Chapter 12: What is a Hero?
"Are you insane?!" Alex yelled straight in Phil's face. "Do you have a switch that turns your common sense off and on at will?" The group had transferred back to the lobby.
"Why?" Phil asked. "What's the problem?"
"The problem, Philly, is that you expect us to go out there and duel with BDBS!" Alex exclaimed.
Sora raised an eyebrow, turning to Alex. "BDBS?"
"Blond dude with the big sword!" Alex exclaimed. Sora nodded, showing that he understood.
"Yeah," Goofy nodded in agreement. "I mean I got chills just looking at the guy. The way he was starin' at us. Oooh!" Goofy shivered.
Phil seemed to enjoy the group's fear. "Oh, whatever happened to being so ready for the games, huh? Lost your nerve?"
"Oh, Donald says I lost that a long time ago," Goofy laughed, obviously not understanding the prior insult.
"Can't you get some more of the little creatures for us to fight?" Donald asked, making sure not to say Heartless.
"Nope," Phil shrugged. "Sorry guys, but this is the only other opponent that signed up. And besides, if the match gets too rough, I'll step in and stop it. It's not like the guy is out to kill ya."
Sora wasn't completely sure. The confidence that Sora witnessed just by watching the blond man walk was enough to believe that his level of skill was far beyond this tournament. The blond man probably knew it too. So why sign up for a tournament that was just a preliminary one? Was the blond man on some vengeance streak against the Heartless? Or did he have an even darker motive?
"You have thirty minutes before the match," Phil said, as he walked through the hallway that led to the Coliseum. The team stood silent for a couple of minutes.
"We can just leave," Donald said. "We have no business being here. We looked for the King, we couldn't find him, so let's just go."
"You forgot our friends," Alex reminded him. "Our friends aren't here either."
Donald rolled his eyes. "Yeah, them too." Alex scowled.
"No," Sora declared. "I am not leaving."
"What did you say?" Alex practically saw Donald's blood pressure rising.
"I'm not leaving," Sora repeated. "I'm gonna go out there and fight."
"Why?" Goofy asked. "That guy is gonna clobber us."
Donald folded his arms angrily. "For once, take your ego out of the equation and look at the big picture. The people we're looking for aren't here. So why should we stay?"
"Let's face it guys," Sora said. "Up until now we've been sailing through every fight. Sure they weren't easy, but we still pulled through. But now I have someone who can finally put my skills to the test. Our skills to the test! If we can't defeat one person in combat, then how can we expect to find our friends with all the Heartless around? You remember what Leon said? He said there are more Heartless out there, some more powerful than the ones we're used to fighting. I just want to be prepared. I'm confident that we can beat this guy, but we need to work together! So, what do you say?"
Alex just stared at Sora. There had been numerous moments in the journey so far that Alex would wonder why the Keyblade had chosen Sora. It wasn't that he wanted the job, but he just had a hard time picturing Sora as a serious hero. Alex blamed it on the fact that he has known Sora for two years and has gotten used to his kiddish antics. Alex didn't have a problem with that, but it still made him wonder what the Keyblade saw in Sora. But now Alex was looking at Sora with a form of admiration. He compared it to the way that Phil talked about Hercules. It was at this moment that Alex realized why Sora was the Keyblade master.
Donald was still annoyed with Sora. He still believed that staying on this world was a waste of time that could be spent looking for the King. Yet, Donald admitted that Sora had struck some valid points with their situation. He and Goofy needed to get better prepared. Donald wanted to prove that he had the skills necessary to find the King, but he couldn't know how good he was until someone challenged his abilities.
Goofy, on the other hand, was not looking forward to fighting the mysterious warrior. He didn't like fighting at all. When he was training to become a knight, he noticed some of his fellow pupils had a certain killer instinct that Goofy lacked. Whenever he sparred with someone, he did his best not to hurt them, but he always lost in the process. Goofy knew that he had to fight the Heartless and he knew that the mission was important. He knew that he had three friends that would back him up. But the thought of having to fight a human, not a Heartless or monster, was kind of scary.
Sora was waiting for an answer from his teammates.
"I'm in," Alex said. Sora smiled. He knew Alex would stand by his side.
"Me too," Goofy said, smiling nervously.
Everyone turned to Donald who looked like he was deep in thought. "Yeah, me three."
"All right!" Sora grinned, which caused everyone else in the room to start smiling as well.
"Let's teach this pretty boy who's arena this is!" Alex yelled and the team took out their weapons, checked their item stash, and walked outside, ready to face this final battle.
The wind had stopped and the sun was still out in full force. Sora started to sweat right as he came outside, but he knew the sun wasn't the main reason for it. He noticed Phil off to the side on a bench.
"Wow," Phil smirked. "Still here are ya?"
"Yep," Alex half-smiled.
"I was gettin' a little worried," Phil explained. "Worried you guys weren't gonna show, but here you are."
"Is the guy ready?" Donald asked.
"I believe he is," Phil pointed to the middle of the arena. "He awaits you."
