Inside the Gummi Ship, Sora, Donald and Goofy were facing off an immense pirate ship-like Heartless. They were peppering away at the enemies it produced and its' mouth when it opened. Yui was held tightly in Asuna's arms while Kirito was watching Sora and the other two control the Gummi Ship. Finally, the Heartless started to explode on the inside, and it fell downward, smoking and beaten up. "We did it, you guys!" Sora shouted as Donald and Goofy cheered with glee. They turned the Gummi ship around and flew out of the vortex, through the shining Keyhole, and out into space again.
Asuna let go of Yui, absolutely frightened. "No one ever said that there would be ghosts Heartless, too." she argued, remembering the Heartless that came out of the pirate ship.
"You think they're creepy, there's this one town that is full of ghosts and creepy things called Halloween Town." Sora explained, "We have a friend there named Jack Skellington, you should really meet him."
"Uh..." Asuna stammered, scared to think what kind of place 'Halloween Town' would be like.
"Asuna, you're not afraid of that, are ya?" Donald asked her. Asuna kept a tight lip, her cheeks getting rosy, but Kirito knew that she was afraid. When it came to ghosts, Asuna was terrified of them. Regardless, he wasn't gonna tell the guys about that.
"So anyways," Kirito stated, seeing the next world, "Where are we?"
"Let me see here." Yui answered, but Sora stopped her.
"Hey, wait!" he shouted, "That's the Olympus Coliseum!"
"You're right!" agreed Goofy, leaning into the window to see, with Donald climbing on top of him, "I wonder how Hercules is doing."
"Hercules?" Kirito echoed. He did remember that there was someone in Greek mythology called 'Heracles', who had a connection with Olympus. Was it the same guy?
"Yeah, Herc's a friend of ours." Sora explained, "He and Phil are both good friends. Not to mention we have access to the Coliseum so we can compete in the games and fight others."
"You get to fight in the actual Greek Coliseum?" Kirito asked, somewhat intrigued.
"Oh, I can see where this is going." Asuna sighed, looking at Kirito as he grinned slightly, "Still, a battle in the Coliseum is something you wouldn't be able to do in reality. Let's go."
The gang got from their seats and walked to the transporter just as Yui went to the control panel. However, they stopped when they saw some large piece of rock come flying from the world close to them. When it got close, Kirito and Asuna noticed that it not only was made of stone, but it was alive, and it had two heads, arms and legs.
"What was that?!" Kirito exclaimed as Asuna gasped.
"Looks like Hercules is doing well." Sora simply said, seeing the Rock Titan pass by them. Kirito and Asuna both looked at one another. From Greek mythology, they heard that Heracles was given godly strength. This was definitely proof that the books had it right.
Yui set up the coordinates for the transporter, and flew to the others, and they teleported down to the surface.
When they came out, they found themselves in a place that looked like it was underground. It was definitely creepy, with stalagmites coming out of the ground, a purple lake right next to them and glowing torches around them. There were three different doors around the room; one was blocked, the other was where they landed close to, and the final one led to a flight of glowing staircases. They walked around, looking at the place they landed in.
"Not exactly what I had in mind." Asuna stated.
"I don't know," said Kirito as he looked around, "It doesn't look too bad down here. Kind of reminds me a bit of the dungeons at SAO."
"Are ya' sure this is the Coliseum?" Goofy asked Sora, who looked just as confused as the others.
"It's that way!" Donald pointed out, walking to a set of open doors with glowing staircases that went upwards.
"Oh...Guess we were a little off." Sora stated.
"Sorry," Yui said apologetically, "I guess I miscalculated the coordinates."
The group walked towards the doors when they heard a scream coming from behind them. They turned to see a women being chased by a bunch of unusual-looking dogs. She stumbled over and fell, and they were about to jump upon her. "Heartless!" Sora shouted, and he led the others into charging at the dogs. They saw Sora and the others coming and they took off, leaving the women to lay there on the floor.
Kirito bent down to the women, who was sitting up, and lent a hand to help pick her up. "Thanks, but...I'm fine." she told him. She turned to their crowd, and was slightly surprised to see who they were, or rather what their age was. From their perspective, she was a young woman, with brown hair held in a ponytail held by a yellow hairband, and she wore makeup. Her attire was a pink dress that hugged her hourglass figure, and sandals.
She got to her feet and brushed her dress. "And you're suppose to be?" she asked them snootily.
"I'm Kirito." he answered, "And this is Asuna and that's Yui." Asuna bowed slightly in greeting her as Yui waved.
"I'm Sora." Sora introduced, waving a hand to his friends, "He's Donald, and that's Goofy. We came to see how Hercules is doing."
The woman eyed each of them suspiciously. "You know Wonderboy?" she asked them.
"Yeah, 'cause we're heroes, too!" Donald proclaimed.
"Ya mean junior heroes, Donald." Goofy corrected him.
"Junior heroes?" Asuna asked Sora, who shrugged in response.
"Looks like we have a friend in common." chuckled the women, "Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg."
"So how's Herc?" Sora asked her.
"Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day." Meg explained, "You know, 'A hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news...special deliveries from Hades himself..."
"Hades?!" Donald cried. Kirito and Asuna both looked at one another. Hades, as they recalled, was well known as the ruler of the dead. So even he was part of this world, too.
"Right." Meg answered, "Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to that kid..." She looked down, slightly worried.
"Sounds to me like you two are more than just friends!" Yui assumed, staring at Meg's expression.
"Oh...uh, I mean..." she stammered, and Asuna smiled in confirmation.
"We'll go have a little take with Hades." Sora stated, "I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him."
"You really want to do that?" Meg asked them, seeing the serious looks on their faces, "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But...let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"
"Our lips are sealed." Kirito and Sora said in unison, though they didn't mean too. The others nodded in agreement.
They took off into the caves, and went through the entrance, where they met the dog-like Heartless, whom Yui called them Rabid Dogs. Their barks were worse than their bites, as they could create painful sound waves with them.
They were just heading down the pass when suddenly they saw someone run by them and down the path. A man in a black coat and hood. "The Organization!" squawked Donald.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. Kirito took no time, and charged ahead, chasing down the man, the others not far behind.
Kirito led the others into fighting more Heartless, who would occasionally drop certain stones and shards, for which Sora scooped up for safe keeping. All the while, they felt something was off. They didn't strike as hard, nor were Sora and Kirito able to use their Valor Forms.
Just as they went through the cave tunnels, they arrived to another open area, and they saw the man in black rushing towards them. Sora and Kirito raised their weapons, ready for a fight. However, the man ran right past them, shouting "Run! Run away!" Sora and the others looked back, and saw him rush into a black portal and disappear with it. They were wondering what he was so scared of.
"Okay...?" Sora muttered, feeling the awkward moment like the others did.
"Guess there are some cowards among the Organization?" Kirito assumed.
"Makes me wonder what's up ahead." Asuna wondered, looking to where the man came from. They took a break to catch their breath, saw a moogle shopping system and bought new gear for Donald and Goofy, and continued on.
Meanwhile, in Hades' chamber, Hades was sitting on his throne, muttering to himself, and Pete was on the other side of the room, with Pain and Panic right next to him.
"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise." he asked himself.
"Oh, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em." Pete told him, "So, uh...what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him. Pretty soon, the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick someone already dead and save him the trouble?"
Hades leaned in angrily at Pete, who coward at his glare. Pain and Panic dove behind Pete out of fear. Hades then leaned back calmly, smiling as he said, "Dead...Dead is good! And I know just the warrior!" Pete looked frightfully at Hades, wondering what he was thinking.
The group proceeded out of the caves and into someplace very eerie. They were pretty high up, and green smoke seemed to float around the immense room. There were stone bridges that connected to a few platforms to the other end of the cavern.
Donald and Goofy looked nervously around, and Donald let out a shuddering moan. "I'm scared too, Donald." Goofy stated.
Sora, who showed no fear, walked forward and shouted, "Hades! Come out!" looking up, and seeing a place that could be a lookout point, and lights seem to emanate up there.
