As Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jaune won battle after battle, they were unaware of the two people watching them from behind a nearby portcullis. It was the blonde haired swordsman with the flame headed benefactor who gave group of friends the pass to let them enter. "That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out." the latter said, sounding nowhere near as friendly as he was before.
The blonde swordsman's stoic gaze shifted from his fire-headed employer toward his youthful target. "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" he inquired in an unconcerned tone. Indeed, his employer was none other than Hades. Greek God of the Underworld, so why would someone of his station be so worried about a little teenage boy? "Sorry, but my contract says-"
"I know! You think I don't know!? I wrote the contract!" Hades interjected impatiently, his hair briefly shifting from its blue color to a faint flash of orange. "I know it says you're only supposed to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on." Hades explained, pointing to Sora as he chatted with Phil and Jaune. "Hey, it's just like that old goat says. Rule number 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean a casualty or two...or maybe three along the way is no big deal, right?"
Hades' air punching did little to raise his hireling's enthusiasm. Whatever his problem with Hercules was, it wasn't any of the swordsman's concern. All he was concerned about was finding what it was he sought. And if this power, dark as it may have been, could help him find what he sought...then he'd get the kid out of the way. With that in mind, he stood up and walked away, leaving Hades alone with his snarky thoughts.
"Geez...Stiffer than the stiffs back home." Hades muttered, stroking his chin. Of course, it wasn't hard to have more humor than a cacophony of souls and corpses. "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by." Indeed, on the bright side, it was surprisingly easy to get that broody fellow on his leash in the first place. And if he somehow botched his coming fight, a monstrous growl from behind him made it clear that Hades had a backup plan. For now, he was content to sit back and watch the show.
With another round won by his new proteges, Phil strutted up "Say, you kids are better than I thought," he told them with a genuine smile. "Wish he was here to see this." The sudden fond tone Phil took on was a surprise to the four fighters. Particularly with that faraway look when talking about whoever 'he' was. "Who?" Sora asked curiously. "Hercules. A hero if there ever was one." Phil answered, straightening up with pride, only to relax again with a shrug. "Too bad he's off visitin' his father..." It was surprising to hear Phil speak so fondly of this particular student. Whoever this Hercules was, he must have been quite a hero indeed. But there would be time for reminiscence later. "Alright you guys. Go get ready. Your next fight is the last one of the preliminaries. Some guy named Cloud. After this? You compete for real in the big leagues."
This was it. The final fight before they could finally show Phil they were hero material. The enthusiasm Phil's words might have brought to the four fighters was tempered when they saw who their final opponent was. It was that mysterious blonde swordsman they saw before. That must have been that Cloud person Phil told them about.
"I guess Phil was right. They did end up going against him." Ruby said with a little bit of worry. Pyrrha felt a great sense of worry for them run through her. Especially for Jaune. "I certainly hope they can find a way to win against him. He doesn't seem like nearly as much of a pushover as anything else we've fought." Weiss said, surprisingly also concerned for the reckless four.
With his massive sword drawn, Cloud looked down at the four nervous contenders in silence. Goofy gulped audibly and leaned to Donald when whispering, "Any bright ideas?"
Before Donald could even give the faintest quack of an idea, Cloud suddenly dashed forward, with his sword parallel to the ground, aimed right at them. Team JDGS was forced to scatter as Cloud was determined to not give them the chance to make a plan of attack.
The spectating huntresses' eyes widened at the mysterious swordsman's immediate reaction the instant the fight started. "Whoa! Did you guys see that?! How did he move so fast with such a big weapon?!" Ruby exclaimed. Her words drew a rise of the brow from Weiss who looked at her team leader with a deadpan expression. "Ruby, I don't think you're one to talk in that regard." she said equally dryly.
Cloud's gaze shifted to Donald and Goofy, and with a shout, he swung the massive sword in his hand with unbelievable ease. The Disney Castle duo didn't have time to react as they were smacked by the flat end of the sword and knocked for a loop and a half. Despite how massive it was, he swung it like it was nothing.
"Donald! Goofy!" Sora cried out as his friends were knocked aside like leaves in the wind. This guy seemed even more dangerous than Leon, and Leon was holding back!
Cloud soon turned his attention to the nervously breathing Sora and Jaune. His expression ever unreadable as he turned his blade toward the brown haired boy. "Come on. Show me what you can do." he said stoically, daring him to attack.
