Kingdom Hearts ~another side~ Ch. 5

[Hayate]

To look beyond the glory is the hardest part… For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart…

Kingdom Hearts ~another side~

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~ Report 5: What Makes a Hero ~[/b][/u]

On the radiant coliseum grounds, an orange-haired youth, armed with a short sword and shield, practices his swordsmanship on a pair of wooden dummies, one in front of him and one behind. Each dummy has a number of spring-loaded slats mounted on it to simulate human limbs, and rotates on a 360-degree axis relative to the boy’s actions. Every few seconds or so, his attention shifts from one dummy to the other, never lowering his guard to either one.

Off to the side, a man of even shorter stature than the boy -- a half man, half goat -- barks at him. “Good hustle, kid!”, he supports. “Hit and move, just like in basics!”

The teenager on the field focuses on training as the sweat trickles from his brow. “Hah! Hyah! Toh!”

“Hey, kid!”

“Huh?” As the boy temporarily looks to his coach in the stands, a dummy slat strikes the back of his head… “Ow!” …and a second slat sweeps at the back of his knees, knocking him off his feet. He lands face-up in the dirt with a thud. “Oof!”

“Oy…” The half-goat trainer shakes his head in disappointment. “C’mon, kid, what do I keep tellin’ ya!? Rule #80!”

“‘Never take your eyes off your opponent.’ Got it. Sorry, Phil.”

The trainer known as Phil sighs. “Alright. Let’s take five, Herc. I gotta straighten the place up for the Games anyhow. Hit the showers, and we’ll pick up again in a bit.”

The boy named ‘Herc’ promptly hops to his feet and runs off to, as Phil put it, ‘hit the showers’, while Phil himself wheels the dummies away into storage. As the two go about their business, an entity wrapped in black robe and blue flame watches from a distance. “Another day, another feeble excuse for a competition…”, groans the entity, continuing to ramble like this as he walks away. “Seriously, that Phil’s turnin’ into a real one-trick goat. That he still manages to find work these days is nothin’ short of miraculous. And look at me -- Mr. King-of-All-That-Doesn’t-Live reduced to plotting the downfall of a half-mortal brat. Mental note -- never send minions to do a god’s job. Hmm… Maybe I can use the upcoming Games to my advantage. Looks like ‘Philly’ is really puttin’ the screws to ‘hero boy’. The kid won’t have even a second to take a breather. All’s I gotta do is off ‘Herc the Jerk’ while he’s fightin’ fatigue, and everything else’ll fall into place for me like a line of dominoes. Zeus and Hera will cry, the mortal ‘rents will snivel -- hey, even the goat man might shed a tear or two -- and I’ll be free to waltz right in the front door and snatch the big cushy chair out from under ‘em. Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom. Now, the million-drachma question is: which critter do I pull outta my hat this time? …Heh. I know just the freak for the job.”

…Elsewhere, some distance outside the coliseum grounds, Ciel appears on the outskirts of town, having landed the NORA just minutes earlier. His new surroundings seemed, in a word, archaic. But compared to home in Aubade Town, they were far more densely populated. Within twenty minutes of arriving, the teal-haired kid finds himself on the front steps of the Olympus Coliseum.

Ciel could only look up at the magnificence of the building: the decorative pillars that lined its entrance, the massive bronze statues that crossed swords, the aged feel of the atmosphere that came from generations of competitions and champions. “Wow… So cool…! …Huh?”

Momentarily fascinated by the view, Ciel fails to notice the horde of Heartless crowding around him. “Here too!?” He instinctively draws the Pierce the Skies, and immediately goes to work.

After a few minutes, the horde’s numbers are whittled down to a little over 50%, but Ciel already begins to show signs of exhaustion. He wasn’t accustomed to combating the Heartless solo. “This is gonna take forever…!”

“Need some help?”, a voice from behind calls out.

Ciel is suddenly joined by the boy from earlier -- ‘Herc’. An Olympus Coliseum local, no doubt. Facing the Heartless again, he addresses the kid at his side. “Think you can keep up?”

“Hmph! Just watch me!”

A joining of forces is thusly forged, as the Keyblade wielder and the toga-wearing teenager team up against the Heartless. Soldiers and Air Soldiers fall to both sword and fist, and within half the time it took Ciel to destroy a little under half their numbers, the Heartless are utterly decimated.

