A/N: A thousand apologies, readers. This was LONG overdue for an update. Over FOUR YEARS since the last chapter? Man I needed to get back into this. Stupid Writer's Block and Lazyness. Original scenarios for this are harder to write than I thought.
So just to let you guys know, Kingdom Hearts and most Final Fantasy characters are players, while Disney characters are all NPCs.
Olympus Coliseum
"Whoa!" Skyknight was in awe of the new town he was in.
"This Floor is called Ancient Greece," said Landdusk. "And this is the floor's main town, Thebes."
"Thebes, huh?" said Seaprincess. "This looks a lot different from the towns on the first Floor."
"You'll notice that each Floor has different themes," said Land. "Some are based on real life locations, and others are fantasy based."
"And to think," said Sky, "we're the first party to set foot in this place. Are we lucky or what?"
"Well, we are the ones who defeated the first boss, so I'd say we deserved it," stated Land.
"So, what should we do next?" asked Sea.
As if right on cue, Sky's virtual stomach growled. Sky blushed in embarrassment as he held his stomach. "I'll tell you what I want to do right now: Get something to eat!"
Sea couldn't help but giggle, while Land just sighed and said, "Figures. Well, there should be a restaurant nearby, so we'll head there first."
As the trio went to eat, more players started to arrive on the new floor after receiving the announcement that the Floor 1 Boss had been cleared. There was a Chronicler Moogle in the Boss Room that aloud other players to view a holographic recording of how the boss fight went down, and some players were curious about it. And if they weren't patient enough to view the whole fight, they could just check the end results stats for things like the length of the fight, the casualties, or who got the Last Attack.
One group in particular arrived in Thebes and seemed really eager to find someone here.
"This is a nice place."
"Where do think they could be right now?"
"Hah! Knowing him, he's probably stuffing his face by now, so let check the restaurant nearby."
Skyknight and the gang were sitting down in a restaurant, chowing down on their food.
As they ate, Sky asked Landdusk, "So what kind of stuff is on this floor?"
"The main attraction of this Floor is Mount Olympus," answered Land. "Home to the game's first Arena, the Olympus Coliseum."
"Arena? Olympus Coliseum?" asked Sea.
"In this game, an Arena is a safe place to hone your skills," answered Riku.
"Really?" asked Sky.
"Arena's have a special field that you could call a Semi-Safe Zone," explained Land. "Unlike a normal Safe Zone, you can lose HP, but it can never hit zero, thus you can never die in the arena. Once you reach your last HP, you only get paralyzed until the NPCs bring you to the infirmary."
"Cool!" exclaimed Sky. "Maybe we should try it out."
Land continued. "The first thing you need know is that in order to use an Arena you need a Membership Pass for the Arena you want to use, which you have to complete a Qualification Test in order to obtain. However, the first party to go get them also has to defeat a Quest Boss to get it."
"Quest Boss?" asked Sea.
"Some quests have their own bosses that must be defeated in order to complete. A Quest Boss is generally not as hard as a Floor Boss, giving a smaller party a better chance at beating it, but they can still be tricky, especially those that are unlocked by clearing higher floors."
"Well, at least we won't be fighting another Guard Armor," Sky sighed. "I don't think I'm ready for another one yet."
"Anyway, once you get a Membership Pass, you have two main options, Challenge and Versus. In Challenge, a player or party fights waves of enemies under certain conditions. Once you hit 1 HP your out. And once everyone in the party is out, you lose the challenge. Some challenges you fight normally, while others have set rules, like 'only one player can compete' or 'win in the allotted time'. Some have a certain objective, like a specific target you have to defeat, or defend."
"Can you gain XP and Munny in an Arena?" asked Seaprincess.
"Yes," explained Landdusk. "It is a safe way to gain more XP. However each Arena will only give a certain amount total to each player. The Membership Pass has it's own gauge to keeps track of how much XP you've earned there, and once it's full, you won't gain any more XP from that arena. You have to find a different arena or return to gaining XP the hard way. As for Munny, enemies can't drop any in an arena, but each challenge has its own Prize Munny, but only for the first three times each player completes it, the amount being lower each time. Some challenges even have special Prize Items for winning, but for the first time only. This is all to prevent players from abusing the Arenas for cash or points."