Alex could see the blond warrior standing there. He had his eyes closed, so Alex guessed he was meditating. The sword was still clutched in his hands and he was holding it straight in front of him so his forehead touched the blunt side of the blade.
"Let's go," Sora said and the team made their way to the center of the arena, fifteen feet away from their opponent.
Sora watched the warrior as he continued to meditate for about a minute more. Donald started tapping his foot on the sand. Suddenly, the warrior opened his eyes and lowered his sword. Alex could see his bright, blue eyes shining through the dust.
"My name is Cloud Strife," the warrior said, "and I am your next opponent."
Sora summoned his Keyblade and he was pretty sure he saw a smirk cross Cloud's face. "Then let's do this."
Cloud smiled and raised his sword. "I'm happy that you're so eager....to lose."
"Ain't gonna happen blondie!" Alex yelled as he charged Cloud.
"Alex, no!" Sora yelled. He wanted to play this defensively.
Cloud's blade seemed to grow even bigger as Alex got closer. Alex swung his blade just as he was about to hit Cloud head on, but the swing never hit. Instead, Alex was hit by the most tremendous force that sent him flying in the air. He back flipped twice before landing on his back. Alex couldn't remember the last time he was hit so hard. The truth was, he hadn't. Not even Dark Alex had been that strong. His lungs seemed to refuse the air that Alex did his best to force back into.
Sora ran over to Alex and gave him a potion to drink. "Jeez, are you okay?"
Alex spat out blood. "What hit me?"
"Well, Cloud did," Sora said with a muffled laugh.
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Alex growled in frustration. "I got that much. How did he hit me?"
"He kicked you," Sora said.
"Damn,"Alex said. "This guy is wicked fast. Be careful."
Alex looked forward to see Cloud making slow, confident steps over toward them. Alex quickly got back up.
"If you don't want that to happen again," Cloud said, "then I suggest you stand aside."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Alex asked, still having trouble breathing.
"It's not you that I want," Cloud said as he looked toward Sora. Sora started breathing hard.
"I want you, Keybearer," Cloud said.
Sora's eyes opened wide as Cloud spoke. He knew about the Keyblade. How could that be?
He didn't have any time to think about it because Cloud suddenly crouched down and blasted forward, his sword in front. Alex and Sora barely dodged to the side as Cloud came zooming past. Sora felt the blade cut his shirt. He didn't have any time to relax because Cloud came by for a second thrust. Sora rolled forward, felling the wind on his legs.
Cloud was about to go for a third time, until he was slammed in the face by a fireball. The warrior kept his balance and growled. He looked to the side to see a duck holding a staff. He'd forgotten about him. Cloud remembered Goofy just in time to bring his sword up to block Goofy's shield punch. He brushed the shield aside and punched Goofy in the gut. Goofy hit the ground and continued to fly back, making a trail in the sand. Goofy was sure he was seeing stars.
Cloud saw Sora run toward him, Keyblade raised. The blond warrior smiled and met the Keyblade's strike in the air with his sword. Sora brought the Keyblade off of Cloud's blade and swung at his side, but it was blocked due to the armor plates on Cloud's right side. This gave Cloud the opportunity to hit Sora with the butt of his sword. Sora rolled on the ground, dust finding its way into his mouth. He remembered Cloud was still after him, got up quickly, and drank a potion.
Cloud walked toward Sora before he was hit by a blizzard spell, courtesy of Donald. Cloud shook off the cold and turned toward Donald. He hated getting interrupted. Cloud leaped into the air, higher than a normal human, and landed right beside Donald.
"You're in the way!" Cloud growled, as he swung his blade at the duck's jugular. To his surprise, the duck managed to leap over the swinging blade and swing his staff at the warrior. Cloud took a step to the side to dodge the staff. Donald, realizing he had missed, turned to Cloud just in time to see him shoot Donald with a fireball of his own. The court wizard spun in the air several times, due to the fire spell hitting him in the side, before he hit the ground.
"Damn you!" Cloud turned to see Alex running at him like he did before. This kid was a glutton for punishment. Cloud waited until Alex was a foot away and kicked out with his right foot. But Alex had learned from his mistake and rolled to the side. Cloud had to change his grip on the sword to block the strike at his unguarded side. Cloud counterattacked with a straight chop that would split the boy in two. Alex gripped his sword with both hands to block the strike. Sparks flew from the two blades as they connected.
Cloud sensed a presence behind him and performed a spin cut with the massive blade. It managed to cancel out a stab from Sora's Keyblade. Cloud struck again, swinging the sword toward Sora's arm, but Sora twisted aside and brought up the Keyblade to parry. The force of Cloud's blow still managed to knock Sora off balance. He rolled backwards and cried out, while bringing the Keyblade up in time to push aside Cloud's stab. Cloud shrugged and kicked Sora in the side, sending him skidding to the wall of the Coliseum.
"Sora!" Alex yelled. He rushed over to the Keybearer, dodging another of Cloud's zooming thrusts, and threw a potion over to Sora.
"C'mon drink!" Alex screamed.
Sora was having a massive headache and had to squint to see the potion. He grunted and reached out with a shaky hand to try and grab it. Sora finally opened his eyes, just in time to see Cloud pick up the potion.
