Kingdom Hearts
Ch. 25
Olympus
Hades Lord of the Dead
The gang spent two hours training with Phil. The stadium was so huge it could fit 1,000 people in its bleachers.
After the training was over Phil brought them back into the entrance room. "You know, you ain't bad, kid," he said brushing his swirling beard.
Sora scratches his head, chuckling, "Looks like I'm headed for the games." Sora puts his hands behind his head, smiling.
"Afraid not," said Phil.
Sora a bit surprised asked, "Why not?"
"Two words: You guys ain't heroes," Phil said bluntly. Goofy counts the number of words on his fingers.
"Come on!" begged Sora.
"Sorry guys, nothing I can do," he turned away.
Sora turned around and walked outside to let off some steam. They exited the premises only to stop at the sound of a strange voice. "Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" stated a sinister being that appeared out of thin air.
"Who are you?" stated Donald point at him.
The person was a tall blue man with completely black clothing. He had sharp teeth and fire for hair. "Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy. Names Hades Lord of the Dead, how are you all doing? Let me guess. You want to enter the games, right?"
He walks over to them, the blue flame dancing on his head. He stands behind Sora, placing his long-fingered hand on his shoulder. "Well, then, hey, get a load of this." A piece of papyrus appears in Hades' hand, much to Sora's surprise.
"A pass?" said Sora.
"It's all yours." He starts to leave after giving Sora the Entry Pass. "Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little shorty."
Sora watched as the man disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Jiminy then popped out of Sora hood and asked, "Do you think that was another god?"
Goofy lowered his head, "I think so. He seemed different than the one we saw in the clouds." Sora looked down at the pass.
"Do you think we can trust him?" asked Jiminy.
Goofy shivered, "I don't know he seemed kind of dark."
Sora turned around and walked into the lobby once again. Phil noticed them and turned around. "What are you three doing back here?"
Sora handed him the pass which Phil took with genuine shock. "Hey, how'd you get this?"
"Can we enter the games now?" asked Sora.
"Well... I guess so. We start with the preliminaries! Some real weirdos signed up for the games. Better watch yourself." Sora smiled at his friends as they entered the arena.
They began the preliminaries and the gang summoned their weapons. Heartless from all over the kingdom were brought here to fight warriors. The heartless were lured onto the center stage for combat. The gang went to work taking down one by one for 5 rounds straight.
"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching." Phil strokes his goatee as a soldier enters the arena.
After Sora destroys the last heartless, he stares at him and the soldier stares back through spiky blond hair, his long red cape flying behind him, boots digging into the ground.
"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him. Wish Hercules was here to see this," Phil said folding his arms.
"Who?" asked Sora.
"He's a hero if ever there was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father." Phil then goes on to explain who exactly this Hercules is while Hades watches them from the barracks.
"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?" The blond soldier leans against the wall next to him. "Now, don't blow it. Just take him out," said Hades now turning towards the blond man.
"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid? Sorry, but my contract says-"
Hades replies snappy, "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on."
He points to Sora, who is talking to Phil and scratching his head. "Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!" he says punching the air. "I mean, a casualty along the way is no big deal, right?"
He smiles and the blond man stands up and walks away. "Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by..." In the darkness behind him, a large creature snarls.
Soon the next match begins. Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the arena. They summon their weapons and move into their fighting stances. Soon the blond haired man walks onto the field. He lifted up his weapon. A giant thick sword with bandages wrapped around it. The match begins and the fight commences.
Sora slides forward and strikes, but he dodges backward and jumps into the air. The blond man slams his sword into the ground with unnatural strength, knocking out Donald. Giving a loud yell, the blond man surges forward and strikes, knocking Goofy out before he can help Donald. Sora does his best against the blond man, but his experience is unmatched, and he knocks the wind out of Sora.
He walks over to a kneeling Sora. Donald and Goofy were unconscious around them, and he peers down at the boy. Phil runs in with a white towel, but Hades stops him. The blond man raises his sword and Sora closes his eyes, bracing himself. The blond man lowers his sword to Sora's surprise, and he hears footsteps behind him, turning just as a giant black claw crashes down on him.
Sora looks up to see an enormous three-headed dog with red eyes growling over him. Darkness emanates from its jaws, each of its razor sharp teeth bared. Sora gasps as Hades retreats into the barracks. "Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen." The beast moves in to attack Sora, but is pushed back by an incredibly strong man.
