed by Goofy shouting, "Help!" The five others raced to the aid of their comrades, only to see new Heartless they never saw before. They had similarities to Flame Cores they fought before, except instead of fire, they were consumed in orbs of water, and their bottoms looked like they were dripping dreadlocks. They were already giving Donald and Goofy a hard time.
"What are those?!" Asuna demanded as Yui pulled out her scanner to analyze them.
"According to this, they are known as Water Cores." Yui analyzed, "They are not only able to unleash water-based attacks, but create barriers of water around their bodies."
"And I bet that's the reason why the river's flooded." Hercules understood.
"Meaning Water magic is useless against them!" Asuna understood, seeing a Water Core unleash a powerful blast of water from its' mouth at her, and she blocked with her Keyblade, "In that case... Blizzard!" She unleashed her ice-magic, and the Heartless froze in its' place, falling to the ground like an icicle.
"This'll work!" Kirito answered, and he charged in, unleashing a combo slash that shattered the Heartless.
"Let's go!" Donald declared, unleashing a Thunder spell to electrocute the Heartless, which proved quite effective, as well.
The team realized that the Water Cores were much more enduring than the Flame Cores, but knowing their weaknesses helped take care of the Heartless. Plus, there was one more thing that benefited them in the end.
Yui and Sora were side by side, with the last three Water Core coming at them. "Sora, I feel like I can pull of a Team Attack move with you!" Yui told him.
"Alright. Let's see what it can do!" Sora declared. They went back-to-back, with Keyblade and tessen in hand, charging wind magic into their weapons. They then performed their Team Attack, Homing Tornado, spinning around, connecting their weapons together, and throwing six cyclones that homed in on the Heartless, causing them to create a splash effect of wind upon contact on each Heartless, defeating them.
"Nice going, you two!" Asuna told them as they placed their weapons away.
"Look! The water's reseeding." Goofy noticed, seeing the river start to die down until it became calming stream.
"Great! Can we get a move-on?" Donald asked, "We gotta stop Hades!"
"Hold on." Asuna stopped him, seeing something in the dirt that sparkled. She dug into it, and pulled out what looked like a pair of cufflinks, with a water emblem on it.
"Are they badges?" Sora asked.
"No, they are cufflinks." Yui corrected, "But why did it catch your attention, mama?"
"I'm not sure... But it is magical." Asuna pointed out, "I can feel a sort of power in it."
"Why don't you try them on and see what they can do." Kirito requested to her. She nodded in response, but looked at her gloves, not sure where to put them. She then decided to place them on the blue pieces on the lower arm parts of her gloves.
"We need to keep going!" Hercules told the others, "Come on!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Asuna apologized, and the team raced onwards to catch up with Hercules.
Scaling the mountain was not an easy task, especially in some parts that required wall-running, which Donald, Goofy and Yui were all still struggling to master. And to make matters worse, there were still Heartless all about the area as they climbed. However, Asuna discovered something about the new cufflinks that was beneficial, and the potential they could unleashed.
They found themselves back in the open area where they first fought Heartless in this world, only now, they were dealing with a new kind of Heartless; Earth Core. They were incredibly enduring, and their backsides were also immune to physical attacks. However, the biggest problem was the one who took the form of a sand monster that towered over them all, trapping them in the area
"It just keeps coming from all over!" Sora exclaimed, barely dodging out of the way as the sand-formed Heartless rose from the ground.
"Asuna, hit 'em with some magic!" Kirito called out.
"Right..." Asuna answered, readying her Keyblade, and shot Water spells continuously, feeling the power of the attack amplified for some reason. The Earth Core took the hits, but roared at Asuna as she felt a surge of power from within. She was able to perform a Grand Magic spell in this state.
"Let's go!" Asuna declared, grasping her Keyblade in two hands as her body became encased in a torrent of water, "Waterza!" The spell shot forward, and struck the Heartless. All of a sudden, the entire battlefield was consumed in a dome of water that was so powerful, it eliminated all remaining Heartless, and not just the one Asuna hit. Everyone was sent tumbling away, as well, narrowly avoiding getting struck hard by the attack. Goofy was the one who had it the worst, his body implanted into the rock wall, before collapsing to his back, dazed.
Asuna lowered her Keyblade and looked at her hand, shocked and amazed. "H-How did I do that?!" She demanded, "That was totally on a different level to any magic I used before!"
"Hang on a second!" Donald exclaimed, dashing to Asuna, looking at the accessories she found at the foot of the mountain. Finally, he gasped, "I knew it! Those aren't any ordinary cufflinks! They are rare, and can improve your water magic. You can even perform fourth-level magic!"
"Fourth-level magic?" Asuna asked, amazed, "But, I thought magic could reach up to the third stage."
"That's why it's so rare. Fourth-level is hard to reach." Donald pointed out.
"Guess maybe those accessories are much more magical than they look." Kirito stated, "I should keep an eye out, myself."
"Yeah! If we find more of those magic cufflinks, we can automatically unleash even stronger spells!" Sora exclaimed.
The team continued up the mountain, reaching back to the same place where they were sent flying by Hades and his titans. They did keep an eye out for anything useful for them. There were treasures they would stumble upon once in a while, and Goofy even got Asuna to join him in searching for ingredients, since she was such an excellent cook, but other than that, they were able to make progress.
They had just reached a ravine when the ground started to shake about them momentarily. There source of the shaking seemed to emanate from the mountain peak above the clouds.
"This sure feels awfully familiar." Goofy muttered.
"It's like what happened before." Kirito recalled.
"Guys, this is getting worse by the minute." Herc told the team, "I hope I'm wrong, but my family may need me." He looked to the sky, placed his fingers to his mouth, and whistled loudly. After a few seconds, Pegasus appeared, this time with nobody on him, and he flew down to where the team was at.
He looked to the trio of Keyblade wielders as he started, "Guys, I'm gonna fly ahead. You've been a big help, but... leave the rest to me."
"Family?" Sora questioned, confused
"Oh, you mean Zeus, the king of the gods, right?" Kirito realized, recalling his Greek Mythology.
"Yeah, that's right." Herc answered, climbing onto Pegasus's back, and taking off into the sky.
"Whaaaat?!" Sora, Donald and Goofy exclaimed.
"His father is a god?" Sora gaped, "But doesn't that mean Herc is a god, too?"
"I think it does!" Goofy replied.
"How'd you know who his father was?" Donald questioned Kirito.
"This world is similar to the mythology we learned in our world." Asuna answered.
"It's kinda how we understood some things in Pit's world, since it is also based off of the same genre of mythology." Kirito added.
"I'm kinda surprised, myself." Yui answered, scratching her cheek, "Though, I am more familiar with Norse Mythology than Greek."
While Sora looked confused at what they were talking about, Goofy chimed in, "Still, Herc'll be okay!"
"Won't he?" Donald followed.
