(A/N: Tee-Hee, Final Fantasy XIII fans should notice the chapter number & title is a little familiar. If you haven't figured it out by the end of the Chapter, I'll tell ya then.)
Aqua and Lightning looked at each other across their arena section, Lightning with a calm and calculated look and Aqua with a determined smile. Hope and Sora were staring each other down, both with friendly yet determined smiles on their faces.
"Ready!" Phil shouted as he raised the mallet. Sora and Aqua summoned their Keyblades and dropped into their battle stances. Hope whipped out his boomerang and Lightning cocked her rifle.
"Set!" Phil shouted as the warriors narrowed their eyes, gripping their weapons in full readiness.
BONG!!!
Sora charged at Hope who hurled his boomerang at the Keyblade Apprentice. Sora leapt over it and continued charging with his Keyblade raised. Hope quickly hurled a Thundara from his hands but Sora used Reflect to block the blow. The boomerang nearly took Sora's head off as it spun back towards its master but Sora blocked with his Keyblade just in time, but the boomerang bounced away and spun back towards its master. Hope leapt up and caught it before using it like a sword and swinging it at Sora. Sora, being an expert at using a blade, was obviously more than a match for Hope. He leapt back and threw up a Firaga Shield, causing Hope to stagger backwards to avoid the flames. Sora then charged again just as Hope threw his boomerang at him but dodged. Sora grabbed a hold of Hope's bandana and spun him around away from him before kicking him to the ground. As Hope scrambled to get to his feet, he heard Sora give out a pained yelp. Hope spun back around in time to catch his boomerang and saw that Sora was lying on his chest, his Keyblade just out of reach. Hope didn't see what had happened but he figured that Sora had been hit in the back by his boomerang. Sora was attempting to reach for his Keyblade but Hope took the initiative to kick the Keyblade away and pointed the end of his boomerang at Sora's chin.
"Okay-okay. You win." Sora said with a smile as he raised his hands slightly and Hope smiled, resting the boomerang against his shoulder.
"Good game, Sora. No hard feelings?" Hope asked as he helped Sora up.
"No hard feelings." Sora said as they shook hands.
…
Lightning pointed her rifle straight at Aqua as the Keyblade Master charged. She pulled the trigger and fired a steady stream at Aqua who used Reflect to block the bullets as she ran. When she finally reached Lightning she took a swing but Lightning leapt clear over her and landed behind her. Aqua spun around with a vicious swing for the head but she didn't expect to hear…
CLANG!
Aqua was stunned as she saw Lightning holding a polished silver bladed sword instead of the rifle.
"What in the-?! Where did that come from?!" Aqua asked but Lightning remained silent, shoving back on the Keyblade and then taking a vicious swing of her own. Aqua quickly blocked and started attacking. They continued to attack and parry each other's blows until finally Aqua leapt back to the opposite end of their battle space and activated her armor. Aqua then charged forward again just as Lighting did something amazing with her sword. She quickly morphed her sword into the rifle from earlier and took aim before firing another stream of bullets at the Keyblade Master. Aqua used Reflect again but suddenly the shield disappeared and she was overwhelmed by the attack. The bullets, actually pellets intended for nonlethal use, were strong enough to knock Aqua onto her back. When she fell, the Keyblade was knocked out of her hand. Lightning didn't miss a beat and leapt onto her chest with a serrated dagger in hand and pressed it to Aqua's throat. Aqua's helmet disappeared, showing a stunned expression on the woman's face. Aqua then smiled and gave a respectful nod. Lightning nodded back and started to stand up, sheathing the dagger before helping the Keyblade Master up.
"Game over! The winners are Lightning and Hope!" Phil announced as Hope smiled and leapt up and down in excitement. Lightning let a smile spread across her face even.
"Hey, cool weapon." Aqua said as she extended a friendly hand to Lightning.
"You too." Lightning replied as they shook hands. They then noticed Phil hobbling out with two small gold trophies.
