Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 51

"Okay, so the next world we're going to is Olympus Coliseum…I wonder how Herc's doing?" Sora spoke as the group looked at the map. After having breakfast and biding Beast and the others goodbye, the four were on the move again. Goofy shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. But I sure hope he's alright." he answered. Donald and Kyrie nodded in agreement as the girl looked out the window, lost in thought as she stared.

"I hope he's okay too…especially after what happened the last time."

-Later, Underworld-

"Ugh…why did we have to come down here?" Kyrie thought as they walked through the Underworld. Already she could feel her strength being drained, and she hadn't even been here for five minutes! The boys looked around unsteadily, before looking at each other.

"Well?" Sora asked. Goofy placed his hand so that it hovered above his eyes before looking back at him.

"The coast is clear!" he answered. Sora nodded.

"No sign of the Nobodies or the Heartless… for now anyways." he sighed. Then the group spotted something strange across what resembled a lake. It was…another coliseum?

"What's that?" Donald asked as he pointed. Sora, Goofy, and Kyrie shrugged their shoulders as she squinted her eyes to see it better.

"Huh? Another coliseum? Did someone build it while the other one's out of commission." Kyrie thought as she stared. But a familiar voice spoke up from behind them, startling them as they turned.

"The Underdrome. Fiends of the Underworld once clashed there…battle after battle. But Zeus didn't like the senseless violence, so he locked the place up." Auron explained as he walked towards them. Sora cocked his head to the side in curiosity while Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie waved at the man, glad to see a familiar face.

"How did it get UN-locked?" Sora asked. The man was silent for a moment before answering. "Some fool must have broken the seal."

"What an idiot." But Auron smirked a little and began to walk away, before Sora stopped him. "Where are you going, Auron? We should catch up!"

"If you need something to do, go help your friends." He answered, inclining his head to the stairs. The others looked and spotted Hercules and Meg standing on the steps that led to Olympus Coliseum before Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to walk over. Kyrie was about to walk too, before Auron stopped her.

"I don't know why you force yourself to stay down here, but if you don't want what happened the last time to repeat itself, you better get out of here." he warned. She was silent for a moment before nodding, knowing that the man was only looking out for her.

"Like he is for Sora, Donald, and Goofy." she thought as he turned and walked away. When he disappeared, she turned and ran back to the others just as they reached Hercules and Meg.

"Hey." Hercules spoke softly. Sora and the others smiled as the couple walked towards them.

"Herc! You feeling any better?" Sora asked. Meg rolled her eyes at the question as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well…same routine. Wonderboy here thinks his hero days are over. And Phil thinks it's all in his head." she answered. Kyrie nodded in agreement. From the color of his skin, she could tell that he was far from normal.

"Gawrsh, Herc. We know you're a hero!" Goofy spoke, trying to encourage the man. But a voice spoke up, startling them.

"That's right…Blunderboy. How can you mope on a momentous day like today?" Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared from behind Kyrie, making the group turn as Hades appeared.

"The Underdrome's back, and you are gonna fill the stands. After all, your fans won't settle for anything less than a certified hero." The god spoke as he walked over, putting an arm around Hercules' shoulders.

"I mean, if you're not up to it, you could always just, I dunno, LOSE?" he continued. Kyrie growled as she took a step forward with Sora following suit.

"I bet you'd like that!" he accused, pointing his finger at the god. Hades quickly disappeared and reappeared a few feet away in a puff of smoke as he continued.

"Excuse me? Hey, I'm not a selfish guy. I'm not like those high and mighty snobs up on Olympus. I stand for the masses! And have I got a massive idea!" he quickly spun, waving his arms around. Kyrie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she watched the god give his speech.

"The games, ladies and gentlemen…are back! Yours truly, Hades, the one and only Lord of the Dead brings you the ultimate games, to celebrate the re-opening of the ultimate coliseum! We'll finally answer the age-old question:…" he paused for a moment, wiggling his eyebrows at the group before continuing.

"Who deserves the title 'Ultimate Hero'? These games are gonna settle the debate once and for all! The winner reigns supreme. Of what? You guessed it! The Hades Cup! And I assure you that the 'Great' Hercules will be there. Otherwise… you'll never see your girlfriend again." Herc moved in front of Meg as the god said this, and Kyrie gave a low growl, summoning both keyblades and taking another step forward. Hades immediately held up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa…hold it, snowflake. I don't think a pretty little thing like yourself would want to get her hands dirty." and with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sora growled as he joined her.

"Lowlife!" he shouted angrily. But all they could hear was a chuckle from Hades. "You're too kind, kid."

"If I was in Hercules' shoes, I would've knocked his head off!" Kyrie thought as she dispelled her keyblades. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Hercules looked over at where Pain and Panic were standing, signing people up for the games.

"I guess we should sign up." Sora spoke as he walked over. The others nodded as the followed after him, Kyrie walking slowly after them as she felt the Underworld drain her strength.

"Ugh…c'mon, body. Can't give up now, we've gotta help Hercules." she thought as she followed after him. Once they got to the two henchmen, Panic looked up and squeaked in alarm.