Sora shook the confusion aside as he answered, "No. Organization XVI's here. He'll need our help."
"Fair point." Asuna agreed, "It'll be like what happened with Demyx all over again."
"Then we gotta go!" Goofy understood, turning towards the path ahead.
"Cause heroes never quit!" Donald declared.
Sora paused, thinking on the answer that Herc gave when explained how he was able to regain his powers through saving Meg. "We fight with all our heart." Sora muttered, recalling what he mentioned, and he gave a determined glare forward.
"Let's go!" Kirito declared, and he led the charge to the path ahead.
They made it through the ravine, finding a dead end with the sheer wall leading all the way up to the higher parts of the mountain. However, their time to examine the area was immediately cut short by the ground shaking hard, causing them to stagger. They looked up, and saw the sight of a massive monster above them. From what they could see, it was made out of rock, and it had two heads. However, they knew, without a doubt, that this was a...
"Titan!" Donald, Goofy and Yui exclaimed, seeing the monster from above, who had a large chunk of the mountain in its' hands. It tossed it down at the heroes, causing them to scatter as they avoid it crashing down on them, or any of its' pieces falling onto them, as well. One of the larger pieces flew over the heroes, and ended up blocking the path behind them. They were trapped.
"Now what do we do?!" Donald exclaimed.
"Only one way forward: Up!" Sora answered, and he began wall-running up the side of the mountain, while the rock monster continued to summon boulders to rain down onto the team, scattering the floor where they were at before. Seeing as their options were limited, they chose to scale the mountain with Sora, evading the falling rocks. Donald, Goofy and Yui were all somehow able to do it by sheer force of will... and sheer force of not wanting to die. As they climbed, the skies grew darker and darker, setting the scene of a dangerous battle before them.
The Rock Titan stomped its' heavy feet, sending a cascade of large boulders to fall towards the heroes. Donald, Goofy and Yui had no choice but to find the nearest platform, and flatten themselves against it to avoid the oncoming rockfall. Asuna merely raced and dodged around the boulders, while Kirito and Sora resorted to leaping onto the oncoming falling rocks, using them as platforms to make their way up to the top. After one long run, they made a leap of faith as the landed on the next level of the mountain, narrowly falling to their doom.
"Are you okay?!" Asuna asked them as they panted from exhaustion.
"We'll be fine, but what about the others?" Sora asked, looking down to see the other half of their team standing far below them.
"We'll catch up!" Goofy shouted.
"Keep going!" Donald squawked.
"Don't worry about us!" Yui cried out.
The three Keyblade wielders looked at one another, then decided to let their friends climb up by themselves while they cleared the area on ahead.
They couldn't reach the Rock Titan where they stood, but there was a side-path that they could take that might give them a way up to where it stood. They took it, and started to feel droplets of rain falling about them.
"Great! A rainstorm!" Kirito grimaced, shielding his eyes as he looked at the falling rain, "Just what every tough fight needs!"
"And more enemies to try and slow us down, too!" Sora added, seeing the Heartless composed of Air Soldiers and Shadows appearing.
"We can't let them overwhelm us." Asuna stated, readying her Keyblade, "Let's take them out, and clear the path onwards!" The trio began eliminating the Heartless as they came, avoiding unleashing too much power so they could save it the for the humongous target high above them. They managed to clear them out, and right on time, as Donald, Goofy and Yui finally made it to the top to join them.
They went through a rock arch, racing along the cliff side of the mountain, and felt the quaking footsteps of the monster above them. Asuna looked up to see the Rock Titan with a giant rock in its' hand, and hurled it down at the heroes. "Watch out!" She shouted, grabbing Yui by the hand and pulling her to one side, while everyone else ducked out of the way. The boulder struck the edge of the cliff, causing part of the path to break off and fall to the hidden ground below. This also caused rocks to shake loose and block the path behind them.
"That was too close!" Yui exclaimed.
"We gotta take it out before it destroys the entire mountain!" Kirito told the team, and he led the charge as they continued on the path, and found a smooth surface of the cliff to wall-run up. This was clearly the longest wall-run they made thus far, and it was already tough enough for them to climb it, let alone evade a ton more boulders that were cascading down to try and take them out. Donald, Goofy and Yui were unable to make it to the top so easily.
They collapsed to the bottom of the wall, and looked up to see more boulders coming their way. Donald and Goofy panicked, while Yui curled her fists, and produced her Keyblade, shouting, "Second Form: Yuna!" She raised her Keyblade high, making the tip shine as the illusion of Yuna, wearing attire similar to the ones Yui wore in her last adventure, before diving into her Keyblade. It shined brighter as Yui grabbed the middle of the blade's shaft, twirling it as she spun around, and it transformed into a summoner's staff, which she grasped in two hands gently, readying herself for a fight.
"Go!" She shouted, and she raised her staff high, producing a magic circle. All of a sudden, bird/wyvern-like beast suddenly appeared from the magic circle, and unleashed sonic waves of energy from its' wings, blasting the boulder.
Donald and Goofy endured as the boulder pieces fell about them, while the beast Yui summed came down to her. "Valefor, can you help us to the top?" Yui asked insistently. It screeched in response, landing on the ground. The trio climbed onto its' back, and it took to the sky, evading the falling boulders.
Meanwhile, the other three had made their way to the top, and were standing at the feet of the Rock Titan. "Now what?!" Asuna demanded, looking up at the underside of the Titan.
"Let's bring it to us!" Sora declared, bringing out his Keyblade, and slamming it hard into the feet of the Titan.
"Worth a shot!" Kirito responded, racing to the other foot and started slicing at it with his Keyblade. Asuna looked to the two boys, and went to Sora, helping him out.
The Titan felt the actions the trio were doing, and slowly raised the foot Kirito was slashing, before slamming it down, creating a shockwave of earth that Kirito barely evaded. "Good thing this thing is as slow as a rock!" He stated, getting back into the fight.
Meanwhile, there were sudden lines of magic energy that caused rocks to fly up at Sora and Asuna, who avoided the attacks whenever they sensed them coming. The two continued to unleash combo slashes together, slowly forming cracks in the monster's foot.
"Sora, I feel some power within me!" Asuna called out, "It's telling me to perform a Team Attack with you!"
"Then let's go!" Sora declared, and they clashed their Keyblades together, causing energy to surge between them. They performed their Team Attack, Sonic Star. Facing the foot, the pair floated into the air, held the blades close to their face, before raising them high, summoning stars around them, before thrusting their blades forward in unison, causing the stars to home in on the foot, peppering away at it. They then pulled back their blades, ready to thrust, and their blades glowed blue. They thrusted forward, and brought themselves down at the foot, piercing right through it. The combined amount of damage was just what they needed, and they caused the foot to be cracked all over, revealing the red internal energy.