"You won't be needing this," Cloud said and he smashed the bottle in his fingers. So much for Donald's non-breaking charms. Cloud strolled over to Sora, who was well on his way to tears, and picked him up by the neck of his shirt.
"Sorry about this," Cloud mumbled and he punched Sora square in the face, breaking his nose.
Sora flew back to the ground, dust getting up in his bloody nose and making it hurt even more. He was exhausted and out of breath. He was pretty sure his nose was broken, maybe even a rib. Sora could see Alex trying to get to him, but Cloud stood in the way. He saw Alex make an obscene gesture with his middle finger and struck at Cloud. Sora mumbled for Alex to stop, but he knew Alex couldn't hear him.
Sparks flew as the two swords continued to clash. Alex made two quick slashes to the head and neck, which were blocked by Cloud, who counterattacked with a strike that would chop off any man's legs. Alex jumped over the blade as it came under and slashed at Cloud's open head. But Cloud brought his blade up to block with amazing speed. Then, Cloud twisted around and kicked the still airborne Alex right in the solarplexis. Alex was knocked out before he hit the wall behind him. The force of the kick was so much that upon Alex's impact with the wall, it cracked. Alex's body fell to the ground in a heap.
Cloud looked around the Coliseum. The duck and the dog were down for the count. It hadn't been that hard to take them out. He saw Alex laying on his belly, down for the count as well. Cloud had to admit that the kid had some guts going against him like that and giving him the finger. Then he saw the reason why he was here, Sora the Keybearer.
Cloud took a deep breath and walked over to the fallen warrior. He could see Sora doing his best to get up, but was failing miserably. Sora heard the crunching of sand against boots and he knew Cloud was coming to finish him off. Sora kept telling himself to get up, but his body wasn't listening. It was too tired. The dust had made Sora parched for thirst and his breaths were forced. Blood dribbled down into his mouth and he had to spit it out, which was hard because he had no saliva.
Phil had been up in the stands the whole time watching the fight. He had grimaced with every blow that had been brought upon the team. Now the team was out and Cloud looked like he was going to finish the job. Phil knew he had to stop it. This had gone way too far.
"Hey Strife!" Phil yelled from the stands. "You win. You can go now. I'll go get your prize so you can leave."
Cloud heard the satyr, but paid him no mind. He knew the satyr couldn't stop him and the satyr knew it too. Phil started to run to the exit to get down there. He didn't know what he could do to stop Cloud, but he was going to try.
Sora dug his fingers into the ground and tried to crawl away. He knew he wouldn't make it, but what else could he do. The sound of boots got closer and closer. Sora's face was stinging with blood and salty tears, mixing into a concoction that only brought about pain. Suddenly, he heard the boots stop and Sora turned on his back, looking up to see Cloud Strife looming over him, like some angel of death. Cloud changed his grip on the sword so the point of it was facing right down at Sora's chest.
Phil scurried on the sand over to Cloud and was about to say something before he was tripped. Phil fell flat on his face, but got up very quickly. He turned around to see who tripped him and was shocked to see who it was. Sharp teeth, blue skin, and annoying smirk made Phil go red in the face, both with anger and embarrassment.
"Good job Cloud," Hades clapped his palms together as he inched his way over to the victorious warrior. "I knew you could do it."
"Stay out of this Hades," Cloud ordered. Sora looked to see the man who had given him the pass to get in the tournament. Why was he here?
"Well," Hades grinned, "what are you waiting for? End this already!"
Sora couldn't believe what was going on. Did this mean that the blue man put Sora into the tournament just for him to lose and die? What could that mean?
Cloud was still hovering his sword over Sora. His arms didn't shake so Sora knew Cloud was in complete control.
"I don't got all day here," Hades complained. "C'mon man, this is a win-win situation. You get your girl back and my group can get this little runt out of the way."
Sora gasped. Cloud was fighting for a girl? He never would have thought of that. And what did Hades mean by "his group"? Something else was going on here. Hades was working for someone and that person wanted Sora dead.
Cloud still hadn't made any sudden movements with the sword. Sora started to see little twitches in Cloud's eye. He started to blink a lot more. Cloud began to breathe in short bursts. Sora knew this was the end. He was actually going to do it. Sora closed his eyes, hoping that it would be quick and less painful than what he had previously gone through.
The sound of metal clanging on the sand caused Sora to open his eyes. Cloud's sword was on the ground and the warrior was turned toward Hades, who didn't appear happy.
"Do it yourself," Cloud said. "I'm not a murderer. Especially not of kids."
Hades gritted his teeth in anger. "You will do this. How else are you gonna get her back?"
"She wouldn't want to come back knowing what I've done!" Cloud yelled. "I'm done. Our contract is terminated Hades."
Dust began to sting Alex's eyes which helped him regain consciousness. He pushed his aching body off of the ground and looked to see Sora, Cloud, and the blue guy from before. Alex knew it was Hades. He saw Sora lying on the ground, blood dripping down his face. Alex immediately started to run over. On the way, he saw Goofy and Donald were getting up as well. Alex pointed to Sora and they nodded at him. The three sprinted over to Sora.