Kirito and Asuna went to edge of the platform they stood on and looked down below. They saw the swirling green waters below him. "Care to take a dip?" Kirito asked Asuna sarcastically.
"Not really." she responded, "But it looks like somethings in the waters." They narrowed their eyes and looked further down. Good thing their skills in SAO gave them better vision, or else they wouldn't have seen what was down there.
"They're people!" gasped Asuna.
"Dead people." Kirito corrected her, "This must be where the dead congregated. Cheery."
Asuna shuddered as she stood up. "Let-let's just meet this Hades guy so we can get out!" she stammered. She rushed on ahead, Kirito following from behind.
The team started to cross the stone pathway all the way to the caves above them. Several Heartless got in the way, including some plant-like ones called Creeper Plants. When they got to the end, they saw a pair of opened double doors with stairs curving up. The team looked at one another, then Sora and Kirito led the others up the stairs.
Up in Hades' chamber, Pete, Pain and Panic found themselves staring down into a swirling green abyss, which was uncovered after Hades removed the central table. "By the by, uh..." Pete started nervously, "What's down there?"
"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon." Hades answered, walking next to the trio and chuckling, "This time I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys."
Pete looked at Hades, who's sinister face was staring down the abyss, and flinched at his look. "You don't say?" he asked, backing away from him and into a corner with Pain and Panic, "Well...maybe I should go."
Hades produced two fiery orbs from his hands and tossed them into the abyss Suddenly, there was an explosion, followed by dark smoke, for which a figure of a man could be seen within it. The hole disappeared, and the man landed lightly onto his feet. He was a man in his youth, with short, dark grey, spiky hair. He had scars on his face, and one over his eye, which he kept shut. He had on a blood red haori with blue lining, and was held with a black and blue strap. His left arm was tucked into the front of his haori. He wore a brown shoulder pad on his left shoulder which was decorated in a design. Under his haori, he wore black shirt, pants and shoes, which were armor plated. His grey collar had intersecting brown straps. Finally, in his hand was his sword, which looked like a zanbato.
Hades laughed as he saw him make his appearance. "Let's cut to the chase." he stated as he got serious, "Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you. I let you out of the slammer, no strings, you'll be free as a bird." the man turned to Pete, who was scared as he waved slightly at him. "And all for one little job." Hades continued, "Fight Hercules, in the Coliseum, to the death!"
The man looked at Hades, and grinned slightly. "This is my story." he quoted as he raised his sword over his shoulder, "And you're not part of it."
"Did you forget who you're talking to?" Hades asked him angrily, "I am the Lord of the Dead!"
"Heh, no wonder no one wants to die." the man replied.
"You are FIRED!" shouted Hades, his body burning red in fury. He charged at the man, who stopped him with his blade.
Sora and Kirito ran up the stairs everybody to see a scene take place; In one corner, Pete stood there with a couple of small, demon-like creatures. In the center, a man in a red haori brawling against a man with a black toga, a red body, and fiery hair. Sora and Kirito gasped as the others ran up to meet them.
"Hades!" Donald shouted.
"That's Hades?!" Asuna shouted.
"You again?!" Hades asked as he was holding back the man's sword. This was the distraction the man needed, and he released his sword from Hades' grip and made a slash at him, sending him skidding away from him.
"Fight!" the man growled, and he charged at Hades again. He attempted to make a slash, but Hades grabbed it and tossed him back, then delivered a fiery punch at him. He was about to send to fireballs at the man laying on the floor when Sora and Kirito intruded, their Keyblades at the ready.
"Get up!" Sora shouted to him.
"We can take him, Sora." Kirito stated as Asuna, Donald and Goofy joined them, producing their weapons. The five of them charged at Hades, and started to deliver attacks onto him. But something was wrong. Their attacks weren't doing anything to him. Their magic, their strength, all of the attacks they did couldn't do a dang thing to him. Not only that, but the team seemed to be weaker than ever.
"Something's wrong!" Donald cried.
"I feel kinda funny." Sora stated.
"Yeah, me too." Kirito stated.
"That's right!" Hades replied, "See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes-comes with the territory." Hades then come flying at them, his fists flaming up again.
Then out of nowhere, the man from before came in between them and made a slash at Hades, making him disappear in a puff of black smoke and appear further away. "Go now!" the man cried to them.
"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" Sora told him.
"What was that?" mocked the lord of the dead, his fingers in his ears.
Sora and Kirito angrily ran to him, but the man raised a hand to stop them from fighting. "We can't fight him here!" he told the two, "We have to go-now!" Donald, Goofy and Asuna ran out of the chamber, with the other three right behind them, avoiding fireballs Hades threw at them. The six of them ran down the stairs in a hurry. Then Kirito and Sora grabbed each of the heavy doors and closed them, sealing the entrance. Donald was panting in exhaustion from running, and he turned to them.
"Is he gone?" Donald asked.
"Don't count on it." the man answered.
"Oh, crap!" Asuna stammered, and she said that for a reason.
Kirito and Sora turned to see Hades right next to them. "Leaving so soon?" he asked amusingly.
Suddenly, the team found themselves surrounded by Heartless. The team had no choice but to take them all out, while at the same time avoid getting hit by Hades. The curse was a big problem, for without the Valor form, Kirito and Sora couldn't pull out their best moves.
The new guy was very strong, though. His skills as a swordsman and fighting style were first rate. He could actually keep up with Asuna and even Kirito. "You're pretty good!" Kirito said as he was back to back with the swordsman.
"Hmph, you're doing pretty good yourself." he responded, seeing all of the Heartless around them, "Think you can keep up?"
"Sounds simple enough." Kirito answered, and the two made their move.
They slashed at the enemies around them, displaying sword spins and sword dives at every enemy they saw. They kept alternating each move they did. Finally, the two slammed the hilts of their weapons together, and started to spin them rapidly, producing a large cyclone around them that sucked the enemies into it, causing all of the Heartless to be destroyed within it. "I guess you can keep up." the swordsman concluded, seeing Kirito's smirking face.
The group kept going and going until they finally made it out of the large cavern and back into the caves again, losing Hades in the progress. The group fell down in exhaustion, even Asuna had fallen back in exhaustion. Kirito was still standing, but he was doubled-over, panting. Auron was standing straight, but he too was panting in exhaustion.
"You're really good." Sora complimented him, "Are you some kind of hero?"
The man shook his head. "No," he responded, "I'm no hero. I'm just an..." He paused as Sora and the others looked up at him. "Auron." he said. The group looked at each other, wondering what an 'auron' is. "My name." the man told them.
"I'm Sora." Sora said, getting to his feet.
"Donald." the duck said, jumping onto Sora's back.
"Goofy!" waved the dog as he jumped on Donald, causing the trio to collapse.
"The name's Kirito." Kirito introduced as he got up, raising a hand to shake.
"And I'm Asuna." Asuna added, getting to her feet.
Auron didn't take Kirito's hand, and turned to the three friends on the ground. "It seems we were fated to meet." he stated, "Maybe you need a guardian." Sora pushed Donald and Goofy off of him as he looked up.
"Guardian? Thanks, but no thanks." he replied, getting to his feet and walking off. Auron chuckled a bit, seeing Sora walk off.
Sora, however, was only thinking about the battles they endured, and also thought about Kirito and Asuna. He remembered how Asuna took out Shan Yu back at Mulan's World, and how Kirito took out Dark Thorn at Beast's Castle.
How come those guys are so good? he wondered, turning to look at Kirito and Asuna, who were talking with Auron, Can I be that good as well? Sora couldn't help it, he wanted to protect those dearest to him, but since Kirito and Asuna joined them, he wondered if he could meet the expectations, and become strong like them. He will find out eventually as he led the others through the cave.
