Chapter 136
The Phil Cup
The arena was filled with the resounding din of excited Thebans who eagerly anticipated the events of the tournament. It was the first real tournament since the coliseum was rebuilt. The Underdrome tournaments were engaging, once it had been made possible for them to observe, especially the one in which Hercules regained his confidence and strength, but the atmosphere was disconcerting, given the fact that they took place in the land of the dead. Now that the entertainment was back on their home turf, the Thebans could enjoy it properly.
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey, Kairi, Aqua, and Bartz convened in the enclosed plaza, sizing up the competition. They counted only a handful of sets of participants, not enough to fill twenty slots on the roster. Evidently, the rest would be comprised of Heartless, although there might be some Nobodies. Thinking back on it, Sora did not remember fighting any human opponents in his first Phil Cup, only Heartless, although that gradually changed in subsequent tournaments. He had seen some human groups when watching the other matches, but, if he recalled correctly, they had lost to the Red Armor pieces.
"Tournament day, huh? Pretty exciting, right?" Bartz remarked. Everyone else nodded and expressed their agreement.
"I wonder what Heartless they'll bring in to fill out the roster?" Goofy mused.
"It's the start of the season, so they probably won't have any Behemoths or Titans," Donald remarked.
"And something tells me they don't want to bring any giant-sized monsters into the arena at this point," a nearby competitor added. He was met with glares from everyone nearby, causing him to gulp nervously. "Too soon?" His friend slapped him on the back of the head.
A horn sounded, echoing around the plaza. Sora, Donald and Goofy remembered hearing it blow at the beginning of each Coliseum tournament during their previous visits. "Sounds like it's starting," Sora said, informing his friends who were not as informed.
"Phil did say to head in when we heard the horn," Kairi recalled. As she spoke, the other competitors began to file into the building, passing through the vestibule to enter the arena.
"Good luck," Riku said to his friends.
"May the best team win," Goofy added.
They all filed into the arena, gathering in front of the front wall. When they appeared, the audience cheered for everyone present.
"Alright, today's the big day!" Phil announced, quieting the crowd. "This year's tournament season properly begins with the Phil Cup. These wannabe heroes think they have what it takes to win the trophy. Well, I'm willing to see them try. Do you think they have the chops to go the distance?" The crowd broke out into another round of cheers. "Okay, then. Let's get this party started!"
In the first round, a trio of swordsmen faced off against a group of Heartless consisting of two Hammer Frames and four Soldiers, coming out on top. The next round had two spear-wielding warriors fighting three Flame Cores. Mickey and Aqua were shocked to see that the creatures, which had previously only been seen in the Realm of Darkness, were in the Realm of Light. Ultimately, the warriors put up a good fight, but they were defeated. The Heartless were hit with a Stopga spell, wrapped up in golden nets, and dragged off by the coliseum's staff before they could consume their opponents' hearts. The warriors were given Potions and escorted out.
In the next round, Sora, Donald and Goofy were matched up against two Large Bodies and three Crimson Jazz Heartless. Sora groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not want to have to put up with one Crimson Jazz, let alone three of them. He scowled as he heard Riku laughing at his expense. When Phil said "Go!" Sora leapt high into the air and cast Magnet. The floating red Heartless were pulled into the vortex while the Large Bodies remained on the ground, where Donald and Goofy defeated them. With the Crimson Jazz Heartless trapped and disoriented as they spun around in the Magnet spell, Sora delivered several wide slashes to each of them. To remain airborne, he occasionally grabbed a Jazz by the foot for leverage to throw himself up above them before he resumed his onslaught. Donald sometimes cast a Blizzard or Thunder spell to help Sora eliminate them before the Magnet spell wore off, but for the most part he cast Fire spells at one of the Large Bodies until it had been destroyed. Goofy, meanwhile, ran around the other Large Body and attacked it from behind. When it was enraged, it spun around and swatted him with its arm, but he got back up and jumped aside before it could charge at him. Once it had run past and stopped itself, he jumped back into place behind it and resumed his attack until it too was no more. As the Magnet spell began to fade, Sora cast Aerora, followed immediately by Agua, and smothered the Crimson Jazz Heartless in a cyclone. This final attack did them in, and all three of the Heartless dissolved. Sora dropped back down to the ground and made a three-point landing. The audience cheered, and their friends applauded as well.
