AN: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, but wait no longer, because the newest chapter of Dual Keys is here at last!

[audience applause]

Yeah, sorry to keep everyone waiting all this time, but a lot of things had come up recently, including the updates for some of my other stories, along with beginning my newest story, the Spider-Man and Final Fantasy XIII crossover A Spider's Focus, which you can now find on my profile page. Oh, and one other thing, I know this might seem a little late by now, but I feel that it should still be addressed all the same. Everyone, all together now!

Everyone: Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!

Mickey: Aw, gosh. Thanks everyone. That's real swell of ya to say.

AN: Hey, you deserve it, Mickey. You just keep on keeping the magic alive for all of us, and we'll do this a thousand times over for ya.

Goofy: Gawrsh, not to change the subject but this chapter seems a bit shorter than the last one, doesn't it?

AN: Oh yeah, I'm not gonna lie, when I pictured this chapter in my head, I kinda figured that it would be longer, but I guess this length is okay too. I mean, it's not like we're at the point in the story where the chapters are usually expected to be very long or anything.

Donald: Hey, aren't there some reviews you wanted to answer?

AN: Yes, thanks for the reminder, Donald. Let's start with this review from "knightblazer85". While I do appreciate your thoughts on ideas for Sora's Unique Command Styles, I actually already have a couple of them figured out, as you will notice if you had read Keyblades of Future Past. I may take a couple of them under advisement for what his other Unique Command Styles might turn out to be later on, but for now, I'm not really focusing on making anything new for him just yet in that regard. Besides, all I really wanted to know was if you guys wanted me to have Sora at least learn his Unique Tier One Command Style, aka the first Command Style he learned in Keyblades of Future Past.

Goofy: Hey, how about this one here from "Nerdman3000", asking about how Ven still remembers what happened in Keyblades of Future Past?

AN: Yes, thank you, Goofy. I'm gonna be honest, a part of me wants to say that is was due to the crazy confusion that always follows from time travel stuff, but that would be a cheap cop out on my part. There are actually a few different reasons why he would remember all that. One reason being that he had been training with Mickey during the last few years, so he had quite a bit of time to have his memories refreshed if he did lose them. Another reason is that since the heart he received from Future Sora was inside of Sora, it would not be too unreasonable to at least assume that the memories are still there since Future Sora experienced everything as well. Or you could also say that as the journey went, the memories just formed in there like they had been there the whole time. Like I said, it's a whole thing that would take a while to explain and you could just chop it up to the nuttiness that ensues following a time travel adventure.

Ventus: How about that review left by the guest reviewer "Vakama"?

AN: Well, I gotta be honest with you dude, I think I'd rather see what happened in that adventure in full before I even think about trying to do a story on what happened there. For the moment though, I'd much rather focus on the stuff that I know the most about in the Kingdom Hearts story, ie. anything that happened from BBS and onwards.

So, if that's everything, I believe we have a new chapter to get to, and this time, I'm getting Sora to operate the manual controls. Speaking of which, you ready over there, Sora?

Sora: Ready and waiting!

AN: Alrighty, then pull the lever, Sora.

Sora: [pulls the lever and the building's fire alarm to start blaring]

AN: [hits intercom] False alarm, everyone! Just a minor bit of technical difficulties. Back to work, now!

[sounds of people scrambling back to what they were doing before are heard outside the room]

Okay, let's see...pull the lever so-and-so...something goes wrong...I comment on how we seem to really be overdoing it on one of the most well-known gags from Emperor's New Groove...disclaimer starts

I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

Chapter V

While things may not have gone as well as the team would have liked in Wonderland, they could not let that get them down for long, partly because the Gummi Ship ran on happy faces, as had been pointed out quite often now. The other reason was because Ventus needed Sora to keep his mind on his training, or at least what training they could do aboard the ship without causing any harm to the vessel that could prove problematic later on, and the boy would not be able to do that if he was too busy thinking about their previous failures. The past may be a great teacher, but dwelling on it too much can often lead one to make great mistakes or end up in deep trouble. This was a lesson that Ventus had actually learned quite a few times in the last few years of his training, and it was also a lesson that he needed to make sure that Sora learned before he learned it the hard way.

For the moment though, he needed to focus on getting Sora accustomed to using the spells he had already learned, along with getting an idea on how to learn a few other basic tricks that all Keyblade Wielders needed to know, such as the third basic spell, and the other two basic Command Styles. The latter of those two things would have to wait until they had reached their next destination, which was still several hours away, for obvious reasons. It was times like this that he thought back to all the times he had told Mickey that they should have had a training center or something installed in the Gummi Ship for these kind of scenarios, something that he intended to tell the king the minute they found him once again, but thankfully, helping Sora start to get a feel for what it would take to cast the basic lightning element spell aboard the ship without him having to actually cast the spell would not require such a thing. The only downside was that it required them to do a little more meditating, which Sora was still not really able to do all that well. The kid just could not seem to sit still for very long without feeling like he needed to do something.

Thankfully, despite any groaning and complaining the younger wielder did, they were able to help Sora start discovering the potential energy that he needed in order to cast Thunder, but just as they were about to move on to their next lesson, they were both thrown from their seats as the ship suddenly shook around them, while the sound of an explosion could be heard from somewhere outside. The minute that the room had stopped shaking so much, Ven was instantly on his feet and rushing for the nearest intercom so he could get in touch with Donald and Goofy. "Bridge, what just happened? Please tell me that you guys didn't accidentally damage the ship in a really bad way," Ven pleaded.

"We didn't do nothin'," Goofy protested, but Ven then heard sounds of someone shoving the captain of the guard aside before Donald's voice came through.

"We're under attack! All hands to battle stations," the duck mage quacked.

"Huh?! Who's attacking us," Sora gasped in shock.

"I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count," Ven replied as he shut off the intercom and raced towards the bridge, and Sora was not far behind him after that.

Upon arriving on the bridge, the two Keyblade wielders both looked out the viewport to see that sure enough, a vast swarm of ships with the Heartless insignia on them were barreling towards and around their own ship, and many of them were firing weapons. "I thought the point of flying in the Gummi Ship instead of with a Keyblade Glider was so that the Heartless wouldn't attack us," Sora said.