"Herc!" called Phil.
Hercules holds back the monster, shouting. "Phil, get them out of here!" The four of them race out of the Coliseum.
"Whew, that was close! That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not..."
After a few minutes with nothing changing Sora thought. "This doesn't look good. I hope Herc's okay. Wish I could go in!" He then summoned his keyblade and through almost instinct charged in without saying a word.
"Sora," Donald called out before following. Goofy did the same.
"What are you doing kid?" called Phil. Sora and company reenters the Coliseum arena, where Hercules has the blond man slung over his shoulder, Cerberus's giant jaws bearing down on him, inches away. The beast's ears perk up, hearing their entrance and they turn around, allowing Hercules to take the blond warrior to the Lobby, past Phil.
Phil called out to the gang, "Kid, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!"
Cerberus roars and stomps around the arena, sending large fireballs at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora manages to stay out of the beast's path, Donald sending Thunder spells at its three heads. One of the fireballs heads Sora's way, and he deflects it with his Keyblade, hitting the center head square in the eyes. The beast stops, roaring, and attempts to bite him as he attacks. Backing up, Cerberus rears up on its hind legs, and drops to the ground, sending a shockwave to the trio.
The beast's mouth foams with dark energy. It moves forward sending dark matter spewing out of its mouth and into the ground. Sora rolls to dodge as the dark matter creates energy pools that shoots up from under him. Goofy, finding a way on top of the beast, sends his shield flying at the multiple heads. Sora moves in as Cerberus tries to bite at Goofy and knocks out the beast, which falls to the ground loudly. Sora struck the beasts chest with his keyblade like a knight slays a monster.
Hercules rushes back in the coliseum planning to finish the beast off only to find the dog had already been put down. Sora was breathing heavily looking over the giants dogs body. As he did, he felt a sense of relief and pride. He turned his head back to Hercules who was at a loss of words.
Later, Hercules and Phil are addressing Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the Lobby. Phil reads from a piece of papyrus as Hercules stands with his arms crossed proudly. "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—."
Donald then spoke out, "Hey! What do you mean junior heroes?"
"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero," explained Phil.
"So, what does it take?" asked Goofy.
Hercules then spoke up while smiling, "Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."
"No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games." Sora smiles, lifting a fist proudly.
"There ain't gonna be any games for a while." He motions to the "closed" sign over the arena entrance. "Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."
"Okay, we'll be back," said Sora smiling.
He waves, and the three of them leave as Hercules waves goodbye and Phil strokes his beard. "I still can't believe that squirt actually beat Cerberus."
Hercules quietly whispers to Phil while the door closes. "Just between us, I'd already worn Cerberus down by the time the little guy jumped in."
"My lips are sealed," Phil replied with a smirk.
At the Coliseum Gates, Sora sees the blond haired man sitting near the exit and walks up to him. "Hey, are you all right? What's your name?"
The blond haired man looks up to see him. "Yeah, name's Cloud."
Sora then asked, "So why did you go along with him, anyway?"
He leans his head pensively on his hands. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired."
He stands up and looks to the sky. "I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."
"You'll find it. I'm searching, too."
He looks back at Sora. "For your light?" Sora nods and Cloud moves closer to him, placing something in his hand. "Don't lose sight of it."
He starts to walk away, and Sora nods and looks in his hand. "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved." He moves toward Cloud, waving his hand in the air.
Cloud turns his head, running a hand through his hair. "I think I'll pass."
Despite this answer, Sora smiles as Cloud leaves. Sora exits the Coliseum, the doors slamming behind them.
Later that night, Hades stands in the Coliseum Gates, fuming. He holds a Hercules statue in his hand. "He's strong, he's kind." The statue flexes its muscles. "He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot." The statue crosses his arms and winks. "He's perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy." Hades turns red, roasting the statue. The hair on his head blazing hot, he explodes in a burst of flames. As the smoke settles around him, he catches his breath and returns to his cool blue shade. "Wait a minute. What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, I'll take care of them both."
He makes a fist as the horned witch appears behind him, her staff held firmly in her hands. "Who invited you to the party? Stay out of this. This is my show."
"As you wish. Fight to your heart's content." Hades smirks, nodding, before noting the witch's tone, and scowling as she disappears.