Right, well. Something's screwed up... You know those horizontal lines? They aren't working right now.. So until its fixed, I'll just have to use bigger spaces. Sorry. Here goes:
Sora's heart rate was slowly resuming a more normal pace. He knew that he was feeling too confident right now, but he had beaten Hades before. He'd even done it alone once or twice. Auron, who was standing next to Sora, wasn't saying anything.
"Well, kid." Hades began, "Once again Cerberus has failed me. So it only goes to show, that if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself!" Hades elevated into his super-heated form and liquid fire began to drip from his fingertips. "You've pissed me off for the last time!"
Sora dodged Hades first three flame attacks and countered with a spinning Vortex combination. Hades glided back slightly, but pointed his fingers in the classic "hand-gun" position. Hades bent his thumb and a quick blast of fire shot from his index.
Sora rolled out of the way, but Auron simply leaned to the side, and the "bullet" sped past him. Now, Auron decided to take the offensive. Auron ran forward, weaving to avoid the shots from Hades. However, when he got close enough to strike, Hades clipped him on the shoulder. Auron didn't cry out, even though his shoulder was aflame. Instead, Auron drove his blade through Hades and left it there.
Auron leapt back and finally tried to deal with the fire that was thriving on his shoulder. "Here!" Sora called to Auron. He took careful aim and produced a weak Blizzard, which managed to stop the spreading flame.
Sora came over to Auron and inspected the shoulder. It was pretty badly burned, so bad that the skin had turned black. "Doesn't it hurt?" Sora asked. Auron nodded. "Like Hell…"
Sora heard a hacking sort of sound and turned to see Hades managing to stumble toward them, the hilt of Auron's sword still visible in his torso.
"I'll finish this, now!" Sora said, planting his feet firmly. "Power!" The Keyblade charged with energy and Sora manipulated it into the Strike Raid technique. Sora hurled the Keyblade at Hades, once, twice, three times, four, and finally; "Finish!" Sora threw with all the power he had and the spinning blade hit Hades full-on, hard, before returning to its master.
Hades stumbled back, before falling face first onto the stone floor, his hair dieing down low and his skin paling. Sora sheathed the Keyblade and placed his hands on his knees, breathing hard, but otherwise okay. Auron walked over. "Nice job"
Sora smiled and stood up. "Yeah!" Said an echoing voice. "Nicely done kid!" Sora's smile dropped instantly. Hades was getting up from the floor. "That was a superb demonstration of wasting you time." He said, brushing his shoulders off. He then removed the sword from his stomach. The sword had melted slightly, and Hades tossed it aside.
Sora was speechless. "How-" Hades laughed. "Stupid little brat. You don't get it do you?! That's what you get for thinking your some kind of hero." Auron figured it out. "He rules over the Underworld, and that's where we are. We can't beat him while he's still here. At least not for long."
Hades looked at Auron longingly. "You would have made such a great servant. Good help is so hard to come by these days…." He shrugged. "Too bad, time to die." Sora readied his Keyblade; they'd have one chance to do this right.
Hades threw a large fireball, but this time as it approached, Sora lifted the Keyblade to guard. The fire connected with the Keyblade and Sora used all the strength he had to push it back. It wasn't easy. The heat was making him lose strength, fast, and the force of the blast was pushing him further and further back. But with a shout, it finally rebounded and sped straight for Hades' face. By the time the smoke cleared, Sora and Auron were gone.
Sora and Auron ran through the gloomy maze that was the Underworld. They eventually came to a tall ledge and hoisted themselves up. Auron and Sora sat back and rested for a moment before the Keybearer happened to look down.
They were right above the gate leading into the Coliseum. The Heartless flow seemed to have stopped, but Sora was sure that Hades was only pausing to count the next batch to be released.
"C'mon!" Sora whispered. Together, Sora and Auron climbed down until the were facing the gate. Auron looked over at Sora. "I'll see you on the other side." Auron said, before rushing through the gateway.
But as Sora approached, the Keyblade pulsed and a Keyhole appeared in the center of the gateway. "No!!" Hades roared. He had finally caught up, and was now moving as fast as he could to get to Sora.
Sora turned and rammed the Keyblade into the Keyhole. "No!!!" Sora twisted, and the chamber was flooded by light.
When the light died down, Sora was standing in the Coliseum arena, and Auron was looking around. Donald and Goofy were also just stepping through Hercules' portal, which promptly shut behind them. Sora looked back at the gateway. It was sealed. Sora somehow knew that even Hercules wouldn't be able to open that gate for a while.
Donald and Goofy ran over to join Sora and Auron. "How'd you guys beat Cerberus?" Sora asked, turning back around to face them. Donald pushed at the air with his hand, grinning. "Aww, it was easy. At first we had a little trouble, but I finally got him in the eye with Thunder. Last time we saw him, Cerberus was yelping and crashing into stuff like a stupid little puppy. Right Goofy?" Donald asked, looking for his partner for backup.
Goofy, however, was busy looking around the arena. "Uh, guys?" Goofy called, "Does this place seem a little weird to you?" Sora looked around, and was shocked that he hadn't immediately noticed the devastation that had come over the stadium. There were giant craters that pitted the ground. The stone bleachers had been destroyed, and dozens of motionless soldiers littered the floor.
As Sora was taking this in, Hercules crashed through the wall. The demi-god bounced and landed heavily on his back. Sora and the others rushed over to him. Hercules tried to get up, but he simply fell back again. He settled for grabbing Sora's shirt.
"Sora" Hercules whispered painfully. The dude had been thrashed. Sora had never seen Hercules beat so bad. There were bruises everywhere, blood, scorch marks, cut lips, and fractured ribs. Herc had it all. "Sora, run." Hercules begged. "Please. Run. He's working…"Hercules struggled to remain conscious. "He…'s working for them….He is too…Powerful. Can't beat him…." Hercules' eyes rolled back into his head. "Who! Who?! Who's too powerful?!" Sora asked, shaking the unconscious warrior.
Donald tapped Sora's shoulder and pointed through the two holes in the walls that Hercules had made when he was thrown through. "Him" Donald said. When Sora saw what Donald was identifying, his blood ran cold.
Sora hadn't really won the last battle against him. The warrior had obviously held back, but he wasn't now. That was the reason Sora's body couldn't move. Even though he had just run into the God of the Underworld Hades, who, himself was hotter than an inferno, Sora only just now felt as if he had stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He was staring at the piercing blue eyes of one of the most dangerous beings alive. Sora's mind raced. Even at full power, (which, after an exhausting battle with Hades, he certainly was not) Sora wondered:
Was he strong enough to take on the awesome power of Sephiroth?
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