"I wish that was the case. They won't be attacking us as often, but they will still come after us, especially since Gummi Ships can't travel on the same pathways and speeds that a Keyblade Glider can," Ventus corrected his apprentice. He then turned to the other bridge occupants and started giving out orders. "Goofy, find us a way out of this ambush that won't take us too far of course, and make it fast! Donald, what's the ship's status?"

"Shields are holding for the moment, last I checked," Donald reported as he quickly steered the ship clear of another onslaught of attacks, most of which just grazed the wingtips of the ship. "And Chip and Dale say that we've only taken minor damage so far…"

Donald's report was cut short when the ship shook again from another nasty hit from the enemy ships, which threw Sora and Ven to the floor and Jiminy out of Sora's jacket since none of them had managed to get into secure seats like Donald and Goofy were already in. The little cricket quickly hopped to his feet and up to a control console, and then tapped the necessary controls to contact the previously mentioned chipmunks. "Hey Chip, Dale, everything still okay down there?"

"No, not at all," Chip replied. "We've got a hull breach on the rear starboard side of the ship near the engines!"

"If we don't seal it up soon, it'll cause the engine to shut down, and we'll end up spinning around in circles," Dale finished.

Ventus had to curse under his breath when he heard that, but he already had an idea of what to do, so he quickly raced over to the pilot's seat. "Donald, consider yourself relieved. I'll take the controls while you go help Chip and Dale seal that breach. We can't let ourselves get stuck out here, especially not in these conditions. Goofy, keep your eyes on our shield levels while you continue looking for a safe route out of here."

Donald and Goofy both saluted in response to Ven's orders, and when the former had left his chair, the blonde wasted no time in seating himself there as he started to steer the ship clear of any other attacks and obstacles that he could. That just left one person to ask something. "What can I do to help," Sora inquired.

"Man the weapons. The minute you have a shot, take it," Ventus ordered his apprentice.

Sora nodded in reply and quickly seated himself at the controls that he had been assigned to. There was just one small problem: Sora had no idea how to work said controls, and he was very nervous about hitting any of the buttons in front of him at the moment in case he accidentally hit something he should not. After a few more seconds of scanning through the various, flashing lights on his console and seeing no labels as to what was supposed to do what, Sora hesitantly reached out and hit a large blue button, and he soon found a targeting screen projected in front of him while the console ejected what looked like a video game controller similar to the one he used for his favorite game console. Sora smirked as he grasped said controller, because that just made things a lot easier for him.

While Sora was grinning his heart out at what he had discovered, Ven was busy gritting his teeth in frustration as he steered the ship this way and that in an effort to keep them from getting hit anymore. This was not really all that easy for him, because while he may be a good pilot on both his Keyblade Glider and the Gummi Ship, he always found himself able to do better on the former since the latter always felt a bit slower when he needed it to move in certain way fast. The fact that Sora seemed to be taking his sweet time with returning fire was not really helping things that much in his opinion, and considering the last report Goofy gave about the shield levels, he really needed his apprentice to do something to help. His moment of griping ended up causing him to fly them into a position that put the ship dead-center in a Heartless ship's line of fire, and if they took a hit from the monster when it fired on the bridge, it would not matter how strong the shields currently were, because they would not survive. Goofy and Jiminy both covered their heads in anticipation of the incoming attack, while Ventus just glared ahead at the beast, making sure that it could at least feel that he was not scared of it, but just before the monster fired, a sudden energy blast suddenly struck it, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke. A few more energy bolts later, and all the enemies that were closest to the ship were destroyed as well.

"Huh? What happened," Goofy asked.

Ventus immediately spun around to face Sora, and when he did, he saw the young Keybearer grinning widely back at him, immediately telling the blonde what had just happened. "You sure took your sweet time," Ventus playfully scolded.

"Well you could've told me sooner that the weapons controls could be operated with a videogame controller," Sora jabbed back just as playfully.

"Fair enough," Ventus shrugged as he steered the ship clear of the next wave. It was only after he had done so that he realized that he had turned directly into a meteor storm. "Ah nuts! Hang on everybody! I'm going to have to pull a hard u-turn to get us out of this!"

"No wait! The Heartless are starting to swarm behind us! Besides, if we go through here, we'll get to our destination faster," Goofy revealed.

Ventus carefully weighed his options for a minute before he finally just shrugged and continued flying into the meteor storm. "Sora, focus most of your fire on the Heartless. Don't shoot the meteors unless you think you absolutely have to. They'll act as both an extra defense for us and as a way to get rid of the Heartless faster," Ventus told the younger boy.

"Got it," Sora nodded as he returned his full attention to the targeting system while lining up the weapons for his next few shots.

What followed afterwards was probably some of the most intense flying that Ventus had ever had to try and pull off, at least in a Gummi Ship, while Sora fired anything and everything that the ship had at the Heartless and meteors that got in their way. Flying through the meteor storm was not an easy task, especially since they were constantly hearing Donald scream up at them about how he was constantly having to reseal a number of hull breaches after he had already sealed them once, but thankfully, it did allow their shields to regenerate a little more quickly, since the meteors kept the Heartless from attacking them as often or as rapidly, proving that the large space rocks were doing the job they wanted them to do perfectly. Of course, they did not really need the meteors to do all that much in the way of destroying the Heartless, as Sora managed that quite well on his own. When Goofy praised him for the excellent shooting skills that the young Keybearer was displaying, Sora simply shrugged and quickly explained that he and Riku were both really heavy gamers back on Destiny Islands.

After one last hurtle through a collection of meteors, the Gummi Ship emerged from the storm with very little damage and its destination just a short distance away. All that was left for them to deal with was the few remaining Heartless that refused to just give up despite the clear evidence of their failure to destroy them. Luckily Sora did not need much skill to deal with the last few Heartless, and the monsters were soon all wiped out, leaving them clear to bring the Gummi Ship into the orbit of the world that they had just arrived at. Looking out the viewport, the world did not seem like much to Sora, but after looking it over for a bit, it was clear that most of it was focused on what looked like a fighting arena, and that quickly got Sora a little more fired up. He only made a minor note of the large, bronze statues of two gladiators crossing swords with each other outside of the entrance before he turned to Ventus to ask about the world before them.

Ventus just smiled nostalgically for a minute before he heard Donald finally come back onto the bridge, grumbling under his breath a little about the various damages that he had to constantly repair over and over again, and he then turned to the group so that he could announce their destination. "Gentlemen, allow me to welcome you all to Olympus Coliseum," the blonde declared with a wave.

