Chakram

Chapter V: The Coliseum

By: Axel

XxX

The three nobodies disembarked the ship, throwing open a large pair of doors. The three of them stood in awe as they saw the coliseum. It was a huge building, stunningly made.

"Pretty neat ain't it? I come here a lot " Demyx said, being the first to speak. The other two were both still fascinated by the building.

Axel finally forced himself to stop gawking. " Come on, let's go," He said, motioning to the massive door. He breezed by the other two over to the coliseum. He pushed on the door but it wouldn't open. He stood for a moment then tried again, pushing as hard as he could. Luxord walked up to the door and tried helping shove it open. Demyx stood and watched, not having much in the way of strength to help. While watching the two older men try to push the door open, Demyx's eyes wondered down to the ground. There was a strange red mark, with three tiny hearts on it.

"Ummm guys?" Demyx said, walking closer.

"Not now Demyx" Axel grunted, pressing his shoulder against the door.

"But…"

"Not now Demyx" Luxord repeated, gritted his teeth.

Demyx frowned. They left him out of everything just because he was younger. Demyx walked up to the door and pressed his palms against it and pushed. The mark beneath their feet began to glow and the door suddenly began to swing open. Axel looked at Demyx, astounded.

Luxord looked down at the shimmering mark as it faded away. " I wonder what that was" he said with a shrug.

He and Axel looked at Demyx who threw his hands up. " I don't know. Don't look at me."

"It doesn't matter" Axel said, walking through the door. He had taken a mental photo of that marking, just incase they ever saw it again. He walked inside, the other two nobodies falling in behind him. He saw a short little man with the legs of a goat adjusting some hangings on the wall.

"Ahhh there you are. Do me a favor, move that pedestal over there for me would you? I was having some trouble with it earlier, but it should be nothing for you."

Axel tossed the other two a questioning glance, getting only shrugs in return. Axel rolled up his sleeves and began trying to push the huge pedestal. He gritted his teeth, straining his muscles, yet it didn't budge an inch. He looked down and saw that marking again. He stopped and pointed at it, waving the other two over. The other nobodies placed their hands on the block and it seemed to move away easily.

"Okay, that's done, now can we enter the tournament?" Axel asked, crossing his arms, staring at the little goat man.

The goat man jumped and spun around. " You're not Hercules" he said. His eyes wondered over to the pedestal, which had indeed been moved. "who are you?"

"Name's A-" then he remembered that he'd have to use Demyx's tickets to get in. " Demyx" he said with a grin. " That's Axel, and that's Luxord" he said, pointing at the other two, elbowing Demyx in the ribs when he opened his mouth.

It just then clicked to Demyx and he nodded. " Yup, name's Axel, got it memorized" he asked, grinning as Axel shot him a menacing glare.

"Demyx huh? You got a ticket?" The squat little man asked, obviously not buying it.

"Indeed I do" Axel said, producing the ticket from his pocket.

The goat man seemed surprised and snatched the ticket away. He took the ticket and walked over to a roped off area. He walked into a separate little room where there was a registry set up. He looked at the ticket and tried to locate the name. " Demyx, Demyx, Demyx, ahhh here it is." He pointed to the name on the tablet in which the names had been carved. He flipped the ticket over and saw the small identifying picture that had been stamped on it. " Oh, those sneaks" he grunted.

He exited the room and walked over to the three nobodies. " Demyx, yes you can enter, but I'm afraid your friend can't."

"No problem, they just came to watch" Axel said, strolling forward towards the little goat man.

"Not you, him" he said, pointing at Demyx. Axel gave him a puzzled look and the goat man showed him the other side of the ticket, which they had neglected to look at. Sure enough there was a photo of Demyx, apparently running away from something.

Axel glared at Demyx " how did you not notice that?"

"These tickets are nontransferable, sorry," The goat man said, handing them back to Axel. " He can compete in the games, but you can't sorry."

Axel snatched the tickets and turned away. " Well come on, let's go" he snarled. He stormed out the door, furious. Luxord fell in behind him, remaining silent, as it was best to do so when Axel got riled up.

Demyx trotted after them, walking up to Axel. " I'm sorry Axel. Maybe we can do something else while were out? Wanna go…set something on fire" he asked delicately.

Axel spun around and glared at him, " fire? I'LL SHOW YOU FIRE!" Fire shot up on all sides around Axel. The fire then turned blue and withered away. Now rather than angry Axel looked confused.

"Easy there hot head. No need to throw a tantrum," someone said. The nobodies looked around, unable to locate the voice. A flash of blue flames ignited before them and an ugly blue skinned man stood before them.

Axel stared at him for a moment in shock before speaking. " Your head's on fire" he said, blinking. He pointed at the little blue flame dancing on the guy's head, touching it.

"I'm keenly aware…STOP TOUCHING IT!!" he snarled, slapping Axel's hand away. Axel looked hurt, pulling his hand up against his chest, but let the man continue. " I couldn't help but over hearing that that old goat won't let you in. I know a good fighter when I see one though, so…" a poof of blue flames in the man's hand revealed another set of tickets, AXEL stamped on them. On the reverse side there was a picture of Axel, cradling his hand, a defiant pout on his face.

" I do not look like that" he said, accepting the tickets nonetheless. He reached out to take them but the man jerked them away.

"There's a catch though," he said, grinning.

"Isn't there always?"

"Awwww it isn't a big one. There is going to be a warrior fighting in that tournament. I want you to kill him, so I can add him to my collection."

"You collect dead people!?"

"No! I collect warriors. And I have almost all the worlds finest. I need him still though. And every time I try to collect him he kills my pawns."

"So you want me to be your new pawn then?"

"Awwww don't think of it that way. Think of it as an ' I scratch your back and you scratch mine' scenario. I give you these tickets so you can compete. You fight him in the tournament, kill him, you win the tournament and I get my warrior. Everybody wins."

"Alright, sounds fair" Axel said, reaching out for the tickets.

"Wait, Axel, don't you think you should think this through for a moment" Demyx asked.

"Why?"

"That's Hades, lord of the dead. When ever he's looking to make a deal everyone ends up getting screwed over. He doesn't play fair Axel" Demyx cautioned.

"It's another gamble," Luxord added with a mischievous smirk.

Axel grinned and grabbed the tickets " you got yourself a deal Hades." Axel grinned and the lord of the underworld laughed.

"That's the spirit. Go get'em kid" Hades said, slapping an excited Axel on the back. He burst out into another gale of wild laughter, disappearing into a column of blue flames.

"We'll he was a chipper fellow" Luxord said, chuckling.

" If by chipper you mean weird then yeah" Axel said. He held up the tickets as if they were some sort of grand prize and smiled. " At least I got these."

XxX End Chapter V XxX

Oooh, who is this mysterious warrior Axel must face? What tricks has Hades got up his flaming sleeve? And damnit what is that new chakram chain going to be?

It will all be revealed in Chapter VI: Cerberus