Pete was sitting on the table in Hades' Chamber as he was speaking to the Lord of the Dead himself, who was pacing back and forth. "I got Heartless all over the Underworld now." he told him, "So you can leave those pipsqueaks to me." Pete hopped of the table as he continued, "Look, pal, you just keep working on turning Hercules into a Heartless. Then he'll be all mine."
Hades turned to Pete, flaming red in fury. "This is my underworld, you idiot!" she shouted to Pete, causing the big guy to fall back in fear, "I'll handle this MYSELF!" Hades snapped his fingers, and a large three-headed dog appeared at his window. "Cerberus, go!" he ordered, and the guard-dog of the underworld ran off in pursuit of the other six.
Meanwhile, Sora was leading Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Auron through the twists and turns of the maze. There were much more Heartless around than before, and getting through all of them was much more difficult than before. Not to mention Sora was was getting revved up, for he wanted to prove himself strong compared to Kirito and Asuna.
They had just made it to the entrance room of the caves, and were rushing to the door out of there. However, the door was sealed tight. Donald was the first to the door, and he looked up it. "What? It's closed!" he squawked. The five heroes tried shoving it open, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on, open!" Sora moaned as he pushed.
Donald backed away and looked up, and he saw a large lock with chains blocking the door. The others heard Donald and looked up at the lock. "I see, so that's it." Kirito said, gritting his teeth.
Then out of nowhere, Sora's Keyblade appeared in his hand. Sora looked down at it as Auron walked up to him. "Will that open it?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think so." Sora answered. He was just waving it to the keyhole of the lock when they heard a growl from behind, the group turned to see where it came from.
"Hurry!" he shouted, getting into his fighting stance.
Suddenly, a massive three-headed dog came leaping in, ready to fight them. Kirito and Asuna joined with Auron. "That must be the guard of the Underworld, Cerberus!" Asuna cried, remembering her Greek mythology.
Sora looked at them, then looked up at the lock before him. He waved his Keyblade up at it, and a glowing light shot out of it, unlocking the door. Donald and Goofy pushed the door open and they ran out. Kirito, Asuna and Auron blocked each of their heads, but the beast was still strong. Sora was about to join his friends, but he saw the trio fighting and ran back to meet them. The battle had just begun.
The quartet of sword fighters ran in to fight Cerberus. Their combination of attacks kept dealing damage to the monster dog. He leapt into the air and nearly pounced on all of them. I say nearly because unfortunately, Kirito was still underneath him. The shock of the monster's attack sent him flying back.
Asuna was distracted by this attack, and didn't notice the dog's tail whip around to meet her. She was sent backwards from the attack, but she flipped in midair and skidded to her feet. Auron was spinning in the air with his sword, slicing in fury. Sora kept striking each of the heads with his Keyblade at random. Asuna and Kirito got back into the battle again, ready to fight some more.
Sora was striking the middle dog's head, when he saw the two other heads come in at him, about to bit him. Sora braced his arms and legs out, stopping them but leaving him vulnerable to an attack by the middle one. It leaned back and was about to come in at Sora, its' fangs open wide. Sora immediately flipped himself out from between the other two heads, and managed to stick his Keyblade upward into the fangs jaws, stopping it. He got onto the middle head, and released his Keyblade from his mouth. The head of the dog kept trying to throw him off, so Sora made a leap into the air, and he charged up his Keyblade for the next attack. Then he came down and slammed his weapon hard onto the dog, causing it to fall unconscious.
"Now's our chance!" Sora shouted to the others. Kirito and Auron made several furious slashes onto each side of Cerberus' body before Sora and Asuna came flying in, and piercing right through each side, believing the fight to be over.
The four swordsman got together, and looked at the dog, who moved no more. "We did it!" Sora shouted, jumping into the air.
"Couldn't have finished it without that crazy stunt you pulled." Kirito acknowledged, "I gotta say, you are just plain crazy."
"Look who's talking." Sora retorted, elbowing him, and causing the trio of Keyblade wielders to laugh.
Auron, meanwhile, was looking at the beast, eyeing it to see if it was dead. Suddenly, the eyes lit up on the dog, and it got up, surprising the others. "Here we go again!" Sora moaned, getting into fighting position.
"No, we should probably just go." Asuna suggested, backing to the door. Kirito and Sora looked at each other, and nodded in agreement.
"Come on!" Donald shouted to them as they came dashing through the door, Auron not far behind. Asuna and Kirito went to each side of the door, and started to close the door. Sora, Donald and Goofy all made faces at Cerberus as it came pouncing at the door just as it sealed shut. That battle was over.
"Whew..." sighed Sora, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Couldn't agree more." Asuna seconded, stretching her back, trying to relax a bit.
"Don't get too comfortable guys." Kirito said seriously, "We weren't able to speak to Hades, so were only back to square one. We promised Meg we would talk to him."
"Yeah, we know." Sora responded, "But that darn Underworld curse made things difficult. We can't speak to him right now. At least, not at this point."
"Let's figure out a way to break the curse so we can go speak to him again." Asuna suggested. The boys nodded.
Donald and Goofy were looking around, realizing something. "What happened to Auron?" Goofy asked. The trio of Keyblade wielders looked around. There was no sight of him.
"He can take care of himself." Sora answered, "Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again." Sora led the group towards the doors to the shining stairs, the group walking from behind. It was time to reach the surface.
Hades was sitting on his throne once more, looking at Pete, who was explaining to him about the Keyblade, with Pain and Panic right next to him. "Let me see if I got this right," Hades recalled, "Those brats' Keyblades work on any lock?"
"That right." Pete answered boastfully.
Hades chuckled a bit at this news. "Have I ever told you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the Underworld?" Hades asked, "It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool."
"Then that's the place we're gonna put an end to Herc the Jerk's winnin' streak." Pete concluded, slamming his fist onto the table before him.
"Problem." Hades cut him off, "Zeus locked it tight." Pete moaned, looking grumpy for a minute. Hades chuckled a bit, and Pete, confused at why he was laughing suddenly realized what he was getting at. "Bingo," Hades answered, seeing the realization on Pete's face, "All we gotta do is swipe one of those keys, and then reopen the Underdrome!"
Pete looked surprised, but he shook his head in disagreement. "Hate to tell ya, but those keys is kinda particular." He explained to Hades, "It won't work for just anybody. And those kids ain't no pushovers."
Hades looked slightly ticked at this, but then had a revelation. "I think this calls for a woman's touch." He snapped his fingers, and a puff of smoke appeared in his raised palm, revealing a figure of Meg.
Up in the Coliseum lobby, was sitting at one of the seats when she felt an ominous presence. She looked around, shuddering, feeling the unmistakable chills of someone about to use her.
Meanwhile, Sora led the crew up the long flight of stairs to a pair of large, wooden doors with pictures of lightning bolts on them. Sora opened them, and Kirito and Asuna gasped. They finally were introduced to the Coliseum. It was huge, with two large sculptures of warriors with their swords raised, crossing each other at the front. The doors to the interior of the Coliseum were right in front of them. It was like they went back into the time period of the Ancient Greeks.
"Now I could brawl in a place like this." Kirito stated, walking out to get a better view of the Coliseum.
"It's fantastic!" Asuna exclaimed, looking at every detail of the outside.
"Gawrsh, this sure does bring back memories!" Goofy reminisced.
Sora was looking at Kirito and Asuna, who were transfixed on the Coliseum. "Wanna go inside?" he asked them.
"Do we?!" Kirito responded excitedly. Asuna merely nodded excitedly.
Sora was leading the group to the entrance when the door opened. The man who opened it was extremely muscular, wearing an orangish-brown, sleeveless armor with metal skirt, a brown belt with a gold medallion on it, and a blue cape. He also had a sword on his belt. His sandals were knee high, with cross straps on it, as well as two wristbands. He also had a headband that pulled back his brownish hair. He also looked tired.
He sighed deeply, then saw Sora and the others walk up to him. "Sora! Donald, Goofy!" he addressed happily, "When'd you get here?"
"Hey, Herc." waved Sora, Donald and Goofy greeted him too.