"So have you been here before, Ven," Donald asked.

"Yep. This is one of the worlds I visited on my very first journey, and I've actually come back here for special training a few times with Mickey," Ventus nodded.

"What's this world like," Sora asked.

"Well…as you can probably tell, most people of this world can typically be found at the large coliseum, hence the world's name, but mostly because this is a world where various warriors all gather to prove their strength and ability as heroes. This is usually done in a tournament typically known as simply the games, but there are some times when monsters will attack the small city outside of the coliseum and draw strong warriors into action in order to defend it. Sometimes, warriors from other worlds will also show up to compete, so some of the people here actually know at least a little bit about other worlds," Ventus explained.

"Did you ever compete in the games, Ven," Sora asked, his excitement very apparent.

"Afraid not. Somehow I always missed out on getting in every time I came here," Ven replied. "But I've got a couple of friends here who have competed in the games, and my two best friends entered once and became the champions of the games. Plus, another of my friends on this world is a great trainer of heroes, so there's a chance that if he's not busy, he can help give you a few pointers, Sora."

"Well come on then! Let's get going already," Sora cheered, and he was out the room and heading for the teleporter before anyone had even blinked.

"He sure seems excited," Goofy commented.

"Well sure he is. We might be able to compete in the games too," Donald reminded Goofy.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet you guys," Ven cautioned the two, but they did not seem to pay him any mind, because they were already racing after Sora so that they could join him down on the ground as well. "Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be something that happens quite a bit in the near future, and that it'll lead them into trouble sooner or later," Ven asked himself before he too joined his friends in the teleporter room so that they could head down to Olympus Coliseum. He just put it aside for the moment though, because honestly, he was a little excited too, both for the fact that they could possibly be able to enter the games, and because he was going to see some old friends of his again soon enough.

"Ah, just as I remember it," Ventus sighed once they had walked through the entrance of coliseum gates. "Almost seems like only yesterday that I first landed here and then ended up helping to fight off a couple swarms of Unversed."

"What're Unversed," Sora asked.

"That's a story for another time, kiddo," Ven informed Sora as they walked into the lobby, where he saw a familiar looking satyr fixing up one of the signs on the wall. Ven immediately smiled a little more at the sight of said satyr, and quickly walked up to greet him. "Hey Phil…"

"Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya," Phil interrupted before Ven could say anymore, and he then indicated a large pedestal on the other side of the room. "Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games."

The four just looked at the large pedestal for a minute until Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged a quick shrug between themselves and walked over to try and move said pedestal. Ven would have said something to convince them not to bother, knowing that it would likely be too heavy for the three to move at the moment even they pushed together, but he figured that he should let them learn this on their own. That and he just wanted to enjoy the show of the three's futile efforts trying to move it. After a few minutes of watching the three stumble over one and other for a minute while trying to move the pedestal, Ven finally let out a laugh and then turned back to Phil. "Is that how you greet all your old friends, Phil, or just the ones you haven't seen in a few years? Seriously, I finally come back and the first thing you do is try to put me, my friends, and my apprentice to work?"

"A few years? I just saw ya the other day, and since when have you had a…" Phil started to ask as he turned to face the blonde, only to pause when he finally realized who he had actually been talking to. "Hey, Ven! Long time, no see, kid," Phil exclaimed as he hopped down from his perch to exchange a quick handshake with the blonde. "And it looks like you've gone and become a true hero since I last saw ya, at least if appearances are anything to go by."

"Well, I don't know about being a true hero, but I have become a Keyblade Master," Ventus nodded. "And now, I'm training my own apprentice to become one as well while tackling an important mission."

"And I'm guessing said apprentice is one of the three pip-squeaks over there," Phil asked, earning him a small glare from Sora and Donald.

"Yeah, the boy with spiky hair," Ven nodded as he indicated Sora. "His name's Sora, and since you're a legendary trainer of heroes, I figured that you could actually lend me a quick hand while we're here to help with his training."

"I would, but I've got my hands full preparing for the games," Phil replied. "But I can at least get you guys into the training field if that would help."

"Hey, anything you can do to help would be appreciated Phil," Ven nodded.

"Wait, why not let us participate in the games," Sora asked. When he saw Phil and Ven looking at him with questioning expressions, he quickly explained, "I mean, wouldn't it help a lot more if we got to fight against strong opponents or something?"

"Forget it. The games are for heroes only," Phil denied. When everyone other than Ven gave him a look for that response, Phil knew he would have to explain his reasons. "Look kid, it's like this: heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum, and they're all really tough contenders that would eat a bunch of rookies like you for breakfast."

"Hey, who're you calling rookies? You've got heroes standing right in front of you," Donald argued.

"Yup, Sora and Ven are both real heroes chosen by the Keyblade," Goofy nodded with an encouraging pat on both Ven and Sora's shoulders, earning smiles from both Keybearers.

"And we're heroes, too," Donald added, indicating himself and Goofy.

"Ven, I'll buy, but that runt? A hero," Phil laughed.

"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters, and I've already mastered a lot of different powers that Keyblade Wielders can use," Sora told Phil, feeling more than a little insulted by the satyr's laughter.

Phil needed another minute to calm his laughter, but when he finally did he turned to the pedestal that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were trying to move earlier and pushed against it as he grunted, "Hey, if you can't even move this…you can't call yourself…a hero!" Sora just crossed his arms knowingly in response to Phil's words when the satyr finally collapsed from trying to move the heavy pedestal, but that did not stop the trainer for a second. "Okay, so it takes more than brawn, but seriously kid, Ven just said he was still training you, so I think you'll understand if I'm more than a little hesitant about letting you and your friends enter. I mean if it was Ven asking to enter, maybe, but you other three…"

"Actually, I think Sora might be onto something with his idea, Phil, so why not put us all through a few quick trials or something so that we can all prove we have what it takes to compete," Ven suggested.

Phil had to pause and think for a minute, until he finally said, "Okay, sure. I'll run you guys through a couple of gauntlets, see how well you each do, and we'll see what happens depending on the results."

"Yes," Sora cheered with Donald and Goofy, earning a small chuckle from Ven at the sight of their enthusiasm. It was pretty obvious that Phil probably was not going to let the three enter since he did not specifically say that he would if they did alright in the trial.

