Kairi screamed; Sora was sure of it. Before he could think about it his legs began to move on their own to the source of noise.
"Sora!"/"Hey wait up!" Donald and Goofy shouted as ran they after him.
With his Keyblade in hand Sora burst into the final room, his eyes narrowing directly onto Hades. The god stood red-handed with a bound Meg in his grasp.
"HADES!" Sora shouted, "Let her go Hades!"
Hades looked at Sora then back at Meg, without a second thought he threw her into the pit behind him. Sora's eyes widened, the trio rushed past the god and jumped into the hole after her. As he fell, he could feel the temperature rise and the surprising amount of smoke. His eyes were assaulted by the amount fire and smoke around him, they truly entered hell.
The ring below him was chaos, heartless and fire were everywhere. His eyes scanned the arena for Meg. As soon as he found her, the trio formed a triangle of defense around her. The trio took turns stepping out of the formation to protect her. Sora kept his eyes open; he could have sworn he heard Kairi.
Frantically he searched throughout the smoke and puff of Darkness. There was a familiar cackle coming from the other side of the side of the arena. It was difficult to see but he knew that voice.
Pete was here as well. The large cat stumbled backwards as a blizzaga attack hit him. But if Donald was still with him, then who attacked Pete?
Sora squinted to catch a glimpse of who it was. As the smoke lifted, he saw the silhouette of a girl.
His heart stopped. He knew that short red hair, it was Kairi. She was here. He didn't know how or why but she's here and she knew magic! He wanted to reach out to her… but she wasn't alone. A heartless flew behind her and fired. A dark figure stood in front of her, there was a puff of darkness.
Then she was gone.
Sora's heart felt like it stopped. Something took Kairi.
Sora saw red.
-x-
A loud screech echoed through the chaotic Underdome causing every occupant to pause and look at the source. The flames that kept the arena sectioned off simmered down as Axel searched for his friends to keep them away from the danger. Roxas and Xion were back-to-back when the roaring cry stopped them in their tracks, fearing a strong heartless Roxas grabbed Xion and lept away from the source of the sound. Even Pete and the heartless stopped for just a moment.
Donald, Goofy and Meg stood with in shock as a darkness surged from Sora, painting in a wispy black with bright golden eyes. This version of Sora let out a loud roar before going on an all-out rampage against the Heartless. Every move he made was that of an animal, he tossed his keyblade aside in favor of claws that emerged from his hands. It was a powerful and terrifying sight.
Puff after puff the heartless were swiped and destroyed with flurry of attacks. Until the smoke they left behind filled the arena making it hard to see. Donald and Goofy were left conflicted, this form of Sora slashed through the heartless after heartless. They wanted to get close, but they didn't know if they could reach him. Or if he could even recognize them.
"Sora!" Donald shouted.
Sora stopped his rampage. Still covered in darkness, he stood from all fours and looked over at Donald.
Donald felt chills as those Heartless eyes bore into him, "Sora?"
Sora turned to them, Donald and Goofy pushed Meg behind them as Sora crouched on all fours. He looked so feral…
Then he stood still… and fell to on the ground. The darkness that once controlled him wisped into the air freeing the boy from its grasp.
"Sora!" They all called out as they rushed to him. To their surprise, Sora was completely fine. No cuts or bruises, physically he was okay, yet he was unconscious as if the transformation drained him of his energy.
A shadow loomed above them.
Hercules jumped of Pegasus and landed next to them.
"Wonder Boy!" Meg cried out as Hercules ran to them.
Hercules was worn out; his breathing was heavy and uneven. The fight with the Hydra has made him dangerously weak. Yet the situation was dire. Hercules looked down at Sora, they needed to get him and Meg to safety. But there was still the issue of the Heartless. With Sora no longer on a rampage, Pete and the Heartless were on the prowl again. He needed to protect Sora and Meg. With a piercing whistle, Hercules summoned Pegasus down to the arena.
