Chapter 5 Olympus Coliseum

Who do you think made this special world? And what do you think was necessary to enter it?

I want to see you, Sora. There’s so much I have to tell you. This is all so that you can be ready. The world is full of hurt—the real bugs. What do you think is behind it?

The moment Sora left Mickey’s study, everything was different—the air, the smells, even the colors.

He found himself in another unfamiliar world, just as suddenly as before. He was standing in a place that resembled a plaza, and before him was a huge stone edifice. Was it a temple or something?

Sora.

Normally, it would be Mickey’s voice coming from the air, but not this time.

“Is that…? Riku, is that you?” Sora called excitedly.

He heard a little chuckle from Riku before he asked a question of his own.

How’s it looking?

“So far, things have been pretty quiet.”

As far as Sora could tell from looking about him, there was no sign of any Heartless or anything else out of the ordinary. No blocks here, either.

Well, don’t expect them to stay that way. One of the bugs interfering with the link is in Olympus Coliseum—I’m sure of it. And you know where it’ll be hiding. Find the Keyhole. If my findings are right, that’ll take you to the world’s core. Get rid of whatever’s harming the core, and the rest of the bugs will be purged with it.

“Yep, that’s what me and Mickey figured, too. Okay, be back before you can say ‘bug spray.’” Sora started walking toward the entrance of the stone structure.

Okay, be careful.

As Riku cautioned him, Sora entered the temple. The first thing he saw was a small bearded satyr—Phil—pacing back and forth.

“Ugh, this is a nightmare. What’s taking him so long?”

There they were, in front of Phil. Several of the increasingly familiar blocks had formed a pile that was impossible to get around.

“What’s taking so long?” Sora asked.

“It’s the champ! First these stupid blocks and…and now he’s gone and… And why am I telling this to a squirt like you?” Phil gave Sora the barest of glances and then resumed his pacing.

“First of all, the name’s Sora. Second of all, you’ve gotta tell somebody, right?” Sora retorted, somewhat peevishly.

Squirt? Come on. I mean, I guess I am a kid, but I’m also the only one who can fix these glitches.

Phil gave Sora a long look. “…Hmm.” After a moment of thought, he slowly continued. “Good point. Well, just look around! I got nothin’ against new architecture, but these things gotta go! And you should see the inside. The champ—Hercules—went in to investigate ages ago…”

Phil crossed his arms and didn’t elaborate further.

“What, he hasn’t come back? That’s terrible! I’d better get in there and see what’s up,” Sora urged.

There was no telling what could happen on a world with glitches.

But Phil gave a vehement shake of his head. “No dice, kid. The entrance is blocked… But then, that’s obvious, right? It’d take some kind of hero to get in, but all I see is me and some…kid?”

Without waiting for the satyr to finish, Sora summoned his Keyblade and did away with the blocks in a flash.

“How did…?”

Phil was stunned.

And so was Sora. He had found the Keyhole.

Usually, he only discovered a Keyhole after running willy-nilly and wearing himself out, but this one showed up right off the bat.

What’s more, beyond the Keyhole should be a powerful Heartless—a bug. What exactly was going on with this world? At any rate, this was probably the way into the Coliseum.

“This is the Keyhole. Does it lead into the Coliseum? One way to find out!”

“Look, I dunno if— No, maybe you do have what it takes. The name’s Phil. Just be careful in there. Getting in is one thing, kid. Getting out is another,” Phil said with concern.

Sora replied with a grin. “I’ll be careful, Phil.”

“Just remember the secret to success. Four words: One…victory…at a…time!”

Four words…? That sounded more like five, but whatever.

“Uh… Thanks. Be back in no time.”

Sora then held out his Keyblade toward the Keyhole. The blade’s light shot into the hole, and a door opened where it had once been. Sora charged through it.

Hercules raised his head, noticing something strange.

It felt like someone was there—but maybe it was merely his mind playing tricks on him. He couldn’t imagine many people were capable of making it here.

He had managed to get inside the Coliseum, which was all well and good, but for some reason, it had become a maze where it was impossible to advance without breaking those blocks. What was worse, it was teeming with monsters. This is worse than Phil’s training, Hercules thought with a smirk. “I hope I can find some way to fix the Coliseum…,” he muttered. He punched the wall of blocks in front of him, and it crumbled to reveal a new path.

