Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Heartless: Book Knowledge and a Cup

With their time in Neverland complete, as that was what Peter Pan had called the area they found him and Captain Hook in, Sora and the others returned to their ship for a time, allowing Fluttershy to hand over the gummi piece that came out of the latest world's Keyhole. Both Sombra and Sora agreed on what needed to happen next, they had to return to Traverse Town, as Cid would be able to install the piece into their ship and that should open the way for them to travel to Hollow Bastion, the last world they would need to visit, now that they knew Kairi was there. At the same time Sombra knew that it was the base of operations for Maleficent, the main villain they had to worry about, so if she and her friends took her out that meant they would be able to stem the tide of Heartless that were heading out into the worlds, or at least that seemed to be what all of them were thinking. In addition to that she was worried for Riku, because he had been telling them the truth, he had been dropped off in some part of Hollow Bastion and Maleficent had found him, no doubt to use him as a pawn in her game, and now he was likely going to be punished for betraying the dark witch.

Since Traverse Town was so far away from Neverland, and they didn't want to waste too much time, Sora activated the warp system and they went traveling through the warp space, though since they were further away than the last time it was used the group had some time to burn before their arrival. For a time Sombra just sat in the cockpit with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, her mind focusing on Riku and the fact that he was clearly in danger if he landed somewhere near Maleficent, something that made Radiant smile for a moment before she and Fluttershy returned to their training, which was working in their private world for a time. After ten minutes Sombra pulled out a few pieces of paper and started to sketch something on them, mostly to help calm her mind after everything that had happened during their time on Peter Pan's world, because she didn't want to go into her own training, to use the new spells, with a troubled mind. She eventually discovered that what she had created were sketches of wolf designs, why she had no idea, but she was able to calm her mind and that allowed her to return to the training area without delay so the spells they gained in Neverland could be practiced.

In the end both were rather simple to use, Cura was just a more powerful heal than the one that came before it, while she found that Aerora was a more powerful wind barrier that protected the user from harm, meaning it was easy for her to complete her own training before she regrouped with the others, all while Radiant looked at the sketches she had made as they returned to the cockpit.

"We need to make two other stops while we're in Traverse Town: I want to deliver the other puppies to the dalmatians, and we have more of the missing pages for Pooh's world." Fluttershy said, speaking as they emerged from the warp space at long last, allowing everyone to see their destination in front of them, though at the same time it didn't feel the same since Riku wasn't with them anymore.

"Sure thing. We should have plenty of time to do both once Cid gets started on installing that gummi block." Sora replied, as he figured that any about of time spent in Pooh's world would give the man who worked on their ship in the past the time to complete his work, plus come to terms with what he and his friends wanted to do, since Hollow Bastion was going to be the toughest place for them to visit.

As soon as Sora brought the ship to a stop he made sure everyone was ready before warping them down to the entrance of Traverse Town, allowing everyone to see that everything was just fine in the town, no one was running for their lives and no Heartless seemed to be bothering anyone, something that allowed them to track down Cid in the first district, as he was near the entrance to the second.

"Cid, we found another navigational gummi, and this one seems to be leading to somewhere important. You can install it, right?" Sombra asked, while at the same time Sora pulled out the item in question, though the reason she didn't mention it was the item that would bring them to Hollow Bastion was because Cid seemed like the type who might try and stop all of them from going to such a dangerous place.

"Sure can..." Cid replied, though as soon as he looked at the block in question, and held it for a few seconds, he seemed to think about something as he glanced up at them, meaning he realized where this one in particular might send them, and Sombra figured it out since there was a bit of darkness around the block, "You know, this block's going to steer you in the direction of Hollow Bastion, a place that is crawling with Heartless and just so happens to be the home of Maleficent... are you really okay with installing this piece?"

"Of course, as taking down Maleficent has been one of our goals for a while now... plus we have another goal now, since both Riku and Kairi are there." Sora stated, because Cid and his friends knew that they were looking for his friends, one of which was now friends with his brand new friends, so this would tell him that everyone was serious about going to Hollow Bastion to bring an end to this adventure, and to save two close friends from the dark witch.

Cid sighed and told them that it would take some time, as he wanted to be sure that everything was alright before letting them fly to Hollow Bastion, causing Sora to tell him to take his time, as they had other things they had to do in the town, and the moment he walked off the group headed over to the dalmatians' place. Sure enough the adult dogs were happy to see Fluttershy and were overjoyed when more of their puppies were returned to them, which caused them to use their heads to move a few boxes over to them, presents for saving more of their family no doubt. Sombra found that some of the items were minerals for Radiant to use in making accessories, other boxes holding gummi pieces, and one that held a page of Pooh's book, which Sora picked up and added to the other ones Fluttershy had given him earlier. With the dalmatians happy to have the majority of their puppies back, informing the group that the last ones had to be somewhere in Hollow Bastion, giving them yet another reason to go to the world in question, Sora and the others departed from the house and headed over to Merlin's place.