"Alright, here ya go. You've earned these." Phil said but a cloud of black smoke erupted from the ground in front of him.
"Guess again goat man!" Hades growled angrily before flicking the satyr away.
"Hades." Sora and Aqua said softly yet disdainfully.
"We fulfilled our end of the bargain. We won the games now let my sister and Hope's mother go." Lightning said as Hades crossed his arms.
"You haven't won! They're still breathing! When I said defeat, I meant really defeat them, like sent to the underworld defeat!" Hades yelled angrily, his flames taking a shade of orange. Hope and Lightning looked at each other in stunned surprise before turning back to the god of the dead.
"That wasn't part of our original agreement!" Lightning said as Hades rubbed his temples and returned to his regular blue flames.
"Okay, let me see if there's something not quite figured out here. You get your friends back but in their place I get these two for the underworld. I mean what's so hard to figure out here? Just cut their threads of life and that's it. We dance, we kiss, we schmooze, we carry on, we go home happy. What do you say? Come on." Hades said as Lightning and Hope looked at each other, Hope shaking his head.
"My mother wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want me to kill two people, who have done nothing to us, just for her!" Hope yelled at Hades.
"Same goes for Serah. She would be appalled at this. Deal's off!" Lightning said as Hades's eye twitched angrily. He then cleaned out his ear with his pinky.
"I'm sorry. You mind runnin' that by me again? I must have had a chunk of brimstone wedged in my ear or something." Hades said as Lightning cocked her rifle and aimed at the god of the dead.
"Then read our lips. For-get-it!" Lightning said, pulling the trigger, firing a bullet right at Hades's head. The bullet however, much to everyone's surprise, passed right through him, leaving him unscathed. Hades proceeded to smile sinisterly.
"SO! You two decide to become all noble, hmm? Oh there is just one more thing that I forgot to mention about our little deal here. Heh-heh-heh.(Ahem) Boys!" Hades shouted as he snapped his fingers. They suddenly felt the ground shake violently. They looked up and saw clouds in the sky appear and quickly darken. They turned back towards Hades who started backing away towards the Lobby, crafting a large box seat over the entrance with a snap of his fingers.
"The number one rule when dealing with the Lord of the Underworld, kids! Hades RULES!!!" Hades shouted with a grin as he appeared in his box seats just as the four turned around in time to see a massive column of magma erupt from the ground and then form into a large body stocky body with semi-cooled black rock on its head and back, forming two eyes and a mouth. They then saw a large black tornado form from the clouds above. What shocked them all was a pair of glowing red eyes that appeared in the whirling black winds of the twister and a large pair of arms form from the sides.
"What are those things?!" Hope asked as the four backed away cautiously.
"Titans! Hades's most powerful minions! They're very tough!" Aqua replied. Up in his box, Hades grinned again.
"Let's get ready to RUMBLLLLE!" Hades shouted. The Lava Titan proceeded to belch out a long flowing stream of magma at Hope and Lightning but Sora and Aqua quickly pulled them off into the stands on opposite sides of the arena. Lightning and Sora were on the left facing the Wind Titan while Aqua and Hope were on the right, facing the Lava Titan.
"You think we can handle them?" Lightning asked as Sora nodded.
"It's not a matter of can or can't!" Sora replied, summoning his Keyblade and donning his armor.
"Now you're learning." Lightning said with a smile.
"You know any Blizzard spells by any chance?" Aqua asked Hope who nodded.
"I've got Blizzara but that's it in terms of ice magic." Hope replied as Aqua donned her armor.
"Good. We're going to need it." Aqua replied as she started to chain Blizzaga spells together at the Lava Titan. The Lava Titan roared in fury and hurled large chunks of burning rock at the two warriors. Hope quickly hurled his boomerang at the chunks, smashing through them as Aqua continued her assault of Blizzaga spells. Finally she felt the cool feeling of Diamond Dust in her heart and focused it into her Keyblade.
