Hand in Hand
By: zhakeena / Spare Change
Disclaimers: I don't own anything in the story so far. I'll tell you all when.
Warnings: partly AU, some OOC, a lot of Disney characters (hey, we gotta give 'em some air time, people!) and then some. Don't worry. A lot of Cloud, though.
Quick author's notes: I'm so sorry… ;; I've forgotten about this thing. I hope this still floats.
The Coliseum
The Gummi Ship's large gummy door opened as soon as the obsessive-compulsive chipmunks fiddled with the controls. "Okay people, step out slowly, we don't want any more Gummi blocks dented, ya hear?!" said the one without the big red nose, Chip, in his trademark squeaky voice.
Sora knew that the little critter was talking about him. He had only managed to successfully deform a good amount of Gummi blocks—one of the Gummi joysticks used for navigation when he tried helping out in driving, his Gummi chair, a Gummi window sill when he leaned on it, the Gummi floor of his quarters when he fell of his bed, and yes, even the Gummi toilet flusher after he ate bad Taquitos. It was rather hard to be a rough-and-tumble kind of kid in a place full that's practically made of gelatinous material. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, sir…" he muttered in irritation.
He felt Goofy's large gloved hand hit his back in assurance as soon as they stepped on the rough, stone floor of this so-called "World" composed only of one area. "Hyuk! Don' mind 'em so much, Sora! They don' hate ya or anythin'… they're just doin' their job!"
"Oh yeah? They looked pretty miffed when I wrecked the toilet flusher…" the boy replied.
He heard Donald say something almost incomprehensible. "Ah, phooey! They don't use the toilet anyway!... anyway, Sora, here's another world for you to seal."
"The—"
"Coliseum, yes," squawked the magician, nodding knowledgeably.
Sora stared at the large Roman columns standing by the large, wooden entrance of the battle arena. He had always wondered why Disney used the Roman Coliseum when it's supposed to 'house' characters based off of Greek Mythology. Oh well. It's not like most of the people who are going to watch his movie would have read up on Mythology…
"That is," he thought to himself, faltering slightly, "If I make it out of this one alive… or if I wake up… yeah… any minute now, I'll wake up…" He sighed. Donald and Goofy were already making their way towards the entrance. "Say, kid, you'd better hurry or we'll leave you behind!" said the duck.
"Oh. Right. Coming!" Sora sprinted towards the entrance and followed after them.
--
The hall looked very… old. Kind of like visiting a museum or the set of… Troy?
The only sources of light were torches hanging on the walls and sunlight that peered through the cracks of the granite. There were square chunks of wood and metal hanging at the walls also, displaying names of previous competitors. Like Donald told him and Goofy, "Losers get wood and Winners get metal! We better not get wood!"
They reached the end of the hallway, where another large wooden door blocked their way to the outside. Sora stepped back in shock when he saw the figure standing by and scribbling some notes on a piece of wood.
The figure noticed his appalled look and frowned. "What's the matter? Ain't seen a Centaur before?" he said in annoyance.
Sora bit his lip. It's… really a man-goat… gross… but I shouldn't be surprised, I guess… I mean, I've been hanging out with a talking duck and a Goofy for a while now…
The man-goat turned to the three of them and eyed them suspiciously before saying in an uneasy drawl, "So… gentlemen? What can I do for ya?"
"Uh… we was wonderin'… if ya seen any Key-holes around here?" Goofy asked, and then flinched when Donald elbowed him painfully at the side.
"Key-holes? Yeah, know about them, but ain't got time for them. Not with all the baddies sprouting out of nowhere and joinin' the competition here," said the man-goat, getting back to drawing things on his wood-chunk.
"Baddies?" asked Donald. "Ya don't mean…"
"Yeah, baddies. You think the tournaments are bad enough with all the lions and those things from the Underworld, but noooo! Hades comes in with his ugly blue head and enlists those Heartless things to fight!" the Centaur paused in his drawing, erased some things and resumed his scribbling. "Sure, more Heartless means more competition and entertainment, but so far, no new players had been able to beat 'em. Only my kid Herc's been able to come out to the top, unharmed."
