Author's Note: I do not own ANYTHING pertaining to Kingdom Hearts. I only own Blastbone Clarkson, Nox, Xarch, and the Seekers.
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Chapter Thirteen: The Deal is Broken
Hercules could barely stand on his own two feet. Since Blaster left, the Cyclops had been tossing him around like a rag-doll, and he looked like one at the moment, sitting with his back to a broken pillar with blood running from his nose. Donald quickly healed the famed strongman before quickly getting back to the fight against the horde of heartless that accompanied the Titan. Just after Blaster left, Nox and Xarch displayed their true potential when the two Aerial Blades, including the handles, Xarch was using ended up slicing through heartless twenty feet away, moving with the movements of their master. Nox's chain whip had a layer of Darkness on it, causing the normally black metal to combine with the purple hues of Darkness.
Donald and Goofy were having the hardest time with the heartless, even though they were mostly comprised of Shadows and Neoshadows. There were a few Large Bodies and a few Morning Stars in the group, but, at the rate the Heartless were coming, there was no way to keep them all at bay forever. Donald sent another Morning Star into a cloud of black smoke just before Goofy pushed him aside so that he wouldn't get crushed by the colossal Cyclops. Before either of them could stand up, Nox and Xarch landed on top of them, avoiding an explosion that signaled that Nobodies had now entered the mix, mainly Dusks, but partially Assasins and Dancers.
Three Morning Stars began to close in on the group of four, leaving Hercules, still battered and bruised, to run at the Cyclops again, this time knocking the strongman into a billboard with his name and upper body on it, posing with his big muscles. Everyone in the small group prepared to defend against the spinning Heartless, jumping over one another, when…
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
In quick succession, six gunshots were heard, and the three Heartless disappeared into clouds of smoke, each releasing a pink heart that disappeared to rejoin Kingdom Hearts. Donald looked in the direction the shots came from, and he saw Blaster, swooping down on Pegasus, with Meg and Phil right behind him. Blaster had one hand on the reigns, and the other hand held a black revolver, the end smoking.
"BLASTER!" Donald shouted. "Get them over to Hercules. He seriously needs help."
"Grab the reigns," Blaster said to Meg, passing the reigns to her. While they soared overhead, Blaster jumped off and landed, feet first, next to Nox. From his belt, he pulled out another revolver, this one silver, and shot three Dusks, causing them to disappear in a flash of light.
"What are those?" Xarch asked, going back into battle with the Heartless.
"Two heavily modified Colt 45 revolvers," Blaster replied. "The one on my right has Anti-Heartless bullets, and the one on my left has Anti-Nobody bullets. Each bullet kills their intended target with one shot…assuming that the Heartless or Nobody is either weakened, or one of the lower tier, like Dusks, Solders, and the like. I got them from Pegasus on the way back." Blaster reloaded the Black revolver, brought it up and pulled the trigger twice. The black bullets that came out had the same Heartless Insignia on it, but, like the Keychain to Riku's blade, didn't have the X in the middle of it. The intended target, a Large Body, took the bullets in the chest, dissolving into black dust and the pink heart. Blaster turned around, unaware that he was going to be attacked by a Dancer.
"BLASTER! LOOK OUT!" Goofy shouted, racing to block the seemingly inevitable blow. Blaster raised his silver revolver over his shoulder, and fired a single shot into the Dancer's "head", killing it with a silver bullet that had the Nobody Insignia, but with an X made of black thorns.
Meanwhile, Phil had caught up with Hercules, and was trying to get him back to his senses.
"Listen, Hercules," Phil said. "I didn't train you to be a wash-out. Come on, you can take him! He's just a pushover!"
"You've been right all along, Phil," Hercules said, sitting with his back against a wall, nose bleeding again. "I'm still just a rookie, and dreams are for rookies."
"No, quitting's for Rookies," Phil replied. "You have brains, kid. Use them!"
It was at that moment that the Cyclops found Hercules again, but, this time, Hercules was ready. The Cyclops grabbed Hercules to bring him back up to eye level. Hercules quickly grabbed a burning torch, and, as soon as he was at the right height, plunged the torch into the single eye of the giant Titan. It roared in agony, drawing everyone's attention.
"If he had his strength back," Meg said, "he'd be able to take him out no problem."
"But, he loses his strength so long as you don't get hurt," Phil replied. Meg's eyes suddenly lit up.
"And I know how to get around it," Meg said. She turned to the battle that was taking place and found the closest person to her. "Hey Blaster!"
"What?" Blaster replied, still taking out Heartless and Nobodies.