"That's one down...!" Kirito stated, seeing the damage they did, before backing off from another shockwave from the foot. He skidded to a halt as he turned to see a monster fly up to the scene. He first thought it was hostile, before seeing his daughter, Donald and Goofy riding on top of it. "What...?!" He gasped, seeing the trio hop off Valefor.
Yui waved her summoner's staff forward as she shouted, "Go!" She slammed her staff on the ground, creating a magic circle. The Valefor created its' own complex magic Circle, performing its' Finale, Energy Nova, unleashing a powerful ray of energy from the magic circle, focused down at the foot, damaging it so much, it became as cracked as Sora and Asuna's foot. Yui's staff reverted to her Keyblade, which she reverted back to her tessen.
"Nice one, Yui!" Goofy cheered as the Rock Titan roared in pain, before falling backwards into the mountain, collapsed from being unable to sustain itself on its' own feet.
"Yuna's Soul Burst is really strong!" Yui stated, looking at the damage she did.
"We gotta hit it while it's down!" Sora shouted, racing past the team and performing his Flowmotion acrobatics to scale up the Rock Titan, reaching its' heads. Kirito and Asuna came together, and with the lady first, they followed Sora's path up to the heads, where he had already started slamming strike after strike against the Titan's head.
"This'll take forever!" Sora grimaced as the other two landed, and whacked his Keyblade against the head of the Titan. He suddenly felt a surge of energy that was similar to him summoning the Pirate Ship. He knew this power would be just the thing to stop it. He turned to the two and shouted, "Hold on! I got an idea!" He raised his Keyblade high as he shouted, "Attraction: Mountain Coaster!"
With a glittering of lights, Donald, Goofy and Yui looked to see a roller coaster suddenly appear from below, and they jumped upwards to avoid getting hit, before landing into three of the carts. It used a magic rollercoaster track to climb up to where the other three were at, and Sora jumped onto it, causing the head of the coaster, which had the look of an old steam-powered train, to whistle. Kirito and Asuna looked at each other before jumping onto the back two carts, right behind where Yui, Donald and Goofy were at.
"A rollercoaster?!" Kirito exclaimed, holding onto the rim of the cart.
"Here goes!" Sora shouted, focusing his magic into the train front, which unleashed flares of energy from its' chimney, striking the Rock Titan in an explosion similar to fireworks.
"Is anyone steering this thing?!" Donald exclaimed.
"Who knows?! It's working!" Yui stated, seeing the damage being blasted down onto the enemy.
"Look out!" Goofy shouted, seeing the Titan reel a fist towards their path. Sora aimed the Chimney Flare attack at the fist, knocking it off course. The coaster went down below the Rock Titan before climbing back up to it. It threw its' other fist at the group, but Sora deflected it with his ride.
They went up and around the backside of the Titan. It tried to catch them off guard by backhanding the coaster, but Asuna saw it coming and shouted, "Jump, now!" Sora flipped over the large arm, along with everyone else, settling themselves back into the coaster carts.
"It's almost down!" Kirito noticed, "Sora, take it out with one final shot!"
"Right! You're gonna like this!" He announced, and performed one final storm of flares, peppering the Titan so strongly, that it howled in agony as it lurched forward. It ended up falling all the way down, hitting the next level below, just as the team landed on the edge of where it stood before. They turned to see the path below give way, causing the Rock Titan to fall even further downward, vanishing from sight.
"Yes! That's one down!" Sora cheered with confidence.
"There was a few close calls, but I'd call that a win." Kirito stated, folding his arms in front of his chest.
"They're not so tough by themselves." Goofy pointed out.
"That one was dumb as a rock." Donald punned.
"Even so, we can't relax yet." Asuna warned them, "There are three others to worry about. Be on your guards!"
"Right. Let's keep going!" Sora declared, pointing out a path nearby, and running towards it, with the other five behind him.
They made their way along the rain-soaked path, seeing a cave off in the distance. Once they got inside, they took a moment to dry themselves and recover from their battle.
"No peeking!" Asuna shouted as she and Yui hid behind a rock, taking off some of their clothing to shake off the rain from it.
"I got it!" Kirito responded, shaking his jacket, "I wasn't planning to look!"
"It's certainly not nice to peek at a girl in this situation." Goofy pointed out to Donald and Sora as he rang out his hat.
Sora blushed, but was really not wanting to have Asuna's wrath brought down upon him. Plus, he wouldn't live with himself if Kairi found out, too. He just shook out his clothing, and made sure he was dried up enough to continue onward.
When they were all done, they continued onwards, seeing their path blocked by loose rubble. A golden light was shining through it, nearly blinding them. Sora and Kirito looked to one another, nodded, brought out their Keyblades, and with a battlecry, they struck the rocks with all their might. The rock broke apart, blinding the team for a moment. Then, when their eyes adjusted, they saw an awe-inspiring sight.
They were on the clouds, which were thick enough to walk on. Amongst the swirls and billows, there was a flight of grand stairs that led off to something that looked like a marble and gold building, along with a pair of golden gates.
"What a sight!" Asuna gasped, looking at the path.
"Is this the realm of the Gods?" Kirito asked, looking about the place.
"I bet Hercules is that way!" Sora assumed, pointing to the gates ahead, "Come on! No time to waste!" He hurried onwards, with the rest of the team behind them.
They raced up the stairs, seeing the golden gates open up for them. They passed through them, and went through the building that was really just an entryway with a thick, high-decorated door, which also opened up for them. When they entered through, they couldn't help but stop and be amazed at the sight they saw. It was almost like it was a great city made of clouds and Greek structures made of marble and gold. A place that was too difficult to describe into words, but it was clearly a place where the Gods truly resided on.
"Whoa...!" Sora, Kirito and Asuna gasped.
"Is this...Olympus?" Sora asked in awe.
"Gawrsh, it's amazing!" Goofy muttered.
"It almost feels like we died and gone to heaven..." Asuna compared, then added, "I mean, I know we're alive! But, still..."
Suddenly, the team heard the sounds of trumpets playing a tune that they were familiar with. "The fanfare?!" Donald noticed.
"Yeah, and it's playing for them!" Kirito noticed as they all pulled out their weapons for a group of Heartless that appeared in front of them. They looked like barbaric armored-knights with bull horns.
"Those are Saytrs!" Yui analyzed, "They are very dangerous in groups, and they have strong armor, too!" They watched as the group suddenly closed their visors, and they charged at the team as one.
"Get out of the way!" Donald shouted as they scattered, avoiding the charging brigade of Heartless. Asuna unleashed her Blizzard spell, while Sora unleashed Fire from both sides, causing some damage, but not enough do do much.
The Heartless suddenly turned to Kirito, Sora and Yui, and charged at them. The trio ran as fast as they could, getting away from the stampede coming their way. However, they were not fast enough, and got sent flying upwards, crying out in pain from the horns that bombarded them.