Skyknight scoffed, "Not gonna make beating this game easy for us, are they?"
"Anyway," Land continued, "You also have the option to play Versus. In Versus, players can compete against each other without worrying about killing each other. They can set the rules to however they like. They can fight one-on-one, party against party, or in a battle royal. There's no actual prize for winning in Versus, as it's mostly just for fun. But the competitors do have the option to bet their Munny and Items, winner takes all. Even spectators can make bets on who they think will win. Also, every once in while one of the Arenas will hold a tournament, where players compete for a Rare Item."
"These Arenas are really sounding like a lot of fun!" said Sky. "We should definitely go to the Olympus Coliseum now!"
"Mind if we go along with you then?" asked a familiar voice from behind Sky.
Sky turned around to see a familiar face. He smiled and said, "Yo, Roxas! Where've you been? Haven't scene you since launch day."
Indeed, it was Skyknight's older brother, Roxas. Roxas now wore an iron vest with an iron pauldron on his left shoulder, and a pair of Hermes Sandals that gave him the Dash ability, a boost in running speed. Like Sky, he held a Smasher shield. Sheathed to his right hip was a Thief's Dagger, which had the Steal ability, which allows him to swipe items from enemies and other players. He wasn't alone. There were two other players with him.
To Roxas's right, was a tall boy with dark brown hair spiked upwards, blue eyes, and a slight muscular build. He wore an Iron Vest over a brown sleeveless shirt, an Iron Gauntlet on his left arm, baggy beige pants, and yellow boots. Strapped to his back was a Berserker Mace, which had the Berserk ability, which boosts attack power when HP is in the red zone.
To his right was a girl with short water-blue hair, blue eyes, and in between the heights of the boys. She wore a lavender leather vest over a black high-collared sleeveless shirt, long white fingerless gloves, skintight black shorts, long black socks, dark blue boots, and a sky blue cape on her back. Strapped to her back was a Wizard's Staff.
"We've been mostly hunting in the caverns around the floor's perimeter," answered Roxas. "But when we got the announcement that the Floor 1 boss had been slain, we decided to check it out. And when the Chronicler Moogle told us the player who dealt the last hit, I just had to come find you and see for myself." He then looks at Skyknight's new breastplate, the Brave Warrior. "And I must say, the rare item is looking good on you, Skyknight."
"Thanks!" said Sky.
Roxas then turned to Landdusk. "You taking good care of my bro, Landdusk?"
"Of course," answered Land. "Always got his back. And I made sure he could handle whatever this game throws at him."
"Good to hear." Roxas then looked to the female member of his brother's party. "Oh! Who's the girl?"
"Our newest member," replied Sky. "We met her just before our raid group went to face the boss. She was a great help to us in the fight."
"Um, I-I'm Seaprincess" Sea said shyly as she bowed to them, "N-nice to meet you."
"Nice meet you too. I'm Roxas, Skyknight's older brother in real life, and an ex beta tester. And this is my party." Roxas pointed at the other two players with him.
"The name's Tsuchikage," said the tall boy.
"And I'm Suigetsu," said the girl as she bowed.
"So, you guys were just talking about going to the Coliseum, right?" asked Tsuchikage.
Sky nodded. "Yeah! Land was just telling us about Arenas and they sound really fun!"
"Good!" said Roxas. "Cuz I was wondering if you guys were up for a little spar. Now that the first Arena is finally available, I wanna see for myself how well my bro and his friends play this game."
Skyknight smiled and said, "Well, you're on then!"
"I'm game," said Land.
"Um, sure," said Sea.
"Well what are we waiting for?" said Tsuchikage. "If we hurry, we'll be the first ones to try it out. And we'll get to fight the quest boss."
The two parties decided to merge into one for the duration of this Quest, and traveled to Mount Olympus, taking out every Heartless along the way. On the way there, Sora took a some time to look at the abilities he's learned so far, and noticed that he had a brand new ability which is attached to his Brave Warrior armor, called Defender, which boosts defensive stats and abilities while HP is in the red zone. Sora thought that it might prove useful if he ever found himself in a tight spot.
