Kingdom Hearts: Knights & Dragons

Chapter 4: The Sport of Champions

Sora put some ground meat into dog bowls before calling out, "Lunch time, little guys!" And skittering around the corner into the kitchen were the first of the Dalmatian puppies the group had found. Yipping and barking happily, the puppies wolfed down the ground up meat like starving wolves. Sora smiled as he also set down a bowl of clean water for the puppies to have with their meal.

Felicia walked into the room and smiled as she saw Sora interacting with the puppies. "How are they doing?" the platinum-haired thief asked the Keyblade wielder.

"They're great! Just fed them," replied Sora with a smile.

"Well, if they make a mess on the ship, you're gonna have to clean it up," Felicia then reminded him.

"I know, I know," Sora muttered. "So, how's everything on the ship? Have we reached another world yet?" he asked.

"We're on auto-pilot for the moment, but the system will alert us when we come to the next world," said Felicia as she sat down at the dining table and languished in her seat. "Right now, I'm starving!" she complained.

"Well, let's see what we got in the fridge," Sora said as he examined the contents of the refrigerator. "We don't have the biggest selection," he muttered dryly.

"Well, we didn't have a lot of money to spend when we first got to Traverse Town," Felicia stated. "But give how these Heartless drop munny when we kill them, we should have enough to buy more supplies," she said optimistically.

"Let's hope so," Sora agreed. "Still, I can work with what we got," he said confidently.

"Oh, yeah? Fancy yourself a chef?" Felicia quipped in amusement.

"I helped Mom in the kitchen a lot, since it was just me and her," Sora said modestly as he took out some cuts of meat and fresh vegetables from the refrigerator, setting them on the galley bench.

"So, it was just you and your mom? No-one else?" Felicia asked.

Sora got very quiet at this point which Felicia noted. She guessed she must've hit a sensitive topic and quickly said, "Forget it. Not my business to ask." Standing to her feet, Felicia then moved to help Sora make an evening meal for everyone. Together, they prepared a simple meal of grilled steaks and vegetables and called for Triss and Aegon to join them for dinner.

The knight and the sorceress soon joined them and they all ate in companionable silence. "This is very good," Aegon stated in satisfaction as he ate a forkful of grilled steak. "Who cooked?" he asked.

"Sora did," Felicia informed. Aegon raised an eyebrow at this, looking at Sora and said to him, "Well, if you weren't chosen by the Keyblade, you could make a good living as a cook as this is perhaps the best steak I've eaten."

"What would you usually eat?" Sora asked.

"Well, growing up in Essos, I was exposed to many dishes along the rivers of Essos. Mostly stews, fresh fish and such. By far, my favourite food was candied ginger," Aegon said with a nostalgic smile.

"Candied ginger? What did it taste like?" Sora asked.

"It was… spicy, sweet and chewy," replied Aegon. "It was ginger root that had been peeled, soused in syrup then rolled in sugar," he explained. "It was my favourite treat to have," he said with a chuckle. "One time, we received a box of candied ginger, and I ate it all in one sitting; I spent the next few hours heaving my guts over the side of the boat. Heh, Lord Jon wasn't happy about that."

"So, what are some of the foods you guys like to eat?" Sora asked the others.

"Well, I do like eating the finer things in life," Felicia said with a sly grin. "Caviar, champagne, all the good stuff," she added.

"What about you?" Sora asked looking at Triss.

"Oh, all kinds of game meat like boar, pheasant or venison. Provided it's cooked by a professional chef. I also like seafood, and sweets from time to time," Triss replied. "I also enjoy a good glass of red wine, in good company, but it all depends on my mood and the season in general," she said. "I miss my college days where friends and I would frequent some of the taverns near the Academy and one time we tried casting spells when drunk," she added with a giggle.

"What happened? Did you turn anyone into a newt?" Aegon jested.

"No, but a friend has a wisp of green hair that she can't get rid of to this day," Triss ashamedly admitted with a laugh.

"Well, let's keep any wine or alcohol in general away from you then," Felicia stated humorously to Triss who nodded in agreement.

As they ate and conversed, there came a loud beeping and automated voice called out, "Another world approaching."

Felicia wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood to her feet saying, "Better see what kind of world it is." The thief then left the room for the cockpit leaving the others to clean up the kitchen. After washing all the dishes, drying and then putting them away, the others joined Felicia in the cockpit.

"What world have we arrived at?" Triss asked Felicia who replied, "Not totally sure. It vaguely looks like ancient Greece."

"Looks there's some kind of coliseum as well," Aegon remarked as they viewed the world they had arrived at.

"Well, in any case, it has to better than the last world we left," Triss stated.

"Don't worry. I've got a god feeling about this one," Sora said with a grin.

Parking the gummi ship nearby and disembarking, the four walked onto the sandy grounds of the coliseum. Aegon looked at their surroundings with a slightly nostalgic air. "Reminds me of home a little," he remarked.

