I can't believe that we're finally over forty chapters... And I'm not even half-way done with the story yet!

Kairi: "Yes, folks! You can expect a lot more BotD for the next several months."

Yeah. I've got a lot of work to do. And I promise that I won't just abandon this story.

Kairi: "On that note: DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else."

And also: A Happy Early Thanksgiving to all those about to celebrate it!

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Chapter 41: Takeover

"Nice digs." Axel said, strolling around the area. His feet kicked up little bits of cloud with every step.

The home of the gods was magnificent. The buildings were beautifully made with precious materials that resembled fine marble. Some parts were gold, or encrusted with precious jewels. Instead of a floor, the ground was all cloud. It gave Mickey an uneasy feeling, like he would fall through it at any moment. It didn't seem to bother anyone else.

They stood in Zeus's throne room. The 'floor' was covered by cloud. They were surrounded by massive, shining pillars stretching into the sky. This 'room' was actually more of an open air platform overlooking the rest of the god's dwellings. No walls, just pillars. A large, golden throne marked with the crest of Olympus engraved at the top was in the back.

Zeus was a large, muscular man with orange skin. He had a faint glow surrounding his whole body. His beard was large (not long) and silver, and he had shoulder-length hair. He wore a purple robe with his very own version of the Olympus stone on the shoulder. His face was lined by years of laugh lines, and his smile was that of a reasonable, friendly man.

"Now then, my friends." He said, in a pleasing bass voice. "Let's get down to business. What can I do for you?"

"Well sir," Mickey said, "Hades is back again, we've met him once already."

"Hades?" He shook his head in irritation, and pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to ward off a headache. "What's that annoying hot-head up to now?"

"We have no idea." Axel was standing at the front gazing out at Mount Olympus's buildings. "But he has Hercules, Sora, Kairi, and Riku down at the coliseum fighting some dude."

"He's obviously just trying to keep them occupied while he does something big." Mickey continued. "So another three of our friends are searching the Underworld for Hades himself."

"I see..." Zeus thought for a few minutes, eyes closed in contemplation. "Hermes!"

A short, blue-skinned man in a toga flew in. He had wings on his sandals, and wore a helmet with wings on it as well. He wore small, circular sunglasses, and carried a small, golden harp in his hands.

"Zeus, baby, what's up?" He asked casually.

"Hermes, I need you to go to the Underworld."

"WHAT!? I-I mean, sir. I am really not cut out to handle the Underworld, I mean..."

"Relax Hermes, relax." Zeus pulled out the Olympus Stone, and Mickey wondered just how many of them there were. He flipped it like a coin, and it landed in Hermes's hand. "I need you to search for three young people down there, and give them any assistance you can. I'd send someone else, but you'd get there the fastest."

Hermes gulped, and saluted. He sped off with his winged feet and was soon out of sight.

"Your friends may need some help, and it seems only fair that we provide it after everything that boy's done for us."

"Thank you sir." Mickey said, bowing. Donald and Goofy repeated the gesture.

"Ah, don't mention it lad. Now, in the meantime would you like to..."

"MY LORD!"

Hermes was streaking back at them, going so fast he appeared a blur. "My lord! The titans have escaped! And their heading right for our GATE!"

Zeus's face was complete shock, and so were Donald and Goofy's. Mickey and Axel summoned their weapons immediately. The god of thunder stood up, face set. "Sound the alarm! Launch an immediate counter-attack! Then continue on with the task I assigned you, Hermes. GO GO GO!"

"Gone, babe!" Hermes saluted, and took off and flew over Olympus, blowing a trumpet loudly enough to wake the dead. All below them, the gods looked up in surprise, and hastily prepared for battle. Weapons were drawn and chariots readied.

Zeus stood up, and cracked his knuckles. A whole batch of inert lightning bolts were tossed up from below and landed at his feet. He scooped them up with one arm.

"We could use your help." He said.

"You've got it." Mickey said.

A short time later, the many gods were assembled at the gates of Olympus. Zeus was in their midst, Mickey, Axel, Donald, and Goofy with him. They stood silent, waiting.

Then, the ground shook briefly and stopped. It wasn't drastic, but enough to catch their attention. Then it shook again, slightly harder and, stopped. Then again, still harder. And Mickey realized that they were footsteps. Massive, approaching footsteps.

"They're here!" One of the gods shouted. Mickey and Axel ran to the front of the group, and peered through the gates down the mountain. It was a terrifying sight. Four massive figures were walking in single file toward the mountain. From what he could tell from this height, they each represented four elements.

The one in front was probably the largest. It was made entirely of dark brown rock, large chunks of it protruded from it's back and arms. It had two heads, with small, red eyes on each of them. Its massive arms could brush the ground as it walked. Its huge feet left craters with every step.