They made it to the base of the mountain and began climbing the stairway to the Coliseum. As they climbed Suigetsu decided to say what's on her mind. "So has anyone figured out why Ansem did this to us?"
"Not particularly," answered Land. "But I have a feeling it's more that just controlling our lives in this world."
"I agree," said Roxas. "During the announcement, he called us his 'subjects', and he even said that his goal was achieved 'for the moment'. I don't think we've been given the full picture here."
"Ya know," said Sky, "I'm amazed the police haven't found Ansem and forced him to end this."
"He must be very well hidden if he hasn't been found by now," said Tsuchikage. He then pounds his fist into his palm. "He better have a good reason for this, cause this is just insane."
"We also have to consider the possibility that he's not in this alone," said Land.
"What do you mean?" asked Sea. "That he had help?"
"I doubt every single one of his employees knew about this," answered Roxas. "But if anyone did, there are two people that come to mind."
"Who?" asked Sea.
"I think I know who you're thinking about. There are three big names in the development of KHO," explained Land. "The three who were present in every press conference. One, obviously, is Ansem Hikaru, the director of the project and inventor of the Nerve Gear. The second is Xehanort Orochi, the lead programmer for the game itself. And the last one is Eraqus Shiranui, the CEO of đ-Com, the company behind the game. I doubt what Ansem has done would've escaped the notice of the other two."
Roxas nodded. "Exactly. Unless Ansem was incredibly sneaky, one or both of them would've had to be a part this."
"Great," Sky sighed. "More people to worry about."
The group reached the top of Mount Olympus, which had a giant cloud platform at its peak. Two things caught their eyes. One was a large stone structure, that the non-beta-testers assumed was the Arena they were looking for. The other thing a giant golden gate on the other side the peak.
"Wow, that's a huge gate!" exclaimed Sky.
"Supposedly, that's the entrance to the realm of the Greek gods." explained Land. "But outsiders are strictly forbidden from entering. It's unknown if there's even a game map for such an area, so this could be something put in just for show and not something player accessible."
"If it is accessible, it probably requires a quest item of some kind," added Roxas. "There is also an entrance to the Underworld hidden at the bottom of this mountain, but I wouldn't recommend going down there. That place is programmed with a curse that significantly lowers the stats of any player who enters. Now then, shall we get into the Coliseum?"
They walked over to the Coliseum Gates. They found themselves in a courtyard where they see two giant statues of gladiators crossing swords over the entrance to the inner building. They stared in amazement at the architecture. They then walk into the lobby and found a short satyr standing on an ancient stool, dusting a sign on the wall.
As soon as the players approached, the NPC said without even looking at them, "Good timing! Give me a hand will you?" He then points to a large block. "Move that pedestal over there for me? I gotta spruce this place up for the games!" The group then received a quest log update. The new quest read, Preparing for the Games! Quest giver: Philoctetes. And their first objective in this quest was to follow Phil's instructions.
"Um..." Sky started but Roxas cut him off.
"Just play along," the older brother said, having done this before.
Skyknight shrugged and proceeded to push the pedestal. However, it wouldn't budge an inch. Seaprincess started to help, followed by Tsuchikage and Suigetsu, but nothing doing.
"This is way too heavy!" Sky snapped.
Philoctetes reacted to that. "What? Too heavy?" He then turned around. "Since when have you been such a little-" he cut himself off as he realized who he was talking to. "Oh! Wrong person! What are you doing here?" He then jumped off his stool and approached them. "This is the world famous Olympus Coliseum. Heroes only! They will be coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters soon. And I've got my hands full preparing for the games! So run along, pipsqueaks." Next objective told them to convince Phil that you are heroes, and have what it takes to enter the games.
Tsuchi took the initiative. "Who are you calling 'pipsqueaks', you pipsqueak? You've got heroes standing right in front of you!"
"Heroes! A bunch of losers like you!" the satyr then started to laugh hysterically.
"What's so funny!" shouted Sky. "We've all fought hundreds of monsters!"
The NPC stopped laughing as he moved to the pedestal. "Hey, if you can't even move this..." He started trying to push it. But like with the players, it wouldn't move. "...you can't call yourself...heroes!" He then gave up and sat on the ground.