"Really? How so?" Felicia asked.

"Well, along Slaver's Bay, there are numerous fight pits where gladiator slaves would fight each other or wild animals," said Aegon. "Never been to one myself, but looking at this, I feel as though we are in a fight pit of some kind," he added.

"Well, this should be something, then," Triss said dryly as they entered what looked like a reception area. The interior of the reception was lit by burning lamps and braziers, and cracks were visible in the stone flooring. And standing on a pedestal was a short sylvan putting up a sign on the wall.

"A sylvan?" Triss said to herself in surprise.

"You know what that creature is?" Aegon asked the sorceress who nodded. "Mhm. Relict creatures who are related to the Aen Seidhe, born of the Elder Blood. They're greedy and gluttonous, but they can be helpful, at times," she explained.

"Wonder what this is doing here?" Felicia mused as Sora approached the sylvan.

"Um…?" Sora was about to ask a question when the Sylvan heard him and without even looking, said, "Good timing. Gimme a hand, would ya? Move that pedestal over there." It gestured to a large stone pedestal in the corner of the lobby. "I gotta spruce this place up for the games!"

Unsure of how to respond, Sora shrugged and immediately set about trying to move the pedestal. Emphasis on 'trying to'. Sora put all his weight against the pedestal and tried to make it budge from its spot. Sora's face went pink with exertion as he pushed against the heavy stone.

"Need a hand?" Aegon asked him helpfully.

"It's okay! I got it!" Sora replied as sweat began pouring off his brow. Aegon shrugged and remarked, "If you're sure."

Sora kept trying and Felicia said to him, "You sure you don't want some help? That thing looks like it weighs a ton!"

"No… thanks!" Sora panted as he tried and failed to push the pedestal from its spot.

"Oh, for goodness' sake! He can't move that thing! It's way too heavy!" Triss said to the Sylvan who stiffened up at this.

"What? Too heavy?!" it parroted as it turned around to face the group. "Since when have you been such a little…?" the sylvan stopped dead upon seeing Triss and a lecherous grin broke out across its face. "Hello, beautiful! Where have you been all my life?" it asked crassly.

Triss looked at the lecherous sylvan with a faint look of disgust and said, "Mind telling my friend here to stop?" She jerked her thumb over at Sora and the sylvan looked over at Sora with a look of surprise.

"Oh, wrong guy. Stop before ya hurt yourself, kid!"

Sora slid down against the pedestal onto the floor, panting and blowing hard for breath. Aegon and Felicia then helped the Keyblade's chosen to his feet with the latter passing him a bottle of water. The sylvan hopped down from the pedestal and asked, "What're ya doin' here? This here's the world-famous Coliseum! Heroes only! And I've got my hands full preparing for the games. So, run along, pipsqueaks!"

"Pipsqueaks? Pip. Squeaks?" Aegon had an affronted look at the remark.

The sylvan sighed, putting its hands to its chubby waist and explained, "Look, it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum!"

"You have heroes before you," Aegon said proudly.

"Not in the hero business, myself, but the kid here is one," Felicia chimed in putting a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Hero? That little runt?!" the sylvan slapped its belly and howled with laughter.

"What's so funny?! I've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora boasted.

The sylvan got its laughter under control and walked over to the large stone pedestal saying, "Hey, if you can't move this pedestal!" it said as it made its own attempt to move it, but sadly it couldn't which made everyone crack a grin. "You can't… call yourself… a hero!" Falling down to the floor panting for breath, the sylvan looked at the group, standing to its cloven feet.

"Okay, so it takes more than brawn," it admitted gruffly. "Well, let's see what you can do then. What're your names?" it asked.

"I'm Sora. This is Triss, Aegon and Felicia," replied Sora.

The sylvan nodded and gave his own name. "Name's Philocetes. Call me Phil for short," he said. "Now, these trials are tough. You all got what it takes?" he asked.

"Ready when you are," Aegon said with a confident smirk.

"Okay, let's see what you kids can do."

In the training area of the Coliseum, the four heroes had to go through each trial Phil had set up alone. Each member of the group passed each trial and after the last trial, they met back up with Phil who was stroking his goatee thoughtfully.

"Y'know, you kids ain't half bad," he remarked.

Sora had a large grin on his face as he put his hands behind his head and crowed, "Looks like we're headed for the games!"

"Afraid not!"

This started everyone and they looked at Phil in shock and betrayal. Triss yelled out, "Why not!?"

"Two words! You guys ain't heroes! Not even you, Red!" Phil replied sternly.

Felicia complained, "Aw, that is bogus!"

Aegon who counted Phil's words spoke up, "That was four words! Not two!"

Phil looked at Sora and said to him, "Wanna become a real hero? Try mastering this spell!" The sylvan waved a hand at Sora and a golden yellow glow surrounded the Keyblade wielder.

"A new spell?" Felicia asked Sora who nodded in confirmation.