Phil's trial for the team was actually pretty simple; all they had to do was destroy a number of barrels as quickly as possible, and they would also get extra points for how well they did so. Goofy did a surprisingly good job, despite tripping over his own feet a few times, but that ended up proving to be more of a benefit for him since it led him to destroy at least five barrels at once, and Donald was able to make quick work of his own trial thanks to his magic. When it came to be Sora's turn, he was quick to charge in and start slashing and bashing at the large wooden targets, and he managed to destroy them all in record time, a fact that had impressed both Phil and Ven, not that the former was really planning on completely admitting that to the kid. Once Sora was done, Ven took his turn, but unlike Sora, he ended up having to smash a few different, large pots.

The minute he saw the massive pots and vases, Ven had to smile in nostalgia because it reminded him of when he first came to Olympus Coliseum and helped out one of his other friends with some training. Of course, that mostly due to the fact that this was the exact same exercise as the one they did back then, but that was beside the point. This time around, Ven was going to be able to really show off how much he had improved since that time, so before he started, he stated that he would not even need to use so much as one Command Style to achieve a high score. This had shocked Phil and his three traveling companions, because they all knew just how powerful Ven's Command Styles were, so it made sense that hearing him make such a declaration would leave them stunned. Ventus proved to be as good as his word, because the minute the Phil blew the whistle to start, Ven was off and striking, using his Keyblade and a few different other forms of close-combat moves to tear through the various pots. What came as an especially great shock to Phil was when Ven actually destroyed not one, not two, but three of the larger pots all at once with a single swing of his Keyblade, and a small shockwave seemed to destroy some of the pots around those three large ones a second later. Seeing his master breeze through such an exercise like this served to get Sora even more excited for when they picked up their training again.

Once Ventus had finished, he joined the others in returning to the lobby, where everyone was quick to praise him on his show of skills. "You really have improved, Ven," Phil nodded. "Seriously, I think you'd probably give even Herc a run for his money now."

"Thanks Phil, but I can't really take all the credit. I had a good teacher," Ventus modestly shrugged.

Phil nodded in acceptance of that, and he then turned to Sora and the others as he said, "As for the rest of you, you kids actually ain't bad. I can see Ven's done a pretty good job teaching you, kid."

"Yeah, he is a pretty cool teacher," Sora smiled in agreement. "Looks like we're all headed for the games then."

"Afraid not," Phil immediately denied, surprising all but Ventus.

"Why not," Sora asked.

"Well, if he wanted to, then sure, Ven could compete, but as for the rest of ya, two words: you guys ain't heroes," Phil stated with finality.

"Come on," Sora protested while Donald hung his head and Goofy quietly counted the number of words that Phil had actually said.

Ventus quickly patted Sora on the shoulder before the boy could protest any further and said, "Sorry Sora, but I'm afraid that it's just not in the cards for you guys yet. Maybe someday in the future. Besides, unless something happens that requires us to step up and defend this world, or until we can figure out where its Keyhole is, we should really focus more on your training."

Sora could see Ven's point, but that did little to quell his disappointment at not being able to compete in the games, so in the end, he could only nod in response to Ventus before they all moved to depart. Before he did though, Ventus looked back at Phil and asked, "Say, where is Herc right now, anyway? And have you seen Zack around lately?"

"Herc's off visiting his father at the moment so he'll probably not be back to see all of the action. Zack on the other hand…I actually haven't seen him in a long time. He just up and vanished one day while I was training Herc and we haven't seen or heard from him since," Phil admitted.

"Oh, I see," Ven nodded, feeling a little disappointed that two of his friends were not around at the moment. "Thanks anyways, Phil. I'll talk to you later. Right now, I've got an apprentice to train."

"Hey, the offer to use the coliseum's training area is still open if you want it," Phil reminded.

"Thanks, I think we'll take you up on that," Ven replied, and he quickly followed after Sora so that they could pick up where they had left off in their training.

"That guy's screwy if he thinks we're not heroes," Donald grumbled as Ven led the way to the training grounds.

"Hey to be fair, we haven't really been working together as a team for that long, and besides, for all you know, he's probably just being careful about who does and doesn't get in," Ventus defended. "Phil's been training heroes for years, and he knows better than anyone what it takes to make it as a hero and just how dangerous being one is. Plus, if he let just anyone enter just because they show a little skill and say that they're heroes, then there's a good chance that a lot of people could get hurt. People who enter the games always run a risk of getting seriously hurt in that arena at best."

"But don't you want to compete, Ven? I mean, he did say you could if you wanted to," Goofy pointed out.

"Yeah! I bet you would totally win the whole thing," Sora cheered. "And besides, we'd be there to cheer you on the whole time."

"I appreciate it, guys, but right now, we have more important things to worry about, starting with continuing your training, Sora," Ventus said, at which point, they had finally entered the practice area that Phil had opened up for them. "And it starts with expanding your magic abilities."

"Okay, so I guess now I'm going to officially learn that lightning spell, right," Sora asked.

"As a starting point," Ventus confirmed. "But after that's done, I want you to practice using that spell and the other two that you've already learned so that you can increase your magical energy. As you already know, using the spells you can already perform often can increase and strengthen your magical energies so that you can use the spells more often and so that you can use stronger spells as well. For now though, our goal is to get your energies to the point where you'll be able to use the basic level spells of most of the magic spells that are typically common amongst Keyblade Wielders. The highest point I want us to reach is the point where you can use spells like healing, wind, and maybe even time."

Sora seemed to beam with excitement at this point, but there was still something he could not help but wonder about. "Just how many different types of spells are there?"

"No one really knows the exact number of different magic types, but you should worry about the ones that are more well-known for the moment," Donald informed Sora, taking the reins of the conversation so that he could share a little of his knowledge on his field of expertise in battle. "Those eight types are fire, ice, lightning, wind, healing, time, light, and darkness."

"There are other types of magic that can be learned, but most of them are a little too advanced for you at the moment," Ventus informed Sora. "You'll just need to work your way up to them."

"Okay, sure," Sora nodded. "But how long will it take until I can learn any spells for those last two types?"

"Actually, you technically already know some light magic," Ventus revealed. "The Keyblade's power is typically wielded by a person with a strong light in their heart, and in point of fact, the Keyblade itself is a kind of light magic since it is able to destroy beings of darkness like the Heartless. There are some actual light-based spells that can be used, but it takes a great deal of time until someone has built up the magical energy to use them unless they have a vast magnitude of light in their heart and little to no darkness at all. As for dark magic, we're actually going to be avoiding that one as much as possible, at least as far as using it goes."