"That's Hercules?!" Asuna and Kirito exclaimed, seeing the man before him.
Hercules walked up to the group, and stared at the people he didn't know. "You guys with Sora?" he asked them.
"We-we sure are!" stammered Kirito, intrigued to see a mythological figure, "I'm Kirito. It's an honor to meet you." He raised his hand to Hercules, and they shook. Man, what a grip! Kirito thought as he winced in the grasp.
"I'm Asuna." she waved, not planning to shake after seeing Kirito's expression. "And I'm Yui!" chimed the pixie as she leapt out of Kirito's pocket and landed on his shoulder.
Hercules let go of Kirito's hand and looked at Sora. "You on another adventure?" he asked him. Sora looked up and saw Meg up at the entrance.
"Yeah," he answered, "trackin' down some friends, wipin' out some Heartless."
"Junior heroes, always busy!" Herc quoted, clapping Sora's hand.
"You know it!" Sora replied, not even flinching from his grip. Kirito wasn't sure whether Hercules restrained himself, or Sora was that strong. He couldn't tell.
Hercules led the group into the lobby of the Coliseum, where they saw some trophies of Hercules wins along the walls. Kirito and Asuna also noticed a couple with Sora, Donald and Goofy's names on them. These guys are that famous?! They thought in unison. They turned and walked over to Sora and the others, who were staring at Herc, who was sitting, and Meg, who stood next to him.
"So, did you find those friends of yours?" he asked the trio.
"Still working on it." Sora answered, "When we got here, we ran into Meg-" He stopped himself from saying where they met her, and followed through with, "Meg-mega trouble, I mean! So we had to help somebody out. We tried to go teach Hades a thing or two, but the Underworld drains away all our strength."
"That's why we came up here." Kirito cut in, walking forward, "We need to find a way to stop the curse from getting to us. Got anything that'll stop it?"
"Well, there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse." Hercules mentioned, "The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."
"Should've figured that there were Greek gods in this world as well." whispered Asuna, causing Kirito to look back at her, smirking in agreement of the whole confusion.
"Think we could use it?" Sora asked Hercules.
"Sure, why not!" he answered, "I'll go get it for you."
"Thanks!" Donald responded.
"Real nice of you!" Goofy complimented him.
"Now we can go enter the Underworld and take on Hades without any problems!" Kirito exclaimed.
"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone." Hercules told them, putting a downer on the moment, "And I have a match today, so I can't go with you..."
He got to his feet, and looked at them with a flare of optimism. "Know what you need?" he asked, "Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?"
"Phil?" Asuna echoed, looking at Kirito, who had no idea who he was.
"Hey, good idea!" Sora answered.
"He may even check your friends out." Herc added, looking at Kirito and Asuna, "He might evaluate their hero quality, and see if they're good enough."
"Oh believe me, they're good!" Sora told him, wrapping an arm around Kirito, "These guys are already heroes from where they come from, especially Kirito. You should hear the stories about what they have done!" The black swordsman couldn't help but feel a little proud at Sora's acknowledgement, but he waved in Asuna so she could be acknowledged as well.
"Phil should be in the Coliseum right now, preparing some stuff for practice." Herc told them waving to the entrance to the arena.
"Got it!" Sora nodded, and he led the group into the arena.
"So is Phil some kind of trainer or something?" Kirito asked Sora.
"Yeah," he replied, "He's Herc's coach."
"Wow, that's a big job." Asuna commented.
The group reached the arena, and saw the immensity of it. There were stands on either side of the arena, pillars on every corner of it, and in the arena was an unusual-looking person who was fixing up special urns. He was very short, had some belly, and had horns, legs, and a tail of a goat. He was definitely not a good-looking guy. Kirito and Asuna didn't even need to look at his face, for he had his back turned to them, but they guessed that this guy was Phil.
As they got closer, the goat-man apparantly heard them, but didn't turn to them. Sora was about to speak when he cut in saying, "Hey champ, how ya feeling? Better rest up for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero...capiche?" This guy definitely acted like a coach, Kirito could see that. "Remember what I told you." he continued, "Victory in the games comes down to two simple words: Eat, bathe, sleep!"
Goofy and Kirito both flicked a finger up for every word he said. While Kirito and Asuna were wondering why he said three words, Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at one another and chuckled in amusement. Phil got angry and turned to them in frustration, but seeing who it was, his face became excited to see such familiar faces.
"Hey, if it ain't the junior heroes!" he said, prancing up to Sora and hugging him slightly.
"Lookin' good, Phil." Sora commented.
"Never better!" Phil replied as he looked at the trio, "How you guys been? Have you earned your 'true hero' wings yet?" Sora, Donald and Goofy were about to reply, but they stopped themselves. Kirito then remembered one thing that Sora mentioned to him; you mustn't tell people about different worlds unless they already know. It's part of what was called the world order.
Phil looked at them, scratching his goatee, then guessed, "Nope, you ain't got what it takes." That really ticked them off, but Phil then noticed Kirito and Asuna, particularly Asuna.
"Well, well, hello there, sweet-cheeks." he said, brushing the couple of stairs on his head as he walked up to her, "You lookin' for a nice lookin' trainer of heroes? Cause, uh, I've trained a few in my lifetime." He walked up and looked up and down her figure.
Asuna knew what he was planning, and replied, "Yeah, and I could probably beat them all. Besides, your not my type." Phil look like he got kicked in the face from this.
"Ouch!" Sora flinched, "Totally shot down." Goofy and Donald stifled their laughter. Kirito even snorted a bit, proud of Asuna's answer.
"Yeesh! Women." Phil moaned, trying to recover from this, "Well, might I ask what you're doing in this Coliseum in the first place?"
"We came here with Sora." Kirito explained, drawing Phil's attention, "We wanted to train so we could take on Hades together." Phil looked surprised at what they were planning, and looked at Sora, who nodded in agreement.
Finally, Phil bursted out laughing. "Ha ha ha! You guys are gonna take on Hades?" he asked.
"What's so funny?!" squawked Donald.
"We've taken him down before, remember?!" Sora argued.
Phil recovered from his laughing fit and looked at them. "You got nerve. I like that." he stated, "Hey, you never know; stranger things have happened, right? Better get cracking, boys! But first..."
Phil turned to the two newcomers as he continued, "I should probably test your friends out. See if they're hero quality."
"Test away then." Kirito replied, brandishing his Oblivion as Asuna summoned her Oathkeeper, "I'm Kirito, and this is Asuna. We'll show you we have what it takes."
"Fine then," Phil stated, "If you think your such a hotshot, then you're up first. Go take your position in the arena." Kirito nodded, and walked into it, while everyone walked over to the stands.
"Ok, kid, the rules are simple." Phil told him from afar, "Them pots are magically based, so they can produce themselves in the arena every time you knock a bunch down. The small urns are worth one point, the large ones are worth ten. I'm giving you one minute to break as many pots as possible." Kirito nodded, and got into battle position.
"3, 2, 1...Go!" Phil shouted, and Kirito was off. He begun slicing and dicing at the pots left and right. The larger pots were rarer, and took a few more hits to take down, but Kirito wasn't complaining. He hated it if it was too easy.
Sora, Asuna and the others were cheering him on, while Phil was observing him. "This kid's got the strength and moves." he commented, seeing Kirito take down four small pots at once, "He could actually be some good hero quality. Funny, he reminds me of someone..."
As Kirito made a heavy swing at a bunch of pots, Phil saw, only for a slow second, a shadow of another figure that he was reminded of. A taller young man with dark brown, spiky hair. He had cross straps across his chest like Kirito, along with an arm-guard, only on his left forearm, sort of similar shoes, and even had dark clothing. Phil rubbed his eyes, and saw Kirito going to work on the pots. He wondered who it was he was seeing there, but then shrugged it off, and realized the minute was up. "Ok, stop!" he shouted, and Kirito stopped attacking. He walked off the stage and to the others.
"So, think that was enough." He asked Phil, who was rubbing his goatee.