Riku and Mickey matched up against two Lance Soldiers, four Armored Knights, and a Zip Slasher. Mickey used his size and speed to dodge the Heartless' sword slashes and retaliate with strikes to their backs and legs. Riku locked blades with the Zip Slasher, raised a barrier to block a Lance Soldier as its lance tried to stab him from behind. He pushed the Zip Slasher back and followed up with a quick series of slices, then sent it tumbling backward into an Armored Knight with a Blizzaga spell. Mickey cut down an Armored Knight, then cast three Pearl spells at a Lance Soldier. Riku jumped up and, riding the wind carved by the Heartless' sword swings, threw himself through the group of enemies, carving his Keyblade through them as he passed by. Bending the wind around him with low-level Aero magic, he stopped in midair and launched himself through the Heartless throng four more times, making sure to hit the Zip Slasher with each pass. When he finished, two of the Armored Knights and one of the Lance Soldiers were no more. The Zip Slasher rushed him, but he warped behind it just as it reached his position and blasted it with a barrage of Dark Fire bursts, then cut straight through it, momentarily vanishing before reappearing in front of the Heartless. It exploded into dark smoke when it had time to register that it had been dealt a mortal blow. At the same time, Mickey grabbed the remaining Lance Soldier's lance and jerked it around, causing it to panic and fly around with him until it impaled and destroyed the last Armored Knight and the Lance Soldier, dissolving along with its wielder.
Kairi, Aqua and Bartz found themselves fighting a pack of Nobodies, consisting of five Dusks and two Assassins. Bartz watched as the Assassins dove into the ground and mimicked the ability, jumping and performing a swan dive straight through the floor. He swam around, slashing at the Assassins with his sword as he passed by them. Kairi and Aqua fought the Dusks, nimbly slipping behind them to confuse them and attacking swiftly. The Assassins leapt into the air to escape Bartz, so he jumped back out as well, taking a deep breath as soon as his head was aboveground. One of the Assassins landed on its feet, stared him down (at least that is what he imagined it doing, since it did not appear to have eyes), then ran toward him. Seeing this, Kairi shouted a warning: "Look out! It's gonna explode!" Bartz nodded. He closed the distance and jumped, grabbing the Nobody by the arm and yanking it into the air. He spun around, swinging it along, then threw it at the other Assassin. The Nobody projectile exploded on impact, blasting the target to bits as well. Bartz landed and helped Kairi and Aqua finish off the Dusks.
The rest of the competitors clashed, and the first wave of matches came to an end. The second wave began with Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting the first swordsman trio. Sora matched his opponent almost blow-for-blow, taking a few hits but striking back in kind. Goofy blocked each of his foe's attacks with his shield, then pushed back, throwing him off balance, and overpowered him. Donald was less well-equipped to deal with a swordsman at close range, so he resolved to stun the man with Blizzard, Aero, and Gravity spells, then close in and hit him with his staff and fists while he was trying to regain his bearings. He was eventually able to hit him hard enough to make him drop his sword, after which he tackled him and whale on him until he cried uncle. The tried-and-true trio won, eliciting cheers and applause from the audience. Their opponents took their defeat in stride, relishing the chance to have faced them in the Coliseum.
The tournament went on. The party's three teams made it to the semifinals, winning each fight against Heartless, Nobodies, a mix of both, and human warriors. They all cheered each other on, congratulating each other for each match won. In the semifinals, Sora, Donald and Goofy clashed with two Flame Cores, two Water Cores, and an Earth Core. Sora and Donald used magic to fight the Flame and Water Cores while Goofy fought the Earth Core. At one point in the fight, Sora pulled the Flame and Water Cores in with Magnet, conjured a ring of Blizzard crystals, then spun around in midair with his Keyblade outstretched, directing the crystals to revolve around him at high speed, passing through the Heartless. A cold mist of microscopic ice crystals burst around them all as the Heartless were frozen solid. Sora dropped to the ground as his attack ended, leaving the Heartless floating in the diamond dust cloud. Donald cast a spell that generated miniature meteorites that rained onto the Heartless, shattering them on impact. Sora joined Goofy in fighting the Earth Core, standing on the opposite side from Goofy so that whichever way it would turn, one of them would be hitting its vulnerable face. Donald assisted with Blizzard magic, and when it buried its face in the ground and prepared to throw its spiky rear at Sora, he cast Zero Gravity to lift it into the air, leaving it helpless and allowing Sora and Goofy to finish it off.