"How come? I mean, the Heartless and whoever they're working for are using dark magic, so why not fight fire with fire," Sora asked.

"What are you crazy? Dark magic is very dangerous," Ventus replied. "Even the simplest of dark spells can stir the darkness in your heart to a level where it could possibly consume you. Only someone who has much more experience with magic than you do, or someone who has been a Keyblade wielder for years and has the potential to be a master can properly wield dark magic without being consumed by it. The only thing that I plan to teach in regards to dark magic is the best ways to counter it. After all, you can't really beat dark magic just by swinging your Keyblade at it all the time." When Sora nodded in understanding of this, Ventus took that as his cue to continue on and inform him of what else the blonde intended to teach him for this session. "The other thing I'll want you to learn is how to use the common Tier One Command Styles."

"But I thought I already learned about that back in Wonderland," Sora pointed out.

"No, you just saw a demonstration of some Command Styles and learned the basics of how to unleash one of the common Tier One Command Styles," Ventus corrected. "Every Keyblade Wielder is able to use multiple different Command Styles, including the three common Tier One Styles: Firestorm, Thunderbolt, and Diamond Dust, which you've already learned how to use once. In addition to those three, each wielder is able to use a variety of Unique Command Styles as well, including a Tier One Command Style that only they possess."

"Unique Command Styles," Sora asked.

"That's right, and those are often much more difficult to learn the first time," Ventus nodded. "The main reason for this is because of the fact that those Command Styles are unique to just one Keyblade Wielder, at least in regards to the Tier One Unique Command Style, and it always requires a certain combination of magic and abilities before one can activate it, sometimes including the spells that are needed to activate one of the three common ones. You actually saw mine back in Wonderland when we were fighting the Red Queen's guards."

"You mean that tornado one you used," Sora asked to make sure he was remembering correctly.

"Well…kind of. That 'tornado one', as you described it, was actually a Tier Two Command Style, but we'll cover those at a later time. I was actually referring to the command style before that; the one that made me move and strike faster," Ventus explained. "That was my Unique Command Style, Fever Pitch, and I'm able to activate it by using a variety of different abilities that involve physical moves, but knowing just what those moves were and which I could use without accidentally activating one of the other three was not an easy task."

"Gawrsh, it sounds like your saying that you can't control which Command Styles can be used, Ven," Goofy observed.

"Well, that is technically true," Ventus informed everyone. "The Command Styles are actually pretty random most times, but you can control which Command Style you want to unleash by focusing on one specific type of magic at a time, as you have probably guessed based off the names of the three common Tier One Styles. Before we can do anything with the Command Styles though, we need to increase your magic abilities to the level I had mentioned a little while ago, Sora, and that will take some time."

"Well then let's get started! I can't wait until I'm able to use a Command Style again without tiring myself out or something," Sora cheered.

Ventus immediately nodded and summoned his Keyblade so that he could use it to set everything up for the training regiment he planned to use, knowing that if Sora followed it right, they would have him wielding the magic abilities he had mentioned before in no time. The Command Styles on the other hand were probably going to be a little more difficult, but then again, those always were for starting Keybearers. The blonde could still well remember how hard his friend Terra was laughing when he first tried using the Firestorm Command Style and ended up setting himself on fire by accident.

Expanding Sora's magic repertoire had taken quite a few hours, as expected, but by the time that the afternoon had rolled around, Sora's magic energy reserves were at the level that they had been aiming for, and it had been a simple matter to help Sora learn how to use the spells Thunder and Cure afterwards. He was not quite able to learn the spell Stop like they had planned, but Ven had said that it was alright since Sora had managed to learn Thunder and Cure, both of which would likely prove to be more useful in the near future than the time spell. After Sora had mastered his new level of magic skills, Ventus had him move on to mastering the three common Command Styles, and Sora was confident that he would be able to master both Firestorm and Thunderbolt in no time since he now had a handle on the Diamond Dust Command Style. At least, that was his thought going in, but his confidence started to dwindle a little not long after they had started.

In order to start off his Command Style training, Ven wanted Sora to use Diamond Dust again just prove to both of them that he could use it effectively. Things did not go so well when he did though, because just when Sora had built up the energy and started directing it into his Keyblade, the energy seemed to spark a little before it fizzled out in a small explosion that knocked the kid off his feet. Sora did not let that stop him though, as he quickly got back to his feet and tried again, but he only ended up with the same results, much to his dismay. After a third failure, Ventus figured that Sora's success from the first time was likely due to the adrenaline rush of the fight against the Trickmaster, and since he was now making a more active effort to do it without the stress of a battle, he was having a hard time remembering everything about what he needed to do in order to correctly activate a Command Style. That was not going to stop them though, as Sora proved by making another attempt, which Ven watched closely along with Donald and Goofy to see if there was anything else that could be causing the problem in case it failed again.

When Sora was thrown back by another explosion, Donald and Goofy quickly ran over to help him up again, with the former using a healing spell on Sora while the latter handed him a vial of Ether to help him recover his drained magic energy. "We'll try again after you've rested up," Ventus told Sora as he approached the trio.

"Why am I having so much trouble though? I was able to do it just fine when we were fighting the Trickmaster," Sora asked.

"Part of the reason is because you were in the middle of a battle and you didn't really have time to think on much, but there are other reasons," Ventus told the younger wielder. "You're doing everything right in terms of the basic directions you need to follow, but the one thing that's holding you back is that you're not using the Keyblade in the way that you should."

"What do you mean, Ven," Goofy asked as he helped Sora to his feet, voicing Sora's question for him as Donald finished working his magic, literally.

"You see Sora, what you're doing right now is basically just treating the Keyblade like it's just another sword, but the truth is that it's much more than that. I'm sure you've heard of how some people will say that the sword is like an extension of your body and all of that before, right?" Sora nodded in response to Ven's question, and the blonde then continued on from there. "Well, the Keyblade takes that to a new level. It's a manifestation of the power and strength of your heart, but it doesn't stop there, because as I've said, it's not just a weapon; it's your ally and partner. If you want to truly master it's power, then you need to learn how to put your trust in Kingdom Key just as you would Donald, Goofy, or me."