"Not bad, kid." he replied, "You really got the stuff. Let's see here...I counted the total points to be...93!"
"Woah!" Sora, Donald and Goofy gasped.
"And all under one minute, too." Asuna added, walking towards the arena, "That's an easy score to beat."
"Then prove it." Kirito answered, the two smirking at one another.
Asuna got into position as the others went sat on the stands again. "Ok, same rules apply to you, sugar-cakes." Phil replied, "You ready? 3, 2, 1...Go!" Asuna didn't waste time, and went in the middle of a large gathering of pots, and used Fire spell, burning every pot around her to a crisp. She kept striking and slicing with her Keyblade, but she also used magic when the moments were right, unlike Kirito who was basically powering his way through.
"Now this is my kind of gal." Phil acknowledged, seeing her graceful techniques, "Looks, speed and skills. She's got the entire package." Then, as Asuna jumped and performed a sword spin, another shadow appeared of another person that Asuna reminded him of. A slightly older woman with short blue hair. She, like Asuna, wore cross straps across her chest, along with a heart-like emblem. She also had blue clothes around her waist, black shorts, and even similar shoes, only black instead of red. Again, Phil blinked, and the shadow faded, now only seeing Asuna, but couldn't for the life of him remember who it was that she reminded him of. Finally, he noticed the minute was up, and told her to stop. Asuna walked over to them, and waited for her results.
"Let's see here..." Phil thought out loud, "I was counting the amount, and it comes up to...93!"
"Seriously?!" Kirito exclaimed.
"So it's a tie." Asuna sighed.
"You guys were amazing out there!" Sora cheered, looking at the both of them.
"The kid's right." Phil stated, "You both got what it takes to become true heroes, but you're not quite there yet." Kirito and Asuna both looked confused at this as Phil continued, "However, I do believe you have what it takes. Come back when the games come up again, and prove yourselves champs!"
"Thanks, Phil." the two replied.
Sora now looked absolutely pumped. "All right!" he shouted, "Phil, set me up for some training. After watching, I'm eager to start!"
"That's the spirit, kid." Phil replied, turning to him. "Ok, then. Time for your training, and remember; when it comes to battles, I got two words for you: never give up!"
"Got it." Sora replied as Kirito counted the words once more. He looked at Asuna, who giggled in response.
Sora was in the main arena, taking down pots like crazy, showing how hard of a fighter he could be. Meanwhile, Kirito and Goofy were sparring off on one end, whiles Asuna and Donald were fighting on the other. The two Keyblade wielders were going easy on them, though they slowly and surely had to increase their strength as they progressed on. It was showing just how much the team was improving in time.
After a half hour of this, the Donald and Goofy were talking to Phil while Sora, Kirito and Asuna were talking with one another. Suddenly, they heard someone coming, and turned to see Hercules come out into the arena. Everyone, including Phil, gathered around him, and saw that he wasn't excited about something. In fact, something was troubling him.
"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit." Phil told Hercules.
"Where to?" Sora asked.
"None of your beeswax." he replied, turning to him. Phil then walked away, out of the Coliseum.
Herc turned to the five of them as he said, in a sad tone, "Sorry, guys. The Olympus Stone has been stolen."
"What?!" Asuna, Sora and Donald shouted.
"By who?" Kirito and Goofy asked.
"We don't know who did it yet." Hercules replied, "All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplices; a bunch of creatures in white."
Sora and the others looked at one another, and nodded, realizing who they were dealing with. "Someone you know?" Hercules asked them.
"I think so." Sora responded.
"Hey, if we can get the Olympus Stone back, can we borrow it for a while?" Kirito asked.
"Sure." Herc responded, "By the way, you haven't seen Meg around, have you?" The five of them shook there heads.
"Oh, okay..." sighed Hercules, looking somewhat worried.
"What's wrong, your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather?" said a familiar voice. A hand touched Herc's shoulder, and he turned to see Hades right behind them. He whipped around, ready to fight.
"You know I thought staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description," Hades stated, "You know what I'm saying?"
"Oh, right." Sora realized, marching up to the bad guy, "Hades, we gotta talk!" Hades rolled his eyes, and with one flick, knocked Sora backwards.
"I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news." Hades continued as Hercules came in closer, raising a fist, "Seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg..." He vanished in black smoke and appeared behind Herc again as he continued, "...went and got herself lost in the Underworld."
"You mean you kidnapped her!" accused Hercules.
"Well, maybe." Hades replied amusingly, "But why get caught up in the details?"
Hercules placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Up in the sky, the group looked up and saw, to Kirito and Asuna's astonishment, a white horse with wings and blue hair on its' head, tail and wingtips. "Pegasus!" Asuna gasped, realizing what the horse was. It flew down right next to Herc, who was about to mount him.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Hades stopped him, "You can't leave now, ok? You've got a very important match today, against, um...the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen."
"Yeah, accidents you cause." Sora accused him.
"Like I said: details, who needs 'em?" Hades quickly replied.
"You're just a coward." Herc told him as he and Pegasus looked angrily at him.
"You never seem to fight fair, do you?" Kirito asked as he and Asuna produced Keyblades.
"Ah well. Can't all be heroes." Hades responded as he disappeared in a puff of black smoke, and didn't appear anywhere near them.
Hercules folded his arms, thinking of what he should do. Sora, Kirito and Asuna walked up to him, causing him to look at them.
"Can you handle this?" Herc asked them.
"You got it! We're heroes!" Donald proudly stated.
"Junior heroes, Donald." Goofy corrected him.
"You take care of the Hydra." Sora told him, "We'll handle the rest."
"We'll have Meg back before you know it." Asuna winked at him.
"I'm counting on you." Herc told them, patting their shoulders. Pegasus walked up to Hercules, who straightened up and patted him. "You gotta find Meg." he told the horse, who nodded in response and took off, flying out of the Coliseum. Kirito looked and saw Herc rubbing his head, deeply worried.
"Don't think about it right now." He told him, patting his shoulder, "We'll carry on your troubles." Herc looked at Kirito, smiled and nodded. The five of them took off out of the Coliseum, and through the gates to the Underworld.
When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, they noticed one thing out of place; Phil was lying on the ground. He looked like he endured an attack by something or someone. "Phil!" Sora shouted, leading the group over to him. Phil moaned when he heard them, and he was getting himself up.
"What happened?" Asuna asked him.
I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black." Phil explained, rubbing his head, "I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."
"All dressed in black?!" Donald repeated.
"Do you think...?" Asuna asked Kirito, who nodded in response.
"He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone." Sora stated.
"Where did he run off to?" Goofy asked.
"To the Underworld." Phil answered, looking at the other set of doors Sora and the others couldn't get to before, but now the pathway was open.
"He's a bad apple, all right." Phil noted, "And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break."
"Heroes, eh?" Sora repeated as he grinned, "You could've just asked!"
"You know someone?!" Phil asked, turning to them. Sora, Kirito and the gang all pulled out their weapons, displaying who he was talking about. "Oh, good one..." Phil moaned.
"Got any brighter ideas, pal?" Asuna asked sternly. Phil sighed and shook his head.
"Don't worry, we'll find that man in black along with saving Meg." Kirito assured him, and the five of them took off to the set of doors.
As soon as they entered, they saw the floor covered with a dense mist. "Come on, guys." Sora said, rushing in.
"Hold on, Sora." Kirito cried out, "You never know if that floor is..." But suddenly, Sora took one step, and fell into the mist, and the group could hear him hit the floor below." "...straight and level." Kirito ended. He slowly and carefully started to slide his feet across the floor, finally finding a slope on the side of the room that head down. He led the group to Sora, who was laying face first into the floor.
"You ok?" Asuna asked him.
"Yeah, I think so." Sora answered, lifting himself back to his feet. The group looked around. Seemed a bit misty, but not as much as it was on top.
"Let's be careful now." Kirito told Sora, who rubbed his head in embarrassment. Kirito led the group through the mist, making sure to keep an eye out for Meg or the Organization member.