"Sora here," Goofy slid on the ground, right next to Sora and offered him a potion. Sora took the small bottle with great haste and drank it all in one gulp. He wiped the remains of the liquid from his mouth and stood up.
"I'm okay guys," Sora gave a weak smile.
"Good," Alex said. "You guys okay?"
Donald nodded. "I'm fine."
"Me too," Goofy said. All four of them breathed as deeply as they could and let it out. They smiled at each other.
Phil turned toward the God of the Underworld. "Get out of here Hades! Zeus isn't gonna be too happy when he finds out you've been screwing with the tournaments. He'll teach you the rules of this place."
Hades just started laughing. "Hey Cloud!" Cloud turned reluctantly.
"By the way," Hades said. "There is one other rule I forgot to mention."
"And what might that be you piece of trash?" Cloud asked.
"Accidents happen!" Hades laughed maniacally.
Suddenly, a black paw came into Cloud's view and smacked him across the arena to the other side. The warrior smashed into the wall and fell to the ground unconscious.
"What the hell was that?!" Alex screamed and turned around to where the paw came from.
The paw belonged to the most enormous dog that Alex had ever seen. Its black fur shined in the sunlight. Drool dripped from massive jaws at the heads of the monster.
"Heads?" Alex's voice cracked.
It was true. The dog had three heads all attached to the main body. Three pairs of red eyes stared down at everyone, eager to eat. The heads leaned back and let out in unison a massive roar.
"Time to go!" Alex screamed as he sprinted toward the exit. Everyone else followed him.
The monster didn't want its prey to escape, so it bounded over to the exit and blocked the way. Alex tried to turn and run the other way, but he slipped and fell on the sand. But Alex was too scared to stop. He leaped up quickly and jumped forward, narrowly dodging the monster's shiny teeth from cutting him to ribbons. He could hear the growls escaping the monster's jaws, giving Alex even more incentive to run like hell. He eventually caught up with his friends and even started to run ahead of them.
"He's coming!" Goofy yelled. Sora took a quick look back to see the dog quickly gaining speed. The ground rumbled with every step the monster took, causing Phil to almost trip over his own hooves. The monster was getting so close that Donald could smell the atrocious odor of dog breath. The small hallway leading to the lobby was just ahead and everyone knew it. They gave all of their energy in a final sprint for survival. Sora slowed his pace a little to allow everyone to get in first.
"Come on Sora!" Alex motioned with his hands to hurry up. Sora got the best running start he could and leaped for the hallway, his body parallel to the floor. Sora seemed to be falling in slow motion to Alex. He could see the giant dog extending its paw, trying to grab Sora, and it looked like it was going to reach him. Alex held his breath.
Suddenly, the paw of the monster jerked back as the entire body pushed back, letting Sora land safely. Sora turned on his back to see what stopped it. It was a man. His attire was brown armor, obviously made from Greece, with a blue cape attached to it, flowing as the man ran. He wore sandals and a brown belt with a gold medal in the center. A red headband didn't do much to hold back his curly, orange hair. His entire body reminded Alex of Arnold Schwarzenegger, perfectly muscular all around. The armor was almost falling off, due to the massive muscles of this man.
Phil saw the man and gasped in delight. "Herc!"
Hercules looked back at Phil. "Phil, get them out of here!" He turned back to the monster and punched one head in the nose.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Phil nodded. Everyone followed his lead and ran until the they entered the lobby.
Alex took in several breaths, his hands on his knees. Donald and Goofy were both sprawled on the ground, their chests going up and down continuously. Sora sat on the pedestal he had tried to move earlier and wiped away tears, mostly from all the wind that got in his eyes from running so fast. Phil just sat in the corner, taking much deeper breaths than the others were.
Phil broke the silence by saying, "Was that a close one or what?!"
Donald nodded. "What the heck was that thing anyway?"
Phil's expression turned serious and a smidgen of fear crossed his face. "That was Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld and personal pet to Hades. The guy who had Cloud beat you up so bad."
"Don't remind me, will ya?" Alex moaned. The taste of defeat was still fresh in his mouth.
"Do ya think Hercules can handle that big dog?" Goofy asked.
"Y-yeah," Phil stuttered. "S-sure he can."
Even Goofy was able to see through Phil's stuttering. The satyr was worried about the hero he had worked so hard to train. Cerberus was the guardian of the Underworld for a reason and Phil knew it.
"This is bad isn't it," Alex said.
"Yes," Phil admitted. "This isn't good at all."
Sora saw the worry in Phil's eyes and realized that he couldn't just stand around here doing nothing. He had to go back out there. He had to help Hercules. Sora drank a potion and stood up.
"Where do ya think you're going?" Phil asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"You know where I'm going," Sora said. "I'm going to help Hercules."
Phil's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe this kid still wanted to fight, even after his devastating defeat by Cloud Strife. This kid had some guts, but ones that would probably get him killed.
"I'm going to!" Sora turned to see Alex summoning his sword. "This world is gonna give me at least one victory, whether it likes that or not!" Alex was a very poor loser.
