The rounds of the Hercules cup were going by like a breeze for the junior heroes. And with Sun and Neptune joining the fun, Sora, Donald, Goofy and their Remnant companions had even more chances to better themselves for what was to come.
"This is going by pretty fast." Ruby said with an impressed smile as she and her friends beheld yet another victory.
"Sora really has become more capable, hasn't he? He's working with everyone flawlessly." Ren observed, noting the stronger team dynamic Sora was displaying alongside Jaune and Nora.
Neptune noticed as well as he too remarked, "Yeah. It's almost like they're reading each others minds on what to do."
"I can kinda see it." Sun remarked, rubbing his chin. "I mean Neptune and I haven't known him as long as you guys have, but I can understand how you guys hit it off so well in and out of battle. He kinda reminds me of Ruby." His last statement caused the red caped huntress to look at him curiously, then back at Sora.
"Yeah, yeah," Phil interjected with a dismissive wave of his hand. "The kid's getting better but he ain't nowhere near the level of other heroes I've trained during my time. Maybe in another... four or five, he'll start getting there."
"You really are a stubborn old goat, you know that, Phil?" Yang said with a shake of her head.
"Hey, I calls it like I sees it, blondie." Phil retorted, watching as Nora brought the hammer down on their last opponent.
"Awwww. I wanted to fight some more." Nora said in mild disappointment but joined the others in their moment of victory.
With her turn finished, Nora went to the bleachers with everybody else and Ren took her spot as they all gathered at the other end of the arena before Phil spoke up to announce the next match up. And then the next, and the next. All of which resulted in victories as Ren, Sun, and Neptune respectively tagged in and out.
Now, it was Ruby's turn again. "Alright, yer next round is against...Mad Truffle!" As Phil announced that, they found themselves facing...a blue colored, yellow headed version of those mushroom-like Heartless. And as usual, it seemed to not seem nearly so aggressive. Even less so than the previous ones in fact. The team of five blinked at one another, unsure of what to do.
"Uhhh...Jaune? Any ideas?" Ruby asked, looking at the befuddled blonde.
"Don't look at me. I don't know." he admitted with a shrug. Strategically minded as he was, or at least tried to be, this particular Heartless left him at a loss.
The whole team was stumped out of sheer confusion until Donald rolled up his sleeves saying, "Come on! A Heartless is a Heartless! Let's get it!" As he ran toward it, the Heartless suddenly jolted with what seemed to be fright before disappearing just as Donald lunged at it, trying to tackle it. "Wak!?" Donald quacked with shock as he noticed that his target was gone.
The whole arena was left in a confused hush "Uhh, seems that Mad Truffle has forfeited! Team JDGS wins the round!" Phil announced, just as confused as the others were.
"Wait a second. Does that mean Ruby won't be fighting this time?" Yang asked with concern.
A question which caught the ear of a very disappointed Ruby. "What?! But I wanted to go a round..." she whined, slumping forward.
"Hey! Don't you go cryin' on me, kiddo! Yer gonna fight in the next round to compensate the opponent's forfeit!" Phil yelled at her, causing Ruby to snap back up with a renewed spring in her step.
"I don't see why it's such a big deal anyway." And a groan in Weiss's voice as well.
"Alright! So on to the next round! Team JDGS against...Cloud Strife!"
"What?!" JDGS and Ruby exclaimed with surprise. Everyone in the audience was on the edge of their seats when looking. Sure enough, the spiky haired blonde man they fought once before in this coliseum walked in, holding his overly massive blade on his back.
"Well. Didn't expect to see all of you again." he said stoically.
"It's good to see you again Cloud. But what are you doing here?" Sora asked curiously.
"Did you hear about us winning those other tournaments?" Ruby asked in the same way as Sora.
"Oh boy! He must have changed his mind about Sora's offer for a rematch!" Goofy said, being the most thrilled.
There was silence from their opponent, drawing unease from everyone in or out of the fight but he eventually responded, "I'm here for someone else."