Jaune noticed their foe's focus on Sora, and immediately he had a clear idea of what he was here for. Or more specifically, WHO he was here for. But why? What did he have against Sora specifically? Both Jaune and Sora felt a powerful urge to strike him, yet seeing what he did to Donald and Goofy like it was nothing...And unlike any Grimm or even Heartless he'd fought so far, Jaune couldn't see any openings to take advantage of. Whoever this Cloud guy was...he was skilled. REALLY skilled. Maybe...even more than he was letting on now.
Sora's irritation grew when he realized Cloud was talking down to him. "Okay, fine! You asked for it!" Sora said as he charged in with a battle cry. If he wanted to see what he could do, Sora would show him. "No, Sora, wait!" Jaune called out too late as Sora jumped up with his Keyblade held in both hands above his head when trying to strike him. Cloud kept the handle of his massive sword near, using one part of the bottom to block then pushed Sora back. The momentum in the air being pushed back caused him to fall on his back on the floor.
"Is that the best you can do?" Cloud asked as though disappointed, as he raised his blade to perform a followup blow.
"Fire!"
Looking to his side, Cloud saw the spell head towards him and jumped back before dashing to Donald. Goofy cut him off with his shield when Cloud struck. Unfortunately, he didn't strike just one time. After knocking Goofy's shield out of the way with his first swipe, Cloud made several more with the blunt side of his weapon, knocking Goofy around before he fell back. "Gawrsh, fellers..."
He plopped on his back, looking wiped out as Donald squawked in shock. "Goofy!" He growled before shouting in anger and shot more Fire spells at him. The rapid succession did keep Cloud a little more on his toes as he evaded them before making Donald share Goofy's defeated status.
The sheer ferocity with which this mysterious soldier fought was even more than the huntresses, or even Phil, expected. "Half the team is gone and it hasn't even been a full minute." Weiss said in a mix of astonishment and much more visible worry. "Don't give up, you guys! You can do it!" Ruby shouted to her friends.
Sora got up as Jaune rushed to his side with his weapons up and a firm stance maintained. "Don't rush a fight, Sora. If you just charge in head first without a plan, you're just leaving yourself open. Stay calm and keep focused on the fight as a whole."
Sora panted and shook his head to regain focus. "Gotcha...well, not entirely, but thanks for the advice, Jaune." The blonde young man smiled at Sora in appreciation. "You're welcome. I had a good teacher to help me with that." he responded, his gaze briefly shifting up toward the stands. Specifically to a certain red haired huntress who smiled with a bashful blush while brushing some of the hair behind her ear.
Ruby and Weiss noticed that little blush on Pyrrha's cheeks. The little red caped huntress let out a soft giggle while the white clad one looked at Pyrrha with disbelief. After all the time they'd known each other, Weiss couldn't fathom what she saw in Jaune.
But now wasn't the time for talking about one's love-life. The battle was still raging. But as Cloud swung, Sora took Jaune's advice and tried to avoid getting hit. He and Jaune managed to strike Cloud a few times, but he barely even flinched. Whatever was driving him, it was powerful to say the least. And if he was actually holding back...Jaune REALLY didn't want to know what he was like when he actually tried.
Even though they managed to keep away from him thus far, it was getting more and more difficult. For a moment later, Cloud suddenly began thrusting back and forth between Jaune and Sora, leaving neither of them an opportunity to think or find an opening.
Suddenly, Sora was knocked clean onto his back as Cloud lunged at him and struck him. As he tried to push himself up, Sora let out a gasp as his opponent jumped in the air, sword pointed right at the downed boy. But what shocked him most was...the dark swirls that surrounded the blade. He was using the power of darkness?!
"Sora, look out!" Despite Jaune's advice to not charge in head first, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing while Sora was in danger. Dashing toward his teammate, Jaune thrust out his hands, shoving Sora out of the way and turned to face Cloud, shutting his eyes as the sword impacted against him.
"JAUNE!" Sora and Pyrrha cried out as Jaune was left sprawled on the ground. With what bit of focus he had, Jaune made a mental note to thank that massive amount of Aura he had. Without that, he probably would have been a goner the instant Cloud struck him. And speaking of Cloud, he seemed to have been thrown off balance briefly after hitting Jaune. Not that it lasted long as he began to walk toward the downed Arc.
Though he wasn't cleaved in half, the blunt side of Cloud's sword still sent so much impact through Jaune's body. He felt sore and could barely get on his hands as Cloud made his brisk advance to him with that same stoic, nigh-emotionless expression. "Nothing personal. I'm just holding up my end of a deal."
