(Harmony's) POV:
While heading deeper into the underworld, we run across some Heartless along the way. But that's not all. We soon see someone in a black coat, heading deeper into the underworld, too.
"The Organization!" Donald exclaims.
"After him!" Hijikata orders.
As fast as we can, we chase after that Organization member. It isn't easy keeping up with him, however, when Heartless keep attacking us and we try to avoid being crushed by falling boulders. But something felt off; our attacks aren't as effective as usual and I can't seem to use my Valor form like I usually do. Eventually, we soon catch up to that Organization member, who is running right towards us.
My friends and I ready ourselves, prepared. However, he runs right past us.
"Run! Run away!" he exclaims.
We turn around, confused, as we see him disappear into a corridor of darkness.
"Okay...?" I ask, not sure what just happened.
"Any idea on what happened just now?" Nagakura asks.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Hijikata answers.
As confused as we all are from what just happened, we all decide to take a little break. I mean, we're usually not this tired. But there's something about this place that makes me feel like it's doing something to us. The question is 'what'?
(3rd) POV:
Meanwhile in a chamber, Hades sits on his throne. And the one speaking to him is none other than Pete.
"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise," Hades complains.
"Oh, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em," Pete says. "So, uh...what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him. Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick someone already dead and save him the trouble?"
Hades slams his hands on the armrests of his throne, leaning forward, glaring at Pete in anger and annoyance. If there's one thing Hades hates, it's being told what to do and how to handle things. Pete cowers in fear, while Pain and Panic, Hades' lackeys, duck behind Pete, also afraid of Hades' wrath. After a moment or two, Hades leans back into his throne, calming down.
"Dead...Dead is good! And I know just the warrior," Hades says, putting careful thought into Pete's suggestion.
(Harmony's) POV:
After catching our breath, we head deeper into the Underworld. But it has an eerie feeling to it, especially when we're high above a green substance. Luckily, there are stone bridges to help us cross all the way to the other side. Donald, Goofy and Mieu become scared of this place. To prove it, Donald lets out a scared quack.
"I'm scared too, Donald," says Goofy.
I take a step forward. "Come on out, Hades!" I yell, my voice echoing throughout the caverns.
Receiving no answer, I let out a sigh.
"Maybe he's deeper in," Nagakura suggests.
"Probably," says Asch.
"Any idea what that green stuff is down there?" Heisuke asks, pointing to what's below us.
We all look down, seeing how there's something weird in the water. Chibi starts to whimper, not liking what he sees. If nothing else, he looks scared, which makes me wonder what that green stuff is exactly.
"Is that...people?!" Mieu exclaims, scarred, then flies to hide behind Luke.
"Well, it is the underworld," Okita points out, looking disgusted from the sight.
"Guess this is where everyone in this world ends up, once they've died," says Harada.
"No wonder Chibi's scared. He can probably tell that that green stuff down there is the souls of the dead, and it takes a lot to make him scared," I say, stroking the wolf's head, hoping to help calm him down.
"Let's hurry up and find Hades!" Donald exclaims, obviously scared.
We cross the stone bridges, while fighting Heartless along the way. By the time we finally reached the other side, there are a pair of opened doors, with a staircase leading up. Thinking that this might be where Hades lives, we climb up the stairs.
(3rd) POV:
In the center of Hades' chamber, a green vortex swirls around on the floor. The table he had used to be there, to cover it up, is now removed.
"By the by, uh...What's down there?" Pete asks nervously.
"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon," Hades simply answers. "This time I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys."
Pete turns his attention towards Hades, noticing the look the Lord of the Underworld is making as he stares down at the abyss. Seeing how scary Hades looks right now, Pete couldn't help but flinch.
"You don't say?" Pete asks, backing away from Hades. "Well...maybe I should go."
Hades makes a flame appear in both of his hands, and then hurls the flames into the swirling abyss. An explosion is created, followed by black smoke. In this smoke is a man, who slowly lands safely on his feet as the swirling abyss disappears, reverting back into a regular floor. Hades laughs, pleased by what he sees.
"Let's cut to the chase. Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you. I let you out of the slammer--no strings--you'll be free as a bird," Hades says. The man he is speaking to turns his attention towards Pete, who nervously waves to him, still scared. "And all for one little job. Fight Hercules, in the coliseum...to the death!"
The man sneers at Hades with disdain. "This is my story. And you're not part of it," he says, readying his sword.