Phil waited for the cheering to die down after the match was won and the team had rejoined the other competitors before speaking. "Well, these guys have all done well to get this far. But now, they won't be fighting strangers and monsters. They'll be fighting their friends. Because in the next round, the last match before the final, we have Riku and Mickey up against Kairi, Aqua, and Bartz!"
The crowd cheered again. Sora, Donald and Goofy wished their friends luck. Sora and Donald quietly placed bets on who would win (Donald immediately sided with King Mickey, making Sora's choice easier). Riku and Mickey took their places on the vestibule end of the stage while Kairi, Aqua and Bartz stood on the hypogeum side. They all summoned their weapons, save for Bartz, who drew his sword from its scabbard.
"Don't hold back just because I'm fresh," Bartz said.
"Funny. We were going to give you a fair fight," Riku retorted. Kairi giggled.
"Ready? And… begin!" Phil called out, signaling the start of the match.
The five warriors charged toward each other. Riku and Aqua clashed, locking blades together before jumping back and flinging spells at one another. Mickey jumped around, dodging and blocking Kairi and Bartz's attacks. Bartz copied his jumps and hopped around after him to cut off his evasive tactics as Kairi started casting Aero and Fire in conjunction with her slashes. Aqua fired a Shotlock at Riku, sending a few blasts in Mickey's direction, but Riku blocked most of them with a Dark Barrier. Mickey shot a Pearl spell at Kairi, but Bartz copied Riku's abilities and warped between them, raising a Dark Barrier of his own to block the spell. Mickey then jumped over the barrier and performed a pitch-axis spinning attack on both Bartz and Kairi.
Riku cast Dark Fire bolts at Aqua, but she cast Barrier. He closed in on her as the barrier fell. She cartwheeled out of the way of his first strike, then parried the second one. She jumped back and cast numerous Blizzard spells at him, some of them connecting while others were blocked or avoided. After she charged up sufficiently, she began to glow with a blue-white aura. Icy steam rose off of her body. Frost formed on her arms, legs, and neck, although she did not seem to be adversely affected by it. Snowflakes swirled around her Keyblade. Having entered the Diamond Dust Power Style, Aqua threw herself at Riku and swung her Keyblade in an icy arc. Bartz spared a glance to scan the Power Style so that he would be able to mimic it later, but this gave Mickey an opening to deliver a combo attack and tackle him to the ground before being hit from behind by Kairi.
Aqua struck Riku with a three-hit combo, the last blow causing a pillar of ice to shoot up from the ground and knock him in the air. Riku righted himself in midair and blocked the next attack. He warped out of the way and retaliated with a Fire Raid. The two Keyblade wielders traded blows, each of Aqua's attacks radiating cold magic that shot outward and hit Mickey, Kairi and Bartz as well. Aqua finished the frigid assault by conjuring six giant icicles from the ground around her, striking Riku and Bartz, who was unlucky enough to be nearby, and blasting cold wind all around the arena.
The frost and blue aura faded and Aqua's power levels returned to normal. Riku zapped her with a Thunder spell and ran over to Mickey, offering to swap opponents, to which the mouse obliged. Kairi laughed, eagerly anticipating the match-up.