Once the black dust settles, Ciel and ‘Herc’ share a celebratory high-five. “Thanks for the help.”, says Ciel, expressing gratitude.

“No worries.”, ‘Herc’ replies. “You were amazing just now.”

“You weren’t half-bad yourself. Never seen anyone fight Heartless bare-handed before.”

“Heh. Yeah, I’m…special that way. I’m Hercules. You can call me Herc.”

“Ciel. Nice to meet ya.”

“Are you competing in the Games, Ciel?”

“‘Games’?”

“If he is, he’d better watch out for this contender.”, boasts a third voice from aside.

Ciel and Hercules turn their respective attentions southward and see a grown man looking to be in his late 20s walking up. He had long, slick black hair that hung slightly over the right side of his face, and wore a white T-shirt, a blue jacket with rolled-up sleeves, brown cargo pants, black boots, and black fingerless gloves. He motions a casual salute as he approaches. “Yo!”

The man had an air about him that reminds Ciel of Relena. “Uh… Hi.”

“Hmm… You look a little young to be competing.”, the man observes.

“Competing? I’m not--”

“You all done makin’ buddy-buddy with each other over ‘ere?”

“Hmm?” Looking over and down, Ciel sees Phil standing right next to him. The satyr’s sudden appearance drags a reaction of surprise out of the boy. “Whoa! Where’d this guy come from!?”

“Hey, chief!”, barks Phil to the black-haired man. “You enterin’?”

“You know it!”, the man replies, pumping his fist in excitement. “That trophy’s all mine!”

“Yeah, we’ll see. Prelims start in a bit. Sign up, then suit up.”

“Yessir!” With that, the black-haired man heads for the coliseum lobby, but not before having a passing word with young Ciel. “Name’s Laguna. Hope to see ya in the finals, kid…that is, if you can last that long.”

“…”

With Laguna’s exit, Phil turns to Ciel. “And you? What’s your story, ‘bright eyes’?”

“M-Me?”

“Yeah, you. You signin’ up for the Games, or ain’t ya?”

“Uh, I’m not really here to play games.”

“Hah! ‘Play games’, he says! This here’s the Coliseum, short-stuff. Heroes come from all over to fight big, bad beasties to prove they’re the best of the best. And if you ain’t the best, then you get pressed. Capisce?”

“So it’s a tournament.”

“…Sure, if you wanna be all cut-and-dry about it. Okay, so you’re not here for the Games; what ARE you here for? …Oh, wait, don’t tell me! You want me to train you to be a hero! Well, forget it! I’m a one-student goat!”

“I-I’m not here for hero training either! …Heh. Besides, I’m kinda already a hero where I come from.”

“Ohhhh, is that so? Aren’t we the big shot? Well then, tell me, Mr. ‘Kinda Already a Hero’: You ever averted a natural disaster?”

“Well, I…”

“Rescued a damsel-in-distress?”

“Uh…”

“Saved a city from bloodthirsty monsters?”

“…Well, I’ve saved a whole world. On more than one occasion.”

“Hahahaha! Yeah, I bet you have! You -- a puny little greenhorn -- saved an entire world! That’s rich!”

“It’s true! I’ve fought hundreds of--!”

“Take a hike, shrimp! I ain’t got time for hero wannabes like you! But hey! You ever wanna sign up for the Games and make a fool out of yourself, you know where to find me! Hahahaha!”

As Phil walks away shrieking with laughter, Ciel is left trembling his fists and gnashing his teeth. “Why, that little…!”

“Don’t let Phil get to you.”, Hercules enters with. “That’s just how he is. If you wanna prove him wrong, you could always enter the Games and win.”

“HERC! CRUNCHES! NOW![/b]”

“R-Right! Be right there, Phil! …Good luck, Ciel.”

Left by his lonesome again, Ciel thinks for a moment. He’s faced with a situation similar to one he’d faced back in Wonderland. Still no sign of either Roche or Marin, but the green-haired teen would’ve liked nothing better than to wipe away Phil’s cheeky smirk. And who knows? Maybe his friends were already competing. “Tch! I’ll show that pudgy old goat who’s a hero wannabe!” His objective set, Ciel breaks into a run toward the vestibule.

A short time later, after a bit of comical back and forth between Ciel and Phil, the ‘greenhorn’ manages to talk his way into the Games’ preliminary rounds. He stands atop a dais of stone slabs with Keyblade in hand, eagerly waiting for the match to begin.

