?

Kirito and Asuna were back to back, facing a horde of Heartless that surrounded them. Kirito and Asuna were both in their Limit Forms, their Keyblades raised. They looked to each other, then charged at either side. They took down one Heartless after another, swinging their Keyblades at them as they came. However, they kept popping up again whenever one was destroyed. Kirito was starting to breath heavily from fighting them so hard after a while. He looked all around him, and it seemed like there hadn't been a change in the amount of Heartless. He then heard someone call out his name, and he turned to see Klein fighting against the Heartless from a distance. Kirito called out to his friend, hoping he would answer. Klein looked up for only a short second to see Kirito before he got knocked to the floor by a Heartless. Before Kirito had time to speak, Heartless surrounded Klein on the floor, covering him. He fought his way over to him, trying his best to help him out.

When he got to him, he saw Klein laying there on the floor, and suddenly a heart floated out of his body, and then Klein faded into darkness, reappearing as a Heartless Shadow. Kirito looked frightfully at his comrade's form, backing away from him. He turned and saw Agil, Lisbeth, Silica and Sinon standing there, confronted by the Heartless, too. "Guys! Run!" Kirito shouted to them, but it was too late. The Heartless surrounded them, consuming them, and their three hearts disappeared to reveal themselves as their Heartless.

Kirito was panicked as he saw his friends all waddling forward, all Heartless. He heard a cry of pain from behind, and he turned to see Asuna flying in the air, hit by an attack from behind. Kirito shouted out to her, completely frightened. Asuna turned her head over to Kirito, and in a flash moment, Sachi appeared in Asuna's position before Asuna came back. She barely touched the floor before her body deteriorated and her heart floated up into the air, and it became Asuna's Heartless. Kirito was frozen in panic. All of the other Heartless disappeared. All were left were all his friends and loved one's Heartless, moving in from all around him. Kirito refused to fight back at his friends, refraining from defending himself. All Heartless leaped in unison onto Kirito. Kirito closed his eyes.

"Kirito…Kirito!" Asuna's voice was calling out to him, and Kirito opened his eyes.

He was inside the Gummi ship again, slouching in his seat. Asuna, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Yui were all around him, a worried look on their faces. Kirito noticed he was drenched with sweat as he sat up.

"You okay, Kirito?" Sora asked as Kirito sat up in his seat.

"Yeah." gasped Kirito, the images of where he was at swimming in his mind, "Just…just a really bad dream." He wiped the sweat from his forehead as the others looked at him, concern.

"Gawrsh, it must have been a bad." Goofy stated.

"You were struggling in your sleep." Asuna explained, "You had a look of fear on your face. No way you are okay right now, Kirito." Kirito looked to all of his friends, then looked down, thinking about what to say.

"What was the dream about?" Donald asked.

"Heartless." Kirito answered, "Heartless…and my friends back home." Asuna's eyes widened, realizing that he must have been having a dream like the ones he described a long while back. Kirito looked to Asuna, then to the others, and faked a smile as he said, "At least the nightmare's over."

"Yeah, that's all that matters." Sora replied in a carefree way, "Besides, we're nearing Hercules' world."

"That's true." said Kirito, "If I started to panic now, Phil would be chewing me out." Everybody else went back to their seats.

Asuna turned to look at Kirito, who had his head bowed, thinking about what just happened. 'He's definitely not okay with this.' she told herself, 'If this is like the nightmares that plagued him, hinting at our arrival into this dimension, I can't imagine what his nightmares mean now.'

They arrived at Hercules's world, and they set the coordinates to go down. Asuna was still concern with Kirito after he had that bad dream, but decide to let him be. Yui activated the transporter, and they teleported down.

When they arrived, they found themselves in the Underworld again, near the door towards the world above. Off across the eerie waters laid a new structure that wasn't there before. It was a coliseum of sorts, and it had skull-like decorations all around it, and movie spotlights that shined into the sky. There were boats floating on the waters closest to them. Standing at the door was Meg and Hercules, who still looked the same as how they left him.

They walked up to the two as Hercules noticed them coming. "Hey." he waved to them.

"Herc!" Sora addressed as Hercules came down the last steps, "You feeling any better?" Hercules sighed.

"Well…same routine." Meg answered for him, "Wonderboy here thinks his hero days are over. And Phil thinks it's all in his head." Kirito was kind of leaning towards where Phil was getting at, but not so bluntly.

"Gawrsh, Herc. We know you're a hero!" Goofy assured him.

"That's right…Blunderboy." taunted an ominous voice, "How can you mope on a momentous day like today?" Hades appeared in a puff of smoke near the docks. "The Underdrome's back, and you are gonna fill the stands." Hades told Hercules and the others as he walked forward, "After all, your fans won't settle for anything less than a certified hero. I mean, if you're not up to it, you could always just, I dunno, LOSE?"

"I'd bet you like that!" Sora sneered at Hades.

"You'd better not try any funny stuff to get your way, Hades." growled Asuna

"Excuse me? Hey, I'm not a selfish guy." Hades replied to Sora's comment, "I'm not like those high and mighty snobs up on Olympus. I stand for the masses! And have I got a massive idea!" He turned around to nobody as he shouted, "The games, ladies and gentlemen…are back! Yours truly, Hades, the one and only Lord of the Dead, brings you the ultimate games, to celebrate the re-opening of the ultimate coliseum! We'll finally answer the age-old question: Who deserves the title 'Ultimate Hero'? These games are gonna settle the debate once and for all! The winner reigns supreme. Of what? You guessed it! The Hades Cup!"

