CHAPTER LIX
LETTINGS THE REINS GO LOOSE
Hades turned his entire body to a red, billowing flame as the floating Sora gracefully glided around him, pummeling him with his dual keyblades. The flames kept the blades from slashing into Hades' weak, fleshy body as he controlled the Heartless Kronk, sending it after the annoying little insects on the ground…
Kairi did an impressive flip as she landed on a hilltop next to Donald and Goofy. "Pacha, get Kuzco to safety…you've done all you can," Kairi said.
"But-" Pacha tried to protest.
"Now! Go!" she said, pushing Pacha as hard as she could toward the temple. Sensing that she was right, Pacha and Kuzco took off running for safety.
Donald, Goofy and Kairi couldn't get near the Heartless Kronk without being crushed by its massive feet…Hades was trying with all his might to crush them, still fighting off Flight Sora with his flames…
"Goofy, hit him with everything you got!" Donald yelled, as Goofy charged his shield…letting it go as soon as he had a clear view of Hades. The mako shield zoomed through the air at an intense speed, as Kairi and Donald clinked their keyblade and wand together, screaming 'blizzaja!'. The most powerful version of the ice attack drained them of all their magic power, causing them to collapse on the ground from exhaustion…but their job had been done…
Up in the sky, the dual-blizzaja attack caught up with the shield, still rocketing towards Hades – instantly, the shield became frozen as blustery white winds whipped all around the powerful enchanted shield…preoccupied with Sora, still slashing away, Hades never saw it coming…
It slammed into the god of death, putting out all of his flames in one fell swoop. Even the hair on his head died out, causing him to look quite unimpressive. In a fit of rage, he swung the Heartless Kronk's arm sideways, knocking the incapacitated Donald, Goofy and Kairi almost fully to the base of the temple.
Seizing the opportunity, Flight Sora slashed at Hades with all his might, knocking him further and further away from the puppet heartless. When the black cord had become stretched to the limit, Sora simultaneously slashed through the control box with his backhand, smashing it to bits while it was still in Hades' hands; with the other keyblade he connected with Hades face, knocking him clear off his black cloud as he fell one hundred feet to the ground below.
Diving down at his flameless body, Sora brought both his keyblades behind his back, aiming straight for Hades like a lawn dart.
Grimacing with pain, Hades looked up at Sora, his eyes pleading for mercy while he mouth did the opposite. "Kid, you got gaul…but the rest of the Legion will finish what I was sent to start…" he coughed. "See you in the underworld, champ…"
And with that, Sora brought his blades together, slamming straight through Hades torso, destroying him on impact. The Legion suit dematerialized as the tribal markings flew upward into the sky, turning into smaller and smaller particles as they went up. When Sora looked back down at Hades, he saw nothing but an empty, black toga. Sora, still wearing his orange suit, turned his friends, hoping to celebrate their victory.
But when he looked back toward the temple, he saw a terrible sight – the Heartless Kronk, no longer controlled by Hades, had gone berserk as it headed straight for Kuzco's palace. It wildly swung its arms around it, running drunkenly as it went. Sora took off into the air once more, zooming straight for the heartless' head…
In the temple, Pacha and Kuzco looked through a window in the audience chamber, hoping to see what was going on…they hadn't hoped, however, to see a massive heartless charging straight at them…as it neared the steps to the palace, Kuzco ran to a large cord hanging on the wall near his indoor swimming pool. He pulled it as a loud flushing sound rang through Pacha's ears…
Outside, Kairi, Donald and Goofy got up, their bodies aching with pain. They heard the faint sound of rushing water, and as they looked at the temple, they saw the source – the nose of the temple was evacuating every drop of water from the temple in a torrential flood. As it raced down the stairway, it looked more like a raging river than a temple stairway, the powerful water pulling the signs and banners out of the ground as it went.
"Watch out!" Kairi yelled, grabbing Donald and Goofy. She pulled them behind the edge of the stairway as they watched the torrent of water flash by them, heading straight for the Heartless Kronk's feet…
With a stunning sense of timing, Sora saw the water coming as he charged both keyblades behind his head, aiming for the headdress…as the river raged beneath his feet, he swung, connecting with the Heartless Kronk's backside, the water making the ground slippery beneath him.
In an awkward move, the heartless lost its footing as he fell face first, smashing down into the ground directly in front of the stairway. The water rushed over him, pinning him to the ground…
Just before a white light engulfed him, Sora shot his arms outward and cried 'thundaja!', causing a powerful lightening attack to begin. The clouds above shot down multiple bolts of lightening at the Heartless Kronk, the water enhancing the strength of each blow. One by one, the bolts smashed into the heartless, until finally, the river stopped…leaving behind a puddle of black sludge.
Touching down on the soggy ground as the white light subsided, Sora and Riku smiled at each other as a massive silver heart broke free from the darkness and rose into the sky. Spinning his keyblade playfully, Sora pointed it at the heart – a white beam shot out, connecting with the heart, as it quickly sucked it back into the harvester.
"Nice form, Sora," Kairi said as she, Donald and Goofy met up with Sora and Riku in front of the temple steps. "You look good in orange," she said, flirting with him for the first time in weeks.
"Yeah…definitely not bad, bro," Riku said, giving his best friend a high five.
"Look what we found in Yzma's lab!" Donald said to Sora, holding out a small keychain. It looked like one of Yzma's pink vials, only it had a silver clip attached to it.
"All yours, Riku…" Sora said, handing it to his friend. As Riku attached it to his keyblade, the Dawn of Kings was replaced by the Potent Potion, a long, pink blade that bubbled when it was swung. The handle and grip were both a firm, clear glass, and the key atop the blade was shaped like three glass bottles, each filled with a translucent pink liquid.
Pacha and Kuzco came into view, descending the steps with immense smiles on their faces. "Glad to see you're safe," Pacha said, hugging each of them tightly.
"If it wasn't for that water, we wouldn't have been…so thanks to you, too…" Sora said, smiling.
Kuzco puffed out his chest. "Yeah, I did kind of save the day, didn't I?" Seeing everyone scowl at his ego, he dropped the act. "Well, I guess you guys helped a little…"
"Kuzco, why don't you tell 'em the good news?" Pacha said, ribbing Kuzco with his elbow.
"Ohh…right…well, I've decided to not destroy Pacha's village to build my summer home. The hilltop was…uh, too sunny." Eddy bounced into his headdress spastically.
Nobody believed him for a second, but they were glad he changed his mind – even if he didn't want to admit that he was finally being compassionate. Pacha smiled even wider as he reached behind him and pulled out the Flame Salamander, holding it out to Sora.
"I guess you can have this thingy, too…" Kuzco said, obviously unhappy about giving away a piece of his treasure. "But don't forget that I, the great Emperor Kuzco, gave it to you!"
"Thanks, your highness…" Sora said, claiming the Flame Salamander. "We definitely won't. But we've gotta go – there are more people like Hades out there, and I'm sure they're causing just as much trouble."
After saying their good byes, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Eddy all boarded the Barrett. Riku placed the Flame Salamander next to the Wind Butterfly in the holding bay, still wondering what kind of powers they held as the Barrett left the Incan Empire, shooting into the night sky above.