"At least one good thing came out of this," Aegon said with a narrow glare at Phil. "Come, we're wasting our time here," he declared as he strode out of the lobby with his friends following after him

"Nerve of that goat!" Aegon muttered sourly. "Where does he get off deciding who is or isn't a hero?" he aired angrily.

"It doesn't matter right now," Triss said to the knight placatingly who turned around to snap out a retort when a voice cut him off.

"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't ya say?" Everyone turned their heads to see a tall man with grey skin, blue flames for hair and wearing a black toga.

"Who or what are you?" Felicia asked guardedly as she sized up the stranger.

"Whoa, hold on there, kiddies. Wait, lemme guess? You wanna enter the games, right?" the stranger asked them walking over to stand by Sora. "Well, then, hey, get a load of this." In a spindly grey hand, a roll or parchment appeared with what looked like an official wax seal.

"A pass?" Sora exclaimed in surprise and the stranger smiled widely showing twin rows of fanged yellow teeth.

"It's all yours," he told the heroes. "It should let you in the games whether the old goat likes it or not," he said.

"What's the catch?" Triss asked warily, wondering if this was some sort of confidence trickery scheme.

The stranger threw up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Geez, what's with the mistrust?" he said innocently. "Look, I'm giving you this pass, no strings attached. Promise!" The yellowed fangs in his smile didn't do anything to ease Triss's caution.

Walking away the stranger said to them, "Good luck, kiddos. I'm pulling for you."

"Strange man," Aegon remarked as the stranger walked off into the distance.

"This has to be a trap of some kind," Triss cautioned.

"Yeah, I know a con when I see one," Felicia commented with an cautious look.

"So, we don't go?" Sora asked.

"Even if it is a trap of some kind, we won't know unless we go in," Aegon stated.

"Alright. We enter the games, but we keep an eye out for any kind of trick," Triss said looking at her friends. "Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Phil was rather sceptical upon being handed the pass by Sora and his friends. His eyes scanned the document carefully trying to find some kind of forgery and he asked, "How did you get this?"

"Can we enter the games?" Sora asked bypassing Phil's question.

With a slightly disgruntled look upon seeing the entry pass was the real thing, Phil replied, "I guess so. We start with the preliminaries. Some real weirdos signed up for the games, so watch yourselves!"

The four heroes entered the arena where they found no opponent waiting for them. Aegon looked around with an annoyed look and said, "Is this kind of joke? Where are they?"

"Maybe we scared 'em off?" Felicia quipped and as soon as she said that, Heartless appeared in the arena. "Oh! Never mind then!"

"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed as he readied his Keyblade.

"You were right! This was a trap!" Aegon said to Triss as he readied his sword and shield.

Triss readied a fireball in her hands and replied, "No, there's more going on here!"

"Doesn't matter," Felicia declared. "Let's carve 'em up!" she cried out as the claws in her gloves sprung forth.

Wave upon of Heartless came after the heroes in the arena, each wave falling to Sora's Keyblade, Aegon's sword, Felicia's claws or Triss's magic. The observing crowd all cheered as the Heartless were destroyed by the four heroes. Taking a rest between the matches, Phil met up with them and said, "You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doin' too bad out there. Lucky you came to me for coaching!" he boasted smugly.

"We would've been fine without him," Aegon whispered so that only his friends heard him. Then walking past the group was a tall young man with spiky blonde hair, wearing a tattered deep red cloak and a beaten-up soldier's uniform. Sora stared at the soldier who stared back at him through spiky locks of hair, his heavy combat boots digging into the sound with a crunch with each step.

Phil who had noticed the soldier stroked his goatee saying, "Something tells me he'll be tough to beat. Who knows, you might end up facing him next!"

"Actually, he's our next opponent," Triss suddenly said looking at the board of contestants. "His name's Cloud Strife," she informed everyone.

"You're better than I thought!" Phil said with some surprise. "Wish he was here to see this," he added thoughtfully.

"He? He who?" Aegon asked.

"Hercules. He's a hero if there ever was one," replied Phil. "Too bad he's visiting his father at the moment," he said a shrug..

Meanwhile, in the darkness under the stands, the grey-skinned man who had given Sora and his friends the entry pass into the games, Hades, was speaking with Cloud Strife. "Those little punks are your next opponent, okay?" the God of the Underworld informed the soldier. "Now, don't blow it! Just take 'em out!" he ordered.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at this request and said, "The Lord of the Underworld is afraid of a bunch of kids?" he asked. With a huff, the soldier said, "Sorry, but my contract says…"

"I know! You think I don't know!? I wrote the contract!" Hades snapped out, his skin and the flames on his head turning a fiery red for a brief moment before he calmed himself down. "Look, I know it says that you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But, you gotta get through those kids to get to him. Hey, c'mon, it's like the goat says; Rule 11: It's all a game, so let loose and have fun, eh? I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" he said.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at the God, before standing to his feet and walked away. Hades smirked as the soldier walked away. "Geez, stiffer than the stiffs back home," he remarked. "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by." Then silently stalking into view was a tall muscular man; he had dark hair that was shoved on both sides of his scalp. He wore a an assortment of leather and furs taken from various animals with a leather vest that had a dark fur lining on the collar. Numerous animal skulls, bones and teeth hung from his hips, shoulders and neck like some kind of crude armour. A neatly trimmed beard was on the man's iron jaw as Hades looked at him and asked, "So, is our contingency in place, Kraven, ol' boy?"