Okay, time to get moving!

Meanwhile, deep within the labyrinth was a lone, sinister-looking man with sickly, pale-blue skin—Hades, the Lord of the Dead. The blue fire of his hair was even eerier than his complexion.

“Hmph. I guess they’ll let anyone in here,” he muttered, stroking his chin as he noticed Sora in the maze. “Sorry to burst your baklava, kid, but you picked the wrong labyrinth to get lost in. If some hero-shmero can’t find his way out, where’s that put you?”

Hades’s rant continued.

“Now, back to stuff I care about: Hercules! This time, I’m kicking his heroic heinie straight into the Underworld! But, ahem, first I think I’ll watch the pipsqueak squirm a bit. Oh, I’m going to enjoy this…”

Hades vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sora came to a halt as he saw what lay beyond the door. Whatever this was, it didn’t look like a coliseum. In fact, the series of small rooms reminded him more of a maze. The Heartless were everywhere.

This was the first time he had found a world’s Keyhole in the first place he looked and his first time encountering such a complicated labyrinth. The glitch here might be more severe than any of the ones he had faced before.

Finding Hercules fast seemed like the best course of action.

Sora, can you still hear me?

The voice from the air wasn’t Riku’s this time, but Mickey’s.

“Sure can, Mickey! You should see the glitches in here,” Sora replied, stopping in his tracks.

Yep, the bug readings are off the charts. It almost looks like… Gosh, Sora. It looks like the Coliseum’s turned into a labyrinth.

“Then there’s no time to waste. We need to find out what’s causing all this harm,” Sora declared, almost as much to himself as to Mickey.

How strong would the bugs in here need to be to suddenly transform a world into a labyrinth?

I agree, but Sora… This time, the glitches are affecting you, too.

“Then I’ll just have to improvise,” Sora replied with a grin and a thump to his chest.

That was when a Heartless decided to jump him from nearby.

“Whoa!”

Sora swiftly defended himself with his Keyblade, then fell to his knees in exhaustion. The Heartless in this maze were quite strong. Still, he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. Sora stood up and squared off against them.

After observing Sora for a bit, Hades rubbed his chin and groaned softly.

“Hmph, pretty tough for a half-pint.”

It bothered him—the little brat had a special power, and it reminded him of the other kid’s, too. That power… Just who was he? He might be worthless on his own, but Hades got the feeling that might not be the case if he teamed up with Hercules.

What appeared in the back of Hades’s mind as he pondered this was the image of a lone youth. Hades had no idea how he had gotten here, but there might be a use for him.

“Heh-heh…”

Hades chuckled and vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Hmm, dead end.”

Sora had been making his way deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, fighting Heartless every step of the way. He’d searched this last room high and low, but he couldn’t find a new path anywhere even after all the blocks and Heartless were gone.

There was no way forward. All he saw were brown walls.

Maybe I’ll find a new passage if I turn around. Sora was about to double back when he heard a loud noise from behind him.

He turned back to find that the wall blocking the way forward had collapsed, and emerging from the breach was a brawny young man. When Sora imagined a hero, this was the kind of guy who came to mind.

“Whoa! How’d you do that? Let me guess… Hercules?” Sora asked, running up to the young man.

“Um, that’s right. And you are…?” Hercules asked back, mildly confused.

“Finally! I—I mean Sora. It’s about time I found you! Phil asked me to check up on you.”

“Phil sent you in here? I’m not sure whether to say ‘thanks’ or ‘sorry.’ Anyway, nice to meet you, Sora. I guess Phil mentioned I’m the Coliseum champ. I trained with him to become a true hero.” Hercules flashed his white teeth in a smile. “But you have to be pretty tough yourself if you made it this far on your own!”

“Heh-heh! Well, my Keyblade helped,” Sora replied with a grin. He linked his hands behind his head. “So you’re in here working solo, too?”

Hercules frowned. “Yeah. I’m trying to figure out what turned the Coliseum into…this.” He fell into thought.

As he looked up at Hercules, Sora’s expression grew serious, as well. He got the feeling he could talk to a hero about the trouble that had befallen this world. “Me too. Somebody’s trying to harm this world…and I’m pretty sure the culprit’s in here with us,” he explained.

“What do you mean ‘harm’?” Hercules’s expression turned even grimmer.