"Kirito! Yui! Sora!" Asuna shouted, seeing the trio fall to the ground, injured.
"How do we stop them?!" Donald questioned, looking about, hoping for some solution to come forth to them.
Goofy looked to see the Saytr Heartless turn, their spiraling eyes glowing from their helmets as they gazed at the trio they knocked down, prepared to attack them again. The captain of the guard then looked to his shield, then gasped, "I know what to do!" Donald and Asuna looked to him, wondering what he came up with.
The trio of knocked down heroes struggled to get back up as they looked to see the lead Saytr brushing his foot on the ground, ready to charge once more. Sora and Kirito could feel they were not able to get out of the range of the attack, and struggled to get to their feet as the Heartless charged.
"No!" The voice of the remaining trio shouted as one as they leapt over their fallen comrades, taking formation as Asuna and Donald held behind Goofy, while he had his shield ready, which started to glow. The Saytr ended up rebounding off of the shield, the combined magical defense too powerful to knock away. This was the trio's Team Attack, Trinity Shield.
"All together, now!" Goofy ordered. Asuna and Donald understood, and began their own charging bashes with the shield, bashing the Saytr group over and over again, pushing them further and further away from Kirito, Sora and Yui as they got to their feet. Then, after dazing them enough, The trio shouted, "Charge!" And they made one final dash that broke the armor of the Saytr, leaving them vulnerable for attacking.
"Great going, guys!" Sora cheered as he, Kirito and Yui brandished their weapons, and began the charge against the Heartless, who were so disorganized now, they couldn't be prepared to strike back immediately against the oncoming trio. They all worked together, and within moments, took out the Heartless with relative ease.
When they were done, they gathered together, with Kirito, Sora and Yui sharing a potion to heal their wounds. "That was pretty impressive thinking there." Kirito commended.
"Thank Goofy." Asuna replied, looking to the blushing character, "He came up with the tactic to counteract those Heartless.
"I wonder if that means we can come up with our own trinity Team Attacks?" Yui asked.
"Let's figure that out later." Sora replied, "Herc needs our help. Let's keep going!"
The team nodded in response, and they took off towards the steps that led them onwards.
While the area was so grand, that they would just wanna stop and stare about the place, there was no time for that. Especially when there were Heartless around each corner, ambushing them. There even was another giant sand monster form of the Earth Core that gave them more trouble than the last, but fortunately, Sora and Goofy came up with the solution of performing the 'Goofy Bombardment' Team Attack to have Goofy go down the throat of the Heartless, destroying it easily from the inside.
That wasn't to say that the Heartless were clever, too. The Bizarre Archers and Air Soldiers were quite clever by working together, with the latter having the former in their clawed toes, and flying them about in the air as the archers shot their arrows. It was clear now that even in this stage, the Heartless were more clever than their previous battles with them.
The path branched out in two paths at one point, and they chose to split up by drawing straws to see who would go which way. In the end Sora, Goofy and Asuna took one path, while Kirito, Yui and Donald took the other path.
With Kirito's team, they ended up reaching a glowing rail that was made for grinding. Kirito led the trio as they went in and out of the clouds, dealing with Vermillion Samba, a variant of the Red Nocturne Heartless in the past, who tried bombarding the team with flaming dashes. Fortunately, Kirito's incredible timing helped him slashed each Heartless before they hit him, taking each and every one of the Heartless out.
Meanwhile, Sora's team ended up reaching a waterway, where Sora slipped, fell and ended up falling down the waterway, falling down beneath the clouds after a drop. Asuna and Goofy followed, and soon discovered that they ended up landing in a forge. Asuna immediately though how amazed Liz would be at the sight of a place like this, and Sora wondered if they could make something here.
They found the anvil, and a dial on the floor that, with a little help from Sora 'Teacup Ride' Attraction skill, they were able to use. Using the spinning ride, they rotated the dial, which began rotating the metal pots of boiling liquid above them, eventually lining them up to make it function. Each liquid poured into each pot, making it spark and poof, eventually reaching the anvil, which shined brightly as something magically was created in front of the team. When the light died down, they discovered a new, upgraded shield for Goofy, designed for fire and burn protection. All in all, it was worth the trouble making it.
Eventually, the party joined up with one another against a swarm of Heartless that kept them from going further. Sora ended up deciding to try out the ability known as 'Shotlock'. He concentrated as he aimed his Keyblade at the Heartless swarm, and shouted, "Shotlock: Ragnarok!" He fired a salvo of light shots down at the swarm, causing a rain of damage to them all.
"C'mon, let's see what you guys can do!" Sora told Kirito and Asuna.
The pair looked at one another, then decided to give it a shot. 'Just like how you did it with sis's Soul Drive...' Asuna told herself, thinking back on how she used Aqua's Shotlock while in her Soul Drive. Eventually, she could feel her Keyblade aiming at her target, then shouted, "Shotlock: Shooting Star!" She suddenly went into blinding speeds as she thrusted numerous times into the Heartless, magical coming from all sides, and eliminating the remaining targets on the battlefield.
"Way to go!" Sora cheered, while Kirito lowered his Keyblade, looking at his weapon. He didn't really figure out how to use the Shotlock himself, but he was sure that after a bit of training, he could learn it.
The team continued onward, and discovered the path they needed to take was up. Way, way up. There didn't seem to be any path for them to take, unfortunately. What was also there was a dark vapor energy that had a whole ton of debris just hanging about in the air above them.
"Here's our ticket up." Sora noticed.
"Uh... How are we supposed to get up there?" Donald asked.
"Maybe...we can climb it by using those debris as footholds." Kirito suggested.
"Can we really do that?" Yui asked.
"Sure. It's no different from our Flowmotion. Here, let me show you." Kirito raced up to get a good look at the path ahead, seeing the next level to reach. He saw the path he needed to take, and prepared himself. His feet glowed brightly, and he shot himself forward, ricocheting off of the debris before reaching the platform.
"Whoa!" The team below gasped.
"He was able to get there in no time at all!" Donald exclaimed.
"I think I remember that move." Sora recalled, "Wasn't that something called 'Airstepping'?"
"Sounds like the right name for it." Asuna replied, looking to Sora, "How did you know that?"
"Oh, just something I picked up from my training after the Mark of Mastery." Sora answered, and he raced over to the position Kirito took before, and concentrated on the same destination Kirito went to, and his feet glowed. He performed the Airstep technique, zooming all the way up to where Kirito stood.
"Come on!" Sora shouted down below, while Kirito found a machine that lowered a ring on a long chain down to where the team was. Asuna chose to try Airstepping herself, while the others used the long chain to climb up to join the others. Asuna ended up being successful with performing the Airstep, saying that it reminded her of similar skills from ALO.
