Chap. 5 Road to Mastery

They blasted of the planet with remarkable speed. Everyone was hanging onto their seats. "Wow this thing is fast." Yelled Dash as he pulled his way up to the copilot seat. Anjyu was fully focused on flying the ship. The attack siren went off in the ship. "We're fast but are no where close to comparing to my husband's fleet." Anjyu pointed to the radar where hundreds of ships were gaining rapidly. Freya peeked over the seat to see the radar. "Oh my god how are we supposed to get away from them?" Anjyu gave a gentile smile. "It wasn't possible by myself but thanks to you two showing up it's possible." Dash raised an eyebrow. "This is one of those Keyblade master things isn't it?"

Anjyu just now examined Dash's Keyblade. "You still have the basic key. How could you not have any key chains yet?" Dash put his hands behind his head and laughed a bit. "Ha, ha yeah it's my first day." Anjyu looked a little disappointed. "Oh well let's just get out of here. As a Keyblade master you have the power to open, close, and even create doors to different worlds." Dash was confused. "Then why do you need me?" Anjyu sighed. "My husband has kept me locked up in that castle for so long I can't create doors by myself anymore. With two Keyblades though it should work." Dash nodded and drew his Keyblade from its holster. "What do I have to do?" Anjyu drew here Calypso. "Aim your Keyblade out the windshield and focus." They both pointed out the front of the ship. A beam of energy shot out of the blades and what looked like a giant keyhole appeared. "Ok Dash now slowly turn your Key to the right." As they turned their blades a door appeared and began to open. Freya was sitting back and watching in awe.

The heartless ships were almost on them now. Anjyu banged her fist on the control panel. "Darn it Ansem! We might not be able to seal the door back in time." Freya got up. "I'll fly you guys go to the back of the ship and get that door sealed." Anjyu and Dash wasted no time in getting to the back. They began to close the door but were running out of time. "Dash we aren't going to be able to close and lock it in time." Freya ran in and grabbed Dash. Before Dash could question they began to glow. Anjyu smirked and though to herself. "That's a Trance not many Keyblade masters can do that, especially ones as new as he is." The glow faded and Dash refocused on the door slamming it shut. While Dash held it close Anjyu locked it causing it to disappear.

A few seconds later the Trance broke returning Dash and Freya to normal. "So you've only been a master a day and already know the Trance technique." Dash looked down the passageway to the cockpit. "Yeah, but umm who's flying the ship?" Freya giggled at Dash. "It's on auto pilot silly. This ship actually has a Nav Gummi." Dash sighed in relief. Anjyu eyed him until it caught his attention. "You know if I knew you could Trance that would have gone a lot better." Dash looked to the ground. "It's not my fault I only did it once before and that one was Freya's idea." Anjyu laughed at him. "Come on lets go to the cockpit we need to find a world to land on so I can teach you some things." Dash smiled. "Ok let's go."

They traveled through space for a while until a world came into view. Anjyu checked the Nav and smiled. "That's the Olympic Coliseum a perfect place to get some practice in." Anjyu shifted the ship back into manual and headed for the coliseum. They landed smoothly upon the earth's hot sandy era. Anjyu jumped out of the ship followed by Dash and Freya tagging along behind her. Dash looked in awe at the huge coliseum like he'd never seen anything so great and majestic in his entire lifetime. Anjyu smiled placing both hands on her hips. "Welcome to the Olympus coliseum where nearly every skilled fighter and keyblade master has ever trained or fought. This is the place where perfection is started and completed for most..." Anjyu suddenly transformed into a black skirt with a purple ribbon at the side and a black mini top to match with the same purple ribbon to match it with a glowing purple orb that rested upon her breast lightly and gracefully. It was where her Calypso dwelt within its core. "Wow that was amazing!" Freya retorted. "Yeah it's amazing what a little magic can do...Now let's go!" she grinned as she led them towards the coliseum with pride and ambition in her every step. Suddenly an at least two foot high little goat man appeared in front of them. "Where do you think your going?" he questioned them. "Inside!" Anjyu retorted. "Not without an ID you ain't!" he bellowed. "Fine!" Anjyu yelled very annoy idly as she pulled out a wrinkled old piece of paper from her back pocket. "This expired ten years ago!" he huffed. "It's not my fault I've not been out in ten years!" she screamed at him. "Sheesh lady no need to get hostile on me lady!" he retorted. Suddenly a tall spiky blond haired man dressed in black with two key blades appeared next to him.