"Um, you were saying?" Sui said teasingly.
After take a couple deep breaths, Phil stood up. "Okay so it takes more than brawn. Well if you think you're all so tough, why don't you show me what you've got!" Another quest update told them to complete the Qualification Test.
Sky pounded his fist into his palm with vigor. "Bring it on!"
"Alright, then. Follow me."
The Qualification Test consisted of fight five waves of Heartless in the arena. First one consisted of Shadows, next Shadows and Soldiers, then Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies and then the last two had all four. It could only be taken by a party of no more than three, so they agreed to take it separately with their respective teams. Thankfully the Arenas are programmed like multiplayer online battle arenas where despite it only looking like it can only hold one match at a time there can actually be hundreds of matches at the same time via 'battle rooms'. It wasn't too difficult for either team.
Once they both completed their test, the met up with Phil at the edge of the arena.
"You know, you guys ain't bad." the NPC said.
"Hah!" Sky exclaimed. "Look like we're heading to the games!"
"Afraid not!" said Phil.
"Why not!?" shouted Tsuchi.
"Two words: You guys ain't heroes!"
Sea counted on her fingers. "Um... that was four words."
"Aw come on!" shouted Sky.
Phil then glared. "Look just because you were able to handle small fries like those, doesn't mean you're heroes. Now beat it!" With that, he walked away.
Suigetsu growled. "Just what is his problem?"
"Relax," said Roxas. "He'll loosen up once our next major task is done. Then he'll let any player in without a fuss. Just wait."
"Gee whiz, what got his goat, huh?" Everyone except Roxas jumped at the new voice. They looked behind them to be a strange looking man with blue skin, a dark robe, and what stood out the most was his hair was literally made of blue fire. "I mean, how blind can that satyr be to not see how impressive you're display was. He looks at you and he sees nothing but kids, but when I look at you I see that each one of you have so much potential. Especially you." He said that last sentence pointing at Landusk. "And you." He pointed at Tsuchikage that time. Land found it an odd coincidence that Hades showed interest in the two players in the party whose Heart Meters have more than fifty percent darkness. He then looked at Seaprincess. "You I'm not too sure about." This gave Sky a tick mark.
"Um... who are you?" ask Sea.
"Oh pardon me. Name is Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi, how are you doing?" The man now identified as Hades held out his hand as if offering to shake, only to retract it the second Skyknight attempted to shake. "So, you lot want to enter the games, huh? Well good luck trying to convince that stubborn old goat. These days the only person he considers hero material is his own protégé, Hercules." He conjures an small image of a muscular man with rust-colored hair and brown armor. "Ah Hercules. The great hero there ever was. He's strong, he's kind, he's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's... perfect." He suddenly frowned, before he turned red and his head and shoulder were covered in orange flames. He burned the image in his hand. "PERFECTLY INFURIATING! HE DRIVES ME CRAZY!" He then erupted into a pillar of fire, causing the group to step away. Then his temper vanished as quickly as it came and he returned to his previous colors. He cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. Point is, if you're not Hercules, the goat ain't gonna let you compete."
Tsuchi crossed his arms. "Well that's not fair."
"Indeed," replied Hades. "Especially considering Jerkules is basically a demigod. Now how are normal people suppose to compete with that. Am I right?"
"Well, you're not wrong on that," answered Land. "Phil is basically just being biased."
"Bingo! So how about you lot just forget about the Olympus Coliseum! I've got something so much better for you." The Lord of the Dead then conjured black cards in his hand. "These are passes to a coliseum I've got right in the Underworld. I call it the Underdrome!"
"Hey, kids!" Everyone turn to see Phil running back at them. "Don't you dare listen to-" he got cut off with he suddenly found himself roped up and gagged by a wrapping made of dark cloud.
"As I was saying. The Underdrome is a much better choice for you. It makes this coliseum look like an olympic kiddy pool. You will undoubtedly get a much better thrill. Not to mention, unlike that stubborn satyr, I'm willing to let anyone with talent like yours in. Ofcourseyou'llhavetofirstsignacontractsellingyoursoulstomebutwhygetcaughtupwiththedetails." Hades said the last sentence rapidly, but the six did manage to catch what he said. "You wanna real fight. I'll give you all the fight to remember."
