Chapter 30

The Fallacious Wanderer

The grey-skinned god watched the key kids training with the old goat. He snarled to himself when he realized that the three of them were really getting the hang of their new powers. And since when did the Princess get a Keyblade of her own? He rolled his eyes and turned to exit the coliseum, unnoticed by his enemies.

If only I had a powerful warrior under my control, Hades thought. Then I could teach those twerps a thing or two. As he crept over to the other end of the courtyard, he sighed. But where am I gonna get someone like that?

As he continued, someone passed him. Realizing this and sensing some kind of power, Hades turned to get a good look at him. The young man was slender and muscular, with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt, gray pants, pointed boots, a blue sash around his waist, blue gauntlets that left his fingers and palms exposed, a thin brown headband with a blue gem, a pair of matching earrings with gems hanging off, and two waist-length capes held by a gray strap over his chest and a golden spiked pauldron on his left shoulder. In a scabbard, he carried a red and gold sword, and he also had a dagger sheathed at his hip.

"Hmm… Powerful, talented, naïve… He's perfect," Hades muttered to himself. He cleared his throat. "Yo, kid, hey, hold on."

The young warrior turned around when the shady figure called to him. "Yeah?" he answered.

"Lemme guess. New around here? Here to join the big leagues? What's your name, kid?" Hades asked.

"It's Bartz," the young man replied. "And yeah. I'm here to train with Hercules and Philoctetes."

"Oh, well that's great, kid," the lord of the dead said with false kindness. "You just get here in preparation for the reopening Games?"

"Naw, Hercules scouted me out months ago," Bartz said. Hades raised an eyebrow at this. "I was traveling around when I met him, and I took the long way to get here. So, the Coliseum just reopened? What happened?"

"Oh, you know. Maintenance, repairs, flesh-eating horses breaking loose, stuff like that," Hades brushed that matter aside, leaving out his role in the Coliseum's destruction weeks before. "Listen, Jer—Hercules is out of town right now, but he'll be back later."

"You know Hercules?" Bartz asked, curious, his attention fully on the god.

"Know him? I've known the runt since he was born! We go way back. Heck, I even watched over him on a lot of his fights, like with that centaur creep, and the bloodthirsty Hydra. And then there's that punk with the giant key. Jeez, I was surprised when he didn't come out on top in that one."

Bartz's interest was piqued. "Punk with the giant key?" he repeated. He was worried that there was a foe that had actually defeated Hercules.

Hades smirked wickedly, though he was careful not to let Bartz notice the sinister intentions behind the smile. "Oh, yeah. That troublemaker, always butting his head where it doesn't belong. He killed a bunch of my old friends, and I think he's back in town to do some more damage."

"What?! If this guy beat Hercules and he's back for more, I've got to do something!"

"Wait, you think you can take this guy on?" Hades asked, intrigued.

"Well… I have some… unique talents," Bartz said, unable to hide a confident smirk.

Hades grinned as a plan came together. "In that case, come with me. I think I have an idea to draw him out." He led Bartz out into the city, confident in his scheme.

Kairi leapt at Sora, twisting around in midair to deliver a spinning strike, but Sora blocked her weapon and stepped to the side. Kairi twisted too far as she fell forward, and she lost her grip on her Keyblade, which dematerialized as she hit the ground. Riku slid past Sora, raising a planar shield to defend against a possible strike from above. He spun out with his feet in an attempt to sweep Sora off of his feet, but Sora jumped over him, then shoved his Keyblade straight down onto the shield while he was upside-down in midair. As the energy charging from the shield tried to force him up, Sora cast Aero, creating a wind funnel that pushed down on Riku, who was pinned to the ground. As Riku's shield dissipated, Sora applied an extra push to throw himself into the air. He twisted in midair to regain his balance and allow himself to land on his feet.

"Time!" Phil called out. He approached the trio as Riku and Kairi brought themselves to their feet. He faced Riku. "You're doing great. You have finesse, conviction. You cover your side, and make sure to leave as few openings as possible. But you rely too much on others going for the obvious move. I saw your kip-up kick back then. You let yourself get thrown back and expect your enemy to take advantage of your apparent vulnerability and leave themselves open for a counterattack. But that doesn't work when your foe won't fall for it. Sora, I'm sure, had grown wise to that trick a long time ago, so he just stepped out of the way. You need to learn to cover all your bases, expect the obvious knee-jerk move but also the smarter, more focused moves. Don't just plan for someone fighting recklessly, but also for someone who can see through those traps and respond to your strategy where it actually leaves you vulnerable. Got it?"

Riku nodded, a sheepish expression on his face. "Understood."

Phil turned to Kairi. "You focus too much on your mobility. You try to deliver quick strikes and dodge attacks, but you aren't balanced. If you don't put your weight in your hits, or ground yourself when you attack, which would be preferable given your slight frame, you'll just get tossed around like a rag doll." He pointed to a nearby barrel. "Goofy, lob that at Sora."