He turned back to the others as he continued, "And I assure you that the 'Great' Hercules will be there. Otherwise…" he looked directly at Meg, and Hercules shielded her with his hand, "You'll never see your girlfriend again." Hades ended, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Lowlife!" growled Sora.

"Bastard!" Kirito sneered.

"Heh, you're too kind, kids." Hades voice rang out.

"Guess we should sign up for the tournament." Hercules sighed. Kirito wasn't worried. In fact, this shrugged off all his worries. When Aincrad was reborn with ALO, tournaments started happening in the game. Players now took part in them since people didn't die in the real world this time. Asuna and Kirito took part in the tournaments plenty of times, both in tag team and one-on-one. Asuna and Kirito were unstoppable in the tag team tournaments, while the two of them would sometimes meet each other near or at the top of the bracket. More times than not, Kirito would come out on top in their battles, although Asuna would occasionally win their matches. The one that they could never beat, however, was Absolute Sword Yuuki, someone who was like a sister to Asuna, the best swordswoman in ALO, and one who had passed away not too long ago.

They went over to the two devils, Pain and Panic, who were waiting for them at the docks. "I'm handling registration for the Hades Cup." Pain explained, "Don't go to Panic for that one!"

"Yeah, it's a great way to spend some time." Panic stated.

The team looked at the instructions for the tournament. "So it's a team tournament." Sora stated as he looked down the list, "Guess that means we can work together with Hercules in this tournament. Any complaints?" All of the others shook their heads. They signed their names up for their team, and entered in the tournament.

Later on, the tournament graph was set up, and the team walked over to it to looked at the roster they were in. "Who do we face first?" Hercules asked.

"Let's see…" muttered Sora, etching his finger across the board to se where they were.

"It's 'Spin Strike'." Yui answered, looking at the spot where their team name was at.

"Look! Auron's in the tournament, too!" Donald pointed out. Sure enough, on the other half of the board, Auron's name was listed as one of the competitors.

"Uh-oh! We might have to fight him in the finals!" Goofy moaned.

"Sounds like a great challenge to me." Kirito stated, remembering how well Auron fought last time.

"I bet he's a real hero, huh?" Hercules sighed.

"He did say to us that he was no hero." Asuna remembered.

"Well, I don't think he's a bad guy…" said Sora, turning to Hercules, "But you're the only hero around here, Hercules. You know that."

"Maybe before…" Hercules started, "Now I'm just a wash-"

"Stop it!" shouted Sora, Asuna and Donald in unison.

"Let's get into the coliseum." Kirito told the others, "That should get you back to your normal self, Herc." He led the team to the boats, and they sailed to the coliseum for their first match.

The Spin Strike team was a simple group of Heartless, composed of Tornado Steps, Driller Moles and a Morning Star. The team went to work on the group. Hercules was still in a slump, so he wasn't fighting as strongly as he was before. He only made a couple of attacks during the whole fight. It was mostly thanks to the others that they succeeded in defeating the opponents.

"How'd it go out there, champ?" Sora asked encouragingly.

"I'm just not what I used to be." Hercules answered depressingly, "Sorry to drag you down, guys."

"Enough with it already." muttered Kirito as he walked back to the boats, "Look, we need you in the semifinals, so buck up and don't give in!" The team walked to the boats, and went back to the shore where the tournament graph had been updated.

"We're at the semifinals…" Goofy noticed

"And here's the next opponent for you guys." Yui explained, "They're called 'Bad Alert'!"

"Are they any good?" Hercules asked her. "Well, they made it to the semifinals as well…" Asuna stated.

"It sounds like they're 'bad'…but we can't chicken out now!" Sora declared. Everybody got themselves prepared, then they got into the boat, and sailed to the arena again.

The opponents this time were composed of a bunch of Minute Bombs, a Crescendo, and a Crimson Jazz. Sora wasted no time, and went into his Valor Form to take out all the Minute Bombs before they exploded while Kirito joined with him, leaving Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Hercules to take out the other Heartless. Hercules got hit hard by the Crimson Jazz, but Asuna took this opportunity to take it out in no time flat. They defeated the Bad Alert team.

"We made it to the finals!" cheered Sora.

"That wasn't too hard." Kirito said, loosening his weapon shoulder.

"If we win, we'll all be heroes!" squawked Donald.

In this world, anyway. Asuna thought to herself.

"Oh, that's why you're so happy." Goofy chuckled.

"We can't stay junior heroes forever, you know." Sora stated. Kirito rolled his eyes at what he was demoting himself as. To him, Kirito believed that they were already full-fledge heroes.

"I'll try not to mess things up." Hercules sighed to them as he sat on the floor.

"Enough already…" sighed Asuna, shaking her head at Herc's lack of confidence.

"Look. Over there." Yui squeaked, pointing to one side of coliseum. They turned to see Auron standing there, his back turned to them.

"He's our final opponent, right?" Hercules asked, getting to his feet again.

"Auron!" Sora called out. A faint dark aura surrounded Auron for a second as he turned around, observing the group. Kirito felt something was off about him.

It was confirmed with what he said next. "And you are?" he asked the group. Everyone looked quite confused at this statement. Did Auron forget who they were?

"I must defeat you and atone for my crimes." Auron stated in a stern tone. Auron then turned around, and left the coliseum.

"Hey!" Sora called out, but to no response. "What was that all about?" he thought out loud.

"Somethings off about him." Kirito stated.

"Let's follow him." Asuna suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, and they dashed off to chase after him.