Near the entryway to the lobby stood Hercules and Phil, playing the role of spectators. “You’d better be worth this, kid!”, shouts Phil. “I’d hate to have to call in a replacement competitor!”

“Hmph! Just you wait! I’ll breeze through the prelims so fast, it’ll make your horns spin!”

A small group of Heartless appears, indicating the start of Round 1.

“Let’s go!”, Ciel exclaims, charging into battle.

…Meanwhile, at the far end of the city, an area that observed almost no visitation by mortals, the entity with flesh of blue and hair of fire appears at the entrance of a grotto in a swirl of smoke. He steps forward and peers into the shadows. “Jeez Louise, get a load of this dump. Has this guy never heard of interior decorating? Ugh! Or a mop? Smells like rotten moussaka in here. I know dead people with better places than this. And I should know -- I charge ‘em rent. Oh! Oh, what is this!? What’d I just step in!? That’d better not be what I think it is! Good gods, I’m gonna need a Stygian scrub-down when this is over!” As he treks further into the grotto, the sound of loud snoring becomes apparent. He brings his thumb and index finger to his mouth and whistles. “Yo, ‘Feta Breath’! Rise and shine! Up and at ‘em! C’mon!”

As a thunderous yawn trembles the cave, a single eye -- even larger than the flame-headed god -- stares back from within the darkness, and a gravelly voice speaks. “HADES…?”

“No, it’s your Auntie Echidna. Give us a kiss, sweetums. …Of course it’s me, you dingbat!”

The ogre in the shadows lets out a second yawn in Hades’ general direction. The force behind it blows out Hades’ fiery hair.

“…” With a narrow brow, Hades lights his hair again by using his thumb as a matchstick. “Okay. Moving on. Listen up, my colossal compadre. I’ve got a little job for ya…”

“…Hyaaaahhhh!”

Some time afterward, Ciel finishes off the last of his Heartless opponents, taking a great leap into the air and bringing his weapon harshly down upon it. Cheers fill the stands, and the ‘greenhorn’ points his fist to the sky in victory. “Ha-ha!”

The cheering soon dies down, and Ciel joins Phil off the dais. “Heh. Not too shabby, kid. You’re a regular ‘mini-Herc’.”

Planting his hands on his hips, Ciel brags, “Told ya I wasn’t a wannabe. I’m just as much a hero as any of the guys you trained.”

“Don’t get cocky, ‘pasture head’. Overconfidence is one of a hero’s greatest weaknesses. That’s Hero 101 right there. You may have cruised through so far, but up next is the final match.”

“Who am I facing?”

“That would be me.”, says a familiar voice from aside. Through the lobby entrance appears the black-haired man from before: Laguna. “Nice job making it to the finals, pipsqueak. Looks like I lost that bet.”

“What bet?”

“Uh, n-not important. So, after this, it’s on to the Games, huh? Best of luck to both of us then.” Having said his part, Laguna heads onto the dais first.

Glancing around, Ciel discovers that someone was missing. “Where’s Herc?”

“Running laps. A hero never stops training.”

“You sure are working him to the bone, aren’t you…?”

“Hey, two words -- mind your own business! Herc’s never gonna become a true hero if he slacks off. Now get goin’. The crowd’s gettin’ antsy.”

“Sheesh, alright already.” Turning his back on the grouchy goat, Ciel steps atop the dais once more and stares Laguna down.

Around the pillars that lined the four corners of the dais, a magical barrier is generated to keep the two combatants (and their destructive attacks) inside.

The man with slick black locks is seen now brandishing a machine gun. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you just ‘cuz you’re a kid. When I fight, I fight to win.”

“Same here.”, Ciel states, drawing the Pierce the Skies.

Laguna’s eyes go slightly wide with surprise and unease; it was the first time he’d ever seen a Keyblade. ‘Ooh… Now there’s a scary-looking weapon… Makes Old Reliable here look like a BB gun…’ Just then, a twinge in his left leg. ‘Oh, come on…! Not now…!’ Almost instantly, he drops to one knee. “Agh…! T-There’s that cramp again…!”

“WHAT!?”, bellows the Key bearer, nearly face-faulting. “A leg cramp!? Are you serious!?”