"Me too!" Donald stood up, his staff in hand. "You too wouldn't last a second out there without me." Alex and Sora actually smiled at the insult. If Donald was eager enough to insult them, he was eager enough to get back on the battlefield.
"I'll go too," Goofy stood up with his shield. "You guys could probably last a second out there without me, but-."
"You kidding me?" Alex smiled. "We need the Goofmeister out there, on the double! I need someone to make sure I don't get eaten. I want to see you break the teeth of that dog!" Goofy giggled, secretly happy that he was wanted.
Phil had been listening to the group and he was positive that something had changed about them. They had said that they had fought a bunch of monsters and emerged victorious. And yet, Cloud had beaten them without breaking a sweat. Maybe a defeat was exactly what they needed. A way to show them not to underestimate their opponent ever. Now, they would be more careful and learn from their past mistakes. He could see the fire in their eyes and knew they were not happy at all that they lost to Cloud. Anger would be very helpful in the battle to come. He was still worried that they had to fight Cerberus, but hearing the enthusiasm coming from all four of them, Phil's mind was somewhat put at ease.
"Last chance guys," Phil said. "This isn't gonna be like a match. I can't get in there to stop it. This is for real now!"
"You can decide whether we're hero material or not," Sora said.
Sora, Alex, Donald, and Goofy raised their weapons and began to walk down the hallway to the Coliseum. The fight with Cloud had matured them in a small way. And now, the same warrior that had beaten them senseless, his life was in the balance. The team saw the light ahead and proudly strode toward it. In the last fight, they had asked for a victory and the world had said no. This time, they would not take no for an answer.
Hercules had been backed against a wall by Cerberus. He had Cloud slung over his shoulder and was in a combat stance. The heads of Cerberus inched closer and closer to the young hero. Each opponent wondering what the other was going to do next. Hercules got ready to take on the dog when suddenly its ears perked up and the heads turned. Hercules saw the people he had saved earilier running back into the arena. What were they doing? He could handle this. Although, he probably wouldn't be able to do it with Cloud on his shoulder. He accepted the help.
Cerberus' attention was altered to the small warriors that would make a good feast. Hercules saw an opportunity and made a break for it. The young hero ran past Cerberus who didn't even notice. The dog was too focused on the food that was before him. As Hercules passed him, Sora heard a faint whisper saying, "Good luck." Sora nodded to the hero as he continued over to the hallway that would lead to the lobby. He also saw that Phil was in the stands, coming to cheer them on. He knew Cloud would be taken care of. He turned his attention back to Cerberus.
The beast had fully turned towards the heroes and towered over them. The amount of adrenaline that flowed through each fighter's veins was incredible. The fact was that this beast wasn't a Heartless. It was a servant to a god. That was quite a huge leap for all of them. The red eyes on each of the heads began to pick out which person to eat first. The team stood there with their weapons ready.
"Kid, I got two words of advice for you!" Phil bellowed. "ATTACK!!"
Cerberus grunted and growled, slamming the ground with its paws, challenging the heroes to do battle with it.
"Let's do this Scrappy-doo!" Alex yelled, leaving the other fighters puzzled, but shrugged it off as pure gibberish. The heroes charged, screaming at the top of their lungs like crazy people. Cerberus barked and charged as well.
Donald was aware that they had three targets to worry about and he had a spell just for the occasion. The duck raised his staff to the air and cried, "Thunder!"
Bolts of lighting came down from the sky and struck Cerberus in all three faces. The beast howled in pain as the bolts burned the flesh on their faces and shocked them. The other fighters took this opportunity to attack from the ground. Goofy sprinted over to the legs of Cerberus and bashed them with his shield as hard as he could. Cerberus had a hard time keeping its balance and started to lean over. Donald sealed the deal with another thunder spell that sent Cerberus falling to the ground.
Sora and Alex engaged the heads by jumping up and slashing them with their blades. Alex slashed the cheek of one head, drawing blood, and plunged his sword into the chin. Blood burst from the mouth of the head and Alex pulled the blade back out to dodge the sharp jaws of the center head. Sora slashed at the head on the other side, rolling to escape the lunge of its jaws. He saw the open wound that Alex had inflicted upon the other head and shot it with fire spells. Cerberus barked in pain and leaped forward, opening its jaws to eat the spell caster.
Goofy got there in the nick of time to punch the center head right in the snout. Cerberus responded by bashing Goofy to the side with its head. Cerberus turned its attention to Goofy, who had fallen to the ground and leaped upon him. Goofy screamed as the massive dog loomed over him and opened its mouth, planning to devour him. Donald ran over and shot the open mouth with a blizzard spell, freezing it from the inside. The center head tried to bite down to break the ice, but only inflicted more pain on itself.