"Ya mean Hercules? He fights here, too?" Goofy asked.
"Well… yeah… occasionally." He tapped his pencil on his noggin, as if in deep thought. "But when he isn't fighting 'em, the Heartless gets out of the Coliseum and harasses the Prometheans and Spartans who usually just come over to watch…"
"Oh! You mean there's actually something outside the Arena?" asked Sora.
The Centaur raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure there is! What are you, stupid? Where do ya think we get the audience, huh?"
He shrank back. "Sorry," he said meekly.
Donald shook his head. "Sounds bad. So, Sora, you up for a fight?" he asked, turning to him.
"Me?" Sora asked, pointing to himself in mild surprise.
"Him?!" asked the Centaur, apparently more surprised than him. "A kid barely in his teens? Not to be mean or anything, Spiky, but even Herc sometimes has a hard time killing those things…" he sneered, shaking his head. "Just… forget it. Go home before one of the Heartless beats the bajeezus out of you."
"Hey! I've beaten a few Heartless on the way here, goat-man!" Sora snapped. Geez, this goat's more annoying in real life than in his flick…
"Oh yeah?" Apparently, Goat-man wasn't convinced.
"Sure did! Look at his weapon here! Ahyuck…" said Goofy, pointing to Sora's Keyblade as he brandished it around proudly. "That thing picked him, ya know."
"Hmm." Goat-man peered at the weapon closer, examining it if it were genuine or not. "Say, that ain't a bad-looking weapon ya got there, kid… you know how to use it?"
Sora felt a vein ready to burst in his forehead. "O… Of course I do! That's why I have it!"
"If that's the case," said Goat-man, inspecting the hallway and running over to the corner to get a barrel standing there harmlessly, "Why don't you bust this barrel? And don't just whack it. Do it… artistically."He said the word 'artistically' with a flourish.
"Kay! That's easy," said the boy, going into battle stance. Raising the Key-blade, he started running towards the barrel. In a matter of swings in 5.32 seconds, the barrel was reduced to nothing less than sawdust. "Hah! Beat that, baby!" he said victoriously.
Donald and Goofy clapped, but Goat-man had this unimpressed look on his face. "Hmn. Not bad, not bad, kid."
"What? Whaddya mean not bad?!"
"Well, let's see. First of all, you didn't prepare yourself properly. If it were a hundred barrels, you'd be too cramped up to bust 50," he explained as if he were a judge in a singing talent show a la Midgarian Idol or something. "Another thing, I specifically told ya to do it artistically! I didn't see no artsy stuff in yer moves back there, kid! All you did was jump and swing that thing as if it was a baseball bat!"
Sora scratched his head sheepishly. "Eh…"
"But I'll tell ya what ya have, kid. Potential," said Goat-man, wiping his fingernails against his bare tummy before offering his hand. "Name's Philoctetes, but ya can call me Phil. What about you, kid?"
"Ah… Sora," he replied uneasily, looking at the hand first before taking it in a handshake. "And those two are—"
"Donald Duck and Goofy. Yeah, I know. Herc's been telling me about you two and about how he sees you on TV," said Phil, shaking their hands.
"Oh, really? Ahyuck! Whaddya know," said Goofy. Sora, however, got sort of confused. "Huh? TV? I thought you worked for royalty, not for the media," he said in total bafflement.
Donald shrugged. "What can I tell ya, Sora. That's what King Mickey's Kingdom does—spread happiness all around. Me and Goofy here have a talent for making people laugh—"
"Ya could say that besides actin' funny, we look funny—"
"Yeah, so at one point in our lives, yeah, we were actors. But now that we're more mature, we have a greater mission… and that is, to save worlds," finished Donald, nodding proudly.