"Did you forget who you're talking to?" Hades questions with anger, not pleased with the situation. "I am the Lord of the Dead!"
"No wonder no one wants to die," the man says with a smirk.
The man's words fuel Hades' anger. "You are FIRED!" he yells, his entire body burning with red hot fury.
Hades charges at the man, who blocks the attack with his blade.
(Harmony's) POV:
I'm not sure what was going on before we arrived. But when we do arrive, we see Hades in a heated battle with someone.
"Hades!" Donald exclaims.
"That's him?" Saito asks.
"The one and only," Luke says.
"You again?" he questions, shocked to see us, his body reverting back to its usual blue color.
The man Hades was fighting got his sword out of Hades' grip and then slashes at him, making the Lord of the Underworld skid back several feet.
"Fight!" the man tells my friends and me.
He then charges at Hades, but Hades blocks the attack and throws him back. Hades made the attempt to punch the man, his fist covered in flames, landing a direct hit. Hades then makes flames appear in both of his hands. Before he could do anything, I block the attack with my Keyblade.
"Come on! Get up, quick!" I exclaim to the man, who is lying on the ground from Hades' attack.
My friends and I all charge at Hades, attacking him with everything we've got. But something's not right. Hades doesn't seem fazed, no matter what we throw at him. Donald and I even tried to use our magic when everyone's physical attacks don't work, but not even our magic seems to faze him, either.
"Why aren't any of our attacks working?" Nagakura asks, looking tired.
"Something's wrong!" Donald exclaims.
"My body...I don't feel right..." I say.
"None of us do!" Harada exclaims.
"That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes--comes with the territory," Hades says with a satisfied smile.
He then comes at us, his hands covered in flames again. The man from before steps in front of us, slashing his sword at Hades, making him disappear in a puff of smoke. Hades then reappears a few feet away from us.
"Go now!" the man exclaims.
"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" I exclaim.
"What was that?" Hades asks, with his ears plugged, obviously mocking me.
"Real mature, Hades. Real mature," Asch comments, hinting sarcasm.
"We can't fight him here! We have to go--now!" the man exclaims, grabbing me by the arm, forcing me to leave Hades' chamber.
With no other choice, we all leave. As much as I want to fulfill my promise to Meg, I know that my friends and I aren't strong enough to take on Hades. After leaving the chamber, Luke, Heisuke and Goofy close the doors on our way out.
Donald stops for a moment, catching his breath. "Is he gone?" he asks.
"Don't count on it," the man comments.
"Dammit!" Hijikata exclaims, annoyed.
"Uh, Harmony?" Heisuke asks, pointing a finger at something next to me.
Turns out, that something is Hades, who suddenly appeared next to me, with his arms crossed.
"Leaving so soon?" Hades asks, amused.
Suddenly, a group of Heartless appear. My friends and I try to take them out, clearing a path, while also trying to avoid getting hit by Hades' attacks. Whatever this place is doing to us is not good, especially since I can't use my Valor form to help us out of this mess. What I don't get is why the man who saved us earlier is the only one who still has plenty of strength left to fight.
His skills as a swordsman definitely show that he is nothing to scoff at, especially considering how big his sword is. He is definitely strong, that much I can tell. Anyway, I'm glad that we all managed to get out of there, and that Hades finally stopped chasing us. But what I don't understand is how he isn't tired, while my friends and I feel spent.
"Thanks for helping us back there," Harada says, trying to catch his breath.
"Tell me about it. You're really good with a sword," Nagakura says, also taking deep breaths.
"What are you, some kind of hero?" Luke asks.
The man shakes his head. "No, I'm no hero...I'm just an..." he says, not finishing his sentence. I become confused, wondering what is it he was going to say. "Auron," the others and I share a look, confused. The man than clarifies himself. "My name."
"Name's Asch."
"I'm Luke and this is Chibiterasu," he says, picking up the said wolf, who is too tired to stand up on his own anymore.
"My name is Toudo Heisuke."
"Saito Hajime."
"Hijikata Toshizo."
"My name is Okita Souji."
"I'm Harada Sanosuke."
"My name is Nagakura Shinpach. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Mieu."
"I'm Harmony," I say, getting back on my feet.
Then all of a sudden, Donald jumps on my back.
"Donald."
Goofy does the same.
"Goofy!"
"Guys, get off of Harmony!" Heisuke exclaims.
"How long do you think she can withstand your weight?" Saito asks.