This only enraged Cerberus even more, so it lashed out at the heroes with its two side heads. Sora saw the jaws of one coming for him quickly, so he swung with the Keyblade. The Keyblade parried the sharp teeth of the monster and Sora leaped back and shot it with another fire spell. Alex and Goofy teamed up to take on the other one. Alex dodged its jaws easily, but was surprised to be hit by the backside of its paw. Alex rolled on the ground, stopped, and fired fireballs from his position. It distracted the head long enough for Goofy to jump and hit it with the shield. He also cut the head with the edge of his shield. Donald barraged the heads with a combination of fire, ice, and thunder. The biggest damage was dealt when he shot the heads with blizzard spells, melted the ice with fire, and finished it off with an extra powerful thunder spell hitting all doused heads of Cerberus. The cry of Cerberus made each of the heroes cover their ears. The center head finally chewed the ice in its mouth off and grunted.
"I think we're wearing him down," Alex said.
"He can't take much more surely," Goofy said, shaking from head to foot.
"We got him guys," Sora smiled. "Let's go finish him off!"
Suddenly, massive fireballs, the size of which Donald Duck could only dream of conjuring, shot out of Cerberus' mouths.
"OH CRAP!!" Alex screamed as he and Donald were hit dead on and launched backwards across the Coliseum, into the stands. Cerberus howled in victory as he pounced on the two remaining opponents.
Sora rolled to the side, dodging getting crushed by Cerberus and slashed at its feet. Cerberus counterattacked by kicking its foot outward, nailing Sora in the chest, sending him sprawling on the ground. Only Goofy was left and he started to run away. Cerberus stopped this by ramming him in the back with all three heads, sending him up into the stands as well. Cerberus barked, having defeated its foes.
Alex sat up from the cracked floor that was created upon his impact. He saw Donald slowly getting up from his belly, his arms shaking. This dog packed one hell of a punch. Goofy wasn't moving which didn't surprise Alex. After all, he had been hit by all three heads at the same time. He looked on the ground to see Sora, who was also slowly getting up, but Cerberus was heading towards him. Sora dug into his pockets for a potion. He couldn't find any! He nor the others had checked on their potion supply when they had ran into the Coliseum. Sora realized he had been too careless. He should have checked everything before battling a beast. He saw Cerberus coming towards him and he sighed. This was it. He barely had any strength to lift the Keyblade and that always felt weightless in his hands.
Donald saw the dilemma that Sora was in. He was too far away to toss a potion and Alex and Goofy were too weak to attempt it. Donald knew there was only one thing to do. He called upon all the energy in his body and the training he had amassed from Merlin. There was one spell that could help them.
"Heal!" Donald quacked out. Green light flowed from Donald's staff to each of his teammates. The light disintegrated into their body, healing their wounds and giving their energy back. Alex flexed his arms and back with no pain and smiled. He looked over to Donald to ask how he had done it, but saw Sora alone against Cerberus, realizing that it wasn't the time for small talk. He, along with Donald and Goofy, jumped back down into the arena and began to fire spells and throw a shield at the big dog. Donald searched in his pockets and found what he was looking for, a bottle of ether. He drank the whole bottle and felt the entirety of his magical energy return to him.
Cerberus roared at Sora who responded by leaping forward and slicing a part of Cerberus' nose off. The beast lashed out at the young boy in anger, but Sora rolled to the side, hitting the side of the wounded head with blizzard spells. Cerberus was about to attack Sora again when a thunder spell nailed him in the backside. Cerberus turned angrily to see the other warriors coming back for more. The dog began to shoot more massive fireballs out of its mouths, swinging its paws at Sora who ducked under a sweeping paw.
Goofy held the shield in his hands with as much strength as he could muster as the fireball hit him dead on, but he was merely pushed back. The knight responded by throwing his shield like a discus at Cerberus, hitting the center head in eye. Cerberus pounced forward causing Alex and Donald jump as far away as they could. Goofy almost lost his balance as Cerberus impacted with the ground. Alex growled in frustration and stabbed clean through one of Cerberus' legs. The dog roared and bit at Alex who pulled his sword out of the leg, ducking a kick from Cerberus.
Cerberus was driving through the blood and pain on anger alone, but on some level the dog knew it wouldn't hold out much longer. It had to finish the little pests right now. Cerberus stopped chasing the heroes and took a deep breath. Sora breathed hard, wondering what the dog was going to do next. Maybe they had beaten it? Or it was taking a short break? Either way, Sora saw this as an opportunity to finish off Cerberus and he ran forward with the bloody Keyblade in his hands. Donald, Alex, and Goofy saw Sora running toward Cerberus as well and knew the battle was reaching its end.
Cerberus saw the little men coming towards him breathed in deeply. Sora saw Cerberus doing this and at the last moment stopped, worried about what the dog was trying to do. Alex didn't stop, but was aware that Cerberus was planning something. Suddenly, all three heads rose in the air and dark fire blasted from their mouths, diminishing into the sand itself. Donald stopped and looked at the ground. A pool of blackness appeared under his feet and a pillar of that darkness shot upwards, taking Donald by surprise. Donald flew back, only to land on another pool of darkness that launched him even further in the air. Cerberus saw this and shot Donald with a big fire ball. The wizard skidded in the sand, knocked out once more.
