Hades was sitting on his throne in the underworld while trying to think of a way to help resolve his little situation, ever since wonderboy and his friends rebuilt that Olympic kiddy pool, zeus and pals decided to seal up his underdrome, now what was hades supposed to watch when he was bored.
"um sir?" said a pink skinned, chubby imp that was one of hades lackeys.
"what, pain? Can't you see that im busy?!" hades said.
"well sir, you have a visitor.
"a visitor?" hades asked. What kinda stupid moron would want to bother him now, probably some weak-minded fool hoping to make a deal.
"yeah, and g-get this, he says he knows how to kill Hercules!" said the thinner, twitchy blue imp, panic
"that so?, send him in" hades commanded.
The two lackeys exited his throne room and in walked a kid wearing a black and red bodysuit with some kinda skirt thing at his waist, kid had a helmet on so hades couldn't see his face.
"you must be hades?" the kid said.
"gee, I dunno, how many other gods of the dead do you see around here?" hades said sarcastically. "so, let me get this straight, you know how to make wonderboy go bye bye, right?"
"if your referring to Hercules, then yes."
"okay, tell me your game plan." Hades said. the kid was about to speak but Hades cut him off. "wait, let me guess, you're gonna challenge him to a battle, and because your such a good swords man, you'll win, correct?"
"yes, and I will win" he said smugly.
"forget it kid, I tried time and time again, I've sent warriors who spent years honing their skills, I've sent hordes of monsters, hell I even sent frigging titans against him, and he's still breathing, so if you think you can do what I've been trying to do, you. Are. A complete MORON!" hades shouted, the blue fire above his head turning red along with his body.
"how about a bet?" the kid said.
"excuse me?" hades said as his body and fire… hair returned to their blue color.
"if I fail to kill hercules, then i'll use my keyblade to open your underdrome." the kid said, revealing his keyblade.
"and if you win?" hades asked.
"there's a girl that I would like to become closer with, only problem is she doesn't like taking orders from me, i'll need you to change that."
hades could see something inside the brat that reminded him of himself, it was kind of a win win situation for hades, even if herc was still alive, he would still get his underdrome back.
"okay kid, you got a deal" hades said, offering his hand to the masked boy.
Sora, Riku and Ria all walked through the gigantic doors that led to the entrance of the Olympus coliseum. And the first thing ria set her eyes on were the huge gold statues of two gladiators clashing swords.
"wow!" ria said excitedly. "this place looks amazing!"
"yeah, it is" sora said. He was so glad that Herc and the others managed to rebuild after the heavy damage caused by the hydra, the coliseum now looked like nothing had ever touched it in the first place.
The three walked into the main lobby and found Philoctetes (or better known as Phil) dusting off the plaque that held the rules of the coliseum, he seemed to be completely unaware of their arrival. To the left of the room stood a large glass case filled to the brim with trophies, won by many different warriors. Ria could notice eight trophies on the top shelf that had sora, donald and goofy's names engraved on them.
"i guess you've been here before?" ria asked.
"what gave it away?" sora asked.
"about time you got here" the satyr said, turning around to face them.
"hey Phil!" Sora said. Ready to finally earn his respect this time, junior hero sora was gone and sora was ready to accept his promotion to true hero.
"so sugarcakes… you got any plans for later? you know, I trained a few heroes in my time. Maybe I can recite you a little epic poetry." phil said walking right past sora and facing ria.
"umm… no thank you." ria said, weirded out by the satyr.
"ppff, fine. But you don't know what ya' missing, sweetheart."
"come on, phil. Lay off on the girl." said a rather muscular man entering the room.
"Hercules!" sora exclaimed.
"sora, good to see you!"hercules said, shaking sora's hand. "who are these guys?"
"this is riku, and this is ria" sora introduced.
"so, you guys are here for the grand reopening?"
"grand reopening?" ria asked.
"yeah, heroes coming from all parts of Greece, all to take place for the games." phil said.
"games?" riku asked.
"gladiators, fights, stuff like that" sora explained.
"yeah, fighting for honor, glory and all that junk" phil said.
"that sounds fun" ria said.
"ohh, you're interested? Then how about I sign you up then?, all even give you some training if you need it" phil said to ria.
"wait, are you kidding me? when I first came here, I had to beg you to let me participate." sora said.
"yeah, and I got two words for you kid. I. Don't. Wanna. Hear. it."
"one… two…" ria counted with her fingers.
"look kid, you can still participate in the games, i'll even let you bring your friends in with you. Maybe now's your chance to truly earn the rank of true hero"
"what rank do you already have, sora?" ria asked.
"junior hero?!" riku said, looking at one of the trophies that sora had won. Sora told phil not to engrave that. Riku then began to laugh for a good two minutes, even ria started giggling.
Eventually, phil started to go over the rules of the coliseum.
"rule number one, combatants may not exit the arena until the battle has concluded. Rule number two, decapitation is only acceptable against non-human opponents… rule number ninety six, aim. Rule number-"
"alright, phil. They understand." Hercules said. "just get out there and do your best." he said to the three.