They journeyed deeper into the cave, underneath the mist. They found several Heartless getting in their path, including ones that scared Asuna; ghost-type Heartless called Trick Ghosts. Being afraid of phantoms, Asuna simply ran away from these, terrified while the boys took care of them. She made up by furiously taking down all the other types of Heartless.
However, the curse of the Underworld was still upon them, and they were still unable to fight at their full potential. They had to stop so they could heal up again. "Man..." Sora groaned as he loosened his shoulders, "This Underworld curse is really getting to me."
"It's getting to all of us, Sora." Kirito told him as he stretched his arms out.
"We've got to get that Olympus Stone back fast!" Goofy stated, and the others nodded in agreement.
The caves were an absolute maze, and the Heartless were no better, either. But still, there were some decent item drops from the enemies, and they managed to find their way around it, finally finding a pathway out from underneath the mist. They leapt up above the mist, and found themselves walking towards a room, where they noticed the man in a black cloak standing there.
The five of them walked towards him, and the guy turned to them. "Ah! You!" he said in a surprising manner, pointing to Sora. He lifted his hood to reveal his face. This was the first time they actually saw an Organization member remove his hood, and Kirito, expecting something else, only noticed a young man's face with a blond, mullet-like style haircut, with a few bangs that hanged all over his face.
He examined Sora closely. "Wait a sec..." he muttered as he look, "...Roxas?"
"Excuse me?" Sora asked confusingly.
"Roxas?" he repeated, hoping for a result, before sighing "Oh, it's no use."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora asked him, then turning to Kirito or Asuna to see if they knew, but they shook their heads.
"Let's see, here..." the man muttered as he pulled out a notepad and read, "If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate true disposition. Right." He put away the notepad as he moaned, "Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one..."
"You're bizarre..." Sora stated.
"Meh, I've seen weirder," Kirito told him, thinking to some people he knew in the multiple VRMMO games he played.
The man then pulled from his other pocket a gold medallion with a lightning bolt on it. "Is that the Olympus Stone?" Asuna asked.
"He's gotta be the thief!" Goofy accused him.
"Now that's just plain rude!" the man retorted. He lifted the stone up above him, and a light shined all around him.
"Mind telling us who you are in the first place?" Kirito asked as he along with everyone else brandished their weapons.
"Just call me Demyx." He replied, and with one hand raised, water suddenly gushed all around him, and with it appeared an object that looked like a sitar.
"How's he gonna fight with that?" Donald asked.
"We're about to find out." Asuna replied, seeing Demyx start playing the instrument.
"Dance, water! Dance!" he shouted, and suddenly multiple versions of himself suddenly appeared everywhere, only they were made out of water.
"What the?!" exclaimed Sora, looking at all the water copies as they cornered them.
"Better hurry." Demyx warned them, "Once their time is up, it's game over for you!" The group understood what he meant by a game over, only they didn't know how it was gonna happen.
"They're just water replicas." Kirito told them, "They are like the pots; we can take them down easily." Everyone nodded and the crew dispersed.
While the water replicas were extremely easy to destroy, they were able to fight back. It seemed that the guy was able to control the replicas with his sitar, and he was able to produce a lot of them. Kirito was gonna strike him, but he was protected by a barrier while he was playing.
Sora thought up of a way of dealing with them by grabbing one and swinging it around him wildly. It seemed to do the trick, cause once he released it, it spun around like a tornado, drawing the replica's near it and destroying them. Asuna, on the other hand, was using her Fire attacks when surrounded by them, and apparently the water replicas just turned into steam from touching her flames. The battle was over in about fourty seconds.
"Not bad, Roxas!" Demyx complimented Sora, and stopped playing his sitar. Kirito saw this chance, and rushed passed him as he aimed a strike on Demyx's shoulder, injuring him. "Hey! That's a low blow, dude!" Demyx shouted, grasping his shoulder in pain.
"Big deal." Kirito responded, turning to him, "I have been known as a Beater."
Demyx looked at Kirito, who's face was calm and poised. Finally stumbling under the pain, Demyx looked back at the other four. "Roxas, come back to us!" he moaned, and he disappeared in a black portal. The gang lowered their weapons and looked at the spot he vanished at.
"Guy's a broken record!" Sora exclaimed.
"Yeah, unless this 'Roxas' guy looks exactly like you, and it was just mistaken identity." Asuna suggested.
"Yui, have any idea who Roxas is?" Kirito asked as he walked to the others.
"The name is familiar," she answered, floating onto his shoulder, "But the problem is that the info gathered on Roxas on DiZ's computer had been cut off, so I was not able to get any info on him."
"I see," Kirito sighed as he joined the others.
"Hey, look!" Donald pointed out, waddling to the spot Demyx disappeared to, and picked up the Olympus Stone. He came back to the others, and handed it to Sora. Sora looked at it for a second as the gang got into a circle, then he raised it up high. Suddenly, light shined from the stone, enveloping each of them. The curse had been lifted from their bodies.
Sora flexed his fingers, feeling the strength coming back to him. "Finally, we're back to normal." Kirito sighed, bending from side to side as he got his strength back. Asuna pulled her Keyblade out and swung it, feeling the power of her attacks like normal. The group then looked at the cave entrance in front of them.
"Let's go!" Sora proclaimed, "Meg needs our help!"
"Right!" Kirito and Asuna agreed, and the group took off further into the cave.
Finally, they arrived at the end of the cavern, where they saw a massive rock in front of them, with a carving of Meg on it, surrounded by a rainbow aura, and a small keyhole. A black aura seem to spiral down in a column to the rock. The rock was apparently some sort of lock to whatever was in that light. Sora lifted his Keyblade, and the tip of it shined onto the keyhole. It unlocked, and the rock started to shine brightly. Next thing you know, the light vanished, and so did the rock. The dark spiraling column became a bright green column of light that shined brightly up to the ceiling.
"Meg!" Donald cried.
"Almost there." Sora assured him, and he led the group into the column of light.
It was as if they were in the ships teleportation device again, only this time, when they appeared again, they found themselves coming into a large room, the walls staggered as it went up. They raised their weapons, ready to face whoever was in there. But they saw Meg, her upper body tied up by some black smoke, with Hades right next to her. She looked happy to see them, and so was Hades apparently.
He chuckled ever so maliciously at them. "Now that's what I call a key." he stated, staring at Sora, Kirito and Asuna. He then clapped his hands together as he continued, "Gee, thanks for your help! Now have a nice day." And he vanished in a puff of black smoke.
Meg stood there, looking at the spot where Hades left, then she looked at the people who came to save her and shouted, "Guys! Behind you!" The group heard a boastful laugh, and they turned to see Pete standing there, surrounded by a bunch of Hook Bats. They backed away from him, surrounding Meg.
"What's wrong?" he asked amusingly, "Can't fight in the Underworld? Boo-hoo-hoo!"
"Better think again." Sora stated as he and the others raised their weapons.
He looked at all the Heartless he brought, and shouted, "Charge!" Another battle was about to begin.
The Hook Bats were charging at the lot of them. Kirito didn't waste any time now that he gained the Olympus Stone's power, and went into Valor Form along with Sora. "Donald! Goofy! Asuna!" Kirito shouted, "You guys protect Meg. We'll deal with Pete!"
"We'll deliver some magic to your battle from back here, too." Asuna added, raising her Keyblade and stabbing a Heartless. They nodded, and the two charged in.
With their Valor Forms, slicing down Heartless and taking on Pete were much easier. Pete, though, was no pushover, and was a tough person to battle against. He had strong punches, and was able to jump a lot higher than he looked, and use his weight to create shockwaves on the ground. He also carried a bunch of bowling balls with him, which rolled across the floor, and exploded in the end! And if it was not bad enough, he also was able to conjure up an shielding orb that protect him from all of Kirito and Sora's attacks, and even heal him a bit, though it lasted for about a few seconds.