"I don't know," said Sea.
"I understand you hesitation, like I said it's much more challenging. But trust me, you all have what it takes. You won't be disappointed. You'll have a great time, the most fun you'll ever have. What do you say?"
It was then their quest log was updated once again, telling them chose whether or not to accept Hades' offer, while also warning them that either choice may have serious consequences.
Roxas took the initiative. "No deal Hades. None of us are willing to sell our souls just for an alleged good time."
"I agree." said Sky. "Sorry but no."
"Sorry Hades, not interested." said Land.
"Absolutely not!" said Sea.
"What do take us for? Suckers?" said Tsuchi. "Hell no!"
"Yea-no, not worth it," said Sui.
Hades frowned. "Tell me you're not serious? I'm offering you the chance of a lifetime. An opportunity no one would be dumb enough to pass up."
"The answer is still no!" shouted Sky.
Hades growled. "Well then. Maybe I should give you a sample of how much of a thrill you will have." He then snapped his fingers. A giant pool of darkness appear in the middle of the arena, and soon a giant three-headed canine with black fur, red eyes, and razor-sharp teeth crawled out of the pool. "I'd like you to meet my loyal guard dog, Cerberus! How about you use him as a trial run!"
The each head of Cerberus let out a loud roar as its name and health bar appeared above it. Soon a dark fiery barrier surrounded the arena, with Hades and Phil outside and Cerberus and the players inside.
Sea started getting scared. "Um, we're still in the safe zone right?"
Caution: Safe Zone has been disabled! said a message that appeared in everyone's view.
"You just had to ask, didn't you!?" replied Tsuchi.
As everyone drew there weapons, Sky asked, "So what's the plan against this thing?"
"I got it." answered Roxas. "Tsuchi, Sky, Land, you guys keep its attention on you as much as you can. Try to keep each of its heads occupied. Sui, Sea, you two keep your distance and support us with your magic. I'm gonna circle around this mutt and try to blindside it. This thing has a heavy resistance to fire and dark attacks, so don't bother using Fire spells or Soul Strike. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. "Then let's go!"
With that, the party sprang into action. Skyknight, Landdusk, and Tsuchikage ran up to the front of the beast. "Hey, dog breath! Over here!" shouted Sky.
The left head then open its mouth and proceeded to chomp down, only for Sky to Shield Bash it in the face, deflecting the attack, though also cause himself to stagger backward. Land dodged the right heads bite before slashing it in the snout. Tsuchi took the middle head head-on by uppercutting it in the lower jaw with his mace as it attacked. Sea and Sui then used Thunder spells to zap the hellhound.
Roxas sprinted around Cerberus with his Dash ability(leaving behind a green stream as he ran) until he got behind it. He noticed its front paws glowing as it raised them high in the air. He knew it was about to do a seismic shockwave attack. Rather then tell the others to jump, he thought he could use the opening to knock it down. He dashed at the beasts left hind leg and sliced it with his knife. This cause Cerberus to tumble onto the ground, negating his attack. As everyone took advantage of the opportunity to get a few free hits, Roxas trusted his green-glowing palm forward. "Steal!" he shouted. However his vision told him he missed. "Dammit!"
Then Cerberus quickly got back up before it suddenly whirled around, creating a gust that knocked everyone close enough away. It was now facing Roxas, who had fallen on his butt. Geez this thing is faster than I remember. Then the beast start firing a barrage of dark fireballs at the boy. He managed to get up in time to Shield Bash the first one back at the middle head before dashing to avoid the others.
"Blizzara!" Suigetsu shot a strong ice blast into its right head's mouth, and it seemed to choke for a moment.
Sky and Land got up from the ground. Sky turned to his best friend. "Land, give me a boost!" Land nodded and readied his hands. Sky jumped on them and Land threw him up onto the hellhound's back, on which Sky stabbed his Keyblade.
Cerberus roared in pain before shaking Sky off. It then stomped its paw onto the boy, proceeding to crush him.