Sora was a bit mystified by what he had just heard Ventus say. In a strange way, it did sort of make sense that the Keyblade was acting as an ally to him, since it helped him awaken many abilities that he did not know he had before, but there was one part of Ven's speech that ended up confusing him a bit. "Kingdom Key? What's that," Sora asked.

Ventus stared at Sora for a minute, wondering how the boy could not already know something like that yet, until he slapped his forehead upon realizing that he had actually not mentioned anything about it to him before. "Can't believe I forgot to mention that part earlier," Ventus muttered to himself, and he then turned his full attention back to Sora. "As I've told you earlier, each Keyblade is unique to the person who wields it, but what I had forgotten to tell you was that each Keyblade also has its own name as a way of showing its significance. A Keyblade Wielder is able to learn the name of their own Keyblade or the ones of others by focusing on the energy of the connection between the Keyblade and the wielder. That's how I know that yours is known as Kingdom Key."

"Oh," Sora nodded.

"What's your Keyblade called, Ven," Donald asked. He may have known the name of Ven's original Keyblade, but the only one who seemed to know the name of the blonde's current Keyblade was Ventus himself and the king.

Ventus smiled for a minute before he held it up for all to see, and said, "Why don't we have Sora tell us?"

Sora was a bit nervous about that at first, but he did not want to let his master down, so he simply nodded and reached out with his senses like Ven had been teaching him to so that he could try and feel the connection between the blonde and his Keyblade. After a minute or so, Sora was not sure he would be able to say, but then, he started to pick up on something that almost felt like someone was whispering into his ear. It was only two words, but they sounded quite powerful as though they could tell Ventus' entire story just by being spoken, and he soon found himself speaking them aloud for everyone to hear. "Guardian…Wind."

When the spiky haired teen looked up to see if he was right, Ventus confirmed it with a proud smile and a short nod as he lowered the Keyblade again, eliciting gasps of awe from Donald and Goofy. "I know it may be a little hard to think of what many would consider to be your weapon as an ally, but unless you can do that, you'll have a hard time using the Command Styles, and an even harder time discovering your Unique Command Style."

While he may have nodded in understanding of this, but on the inside, he was a bit concerned. How could he start to think of his Keyblade as anything other than the strange sword that he was suddenly able to wield one day? It just did not seem all that possible, and the fact that he needed to do so in order to properly use the Command Styles was also somewhat worrying for him. "How can I learn to do that," Sora finally asked.

"Well, as much as I know you'll probably hate to hear me say this, I'd advise you to try and meditate in order to focus on your connection with the Kingdom Key," Ventus said. Sora had immediately groaned a little at the suggestion of more meditation, earning a chuckle from Ventus, Donald, and Goofy, but the blonde was not quite finished yet. "Don't think of this like when we were meditating before, but more like sitting down to have a conversation with a friend, because in the end, the Keyblade is a friend to its wielder, and a very loyal one at that, so long as the wielder's heart remains strong."

Sora nodded in acceptance of that, but before he could even so much as kneel down a smooth, yet chilling voice suddenly caught the group's attention. "Oi, who comes to the coliseum just to play around in the dirt or sit around doing nothing? Well then again, I suppose it's either that or watching a bunch of deadbeats flail around fighting monsters in the games all day, and trust me, I know a thing or two about dead. Seriously, that stubborn old goat needs to learn how to live a little and let some new talent in to show their stuff, their moves, their skills, wouldn't you boys say?"

The four immediately spun around to find a large man with grey skin and yellow eyes, dressed in a long, black robe and blue fire on his head for hair approaching them with a sly smile on his face. The minute he saw this person, Ventus immediately tensed and dropped into a battle stance so that he would be ready for a fight if necessary, and when it came to this particular individual, he was pretty sure that it would be. "Hades! What're you doing here," Ventus demanded.

"Whoa, hey, hold on there, kiddo. First things first: hey, long time, you've really grown a lot, no seriously I remember when you were the squirt of the group, how've ya been," Hades asked as he held a hand out to Ven, all the while reminding Sora of some car dealers he saw on TV as he talked. When Ven just glared at Hades, the large man dropped his hand and said, "Oh okay, I get it. You're still a little sore over what happened the last time you were here with your pals Chickenheart and the little bluebird, aren't you?"

"Their names are Terra and Aqua," Ventus snarled.

"Right, right, whatever, but look, hey, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm actually here to help you and your new friends out okay," Hades insisted.

"You want to help us," Donald asked, suspicious of Hades even without seeing Ven's reaction to him.

"Oh, right, before we go any further, introductions," Hades said as he turned to the rest of the group. "Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead, god of the Underworld, yadda-yadda, how're you doin'?" Hades paused for a moment as he looked over Sora for a minute and asked, "Say, don't I know you from somewhere, kid? I feel like I've seen you before."

"Uh…I don't think so," Sora shrugged, not noticing how Ventus seemed to tense up a little more at Hades' question.

"Eh, whatever. It'll come back to me eventually. Anyways, why I'm here," Hades shrugged off as he returned to the original topic. "Let me guess: You all want to enter the games, but only ol' Blondie here is allowed to, right? Well then, hey, get a load of this."

With a simple flick of his wrist and a puff of smoke, Hades brought a small slip into his hand and held it out for Sora and the others to see, and when they did see it, they could hardly believe their eyes. "A pass," Sora asked.

Indeed, Hades was presenting the group with a pass that would allow all four of them to enter the games if they wanted, and Ventus was already seeing a few more red flags starting to fly at the sight of it. "It's all yours," Hades said, waving for Sora to take it.

Just as the boy was about to, Ventus held a hand between the two and leveled Hades with a hard look that demanded answers. "What's your game, Hades? You wouldn't give us something like this unless it benefited you somehow, so what's the catch," Ventus asked. "And on a side note, how did you even get your hands on that in the first place?"

"Well in answer to that last question, hello, Lord of the Dead, remember? I can get a lot of things like this with a snap of my fingers," Hades pointed out. "Everything else though, there's no catch. I just want to see a real tournament for once, not a decathlon of disasters like we've had for the past few years since your pals had last competed. Besides, wouldn't you like to see your name up there with your two best friends' names on the list of past champs?" When Ventus did not give any response beyond continuing to glare evenly at Hades, the ruler of the Underworld took that to mean yes, and said, "So like I said, all yours. Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you and the little shorty over there."