Kraven the Hunter folded his arms over his broad heavy chest and replied, "Yes, your beast is ready." In the darkness behind Kraven, the snarls of a large beast could be heard. Kraven looked at Hades and said, "I hope for your sake, Lord Hades, that these… children can give me a decent challenge. I do not want what time I have left being wasted!" He let the implied threat hang in there to which Hades grinned disarmingly at.

"Not to worry, great white hunter, Hercules at least will ya a challenge," the god said placatingly when another voice was heard.

"Belay that!" And marching into view was a squad of white armoured soldiers led by one in chrome armour with a long black cape about her shoulders.

"Phasma?" Hades remarked in surprise before looking at Kraven and asked him, "Is she with you?"

"I did not ask nor summon her here," Kraven replied gruffly with a slightly disdainful look at Phasma.

Hades then glared at Phasma and asked, "Okay, what's the deal here? I don't like anyone trying to muscle in on my turf!"

"I'm here on behalf of the First Order," Phasma said imperiously. "Lord Kylo wishes for the boy with the Keyblade to be taken alive," she added.

"Ugh, that kid has got serious daddy issues," Hades muttered before asking, "So, what does Edgelord want with the kid?"

"That's classified," Phasma said coldly.

Hades sighed and said, "Okay, even if I were okay with this, you'd still have to clear it with Maleficent…"

"Lady Maleficent has already agreed to this," Phasma informed the god who sighed heavily looking very put upon.

"Ugh, fine! You can join the show, but if ya see Jerkules, shoot to kill!"

Phasma looked at her troops and issued her orders, "Men. On me!"

Sora and his friends entered the arena where Cloud Strife waited for them. For armaments, Cloud wielded an almost comically large broadsword with a single edged triangular blade that was oddly wrapped in bandages. Felicia, always quick with a quip, asked her friends with a chuckle, "You think he's compensating for something?"

"What would he be compensating for?" Sora asked innocently the innuendo in Felicia's joke missing him completely.

Being of a more mature mindset, Triss said, "We'll tell you when you're older." Readying a fireball in her hands, the sorceress added, "Take him down!" Casting the ball of arcane fire at the soldier, Triss was slightly dismayed to see Cloud swat it aside with the flat of his buster sword.

"That the best you can do?" the soldier asked dryly.

"Try me then!" Aegon shouted as he charged forward with his own sword, hoping to the comparatively smaller size of his to his advantage. Using a half-sword technique Rolly had taught him, Aegon thrust the tip of Blackfyre at Cloud's chest. Using the hilt of his buster sword, Cloud blocked the strike and the resulting backlash sent Aegon reeling backwards. Felicia smoothly frog-leaped over Aegon and launched a kick at Cloud who avoided the blow. Sora flanked the soldier, hoping that his friends could distract the man long enough for him to get a decent hit in.

But Cloud's senses were too keen and he lazily swung his sword at Sora who barely avoided the strike. The wind whistled as the blade cut through the air. Triss launched a trio of fireballs at Cloud who sidestepped the fireballs, each magical projectile hitting the sandy floor, kicking up clouds of dust. Momentarily blinded, Cloud looked around for where his foes had gone. Then launching out the dust came Aegon with a series of strikes from his Valyrian blade. The edges of Aegon and Cloud's sword grinded against it with the former attempting to overpower the latter. With a huff, Cloud pushed down lightly, forcing Aegon down to one knee with a cry of surprise.

Then from above, Felicia launched herself at Cloud and landed a kick to the soldier's shoulder making him grunt momentarily. Sora attacked Cloud from behind with a Blizzard spell, "Deep freeze!" a short cone of ice crystals splashed against Cloud's back. Kicking Aegon back with his boot, Cloud spun on his foot smoothly and thrust towards the Keyblade's Chosen in a near blinding burst of speed, the single edged tip of his buster sword thrust out like a spear. Sora barely managed to block it in time and was sent flying back.

Felicia then somersaulted at Cloud and swiped her claws at the soldier who deflected the swipes with the flat of his sword. Felicia's green eyes briefly met Cloud's own green eyes then with a sudden burst out, wisps of darkness and lightning flared out from the soldier and a large demonic wing sprouted out from his left shoulder.

Having seen this, Triss exclaimed, "He's made a deal with darkness!"