Donald and Goofy look down at me, realizing the meaning behind Saito's words
"Seriously, guys...I don't think I can...!" before I could finish, I end up collapsing to the floor, with Donald and Goofy still on my back.
"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian," Auron says.
"Thanks, but I think we're good," I say, getting Donald and Goofy off of me while Asch and Heisuke come over and help me get up.
I then pat the dust and dirt off of my clothes.
"Anyway, what are we going to do now?" Luke asks.
"Well, we obviously can't go back to face Hades again," Harada points out. "You saw what happened."
"Was he always this strong?" Hijikata asks.
"Not really. Last time we fought him, we had no trouble in defeating him," Luke says.
"But back then, we fought him in the Olympus Coliseum, not in the Underworld," I point out.
"Either he's gotten stronger, or this place is making us weaker," Asch says.
"Well, he did say something about this place turning heroes into zeroes," Okita points out.
"Maybe we should go see Hercules?" Mieu suggests.
"Might as well, seeing how there's nothing else we can do for now," says Heisuke. "I mean, as long as we're in the Underworld, which is Hades' territory, we don't stand a chance against him."
"We'll have to come back later, once we've figured out what to do," says Saito.
With that, we start to leave Underworld, to plan our next course of action.
(3rd) POV:
"I got Heartless all over the Underworld now. So you can leave those pipsqueaks to me," Pete says, sitting on the table in Hades' chamber. He then gets off of the table. "Look, pal, you just keep working on turning Hercules into a Heartless. Then he'll be all mine."
"This is my underworld, you idiot!" Hades yells, his blue skin now blazing in red. "I'll handle this MYSELF!" while Pete cowers in fear, Hades snaps his fingers, making a lardge, three-head dog, Cerberus, appear. "Cerberus, go!"
The Underworld's guard dog then leaves, to chase after Harmony and the others.
(Harmony's) POV:
We try to run as fast we can back to the entrance. Considering how we stood no chance against Hades earlier, none of us think it's wise to try and fight him again, especially since this is his turf. The only problem is that we ended up fighting more Heartless along the way, which are a lot stronger than the ones we've faced earlier, and there are a lot more of them, too. Thankfully, we soon reach the entrance, but it's closed off.
"What? It's closed!" Donald exclaims, looking up at the huge door that is blocking our path.
We try to open it, but it just won't budge.
"Come on, open!" Luke exclaims.
"You might want to look up," Okita says, pointing to something. We all look above us and see a giant lock with chains on the door. "That might be what's keeping us from going any farther."
"Thankfully, it's a problem that I can fix," I say, summoning my Keyblade.
"Will that open it?" Auron asks.
I nod my head. "Yep."
Just as I'm about to aim it at the lock's keyhole, we hear a loud growl from behind us. Unfortunately, it's a growl that I am very familiar with.
"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Asch says, pinching the bridge of his nose, as though he's got a headache.
"Well, what do you think it is?" Saito asks.
"Hurry!" Auron exclaims, readying his sword.
Just as I thought, the growl belonged to none other than Cerberus, who leaped in from above, looking ready to fight us.
"What the hell is that thing!?" Nagakura asks, really shocked by what he sees.
"It's Cerberus!" Mieu exclaims, scared, then hides behind Chibi, who barks and growls at the three-headed dog.
"He's Hades' guard-dog and is the complete opposite of nice!" Luke exclaims.
I face the lock and quickly aim my Keyblade at it. The lock disappears, then Donald and Goofy try to move the door, opening it just wide enough for us to go through. Auron uses his sword to block one of Cerberus' heads. I know Auron is strong, but I doubt even he can hold his own against Cerberus, which is why I decide to join in and help.
"Harmony, wait!" Donald exclaims.
"Idiot, get back here!" Hijikata orders.
I ignore them and rush to Auron's side, which causes the others to join in as well. It wasn't easy, but we somehow were able to defend ourselves while blocking each of Cerberus' heads. Auron and I even ended up combining our weapons together, which created a giant tornado, giving Cerberus some major damage. I did end up getting pinned in between the first and third head of Cerberus, while the middle head gets ready to ram me, causing the others to worry about me.
I somehow managed to get unstuck between the two heads, and stick my Keyblade in the middle head's jaw, stopping the attack. Right after I pry my Keyblade out of the middle head's mouth, all three heads come at me. I leap into the air, avoiding from becoming Cerberus' lunch, then I slam my Keyblade on one of Cerberus' heads, making the three-headed dog collapse, creating just enough time for my friends and I to leave.