"Time to cool you off pal!" Aqua shouted as she turned to Hope.
"Cover me!" She shouted before leaping up towards the Lava Titan and started bashing it with her Keyblade as it glowed with a cold white aura. Hope was firing Blizzara spells from his hands as fast as he could. He then saw the Lava Titan raise what appeared to be its arms, but he couldn't quite tell since they were oozing with molten rock. He quickly fired Blizzara spells at its hands but it still swatted at Aqua anyway. Aqua veered backwards, landing next to Hope on the stands. Her helmet disappeared to reveal that she was sweating profusely.
"Man it's warm in this thing!" She said as she fully dismissed her armor.
"Then what do we do?!" Hope asked as Aqua wiped the sweat from her brow. Before she could answer, the Lava Titan belched out another wave of molten rock.
"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Aqua exclaimed as she held Hope close and threw up a Reflect bubble around them both, using all her strength to keep the bubble up as the magma surged towards and around them. She felt the bubble starting to lose strength. She quickly used the last of her remaining strength with Diamond Dust and froze the molten rock around them, turning it into obsidian.
"You okay?" Aqua asked as Hope nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Hope said, but as they attempted to move, they noticed that both their feet had been frozen in place by the ice from the Diamond Dust's final spell.
"We might be in a bit of a predicament." Aqua said nervously as the Lava Titan stared directly at them, preparing to strike.
…
Lightning and Sora were staring down the Wind Titan that was glaring back at them just as angrily.
"Any ideas?" Sora asked as Lighting charged straight at the Titan. The Titan pointed its right arm at her and it became a swirling black funnel that sucked her inside. Sora sighed and charged in after her. Sora was quickly pulled into the Wind Titan's swirling insides where large chunks of debris were being batted around. He quickly started using glide to keep himself steady, cutting through any large chunks of debris. He then spotted Lightning, standing on a large pillar. He couldn't help but notice that she was moving her fingers in her left hand rather curiously and using her sword/gun hybrid to cut through any large debris with ease.
"Sora!" Lightning shouted as she moved her hand around and the debris she was riding moved closer towards him. Sora quickly climbed onto the debris.
"Do you have a magnet spell by any chance?!" Lightning asked over the winds. Sora nodded and cast Magnega towards the center of the Titan. The resulting spell caused all of the debris, including the piece they were riding, to be pulled towards the center.
"Keep it going!" Lighting shouted as she transformed her sword into its gun form. She then rammed her gun right into the center of the debris pile.
"When I tell you to, hit this thing with as powerful of a fire spell as you've got!" Lightning ordered as Sora nodded. Lightning then threw her left arm around his waist. Sora took the hint and did the same with his right arm after quickly transferring the Keyblade to his left.
"Ready…NOW!!!" Lighting pulled the trigger on her gun and Sora fired the Firaga spell, causing a massive explosion within the titan that threw them clear out of the swirling winds but straight towards the stands. Sora quickly put himself between Lightning and the ground, knowing his armor would take the brunt of the impact. Lightning however cast a Magnega spell in the opposite direction to pull at them and slow them down. The plan worked and they hit the stands in a light skid. They sat up and saw that the Wind Titan had disappeared…but only briefly as it reformed, its red eyes glaring straight at them. It then raised its hand and launched a large pillar at them. Sora quickly fired a Firaga and hit the pillar but it only slowed it down. Sora quickly rolled over on top of Lightning, pushing himself up with his hands and feet just as the pillar landed atop two of the seats, pinning them both beneath it but leaving them relatively unharmed. Sora's armor had softened the impact but had left him sandwiched between the pillar and a rather annoyed looking Lightning.