“The blocks. The maze. Everything funny going on is connected to one villain.”

“I see… But, uh, how do you know that?”

“Oh, err… It’s kind of a long story. Sorry, I can’t really…” Hercules probably wouldn’t understand what “bugs” were. Sora hadn’t even understood at first, and he wasn’t confident he did now. Still, he could make sure Hercules would get the point. “Say, Herc… Any idea who our villain is? Who would want to harm the world?”

Hercules crossed his arms and gave it some thought. “Hmm… Well, one snake definitely slithers to mind,” he responded with a suspicious look. “Hades, Lord of the Dead. He’s gotta be wrapped up in this somehow.”

Just hearing “Lord of the Dead” gave Sora a bad feeling about the guy. “Okay, let’s go pay him a little visit!”

“I guess that’s the fastest way to find out. He’s not around here, I can tell you that much. So, Sora. As long as we’re both in here, what do you say we team up?”

Hercules’s expression softened, and he extended his right hand. As long as they were working toward the same end, fighting as a team would be way better.

“Sure, if you don’t mind!”

Sora grinned and gripped Herc’s hand firmly, and the hero responded in kind. The hero’s palm was large and strong.

“’Course not!” Hercules said cheerfully. But in the next instant, his expression grew stern again. The reason was obvious—more Heartless. “Especially now that we’ve got company. C’mon, Sora. Let’s sort these guys out and take back the Coliseum!”

Hercules rushed toward a cluster of Heartless and swung his fist at them. The wind pressure of the blow was enough to finish off one of the monsters without the punch connecting. Even unarmed, he had incredible strength.

“Nice work, hero!”

Sora swiped underneath his nose, then gripped his Keyblade and brought it down on a Heartless. He could take these guys out, too.

“You’re not half bad, either! At this rate, we’ll be done by dinner!” Hercules called as he turned to his young companion. Sora had never fought alongside anyone else before, so this was kind of fun.

And with that, the two of them proceeded into the depths of the labyrinth, defeating Heartless along the way.

“Heh-heh…”

Hades’s ominous laughter rang throughout the maze. His aura was so sinister that the air itself around him turned dark.

“Buy a clue, losers. As if fighting me will make the big, bad labyrinth go away. Okay, you’re on deck. Go put those chumps out of my misery.”

A blond-haired youth was standing in front of Hades. He held a large sword as tall as he was, and a red cape hung from his shoulders. A single black wing sprouted from his back.

This young man’s name was Cloud. “And the road to the next world will open if I defeat them?” Cloud asked Hades.

“Exactamundo, Spike. And this is your big chance to see what makes a hero tick. That’s what you’re after, right?” It was anyone’s guess whether Cloud believed it or not; he said nothing.

“Look, I know, I get it. In the past, you’ve always come up short when it counted. But with a true hero’s strength—still with me? Well, buddy boy, let’s just say you’ll never come up short again. Now, go and show Hercules who can really go the distance.” Hades was speaking quickly, goading him along.

But Cloud’s expression remained unchanged. “Let’s get one thing clear.” Hades’s right eyebrow rose up in displeasure at Cloud’s chilly reply. “I’m not doing this for you. This is my fight. You stay out of it.”

With that, Cloud turned his back on Hades with a swirl of his cape and walked away.

Looking up at Hercules, Sora thought about how this might not have gone so well had he been on his own. He wouldn’t have given up, of course, but being all alone in here would definitely have been disheartening.

“Man, heroes are cool.”

“Where did that come from? And hey, you’re pretty cool yourself,” Hercules said with a laugh.

“Hmm, I dunno about that.”

“I’m sure you’ll be even stronger than me someday, Sora.”

“Yeah, I wish,” Sora said with a smile, then swung his Keyblade and destroyed a block.

“Well, for one thing, you’re better at breaking those blocks than I am.”

They were almost enjoying themselves as they bantered back and forth. They could keep this up forever, it seemed—but just then, a gust of wind blew before them.

“Are you the hero Hercules?”

The wind brought with it a young man with blond hair—Cloud.

“Who are you?”

Sora immediately shifted into position, ready for battle. Their opponent readied his giant sword.

“To you…a problem,” he said softly. “Show me you’ve got a good reason to fight…and we’ll see how it stacks up against mine.”