With that, Hades vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the pass behind as the only indication of him ever being there, while Ven's suspicions went up just a little more at his last statement. Even as Sora retrieved the pass to look over it, the blonde could not help but wonder just what Hades would be planning to throw at them should they accept the pass and enter the games, and there was also the question of just how many people would get hurt. Then again, the games were usually well contained into the arena somehow, so there was a chance that the audience would not be in too much danger, but that still did not mean that the other competitors would not be, nor would the four of them.

"Hey Ven, did you know that guy," Goofy inquired.

"Yeah," Ventus nodded. "Aqua, Terra, and I had a couple of run-ins with Hades back in the day on our first journey, and they were not pleasant at all. I'm sure that this time is no different. He wants us to enter the games for a reason, most likely to try and destroy us if I had to guess, since he has had dealings with villains from other worlds before in an attempt to do similar things, but the real question is what that reason is."

"So does that mean we're not going to enter," Donald asked.

"No, just the opposite. If I know Hades, then he'll find some way to get us involved whether we enter the games officially or not. Sometimes the best way to beat a trap is to spring it and hope for the best," Ventus said.

"Are you sure we'd be up for it though? I mean, how much good can I do if I can't properly use the Command Styles," Sora asked.

"Come on, Sora. I thought you wanted to enter the games, and besides, you said it yourself, the experiences of a fight can be great teachers as well," Ventus lightly teased, knowing that this little lapse in confidence Sora was currently showing would pass the minute he said that.

He was proven right when Sora instantly perked up and nodded enthusiastically while he said, "Yeah, of course! So let's get in there and show them that we are heroes too by winning the games!"

The team all cheered in agreement with Sora and they were all soon racing back to the lobby so that they could show Phil the pass. They were concerned by whatever Hades had in store for them once they had entered, but for the moment, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were too excited about getting to compete in the games to really care that much, while Ventus was simply amused by their enthusiasm.

Phil was understandably shocked when the four returned and showed him the pass that would allow Sora, Donald, and Goofy to enter the games along with Ven, but he was still a little hesitant about letting the three enter even if the pass did allow them to. It was not until Ventus said that he would get the three to step out and leave him to fight alone that Phil finally agreed to let the four enter together, and while the other three did not like having to make that kind of deal, they were able to understand why Ven did. After getting any other formalities dealt with, Phil allowed the four to make a few final preparations so that they would be sure they were ready when they entered the arena, and they were soon heading in to take the tournament by storm.

What came as a surprise to the four young warriors was that they were actually fighting Heartless in the tournament, but Ventus quickly discovered that these Heartless were not real, but rather convincing and realistic imitations of the creatures. Knowing this put them all at ease, and the team quickly went to work fighting their way through the imitations of the monsters that were currently threatening the worlds. As they fought their way through, Sora and Ventus both had to give a bit of mental praise to Phil and whoever else ran the games for setting things up like this. By having competitors fight these Imitation Heartless, they would be able to avoid having anyone get hurt in fights with the more serious and stronger opponents, and they would also be able to determine which competitors would be able to really hold their own against another competitor in the tournament. An easy way of weeding out the weaker fighters so that only the best of the best were left, if you would.

Getting through the preliminaries was simple enough for the four, and the next few rounds, while slightly more difficult, were not much problem for them either, proving that they did indeed all seem to be getting stronger. It also served to leave Phil rather impressed as well, and this time, he did not hide it at all. "You're no heroes yet, but you three ain't doing bad," the satyr told Donald, Sora, and Goofy before he looked to the Keyblade Master of the group. "And Ven, you're really showing your stuff out there. I'd bet that if Aqua and Terra were here right now, they'd be bouncing off the walls in excitement at seeing you work out there."

"Yeah, I sure hope so," Ventus nodded with a fond, yet sad smile.

Sora could not help feeling curious, since this was now the second time that he had heard someone mention a guy by the name of Terra, but he knew that he needed to focus on the games so he decided to ask Ven about him later. Before anyone else could say anything else, the whole group found their attention drawn to someone who was walking past them on his way to the arena, and they could all only assume that he was another competitor in the games. As he passed, the group noticed that the man seemed to be staring at them, particularly Sora and Ventus, and the two could not help but stare back in an attempt to gauge him like he seemed to be doing with them. The man had blonde, spiky hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in a black shirt and pants, with brown boots and gloves, a grey shoulder guard on his left shoulder, and a flowing red cape. What really caught the two's attention were the metal claw on his left hand and the large sword on his back. Sora felt that these items gave him an idea of just how powerful and dangerous the man could be, but Ventus had only paid a small notice of the metal claw, as his attention was more focused on the man's large sword. The blonde was sure that he had seen a similar sword a long time ago, but he could not quite place where until it finally hit him. It was almost exactly like the sword he saw Zack using the last time he saw him, and that made Ven wonder if this mystery man knew about Zack.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat," Phil commented, drawing the group out of their moments of thought. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."

"I hope so. He's seems strong, and I'd like to see how well we do against him," Sora admitted in soft excitement.

"I hope not. I thought he seemed a little scary," Goofy moaned.

"Aw phooey. He's not that scary," Donald scoffed, but they could still see that the duck was actually trembling a little, no doubt from the chilling aura that they felt from the man as he passed.

Ventus did not say anything for a moment, but continued to stare at the blonde who had just passed them as he entered the arena and drew his sword in preparation for his fight. After watching this man for a minute as he fought, Ventus was definitely able to say that he had never seen a warrior like that before, and he eventually found he could not help but ask Phil what had now lodged its way into his mind. "Do you know who that guy is?"

"Hmm…If I remember right, I think his registration said that his name was Cloud or something," Phil replied after a moment of thought. "Why?"

"No reason," Ventus said before he returned his sights to the now-named fighter. He continued to watch Cloud's match, which ended rather quickly, Ven's interest in the man only seemed to grow, along with his wariness, until he eventually whispered, "Cloud…Just what is your reason for being here, or even…what is it that you're trying to find?"

After his match had ended, Cloud holstered his sword onto his back again and moved to stand off to the side so that he could watch the other competitors in their matches. Not that he really paid that much attention to most of them, but there was one particular group that he made sure to keep his eyes on: the group that consisted of Ventus, Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Admittedly, he was a little wary on the idea that the last two were really that much of fighters, and while Sora was certainly skilled in some ways, he was still a child from what he could see. When it came to Ventus though, Cloud could tell that his fellow blonde was definitely someone that deserved watching, because it was clear in the way that Ventus carried himself that he was a very seasoned warrior who had seen and done a great many things in his life, and it was always people like that who needed to be watched. Of course, his reasons for watching the group as a whole went a little further than just passing curiosity or studying possible opponents, and that fact was proven true when a familiar Lord of the Dead suddenly stepped up to him from the shadows.