"All the more reason to take him down!" Aegon shouted as he surged towards the soldier, intent on ending the man's life before he could kill them.

As Aegon clashed swords with Cloud, Felicia observed the way the soldier fought. Having been in the business of the shady criminal underworld of her world, Felicia had met many hardened mercenaries and contract-killers. She had learnt to tell the ruthless amoral killers apart from the ones whose hearts weren't in it. And from the way Cloud was fighting, he could've ended them all whenever he wanted but was refraining from doing. Setting her mouth firmly, Felicia strode towards Cloud who knocked Aegon and Sora back onto their backsides.

"Felicia? What are you doing?! He'll kill you!" Aegon shouted in warning to the cat burgular who replied with, "No, he won't. He's a soldier, not a murderer." Looking at Cloud who raised his sword at her, Felicia said, "I'm right, aren't I?"

Cloud stared a the platinum haired thief for a moment before lowering his sword with a tired sigh. "No. I won't kill any of you. What I want isn't worth that," he said sombrely.

Sora and Aegon were helped to their feet by Felicia and Triss. Sora seemed ready to ask Cloud something when a massive black clawed paw smashed down onto Cloud, pinning him to the sandy floor. When the dust settled, the heroes gaped in shock as a massive three-headed dog with burning red eyes and midnight black fur glared at them angrily, growling and baring its giant fangs.

"That's one big dog!" Aegon remarked faintly.

From beneath the stands, Hades smirked as he remarked, "Oh, yeah, there was one other rule I forgot; Accidents happen." With a dark chuckle, the God of the Underworld stalked off into the darkness.

Then standing on the giant three-headed dog's back was Kraven the Hunter who Felicia recognised immediately. "Kraven?! What are you doing here?!" she blurted out in surprise and confusion.

"What else, Hardy? The thrill of the hunt!" Kraven growled before Cerberus to attack. The guardian hound of the Underworld reared up on its hind legs and prepared to smash down onto the heroes when something stopped it in its tracks. Everyone saw a muscular young man wearing Greek hoplite armour pushing back against Cerberus.

"Herc!" Phil cried out in relief.

Hercules looked at Phil and shouted to him, "Phil! Get everyone out of here! I saw stormtroopers here as well!"

"Pull back!" Aegon urged his friends. "We need to regroup and re-strategize!" he said urgently.

"Yeah, we're in no shape to take that thing on!" Triss agreed as they hurried back into Lobby with Phil who was in a panic.

"Whew! That was close!" the sylvan said through his panting. "That was Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld," he informed Sora and his friends. "Herc should be able to handle him. But then, maybe not, especially with that Kraven guy and the First Order backing him up," he muttered. "I hope he's okay. Wish I could go in!"

"First Order? Do you want to explain?" Aegon asked as he downed a potion to heal his injuries.

"Well, you're lucky if your world hasn't met them yet," Phil told the knight. "The First Order is an autocratic military dictatorship that's been taking over everything since the Empire fell. This is seriously bad! I never thought I'd see them here!" he lamented.

Having recovered his stamina, Sora stood to his feet and summoned his Keyblade. "I'm going back in! Who's with me?" he asked everyone.

Aegon, Triss and Felicia all nodded and stood to their feet, preparing to head back into the arena to back Hercules up against Cerberus and the First Order. Phil quickly stopped with a question.

"Are you kids sure you wanna go back in there? This ain't no game anymore! This is for real!"

"We're not afraid," Sora said bravely. "You can decide whether we're heroes or not, but we're going in!" he declared.

Phil sighed at this before nodding at them. "Okay, just be careful in there!" he advised them.

Hercules had an unconscious Cloud Strife slung over his shoulder in a fireman carry as Cerberus stalked towards him as Phasma and her stormtroopers readied their blasters.

"Prepare to fire!" Phasma called out to her troops.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" shouted Sora and Cerberus turned his three heads to see the Keyblade's Chosen and his companions standing at the other end of the arena. Kraven allowed himself a small smile.

"Finally! I was getting bored," the big game hunter remarked.

The attention taken off from him, Hercules ran towards the Lobby with Cloud over his shoulder, running past Phil who shouted to Sora, "Kid, I got two words of advice for ya: Attack!"

"Take the boy alive! Terminate the others!" Phasma ordered. The stormtroopers all fired on Sora and his friends who took cover behind some of the ruined pillars of the arena.

"Do we have a plan?!" Felicia shouted to her friends.

"We do!" Aegon hollered back. "Triss, cast some fireballs at the ground near the troopers! Then, you, Sora and Felicia take care of those soldiers and Cerberus!" he said to the sorceress.

"What will you be doing?!" Triss asked the knight in some confusion.

"I'll be going for the leader!" Aegon said determinedly. "Get ready!"