The one behind it looked like a giant humanoid skeleton made of ice. Its head was similar to a horse's. Its long snout was filled with pointed 'teeth'. Its eye sockets were dark and empty. Its glacier-sized feet feet froze to the ground every time they touched down. They broke off from it's legs, and regrew as it took it's next step.

The next one resembled a large, fat man covered in oozing lava with a cooled layer of magma covering its head and shoulders. The eyes could still be seen through that crust, as glowing pools of white-hot lava. Lava dripped off of it frequently, and it seemed to slither across the ground, leaving a burning trail behind it.

The last resembled a hundred foot tall tornado with fists. It sucked up everything around it as it tore across the ground. Glowing red eyes peered out through its depths.

And they moved among a black ocean of Heartless and Nobodies.

The Rock Titan had just reached the mountain, and was beginning to climb up when Zeus called, "CHARGE!"

The gods mounted strange animals, or climbed into chariots. Their weapons were brandished. And with an unbelievable battle cry, they charged fearlessly down the mountain at the oncoming titans.

The Battle of Mount Olympus had begun.

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The first blurred image that Nehrut saw as the world came back into focus was that of two bright green eyes framed by blonde hair. For a wild few seconds, he thought he had died and an angel had found him.

Bariss was leaning over him; She seemed supremely relieved to see he was alright.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"No talking!" Came a third voice. The two of them were hit by a brief surge of electricity. Bariss cried out in pain, and Nehrut's hatred of Larxene grew. Yuffie helped the two of them to their feet, and they glared out at the Nobody.

"That was uncalled for!" Yuffie.

Larxene only smirked. "No backtalk!"

More lightning.

So, they settled for glaring at her. Larxene put a finger to her chin in contemplation, then she smiled.

"No dirty looks!" It's easy to guess what happened next.

The three prisoners were down on the ground, clutching at burnt patches of skin. Nehrut looked up at Larxene, his face neutral. "Tell me Larxene. How is it that you're keeping this cage up around us? Just with your usual abilities?"

"Yeah..." She looked slightly perplexed. "What do you care?"

Nehrut went silent. He continued to stare at Larxene, directly into her eyes. After a minute, his hair started to swirl around his head like he was underwater. "Then I guess all you have to do is concentrate on it, right?"

"Yeah..." She looked at him, puzzled.

"Then it'd be a shame if your concentration was... broken."

Larxene suddenly looked as if she was suffering from a migraine. Beads of sweat began appearing on her forehead, and rolled down her face. Her eyes shut tight, and she lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What are you...?"

"You should have kept me unconscious." The electricity was becoming less intense. The bolts all around them weakened, and fizzled out. Larxene's concentration on them had been broken, so the cage was gone.

Nehrut's hair sat back down on his head, and he sprang to his feet. He rushed at Larxene, drawing Presul. Larxene broke free of whatever psychological hold he'd had on her, and back flipped away from the blade just before it struck her.

She landed a full ten feet away, and glared at him. "'No dirty looks!'" He quoted. Using his mind, he blasted her with that invisible force generated from his mind. She flew across the hanger and skidded to a stop, still angry.

Electricity crackled around her body, and she seemed more enraged than ever. Daggers appeared in between her fingers, four in each hand. "You're going to pay for invading my mind!" The daggers in her right hand crackled with electricity, and she hurled them at Nehrut.

He ran toward her, and swept them away with a slash of his blade. More daggers appeared from thin air in her hand, and she threw them at Bariss. She jumped over them, and drew her whip with the characteristic crack! As soon as she got within range, she lashed at her with the whip. Larxene caught the end of it with her empty right hand, though she grunted in pain.

She gave it a firm pull, and it flew out of her hand. Bariss fell to the floor, and rolled away from a strike of lightning, then the three that followed it. Yuffie entered the fray by tossing her shuriken at Larxene. She ducked under it, and when it boomeranged back, she caught it and threw it at Nehrut.

He juked around it as he closed in on her. His blade flashed, but she jumped over it and kicked him in the jaw in midair. He stumbled back, and she got more knives. She delivered a punch at his face with them in hand, but Bariss intercepted the fist with her sai.

Yuffie stepped in with her shuriken back in hand and smacked Larxene across the face with it. She staggered, and blasted the girl with lightning when she tried to attack again. The ninja flew backwards, but in her place was Nehrut.

His blade was a blue blur as he slashed at her from every direction. She did her best to evade the strikes, but most left cuts across her skin. She managed to dive backwards, and threw some of her daggers at him. They froze in midair, and then flew back at her, point first.

She let out a huge burst of lightning, destroying the projectiles, and stunning Nehrut. Then Bariss was back in the battle, her whip back in hand. It was all over the place, cutting off any escape, like her fight with Nehrut just over a week previously. Larxene backed away as fast as possible, and called electricity to her hands.