Sure enough the wizard was happy to see them and offered snacks while Sora slipped into Pooh's tome again, because he was sure they had all of the pages necessary to completely fix the book, causing the others to relax for a time while they waited for him to carefully restore the pages they had discovered. Merlin was surprised by how far they had come in such a short period of time, as he had originally expected them to take their time in learning how to wield their magic, but when he looked at Sombra's tome, and at the spells they had learned from exploring the other worlds, since he couldn't see the dark pages she had created with her own magical power, he had to admit that their progress was astonishing. While the others focused on relaxing, waiting for Sora to return, Sombra asked Merlin what sort of magic he specialized in, out of curiosity, where the wizard told her that he was skilled in all aspects of magic, but he had a greater affinity for time magic, being able to manipulate it so precisely that he could even make pockets of reality that ran on different rules. Sombra thought about that for a time, as the ability to manipulate the laws of the World like that seemed incredible, something that made her stop and consider all of the magical Heartless she had captured the hearts of, wondering if she would gain such a power with all of the hearts she had yet to absorb.

It took Sora some time to completely fix Pooh's book, though when he did the cover changed to show him with the bear in question, like he was now linked to it or it's residents in some manner, but he did have a gift for them, another spell for all of them to use, Stopra, the second tier time spell.

Such a thing made Sombra appreciate the fact that they had to come here in the first place, as another spell meant their power as a group had risen to another level, and yet something told her that there might be one more to find somewhere in the town, even if the others seemed to think she was overthinking things. With the spell in their tomes the group made their way back to the first district, where they discovered that Cid had completed his work on installing the navigational piece to their ship, meaning they could head to Hollow Bastion now if they wanted. After thanking him Sombra made sure to stop and restock on their supplies, stopping at a store that had all sorts of food and living items for her to purchase, a fact that not only allowed her to buy everything that had been used since the last time they had been in Traverse Town, but also purchase some new cookbooks to add to the collection. When the others noticed this she told them that she just wanted to expand her knowledge and try some new things out, meaning Sora and the others would see some new dishes in the future, which only made them excited to see what else she might make.

While they transported the food to the ship, however, Cid came by and informed them that there should be another cup if they visited the Coliseum, something that caused the group to look at each other before thanking him, packing up the rest of the stuff Sombra bought, and then departed from Traverse Town. Since they had no idea how long it would take them to reach Hollow Bastion, despite knowing they had to warp back to Neverland to use it as their starting point, Sora used the warp system to get them to the Coliseum without delay, saving them some time. Once they were at their destination the group teleported down to the entrance of the arena and found Hercules standing outside, in front of one of the gold or brass statues, though he did wave at them and wished them luck, showing them that he understood why they had come back. Sombra felt the darkness in the air as they passed by the mighty warrior, where she determined that Hades had to be summoning more Heartless so he could be readied for whatever the next cup was, especially since there was no way for them to know how long the new one might be.

Phil, of course, seemed pleased to see them again, even though he was likely busy doing something else before they had arrived, meaning they had interrupted him and he didn't seem to mind, since he could have them fight in the arena for a time, though he did notice something right away.

"Hey, where's that Riku boy that was with you?" Phil inquired, as he thought that Riku was one of their better teammates, plus he seemed willing to fight with both teams he had created so he could catch up to the others, where he appreciated hard work and dedication like that, so he actually missed the kid a tiny bit.

"He's busy right now, dealing with another problem." Radiant replied, though while she didn't like to lie she knew Donald would try to have her hide if she revealed the existence of the other worlds to someone like Phil, not that it mattered since the small satyr didn't seem to care about such a thing, rather he seemed to enjoy focusing on the coliseum and the various games that happened here.

"A shame, I was looking forward to seeing if he had improved since the last time you guys were here." Phil said, though the group knew that he had no true favorites, but he did seem to know how to push people to be better and gain strength on their own, but no one said anything as he finished his work and focused on them, "Listen up: you'll be taking part in what I call the 'Hercules Cup', where you will fight your way through eight rounds of competition before facing Hercules himself... or not, if you get knocked out first. There's one more cup after this, but Hades isn't ready for anyone to attempt it, so you'll have to come back later to try it out."

Sora and the others agreed and told him they were ready, where Phil informed them that this time he'd be allowing them to fight as a single team, though if one of their foes wanted to fight a smaller group or a single opponent he was going to let them, meaning there had to be someone other than the Heartless involved in this cup. Upon entering the arena the group found that the first group of enemies was a number of Gargoyles and a couple of Shadows, something that caused everyone to shift their stances before rushing at their opponents, the melee fighters striking the Heartless while the few ranged fighters focused on weakening their foes. Sombra found that these particular Heartless were slightly stronger than those they had fought so far, which seemed to align with Hades' desire to bring down Hercules and to overwhelm those who dared to get in his way, and when she captured their hearts she could see that they were stronger than the hearts she had captured previously. She had confirmation of the stronger and more powerful hearts as the group focused on the seconds group, which was made up of some Wights, Barrel Spiders, and Air Soldiers, because when one of their foes fell she was able to capture it's heart and found that her suspicions were correct, these were stronger opponents.

The third group consisted of a few Ship Heartless and a number of Pirates, which caused them to divide their attention so they weren't overwhelmed, while the fourth was just more Gargoyles and a few Wights, before finding that the fifth was a blue mushroom Heartless that fled as soon as it noticed the group.