When the team got back to the shore, they noticed Auron walking off to the Cave of the Dead towards Hades' Chamber. He opened the door to it, and walked through. Sora led the group into following him through the door, with Hercules staying behind to rest with Meg. Even Phil and Pegasus managed to come down to meet with them. They said their greetings, and took off after Auron. When they got through the door, Sora was the first to notice from a distance that Auron was standing right in front of Hades. He flattened himself against the wall, and beckoned Kirito and Asuna to do the same. Donald almost made his presence known had Sora not dragged him to the side. The group watched and listened to Auron and Hades' conversation.

"Okay, let's review." they heard Hades start, "State your crime, prisoner."

"I exist." Auron replied monotonously, "That is my crime. It is…inexcusable."

"Ooh, good, very good." said Hades.

"What's wrong with Auron?" Sora asked, "He's never acted that way before."

"I agree." Kirito acknowledged, "Somethings up about this."

"Shh! I can't hear them." whispered Asuna to the boys.

"Okay, so you made one lousy mistake; you exist." said an amused Hades, "But hey, I'm a forgiving guy. You keep your end of our little deal, and I'm willing to overlook a transgression or two."

"I understand." replied Auron, "Defeat Hercules."

"And his meddling friends." Hades added to Auron's instructions.

"What? No, only Hercules." retorted Auron. It seemed like a part of him still cared for Sora, Kirito and the others.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten who's in charge?" Hades questioned Auron. He then placed a hand on Auron's shoulder, and fiery sparks seemed to swirl around that hand, along with the aura that surrounded Auron before. This caused pain to Auron, both physically and, in some odd way, mentally. In the other hand, Hades pulled out a miniaturized statue of Auron, and all the fiery sparks and aura seemed to go from Auron into that statue.

"Hercules and the other five. Are we clear?" Hades asked Auron.

"We're clear, Hades." groaned Auron.

"Lord Hades." Hades corrected him, the aura glowing brighter as he said it.

"Lord Hades…" gasped Auron.

"Good." Hades replied, stopping the flow of energy from Auron, "Now go." Auron turned around and left, and Hades watched him leave with the Auron statue at hand. The team hid themselves as Auron passed them by so as not to get spotted.

"So that's how he's controlling Auron!" Sora noticed.

"That explains why he's been acting strange." Asuna whispered, looking towards Hades as he walked off, "'Not a selfish guy'. Yeah right!"

"What a jerk!" squawked Donald.

"More that likely he would take that as a compliment." Kirito told Donald.

"I can't stand seeing Auron do that lowlife's bidding…" Sora muttered, "We've got to help him!"

"Let's try talking to him." Yui suggested, "We could probably figure something out from there."

As Auron walked by, Sora attempted to talk to him, but Auron was ignorant, and walked through the door out of the caves. "C'mon, let's go after him!" Sora declared to the others, and they chased after Auron.

They rushed through the door, and saw Auron get into one of the boats with Pain and Panic. They tried to to catch up. but Auron was already sailing away. They all watched the boat sail away, Pain and Panic waving at them in a taunting manner. "Were too late." Asuna sighed. Sora tried to say something, then closed his mouth, looking worried. Kirito had a concerned look on his face, wondering what to do next.

"What's wrong, guys?" Hercules asked, walking up to them.

"Auron's in trouble!" Sora answered, "It's like Hades brainwashed him!"

"It looked like he was controlling him using a statue figure." Kirito added, "I'm not sure how, but it is stopping him from remembering us."

"You know something? That sounds kinda familiar…" Hercules said to them, "Hades may be using the statue to hold Auron's free will hostage."

"He can do that?" Asuna asked, turning to Kirito. Seeing as Hades was the Lord of the Dead, it did seem possible.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"See if you can find that statue." Hercules answered, "It's gotta be somewhere in the Underworld."

"And what, break it?" Kirito asked.

"No. Bring it to Auron." Hercules answered, "Give it to Auron, and that will release his free will."

"Right. We're on it!" Sora replied.

Then out of nowhere, Hades was right next to Sora and Asuna, startling everyone. "Tell me you're not thinking of leaving." he asked the group, "You've got a match coming up." The team wondered what they should do, but Hercules and Kirito each came up with different answers.

"I'll fight Auron in the final. One-on-one." Hercules declared.

"Oh, you will?" questioned Hades.

"And how about for an exhibition match, I enter the Pain and Panic Cup." Kirito suggested, "No breaks, just a straight on fight to the finish, all on my own."

"Kirito, no!" Asuna gasped, leading the team in astonishment from what they were asking.

"Interesting." Hades said, looking at both Hercules and Kirito. He then turned around and started to think about their suggestions.

"Kirito, what are you thinking?!" Asuna asked, flabbergasted.

"I'm buying you guys some time." Kirito asked, "I bet that's what Hercules was thinking, too." He turned to Herc, who nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure you don't need backup?" Sora asked him.

"I have Yui." Kirito answered as Yui popped out of her pocket, "That's plenty enough. Don't worry, I didn't survive SAO for two years out of sheer luck."

"Just hurry back." Hercules told them, "I know you can do it!" The other four looked concern but they understood what is needed here.

"Congratulations!" Hades said, stopping the conversation, "You've got a deal."

"Thanks." Hercules answered.

"You're a swell guy." Kirito said sarcastically.

"On one condition!" Hades added, "You, Keyboy, along with the other two Keybladers and their trusty friends have to meet the winner in one final clash, whaddya say?"

"Sounds reasonable." lied Kirito.

"That'll drive the crowd wild…" Hercules answered.

"It'd better." Hades said as the boat came in, "I promised the crowd the event of their afterlives." Kirito turned around and kissed Asuna on the cheek.

"Wish me luck." he whispered to her before he, Hades and Hercules all entered the boat. The team watched as they sailed away to the coliseum.