His vague answer prompted Donald to ask, "Who?"
"It really doesn't matter," Cloud said as he drew his weapon. "It's got nothing to do with any of you. Besides, we didn't come here to talk. We're here to fight."
"Oh. Right. Well..." Sora said, getting back into his fighting position. "We beat you once and we'll do it again!"
A soft huff of amusement escaped Cloud when speaking bluntly. "You were the only one who managed to win. I knocked out all your other friends. And also, I wasn't giving it my all because I didn't think I needed to go overboard. I won't play around with you, this time."
"He was playing around the last time?!" Pyrrha said in a gasp with her hands to her face.
Even Nora was feeling worried. "Oh, something tells me this isn't going to end well."
"Somebody wanna fill us in? Is this guy as strong as he looks?" Sun asked, him and Neptune looking to the others.
"Alright, begin!" Phil shouted with a raised arm swinging in a downward chop.
With a shout of exertion, Cloud dashed into action on the word 'begin', sword leveled for a thrust. Sora and Ruby rolled and jumped to the left while Donald and Goofy stumbled to the right, leaving Jaune right in the path of Cloud's attack. He barely managed to get his shield up before the blade hit him. "Your reactions have improved." Cloud said to Jaune as the younger blonde steadied his shaking legs.
Ruby and Sora dashed toward Cloud, weapons brandished, only for the blonde swordsman to turn with precise speed and intercept Keyblade and Scythe with his buster sword. The intensity of his reaction was unlike anything they expected after the first time they fought. And with a rough swing, he knocked both Sora and Ruby away from him, followed by rotating to block Goofy's shield and jump over Donald's fire spell.
All the while, Yang couldn't help but whistle at Cloud's display. "Wow. This guy's got some moves. And he's quite a looker too, I gotta say." she said, raising an eyebrow with IMMENSE approval, much to the chagrin Weiss and Blake.
Trying not to dwell on Yang's rather embarrassing comment, her friends and teammates focused more on the fight itself. This encounter with Cloud, at best, would be like the fight against Yuffie and Leon. At worst, he might beat them all single-handed. "He fights with as much ferocity as a professional huntsman. What is his story anyway?" Blake asked, just as curious as Sun and Neptune.
"We don't really know that much about him, to be honest." Weiss said as she watched the fight, feeling much more concerned about her friends and leader as Cloud continued coming at them harder than ever.
"What we do know is that he was a mercenary who was working for a trouble-making god that got Sora into the games in the first place named Hades." Pyrrha threw in. She certainly remembered being immensely concerned for Jaune and Sora's safety when they first fought Cloud.
"Yup." Phil interjected, carefully eying Clouds moves. "Apparently, Hades thought this porcupine head could take down Herc. But the kids actually managed to get the better of him. Lookin' at him now...I'm positive he wasn't really tryin' then."
Sora rolled away and Ruby zipped to the other side as they both narrowly avoided Cloud's swipe. Right as he regained his stance, Cloud looked to the both of them with a judgmental expression. "Is that the best you can do?"
Letting out his signature holler, Goofy charged at Cloud with his shield forward. Cloud was undeterred from the surprise attack and swung again, sending Goofy back and knocking him out when his blade forced the back of his shield against his head. A blizzard spell from Donald made Cloud wince as his clawed arm froze over, making him put his sword down for a moment enough that Donald could rush to Goofy's aid and use a cure spell to wake him up. When Cloud clenched his hand, the ice shattered and his two opponents ran to keep some distance.
"He really isn't messing around this time." Jaune said with worry, keeping his guard up.
Sora tried using a gravity spell, smiling confidently as the horizon sphere went over him. To his and everybody's surprise though, all it did was momentarily make Cloud flinch before shaking it off. "Nice try." Cloud said when glancing to Sora. With a leap through the air, it took Sora only a moment to realize Cloud was going to try impaling him with that massive blade and moved aside at the last moment. Right as Cloud's sword stuck into the ground, a small wave of energy came out around it, some parts hitting Jaune and making him fall back. In that moment, Ruby saw Cloud take his blade out and about to attack is downed opponent. Jaune rolled aside to avoid the hit, giving Ruby a chance to try striking him with her Crescent Rose in the air. With a turn of his head, Cloud avoided being cut and countered with his own strike, making contact with Ruby. Her aura protected her but shattered before she tumbled to the ground.