Alex saw a pool appearing under his feet and started running away from the darkness. He leaped to the side, dodging another pillar of darkness jutting out of the ground. He ran the other way just in time to see Cerberus launch another fireball at him. Alex dived to the sand, narrowly escaping the flames, but had to roll quickly to escape another dark pillar. Now, he had to deal with two things at once. He shot some fire spells of his own at Cerberus in retaliation, but it didn't annoy the dog in the slightest.
Sora and Goofy, while dodging dark pillars, continued to attack the source, Cerberus. The beast bit at the two warriors, allowing Goofy to slam the heads with the shield and Sora to hack away at the flesh of the dog. Cerberus rose its front feet and body upward into the air and slammed the ground. Dust swirled in the air as Sora swung his Keyblade trying to clear the air. The dust cleared as Cerberus blasted more black fire, this time at Sora. The Keybearer cried out as the fire engulfed him, creating more pain than Sora had ever felt in his life. He fell to the ground, his body red with burns and the scent of charred flesh filled Sora's nostrils.
"Sora!" Goofy yelled in concern. He tried to run over and help the boy, but Cerberus slammed his paw on the ground, inches away from where Goofy was standing. The knight stumbled on the ground, thrusting up his shield as Cerberus' fangs descended upon him. The shield blocked most of the teeth, but a few of them found their way into Goofy's legs. Goofy howled in pain as the fangs tore at his flesh.
"Goofy! No!" Alex screamed with hatred at Cerberus. "I'll kill you!" Alex rushed at Cerberus screaming with bloodthirsty vengeance. Cerberus just grunted and blasted Alex with a fireball. Alex rolled to the side, only to be met with Cerberus' paw. Alex felt air escape his lungs entirely as his vision became clouded by the dust. The brightness of the sun disappeared and Alex looked up to see a giant paw swinging down at him. The paw slammed into Alex's chest, breaking a few ribs. Alex tried to scream, but he had no air left in his lungs. He only managed a slight moan of agony.
He turned his head to the side to see Sora's charred body laying on the sand. Goofy holding his bloody legs, tears flowing down his face. Donald was knocked out, unable to help them with his healing spell. Alex tried to reach for a potion, but he was in too much pain to do anything. Before long, tears streamed down his face as well. He had failed again. The memory of his most recent dream came back to him. His family being massacred before his own eyes and the harsh truth that he had run away at the sight of it when he could have helped them.
Suddenly, he saw the last thing he wanted to see. Shadow Heartless began to appear on the Coliseum floor. Alex looked back at Sora and realized that the Heartless' time had finally come to get rid of the Keybearer. Sora saw it too. Gritting his teeth in pain, he picked up the Keyblade with his burnt hand. The Heartless began to scatter towards him and the others. Donald had woken up and saw them through tunnel vision. He grabbed his staff with shaking hands and growled, ready to fight one last battle. Goofy was still grasping his legs when he saw the Heartless. He began to sob more, but put his shield in front of his body, ready to do the best he could to fight off the Heartless force.
Alex screamed and swung his sword, killing the Shadows on the ground. Then, he swung it in the air to get the ones that were trying to jump on him. Donald didn't have any magical energy left, so he resorted to whacking Shadows with his mages' staff. Goofy punched weakly, still killing the Shadows and closing his eyes, ready for the end. Sora was doing what Alex was doing, only the Heartless were a little more aggressive with him. Sora felt the ground rumble and saw Cerberus walking over to Sora, slowly with complete confidence that he had earned his prey. Sora killed one last Shadow and pushed his arms outward, offering himself to the massive beast. Cerberus' drool made Sora wet as the heads lowered down to get their meal.
It started as a flicker of energy. Sora didn't know what it was, but he felt something. Then, it started to grow. Sora tried gritting his teeth, but had to shout out. Energy exploded from within, showering Sora from the inside. His charred flesh was gone and his skin was back. His face didn't hurt anymore. Sora looked at his arms and was pretty sure that his muscles had developed. His legs felt stronger as he stretched them out. The Keyblade, once again, felt weightless in his hands.
This must be what Leon was talking about, Sora thought. But even with his new found power, Sora couldn't get out of the way as Cerberus pounced on the Keybearer, teeth shining as they gnashed together.
Goofy got a running start, leaped straight in the air, and rammed Cerberus with such strength that the dog almost fell over. All three heads turned to see what had hit it. They saw Goofy and charged toward the knight. Goofy just grasped his shield and leaped into the air once more. This time, Goofy spun around in the air several times like a tornado, shield outstretched, hitting each of Cerberus' heads several times. Cerberus backed off a little, surprised at the force being shown.
Cerberus kept backing away until it was shocked from behind again. It turned to see Donald twirling his staff in the air like an expert. The dog roared at the wizard and leaped toward him. Suddenly, Donald jumped in the air so Cerberus' belly was right above him. Donald quacked and let forth a fireball, equally on par with Cerberus'. The fire spell blasted Cerberus, sending the beast sprawling to the ground with a crash.
Cerberus was getting up before it felt someone on its heads. Alex had jumped onto Cerberus' back and made his way to the heads. He stabbed the right head, causing great anguish to the dog. He stabbed the left head. Blood squirted from the open wound. Finally, Alex leaped high in the air, flipped once, and plunged his blade into the center head. Cerberus tried to roar, but it started to choke on its own blood.