She brought them together, and discharged the energy in one massive burst at Bariss. She was too quick, though. She dropped the whip and ducked under the blast. It missed her by an inch, though a few of her hairs were scorched. She pulled out Rose Blade, and charged at her with Nehrut back at her side.

Larxene jumped at Nehrut, delivering a kick to his gut. As he staggered backwards, she prepared more knives and charged them. She swiped at Bariss's head, but she ducked under them, and got to her other side. She cut across her back with the sai.

Larxene cried out briefly in pain, and twisted around to attack her. But instead her face met with the bottom of Yuffie's boot. She fell onto her back, and before she could get up, the tip of Nehrut's blade was held at her throat. If she moved more than a centimeter, she'd be dead.

Again.

So instead of moving up or to the side, she went down. A corridor of darkness opened on the floor, and she fell right through it. Before anyone could pursue, it closed. The hanger was silent again. The three of them panted for a few minutes, and sat on the ground to catch their breath.

"Everybody alright?" Nehrut asked.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good." He stood up, and extended a hand to help Bariss to her feet. "We should go to Olympus, maybe if we move fast, we can warn them of the attack before the titans get there. Put a plan together."

Then from the doorway flew a short, blue-skinned man. "Hey!" He shouted to them. He flew right at them, and they reflexively drew their weapons. Spotting this, Hermes stopped in midair. "WOAH woah woah woah woah! I'm one of the good guys, babes. I'm with you!"

Breathing out sighs of relief, the trio put their weapons away.

"Listen, the titans are attacking Olympus. I was sent to get you, now come on! We gotta get Hercules, and get back to the mountain!"

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Mickey sprinted away from the Rock Titan's falling fist. It smashed the ground just behind him with enough force to knock him over. He got to his feet just as a Neoshadow leapt at him. He took it out with one swipe of his Keyblade, and kept running.

Things were rapidly deteriorating. The formerly glorious buildings were mostly destroyed, either burning, smashed, covered by a thick layer of ice, or just blown off the mountain altogether. Piles of rubble were strewn everywhere.

The battle had started off with the flyers charging down the mountain to keep the titans from getting up to the mountain in the first place, but they had simply been sucked up, and spit out by the Wind Titan. The Rock Titan had smashed the great gates of Olympus open with a boulder, and the titans had stomped inside with the Heartless.

Most of the Heartless had been destroyed, no match for the gods and the Keyblade. But the titans were in a class all on their own. Zeus had been right to seal them away.

But how did they get out?

Axel was now at Mickey's side, shooting fireballs at oncoming Heartless. Unfortunately, the Ice Titan, came stomping toward them, chanting, "Freeze them!" in its appropriately chilling voice. It opened its wide mouth, and a gale of icy air spewed from it.

Axel stepped in front of the king. He engulfed his arms in flame, and released it at the titan in a continuous stream. Its ice met his fire and melted. The fire continued along its path and struck the titan full in the face.

It cried out in pain or in rage, and brought its fist down on them. An inch before it flattened them, it was struck by a powerful bolt of lightning. It pulled its hand away immediately, clutching at it.

Zeus ran toward the two with Donald and Goofy. The Lava Titan wasn't far behind them. Donald was casting blizzard magic at them as they went along, but it just wasn't enough to stop it.

The five of them were trapped between two titans, and the other two were coming up from behind them. Then there was a voice from above them.

"Zeussy! I'm home!" Everyone looked up. In a flying chariot hovering above the Ice Titan's head sat Hades. Ruxik was standing next to him, looking smugly down at them.

"Capture the mouse," He said, "We can make good use of the Keyblade."

Hades lifted his hand, and gave a signal to the titans. The Ice and Lava titans opened their mouths. They were frozen in place by a blast of ice, completely immobile. The cold was numbing, but Mickey was still able to move his eyes. Hades was laughing as he gave another signal.

The Lava Titan belched hot lava. Combined with more ice from the Ice Titan, it formed a layer of rapidly cooling lava over them. The last thing the King saw before it covered his eyes were Hades and Ruxik's triumphant faces.

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Hades's chariot touched down in front of Zeus and Mickey's cooling rock prison. Pain and Panic shot out and danced around it, cheering.

Hades and Ruxik walked out. "Oh, it's a beautiful day!" Hades said. He looked at the titans. "Boys! Take care of the gods still fighting. Put 'em in chains and march 'em down to the Underworld. This is our house now!"

The titans let out some sort of victory cry, and stomped off.

"Now we wait for the others to come." Ruxik said. Suddenly, a corridor of darkness opened up behind them. Out limped Larxene, clutching a wound on her shoulder, and grimacing in pain. Ruxik walked over to her, and caught her just as she fell.

She looked up at him and said, "Sorry boys, they escaped."

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Another chapter bites the dust. Hope you liked it!

Please review!