Mickey and Aqua cast magic spells at each other, intermittently closing in and dealing Keyblade-swinging combos. Riku matched swords with Kairi and Bartz, having to contend with Kairi's fencing stabs and slashes and her use of Firaga and Aerora spells as well as Bartz's replication of his own attacks and abilities. Feeling as though he would be overwhelmed by the attacks on both sides, he conjured a Dark Shield every so often between him and one of his opponents so that he could focus on the other, though Kairi managed to bypass it at one point by casting Thunder. Bartz tried to get past it and ambush him at another point by warping to the other side of the barrier and attacking him, but Riku anticipated this and kicked him in the stomach after deflecting a strike from Kairi. Kairi raised her Keyblade up and willed a storm of light orbs to materialize from above and rain down on Riku, who only managed to block and deflect some of them. This gave him an idea, however, and he proceeded to open four portals, one above him and three around Kairi and Bartz. He cast Dark Fire, Thunder, and darkness-infused Blizzard spells made of purple ice into the portal above him, then watched as the spells mixed around and came out of the other three at random, hitting them from every direction and leaving them scrambling to defend themselves. Bartz had the idea near the end to mimic Aqua's Barrier, so he was able to block the last several hits, but Kairi took the brunt of the onslaught and collapsed.
Bartz was also exhausted from the beating he had received, and watching Kairi go down was a demoralizing blow. He jumped back and used a Strike Raid on Riku, but the silver-haired boy knocked the copied Keyblade aside, charged at him, jumped, and struck him in the noggin while doing a midair flip. With that, he was down and out.
Riku took a moment to catch his breath, at the same time watching Mickey's duel with Aqua. He determined that Mickey did not need his help, as the mouse managed to duck under and around one of Aqua's swings, then swept down to trip her up. He cast a Mine Square spell before she hit the ground, and when she landed on her back, the energy disk that she landed on exploded, launching her into the air. He cast Thunder, then used Gravity to drop her down onto another mine before she could recover in midair. He repeated the process until all of the mines had detonated, then threw a salvo of light orbs at her and leapt up to deliver a rapid-fire midair combo. He landed with a roll while Aqua crashed to the ground right after. She coughed and groaned, but did not try to get back up or cast Cure.
As it was clear that the match was over, the crowd cheered. Donald wore a smug smile as Sora gave up the munny that he had lost in the bet. They applauded Riku and Mickey's victory along with Goofy and Hercules.
Phil stepped onto the stage and waved his arms to get everyone to quiet down. "Alright, then. Looks like Riku and Mickey are heading to the finals. Now, let's get the third-place combatants patched up." On that cue, Sora and Donald ran over to cast Curaga on Kairi, Bartz and Aqua. Sora and Riku helped them to their feet and led them back to the group on the sidelines, commending them for the fight they put up as they walked with them. "Now, let's let the finalists catch their breath before the last match for the Phil Cup."
A merchant offered refreshments to the competitors. After taking some snacks and drinks, the three teams entered the vestibule so that Sora, Donald, Riku, Mickey, Kairi, Aqua, and Bartz could refresh themselves with the Safe Point, and the entire group began to geek out about the semifinal match.
"That was amazing! All those 'Hut, Ha!'" Sora commented, waving his arm around and grunting to mime their attacks. "And that—What did you call it, again? Power Style?—That was so cool! Can you teach me how to use Shotlocks? I learned one of those, but never managed to get more like you have. And Kairi, that was a nice move with the light meteors! Riku, that… I don't even know how to describe it. It was awesome. And your Majesty, that thing with the mines and Gravity. Remind me never to get on your bad side." The rest of the group had their own comments, but they all talked over each other, and found that Sora was speaking for everyone, so they ended up offering simple words of commendation. Aqua promised to teach him, Riku and Kairi how to use Shotlocks. Kairi giggled and flipped her hair back at Sora's compliment of her own magic attack.
Riku laughed. "Well, you'd better be ready to face our power, 'cause we're fighting next!"
Sora grinned confidently. "You're on! This won't be like sparring on the beach. You ready to see how we match going all out?" he dared.
Riku gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "You bet."
Mickey laughed and shook hands with Donald and Goofy. "Best of luck to ya," he said.
"You too, your Majesty," Donald replied, a cocky smirk on his bill.
Phil entered and cleared his throat to get their attention. "You kids ready?" he asked. The five finalists nodded. "Alright, then get on out here."