"Heh-heh, sucker!" taunted Hades, "You know for me, the rest is smooth sailing."

The team watched them disappear. "Good luck, Kirito." Asuna said, a look of worry on her face.

"Let's go get that statue." Sora declared.

"Start with Hades' Chamber." Meg suggested, leading Phil and Pegasus over to them, "I'm sure that's where he is keeping it."

"On it!" Sora answered, and he led the team onward, Asuna pausing to look back at the coliseum before catching up with the others.

Kirito got into the arena, where the Pain and Panic Cup was about to take place. He looked all around, and noticed Hercules on the sidelines, watching him. "Papa, are you sure about this?" Yui asked, flying close to Kirito's shoulder.

"It's too late to back off now." Kirito answered, whipping his Oblivion out, "Besides, I'm sure we'll be fine." He looked up and noticed Hades sitting there on his special seat in the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ghost and ghouls alike!" announced Hades, "There has been a change of plans to the schedule of our tournament. First of all, the team that was joining your 'hero', Hercules, has dropped out of his team. It is now a battle between him and Auron, only one will become victorious. As for the others, they will challenge the winner of the match to see who will reign supreme! Though one of them plans to display himself in the Pain and Panic Cup. What's this Keyblader's name? Eh…" he looked down at Pain and whispered, "What's this brat's name again?"

"Kirito, sir." Pain answered, looking down the list.

"Sounds like something out of a Japanese name randomizer, but whatever." Hades answered, "Will he succeed in the battle he is about to face on his own, or will he be joining you as part of the dead?!"

"Get real." Kirito muttered under his breath as Heartless started to pop up in front of him.

"For the Pain and Panic Cup, the rules are simple." Hades explained, "There are ten matches in total. You can't use those silly Drive Forms of yours. Get as many points as possible, and see if you can survive. Let the match begin!"

There was a bell that rung somewhere, and Kirito fixed his eyes onto his opponents. "Let's go." Kirito stated, and he charged in.

Meanwhile, Sora and Asuna were leading the team through the passageway in the Cave of the Dead. There were plenty of Heartless that kept getting in their way as they ran through. They had to keep stopping in order to take on the horde that impeded their path.

"You worried about Kirito?" Sora asked Asuna.

"Somewhat." she answered, slicing down a Neoshadow, "But I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He's I just hope he's strong enough to defeat whatever adversary comes his way while buying us some time." Sora smiled and nodded, having hope for Kirito's success. It took several minutes just to get to the Inner Chamber. Once they rested for a second, they proceeded forward.

Back in the Pain and Panic Cup, Kirito stood there, having just endured nine of the ten matches. They were fairly easy, even without his friends or Drive Forms. They took him about thirty seconds each, and the eighth match literally did take thirty seconds, seeing as he had to endure for that long. "All right, who's my next opponent?" Kirito asked himself as he waited for the next battle.

A burst of light appeared, then two figures appeared in front of him, ones Kirito did not expect; Leon and Yuffie! "Wait, what are you guys doing here?" Kirito asked, looking at them both surprised.

"Simple. We entered in as the final matchup in this Cup." Leon answered, whipping out his Gunblade, "Don't hold back. If you defeat us, we'll just be sent back to Hollow Bastion."

"Better not make it easy for us." Yuffie taunted to him as she whipped out her shuriken. Kirito smiled as he held his Keyblade at the ready, and the match begun.

Kirito attempted to attack Yuffie first, but she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Leon came from the side to attack Kirito, but he spun around and blocked his Gunblade. Kirito was slightly worn from the continuous battles, but he was strong enough to take them both on. Yuffie tossed a couple of small metal stars at Kirito, who reacted by jumping backwards. He then fired a volley of Blizzara attacks at Leon, who failed to block them. Kirito turned and directed a Thundara attack at Yuffie, damaging her. As the smoke rose over Yuffie from the attack, Kirito made a charge for her. Just as he got close, the smoke cleared to reveal Yuffie powering up her magic power onto her large shuriken, which glowed green with the energy. She tossed it around herself, causing Kirito to have no choice but to endure it with his Keyblade. Sparks emanated between Kirito's Oblivion and Yuffie's magic enhanced shuriken. As Kirito struggled to keep his ground, Leon took aim at Kirito, and fired a Firaga blast at him. Kirito noticed it too late, and he was blown from the attack. He skidded to a halt near the edge of the stadium.

Hades looked eagerly down at the match as Kirito shakily got up. Leon and Yuffie walked in closer to him, ready to strike once more. Kirito panted a couple times, then looked up, smirking. Leon and Yuffie were taken aback at his attitude. Time I show them how I do things in SAO! Kirito thought to himself. He took one step, then he jumped into a Sonic Leap Sword Skill straight at Yuffie, who was unable to keep up with the sudden attack. Kirito placed his powerful slash at Yuffie, knocking her back to the other end of the arena. Leon was surprised by this new move, but he then charged at Kirito, attempting to slash him. Kirito ducked under his horizontal slash, then went into his Horizonal Square Sword Skill, slicing Leon on all four sides before he was able to react. The Sword Skill took it's affect, and Leon doubled over in pain.

Kirito leapt backwards as Yuffie and Leon struggled to get up again. Leon fired another Firaga spell at Kirito, who sliced it with his Oblivion. Yuffie used this distraction to teleport right behind Kirito, ready to strike. "You can't fool me twice!" Kirito shouted, whipping around and doing an uppercut slash, knocking away Yuffie's shuriken and made her hit the floor hard. Kirito turned around again and charged at Leon, and the two clashed swords. They dueled for only ten seconds before Kirito spotted an opening, knocking Leon back. Yuffie and Leon both charged at Kirito, ready to double team him. Kirito was charging up for his next attack. One they got close, Kirito unleashed his Explosion move all around him, causing both Yuffie and Leon considerable damage. The two fell to the floor, and there they fell, unable to get back up again. Leon squinted up at Kirito, who looked back at him with a calm expression. Leon smirked, and both he and Yuffie disappeared in a flash of light.