Without any warning, Cloud’s sword flashed out mercilessly. Sora barely managed to block the blow with his Keyblade.

Reacting swiftly, Hercules threw a punch at Cloud.

“Urgh!”

Knocked backward for the moment, Cloud recovered his balance while searching for an opening in his two foes.

The intense battle continued for some time. The youth’s swordsmanship was so fierce it was impossible for them to attack. I dunno if I could do this alone, Sora thought. But with the two of us…

After trading several blows with Cloud, the duo fell into sync and began to see an opening in their opponent’s defenses.

The next clash would decide the battle.

Cloud sprang from the ground and went for Hercules. Instead of moving away, Hercules instead took a step toward Cloud, linked his hands together, and swung them toward the youth’s shoulder. Sora chose the same moment to chop at Cloud’s torso with his Keyblade.

“How about that!” Hercules shouted as Cloud fell to his knees.

“So what he said about you is true,” Cloud said quietly through ragged breaths.

“Just who are you?”

“Cloud. And I’m no friend of heroes.”

Glaring at the two of them, Cloud stood and brought his sword into position.

“Hey, what did we ever do to—?”

Before Sora could finish his question, a ball of intense, pale light shot toward them from off to the side.

It was too sudden. With no time to dodge, Sora couldn’t help but close his eyes.

“Nngh!”

Sora opened his eyes fearfully to find that Cloud had bravely offered his body to protect the two of them.

“Tsk. Missed.”

Hades stepped out of a puff of strange smoke with a furious scowl on his face.

“Hades! I said this was my fight! Stay out of it!” Cloud shouted angrily.

“Please. This stopped being about you, like, ages ago…okay?” Hades remarked with a disinterested shrug.

“What?” Cloud growled.

“Oh, sure, you could have been useful. I mean, hello? I don’t lie to chumps like you unless I’m gonna get good mileage. All you had to do was distract Irk-ules long enough for me to mangle his moussaka. But nooo!” Before Hades could get deeper into his laundry list of complaints, Sora jabbed his Keyblade at him.

“All right, admit it! Are you the guy who did this to the Coliseum?”

“Oh, I see, pick on the guy with ambitions to rule the world. Bzzt, wrong!” Hades retorted with a little grin.

“It wasn’t you?” Hercules exclaimed in disbelief. He was still braced for a fight.

“Sorry, Wonder Boy, but I’m not the only pine cone in your pita. This maze has another keeper. But hey, I’m a fair sort of god. I’ll stay out of your way. Why work when I can just sit back, relax, and watch you all wither away to dust?”

With that, Hades turned away.

“Get back here!”

“So long, Spike. Go find a bucket and kick it.”

Cloud started after him, but Hades disappeared in a burst of smoke right before his eyes.

“Nice guy.” Sora said with a sigh.

Next to him, a grim-faced Cloud was still staring at the spot where Hades had disappeared.

“So I’ve been tricked…,” he murmured, then began to walk away.

“Hey, wait!” Hercules called for him to stop.

“Forget this ever happened.” Cloud vanished into the labyrinth without even turning back.

“What’s his problem?” Sora said with annoyance as he watched the youth go.

“He’s just another victim of Hades’s dirty schemes,” Hercules reassured Sora gently.

“That doesn’t explain why his attitude stinks,” Sora complained with a frown. He comes in here and attacks us out of the blue, and then he leaves just like that. Shouldn’t he have at least said “thanks”? Or “I’m sorry”?

“…Nobody’s perfect? Anyways, if Hades isn’t our culprit, then that’s a problem.”

Now that Hercules had pointed out the real issue, Sora’s displeasure with Cloud was finally beginning to cool. He crossed his arms in contemplation. “Yeah, we can’t get out of here until we find the real villain.”

“Guess it’s back to square one, then.”

As Sora and Hercules resumed their adventure, heading even deeper into the maze…

“Hey, isn’t that…?”

The duo recognized Cloud in the distance, hemmed in by a circle of Heartless.

Oh, him again, Sora thought. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from checking to make sure he was okay.

Cloud’s massive sword was whirling around in a fury. He was outnumbered, though, and appeared to be having a rough go of it.

“Cloud! Are you okay?!”

“Hold on! We’ll be right—”

Sora and Hercules attempted to move closer, but Cloud shouted back at them, “Leave me! You two get out of here!”

