Sora once again stood before a cheering crowd, having defeated every champion that he faced. Hercules entered the arena to congratulate Sora for his victory.
"You've gotten a lot stronger than the the last time I saw you," Hercules said. "Are you ready for the last challenge?"
Sora looked at Hercules with confusion. "I won all of my matches."
"Didn't you read the flier? The champion goes up against me."
A huge grin overtook Sora's face. He had fought Hercules before, but a battle against the demi-god hero was always exciting. Sora nodded eagerly and the two moved to opposite sides of the arena.
Sora and Hercules dashed towards each other, Sora with his keyblade ready and Hercules charging a punch, only stopping at the sound of a large crash. They turned to see an entire section of the stands destroyed, Phil and the rest of the crowd barely escaping the destruction. Behind the crumbling structure stood a giant armored boar emblazoned with the Heartless emblem, a symbol Sora had seen countless times in the past.
A puff of crimson smoke appeared in the stands opposite the destruction, dissipating to show a familiar face. "Did you really think you could betray me and get away with it, Squirt?" Ares shouted, a vengeful smile gracing his face.
"Betray you?" Sora asked, his face displaying obvious bewilderment.
"You choose my goody two-shoes sister over me!" Ares shouted as he angrily shook his fists. "Now I'm going to make you regret it!"
"I knew he'd be trouble!" Phil shouted as he peaked his head out of the colosseum's entryway.
"Don't worry, Phil. I'll handle this." Hercules replied. His posture and tone shifted dramatically, displaying immense confidence and authority. "I'm afraid I must ask you and your pet to leave, Ares!"
"Stay out of this, Sport! This is between me and the traitor!" Ares responded.
"I cannot do that while the lives of innocent people are at risk. You've left me no choice." Hercules drew his sword and charged at Ares' mount, only to trip on a chain that had not been there seconds ago.
Two Shadows had appeared, each holding one end of a glowing golden chain. They nimbly moved around Hercules until the chain was wrapped around him.
"What?" Hercules said as he struggled against the chain. "I can't break free?"
"Chains strong enough to bind a god… not even you can muscle your way out of that, Sport!" Ares boasted as he chortled. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, the traitor!" Ares turned back to Sora still wearing his smug grin.
Firion and Sora dashed out of one of the coliseum entry ways with weapons in hand, having heard the crash caused by the first giant bolt. They dashed to Sora's side as he summoned his keyblade.
"That heartless… can it be?" Firion murmured.
"I knew this tournament was a bad idea!" Oswald shouted.
"Ha! You think a little backup's gonna help you? The Havoc Beast can't lose!"
"We'll see about that!" Sora said as he dashed towards the porcine Heartless, only to find it dashing towards him as well. Sora raised his Keyblade to block the charge but didn't expect the massive amount of force behind him, quickly pushing him back despite his best efforts.
Sora shifted his weight, pushing himself to the side moments before being rammed into the wall feet behind him. The Havoc Beast crashed into the wall, destroying it as easily as the stands before.
Meanwhile, Firion had approached the Heartless from behind, striking it with his sword. Unfortunately, the attack did little more then bounce off of the Havoc Beast's armor. Firion jumped backwards as it turned around, preparing for another charge.
"It's armor is too thick, we can't hurt it like this." Firion declared.
"Oh yeah?" Oswald responded. "Well how does it like this!" Oswald fired an ice crystal from his wand, but with no more success than Firion's attempt.
"Ha!" Ares chuckled amongst the otherwise empty stands. "Nobody messes with Ares, the god of war!"
"Wait… I've got an idea!" Sora prepared for another charge, nimbly dodging while grabbing onto a piece of the Havoc Beast's armor. As it crashed into the debris of an already destroyed wall, Sora flipped onto its back.
The Havoc Beast rose once more, shaking violently as it tried to remove it's rider. It charged again in a rage, but Sora, using a horn like protrusion on its helm as a steering wheel, guided it up the stands toward Ares' seat.
The result was a massive crash throwing up massive amounts of dust and debris. Ares held the sides of the Havoc Beast's helmet, standing his ground despite the immense strength used against him.
"Not me, you idiot!" he said as he threw the Heartless across the coliseum.
Sora leaped off the beast moments before it crashed through another pile of rubble. The Havoc Beast rose again, its helmet visibly cracked.
"I see," Firion said to himself. "If you can't break something, find something that can."
"Hey, Ares!" Sora shouted as he dodged another charge. "Why don't you come down here and fight me yourself?"