"It's over!" Hades cried, shouting over the ghoulish cheers of the crowd, "And the winner of this match is… that Keyblade brat there. Take your trophy and prizes, and get lost, okay?" Pain and Panic walked forward, holding the trophy in their spindling hands. With it also contained a Protect Belt and a Serenity Stone. Kirito took the trophy with ease and raised it up high, showing it to everyone. He felt pretty proud at the moment. It was the best thing ever to wind this challenge.

As he walked to the boats again, he whispered, "Hey, Yui. How much time did that take?"

"About nine minutes." Yui replied, accumulating the time he took in the cup.

Nine minutes, huh? thought Kirito, That's not a whole lot of time. I hope Asuna, Sora and the others can make it back soon.

He passed by Hercules as he entered the arena. "Good job out there." he said to Kirito.

"You do just as well." Kirito replied, "Don't worry. I'll bail you out when I need to." Hercules nodded and they continued their individual paths. Kirito joined up with Phil and Meg, watching as Hercules and Auron were about to square off.

Hurry up, guys. Kirito thought to himself, hearing the sound of the battle beginning.

In the Valley of the Dead, Sora, Asuna, Donald and Goofy were fighting against a bunch of Minute Bomb Heartless. They were trying their best to take them out as quickly as they could. Asuna went into her Wisdom Form in order to take them out quicker. "Hurry! To Hades Chamber!" Sora declared, and he led the team up the rest of the path, taking out a few Driller Moles, then finally reaching the chambers.

When they got up there, they noticed the table in the middle of the room. On the part closest to them was Auron's statue. "Got it!" Sora stated, and he made a grab for it. The moment he touched it, he felt a surge of energy flow through and out of his body.

"Sora!" Asuna shouted, and she made to pull him off, but instead got added to the flow of energy. Goofy touched Asuna, and Donald touched Goofy, and all four of them were feeling the same electrical-like energy surge through them.

"What's going on?!" squawked Donald, shaking from the energy.

Suddenly, voices could be heard in all their heads, though it seemed to flow throughout the room.

"It is not too late! Let us turn back!"

"Yes, but I…I cannot accept it."

"Where is the sense in all this?"

"But…there must be another way!"

"Your deaths will mean nothing!"

"You must live!"

The jumbled up voices seem to flow through their mind, along with memories that weren't theirs. Memories that belong to Auron. Finally, the flow stopped, and everything was calm.

"Wha-?" Asuna said, shaking her head, "What in the world was that?"

"I get it." Sora answered, looking at the statue, "This is what belongs in Auron's heart."

"Gawrsh, he musta had a pretty rough life." Goofy assumed.

"Yeah…but in the end, that's really what made him stronger." Sora ended.

"And I thought Kirito and I had a rough life." Asuna muttered, thinking about their times in the pass, "Auron dealt with a lot more troublesome things."

"Let's give it back!" Donald declared.

Suddenly, the team detected something was wrong. They whipped out their weapons and found themselves surrounded by… "Nobodies?" Sora asked, looking around, "Where did they come from?"

"The Organization musta sent them." Asuna assumed, "Lets take them out!" The team dispersed to fight against the horde.

There were nothing but Dusks, but they came in numbers. The team had to fight against several dozens of them. Sora went into his Valor Form to take them on while Asuna was still in her Wisdom Form. With the combination of Sora and Goofy's close range fighting and Asuna and Donald's magic attacks, they were taking them out swiftly and surely. This did seem to improve their forms during the fight, and they were able to take them out in about three minutes. Just as they thought they were done, more Dusks appeared through the window holes, and the group backed away from them as they entered in.

"Hey, go away!" Donald squawked at them. The Nobodies walked forward, and it looked like they had to fight some more. Just as they were prepared, however, Rabid Dog Heartless appeared out of nowhere, and started attacking the Nobodies.

"Well, this is unorthodox." Asuna stated, seeing their two enemies fight it out.

"Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!" said Sora.

"We'd better skedaddle!" Goofy told the others, and they ran off with the statue at hand.

Kirito was getting pretty worried for his friends, so he decided to wait at the entrance. He sailed back to the entrance, and waited for his friends to come back. He was leaning on a stalagmite, resting. The Pain and Panic Cup did wear him out.

It had only been ten minutes since he waited when the doors to the Caves of the Dead open up. Kirito looked up and saw, to his relief, Sora, Asuna, Donald and Goofy all running through the door towards him. "There you guys are." Kirito sighed, walking towards them.

"You ok, Kirito?" Asuna asked him. Kirito nodded, and he showed them the trophy he won, along with his spoils.

"Way to go!" Sora cheered, punching the air.

"But I only postponed Herc's battle for nine minutes since you left." Kirito explained, "The battle was pretty easy. Do you have the statue?" Sora showed Kirito the statue. "Good. Let's get moving." Kirito told them, and they walked to the boats. They sailed over, and Kirito gave Sora the Protect Belt for him to use. He already had his Gaia Belt, so he didn't need another one.

In the coliseum, the fight against Hercules and Auron continued. Hercules dodged a swipe from Auron's sword, only to find himself on the edge of the arena. Auron made a downward slash onto Hercules, but he grabbed the blade part, trying to fend him off. In his weak condition, the strength of Auron brought Hercules down do his knee. "Now! Finish him!" Hades shouted to Auron. Hercules struggled to not be both cut by Auron nor knocked over the edge, but it looked like Auron was gonna win this fight.