"This is crazy! He's just one guy but he's standing up against five of us! It's like they've hardly done anything to him, too!" Neptune said with astonishment.
Nora shifted in an antsy fashion in her seat. Ren gently placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes fixed upon Cloud.
Phil didn't like to admit it, but Hades was probably on to something hiring Cloud of all people to try and off Hercules. He dared not say it aloud, of course. Especially after all the hard work he put into training his star pupil. But watching how Cloud was singlehandedly getting the better of Sora and his friends...well it was hard not to be worried.
With Ruby and Jaune down, that just left Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Gawrsh. Cloud's even tougher than before." Goofy said, unable to hide the worry in his voice. Panting from having to run as fast as his webbed feet could carry him, Donald couldn't help quacking out an agreement. "Was he going easy on us like Leon?" he wondered. Clutching his Keyblade firmly, Sora found himself actually feeling worried. Yuffie and Leon, he knew how to deal with thanks to having experience seeing Leon fight, even if he and Yuffie were holding back when they fought here. But Cloud? He was making short work of him, Ruby, Donald, Goofy, and Jaune all at once! Just what kind of level were Leon, Cloud, and all his other friends on compared to even Ruby and her friends?
"You can still forfeit, you know. You don't have to keep getting knocked around like this." Cloud said. However, Sora's hardened frown along with Jaune pushing himself to his feet told Cloud all he needed to know. "Alright then...Farewell." The instant Cloud said those seemingly parting words, an aura of electric bolts suddenly surrounded him, and out from under his tattered cape sprouted a single bat wing. And with a burst of speed only a few levels below Ruby's semblance, Cloud suddenly dashed off the ground in Goofy's direction. Goofy didn't have time to raise his shield as he was struck by the flat end of Cloud's sword, and sent tumbling across the ring. "Goofy!" Donald barely even had time to react as he received the same treatment in a split second.
Donald and Goofy were out for the count, leaving Sora, Ruby and Jaune worried as they huddled back in worry right to the other side of the ring. "So... any ideas?" Sora asked his two remaining friends.
Cloud was slowly walking closer to them, each moment of distance being shortened only causing them all to become more worried. Sora tightened the hold on his Keyblade and whispered, "I'm gonna try making an opening. Take the hit when you first have a chance." then ran to Cloud. In the middle of their path, he threw his Keyblade. Cloud paid it no mind and smacked it away with his own weapon before lunging forward with it. Sora held out his hand and the Keyblade was in his grasp again once it materialized in a ray of light. Cloud's attack was blocked and it caught him off guard as their swords remained clashed against each other. In that moment, Sora managed to push Cloud back and released a stun impact, causing the taller, older man to flinch with discomfort as he was paralyzed.
Nora stood from her seat, fist pumped and exited. "Yeah! Way to go, Sora!"
In that moment, Jaune and Ruby helped Sora to hack away at Cloud. They were cutting him up but Cloud let out a shout of fury as his sword was swung. They all avoided him in the nick of time but were sure that sneak attack wasn't going to work a second time. "That was better." Cloud said in an almost complimentary way.
"Jeez! How durable is this guy?!" Sun exclaimed with disbelief. He'd seen some tough huntsmen, but none of them held a candle to Cloud's skill level.
"Very. It's like he's not even human." Weiss said, her voice showing how on-edge she was despite her attempts to keep composed.
"Is that really a bad thing?" Sun asked pointedly, looking to her with a visibly miffed expression along with Blake.