Cloud stopped his tracks as Sora suddenly ran in front of him and glared at him. "You want Jaune? You go through me!" Cloud couldn't believe the kid was still determined to fight him. He had to have known he was outmatched at this point, even with Cloud holding back. But if he was truly determined to go that far... "Fine. I planned on taking you all out anyway. So it doesn't matter which of you falls first."
Everything started moving slower. Cloud reached up for the handle of his sword and Sora's friends shouted in fear from the stands. Sora kept calm and thought to himself. ("That sword is big. But even with an intimidating weapon like that, it means all that weight is too much even for a guy as strong as him to wield. And since can only swing it horizontally or vertically.")
With both hands on the shaft, Cloud raised his weapon above his head. Sora's eyes widened when seeing it as high as it could be lifted and moved right at that moment. The giant weapon slammed down into the ground and Cloud saw he only made a crater in the stone tile. What surprised him was seeing Sora at his side in a rolled up ball before the boy sprung up and swept his Keyblade across his temple.
The impact made Cloud grunt in pain and topple over. He hadn't expected Sora to strike him with that amount of force. Now because of him underestimating the boy, he was on one knee, his sight being blurring and his hearing somewhat impaired. It wasn't enough to knock him out but he wasn't aware of whatever was going on. When finally regaining himself, he was wide eyed at the sight of Sora aiming his Keyblade at his face. "I've still got enough magic for one spell, and I bet a fireball to the face at this range would reeaaally hurt. And the way you're angled over, you can't lift that sword fast enough to hit me or before I can notice."
Jaune, who had just managed to regain consciousness looked up at Sora with a dazed smile. It took him a moment to push himself up, but he was glad to be alive. And glad that Sora took his words to heart so quickly.
Seeing how Sora completely turned the tied drew a cheerful rise from Phil, who seemed to forget that Hades even appeared in front of him. He was just so jazzed by the absolute turnabout that Sora performed, despite only seeing him fight for such a short time. Cloud was stronger and more experienced than all of them, yet Sora managed to adapt to the situation, identify it, and turn Cloud's strengths against him. Perhaps this kid really did have what it took to become a hero some day.
Donald and Goofy snapped up from their dazed states, ready for action, only to look and see...the fight was already won. Both of them blinked with surprise at the sight of Sora standing triumphantly over Cloud, Keyblade pointed at him in a warning fashion. What did they just miss?!
Cloud of course was less than pleased as looked down, trying to push himself up. He couldn't believe he'd been so careless. But he couldn't stop now. "Gotta keep going..." he muttered to himself. He had to win this fight. Not because of his contract, but for-
CRASH
Before Cloud could even finish that thought, a giant canine paw, black as night, suddenly slammed down on top of Cloud. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jaune, and their audience of huntresses gasped at the sudden, unexpected entrance of...a giant, black, thin furred, long tailed canine with three, monstrous, jagged toothed mouths and bright red eyes. Phil's eyes widened with horror as he immediately recognized this particular beast. The guardian of the Underworld and Hades' watchdog, Cerberus.
And speaking of Hades, "Oh, there's one more rule I forgot. 'Accidents happen.'" Hades said uncaringly to himself. This was the backup plan he had on the off chance that Cloud failed to kill Sora. And with Jerkules off visiting Zeus, they had no chance against Cerberus.
Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha immediately jumped to their feet, drawing their weapons to join the fray. "GET OUT OF THERE, SORA!" Ruby cried out as the three huntresses jumped down. But just as they landed, Cerberus already reeled its heads back and lunged for the stunned boy.
The three heads of the beast were halted when something stood by its chest. There, standing between it and Sora, was a tall man with top heavy, bulky muscle on his broad frame and neck-length orange hair. He wore a brown, decorated armor guard similar to what the statues outside the Coliseum wore, as well as a dark brown belt with a matching headband, wristbands and buskin footwear. Attached to the shoulders of his armor was a short blue cape that dangled sharply as Cerberus struggled against his strength. He kept the canine monster at bay, grunting through his teeth to show how much strain it might have put on him. Even so, he must have had great strength to stop the likes of Cerberus.
"Herc!" Phil shouted to the man. The new arrival turned to him, shouting back, "Phil! Get them out of here!" Jaune, Donald, and Goofy weren't sure what was happening but they took the moment to escape while they could, running out the arena and through the vestibule, with Sora, Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha quickly following behind. This endeavor to prove themselves heroes took a much more serious turn than they were prepared for.