"Auron, no!" Sora shouted. Hades glared as he saw the five heroes enter the sidelines, right next to Phil and Meg.

"Hey, Auron! This belongs to you!" Asuna shouted as Sora held the Auron statue aloft. Sora tossed the statue to Auron.

The moment it flew right above him, it vanished, and a sparkling of lights fell down onto Auron. He started to glow with the lights as his memories came back to him again. He realized what he was doing, and stopped his struggle with Hercules, dropping his sword to the side as Hercules knelt there, worn out. Auron stood up, his sword at hand, and turned to the team. "Sora. Kirito. Asuna. Donald. Goofy."

"Auron!" cheered the team. Yui made a backflip as she flew out of Kirito's pocket, happy to see Auron back to normal.

"Why those little…" growled Hades, burning red in fury, then he calmed down again as he stood up, "Ugh, prisoner! What happened to our mutual agreement? I can give you a clean slate, but you gotta work with me."

Sora led the team over to Hercules and Auron's side in the arena, as the latter answered, "Maybe you didn't hear me. This is my story, and you're not part of it."

Hades burned red in fury again, only this time, he was loosing it. A pillar of fire rose to the ceiling as he disappeared within it. He reappeared in a blast of fire and smoke in front of the team. "That's it!" he yelled, "This game is over. I've played by the rules so far." Kirito snorted in protest. "Okay, I confess!" Hades continued, "I was hoping Wonderboy would lose, but it was still a fair fight. C'mon, is that really so wrong?"

"Really? A fair fight?" mocked Sora as Donald, Goofy and Yui chuckled while Asuna and Kirito rolled their eyes in amusement.

"Laugh, laugh, laugh all you want!" Hades taunted, making a mock laugh of his own, "Because the laughing is about to stop. Wanna know why? Because now we're gonna play by my rules." He snapped his finger, and a door behind him opened, revealing a swirling pool of green mist like the stuff under the Valley of the Dead, the substance that dead spirits were in. Meg screamed and the group turned to see her disappear from Phil's side. They turned back to the open door and saw Hades standing next to the captured Meg, who was floating over the hole by cloudy restraints.

"Meg!" Hercules cried.

"Hercules!" Meg called back as she was hovering over the hole.

"Hey, I warned you right at the get-go." Hades told him, "You don't compete, you lose the girl." He waved his hand, and Meg was released from her restraints, and she fell into the abyss.

"No!" Hercules shouted, jumping over next to Hades and looking down the hole, "Meg! Hang on!" And with one shockingly leap, he dove into the hole after her.

"What happens if he goes in there?" Asuna asked, looking to the other. Kirito was afraid to find out.

"Looks like Wonderboy has dropped out of the standings." Hades stated as the door behind him closed. Everybody angrily looked at Hades.

"Well, you've still got us to deal with!" Sora warned him.

"It's time we settle this, Hades!" Kirito growled as Yui flew right next to Kirito's side, angrily looking at the Lord of the Dead.

Hades disappeared from his spot as everybody pulled their weapons out, ready to fight him. He appeared right behind them, looking amused. "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good." he muttered as he burned red again.

Sora, Kirito, Goofy and Auron went in for a frontal assault while Asuna and Donald readied their magic from afar. The four boys struck Hades, but he didn't take any damage. He swung a fiery fist at the group, and they were knocked back from him. Asuna and Donald cast their ice magic attacks, but that didn't have any affect either. Hades shot a fireball at the two of them. and they dodged to the sides to avoid it. The six gathered together as Hades went back to his blue self, fingering his ear in sarcasm, and laughed maniacally.

"We can't win." moaned Sora.

"I don't get it." Asuna muttered, "We have the power of the Olympus Stone. Why aren't our attacks doing anything to him?"

"Because it's HIS Underworld." Auron answered.

"Gee, then how do we beat him?" Goofy asked. Kirito gritted his teeth, unable to figure out a solution. Yui wasn't able to come up with an answer either.

Hades looked amusingly at the crew's loss of understanding for a second, then their was sound from behind him. He turned, and everyone saw that the door had opened once more. "I think a true hero should be able to help." said a heroic voice. Hades looked behind him, and was flabbergasted. Everybody else was happy. There stood Hercules, holding Meg in his arms as he was glowing a golden aura, and with Pegasus right next to him.

"But..You…" sputtered Hades, "This…this is impossible. You-you can't be alive! You'd have to be a…"

"…A god?" Pain and Panic asked from a distance.

"I owe you one, Hades." Hercules said to the infuriated Hades, "I didn't hesitate to give my life for Meg's. And then, I remembered: A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart." He lowered Meg to her feet, and waved to his friends as the five heroes stood next to him. "I'll never forget that again." Hercules finished.

"Just no more crazy stunts." Sora said with a grin.

"People always do crazy things when they're in love." Hercules said to the trio.

"Don't I know." said Asuna, looking to Kirito, who rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The group looked to each other, and laughed in amusement.

"What's is so funny, you imbeciles!" roared Hades as Pegasus took off with Meg, "How dare you get a happy ending! How DARE you!" He started to burn red once more.

"Oh, we dare." Kirito retorted, everybody raising their weapons. This time, things were gonna go their way in this fight.