"Umm…" Sora mumbled as his armor disappeared, revealing his embarrassed expression. Lightning just stared at him with a twitchy eyed scowl. Lightning then saw something behind Sora that made her eyes widen. The Wind Titan was glaring straight at them. All four of our heroes were in perilous positions. Aqua and Hope were stuck in the molten rock while Sora and Lightning were trapped underneath a fallen pillar while both Titans stared at their opponents angrily. Hades grinned sinisterly at the sight.
"My favorite part of the game…" Hades said as the Lava Titan straightened up to belch out more magma and the Wind Titan started moving closer to Sora and Lighting, ripping up the stands as it moved.
"…Sudden Death." Hades said as he leaned back and with a wave of his hands, a cigar appeared in his hand.
"Game…set…match." Hades said with a grin as he lit the cigar with a flame on his thumb, taking a deep drag.
"DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE HADES!!!" A familiar voice echoed, causing Hades to choke on the smoke from his cigar and look up towards the sky. He recognized the voice. He then saw a white winged blur fly down from overhead and land in the center of the arena. It was Hercules and Megara on Pegasus.
"Jerk-ules!?!?" Hades exclaimed angrily before realizing something and grinned.
"You know something kid, you're too late! You can't save both at the same time! Either way, I'm going back to the underworld with at least two souls!" Hades declared with a laugh. He then heard a loud thunder clap overhead which made him flinch.
"Uh oh." He whimpered as Hercules grinned up at him.
"Oh Da-ad!" Hercules yelled up towards the sky. Almost instantly two lightning bolts flew in and struck both Titans head on, knocking them backwards. Two more flew in and shattered the molten rock and ice on Aqua and Hope's feet and completely vaporized the pillar on top of Sora and Lightning. Hades screamed in anger. The four heroes themselves were suddenly struck by lightning bolts but instead of doing damage, completely restored their strength and energy. They quickly hurried to group up with Hercules.
"Alright, let's give these guys a taste of their own medicine!" Sora exclaimed as Hercules nodded.
"Let's go!" Hercules shouted as they each charged the titans head on. The lightning bolts had also temporarily made them immune to the Titan's respective powers and they exploited this quickly. Aqua and Sora unleashed the Diamond Dust Command Style on the Lava Titan as Lightning and Hope started bashing it with their weapons. Hercules however ran up towards the dazed Wind Titan.
"Steer him over this way!" Hercules shouted as the four heroes worked together to force the Lava Titan closer to the Wind Titan. Hercules then grabbed a hold of the Wind Titan's "feet" on the ground and swung it down towards the ground so that the top of its funnel was aimed towards the Lava Titan, sucking it up inside. He then started to spin the two titans overhead before hurling it with all his might into the cosmos above where the two titans exploded in a brilliant light. Hades yelled in absolute rage at the sudden turn of events.
"FINE! You won this round Hercules! But you won't be winning the next one!" Hades yelled as the five heroes glared at him. Without warning though a bolt of lightning struck Hades's box seat and another one struck the ground below him, opening a large and deep crack in the ground that led all the way down to the underworld.
"Oh Thebes." Hades mumbled before he suddenly fell towards and into the crack, returning to the underworld before the crack closed back up and the clouds overhead magically parted.
"He's going to be pretty angry when he gets out of there." Hope said as Sora turned to him.
"You mean, if he gets out." Sora said as Hope smiled and nodded in agreement.
"If. If is good." Hope replied.
"Well I guess that's the last we'll see of Hades for a while. My father, Zeus, will see to that." Hercules said as Phil came hobbling out from the Lobby where he had been hiding until now.
"It's about time you got here Herc! I need ya to help me make sure the arena's not gonna collapse on us!" Phil ordered as Hercules sighed.
"Right Phil, talk to you guys later." Herc said as he turned and walked away after the satyr. Lightning and Hope then turned to the two Keyblade wielders.
"Why did you two throw the match?" Lightning asked bluntly, catching the two off guard.
"How did you know?" Sora asked.
"You just confessed." Lightning said as Sora blinked and then smacked his forehead.
