Sora and Aqua were flying through the blackness of space, side by side on their Keyblade Riders when Aqua noticed Sora suddenly started speeding up ahead of her.
"Come on slow poke! The Arena's this way!" Sora said tauntingly.
"Yeah right! It's this way you spiky haired turtle!" Aqua replied with a laugh as she sped ahead of him.
"Nuh-uh! It's this way!" Sora remarked as he again pulled ahead.
"Oh give me a break Ven!" Aqua replied causing Sora to pause midflight. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. He then noticed Aqua was in front of him, but completely turned towards him on her Keyblade Rider.
"Sora are you alright?" he heard Aqua ask curiously.
"Did…did you just call me Ven?" Sora asked.
"What? No. Why would I do that?" Aqua asked as Sora shook his head real hard.
"I dunno. Weren't we just racing towards the arena just now?" Sora asked.
"Well we are in a hurry after all." Aqua replied.
"No-no, I mean race as in last-one-there-is-a-rotten-egg kind of race." Sora replied as Aqua shook her head slowly.
"Are you feeling alright Sora?" Aqua asked as Sora placed a hand on his helmeted head.
"It's just so strange. I feel like we were racing each other just now but at the same time I know that we weren't. Like a dream…yet…not a dream. It was so vivid." Sora said as Aqua pondered. Sora then thought of something.
"Did…did you and Ven ever race to the arena?" Sora asked as Aqua looked up at him surprised.
"You know, we did on numerous occasions to practice. Terra would usually follow behind us. Sora I think you might have accidently experienced one of Ven's memories." Aqua said as Sora stood stunned.
"One of his memories?" he asked as Aqua nodded.
"Come on, we should talk about this once we have some solid ground under our feet." Aqua said as she turned and they started flying off again. Soon Mirage Arena was in sight.
"Alright! We're almost there!" Aqua said. Suddenly bolts of energy flew in from behind them.
"What in the?" Sora yelped as they quickly started dodging the bolts being fired from several small gummy ships that Sora recognized as belonging to both the Heartless and the Nobodies.
"What kind of weapons do we have?" Sora asked as Aqua turned and pointed at the attacking gummy ships. Almost instantly a Thundaga bolt flew from her hand and struck one of the attacking gummy ships, causing it to explode.
"That oughta do it!" Sora yelled as he turned to fire a Thundaga bolt of his own but as he did he froze at what he saw behind them.
"Uh, Aqua!" Sora shouted causing Aqua to look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw a massive sailing vessel shaped gummy ship with an carving of Emperor Mateus on the bow flying straight at them with a sea of Heartless and Nobody gummy ships all around it.
"Make for the arena! Don't stop!" Aqua shouted as they sped up. A wall of gummy ships proceeded to warp into place between them and the world barrier to the Arena and the two Keyblade wielders but they didn't seem deterred.
"Blast 'em Sora!" Aqua shouted as she fired multiple Thundaga bolts at the wall of gummy ships as Sora did the same. The blasts created a hole in the wall but it was too small for the Keyblade Riders to fit through.
"Sora! Dismiss the Rider and aim for the hole!" Aqua shouted. Sora didn't even argue, he immediately dismissed the Keyblade Rider and rode the remaining momentum through the hole along with Aqua. They passed through the wall and then proceeded to crash through the world barrier, landing hard on their faces on a cold metal floor.
"Ugh, that was new." Aqua grumbled as she and Sora rolled onto their backs, dismissing their helmets.
"Yeah, I don't think I want to do that again, Master." Sora said as they both caught their breath.
"At least we made it." Aqua said with a sigh.
"I wouldn't consider that a blessing quite yet." An unfamiliar man's voice said from nearby. They both craned their necks backwards to see two people behind them. They both leapt to their feet, not dismissing their armor, and looked at the two curiously.
The first was a semi-muscular man with black and blue armor with a blue cape. He had silver hair covered by a blue, orange and white bandana. He was also carrying an alarming assortment of weapons, a sword, an axe, a bow, a staff, a dagger, and a lance.
Standing next to him was a petite young blond haired woman wearing a sleeveless red dress with floral patterns and two long red gloves with a pale pink cape. Her legs were covered by patterned white tights, and she wore pointed red and gold boots. At her side was a thin sheath for a sword.
"What's going on here?" Aqua asked confused.
"I would say welcome to Mirage Arena, but then again, you really are going to wish you hadn't gotten caught here." The man said as Sora scratched his head.
"Why were those guys chasing us?" Sora asked.
"They're there to make sure that we don't escape." The girl replied with a heavy sigh.
"You mean we're trapped here?" Aqua asked as the man nodded.
"Afraid so." The man replied with a frustrated sigh. The girl then cleared her throat, catching the man's attention.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." The girl said as the man smiled slightly.
"The name's Firion." The man said.
"And I'm Terra Branford." The girl greeted with a polite curtsy.
"Terra?" Sora and Aqua both asked in unison, giving her a strange look.
