Kingdom Hearts: The Dalmatian Bodyguard

Chapter 16: Strength in Honor

Sora and the others walked out in frustration. They had the skills to participate but Phil wouldn't let them.

?: Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?

Everyone turned around a blue skin man leaning against a pillar. He wore a black tunic and his hair was actually blue fire. This was Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

Donald: Who are you?

Dolly kept her hand near Yubashiri.

Hades: Easy, now. I just wanna talk, doggy girl. (Seeing Dolly's surprised face) Yes, I know what you really are. Let me guess. You all want to enter the games, right?

Hades placed a hand on Sora's right shoulder, which made Dolly grab one of Stone's blasters and point it at Hades.

Hades: Easy, I got a present.

Hades conjured up a pass for the tournament.

Sora: A pass?

Sora signaled Dolly to stand down and Stone took his blaster back.

Hades: It's all yours. Good luck, kid. (Leaving) I'm pulling for you six.

Sora and friend ran inside.

Phil: Look, I told you kids… (As Sora gave him the pass) Hey, how'd you get this?

Sora: Can we enter the games now?

Phil: (Clearly seeing it wasn't a fake) I guess so. We start with the preliminaries.

Sora: Alright, let's go.

Phil: Be careful. Some weirdo is mopping up the competition. Better watch yourselves.

Phil led Hawk Squadron to a large arena where hundreds of people were cheering. In the arena were all sorts of warriors fighting Heartless in a free-for-all, but the Heartless soon were winning.

Dolly: (Drawing Yubashiri) Come on! They need some experts down there!

Dolly rushed into the arena, followed by Donald and Sparky. The others soon followed and jumped in. One fighter braced for a strike from a Soldier but Dolly stabbed the Heartless just in time.

Fighter: (As Dolly helped him up) Thank you.

Dolly: Don't mention it.

Sora and Sparky helped out two more fighters as the Heartless dogpiled on them. Hawk Squadron kept fighting the Heartless to save their competition. The crowd cheered at the Squad's good sportsmanship on saving their competition.

Phil: (Impressed) They're not strong but they have heart. Zeus knows you can't teach that.

Dolly and Sora saw the Heartless swarming over someone.

Sora: (Rushing over) Hold on!

Suddenly, the Heartless were flung all over and destroyed. Getting to his feet was an incredibly strong man with brown tunic armor and natural red hair. This was Hercules.

Sora: (As he and Dolly ran up to him with his sword) You okay?

Hercules: Yeah. (As Dolly gave him his sword back) Thanks. Don't think I'll go easy on either of you when the competition starts.

Dolly: (Smug) Don't want you to. Fair and square or not at all.

Sora and Dolly got back to the others. On another side of the arena was a man dressed in a soldier's armor and had spiky blonde hair swinging a huge sword with wrapping on it. This was Cloud.

Phil: (Taking note of Cloud's skills) He'll be tough but not impossible to beat.

Sora and friends saved the last of the competition as the Heartless vanished. The crowd cheered at their spirit. All the fighters looked at Hawk Squadron and felt good to have fair competitors.

Phil: (Annoucing to the crowd) The next round will be one-on-one fights. Pairing will be at random. So rest up and be patient.

As the competition got ready, they left to give Hawk Squadron some privacy.

Stone: (To his friends) Random pairings means we could be fighting each other.

Sparky said he didn't want to fight his friends.

Sora: I don't like it either… But we didn't fight all those Heartless just quit at the thought of fighting each other.

Goofy: Does that mean we'll have to hurt each other?

Dolly: No… We pull our punches and make sure not to use our weapons at full strength.

The competition soon started. Each fighter the Squad fought gave every ounce of their strength, but they all lost fairly to them. As the semifinals were close, Hades spoke with Cloud.

Hades: That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out.

Cloud was uninterested in hurting Sora or his friends.

Cloud: The great God of the Underworld is afraid of a kid? (Uninterested) Sorry, but my contract says…

Hades: (Frustrated) I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in the tournament. (As Phil talked with the Squad) But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on. (Calming down) Hey, it's like that old goat said: Rule #11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?

But Cloud saw the Squad fight without killing their opponents and respected them. Cloud walked away, considering breaking his contract.

Hades: Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. (Looking at his Plan B) Still, suckers like him are hard to come by… (Growling in the background) Wonder if that Keyblade Master, Terra, is still around.

Sora walked into the arena as Cloud walked in.

Sora: Hey… (Summoning Jungle King) Good luck.

Cloud stood ready and so did Sora. The pair clashed hard and fast. Both fought hard with every ounce of strength they had. It took all Dolly's restraint not to rush into the match and protect Sora. Cloud knocked Sora to the ground. Hades grew excited as he thought Cloud would finish off Sora. Instead, Cloud stabbed the ground next to him.

Cloud: I FORIET THE MATCH!

Hades burned in rage that Cloud went back on their contract. Cloud helped Sora up.

Hades: Fine… (Snapping fingers) Plan B it is.

Suddenly, a giant three-headed rottweiler came. This was Cerberus. The crowd ran for their lives as Cerberus was about to chomp Sora, but Hercules came and held the Kaiju Canine back.

Phil: Herc!

Hercules: Phil, get them out of here!

Reluctantly, Sora ran as the others fled towards the entrance.