“But Cloud! We can’t just…” Hercules hesitated and shared a glance with Sora.

“I dug myself into this hole and almost dragged you in with me. Now I’ll pay for what I’ve done.”

“That’s crazy talk!” Sora shouted, and before he knew it, he was in the midst of Cloud and the Heartless. He just couldn’t leave the youth on his own.

“Can’t you two take a hint?” When Cloud tried to refuse the help, Sora answered by hurling his Keyblade into one of Heartless. Similarly, Hercules stood beside Sora and batted away the monsters who came his way.

“Why are you helping me? Pity?” Cloud asked behind Sora.

Sora turned toward him and caught his Keyblade as it returned to him. “Yeesh,” he retorted. “Would it hurt for ya to let us do you one favor?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sora lunged forward again into the pack of Heartless.

“C’mon, this time you’re fighting alongside us!” Hercules called. He followed Sora’s lead and slammed his fist into a Heartless. Cloud quickly closed the distance to join them, slamming his enormous blade into the throng of monsters. As two or three Heartless vanished at a time, Sora and Hercules grinned.

They fought on as a trio, and between them, they took down at least ten Heartless.

“No matter what I do, I’m always letting somebody down.”

The moment all monsters on the scene were gone, Cloud turned away from Sora and Herc, ready to wander off on his own again.

“Cloud, wait. Whaddaya say we work together?” Hercules suggested.

Cloud stopped. “Why? I attacked you.” He still had his back to them.

“But only because Hades tricked you, right?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve got no right to join you. I’m not strong enough.”

Hercules wasn’t about to give up. He was about press the matter further, but Cloud didn’t seem to have any intention of joining forces with them.

“Ugh!” Sora stamped his foot at Cloud and his behavior, then took a step forward and grabbed his cape. Cloud whirled around to find Sora staring up at him. “We’re not asking if you’re qualified for the job. What do you want to do?”

“Huh?”

While Cloud appeared to have his reasons for being so cold, none of that mattered here. It was way too dangerous to go through this maze alone, and if Cloud had his mind set on taking down Hades, then it made sense to work together.

“If you’re dead set against it, we won’t force you. But it beats spending all your time digging around for excuses.” Cloud took a sharp breath, and Sora kept up the pressure. “If you’ve lost your way, just pick a direction and walk! You might catch sight of something along the way, something that’ll put you back on course.”

Hercules followed up Sora’s angry rebuke with one that was gentler. “You protected us when Hades attacked, and I’ll bet you didn’t even think about it. That was the real you. Somebody strong that we can trust.”

For a fraction of a second, Cloud’s expression softened into an embarrassed smile, but he quickly looked down as if to hide it and gave a small shake of his head.

“It wasn’t strength, it was… Heh, guess I am making excuses. Man, you guys are gonna be sorry…”

“Then you’re in?” Sora joyfully replied.

Cloud raised his head and brushed Sora’s hand off his cape. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I need to find a way out of here, same as you. I’m just tagging along until then.”

Cloud strode off without waiting another moment, but his posture wasn’t nearly as bullheaded as before.

“Whatever, tough guy,” Sora retorted under his breath as he followed behind.

Hercules fell into step alongside him. “Hey, we can’t all be people persons,” he said with a smile. “Some folks are better at finding strength on the inside.”

“Hmph. I don’t get it.”

“It might still be a little over your head.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

As Sora and Hercules went back and forth, Cloud turned around and called, “Speed it up, you two.”

“Oh, yeah? And why do you think we slowed down in the first place, wise guy?” Sora shot back before giving Cloud a body slam from behind.

“…Ow.”

“Serves ya right.”

“Okay, guys, I think playtime’s over,” Hercules said in a serious tone and came to a halt. Before them was a large door.

“That doesn’t belong here, huh?” Sora asked, his voice low and tense.

“I doubt we’ll find anything pleasant behind it.” Cloud sounded nervous.

The air from behind the door was extremely ominous.

“Okay, let’s go!” Hercules shared a determined nod with Sora and Cloud, then opened the door.

On the other side they found a dull, dank underground chamber. They could see a cell enclosed by iron bars directly ahead. Something was very wrong about the air drifting from the darkness within. It smelled foul, almost like raw meat.