Alex leaped off the head and Cerberus turned, trying to get away. It saw Sora standing in the middle of the Coliseum, Keyblade in his right hand. Sora looked at Cerberus with an evil grin.
"Eat this!" Sora screamed at the dog, as lightning blasted out from the end of the Keyblade. The bolts hit every head of Cerberus at the same time. Cerberus howled and fell to the ground, dead.
Alex grunted and smiled. They had done it. They had defeated the guardian to the Underworld and gotten stronger, gaining new spells and abilities in the process. Alex looked to his other teammates and they could do nothing but smile. He looked to the sky and whispered, "Thanks world. You answered correct this time."
Upon defeating the three-headed dog, Phil had insisted that he give the group some kind of award for all the trouble they went through and everyone accepted.
All four of them were lined up in the lobby. Phil was standing on the stone pedestal in front of them and Hercules was off to his side, folding his arms and smiling at the group. Sora guessed they made quite the impression on Hercules. Phil had a document held in front of him that he was reading.
"Thus," Phil began. "I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further-."
"Hey," Donald interrupted. "Whaddya mean JUNIOR HEROES?!"
Phil looked down at the angry duck and grinned in a smug way. "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."
Goofy thought for a second and upon not knowing the answer asked, "So, what does it take?"
"Well," Hercules started, surprising the group, "that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."
Sora smiled as Phil handed him the certificate. "No prob. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games." Alex nodded in agreement. Donald just shook his head, but this time in a 'when will he learn' way.
Phil shook his head. "There ain't gonna be any games for awhile. Gotta clean up the mess from those last battles first."
Sora understood. "Okay, we'll be back." Sora gave a final wave as Donald and Goofy opened the doors that would eventually lead them to the Gummi Ship.
Phil stroked his beard as the group left and chuckled. "I still can't believe those squirts actually beat Cerberus."
Hercules laughed to himself and looked at Phil. "Just between us, I had already worn Cerberus down by the time the little guys jumped in."
Phil smiled at the fact that even though Hercules was a famous hero on the outside, he'll still be a little kid on the inside.
"My lips are sealed." Phil said.
They started to walk to the doors that would lead to the Gummi Ship, but stopped when they saw who was in front of it. Cloud Strife was sitting on the stone steps, arms on his knees and eyes closed. Sora was hesitant to talk to the man who had just recently tried to kill him, so Alex went forward instead.
"Hey man....um...are you all right?" Alex asked, hoping the warrior wouldn't lash out in anger.
Cloud just opened his eyes and looked up at Alex. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Sora stepped up, now that he knew Cloud wasn't going to attack. "So, why did you go along with him anyway?" He referred to Hades.
Cloud looked at Sora, sighed, and brought his arms back in their previous position. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help." Alex, Donald, and Goofy hadn't heard this yet so it came as a shock.
"I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired," Cloud began to peer at the blue sky. "I fell into darkness and I couldn't find the light."
Sora couldn't help but compare himself with the guy. "You'll find it."
"What makes you so sure?" Cloud asked.
"You have to be. We have to be. Cause' I'm searching too."
"For your light?" Cloud assumed. Sora nodded.
Cloud stood up and walked past Sora, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't lose sight of it." Then he walked back to the entrance of the Coliseum, cape flapping in the wind.
Alex turned and shouted back, "Hey! How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, your sword against ours...er..our two?"
Cloud chuckled, recognizing the voice from the kid who wouldn't stop fighting. "I think I'll pass." He said, whipping a lock of hair out of his eyes.
Alex couldn't help but smile. He would have that rematch. Alex was a poor loser and he wanted payback. "Maybe next time." He turned back to his friends and they opened the door and headed to the Gummi Ship.
Night had fallen over the Coliseum and the flames illuminated the area with an orange glow. Hades stood in the center of the square, holding a small figurine of Hercules. He made it flex its powerful muscles and fold its arms, smiling to its invisible audience.
"He's strong," Hades began. "He's kind. He's always there for you and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect!"
Hades finally snapped. His entire body grew bright red with anger. "Perfectly infuriating!! He drives me CRAZY!!" Hades let loose his anger in a pillar of fire that parted the clouds in the sky with its heat.
The angry god took a few short breaths, calming himself down and returning to his blue color. "Wait a second, what are you worried about? All the pieces are in place, so relax. Okay here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kid. And in the games, I'll take care of them both." He made a fist signifying his hate for Hercules and annoyance for Sora.
Hades sensed someone behind him and without turning said, "Who invited you to the party? Just stay out of this. This is MY show."
"As you wish," Maleficent said, smiling faintly and fiddling with her staff. "Fight to your heart's content."
As she disappeared, Hades turned to her and frowned, wondering just what she was insinuating.
"Oh and don't forget about mister Strife," Hades grinned. "I got big plans for you. I think a blast from the past is just what you need. Don't you?"
A mysterious voice laughed from the Underworld. "Yes, I believe he does."