"I need you to come here and do a favor for me," Meg said. Blaster very carefully made his way over to Meg, all the while reloading his two revolvers with the "magic" bullets that seemed to regenerate on his belt, albeit a bit slower than Blaster wanted.
"What can I do for you?" Blaster asked, still shooting.
"I need you to hit me," Meg said. Blaster turned around and looked at Meg as if she had just grown three additional heads. "It's a loophole in Hades' deal."
"Okay," Blaster said, holstering his revolvers. "Would you like a Shiner, or would you rather I aim for something a little lower."
"Anywhere," Meg said. "Just, don't kill me."
Blaster and Meg both took a deep breath. While Meg braced, Blaster swung his fist, and connected with her arm. She yelped in pain before clutching where Blaster hit.
"I didn't break anything, did I?" Blaster asked.
"No," Meg said. "But it sure feels like it."
The Cyclops, still blind from the torch, didn't notice that Hercules had wrapped his ankles in rope. The giant, one eyed monster tripped and fell off a nearby cliff. At the same time, Goofy took out the last Shadow by throwing Save the King+ at it like a frizbee. When everything quieted down, the Cyclops' body finally hit the bottom of the cliff, causing the whole earth to shake. A large pillar behind Hercules began to fall in his direction. No one else noticed it, but Hercules began to glow before the pillar fell. As the pillar fell, Blaster took notice and tried to alert the unknowing demi-god. Before he got the words out, though, the pillar had already fallen on Hercules' back, cracking in two and falling around the strongman. Herc, however, wasn't really phased by it, and, surprisingly, shrugged it off.
"What the…?" Hercules asked. "How did I get my strength back?"
"Hades' deal is broken," Meg said. "He promised I wouldn't get hurt…again."
Blaster looked down and watched as the bracelets fell off his hands like in the movie Aladdin, and his Thirteen Order Crystal reappeared in his hand.
"Hercules, we must hurry," Blaster said. "We can still stop Hades. I mean, we still owe him a fight."
"We'll stay with Meg," Goofy said. "Just in case. You take Nox and Xarch."
"You're gonna be all right," Hercules said to Meg. "I promise." Meg smiled.
"Of course I will be," Meg replied. "It was just a punch to the arm."
Hercules stood up, with that defiant look on his face. "Let's go, Pegasus!"
Hercules clambered on his winged horse, and flew off. Blaster looked at the others, then jumped into the air, flying superman style with Nox and Xarch right behind him. Blaster said nothing, but he was the one making them fly, using his ability to manipulate the air. When they got to Mount Olympus, they heard the familiar voice of Riku.
"It's about time!"
ITFITFITFITFITF
Riku and Kairi continued to fight in their Drive Forms, but each blow did little to no damage to the advancing Titans. Occasionally, they had to avoid getting struck by one of Zeus' Lightning bolts, barely missing them each time. Kairi continued her assault against the Rock Titan, but she quickly swapped Riku for the Ice Titan due to a miscommunication when the two Titans realized they had little pests trying to attack them. They also had to avoid the attacks of the others.
"I dunno about you," Kairi shouted, dodging a blast of Lava from the Magma Titan, "but I don't think we're doing too well."
"Kairi, look at your Keyblades!" Riku shouted, narrowly avoiding a wind pocket thrown at him by the Wind Titan.
Kairi looked at her floating Keyblades and noticed they were glowing white. Thinking quickly, she backed away from the Ice Titan and placed her Keyblades in front of her, aiming both at the same spot.
"LIGHT!" she called. Two jets of pure Light erupted from the tips of her Keyblades, striking the Ice Titan full in the chest. The Titan did stop, and checked his chest, but it just put a crack in his still icy armor. That's when Riku looked down at his blades. They were glowing with darkness, which Riku launched at the Ice Titan as well. That attack just increased the size of the crack by just a little.
This isn't working, Sora said to Riku, who was still in his Form with Sora. Maybe we should retreat.
"Kairi!" Riku called. "Head back to the gates! We'll defend against the Heartless or Nobodies that get through."
Riku and Kairi sped back through the clouds, leaving the Titans behind for the moment and rushing through the gates. They ended their drives, and Sora returned, holding King's Sword in his hand. As soon as they turned around, a horde of Heartless appeared, followed closely by the Titans. It didn't take them long to bust through the gates. Sora, Riku, and Kairi charged into battle, taking down Heartless after Heartless, mainly Shadows and Large Bodies, but they were being pushed back as the Titans charged.
"I need more thunderbolts!" Zeus shouted, unaware that everyone else was either being captured, or was already captured by the increasing army of Heartless.