Vanitas was sitting behind the gate in the arena, this location was primarily used for combatants to watch the fights while waiting for their turns. Vanitas had his team assembled before even coming to this world, he had been here before, he knew the rules. Master Xehanort had forced vanitas to choose two members of the organization to assist him, not that he needed these useless fools, they'd only slow him down, get in his way, these "high ranking members" were all weaklings if ventus was able to defeat them single handedly, vanitas knew that if anything, ventus was weaker in his newer body, where as vanitas was stronger than ever, he would make that little coward get on his knees and cry for mercy, it was about time vanitas got his revenge.
"woah! Saix, nice eyepatch!" xigbar said.
"shut up!" Saix yelled. He couldn't believe that he was now forced to wear a patch to cover his eye, since it was now disfigured and unusable, the cause of this came from ria, when she escaped the castle, she had shot a ball of darkness into saix's eye and now he was going to get her back for it.
"will both of you BE QUITE!" vanitas shouted. By the ever-lasting darkness, he didn't have time for this.
Just then the three he had been waiting to see had arrived. Riku, the weakling who had slashed him in the back. Ventus, who had insulted vanitas by claiming his likeness. And finally, Ria, his soon-to-be servant.
They were beginning their match and vanitas and his "team" were forced to watch.
He mostly watched and studied ria, after all, he was going to own her, he'd have to know and observe his new pet's limits. His eyes never left her, he watched as she dodged incoming attacks from her enemies, how her long silver hair would toss and turn as her body moved, he'd see how she chose offense over defense, she was a fighter and vanitas found that attractive.
Now he had to look away from the amazing show that ria was unknowingly providing and focus his attention on… him.
Ventus (or now known as sora) was fighting defensively, blocking and guarding, rarely attacking. But vanitas noticed something odd about him, it was like he wasn't even trying to fight. An experienced fighter would never take his eyes off of his opponent, but ventus' eyes were anywhere but on his opponent. Vanitas knew that he was waiting for something, vanitas could also see what must have been a small glint of dread in ventus' eyes, but that dread wasn't towards the enemy and he was certainly not able to see vanitas. Then there was only one place where this feeling of dread came from… what a fool ventus was… afraid of his own ally, vanitas could use this fear against him, that was why ventus was so weak in the first place, he lets fear rule his heart.
The other one, riku, was slashing and attacking his opponents with both his keyblade and the powers of darkness. Vanitas couldn't understand it though, how could a coward like riku have such power, this person who was swallowed whole by darkness and then went to live in constant fear of it, now wielded it as if it was his birthright. riku was strong, stronger than terra, if only the fool had allowed darkness to take him further, vanitas would then have had an admirable sidekick.
"so, are we gonna do something or just stand here and watch?" xigbar said. He couldn't wait to get out there and actually fight for once, he was getting tired of performing recon all day, xigbar knew he was gonna get his butt kicked though, he kept forgetting the one rule that would have kept him out of this mess. Don't mess with keyblade wielders.
"do we have a plan?" saix asked.
"we don't need a plan, we just go in there and crush them" vanitas said.
"just like that?" Xigbar said.
"just like that".
"i wish it were that simple, Roxas was one of our most powerful members, he will prove quite the challenge and he also has his party to provide support." saix said.
"that's why I brought you fools here. I know you would all like to crush that weakling but remember, our job is not to win, we must get the girl and return her to the castle" vanitas said.
"aww, so we don't actually get to compete?, bummer".
"fine, i've been waiting for my chance to make that little tramp suffer for what she did to m-" Saix was interrupted by vanitas, who was grabbing him by the neck and pinning him against the wall. Xigbar just stood there, watching.
"let me simplify this for you, moron!" vanitas said with rage in his voice, his golden eyes also began to glow. "you may do whatever you wish to the other two, but you will not harm one hair on the girl's head, if you do so much as touch her, I will rip out your vocal cords so you cannot voice your pain while I break every bone in your body and force you to chew ON BROKEN GLASS!" Vanitas shouted at the top of his voice and released saix, he then turned his attention back to the match that had soon ended.
Saix and xigbar just stayed there shocked and stunned by the display of violence vanitas had showed.
Hades soon appeared out of a large cloud of smoke and greeted vanitas and his team.
"hey there's my favorite nobodies. So just to recap, you guys go out there and win the matches, then you get moved to the semi-finals, you crush whoever your fighting and then you get your three on one match with wonderboy. Got it?, good" hades said, he then snapped his finger's and disappeared in another cloud of smoke.
"hey, you guys think we could actually take on Hercules?" xigbar asked.
"of course we can take him, he's facing us three to one, he'll be outnumbered and overwhelmed, it will be easy." vanitas said. "now come on, we're up next."
the team then walked onto the arena, it was rather close cornered but for vanitas, that was a blessing, means his victims won't be able to run that far away.
Seven different variants of heartless appeared in front of them and vanitas, saix and xigbar were ready.