Yeah. At one point of my life, I was an actor too, thought Sora in dismay. "But… who do you, er… 'spread happiness' to? How come this 'Herc' person knows about you when he's from here?"
The two shrugged. "Hercules is a god. He and them other Olympians are King Mickey's communication to other worlds. That's how they're aware of the other worlds' existence."
"Oooh."
Phil was already tapping one foot in impatience. "Well, are ya done with that? Can I talk to the next champeen yet?"
"Champeen?"
"He meant Champion."
"Oh."
"Anyway, kid, look over here," said Phil, taking the wood-chunk he was scribbling stuff on, "I was makin' this strategy for Herc to use if he's gonna fight 10 Heartless at a time, see? I want ya to study this," he said, pushing the wood-chunk in Sora's hands. The 14-year-old stared bug-eyed at it. "Oh… okay," he replied weakly.
"And I'll train ya good! Barrels first, then we take on Heartless. Wait til the guys hear about this—the next hero, a scrawny kid like you!" The Centaur was already visualizing his victory party.
Barrels? Sounds boring. If Sora must do it, he shouldn't be doing it by himself. "Hey! If I'm gonna beat anyone, those two are supposed to help me, right?"
"Oh, sure, but you'll go through barrel training by yourself."
"Say what?! But…"
"The duck's a court magician and the dog's a general, for cripe's sake. They don't need to prove anything. You, however, my young, spiky-haired friend, may be young, budding, brash and all that crap… but still lack in the experience department," he said, patting the insulted Sora's shoulder. "So, shall we get this party started?"
--
"Faster, kid! Let's see some sawdust!"
Sora ground his teeth in frustration. He had already gone through this annoying barrel course for… 13 tries now, he was already and he still didn't beat the stupid time limit… and those damned animals/animal hybrids are watching him go through it each and every time. Stupid barrels stupid barrels stupid barrels stupid barrels stupid barrels…
"Time's up! Ahyuck"
"HAAA!" Sora managed to hit the last barrel off the platform. It flung haplessly towards the audience bleachers where it burst into little bitty scraps of wood.
"Yo, kid, you're a second off, but I'll let that slip," said Phil, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Just remember that a second's difference is enough for a Heartless to turn the tables on you and eat your face."
"I'm not gonna learn anything by hitting barrels, am I? They aren't even moving!" shouted Sora across the arena.
"Yeah. That's why you've graduated from barrel basher to Heartless basher trainee," said Phil, waddling towards him with Donald and Goofy trailing behind. "But since it's a sissy game—you only fight for 5 rounds—don't expect a large crowd or anythin', so I don't expect ya to get stage fright. All of 'em are gonna arrive once we put the tough contenders in."
"What do these 'tough contenders' look like?" Donald squawked.
"Let's see. According to the schedule…" Phil scanned the large black board with chalk scrawls in Greek all over it. "Hm. We only got one of 'em today… a human at that. Not a god, or a demon, or a Heartless…"
"Uh… who is it?" Goofy asked.
Sora flinched. He didn't read Greek, but that scrawl was pretty clear to him, since it was written in the Roman alphabet:
Cloud Strife
--
Hades, lord of the Underworld, was in one of the shadier parts of the arena, smoking a cigar. "Phew… needed that. Stupid no-smoking regulations in the arena… Sheesh. Like it would catch fire, with all the spell-casters casting Firaga everywhere…" he muttered in annoyance. He turned to the man who was eyeing the small population of people taking their seats on the bleachers. "Yo. Want a smoke? Looks like you could use one."
The man didn't reply, nor did he turn to the god.
"Geez. I feel like I'm talkin' to a wall here…" Hades blew out a circle of smoke that eventually disappeared before it hit the person he was speaking to. "So… you've seen the kid yet?"
He eyed the brown-haired youth dodging a blow from one of the ant-like critters. The Key-blade in the teen's hands shone under the sunlight; it was rather… interesting. "Yeah."