"We just call her Tina really." Firion (Final Fantasy II) said.
"Yeah, apparently people just don't remember the name Terra. I don't know why." Terra/Tina (Final Fantasy VI) said with a shrug as Firion mumbled something about a "translation issue."
"Not everyone. We're actually trying to help a friend of ours named Terra…only our Terra's a guy." Sora said as Tina giggled slightly.
"I'm pretty sure that we're not the same Terra." Tina replied.
"Yeah, you definitely aren't the same Terra." Sora chuckled.
"I think it's our turn to introduce ourselves. I'm Aqua, and this is my apprentice, Sora." Aqua introduced.
"Pleasure. Too bad we couldn't meet under better circumstances." Firion said as Sora looked around. The area they were in was on a large round disc suspended in space with a pair of large rotating rings surrounding it on two individual axis. Along the opposite edge of the disc was a large computer terminal with a multitude of glowing blue screens hovering in the air along the opposite "wall." In the center of the disc was a slightly sunken area beneath a massive glowing white sphere. (A/N: For visual reference, check the KH Wiki page under Mirage Arena.)
"So is it just the two of you here?" Aqua asked as the two looked at each other.
"No, there are two other people here besides us." Firion replied.
"We all got trapped here at the same time and we've been forced to constantly fight in the Emperor's tournament." Tina added. Aqua and Sora paused.
"Wait, did you say Emperor?" Sora asked.
"Weird snobby guy with too much face makeup and wearing a gold bodysuit with matching staff?" Aqua asked as Firion sighed.
"That's the guy. Emperor Mateus. He's taken over this world. We've been trying to stop him but from here, we can't do much." Firion said as Tina nodded sadly.
"Great. We've fallen into a trap." Sora said as he face palmed.
"But where are the other two people you said you arrived with?" Aqua asked.
"They're in a fight right now. We don't know if they'll ever come back." Tina replied. However as soon as she said that a loud klaxon blared and a beam of light appeared in the sunken area of the platform, revealing a kneeling figure holding a large sword wrapped in white bandages. Sora recognized him instantly.
"Cloud! It's you!" Sora exclaimed as the man looked up. Sure enough it was the former SOLDIER.
"Sora? What are you doing here?" Cloud asked as he breathed heavily, catching his breath.
"We got trapped here, just like you." Sora replied as Cloud arched an eyebrow.
"We?" he asked as Aqua approached.
"This is Aqua, my master." Sora replied as Aqua helped him up.
"I see. I wish it were under better circumstances though." Cloud said as everyone gave an extra nod of agreement.
"Yeah." Sora said semi-despairingly.
"Hey wait a minute; didn't you two say there was a fourth person? Where is he?" Aqua asked as Firion and Tina looked at each other.
"Well, he's not so much of a person as he is some kinda weird creature." Firion said as Tina blushed with little hearts in her eyes.
"He looks so cute, just like a moogle." Tina gushed.
"O-kay…so where is he?" Aqua asked. Cloud shrugged in response and moved to place his bandage wrapped buster sword onto his back.
"He was with me a moment ag- (Chomp)…-found him." Cloud said as he pulled the sword back around to in front of him, revealing a very familiar blue furred alien experiment holding onto Cloud's sword by its teeth.
"Stitch!-" "626!-" "-It's you!" Sora and Aqua said in unison before looking at each other curiously.
"You know him? No way!" They said in unison to each other before Stitch/626 let go and dropped to the floor and looked at the two in silent disbelief.
"Um, guys?" Tina asked.
"H-h-Hiiii." Stitch/626 said as the two looked down at him.
"Stitch, you remember me don't you?" Sora asked as Stitch nodded quickly before hopping onto Sora's chest, knocking him over in the process, and then licking his face with his distinct green slobber.
"Hey, what about me? You remember me, don't you, 626?" Aqua asked as Stitch looked up at her curiously.
"My name, Stitch." Stitch replied causing Aqua to pause in confusion.
"Stitch? Oh I guess, maybe you aren't the same guy. Though you do look a lot like him." Aqua said as Sora climbed to his feet.
"How similar are we talking?" Sora asked as Stitch leapt onto his back, peeking over Sora's shoulder at Aqua.
"Well, the only differences between, Stitch and 626 are that 626 had a pair of antennae, some strange spines on his back, and an extra set of arms. Stitch doesn't appear to have those." Aqua explained as Sora looked at Stitch curiously.
"Well, regardless, Stitch here's been a great deal of help to us. He's practically indestructible." Firion said as Tina nodded.
"And he's still so cute and fluffy!" Tina added as Sora chuckled.
"Yeah that's Stitch alright." Sora said as Stitch crawled around onto Sora's chest plate and looked at Aqua curiously before hopping down onto the floor. Aqua looked at him curiously before suddenly; Stitch instantly sprouted a pair of antennae, four strange spines on his back, and an extra set of arms. In the extra hands was a pair of yellow and orange guns of some sort.