Vanitas charged forward at his enemies, hitting them head on before teleporting behind and slashing them in the back. Saix was shouting "begone!" at the top of his voice while attacking with his claymore. Xigbar was sniping his enemies from atop a vantage point that overlooked the arena.
Within a matter of minutes team vanitas had made short work of the remaining competition, now they reached the semi-finals. It was only fitting that his last opponents before facing hercules would be sora, riku and ria, they all had glares of anger pointed toward vanitas.
"guys, be careful" he heard ventus say.
"remember, no harm shall be done to the girl, let me deal with her." vanitas said to the idiots behind him.
The match began and saix immediately took off to face riku while xigbar went after ventus. vanitas and ria's keyblades had clashed together once more. He had to admit, she looked intoxication when she was angry.
"well hello, beautiful. How are we today?" vanitas asked in a sarcastic tone. "i can see by the look on your face, you must be exhausted, so i'll make you a deal, surrender and I will show mercy"
"get real, creep!" ria said as her foot had made impact with his chest, forcing him away from her. The two then proceeded to charge each other, their keyblades colliding multiple times and sparks flying from the impact of the metal of their weapons.
As ria was about to release a dark fireball, vanitas dodged out of the way, but he could feel the fireball still hitting his foot, it was then that he felt not heat, but cold. He looked at his leg and found it encased in ice. Ria grinned rather smugly.
"you think ice will stop me?" vanitas said as he punched into the ice with his free hand and his foot was once again free, he now teleported away from her line of sigh. She began looking around for him but he was gone, now was his chance to land the final blow.
"ria! Behind you!" sora shouted while deflecting xigbar's projectiles.
Ria then swung blindly at her backside and the teeth of her keyblade found its way into vanitas' face. Knocking him far into the opposite direction and passing through the force field of the arena, he was out of bounds which meant disqualification.
Sora jumped high into the air and knocked xigbar out while he was reloading, he then went to go assist riku who was also being assisted by ria, saix's claymore was thrown at riku and ria with full force, and gravity only made it stronger. But they were saved when ria used darkness to conjure a barrier around riku and herself.
"nice move" riku commented.
"i've been studying" ria bragged. Her barrier then dispelled and sora, riku and herself grouped up on saix, he went down in minutes.
They had now won the match and were going to fight in the finals against Hercules himself, however team vanitas was left to pickup what little pride they had left and return to the spectator area.
"vanitas' wounds and ice burns healed quickly thanks to his dark abilities, however the others were not so lucky, xigbar had sustained a broken arm and leg and now required assistance in order to walk, saix's legs and arms were fine but his face was covered in bruises and now his working eye had turned black and became swollen. Vanitas should have never brought these weaklings with him, they were the reason he lost, they slowed him down and now they were suffering for it, thats what happens when you get in vanitas' way.
"well, now what do we do?" xigbar asked, messing around with his new cast on his arm.
"return to the castle and inform the master of your failure" vanitas said.
"our failure? Don't you mean your failure, this was your idea after all." saix questioned, vanitas sweared he was only seconds away from cutting that idiot's tongue out.
"unlike you, i've prepared a plan b" vanitas said.
"ignore him, saix. We need to RTC now" xigbar said as saix helped him to stand.
"fine"
with that, they walked through a corridor of darkness and exited this world. However, vanitas stayed.
"what was that pathetic display!?" hades shouted while randomly popping in. "you said you were going to kill hercules, not get kicked off you ass by a bunch of pipsqueaks!"
"relax, I have a plan b, hercules will die." vanitas said.
"no, we had a deal, you were going to kill wonderboy in the arena, I wanted to see him fail at what he does best. You know what, the deal is off!, you can forget about turning your little crush into a mindless slave." hades said as he disappeared.
vanitas wasn't worried though, he remembered rule number thirty-four "combatants may call for back up"
Ria, sora and riku were now in the final round, facing Hercules himself. Sora was beyond excited, if he beat hercules then he would finally be seen as a true hero. Thousands of people were siting in the audience, cheering on.
"what in the name of Aphrodite is that!" someone yelled.
Sora looked above him and saw I gigantic ball of pure darkness. Just like what happened on the night the heartless invaded his island, which meant only one thing…
Sora, and the others proceeded to run out of the coliseum, while phil and hercules helped the crowd evacuate. Sora felt wrong for leaving them but they had to get out of here, this world was going to be swallowed whole by darkness.
The ground began to shake as the walls and statues of the coliseum began getting swallowed by the dark vortex in the sky. They were almost to the gummi ship, they could make it!.
"sora, help!" he heard ria say, she began floating into the air in the direction of the vortex, sora was able to catch her by her arm but then he began to get carried away too, riku ,managed to grab hold of sora's other hand and he himself held onto a pillar.
"just hand on!" sora shouted.
"im trying!" riku shouted back.
"sora, its pulling to hard!" ria said, she could feel her hands getting tired and losing their grip until…
"NO!" sora screamed as the black vortex took her away.