They stepped out into the arena, met by the revitalized cheering of the audience. Sora, Donald and Goofy took their places on the vestibule side of the arena while Riku and Mickey took the hypogeum side. Kairi, Aqua and Bartz joined Hercules and the defeated competitors in watching from the sidelines.
Phil stepped into the center of the stage to address the crowd. "Okay, this is the grand finale! They've made it this far. Now let's see who will walk away with their names on the Phil Cup trophy. Will it be Sora, Donald and Goofy, defending their title from last year's event? Or will Riku and Mickey come out on top?" Everyone in the crowd began chanting the names of their favorite team.
"So, who are you rooting for?" Bartz asked.
"Hmm… tough pick," Kairi replied. "I don't usually like to pick favorites, since Sora and Riku are both my best friends. I just like to watch them compete, regardless of who wins in the end."
"Sounds fair. Competition between friends is all part of the fun, but I guess if you put one over the other, that's not really fair or nice," Bartz agreed.
"I suppose so," Aqua said under her breath, deep in thought regarding her friends' remarks.
"Now, let the final match begin!" Phil shouted.
The five fighters summoned their weapons and entered battle-ready stances. "Bring it on!" Sora dared.
"Show me your true power!" Riku shot back.
Phil stepped off of the stage, then chopped his arm down to signal the start of the match.
Sora and Riku closed the distance between them and clashed instantly, their blades locked together as they pushed against each other in a test of raw strength. Donald and Goofy ran past them to engage Mickey. Mickey and Donald cast magic spells at each other while Mickey swung his Keyblade at Goofy, but Goofy was able to deftly block most of the hits with his shield. Seeing that neither of them were gaining any ground, Sora and Riku eased off of each other and stepped back. They then proceeded to assault each other with fast and powerful attacks, some of which hit and some of which they blocked or dodged. Riku warped away and launched a string of Dark Fire blasts at Sora and then ran back in to strike while he was stunned, but Sora cast Reflega, which sent the fireballs flying back in the exact opposite direction from collision—some of them going into Riku—and then exploded outward, the energy burst sending Riku flying back. Sora leapt at him to follow up, but Riku regained his bearings and blocked the strike, landing on his feet and lashing out at him.
Mickey jumped into the air and swung his Keyblade down over Goofy, casting Thunder on Donald when he had his weapon pointing straight up in the same motion, but Goofy held his shield up to block the blow. He brought the shield down to let Mickey drop, then punched him out of the air with his free hand. Mickey recovered quickly upon landing and attacked Goofy, tripping him and tackling him to the ground. He then charged toward Donald and swung his Keyblade at him. Donald raised his staff to parry the first blow, but he was unable to defend against Mickey's next hits. Goofy recovered and threw his shield at Mickey, hitting him in the back and knocking him down. Donald got back up and shot a fire spell at Mickey, then followed up by casting Agua. Mickey dodged the stream as it snaked around, but while trying to avoid its path he jumped in range for Goofy to hit him with a Goofy Tornado and knock him into the Agua stream.
Sora launched Blizzard spells at Riku, who countered with Fire spells and dodged the ones that he could not dissolve with spells. Sora discretely slid his foot forward, creating a sheet of ice between him and Riku. Not noticing this, Riku dodged another spell, only to slip on the ice and fall. Sora willed the ice trap to dissolve, then closed in to deliver a combo attack. As Sora prepared to start another combo, Riku raised his Keyblade to parry the blow, then retaliated, knocking him back and then throwing a ball of Dark Fire. Sora righted himself and landed on his feet, then cast a trio of Thundaga spells that struck Riku. He then rushed at Riku several times with a Sonic Blade attack. After that, he went for a more simplistic move of swiping his foot to trip him and then hit him in the back with his Keyblade as he fell. Riku rolled to the side to avoid a follow-up attack, then somersaulted away to find room to breathe and regain his bearings. He blocked an attack from Sora and retaliated by throwing a Dark Blizzard spell with his free hand.