"Take Meg and Sora out of here! Donald and Goofy will be right behind you!" He commanded. The flying horse neighed with purpose as he let Hercules loaded Sora's unconscious body and Meg onto his back. With a powerful flap of his wing Pegasus began to lift himself into the air.
"But what about you Herc?" Goofy asked?
"Yeah! You're in no condition to fight!" Donald protested, but Hercules refused.
Hercules urged them to leave the arena, leaving him alone to take care of the Heartless. He gripped his sword as the Heartless surrounded him, all he had to do was by them time. He stumbled back a few steps, his legs felt like they were on fire. But a hero protects his friends no matter what. He took a deep breath and swung his sword in a quick spin attack. It took out a few Heartless but not enough to give him a clean escape route.
Before another Heartless could attempt to attack the demi-god a ring of fire reappeared around Hercules. The fire danced around him before expanding outwards towards the Heartless. Two strange pools of darkness spiraled out in front on him and out stepped two familiar faces.
"You?" He looked at Xion and then at Roxas, "You're that new guy, the rookie. Who are you?"
Roxas looked Hercules over and summoned his keyblades. He made his way past Hercules and assumed a fighting stance. "Make sure to get the ones that get past me, got it Xion."
Xion held out her hand, and for the first time in a long time, she summoned her copy of the Keyblade. The two keyblade wielders began their attack, Roxas was on the offensive with a series of combo attacks. Xion stood between Roxas and Hercules, she sent out magic based attacks from a distance, either it was blizzard or fire spells, or even casting an aero or block spell on Roxas keeping him from getting injured in the battle. Hercules watched in awe as the two children fought in synchronization, they battled more like soldiers.
"Impressive, isn't." A new said.
Hercules looked from were a new figured appeared. A tall man with sharp red hair and strange tattoos under his eyes approached him, he wore a similar coat to those as the keyblade wielders. Hercules began to feel overwhelmed. "What are you?" He asked again, whoever these people were, they weren't normal. People Sora's age don't fight like trained soldiers, speaking of Sora… why do these kids have the same weapon on Sora?
The man looked at Hercules, "We're Nobodies, and our mission is to make sure the Keyblade Hero makes to where he needs to go. And right now, I heard someone let a hydra loose in the coliseum." The man said, he handed Hercules a potion.
"You won't hurt Sora?" Hercules asked cautiously, still taking the potion, nevertheless.
"I know it looks… suspicious, but right now Sora needs his friends. We'll handle Hades and Pete, you go to Sora and take care of the Hydra." The man seems genuine, Hercules looked the man over then over to where the rookie and the mysterious student battled.
He didn't have much of a choice. He nodded at the man and left to catch up with his friends.
-x-
Sora's body ached. He felt as if he hit the gym for the first time.
When he opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was the concerned look on his friends faces. Donald, Goofy and Meg looked at him as if he were about to break, but why?
"Uh guys?"
Donald was the first to react. "SORA! You're awake!"
"Stay down, kid. How are you feeling?" Meg asked him.
Aside from the lingering ache, he felt fine maybe just a bit confused. What just happened? Sora got cautiously, careful not to pull any muscles or reopen any old wounds. As he stood up tried to recall the last moments before he lost consciousness.
"What happened?" He remembered ruining onto Hades, then the god through Meg into the Underdome. He remembered jumping in after her and being surprised by the insane amount of heartless in the arena. He remembered and then Kai- Nothing… But happened since then?
"Well… you see" Goofy started.
"You saved Meg and stopped the Heartless." Everyone turned to see Hercules coming from the arena. His presence was a much-needed sight, the whole group relaxed at his arrival. "I think you may have pushed yourself a bit too hard though. How you feeling?"
Sora summoned his keyblade and gave it a hearty swing. "I feel lighter… if that makes any sense."
Hercules nodded, "It seems you had a lot of energy that needed to come out but try not to overdo it next time."