"What?" Realizing what she said, Weiss perked up with worry and looked from Sun to Blake then back to Sun and stammered. "N-No... what I meant was-"
Her flustered state turned to one of confusion when Blake smirked and Sun started laughing. "I'm just messin' with ya. I know what you meant." he said, earning an utterly incensed expression from Weiss as she turned her attention away from her faunus friends' teasing.
Though Blake normally wouldn't joke about such a thing, she couldn't help snickering at the rise that Sun got out of Weiss. She considered that ample payback for her comments around the time they first met Sun and when she spilled the beans about being a former member of the White Fang. But more time for rumination later. They had a fight to focus on.
Sora stared back at Cloud with defiance as they raised their weapons again. The two spiky haired contenders once again engaged in a clash of blades, neither giving the other an inch as their weapons clashed. As they fought, a slightly woozy Ruby couldn't help but feel that Cloud was still holding back his full strength. But why? Did he secretly want them to win? Either way, Sora eventually managed to catch Cloud off guard with a familiar old maneuver, striking his blade just as it was about to descend, throwing Cloud off. And with that opening made, Sora leapt up and struck Cloud right in the face with the Keyblade.
The blow left Cloud reeling before he finally sank down to his knees. "Not bad, Sora." Cloud said with a shadow of a smile as the brown haired boy smirked confidently, spinning his Keyblade in a circle in front of himself before slinging it over his shoulder, announcing.
"That's the power of the Keyblade!" Cloud pushed himself up, holstering his sword on his back as he looked back at him with that near-smile on his face.
"DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED TO THAT KEY, KID! RULE NUMBER XV! A HERO'S ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS WEAPON!" Phil shouted.
Everyone in the stands looked at Phil with confusion. "Wait...shouldn't it be the weapon is only as good as the hero wielding it?" Ren asked.
"Shaddap, flower boy! I know what I'm talkin' about!" Phil lashed back, leaving Ren not offended but confused.
"I still don't get how I bring a flower." he said to himself, remembering Jaune's...rather confusing words at the Vytal Tournament.
"I told you, Ren. It's flour. Like pancakes!" Nora elaborated...though Ren simply looked at her with even greater confusion.
"I think you're saying that just because you're hungry again, Nora." he commented. And sure enough, before Nora could retort, her stomach gave an audible growl. It seemed her mention of pancakes got the now embarrassed Nora to have a bit of a craving.
When it was time, Weiss walked into the arena and Ruby took her spot. On the way to her friends in the bleachers, she slumped forward and gave a groggy groan. "Hey there, sis. Feeling alright?" Yang said with her usually sunny smile as Ruby plopped beside her and leaned on her half-sibling with her head to her shoulder.
"Ugh...I think it's safe to say Cloud really was holding back the first time Sora fought him. That. Hurt." Ruby said with another tired sigh, earning a sympathetic pat on her shoulder from Yang as she reached her arm around her.
"Yeah, but you, Sora and the others did great, Ruby. Just like I'd expect from my little sister." Yang said, cheerfully hugging her with a tight squeeze.
"Y-Yang...You're...Choking me..." A bit too tight for poor Ruby, perhaps.
Jaune, however, held a contemplative gaze on Cloud's location after he departed the arena. What did he mean by being here for 'someone else'? Could it have something to do with what he said involving losing his light? Something to do with the darkness? He just...couldn't get a read on him.
"Jaune?" "Uhhh..." "You okay?"
Jaune snapped out of his reverie as he heard Sora, Donald, and Goofy call out to him. The leader of Team JNPR cleared his throat and answered, "Oh, uh...yeah. Just...wondering about something."
"Well put it aside and keep yourself focused on the battle, you dunderhead." The sound of Weiss's voice caught his attention, causing Jaune to IMMEDIATELY snap to attention now that he realized Ruby tagged out for her.
"R-Right, Weiss!" he said, trying to show himself off in a much more dignified, noble manner...only to look overly stiff in the process. Weiss could only sigh while Sora, Donald, and Goofy snickered lightly. This cup was certainly turning out to be an eventful one so far. And it wasn't over yet.