After some more Airstepping, and helping Donald, Goofy and Yui make their way up, too, they eventually reached the very top, where they could clearly see a big battle up ahead. Behind a large pair of damaged golden gates, the remaining three Titans were there, made of ice, magma, and a literal tornado. The former two were trapping someone who looked like a muscular old man with white hair and beard in a pillar-like construct that was made from solidifying the magma with an icy breath. There was even a grouped of chained up characters, who the team assumed were gods, and the two little devil henchmen of Hades, Pain and Panic, were harassing them as they led them away. Hades was looking pretty relaxed at the success of what was happening.
"Oh, no!" Asuna exclaimed, "Hades is already captured people here!"
"I think they might be gods!" Goofy assumed.
"If that's the case, I bet that's Zeus being attacked by the Titans!" Kirito assumed, seeing the king of the Gods struggling to get out of the Titan's trap.
"Look!" Donald exclaimed, pointing to the sky. Hercules was still riding Pegasus as he was flying through the air, taking out Air Soldiers that tried to slow him down.
"I swear to you, Hades!" The team heard Zeus call out, "When I get out of th-!" He couldn't finish his sentence before the construct consumed his head, covering him fully up.
"No, I'm the one giving orders now, bolt boy." Hades replied, producing a seat for himself made of dark energy, then producing a drink, "And I think I'm gonna like it here."
He had just started to take a sip when Herc shouted, "Don't get too comfortable, Hades!" The Lord of the Underworld gave a spit-take as he looked to see Hercules and Pegasus flying down, his sword raised in his hand.
"We're gonna stop you!" Sora declared as he led the charge past the golden gates, the team's weapons at the ready. Hades was baffled at the sight of all the intruders on his plan.
Hercules and Pegasus dove down at the chained gods, and with one slash of his blade, the hero of Greece broke the chains, which magically disappeared, freeing the Gods.
This wrench in his plan angered Hades to no ends, then ordered his Titans, "Get them!", pointing at the six heroes. The magma and ice Titan stepped forward, coming to either side of the pillar they made to trap Zeus, glaring down at the heroes. The tornado Titan was hanging back, with no open place to come out and attack the heroes. Still the sight of three humongous monsters towering above them did make the six heroes a little worried.
"Guys!" Hercules shouted, leaping off of Pegasus, and joining their side, "It's on!" The six understood, as they prepared to face the Titans in front of them.
The Tornado Titan unleashed hurricane winds, which the team endured with all their might. The other two Titans used this moment to belch out molten lava and icicles down at the team. Asuna barely pulled Donald out from being turned into crispy-roasted duck, while Hercules punched the icicles that came near Yui and Sora, protecting them.
Hades, fortunately, got a full taste of the lava being drenched on top of him. He merely shook it off like it was mud, and growled, "Not me, them! Follow the finger...!" As he spoke, Kirito and Goofy drew the icicle attack away by having the attack followed him, and it ended up passing Hades and freezing his whole body over, except his eyes and mouth, as he finished, "...the yutzes with the Keyblades!"
"Chill out, Hades!" Sora punned, grinning as the wind died down, and the team went into action.
The Titans may have looked big and mighty, but they were dealing with people who have dealt with just as big and just as deadly foes, if not more so. Plus, given the elements they wielded, it was obvious what needed to be done magic-wise; Fire magic on the ice, and Water magic on the magma. Their heads were where they needed to strike more at, and while magic could easily reach them, they needed a way to reach them for physical moves. Fortunately, the very prison they made for Zeus was just the platform they needed to reach their faces.
Donald and Yui used a combo Fire and Aero spell to unleash a fiery tornado at the Ice Titan, while Asuna unleashed her powerful Waterza spell at the Lava Titan. Sora and Goofy went in for a double bash against the Ice Titan, while Kirito and Hercules slashed and punched a combo against the Lava Titan. The Black Swordsman backed off, his head sweating from how close he had to be to literal lava, as it roared at him and Herc.
"These Titans are no joke!" Hercules pointed out, while Goofy and Sora came back to back with them.
"Good thing I have gained just the trick to take care off them!" Sora declared, raising his Keyblade high, "Second Form!" He bursted with energy, regaining his old skills once more."
"Good thinking!" Kirito agreed, "Guess I'd better try something with a bit more weight and reach. Soul Burst: Cloud Strife!" His Keyblade shined as the spiky-haired guy he met in Hollow Bastion a long time ago appeared as a ghostly silhouette above him before diving into his Keyblade. Kirito grasped the handle in both hands as the Keyblade shined and lengthened, transforming into the Buster Sword, which he twirled about, then readied himself to fight with it in both hands.
The two boys went to work as the Titans unleashed their elemental blasts from their mouths. Sora and Kirito leapt up and out of the way, while Herc and Goofy leapt down from the structure, barely avoiding the attack. Sora began his chain of attacks against the Ice Titan, while Kirito unleashed powerful swings with his Buster Sword, even performing a Cross Slash at the end of his combo.
"Fellas, we gotta back them up!" Goofy shouted to the rest of the team as they saw the two Titans ready to counter attack against the boys.
"Right. Give them an opening!" Asuna shouted, unleashing her Water spell against the Lava Titan. Donald unleashed his own Water spell to join with her's. Goofy, Yui and Hercules supported Sora by using their shield, whirlwind, and a large piece of rubble, striking the body of the Ice Titan. Their distraction worked, causing the monsters to look towards them instead of the two boys, who were powering up for their next attack.
"Sora, you ready?!" Kirito asked as he went back to back with the said character.
"I'm ready as I'll ever be!" Sora answered, readying his Keyblade, "Here we go!"
The two went into their Finisher/Finale moves, with Sora unleashing Ars Arcanum, performing a deadly combo to the face of the Ice Titan, while Kirito performed 'Omnislash', slicing the Lava Titan with a powerful combo. The two boys ended with their final, charged up slashes, striking each of the Titans down with a deadly blow.
The five on the ground cheered in victory as Sora and Kirito landed on the ground, their forms reverting to normal. Hades roared in rage, causing him to break free of the ice.
"Just one Titan left!" Sora declared, turning to see the Tornado Titan bear down on the group. All of a sudden, the Titan gathered the solid clouds about Olympus, and created a new level on the battlefield, covering the heroes below. Yui and Donald unleashed a whirlwind that sent the seven of them on top of the clouds, where the only things that were there were the heads of the two defeated Titans, who were moved far away from the heroes to make room for the Tornado Titan to fight. A storm was also whipping about the area, enclosing the team in a cylinder of dark clouds, trapping them with the Titan.
The seven charged at the Titan as it lifted itself off the ground, and seem to place its tail somewhere far off, while its' head aimed at the team. Its' tail seem to gather up rubble of buildings, and the funneled fired it down at the heroes, causing them to scatter, dodge, or parry the building pieces back at the Titan.
"This ones more agile than the others!" Asuna stated as she, Donald and Herc joined up one another, heading at the Titan from one direction.