Goofy looked at him in confusion, but complied. He lifted the barrel and lobbed it lamely at Sora. Sora simply backhanded it without a thought, sending it out to smash against the wall.

"See what I mean?" Phil asked. "We can always work on building up your strength. But when you're facing someone bigger and stronger than you, you can't just throw yourself at them trying to strike faster than them. You use their size against them, and take advantage of the fact that you're faster than them to hit them when they're vulnerable. For now, we work on your strategy."

"Got it," Kairi agreed.

"Now then, let's start with—"

He was interrupted by the sound of terrified screaming some distance away. They heard a thunderous rumbling and wooden stalls and carts being smashed. People were in danger!

"Heartless?" Sora asked.

"No. The Heartless never went into town," Phil said. "You guys had better check it out."

Without another word, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy ran out of the coliseum and out into the town. When they entered Thebes, they were taken aback by the sight.

The threat was an enormous centaur with blue skin and fur, as well as black hair on the back of his head and a black pointed beard. The creature had enormous muscles. Behind his purple lips, he had a row of razor sharp teeth. He stood over ten feet tall and was clearly large enough to wrap his entire hand around a person's body. The centaur charged across the road and crushed a fruit stall under his weight.

"That's Nessus. He's one of the first guys Herc fought," Phil explained.

"So, I guess he's looking for some payback," Riku guessed. He and his friends summoned their weapons.

"Sora, Riku, you and I engage the target and lure him away from town. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Phil, you lead everyone to safety," Mickey ordered.

"Take him that way. It leads out to the waterfall," Phil said before he ran out with the others to guide the crowd.

Sora, Riku and Mickey positioned themselves so that they were between Nessus and the way they were supposed to guide him. The centaur was facing in the opposite direction, laughing at the panic he was spreading. Sora threw his Keyblade, hitting the centaur on his rear end. The centaur flinched and stumbled, then twisted his torso around to see who attacked him. He snarled at the three Keyblade wielders.

"Okay, now we've got his attention," Riku said dryly. "Now what?"

"We run?" Sora suggested. Nessus turned the rest of himself around so he was facing them and began to charge.

"Sounds like a plan," Mickey agreed. They turned tail and ran, the vicious centaur in hot pursuit. They ran through town as fast as they could, which happened to be roughly the same as their opponent's top speed. Within minutes, they had exited the town and were heading through the woods. Soon, they came upon a spring leading out from a waterfall. They stopped when they reached the cliff wall, and they turned around to face the centaur.

Nessus cackled, thinking he had them cornered. "So, you're the friends of that muscleheaded lard he told me about," he snapped.

"Says the pot to the kettle," Riku whispered to Sora.

"Well, I was hoping I'd get some payback against him. But how about I just crush his friends, for now?" Nessus laughed again.

Sora traded glances with Riku and Mickey. "Should we tell him that I beat Hercules in a tournament?" he asked them.

"What was that?" Nessus asked, hearing Sora's boast. He then snarled in rage and charged at the trio. He swung a haymaker at Sora, but the hero rolled out of the way and hit him in the side with his Keyblade, while Riku and Mickey similarly got out of the way. Sora ran away from the cliff face, but Nessus kicked him, sending him flying.

Riku teleported over to Sora and helped him up when he landed with a splash. Mickey jumped on the centaur's back half and hit his humanoid back with his Keyblade, but Nessus bucked, causing the mouse to lose his footing and fall off. Riku charged in and shot bolts of Dark Fire at the blue brute, but Nessus galloped out of the way. He closed the gap between him and Riku in seconds and hit him with a giant-fisted punch as soon as Riku finished casting his spell.

"Stopra!" Nessus stopped moving, his arm still raised in the air. Time had stopped for him, and while he was still in a position where he should have kept moving, the water's surface around him began to settle. Sora and Mickey turned to see Kairi, Donald and Goofy arrive. It was clear that Kairi was the one to cast the spell.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Regroup!" Kairi said. Sora and Mickey ran to join their friends, though Sora stopped to help Riku to his feet, and quickly cast Blizzard on the water around Nessus' hooves.

A few seconds after that, the spell broke, but to Nessus no time had passed at all, so he was surprised when he saw his enemies in a completely different position, as well as the fact that his back hooves were trapped in ice. He stomped with his front hooves in an effort to break the ice.

This left him vulnerable to attack, so Sora, Mickey, Donald, and Kairi hit him with Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells. Riku decided against using Dark Fire, not wanting to break the ice faster and give the centaur an opportunity to counterattack. But despite the clear physical damage that the centaur was suffering, he only got angrier, and when he finally broke his legs free, he charged at the group furiously. They escaped his path quickly.