“Whatever we’re up against, it’s close,” Hercules said, and the moment he did, the bars began to rise with an eerie metallic screech.

“Grrr…” A few seconds later, the deep growl of a beast sounded from the gloom.

“What was that…?” Sora frowned at the sudden chill in the air.

“I think we’re about to find out.”

“Yeah. Ain’t no gettin’ off the train we’re on now…”

Sora and the others passed under the iron bars, then edged forward a bit at a time, staying on guard, until the silhouette of an enormous beast slowly came into view. With a great roar, a black dog with three heads stepped into view…

“Oh no. That’s Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld! Well…sort of. There’s something wrong with him!”

Hercules lowered his center of gravity, bracing for a fight. A low growl rumbled from Cerberus as saliva dripped from the beast’s jaws.

“Cerberus? There’s a name I’ve heard before.” Cloud readied his sword.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen the glitches… He’s the one. He’s what’s messing up this world!”

Sora, too, brandished his Keyblade.

Cerberus pounced.

“Listen, Sora. You wanna be a hero one day, remember this: No matter how bad things look, where you need a friend to be there, he’ll be there!”

“A friend?”

“I’m talking about you and Cloud! We’ve been fighting side by side, so you’re my buddies now. I believe in you. Careful, here he comes!”

Cerberus lunged forward, and one of the beast’s heads bit down ferociously on Hercules’s shoulder.

“Urgh!!”

“Hercules!”

Cloud slashed upward at another of the heads, while Sora charged forward and hammered the remaining head with his Keyblade.

As the beast winced slightly, Hercules escaped his sharp fangs and fell to his knees, gasping a little. But it wasn’t long before he was back on his feet. He reared back mightily and slammed his fist into Cerberus’s chest. The canine let out a pained roar.

“Stand back, you two,” Cloud murmured.

“Huh?”

Sora and Hercules turned around, and they thought they saw Cloud’s wing flap.

“This will put an end to it…”

Cloud suddenly leaped into the air and began a series of rapid slashes. The incredible attack was almost too fast for the eye to follow—Omnislash.

“Wow…,” Sora murmured in awe.

Cerberus let loose a final howl toward the sky before his huge frame fell onto its side and disappeared in a flash.

“We did it!” Sora jumped with joy and landed with his arms around Cloud.

“Hmph. About time I found my way home,” Cloud said wearily as he peeled the boy off of him.

Hercules let out a small chuckle as he watched them. “That should put the Coliseum back to normal,” he said with a smile. “Let’s go tell Phil the good news!”

As the three of them chattered away, filled with relief and happiness, a tall man appeared in a burst of smoke.

“Uh, ’scuse me, aren’t you forgetting a few loose ends? Yeah, hi, I’m right here.”

He sounded a little depressed, which made him even creepier than usual.

“Hades!”

The wicked Lord of the Dead was still around.

He eyed the shorter trio and bit his nails unhappily. “I finally find a trap with all the right trappings, and what do you do? You go and ruin it. Okay, the thing about deadly mazes? You’re supposed to die in them. But I see this is going to take a more hands-on approach!”

Hades clenched his fists, gathering his strength, then thrust them skyward as the pale-blue flame of his hair blazed a bright red.

“Hey, uh, Herc, I think I know another trick to making it as a hero,” Sora said with complete calm as he readied his Keyblade.

“Oh yeah?” Following Sora’s lead, Hercules prepared himself for another fight.

“Let’s hear it.” Cloud did the same.

“At the end of the day…make sure you’re still standing!”

The three of them didn’t feel like they would be losing today.

“Oh, give me a break, pipsqueaks!” Hades summoned a large fireball and hurled it toward Sora and his companions.

“You won’t beat us so easily!” Sora swatted the fireball back with his Keyblade, while Cloud rushed forward around it for an unavoidable blindside.

“Cheeky little snots, aren’tcha!”

“Hey, no hogging the spotlight, Cloud!”

Hercules flexed his arms, gearing up for his big attack, then slammed his fists into the ground with as much strength as he could muster. The impact sent a shock wave rumbling through the earth right toward Hades.

“Rrgh!” the Lord of the Dead yelped as he hurtled through the air.

“You had enough?”

“Don’t think you’ve won yet! I’ve got over five hundred million lives! Sure, most of them are ones I took… But I will be back!” With that parting shot, Hades poofed away in retreat.