Phasma and her soldiers advanced to where the heroes were taking shelter. Then Triss flung fireballs at the ground near the troopers. Clouds of sand and dust were kicked up by the explosion, blinding Phasma and her men. Thankfully the air filters in their helmets prevented any dust and sand particles from getting inside, but their vision was blinded by the roiling clouds of dust.

"Stay together!" Phasma barked at her troops. Then one of the troopers was snatched into the dust with a yelp of alarm. A nearby trooper fired his blaster wildly at the spot where his comrade been taken. Then a grapnel line wrapped around the soldier's throat, causing him to choke as he was yanked backwards into the dust cloud. Two stormtroopers ventured into the sandy dust; there were some shouts and the flashes & sounds of blaster being fired before silence.

"Does anyone have a visual!? Anyone at all?!" Phasma yelled. Feeling the presence of someone behind her, Phasma switched to her quicksilver baton, extending it to full length and spun around to block a strike from a dark smoky blade of a Valyrian steel sword.

"Not bad," Aegon complimented his foe before launching a series of strikes. Phasma skilfully blocked the strikes before thrusting with the field shaped point of her baton. Aego leaned to the side, the field point barely scraping his armour before chambering a kick to Phasma's side. Phasma turned with the kick, spinning around and rapidly thrusting with her weapon. Aegon parried each strike before going into a blade lock with Phasma, her expression hidden by her chrome helmet.

"You fight well. Give us the boy and you may join our ranks!" she offered.

"No thanks. Sora's with us," Aegon replied with a grin before pushing the First Order captain off him with a kick to her midriff.

Meanwhile, Sora and the others had taken care of the First Order troopers having used the dust cloud to take them down one at a time. Now they were up against Kraven and Cerberus. Kraven had armed himself with an ikwla spear and shield, albeit a more technologically advanced version of them and leapt down from Cerberus's back.

"I'm hoping you will give me a challenge, make this interesting at least," the hunter drawled tiredly as he hefted his spear and shield in his hands.

"Sora? Triss? Leave Kraven to me," Felicia told her two companions. "I've got this!" she said with a smirk.

"Go for it, Felicia!" Sora encouraged her as he and Triss moved to take down Cerberus.

"So, before I claw your eyes out, mind telling why you're doing this, Sergei?" Felicia asked the hunter using his real name. "You've never been one for mercenary work," she pointed out.

"You know me, Black Cat. It is the thrill of the hunt that sates me rather than money," Kraven replied using Felicia's moniker. "And this shall be my last great hunt!" he declared.

"Then I hope you're ready for a merry chase then!" Felicia spat as her gloves claws sprung out and Kraven surged towards her with his spear and shield.

Triss flung spells at Cerberus, the magical balls of flame splashing against Cerberus' black fur, barely singing it. Sora slashed at Cerberus's head with his Keyblade, the beast roaring in anger as the Keyblade did some damage to it. Remembering the tactic they used against the Trickmaster Heartless in Wonderland, Triss shouted to Sora, "Sora! Remember that trick we tried?!"

"Yeah! Why?!" Sora asked as he blocked a snap from Cerberus's jaws.

"Wanna try it again?"

"You bet!"

Triss quickly conjured a portal and Sora leapt into it and appeared above Cerberus's head, using his momentum to slash into the Guardian's middle head. But the middle head caught Sora in its jaws. "Whoa!" Sora cried out in alarm. Acting quickly, Triss hit the middle head of Cerberus, locking its jaws in place before they could fully close down on Sora. The Keyblade's Chosen quickly got out of Cerberus's mouth but stay on its back and hit for all his worth with his Keyblade.

Then Cerberus's other two heads, roared and spat out a large fireball of darkness at Triss who quickly conjured a shield to block it. The shield held, but the force knocked Triss back.

"Triss!" Sora leapt off Cerberus's back and hurried over to the downed sorceress. "Are you alright?!" he asked in worry.

"Peachy," Triss grumbled in response before looking up to see Cerberus rearing on his hind legs to slam down onto with his front paws. "Look out!" Triss shouted and Sora raised a hand instinctively as Cerberus' paws slammed down onto them, only to be stopped by some invisible forcefield.

"What? How did you do that?!" Triss asked looking at Sora whose eyes with glowing blue light. With a thrust of his hand, Sora thrust Cerberus back who reeled back, falling over onto his back. His eyes glowing with that strange blue light, Sora gave a wordless gesture at Cerberus whose eyes now glowed with a similar light and looked towards where Kraven was fighting Black Cat.

Kraven swung his ikwla at Black Cat, shouting at her, "Where is your fire, Hardy?! The will to live!? Give me a worthy challenge!" he demanded.

"Musta left it in my other suit," Felicia muttered as she avoided a thrust from Kraven's spear, before lashing out with her grapnel line like a whip, the hook latching onto Kraven's shield. Without missing a beat, Kraven pressed a hidden button on the grip of his shield and the surface was suddenly charged electricity and the current surged down the grapnel line towards Black Cat who hurriedly cut the line before the amps could reach her.