"A-ah! H-Hercules! Uh…you're signing up for the games, yes?" Panic stammered as he looked at the group. Pain growled.

"Of course they are, Panic! Didn't you hear what Lord Hades said? He said he was gonna take his girlfriend if he didn't fight." Pain scolded. The other nodded as he pulled out a clipboard and began writing their names down.

"Okay, we've got Hercules, the boy, the duck, the dog…what about you, miss?" he asked as he looked at Kyrie. The others looked as well, and Sora gasped at how pale she looked. He looked back at Pain and Panic.

"Uh, can you excuse us for a minute? We've gotta talk."

"Sure, go right ahead. The match doesn't start for another ten minutes, anyways." Sora, Donald, and Goofy were quick to drag Kyrie away as she protested. Once they got out of hearing distance from the two henchman, the three stared at her.

"Kyrie, you can't fight with us. The Underworld drains your strength, and not even the Olympus stone helped when we were here last time!" Sora exclaimed. Donald nodded.

"Yeah, we don't wanna see you get hurt. Right, Goofy?" the dog nodded.

"We're sorry, Kyrie. But like Sora and Donald said, we just don't want ya to get hurt is all." he agreed. But Kyrie shook her head stubbornly, crossing her arms as she glared at the three. They looked at each other and sighed, there was no stopping the girl when she had her mind set on something. With that they walked back over to the two henchmen and Herc, who had been watching the entire time.

"Yeah, she's fighting with us, too. So, sign us up!"

-Later-

"Alright everyone, here's the first match! Team Hercules and Sora versus Spin Strike! And… begin!" Pain called over as he raised his tiny arms, signaling the start of the fight. Currently, the group was facing off against a group of lower-classed heartless. Kyrie and Sora summoned their keyblades immediately and ran in, with Donald and Goofy right behind them. Hercules was last as he followed into the melee, punching heartless into the air with a punch strong enough to knock a grown man off his feet. But Kyrie kept a close eye on him as they fought, concerned for the man.

"Hercules is gonna get himself killed if he keeps fighting like that. He's not putting enough effort, and that can cost him." she thought as she fought, knocking heartless aside with her keyblades.

"Kyrie, heads up!" Sora called as he tossed a top-like heartless at her. She nodded as she jumped, bringing both keyblades through it, cutting it in half. It disappeared immediately as she landed, and a horn sounded.

"Match over! Winner: Team Hercules and Sora!" Panic called. The group began to cheer as they jumped up and down, Kyrie smiling as she slumped to the floor.

"Whew…that wasn't so bad, those heartless were weak." Kyrie thought as she panted, the fight having drained her some. Sora turned to the man as he stretched.

"How'd it go out there, champ?" he asked. Hercules sighed as he slumped his shoulders, looking at the others as he did so.

"I'm just not what I used to be. Sorry for dragging you down, guys." he sighed. Sora shook his head.

"Don't throw in the towel yet, Herc! We need you in the semifinals!" Donald nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well, c'mon. Let's go and see who we're up against next!" Goofy suggested. The group nodded as they followed Pain and Panic onto the boat that would ferry them across the waters of the Underworld, and soon they were in front of the chalkboard that had the matches listed.

"We're at the semifinals…" Goofy spoke as he looked at the board. Once they got to where the semifinals were listed, Donald quacked.

"Wak! Against "Bad Alert"!" he cried. Hercules raised his eyebrow.

"Are they any good?" he asked. Sora shrugged his shoulders at this.

"It sounds like they're "bad"…but we can't chicken out now!" he encouraged. Kyrie nodded in agreement as she read, before a flash of red caught her eye. Turning, she spotted Auron as he stared at them. But there was something not right…

"The look in his eyes…something's wrong. Really wrong." Kyrie thought as she stared. But he quickly pulled his gaze away from hers and walked away, leaving her a bit stumped. But her attention was quickly diverted as Panic walked up, looking up at them.

"Alright, you're next match is about to start. This way." he explained as he turned, walking towards a gondola. The group followed right behind him and got on as Pain and Panic climbed in with them. After a few minutes, they were sailing across the water and onto their next match.

Once they got into the coliseum, they got right in the arena and the match began between them and the other team, which didn't look like much. Kyrie huffed as she jumped in, knocking a bomb-like heartless away with just a stroke.

"Hmph, "Bad Alert"? They're bad all right…bad at fighting!" she thought as she swept some of them away. But halfway through the fight, she found herself wearing out, and fast!

"Ugh…damn Underworld…it's making me weak." she thought as she backed off, moving to the edge of the arena. But some of the heartless caught on and followed her, making her scowl as she tried fighting them off, but it was proving too much for her. Feeling her foot give out from under her, she collapsed, just as the heartless were closing in.

"Get down!" looking up, she spotted Hercules as he ran in, knocking them away as he stood in front of her. Sora and the others caught this too, and joined them.

"Hold on, Kyrie, Herc! We're coming!" Sora called as he knocked one of the bomb-like heartless away. After a minute or so more of this, the match was over.

"Winner: Team Hercules and Sora!" Sora grinned.

"We made it to the finals!"

Okay, well we're now at Olympus Coliseum. And...I don't have much to say today, so please, review!