"So… what do you think?"
"Too easy," he turned away from the show, his cape swishing behind him as he walked. "Almost not worth it. Why would you wanna get rid of a kid? You're the god of the underworld, for the love of…"
"Hey! Who's the boss and who's the hitman here?" Hades threw the cigar over his shoulder. It disappeared in a puff of black, sinister-looking smoke. "Look, we got an agreement, pally. You kill all the people I want, I help you search for whatever—or in this case, whoever it is you're searching. And if I want you to kill a kid, you kill a kid, or the deal's off, and you get to take a dip in the river Styx. I hope we're clear with that, Cloud."
Cloud closed his eyes in annoyance and contemplation. The lord of the underworld smirked at his reaction. "I suggest you better gear up, Mr. Strife. I think you're up next."
He didn't say another word when he went out of the room.
Hades shook his head. "What a stiff. Well… just in case his goody-goody side comes out…" He eyed the caged part of the arena, where three pairs of sinister-looking eyes were glaring everywhere. "I think I'll go buy popcorn. This is gonna be a great show." He stepped out of the room as the announcers shouted out, "And that's the killing blow, ladies and gents! Once again, our new challenger Sora wins!"
--
Sora victoriously hopped over to his companions and self-appointed trainer, who congratulated him gleefully. "Nice, kid! I taught ya well, didn't I?"
Sora gave him a sour look. "All you made me do was kill those stupid barrels…"
"Hey! That's what ya call training! Why, you wouldn't be that speedy if you didn't do it!"
"Sora, you blasted them back there! Wawawark!" squeaked Donald proudly.
"Ahyuck! Told ya ya didn't need our help back there. Huhuhuhoo!" Goofy snorted as he scratched his nose.
The few spectators who were present during the last 4 rounds craned their necks to get a closer look at Sora. He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well… like Phil said, they weren't dangerous monsters, so it's really a piece of pie… I think I can ace this and win the cup!"
"Rule # 65, kid. Don't get so cocky!" Phil whacked him over the head.
"Ow!" Sora cried in pain.
"Now pay attention! Here, drink this electrolyte solution here… should keep you going… good thing we get a 15-minute intermission," said the Centaur, tossing him a bottle. Sora caught it and gratefully took a swig. Hmm. Tropical punch. "Now just regenerate while I go scope out the competition…" With that, he waddled off.
"So, Sora, ya really think ya can win this?" Goofy asked, his eyes wider than ever.
He just shrugged. "Well… sure. I'm supposed to if we're gonna get out of here," he replied coolly.
"Yeah, but…" Donald squawked, "We aren't supposed to be participatin' in tournaments! We're supposed to be looking for keyholes," he whispered.
Sora smirked. "Trust me. We're gonna find the keyhole once we win this."
"How sure are ya, anyway?"
"Very."
"Hmm…" Goofy touched his chin thoughtfully. "If I din't know any better, I'd say ya know where the key holes are…" He and Donald looked at him suspiciously. He faltered. "Eh…. No. Intuition. Comes with being the Key-blade master…. Y'know… heheh," he said, grinning stupidly.
Still narrowing their eyes, the two paused when Phil came galloping towards them frantically. "Yo! Kid! I saw the next guy yer up against! And believe me, it ain't no love parade!"
"What are ya talkin' about?" asked Donald.
"The guy's a FREAK! Got that freaky wing and that freaky claw… And he's carrying a huge-ass sword with him! Man!" At the sound of the word huge-ass, Sora frowned in disbelief, but because it didn't seem to affect anybody else, he just let it pass. The Centaur wiped his brow free of perspiration. "I'm tellin' ya kid, ya ain't ready for this guy. It ain't a fair fight. He isn't fit to be first-time material," he said in a panicky manner.
"So… we just forfeit? Jus' like that?" asked Goofy.
"If ya want junior here to live, yeah."