"Hey now these good people have come a long way...don't you think you should be a little more considerate of their feelings Phil?" the man retorted. "Fine you can go in since the guardian says so...Rules are rules... He's clearly Hades son so I clearly must let you go through..." he muttered as he opened the large coliseum doors. Anjyu and Freya both followed him but Dash lagged behind them all trying to catch up with Tai. "Hey Tai I didn't know you trained here!" Dash added out of breath. "Of course I do rookie...all the great champions have trained here sometime in their lives...why even Sora trained here." Tai exclaimed. "Really?" Dash questioned. "Why of course! If it wasn't for this coliseum there wouldn't be any great key blade masters!" Tai added. "So do you train here?" Dash questioned him. "Of course I do! I train here quiet frequently actually...If you ever want to become a champion then you better start here first...You'll gain all your basic knowledge and skills here to help you get started...If I were you I'd also stick with Anjyu...She's my cousin...She may have been through everything but it has all made her stronger and incorruptible...
She'll help you become that champion. Just listen to her instruction for she is very wise..." he exclaimed, and then walked away before Dash could ender another words worth so he just decided to walk into the coliseum so he did.

"Hey Anjyu where did you go?" Dash walked into the main lobby where Freya was sitting on one of the benches. "Hey Freya where did Anjyu go?" Freya pointed to a door opposite of Dash. "She said she'd be right back she just needs to clear the arena." Moments later a bunch of different fighters came running into the lobby followed by Anjyu. "Come on Dash the Arena is all ours." Anjyu smirked and turned back down the hall. Dash ran to catch up.

As they walked outside to the Arena Dash could see that all the people that were in the lobby were now in the stands waiting for their training session. "Everyone is watching us." Anjyu smirked. "Of course and when the real tournament begins there will be a lot more." Dash began to sweat. "Don't worry Dash once the fight begins you won't even notice they are there." Anjyu drew her Calypso and readied her self for battle. Dash drew his Keyblade and readied himself.

Tai Watched from a shadow to see what the newbie could really do. Anjyu shifted her foot then lunged at Dash in full force. Dash lunged to the side deflecting her swing. Dash stumbled back and fell to the ground. Anjyu pointed her blade at Dash. "That was good but you can't dodge you must stand and fight." Dash got up and readied himself again. Anjyu lunged at him this time with a spinning swing. Dash grabbed both ends of the keyblade and braced for the blow. Their blades clashed sending sparks and energy flying everywhere. Dash broke the clash and jumped back. As soon as he touched the ground he lunged at Anjyu who was still disoriented. As Dash struck a magic shield deflected him. Dash flew back and landed on the ground. "Ow what the heck was that?" Anjyu laughed at Dash's confusion. "All powers must be used if you want to survive. You can't just swing your Keyblade around." Dash got up once again. "I don't have any other powers." Anjyu smirked. "Well you will soon."

They trained well into the evening. After dinner Dash returned to the Arena to get some solo time in. Tai was again observing Dash's Keyblading skills. He walked from out the shadows and up to Dash. "You learn quite quickly." He said as he entered the arena. Dash stopped practicing and turned to him. "Oh hey Tai. You really think so. I'm doing exactly what Anjyu told me to." Tai looked Dash over. "Well we will have a little tournament tomorrow nothing big I just want to see how good you two are." Dash raised an eyebrow. "Two?" Tai began to walk away. "Anjyu isn't the only one with a student." With that said Tai left the arena. Dash continued to look at the passage and decided turn in for the day.

Everyone got up bright and early the next morning. When they arrived at the arena everyone was gathered around the match up list. Anjyu pushed everyone out the way so she could see the list. "Oh this should be interesting." Anjyu said as she smiled at the list. "It seems you will fight Cloud in the second match. I knew him when he use to live in Hollow Bastion." Dash looked around. "Which one of these guys is he?" Footsteps came from the entry hall and a tall man with spiky golden hair, a maroon cape, black cloths, and a giant sword walked in. Anjyu pointed to him. "That's Cloud." Dash frowned. "Oh that's perfect." Anjyu chuckled. "Don't worry he isn't ruthless. Besides Sora fought him when he first came here." Tai walked in with another cloaked person holding a Keyblade that looked like Dash's. "That must be the student Tai was talking about." Everyone watched as they entered the arena.

Freya looked at the list again. "He must be Ghost." Anjyu looked at him in interest. "Ghost huh, knowing Tai this kid has some special skill." Everyone took to the stands as his opponent entered the arena. Anjyu pointed out the opponent." That's Leon. He also was in Hollow Bastion that is before Ansem lost his mind." The crowd went silent, as the battle was about to begin.