“Y-Yeah… Which is weird, considering you’re neither a woman nor good-looking… So I guess today’s disappointing for the both of us, huh, kid?”

“How lame…”

“Oh, don’t worry… These people paid good money to see a fight, and they’re gonna see one…”, the gun-toting man assures, rising to his feet. “Okay, shake it off, shake it off… Whew! Alright, let’s do this!”

Readying his weapon, Ciel bears a confident grin. “That’s more like it!”, he cries, shooting forth on the offensive.

[BGM: Shrouding Dark Cloud]

Aiming his firearm forward, Laguna starts off with a steady rapid-fire barrage of bullets. Ciel veers right and dashes around to Laguna’s left side. As soon as the gap is shortened, he lunges in to attack at close-range. Laguna absorbs Ciel’s blade swings with his machine gun and counters with a short-range shotgun blast. This puts some distance between the two for Laguna to follow up with a grenade toss. Ciel slices clean through the explosive, causing it to go off prematurely. He cuts through the smoke with a Sonic Blade, but Laguna has vanished. Having used the smoke as cover to get airborne, Laguna aims down at Ciel with a missile launcher. He fires off a chain of missiles, and Ciel is forced to go on the move again. Each missile strikes the ground with a small explosion, following Ciel’s footwork by just milliseconds. Once he was out of harm’s way, he fires at Laguna with some projectiles of his own: a bombardment of Fire spells. Laguna counteracts the barrage by tossing a grenade that, once gone off, generates a spherical force field to absorb it. A couple of fireballs, however, manage to meander around the force field and strike Laguna, forcing him down to the ground. Substituting his machine gun for a rifle of some sort, the gun-toting man takes aim again -- not at Ciel, but rather at the walls to his left and right. He proceeds to fire off a series of laser shots that bounce off the walls and ricochet in every possible direction. Unable to determine their trajectory, Ciel suffers continual harm from the lasers before they eventually recoil upward into the sky. The last remaining laser bounces off the wall behind Laguna and flies straight toward Ciel’s front side. Throwing his palm out in front of him, Ciel halts the beam with a Stop spell. He then goes on to cut through the beam with his Keyblade, reducing it to particles of light. Ciel follows up on this by sprinting toward Laguna, throwing out another Stop as he does so, and swipes at Laguna’s back. The gunner briefly staggers forward from the blow, but then lurches right back when Ciel delivers another Stop-assisted slash to his chest. He falls to his knees while the Keyblade wielder backs away to catch his breath. Laguna stands upright shortly and gives a look to Ciel that said ‘no more fooling around’. Drawing yet another hand-grenade, he yanks the pin out with his teeth and tosses it onto the ground at Ciel’s feet. Before the boy could react, Laguna leaps up, suspended from a grappling hook, and rains upon him with a furious hailstorm of gunfire. The Keyblade kid could only defend himself, as there was virtually zero wiggle room to launch a counterattack. About seven seconds in, Laguna lets up on the assault and lands with his back turned to Ciel. Finally able to lower his guard, Ciel looks to his feet and spots the grenade. Before he could do anything about it though, it detonates. By this time, the crowd was on the edge of its seats. And as the smoke clears, Ciel is seen on his hands and knees, with Laguna standing above him with a gun pointed at the kid’s head.

It took all of Ciel’s remaining stamina just to keep himself off the ground completely. He picks his head up to see the blurred image of Laguna and his firearm.

“Give up yet…?”, the gunner asks through his smirk.

“Tch!” Unwilling to accept defeat, Ciel refuses to answer. He lowers his gaze and, out of the corner of his eye, spies his Pierce the Skies just a couple of feet away from his hand. If I can just reach the Keyblade, Ciel ponders. Little by little, his hand inches closer to the blade…

…But Laguna immediately picks up on this. The closer Ciel’s hand moved toward the Keyblade, the tighter his finger curled around the trigger. “…”

“…”

Just then, gasps of shock and fright fill the stands as the earth trembles violently.

“W-What was that!?”, Ciel stammers.

“Hopefully not a last-minute entry…”, Laguna remarks.

A second tremor shortly follows the first, and the crowd grows even more restless.

Hercules soon bursts in, his training session interrupted. “Phil!”, he calls out to his trainer.

“Herc!”, Phil calls back. “What in Gaia’s name is goin’ on!?”

“The city!”, the orange-haired lad starts through his winded breaths. “It’s under…attack!”