Mickey sent Donald tumbling backward over himself with a powerful finisher. He leapt up to perform another jumping attack, but Goofy punched his shield into his Keyblade, throwing him off balance. Mickey stumbled as he landed, giving Donald time to recover. Goofy called for his companion as he held his shield straight up. Immediately understanding his intent, Donald cast Thunder, striking the shield (the wooden back and his rubber glove keeping him from being harmed as well) and electrifying it. Goofy threw the shield low, letting it skip across the ground and trail arcs of lightning as it hopped in Mickey's direction. Mickey reflexively jumped to avoid it, but Goofy quickly swept in and grabbed him by the arm, spun him around, and threw him at the shield. Mickey crashed hard on the shield and was zapped on impact. Goofy then ran over to Donald. "Hurry, while he's stunned," he said, poking the duck's hat. Catching on, Donald smiled and took his hat off to unzip it and dump out a pack of rockets.
When Mickey had picked himself up, he saw that Donald had tied a dozen rockets to Goofy, who stood up straight as a rod with his arms and legs wrapped up. The crowd stared at him, curious as to what he and Donald had planned. Sora and Riku even stopped fighting to gawk in confusion when they noticed what was happening. Chuckling mischievously, Donald ignited a flame at the crystal base of his staff and held it against the end of the fuse near Goofy's foot. He ran away as the fuse quickly burned down and lit the rockets, which propelled Goofy high into the air. He weaved through the air at incredible speed, leaning every which way to direct himself the way he wanted, all the while screaming "YA-HOO-HOO-HOOIEEEE!".
"Have you done that?" Riku asked, his bewildered eyes focused on Goofy's flight.
Sora shook his head, similarly fixated. "Donald and I used him as a battering ram once," he admitted.
"Really?"
"We were racing after that dragon, and Heartless were getting in our way."
"Ah."
Goofy directed himself downward and aimed himself at Mickey. Mickey tried to dodge, but Donald clapped his hands, causing the ropes holding the rockets to Goofy to snap. The rockets spread out, increasing the area of impact. Goofy and the rockets hit the ground hard, the blazing clouds from the exploding rockets engulfing an entire quarter of the stage. Sora, Riku and Donald stepped back to avoid the fireworks. After a moment, Goofy walked out of the smoke, covered in soot, dizzy, and rubbing his head, but otherwise unharmed. When the smoke cleared, everyone could see Mickey lying prone on the ground, groaning in pain. He continued to lay there, not getting back up to heal or keep fighting.
Sora and Riku traded glances. "Well, I guess it's you and me," Sora said.
Riku nodded. "Let's settle this one." With that, they raised their Keyblades and swung them at each other, their blades clashing together. They quickly gave up on trying to force each other back and resumed their fight, all while Donald healed Mickey and Goofy helped the mouse into a safe resting position and stood guard to make sure that their friends' duel did not draw too close to them.
Sora and Riku's mana had filled back up while they watched Donald and Goofy's attack, so they were able to use the full range of their attacks. Sora bashed Riku with Ars Arcanum. Riku retaliated by slashing back at Sora twice, then finished the combo with a forward thrust of his Keyblade that sent Sora tumbling back. Sora quickly recovered and, after waving his Keyblade around to gather Aero magic, threw it at Riku. Riku deflected it, but rather than drop or return to Sora's hand, it flew through the air, riding the wind, and looped back at him. He deflected it again, but Sora took this opening to close in and deliver two swift jabs to his side. Riku swung his Keyblade at him, forcing him to roll out of the way, as Sora's Keyblade came back and hit Riku in the back. Riku deflected the Kingdom Key's return strike, only for Sora to pull him by the arm and kick him in the stomach. Riku hit Sora and knocked him down, only to be hit by the Kingdom Key again. The pattern repeated itself, with Riku defending himself against either Sora or the flying Keyblade only to be hit by the other. Finally, the weapon returned to Sora's hands, flying past Riku as the latter was ready to block it, and Sora hit Riku with a combo.