"Time to go!" I exclaim.
"Come on!" Donald yells, waving for all of us to get a move on.
While Auron and I rush to the other side, being the last ones to leave that place, the others try to close the door behind us. As for Cerberus, he slowly gets up and charges toward us. But the door is already closed by the time he pounces toward us.
"Could you for once NOT do something that makes me worry about you? I know you can't help yourself when someone is in trouble, but you nearly gave me a heart-attack back there," Asch says, not pleased with my actions.
"If it seemed like I was really in trouble, you'd come save me, right?" I ask.
Asch then sighs. "Just no more crazy stunts, not unless I'm there with you, got it?"
I can't help but giggle, glad to have a caring boyfriend like Asch. "Alright, I'll try."
(3rd) POV:
"She does realize that she could've gotten seriously hurt, right?" Nagakura asks in a hush whisper to Luke.
"Oh, believe me, she knows. That's just how she is, reckless and crazy," Luke answers with a sigh.
"Asch has my sympathies, I'll say that much," Heisuke comments. "At this rate, we're all going to be keeping an eye on her."
Nagakura, Luke and Heisuke all share a look and sigh, knowing that Harmony has her moments of being a handful. Meanwhile, at the Olympus Coliseum, Meg talks to Hercules, trying to talk him out of taking part in another fight so that he doesn't have to push himself anymore.
"Come on, Wonderboy, play hooky for a day. For old time's sake?" Meg asks.
"They came to see me. They came to see a hero," Hercules says, looking drained. "I can't let them down."
Meg sighs sadly. She knows that once Hercules has his mind on something, there's no changing it. But even so, that doesn't help the worry in her heart. Hercules then gets up from his seat and smiles at his girlfriend.
"Don't worry, Meg. I'll be fine. What does a hero need rest for, huh?" Hercules asks, then flexes his muscles a little. He then waves to her. "See ya."
Hercules leaves the lobby, but sighs. As much as he wish he could rest up and take a break, he can't. He needs to show everyone that he's definitely a hero that everyone can count on. The crowd cheers for him as he enters the coliseum.
"Harmony, don't let me down," Meg says to herself, worrying about Hercules' well-being.
(Harmony's) POV:
While getting a lecture from Asch about how reckless I was, I soon notice something. Donald and Goofy notice it, too.
"What happened to Auron?" Goofy asks.
We look around and see that Auron is nowhere to be seen.
"You think he'll be all right?" I ask.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. In the meantime, let's go find Meg. We need to figure out a way on how face Hades without the Underworld affecting us," Okita points out.
"Any idea on where she could be?" Hijikata asks.
"Well, since she knows Hercules, my guess is the coliseum. I mean, she did say that he's been fighting against all sort of opponents at the coliseum nonstop, so they both might be there," I say.
With that, we leave the Underworld. Hopefully, Meg or Hercules might have something that can help us out, so that we don't have to be affected by whatever it is the Underworld is doing to us.
(3rd) POV:
In Hades' chamber, the Lord of the Underworld sits on his throne, tapping his fingers on the armrest. He thought he had the perfect thing to keep Harmony and her friends locked up in the Underworld, so that Cerberus could take care of them. But what he didn't know was that Harmony's Keyblade had the ability to lock and unlock anything. Pete explained what he knew about the Keyblade, making Hades put some thought into this.
"Let me see if I got this right...That brat's Keyblade works on any lock?" Hades asks.
"That's right," Pete says, boasting.
Hades lets out a pleased chuckle. "Have I ever told you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the Underworld? It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool."
"Then that's the place we're gonna put an end to Herc and Jerk's winnin streak," Pete declares, slamming his fist on the table.
"Problem. Zeus locked it tight," Hades informs.
Hearing this does not make Pete happy to hear. Hades then chuckles, making Pete confused. After a moment or two, Pete realizes what Hades is getting at.
"Bingo...All we gotta do is swipe that key...and then reopen the Underdome!" Hades declares.
Pete shakes his head. "Hate to tell ya, but that key is kinda particular. It won't work for just anybody. And that kid ain't no pushover."
Hades scoffs, not happy by what he hears. He then comes up with something.
"I think this calls for a woman's touch," Hades says.
Hades snaps his fingers, making a puff of smoke appear in his hand. The smoke fades away, revealing a miniature version of Meg. Meanwhile, in the Coliseum's lobby, Meg starts to shudder, having a bad feeling that something is about to happen to her.