Although it took so long to fight Pete, that Kirito and Sora's Valor forms vanished, they still did some decent job on him. Finally, they backed up right in front of Meg, along with everybody else, who were dealing with the dozens of Heartless that kept coming at them. The Heartless gathered up around Pete, ready to fight some more.
"There's too many!" Sora shouted.
"The more we defeat, the more they come!" Asuna exclaimed.
"Let's go!" Donald declared. Kirito swung his Oblivion at Meg's restraints, releasing her arms.
Pete was ready for round 2 when he heard a grunt from behind, followed by bat cries. He turned around and had a couple of Hook Bats fall into him, causing him to collapse. Herc was here, and he rushed over to the gang, who were pleased to see him.
"Sorry I'm late." he told Meg. He then placed a couple of fingers in his mouth and whistled. Pete had just got up when Pegasus flew over and trampled his head, causing him to get dizzy and topple forward face first. Pegasus landed right next to the crew. "Get Meg outta here." he told the five of them as he lifted Meg onto Pegasus, "I'll meet you back at the Coliseum."
"What about you?" Sora asked him.
"I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero." He answered boastfully. Sora, Kirito and Asuna nodded. Hercules smacked Pegasus from behind, and he took off with Meg on board, the other running to the exit.
Pete was on the floor when he saw them rush past, and he got up quickly. "Now wait a sec!" he cried, trying to catch up with them. Hercules got in his way, surprising Pete. He looked seriously at Pete and the Heartless, ready to take them on.
Meanwhile, Sora and the others got out of the light and back into the cave again. Meg and Pegasus flew out and landed right next to them. "Sora, Kirito, Asuna...I won't leave him." Meg told them.
"He'll be okay." Sora assured him.
"Look, even Herc has his limits." Meg explained, "He can't keep winning forever."
"Then we'll go back him up." Asuna stated. "You just make sure Hades doesn't capture you again." Kirito told her.
Pegasus looked down to Donald, who ordered, "Get Meg outta here!" The horse nodded, and he took off with Meg, flying off into the darkened caves.
Sora and Kirito turned to the column of light again. "Let's go." Kirito said calmly.
"Right." Sora nodded, and the five dove in once more.
Up in the room, Pete was still fighting with Hercules, and there were still some Hook Bats and Trick Ghosts ready for more. Herc was looking tired from the continuous fighting, and Pete could see that. He was about to order his minions to attack once more when he noticed Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald and Goofy come out of the column of light and dashed right next to Hercules, ready for another battle.
They were noticing the walls around them were starting to crumble at bit. They needed to take care of Pete quick. Sora, Kirito and Hercules focused on him while Asuna led Donald and Goofy into fighting the Heartless.
Pete's battle strategy were pretty much the same, though adding Hercules to the fight proved things difficult for the big palooka. Even though he was able to conjure up a shield, Sora and Kirito were basically sending him rolling over to Hercules like a pinball, where he broke the shield in one punch! Pete was also trying something out; sending large boulders over to Sora and Kirito, but with Herc's help, they created their own barrier against the attacks. Combined with Pete's slow wit, the battle was pretty much easy for the group.
After several minutes of battling, Pete got up and rubbed his nose. "Hmph! This place gives me the creeps." He stated, "I'll deal with you nitwits next time!" And with that, Pete ran off into the column of light, and disappeared.
Suddenly, the walls were shaking more violently around them. Sora waved the others to the exit, who didn't twice about leaving the place. They dove out of the light on the other end, and raced themselves as fast as they could out of the caves. Suddenly appearing in the collapsing room, Hades stood there, looking all around him. "Could today possibly get any better?" He asked excitedly, "This time Wonder-breath is going down for good." He stared up at the ceilings as they started to fall down.
Meanwhile, the six heroes were rushing out of the caves and back into the Underworld Entrance, where they stopped to catch their breath. "Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite hero washout." said a mischievous voice, "You really blew it this time." The group turned to see Hades walk up to them.
"No one likes a sore loser, Hades." Sora quoted.
"Why don't you just go back to your chamber, and think about what you did for a while." Kirito mocked him.
"Can it, Keyboys!" he spat at them.
"Then let me." Herc said to him, and he walked up to Hades and repeated, "No one likes a sore loser, Hades. Why don't you just go back to your chamber, and think about what you did for a while." The other five looked at one another, and chuckled a bit at this humorous moment.
"Yeah, yeah, Styx and stones." Hades answered, walking away from the crew, "Hey, maybe you should go check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really falling apart up there, champ." He disappeared in a puff of smoke again.
"Wait!" Sora shouted.
"Hate to run, but I've got another little diversion to attend to." Hades' voice emanated.
Hercules rushed off to the Coliseum, the others watching him go. "Let's go after him!" Asuna declared, and Sora and Kirito nodded. They made sure they were prepared for battle before they took off, racing up the shining stairs to the Coliseum.
When they got up, they saw Hercules falling to his knees, staring at the Coliseum, or what was the Coliseum. It was now a pile of rubble, and the Hydra stood in the middle of the mess, roaring menacingly. Sora and Asuna nearly dodged a piece of rubble each, and the five heroes looked up at the monster before them.
Phil, Meg and Pegasus rushed to Herc's side. Phil shook him violently until he turned to his coach. "Champ!" he gasped, feeling relieved, "You're safe!"
"I failed..." Herc moaned.
"It's not your fault." Meg told him. "I left everyone unprotected." Herc stated, slamming his fists into the ground, "Hades was right. I'm just a...a washout."
"Aw, come on champ!" Phil scolded him, "I didn't train you to think like that."
"Wonderboy..." Meg muttered.
"Phil's right." Sora stated, he, Kirito and Asuna rushing to the sad hero's side, "This is no time to beat yourself up."
"Who was the hero that told us to never give, huh?" Kirito asked him seriously, while Yui popped out of his pocket and nodded in agreement. "Come on, Hercules." Asuna pleaded to him.
This wasn't helping him. "I'm some hero..." he moaned, shaking his head in despair. He looked up at the Hydra before him, and his skin started to gray up a bit.
Kirito looked at him, then looked up at the Hydra as it stomped towards them. He then got to his feet, and produced his Keyblade. "Sora, Asuna, we can take care of this." he stated, "Herc's no help in this state, so somebody get him out of here." Meg did so, carrying Herc to one side as the Hydra crawled over the wall to them.
"Herc needs help!" Donald squawked. "Then let's clean up the mess he left, okay boys?!" Asuna stated.
"Yeah." Sora answered.
Suddenly, Phil came to their side, looking like he was about to do some kung-fu fighting. "Don't suppose you got room for one more?" he asked them.
Pegasus and Meg joined him, and Pegasus even got on his hind legs and mimicked Phil. "We're in." Meg stated.
"In that case, go on the side lines, and give us support from there." Kirito asked, knowing they weren't trained fighters. They did so, and the five were ready to face the Hydra.
The head was so high up, that the only way to actually hit him was by using magic. They sent Blizzard attacks up at it, while Donald did Thunder attacks, all the time avoiding the Hydra's swishing tail and thunder attacks. It lowered its head to them, and that was the opportunity to strike it hard with their weapons. It took some serious damage, and it looked stunned.
"Time to vanquish it!" Sora shouted, and with a tremendous leap, he sliced the Hydra's head clean off, and sending its' head flying. It looked like victory was in their grasp when its' headless neck fell to the ground, but suddenly three more Hydra heads were produced from the ground, surrounding them.
"How in the..?!" gasped Asuna.
"Don't know, don't care!" Kirito replied, taking a leap at the right Hydra's high head and started to attack. All that work with the Valor form gave him better jumps in his normal form.
"Hey, Sora!" Phil shouted, standing on top of the crumbled walls. Sora heard him and looked up. "Jump onto the Hydra's back!" he shouted to him, and Sora followed through. Then Phil produced a large pot from beneath him, and tossed it into the air. Sora made a leap for it, and smacked it down onto the Hydra's back. This caused the three heads to fall over in pain, which concluded one thing; the heads were connected to that body.