"That's it!" Riku growled as he pushed himself back to his feet. He raised a Dark Shield to block a Blizzard spell from Sora. He began to float in midair as he charged up his power, a dark aura forming around him. Sora knew exactly what was going to happen and prepared himself. "Welcome oblivion!" Riku yelled. The Dark Shield collapsed as Riku flew at Sora with great speed, leaving a flaming trail of darkness in his wake. Sora rolled to the side, avoiding the dash. Riku teleported and dashed repeatedly, but Sora was able to dodge him each time. After the final dash, Riku appeared above Sora, his Keyblade wreathed in dark energy and held above his head. "It's over!" he shouted, dropping down to strike Sora. However, Sora cast Reflega, and Riku instead struck the spherical barrier as the dark flames that would have spread out from the shockwave simply ran down the walls of the barrier and lost momentum when they reached the ground. Riku gasped as the barrier turned white, kinetic orbs materialized around him, and the whole spell exploded, dispersing the dark flames and launching him into the air. Without skipping a beat, Sora jumped up after him. He delivered a string of hits, then spun around, building Magnet magic around his person that pulled Riku in close and revolved him around. Once he had gathered up enough energy, he lashed out with explosive force, striking Riku and sending him flying through the air. He then pointed his Keyblade at him, charged up his Ragnarok attack to its maximum level, and shot red energy blasts which homed in on Riku and exploded on impact.
As Sora landed, Riku struggled to remain standing. Sora reentered his battle stance, letting his friend know that he was ready to keep going if he was as well. Riku let out a chuckle, then dropped his Keyblade and fell back onto his rear end. With the clear indication of the match's end, the audience broke out into cheers. Their friends on the sidelines applauded as well.
Phil ran out into the center of the stage as Sora drank a Mega-Potion to heal himself and the rest of both teams and then approached Riku and helped him to his feet. "Well, if that wasn't an exciting finish, I don't know what is," Phil shouted. "The winner of the Phil Cup is the reigning champion team of Sora, Donald and Goofy!"
Sora and Riku shared a fist bump while Mickey shook Donald and Goofy's hands. "Congratulations, fellas," Mickey commended.
"A-hyuck. You did great, your Majesty," Goofy said.
"Looks like you're the toughest after all," Riku remarked.
"Maybe," Sora said cheekily. "But it looked like it could have gone either way."
Kairi, Aqua, Bartz, and Hercules approached Sora and Riku. Kairi gave them both a hug while the others gave them pats on the shoulder. "That was amazing!" Kairi cheered.
"That was pretty spectacular," Hercules added.
"Thanks," Sora replied. Mickey, Donald and Goofy crossed the stage to join the group, and they traded congratulations with everyone.
"Hey, Herc!" Phil called. "Go get the trophy!"
Hercules nodded. "On it, Phil." He ran into the vestibule.
Phil pointed to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "You three, up top." The tournament champions grinned and ran over to the right wall, climbing up into the bleachers. They went up the steps, high-fiving fans on either side of them, and reached the top, standing in front of one of the passages that the audience entered through that morning. Hercules stepped out of the passage shortly after they arrived, holding a gold trophy. The trophy was shaped like an upside-down wine bottle with a circular base and two straight horns that curved outward at the tips. In his other hand, he held a pair of confetti cannons, which he handed off to two volunteering audience members.
"Let's hear it for Sora, Donald and Goofy!" Phil shouted. "They've grown a lot since they first took part in this tournament last year. Sora himself was totally green when I first met him. This just goes to show you that however small you start, with training, dedication, experience, and heart, everyone really has what it takes to go the distance. Let's give it up for our Phil Cup champs!"
The audience broke into another round of cheering. Hercules handed the trophy to Sora, who took it by the bottleneck. The trio did their victory poses: Donald bowed to the crowd, then hopped and flexed his biceps; Goofy did a dance and held his hand up, his fingers forming an "L"; Sora twirled his Keyblade with one hand, then let it rest on his shoulder. The volunteers twisted the bases of the cannons and launched confetti into the air, letting the red and yellow pieces of paper fall around the victors.
Down in the arena, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Aqua, and Bartz applauded them, chanting their names and encouraging the audience to join in. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! Sora! Donald! Goofy! SORA! DONALD! GOOFY! SORA! DONALD! GOOFY!"