“SAY WHAT?!?”

Hearing this, Ciel and Laguna look to each other. Suddenly, there were matters more pressing than their match.

The streets of Thebes were in absolute chaos. People run and scream for their lives as buildings crumble and fires indiscriminately rage. At the root of it all, an obese giant with one eye towered over the various Greek structures, ripping them away from their foundations and hurling them about with reckless abandon. “RUN!”, the giant’s voice booms. “RUN, PUNY HUMANS!”

Ciel, Hercules, Phil, and Laguna look upon the beast and the immense destruction it was causing. “What the heck is that thing!?”, asks the flabbergasted Ciel.

“The Cyclops.”, Phil answers. “A doozy of a Titan. As strong as he is ugly.”

“He’s destroying everything!”

“Tell me about it. Like a bouncing baby boy with his toy blocks, am I right?”

To the party’s side, Hades appears in his usual smoky fashion. “What’s the haps, chaps?”

“Hades!”, Hercules and Phil growl in unison.

“Who?”, Ciel and Laguna likewise utter.

Disregarding ‘toga boy’ and the goat man for now, Hades focuses on the new guys. “Hey there. Name’s Hades, Lord of the Dead. How ya doin’? Love the hair. Likin’ the show so far?”

“‘Show’?”

“So ‘One-Eye’ over there’s your leading role, I take it?”

“Oh… Adorable, isn’t he? Like a little baby with his-- …Wait. Did I already use that metaphor? Ah, well. Still fresh.”

“What’s your game, Hades!?”, Hercules snaps. “Not satisfied with controlling people, so you’re just gonna destroy everything in sight!?”

“Ahhh, little Herc. Don’t think I forgot about you. How ya holdin’ up, champ? You’re lookin’ a little beat there. Arms sore? Throat dry? Heart beating out of your chest? That’s too bad. And my optic pal was just dying to meet ya. Real down-to-earth guy. I think you’d get along swell.”

“Call off…your lapdog, Hades…!”, Herc continues, still exhausted from his workout. “I’m…the one you want!”

“Tempting, but I’ll pass. This is more fun. …Well, maybe not to them. But to me, it’s a hoot. I’m Lord of the Dead, kid; gotta get my kicks where I can, y’know?”

“If you want Hercules…”, Ciel starts. “…fight him yourself instead of sending giants to do your dirty work! You’re nothing but a coward!”

“True.”, Hades shrugs. “But when you got friends in high places like I do, who needs minor stuff like rules?” With that, Hades exits the only way he knows how: with hazy flair. “Enjoy yourself, kids. I know I will.”

Hercules puts his thumb and index finger to his lips and lets out a high-pitched whistle.

In response, a blurry white figure swoops down from the sky. Only as it comes in for a landing and trots alongside Hercules does it come into full view: a majestic white horse with a sky-blue Mohawk-like mane, blue tail, and great light-blue-tipped wings. It whinnies softly as it arrives.

Laguna whistles impressed at the sight of the creature. “Nice ride…”

“Hey, Pegasus…”, Herc greets weakly. “You ready?”

Pegasus neighs eagerly in reply.

The teen positions himself to mount his steed, but nearly stumbles while doing so.

Luckily, Ciel and Phil were there to catch him. “Whoa! Easy, Herc! What are you trying to do?”

“Hades is…destroying the city because of me… I have to…do something…!”

“You ain’t gotta do nothin’, Herc! Hades is just baitin’ ya!”

“Listen to your teacher, kid.”, Laguna chimes in. “Head out there and you’ll be playing right into Hades’ hands.”

“All the more reason…for me to fight…! Now…get your hands off me!” Tired but far from frail, Hercules wrestles himself free of Ciel and Phil’s grip, jumps onto Pegasus’ back, and takes off to confront the Cyclops.

“Herc, wait!” Ciel’s cry would fall on deaf ears. “We can’t let him fight alone!”

“And we won’t.”, says Laguna, stepping forward with his trusty machine gun. “Cyclops is gonna pay for cutting my win short.”

“Your win?” Ciel also steps forward, brandishing the Keyblade. “Hah. In your dreams.”

“Rematch when all’s said and done?”

“You’re on!”

Down the coliseum steps and through the bedlam-ridden streets, Ciel and Laguna go to challenge the Cyclops as well…

…while Phil is left behind to challenge an impending ulcer. “Ugh… I’m gettin’ to be too old for this.”