"Hey, how's it goin' slugger," Hades greeted. "Now listen up, those two little punks are your next opponents, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take them out."

Cloud stared at Hades and the two Keybearers for a minute, almost as if he could not believe what he just heard, before he finally spoke up. "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid and a skinny guy with odd shoulder armor? Sorry, but my contract says…"

"I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract," Hades raged. "I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament, but you've gotta fight those two to get to him. Come on." Seeing Cloud's expression did not change in the slightest, Hades then added, "Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule Number Eleven: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Cloud glanced at the two Keybearers once again before he finally pushed himself off the wall and walked away, hoping to find a quieter place to mentally prepare himself for the next match, while Hades just stared after him with a tired look. "Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home," Hades muttered. "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…"

At those words, a number of low growls could be heard from the shadows behind Hades, and the god of the Underworld could only grin maliciously at the knowledge of what it was that was growling from the shadows, because no matter what happened in this next match, he would be the only one who came out as the winner.

Ventus's Journal Entry 2

Well, today's training was no picnic, and that's putting it nicely. Then again, it's not like it was any more difficult than my first day of training with him, so that's gotta count for something. Who would've thought that a friendly, cheerful guy like Mickey Mouse could be such a strict and tough teacher? When we first started, we had a quick sparring match so that he could get a read on just what I could do, both of us promising not to hold anything back, and while I was giving it my all, Mickey clearly had a lot more to give than me. Aqua had always told me that I was the fastest in our little trio of friends, and Terra had agreed with that saying that my speed was what made me tough, but compared to Mickey, I felt like I was hardly moving all that fast. Although, part of that might have had something to do with the fact that Mickey is smaller than me, but even so, now that I've actually fought against someone who's faster than I am in a fight, I'm now more determined to get stronger, and part of that means I have to start training so I can be faster as well.

Of course, even though he is the one who oversees most of my training and is my official master, Mickey isn't the only one who's been training me. Everyone else here at Disney Castle has been helping out with my training as well. For example, Minnie has been teaching me a few things about how to negotiate and handle politics, a skill that many Keyblade Wielders have needed over the years when traveling from world to world, although somehow, I don't think leaders of other worlds would typically be as understanding and open as Minnie Mouse is. Donald has been a big help as well by helping me to better improve my skills with magic, and despite his temper, and a few accidents here and there, it's proven to be a big help. Oddly enough, even Goofy has been a big help, too by teaching me how to make absolutely sure I'm prepared for just about anything, and given all the spills he's had since I've met him and in his life period, I think he might be something of a leading expert on what to do to be ready for anything.

Having so many people helping me learn and improve has been a great help, right to the point where it almost feels like I'm back on the Land of Departure with Master Eraqus, Aqua, and Terra, but that doesn't mean it's quite the same here as it was back then. I really miss them. I know that there's a chance that we can save Aqua and Terra, and I want to go out and find a way to do just that as soon as possible. I probably would too were it not for Mickey's gentle reminders that I decided to focus on finishing my training first so that I would be able to do so the right way. That doesn't stop him from helping me look into some various clues as to where Terra might be and how we can at least bring Aqua back from the Realm of Darkness though, and I really appreciate him for trying, but I think we both know that there's really only two people who can really help us save Aqua and Terra. At least, for the moment, that seems to be the case.

AN: So, hope that wasn't too disappointing for those of you who were really excited about Ven's return to Olympus Coliseum, and look at that, we get another look at what had been happening with our resident blonde, Keyblade Master with another one of his journal entries!

Ventus: I feel like putting those things on display for the world to see is a kind of breach in privacy.

AN: Hey, it's not like they're the actual entries from any journal you may have kept in the cannon story line, dude, and besides, I said I was gonna do these things, so I'm gonna do 'em.

Sora: Wait a minute, why did you suddenly decide to make me have a hard time using Command Styles when I was able to do it so well in the last chapter?

AN: I'm pretty sure I made it clear during the story why that is. Being able to do something in the heat of the moment is one thing, but doing it outside of such a thing is another. Plus, it also gave me more of a reason for Ventus to mention the whole thing about the names of different Keyblades, and finally reveal the name of Ven's new Keyblade while I was at it.

Donald: But why didn't you show us in any of the fights during the games?

AN: Come on, dude, be honest. Do you really think anyone would really care to read about something that's really just the same fights from the game just with Ventus joining in on the action? And besides, it's really not that different from a lot of fights you guys would be getting into on a normal basis on all of the other worlds when it comes to Heartless swarms, so why put that in here when we're already going to see a lot of it later on?

Goofy: He's got a point there Donald.

Donald: Aw phooey. I think it would've been better if we saw a few more fights in there.

AN: Well speaking of things that nearly or did not end up in the chapter, I actually have a confession to make. When I was planning out the story, a part of me actually thought of having Ven and Phil do a duet-style alternate version of "One Last Hope" from Hercules, while they were training Sora, but that did not really quite make it to the final cut, and after a while, it just couldn't seem to really fit into the story all that well.

Ventus: I can't really see myself singing that song while training Sora if I'm being totally honest here.

AN: Yeah, that's another reason why it didn't make the final cut. Anyways, the next chapter is going to be the big fight against the Final Fantasy VII iconic hero, Cloud Strife, and let's not forget about what Hades will...oh, wait, why am I saying this now? I should be letting you guys read stuff like that after I say Onto the Preview!...

The finals of the games kick off in a match between our heroes and Cloud. After a short time, Ventus determines to fight Cloud on his own, and the two agree to hold nothing back as they engage each other, leaving Sora and the others in awe at the level of power and strength that are soon displayed before them. When the fight finally begins to reach a close, however, Hades makes his move, and it'll take more than what Sora, Ventus, Donald, and Goofy have to get out of this one; it's going to take the strength of a true hero as well. See if the team survives what's coming for them, next time.

Looks like things are about to get really interesting at the Coliseum, huh? To find out more, tune in next time. Same Keyblade Channel, same Keyblade Time, or to put it another way...

Please read and review, and see ya real soon!