"But we're just as nimble, and smaller than he is!" Hercules pointed out, grabbing a piece of rubble the Tornado Titan threw, and hurling it right back at it, damaging it. It may be wind, but it was still solid enough to do damage to it. Plus, the six otherworlders were wielding magical weapons, so they could do damage to an elemental monster like this.
The Tornado Titan tried expanding its' bottom-half to push the others away, and it did push them back. However, Asuna used her Water spell to do a few more attacks to it. Unfortunately, three shots were all she could do before her magic energy was drained. She needed time to recover.
The Titan then lifted itself off the ground again, twisted its' body down at the heroes, and started sucking them in with hurricane winds, like a vacuum cleaner. The seven of them had no good foothold, and were carried right into the head of the Titan. They screamed and held onto their stomachs as they were spinning and hurled every which-way, until they were sent shooting extremely high into the air. Donald, Goofy, Yui and Hercules were sent tumbling one direction, far away from Sora, Asuna and Kirito as they flipped themselves in the air, and saw that they were directly above the Tornado Titan.
"Time to dive!" Sora declared, flying down at the Titan.
"It's the Mark of Mastery exam all over again!" Asuna exclaimed, and she and Kirito joined Sora in his dive.
It felt like they were a mile above the Tornado Titan, while it turned its' attention to the three diving at him. It them started gathering power from its' fallen brethren, and not only fire rubble at the trio, but fireball and ice balls, as well. Sora, Asuna and Kirito all evaded in the air, avoiding getting impacted by anything the Titan threw at them.
"I've had enough of you!" Kirito declared as he, Sora and Asuna lined up together, and shot at the head of the Titan with their Keyblades, striking it three times with heavy impacts, thanks to their diving speed.
The Titan pushed them away with its' winds, gathering rubble in the air as the trio remained afloat in the air, thanks to the winds the Titan developed. "Where're the others?!" Asuna questioned, looking about.
"They must've got sent further away, or sent higher up!" Kirito answered.
"They'll be back!" Sora answered, turning his attention to the Titan, "We just gotta wallop this wind harder in replace for them!"
The trio flew at the Titan as it produced funneled arms, and sent rubble out of it like arm cannon shots. The three of them had experience with flying, though this was more them being carried about by the wind. They evaded as best as they could, or as they did before, they blocked the attacks.
"Asuna, can you provide us with some long range magic?" Kirito asked as the trio flew about at a different angle to attack the Titan.
"Sorry, but I don't have any power at the moment to unleash it." She replied, "It'll take a while for my magic energy to recharge again!"
"The Kirito and I can give you magic support, and you go in with your speed!" Sora told her, readying his Keyblade to cast magic.
Asuna looked to Kirito. In most cases, Kirito was not the one who provided magic support while Asuna took the front lines. However, Kirito looked to her, realizing what she was thinking, and answered, "Worth a shot to try a reverse our roles. Go for it!" His girlfriend looked surprised for a second, then gave a determinate nod in understanding.
She dashed forward as the Tornado Titan unleashed more rubble at the opponents. Asuna used her speed to evade the attack while closing in. Sora and Kirito unleashed Fire spells like crazy, blasting away the rubble, and clearing the road for Asuna. She got in close, and unleashed several rapid stabs with her Keyblade, before unleashing one final slash that made the Titan rear in pain.
"Yes!" Sora delivered a fist pump, while Kirito kept a sharp eye on what the Titan planned to do next.
Asuna was about to strike it again when the Titan suddenly dove underneath the clouds it made, making her next strike miss. She looked about to see where it might pop up, as did the two boys. Sure enough, it appeared, but it came up from the gaping mouth of the Lava Titan.
"Why did it come from there?!" Sora questioned, looking to see the glaring eyes of the Titan.
Kirito looked down at the tail of the Titan, and saw it seemingly channel the magma from its' fallen brethren. "Asuna, look out! I think it might be using the other Titan's power!" He shouted.
Asuna looked to Kirito, then down at the Titan as its body slightly glowed the same color as the lava it was absorbing. It then pointed its' funnel hands upward, and it spewed fireballs upwards, which arched and came raining down on Asuna, who wasn't able to get away in time. She got hit numerous times, causing her to cry out in pain, her body struck with burns.
"Asuna!" Sora and Kirito shouted, seeing the damage she took. They saw the Titan fire another volley, about to hit Asuna again. Kirito reacted quickly, flying towards her as fast as he could. Sora quickly came up with a plan, and came up with a solution. He focused towards one of the floating pieces of rubble behind Asuna, and his feet glowed. He unleashed an Airstep technique, flying much faster than Kirito, catching Asuna, and pulling her out of the way as the fireballs came raining down on her former position. He reached the rubble, making sure Asuna was okay. Kirito backed off as the fireballs were falling near where he was going, and looked relieved to see Sora had saved his girlfriend, though he did kinda feel guilty he wasn't the one to do the task.
"You okay, Asuna?" Sora asked.
Asuna winced a bit at her burns, but answered, "Yeah, I'll be okay..." She then saw the Titan unleash more fireballs, coming down towards where the two were at, and shouted, "Heads up!" The two dashed through the air, barely avoiding the fireballs raining towards them.
The Titan then dove beneath the clouds again, causing Kirito to look and demand, "Now what?!" He looked about, then saw the Tornado Titan rise again, this time from the Ice Titan's mouth. After seeing what it did with the Lava Titan, he figured out what its' next plan of attack was. The question was, how it would attack.
Asuna and Sora raced towards the Titan as it used its' fallen brethren's powers, and magically summoned icicles in front of it that started shooting directly at the trio's positions. "Move!" Asuna shouted, and the trio scattered about, avoiding the shots that seem to come from every angle. Sora got scraped a couple times by the icicles, while Asuna was evading the attacks and countering with her Blizzard spell, now that her magic energy was fully charged once more. Kirito, meanwhile, was deflecting the icicles easily with his Keyblade, using his bullet and magic-deflecting skills from the virtual world.
I've had enough of this..." Kirito growled, pointing his Keyblade at the Titan, tapping into the energy he gained from firing the Fire spells before, and performing a Grand Magic spell, Fira. He unleashed the fireball as it homed in on the Titan, and it exploded in its' face, ceasing its' attack. The fact that it was powering from the Ice Titan must've caused it to be dealt more damage from the Fira spell.
It dove down into the clouds once more, causing the rubble around the area to spin more rapidly, and it rose up in the center of the storm once more. All three heroes, at this point, were floating from different angles.
"I can tell it doesn't have a lot of stamina left..." Sora noticed, "Better hit it hard and hit it fast!" He unleashed his own Grand Magic Fira spell, causing it to strike from the side, doing a lot of damage. It turned to Sora, ready to attack him. It aimed its' arms at Sora, ready to unleash a volley of rubble.