"Sky!" shouted Sea as she began to cast Blizzard spells is rapid succession.
Roxas then snuck under the beast, swiping at the leg crushing Sky, and quickly dragged his brother away from it. "You okay bro."
"I'm fine." Sky answered. He then noticed his vision had gained a tint of yellow. He was about to question until he noticed a message saying, Defender activated! "Oh cool."
"Don't get cocky." said Roxas noticing his brother gaining a yellow aura around him. "Your defense may have increased, but your still low on health."
Then intense black smoke started spewing from Cerberus's three heads. Then they started breathing out darkness into the ground.
"Everyone! Watch out from below!" Roxas.
Everyone looked below and saw small dark pools form all over the arena. Most of them were able to react before dark geysers erupted from the ground. Seaprincess however, wasn't so fortunate and got sent flying in the air and crash onto the ground. Her HP was dangerously low and she was struggling to move.
"Sea!" shouted Sky. He then looked back at the boss and saw that the right head launched a dark fireball aiming at the downed girl. Thinking fast, Sky ran between Sea and the dark fireball, shield ready. "Shield Bash!" Thanks to his Defender ability, when he thrusted his shield at the fireball, it struck with twice the force. So when he sent the fireball back at the head that fired it, it actually did effective damage, and stunned it for a few seconds.
Roxas took the opportunity to leap up and strike the same head. He then held his hand out again. "Steal!" This time an item appeared in his hand. It was a black metal armband with fire lining, and decorated with Cerberus's three heads encircling it. You stole a(n) Inferno Band! "Sweet!" he shouted as he quickly leaped back before the boss could retaliate.
Landdusk was dealing with the middle head. Dodging and striking its snout. Then he sees the middle head had managed to grab Tsuchi in its teeth. He jumped away before charging his sword. "Strike Raid!" He threw Soul Eater at the neck on the middle head, caused it to spit out Tsuchi.
Tsuchi rolled on the ground for a bit before recovering. As he stood up a red aura surrounded him.
"Tsuchi's Berserk ability has activated," Sui said as he was healed Sea and Sky.
"The boss's HP is almost out," said Roxas as he equipped the Inferno Band he stole, giving him resistance to fire and darkness. "A few more good strikes from Tsuchi and its done."
Tsuchi then charged at the boss head on. He whacked the left head hard with his mace, and then the right head, dealing serious damage thanks to his attack boost. He then jump above the middle head as it tried to chomp on him. He then charged energy into his mace. "Say goodbye! Critical Impact!" He slammed onto to last head. Depleting its HP completely.
Everyone gathered together to see the boss flat on the ground.
"We did it!" Skyknight jumped up in excitement.
Suddenly Cerberus got back up, shaking itself off. Startling everyone except Roxas.
"What the?!" shouted Tsuchikage. "I thought I just finished him!"
A message appear in front of the hellhound saying Immortal Object! which meant this thing was indestructible.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" shouted Sky.
"Now what?" asked Suigetsu.
Just then Landdusk noticed something flying above them. "Hey look at that!"
Everyone looked up to see a man riding a white, winged horse. The man resembled the image Hades showed them earlier, Hercules. The man jumped off his steed and delivered a crashing punch on Cerberus's back. He then jumped in front of the beast, who then started whimpering in fear before sinking back into the pool of darkness it came from. Once the beast was gone, the dark fire barrier was dispelled, and the Safe Zone was reenabled.
It was then that Hades came forward. "Hercules! You just had to spoil my fun again, didn't!?"
"Hades!" Hercules replied as he crossed his arms. "Still up to your old tricks I see."
"Man. And here I was just trying to recruit some new souls for my Underworld."
"Enough! Leave now, or else!"
Hades growled. "Just you wait, Jerkules! I will get your soul yet!" And with that he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Phil's binds disappeared before he ran over to the hero. "Herc! Oh thank Zeus you showed up! I wasn't sure how much longer these rookies would last against Cerberus!"
"Well, you know what they say about heroes showing up at the last moment." replied Herc. "I'm just glad I was able to make it before these kids became hellhound chow. What exactly happened?"
"Well, that hothead was trying to swindle them into joining his Underdrome. They refused, and they he sick his pet on them."
