KINGDOM HEARTS III: Final Mix
Disclaimer: I do not own the story or characters featured in this story. They are the sole creation of the Walt Disney Co., PIXAR, Tetsuya Nomura, and Square Enix. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.
WARNING! Contains story spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III, so read with caution if you haven't played the game yet.
Chapter 5: A Hero's Might
Stepping through the open doors, Sora and his friends looked inside and were amazed by the sights of Olympus.
"So this is Herc's home?" Sora asked.
"It sure is pretty," Goofy remarked, before a heralding of trumpets played out.
"Is that our fanfare?" Donald wondered.
"Yes... and no," Sora replied, as he summoned his Keyblade. "We're about to meet the welcome party!" At that moment, a horde of bull-like Heartless decked in Spartan armor started to charge at the heroes, leaving Sora and Donald to retaliate with a Flare Force attack to break through their defenses. Soon after, Sora cut down through the herd of Heartless with a powerful swing of the Keyblade, leaving the team to continue on ahead and look for a way to reach wherever Hades was.
"Hey, look at that spot with the dark funnel cloud!" Goofy pointed out as Sora looked over towards the horizon where the Titans could be seen from a glance, charging through Heartless to try and reach the high plateau. However, the group was stopped in their tracks by a sandworm-like Heartless, which the team decided to call an Earth Core. To combat it, Sora used a string of hard-hitting air combo attacks to reach its head, succeeding in stunning it, so he could take it out and keep moving. Eventually the friends reached a staircase with scattered debris floating above them.
"How are we going to get up there now?" Donald asked.
"We could use that debris to get up there; maybe they could work as footholds?" Goofy suggested, as Sora focused his senses on looking for a vantage point to warp to reach the Apex.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Sora thought as he warped up to another platform, having finally reached where Zeus and the other gods were being held captive.
"It's time to help Herc save his family!" Donald piped up as the heroes marched in, ready to do battle, while Hercules fought against Heartless in the sky to get towards his father.
"I swear to you Hades, when I get out of here..." Zeus bellowed before the ice-magma prison solidified and trapped the King of the Gods.
"Oh, but I'm the one giving orders now, Bolt Boy. And mark my words, I'm going to make Olympus great again; after some improvements, of course." Hades snidely remarked as he fashioned a throne out of darkness and smoke and sat down in triumph.
"I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you, Hades!" Hercules called out from above, as he and Pegasus flew in to save the day.
"It's Hercules!" Apollo, the God of Strength, declared as the true hero raised his sword and swung it down on the chains that imprisoned the other gods to free them.
"Yeah, Herc! Thank you, my man!" Hermes cheered as Hades was agape in shock, swerving around to then see Sora.
"This should even the odds!" Sora added, as he, Donald and Goofy stood ready for battle with Hades. "It's four versus four now!"
"Grrrr! Don't just stand around, you big dolts! Get them!" Hades roared, as the Titans leered down at Sora and the gang.
"Sora, Donald, Goofy! Looks like you need some help," Hercules called out as he jumped off of Pegasus so they could take down the Ice and Lava Titan. The battle began as the Toranado Titan attempted to hold the heroes back with a gust of wind to blow them backwards, but the team stood their ground as they ran up the frozen magma tower so they could smack down the Titans in the face with Sora's Keyblade. While it did a fair amount of damage, the Titans swung their arms at Sora to try and knock him off the makeshift tower, only for Sora to jump and weave around so he could efficiently dodge their attacks. Sora then tapped into his deep power to summon forth a Magic Carousel, creating circles of light that managed to damage and stun the two Titans. Looking ahead, they then saw the Tornado Titan hovering in place.
"Just one Titan left! We can do this!" Sora called out to his friends to boost their confidence.
"Lord Hades... fear not; I will blow these heathens away to their graves!" the Tornado Titan hissed in a booming yet slimy voice.
"Just to safe, I have watched from the sidelines long enough. These brats will meet their end here and now!" Hades declared as he flamed up. Sora rushed up to hit the Titan by its tail, as Hercules grabbed Sora and spun him around to knock Hades out of his Beserker state and rake up damage against the ruler of the Underworld. Sora then fired some Water spells to dowse Hades' flames before the Titan sucked up Sora and his friends and sent them flying up into the air, leaving Sora alone to fight the two foes. Sora then focused his resources on chipping away at Hades, and knocking him down into the ground, leaving him unconscious so Sora could direct his fight to the Titan, which alternated between firing chunks of ice and lava by switching between its knocked out brethren, which Sora dodged deftly and fired Shotlock blasts at the tornado, whittling its endurance down to its death throes, with one final blast doing the monster in.
But even so, it wasn't enough to permanently put them down, as they rose up for another fight.
"They just don't go down!" Sora groaned, just as the Rock Titan smashed through the platform to battle the heroes again. "Now what do we do?"