"Imagine my disappointment in you, Hardy," Kraven growled menacingly as hefted his spear. "After I've killed you, I'm hoping your friends will give me more of a challenge than the pitiful one you've given me!" he threatened when Cerberus charged towards him with a roar. The Russian-born big game hunter leapt out of the way, looking at Cerberus in surprise. "Stupid mutt! What are you doing?!" the hunter asked the giant hound who did not heed his query and chased after him. Cursing at the sudden turn of events, Kraven had to focus his attention on Cerberus.

Wondering what caused Cerberus to attack Kraven, Felicia looked to see Sora with his hand raised at Cerberus. Running over, Felicia waved her hand in front of Sora's face. "Sora? Sora!" Getting no response, Black Cat looked at Triss who also seemed perplexed by the power Sora was using. "What's happening to him?" the platinum-haired thief asked the red haired sorceress.

"I'm not sure. But whatever Sora's doing, it's turned Cerberus into an ally," Triss surmised. Then Sora suddenly collapsed to the ground with Felicia quickly catching him. "Looks like it took a lot out of him," the platinum haired burglar remarked as Sora was now unconscious in her arms.

Meanwhile, Aegon and Phasma were still locked in combat, both circling each other. Some scratches and holes were in Aegon's armour, but he was otherwise unharmed. Phasma's armour also had some damage to it. "Your skills are, admittedly, impressive. I'm impressed you've kept up with me," the First Order captain grudgingly complimented.

"I had good teachers," Aegon said modestly with a thin smile as he kept his sword ready.

"Then you should join us. Hand over the boy, and you'll be richly rewarded," Phasma tempted with an offer of power.

"No thanks. I'm fine where I am," Aegon retorted.

"A pity. You'd have done well in the First Order," Phasma stated when one of her soldiers was flung into her. Growling in annoyance, Phasma saw her men were being routed by Cerberus who had a struggling Kraven in one of his mouths. "All units, retreat!" Phasma ordered and a portal of darkness opened and the First Order stormtroopers beat a hasty retreat. Phasma looked at Aegon and promised, "This isn't over!" With that said, Phasma left via the portal.

Once Phasma and her soldiers were gone, Aegon slumped over with a tired sigh, resting the point of his sword down in the dirt. Looking over at his friends, Aegon wiped his sword clean and sheathed it. "What happened? Why did Cerberus attack Kraven and the First Order?" were his questions.

"Sora did… something to take control of Cerberus," Triss replied. "I've not seen anything like it, and I've seen plenty of forms of magic," she said knowingly as Cerberus strode away with Kraven in his mouth. Sora then woke up with a groggy groan.

"Augh, what happened?" the Keyblade's Chosen asked in a tired voice. "Did we win?"

"Yeah, I guess we did," Felicia told him with a grin.

Phil who had re-entered the arena looked around in shock. "Two words: What just happened?!" he asked.

In the lobby, Phil was reading aloud from a papyrus with Hercules standing beside. Sora and his friends stood before the two.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee 'junior heroes' and confer full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Furthermore…" Phil announced when Aegon cut him off with an indignant, "Oi! What do you mean junior heroes?!" he demanded.

"Sorry, kiddo, but you rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a real hero!" Phil replied.

"And what does it take?" Triss asked with an annoyed look in her eyes.

Hercules smiled and replied, "Well, that's something you'll have to learn for yourself. The same way I did."

"No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games!" Sora promised with a raised fist.

"Not gonna be any games for a while, I'm afraid," Phil gestured to the arena entrance which had a sign over it saying 'Arena closed.' "Gonna be a lot to clean up after that last battle," the sylvan lamented.

"We'll come back later, then," Aegon promised.

Phil nodded in acceptance before fixing Triss and Felicia a lecherous grin and flirted, "Hey, Red, Pussycat? If you two need some rea training, I'll be happy to show ya the ropes."

"Nice try, shorty, but we can train ourselves just fine," Felicia said dryly as she and her friends left the lobby with their new junior hero licenses in possession.

"Bah! Women! Always the same!" Phil grumbled.

Hercules looked at his trainer and said to him, "Phil, I practically had to beg you to train me. Why is it you don't mind training women like Aqua, Triss and Felicia?" he asked.

"Pipe down, will ya? You and them ain't got the same attributes, if ya get my meaning," Phil retorted and Hercules just rolled his eyes at his mentor's lecherous ways. Phil stroke his goatee, muttering, "Still, hard to believe that little squirt took control of Cerberus and took down that Kraven jerk and the First Order…"

Hercules leaned down to whisper into Phil's ear. "Between you and me, I already them down enough for those kids to handle."

Phil looked at his pupil in surprise before grinning. "My lips are sealed," he promised.

Outside the lobby, Sora learned of what he did to Cerberus. "I took control of Cerberus somehow and made him attack Kraven and the First Order?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did," Triss confirmed with a nod. "You don't remember?" she then asked.