"No you don't!" Kirito shouted, pointing his Keyblade at the Titan, and attempting to perform a Shotlock. Sure enough, he suddenly felt the power building up, as he took aim at the Titan. "Shotlock: Sonic Slash!" He shouted, and he tossed his Keyblade towards the Titan, shooting right after it, and performing a Sonic Leap Sword Skill that he brought down onto the Titan. What followed was twelve more slashes that were so fast, no one saw him even make the slashes. The Titan reeled in pain, the damage causing it to be at death's door.
"Asuna!" "Finish it off!" Kirito and Sora shouted respectively to the third Keyblade wielder.
"I'm on it!" She answered, flying at the Titan as fast as she could, giving out a battlecry that drew its' attention. It was unable to get an attack in on her before she shot like a bullet, piercing right through the Titan's body, before arriving on the other side, whipping her Keyblade to one side. The Titan seemed to flail around in pain, before bowing its' head in defeat, unable to hold up the storm about them.
"Sora!" "Papa!" Kirito and Sora heard some familiar voices, and saw Donald and Yui, along with Hercules and Goofy, finally arriving on the scene, practically swimming in the air.
"You made it!" Sora gleefully stated.
"A little too late to the party, but still..." Kirito muttered, looking to see the Titan they had just defeated.
"We got carried away by the winds much higher and further than the rest of you guys." Hercules explained, "Sorry we could help you out in this case."
"It's no biggie." Sora answered, "At least you arrived!"
Just then, the cylinder of clouds that surrounded them suddenly dissipated, along with the cloudy floor below. The winds were dying down, causing the heroes to start falling to the floor. While most of them landed safely on their feet, Goofy practically did a bellyflop onto the ground, his body pancaked from the impact. Asuna was just flying her way back when she started falling, but she did a front roll when she hit the ground, and landed on her feet, joining the others.
"Well, that takes care of that!" Asuna stated as she stopped in front of them, smiling at their supposed victory.
"Don't get cocky, you little brats!" the team had nearly forgotten that Hades was actually on the scene, too. He was standing in the same place he was before, his fists curled in malice as he glared at them.
"Hey, we took out your Titans." Kirito pointed out, "Just give up, would ya?"
"Heh. If you think that's the extent of my Titans, then you're dead wrong!" Hades huffed, "There's a reason Zeus locked them up away in the first place!"
Suddenly, the seven heroes heard the sounds of the Titans rising behind them, and turned to see the trio they had just defeated get back up, glaring down at them.
"Oh, come on!" Donald exclaimed.
"They still have the energy to keep fighting?!" Kirito questioned in exasperation.
"And we put so much energy in taking them out!" Yui added.
Just then, the team felt the ground rumble at their feet, and something erupted from the clouds near them. It turned out to be the Rock Titan they recently defeated. "It's back!" Asuna cried out.
"Uh, oh. Now it's all four of them!" Goofy whined.
"So what? There are seven of us. We got them outnumbered." Sora pointed out, the only one keeping a positive attitude in the situation they were in.
"Actually..." Hercules started, drawing their attention, "...I think I can make it eight." The team watched as he leapt towards the pillar of cooled magma and ice, reaching the top, and started to pry open the top. In a few seconds, he managed to succeed, freeing Zeus from his prison.
"Noooo!" Hades cried out in shock. Pain and Panic, meanwhile, were pinned down by the tail thanks to Pegasus with his hind hooves, and battered about with his front hooves.
"Thank you, my boy." Zeus thanked his son, while the remaining heroes down below cheered at his freedom. One of the gods Herc freed before returned to the scene, with four literal lightning bolts in his hands. He tossed them up to Zeus, who caught two in each hands. "Hah! Now, watch your old man work!" The king of the gods declared.
The Rock Titan looked worried as Zeus unleashed an underhand throw, striking the Rock Titan in both heads, blasting them both off in one shot. The fact that Zeus was at his strongest now frightened the Titans, and caused them to turn and move away as fast as possible.
"Guys, get your titanic rears in gear, and kick some Olympian-!" As Hades spoke, a gust of wind from Yui's tessen died out the flames on his head. Hades stopped and asked, "Woah, is my hair out?"
"Just felt nostalgic..." Yui innocently stated with a grin, running back to her parents.
"Nice one, Yui!" "You devious, little daughter of ours." Sora and Asuna said, respectively, while Yui gained a high-five from her dad and Donald.
Hercules bounded off the pillar, and saw the Tornado Titan the last in line of its' brethren as it tried crawling away. He came up with a plan, and grabbed the bottom tail of the Titan, and twirled it about. The Tornado Titan's body ended up being aimed at the other three Titans, and they ended up getting sucked up together inside its' body. Then with one mighty heave, Hercules tossed the Titans up into orbit. The mixture of the four Titans resulted in an explosive effect, as from far off, the heroes and gods could see and hear the explosion, ending the lives of all four Titans.
Hercules and Zeus high-fived one another, while the six heroes celebrated at their victory they gained. Hades, on the other hand, looked furious, reigniting the hair on his head.
"I can't believe it!" He exclaimed, glaring at the six heroes "I put eighteen years into that plan, and you've blippin' ruined it! I REALLY don't like you!"
"Just give it up already!" Sora sassed, "You'll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you try."
"Those eighteen years were just wasted. All for nothing!" Kirito pointed out.
"You should give it up before you stress yourself to death." Asuna punned.
"Yeah, stay in the Underworld where ya belong." Goofy told him.
"Go have the time of your afterlife." Donald joked.
"Enough already!" Hades roared, tired of the bad jokes and being put down, "I did not come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a six-pack of clowns!" He turned red with fury as he finished, "You know what? I'll just go ahead and destroy you!" The six readied their weapons, prepared to fight Hades once more.
"Hades!" Herc's voice suddenly made Hades realized who else he had to deal with. He slowly turned, and saw Zeus and his son standing right behind him. Hercules waved his hands to the gate as he pointed out, "The exit is that way."
Hades looked to the two gods, then to the six heroes, then his flames went to blue again as he just gave up, muttering words like 'Oy vey' and 'Jeez Louise', as he slunk away.
"Hold on. I almost forgot." Hercules called out, causing the lord of the Underworld to turn to him, only to get a fist in the face, and making him hit the ground hard and heavy. "That one's for trying to wreck Thebes." Herc told him.
Hades held the part of his face Hercules punched him, angrily looking at the guy as smoke swirled around him. There were two knocks to his back, which told him Pain and Panic got sent flying by Pegasus. "You'll pay for this! I have a very, VERY long memory!" He roared at them, "I can still dunk your little Nut-Meg in a river of de-!" Before he could finish his sentence, Zeus tossed another thunderbolt at him as he was consumed in smoke. The rest was silence, as the smoke vanished. Hades and his minions were gone from Olympus.