The three of them eyed Sora questioningly. Ultimately, after all, the decision lies with him. He just shrugged at them nonchalantly. "I'm fighting."
"… eh? Kid, I don't think I've told you how freaky this guy looks. I mean, he's a walking freak show! People would pay to see him!" Phil started waving his hands in frustration.
"Yeah… but I just have a good feeling, you know?"
"A. Good. Feeling?!?!?!?!? That's it?!"
Donald and Goofy looked at him worriedly. He just winked. "Like I told Goofy and Donald. Intuition. Comes with being a key-blade master."
"Intermission's over, folks! Get your butts back on your seats and the show will start again!" the announcers boomed.
"Well, gotta go. Thanks for the punch," he tossed the bottle back to the Centaur and coolly walked towards the field.
"Okay, but I'm not responsible for yer corpse, ya hear?! I warned ya!"
The growing crowd behind him cheered.
--
Believe me… I don't wanna go through this myself…
But if I don't…
Who knows what'll happen to him? Hades might take him to the underworld, no questions asked… and then what…? It's gonna be hell.
I'm not letting that happen to my dad. No way.
--
"And now, our rising star for the day, Sora, will have a showdown with resident cold-blooded mercenary man Cloud Strife, representing the lord of the underworld Hades' side! Will our teen challenger even hope to survive against this one? This announcer doesn't think so! Good luck, kid! And remember, we ain't responsible for anything, ya hear?!"
Sora gave the announcer a look. "Aw, man?! Even the announcers are against me?!... well, I don't blame them," he thought as he faced Cloud.
The mercenary looked at him coldly. His trademark Buster Sword, now looking more deadly because of the bloodied bandages wrapped randomly around it, was held in one hand. He swung it once, as if to taunt him. Sora swallowed hard. In that instant, he knew… This guy. He's not my dad in any way at all.
"And let… the battle…. Begin!" A horn sounded of somewhere, signaling the start of their fight.
All it took was one look. One glance at Sora's eyes before Cloud charged all-out. The boy barely dodged his attack. He rolled on the side. "Yeow!" Sora screamed.
The mercenary ran towards him and swung his sword at him, managing to cut off some of the ends of the boy's spikes. "Sora! Defense!" shouted Phil from the sides. Donald and Goofy were biting their fingers (gloved or feathered) in excitement.
"Defense! Defense!" the new Sora supporters cheered from the side.
"How the heck am I gonna do that?! All I'm doing is running around…" he thought in panic. Panic panic panic panic!
Cloud just barely missed hitting Sora again. "Is that the best you can do, kid? You're in a tournament." He swung his blade again, but Sora this time managed to block the blow with the Key Blade.
They lingered in that position. The audience and announcers all "ooh"ed at that.
"Not bad," said Cloud, but he instantly struck again. Sora barely jumped away from the attack. His arm was damaged. "AaaH!" he screamed.
This can't be! He thought in panic. He didn't anticipate this—his arm had a clean cut on it, and it was losing blood fast. I'm… bleeding?!
Cloud paused. He dropped his sword-wielding arm at the side and flipped his hair. "Now you know who you're up against." He assumed battle stance and charged at Sora again.
With little time to be alert, Sora managed to block the blow again. But Cloud kicked him at the side, which sent him rolling to the edge of the stage. The audience flinched with him, but now Sora knew that he had to be alert. I guess this isn't in the script. He's really gonna kill me.
As Cloud stepped towards him, Sora jumped up and sent two big-shoed feet at the mercenary's face. This, of course, surprised Cloud a bit. He stepped back. "Oh yeah! Tech I learned from Riku!" gloated Sora.
"Hmph." Cloud wiped the back of his hand against his face. "So you can fight. Let's go."
"Huh?!" Before Sora knew it, the man whom he looked up as father no more started glowing. Small, electric sparks formed around him before his wing sprouted to life. With that, Cloud started flying full-speed towards him. Caught off-guard, Sora still managed to block a sword-strike, but he was thrown back a few steps. Cloud was preparing for another strike.