"Hope told us that you had made a deal with Hades to rescue some friends of yours from the Underworld. We both have had bad experiences with Hades before in the past and we knew he couldn't be trusted. But we didn't know if you would believe us or just ignore us." Aqua explained.
"You're right. I doubt I would have believed you. You were right to make Hades reveal his true colors. We weren't about to kill for our friends. They would be ashamed of us if we did and I don't know if we could live with the guilt." Lightning replied.
"Yeah." Hope said as he lowered his head.
"I'm sorry you couldn't get them back. If there was anything we could do we would." Sora said as Hope smiled up at him.
"Don't worry about it. I'll come to terms with my mother's death, eventually but…I just need some time. Besides, fighting without hope is no way to live, it's just a way to die, right, Lighting?" Hope asked as Lightning nodded.
"I'm sorry for the trouble we caused you. If there's any way to make up for it-." Lightning said as Aqua and Sora both shook their heads.
"Not at all. It was an honor to have met the two of you. And I hope you both find a way to get your friends out of the underworld some day." Aqua said as Sora nodded in agreement, putting his hands behind his head.
"Yeah. Hey, who was it you were trying to rescue anyway, Lightning?" Sora asked as Lightning looked at him.
"My sister, Serah Farron." Lightning replied as Sora and Aqua both gave her startled looks.
"Serah?! You're Serah's sister?!" Sora asked as Lightning and Hope both looked at him in surprise.
"You've seen Serah? Where?!" Lightning asked.
"She lives on my homeworld, The Destiny Islands. She should be there right now!" Sora explained as Lighting stepped back a bit in shock, looking up towards the sky.
"Serah." Lightning said towards the sky before turning back towards Sora. She reached into her pocket and took his hand, placing something inside of it and closing his fingers around it.
"Here. Take this." Lightning said as Sora looked at the object. It was a small pendant with a strange symbol that looked like a square shaped jumble of black arrows and an imperfect red circle in the center. (A/N: The Pulse L'Cie mark)
"What is it?" Sora asked.
"Just a little something you can use if you ever need our help in the future." Hope said as Sora nodded and pocketed the pendant with a smile.
"Come on Hope, we better go." Lightning said as she turned away from them. Hope hurried up and joined her.
"Hey! How are you going to get there?!" Sora asked but was ignored.
Lightning threw a red rose shaped crystal into the air overhead which exploded in a beautiful red sphere of energy. The whinny of a horse was heard echoing through the winds and a massive horse flew in from above, red rose petals fluttering down from around it as it came to stop on the ground. Sora was amazed at the sight. Lightning leapt onto the beast's back and pulled Hope up to sit behind her. The horse whinnied again and reared back before leaping into the air and riding upwards until it disappeared into the sky above.
"What was that?" Sora asked as Aqua smiled and shrugged.
"Come on Sora, let's go." Aqua said as she and Sora turned towards the lobby entrance.
"So, what now?" Sora asked.
"It's up to you. You decide this time." Aqua said as Sora put his hands behind his head again.
"Do you mind if we go to Radiant Garden? I want to make sure that Riku and Kairi got there alright." Sora said as Aqua smiled and nodded. They noticed Megara approaching.
"You two leaving so soon? Wonder boy is going to wonder where you went." Meg said as Sora shrugged.
"Can you tell him we had to leave and that we said thank you for saving our lives back there?" Sora asked as Meg nodded.
"Sure. I'll let him know. Take care." Meg said as Sora and Aqua turned and summoned their Keyblade Riders and armor before shooting off into the sky.
End Chapter 13.
If you haven't figured out how the title and number of this chapter relates to Final Fantasy XIII. It's the game's number and tagline.
I'm also assuming that the armor worn by Aqua & Sora has some magical properties to it that makes it highly resilient to everything but Keyblades and protects the wearer from a number of potential dangers. That's why Sora was able to survive being smashed by the column in the chapter.