At the sound of the horn Leon cocked his Gunblade and went in for the strike. He swung at Ghost and it seemed to have right through him. Dash raised his eyebrow. "That's an after image you can only do that with extreme speed. He must have auto-haste." The image disappeared and Ghost could be seen standing right behind Leon. Ghost spun around and Smashed Leon with his Keyblade sending him out of the arena. The crowd looked on in shock. Ghost put away his Keyblade and then exited the arena.

Cloud got up and headed for the arena. That was Dash's queue to get up. Dash left the stands and headed for the arena. Cloud watched him closely as he took his position on the other side of the arena. Cloud looked at Dash's fighting posture and smirked. "I see you have fought along side Sora. You even stand like him a bit." Dash smiled. "Yeah he's the one who gave me this Keyblade." Cloud got serious. "You must be good if he just gave you a Keyblade." Cloud was now in a full fighting stance. "Lets just see how good you are.

A black wing shot out of his left shoulder and he thrusted Straight for Dash. They both swung and their blades met in a flash of energy. Dash pushed Cloud back and cast haste on himself. Cloud looked up and Dash was gone. "Huh where did he go? He must be using that speed technique Ghost used." Cloud stood up straight and closed his eyes. All of a sudden cloud spun around and swung. Sparks flew as he clashed with Dash. "I could hear your footsteps Dash." This time Dash was sent flying back.

"Ahhh" Dash yelled as he slammed on the ground. Cloud began to charge for his Omni-Slash. As Cloud charged Dash staggered to his feet. "Dash no can dodge my Omni-Slash." As Cloud drew close Dash's Keyblade began to glow. "I can. Anti-Grav." Dash flew up into the air as Cloud slashed down at where Dash once stood. "Ha I dodged it." Cloud smirked as his black wing extended. Cloud launched into the air and clashed with Dash.

They were up there for a good minute with their blades together trying to over power one another before they broke off and returned to the arena. They were both breathing heavily from fatigue. They went for one last charge. As they drew close Dash used a Strike Raid sending the blade skimming across the ground. Cloud flipped over the blade but as he came around Dash's foot was right there. As Cloud flew back the Keyblade came back around and slammed into his back dropping him to the ground. The Crowd drew silent as Cloud laid there in the center of the arena. Cloud started to get up using his sword as a brace. He got half way up before completely collapsing. The crowd went crazy as Dash was declared the victor.

Ghost walked into the arena now and drew his Keyblade. "Now we must fight for the title." Dash was still tired but accepted the fight anyway. They stood there staring at each other for a bit then Ghost disappeared. Dash cast haste and disappeared also. In an explosion of light from the center of the arena Ghost and Dash appeared but Tai had blocked both of their blades. "You two shouldn't be fighting you should actually work together." Dash and Ghost eyed each other then pulled back their Keyblades. Tai backed up and went into a fighting stance. "Come on and show me how good you two work together."

Dash and Ghost smirked at each other. Ghost disappeared and Dash did a Strike Raid as he charged toward Tai. Tai flipped into the air over Dash's Keyblade and clashed with Ghost who had met him up there. Dash jumped up and grabbed his Keyblade. He used The Anti-Grav spell again to send him flying into the air. Tai fought them both at the same time and was even pushing them back. As they got close to the edges of the arena Dash and Ghost disappeared followed by Tai and reappeared in the center of the arena. Tai began to laugh. "You two work really well together but still can't beat me." Dash got an idea. "Hey Ghost wanna try a Trance?" Ghost smirked. "Why not its worth a shot." Their Keyblades began to glow. Tai, Anjyu, and Freya immediately knew what was going on. In a flash of light and energy there was but one guy standing there with two Keyblades, glowing eyes, and an all white outfit. The whole crowd was in awe.

Tai readied himself for the worse. "That is perfect light energy the are emitting. I'll have to take it up a notch." Tai struck first this time but his swings were all deflected. Tai's dark side started to kick in and he was swirling with dark energy. The duo braced themselves as Tai rushed at them. They were braced for the impact but were still smashed to the ground and knocked out of their Trance. Tai was about to destroy them when Anjyu stepped in and floored Tai. "Control yourself!" Tai got up and shook his head. "Wow that never happened before. Must have been the half of me that is dark reacting to their pure light energy. Dash and Ghost slowly got up. Anjyu turned to them. "That was pretty impressive I think were ready to continue our journey now." Dash dusted himself off. "Yeah lets go." Tai walked up to Dash and Ghost. "Here you earned this."

Tai handed the Oathkeeper to Dash and the Oblivion to Ghost. "You two should be able to use the them better then I can." The two accepted their gifts. Ghost started to leave but Dash stopped him. "Ghost why don't you come with us?" Ghost shook his head. "Now that my training is done I have things to take care of. Maybe another time." They agreed and went their separate ways.