The air itself seemed to relax around them. Everything seemed brighter, too.

“The two of you are really something.” Sora grinned at Hercules and Cloud.

“That’s because we’re heroes,” Herc said with a smile.

“Heroes, huh…” Cloud whispered.

“Yeah. But hey, Phil must be worried. Ready to leave?” Hercules asked.

Sora gave a happy nod.

“Holy Hera! You guys made it back in one piece?!”

Phil greeted Sora and the others with a smile when they returned to the lobby.

“O ye of little faith,” Sora replied proudly.

Hercules held out his right hand to Sora. “Thanks, Sora. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Sora responded by clasping Herc’s hand, but then he noticed something. “Hey, where’s Cloud?” he asked, peering around.

“What, the schlimazel with the perky haircut? He left. Somethin’ about gettin’ a jump on his next journey,” Phil replied.

“What?! He could’ve at least said good-bye…” Sora let go of Herc’s hand and slumped in disappointment.

What a jerk, just leaving like that. And right when we were getting to be friends, too.

“Ya know, he did leave a message. He said, ‘Give my best to the hero and the hero-to-be.’”

“Wait, hero-to-be? Me?” Wow, Cloud thinks I’m a hero?!

“In other words, kid, you’re still in the junior leagues.”

“Aww, man.” Sora drooped sadly with both hands on his knees. I thought I did pretty good out there.

“Ha-ha! I’m sure you’ll make a great hero one day, Sora. I could use a friend like you to help keep Olympus safe. Whaddaya say?” Hercules said, resting an encouraging hand on Sora’s shoulder.

“Tempting offer, but I have to go. Got friends waiting. But if ya ever need me again, I’ll come running!” Sora replied to Herc, smiling again. The hero’s hand was big and warm. Hope I can be a hero like him someday.

“Good to know. Give my best to your friends.” Herc gave Sora a hearty pat on the back.

“Will do.”

“And kid, you keep at the hero biz. You got potential. Drop by if you ever want some training!”

Finally, Phil gave Sora some stern words of advice.

“Thanks, Phil! Well, I’ll see you guys later!”

Sora waved at the two of them, then dashed out of the lobby into the courtyard.

Mickey, did that do it?

The monitor in the study showed Sora speaking to the sky from the courtyard. While Mickey and the others had only been able to watch with this world, Sora had been able to put everything back the way it should be with the help of his two friends, Hercules and Cloud.

“Yup, Sora…thank you,” Mickey said to Sora on the screen.

Beside him, Donald cocked his head in confusion. “Hey, wait. This time we didn’t get a video.”

Every time Sora had restored the previous worlds, a video of events that Jiminy had no memory of recording had appeared on the monitor. This time there was nothing.

“Right. Those scenes—they originated in my mind,” Riku replied.

“Huh?” Donald was confused.

“When you got rid of the bugs, you gave me deeper access to the memories associated with those worlds. The things I saw must have found their way back through the link and shown up on your monitor.”

“Well, whaddaya know. If those memories came from deep within the journal itself, then it’s really no wonder why they’re unfamiliar. They don’t belong to any of us!” Jiminy said, nodding several times.

So those videos were special memories, unknown even to the data itself. Still, he had never heard of a journal having a mind of its own. Riku said that he was data within the journal, but not the journal itself. The will of the journal and Data-Riku’s existence seemed like separate things.

What was going on with the journal?

While Jiminy pondered all of this, Goofy spoke up. “Hmm? Something’s happenin’…”

A strange newcomer had appeared before Sora on the monitor.

“Huh? No way!”

Recognizing who it was, Mickey jumped toward the screen.

Gah-ha-ha-ha! Long time no see!

The voice booming from the speakers was both familiar and unwelcome.

“Pete’s here?! How’d you get in?” Mickey shouted.

Hearing his name, Pete looked up at the sky and spoke.

Same way as youse did. Thought I’d take a little vacay from the outside world.

Somehow, Pete knew that Mickey and his friends were in the Datascape.

Well, this here world belongs to me, so mitts off!

With that, Pete turned away from Sora and trotted off into a mysterious space swirling with an odd white light.

“He must be up to something. Quick! After him!” Mickey called.

Sora nodded and hurried through the portal after Pete.