Sora shook his head. "Not really. All I remember was Cerberus to smash you and I, the next thing, I woke up you guys telling what I did," he replied.

"Well, whatever you did, it turned the tide in our favour," Aegon said to him. "We can only hope you'll be able to use it again when we need it," he added.

Looking over at the gates, Felicia spotted a familiar figure. "Hey, it's that guy. Cloud, right?"

"What do you think?" Aegon asked his friends. "He was hired to kill us," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but he chose not to," Felicia replied.

"And how did you know that he would not kill us?" Triss asked the burglar.

"Comes with the territory. I've worked with plenty of mercenaries and contract killers. This guy's a soldier, not a murderer," Felicia explained.

"Whoever hired him, whatever they offered him wasn't enough," Sora chimed in. "Maybe we should talk to him and find out why he was hired to kill us?" he suggested.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask," Aegon said with a shrug of his shoulders as they walked up towards Cloud.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sora asked the soldier who looked at him through spiky bangs.

"Yeah," he grunted with a nod of his head.

"Why were you hired to kill us? What did they offer you?" Triss asked Cloud who leaned his head forward pensively and replied, "I'm looking for someone. Hades offered to help." Looking up into the sky, he continued, "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, and it backfired." The soldier stood to his feet and said, "I fell into darkness and I couldn't find the light…"

Sora smiled kindly at Cloud. "You'll find it. I'm searching too," he told him.

"For your light?" Cloud asked looking at Sora who nodded. Moving closer to Sora, the soldier pressed something into his hand and said to him, "Don't lose sight of it." The soldier then walked past Sora and away.

"Hey! How about a rematch sometime?" Sora called out after him. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved!" he offered.

A ghost of a smile was on Cloud's lips as he replied, "I think I'll pass." Despite the dismissal, Sora still smiled as Cloud left.

"Well, I think that concludes our business here," Aegon remarked. "Time to move on, don't you think?" he asked his companions who all nodded.

"Yeah, not much left for us here. Besides, we can always come back," Felicia said with a grin.

As the four heroes left the Coliseum, Hades stood at the gates fuming. In his hand, he held a small living statue of Hercules. "He's strong. He's kind," Hades listed off Hercules attributes as the little statue flexed its muscles. "He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot." The statue folded its arms over its chest and winked charmingly. "He's perfect. Perfect…" Hades growled lowly as his skin began to turn red and the flames on his head grew hotter with his rising temper.

"PERFECTLY INFURIATING! HE DRIVES ME NUTS!"

A small explosion of fire surrounded the God of the Underworld. The smoke settled around Hades as Kraven walked up to him with an annoyed look on his bearded face.

"At least you weren't made a chew toy by your mangy mutt," the hunter groused.

Hades sighed as his flames returned to their normal gas blue hue. "Yeah, what are we worried about? All the pieces are in place," he rationalised. "Here's what I'll do. Let Hercules train those kids and in the next games, I'll take them all out in one swoop."

"Do you need me for anything else?" Kraven asked the god who shook his head.

"Nah, you can take off. Hope you enjoyed yourself a little."

"Admittedly, I had a little fun," Kraven confessed. "I'm now more interested in the boy with the key. Perhaps he can finally give me the challenge I crave!" he stated as he turned around to leave.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Hades muttered before noticing Maleficent watching him. Frowning in annoyance, the god asked her, "Who invited you to the party? Bad enough it was those First Order whackjobs, but I don't need you muscling in on my turf! This is my show!"

Maleficent gave a small smile and replied without a care, "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content."

Hades smirked a little before catching the tone in Maleficent's words, turning to glare at her as she and Kraven left.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Kept you waiting, huh? Sorry about the long hiatus, been busy with real life and other projects, plus lacking the motivation and discipline to sit down and write out another chapter for this story. I hope I delivered and I also hope that you liked that I included Kraven the Hunter in this chapter. If you're curious about which version of Kraven I am using, I'm using the Sony PS5 Spider-Man 2 version of him as the primary inspiration since they made him a legitimate villain to fear that Spider-Man/Peter Parker struggled and even had a hard time against. There'll be some other Marvel characters throughout the story, but there'll also be some Witcher and GoT/ASOIAF characters as well in future/upcoming chapters, so feel free to guess who they might be.

In other news, I've written a DC Comics/GoT/ASOIAF crossover (another one?!) titled A Young Griff's Guide to the DC Universe and I've done the preliminary chapter of how Aegon/Young Griff ends up in the DC Universe, but that's where I left it off as I've setup a voting poll on my profile of which city/region/country Aegon could end up in. For the primary inspiration of the DCU I'm using for the story, I'm drawing inspiration from Roy Westerman and Phil Cho's fan-made and funded Earth 27 Project. So if you have not already, feel free to cast your vote, I would greatly appreciate it.

And that's all I have right now, so I'll see you all next time.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.