Before Sora responded there was another voice that rang out. "Ah yes, such a sweet reunion I could barf." Hades stated as he made his grand entrance. "Unfortunately, I do believe your stay in here in the Underworld has… what's the term again…expired. Now unless all you six of you want to expire as well. I suggest you bugger off, I have an Underdome to prepare. Besides, you still have a Hydra to take care of." He waved them off as he returned the dark abyss of his realm.
Sora, Donald, Goofy and Meg turned to Hercules.
"You left the Hydra rampaging?" "What about the Coliseum?" They asked him.
Hercules took a deep breath, "I couldn't beat it, the most I could do was contain it while Phil and Pegasus evacuated the crowd. By the time everyone was safe, the damage was done, the Coliseum's destroyed…"
Meg placed her hand on Hercules' shoulders, "Wonderboy…"
Sora shook his head in denial, no way was he going to let Hades take the win. "I can't just let it end like this."
Goofy placed his hand on the boy's shoulders. "But Sora, the Coliseum is gone now, there's not much we can do."
Sora shook his head, "The Colisuem maybe gone, but with Hade's and his Hydra around the people aren't safe yet. Hercules already did so much for us. Now it's our turn, let's go defeat the Hydra!"
Donald chuckled, "That's our Sora! What do you say, Goofy?"
Goofy took a moment, "Well… when you put it that way."
Sora beamed, he felt so lucky to have such supporting friends. "Right, let's go."
The ride out of the Coliseum was slow and quiet. Donald and Goofy piloted the Gummi Ship in uncomfortable silence between the two adults. Sora slept peacefully in the sleeping quarters of the ship, his soft snores echoing through the ship. They were worried for him, there was something clearly very wrong with the boy but neither of them knew what exactly. He performed as usual when fighting the Hydra but the fight with the heartless bothered them.
His eyes, the way they glowed reminded them so much of the events that happened a year prior in Hollow Bastion. Could it be possible Sora was still part heartless?
Goofy frowned, the ship slowing down in response. They could stop by Yen Sid's Tower to seek assistance. But how could they cure what they did not know? Goofy looked behind him to look at the door that led to the rest of the ship. If something like that happened to Max…
His mind wondered to his son who was still back home in Disney Castle….
The Castle… A light went off in his head, there was a small smile creeping onto his face. The Castle, that's where they could go to find help for Sora.
Donald gave him a strange look as the ship speed up in response to him smiling, "Hey, what's up with this smile. This is serious, we have to find out what's wrong with Sora!"
Goofy kept thinking, back in Hollow Bastion it was Kairi and her power of Light that restored Sora. Of course, they couldn't go find her without risking her safety, but the Queen on the other hand. Queen Minnie is a Light Mage. If the Darkness attached itself to Sora, maybe the Queen could use her magic to help him.
Goofy turned to Donald, "Hyuck, why I think we know just the royalty to help Sora." He made two large circles over his head with hands.
Donald glared at Goofy as he tried to decipher his friend's message. It took him a moment before his face lit up. "The Queen!"
The ship picked up speed even faster.
They had a new mission now; find the Queen and hope she could find a way to help their Sora.
A/N: Whhaaaa? Another update? This soon? I amaze myself, but enough about me. With Kingdom Heart's 20th anniversary next year and KHuX shut down, we're currently going through a bit of a content drought. I've gotten into Genshin Impact lately, so many new ideas and fics that I want to right, but I know if I start new stories, I'll end up neglecting the ones I've already started.
Speaking of old fics, I have a Prince and the Pauper Au over on AO3 ft Xion and Kairi that is almost finished. I'm considering moving that one over here once it's done. As for "Beginning of the End," that one needs to be completely rewritten to keep up with the lore from KHuX. "Rainfell", will continue to be on haitus until I get mostly done with this one or just until further notice. As for my Naruto fic, "Hidden within the Grains of Sand," that one is in the works of being rewritten to fix the many plotholes. But that one should have no effect in the upload of KTT. Thanks for sticking with this series for so long, I hope you can continue to enjoy this story of mine.