"I think I have an idea," Hercules told Sora as he climbed up the makeshift pillar once more and split it open with his bare hands to free his father Zeus.
"NO!" Hades screamed in terror, knowing now that everything he did was about to come undone.
"Ah, thank you, my boy," Zeus said warmly to Hercules, who handed his father a lightning bolt.
"Yipe, I think we better run now!" Panic gulped as he and Pain attempted to make a run away from the fight only to be stopped and smacked around like punching bags by a snortily-laughing Pegasus.
"Now watch your old man at work!" Zeus proclaimed as he raised his bolts at the ready towards the Rock Titan.
"Uh oh..." the Rock Titan murmured before its heads were broken off by the impact of Zeus's lightning. In fear, the Titans hastily made their retreat, only for Hercules to grab the tail of the Tornado Titan and use it to capture the other three fleeing Titans. With enough eventual buildup, he hurled it deep into space, where it exploded into a fiery supernova.
"I... I can't believe it! I put eighteen years into this plan, and you ruin all of it!" Hades seethed in anger.
"Just forget it! You'll never beat Hercules no matter how many times you try!" Sora told the distraught god.
"Why don't you go back to the Underworld and have the time of your afterlife?" Donald suggested.
"Rrrrgh... damn you! Damn all of you!" Hades roared. "I was holding back before, I admit, but now I'm going to kill you pipsqueaks!"
"Brother!" Zeus called from behind, catching the attention of Hades. "You've caused enough damage around here for one day; now it's time for you to leave."
"I believe the exit is that a-way," Hercules added, directing him out of the Apex.
"Fine, but listen good!" Panic spoke up on behalf of his master. "Hades isn't going to make the same mistakes again when he comes back up here."
"You mean, if he comes back up here," Pain corrected.
"If," Panic remarked out loud. "If is good."
"Keep moving!" Hades grumbled, as he grabbed his henchmen by the necks and stormed out.
"Oh, and one more thing," Hercules said, before punching out Hades. "That was for attacking Thebes."
"You think this is all over? Just wait what I've got in store for your precious little Nutme-" Hades shouted as he opened a portal back to the Underworld, only for Zeus to throw a lightning bolt in to zap his malicious brother as a last laugh.
"From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you three for everything you've done to help my son," Zeus told Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "If there is anything we do to repay you, you need only ask."
"It's no big deal, really," Sora assured. "We just couldn't stand aside when a friend of ours needed help."
"You three are certainly wise and brave beyond your years," the goddess of wisdom, Artemis, told the trio.
"Surely, you will go down in history in the Pantheon of heroes!" Apollo added.
"There is a matter that our heavenly Coliseum tournament is about to begin within a fortnight's time. When the time comes, you are most certainly welcome to compete," Zeus told the three friends.
"T-thank you," Sora said, blushing from the high praise, before remembering something. "Hold on, do you know where Hercules went?"
"Ah yes, I recall my boy saying he had words with his beloved Megara, down by the gates," Zeus told Sora as they set forth to talk with their friend.
"Hey, Herc!" Sora shouted, getting Hercules' attention. "Are you sure you want to leave all this behind? Isn't this place your home?"
"I can come and go as I please," Hercules explained. "But a life without Meg, the one person I care about most, would be an empty one, whether I'm immortal or not." As Hercules and Megara hugged, Herc then added, "I know for sure now where I belong."
"Yeah, and about that finding my strength question, I think I found it's something I should take care of myself," Sora told Hercules. "So, I guess you did have the answer after all."
"Well, you have heart," Hercules said. "Just keep at it, and I can't wait to see just how strong you become."
"I might even become stronger than you," Sora suggested.
"Don't get too carried away, Sora," Donald sighed in exasperation while everyone shared a good laugh before they said their farewells.
Meanwhile in the gardens of Thebes, Maleficent watched as Pete was digging through the tile floor at the spot where Hades told the two villains they could find the box they sought after.
"Are you even sure this box with that 'Book of Prophecies is even for real?"
"Be silent and keep digging, you imbecile!" Maleficent said coldly. "The words of the man in black were the only clue we have to go on. One way or another, the Book will be ours."
"I'm just saying one shot in the dark isn't gonna get us any-" Pete was about to explain before he hit something in the dirt and pulled up a box out of the ground. "Hey! This must be that Pandora's Box Hades mentioned!"
"Leave it be," Maleficent said flatly. "Our search will have to go elsewhere."
"B-but..." Pete stammered before the two left the box behind while Xigbar was watching from the shadows.
"May my heart be my guiding Key," he thought to himself.
And that finishes this another chapter and the story of Olympus (for now; whew!). And yes, before anyone asks, I did have Hades paraphrase 'Make America Great Again' in his little spiel, due in part to observing that Hades' actor is (for better or for worse), an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. I'm not wanting to start any political flame wars in the review section, but I wanted to include that only because in my mind, it seemed like a very 'Hades' thing for the villain to say. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this little update, and remember to leave a review!