Roxas then chimed in. "Yeah he was trying to take advantage of the fact that this short stack flat out reject us from participating in the games, even though we passed his test."
Hercules frown at that and looked at Philoctetes. "Oh come, Phil. You're not turning down promising candidates again, are you?"
Phil held his hands out defensively. "H-Hey! The games are no joke you know! Someone could seriously get hurt!"
"Philoctetes, when you are you gonna learn that potential heroes can never prove themselves if you don't give them the chance?"
"I...I..."
"And besides, these guys must have worn Cerberus down quite well if it fled that quickly upon my arrival."
"W-well... I will admit that fact that they held their own as well as they did was impressive."
"Exactly. So I see no problem with letting them participate in the games. Do you?"
"Well..." Phil then sighed. "Fine." He then walked up the the players and pulled out six white cards with lightning bolt symbols. "Take these passes. They'll give you full rights and privileges to participate in the games, and use the Coliseum as much as you like." He then hands one to each and everyone of them.
Then the quest log update. Preparing for the Games! Quest Complete! Reward(s): Olympus Coliseum Pass, 10,000 Munny, 5,000 XP.
"Sweet!" exclaimed Sky.
Herc then looked at Phil sternly. "And Phil, you've gotta stop rejecting every candidate that comes to call. You'll never know when they'll surprise you like they did."
Phil sighed again. "Oh alright. I'll stop being so picky about who I let in. But they still have to pass my test if they want in."
"Fair enough."
The party then met back in the lobby.
"Well," said Landdusk. "Wasn't that a thrill?"
"I'll say," answered Suigetsu.
"That was awesome!" said Skyknight. "If not stressful."
"I sure had a blast!" said Tsuchikage.
"I'm glad we got through that," said Roxas. "It was quite nice to complete a quest with my little bro."
"Likewise." replied Sky.
"Well, I'm exhausted," said Seaprincess.
"Yeah, me to," said Land. "It's getting late. I think we should turn in for the evening."
"I agree," said Roxas. "Let's use the Teleportation Altar to head back to Thebes and book ourselves in an inn." Thankfully, every town or landmark had a Teleportation Altar that allows player to travel instantly between two locations. Once a player has visited a location they use these to warp to that area anytime want. And conveniently, only one player in a whole the party has to have been in that location for it to work.
Just before they could leave, everyone received PM.
"Oh, its an Announcement." said Land. "Looks like there's tournament coming up two weeks from today. The Phil Cup. Looks like its a one-on-one tourney, and no items or magic allowed. Winner gets a mystery rare item."
"Cool!" exclaimed Sky. "We should enter! I wanna see how well I can do against other players!"
"I'm game!" said Tsuchi.
"Why not? It'll be fun." said Land.
"I'll enter too." said Roxas.
"Um... I don't know." Sea said nervously. "I don't think do I'll very well by myself."
"Sea's right," said Sui. "This tournament forbids magic, so that would put player who primarily use magic, like Sea and myself, at a major disadvantage. I'm gonna have to sit this one out too."
"Alright," said Sky. "You two can just sit back and watch then."
"O-okay." said Sea
"Well, I think can sign up right now by talking to Phil. Why don't we do that before we turn in?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
A/N: I had to rethink the plot of this chapter in order to finally move forward with it. Originally it was going to be a simple spar between Skyknight and Roxas's parties in the Arena, but I was just drawing a blank as to how I wanted it to play out. So I decided to change it to a fight against a Quest Boss. Of course even then it still took forever to finish due to other projects. I also wanted to showcase Roxas's party a bit since they're gonna be important later on, especially Roxas... There is a reason I had Ventus's username be Roxas.
Who's who, and, just in case you were curious, what they each chose when they dived in:
Skyknight: Sora - chose Guardian; gave up Mystic
Landdusk: Riku - chose Warrior; gave up Guardian
Seaprincess: Kairi - chose Mystic; gave up Warrior
Roxas: Ventus - chose Guardian; gave up Warrior
Tsuchikage: Terra - chose Warrior; gave up Mystic
Suigetsu: Aqua - chose Mystic; gave up Guardian