Kirito made quick work with the Hydra head he was dealing with, and sliced it off. Asuna was dealing with the Hydra head on the other side, and sliced it off, too. Sora, Donald and Goofy all took care of the middle head, and Sora finished the job.
It was only then that Asuna remembered something. "I just realized." she gasped, staring at the body, "In Greek mythology, it said that if the Hydra's head would be cut off..." Suddenly, the body started to move again, and out popped nine heads! "...three more will replace the one that was lost." she ended, frightened by the monster before her.
"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT SOONER!" the other four shouted, turning to the multi-headed beast before them.
No sooner did they yell than the Hydra made his move, slamming their heads onto the ground like hammers, causing damage to the lot of them. Kirito switched into his Valor form and he leapt up at the monster's heads, and striking at them in fury. However, he could only his some of the heads, but the others came flying in, knocking Kirito to one side of the wall, right next to Meg. He definitely took a heavy hit, but Meg found some healing items, and regenerated him again.
Not only was the Hydra using his tail, his heads and thunder attacks, he was also sending Possessor Heartless at them. This was the most difficult battle they had to face yet, and they were only starting on their adventure. However, when the Hydra lowered its' head, they always took their chance and dished out attacks at the heads.
Asuna then looked up and saw Pegasus flying in the sky, and had a crazy idea. She whistled to Pegasus, and he dove down to pick her up. She got up onto his back, and the two were being eyed by all the Hydra's heads. Pegasus then started to fly around to all of the Hydra's heads, and Asuna, with great accuracy, struck everyone of them. Not only were their attacks swift, but with Pegasus' speed and Asuna's strength, they were also damaging.
"Nice move out there, Asuna!" Sora cheered as she landed on the ground next to him.
"Well, I try." she replied amusingly.
Just then, Donald and Goofy were tossed aside, and slammed into the walls behind them. Kirito came leaping back to meet Sora and Asuna. "It's no good!" he shouted, "Unless we can stop it here and now, I don't know how much more we can take."
"I agree." Sora responded, "So let's combine our attacks together, and see what happens."
"Worth a shot!" Asuna added. The trio at the Hydra before them, then at each other, and nodded.
The trio concentrated, putting their Keyblades together. The three blades started to shine brightly, feeling the connection of the three friends. Then they sparkled brightly, and Sora, Kirito and Asuna curled their Keyblades behind their backs, then flung them like boomerangs at the Hydra. They were using a triple Strike Raid, only their powers were increased several times more than the average Strike Raid. The triple ensemble was not only powerful, it struck all of the the heads, causing each one to stun as it was hit.
The three Keyblade wielders called back their Keyblades into their hands, and they charged forward, Sora in front, and Kirito and Asuna on each side of him. The trio simultaniously leapt up, and with one piercing slash, they sliced through all of the Hydra's heads.
They leapt back together, and watched the beast's headless body writhe in the air before falling to the ground, unable to produce anymore heads. One of the Hydra's heads fell to the ground right next to it, its' tongue lagging out, lifeless. The trio looked at one another, and smiled with glee. They defeated it at last. They high-fived one another, and Yui even came out of Kirito's pocket and started to spin around them excitedly.
Suddenly, out of the Hydra's body, three Magic Orbs appeared and floated to them. "Those orbs contain the thunder element." Yui explained, "You can now use the Thunder Spell."
"Finally," Kirito said exasperatedly as he and the others touched the orbs and they dove inside them, "I was wondering if I could get that attack. I keep seeing Donald using it, but I wanted to try the attack too." Asuna nodded in agreement, then realized that Donald and Goofy took heavy hits from the Hydra.
The trio rushed to each of them as they slowly got up. "You guys ok?" Sora asked, worried about them.
"Oh, my beak!" moaned Donald, grabbing his bill.
"Is it morning yet?" Goofy asked dazedly. Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui all looked at one another, and bursted out laughing. That was just like their friends.
Some time later, everyone in the battle gathered around Hercules, who was sitting at the steps of the crumbled Coliseum. He looked like he didn't have any strength within him any more, and he looked lost in despair.
"I let you down." He said mournfully, "I'm just...no use."
"It's not your fault." reassured Meg, who sat right next to him, "Hey, even a god would be exhausted."
"She's right." Sora agreed, "Give yourself a chance to rest."
"You gotta realize that mourning about what you couldn't do to save others is not the answer to solving this." Kirito told him, "Believe me...I know." He reminisced back in the early days of being trapped in the game. He saw the members of the Moonlit Black Cats guild being killed one after another, and he was the one who brought them to such a tragic end. He remembered the trauma from having to kill members of Laughing Coffin in order to stop them from killing others, and how it resurfaced in GGO for a time. Asuna looked at him, knowing what was going through his mind because she knew the story. It was the main reason why he went solo for so long.
"There won't be any games for a while, anyway." Goofy assured him, his optimism breaking the moment.
Meg got up, brushed her dress, and smiled at them as she said, "Don't worry about Wonderboy here. I'll look after him. Sora, Kirito, Donald, Asuna, Goofy, I owe you big time."
"Hey, it's no big deal." Sora assured her, "Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up."
"We'll take care of it." Asuna finished, the others nodded in agreement. Kirito shook off the memories of the past, smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, that's what heroes are for!" Donald proclaimed.
"When did you five make hero?" Meg asked them sarcastically.
"Let's save that for another time..." Sora answered carefully, "We have to hit the road."
"Okay." she responded, "Don't be strangers."
"Gawrsh, I hope ya feel better soon, Hercules." Goofy said sympathetically.
"You and me both, Goofy." Kirito added, though one thing that made him say that was because he wanted to prove his strength to Hercules.
"Yeah..." Herc sighed.
Asuna and Donald turned to Phil, who didn't say anything. "You have no parting words for us?" she asked the goat man.
"Oh, well, take care you guys and gal!" he responded hastily, "Stay a little longer next time. Especially you, sweet-cheeks. We got some serious training to catch up on." Asuna rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Sora turned to all of his friends. "Well, time to go." he stated, then he remembered, "Oh, I almost forgot. The Olympus Stone." He pulled out the stone from one of his bags and held it to Hercules, who got up and stumbled to him. Just as he reached for the stone, it started to shine brightly and float. Sora looked back at Kirito and Asuna, who nodded in realizing what this meant.
They pointed their Keyblades downward together as they and the floating stone glowed brighter. Suddenly a crown mark appeared around them, and a strange energy surged around them as the surrounding changed into a bright sky with black clouds. The light from the stone suddenly bursted into the sky, and a large keyhole appeared. The trio jumped back, flipping their Keyblades around and pointing them at the keyhole. Three beams came from their Keyblades and shot themselves at the keyhole, and a sound of a lock unlocking was produced, along with a blinding light. Suddenly everything was back to normal.
"Another gate has opened!" Goofy proclaimed.
"We're one step closer to succeeding in our goals!" Asuna cheered. The other four, who had no idea what just happened, merely believed it to be a good thing.
Suddenly, something fell out of the sky and into Sora's hands. It was another Keyblade keychain, one with green links and a mini version of the Olympus Stone on the end. "That's will give you the 'Hero's Crest'!" Yui explained to him.
"Take it Sora." Kirito told him, "You deserve it." Sora gleefully smiled, and he replaced his Kingdom Key for it. It transformed into a Keyblade that had similarities to the Greek architecture, its' teeth was that of a star.
"Not a bad look." Asuna stated as Sora placed the Kingdom Key keychain into his pocket. He put his new Keyblade away, and he looked at Goofy, who signaled the Gummi Ship to pick them up.
"I wonder where we'll go next." Sora asked.
"I hope it's somewhere a little more normal than this or the other two worlds." Asuna hoped.
"Doubt that will happen." Kirito answered. The two of them looked at each other, and giggled slightly. They were getting kind of use to this world traveling. The light shined from the Gummi ship onto them, and they teleported up to it, unable to realize what was about to happen.