[BGM: Squirming Evil]

Meanwhile, near the center of the city, Hercules and Pegasus soar about the Cyclops’ airspace in an effort to disorient him. During this, Cyclops attempts to swat the two as if he were swatting a mosquito. “GRAH! ME SQUISH FLYING HORSE LIKE BUG!”

Pegasus manages to dodge the Cyclops’ swings long enough for Hercules to ready himself. As the winged horse circles around to the back of the Titan’s head, the boy shoots off of the horse’s back and dives down with balled-up fists.

But before his punch could make contact, Cyclops brings his arm up and smacks Hercules away with the back of his hand.

The boy flies helplessly into a marble wall and crashes to the ground below, taking the wall with him. His pained groans could be heard underneath the rubble.

“Just stay down, Herc!”, Ciel directs as he runs past. “Leave this to us!”

Upon reaching the outer city square, the Cyclops comes into full view. Ciel was barely as tall as the goliath’s ankles. His inconceivable size caught the green-haired kid off-guard. “Whoa… It’s even bigger up-close… Think we can really win this…?”

“Won’t know ‘til we try…”, Laguna reassures. “…And those who don’t try will never know!” Switching his machine gun out for a bazooka, Laguna promptly takes aim at the Cyclops’ chest. “Hey, ‘wide load’!”

Hearing a faint voice near its right foot, Cyclops glances down to see a solitary rocket soaring at him. He throws his hand out to intercept it, but it collides a moment too quick. “ARGH!”

During the giant’s stupor, Ciel circles around to the back of his legs and leaps up to strike at the Cyclops’ calf with a slicing gale. “Windcutter!”

The attack draws first blood, and the Cyclops staggers a step forward. “PESKY HUMANS!”, he growls, lifting his leg up to crush the fighters underfoot.

Ciel and Laguna scamper along the ground, like the insects Cyclops sees them as, to dodge his quake-inducing stomps. As soon as there’s a let up in his stomping fit, Ciel conjures a fierce gust of wind beneath Laguna’s feet and propels him into the air.

Once airborne, Laguna readies an outlandish red cannon adorned with numerous spikes and what appeared to be a dragon’s head around the barrel. “Open up and say ‘ahhh’, ugly!”

From the weapon’s barrel, a great beam of energy is fired, engulfing the Cyclops in searing light.

“GRAAAHHH!!!” Unable to react rationally, the Cyclops settles for swinging its arms like mad, eventually swatting the airborne Laguna down.

“Aah!” The diminutive gunslinger plummets toward the ground -- and almost certainly his doom -- but at the last possible second, Ciel cushions his fall with a current of air. “Whew… Nice save, kid.”

“Sure, but…how are we supposed to take this guy down? It looks like our attacks are hurting him a little, but we’re not really doing anything substantial.”

“Brute force…isn’t gonna work…”, groans latecomer Hercules.

“H-Herc?”

“It’s like Phil always says… ‘Rule #47… Every enemy has a weak spot’… Hit him there…and the rest of him will come crashing down from the force of his own weight…”

“Weak spot…”, ponders Ciel, giving the towering Cyclops the once-over. “…I got it! Pegasus!”

Responding to the boy’s cry, the winged horse swoops down to his side, prompting Ciel to climb onto its back.

“Take me up to his face!”

With an affirmative whinny, Pegasus pushes away from the ground and rockets upward.

“Think he knows what he’s doing…?”

“Probably. On that note… Incoming!”

Hercules and Laguna scurry away to avoid more of the Cyclops’ stomps.

High above the two, Ciel and Pegasus soar up and around the Titan’s massive form until they’re at shoulder level. At this juncture, Ciel takes aim with the Keyblade. His target: the Cyclops’ one eye. “Gotta time this just right…!”

“…UHHH?” As misfortune would have it, however, the Cyclops catches a glimpse of the flying horse out of the corner of his eye. “GRAH! YOU AGAIN!”

“Uh-oh!”

With a harsh backhand, the Titan smacks Pegasus away and captures Ciel in his plump fingers. “HAHAHAHA! NOW I CRUSH YOU!”

The Cyclops’ grip on Ciel’s body slowly tightens. “AAH!” His Keyblade-wielding arm pinned, Ciel was powerless.