Zeus turned to the heroes as he said, "Thank you for helping my son get rid of Hades and his Titans. You did a great amount of help to Olympus." Sora rubbed the back of his head as he was glad to get a compliment from Herc's dad.
"Eh, Hades had it coming to him anyway." Kirito pointed out.
"Although..." Asuna stopped him, getting the attention of the others, "It seems like Xigbar, Maleficent and Pete weren't involved in this quarrel at all."
"That's right." Goofy recalled, "We came up here mainly because we thought the Organization was gonna try and do somethin'."
"Guess we were wrong." Donald summed up.
"Still, we did managed to take care of Hades, and the Heartless that were invading the area up here." Yui added, "So I'd say us coming here wasn't a mistake."
"Agreed." Kirito seconded, looking at Zeus and Herc, who were talking to one another like a proud father would talk to their son, "Plus, we got to save the king of the gods. I'd say this was worth the trouble." The others smiled in agreement. They did feel proud of what they accomplished.
Moments later, Hercules said goodbye to his father, and the team raced their way back to the front gates to Olympus. When they arrived, Sora asked the question that was on his mind ever since they left. As he looked to see Herc stop and look back at Olympus again, Sora asked, "Are you sure you want to leave all this behind?"
"Isn't Olympus your home?" Goofy asked.
"And what about your papa?" Yui added.
Herc paused for a second, then answered, "I can see my family anytime I want. If I stayed, I'd have to be apart from the person I love most... And that life would be empty." He looked down the steps, and everyone turned and saw who he was talking about. Meg was standing at the bottom of the steps, smiling as she looked up at her 'Wonderboy'. "I finally know where I belong." Herc finished.
The team watched as he raced down the steps to his loved one, and embraced her in a gentle hug. He and Meg were glad to have one another in their lives. Kirito and Asuna looked to one another, smiling in a loving matter. They held their hands as they followed the others down the steps towards Herc and Meg. Just like those two, Kirito and Asuna's lives would be empty if they didn't have one another in them.
Kirito's other hand slightly pat his pants pocket, where he felt something. It was the parting gift his aunt gave him before he set out on this new journey. Something he knew he wanted to do, but was not ready to show it. At least, not until they stopped Organization XVI.
As Sora and the others reached the others reached the bottom of the steps, Herc realized something, and said, "Sora, we never got back to your question. Can I help?"
Sora shook his head as he replied, "It's okay. I think I'm want to figure it out for myself. I'll find my strength the way you found yours. Something to fight for...with all my heart. I guess you did have the answer." His comrades looked to him, finding his answer more mature than the person who said it. They were proud of him.
"Well, you've got heart, Sora." Herc pointed out, "Just keep at it and I know you'll be stronger than ever."
"Yeah. I might even end up stronger than YOU are!" Sora boasted, taking a muscular pose.
"There he goes again." Donald sighed.
"Well, so much for that maturity he was showing..." Asuna muttered. This was followed by the team laughing at and with Sora. His child-like heart may not change as much, but it is still in the right place.
Meanwhile, in the garden of Thebes, Maleficent watched as Pete was using his bare hands to dig in the ground, looking for the thing that Hades told them.
"Are you sure this box with the Book of Prophecies is for reals?" Pete grunted as he dug, "I think that dingbat in black was pulling your leg."
"Be quiet and dig, you imbecile." Maleficent retorted, "I must find that Book of Prophecies and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation."
"I'm just sayin', a shot in the dark ain't gonna get us any closer to-." Pete suddenly stopped talking, as his fingers scratched something that was clearly not dirt. He looked down, and gasped at what he discovered.
"What is it? have you found something?" Maleficent asked with haste, "Show it to me at once, fool."
Pete pried out what he found; a purple chest with a skull-like mark on the front of it. "Yes sir-eesy, this has gotta be that Pandora's Box Hades mentioned."
Maleficent examined the box closely, then looked to one side as she said, in a frustrated tone, "Leave it."
"What? After all that diggin'?" Pete whined.
"That is not the box which I desire." Maleficent stated, "We are finished with this world. Come."
She was about to walk away when she heard the sound of something metal sinking into the rock pathway near them. They looked to see the same girl that was observing the six heroes from afar, and also the same one who caused the building to fall on Herc, too. She was leaning on her claymore, looking at the pair with a lazy expression.
"Honestly, you spent all this time trying to get your wish fulfilled, and you end up wasting it all?" She asked the pair, straightening herself up and grabbing her weapon in one hand, pulling it out of the ground, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were not following the orders my daddy instructed to you."
Pete looked nervously at Maleficent, who narrowed her eyes at her as she stated, "Need I remind you that we only agreed to helping him on the condition that he would help us find what we desire!"
"And need I remind YOU that if it wasn't for papa, you would still be stuck in that void before. The one that 'Oberon' person or whatever put you in?" The young lady approached Maleficent without fear, her face mere feet away from the evil witch, who looked stone faced at being talked down to. "As far as I'm concerned, you owe him your lives!" The girl stated, "Meaning his research and his missions are top priority. Not your own!"
She wandered around Maleficent and saw the box Pete held. "Gimme that!" She told Pete, snatching the box from his hands, and examining it, almost like she was scanning for its' interior. "Hmm... Quite a bit of chaos and darkness within this small thing..." she noticed, "It should be sufficed enough to please daddy, I guess. Guess your search WASN'T a waste of time after all."
"And what about you?" Maleficent demanded, "I assume you had results, as well?"
"Y-Yeah. It would be a shame if we found somethin' useful for your dad, as yous didn't." Pete added, trying to put on a brave face.
"Don't you worry about me..." the girl scoffed, magically removing her claymore into darkness, and pulling out an orb of dark energy, with data sparking about it. "I found enough darkness thanks to the fear the Heartless placed on the city, and the power-hungry greed of that 'Hades' character. I honestly am surprised at how efficient that guy was to give us so much darkness."
She made the darkness vanish in the palm of her hand as she finished, "But it is as you said, witch. Our time in this world is over. Let's bring this stuff back to daddy." She wandered past Maleficent, summoning a Corridor of Darkness, and entering through it.
With her gone, Pete rose out of the hole, growling, "Oooh, why do we have to follow that busty, bossy girl like she owns us?! We's otta get more respect than that, right?"
"As much as I hate her, they are beneficial in helping us search for the black box." Maleficent scoffed, "Once we have that in our grasp, we can do whatever we want to them, afterwards. Besides..." She looked to the Corridor of Darkness as she finished, "Her father's research on darkness might also benefit us in greater ways we could not reach before." She wandered into the Corridor, with Pete slinking behind her, closing the portal behind them.
Up above, there was another ongoing watcher who looked at the scene below. It was Xigbar, looking down at what had transpired with a calm expression. "May your hear—."
What he had said would be the focal point of the heroes, the villains, and the journey that was about to take place.
Next Time on SAKIII:
Twilight Town! Reunions, Old & New!