"Damn…!!!" Sora thought in panic. He closed his eyes and braced himself for another strike. He knew he wouldn't be able to block the next move, but…
"FIRE!"
A small blast of fire hit Cloud, singeing his arm in the process. His eyes widened dangerously before he lowered himself on the ground. Suddenly there was a dog shielding the kid and a duck, having just finished casting the spell, glared at him furiously.
"Ladies and gents, it seems that we have new players ready for some beating!"
Sora opened his eyes and found Goofy a few steps in front of him. "You guys?! What are you doing here?!"
"This guy's gonna kill you, for cripe's sake, Sora! We ain't gonna stand by and watch!" said Donald, his incomprehensible speech a notch higher. He faced Cloud again. "So, ya big palooka! Show me whatcha got!"
"I got yet back, Donald! Ahyuck…" said Goofy, going into battle stance.
"The new players are mad, folks! This supposedly calls for a disqualification, but for the sake of entertainment, let's check out what happens! Are the scales balanced now that the magician and the soldier joined the fight, or is it just one futile attempt to take down the mercenary? I think it's the latter, folks!" The announcer guy said, encouraging some hoots and boos from the audience.
Cloud frowned, more in annoyance than anything else. "This is a waste of time…" he muttered before doing something unexpected again—he raised his claw and started forming a ball of black energy around it. Sora, Donald and Goofy's eyes widened in fright. "The heck?!" they cried out in unison.
"Gravija." The spell hit Donald and Goofy. Pure force crushed them to the ground, leaving them incapacitated and groaning in pain. Sora stepped back as Cloud stepped forward. "You're next, kid." He swung his sword menacingly again.
"Dammit!" Sora stared at the unmoving bodies of Goofy and Donald. He wasn't sure if they were still breathing or not. "Did you kill them?!" Now it was pretty clear to him: this isn't a show or a game. People and things he previously referred to as mere cartoon characters could bleed… and even die.
"I hope I did. Don't worry, you're up next." Cloud struck him again with the sword. His shoulder was hit—the new rush of blood to the surface stained his white sleeve. Sora screamed in pain. Another slash at the arm.
The boy dropped the Key-blade, unable to hold onto it any longer. Drops of blood hit the ground.
The audience hooted in excitement. "Ladies and gents, Sora dropped his weapon! He looks pretty messed up! But Cloud, our man, is unfazed! What kind of cold-blooded killer could do that to a kid? Looks like he isn't gonna let him live!"
"Give up yet?" said Cloud coldly as he barely missed stabbing Sora in the gut.
"Daaah!" yelled Sora. He fell to the side again. Man… I gotta think… I can't die here! No way!
"I have to kill you…" muttered the mercenary. His blue eyes glowed dangerously down on Sora.
What do I do? Do I psych him out or something? Sora shut his eyes and took a deep breath before saying, "Cloud! Wait! Listen to me first!"
Surprisingly, Cloud paused for a short moment. He shook his head in disbelief and smirked. "I have a job to do," he said, raising his bandaged sword another time.
"Cloud!" Sora felt very awkward calling this man that. "You don't have to do this! Hades is messing with your mind! AH!" He rolled away from another sword stab.
"Shut up," said Cloud. He charged at Sora yet again.
Dammit! This guy definitely isn't my dad! Sora thought to himself as he bit his lower lip in frustration. He jumped up and blocked another blow. "Cloud! You gotta open your eyes! Hades is tricking you!" he cried as Cloud's sword's hilt hit him on the shoulder.
Cloud glared at him. "You don't need to preach me about my decision. I made it on my own."
"But, da—I mean, Cloud! How could you trust the lord of the underworld to help you find Ae…" Sora trailed off. At the mention of the last word (or at least part of it), Cloud froze in mid-strike. His eyes widened. "What did you say?" his tone was very low and even more dangerous.