"Hercules!" squeaked Yui, "Conjure up a ball of that aura you have. If we hit Hades with it, that will make him vulnerable for some time." Hercules did as he was told, and Sora smacked the aura sphere at Hades. It hit him hard, and it made him vulnerable as he turned blue. Kirito, Asuna and Auron charged in, and they started stabbing and slashing at Hades, dealing some defying damage to him. He wasn't gonna give up that easily, cause he retaliated with fire punches, causing the two to back off as he teleported again. He appeared near Sora, Donald and Goofy, and slugged them with a fury of fiery fists. Donald and Goofy were knocked back, but Sora recovered in the air, turning around and slamming him with his Keyblade.

He charged at Hades again, but Hades produced a fiery pillar again, burning Sora in the process. Hades reappeared in his red, invincible form again. Sora got up, about to find another one of Hercules' aura spheres, when two passed him, hitting Hades. He turned to see Kirito and Asuna with their Keyblades raised from hitting the spheres. The team gathered together and charged at Hades once more.

For most of the battle, it was pretty much like this. While Hades teleported, swung fists and fireballs at the group, they retaliated with fighting just as hard. If Hades used another fiery pillar to make himself invincible, either Sora, Kirito or Asuna went to slapshot one of Hercules' aura spheres at him, making him vulnerable.

Hades then started to get really irritated, and produced a sun-like fireball over the arena. It then spat out fire all across the arena, burning anyone it touched. Asuna used her Reflera magic to repel the attack, Sora used his powers mixed with Hercules' powers to form a barrier to protect him, and Kirito pretty much sliced his way through the flames like he did with Leon's Firaga. Everyone else had to fend for themselves. Once the attack was done with, Sora ran up to the injured Auron and used Cura, healing him. "You ok, Auron?" he asked as Auron got up.

"I'm fine." he responded indifferently.

"Then let's attack Hades together!" Sora suggested, and the two went into their Limit Break.

They slashed at Hades, displaying sword spins and sword dives onto Hades. They kept alternating each move they did. Hades was about to avoid them, but Kirito slammed an aura sphere at him, stunning him. Sora and Auron two slammed the hilts of their weapons together, and started to spin them rapidly, producing a large cyclone around them that sucked Hades into hit, causing him to spin around, getting damaged by the attack until he was released from it. The two leapt away from Hades, skidding to a halt right next to the other five. Hades, whom they had just dealt a heavy blow on, was straightening himself again, producing fireballs in his hands as the flames around his body started turning red.

"He's not going down that easy, is he?" Asuna asked as Kirito regained his breathing.

"Then we should give it all we have to take him down!" Sora declared.

"Good thinking, Sora." Kirito agreed, "Let's give him all we have!"

The trio of Keyblade wielders stood up straight, then their bodies bursted with energy. "Valor!" Kirito shouted.

"Wisdom!" Asuna cried out.

"Master!" Sora declared. All three of them entered their own Drive Forms.

"Oh, please. You think your little costume change is gonna scare me?" Hades asked, "I've seen more frightening things on the underside of my toes!"

"Herc!" Donald shouted.

"One Hades extinguisher, coming up!" Hercules responded, summoning a pair of light orbs, tossing them ahead. Kirito got in front of them, holding his Rumbling Rose and Oblivion Keyblades at the ready, then smacked the two orbs as hard as he could at Hades, who didn't dodge in time, and got hit hard by the attack, reducing his flames to blue. Asuna skated around Kirito, and unleashed a volley of Blizzara spells at Hades, making sure she was far enough from him and moving about. Hades snarled at Asuna, then unleashed fireballs at her, but she just glided about, the attacks missing her. Sora came from behind Hades, surprising him, and unleashing a storm of slashes from the two Keyblades he wielded. With one final cross-slash, he sent Hades crashing into the ground, causing an eruption of debris to go flying.

Hades got back up, clutching his side as Sora landed and charged at him. Hades disappeared in a puff of smoke before Sora struck, reappearing at the edge of the pit into the swirling green abyss of souls. He turned to see the heroes all glaring up at Hades. "It's…not over…yet…" he moaned, slowly stepping backwards. He suddenly started to stumble as his heels reached the edge of the pit.

He was trying to regain his balance as the Navigation Pixie, Yui, flew up and into Hades' face. "Actually, it IS over!" Yui told him off, and she inhaled deeply, and blew on Hades' fiery hair, blowing it out. Hades grabbed his bald head, lost his balance, and fell into the abyss, his scream slowly fading away as he fell deeper and deeper.

Yui looked down at the abyss, then turned to her family and friends. "Way to go, Yui!" Sora cheered.

"And the final attack bonus goes to Yui." Kirito stated amusingly, making Asuna giggle.

"That's our daughter." she pointed out. Yui smiled at the praise she was being given, and gave a thumbs up.

The team arrived back at the Underworld entrance again. While Hercules and Phil went up above to check on Meg and Pegasus, the rest of the team stood there with Auron. "What'cha gonna do now?" Donald asked.

"I lived my life defending others." Auron answered, "But now…there's no one left to protect. Maybe…it's time I shaped my own story."

"Yeah…" Sora agreed, "You deserve it, Auron, after everything you've been through."

"Sorry, but we saw a lot of your past through that statue." Asuna explained, "I hope you make your story a lot brighter."

Auron smirked at the group. "Hmph! I suppose I should thank you." he guessed.

"Not at all." Sora answered.

"Fine." Auron said quickly as he turned his back on them, causing the group to relapse.

"Well, you can thank us a little…" Kirito suggested, "It's your choice."

"You should say what you mean." Auron told them. He paused, turning his head back at them. He then turned his whole body to them. "I guess I could spare a few words." he said to them. He paused, then he said, "Thanks for meddling."

Everybody slumped over again, except Kirito, who was amused. "Hey, what's that mean?" Sora demanded.