"You seem to be doing well." a voice said, where they found that Cloud was entering the arena, carrying his large weapon, though with Phil walking beside him the group knew he had to be their next opponent, before he came to a stop and just pointed at Sombra for a moment, "I wish to fight you and your darkness."

"Are you sure about this?" Sombra inquired, as she wanted to make sure the warrior knew what he was asking of her, or what he was getting himself into, though when Cloud nodded she simply glanced at the others and found that they quickly nodded their heads, causing her to enter the arena on her own, "Very well. Prepare yourself, Cloud."

Cloud found that a dark mist appeared around Sombra's eyes as he entered the arena, causing them to look at each other for a moment before he went on the offensive, swinging at the warrior that was in front of him as he found that she used the handle of her scythe to stop him. Cloud paused for a few seconds, as this reminded him of his own target, stopping his weapon with a much smaller blade, though as he focused on her again he swung at Sombra a few more times and found that she shifted her stance to use the head of her scythe, parrying his blows like they were nothing. This told him that her training with the weapon had to be incredible, since she was using it like it was an extension of her body, and during one of their exchanges she managed to shift her weight and deflect his attack, forcing open his defenses in an instant. Such a thing caused Sombra to extend her magic, trapping Cloud in a small bubble of time thanks to Stopra, where she struck him several times in a row with her bare fists before punching him in the jaw, so when her foe's personal time resumed Cloud went flying out of the arena with a look of surprise on his face.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were surprised by this discovery, though Radiant and Fluttershy clapped for her as Sombra let the dark mist disappear, but she did know that Sora would ask about her power at some point, but, for the time being, their focus was on the rest of the matches, after she helped Cloud up so he could thank her for the match before leaving so they could continue advancing.

The next round was definitely a little harder than the previous ones, as there were a few Wights, a couple of Pirates, a few Air Soldiers, and a few Gargoyles, causing the others to rely on Sombra's gravity magic as she cast Gravira on them, which brought all of their foes down into a single area for the others to take out. It was exactly what Phil wanted to teach all of them, to work together as a unit and she had to chuckle a little, as the satyr's brief training had produced good fruit and it was working to their benefit, allowing them to safely take down Heartless without wasting too much time. Once that group was dealt with Sombra found that the next one had a few more Pirates, a couple of Ships, and a few more Air Soldiers, to which everyone spread out and crushed them like they had done in the past, freeing more hearts for Sombra to collect. As that happened she found Hades watching from the other side of the arena, behind a gate so he could hide in darkness, but the god in question remained out of sight as her group dealt with the remaining Heartless.

The final battle was against Hercules, though both he and Sora wanted a one-on-one match, though as Sombra watched she really couldn't call it a match, as the warrior drastically held back his true power, especially since the battle was just Sora tossing barrels at his foe to knock off a glow so he could hit him.

Despite that fact the match dragged on for quite a while, like Hercules was testing Sora, but, in the end, Sora found that he was declared the winner, granting them another trophy to add to the other ones they had collected so far, which caused the boy to smile as he rubbed the back of his head. Phil, as per usual, seemed to have a lecture for them after the match was over, though this time around Sora ignored him as he, Donald, and Goofy did something interesting before Sombra, Radiant, and Fluttershy joined them, they moved the large stone out of the way. Such a thing revealed what they had been looking for since coming to this world the first time, the Keyhole, causing Sora to smile as he raised the Kingdom Key and sealed the Keyhole, which confused both Hercules and Phil before the pair decided not to question what they were seeing right now. It was for the best, that they didn't know about the other worlds, the Keyholes, and the people that the group had seen, though winning Phil's latest challenge only made Sora wonder when the final cup would be made available for them to take, causing them to bid the satyr and his student farewell for the time being.

With the Coliseum finally sealed off from the Heartless, which meant they likely stopped Hades' plan as well, Sombra and the others returned to their ship before taking off, though Sombra had a few stops she wanted to make before they made their way to Hollow Bastion, which she knew would make them stronger for the final world, making the others wonder what the future held in store for them.

Comments

[Xalok]

I always found it funny how games unlocked new stuff just before you go to the last world/level, while making it feel like you need to hurry. The world is on fire and they are all waiting on the Hero to be done picking up flowers for a new side quest. Nothing better then to finish side quests before going for the big bad.

[Black--Soul]

Something often neglected is the preparation before a mission, I love to go through dialogs and new little gimmicks when going through a campaign 👍

[Xarmar13]

The way that Sombra stomped Cloud, that's sure to catch the attention of a certain someone. Whether Hades brings out Mr. Tall, Skinny and Frosty or not is still unknown.

[Blackdrag-rose]

11779976 *cue One Winged Angel*

[Hexan Tronic]

Things are going to be interesting! I wonder if they will discover the rest of Traverse Town's secrets. Or if Fluttershy's companion already looted the loot.

[Blackdrag-rose]

11780892 Squeak's been collecting all of the loot so the group can focus on taking out the Heartless they come across.

[Hexan Tronic]

11780910
Fair. That does mean no fun puzzles though.