Sora breathed hard, stood up and faced him with a fierce determination in his eyes. The crowd fell silent, still in awe that Sora managed to make Cloud stop fighting, even for a little while. Goofy and Donald, waking up from being KO'd (but still pretty messed up), looked up at him in wonder. He closed his eyes first before continuing. "Yeah… that's what I said…. Your light."
Cloud held his sword in one hand in a passive manner. "You don't know anything about my light."
"I know everything about your light, Cloud." Sora said, not breaking eye contact with him. I've known her… all my life…
"And I know that you wouldn't find your light like this. You'll just end up killing yourself."
The mercenary fell silent. He contemplated on Sora's words for a moment. But just when Sora thought he was sold, he smirked suddenly. "Maybe… maybe so. But…" He raised his sword again. "I trust Hades. He's a god. Gods don't break deals. He'll bring me back to her… and if I fail here, I'd rather rot in Hell than live not forgiven."
Sora froze.
"So… I'll have to kill you. It's taken too long already…" Without further ado, he charged at the boy again and successfully stabbed him on the shoulder. Sora screamed in pain.
"Why I oughta--!!" Donald jumped up and cast a fire spell at Cloud. He just blocked it with a sword and retaliated with an even worse fire spell.
Goofy tossed a potion at Sora. "Drink up, Sora, before you get killed!"
Sora felt his arm going numb. So that was how it felt bleeding to death… but when he got a hold of the potion and started drinking up, he was amazed at how quick his wounds healed. So… that was how it was.
But when he looked up again, he only saw Goofy being thrown out of the ring by Cloud, making him land in a pile on the charred Donald. Cloud gave him another cold glare. "It's taken too long already…" he repeated, and with his claw, he lifted Sora by his neck. The part of the crowd who had their bets placed on Cloud started shouting, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
Sora choked. He felt Cloud's mangled hand begin to crush his windpipe… I'm gonna die gonna die gonna die
But before he did, Cloud's grip loosened. He opened one eye warily, and found out that this man who looks like his father was gently lowering him to the ground. When he let go, Sora stumbled on the floor and started coughing.
His eyes tearing up, he looked up at Cloud, who was shaking himself violently. He could almost hear his thoughts, all messed up and deadly: This kid has nothing to with me I must do this for her he kind of looks like her what is wrong with me the voices are talking again he's laughing again mocking me mocking me this kid has nothing to do with me with her with him he musn't… musn't…
"Da…d?" Sora thought in wonder as he watched this man crumble without warning in front of him.
--
At one of the hidden seats in the Coliseum, Hades shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Geez… I knew that guy would chicken out at the last minute… loser… these humans are all the same." He sighed, took a sip from his bottle of Herculade, and snapped two blue fingers.
A loud roar echoed throughout the stadium. He smirked.
"Well… Another rule from the goat man. Accidents happen."
--
Notes: Cloud is such a bastard in this chapter… like how I imagined him to be. Ah well.
And yes, a lot of interaction with Disney characters. I can't help it, people, it's a big part of the story! And besides, Hercules is one of the few animated Disney flicks I enjoyed, songs and all that (Ya gotta love Hades. He's cool.)… even though I was pretty miffed in the game when Hercules touched Cloud's butt, and had me believing that Herc must be one of the fruity-boy types of Greek gods. Heheh.
I know you got a question in your mind: If Cloud was massacring Sora in front of a crowd, why isn't anybody doing anything? No mistake there; in the Coliseum, you actually watch people get mangled by lions, or soldiers, or centurions—and you are expected to enjoy it. Yes… people who go to the Coliseum are pretty morbid people, that they are… XD
My brain got really clouded with all the Cloudiness of this chapter… you see, this line was part of my first draft of this chapter:
"Cloud! You don't need darkness to find your light! That just doesn't make sense; in fact, it's kind of idiotic when you think about it!"
So, you see how stupid I felt back then. Sorry if this chapter isn't so spectacular… I'm so uninspired lately…