"Wha-! 626! It really is you!" Aqua exclaimed as Stitch laughed and leapt into her arms. Sora then made the time out signal.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, time out! How do you know him exactly?" Sora asked, Aqua was about to explain when the light on the platform dimmed and the glowing white orb, floating in the center of the platform became filled with a dense, swirling, black fog.
"Uh-oh." Tina said worriedly as she tugged at her hair slightly.
"Here we go again." Firion said as he scowled at the orb. Cloud said nothing but he hefted his sword onto his shoulder.
"What's happening?" Sora asked as he and Aqua summoned their Keyblades. Stitch hopped off of Aqua and growled at the giant orb before an image of a familiar foe appeared within the orb.
"Ah, so you've finally come." Emperor Mateus said with a sneer as his voice echoed through the area.
"What do you want this time Emperor?" Firion asked angrily, fingering the sword at his side.
"Why, simply to welcome the newcomers, of course." Mateus said as Aqua and Sora both scowled up at him.
"We're not interested in your games, Mateus! We're not here for your amusement!" Aqua yelled at him.
"Be that as it may, you have no choice in the matter. You will participate in the games, regardless of your feelings on the matter." Mateus said before turning to the other four.
"Don't assume that I've forgotten about the rest of you worms. From this point on, you four shall be serving as the assistants to these two. Consider yourselves as involuntary summons of a sort." Mateus said, earning dark glares from the three.
"You can't hold us all forever, Emperor! We will get out eventually!" Firion snarled angrily up at the Emperor.
"Such spirit. I hope it serves you well. I've got a special surprise for the two of you though." Mateus said, looking square at Cloud and Tina.
"We're not afraid of whatever you send at us." Tina said bravely. Mateus smirked sinisterly at that.
"Oh?" he asked as his image faded out but the cloudy fog inside the sphere remained.
"Come back you coward! Come back and fight me!" Firion shouted before a high pitched voice started mocking…
"Aunty Em! Aunty Em! Please come back!" the voice said before Kefka appeared inside the sphere, causing Tina to start trembling and step back in shock before Kefka continued in his usual way, "Well hello there, my dear. It's most certainly been a long time since we've last seen one another. Did you miss me?"
"You!" Tina shouted in a mixture of anger and fear.
"You DO remember me! How delightful! Oh we are going to have so much fun together! It'll be just like old TIMES!" Kefka rejoiced.
"This, is why I don't like clowns." Sora muttered under his breath.
"Says the kid wearing clown shoes." Aqua muttered in response.
"You'll keep away from her, clown!" Cloud said with a hand on his sword.
"Why so serious? We haven't even started having fun yet! Oh! There's also someone here who wants to say hello to you Mister Chocobo-head!" Kefka said before his image slid away and was slowly replaced with an image of someone both Cloud and Sora recognized…
"Good to see you…Cloud." Sephiroth said with a smile.
"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud yelled as he raised his sword in anger.
"I've been looking forward to being able to deal with you in person. Too bad all I have to look forward to is a bunch of ignorant fools." Sephiroth said as Cloud growled.
"Then come and say it to my face!" Cloud yelled angrily.
"Gladly, but it will have to wait. I've got a deal to uphold first." Sephiroth said as he turned to look squarely at Sora.
"What kind of deal have you made, Sephiroth!" Firion asked as Sephiroth looked at the weapon master.
"You'll see, soon enough." Sephiroth said before vanishing into the foggy sphere and disappearing, only to be replaced by Judge Gabranth.
"The next rounds will begin soon. Make your final preparations." Gabranth said before disappearing into the fog. The fog then vanished and the room brightened up again.
"(Shudder), whoa, that Sephiroth guy sends chills down my spine." Aqua said as she scratched the back of her head nervously.
"You and me both." Firion said.
"Who was the clown guy?" Sora asked.
"Kefka Palazzo, an old friend of Tina's." Cloud said as Tina glared at him.
"He is no friend! He's an insane monster who wants to use my powers to destroy!" Tina replied.
"Why?" Sora asked.
"She said he was insane. I think that about sums it up." Aqua said with a shrug.
"Tina's a special case. She's got a boatload of magical power that she can hardly control. Kefka devised a way to take control of her and use her powers for his evil schemes. Unlike the Emperor, who wants to rule the worlds, Kefka wants to destroy them all. We don't pretend to understand why." Firion explained.
"So what do we do now?" Sora asked curiously.
"We get ready. Any second now, the Emperor is going to instantly teleport-…" Firion said but unfortunately Sora and Aqua had both unexpectedly vanished in a flash of light before he could finish.
"It looks like they're on their own now." Cloud said, looking upwards towards the orb.
"I hope they make it." Tina said as Cloud nodded in agreement. Without warning, the four of them vanished in flashes of light, leaving the entire space, empty.
End Chapter 25.
I do not own Firion, Terra "Tina" Branford, Cloud Strife, or Stitch/626. They are all owned by Square Enix and Disney respectively.