Kairi quickly noticed that while he was incredibly fast, he had more momentum than he knew what to do with. His modus operandi seemed to be vicious assault, and he was unprepared for someone who could fight back. Remembering Phil's words, she decided that she could work with that. She ran back over to Nessus just as he was coming to a stop, and she slashed her Keyblade across his upper hind leg.

Nessus howled in pain and tried to kick at her, but she had already rolled out of the way. She noticed that he was almost as slow in turning as he was in decelerating. When he had fully turned around, Kairi broke into a run in the opposite direction, pointing a Fire spell behind her to vaporize some water to create a smoke screen, which Nessus swatted through angrily. Kairi smirked as she kept running. When the centaur drew close, she Dodge Rolled out of the way and shot a bolt of Thunder at his flank.

As Nessus slowed down to try to set his sights back on the girl, Goofy jumped onto the centaur's back and hit him on the head with his shield before putting him into a chokehold. Annoyed, Nessus twisted his head to make Goofy slide off of his back and force him to dangle from his neck. He then wrapped his fingers around the knight, pulled him off, and threw him aside.

However, this turned out to be a distraction, as Nessus found himself face-first with the blunt end of Sora's Keyblade. Enraged from the pain, the centaur punched out at him, but Sora had already jumped away and he only just grazed him.

"Sora! This way!" Kairi called, running to the waterfall. Trusting her instincts, Sora complied and followed her.

Nessus pursued. Sora and Kairi sent back Fire spells to slow him down and create smoke screens so that he would not catch up to them and also to keep him off balance to their tricks. When they were right in front of the waterfall, Kairi stopped, leading Sora to stop as well.

"Now what?" Sora asked. Kairi smiled and pointed to the charging centaur. Sora realized what she was thinking. "Got it. So, a big one? I've got the perfect trick."

They took a step back so that their legs were engulfed in the crashing water. Sora pulled Kairi close to him. They waited for Nessus to come closer, then Sora raised his Keyblade.

"Raging Storm!" Sora shouted. A twenty-foot whirlwind of fire erupted around him and Kairi. The heat caused the water falling on them to vaporize, creating an enormous steam cloud that billowed out and obscured everything for fifty feet around them. Nessus was blinded by the dense cloud, and could not see an inch in front of him. He felt an intense heat as he passed through where Sora and Kairi had been, but he did not hear the sound of bones crunching under his hooves. He had one second to realize what was wrong, before he reached the end of his charge.

Sora and Kairi heard a loud crash, and realized that their trap had worked. They cast Aero to disperse the steam cloud and expose the area previously covered. They had dashed out of the way just before the centaur had reached where they stood, immediately after the flames had started to dissipate, allowing Nessus to pass right by. Joined by Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, they crept around the wall of water and looked behind it.

Nessus lay crumpled against a severely damaged cliff wall, nasty bruises all over his body. They could not tell if he was merely unconscious, but the fact of the matter was that he would try to hurt anyone anytime soon.

"Nice going, Kairi, using his momentum against him to trick him into crashing into the rock," Sora commended.

"Glad to be of help," Kairi said in reply. "Phil's advice really helped."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that," Donald added.

"Now that we're done here, we should probably get back," Riku suggested.

"But something's bothering me," Mickey muttered, drawing everyone else's attention. "He said that someone told him about us. I wonder who that could have been…"

"Well, I have an idea," Sora mused. "But what was the point? If Herc beat this guy before he even became a true hero, why send him to fight us?"

Their musings were interrupted when they heard an unfamiliar voice from behind them.

"So, you're the 'key kid' I've heard about."

They turned around and stepped out from behind the waterfall to see who had addressed them. They saw a young man none of them had ever seen before, carrying a red and gold sword.

"Hi. Can we help you?" Sora asked.

The young man simply glared at him. "I'm not going to let you cause any more trouble around here like what you did to Hercules."

"Huh?" Sora was utterly confused. Before he could question him further, the stranger ran straight at him and swung his sword. Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and blocked the attack. The instant the young man let up to try to deliver another hit, Sora swung back, pushing him away. He stomped his foot and conjured four spheres of light around him, which spun around and exerted energy that launched his assailant away.

Sora threw his Keyblade, but the young man dodged the strike raid. Sora summoned it back to his hand and threw it at his opponent again, but the next three throws were easily dodged. The stranger turned to watch the Keyblade spin by on the last throw, his eyes briefly turning grey as he studied the weapon. The Keyblade returned to Sora's hand a second afterward.

"Nice trick," the stranger said wryly. "My turn." He held out his hand. His blue eyes turned grey again, and the shape of the Kingdom Key appeared in front of him. He grabbed out of the air a weapon that looked exactly like Sora's Keyblade, minus the keychain.

Sora's jaw dropped. "Should… Should he be able to do that?" he asked, bewildered.

Mickey was having a similar reaction. "No. No, he shouldn't," he answered. "Different Keyblades exist in different forms, but there's only one of yours and mine."

The stranger smirked and threw his new weapon directly at Sora.