"Uh," Hermes said, flying in, "Hephaestus has been captured, my Lord. Everyone but the Keybladers have been captured." Just then, two Hook Bats appeared and began to take Hermes away. "I've been captured!" Hermes exclaimed.
The Ice and Magma Titans began to encase Zeus in a mountain of rock, and they were exceeding in doing so. Elsewhere, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were finally cornered by a horde of Heartless and Nobodies (who had just joined the fight), all of which were closing in on the helpless Keybladers.
"Zeusy!" a voice said. The owner of the voice appeared in a horseless, black chariot with the Blizzard Seeker at his side. "I'm home!"
"Hades!" Sora exclaimed. "I knew you would be behind this!"
"Can it, Key brat!" Hades said.
"I swear to you, Hades, when I get out…" Zeus said, his arms and upper body encased in congealing stone.
"You'll what?" Ventisca said. "Scold us for being such bad guys."
"I'm the one giving orders now, bolt boy," Hades said, happily. "And I think I'm gonna like it here."
The Keybearers were slowly getting enclosed by the sea of Shadows, Neoshadows, Lance Soldiers, Dancers, and Creepers, cutting off most of their options.
"We could go with a full out assault," Riku said.
"No," Kairi replied. "We should be more defensive. Going in on a full attack would be suicide with only two Keyblades."
"Actually, I had a better idea," Sora said. "Since I am practically useless without my Keyblade, and Hades said that while we had our weapons removed that Kairi wasn't supposed to get hurt…"
"Are you saying that we should hurt Kairi in some way?" Riku asked in a hushed voice. Kairi looked at Sora, frightened about the thought of getting hurt intentionally.
"Well," Sora said, rubbing the back of his head, "yeah. But not something life-threatening. I was thinking more along the lines of a punch. Like this."
Sora suddenly swung his fist at Kairi. It landed right where he wanted it to: her thigh. She yelped in pain, and began to rub her new Charlie Horse.
"I'm sorry," Sora said. He didn't really want to do that, but, as long as it evened the playing field, he'd do it.
"Oh no!" Ventisca said, shocked. She turned to Kairi, Riku, and Sora just in time to see the bracelets fall of Sora's wrists. Seconds later, Zeus was finally encased in congealing magma, just as Sora held out his hand to summon his Keyblade, dismissing the King's Sword back to the ship.
"That's not supposed to happen!" Hades said, blowing up, causing Ventisca to shy away from the heat.
"Sorry, Hades," Riku said, brandishing Way to the Dawn at the same time Kairi and Sora brandished Island Memories and Ultima Weapon respectively. "Your deal has been broken."
"Like that's going to matter," Hades said, angrily. He watched as the attacking Heartless were beaten back and destroyed, giving the three Keybladers a bit of a defensive gap.
Sora got into his defensive stance, but stopped when he heard the flapping of wings. Riku and Sora turned just in time to see Hercules, Blaster, Nox, and Xarch come out of the clouds.
"It's about time!" Riku said, thankfully.
(Scenes from the next chapter.)
ON THE NEXT "INTO THE FIRE": Sora, Riku, and Kairi all discover new and old abilities (Sora lifted the Ultima Weapon and shouted, "Aeroga!" In an instant, he was surrounded by a vortex of air/Kairi watched as the icy breath from the Ice Titan was counteracted by a shield of white light./ Riku instinctively put up his blade in defense and watched as his dark shield appeared, but it looked stronger than before, deflecting and demolishing the boulder hurled at him from the rock Titan.), while Blaster once again faces off against a Seeker ("FINAL BLIZZARD!" Ventisca shouted, causing a whole blizzard to erupt from the tip of her blade./"VOLCANO BLAST!" Blaster retorted, making flames erupt from the tip of his blade.). Who will win this ultimate battle? Tune in next time for an all new chapter of "Into the Fire."
IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!: Some people might be wondering what took me so long to update this story. Just so you know, I haven't died (yet…hopefully I live a long and healthy life). In fact, I had a computer issue. While upgrading my motherboard and CPU, my dad offered to install Windows 7 in place of XP. During the transfer of data, I ended up losing ALL of my documents. To make matters even worse, the flash drive that I keep the most up to date backups of this fic…Currently amongst the missing. So, as of now, I am working on trying to find the missing flash drive. In the mean time, this story will be put on (regrettably) temporary hiatus. I am sorry for any inconveniences to my readers.
On an additional note, please, no flames with the reviews. It's hard enough as it is trying to find my documents without having to use a fire extinguisher.