"Sora, what are you saying?" Oswald frantically asked. "He's a god!"
But it was too late. Ares' face displayed an immense level of rage. Not only had "Squirt" betrayed him, but now he had the gall to challenge him. "You think you're strong enough to face me?" Ares said as he leaped down, creating a crater beneath his feet. "I'm gonna make you regret those words!"
Sora dashed towards the Havoc Beast, shouting to his friends along the way. "Keep him busy, guys. I'm gonna try that again!"
"You're smarter than you look, Sora," Firion said as he calmly approached Ares with his sword in hand.
"You can't be serious…" Oswald pouted. He shook his head a bit, wondering what he had gotten himself into, before casting Thunder on Ares.
Firion and Oswald took turns drawing Ares' attention, a strategy that added to the god's rage. Ares had lost any shred of focus, lashing out at whomever was the last to anger him.
It didn't take long for Sora to mount the Havoc Beast once more, directing it towards Ares again. Ares noticed the charge in time to land a strike with his sword, shattering the Havoc Beast's armor.
Sora quickly dispatched of the Heartless, striking it with a powerful blow. A giant heart rose from it, though something about it was strange. Rather than being colored a vibrant pink, it displayed a dismal and dreary grey.
Sora, Firion, and Oswald backed away from Ares, contemplating their next move. Ares himself had only just noticed that the Havoc Beast had fell, causing him to nearly explode with fury.
"NO! It was supposed to destroy you! The masked man promised!" Ares screamed.
"Masked man?" Firion whispered to himself.
Ares panted out of rage before madly laughing. "Fine! I'll just destroy you myself!"
"I think not," a familiar feminine voice spoke. Athena appeared with a flashing light, standing between Ares and Sora.
"Get out of my way, Athena! This is between me and Squirt!"
"Oh? As I recall,you brought a champion to battle him,and that champion lost heartily,' Athena boasted. "Sora has already bested you, brother. Or would you rather face the both of us?"
"Wait… they're brother and sister?" Sora mentioned, thought the comment was largely ignored.
"Fine…" Ares said, not willing to risk a battle against both his rival and a boy who had defeated a demi-god. "But this isn't over! I won't forget this!" Ares vanished in a poof of crimson smoke.
Sora rushed to Hercules, the danger finally gone. He helped remove the chains, a feet surprisingly easy for one not bound by them.
"Thanks, Sora," Hercules said as he brushed himself off. "You never cease to amaze me."
"No problem!" Sora gleefully replied. "So, how about that final match?"
"I don't think so, unfortunately. That Heartless did a lot of damage to the coliseum, and I'm pretty sure the audience is a bit spooked."
The grin faded from Sora's face as he hunched his shoulders.
"Don't worry, Sora. As soon as the coliseum is fixed, we'll have a rematch, I promise. Besides, I think you've earned the trophy."
"Alright. I'll hold you too it!"
"I must congratulate you as well. I was right to make you my champion," Athena added.
"Thanks!" Sora said.
"Are we done now?" Oswald asked as he tapped his foot on the ground.
"Yeah, we can go soon," Sora replied.
Several minutes later, Sora had acquired his prizes as Oswald impatiently waited at the ship. "Come on, Sora! We have to get going if we're going to find Mick… er, you're friends," Oswald said.
"Right!" Sora rushed onto the ship only to realize someone was missing.
Firion remained in the arena, mumbling to himself. "A masked man… could it be him?"
"Firion, let's go!" Sora called out.
"Oh,yes." Firion entered the ship as well without saying another word.
"Shoot… I was hoping Sora forgot about him…" Oswald said under his breath.
"What was that?" Sora asked.
"Nothing, it was nothing. Let's just go." Oswald activated the engine and the gummi ship blasted off to the next adventure.
Secret Log 8
This Sora is quite remarkable. It was not long ago that I heard of his battle against Ansem, a battle Sora won handily. Unfortunately Kingdom Hearts was sealed away in the aftermath, but I already have an alternative planed.
Afterwards, the Organization tried to capture him, but the only result was the loss of several of their members. So many of my enemies have fallen to him, but that does not make him an ally. He opposes the Heartless as much as the Organization.
I learned from one of the Organization's remaining members that Sora was resting in the castle they tried to keep him in. I saw that as a grand opportunity to obtain his heart, but he was gone when I arrived.
I did find several notes left behind by the Organization, however. They depicted several plans with which they hoped to control Sora, the most interesting involving changing Sora's memories. It seems they continued with it, but I was sure there was only one among them capable of doing such a thing. Was I mistaken?