“HAHAHA-- OWW!” Just then, a sharp pain in the monster’s left leg knocks him off-balance.

Far below, Laguna is seen cutting into the side of the Cyclops’ leg with a blade of energy from his dragon-shaped cannon.

This loosens the Cyclops’ grip enough for Ciel to wriggle his arm free and take aim again. From the blade’s tip, he shoots off a single fireball.

“GRAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” Cyclops covers his eye in throbbing agony, effectively freeing Ciel from his grip.

Hercules grabs a length of rope off a nearby bullock cart and tosses one end to Laguna. As the Cyclops lurches about in pain, the two bind his legs together with the rope and knot it tight. The loss in balance this creates causes the Cyclops to topple onto its knees, and its entire body falls over the side of a cliff. Its deafening scream echoes across the city.

Ciel, Hercules, and Laguna look over the cliff side and watch as the Cyclops falls to what is sure to be his death. None of them speak a word, simply finding solace in the battle’s end.

Hades watches from afar, his scowl exhibiting only a fraction of his anger. “Well… Back to the drawing board, as they say…”, he mutters to himself, vanishing in a cloud of black.

…The party regroups with Phil outside the coliseum. “I gotta hand it to you three.”, the man-goat commends. “Takin’ down the Cyclops? That was one for the record books.”

Rather than accept the trainer of heroes’ praise, Ciel folds his arms in resentment. “Y’know, it’s kinda your fault Hades got involved in the first place, Phil. Herc wouldn’t have taken that bad a beating if you didn’t work him so hard.”

Pocketing his hands, Laguna adds, “I gotta side with the runt on this one. Even half-mortals have their limits.”

“Hey, if bein’ a hero came easy, every schnook from here to Thrace would be struttin’ his stuff! And when everyone’s a hero, no one is! You think I got to be where I am if I didn’t know what I was doin’!?”

“I’m saying, go easy on him. If he weren’t part god, the Cyclops would’ve killed him!”

“…” Phil turns to his student Hercules to get his two cents. “And how about you, champ? You agree with what these bozos are spewin’?”

The rookie hero finds himself tongue-tied. He wasn’t one to go against Phil’s teachings, but even he had to admit when he’s had enough. “W-Well…”

His uncertainty was all Phil needed to hear. He turns away. “Alright, fine. I get it. I read ya loud and clear. …Don’t bother showin’ up for training tomorrow, kid…”

“P-Phil! You can’t mean--!”

“…Go ahead and take the day off.”

“Huh…?”

“What, you got souvlaki in your ears or somethin’? I’m givin’ ya the day off. We’ll pick up the day after.”

“You… You mean it…? So you’re not…? Ohhhh… What a relief.”

“Phil!”

“Hey, come on. I’m not a slave-driver. I only push the kid ‘cuz I know he can handle it. It’s got nothin’ to do with him bein’ the son of Zeus. He’s got somethin’ I never seen before. Somethin’ my other students didn’t have.”

“What’s that?”

“…Heart. That’s what separates the real heroes from the phonies. Not the size of his muscles, or how much he can bench-press. The strength of one’s heart is what seals the deal.”

“Wow, Phil…”

Turning back around, the pudgy goat looks up at Ciel. “To tell ya the truth… I see a bit of that in you too, Ciel.”

“Hehehe…”

“Okay!”, Laguna suddenly shouts. “Now that that’s settled, I need to know, Phil: Which of us is moving on to the Games?”

“Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that!”

But with a shrug, a head shake, and a heavy heart, Phil says, “Sorry, fellas. Coliseum rules -- if a fighter leaves the ring in the middle of a match, they’re disqualified. And since you both left at the same time…”

“Awww, no way! What a gyp!”

“Still, we need someone to even up the brackets. Wanna flip for it?”

“…Nah. You take the spot, Ciel.”

“Huh?” Ciel looks up at Laguna to ensure he was being serious. “Why me? I didn’t even know about the Games before today. Besides, I thought you wanted to take home the gold, Laguna.”

“Meh. There’s always next time. We’ll have our rematch then.”

“Yeah!” Hercules jumps in. “Go for it, Ciel!”

“…Heh. Alright, I’ll do it! I’ll enter the Games and win it all! And when I win, Phil, you have to admit that I’m not a hero wannabe!”

The snarky satyr rolls his eyes. “…Yeah, that’ll happen…”

~ Next Report: His First Roar ~