Auron walked away from the group, but not before he dropped something on the floor before disappearing behind the doors to the caves. Sora walked over to pick it up. It was another Keyblade Keychain, with the token being a jug of sake.

"That's the Guardian Soul." Yui explained, "It has great strength."

"Take it, Sora." Kirito suggested, "I think he left it for you specifically." Sora nodded in agreement, and he switched his main Keyblade around for it, and it was long, red, with an ogre-like face on the hilt guard.

The team walked up the steps to the world above. It was nighttime, and the Olympus Coliseum was still in ruins. Hercules and Meg stood there, hugging each other before they noticed Sora, Kirito and the others coming up to meet them. "Thanks again, guys!" Hercules thanked them, "You're the best."

"Excuse us for meddling…" moaned Donald, still ticked off from what Auron said to them.

"Aw…sounds like somebody's feathers are a little ruffled." said Meg, leaning down to eye Donald, then stood up again, "I'm kidding. Thank you, Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy, Yui."

"So where are you guys headed next?" Hercules asked. Sora was about to say something, but Kirito intruded.

"Wherever someone needs a group of misfit heroes like us." he answered.

Misfit heroes? Asuna questioned.

"You two lovebirds seem to be getting along just fine without us hanging around." Sora finished. Hercules and Meg looked to each other after hearing him, and parted away from each other quickly. Though that didn't stop them from looking back at each other lovingly.

"Yeah, we gotta go." Donald squawked.

"You're right about that." Yui agreed.

"Uh-huh, before we start meddlin'." Goofy said amusingly.

"Right." Sora agreed.

"Hey, Herc. Can you find a good place to keep this safe?" Kirito asked, picking up the trophy he carried up from below, "I think it's better off here."

"Sure." Hercules answered, taking the trophy from him, "I'll keep it safe for you. And how about next time we face off against each other?"

"It's a deal." Kirito replied with a smirk.

"Are you turkeys trying to put me out of a job?" asked an annoyed Phil, walking up to them, "If you keep acing every challenge, Champ, who am I gonna train?"

"Aw, you can't abandon me now, Phil!" Hercules responded, "I gotta be at the top of my game in case Hades shows up again."

"Hey, are we true heroes yet?" Donald asked Phil abruptly.

"Yeah! C'mon, Phil, how 'bout it?" Sora asked longingly, leaning down next to Donald.

You gotta be kidding me. Kirito thought, rolling his eyes at the two.

"Lemme see now…" Phil started, observing them, "Well, you're not wise enough… Not quite…seasoned enough…"

"Okay, okay, we get the hint!" Sora moaned, standing up again.

"Look, kid, it's not my call!" Phil said apologetically.

"Aw, phooey." Donald groaned.

"Course if it was, you'd have no problem." Phil continued, "I'd make you all heroes, in a heartbeat!"

Donald and Sora looked to each other excitedly, then back at Phil. "Really?" Sora asked happily.

"Say it again!" demanded Donald.

"On second thought, if those are your 'hero' faces, you still got a lotta work to do." Phil replied, walking away.

"Hey, what do you mean?" Donald asked, running up to Phil.

"Go away!" shooed Phil, and he raced off, with Donald chasing after him.

"Phil!" shouted Sora, following in pursuit.

"Leave me alone!" whined Phil. Kirito, Asuna, Yui and Goofy all looked to each other, and bursted out laughing at the comedic moment.

Just then, Meg looked up into the sky, and pointed something out. "See that?" she asked Hercules, and they both looked up.

"Well, whaddaya know…" Hercules stated, looking up in the sky. Asuna, Kirito, Goofy and Yui looked at where they were staring at, and gasped in amazement. Sora and Donald stopped chasing Phil and looked up. Phil skidded to a halt and looked up, his eyes bugging in surprise, then he turned around and started crying. Up in the sky, stars started to swirl around, and six images were formed from the stars; Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui. It was truly a gift from the gods.

"Now that's something you don't see everyday." Kirito smirked, looking at his own constellation.

"Since when do you actually see something like this at all?" Asuna questioned Kirito, who shrugged in response. The team paused to look up at the stars for a while, seeing their appearances.

Finally, Sora said, "Let's get moving." They all nodded in agreement, and they walked away from the other's eyesight before teleporting back to the Gummi ship.

The heroes had returned back to the Gummi Ship, going to their individual seats. "Well, that's one more world taken care of." Kirito stated as Asuna sighed in relief when she sat.

"That was one tough battle we had to deal with." Sora muttered, "But I'm glad Herc and everyone else is okay."

"So where to next?" Goofy asked as he and Donald watched Yui reach the computer.

She was just starting to type when Chip and Dale suddenly appeared on the screen of the computer. "Guys, I'm glad you made it back!" Chip squeaked, "We really need your help!"

"Why? What's going on?" Sora asked as Jiminy popped out of his clothing.

"We're not even sure, ourselves." Dale replied, "All of a sudden, we got reports of some weird energy fluctuations happening somewhere nearby your position."

"When we pinpointed the location where it came from, we stumbled upon this…" Chip finished, and he pulled up a picture on the screen of a place in the space they were in.

The place was far too familiar to Kirito, Asuna and Yui, who were in shock. "You gotta be kidding me!" Kirito cried out in shock.

"There's no way…" Yui muttered, to amazed for words.

"This…this is impossible!" Asuna gasped. Donald, Goofy, Jiminy and Sora all looked to the trio, wondering what they were so panicked about.

"You know that place?" Jiminy asked. Kirito nodded, his expression changing from shock to seriousness.

"We know that world far too well." he answered, "That world…no, that place. It's Aincrad, the floating castle from Sword Art Online!"